Every day, without fail, Akira would drag Yong to work once they both woke up. At times he'd do it at dawn, but they didn't have a fixed schedule. There was nothing stable about living in Shu Wo, in no regards: Suki had learned it quite soon while being slave to the pair of men.
Yong was the taller and broader of the two, a man with a nasty temper and a penchant for enjoying other people's misery. He would never bother feeding her: for him, Suki was merely a prop. After only a few days it became clear that he'd only wanted to buy her for the sake of having his way with her, something Suki had resisted in every possible way at first. She had fought back toe and nail, despite the injuries that had yet to heal from her fights with the soldiers back in the Capital. But precisely because of those injuries, she had been subdued by her captors more often than not. Still, Yong hardly wanted to risk touching her when she became too aggressive. She had scratched him quite deeply on his first pass at her, and she had left him with black eyes on the next opportunities. Yet her efforts to retain her dignity were rewarded with violent kicks and beatings, and she couldn't quite defend herself properly while being chained to that wretched pole in the kitchen.
Akira, on the other hand, was slender and less violent, and he only seemed to want Suki to become their maid. He was a terrible cook, albeit Yong was even worse at it than him, without a doubt. Akira constantly burned the food and he was no good at cleaning either, which was why their hut was so filthy and unhygienic. Yet it was Akira who would give Suki anything resembling a meal whenever he happened to remember that leaving her to starve would be inconvenient. He referred to Suki as 'girl', instead of calling her 'bitch', like Yong did, and he had even hoped to call her by her real name, but the former gladiator had refused to tell him what it was.
Yet, even though Akira wasn't cruel, Suki had no illusions about him: he may not be as bad as Yong, but that didn't mean he was any good either. Suki had always suspected Akira was an ambitious man, one that was mostly driven by money and hopes to achieve success rather than by the carnal, momentary pleasures Yong seemed to indulge in. And she had confirmed her suspicions a few weeks ago, during a conversation the two men exchanged in their room, when they thought she wasn't conscious to listen to them.
"You've gotta stop being so reckless, Yong," Akira was saying, as he tended to the scratches Suki had left over the man's face when he had assaulted her that day. He had returned the favor by yanking her by the hair and slamming her head against the pole. He thought she had been knocked out by the blow, yet she hadn't quite lost her senses, despite feeling as fuzzy as she did. "Keep his up and you're gonna kill the girl, just like you did with the last one, and we ain't got enough money to get a new one this time."
"Shut up. We got the bitch for a reason, didn't we?" Yong retorted.
"Not to make her your personal slut, we didn't! Don't be such an ass with me, man, work's been rough enough as it is…"
Suki had slept on the floor that night, still tied to the pole, shivering over the words she'd heard them exchange. These men had killed a slave before already… and the only reason why they didn't want to do the same to her was because a replacement would be too costly. The thought sent waves of rage rippling through her body, and the urge to escape, which had been there since being caught by the soldiers, only grew stronger after that.
But if she was to find a way to get out of here, she couldn't do it through brute strength alone. She couldn't continue to fight back as she had so far, for that had bore no fruit at all. Struggling would only make everything harder for her…
And thus, on the next opportunity Yong had assaulted her, she had only struggled a little, for the sake of keeping up appearances. She had tried to push him off her, but pretended her strength had failed her. And with that, Yong had been satisfied. That night, Akira gave her more food than usual. It seemed he was grateful for not having to nurse any new wounds on his companion this time around.
It had been two weeks of letting everything run its course. She had stopped resisting altogether, and in return, Akira had even unchained her from the pole and guided her to a closet where she was allowed to sleep on an old mattress, for once. She was chained to a wall regardless, but having a bed and a pillow for the first time in months was a welcome improvement.
Yet she didn't care for these improvements. That wasn't what she was after. She hadn't done everything she had in hopes to be treated more pleasantly… no, she had done it to escape.
And she would definitely escape today.
Akira woke up at midmorning and he kicked his companion awake as well. He strolled into the kitchen and looked at her with a little guilt before starting to cook.
"Didn't plan on leaving you there, girl," he said, gathering the ingredients for breakfast. "Sorry about that. Forgot to take you to your bed."
Suki didn't reply. The fact that Yong had forgotten to unchain her had worked in her favor after all, for she was the one who had the keys to her shackles right now. She simply closed her eyes and kept quiet, hoping Akira wouldn't talk anymore, that he wouldn't ask her why she kept her left hand shut tightly. He didn't.
She was given a bowl of oatmeal, the same batch of oatmeal the man had cooked over five days ago. The taste had been bad even when it was fresh, and now it tasted even worse. Suki really wondered if being such a bad cook wasn't a talent of some sort…
"She locked up good there?" Yong asked, yawning, before the pair of them took off for the day.
"'Course she is, prick, she's been there all night no problem," said Akira, rolling his eyes. "C'mon now, work."
"I want another round with her, damn…"
"Not now, you piece of shit. We've gotta go," Akira growled, grabbing Yong by the collar and dragging him outside without another word.
Suki felt her heart drumming in her chest as she started counting in her head. If they just so happened to forget something at home, they'd likely notice and return in the span of half an hour. After that, she would have a window of at least five hours to get away… and she had to flee now, one way or another. Akira and Yong would notice the key's absence soon enough, the key she had removed from Yong's pocket while he did what he always did to her. It was a relief he would always get so lost in the moment that he failed to pay any attention to his surroundings.
She folded her legs and crossed her arms atop her knees as she waited. Time had never seemed to pass slower than today. She would get away, and she would find another place to stay while she figured out what to do. She really didn't have a plan in mind as she was, for all she really wanted was to get away from here as quickly as possible. She couldn't fathom another day stuck in a place like this one. Staying here would be as good as forsaking her life, and that was something she refused to do, despite everything…
Her hands trembled by the time she decided it would be safe for her to leave. She bit her lip as she clasped the key carefully in her hand, and she had a hard time inserting it in the keyhole properly. Maneuvering to remove the shackles wasn't easy, but she managed to do it nonetheless, waves of nervousness washing over her as she told herself to do it faster, to be done with it immediately before the other two could return.
She could have cried of relief upon being free… could have, but she didn't. She had no time to spare with sentimentalism when she had to get out of the house right now.
She limped her way to the back of the shack, and she pushed a window open with some difficulty. Suki flinched at the weakness of her arms, slightly horrified by how hard it was for her body to move altogether. The soldiers had probably fractured one or two of her ribs back when they seized her, and every breath she took reminded her of the fact that they hadn't healed, and if they had, then not properly. Her legs were weak, and she had twisted her ankle too on her attempts to escape the marketplace, but the ball and chain she had worn back then had kept her from getting away, and they had given her another bad wound, on top of it all.
