The first thing he noticed about her was her eyes. Wide, round, and pale, as if they only saw things good and innocent in the world. When those eyes first met his, he felt like he was looking into a stormy sky. Then she smiled, and Longshot decided that she was too naive.
Longshot, unused to being looked at, reached up to pull his wide-brimmed hat over his eyes, only to remember that the prison guards had taken it when he first came. Feeling exposed, he turned his head back to the cook.
"You want some?" he asked gruffly. Longshot nodded and held out a wooden bowl, rewarded with a pile of thick brown...well, he supposed it was food. He walked away from the small window and sat in a shadowed corner by a stairway. As he lifted the bowl to his lips, shuddering at the smell, he felt a light touch on his shoulder.
It was the girl.
"Hello!" she said to him in a high, bubbly voice. Her smile was wide. "May I sit here?" she asked, after a long moment of silence that Longshot had spent staring at her mutely. He thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Thank you!" the girl exclaimed, practically collapsing to the ground next to him with an odd sort of grace. "My name is Ty Lee."
She looked at him expectantly. Longshot stared back.
Nice name, he thought. But he didn't say anything out loud. He just nodded again. For the first time, the girl's - Ty Lee, he reminded himself - smile faltered. She quickly recovered it.
"What's your name?" she asked sweetly. Longshot set down his gruel and mimed taking out a bow and shooting it. The girl's face lit up.
"A game! I love games." Her expression turned thoughtful. "Bow? Arrow?"
Longshot shook his head, resigning himself to explaining his name to this random stranger, and repeated the motion.
"Umm..." She put a finger to her mouth in concentration. Longshot watched her, observing the shape and color of her lips, and oddly feeling less bitter. "Shooter?"
Longshot thought. After a second he raised one finger and nodded, then uncurled another finger and shook his head.
It didn't take long for Ty Lee to decipher his meaning. "Shoot?"
Longshot formed an 'O' with one hand, then shook his head.
"No 'O'?" The girl questioned. "Shoot... shot?"
Longshot nodded with two fingers raised. He put one down, then put his hands far apart as if showing a great distance.
"Long? Longshot?"
Longshot gave her a small smile and picked up the bowl, almost regretfully. He never socialized with other people, and the girl might be annoying, but at least he had had an excuse not to eat.
"Longshot," Ty Lee said with satisfaction, watching him lift the bowl to his lips again and hesitantly suck up some of the brown mush. He grimaced, more at the texture than the taste.
"Oh," Ty Lee said, like she had just realized something. She reached into a pocket of her pink skirt. "Do you want one of these instead?" She offered him a soft brown roll, slightly squished from the confines of her clothes.
Longshot stared at her in wonder. Where had she gotten them? Had she stolen them? She certainly didn't seem the type. And if she had, from where? He took the roll thankfully, posing the question in his eyes. Ty Lee laughed. "I have a friend that sends me food. I'm here partly for her, but she was taken out of the prison she was being held in, so I guess she feels guilty."
Longshot looked at the roll in his hand and regretfully offered it back to her. Ty Lee laughed again, sounding like tinkling bells. "No, you keep it," she said, nimbly jumping to her feet. "Think of it as payment for your good company. Maybe I'll see you later, Longshot." She smiled at him and walked away, humming a tune he didn't know.
Longshot took a delicate bite or the surreal roll, savoring the flavor and the light airiness of it. When he finished after several minutes of tiny, savored bites, he smiled secretly. He set the almost-forgotten bowl and its contents to the side, sitting quietly in the shadows and feeling more full and satisfied than he had since coming to this prison.
Besides, no one had ever called him good company before.
oOoOoOo
The first thing she noticed about him was his eyes. Narrow with suspicion, or maybe exhaustion, and full of intelligence but not emotion. They gleamed with a lost sort of look that made her want to hug him and never let go. But he didn't look like he was very accustomed to hugs, so when his eyes met hers she smiled instead.
He quickly looked away, got his food, and stalked off without a word. Ty Lee's heart sank as he ignored her and tucked himself into the shadows with his back against the stairs. On a whim, she shook her head to the impatient cook and followed him.
No man had ever ignored her.
He was surprisingly invisible for his height, though not for his narrow build. His thin form managed to fold in on itself, becoming nothing more than an irregular silhouette. Ty Lee let her eyes adjust to the half-darkness before approaching him silently. He was staring at his food as though wary that it might get up and walk out of his bowl, though eventually he raised it to his lips. When it got close enough for him to smell he made a face.
Ty Lee, remembering the weight in her pocket, sprang forward and touched his shoulder before he could take a bite of the unsavory meal. His emotionless eyes turned up to her. Ty Lee steadied her determination; this man would fall for her just like everybody always did. Those eyes wouldn't stay emotionless for long, she assured herself.
"Hello!" she said, as brightly she could.
oOoOoOo
The soft touch on her arm was the only sign that he had come up behind her, he moved so silently. Ty Lee resisted the urge to jump and instead whirled around, jamming two fingers into the inside of whoever's elbow that was foolish enough to try something with her. A second after the man had stumbled back, clutching his arm, Ty Lee recognized him.
"Longshot!" she squealed. "I'm so sorry!"
The boy glared at her.
Nice one, Ty Lee, the girl chided herself. It's very cute to ruin someone's arm. But to her surprise, Longshot straightened his and waggled his fingers experimentally.
Ty Lee stared. "How...?"
Longshot impassively pulled up his long, nondescript grey sleeve to reveal an archer's long leather gauntlet. He thumped the protector with two fingers, showing its strength, and pulled his sleeve back down. Then he cocked his head slightly, looking at her inquisitively with his narrow eyes.
"What am I doing here?" Ty Lee guessed. "My guard likes brunettes, apparently." She sighed sadly, sounding nothing like her usual self. "I just wanted to see the sunrise. Me and Mai always used to get up together and watch it..."
