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 Eleven: Aang and Katara run into trouble, Azula travels with Ty Lee, and Jet makes his move.
A/N: Yay I'm finally posting this! This isn't so much as the beginning of the climax as it is the prologue to the climax. This is another one of those "I've been planning it for so long it's strange to see it go up," type chapters.
Disclaimer: I continue to not own Avatar, the Last Airbender. I also continue to not make any money off of this. Please do not sue me, as I am a poor college student with nothing but a cold.
Chapter 11 - Aut Vincere Aut Mori
They were quiet as they picked their way through the swamp. Katara kept her eyes focused ahead, trying to ignore the flashes of red she could catch out of the corner of her eyes from the blood that still stained her clothing. There was a numb, empty feeling in her chest and her arms and legs felt heavy, making every step she took an effort. It was related, she was sure, to the intense pressure that seemed to surround them, as if the atmosphere itself were collapsing in on them and crushing them.
"Katara."
Lift foot, step forward.
"Katara."
Now the other foot.
"Katara!"
She hadn't realized Aang had stopped walking until he moved into her field of vision, calling her name a fourth time and grabbing her by the shoulders.
"What?" she asked blankly, looking up into his concerned face.
"Do you realize where we are?" he asked, looking up into the shadows above them.
Katara looked. In front of her was a tree – the largest of the forest, it stretched around, blocking her view of anything else. Looking down, she could see its roots twisting under and over the ground, spreading out through the rest of the swamp.
"We're in the center of the swamp." The tree truly was an awesome sight, towering over them.
"I can try to find the others here," Aang said softly, running his hand softly over the truck.
A shot of panic ran through her. "Don't you remember what happened last time you tried that?" she asked, not bothering to try to hide the anxiety in her voice.
"Of course I do," he answered gently, a dark look coming into his eyes. "But we need to get out of here, and this is the best way to find everyone."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Instinctively, Katara rocked forward, suddenly on alert as Aang stilled. Before he could make the connection to the swamp, however, something broke his concentration. Aang's eyes snapped open and moved up, focusing on the dark canopy above them.
"Stay here," he murmured to her, bending at the knees slightly and taking off before Katara could object, shooting up into the branches with a sharp gust of wind that ruffled through her clothes.
She peered up where he had jumped, but all she could see was darkness. There was neither movement nor sound, and Katara's heart picked up, thumping harshly as her arms started to tremble. The entire swamp itself seemed to have stilled, as if waiting in anticipation along with Katara.
She let out an involuntary gasp when she saw a flash of light above her and heard a harsh cracking sound. Aang's name slipped in a desperate cry as she ran her eyes over the tree, searching wildly for a way to climb up.
Before she could make a move forward, however, there was a soft thump from behind her. Turning slowly, her heart skipped a beat then started racing madly, a dull roar of relief in her ears as she took in Aang's crouching form, one hand on the ground to steady himself.
"Aang," she breathed, taking a step forward. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Aang stood up, brushing lightly at the dirt on his tunic and pants. Katara watched apprehensively. There was something different about him – something about the way he was holding himself, as if there was some tightly coiled energy just waiting to explode from him – as if he were holding himself back in a way he never had before.
"Aang," she called, a little more firmly, a little more desperately, and before she could wonder why he was ignoring her he lifted his head and made eye contact with her, his face splitting into a grin.
She recoiled from the force of his look, looking back down at the ground. He walked towards her – it seemed to her that his steps were heavier, because she couldn't recall an instance when she'd ever heard Aang walk – and her neck automatically craned back to look up at him as he moved closer to her, invading her personal space.
"Aang, what hap-" she cut herself off as his hands moved up, skimming over her shoulders and coming to rest behind her neck, thumbs gently rubbing circles at the hairline behind her ears, reminiscent of their first dance those days ago in Ba Sing Se, when he'd given her the necklace currently hanging around her neck.
His grip tightened and he pulled her forward into a hot, demanding kiss. She rocked back in surprise before instinctively leaning into it, closing her eyes and allowing him to move against her.
