Chapter 3: Wonder and Regicide

Mei Lin

Mei breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh salty air of the sea. The large ship she had called home for the last few days gently swayed across the calm ocean swells. She was glad to finally be out here under the sun. She had spent all morning trying to get her mother to allow her above deck. It had been stormy yesterday and she had been forced to stay below decks, sick, all day.

That just wouldn't do. Even before the storm, it had been too cold to enjoy the fresh air. Today was the first day since they had left the South Pole that she could actually enjoy. She was nine now and could go out alone every now and then. She had slipped away from the watchful eye of her mother and hadn't disturbed even one other passenger or crewman. She could be well behaved when she wanted.

Something shimmered in the corner of her eye. Mei turned to see a whole cloud of small slivers of glittering silver skimming along the surface of the ocean alongside the ship.

"Woah! Flying fish!" Mei screamed with glee. "There are so many!"

The edge of the deck had a fence made from two small horizontal cables to prevent passengers from falling overboard. Mei grabbed onto the lower cable, about the same height as her stomach, and leaned her body through the gap in the wires to peer down the side of the ship. More and more of the spectacular fish were skipping above the surface, matching speed with Mei's ship. The glittering patterns of the leaping fish were mesmerizing to the young girl, so much so that she didn't even register the approach of another passenger until he had already leaned up against the railing beside her.

Startled, Mei gripped the wire tight and wheeled around on the newcomer. It was him. A large, but young man with short, dark, hair. The man had a large build and hard face, but what really made him stand out was the large red and pink splotch of skin running from somewhere under his collar, extending under his chin, and all the way up to his cheekbone on one side. It was a nasty-looking scar, but what really made Mei avoid the man was the harsh and serious expression he had worn the entire journey. Especially whenever he looked at her, his expression would somehow darken even more. He seemed like just the kind of grump to pick on little girls.

"Something scared them out of the water." The stranger said. Spirits! His voice sounded like he gargled staples every morning! He started out at the water, not so much as glancing at Mei. "Keep watching, you just might see something amazing." Was that a smile on his face? It looked so odd seeing a smile on such a hard and scarred face.

Without responding, Mei followed his advice and stared intently at the water around the flying fish, searching for whatever was chasing them under the surface. She leaned out ever further, as if getting an inch closer to the water would let her peer into its depths.

Suddenly, a patch of the ocean exploded. A huge emerald fish, bigger than Mei, bigger than any fish Mei had ever seen, shot out of the water like an arrow. The great fish, mouth agape, lept nearly as high as the side of the ship where Mei was watching! Mei let out a squeal of delight. It turned in the air, sunlight shone through its large, sail-like, dorsal fin and glistened off of its sleek body. She watched in awe as the massive fish crashed back down into the sea, disappearing from view. Mei was convinced she had never seen anything so amazing in her entire life. She barely noticed the stranger chuckle beside her as she stared at the spot where the emerald fish had vanished.

"Mei!" A shout. Her mother's voice. Mei turned toward the call, only to feel her weight start to shift. Her feet lifted off the ground and she began to fall over the cable.

"MEI!" Her hands had slipped off of the cable in surprise. She flailed, desperately trying to swim through the air, anything to avoid plunging into the ocean below. Wind rushed around her, and her fall seemed to slow as she drifted out of reach of the edge of the deck.

Mei came to a sudden stop, however, and felt an iron grip around her ankle. She hung there for what seemed like an eternity, upside-down and staring into the sea, still churning with silver fish. Finally, Mei looked up to see the scarred man leaning over the wire railing and holding her by the leg with one hand.

Before Mei could quite understand her situation, she felt another rush of air as the man heaved on her leg, flinging her back over the railing as if she weighed nothing. In a flash, she was being crushed in the embrace of her mother.

"Spirits! Mei! Baby! Don't ever do that again!" Mother pushed her out of the embrace to look into her eyes, never releasing her vice-like grip on her shoulders. "I told you not to come up here alone!" Tears pooled at the corners of her mother's eyes. "If that man hadn't been here to save you, you'd have drowned!"

