Well, here's another chapter. I didn't post in Fire Lily last week because I had OFUA:TLA, and I figured that was good enough...then the week before, I was just plain distracted. By a distracting person. Yeah. Sorry. I don't own Avatar or Hetalia.
A hot wind swept the airfield, making everyone's hair stream in the direction the wind was heading. Afghanistan, feeling more comfortable now that he was in his home, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It was warm for April, in the low seventies, and he felt the heat deep inside of his own body as well. The common view of the Middle East was as empty deserts, but that couldn't be farther from the truth in places. Most of Afghanistan was rugged landscape, with mountains and plains that were spectacular to view.
"It's a bit windy out, isn't it?" Pakistan commented. "Lots of hot air. Weird, Afghanistan's not even talking." She clutched the full-body veil she had donned for the plane ride closer to her body, trying to keep it from flapping in the wind. Afghanistan frowned at her, but refrained from speaking.
"Is there a car to take us to the government building?" Saudi Arabia inquired as he stepped onto the concrete of the landing strip. His neat shoes and suit made him stand out from the other Nations, who were in either military uniforms, casual clothing, or (in Pakistan's case) full-body veils. Israel attracted a few looks, as an unveiled Middle Eastern woman in a primarily Muslim country, but she shrugged them off without a word.
"Er…that one, over there, I think," Afghanistan pointed to a dark limo sitting on the edge of the runway, motor still running. The airport the Nations had used was one reserved for high-ranking government officials, on the outskirts of Kabul, and because no other planes were scheduled to land or take off until tomorrow the limo was allowed to get closer to the strip than most vehicles.
"Dude, limo ride! Awesome!" America grinned, and slung his duffel bag off of his shoulder. "Can we get some burgers too? I'm starving!"
"You eat too much," Israel admonished him. "And you almost never eat healthy food—no, lettuce and tomatoes on burgers don't count!"
"I'm surprised you're not fat already," Iraq commented. Iran slapped a hand over his brother's mouth, a second too late—America had heard Iraq's words, and his mood changed from cheerful to depressed in a moment.
"Fat…I am gaining weight…" the world superpower muttered. "Maybe I should work out more…"
"Nice going," Iran hissed to his brother. "Now America's going to be depressed for the rest of the day, and when he gets over it he's going to go on another workout binge!"
"B-but the only reason he's gaining is because of the extra muscle mass!" Iraq protested. "He's gotta realize that! Right?"
"Think who we're talking about here," Pakistan entered the brothers' conversation. "America realizing something—what are the odds? It's like expecting Russia to marry Belarus."
"She has a point," Afghanistan sighed. "You know how bad it is when I actually agree with Pakistan."
"It is bad if he's agreeing with Pakistan," Saudi Arabia sighed, "but could we please get into the limo? We can let the workers here take care of our luggage."
"Come on, America," Israel encouraged the sulking Nation. "You're not getting fat, I promise. Let's get in the limo, and later we can get something to eat…something other than burgers."
"B-but, they're so good!" America protested. "Doesn't Afghanistan have a McDonald's? We can get fries and pop, too…"
"No. Healthy food," Pakistan crossed her arms. "I want a shawarma. And some tea." She paused, then added, "Or maybe vegetarian pizza. Pizza is okay."
"We can go out to eat after we finish our business here, okay?" Afghanistan suggested. "There's an official waiting at my house right now to discuss the situation. He has all the information we've been able to gather about the terrorists that attacked our meeting in Tehran, and a few theories from my military leaders about where the terrorists might have gone from the border."
"Yeah, let's go," Iran and Iraq started to head for the limo, and Afghanistan quickly jogged so that he was leading them. Pakistan 'hmph'ed and started to stride after them, holding her chin up to show her disdain for Afghanistan's home and emphasize to everyone that she was only there as a favor. Saudi Arabia and Israel shared a glance, shrugged, and followed the other Nations, Israel pulling America along. The latter was still sulking over Iraq's careless words, making Israel roll her eyes in exasperation.
"I'm not getting fat…am I?" America looked at Israel pleadingly. She paused.
"It's just muscle mass. Really."
"I knew it…" America looked down miserably. Israel held back a groan of frustration—America never believed it when people tried to tell him his increasing weight was from the muscles developed after working out for half a day, five days a week.
