Media: Fic
Title: Solar Winds (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fusion, 39/?)
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo, swearing, violence.
Spoilers: None for either series that I am aware of.
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Word Count: ~6700
Summary: Kurt Hummel, the current Avatar, finds a Firebending teacher in the young Prince Blaine. Is that all he finds? Or will destiny conspire to push them into becoming more, to the world and each other?
Author's Note: I have shockingly little to say here, other than I am taking much longer than I'd like to get Act 2 over with. :P Still, I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. Thanks to all of you for your comments and reviews!
CHAPTER 39 – Crossroads
Artie slides to a halt near the edge of the cliff. Jesse walks behind him, eying him with no small amount of trepidation.
"Dude, you are freaking me out with that sliding thing. How do you even do that?" he asks.
Artie's response is utterly flat. "I keep a small army of ants in my pants to carry me around. I command them by sweating."
"That's gross," Jesse says, scrunching up his face, and Artie resists the urge to just bury his head in the dirt out of frustration.
"Be quiet for a few seconds," he says, putting his palms to the ground. "I'm trying to get a good picture of where they're keeping him and I need to concentrate."
"Alright, alright," Jesse says, raising his hands in surrender.
With the silence, Artie is able to focus his senses and feel out the interior of the cave. "There's six of them," he says after a few moments. "They're in and out of the cave at regular intervals, but Mr. Duck is definitely down there. He's tied down, but not moving. I think he's asleep."
"He's not… you know… dead, is he?" Jesse asks, actually sounding somewhat concerned about something other than himself for once.
"No," Artie says. "I don't think so."
"Good," Jesse says, sounding relieved. "That would be really hard to explain to my superiors. And Brittany," he adds. "I'm actually kind of impressed they got him in there. Sky bison hate being underground. I'd have figured he'd bite someone in half before he let them put him in a cave."
"I'm still wondering how they managed to subdue him," Artie says. "They've got… stuff down there. Boxes of weapons, boxes of junk… I'm guessing this place was used for something else before they turned it into bison jail. But they've got one little box down there, and I can't figure out what's inside of it. And I'm willing to wager that it's probably something extremely important to know," he finishes.
Jesse sticks his head over the cliffside to peek down at the criminal scum. "Please. The only thing I need to know is that they have something that belongs to me—kind of—and I want it back."
"Dude," Artie says, sliding up next to him. "Don't just rush in there. We need to make a plan."
"Oh, come now," Jesse counters, "I've taken down worse than this. The odds are always in my favor. Honestly, in the game of life, airbending should probably be considered cheating. It just isn't fair to the other elements."
Artie must continually remind himself that he does not, in fact, want this guy to just go down there and get himself killed. "I'm not saying that you couldn't just pop on down there and blow everybody away. I'm saying you could do it better if you had some kind of plan."
Jesse looks contemplative. "Hmmmm… improvisation versus scripted acting—the spontaneous performance against the rehearsed, pre-planned arc. If nothing else, this will be an interesting thought experiment. Plus, if your plan sucks—which is a very real possibility—I can always just screw it and do things my way." He turns to Artie with a smile. "Alright, then, plan-maker. Make me a plan."
A concession is a concession—Artie will take it. He puts palms to ground again. "Okay… from what I can tell, they have a fairly predictable patrol pattern. There's one who hangs near the entrance, and two more who walk back and forth outside."
At this, Jesse pulls a long, thin staff from under his cloak and begins to scrape it in the dirt.
The earthbender grins. It's good to see his companion is finally paying attention and taking notes. "Now, I'm guessing the one who hangs near the entrance keeps his eye on the two patrolling in case something happens to them. The thing is, judging from his heart rate and posture, he's about to fall asleep. When that happens, there's a brief moment in the other two's patrol routes where either one of them can be taken out without anyone seeing. Here, I'll show you." He slides over to what he assumes is Jesse's dirt diagram of his master plan…
…only to find a picture of a sky bison standing on its hind legs and biting the heads off stick figures.
Artie directs an unamused glare at the airbender.
Jesse looks down at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you saying something? Something important, I mean."
"I was giving you my plan," Artie says.
"Is that what that was?" Jesse says. "I assumed by your dull, droning tone of voice that you were talking about rocks, or sand, or something equally boring."
Artie sighs. "I need a drink," he mumbles.
