The Fire Prodigy {ATLA}

{26}: Dance Party

I knew from the minute Aang suggested enrolling in a Fire Nation school that it would be a terrible idea. However, I could appreciate that he really wanted to go through with it, and from what I knew about him to this point, I knew it was pointless trying to dissuade him from not going through with it.

My concerns were confirmed as soon as he asked me and Sokka to pretend to be his parents to meet with his headmaster. Apparently, he had gotten into a fight with some other kid, and for obvious reasons, he had no parents to bring over. I didn't really want to do it, but Katara plead to me because she didn't want to pretend to be married to her own brother.

So that is how I got here, sitting at a Fire Nation school principal's office. Of all the things I'd be doing in my life, I never considered this being one of them, like, ever.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs..."

"Fire. Wang Fire," Sokka said before I could say anything else. "This is my wife, eh..."

"Hatty, Hatty Fire," I said with a smile, hoping my nerves wouldn't betray me.

"Mr. and Mrs... Fire, your son has been enrolled here for two days and he's already causing problems. He's argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil," the headmaster said.

I narrowed my eyes at Aang, annoyed at what I was hearing. What part of blend in didn't he understand? "I am truly shocked to hear this."

"That's what any mother would say, Ma'am. Nonetheless, you're forewarned; if he acts up one more time, I'll have him sent to reform school--by which I mean the coal mines. Are we clear?" the man said making the three of us nod.

"Don't you worry, Mr. Headmaster. I'll straighten this boy out somethin' fierce! Young man, as soon as we get home you're gonna get the punishment of a lifetime!" Sokka yelled at him, making me stamp my hand on my forehead.

"That's what I like to hear."

Once were we back at the cave, Katara was the first to approach us with a worried look on her face.

"How did it go?"

"Well, little Kuzon over here has apparently done a marvelous job at drawing the attention he very clearly doesn't need right now!"

"That settles it! No more school for you, young man!" Sokka scolded Aang, still in his role of Aang's father.

"I know you think it's a bad idea, but I'm not ready to leave yet. I'm having fun for once, just being a normal kid. You don't know what it's like, Hana. You get to be normal all the time."

"Are you kidding me? Aang, I grew up essentially working as the Royal Family's jester, their personal clown. I circled the world for two years in search of the Avatar and I lived as a fugitive from the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom for months," I said, letting out a laugh. "My life has been anything but normal."

Aang sighed. "You're right. But listen guys, those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation. If we want to change this place for the better, we need to show them a little taste of freedom."

"What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?" Sokka asked, making me raise an eyebrow, before he cleared his throat. "I mean... Confused little firebenders?"

"I'm gonna throw them, a secret dance party!" Aang said with a smile.

"Go to your room!"

🔥🔥🔥

Unsurprisingly, Aang got what he wanted. After a few minutes of convincing, he finally had us all agree to throw his classmates a dance party. Even though I knew this could be a risky move, I also knew Aang was right. These kids were not that different from me some time ago. We grew up surrounded by people telling us that the war is a good thing, a way of spreading our greatness to the rest of the world. And it wasn't until I was exposed to the cruel realities of the conflict that I realized just how big of a lie that was. If I hadn't had Iroh to guide me, I had no idea whether I'd ever had even gotten along with these guys, let alone be working with them against the Fire Lord.

"I can't believe we're having a dance party. It seems so... silly," Sokka commented.

"Don't think of it as a dance party, but as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork!" Aang said with a smile.

"They're coming! Everyone stop bending," Toph said, before briefly addressing me. "Well, I guess you could still use your bending, Hana."

"Appa, you should probably wait out back," Aang said, getting a complaint growl from the bison as he went deeper into the cave. "I know, you got fancier feet than anybody. And six of 'em!"

Aang's friends all started filing in soon after. He instructed some of them to begin playing their instruments and playing some upbeat music. I felt bad when I noticed no one was willing to dance with him. I couldn't blame them: dance was not considered a dignified activity in the Fire Nation. That's why most people frowned upon my line of work.

"Maybe it was different in the colonies, Kuzon, but we don't do that here," one of his classmates said shyly.

"Sure you do, you have for generations! It just so happens that I know several classic Fire Nation dances. Hana, mind giving me a hand here?" Aang asked with a pleading look. I walked up to him and nodded. "A hundred years ago, this was known as the 'Phoenix Flight'."

He and I began demonstrating the dance move, which was basically a move that had you running around close to the ground. I continued the lesson: "And this is known as the 'Camelephant Strut'."

We then jumped from side to side in unison, earning a lot of surprised glances and giggles from all the children. Aang suddenly asked one of the girls to dance along with him, teaching her the moves. I immediately noticed Katara giving them a sad look, evidently bothered by the fact that he was dancing with another girl. I decided to approach Sokka, who was standing by closely watching us dance.

"Want to dance?"

"Me? Oh, couldn't. I don't know how to dance," Sokka said nervously.

"Well, then you're lucky, because I just happened to be professional dancer," I said, taking his hand and pulling him to the dance floor.

Sokka was a little stiff at first, but the more we danced, the more confident he got. I caught Aang pulling Katara in for a dance from the corner of my eye, and some kid had actually had the nerve to dance with Toph. I laughed as Sokka tried to emulate the moves a bit clumsily, mostly because I though he looked really adorable trying to dance even though he didn't have much experience.

As the music was drawing to an end, Sokka twirled me a coupled of times just as the music stopped. We both laughed before bowing to each other.

"I knew you used to be a dancer, but you're better than I imagined!"

"Thanks. Although I must admit, this is my first time dancing with a partner."

"Really?" Sokka asked, sounding surprised. I tried to hide the incoming sadness. I remembered then, how, for so many years, I had begged Zuko to dance with me. He never agreed. "Well... I'm honored."

I gave him a grateful smile, but before I could say anything else, we all turned to see an incoming group of adults, one of which I recognized to be the school's headmaster. The music suddenly stopped.

"He's the one we want! The boy with the headband!"

However, something very interesting happened. Aang dove into the crowed of children, just as the headmaster's helpers began trying to find the right child. The kids continued this for long enough to help us escape through the back of the cave, keeping the adults occupied while Toph used her bending to shut off the cave and we took off on Appa.

"Way to go, dancy pants. I think you really did help those kids, you taught them to be free," Toph said to Aang.

"I think you helped all of us, actually. I hadn't danced with such freedom in a long time. Thank you, Aang," I said with a smile.

"I'm glad you had fun, but I don't know, it was just a dance party, that's all..."

"Well, that was some dance party Aang," Katara said, leaning forward to kiss his cheek, making him blush.

Sokka and I exchanged smiles. "Yeah, sure was."