Avatar: The Warring Earth
Book One—Fire
By Twins of the Pen
Disclaimer: Avatar in itself belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryan Konietzko/Michael DiMartino. The only things that belong to Twins of the Pen are the original characters.
The next morning brought an unusual occurrence: Tiki was still in bed by the time everyone else was up and dressed for the day. Her lemur sat beside her head, which was covered in bedsheets, peering curiously at her tired master. When Lili nudged Tiki's head, a tiny hand emerged from the covers to swat the lemur away. That movement made Shun aware of a critical fact: Tiki was sulking.
"It's breakfast time, Teeks," Shun announced, sitting on the edge of Tiki's cot and patting her head. She swung at his hand too.
"I'm not hungry," came her mumbled voice from under the sheet. A second later, a growling stomach was heard, contradicting her words. Shun had to struggle to not laugh.
"You sure?" he wanted to check.
"Go away, Shun," Tiki answered, pulling the covers tighter over her head. Shun remained there for a moment, gazing at the balled-up figure that was Tiki before he shrugged and got up. He tried, but if Tiki wanted to be sullen today, there was hardly anything he could do about it.
"Suit yourself," he said.
Syaoran wanted to roll his eyes as he laced his boots. Tiki had been sulking ever since she'd stopped wailing. It was difficult to tell which was worse, but at least, he supposed, this was the quieter option of the two. Syaoran still found it difficult to ascertain that they were the same age.
From by the door, ZanYi quirked a brow at the airbender as she lay in bed. She could only come up with one answer for such an occurrence, as much as she was enjoying the silence. "You know, Tiki," the lieutenant said, "that Zhao is no longer an issue. He's not going to bother you again."
"That's not the problem, Lieutenant," Syaoran spoke up, sighing grievously. When ZanYi glanced to him with the questioning expression, he answered, "No, you don't want to know."
The lieutenant was perfectly fine with this and therefore said nothing more on the subject. "Well, it's time for the rest of us to get going, with or without her."
Syaoran knew that and knew that they had not much time to eat breakfast before training, but alas, it was going to have to wait. Despite knowing Shun was neither of his parents, his words struck him the same as theirs would have, and it egged at him. "Go ahead," he urged his teacher. "I'll catch up in a minute."
ZanYi peered at him curiously, and he tilted his head to gesture towards Tiki. The firebender nodded. "Make it quick, Syaoran," was her consent as the lieutenant then walked out into the hall. "You coming, Shun?" she called back out.
Shun hesitated, a little anxious. Though he was certain Syaoran just wanted a moment with Tiki to apologize—Tiki's sulking made it clear that he had not done so already—the giant waterbender would be lying if he didn't admit that leaving the two alone again after yesterday's events made him nervous. However, it was clear Syaoran did not want an audience. So what else could Shun do but shrug and follow ZanYi out the door?
"I hope they'll patch things up," he muttered to himself. It was strange to have Tiki not talking to Syaoran—usually it was the other way around. And the tiny airbender surely could not stay mad at the Avatar forever… right?
Back in Team Avatar's quarters, Tiki tensed under her sheets. She did not want to be alone with Syaoran, and she was almost appalled that Shun went ahead and left her there with him! Then again, she had told the giant waterbender to leave her alone, didn't she…?
Tiki groaned, maintaining a firm grip on her sheets. If only she had not spoken earlier, then she could have pretended to be asleep. But Syaoran probably would have jostled her awake anyhow… Either way, she refused to talk to him. His actions yesterday were uncalled for, and he knew it.
Syaoran looked at Tiki's hidden, curled up form and exhaled with irritation on his face. This was becoming highly annoying and he found himself running dry on patience. But he did know that this was going to continue unless he did something; Tiki was relentless with all emotions. Syaoran just considered this practice as the Avatar. After all, it wasn't supposed to be all about what he wanted, right? So he stood and strode over to Tiki's bed, looming over it. He munched on his own desires for a moment, but then he set his mind to what he needed to do. "Hey, Tiki," he said first, "can we talk for a minute?"
Syaoran sat on the edge of her cot, facing away from her. He hung his arms over his bent knees. "I'm sorry I broke your nose," he apologized. "That wasn't something I meant to do. I didn't want to hurt you…" That was the honest truth. He did not need to force any of that. As desperate as he had been to stop her, hurting her was not part of his initial plan.
There was a pause as Tiki took a moment to take in the Avatar's words.
And then, quite abruptly, she sat up and flung the bed sheets off of her, causing Lili to screech in alarm and take off for the other side of the room. Tiki was staring at Syaoran, her expression a cross between upset and incredulous. He hadn't meant to hurt her? Was he serious?
"…Rock is hard, Syaoran," Tiki began, her voice unusually quiet, "solid. As an earthbender, you know that better than anyone. And when it takes the form of a wall, rock is pretty much immovable. So running into a rock wall is pretty much a guarantee for pain. You knew that too. And yet, you raised a wall for me to run into. After knowing all that, how could you dare to claim that you didn't mean to hurt me?!"
Tiki realized she was shouting by this time, and she looked away from the Avatar. Hugging her knees to her chest, the tiny airbender rested her head on her knees, facing away from Syaoran.
"Nevermind," she said, her tone calm and even, "your apology is acknowledged. You can go now."
Acknowledged, not accepted. Her nose had healed up just fine, but Tiki's feelings were still hurt. It was going to take a while for those wounds to heal, apology or not.
Syaoran stood up stiffly, his back to her. And then he let out a frustrated roar as he grabbed and shook his unruly brown hair. He whirled to face Tiki, clear irritation on his face. It took every ounce of the control that the lieutenant had taught him not to earthbend right there in a fit of outrage—or firebend even, for that matter.
"You can pin the blame and the hurt on me all you want, Tiki, but I don't regret trying to stop you!" he yelled at her. "I apologized honestly and truthfully because no matter what you may think, I did not want to hurt you!"