"I've got a very nice vintage of Western Temple Wine in my rucksack," Jesse says.
Artie rubs his hands over his face. "You weren't supposed to hear that," he grumbles, annoyed.
Jesse tilts his head at him. "Then why'd you say it?"
Artie opens his mouth to reply, only to find that he has nothing to say. "…that's a good question." He shakes his head. "Look, whatever dude. Here's the plan; do exactly what I tell you, exactly when I tell you, okay?"
"That doesn't sound like a very good plan," Jesse says skeptically.
"Just… trust me," Artie says. "Follow my lead, and everything will be—"
"Brittany!" Jesse says, wide-eyed.
"No, everything will not be Brittany," the earthbender sighs. "It will be—"
"No, look!" Jesse says, pointing down below them.
Artie spins around to see a figure dressed in yellow leaping through the trees with a kind of ease and casual grace that would make a cat green with envy. As the figure approaches, Artie is able to make out long blonde hair, and a bright, slightly ethereal smile.
"That's Brittany?" he asks.
"The one and only," Jesse replies.
"Where'd she come from? What's she doing?" he asks.
"She has a weird way of always finding her way back to me," Jesse says. "I used to panic when she disappeared, but she always turns up eventually."
"Oh, crap," Artie says. "They're going to see her!"
It's kind of hard not for them to see her, seeing as she jumps out of the trees and lands in the open area right in front of the cave. The two thugs spot her immediately, and begin to speak with her as they approach.
"Shit!" Jesse curses. "Sorry, plan's off." He twirls his staff in the air and slams it onto the ground, causing two large, bat-like wings to unfold from within. "It's showtime."
Artie sees what is coming and tries to stop it. "Dude, wait, your thing is—"
Alas, he is too late, and Jesse leaps off the cliff, attempting to glide to Brittany's aid… only to go sailing off to one side because one of his glider wings has a giant hold burnt through it. "Crap!" he says as he begins to tilt. "I forgot about thaaaaaat!"
And then he crashes into a tree.
"Well, this day just gets better and better," Artie sighs. With a deep breath to prepare himself, retrieves his gloves from his sleeves, letting familiar feeling wash over him as the many tiles slide over his skin and slot into place on his hands and fingers.
Jesse was right about one thing. It's definitely showtime.
Finn is somewhat surprised to find Mercedes waiting for them at the bottom of the ladder.
"Did she jump?" Mercedes asks.
"No," Finn says. "She wasn't gonna. She just likes… windy hair… or something," he mumbles.
Rachel comes down after him, sliding off much quicker than he did. "I am not in any way suicidal," Rachel says imperiously. "To deprive the world of my talent would be an unforgivable crime on my part."
Mercedes snorts. "Well, it's good to see you're already back on your feet. That was a pretty nasty fall."
"Yes, well," Rachel says, "I suppose I should be used to public scorn and embarrassment. I'm sure there will be all sorts of horrible rumors for me to deal with when I become famous."
"Oh, we all get a little embarrassed every now-and-then," Mercedes says as they walk down the hallway. "Keeps us from getting our heads all inflated. Isn't that right, Finn?" she says, glancing at the tall boy.
"Uhhh, what do you mean?" Finn asks.
"Oh, come on," she says teasingly. "If anybody knows how to deal with embarrassment, it's you."
"Oh?" Rachel asks. "Is that so?"
"No," Finn denies petulantly.
"Mmmmhmmm," Mercedes says, nodding her head. "Poor boy is a disaster on two legs. Tripping over himself, tripping over everybody else, smacking his head on doorframes, walking into signs... and that's just the physical stuff."
Finn turns steadily redder with every passing remark.
"You never know what's gonna come out of that boy's mouth. One time we were at the market, talking to this sweet little fruit-selling lady. As we were walking away, you know what Finn told her?"
"What?" Rachel says, clearly intrigued.
"Have a nice baby," Mercedes says with a grin.
At this point, Finn has passed 'tomato' and is rapidly approaching 'strawberry.' "It was an accident!" he insists. "It was supposed to be 'have a nice day,' but I saw a baby out of the corner of my eye, and…"
Rachel suppresses a giggle fit.
Finn sighs.
"Oh, Finn, I'm sorry," Rachel says, still holding back laughter. "It's just…"
"The poor woman did not look remotely pregnant. She thought Finn was calling her fat. Tossed fruit at him until he was out of sight. Got him real good once with a honeydew right to the head. Everybody called him melon-head for a few days after that one," Mercedes finishes.
