As torches flickered along the corridors either side of him, Shang hurried down towards the throne room from his tower.
He waved urgently at the guards guarding the throne room, waving a piece of paper in his hands at them, and they seemed to understand what he was saying. One of them stepped aside, while the other opened the door and shouted inside.
"The Chief Hawker is here to see His Majesty!"
Thanking the man, Shang entered the room. It was a cavernous area, with rows of pillars lining either side of it. On the far end of the room, a large green and gold platform had been set up, and on it was the throne of the Earth King.
Not that the Earth King was actually on it. As Shang entered, Earth King Kuei, the 52nd monarch to rule a unified Earth Kingdom and one of the most powerful men in the world, was hurriedly standing up just in front of the platform, having been playing on the floor with his pet bear, Bosco.
"Your Majesty, I have an urgent message for you!" Shang told him.
"Can't you see that I'm busy?" Kuei asked. "Still, I suppose it doesn't matter now. What is it you wish to say?"
"It's not good news, I'm afraid. I just received a messenger hawk from an Earth Navy ship operating in the far south of the Kingdom. It says that Kyoshi Island has been occupied."
"Oh," was the only thing Kuei said in response.
"Do you want to see a map, your majesty?"
"No, that won't be necessary, I'm perfectly aware of where Kyoshi Island is." Kuei replied. "Does this message specify who attacked it?"
"Yes, it does."
"And...?" Kuei prodded.
"By the Earth Navy."
"The Earth Navy?" Kuei obviously couldn't believe his ears. "Why would they do that? Kyoshi Island is part of my sovereign realm! This would be treason!"
"There's more. The letter also says that the rogue Earth navy vessels disguised themselves as water tribe vessels, and that a real Water Tribe vessel commanded by the son of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe is assisting in trying to retake the island."
Shang looked the King in the eyes.
"If we're not careful about this, the situation on that island could spark a new war."
"Yes, that would not be pleasant," Kuei mused.
"How do we proceed, Your Majesty?"
Kuei nodded, and fell silent for a while.
"I think we should summon the Water Tribe's ambassadors," he began. "See if they know anything about this and try to prevent any misunderstandings."
"Anything else?"
"Run a message to Grand Admiral Chen. Tell him to prepare the Grand Fleet to sail south."
"All of it?"
"Yes. Whatever is happening, the fleet will put a stop to it, I know they will."
Shang nodded, and left, as the Earth King began to play with his bear again.
I do believe I win."
Sokka placed the last piece on the Pai Sho board, and watched Suki slump in her chair.
"One of these days, I will defeat you," she promised him.
"Perhaps, but that day is not today."
The two of them were in Suki's cabin on the Kyoshi, trying to pass the time while enforcing their blockade of the island. They had dispatched hawks to Ba Sing Se, the South Pole and the Caldera, to try to prevent a misunderstanding leading to a war and to let Zuko and Iroh know what was going on, but they had not heard anything back.
Then, Suki had an idea.
"That day is today," she told Sokka, standing up.
"Haven't we played enough Pai Sho for one day?" Sokka complained.
"Who said anything about Pai Sho?" Suki asked, picking up her scabbard and pulling out her sword.
Sokka's eyes widened.
"You want to spar? In here?"
"Well where else are we going to do it?"
"What if we damage your cabin?"
"We are in the navy, are we not? We should be used to fighting in confined spaces."
Sokka considered, and then stood up.
"You're on."
As Suki moved to lock the door, so nobody came bursting in and got themselves run through, Sokka reached for his own scabbard and, with a flourish, pulled out Space Sword. The black space rock of the blade glinted in the light filtering in through the windows at the back of the ship, as he levelled the sword towards Suki.
The Kyoshi warrior did the same, and for a moment neither of them moved, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
Finally, Sokka became impatient first. He sprang forwards, thrusting his sword towards Suki, who sidestepped him. Sokka managed to stop just in time to stop himself putting his sword through the wall.
"This brings back memories," he smiled.
Suki lunged forward just as he was turning around, but Sokka saw her coming in a mirror and managed to parry her attack.
"Of course," she remembered. "The first time we met."
Sokka managed to throw her backwards, and went on the offensive, slashing at her. Suki managed to parry or dodge all his attacks, but soon she was pressed up against the opposite wall of the cabin.
"It's not what I would call a good memory," Sokka told her. "Not exactly romantic."
Suki ducked under his sword, rolled under him and came up behind him, reversing their situations in an instant.
"No, but something good did come out of it, I met you."
"One of your crewmen also shot my sister."
"I've said sorry- hey, you attacked us first!"
Sokka took advantage of the indignant hand gesture she was making to shove her backwards, and soon they were back in the centre of the room, circling each other.
"You think you can defeat me?" Sokka put on his most evil voice again. "I was trained by Master Piandao himself!"
