Title: Shadows in the Mind
Summary: Five years after the war is over, the world is finally settling into an uneasy peace. When the Avatar and his friends disappear into a swamp in the southwest Earth Kingdom, they find themselves fighting not only for their lives but to prevent another way from breaking out. Chapter Nine: Sokka, Ty Lee, and Toph attempt to make camp, Iroh holds down the fort in the Fire Nation, and Aang and Katara face the unthinkable.
A/N: Hooray, one of my favorite chapters is finally up! I've been waiting to post this one. As usual, I apologize for the delay. School started up again and my brain has been eaten by my new AU fic and JoJoDancer keeps making me watch Full Metal Alchemist and then Bleach is on Saturday nights and oh god, these are all excuses and I'm so sorry, but we all know I have the attention spam of a gnat afflicted with ADHD.
Disclaimer: Avatar still not mine. The author is a poor college sudent who is doing this for hers and her beta's enjoyment.
As usual JoJoDancer continues to be a writer's best friend, not only for her beta skills but also for her ability to comfort me when I feel emotionally vulnerable.
Chapter 9 - Unitas Mirabile Vinculum
"The fact is," Jet said with certainty, "simply writing editorials and talking about how evil the Fire Nation is isn't going to get them out of our hair."
Bao and Jet sat, cross-legged and facing each other across the spread-out documents they were currently studying. Outside the small tree house he could hear the other Freedom Fighters flitting through the trees, keeping a silent watch in case of intruders.
"If we're going to get rid of Fire Nation influence forever, we have to show the citizens why the Fire Nation is evil."
"Though your editorials aren't doing too badly," Bao pointed out, thinking of the protests and angry words he had heard from the irate people back in Ba Sing Se.
"Yeah, but they won't get the job done." Jet picked through a couple pieces of parchment before selecting one and holding it out for Bao, who leaned in to get a better look at it.
"Yes, it's one of the maps I stole. The southern half of the Earth Kingdom." Bao peered closely at the map, looking where Jet's thumb rested.
"Do you see it?"
Bao squinted. "It's an army storehouse."
"On your maps it is." Jet put the paper down and picked up another map. "Here's my map – one that can be found anywhere in the Earth Kingdom."
Bao looked at Jet's map. "It's not marked."
Jet smiled, nodded, and rolled the map back up. "Confidential information. Not even the people who live in the town know what it's used for. They think it's an abandoned building," he said, tapping the side of his head with the parchment.
Bao picked up the first map. "An army storehouse. For weapons?"
Jet shrugged. "Non-benders have to fight too."
"What do you need weapons for?" Bao frowned.
"I don't need weapons." Jet leaned in close. "Fact is, if someone were to break into the weapons storehouse and take the weapons before setting it on fire, a lot of people in our army would feel… threatened."
Bao raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to frame the Fire Nation for it?"
"I won't need to." Jet shook his head at him. "They're going to come to the conclusion all by themselves."
"But the people won't-"
"If the army moves, the citizens move with it," Jet said flatly.
Bao shrugged and contemplated the documents. "This is a pretty big deal, Jet," he said, half warningly. "There'll be consequences if you do this."
"I've done worse." Jet dismissed Bao's words with the wave of a hand. "And it'll be worth if it this land is free from the Fire Nation once and for all." He gritted his teeth before adding, "I thought it was bad during the war, but now the Fire Nation has the ears of our leaders and just controls us through them."
"They don't have my ear," Bao said, crossing his arms and glowering at the perceived insult.
Jet smiled faintly. "I know. I thought, at one point, that I had lost you to them, but then no one ever came to arrest me and I knew you'd come back." He stood up, brushing his hands off and reaching for a pot of cold tea in the corner of the room. "What's Mad Old Bumi think?"
