Chapter 17: Imperfect
Suda and Ada ate their lunch on a park bench, far from prying eyes. With their departure from Gai Zhu coming closer, it was time for them to discuss some sensitive issues.
"We should make sure our tracks are covered," Ada said.
"Sorikami's a massive loose end," Suda said. They had not seen or heard from the swordswoman since she had stabbed Ada. She knew Sen was the Avatar, and she hated all of them, so she represented a significant security risk. "There's not much we can do about her, though."
"I don't know that she'll be a problem," Ada replied. "She wasn't any friend to the Energybender. It wouldn't be rational for her to sell us out."
"Look at your arm," Suda said. Ada looked at the still-healing wound on her left forearm.
"Do rational people stab kids?"
"I'm hardly a kid," Ada said, trying to change the subject. "I'm seventeen."
"I thought you were sixteen."
"I was sixteen when we met. I turned seventeen a few months ago."
"Wait, seriously? Why didn't we have a party?"
"I didn't want a party," Ada said. "We need to get back on topic. We can't really do anything about Sorikami, so I don't see the point in discussing her."
"Okay, yeah. Sorikami's a dead end. What else have we got to deal with?"
"My concern is Nura," Ada said. "If Nura doesn't know why we need to be secretive, she might accidentally leak information."
"Well what do we do about that?"
"I guess we just accept the risk," Ada said with a shrug.
"Or," Suda began. "We could just tell her what's going on."
Suda was significantly more trusting of Nura than anyone else was. Ada doubted that Nura would be brave enough to handle the stress of being the Avatar's ally. They were still being hunted, after all.
"I don't know if that's the best idea," Ada sighed.
The park was lively at this time of day. People paced by on either side, and they briefly stopped their conversation. A very large, hairy man walked by, with a giggling woman clinging to his arm far too tightly. Suda watched an old man hobble by on a cane before resuming the conversation.
"So, what, you don't trust her?"
"I trust her to an extent," Ada said. "I wouldn't put my life in her hands, at any rate."
"You really think she'd sell us out? I mean, Nura? She likes us all well enough."
"She's friendly, Suda, and I like her, but I think that if she was faced with a choice between her own safety and ours, she'd choose her own."
Suda looked at the ground. He knew that Nura wasn't the bravest person, but he still believed she could be trusted. If Ada didn't agree, though, he wouldn't tell her. They could hardly spend the whole day arguing over this, after all. Suda moved on to another loose end.
"What about Miyani, then?"
"I was going to leave that up to Sen," Ada said. "He knows her better than we do. It'll be his decision to trust her or not."
"I think she should come with us," Suda said. "It'd do them both good to stay together, and Sen could use a teacher to keep up his firebending practice."
"I wish I agreed, Suda, but I don't know how much she has to offer. She and Sen both agree that Sen's surpassed her ability to teach him, and she doesn't have many skills that could help us on the road."
"I suppose we do have to be practical," Suda sighed. In the long run, Miyani wouldn't do much but take up space in the Avatarmobile.
"It's not up to us, at any rate. Sen will be the one to decide whether to invite her, or even to tell her if he's the Avatar. We'll abide by his decision."
"Then I guess we'll leave it to him. That leaves us to decide on transportation."
"Luan and Zouf could probably arrange something for us," Suda suggested. "Sen's duel with Druk probably means we won't be able to hire any more pirates."
Ada nodded. They had made an enemy of the criminal element on Tahu Island, but Luan and Zouf still had connections with the Fire Nation monarchy. It would probably be easy for them to arrange a covert transport.
Suda and Ada proceeded down their checklist of preparations. A greasy looking man set up a picnic blanket nearby, and they started to talk quieter. An increasingly large crowd of park-goers made it harder and harder for them to carry on this conversation.
"Why are we talking about this in the middle of a crowded park, anyway?"
A slimy looking man with a chain of beads around his neck walked by, far too close for comfort. They paused their conversation until he was gone.
"Nura called this morning, said she wanted to meet us here."
"Did she say why?"
"Nah, she sounded like she was in a hurry."
Ada frowned slightly, but went back to business. The park was getting more and more crowded.
