Hello guys and gals. I now return with a somewhat less borderline M-rated chapter than the previous one. Enjoy it-especially because after one more chapter of bonding and fluff and rubbing shoulders with secondary characters, Hong and Rajata are finally going to get sucked into the vortex of canon, whether they like it or not.
There isn't much that a reader might find offensive in this chapter. Still, as a warning, we have:
-A widower talking about his experience of loss.
-Depressing talk between our lovers about how they would deal with the other's hypothetical death.
-A character bluntly admitting that he would readily torture a person that harmed his beloved.
-A different male character looking at a woman in a lewd manner.
-A dangerous animal being killed in defense of human life.
That should cover all the bases. Now have fun!
It was another fine summer evening in Ba Sing Se. It'd rained for a few hours during Hong's patrol with Guozhi the previous night, but it'd been coming more or less straight down, easily being deflected by their leather covered hats, and not hitting too terribly hard.
Being a farmer's son, Hong was also glad to see that the crops, orchards, flowers, and other cultivated plants had received a good soaking, just what they needed to boost their growth. Certainly, the flowers always seemed more vibrant, more dazzling, after a modest shower.
Perhaps Rajata had been of the same mind, for when Hong had woken up and left his bedroom earlier that afternoon, Yuxuan had presented his master with a letter from her, asking her qinglang if he wanted to accompany her to the Middle Ring's Chen Huacheng Memorial Garden that evening, after she left work. There, they would take in the ancient, vast public garden's beautiful flowers and landscaping together, go for a simple walk. Hong had been delighted to accept, dispatching someone with his message of reply to her family spice stall, letting her know he was coming.
Now, they laid on their backs together-this time, in a spirit of chastity-on a gently rolling knoll near the center of the public garden, heads pillowed in soft, lush grass. Rajata rested in the crook of his right arm, idly brushing her left hand up and down his breastbone as they watched the waxing moon drift higher into the sky.
Hong wished he could be as carefree and naïve as she was right then, to be able to just peacefully relax and be totally in the moment, gaze at the moon and stars with nothing weighing on his mind.
But even now, his thoughts kept veering back to the matter of the Avatar-much to his irritation. He wasn't going to ruin this blissful moment by questioning her about it, of course, but Hong was still pretty confident that like him, she'd also rushed out on that eerie night in late winter to see the moon, the entire city, mantled in the same shade of red as arterial blood, a red far different and more awful than what any lunar eclipse or dust cloud could produce.
And then it'd literally gone out like a light, with only the dim light of the stars remaining.
Then, merciful Guanyin, it had shifted back to its proper bone-white hue again. But the effects of that occurrence on the populace, the sheer screaming panic it'd caused, had taken quite a bit longer to remedy.
It was only until several weeks after the inexplicable event had taken place, that the first decent, evidently honest, accounts of exactly just what'd happened at the faraway North Pole, between the Avatar, his allies, and the forces of Admiral Zhao began to come to the attention of the Dai Li. They were shocking. And chilling in more ways than one.
Hong Yan wasn't a Dai Li agent for nothing. He prided himself on being able to face pain and danger without a second thought, and had gone down into that metal-lined bunker to engage what he knew could be as many as five or six armed members of a violent street gang as coolly as if they'd been nothing more than chinchilla-pikas. More than once, he'd managed to defeat an adversary in spite of having just been dealt a severe wound.
But what Avatar Aang had done to the Fire Nation fleet after merging with the justifiably pissed-off Ocean Spirit…
There was no evidence as yet that the boy had become fully trained in-or discovered-how to go into the Avatar State, access its awesome power at will. An academic matter though, as far as Hong was concerned.
And Hong reluctantly had to admit to himself that if he ever found himself going up against such power, there was a pretty good chance that he would die, just like all those Fire Nation soldiers.
He thought then of the Ocean Spirit, what it must've felt like for him to have suddenly and violently lost the partner, the lover, the companion, the wife basically, that must've circled and danced around him for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years-maybe even millions, for all anyone knew. That sheer depth of agony and loss…
"Rajata?"
"Yeah?" she replied, still contemplatively regarding the moon's disc.
"What would you do," he said quietly, "if I-well, if sometime after we had one of our dates together, I headed out for another patrol shift on the streets one morning-or evening-and said date turned out to-to be the last time that you ever saw me alive?"
She turned to meet his gaze, mildly surprised and concerned. "I'd be utterly heartbroken. Why would you ask a question like that?"
"Just curious. I guess a better way to express my thoughts is, I want to know not just how would you react to it Rajata, but would you be able to cope, afterwards?"
"Well," she replied after a few moments as she rested her head back onto her hands, "I'll admit that I've already thought about that possibility myself a few times-after all, you and I both know for a fact, that while it only happens maybe every three, four years, Dai Li agents have been killed in my now-former stomping grounds of The Lower Ring before."
