AN: Hey all, actually reaching out with a question of sorts today: I was just curious if there were any artists out there who might be interested in doing some art for this story's cover? It's been a fanart picture of Sasuke up until now, but I recently came across a story that featured art done specifically for the story by a fan, and I was just curious if anyone out there perhaps would be willing or want to? Feel free to reach out if that's something that interests you, but it's hardly a big deal if not, I just think it would be kind of a cool thing to be able to feature.
Regardless, hope you guys have had a good week and hoping you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 20: Solicitude
"Hey… you awake?"
Sasuke heard the voice before he opened his eyes, a young female voice brushing against his ears as he let feeling return from his body. He wasn't sure just how long he had been out, but it was enough for him to know that he was still alive for the moment. His head lay on what must have been a pillow and a thick, down cover was pulled up to his next with his arms resting over it; he took a moment to relish in just how comfortable he had been made before replying.
"Yeah, awake."
He heard what might have been a sigh of relief at his words. Whoever it was continued speaking and Sasuke felt the blurriness in his ears distort them just enough for him to be unsure if it was Toph or Ty Lee, or perhaps Suki. He didn't care enough just yet to open his eyes however with how relaxed he was.
"Phew, some of the others didn't think you would. A guy drops out of the sky from who knows how high up, surrounded by some purple light and hits the street hard enough to make a crater the size of a house, and somehow you wake up."
"Susanoo," Sasuke grunted.
There was a pause before whoever was next to him asked, "I'm sorry?"
Sasuke rotated his shoulders ever so slightly and took a deep breath, feeling his chest practically groan in protest and only then did just how sore he was start to hit him. Still, he elaborated, "I used my Susanoo to survive the fall. I've only used it once since I've been here, but basically, it's an apparition of a physical sense that I can draw into being with my Sharingan. I've only partially summoned it though, and only for the use of protection; just pulling its rib cage forth as a shield of sorts and using its arm, and I imagined it would let me survive, which it did. Hope I didn't hit anyone touching down."
He waited for a snide remark to let him know it was Ty Lee or Toph, or a measured response to confirm Suki or otherwise, but he heard nothing in response to his explanation.
"Anyways, how long did it take you guys to get down, how long did it take to…"
Sasuke opened his eyes and took stock of his situation.
He was lying on a bed in a small room, walls made of wood and with lanterns burning by the door. There was a small table by the bedside with a pitcher of water and an empty glass, and beside that just next to where Sasuke lay, was a chair. This chair was occupied by the only other person in the room, and as Sasuke looked, he saw that he had been entirely wrong in assessing that this was Toph, or Ty Lee, or Suki, for it was none of them. Nor was it anyone he knew.
A young woman with thick, brown hair and dark green eyes stared intently at him, mouth slightly ajar. She was dressed in a simple robe and based on the quality of the room, Sasuke assumed she was likely a commoner of some sort. Her expression was entirely that of someone who couldn't quite put sense to what they had just been told, and considering what Sasuke had just stated, that was understandable.
Shit.
He tried to sit up then and this pulled her from her surprised state; she leaned forward and put a hand gently on his chest, keeping him from rising too much.
"Hey, hey, not so fast. You're probably still pretty fragile after that… fall." She seemed unsure of how to classify Sasuke's arrival in the city better than that; about to snarl something about not needing to worry about something so stupid, he instead felt a rushing stab of pain tear through his torso and he grunted before slowly lying back down. The girl watched him for a good long while as he tried to get the pain under control.
"So… you always drop into people's lives so dramatically?" she finally asked and a startled look passed over her face as Sasuke laughed.
"You'd be surprised."
She didn't press him for details after that and instead asked, "You got a name?"
Sasuke slowly turned his head to give her a flat look and she shrugged and adopted an apologetic look. "Sorry, guess it's none of my business."
Nearly snapping at her that it certainly wasn't, Sasuke paused as he realized just how attractive she was. He imagined she was about his age and as he kept himself from addressing her rudely, he instead replied, " Sasuke."
She perked up quickly at that and gave him a smile that warmed his heart as much as it warmed the room.
Stop it. Don't you even start.
"I'm Jin," she said and extended a hand all the way to where his rested to grip it and give it a soft shake. Sasuke grunted by way of a reply and closed his eyes again, trying to focus on what was important, rather that some stupid hormones kicking up his insides.
"How long have I been here?" he asked, picking the most prudent and relevant question he could.
"About an hour is all. Most who saw you land wanted to report you to the soldiers, but Iroh and his friends convinced them to move you here to Pao's shop. Since that's where I'm living right now, they asked if I'd help take care of you."
Iroh… why do I know that name?
"This Iroh… is he here?"
When Jin didn't reply immediately, he opened his eyes to see her looking over her shoulder with a concerned expression. "Yeah… he is."
Sasuke watched her a moment longer before asking, "What's the problem?"
She looked back a might too quickly, her brown hair whipping around her face as she matched his stare with her large eyes.
"Nothing, there's no problem," her words too, quick enough to be more that a little suspect. Waiting to see if she would correct herself, Sasuke finally added a few words.
"I'd really rather not start off our relationship lying to each other, Jin."
She winced and looked down in shame.
"I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to be talking to you is all. No one expected you to wake up this quickly and if you did, I was supposed to go get Iroh or Pao or anyone else."
"Why's that?" Sasuke asked and she bit her lower lip and looked around nervously as though expecting the walls themselves to be listening.
"Well… no one really told me much, but I think they're all pretty worried about who… or what you are."
Jin rocked back in forth where she sat, her eyes curious and excited. "I mean, you kind of just fell out of the sky, this big purple thing and when the dust settled, there you were, just a guy lying in this huge crater. For now, I think everyone's keeping quiet, but I would bet everyone has their own theory. I think Pao thinks you're from space or something. Iroh's usually really trusting of everybody, but he's real careful around you, almost like he thinks you're a Fire Nation spy or something."
Sasuke jerked his chin in her direction.
"What do you think?"
Her smiled widened. "I think you're a real cute guy who just happened to drop into my life."
