AN: Wanted to thank you guys again so much for the feedback last week, had a great slew of responses, and I really enjoyed reading the reviews! Really appreciate you guys, and am always so happy to get to hear from you. Hope very much that you enjoy!!
Chapter 9: Trigger
Yue tried to feel a sense of relief as the shore of the Fire Nation came into sight, far away on the horizon. She tried to harness some level of success that they were no longer beneath the black gale of an infinite storm, staring into the crimson eye of a serpent so large that it must have been pulled from a nightmare. She knew that she should feel a sense of triumph over anything else as a result of the month long journey that had finally returned her to the Elemental Nations, but no matter how hard she tried, all she could feel was anxious. Yue knew the anxiety was not a result of knowing what more lay before them, or predicated by the fact that their still could very well be more danger and peril to come.
No, the only reason she felt fear was because of him.
Sasuke had been sitting at the head of the rightmost canoe of their vessel since they had made it past the leviathan; his hands clenched the wood on the edge of the hull with a white grip and he hadn't so much as even slightly turned his head since he had sat there. No reaction had come from him at the music that had been played by the crewmate who had brought along his instrument, no reaction came when Ursa asked him how far she thought it might be to the westernmost parts of the Elemental Nations, leaving Yue to answer for him, and no reaction had come when the call of land was made and a cheer had gone up over the vessel. Multiple times, Yue called upon her ability to sense the energy of the Elemental Nations to ensure they were heading in the right direction, and while she had done this, he had paid her no mind. They had sailed through the night and into the morning and it was midday once again as the Fire Nation became a dark splotch against the horizon; Yue had lain down a couple times in an attempt to get some less than fulfilling rest, but to her eye, Sasuke hadn't moved, something that was confirmed by Siado, who also had stayed up the whole night on watch.
"He's been a statue," Siado had said quietly when Yue had pushed her way to the back of the canoe to speak with him. "The captain has tried to talk to him perhaps once or twice, but she's clearly not getting any headway with him. Strange, considering his plan worked out in the long run, I think there should be cause to celebrate."
He had looked to the night sky and Yue had seen a smile on his face that indicated he wasn't quite sure what to believe.
"That was what's taken so many ships and rendered the Eastern Sea a myth in passing… and we made it through. I wonder if we'll ever go back to tell the tale."
Yue had left the hook-handed man to his thoughts of triumph and success as she moved to sit down a distance behind Sasuke while keeping an eye on him every waking moment she had. It was understandable why Siado and the others of the crew were more excited than anything else after what had happened; to their knowledge, the mission was just about over and they had just experienced perhaps one of the most trying things a seafarer could encounter. They had no idea of Sasuke and Yue's reason for needing to cross, and were happy to consider the idea that they had just in fact conquered legend. Yue, however, could do nothing more than watch the young man she had been charged with guiding and protecting.
It was a joke, she knew, the idea that she was supposed to be protecting him. Yue knew that while her otherworld training made her a match for just about any person with a blade, Sasuke's ability surpassed that of any human she knew to exist. Even barring his tapping into his reservoir of energy he had called 'chakra,' he was still supremely deadly and dangerous.
She wondered though if he was just as dangerous to himself.
Never had she known someone to be so filled with hate. She remembered General Zhao who had assaulted her city in the time she had died, and the derision he had shown for her people. The outright disdain and disregard offered to both her people and her land had been something that she had barely been able to comprehend at the time. What had she been but a naïve and impressionable girl who's only concern in life was whom she was going to be betrothed to. General Zhao's malice towards her and all she knew had been an alien concept in itself.
But Sasuke… Sasuke was something else entirely.
While it was something that came and went in terms of intensity, his hate was almost tangible. From where she sat and tried to feel at his aura, it almost seemed to Yue that they had never left the storm that shrouded the great serpent's waters; the storm that swirled in Sasuke's head seemed to almost shadow them entirely.
It wasn't just hate towards something specific either, Yue had come to realize while traveling with him. It was an all-encompassing black hate that seemed to have no real target. Sasuke seemed to hate the world he walked through, the situations that he had experienced and experienced presently, the people he would come across, and to perhaps the greatest extent, himself. Yue hadn't dared try and talk to him about these feelings, but she could see when he spoke about himself, the way that his mouth twisted into a disgusted frown and that glow in his dark eyes that signaled a tidal wave of resentment he held for his own actions. There wasn't much she had been able to get him to open up about just yet, but it was impossible to miss the loathing that he seemed to bear for even himself. Despite the careful aversion that she had come to hold towards him in something like moderation, Yue felt that she wanted to sit by him and pull his head to rest on her shoulder. It was a wild thought, a stupid thought, the idea of him accepting comfort and compassion when all he seemed to know was enmity, but Yue couldn't help but think about just how much that hate must have been eating him alive.
Sasuke… have you ever let anyone in? How long have you been suffering through this cycle of pain?
An hour later and the full of the Fire Nation's coast was in view, black volcanic island with nary a sight of civilization. The crew had moved forward from the various positions they had been resting in and were now looking forward with eagerness to see this new land that just a day ago would have been a fantasy to them. Siado crossed his arms and looked over the craggy and magma bleached shores, his careful eyes peering over every detail he could probably pick up on; Yue found herself more grateful than anything that he was along as with him, very little was left to the wayside as far as caution was concerned.
"I don't see anyone," he said in a low voice as the crew began to dampen the canvas. "I thought this was supposed to be a nation full of people."
Yue opened her mouth, but it was Ursa who spoke in reply, saying aloud the exact words that Yue would have used to explain away this detail.
"This being the westernmost part of the Nations, there is no expectation that anything could possibly approach from the west. The sea to that direction is just as feared as the sea to the east from where we've come from as both perspectives are blocked by that serpent we just managed to avoid. We will likely have to make it a good ways further in before we reach anything close to civilization."
Yue had to remind herself that Sasuke had mentioned to her that Ursa had been someone who had actually made it over from the Elemental Nations, one person among the hundreds of thousands among the archipelagos who actually had come from beyond the islands. Yue had been meaning to speak to the captain in private and inquire exactly who Ursa was and where she came from; she couldn't exactly put a finger on it, but the name was something that almost seemed familiar to her, and she wondered if perhaps Ursa was someone she had known in her past life.
The captain raised her voice then and called out orders.
"Drift us in to the coast and put out the sails! Move everything off the ship and then shutter the masts, stow the canvas and cover the canoes; I have no way of knowing if we'll ever come back to use her again, but I want her given the best chance of being here in good shape in the even that we do."
The crew began to move about and respond to her command and Yue leaned against the starboard side of the canoe, doing her best to stay out of the way. As the crew worked, Ursa moved to stand beside her; for a moment, the captain just stood there before quietly inquiring, "Has he said anything to you?"
Yue tracked Ursa's gaze to meet Sasuke's back. As though he were some hateful, brooding gargoyle, he remained where he sat, hunched and unmoving.
"No," Yue said through her teeth. "But I've had my own share of troubles trying to figure how best to approach him, especially when he gets anything like this."
"You said you've known him and been traveling with him for a month; have you ever seen him this poorly off?" Ursa asked, and Yue shook her head.