He nodded gravely. "It tends to mostly be either apprentice or rookie agents who get the chop on those occasions, but the outlaws and agitators of our city have killed more than a few experienced veterans too over the centuries."
"I know. Anyhow, let me count the ways," she said. "I'd be both devastated in general, and majorly ticked off at the person or people who presumably took your life, for starters. I'd be there at your funeral of course, probably needing someone like my dad to support me so that I didn't just collapse to the ground from grief."
"I'd try my best to give a speech that I felt did justice to you and the love we shared, while going back and forth between being a blubbering mess and cursing out your killer in a fury. At the end, they'd probably need to drag me, thrashing and earthbending like a maniac in protest, away from your fresh grave."
"As for what I'd do next?" she continued thoughtfully. "I'd miss you terribly for a while Hong, probably just sit around in my house and mope and always be breaking down crying for at least the next several weeks, not feel up to going to work for quite a while, turn to my parents and siblings and friends for some serious emotional support. In time though…" she hesitated and looked at him before going on.
"First of all, please don't take this the wrong way Hong, or interpret it to mean that I'd ever be disloyal to you or to your memory, okay?"
"I won't."
"I'd never forget you-could never forget you-but in time…" she sighed, looking up at the sky. "Life goes on after a loss, whether we like it or not," she lightly shrugged. "And I would have to do the same. In order to feel complete again and help myself heal, I'd eventually find a new guy that I liked, who was right for me and loved me as much as you did. You may not like hearing that, but it's the truth."
"I appreciate your honesty," Hong replied. "And for what it's worth, I wouldn't be jealous at all up in the Spirit World, or Heaven, or wherever my spirit ended up. I'd want you to go find happiness with another boyfriend, or husband Rajata, believe me, instead of going it alone."
"Thank you," she smiled. "Now, let's turn this question on its head. What would you do if I was to die, Hong?"
He half-rolled over and looked at her for several long moments before replying, "Well, first of all, if your death was also…a violent one-you can rest assured that I'd stop at nothing to get my stone gloves on that son of a bitch, and kill him of course-but not before I made him beg me to do just that for a good long time until I granted his request."
"You'd torture him, in other words."
"Yes, I would," he admitted. "Frankly, it even gives me something of a chill to consider what I'd do to someone that harmed you, a member of my family-or even a member of yours."
"Chilling indeed, and I guess even kind of touching in a disturbing way, but I think we're veering off topic here with this talk of vengeance. Your other emotional reactions?"
Hong looked back up at the stars, and was silent for a time. "As you know," he said at last, his voice slightly catching, "I've already been a widower once. It's a feeling and an experience I wouldn't wish on anybody."
He paused, searching for the right words. "It feels like someone has smashed you in the head with a bent boulder Rajata, stunning you and leaving you dazed. At the same time, you feel like your heart has been carved out of your chest, so that there's only this dull hollowness left, and the world is just standing still around you."
Rajata's eyes seemed to shimmer slightly as she sat up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have brought the topic up."
"No, its fine," Hong replied. "I did it first, you asked, and I'm answering. Anyway, I guess I'd react much the same way when Gyunghui died. I'd be grief-stricken, angry at the universe and the gods for being so cruel as to do this to me a second time, blaming myself for not doing more, not being there-even if the rational part of me knew full well that it wasn't my fault."
"And as for the long-term?" he continued. "I'd probably deal with your loss in a very similar way, take some time off from my duties as an agent, spend a lot of time socializing with Guozhi, my other fellow members of the Surveillance and Patrol Division, my parents and the other members of my family to help keep my mind on other things, or for the support. I'd definitely spend a great deal of time with Mingxia for comfort. After a while though…"
He shrugged his huge shoulders, before reaching out to take her hand. "In the end, I managed to pull myself together and eventually, get myself in the right mental space to start dating again after she was gone. And I found you," he smiled.
"So, I'd pretty much get through it the same way as you just told me you would, by honoring your memory and missing you dearly, but also recognizing that life is meant to be spent on the living, and eventually finding a new woman to love…even if she could never quite take your place," he added.
Rajata seemed all right with that idea, slowly nodding her head and giving a small smile as she laid back down alongside him. "Good," she said after a few seconds, twisting around to kiss his cheek, "because I'd want the same for you too."
He was touched enough that he nearly, for the first time since Hong had first laid eyes on her in Pao's Tea Shop, kissed her on the lips.
Nearly. But not quite, settling instead for a kiss on the side of her slender neck, which made her giggle from ticklish pleasure.
