"Separation" (Suki, D, light, 2)
Title: Separation
Author: karma_kalisutah
Claim: Suki
Challenge: Duality
Chakra: Light
Prompt: 2. Illusion
Warnings: mild femslash, violence, death, and torture
Lying on her back, staring at the mold on the ceiling (it spreads-the only thing in sight that ever changes), she hears the whirring in the walls. Some machine, no doubt; one of the Fire Nation's metal abominations. The sound bounces around in her hollowed-out mind, picking up bits of her thoughts as it goes, echoing back and forth and warping around itself until
Love him. Hardly know him. Love him. Hardly know him. Love him.
No. Sokka has the whole world to save. She ought to at least be capable of saving herself. Her girls need her; she ought to be thinking about them. She hasn't even seen them since
All around her they struggled and fell, pinned to trees by flying knives or collapsed paralyzed on the ground. She was separated from the rest, caught up fighting with the Fire Princess, and could do nothing but hope that she had trained them well enough.
She hadn't.
"Hold still," she heard the girl with the knives grunt. But Midori didn't hold still, and Suki looked up just in time to see the stiletto blade strike through her neck. There was very little blood. Midori stood swaying for a moment, her face frozen in a look of quiet surprise. Then a sharp hissing sound escaped from her throat and she crumpled. The knife-thrower cringed and averted her gaze. "Ew," she said. "That's gross."
Suki lunged at her. There were no thoughts, no considerations, just the scream of something bright and hot in her heart as it was blown out. The knife-thrower saw her coming but made no move to evade her.
A flash of light and a burst of crippling heat filled Suki's awareness. She was down before she realized she had been hit. The shadow of the Fire Princess fell over her prone form, and a small but surprisingly heavy foot came down on her back to stamp out the smoldering in her robes.
That's why she doesn't think about them as often as she should. She told them that she would look after them. She told them that no one would ever be left behind. Midori's ashes were left in that forest. Her body was burned on a pyre of twigs and dry leaves ignited by the firebender.
I am a warrior.
Suki no longer believes it. She is a fighter, now and forever, but she has no more desire to have anything to do with war.
I'm also a girl.
Love him. Hardly know him. Love him. Hardly know him.
She pulls at her hair, hoping the pain will distract her from the noise and the words that it forms in her head. How far gone is she if the walls are talking to her now? She supposes it was bound to happen. No one ever speaks to her except
The Fire Princess leans casually back against the bars. "What makes you think he'll even recognize you?" She asks. "He has trouble with that under the best of circumstances."
Suki stares at her. "How..?" she croaks, her voice rusty and dry from disuse.
"You talk to yourself sometimes. I like to listen in."
"Witch."
"Ty Lee wants him, you know," the princess continues, examining her dagger-like nails. "I told her she could have him, once we capture the Avatar. I don't think he'll have many objections. Ty Lee can be very persuasive. Trust me, it's hard to compete with a contortionist." She glances over her shoulder at Suki with a leer. Suki holds her gaze, glaring back. "Anyhow, you don't have much to recommend yourself by anymore. I suggest you reconsider my offer." She leaves before Suki can respond, her retreating footsteps echoing through the dungeons.
Love him. Hardly know him. Love him.
She needs him. She tells herself that it's weak and it's selfish, but she can no longer bring herself to care. Physical salvation, she still believes, is something she might yet be able to win for herself, depending on how her luck falls out. But that isn't enough. She wants to know that someone is fighting for her, the way she's always fought for the people she
"Loves?" her captor repeated with a smile. "I doubt it. This doesn't look much like a fairytale to me. A mighty warrior, imprisoned by a beautiful princess, awaits her rescue at the hands of a hapless damsel."
"He's a warrior too," Suki told her. "He'll come for me. Then we'll free my girls, and I'll hunt down that friend of yours and make her pay for what she did to Midori."
"I'll be sure to warn Mai. It might amuse her for two-and-a-half seconds." Suki did not respond. "How well do you know him, anyhow? How many times could you even have met?" Still no answer. "I take it you love him back?"
"Yes," she said, because she felt it too strongly not to, though it seemed horribly perverse that this witch from the Fire Nation should be the first to hear it.
"Why?"
It was a ridiculous question, aside from being personal. Suki did not dignify it with a response.
"Did he kiss you?"
"I don't see how any of this concerns you." Suki ducked her head to hide her blush, but not quickly enough.
"Anyone can kiss you."
"Not like that."
