Back Home Again <Tachi Dai, Earth Kingdom>

[taka]

. . . . .

Chirpchirpchirpchirp...

...What?

Chirpchirpchirpchirp...

...Taka groaned and opened his eyes, hearing the distant chatter of birds in the morning. His mind wasg groggy, and he was trying to figure out what he was doing here in the dirt, with candles burning all around him, and Yasu sleeping beside him...

...WHAT?!

He quickly moved away, thinking he must have made some terrible mistake yesterday, but it was coming back to him. The storm, the shelter...the bump on his head...

He sighed, calming down, his heart beating hard and fast. He looked over at her, her face calm in sleep. She looked so vulnerable... and cute. He really hoped that she liked him... but she probably didn't. But he watched her nontheless. A bit of red came to his cheeks as he watched her for a while, before he shook his head side to side. He needed to wake up. He crawled back over to her, hearing more birds, and gently shook her. "Yasu?...Yasu, wake up. It's morning."

[yasu]

Woods. It was dark. She heard something rumble in the distance. She pulled her arrow from her quiver, buckling it onto her strung bow, pointing it in the direction of the rumbling. A flash of light. She was high in a tree, looking down at the path bellow the branch. Her bow was pulled back, the arrow catching the light of the sun. Something was coming. Faster, faster. The ground was shaking. Why was it shaking? Stampede? She tightened her legs around the branch. Coming...coming... What was coming?

"Yasu?...Yasu, wake up. It's morning."

Yasu Al slowly opened her eyes, unnerved by her dream, and even unnerved by the voice that was so close beside her. She turned her head to groggily look at Taka, and her eyes grew wide. She fell backward onto the ground with a squeek. It was safe to say that the first thought came to her mind was close to what had come to Taka's: What was she doing in the dark with Taka-kun? And then, like a hurricane, everything came back to her. Hard and fast.

Yasu shook her head quickly and swung herself forward into a sitting position. Still sleepy, she fisted her hands and rubbed her eyes. "Mmmph--mmmrph---mummble," she grumbled under her breath. Translation: Good morning Taka-kun. Yawning, she looked around once more, lowering her hands into lap. "Is the storm past?"

[taka]

He looked up at the opening. It was still closed, but light was peeping through. That would mean that the clouds were gone, and also, there was not the sound of rain or any lightning. And the birds that had awoken him apparently thought it was safe enough to be out and about. The birds usually knew what they were about. He smiled at her. "Yeah, I think it's safe to go out now." He stood (as well as he could) and reached up to the hatch-like door, pulling out the latch, and pushing up, opening it. He then clambered out, looking around. The Inn looked normal, but nobody was about yet. They were probably still sleeping. He couldn't blame them- this morning was going to be slow. Most people would probably go home instead of staying at the Inn, and the next few days were also bound to be slow. This was not good, but for him, it wasn't a bad thing either.

He called down to Yasu, "Stay there for a second. I'm going to see what's going on real fast."

He jogged down the hallway towards the entrance, and ran outside. The Inn, though he had been certain last night it had been struck, didn't seem to be damaged at all. It was very good that it hadn't been. If it had been, there would have been difficulties. Now that he was outside, he could see that, in fact, he was probably among the last few to rise. Most of the people were up and about, but they were simply headed out of town to their homes to repair damages. Most of the shops wouldn't open today (except maybe the tool store). He sighed. Today was probably going to be VERY boring and slow.

His father and mother were over talking to another man, who left suddenly, as Taka approached. They beamed at him. "There you are. Where's Yasu?"

Taka said, "I had her stay there a moment. I wanted to see what was going on."

They chuckled a moment, about what Taka had no idea. "Well," started his father, "There's no repair to be done here. People have been given the supplies they need while you've been sleeping, and so there's nothing left to be done, really. You could go and have some breakfast, but you'll have to cook it. I and your mother need to go and get some more crops, if there are any left after that." He sighed. "We'll be short on things awhile. You know."

Taka nodded, sighing. "I'll go get Yasu and have breakfast. What time is it anyway?"

"Sun just rose about 2 hours ago, son. See you later!" They turned and walked down the road to the east. Taka walked back to the Inn, to go get Yasu. He turned down his hallway, and then peeked back down into the hole.