Another swell ran through Sasuke's gut and he mentally cursed himself. Doing his best to ignore her comment, he again made to sit up and was able to succeed with a snarl of pain. Jin's smile faded and she put a hand over her mouth as Sasuke felt the pain that echoed through his whole body rebound its way around for a good several seconds. He took deep breaths to try and dissipate it quicker, but still, he was forced to sit on the bed's edge for several seconds before he felt comfortable moving again.
When he looked up, Jin's hand was still over her mouth and her cheeks were bright red. Sasuke realized as he noticed this, that save for a relatively thin loincloth, he had been entirely stripped of his clothes which he saw piled in the corner along. It didn't escape his notice that his sword and kunai were absent his getup.
Hoping that both he and Jin weren't about to embarrass themselves too much, but knowing that he didn't have much of a choice at this point, he gestured to the corner and then himself.
"Would you mind helping me redress?"
Her cheeks flushed all the redder and he rolled his eyes. "I'm a little sore yet, but I need to get going."
Jin continued to simply stare at him and he looked back, allowing himself just a moment to admire her features before uttering a word that he very much found himself not a fan of.
"Please?"
In relative and uncomfortable silence, Jin moved to his side and leaned against him as he put an arm around her shoulder. Slowly, she eased him to his feet and he slowly stretched his frame out, growling as he did so; Jin looked up at him, putting her free hand on his chest as he did in an attempt to steady him.
"Are you okay?"
Sasuke nodded slowly. "Just need a second."
Blood and chakra flowed back through his veins and agonized nerves. The pain was good; it told him that nothing was damaged that wouldn't heal with time. The immediate damage was all a result of the immediate trauma of falling… well, who knew just how far. Susanoo had kept him from becoming a bloody stain on the streets of Ba Sing Se, but Sasuke still felt severe anger at himself. He should have come up with a better solution other than just taking the fall from terminal velocity. If there was to be a fight, a culmination to this war, he knew he needed to be at one hundred percent, and this decision had left him at less than that.
"Alright, let's move… slowly, if you wouldn't mind."
Jin helped him hobble over to the corner where his clothes lay and they began the process of pulling him back together. His shirt went on over his head with relative ease, but as Jin attempted to pull up his pants a little too quickly in the front, her hand slipped from the waist and flew up to swat him between the legs. Sasuke inhaled through sharply through clenched teeth as a new kind of pain blossomed through his midsection and Jin leapt away, her hands clapping over her mouth and cheeks as red as apples.
"Oh my gosh, I am so, so sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just trying to…" she blurted out frantically, and Sasuke waved it aside.
"Don't worry about it."
He had a fleeting thought to Azula and just what she might think of someone else touching Sasuke just there, and felt deeply grateful that he was, for the moment, dislocated from his original companions.
"Could have been worse."
As mobility slowly returned to him and the more difficult parts of dressing being done, he was able to fully prepare to step out into the world again. Bringing his arms over his head to pull and flex at the muscle, he heard the sound of pouring behind him and he turned to see a still frightfully embarrassed looking Jin offering him a glass of water. Taking it without a second thought, he drained it and relished the cool feeling that spread through his entire core.
"Thank you."
For a moment, they both just looked at one another, and Sasuke wondered for the briefest moment what it would be like if this had been where he had awoken over a week ago and not in the depths of some prison. Things likely would have been quite different, he supposed.
"Alright, I'm heading out."
Jin looked deeply worried at this and he gave her a small smile, "Don't worry about it, not your fault that I got up and left on my own accord."
This seemed to reassure her and she smiled back. And so with Jin dogging his footsteps, Sasuke stepped out of the room and back towards war.
"Avatar Aang, please forgive my men… everyone is extremely on edge after the retaking of Ba Sing Se; we've been expecting a counter attack from the Fire Nation any day now and they simply fired at what they thought might be a reconnaissance airship."
Aang looked still terribly shaken from the attack they had just endured, but still nodded with a swallow. "I understand."
The captain in charge of defenses atop the wall looked around to the group of people he was addressing, looking both apologetic and perpetually cautious. "Regardless of how, I'm glad you're here, even with some… questionable company."
Mai felt his eyes pass over her as he said that and over Zuko and Ty Lee as well, but she felt as though it would have been quite hard to become offended at such suspicion. After all, she had been one of the three posing as Kyoshi warriors in the effort that had initially taken the city, and she didn't expect to be forgiven for that.
"I must say, after the widespread reports that his children had gone rogue, I wouldn't have expected either of you to last long with Ozai being as public about this as he's been," the captain said to Zuko who said nothing in response, though his frown deepened. The captain looked around then and made a face at something behind them.
"Though I'm really going to need her to get under control if I'm really going to try and pass this off to my higher ups…"
Mai heard Azula before she even finished turning and found herself looking at the princess with no small amount of anxiousness at what she was seeing.
Moments after they had begun taking fire, Aang had made the smart decision to take his glider and nosedive to the origin point of the incoming missiles to call them off. A minute or so of frantic evasive maneuvers with Sokka then at the reins and those capable doing their best to blast the incoming pieces of earth from the sky and the attack stopped. As everyone did their best to catch their breath, Aang swooped back up and had them follow him down to where they landed atop the massive barrier that stretched around the city.
Everyone had been shaken up to a fair extent, but Toph and Azula had been near hysterics. Toph had gone into something that might have been a panic attack, tears coursing down her face as she gasped for air and once on solid ground, the combined efforts of Katara and Ty Lee had been enough to simmer her down. Mai wondered if that reaction had been a response to the attack, losing Sasuke or both.
Mai herself had to admit that there was a numbness in her very bones that hadn't gone dissipated since they had begun to take fire. Sasuke was missing, very possibly dead, and the last thing he had done was save her life. He hadn't just told her to move, hadn't leapt back himself; he had lunged forward without a second's hesitation and thrown her to relative safety. Mai had only noticed herself shaking and crying herself when Suki pointed it to her and had leaned over to wipe her cheek on the way down.
If he dies, he dies, Mai had told herself, but just thinking that had ignited an awful fire inside her that made her plead desperately with hope itself that Sasuke, somehow, was still alive.
Azula however…
"Do you not have anyone who knows a damn thing watching the skies?! Are you people fucking blind?!"
