Chapter 3

Past Lives

"'Your welcome' for what?" Razou demanded as he got to his feet. "Throwing us onto your dirty floor?"

"For saving your necks. Those men are looking for you, aren't they?" Rocky asked, pointing out the window. "I saw your wanted posters. Fugitives from the Underground Army, huh?"

"I guess so," Ann shrugged. "But why did you save us?"

Rocky looked around and sighed, as if he didn't want to answer. "Because I need to get to Ba Sing Se without getting caught," he finally said.

"Ha! What a coincidence!" Ann blurted. "We're g—"

"—Why do you want to go to the Earth Kingdom capitol?" Toren asked threateningly.

"Mind your own buisness!" Rocky snapped.

"Well, we're not taking you unless you give us a good reason to," said Toren sternly. They stood staring at each other for a while.

"I have money you can use, experience hiking the mountains, which is the only way to get to Ba Sing Se from here, by the way, and I can help you look a little bit less conspicuous," Rocky answered calmly. "There's your reason."

Leena looked from Toren to Rocky and back again. Neither of them looked like they were going to stand down any time soon.

"Toren," she whispered as she pulled him away a bit. "We absolutely need this guy's help, he really sounds like he knows what he's doing."

"I don't like the looks of him," Toren whispered back. "I mean, have you ever seen someone with pale hair before? There's something strange about this kid… there's something he's not telling us."

"Maybe, but we still need his help. We could barely get food on our own and we've only ever been in sparsely populated areas. I mean, what happens when we try to get food from large grocery stores? The authorities would pounce on us in an instant. We need him, Toren."

Toren looked across the room with distain. He hated to admit it, but Leena was right. They needed help.

He gave a very loud sigh and then said, "All right, you've got yourself a deal. But remember, no funny buisness, got it?" Rocky nodded.

"I saw you guys try to get some food from Old Loa's place," Rocky said suddenly. "If you're really that hungry I've got some grub in the kitchen you can have."

"Oh, thank you!" Ann exclaimed running after him as he lead the way through the house. Razou wasn't far behind them. Leena was about to follow as well, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Toren standing still and staring out the window. She stopped and turned to face him.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Leena said as she slowly turned around and headed for the kitchen. She was very worried for him. It was true that she hadn't known him for very long, indeed only for a few days, but they were all each other had, and in a family if one person stumbles it is your duty to pick them up again.

In the kitchen, Razou and Ann were feasting on papaya and mango while Rocky was repairing an old chair. Leena sat down at the table when all of a sudden her seat gave out from underneath her.

"Sorry!" Rocky said quickly. "I should have warned you, I haven't really gotten around to reinforcing that chair just yet."

"No problem, I'll just stand," said Leena with a smile.

"So… what's it like in the Underground Army?" Rocky asked suddenly. "Is it true that they only accept benders?"

"Well, yeah," said Ann in between mouthfuls of mango.

"Isn't that kind of backwards thinking?" Rocky went on.

"Well, maybe to some people, but you gotta realized that it was founded on the ideals of the Avatar," Razou explained. "You know, all four elements working together in harmony, and all that junk."

"Fine, fine. So how long have you guys been there? And why the sudden change in allegiance?" Rocky continued.

"We've been there for most of our lives. Aaaand our reasons for leaving are our own," said Leena.

"For most of your lives?" Rocky repeated.

"Yeah," said Ann taking another bite of papaya. "Iw've bween der since I was thwee."

"Three?" Rocky said in disbelief. "Why on earth would they—"

"So that the greater part of our lives can be solely dedicated to fighting. And to relieve us of any emotional attachments, I suppose," Leena explained.

Silence fell in the room as Toren suddenly entered and grabbed some fruit. For a while all that could be heard was the sound of mangos being chewed and the squeak of an old chair as Rocky kept working.

"So I was thinking that we would head out in a couple of hours," said Rocky after a while. "We'll take the backroad to avoid your 'friends' and then—" There was a sudden knock at the door.

"Open up!" someone hollered.

"That's probably Kato and his men!" Ann said with panic.

"Everyone, down into the cellar now!" Rocky ordered as he pointed toward a small wooden door in the wall at their backs. "I'll deal with this guy."

As instructed, the four benders quietly hid down in the dark cellar while Rocky went to get rid of the soldier. He opened the front door and was met by a very tall scruffy-looking man in black.

"Have you seen these kids anywhere?" the man asked sourly as he held up a few wanted posters. "They're fugitives from the Underground Army."

Rocky took a long hard look and then said, "No," then closed the door.

"Wait! Open up!" he called as he banged on the door.

"What?" Rocky asked when he opened the once again.

"All houses are subject to a search for these fugitives," he said barging into the house.

"I can assure you, I would know if some brats got into my home," Rocky reassured him.

"Still, you can never be too careful," the soldier said, undeterred. He made his way through the living room checking behind all the furniture and then checked the nearby bedroom. When he went into the kitchen Rocky followed him closely. He quickly stood in front of the door to the cellar in the hopes that he wouldn't notice.