"He's always had this element of hostility, but it never seemed to be anything that he wasn't able to keep handled. He likes to keep to himself," she replied.
For a moment, Ursa had nothing to say in response to this and the two women simply stared at Sasuke.
Then, "Have you lain with him?"
Yue felt her throat tighten as a rush of blood went to her head. Eyes wide and in surprise, she turned to face the captain who was looking at her as though she had just asked her what she thought of the weather, not regarding an exceptionally personal topic.
"He's quite handsome," was all Ursa said by way of an explanation as to her inquiry. "And he seems like he would be very much the type to gain some benefit from some intimacy of sorts."
Realizing that her cheeks were flushing, Yue looked away without a response. She had the feeling that Ursa could read her even without her uttering a single word of response, and with her face as red as she knew it was getting, she didn't even so much as trust herself to look in the captain's direction. After a moment of awkward silence, Ursa moved away to return to her men and Yue couldn't shake the feeling that the captain had been looking at the back of her head with a knowing smile.
A couple more minutes passed and the ship was effectively grounded and secured to the volcanic coast. As soon as Ursa announced that everyone could start unloading, Yue jumped as Sasuke suddenly sprang to life, propelling himself from the vessel and onto the land with such speed that she might have missed it had she blinked. Marching up the black shore, he disappeared over the rise and Yue felt her pulse suddenly hammer in her throat.
What if he's leaving?
They had made it to the Fire Nation, was he going to leave them now? Was he going to leave her? Unsure of where exactly this sudden bout of anxiety was coming from, Yue nevertheless felt compelled to act on it and she bounded over the side of the ship herself. It felt rather odd at feeling the steadiness of solid ground beneath her feet after two days at sea, but she didn't have time to consider the sensation as she ran up the hill after Sasuke, her feet kicking up a fine layer of soot as the did.
She stopped as she made it over the same rise that Sasuke had just dipped over moments before. Sitting a few dozen meters away on an outcropping of igneous rock, he was leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees. Yue nearly marched over to him and demanded that he stay closer to her and the rest of them before she remembered her own words to Ursa just moments ago.
"He likes to keep to himself."
Feeling a nearly overwhelming sense of frustration, Yue angrily sat down where she stood, ignoring the small cloud of sediment that was thrown upward at her abrupt movement.
Maybe you like being on your own, Sasuke. Maybe you like shutting everyone else out and pretending there's nothing wrong. But there's a way to get through to you, I know there is.
Aang walked briskly about the palace grounds, doing his best not to look like he was as horribly stressed as he was. It had taken long enough to break away from Katara and he was fairly sure that if she hadn't been called away by the Water Tribe delegation, he might not have been able to extricate himself from her presence.
It was difficult thinking about the idea that he had bene actively trying to get away from her all morning, but in that moment, Aang just needed time to himself. He was aware that Katara had noticed how tired and strained he likely appeared after the previous night's events, and it was probably a pretty narrow window he had managed to squeeze through just before she had been pulled away to intercede on some politics Aang couldn't have cared less about in that moment.
The sky above was blue and perfect, a few clouds dotted here and there as the sun beamed down on him, warming his head and shoulders as he walked. Any other time, this kind of walk through the deep green grass that made up the palace grounds, listening to the occasional chirping of birds might have been enough to put his mind at ease, but Aang's conscience still was unrelenting.
As much as he had hoped the time alone would help clear his head, all it did was remind him of Roku's words the night before last. Yesterday had been a cluster of public relations jargon that he had sat through to appease the governor, but upon heading to bed that next night, he wasn't even sure that he had so much as slept a wink. So now, even in the calm and quiet of the early afternoon, Aang felt rather like he wanted to keel over and pass out then and there, though he had an inkling it was going to perhaps be a good long while before he had another peaceful night's sleep.
Roku's words continued to thunder in his head with a relentless energy and sending questions rocketing through Aang's mind with a speed that he couldn't keep up with.
The spirits are going to invade? And they're going to do what, destroy our semblance of peace and government? Do they really think that will be best for this world? Sasuke's gone, why wouldn't they go after him? The people of the Fire Nation, are they going to be spared?
The previous Avatar had left him with a void on the inside that felt like it was generating more questions then could be answered; Aang wanted to blow his call for Appa and ride to the Fire Nation straight away, no matter what that would give away. They could be in mortal peril and he wouldn't have been able to know. He felt a sickening anger in his gut as he thought to the fact that he was likely being watched even as he strode about on his own. There came a wild urge to turn and shout at the invisible specters, cursing them for their arrogance and the decision they had made. And were it not for one crucial detail that kept Aang from wanting to show his hand, he might have.
Sasuke… could he really be coming back?
It was a scenario that he had played out in his head more times than he could count. The thoughts would come at random, and he would try and imagine what he would do should Sasuke come walking back into their lives. In truth, Aang had found that the idea of seeing Sasuke again was actually something that made him quite happy, a curious contrast to how he imagined Katara, and Toph, and, heavens protect them, Azula would react. But Roku's suggestion… that he had been on the move. It wasn't a stretch to imagine who he had been referring to.
An invasion… Sasuke… and I can't tell anyone about it.
The thought made him want to pull out the hair he didn't have and he resorted to grumbling angrily and incoherently as he walked aggressively around the corner of the palace grounds, trying to keep his stress from totally overwhelming him.
It wound up being quite the good thing that he picked his eyes up from the ground, otherwise he might have collided head on with Mai, who was coming around the side of the palace in the opposite direction.
"Oh!" was all Aang managed as the pair came within inches of one another before catching themselves; at the pace she had been walking and the expression she wiped hurriedly from her face, Mai seemed to have been caught up in a matter of unhappy thought herself. She drew back a couple paces from him to allow herself room to bend her torso at her waist, offering him a bow.
"Avatar," she said, somewhat formally and Aang scratched the back of his head, letting a small smile pass over his face at her gesture.
"C'mon, Mai, how long have we known each other?"
She straightened to her full height and threw a glance over her shoulder.
"Never know when someone's watching," she muttered. "You know they've already started letting in the journalists? Celebration doesn't begin until late afternoon and they're already starting to mill about."
The word 'journalist' was something that definitely found Aang in a state of mild discomfort, even more than he already was. He would have to make sure he was on his best behavior; the governor had already warned him that despite his best efforts, there would surely be a slew of questions that evening directed his way about the outburst that had happened just a couple days prior.
"So, as you can imagine, I'd rather not let any of those bastards catch any of us not being on our best behavior, even appropriate formalities like bowing to you. Next thing you know, there'll be headlines all over like 'Fire Nation noble appears to treat Avatar with an intimate level of casualness' or some garbage like that."
Such a thought sent a chill up Aang's spine at the thought of Katara spotting a headline like that, though Mai's words caused him to chuckle.
"People know that we're friends, there wouldn't be anything odd about that," he said, but Mai didn't look convinced.
"I haven't spent nearly the amount of time near you as say Katara, or Sokka, or Zuko," she muttered. "I would rather not leave anything to chance."