Azula's voice came out as a sharp crack against the dawn air and Mai winced. Just looking at her childhood friend and she could see the cracks more clearly than she ever had before.
Azula's predatory eyes were red from crying, though she showed none of the softer side that Toph was displaying who was currently leaning against Ty Lee's side, looking helpless and defeated. The princess's hair flew around her as her lips were pulled in a furious snarl as she stormed back towards the group, looking only a moment away from dropping to her knees and screaming with sobs.
"I just went and spoke with a half dozen different watchmen and not a single one was able to tell me what happened, where he might have landed! If I have to scorch this city to find him, I will!"
As she stormed closer, the captain said quietly to Aang in a voice Azula couldn't hear, "What is she talking about?"
"When we were hit, he lost someone. He fell off Appa and we lost track of them then since… well, you know," Aang muttered. The captain looked at him with a worried expression.
"Son, if he fell from that high… I really don't know if there's much hope for him."
Katara looked up from where she was holding Toph tightly by the shoulder and gave the man an intense look. "You don't know him like we do."
If the captain had any reply to this, it was lost as Azula finished her approach and stood before them all, eyes wild and chest heaving. Mai looked away as Azula's wild and incensed gaze passed over her own and then moved around to each member of the group, none of whom seemed willing to say much of anything.
"Well?!" she finally burst out. Mai heard her voice shaking and cracking behind the raw fury that she conducted herself with. "Are we all just going to stand around, or are we going to find him?!"
Sokka swallowed before tentatively saying. "Azula, it's a big city. Where would we even start?"
The look in Azula's eyes was truly frantic and frenzied now and Mai felt her heartrate rise just seeing her so out of control.
"How should I know?! You and your sister are the planners, or leaders, or whatever you call being in charge of this pathetic group! Do something about this!"
As she listened, Mai heard the telltale voice of the Azula that always believed she ought to have her way, who always expected others to scramble at her very order. On top of the severe mental stress she was probably already feeling, she probably no doubt saw the lack of action at her words as an insult as much as anything.
"Look… miss," the captain said, clearly unsure of how to address Azula, the young woman who had conquered his city only months ago and that he and his men behind him, all of whom looked equally perplexed, were now just expected to ignore and work alongside. Mai couldn't blame them for being as unsure as they looked. "If your friend fell out of the sky from that high up, we'll just be trying to find a body at this point, I don't know if it's quite a good idea to get so worked up when he's probably—"
Blue fire flashed like a whip through the air and the captain fell back with a curse and he and his soldiers slammed their feet into the top of the wall and a small storm of rocks burst upwards from the ground, ready to be launched. Azula glared at all of them without an inkling of concern or regret, the only expression readable on her face being the rampant anger and panic that was ruling her every decision just then.
"Another word out of you, worm, and you'll wish you'd been off duty today."
The captain, to his credit, was not entirely cowed by a telling off from Azula, who Mai often found could clear a room with just a look. "There are no off duty soldiers in Ba Sing Se, not anymore, not after what you and yours pulled. We've been waiting every day for something like this to happen, and we're not ready to give up our home to you again."
Azula stared in utter befuddlement at him for a long moment before giving a shriek of mad laughter that sent a chill down Mai's spine.
"You think I care about this shithole of a city?!" she fairly screamed, "You can keep your dirt and your walls and your pathetic subhuman people, but give him back to me!"
As her voice cranked up yet another notch, Mai finally threw caution to the wind and stepped between Azula and the rest; as she did, she caught sight of her companions and saw them all looking more than a little frightened and pained. Zuko looked like he might be sick and Ty Lee had tears on her cheeks as Toph buried her face in the acrobat's midriff, visibly shaking.
Mai wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do, or even if she was going to be able tor survive, but she strode right up to Azula and dropped her hands on the princess's shoulders. She spared a moment to feel surprised that she wasn't immediately incinerated at the mere action before staring as fearlessly as she was able into Azula's burning, hot eyes.
"Listen to me, 'Zula!" she shouted, impressed that she was able to keep her voice in check. "We are not about to start another war! You need to calm down!"
She slammed as much emphasis on the last two words and saw as Azula's face briefly dipped into shock. It was so rare that she was ever talked back to, let alone shouted at this way. Mai pushed this advantage while she still had it.
"We're going to find him! He's going to be okay, and we're going to find him!"
Mai kept her voice raised, worried that if she fell out of this register that she would lose this very rare power she had over Azula.
"It's all we have right now! So we're going to go with it, okay?! We're going to find him!"
With that, she stopped for breath and stared into Azula's face, waiting for the princess's typical demeanor to return, but it didn't. Instead, fresh tears rolled down Azula's face and she shook her head, looking as destroyed as Mai had ever seen a person.
"I can't lose him," she whispered and Mai closed her eyes. Her feelings on Sasuke and Azula's relationship were as complicated as her own towards the mysterious young man, but she knew that for this moment, there was no time for her to dig into them.
"You won't," she said, but with the blank look that seemed to shade over Azula's face, she wasn't sure she was even being heard. Mai turned to the group and set firmly. "We need to find him."
She put as much intensity in her expression as she could, ensuring that every single one of them knew just how much this was something that needed to be done. Mai hoped very much that Toph was going to be alright since, Mai knew, there were fairly decent odds that it was indeed a corpse they were going to find. But that wasn't something she could say aloud with Azula there; for if they did indeed find a body… Mai didn't want to think what would happen if that turned out to be the case.
Mai was relieved when Aang of all people nodded and stepped forward. His voice was still shaky and it was clear he wasn't fully confident of this either, but he still put on a brave face.
"Appa can't fly anymore, he needs to rest… but Azula and I can take to the skies and try and see what we can. Everyone else can get on the streets and start looking."
Mai looked back and saw Azula nodding her head slowly as if in a daze. Aang looked back at the dejected expressions of his allies before running forward, extending his glider and taking to the skies without another word. Azula, shaken by his sudden flight, seemed to be shaken free of her mental trance. With a growl, she shook Mai's hands away and leapt into the air, fire sprouting from her hands and feet, propelling her after Aang.