He paced away, wanting to separate from the infuriating child. Even his sister was better than this, and it made him all the more angry. "You never think that anything you do has any consequences aside from what you think will happen. There's a much bigger world out there and it has nothing to do with your feelings. That's what happened with Zhao. And you know what? You probably never even thought about how your little plans would affect me or this team! The same woman who took down your fears and got herself beat up for your sake would have been the one affected most."
Syaoran's shoulders panted, moving up and down in his anger. The little voice in his head told him to calm him down, but it was difficult. It had been so long since he had been this infuriated. So he listened partially to the conscience he had. He went to the door to leave, to cool off a bit. Looking back one more time, his eyes were stern and serious as he looked back at her once more. "I could care less if you accept my apology or believe me. You don't have to. But that's a reflection on you, not me. I'm sorry I hurt you. But just remember that if you're going to ignore what people say to you, there will be consequences. That's what got us into this mess to begin with."
And Syaoran stormed out, leaving to join the others at breakfast.
Whether he had meant to hurt her or not, he sure did right then. The yelling Tiki didn't care too much about—she had gotten used to being yelled at—but the words cut deeper than flesh. Syaoran had basically taken all her silent insecurities and thrown them back in her face with enough force to shatter her nose again. Indeed, her nose did begin to sting, but that was only because the tears were coming.
Tiki flung herself back under her sheets and curled herself into a ball, her whole being trembling with silent tears. As mean as the tiny airbender thought the Avatar was being, she could not deny the truth in his words. She had said as much yesterday: she never thought of anyone but herself. It was only just now beginning to dawn on her that she could have hurt Syaoran's feelings if her matchmaking plans had gone awry. ZanYi was his firebending teacher first and foremost. Anything after that would have to wait until Syaoran's training was done, and anything before that would have made the relationship between the lieutenant and the Avatar extremely awkward.
'Great… so I'm the bad guy here,' Tiki surmised, sniffling pathetically. The curious Lili poked her head under the covers to peer at her master, and Tiki absent-mindedly gave the lemur a pat on the head. Tiki was wrong for butting into Syaoran's affairs. She could admit that… to herself. Admitting it to Syaoran was a whole other can of worms.
"…Should I apologize, Lili?" Tiki asked the lemur, uncertain. "He did make me run into a wall… but I was about to mess up a good relationship. What do you think? An eye for an eye?"
Lili stayed silent as always, blinking her large green eyes up at her master. Tiki sighed and sat up. Her stomach rumbled, demanding to be fed. But Tiki did not want to face Syaoran right now.
'…I'll go clean myself up first,' Tiki decided, sliding off her cot and leaving the room to head to the bathroom. 'Maybe the running water will clear my head and help me think.'
Shun was headed back to the barracks, nodding absent-mindedly to all who greeted him. He had had an exhausting day: today's firebending practice was particularly fierce, with Syaoran especially. The Avatar had been in a foul mood, and he made a few more mistakes than usual. But his bending had been powerful, and Shun had to patch up the AK that had the misfortune to spar with Syaoran. This was becoming the norm, however; more and more AKs sought Shun's expert healing after training, now that it had become common knowledge that he was the best at the base. Shun still made ZanYi and Syaoran his top priorities, but he was loathe to turn away the other firebenders that sought his skills.
Shun had not seen Tiki all day. She did not show up for morning practice, she wasn't there when they took a break for lunch, and she was absent all through the afternoon training. Shun was starting to worry. By the expression on Syaoran's face when he had joined Shun and ZanYi for breakfast, the giant waterbender surmised that things had not gone well between him and Tiki. So if Syaoran was looking like that, how was Tiki?
The giant waterbender had nothing to worry about. Once he reached Team Avatar's quarters, he found Tiki seated on her cot, peacefully meditating. Assured that she was doing fine, Shun turned to give her some peace and quiet.
"Hello, Shun."
Shun turned back to greet Tiki, but he saw that her eyes were still closed. Curious, he asked, "How did you know it was me? I didn't say anything… or hit my head on the doorway."
"Your aura gave you away," Tiki replied. Shun thought he saw the corners of her mouth twitch at his little joke. "How was the training today?"
"Fine. Though Syaoran was a little more… enthusiastic than usual," Shun phrased carefully, watching Tiki's expression for any change. She just inhaled deeply and exhaled a moment later. "Speaking of Syaoran," the giant waterbender persisted when Tiki said nothing else, "are you two—?"
"Shun, I'm meditating right now," the tiny airbender reminded Shun, cutting across his question. Shun raised his eyebrows, feeling a little snubbed. A moment later, Tiki opened her eyes to look at him. Her mouth smiled, but her gray orbs were sad. "Don't worry. I'm fine," she assured him before closing her eyes and breathing deeply once more. Shun watched her for a minute, unconvinced. But, like this morning, he shrugged it off and turned to go.
"If you say so."
But as he did so, he found Syaoran trying to enter. The Avatar inched by him to enter the room, only to be stalled when he saw Tiki meditating ever so quietly. It made him stiffen a bit, unsure of how to proceed. In the end, he decided it was not worth blowing up again and turned to exit, only to find ZanYi there as well.
"Why is everyone just standing in the doorway?" she asked, looking at everyone with a furrowed brow. Brushing past both Syaoran and Shun, she walked over to her bed and sat down, quickly unlacing her heavy boots. "We're leaving in a couple days to return to base, since everything is quiet here," she announced, completely indifferent to the tension in the room.
The lieutenant was not oblivious to it. Something had been wrong that morning, and it showed all through Syaoran's training throughout the day. Even Shun was being a bit quiet on the subject.
"We'll be traveling the same way we came, only we'll be flanked by my unit," she continued. Clearly uncomfortable with all things involving Tiki right now, Syaoran sat down on his cot, listening intently to ZanYi. "It will be a quick and safe journey, and once we are back there, you will continue lessons with the Agni-Kais, as well as resume private lessons at the falls."
