Chapter Text
The week had sucked, and it seemed like it was going to continue to suck. Kyoshi had upset a lot of the other, older maids. She had a feeling as to why. It wasn’t exactly Kyoshi’s fault, in fact, it was the little red terror’s fault ! It was because Rangi got Lanying fired, but they somehow blamed Kyoshi for it! It wasn’t fair!
Kyoshi may not have gone to school, but it didn’t take a brainiac to see that the people upset with her were the same circle of friends that Lanying was in.
It was fine. Kyoshi was used to this kind of treatment from the Yokoyans. She was used to the harsh glares, the snarky whispers, her stuff going missing, even being purposefully tripped. Both from adults and children. It didn’t matter how old someone was, if they were confronted with something they disliked, their first response was to be petty.
Still, Kyoshi went about her days. She made sure to tell Lee he didn’t need to give her his extra portions. She figured he’d be ecstatic when she told him, but she could’ve sworn he looked a tad hesitant. Maybe he thought she was mad or planning something? She’d have to figure that out later when she had more free time, it wouldn’t be good to have another person who’s shit list she was on.
She also fully noticed the special meals Auntie Mui was trying to sneak to her, and made sure to decline them. Now that she knew she was getting special treatment, it just didn’t feel right. However, It didn’t stop Auntie Mui from raising a big stink about it.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do about her…
It seemed the only way to make Auntie Mui happy would be to listen to her, but the other staff members were getting angry at her favoritism… So she couldn’t listen to her, but that just ended up making Auntie Mui mad… Then there was also the fact that her relationship with the other staff wouldn't change overnight. So at the present time, both parties were mad at Kyoshi…
It was a real rock and a hard place… Alas , such was the life of an Earth Kingdom Citizen.
As for Kelsang… Well… He was away on a mission and wouldn’t be back for a few days. She’d warn him when he got back. It was her fault if she caused him any troubles after all.
For now, she’d have to do what she could to improve her stature in the estate. She’d just have to work even harder and prove she wasn’t dead weight! That she could still be a good worker even with Kelsang’s nepotism!
But as Kyoshi delivered the newly washed laundry to the maids in the drying area, she found that would be a tad harder to accomplish.
“Are you messing with us?” an older maid scowled at Kyoshi as she threw various wet linens she'd washed an hour earlier at her feet.
“N–no?” Kyoshi mumbled, a little panicked, trying to step around the linens before placing the basket of newly cleaned clothes down in its rightful place.
“What was that?! Speak clearly!”
“N-no!” Kyoshi said, still panicked, with a bit more volume.
“Then why–” She held up a sheet that looked freshly cleaned, almost spotless. “–are you bringing us dirty wet clothes?”
She threw the item into Kyoshi’s face and it hit her with a very wet sound. Kyoshi grabbed the sheet and pulled it away, then inspected it. It looked basically brand new. Not a speck of filth that Kyoshi could see.
“Well? Got anything to say for yourself? For this mess you’ve brought to us?”
Kyoshi sighed inwardly. Just go along with it, it’s better than fighting back…
Kyoshi picked up the now dirty linens, and then bowed. “No, I apologize for my oversight. I will wash them again and make sure they are up to standard.”
The maid snorted. “You better! Because I’m sure you heard what they do to slackers around here.”
Kyoshi nodded, then walked away back to the washing station, the sounds of the maids’ laughter and jeers echoing behind her. She tried to ignore the annoying ball in her throat that had formed.
Why are you getting upset? This is nothing new. Nothing you haven’t been able to deal with before. Kyoshi chastised herself. She realized that it didn’t matter what station or stature you had in life, sometimes people would act this way. She’d seen it with Aoma. She’d seen it with Rangi. Kyoshi just needed to accept this fact.
Kyoshi swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed onwards. She had work to do, there was no time to feel sorry for herself.
“Hm, better,” the older maid said.
Kyoshi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She watched as the senior maids looked at each other and smiled. Then the older maid threw the cloth at Kyoshi’s feet again, and stomped it into the ground.
“Do it again,” she ordered.
Kyoshi felt her face pale. Is this what it was going to be like from now on? It was fine, she could handle it. She could wash it again. She could–
The older maid put a hand to her cheek and sighed. “You just can’t seem to do your job right, can you? If you can’t get this simple task done, how else are you going to get to your other tasks?”
“She’ll probably get kicked out on the street at this rate,” one maid sneered.
“Oh, but that would be ok, no? Since you’re used to living there, right?” another jabbed. "Probably have a favorite gutter or two you used to hold up in, hm?"
Kyoshi felt the ball from her throat move to her stomach. They were right, even if they’re the ones keeping her from doing the rest of her chores, if she couldn’t finish this one then… She’d surely get fired for sure. It didn’t matter if they were in the wrong to begin with, it was their voices against hers. She was outnumbered. Just like when the children in the village would gang up on her, when she tried to plead to the adults for help. The other kids would just say they were playing, and the adults would just move along, leaving her to scramble.