It wasn't until she felt the rough bark of the tree at her back that her eyes flew open again. She hadn't even been aware that he'd pushed her back, and when she gave a little cry of surprise and tried to pull away, he only moved his hands from her neck down to her upper arms, gripping her painfully and pushing her back against the tree before dipping his head down again and grazing her lower lip with his teeth.
The relief Katara had previously felt fled. Turning her head away and trying to catch her breath, he merely dropped his mouth further, his rough tongue and teeth and hot breath on her neck.
"Aang!" she called again, struggling slightly against the firm grip of his hands.
He didn't stop. "It's been so long," he mouthed against her, "since I tasted…"
Katara whimpered and pulled harder, one hand twisting to reach the cork of her water skin. "Stop."
He listened this time, and moved his head away from her neck to face her again. The grin from before was back on his face, the corners of his lips curling and his eyes narrowing slightly.
Panic set in, and she struggled to remain calm as he leaned forward again, nuzzling against her chin before moving up and hovering over her lips again. "Who are you?" she asked quietly before his lips brushed hers and his mouth pressed down and demanded access to hers once again.
He'd gotten mud on his tunic. He really had made an attempt to be careful, playing outdoors, but the recent rain had soaked the ground and Tom Tom had been outside for barely a half hour before he'd splashed into a puddle by accident, leaving a long streak up the middle of his tunic.
His mother was going to kill him unless he got back to his room before she called him for dinner.
Tom Tom slipped into the house, calling on every single one of his skills as a seven-year-old child to be stealthy; the house was large enough, but he wasn't sure where his parents were at this exact moment. He had no worries about running into any of the servants – as long as he wasn't tracking the mud in on his feet, they would keep his secret.
The only real obstacle was the Hall of Doorways – his bedroom was located at the far end of said hall, but behind the various doorways there was also his father's office, his parents' master bedroom, and the main bathing room of the house. A sinister person could be lurking behind any door, ready to pop out, unwanted, at any moment.
Ears straining, he crept past the first doorway, his father's office, and froze when he heard his name spoken.
"They wouldn't!" his father's voice was shocked, but his mother – she was crying, again – pressed on, talking over him.
"They would. Look at the reports! The Fire Lord and Avatar missing in the Earth Kingdom, just up and disappeared from the grand palace of Ba Sing Se." Her voice was jagged, but her tone didn't interest Tom Tom – his mother was always upset over one thing or another – as much as the words she was speaking. The Avatar and the Fire Lord were not often mentioned in his house, and then only quietly, with bitter reverence from his mother and anxious fear from his father.
"Ba Sing Se isn't like Omashu," his father countered calmly. "They have better defenses – if they left it was for good reason."
"It doesn't matter why they left. Only that they left, and disappeared. They certainly have enemies still living over there in the Earth Kingdom." His mother's voice was getting stronger. "Enemies who have done ruthless things during the war-"
"So you do think Mai is involved in all this?"
Mai.
A name spoken even less than that of the Fire Lord and Avatar. His parent's never said the name, but he'd heard whispers from the staff more than once, almost never complimentary. He'd asked his nurse once who Mai was, and was rewarded with a shush and a swat before she finally revealed that she had been his older sister who had died during the war.
Tom Tom had gotten off light. He'd heard the staff complaining about the nurse's lecture the next morning.
He wasn't sure what was happening with the Avatar and the Fire Lord in places that he'd only read about in his studies, but they were clearly recent events and his parents were talking about his deceased sister as if she were still alive.
Against his better judgment he leaned closer to the door, trying to catch more of his parents' words.
"I believe Princess Azula is responsible for all of this. And I would like to say that Mai isn't, but if she and Ty Lee and Princess Azula have stayed together and haven't split up in exile, then Mai is almost certainly involved in this. And besides," his mother's voice lowered and Tom Tom leaned even closer to the door, dropping down into a crouch, with his back flat against the wall, "It doesn't matter who is actually responsible for this mess. If we reached this conclusion so easily, don't you think General Iroh and the rest of Fire Lord's advisors have as well?"