Just as Syaoran had sat down though, ZanYi stood up, walking over to the giant in their midst. "Shun, Zaron would like to discuss something with you in preparation for our departure. Mind coming with me?" she asked him. Without an answer, she walked out into the hall and down it. And that meant it was going to be him and Tiki alone again.
"Um," Shun began, but ZanYi was already gone. With a worried glance over his shoulder at the clashing elements being left behind, Shun hastened after ZanYi.
"What does your brother need to see me for?" he could not help but inquire after he caught up to ZanYi. After all, Shun's last encounter with the man was not exactly pleasant. But ZanYi had mentioned something about their departure…
"Is this about Ai?" Shun guessed, his thoughts going to his poor dust-collecting bike. It was feasible that the sergeant major might want to arrange different travel plans for Shun's motorcycle, since they would apparently be traveling with the AKs. But Shun had to wonder if that was really what Zaron wanted to discuss with him.
ZanYi rolled her eyes. "No, this is not about your bike," she told him. Feeling a good distance away from earshot, she then turned and stopped dead in her tracks, toe to toe with Shun. "There is no meeting with Zaron." Yes, she had lied, but she had a point, one that would not be carried out in front of the other two. No stranger to close encounters, ZanYi stood straight and strong as she looked up at Shun. She placed her hands on her sides. "But I've got a question for you," she told him, her eyes narrowed and her brow raised. "Just what the crap is going on with you three right now?"
Shun raised his hands defensively.
"I'm not in it," he assured the irritated-looking lieutenant. "And you don't want to be either, believe me. All you need to know is that Tiki and Syaoran had a fight yesterday, and they're still working things out… I think."
So ZanYi had lied to get Shun alone to interrogate him? The giant waterbender could not help but be amused. He wondered what expression she would wear if she ever learned that she was at the center of Tiki and Syaoran's conflict?
"…I'm not exactly sure if we should have left them alone like that, though," Shun commented, turning to look back down the hall as he rubbed his chin. He didn't hear any shouting…that was good, at least. Or bad. He really wasn't sure: this situation was so bizarre that he could not make heads or tails of it just yet.
None of Shun's words served to appease the lieutenant. In fact, it only clouded her further. ZanYi crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "You say it was just a fight, but you're worried about them being left to work it out?" she condensed, giving him a pointed look. ZanYi eyed him severely before looking back down the hall, as he was. She saw nothing, and heard nothing from their room. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Which meant, to her, that either Shun was exaggerating or perhaps silence was a sign of concern all its own.
"Shun," she said, calling back his attention, tilting her head a bit to peer into his peripheral view. "Whatever issues they have, they have to work it out themselves. But if this is a big deal, I need to know what's going on within my own team, and you're hiding it from me." Which ZanYi found incredibly frustrating of him. So she enunciated her next sentence slowly and surely. "What happened?"
Shun slowly turned back to meet the lieutenant's stern gaze, troubled. It was in no way his place to tell her what the actual problem was—his divulging this information to ZanYi would not be much better than the ideas that had been floating through Tiki's head—but Shun knew that if he did not give ZanYi a satisfactory answer, she would not let this go. His jaw worked, as if he were chewing over the words he wanted to say before he said them.
"From what I understand," he phrased carefully, "Tiki found out something personal from Syaoran's life that he didn't want her knowing. She ran off to cause mischief—as usual—with this information, and in his panic to stop her, Syaoran raised a wall, which Tiki ran into. She ended up breaking her nose, and now they're not on the greatest terms. I think Syaoran apologized earlier, but from what I saw, it didn't go too well."
Shun sighed and shrugged his massive shoulders. "That's why I'm worried: I have no idea what the score is right now, or who is more mad at who. But if I know Tiki, she'll come around. She's really not the type to sulk forever. As for Syaoran…well, he's the more mature of the two, so I'm sure he'll do everything in his power to smooth things over."
'I hope,' Shun added silently in his head. He hoped his explanation was enough for the lieutenant: Syaoran already had enough to deal with, Tiki's mercurial moods notwithstanding.
ZanYi chewed on this information, only a tad disgruntled. None of that was uplifting news, and someone's private life was a tricky thing. Any time spent in the military taught that. So to find that to be the source of the issue was not surprising, or new. In the end, she breathed in a bit of relief. It was not great, but it was something that could be managed.
Tiki was a child, sure. There was no doubt there and therefore she agreed Tiki had been the one to aggravate the situation. ZanYi could only roll her eyes at finding the girl had been so surly with Syaoran over the matter. "They'll be fine," she finally said to Shun, uncrossing her arms. "Syaoran can handle it. He's not as much of a child as Tiki. If someone has to be the bigger man, it'll be him."
However, she did scoff a bit in disbelief. One hand went to her hip, the other to rub her temple. There was a glimmer of a smirk on her lips. "He earthbended a wall at her?"
Whereas the ghost of a smirk appeared on ZanYi's lips, the exact opposite was displayed on Shun's face.
"Yeah," he sighed, shaking his head. "And she was a mess when he brought her to me. If she pitched a fit that large because of a broken nose, I shudder to think what would have happened if she had been injured any further than that."
Shun's attention turned towards ZanYi's description of Tiki and Syaoran. Now he could understand the younger man's frustrations with the way the lieutenant treated him: though she said he was not as much of a child as Tiki, it was clear that she still viewed him as a child in some ways. This intrigued the giant waterbender, for ZanYi surely was not much older than Tiki and Syaoran. Did she view them as children because they had yet to see the many horrors of adulthood that ZanYi had already had to face? The way she spoke sometimes indicated that she was everyone's mother.
