Chapter 55: Promises of Tomorrow
Aang stared out into the ocean, trying to process what had transpired. Scars from the battle dotted the coastline, reshaped in a matter of minutes. Yu Dao and the adjacent villages had suffered minor damage from the storm and the attack.
A flock of birds gathered nearby, uncaring of the human nearby. Cranefish, with bright colors and streamers trailing from their wings, circled around. The strange light stood out among the setting sun, slowly getting closer to him.
"You aren't normal birds, are you?" he asked.
The cranefish drifted together, glowing brightly, and reformed into a woman, almost identical to the statue.
"Hello, Avatar Aang," she said. "Or would you prefer just Aang?"
Aang jumped up to his feet. "It's you! Lady Teinhai!"
"It is a pleasure to meet one of your people after so long. Come. Walk with me. We have much to talk about."
[-]
The remnants of the storm were still dispersing, even into the early hours of dusk. At the edge of a recently uncovered sinkhole, Zuko peered into the darkness, watching as the water tried to fill the crater. According to Toph, the tunnels hadn't been opened to the ocean, so the mines could potentially be reopened if the region proved stable.
Toph was busy talking with her father. Judging by the expression, things were going fine on that front.
Meandering through what appeared to be the beginnings of a camp, he spotted Satoru pacing around. All of his subordinates were occupied with other tasks, mostly involved with salvaging efforts, leaving the exhausted young man sitting on a set of crates cobbled together into the semblance of an office space. He almost didn't notice the Avatar approach. When he rose to greet him, Zuko held up a hand.
"You're fine," he said. "You look like you could use some rest."
"I has been a rather chaotic day," Satoru replied. "And this work looks like it will carry on into next week." Looking up, he sighed wearily. "It's a good thing he never made it ashore," "That level of destruction…"
"I know." Zuko really didn't want to ruminate on that longer than necessary and changed the subject. "I wish I could be of more help, but Toph made it rather clear that I shouldn't help until she was confident it wouldn't result in the possibility of bringing down something I'm not supposed to."
"You two must be good friends to be able tease each other like that."
"Hm? Yeah. Though I would say most of the needling comes from her."
Their discussion was halted when Toph joined them, idly twiddling her thumbs.
"How did it go?" Zuko asked.
Toph grimaced and scratched the back of her head. "There's a lot that needs to be said," she replied. "More than a couple of minutes can fix. But…"
"But?"
"But, I think it's going to be okay. My students got a bit of practical experience, and pretty good, what with the crazy circumstances."
"And property damage was kept to a minimum."
Toph placed her hands on her hips. "Considering your usual barometer, that's not exactly reassuring. The refinery is going to need to significant repairs. I'd hardly call that a clean bill for this round."
"Well, Mr. Lao did say he had some ideas for renovations," said Satoru. "No better time than now to enact them."
"On that note, I managed to get my students involved in that process. Apparently, my father was impressed with our performance. He is giving us a trial run, all benefits included."
"That's good to hear."
"Then I'm sorry to bring down the mood," Sokka said as approached the trio, shaking his head.
"What happened?"
"We found Loban." Behind him, a pair of guards hauled the man into the makeshift infirmary where Katara and Aang's fan club were working. "Looked like he was trying to cut and run with as much material he could fit on his ship before it capsized during the attack."
Satoru sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Is he…?"
"A little waterlogged, but he's alive," Sokka answered. "And unless he got hit harder on the head than we think, he should make a recovery. Not sure if he'll like what he finds when he wakes up, though."
[-]
"I was once the caretaker of this place. Under my watch, the seashore was beautiful, but also stagnant, characterless, and unchanging. That is, until a small group of humans made this place their home. As their numbers grew, so too did their village, which soon became a magnificent city. After General Old Iron-" she paused, mourning her friend. "After he left me, I began visiting this city. Once a year, I would take the form of a human for the night, strolling through the city's streets as I marveled at everything the humans created." A smile quirked the spirit's lips. "Over time, my visits became more frequent, and longer. On one of these visits, I became acquainted with a particular young man." Tienhai smiled. "He was…precocious, but curious and of a boundless energy and enthusiasm that was positively infectious. Eventually, I chose to stay, living as a human at his side. It cause a few complications at first, especially since he was a prince."
Aang blinked in surprise. "Oh. That must have been a surprise."
Tienhai laughed a little at that. "Not as much as you might imagine," she replied. "We both had a fair grasp of the other's identity after those few meetings, what with my strange questions and the way he seemingly always had someone trailing him from the shadows, but that's largely beside the point. I won't prattle on with the details, but in the end, we married, and then my prince became a king, and we lived in happiness for many years." Tienhai paused, remembering. "When I died, however, the king blamed himself."
"That explains some things, but…why did he blame himself?"
"He believed he had seduced me into giving up my original, immortal form."
"But you didn't die. You're here, right now."
"Yes. But as brilliant as my husband was, this was one count where he was wrong, a belief he shared with General Iron. Spirits don't die, not truly. We change forms, and we do not always resemble our previous lives, much like no two seasons are alike. The Avatar is an example of this. Times change, and the needs of the world evolve with each generation. Your trials are vastly different from Roku's, your struggles different from Yangchen's, and I have no doubt that Zuko's own challenges will be different from yours, brief as they were."
Aang contemplated what the spirit had said. "Was Iron right? Is domination all humanity good for? We promised to preserve and protect this place, and we failed."