"It's safe Yasu. Everybody's okay, but a lot of people's home's needed repair. They've all left to see to it, so we're alone basically. Come on, I'll make us some breakfast." He held a hand down into the hole to help her up.

[yasu]

Taka smiled at her. "Yeah, I think it's safe to go out now." He stood and reached up to the hatch-like door, pulling out the latch, and pushing up, opening it. He disappeared to the world above and Yasu stood slowly, beginning to make her way upward as well to the ladder. Then, she heard his voice. "Stay there for a second. I'm going to see what's going on real fast." Her foot was rested against the first panel of the ladder, and she slowly leaned forward against the railing, looking upward as she saw Taka disappear out of her view-line. She sighed. Why did she have to stay down in this musky, dark, dank hole again?

Right, because Taka had told her to. ANd...why should she listen to Taka-kun? Because he was older than she and knew his way around Tachi Dai better than she. Yasu Al frowned and leaned forward on the railing once more. Why had she woken up so suddenly this morning? (She's a bit slow in the morning if she gets a good night's rest). Oh, right, because Taka-kun had awakened her. She sighed heavily and rested her forehead on one of her fists palms. Why was she feeling so strange suddenly? She had a strange feeling in her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything in a while...so it wasn't food. Perhaps she was hungry? But no, she knew that it wasn't hunger that was making her stomach get a good, nervous jump in it every time Taka smiled at her.

Yasu wanted to hit her head against the wall. She hardly knew the boy. She had been with him all this time, but she didn't actually [/i]know[/i] him. And he surely didn't know her. No one did. She really wanted to beat her head against the wall. Instead, she just tapped her forehead repeatedly against her hand which was grasping the railing of the ladder. A voice above her head made her look up.

"It's safe Yasu. Everybody's okay, but a lot of people's home's needed repair. They've all left to see to it, so we're alone basically. Come on, I'll make us some breakfast." Taka held a hand down for her to take, and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks, despite the worry she held for the other villagers. Instead, she climbed out on her own accord and once she was out in the hallway, she brushed her clothes off from the dust and looked at Taka in concern. "I'm glad to hear nobody got seriously injured."

As they began walking toward the kitchen, Yasu commented, "Is the soccer game canceled? Surely the storm dampened the earth too much to play?" Her brows were furrowed downward in thought.

[taka]

"It probably will be," he answered. "I doubt that the field will be in use for some time, after this... unfortunate, but... well... what can you do?" He sighed, and continued on his way to the kitchen. This time, nobody was there (unlike virtually every other mealtime). He turned his mind to other things, which were much more important. Like, what to have for breakfast? And more importantly, with the Inn running low on provisions, would there be only biscuits for breakfast? Oh, Yasu would LOVE that. He wondered for a moment if he should tease her about it, but decided firmly against it, because he was afraid he'd get slapped, and that would be rather detrimental to his looks. He grinned, though, at the thought of it, as they entered into the kitchen. Empty, it looked unnaturally big, with the chairs stacked every which way, the way they'd been left. It looked, quite simply, as though a storm had blown through.

Taka rolled his eyes. "And I suppose they'll want me to clean this up, hm...?" He made his way, instead, into the kitchen's back room, which was simply a hop over the serving counter (there was a door, but since when did Taka take a door?), and he landed on the other side, and then walked through a larger door which led to the back room. Inside, he looked around. They were INDEED out of provisions: only a few stores of salted meat were left, none of which looks particularly tasty (at least not raw...). The vegetables were all against one side of the room, and there were a few left of everything, but not a whole lot of anything. Taka groaned. "Wonderful. What am I supposed to make with THIS?" He sighed... and then turned to Yasu. "Do you trust me to cook something? I can do it, but with this... well, let's just say that I can't make any promises." He looked at her with a face that said, 'Sorry'.

[yasu]

"It probably will be," he answered her shortly, "I doubt that the field will be in use for some time, after this... unfortunate, but... well... what can you do?" She shrugged in response, crossing her arms across her chest as they walked. When they reached the eating area, it was unusually quiet and she wondered what time it was. It was empty. Completely, utterly empty with the chairs propped in various directions and it looks abnormally large. Yasu Al wondered if the storm really had hit the Inn, but just the cafeteria area. She glanced at Taka and he was, strangely, grinning. She was bewildered by this and narrowed her eyes at him curiously. Suddenly, he said: "And I suppose they'll want me to clean this up, hm...?"