At that thought, Shun had to chuckle. "You're interesting, ZanYi," he told the lieutenant, because it was true. ZanYi appeared to be a woman that liked to be respected and feared much more than simply liked, but someone would have to be blind not to notice that she put her whole heart into everything she did.
ZanYi's expression changed, more curious than amused now. Perplexed, even. Her golden eyes gazed up at Shun's with that sentiment, and her eyebrow raised. "Interesting?" she repeated. Many words had been used to describe her by her soldiers, her superiors, and others. 'Interesting' had been a word used, certainly, but generally for lack of a better word. But the way it rolled off of Shun's tongue, ZanYi could not tell his meaning. And whatever it was, the waterbender found it amusing.
"What do you mean?" she inquired of him, probing.
The amusement grew on Shun's face. How to best phrase this without offending the firebending lieutenant? Hmmm…
"You just are," he said. But he knew this would not be enough of an explanation for ZanYi, so he continued, "The way you look out for everyone, whether it's something small or something big… well, I can see why you're admired. Not everyone can see it, but your compassion drives most of your actions, I bet. The fact that you defended Tiki against Zhao proves it."
ZanYi was very much a good person, deep down. Shun was starting to see why the Avatar had become infatuated with her… just a little.
Paused, the firebender's face became thoughtful and contemplative. She was not sure what she had been expecting, but the lieutenant did know that what she received was not it. And ZanYi also knew that the adjective 'interesting' had not been used in that fashion before.
"Thank-you… I think," she appreciated with a steady voice, albeit bit confused still as she mulled over the words. ZanYi coughed a bit uncomfortably before looking back to him, picking a topic she was more suited for. "The thing with Zhao was not even an issue. He had it coming to him, anyway," ZanYi understated. Zhao may have been gunning for her already, and completely intent on trying to take her down, but ZanYi did not see him as a threat. He was a man-child that needed handling, which is exactly what she did. ZanYi saw no need to be commended for something that should be done.
But Shun's grin grew. Was it that rare for ZanYi to be praised in such a manner? Or had she never really thought about the points he brought up the way he thought about them? Either way, she didn't give herself much credit. Her uncertainty was almost endearing.
"Even so," he said, "I'm sure Tiki appreciates what you've done for her. And I appreciate it too. I don't know what I would have done if Zhao actually ended up hurting Tiki." Shun lifted a giant hand to rest on ZanYi's shoulder, smiling gently. "So, thank you, ZanYi."
Tiki's only reaction to being left alone with Syaoran once more was a slight stiffening of her spine. However, another deep breath later took care of that. She had just begun her meditation, and she did not want to break it to talk—or argue—with Syaoran. Usually he left her alone when she was meditating, so the tiny airbender was hoping the courtesy would still continue, even if they were not on the best of terms at the moment.
Syaoran did not know what to do. He almost felt like he was tricked into being left with Tiki; he would not put it past the lieutenant, but Syaoran also felt that was a bit paranoid. So, as silently as he could, he tried to take off his boots. The air was awkward, tense. Tiki seemed quite focused on her meditating—which was normal, except now she was avoiding him as well. Unsure of what to do or say, he continued to disrobe, taking off his shirt in favor of finding some clean clothes. It was silent, except when he could not help the shuffling noise and scratches as he searched through the bag he'd been given to borrow.
Tiki let out a short huff. Whatever Syaoran was doing, she wished he would stop. She had not found her groove yet, so his noises were being very distracting. But now a new noise, loud and demanding, filled the room. It took Tiki a moment or two to realize that it was her stomach making that noise.
'Oh yeah… I haven't had anything to eat yet today,' the tiny airbender suddenly recalled, chagrin twisting her face. She had been so scared to have to face Syaoran in the mess hall that she did not know what to do… so she ended up not going. Her stomach was reminding her painfully of that fact as it twisted and wriggled in her abdomen. True, there had been days, as Tiki was on the run, where she had not had anything at all to eat. But after being fed three square meals a day for the past few weeks, she had become used to it, and not having anything to eat at all made her stomach rebel.
"Okay, okay," she murmured to it, unfolding her legs and sliding off of her cot. What Tiki did not expect was for her legs to give out from under her. She fell onto her backside, stunned. What just happened? When did she lose the feeling in her legs? Was it because she had yet to eat anything that day? Or was it because she had her legs crossed for a while, and they simply fell asleep?
Whatever the reason, they would not respond when Tiki tried to stand, and her growing frustration made tears gather in her eyes.
'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry,' she urged herself, biting her lip from the effort. The tears did not go away; they sat at the corner of her eyes, waiting to escape onto her lashes. But they did not increase either, which Tiki was thankful for. She did not want to lose it in front of Syaoran again, not when he already treated her like a child. She just had to be patient and wait for the feeling in her legs to come back. Then she would get some food and go on with the evening.
…But hopefully Shun would come back soon and help her out, just in case the feeling in her legs didn't come back for a while.
Syaoran looked away from his bag at the sound of the thump, only to find Tiki had planted herself on the floor. It seemed odd, and she certainly was not meditating any longer. And it seemed that her stormy eyes were glassy, pooling. This made Syaoran stand back up and turn completely.
Tiki seemed determined not to cry—which he wasn't quite sure how to take, but it didn't change that she appeared to be having difficulty standing. The part of him that was still irked wanted to just leave her to her own devices, to ignore her as she ignored everything anyone ever said.
However, Syaoran knew he could not do that, as irritated as he was. So wordlessly, he strode over to Tiki and stared down at her, still debating what to do. In the end, he stuck out a hand to the small girl. He didn't say anything; he just offered her his hand. It was up to her whether she would accept his help or not.
Tiki was in the middle of contemplating whether or not she should simply crawl to the mess hall—everyone on the Omashu base already thought her strange—when she heard footsteps approach. They stopped in front of her, and Tiki hesitantly looked up to find Syaoran staring down at her. He was still angry with her, that much was clear from his expression. But as Tiki opened her mouth to say she was fine, he silently offered her his hand.