There was a brief silence. Tom Tom could just picture his father running his hand through his hair – his mother often remarked that it was going to make him go bald early if he didn't stop.
"They'll believe Mai is involved, and they'll try to find her," his father conceded wearily.
"And the first place they'll look-"
"They have to know we have no contact with her!"
"We're her only family!" His mother's voice was starting to clog up; she was clearly near tears again. "They'll come here looking for information about her, and I will not risk Tom Tom. Not after Omashu."
She was definitely crying again. His father's voice was angry as he snapped, "Well then what do you suggest we do?"
Tom Tom didn't wait to hear the answer. Standing up, he bolted for his room, not caring how much noise he made. Ripping off his stained tunic and throwing it aside, he pulled open his drawer and searched for a new one.
What had his mother meant by risking him? They lived quietly, out in the country in a small estate. They would have no reason to catch the Fire Lord's eye – Tom Tom was even being schooled at home and hadn't been sent to academy to learn weapons training so he could join the army – something he wanted, and his parents forbid.
There was a light knock on the door, and Tom Tom was still wrestling with his shirt when it opened and his nurse peered in curiously at him.
"Dinner's almost ready- what's the matter with you?" She blinked at him, hands settling on her hips.
Tom Tom set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. "You said my sister was dead."
The surprise at his words was evident at her face. Tilting her head slightly, she checked down the hall for any signs of his parents, then came fully into the room and quietly pulled the door shut behind her.
She tsked at him, rocking back on her heels and leaning against the door. "Eavesdropping isn't a proper habit for a young man such as yourself."
He just glared at her, and a smile ghosted across her face.
"Alright. You want the real story then?"
One thing about being blind, Toph had found and often worked to her advantage, was that it was very easy to stay in denial about something she didn't want to acknowledge. She didn't want to talk to that noble brat that her father was so fond of? He was ignored. Students at the academy were bothering her? She developed a sudden case of deafness to go with the blindness.
It was, of course, a lot harder to ignore the quiet, persistent voice that came from neither outside her ears nor inside her head.
A life for a life, she'd been told, but before she could react Sokka had arrived and saved her. Had Sokka been sent or was it by chance?
"There are many ways to repay this debt," she was told. It was a calm, sexless voice that spoke to her, that sounded wild and tame, desperate and confident, the contradictions shifting clearly despite the monotonous tone of the voice.
"You are an honorable lady, Toph Bei Fong. Surely you would not ignore what you owe?" She curled up tighter, scooting closer to the warmth of the fire and digging her toes deeper into the soil. No one was moving, no one was around them, and no one was talking to her. She was not worried, and she most certainly was not afraid, because that would indicate that there was something to be afraid of-
"Which would be easier for you, Blind Bandit? To sacrifice yourself or to sacrifice another?" Next to her, Sokka let out a loud snore, and the voice sounded almost amused when it spoke again:
"It would be a shame, seeing as how I just saved you, but of course you would sacrifice yourself, although I suspect your companion would have some issues with that." She could actually hear her teeth gritting. A headache was started to form at her temples from clenching her jaw so tightly – although the clenched jaw, she would never admit, was not only out of determination to remain ignorant but also intense nausea; Sokka had tried to make her eat another bug that evening before settling down.
"You are in denial about death, my dear. I know you've seen it – why do you go out of your way to ignore it? Surely you've faced your own mortality?" The question was innocent enough, but it was enough to finally provoke a response out of Toph. Her experiences with death – during the war, during the rebellions and peace process, even while she was just in the swamp – firmly fell under the category of things she willingly turned a blind eye to.
"I do not! Leave me alone!" she cried, and across the fire she felt Sokka's body shift, before he sat up a little bit.
"Are you okay, Toph?" he called out blearily.
Toph froze, unsure how to reply.
"Soon." The voice got in the last word before disappearing from her mind once again.
Sokka sat up a little straighter. "Toph?" he called again, concern creeping into his voice.
