Reorientation
Yukio wakes up in the dead of night to see Lily's bedroll empty. Scrambling to his feet he frantically tracks her footsteps to determine whether she's left or if she's just gone to take care of her personal needs.
The footprints leading into the forest give his heart a reason to slow down. She's obviously in need of some privacy for a few moments.
Heaving a sigh of relief he thinks about all that has transpired and how it would be just like Lily to try to disappear in order to save him. She'd done that kind of thing back in the Fire Nation and now that she actually knows him it's even more likely she'll want to let him off the hook. Not that she's in love with him or anything. Yukio snorts as he imagines that possibility. But she's a loyal friend and that's as obvious as her skills as a fighter.
She'll make a great Kyoshi Warrior, he decides.
Sitting on a boulder he waits for her to reappear so he can remind her they're a team until he gets her safely to their destination.
And he waits.
After a little while he stands and stalks toward the forest's edge.
But what if she's in the middle of something embarrassing?
He sits back down to wait some more.
Finally, after what seems to him a very long time, he takes a firm stance and walks with purpose right into the woods, following her tracks across the undergrowth. He hears rustling. And something else.
He pushes aside two bushes that cover the entry to a clearing.
He stops in his tracks, his eyes widening and his breath catching in his throat.
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Ping.
Ping.
Ping.
Lin slips out of her bed and listens closely in the darkness.
Ping.
Hesitantly she steps toward her window and pulls the drape aside just enough to allow her a peek outside. Down below Taoki is winding up to throw another pebble and she pulls the drape wider.
He pulls his arm back just as the moonlight glints off the gold chain on her ruby pendant and he freezes.
Quickly, Lin lights a candle and stands where she knows he can see her. Holding her hand up she bids him to wait where he is.
Throwing a robe on she dashes from her room and makes her way silently down the corridor to the maid's entrance. From there it's just two stairwells, three more corridors and four doorways before she reaches the exit to the courtyard.
Realizing her hands are trembling Lin takes a moment to catch her breath before quietly opening the door and easing outside.
"Taoki!" She whispers happily as she rushes toward him.
The smile on his face tells her everything. He's been missing her these few days as much as she's longed for him.
As she reaches him he grabs her in a tight hug, swings her off her feet and spins her around. She smothers a giggle in his shoulder and wraps her arms more tightly around his neck.
Setting her lightly on her feet he bends to her and kisses her sweetly. As the kiss deepens she considers her knees might fail at any moment and she'll find herself staring up at him from the ground.
But his hold is tight. She wouldn't fall if she actually fainted.
When he pulls back she's surprised to see his face is serious. He runs his finger down the side of her face to her neck and then reaches up to sweep his hand over her head and down the top part of her braid.
"I have to go away for a while." He finally says softly.
"W-why?" She asks, her voice sounding not only defective to her but small and childish as well.
"I've been given my grandfather's title and I have to go to Imiyo to take the seat. Kenya's also been granted a title and lands in the same province so he's going, too. I don't know when we'll be back."
"I d-don't … understand." She says slowly, wondering about the many things she doesn't know about him. His noble status is quite a surprise. Especially when compared to what she's always heard from her father and brothers.
And how the heck did he know which room was her bedroom?
"It's not my choice, Lin. I wouldn't leave if I didn't have to." Taoki misunderstands her confusion.
"I know." She says smiling sadly up at him.
As if it weren't difficult enough to find opportunities to see each other, now it will be impossible. All her hopes for invitations to the palace and more kisses are swept away with one royal decree.
"Is there a way I can write to you? I don't want to get you in trouble or anything." He asks.
"I don't see how." She says with miserable honestly. "I'm w-watched pretty closely. And I don't get out that m-much anymore."
"I have an idea." Taoki kisses her again. And again. That's not the idea he was thinking of but rather an urge that was suddenly impossible to resist.
When the kisses end her face is flushed and her hands are fists curled into his over-robe.
"I've got to let you get back inside before we're discovered. Just remember that correspondence from me will always come from the palace. Never turn down an invitation."
She laughs at that. Who turns down an invitation from the Fire Lord? "I w-won't." She promises.
He pulls her hands down from his robe and holds both in his own as he looks into her eyes.
"I promise I'll come back for you." He says evenly and with conviction. "Do you want this?" He motions back and forth between them with their joined hands.
"Yes." She breathes, never more sure of anything in her life despite the risks.
"Then I'll come back for you. I promise." He smiles that way that makes her head spin and treats her to another luscious kiss.
"I'll w-wait." She vows.
"Now go back inside and wave to me from your window once you're upstairs. I won't leave until I know you're safe in your room." He says as he draws her toward the house.
