Alright everyone, October 15th just as promised. Part 4 is focusing more on the relationships between the characters, so no real action will be happening in this part, but the drama, romance, and even the enlightenment is on.
Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go watch my new "How to Train Your Dragon" two disk DVD with a new bonus short and deleted scenes. (I'm really excited).
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Sparks
"What does it say?" Mai asked her husband when he stumbled in the room later than she would've liked. Just before she was about to scold him about working too hard he waved a special letter in front of her face and said that he received an interesting message from the Earth King.
"He wants me to come and view a special presentation in Ba Sing Si." Zuko explained while he sat on the bed next to Mai.
"Special presentation?" Mai echoed.
"Yeah, he said it's from some guy named Gan Mo."
"You mean the guy who's in it with Toph's family and lent us that trackless locomotive?"
"Yeah, that's the guy."
"Are you going to go?"
"I have to, the Earth King made it clear that I needed to be there to insure that the project launches."
"Ugh," Mai groaned and leaned against Zuko's shoulder. "More business?"
"Looks like it."
"Well, at least we get to go to Ba Sing Si and check up on Iroh, Sokka and Suki." Mai smirked.
"Assuming they haven't killed each other already." Zuko snickered and kissed his wife's forehead.
It had been almost three months since the death of the Black Jade and Azula's leaving. And no word of either had been heard.
Mai and Zuko had been planted firmly at the Fire Nation Capital palace, after the long absence with taking care of the Black Jade they had missed quite a lot, and had a lot of catch up to play to get back on track. Meetings, conferences, signings, dedications, speeches, and enough to make both Zuko and Mai's head spin. Of course, Ozai wasn't as involved with the community as Zuko was—he was too busy running a war to care about his own nation—but Zuko was becoming remarkably well at taking up the role that was originally meant for Fire Lords, and that was instilling the continuity of his nation.
Aang, Katara, Toph, and Yuexi had all decided to stay with Zuko and Mai for the duration of the three months. Though they attended some of Zuko's more busy assignments, the four were mostly just relaxing, sometimes going on their own little vacations and double dates.
All and all, it had been mostly quite around the palace, no major drama or incidents to weigh anyone down, and no restart of the Black Jade like anyone was anticipating. They had been assured about a few weeks ago by Jojo and the rest of the search party that the Black Jade was indeed dead, and there was no need to have any current suspicion of them rebooting.
That was one last thing on everyone's plate to worry about.
Zuko, on the other hand, was healing nicely. After healing from his fatal injuries three months prior—which left him out of commission for one of the three months but was helped along by Katara's healing—he was able to get around just as he had. He did, though, have a permanent scar running down his right shoulder and arm and a slightly circular bruise on his right hip (that Mai always joked that it looked like a peach) in addition to the scar—also given by Azula—on his stomach.
He did, of course, feel bad that his sister left without saying good bye to him, but Katara did manage to tell him that Azula said she was sorry. Zuko, for one, knew that his sister was going through a lot that he would never understand unless he had lost his memories as well. But the moment Azula came back Zuko made it his goal to make it sure that she knew he'd always be there for her in whatever way she needed.
Although Azula was gone and Ozai was still locked away tightly in prison—which Zuko had not visited him since he went to ask where his mother was those many moons ago—Zuko's mother, Ursa, had made her way from her secluded cabin and made it back to the Fire Nation capital courtesy of Aang going to go get Ursa himself and bringing her to the capital. She had been there for a while, and was able to help Zuko through the final stages of healing.
All seemed to be in place at the moment.
"So what do you guys think?" Zuko asked when he was able to get all six of them together to talk about the Earth King's invitation. "It mentioned that you needed to be there too, Aang." Zuko added.
"Of course."Aang rolled his eyes.
"Darn," Toph groaned. "And we were supposed to go to Ember Island next week."
"We can always go later, Toph," Katara eased. "Besides, I think we've had enough goofing off time, if we're invited to a special presentation we might as well go."
