Chapter 38
"It is done." The emotionless Dai Li commander bends to the ear of Ambassador Xin.
The old man can't hide his smile and so he coughs. He looks out at the pleasingly sycophantic yet slovenly students from Ba Sing Se University who have been given the honor of breakfasting with him today. They look up at him with such bright eyes. Full of promise, as they say.
"Excellent work." Xin responds quietly to the officer.
The earthbender bows to the old man and walks away leaving the bureaucrat to celebrate his victory in silence, yet surrounded by those he believes are smart enough to adore him.
It is done.
Across the table from the ambassador sits General Bai Fong with several other dignitaries roped into this meal straight from the harbor. She feels the old man's heartbeat increase and wishes she were sitting closer so she could figure out exactly what the Dai Li officer told him. She's determined to find out everything before this meal ends. Xin is entirely too pleased with himself right now and that can't be good for anyone.
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A storm is gathering at the Fire Nation embassy. The small, but elite Fire Nation force stationed in Ba Sing Se has just been given the news of the attack at the Council building. They muster immediately for battle.
The avatar's bison lands on the front lawn of the embassy and Aang jumps down from the saddle.
"What's going on here?" The avatar asks urgently.
"The Fire Lord has been attacked and the prince arrested. We're moving to the Council building for engagement." The senior officer reports, his fury and purpose apparent.
"Just wait. Follow my lead, okay?" Aang asks, hoping against hope the reports are exaggerated. "We need to find out exactly what's going on before we go barreling in there."
"We won't hang back here at the embassy." The officer warns. "We're going to the Council building no matter what. But depending on what we find there, we'll follow your lead."
It's qualified agreement, but Aang knows it's all he'll get.
"The attack has already happened." He reports to Ahni as he leaps to Appa's back. He could probably get to the Council building in less time by running, but he's morbidly certain he'll need this army.
"Appa. Yip…"
"Hey!" A familiar voice yells.
Aang turns to see Toph racing up the walkway.
"Get on!" He yells to her. "Zuko's been attacked at the Council building."
Toph raises a platform to Appa's saddle and climbs aboard, right into Ahni's lap.
"Who's this?" She asks, scurrying back. "Feels kinda like Sweetness but it's not."
"Ahni, Toph. Toph, Ahni. Appa, yip yip."
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"How are we going to get him out of here?" Ty Lee wonders to Sokka as they helplessly watch Katara work to keep Zuko alive.
"There must be some way to rig a stretcher. But we're surrounded. If we leave the building I'm afraid we won't be able to get back in with any supplies. And who knows how long they'll wait to come in here and arrest us?" He responds worriedly.
"What would they arrest us for? We aren't benders." She asks.
"They'll think of a reason. I just wonder how deep this goes. Is the whole Unified Army involved or just the Dai Li? That second set of guards who arrested Yukio and Vallon weren't Dai Li. I think they legitimately thought they were just doing their jobs." Sokka contemplates the possibilities.
They're in a bad position. Very bad.
"How's he doing, Katara?" Ty Lee asks quietly.
"The same. He's alive." She chokes, continuing her work. "Have you checked on Bokkusu?"
"Yes. He's still out, but his pulse is getting stronger." Sokka confirms.
Katara nods, wipes her tears again, and continues her work.
And suddenly there's yelling. A lot of yelling. Not the kind that accompanies fighting, but the sound of an ill-tempered general dressing down her troops.
Sokka and Ty Lee look at each other with both joy and relief.
"…and don't hand me anymore of your excuses!" Toph enters the outer chamber followed by Aang and Ahni.
Sokka is so overcome with relief he hugs the avatar.
"We need to get Zuko out of here, but we can't shift his body at all. Any suggestions?" He quickly explains.
"I'll create a pallet under him and raise it. Then I can earthbend him back to the embassy." Toph suggests.
"Yeah, Vallon was about to do that very thing when they arrested him. Maybe you'll have better luck." Sokka says dryly.