And Rachel can't hold it back anymore. She bursts into open laughter, and Finn crosses his arms and pouts angrily. He's pretty sure that Rachel thinks he is a giant walking joke now… which is pretty much what he is, but it was nice not to be called out on it for once. "Thanks a lot, Mercedes," Finn grumbles.
"I'm just trying to make the girl feel better," Mercedes says casually, smirking at him. "Look how much she's laughing."
He cuts his eyes over to Rachel, who seems almost ready to fall over.
"You made that possible," Mercedes says with mock-sincerity. "Doesn't it feel good to bring that kind of joy into somebody's life?"
"No," he grumbles.
"Oh, Finn," Rachel says finally starting to recover. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."
"It's okay," Finn says, smiling a little. At least she thinks about his feelings.
"Come on, sweetie," Mercedes says. "Let's go wash all that gunk off your face."
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Rachel smiles. "Lead the way!"
The two of them march off into a side room. Finn starts to follow, only to have the door slammed in his face.
"Girls only, please!" Mercedes says from behind the door. "Boys wait outside."
Finn glares at the door, trying to make it powerful enough to pierce through and get to Mercedes. Sadly, it doesn't work. All that's left for him to do is poutily lean on the door and try to hear what they are saying.
Hey, it's totally unfair for them to lock him out like this. He's allowed to listen in, especially since they are probably talking about him.
He hears one last thing as their voices fade from his hearing. "If you thought that was funny," Mercedes says. "Wait until you hear about the time he got beat up by a fish…"
Finn smacks his head against the wall. Why does he only get to be right when it sucks?
It takes a second or two for Blaine to regain the ability to speak. "Wh-where's Kurt?" is the first thing he stammers out. It's the obvious question.
"Kurt's right here," Avatar Groban says, gesturing to himself. "He hasn't gone anywhere. He's just channeling me. In a way, he is me."
Blaine just tilts his head at the Avatar. "I don't…"
Groban gives him a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I didn't either. It's kind of weird. Think of the Avatar as… a rubber band ball." He grabs at an imaginary ball as he tries to explain. "A single big thing made out of lots and lots of little things. Kurt is just one rubber band on the ball, but he's also the entire ball, in a way. It's like that with everyone. You get it?"
Blaine stares at him for a few seconds, thinking hard. "No," he says, shaking his head.
Groban scratches at the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it. Just think of it as Kurt taking a backseat for the time being. You and I need to have a little chat, o descendant of mine," Groban grins. "Hop up here with me."
Blaine has no idea how to react to any of this, so he complies, moving onto the stage. "I'm your descendant?" he asks as he walks slightly closer to Groban. He doesn't want to get too close.
People with glowing eyes are very intimidating.
"Yes indeed," Groban grins. "You and a small percentage of the Fire Nation population."
Blaine's eyes widen. "What?"
"Yup," Groban says. "That song Kurt was singing? You can't imagine the amount of tang that song got me. Agni's prophylactic, kid, you heard it yourself. Don't even lie—you were about to jump Kurt's bones before I popped in."
The Fire Prince turns an alarming shade of red and very nearly bursts into flames from sheer embarrassment. "You… that's… okay, why are you here?" Blaine finally asks. "I mean… not that I'm not honored to be in your presence, Avatar Groban, it's just… this is very confusing. And disturbing. In more ways than one," he says simply, averting his eyes. "Could you… ummm…" He waves his hands around his eyes. "…turn that off?"
The Avatar takes a couple of seconds to figure out what Blaine is talking about. "Oh! The eye-glow. Yeah… that does tend to freak people out." He closes his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opens them, they are normal. "Better?"
"Yes," Blaine nods. "Thank you. Now… what do you want? Why are you doing this?
"Alright, so…" Groban says, stepping closer to Blaine. "Down to business. You, little man, are in kind of a pickle, but I think you already know that, don't you?"
An exhalation passes through his nose as he nods.
Groban counts Blaine's problems off on his fingers. "The Nation that's supposed to be yours doesn't even know you're alive and wouldn't recognize you if they saw you, you've got enemies and assassins trying to track you down, everyone you loved is likely dead, the world outside the Fire Nation might actually be even more dangerous than within, and to top it all off, someone went and doused your campfire and now you're burning about as well as a bunch of soggy logs. That about cover it?"
