A/N: So this was meant to have come out about 2 weeks ago, but I was lazy and just wanted to relax after my test/exam. It's pretty long, so hope you enjoy it!
Unknown Location:
Toph's POV:
I groan, my head feeling like a split tomato. I shift to a sitting position when I notice my face is buried into the cold, hard, unforgiving ground. I feel around me, realising that I'm in a medium sized locked cave-like room. 'What the heck happened? All I remember is Airhead spilling some very unpleasant, unwanted news and then...' My eyes widen when it suddenly hits me. I get to my feet in haste, but when I try to walk several paces my feet stumble and I realise I'm chained to the ground. I shake my head, 'when will these guys learn? I bend metal.' I'm just about to bed the chains off me when a loud booming voice comes from somewhere behind me.
"Don't even think about it! Unless you want your friend the Avatar to get a nasty shock." My eyes bulge at this and digging my feet into the ground I notice Aang on the ground still out cold, a couple of paces away from me. I glower at the mysterious voice.
"Is that a threat? Come in here and face me yourself coward!"
"I'd rather not. Now pay attention. I'm only going to say this once. Both you and the Avatar are cuffed with a state of the art equipment. Don't break it."
"Oh lucky us." I mutter sarcastically, but the voice pays me no mind.
"Any untracked movement or any idea of escaping will be met with a shock to either you, the Avatar or the both of you. So think carefully before trying anything. The Avatar's health can only take so much. He's not too well from what I hear." I grit my teeth at the warning and ball my hands into fists.
"Who are you? What do you want from us?!" I shout out, turning around, but the voice seem to boom from all sides of our huge cell, 'must be speakers.'
"Who I am is not important. What we want from you? You'll find out soon enough. Good day to you." Then the voice breaks off and the room returns back to its stony silence. I sigh heavily and run a hand down my face. 'Great, I spend one moment with you Airhead and then you bring me down in your mess; I'm sure this is your mess.' I walk the couple of paces between us and bend down.
"Get up Airhead. Sleep time is over!" I holler by his ear which leads to the violently sudden reaction I was expecting as he jerks forward up to his feet and in his haste trips up.
"Toph! I told you not to do that! If you want to wake someone up you should..." The Airbender trails off as he takes in our new surroundings. "Where on earth are we?!" He asks, his voice panicked.
"Not a clue. The guy who spoke a few minutes ago said we'll find out why we're here soon enough apparently. Though if I had to guess we're probably with your buddies, the rebels." I reply dryly which results in a glower being sent my way.
"They're not my buddies." The young Avatar answers hotly and turns on his heel to inspect the room. He goes over to the wall closest to us and gives it a few experimental taps, before turning back to face me.
"I don't get what are you waiting for? We can bust ourselves out of here easily. I mean our chains are made of metal." The Airbender states with an emphasis on the last word.
"Don't you think I know that? Our napper said we've got these devices on us that can shoot us with a nasty zap if we do anything." I explain impatiently. The Airbender looks at me with sceptical eyes.
"And you believe that? Aren't you the one who usually does first and think later?" I growl at the jib and restrain the harsh retort on the tip of my tongue by folding my arms and tapping my foot.
"Aang, have you ever told anyone about your impeding death?" I ask outright. I hear a sharp intake of breath and then silence for a few moments.
"No, never. Only Kyla and well now you guys. Why?" I sense his confusion as he scratches his head.
"I don't know. That guy said your health can only take so much, said he knows you aren't well. Know anything about that?" I ask with a semi-accusatory tone. A pause. Aang turns away from me again and closes his eyes.
"I don't know. Maybe he was just referring to the previous times I was hurt. I've been hurt so many times that I'm weaker than I should be." I sense something off as soon as the words leave his lips.
"You're hiding something." I say bluntly and watch as he bunches his shoulders up before dropping them back down.
"I don't know! But..." He pauses to sigh and turns back to face me. "...you know when Azula killed me with lightning and it blocked my ability to go into the Avatar State?" I wince at the reminder but nod regardless. "Well, I think...any shocks could potentially...induce the Avatar State?" The monk suggests meekly. I blink twice.
"What? I thought you said you haven't entered the Avatar State since Sozin's comet." I ask, confused.
"Well, that's true. I didn't enter it...willingly...listen one of the things that the rebels were did to me was...electrocute me with their shock rods." I shiver at the thought, just thinking about it makes me want to puke but Aang continues on. "Whenever they did that I got that same rush that I get when I enter the Avatar State - a few times I felt that I was about to enter it but I've managed to always push it back and they've never managed to get hold of me for long. So I don't know." I grit my teeth and point a finger at him.