As the two of them soared off, Mai turned to Ty Lee and gave her a significant nod. Ty Lee fortunately took the hint immediately and looked down to Toph who still clung to her like a shell-shocked child. Which, Mai supposed, she really was.
"Hey," Ty Lee said quietly, "Why don't we go find Sasuke?"
For a moment, Toph only sniffed and Mai was worried that it wouldn't be enough, but then, the earthbender nodded and she took Ty Lee's hand silently. Mai watched as Katara put a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, tears of her own leaking out as the acrobat led Toph towards the lifts that would take them down to the city below. Mai gave Ty Lee a grateful look that was returned with a smile as she passed by.
When the two of them were as out of earshot as Aang and Azula were, now only specks against the pale morning sky, Sokka blew out a long sigh and rubbed his face.
"That was smart, Mai," he muttered through his hands and she shrugged.
"If we're going to have to be realistic about this, I think it would be better if neither of them were here."
She caught Suki looking at her with a knowing look then, but the Kyoshi warrior looked away quickly. Mai nearly snapped something, but caught herself since it she knew it was entirely possible that she herself was harboring some deeply anguished feelings, and going after Suki just then would have just made that obvious to everyone else.
Sokka looked at the captain. "We can meet with Ba Sing Se leadership after the search, assuming it isn't widespread knowledge that we're here before then."
The captain, remarkably amenable to the situation despite his frowning and cautious shifting of his weight, nodded. "Come to the city center when you're ready. We have Water Nation leaders visiting as well to assist in the repelling of the Fire Nation and I'm sure all will want to meet the Avatar following his believed demise."
Katara seemed to shake free of her own personal thoughts and looked up in surprise. "Water Nation in Ba Sing Se?"
One of the soldiers behind the captain spoke up. "This is no longer just about defending the Earth Nation. Both Earth and Water understand that if this city falls to the Fire Lord, it's the beginning of the end for all."
It was a promising sentiment of unifying nations, but the underlying suggestion that Ozai would be more than capable of defeating them even if their forces were shared was enough to extinguish that glimmer of hope. Mai looked at Sokka, Katara, Suki and Zuko, who all looked miserable in their own way. Even Mai's own feet were hesitant to move and she knew that if she let herself, she would drop to the ground in defeat and exhaustion and pass out. But there was no time for that and she clapped her hands as sharply as she could, and the four of them snapped their gazes to her.
"Let's go."
Sasuke made it further than he might have expected before he was immediately assailed by citizens of the city that he had crash landed in.
He had passed from his room into the shop that he had been brought into; Jin explained that it was a tea shop belonging to a Mr. Pao whom this Iroh she kept referring to had convinced those who had found his unconscious form to be lain for the time being. The tea shop was empty as he marched his way through it, feet creaking underneath the floorboards before he stepped out into the early morning air.
It was a brisk and slightly breezy morning and Sasuke took a deep inhale the first chance he got, relishing the fresh air in his lungs. Ahead of him was a street, not nearly as deserted as the shop he had just come through; a crowd of what might have been about a hundred people were gathered in the street's center and were rabbling amongst one another intelligibly. Sasuke almost considered sneaking away and letting them find him missing at a later time, but knew that such deceptiveness would not do well in gaining the trust of the locals whom he knew he would need for information on both the city and the potential whereabouts of his missing companions. That, and Jin would surely be in hot water if he made that choice.
Sasuke scoffed to himself as he approached the crowd.
Why do I care?
As he neared the people from behind, he heard the first intelligible voice speak up over all the others. "It's a sign from the spirits! They're telling us to leave the city, Ba Sing Se is doomed!"
Another responded. "Keep that taboo talk to yourself! You believe the spirits would suggest that we abandon our homes?!"
"Why not?! The daughter of Fire Lord Ozai was nearly able to breach our walls all on her own! What's stopping the Fire Lord himself from taking the city in his fist and burning it to cinders, with that comet on the way no less?!"
"The city's officials have assured us that there is no cause for alarm, we will be protected!"
"Ha! And you believe that?! They hid the war from us for decades, and now we're supposed to trust what they say?!"
"I'm telling you, it's that boy that fell from the sky, he's a sign from the heavens!"
As the voices bombarded each other with increasingly anxious pitches, another voice, calm and composed, ran its way through their clutter.
"Please, friends, fighting among ourselves will surely be our downfall. To withstand a storm, we must build our barricades as one, not as separate structures."
The first voice that Sasuke had heard snapped haughtily, "Always with the proverbs, teamaker. I don't know why Pao or anyone else listened to you, it wasn't your decision to move him. We should have taken him to the armies!"
Sasuke didn't get a chance to hear what the teamaker's response to this might be as all of the sudden, there was a bloodcurdling shriek and he flinched, looked to the source of the noise.
One of the women that had been in the crowd had turned away from the congregation and spotted him. Judging by her scream, her shaking, pointing finger and her wide eyes, she must have been one of the ones to have seen him. All at once, the crowd turned to the disturbance and shuddered as one as they all caught sight of him, some shouting, some gasping.
"Is that him?"
"Yes!"
"He's alive!"
"No one should have survived that!"
Sasuke listened to the chorus of voices echo around him for a moment before he decided to get things moving.
"Who moved me indoors?" he called out to the crowd and they at once fell into murmurs. Slowly, they parted and between the waves of people, Sasuke saw a shorter, kind looking old man with a thinner mustached man by his side. As he met Sasuke's eyes, he raised a hand gently as a way of greeting.
"That would be I. You can call me Iroh."
As she followed Ty Lee through the relatively deserted streets of the still waking city, Toph felt the awful pit in her stomach not lessening in the slightest. Ever since Sasuke had disappeared from Appa's back following the attack, she had hoped that the feeling would dissipate, but all that rested within her was fear and longing.
Because she knew deep down that she was scared, not just to find Sasuke, but to find his… his…
"Ty Lee?"
She hiccupped as she called the older girls name and they came to a halt as Ty Lee turned back.
"Yeah?"
Toph could feel the words bubbling out of her like boiling water, and she couldn't hold them back. "What if we find him and he's… I don't know what I'll do if he's not…"
It wasn't fair to dump this on Ty Lee, the girl who had been nothing short of entirely kind and understanding with her since her arrival, but she had to let this spill. Toph could feel Ty Lee's uneven distribution of weight before the acrobat got to one knee and Toph knew they were one eye level with one another.