"There's been sightings of you up in the north west, almost near the northern air temple. Since the area is so sparsely populated to begin with the search for you has cooled considerably." Bao pulled out blank parchment and snagged a quill from Jet. "I'll send him a report now saying that there have been rumors of disgruntled Fire Nation merchants and firebenders causing trouble in the south, near the storehouse. It should reach him right as we reach the storehouse." Bao started writing furiously, but paused when he felt Jet's eyes on him. "What?" he demanded, feeling uncomfortable.
Jet shook his head. "I never should have doubted your loyalty."
There was a loud knocking on the door, and for the first time all day Meng allowed herself to lose her temper.
"Go away! Aunt Wu is not seeing anyone tonight!"
The door cracked open, and Meng sat up, ready to keep scolding, but then she saw it was merely her best friend's face peering through the door at her.
"Oh," she sighed, relieved. "Hui, it's just you. Come in and lock the door behind you."
The door locked with a click behind him and he settled down across from her, accepting the tea she poured for him. "How bad was it today?" he asked gently.
"It was awful!" Meng reached for a lemon slice. "People just kept lining up, demanding to know if there's another war coming, wanting to know what's going to happen to them or their families. She hasn't had a moment's rest all day."
"Well at least now everyone is gone and she can relax," Hui said, sipping slowly at the tea.
"I don't think you understand." Meng pulled nervously at a braid. "She hasn't seen a single person all day. She's been holed up in that room, trying to predict what's happened to the Avatar and his Companions. Aunt Wu doesn't have time for anyone else."
"Can she do that? Predict the fortune of someone that isn't even here?"
Meng smiled and pulled herself up, reaching out and affectionately flicking his earlobe. "There are ways. I haven't learned them yet, but she is considering teaching me before the year is out. Come on."
The two of them crept to the paper-thin door and Meng slipped it open a little, giving them a limited view of the old woman kneeling in the middle of the room in front of the dancing blue flames. Candles flickered through the room, and Meng heard Hui above her take a breath and hold it, trying not to choke on the heavy musky fumes of Aunt Wu's incense that floated out of the room.
Meng couldn't hear the old woman's words, but knew what she was doing: Wu was trying to invoke the spirits, asking for knowledge and guidance. She was trying to draw a vision of the Avatar or the Companions, seeking to bring either hope or warnings to those of the village. Whatever she saw caused her great distress; the fortuneteller stiffened and then slumped, as if suddenly burdened with a great weight.
Hot panic rose in Meng. "Aunt Wu!" she cried, not caring that she was exposing herself as an eavesdropper. Hui froze at the door, but Meng ran to Aunt Wu, grasping her by the shoulders and helping her sit up. "Are you okay?"
Aunt Wu shook her head as if to clear it, then looked back into the now rapidly dying flames.
"Aunt Wu?" Meng's grip on the old woman tightened as she resisted the urge to shake her.
Her eye's stayed trained on the fire, as if in a trance. "There will be a great war," she said softly, though she seemed unaware of Meng's presence. "And the victor of this war will control the fate of the world."
All the breath left Meng, and for a moment she was frozen as Aunt Wu's grave words hung heavily in the thick air. She glanced up and met Hui's wide, shocked eyes.
Then abruptly the flames died totally, becoming nothing more than a few glowing embers, and Aunt Wu blinked for a couple moments before looking up at her young assistant. "…Meng?" she asked blearily, as if she had just woken up. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you okay?" Meng's voice was unnaturally high, and Wu frowned in confusion as she noticed.
"I'm fine," she said, standing up and stretching, joints popping. "I've been working all day but I can't seem to make anything come to me." Aunt Wu rubbed her forehead and eyes, slightly smearing her carefully applied makeup – a true sign of exhaustion.
"Come on," Meng said, taking her hand. "I'll make you some tea, and then you can get some rest for tonight."
When Meng had gotten Aunt Wu settled she returned to the front parlor to say goodnight to Hui, who was standing in the doorway, stargazing.
She joined him, standing close to him to block out the cool summer breezes that would soon turn into blustering fall winds.
"Another war…" Hui breathed, eyes still on the sky. "What are we going to do?"
