Chapter 40

Destiny

Sokka

Katara stayed home, watching Maddi while the rest of us went with the king to Lake Laogai. I couldn't keep my mind off her. Maddi was like my sister, my best friend and now she was hurt again. She hadn't done anything dangerous, she should not have been in danger she was just talking. But Maddi's eloquence was as dangerous as my weapons. She won her best battles through her words. Not that she wasn't a good fighter but she didn't have the spirit of a warrior, she fought because she had to protect her family.

"So… this is a train." King Kuei stated looking around. None of us answered, even Toph was looking upset. Maddi was the peacemaker in our group and she always did her best to help each one of us however she could.

Long Feng hadn't stood a chance. The Dai Li agent was arrested but it had still caused damage to the king's faith in the man. He was more open and willing to listen. It was an advantage, if only the price hadn't been so high.

Katara had assured us that Maddi was fine, damage to a chakra at the base of the neck but a little healing had fixed it. She was still going to be unconscious for a while, it had been a hard blow. It still frustrated me. One of us should have realized that Long Feng would bend so low as to injure a woman with no weapon.

The train began to slow down and finally pulled to a stop. Jet grumbled something under his breath. While I had attacked the Dai Li agent who had attacked Maddi he had attempted to assassinate Long Feng. Luckily, the other Dai Li stopped him.

The second Toph's feet hit rock she shot forward with a cry of alarm. With how my day had been going I assumed the worst and took off after her. I stopped thunderstruck as we created the ridge. Two Dai Li agents running across the beach.

"Stop them!" We threw ourselves into action but the second we did the Dai Li spun and took off, away from us. Frowning I turned back to the king who had a frustrated look on his face.

"The entrance is this way." Toph called pointing in the direction the Dai Li had been running towards.

"I bet they were planning on destroying the evidence." Smellerbee narrowed her eyes at the king, as if accusing him for re Dai Li's actions. Toph shrugged and struck her foot into the sand. A large rock pier appeared.

The lake Laogai complex was dark, cold, wet and illuminated with eery green crystals that cast more shadow then light. It was also abandoned.

"There's no one... here." A strange expression crossed Toph's face and she pointed towards one of the stone doors. My eyes met Aang's and then Jet's as the three of us slowly approached. I threw the door open weapon at the ready only to be met by a flutter of activity and a panicked scream. Two women, both a few years older then Maddi stood there trembling in the darkness, clutching each other tightly. One was crying. We quickly lowered our weapons. I raised both hands in a sign of peace.

"It's okay, you're safe. My name's Sokka and you are...?" The one who wasn't crying stepped into the light slightly revealing herself to be a earth kingdom woman who fell almost perfectly into the majority.

"I'm Jade, this is Anju. We... we." And suddenly Jade was crying as well. I shifted, unsure. I didn't know how to comfort these women so I let them cry themselves out. Once both had become calm Jet, Longshot, Aang and I helped the women out, guiding them back up to the surface of the lake.

"Why were you in there?" King Kuei asked with a deep frown.

"Minister Long Feng offered me a job. I was living on the streets and my job..." Anju didn't need to explain further. Her clothes stated her occupation better then any words.

"I was begging on the streets to feed my daughter. She's living with my mother right now. My husband died to allow the two of us to escape to Ba Sing Se."

"I'm sorry, why were you here though? What were they planning?"

"I don't know," Anju whispered, "But there were other women like us... now there is only us." Silence.

"Does the name Joo Dee mean anything to you?" The reaction was immediate. Anju hit the ground and began rocking, singing a lullaby, eyes wide and black. Jade flinched, wretched and began to shake like her body was betraying her. We rushed over, eyes wide in worry for the two woman. Slowly they came back to the way they were.

"They kept bringing us into that room, with all the other women, they kept telling us our names were Joo Dee, it was all they said, I... I can't get their voices out of my head." King Kuei stepped forward. Everyone fell silent at his presence.