Li was being marched down another hallway, a blindfold covering her eyes and her hands secured behind her back with some sort of handcuffs. Two people were on either side of her, grasping her upper arms to keep her moving in the direction they wanted. Footsteps behind and in front of her told Li that she was being escorted by four people, maybe five—it was hard to determine from just the sound of footsteps alone. The Ru-voice in her head was talking at her less and less as Li's head recovered from the concussion, and Li was still woozy and slightly off-balance from the injury.
Suddenly the men escorting Li stopped, and hinges creaked. Li felt a slight breeze as a door opened, and she was shoved forward into open space. Anticipating to hit a wall or the floor, Li's eyes squeezed shut behind the blindfold, and she braced herself for impact.
Instead of hitting anything, Li was grabbed and steadied by one of the men behind her. Her hands, bound behind her back, were seized, and something clicked. The handcuffs loosened and came off, freeing Li's hands. She automatically reached up to the blindfold, and pulled it up just as the door behind her slammed shut.
She found herself looking at a room, lit by a light bulb in the center of the ceiling, with tan walls and an off-white carpet. A bed with an actual mattress, sheets, and pillow had been placed in one corner. In the opposite corner was a sofa. The door was located in the middle of one wall, closer to the sofa than the bed.
All right, it looks like you'll be here for a while, Ru-voice spoke. What do you do when you're locked in a room?
Search for anything to use in case of an escape, Li replied. She studied the room, trying to determine what could be useful. The bed sheets, she decided, could be torn into strips and used to make a rope. There was no window, but Li knew from experience that trying to shimmy down an outside wall with a sheet-rope was just asking for trouble. If you didn't have prior experience and training, you were more likely to hurt yourself than succeed, and guards would be able to hear you all the way down…like that one time when Li was thirteen and tried to sneak out of the Palace without telling Ru…
Perhaps the sofa or bed could block the doorway? But the door's hinges were on the outside, so that was the direction it would open to. Anyone wanting to come in would be able to climb over the bed. What if Li blocked the door with the bed and wrestled the sofa on top of the bed? No, the sofa looked heavy, and Li didn't think she could manage that. Besides, there would still be a space under the bed that someone could slip through…could Li move the bed so that whoever opened the door would be distracted by the bed in the way, and not notice Li coming out from underneath the bed until she was clear and ready to fight?
How's your leg feeling? Ru-voice asked. Healing up?
It's okay, but I don't think I should exert myself until it's healed more, Li answered. Thinking of her leg made it twinge, so she reached down to rub it, wincing as the bullet wound twinged. It was very annoying not to have any Waterbender Healers around, Li decided, and she would never undervalue their presence again. The moment she returned to her world, she would give her friend Ming the best hug she could and beg the woman to forgive Li for all the times Li snapped at her during a healing.
Your chances of escape with what they've left in here aren't looking so good, Ru-voice observed. Take a closer look at the sofa. See if the cushions can be removed, or if the frame might be breakable. It's too bad they didn't give you any chairs, you could have broken one and used the pieces as a weapon…
Li smiled at Ru-voice's wishful thinking, exactly what Ru would have said in this situation, and walked over to the sofa. Her leg was healing enough for her to bear walking on it, but the twinges of pain made her wonder if she should stay off it. It turned out the sofa's frame was made entirely of "plastic," a material common in this world, that Li knew she couldn't break with her hands. There was a chance she could melt the plastic, and break the frame into pieces that way—but there was also a chance Li could start a fire.
The sofa's cushions were removable, and Li took them all out to make sure. She stacked them to one side so they would be out of the way, and examined the frame of the sofa more closely, in case her initial search had missed something. When she found nothing, Li turned her attention to the cushions. They were made of cheap fabric, and had zippers covering foam pads.
If there was a window, you could do the sheet-rope trick and use these to keep yourself from getting hurt while escaping, Ru-voice suggested.
Too bad there's no window, Li chuckled to herself. But I doubt these cushions could protect against a bullet. And my leg's probably not up for that method of escape.
Good point, Ru-voice agreed. You need more time for it to heal. At least the doctor was able to take care of the infection when it was just starting.
