Mettle And Steal
By Rob Morris
THE CITY-KINGDOM OF OMASHU, THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REIGN OF ZUKO RLF
The great creature lit down with its usual grace relative to its size, just inside the gates of the city. Its passenger jumped off with even more grace. She looked back at her ride.
"Thanks for the lift. Tell Sokka I'll find my own way back, when I leave."
Mai then almost blushed, and quickly scribbled a note, placing it in a pocket near Appa's saddle.
"Sorry-you're pretty intelligent, so I take certain things for granted. Take care."
Carrying a vital message between the renamed Lu Ten Palace and the North Pole's ruler, Appa resumed his journey back to the frozen North.
"One nice thing about you, pal-you're not chatty."
Mai thought of Zuko. Virtually all of his allies were outside the capital. Yet Sokka's recent bout with inspired madness had secured his reign in a number of ways. The Earth Kingdom cities and Water Tribe settlements harassed by the criminals holed up in the now-destroyed Ruin liked that the Fire Lord could clamp down on the guilty as well as the innocent; they also liked the free transit he had declared. Mai also had to hand it to Sokka on the front of returning soldiers. Many of them had all but flown home when Zuko said they could. Others stayed, either loyal to their original oaths of service or having found true homes outside the increasingly restrictive nation they once called home. Zuko RLF was firmly in his throne and reigning as promised, with justice and a healing hand. But just as his sister had proven to still be a teenage girl, so was Zuko a young man without his friends to support him, and she wondered if the effects could prove the same, obvious differences aside.
*Okay. Aang has promised to be about a bit more. But that's limited. He's an important part of reconstruction. When one of his subjects, willing and historically otherwise, sees that the new Fire Lord can call upon the Avatar to fix that dam or irrigate those crops to avoid famine, it makes a difference. Then again, as Li and Lo just had to say to me before they retired, a Fire Lady with a fat stomach also gave people a good feeling. Subtle, girls-small wonder Azula once listened to you.*
Wasting time or being bored long would never be one of her strong suits, so Mai approached the first guard station she saw.
"I am Lady Mai, envoy of Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko. I am here to speak to two of your Prisoners Of War from my nation, the former Occupation Governor and his wife."
Mai was patriotic but not impractical. Using Aang's name first had to have some impact on the leery. But the guard was put off for another reason.
"You mean Lord Valtin and Lady Shira? Heck, they're hardly prisoners. Don't even know how we'd get by without them. See this guard station? Brand new materials. All found by Lord Valtin when he did his Master Inventory. See the new vines with Plorthal Blooms on them, covering the outer gates? Lady Shira. Actually gives us something to look at besides the walls. You're not here to take them back, are you?"
"Actually, they're my folks."
That did seem to put the guard off once again, but he checked her credentials and issued her a sash that would stop almost anyone from so much as asking if she was not from around there.
"Okay-anyone want to give the Fire Nation rep some lip? Anyone?"
She wasn't quite ignored, but nor did a mob, small or large, gather near her, and she was not followed. She was, however, found.
"When I heard a disinterested sigh seven blocks off, I kind of knew it had to be you."
Toph was not among the ready friends Mai had made among their former enemies, but this was not the result of lingering or new enmity. It was part of a slightly similar outlook that said you didn't have to be best friends with absolutely everyone instantly-unlike say, Ty Lee.
"Toph, can you answer a question?"
"I can try-but maybe you better write it down first."
Mai stared so hard, the Earth-bender could feel it.
"Ouch. Okay-even Sokka doesn't fall for that one anymore. Ask."
"Yeah-are my folks really accepted here?"
"You don't know this story?"
Mai shrugged, then realized that, short of the possible vibrations, this was pointless before Toph.
"I-kind of got that King Bumi put them under his personal protection after the fall-well, our fall anyway-and that maybe they stayed after Ozai fearing that Zuko wouldn't be long on the throne. I guess I'm here to tell them it's safe to come back."
Actually, Mai had heard six or seven different things about this situation, and part of her trip had been to finally resolve which of them, if any, was true.
"Is it really safe? I remember hearing this huge boom coming from that way, and I felt some of the heat from the light on my face. People here said it was like a new sun being born."
