Well, here we go again! The newest chapter of Walking a Wire here for your viewing pleasure. Surprises both wonderful and horrible await in this chapter, and the lives of our heroes will never be the same.
On that note, just remember the disclaimer and enjoy!
Chapter XXI: Into Light, Into Night
"Ashani, I think I've finally found you an Airbending teacher."
"I--uh--what?" Aang blankly looked from one to the other as shock slowly faded from Ashani's face, replaced by a wide smile as Ling's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Looking at Katara, her expression looked much like he felt. Even Toph looked up, although her feelings were impossible to read behind her pained expression.
"I--I had heard stories," Ashani slowly began, "that the Avatar had been killed during the fall of Ba Sing Se. I am very happy to know that those stories were untrue."
"So am I." Aang responded, desperately grabbing at anything that still made sense. A Fire Nation man who appeared to take care of Fire Nation soldiers, who might even hold a military job himself, was married to a--"
"Airbender. You-you're an Airbender?"
Ashani just smiled. "Would you like to see?" Reaching into a pocket on her dress, she produced several small wooden blocks. Holding them in her palm, she placed her other hand above as her face tightened in concentration. For a moment nothing happened, then--
"They're moving!" Sure enough, the blocks began to rise from her palm and weakly rotate as though in a miniature tornado. Only a few moments later, however, they fell back into her palm as she let out a deep sigh.
"I can only do that for a short time. Despite what my husband says, I'm not very good." She offered a weak smile at Aang before continuing, "But if you would teach me, I--I cannot fully express the greatness of that honor."
"I--I'm not sure what to say. I've never been much of a teacher." Aang grinned at the woman, "But I did teach a few tricks to the other kids back at the Southern Temple, so I guess I can try."
"Thank you, Avatar Aang. You have no idea how much this means."
"No, thank you. Ever since I saw the devestation at the Southern Air Temple, I thought that I was the last of the Airbenders, and that the Air Nomads would vanish with me. I would be honored to teach any Airbender everything I know." He turned to Ling, "There, uhh, are more Airbenders, right?"
"More than most would think, according to my wife. I can't tell you much here, but I'm sure Ashani could fill you in on the way home."
"Home? Oh right, you said you had a home in the capital."
"It's on the outskirts, actually outside the crater of the main city, so we can train nearby without notice. We should be able to leave as soon as your friends are ready to travel, I only need a few hours to gather the things we came for."
"So, we just stay here and wait for you?"
"Pretty much," Ashani answered, "But I think that is best anyway, since you all look like you could use some rest. That goes for you as well, dear." She opened the door to leave, only to be nearly knocked over by the doctor leaning on the other side. Picking himself up off the floor, he scrambled backwards as Ling advanced on him.
"How much did you hear?" At the tone of his voice, the doctor's face paled.
"N-nothing! Well, I--I heard something about a teacher and the Avatar and something about a temple somewhere but I don't know anything and if you'll just let me go I won't tell anyone I swear!"
"Somehow, I doubt that." He turned towards Ashani, "I'm sorry about this, but I may have to stay here a while and watch this one. Can you make do yourself?"
"It won't be a problem, I'll be fine." She opened the door to the street, exposing the early afternoon sun. "Just don't hurt the poor man."
Rows of cells slid past her as the soldiers continued to roughly push her along. She had quickly learned to just go along and put up as little resistance as possible, and now she just stared at the ground. As they pushed deeper into the prison catacombs, Ty Lee's thoughts chased themselves in her head. What have I done wrong? Were they talking about the stuff I did with Mina? That was all clear--we were saving people from those horrible cloaked men and their soldier friends! Is that why all this happened, because we attacked the soldiers as well? It'll all be over soon anyway, Akira will come and--wait, he's out somewhere on some sort of mission.
"Your room, my good woman," The guard said in a false accent as a cell door creaked open. Looking up, she saw dingy greyish walls, a pair of shackles hanging over bars in the ceiling. Letting her head drop again, she felt the guards half-drag her into the cage. Suddenly, her arms weren't held at her back anymore, but over her head, and she snapped to attention with an alarmed shout.
