The Sunstone
Jin pushes her way through the crowd, finally she sees her, the woman with the sunstone necklace. It glimmers under the actual sun, a pale yet glowing orange. It swings on a chain of gold as its wearer gracefully weaves her way in and out of the crowd.
Jin has been following her for weeks, this woman with the sunstone. She is a pretty woman, a small girl with a lean figure and eyes as vivid as the gem at her breast. Her hair is a silky black and reaches the middle of her back.
Jin doesn’t know her.
But she knows that she wants to.
Knows that she wants her.
It is an intense sort of longing. As though she as been traversing the lands without a drop to drink and has found a sparkling oasis. A very deeply ingrained sense of lust and wanting. But she hasn’t the nerve to approach the woman who holds her head so high and carries herself with such a powerful demeanor. She is as intimidating as she is enticing.
So Jin keeps to the edge of the cluster of people and hopes that one day the woman with the sunstone will spot her and be just as intrigued.
She watches the woman wander. That’s all she usually does. It adds to her allure, that Jin doesn’t know her aim. Mostly she just seems to wander, sometimes she will pick something up from a stall, inspect it, and put it back. Every once in a while she will drop a coin or two and pocket the trinket she had picked up. That was how she had come by her sunstone.
But mostly she just strolls about doing nothing in particular.
Talking to no one.
.oOo.
The dawn is as quiet as the dusk is noisy and bustling. For it, Azula prefers to walk at dawn. Evidently she usually wakes at dawn and spends the day meandering about with no particular goal in mind. With the war’s end and a clearance from the institution, she finds herself without direction. It is disorienting and unsettling.
So she fills her days with leisurely walks.
The more she walks the more surreal things seem. No one takes note of her not kindly nor aggressively. It is as though the world has simply forgotten about her. Or perhaps they don’t recognize her without her crown and her armor. She likes to think that she carries herself with the same powerful poise, but apparently she no longer has a presence that draws attention.
And maybe it is a good thing.
It is the only reason she is able to amble around town in peace.
She has taken a job as an advisor for Zuko and a fill in position for when he wants a vacation. Occasionally if he has too much trouble with a task or doesn’t want to attend a council meeting, she will do it for him. It is a taste of what she can’t have for herself and she doesn’t know if she should keep at it or if the sting is too much.
She finds herself a seat at a mostly vacant restaurant. It is not yet open, but the tables are and she wants to sit in quiet for a while.
She closes her eyes and lets a warm breeze slide over her face. The sun rays send her sunstone shimmering, a brilliant twinkle that casts golden-orange prisms on the ground in front of her. And maybe this is for the best.
Her mind isn’t as troubled these days. For as much as she frets of her her lack of purpose and what she has lost, she is mostly at peace. Her mind doesn’t trouble and taunt her anymore. The things that aren’t truly there, no longer provoke her.
Her mornings are soothing, these days.
No one really talks to her, but she isn’t one for conversation anyhow.
So it takes her by surprise when a body drops down next to her.
She fixes her eyes on the girl, maintaining her silence.
“The sunrise is pretty.” She comments.
Azula looks towards the horizon, it is still painted in vivid shades of gold, orange, and deep blue. Clouds swirl at the edge of the sky, delicate little fluffs. “It is nice.” She agrees.
“Why do you walk around here so much?” The girl asks.
The question throws her off. It is the prospect that someone has indeed taken note of her, but in such a subtle and quiet way. It is also because she doesn’t know how to answer without getting into the deeper underlying confusion she harbors. “It calms me.” She answers simply.
The other girl nods. “I can see why. It is a nice day. But you walk in the rain too sometimes.”
Azula fights to keep herself from visibly flinching. “Perhaps I like the rain.”
She doesn’t.
The girl nods. “I like it as long as it isn’t pouring.” She pauses and the silence draws out. It would seem that the girl doesn’t like the silence because she speaks again. “I like your necklace.” She reaches out and Azula lets her run her finger over the stone.
“Thank you.”
“You’re very quiet.” She observes.
“Yes.”
“I’m Jin.” She lets the stone drop to hold out her hand.
Azula takes it, wondering if she should give her real name or a false one. Or if she should give none at all. She could use a companion.
“Azula.”
Jin smiles brightly, showing no sign of recognition.
“You’re not from here are you?”
Jin shakes her head. “Earth Kingdom. My family just moved here a while ago. It took a lot of time, we don’t have much money.”
It would explain the girl’s lack of recognition. Azula would let it remain that way for the time being. Jin reaches for the sunstone again and Azula lets her grasp at it.
.oOo.
She has a name to work with! She couldn’t be more thrilled. Azula is a pretty name, Jin thinks, it suits the woman nicely. She strokes the smooth, pale orange stone. She is equally joyed that the woman is letting her touch it.
It occurs to her that the woman might be lonely.
For all of the times she has seen her stroll about, she has never seen Azula with anyone. Nor has she seen her speak to anyone, not even the stall vendors.
“Will you be here tomorrow?”
Azula nods, “probably.”
“Will you talk to me again.”
She is quiet for longer this time. A few emotions seem to flicker on her face before she finally replies. “I think so.”
Jin grins and pulls her into a hug.
The woman seems puzzled, taken aback.
But she eventually returns the hug, albeit, awkwardly.
Jin concludes that the woman isn’t used to affection.
She hopes that Azula won’t back away from it entirely, because Jin has a large urge to shower her with it until she no longer knows what it is like to be lonely.
“Can I walk with you?”
“When?”
Jin shrugs. “Whenever you are walking. I haven’t really explored the Fire Nation much and I don’t want to do it alone. Do you know your way around?”
“Very well.” Azula answers.
“How long have you lived here?”
“Since my birth.”
Jin blinks. “Then you know you’re way around!”
“I know my way around and I know the hidden places.”
“Can I walk with you?” Jin asks again.
.oOo.
The girl is so bubbly and optimistic. She reminds Azula of TyLee but without the bad blood between them. It puts a pang in her chest. But it is as optimistic of a pang as it is a painful one. Azula finds herself conflicted again. She doesn’t like the notion of letting someone get close. The closer they get the more they will find that they don’t like her. But she doesn’t want to be alone anymore. “I suppose.” She says at last.
The girl throws her arms around her again.
This time the reciprocation comes more naturally.
She will try it again.
To have a friend, perhaps a lover.
Azula supposes that this Jin has given her a least a bit of a goal. Perhaps it is a small one, but it is a direction, a purpose, no less.
The sun isn’t fully risen yet.
But it is getting there.