"By tonight, I'm going to have people bowing to me left and right," Aang said, trying not to sound as glum about it as he felt. If there was one thing he didn't want to looming over him alongside his own raging nerves, it was having to appease likely hundreds of patrons that night who were there to partake in the celebration of the official end of the war's anniversary. Fortunately, there would be another night before he would have to participate in the state dinner with everyone else, and to his knowledge, it would just be him and his friends having dinner together tonight. Suki was apparently pulling a few strings to allow Jin into the palace to cook for them and visit, which would be a welcome reprieve to the early evening that would surely be nothing but a painful façade for him.
Mai gave him a smile and with how rare of a gesture that was, Aang could do nothing but grin back at her before they fell into a comfortable silence and both leaned back against the bench, soaking up the warmth of the day. They moment would only last a few more pleasant seconds before Aang felt his own smile start to decay.
He had noticed how the way she had said Zuko's name seemed to have a bite to it, confirming a worry that he had been fostering well before they had all come together again earlier that week. Issues in Mai and Zuko's relationship were nothing new, but the damage that Aang could see it doing to both of them was never something he would be used to. More than once, he had thought about bringing it up to Zuko again and trying to suggest that perhaps they would be happier broken up, but after the last time he had tried this a little over two years ago, he wasn't eager to broach the subject again. Despite how good of friends he and Zuko were, they had devolved into a shouting match that night, where Zuko had loudly accused him of thinking he knew better how relationships ought to be conducted because of his ongoing connection with Katara, and Aang had responded in kind that he just was looking out for the both of them, and if he was so insecure about his romantic life, it probably had issues regardless. It had since served as a painful and uncomfortable reminder for Aang not inquire about Zuko's love life; it had been one of the few times in over ten years that Aang had seen the ghost of the Zuko who had pursued him when they were younger, that reckless anger that still burned deep within him.
As such, Aang thought it would likely be better not to probe too much into how Mai might be feeling. In a way, her temper frightened him more than Zuko's.
"Fair enough," he said and Mai looked to him then, pausing a moment as she moved her eyes up and down him.
"You look horrible," she remarked bluntly and Aang let out another tired laugh.
"Oh yeah? That obvious?" he asked, and was surprised as she walked up to him and gently slipped her arm into his, glancing over her shoulder again as she did, and began to guide him along the path behind the palace where he had been walking. To a passerby, Aang would certainly have appeared the gentlemen escorting her about the grounds, though it was her touch that led them on.
"I know it's no secret that Zuko and I haven't exactly been getting alone well lately," she said and Aang had to resist rolling his eyes. He had heard those same words before, both from her and Zuko respectively. He felt bad for both of them, but after a while, it became almost routine to expect such statements.
"And we have spoken since our arrival here at the palace. And we both have seen how your… encounter with those reporters has riled you up."
They made their way to a stone bench and they both sat. Aang realized that this might have been as open and compassionate as Mai had ever been to him personally. They had always shared a good relationship, but their duties had become such that they weren't able to spend much time together, as Mai had previously stated. He found that he was actually quite relaxed in her company, much more so than he often was Katara these days, a thought that caused a guilty surge to pump through his gut.
Mai seemed to consider her words a moment before she closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Aang, you can't let what happened get to you. Maybe this isn't something you've had much time to talk with anyone about, or maybe you'd rather avoid talking about it entirely. But it's clearly affecting your sleep, and often times when I happen to glance at you during the day, you just look worn to hell. You can't be faulted for what you said, everyone knows you'd had it up to here with those constant questions over the years, and for them to take on a topic like that with you… Bradley should have those bastards stripped of their journalistic licenses and thrown from the city. What happened was not on you, Aang."
Perhaps it was how warm and gentle she was being with him, perhaps it was because that with Mai, Aang felt more at peace than he had in days, perhaps it was because of what her words implied, or perhaps it was something else entirely, but Aang felt the question slip from his lips with far more ease than it should have had. He would never have guessed he had been courageous enough to ask it.
"Do you miss him?"
The warmth in her eyes froze into icy chips that flashed dangerously at him. She didn't appear to move, but Aang could tell that she had tensed up with a clenching intensity.
"Why would you ask me that?" she asked quietly and Aang felt a stab of regret that he had so quickly rendered him hostile towards him. Turning away, he dropped his head into his hands, letting the words come freely as he did.
"I don't know… I'm sorry. I just know that I do. I think everyone does, to a certain extent, all of us I mean. I remember how you looked at him to. I don't know if it was attraction or something, but—"
"Aang," Mai said through what sounded like clenched teeth and despite how intimidated he felt as was so common with her, he tried not to back down.
"Do you want him to come back?" he asked with an air of finality and forced himself to look back at her eyes, and found himself stunned to see them glistening in the midday sun.
"Please, Aang…" she said, her voice gentle, but he could hear the menace there too. "Don't ask me that."
Aang could do nothing but look into her eyes for a long while; he had never seen her so suddenly and totally vulnerable, as though his words had pulled back the veil of her cold and tight demeanor that she so often appeared to be under. Out of both respect for her wishes and a feeling that he didn't have the courage to prod her any more than he already had, Aang felt the urge to relay this and he reached over to squeeze her wrist, and watched her lips tighten as he did.
"I'm sorry, Mai," he said and let himself let out another disheartened laugh. "I don't know what I was thinking."
They would sit by one another in silence for a couple minutes following that before Mai got off to leave on her own. She didn't give off the aura she wanted company, and Aang was more than willing to comply. He remained where he sat and felt a terrible throbbing pain as he realized he wanted nothing more than to call her back and explain all of what Roku had told him.
He felt so badly he had to tell someone.
But as he thought to the invisible eyes that were on him, he could only grind his teeth and bite his inner lip, watching as Mai walked away from him, hair gently being tossed in the breeze.
Ursa stood just outside the door of the inn, looking about at the town that she had once walked through herself decades ago as a child. It wasn't her home town, but she had traveled here a fair few times to run errands for her family, to trade, sell and purchase goods that weren't available where she lived. Despite the familiarity, the small town was now deeply foreign to her, roads where there hadn't been before, buildings where there had once been flat land, and more people than she ever would have remembered making their way through the streets.
It had taken near a full day of hiking over blackened and charred land for the trekking group to see the buildings on the horizon. Upon nearing the town, Ursa had been overcome enough by memories to be briefly stunned into silence before she had cleared her throat and ordered her men to various duties. A band of a couple dozen armed and deadly looking people moving into the town would no doubt be cause for alarm and suspicion amongst the townsfolk, and Ursa intended for their stay to be only as long as necessary. She ordered the bulk of her men to move around the town to the south to not draw attention and make camp a few kilometers out of sight, then to send a pair of men into town as a separate party to gather any necessary supplies for their trek to the capital. She had taken Siado and followed Yue and Sasuke into town where they had made their way to the inn in the hopes of securing lodging for the night.
The innkeeper had given the four of them a look up and down, the expression on his face clearly indicating he wasn't sure what quite to make of them. Ursa, a tall and commanding looking woman, Siado, with his powerful form and hook hand, Yue, beautiful and young but with the handle of a greatsword protruding from her travel cloak, and Sasuke, a fierce and deadly looking young man with eyes that could practically kill. Ursa had to fight down the urge to smile at the slow blinks the innkeeper gave as he looked them all over.