Ty Lee caught Longshot staring at her blankly. "What?" she snapped grumpily. "Didn't you used to do things like that with your friends?"
A shadow passed over his eyes, making him look for one moment very dark and ominous. Then the shadow left and his expression cleared, and Longshot shook his head.
"Oh," Ty Lee said numbly, sensing that he didn't want to talk about it. Then she laughed inwardly at herself. When did Longshot ever want to talk?
oOoOoOo
"Didn't you used to do things like that with your friends?"
Longshot could only think of what he and the Freedom Fighters did for fun. When the day would get slow, they would go out to the nearest Fire Nation town and steal food. Whoever stole the most would eat the most that night. And if that wasn't enough entertainment, they would all work together to steal a sheep-pig or a sheep-cow, or even the ultimate prize, a cow-pig. Animal thievery was always more exciting than the generic kind, unless the owner caught you in the act. Which unfortunately was often, considering the noise the farm animals made. So, his morning excursions had often ended with him bounding from tree limb to tree limb and dodging arrows shot by angry farmers and their wives.
He had done all this and much more. But sit with a friend and watch the sunrise? Longshot could safely say that he never had. He shook his head.
"Oh," Ty Lee said, sounding lost and confused. Then a small smile tugged on the corner of her lips for some reason unknown to Longshot.
"I bet your guards just got bored with you," she teased. Longshot shrugged, and he was rewarded with a laugh. "So what made you come out here?"
A chance to get away from the rancid scent of my prison cell, he thought, but like usual he said nothing. Then he thought about what she had said before. Me and Mai always used to get up and watch it together.
Suddenly, Longshot knew something he could do to repay the girl for the delicious bread she had given him all those weeks ago. He gestured vaguely at the sun just peeking over the ocean and turning casting everything in a pale pink light. The aura suited the girl, Longshot decided.
"The sunrise?" Ty Lee sounded surprised, almost skeptical. But after a moment, she smiled. She climbed up onto the railing of the boat and gestured for Longshot to sit beside her. "Do you want to watch it with me?"
Longshot walked forward slowly, and looked at her. She nodded encouragingly at him. He gripped the bar in one strong hand and swung his legs over the rail, landing gracefully next to her. Ty Lee looked at him as if seeing him as a new person.
"You're an acrobat!" she cried with delight.
Longshot pursed his lips thoughtfully, and nodded with a shrug. Ty Lee grinned, and looked about to hug him, when her smile faltered, and she folded her hands in her lap, staring out into the light.
Longshot felt his heart drop. He had been so close. The girl was different, somehow, then she had been at first. Sadder, more withdrawn. He had been so close to bringing out her true self again. Then he smiled wryly, more to himself than Ty Lee. He had changed too, because of her.
oOoOoOo
"- and I stopped her. It wasn't a conscious choice, not really. I'm just really good at making sure that Mai doesn't get hurt." Her eyes slid over to him. He said nothing, but kept walking alongside her, knowing by now that Mai was the donor of the delicious food that Ty Lee would sometimes give him at their occasional meetings. Ty Lee, after accepting his silence, returned to focusing on the thin metal pipe under her feet. They walked slowly around the rim of the barge, the guards paying the two of them hardly any attention.
"It's funny," she said, though her voice lacked any humor. "Everyone thinks I'm the fragile one. But I can handle a lot, and Mai... she's sensitive. Kinda frail. I'm always the one looking after her, but people tend to see it the other way around."
Longshot looked her up and down, trying to imagine someone with a smaller, more delicate frame. He was unsuccessful. Ty Lee caught his skeptic glance.
"Not frail physically," she assured him, bending in half, grabbing the bar and lifting her legs into the air over her head. Longshot resisted the urge to pull her down to the safety of the deck as she started using her hands to walk on the pipe, which had become barely visible in the deep dusk settling over the prison barge. Longshot was starting to think that this was really an attempted suicide on her part. "Frail... I don't know. Mentally? Emotionally?" Her voice was muffled by her hair.
Gracefully, Ty Lee let her legs fall forward, bending herself backwards until she brought her body up and stood on the bar once more. She laughed, but it sounded less like wind chimes caught in a breeze then it had the day they had met. Longshot felt an odd sort of twist in his chest at the sound. Ty Lee looked at him just once and kept walking.
"Why am I asking you anyway?" she asked, her tone filled with an almost light darkness. "It's not like you know her. And even if you did, you wouldn't say a word. Would you?"
Silence stretched between them.
oOoOoOo
He walked beside her placently without a break. Ty Lee was angry, and tired of being cooped up. She had wanted to lash out, and he had been there. She did feel bad, but she also felt that he deserved it.
Ty Lee just wished that he would lash back. For the first time in her life, she thought an argument would make her feel better.
After a second, she sighed. She grabbed the bar and swung her legs over her head, letting go and twisting so that she landed on the deck a foot in front of him. Longshot's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected movement, but he did nothing else.
"Longshot," she said, fighting to control her temper. "Say. Something."
He blinked. Then his eyes slid away from hers, his face expressionless, as though he was contemplating just walking away. Then, they locked back on hers, narrow on wide, and he tilted his head.
"Like what?"
Ty Lee was too shocked at the sound of his quiet, cool voice to do anything more than stare. When the numbness melted away, she gave a small choking sound that was caught somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and in a single step closed the gap between them. She had to stand on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him. At first, Longshot stiffened. Then Ty Lee felt as he relaxed and the strong muscles of his arms pressed against her back.
Ty Lee smiled into his shoulder. It had taken her weeks, but she had won him over.
