Avatar:Folk tale of an earthbender{Book One:Earth}

Chapter 3:Blame

"Kaori! Wake up, be sensible for a moment, won't you, child!" Fusa's voice echoed through the room. She rose from the bed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm up. I'm up" she said grogilly. Fusa rolled her eyes "I've decided to forgive you out of the goodness of my heart." She said, with a dry, humourless grin. "You should've woken up earlier! We're meeting some very high class people today! We need to make a good impression!" She snapped. Kaori shook her head. "Yeah yeah..why do I have to attend again?" She said, tilting her head as she finally came to. "Well, there'll be a lot of boys your age! Potential suitors! We all need to look our best!" She said, proceeding to pull Kaori upward and into the bathroom. "Sit still now." She said, as she brushed through Kaori's hair. "Your hair really is hard to tackle...and the roots are coming through...well..it won't be impossible to hide.." She said, raising her nose up haughtily. Kaori slouched over, letting out a long sigh, she hated ot when people insulted her hair, knowing that she inherited it from her birth mother. Fusa slapped her shoulder. "Don't slouch! It's bad manners! And look happy!" She snapped, holding her hair behind her ears. She caked makeup onto her face until she was almost unrecognizable.

"Now. That doesn't look so bad." She said. "Alright. Go and get dressed now! I left you the perfect dress on your bed!" She said, pushing Kaori out of the way and looking in the mirror for herself. Normally, Maika would be the one waking her up and helping her get ready, but, why was Fusa here? "Where's Maika?" She asked. "That little maid? Your father let her go last night. Good thing too. She was giving you such false hopes." She felt sick to her stomach as she realized. "Maika? My Maika?" Maika was the one she cared about most, and she was the reason that she lost her job. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back, letting someone else see her cry was something she couldn't do. "Your Maika? She was a bad influence and that's it!" Fusa snapped. "Now get dressed!"

Kaori had never been very fond of Fusa, but, she'd never wanted to hurt her. Right now, she had to restrain herself from slapping her. "Anyway..I'm off, I need to take care of some things.." Fusa said as she left. She clenched her fists and dried her eyes as to not make the makeup she had caked off run. "Just. Don't think of it.." she muttered. She got dressed and made her way down stairs for breakfast, but once again, Fusa stopped her. "Well...it isn't the best fit...but they're already here..I suppose it'll have to do..now. go mingle!" She said, rolling her eyes and walking off. Was that supposed to be a insult, could she really sink any lower?

She rolled her eyes and looked around, for the most part, it was haughty looking women and stern faced men. With a handful of miserable looking teenagers and kids running awry. "This'll be a headache.." she muttered. She looked around, only to see Anzu with her back to the wall, looking just as fed up as she was. She approached her, her feet dragging behind her. "This is a mess." She said. "My face genuinely feels stiff." She responded gingerly, letting out a long sigh. "Anywho..did you sleep well?" She asked. "Not the b-" She stopped, as two boys around their age approached them, assuming Anzu was eldest.

"Do you need something?" Kaori said coldly. The elder boy scoffed at her. "You can watch your tone. I'll have you know that I'm THE general Aito's son" He said brusquely. "Well, we're THE Firelord Atsuo's daughters" Kaori said, heightening the pitch of her voice as to mock him. "Ah..Pleasure to meet you..I'm Goro..this here is my younger brother..Kyuu, I believe we'll get along very well" He said with a dry, empty grin. Anzu tilted her head. "I'm Anzu. And this is my older sister Kaori" Anzu said as she curtsied. "Older sister?" said Goro, noticing the height difference between the two. "Anyway." He said, shaking his head. "How would you like to take a stroll?" He said, promptly taking both girls arms, with Kyuu taking Kaori's other free arm. "I've almost mastered 15 types of fire bending." He said haughtily, in an attempt to impress them. "I've mastered 18. Soon to be 19." Anzu said, in a mocking tone, winking at Kaori.