"Hope," Meng said softly, "that the Avatar is found. I met him, once, and the only thing he would fight for is his loved ones. He could stop this."
"I've never heard Aunt Wu make a prediction like that. She didn't even know what she said. You don't think…?" he left the end of his question unfinished.
"It's a true prediction. How often has Aunt Wu honestly been wrong?"
"She was wrong about the volcano," Hui shot. "Although," he amended after a moment's thought, "she did predict that my brother would return after the war."
Meng grinned despite herself. "What?" he prompted.
"Nothing," she shrugged. "She did predict once that I would marry a man with large ears." The tips of his ears immediately went red, and Meng let out a laugh before flicking him again.
She turned from him to go back into the house, and he caught her arm. "Are we going to tell the village tomorrow?"
Meng bit her lip. "I don't know." Looking back up at the sky, she said, "But we don't have to tell them now."
"Then stay outside with me for a little longer." He gestured with his head, eyes never leaving hers.
Meng blushed before stepping out from the doorway, slowly sliding the door shut behind her.
"Sokka please! I told you before, you shouldn't be cutting up the swamp!" Toph's voice rose in pitch, and Ty Lee involuntarily flinched at the vulnerable tone.
Sokka, on the other hand, merely dropped his shoulders and shot a look at Toph. "Toph, I don't hear anything, and I can't think of a better way to get through all of this without it taking forever." Toph stood her ground, frowning at him, and he reached out for her, concerned. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"I'm fine." Toph insisted stubbornly, crossing her arms. "But I'm telling you, you're hurting the swamp! I can hear it!"
Sokka sighed heavily, but before he could say anything else, Ty Lee interrupted. "I can hear it too."
He trained his blue eyes on her, clearly wondering if she was just trying to endear herself to Toph. "Can you really?"
Ty Lee nodded. "It's like… a whisper in the wind…" Ty Lee didn't mention how she'd gotten the same ill feeling when Azula was burning her way through the swamp earlier.
A low growling noise came from Toph. "You know what, Sokka? Never mind. You lead however you want. It's not that big a deal. Let's just get out of here."
Sokka gawked at her. "I thought-"
"I changed my mind," Toph interrupted.
Ty Lee sighed in frustration and blew her bangs from her face. Toph had been openly hostile towards her since Sokka had fished her out of the water and, considering their past, Ty Lee couldn't blame her, but she found it growing tiresome nonetheless. Sokka, for his part, was either ignoring Toph or was considering it a part of her normal behavior.
After another moment of confused staring, Sokka shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's getting late, and we should probably stop for the night anyway." He looked around, instantly scouting for dry pieces of wood to make a fire. "Ty Lee, can you help me build a fire?"
Embarrassment welled up in Ty Lee and she cleared her throat nervously before mumbling, "Uh, I don't actually know how to build a fire."
Sokka just looked at her. "That's… That's a basic survival skill. How do you not know-" He interrupted himself when he remembered who she'd always traveled with, sparing her from having to explain for herself. "Oh. Okay then. Just help me scavenge for dry wood."
"I don't suppose there's anything to eat, is there?" Toph interrupted, and both Ty Lee and Sokka froze.
Sokka looked over at her Ty Lee. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Yesterday morning before we started in here," Ty Lee replied. She had been too worried about her friends and about staying alive in the swamp to even think about food.
Sokka bit his lip and rubbed the back of his head in thought. "Last time we were in here the waterbenders fed us … I don't know if you'll like it though."
"At this point I'm willing to try anything," Toph insisted.
"Alright…" Sokka said warningly. He shrugged again, resigned, and continued picking up wood, working his way between the trees, looking for dry pieces that would light easily. Not much later, Ty Lee heard a loud thunk, along with a triumphant yell from Sokka.
"I have it!" he announced, walking out of the woods holding two winged creatures. One he handed to Ty Lee, who made a face and held it by one wing. The other he gave to Toph, who brought it up to her nose.
"What is this?" she asked, confused.