Later, on their return journey to her new home, Rajata sat pressed against Hong for several, silent minutes, his powerful arm wrapped around her chest as she lightly rested her head on his shoulder, just blissfully enjoying the contact and sensation as she listened to the steady beat of the carriage wheels turning, and the ostrich-horse's feet hitting the flagstones, moonlight flooding in through the windows.
She broke the silence then by looking up at Hong as a thought struck her, twisting to meet his gaze as she asked, "Hong, how long have you had Mingxia as your concubine?"
He seemed briefly startled, but replied, "At least eight years. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious, for one thing. Also, between her and your first wife, I was wondering if you have any children Hong-and you just haven't felt it was the right time to present them to me yet."
"Unfortunately, no," Hong sighed, shaking his head. "In Mingxia's case, we try to only have a roll in the sheets together during the time of the new moon," he said with a small, proud twist to his lips, "and there's an agreement between us that, until the day comes when I produce a child from an actual, legal wife, she'll continue to take her doses of thunder god vine leaves. As for Lady Gyunghui- I was a lot more focused at the time on proving myself as a worthy member of the Dai Li, making a name for myself, than producing a grandchild for my parents," he lightly shrugged.
"Well, Vishnu knows you can't rush those types of decisions," she assured him. "You'll make a great father Hong, when the time is right," she smiled at him.
He gave a pleased smile, and kissed her on the temple before telling her, "Thanks. And I have no doubt that you'll make an even more wonderful mother."
Rajata warmly smiled back, even as she blushed at both the strong subtext and the recent memory of how Aiguo's children had asked when she and Hong were going to get married and have kids together. She thought then of the only instance she'd conceived before, during her first marriage, to Kuranku. But the baby had come far too early to have a hope of pulling through, and even worse, Kuranku had seemed to personally blame her for the tragic loss.
She gave a delighted, charmed smile of her own before saying "Nandri, Hong. I'd definitely like to think as much. And I'll embrace it when the day comes-but man, will that ever bend my world upside down," she grunted, shaking her head.
"No kidding," Hong agreed. "You suddenly have a mountain's worth of responsibility heaped on your shoulders."
"Exactly," Rajata nodded. She thoughtfully directed her gaze out one of the windows on the opposite side of the carriage, silent for a few moments.
"When the time comes," she said at length, "I won't be totally clueless. Instinct will take me a long way, for one thing, and I'll have my own mom to help me out even more-to say nothing of all the experience I've gained helping take care of my baby sisters and brother over the years, while growing up."
"Even though you probably only saw it as a pain in the ass at the time," Hong wryly smirked.
Rajata giggled, and nodded.
"Guilty, your honor," she said. "Anyway. But even with all those advantages to help prepare me for motherhood-I'm still going to be such a complete nervous wreck when that time comes. Lots of calming tea."
"Tea certainly helps. But I can't say I blame you," Hong replied, smoothly smiling. "Even with servants in my household to constantly look after the babe, I guarantee you that I'll be the same way when the day comes that I become a dad."
Rajata nodded. "The two biggest worries I see myself having as a mother," she said reflectively, "the things which would well and truly keep me up at night-especially as my still-hypothetical children got older, left my side to go to school, playtime with friends, things like that-would be these: First, I'd always be comparing myself to other mothers, wondering how I was actually measuring up as a mom, if I was going the distance for my children, finding the right balance."
"Second-guessing yourself, in other words," Hong replied. "Always asking yourself if you're doing right by them-or making damaging mistakes that you don't even realize you're making."
"Yeah," she uneasily nodded. "You want a child to be confident, independent, able to handle themselves, for instance-but it's also so, so important to let them know that they can count on you, that you care about them, and you won't neglect any of their needs as a parent. You also want to be a good example for them, a role model-but you're human too, and it's a given that you're going to backslide in front of them, not always be the perfect person that they imagine you to be."
Hong gave her a sideways hug, and a reassuring smile. "Well, I think you have good judgement in that department, Rajata. You're smart, already have your share of experience, know how to trust your gut, can think for yourself. You'll know how to find a happy medium when it comes to raising a child, I have no doubt."
She smiled back. "I appreciate hearing that. A lot. But as for the other major worry I'd have as a mom," she went on, "the hardest part of all for being responsible for a child, that would be..." She grimaced, then frowned. "Their safety, hands down. Keeping them safe from harm-while also having to deal with the reality that I can't-and shouldn't-always be there to stand guard over them, use my bending to clobber the schist out of whatever hazards come their way. And even worse, there's the constant knowledge in the back of your mind that sometimes, even when you do your very best, terrible things can still happen anyway, with no warning. You know as well as I that it's happened to plenty of other bending-capable mothers before, whose ability to shift the elements just wasn't enough to save their child."
Oddly, she felt her eyes start to become slightly wet.