"I'm am sorry for what happened to you. I promise Long Feng will pay for his crimes. I will make sure of it."

"I can't believe Long Feng was keeping documents about us." Katara muttered looking at awe at the report of our father's whereabouts, "And I can't imagine how those women must feel."

"Well King Kuei is has his guards looking for all the Joo Dees he's hoping since you were able to heal Jet that you can help them." Katara nodded at Aang's words, still looking troubled. Toph was deep in thought about the paper that Katara had read to her, that her mother was in Ba Sing Se. Aang was excited to master the avatar state.

"How's Pala doing?" I asked nervously. Katara sighed.

"I healed the chakra completely but she'll probably be unconscious for a few days yet, the body usually needs time to recuperate naturally from such a blow." She sighed, "I'm going to have to stay here to watch over her, the rest of us need to split up. Sokka you should go to dad, Aang needs to go to that guru and Toph, well its her choice if she wants to see her mother or not."

"How did that guru find you Aang?" I heard myself asking. Aang shrugged.

"In the letter he said something about being contacted by a spirit."

"You know, is it just me or are the spirits becoming a lot more active then usual?"


Maddi

I woke up with a groan of pain, twitching I tried to pull myself up only to find a heavy weight at the back of my neck. Moaning I tried to get the attention of someone, and finally I managed to struggle into a sitting position.

"Hello?" My voice was hoarse, rough and painful to use but I called again anyway.

"Oh, miss, I'm sorry if I disturbed you." A woman who was close to my age walked in, a bowl of water in her hands.

"My name is Mara, You're friend Katara hired me to keep watch over you while she was gone. I'm glad to see you are awake, you really had your friends worried."

"Thanks," I muttered, hands touching the hard cast around my neck "what happened?"

"One of the Dai Li attacked you, apparently against orders. Its alright though, Long Feng is in jail, there is nothing to worry about any more."

"Thanks…" my voice trailed off as I looked at Mara. Something about her was unnervingly familiar but I couldn't place it. Then she smiled and my heart jumped. With a wail I threw myself out of bed and out of the room. I was still in my house but I wasn't about to let that calm me down. I skittered my way out of the house and down the street, thanking the heavens that I was dressed. How much time had passed since I had been knocked out? I didn't know and that was almost as unnerving as the woman's smile.

I didn't realize where I was going until I stopped. I was heading deeper into the upper ring, the businesses area. Sighing I waved a man over.

"Excuse me sir, can you direct me to the Jasmine Dragon? I'm afraid I'm a little lost." The man pointed me in the direction that I assumed was correct then turned away. I darted away in that direction. In this part of town the signs actually had words on them unlike in the lower ring which only used pictures as the number of literate people was significantly higher. My eyes flicked to a sign proclaiming the grand opening of 'The Jasmine Dragon'. The poster was a few days old but still useful in pointing me in the correct direction for the rest of the way there.

The Jasmine Dragon was a work of art. A lot of time and effort had clearly gone into its creation. Two gorgeous green dragons danced around the delegate lettering spelling out the name of the teashop. Inside Zuko bustled about, a small smile on his face. He didn't seem as content as he had in the original timeline but he looked content with his uncle's happiness.

"Lee!" I called, catching his attention. He looked at me and his small smile grew bigger. He waved and I slipped into the tea shop. I stopped in front of one of the women manning the door.

"Has a dark skinned, blue eyed girl come by?" She shook her head.

"If she does tell her that Palartok is here and wants to talk." The lady nodded and I continued in. Zuko's smile faltered when he got a closer look at me and he placed the tea tray down. I realized I was shaking. Joo Dee. I didn't care what that girl said her name was, that was a Joo Dee smile and it had terrified me. Now with my knowledge that I had been unconscious for about a week I was even more worried. Where was I in the timeline? Obviously before the coup but by how much? A day? An hour?

