"You're home late."
Hazo hadn't expected his wife to still be up. He ran a hand through his dark hair, corners of his mouth turned up in a weak grin.
"Overtime, Naising." he said quietly, "We're still dealing with the fallout from the police investigation. Everyone's putting in insane hours."
"You could have called." she sighed, "I was getting worried."
"I know… I am sorry, my love." he leaned in, kissing the woman on the forehead, "It's just been a nightmare."
Silence was all that passed between them for a few moments before he spoke up again.
"Is Shui asleep?" he asked.
"She was waiting for you, too." Naising replied sternly.
It was Hazo's turn to sigh. "I suppose she'll be pretty upset with me in the morning."
"Never mind about that. Get yourself to bed."
Sleeping was the last thing on Hazo's mind. Even an hour later, he stared at the ceiling as he lay in bed, Naising breathing softly in her slumber. He had checked on Shui before he came in. She was sound asleep, curled in bed and clutching her doll as if letting go would send it into the darkest region of the night sky. Outside, the moon had reached the highest point she could and had begun her slow, gentle descent.
He was exhausted. A long day had taken its toll on him and spirits knew that he needed to be up in only a few hours to go back to it. But still, he couldn't sleep. Try as he might have, all he could do was lie there and count fire ferrets. He'd gotten to 1,236 before giving up and letting his mind go where it wanted, back to the events of that evening.
|SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER|
The uniform and mask of an Equalist made Hazo feel powerful, even safe. In a world filled with uncertainty and fear, you had to go with what you knew you could get. People feared the Equalists, benders and non-benders alike. But there was a certain amount of shame Hazo felt as he oversaw several of his brothers stuff three benders, bound and gagged, into the back of the truck.
The triads, the bending criminals of the city, were in their death throes. The thugs were splintered, scattered. Lightning Bolt Zolt had everything under control, and his grip was iron clad. But what was there to fear from a bender that couldn't bend? His power had eroded and power grabs were made, well, attempted. The end result was that a lot of small-time thugs trying to make big names for themselves on their own, without much success. Naturally, this made them easy pickings for the Equalists.
"Let me GO!"
A new voice caught his attention. She must have been no more than eight years old, just a few years older than Shui, as she struggled in the grip of an Equalist. Behind the mask, Hazo frowned as he stormed over to his brother.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, "Why are you-"
Hazo was cut off and he recoiled as if he were struck as a little fire punch nearly singed his mask. His eyes widened. This girl was a bender? And at that age, running around with these kinds of thugs?
With a muttered curse, the other Equalist restrained her and hit those few pinpoints to block further attacks. "Now do you get it?" he asked Hazo.
"Let me go!" the girl yelled again, struggling against her captor.
One of the benders in the truck, a tall, lanky young man started thrashing about wildly, glaring daggers at the Equalist with the girl. Hazo stared over at him as an Equalist in the truck gave him a shot to the face to stop his moving. Perhaps it was her brother as he appeared too young to be her father.
Like the others, she was bound and gagged, and put in the back of the truck. He could see in her eyes - she was angry… but she was terrified. She was doing everything she could do to keep from crying. She wasn't going to cry, not when the other thugs weren't crying. What was keeping her?
The doors to the truck slammed shut as it started up. Following after, the sound of squealing tires as it sped away, taking all of the captured benders to their fate.
"What was that about, Hazo?" Hazo turned to see one of his brothers standing nearby next to the motorcycles, "Benders are benders, and you know that. It doesn't matter what age they are."
"I know, Ano." Hazo replied quietly as he climbed aboard his motorcycle, "It's just a father thing. You'll understand when you get older."
Starting up the motorcycle, Hazo sped off to catch up with the truck.
…
He didn't know what happened to them, but he had a gut feeling. They'd be bound and helpless as their bending was taken away. Not even that little girl would be spared. One by one, they would be taken to Amon and freed from their curse of bending and released. He didn't know why she was with those triad remnants. But still, those thoughts ran through his head as he peeked, once more, into Shui's room. The girl was still sound asleep.
Quietly, he came over by her bed, bent down, and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"I know you might not understand." he whispered to her, "But you will one day. …It's just a father thing. I won't let anything to happen to my little girl."
Standing from his daughter's bed, he headed out past the door as the moon continued to fall from the sky.