Kishi: YEAH! All right! I was gonna take the Break off, but because of one review? Heck, I'll get this taken care of in a few days!

---

Kara-No

Chapter 9

The Man and the Mountain

---

It was a beautiful day in a small town. Birds sang, and the sunlight was gentle. Rin sighed in contentment, sweeping out the front steps of her restaurant. Yes, it was hers - and her husband had damn well better remember that, and keep his innkeeping to himself.

Yes, it was a fine morning. The smell of new growth and the banter of store owners opening shop both gave the air a friendly feel. It didn't seem possible to be the sort of day where anything could go wrong.

With a last decisive sweep, Rin planted her broom and cast a proud eye over her domain. Yes, no dust here. Only an old man, dressed in a tired red robe. Her eyebrow raised at the unusual color, but she said nothing of it.

"Sorry, Grandfather," she said, tucking a strand of graying hair behind her ear. "Restaurant doesn't open 'til noon. Girl's gotta have some time to eat and clean up, you know?"

"That's what they tell me! That's what they tell me," said the old man. The grin on his lips seemed ready and real. "But that's all right. I'm not here for a meal. My nephew says I could use a diet."

Rin laughed. What a charming old man! Her husband could use some lessons from him. "Then what are you here for?"

"Just some conversation. My old bones want me to take a rest from my pilgrimage, and I do so love to talk."

"Pilgrimage?"

"Yes! I swore to myself that I'd see the great temple of Be Cing Xe once before I died. Besides, my nephew says I need the exercise."

"Well, you're certainly a long ways off, aren't you?" she asked. "It's nearly two weeks to get there by foot by even the quickest paths."

"Where are those paths, anyway?"

"Oh, you don't want those, friend," she said. "They pass right near the frontlines between us and the Fire Nation."

"How terrible!" the old man exclaimed. "Have things really become so bad?"

"Yeah. The Fire Nation's been pressing hard on the line since late last winter. It's been pretty rough."

"So why are they coming so strongly?"

"Well..." Rin looked up and down the street. "Well, this is just what I hear, so don't get your hopes up, all right?" The old man leaned in, his broad face open and honestly interested. "I hear the Avatar beat 'em bad up in the North Pole."

He looked shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. And now he's somewhere here in the Kingdom! People been saying he's the reason for the victory at He Fang! The Fire Nation's terrified of him!"

"That does explain a lot," he said, scratching his chin. "Has it been hard on you?"

"Oh no," she said lightly. "Business is booming! Soldiers passing through on the way here or there - and they're always hungry."

They spoke for a time longer, and the man left her feeling much happier about her lot in life on the whole.

---

"And... begin!"

Sokka immediately threw a hard right at Shin's head. Shin sidestepped, caught Sokka's arm and pushed him away. Sokka lashed out with a foot and caught Shin in the middle. Shin, however, seemed to simply flow with the blow, and didn't appear any worse for it.

The group had come to a rest for the evening, and with no dinner to worry about for a while, they had all decided to practice. Aang and Katara were working together in a push-and-pull drill with some of the water from her bag. That left Shin and Sokka and Yuki to work together, and Shin plead a need to work on barehanded techniques. That had pretty much settled it.

Sokka made a lunging grab at Shin. Shin made a double Whipping Branch, grabbed Sokka's hands, and twisted them back on themselves. Sokka winced, flung another foot at Shin. Shin blocked with a leg, then stepped down and brought all the pressure to bear on Sokka's left wrist. He twisted, throwing Sokka away.

Sokka stumbled, and turned back to Shin with a snarl on his face. He stepped in with a vicious left hook. Shin sidestepped out of the way - only to catch Sokka's right elbow in his chest. This time Shin stumbled back, wheezing slightly.

"With the elbows?" wondered Shin aloud. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"What're you worried about?" asked Yuki with a grin. "Last I heard, we've got two healers on call any time! Beat each other up as much as you want!"

"Ah, great!" said Sokka. He was grinning, but his eyes were hard. "Now I can really beat the crap out of you!"

"What! What'd I do?" asked Shin.

"What did you do?" Sokka replied. He smirked before launching a flurry of punches. Shin was forced on the defense, ducking and moving around to avoid the blows. The kicks often met air or a defensive knee, but there seemed to be little that Shin could do in the face of Sokka's fury.