"Break it up!" a gruff voice called. Ty Lee had only a moment to search for its source when a calloused hand gripped her shoulder and yanked her away from Longshot. She fell to the deck painfully with a squeal. When she looked up, she saw a guard grab Longshot by the shirt and punch him, letting him drop to the ground. He was silent.
"That'll teach you to put your hands on the ladies," the guard grunted, delivering a hard kick to Longshot's stomach. The boy folded in pain, his face screwed up, but he didn't utter a sound.
Another male guard ran over at this sight. He took one look at Longshot and turned to his companion.
"What'd this one do?" he asked, his voice small inside his helmet. Ty Lee felt hope grow inside of her; this one might be better.
"Messing with the girlie," the first one answered, jerking his head towards Ty Lee. The other guard looked at her with such an expression that her hope disappeared and she shivered involuntarily. He laughed.
"Can't have that, can we?" he sneered. "After all, that's our job."
Both men laughed, and with one last look at Ty Lee, they kicked Longshot again and walked away.
"Longshot?" Ty Lee crawled to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Longshot, are you okay?"
oOoOoOo
"Hey, kid."
The young boy turned his head towards the voice, lowering his bow slightly. There was a man wading through the tall grass of the field towards him. The boy let out the tension on the string politely.
"Kid," the man said again, drawing up next to him. "That was some real neat shooting. Do you think you could show me some more?"
The boy nodded. He turned away from the man, forgetting his presence, and focused on the dummy across the field. With a deep breath, he reached up, grabbed an arrow, and shot. He didn't pause to see the result of the shot, letting his hand fly between his quiver and his bow. In the span of five seconds, he had shot seven arrows, and by the time he lowered the longbow to survey his shooting, they were all quivering silently, bristling out of the inch-wide gap in the dummy's helmet where a man's eyes would be.
The man whistled. "That's real impressive," he said sincerely, his eyes wide but his face smiling. He put a rough hand on the boy's shoulder. "Got any parents, kid?"
The boy shook his head, tapping his bow sadly.
"Ah. I see." There was an awkward pause, as the man considered what to say. "Well, if that means what I think it does, I know where I can get you some training."
The boy looked at him, his narrow eyes curious. The man smiled at him. "Why don't you come back to my house, and we can talk?"
The boy nodded.
"Got a name, kid?"
The boy nodded again.
"Well, what is it?"
The boy shook his head. The man laughed, twirling a finger in his dark beard. "Don't talk much, do you? Ah, don't bother shaking your head, I know your answer already. Come one, we'll go to my house and get a hot meal in you, and we'll talk over dinner." The man laughed. "Or, I suppose I'll talk over dinner."
The boy smiled and swung his bow over his shoulder.
oOoOoOo
Longshot hesitantly held out his bowl. The cook glared at his reluctance and plopped a spoonful of the day's grop into it. "What do you expect, buddy?" he growled. "Good food? This is prison. Move along."
Longshot nodded silently and walked away, trying not to smell the food in his hand. He paused for a moment to stare at the shadows by the stairs that had been his refuge for months, but then he walked on. He turned the corner into the bright sunlight-bathed open deck, and walked to the railing on the edge of the barge. It was his turn to walk on it, while Ty Lee observed.
She was waiting for him. As Longshot jumped onto the bar, dumping his meal unceremoniously over the edge and watching the sea devour it, Ty Lee smiled and handed him a small ball of cheese, barely bigger than a strawberry-grape.
He raised an eyebrow. She nodded, grinning. "I know. Mai's outdone herself this time."
Longshot walked a few steps, savoring each bite of the creamy ball coated in nuts. They knew they had to ration the real food, and that they small amounts were barely enough, but at least it tasted delicious. Longshot nodded.
"If I ever meet this girl," he said slowly, "remind me to get on my knees and thank her."
"You wouldn't want to do that," Ty Lee said calmly. "She'd run a knife through you in a flash if she didn't know who you were."
Longshot half-smiled. "Sounds like a smart girl."
oOoOoOo
"Ty Lee?"
"Longshot?" She shaded her eyes from the sun glaring off the prison barge as she opened them for the first time in minutes.
"Yeah," he said softly. Ty Lee turned her head to look at him. He looked at her. "Can you imagine that we're sitting in a soft field, with tall grass, and that the wind is blowing in our faces and you can smell the earth under you?"
Ty Lee thought for a minute. "No," she admitted. "This deck is too hard, and all I can smell is metal and blood and coal. The wind never blows. And grass? Agni, when was the last time I saw that...?"
Longshot closed his eyes, his long and narrow face tan with many days of sitting in the ocean sun with Ty Lee. "I can picture it," he whispered.
Ty Lee laughed quietly. "I'm sure you can." She was quiet for a minute. "Can you imagine the taste of fruit? Can you think of what a cantomelon tastes like?"
Longshot smiled. "Delicious..."
"I wish I had your imagination," she said wistfully. "But I do have something you don't."
"What's that?" Longshot mumbled.
Ty Lee's hand searched for his, and she pressed a tiny, salty morsel into it. Longshot grinned at his companion. "Better than imagination," he told her, and the two sat together, contentedly munching on nuts. It wasn't fruit, but it was still good.
oOoOoOo
Ty Lee had recently discovered that Longshot's shoulder was very comfortable. She had rested her head on all manner of men's shoulders, but she couldn't recall any of them being quite so well-fitted. Then again, she had never had to sleep on the thin prison cots with her arm as her pillow before. Maybe he was just a step up.
"Longshot," she asked, this thought bringing up a question," have you ever had a girlfriend before?"
Longshot hesitated, but shook his head. He would talk to her, but it was still seldom, and if he could answer without words he would. Ty Lee sighed.
"I'm kinda surprised. I hear that girls like the strong, silent type."
Longshot shook his head again, this time with a small smile. Ty Lee was quiet for a second.