Hong's response was to pull her onto his lap, and kiss the crown of her head. Then he turned her around to face him, before reaching over his shoulder to display his queue to her, secured at the bottom by the characteristic agent's hair tie as he gave her a meaningful look.
"I can't make absolute promises," he said softly, "but you can take comfort in the knowledge that any children you bear, Rajata, are going to have quite a formidable guardian in me. My guards, my servants, and of course me, we'd never let any harm come to them if we could help it. Or to you," he added, kissing her on the cheek.
Touched, Rajata smiled, leaning against his broad, strong chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you Hong. That really does go a long way towards granting me peace of mind."
"You're very welcome."
"And I don't doubt you'll also make a great role model yourself, as a father," Rajata confidently told her boyfriend. "A dad who's an elite, strong protector of this city, its traditions, and a brave crime fighter."
Suddenly, Hong seemed to become faintly, inexplicably ill at ease in some way.
What dumb thing had she said now?
Hong did a partial turn on the bench, while she still sat on his thighs, before gazing out the rear window in the opposite side of the cab, facing in the general direction of the Imperial Palace at the moment.
His expression was brooding as he quietly replied, "A great role model, huh?" He breathed in, exhaled.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Rajata. I wouldn't be so sure."
"Enjoy your wonderful picnic lunch together," Mushi said with his amiable smile, standing behind the wooden counter at Pao's, as Hong picked up the newly paid-for packet of yellow tea leaves. "Especially now that you can look forward to brewing a pot of fresh tea to go with it!"
"We can hardly wait to start sipping it," Rajata smiled back, before giving a warm glance up at Hong and taking his free left hand as they began to turn away.
"Ah nephew," they heard Mushi say knowingly behind as they walked down the central aisle, "doesn't it do the heart good, to see affection flower between a new couple?"
"It's just fan-fricking-tastic," Lee replied sardonically-and, Hong sensed, more than a little bitterly too.
Once they were back on the paved street, Rajata gave Hong a questioning, offended look.
"What in Surya's name is that Lee kid's problem? Why is he always so damned grouchy?"
"I wish I knew," Hong said with a light shrug of his shoulders. "I've always thought that burn scar is a big reason though. And it's no secret that an awful lot of people in this city, especially refugees like him, openly and unfairly despise us Dai Li-or for that matter, anything-or anybody-closely connected with us," giving her a meaningful glance.
She nodded in understanding. "Guilty by association. But sometimes though," she said thoughtfully, "I've gotten this feeling from Lee that he's actually jealous of you and I on some level."
"That's very possible," Hong replied, shifting his grip on the handle of the great wicker basket in his right hand for greater comfort. "As a refugee, he easily could've been forced to leave a girlfriend, a fiancée, even a young wife behind when he fled with his uncle, for Wu Sheng knows whatever reason-and seeing the two of us, or any other couple together understandably makes him deeply resentful."
"If so, I guess I can't bl-Hey, hey, over here!" Rajata shouted suddenly, releasing Hong's hand and reaching at the street beneath her, with a palms-down gesture from both hands before rising up on a short pillar of stone to wave over an approaching carriage.
Their carriage had just been in the Upper Ring for maybe several minutes, when Hong, idly looking out one of the windows on their left side, evidently noticed something he didn't care to see, for a contentedly relaxed Rajata suddenly felt his body go rigid against her own, and his voice was serious as he commanded their driver, "Stop, Mr. Gim. And stay right here. It seems that I may need to make an arrest or two," he sighed as he got to his feet.
That sure piqued Rajata's interest, as she sat erect and began to stand up herself. Arrest? What was he talking about? She'd heard no arguments just now, no sound of a struggle in the streets, or frightened cries, none of the distinctive sounds of rocks being bent out of their beds or smashing into things, nobody shouting about the so-called "war" with the Fire Nation.
Just the sound of a big, heavily laden cart being pulled by its own beast of burden.
Curious, yet wary, she left the supplies for their picnic behind on the rear bench and closely but unobtrusively followed Hong as he jumped to the street and earth-skated for perhaps a dozen paces before darting in front of what she presumed to be the same big cart she'd heard, traveling in the same direction as their carriage.
"Halt!" her boyfriend shouted, standing tall as he stared the driver and passenger down. For a moment, Rajata wondered if Hong had stopped them under suspicion of contraband. Then she saw the immense, sturdy steel cabinet, designed to close like a trap at the bottom, lying flat in the cart's bed behind them, surrounded by coils of thick rope and metal cable. An earth-breaker box.
She realized immediately what that these two men were up to, and shivered, instinctively drifting closer to Hong.