Blaine crosses his arms and gives a brief glare to the Avatar. "Yes, that sums it up nicely. Thank you for reminding me of all those horrible things."
"Ah," Avatar Groban says, smiling slyly while holding up a finger, "but that's the thing. Yes, those are all horrible and I'm sure they make you feel terrible, but there are other things to consider. I am here to present you with the upside to all this."
The Prince tilts his head at the Avatar. "What do you mean?"
"You, my dear Blaine," the Avatar says, putting a hand on Blaine's shoulder, "are a crossroads. A lynchpin of destiny, if you will. Your life or death could change the fate of the Fire Nation—even the world."
"What?" Blaine barks.
Groban grins at him. "See? Now, how does that make you feel?"
Wide-eyed, short of breath, sweating and slack-jawed, Blaine answers the Avatar honestly. "Terrified," he says with a slight shudder.
Groban drops his grin and winces.
"Ah. We'll need to work on that…"
"Hey, blowhole!"
Hector jumps like someone just flicked his nipple. "What?"
"Wake the fuck up," his boss says. "Something's going on outside."
"Oh," Hector says. "Sorry."
Standing fully from his position against the wall, Hector takes a peek outside. The patrol outside is distracted by a girl in yellow.
"Hi," the strange girl says.
The thugs stare at her.
"I'm Brittany," she announces.
The two of them look at each other like they're not quite sure what to do. "Umm," one of them grunts. "Nice to meet you?"
"I know, right?" Brittany smiles. "I'm awesome."
That reduces them to staring blankly again.
"My friend is in there," she says, pointing to the cave. "I don't think he likes it. You should let him out."
They look at each other again and smile. "Awww, he don't mind it so much," the other one grunts. "Why don't you come inside and see for yourself?" he asks. He turns towards the cave and winks.
That's Hector's signal. With a grin, he pulls out his blowgun and pops in a Shirshu-spit dart. They're actually running pretty low on Shirshu venom—the damn bison keeps trying to wake up. Still, he's pretty sure he'll only need one shot here, as long as he's patient. He waits for the perfect moment, imagining all the fun he could have with a girl like that when she's a little more… pliant.
"You taste like poor foot hygiene," Brittany says sadly, looking at the thugs. "I don't think we can be friends."
"Awww," thug one coos. "That's a real shame, sweetheart. Because I'd love to for us to get to know each other," he says with a wink.
"I know," Brittany says. "You want me. Everybody does. It's okay to look, but not to touch."
"And what if we decide we want to touch anyway?" thug two growls, fixing her with a malicious smirk.
Brittany shrugs. "I'll kick you in the balls so hard they'll bounce around inside your head and fly out of your ears," she says plainly.
The thugs open their mouths to reply, but something interrupts them. A semi-panicked scream sounds from above, and what appears to be a giant bat suddenly sails gracefully into a leafy tree, smashing rather crunchily into the upper limbs.
They're all distracted for a second. Fortunately, thug one realizes an opportunity when he sees it and grabs Brittany while she's looking away, restraining her arms and putting her in the perfect position to be tranquilized.
Hector grins. He kneels, takes a deep breath, puts his lips on the end of his blowgun, takes a second to aim…
…and promptly chokes on his own dart, as some wiseass pops up right in front of him and blows his blowgun before he does.
Hector coughs and sputters, clutching at his throat as he stumbles backwards.
"Here, let me help you with that," the guy says calmly. He promptly socks Hector in the gut with enough force to make him spit the dart right out. The guy catches it in mid-air, spins it around, and promptly hurls it right into Hector's forehead.
His last thought as the venom takes hold—pretty good aim for a guy with glasses…
Having dealt with the blowhard, Artie turns his attention to where Brittany…
…is no longer being held captive, having easily slipped from her captor's grip. She is currently peppering him with a barrage of air-fists, which are, ironically enough, knocking the wind right out of him. Thug 2 swipes at her with his sword, but she ducks it easily, sweep-kicking a wave of air along the ground to knock him off his feet, following that with a straight kick that blows him into a tree. Then she turns her attention back to Thug 1.
Seeing Brittany clearly has the situation outside handled, that just leaves the inside thugs for Artie to take care of.
