Book One: Water 水善

Chapter 4

Lai and Lee made their way to the palace as fast as they could. Their robes became blackened and wet through their trek and the two looked disheveled against the pure white of the snow palace. The two were a blur as they passed the guards into the throne room where Chief Arnook was nervously talking with his advisers.

"Lai. Lee. Good, you're here."

The twins looked odd, almost out of place, with their muddied garments. Compared to everyone else, they looked like wild savages. Lai scratched the back of her head awkwardly while Lee bent the soot and water out of their clothes. The soot flopped onto the floor in a black, muddy mess causing one of the advisers to throw a glare at Lee. He grinned awkwardly.

"Chief, I have a bad feeling about this fight. I've never this much soot in such a large area unless the fleet was big."

Anrook nodded. "Yes, we know. We assumed this might happen." The chief bowed to his advisers before promptly dismissing them. Once they were out of earshot, he turned back to the twins. "There is something I must ask of your two. I wouldn't ask it unless it were the only way I see this tribe getting out of this alive."

The twins nodded.

"Of course. We owe yah one since you took us in." Lee's response was tense.

"I need one of you two to go and talk to the commanding officer, whoever he is. Your father has some sway, and maybe his children do too."

Lai verbally growled. "You want us to go back to a nation that tried to kill us? Why? To protect a bunch of old men who never wanted us here anyways?"

Lee grabbed his sister's hands before the sparks started coming and bent water to cover them. As quickly as he could manage he turned the water into ice. At least the bonds would cool his sister's rage for a little bit. She shot him a glare. If looks could kill, throw daggers, or do any sort of harm, Lee was ninety-nine percent sure he'd be either impaled, stabbed or burned right now. He could only give her a cheeky grin in response.

Those damn firebenders and their damn attitudes, and their damn sun neediness. He swore, Zuko was the exact same way sometimes, too overzealous and bursting at the seams with pent up rage.

"Continue, please. You can ignore her."

Arnook shook his head as a long, heavy sigh came out of him. Unlike what either of them had seen, Arnook stood with his shoulders slumped and eyes weary. The chief looked as if he hadn't slept in a very long time, indicated by the bags that occupied the skin under his eyes.

"No, she's right. I have no reason to ask this of you. As it is, these 'old men' don't think that either of you two will help us. I don't expect you to do anything, but I'm asking, begging. If there is a way for us to resolve this without conflict then I want that to be the solution to this problem. I don't want to put my daughter's life in danger." Arnook sighed again. "Please."

It was silent for a couple of moments, and by then Lai had melted her icy binds. As she stood there rubbing her wrists she let her mind mull over the idea. It was a horrible plan. They probably didn't even remember the twins because of their brother Seung, their father's first born, so it's not like they would have much sway. She did know that the chief wouldn't back down until one of them agreed.

"I'll go."

Lee's face twisted into something unreadable. "No, you won't."

"Listen Lee, let' face it, they'd rather talk to a nonbender then a waterbender, so you're just going to have to sit this one out. Plus, if it doesn't work, I'll be needed here. I'll do it," Lai turned to face the chief, her eyes not meeting his. She sighed. "I'm going alone. I'll gather some things and leave immediately."

The chief simply nodded, his calm demeanor long gone. Placing a hand on the young teen's shoulder, Arnook closed his eyes and breathed in.

"Lai, the Northern Water Tribe will forever be in your debt whether this fails or it doesn't. Please come back to us, I know Pakku would kill me if something happened to you."

She simply nodded before walking out of the palace, Lee trailing behind her.

They walked in silence back to their home. Lee was messing with his hands trying to figure out something to say. His mind was running laps around itself, trying to think of something to say. The runner didn't help him find any hidden ideas this time around, but instead ran off into the forest of his subconscious. He sighed and rubbed his face. As soon as they reached their small home, Lai began began to strap on her sword.

"Agni! Lai! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I won't."

"You will! The last time we were ever near the Fire Nation we also died! Those men won't hesitate to kill you." Lee began to pace around the small structure. "There has to be another way, you can't just go in willingly."

Lai turned to face her brother with an unreadable expression on her face. Her one hand was secured tightly on the hilt of her blade while the other was close to her chest. Small frays of red fabric could be seen through the gaps of her closed fist. "They won't kill me. Isn't killing a claimed woman punishable by death in the Fire Nation?"

"Wait, you aren't-...oh you are smart! Is the betrothal still legitimate? We kind of fled the country, but I guess rules are rules." Lee stopped his pacing in front of his sister. He collected her into his arms, squeezing her tightly. "I don't want you to go but I know you have to. Be safe and punch dad for me. Please, come back to me. I don't think I can live in this world without you here. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll be safe, Lee, I promise."

The open sea was colder than she remembered especially when she was so exposed to the cold, icy air of the north. The waterbenders were nice enough to craft her a raft and gave her a paddle, realizing she may melt ice due to a number of things. Frustration was probably their first guess, and you could see the look of apprehension Pakku gave her as he handed her the wooden paddle. Lee, however, was giving a wide smile and a thumbs up. She just looked back at him blankly before she turned around and began to row.

By the time she reached the fleet, she had been rowing for a good hour, and the currents certainly helped her on her way. She let her eyes roam the billowing smoke from the steam stacks and dark metal of the ship hulls. What once filled her with safety and happiness now made bile rise to her throat, but she tried to swallow it down. The raft was small enough to pass by multiple ships unnoticed until she reached her destination.