The man in the driver's seat quickly jerked back on the reins of the huge ostrich-horse cock pulling said cart, bringing it to a stop. But he made no move to leave his seat, his face darkening with ire as he sneered at Hong, "My, are you ever an insolent one. Who are you, to impede the likes of Xin Fu?"
He was a huge brute of a man, his muscular frame actually a bit larger than Hong's, grim and unyielding in both his expression and attitude. His long, black hair hung loose over his shoulders, and the only upper garment he wore was a sort of dark green strap vest that showed off his awesome-and intimidating-musculature to impressive effect.
Rajata found herself despising him on sight.
Near him sat a thinner, middle-aged man, dressed in strange, but still recognizably aristocratic clothes, with a long, thin, drooping mustache and beard. Although he was silently watching in puzzlement, saying nothing as yet, Rajata could still tell that he was as different from this Xin Fu as chalk was from marble, easygoing and well-mannered in comparison.
Her qinglang's response was to reach into his robe, down near the level of his sash, and yank out his official badge while he pushed a bunch of tiles out from under his opposite sleeve to form a stone glove around his free hand.
"An agent of the Dai Li, that's who," Hong snapped back as he displayed the badge before putting it back. "And in case you're somehow not aware, we don't take kindly to kidnappers operating in this city."
Xin Fu seemed to become rather more respectful then. Still, he scoffed as he replied, "My apologies, agent. But you're mistaken. Master Yu and I aren't here to kidnap anyone. We've been dispatched to act as bounty hunters."
Master Yu nodded. In a silky, cultured voice, he said, "We are violating no laws, and are operating in this area with the full knowledge and permission of Corporal Shayen, of the Upper Ring Division of the City Guards. With all respect due to someone of your status, that's as far as your concerns need to extend."
Rajata was pretty sure she saw the corners of Hong's mouth curve up briefly into a scornful smirk at the mention of the notoriously incompetent civilian police force before he said, "All the same, I would like to see official proof, in writing, that your activities have been approved of before I allow you to go on your way."
Xin Fu rolled his gray-green eyes and grumbled in exasperation, lips tightening as the street just underneath his seat quivered good and hard from the force of his chi.
But Master Yu elegantly rose to his feet, jumped out of the cart, and reached into his robe to pull out a document as he came up to Hong before handing it over.
At the same time, Xin Fu must've finally noticed her presence, for he turned his head and fixed his attention on her. His gaze swiftly turned from admiring, to lascivious, staring at her chest as he gave her a nod and a grin which did not make Rajata feel all that comfortable.
"Who is this exotically dressed great beauty?" he asked.
"Her name is none of your business, my good man," Hong said icily as his head snapped up, glaring daggers at Xin Fu as he let go of one side of the document Master Yu had just given him and deliberately flexing the fingers of that stone-sheathed hand into a fist, once, twice.
Xin Fu might've been an arrogant, short-tempered pervert-but he also wasn't stupid, deciding that he was suddenly very interested in seeing if his ostrich-horse had any signs of sores or cuts on his toes.
She favored Hong with a smug, grateful glance, and he acknowledged it with the smallest, briefest of nods.
"Well," he said, handing the permit back to Master Yu after spending a few seconds intently scanning it, "this is indeed authentic, so I suppose you both can go on your way. I just need to ask though, do either of you men require assistance from one or more of us Dai Li-not me however, I'm afraid, since I'm currently off duty-in order to successfully take this fugitive into custody?"
Master Yu gave a measured, congenial smile and shook his head as he put the permit back in his robe and hopped back into the cart. "Thanks for the offer, but no."
Xin Fu gave a short, blunt nod of agreement. "I think we can manage to track down and outfox a twelve-year-old blind girl who ran away from her family without too much difficulty," he confidently grunted, flicking the reins to get the ostrich-horse moving again.
"Best of luck then," Hong neutrally commented, before stepping out of the way and heading back to their carriage, Rajata strolling alongside.
Once they were back in motion though, seated on the back bench, Rajata had to suppress a little shudder. Even if that blind girl they were chasing was capable of bending, the thought of what would probably happen to her once Xin Fu caught up to the runaway made Rajata's blood run cold.
Poor damn thing won't stand a chance, she thought miserably.
But then she dismissed it as yet one more awful thing in the world that she could do nothing about, and which didn't really concern her anyway.
Right now, this time with Hong was what mattered.
Hong stopped the carriage at a nice, half-wild park before helping Rajata out to commence their picnic lunch together, the two of them settling on a charming spot in the shade of a spreading maple tree.
The tree stood at the top of a gentle slope, which stopped at the edge of a large, beautiful pond, haloed with reeds, thick grass, and colorful clumps of moisture-loving flowers. Lotuses bobbed on its surface, and on its far side, the pond seemed to drain into a large patch of marshland, about an acre and a half square, and studded with bushes.
