Disclaimer: Despite the hiatus, still not my property!
College was a ride, real life was hella busy for a while, but I'm settled now and back in the fanfic game (sort of), five years later. Figured I'd finish this one up, props to anyone still reading J
This chapter picks up where we left off and includes the scene that put Mingzan on the map!
The air sizzled with the heat of Ghazan's lava as he blasted the brothers, an elbow here, a stomp there. After the first few attacks, the firebender rolled away, getting up and separating from his brother.
Smart, Ghazan thought, continuing his assault on the earthbender. A trickle of water swept across his nose before he saw Ming-Hua leap over him, coming down with a wicked splash to deal with the other boy. But not smart enough.
The elements flew freely throughout the plaza. Those who peeked their eyes through a door or window quickly shut themselves in, not willing to enter the battle. Ghazan tried to focus on the kid, minimize wild strikes. After all, these people didn't need to be hurt—too many times in his life had a bystander suffered from nothing of their own doing. As he continued to jab and elbow and knee his way through the battle, he caught a glimpse of Ming-Hua and the firebender doing their own dance on the upper level of the inn.
Water sliced viciously across the wooden scaffolding as Ming-Hua pursued her opponent. She smiled with satisfaction as he had to roll away from her, unable to procure a stable offense. His flames were extinguished easily, her arms swelling with the water available from the center of their arena. A particularly aggressive swing had him jumping back down to the base of the inn, scrambling to gain distance as she followed.
Ghazan paused for a minute, seeing this change, allowing Ming-Hua to cross between him and the slightly stunned kid. A knowing smirk played at his lips—she liked to play with her food a bit too much. He'd have to talk to her about that again.
A plume of lava continued the momentary lapse in action. Frustrated, he saw the kid throw a wild uppercut, a large chunk of rock launched his way. Deftly, he jumped into his own attack, shattering the projectile to cut the distance between him and his opponent.
"I can't beat this guy! It's like I'm giving him ammo!" The kid shouted in exasperation, throwing up his forearms to block yet another assault from Ghazan. He's right, earthbenders just can't stop lava, Ghazan thought smugly. Growing bored with his offense, Ghazan decided to just shoot streams of molten rock, distracting the kid from helping his ally. Amused, he heard the kid ask to trade partners just as his peripheral vision caught Ming-Hua and the firebender.
The firebender was running out of space, and Ming-Hua knew it. Needless to say, she was surprised when he decided to run up the wall, slicing through part of her water arm. But Ming-Hua was used to adapting to things, so when he righted himself, ready to blast her, she was prepared. Pulling more water towards her, she encased his fist of flame, freezing the end. A crisp swing of the arm had him unconscious in a nearby doorway. Her job finished, she turned to aid Ghazan.
As she watched, wheezing a bit—damn volcano, damn fumes, damn White Lotus—she admired Ghazan's grace as he cartwheeled over a rock projection, raining fiery meteors across the strip. Desperate, the kid hopped into the pool to escape the heated attacks.
"Not very bright, is he?" She quipped.
"You know, I had thought so. Then this," he lazily responded, flicking his wrist to send his final projectiles into the pool, deliberately missing.
Ming-Hua shared a brief smile with him as she began casting her arms, molding the water into a spherical prison.
"Go get the Avatar! I have these two under control." With a nod, she watched him turn and sprint to where the polar beardog had gone, barely noticing that the boy had finally popped his head out of his aquatic holding. With an audible sigh, she walked over to a nearby bench and plopped down. The two benders were still high in the air, one unconscious, and the other oscillating under and above the water containing him. "Better hurry up," she muttered, boredom already settling in.
Once the small alley was behind him, Ghazan punched himself a rock and started skating across the land, following the heavy pawprints in the sand. A heavy thud made him pause and continue on foot. Some light jogging brought him over the hill, only to scramble for cover in the nearby brush as men descended upon an earthen tent. Closer inspection saw the emblem of the Dai Li on the men's clothing. As quickly as they came, they were leaving, back to Ba Sing Se if he had heard the mumbles correctly.
Cursing under his breath, he made his way back to the Misty Palms Oasis, failure making him clench his fists. As he rounded the corner to enter the inn's plaza again, he saw Ming-Hua quickly stand and walk towards him. Both of her catches floated just behind her, awake but silent.
He answered her raised eyebrow with an almost imperceptible shake of the head. His response caused her to frown as she slammed the boys onto the concrete ground. A quick jab to the temple from Ghazan knocked them both out for good before they had even knew what hit them.
After restraining the boys, Ming-Hua rounded on him. "Where is she?" She hissed.
"Dai Li agents caught them. There were too many to attack. They're taking her to Ba Sing Se." He grudgingly explained.
Her mood a bit more sedate after his explanation, she replied, "Let's take these two with us then. Have some sort of leg up in regards to the Avatar."
"Of course."
Soon they were again on Ghazan's piece of earth, hurtling towards the cave where P'Li and Zaheer were waiting. On the journey, Ghazan yearned to tell Ming-Hua how amazing she had been, but he knew it would be wasted breath. Ming-Hua didn't need him fawning over her fighting, and he was not going to do anything to reveal their relationship with two enemies in their presence.
It would just have to wait until they were alone again.
"The Earth Queen's army snatched up the Avatar before I could."
"But," she began coyly, "we figured you could find a use for these two."
"Load them in the truck. We're taking a trip to Ba Sing Se."
With a smirk, Ghazan and Ming-Hua tossed the boys into the back of the truck and hightailed it to the front of the vehicle.
"Shotgun!" Ghazan exclaimed with a small fist pump.