"That was Sokka. He created a new weapon-it's a long story."
"I'll bet. Our boy makes boom-boom-uhh-not that kind. What's he doing for an encore?"
"That's classified. Now-about that story?"
Toph nodded.
"I'd just as soon tell it-what I know, anyway. My own stay here...ah. Well, I guess it started on the Day Of Black Sun..."
SOME MONTHS PRIOR
Governor Valtin saw his troops fleeing the city. He saw the Earth Kingdom natives re-enter it.
"How bad is it?"
Before Valtin could respond to his wife's question, he saw the massive-and time and resource consuming-statue of his Fire Lord first disfigured and then sent plummeting over the side of the cliffs just outside Omashu.
"Shira-my position as Fire Nation Governor of New Ozai may have to be reconsidered."
"Ridiculous! Our control over the city is as plain as the proud flags that flutter-"
She looked out the window.
"-that flutter to the ground and are stomped on. We-we have to evacuate!"
"It may be a bit late for that."
"Define a bit late."
Earth-Benders burst through the doors of their private chambers, and soon had them surrounded on all sides. Valtin shrugged at his wife.
"Do I really have to?"
Several hours later, Valtin and Shira were taken from their holding cell and presented before King Bumi. He stared ahead at the pair.
"You have an infant son. Where is he?"
Valtin found the courage to speak.
"I told your people-I don't know. I assumed you were keeping him from us."
Shira was openly crying.
"Please-he's only a baby!"
Bumi rubbed his chin.
"Well, this is embarrassing. I mean, someone has to know where the little firebug's gotten to, right?"
Bumi looked honestly concerned, while Shira and Valtin were having the worst day ever. Then, dust came down from the upper rafters. Bumi was the first to look up and see the tiny crawling figure.
"Enterprising little fella, isn't he?"
Shira screamed and ran beneath the spot Tom-Tom was very high above. When the soldiers seemed set to stop or strike her, ladies of the court stood between this.
"The-the Avatar said that he did this-but I didn't believe him."
Bumi harumphed.
"That's a fine thing! Aang may be a little uptight and sometimes a bit dense-and that whole vegetarian thing is just eerie-ehhhh-but he never lies!"
Women who had likely been prepared to run Shira and her husband through mere moments ago now helped the hysterical mother up. One pointed at the rafters.
"Will someone please get the baby down?"
Bumi sniffed.
"Well, he got up there, so he must know how...ohhh, alright!"
The old man cast off ceremonial robes he didn't care for anyway, and rose slowly on a column of Earth, till he was up at the same level as Tom-Tom.
"Say-this is actually pretty nice. Good call, pal."
Bumi got off his column, walked onto the large rafter, grabbed the little boy-and lay back to take a nap, with Tom-Tom snuggled against his chest.
"Heh-he-little guy's got my beard...zzzzzzzz."
Shira and the women supporting her fainted. Valtin asked his escort officer a question.
"I know my position-but is this normal?"
The officer closed his eyes and looked like a man with a headache.
"Our king is-completely insane."
Valtin saw that his son was safe, and tried to use that to calm himself.
"Oh, I could tell you stories about Ozai, from when we were kids-except that would be treason. But if I could-well then."
A three hour vigil saw the pair down, and Tom-Tom back in his frantic mother's arms.
"Well, the kid's back. All's well that ends well. G'night everyone!"
The escort waved his arms.
"Majesty-the former Governor and his family-what should we do?"
Bumi nodded.
"Let em' go. We don't ransom here in Omashu. Always get paid in livestock, anyway."
The officer shook his head.
"The Fire Nation troops have all retreated, and you smashed the only bridge, which will be weeks before it can be restored. The cliffside is too fragile to bear an earth bridge-it has to be wood-wood of a certain type."
Bumi sighed.
"Okay-so Ex-Governor-what do you do besides ex-governing? I've got that racket pretty much locked up."
"But-won't we be breaking rocks?"
"We're Earth-Benders, you fool! If this were the Air Nomads Place, would you go around breaking wind?"
Bumi cackled once more. The court almost sighed in unison. Valtin looked down, tired and a bit broken.
"I sometimes wish I had never progressed past Inventory Master of the Capitol."
