Risho of the Black Snow (ATLA Fanfiction)

Chapter Seven: Frozen Hearts

After less than an hour, Risho had decided that children her age were obtuse things. Her father had left her alone with Maya, she knew that it was a desperate attempt to rekindle that lost flame with Madara and the bitter Norrek, so Risho begrudgingly agreed. Madara, kind, sweet, beautiful Madara had instructed her daughter to entertain her. An hour ago, Risho had been grateful, excited to finally be in the company of an actual girl of her actual age. She'd quickly been disappointed.

"Why do you have a pet Otter-Penguin? Those are wild animals, you know." Maya then proceeded to poke Mohu all over to see if he was a boy or a girl, raising her eyebrows and looking at Risho like she was the idiot in the room. "Um...you know she's with chick, right?"

Risho bit down on the inside of her cheek, shredding her gummy lining. "Mohu is male, and he's just chubby."

"She's not male. She is a she-otter-penguin. You should have come to school, you'd have known this already." Risho fought the urge to throttle Maya. She'd been alive just as long as Risho- ten years- and entire decade, and with all that time, this was it? Risho could run circles around her- whether Maya could see it or not. The girl had the mind of a baby. A nasty, annoying baby.

"No he's not."

"Yes, he is."

Risho did her best to level out her breathing. And failed. She leaped to her feat, her arms going everywhere but the girl's body. She would get in trouble if she hit Maya. But she so, so desired to. "HE IS NOT, YOU UNDERDEVELOPED BUFFON!" No fire. No, no fire. Risho smothered her anger, letting only tiny grains of it through her fingers. She yelled instead of burned. It was better that way. It would keep her and Mohu and her father safe.

Like the crybaby she was, Maya started to wail. She gathered up her dolls and fled the room. She returned with that awful Norrek and her father. The former looked like he could burn the igloo down without Risho's help. It had several rooms, this one. Haona had told her that he'd actually helped them build it. He told her that Norrek had wanted to build Madara a palace. Risho thought that such a woman deserved a palace. She wondered why she'd ever marry someone like Norrek. Maya clung to her father's legs like a toddler. She pointed at Risho like she would a rabid animal, a threat. Like her father would be any sort of protection. No one could contain a disaster like her. Mohu bumped her leg, reminding her to keep her cool.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

"She yelled at me, papa!" bawled Maya, hugging the leg like Risho did her old doll Yating. At ten, Risho had matured enough not to depend on such external comforts. What a baby, she thought.

"Risho..." drawled Haona. He was very disappointment. She could see it in his eyes.

"She called Mohu a fat, ugly girl, papa." Sure, it was stretching the truth a little. But it sure made her look better. Risho knew she wasn't innocent, but Maya deserved it.

Haona hid a chuckle in his sleeves. She had him. Now she just needed to crack the hardest ice brick, then she was all set. "Did not!" cried Maya.

"Did too!"

"Didn't!"

"Girls!" Norrek pried Maya off of him, putting her over his shoulders. He was letting her win. Risho could see her father's disapproval.

Then, like a shining nighttime star, Madara, sweet, beautiful Madara entered the picture. "Is there a problem here?" Maya told her that she didn't want Risho to stay at their house anymore. She asked how long it would be until they were sent away. How long until they'd have a new life in Ba-Sing-Se. Risho shared that wondering with Maya. The Earth Kingdom was starting to appeal to her. It would be scary, at first, everything would be knew and different and nothing would be the same. But Risho knew what was important. She would have Mohu, and she would have her father. She knew she would be okay.

"A little while, sweetie. But how about Risho sleeps out here tonight instead of with you? We'll get her some nice blankets and make her very cozy? How about that?" Sounds perfect, thought Risho.

Weeks passed and Risho still slept on the floor of Norrek and Madara's igloo. Every day, they of them sat at the crackling fire, old friends reduced to nothing more than strangers. They thought Risho was asleep, but Risho was finding it hard to rest after the events of the past few days. She entertained herself through snooping. It was becoming a favourite pastime of hers. "So...your Risho is quite a character, isn't she?" Norrek's speech was cautious, the accompanying laughter fake and forced. Awkward.

"That she is."

"But I suppose, so were you, back in the day..."

A forced chuckle on Haona's part. "I guess I was." Silence followed. To much, for too long. Risho pulled the covers up around her nose. It was like she wasn't even there. Mohu snored under the pelt, ignorant and oblivious. It seemed rather blissful at the moment. Risho envied him.

"But...I never thought you'd go so far! I mean...Haona, why? There were plenty of other choices that would have made you a fine wife. You were an attractive man, Hao-"

"I think I'll go to bed now, actually. It's getting late-"

"Haona!"

"Goodnight, Norrek."

Risho heard someone shift. "Haona, please stay. There are plenty of other things to talk about, it's been a decade, hasn't it? We have a lot of catching up to do."

Her father sat back down. "Fine: I have been made a hermit of by people who swore they'd stand by me no matter what. What about you two?" Risho almost cheered. This was a side of her sweet-tempered father that she'd never seen before. Haona had a backbone. Who would have thought?

"Well..."

The voices and whispering flames were drowned out by the ringing cacophony of bells. An alarm. She'd never heard one before, but it awakened some primitive instinct inside of Risho. Mohu scrambled to his feet and she flew from her covers. Madara ran for her daughter and Haona and Norrek ushered Risho outside. "What's going on?" she asked, even though she knew her answer all too well.

"It's the Fire Nation..." breathed Norrek.