She was worried about him – he was worrying himself sick about Katara and Aang, not to mention she suspected he was worried about Ty Lee and the possibility of running into Azula, despite the fact that there was really nothing he could do about them.
So, denial it was.
"I'm fine," she answered firmly, hoping he didn't notice her hands clutching the earth, fingers clawing their way down to see as much as possible. "I started to fall asleep and must have dreamed."
Sokka sat up all the way, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. "You dream?" he asked, surprised.
"I can see pictures in my head," she answered curtly, hoping he'd drop the subject.
"Oh." He stared forlornly into the fire for a moment.
"You can go back to sleep," Toph pointed out. "It's not near your watch, and I'm not even tired."
"I'll stay up," he said, reaching for a stick and poking it into the fire. There was a heavy pause before he asked hesitantly, "So can you feel anyone moving around here?"
Toph could actually feel a lot moving – she had thought being in the desert with the sand that blurred her sense of vision was bad, but in the swamp it was a total sensory overload. It never rested, it was never still, and it was full of all different kinds of movement - movement up through all the vines, and things crawling through the shallow water and sometimes, occasionally, humans; Ty Lee and Azula were staying in the very edge of her vision, though they'd wandered out of it for the time being.
She suspected that he wanted to know most about Ty Lee – though she was sure Sokka wanted more than anything to find Aang and Katara, the threat to them was too big for Sokka to handle all at once. Ty Lee going back to Azula – Azula being in the swamp at all – that was a small enough danger for Sokka to seize on and focus all his energies on.
It was childish, it was petty, and it was completely irrational considering their situation, but Toph decided that before they got out of the swamp she might like to beat up Ty Lee. Again. After all, they hadn't had a decent match-up since during the war…
She amused herself momentarily with these thoughts, until Sokka loudly cleared his throat and called her name uncertainly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"What?" she jumped, startled by his question.
"I asked if you were okay. You're acting funnier than usual."
Toph was glad that Sokka did not share her ability to tell when others were lying; her heart was racing as she attempted to placate him. Truly, the last thing he needed was someone else to worry about. "I'm fine!" She bit her lip. "Well, maybe I am getting a little tired."
"Why don't you go to sleep, then? I told you I'd stay up." There was a note of irritation in his voice, and Toph's eyebrows creased.
"Fine," she snapped back at him, dropping onto her back and slamming her arms together, bringing up a rock tent to cover her.
If the big dumb moron wanted to be a big dumb worrywart on his own, fine by her.
That didn't stop her from staying up the rest of the night with him, feet firmly planted so she could see everything around her.
Azula had thought that she would be relieved to be reunited with Ty Lee, and to a degree she truly was: she finally had someone to take out her building rage on.
"Keep up," she snapped over her shoulder, not even looking to make sure that Ty Lee was okay after tripping yet again. It was funny – the vines hadn't been that much of a burden before Ty Lee had found her, but over the course of the day and into the night (Azula had refused to stop, no matter what time it was) they had become more troublesome, as if deliberately seeking out the pair and trying to impede their journey through the swamp.
Ty Lee had found her in the middle of the previous night, nearly taking Azula by surprise as she tripped through the woods, determined not to stop but to find Zuko and destroy him. Zhao's constant appearance had only reminded her of her failure in this regard – she'd had Zuko right in front of her!
The fact that the swamp catching on fire had interrupted them shouldn't have stopped her, nor should have the distress of her friends; the entire reason she was friends with them in the first place was because they could take care of themselves. And even if they couldn't take care of themselves, it still should not have distracted her from her main goal. It went against everything she had been taught, everything that had been drilled into her, everything that she believed in and fought for.
At least, she had found with some satisfaction, Ty Lee seemed to have recovered from the petrifying fear that had been plaguing them when they had entered the swamp – that, or she had simply shut up about it. Both were fine with Azula.
Although she was still as unnaturally quiet as she had been before, there was no longer the air of a wounded animal around her, and frankly, Azula was half glad she was quiet, for once in her life. She wasn't in the mood for idle chatter – or Agni forbid, singing – because all it would be was another distraction she would have to overcome.
