fire in your eyes • zuko

xviii

12 years ago

"Colonel Shinu, are you sure recruiting children from foreign Kingdoms is wise? What if they've already got misconceptions about the Fire Nation?"

"They're not misconceptions if they're true, Commander." Shinu said dismissively. "This is our chance to show these kids that the Fire Nation is more than a war-mongering country. The ones that don't fall into place will slip between the cracks anyway."

Commander Zhao pursed his lips but didn't say anything else.

The orphanage they went to was located an hour outside of Ba Sing Se, in a small village that had more cattle than people. The citizens watched in apprehension as Shinu and Zhao passed, flanked by a few soldiers. The woman who ran the orphanage was in her early twenties and went by the name Mari. She had a baby rested on her hip when she opened the door.

"Oh, Colonel Shinu, you're early," she said. "Excuse the mess, I didn't think you would be here for another few hours."

"The weather was better than we thought it would be. And no worries, kids never stay clean for long, do they?"

Mari smiled weakly. "Of course. Come in, the children are just finishing breakfast."

The 'orphanage', if it could be called that, was really just a house renovated to accommodate the twelve kids that lived there. The youngest one looked to be an infant, and the oldest was thirteen or fourteen.

"Kids!" Mari announced, snapping her fingers to get their attention. "We have some men here from the Fire Nation to visit. Please be on your best behaviour or there will be no dessert with supper."

The kids were silent for a moment before resuming their play.

Shinu stood with Zhao close to the entrance of the house, observing.

One boy, probably no older than four came up to him, tugging curiously on his pant leg. Shinu glanced down at him, smiling in what he hoped was a friendly way. The boy stared back before raising his arms to be picked up. Shinu obliged him, holding him with one arm.

"And what's your name?" he asked.

"Tano," the boy said.

"What a unique name. I'm Lao, and this is my friend Zhao."

"Lao and Zhao," Tano said with a small smile. "It rhymes!"

"That it does," Shinu said and set the boy back down.

Tano wandered off to a pile of building blocks, seemingly forgetting about everything else.

Twenty minutes after they got there, Shinu decided there was no one he was particularly interested in.

Except one.

He spotted a short brown-haired girl sitting by the window, absentmindedly doodling on a chalk slate.

Left-handed, he noticed.

"What about her, by the window?" he said to Mari.

"That's Nava, she's been here since she was about two or three," Mari said before shaking her head sadly. "Her parents were killed by a gang in Ba Sing Se. The father had been selling things in the Black Market and owed some debts to the wrong people. They came to collect one day and killed his wife. He died trying to get Nava to safety. The gang left her to die but officers found her a few hours later and brought her here."

Shinu approached Nava and squatted beside her.

"What are you drawing?" he asked.

The girl pointed out the window at a tree with a wooden swing tied to it. Shinu peered at the drawing and hummed.