A/N: I've been gone a while. A quick read of the last chapter would probably be a good idea.
Word of Warning: Heavy OC action here. Although a certain beloved couple also appears we are definitely looking at an OC-heavy chapter.
Thanks for reading.
MacFie xoxo
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Agreement
"We're just waiting on permits for questioning." Chin tells Bokkusu solemnly.
"I figured as much." The box man grumbles.
"You didn't explode." Does the commander sound disappointed?
"I'm a mature adult, Chin." Bokkusu says tightly. "I wouldn't want Earth Kingdom security agents coming to the Fire Nation to question our citizens without permission and I'll give them the same respect I demand."
The ship is in the harbor and Chin has just spent about an hour in the office of the Harbor Master. He won't tell Bokkusu that the permit at first was denied pending a five-day waiting period.
The commander had explained the situation as well as he could without giving the specific detail that representatives of the Fire Nation had rushed to the Earth Kingdom's shores in search of their egregiously errant prince. How embarrassing that would be for the Fire Lord.
Giving the impression of grave danger and a possible contagious illness carried by one or both of the fugitives, Chin was able to secure an immediate permit.
Naturally immediate means in a few hours but he's happy with what he was able to get.
"Do you want to hear some of the gossip I heard in the village?" Chin asks his friend.
"Of course." The rumbling reply.
"Two teenagers spent last night at the inn. They bought supplies and headed out of the village on foot. Away from Ba Sing Se. A boy and a girl. The shopkeeper where the boy bought two hats was fairly certain they were Fire Nation by the look of them."
Bokkusu stares at the commander.
"Did you question them?" The box man asks wondering why they need permits if Chin can just gather all the information they need by simply walking into town.
"No. They were friendly and asked what brought me to the Earth Kingdom. I told them. They volunteered the information. I didn't ask even one question." Chin smiles, proud of himself.
"So they were on foot?' Bokkusu rubs his chin.
"That's what I was told. " Chin responds.
"Anything else?" The box man asks.
"They had bad haircuts."
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"Surely they don't expect me to allow my daughter to go off alone to the palace!" Baron Cho Sung rants irritably.
A small palanquin has been brought to their door to carry Lin to the Fire Lord's residence. She's been invited to play for a small gathering of women being held by the princess. Life seems to be going on as usual for the royal family, even in Prince Yukio's absence.
"I won't have it!" He declares. Neither he nor Bai nor Dozo will fit in the palanquin with her. Not that any of them were invited. He could send a maid, but what good will that do? He needs someone who will be able to keep his eyes and ears open in the palace. Lin is decidedly unqualified for that job.
"Father, I can't keep them w-waiting." She says softly. "I promise I w-won't shame you." She looks up at him with shining eyes and he visibly softens.
For a nasty man he can be a pushover where his daughter is concerned. Severely disappointed in her obvious deficiencies, he has tried time and again to banish the irritating affection he unwillingly feels for her. She looks so like his wife with whom he was also disappointed. He just can't understand his attachment.
His late wife is virtually unmourned by him. The woman's death had left him with two unruly boys and a defective daughter with few prospects. But he'd pulled something out of the morass and now the flawed child has an opportunity to bring the Cho Sungs into Fire Lord's the inner circle, possibly even the royal family.
She's right. He can't keep them waiting.
"I know you won't shame me." He snaps. "Don't speak to anyone but the princess. Or some other nobility. None of those White Spirits or Water Tribe peasants." He orders as he practically shoves her out the door. A tiny maid goes scurrying after for appearances sake.
"Useless." He grumbles to himself. "Every last one of them is useless."
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Katara calmly approaches Zuko who lays spread eagle on his back in the center of the grassy sparring field. Behind her a coterie of servants and guards carry a small bench, silk cushions, a large basket and some blankets to cover the ground.
After the bench is prepared Katara sits and looks down at her husband. He squints up at her, not saying a word.
"Hello." She smiles.
"Hello." He responds drowsily.
"You woke me up when you came to bed last night." Katara gently scolds him.
"Sorry. I tried not to."
"No you didn't try not to," she smirks, "you stuck your tongue in my ear."
"I did?"
"Don't you remember what happened next?" She asks him meaningfully.