There was the soft clink of a key turning in a lock, and instantly the blood drained from the Kyoshi Warrior's face. Warmly intoxicating memories of joined lips and gentle touches froze and shattered, replaced by a cold, tense thrill at the anticipation of violence and the possibility of freedom. She was on her feet before the princess had a chance to close the door behind her.
The cell they were in was not spacious enough for the usual Kyoshi Warrior techniques to be effective, so Suki took a chance and struck first. She swiped a kick at the Fire Nation girl's legs, hoping to knock her off balance. The princess leapt up and out of the way, and from mid air aimed a kick of her own at the Kyoshi Warrior's head. Suki managed to evade it, but found herself backed up against the wall. A moment later the Fire Princess had her pinned there, holding her by the wrists and pressing their bodies together so that there was no room to struggle.
That was when the Kyoshi Warrior's body first began to betray her. Suki had not felt the touch of another human being in many days, possibly weeks. Now the reassuringly ordinary sensation of fingertips on her skin caused her battle-tensed muscles to relax, and against her will she found herself melting like butter in the warmth of the Fire Princess's grasp.
Then the princess kissed her. Her lips were smooth and cool as they came down around Suki's own, but her breath was warm. The kiss was firm and dominant, but not rough or invasive, and it made Suki's heart flutter and her stomach turn over. In that moment, she felt more helpless and trapped than she had throughout her entire imprisonment.
"Was I close?" the princess asked as she pulled away.
Suki said nothing and spat in her eye.
The Fire Princess recoiled and struck the Earth Nation girl across the side of her head, causing it to rebound against the stone wall with a resounding crack. Half-conscious, Suki crumpled to the floor. The firebender swooped down on her and spread a hand over her face.
"See if anyone else ever has the stomach to kiss you again," she said, and Suki's rapidly fading senses were overwhelmed by blinding light and burning pain.
Suki remembers all this as she again runs her fingers over her scars and tries to gauge how bad the damage is. The bars on her cell are tarnished and dull, and nothing else around her is even remotely reflective. She has not seen a mirror of any sort since her capture. With her luck going the way it has been, she expects the worst.
Still the walls murmur at her insistently.
Love him. Hardly know him.
Sometimes she changes her mind and decides that she does not want him to come. Better she rescues herself. Better he remembers her the way she was. Better she never has to see his face when he sees hers. Better he not be tested. Better they not risk discovering that what they thought they had was a lie.
Kisses do lie; it had been close.
Author: karma_kalisutah
Claim: Suki
Challenge: Duality
Chakra: Light
Prompt: 2. Illusion
Warnings: mild femslash, violence, death, and torture
Lying on her back, staring at the mold on the ceiling (it spreads-the only thing in sight that ever changes), she hears the whirring in the walls. Some machine, no doubt; one of the Fire Nation's metal abominations. The sound bounces around in her hollowed-out mind, picking up bits of her thoughts as it goes, echoing back and forth and warping around itself until
Love him. Hardly know him. Love him. Hardly know him. Love him.
No. Sokka has the whole world to save. She ought to at least be capable of saving herself. Her girls need her; she ought to be thinking about them. She hasn't even seen them since
All around her they struggled and fell, pinned to trees by flying knives or collapsed paralyzed on the ground. She was separated from the rest, caught up fighting with the Fire Princess, and could do nothing but hope that she had trained them well enough.
She hadn't.
"Hold still," she heard the girl with the knives grunt. But Midori didn't hold still, and Suki looked up just in time to see the stiletto blade strike through her neck. There was very little blood. Midori stood swaying for a moment, her face frozen in a look of quiet surprise. Then a sharp hissing sound escaped from her throat and she crumpled. The knife-thrower cringed and averted her gaze. "Ew," she said. "That's gross."
Suki lunged at her. There were no thoughts, no considerations, just the scream of something bright and hot in her heart as it was blown out. The knife-thrower saw her coming but made no move to evade her.
A flash of light and a burst of crippling heat filled Suki's awareness. She was down before she realized she had been hit. The shadow of the Fire Princess fell over her prone form, and a small but surprisingly heavy foot came down on her back to stamp out the smoldering in her robes.
That's why she doesn't think about them as often as she should. She told them that she would look after them. She told them that no one would ever be left behind. Midori's ashes were left in that forest. Her body was burned on a pyre of twigs and dry leaves ignited by the firebender.
I am a warrior.
Suki no longer believes it. She is a fighter, now and forever, but she has no more desire to have anything to do with war.
I'm also a girl.
Love him. Hardly know him. Love him. Hardly know him.