"How many more things are you hiding?!" I growl out. The Avatar crosses his eyes and pushes my hand away from him.
"I didn't think that it was important." He replies stiffly. I bark out a laugh at his insane thinking.
"With you it seems nothing is important! How can you not think this is important?! The Avatar State is your most powerful ability!" I retort sharply.
"Can we not argue about this now? We need to focus on getting out of here." I huff at his words and bend down to expect the chains in more detail. 'I could easily bend these off.' I glance behind me. 'Do I risk us getting shocked though? Are they even telling the truth?' I blow the bangs out of my eyes in irritation. Just as my hand hovers over the chains I hear a crackle and behind me I hear a thud. I turn round swiftly to find Aang convulsing on the floor.
"Aang!" I shout, but as soon as it started, it finishes and the Airbender becomes lax on the ground. I bend down to his level and give him a shake, a moment later he coughs violently.
"Please...don't do that...again." He groans out with a hand on his forehead.
"Sorry." I mumble out in guilt and offer him a hand to sit up. "So what now?" I ask.
"Not a clue. Looks like they weren't joking about the whole electric shock thing. You think the gang will figure out where we are?" The young Avatar questions and I hesitate, not wanting to break his hopefulness. In the end I just shake my head.
"I don't even know where we are. How will they?"
"We have to still be in Republic City right? We can't have been knocked out for that long." I purse my lips at Aang's thinking.
"I don't know. The voice said 'good day.' and it was about evening when we were jumped, it's been at least a 12 hours if not more." I say slowly, as I try to look for anything I've missed.
"Avatar Aang. Good to see you." I frown at the familiar voice, but can't quite place it. However, it seems Aang recognises who it is immediately as he spins on his heels and he reels back in shock.
"Xiu?" Aang inquires softly and my jaws drop open as I turn to face the man who is only paces away from us. The only thing separating us is a huge metal door.
Elsewhere:
Kyla's POV:
"I told you, I've already looked at everything. There's no more clues!" Sokka moans at me, but I pay him no heed as I continue eyeing the tree. Katara and Zuko stand a few metres behind me, their gazes fixed on me. I push away my discomfort of them watching me as I run my hands along the rock formations. 'These look very similar to the ones back at the Air Temple.' My heart drops when I finally bring myself to acknowledge that. 'That means the rebels have him and if the rebels have him I can't protect him.' I fight against the strong urge to sink to my knees in distraught. 'Aang needs me. I have to find him.' Katara takes a hesitant step towards me.
"Have you found anything?" I sigh heavily at her question and turn to face her.
"These rock formations...I've seen them before. They are definitely from the rebels."
"I could've told you that without you looking at them!" Sokka complains, but Zuko elbows him in the ribs and he crosses his arms in a huff.
"You're just worried that Kyla over here will be a better investigator than you are." The Firelord teases which earns him a scowl from the pony-tailed warrior. I close my eyes, trying to bring up any morsel of information I have on the rebels but come up empty handed. 'It's not like Aang and I ever went to actively look for rebels. They came, fought and disappeared.' I chew on my lip. 'The only thing they left is that little cloth that Sokka found which we presume is what knocked them out.' I walk over to the still sulky warrior.
"May I have a look at that cloth you found Sokka?" I ask with an outstretched hand. He digs deep into his pocket and hands it over to me.
"Just be careful, that thing stinks of something nasty." I nod and examine the cloth for anything, but all I see is two vertical green lines. I turn the cloth around in my hands and the lines become horizontal. I frown. 'Why does those lines look so familiar?' I bring it closer and try to picture when I saw them before. 'There's something so official about them.' But I shake my head, 'The only official thing I've attended recently is that celebration for the end of the Hundred Year War and there were only nobles there, like Xiu, Fuzuki and...oh my gosh.' I drop the cloth in shock. 'Xiu! That's his trademark stamped on his cuff, he's constantly playing with it during meetings and celebrations.'
"Kyla? Are you ok?" I'm broken out of my thoughts when Katara puts a hand on my shoulder. I bend down to pick up the cloth and point at the lines.
"That's Xiu's mark." I say and pass it to Sokka who stares at the lines. He blinks twice before lifting his head up abruptly.
"You're right. How did I miss that?!" The Watertribe man says as he slaps his forehead.
"Xiu? The noble that was horrible to Aang during the meeting at Ba Sing Se?" Katara asks, face semi-puzzled. I nod my head in confirmation.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. He's had some serious beef with Aang for a while." Zuko states with a shrug. We all turn to look at him with a question in our faces. "He lost his family during the war and is said to blame the Avatar for the loss...or at least that's what my advisors have told me."