She blinked. Was she supposed to answer that? Or was it rhetorical? Fretting over whether she should answer it or not, she didn't see Taka make his way over to the Kitchen's back room. When she finally decided that she should answer and she lifted a finger to speak, and she looked around, she realized she was alone and she immediately squeaked and made her around to the sound of someone on the other side of a counter. When she used the door, politely, and entered the back kitchen area, she found Taka looking around.

Taka groaned. "Wonderful. What am I supposed to make with this?" He sighed and turned toward her, and she leaned against the wall casually, arms crossed across her chest. "Do you trust me to cook something? I can do it, but with this... well, let's just say that I can't make any promises."

Yasu smirked, an expression not normally seen on her sincere face, and said, "We could always eat a couple of biscuits, I'm sure the ones from our travels aren't exactly green yet, and they seem to keep and keep and keep..." And then she grinned and pushed herself off the wall. "I'm no newcomer to the kitchen, Taka-kun. I can cook something up with a few vegetables or something; I can help. I didn't go to an academy of all girls just for the studies, you know; they taught you how to be a wife there. Trust me." She made a disgusted face at just the thought of her old schooling situation but then stepped beside Taka, grinning around at their provisions. "So let's get goin', I'm starving!"

[taka]

Yasu's enthusiasm was good, because Taka wasn't all that good at this. He was happy that she knew how to cook, because if she didn't, they would probably have starved or died... or both. But she had saved him here, even if they didn't have all that much to cook. He sighed, looking around, and picked up a few pieces of meat. "I suppose that these will do..." He then set out the firewood under the stove. "I'll leave the other parts to you..." he said to Yasu. He turned to the meat. First, he needed to get the fire started. He struck flint and finally got the wood lit. When it went up, he put the two steaks into the frying pan, and sprikled salt and pepper all over them. He then added a few peppers to it, frying them along with the steaks. This was an old, and easy, recipe, and it was good. Plus, it was technically good for breakfast. Kind of. He added a bit more salt, as the steaks began to cook. They began sizzling, as he flipped them over. He turned to look at Yasu. "How's it coming Yasu?" he asked.

[yasu]

"I suppose that these will do..." he said as he set a few pieces of meat around. Yasu nodded and watched as he then set about lighting the firewood under the stove. "I'll leave the other parts to you..." he said to Yasu. Yasu blinked. Other parts? Ooh, maybe she had been out of the kitchen for too long. Of course, the cooking class back at the Fire Nation Academy had been one of her favorites, just because it was easy to pass and it was a small requirement for the Rebellion at that time for women to know how to cook at least decently.

Almost hesitantly, as if not trusting her hand, Yasu began to find some vegetables. She woldn't use a lot; Agni knew these people needed their vegetables to last until they could send someone out for more. She grabbed a few red peppers, an onion, and a green looking vegetable that looked edible. Grabbing a knife off the counter, she began to cut. FIrst slow; she needed to get back into the rythem. On more than one occasion in the past she had cut herself trying to go faster than she was used to. So, slowly, she began to go faster until she was smiling in her confidence.

She glanced at Taka, and grinned. "Okay..." She was tapping er foot to the rhythem of her cutting. The smell of food wafted toward her and her mouth watered. "That smells really good, Taka-kun!" But then again, at this rate, anything would have smelled good.

[taka]

"Thanks, Yasu," he said, grinning. He was rather proud of how the steak was coming out. Very seldom could he cook steaks hat tasted like anything, but this time, he was sure, they would not only taste like something, but that they would taste like something good. He added a few onion slices to his steaks, and they were about done, sizzling in their own juices, and in the juices of the vegetables he'd added. It smelled delicious. He reached over the counter, and grabbed two plates, and some utensiles (namely knives for cutting, and a pointy stick for grabbing meat).

There was plenty there for the both of them (and perhaps 4 to 5 other members of the rebellion as well...). 6 medium sized steaks (all cooked medium rare) with piles of fried vegetables to go with them. It all looked wonderful. He spooned an even amount onto each of their plates. "This is gonna be good..." he said. He sniffed them hungrily, and they DID smell good. He closed the grate, denying the fire any air (which would kill it) and pulled the dirty pan off the stove, placing it with the other ones (which would be cleaned later by a hired hand... if he ever showed). Well, he was done and ready.