Finally, a stray blow to his shin caused Shin to lose his focus for a split second. In that instant, Sokka landed a solid punch to his face. Shin stumbled backward, trying to recenter himself, but it was too late. Hit after hit lit him up, covering his front entirely. Then a series of uppercuts struck him in the stomach, the last of which drove the wind out of him.

"You lied," Sokka growled as Shin fell forward. He caught the other man's head in a lock and drove him to his knees. "You lied about who you were and what you were doing! You nearly let us die up at the North Pole, you utter bastard!"

He clenched his arm, cutting off more of Shin's airflow.

Shin could see Yuki's cool expression, working towards interrupting or letting it go on, waiting for him to tap out. With his eyes fixed on the ground, his arm inched forward, meeting Sokka's leg.

"So what do you want to hear?" Shin gasped out. "You want to hear I'm sorry?"

"Say it and we'll see," snarled Sokka.

Shin's hand suddenly sprang off the ground, and pinched the nerve on the underside of Sokka's leg. Sokka shouted in shocked pain. Then the blow came to his groin from below, and he was awfully quiet.

"Somehow, I don't think it'd make any difference," said Shin as Sokka collapsed.

"I thought it'd be enough that I taught them how to heal," said Shin with a quiet voice. "I thought it'd be enough that I turned back an army for you guys. I thought it'd be enough if I even went out of the way to get you guys food. Do you really want more proof that I'm sorry?"

Sokka finally managed to sit up and look at him, face and expression level.

"Well," growled Shin, "you wanted to beat it out of me. I guess I'll beat it into you!"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Yuki as Shin stepped forward. They both stopped.

"Looks like it's time for you boys to cool down. Aang! Katara! You wanna do the honors?"

---

Airoh's information had proven to be quite useful. Knowing that the fighting was waiting for them had made predicting patrols and camouflage very easy. But, alas, certain variables outside of their control had intervened, driving them off the beaten path. Now they were out in the open, just below a rise in the plain. Ahead of them lay a most unwelcome sight.

"Well, isn't this a shock?" asked Airoh. "Who would have thought the front could move so quickly?"

Zuko snorted. "Things must be getting desperate back home. They're pushing harder than ever to capture those cities."

In front of them, the Earth Kingdom's tents stood proudly. Yet, even as they watched, they could see the tents being taken down. Camps up and down the line of combat were disappearing, preparing to move to more defensible positions.

"My Prince," spoke Reiko in a low voice, "we must move soon. If the rumors we've heard on the way are any suggestion, the front's been getting violent in its shifts. The Fire Nation could get here any time."

"Right. Let's move. Stay below the rise and maintain distance."

"And if we're caught?"

"We fight, Uncle. Getting caught isn't an option."

"Right then. I assume Reiko has the lead?"

The girl nodded and they ran, always careful to keep their heads below the rise. They were far enough away that silence wasn't necessary, so little care was taken to avoid twigs or stones. Airoh managed to surprise both of the youngers by keeping up, not even breathing hard - a surprising feat since he carried as heavy a load as they.

Suddenly Reiko held up a hand.

"What is it?" asked Zuko. The tension of the moment had smothered his voice to a whisper.

"It's the rise," Reiko said. "It's sinking." Zuko peeked over her shoulder, and sure enough it blended into the terrain ahead of them. And they were within seeing distance. The armor and clothing they wore would definitely be enough to identify them to the advancing Earth Kingdom troops.

"Great," Zuko growled. "And we can't just sit here and wait them out because they'll march right over."

"Normally I would suggest a conversation with our friends there," said Airoh, peeking over the rise, "but that doesn't seem to be an option anymore."

"What do you--" Zuko started - and then he heard it as well. The trampling of feet. The great roar of a thousand thousand shouts. He gave his uncle a tired glare. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was!" he said, scrambling back down. "We have to run!"

Zuko growled, but they all took off, running even faster. As they cleared the rise, the line met them - men in green with wide-brimmed helmets, on foot and on the back of their ostriches. But there was nothing panicked in it. Whatever had excited that roar out of them just moments ago had fallen under the subjection of soldierly discipline. As they weaved in and out of the mass, a part of Zuko dreaded what must have gotten them moving.