She pulls at her hair, hoping the pain will distract her from the noise and the words that it forms in her head. How far gone is she if the walls are talking to her now? She supposes it was bound to happen. No one ever speaks to her except
The Fire Princess leans casually back against the bars. "What makes you think he'll even recognize you?" She asks. "He has trouble with that under the best of circumstances."
Suki stares at her. "How..?" she croaks, her voice rusty and dry from disuse.
"You talk to yourself sometimes. I like to listen in."
"Witch."
"Ty Lee wants him, you know," the princess continues, examining her dagger-like nails. "I told her she could have him, once we capture the Avatar. I don't think he'll have many objections. Ty Lee can be very persuasive. Trust me, it's hard to compete with a contortionist." She glances over her shoulder at Suki with a leer. Suki holds her gaze, glaring back. "Anyhow, you don't have much to recommend yourself by anymore. I suggest you reconsider my offer." She leaves before Suki can respond, her retreating footsteps echoing through the dungeons.
Love him. Hardly know him. Love him.
She needs him. She tells herself that it's weak and it's selfish, but she can no longer bring herself to care. Physical salvation, she still believes, is something she might yet be able to win for herself, depending on how her luck falls out. But that isn't enough. She wants to know that someone is fighting for her, the way she's always fought for the people she
"Loves?" her captor repeated with a smile. "I doubt it. This doesn't look much like a fairytale to me. A mighty warrior, imprisoned by a beautiful princess, awaits her rescue at the hands of a hapless damsel."
"He's a warrior too," Suki told her. "He'll come for me. Then we'll free my girls, and I'll hunt down that friend of yours and make her pay for what she did to Midori."
"I'll be sure to warn Mai. It might amuse her for two-and-a-half seconds." Suki did not respond. "How well do you know him, anyhow? How many times could you even have met?" Still no answer. "I take it you love him back?"
"Yes," she said, because she felt it too strongly not to, though it seemed horribly perverse that this witch from the Fire Nation should be the first to hear it.
"Why?"
It was a ridiculous question, aside from being personal. Suki did not dignify it with a response.
"Did he kiss you?"
"I don't see how any of this concerns you." Suki ducked her head to hide her blush, but not quickly enough.
"Anyone can kiss you."
"Not like that."
There was the soft clink of a key turning in a lock, and instantly the blood drained from the Kyoshi Warrior's face. Warmly intoxicating memories of joined lips and gentle touches froze and shattered, replaced by a cold, tense thrill at the anticipation of violence and the possibility of freedom. She was on her feet before the princess had a chance to close the door behind her.
The cell they were in was not spacious enough for the usual Kyoshi Warrior techniques to be effective, so Suki took a chance and struck first. She swiped a kick at the Fire Nation girl's legs, hoping to knock her off balance. The princess leapt up and out of the way, and from mid air aimed a kick of her own at the Kyoshi Warrior's head. Suki managed to evade it, but found herself backed up against the wall. A moment later the Fire Princess had her pinned there, holding her by the wrists and pressing their bodies together so that there was no room to struggle.
That was when the Kyoshi Warrior's body first began to betray her. Suki had not felt the touch of another human being in many days, possibly weeks. Now the reassuringly ordinary sensation of fingertips on her skin caused her battle-tensed muscles to relax, and against her will she found herself melting like butter in the warmth of the Fire Princess's grasp.
Then the princess kissed her. Her lips were smooth and cool as they came down around Suki's own, but her breath was warm. The kiss was firm and dominant, but not rough or invasive, and it made Suki's heart flutter and her stomach turn over. In that moment, she felt more helpless and trapped than she had throughout her entire imprisonment.
"Was I close?" the princess asked as she pulled away.
Suki said nothing and spat in her eye.
The Fire Princess recoiled and struck the Earth Nation girl across the side of her head, causing it to rebound against the stone wall with a resounding crack. Half-conscious, Suki crumpled to the floor. The firebender swooped down on her and spread a hand over her face.
"See if anyone else ever has the stomach to kiss you again," she said, and Suki's rapidly fading senses were overwhelmed by blinding light and burning pain.
Suki remembers all this as she again runs her fingers over her scars and tries to gauge how bad the damage is. The bars on her cell are tarnished and dull, and nothing else around her is even remotely reflective. She has not seen a mirror of any sort since her capture. With her luck going the way it has been, she expects the worst.
Still the walls murmur at her insistently.
Love him. Hardly know him.
Sometimes she changes her mind and decides that she does not want him to come. Better she rescues herself. Better he remembers her the way she was. Better she never has to see his face when he sees hers. Better he not be tested. Better they not risk discovering that what they thought they had was a lie.
Kisses do lie; it had been close.