The escort now looked intrigued.
"You were an Inventory Master? King Bumi, I will be escort to this man while he remains here, anyway. I ask that I now do so while he tackles organizing our own stores and supplies, without an Inventory Master since your revered Uncle left us forty years ago."
Valtin winced.
"Forty years?"
"Well, personally I still think it's too soon, but Unc would have understood. Crazy Old Man-he was the family eccentric. Always so-organized."
Bumi looked at Shira.
"What about you, lady?"
"Chiefly-I plan banquets and events and affairs."
Bumi walked up close to her.
"Does your husband know about these affairs?"
One of her rescuers stepped forward again.
"Majesty-the ladies of the court support the bid of Lady Shira to be your event organizer."
Shira looked at her 'supporters', and then at Bumi's wild grin. She realized then just how deeply hatred of the Fire Nation ran.
"I accept-but I'll need day care for Tom-Tom."
Bumi raised a finger.
"Royal Day Care, at your service. I like the little so-and-so-plus I still have to figure out how in blazes he got up that high."
The next day, Valtin was escorted by the officer he knew, and by another, more belligerent.
"The others can get all chummy with you, Fire Nation scum! But I will be watching your every movement."
The two opened the main entrance to the underground storehouses. The disrepair and disorganization were brutally apparent. Valtin looked at his accuser.
"Now-you will be watching me cry."
After about ten minutes, the accusing officer had to fight back a 'there, there'. Valtin regained his composure after ten more minutes.
"I suggest we look for hidden chambers."
The friendlier officer, Captain Aedren, asked the obvious.
"Why hidden chambers?"
Valtin shook his head.
"Because, being hidden, they cannot possibly be the transcendent cosmic mess the obvious ones are!"
A thought neither of his escorts felt like disputing. But the somewhat less friendly one, Lieutenant Poli, had to raise a point.
"Hidden chambers are usually uncovered by means of special skills. Neither of us are Earth-Benders."
Valtin looked around.
"I have served the Fire Nation all my days, and have advanced both through the nobility and high office. However, I remain at my core a bureaucrat. I know where bureaucrats hide things, and most importantly, I know how they hide them."
While the two officers pushed every sigil, symbol and carving they could lay hands on, Valtin saw his objective.
"Note that corner that is not quite flush with the rest of the walls? Why would anyone skilled in bending, in service to their monarch, allow such a flaw? Why would those overseeing it allow them to go forward?"
Poli shrugged.
"Bumi might see it, and I guess his family line was the same way. But maybe they never got back this far."
Valtin nodded.
"You are correct. Even an Earth-bending Master King might miss or disregard that one tiny flaw in such synchronous perfection."
Valtin pushed at the lower rock with his foot, and the wall began to move.
"But a bureaucrat never would-unless he himself seeded such flaws."
The two officers almost expected Valtin to bolt, logistics aside, as the dazzling switches did their work. But he had admitted his true core to them, and one bureaucrat gave silent appreciation for the hard work of another. Aedren looked at the exposed wing of chambers.
"Jewels?"
Poli shook his head.
"A thief would see what our charge did, too-and disregard this as a probable hiding place. To someone looking for hidden things, it would be almost too obvious."
Valtin agreed.
"There's metal-thick metal, I believe, at the far opposite end of the main chamber. A hardened target, too much effort for most treasure thieves-"
Valtin bent down and picked up a small object.
"-unless you choose to redefine what treasure is..."
Before Bumi the next day, the trio showed its find.
"Tyrkinsa Seeds? Really?"
A gasp seemed to flow through the court. Aedren bowed and smiled.
"Their shells keep the meat inside them fresh and insect free, and I don't know how many centuries' worth of store we have in that one wing alone."
Poli had two bags, one he tossed to his king.
"The people can grind these up for paste, and our worries about famine are a thing of the past..."
He then pointed at Valtin.
"So long as no one informs our enemies of this storehouse."
Valtin sighed. As he had said, he knew his position well.
"You want an honest answer? Yes, I would betray you all to my countrymen, were they to arrive en masse to rescue me or retake the city. But Fire Lord Ozai has little or no use for failures. So they aren't coming. But surely a demand to turn me over must have come by now?"