"What happened to your neck? Are you okay?" Zuko exclaimed in surprise his eyes flicking to the heavy poultice that I had forgotten. No wonder the man who gave me directions had such a strange look on his face. I reached around behind my neck and slowly peeled the cast off. It wasn't a plaster cast like they had back home, it was more of a stiff cloth used to support the neck... with wood inlay.

"I'll explain later," I stated, still holding the stiff cloth, "but you and your uncle need to get out of here. Azula is planning a coup and its happening soon." Zuko went pale at the thought but his eyes slipped to look at his uncle.

"I... I can't. This is everything my uncle wanted, he's happy. I can't ask him to leave."

"If you don't then Azula will kill him. Zuko I promise when the war is over Iroh will get his teashop back... if he doesn't I'll pull a few strings. The earth king totally owes me one." I lifted up the cast as proof of my words. Zuko shook his head and picked up the tea tray.

"I... Give me a few hours. Okay?" I nodded and stepped back, allowing Zuko to go back to work while I moved to sit at the steps leading up to the teashop.

I sat there for a while, deep in thought. How long had it been? Where was everybody now? Would I be able to get in contact with them if things went south faster then expected? I didn't know and the fact that I had a Joo Dee watching over me was enough to make me worry. I didn't care what that woman called herself. One smile was all I needed to know that she was a Joo Dee.

"Pala?" I looked up. Katara was standing in front of me, Momo perched on her shoulder, a scroll in hand. I smiled but the smile quickly froze on my face. That scroll meant that that tomorrow was the day of the coup.

"Katara did you leave me with a nurse?" Why was that the first thing I said? There were other more important things to be talking about right now.

"No... why?" Slowly the entire story came out. I explained waking up to the Joo Dee who called herself Mara, coming here and in a quieter voice what was about to happen. Katara was pale by the time I was finished.

"What happened to you guys?" I finished. Katara sighed. Momo hopped into my lap and I began to pet him. The lemur happily shoved his face into my side, begging for more attention.

"Well I stayed here to work out a plan with the counsel of five for the day of black sun, Toph went to meet her mother who is in the city. Aang found himself a guru for the avatar state and Sokka is with dad. Jet and the Freedom fighters decided to leave the city." I nodded. Behind me Zuko's voice rang out for the next order of tea causing me to jump and send a worried look at Katara. She didn't even blink. Surprised I raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I've been coming here since the grand opening." She explained, "Jet wanted to apologize for the way he treated us." I stared at Katara in shock.

"You went on a date... with Jet?" Her eyes widened and she quickly denied it.

"No, he was just apologizing. Besides, I don't like Jet like that... not anymore and I made that perfectly clear." I shook my head with a smile but didn't question who made her face light up after she sentence was finished. She was thinking about Aang, I recognized that face.

"Maddi... what happened in the tale of us... you know in your world?" I blinked then smiled.

"You and Aang or you and Jet." Katara's face turned several shades darker and she sent me a scathing look, causing me to laugh.

"You and Jet don't work out but you probably already knew that. He... he ends up dying trying to disobey direct orders when under a trance. You and Aang... that's up to you to decide." Katara nodded but then stood.

"We need to do something about Azula. Stop her and rescue Kuei. The others aren't due back for another few days so we're on our own."

"Then let's go talk to Zuko and Iroh, we'll need every bit of help we can get." I insisted.


I could see. The metal incasing me, surrounding me had been black until now. Now I could see. The cold no longer bit into my feet, it kept me awake, it kept me aware. The metal was responding. I could feel the earth inside it, feel it respond to my movements. Grinning I placed my hands against the cold metal and pushed.


The final chakra. The thought chakra. Cosmic energy. But to access it I had to let go of my friends but more importantly I had to let go of Katara. I couldn't.

"Why would I let go of her? I love her." But I had to learn this. My friends would want it. Katara would want it. I grit my teeth.

"Aang, letting go is not forever, it will not make your love any less. Learn this young avatar." I jumped. A woman stood on the far edge of the rock. She smiled, nodded at me and vanished. A spirit. She was right. I sighed.