"It's a bug," Ty Lee declared, feeling revulsion crawl through her stomach.
"You're trying to make me eat a bug?" Toph turned to Sokka. "Is this a joke? It smells disgusting."
"That's what we ate last time we were here!" Sokka insisted, crossing his arms.
"I can't help but notice that you didn't bother to catch one for yourself." Toph was holding the creature out, away from her body.
"I wanted to make sure you two got something to ear first," Sokka said in an exasperated tone. There was a very tiny part of Ty Lee that pitied Sokka, though truly most of her was too busy being grossed out by the bug.
"I can't eat this!" Ty Lee exclaimed, voicing her objections alongside Toph. "It's…. it's a bug!"
"It's not that bad! I actually kinda liked it last time."
"It's a bug. I can hardly think of something as bad as eating a bug," Ty Lee persisted.
Toph's shoulders straightened. "Well… maybe it's not that bad."
Ty Lee fought the urge to roll her eyes and glared at Toph, sure she was merely being contrary. Then, to her surprise, Toph lifted the bug to her mouth and took a crunchy bite. After a few moments of chewing, Toph swallowed her bite, then dropped the bug, clapped her hands to her mouth, and announced that she was going to throw up.
Ty Lee's eyes widened, but Sokka gave a half grin and took a step towards her, putting one hand on her shoulder and using the other to sweep her long bangs from her eyes. "Hilarious. It wasn't really that awful, right?"
Then Toph bent over and heaved. Sokka yelped and jumped away.
Ty Lee dropped her bug. "I am not eating that."
Facing an angry, sick earthbender and an irritated, obstinate acrobat, Sokka gulped. "They… taste better when they're cooked over a fire?"
Iroh poured himself another cup of tea, silently looking at the Pai Sho board in front of him through the steam that rose from the cup. The message was as confusing as ever; after moving his thoughts away from Lord Zuko towards the Avatar, the tiles had slowly shifted as well, concentrating on the center of the board and thinning out towards the edges.
It was late – the moon was already high overhead – and he was alone in his office, having sent his remaining advisors to bed several hours ago but unable to find any rest himself. The news from the Earth Kingdom was deeply disturbing, and Iroh feared how he had unknowingly made the situation worse by sending Cai into it. Zuko would be furious if anything happened to Cai. Several lanterns burned brightly, filling the office with light as Iroh sat quietly, alternating between sips of tea and leafing through reports from merchants.
As soon as they had sensed the shift in climate, the merchants who owned ships had returned to the Fire Nation, stranding the other poorer, landlocked merchants and causing an uncomfortable swelling in the number of ships currently docked. Iroh had men working to collect as many reports as quietly as possible, but he was fully expecting the Nation to wake up to the news of the Fire Lord missing in the morning.
There came a loud banging from outside his office door and several raised voices. Sighing away the sense of loss that came with the disruption of the peace, Iroh strode to the door and pulled it open to see what the matter was.
In front of him he found one of Zuko's advisors, down on his knees and leaning forward heavily, being supported only by a guard, who had fallen down to one knee. The other guard moved protectively in front of Iroh.
"You know me!" the advisor was snarling at the guards, who made no motion to let him pass.
"Stop," Iroh said quietly. The guard in front of him looked back for a moment before moving away, allowing Iroh eye contact with the advisor.
"Admiral Renzu," Iroh greeted pleasantly. "What brings you to my humble office this time of night?"
The guard hauled the man to his feet, where he swayed momentarily before leaning in again towards Iroh, whose face automatically wrinkled after getting a whiff of the alcohol on his breath. "General shir, I have to talk to you."
The guards look questioningly at Iroh, who nodded at them, and released Renzu into Iroh's office. Iroh guided the man into a chair and turned his back, pulling up his chair.
"I'm afraid I have no coffee to offer you, but would you like some tea?" he offered dryly.
Renzu just shook his head. "General Iroh, we're in sho much trouble," he slurred, dropping his head against the back of the chair and clapping a hand over his eyes. "There's gonna be a waaaaar…"
"We're doing everything we can to prevent war, Admiral Renzu," Iroh said gently, reaching for his teapot.
Renzu grasped the arms of his chair and jerked forward. "You don't understand. The merchants are furious – there was almost a riot down at the docks tonight when they were talking about Zuko and the Avatar and how the Earth Kingdom was treating them…" He shook his head again, rubbing the back of his head. "It's going to explode into a giant war, and there's nothing we can do about it! I cant… I can't! I have a family, General Iroh! I have to…" Renzu lurched up. "I have to resign from my position."
Iroh crossed his arms. "No you don't."
"I don't?"
"No, you don't." Standing up, he took Renzu's arm and started to lead him back to the door. "There will not be a war. I have no interest in fighting, and I'm sure that none of the Earth Kingdom leaders would be happy to go back to war."
"But- but Lord Zuko!"
"It would not be fair to punish the Earth Kingdom for something that is not their fault, just because it happened on their land," Iroh said firmly. Opening the door, he motioned for one of the guards to take Renzu. "Please take Admiral Renzu to one of the guest chambers to sleep. I don't want him to disturb his wife."
Renzu allowed one of the guards to lead him away before struggling briefly and turning back to Iroh. "Where are they?" he asked. "Where're Lord Zuko and the Avatar?"
Thinking of the Pai Sho board behind him, Iroh solemnly answered what he knew to be true. "They're caught up in the middle of something they cannot control."
"Aang?" Katara's voice came out in a choked whisper, and Aang shushed her impatiently before taking several slow steps towards the tall grass from where several loud groans were coming.
A figure suddenly lurched from the brush, and Aang instinctively jumped back, throwing an arm in front of Katara – who had followed, despite his directions - before realizing after a tense moment that it was only Huu, the old man they had met in the center of the swamp the first time they had been there.
He leaned heavily against a tree, not really seeming to notice Aang and Katara. His disheveled appearance took Aang by surprise – he was naked, his hair appeared to have been ripped out in large chunks, and his eyes were wide and wild. Those, however, were just the beginning of his injuries – he had clearly been beaten in a bad way, his skin covered with bruises and dried blood. His left hand in particular was so covered that the red blood was nearly black, and Aang realized suddenly with dawning horror that it was because he was missing all the fingers on that hand.
Behind him, Katara let out a strangled noise and pushed Aang away, rushing to Huu and immediately embracing him with one arm while fumbling with the cork to her water skin with the other.
"What... what happened to him?" Aang stuttered, staring as Katara allowed Huu to sag against her as she lowered him to the ground.
"I don't know." Katara, ever the healer, kept her tone low and gentle as her hands began to glow and she moved over the swampbender's broken body. "His injuries are severe but… it doesn't look like they'll be fatal."
Huu let out another groan, and Katara attempted to comfort and quiet him before he made an effort to choke, "Get out."
"It's okay," Katara soothed. "You're going to be okay."
"Get out." Huu fumbled for one of her hands, and Katara let him, focusing her healing efforts on the hand that was now little more than a useless stump. "Get out before it gets you too. It already got them…"
Aang tensed. "What got them?" he asked sharply, but Katara threw him a dirty look and shook her head, not wanting to agitate her patient further.
"Please…"
"Shh… it'll be okay." Aang watched as Katara worked to keep Huu pacified as she mended his injuries, the same strange sense of awe welling up that he always felt when he witnessed her healing abilities. He wondered if she was using her power even further, extending to him and the area beyond, because a peaceful, silent, calm seemed to fall over them as her hands moved gracefully.
Later he would wonder if this tranquil aura had dulled his senses, or if it was the exhaustion that was starting to overtake him, but either way Aang, despite his superior reflexes, never had a chance to prevent what happened next.
There was a whistling noise, then a sharp pain on his right forearm. His eyes snapped down to look at the bright blood blossoming from his torn sleeve, and then he heard a wet gasp and a strange sound of alarm.