There is one nervous-looking guy who is completely unarmed. He presses himself against the wall of the cave, trying not to be seen. Artie glares at him and makes a sudden movement, and that's all it takes to have him shrieking and fleeing the cave.
One down, two to go.
The two remaining guards have a sword and a spear, respectively. Spear guy tries something first, running forward and thrusting at Artie's chest. Artie just lies down, grabbing the spear handle as it passes over him and smashing it into the wall. He then makes a claw with one hand, and fires a rock glove at it, pinning it to the wall.
As spear guy tries in vain to pull his weapon from its stone anchor, sword guy makes his move. Rushing towards Artie and raising his weapon over his head.
Big mistake.
Artie just jets towards the guy, sticking his arm out and slamming it right into his knees as he passes. The guy flips end-over-end before crashing face-first into the ground and falling still.
Spear guy finally manages to dislodge Artie's glove from the wall, retrieving his spear and turning around to menace his opponent. The earthbender just smiles, holding up his un-gloved hand and making the international sign for 'come at me bro.' Spear guy grins and starts to move forward. What he doesn't realize is that Artie's 'come at me' was not for him. He doesn't realize much of anything until Artie's discarded glove slams into his head from behind, causing him to stumble forward. In the midst of his stumbling, Artie propels his other glove at the guy's unguarded face, forming it into a fist just before the nice, crunchy-sounding impact. Spear guy goes down like a sack of wet hair as Artie summons both his gloves and puts them away.
The earthbender emerges from the cave just in time to see Brittany directing a forlorn expression at her fallen opponents, one of whom is out cold, while the other is very much conscious and clearly wishing he wasn't, curled into the fetal position with his hands between his legs, rocking back and forth and making sounds no guy should be able to make. "My master told me that some people only learn through violence," Brittany says sadly. "I'm really sorry that you're those people."
Jesse chooses this moment to finally disentangle himself from the tree, falling to the ground and landing on his feet. He whirls his arms to conjure up a small updraft, removing the excess leaves from his clothes and hair.
"Jesse!" Brittany says happily, running over and wrapping him in a hug.
"Brittany!" Jesse smiles, returning her hug. "I knew you'd find your way back, sooner or later." He breaks the hug and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? Nobody hurt you, did they?"
Brittany responds by swishing her hair over her shoulder. "Bitch, please," she says calmly.
He tweaks her nose fondly. "That's my girl!"
"So," Artie says, sliding up to them, "this is Brittany?"
"Oh!" Jesse says, turning to Artie. "I almost forgot you exist. Brittany, this is Artie. He's a creepy earthbender."
To his credit, Artie only briefly rolls his eyes before offering her his hand. "Nice to meet you," he says.
"I know," Brittany replies, but she shakes his hand anyway.
"Brit here is like my little sister," Jesse says brightly, "only better, because we don't hate each other like my actual siblings."
"We're both way awesome," Brittany nods. "Some people just can't deal," she says with a shrug.
"Well, you're awesome," Artie says to Brittany, nodding to the downed thug. "Jesse here seems more inclined to spend his time up trees without paddles."
"Hey," Jesse says. "That was a minor, heat-of-the-moment slip up. Where are the other jerks around here? I'm always happy to wreck someone's day while simultaneously proving a point. I'm great at multitasking."
"I already took them out," Artie says simply.
"Yup," Brittany nods. "Well, all of them except the guy who ran for help."
Air and earth both turn mildly shocked eyes to Brittany. "Say what now?"
The girl shrugs. "The scaredy guy. He went to get his friends. They'll probably be here soon."
Artie winces. "Well, crap. That's what I get for being nice, I guess."
Jesse looks at him strangely. "Nice is not a word I normally associate with you guys."
Artie does his best to shrug it off. "I'm just one-of-a-kind, I guess. Now come on, let's get your bison loose before the rest of the thug brigade gets here."
With a shrug, Jesse walks into the cave, followed shortly by Brittany. As he goes slight breeze rustles the leaves on the tree he fell into. A small, thin canister suddenly falls from the branches, landing softly on the grass near Artie. He must've dropped this when he crashed, he thinks. The canister looks like the kind that people use to store scrolls and protect them from damage, so it takes Artie all of a half a second to decide what to do with it.
As quickly and quietly as possible, he pockets the dropped item, and follows the airbenders into the cave…
"It's very good of you to be so nice to me," Rachel says somewhat quietly as she splashes her face with water. "You really don't have to."