But the funny thing about all of this? Kyoshi realized living back on the streets wouldn’t have been the thing she dreaded the most. It would’ve been her disappointing Kelsang. Even disappointing Auntie Mui. The people who put their necks out for her, if she let them down…then…
Maybe if I skip dinner and go to bed late tonight, I’ll be able to finish. Kyoshi tried coming up with a new game plan. Maybe she could stay up all night ? Skip breakfast too? Then she’d make her deadline! But then…this was just for one day. What about tomorrow? The future? Could she keep this up?
I need to find a way to placate them…
“You’re right I–” Kyoshi began.
“Kyoshi…” a familiar, authoritative voice rasped somewhere behind them.
The maids stilled as Rangi approached them, glaring mad as all hell. As per usual.
“O–oh, would you look at that! We’ve just finished!” one maid said.
“Yes, let’s get to our next task. Hurry, hurry! It’s up to us to keep this place running efficiently,” another said in a hurry.
“Right! We shouldn’t dawdle!”
The older maid shoved the newly dirtied sheet into Kyoshi’s hands, then whispered, “Clean this again and hang it up, if you know what’s good for you.”
The maids quickly gathered their things and scattered before Rangi got within five feet of Kyoshi. The two girls watched as they moved faster than Kyoshi had ever seen them move before. Once they were out of their line of sight, Kyoshi turned her attention to Rangi, who was still glaring in their direction. Then, as if realizing she was being stared at, quickly turned her attention to Kyoshi; her features softened into something more…neutral? It was an expression Kyoshi couldn't exactly place. It wasn’t anger or frustration, or it was frustration but it wasn’t aimed at Kyoshi.
Which might’ve been a first, Kyoshi always seemed to be at the top of the firebender’s shit list. Or just the only name on said list.
Well, this sucks. Kyoshi thought. She really didn’t want to be near the girl. She still felt right mad about what happened the other day. She almost wanted to wallop the firebender. It was best to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible.
“So? What is it?” Kyoshi said, a bit coolly.
“H–huh?” Rangi looked at Kyosh, confused. It wasn’t a look that Kyoshi had seen on the firebender before! And she sounded nervous ? Caught off guard? Was she sick or something? If she actually liked the girl, she may have dragged her to infirmary. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, she was just going to grit through the conversation.
“What do you mean ‘Huh’ ? Don’t you have a new task for me or something?”
“Oh...” The confusion left Rangi’s face and she looked at the ground. “No, I don’t.”
Kyoshi couldn’t stop the shock that rose to her face. “What? Then why are you here ?”
“I thought you were– I mean those other maids were being– I mean… I…wanted to… help .”
Help?!
“But–” This didn’t alleviate Kyoshi’s confusion in the slightest. “I– Argh, how do you think that’s helping?” They were just going to retaliate more later! Why couldn’t she see that her damn meddling was just going to cause more issues?
“I–I don’t– I don’t know. I didn’t know what to do just that–” Rangi’s mouth opened, she raised her hands palms out and slightly shook her head. She looked lost, helpless. Then she slammed her eyes shut and sighed. She looked like she was struggling.
“You didn’t like how I handled it last time so–” Rangi worried her lip between her teeth, then a defeated look crossed her face as her shoulders slumped slightly. “This was…the only way I could think of that could…maybe…stop them from…?” She opened her hands up again and gestured at the space.
She’d wanted to stop the maids from picking on Kyoshi. And Kyoshi absolutely couldn’t fathom why she wanted to do this? It seemed antithetical to everything she'd known up until now...
“Why?”
Rangi looked up at her. “Why, what?”
“Why did you want to help me? It makes no sense.” Didn’t she hate Kyoshi?
Shock crossed Rangi’s features, and then it quickly melded back into her usual angry face. “‘It makes no–’ Of course it makes sense you–”
In an instant, her frustrated face crumpled into something akin to having swallowed something foul. She brought a hand to her face and growled and groaned to herself.
“No that’s not why I– This isn’t…” Her hand flew away from her face and she yelled, “I came here to say something!”
Kyoshi jumped back slightly at the volume change. Did all firebenders have such erratic mood swings? She could’ve sworn she heard they were super disciplined with their emotions! “T–then what is it?!”
Kyoshi wasn’t sure she could handle any more outbursts. Maybe she should run? Yeah, that always worked out for her! One should always stick to their tried and true method! But the way Rangi’s face went deathly pale before breaking eye contact and looking at the ground… Well... Kyoshi felt rooted in place for once.
“I–” she began. She looked ill. Kyoshi definitely never saw the little red terror like this… Something serious must’ve happened…
Then a tidal wave of dread washed over Kyoshi, over the one possibility of what it could be. “Did someone get hurt? Did something happen to Kelsang?!”