"Do you like me, Longshot?" she asked, he voice unusually hesitant.
He turned his head to stare at her. "Why would you ask something like that?"
Ty Lee smiled. She had expected him to nod - this was better.
"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Longshot asked her unexpectedly. Ty Lee laughed, rather darkly.
"Boyfriend?" she asked, thinking of all the men she had been with. A boyfriend respected your boundaries, held your hand, and told you that you were beautiful, before ever expecting anything out of you. No man had ever done that to her before. "No," she said, "not really."
Longshot has never done any of those things. He wasn't her boyfriend, he was just her anchor to the real world, the world she used to know. As soon as she got out of here, she promised herself, he would be forgotten. After all, he was just another man. And men were to be caught, charmed, and let go again. And if Longshot had proved difficult to catch, he deserved a longer period of charm. But he would be just as easy as all the rest to let off the hook and have them disappear.
oOoOoOo
Longshot thought it was odd, the first time Ty Lee shifted closer to him and laid her head delicately on his shoulder. But as was his way, he didn't say anything. It left his head buzzing with questions that he contemplated silently. How did he feel about the girl that walked with him, and sat with him on sunny days? Was their relationship anything more than a friendship?
Longshot had never had that sort of relationship. So how was he supposed to know? It wasn't like he had parents to tell him what it was like. It wasn't like any of his friends had talked to him about it. It wasn't like the other archers even cared about things like that.
All Longshot knew was that he was comfortable with the small girl's head resting against him.
oOoOoOo
"Taka, feet off the table, please."
"Mother. I'm Tomoe, not Taka."
"Oh, I'm sorry Tomoe. Please, take your feet off the table."
Tomoe sighed and did as she was asked. She was the oldest of the six Hara children, and she was always mistaken for one of her younger sisters. As she was standing to walk out of the kitchen in exasperation, Ty Lee came down the ladder from the bedroom the other five sisters had been sleeping in.
"Oh good, you're here, Tora." Her mother breathed, darting about the kitchen. "Would you help me with breakfast, darling?"
Ty Lee and Tomoe shared a long glance, youngest to oldest. Tomoe rolled her eyes, and walked out, patting her younger sister's shoulder sympathetically. Ty Lee took the last few steps into the kitchen.
"I'm Ty Lee, mother," she said quietly. "Your youngest?"
"Oh, you are. I'm sorry, dear. Would you mind giving me a hand?"
Ty Lee sighed, as she always did, and took a knife from her mother, setting to chopping up grapples. "Of course not."
"Where are... oh, whoever isn't Tomoe or you?" Her mother poured eight handfuls of farina into a pot of boiling water. Ty Lee rolled her eyes, wondering why in Agni's name she had to bless them all with names starting with T. As if it wasn't easy enough to get them mixed up already.
"Toshi,Tsukiko, Tora, and Taka? They're upstairs, still sleeping."
"My, my, those girls do sleep in." Her mother chuckled.
Ty Lee was wishing that she had had their insight to stay in bed, away from the forgetful and hyperactive woman, but she nodded indulgently. "Yes, they do, Mother."
"Would you wake them up, Ty Lee? Tell them that they can start work in the fields early, since they did not come to help with breakfast."
Ty Lee nodded, setting down the knife. As she darted back up the ladder, she frowned. Maybe she got to stay in the warm kitchen, but she actually wished she was allowed to go out into the wet, cold fields with the others. If she suffered with them, at least they might be nicer to her. She went to one of the four beds in the room, where two girls where sleeping soundly.
"Taka, Tora," she said, shaking the twins' shoulders. "Wake up."
"Go away, Ty Lee," Tora grunted. "You don't get to boss us around, Akachan."
"Yeah, go away," Taka mumbled.
"It wasn't me that said it, it was Mother," Ty Lee hissed. "Now get up." She moved on to the next bed, where the fourth and fifth girls were sleeping. She shook them roughly as well.
"Tsukiko, Toshi, Mother says to get up." Ty Lee liked these two better. The twins were annoying, and always called her Akachan. But Toshi and Tsukiko liked her, and would let her braid their long brown hair after a long day of working. At least they didn't begrudge her for her parents' babying. They rolled over and looked at her silently for a moment.
"Alright," Tsukiko finally sighed. The older of the two, she stuck her tiny feet out from under the covers and slipping them into her boots. She scanned the room. "Where's Tomoe?"
"I think she's out seeing Eri," Ty Lee whispered. "But don't mention it to Father or Mother. I don't think they know yet."
Toshi grunted, sitting up. "It had better stay that way. He's too common for them." She yawned.
Tsukiko laughed wryly. "Common? Maybe he's not a noble, but Koh's lair, at least he's an only child. How can you get more common than one of the Hara nesting dolls?"
The other girls all laughed darkly with her. It was their nickname for each other, the identical girls that only varied in size. Tomoe was the biggest, and she protected them all. Consecutively they went down, each protecting the last, until they reached Ty Lee. The youngest, the frailest, and the most delicate. She was not allowed to work in the fields, or visit the capital with Father. She had to stay and help Mother in the kitchen, and bear her endless mistakes.
"You can't," Tora said.
"We'll always be a matched set," Taka agreed.
The five girls sat in silence for a minute. Their thoughts were finally interrupted by a call from the floor below.
"Girls!" their mother yelled. "Where are you? You had better not still be sleeping, or your Father will go up there and show you what happens to lazy, useless children!"
They looked at each other, wondering who would go down first. With a heavy sigh, Tsukiko got up. It was her job to take the blow, seeing as Tomoe was out. "Come on, girls," she said to them. She smiled twistedly. "Who do you think she'll call me?"
"I don't know," Toshi said thoughtfully. "I bet she thinks you're Tomoe."
"Well, that's okay," she said. "Maybe she won't wonder where she is that way."
