Chapter 24 is finally written! Better late than never, right? New schedule, new year. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out yet how to regularly work writing into it. I'm going to try to do better with the next one, but we'll see.

More Than Blood Can Stand

Chapter 24: Aftermath

She was floating in a sea of blackness, still and painless. And nearly silent, save for the voices. They were muffled, as though she were hearing them from another room or from under water, garbled and incomprehensible.

She didn't want to hear them anyway.

"Ty Lee?"

No, no. She didn't want to wake up yet. She tried to tell them that she wanted to go back to sleep, but she couldn't form the words. Her lips felt heavy and slow, but the words were starting to pierce through the darkness.

"Ty Lee, can you hear me?"

"She's pretty hurt. We need the doctor."

She finally managed to raise an eyelid just a crack. Light flooded into her, overwhelming her senses. And with the light came pain.

So much pain. So much. It engulfed her entire body. An involuntary moan escaped her mouth.

"She's waking up."

No she wasn't. She was going back to sleep, where there was blissful oblivion.

"Ty Lee, it's me, Ling."

Ling? Ling? Where had she heard that name before?

Oh, right. Azula's cute sidekick. What was he doing here?

And then the memories began to come back. The confrontation with Zuko in Ba Sing Se. She had tried to chi block him, but Hinata had gotten in the way and attacked her. She didn't remember anything after that.

Had they captured Zuko? She thought she had gotten some good hits on Hinata before he'd knocked her out. Maybe he'd been captured, too. She hoped if they had, no one had hurt him. Zuko and Hinata had been her friends, in some sense of the word, and it pained her to think that they were on different sides of this conflict. But Azula had called, and she couldn't very well have said no.

Azula. Was she here with Ling? That thought at last motivated her to open her eyes.

Everything was fuzzy and bright, but after a few blinks it began to come into focus. She was in a bed in one of the rooms in the Earth Kingdom palace. Ling was seated in a chair next to her, holding one of her gauzy hands. The bandages reached all the way up to her elbows.

General Mak was leaning against one of the walls, a thoughtful frown on his face. Azula was nowhere to be seen.

"Ling." Her voice was scratchy and ugly, and her breath smelled foul. Maybe he wouldn't notice. "Where is Azula?"

He paused a moment, then gave a half smile. "She is busy trying to capture Prince Zuko, of course."

So Zuko had escaped. "She left the palace?"

"No, she sent some of Mak's soldiers after him. She won't leave here without… without us."

Ty Lee knew people talked about her behind her back, about how empty her head was and how she was nothing more than a pretty face. But those people underestimated her. She may not be book smart, but she was excellent at reading people. And head injury or not, she realized right away what Ling was not saying: Azula wouldn't leave without him.

So Azula had been ready to leave her alone, unconscious, in Ba Sing Se while she and Ling traipsed about the country looking for her brother. She wondered why she hadn't? Had Ling put his foot down? Had she realized how that would look to others?

Or did she maybe care, just a little bit, about Ty Lee's wellbeing?

"Mak's soldiers won't catch Zuko."

Ling nodded. "I know."

So did Azula. It must be killing her not to have her perfect elite team to perfectly capture Zuko and perfectly execute her plans for the future of the Fire Nation. Azula must hate her right now.

"She's been planning what we'll do once you're well enough to travel," he continued. "He's almost certainly headed for Omashu. If we can get there before them..."

"How far behind are we?"

"Less than a day at this point."

And now that she was awake, she was sure Azula would want to leave immediately. Nevermind that Ty Lee couldn't use her arms or that her head felt like it would split apart. She wouldn't want to waste even a minute.

She sighed. "I guess you should tell her I'm awake now."

Ling looked down at the floor, then back up at her. "Maybe… maybe later." He squeezed her hand. "Why don't you get more sleep now? A few more hours won't make much of a difference."

She blinked at him. He was purposefully withholding information from Azula? Wow. She wouldn't have thought this of him. Ling had always been so subservient, so perfectly obedient. Was there a rebellious streak in him after all?

But she had to admit, that nap sounded nice.

Mai's first thought the next morning was that she was cold. And she shouldn't have been cold, because she clearly remembered falling asleep next to Zuko.

She sat up, looked around the tent, and confirmed her suspicions. He was nowhere to be seen, but anything in the tent that could pass for a blanket was piled carefully on top of her, including most of Zuko's robes. A fond smile ghosted across her face. If he was going to abandon her in the middle of the night, at least he was thoughtful enough to consider her comfort.

But the question remained: where had he gone, and why? She climbed out from under the covers. The chill morning air hit her bare skin, and she shivered into her clothes. With quick, sure movements she pulled her hair into her typical ox horn style and fastened on her weapons. She stepped outside the tent and glanced around the camp.

A few of the brightest stars were still visible, but most were drowned out by the thin blue light of pre-dawn. The camp was quiet and still, but at the very edge of the circle, just beyond Hinata's tent, she saw the glow of a small fire.

He was talking with Hinata, then. That made sense. He had been worried about him last night, about whether Ty Lee had done any real damage and what Hinata felt about seriously hurting someone he knew.