"Pirates?" he finally asked queryingly. Shaking her head, Ursa had gestured at their group.
"Were it that simple. We've been quested by the capital on official business, and our travels have led us far; we're just looking for an evening to rest our heads somewhere other than igneous landscape."
She had tried to keep it vague, but not so much that the innkeeper wasn't moved to ask more questions. Ursa looked at him as he talked, trying to imagine the old face as someone she might have known so long ago, but no one came to mind.
"For the capital? What kind of work they have you this far out doing?"
He narrowed his eyes and leaned over the counter towards them.
"You're not one of those undercover delegations looking to poll for opinions on transnational settling, I hope. People around here don't take too kindly to that sort of talk."
This was not at all terminology that Ursa was familiar with, and quick glances to Yue and Sasuke confirmed they weren't any more knowledgeable than she was. Meeting the innkeeper's eyes, she offered a tired smile, hoping that gesture would add to the chances of him believing truth in her words.
"Certainly not. We have the rather unpleasant task of tracking down war criminals not yet rounded up following the end of the war."
The innkeeper hardly seemed willing to relent.
"The war ended a decade ago," he grunted. "And I thought all the Fire Nation military commanders who were guilty or otherwise used as scapegoats were already dealt with."
In her years of having to fend for herself, Ursa had gotten quite accustomed to reading people and understanding their potential motivations based on how they spoke and conducted themselves. She was quite sure she had never seen this man in her life, but just based on the interaction she was having with him, it was clear he was someone with strong Fire Nation patriotism, to the point of perhaps not being able to find fault with her former husband's leadership and actions perhaps. As much as the thought saddened her to see this man looking so distantly and reservedly angry about something that had concluded many years ago now, she knew she could play this angle.
"No, actually," she said. "While I can't offer you much detail, I'm afraid, the person we're after was actually Earth Nation; a captain who ordered the execution of over sixteen Fire Nation soldiers on the last day of the war under concocted orders that they were being ordered to do so from the top of the chain of command. As such, this person is being hunted down for this war crime, and we believe he may have come as far as the westernmost parts of the Fire Nation."
She watched him carefully and saw his eyes narrow further. There was a long pause before he eagerly muttered, "Any earthbending scum comes through this town, I'll be sure to let you know of it."
That had been the end of that exchange and he had been more than happy to arrange four rooms for them.
Ursa stood on the porch of the inn now as the sun dipped low in the sky to send colors of pink and orange through the blue above as night began to fall. Children dashed about in the streets, laughing and playing as their parents called them home and shopfronts began to close. Despite the changed sight of the place that was so unfamiliar to her eyes, Ursa couldn't help but feel great waves of nostalgia roll over her conscience. She could practically see herself as one of those children, running about without a care in the world. It had been that simple for her at one point, a time that felt rather like a lifetime ago.
She let herself bask in the thoughts of her former life for something near an hour before mustering up the energy to turn her back on her past and deal with the present. There was something she very much needed to do that night, and there was no sense in prolonging it. Especially since, to her mild amusement, she was actually rather looking forward to this.
Siado was sitting in the small lobby of the wood and brick structure, sipping at some tea. He was taking the first watch that night, trading off with Ursa at midnight; while they had no reason to fear any danger in the town, she didn't want to take any chances, even with her men doing routine scouts around the edges of town beyond her sight. Nodding to her as she passed him by, Ursa gave him a grateful smile.
She worked her way up two flights of stairs to the third floor where their rooms were situated. Though fairly confident that her words had been enough away on the innkeeper to not draw too much attention to them, Ursa was also fairly pleased with the fact that the inn itself had very few other patrons, and none of whom were on the third floor. It was her assumption that the innkeeper had been keeping this particular level restricted due to the lack of traffic, but based on her words, he might have felt compelled to give them a floor to themselves so to speak. It was only for the night, but Ursa was appreciative of the privacy nonetheless.
As she rounded the corner of the stairs onto the floor, she found herself face to face with Yue, who had her hands shoved in her pockets and was walking the opposite direction. Her expression was just as perplexed as it had been that morning when they had departed the ship, though she immediately tried to hide it when she met eyes with Ursa.
"Heading down?" she asked Yue, who seemed to struggle with something a moment before replying.
"Yeah. I was going to try and rustle up something to eat for Sasuke; I don't know he's eaten anything since we set sail."
Raising her eyes over Yue's shoulder, Ursa gave her chin a small jerk in the direction of his room where the door remained closed, a pretty solid personification of his personality she thought.
"Has he said anything?"
Yue made a derisive sound, but Ursa could see the worry she was making still glowing in her eyes.
"Only that he wants to be left alone."
Ursa stood there a moment, weighing her options. Yue wasn't her end goal in coming upstairs, but she felt an urge to pry just a touch to the young woman before her. She surely was just as worn as Sasuke, but as she stood there with her silvery hair tied back in a ponytail and expression still so tightly guarded, still clad in the clothes she had made the crossing on, Ursa could tell that even now the girl was playing herself just as close to the chest as Sasuke was. Even if she wasn't being as cold as he was.
"We make a crossing that was deemed impossible by many, and made it through unscathed," Ursa said a low, mild tone. "We are spared by a monster well beyond the size of anything likely thought imaginable, and we're finally getting a chance to rest briefly before Sasuke is able to finish his journey to the Fire Nation capital. He's all but made it, and yet he's in this brooding, miserable state."
She locked eyes with Yue and held here there for a long moment.
"I have a feeling you know why."
It was her assumption that Yue would have exploded on her then, heatedly letting Ursa know that it was none of her business as to the nature of Sasuke's grievance, but the girl only regarded her with a sad and weary expression.
"Not my place to tell," she said quietly and shouldered gently past Ursa without another word, heading for the stairs and disappearing down them. As she listened to Yue's steps fade away, Ursa realized this was as close a thing to permission as she might have gotten from her. Even more so, it was almost like Yue was openly asking her to try.
Maybe you can make some headway with him, her expression had seemed to say.
Feeling more intrigued and hungry for answers than ever, Ursa strode down the remainder of the hall and stopped in front of the room that Sasuke had out himself in. Putting a hand on the knob, she turned it and stepped inside.
Sasuke stood at the far end of the room, right hand clasping the wrist of his left tightly. His spiky black hair faced her as he looked resolutely out the window. He made no reaction to her entrance until she closed the door behind her.
"Didn't feel the need to knock?" he asked in a voice that was rather close to a growl.
Despite the aura of danger that seemed to emanate from Sasuke at any point in time, Ursa didn't feel intimidated. She could tell by the way he looked at her that there was a respect he held for her as a person, and it made him perhaps more susceptible to humor her than just about anyone else. Perhaps more than respect?
Stop it.
"I was thinking about it, but since I got the feeling you probably wouldn't answer even if I did, I figured this would get me inside faster," she said casually. Sasuke's head turned ever so slightly, a slick cock at her words.
"I suppose you figured right," he muttered.
Before she could say anything more, he added, "Something I can do for you, captain? I'm not exactly in the mood for company."