I just hope it heals before I really need to use it, Li frowned. How long would it be before her leg healed? She rarely had any injuries that weren't tended to immediately by a Healer, so she didn't know how long it would be before she could move without pain. A few days? The bandages were changed twice a day by a woman in a full-body veil, the kind Li had been put in to get through a checkpoint on the way here, and it looked like the wound was closing quickly…but…
Careful not to reopen the wound, Li probed the bandaged area with a finger. The pressure caused a shot of white-hot pain to run up Li's leg, leaving her with clenched teeth and the decision not to do that again. She sat down on the pile of cushions, lifting her leg so it wouldn't come in contact with the floor in case that caused any more pain.
Being shot was painful, Li mused. Whoever had come up with the idea of guns was definitely cruel-minded. Forcing small pieces of metal to enter a human body at great speed…it was similar to the pebble-barrage attack Hong had copied from Huo's Avatar State attacks, or the Airbending-enhanced marbles Ru's boyfriend Si Wang used to repel attackers. Neither Hong nor Si would have thought of using enough force to actually have their projectiles penetrate the skin, which was Li's only assurance that they were better people than the creators of guns.
And when the pellets penetrated the skin, Li thought grimly, you had a risk of infection. That was one of the worst dangers involved with injuries, infection. You could put pressure on a bleeding wound to stop the blood flow, you could set a broken bone, you could stitch up or bind a wound, but if you had an infection and no medicine you were in trouble. Before the advent of anti-infection drugs, soldiers and civilians alike feared infection. Infected limbs had to be amputated before the infection could spread. If you couldn't cut off the infected area…
Li shivered, remembering the stories she'd heard while at training camps in the Fire Nation. Old soldiers who had participated in quelling rebellions and bandit groups told the young trainees about their "glory days" in the army. One woman, a veteran member of the Home Guard, had waggled the stump of her right arm and reminisced about how an accident while on kitchen duty that went untreated resulted in a devastating infection of flesh-eating bacteria. Only amputation had saved the woman's life. Thinking about the puckered flesh on the end of the woman's arm-stump…it was rude to stare or show disgust, but Li had been very much unsettled by the sight.
At least she'd been given disinfectants once the infection was caught, and had the area bandaged properly. There was less danger of infection in lieu of treatment, and Li was being careful to keep the area clean. She could have done with a bath—she hadn't had one since she was captured—but at least she splashed some water on herself when she could for hygiene's sake. Her period hadn't come, probably due to stress, but Li was used to it being infrequent: she'd had a rigorous schedule before the Tóngyī Revolution, and plenty of worries afterwards.
What worried Li the most at this point was the possibility of the Nations not finding her. She had initially expected the Nations—America in the least—to mount a huge effort to save her, but that had died away after realizing that she was only one human. Austria had told Li that the Middle East, the region of the world where Li was now, had been in turmoil for decades. Compared to the conflicts that must be going on now, what was Li's importance?
She bit her lip. There was certainly a rescue operation underway, but that didn't particularly mean the Nations would be involved. Why would they be? They had their own duties, their own problems. Taking time out to rescue one human girl? What would be the point in that?
No, the Nations were likely not directly involved in looking for Li. Since Li had no idea how competent their militaries were, she needed to depend on her own strength to escape. First, she would wait for her leg to heal. Once she could move freely without pain, she would act. Until then, she just needed to plan…
One flaw. Li might value plans as safety nets of knowing what she would do, but she had trouble thinking up anything more complex than "I see bad guy, I burn his face off."
Fire Nation paused on a high point in the hills surrounding his daughter's home, and looked down on the open space where she had made her home. Older Nations had based their Wanban homes on those from the mortal world: United Republic had only gained her own home once the Nations had traveled to the Spirit World, and thus had no traditional designs to draw from. Consequently, she had constructed a small compound for herself, basing the layout on her mother's home and using Fire Nation architecture for the actual buildings.
As her lands in the mortal world grew, United Republic had redesigned her house to match her people's influence. The unconnected buildings were made into one sprawling house, with a large courtyard left open in the middle. Round Fire Nation windows were replaced with larger, rectangular ones filled with glass that both let in light and kept out the cold. A small dome, based on the igloos Southern Water Tribe had lived in for centuries, was placed on the entrance hall's roof. All the other roofs had gone from pointed to flat, with easy access from trapdoors set in ceilings.
