bendergurl123, judging from your latest comment, I think you'll find this one amusing.
Zuko shook my shoulder as we neared a town.
"Wha?"
"I don't trust those men, stay awake." He said quietly as we drew nearer. I nodded and tightened my grip on his waist. Zuko dismounted and walked to a vendor.
"Could I get some water, a bag of feed and something hot to eat?" Zuko asked the man, holding out two coins.
"Not enough here for a hot meal. I can get you two bags of feed." he said. Zuko nodded. I noted that the four men were watching us and frowned. I then noticed two children hiding behind the store counter, looking amused. One of them giggled, then threw an egg. It hit a gambling soldier. The two boys ran off as the Earth Kingdom soldier turned around, looking angry. They only saw Zuko and I behind them, so they stood up indignantly. I sighed.
"Hey! You throwing eggs at us, strangers?" The leader yelled at Zuko.
"No."
"You see who did throw it?" Zuko turned.
"No." He repeated.
"That your favorite word, no?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Egg had to come from somewhere." The leader said. Zuko turned again.
"Maybe a chicken flew over." I remarked. One of the soldiers laughed, but the leader shot him a look that made him shut up. Just then, the store owner returned with our feed bags for the ostrich horse. The leader grabbed both bags before Zuko could take them. I frowned, ready to paralyze them.
"Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support." He threw the bags to one of his fellow soldiers. "You better leave town. Penalty for stayin's a lot steeper than you can afford, stranger. Trust me." He patted his hammer at his side menacingly before turning and walking away.
"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation. But they're just a bunch of thugs." The store owner said. I rubbed my forehead. Zuko walks towards the ostrich horse and I. As he was about to re-mount, one of the little boys from earlier popped up from behind the animal, startling me. When'd he get there?
"Thanks for not ratting me out!" the kid said. His scent was an emerald shade. He was bound to be a good person. The soldiers from earlier were all dirt brown. Zuko ignored the boy, got on and started riding away. Lee casted him an annoyed look before brightening. Lee came up from behind and grabbed the reins.
"I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come on, I owe you!"
Zuko, Lee, and I arrived on a dirt road at the farm among mountains in the countryside. A little wooden farmhouse with a roof that needs re-shingling. I spotted several different types of hybrid pigs in enclosures. And they spotted us too. I cringed at the noise they made.
"No one can ever sneak up on us."
"No kidding." Zuko said, amused. Lee took the ostrich horse away. Zuko casted his glance off to the side; a pig rooster stood face to face with him and then crowed at him. I giggled. A man approached Zuko and I. A woman peered out from behind the farmhouse.
"You two friends of Lee's?" He asked. I smiled a bit as Lee came running out of the barn excitedly and grabbed his father's arm.
"This guy just stood up to the soldiers! And by the end, she practically had them running away!" Lee said. I smiled and waved slightly.
The woman from earlier came forward to join her husband and son, wiping her hands on a rag.
"Do they have names?" She asked her son. Zuko was a stuttering mess, and I was about to answer for us when the father cut in.
"He doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want to, Sela. Anyone who can hold his own against those bully soldiers is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms." he said.
"The real soldiers are off fighting the War, like Lee's big brother Sensu. Supper's going to be ready soon. Would you like to stay?" Sela asked.
"We can't. We should be moving on." Zuko said. I gave him a look.
"Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don't you two work for a while, and your wife can help me with dinner?" Sela said.
"We're no married!" Zuko exclaimed in embarrassment.
"Yet." I added. Zuko shot me a look. "We're only fiance's. We're actually traveling to tell my family the news."
"That's wonderful!" Sela said. I beamed and shot Zuko an eye look saying 'go with it!'
"What's can I help with?" I asked as Sela led me away.
"You can go get the boys." Sela said. I nodded, glad to help, and headed out. The woman had a lovely charchuse scent, and that told me she was nice. Only bad people had bad scents. For example, some fire nation soldiers were burgundy, while some were bloody crap. I approached the barn and scaled the ladder that Lee was resting on. He must've said, or asked, something bold, because Zuko, in surprise at the question, swung down his hammer a little too hard. He struck his thumb, now red, and groaned in pain.
"It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A man's past is his business." Gansu scolded.
"Geez, you alright?" I asked, scrambling over Lee. Zuko nodded, holding his thumb to his lips.
"What is it?" Gansu asked.