She stared at it for a full five seconds, convinced it was a trick. When the hand did not disappear, she looked up into Syaoran's face, searching his expression. He was definitely still mad at her… but even so, he was offering her help. What did this mean? Tiki wasn't sure, but the gesture made her all the more emotional. Ducking her head and scrubbing at her eyes, she impatiently brushed away the tears lurking on her lashes, and then reached out and firmly grasped Syaoran's offered hand. She said nothing as well, but the tremulous smile she wore was offered as a gesture of gratitude.
When she accepted his hand, the corner of his lip upturned. Syaoran tugged her to her feet and stayed her, making sure the airbender would not fall back again onto her rear. He understood this to mean he was forgiven, which he could not deny was a bit of a relief.
After that, Syaoran continued on wordlessly, turning back to his bag to find his shirt in there. Eventually he found it, though he had to shuffle a bit more to find some clean pants. If Tiki did not want to talk, that was fine. Her smile had said enough. Something had gotten through to her and Syaoran would take what he could get the little airbender.
Tiki breathed a sigh of relief when she found that she could remain standing on her own. She still could not feel her legs, however, and when she tried to take a step forward, she stumbled into the doorway.
"Oof," she huffed as her side hit the wall. Her hands braced against the wall, she took another heavy step. Her legs were sluggish, but they were beginning to tingle. That was a good sign… she hoped. Pausing in her endeavors, Tiki glanced back at Syaoran, biting her lip. "Um, Syaoran—?" she began, intending to ask for help. But at the last second, she changed her mind.
"…I'm sorry about today," she apologized instead, ducking her head in embarrassment. The apology felt good, though, and it was with renewed determination that she struggled to put one foot in front of the other, fighting with her unresponsive legs. Tiki briefly considered summoning her air scooter, but felt that would only exasperate the problem, since her legs were probably asleep from being crossed too long.
Syaoran heard the words and turned just in time to watch Tiki struggle as she left the room. While her actions had been satisfactory, her words did mean something to him. And with that said, it was difficult to just stand there and allow her to push herself in such a way. "Hang on," he told her begrudgingly, shoving his shirt over his bare torso. Jogging over into the hall, he easily got her. Taking one of her arms, he lifted it over his head, thankful that he was not entirely lifting her off the ground with the motion. "Need some help?" Syaoran asked her, glancing to her strained face out of his peripheral vision.
The sudden gesture threw Tiki off-guard, and a relieved smile stretched across her features. "Yes, sadly," she admitted sheepishly, "I'm not really sure why, but my legs won't work properly. Maybe I shouldn't have skipped breakfast and lunch…" Her stomach rumbled heartily in agreement with her words. Tiki giggled, embarrassed. "Sorry," she said again, referring to her helplessness. It seemed she was always causing trouble, whether she meant to or not. This fact was starting to make her feel a little guilty.
Syaoran picked up on that, which he was able to make something out of and felt that was good. The fact that she felt that way was improvement over her reckless ways, in his opinion. However, he brushed off her apology, stating simply, "Don't worry about it."
He helped her along the hallway, taking care not to walk his normal stride. It would be a bit large for the small airbender to keep up with while her legs were being so sluggish. "Let's get some food then. You really shouldn't skip meals." Thankful he even got to eat each meal, Syaoran never turned down a chance to eat if he could help it. And training with the lieutenant and her soldiers had only solidified that. Food was good, and food was energy. "You're going to get thrown out of whack if you don't eat regularly," Syaoran advised.
"I'm so hungry I could eat as much as a sky bison," Tiki mumbled, her old self returning with every wobbly step she took. The tingling in her legs was growing into prickles, which she hoped was a good sign. "Did you know they have three stomachs?" she asked him, feeling as if her point was not driven home unless Syaoran was made aware of this fact. "That's how hungry I am."
Not too far from them, Tiki could see the behemoth figure of Shun, speaking with ZanYi. She could not hear what they were saying, but Shun was smiling at something, and ZanYi looked a tad out of her element. What were they discussing, she wondered? "Hey!" the tiny airbender called, earning Shun's attention. "All done with your meeting with Zaron?"
"Yep," Shun replied easily, turning his head to wink at ZanYi. "More importantly, what happened to you?" he asked, quirking a brow at the way Tiki was leaning against Syaoran, with her arm around his shoulders. She gave the giant waterbender a pained look.
"My legs feel funny," she explained, hobbling to a stop when she and Syaoran finally reached ZanYi and Shun. "Syaoran's being nice and helping me get to the mess hall so I can get something to eat."
"Really?" Shun inquired, grinning. So the two had worked their differences out after all. That was good. He knew Tiki was not the type to hold a grudge for long.
"Yeah, really," Syaoran affirmed, though once he stopped, he did drop Tiki's arm so that it was no longer around him. He glanced from Shun, to the lieutenant, and back. The two of them had clearly been in the middle of some conversation when they'd approached. Shun seemed rather happy about it, albeit it his teacher looked mildly uncomfortable. The Avatar had not missed Shun's hand on her shoulder either, and while a part of him riled to disagree with it, on the whole he knew that Shun was just being friendly, whatever their topic was.
With a quick shake of her head, ZanYi gathered her wits about her and stepped closer to the group, surveying both Syaoran and Tiki. They seemed to have patched things up, which was always a positive within a team. "Well good," she praised aloud, "because we're stuck with each other for now, so the less fights, the better."
Syaoran nodded in agreement, watching as the firebender quickly recovered. Her stern eyes met his gaze for a moment, and Syaoran was a bit embarrassed enough to look briefly away. ZanYi thought nothing of it. "Syaoran," she said, and the young man perked back up, waiting and expectant, "help Tiki get some dinner, and then rest up the rest of the night." ZanYi looked back to Shun and added, "Shun, go ahead with them. I have to attend some meetings in order to ready for our departure."