All in all, she felt pathetic. She felt weak. And she hated it with every fiber of her being. Not anymore, she told herself, she wouldn't accept being reduced to this. She was getting out of here now. This would be over today.
With that thought in mind, she climbed the windowsill with some difficulty and let herself fall to the other side of the wall.
Being outside should have filled her with relief, yet stepping into the unknown only induced more anxiety in her. They couldn't be nearby, could they? She had no idea what their jobs were, they hardly ever discussed work at home, so she had no clue where they would be at the moment…
She shook her head and tried to focus on getting out of the rotten town as quickly as she could. She had no idea if there would be a better place nearby, but surely nothing could be worse than Shu Wo, could it?
She took a deep breath before starting to walk, making her way between the houses. It would be best for her to avoid the streets, she had no clue what would happen if someone found her there… so the stinking alleys between the houses would have to do for now. It wasn't as though she weren't used to stench, for Yong and Akira's house had a hideous stink as well. Her nose had almost grown desensitized altogether after being stuck there for as long as she had been.
Stealth was no easy matter, not when she felt like she couldn't quite control her body. She grimaced and flinched with every step she took, and she had to crouch under the windows of the houses in hopes to keep anyone from seeing her. She had no idea how long she would have to go before reaching the edge of the town. Was this a bad plan? It probably was. But it was too late to start having second thoughts when she was already halfway through it.
Not all houses had fences around them, but to her chagrin, some of them did. Pushing herself up them was no easy feat, and putting her body through such strain prompted her to whimper in pain. She bit her lip hard to keep the sounds from leaving her throat, though, as she hoisted herself over one of the barriers and slung a leg over to the other side…
She miscalculated the distance separating her from the ground, though, and she dropped on her wounded ankle. The pain shot through her body, and although she should have been used to agony by now, she couldn't hold back a weak cry upon it. She pushed herself up and rubbed her ankle, closing her eyes to keep the tears from leaving them. She had no time to cry, she had no time to calm down. She only had time to run before anyone saw her…
"What'd ya reckon that was?" asked a voice from within the house… an eerily familiar voice. Suki's eyes widened when she heard it. "Got a pet on the back, old man?"
"N-no, I don't, just take your money and leave, Yong…" an unfamiliar voice responded.
"That ain't enough, old man. That ain't enough. You know what the agreement with the boss was, dontcha'?"
"Please, two more weeks!"
"I don't got two weeks. The boss don't got two weeks," Yong retorted. "Akira? C'mon, help me give 'im a proper beating. What'cha doing by the window?"
"That voice…" Akira muttered, and Suki felt the blood slow down in her veins.
It just had to be her luck, it just had to be, that she would just so happen to fall in the very house these two were being thugs at. It was fitting that their jobs would be related to beating people up and collecting money, but why did they have to be at this very house right now? Why…?
She couldn't think it through anymore. She couldn't stop to ponder her options. If fortune wanted to be a bitch today, she'd have to fight against it with all her might even if she lost her life in the process. Better dead than chained to that pole for another day.
She darted through the garden and raced over the other end of the fence, jumping over it quickly and happening upon a street, for this house was at the end of the block. She almost tripped again when she passed the fence, but she managed to keep her balance this time.
The people on the streets glanced towards her just out of the corner of their eyes, as though the sight of a battered slave, with ragged clothes and splotches of dry blood all over her body, were completely ordinary in a town like this. Suki grimaced and started running with all her might, yet all her might wouldn't be nearly enough, it seemed. She could hear the indignant voices behind her… they must have seen her. Akira probably had glanced outside the window and spotted her. Maybe she should have hidden behind the fence, maybe she should have crawled under the windowsill… oh, why did she had to come up with better ideas when it was too late to put them into action anymore? She didn't know, and she didn't care. She just had to run, to flee, to get away from the two men who had dragged her into this living hell…
"There she is, Yong! Come on!" Suki heard behind her, and she almost stumbled as she forced herself to move faster. Her ankle pained her further, and she whimpered as she tried to get away from her captors.
She lifted her gaze, panting, to find she was actually reaching the outskirts of the town by now. It didn't seem it was such a large place, after all. Yet what use was it to get out when Akira and Yong were giving her chase? Even so, she didn't dare stop. She kept running, wishing the gravel roads didn't feel as unpleasant as they did against her bare feet. Yet she had to put up with it. The pain would be over soon, one way or another…
And it seemed it would be over indeed, in the worst way she could imagine, for a large hand gripped her shoulder just as she was making her way through the paths outside Shu Wo. She grimaced and struggled to get out of its grasp, but a kick to the back of her knees sent her tumbling. Suki cried out in pain again, rolling on the ground until she was facing the sky. If only she had her weapons… if only she had her strength… if she had anything at all right now, she could defeat those two, but she had nothing…
"Stupid bitch," Yong said, clasping her by the shirt and pulling her up. "The sweet slave act was to get away, huh?!"
"Fuck it, Yong, let's just take her back," said Akira, shaking his head, but Yong refused, slamming Suki hard on the ground once more.
"Not happening," he said, angry. "She's gonna pay"
"Yong…"
Suki gasped for breath when Yong's hand pushed her head down on the ground, hard. She struggled, trying to push him off her, but she couldn't do so. Her nails clawed at him, leaving bloody gashes on his forearms, but that only served to make him hit her in the stomach repeatedly. Suki cried out in pain, mentally begging anyone to help her, anyone… but nobody would. The town's people weren't about to come save her, they didn't care for her at all. Why would they? There was no mercy in that town. There was no honor. There was nothing but pain, and soon enough, death…
Suki closed her eyes, her ears drumming with sounds she couldn't quite place as Yong continued to assault her. His grip around her head hadn't eased at all, and she was certain she would black out from the pain of his punches any second now…
"What the…? Get off that girl!"
Yong's grip on her head suddenly disappeared, and so did his blows. Suki coughed, tasting blood, and she tried to move but Yong's legs were straddling her. Whoever the newcomer was, Akira was the one addressing them, and Suki could scarcely understand what they were saying.
"Mind your own business, pretty girl," Akira said, glaring at the high-class carriage that was anything but welcome in the town. "Get outta here if you know what's good for you."
"How about you mind your manners instead?" the pretty girl said, frowning and stepping off the carriage. "That's no way to treat a girl, you're…! Oh my, she looks terrible. Get off her, she needs medical attention immediately!"
"She needs nuthin'," said Yong, looking at the girl with anger. "Nuthin' but a good beating. Take a hike."