"Fine."


I laughed. All these men, the fathers of the ones I had tried to train. The men of the tribe. And I was one of them. I was a warrior, a great warrior. I would help protect the earth kingdom from the fire nation. I would one day be chief in my own right. It was my turn to show that I not only was I a warrior, I was a leader, a man, and one day I would be chieftain.


Madison had inspired me, I wasn't going to lie. The thought of being heroes was something I had wanted all along but we had gone to far. After discovering what I had done my freedom fighters left me. All but Smellerbee and Longshot. My two oldest friends. The first freedom fighters beyond myself. None of us ever used our real names any more. We were Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot. Those were our names and those were who we were. A team, a family, companions.


We were heroes

We were warriors

We were protectors

We were guardians

We were lovers

We were friends

We were family

We are one


Maddi

After the shop was closed for the day Katara and I sat around a table talking to Zuko and Iroh.

"We need to get King Kuei out of there. Most of the Dai Li will be busy taking out the generals and larger officials along with the counsel that will leave us just Mai, Ty Lee and Azula to deal with." I stated running my finger around the crude drawing of the palace.

"But then what? If we do defeat them where will we go? None of us will be able to get out of Ba Sing Se."

"We just need to get out of the palace," I explained, "Once we are out. we can head down. The others should hopefully be coming towards us, we'll need a signal. A large bolt of fire would do if we see Appa. That should attract their attention. Then we get on Appa and get out of there."

"Your plan is quite vague, are you sure that it will work?" I shook my head at Iroh's wizened voice.

"No I'm not. But it is the best we have. I've heard it said somewhere that no plan survives after engaging the enemy. The less plan the more leeway we have for changing it."

"And the more that can go wrong." Iroh warned, "What you said is true but a stricter plan allows for everyone to know what is supposed to happen." I sighed but nodded. I was scared out of my wits and I didn't know as much strategy as Iroh did. While Iroh corrected my plan, building up a distinct strategy I allowed my mind to wander, my eyes flicking over to Zuko. He was thoroughly involved in his uncle's planning but when compared to the Zuko from the original timeline I liked this one much better. He thought more, was more well rounded, he was happier too and less confused. Could I have created that change? Was it my doing that had made him a happier, better person? I smiled. No, I may have pushed but it was Zuko himself who did the rest.

"I read that scroll." I jerked and looked at him in surprise. Iroh and Katara fell silent to watch the conversation.

"That's good... did you like it?"

He nodded, "It was helpful." I smiled.

"Good." Katara's eyes lit up and she grinned. I shook my head. I wasn't even going to ask about what she was thinking. Iroh coughed another strange look in his eyes, he looked almost... smug. I was clearly missing something but I could ask about it later. Right now we needed to focus on getting the king out of the palace.


The four of us tore through the palace, I was breathing heavily. Apparently a week unconscious is a good way to loose muscle tone. The sad thing was that I was still probably twice as fit as I had been when back home. The palace was completely empty and we made our way to the throne room. As expected there was Mai and Ty Lee. We didn't do anything the four of us. Just stood there as Ty Lee and Mai moved into position.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" King Kuei asked, his eyes flicking back and forth between the four of us and the two 'Kyoshi warriors'

"Those girls are imposters." I snarled pointing at Ty Lee who just grinned.

"What!" As if that was their cue both Ty Lee and Mai sprung into action. I darted away, while Iroh and Zuko took on Ty Lee and Katara went after Mai. It was my job to get the king in and out. I grabbed his hand and practically threw him off the dais.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." A knife sailed towards my head but I stopped it with a slash of a fan.

"Sounds good."

"I don't think so." A voice said, stepping out from behind a curtain. Luckily I was planning for that. I didn't need to say a word. Katara flew past me in a flurry of movement and engaged Azula while Zuko distracted Mai. I noticed Mai fumble slightly out of the corner of my eye. She still had feelings for him I realized. Wincing slightly I drag the king out of the throne room. I was a little put out about not being included in the battling but both Iroh and Katara had a good point. Someone had to get the king out of there and I unfortunately, was not up to standard.