"Vallon was arrested?!" Toph's face has gone a shade lighter than stark white.
"And Yukio too. After we get Zuko and Bokkusu out of here, we need to rescue them." Ty Lee explains looking over at Zuko who now has two healers conferring over him. She wonders if two can do anything that one can't. She doesn't want to, but she doubts it.
"I'll walk Appa up to the door." Aang says to Toph. "You get Zuko out and onto the saddle. I'm taking him back to the Fire Nation." He turns to the Fire Nation officer who has accompanied him into the building. "Get Bokkusu back to the battle cruiser. The same for the entire staff of the embassy, including the military and get them out of the country. Shut down the embassy completely until the Fire Lord gives further instructions." Precautions must be taken to spare the lives of those who trusted peace to the Unified Council and the Earth King.
"Wait a sec before you do anything." Sokka says. "Do you think they'll let me back in if I go get some supplies?" He thinks to ask before he leaves the building.
"They'll carry you to your supplies and back if you ask them." Toph says seriously. She didn't just dress them down, she reminded them to whom they answer and what will happen if they take their orders from ambassadors again.
Sokka disappears out the door and things are quiet for a moment. Aang bends down to Bokkusu and checks his heartbeat, as everyone seems compelled to do when they come within arms reach of the unconscious security man. Alarmed by the amount of blood on the floor around the box man Aang checks Bokkusu's pulse again, just to be sure.
"What's the next move?" Toph asks no one in particular.
"We wait to find out what Sokka's got in mind, then I'm taking Zuko, Katara and Ahni back to the Fire Nation. You'll have to do the rest on your own." He says soberly.
"Then it looks like it's you, me and Sokka for the rescue." Toph says to Ty Lee.
"Actually," Aang begins thoughtfully, "I think I'll need Sokka. I'll need him to make sure Zuko doesn't move during the trip. Ahni and Katara are going to be busy healing, and I'll be at the reins. Do you think you two can do the rescue on your own?" He asks, looking at Ty Lee for the first time since he walked in.
"Of course we can." Toph responds irritably before turning to Ty Lee. "As soon as we get them out, we get our butts to the harbor and out of this country. They'll stop at nothing to keep hold of Yukio. And if we find Vallon alive, we'll be lucky." She says in a clipped tone that hides her soul-shaking fear for the big earthbender.
Ty Lee can see Aang's pain as he finally looks directly into her eyes, but she has enough discipline to stay focused on the urgent business at hand. Later she can indulge in more emotional wallowing, but right now there are lives at risk. Important lives.
Sokka returns with some boards and leather ostrich-horse harnesses. He quickly puts together a sturdy wooden pallet with straps to hold the Fire Lord in his current position.
"Now how do we get him on?" He stands back admiring his work.
"I have an idea." Ahni says, dumping the rest of the bucket of water on the floor around Zuko's prone body. She quickly moves the majority of it under him, freezes it solid and raises the Fire Lord just enough so that Sokka can slip the boards underneath. Then she melts the water and pulls it back to the bucket for later use. Sokka quickly ties the straps around Zuko's arms and legs. He's even fashioned straps for his head and midsection so there will be no movement at all. Once Zuko is secured, Toph raises the earth under the healers and the Fire Lord, moving them slowly toward the door as Aang runs to position Appa for the transfer.
Once on Appa's back, Ahni and Katara continue using the water over their patient and discussing the healing and what they'll do next. It's apparent they're grasping at possibilities and have no idea how they're going to actually heal the Fire Lord rather than simply keep his heart beating and his breath flowing. Sokka climbs aboard and secures the wooden pallet to the saddle before finding a spot close to Zuko to sit.
Aang takes one short moment to pull Ty Lee aside.
"Be careful." He says quickly.
"Don't worry." She responds quietly. "We'll get them out."
"After this is over we need to talk."
