Kissed By Fire

Part 39: The Painted Lady

I wanted to start by thanking everyone for 5k views!! I know that isn't a ton in the grand scheme of things, but I'm really proud of it, and also grateful to be part of a fandom that's still reading and writing fanfictions about a show that ended over a decade ago. Hopefully, when they make that Netflix live-action adaptation, even more people will be exposed to the show and write stores about it!!! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Despite the news about Comm- Admiral Zhao taking over the search for the Avatar, Zuko hadn't lashed out at Anut or taken his anger out on her in any way, but she didn't want to push her luck, so she left him to his brooding. 

"Would you like another lesson?" she asked Kan Yin while he carried barrels of grain from the lowest level to the kitchen.

He grinned even as sweat poured from his face, nodding eagerly. "I'll come to the library as soon as I'm done with this."

Anut bowed before leaving his to his work, hurrying off to ready her supplies. Before, their lessons were extemporaneous- the last done entirely in the service of helping the young girl learn more about her sister, but this time she wanted to do it right. She laid two rolls of parchment, two brushes, and a well of ink, the way Auntie Lili had done when she and her white-haired friends taught Anut how to read. If not for them, she'd never have been able to attend the Academy, scholarship or no.

Trailing a finger over the spines of various books in the library, the redhead searched for something suitable to a new reader. Unfortunately, these were all meant for commanders and captains and generals, well-educated people who needed references for battle or diplomacy. These books weren't made for crew members who wanted to learn.

She found Jing Bo's Fables for Battle, the book Azula apparently loved as a child, but even the relatively simple stories were too complex for Kan Yin. A suitable text to start with would be, ironically, the tome full of all the old spirits.

Remembering she left it in Zuko's cabin, Anut hurried down the hall, rapping on his door.

"Who is it?"

"Just me, Your Highness," she said nervously. "May I come in?"

"Yes, that's fine."

Anut expected to see the prince lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling angrily, but instead saw him pacing around his room, blood-red robes fluttering around his legs, a large book open and balanced in his steady hands. 

"What did you need?"

"I needed..." She tilted her head to the side, noticing the rendering of a blue-faced man on the page Zuko was staring intently at. "I came here for that book, actually."

His head snapped up, eyebrow pulling down in confusion. "Really?"

"Yeah, but it's okay if you need it-"

"No, I don't need it, I was just doing some light reading." He snapped the tome closed, producing a small puff of dust. "Here."

Anut accepted the book into her arms, cradling it like a baby. She didn't know how Zuko held it on the tips of his fingers as though it weighed nothing, her spine curving backwards from the burden of it. "If you need me, I'll be in the library."

When she returned, Kan Yin was already there, sitting in front of the parchment patiently- the perfect student. "There you are," he said, smiling. "I thought you'd forgotten about me."