Minutes later, after waving to him from her window and watching him disappear into the shadows, she holds her hands tightly together, preserving the warmth of his touch.
It won't be easy. Her father and her brothers will be furious. But with Taoki now a titled nobleman, at least one of their objections is off the table.
She'll miss him. But his promise to return for her warms her like nothing ever has.
Climbing back into her bed she blows out the candle and tucks herself deep into the blankets. She closes her eyes and curls on her side to sleep. The wind picks up a bit and she listens to the deep purple leaves in the maples as they whisper a lullaby.
Suddenly sitting up in her bed, she giggles wildly, kicks her legs frantically and hugs herself tightly with both arms, seeing for the first time an exit from this house and this family and the stifling oversight of her father.
And time with Taoki. Forever and ever and ever.
She flops back down on the bed and grins brightly up toward the ceiling.
She's happy.
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"Toph, you just broke about twenty protocols with that interrogation." Sokka exasperatedly scolds his friend.
"Bite me." The world's greatest earthbender snaps back as she turns her back to him and stalks angrily away.
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The whites of Lily's eyes glow in the moonlight as she glances over at Yukio. The prince, as frozen as she is, tries to give her some reassurance in a nod, but it's not working.
The platypus-bear snuffling around the foliage about ten yards from the girl seems to be ignoring them. Any movement on Lily's part is bound to change that situation in a heartbeat.
Yukio bends down slowly and feels around the ground for a stick or a rock or something to throw to buy Lily some time to run. Trying hard not to make too much noise in his search his brain monologues a stream of curses the likes of which would impress even Chin's crew.
Finally he feels the rough, solid surface of a large rock and pulls it free from the dirt beneath it. Hefting it and pulling back he plans a trajectory past the bear and deeper into the woods behind it. Hopefully creating enough of a noise that the beast will have to check it out.
Such are the plans of a panicked sixteen-year-old.
As he begins the arc to release the rock, the bear decides to amble in the same direction of Yukio's aim. Startled, Yukio flinches just enough to take the pepper off his pitch and the rock hits the platypus-bear squarely in its massive behind.
The animal rears up to a height of at least 5000 feet in Yukio's estimation, and roars it's fury. After another moment of stunned terror, Lily takes off running. Dropping heavily back to the ground the platypus-bear gives chase to the only culprit it can see at that point: the terrified teenaged girl.
It's fast. Much faster than one would think considering the ungainliness of the creature.
"Keep running, Lily!" Yukio hollers at her as he leaps into the path of the charging beast.
"No!" Lily cries, doubling back just as Yukio is knocked about ten feet by a huge, swiping paw.
The bear growls loudly and lunges forward to pounce on the downed prince who groggily rolls over and tries to avoid the blow.
The bear misses its mark as a large log makes contact with its head. It might have been enough if it hadn't been too heavy for Lily to get some real strength behind, but at least it distracts the bear from its royal snack.
Seeing an opportunity, Lily runs straight at the bear as it rears up to its towering height once more. Just as she passes it she ducks down and monkey-crawls right around it, causing it to curl up into itself as it tries to follow her movements. Losing its balance, the animal falls heavily onto its side and rolls over to its feet, unhurt and unhappy.
Yukio, revived enough to help a bit, grabs a long branch from the ground and pokes at the creature until it turns on him again. Shaking off the dizziness from that first strike, Yukio jabs at the bear with all his might.
The bear swats hard at the branch and Lily clubs it again with another log; this one smaller and more precisely thrown.
As the beast turns back toward Lily, Yukio stumbles toward it, holding the branch like a spear. At the last moment the animal turns and gives the prince another hard swat that opens four deep gashes on the side of his face and very likely breaks his jaw. Yukio lands yards from the face-off in an unconscious heap.
At that moment Lily leaps onto the bear's back and runs over its head. Infuriated the furry behemoth turns his snarls on her. She leaps to the ground and runs toward the edge of the forest, trusting the animal will lose interest in the prince now that she's irritated it enough. She's right.
She races across the mountain road, noting Farmer Fu's shocked expression as the enraged beast closes in on her. At the edge of the road, Lily stops short, times her leap perfectly and dives to the side as the bear races past her and slides down the steep slope to the valley far below. It's infuriated bellows rise up to her but it's stuck at the bottom and won't be attacking them again any time soon.
Lily picks herself up and dusts herself off, her palms and knees stinging with the gravel abrasion. Rushing back to the clearing her knees go weak with relief at the passing of the danger. But a much more powerful fear is rising within her at the possibility of Yukio being very seriously injured.
Looking at the prince's still form Lily can't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. A motionless lump in the grass of the clearing, Yukio looks dead. Until she gets close enough to check his injuries. Then he looks bloody and dead.
