I think I'd like to take a moment to share a little bit of headcanon I have. Despite the fact that we have never seen Huan use his bending combatively, in both The Battle of Zaofu and Operation Beifong, he is left with his non-bending father, so I have this headcanon that he stays behind to protect him. Also, at the end of Operation Beifong, the positive Huan and his father are in while they drop Toph off at her swamp looks like the two might be talking and seem pretty close.
So there will probably be a nice bit of Huan and his father interacting in this fic. I can't make promises, as I'm redoing things as I type, but most of this is complete, and I wanted to include that.
Chapter 2: Huan
I stood there on the path, listening for the sounds of metal being worked over. After the first few creaks, I heard nothing more. I continued to feel rooted to the ground for what seemed like minutes. Hours, even. Finally, I collected myself and joined Huan.
He stood in front of a metal statue he had been working on for the past several days. His chin was cupped in his hands and he stood there, staring and scowling.
"Not going as you planned?" I asked as I stepped over to join him.
"Not at all," he said slowly, not looking at me. He continued to study his sculpture. "What do you think?" he asked, turning to me for the first time since I joined him.
I, too, studied his work. The metal seemed to dip and twist, spiraling this way and that. His movements and control over metal was the most precise I had seen of any metalbender. And I grew up around a lot of them.
Perhaps I am just biased.
"It's beautiful," I told him. He opened his mouth to say something, and in my head I could clearly hear him say You're just saying that, so I was quick to add, "But something seems wrong over here." I pointed to the bottom left side. "Maybe if you twist it more upwards...?"
He did just that, then stepped back to inspect the result. He nodded slowly. "That does look better..."
"But you still aren't happy?" I asked. The urge to giggle rose, but I quickly suppressed it. Artists can be... temperamental.
"No," he said with a sigh. "But thank you, Himiko."
I nodded, not fully trusting myself to speak at that moment. "Well," I began, turning from him so he couldn't see how pink my cheeks had become, "if you my opinion again, you know where I'll be."
"I know."
Once I had reached the gardens, I found my concentration gone. I felt like I had sat there in the lotus position for hours, my eyes closed and breathing slow and even. I was rattled, and all it took was a few words. With a slow exhale, I opened my eyes. The bright sunlight made me blink quickly for a moment.
As I turned away, a sudden movement caught my attention. There, in the flowering bushes nearby, was a small spirited, what I can only describe as a miniature fox with wings. I felt my breath catch. I had never seen a spirit like that before.
"Come out," I whispered softly. "It's OK, I won't hurt you."
The spirit made a tiny whimpering sound then turned into the bushes, its long, fluffy tail flicking. I thought of crouching on my hands and knees, looking into the bush to see if I could find it, but I knew better. The spirits that didn't want to be bothered would stay away. Not all of them enjoyed the company of humans.
I sighed softly and shut my eyes again. It was no use meditating, I knew that. But the peace and quiet was also nice. As was the cool breeze blowing on my face. As I sat there, I let my thoughts drift to the places I'd like to go. Republic City was full of spirit vines from reports I had heard. And a lot of spirits were making their homes there. It would be great to visit.
I also dreamed of the Northern Water Tribe. The Spirit Oasis was not only one of the most spiritual places on earth, but it was also home to Tui and La, the Moon and Ocean spirits.
The Foggy Swamp was another location on my list. The swamp was deep, dark, mysterious, and spiritual. Maybe there were more people who knew better about the swamp than I, but if they did, I had never met them before. I had never left Zaofu since Suyin brought me here with her.
I sighed, finally giving in knowing it was a waste of time. I got to my feet slowly, brushing off my robes, then taking the time to stretch. As I did so, I wondered if perhaps the twins wouldn't mind an audience. I retraced my steps, listening out in the case the little fox spirit wanted to follow. I heard nothing more of it.
Huan had left his statue, but the twins were still playing power disc. As I stood there watching them, but not really watching them, I felt rather than heard someone join me. I looked up, then smiled. Suyin smiled back. "They never get bored of it, do they?" she asked me.
"I don't think so," I said, looking back just as Wei scored a power. "At least, I'm sure they won't for a long time." I don't even think the twins noticed us, they seemed so engrossed in their game.
After a time, I did manage to get engrossed in their game. I even forgot Suyin temporarily. But then she linked her arm with mine. "Himiko, it's been some time since you've joined us for dinner. Will you tonight?"
I thought for a moment. While a part of me wanted to say yes immediately, the last time I joined them, I was seated between the twins, who spent the entire meal quarreling over who had won their match that day.
"As long as I'm not seated between those two," I said, inclining my head towards the twins, "you can count on it."
Su smiled again and lightly squeezed my arm. "Great. I'm sure Opal will be thrilled as well." She released me and turned to go. "I'll just need to tell the chef to make some enough for everybody."
I watched her go then turned back to the twins and their game. If Opal will be thrilled, what have they been up to? I wondered. I watched as Wei scored twice more. Wing glanced up at me, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"I think you jinxed me!" he shouted.
"Or maybe you're just that bad," Wei teased, joining his brother.
"Best two out of three!"
"You're on!"
And so that is how I wound up spending the rest of my day. Their second match was hard fought and very close, but Wei just managed to squeak by and best his brother again. As it was getting late, I found myself escorted to the Beifong residence flanked by Wei on my left and Wing on my right.
"I'll get you tomorrow," Wing was saying as we entered the dining hall.
"Yeah, right. Not if I have a day like I did today!"
I could only shake my head at them. "I'm going to go ahead and say it, I will side with Wing tomorrow," I told them.
Wing cheered, and Wei stuck his tongue out at his brother. I left them to their side of the table, taking the only other empty place. I looked at Suyin quickly before taking my seat next to Huan. It was Opal who was on the side with her excitable younger brothers.
I do not think Suyin put me there on purpose. Her other guests were only Aiwei, Suyin's advisor and and by all accounts, someone who has always made me a little uncomfortable, Varrick, a loudmouth businessman and escapee of Republic City prison, and his assistant, Zhu Li. I had limited interaction with them, but Suyin trusted him enough to head her technology department.
I took my seat as Varrick was telling Suyin of his interest in magnets. I looked at Huan, who gave me look that seemed to say Please, don't ask, and nodded. I noticed his father and elder brother were not with us. It was more of a surprise if they joined us. More often than not, they ate as they worked. Despite Zaofu not being huge, it always seemed like something new was being added, or something old needed to be repaired.
I wish I could say what we ate, but I really did not focus on it, just enough to put what I ate in my mouth and not on me. I have never sat beside Huan as we ate, and it was a surprise to me. A nice surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. I was usually with Wei, Wing, or only daughter Opal.
After the second course, Huan excused him. His mother allowed him to leave, and I found myself able to nibble on my food and actually taste it. But as dessert rolled around, a sweet little cake topped with cream and cherries, I found myself almost dozing on my treat.
"Himiko, why don't you go to bed? The guest quarters are empty," Suyin told me.
It took a moment to register what she said, but I nodded and stood, leaving the tasty cake untouched. I knew who would fight over it. I bade the remaining Beifongs and their guests good night and left.
On my way to the guest rooms, a path I knew well, I passed Huan, leaning against an open door. He was talking to his father, who was bent over a table littered with paper plans and who knows what else. I wished them both a good night as well, suppressing a yawn as I did.
After shutting the door to a guest room behind me, I dropped onto the bed, hugging the pillow tightly and vowing to myself to try to keep my head while around Huan.
