Balance | Old Version

Chapter 88

Elua's POV.

"Ladies and gentlemen, The Flamey-os!" Aang says with a smile as some of the kids play instruments while the others do...well, nothing.
"Now what do we do?" A boy asks unsure of what was happening.
"This is when you start dancing," Aang states.
"I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave," Another boy says.
"Yeah, what if someone finds out?" Another asks as he looks around nervously.
"Oh, boy. Listen, guys...dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you," Aang says seriously.

"Maybe it was different in the colonies, Kuzon. But, we don't do that here," One of the schoolboys tells Aang. I sigh, this going nowhere I think to myself as I walk over to them.
"Sure you do. You have for generations," I tell them, they all seemed confused as to why Sokka, Katara, Toph, and I were even here. "It just so happens that Kuzon knows several classic fire nation dances," I tell them as I motion to Aang with a smile.
"Yeah! A hundred years ago, this was known as 'The Phoenix Flight.'," Aang says as he runs in a circle, squatting and kicking his legs from underneath him."And this was the 'Camelephant Strut'," He says as he hops on one foot alternating feet with each hop.

He somersaults through the air and lands in front of two girls, who giggle. He somersaults backward and lands on one foot, making the kids look at him in amazement. I smile as I walk back over to Toph and Katara, who were both holding drinks in their hands.
"Who knew Twinkletoes could dance?" Toph asks with an impressed smirk.
"I did," I state as I sit down beside her and Katara.
"Well, you know everything. So, you don't count," Toph tells me, I look at her with a 'really?' expression on my face.
"And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se," Aang says as he begins to dance with a girl around his age.

They stand beside each other and move side to side as they move their arms in movements matching their footsteps.
"Wow, they look pretty good together," Sokka says, still wearing his fake beard.
"Eh, if that's what you like," Katara says. I look over to her, but I quickly look away, trying to hide my smile as I can see she's getting jealous. Aang walks over to us and holds out his hand to Katara with a small smile. "I don't know, Aang. These shoes aren't really right for dancing, and I'm not sure that I know how to-" Katara starts to say, but is cut off.
"Take my hand," Aang tells her, she seems hesitant.
"Okay," She says as she takes his hand they start to dance while all the kids watch them. Sokka turns to me and smiles as he holds out his hand to me.

"May I have this dance?" Sokka asks me with a dramatic bow.
"You may," I say with a small laugh as I take his hand. We walk over to a darker part of the cave, away from the crazy kids but still able to see them as sway, but don't exactly dance.
"As you can tell, I don't dance," I tell him.
"I don't either," He tells me as he smiles at me. He has some kind of look in his eye, but I couldn't tell what it was, but it was...comforting.  I smile back at him, but my smile fades as I look over to the entrance of the cave and see the headmaster walk in with a few guards.
"Sokka," I whisper, he follows my gaze.
"He's the one we want. The boy with the headband!" The Headmaster exclaims, pointing to Aang angrily.

Aang stares in shock for a moment but, then runs into the crowd. Sokka takes my hand and we run into the back of the cave as the students distract the Headmaster and guards. We run out of the back exit and Toph bends some earth over the opening, blocking people from following us. We quickly run over to Appa and jump aborad before taking off away from the small Fire Nation village.
"We're safe, Sokka. You can take off the mustache, now," Katara tells her brother, who has been wearing his fake bread for hours now.
"Oh, no, I can't," Sokka states, we look at him confused. "It's permanently glued to my skin," He says smugly as he runs his fingers through the fake beard. I shake my head as I laugh softly.

"You never disappoint, do you?" I ask him with a smile. He grins as he leans down to kiss me, but I put my hand up before he does.
"Not as long as that's glued to your face," I say in amusement.
"Way to go, Dancypants. I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free," Toph tells Aang with a soft smile on her face.
"I don't know. It was just a dance party, that's all," Aang says, not thinking much of it.
"Well, that was some dance party, Aang," Katara tells him as she kisses his cheek, making him blush.
"Flamey-o, sir. Flame-ee-o," Sokka says as he slowly claps his hands as we fly into the night sky.