The gashes on the side of his face are deep. The blood pouring from them has already soaked the neck of his tunic and his jaw is already swelling ominously.
"Yukio?" She says quietly, placing her fingers to his neck to determine a heartbeat.
Her happiness at feeling a pulse lives side-by-side with sheer terror at the extent of the injury. When he moans lightly she bends close to his ear.
"It's gone now. You're going to be okay." She whispers shakily.
There's a gagging sound in the back of his throat and he shoves at her grip as he rolls over to his hands and knees. Coughing and spluttering bright red he spits out a tooth. Resting his forehead on the ground he spits a few more times and grumbles incoherently.
"Are…" He wants to ask her if she's okay but his mouth isn't working right so he concentrates on pushing his tongue through the bloody hole where his left canine tooth used to live.
"We'll get you to a healer." She murmurs, sliding her palm along his tensely coiled shoulders and stroking comfortingly back and forth. "Don't worry about anything."
"Got some first aid." Farmer Fu appears beside them. In his hands he carries bandages, a washcloth, a canteen and a flask.
"What's that?" Lily indicates the flask.
"It's going to help keep the wound from festering." The old man says as he pours some water from the canteen onto the washcloth.
Lily nods and he bends over to her to whisper, "It's going to hurt. A lot. Better clear the area."
"I'm staying." She says holding onto Yukio's hand.
The cleaning of the gashes is uncomfortable. But when Farmer Fu pours the liquid from the flask onto the four streaks Lily has to hold Yukio with both arms and legs. She looks wide-eyed at the Farmer as the prince growls words never heard before by teenaged young ladies' ears.
"Here," Fu says thrusting the flask into Yukio's hand. "Rinse out your mouth. Then swallow the rest. All of it. When the bleeding's completely stopped we'll put some salve I got on it for healing."
With that the old man walks away, leaving Yukio trying to rinse his mouth and Lily fretting over his every move.
"I'm sorry." Lily says as she watches him drool out most of the liquid on his first attempt.
He shakes his head and winces at the stab of pain. Getting it right this time, he swishes the burning liquid in his mouth and spits it to the side. He takes another pull on the flask and grimaces as he swallows. He recognizes this drink from his time on Sokka's ship. It's made with corn if he recalls correctly. Not that it matters.
He feels around on the ground for his tooth and Lily holds it up.
"Got it." She says.
After several sad attempts at asking her to hold onto it he just points at her.
"I'll hold onto it." She nods, closing her fist around it.
At this point Yukio takes a huge gulp of the drink and finds it's going down much easier. He'll be drunk soon, he hopes, and all this will go away for a few hours.
Woozy, he looks Lily over to make absolutely sure she's okay and he struggles to his feet. Leaning on her for support he stumbles out of the clearing toward the camp and his bed.
"I wasn't running away." Lily says softly to him as he lays on his bedroll.
She continues to blot his wounds with a damp cloth. He continues to empty the flask.
The last thing Yukio sees before he drifts off to sleep is Farmer Fu walking over and kneeling over him with a needle and thread. One last shudder and he sinks gratefully into slumber. He doesn't even feel the stitching.
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"I have a plan." Katara says as she snuggles in for the night with Zuko.
"Please don't terrify me just as I'm going to sleep." He says dryly.
"We should go with Taoki and Kenya to Imiyo." She ignores his wit.
"We?" He opens one eye and looks at her before closing it again.
"Yes. You throw your complete support behind them and we can bring Vallon back with us on our return."
"I'm supposed to take you into that viper's nest when you're their ultimate target? Not likely." He snorts, his eyes still closed. It's easier to argue with her if he can't see her.
"Look, Ahni's there and I'll need her if anything happens with the baby before she comes back. And you can keep me safe. How many personal guards do I have now?"
"Twelve. I'm doubling it to twenty-four tomorrow."
"For the trip?"
"No. Just because."
"What about the trip?"
"I didn't say 'yes'."
"Not yet, but I have all night to convince you."
"The sexy kind of convincing or the badgering until I give in from pure exhaustion kind?"
"Badgering."
"I concede defeat."
"That was easy."
"I hope we'll have room for your thirty-six guards."
Katara chuckles at the image of her trying to walk down the corridor surrounded by three-dozen huge firebenders.
"You're funny." She snuggles in again.
"I'm not joking."
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A/N: I've decided that making promises that I'll post chapters faster actually causes my family to get sick. In the interest of my children's health, I make no more promises. I hope you liked it and I want to thank my new readers who dropped me a line. It was a real kick in the pants when I needed it. Thanks!!
MacFie xoxo