"Oh, I well gathered that from the young woman you've been traveling with who's been getting the cold shoulder ever since we made it past the leviathan," Ursa jabbed. Over the years, she had found wordplay to be perhaps one of the most effective ways in getting people to open up. It appeared that Sasuke had perhaps been subject to these methods prior, as he hardly seemed to react to her somewhat scathing comment. It became clear to her that he wasn't going to engage in a back and forth, so she decided it was best to be honest; that was what most of their relationship had already been founded on strangely enough. The only lies that Ursa had told him were those of omission.
"We've just made a crossing through a sea that was deemed impassable by all and thrown to legend, and you are now back within the Elemental Nations, your journey almost being done it would seem since you need only go speak to the Fire Lord for your self-proclaimed mission to be at an end," she said, paraphrasing slightly what she had just told Yue in the hall.
"And?" Sasuke asked, his back still turned. Ursa crossed her arms and regarded him through stern eyes. Everything about his demeanor was rude and apathetic; this alone should have been enough to make Ursa rather furious with him just as a result of his impersonal attitude.
Why am I going so much out of my way to try and…
This thought gave her pause. What exactly was she trying to do?
Ahead of her, Sasuke finally stepped around, bringing himself face to face with her, and as Ursa looked into his eyes, she realized rather bewilderingly why it was she was here.
"What?" he asked, sounding a touch more agitated now at her unresponsiveness, but Ursa felt herself falling quickly from the meager level of understanding that words provided, instead becoming lost in his eyes.
She had been many things in her time, a dreamer, a lover, a mother, a warrior, a murderer. Ursa also knew that she had been broken before, she had looked into many a mirror and seen the failure that so haunted her shattering her expression. She could see her children being forced to grow up under the care of a monstrous, abusive father just as she could see the life ripped away from her that Ozai had taken, and then to feel that guilt at the wish that he had never found her in her village. Zuko and Azula had been everything to her, but she knew there would always be a part of her that wished she had been left alone to live her own life rather than be wed to the most powerful man in the nation. And just as she could see all those emotions and regrets floundering in her own eyes, so too did Sasuke's gaze reflect a tremendous amount of suffering.
This was more than the hidden melancholy that Ursa knew to haunt her day to day. In Sasuke's eyes, she could see similar feelings, sadness, regret, pain, anxiety, but then there too was that one thing that overpowered all else. That sickening, nauseating hatred that seemed to blacken his very being peered out of his dark orbs and Ursa was forced to realize the other piece of why she had come to visit him.
Yes, there was a part of her that was curious about his motives and the negative reaction that had come about following their successful voyage across the sea, but as she reflected on the mystery of what might have come about to fill Sasuke with such cold and dark emotions, there came a very different kind of curiosity.
Ursa supposed she might have been feeling something like temptation.
It wasn't a feeling that she could even recall having memories of, so long had it been since a man had made her feel anything like this. He was an exceptionally handsome young man, no doubt, but Ursa had long since passed the point where looks meant a damn thing to her. Rather, she found she was drawn to his anger, to his mystery, to the very power that seemed to emanate from him. She knew just by looking at him that there was so much more to his being than she could scarcely imagine, and she found that such details were really quite captivating to her.
Don't be stupid, she chided herself, managing to slip free of his enticing nature. Don't you go developing feelings now.
It took her blinking and turning away to shake herself from his eyes and remind herself that there were important matters at hand then any possible allure she was feeling.
I'm probably nearly twice as old as him.
She spared a moment to grind her teeth angrily at her lack of focus before finally replying to him.
"I understand that you have much you would like to remain hidden. I can accept that as much of my own past is something I'd rather not so much as speak about. And you clearly have your own skeletons that you'd like to keep tucked away."
"The hell do you think you know about me?" Sasuke snapped, and Ursa fought down a wave of attraction that rolled through her midsection at his aggression, because perhaps unknowingly, he had just all but informed her that she was getting to him. He was trying to deflect, to make her back down and not pursue this line of thought, but all this less veiled hostility only served to give Ursa more motivation to inquire towards him.
"I know that you're someone who must wield a good deal of power," she said promptly. "You possess other abilities that I perhaps may not understand, such as the ability to make coin and treasure rain from the sky, or to draw your blade with a more blinding speed then should be possible."
She inclined her chin at him as her voice dipped in pitch.
"Or your ability to paralyze a serpent the size of an island merely with your eyes."
It was quick, but she saw the anger flip to surprise in his eyes before he quickly hid again behind his frustrated annoyance. Her progress was almost enough to make her smile.
"I know it's none of my business. Despite the rather personal conditions we have endured together, I am still just in your employ. I have promised to safely guide you to the Fire Nation capital and I intend to do so, me and my men both. You owe me no more information then you have already given. But your displeasure following our successful crossing is baffling, curious and honestly quite concerning to me. I mean not to drive a wedge between us, but I'm merely asking if you'd be willing to tell me why it is that our evasion of that great serpent is cause for you to become as distraught as you are. It's clearly only added to the hate that seems to siphon the very light around you."
She was committing and in full danger of overplaying her hand as it was, but Ursa decided to throw one last bit of caution to the winds and be as honest with him as she was hoping he might be willing to be with her.
"I can tell you are broken, Sasuke. I suppose I'm just offering to shoulder some of that if you'd let me."
Immediately, she regretted her choice of words. She had moved too quickly and asked too much of him. Even though Ursa saw the shaky gaps in his chillingly frigid persona, but there had been too much pushing. Sasuke wasn't in a place to speak with her, especially since they had only known one another for a matter of days. There was no reason he could possibly have to trust her enough to—
"I screwed up."
It took Ursa a moment to blink as she realized what had just happened. Sasuke's expression hadn't changed, but he had definitely spoken. Ursa met his eyes for a long several seconds before he sat down on the bed, the movement itself making it look like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"I'm not going to tell you much," he said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "But I will tell you that this mission, what I traveled all this way for, did not go anywhere close to the way it was supposed to."
Having confirmed what it was that she had assumed was bothering him, Ursa allowed herself to take a step towards where he sat.
"I don't understand," she said. "I know that something happened between you and the serpent to allow us to avoid being snuffed by that monster, but—"
"That's the fucking problem," he practically snarled. Ursa felt her back stiffen, almost like how an animal might instinctively react to the sudden hostility of another with how involuntary it was. She tried to ignore the thrill it gave her.
"Why do you think I went to all that trouble to hire out you and your ship, to try and use the Bjorn as a damn decoy?" he said in a somewhat softer voice, looking as though he were trying to keep himself from getting too riled up. "That thing you saw, my eyes, that was never supposed to happen."
"Is it so bad that it did?" Ursa asked, genuinely curious. Sasuke looked up to her, his brow furrowed intensely.
"Yes," he growled. "You might think that I'm just someone with a few odd tricks that might seem like magic to you, but if I had wanted, I could have pulverized that overgrown worm."
Such a confident statement was enough to give Ursa pause and she looked at him carefully. He looked back and let out a single short laugh through his nose.
"I can tell you don't believe me; I don't blame you. But you asked."
At that moment, she wasn't quite sure what she believed. She was well aware that there was much about Sasuke she didn't remotely understand and he wielded abilities already beyond her understanding, but the idea of one man, regardless of skill and power, being able to take down that serpent was indeed a pretty tall claim.