Bumi rubbed his beard, then looked at Tom-Tom, seated on a mini-throne of his own.
"See, kid? They told us not to eat that messenger hawk! A bit on the chewy side, to boot."
Valtin was shaking, but an unlikely ally stepped forward.
"The man is our prisoner, but there's no need to play with him like that."
"Keep your pants on, Poli. Geez-your father was the same way-and your grandfather-and your great-grandfather-and his father, when we were kids. Wow-am I old or what?"
A general order was given that the trio keep digging in the storehouses, with a couple of Earth-benders and a scroll-keeper in tow as well. Bumi for his part had worries of his own.
The next day, as Shira pushed the carriage holding-and keeping-Tom-Tom-Bumi fumed.
"I'm the king! You can't force me to go shopping!"
"We are GOING to update the color scheme on the court's walls. It's positively ancient."
"It's dirt, woman! It's SUPPOSED to be ancient."
"Pick a color-my liege."
"Ehhh-Flaming Peach!"
"That's ugly."
"You're Fire Nation. I thought you liked flaming things."
His smile did nothing to disarm Shira's determination.
"If you want that color scheme, I suggest a blend of pink quartzite and red granite."
"They're difficult to blend and keep the blasted things stable!"
Shira folded her arms.
"Pity we don't have a legendary Master Earth Bender on hand to do such a thing."
Bumi thought he had an out. He looked at the ladies in the stone-smith's shop.
"Ladies Of Omashu-this foreigner, this Prisoner Of War, is trying her best to tell your King that a mix of pink quartz and red granite for the courtyard walls would be a better color scheme than my royal choice-Flaming Peach!"
"Peach? Really?"
"Ugly as sin."
"Quartz Granite."
"Flaming Peach? The thought alone has me breaking out in hives."
The murmurs and comments all went Shira's way. Bumi was furious.
"Oh, sure! The Four Nations have been at war for a hundred years, but women always agree with each other! Why am I even here?"
Shira smiled.
"Just wait till we get you to the clothier for your fittings!"
Again, nation aside, Bumi saw no sympathy in the eyes of his subjects. Still, the ladies were certain : The Fire Nation may have conquered most of the world, but Shira would never conquer Bumi's way of doing things.
A few weeks went by, and while Bumi remained Bumi, the new outer coating on the courtyard's walls impressed many, as did the regal orange curtains to replace the old green ones. Shira regretfully pointed out the error of many.
"No, they were always orange. The green-came from moss that grew over them, before they were finally cleaned."
Bumi roared when he heard this.
"Murderer! That moss had a family!"
The day came when no less than two messenger hawks were seen, and the prisoners of war became excited. Valtin stood before a crowd of almost-well-wishers, who at least granted that he had acted well in an awkward situation, as had his wife.
"When are we to be turned over? I'll bet you get a hundred of your countrymen for each of us!"
Bumi for once seemed very reluctant to speak.
"We-have been asked to turn the three of you over to the forces of the Fire Lord Ozai. heh. But it's not all good news."
Valtin looked at Shira, who nodded. Valtin then spoke their common assessment.
"For my failure here, I am to be demoted?"
That would hurt. Ozai might even diminish their rank within the nobility itself, were he of a mind to.
"Not-so much demoted-as-"
Again, the reticence of a man never known for it was eerie.
"-as-Executed."
Shira shook her head.
"But we-Valtin-never ordered a retreat! The soldiers did so without us, without even asking for a retreat-or certainly a withdrawal!"
Bumi picked up the scroll.
"This-doesn't even mention Omashu and the occupation. Ummm-you have an older daughter, one of the girls who was gonna exchange me for Tom-Tom here?"
Though under a death sentence, Valtin still kept back all the whys of that day, including the interference of the Crown Princess.
"Yes. Our daughter Mai travels in the personal entourage of Crown Princess Azula, along with their friend, Ty Lee. Surely she can intervene on our behalf?"
Bumi ate three pieces of rock candy, then cleared his throat.
"Ye-ah. Funniest thing, that. Seems like Mai and that giggly girl-kinda cute-they-kind of got sentenced to prison for uh-High Treason."
Shira pointed.
"Define High Treason!"