An old woman pushed a cart up next to their table. It was filled with a massive container of some kind, and hundreds of disposable cups. The people of the park seemed to recognize it, and started clustering around. A handsome man snagged a spot at Suda and Ada's table and staked a claim on it. The old lady started dispensing some kind of drink from her container.
"Tea time," The man at their table explained. "Old lady does this every day, apparently. Free tea for everyone."
"How sweet," Ada said.
"Unsweetened, actually," The handsome man at their table said jokingly. He took a sip of his tea. He put it down and began to hand the other three their free tea. They thanked him and enjoyed the tea. Ada looked at the new guest at their table. He had a very intense look, like he could see a storm brewing on the horizon.
"Ah, but you'd probably like her to set up a little farther away," The man said. "It's getting crowded here."
"No, really, it's alright," Ada insisted.
The stranger turned to the old lady and her makeshift tea cart and insisted that she move slightly further away. Ada did not hear what he said, but something about his words made sweat appear on the old woman's forehead. The bitter tea began to taste like ash in Suda's mouth.
"I hate crowds," their strange guest said. The tea-seekers retreated as the tea-cart moved away. It suddenly became deathly silent again.
"Finish your tea."
The stranger took a final drink from his disposable cup. The collar of his shirt shifted. A silver necklace chain was visible. The charred skulls of harrier hawks hung from the chain. He put down his cup and turned to look at his company at the table.
"Suda, Ada," He said, looking at each of them in turn. "I'd like to talk."
Suda finished his tea.
The metal frame of the park bench unwound and wrapped itself around Harrier's leg. Imprisoned by the metal, Harrier was sent flying as Suda launched the metal far away. Bystanders screamed as Suda stood up and called up shards of broken metal, preparing himself for further attack.
Ada drew one of her swords, just in time to slice through a rope being launched at her. Two heavy metal beads weighted down each end; they were bolas, meant to entangle prey being hunted. Ada's left arm had yet to heal fully, so she sliced the bola apart with the blade in her right hand and went on guard for another attack.
The park around them was quickly abandoned, screaming citizens scattering to the breeze in a panicked mob. The Harrier freed himself from the metal bond and joined the Imperfects in encircling their prey. Duga, Huel, and Paz all slowly closed in on Suda and Ada.
"I said I wanted to talk," Harrier said angrily. "Is this how you negotiate?"
"It's all I've got to say," Suda threatened. He grabbed what metal was left in the area and held it in the air, ready to strike at a moments notice.
The circle closed tightly around them. Ada examined their opponents. The airbender was holding bola's, which explained where that attack had come from. The other two clearly represented earth and fire, though what they were capable of remained unknown. Ada noticed a strange gap in their group. No waterbender. Something felt wrong.
"Which one of you wants to die for him this time," The Harrier taunted. "How many times does he get to live by sacrificing someone else?"
Ada and Suda shared a glance. Hanjo had chosen to sacrifice himself. They would insult his memory if they were willing to do anything less.
Fortunately, it seemed that it would not be necessary today. While there had been no cavalry to rescue Hanjo, Suda and Ada had a heroic rescue in the form of Luan and Zouf. Harrier nodded when he saw the two agents emerge. They needed to be able to keep track of all the Avatar's allies for this to work. Even one rogue element could ruin the whole plan.
"Ada," Zouf shouted. "Go warn the Avatar!"
Ada knew that, wounded as she was, she would be the least useful in this fight. The best thing she could do was give Sen a warning about what was to come. She slipped through the gap created by Luan and Zouf's distraction and bolted towards the docks. Harrier could not allow that.
"Duga! Go after her!"
The bola-wielding airbender immediately bolted off after Ada. Suda hoped Ada would be able to deal with that one on her own. He and the Agents would likely have their hands full here.
"Huel, Paz, you two deal with these clowns," The Harrier said. "I'm going after Duga."
"Got it, Harrier."
"Focus on your targets, no civilians," Harrier shouted. "And remember the plan!"