"No we don't. I understand." Ty Lee shrugs with a nonchalance she most certainly doesn't feel.
"We do." Aang takes a deep breath; painfully aware this is neither the time nor the place. "I love you, and I'll do whatever it takes to be with you."
She just stares at him. Later she'll figure out what he just said, but right now it's as if he's speaking a language she can't process.
"If we aren't together eventually it will be by the spirits' design. Or yours. But I know what I want."
With that he turns, leaps to Appa's back, gives the command and the bison soars into the sky.
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"You didn't arrest the waterbender?" Xin asks the captain of the guard.
"She wasn't breaking the law." The man explains.
"She was bending in the inner chamber!" The old man's face is purple with rage. How could they not arrest the healer?
"The constitution of the Unified Council, amendment twenty-eight, subsection 8-H states that bending for the purposes of demonstration and healing are permitted within all areas of the Unified Council building. She wasn't fighting in the inner chamber and I had no grounds to arrest her."
"She had to have been fighting. Her betrothed was being attacked and she didn't get involved?! Use your head you fool!"
The captain wonders absently if he's actually seeing foam on the old man's mouth.
"The reports of several witness have said that she fought only once, to gain access to the inner chamber, but she was still in the outer chamber at the time."
"A technicality!" He shrieks wishing he had planted his own witnesses and cursing himself for his shortsightedness in assuming Katara would participate in the fight.
"Not really. It's an important provision of the constitution, amendment thirty-one, sub…"
"I know the constitution of the Unified Council! I wrote it!"
"Ambassador, I had no grounds on which to arrest the waterbender. Only Prince Yukio and Vallon. They are in separate cells in the Unified Council building's prison wing." The captain will say no more, remembering General Bai Fong's tirade and his chain of command.
"Is the Fire Lord dead?" Xin asks quietly, forcibly calming himself as he sees his beautiful plan endangered.
"By all accounts, he looked dead."
"Looked dead? Did no one confirm?"
"Um, we didn't think it mattered Ambassador. He was getting care from the waterbender so there was really nothing we could do. We offered assistance, but they didn't want us to move him. Our orders were to arrest any remaining combatants and we focused on that." The captain explains, his brow furrowing. Is the ambassador disappointed the Fire Lord may not have died?
Xin reminds himself that the Unified army and guards are not a part of this. They are unwitting participants in the conspiracy and the old man's ability to manipulate this relationship is at the heart of the success of his plan.
"Of course." He nods. "Make sure I have immediate word of any new developments."
The captain nods and leaves the room. He heads immediately for the Water Tribe embassy where Chief Arnook of the Northern Tribe has been staying for the past week. Something is not setting well with the captain and before he involves his troops in anymore of the Council's activities, he's going to get a second opinion that counts.
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"So, you're from the Northern Tribe." Sokka says to Ahni when she takes a break.
The two healers have come to the conclusion that alternating their attention to Zuko's healing is the best way to use their talents. That way one of them will be resting up for the time when the other one becomes too exhausted to work.
"Yes," She nods, "I've been working with the camp at Chameleon Bay for a few months. I was hoping to get to the South Pole to study with Master Pakku when this came up."
"Katara's a master. Maybe she can start you on some training when we get to the Fire Nation." He suggests as if they're simply on a road trip.
"If she'd be willing, I'd be honored." Ahni looks over at Katara who's so focused on her task she doesn't even hear what they're saying.
"What are his odds?" Sokka grows serious watching his sister.
"It's very bad." Ahni replies sadly. "He has so many broken and shattered bones that there's a lot of internal bleeding."
Sokka looks at her and shakes his head. He basically understands, but his brain is blocking the reality of it.
"He's being cut to ribbons from the inside. Even keeping him perfectly still, a simple breath causes enough movement to sprout another cut. That's what we're working on now, just trying to locate slices and punctures as they occur and close them. It's working, but the bones will be hard to piece back together and they'll keep causing problems as long as they're broken. And of course any bones we can't put back together will heal the way they are, and that could be a disaster."