After the soldier had been scouring the cupboards for a while Rocky said, "Are you about done?"

The soldier paused and looked around, his eyes settling at last on the door behind Rocky. "Now hold on. What's this here?" he asked, coming over.

"Nothing," Rocky replied sharply. "Just a closet."

"I'll be the judge of that," said the soldier as he lumbered over to the fair haired boy. He shoved him to the side gruffly with one arm and with the other reached for the handle. The door opened with a subtle squeak and then both of them were staring down into the dark cellar.

"Closet, huh?" said the soldier has he leered at Rocky.

One by one they descended the steps down into the darkness, dread silently building within Rocky's heart like a pounding drum. When they reached the bottom, They stopped and looked around. There was junk clutter everywhere. Large barrels filling the corners, some toppled over. Sacks of unwanted bric-a-brac covering most of the floor and, what surprised Rocky the most, a tall stone wall that he was certain he had never seen before.

The soldier rummaged around as much as he could, but in the end he found nothing. So he dismissed Rocky and promptly left.

"That was clever. What you did with the wall. Very convincing," Rocky said seemingly to himself.

Just after he said this, the odd wall that he had been referring to started to shake and then disappeared back into the ground from whence it came. From behind it were revealed the four fugitives whom he had taken in.

"Rocky…" said Ann suddenly. She held up a small painting she had found amongst the clutter. "What is this?"

Rocky came a little closer and took the painting while Razou lit a ball of fire within his hand so they could all see. It was a portrait. A portrait of a small, fair haired baby sitting on the lap of the last Earth Queen in the palace of Ba Sing Se.

Without a word, Rocky left, portrait in hand.

Alone in the cellar, the four benders stared at one another in confusion, trying to reconcile what they had just seen.

"That wasn't… he isn't…" Leena sputtered.

"Was that really Rocky sitting on the Earth Queen's lap?" Toren asked.

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! Are you saying that she is Rocky's mother?" said Razou in disbelief.

"Which would make him…" Ann began.

"Prince of the Earth Kingdom!" Leena and Ann said together.

"Well, we're not going to know for sure until we ask him," said Toren. "Come on." He lead the way up the stairs where they all found Rocky sitting in the living room staring down at the painting still clutched in his hands.

"I know what you're going to ask," said Rocky before Toren even opened his mouth. "I never knew my mom. I was raised in the country by my father until he left. End of story." He stood up and folded the paper portrait until it was small enough to fit into his back pocket.

"But Rocky..." Ann began.

"End of discussion," said Rocky firmly. He started walking past them toward the back of the house. "You're going to need new outfits... I've got some stuff in back."

A few hours later Rocky was leading four darkly dressed teenagers through a shallow woods in the pitch-black darkness of the night. There was no moon out to help them this time. No one said a word and they all remained silent until the sun rose and they all stopped again to rest. After a short nap and a small breakfast they kept moving.

"So why did you guys ditch The Underground?" Rocky said after a long while. The sudden sound made Ann jump.

"What's it to you?" Toren asked.

Rocky sighed. "Fine, keep your secrets."

"Guys, he's agreed to help us, the least we can do is tell him why we're doing what we're doing," said Ann quietly.

"Ann, you don't really get this whole, 'secret mission' thing, do you?" Razou asked rudely.

"It doesn't have to be a secret to everyone," Ann argued. "Besides, given the circumstances, the more people know the better, right? You see, Admiral Kun Li is going to—"

"Ann! What is your problem?" Razou shouted.

"What? I'm just talking!" she blurted.

"I know, that's the problem!" Both of them had stopped and were now boring their eyes into one another in anger.

"Hey, knock it off!" said Leena, stepping between both of them. "It's been a hard last few days and we're all a bit cranky. Just cool it!"

Taking one last look at Razou, Ann huffed away and into the brush. Leena called after her, but she wasn't coming back. Sighing heavily, Toren announced that they would take a five-minute break.

"You didn't have to yell at her like that, you know," Leena said after a while.

"Well she doesn't have to be such a pansy all the time!" Razou bellowed in frustration. Leena wanted to shout at him, but she couldn't come up with a good retort. As much as she hated to admit it, Ann was a bit softer than the rest of them, and that quality wasn't exactly doing her any favors.

"You still didn't have to yell at her," Leena mumbled. "Go apologize to her."

"What? Why?" Razou cried indignantly.

"Just do it!" Leena ordered as she pointed in the direction in which Ann had gone. Razou rolled his eyes and trudged off sulkily. He found Ann sitting under a slender oak tree, her knees hugged tightly to her chest. He sighed loudly.

"Sorry for yelling," he muttered.

"I forgive you. I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"For not listening to you," Ann answered. "You were right, we should keep our information to ourselves." There was a long pause and both of them shifted awkwardly before Ann continued, "I may not remember much about my real family, but I do know that they were good people who taught me that the best virtue in life was love. But love is a luxury in our line of work. All my years in The Academy taught me that, and I can't afford to forget it."

"Ann, I—"

"It's okay," said Ann as she stood up and faced him. "Let's get going."