"Toph, I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?"
As her whole body shook and quaked, Toph gave a trembling nod.
"Sasuke is not dead."
Just hearing the two words in the same sentence sent an agonized jolt through Toph's body and she moaned before falling into sobs once more. As she leaned forward, she felt Ty Lee's arms wrap around her and pull her in close; Toph rested her head against the girl's shoulder, feeling her tears leak into the acrobat's clothes.
"I don't know what to do, Ty Lee, I've never felt this way about anyone before. It hurts to think about him, it hurts so badly, I never know what to do. He makes me feel so happy and alive, but he scares me half to death too. But… I don't want him to be dead."
"Shh, shh, shh… he's not."
Toph swallowed and with as much effort as she had ever had to muster for anything, she forced herself to consider the possibility of feeling his lifeless body beneath her hands.
"If… if he is… gone, can you promise me something?"
"Whatever you need, Toph."
"Can you be there for me? If no one else is, or can be? I… I don't think I'll be able to face that alone."
There was a pause and Toph felt something ever so gently hit her neck and she realized it was a tear from Ty Lee as the girl murmured back. "You won't be alone, I promise."
Toph allowed herself to give in to the agony of the possibility that this could come to pass and Ty Lee held her while she cried, minutes passing before they resumed their walking.
"So, I've got you to thank for keeping these psychos from dissecting me or sacrificing me to their gods?"
Iroh eyed Sasuke at his less than reverent words. The pair of them were back inside Pao's tea shop, sitting at a table alone. The mustached man known as Pao was busying himself fixing some food, while Jin sat in a chair a table away, acting like she wasn't actively listening in on the conversation. The crowd of people who were surely still milling about outside, had fortunately been deterred by Iroh who had promised that he just wanted to speak with the newcomer.
Sasuke couldn't pretend that he wasn't wary of the old man, but there was something pleasantly disarming about his company as well, rather as though he could pass for the grandfather of anyone, kindly and charming. Still, the lines of his face were pulled in a serious expression as he addressed Sasuke in return.
"They're frightened. A man drops from the sky in a purple explosion on the morning before the Fire Nation are expected to move on the city? There have been talks of evacuation for weeks, but nothing has come of them. Residents who wish to leave have been encouraged to do so, but no one knows where to go. This was thought the safest city on the planet; where do they go from here?"
Sasuke nodded. "And then I show up and make their confusion and worry even more attainable."
Iroh nodded back. "You do."
"Jin told me you were a refugee. Why do you care so much about this city? Why do people listen to you like you're some kind of leader?"
"I have placed much stock and faith in the city of Ba Sing Se and have devoted my craft to the betterment of its people," Iroh replied fairly. "Is it my loyalty, or my authority amongst the people that you're questioning?"
"Maybe both," Sasuke said back thinly and Jin jumped to her feet, no longer content pretending that she wasn't listening.
"Please don't fight, you two! Don't we have enough problems right now?"
At her words, Iroh's face suddenly softened a great deal and he sighed. "You're right, my dear. My old age is making me paranoid it seems."
He looked back to Sasuke, eyes genuine and tired. "At the end of this day, a great many things will be different for our world. Fear has taken a place in my heart as it has with all those within this city's walls. Your arrival hardly seems like coincidence, but I am placing the cart before the horse; I haven't asked a thing about you, and am already jumping to conclusions and I hope you can forgive me for that."
His explanation seemed perfectly understandable and in truth, Sasuke hadn't taken offense at a word the old man had said leading up that point. He was right to be suspicious and he was right to be blunt. But through all of that, it hadn't been lost on Sasuke just how much emphasis that Iroh had put on the words "our world" when he had apologized. It hadn't been lost on Sasuke at all.
Still, he believed that playing his cards passively would be the best route forward.
"I understand. These seem to be trying times for everyone having to live through them."
Iroh gave him a warm, if distant, smile. "I'm glad you see it that way."
Pao circled around the table and laid a tray of food in front of Sasuke and hand Iroh a cup of tea; Sasuke barely noticed this gesture as he lunged into his meal, not particularly caring for table manners in that moment. His tired and chakra-deprived body was anxious for physical sustenance and with his stomach giving a rumble not for the first time since he had awoke, Sasuke was more than happy to oblige.
As he wolfed down his food, he flicked glances to both Jin and Iroh who were watching him with curiosity and interest. Sasuke was reminded unpleasantly to the time before when he had been with Aang and the others and they had been more content to stare at him like he was some bizarre specimen.
Though I suppose that's what I am in a place like this.
With a half-eaten roll of bread, Sasuke gestured to Iroh and asked with a slightly muffled voice, "So, what's the deal with the people out there? Considering the Fire Nation is probably well on their way, they seem a lot more interested in infighting then preparing themselves."
As Iroh pressed his fingers against his temples, Sasuke could tell that he was a man deeply overworked and overstressed.
"There's more to this than just defending the city. Not days ago, this city was in the control of the Fire Nation before a risky coup was able to wrestle back power and expunge the Fire Nation regency from the city walls. But between bureaucrats and politicians, nothing can be decided, nothing of great consequence anyway. The previous king left the city and resigned his post prior to this invasion, leaving a fragile cabinet in place to rule over Ba Sing Se. But after restoring Earth Nation rule, the balance of power is more up in the air than ever before."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and took a long gulp of water. "Sounds like you need someone to step up."
Jin scooted forward in her chair, clearly eager to participate in the conversation, "Iroh has. He's been wonderful; he's organized the families of poorer status to move to the northwest side of the city, furthest from where we'll be attacked. He's spoken with the captains and generals and organized as many civilian earthbenders as he can to fight alongside the army."
She beamed at the old man. "Thanks to him, I think we really have a chance."
Iroh returned her smile before gesturing towards Pao. "Jin, would you mind helping Pao in the kitchen? I think our friend here will need more than he has presently."
Her smile widened and she got to her feet, surprising Sasuke by pinching him in the arm. "Don't go anywhere."
Sasuke watched her disappear out of sight and Iroh nudged him under the table with his toe. "Quite the flirt, isn't she?"
