7 Chapter 4: Ember Islands. Part 1.

"Uh, Mei," the girl said, clearly making up a name on the spot.

Well, if she doesn't want to tell me who she is, I won't even try to engage logic. Let her be little Mei then.

"And I'm Li," I lied too and grinned brazenly.

By her expression, she guessed that I also chose to keep a bit of anonymity.

"Got it," she said again, utterly neutral, turning her face back to the ocean and staring into the distance.

I didn't rush to break our somber silence and our staring contest with the ocean either. The girl clearly didn't mind my presence, but she wasn't eager to discuss anything either; she just wanted to ensure that I, in a way, shared her sorrow.

"What's it like, without bending?" Mei asked after a while.

"Normal," I shrugged, what does she expect me to say? I have nothing to compare it with, "boring. Bending is something ephemeral, incomprehensible, and cool. I'd like to possess and study it."

"Ha," the girl chuckled humorlessly, "if only. More like brutal daily training, constant injuries, and no bending, ha, for you."

"Maybe," I shrugged again, "I have nothing to compare it with. So, you're a firebender?"

"Uh-huh," the girl slightly tilted her nose up, clearly proud of this fact.

"Could you show me something?" I asked, but seeing her face adopting clearly the wrong emotion, I hurriedly added, "I mean, anything at all. I've never seen anyone bend before."

"Hmm," she gave me a suspicious look.

It seemed Mei was battling internally: one side demanded she send the cheeky stranger packing because she's not a circus monkey, while the other wanted to demonstrate what she had learned, maybe even boast a little.

"Please," I added, smiling a bit.

"Alright," the little one became slightly embarrassed, turning her head away.

Aristocracy aside, she's still young and it felt like she rarely had the chance to interact like this with someone. Speaking of which, I myself haven't managed to do so yet - all interactions are strictly hierarchical, either someone is above you, trying to demean you, or below you, trying to flatter you. There's no middle ground.

Mei, hesitating just a bit for show – as if she's being forced, eventually stood up, or rather jumped off the rotting log, and after dusting off her already clean knees, moved a little forward.

"I'll just show a simple kata, don't expect anything grand," Mei clarified.

Is she, what, a tsundere in the making?

Alright, I need to remember this new term. For some reason, associations stand firm, but I recalled the general meaning. Girls who can't properly express their affection or love and end up showing something opposite. It's that case where if she says "No, dummy," she means "Keep going." The main thing is to understand whether she's hinting or actually saying "No."

So, the girl in front of me began to perform the standard hand-and-foot-waving dance. A kata, that is. Honestly, I don't see the point in memorizing sequences of actions, but the old Asian masters must know better.

I've seen this kata performed by Daisy... but Mei's quality was clearly three heads above. I don't know how to describe it, I'm not a martial arts master, but even without fire, it was evident that this was actual practice of strikes and blocks, not just fancy limb flailing.

And when she transitioned to fire... Wow. Just wow.

At one point, as the girl performed the complex, she finished each strike with a jet of fire, and that's when I realized how much I wanted bending for myself. It was bitterly frustrating.

This was the first time I've seen such precise and beautiful use of bending. Before, the most I'd observed was how steampunk machines were fueled. And here... flashes of red fire in the evening twilight illuminated Mei's focused little face, and her now graceful and precise movements.

I was mesmerized by the kata, which I had seen countless times from my room window, but only now did I understand its beauty... though could it be because it wasn't performed by my idiot brother, but by a cute little girl?

No, that's nonsense.

Seriously, Mei performed it much better. So, I didn't hesitate to applaud at the end.

"Wow, I've seen this kata performed by my brother, but compared to you, he's a duckbear trying to dance ballet," I said, still recovering from the spectacle.

"Hmph, of course. I am the best!" Mei declared arrogantly, lifting her nose up as she approached and sat back down on the rotting log next to me.

"After what I've seen - I believe it," I nodded solemnly, after all, it really wasn't a child's level, even a dilettante like me could appreciate the beauty, "that was truly beautiful."

"Do you understand Firebending?" Mei asked, arching an eyebrow ironically.

"Little one, not funny at all," although, in reality, I was melting inside from her serious-ironic little face, which she often glances with, "but from an outsider's perspective, it's obvious. My brother's just doing kids' exercises, but you're... something clearly much higher level."

"Hmm," was all the girl responded, slightly turning her gaze away to hide the flush, but then she collected herself, "don't call me little!"

To that, I just stretched into a cheeky grin, at which Mei frowned even more, though she tried not to show it.

"When you grow up, I'll call you something else. But for now, you're the little one, and that's that."

"Hmph," Mei turned her head away, causing her ponytail to flick amusingly, "then you're a dolt!"

"Oh, little one, is that all you've got? Honestly, I was expecting more imagination from you."

"Ah, you! You! You can't talk like that!" Mei exclaimed, losing the playful tone in her voice.

"Me, me. Don't sulk. I'm just teasing you. In a friendly way," I clarified, because it seemed my words really did hit a nerve, and she tried to retaliate, but the lack of experience in regular communication was evident, and misunderstandings could arise from this. Plus, it's important to remember she's a child. Though, I find our interaction relatively interesting.

So, it's either she's too smart for her age, or I'm an idiot with a developmental level matching my physical age. Since the latter can't possibly be true—no way, I said!—we'll accept the former as truth. Mei is an intelligent, well-read child of noble blood who's slightly tired of the pomp and formality around her. Probably. In any case, we'll take that as our working theory. Her parents don't show emotions, and she resents it, seeking normal human warmth. A pretty common theme among aristocratic children. You could say it's the current trend among the local youth.