She chose not to pursue that particular line of dialogue though, and instead asked, "Why is it bad that you used your power?"
Sasuke's hands slowly moved to his knees where he gently dug his fingers into them. He looked very much like he was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to elaborate on this subject to her. For a moment, she believed he would say nothing beyond asking her to leave.
Then, "The Spirit World is attempting to breach into this world. I have been given information that suggests to me that there will be an invasion into the Fire Nation and I need to reach the Fire Lord as quickly as I can and warn him."
His eyes drifted towards the ground.
"And the use of my abilities wears down the barrier between the two worlds. Every time I do anything with my powers, as you call them, I'm wearing down my own clock."
Sasuke's eyes drifted up and he gave a mildly humored smirk at the surely somewhat dumfounded expression that Ursa knew she wore as a result of his revelation.
"Believe it or not," he added.
It should have been something that Ursa laughed off. She should have rolled her eyes and left Sasuke to his madness; clearly, there was something amiss with him and it was causing him to spout utter nonsense. She should have taken her leave and wiped the memory of his words from her mind.
But somehow, she could feel the truth of his words.
There was the matter too that his abilities weren't something that he was simply suggesting bore realism. Ursa had seen them in action herself, the glow in his eyes that had held the leviathan where it watched them, the coin that had come from nowhere. To dismiss what he said now would not only be imprudent, it would honestly be rather foolish.
But Ursa realized that she had him in a spot she might never be able to get him again, and she pushed through the stunned silence that had caught her.
"There's more to your anger, Sasuke, I can tell. Were this something you had been charged with, to go to a land you had never been before, perhaps your mentality would be less uneasy, but I know you've been here before just as I have. You're frightened. You're frightened not for yourself, but for people here. No matter how long you've been gone, there are still those you care about. Perhaps more than you would like to admit."
He didn't confirm or deny her words, but she only needed to watch him carefully to receive affirmation. Ursa watched as hairs raised along his arm and the muscles in his jaw worked hard. His knuckles became white against his knees and though it took a moment, Ursa saw that his right arm was shaking.
Oh, Sasuke… what happened to you?
Whether it was her attraction for him, or some motherly instinct, or something else entirely, she walked towards him and he predictably reacted like she thought he might, pulling away and baring his teeth.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded as she drew near enough to be considered close. Being that distance away from him, Ursa could really pierce his gaze with her own, staring into the dark eyes and seeing the fear that was hiding behind that wall of hate. Slowly, she reached for him and put a hand on his shoulder as she sat down on the bed beside him. She was deeply satisfied when he didn't knock her away or pull back further, and she gently massaged him, trying to grapple with her emotions. Suspicion, interest, curiosity, allure, attraction, caution, so much was running rampant in her head as even just touching him caused a warm feeling to simmer in her stomach.
Don't do this, she told herself sternly. Just ask that last question and go. There will be time to sort out these emotions later, but being this near to him is dangerous for a number of reasons.
Ursa straightened, trying to make their nearness somewhat less personal as she asked the question that had been burning in the back of her head since she had first spoken to Sasuke at the tavern. She gave his shoulder a squeeze of finality as she did.
"I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone… just one more question. When you spoke of this Fire Lord Zuko, you mentioned that he had taken over for his father."
Sasuke was still regarding her carefully, but he slowly nodded.
"I did."
Not sure of the kind of answer she was going to get, but deeply needing to ask, Ursa said, "How do you know his father died?"
Just asking the question made her feel deeply vulnerable, as though she had just stripped naked before him. But despite the heat she could feel rising in her cheeks, she couldn't look away from him. Judging by the look in his eyes, he was perhaps slightly perturbed by how intense she knew her expression had to be, but still he began to reply quickly.
"Because I was—"
Sasuke cut himself off just as fast, as though he had just realized what he was going to say and wasn't sure it was something that should be said. Ursa waited as he looked into her eyes and slowly swallowed before speaking again.
"Because I killed him."
Ursa wasn't aware of even what her own reaction was, but she did feel a strange numbness in her hands that seemed to be spreading to her feet as well. The warmth in her stomach began to billow upwards through her gut and chest, her heart beginning to hammer quickly. She became aware of a buzzing in her ears that she couldn't quite shake off and most of all, that heat in her cheeks wasn't going away in the slightest. If anything, it was getting warmer.
Above everything else, there was a relief that Ursa felt, a weight lifted from her shoulders that she hadn't even been aware she was carrying. There was a freedom now in her very soul that suddenly made a great many bits of her perspective seem more agreeable, and achievable.
One of them being a burning craving that she felt needed desperately to be satisfied.
Her hand moved away from Sasuke's left shoulder to pass around his back and grip his right shoulder, and pull him gently, but firmly to her. He was still shaking and she felt that familiar rush of pity at the anxiety that was surely eating him to pieces.
"What are you doing…?" he asked, his voice a growl still but sounding dangerously close to cracking.
Ursa pulled him to her chest and gently pressed her face against the top of his head, pulling her other arm around his body.
"I can see your pain, your worry. I don't know I can banish it… but at least for tonight, let me relieve it."
It was distantly stunning to her just how much she didn't feel in control, as though her body was just acting on its own accord, the knowledge that this young man had been the one to kill Fire Lord Ozai being perhaps the strongest trigger that she could have felt. It struck her then how much she might be taking advantage of him when he was clearly in such a weakened state, but that guilt was nothing but a distant memory as he didn't resist her pull as she drug him down with her, satiating a thirst that had parched her for many long years.
Sasuke let himself give into the pleasure. If pleasure was perhaps the right word to use.
It wasn't that Ursa wasn't making him feel good; rather, the number she was doing on him was perhaps the most physically fulfilled he had felt in a very long time. As she worked on him, massaging his taut and tense muscles, and letting him relish in the lust that her body provoked in him, he could feel very primal and ecstatic urges being satisfied. Pleasure likely was the right word.
But he wasn't satisfied.
And it made him furious.
He surprised Ursa by taking charge, but she was receptive of his aggressive and dominant change, and the passionate sounds emanating from her throat became even more enticing.
Still, he wasn't satisfied.
And he knew why. There was only one thing that had ever satisfied him physically, filled him to the brim with a delight that denied all other negative or detrimental thoughts that surged through his mind. It was something he rarely was gifted indulgence with, but on those infrequent occasions, the gratification was so all-powerfully extreme.
It was violence. Violence that gave him that joy. And he hated that was what he required to feel such catharsis.
So, as he shuddered the bedframe with Ursa, allowing a different side of him to bask in the heat of their intimacy as the sun dipped into the horizon, he could never quite shake the urge.
The urge for blood.
Aang allowed himself to lean back and let out a very long, very cathartic sigh.
He sat around an ornate table in a very glamourous room, surrounded only by people he knew at least somewhat personally. Having survived hours of questions and forced pleasantries with a great many privileged or powerful individuals, he was deeply grateful for this time to just be in the company of a much more select group of people whom he had known since childhood. Iroh, King Bumi, and King Kuei were all exceptions to his grievance with the forced socializing, but this was something Aang realized he had needed.