This time, Rajata used her bending to create a hollow in the sod, while Hong gathered an armload of sticks to be burnt underneath the suspended teapot on its frame.
The summer day was still, and hot, as they laid back against the trunk of the tree and unpacked the wicker basket, keeping busy as they waited for the yellow tea to finish brewing.
When it was ready at last, and had cooled somewhat, Hong poured a cup for her, then one for himself before sitting beside her. Shafts of green and gold light flickered over the pair while they ate tea eggs, rice noodles in peanut sauce, egg rolls, fried chicken wings, pork buns, and green tea balls between swigs of the yellow tea, Rajata leaning against Hong's side and swatting at the odd fly.
After they'd had their fill of lunch, Hong told her he felt rather drowsy, and was going to take a nap in the shade for a bit. He let the stone tiles that composed both his gloves slide back out from under the sleeves of his robe to sheath his hands once more, before lying down and resting his head on his upper arm. It was very tempting to also lie down and spoon with him, at least for a few minutes.
But Rajata was still feeling active and alert. She noticed a jacana-plover, walking and pecking its way across the lotus leaves with four fluffy, adorable buff-colored little chicks.
"Aww, baby jacana-plovers, Hong!" she enthused as she pointed at them. "I'm going to go down to the pond's edge to watch them for a while, okay?"
He raised his head to meet her gaze. "Have fun. Just don't fall in or get wet. Wouldn't want your parents to blame me for ruining your clothes," he joked, causing her to laugh as he lowered his head again to sleep off his meal.
She kissed his cheek, affectionately ran her hand over his queue, and then carefully walked down the slope to the pond's edge. There, Rajata found a dry spot, and slowly seated herself on the matted grass, unconcerned about possible stains on the linen fabric of her lehenga.
For several minutes, she watched the sweet family of jacana-plovers walk across the lily pads with their oversized feet, jump across larger gaps, peck at tadpoles, water insects, and other prey. She also just plain enjoyed the glorious atmosphere of the pond, the play of the sunlight on the water, the reeds periodically swaying in the breeze with a rustling, glittering dragonflies (the insects) swooping about and perching, bees buzzing around the lotuses and the pondside flowers. Utterly peaceful and beautiful.
"If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it," she hummed happily to herself.
Some distance off to her right, several small birds suddenly landed on the tops of the reeds and began to hop about in a loose cluster, calling and occasionally dipping down into the thick vegetation as they moved in her general direction. Rajata gave a charmed smile, but then ignored them to return her attention to the pond.
Suddenly, she was snapped out of her blissful reverie by the sound of a scratchy, sliding rustle among the reeds and grass. Very close too.
She immediately turned her head in its direction-and saw a long, scaly form moving right towards her in a series of fluid curves, a forked tongue flicking at its front. She was alarmed-but for a moment or two, her panic was tempered by the belief that it was merely a harmless water snake that was coming her way, its bite only able to draw blood, and nothing more.
Then her breath caught in her chest as she realized. It was a cottonmouth-krait. A big one. Their bite could kill a man, she knew, in less than an hour.
The snake must've realized she was there at about the same moment, for it suddenly tensed up as well, all six feet of it, the yellow cat eyes focusing on her. And even as their gazes locked, tongue probing the air, it began to bring its tubular body, all solid muscle and thicker than her arm, into a coil.
Under most circumstances, Rajata would've been more than capable of using her earthbending to either protect herself or block the cottonmouth-krait's strike. Even now, she desperately flashed through a list of options. Bend a big clod of mud into its face. Put up a barrier of earth for it to bite into instead of her flesh.
But the snake had caught her totally off guard, sitting with her legs crossed, resting the weight of her upper body back on the palms of her hands. And now it was just too damn close for her to even hope to move one of her limbs into a position for pushing, not without inducing a preemptive strike on the snake's part. Shouting for Hong would almost certainly have the same result too.
She was officially screwed, less than five seconds away from a bite that would be the beginning of an agonizing end by venom, and it wasn't just the glaring sun now that was making her sweat.
Then, Rajata became aware of a stealthy presence behind her, and a tall shadow slipped over woman and snake alike. In a level, soft tone of voice that still contained a slight quiver of fear, Hong told her from somewhere above, "Don't move Rajata, whatever you do. Not a sound either." She thought that was kind of a redundant bit of advice at this point.
The cottonmouth-krait raised its body even higher, and now began to almost imperceptibly move its head back and forth, assessing the distance. It was going to strike her right in the upper arm.
Then, like a dart, a tab of stone went whizzing through the air and pierced the deadly snake's flesh about two-thirds of the way down its banded, blue-green body, causing blood to well up as it pierced straight through the lithe body and buried itself deep into the soft ground.