The girls placed bets as they carefully stepped down the ladder. Taka turned up to be the winner, because Mother called the second-eldest Tora as she stepped into the kitchen. As money passed between them, they all pulled on coats and filed out the door to the fields, with empty baskets in hand.
Ty Lee watched them leave, her heart aching to go with them.
"Ty Lee," her mother said, making her turn in surprise. Her mother had actually gotten her name right. Then she ruined the moment. "Are you going to help me, or stand there looking like a statue?"
"Not a statue, Mother," she muttered under her breath. "Just a tiny nesting doll."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Mother," she said, louder this time. She crossed the kitchen and picked up the knife, resignedly chopping fruit for breakfast.
oOoOoOo
"Hey," a bright girl's voice said to them. Both of them opened their eyes, shielding them from the noon sunlight that always glared off the metal prison barge at lunch time. Their visitor was a thin but strong girl, with a high-boned face and thick dark hair.
"Ummm… hi?" Ty Lee said hesitantly. Before she came here, she might have jumped up with an enthusiastic hello. But with the small rations and dark prison cells, she found she didn't have the energy to act like her old self very often anymore. And besides, the girl's exotic face seemed familiar.
The girl's smile didn't waver. It wasn't a very wide smile, but it was sincere. "Would you two care to come sit with us? We've been working up the courage to ask you for a week now. But, well, you seemed so comfortable."
Longshot and Ty Lee looked at each other. The truth was, they were very comfortable with his arm around her shoulder and her head resting on him. Ty Lee shrugged and stood up, Longshot following suit.
"I'm Lì," she told them, holding out a large hand. Ty Lee took it with a small smile.
"I'm Ty Lee Hara," she said. "And this is my friend, Longshot."
Lì shook her hand, and then offered it to Longshot, who accepted it and shook it with a nod. "Lonshot, huh? That's an interesting name. I'd love to hear the story behind it. Well, in any case, it's nice to meet both of you."
Lì led them to a group of girls, all with the similar pointed faces and long hair. They were sitting in a circle in the middle of the barge, far from Ty Lee and Longshot's secluded corner against the railing. As the girls' faces turned to the new arrivals, Lì gestured to them. "Girls," she said, "this is Ty Lee Hara and Longshot."
There was a chorus of 'Hello's and 'Nice to meet you's from the girls on the ground.
"And Ty Lee, Longshot, these are my friends: Yungqi, Shen, Zan, and Hui-ying." She pointed at each girl as she said their names. Ty Lee grasped each of their hands with a smile and sat down, her hesitation quickly vanishing in the friendly atmosphere. Longshot hung back for a second, but eventually he sat down next to Ty Lee, his head bowed.
"Longshot, right?" one of the new girls asked. He looked up, wishing that they would just ignore him. He thought the one speaking was Shen. "That's kinda an odd name, isn't it?" she asked in a friendly tone.
He nodded.
"Oh, you don't talk much, huh?" She laughed. "That's okay. We don't mind."
"Yeah," Hui-ying said with a friendly punch to Shen's arm. "Shen talks so much there wouldn't be a chance for you to anyway."
"I don't talk that much," Shen pouted.
"Yes you do," another girl piped up. Longshot couldn't remember if she was Zan or Yungqi.
"Girls," Lì chided them. "This isn't the way to act with guests." She turned to them. "Though, we would like to hear about your name, if you don't mind."
Memories started swirling up in Longshot's mind, threatening to take over. Finally, unable to bear the screams echoing hollowly in his head any longer, he clasped his hands over his ears, shaking his head slowly.
"Longshot?" Ty Lee was concerned. "Are you okay?" She reached out and touched his arm hesitantly. Longshot jumped away from the contact, leaping to his feet. He looked down at Ty Lee, and shook his head again. Then he walked away from the group, back to the shadows at the stairs, where he could be alone and blanketed in dark and quiet.
He heard them talk quietly behind him as he left. "What did I say?" a girl asked in a hushed tone. Then Ty Lee: "He doesn't talk about himself. Never has. I don't ask."
oOoOoOo
"Oh," Ty Lee said in a quiet voice, seeing Longshot walking quietly in the food line. She turned back to the six girls she had been sitting and talking with. "I'm sorry, I have to go," she told them. They nodded understandingly.
"Go get him, girl," Lì called after her. Ty Lee turned back to her and smiled.
She found him, almost exactly as she had the first time they had met. He was tucked away in the dark shadows, staring at his food with suspicion. Ty Lee, smiling sadly, strode up to him and tapped his arm. "Hello," she said tenderly. "May I sit here?"
Longshot looked up at her, and she was surprised to see his round, long face streaked with tears. He nodded. Ty Lee knelt down next to him, gently taking the bowl out of his hands. She pushed it away, deeper into the shadows, and reached into her pocket. She held out a long, thin carrotatoe. They looked at each other for a long second, both of them silent. Then, Longshot accepted the offering. He nodded his thanks. Ty Lee nodded back. Neither of them needed any words. For some reason, this form of communication, what he had gotten by with for years up until he had met this girl, suddenly seemed like a comforting old friend.
Ty Lee grabbed his empty hand. She smiled, and tilted her head. Her wide, pale eyes seemed to ask him, Are we still friends?
His narrow, dark eyes locked on hers. They seemed to answer, Of course.
Ty Lee leaned forward and kissed him gently.
oOoOoOo
"You're her, aren't you?" Shen asked, her voice unusually quiet. Ty Lee looked up in surprise for a minute, then her expression softened.
"Yeah," she said. "I guess I am."
"You guess?" The girl's voice was accusatory. "I suppose you wouldn't really remember fighting anyone as lowly as us, right?" The other Kyoshi Warriors looked at her intently, waiting for her answer.