Rangi flinched and looked back up at Kyoshi. “No! No, that’s not it! No one’s hurt!” Then she mumbled. “Well, not physically at least…”
Kyoshi pinched the bridge of her nose. Rangi was usually straight to the point. This whole conversation was painful and now she was just dragging it out! “Then out with it! You’re making me anxious!”
“I’M SORRY, OKAY?!” she suddenly bellowed, face redder than ever before.
The two stared at each for a few beats.
“Okay, sorry for rushing you,” Kyoshi mumbled. She’d kept her own voice at a normal conversation level, there was no need for Rangi to start yelling or for Kyoshi to match that energy…”Take your time…”
Rangi’s face crumbled and looked absolutely devastated. “No! Not for this– I wanted to apologize for yesterday !”
Oh. Kyoshi wasn’t expecting that.
Kyoshi felt her body shift and tense, as if bracing for impact. Fearing the unknown. “O–okay?”
Rangi gritted her teeth, either in frustration or pain. “I…I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. It was wrong, and there’s no excuse... No excuse for why I said it.” Her eyes drifted to the ground, hardening. As if bracing for impact herself. “I’m…not saying this because I’m looking for forgiveness… I just think you have every right to an apology… You can do with it what you will…”
Kyoshi stared at Rangi, shocked. This was the first time someone had apologized to her for…well… anything ! No, not just anything, no one’s ever apologized to her in general! The shock of it all almost blinded Kyoshi to the realization…
She was in Kyoshi’s debt after wronging her. That was…noble, typical of a firebender. Maybe the way Kyoshi reacted hurt her honor?
Oh… That’s why she helped me out… Kyoshi wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand she was getting an apology, but on the other it was only out of some strange inclination from the Fire Nation culture to do such a thing. It most likely wasn’t sincere. Her first apology, and wasn’t even real. Just her luck.
“Okay,” her voice felt dead as she spoke her words. She didn’t know what else to say. Just decided to accept that it was said, but nothing else.
Rangi just nodded at the ground, unable to look at Kyoshi. Kyoshi readjusted the dirty laundry in her arms and began to walk away, when she felt something scratching at the back of her brain. A big boisterous laughter of a jolly man. Kelsang.
She remembered a time when she was ten, Kelsang had gotten into an argument with one of the local Yokoyan fisherman. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about, but she was under the impression the man had wronged Kelsang in a way. It looked pretty bad from what she saw, however, the next day the man had returned to apologize to Kelsang… And Kelsang forgave him. Kyoshi had no idea why.
“There are two fools in this world, Kyoshi. The one who doesn’t confess their mistake and the one who doesn’t pardon someone who has. That man apologized to me, and I do not plan to be that second fool,” he beamed at her. Then, slowly, his smile softened into something more melancholic. “But sometimes it can be hard to forgive…”
Argh, damn it… Kyoshi scratched the back of her head in frustration. Well she did say I didn’t have to forgive her, and I just had a right to an apology… Whatever that means… Maybe it’s not a cultural thing? Maybe she really meant it? Meant it or not…she at least apologized…so that’s something… But…
She looked back over her shoulder to see Rangi hadn’t moved at all from where she stood. She just continued glaring at the ground in defeat.
Kyoshi pouted. She wasn’t sure if Rangi was being sincere, but it appeared she was making an effort. And as Kelsang said, if someone was making the effort…she didn’t want to be the second fool. That, and if she wanted to continue to be the bigger person (figuratively, not literally), she’d need to swallow whatever resentment she had.
Be like Kelsang, be like Kelsang. She chanted in her head, determined to be like the man she looked up to.
She walked back over to Rangi, who startled when she saw Kyoshi approaching again.
“Okay,” Kyoshi said.
“H–huh?” Rangi blinked at her, confused. “Okay, what?”
“Okay, I’ll forgive you.” Then she thought about it. Just because she was forgiving someone, didn’t mean she needed to be nicey-nicey. She could show a little backbone. She leaned down slightly, voice low. An attempt to be threatening. “But only this once. Don’t ever do it again.”
The vibe Kyoshi was aiming for was intimidating, hoping she could maybe shake Rangi in her little Fire Nation boots. Instead, the shorter girl looked absolutely glowing. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
“O–okay! Don’t worry, I won’t! I promise!”
Kyoshi couldn’t help but stare at her dumbly as the sparkles flew and bounced off of her. It was almost as if the girl was…happy?! Why? Because Kyoshi forgave her? No that couldn’t be it.
This is too weird. Alarm bells from when Kyoshi lived on the street, when animals started acting outside the norm were cause for alarm. Like how nocturnal animals would come out during the day because they had rabies.
Maybe she was sick? Regardless, the sooner the firebender went back to yelling at her the better. She should get out of there before something happened.
“I need to get back to work,” Kyoshi quickly said, before sprinting off.