"I know," Mercedes says. "Believe me, I'm not nice to anybody unless I damn well feel like it."
"Really?" Rachel asks, wiping her face with a towel and looking at Mercedes through the mirror. "I don't annoy you? The sound of my voice doesn't make you want to put scorpions in your ears so their stings cause temporary deafness via swelling?"
Mercedes looks at Rachel strangely. "Where did that come from?"
"I have a very keen memory for… insults," Rachel says calmly. "I've received plenty over the years."
"Well, to answer your question, no," Mercedes says, before thinking better of it. "Well, not all the time," she corrects. "I kind of feel you on what went down in the theater. I can relate."
"Why did I think he liked me?" Rachel asks sadly. "He was just so sweet…"
"Oh, honey," Mercedes says. "That's just Blaine. He's a natural sweetheart. A little thick sometimes, and a little awkward most of the time, but he's got a good heart. He's gay as bright pink basket of multicolored cotton-candy rabbits, though."
"Oh," Rachel says. "My father was right. That greatly annoys me, so I think that means we have a very strong parent-child relationship. It's only natural for children to resent their parents for being right, after all."
Mercedes huffs. "Don't I know it," she says.
The actress tilts her head. "You have… children?"
"…kind of," Mercedes says. "My grandma and I were the only earthbenders in our village, so we had a lot of responsibility. We more or less wound up taking care of all the kids, so pretty much everyone wound up looking at me like I was their mama, or their big sister. Kind of awkward when some of them are older than you, but maturity knows no age," she grins.
"I absolutely agree with you there," Rachel says imperiously. "It isn't my fault that my thought processes are so much more detailed and elaborate than my peers."
Mercedes rolls her eyes, but there's no malice behind it. "That's what I meant when I said I could relate. There was one boy in the village that I had a little crush on a few years back. When I finally got up the courage to ask him out, he looked at me like I was a two-headed monktopus. Said it'd be like dating his own sister."
Rachel winces in sympathy. "That's awful."
"It was pretty mortifying. But," she says, "there was something that made me feel better, and I think it'll help you too."
"And what is that?" Rachel asks.
"Pampering," Mercedes says with a grin.
"Oooh," Rachel says excitedly.
"Mmmmhmm," Mercedes continues, grinning wider. "When we get done here, you and me are gonna go into town, get our hair done, nails done, manicure, pedicure, full facials and deep tissue massages, my treat. By the end of the day, we will be the finest bitches in Sho Fa. You feel me?"
The other girl looks stunned. "Oh, my… I couldn't. That sounds wonderful, but… it's so expensive."
"Don't you even worry about the cost," Mercedes says. "I don't mind payin'. Matter of fact, I want to." Mostly because it's stolen money, but she doesn't feel the need to mention that to Rachel.
The girl beams at her. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she says, bouncing up and down. "This is going to be so wonderful!"
"It'll definitely be something," Mercedes says neutrally, the sudden burst of supernova-level energy from Rachel giving her brief second thoughts. She quickly pushes them down, however. This is her first opportunity in ages to have some honest-to-earth lady time, with an actual lady. She might be just a little bit desperate here, so she's taking what she can get. "Come on, now, finish up, and let's go get the boys."
As Rachel finishes getting out of costume, the conversation takes a slightly different turn. "Did you ever feel… out of place, in your village?" she asks.
"What do you mean?" Mercedes replies.
"You know," Rachel says. "Like you don't truly belong there."
"I think everybody feels that way sometimes," Mercedes says, "but for me, there ain't no doubt; that place is my home. I still miss it."
The other girls sighs. "I love my daddies, I truly do. They are wonderful people, and wonderful parents. But I've just… always felt slightly out of place here. It could be because I'm not a firebender and the other kids laugh at me, but… I just feel like there is something missing. Possibly something that I am missing. Do you understand?" she asks as she finishes.
Mercedes thinks about it for a few seconds as they head to the door. "Honestly? Nope. But you never know," she says. "You might be right. You might be destined for great things."
"I certainly hope so," Rachel says. "Otherwise, it'd be a waste to give me all this natural ability."
Mercedes grins at her, and the two of them open the door to the hallway to find Finn sitting against the opposite wall, still pouting. Upon seeing Rachel, he immediately picks himself up and dusts himself off, plastering on a smile. "Hey," he says. "So… what next?"