It was amazing that the different styles from the Four Nations could blend together, but they did. United Republic, originally a mix of her parents' culture, had come into her own with the end of the War. Immigration to her lands from the Water Tribes had introduced the adaptability and flexibility that United Republic needed to accommodate the rapid growth of her home, in particular Republic City. Combined with the drive and dedication of her Fire Nation citizens, and the stubbornness of her Earth Kingdom residents (All right, and the endurance of the Earth Kingdom people too. They had managed to repel the Fire Nation for a hundred years), United Republic was able to forge herself into a world power.
A chuckle escaped Fire Nation's lips as he recalled the day his daughter proved her power to him. He had never stopped thinking of her as a child, nor would he ever stop loving her, but after learning that his daughter had greater industrial power than him…well, that was an eye-opener. The Fire Nation had dismantled many of his factories after the War ended, as economic fallout of the loss of demand for battleships and war engines. His dirigible industry had experienced a small boom in the wake of their application to commercial travel, but the monopoly he'd had was quickly taken away by the Earth King sponsoring factories in the United Republic.
Something moved behind the house, and Fire Nation craned his neck to see what it was. The person walked around to the front of the building, clad in orange and yellow, and Fire Nation automatically frowned. It was Air Temple Island, who lived with United Republic.
Air Temple Island noticed Fire Nation on the road, and waved. Fire Nation responded with a half-hearted wave of his own, the reminder of Air Temple's presence in his daughter's house dampening Fire Nations' mood. He didn't have anything against Air Temple Island. If Air Temple Island wasn't living with his daughter, Fire Nation would be fond of the boy. However, as a father, Fire Nation found himself obligated to dislike any male his daughter spent more than five minutes alone with.
With a sigh, Fire Nation set out down the road once more. He began to mentally prepare himself for the awkward greeting that would ensue when he was in range of Air Temple Island, and the strained conversation that would follow as Air Temple Island led Fire Nation to where United Republic was. There would be the eternally-present camelephant of what had happened to the original Air Nomad culture, and Fire Nation's unsubtle hints that the same would happen to Air Temple Island if he hurt United Republic in any way. When they reached United Republic, she would give Air Temple Island her usual greeting of a kiss, irking Fire Nation further, before smiling at her father and giving him his hug.
Yes, Fire Nation thought, it was practically a routine.
Something seemed off about Air Temple's behavior as Fire Nation approached. The spiritual young man was twisting his prayer beads nervously back and forth in his hands, trying to rub each individual bead in order. Seeing the normally calm Nation so agitated put Fire Nation on guard—the only other time he had seen Air Temple Island act like this was when he came clean about his relationship with United Republic.
Warning bells clanged in Fire Nation's head. If the first time had been about admitting to a relationship with United Republic, what was this time going to be about?
As he got closer, Fire Nation slowed his pace, testing to see how it would affect Air Temple Island. The younger Nation started to fidget even more. When Fire Nation was finally within easy talking range, Air Temple Island blurted out, "Your daughter thinks we should sleep together."
Fire Nation stopped dead in his tracks. "I didn't know she felt that way," he spoke easily, feigning ignorance of what Air Temple Island meant. "Sadly, I don't have any interest in men."
"No, not you and me, I meant, me and her," Air Temple Island babbled. "She, she mentioned it a decade ago, a passing thing really, but last night she got a letter from her mother and she was very quiet for a while and when I asked her what was wrong she brought it up again out of the blue and she was very aggressive and I may have panicked and run into the courtyard and now I think she's sulking because she didn't touch breakfast this morning and are you going to kill me?"
There was a beat as Fire Nation digested everything Air Temple had said, and he blinked. Air Temple Island looked absolutely terrified, his eyes nearly perfect circles.
"So," Fire Nation began slowly, his hand turning small circles as he spoke, "my daughter propositioned you to sleep together, for the first time since your relationship began about a hundred years ago, and you declined?"
"Yes," Air Temple Island blurted.
"And now she is angry with you because of that?"
"Yes."
Fire Nation frowned. "Why am I supposed to be mad? Or intent on killing you?"
"Um…because your daughter," Air Temple started, but was cut off by Fire Nation raising his hand.
"You said no," Fire Nation explained. "And while I will now be watching you like an eagle-hawk, I see no reason to kill you. Yet. Unless you say yes. Also, I'll be having a talk with my daughter after telling her why I'm here. Where is she?"
"Courtyard, sir," Air Temple pointed to the house. "Tending the flowers. I'll…I'll go meditate or something, sir."