"Don't talk to her that way," said a young man with long hair and an Earth Kingdom look to him, the one who had been driving the carriage. "And do as she says, or you'll be sorry."
"Sorry? This ain't yer business, brat," Yong growled. "Get your dirty Earth Kingdom ass outta here if you know what's good for ya'. Ye've got no right to tell us how to treat this hoe slave of ours."
"You're revolting," the girl said, grimacing. "Just get off her! If she's your slave, you should take better care of her than that!"
"Ah, just shut up, you lady slut!" Yong shouted, standing up and turning to face the girl in question, who gasped upon being insulted that way.
She didn't quite react by more than gasping, but her companion grew so indignant by the slight against the girl that he struck his arms forward, conjuring a glass pillar from the ground that struck Yong on the face, breaking his nose and knocking him down right next to Suki, who winced and moved away from him with what little strength she had. Akira gazed at his fallen partner with disbelief before turning towards the girl and her earthbender.
"Okay, okay! That'll do!" he said, grimacing as he thought about how costly it would be to find a healer to deal with Yong's broken nose now. "Go about your business and leave us be! You didn't come here to beat us up, or did you?!"
"Not quite," said the girl, who had been looking at her glassbender with doting eyes before Akira spoke. "We didn't mean to, but you really don't expect us to keep walking when we see guys like you two beating up girls like you just did!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, chick. He ain't beating her anymore, is he? Get a move on already and leave us be," said Akira, scowling.
"Fine, I will, but… not yet," said the girl, frowning. "I'm here to look for someone, and if you'd help us find her, we'd be on our way."
"Who's that, then?" said Akira.
"W-well… I don't really know her name. I know a nickname for her, though… Does Kyoshi's Heir ring a bell for you?"
Suki's eyes widened when she heard her gladiator name for the first time in months. It almost felt as though she had blocked away all the memories of her past. It hadn't been such a brilliant past anyways, but it had been so much better than this…
And hearing someone say her name, her old name, the one she had proudly taken up while she joined battle in the sand ring, reminded her that she once had a life beyond this world of pain. Someone out there knew who she was… someone had come to find her. She wasn't as lost as she had thought.
"I…" she gasped, raising her gaze towards the two newcomers. Her eyes could hardly focus on their shapes "K-Kyoshi's… I…"
Upon the slave's mumbling, Ty Lee frowned and gave her a closer look. She had thought she was only a common slave being mistreated, as most slaves in Shu Wo would probably be. Yet it didn't feel like it all of sudden. There was a spark in her eyes, her violet eyes… Ty Lee didn't recall Kyoshi's Heir's features all too well, for they had been hidden underneath a very thick face-paint. But now she looked at her carefully, she found those eyes were somewhat familiar…
"We don't know any Kyoshi's nuthin'…" grumbled Yong, standing up with a grimace, a hand on his bloody nose. "Just get the fuck outta here and leave us alone, you…"
Haru glared at Yong significantly, and the man winced. He knew better than to ask for another glass attack.
"Never heard that name, really," said Akira, shaking his head. "Got the wrong town, probably."
"No, I didn't," said Ty Lee, looking at the girl with wide eyes. "It's… it's you, isn't it?"
Tears streamed down Suki's face as she nodded, and she pleaded with her gaze for this girl to save her. She had no idea if this new arrival was any better than these two, but getting away from them was what she wanted most. She had almost discarded her life before this savior had showed up… could she give her a chance at a real life now? Could she get her away from Shu Wo?
"Her?!" Yong spat, angrily. "Whaddaya' want with our slave?! She's ours! Bought and paid for!"
"True enough," Ty Lee said, sighing, before raising her eyes with determination towards the man. "How much?"
"How…?" said Yong, staring at her, dumbfounded. "Ye wanna buy her from us?!"
"Yes," Ty Lee said, nodding. "We'll pay for her. Just hand her over and…"
"You can't just buy someone else's slave because you feel like it, lady!" said Akira, frowning. "Why would you wanna…?"
"I suppose I have to appeal to you guys differently, then. Haru, if you would…" Ty Lee said, smiling at him. Haru nodded and climbed onto the carriage again before stepping down, a bag of money on his hand. Akira's eyes brightened upon seeing how large it was. "I'm hoping this will be enough."
"T-that is… yes, yes," said Akira, a greedy smile on his face as Haru handed him the money. "This is good. This is…"
"No! Akira, ye' punk, whaddaya think yer doing?!" shouted Yong, angrily. "She's my slut! I got her, I bought her, she's mine! And no petty lady's gonna…!"
Ty Lee rolled her eyes before stepping towards Yong while he rambled. Haru grimaced and tried to stop her, but he couldn't reach her in time before she struck Yong's body with her fists. Yet it wasn't a matter of merely hitting him… Ty Lee struck Yong's body masterfully, carefully, touching the exact spots in his body with the proper pressure to paralyze the man and render him helpless. She finished her attack on him by knocking him to the ground, incapable of moving.
"Yong!" Akira squeaked, jumping towards him.
"Now, as for you…" Ty Lee said, leaning down on Suki and pulling her up with difficulty. Suki winced when she grasped her arm. "There, there. I'm not going to hurt you. Come on, don't be afraid. We're getting out of here."
Suki's tears continued streaming down her face as Ty Lee helped her on her feet. She winced and grimaced, an arm slung over Ty Lee's shoulder. Ty Lee surrounded her waist with her own arm, and she led the girl to the carriage. Haru waited until they were both sitting on it safely before climbing on the driver's seat, glaring at Yong and Akira in the process. He shook the reins of the carriage, prompting the dragon moose to turn the vehicle around so they could leave through where they had come from.
"Those horrible men," said Ty Lee, grimacing as she held Suki in her arms. "It's okay, dear, you're safe now. Nobody will hurt you anymore. We're off to the Capital now, we're going home. You'll eat well, and you'll have a bed, and you're never going to see either of those nasty guys ever again, I promise!"
Ty Lee's words were meant to be reassuring, but even when they were, on some level, Suki couldn't quite stop crying. She gripped Ty Lee's clothes tightly, unwilling to move away from her and also to engage in conversation just yet. She had no idea who this girl was, or who her glassbending partner might be, but it didn't matter to her right now. All she could think of was that she was finally getting out of Shu Wo, at long last.
"And the winners are the Blind Bandit and the Blue Wolf!"
Toph smirked and lifted a fist into the air, and the crowd roared upon her gesture. Sokka's chest heaved and he wiped away the sweat from his brow. This time it had been her who had knocked out both the enemies, and quite efficiently as well. Sokka felt as though he had hardly done anything at all, but it seemed Toph was virtually unstoppable when she was in a good mood.