"Sorry, but this was requested by the Princess herself." Ty Lee felt the cold metal snap shut around her wrists as her brain tried to make sense of the last comment. The loud CLANG of the gate shutting pulled her back for a moment to watch the guards leave, before she dissolved again into a frenzied search for something that made sense in all this. In the end, all she came up with was a repeating chorus of why echoing in her head as she felt her eyes begin burning.
Azula will hear about this, she'll get you out, the guard was making stuff up.
Why, why would they do this to me?
It doesn't matter, you're going to be fine, someone will get you out.
Why? Agni, what have I done to deserve this?
If Azula doesn't come, then Akira. He'll fix this.
No. Not after what happened on the ferry.
He'll come.
He's not coming.
She felt the tears running as everything came back to that line. Azula didn't care, and even when Akira came back from wherever he was, he wasn't coming. The dirt-stained floor blurred below her, then out of nowhere a voice called out.
"New arrival? Don't worry, we're all here. I'm Midori. What's your name?" Searching her blurred surroundings for the source of the voice, she only found the walls, "Who-who's there?"
"I'm Midori. I know you're scared, but you don't have to worry. It's going to be all right."
"Midori? Where are you?"
"Next cell over, I think. Lihui is on my other side. She says hi."
"H-hi, both of you. I'm--I'm Ty Lee. I don't know why I'm in here."
"Wrong place, wrong time? It's how we ended up in here. The three of us are trophies for the Princess."
"Wait, there's three of you?"
"Yeah, she's on your other side. She's our leader."
"Wow, your leader?"
"Yeah, she's the greatest. I think she's the reason Lihui and I haven't given up yet. Her and Iroh."
"Iroh? Wait, how do you know about Iroh?"
She heard weak laughter, "Everybody in here knows about Iroh. They keep him in a private cell, but there's a guard, don't know her name, she's always telling others about stuff he's said or done while she was there. They tell everybody else, and sooner or later we all know. He found out, I think, and now he gives her stuff to say to us. Mostly stuff aimed for the general population, how it's never too late to turn your life around, be a good person and all that. Some of it, though...It's like he knows some of us don't belong here, and he keeps telling us how we're going to get out someday, how we're all gonna be free. I can't believe someone would lock up such a nice guy."
"It's complicated. I guess I could explain if you want, but it kinda takes a while."
"Ty Lee, we've got all the time in the world."
"Okay, here goes, I guess..."
She didn't know how long they talked, but she explained everything as best she could--Iroh's past, what she knew of his journeys with Zuko, what she had heard about the North Pole, and on until the coup in the Earth Kingdom and his arrest. Midori would occasionally yell over a summary of whatever she was saying to Lihui, and when she spoke about the coup in Ba Sing Se, she peppered her with questions.
"How did you get by the wall? I've heard that the city was invincible."
"Well, first we tried this massive drill, but that didn't work out so well because it got sabotaged by the Avatar and his friends."
"The Avatar? Wait, did you fight the Avatar?"
"No, I never did, that was always Azula. I usually switched off with Mai between his travelling companions. But anyway, once the drill failed, we started hunting for another way around. We found these Earth Kingdom warriors, I don't remember what they called themselves, something like--"
"Shhh! Someone's coming, and they hate us talking!" No sooner had Midori fallen silent than Ty Lee heard footsteps approaching. They got close to her cell, then stopped in the cell with the third girl, who had been silent so far.
"Well, are you going to be any fun today?" Ty Lee recognized Azula's voice instantly.
"I hope the spirits throw you in the darkest pit of the Spirit World they can find, you evil, heartless b--"
"I'd watch my tongue, you insolent tramp. Keep talking like that, and I might have it removed."
"He'll come, witch. He'll come and he'll get all of us out and you'll be sorry you were ever born. You'll see, he'll come, and--"
"And why hasn't he come yet? Hmm? Surely you don't believe he's still looking for you--if he's even alive."
"Sokka's alive! He's alive and he's going to find us and destroy you!"