Mai had a suspicion that Zuko was using his concern over Hinata's well-being to hide his worry over Ty Lee, at least in front of her. Ty Lee had been one of her best friends before she'd left for the Earth Kingdom. And, yes, it had been years since she'd seen her, but Mai still considered her a friend. She had so few, and Ty Lee had been the best of them.

Nominally Azula had been one of the best, too. At least, that's what she'd tried to project to the world. That had been a matter of survival, a matter of prudence. But some part of her still cared about the princess, and she got the impression from what Zuko wasn't saying that he had a similar feeling. Azula had that effect on people, inspiring the kind of awe that made people want to be around her, while at the same time putting the fear of her into their very bones.

It had been tough to meet her two friends as enemies. In the end, she hadn't been able to, had resorted to lies and deception. If they believed she was still on their side, she wouldn't have to face the consequences of her betrayal. Not yet.

What a coward she was. She was so afraid of the truth coming to light. She could try to fool herself by saying it had been the best thing to do - and that was true - but in the end it all came down to cowardice. So much fear of losing people she cared for.

Zuko looked up at her as she approached the fire, and her heart clenched. She cared about him most of all.

"Good morning," he said softly, patting the space beside him. She sat down, leaning into his side.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I was bringing Zuko up to speed on all that he missed after the two of you went to sleep so early last night." Hinata, to his credit, didn't change expression. "We're going to have to change all our plans now that we don't have General Mak."

Mai nodded. "Especially the plans for the invasion on the Day of Black Sun."

She and Zuko had talked about this a little last night. Probably not as much as the rest of the group, as they'd been distracted by other thoughts, but they hadn't been so far lost in each other that they hadn't considered their predicament.

"No Mak means no War Minister Qin," she continued. "That means no large-scale production of war balloons and no feasible way to transport the Water Tribe army to the Fire Nation. Not to mention the loss of Mak's forces, which would have been necessary to have a chance at taking the palace."

"Exactly," Hinata said. "We also have to figure out how Aang is going to learn earthbending without one of the masters from Ba Sing Se. If he doesn't learn earthbending soon, he won't master all four elements in time."

Zuko waved his hand as if brushing that problem aside. "Toph can teach Aang earthbending. For all intents and purposes she's already a master."

"As for the invasion," Hinata said, "there's still my father and his two armies in Omashu. He's a great strategist; he'll be able to think up a good plan."

She rolled her eyes. His optimism was getting on her nerves. "Unless Azula gets there before us again. And assuming we can get to Omashu, back to the North Pole, and all the way to the Fire Nation before the Day of Black Sun. And all that without allies to help us along the way."

"You're right." Zuko's lips thinned. "It'll take about four months to do all that, not counting the time it'll take to mobilize both forces. There's less than five months until the Day of Black Sun. That's cutting it awfully close." He paused. "Of course, we have Appa. That will probably speed things up - at least the trip to Omashu."

Hinata shook his head. "Appa's injured, and Aang wants us to rest here until he recovers."

Mai felt panic brewing in her heart. No, no, no. This was not good. "Azula will be looking for us. We have to keep moving. We're not safe here."

"We can walk. Aang was firm last night: no more flying until Appa is healed."

Zuko sighed. "Maybe we need to think of another plan, then. If we're moving at the pace of an injured earthbound flying bison, we're probably not going to reach the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun. And we're certainly not going to be able to reach Omashu before Azula."

Hinata looked disappointed, but he nodded in agreement. "You're right. Besides, if we took father's armies out of Omashu now, we'd lose an easily defensible city, the only one we still have. If we then failed to take the palace, that would be the end of it."

She could feel Zuko's muscles tensing. "That's not going to happen," he said. His voice was tight, and she felt a wave of compassion spread through her. It wasn't a familiar feeling to her, but she didn't like seeing him like this. She lifted her hand to his cheek and turned his head to look at her.

"No, it isn't," she said firmly. "Because we're going to come up with another plan, one that won't fail and that will see you on the throne."

His eyes locked with hers, an intense stare that despite all her self-control brought a blush to her cheeks.

Hinata cleared his throat, and they broke eye contact. "Sounds like a great plan. Got any details on how we'll do it?" The sarcasm in his voice didn't escape her.

"It doesn't always take an army to defeat your enemy. Azula and I took Gaoling on our own, just the two of us."

There was skepticism on both of their faces, but she plowed on. "We have plenty of allies in this camp who are good in a fight and who will not be affected by the eclipse. And I bet if we thought about it long enough, we could think of allies we have in the Fire Nation. People who were fiercely loyal to Fire Lord Iroh and who would be willing to help us."

She paused for a moment to let that sink in. Hinata still looked unconvinced, but Zuko's face suddenly shifted to understanding.

"Like Master Piandao! Uncle trusted him completely, even confided with him. He's the greatest swordsman in the world."

"That's perfect," she smiled, pleased at how quickly he'd come up with the solution. "Think of how vulnerable Ozai would be against him - not to mention the rest of us - without firebending. If we can get in touch with Piandao and sneak into the palace during the eclipse…"

Now even Hinata seemed impressed. He nodded his head thoughtfully. "That may be the best chance we've got."