"I guess," Aang agreed."Who knows, whatever this Gan Mo guy is making might be something really amazing?"
"I've seen about a fraction of his stuff at the presentation at the Bei Fong's party." Yuexi mentioned. "But I heard he had a whole bunch of new stuff that he's just releasing exclusively in Ba Sing Si."
"Mmm, sounds like fun times." Toph groaned again as she pretended to gag herself. Yuexi immediately pulled her finger out of her mouth and placed it in his lap, stroking it lightly with his thumb.
"So when do we leave?" Yuexi asked.
"Tomorrow." Mai answered.
"So short notice?" Katara mentioned.
"Yeah, unfortunately."
"Oh, well," Katara shrugged. "At least I get to see Sokka. I've never been away from my brother for so long, so it'll be nice to see him and Suki again."
"I wonder how they're doing?" Aang with worry heavy in his voice. "Last time he sent us a letter he said Suki was just getting worse."
"I'm sure once she has the baby everything will be fine."
"Or worse," Toph added, and was answered with a light hit from Yuexi on the shoulder.
"Yeah," Zuko sighed. "I'm sure they're driving my uncle crazy."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Ursa was the one who offered to stay behind and run the capital while Zuko and everyone were away. And the Fire Nation was pleased to finally have their previous Fire Lady back.
Once arrived in Ba Sing Si, Zuko, Mai, Aang, Katara, Toph, and Yuexi were immediately rushed off their air ship to the assembly hall to view the presentation, not even having time to drop their luggage off at the tea shop and go see Sokka, Suki, and Iroh.
"Welcome everyone to a special demonstration by rising inventor, Gan Mo." The Earth King announced.
"I've never seen so many rich, stuck up people in one place." Katara whispered to Aang and he chuckled. The demonstration was open to everyone, but the richer people crowded around the main bulk of the assembly hall to actually see the demonstration while everyone else just went in the show room to view the merchandise.
Aang and Katara, especially though, were feeling like fish out of water around the high society people. Since, unlike Toph, Zuko, Mai, and Yuexi, who had grown up around that kind of atmosphere, they were relatively poor compared to them.
The group was invited to the front row of the seating area, before Gan Mo started his demonstration.
"Hello, members of Ba Sing Si." Gan Mo greeted. "My name is Gan Mo, and I have spent the bulk of my life in the Fire Nation trying to create a stable form of energy that wasn't as messy time consuming as coal powered ingenuity." He started. "So, I think I've finally struck gold with my previous inventions which will enhance our forms of communication and transportation ten-fold."
Gan Mo reached into a large chest that was sitting on the stage and pulled out a small and oddly spherical object that was clear and seemed to have many coils intertwining within the inside. Everyone's eyebrows raised a notch.
"But before we get to the steam powered inventions, I'd like to show some of my smaller items, but definitely not insignificant," Gan Mo said with a smile as he held up the object. "Say good bye to candles and oil lamps, for I bring you the next generation of lighting…the light bulb!"
A chorus of "Ooooos" ran through the assembly hall.
"It runs on a carbon filament coiled and connected to platina contact wires….and for those of you who are lost by the description I just gave you, allow me to demonstrate." Gan Mo placed the light bulb down in a special circular dish that seemed to hold the bulb upwards and sturdy. He flicked on a small switch that appeared to be on the bottom left metal part of the bulb and then the bulb lit up in a wonderful yellow light.
Another chorus of "Ooooos".
"The bulbs can come in many different styles and sizes and are priced accordingly. If you are interested in filling your home with this wonderful new source of light in opposition to lighting oil lamps and candles, this standard light bulb starts off at just three gold pieces."
The audience clapped at the bulb as Gan Mo put it away and went over to the right side of the stage to go over to a certain item that was on the wall against the stage. It was a box shaped object with a crank on one side and a wire with a cylinder on the other side.