He thinks about it as he continues to squint up at her. She shifts her position so her shadow falls over his face and he sighs.
"I hope if it was something really interesting I would remember." He finally admits.
"You rolled over and started snoring." She jabs his rib with her foot.
"I don't snore." He declares haughtily.
"Why do people always say that?" Katara wonders aloud.
"Because they're being wrongly accused?" He suggests.
"Sokka says it." A musical laugh escapes.
"I'm sorry I woke you up." He gracelessly concedes defeat by changing the subject.
"You've missed all your morning meetings." She tells him.
"I know." He closes his eyes.
"You didn't even meet with Minister Kuo." Her brow furrows.
"I know."
"You've given up?" She cocks her head to the side, trying to read him.
He perks up, opening his eyes and smiling. "Is that an option?"
"No." She says regretfully.
"Pity." He closes his eyes again. "I guess I haven't then."
"Well, I just wanted to make sure you're alive. I'll go back now." She doesn't actually move from the bench though.
"Wait!" His eyes snap open and he looks as much like a young boy as she's ever seen him. Except for the weary desperation in his golden gaze that twists her heart.
"I'm not going anywhere." She sighs and signals to her entourage. They immediately begin spreading the blankets and setting up a picnic lunch.
"Will you lay down with me?" He asks her.
"After lunch." She smiles.
He lets out a sigh of long suffering.
"Shh." She orders abruptly as she motions to two large firebenders who immediately walk over and pull their Fire Lord to his feet.
"You're bossy." Zuko grumbles, swaying for a moment before regaining his balance and reaching out a hand to help her rise from the bench.
"And you love it." She grins and takes his hand, her eyes shining into his.
"Spirits help me." He mutters, his lips twitching into his sweetest smile.
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"Well that was fun." Yukio says laughing.
"It was!" Lily declares excitedly.
Their legs swing off the edge of a wooden cart loaded with mangoes, watermelons and three stacks of caged canary frogs.
"Where'd you two learn to fight like that?" The farmer driving the cart asks over his shoulder.
"My … cousin." Yukio says.
"My … step-father." Lily says at the same time.
"Well they sure taught ya good." The old man shakes his head.
Yukio and Lily had realized they were being followed about a mile and a half outside of the harbor village. They'd quietly agreed to duck into the bushes to see if they were actually being pursued or if their suspicions were simply falling on some innocent travelers.
Sure enough, as they waited in the foliage, four tough looking young men came around the bend, discussing how they planned to jump the two younger teens.
After the bullies had passed Yukio and Lily stepped out of the brush.
"Hey!" Yukio barked at them.
The expressions on the other boys' faces were worth paying for.
"Hey yourself." One of them aggressively replied.
"Hand it over." Another ordered as the gang advanced on the two Fire Nation teens.
"What?" Yukio narrowed his eyes at them.
"Your money." One of the bullies responded as if he felt the younger boy was an idiot. "I saw you in Cha Ling's shop with gold pieces to spare. Hand 'em over." He continued to stalk forward, full of confidence.
"Look," the prince's voice was conciliatory, "my sister here is sick. She's not right in the head. We only have enough to get us to Gaoling. I can't take care of her without the little bit of money we have." He glanced over at Lily knowing she'd play along.
The first thing she did to shore up his story was to take her hat off. Yukio bit back a hard laugh.
"Where are my pinecones?!" Lily cried in a panicked voice as she peered into her hat.
"See? Now look what you did." He groused at the thieves as he went to Lily and patted her gently on the shoulder.
"My pinecones are gone! Did you steal my pinecones?" She asked him plaintively.
"Hand over the money and we won't hurt your crazy sister." The lead bully growled thinking he'd found a weak spot.
"Please don't hurt her!" Yukio had to suppress a spark of fury that they would actually consider hurting a helpless girl. Even though she wasn't actually helpless at all and the oafs were about to learn that in a brutal fashion.
It still ticked him off.
The four thieves continued their advance, pouring on the menace. One of them pulled out a pair of nunchakas and started twirling them around in fancy maneuvers, nearly swiping a fellow thief in the head. The near victim of the weapon moved to the side to give his mate more room. Once again Yukio had to contain his laughter.
"Hand over your money and we won't make you watch what we do to her." The leader growled nastily.