"Now," Mercedes says, ushering Rachel past them, "we go and collect Kurt and Blaine, y'all head on home, and me and Rachel have a girls' day out."
"But that's not fair!" Finn says, annoyed. "I wanted to… uhhh… talk… to Rachel today."
"You can talk to her when we get back," Mercedes says simply as they walk into the lobby.
Suddenly, Rachel gasps. "Oh, my," she says softly.
"What is it?" Finn asks.
"Look!" she says, pointing to the statue of Avatar Groban.
Both Finn and Mercedes turn to the statue and gasp in near-perfect unison. Its eyes are glowing with an all-too-familiar light.
"Oh, Hills no!" Mercedes breaths softly.
"Holy crap," Finn says. "Something's wrong. We have to get to Kurt!"
And he is off down the stairs, taking them two-three at a time, Mercedes and Rachel following after…
Blaine can't breathe. Or, apparently, stand, as he is now sitting at the edge of the stage and he has no idea how he got there. "You can't…" Blaine breathes, using up all his air with just those two words and having to start over. "You can't be serious."
"I absolutely can," Avatar Groban replies, sitting a short distance away. "And sometimes, I am! Now, for instance."
"Why?" Blaine asks. "How? Explain yourself!" he demands, before suddenly remembering who he is talking to. "I mean… explain yourself, sir. Please."
"There's really not that much explaining to do, Blaine," Avatar Groban, leaning back on his hands to stare at the huge, darkened auditorium. "You are the Prince. Your rightful place is on that throne. Someone else has taken that throne from you. Whether or not you get it back… whether or not you survive—" Blaine winces. "—will have a huge effect on where this Nation goes. You yourself have seen the waking nightmare that is Sue Sylvester, on a good day. Give that woman the reigns to an entire country, and it isn't going anywhere good."
"So… what?" Blaine asks. "With me, it is?"
Groban shrugs. "I can't say. People want the future to be a lot more clean-cut than it is. Time and destiny are… complex. There is a lot of movement going on. So many different forces trying to steer the world…" He trails off, noting Blaine's increasing trepidation and misery. "Hey, I can tell you that in all honesty, it would be hard for you to be worse for the Fire Nation than Fire Lord Sylvester."
"Well… that's just great!" Blaine says, overwhelmed and near tears. "Fantastic. I just have one question: what am I supposed to do? All of those things that are stacked against me… how am I supposed to win against those? I don't know anything about ruling a country, I don't know anything about anything outside of the Capital besides what I've read in books, I can't… I can't even firebend…" His breath comes in gasps and sputters, and suddenly, he can't talk anymore.
"Whoa!" Groban says, hopping up and rushing over to him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, Blaine…" He puts a reassuring arm around the boy's shoulder, rubbing his back until he calms down. "Wow, I suck at this. This was supposed to be a pep talk. Make you feel better, not worse," Groban says, annoyed at himself.
Blaine just concentrates on breathing and trying not to pass out.
"Hey, come on now," the Avatar says in a soothing voice. "It's okay, buddy. Nobody's saying you have to do all of this stuff right now."
The young prince looks at least somewhat relieved by this. "But I still have to do it," he says quietly. "And I just… I don't know if I can…"
"Blaine, listen to me," Avatar Groban says, turning the boy so that the two of them are facing each other. "What you are now isn't what you'll always be. People grow, buddy. They change. They learn from their mistakes and grow stronger. That's the fire in them—for as long as they can, people seek new fuels to burn, new things to ignite them and allow them to grow. That's a big part of the reason your spark has gone," he says, poking Blaine in the chest in an oddly fond way. "You're not moving anymore. You're stuck, afraid to go forward."
"I just… I don't know how," Blaine says, his voice thick. "I don't know how to deal with everything that happened to me, I don't know how to move forward. I don't know how to be Fire Lord, or to lead people." He sniffs. "I'm sorry. I wish I was better at this."
At this, Groban looks genuinely sad for him. "I know, I know. It's tough, buddy. You don't ask for the position, the position asks for you, and 'no' isn't really an option. You're just… born into it." He gives him a half-smile. "Now you know how Kurt feels. How I felt."
"What'd you do?" Blaine asks.