"No," Ty Lee said. "That's not it, Shen. Of course I remember fighting you. You were all so pretty, and you looked so identical in your uniforms and your makeup that you reminded me of my si…. I say 'I guess' because it seems impossible that the girl who fought you was me."
There was silence around the circle. Ty Lee sighed, looking to Longshot for support. He looked at her, and she took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little calmer.
"I've changed. Then, I was just stupidly following someone that I thought was my friend. I was just a tool that she intended to use up until it was no longer useful, and then discard. I see that now. You have to believe me! I used to think that the war was justified, and right. But now? How can I, when I see all the suffering it has inflicted?" She looked at them earnestly, begging them to believe her. "I suppose I was just being blind." She cast a glance at Longshot. "Or maybe deaf."
"You're the reason we're here, you know," Shen whispered. "You're the reason our families think we're dead."
"I know," Ty Lee said, her voice cracking. "And I'm sorry."
"Hey." It was Lì that spoke, loud and firm in comparison. Ty Lee looked at her, and was surprised to see her smile. She reached across the circle and grasped Ty Lee's knee. "If you hadn't sent us here, how would we have found out what you're really like?"
Ty Lee could barely believe her ears. Did she really say that? Could they really be forgiving her?
"Ty Lee," Lì continued slowly, "we were actually hoping…. Well, there were seven of us sent on the mission when you found us. Now that Suki-" her voice cracked, and she took a deep breath to steady herself – "now that Suki's gone, we were hoping that we could bring that number up again. It's supposed to be lucky. I don't know if that will do us a damn piece of good in this place, but it's worth something, right?"
Ty Lee looked around the group, seeing the faces of each of her new friends shimmer as her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't hold back a sob, and she brought up her small hands to her eyes. But under her palms, she was smiling. "Can…." she stuttered, laughing and crying at once. "C-can I braid your hair?"
The girls laughed, the sound only increasing when they noticed Longshot roll his eyes. Everyone on the prison barge looked at the group, wondering what would be cause to laugh on this metal hell, but they paid them no attention. Ty Lee had a family again. She had six sisters, and she didn't mind it a bit.
oOoOoOo
"So what's the story, Longshot? How did you get here?"
The boy lifted his head at the sound of Shen's voice. She always tried to make conversation with him, and was seldom successful. But this seemed a question that everyone - including Ty Lee - seemed exceptionally interested in, so he sighed and set aside his...food...
"Two friends and I were in Ba Sing Se," he started quietly. "We were trying to make a fresh start. You could say it didn't exactly go as planned. Well, one of my friends, my leader, was captured by the Dai Lee and brainwashed. We found him, several weeks later, with the Avatar and his friends."
There were gasps all around. The Kyoshi Warriors gasped because the thought of the Avatar was awe-inspiring, and Ty Lee because she didn't know that Aang and Longshot were acquainted.
"They had... known... each other, previously, when the group stayed with our rebels for a little time. In any case, they were determined to rescue the Avatar's flying bison from the head of the Dai Lee, who was holding the beast in the crystal caverns under the city." Everyone in the circle was listening with rapt attention. Longshot sighed.
"We were fighting the Dai Lee for our lives, trying to escape. It was an even match, until the Head of the Dai Lee ran off, and my leader and the Avatar pursued him. The rest of us were able to hold off the remainder of the Dai Lee, but the other fight didn't go so well. By the time we reached them, my leader was lying dying on the ground, and the Avatar didn't know what to do. One of his friends tried to heal him, but I've seen wounds like that before. There's nothing you can do."
Longshot hung his head, painful memories swirling around. Finally, he took a breath.
"Well, eventually, the Dai Lee took his body away. They separated me from my other friend, and I never saw her again. When the city fell to the Fire Nation," Ty Lee cringed, "all the prisoners were taken out of the cells in the crystal caverns and distributed to Fire Nation prisons, where they could be guarded more easily."
"That's horrible," Shen said. "Your friend died right before your eyes."
Longshot smiled wrly. "It wasn't the first time."
oOoOoOo
The boy didn't know who these other archers were, all he knew was that for the first time since he had lost his parents, he felt like he had a home. They were silent and taciturn. He fit in with them perfectly, and he didn't have to say a word.
When he first arrived, the kind man that had brought him had laughingly introduced him as Longshot, saying that if the boy wouldn't divulge his real name then it was as good a new one as any. The boy didn't disagree. He wondered, though, why it was that when he looked around the camp, and saw waving red flags, he felt afraid. He wondered why he heard his mother's screaming echo hollowly through his head. It didn't make any sense to him.
The archers he was with were all older than him, but Longshot didn't feel out of place. He knew he had used to have friends his age, but he didn't remember them. And Longshot figured that as long as he was alive, and learning to shoot so he could get revenge, that nothing else really mattered.
So, he wrapped the brown headband around his pale face, and reverently touched the small red triangle. He belonged.
The archers taught him everything. They taught him how to shoot an arrow at an arrow, splitting the wood in half. They taught him to hook his legs on a tree branch, and shoot upside-down. They taught him how to shoot multiple arrows at once. They even taught him how to jump from branch to branch as though gravity didn't exist.
When the kind man gathered them together, and declared that they were going on a mission, Longshot could barely contain himself. The man had promised him that he would be able to get revenge on the people that had burned his village. This had to be what he had meant.
Longshot looked into the man's glittering golden eyes, and knew that he was his ally.
The archers, plus their newest member, looked down on the city from above. They all looked at each other, nodding, and as one they swooped down. Their lit arrows descended on the town like flashing projectiles from hell, lighting the roofs and carefully piled stacks of wood outside the huts. The archers smiled at their handiwork, and started back towards the stronghold that was their base. But as Longshot turned away, a memory floated to the surface.