They had exchanged some words, to be sure. When Ty Lee had first found her, she'd asked if Azula had been hurt, which of course Azula been. Thankfully, after they'd met up again Zhao had stopped coming to her – though she still caught flashes of red out of the corner of her eye – leaving her mind free to ponder exactly what his words had meant and exactly how she had failed in beating Zuko.
Once, just once, she had spoken to Ty Lee – when she was thinking about her brother she turned to her and blurted out, "You didn't run into anyone, did you? Did you see my brother?"
Ty Lee had gone pale and done an impressive impersonation of a gasping fish before spluttering out, "No! No, I was alone. I don't know where Zuko went, but I didn't run into anyone."
She was clearly lying, but Azula had decided that at the moment, it didn't matter. Zuko wasn't right in front of her and, in the end, she had to appear confident in Ty Lee's loyalty. They could take their time for the moment, because she would run into Zuko again before this whole ordeal in the swamp was over, and this time, she would not allow her mind to wander and become sidetracked by any petty distractions.
Her place in life was clear, and others had sacrificed so she could achieve that – Zhao had served not only to remind her but to strengthen her resolve. She would tear Zuko down and reclaim the throne that should have been hers to begin with.
Unleashing a bright blue flame, she slashed her way through a wall of vines that had been blocking her way. Azula took two steps before she realized Ty Lee was lagging again. Stopping and turning back to glare at her, she instead found herself speechless at Ty Lee's posture.
She was standing stiffly; hand up on one tree, head tilted and eyes closed, as if listening intently to something faint.
Azula let out a huff of irritation (steam rose up through the vines above her) and retraced her steps back over to the focused acrobat. When Azula got into her personal space, Ty Lee finally opened her eyes, not flinching despite Azula's close range and the glare on her face.
"What are you doing?" Azula demanded, not stepping back from Ty Lee.
Ty Lee wasn't intimidated. Instead she raised a hand invitingly and asked softly, "Can't you hear it?"
"Hear what?" Azula's patience was nonexistent to begin with, and now even attempts to ignore Ty Lee were no longer working.
"The swamp," Ty Lee said simply. "Can't you hear the swamp?"
The utter stupidity of the statement left Azula speechless. Her mind was racing for the best way to tell Ty Lee off and snap her attention back to the task at hand when the wind picked up again, rustling through the trees, and there, underneath the wind were the whispers. They were different from the low timber of Zhao's voice, which she'd been hearing all along – they were soft and wrapped around, sliding into her mind and forcing her to understand.
Caught by surprise, Azula rocked forward defensively, barely catching herself on Ty Lee's shoulder. A glimmer of triumph and gratitude rose up in Ty Lee's eyes, and then Azula's shocked expression morphed back into the sneer she had perfected long ago.
"I hear nothing," she said shortly, turning her back on Ty Lee. "Let's keep moving. Don't fall behind again."
Bao had to give Jet credit – what he lacked in formal education and money (and hygiene), he made up for in sheer, pure luck.
Even the sky itself bowed to the whims of Jet, giving them a cloudy, wet night that provided them with plenty of cover as they worked their way through the forest – moving mostly up in the trees – towards the storehouse where the weapons were kept.
They reached a small clearing several yards off the northern entrance to the storehouse and dropped from the trees, nobody needing light to know where their companions were in the darkness.
"Are you sure you have everything?" Jet asked quietly. In front of him stood the small group, mostly standing still with the exception of Smellerbee, who was rocking from heel to heel in excitement.
"We triple-checked before we left camp!" she snapped impatiently. Bao was slightly glad that he couldn't see her stroking the jar of blasting jelly possessively; he would be glad if he never heard her rapture on about the superior qualities of their homemade mixture over the Fire Nation's version ever again.
"Alright then." Jet was shoulder to shoulder with Bao, and yet his entire demeanor seemed to suggest someone leaning back casually in the trees, stalk of grass planted firmly in his mouth. "Have at it. We meet back here once everything goes up in smoke."