After finally overcoming their conflict regarding their partnership, both Toph and Sokka had fought as a team at last. And even though the wounds they had sustained the day before still weighed on them, they had managed to get through this new fight, this time against a non-bender and an earthbender, practically unscathed.
"You got a few scrapes there, but it's no big deal, right?" said Toph, when they were being tended to in the waiting rooms.
"Nah, not really," said Sokka, smiling weakly as the healer cleaned his superficial wounds.
"And with this, we've made it to the semifinals!" Toph exclaimed happily, and Iroh gave a jolly laugh at her proud statement.
"We have indeed," he said, beaming. "Who knew we would make it this far?"
"Well, that was what we hoped for, after all," Azula said, standing next to where Sokka sat. "We should hardly be surprised by this turn of events."
"C'mon, stop trying to suck the joy out of everything, Jewel," said Toph, smirking. "You're not really a party pooper, are you?"
"I'm simply hoping to keep your heads level, is all," said Azula, shrugging, and Sokka smiled at her.
"Don't worry. We're not going to be reckless from here on out," he said. "We've got our sights set on that last fight, and we're going to get there, one way or another."
"Hell, yeah!" said Toph, beaming. Azula raised an eyebrow but couldn't quite hold back a smile of her own. Despite being off to an awful start, the partnership between the four of them was finally working out for the best.
Yet again they had an impasse upon reaching the train station. Azula led the way towards the platforms, her mind set on heading towards the train that would lead them the closest to the Palace… and while Sokka followed suit, the other pair lagged behind, looking at the Princess in confusion.
"Uh… Jewel? Where are you going?" Toph asked, her hands on her hips.
"Where do you think?" Azula replied, turning and looking at her defiantly. "Iroh did what he had to do already, didn't he? It's time to go to the Palace, just as intended."
"Yeah, that sounds neat and all…" said Toph, scratching her head while Iroh grimaced and looked at Azula warily.
"You see, Azula…"
"What now, Uncle?" Azula asked, frowning. She should have seen some protesting coming, although she had no idea why her uncle wouldn't want to go to the Imperial Palace. "Do you want to live as a monk from now on, staying in old inns and living as humbly as possible or so? Because I assure you, I don't. So if you would like to head back to the inn now instead of going to the Palace, by all means, do as you wish. We'll meet again in the Arena tomorrow if that's the case."
"T-that's not it," said Iroh, a finger rubbing his nose before he smiled clumsily at her. "We simply can't go to the Palace yet, can we? We left all our luggage back at the inn."
Azula froze cold and looked at her uncle in disbelief. Sokka, who had been backing her in the idea of heading back to the Palace immediately, grimaced as he realized Iroh was right.
And thus, soon enough, the four of them were riding the train back to the Lower Ring, Azula's head buried in her hands while Sokka smiled awkwardly next to her, Iroh and Toph simply chatting and enjoying the trip yet again.
"We have enough time to take the last train to the Upper Ring again, though," Azula said, as they entered the inn. "It's not so late this time around. So, we're going to gather our luggage and head to the station again as soon as we do, understood?"
"Whatever you say, Jewel," said Toph, shrugging as they all climbed the stairs. "But really, we don't actually need to take another long and annoying trip on the train, do we? I mean, it's just some Palace…"
"Why, indeed, it's an Imperial Palace," Azula snapped. "And I don't see why you're so bothered by the idea of being in a Palace, considering you've been living in one for the past year or so."
"Well, that's pretty much it, you know? I'm tired of the royal shenanigans," said Toph, sighing and entering the room she had shared with Azula during the past few days. "It gets old after a while."
"Surely for you it does," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Why did I ever expect a Dirt Worm to understand the joys of a high-class life…?"
"I honestly have no idea!" Toph replied, laughing.
Sokka smiled at their exchange and entered his room as well, Iroh treading behind him. The man had been unusually silent once they had entered the inn, as though he were in deep thought.
"Your luggage isn't going to pack itself up, you know," Sokka called out for him, raising an eyebrow as he refilled his bag with all the stuff he had pulled out of it during the last two days.
"Oh, it won't," Iroh admitted, with a smile, and he got down to work. Yet to Sokka's surprise, the old man hardly took any time in gathering his belongings, and he had soon left Sokka to himself in the room they had shared the last two nights.
Sokka raised an eyebrow when Iroh closed the door behind him, but he simply shrugged, trying not to think that Iroh's actions were somewhat suspicious. Still… why would he keep his pack at the ready? In a way, it made sense, for Iroh should have known they would set out for the Palace today. Yet it was fishy on some level too, for Iroh hardly seemed to want to leave the inn altogether. Sokka sighed and assumed he was just making too big a deal out of this, and he finished checking his bedside table for whatever he might have left there… to find a small, clay statue.
He blinked a few times when he realized this wasn't his statue. Instead of having the wolf, he had wound up with the dragon. When had they switched statues, and why hadn't he noticed at all? He smiled and placed the dragon within his pack, hoping to return it to Azula once they reached the Palace, perhaps…
And in the next room, Azula just so happened to make the same discovery. She looked at the wolf with a raised eyebrow, certain she hadn't brought neither the dragon nor the wolf all the way to her room. She had been distracted by heading to Lu Ten's hill with Iroh, after all. So, what was this about?
"Uh, Azula…" Iroh's voice suddenly sounded in the room, just as Toph got ready to step outside. "May I have a word with you?"
"I suppose," Azula muttered, pocketing the figure before facing Iroh, who fist-bumped Toph just as she left the room, her pack slung over her shoulder. The old man grinned before stepping towards Azula, looking somewhat nervous. "What is it?"
"It was simply… well, something for you to consider, really," he muttered, swallowing hard. Azula turned, her bags in hand, and she gave him a dangerous glare, analyzing him carefully.
"You're not going to ask me if we can stay here… are you?" she muttered, and Iroh swallowed hard.
Outside, Toph greeted Sokka with a nod when he finally left his room. He acknowledged Toph with a grin, even though he knew she wasn't bound to notice his gesture.
"Done so fast?" he asked her.
"It's not like I brought that much stuff with me, really," said Toph. "I'm a lightweight kind of girl, unlike your Princess."
"My Princess, really…" he said, rolling his eyes. "Did you switch our animal figurines, by the way? For some reason I had the dragon in my nightstand instead of…"
"Oh, did you, now? That's so curious. Must be some sort of sign of true love or something…" Toph said, with a mockingly dreamy voice. Sokka blushed and lifted a fist towards her, which prompted her to laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, you're so funny!" he said, as she doubled over and kept laughing. "So it really was you, huh?"
