Eclipse (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Chapter 19: Flower in the Rain

She was a waitress at a local tea shop. One that had gained some form of popularity recently for its delicious tea. It was said that an older man, a man named Mushi, who he had eventually come across in his days at the tea shop, was the reason the tea was brewed so well. However, the reason that he found himself going back to the quaint little tea shop tucked away in the lower ring wasn't for the delicious tea, but for the young woman who worked there most afternoons. Though, again, it wasn't for the reasons that one might expect.

It wasn't to say that she wasn't charming, but relatively young as he was, he was still far too old to be chasing after a young woman in the spring of her youth. Instead, it was because she was the sort of person that others found endlessly fascinating, and he was no exception. He had first caught a glimpse of her when she played the guzheng on the floor of the small tea shop. He had only managed to catch the last bit of her performance, but he could see the way that the audience was entranced by her. He had been stuck in a bout of writer's block for weeks at this point, but something about the tail end of her performance had sparked something in him. He had gone home and written a poem about her. Not quite what he, or his publisher for that matter, was hoping for, but it was something. Since then, he would return to that tea shop whenever he felt the urge, in hopes that seeing the most intriguing young woman in town would spark some kind of inspiration in him once again.

She was popular with the regulars and for good reason. What drew most of the customers in about her initially was undoubtedly her appearance. The young woman was beautiful. That was merely a fact, but once they were drawn in, they stayed not for her beauty but for conversation with her. The bright young lady was refreshing to be around with her warm smiles and well-rounded knowledge. There was no topic that she could not speak to. From poetry to government policy to cooking to the latest fashions, the young woman seemed to know a little bit about everything. And even when she didn't already know about the topic, she was a quick study. Pai sho enthusiasts would pay to have her sit down and play against them while she was on shift, poets to speak with her for inspiration, even an eccentric inventor of sorts had sought her out to collect her opinion. At the center of it all, was this beautiful, bright, young woman, who met each and every one of them with a smile and the sort of confidence that boosted the confidence of those around her.

It wasn't long before the proposals came flooding in. A rich scion who claimed to be the first to do so, an intelligent, young government official, a handsome, hardworking soldier— the list of appealing bachelors didn't end. Each and every day, more would appear at the door of the small tea shop to ask for her hand in marriage. To the point where the owner demanded that they come inside and order tea if they were going to loiter by the shop just to see her. Yet, with each suitor more appealing than the last, she turned all of them down with a graceful bow and an eloquent apology. The young woman was a sensation in her own right. It wasn't long before the young women from the upper echelons began to despise her. Yet none would dare to raise a hand against her in public. Not with the amount of adoration she received from all of her suitors, rejected or not.

Essentially speaking, she was untouchable.

He had the pleasure of speaking to her just once, when the rain was heavy enough that the shop wasn't bustling with patrons as it normally was. On that stormy day, her hair was braided into the half-up, half-down style she favored and fixed with a comb embellished with hydrangeas. "Hana, isn't it?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, you have quite a good memory, don't you Mr. Liao?" His eyes widened a little at the realization that he had never introduced himself before, and she continued as though she could read his mind, "Ah, I asked Mr. Fu for your name once. Perhaps after your third visit? I noticed that you have a penchant for sitting by yourself and looking rather lost in thought, so I wondered if you might be a writer." She giggled. "Imagine Mr. Fu's face when he confirmed just as much."