Sword Fighting Show Down: The Future

As I eventually made myself calm down, I thought this whole situation over. And, as I thought about it, I resented the fact that I probably should say something. At least try to be friendly....

"So, what's been going on with you, Jonathan?" I asked, looking up at the sky -or trees, I guess- trying to avoid any eye contact.

I looked up, then spoke.

"Oh.....I lead this team now. Life's been treating me pretty badly, but I've gotten over it." I said. "At least, I act like I have." I mumbled to myself. I WANTED to say that my whole life had become horrible and that sometimes I wished I could just give up everything and crawl into a hole and disappear, but I didn't.

"Congratulations," I said sarcasticly, under my breath. I wanted to be happy for him, at least about how he now lead this "team", but I just couldn't manage that emotion right now....

"And that would explain why you're so stoic now," I continued, still under my breath, even quieter than before.

I heard every word she said, but I had learned to ignore sarcastic people. I responded to what she said last.

"There's nothing to be happy about anymore." I said flatly. "Everyone I loved.....they're dead now." I said. You would think there'd be some emotion in my voice when saying that, but there wasn't. I just pushed all those emotions back, buried them.

"Welcome to my life," I said, louder than before.
"Now you know how I feel.....My whole family is dead! All of my friends are dead! Even all of my adopted parents are dead!! And the only person I ever truley loved left me!" I could hear the rage and sorrow in my own voice, but no one else would ever understand what I've been through....

"You really want to compare us?" I scoffed. "My best friend died in my arms. My father was killed that same day. All of my friends were killed. I couldn't save them. To top it off, my wife died barely even ten seconds after we had been married. WITH my unborn child in her." I said, my voice raised, but calm. My teeth were clenched and I was holding back tears.

"I live every day thinking about all the different ways I could have saved them. About all the ways I could have kept my life from being ruined. I had a good life. I helped people, I had a beautiful women who loved me, and I had friends who would do anything for me. Now, I have to look at their children every day and know that I could have prevented their pain. I could have prevented MY pain. But I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't good enough. So don't you DARE compare my life to yours." I said, a few stray tears falling from my eyes. I turned and started to walk away. For the first time in a long time, I let the tears fall freely.

(He DOES have emotions! XP)

I glared at him angrily as he stomped off, and I uselessly stood up.
"I wasn't exactly comparing our lives, Jonathan!" I said, my voice nearly a scream.
"And don't throw all of your pity on me! I could care less about what you've been through!" I lied, trying to subdue my anger. The last thing I wanted here was a fight.
I didn't even bother trying to stop him as he walked off. I just glanced at Elandri, then I grabbed my sheathed swords, and walked off in the oppisite direction.

I was only walking for a few minutes, but I stopped anyway. I sat down on the ground, hugged my knees tightly, and let the tears flow freely and silently. I hadn't cried like this in a long time, but, for some bizzare reason, it almost felt good to cry....

I had been walking for a few minutes, when I realized what I had done. I felt a little bad. I started to walk back towards where we had been. I completely passed Elandri, not even giving her a chance to say anything. I saw Lynn sitting on the ground, crying. I started to walk towards her, but instead, I leaned against a tree not a few feet away from her and sunk to the ground, putting my face in my hands. I started crying again, not being able to hold them back as I always did.

I was angry at myself for yelling like that, not only because it had opened up old wounds, but because I had angered Lynn even more.

When I looked back up, I saw Jonathan a few feet away from me. I knew it was childish, but I couldn't stop myself from blushing slightly. The thought of him seeing me cry like that was just...embarresing.

Finally, I wiped the last of my tears away, though I'm sure my face was stained already. Then I hesitated with what to say....Nothing came to mind.

"I...I'm sorry..." I hesitated, still not sure what to say. But 'sorry' was the only thing that really came out of my mouth; my throat was dry, and my voice was hoarse from crying.

I looked up, my eyes probably red from crying. I looked away.

"Th....thank you..." I managed. I spoke again.