"Yes, but..." Zuko frowned. "How are we going to get in touch with him?"

"Maybe my father knows a way?" Hinata said hopefully.

Zuko laughed. "You just want an excuse to see him again."

"You can't blame me for trying." He grinned back, completely unashamed. "Still, you have to admit, he'd have a better shot at it than most people."

"What about Jeong Jeong?" she asked.

The boys turned to look at her with various degrees of shock.

"Jeong Jeong is a deserter who hates the Fire Nation," Zuko said slowly, "And Master Piandao was a faithful subject. What would they have to do with each other?"

"Just a thought," she said carelessly. "Wasn't the whole reason behind that famous battle of his, when he single-handedly defeated a hundred soldiers, that they were trying to get him to join the army and he refused? Seems to me he and Jeong Jeong have more in common than you'd think."

Zuko and Hinata exchanged a glance and shrugged.

"Jeong Jeong's camp isn't that far from Omashu," Hinata said. "I suppose that's as good a backup plan as any."

"Backup plan for what?" Sokka plopped down next to Hinata, his hair hanging down in his face instead of up in his usual ponytail. He yawned and stretched. "It better be for finding food, because let me tell you our supplies are running low."

Beside her, Zuko grimaced. "We have plenty of money, but a lot of good it does us. Azula will have sent hawks by now warning every outpost she can think of to be on the lookout for us."

"I don't suppose you Fire Nation types are any good at living off the land?" At their silence, he sighed dramatically. "I guess it's back to nut-gathering duty for me, then."

"We're not going to live off nuts, Sokka," Hinata snapped.

Mai had to smother a smile at the almost dejected look on Sokka's face. Apparently he took a sort of pride in his hunter-gatherer skills. But he quickly screwed his face into a smirk.

"What's your big plan, then?"

Hinata pursed his lips and faintly blushed. "We'll figure it out."

Several days later, they still hadn't figured it out.

The meager rations, even supplemented with Sokka's nuts and berries, were spread so thin they weren't enough for one filling meal a day. They'd been slowly making their way south so they could avoid the Si Wong desert, and as if the hunger wasn't bad enough, all of that had been done by foot. Appa was getting better, but it would be a few more days before Aang would allow any flying.

Something had to be done, and soon. Zuko's nerves were shot.

After half-heartedly setting up his tent that night, he had no energy left to waste on making a bed. The nights were getting warmer; he'd just huddle with Mai for warmth and use his pack as a pillow.

Mai was still brushing her hair - how did she have the energy to do that still? - when he flopped onto the ground, ready to sleep.

"Ow!" His head, instead of resting on a soft part of his pack, had banged uncomfortably into something hard.

She raised her eyebrows at him, but didn't even pause in her brush strokes.

He sat up, rubbing his head, and spitefully opened his pack to remove the offending item: the Blue Spirit mask he'd worn to the Fire Days Festival.

He'd honestly forgotten he still had it, much less that he'd packed it. When every day was the same repeated routine, there wasn't much need to sort through your possessions. He stared at it, thinking of the festival, of Mai and Hinata in their own masks, of how the soldier he'd fought had had no idea who he was.

And all of a sudden, he knew exactly how they were going to get food.

An hour later, he and Mai were crouched in the shadow of a building in a local town, just in sight of the market. The moon was full, but their clothes were dark and if they were quick and kept to the shadows, they wouldn't be spotted.

Hinata would kill him when he found out. But the fewer people who were involved, the better. Besides, Hinata didn't know how to fight without firebending. If they were spotted, it was imperative for them to be mistaken for ordinary citizens.

Mai gestured with a knife at a shop not too far from them, where bags of rice were locked in a metal box by the front door. He nodded, and at his signal they darted across the square. His broadswords made quick work of the lock. He grabbed two bags of rice, each probably weighing 25 pounds, and was about to hand one of them to Mai when a clattering sound sent them both whirling around.

It was a young girl, maybe a few years younger than Toph, who had just opened the front door; her family must own the store.

"The Blue Spirit," the girl breathed. "You're the one who stood up to the soldiers up north."

He looked over at Mai and nearly groaned in frustration. They couldn't communicate with these masks on. Fine. He would do it his own way, then. He looked back at the girl and slowly nodded.

"But why are you stealing our rice? I thought you were good?"

Now Zuko was glad for the mask, which hid his blush. He hadn't really thought of it that way. He was taking the rice out of necessity. But there was no way to communicate this to the girl, so instead he reached into a bag at his waist and pulled out several coins, worth much more than the two bags of rice, and tossed them to her.

She bent to pick them up and clutched them to her chest. She stared at the two of them again, and then turned around and bolted back inside the door, slamming it behind her.

He and Mai melted back into the shadows of the alley beside them. So much for getting in and out undetected. But one little girl couldn't cause too much trouble. Right?

AN: There are about three more chapters in Book Two (there will be three books total in the fic), and while this chapter was mostly setup, that's not going to last. To quote my beta reader, we're going to spend the rest of Book Two tearing through the plot like a horse with its tail on fire. Don't say you weren't warned.