Around the table beside him sat Katara, Sokka, Suki, Zuko, Ty Lee, Mai, Toph and Azula. Jin was working her way around the table, cleaning up the dishes from the outstanding meal she had prepared them, listening in on the conversation even as Toph demanded she stop working and just let the servants clean up any mess. Smiling, Jin had given her cheek a pinch causing the earthbender to swing out with a wild punch to the laughter of most everyone at the table.
Surrounded by these people and letting himself get lost in the pleasantness of their company, Aang smiled; this was as content as he had felt since Roku's visit, even if uneasy thoughts continued to ravage the back of his mind. Still, he had done his best to convince himself that there wasn't a thing he could do other than wait. Forcing himself to abide by that fact, Aang looked about the table and let the conversation come to the forefront of his conscience.
"Have you seen Piandao yet, Sokka?" Zuko was asking. Sokka was trying to dab up some wine that Toph had thrown at him after a jibe he had made about her, Ty Lee and Jin being all in the same room again and how they would have to avert Soza's eyes when the three of them got tipsy enough to start stripping again.
Soza was standing between her mother's legs where Azula sat, leaning slightly against the chair and with her back to the Zuko's sister, who was delicately running her fingers through her daughter's hair. Though she was such a rowdy and boisterous child when allowed any semblance of freedom, around her mother, Soza became as obedient as a trained dog, calmly sitting between Azula's legs while her hair was played with and done up. Her mother had allowed her to sit in with them for dinner and she had spent the time prior to the food being brought out hammering Suki with combat questions and talking excitedly with Toph, Mai and Ty Lee. Being as shielded from anything public as it was by her mother, even just a private dinner with a fair bit of company had seemed to be quite enthralling to her, despite how quiet she was now in her mother's arms.
If there was anything to put any sort of damper on the moment, it would have been Azula and her daughter, but Aang found that even the unsettling presence of the princess wasn't enough to put him on edge. Katara had barely let go of his hand all through the evening, but he found that he was quite pleased at her touch, regardless of how unrelenting it was. He caught her sending sideways glances at Soza and more than once he wanted to lean in and whisper in her ear to just ignore her. To Aang's recollection, Soza and Azula had shared maybe a couple sentences between the both of them since they had sat down and he was just fine with them keeping to themselves for the time being.
"Nope," Sokka replied. He put down his napkin and pulled a somewhat apprehensive expression, something he hadn't done all evening. "I heard he's traveling with Lord Gilbert, who's not due to get here until tomorrow anyway."
Ty Lee's brow furrowed as she juggled a few small bread rolls casually. "Wait, Gilbert? What's Piandao doing journeying around with a slimy bastard like him?"
There was an unconscious feeling of unease that passed around the table at her words and Aang was aware that his was not the only gaze that flicked about to see if any servants were in earshot from the antechamber which led into the kitchen. Lord Gilbert had become an influential, wealthy and prominent enough man in the last decade that his very name was synonymous with power. It was also fairly commonly understood that he was also underhanded and treacherous to an extent when it came to being unable to obtain what he wanted by conventional means. He held no official seat on the United Nations Council, but it was relatively believed that more than once member of the council answered directly to him. As such, the idea of a noble swordsman and member of the Order of the White Lotus like Piandao traveling with the man was a rather strange thought indeed.
"They might both be older men, but that's about the only similarity I can see between them," Jin said as she undid her apron and pulled up a chair between Toph and Suki. Her cheeks were rosy from working in the kitchen and her rather disheveled appearance was a rather humorous contrast to the well groomed people she shared the table with; the women in particular who had spent hours doing their clothes, hair and makeup looked properly hilarious next to Jin's civilian outfit which Aang imagined she had dressed into in a matter of thirty seconds. He couldn't help but risk a glance at Azula however and felt a pang of sadness and anger as he saw both her and her daughter looking at Jin with a twinkle of disdain in their eyes.
"Well last I heard, he was north," Suki said, taking a long sip of her sake and letting out a satisfied sound as her glass was set back down on the table. "There was a large group of Talons that were reported to be assembling there, and they were supposed to be dealt with before they made some attempt to make a push at Water Nation territory."
Zuko nodded. "I heard that as well. But my reports indicated that the situation was dealt with."
Aang could see the concern knitting his eyebrows and he could understand why. Despite his age, Zuko and Sokka's trainer in the way of the blade was still active in efforts to stave off possible sources of insurrection. So this sudden news that he would be traveling with an executive and public figure like Gilbert, about as different a man from him as could be, was certainly a touch disconcerting.
"Gaeseric's already here," Toph muttered and Jin gave a mocking shiver.
"God, I can't stand that guy," she said with a nervous smile. "The way he walks around, like he's practically begging someone to make some assassination on Gilbert or whomever else, just so he has an excuse to go crazy and completely decimate someone. It's like he misses wartime."
"Yeah, I don't get why Piandao would be hanging around with him and Gilbert," Sokka said, firmly shaking his head. "Appreciate you bringing that up, Zuko, I'm gonna have to find him when he shows up tomorrow."
Zuko nodded in reply and leaned forward slightly to look to Suki.
"Ty was telling me about preparations for the parade tomorrow; sounds like it hasn't exactly been the easiest to get that done?"
Ty Lee gave a chuckle and leaned back, rubbing her face wearily as Suki's expression darkened significantly. "Ugh, don't even get me started."
She sucked in a big breath of air and dropped her palms somewhat loudly on the table. "I mean, make no mistake, pulling together thirty of the girls together is no problem, nor would it be at all an issue to get them to walk in formation through the streets of Ba Sing Se."
She paused and Mai gave her a soft smile.
"I'm presuming there's an implied 'but' to that statement," she said in her usual low tone. Suki gave her a look.
"You have presumed correctly," she said, triggering a series of chuckles to pass around the table. "They've been running peacekeeping missions and hit operations on the Talons and Dwellers for the past ten years, and now I'm trying to round a handful of them up to walk in a parade? Yeah, they're none too pleased."
She jerked her chin at Ty Lee.
"Ty here is one of the only ones who actually has been a pretty good sport about it. Though maybe that's just a result of her natural tendency to want to showboat."
Drawing herself up with a slight air of mock huffiness, Ty Lee ignored a teasing poke in her side from Toph.
"I actually rather thought that it would be a good opportunity to promote awareness of the Kyoshi Warriors," she said and Suki gave her a warm smile before giving her shoulder a squeeze.
"I know, just was giving you grief. You've done a lot of good for us and I appreciate that."
Ty Lee gave her a warm smile back, her face glowing with appreciation, but Aang saw Suki's eyes flick to Azula a moment; there was a definite look of territoriality in her expression.
No, not territoriality… protectiveness?
"I hear the Transnational Citizenship Act passed before we left, Zuzu," Azula said, not turning to meet Suki's look, either out of obliviousness or denial of the gaze being cast her way. It was the first time she had openly spoke up in probably an hour, and the tone of her silky and seductive voice seemed to cause everyone to tense slightly. Zuko looked to both Aang, who gave a tiny shrug, and Katara, who merely glared back at him. Aang knew why Zuko was hesitant to answer; officially, he wasn't supposed to say to anyone the outcome of any council vote until it was publically announced and though he had mentioned it to them as a whole, there was the trust that wouldn't leak out. But with Soza there, looking curiously up at her mother and then to the Fire Lord, it was clear that he wasn't sure about speaking about it around her.
