Festival Lights

By Foxy Pentapus

Title: Festival Lights
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Pairing: Hakoda/Bato
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Word count: 830
Notes: When the festival lanterns are lit, the young are supposed to dance.

The Spring Festival was the most anticipated celebration of the year, marking the end of the long winter. The beginning of the thaw. The return of the sun. Lanterns had been strung up throughout the village. Their glow lit the ice and snow. The stars in the sky mirrored them, shining brightly, for the night, although chill, was clear. People were dancing, drinking, laughing. Someone was singing a song for the dancers to move to, accompanied by a soft drumbeat. The sharp scent of the cooking fires and the food they were cooking filled the air.

Bato sat on a tigerseal hide near one of the fires, a drink in his hands. He was smiling to himself, his head bobbing to the music. One of the older warriors sitting nearby cracked a joke, and he chuckled politely, although he was only peripherally involved in the conversation.

He was watching the dancers. Some of them were doing little more than shuffling or swaying to the music, but many were really dancing--their bodies whirling, their feet moving through the paces of the old dances, the ones their parents and their parents' parents had danced. At a few times during the evening, Bato had been tempted to get up and join them, but each time he'd held himself back and kept to his seat and his drink.

Some of the festival lanterns were colored, and so the lights shining on the dancers were sky-blue and sea-green as well as the natural soft yellow. The dancers changed colors as the steps of the dance took them in circles around the dancing ground. Again and again, Bato's gaze--of it's own accord--picked out Hakoda among the other dancers. Like the rest of them, he changed as he moved. Now green, now yellow, now blue--now in shadow. Hakoda danced well. The lean body of his youth was filling out with muscle, but his movements were as fluid as ever.

Hakoda was dancing with his young wife. She was a pretty, vibrant girl. Bato was fond of her. How could he not be? Hakoda loved her, and she made him happy. She was a fine dancer too, her body again and again almost touching Hakoda's, but never quite making contact. That was the way of the dance. Like a courtship.

Bato had been smiling all evening, but he suddenly frowned. His stomach felt sour, although he'd only had a drink or two, and he hadn't had too much to eat. He set his cup down and got to his feet.

"Joining the dance?" one of the older men asked him.

"No. I need a little air, that's all." He gave them an apologetic look as he moved away.

"You'd better dance later!" The man's voice rose as Bato moved farther away. "You're a young man. Young men are supposed to dance."

He laughed. "I will. I promise." He paused and turned towards the dancers again. Hakoda, his attention drawn by the old timer's words, perhaps, glanced towards him. The light of two lanterns lit his face, halving it. Half was blue and half was golden. Hakoda faltered for a moment, although he kept dancing. His wife's wrist bumped his arm. A mistake. But this was the Spring Festival, not a dancing contest, and no one cared if you made a mistake. Bato smiled wryly at his friend, and Hakoda grinned in reply. Bato waved before walking away.

He stopped on the outskirts of the village. There were lanterns there, too, but no people. Everyone else was where the music was. The music was behind him, soft in his ears. Bato drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs with cool, clean air as he enjoyed the sight of the colored lights spilled across the snow. He breathed out, and his breath ghosted upwards. He watched it rise.

He'd promised to join in the dancing, not that he was obligated to keep a promise lightly made. But he did like to dance, and what would be the harm? He wondered who he would dance with. He supposed he could find someone without much trouble. Then again, not everyone had to have a partner. One could move through the steps alone.

Bato put his right foot forward. Then he followed it with his left, then twirled around halfway. Once he'd begun, it was all too easy to continue, and before long he was dancing in earnest, by himself beneath the festival lights. He watched his arms turn blue, then gold, then green. They would turn blue again shortly, but he didn't need to see them do it. He closed his eyes. Dancing blindly was a strange feeling, almost dizzying, but he wasn't afraid of falling down. He knew the steps so well.

If any of the other villagers chanced to turn and see him, they would probably think he was intoxicated. Bato didn't care. He knew better.

<< Back