He turned to Yasu. "Is everything else ready?" he asked. He was ready to eat, and he was hungry too. He looked over her shoulder at what she was making, eagerly awaiting the surprise.

[yasu]

Yasu slid the cut up green vegetable away from the others and began cutting up the onion, nodding her head to a tune in her head. She glanced to Taka, who was finishing up the steak. There was a lot there. She guessed he made more for other Rebellion members, or his family. "This is gonna be good..." he said offhandedly, and she nodded in agreement. Absently, she began looking for the rice cabinet. When she found it, she began to mix the already-made rice with the green vegetable. She added the onions and then began cutting up the third and final vegetable.

Yasu felt something over her shoulder and moved her head slightly to the side to see what it was, and nearly felt herself have a heart-attack when she realized it was Taka looking over her shoulder at the food. "Is everything else ready?" he asked.

A blush softened her cheeks at his proximity but she nodded in response, putting the dried rice and vegetables together and mixing them. "Its nothing special," she said softly. And indeed, it wasn't. It was just a recipe most early Rebel members had to learn for the road...just in case biscuits weren't a fine choice. "Just basic..." She piled the rice mixture onto a pate, slightly flustered by his proximity, and when she turned around and jumped. She just thanked Agni she hadn't grabbed said plate yet, or the rice would have tumbled to the ground. Her hand immediately grabbed onto the table behind her to keep her steady, and she breathed heavily. "Agni," she said softly under her breath, shutting her eyes.

[taka]

He was a bit confused. First off, Yasu was making her own meal look worse than his. It wasn't! Certainly not. It took a lot of skill to mix rice and vegetables. It was hard to make the right ratio on either side. And she might have cut herself! Taka wasn't one to overplay the importance of food, but goodness! What was she thinking?

He shook his head. "Yasu, that looks absolutely delicious!" he said, as she turned. She jumped, seemingly surprised that he was directly behind her, and she muttered "Agni..."

He seemed to remember that Agni was the Fire Nation's spirit. Agni wasn't favorably represented to him... Agni to him was a burning, consuming spirit full of hunger for land and life, and it would never be assauged. But maybe to Yasu, it was something else...

In fact, it was so bad to him, and essentially, Yasu had just walked up to him and said "Blood blood blood..." Agni was like a taboo word around him. He paled considerably, staring at Yasu. He gulped, hoping that his own spirits would forgive him as he didn't say anything against Agni. But he didn't want to hurt Yasu's feelings. She didn't know.

He turned and picked up the steaks, and said, (somewhat shakily), "C-cmon Yasu... let's go eat. I've got the knives and pointy sticks for the meat. If you could get the chopsticks, we'd be set." He walked quickly over to a table, and set them down, literally falling into his seat, gulping again. Agni... that wasn't his favorite spirit to hear about.

[yasu]

Yasu blinked in confusion as Taka's face paled in comparison to what it had been before. Did he feel sick? Maybe he should sit down... She pushed her body from its position against the table and looked at him in concern, ready to tell him exactly what she thought, but stopped short. It was just then that she realized that maybe it was something she had said. She had said 'Agni'. To her, Agni was a spirit that took little mercy...but she believed Agni to be the original flame of the Fire Nation, of what it should be like.

Taka was looking at her oddly. Yasu spun around and grabbed the plate of rice mixture just to get away from his gaze. When she had turned around, Taka was talking in a shaky voice and walking out of the kitchen swiftly. Yasu just barely caught what he said, he was moving so fast. "--Sticks for the meat. If you could get the chopsticks, we'd be set."

Yasu followed behind at a slower pace, watching the food on the plate in her hand. She was known to be...unbalanced...at strange times like this. She didn't want to fall and waste food. She moved over to Taka and set down the plate slowly before sitting down in her seat. SHe did not make a move to take anything, she just stared at the table in thought.

I must've offended him, she thought sadly, This is the Earth Kingdom...its not that Fire Nation. They might not look too highly to Agni as we do. As a matter of fact, I know they don't. I shouldn't have said Agni's name. Forgive me Agni, but I offended Taka-kun...I probably put him in a strange place. She sighed and said, without looking at Taka. "I'm sorry."