"This might be my greatest invention out of the bunch," Gan Mo said. "A new era in communication. Put down your papers and ink, because the next time you want to talk to someone who might be across town, you don't have to send them a letter…you can use my new invention: the telephone." Gan Mo pointed to another box of the same nature on the other side of the stage, and invited the Earth King to stand and be the receiver in the demonstration.
Gan Mo used his fingers to spin the rotating circle with numbers above them and then started turning the crank. A moment after his motions the Earth King's telephone rang. The crowd leaned forward in their seats as if there were a fight going on before them while the Earth King picked up his phone.
"…Now that the Earth King has picked up the telephone, you might be wondering what exactly I've done." Gan Mo noted with a chuckle. "Well, Your Highness why don't you turn the crank on the side of your telephone and pick up the small speaker on the opposite side." The Earth King did just as Gan Mo instructed—and rather slowly at that—before Gan Mo began speaking in to the speaker in the phone. Though it was hard for the people in the back to hear, everyone near the stage could tell that the Earth King could hear every word Gan Mo was speaking just by putting the speaker to his ear. Although the Earth King had gotten these inventions within the palace even before the demonstration the fact of the matter still shocked him.
"As you can see, you can either talk into the speaker to speak to the other person, or put the speaker to your ear and listen to what the person on the other line is saying." Gan Mo explained further. Everyone clapped afterwards. "Though remember," he added, "you can only hear, dial, and speak through the phone if you're turning the crank. It gets all the gears and sparks moving."
And Gan Mo's demonstration went on. As if the light bulb and telephone were enough, Gan Mo presented bigger inventions of his, including steam powered locomotives, steam powered boats, and—probably the newest and most foreign item to everyone in the room—an automobile with a steam powered engine.
The automobile was what really got the audience worked up, so Gan Mo was smart to leave that for last. It was big, but not as big as people anticipated. It was the same size and general shape as the carriages everyone was used to—with its square body, open nature, and small doors—only its tires were covered in a thick film of rubber and it had two flattened light bulbs on the lower front of the automobile. The inside of the demonstrated automobile had a comfy crush of leather seats and in the front there was another wheel jetting out from the inside front of the car.
Definitely foreign and definitely not an ostrich-horse powered carriage.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Are we ever going to get to the tea shop? I'm sure Uncle's worried, we told him we'd be there before sunset." Zuko sighed after the demonstration was long over and Gan Mo and the Earth King asked for Aang and Zuko.
"I don't know, but I'm getting a little overwhelmed with all the new stuff. It seems like a lot of big chances in so little time." Aang voiced as Gan Mo lead everyone to the destination not far from the assembly hall. As he looked around at the little bit of Ba Sing Si they were walking through Aang, and everyone else, was noticing how much Ba Sing Si was changing due to Gan Mo's new inventions. When he was talking about the telephone more in depth, he said that they needed a large network to run on, which required cables. Everyone could see that now all over Ba Sing Si there were large and tall wooden poles and cables attached to them running and networking throughout the entire city.
But that wasn't all. The cables and poles were already a huge change of scenery, but the old method of train service was replaced as well. Though the trains were still elevated, the deep trench used to have stone trains pushed by earth benders were gone. Now they were run by steam powered trains, with a railroad to boot.
The roads were repaved in asphalt and new roads to accommodate the automobiles were well on their way, along with the new street light bulbs reaching almost as high as the poles and cables.
To say the least, Ba Sing Si looked like a futuristic utopia by anyone's standards.
"We're here!" Gan Mo announced when he finally stopped at an open lot where many automobiles resided.
"Where is here?" Toph asked. Although seeing the progress was impossible to her, she could feel all the different changed imbedded into the earth, and was just as shocked as everyone else.
"Well, since today is the first day I'm releasing my inventions to the public instead of who ever wanted to bid on them. So, I thought it would be fitting to open this automobile dealer and have the Avatar and the Fire Lord make the first purchase."