Mei could only stare into her mother's face in confusion. It slowly began to dawn on her how much danger she had actually been in. All the fear and stress she should have felt then now hit her like a sack of bricks. Tears quickly appeared in her own eyes.

"M-Mama!" She jumped back into the hug, throwing her arms around her mother's neck. "I'm sorry! There was a huge fish, an-and I wanted to see it! And th-the cable!" Tears flowed freely now as she continued to try to explain herself between sobs.

The man simply stood and watched the teary display. Silently waiting for the moment to pass. When they had finished their tearful reunion, her mother stood, still holding Mei in her arms.

"I can never thank you enough." Mei turned to look at the strange man. Even lifted up in the arms of her mother, she still had to crane her neck to see his face. "What is your name?"

The man allowed himself a small smile. "I was just in the right place at the right time." His voice was cheerful, but not at the same time. It was hard to tell with the rough raspiness it had. "You can call me Kal."

"You hear that, Mei?" Her mother looked down at her with serious eyes. "Kal. You remember that, okay? I want your children to know that name one day. Tell them how great your Uncle Kal was."

Mei still didn't trust herself to speak without crying again, so she just nodded.

Her mother then invited the man, Kal, to eat lunch with them. At first, the large man seemed to hesitate, but her mother insisted. Kal relented, and he followed them to the center of the ship, where tables had already begun to be set up by other passengers. After yesterday's storm had kept everybody below decks, it seemed everyone was intent on eating under the open sky.

As they ate their curry and rice, Kal was mostly silent as Mei excitedly told her mother about the giant fish, all of the fear from earlier having been completely forgotten. Kal chimed in to identify the fish as an emerald marlin-shark. In fact, Kal seemed downright nice! Why had he been so gloomy the whole trip?

"Uncle Kal!" Mei spoke through a mouthful of curry. "Why is your face always all red? Did you run into stinging nettle? Is that why you've been so grumpy this whole trip? Why do you-"

"Mei!" Her mother slapped her lightly on the top of her head. "Don't talk with your mouth full, child! And you don't ask rude questions about how people look!"

Sufficiently chided, Mei looked to see that Kal's expression had indeed darkened once more. Had she really been that rude? It's not like he was ugly or anything, just weird. Then, Kal did that weird thing adults often did and suddenly put a smile on his face, even though he clearly hadn't been happy a second ago.

"No worries, miss…?" Kal asked.

"Oh, please excuse me. I'm Li Ming."

"Don't worry Miss Ming. My uncle always said that a healthy sense of curiosity is a child's greatest asset." Kal rasped. His voice was a little smoother now, probably because of the food and tea. Did it hurt for him to speak?

"Maybe so, but a polite girl will get more answers to her questions than a rude one." Her mother replied, giving Mei the 'look' that meant she better stop whatever she was doing and straighten up.

Kal let out a chuckle that ended in a small cough. "I can't argue with that. You better do what your mama says, Mei. She's a smart one"

Mei felt her face flush a little. She did not like being the focus of a joke, no matter how light-hearted. "I just wanna know." She pouted.

She glanced up at Kal to see him looking down at her, an unreadable expression on his face. After a moment, he spoke.

"Alright, I guess I'll tell you. How old are you, kid?" Kal's voice was warm, despite the hoarseness.

"Seven."

"Right, well sadly this…" Kal gestured to the red scars on the bottom of his face and neck. "Is not the result of stinging nettle. I had a bad run in with a nasty firebender, and I got a bit burned in the process."

"A firebender!" Mei's eyes went wide. Kal got into a fight with a firebender. "Did you beat him up?"

Kal barked a laugh. "That's your first question? I guess I wasn't so different at your age." He took another sip of tea. "No, I'm afraid I didn't beat him up. In fact, you could say our scuffle ended in a draw."

"It sure doesn't look like a draw. You got your face all burned!"

"Mei!"

"Yeah, I did. But I wasn't fighting to save my face." Kal leaned in, staring directly into Mei's eyes with the same intensity he had held while sitting alone the last two days. "He was looking to destroy something very dear to me, but I stopped him. There were people I had to protect, some younger than you, and I would gladly get burned again if it meant keeping them safe."

