Healing Trust

Nodding, trying to keep a smile on her face despite the tears, Jurishe agrees. "Of course. I promise," She vows.

Promises were dangerous things, and one should never take them lightly. Jurishe did not, but the funny thing about time was that as it dragged on, more and more changed, and that often got in the way of promises. That was life. But for as long as she could, she would honor the promise that she made then, to her friend.

Her awkward words did pull a smile from Jurishe, as well as a short, small laugh. "Well, unfortunately, I'd rather be a story-collector, than a dancer. But thank you," She gives the smaller girl a tight squeeze, "You'd be a better dancer than I would - you're all twirls and smiles!"

Thankfully, it seemed that the awkward, sad moment of feels might actually pass.

"You going outside to dance in your underwear would be detrimental to the health of any boy who wandered by and tried to watch," Jurishe told her seriously, trying to deadpan the way she had. Katara wouldn't see her grin, which would have ruined the effect.

Then, more seriously, "I loved dancing with you. I just don't think that there's enough room in here..."

"It would be bad for their health because they'd be washed away in a torrent of water," She elaborates, poking Katara's nose, "Because I would be very angry."

"But!" Her tone changed, becoming lighter, "I was thinking that, maybe tomorrow, we could head on out and look for another festival, in another town, with different music to dance to and different food to eat?"

"I haven't seen much of the Fire Kingdom, so we could go to another town nearby... I'd like to see the Capitol, at some point, as well as the floating city, and maybe the island where firebending started, if that's all okay?"

While she didn't have one, Jurishe had looked at a map, before venturing deeper into the Fire Nation on her own. She would want to purchase one on their way out of town, however. It would be useful, for sure.

"If we can't dance, we won't be staying!" Jurishe proclaims, very seriously, "I wouldn't want to visit anywhere that won't let us let loose and live a little... So long as it's not in our underwear."

Speaking of which... Detangling herself from Katara, she stood beside the bed and started to strip. Her boots and pants came off first, followed by her shirt and socks. "There we go!" She smiles brightly, now in only her sarashi, "Much more comfortable."

"Oh, you wanna hear another of my stories?" She asks, curiously, "Or did you have another for me? I'd love to hear another."

Either one was fine with Jurishe; she enjoyed hearing and telling stories, all the same. Any that Katara would give her, especially about herself, would be very welcome indeed. She enjoyed hearing more and more about her friend, as time - however brief - went on.

For a moment, Jurishe was very hesitant - she hadn't really discussed the one large event in her life with anyone. Then, she had to remind herself that Katara had shared much more, with her, and that she was being stupid over it.

"Alright..." She ventured, finally, "There's really only one thing worth telling, but I've never told it to anyone else before. Ever." The last 'ever' was so that Katara would understand the gravity of the divulged information, for her.

"I want to confide in you," Jurishe admits, deflating slightly, "It's just... hard. So, I wanted you to know that, before I started. Okay?" Her voice sounded so small and cautiously hopeful.

Drawing her legs up to her chest, hugging them to her body, she gets comfortable, ready to speak. It was clearly a defensive state, though for herself, rather than to be against Katara. "Ready?" She asks, in a more steady voice, reaching up to brush her hair back.

With half a smile at those words, Jurishe takes a breath, beginning her tale. "When I was a child, I was picked on, a lot. It sounds really stupid now, but then, I didn't understand. I stopped playing with the other kids, and just stayed with my mother, during the day."

After a pause, to make sure that Katara is following, she continues, "My mother was friends with another woman, within our tribe - they had been since they were children. So one day, I went with her, for a visit, and learned that my mom's friend had a son, my age." There was another pause, "His name was Takeshi, and he couldn't go outside; his heart was too weak to endure the cold."

"He and I didn't become friends quite as quickly as you and I have," Her smile returns, "It took several more visits, but we grew to like one another eventually. Our parents were happy that we'd each finally made a friend."

Taking in a deep breath, Jurishe let it out in a shuddering sigh, "Well, he couldn't go outside, so he'd ask me about it, and I'd try to tell him stories. I'd go and ask for more to tell him, every day before I went over. Sometimes I'd have to make them up, but I think he could always tell when they were my stories."

"Then, he just... got worse. They said that he'd only live a few years, but we were thirteen when he got really bad. It was hard for him to even sit up, or eat."

"I kept bringing him stories... I started making him promise to stay for the next one, so that he would get to hear it. I was terrified of running out of them; like they were the only thing that kept him alive," With a wry laugh, she shakes her head, "It's... it's stupid, but I almost hoped that they were, because he would have lived a lot longer."

Though it was the only thing that had really happened, as opposed to Katara's several misfortunes, that only made it harder for Jurishe to continue. "Takeshi passed away a year later, just before he turned fifteen... I was with him, at the time."

Tears had gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill with each word she spoke. "He didn't do anything differently, that morning, than any other morning. He asked me for a story, and I made one up; it was about a boy and a girl - modeled after the two of us," She stops, reaching up to wipe at her eyes, "When I finished, he asked if they ever got married, someday... I wasn't sure what to say."

"He smiled at me... and then he was gone."

She embraced her friend, taking comfort in her embrace. Jurishe allowed the story to end there, though there was one more thing that she hadn't said. Truthfully, she had long ago come to terms with most of the story - the pieces that she had revealed to Katara now - but not the last.

"I wish that he could have lived a better life," She admits, "He died without ever going outside and lived through my stories... I hated that."