Aang and Zuko looked more worn out than excited about purchasing an automobile, and of course it didn't help for Zuko and Aang to have not only Gan Mo hovering around them to see if they liked everything, but also Katara and Mai telling them to buy this one….no, this one.
Finally, though, Katara and Mai were the ones who picked out Aang and Zuko's automobile for the boys were too annoyed to hear them bicker over everything they picked.
Aang looked at the strange machinery with a raised brow, as did Zuko.
"Are we really supposed to drive this thing home?" Zuko asked Aang. "It seems kind of….dangerous."
"Well I'm not going to drive it." Aang said upfront. Just looking at the automobile made him cringe. It was too much development for him. He might have been living in an era of inspiration but his beliefs and most of his conscious life was still back one hundred years ago.
"What!" Zuko exclaimed. "What makes you think I'm going to drive this thing?"
"Because you're older…." Aang said and gave Zuko a cheap and overly childish smile. Zuko just rolled his eyes. Despite Zuko's horrible driving skills Aang was right, it would be worse to ride with a 13-year-old at the wheel than him driving. He just wished that an automobile was like a balloon, he could steer a balloon all over the world, but driving an automobile...
"Get in the automobile Zuko!" Mai called. Zuko turned and noticed everyone else was finally in the vehicle and Zuko was standing off zoning out on how much he didn't want to drive.
"Yeah…Sokka's waiting!" Katara added.
Zuko gulped and got on the front left of the automobile and looked down at the steering wheel.
"Uh," Zuko mumbled, his hands floating over the wheel but not daring to grasp it.
"Come on, Zuko, you've driven stuff before…it's like the locomotive we drove to the capital." Mai reminded him.
"Yeah, my driving was dreadful then too."
"Well, you're the Fire Lord, you have to learn to drive eventually," Toph said. "Especially with all of this new development."
"Alright!" Zuko yelled. "Everyone just be quiet and let me concentrate."
Zuko finally decided to start up to engine by pulling the start up lever on his left to get the steam engine rumbling. Once this was done he went to the lever on his right and shifted it forwards. He remembered the instructions Gan Mo had given during the demonstration on how to drive the car.
"Forward to drive, middle to stop, all the way back to shut down." Zuko repeated to himself. But that wouldn't help him with his steering. The pedal beneath his foot was used to control the speed—he remembered—and the harder he pressed down the faster the car would go, the lighter he pressed the more the car's speed would decrease until it stopped moving all together.
Zuko still didn't feel any better.
"Can we please go somewhere!" Toph threw up her hands and leaned against Yuexi. "Wake me when we finally get to Iroh's in fifty years." Yuexi just rolled his eyes and placed an arm around his girlfriend.
Zuko finally placed his foot on the pedal, though he didn't know how hard or light to press before it accelerated too quickly, and of course, how he feared, the automobile zoomed forwards in a screechy flash.
Gan Mo just sighed and waved. "Happy driving!" He called to the vehicle barreling down the road.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Where on earth do you think they are?" Sokka asked Iroh. The two men were standing outside waiting patiently for the group to arrive, but it was already sunset and they still weren't home.
"I'm not sure, but I'm starting to get worried." Iroh sighed. Suddenly, though both Sokka and Iroh's heads snapped over when they heard a loud and familiar voice screamed a little ways down from the teashop.
"We're all gonna DIE!" Toph's voice screamed from down the street and Iroh and Sokka ran down the stairs of the teashop to be greeted with the front of Zuko's automobile.
"Good spirits." Iroh sighed in relief when he realized the automobile hadn't hit them. Sokka, on the other, had to get on his back at the last minute to avoid being run over and was currently stretch out underneath the automobile. When he got up he was anything but pleased.
"Hey!" Sokka yelled. "You could've killed me Zuko!"
"Well don't blame me, blame the people who gave me this screaming death trap."
"Maybe it's just the person driving!" Toph screamed.
"Well, I told you guys I couldn't drive."
"Okay, okay," Iroh calmed. "Let's all go inside, we obviously have a lot to catch up on." Everyone carefully took their luggage out of the automobile and went inside Iroh's shop.