They finally cleared the mass of men and out of the corner of his eyes he could see. The line of green bodies was pressed and intersperesed with red. The clash and crash of metal echoed across the plain, and Zuko could see that the line was fit to collapse. Even as his instincts pushed him to run faster, he found the selfless discipline of these Earth fighters to be touching.

"Zuko!" Reiko called out to him. "Up ahead!" They all looked, and he couldn't believe their luck - forest stretched out and approached them. He didn't need to say anything - they all knew that if they made it to the forest, they'd be able to hide and wait it out.

Then arrows began to pepper the ground around them, and suddenly things were that much more desperate. And even though they were running faster, it was no help - the very air had become alive with death.

Zuko saw Reiko start to make cutting motions with her hands. Arrows began to break in mid-air, as if they'd been cleanly shorn in two. At first it would be simply one or two, but then Zuko could see whole flights being shorn, as if Reiko was developing a sense of their timing and hers and creating destructive harmony.

But even she couldn't stop all of them. Zuko knew hers before she did. His eyes traced the arc, followed it down, down, down. He let the flames burst forth from his hands to catch it, stop it, but it sailed through his flame and stuck in her arm. He didn't hear her make any noise of any kind, and she didn't slow down, and her arms didn't stop moving. He marvelled at that terrible focus as they kept running until finally the trees offered them shade.

They finally stopped running, coming to a rest amidst the trees. Even here, Reiko was expressionless; indeed her eyes were distant, her face serene.

"Reiko? Reiko! Snap out of it!" Zuko barked.

She blinked, shaking her head and she seemed to snap out of whatever frame of mind had taken her. "My Prince? What is it?"

What the hell? "Reiko, there's an arrow sticking out of your arm. Can't you see it?"

"What are... oh. Oh." She grimaced in pain, as if just noticing it. She clutched the bloody injury, trying to staunch the red flow.

"And not a doctor in sight," mused Airoh. "Zuko, get the bandages." As he knelt and unslung his pack to dig around, Airoh went over to Reiko and looked at her levelly. "Reiko," he said, "I know this is going to hurt, but we have to pull the arrow out." She nodded. "And then, to sanitize, we're going to have to cauterize the wound and bandage it. I know this is going to be painful, but you're going to have to relax and trust us."

"At least let me help a little," she said. She looked at the arrow and clenched her good fist - the arrow simply disappeared. Without the arrow there, more blood flowed from the wound, tracing red rivers down her arm.

"I trust you heard me, nephew?"

"Yes. What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to hold her. She's going to react this, regardless of how trained she is."

"And... how, exactly?"

"However you can to give her something to hold to. As for you," he said to Reiko, "I need you to hold this in your mouth." He presented her with a slender roll of bandage, which she took between her teeth. They sat her down, Zuko on his knees behind her, arms wrapped about her shoulders. Airoh held her arm in one hand, the other poised above.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Her face was grimly set as she nodded, and his wasn't without sympathy as the air in his free hand began to shimmer with heat. He pressed the palm to her wound, and suddenly she was a stiffening, writhing, screaming mass of pain. Her free hand reached up and clenched around his head, and he held her tightly, keeping her grounded and as immobile as he could manage.

It was over in less than a minute. Airoh began to bandage the wound as Reiko leaned into Zuko, sobbing softly.

---

"So, let me get this straight," said Sokka. "You're tired of going around the mountain to get to the village."

"Correct!" said the old man. His gap tooth whistled as he talked.

"So you want to move the mountain."

"Correct!"

"And, in order to do that, you're going to move it... with bombs."

"It's not a foolish thing! I tell you, it will work!" The old man produced a bomb from the folds of his robes. "See? See?" He lit the fuse and tossed it. Sokka stepped back nervously - and then a loud BOOM! and it was done.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. You keep working on that," said Sokka before climbing atop Appa.

They'd climbed into the sky only a little when Katara asked, "What was that about?"

"It's that old man back there," said Sokka. "Apparently there's a town over the mountain that he likes to go to, or something. But it takes him days to get over this thing, so he's got some idea about leveling it."

Aang looked down at the mountain as they continued to ascend. "He's gonna be at it for quite a while."

"Yeah. Even with those bombs of his."

They continued their flight, up and over the mountain. They spotted the village, a small rural community right at the foot of the mountain. They didn't mean to stop by, but they noticed a large, clamorous crowd of people at the town square.

"D'you think it's a festival?" asked Aang.