His screaming mother. And a face, barely sharp enough to recognize through the thick black smoke. A painted face, with a headband embossed with a small red triangle.
Longshot realized with horror that the town below was a mirror of his own, people running chaotically through the streets and houses collapsing. He looked down from his branch to the stream below, to see the face from his memory looking up at him.
Longshot screamed and lost his balance. He fell and landed in the river, the back of his head hitting a rock. The world went black.
The next thing he remembered, Longshot was staring up at the blue sky, tiny motes of smoke drifting down and landing gently on his face. He sat up groggily. Where was he? What had happened?
He saw a coursing river a few feet away. He shifted onto his knees, the movement making him double over and cough, his lungs coated in smoke. He struggled to catch his breath, and hurried over to the river. He carefully scooped up several handfuls of water, drinking before it could dribble away, before plunging his head into the water. It was icy cold, a shock compared to the heated air of the village. It felt like tiny needles were being sent through his brain. He pulled it out, shaking his black hair.
It was then that the boy noticed his reflection. It was a pale face, with a mop of dripping black hair. For some reason, Longshot felt like something was missing from the face. A color, a weight. He couldn't make sense of it. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a band of soft cloth, with a tiny red triangle in the middle. He picked it up, discovering that it was soaking wet. Feeling a sudden surge of hatred for the thing, he hurled it as far as he could into the water, and watched it drift away.
"Hey!" A boy's voice tore Longshot out of his stupor. He turned to see a small figure running towards him. "Hey, are you okay over there?"
It took Longshot a moment to realize that the boy was talking to him. He looked down at himself, running his hands over the fine cloth of his clothes, and trying to remember. Then he felt his hair, feeling a lump on the back of his head. He thought about his lungs, which stabbed with pain with every breath. But he turned to the boy and nodded.
"I don't remember you," the boy said, his eyes searching over Longshot's face. "You probably lived here, didn't you?" The boy didn't pause to hear his answer. "I lived in a village nearby. It was burned by the Rough Rhinos. Did that happen here?"
Longshot didn't answer. He couldn't remember.
"Listen," the boy said, his voice somber. "You've got bow and arrows." He caught sight of their distinctive blood-red color, and looked at him with new respect. "Stolen arrows... Do you know how to use them?"
Longshot nodded quickly. It was one thing he was sure of in his confused state. The boy grinned.
"Great. What do you say you come back to the woods with me? I promised my mom that I would get revenge on the people that burned out town down… as she lay dying in my arms." The boy's smile was gone. "What do you say we work for the same goal?"
A phrase surfaced from somewhere deep inside Longshot's mind. He was alive, he knew how to shoot, and he could get revenge. Nothing else mattered. He nodded.
The boy offered him a hand up, and Longshot accepted it. After helping him to his feet, the boy shook Longshot's hand. "I'm Jet, by the way."
Longshot nodded. Jet looked at him. "Don't talk?" Then Jet grabbed Longshot's shoulder, steering the younger boy towards the forest. "I can respect that."
oOoOoOo
"Mother? Father?" Ty Lee searched the sea of faces, looking for the only family she wanted to see. Longshot trailed after her absently. He knew no one would be there to greet him as the life boats reached the shore.
"Tomoe? Tsukiko? Toshi? Tora, Taka?" Her small voice carried surprisingly well. After several moments, she turned to Longshot, her round face distressed. "Where could they be, Longshot?"
He shook his head. Just then, they heard a thin voice. "Ty Lee? Ty Lee, are you here, darling?"
Her face lit up abd she turned around, searching. "Mother? Mother! I'm over here!"
"Ty Lee? Ty Lee!" The voice turned frantic, as suddenly the face that it belonged to burst through the crowd. A surprisingly plump woman ran towards them, practically tackling the tiny girl with her hug. "Oh, my baby!"
Ty Lee stuck her head out of the many folds of her mother's robes. "It's good to see you, Mother," she said, squirming out of the hug, only to be enveloped in another.
"My little girl," her father boomed, kissing the top of her head. "My little girl."
Ty Lee, again, was the first to pull away from the hug. "Are… are the girls here?" she asked hesitantly.
"Of course they are, darling!" her mother told her. "They're right there."
Ty Lee had a lot of catching up to do. Longshot hung back respectfully as she ran to each of her sisters in turn, trying to pick out an understandable story amidst all the laughter, tears, and story-telling. Tomoe had run away with Eri, and it had taken time for her parents to come to term with the relationship. Now, though, they allowed their eldest to live with the love of her life, and her unborn child. Tsukiko had taken over the family affairs, after their father had suffered a terrible illness. Since he couldn't work, Tsukiko had run the business in the capital while he stayed home. She was well-respected, though most men considered her too rough to make a delicate noble's bride.
Tsukiko was perfectly fine with that.
Toshi had gone with her elder sister occasionally, and had been offered a job at a tavern in the city. She had accepted the job, and was happily able to flirt with any handsome man that she fancied. Mother and Father had resigned to the fact that their daughter was not a reserved, delicate flower.
The twins, the only firebenders in the family, had, coincidentally, also run away to the circus. They were top performers in the Midsummer Festival, and they gave shows for all holidays. They had never been happier.
Ty Lee smothered all of them with hugs and kisses, until Tomoe quietly asked, "And who is this, Ty Lee?" She cast an inquisitive glance in Longshot's direction.
Longshot turned a delicate pink color. Ty Lee laughed. "Mother, Father, sisters; this is Longshot. We're friends."
"Frieeeeends?" Toka asked suggestively.
"Gooooooood friends?" Tora teased.
"Friends with benefits, maybe?" Toshi nudged her with her elbow, Ty Lee and her having had many long talks about men and their benefits.
"Nonsense," their mother cut over them, striding over to Longshot. She gave him one long, piercing look, and seemed to like what she saw. "This boy is as fresh and gentle as morning dew."