"Then he has a serious motivation to kidnap Aang...and Toph must have been in the way, but...that must mean Xiu works with the rebels!" Sokka concludes as he massages his temples.
"Maybe...but he doesn't seem to be one who would follow Azula, especially if he hates the Fire Nation." I contemplate as the wheels in my head keep turning.
"We'll have to figure it out later. Right now we need to find them." Zuko points out.
"So if we find Xiu...then we find Aang and Toph!" Katara suggests with a spark of determination in her eyes.
"All nobles have a personal advisor who must keep tabs on them for safety reasons. Xiu's one should be in city hall. Let's go!" Sokka explains in a rush and we all dash back inside.
Underground:
Aang's POV:
"Xiu, what in the world?!" I find myself repeating as a way to try and get over my shock of seeing him.
"Calm yourself Avatar." Xiu states patiently and I throw him an incredulous look.
"Calm myself?! How can I calm myself when I found out that one of the highest ranking nobles has kidnapped the Avatar and the Chief of Police? I can't believe you're working with the rebels." I accuse with a jagged glare. Xiu looks at me, his gaze portrays a touch of discomfort. Before he has the chance to open his mouth a similar face appears beside him.
"We don't work with the rebels, they work for us." At this my eyes bulge as I stare at Xiu's brother, Zee.
"The rebels work for you?! But I thought Azula was the one to rally all these rebels." I say whilst my mouth remains agape.
"Unless...Azula was just their puppet, to cover their tracks if she was ever caught. Aurgh I'm such a dumb-brain, how did I not work that out!" The blind Earthbender mutters angrily at herself. I shake my head in disbelief.
"No way. Azula would never accept working with you two, she runs her own plans." I argue stubbornly.
"Of course we let her think that, she's wasn't above co-operating with us to get what she wants...or what she thought anyway. Her mental state is so fragile that it's easy to exploit, a little taste of her own medicine on what she used to do with her subjects." I purse my lips at Zee's snide response, but it's still hard to believe that a pair of nobles have been in charge of this the whole time. 'I mean they're nobels! No matter how much they hate me, they can't do that.'
"But why?!" I stress strongly.
"Because Avatar, you are the reason my whole family is gone. You have to suffer as they did." I balk at Zee's reasoning.
"If you tell me you lost them during the war then I'm sorry to hear that, but I never intended to trap myself in an iceberg for 100 years. It just happened."
"No you don't get to say that! You know what the worst thing was? It was the fact that they died in a Fire Nation raid when you came back. The village was overjoyed that the Avatar has returned, but months passed without any change, we never saw you. While my brother and I were away to attend a secret audience with the remaining Earth Kingdom council after the fall of Ba Sing Se, my home was raided by those savages. My parents gone! My sister gone! My wife gone! My two beautiful... beautiful..."
At this I watch as Zee's face crumple in pain before he looks back up sharply at me with a death glare. "...my son and daughter are dead because of you! Because you failed so many times. You were meant to be the world's saviour, our saviour! But you were nothing! And in the end when you finally put an end to the war, do you know how many people were lost? How many people died? How many families broke and were never the same afterwards? Thousands! That's how many, thousands and thousands. What's the good of having an Avatar if he fails all the time? I've taken my time in reading the life stories of the past Avatars and they're littered with faults. Roku could've stopped the war in the first place. Kyoshi? She created the most dangerous dictator group the Earth Kingdom capital has ever seen, the Dai Lee! Kurak failed in taking his responsibilities seriously. I could go on. I feel that we've entered an age where we need to get rid of the Avatar. The world should start taking matters in their own hands instead of relying on a flawed figurehead and that's what I'll do."
"Oh yeah and how are you going to do that?" Toph asks in a jeer.
"By doing what Azula failed to do. Killing the Avatar while he's in the Avatar State." I balk at this. 'And he knows just how to do it.' I feel Toph stiffen beside me before she takes a fierce step forward.
"As if you could contain the Avatar while he's in the State. He'd take the whole place down before you could even try!" The blind Earthbender argues in an attempt to sway them.
"We'll handle it." Zee states with a snobbish look and turns to something behind him before turning back again to look me straight in the eye.
"It's a shame that my archer missed your friend, I would've got hold of you so much sooner than having to wait and make all this fuss." Zee states slyly. I widen my eyes.
"What?" I echo.
"Oh you know that arrow was meant for the Waterbender. We were going to make an exchange, the antidote for you. Unfortunately things rarely ever go the way we want it to." Zee says with a sigh as I glower at him.