ZanYi nodded to each of them, and Syaoran was disheartened to watch as she walked away, leaving their midst as usual. It seemed she always had other matters to attend to, but Syaoran supposed it came with the territory of leading two special teams.
"Oh, and Tiki?" ZanYi called back, face straight as she nodded to the airbender, "Good to see you're feeling better." And then she continued on her way, leaving them behind. Syaoran watched as she left and contained most of the disappointment at her quick departure.
Tiki stared after the disappearing lieutenant, blinking rapidly. ZanYi continued to surprise her every day. First, she defended Tiki against a brute of a firebender, and now she was thankful for Tiki's wellbeing. Was the tiny airbender beginning to grow on ZanYi?
Shun's thoughts ran along the same lines as Tiki's and a fond smile stretched over his face. ZanYi was a kind woman indeed… though Shun was beginning to suspect that he was one of the few people who even saw her that way.
Turning back to the ones Syaoran was left with, he said "Well, let's get going then?"
"Yeah, let's eat," Shun agreed, offering Tiki his arm to relieve Syaoran. She gladly clung onto his huge forearm, swinging from it like a monkey.
"To the mess hall, Jeeves!" she directed, making Shun chuckle. Now here was the Tiki he knew. Regardless of her rather reckless and mischievous side, this was the Tiki that Shun liked best.
The time was almost upon them to leave the Omashu base. Shun sat astride his bike, adrenaline beginning to pump through his veins. He knew he wouldn't be able to fly with Ai like usual—he had to stay at a low speed so he could be near everyone else—but it was exciting for him to be able to take Ai out on the road again… or the woods, rather.
He spotted ZanYi a couple feet away, speaking with one of her soldiers.
"Are we almost ready to go?" he asked, clearly eager. He revved his motorcycle, as if Ai's roar would speed up the process. A giggle behind him alerted Shun to the fact that Tiki had snuck up on him. She was leaning against the back part of his bike, smirking up at him.
"It's been a while since you've spent quality time with Ai, huh?" she teased, pushing off from the bike to stride up to Shun's side. "She must've been so lonely."
"Well, Ai's not really much of a complainer," Shun explained, playing along. "She knows I have stuff to do, so when I do get a chance to hang, she welcomes me with open arms."
"You need a girlfriend, Shun," Tiki decided, avoiding the playful swat Shun aimed at her.
"Seriously," ZanYi agreed, finally walking over. She let her hands rest on hips, looking from the motorbike to Shun. "You need to get yourself one that doesn't require to be oiled every once in a while," she told him with a pointed stare. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Syaoran walk up to her side, and she turned to him next. "Are you ready to go?"
He nodded to her, readjusting the strap of the borrowed duffel on his shoulder. "Yes, Lieutenant," he answered her, meeting her golden gaze. ZanYi nodded in acknowledgement, then looked to all of them. "Then we're ready to roll out."
Syaoran was going to say something else to her, but she moved on quickly to gather her soldiers. His shoulders slumped a little and his lip furrowed, irritated. "She never stays in one place, does she?" he grumbled under his breath, eyes watching as she walked amongst the AKs. He did not have to wait long to hear from her again, because soon ZanYi's voice rose up again.
"Let's move out!" she ordered in a loud voice, firm and official.
"She's a busy woman, Syaoran. Don't take it personally," Shun encouraged the Avatar before revving the engine on his bike once more. "You ready, Teeks?"
"…I'll walk this time," Tiki decided unexpectedly. Shun raised his eyebrows, but as the AKs began to move, he shrugged his massive shoulders.
"Suit yourself," he said, putting on his helmet before speeding to the front of the unit. This left Tiki to fall into step beside Syaoran. The tiny airbender wanted to talk to him, but in light of their reconciliation, she wanted to be careful not to push the wrong buttons this time around. Her thoughts drifted to the brief information he had given her about his family a few days ago, and her curiosity drove her tongue into motion.
"So which one of your parents do you look like, Syaoran?" she asked, inspecting his face as she struggled to put an image to his parents. "What about your younger sister?"
Syaoran looked down at Tiki like she was nuts, which he very much thought on a normal basis. So it should not have surprised him as much as the question did. He attributed it to the out of the blue timing. "Um, I take after my dad," he said with a bit of confusion. "And my sister…" he trailed off a bit, thinking about her, the way her eyes teared up as he'd left. Syaoran didn't like the thought.
"She looks like my mum," he finished quickly and rushed. Syaoran looked at her with a quirked brow. "Why don't you catch up to Shun and ride with him?" Syaoran quickly switched topics, eager to drop the matter of his family. He did not want to think about them, what they had to be going through in his absence.
His gaze left the short airbender to search amongst the pack of firebenders around them. They found what they were searching for at the front, leading the pack. Syaoran could tell it was ZanYi just from the way she carried herself, how confident her step was and the straightness of her gait. It seemed like that was the only way he could see her—from behind. She never lingered long enough to be seen any other way.
"Because you looked lonely," Tiki explained. She followed his gaze and was unsurprised to see that he was watching the lieutenant. He always had that longing look in his eyes nowadays, whenever he looked at ZanYi… Tiki wondered if he was aware of it. At the Avatar's suggestion that she go hang out with Shun, the tiny airbender's shoulders slumped. "Am I bothering you?" she asked, suddenly self-conscious. The events of three days ago taught her a valuable lesson: Tiki did not like fighting with Syaoran. But maybe he was still irked with her and was trying not to show it. She began to fiddle with one of the ends of her twin tails, her display of insecurity. She was no ZanYi—of course Syaoran did not want to be bothered with her right now. Well, Tiki was not about to force her company on him.
"I'll just go, then," she announced. Without warning, she summoned her air scooter and sped away, halting only to land behind Shun on his motorcycle. The giant waterbender did not expect this; the handlebars jerked under his grasp, but he was able to gain control a second later.