"Sela said that dinner is ready." I said. Zuko looked lost in thought all of a sudden. "Mankato, are you alright?"
"Hm?" Zuko said, snapping out of his trance. I smiled a bit.
"Dinner's ready. How about I help out with the roof instead? You need those thumbs." I said.
"You shou-"
"I hate to be rude, but I was raised in conditions were gender didn't determine what you can and can't do or accomplish." I said. Gansu hesitated before nodding.
"Fair enough. Any help is nice. Come, the food will get cold." He said. Gansu and Lee went down, leaving me on the roof with Zuko.
"Zuko, are you sure you're okay?" I asked. He sighed and shook his head.
"Want to talk about it?" I asked. He shook his head again. "Fine. C'mon, I'm starved."
"So, you don't seem like you're from around here." Lee said. Gansu went to scold him, but I laughed.
"It's alright. Mankato is more secretive about his past, I'm a lot more open." I said. "I actually am from the Earth Kingdom, just not from this place. How could you tell?"
"You're really dark."
"Lee!" I laughed.
"I am." I said. "My mom was from the Northern Water Tribe."
"Really? Cool!" Lee said. "Where are you going?"
"Hmm... well, my parents home isn't too far from here. It's out of town, so there's no real town name to put to it." I said. Lee nodded.
"Why did your parents name you June?"
"Because that's when I was born. Plus, that was the name of an old family friend." I said.
"How old are you?"
"A lady never reveals her age." I laughed, rustling Lee's mop of hair. He grinned.
"I'm ten!" He said. "How old are you, dad?"
"Lee..." His dad warned. I smiled.
"Hold on, I just realized something. You never look directly at someone. Why is that?"
"Oh. Well, it's because I'm color blind to everything but aura's." I said.
"Whoa, really?!" Lee exclaimed. "What's my color?"
"Emerald." I said.
"If you don't mind me asking, what am I?" Gansu asked.
"Not at all. You're mahogany." I said.
"And Sela's?"
"Charchuse." I said. "You are good people, I can tell because of your scents."
"What's mine?" Zuko said, behind me. I turned, wide eyed, before relaxing into a smile.
"You're amber." I said. His lips quirked in a half smile.
"Can you smell yourself?" Lee asked.
"Nope. As far as I know, I scentless." I said. "Wanna wiff?"
"Sure, why not?" Lee said. He grabbed my forearm and sniffed it. "Weird, you smell like rain."
"Really?" I looked to Zuko.
"Yeah... Anyways, I came up to tell you that Sela says to take a break since it's getting dark. Besides, you need you thumbs too." Zuko said, aiming the last sentence at me with an amused look.
"Good to know, Mankato. Thank you." Gansu said. "Good thing we finished the barn, huh?"
"I'm sorry, but the only spare room we have is the barn." Sela said.
"Oh it's no problem. A pile of hay is better than a pile of dirt and rocks." I joked.
"Very true. I put some blankets in there in case you get cold. Good night. And don't stay up too late." Sela said, leaving with a wink.
"Did she just make a sex joke?" I said. I then laughed. "I knew I liked this family."
"Great, there's only one hay pile." Zuko said. I rolled my eyes.
"It's a big hay pile. You get your half, I get mine." I said. I then walked over to the pile I claimed and fell onto it.
"Good night, Zuko." I said softly.
"Night."
One of my eyes snapped open as a door opens and Lee came sneaking in. He took the Dual Dao swords, but nearly stopped when Zuko made a sound in his sleep. Wait... crap, we did it again. Zuko and I were facing each other and he had an arm over my waist. Damn it, that's the fifth time since we separated from Iroh!
Nevertheless, Lee walked out of the barn with the swords and closed the squeaky door. Zuko's eyes popped open as if he was only feigning sleep the whole time.
"Who took the swords?" He asked.
"Lee." I told him. He got up and walked to the door. He paused with the door open.
"Well, are you coming or not?"
"I can't see very well in the dark." I said. Zuko nodded and walked over, holding out a hand. I took it and he pulled me up. He led me out of the barn.
"Can you tell where he went?" Zuko asked. I nodded, focusing on the emerald trail. We led each other to a large sunflower garden, where Lee was practicing with the swords. He jumped around and chopped off several sunflower heads. He started stabbing a nearby dead tree trunk repeatedly, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and breathed heavily in effort as Zuko and I silently approached behind him.