"You are evil." I hiss out which elicits a smile from the noble.
"That's subjective. Now, cue the electric currents!" I widen my eyes but before I can start to panic I feel another course of electricity running through my body, stronger than the first and I drop to the ground in pain. "Higher!" A stronger wave of current hits me and I feel a scream working its way up my throat. "HIGHER!" And then I hear a terrible high pitched screech. It takes a few moments before I realise that it's coming from me.
"STOP! You're going to kill him!" I just manage to hear Toph's demand over the waves of pure agony.
"Zee, this isn't working. You don't want to kill him otherwise he'll just be reborn and we'll lose track of him."
"Fine." And just like that the current is switched off and my body goes limp as dark spots dance across my vision. I take several gulps of air and try to move but I find myself convulsing and I screw my eyes tight to stop another scream from working its way out. "I don't get it! This should've worked!" I screw my eyes tighter when I hear Zee's frustrated shout.
"Perhaps the rebels got it wrong and have mistaken the Avatar State for something else?" Xiu suggests mildly to his brother.
"No. You don't just mistake the Avatar State for something else. We're missing something. I'm going to my office." And with the sound of fluttering clothes he walks away in quick angry strides. I hear someone sigh and a quiet apology, before another set of footsteps rings out which soon fades away.
"Aang? Come on Twinkletoes, this isn't funny." At Toph's persistence, I open my eyes a fraction and through my squint I can see the plain horror and worry on the Earthbender's face.
"Well, neither is being shocked at spirits knows how many volts." I choke out quietly. Toph wilts back immediately in relief when she hears my voice.
"Oh thank God. You scared me half to death. When they shocked you I couldn't feel your..." My Sifu gulps back what she was going to say, her eyes looking more misty than usual and I don't need to guess what she was about to say. I swallow and reach a hand out to her shoulder.
"I'm sorry that I scared you." I sigh. "Spirits I wish you weren't with me now. I've put you in danger." I say as guilt crawls into the pit of my stomach.
"Hah! Twinkletoes I live for danger, it's in my job description, remember?" I cough out a laugh at the joke and then try to pull myself up into a sitting position but waves of sharp needles attack me and I choke out a wrangled grunt. "Wait, let me help." I try to hide my amusement at the words, especially from whom they're coming out of as Toph gently sits me up against her so that my shoulder leans against hers for support. I grimace but the pain fortunately passes soon enough. "So, any ideas for busting out of here?" I cluck my tongue against the roof of my mouth at Toph's question.
"Nope." I say reluctantly. "We'll just have to hope the others find us soon...or..." I hesitate, knowing that Toph will disagree with my coming statement.
"Or?" Toph probes. I take a deep breath.
"Or I go into the Avatar State and get these electric cuffs off us before they have the chance to shock us." The reaction from Toph is immediate.
"No! Absolutely not!" The blind Earthbender barks out.
"But...!" I start but get quickly interrupted.
"No, for two reasons. Firstly, because of what going into the Avatar State will do to your body. And secondly because this is what they want you to do. As soon as you go all glowy then they'll come a blazing with all they've got."
"Don't you think I can handle it?" I ask, my voice rising in offence.
"It's not that!" My Sifu argues but I shake my head.
"Then what is it?! Because frankly Toph it looks like you've never had any faith in me." I bite out.
"I don't want to lose you!" Toph's outburst makes me blink twice before I shake my head in disbelief. "I'm afraid of losing you, just like I've lost you for nearly 4 years. And I feel like I'm losing you all over again." Toph closes her eyes and turns away from me slightly. "That's the real reason I was so angry that you left. I was hurt. If the first person who ever reached out to me as a friend left, then...who's to say that won't happen with everyone else? Aang...I've come to...aurgh as much as I hate to say it but it seems you won't get it through your Airheadedness if I don't say otherwise." I frown when Toph takeaway a deep breath and turns back slightly to face me. "I've come to rely on you as an emotional insecurity blanket." I balk at this, my eyes widening so much that I think my eyes would pop.
"You, insecure?!" I can't help but exclaim in disbelief which receives me a light punch.
"Yes dunderhead, I get insecure!" Toph states miffed as she crosses her arms in irritation. I shake my head, still not understanding.
"Insecure about what? You're Toph! You can do anything!" I say strongly.
"Except make friends." I blink at Toph's small response. Her head tilted down.
"What do you mean? We're your friends; Zuko, Sokka, Katara and I." I ask confused.
"You guys are my friends. But Aang think about it; Sokka and Katara were your friends. They became mine when we became friends. Zuko is the same, you knew him before I did."