The cottonmouth-krait gave a wild jerk of pain and shock, before whipping around like a cat and striking at what it thought was a new, more immediate threat. A stone glove, fingers already closing, flew through the air and enveloped the snake's rectangular head. Before squeezing like a vise.
Rajata didn't need to be told to get away while the getting was good, and bounded to her feet, earth-skating several paces away before stopping and wheeling to face her agent boyfriend again, his features tight with rage-just before she heard the sickening yet joyful sound of the snake's skull being crushed like an egg. The lashing tube of cream-banded muscle jerked, went slack-but continued to slowly curve and writhe as her savior let his rock glove fall to the grass.
Rajata couldn't tear her eyes away as she took a shuddering breath, then warily took a couple steps towards the vanquished snake, both astonished and disturbed that it was still able to move after having had its head literally smashed into a pulp.
"Reflexes," she heard Hong softly comment somewhere at her right. "Just like when you cut a chicken's head off, their body goes into a spasm, and it takes a while for the life to drain out of it completely." She turned slightly to watch him give the snake a glance of mingled contempt and gloating before spitting down at it. "Well, we sure got that legless fucker good, didn't we?" he added with a pleased smirk.
"Ye-yeah, I suppose we did," Rajata shakily replied with a nod. Never mind that she was pretty positive that only Hong, not her, had played any sort of active role in this rescue. Rescue.
Suddenly, with the immediate threat of death now past, the full, crushing magnitude of what had nearly happened, what Hong had just done for her, came crashing down on Rajata like a landslide.
Tears began spilling from her eyes in terrified sobs as her throat tightened, and her legs suddenly felt as weak as clay as she clutched at Hong's proffered arm, actually half-pulling her way up to his shoulder before resting her head against his chest.
She felt him immediately clutch her as tightly to him as he could without crushing her, falling into a rhythm of rocking her back and forth in silent comfort and gratitude as she wept on, stroking her head and nape with a bare hand. Distantly, she was aware of his own taut muscles also slackening with relief.
The strength in those arms had saved her, protected her, and she wanted them to guard and defend her forever now.
After a minute or two, the dust devil of horror and fear and shock and relief at escaping what should've been certain death subsided within Rajata. She took a deep, steadying, gasping breath before finding her feet again and putting a tiny bit of space between her torso and Hong's. She looked up into his equally relieved face with tear-soaked eyes before drying them on her sari, not giving a cricket-mouse's ass that she was smearing the fabric all over with black kanjal eyeliner.
"You just saved my life Hong," she croaked out in wonder. "I owe you, my life! I-I don't know what to say, how to thank you, except that you're my hero."
He hugged her close, and briefly rocked her again. "That's more than enough thanks for me. And so is just knowing that I wasn't too late."
"What made you wake up? How could you possibly have realized I was in mortal danger, without me crying out?"
"I don't know," he replied. "I guess, just like that time you sensed I was dismayed while I was talking with Commander Quan, I had the feeling that something wasn't right prod me awake."
"Thank all the gods that it did, and that you came over. That was just too close," she said quaveringly. "And thank you most of all-although I know that's not nearly enough to repay someone who just gave me another chance at life."
"It's all in a day's work for a Dai Li agent," he assured her with a smile, stroking her head. "We're hardly saints, but we do so many good things for the people of Ba Sing Se too, whether it be stopping criminal activity-or saving innocent lives."
Rajata nodded, taking another shuddering breath. She could never view her brave boyfriend Hong, Guozhi, or any other member of the Dai Li with that lingering wariness, that faint command in the back of her skull to always be on her guard for some sort of trick, ever again.
In that moment of profound gratitude, it was utterly erased.
She pulled away and stared at the dead snake for a few curious, amazed, repulsed moments, before trotting back up the slope to the tree. Behind her, she was rather surprised to see Hong, out of the corner of her eye, reach down and pick the snake up around the middle, stone fist still clenched around the ruined head.
"You're actually bringing that thing back with us?" she grimaced in distaste.
"That's the plan," he replied as he stood erect. "I intend to clean and enjoy eating it later, and have the skin tanned by a leatherworker."
"Eat it? Ewww."
"That's right. Snake stew or the fried meat isn't bad at all, really-as long as you're willing to work around all the ribs. Not a favorite dish of mine, I'll admit-tastes rather like chewy, bland fish-but it's also going to be my own special way of spiting the scaly bastard for nearly biting you-by biting it back," he added in a growl as he gave the banded carcass that he was handling a glance of hatred.
"I'm not sure I want to have a constant reminder of how I nearly died a horrible death today coming with us and staring me in the face on the carriage ride home, Hong."
"Don't worry," he said in sympathy. "I'll coil it up and stuff it into the basket so you won't have to look at it."