For several minutes all that could be heard was the whooshing of the leaves and the soft snap of branches, and then all was quiet and Bao was once again left alone with Jet. They'd decided to stay behind while the rest of the Freedom Fighters went ahead – once it was all over the two of them were going to be responsible for transporting and hiding the weapons stolen from the storehouse. Afterwards Bao was going to have to continue on with his original mission – the one Bumi had sent him on – but for now, he felt as relaxed as he had in years, once again fighting alongside his childhood friends.
That didn't stop him from wanting to fill the silence, however. Years spent with Bumi had made him used to a stream of constant chatter, and even though Jet had never been the type for idle conversation – unless it was for some sort of personal gain – Bao still couldn't help trying to initiate chat.
"So…"
"Shh," Jet shushed him immediately. Bao felt an embarrassed blush crawl up his neck before Jet grabbed his arm and hissed, "Someone's coming."
They scrambled up into the trees, looking down at the lights bobbling under them as members of the Earth Kingdom army ran towards the storehouse. Jet swore softly under his breath before dropping back out of the tree the moment the last soldier crossed back into the line of trees before tilting back his head and calling back up to Bao.
"I don't know who tipped them off, but the Freedom Fighters don't know-"
"Don't know what?" interrupted a cool, calm voice. "That we've arrived to arrest them?"
Bao, about to jump down from his precarious perch on a slim branch, froze and scrambled for purchase. For the first time he could ever recall, Jet seemed taken aback.
"Who are you?"
"21st infantry, Colonel Haru."
Bao's mind was racing – he had assured Jet that the infantries hadn't been called anywhere to prevent people from panicking; to have the divisions out and moving either meant that something had changed since he had left Ba Sing se or that he had been misled in his communication with others. For a moment, he wondered just how much Bumi was aware of before being drawn back into the situation.
Haru was already stripping Jet of his weapons and ordering him to his knees; Jet was complying for the time being, clearly waiting for Bao to jump down and bail him out from the situation.
Bao hesitated.
He'd always stayed loyal to Jet, in a vague sort of way. Even after he'd been accepted as a high ranking member of Bumi's government, to the point where he'd been part of the group that was supposed to arrest Jet, he'd always done whatever he could to help the leader of the Freedom Fighters avoid capture. Some called his childhood loyalty; Bao called it prudence, knowing that even with his position as heir of Omashu he might need the Freedom Fighters as allies someday.
There was very little communication with Jet over the years – Bao had left the Freedom Fighters on good terms, but somewhat guiltily, knowing that he'd been the only member of Jet's little group to have earthbending abilities, and that those abilities had been the only reason another family (a noble family from Bumi's court that they'd tried to rob, no less) had decided to take him in.
He believed as strongly as Jet did that the Fire Nation needed to be destroyed and all traces of it removed from the Earth Kingdom, but unlike Jet he was trying to do it from the inside. The only reason he'd sought to help Jet when Bumi had sent him on his little mission was his absolute certainty that he'd be able to get away with it, this push in the right direction; Jet was more than known for his stealth.
But now Jet was being arrested right before his eyes, and members of the army were going after the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Bao could abandon Jet and take off through the trees, escaping easily since he'd never been seen and had an alibi to begin with – or he could attack a colonel of the Earth Kingdom army and risk exposing himself as a traitor to Bumi's peacekeeping cause, maintaining his loyalty to Jet.
His hesitation was what made the decision for him; a loud explosion ripped its way through the forest, shaking the ground and rocking the trees. Bao never thought he'd be happy to hear from Smellerbee and her blasting jelly.
Jumping from the tree and calling a large rock up to his hands, he let a small grin slip; Colonel Haru would never know what hit him.
Aut Vincere Aut Mori - Either Conquer or Die
A/N: So… I hope my original character doesn't bother anyone. I just noticed that none of Jet's Freedom Fighters appeared to be earthbenders (that I can remember – I haven't seen the episode in so long I can't confirm that) and was sorta intrigued by that.