Part 2 - Order
Khana and Ghazi ventured into the sewers, the pungent scent pervading their noses and numbing their sense of smell as they journeyed through the dark, dank caverns.
"Are you not able to Earth-bend us out of here?"
Khana punched her fist in the air, but nothing happened, making her suspiciously stomp her foot on the floor as a loud metal clang echoed throughout the sewers, "It's metal... I can't bend metal..." she scrunched up and nervously chuckled.
"And here I thought every Earth-bender and their grandmother could do that these days."
"I considered learning, but Lin said I'd have to go to someplace called Zaofu and become a part of the City Guard. Two things I didn't want to do."
"Any particular reason why?"
"I'm a Kyoshi Warrior. Joining another group seemed... wrong. I'm also a protector of the Ava- Claire. I can't forsake that duty."
Ghazi nodded as a brief smile cracked over his face, "your loyalty is admirable."
The two silently marched through the stagnant tunnels, but Khana almost fell over an edge and into the Sewer water. However, Ghazi snagged her robe, gripping tightly as she dangled, "for an Elite Warrior trained in the art of stealth, you are remarkably unaware of your surroundings."
He pulled her back to his side as she huffed and assessed the gap, "How do we plan to get over this?" Ghazi asked, glaring at the massive crevice in front of them.
Khana observed it, humming and turning her gaze to her comrade, a cheeky grin crawling over her face, "I could throw you."
But he scoffed, "I am twice your size, and despite your strength, you are still just a woman."
"What... do you mean by that?"
"You are a woman; I am a man. And although we are both warriors, your strength pales in comparison."
Khana scoffed, rolling her fists and wiggling her fingers, "Well, let's just see about that!"
She lunged to grasp his wrist and ankle, but Ghazi latched onto her amber hair, his grip tight like a vice, "I have a better idea."
He tossed Khana by her head like she weighed less than a screaming feather, landing her on the other side of the gap with a groaning thud. She shakily stood back up and glared over at Ghazi, "So... how do you plan to get over?"
He remained silent, crouching and swaying his arms back before leaping forward, slamming down on the other side and looming tall over her.
"... Show off..."
They continued their venture, spying a light at the end of the tunnel, thinking it to be an exit and sprinting for it, only to find a large open area with fire illuminating the walls and a circular metal platform attached to a giant bronze column, standing so tall the top spanned into an abyss above them.
Ghazi raised an eyebrow to it and gazed up at the structure, "By war's spirit, what is this thing?"
"I don't know... but my guess is it's one of Kang's works."
"The Inventor's work... yes, I can see it."
The two scanned around, trying to find a way to operate the peculiar platform. Ghazi discovered a lever near the stage, pulling on it and making It descend to them as Khana rushed over. The platform stopped and allowed them to climb aboard, hoping to use it to ascend back to the surface.
"Why would the Inventor build... this?"
Khana stood before a control panel, studying it before pressing anything, "My guess is it's for stopping criminals using the sewers as an escape route."
"But how would this stop them? This is no trap."
Khana turned around and lent against the control panel, "There's probably some kind of fail-safe to stop people using it, or a booby trap should you be missing a... key part..."
The metal clang of a lever pushing forward reverberated throughout the chamber as she turned to the control panel, noticing an empty slot to the right of the lever. Without warning, the platform swiftly descended, nearly throwing them off as they held on for dear life.
The platform halted and mercilessly slammed them on its metal surface as Khana's vision turned black.
A young Khana stood before a training dummy among the Kyoshi Warrior sparring grounds at the Royal Palace, a massive area covered in flagstones, maroon and gold walls, and a stone statue of Kyoshi herself at its centre. She jabbed and kicked at the dummy, aiming for its pressure points, grunting and exhaling with each strike. She hopped back, taking a breath as the sounds of three sets of footsteps approached. She turned to find a triad of Kyoshi Warriors in training, all pale-faced and adorned in the traditional attire. The Leader's hair black and shoulder-length, and her underlings with hair brown and tied back.
Khana's nerves anxiously tingled as their gaze pierced through her.
"What? Not going to greet us?" the Leader chuckled.
She stammered as her arms and legs trembled. The other Kyoshi Warriors rarely paid her any mind, only ever giving her so much as a sideways glance and an occasional hello.
"I... um... hello..?"
The girls giggled as the Leader strutted forward, "Now was that so hard?" she placed a firm hand on her unguarded shoulders, her grip like a half-tightened vice.