Harrier had some misgivings about leaving any of the Imperfects to operate on their own, but even someone as stupid as Huel could handle an old-fashioned brawl. All they had to do was hit things, and Huel was very good at hitting things. Huel demonstrated this talent immediately.
Huel's intelligence ranged somewhere between a poorly-trained dog and a toddler, but he was respected for his power. He flexed his arms and pulled upwards, sending massive cracks through the loose soil of the park. A massive chunk of terrain, nearly the size of a house, tore itself out of the ground. Suda was impressed at the sheer size of the earth he could move. Most people struggled to lift a stone any larger than themselves.
Suda was no pushover himself, though. Huel usually relied on the sheer size of his constructs to overwhelm his opponents, so he was unprepared for Suda to break open the rock and completely deflect it from himself and the agents. When the rock was cleared, Zouf saw that the Harrier was already well on his way to following Ada and Duga.
"Suda! We need to take down the ringleader. Can you handle these guys?"
"Leave it to me," Suda grunted. Zouf and Luan nodded in acknowledgement and then took off after the Harrier.
The last time they'd thrown down with the Energybender's men, Suda had been wounded, limiting his usefulness in combat. He hadn't been able to operate to his full potential. Now it was time to let these fools know why he was the Avatar's master.
Demonstrating the universal symbol for "it's on", Suda removed his shirt. The scar on his shoulder served as a reminder of long-healed wounds, and the broad curves of his muscular frame intimidated one enemy and had a more…unique effect on the other.
"Oh, can you say swoon," Paz whistled. She took a brief moment to appreciate Suda's physique before she set about trying to kill him.
Like all of the Imperfects, Paz had a gimmick all her own. She held out her hand and created a small sphere of flame, lobbing it at Suda. Suda quickly sidestepped the attack. That had been a little too easy. Paz had a clever smirk on her face.
Paz spun her fingers in the air. The fireball swerved around rapidly, striking Suda in the back. The blow was painful, but not too damaging. Suda retaliated, stomping his feet to raise spikes of earth from the ground. Paz and Huel jumped away from the rising stalagmites.
Suda already had a plan forming in his head already. Huel's attacks were massive and potentially devastating, but very slow. He could keep the earthbender off balance enough to keep him from calling up another titanic boulder, if not for Paz's attacks. Her fireballs could strike from any angle, meaning Suda had to be on guard in all directions.
Paz launched a pair of flaming spheres at Suda. He kicked up two shields of loose earth to extinguish the flame in mid-air, but the time spent defending himself was time not breaking up Huel's focus. With a little room to maneuver, the bull-headed bender managed to raise up another one of his gigantic stones. It wasn't quite as big as the first, but it would still crush Suda if it was a direct hit.
Suda bolted away from the massive impact of the stone, barely escaping the edge of the heavy stone. Paz capitalized on his retreat and one of her fireballs managed to strike him in the leg, briefly knocking him off balance. Suda quickly warped the earth beneath his feet to right himself again.
The soil of the park was laden with small, rounded stones, and Suda focused on these for his next attack. Hopefully Huel's focus on large-scale attacks would make him less effective at countering the smaller ones.
Launching a rapid flurry of strikes with the small pebbles, Suda was satisfied to see Paz and Huel lose ground. As he had anticipated, Huel was unable to handle the smaller, more focused attacks. That was the problem with "gimmick" bending; it turned you into a one-trick pony. The real masters always used the basics as well as the fancy tricks.
As Suda began to capitalize on his newfound advantage, Duga finally gained ground on the fleeing Ada. She narrowly avoided another set of bolas, and the weapons wrapped themselves around a nearby streetpole.
Ada realized that continuing to run would only lead Duga directly to Sen, so she turned to stand her ground. Her left arm hadn't fully recovered, but she was still more than capable of fighting one on one. Duga watched her ready her sword with his usual sadistic smile.
Duga grabbed another set of his bolas. Creating a small cyclone between his two hands, he set the weighted strands to spinning at incredible speeds, and then launched them at Ada. Her quick reflexes made it fairly simple to slice right through the middle of the ropes. She recognized that technique. Avatar Aang had invented it as a way to spin beads in mid-air.