Mei was in awe. "But, getting burned hurts a lot doesn't it? And your voice…" She shook her head. "You just need to get strong enough to beat him without getting burned next time!"

"I sure will try." Kal's smile broadened. He reached over the table and placed a hand on the top of her head. "But everyone's got to choose their priorities, Mei. That's what it means to be an adult."

"But, why can't you just do both?"

He leaned back and held up a large stick he had been wearing on his belt. "Violence, for example, should be avoided. Avoiding violence is one of my top priorities, yet I carry this sword. Why do you think that is?"

"That's not a sword!" Mei stated indignantly. "That's a stick!"

Kal threw a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Ah. You wound me, Mei. I assure you, this may be made of wood, but it is a sword indeed. But why do I have it at all?"

Now that she looked at it. The stick was kinda shaped like a sword. Mei still didn't quite believe him, but gave thought to the question anyway.

"Because some things are more important than avoiding violence." Her mother said.

"That's exactly right, Miss Ming."

"Please, call me Li."

"Right. Sometimes, a person will need to fight to protect something that's even more important than avoiding violence, and sometimes a person will need to let themselves get hurt to protect something dear to them."

This was all a lot for Mei to take in. "But how do you know what the most important thing is?"

"That's the hard part." Her mother sighed. "When you know what your priorities are, the big decisions in life become simple. But, if you get your priorities wrong, you'll just end up spreading sadness and regret." Her mother made the face she only ever got when thinking about papa.

"Yeah." Kal sighed. "It can be pretty difficult. But not always." He motioned to mother. "Sometimes it's easy to see what's important. For example, your mama sure seems to have made you her top priority, as a mother should."

Mei beamed at her mother, happy to know that what Uncle Kal had just said was true.

"What's that?" Kal suddenly asked. He was looking at another passenger sitting further down the table, an elderly man in drab clothing reading a newspaper.

"Excuse me, sir." Kal waved to get his attention. "May I see that front page?"

The man seemed annoyed to have been disturbed while reading, but reluctantly handed over the sheet of paper.

"I've read it twice already anyway. I picked this up freshly printed from the port before we left, and have been trying to savor it."

"Many thanks." Kal mumbled, completely absorbed by the broadsheet.

"Is something wrong?" Mei's mother asked tentatively. Mei didn't like the look that was developing on Uncle Kal's face.

"The avatar…" Kal rasped. "She's a fugitive?! Wanted by the Earth Queen?" He shifted the page in his hands as his eyes scanned through the small print.

Mei and her mother simply watched in silence, unsure of what to say as Kal muttered to himself. Finally, Kal sighed and returned the sheet to the elderly man with a nod and another word of thanks.

"Is everything alright?" Mei's mother asked again.

"Oh, uh… sorry Miss Ming, er- Li." Kal seemed a bit disturbed. "I just found a badger mole in my canal. I was under the impression that the avatar lived in Republic City. Now I learn that not only is she no longer there, but she's been essentially banished! And to top it all off, she picked a fight with the whole Earth Kingdom AND the Earth Queen has been pressing airbenders into the army!" Kal threw his hands up in the air for emphasis.

"You didn't know?" Mei was surprised. "It's all everyone was talking about in the port! Even I knew about it and I'm seven!" Mei was beginning to think that Uncle Kal wasn't as bright as she first thought.

Kal gave her a sharp look. The man could still look scary, even after showing Mei how kind he could be.

"I went straight to the ship after getting into town. Spirits! I'm on the wrong boat! How am I supposed to find the avatar if she's on the run?" Kal held his head in his hands, talking more to himself than to anyone in particular.

Mei's mother reached across the table and put a hand on his arm. "Hush! Calm down. You'll be fine." She spoke softly. "Is it important that you find the avatar?"

"Very." Kal looked back up at Mei's mother.

"Do you need to find her quickly?"

"... I suppose not." Kal replied after a bit of thought.

"Then nothing is lost! We stop at a port in the state of Shu tonight. You can get off there if you want to go to the Earth Kingdom instead of continuing to Republic City."