"You see... Kyoshi Warriors are an order of women only; you know that, right?"
Khana swiftly nodded, her eyes quivering as one of the underlings stepped forward, "There was Suki's husband who joined once, though!"
"Shut up, Jia!" The Leader barked, turning her piercing slanted eyes and callous smile back to Khana, "You see... there's this rumour going around, a certain one about you..."
Khana flinched back, the Leader's grip breaking away as she stood mouth agape, "Oh, that reaction says there's a little truth to this!"
She averted her gaze to the ground as her fists clenched, "Please just... leave me alone."
"What? And let some half-breed taint the Kyoshi Warrior name? I don't think so."
The Leader cracked her knuckles, but a thunderous march snatched her attention away from Khana as she approached. Ty Lee, co-leader of the Kyoshi Warriors and Suki, Zuko's personal guard and Leader of the order, stood before them. Suki's hair was a long, silky, silvery auburn, eyes a light cerulean, and a golden crown with four prongs adorning her head. She wore traditional Kyoshi Warrior attire, and her stance asserted her dominance over the warriors in training.
"What's going on here?"
The Leader and underlings stammered into line as Khana gazed up at Suki, "Oh, just here to give... Khana here a few Chi-blocking pointers!"
The underlings nodded, "We saw her training and thought we could give her a hand or two!"
Suki and Ty Lee turned their gaze to Khana, "Is that true?"
She bit her lip, her nerves riddling as she slowly looked up, "Y... yeah, they were..."
Suki unconvincingly slanted her eyes, and Ty Lee tilted her head, "If you say so, Khana... just don't be too rough with her."
The Leader and underlings bowed, "Of course not, Master Suki! A Kyoshi Warrior always looks out for their own, right?"
Khana stood more petrified than a statue, "Why did I say that!?"
"But then again, what difference would it make?"
"Who would they really believe?"
The two nodded, briefly smiling and departing as Jia leaned up to the Leader's ear, "What now?"
"Leave it, for now; too many eyes on us."
The three departed, leaving Khana in sorrowed relief as she turned back to the dummy, viciously punching its head as tears welled in her eyes.
The three often returned to Khana, planning to either force her out of the order or make her leave voluntarily. Each confrontation more aggressive than the last; days turned to weeks, weeks to months.
The dastardly trio approached her again while she sat huddled up on the far side of the training grounds, trying to hide in the shadows, but even they couldn't protect her from their hawk-like gaze.
"Well, if it isn't Half-breed Khana. Still sticking around, I see."
She leapt from her seated position and stood firm against them as the flagstones cracked underfoot, "Would it kill you three to just leave me alone!?"
"And let you corrupt the Kyoshi Warrior name? Either you're going to leave, or we're going to make you wish you never joined!"
The girls went to lash out at Khana, but her energy surged in a way she'd never experienced before. In a desperate attempt to survive, she swung her fist out and split the ground before them, making the foundations of the grounds jut out and blow them away.
The trio regained their bearings whilst Khana stood petrified.
"Ugh, she's a bender now too? All the more reason for her not to be here."
Suki came trotting over, assessing the fallen girls, split and cracked ground, then the statuesque Khana, "...One person, tell me what happened here."
"This Half-br- K-Kyoshi Warrior is a bender!"
Her petrification slowly faded as she turned her gaze to Suki.
"Khana, be honest with me. How long have you been a bender?"
"About... ten maybe fifteen seconds?"
She lightly scoffed, "in that case... I'll make an exception. You've been with us for a long time now, and this is your home."
Khana gazed over at the now arisen three as they brushed themselves down, grunting and groaning before marching away.
"...is it... really my home?"
Suki tilted her head as she gently placed a hand on her pauldron, "of course it is! Where else would it be?"
Khana silently lowered her head as Suki patted her shoulder, "but, now that you're a bender, you're going to need a teacher. And lucky for you, I know just the person for the job!"
Weeks after her proposal, Suki arrived at the training grounds with a greying and sagging short stack of a lady adorned in green and beige robes, headband, and wristbands.
"Khana, this is an old friend of mine, Toph Beifong!"
"Do you have to remind me that I'm old?"
"You reminded me I was old at least three times during the trip, 'haven't thrown your back out yet, sweetness?'"
Toph chuckled to herself before she eyed up Khana, "huh, you've certainly got a unique one here."
Khana's palms broke into a sweat as she backed away, and her heart rate jumped.