Grunting, Sasuke nodded. "She's got the confidence, I'll give her that."
Looking after her, the old man added, "It's rare that the woman is the one doing the advancing, but she made some similar strides towards my nephew some months ago."
For whatever reason, Sasuke felt a piece of his heart sink gloomily. "She's taken, then?"
Iroh gave him a blank look before throwing his head back with a boom of laugher. "Hardly, my friend. My nephew hasn't set foot in these walls in quite a while, and I rather doubt he ever will again."
Not willing to show any signs that there was perhaps more to that than he cared to admit, Sasuke paused a moment before asking quietly, "So, what doesn't she know?"
Iroh didn't reply, but Sasuke met his gaze and could see the sadness in those eyes. "You sent her out of earshot for a reason."
The words that came from Iroh then were as grim as any could be. "I'm not native to this city, nor even to the Earth Nation. But I know enough of it to know that we have not the manpower, nor bending ability to make a stand against the Fire Lord and his army. With Sozin's Comet nearly upon us, there will be no stopping his advance; his technology and enhanced firebending are not things I believe we can stop."
He gave his tea a half-hearted sip. "General Gokan is a saving grace of sorts. I have been coordinating defenses and manpower with him since my arrival just days ago. He's legally not allowed to be doing anything without the approval of the city council that is currently in charge, but they're too busy arguing to notice and he's too loyal to this city and its people to care. The army stands with him regardless and the Water Nation forces that have arrived have dutifully stepped under his command as well."
"Sounds like quite the guy," Sasuke remarked. "Funny, that a teamaker of all people would be coordinating a defense with him."
The false intrigue in his voice was not missed by Iroh who gave him a look.
"Clearly, you've figured my background is more than just tea," he said.
"Just as you've probably figured that my falling from the sky, and surviving, was no freak accident," Sasuke replied. There came a long pause then as the pair regarded one another evenly.
Drumming his fingers on the table for a long moment, Sasuke considered before asking, "Why'd you move me inside? Jin said you were adamant about getting me off the streets and not turning me over the soldiers? What good does that get you?"
Grimacing, Iroh gave his head a slow shake as if deeply disappointed by something.
"You would have been worse off in the hands of the soldiers. Most are extremely on edge, and they probably would have taken you as a scout or a spy of the Fire Nation. Though your dress is excessively foreign even to my weathered and experienced eyes, so you really could be from anywhere."
It didn't take a deep level of analyzing for Sasuke to know that Iroh wasn't being entirely truthful.
"Okay. And what's the real reason?"
Heaving a deep sigh, Iroh replied, "I traveled to this city with someone rather like you. If you are what I think you are, you're very dangerous, and quite possibly confused by your predicament."
Someone like me?
Sasuke nearly leapt to his feet and began shouting demands for information, but he kept himself in check. A flurry of possibilities on who this might have been swam through his mental processes before he managed to clear his throat and admitted, "I suppose I am both of those things."
This didn't seem to surprise Iroh in the slightest and Sasuke could tell it was because of just how confident he was in his deduction, further piquing Sasuke's interest. He held his tongue though as Jin came back out from the kitchen.
"Be ready in just a couple minutes," she grinned with a wink and Sasuke returned this with a small smile. Iroh hardly seemed to notice her return at all as he asked, "How did you come to be falling out of the space above Ba Sing Se?"
The thought barely occurred to Sasuke to lie; not only was this his intended destination, but it was no doubt Aang and the rest would have made it down by now, hopefully in once piece. The mere thought of them sent a stab of worry through his gut as he wondered if anyone else had been blown off in the ensuing attack, something he hadn't even considered as a possibility. But he felt no urge to lie to Iroh, or even Jin. If they opposed the Fire Nation as they seemed to, there was no doubt in his mind that him speaking of traveling with the Avatar was something that would discourage his newfound relationship with the city residents.
"I was traveling here with the Avatar when our flying bison was attacked. I fell out and landed just nearby."
There was a crash and Sasuke looked over to see a broken pitcher on the ground at Jin's feet as she stared at him, wide-eyed. She didn't react in the slightest as Pao came running out and began to make a fuss as she stared at Sasuke in shock.
"The Avatar… that's impossible. Prince Zuko killed him."
Sasuke caught the flinch that ran over Iroh's face at these words but he also could see that the old man as eying him with just as much surprise, if a great deal more reserved. Sasuke chuckled at both of them, and particularly Jin's words; is this what wartime propaganda managed to spread?
"I assure you, that's far from the truth."
The pair continued to stare at him and Sasuke wondered just how monumental hearing something like this really was for these people. He made to stand up, saying, "In fact, I'm fairly sure I can prove it if we just…"
The world swam before his eyes then and he groaned and dropped to a knee as the sudden movement sent blood rushing to his head with a vicious speed. He felt Jin's arms on him before he saw her and heard her murmuring.
"Careful now, careful, can you stand? Let's see if you can—"
Sasuke cursed as his knees buckled and he fell somewhat against her and she went to her knees, catching him in her lap.
"Whoops, guess not," she said as she cradled his head in one hand and laid the other one against his chest. Iroh smirked from the table and Sasuke made to give the old man a sour look as he received a knowing wink at the implications of this little moment.
But Sasuke could still see the turmoil in the old man's eyes and as he let his faculties return to him in Jin's arms, he wondered if he really had come all this way to arrive in a city that would be doomed before the day was out.
Azula refused to lose hope.
She would find him.
She had no choice, but to find him.
He belonged to her and she wasn't leaving this city until she found him, safe and sound. Azula would hold him and feel his warmth, know that he was alright. Everything would be alright then, everything would be as it should.
Her hands and feet were growing tired with just how much effort she had been exerting to sustain jets of flame to propel herself through the air, but she ignored her body. Her body was weak, but her heart was unstoppable.
She was losing track of what parts of the city she had flown over at that point and she was forcing herself to deny the steadily growing desperation that was starting to play tricks on her mind. There would be moments where she could have sworn that she saw him on a rooftop, only to go in for a closer look and seeing hanging laundry or some shadows playing off the early morning light. Things felt like they were collapsing around her.