Ming-Hua rolled her eyes at his childlike enthusiasm, turning to look out the window to hide the small grin pulling at her lips. She stuck her head out, calling out to P'Li, "We can switch just before daybreak, that should put us just past halfway."
And with an angry sputtering, the engine started. A quick tap-tap came from Zaheer, and Mig-Hua stamped her foot on the gas with far too much gusto, squealing the tires as she peeled out of their camp.
Ghazan whistled a tune, one hand on the wheel, the other lazily holding Ming-Hua's thigh. She had drifted off after they switched, head nestled against the glass of the window. He knew she wasn't far from consciousness as her water arms still held form, albeit more globular than usual. The road they were on was dusty and barren, and, at these wee hours of morning, held no other travelers.
He stole a glance her way and couldn't help the fond grin that stretched on his face. Ghazan was not a patient man, had never been. If he were a ruminating man, he would smack himself for the years wasted with Ming-Hua. But he wasn't one to linger on past mistakes, preferring to live in the present. And what a present it was, his best friends and the love of his life by his side, pursuing the glorious path of the Red Lotus. He had been gifted a second chance at life; he would never let that be taken away.
"How much longer?" Ming-Hua groggily asked.
"I'd say another hour or so before we switch out."
A noncommittal grunt came from her, eyes drifting to watch the landscape race by.
It was a peaceful silence, broken up only by the low rumbling of the truck and periodic muttering between Zaheer and P'Li. Wait…
"Zaheer, are they still alive?!" He called back, in a bit of a panic; he had taken a bit of a shining to the earthbending boy.
Ghazan could almost hear Zaheer's eyes rolling as he answered, "Yes, Ghazan. Just gagged."
Ming-Hua was quietly cackling in the seat beside him.
The switch had gone over without a hitch, Zaheer striking both boys in the temple for a quick knockout.
Now, a few hours later, the sun was up, and Ba Sing Se was fast approaching. Bound with ropes, the two boys were slowly coming back to it. "Ah man, rude!"
"Bolin, they're bad guys!"
Ming-Hua and Ghazan shared an amused glance. These boys have pluck, she thought, too bad they're in our way.
With a resolute grunt, the older brother slumped his shoulders, eyes focused on the floor. The younger earthbender, Bolin, her mind supplied, stayed upright. His wide green eyes were alight with curiosity and something a bit deeper, making a rapid study of the back of the truck.
Finally, as if realizing for the first time that he was a hostage, he fell back against his brother. But then his gaze fell on Ghazan and Ming-Hua, sitting about an arms-length apart on the bench.
"If you think holding us hostage will give you some leverage to use against the Avatar, you're going to be very disappointed." The other one spoke, and Ming-Hua could sense the false bravado behind statement. I bet he's been the protector their whole lives, she pondered. If she were in prison, that would have been more than enough ammunition to fabricate an entertaining backstory for the two. But she wasn't in prison, and she couldn't even touch Ghazan at the moment, so she settled with a nasty snipe back.
"Can't we just enjoy our time together in silence?"
"And why did you need Korra alive back in Zaofu? You had her paralyzed, why didn't you just take her out when you had the chance?" The older boy continued his incessant questioning, while Bolin looked like he was concentrating with all of his might on appearing intimidating. She heard the sharp intake of breath to her right, the only sign that Ghazan was annoyed.
"Look, all you need to know is that the world is about to change, for the better," Ghazan declared. He sounded so sure, so strong in his belief, and her heart swelled a bit in her chest, a foreign yet not entirely unwelcome feeling.
"So you guys were, like, locked up for fifteen years, huh? That must have been like crazy boring!" And as soon as Bolin spoke, she knew that Ghazan would entertain him. Ming-Hua internally rolled her eyes.
"Actually it was only thirteen years, but it felt like thirty."
"I mean, what did you do with all that time? Did you sing songs, work on crafts-"
She scoffed, cutting him off. "Not a lot of craft supplies in a volcanic prison cell."
"And I must have renamed the constellations about a thousand times. When it rained, that was a big event." Ghazan had opened his mouth before thinking, and he immediately kicked himself. Stupid! He felt the corners of his mouth drop into a frown, and he turned concerned eyes on Ming-Hua, wary of how inconsiderate he sounded. Her eyes had dropped to the floor in thought, and he let out a little sigh of relief as she glossed over his faux pas.
"Well I would've killed for some rain," she bit back acerbically. "Mostly I just made up stories about the guards, who was having trouble with his girlfriend, which one secretly wished he'd become a pastry chef."
"Ooh, ooh! That sounds like fun, lemme try that on you guys!" Ming-Hua noticed that Bolin's brother was looking increasingly annoyed, and Bolin's face twisted up in thought.
"You… were raised by an older sister, your mustache grew in when you were ten, and I'm sensing-just sensing-an unspoken attraction between you two."
This time, Ming-Hua couldn't control her reaction. She snapped her head to peek at Ghazan, and with a blush, she realized that he had had the same idea. Their eyes met briefly before she whipped her head away, eyes downcast and a frown forming. How on earth are you going to spin that, you big buffoon? This is why you don't entertain the hostages!
Ghazan took Ming-Hua's sudden bashfulness in stride. A smile plastered its way onto his face, and he figured he would spare her, just this once. "Two out of three, that's not bad."
The elder brother yanked at their bonds, turning his head away from the bench. "Bolin, will you stop making friends with the bad guys!" He scolded.
"Sorry-"
"Ghazan, gag those two. We're almost there."
Leave it to Zaheer to ruin his fun.
A bit shorter, but I'm trying to get myself back into it. I'm aiming for a new chapter every two weeks. We're at episode 10 already in this chapter, so I'm thinking three more. At least this gives me an excuse to rewatch Korra J