"I'm sorry for saying what I said....." I said, my voice a whisper.

I smiled slightly.
"Hey, nobody's perfect," I giggled a little, not really sure why I did....

I almost laughed, but I merely let a very small grin escape onto my face. I looked at her.

"Lynn? If I may ask....why do you like this Zuko man? I remember that he was incredibly rude to you."

Lynn....That name had brought back memories of my cruel past....I hadn't gone by 'Lynn' in years. I always went by Airi now...But I didn't think now was the best time to correct him about something like that.
Then he mentioned Zuko, and I laughed a little harder than before.

"You think I still like Zuko?! After what he did to me?" I asked, and then laughed a little more.

"I though that was who you were talking about before....the person who has asked to marry you." I said. "Then.....who did?"

"No, Zuko's with some other girl. What was her name....? Oh yeah, Mai was her name. Zuko and I never got over our fight fourteen years ago, really. We just stopped fighting about it, still held grudges. He did, at least..." I said, thinking back to that. Now it all seemed silly.

"The man who asked me is the new ruler of the Earth Kingdom. His name is Hayato...." My voice trailed off, and I stared off into space for a few seconds.

"Oh." I said simply. I felt a tinge of something in my stomach. Anger? A little. Jealousy? Exactly. I thought I had gotten over Lynn, but this whole ordeal opened things up again. I spoke.

"Are you going to say yes?" I said, trying to hide the jealousy in my voice, and failing.

I could hear the jealousy clear in his voice. This made me smile slightly and giggle a little. This whole ordeal made me feel like a child again...

I thought it over. I honestly had no idea. But I was leaning towards one answer.

"I doubt it," I answered, looking down at my hands. "I just don't know if he's the right guy....And I doubt I'm even ready for this," I added, looking from my hands to the trees above. I was trying to see if it was still bright outside or not, but the trees made everything dimmer. So I really couldn't tell.

I smiled slightly. I don't know why, but I did. It felt odd to smile again after so long. I spoke.

"What's he like?" I asked.

"Well," I started, thinking of the right words to describe him.
"He's very kind, and caring. He knows how to treat people right, and I think he's a very good ruler," I said, smiling slightly. But the smile faded quickly, and I thought of more ways to describe Hayato.
"He's patient, he's pretty good at settling disputes, and he's very friendly."

I was glad she had found a nice guy, but I still couldn't help feeling jealous.

"That's nice." I said. "So....why did you change your name?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

I could tell Jonathan was trying to change the subject. But that was fine with me; I didn't really want to talk about that subject right now, anyway.

"Well..." I hesitated.
"I wasn't really....pleased with my life as 'Lynn'....I had a bad reputation in most everywhere in the Fire Nation. So when I moved to the Earth Kingdom, I wanted to start my life over. Ever since I disappeared into that -or this- forest fourteen years ago, everyone thought 'Lynn' was dead. I took that to my advantage, the perfect time to start my life over....Everyone still thinks 'Lynn' is dead, which is completely fine with me, " I shrugged, then sighed. "And since that, I could live happily in the Earth Kingdom as 'Airi', not having to worry about anything in my past...." My voice trailed off, and I sighed again.

I was about to speak when I heard leaves being crunched underfoot back where Elandri was. It sounded like somone was running. I got to my feet, and without saying anything, ran back to where we had been earlier. Elandri was nowhere to be seen. But there WAS blood on the ground, as well as a sword. I immediately recognized it as Elandri's. My eyes widened.

How could I not have heard any fighting? I asked myself.

I got on my feet quickly, following Jonathan back to where we were before. My eyes widened as I saw blood on the ground....Along with a sword that I slowly recongized as Elandri's.

"What happened?!" I gasped, my eyes still wide.

I barely noticed Lynn come up next to me. I choked out some words.

"I-I don't know." I said, looking around franticallyu at the forest surrounding us.

"Elandri?" I called, worry clear in my voice. I was starting to panick again, and I franticly looked around....