Groban shrugs at him. "I stepped up. Not knowing what would happen, not knowing if I would be good enough, smart enough, strong enough, whatever. I didn't know anything—all I knew was that the world needed an Avatar and I was it. Much like Kurt is doing now. And much like you." The Avatar's hand finds his shoulder again, but instead of offering reassurance and comfort, he offers strength and support. "The Fire Nation needs a Prince, Blaine. And you are it."
"So I guess I have to step up," Blaine says, breathing a little more evenly.
"You don't have to do anything," Avatar Groban says. "But I think you want to. I think it'll be better for everyone—including you—if you do." He grins at the young Prince. "You've got it in you, Blaine. I know you do. You just have to be who you are."
A miserable look flashes across Blaine's face. "Who I am…" he mumbles. "There's another point on the list of things I don't know."
Groban squeezes his shoulder. "So figure it out. Or," the Avatar says with a sly smile, "decide."
"Decide?" Blaine echoes.
"Yup," the Avatar says, patting him on the back. "Decide who and what you want to be, and then… be it. That sounds like a very fire thing to do, don't you think?" he finishes with a wink, standing up.
Blaine no longer seems in danger of passing out, but he still fights a fierce inner war. "This is all so huge…"
"Hey," Groban says, pulling Blaine to his feet. "You don't have to do it all today, remember? Start small. I can tell you—that Sun Warrior tablet? Get it. It's important. The spirit world is all atwitter over it—I haven't got any specifics for you, but I can tell you Sue is brewing something big."
"Okay," Blaine nods. "I think I can handle that."
"Hey, now", Groban says, holding up a finger. "What's this 'I' business? You don't have to do it alone. You've got great friends. You've got an Avatar who would do anything for you."
Blaine smiles against his will even as he blushes.
"There we go," Groban grins. "There's the pep I was going for!"
The Prince looks at the Avatar with a bemused sort of fondness. "You are a very strange man," he says.
Groban snorts. "Pffft. You should meet Gaga. And on that note," he says, "I should probably give back your Avatar pretty soon. Channeling like this takes a lot out of you, especially if you aren't used to it. He'll be out of it for a while, so take good care of him. He really put himself on the line for you."
Blaine's eyes are inscrutable as he looks at Groban. "Kurt… did this for me?" he asks. "He gave up control… put his body under incredible strain… just so you could talk to me?"
"I told you," Groban says. "Kurt will do just about anything for you." The Avatar smiles at him. "Now, it's time for gramps here to take a hike back to the spirit world and let you crazy kids get on with your lives."
"Thank you, Avatar Groban," Blaine says, giving him the customary Fire Nation bow of respect.
"Don't thank me," he says with a wink. "Just come here and give your many-times-great grandpa a hug before he goes," he adds, spreading his arms out.
The Prince grins and starts approaching the Avatar. He never suspects the trap that Groban springs on him. "Psyche!" he shouts. "Think fast!"
Suddenly, a burst of flame erupts upwards from his body, splitting in mid-air to return to the lamps from which they came. When the flames clear, Kurt once more stands before him, arms wide, eyes closed. With a soft moan, the Avatar pitches forward, unable to stand any longer.
There is not even a moment's hesitation. Blaine rushes forward and catches Kurt as he falls, wrapping his arms around him and just holding him like the precious, wonderful thing that he is.
"Blnnnnne?" Kurt slurs, his entire body slack from exhaustion. "Blnnnnne," he says again.
As the doors to the theater burst open and Finn, Rachel, and Mercedes pour in, Blaine can't hear a word they are saying. The quiet, pitiful moans coming from Kurt drown out every other sound in Blaine's world. As their friends draw near, Blaine holds him tighter, clinging to him for dear life, pulling Kurt's head onto his shoulder and threading gentle fingers through his hair.
"Shhhh," he whispers. "It's okay. It's okay. I've got you."
He means it.
A/N: Coming Up! The next chapter will be the final one of this 'day.' The one after that begins Day 13, the final and most important day of Act 2. I don't want to spoil too much, but I can tell you that while I wound up tossing out most of the other chapter names in my 'preview' several chapters ago, Raise Your Glass and Trainwreck Extravaganza will both definitely be used, and they both take place on Day 13. Oh, and Trainwreck Extravaganza is no longer the finale of Act 2. The name of the actual finale, I can't tell you, but I think you'll like it. ;) Thanks again for all your reviews and comments!