It was that comment that had sealed his fate.
Yukio held out a shaking hand, palm up. A single shining gold piece glinted in the sun. The tremors in the prince's arm grew until he dropped the coin on the ground. He bent quickly to pick it up.
"So sorry." He said squeakily as he squatted near the ground and dropped his hand beside Lily's foot. She stepped into his palm, her knees bent, and he rose quickly, his legs like pistons, flinging her high into the air where she kicked off a tree and landed just behind their attackers.
"Wha…" The leader was stunned.
The two thieves closest to Lily were stupid enough to think it was a joke and that her brother liked to throw his deranged, pinecone obsessed sister around. They continued to think that even as she knocked the first one to his knees with the blade of her foot.
His nunchakas went flying.
Yukio took the yelp of surprised pain as a signal to begin. He rushed the two who faced him, grabbed their tunics at the neck, pulled them forward and jumped on top, one foot on each back. Their faces squashed into the dirt and Yukio reached down to grab the waistband of their pants.
He pulled.
With all his might.
Meanwhile Lily had managed to lead her opponents on a chase toward the forest. At first Yukio was concerned and wondered why such a skilled fighter would run away.
And then she headed straight for a large tree, running up the trunk about six feet. Her pursuers stopped short. But not short enough. One of them howled in pain as he smacked the side of the tree nose-first.
Once again Lily was behind them and she spun around with a hook kick catching one of them in the backside. She followed up with a round house gracing the second pursuer with a kick in the pants.
Now they were furious.
"She's not a mental defective!!" One of them howled as if Yukio had somehow cheated.
"Thank you." She said sweetly just before clipping him in the mouth and sending him sprawling with a strong right jab.
Yukio's opponents were scrambling to pull their garments to rights, kicking out their legs and twisting the cloth just as the old farmer's cart rambled around the bend and pulled to a creaky stop.
A snorting roar came from one of the toughs and the scoundrel charged the prince like a buffalo boar.
As bone-crunching contact was about to be made, Yukio ducked low to the ground, catching his attacker at the knees. The behemoth fell forward just as Yukio sprang up with surprising strength tossing the miscreant into the air like a sack of dirty laundry.
The big oaf landed on his friend and neither of them rose again.
Checking in with Lily Yukio asked her if she needed help. She was driving her second opponent back with jabbing punches and front kicks maneuvering him exactly where she wanted him.
The hapless attacker tripped backward over his friend's unconscious, heaped carcass.
"No thanks." She answered Yukio, stalking toward the cowering bully.
She pinned the older boy with a hard look.
"Did. You. Steal. My. Pinecones?" She said to the near blubbering combatant with terrifying intensity.
He ran into the woods.
And that was when Farmer Fu offered them a ride to Gaoling.
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"I th-thought I was to p-play for a group of ladies." Lin haltingly murmurs as a soft pillow is set down on the grass near the royal couple who lounge on a blanket nearby.
"That gathering was cancelled." Katara says. "I hope you don't mind playing for family. We're all under a lot of pressure right now. Your music will be soothing and lift our spirits."
"I d-don't mind." The girl prepares her instrument, as she tries not to look at the Fire Lord. The only time she's ever seen him was at the party. He was so tense he made her jumpy and that's the last thing she wants for this performance. She wants to be invited back. The more often she finds herself in the palace the more likely it is that she'll see Taoki again.
A Water Tribe couple appears, walking lazily over and joining the princess and Fire Lord on the blanket. The Water Tribe woman is carrying the most darling baby and Lin suppresses the urge to coo at its curly hair and bright, seeking eyes.
As the girl puts her flute to her lips a movement in the distance distracts her for just a moment.
The white haired twins are walking toward them.
Taoki is here today.
Lin flushes red and begins to play. She accidentally catches the princess's eye and sees glowing approval. She tries not to improvise a song to fit her mood. Princess Katara had said soothing hadn't she? The way Lin feels right now is anything but soothed.
If anyone were to figure out how she's feeling at this moment they wouldn't be as surprised as she is. She hasn't felt this way since her speech troubles were discovered.
Soothing. They want soothing.
As Taoki comes nearer she sees his beautiful smile focused directly on her. Her.
She could dance on the sun.