"They tried to assassinate Crown Princess Azula, while aiding the fugitive former Crown Prince Zuko."
Valtin would later apologize to his wife for words she would not remember being said anyway.
"Yes, that pretty much defines High Treason."
Again, Shira had not heard her husband's awkward words, and instead reached for what hope she had.
"What prison are they being kept in?"
Bumi looked the scroll over.
"The Boiling Rock?"
Shira breathed in.
"My brother is the warden there. He will see to it that..."
Bumi closed his eyes.
"Your brother is no longer warden. Your house's rank, wealth and lands are all forfeit to the crown. Folks, I'm really sorry. For what it's worth, you are not being turned over for that."
Shira began to tear up.
"We-have nothing? Not even a guarantee that my daughter and brother are even still alive?"
Her eyes dried and then flashed with rage.
"All because my daughter FINALLY tried to do what Ursa should have done when that monster was in the cradle?"
Valtin looked at her in horror, but she dismissed this entirely.
"What? Are we afraid of him even here? Can we be sentenced to painful death twice? We have given over the course of our lives for that family, and most of them are monsters in Human form."
Valtin looked out at the crowd that was now all sympathetic. This did not help his mood.
"Please-all of you can tell the Fire Lord. Didn't I conquer your city, and force you to build his statue? I'm a vicious Fire Nation thug-tell him I debauched your daughters! Tell him I debauched your livestock and laughed! Tell him how I crowed that anyone who was disloyal to the Fire Nation would be imprisoned! I am your conqueror-ahhh! All of you execute me for war crimes! That will permit my wife and son to go home and receive back all-"
He sank to his knees.
"-all that we have lost."
Shira stood and shook.
"Please, King Bumi-send back this message to the great Fire Lord Ozai-"
Her shaking stopped.
"Tell him I'm sorry our daughter doesn't have better aim!"
The grieving couple was led out to their chambers, and while they themselves had risen in the esteem of their former conquered subjects, the Fire Nation was never more hated. Captain Aedren questioned his King.
"Sire-what was in the scroll from the second hawk?"
Bumi palmed what looked like a small piece from a Pai Sho game.
"Circular letter. Offer for a free boat if I listen to some huckster all day selling time-share in the Great Swamp."
Bumi shook his head.
"I really hate getting these things."
His smile belied any such hatred.
That night, Shira rose to ask her guards for some bread. She hadn't eaten since hearing the news - the news that ended her world. But there were no guards.
"Of course not. Where would we go?"
She realized what she had blurted out, but found it hard to regret. Even before Ursa had vanished, Azula had been a pain. Besides, it really didn't matter anymore.
"Shira? Over here."
It was Telen, one of the ladies of the court, guiding her to a meeting with the other ladies. Deciding that another dressing-down could no harm, Shira offered no objection to what she thought was to come. But to her shock, a small pastry was brought out and served among all of them.
"The Fire Nation may not know how to treat its own. But we do."
Shira felt a part of nothing that night.
"And am I now one of your own?"
Telen related a quick story.
"Once, the Earth Kingdom was not the several cities. But one of the most powerful and wealthy clans-whose name is not mentioned by treaty agreement-was also one of the most anal and uptight, insisting on protocol and the appearance of propriety above all else. Several noble families who did not meet their criteria of 'flawlessness' were set to be banished forever. The 24th Earth King relented, and sent his third son to be a lesser King in a new city, taking all of those meant to be purged with him. So you see, Omashu is at its core the home of those who were told to leave and not come back."
While far from everything to do with the occupation was forgiven that night, the long steps there began in earnest amidst swapped stories of insane royals and putting up with them.
But one week later, the king of all insane royals asserted himself once more. Valtin found that he was not to take out his organizing party that morning.
"Bumi has vanished?"
Poli nodded.
"He can be like this, but I fear this time, he may have disappeared just when we face an attack. Valtin-you must administer the city."
"What? The people will never accept me. I don't care how much forgiveness we may have gotten."
Aedren pointed to a table full of scrolls.
"We are the leaders of the royal guards. No one need know that it all isn't in the King's name. But decisions need prioritization. There is no way we can sort through that mess."
At the sight of another mess left him, Valtin sighed but pulled himself together.