"Where are we going?" Kuei asked as I continued to drag him through the palace.

"Out. Unless you want to end up in a jail cell." To my shock when he spoke it wasn't to me.

"Good Basco, I knew you would come, good boy." I spun. As expected the bear was following us at a slow lumber. Twitching in frustration I went to grab Kuei when he stopped me.

"We can ride Basco." I eyed the bear suspiciously but nodded and clambered on behind the king. Basco roared and suddenly jumped into a full run. I shrieked in shock and fear as he pelted through the palace. With the two of us on his back Basco was running close to the same speed we had been before. Except when we had been running there was less danger of falling off. That was it, I was never riding a bear again, I didn't care what sort either.

Basco kept running until he was outside the palace and there he stopped. I slid off, as did the king.

"Come on, we need to keep moving." Kuei nodded and we started out. We had barely walked a quarter of a block before Katara, Zuko and Iroh came tearing out of the palace after us.

"Everything okay?" I asked as I picked up speed to keep pace with Katara. She nodded.

"Ty Lee was injured, Mai stayed behind and Azula isn't going anywhere for a few minutes."

"Good."

"What are we going to do if the others don't come?"

"Fly by the seat of our pants." I replied, earning a strange look from those around me.

"Oh shut up its a saying where I come from." We fell silent. The running was hard work and after a little we had to put the king back on Basco. Neither of them were fit, at all.

We had just made it into the middle ring when Kuei saw Appa. I laughed delightedly as two giant pillars of fire shot into the sky, alerting the bison and turning the entire street around us into a panicked mob. We waited, eyes still on the look out for danger while everyone else on the street vanished into their houses or into one of the other rings. Appa landed with a heavy thump and promptly covered me and Katara in saliva from a giant bison kiss. Aang jumped off Appa's head, Toph was sitting on the saddle, watching.

"What's going on?"

"Azula has staged a coup we got the the king out." I explained, as Katara shooed both Basco and Kuei up Appa's tail and onto the saddle. It was strange to notice that Basco only took up as much space as Sokka normally would.

"Where's Sokka?"

"Still with the water tribe warriors. I didn't realize anything was wrong until I saw the fire."

"You mastered the avatar state?" Aang nodded before sending Katara a look not dissimilar to that of a kicked puppy.

"We can chat later." Zuko insisted. "We've got company." Turning I saw several dozen Dai Li agents come flying down the hill towards us.

" I got this." Toph shouted, jumping off Appa as Katara climbed on. She took a bending stance, Aang to her left and Zuko her right. Iroh and I looked at each other.

"I'm getting on Appa only if you are." I told him plainly. Iroh laughed but his eyes strayed to Zuko.

"He'll be fine." I told the old man, noticing how his hair had become a paler shade of grey and how he was going bald. Iroh nodded and clambered up Appa. I followed right behind. The three standing in front of Appa began to back up and tore off. The Dai Li were very close, firing large rocks at us. Aang tore through one while Toph shot the rest to the ground. Aang shot to Appa's head and Toph was halfway up his tail when the bison took off. There was a cry as Zuko desperately clung to the end of Appa's tail. Toph and I both reached down, dragging the fire nation prince onto the saddle.

As we flew away I looked at Aang.

"We need to pick up Sokka." I stated firmly. Everyone nodded and Aang steered Appa towards Chameleon Bay.


Sokka

I was woken by the alarm going off. Shooting awake I grabbed my boomerang and shot out of the tent that I was sharing with two other men. The men stood, waiting. Just outside our boarders a man appeared. He was a few years older then me and clearly of earth kingdom origin. He raised his hands up in the air.

"My name is Su Sen, I am looking for Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."


A/N: Once again I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender.