Also, Raenyx, who correctly guessed two of the four soundtrack songs has generously opened up the giving of one of the oneshot claims to the next person to leave a review (not counting you, Miranda, since you got the third right). So, whoever is next to review, you get to claim a oneshot at the end of the tale!

One song left from the soundtrack to guess and nobody's got there yet. I told you it was hard!

Enjoy!

Part 9: A Will Beyond Reach

Trowa looked across the battlefield before gathering a gust of air to cross it at speed. The colorful carts that looked uncannily like those used by traders and wanderers were mostly in pieces now, torn apart throughout the fight. It was clever, he thought, for a group of Black Lotus members to disguise themselves as travelers, free to go anywhere with no one looking twice.

But his orders had been to eliminate them, and he had. Mostly.

He was just advancing on the last huddle of men, swordsmen instead of benders, when the scent and feel of the air warned him of another group approaching. He dodged to get a better position and saw several men burst from the treeline, already moving in offensive, earthbending motions. That was all he had time for before one of the black-clad Order men charged him, sword out.

Trowa easily evaded him, spinning him into one of his own men and redirecting a fatal blow. He sensed the earthbending around him, but remained focused on the other swordsman who seemed determined to skewer him.

They danced an entertaining set of strikes and blocks, Trowa never losing either his balance or his patience, until at last the man over-committed a blow, stretching too far. It was the work of simple momentum to turn the man's attack into an out-of-control fall that pitched him headfirst into the debris of a wagon.

Trowa turned back to the rest of the scene, only to find himself standing against a line of earthbenders in brown. They didn't exactly look like the Order of the Black Lotus, but they certainly looked ready for a fight.

He jumped at them, knocking two or three off their root to the earth in one big gust of wind, spinning between large chunks of stone that rose up before him. But airbenders and earthbenders are virtual opposites, and Trowa was outnumbered. He flipped into the air to gain the advantage of height only to feel a piece of stone catch at his ankle and yank him hard to the ground. It was only by windmilling his arms that he kept himself from being crushed entirely.

"Gotcha!" one of the earthbenders shouted. Trowa shook off the impact only to feel a band of earth catching his hands and pulling his wrists together before him in an unbreakable grip.

"Stop it!"

Trowa was already gathering himself for another blast of air, knowing at least two ways to airbend his way out of things in spite of his situation, but the voice surprised him enough to pause momentarily. From amidst the earthbenders, a form strode purposefully forward.

Wearing a mask like Trowa's own.

Except where Trowa's was blank, featureless, this one was familiar. It was wreathed with carved black feathers that extended into a full hood, and grey like the sky just before a storm, but the visage was unmistakeably the legendary Blue Spirit.

But Trowa had only a moment to notice these details before the individual pulled the mask off before him.

"I'm Spirit, like you're No-Name. I'm one of you," he said, and his voice had dropped from commanding to inviting. "We shouldn't be fighting each other."

Something in Trowa's chest constricted. There was strength in that certainty, in that confidence, and honesty in the approach, more than Trowa himself carried. And the fact that he had just come forward, revealed his identity, stopped the fight, all without summoning any element to hand just in case, it made Trowa want to surrender far more than he wanted to continue his attack.

So he did. Moving slowly, he raised his bound arms and stood to his full height. The rocks broke away from his wrists unexpectedly and Trowa reached up to pull his own mask off. He let it drop and then returned to holding his hands up.

"Put your arms down," and the smile that accompanied the words was kind and amused. "I took my mask off first. You don't need to surrender to me." He took a step forward and bowed in a manner Trowa was not familiar with. "My name is Quatre Raberba."

"Trowa," he said, bowing as well in the way of the Nomads.

"You're hurt," Quatre said gently, stepping forward.

Trowa hadn't really noticed the trickle of blood from just behind his temple where a sharp stone had been reflected by his mask. He froze as Quatre reached up slowly, as though afraid to startle a wild animal, to touch the congealing blood. When Trowa did not pull away, Quatre drew closer, peering at the wound and carefully brushing past Trowa's long bangs to see the full extent of it.

When his fingers touched the airbender's arrow tattoo on his head concealed under all that hair, Trowa felt a jolt like being dropped into very hot water. Even Catherine had never touched his tattoos before. No one had, not since they'd been given to him. He'd never allowed it.

"I'm not a healer," Quatre said regretfully. "I can't fix this for you. But we've got a friend who can patch you up."

Trowa nodded wordlessly, his mouth suddenly dry. Quatre showed no reaction at all. How could he not have felt that? How could his heart not be pounding at that touch? Unless, of course, to Quatre, touch was not so unusual. And he seemed to have no tattoos of his own, either. But then, Trowa didn't know if airbender tattoos were supposed to be special somehow. He'd never taken the trouble to ask.

"You're very quiet for an airbender," Quatre remarked as he led Trowa towards the men that had recently been attacking him. It took Trowa a moment to realize he was being gently teased.

"I only talk when there's something worth saying," he returned. And found himself quirking a smile which he quickly tried to hide.

"All right. Trowa, these are the Maganacs. They're my friends and allies." Quatre pretended not to have seen the smile, but he was pleased nonetheless.

"Master Quatre," the single largest man Trowa had ever seen stepped out from the crowd. "Are you certain about this person?"

"I'm sure, Rashid. Trowa is like me, and fighting for the same thing."

Trowa looked at Quatre in surprise, then dropped his eyes to the mask still in Quatre's hands. He had known there were others besides Wufei, that he was part of a coordinated effort, but he had not expected to meet anyone else so soon. And he had, frankly, expected anyone he did meet to be more…soldier-like. Wufei had been a consummate firebending warrior. This young man spoke and acted like an aristocrat from one of the bigger cities, not a freedom fighter. But anyone who could command a legion of earthbenders had to be worthy somehow.

"As you say, Master Quatre." The giant bowed. "I am Rashid, commander of the Maganacs in the absence of Master Quatre. I apologize for our haste in attacking you. We will be glad to grant you shelter and whatever supplies you may need."

Trowa nodded stiffly.

"If I'm right, we'll be receiving new orders soon," Quatre said, looking back at Trowa. "You are welcome to stay with us until your messenger hawk finds you."

Quatre reached up and put a hand on Trowa's shoulder and it was all the airbender could do not to breathe in deeply enough to memorize the scent of this person, this oddly compelling Quatre Raberba beside him.

But as Quatre called for whoever served as their healer and began speaking to Rashid, Trowa strengthened his resolve. This was too dangerous. Something about Quatre made him want to relax and close his eyes and curl up in the warmth of his presence as sky bison liked to do in the sunlight.

And for that reason, he would leave as soon as he possibly could rather than risk what his heart seemed to want him to give.

-==OOO==-

Duo felt his face stretch into a grin so wide it threatened to split his mask in two. Soldier might be a stick in the mud, but he was determined. This was fun!

The group of Earth Kingdom guards proved an entertaining challenge for the temporarily one-armed earthbender and Duo's numerous daggers. But that squad had raised an alert so Duo and Soldier had been fighting their way out of the city ever since. At one point, Soldier had outright sneered at their opponents before, with one hand, relocating an entire hallway to clear their path. Somewhere around there, Duo decided he really liked this guy.

"So, what's the escape plan?"

"Um..." But maybe the feeling wouldn't be mutual after all. "Um, I'm open to ideas!"

"You're joking," Soldier turned his intense eyes on Duo in disbelief. "How could you possibly be so ill-prepared for your mission?"

"No, don't look at me like that. I did have a plan. But we're a little off-course now. And besides, I'm more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy." In the moment of running before the next squad caught up to them, he glanced upwards in thought. "I suppose, if we got out of the palace, we could use the canals. They run straight out of the inner ring."

"Acceptable."

Even as he turned to follow Soldier, trusting the earthbender to know better than himself which way to go, he mentally kicked himself.

"Just one thing," he said as Soldier shoved aside a wall and they were hit by bright sunlight. "I'm not sure I..."

"You're a waterbender," Soldier said firmly. "I can tell by the way you move."

"Yeah," Duo answered, grateful for the sudden ducking under some kind of shrubbery so he could hide his sigh in a pile of leaves, "but I'm not a very good waterbender."

That actually caused Soldier to halt in surprise. He was obviously aware of the proximity of the next guards, or lack thereof, for he took a moment to regard Duo carefully. Duo wondered if the earthbender could decipher his expression behind the unagi mask. With earthbending senses as highly developed as this guy's, who knew?

"If you are of the Order, if you are one of us," Soldier's glance flicked down to where he had stowed his own mask, "you must be exceptional in some way. And I don't mean your rudimentary combat skills."

"Thanks for that, really."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, but it won't help us in the river."

Suddenly Soldier smiled at him, not a dismissive or superior smirk, but a real smile. He held out a hand.

"You will find it in yourself, Shinigami. If your heart is great enough, you can move your element without limit."

Duo considered the hand. He reached out, only to have Soldier grip his wrist. He was moving slowly, so Duo didn't pull away, and after a moment found himself twisted into a position not unlike what Soldier had done when lifting the wall. It was a bending form, one of the most basic. He felt his bending stretch, felt the standing pools not far away responding to him.

"Of course I know how to do this," he grumbled. "I'm not that much of a beginner."

"Then do it," Soldier ordered.

Duo took his arm back and moved towards the nearest pool of water, close to the outlet to the canal. He lifted his arms, not in a perfect pose he'd seen other waterbenders use, but in the one that worked for him. The waves of the pool churned in response, rising up as a wall.

"See?" he demanded, holding the position.

But Soldier stepped over and looked at him carefully, then at the water.

"Earthbending is a solid art, the power of which comes from single-minded stubbornness. Waterbending has always appeared to be about motion. This is the stillest I've seen you since you dropped into my cell. Why do you stop moving to bend?"

Duo made an exasperated noise. "Because I'm trying to pay attention to whether or not we've got a bunch of earthbending guards about to come after us!"

"We do," Soldier said measuredly, "but I can listen for you. Then you wouldn't have to look over your shoulder when you should be focused on your real skill."

"That'd be a first," Duo replied darkly. He'd spoken without thinking, and he was grateful the mask hid his sudden grimace at admitting too much.

There was a beat of silence. Duo expected the earthbender to react somehow, but he didn't. Instead, Soldier tensed and his eyes flicked to the left. But rather than turning to fight or starting to sprint ahead, he turned back to Duo. He smirked then, and stepped forward.

"A true bender can bend their element when encased in it, even without moving. When you are surrounded by your element, you will find the truth of yourself. Perhaps you just need to have reason to trust it."

And he jumped into the water of the canal.

Duo stared just a moment too long before following. The earthbender must be genuinely suicidal – he wouldn't be able to earthbend in the water and he could hardly swim with one arm. The guards following them would have a tougher time sensing them if they were in water, it was true, but if they did catch on, the pair of them would be extremely vulnerable even if Duo were an expert waterbender, which he clearly wasn't. And yet Soldier had just gone in. That was a stupid amount of trust for having just met.

Duo jumped into the canal, bending through it and swimming like a fish in the current that grew stronger with each canal and pool that poured into the city's artificial river. Soldier was a little ahead, gamely kicking along though it was obviously difficult for him to keep his head above water. In a moment, Duo caught up.

"You," he said breathlessly, "are crazy. Do you want to die?"

Not waiting for an answer, he pulled off his mask and pushed it into his shirt. It was much harder to swim with it on. Soldier looked at him in surprise and Duo grinned self-consciously.

"Hi. I'm Duo. I run and hide, but I never tell a lie. And you are crazy, but I'm going to complete this mission and get you out no matter what stunts you pull."

"Duo," Soldier considered. "Hn. My name is Heero."

"And it's gonna be mud if you don't stop doing this crazy stuff," Duo said sharply. Then he turned back to the situation at hand. He could sense the water clearly, the path from the inner ring to freedom open and clear of barriers. He just needed to get them there before the Earth Kingdom's army caught on to their plan.

"Okay. You wanted to prove you're some kind of secret waterbending teacher?" Duo challenged. "Let's see if I'm a good student."

He ducked back under the water and let go. Soldier – no, Heero – was counting on him to be better than his half-bender self. This canal felt like an artery to him, a single flow in a solid mass. He could be the heart of the water, as the water was the blood of Ba Sing Se. And if he became the water, became the current, then his heartbeat, his heartblood, was the water. It was not outside him. It was inside him. It was part of him.

It was just like bloodbending, but without the pain.

And like the moment years before when he had finally understood his own chi, understood how to move the energy in himself, he had an instant of clarity. Duo had been reborn in that moment of chi and blood as Shinigami long ago. Now, he felt the unagi mask against his heart and understood all at once that water, like blood, was also death in the right hands.

And death, unlike life, he could handle.

A torrent rose up in the canal and surged through Ba Sing Se with a single-minded force of will as it rushed forwards. Guards saw the swell of water but had only barely set their root when the rumbling wash was already passed. Those few who started to close the gates and locks found themselves battling instead to free themselves from stone suddenly lifted from the bank and wrapped around them.

Duo met Heero's eyes with a bright grin and he knew the glinting in the earthbender's eyes came from the same fierce joy. The water cradled them in an impenetrable, nimble ball, and the earth defended and supported them. They raced beyond the innermost ring of the city and followed the channels and waterways out to the wash that ran into Lake Laogai, well beyond the reach of the alarm to raise defenses in time to find them.

"Hey," Duo said as he set them on the far side of the lake, only a few steps from a fairly easy place through which either of them could escape the city either by earthbending the thin wall or passing through the sewage current (which was definitely not the preferable way, but it worked in a pinch), "thanks. Really."

"It came from you," Heero replied.

"Well, if you got anything else like that, I'd love to hear it," Duo shrugged. "Got plenty of time to listen now."

Heero tipped his head questioningly even as he began to stride towards the nearby wall.

"I have a mission."

"Not anymore," Duo shook his head. "Your bird will confirm it, but you're going to get new orders. You were in there a while and things have changed. We've got places to be, as fast as we can get there."

"Together?" There was so much disdain in Heero's face and voice at the word Duo burst out laughing.

"Why not?"

Heero punched through the wall and began to move away.

"Do as you wish."

-==OOO==-

Trowa looked across the warm firelight at his host and found himself shaking his head, a smile tugging at his face without his permission.

"You really just jumped off the fortress wall? And they believed you were a spirit?"

"Well, if you don't have to move, they don't think you're an airbender, since the only airbenders who can fly use gliders or wave their arms around a lot," Quatre grinned. "It's not my fault that people see what they want to see instead of what is there."

"So what is there, then?"

"My friends help me. They're mostly earthbenders who trained as sandbenders," Quatre explained. "In the dark or in low light, sandbending looks exactly like airbending, and the sand can carry me. So they make it look like the Blue Spirit is flying since I'm not bending anything."

"They're lifting you up, then," Trowa nodded in understanding. "That takes a great deal of trust on your part."

"Oh, not really. I owe the Maganacs everything because they owe me everything. It all balances out."

Trowa leaned back, thinking. His afternoon had gone very differently than he had expected. Quatre proved to be as good as his word, producing a man with skilled hands who declared Trowa's injury minor enough to not need a waterbending healer and had put a bandage on instead. Then, when Heavyarms had swooped in, message-less, Quatre had invited him to stay for dinner while his own hawk, Sandrock, was out. Dinner had turned into a tent in which he was welcome to stay the night or until he received orders.

Never once in all of their discussions had Trowa felt trapped. The only other time he had felt safe enough to remain – when not on a mission or needing to maintain a cover – had been with Wufei. Perhaps, though, that was part of being one of the Order's masks. Perhaps they were all uniquely nonthreatening to an airbender who would dedicate himself to nothing save the path the wind led him down. Or perhaps he was getting soft.

Trowa glanced across the fire at where Quatre had taken to staring into the flames in silence.

There was no awkwardness in not talking. There was no awkwardness in any of it, and the longer he stayed in this strange camp of desert-dwellers and the odd golden-haired Quatre, the more his wary first impressions of the latter faded. He still remembered that odd jolt at Quatre's touch, the odd scent in the air, but since then there had been nothing. Quatre had even put a hand on his shoulder while showing him to his tent and it had been devoid of that strangeness.

But then, the healer had mentioned that a blow to the head could make a person's senses abnormally heightened for a while, so perhaps that was all it had been. Trowa certainly felt much less interested in immediately fleeing the camp. Rather, he felt like he had with Wufei – that here was a place he could rest, a place he could allow someone else to keep watch, and all would be well.

He might not feel that way for long, and he might not take advantage of it for more than a night, but Trowa was content to let his instincts guide him for now. For as long as the wind was content to be still, so was its follower.

"Master Quatre," Rashid nodded in greeting to Trowa before turning his attention back to his boy. "The message you were waiting for is here," and he handed over a narrow slip of parchment.

"Thank you," he replied, smiling and bidding the large man goodnight before turning to the message. His eyes danced across it rapidly before he looked up. "It'll definitely be Republic City to which we are sent next," he said, "probably you as well as me. Things are coming to a head there and the Order seems to want a little more help on hand. You could travel with us if you want."

Trowa made a noncommittal sound in response. They stared into the dying fire in silence for a long time before, by unspoken agreement, both rose to go to their individual tents as the embers began to cool.

When Heavyarms woke Trowa just before dawn with his orders, which did include traveling to Republic City, he dressed quickly and hefted the shoulder-bag given to him by Quatre the night before. It was a kindness he had not expected, but he understood from the eloquent look in Quatre's eyes that to refuse it would cause more harm than to accept it.

He was only a few paces beyond the borders of the camp, slipping through the changing sentries at dawn, when the air told him someone was behind him.

"I'll see you again," Quatre said softly. Trowa turned, wondering how he had even known that his airbending guest was leaving.

"I know," was his reply.

"Be safe on the road to Republic City," Quatre raised a hand in farewell. "Goodbye, Trowa."

Trowa nodded and continued to walk, cognizant of the blue-green eyes fixed on him. Perhaps his head was still slightly wounded, for he felt as if he could still catch a tiny scent of Quatre on the wind long after he had left the camp behind.

-==OOO==-

Treize stalked through the long shadows, silent as the falling dusk, before striking his boot with the tip of the ceremonial whip he carried of habit.

"Enough!"

The power of his presence alone seemed to cause everything else to fall to stillness. He took in the scene.

His ship and its men had put into port for supplies before continuing back into Fire Nation waters in search of their opponents as ordered by the Fire Lord. Because theirs was a warship, Treize had simply avoided the politics of berthing in Republic City proper and had opted for this smaller fishing village down the western coast. Because it was such a small dock, however, his men did not have accommodations outside of the ship itself, so many had thrown up tents along the waterfront to build an impromptu camp.

It was at the border of this that the fight had begun.

"Who are you?" Treize asked, the lone, hooded figure holding fire between them so none could see the face clearly. "Why do you attack my men?"

"Your men shelter a murderer," came a raw, furious, strong voice. "I have followed him and his allies over half the Earth Kingdom. He is the last of them and I will see justice for what they have done!"

"None of my men could be the person you seek," Treize replied reasonably, moving forward again and gesturing for the few guards who had not already been burned in the altercation to fall back. "We have only just arrived."

"As have I," sneered the other, "and yet I saw him slip into that encampment. If you protect that slime, I will destroy you all."

Treize turned to the nearest officer and spoke in a voice that most men hoped never to hear. "Find him." The officer practically squeaked in terror and ran. Treize turned back. "If what you say is true, he shall be brought to you."

"Not good enough." The hooded firebender twisted and his cape fell back, revealing the mask of the Sun Warriors. "Stand aside or face me."

Treize's mind moved quicker than lightning. This before him was the man he was supposed to be seeking, the one who had attacked the Fire Nation. And yet, to drag this man back to the Fire Lord would not end the war – it would only incite it further as Fire Lord Dermail attempted to "prove" the involvement of his enemies. This warrior did not care that he was alone against a ship's full contingent of Fire Nation elite – he was seeking justice and he would find it. Treize found he did not want to drag this man away in chains for such a thing as seeking justice, and he had no desire to finish his mission so quickly, either.

He made a decision.

"Then perhaps a gentleman's agreement," he said, dropping his heavy outer cloak and weaponry. "If you can defeat me in single combat, you may search for your quarry here. If I defeat you, you must allow me to do with him as I wish."

"If you come between me and my enemy, I will fight you regardless," the masked firebender responded. But he nodded anyway and took a position opposite.

"And who is your enemy?" Treize asked.

"Anyone who stands against justice. Anyone who has blood on their hands from a dishonorable battle. Anyone who would turn this world to ash for the sake of power."

"Your struggle will never end. The enemy you describe is fate." Treize smiled anyway, his heart content. At last, someone worth the honor of battle.

"Then I'll fight forever!" And the masked firebender attacked.

The combat was intense, worse than an Agni Kai, because it had fewer rules. This was not a pure duel of firebending as both engaged in hand-to-hand combat when they closed with one another, and it was a battle neither was willing to lose. But Treize quickly realized that his opponent, while superb, could be beaten. For the Fire Nation prince knew that rage made one unbalanced, and lack of balance drew strength away in time.

"Where he able to settle his heart on something solid," Treize found himself thinking as he blocked a punch and twisted to strike with an elbow, "he would be unmatched among firebenders."

But in the end, it was the masked warrior who lay on the ground and Treize who stood above, victorious.

"Kill me, then."

"That was not our deal," Treize shook his head. "Besides, there is neither honor nor justice in your death here and now." He offered him a hand.

The firebender rolled away and got to his feet without help. "Find the murderer hiding with your people. He deserves worse than death for his crimes. You gave your word."

"And I shall." As the defeated warrior began to walk away, Treize cleared his throat. "We will fight again, you know," he called. "I am honor-bound to repay you for the damage you have done to the Fire Nation."

"When next we meet," he didn't even turn around, "if you duel me again, you will lose. I carry no guilt for my actions. I am on the path of justice, and I will not fail."

"No," Treize mused to himself as his opponent walked away, "no, I don't believe you will."