Ty Lee laughed. "I don't know about that, Mother." She joined her at Longshot's side. "But he is as alone as stranded turtleduck. I can't leave him here."
"Well, by all means," their father said, laying a hand on the man's shoulder, "welcome to the family." He smiled conspiratorially, lowering his voice. The whole family could still here his stage whisper. "All of my lovely daughters have gone and left me to pursue their dreams, or other such nonsense. I could use a strong man around the house to work the fields. I would pay you," he added with a wink.
Longshot considered. On the one hand, he could search for the Freedom Fighters. He might find some of his old friends, and they might accept them into whatever lives they had built for themselves. On the other, he could stay with Ty Lee and her family, and try to start fresh. But that phrase had never meant good luck for him.
"Mother, Father," Ty Lee said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not coming home. I've found some new friends, and they need me. I said I can't leave him here - you think I'd leave him with you?"
"Well, daughter," her mother said briskly, obviously choosing the safest name for her, "who's to say that you can't do whatever it is that you need to do, and let Longshot stay with us? At least you wouldn't have an excuse not to visit that way."
Ty Lee looked insulted. "You would use my own friend as ransom for my visits?"
"Well of course, sweetheart," her father said. "We're nobles, aren't we supposed to be manipulative?"
The six girls laughed.
"What do you think of this crazy idea, Longshot?" Ty Lee asked, secretly hoping that he would agree; that he wouldn't, like every other man had ever done to her, disappear after turning her inside out. Longshot had flipped her in an utterly different way than all the others - she hoped he wouldn't become average now, at this crucial moment.
Longshot just gave her a long look, then nodded with a gentle smile. "I think," he said, "that it would feel good to belong again."
"That, son, is something I can respect," Ty Lee's father boomed.
Longshot felt his heart swell. No one had ever called him son. But then he smiled. No one had ever called him good company, either. He supposed it was genetic.
"But," he said quietly, drawing everyone's attention to him, "I want my bow back."
Ty Lee laughed. "Of course," she said, so overjoyed that she couldn't help but kiss him on the cheek. "If you didn't, we'd have to find a new name for you. And Longshot suits you so well," she crooned.
Longshot had the sudden urge to do something he had never, ever done before. He carefully pulled away from the girl that had hung herself around his shoulders, cupped a hand behind her head, and kissed her dead on the mouth. He let the kiss last for several long seconds, letting Ty Lee do the work, before he broke away.
"Right," came the sarcastic voice of Toka/Tora - he couldn't tell which. "He's just as innocent as a baby koala-panda.."
"Oh, hush," Ty Lee said, but she was blushing like crazy and she leaned into Longshot's unusually comfortable shoulder.
"Why are all my girls so grown up?" Ty Lee's mother cried in despair. "Even my youngest is so... mature..." She tried to sound upset, but her smile ruined the act.
"Oh, hush, my flower," her father said, gathering her into her arms. "At least we are assured of heirs to the family."
Longshot turned a color of red that he had never been before. "Ty Lee," he said quietly. "I think I want my hat back as well."
oOoOoOo
"Long…Longshot? Oh my gosh, is it really you?"
Longshot turned to the familiar voice. "Smellerbee!"
The girl drew up short. "You talked."
Longshot laughed. "Yes."
Smellerbee smiled, and launched herself into his arms. "I had no idea what happened to you," she said. "I thought they had killed you."
Longshot patted her hair. "It's okay, little sister. I'm fine." Longshot looked her over. "You've gotten thinner."
Smellerbee looked at him with a huge grin, seemingly at a loss for words. Finally, she hugged him again. "I missed you, Longshot."
Longshot lifted her into his arms, like he used to when she was just a child Jet and he had found. "I missed you too, Smellerbee."
"Wow," she finally said. "It's weird to hear your voice."
"Have you seen the others?" Longshot asked. "I want to see if The Duke still fits into my old uniform…."
oOoOoOo
"Longshot!"
"Yes ma'am?"
"Are you coming in for dinner any time soon?"
"Of course!"
He shot his last arrow with a sigh. He knew there was no reason in practicing, but it had been his identity for so long he didn't think he could give up shooting. He turned back towards the house to see Ty Lee coming up the long walkway towards the house, still in uniform. He smiled, and walked out to meet her.
"You took your precious time," he said. "You should come home more often."
"Don't start sounding like my mother, I'll never forgive you," she said.
"Don't threaten me, I have a bow in my hands."
"You wouldn't use it."
"You might be surprised."
She smiled up at him. "You couldn't surprise me."
"Hey, you two idiots!" The turned back towards the door to see Tomoe and her baby. "Are you coming in, or would you rather stay outside and starve?"
"We're coming, Tomoe!" Ty Lee cartwheeled away from Longshot and through the door, Tomoe barely avoiding her in time. Longshot walked towards the house, his bow slung comfortably over his shoulder.
"Hey." He turned to Tomoe with an eyebrow raised. "Thanks for taking care of her. She's the smallest nesting doll. We need her more than any of us admit. Without her, none of us could be." Longshot stared at her silently, not understanding. Tomoe laughed, bouncing the baby boy in her arms. "You don't have to understand what I mean," she told him. "Just know that we're all thankful, for helping her out in prison."
Longshot nodded.
"Come on," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the kitchen. "Or Eri will eat your food."
Longshot smiled. He had a mother, a father, five sisters, a brother, and baby nephew. Not to mention a beautiful, perfect, wide-eyed wife.
A/N: Okay, wow. Really long. I hope you like this new pairing. This took me a really, really long time to write and it was a lot of work, so if you like it at all or have any thoughts PLEASE review it.
P.S. This is shameless, I know, but if you like this one check out my other Avatar story. It's on my profile page! A million thanks.
~Sandra