"Actually…" Kal seemed to be much calmer now. His brow was furrowed in deep thought. "I think I'd better go all the way to Republic City. I'm sure that the avatar still has contacts at the Air Temple there. Talking to them will give me a much better chance than blindly wandering the Earth Kingdom."

"See!" Mei's mother smiled and leaned back to sit up straight. "You're still heading in the right direction! That's all that really matters."

Kal looked at her for a moment. "Those are wise words, Miss Li. That could apply to a lot of things."

Mei's mother blushed a little. "I wish I could take credit for them, but that's something my father would always say to me when I was discouraged. And just 'Li' is fine. I haven't liked being called 'miss' since Mei was born."

"Of course, Li." Kal smiled warmly now. The two continued to look at each other for a moment, and Mei couldn't help but feel a little left out.

"Why do you wanna find the avatar?" She asked, turning the attention back to herself.

"Well…" Uncle Kal seemed torn for a moment. "It has to do with what we talked about earlier, priorities. I have a very important and special problem that only the avatar can help me with."

Kal suddenly looked annoyed, like a fly had been buzzing around his ear. "Two problems, actually." He added.

"What kind of problems?"

"The avatar kind."

"What are avatar problems?"

"The special kind."

"What makes it speci-" Mei was cut off by her mother placing her hand on her head.

"Mei, dearest," mother only called her dearest when she did something wrong. "What did we just learn about asking rude questions?" There it was.

"Uncle Kal, would you please tell me why you want to see the avatar?" Mei asked as sweetly as she could.

"No."

"What!?" Mei's voice cracked. "But I asked politely!"

"Your mom said you'd get more answers, not all answers." Kal replied condescendingly. Mei hated when people talked like that.

After finishing their meal and some more idle chatter, Kal left to go speak with one of the crew about something and Mei convinced her mother to let her watch the ocean again. This time, with her supervision and safely behind the wire.

The sun had just begun to set when their ship slid into the port of Li Hai, in the state of Shu. Uncle Kal was standing with Mei and her mother on the side of the deck, watching the proceedings of the dock workers as they secured their ship, the Yokote-maru.

Kal was dressed in a cloak, had his "sword" tucked his belt, and wore a small pack slung on his shoulder. Mei had thought that her new uncle had decided to part ways with them after all, but he assured her that he simply wanted to have all of his things with him while he was ashore.

Mei could tell that even her mother was looking forward to spending some time on solid ground. Her stomach had fared even worse than Mei's had during the storm the day before.

Just as the gangway was lowered and the passengers were getting ready to disembark, a large group of soldiers appeared at the end of the dock and made their way up onto the ship.

"Attention!" A rather unsoldierly looking man with a thin mustache and a silly hat stepped forward from among the group of intruders.

"By the order of Lord Shu, exercising his powers as Lord of the state of Shu and commander of her armies, in this state of martial law, all vessels that moor in the port at Li Hai are to be subject to immediate search and seizure by state officials!"

A wave of anxiety passed through the crowd as they began to murmur about the announcement.

Ignoring them, the mustached man continued.

"All persons aboard the Yokote-maru are ordered to remain aboard the ship and to cooperate with state officers. You are to submit your luggage to be searched and answer any questions."

The captain of the ship emerged from the crowd and handed the official a clipboard full of papers and began to speak with him in a hushed, but urgent tone. Mei saw the captain blanch and his face go pale at something the official said. He turned around and stepped back toward the crowd.

"It has come to my attention that you are all unaware of recent events." The mustached man spoke again, projecting his voice toward the crowd.

"The Earth Queen is dead. She was murdered by one of the avatar's airbenders! The government of Ba Sing Se has collapsed and the state of Shu is now under martial law! All airbenders are considered persons of interest and must be reported to state officers for questioning!"

A/N Hey, all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I've never tried writing a story with so many threads in it before, and I thought would be a good place to try it out. I'm a bit worried that the start is a bit too slow because I'm trying to put out so much setup. Please, if you enjoyed it (or didn't) leave an honest review. Let me know what my story has you thinking!