"You're holding them wrong." Zuko said. Lee fell backwards in surprise. Lee got back up, ashamed, a decapitated sunflower head perched on his. He held out the swords to Zuko. He took them, letting go of my hand.
"Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, 'cause they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole."
Zuko swung around the swords carefully, demonstrating his skill. He cut off some sunflower heads, then turned around and handed the swords back to Lee to try. He took my hand again so that if Lee swung out he wouldn't hit me. Lee was a little more careful this time, and a little less awkward with the swords. He turned to Zuko once he was done his mini demonstration. Zuko smiled kindly; Lee smiled back and laughed. We began walking away from the sunflower patch but I paused, looking around.
"June?" Zuko said. I looked to him, then Lee, then him again.
"You go on ahead Lee." I said, walking back into the field. Zuko followed while Lee shrugged and walked away, whistling, bringing back the swords for us.
"Avery, what is it?" Zuko asked.
"My dad is here." I said, cocking my head to the side, listening. There it was again, a man's voice calling my name. Zuko and I turned in unison, frightened, as a loud growl erupted behind us. We stumbled back as we saw the source of the noise. A huge, holographic looking shirshu was standing there.
"Are you Chi?" Zuko spoke out. The shirshu snorted before shrinking down into the shape of a man.
"I am." He glanced between us. "Avery, I wasn't aware you were engaged."
"I'm not." I said, blushing.
"I'm teasing." He said. He held out his arms. "It's been awhile, daughter."
"So you are my dad." I said. Chi smirked.
"Of course! Where do you think you got your sense of humor?" Chi said. I smiled a bit. "So, who's this?"
"Zuk-"
"Ah! Yes! I knew I recognized you! Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. I was close friends with your uncle. How is he?" Chi asked.
"Oh... we uh... we split up." Zuko said. Chi frowned.
"Uh oh. Well, in that case..." Chi cleared his throat. "Sorry I wasn't there for ya, kiddo."
"No problem." I said, rubbing my neck with my free hand.
"So, your sight's been getting better, right?" Chi said. I looked up at him.
"How'd you know?" I asked.
"I'm your dad." He said. "And I went through the same thing when I was a squirt like you. You stay colorblind, but not blind blind. You still see colors too."
"So it's normal then?" I said. He nodded and I sighed in relief. "Plus you see in the dark as if it were day."
"Well that's convenient." I remarked. He smirked.
"Well, off to bed you two. I just wanted to check up on you since I haven't seen you in 14 years." Chi said. I smiled slightly as he faded away.
"Well, that was... uh... interesting." Zuko said. I smiled.
"I like him."
"Wait, 14 years? How old are you?"
"16. Don't worry, you're older by... When's your birthday again?" I asked as we began walking back to the barn.
"July 8."
"Right. Well, I'm August 14. So that's 2 months and 6 days. Congrats." I said. "Wait, how old did you think I was?"
"To be honest, I didn't." Zuko said. I laughed and his lips quirked. We headed inside and closed the door. Zuko's swords hung in their original place on the wall. I laid down on the hay and Zuko settled next to me. I feigned sleep, and several minutes later, I felt a warm arm rest on my waist. I smirked and shifted closer.
"You're comfy too, Pouty." I said, yawning. I succumbed to the darkness of sleep.
It was morning again. Zuko mounted his ostrich horse again, ready to leave the hospitable family. Gansu, Sela and Lee had all come to see us off. I hugged Sela, then Gansu, and knelt in front of Lee.
"Thank you for bringing us here, Lee." I said, hugging the boy to me. He hugged me back. I stood and walked over to the ostrich horse. Zuko pulled me up behind him and I grabbed his waist. Sela reached up and offered us a package.
"Here. This ought to get you through a few meals." She said. I beamed at her gratefully. Zuko was just about to grab the package when he looked up and noticed what I had: a cloud of dust in the distance. It was Gow and his cronies riding in on ostrich horses. Gansu stepped forward.
"What do you think they want?" Gansu said.
"Trouble." I said darkly.
Gow and his crew rode toward the pig farm. The animals squealed, clearly irritated at their arrival. The Earth Kingdom 'soldiers' stopped right in front of Gansu's family and us.
"What do you want, Gow?" Gansu said in an even tone.
