Shinji awoke with a painful head ache in a bed that wasn't his. Shinji replayed the night's events, and was still shocked that a little girl could have so much hate in her eyes.
'Is this another girl trying to kill me because of someone I killed?' Shinji wondered when, cutting of his thoughts, the door opened.
"You got knocked out by a girl." Toph smiled.
"Girls are tough. Especially earthbending girls." Shinji said. "Have you found anything out?"
"Only her name." Katara said. "Her name is Hana."
"Ring any bells?" Toph asked.
Shinji shook his head, then frowned as pain shot through his brain. "No."
"She wants to talk to you alone." Katara said. "Do you think it's safe?"
"Is she in a metal room?" Shinji asked.
"Yes." Katara said.
"Then I'm fairly sure I'll be fine. Maybe." Shinji said, sitting up. "Ow."
"Are you okay?" Toph asked.
"I'll be fine." Shinji said, standing and feeling the rock floor. "Hm. I hoped I'd be able to have a reason to hold your hand." Shinji looked at Toph, smiling. "I suppose being your boyfriend's a good enough reason."
They walked to Hana's room in silence alone, Toph blushing and smiling, trying not to let Shinji see it while he held back an ear-to-ear smile.
A Fire Nation guard bowed, and Shinji bowed back.
"She's been staring at the door for hours." The guard said.
"Well, let's not keep her waiting." Shinji said, and the guard opened the door, seeing Hana in the light for the first time. She had brown hair, tan skin, and furious green eyes that were scarier than some of the bounties Shinji had collected. Shinji sat across from her, letting warmth into his features. How could he keep the emotion from his face? Hana was an adorable little girl if you didn't focus on the hatred directed towards a certain firebender.
"Hello." Shinji smiled. "I'm-"
"Shinjiro Iroh Banasshu." Hana said coldly. "You gained several hundred-thousand in both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation currency from your bounties, then suddenly stopped bounty-hunting. Then, you reemerged by killing a low-bounty criminal."
Shinji's smile disappeared as soon as the girl said his whole name. In a admittedly-futile attempt to prove her wrong, Shinji asked "Low-bounty criminal? I haven't killed anyone-"
"Since that man in the Earth Kingdom," Hana said, and she stood. Outside of the cell, the guard began to hurriedly try unlocking the door.
"Shinji can take a little girl who's hands are tied easy, even without bending." Toph said.
"That girl was cuffed to the chair by metal chains!" The guard said. "She couldn't stand!"
"What does that mean?" Katara asked as Toph's smile slowly faded.
"Nothing good." The guard said moments before Hana's arms came out from behind her back, the cuff's metal floating.
Shinji immediately jumped up, toppling the chair.
"There's two metalbenders?" Shinji asked.
Hana nodded. "You can do anything with enough practice."
Shinji immediately looked for a place to run moments before he felt cold steel around his ankles.
"Why are you doing this?" Shinji shouted, and two pieces of metal clamped on his wrists, then flew backwards, causing him to hit the wall, unable to move.
"You killed my mother!" Hana shouted, crying, though still furious. "How could you?"
Shinji remembered every terrified face from the people he'd killed, finding a matching face.
"Hana Suton," Shinji said. "Three murderers, two thefts, and five killed guards. The bounty was pretty hight."
"She didn't kill anyone!" Hana said.
"Yes, she did." Shinji said. "She killed one person while I was tracking her."
"She would never take a life!" Hana shouted.
"Just like you wouldn't, right?" Shinji asked, sliding his head to the left to avoid a metal shard. "Everyone can kill, no matter what face they put on near others. It's a fact of life. Whether by accident or on purpose, humans hold other's lives in their hands, whether they know it or not. And, right now, my life is in your hands. Are you going to kill me, or are you going to let me live?"
"I-I..." Hana fell to her knees. "Was my mom really a killer?"
"Yes." Shinji said. "I'm sorry I killed her, though. It isn't right to take lives, no matter what someone did, for any amount of money."
The metal fell off of Shinji's wrists, and he went to Hana's side, sitting on his knees. He held the little girl, and Toph finally got the door open.