"Oh, quit your worrying; I didn't mean anything cruel by it."
Khana's fear briefly shattered as a dash of confusion came over her.
"Well, you won't learn Earth-Bending by just standing around... well, the Old Coot might say otherwise, but not me! Let's get to work!"
Toph would train Khana in her ways of Earth-Bending, acting as a guardian over her whenever the dastardly trio ever strode close by. Months of blissful peace and bitter work tumbled by until Khana finally got a proper grasp of her Earth-Bending prowess.
The student and master sat together with cups of jasmine tea and plates of Peking duck within a grand hall with Royal Guards, and Kyoshi Warriors alike dotted around whilst sharing in laughs about Toph's adventures with Suki and Sokka.
"You know, Sweetness sent one of those messenger hawks out before going out to find me. Dropped the message right in my lap."
Khana sipped her tea as she eyed her up and down, "but aren't you... y'know."
"Blind! Yes!" Toph scoffed and sipped her tea, "over sixty bloody years, and those dunderheads still forget I can't read!"
"...Dunderheads?"
"Eh, little title I call 'em when they do something stupid."
Khana hesitantly chuckled as Toph set her stern, glazed glare on her, "Keep in mind, Khana, that I'm not going to be here forever."
"I... I know that."
"Which means you're going to have to stand up to those three weasel-snakes eventually."
"Three weasel... oh, yeah. Them..." Khana slumped and hunched over at the mere thought of the three.
"Once I've left, they'll come for you, no doubt about it. But when they do, show them who they're really messing with!"
"But what would Master Suki and Ty Lee think?"
"Their approval won't be worth jackshit if you're dead, Khana. These people won't stop coming for you until you've grown a backbone and stopped caring about how others see you."
She fell silent as Toph sipped the last of her tea and rolled her creaking neck.
"Anyway, best get some rest for tomorrow."
Toph would train Khana for several more months before she departed, leaving her an adept Earth-bender. But with the Great Earth-bender's departure, the trio of girls returned, lying in wait for a day when Suki and Ty Lee were sent away on a mission outside of the Capital City, giving the trio the perfect opportunity to rid the order of Khana.
She trained against the dummy once again, her jabs becoming faster as the months of training went on; and as she went for a hit, a pebble struck her head. She jerked back and clasped her wound, staring up to find two of the three had returned for more.
"No Beifong, Suki, or Ty Lee here to save you this time."
Khana's breath turned rabid, her arms and legs trembling, "I don't need them to protect me!"
Jia eventually arrived, standing cross-armed beside their Leader, "All the others have been cleared out of the grounds, now it's just us... and the half-breed."
"We gave you enough chances," she jutted her head at her, "Get her!"
The underlings rushed in as Khana shook off her fear, haphazardly thrusting out a stalagmite from under the flagstones, but in her attempt to fight back, her limbs were numbed by swift strikes from the two. They grappled her arms as she stumbled back, her body unable to move while they stripped her of her armour. The Leader approached, manically giggling as she cracked her knuckles.
"The Kyoshi Warriors is an order for girls, not freaks like you!" She slammed her boot into her unarmoured gut, blasting her onto the flagstones.
The underlings let her go and joined their Leader in mercilessly kicking Khana, blow after blow slamming into her body, her arms and legs refusing to move; all she could do was lay there and scream, bleed and cry for help, but none came her way.
"Freak!"
"Half-breed!"
"Abomination!"
"Mutant!"
Their chants pounded against her ears just as hard as their vicious kicks, but as her vision turned blurry, the kicking stopped, and the three fell to the floor. The muffled sounds of someone calling her name hit her ears as she writhed in a pool of vomited blood. The blurred and blackened sight of Ty Lee and Suki filled her vision, the tunes of a flute fluttering in as her eyes slowly shut.
Khana's wet stained eyes slowly opened, finding herself plastered against the metal platform surrounded by rubble and mossy stone. The tune of Ghazi's flute hit her ears as she peeled herself off the ground, the song stopping as he noticed her rise.
"Ah, you're finally awake..."
She rubbed and dried her eyes, "How long was I out?"
"A few minutes at best..." he slowly stood up and pocketed his flute, "Are you aware you speak and cry in your sleep?"
Khana flinched back and set her eyes on him, "I don- what... what did you hear?"
"You were asking someone to leave you alone... and muttered the words freak, half-"
"Don't..." she softly growled, her gaze turned to the cold metal floor.
"Is something the matter?"