"Just thought someone ought to tell you that your son's battalion got captured." To his fellow 'soldiers', he said, "You boys hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"
"Dressed 'em up in Fire Nation uniforms and put 'em on the front line unarmed, the way I heard it." One of them said. He spat on the ground. "Then they just watched."
"You watch your mouth!" Gansu growled, jabbing a finger at Gow and his men. Gow rode forward a little more toward Gansu but Zuko rode us in between them, interfering. Gow and Zuko glared at each other. Gansu glanced to me and my eyes flashed red.
"Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs?" Gow said. Gow turned around his ostrich horse and all four men rode away, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. Zuko zoned out again while I was plain angry. Zuko still had us in front of the family protectively. Sela and Gansu were hugging behind us; Lee was standing close by.
"What's going to happen to my brother?" Lee asked softly in fear. I wanted to reach out to the boy, but I knew that I shouldn't get attached.
"I'm going to the front. I'm going to find Sensu and bring him back." Gansu announced. Sela and Gansu walked away Zuko, Sela crying desperately. Lee ran forward.
"When my dad goes... will you stay?" He asked us. I closed my eyes and turned my head.
"No. I need to move on." Zuko said. I felt Zuko shift and I looked to see him reaching behind him. He took out a sheathed dagger. I recognized it as the one I once stuffed down my shirt. Zuko bent down and gave it to Lee, who took it with a faint smile.
"Here. I want you to have this. Read the inscription." Zuko said. He unsheathed the dagger.
"Made in Earth Kingdom." Lee read. I smiled.
"The other one."
"Never give up without a fight." Lee read. And with that, we rode away from Lee. Lee ran after us for a little bit, but stopped shortly afterwards. I sighed, hugging Zuko and resting my cheek on his shoulder. I must've fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes next, I was laying in a field. I lolled my head to the side to see Zuko holding his traveler's hat to his chest.
"Azula always lies." He muttered. My head shot up as I heard the sound of an ostrich horse. Zuko sat up and we saw Sela riding toward us in a carriage. She was frantic and panicked.
"Sela? What's wrong?" I asked, standing.
"Oh June! Mankato! You have to help! It's Lee - the thugs from town came back as soon as Gansu left. When they ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them! I don't even know where he got a knife! Then they took him away." She began to sob. "They told me if he's old enough to fight, he's old enough to join the army. I know we barely know you, but..."
"We'll get your son back." Zuko and I said in unison. I pulled Zuko to his feet and we mounted our ostrich horse.
Zuko and I rode in on the ostrich horse through a small archway that entered into the town. The people around scattered when they see us coming. I couldn't blame them. When a girl with pissed demonic red eyes and her scarred friend ride in with the sun setting on them, it's a pretty dramatic and scary sight. Lee was tied up to a tower. He seemed sad, but when he looked up to see us, his face quickly regained hope.
"Hey! There they is! I told you they'd come!" Lee exclaimed. The Earth Kingdom 'soldiers' approached us, as does their leader, Gow. Zuko dismounted and took off his hat.
"Stay on the ostrich horse." He told me quietly.
"But-"
"I don't want you to get hurt." He said. He faced the soldiers, them glaring at each other, battle imminent.
"Let the kid go." Zuko said in a steely tone. Gow laughed loudly, but then quickly regained composure.
"Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. But I know who you are. You're not soldiers; you're bullies. Freeloaders, abusing your power. Mostly over women and kids. You don't want Lee in your army - you're sick cowards messing with a family who's already lost one son to the war." Zuko said proudly, loudly. I smiled.
"Are you gonna let this stranger stand there and insult you like this?" Gow said to a fellow soldier.
The soldier ran forward, spear in hand. He went to attack Zuko, who pulled out his sword and punched the other man in the stomach with the hilt without fully unsheathing his sword. Zuko re-sheathed his sword while the man slid backwards and ran away, panting heavily in fear.
A second Earth Kingdom soldier groaned and ran to attack Zuko with his spear this time. Zuko punched the spear upwards to move it out of the way, then grabbed onto the man's forehead and shoved him to the ground. The man got up slowly and fled as well.
A third Earth Kingdom soldier charged toward Zuko with his spear as well. Zuko stood there, waiting, until the spear is close enough, and then kicked the spear right in the middle, snapping it. The spearhead, along with half of the spear, went flying in the other direction. The soldier gasped, then ran away from Zuko like the two men before him. Lee laughed in satisfaction. A crowd had gathered; Sela's worried face was one of many. I sent her a reassuring smile.