"That was meant to be a toy," Ada shouted accusingly.
"I'm having fun," Duga grunted happily. He spun another set of bolas and launched them at Ada's feet. She quickly rolled to the side and the weighted beads clattered against the street. Duga immediately prepared another set and launched them. Ada attempted to slice through the ropes again, but the swift rotation made it difficult. One of the heavy beads clattered against her sword, and the weight on the other end spun and slammed into her other arm. She wasn't entangled, but the impact still hurt.
After that incident, Ada began to focus more on evasion than destruction. Duga's attacks were rapid, but his aim was terrible, and Ada found it relatively easy to dodge his offensive. Unfortunately, it got harder and harder to evade as she tried to get closer, forcing her to keep her distance from Duga. She was trapped in a stalemate for now.
The Harrier briefly observed this stalemate. He was glad that Ada had decided to stand her ground. He doubted Duga;s ability to keep her away from the docks long enough for their plan to come to fruition. He almost considered getting involved in the fight, but a small part of him knew it wouldn't accomplish anything, and a large part of him wanted Ada to stab Duga. He left the fight alone.
The local authorities had finally started responding to the chaotic scenario. A large battalion of police firebenders were charging towards the park. As he was not wearing his Energybender uniform, Harrier did not attract their attention. He played the part of a terrified civilian and the Gai Zhu police force ran right by. He smiled to himself and went about his business. Unfortunately, not all law enforcement was so incompetent.
A bolt of fire struck Harrier in the back, knocking him forward. He quickly regained his footing and turned to face his opponents. A matching set of Fire Nation agents dove out of the alleyway, badges flashing on their chest. He had apparently been followed from the park. The Harrier nodded to himself. If he had to fight someone, he'd rather battle with adults than children.
The two agents focused their efforts entirely on Harrier. That was good. So long as they were focused on him, they wouldn't be thinking too hard about the situation at large. They wouldn't see what was coming until it was too late.
Seizing on a temporary break in their attack, the Harrier launched a retaliatory strike. He swept his hands in broad, slow, motions, generating lightning with the classic technique. Luan saw the attack coming and placed himself directly in front of the Harrier, fingertips extended. The Harrier struck.
Luan caught the bolt on his fingertips. Briefly glowing blue, Luan directed the surge of energy through his stomach, then vented it through the fingertips of his opposing hand. The Harrier was forced to take cover behind a satomobile as his own attack was redirected back at him.
Luan shook his head. Redirecting lightning was harmless if you knew the technique, but no matter how well you did it, it still left a tingling sensation all down your spine. Luan would be twitching for a few days after that.
"You picked a real bad guy to cross," Zouf boasted.
Luan launched a concentrated bolt of fire at the satomobile the Harrier was taking cover behind. The intense flame melted right through the metal chassis and nearly struck Harrier in the arm. Melting solid metal was impressive enough, the speed at which it was done was another thing entirely. The Harrier ran out from behind his metal cover and hid behind a stone wall. Stone was much harder to burn through.
"Luan didn't get this job for no reason," Zouf continued. "As of the last census, Luan is the sixth most powerful firebender in the world."
Luan flexed his arms. The Harrier laughed slightly.
"I've been operating in secret for a while," The Harrier retaliated. "You should probably bump yourself down to seventh."
"Ow. You going to take that, Luan?"
"Not a chance, Zouf."
"Then let's get this guy."
Luan led the attack with a furious inferno. The Harrier traded blows with the secret agents, barely managing to hold his ground against Luan. The Harrier gained little ground in the fight. Luan was obviously the better firebender, and he had Zouf to back him up. He restrained himself from using his quick lightning for his owns reasons. They had a plan, after all.
Three simultaneous battles across the city were locked in stalemate. The Gai Zhu police had engaged the Energybender's footsoldiers in combat, preventing either side from receiving any kind of backup.
Ada was causing a surprisingly large amount of trouble. Even wounded, she was still a vicious opponent, and Duga was being pushed to his limits to evade her attacks. After the momentary stalemate, Ada had analyzed Duga;s technique enough to know how to attack him properly. She was fast and agile enough to dodge his attacks and retaliate in kind. His airbending gave him an advantage of mobility, but that was his only saving grace. Ada wondered where he had been trained to airbend. She thought very little on that subject, though. She didn't really think straight in a fight.