The swamp was still silent, as if time had momentarily stopped while Aang took in the scene in front of him. The swampbender's broken and bruised body, still supported by Katara; Katara, cradling Huu in her arms, staring down in numb horror at the dagger like piece of wood now sticking out of Huu's chest where it had pierced his heart.
He was frozen, a hollow feeling starting in his chest and engulfing his entire body, and then suddenly time was moving again and Aang snapped into motion. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground as he flew to her, dropping to one knee and pulling Huu from her arms as if he was nothing but a doll, frantically running his hands over her to make sure that none of the blood that was currently soaking into her clothes actually belonged to her.
"Are you okay? Did it hit you?" his questions went unanswered; her eyes stayed on the face of the now lifeless body beside her. "Katara," he called firmly, trying to get her attention. "Katara."
Her blue eyes finally tore themselves away from the body to look at him blankly. Aang squeezed her shoulders, desperate to coax some sort of reaction from her. "Are you okay?"
Her gaze returned to her side and her mouth opened as if to answer, but when Aang felt her body shudder beneath his hands he tightened his grip on her and pulled her up, placing him between her and the body behind him. "Don't look," he ordered, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. "Don't look. There's nothing you can do."
The words echoed a far away, deeply buried memory, of red light and red blood and clanking metal and oppressive heat choking his lungs, and Katara's arms around him, lifting him, trying to make him walk and the blue glow of her hands and her rough voice begging him to keep walking and not to look, don't look, don't, there's nothing left to do, don't look at the Fire Lord's body behind him because she didn't want him to see the what was left behind of the task he had completed.
She had supported him then, and now Aang supported her, keeping his arms tight around her and not caring that he was smearing blood all over himself, pulling her away from Huu's body and the fear that whatever had just struck out at them would do so again if they didn't get away.
Katara did not fight him, allowing herself to be dragged away with the same blank look on her face. He did not stop until they reached water, and, settling Katara against some of the dry wood, pulled some water from the swamp and picked up her slack arm from her lap.
There was little he could do about the blood on her clothes, but the blood on her skin, on her hands and arms and – spirits, there were even splatters on her face – he could take care of. Tenderly, he used the water to clean her, focusing entirely on her warm, alive skin and not on the cold, numb feeling in his own body and the deep, dark thought of how close he had come to losing her and what that would mean for him and his life.
Katara forced the issue when she spoke suddenly, the vacant look still occupying her face.
"That could have hit me."
"Don't think about that," Aang murmured quickly, closing his eyes and trying to erase the picture from his mind.
"But it didn't," she persisted.
His throat had closed up, so all he could respond with was a nod.
"Like it was showing us that it could have," she continued, voice growing more passionate. "Reminding us… what it could do…"
Katara turned to him, eyes burning, and he swallowed hard, standing up and offering her his hand.
"Let's get out of here."
She accepted his hand and stood up, following him. She said something softly in a far away tone, and Aang's heart gave a painful beat before he fully understood what she'd said:
"I don't think it'll let us."
Unitas Mirabile Vinculum: The Wonderful Bond of Unity.
A/N: Oh my god! When I first got the idea for this story, way back in July after The Desert, the very second scene that popped into my head was the last one with Aang, Katara, and Huu (The very first scene being Ty Lee's Rules of Living with Azula way back in Chapter 1) and it was pretty much the easiest scene I've ever done, it came so naturally.
I'm rather nervous as to the reaction to the Freedom Fighters – I was half dismayed after Lake Laogai aired (Oh god, Redemption!Jet, you killed me!) – not to mention the whole OC thing. I rather hope we get a flashback in S3 as to how Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee end up leaving the Freedom Fighters and we get information about what the rest of the Freedom Fighters are doing now without them.
Meng is another one shot section – I hope you guys are okay with those. It's blatant wish fulfillment – unrequited crushes are hard work! And also The Fortuneteller is such a great Kataang episode (one of my absolute favorites) – it didn't feel right not calling back to it.