"Maybe," said Shin. "But d'you think we should stop off for it?"

"Yeah! This could be a chance to see some Earthbending!"

"Well, if you look at it that way..." but Appa was already descending at Aang's direction.

What they found couldn't have been further from festivity. As the group walked toward the gathering, they could hear shouting, which proceeded to make itself clear:

"The old man's crazy!" shouted a woman towards the forefront of the crowd.

"He's a menace!"

"He'll kill us all!"

The man in the center shouted above the din: "And what'll you have me do about it? He's at least a day's travel over the mountain! He could blow the top off this thing any time! Even if we get to him in time, we'd have to get him to tell us where they are, and who knows how long it'd take to get them?"

The group stared at the crowd. "Please don't let this be what I think this is," groaned Sokka.

Yuki walked up to one of the young men and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her, and he blinked. His face looked open, honest, utterly uncomplicated. So his lustful yearnings were apparent as he openly eyed her up and down. Sokka felt an angry surge in his chest at the man's attentions - and was surprised. Where did that come from?

"Excuse me," she said sweetly, "I'm kinda new around here, and I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, it's like this," the young man gawked. "There's this crazy old man who wants to blow up the mountain, right? He been sayin' so for years, and we didn't think nothin' of it - 'til we saw 'im 'bout a day ago plantin' bombs on the mountain! The landslide from that thing'll kill us if he has his way, but there ain't no way we can get to him in time."

"What? Crap! So much for setting up a homestead here," she sighed.

"What? But women don't farm alone."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't introduce my husband, did I?" She turned and looped her arm around Shin, who apparently didn't mind being a prop. Sokka felt another irrational stab in his chest. He noticed his sister shaking her head, caught somewhere in incredulous amusement. Aang was blushing furiously.

At least that dumb gawker caught the hint to leave.

"So, what're we going to do, guys?" she asked.

"Appa and I can fly back to talk to the old man. Maybe we can stop him from blowing the mountain."

"Good idea, Aang," said Sokka. "You and Katara can go back and talk to him. The rest of us will stay behind to get people out of here."

"Right," said Katara. "We'll also get some people from here to come with us. Maybe they can help?"

The group separated.

---

Even with the aid rendered by Airoh, blood had still managed to leak from the wound, staining the pure white of her bandage. But it was better than leaving the arrow in, certainly.

The part of it that threw Reiko's mind for a loop was that she had been held. She couldn't rationalize in her mind why exactly it was that this mattered. She'd been held before, after fights against other Sky folk, and she'd held others in turn. That couldn't be the source of her turmoil. But that could only mean one thing.

She looked at Zuko's sleeping features. At least now he was relaxed, free of the constant grimace his features fell so easily to. She couldn't deny it anymore.

Most aristocracy the world over never considered their servants. Servants were supposed to bend and break for their masters with unquestioning loyalty. It was duty to do so, and so she had expected it to be with the Prince... and yet...

And yet, he had single-handedly shattered the stereotype. Where other nobles were too proud to associate with the common folk, he rubbed shoulders with every one of his crew. The Prince, despite his words and his posturing, was every bit as loyal to his crew as his crew was to him. And that extended to her as well. He trusted her.

That wasn't the problem. That was part of the Plan, after all. The problem was that she wanted to trust him as well.

"Wow," drawled a voice. "Taking watches and all? You play the loyal servant thing to the hilt, huh?"

"You must be the contact from Cao," said Reiko casually, turning to the speaker. She was plain, ordinary. She could be pretty if she tried, but she didn't look to be the kind of girl who cared for such things.

"Yep! And no need for the formal servant speech thingie," she said, standing ramrod stiff. "You don't owe me anything, remember?"

"Please," said Reiko. "You know this is how I speak regardless. My teachers are my only family, remember?"

"Mhm. I know the story. Everybody in the Yuurei knows about you. Hell, maybe even most of the Kage know as well."

"Wouldn't that be interesting."

"Yeah. Anyway, on with the report. How's Prince Charming?"

"Anything but," said Reiko, allowing herself a small laugh. "He's nothing but grim focus and purpose. Getting him to notice me has proven more challenging than we thought."

"But he has noticed you?"

"Yes. His propriety didn't keep him from embracing me today."

"Good. I do hope the arrow we gave you didn't penetrate too deeply."