"You should try running, girl," Duga taunted. He had begun to run low on bola's and had ceased launching them aimlessly. He was now striking out with bursts of air. Ada dodged one such a blast, and the rushing wind broke a window behind her. She heard people screaming from behind the shattered glass. She had nearly forgotten the risk to civilians.
Duga had not forgotten, but he didn't care. Noticing her concern for innocent lives, he launched another crude attack. Airbending wasn't potent enough to cause much damage to the bystanders, but the broken windows could certainly scare them. Hopefully that'd put his opponent off guard.
"This is between you and me," Ada shouted at him.
"Don't flatter yourself," Duga cried back. "I'm here for the Avatar."
"I'll never let you have him," Ada declared.
"It isn't really up to you," Duga grunted. He chuckled to himself slightly. She was falling for the Harrier's gambit quite admirably.
At that moment, a radio on Duga's waist crackled to life. He used a sudden cyclone to propel himself to a rooftop, far above Ada's reach, and listened.
"Hey, job's done," The Eel hissed through the radio. "Stop playing with the kids and get a move on."
Duga laughed and jumped back down to the ground. Ada prepared for an attack, and Duga only continued to laugh as she lunged forward. He launched a set of bola's spinning through the air. Ada tried to evade, but a sudden change in air currents caused the bola's the change paths, tangling around her legs. Before she even had time to fall to the ground, another pair caught her and bound her left arm to her chest. She fell over, dropping her swords to the ground.
"Been fun, shortstuff," Duga grunted. "But we have an Avatar to kill."
Duga rushed down the sidestreets of Gai Zhu. Ada, still entangled in the ropes, managed to grab a hold of one of her swords and began cutting through the binding bola's. She didn't understand what had just happened. Duga had defeated her easily, and by all appearances he could have done so at any time. Why had he waited?
The battle in the middle of the park was going much better for Suda. Neither Paz nor Huel had expected a single earthbender to put up this much of a fight. Suda was doing very well, but he was beginning to get sick of having to repeat the same tactics over and over. Paz and Huel had one trick that they reused over and over again, making the fight a tedious exercise. He needed something to change the game.
Huel surprised Suda by changing his methods suddenly. Raising up a shield of earth to guard Paz from the worst of Suda's barrage gave her some time to prepare her own counterattack. Paz launched a dozen of her homing fireballs at once, forcing Suda to halt his offensive and deflect the attacks. They had received a message on the radio, the same that Duga had received.
"Should we join them," Huel said.
"If we run now he'll just follow us, and that'll blow the whole thing," Paz said. "Keep him distracted. I'll go on the offensive."
"I know what to do," Huel shouted. He planted his feet firmly and pulled his arms upwards. Suda readied himself. He was a better earthbender than Huel by miles.
Unfortunately, the attack was not aimed at Suda. Huel sent the boulder flying out of the park's forested field, sending it hurtling towards a building. Suda heard innocent people screaming and rushed to follow the path of the boulder, with Paz's fireballs hot on his tail.
Throwing himself between the boulder and the building, Suda was forced to endure multiple hits from Paz's fire as he focused on saving innocent lives. The boulder crumbled and Suda finally took some time to defend himself from Paz's attacks.
Huel launched another building-sized boulder at Suda. Suda split the mountainous stone into small chunks and had the rocks rain down on his enemies, giving him a second of free time. He'd been mulling over a certain idea for a few minutes. He decided it was time to give it a shot. Suda deflected another pair of fireballs from Paz and then slammed his foot on the ground.
All these months, Suda had been Gun's primary caretaker. He hoped that the badgermole had bonded with him enough to come to his rescue. Gun was a vicious predator and a powerful earthbender, more than enough to shift the odds in Suda's favor.