But even more to the matter was the fact that, as Azula had brought it up, she knew perfectly well what had happened, adding even more suspicion that she might have indeed been involved in the vote itself.
"You heard correctly, sister," Zuko said and Katara's breast slowly gave a deep heave. Aang tightened his grip on her hand, hoping to somewhat manage to keep her from getting at all worked up.
"Curious that the Fire Nation of all places would be the first Nation to ratify that," Azula said, everything about her gaze and voice seeming like she was trying to provoke Zuko. Aang felt his heart sink; it was impressive really, how quickly Azula had managed to sap the relative upbeat nature of the room and replace it with tension. The expressions of Toph, Sokka, Suki, Jin and Ty Lee had all become quite reserved and they made no effort to add their thoughts. Katara maintained her angry expression as Zuko looked back at the challenging expression of his sister while she waited to hear how her words might have upset him.
But it was Mai who spoke up in reply to Azula, her expression hard and unflinching.
"Not really. After the war their previous leaders forced them through, I imagine a lot of them are looking for a fresh start, or at the very least, to emphasize they're looking for international peace."
"I suppose some leadership is perhaps a little more resistant to such brazen and unnecessary change," Azula replied.
Aang had to keep himself from squirming in his seat as Mai and Azula stared daggers at one another. The only person there who seemed to be actively entertained by the exchange was Soza, who looked up and between the two women somewhat excitedly.
"And some leadership is less frightened of positive change than others," Mai said back coldly, causing Azula to raise her eyebrows, a smile starting to creep over her face.
"I'm surprised, Mai, I would have thought your grievances with my brother as a partner and lover would have left you a touch more jaded towards his actions overall."
It was a damningly personal remark and if there was anyone who wasn't uncomfortable before, they certainly were now. Even Katara's expression had become more worried than angry. Ty Lee was biting her lower lip worriedly as Toph directed her face down, looking like she was trying not to be noticed. Sokka and Suki both looked more depressed than anything and Jin genuinely looked like she might have been fighting back tears. Zuko was looking desperately like he was trying to get a hold of the situation but he looked as scared of both Mai and Azula than any number of people trying to actually kill him.
"My… our personal dealings have no bearing on what I think he's done as a leader," Mai said in a voice just above a whisper. "Zuko had done a tremendous job restoring our Nation, whether you like it or not."
For the briefest moment, Azula's arrogant and controlled demeanor seemed to flicker.
"Ah… you think 'restoring' is what he's done?" she asked.
"I'm sorry we're not stringing up criminals and prisoners of war naked outside the barracks, 'Zula, but yes, our Nation is something I'm far more proud of now then we were at war," Mai snarled and Azula's expression darkened even further. At that moment, Aang was confident that just about anything to relieve the situation would have been welcome.
He had no idea how quickly he would regret that thought.
The door to their private dining room banged open and Aang's attention flicked towards the intrusion with relief soaring through his heart. He was sure that anyone could have walked through that door as long as they broke off this very suddenly hostile conversation between Mai and Azula.
The interruption in question was caused by a man who was cause for alarm purely by his appearance. By his uniform, he was part of one of the joint task forces that patrolled the borders of the Fire Nation, and he appeared to be soaked from head to toe with a bit too much water to be blown off as sweat. What he would have suddenly been doing there was beyond Aang and judging by the man's reaction to seeing all of them, he too wasn't quite sure what to make of them all. It was a room full of war heroes and royalty after all, and after a moment, the man's panicked and wide-eyed expression dropped down as he fell to his knees, bowing his head.
"Avatar Aang!!" he cried out. "Please forgive my intrusion!!"
Running up behind his kneeling form came four members of the royal guard. The lead had a deeply angry expression on his face which he seemed to be trying to reign in whilst in the presence of all present. He bowed from the waist.
"My sincerest apologies," he said to the room. "This soldier was taken here by a Water Nation Streak, but we were too confine him until such a time as you were free to speak with him."
Azula waved a hand dismissively at the soldier.
"Take him away," she snapped, and Aang could tell merely by her reaction that Mai had gotten under her skin. "We don't need such filth in our presence."
Everyone at the table shot her affronted expressions, save for Aang who had locked in on a very specific detail. He got to his feet as the soldiers made to take the man away.
"Wait," he said, raising a hand. "A Streak brought him here?"
The Water Nation Streaks were an outfit of elite waterbending soldiers who had locations dotted all about the coasts. Their objective was always speed and response, as they rarely saw actual battle; they were specially trained to create a recurring surface of water to hold beneath them and carry them over land as quickly as Aang could soar on his glider. If this soldier had been taking from the Fire Nation coast all the way to Ba Sing Se, the Streaks would have had a very good reason as, even at their blinding speed, such a trip would have taken hours.
"Yes, sir."
"Where is the Streak now?"
"He left. Had to deliver a message to Water Nation leadership."
That was something that got everyone's attention; what was so important that the information was being distributed so urgently? He could hear murmurs beside him as his friends all regarded this information.
"Leave us," he said to the guards and they retreated without a word, closing the door behind them. Aang stepped towards the soldier, suddenly rather feeling like he and the man were the only ones present; as he drew nearer, he could see the man was shaking, his clothing in partial tatters as he trembled on the ground. Kneeling beside him, Aang put a hand on the man's shoulder which was enough to make him look up.
"Tell me what happened," Aang said and the soldier nodded with a gulp.
"I was stationed on the east coast of the Fire Nation. Our task force had bee getting ready to swap patrols when… when we came under attack."
He looked down and clenched his eyes shut tightly a moment as though the very memory was enough to shake him to his core, which Aang supposed it very likely could have.
"We stood no chance. Earth, Water and Fire, and yet we were cut down without quarter. We were given no chance to surrender."
Aang heard his friends behind him raise their voices but he ignored them.
"How did you escape?" he asked and the soldier made a deeply pained face.
"I fled, Avatar Aang."
"Coward," Azula sneered behind them and Aang heard Katara shout out before he could.
"That's enough, Azula!"
Aang kept his attention on the soldier while trying to keep his own pulse from hammering.
"Who attacked you? The Talons? The Dwellers? Locals?"
It would have had to have been quite a force of men to take out one of the task force outposts, which were stations of several dozen highly skilled and vetted benders, but as Aang looked at him, the man shook his head.
"No, sir. Just… just one man."
"One man?!" Sokka shouted in disbelief and Suki shushed him.
"This man," Aang asked quietly. "Did you get a good look at him?"
For a moment, the man only stared at him before breaking into what was quite possibly a completely delirious and manic smile.
"Yes, sir. They were right."
Aang blinked at him.
"Who was right?"
The soldier's head lolled droopily as though he were about to pass out.
"The stories… everything I ever heard. They didn't do him justice even then."
Aang felt a frozen hand gripping tight around his heart. There was a throbbing in his head but even as his body screamed protest, he asked anyway.
"Who, soldier?"
Slowly, the soldier met his eyes, tears streaming from his shaking orbs.
"Him."
He spoke the name and Aang felt his will shudder to a halt.
"Sasuke Uchiha."