"Do that," Fire Nation advised. Air Temple Island gave a stiff bow, then dashed off. Fire Nation watched him go, bemused. He would castrate the boy if anything happened to United Republic, that was a given, but he took a moment to thank his lucky stars that his daughter had at least chosen a man that was too embarrassed to do more than kiss her and hold her hand. If Omashu had caught United Republic's eye…no, that wasn't a good thing to think about. Suffice to say, Fire Nation was not ready to be a grandfather.
He opened the front door of the house and stepped inside. United Republic never used a lock on her door, a reflection of her policy of free immigration in the mortal world. Fire Nation worried that she was opening her home up to potential vandalism or theft, but as she pointed out, the Nations were the only permanent residents of Wanban. Visiting spirits rarely stayed long, and the spirits that came to Wanban weren't usually the sort to break into a house.
Navigating the interior of United Republic's house was a chore. It changed every time he visited, Fire Nation swore. He almost dreaded going to her mortal world city—if her Wanban house was hard to navigate, how much more difficult must a sprawling metropolis be? United Republic had filled her house with replicas of famous paintings, old pottery, and small plants, all placed to maximize the interior's aesthetic appeal. The decorations also served to help distinguish different parts of the house from others: there were more paintings of farmers and cooks near the kitchen, more pots and plants near the outer reaches of the house, etc. Fire Nation passed a window with a box of miniature roses growing on the sill, and paused to admire the small flowers. Air Temple Island had taught United Republic the secrets of being a good gardener, at least.
After ten minutes of confused wandering, Fire Nation found a door that led to the courtyard porch. A roof covered the wood-floored porch, sheltering it from rain, and a walkway extended on either side of the porch to encompass the courtyard. Several other doors led into the house from the walkway, all of them closed.
United Republic was kneeling down in front of some flower bushes on the far right of the courtyard with a pair of pruning shears in her hands, carefully clipping off branches. The bush was just starting to put out buds, a sign of the coming spring. Fire Nation stepped off the porch onto a gravel path, and started to walk towards his daughter. She heard his footsteps and glanced up, face set in a blank, vaguely disapproving look. Once she saw who it was, she started and jumped to her feet.
She looked a lot like her mother, Fire Nation noted. Her hair, brown when she was a child, had darkened as she aged until it was nearly black. The strong line of her jaw came from her father, but her snub nose and high forehead were taken almost perfectly from Earth Kingdom. What puzzled Fire Nation was her light brown eyes, completely unlike her father or her mother's. Brown was the most common eye color in both nations, but if human children inherited all of their physical features from their parents, why shouldn't the same apply to Nation children?
"Father!" the young woman cried. "I didn't expect…um, hi. What are you doing here?" She looked down, realized she was still holding her pruning shears, and tossed them onto the ground. "Mother sent me a letter, but I didn't expect you so soon…she said you wanted to talk to Southern Water Tribe, so I thought it would be a few days before you…"
Fire Nation held up a hand before United Republic could go any further. "Does this surprise at seeing me have anything to do with Air Temple Island being so nervous when I met him out front?"
"You-he-what?" United Republic paled. "Um. Um. Um, we had…a fight…"
"He mentioned," Fire Nation gave her a sweet smile. "But we'll talk about that in a moment." He dropped the smile, and drilled his daughter with a serious look. "And we will talk."
"Yessir," United Republic hung her head and fidgeted. She had thick gloves on to protect her hands from the sharp tools used in gardening, and as she shifted her weight from foot to foot she slowly started to work the gloves off.
"As for why I'm here," Fire Nation continued, "I'd like to ask you to accompany me to the Southern Water Tribe." United Republic's head shot up, her mouth already open to speak, but her father shook his head and she kept silent. "You know Southern Water Tribe doesn't like me, and you know why. I thought that if you came along, she might be more willing to sit down and talk."
"That makes sense," United Republic frowned in thought. "I've been on good terms with South for years, ever since the Avatar from her people helped work things out in my home…"
"For which I am ever thankful," Fire Nation dipped his head. "Your house was a mess then. So, will you go with me?"
The young woman blinked. "Of course I will, Dad. You have to ask?"
With a casual shrug, Fire Nation replied, "It's polite to ask. And…" his mouth turned down into a near-frown, as his eyebrows drew down, "it seems you and Air Temple Island are getting quite comfortable."
United Republic tensed, drawing herself in to appear smaller. "I…uh, I can explain…"
"You'd better."