Aang was the first to make it inside, and when he threw down his luggage Suki spotted him first. She was inside, gingerly making some tea.
"Aang? When did you get here?" Suki asked.
"Just a second ag-" Aang stopped mid-sentence when he saw Suki's full physic. She was obviously on her way and the evidence was swelling rather noticeably underneath her chest. She was 21 weeks into her pregnancy by then, and her stomach was definitely showing this clearly. But Aang checked himself not to stare too long.
"Close your mouth." Suki rolled her eyes and walked over to the boy, patting his head much like she was his older sister.
"I'm guessing you're okay?" Aang asked.
"Define okay." Suki offered him a smug smile and the two laughed before Aang gave Suki a hug, and everyone else entered the tea shop and followed suit.
Momo happily flew over to see what all the excitement was about, and was glad to see Aang and flew over. Aang opened his arms wide and the lemur flew inside chattering gleefully and licking Aang's face.
Aang leaned over to Iroh. "Do you know where Appa is?" Aang asked excitedly. Appa and Momo had stayed behind when Zuko, Mai, Iroh, and the Kyoshi Warriors had gone out to the capital and had been at the tea shop ever since. Appa was happy though, he was able to have a stable supply of fruit and hay to eat, and could fly whenever he wanted. Though, of course, it pained Aang to be away from Appa and Momo for months.
"Out back in the stable that was built." Iroh answered. "It's not hard to find." Aang carefully made his way out after telling Katara where he'd be and giving her a kiss (making Sokka groan in annoyance as usually).
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
After a good two hours of flying around the city—getting a fine aerial look at Ba Sing Si's new development—Appa decided to retire for the night and Aang rejoined his friends for dinner.
They had all separated after that. The ladies seemingly going into Suki's room and the men still staying outside, ironically doing the dishes.
"So," Katara asked in length. "How's the baby?" Suki made a small smile and placed a hand on her stomach, caressing it gently.
"She's fine, though she won't stop kicking for the life of me."
"She?" Toph raised a brow. Last time she had checked, she didn't know the sex of the baby.
"Well, I don't exactly know, but I just kind of have this feeling it's a girl, I can't really explain it."
"Some of the women in my village said the same thing." Katara said.
"Are things with Sokka good?" Mai asked. Seeming more serious than just friendly speculation. Suki looked over to the side and gave a great huff of a sigh.
"The sex is good." She told them bluntly. And Katara shivered.
"Too much information." Katara expressed.
"Well, it's true, I think it's the only reason why we're not killing each other." Suki looked down at her feet. "But other than that, he's pretty, well, annoying. Always hovering around me and asking to do stuff for me, and-"
"Being a husband?" Mai finished.
"Well yeah…"
"That's a bad thing?" Toph asked. "Isn't that what's coming anyway? You know, tying the knot `cause you're knocked up?" Katara slapped Toph's shoulder lightly.
"Look, guys, no offense, but this is kind of a touchy subject…I really don't want to talk about it."
There was silence for a moment as Katara and Mai's eyes locked in some kind of unspoken emotion. And a split second later, Katara snapped her head away and painted a happier tone to the mood.
"Okay, then we'll talk about something else," Katara suggested. "Like what you're going to name her."
Suki immediately smiled.
"Well," She started, "I've got a few options…."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Aang, Yuexi, Zuko, Iroh, and Sokka found themselves washing the dishes from that dinner, wondering how the men got stuck with that work.
"Well," Sokka stated to answer Aang's question on how things were with Suki, "the sex is good." Sokka wasn't just bluffing, or course, after the Kyoshi Warriors left Suki's side to resume their work and missions a month and a half ago, Sokka and Suki had some wonderful alone time. Though they often got on each other nerves more times than none, their time alone wasn't spent talking. Since Suki was well into her second trimester her appetite for him had grown just as much as her hunger for food. Which he, obviously, wasn't complaining about.