"C'mon, you don't really have a problem with that, do you?" she said, still chuckling. "Now you have a pocket-sized clay Azula to carry around with you all the time!"
"Yeah, that sounds just neat," said Sokka, fighting off the blush while Toph laughed. "Please stop doing and saying troublesome stuff, though. You could get Azula in a serious mess if people hear you talking about us being in love or whatever…"
"Just Azula?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow. "Here I thought you had a better sense of self-preservation than that. You'd be the one in worse trouble, if word was ever out about whatever stuff you've done with her."
"I suppose," said Sokka, sighing. "So if you actually care for my wellbeing, don't go around talking so leisurely, will you?"
"Care for your wellbeing, you said?" Toph replied, chuckling. "That's a new one. Now we care about each other's wellbeing?"
"While this Tournament lasts, we should," said Sokka. "We've got to watch each other's backs, don't we?"
"I guess so," said Toph, smiling weakly and nodding. "It's weird, really. I never actually thought about getting along with you, let alone with your sponsor. You two always seemed to despise me and Iroh, so I just figured I'd have fun at your expenses and that'd be that. Now, though…"
"Now what?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her with confusion.
"Now… we're friends, I think," she said, still smiling. "At least, it sort of feels that way. Even if just for this Tournament, we're all on the same boat, aren't we?"
"I guess so," said Sokka, smiling a little as well. "Got to admit it's a lot easier being your ally than your enemy."
"Heh? Then I should definitely make it harder for you," said Toph, smirking. "I'm going to run through town shouting that you and the Jewel are in love, then, let's see how easy that goes on you…"
"For crying out loud, you're really…" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching as the girl chuckled again.
Something kept Sokka from finishing his sentence, though. He frowned as he felt an odd prickle on the back of his neck, the unpleasant sensation of being watched. Yet the hallway was empty but for them, wasn't it?
"Uh… Toph?" he muttered, looking at the stairwell from the corner of his eye. "I might be imagining things, but… can you sense anyone near us right now?"
"Sense someone?" Toph repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Well… I really don't have an easy time sensing stuff when it comes to wood, so I really don't…"
Yet as soon as she'd heard Sokka's words, she knew something was wrong. And when a pillar of earth shot out straight through the inn's wooden floors, right between her feet, she realized something definitely was wrong after all.
She jumped out of the way when she sensed the powerful vibrations underneath her, and she pushed Sokka away as well before he could be struck by the fearsome earthbending attack. Sokka's eyes widened and he instinctively pulled out his sword, even though he didn't quite understand what was happening. Who had just attacked…?
His question was answered before he had enough time to formulate it within his head. From the stairs jumped a man clad in dark green clothes, bearing a hat of the same color. His hands were covered with stones, it seemed, and he bent those on his right hand straight towards Toph, who, at a lack of proper perception of what this new foe was doing, couldn't defend herself from the attack…
Sokka jumped between Toph and the hand-shaped rocks and struck them hard with Space Sword, succeeding at cutting the rock and almost rendering it useless… yet another hand-shaped rock came flying towards him so quickly he couldn't defend himself from it. It struck him on the neck, the cold stone fingers surrounding his throat hard in order to choke him. Sokka fell to his knees as he tried to fill his lungs with air again, but the hand's grip was too powerful. He started seeing black stains as he realized the attacker wouldn't be satisfied by choking him, for he was trying to smash his neck…
An array of blue fire, accompanied by a scream of outrage, managed to make the earthbender lose control of the rock he had been bending. Azula's glare was fierce enough to make the earthbender recoil, and soon enough she had shot a wheel of fire towards him, being so quick upon her attack that the man couldn't defend himself from the fire that churned his clothes.
When she saw the man was too busy trying to smother the flames to fight properly, Azula turned to find Toph and Iroh helping to remove the rocks asphyxiating Sokka. Azula dropped on her knees beside him, looking at him worriedly.
"Sokka…"
"I'm fine…" he gasped, giving her a significant look and a nod of his head. "It wasn't that bad, I…"
Another boulder came soaring from the stairs, and this time two more men in green climbed them hastily, both of them with rocks covering their hands. They attacked the group once more, yet this time it was Iroh who stepped forward, and with fire-coated punches, he tore apart the hand-shaped rocks.
"We must get out of here!" he exclaimed. "Now!"
Azula nodded and pulled Sokka to his feet before pushing both him and Toph towards the open door that led to the room they had just vacated. They scrambled towards the window, and Azula opened it violently before pushing Toph and Sokka towards it. Sokka dropped to the ground first, and the earthbender followed quickly. Toph grimaced as the wind buffeted her face, and she was greatly relieved when her feet were finally on the ground… yet regaining her capacity to feel her surroundings also brought some bad news she had started to expect from the moment they were first attacked.
"They're everywhere!" she shouted, just as Azula dropped next to them. "There's at least thirty of them!"
"Crap!" Sokka growled, when another earthbending attack shot towards them, now in the form of diagonal pillars. He jumped out of the way just in time for Iroh, who had leapt off the window, to fall on the spot where Sokka had stood, shattering the earth the enemy had bent with his weight. "Huh… that was a pretty good move, Iroh."
Azula turned to her right to find five of the men in green shooting their rock-hands at them. She gritted her teeth before kicking arrays of fire towards them, glaring dangerously at the foes. To her irritation, her counterattack didn't serve to dishearten them. Perhaps she needed a different approach, then…
She moved her hands in circular motions, carefully, as her limbs charged with power. Toph aided her by keeping the men in green busy while Azula composed her lightning bolt, which she cast towards the foes powerfully enough to stun three of them and knock out the other two.
Yet it wasn't enough. More agents in green showed up, and despite their hopes to fend them off, it didn't seem they were about to succeed. The people on the streets screamed and fled from the commotion right outside the inn, yet the men in green hardly seemed to care. They continued to attack, and the four of them continued to resist. Azula shot another blast of lightning against another of them, but her attack was stopped by a tall wall of earth the group of men had built quickly.
"We've got… to get out of here!" Sokka panted, tossing his boomerang and hitting one of the men on the helmet with it before it soared back to Sokka. "We can't keep this up much longer!"
Azula grimaced, knowing he was right. Toph slammed a boulder against a pair of the men in green before pulling up a tall wall of her own.
"And how the hell are we going to get out of this?!" she asked, before shooting the wall forward, effectively pushing away the enemies until they thought about breaking through the wall in order to continue their attack.