With the last of his cronies gone, Gow stepped up to the plate to fight Zuko, dual hammers against dual swords. They drew their weapons, and Gow threw the first blow, a rock he had earthbent then powerfully thrust over to Zuko. Zuko deflected it readily with his swords. Gow struck again, this time with three large rocks instead of one. He sent them over in rapid succession to Zuko, who deflected the first two easily. However, the third rock hit him in the stomach and he stumbled backwards. I snarled and dismounted. This did not dismay Zuko though, and he charged Gow. An old man in the crowd cheered him on.
"Give him a left! A left!" The old man cheered. An old woman, who I assumed was his wife, gave him an odd look.
"It's not a fistfight..." The woman said.
"He's got a left sword, don't he?" Her husband replied. I smiled slightly.
Gow repeated the same earthbending trick as earlier; he threw three large rocks at Zuko. Zuko responded the same as before, deflecting the first two but the third one hitting him square in the abdomen. However, this time, he fell over and somersaulted backwards, and managed to get up, although weakened and still stumbling around. Gow smiled.
"Look out!" The old man called.
"Behind you!" Lee called.
Gow earthbent again, but with increasingly larger rocks each time. He shot four rocks at Zuko, who managed to destroy each, one by one. It continued that way, Gow no longer giving little recovery breaks to Zuko. Both are fighting at full force, although Zuko is so busy being defensive of the large flying rocks that he cannot become offensive to Gow. Gow creates a rockalanche and directed it at Zuko. The crowd and I gasped collectively. Zuko was sent flying and landed straight on his back. I ran forward.
"Zuko?" I whispered. I shook his shoulder, but he remained unresponsive. He was still breathing thankfully, but I was still seeing red. I turned, snarling, growing by the second. I shifted into my spirit shirshu and let out a roar that sent Gow back a few feet. The crowd was silent in shock. My roar apparently managed to wake Zuko too, because his eyes snapped open and he shot me a look that meant 'out of the way, quickly'. I moved and he reached for his swords and got up firebending, creating a hurricane of flame. Gow dropped his hammers and is pushed over, and landed on his back. Zuko stood there, seething at Gow. Although unarmed, Gow stood up and raised his fists, determined to finish the fight. Zuko charged him, sending various fire blasts. Gow tried to deflect them with earthbending, but the blasts were too powerful and he was sent backwards again. Rocks hit his head as he landed in with a cloud of dust.
"Who... who are you?" Gow said. I shifted back and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne."
"Liar! I heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!" The same old man from earlier called.
"That is but rumors!" I called. "He is a prince, if not in your eyes, then mine."
"And who are you?" The old man sneered.
"My name is Avery. Daughter of Lin and shirshu spirit Chi. Half spirit shirshu, and half mortal." I announced. The crowd look stuck between awe and fear. And then they bowed. I huffed.
Really? Pull it together people. None of that is necessary." I said. They all stood and parted, surprise etched on their features. Zuko kneeled down toward Gow, who shuddered in fear. However, Zuko did nothing to harm him; he only took Lee's dagger back. Zuko walked toward Lee to give it back, but Sela (who had been untying Lee) intervened.
"Not a step closer." She said slowly.
"It's yours. You should have it." Zuko said.
"No! I hate you!" Lee yelled. My eyes widened. I walked forward, and Sela looked suddenly frightened. I sighed in frustration.
"Why does everyone assume that if you're part spirit, you're a jerk?!" I exclaimed in annoyance. I walked over and knelt in front of Lee.
"Go away!" He yelled. Sela went to shut him up, as if I'd blow her son up, but I waved her off.
"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for lying to you." I said. He looked surprised.
"What?"
"I'm sorry. But it was for our safety. But not all of it was a lie. I am from the Earth Kingdom." I said. I smiled, bowed slightly, and stood, walking back to Zuko. I placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance, and he looked up. I offered my hand and he took it. Together, we mounted the ostrich horse. And we left.
So, Avery finally meets her dad. I realize the scene's a bit awkward, but oh well. Who wouldn't be awkward in that kind of situation? I think Zuko is mentally scarred by having to pretend to be Avery's fiance. But then again, he also cuddled Avery 'in his sleep'... Well, you'll just have to find out what happens, won't you?
Disclaimer : I don't own ATLA
BTW, thank you to all of the reviewers! Your comments are greatly appreciated!