Her eyes shot up to him and flared as a tear welled in them, her fists clenched enough to break the material of her gloves, "You don't know the half of it..."
"Then indulge me; why do you mutter those words to yourself?"
She gritted her teeth and tightened her eyes, trying to hold it in as her body trembled.
"Why do you-" "BECAUSE IT'S WHAT I AM!" her cries echoed throughout the chamber and took aback Ghazi.
"I have been like this my entire life, living with the fact that I'm different from every other woman around me; I am nothing more than an abomination! A freak of nature!"
"I suppressed the thoughts for as long as I could, but they always found a way to creep back up, be it through an offhand comment, a damn dream or looking at a mere reminder!"
"I have to live my whole life knowing no matter what I do or who I'm with; I will never be accepted for what I am! I'll never experience the love of another; I'll never know what it's like to look at someone and know they're a friend... I thought I could find a place among the Kyoshi Warriors, but I was still alone; I was still a self-loathing freak!"
"I... I've even hurt the ones I care about, the mere reminder or thought of what I am sends me into a blind rage, and I can't control myself until it's already too late!"
Her pained cries echoed throughout the abyssal chamber while Ghazi stood silent, staring at her with shaking eyes. But a grumble broke the silence, "Tell me... these words... are they truly your own?"
Khana scoffed, stammering and clenching her fists, "Are they my own!?" a tear rolled down her face as her eyes tightly shut, "They may as well be..."
"By that, you mean another forced you into believing you are what they say you are?"
Her tear-stained eyes flared once again, "Just what are you getting at!?"
"Some words are a vile venom used by the weak and the callous. They inject them over time, forcing a person they deem above their station, to believe what they say, in the hopes of dragging them down."
Khana silently gazed at him as he marched up to her, "Does this thing that makes you 'different' affect your prowess as a warrior?"
She stammered, taking a deep breath and staring up at him, "...no, not really..."
"Does it physically affect how you go about your day-to-day?"
Khana clenched her fists as her muscles tensed, "this isn't about how it 'physically affects' me! Do you even know what it's like to be judged before you're ever truly known?"
"I am an outsider to your culture; for all I know, I am judged before I am truly known."
Her words got caught in her throat as her muscles slowly relaxed and her arms dropped to her side.
"But what of these words? How do they affect you?"
She scoffed, "Is that a serious question?"
"Am I ever not?"
She sighed and gazed at her palms, "...every time I look in a mirror, I loathe myself for what I am, the words pound against my mind, and my body aches all over."
He gently placed his firm hands on her pauldrons, "And yet despite that, you still live. To have harboured a venom for so long and to have not faltered is... admirable."
Khana slowly raised her gaze to him, "I thought... you'd think something like this would... damage my standing as a warrior."
He shook his head, "As warriors, we are trained to endure the demons of combat, but few can steel themselves mentally against them."
"Now listen, and take these words to heart."
She silently gazed into his viridian eyes.
"Despite what you think of yourself, I, Ghazi of the Eastern Legion, gladly accept you for who you are; as a warrior and woman, you have my utmost respect."
Tears broke out of Khana's eyes like a dam, while Ghazi stood steadfast, holding her close and softly caressing her head. In time, her tears finally stopped flowing, and as she went to dry her eyes once more, Ghazi pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her.
She gently took it and dabbed the tear stains away, turning her gaze up to him once more, "Thank you, Ghazi..."
He nodded and smiled, "Do you wish to take a rest, or should we get moving?"
"I'm not one for resting in sewers. The sooner we're out..., the better."
"Agreed. Come, Kadan, there is a ladder this way."
Ghazi strode off while Khana raised an eyebrow to him, "My name's... Khana."
He turned stood by the ladder, "In The Legion, we use titles, not names."
She mulled it over as she peered at him, "So... what does 'Kadan' mean?"
"It means 'friend' or 'companion', depending on who it is being said to. In your case, it is the former."
A single tear brewed in her eye as she smiled at him and marched over to begin climbing the ladder.
"I hope your legs can endure this climb!" Ghazi said as he began ascending the ladder.
She smirked and lightly smacked her thigh, "Of course they can!"
They climbed for what felt like hours, briefly stopping their ascent to give their throbbing legs a break as they breathlessly observed their surroundings.
"How long do you think we have until we reach the surface?" Khana asked.
"Hold on," Ghazi cleared his throat, staring into the abyss above them and roaring loud enough to make a Dragon blush.
His bellow echoed up whilst Khana speechlessly hung onto the ladder.