Azula closed her eyes briefly, a powerful, urgent thought in her mind. When she heard the answer she was waiting for, she unleashed another wave of fire upon their foes, setting more of their flowing clothes on fire while she waited for the right moment…
Iroh roared, startling Sokka as he cast blazes through his mouth towards his enemies. The flames spread wider than those he had executed so far, and they were also hotter, which served to keep the men in green away. Sokka struck the boulders and earth pillars with his sword and club, hoping to outlast their foes while it was possible. They were bound to get caught by them sooner than later if this struggle carried on at this rate…
"Toph, throw us into the air, now!" he heard Azula exclaim, and he turned towards her with confusion upon her demand.
"You want me to what, now?!" Toph retorted, shooting more rocks at the agents, who were now jumping down on them from the roofs of the nearby buildings.
"DO IT!" Azula shouted, after performing a spin kick and striking one of the green agents on the chest with a blast of fire.
Toph groaned and flexed her arms before extending them rapidly, and with that, the earth underneath the four of them shook and shot upwards brusquely, blasting them up in the air. The men in green were confused by the sudden development, for they found no logic in it. The four of them would soon fall down again, and they'd only catch them once they did…
They didn't foresee that a dragon would dash through the air just then and there, determined to reach his rider.
Azula extended a hand and gripped Xin Long's saddle, settling on it quickly. Sokka was the next to hop on, sliding into the secondary seat and reaching out for Iroh, who had been near him during the fight. Yet Toph and Iroh were starting to drop, and the earthbender had a horrified look on her face as she feared she'd wind up collapsing on the ground…
Xin Long descended what was necessary for Azula to grasp Toph's forearm and pull her on board, setting her between herself and Sokka even though the saddle wasn't equipped for a third person to sit on it. Toph still seemed horrified, and she held on to Azula tightly as Sokka leaned down to clasp Iroh's hand in his own…
And while Toph's weight had affected Xin Long's flight subtly, the same couldn't be said about Iroh's.
Xin Long groaned when he lost his flight's balance, and he leaned on the direction Iroh was dangling on, Sokka struggling to keep his grip around the old man's arm. Toph screamed, despite herself, and Azula snarled before grasping Xin Long's horns and attempting to steer him to find proper balance in the air
The men in green below watched the situation that unfolded above with wide eyes until they realized the dragon would actually remain airborne unless they did something. Their leader commanded them to continue attacking, and boulders soared near Xin Long as he tried to regain control of his flight.
Azula grimaced and pulled Xin Long's horns hard, and the dragon groaned in complaint. Nevertheless, he shook his tail and clawed at the air, forcing himself to ascend through the air even though the excessive weight threatened to be stronger than him.
"Come on, Xin, come on…" Azula said, baring her teeth as they sped upwards, leaving the ground behind progressively.
Azula had no clue in what direction they were headed other than upwards, focused as she was in putting as much distance between them and the men in green as possible. They probably were out of their range by now, for no rocks flew past them anymore. Azula allowed herself a relieved sigh as Xin Long continued to climb into the skies, giving them some cover once he drifted through the clouds that swirled high above the city.
She let go of Xin Long's horns, thinking she didn't have to steer him forcefully anymore, but soon enough she came to regret doing so. As soon as she wasn't leading him, Xin Long began to drift sideways, towards where Iroh's weight was pulling him.
"He's… he's going to fall! I can't keep holding him like this!" Sokka shouted, clenching his teeth and trying to pull Iroh up, yet the force of gravity seemed determined to reclaim Iroh for itself.
"Can't you pull him up here?!" Toph retorted, still clinging to Azula.
"That won't do us any good, Xin Long can't carry all this weight!" Azula exclaimed, as Xin Long stopped ascending and begun descending instead. "We're losing height!"
"Dammit…!" Sokka exclaimed, sweat treading down his brow as his fingers dug into Iroh's arms.
"I promise I'll start a diet after this is over!" Iroh shouted, but his vow didn't mean much to anyone while they were too worried over plummeting to the ground to pay any attention to what he had said.
They coursed through the clouds yet again, this time downwards, and Azula grimaced when she realized they were heading straight into the Agrarian Zone. She clasped Xin Long's horns again, trying to pull him up again, but it was impossible this time. The dragon was groaning and gasping for breath. Either it was losing the excessive weight, or it would be another crash landing, worse than those they'd endured when they had only just met Xin Long…
Xin Long tried to fight against the forces that were bringing him down, but despite his attempts, he couldn't rise anymore. His struggle either kept him floating on the same height, or it'd simply push him lower. He groaned again and gave up, and Azula gritted her teeth as she realized there was only one thing they could do before this ended badly.
"Sokka, let go of Iroh when I tell you to!" Azula shouted, and Sokka grimaced.
"Y-you can't just ask me to…!"
"It's that or we're all going to crash!" Azula yelled, as Xin Long sped his way towards a stream.
"Uh-oh," Iroh said, grimacing.
"Can you handle the drop, uncle?!" Azula asked him, as their altitude continued to decrease.
"I'll try!" he replied, gulping and looking at Sokka worriedly.
"Then we'll just wait for the right moment and then…" Azula muttered, and once she thought they were low enough, she yelled "NOW!"
Sokka gave Iroh an apologetic grimace as he let go of him, and as soon as he did that, Xin Long was free to control his flight again. He slowed down and made a turn by the riverbank, his paws helping him land as he broke into a gentle trot, still gasping for breath.
Azula glanced back at Iroh, who was on his knees, a few feet from where they'd landed. The man lifted a hand towards the dragon, letting them know he was fine. Azula sighed deeply and her shoulders dropped as she finally relaxed, even though she felt relaxing was a luxury they shouldn't afford just now.
Sokka struggled to get off the saddle, for with Toph sticking out between him and Azula he couldn't quite climb off as easily as he usually could. Toph ended up having to scoot even closer to Azula before Sokka could jump back on solid ground, and she followed him quickly, dropping on her knees before stretching across the dirt, this time looking even more relieved than she had been after descending from the Barge.
"Ground… nice, solid ground…" she whispered repeatedly.
Azula climbed off as well and tended to Xin Long, caressing his head and apologizing for calling him on such a short notice. Xin Long apologized as well for his bumpy flight, but Azula assured him he had nothing to apologize for, placing her head against his forehead as she told him to rest now. In the meantime, Sokka helped Iroh on his feet again, and the old man grinned at him and patted his arm as a thank you.
"For a moment I thought you might let go when I started to bring the dragon down," he said.
"Yeah, I guess I could have, but it really didn't cross my mind to do that…" said Sokka, smiling weakly before moving towards the other two, Iroh treading behind him. Sokka rubbed his forehead and sighed as he looked around himself, grimacing. "And we're in one hell of a mess, aren't we?"