Goro raised and eyebrow. "Oh really? And..Kaoru, was it?" He said, intentionally pronouncing her name wrong, to try nd make her feel lesser. "I'm not a bender." Kaori said, lowering her gaze, almost embarrassed. "That's just as well. A battlefield really is no place for a woman." Both Anzu and Kaori choked on his words, almost laughing. "Excuse me?" Anzu said, raising a brow. "You have to be joking!" She said. "I'm entirely serious." He responded. "Katara of the southern water tribe? Asami Sato? Toph Beifong? Avatar Korra? The kyoshi warriors?" Kaori said, furrowing her brow. Goro scoffed at the two. "They had male allies to help them out. Avatar Aang. Firelord Zuko! Mako!" He said, nudging his younger brother. "And the Kyoshi warriors.." He laughed. "They're nothing but glorified street performers-" Before he'd fineshed his sentence, Anzu had already "accidentally" pushed him into the pond behind them. "Run!" She said to Kaori, grabbing her wist and pulling her along.

The two stood behind a pillar, laughing hysterically. "His wet pony tail made him look like a greased onion!" Kaori said, as she watched him scurry around angrily. The two had never been particularly close, but had always longed for the other's approval, but now they were clinging to eachother, laughing. "15 types of firebending" Kaori said in a mocking tone. "The look on his face!" Anzu said, trying to stay composed as she watched him run to his mother like a child. "We could get in huge trouble for this" Kaori said, still laughing. "Who cares? What's he gonna do, banish us?" Anzu said jokingly. But, she didn't know what was to come.

The two spent the rest of the day together, arm in arm, joking, laughing And in Fusa's words "reaking havoc". The two had never been close, but now it seemed as if they were best friends.

As the guests cleared out, the two were sat in the courtyard, on a bench, giggling. "I still can't believe you did that!" Kaori said, laughing. Anzu tucked some stray hairs behind Kaori's ears. "Neither can I really. Anywho. I better get some shut eye. My fire bending trainer makes me get up super early!" She said, as she left. "Goodnight." Anzu said as she walked off, and now, Kaori was once again. Alone. She sighed, gazing around the courtyard. She'd had a good day, but thinking back on it, would there be any consequences? And there were.

She felt a strong pull on her ear, as someone dragged her to the ground. "I told you to act civilized! I told you to be good! And you...you do this?" Fusa shouted, furrowing her brow. "General Aito was not happy with your behaviour! Harassing his son like that! And in the process corrupting my sweet Anzu! Y...You're a disgrace!" Fusa said, slapping her straight across the face. "Don't you dare try anything for the next few months or else you're out!" She said, Fusa had threatened things like this time and time again, but this time, it seemed serious. As much as Fusa shouted, Kaori never responded, in pure shock. "You're an embarrassment! A burden! All you do is take! And that awful hair of yours.." Her voice trailed off, as Kaori sat there, holding her stomach, as it swirled with guilt. She felt the blood trickling down her neck, as Fusa had ripped out her earring. She was furious, slapping her, with a look of pure hatred in her eyes. All while guards watched, frozen in shock as this all unfolded, knowing they couldn't intervene. "But it wasn't-" Kaori tried to speak up. "Don't try anything! Or else!" Fusa said, scowling at her as she walked off. The guards followed her. And Kaori was left alone in the courtyard, with her cheek still scarlet from Fusa slapping her.

All was quiet for a few moments, until she outright started sobbing uncontrollably. She felt useless. Alone. As if she could disappear and nobody would notice. Part of her felt as if she was to blame. As if she was nuisance to her friends and family. While the other half was desperately trying to convince her that she wasn't at fault, that this was a chip on her shoulder, that the good stuff had yet to come. But, the negative thoughts took over, she felt helpless. She held her head in her hands, her makeup smudging down her face, and her hair untidy. She was mess. All she wanted was to held by someone. Anyone. "Mama." She chanted over and over again, as she rocked herself back an forth, still sobbing. She felt two warm hands on her shoulders, as a vision of the boy she'd seen in her dreams popped into her mind once again. Tall, tan, with brown hair. She looked around desperately, hoping to see Anzu, or her father. At this point, even a stranger would do. She eventually calmed herself down, her sadness fading into anger. In a fit of rage, she punched the air, hearing a crumbling sound. She looked around, her eyes still puffy, noticing that the ground in front of her had risen. She looked down in disbelief. "Who.....i...is someone there?" She said, looking around. But there was no response. She raised her arm once again, and the pillar rose higher. She fell back in pure disbelief. "W-who's doing that-" She said, looking around. "It isn't funny!" Once again, all was silent, there was no response. She raised her arm, and the pillar rose once again. It caught her by surprise, she sat there, bewildered.

"Is it..me?" She said, staring down at her hands, trembling.