TOMOKO - burning gold. (atla)

n i n e | AGNI KAI

"ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ, ɪᴛ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ. ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ." -ᴀʙʀᴀʜᴀᴍ ʟɪɴᴄᴏʟɴ

three years ago

THE DAY HAD BEEN unbearably hot. The hottest of the season, they were calling it. Tomoko didn't like the heat of the Fire Nation capital. Her childhood was spent in the southern parts of the Fire Nation, below the equator, and many times when she would visit the palace it would be the winter seasons.

But the thick heat that surrounded the thirteen-year-old girl's body was incredibly oppressive. She opted for a thin, sleeveless linen tunic and loose breezy pants. All of her hair was in a bun, off of her sweaty neck and her olive skin shown brightly.

Tomoko sat in the shade of a large tree, her eyes on the clouds going by. She wondered what they felt like. She learned in her lessons that clouds were no more than a collection of water, but she wondered if in some way they felt as fluffy as they looked. She laid sprawled, gaining some rare peace away from Azula and her friends. Don't get her wrong, Tai Lee and Mai weren't nearly as bad and sadistic as the tyrant princess. However, the two girls only seemed to be complissant in Azula's torture of Tomoko. As a result, Tomoko's only real companion in her life, besides Iroh, was Zuko. He always protected and defended her against his sister, and the bushy haired girl was incredibly grateful for it.

The sound of footsteps crunching the grass approached from behind the brunette, and she silently prayed that it wasn't the previously mentioned bully.

She gave a sigh of relief however that it was only the boy that she had come to love that was drawing near.

"Hey Z." She greeted with a wide smile. "What's up?"

The boy had a bit of a sour look on his face. "There's a war meeting going on." He replied.

Tomoko sat up slightly. "Oh?" She wondered. "Why's it got you looking like you downed an entire barrel of fire flakes?"

Zuko gave a small scoff, puffing air through his nose.

"I want to attend. I want to be apart of it." He explained, taking a seat beside her.

"Why would you want to be in a stuffy room in stuffy clothes talking to stuffy old men about a stuffy war? In this heat?" She drawled.

"If I'm going to rule the Fire Nation one day as Fire Lord, I should know how to govern a war room." He told her curtly. "I already know the Great Battle tactics of Fire Lord Sozin and Fire Lord Azulon. I've been studying it my whole life. I want to be apart of it."

She eyed him. "Well then, attend." She said bluntly.

"The guards won't let me in." He grumbled.

"Ahh, so there's an entrance fee." She joked, laughing lightly.

He gave her a sharp look. "It isn't funny, Tomoko!"

She stopped immediately and apologized. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry."

Zuko looked down at the grass in between his feet, moving his fingers through it.

"What about Uncle? He's a decorated, retired general. They always invite him to attend for his input. Ask him to bring you along." Tomoko suggested.