"My, you are in a good mood today. Unfortunately, I have other business to attend to." Suddenly, Azula was standing at the bars to her cell, accompanied by a strange man in a thick robe. Strange, in that one arm was gone, the sleeve of the man's robe hanging loose at his side.
"Ty Lee, Ty Lee, what am I supposed to do with you? I hear reports of a rogue soldier in the capital, and when the Minister of Domestic Intelligence does a little research, your's is the name that appears. Strange, isn't it, how the one's closest to you are the ones who betray you?"
"I didn't do anything, Azula. This is all a big misunderstanding!"
"Is it now?" Azula's voice had suddenly frozen over, and Ty Lee felt her stomach tie up in knots as the man accompanying her slowly slid a key into the door and stepped inside.
"I believe we've met before, Miss Ty Lee. However, I wouldn't expect you to remember."
"Who--who are you?"
"Laos Tim is our Chief Interrogator, and although he normally concerns himself with only the most stubborn spies or saboteurs, he requested this favor."
"You see, I hardly ever forget a face, Miss. And how could I forget the face of the little girl who cost me this?" He jabbed a finger at his hanging sleeve, "Do you, by any chance remember the warehouse, little girl? Yes, I see you do. Have you ever had to feel a burning wooden stake drive itself into your arm? Have you ever had to go through the experience of having a limb removed, of feeling the bone saw even through the pain drugs they give?" He slid up next to her, whispering in her ear with a silky, almost seductive voice that instantly terrified her, "I would say you owe me a lot, wouldn't you? And you can be assured, you will pay for everything." He slid back out of the door, his face expressionless as the gate once again clanged shut.
"You should get some rest. I will be back in two hours. In the meantime, Miss Suki, why don't you tell your new friend of all our good times together?" The man's laughter echoed down the hallway as his footsteps receded after Azula.
Suddenly, something clicked. I'm kinda involved with Suki. The water-tribe boy from Ba Sing Se? Wait, so he--she--?
"Midori, you're from the Kyoshi, aren't you?"
"Huh? Yeah, but how did you--"
"I'm sorry. For everything."
The fire surrounds him, swirling in dozens of colors as shapes rise and fall into the flames. He doesn't know how long he's been here, but it feels like he's been waiting for this for years.
A shape appears out of the fire, or at least he thinks it's a shape. It's shining as brightly as the sun, and the brilliant fire dims beside the figure as it slowly advances.
"Who--who are you?"
"You know who I am, young warrior. I am he who protected you from the Emperor's wrath, and I continue to give you the strength to survive."
"I'm sorry, I still don't understand."
"I am Agni. I appear before you thus as a warning and a promise."
"What? Wait, back up, who's the Emperor?"
"He is the one who rules the Empire of the Sun, the Fire Nation by your words."
"Wait, you were--so that really was you. Thank you."
"I shall be there to protect you as much as my power allows, but be warned that the spirits have been weakened by this war, just as the earth itself tires of the blood poured into its veins. Should the Fire Nation win this war, they will stop only when all benders but their own are hunted down and destroyed. Fire shall consume the world, and soon it will pass from life unto death forever more. I tell you this as a warning, and as a way that you might see what you must do."
"Wait, why are you telling me this? I'm just a soldier--what can I possibly do?"
"You may be one, but you connect to many. You must use those connections to aid the Avatar in his quest to stop the war before Sozen's Comet returns. It is the only way." As he watched, the figure began to fade as the fires around him flickered out one by one.
"Wait! Please, tell me more! What am I supposed to do now?"
"It is the only way, Akira Hideyoshi. The only way..."
Okay, so that was satisfying, creepy, and downright wierd--and I'm the one who wrote it. Seriously, I've been really debating whether I should up the rating, but I want to know what someone else thinks! If people are fine with it remaining T, I'd love to leave it that way, but I'm not afraid to change it to M if that means I can continue making the story the way it needs to be. At any rate, faithful readers, congratulations on sticking with me this far, and I hope you keep on reading!
--NullChronicler--