"We are," Azula agreed, closing her eyes and patting Xin Long's head gently before moving away from him. "If only we knew just what mess we're in, though…"
Iroh grimaced and dropped his gaze, and Toph stopped caressing the ground lovingly, sitting up and turning towards where the others were talking. Azula frowned upon their reactions. Just as she had suspected…
"But I suppose these two can shed some light on the subject, after all," she muttered, raising an eyebrow and looking at Iroh inquisitively.
"These two?" Sokka asked, frowning. "The guys attacking us came because of them?"
"Well, I'm quite certain the two of us have done nothing that would compel the Dai Li to hunt us down, have we?" Azula asked him, before looking at Iroh judgmentally.
"The what, now?" asked Sokka, scratching the back of his head. "The Dai Li, you said?"
"They're Ba Sing Se's law enforcers… or, well, they used to be. They're not supposed to hold that role anymore," Azula replied. "I honestly have no idea what their current business is. I actually thought they had been disbanded, but after what happened just now, I can see I was wrong to assume as much."
"Seems like it," said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you think they were after these two, then?"
"No…" said Azula, turning her gaze away from Iroh and looking accusingly at Toph now. "I'm pretty sure they were after her."
The Blind Bandit only reacted by grimacing and dropping her gaze, incapable of covering up for her guilt. Azula glared at her, her fists balled.
"Well, then, start talking, Bandit. What did you do to enrage the Dai Li?"
"I didn't do anything to them, if that's what you're thinking," Toph growled. "This is the first time I've come to Ba Sing Se altogether. I'd never even ran into the Dai Li before."
"Then why on earth would they come after you?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "They weren't after my uncle, or were they?"
"Azula, this really is a delicate matter…" Iroh said, looking at her pleadingly and earning himself another glare.
"It is indeed, Uncle, I have no doubts about it," she said, looking at him skeptically. "Yet I believe I'm entitled to ask why we were attacked just now, aren't I?"
"Azula…"
"Fine, fine, fine," said Toph, sighing and rolling her eyes as she took her seat on a nearby rock. "You want the whole story? You'll get the whole story. No point in hiding it anymore."
Azula frowned and both her and Sokka, who was massaging his neck gently, stared at Toph as the girl readied herself to answer their questions.
"As I said, I have nothing to do with the Dai Li. Not directly, I mean. I didn't attack them or offend them in any way, so if you thought they were chasing after me for retribution of some sort, you're wrong. That's got nothing to do with it."
"Then what is it?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Toph sighed again. "What sort of bone would they have to pick with a gladiator, of all things?"
"Well… it's a bone that has nothing to do with me being a gladiator. Though, then again, it just might have everything to do with that," said Toph, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "You see, I… I'm not really like you, Sokka. I wasn't caught and dragged to the Fire Nation so that I'd become a slave. I'm not a slave, I never was one. Heck… I'm actually a Fire Nation Honorary Citizen."
"You're… what?" Azula exclaimed, her eyes wide. "W-what the…? You're in the Honorary Citizen System?"
"Yup," Toph said, with a nod. "Pretty shocking, huh?"
"Wait, but… how can you be an Honorary Citizen and a gladiator?!" Sokka exclaimed, aghast. "That's absurd!"
"Not really," said Toph, shrugging. "They don't ask for your identity documents or anything when you sign up. They don't check if you're a slave, if you're lowborn, if you're highborn… they just add you to the lists if you have a sponsor with you. And that's what happened with me. Never mind if the blind girl just so happens to be the daughter of a noble family from the Former Earth Kingdom. If she came to fight, she'll fight…"
"Wait… what?" said Azula, staring at her in disbelief now. "What did you just say?"
"That I showed up to fight, and that's all they really cared about…"
"No, no, what you said before that," Azula said. "The daughter of a noble family? You?!"
"Uh… yeah. What of it?" Toph said, raising an eyebrow as both Sokka and Azula's jaws dropped at once.
"W-what do you mean, 'what of it'?!" Sokka squeaked. "You, of all people, a girl of noble birth?!"
"That's right," Toph said, frowning. "And yeah, I may not be a pretty princess like your sponsor and yeah, I like swimming in mud way better than undergoing beauty treatments, but that doesn't mean I was born in a gutter or something."
"This is preposterous," said Azula, still looking at the girl in utter disbelief. "Y-you, highborn? That's worse than when Sokka claimed he was a Prince…"
"Hey, I kinda am a…" Sokka started, but Azula silenced him with one look.
"Cut the nonsense, that's not what we're discussing now anyways," she muttered before turning towards Toph. "You're highborn, then? Is that why you have a last name?"
"Yeah," said Toph, sighing again. "I'm the only daughter of the Beifong family, so as a bonus, I get a last name. Such a great perk, huh?"
"The only daughter?" Sokka repeated. "The only daughter of an old noble family has wound up as a gladiator? Did something happen to your parents or something?"
"Not at all," said Toph, shaking her head. "There are few former noble families that can say they weren't so affected by the war. The Beifongs are one of them. After the Earth Kingdom forces protecting Gaoling surrendered, my parents were at risk of losing their estate, so to avoid that, they paid a ton of money to the Fire Nation so that they'd allow the Beifongs to retain their status, territories and belongings. The only condition, aside from the big pile of money, was that the whole Beifong family had to become Honorary Fire Nation Citizens. And we did."
"So, you're from Gaoling," Sokka said, frowning. "Can't remember hearing anything about a Beifong when we last were there."
"Probably not, but you might have seen one big estate with this flying boar as its sigil…"
"I don't really think… Oh!" Sokka said, suddenly recalling the banner. "I did see it! When we were on our way to Kuan's place I saw that boar. That was your family's home?"
"Yeah," said Toph, nodding and sighing. "That'd be the Beifong Estate."
"Alright then, you're a Beifong and you're of noble birth," said Azula, frowning. "But telling us that you're an Honorary Citizen still fails to explain why the Dai Li were chasing you."
"Yeah, I guess it doesn't really explain anything," said Toph, sighing again. "When I was a kid, long before the Fire Nation showed up at Gaoling, I wandered off into this mountain and I happened upon some badgermoles. According to what I had been told, badgermoles were born blind all the same as I was. Yet I found out they could see through their earthbending… and I learned from them how to feel the earth underneath me, how to bend it and use it as an extension of myself. I hadn't even known I was an earthbender before that…"
"And…?" said Azula, growing impatient.