Azula was distantly aware of Aang flying up alongside her after a long period of searching, his voice just loud enough to hear over the wind in their ears.
"Nothing?"
She wanted to blast him from the sky for asking such a stupid question. Of course there was nothing, of course she remained completely empty-handed. If she wasn't, then she would be on the ground in Sasuke's arms, heart soaring with joy. For a moment, they continued flying alongside one another before Aang called out again.
"Hey, Azula?"
Snapping her head in his direction and nearly spitting the word, she snarled, "What?!"
She didn't want to be bothered right now, Aang had no business pestering her when she felt like her insides were about to turn out and leave her a broken mess. Her head was starting to spin in a panic and she could feel tears resurfacing with a burning vengeance. Why couldn't he just leave her alone to be with her ensuing madness and let her just fall to—
"Have you tried using that mark me put on you?" Aang asked tentatively.
Azula threw her hands out ahead of her, coming to a complete stop to hover in midair with the jets beneath her feet leaving her hundreds of feet above the city streets.
How hadn't she thought of this?
How hadn't she known?
For in all the fear and desperation, she had known her body was burning with the pain that exerting herself through the air for so long caused, but there was indeed another burning, a much more personal one that had completely slipped her narrowed focus.
The seal was burning.
Azula crowed loudly and angled herself towards the ground, following the direction where the burning increased in its painful brilliance. There was now perfect clarity for her as her heart was now slamming in her chest with anticipation; the mark burning could only mean one thing. Sasuke was alive, and Azula was coming for him.
She slashed her way through the streets, passing surprised citizens and causing animals to cry out and leap aside. Barreling along towards where the mark burned stronger and stronger, Azula came to a sudden halt in front of a storefront.
It was simple, pathetically so. Nothing more than a tea shop by the looks of it, but to her, it was the most important place on earth. As Aang landed next to her, panting for relief, Azula noticed several throngs of people gathered around on the street; many gasped and pointed as the alighted before the store on her tails of blue fire, either in regards to her or the Avatar, but she paid them no mind. If they so much as tried to stop her from going inside, she would make Sasuke's slaughter on the beach look like child's play.
"He's in here," Azula said breathlessly, sliding fingers underneath her clothing to rub the now searing mark that Sasuke had gifted her. He had sounded confident it wouldn't be as useful as it had been the first time, but here it was, offering her the same advantage it had before. There was a nagging thought that told her it was wrong, it was just her body playing tricks on her, but she shook it aside.
"You're sure?" Aang asked, his voice now sounding hopeful. Azula gave a curt nod and his face broke into a wide smile.
"I'll go get the others!" he extended his glider and shot off into the air with barely the smallest gust of wind to mark his departure. Putting him out of mind just as quickly, Azula strode to the front door and froze just before putting a hand on it. Was she ready to see him? Would she know what to say? Would he be happy to see her?
Stop it… he'll be thrilled. He'll see how much you care. Maybe he'll… maybe he'll even let you kiss him again.
Azula's hand wrapped around the door handle and, with something like a hundred pairs of eyes on her back, she walked inside.
She saw him immediately. He was there, he was alright, he was alive. Azula felt her head spin terribly and she leaned against the door with a thud as she gazed on him. It was even better than she had imagined, as her panic and fear was flushed away like leaves floating over a waterfall to drift out of sight forever. She saw his toned form, his black hair, his assertive face and his gorgeous, black eyes. He was fine and he was here. Azula couldn't have been more relieved and overjoyed as she felt unbidden tears streak down her face.
This was all until she saw the fact that Sasuke was lying on the ground.
In the arms of a girl.
Sasuke looked to her as Azula stood poker straight just inside the store and pushed himself weakly to his feet. She saw how he was struggling and felt a stab of concern; was he injured?
"Azula," he said and just hearing him say her name was enough to raise a lump in her throat. But as she felt the warm and incredible energy afforded to her by their reunion still buzzing throughout her whole body, there was a dark cloud looming over all of it now. Sasuke had been in the arms of another, and there was something very broken about the world just then.
"How did you find me?" he asked and Azula found she couldn't quite speak just yet, but she was able to raise a hand and touch the area where his seal had been placed. Sasuke's brow furrowed at that.
"Huh. It shouldn't be working that well after the first use… strange," he muttered. His expression softened then and he spoke words that made Azula go weak at the knees.
"It's good to see you."
With that, she could no longer hold back and she let out an awful sob and raced up to him, running into his arms. Pulling herself around his warmth, she felt so incredibly relieved and safe and at peace. His very being gave her such a sense of calm that she could scarcely imagine how she had ever lived without it. And slowly, as she allowed herself to believe that things could be alright, she gently began to push herself against him; Sasuke stood stalwart as she moved, but Azula felt so unchained in that moment, it was a moot point to even notice.
"I was so worried about you," she whispered, sliding a hand just inside the open section of his shirt that exposed much of his chest, bringing it up to cradle under his chin. He didn't reply, but she was glad he didn't; she wanted this moment to just be about what she could show him of her affection. There was no Toph or Mai or Katara or whomever else to interfere with her and it was pure bliss to be as free as she was just then.
Azula parted her lips and planted a long kiss on his collarbone and remained there a moment, relishing his taste; at this, he stirred and spoke quietly but firmly.
"Azula…"
She ignored this and pulled her head over to the left slightly and extended her tongue, sliding it against his neck before whispering, "I'll never let you disappear from my life again."
Sasuke pulled his hands up and gripped her by the wrists, and pushed her back a couple feet. She stared at him expectantly, the butterflies in her stomach going wild. Maybe he would throw her against a table, hold her down and—
"These people are the ones that saved me."
There was a moment as Azula's thoughts came to a screeching halt where she remembered that she was not in fact alone with Sasuke. They were absent their other companions, yes, but she had somehow managed to push out of her mind that they were still in the company of others.
"This is Iroh. He convinced the townsfolk not to turn me over the city authorities."
A spark passed through Azula's mind as she looked over to see her uncle, face pulled in an expression of shock and concern. She couldn't quite keep the bile from rising in her throat at seeing him again and she imagined the feeling was mutual.