Considering the influence of the body on the mind, the age on the body, and so forth, one could say my intellectual age is definitely less than it was at the moment of death in the previous world. I don't remember how old I was, but I felt older than twenty and younger than thirty-five... let's settle on that. Now, I guess I'm at the level of a teenager, maybe a bit older. And the girl next to me is also clearly mentally older, nearing a fully conscious age.

Because she was indeed more sensible than children her age, just speaking from experience interacting with even older children at school. Before, I would have said it's because "As an aristocrat, she's drilled in everything possible," but, damn, I haven't noticed anyone around me being forced to study that much. Academy plus Firebending for those capable of it. Sometimes, very rarely, additional lessons like my calligraphy, sometimes philosophy, and other disciplines too. But that's more the exception than the rule, and even then, it's more for those lagging behind than those striving ahead.

So, Mei is probably acting just like me, in the grand scheme of things. Reading everything she can get her hands on and absorbing information like a sponge, hence her developed speech and thoughtfulness.

In a way, we're similar. Both of us are still figuring out this world, haha, she as a very smart child for her age, and me, as whoever the hell knows what.

"Friendship?" the girl squinted, her gaze almost inquisitorial, "Are we already friends?"

"Do you have something against it?" I smirked.

"Hmm."

Is there really no Uchiha clan here? Maybe I did end up in the wrong world after all? Because Mei's constant hums were suspiciously similar to those of a certain group of red-eyed, wide-eyed characters. Hmm, I need to remember to write down this new word and associative array.

"I have nothing against it," Mei declared, childishly hopping off the beleaguered, rotting stump, which creaked at her action. The girl stood in front of me with a very serious little face and solemnly extended her small hand for a handshake.

I, with an equally stone-faced expression, carefully shook her hand, though logically, she's more likely to harm my palm than vice versa.

***

"Oh Agni, why are there so many people here," Mei exhaled irritably.

That evening, we spent several more hours discussing absolutely different topics. We found we had quite a lot in common to talk about. The thought that I enjoy talking to a six-year-old girl bothers me a bit, but... she's smart, unlike, damn it, everyone around, so it's fine. At least that's what I tell myself to feel better, otherwise, I'd get too bored with all this action.

So, we agreed to meet the next day, but this time a bit earlier. Simply to spend more time together and discuss various things.

As it turned out, Mei wasn't bothered by cold formalities. She was quite sure that communication should be strictly hierarchical, and all honors and obeisances must be observed. In short, she fully supports all these formalities and maintaining appearances and other strictly aristocratic nonsense. Yet, she categorically refuses to let me share anything about myself.

I tried to tell her that self-deception is bad, and that blaming our informal and simple communication on not knowing who I was or where I was from doesn't change anything. But then her childish nature came out, and she refused to listen to me at all.

Formality is important and necessary, but we won't observe it because we don't know who each of us is. Strange logic, but if it makes it easier for her, so be it. I really don't want to lose such a conversation partner over some silly, contrived reason about the hierarchy in the Fire Nation. And judging by her attitude, it's entirely possible.

And now we were sitting on the same wild beach, near the same rotting stump, only this time there were more people around than we expected. Mostly teenagers who wanted to get away from their parents and have their own parties.

And, of course, both Mei and I were incredibly annoyed by this. Instead of the near-total silence that is sometimes broken by the sound of waves or the rustling of leaves in the wind, we heard various chatter, shouts, discussions, sounds of splashing in the water, and so on. We didn't want to talk about anything, let alone show each other anything - I'm talking about kata in Mei's case and about basic philosophy in mine, no vile insinuations needed - at all.

"Yes, there are indeed too many people," I sighed heavily.

And unlike Mei, I was hot. Very hot, since we were sitting right under the scorching sun, and while a Firebender might not care about the heat, I, not being a bender, was mercilessly baked by it.

"Shall we go for a swim?" I turned my head towards the girl. She did the same, slightly raising an eyebrow, "What? I'm hot. And we can't do anything about this crowd anyway."

And I still couldn't shake off the thought that I was a bender. Just not a Firebender, but something else.

Yes, as for Firebending, no luck there. I asked my newfound friend, and the answer was clear - I'm not the first one who thought they were something special, but the ritual really does work with a guarantee, and no matter how hard I try, Firebending is not in my future.

But no matter! There are still two other elements ahead. Though, how to test myself for Earthbending I have no idea. But with Water, it's easy - just swim more, something should turn out eventually. Well, at least I hope so.

For now, all that's left is to splash in the water and listen carefully to myself.

"Hmm," Mei snorted at me, "Alright, let's go," she relented, since she wasn't against a swim either.

The girl stood up from the sand, shaking off her still dry swimsuit, and walked towards the ocean without even looking back at me.

I know she wants me to follow her, but she would never show it. Such a tsundere.

"Just, let's be careful in the water? I don't know if I can swim, and it's a wild beach, after all, who knows what might happen," I realized, also standing up and approaching the girl, who was cautiously feeling the water with her foot.

I really didn't want anything to happen to the little one because of me. And not because of me, too. After all, over this period of time, she truly became dear to me. And that was very strange, considering my recent issues with indifference to everything around me. Therefore...

"But I definitely know that I - can swim," Mei interrupted my musings, staring with a mischievous smirk, "Come on, let's go."

Did I say something nice about her? Forget it. I brought her into this world, I can take her out.

"Ah-a-a-a!!! *Splash*" Mei squealed thinly when I grabbed her and threw her into the water, "Bulv... Idiot! Why did you do that?!"

A completely wet, angry girl, who at the same time tried to keep up appearances - an unforgettable and incredibly cute sight.

But, it seems, a painful retribution awaits me, judging by the pure, unclouded anger in her golden eyes, which bore into me with a malevolent gaze. Well, screw it, I'll meditate on the water later, just hoping not to be drowned.

Because it turned out, I really couldn't swim.