"First decision has to be for the defense of the city. I will-recommend- that scouts try to gain knowledge of Fire Nation troop and vessel movement-oh my!"
Valtin began to sweat.
"Calendar?"
The two showed him a calendar on Bumi's less-than-tidy work-table. Valtin sat down.
"How could I forget? Next week is the day of Sozin's Comet!"
Poli shook his head.
"You people lose your powers for eight minutes during Black Sun, but you get to have them amped up for a whole day. Maybe fate does favor your-their-victory."
The scouts were sent out, and the trio looked not for treasure but for order. Shira, having no banquets to plan, once more took over care of her son.
Five days later, and the scouts' report spoke of a fleet such as had never been seen before. Aedren was at a loss.
"They own Ba Sing Se. We don't have a force one-third that size on our best days. What could be their goal?"
Poli was in no better shape.
"A hardened target? But with that much firepower-literally-behind them, what's left that could be that hard?"
Valtin thought back to two arguing brothers.
"General Iroh once told Ozai that there were two things at Ba Sing Se he could not penetrate. One was the walls. The other-was the hearts of the peoples of the Earth Kingdom. He firmly believed one day he would return there and deal with the walls. But the pride of your people? He knew that could not be crushed, so long as you lived."
Valtin made a chilling statement.
"The same was once said of the Air Nomads."
A war council was called. Concern was too high to question Valtin's credibility.
"The sewers again?"
"Not with the power they'll be setting against us. Plus, the veterans of the occupation will know where to look."
Valtin saw a thousand proposals come and go, and was unsure of what to do. The solution was obvious to him, but he was the outsider, the conqueror so wretched his own people disowned him. What right had he to speak?
"We need a solution! They will burn us all alive!"
Valtin had quoted Iroh before. He now gained his insight as well. The place he had failed to conquer was the place he now must save. The man history would call Valtin of Omashu rose to lead his people in their darkest hour.
"The storehouses for the tyrkinsa nuts are not only deep, but underground rivers flow around all sides of it. Food and water, and a safe hole to crawl into. A tight fit perhaps. But livable. Who will support me?"
The evacuation began ten minutes later.
Valtin and Shira heard their share of remarks as families, supplies, and some few treasured possessions made their way into the storehouses.
"Are your people crazy enough to burn down the whole world?"
"I hope not-but we better get inside nevertheless. I've learned not to make book on Ozai's rationality."
"What if your people's soldiers come to take the city?"
"Why-they'll kill us first of all-our daughter is a traitor."
"Our king is insane to leave us at a time like this!"
"Want to trade? We'll raise you one Lord and a Princess on that front."
The storehouses, while vast, still held in them the population of an entire city. The earth-benders closed the great doors, with their metal outer coating. If some thought about doubting Valtin's assessment of the grim situation, the pounding and heat from the outside shoved all that aside.
"If they're attacking, why don't they try and open these doors? Anything beats this waiting."
The people of Omashu had been on the run, and they had heard about the refugee problem in Ba Sing Se. Now, they were on-the-run refugees in their own city, and their fallen conqueror had been the one to lead them to safety when their mercurial king had booked. The ancient phrase 'The Earth Shifts Just That Way' was used a lot during the day-long siege.
The men of the court revealed a grim secret to their ladies. Shira, recalling an old song, led the older children in raising their voices.
"Now, a number of expectant mothers have chosen this day to bless us all. So let us welcome the newest memories of their community."
*Happy Birthday, To You, Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday Dear Children, Happy Birthday To You*
The men all stared at the front door.
"I suppose coating it with metal was a mistake."
Valtin looked down.
"I have killed us."
Poli shook his head.
"We're alive. If what went on out there was enough to melt that metal and seal us in-no way we would have lived through it."
Two more days passed. Tempers were fraying, wills were being sapped, and the stench was something no one hoped to live through again.
The outer doors began to crack. Poli shouted.
"Earth-benders! It has to be!"
Aedren was less certain of the benign nature of the entrance.
"Yeah-well, didn't the Dai Li in Ba Sing Se defect to the Fire Nation?"
Through the stone, and shockingly, the metal, a small figure began to walk through.