"It's a pleasure to see you again… your highness," Iroh managed and Azula returned his words with a smile that she knew was as see through as the repulsion in her eyes. Sasuke looked between them with mild interest.
"Wait, you two have met?"
"Once or twice," Azula said curtly. She continued to glower at her uncle before Sasuke cleared his throat, likely sensing the tension that had suddenly been brought on.
"Yes, well… Mr. Pao, he seems to be elsewhere at the moment, but this is Jin."
Azula's thoughts immediately came crashing back down beneath that looming cloud, that dark mass that represented the greatest possible obstacle to her. She looked away from her uncle and laid eyes on the girl who had dared to hold him.
"Hi, you're royalty? From one of the Earth Nation noble families maybe?" she asked.
She was pretty, of course she was, she would have to be to stand a chance at trying to poison Sasuke's heart. The girl known as Jin looked at Azula reluctantly and nervously. It would seem that she didn't quite recognize the princess of the Fire Nation as she raised a hand in an anxious little wave. Azula made no such gesture in return, but instead looked up and down at her; she looked at Jin's long, perfect hair and then to her beautiful eyes and full breasts, down to the remainder of her body which appeared to be quite lean and attractive beneath the robe she was wearing. She had taken time alone with Sasuke. What had she done to him?
And as Azula thought to that rotten little earthbender, to the slut she had thought she could call her friend, and to that waterbending bitch who had dared to try and kill Sasuke, she knew very suddenly what she had to do.
Sasuke watched Azula stare at Jin with a deeply sinister expression and let out a silent breath of relief as the princess finally asked, in a somewhat jerky tone.
"Is there a bathroom here?"
Jin gave a couple bemused blinks before throwing a thumb over her shoulder. "Yeah, just down the hall on the left."
Azula remained as still as a statue. "Could you show me?"
Giving a small smile and clearly not entirely sure what to think of the woman she didn't know was daughter of the Fire Lord, Jin gave a shrug and a nod and turned to march down the way she had gestured. Azula made to follow and stopped just next to Sasuke; he looked to her and while she didn't return his gaze, she reached out and dragged her nails gently down his forearm before following Jin to relieve herself. At her touch, Sasuke couldn't quite help but keep the hairs on the back of his neck from raising.
When they were both out of sight, Iroh looked to Sasuke with a very condoling expression. "You're dating the princess of the Fire Nation?"
Sasuke's face pulled in a grimace as the ever present conundrum and turned his head down, shaking it as he did, "She certainly seems to think so."
He was aware that it didn't exactly make a great deal of sense, but Iroh didn't press for particulars, instead adding, "You need to be very careful of her, perhaps you don't know much about her, but—"
"Oh, no, I do. Believe me, I do," Sasuke said grimly. He genuinely wasn't sure what to think now that he had been reunited with her; he still didn't know the status of his other companions as he imagined their plight was hardly important to Azula, but her being here now let him hope that they were safely on the ground in the city as well. But seeing her then… Sasuke didn't know what to think.
Silence ticked by between them for a moment before Iroh asked, "How in the world did you come to be traveling with Princess Azula?"
"Well, surely you've heard how she and her brother went rogue," Sasuke muttered and the old man nodded. "They wound up traveling with the Avatar and company, and I had joined up with said group shortly previous after a prison break out."
"Boiling Rock? You were a prisoner?"
"For one reason or another," Sasuke sighed.
"I see. So the Avatar has been playing his cards carefully and not coming out of hiding. There were of course whispers, and I think the Fire Nation themselves were unsure of his actual demise, but this… perhaps this can turn the tides in our favor."
Hearing a touch of hope in Iroh's voice pulled at the corners of Sasuke's mouth; it was good to hear even the barest bit of positivity, considering where this city was about have to go.
"How was she able to find you?" he heard Iroh inquire.
"A… ability I possess is that of placing marks, or seals on a person as a method of tracking so to speak. After a situation previously, I had placed one on Azula and she seems to have used it to find me again."
Iroh laughed. "If there was one person alive who I wouldn't want to be able to find me whenever she wanted, it would probably be her royal highness."
Allowing himself a grin, Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It definitely stings of one of my perhaps less inspired decisions… though if it keeps her simmered down enough to not go off and kill Mai, or Toph, or—"
A freezing cold hammer smashed into his heart and Sasuke's breath caught in his throat as something, something so terribly obvious that he somehow hadn't seen coming occurred to him. His body moved before he even realized it.
"No!" he shouted and raced down the hall to the door Jin had only just indicated, brushing a startled Pao out of his way as he did. With a kick, it exploded off its hinges and Sasuke burst into the washroom, hoping badly he wasn't too late.
He was.
Jin was slumped against the back wall, eyes wide with surprise. At her midsection there was a monstrous slash that jutted in a diagonal sweep from one side to the other, her hand clutching almost involuntarily at it, the cloth of her robe being burned away in an area of about a square foot. On its furthest edges, her skin was cauterized and black, and Sasuke was reminded of Ty Lee's wound that he had seen Katara tend to. In the utmost middle of the slash, however, the burn had passed deep and badly enough to look as though it were a wound from a sword and Sasuke watched as blood oozed its way out over Jin's hands and soaking into her robes.
Sasuke slid to his knees at her side and put a hand behind her neck; despite the relative blankness of her face, she seemed to notice him then and as she weakly turned her head to his, he saw tears rolling down her face.
"I don't want to die," she managed to croak out and Sasuke grit his teeth.
"You won't, it'll be okay, it'll be okay…" he managed, but as he regarded the wound, he had no idea if his promise was remotely feasible.
"She can't tempt you anymore."
Azula's voice slithered in his ear and Sasuke's face locked into his usual mask of perpetual calm in an effort to keep himself in control. He slowly turned his head to see Azula standing just a short distance away, blue fire still smoldering in her hand. Her face was that of someone who had just been permitted to breathe after being kept from doing so for an extended period. She wasn't gasping for air in that sense, but her mouth was open and her face was an expression of the purest relief, even more so than when she had entered the teashop and laid eyes on him.
Sasuke looked into those same eyes and as he saw the madness dancing there and as he felt Jin shaking from the trauma in his hands, he felt very peculiar as he truly didn't know what to do.