"Whether it did or not is irrelevant. You shot me. He held me. The ends justify the means."

"That simple, huh?" the contact said, shaking her head. "So where are we meeting next?"

"As of now, the goal is Be Cing Xe. I can't see getting into the city, but infiltrating the Fire Army should be no problem."

"Yeah." The contact stood to leave. "Is there anything you want me to say to Cao?"

"Tell him..." she paused, figuring what she'd say. "Tell him to stay out of trouble."

The contact merely shook her head before disappearing into the shadows. With that, Reiko turned back to her study of the flames.

---

"I can't believe I got stuck on babysitting duty," Yuki growled.

"We're not children, Yuki," said Shin. "If you don't want to keep an eye on us, you can go work on telling those people to leave."

"You two are children because you're stubborn," she said. It was clear she meant he and Sokka both. "And I'm not going to waste time on those idiots back there either." What a bunch of idiots! she thought to herself. Shin and Sokka are too stubborn to apologize, that old coot on the other side's too stubborn to move here, and these village idiots are too stubborn to leave! She swore bitterly to herself.

And then a series of loud booms erupted from the mountain. Then she swore for all to hear.

The loud booms echoed across the village. People screamed and started to run, but she knew it was too late for that. She heard the telltale rumble of land sliding down the mountain. The ground started to shake beneath her.

"Stand back!" Shin roared, surprising her again with how loud he could be sometimes. He took a couple steps forward, watching as the mountain collapsed down around him. People streamed past them from the one field that was near them. Behind, a wall of earth advanced after them.

With the last person past, Shin sank himself into a low Horse Stance, breathing deep. And then the breath exploded out of him in a shout, his arms and hands tense and shaking. The air between them and the mountain suddenly shimmered.

The earth continued steadily in its rush toward them. And then it hit that wall of air - and vanished. And continued to vanish. No matter how fast it flowed, no matter how hard it beat against the wall, it couldn't prevail. People stopped and stared, fearful hope bare on their faces.

"I swear... I swear..." she heard Sokka mutter. "If this works, I'll drop my grudge. Just let this work. Spirits, let this work."

They seemed to be listening. Shin didn't rise from his stance, and his limbs still trembled. They could see the sweat pouring down his brow, but he did not falter. There seemed to be in him a purity of focus and determination that said he would not move. The roar gradually lessened, the shaking stilled, and soon the only real roar was from Shin. But as the last pebbles rolled to a stop, Shin let his arms drop. The rest of him followed suit.

"Shin? Shin!" They both ran forward and found him staring up into the sky, his expression blank. "Oi!"

He blinked and looked up at them. "Hm? Is that it?"

"Yeah, you did it. Good job."

"Sokka, honestly. Out here in public?"

Yuki gave Sokka a sidelong look, but the guy was grinning despite himself. A shadow passed overhead, and they turned to see Appa descending. Everyone aboard looked vexed to some degree.

"Guys, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean for-" Aang spluttered.

"Oh, no no no!" the mayor said, waving his hands in a placating gesture. "It's not your fault. We all failed. But it looks like everything worked out all right!"

"Hmm?" Aang looked around. "Hey! Everything's fine!"

"Yes. Fine and good. And now, I do believe I shall sleep."

---

Kishi: Well, I'm practically a week late, and on the cusp of the New Year and everything! But see, here's the thing - I could have finished it by Christmas Day. I really could have. But it would have been much worse. I was caught between two promises - time and quality. I made a choice, and while I regret any displeasure, I don't regret what I did. Yeah. I just hope you guys like it!

Omake no Toki! Rokuban! Oshougatsu Omedetou!

(Time for Omake the Sixth! Happy New Year's!)

KISHI: Seeing as they're more likely to celebrate the New Year than Christmas anyway, let's ask what they received!

SOKKA: I got a boomerang!

KATARA: I got a Bruce Lee book!

AANG: I got Temp Tattoos!

AIROH: Tea! Earl Grey!

ZUKO: I got a rock...

... owari...

Avatar: The Last Air Bender is copyrighted to people who aren't me. I don't know who they are, otherwise, I'd give 'em credit.

The only things I own in this story are those things that I perceive as being original, and thusly are mine. If you recognize something that you came up with first, all credit goes to you.

I have no clue where you can contact me. I think the address is in my profile…