"Teeks, don't do that!" Shun scolded, turning to find Tiki sitting behind him. "You startled me." Then the giant waterbender frowned. "…What's wrong?"
Tiki blinked innocently up at him. "What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused. Nothing was wrong. Why was he asking?
Frowning, Shun pulled Ai to the side and removed his helmet to place it on one of the handlebars. He turned to the side and propped up one of his arms on a raised knee, his free hand braced against the back of the motorcycle so he could lean down and peer into Tiki's face.
"Come on, Teeks, you know I know you better than that. And you look like you're about to cry. What's the problem?" Shun coaxed, his voice gentle.
She looked like she was about to cry? Strange. She didn't feel like crying… or she didn't, at least, until Shun said something. Now the tiny airbender could feel the moisture gathering in her eyes. She violently shook her head, forcing the tears back. She did not feel sad, so why should she cry? It was all very confusing.
"Don't mind it, okay, Shun? Let's just ride," Tiki begged. Shun's frown deepened, but Tiki had adopted that stubborn look that said quite plainly that she didn't want to talk about it. So what else could he do but shrug and rev up his bike once more?
"You know the drill," he said as he plopped his helmet over Tiki's small head, "keep the helmet on and don't let go."
"Roger," Tiki agreed, and they were off once more. She clutched the back of Shun's leather jacket, thinking hard. Why was she upset? Syaoran hadn't been mean to her at all. He was even polite enough to answer her intrusive questions. So why did his wish for her to leave his side hurt so much? Tiki didn't understand it. So she locked the perplexing feeling away to examine at a later date and instead tried to enjoy the ride with Shun.
ZanYi had watched the exchange ahead of her, but found nothing particular about it. If anything had to be surprising, it was that Tiki had not started off with Shun on his bike. But she did not really care. What that did mean was that the Avatar was on his own in the rear.
The lieutenant looked back in the mass of people behind her, finding Syaoran quite easily, as his gaze was already on her. She found that strange, but paid it no heed. And while ZanYi knew he was quite safe around all of her soldiers, with him being the Avatar, she knew she would be more comfortable if Syaoran was within her reach. ZanYi gestured her head to signal him to move up with her, and Syaoran's eyes widened in surprise. He did not need to be told twice, however. Syaoran made quick steps to shift to the front next to ZanYi, his gaze curious and bewildered as he looked over at her. "Yeah, Lieutenant?" he asked her, expectant.
"I'd rather have you up here where I can see you, in case something happens en route," she explained, only briefly looking to him before focusing on what was ahead.
Syaoran could not decide whether to be disappointed with her reason, or elated that for whatever the reason, ZanYi wanted him close to her. He decided on the latter, and a brief, but irritating pink tinged his cheeks before he looked away from her, scratching the back of his head. "Well, okay then..." he mumbled, trying to brush it off. It wasn't a big deal. Still for once he was at her side, not looking on from behind.
Okay, maybe that part was a big deal.
Half the day was gone, and Tiki was beginning to get bored. She thought about jumping off of Shun's motorcycle and summoning her air scooter to ride the rest of the way—they weren't too far now, she guessed—but since the giant waterbender had told her not to let go, she would have to ask him to pull over first.
As if he had read her mind, Shun did stop his motorcycle—quite abruptly, in fact. If Tiki hadn't been wearing his helmet, she would have smashed her face against his broad back. Pulling said helmet off now, Tiki peered up at the back of Shun's head in confusion. He was quite stiff, and Tiki could see that he had a death grip on Ai's handlebars… what was the problem? As Tiki hopped off the bike and moved to Shun's side to ask just that, a scene of devastation caught her eyes. Demolished metal lay before them, the scars of battle looking a few days old. But other than that, there was nothing above ground left of what once served as a Resistance base, the warehouses that shadowed them long gone and desecrated, demolished.
"W-what happened…?" Tiki breathed, her eyes wide as she took in the destruction. As she took a hesitant step forward, a sudden movement in the surrounding trees caught Shun's eye. Without hesitation, he threw himself over Tiki, knocking her to the ground. She was about to yell at him for doing something so unexpected when a metal rod pulsing with electricity embedded itself into the ground, inches from her nose.
"It's an ambush!" Shun roared, pulling Tiki to her feet before getting into a battle stance, his canteen at the ready.
"Again?!" Tiki cried, her back to Shun's, wondering at the odds of their Resistance camps being amushed twice. But sure enough, Shun's words rang true, and a storm of soldiers rained down from the surrounding trees to attack.
"Everyone, formation!" ZanYi quickly ordered back, grabbing Syaoran's arm to pull him behind her, "Cover the team!"
Despite the chaos escalating around them, the alarmed Agni-Kais acted quickly, who quickly made a move to create a wide berth around them, Shun, and Tiki. And they did not enclose them in it, backing in, but rather tried to repel the foes back. As a chi blocker or two would slip past the wall of firebenders, ZanYi would make quick work of them, a blazing ball of fire.
But even she couldn't stop everybody trying to come at him. So when Syaoran saw the Neo-Equalists coming up behind her, Syaoran launched a boulder at the man, sending him flying back. "What do we do?" Syaoran yelled out, watching more and more drop from the trees. These soldiers had known they were coming, and they were ready for them.
ZanYi realized it too, and and it made her all the more irritable. She fended off more men coming towards Syaoran, only to see them continue to come. It was like a never-ending wave.
Seeing that ZanYi was becoming overwhelmed, Shun rushed over at once. Silently cursing that they were not closer to the waterfall, he made the most of his water whip against the enemy. But it seemed that, every time he took down one Neo-Equalist, three more rushed in to take up the fight. Shun grit his teeth and fought hard, but the enemy had numbers on their side, and their troops were wearing down fast.
