Rewrite, Rewind

Chapter 27


Three months into the siege of Ba Sing Se


Hai He was starting to get worn down with the fighting. During the day she tended to the injuries of their soldiers and at night she dressed up like the River Spirit known as 'the painted lady' and joined the fray of the front lines. She made sure to get adequate rest between tasks, taking four hours of sleep after the fight and before tending to the injured and taking another six hours of sleep before she went to the night-time fire-rock-fight.


Six months into the siege of Ba Sing Se


It was nighttime when Hai He finally found Lu Ten. He was sitting on the edge of the campgrounds, staring out at the distant wall giving them so much trouble. She didn't say anything as she took a seat beside him, they hadn't talked once since their fight on the day they first arrived before Ba Sing Se.

"I'll be leaving in the morning." Lu Ten murmured, his dark golden eyes locked on the horizon. "The new plan is to grow a second camp closer to the wall. Maybe we can keep up the fight for longer if we're closer to the wall. There's hope that it'll also give us a chance to retreat our injured and swap out the injured for the uninjured with faster times." She was quiet, listening to his voice that she hasn't heard for so long that she couldn't name the last time she heard it. She didn't star at the distant wall of Ba Sing Se, she turned her eyes to the beautiful display of stars floating high overhead.

"I'm still mad at you," Hai He sighed, leaning into Lu Ten's side. "Someday you have to marry and your wife will be of acknowledged noble blood. A woman who has sway in both the public and in politics."

"I know," Lu Ten sighed, leaning his head against her own. "Can't I just enjoy this view with you? I know that I'll never get a second chance…"

"…I wish we weren't kin," Hai He whispered, ignoring the singular tear that slipped down her cheek.

"Me too."


One year into the attack on Ba Sing Se


Hai He hadn't given up the role of the Painted Lady, she still joined the night fights. She swept forward with her bending, calling forth a haunting mist, using the damp soil to her advantage. Any earth bender who dared to challenge her was left with bloody feet and damaged joints. One would think that with the full moon behind her, the earth benders would think twice about attacking her but no, they didn't. They kept moving the earth, kept trying to bar her way, kept trying to push her back—they never succeeded. When there were no more earth benders left to stand in her way, she moved her water to drilling into the earth.

Earth benders always thought they were so crafty.

They thought dropping stones on her from above the towering walls of the city was a great idea. They didn't know that water could be stronger then stone if it were sharp enough. Every bolder they dropped on her was split mercilessly in half, surrounding her in broken pieces. A few earth benders thought to use the broken pieces against her, this only brought about their own deaths as she twirled through the mist in perfect evasion. It was only due to the 'painted lady's' drilling that the Fire Nation was able to get as far as they could on the earthen wall.

She felt the moment the moon began to descend, felt the weakening of her power and so left the battlefield in the capable hands of several soldiers who were all too happy to continue where she left off. Hai He returned to the nearby bathing stream the female soldiers were accustomed to using by now. There she stored her paints and robes in a bubble of ice at the bottom of the stream. She cleaned herself and redressed in her servant robes before moving back to her tent.


373 days into the attack on Ba Sing Se


It has officially been one year and a week since they left home. Now everyone in the base camp had received news of the outer wall finally giving way. There was celebration of course, many more giving thanks to the painted lady who has been helping them during the long cold nights. Hai He ignored the praise of the spirit she had taken the persona of to fearlessly use her water bending to aid her family in their endeavor. As the news swept through the army and hope was restored like a flash wave, Hai He solemnly turned to her injured patience and tended to their injuries.

The outer wall was breached, she'll step aside now and allow the soldiers to continue their work.


One week after the outer wall was breached


On the edge of the outer wall, one of the buildings had been converted into a makeshift hospital. Hai He found herself sitting just outside the doorway, trying to whip her hands clean of the blood on them. She lost another patient; she was beginning to lose count how many dead they had. She knew that if she just used her water bending—no, she'll risk exposing not just herself but her sisters, her nieces and nephews, the very people her father was trying so hard to hide and protect.

It didn't matter how many lives stained her hands, she could not risk exposing the secret her father has spent a lifetime trying to hide. Even if she did manage to use her bending to save the fire nation soldiers, those same soldiers would turn against her father and family. She couldn't risk it. She had to continue using these weak healing tactics of the fire nation.

She didn't have a choice. She wouldn't be the only one to die if anyone else found out about her bending.

"I wonder where the Painted Lady went," the weak whisper of a soldier inside the blood-scented room caught her attention.

"Perhaps… she thinks we don't need her," another gasped for breath, she knew this one would not live to see the day.

"How?" the first whimpered in pain. "We still need her… doesn't she heal? Have we done something to anger her?"

"I don't know," the weak rasp of the former ended with a deafening silence.

The painted lady could heal? Hai He hadn't known that her fellow comrades on the ship only talked about how the Painted Lady protected the weak. They didn't mention a healer. It didn't matter, Hai He could work with that. She left the hospital and its stench of death. She walked to the entrance of the broken outer wall but before she could travel any further an ominous mist greeted her. She stood at the entrance, staring into the white glowing mist, her hands folded perfectly before herself. She could feel the air on the back of her neck standing on end, a feeling she often associated with someone else water bending near her. It was for this reason that Hai He stood before the wall of white glowing mist unafraid. Through the mist a figure moved towards her, dark and somber, the silent steps noticed with the gentle gate of a familiar friend.

Hai He smirked as the painted woman in thick black leather appeared through the white mist, in her hand was a familiar ice-bubble. Hai He folded her hands before herself and bowed, allowing the white mist to surround her person. She let her pink servant robes drop to the cobble stone and allowed the warm scratchy red cotton to slip in place over her body. Soon enough the familiar feeling of red berry juice was accompanied on her skin, familiar markings taking shape beneath the smooth guidance of a familiar water bender. When every piece of cloth was secured and every painted stripe secured, Hai He straightened and dropped her hands to her side. The distant figure stepped close and set the familiar veiled hat atop her head, a soft whisper meant for her ears alone and then her ally disappeared back into the white mist. Hai He opened her eyes, the white mist now surrounded her like a protective shield, she could sense every water droplet that took form inside its depths.

Yes, she could work with this.

"We'll support you, no matter what." She was given permission by her elders; she'll do whatever it takes to protect them.

Her first stop was the Fire Nation Hospital, where dozens of lives were in need of her healing.


please leave reviews

I love the feedback