"By my estimates... a while."
She scoffed and reached out to ascend once more, but an ominous metallic sound reverberated around the chamber, her eyes widening as the ladder beneath her gave way, intending to take her with it.
"Kadan!" He pushed his hands off the ladder, keeping the tops of his feet around the rungs as he swung himself down to Khana, grasping her arm and tightly gripping onto her.
"I can't say I've been in a predicament quite like this before."
"Lend me your other hand!"
Ghazi outstretched his free hand, allowing her to grab hold and pull herself up against him as he strained on the rungs, "Be Careful!"
She used him as an extension of the ladder, the rungs just within reach as she stretched out, pushing herself up with the help of Ghazi while her foot loomed near his groin.
"Watch where you put your foot, woman! Or you shall receive the same!"
She jumped at the sound of his threat, latching onto the ladder rungs and slowly turning her gaze downwards, "Sorry about that."
"Think nothing of it."
She squatted and offered a hand to him, the sound of the ladder clanging against the metal platform echoing throughout the chamber, followed by a distant, inhuman moaning.
They worryingly stared at each other, "It appears we are not alone down here..." Ghazi muttered as Khana pulled him up onto the remaining ladder.
She gazed up as they climbed and spied a large hole in the wall, "I think there's a hallway just up ahead."
"A hallway that could lead right to our moaning guest."
"I'd rather take my chances with whatever that is than an unstable ladder."
Ghazi affirmatively nodded as they ascended towards the large hole, climbing within and finding themselves inside a dark, long tunnel. They deftly ventured inwards, entering a giant cave filled with dimly lit crystals and a massive body of water within its centre, "What are Crystals doing in a place such as this?" Ghazi asked, dinging his fist against them.
"I'm an earth-bender, not a rock enthusiast."
Khana marched up to the body of crystal clear water and knelt next to it, "Didn't expect to find Freshwater near a sewer..."
Ghazi wandered over and observed the water with her, "This may be the home of whatever we heard."
But while they studied the water, the ground quaked, and the water rippled as the duo backed off and withdrew their weapons; the crystals emitted a blinding light as a giant serpentine creature erupted from the pool of water and unleashed a mighty roar.
Khana softly glared at Ghazi, "What? It's not like I summoned it."
Without warning, the serpentine beast ejected a pressurised water stream from its mouth as they rolled behind a set of individual crystals. Khana studied the creature, noting its long whiskers, piercing green eyes and set of large sharp teeth, "That's an Unagi... smaller than I've heard, but what in the world is it doing here!?"
"Do you take me for a fish enthusiast?"
Khana raised an eyebrow and slanted her gaze at him.
"It may be a Sub-species... Do you know how to fight it?"
"Not the foggiest; all I know is that it's supposed to be native to Kyoshi Island, not Republic City Sewers!"
Ghazi shrugged and rolled out from behind his crystal covering with three short knives in between his fingers, throwing them all at the Unagi, but to no surprise, the blades bounced right off, barely scratching the Giant Eel.
The beast released another water jet at him as he instinctively thrust his Hammer out at it, the water blasting him away onto his back. However, a rune that looked like an arrow missing half the barb ignited with an azure light.
Ghazi smirked at the Unagi and tightly clasped his Hammer, "Wajeh Ghadab Almuhit!"
He slammed the Hammer into the ground, launching spears of ice and jets of boiling water up at the Beastly Eel, scorching and scratching its body as it furiously roared.
And as the barrage ceased, the Unagi unleashed another jet of water, but Ghazi twirled his Hammer like an oversized baton, the rush of aqua coiling around the Hammer and flowing with his movements until he swung it out with a mighty cry, blasting the beasts attack back at it.
While the Eel flailed in disorientation, he turned to Khana, "Are you just going to hide down there all day, or are you going to help?"
Khana smirked, "sorry!"
She rolled out from behind the crystals, stomping her foot and shooting up a massive earthen column at the Unagi, which smashed its head. But it shook off the attack, hissing at her and unleashing another aqua jet.
She instinctively erected an earthen wall, but the sheer force cut right through it and almost through Khana herself. But with its focus on her, Ghazi aimed for a killing blow, slashing his Hammer up and bending the water up like a sword to cut it in two, but only caught part of its whisker, sending the Unagi into a violent fury.
The giant Eel turned its murderous glare on Ghazi, lunging and catching him in its mouth, then swallowing him whole whilst Khana looked on in horror.