"But you were the one who wanted Zuko to join the group in the first place!" I argue back, still trying to get over Toph's confession.
"And look how well that went when I tried to befriend him! Aang you don't see how easy it is for you to make friends. You do it left and right. I always thought that if you wanted to be friends with me I'll be ok because if you can be friends with me - a brash anti-social girl, then anyone else could. When you left that notion went. I doubted myself again like I used to when I was little. Ridiculous stuff like I'll always be alone. Why would anyone want to be friends with someone like me? I know I was going too far but I couldn't help it and it had hurt so much. I started drawing away from everyone else. Sokka was the only one I kept constant contact with and that's really because we were both living in Republic City. And now..." The Earthbender breaks off as she shifts in discomfort.
"Now what?" I echo, still taken back by Toph's words. 'I'd never thought I'd hear this from Toph, Zuko maybe, but Toph? Man its moments like this that show me that I really don't know as much about my friends as I thought I did. First I get Katara proposing to me out of the blue and now Toph with her insecurities. It's like the world is going to pot!'
"And now that you and Katara are getting along again I'll just be that person in the background." My jaws drop at this.
"You're jealous...of Katara?!" I say dumbstruck, 'this day is getting weirder and weirder.' Toph clenches her teeth and refuses to respond. I scratch my head hard. "But why? It's like it was before, when we were one big happy group...family. Why does it bother you that Katara and I are slightly closer?"
"Because Aang, you have a special bond with everyone in the group except me. Katara is your emotional line, Sokka is your strength, even Zuko who was your enemy, you've always had a connection with him. But not me. You being with Katara just reminds me of what a failure I am in making friends." I shake my head, a sudden rise of anger flares through me. I take her by the shoulders.
"No. Don't you dare say that! You are not a failure and you never will be. You are Toph, inventor of Metalbending, the greatest Earthbender and one of my best friends. I didn't realise I made you feel any less and I'm sorry...I kind of assumed you preferred being alone, but that's my fault. But I hereby declare that from this moment on I won't leave you alone again and at every given opportunity I'll make it known to you how grateful I am that you chose to run away from home to help me." I list off in utter seriousness. I watch as Toph rubs at her misty eyes and clears her throat. I reach my hand out and sling my arm across her shoulders in a half hug. She leans against me briefly before pushing herself off. "Have I convinced you?" I finally ask with a half plea.
"Ok ok. Fine you dope, you've managed to convince me." I grin at Toph's semi-flustered tone.
"Good."
"Do you want another punch from me?" The Earthbender asks bluntly. I laugh.
"Nope. I've had enough affection from you for today. So...we just sit tight till the gang comes?" I ask meekly which elicits a sigh from the blind Earthbender.
"I know it's not the best plan we've got. I hate not doing anything. Can't you contact them with your Avatar powers or something?" I raise an eyebrow at Toph's crude suggestion.
"I don't think I can do that and even if I could, I don't even know where we are." I say dubiously and take another look around at the caved walls. At this, Toph gets to her feet and walks as close to the closed door as she can with the chain still restricting her.
"So we need to find out where we are. Simple enough. I've been to nearly every part of Republic City. The North and South are divided by different drainage systems and therefore different metal types are used. I just need to be close enough to sense one and then I should know roughly where we are." I blink twice at this new information.
"Wow, I didn't know that."
"Yeah well that's what happens when you're all cooped up away from everything." I raise an eyebrow at the snipe but let the comment slide. Until something hits me.
"Was it just me or did you hear Xiu apologise after his brother left in a huff?" I ask which causes Toph to spin back to face me.
"I heard. I thought I was imagining things but I guess not if we both heard it. But that doesn't make any sense, he hates you." I wince at Toph's bluntness. 'Being hated by someone stinks, especially when they have a valid reason for it.'
"I don't know. I still can't believe he's the one who orchestrated this, no matter what feelings he has against me he's never struck me as a violent person."
"We can ask him when I arrest him. But for now, I'm going to need your help. How good are you at sensing water that you can't see?" I smile, 'now this I can do. Thank the Spirits for Jet.' I slowly get to my feet, wincing as a course of electric shock runs up my legs and I limp to the Earthbender only to trip and land back on the ground. 'Aurgh, I hate electricity.'
A/N: So now secrets and things are unravelling! It's crazy how much closer we're getting to the endgame. I'm aiming to get hopefully another 2 chapters out before the holidays come to a close, but we'll see. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and let me know your thoughts. I'll try to post again on Christmas, but if not I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a lovely and blessed day with your family.
18/12/19
