#reianon

[zukoandhissister]

"Neat is a good word for it." She laughed a bit before looking over at him, "It's why I started writing, cause of the stuff with my mom. It was the only way I could deal with the stuff she told me." Rei stuffed the small book into her pocket. "It may actually be a cop out, that I run from my stuff instead of dealing with it. But it helps so who cares, right" Her mouth twisted as she looked at Zuko, "Enough about me though. You need to tell me something interesting about you."

"The stuff she told you...?" Zuko didn't understand, but he quickly realized that asking about Rei's past might be more painful than she was willing to share. "...never mind. Forget I asked."

"Better that than spending years in denial of the fact that your father has never cared about you." He shrugged and rolled his shoulders back. "About me... hmm, well, I used to like fairy tales. Back when I was a kid." 

[zukoandhissister]

"I use what I do have to make pottery. Surprisingly handy skill and I'm pretty good at it." She looked up from her book, a frown on her face at his confession. "I'm sorry about that. I know you may not believe me but... w-well my mom hated me as a kid so I know how it feels."

"Pottery? That's... neat." Zuko was stunned. Growing up, he'd never realized that firebending - or any bending discipline, for that matter - could be used for something besides combat. He wondered vaguely if his own abilities had more rudimentary uses (besides lighting campfires, of course).

"No, I believe you. I'm sorry to hear that." 

[zukoandhissister]

"I'm an EarthBender, but I'm afraid I'm not very good." She shrugged, "I was thought to use words before I used my abilities so I never got much use out of them." Rei smiled warmly at him, pulling her notebook back out, along with a pencil. "I can only image what you must think of that, you being the powerful bender you are. Don't get me wrong I was better." She started to write something in her little notebook, glancing up at his temple as she did.

"An earthbender?" Considering how long he had traveled in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko had met very few of them. Most of the ones he remembered were Dai Li agents or soldiers dead-set on defeating him. "There are lots of different skills, not just ones used for battling..."

Zuko pondered for a minute, trying to decide what to disclose. "It's... not like I've always been this powerful," he admitted finally. "One of the reasons my father despised me when I was a kid." 

[zukoandhissister]

She reached out and ran her finger along it, paying close attetion to every detail that the mark had to offer, "You are right of course, nothing is meaningful unless you make it so." She pulled her hand away, smiling at him, "It's why I keep a notebook. I feel that if I can somehow externalize outside influence I'm more able to be who I should be. It lets me not worry as much. Likely sounds dumb but it's how I deal."

"That doesn't sound dumb. Better than internalizing everything." Zuko wished he had a healthier outlet for his stressors, rather than simply internalizing everything and brooding on it.

He looked up. "Do you fight?" he asked abruptly. "I mean... are you a bender? Or do you have a weapon you prefer?" He'd always found talking about fighting to be an easy way to find out more about a person. 

[zukoandhissister]

"You have on on your temple? Can I see it?" She stuffed the notebook back into her pocket, looking up at him with much curiosity. "I think scars make a person very mysterious. Like you know they have lived a interesting life."

"Yeah." He raised the fringe of hair on the right side of his head. Of the three scars, it was the smallest, but there it was, a small scrape in comparison with the other ones.

"'Interesting' is one word for it, I suppose." He gazed away before continuing. "They're just marks, in the end. Nothing more. Unless you let them."

[zukoandhissister]

"Of course I will. I will start if you like." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little black notebook. "I keep this with me all the time, writing down little observations and quotes that I hear from people." She looked over him with a soft blush, "I guess it's not that interesting after all."

"Really? You do?" Zuko stared at the small notebook. The only other person he knew to keep something so small and fragile with them at all times was Katara.

"No, that's plenty interesting. Let me see... I have a scar from each of the people I've fought an Agni Kai with." He pointed. "One on my chest, one on my eye, and... one on my temple."

[zukoandhissister]

"It's a valid reason. I'm not judging your for it at all." She smiled, putting a finger to her lips, "Although I would think that you would be used to the heat, living in the same place for most of your life. But I digress..." Rei looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "So tell me something about yourself, something interesting. Other than the fact that you like to get naked."

"I spent three years at sea. The heat has been the worst part about coming home."

"Hey, that's not interesting. Or true. ...anyway. If I tell you something interesting, will you tell me something about yourself, too?"

[zukoandhissister]

"Not mocking you, just curious. Truth be told I was one of those fan girls and was more or less just shocked that you were going along with it." Rei shrugged with a smirk, "At least I got to see you naked."

He sighed. "You want the truth? The truth is that today was one of the hottest days in Fire Nation memory, and I just wanted to get rid of some of those layers." He opened his eyes and blinked a bit, opening and closing his mouth. "...oh."