"Well, I asked." Sokka shudders thinking about Ty Lee's hand and how it would be if Zuko's entire body ended up that way.
"It's the worst I've ever seen." Ahni shakes her head, sets aside her sparse meal and lays her head on a rolled up blanket to sleep.
"Yeah." Is all he can say.
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Toph struts into the Earth Kingdom palace guest quarters looking for Ambassador Xin and any cohorts he may have with him. She's decided to start by pursuing official channels to get her friends released from the Council's custody. If that doesn't work…Plan B.
She finds him in conference with Chief Arnook and the Earth King. The former is obviously furious while the latter has his trademark blank expression fixed firmly in place.
"Ambassador Xin, I demand the release of Prince Yukio and Vallon from the Council's prison." The general cuts to the chase before she's even announced.
"You still have the prince in custody?" Chief Arnook asks, clearly at the end of his patience.
"He was bending for the purposes of combat in the inner chamber." The Earth King quickly explains and Toph's eyebrow raises a little, showing her interest in the moronic monarch's ability and readiness to answer.
"Clearly defending the Fire Lord. Release your prisoners." Arnook demands.
"They will be released in due time." The ambassador says soothingly, which actually serves to irritate his two opponents immensely. "Once Resolution 1465 has been implemented they will be free to go."
"What's Resolution 1465?" Toph asks suspiciously.
"Has the Fire Nation officially requested the assistance of the Council?" The Chief asks, his brow furrowed and a scowl crossing his face.
"What's Resolution 1465?" She asks again, more forcefully this time.
"When a country has descended into turmoil it is the Council's duty to move its armies into the area and take control." The ambassador explains.
"At the request of the nation itself." Arnook says, clearly as suspicious of Xin as the general is.
"A request is unnecessary. When the need is as obvious as it is in this case, the Council may move forward on its own." The ambassador explains.
The only thing obvious right now is Chief Arnook's fury.
"That is not what was stated in the resolution!" He roars.
"Well, I do have your signature, as well as Chief Hakoda's, King Bumi's, and…"
"The Water Tribes would never sign away our sovereignty and neither would Bumi!" Arnook glares at the Earth King knowing that blithering idiot would sign away his own thumbs if the right "adviser" told him to.
"Even Fire Lord Iroh signed it. He of all people would understand and cheer the move to protect the Fire Nation." Xin has the nerve to say.
"Don't you dare utter Iroh's name in connection with this atrocity!" Toph exclaims at the top of her lungs.
"You've gone too far this time, Xin." Arnook warns.
"He must have changed the resolution after you all signed it." Toph says dismissing for the moment the existence of the two scoundrels in the chamber with herself and the Water Tribe chief. "Do you have a copy of it back at the embassy?"
"Our records room was vandalized recently." He glares at the old man. "I was to receive new copies from the Council. The originals are at the North Pole. Now I understand how our files were broken into. And why." His fists clench and Xin's eyes flash anxiety for just a split second before the opaque mask reasserts itself.
"I'm through talking to you." Toph points her finger at the ambassador menacingly. "If you try to implement that resolution you will not live to take command of the Fire Nation."
"Are you threatening me?" The old man looks shocked but inside he's thrilled. This is what he was hoping for. The plan has been damaged, but it's still in motion, he thinks hopefully.
"Yes. I. Am." She says so coldly it could snow in the room.
"Guards, arrest the general." Xin triumphantly exclaims.
"Don't you dare!" Arnook shouts and the floor does a tiny hiccup under him, turning his attention to Toph. She barely shakes her head at him and he knows there is a plan in place and this is part of it. He looks back at the ambassador with narrowed eyes. "I'm filing a complaint."
"Thank you for following the correct procedure, Chief Arnook. It makes things so much easier to handle." Xin smiles smarmily as the general is lead willingly away.