"Hi, Folks-my name's Toph. I'm with the Avatar's bunch."
She could hear their ragged breathing, and could sense that the silence was a stunned one.
"Ummm-did I mention that the Avatar kicked Fire Lord Ozai's fat butt, and that THE WAR IS OVER!"
Gasps were soon followed by cheers, and then said cheers stopped when their king approached. Bumi saw the glares, and gulped.
"Oh-hey-did I forget to mention I was going to Ba Sing Se to help liberate it? Yeah-I guess I did. My Bad."
Valtin and Shira held Tom-Tom as they let the others pass by first. Their feelings were a bit mixed. The nation they once held dear had proven corrupt, and while it had been brought down, this seemed little cause for celebration. Telen ran to get them, carafes of tea firmly in hand.
"Come on, you two-the Avatar's group brought in a tea vendor, and it's all you can drink."
The two followed slowly, thirst and the need for some good tea overriding nerves and depression. But another shock awaited. Telen pointed at the 'tea vendors'.
"I don't know who they are, but this has to be the best tea I have ever had."
It was an older man with a beard, aided by a young man with an apparent scar on his face. Shira felt faint.
"I know who they are. That is General Iroh, and that-that is my daughter's boyfriend, likely also the new Fire Lord."
Telen looked as shocked as any of them.
"I'll say this much-when you Fire Nation folk seek forgiveness, you don't fool around, do you?"
THE PRESENT
Toph finished up.
"So anyway, King Bumi asked me to show him metal-bending after he saw what I did to the storehouse doors-but I don't want to go into that."
Toph almost seemed angry as she cut herself off. Mai was still stunned.
"My parents saved the city?"
"More like they saved everyone. Turns out the city was only hit with about ten stray fireballs and bolts as the fleet advanced-never a direct hit. But any one of them could have killed the entire population. When it was over, your Dad even suggested harvesting Ozai's fallen statue for the marble needed to reface the areas burnt and melted. They're not any better with Bumi than I am, right now. Your folks are their real heroes."
Mai also had buttons she didn't wish to be pushed, so changing the subject was a given.
"You sound sour on Bumi, but you sure left to come here in a big hurry. Sokka said you got a scroll from your family. Sorry for that."
"Did he mention the second scroll?"
"No."
Toph smiled.
"Why does that jerk always have to be so nice? Well, this one was from my Nanny Evlei. Growing up, she always knew I wasn't helpless, and, when my parents weren't looking, helped me to learn not to be either. She said in her scroll that she knew the news would hurt me, but that I deserved to know."
Never much of a talker or a listener, Mai still kept on with a girl, who, battle-sides notwithstanding, she had more in common with than the family she had come to visit.
"Which was what?"
Toph tried to keep up her non-committal air.
"Oh-well-my Mom has made several requests for Volla Root Extract-as pure as she can get. I mean, this was inevitable, right?"
Mai sighed. She knew the root well. Women past the most optimal ages for childbearing often used this root to aid an easy conception-though usually these were women with sons and daughters out in battle or lost to it.
"Hey, sorry. That's rough."
"Rough?"
Her eyes aside, Toph's gaze fixed on Mai's face.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be notified that your parents are basically starting over from scratch, and that you're the thing they want to scratch off?"
Mai saw her parents in the distance, blissfully pushing little Tom-Tom, looking nothing like the uptight ladder-climbers who had no time for her.
"Yeah-I kind of do. Hey, Toph?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's you and me find a greasy bowl somewhere. A stand that serves food you'll love now and regret later."
Toph jumped off her seat.
"Funny. Zuko told me you like really fancy done up food."
"I do-when it's with him. Plus, when we were on the road, Azula would seek out the fancy places in town. Ty Lee and I would find some relief by finding a good cheap place she'd never set foot in."
Toph laughed.
"I know. We all once ate at the same place-Rana's CheeseNBeef. Ty Lee can pack it in for someone her size."
Mai nodded.
"And-she never gains an ounce. I'll pay in exchange for your story about King Bumi."
"You that anxious to be miserable?"
"You forget who you're talking to."
"Touche."
The pair were away before anyone they knew saw them.
NEXT : Toph's tale, Mai's confrontation, and Bumi's boo-boos