She made quick work of scaling the ships hull with her daggers. Well, her daggers only got her so far up the hull before they were stuck permanently in the stubborn metal. She was close enough to where the anchor was located to grab hold of the chains and climb her way into the ship. The squeeze was tight with her furs and sword, almost too tight for her to fit through. Shedding her heavy coat quickly and reattaching her sword to her waist, the firebender was able to squeeze through the hole and drop into the ships deck.

Her feet hitting the ground was loud, almost too loud. The lower deck of the ship was relatively quiet despite the hums of the generators and motors. Brushing herself off quickly, Lai situated herself. It was cold in the ship despite the abundance of firebenders. Lai could see her breath. Without hesitation she let fire escape her mouth to heat her chilled hands. Before continuing towards the upper decks, the girl let herself stare in awe.

The ships of the Fire Nation had really come a long way since her last visit. She remembered her father proudly taking his family to visit his new vessel before they left. It was...quite a trip. Her and Lee took the entire traveling time to glare at their half-brother while their mother tried to calm the petty squabbles. Seung, the little bastard he was, went even as far as to shoot little bursts of fire at them, to which their mother promptly put out. Despite the troubles of her older brother Lai was incredibly curious about the ship. She let herself be a daddy's girl for the day and was glued to his hip almost the entire tour. She soaked up the words of her father like a dry sea sponge and ate up his lies like she devoured her mother's orange cherry cookies. Little Lai was brainwashed by the idea of her father. The idea that he was a hero.

It's a pity. She thought to herself. I could've been so much here.

"Hey! You!"

Lai turned around quickly, her hand finding the hilt of her blade. In front of her stood two guards with flames flickering in their hands and glares set on their weathered faces. She drew her sword and charged the guards, not even giving them a second to think.

It was a rather short battle seeing as more guards came to aid. She was quickly thrown in chains and thrown up against the wall with her cheek pressed harshly against the cool metal. One of the guards shoved the hilt of her fallen blade into her back.

"Oh, the Admiral would love to hear that a water tribe whore was trying to sabotage his ship."

She struggled against the hold of her captor. "I'm not here to sabotage your ship! I'm here to talk to whoever is in charge!"

"Yeah, sure, tell that to the Admiral. Take her above deck!"

Good job, Lai. You've really gotten yourself into trouble now.

Lai cursed under her breath as she was shoved-rather ungracefully-onto the deck of the command ship. A large, hilt-shaped bruise was beginning to form on her back from where the soldier kept pushing her with HER sword. She just hoped whoever this admiral was showed her some mercy, and she prayed to Agni that her engagement was still a thing.

"General, we found this peasant poking around below deck. We think she was trying to sabotage the ship."

"I already told you, you half-wit, I wasn't going to sabotage the ship! I said I wanted to speak with your commanding officer." Lai fumed. "It's not my fault you weren't educated enough to learn what words actually mean. What do they teach you all in the navy?"

The soldier struck her back, causing Lai to fall to her knees in pain. A small whimper escaped her throat as her knees harshly hit the metal ground.

"Shut up you water tri-"

"Enough!" Another voice rang out. "Stop your petty comments and bring the girl to me."

Lai's eyes went wide at the voice. She let the soldier haul her up and push her a couple of feet forward, only to shove her back down on her knees. Slow, powerful steps began to come towards her until they stopped. The sound of cloth hitting metal made Lai tense. She tried not to whimper as a hand grabbed her chin, turning her head upwards.

She didn't expect the gold eyes slightly hidden behind white, bushy eyebrows.

"Unchain her, captain." The man in front of her said as he stood.

"B-B-But sir!"

The man shot the captain a glare. "You would do well to listen to me, Captain. I don't think Admiral Zhao would like that his daughter chained up like some sort of animal. Unchain her."

"Yes, General Iroh."

The chains were taken off her wrists and a hand was offered to her. She took it willingly and groaned as she stood. That soldier really did a number on her back, but she couldn't show weakness right now.

"Thank you, General Iroh." She mumbled as she rubbed her back.

A small smile graced the old man's lips. "You are most welcome, Little Fire Lily. Come."

She followed closely behind the general up the deck of the ship, up towards the bow. Standing at the edge looking over the water was a man with a large, black and red cloak set over his broad shoulders. Dark, graying hair was pulled up into the traditional Fire Nation top knot.

"Admiral, you have a visitor."

The admiral turned around without haste and set his eyes on the retired general. His gaze flickered to the unwavering gaze of the water tribe peasant standing before him. She looked like all of her people with those blue eyes, but Zhao couldn't help but notice her paler skin. Her hair, tied back by multiple braids into a ponytail, was a dark black. The one thing that really caught his attention was the red and gold pendant on her neck. He strode over to her and placed his hand on the pendant while his eyes glared up at her.

"Where did you steal this from, peasant." He growled. His brown eyes, sparkling like a newly kindled fire, were full of anger.

Lai removed his hand from her neck and pushed it back. "It's mine. It was a gift from a prince."

Zhao simple huffed. "That prince, if that's what you even want to call him, is long gone. Dead, apparently killed by pirates. Now, tell me the truth, I know no child of mine would ever trade something so valuable to such a lowlife. Where is my daughter, that way I can return what you rightfully stole."

"It is me, father. It's Lai." Her glare was unwavering as she spoke. "I've come to negotiate peace."