Responding to the footsteps of his second-favorite person, Gun emerged from the ground casually, closing his tunnel behind him and sitting down on the ground. Paz and Huel were distracted by the sudden appearance of the badgermole, but Gun's arrival had little effect otherwise. Apparently he didn't feel like fighting. Gun examined his surroundings and yawned lazily, settling down into a comfortable sitting position.
Huel laughed at the badgermole sitting lazily on the ground. Their reports from Shen's Post had said that the badgermole was a vicious monster and a brutal defender of the Avatar. The only thing Gun was doing right now was scratching his ear. Huel ripped a stone out of the ground and sent it flying at the beast. The boulder impacted Gun's head.
It immediately shattered into dust. Gun had grown up a lot, but he had not outgrown a certain instinctive reaction. For a young badgermole, being hit in the head with a rock was a challenge. Gun was not one to back down from a challenge. He bared his fangs and zeroed in on Huel.
"Now you done did it," Paz said. Huel almost had time to respond before several thousand pounds of badgermole began barreling towards him. Huel vanished into the city with a raging Gun hot on his tail, leaving Paz and Suda alone.
"You know, its guys like you that make a girl want to switch sides," Paz said flirtatiously. She was well aware that without Huel backing her up, she was highly outmatched, and she was looking for a way out.
"You aren't my type," Suda stated.
"Oh, you'd be surprised how flexible I can be," Paz mewled. "What's your type, big man?"
"Conscious."
Suda clapped his hands. Two rocks emerged from the ground on either side of Paz and slammed into her temples. She fell to the ground. She would wake up with a splitting headache, but she'd live. There wasn't much in her head to begin with anyway.
Suda listened for the sounds of Gun's rampage in the distance, and was satisfied to hear Huel screaming. He set out to help the rest of his friends with their fight. Huel and Paz would eventually shake off their injuries and rejoin their comrades as well.
Luan and Zouf were taking a break from trading blows with The Harrier to discuss strategy and take a breath, and they were taking cover behind the wall of a building to do so. Zouf sighed and shook his head.
"We better get a big bonus after this, Luan."
"And vacation time, Zouf."
"Yeah. Spend some time with the wife and kids, right?"
They nodded to one another, took one last breath, and then returned to the fray. The Harrier had been taking a break of his own, but he was more than ready to retaliate. His initial lightning strike was expected, and Zouf managed to evade it, and then the battle resumed as it had before.
The Harrier was glad to hear the radio on his waist crackle to life. The plan was now complete. This distraction had gone on long enough.
The Harrier removed himself from cover, standing in plain view before the agents. They hesitated slightly, but figured they could handle any trap the Harrier set for them. They were wrong.
With no further need to delay the agents, Harrier held nothing back. Bracing his fingers against his shoulder, the Harrier unleashed a frenzied attack of lightning, far faster than Luan or Zouf could fully prepare for. The first bolt hit Zouf in the arm, blasting him sideways and sending sparks crackling through his body. Luan attempted to redirect the second bolt, but with little time to execute the technique properly, he could not fully change the course of the lightning. It burned in his stomach and he fell to the ground in a heap of pain.
The Harrier stepped forward, looking over the fallen agents. Zouf was still breathing, if only barely. Luan was racked with pain, but still conscious. The Harrier looked him over. His fingertips still crackled with lethal blue sparks. With Luan incapacitated by pain, it would be simple enough to put a permanent end to this fight.
"Wife and children, hm?"
Luan nodded slightly. The Harrier set his jaw. Slowly, he turned away, walking away from the battle without another word. Luan breathed a shuddering sigh of relief.
Ada, having finally cut herself free of the ropes, was the first to find her way to the docks. It seemed that most of the city had found its way here as well, and there was a massive mob of people crowding her path. She had to find a boat, they had to reach Sen. Ada broke her way through to the front of the crowd and looked out at the waters,
"Oh no."
The docks had been reduced to shattered pieces of wood and metal. Every ship, from the massive fishing vessels to the smallest rowboats, had been shattered into splinters and sunk beneath the waves. Prows of sunken vessels stuck out above the waves, and shattered hulls drifted in the tide idly. The dock was a graveyard, but for one massive vessel. A single ship, just barely leaving the dock, bearing the Energybender's men.