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"Ty Lee," She hears her name whispered and looks around the deserted chamber. "Who's there?"
"Over here, behind the podium." Comes the whispered voice. Or is it another voice that sounds the same only different from the other one she wonders.
She walks carefully over to the podium, hand up and ready to block anything that comes. As she steps around the ostentatious wooden structure she sees the twins, crouching down and smiling up at her.
"Don't be mad." Taoki says.
"What are you doing here?" She demands wondering if she can take any more surprises today.
"We left the ship." Kenya says.
"How? You were under lock and key." She crouches next to them, whispering.
"We can get around. It's one of the things we used to do for grandfather. We left Commander Chin a note so he wouldn't worry we'd been captured. He told us what happened and that Yukio's been arrested. We're going to rescue him." Taoki explains.
"Well, there's a plan underway." Ty Lee tells them while her mind races through the possibilities for using the twins' talents. The body bender isn't one to look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth. "I think you can help us though. Do you mind looking like ghosts?"
Kenya laughs quietly.
"It's our specialty." He grins along with his brother.
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"So…uh…did Yue say anything else? About me?" Sokka's been trying to get the nerve to ask this question since he heard how Ahni came to be traveling with Aang.
"This time all she said was that I should find the Water Tribe captain. I assumed she meant you but she didn't name you. She doesn't always answer the questions I ask." Ahni smiles.
"I guess the moon reserves the right to pick and choose." Sokka says dryly.
"Exactly." She smiles, passing more water over a spot by Zuko's rib cage that just started bleeding. "But she's spoken of you before. She worries about you sometimes."
"Worries? About me?" Sokka can't believe it. Can't she see he's a fearless warrior who can handle anything and everything that comes along?
"She says if trouble doesn't find you, you find it."
"Well, that certainly seems to be true." He agrees thoughtfully, chewing on some jerky.
"She worries that you punish yourself for her sacrifice."
Sokka doesn't respond. He has every reason to punish himself he thinks bitterly. He failed.
"She wishes you would understand it was her choice."
"I was supposed to…" He begins stubbornly.
"It was her destiny."
Sokka sits back against the saddle, keeping a hand on Zuko's pallet as he looks up at the moon in the darkening sky. How many times has he gazed at the night sky and relived that moment when he lost her? Too many to count. And each time he contests her destiny as if he could have prevented it he insults her. This is the first time he's thought of it that way.
"It was the bravest thing I've ever witnessed." Sokka says quietly hoping Yue's listening.
"Think of it that way." Ahni smiles lightly and places her hand gently on his knee. "To do otherwise takes away a little of her glory each time."
"Can I keep my ship named after her?" Sokka asks as if there are rules and Ahni knows them.
"Of course. You do that to honor her. But moping around achieves the opposite." Apparently there are rules and she does know them.
"But moping around is my thing." Sokka says with a mischievous grin.
"At least you have that going for you." She looks at him with a twinkle in her eye.
Sokka notices Ahni then. Really notices. Then he looks up at the moon again, eyeing her with innocuous suspicion.
"So why do you wear your hair so short?" He asks, deciding to get to know the healer a little better.
"I slept too close to the fire and burned it." She explains.
"And you didn't get hurt?" Sokka asks. He's already noticed her pristine complexion. Certainly he would have noticed burn scars if there'd been any.
"No, and I didn't get hurt the time I burned it while I was lighting a signal for the fishermen to follow."
"You've burned your hair twice?" He's taken aback.
"Well, three times if you count the grilled sealburger incident."
"Oh, we must count that." Sokka says, amused.
"I decided to cut it off before they made me the signal fire." She laughs softly.
"Good decision." He nods thinking that her unembarrassed admission is incredibly endearing. And since he thinks her short hair is cuter than just about anything he's ever seen…
Princess Yue, you're a genius.
But you didn't just send her to turn my head. She's here to save Zuko, isn't she?
But how?