"I told my parents I could earthbend, but heh, for some reason, they thought I was saying that I wanted to learn how to earthbend. I was given the lousiest teacher in the history of teachers, and I was only ever taught lessons on basic earthbending that I didn't even need in the first place. You see, my parents… they always thought of me as a weak little girl, their frail daughter who couldn't do a thing to save her own life. They never even bothered seeing me for who I really was. Whenever I didn't obey their expectations they'd make sure I started behaving like a proper young lady again, with manners and decency and all that fake politeness that I never cared for."
Azula's eyes widened as she looked at the girl in surprise. Oddly enough, she could understand that struggle, on some level…
"And since I was sick and tired of my parents controlling my life, I started sneaking off from the estate at nighttime to fight in this big tournament, Earth Rumble. Now that same place serves as a gladiator Arena, but it used to be just for earthbenders. I joined the Rumble, and I won every time I participated in it. Most people didn't even know the Beifongs had a daughter, and they wouldn't expect her, of all people, to be the Blind Bandit who was taking out every other earthbender in Earth Rumble. Still, as I said, that was over when the Fire Nation started pounding on the city's doors. It took a while for them to take over, but once they did, Earth Rumble was done for. It became Gladiator Rumble after a short time, but I couldn't join that without a sponsor. So, my one shot at fun within my boring, pathetic life was taken away from me just like that."
"Your parents never knew about your involvement in those fights?" Azula asked, surprised.
"Nah, they wouldn't have stepped into Earth Rumble in a million years," said Toph, waving a hand carelessly. "They never had a clue. And revealing I was involved in it would have only made a bigger mess of things. My father would have been outraged and he would have declared I had been given too much freedom, so he probably would have chained me down to keep me from ever leaving the estate again. So, I just put up with everything for a few more years, enduring a life that just didn't feel like my own… until I left."
"You left? Just like that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah… I ran away," Toph said, with a guilty smile. "Sounds a little more accurate, really. I was done with that wretched, boring life. I was born for so much more than that! So as soon as I turned of age, I gathered some stuff and I got away. I wanted to join the gladiator fights, I heard there were awesome fighters involved in them, but I couldn't do that without a sponsor… and well, soon enough, I discovered my parents had offered a huge reward for whoever dragged me back to the Beifong estate. I had to run as far as I could, fight a bunch of bounty hunters and gold diggers that attempted to seize me and drag me back, and I didn't know what else I could do other than head to the Fire Nation. It was the one place where I wasn't bound to find any wanted posters about me, or so I hoped. Still, one of my parents' hired benders, Xin Fu, followed me to the Fire Nation… where we struck a deal when he realized he couldn't overpower me. It was a simple plan, really: he'd sponsor me and win way more money through that than by bringing me back to my parents, and I'd get to fight to my heart's content…"
"Which I guess didn't work out so well for him in the long run," said Sokka, sighing.
"He decided I wasn't worth the trouble after I refused to kill you," said Toph, shrugging. "So I guess I owe you for ridding me of him, after all. Thanks for not being worth killing, Dog."
"Yeah, no problem, I guess," said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching.
"So, you're saying… that the Dai Li are hunting you down in order to deliver you to your parents?" Azula repeated, looking at her inquisitively. "That's it?"
"Well, I can't think of another reason why they'd attack me," said Toph, shrugging. "The reward is supposed to be pretty big, so maybe they're acting like bounty hunters now instead of law enforcers…"
"Maybe they hope to buy their way into the Fire Nation's services with the reward from Toph's capture," Iroh muttered, thoughtfully.
"Maybe," said Azula, frowning.
Something still felt fishy to her, no doubt. Even if Toph had confessed everything she had, she still wasn't satisfied. There was more to this riddle, without a doubt…
Sokka noticed the look on her face and sighed before stepping forward, looking at the other three worriedly.
"Well, whatever the situation is, guys… we're going to have the Dai Li on our tails any moment now. They probably saw Xin Long drop, and frankly, it's weird they haven't come after us yet."
"Well, what can we do anyways?" Azula asked, frowning. "Heading back into the Inner Wall isn't going to end well for us when we don't know if the Dai Li will find us as soon as we're inside it. They found us once: they can probably do it again."
"And what do you propose, that we just turn on our heels and run for cover?" Toph asked, confused. "What's that going to accomplish?"
"Why, I don't know, but maybe it'll avoid getting us killed," Azula snapped, sarcastically. "I suppose you don't mind falling prey to the Dai Li because, if it's true that they're after you for the money, they won't harm you in order to deliver you to your parents intact. Yet when it comes to the rest of us…"
"Oh, come on," said Toph, huffing. "You think those guys would genuinely hurt you or Iroh? You guys are royals! They'd know better than to do anything to the two of you!"
"Ah, yes, and that leaves just one of us in the line of fire, doesn't it?" Azula asked, frowning. Sokka's eyes widened when he heard how indignant Azula seemed to be. "In case you failed to notice, my gladiator almost got his throat smashed by those men earlier today, and while that may not matter to you at all because you only care about your freedom, or your clean record in the Gladiator Ranking, or perhaps the points you've gathered, I assure you, it does matter to me."
"I... I'm not saying it doesn't matter," Toph said, feeling somewhat nervous now. It felt as though Azula was angrier at her than ever before. And while she would have welcomed any conflict with her in other circumstances, she sure wasn't ready to welcome one as serious as this one. "I didn't think they'd come for us at all. I actually did everything I could to keep from being identified as Toph Beifong altogether..."
"Which is why you didn't give up your full name when we entered Ba Sing Se," said Sokka.
"And it's why I wanted to ask you if we could stay at the inn instead of heading to the Palace," Iroh muttered. "Word of the reward for Toph's capture was spread throughout the Earth Kingdom. We thought we could avoid incidents by staying as low profile as possible, yet..."
"Hard to keep a low profile when you two are a renowned gladiator and a former army general," Azula rebutted, bitterly.
"Well, whether they could keep a low profile or not, we still have to figure out what to do," Sokka said, looking at Azula worriedly. "Else we risk those guys coming after us again"
Azula sighed and shook her head. She honestly didn't know what she wanted to do. She was partial towards seizing Sokka, climbing on Xin Long with him as soon as the dragon was ready to take off again, and flying towards her Barge, damn everything else. Iroh and Toph had only brought them problem after problem, and it looked as though they were set on making things worse with every moment that passed them by. She gave Sokka a look that said as much, and he looked at her apprehensively.
"I'm not putting your life at risk again unless I have no choice," Azula said. "Gladiators like you don't grow on trees, even if the Dirt Worm thinks otherwise."
"I appreciate that," said Sokka, with a weak grin. "But if we stay put, we're going to be attacked again anyways."
"Well, we just might not be," Iroh said, stroking his beard and looking at the others with determination. "I have an idea."