"Then he didn't do a very good job," replied Suki, seizing an opportunity for a verbal jab.
Sokka dropped his sword and was just about to say "hey!" Suki took the chance, going on the offensive again, her sword flashing. Sokka just managed to block her first strike, looked around, and jumped up onto the desk, banging his head on the ceiling in the process.
"Ow!"
That didn't stop him from blocking her next attacks, and continuing to swing at her from his position on what passed for the high ground in this situation.
"Sokka, my paperwork!" Suki told him indignantly, seeing that he was standing on some quite important pieces of paper.
"Hey, you were the one who wanted to spar in here."
"Good point, but can you at least stand on the other part of the desk?"
"Alright," and Sokka shifted his footing. Suki took the opportunity to swing at his legs, forcing him to jump, and with a yell he fell backwards and crashed to the floor behind the desk.
"Oh spirits, are you alright?" Suki shouted, running around the desk to see if he had hurt himself. Sokka wasn't there.
"Aha!" She turned around to see him jump up on the other side of the desk, where she had just been, having clearly rolled under it.
"En garde- wait, why do you look so pleased with yourself?"
"Well, first because you're alright, and second-"
Suki reached down and picked up a familiar black object from the floor.
"-you dropped this."
Sokka's eyes travelled from his empty sword hand to his sword, in the possession of his enemy.
"Well played." He said.
"Do you yield?"
"Never!"
"So be it."
And Suki dropped both her weapons and jumped over the desk towards Sokka, who was not expecting it. She collided with him with a crash and they both went sprawling to the floor. Suki reacted quicker and scrambled on top of him, straddling him and pinning him to the floor.
"Now do you yield?"
Sokka's voice, when he replied, was much lower than it had been previously.
"How are you going to make me?"
Suki smiled as she leaned in closer.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll find a way..."
Unfortunately, though, they had just started kissing when they heard a loud rapping on the door.
"Sokka! Suki?" Katara's voice was heard.
"What does she want?" Sokka muttered, dropping his head back onto the floor in disappointment as Suki pulled away and stood up.
"If you don't open up, I'll get Toph to bust this door down!"
Sokka snorted. "That is something Katara would do."
"It's something Toph would do too."
After they had both recovered, made themselves presentable, and retrieved their weapons, they opened the door to an irate Katara.
"What were you two doing? Why was the door locked and why did it take so long to open it?"
"We were sparring," Sokka told her, and then swiftly changed the subject. "So what was so important that you needed to tell us?"
Katara pointed out across the bay. "Longshot."
Suki looked where she was pointing, and sure enough a lone figure with a bow was standing on the water's edge. Suki watched him raise the weapon, notch an arrow and take aim.
"Everyone take cover!" She bellowed. The crew did not need to be told twice, and everybody jumped down hatches. Longshot released his arrow, and Suki watched as arced through the air gracefully before lodging itself in the mast.
His job done, the archer turned and walked away.
There was a message attached to the arrow. Suki walked up and pulled it out of the mast. Only the shaft came out, the head having already embedded itself too deeply in the wood.
Suki read the message, and felt the urge to throw up over the side.
"Call an officer's meeting," she managed to say as she rushed into the cabin. Sokka and Katara exchanged looks, and did as she said. By the time the officers filed into the room,Suki had had a drink and was sitting at her desk, her head in her hands.
"I take it the message isn't good news?" Katara asked.
"I'll read it to you, if you like," Suki replied.
"To Suki, Captain of His Majesty's Ship Kyoshi," she began.
"I see that you have not yet acceded to my demands, and indeed have issued me an ultimatum. I do not accept, and I do not need to. You, on the other hand, will want to accept, because I have something you do not: leverage.
I did not wish to do this, but time is running short so you leave me with no choice. Either you hand over Sokka immediately, or, starting from tomorrow, we kill one of your precious Kyoshi Islanders every day until you see sense. Do you value the life of a snow savage you haven't even known for a year over your own people?See you tomorrow, Jet.""What are you going to do?" Toph asked.
"What can I do?" Suki asked.
Sokka sighed.
"If Jet wants me, then Jet can have me if it means he doesn't kill those people."
"No!" Katara shouted. "There must be some way around this. I am not going to lose you,"
Ordinarily, Suki would have agreed, but she didn't see what choice she had.
"How do we know he's telling the truth?" One of the Water Tribe Officers asked.
"If we call his bluff and he is telling the truth, someone dies. I don't think we should take the risk." Mingzhu replied.
"No, we shouldn't," Suki agreed. She turned around and looked out of the window.
"So that's it. We're just going to fold and give him what he wants," Katara said indignantly. Suki only sighed and stared out at the ocean.
And then she had an idea.
"We are going to give him what he wants," she told them, turning around. "But he should be careful what he wishes for."