"Like some twisted parody of a traveling snake charmer's act," she replied dryly, flashing her teeth in aversion.
On the return journey, Rajata sat sidesaddle on Hong's thighs near the back of the carriage, just silently resting against his chest as he held her, steadily breathing in and out. The wicker basket sat close by the door.
When Rajata paced into her new residence, she heard her mom call, "Rajata, sweetheart, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," she shouted back, trying to sound like someone who'd not nearly died an agonizing death from snakebite while out on her most recent date. She already knew that her parents and siblings were going to assume the worst from her tear-streaked eyeliner, somewhat distant expression, and unusually preoccupied demeanor.
"Is Dad around? I want him and my siblings over here. Right now," she shakily added.
"I'll get him."
"It's your lucky day then," Tuhina commented as she emerged from a doorway. "Unfortunately, Maalai and Pankaja are out playing with friends rig-Oh sister, what happened to you?" she gasped.
Ashwin was there now too, her father asking, "What's wrong, Rajata?" the pitch of his voice steadily rising. "What did Hong do to-"
She cut them off with a raised hand, gesturing to follow her to the dining mat, where they all took a seat. She gave her parents and sisters a relieved, reassuring smile before saying, "Dad, Mom, Tuhina, I have a question, and I want a simple reply. Do you still have any misgivings about Hong's character, who he is, about me having a relationship with him?"
"Well, I certainly do right now," Ashwin replied hotly. "You come home with evidence that you've been crying all over your face, silent and preoccupied instead of joyful-what did he-"
"He didn't say or do anything hurtful to me Dad," she quickly reassured him. "Quite the opposite."
"Then why is your face streaked wit-" Tuhina began
"I asked a simple question about whether you think Hong's fit to not just be my boyfriend, but my partner for life, if you still have any doubts, any worries about him. Yes or no."
Her parents and sister gave each other uncomfortable, considering looks.
"He's proven to be a great guy," Tuhina finally replied. "He's done so much to not just make your life happier, better Rajata, but all our lives. He's always treated us well, been respectful-but he's also one of the Dai Li, and I still worry a lot what might happen if you say or do the wrong thing around him."
Her father nodded. "I'm far less scared about the prospect of you dating Hong than I was when you first told us. He's been nothing but giving and gentle towards you, and I would even be delighted now to call him my son-in-law," he said with a thin smile. "But I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't say that there's still a small part of me which worries that he might get it into his head to-change you…" He trailed off as Madhuri also nodded in agreement under her citron yellow dupatta.
"You're my oldest daughter, my firstborn child," she said simply. "I can't help but have at least a twinge of concern whenever you leave with him."
"So, you all still have that little bit of uncertainty," Rajata said, barely nodding. "Would it totally change your view of both him and the Dai Li in general then, beyond any shadow of a doubt, to know that he saved my life this afternoon, by killing a huge cottonmouth-krait, seconds before it would've bitten me?"
Everyone's jaws dropped in horror, and the faces of her mom and sister both became amazingly ashen for those of such dark-skinned women at that bit of news, with Madhuri coming very close to fainting away. But her mom managed to hold it together.
It turned out to do a very effective job of changing views indeed for the rest of the Puri family, and the next time Agent Hong stopped by their home that weekend after a patrol shift, intending nothing more than to briefly say hello to his girl while in the off-duty clothing of a civilian, he was both very surprised and touched to suddenly find a marigold garland or six being plopped over his broad shoulders.
Madhuri then hugged him in purest gratitude for saving her oldest daughter, tearfully smiling as she said in shocked amazement, "I can't believe this! I'm actually giving a Dai Li agent a hug!"-and not only Rajata's family members, but at least twenty of her good friends among Ba Sing Se's Tenjikuan community poured rose petals, jasmine flowers, and marigold blossoms over his stone boots, singing songs as they did so in a language that Hong didn't understand-but still recognized as heartfelt chants of praise and thanks.
And he smiled back to the crowd.
Nothing about it was restrained or sinister.
What can I say, I couldn't resist giving Xin Fu and Master Yu a cameo in this fic.
Quite a day for Agent Hong and Rajata, to put it mildly.
Chen Huacheng is the name of a real-life, famous 19th century Qing Dynasty admiral.
In India, it is very much the custom to thank and honor a person who has performed a noble, heroic act by both adorning them with garlands and showering their feet with either a few petals or intact flowers, to the point where that person can easily end up standing shin-deep in flowers by the time the ceremony is over.
Of course, whether Rajata's family and friends will still think Hong was worthy of such accolades as the summer rolls on remains to be seen...
Please folks, DO take the time to leave a review! Even if you think this chapter/romance fic is rubbish, tell me, so I can make it that much better!