"I'll bet it is." Yuexi said with a smug smile. "Suki's pretty cute."
"Hey," Sokka jokingly exclaimed. And Yuexi just shrugged.
"It's true." Yuexi admitted honestly.
"Just don't be doing any of that with Toph," Zuko stepped in, big brotherly like. "She's too young."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that," Yuexi answered just as honestly. "Me and Toph aren't like that….yet."
"Yet!" Sokka, Zuko, and Aang all exclaimed in unison.
"New subject?" Iroh quickly suggested.
"Yeah, like how about all this new development?" Zuko added. "It seems like…"
"A little too much?" Sokka finished.
"Exactly." As he agreed, Zuko looked around and saw how Iroh's tea shop—he being Fire Lord's uncle and all—got the first star treatment in the newest of Gan Mo's inventions. The rooms were filled with light bulbs, and in the front and back of the shop were telephones. They now owned an automobile and free passes to ride the new trains.
"I don't know about all this," Iroh expressed.
"Me either," Aang agreed. "Me and Appa were flying around today before the sun was finished setting and everything just seemed so different."
"Too different." Sokka said.
"The winds of change are here, I suppose. "Iroh said. "Some will be light, and some will be harsh…."
Well, change is afoot for the Avatar world. I've been hinting about Gan Mo and his inventions for a while, and they're finally all revealed. I think it's about time for the Avatar world to come into a period of enlightenment and inventions, and what not a better time than after a major war and a time of rebirth?
And for those who thought that steam power already existed in the Avatar world, think again, because the Fire Nation used coal powered ingenuity.
Next chapter will be good for all you Kataang fans. We've got romance up the ying yang and we check in on Ursa for some shocking revelations.
Review Responses:
Poka: Yeah, that was the feel I was going for. Even though last chapter didn't have as many things going on in them, it was a very important chapter just because of how much it introduced and set up.
Kimjuni2: Aw, thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it.
Private LL Church: thank you, the closure and importance was what I was going for with the last chapter.
Winnow: I liked how you summed that up, you pretty much made a point I didn't even realize I was making. When I thought of Azula's condition, I did a lot of research to make it seem believable enough since having two split personalities and forgotten memories isn't an everyday occurrence. But, I do admit, when I'm writing what stages Azula goes through I don't really think so analytically about it at the start, I write off of logic most of the time. But, I'm really glad that the whole scenario is coming off in a proper way and really is seeming as psychological as it's supposed to be.
Katsumara: I know what you mean about the Azula/Zuko happy ending thing. It kind of pained me to write her walk away like she did, but I felt it wasn't the right time to just rush into a happy-happy time for Azula. She has a lot of emotional baggage that she needs to take care of before really getting that happy ending. We'll be seeing some more of her down the line, but for now her journey will be ambiguous. And, yeah, Katara's silly, but her and Aang are going to be getting a lot of attention in the next chapter.
Madier1095: It made me really happy to hear that you had the date marked on your calendar. I hope you liked this chapter.
Destiny321: Thank you, and although you said not to tell you I can assure you the that illness is not pregnancy…it's a little more shocking.
JasmineDragon22: I never would've put Aang and Azula together. I think a lot of people took that a little too seriously, since I never had the intention of having Aang fall for Azula (shivers). I'm glad you liked the "commercial", I think I'm going to start doing that before all my chapters from now own. It gets me and the fans excited.
Selene the Moon Goddess: Haha, thank you! But don't feel bad, because I'm not as sturdy with my updates as it seems. Sometimes I have periods where I update once a week as planned, and other times I'll mysteriously take weeks off to fix something in the story or just because I'm too busy to get them done.
Rcmgamer218: Thank you, and I'll get around to reading your stories as soon as I can (adds your story to list of stories I must read). Thank you for the request.
Thank you so much for all the reviews my little turtle duckies. I'm glad you all liked part 3 and I hope you'll like Part 4.
Next Chapter: My Partner