Tiki had the brilliant idea to summon up a tornado. It worked at first: enemy soldiers were being sucked into the vortex left and right. But it was when the tornado began to engulf AKs that Tiki had to unfortunately dismiss the force of nature. And still, more were coming.
"There's too many of them!" Tiki cried, narrowly avoiding capture twice in a row. How were they expected to survive an ambush of this degree? It was too much to ask to get lucky twice.
Shun, though he did not like it, was forced to agree with Tiki. There was no way they could win this fight. They had to get out of there—fast.
His eyes came to rest on Ai, the motorcycle lying on its side after being abandoned in the fight. Inspiration struck him, and he rushed over to his bike as fast as he could. It would be somewhat of a tight fit, but Ai was a large motorcycle, and if Tiki could keep up with them on her air scooter…
A chi blocker rushed at Shun unexpectedly. Without thinking, the giant waterbender roundhouse kicked the man in the face, wincing when he heard the pop of a dislocated jaw. Resisting the urge to apologize, he hurried on and made it to Ai without further incident. As he straddled the seat of the bike once more, one lively roar from Ai assured Shun that she was still running just fine. He sped away through the crowd of fighting benders and non-benders, stopping only when he reached the rest of Team Avatar.
"Tiki, summon your air scooter and follow me!" Shun instructed. Tiki gave a nod before blowing a gust back at a wall of Neo-Equalists that were steadfastly approaching. "ZanYi, Syaoran, get on!" he commanded further, meeting ZanYi's eyes and willing her to understand.
If the enemy won today, if they succeeded in capturing Syaoran and learning of his identity, it was all over. They had to escape, and it was now or never.
ZanYi blasted away another set of foes and whirled to Shun, disbelief in her eyes. "Are you kidding me?" she barked, but then she looked around them. Neo-Equalists were everywhere. There was no way even her AKs could keep everyone safe, and without the training to deal with this sort of scenario, Syaoran, Tiki, and Shun would be at a higher risk.
"Lieutenant Tsong!" Syaoran pleaded, stuck between Shun and her. Seeing more rush closer to them, he raised a tone wall and thrust it at them, successful. And even as more came closer to them and ZanYi fought them away, he could see the strain on her face, the gears working inside her head.
"Lieutenant!" another voice called her, and ZanYi turned to it, one of the older men in her unit. The stalwart soldier looked her in the eyes, panting and heaving his shoulders. "Go with them. We can handle this. Get the Avatar out of here."
ZanYi wanted to refuse, to stand and fight alongside her soldiers. And looking at the man, she knew that he knew that too, which is why he was standing up to her. The Avatar had to get out of there, and her primary orders were to him. And just as she had ever hated it before, she hated it then as well.
"Lieutenant Tsong!" Syaoran beckoned again, sounding even more desperate for her to make a decision. With great reluctance, she nodded to her soldier and jogged over to Syaoran and Shun.
"Let's go!" she finally caved. Syaoran jumped onto the motorcycle, making room between him and Shun for her to sit. But he was surprised for her to push him against Shun's back, perching backwards on the bike herself then after. "Hang on to Shun," ZanYi ordered him, facing back to the chaos with blazing hands. "I'll cover us."
Syaoran was not eager, but he wanted to get out of there, so he grabbed on tight to Shun's clothes. "Get us out of here, Shun!"
"Hang on!" Shun called over the roar of his motorcycle. He bent over the handlebars as, like a bullet, Ai shot through the fray, heading past the demolished base to a new patch of the forest. "Tiki!" Shun shouted, looking for her. The tiny airbender sped up to his side, her air scooter whirling quickly.
"Here!" she chimed, giving Shun a nod, since her hands were not exactly free. Shun returned the gesture.
"Stay close," he instructed.
"Yes, sir!" Tiki chirped, almost grinning at the irony of the situation. Her amusement vanished once she realized they were still being pursued. ZanYi was doing a great job of warding them off, but Tiki thought she should help, in any case. When an attacker got too close, Tiki ran him over with her air scooter. "You guys need to learn when to quit!" Tiki advised the most recent poor soul that was thrown back by a well-aimed fire blast from ZanYi.
And, as if they took her advice to heart, the soldiers suddenly stopped coming after them. Whether they did not have the manpower to keep after them or if they were playing a trick, Tiki did not know. After five minutes of nothing else happening, however, Tiki was certain that they had vanished for good… or for today, anyway.
"Shun! Hey, Shun, slow down! I think we lost them!" Tiki announced, speeding back up to Shun's side. This did not assure the giant waterbender; rather, he shifted into a higher gear that caused Ai to rumble even louder and move even faster.
"I want to be sure we lost them!" Shun called over to Tiki, his eyes intense as he sped through the trees, the path ahead of them sloping higher and higher. Tiki caught a few glimpses of the waterfall in the valley down below, where she had shared happier times with Syaoran, ZanYi and Shun. The tiny airbender chewed on her lip, wondering what could be in store for them now.
A/N from DJ: We've done it! Already, after only a couple months, as new to the area, "Warring Earth-Fire" has gotten 1,000 hits! And that's all thanks to you guys for reading! Really, we're so excited by this, because, for us, this is a big deal. So we wanted to thank everyone who's been reading so far, continuing to read, or just started reading. We wish we could hear from you all, but knowing that we have readers out there either way is encouraging! So on behalf of Eva and I, THANK YOU!
Now, onto the shout outs for the week:
Japaneserockergirl: Sadly, even though Zhao was taken out by Koizilla in Season One of ATLA, we're not counting out chances that he'd already had offspring waiting back on the homeland of Fire Nation by that point. As you can see, the family lineage of ignorance has continued through the generations -_- Alas, at least Zuko's line continues to trump, that's all I can say! xD
Hammy 101098: Thanks for the favorite! I hope you continue to enjoy the story and that we get to hear from you sometime!
On that note, can't wait to hear from you guys and hope you enjoyed the read. Until next week, signing off!