"Not by any fault of your own." Tienhai rested a hand on Aang's shoulder. "While living among humanity, I sometimes wondered the same thing. Raising a family, ruling alongside a king, I saw many examples of what it meant to be human. Great good, great evil, or just plain greatness, it's not to dominate, but rather to create, to grow and evolve. And when you falter, you learn from your mistakes and carry on. That is relevant today as it was in centuries past, and I believe you and your friends are better at that than you might think on that count. More importantly, I trust you are capable of showing others the right way."
Tienhai looked out over the cliffs, breathing deeply.
"I think I've kept you long enough. Your friends still have need of you." Stepping back, she began to disappear, cranefish fluttering about her in growing motes of light. "Until we meet again," Lady Tienhai said, giving a polite bow that Aang quickly reciprocated. "And it might happen sooner than you think."
Smiling, the spirit faded from view.
[-]
Days later, a semblance of peace had returned to Yu Dao. At least for a time.
A loud rumbling shook the earth.
"Yes! YESsss! FLEE BEFORE ME, WORMS!"
Off to the side, Zuko and Sokka watched the proceedings with a mixture of sympathy and morbid fascination at Toph's unusual training methods.
The metalbending master chased her victims – a mix-match of her normal students and some members of the Yu Dao guard – around with caricatures of soldiers, each adorned with a single watermelon with a face etched onto the surface.
"Is there an explanation for this?" Zuko asked.
"Training exercise," Sokka answered. "After the, ahem, 'demonstration' with Old Iron, I ran some concepts by the mayor and the captain for more joint projects and combined arms. They agreed, and I asked Toph to aid with the training."
Another crash signaled another student being taken out of action. Both men winced and Katara went chasing after the carnage, water at the ready.
"Toph, please-"
"I AM NOT TOPH! I AM MELON LORD!"
"She's certainly getting into character," Zuko said. Crossing his arms, an eyebrow raised at events proceeding in front of his eyes. "Where did she even get that many melons?"
Sokka shrugged. "I'm actually surprised we didn't think of this sooner."
The ground shuddered again, another panicked scream followed by Katara shouting at Toph.
"I can't imagine why," Zuko muttered dryly. "Where do we stand with the Earth King?"
"No change. At this point, he's probably hidden himself so well that no one's going to find him until he's ready, or he's being held prisoner somewhere."
"I figured that was the case." Why can't things ever be simple?
"We're probably better off restoring order and keeping our ears to the ground. Maybe a rumor will pop out, like when you lose a sock."
"Right." Zuko growled under his breath. "Where do we stand with the hunt for the Wraith?"
Suki answered this time. "We have scouts scouring the area for signs of encampments. We think we found some outposts of theirs, but nothing pointing to where their main base is."
Sokka glanced over his shoulder. "Something eating you?" he asked.
"I need to make another trip," Zuko replied. "Came here to talk with Toph. Figured her skills would be useful for this."
Another shout of pain and Toph clapped her hands together. "Alright, everyone. Take a break. Get some water and healing, the usual." Striding over to the gathering, she quirked a smile at Zuko. "So, anymore headway on finding the Earth King?" Toph asked.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. Another tangle to untie. Up for a trip to the Fire Nation?"
Over her shoulder, Zuko saw a host of pleading eyes begging him to take the earthbending master with him.
"Sure," she replied, and her victims quietly sighed in relief. "It's been a while since I've been there. We visiting Uncle Iroh while we're there?"
"I was planning on making a stop. Need to give him a heads up before we leave."
"You think someone's hiding the Earth King in the Fire Nation?"
"No. But I've been putting this off for a while now, and considering we're all out of other leads, I figured this could help, if indirectly."
"You can take Appa," Aang said
Sokka nearly jumped. "Gah! Can you stop sneaking up on me like that?"
"Is he good with leaving you? It could be a week or two before we're back."
The bison in question gave the Avatar a lick, hoisting him upward.
"He knows you'll be back," Aang said, giving Appa a scratch behind the ears. "Besides, we'll be here when you get back."
Yeah!" Sokka added enthusiastically. "We can hold the fort while you're gone."
"If you're sure. I'll try to make this trip as short as possible."
Walking away, Zuko did not necessarily feel any lighter. Not yet. But it was a step in the right direction.
[-]
The soft glow of healing that illuminated the inner sanctum of the Ash Wraith's base died out, the man himself emerging from a pool of water and ointments dripping from his body. Karuk handed him a roll of bandages, noting the additional layer of burns onto of the previous ones. Any other man would have been in complete agony, treatment or no.
Anyone else would have already died, he corrected himself. "I doubt that I will be able to reverse the damage much more at this rate. This will have to be the last session, for better or worse."
The Wraith grunted as he finished the process, then donned his clothes, followed by the armor. Snagging the helm from the table, he stared out into space.
"Karuk," he said, voice distant. "I doubt we'll see each other after this, so…thank you."
"It was small token, sir. After what you did for us, there isn't a single one here that would hesitate to lay down their lives for you."
"And yet they all fear me. I suppose that's the price of being a monster worthy of legend. It used to be easier to lead…" The Wraith slipped the helm on, eyes glinting underneath. "It doesn't matter anymore. It will all be over soon."
A/N: That's a wrap for that arc, and now we're moving into the endgame. Only seven (no more than eight) chapters and an epilogue remain.
