AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I don't own "Avatar - The last airbender", I'm just a fan. :)

KNIFE NIGHTS

Mai was bored.

It wasn't like that was something new. Mai's boredom was as omnipresent in her life as her nation's colour, red, or as the quiet clattering of trays in servants' hands.

.

Frankly, she couldn't really remember the last time that she hadn't been bored.

Winter had arrived and had left again, with all its cold. Just another thing, that Mai could hate about this place: At home, in the Fire Nation, there had never been real winters, and certainly there hadn't been snow! The cold time of the year had been like a fresh breeze. Here, in a downright ridiculously earthy city with the even-more-ridiculous name "Omashu", she'd often been cold, despite the chimneys. She'd mostly holed up in the depths of the library. Where the room was so occupied with books that there wasn't even much space for patriotic symbols on the walls. Here, you could almost pretend that everything was just like it was in the Fire Nation. Almost.

.

Now, spring approached, but Mai continued to squad in the library most of the time. Only at night, she would often go outside.

.

"Time for a little fun..", she murmured towards her mirror image, as she once again changed her clothes after dinner. As her mirror image only raised her eyebrows sceptically, Mai laughed softly. It was good that her mother and father were in select company tonight, and therefore distracted. This gave her the opportunity to enjoy herself a little bit as well. Within the bounds of possibility, of course.

.

.

Mai was always wearing at least 52 knives on her body. It was like her golden rule. Eight on each leg, buckled around her thighs with thin laces, so that Mai could gently feel them at table, when she elegantly folded her hands in her lap.

Another four she wore around her stomach, or at the seam of her clothes at her hips. A few little extra knives Mai hid in her hair, concealed by the thick blackness. Even if someone would discover a knife there, the blades shine could surely be confounded with that of her hair. Mai's mother often brimmed over with pride because of this hair's gloss.

("See, how they reflect the light! Enchanting, isn't it?" - Mai's mother loved to boast about her daughter, which was really ironic, Mai thought.)

.

Most of the knives on Mai's body she hid in her wide, long sleeves, though. Sometimes, when away from other's gaze, she pulled a knife out and let it wander between her fingers. Mai loved playing with knives. Almost nothing came close to the feeling of cold metal between her fingers, to sense the edges or to even throw it. That, - exactly that, - was what it must feel like to be a bender, she often thought.

.

As she descended that night over her balcony, to climb over the roofs of her odious city, she obviously wore more than 52 knives. Special occasions demanded special effort. Underneath her clothes, she was covered with blades and arrows, the metal was nestled coldly against her skin and gave her at the same time a feeling of thrill and of safety.

.

"Come out, you resistance fighters! I want to play.", Mai whispered, as she sneaked away, and for a few small hours, she almost forgot about all the boredom.

.

Almost.