[taka]

Taka gulped as the silence stretched on... Yasu seemed to realize she'd affected him with her statement. But she seemed just as hurt by his sudden silence as he had been hurt by her statement. He gulped, and was about to say something, but then she said, rather quietly, "I'm sorry."

Now see what you've done? Idiot. He stammered out a response. "Th-there's nothing to be s-sorry about, Yasu-chan..." He gulped. "It's... not the same for either of us... but that shouldn't stop you." The fact that she'd been able to realize what was bothering him so quickly was nice. He wanted to reassure her that he was fine. "I-it's really fine, Yasu. Really." He sighed. "Besides, I want to try some of your rice." He stole some from her plate, smiling nervously as he did. He then added some of his meat and vegetables into it, and tried the rice.

His eyes went wide. "Mm." He grabbed some more, and began snarfing it down. He didn't even stop to breath for awhile. It was SO good. It was just perfect. It didn't taste too spicy, but it didn't taste like nothing either. It was wonderful! He was eating only a little bit of his own cooking, simply because Yasu's was so wonderful. After tasting that, his meal looked (at least to him) so boring, and normal. Even though it was surely very good.

He looked up at Yasu, swallowing 5 mouthfulls at once. "This is really good!"

[yasu]

Yasu didn't really understand what she had done wrong, but she knew enough to know that perhaps the mention of the Fire Nation over-all spirit had made Taka uncomfortable. She blamed herself, and no one else, for mentioning the merciless, flaming spirit. With a soft sigh, barely audible, she began to eat.

But the hunger that had been gnawing at her, and that had in all honesty caused her to cook, had all but nearly dissipated. She took a bite of her concoction of rice and vegetables and held in her pleasure. So, she still had it. She took another bite and then made her way to the steak.

"Th-there's nothing to be s-sorry about, Yasu-chan..." Taka stuttered out, making Yasu look at him a little cautiously. "It's... not the same for either of us... but that shouldn't stop you. I-it's really fine, Yasu. Really." He sighed. "Besides, I want to try some of your rice."

Yasu blinked as he stole some of the rice from her plate. He didn't look alright. Yasu Al decided that she'd never mention Agni in front of any other Earth Kingdom civilian. It had been a slip of the tongue earlier, an accident caused by a habit long ago made, when she was a child at the Academy. She had been trying to break it, honestly, she thought she had. She was not naive to the fact that it wasn't a wise idea to mention the merciless spirit in a foreign nation. What had caused her to say it was pure surprise.

So she just nodded as he spoke some more, ignoring his move to grab some more rice. She looked up only minutely when she realized that Taka was just shoveling in the rice. Her eyebrows raised in shock; her rice was good...but was it really that good? He didn't even seem to be breathing in between bites! So she just looked down at her plate and began eating the meat, chewing, and then smiling softly. It was really very good, his food. It was tender. And spiced just right.

"This is really good!" Taka said. She looked up and watched him in silence, before looking back down at her plate and eating some more.

Finally, she spoke, "Yes, the meat is very good, as well. Its tender." She looked up at him and smiled softly once more. She wasn't hesitant, just a bit...sad. Not disappointed or anything like that. It was a mix of contentment, acceptance, and sadness. "Its very good." She cut the meat up and mixed it with the rice, before eating it. She hummed in pleasure at the taste, and began eating a bit more quickly.

[taka]

Taka continued eating Yasu's wonderful rice, until his half of it was gone. He then discontentedly went back to eating his own cooking, which was considerably less tasty. Yasu apparently liked his cooking too. "It's very good," she said. He smiled at her, pausing in eating for a moment.

"Thanks, Yasu," he said. And he meant it too. He got to cook sometimes, but he hardly ever got any compliments, simply because he usually cooked for lots of people instead of a few, who could tell him how his cooking was. He was also pleased that they'd gotten off of the topic of spirits. That always caused problems. He decided not to bring up his own spirits in front of her. Ever. That would be best, because some earth spirits weren't all that nice to Fire Nationers either.

He kept eating, until finally, all his meat, rice, and vegetables were gone. It had all been wonderful, and it was all done and over with. what a wonderful meal. However, noticing that Yasu hadn't said anything, he looked over at her, with a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright Yasu?" he asked.