"GHAZI!"
The Unagi turned its piercing gaze to her, intending to chow down on her next, but as it lunged, the beast stopped, the muffled roaring of Ghazi coming from within.
"Ana lastu asha'uk!"
Khana quizzically stared at the body of the Unagi as a part of its form blasted away in a brutal display of blood, guts and flesh. While it wailed in agony, Ghazi bellowed and cleaved his Hammer through its flesh, slamming the beast in two.
The Eel's corpse fell with a mighty thud as he hopped off the carcass, wet, slimy and victorious over the beast. Khana rushed in, feverishly checking him over, much to his surprise.
"Are you alright?"
Ghazi smirked, "I am alive, and I will live... but we still need to find that exit."
They ventured back through the dank, hollow sewers, finally finding a short ladder that led out onto the streets of Republic City. The two climbed up, punching a manhole cover out of the way and emerging onto the streets, finding themselves outside the Grand Barracks, sitting down in front of it with thankful sighs.
"Next time we investigate a suspicious chief, please do not send us into a sewer."
Khana chuckled, "I'll try not to."
Passersbys gave the pair quizzical and repulsed looks while they sat there, gazing out to the evening sun, "did you... really mean what you said down there?"
"Of course. As a member of the Ghazi, I cannot allow a fellow Warrior to falter. We all hold demons in our minds, hearts or hands, and we need people we can trust and hold dear to defeat them. A friend."
Khana's smile quivered as she held back a tear, "thank you, Ghazi."
"You needn't thank me, just pray that the others think the same as I."
She turned her gaze to the cold cobblestone floor, "What should I do if... you know?"
"If they do not. You are free to return to the Eastern Legion with me; the Arkan will be honoured to meet a Kyoshi Warrior such as yourself."
Khana smiled and lightly nudged his arm, breaking a smile over his face, "For now, we should return to The inventor's lab; he and the Avatar will doubtless be back by now."
He stood up, beginning his venture back.
"Wouldn't it be better to bathe first?"
Ghazi stopped in his tracks, pivoting on the spot back around to her, "An excellent Idea, Kadan. Perhaps the Giant and his friend can assist us."
She rose from the ground as the two marched into the Sunset illuminated City. The two arrived back at the Derelict Estate to find Zu and Li lounging out front.
"Giant! Short one!"
The two perked up as they approached, "Ghazi, what can we do for you?"
Li sniffed the air and jerked back, then fell from his chair, "Gah! You two smell like something died on you!"
"That is what we are here about, actually."
"Do you two know any good... bathhouses?"
Zu and Li turned to each other with snide grins, "We'll do you one better!"
The Giant marched around to the side of their house and formed a massive stone tub, making the unwashed two quizzically stare.
"Is this not a bit... big for two people?"
"Whoever said it was for two?"
Zu stomped the ground, catching the sense of a water pipe running through the estate and bending the earth out around it, then popping open the metal linking the pipes. Water erupted into the air as Li took control of the raging geyser, redirecting it into the stone tub until it was filled to the brim. As Zu repaired the pipe, Li flexed his palms out to the water, concentrating until the water bubbled.
She sceptically waltzed up to it while The Boys and Ghazi stripped down, "Kadan, it is better to bathe without armour."
She turned redder than a tomato as she twisted around, "I know. I know. It's just... well..."
"No need to worry, Red. We won't judge!"
Zu climbed into the tub and erected a stone bench all around as he took a seat and whistled with glee. Li and Ghazi climbed in after him, taking in the soothing heat of the steamy water.
"Room for one more, Khana!"
She crossed her arms and averted her gaze as her hands rubbed up and down her triceps.
"Kadan."
She turned her gaze to him.
"I am sure these two would accept you just as well as I did. There is nothing to fear around the ones who are your friends."
Zu and Li sceptically stared at each other as the Giant snapped his fingers, "oh, I think I know what he's talkin' about!"
Khana seized up as he turned to her, "look, Red, you're currently standing in front of a man with three other guys in his head, a man from who knows where."
"Earth Kingdom, deep in the east."
"Right. And, me! I'm bigger than any one man should be. We're all different to some degree, and it's nothing to be ashamed of."
She smiled as her breath got caught in her throat, and a tear rolled down her face, "thank you..."
Khana finally flung her armour, clothes and boots off and dived into the steamy tub.
"That's more like it!" Zu gleefully said.
She took in the heat of the soothing water as the other three gratefully smiled.