Ada ran forward, diving off the end of the dock and into the ocean. The boat had only just left; it's engines were not fully active yet, and it was moving slowly. If she acted quickly she could still catch it. Swimming as fast as she was able, Ada managed to grab hold of the boat's anchor chain and hold tight.
No sooner had she grabbed it, though, than the chain seemed to come to life, wrapping around her wrist and pulling her upwards. The chain writhed to life, entangling more and more of her limbs, until she was completely immobilized, and finally the entangling chain lifted her to the edge of the ship. The Harrier stared at her disdainfully.
"Why are you people so intent on dying," He wondered aloud. "I go through all that trouble of baiting you away from the docks, making sure we can't be followed, because I want to keep you safe!"
Ada could see the ship's deck. There were dozens of troops loaded onto the vessel, all fully equipped and battle ready. The Harrier's feint had been a massive success; the bulk of his forces had completely evaded the confrontation and been able to sabotage the docks. Led by the Eel, they had managed to disable every ship, ensuring the Harrier could not be followed.
"A little bird told me all about you, your Avatar, his island hideaway, and his friend with the scars. I know everything, Ada. I've been in control since the minute I walked into Gai Zhu. You never had a chance."
Ada struggled against the chains, to no avail. The Harrier shook his head. Why they were so intent on fighting this pointless battle, he had no idea.
"Put her back in the ocean," Harrier commanded. The chains unraveled, and Ada plummeted back into the sea. By the time she swam to the surface and reoriented herself, the ship was already too far gone to find again. It was moving at full clip now; there would be no catching up to it. Reluctantly, Ada began the long swim back to shore.
While Ada had been occupying herself trying to catch up the Harrier, Suda had likewise found his way to the docks. He saw the devastated ships and realized there was no way to follow the Harrier across the open seas. Suda's mind raced, trying to find any way out of this situation. He looked at the prow of the sunken vessel before them. From what he could see just beneath the surface of the water, the vessel didn't seem too damaged. He could probably repair it with metalbending, if they only had a way to get all the water out of the hull.
"Nura!"
She was a waterbender. Nura could be the key to saving the Avatar. With her and Suda working together, they might be ale to repair a ship and catch up to the Harrier in time to make a difference. Suda rushed off into the city.
Ada finally reached the shore and crawled up to the docks. Finally able to breathe easily again, she laid on the rough wood of the docks and thought about where everything had gone so wrong. The Harrier had known everything about them, even about Luan and Zouf. A part of her blamed herself. She had seen this coming and done nothing to prevent it.
There was only one person who could've told the Harrier everything about Sen, Hayao's Island, and Miyani.
Suda had found what he thought he'd been looking for. She turned out to be something very different.
"You sold us out," Suda shouted angrily. Nura had never even bothered to hide her betrayal. She was staring Suda down with cold hatred in her eyes. "You sent us in to a trap!"
"I never wanted to be a part of this," She screamed back. "They kill people who help you, Suda!"
The Harrier had come to her with an offer; tell them everything, or die. How they had found her, she didn't know, and didn't care. She had never hesitated to tell them everything they needed to know. She had even helped them set a trap for Suda and Ada by telling them to meet her in the park.
"They told me everything, Suda," Nura hissed. "How you're a bandit, Ada's some kind of spy, Sen's the Avatar! You've been lying through your teeth the entire time! And you got me involved! I could have been killed!"
"Don't pretend you're any better than me! Sen and Miyani might die because of what you've done!"
"Better them than me," Nura said.
Suda clenched his fists and stared her down. She never blinked. Suda's fists trembled slightly, weighted by anger, but he relented. Fighting her more would accomplish nothing. Nura was a traitor, she'd never help him. He'd have to find another way to save Sen.
Driven by rage, Suda made a barreling charge towards the dock. Nura shouted something after him, something about never wanting to see him again, but Suda neither listened nor cared. He was done with her. His furious stampede took him back to where Ada was nervously waiting.
"Suda, did Nura-"
"Forget about her! The beach, we need to go to the beach."
Ada almost asked why, but Suda quickly took a deep breath and elaborated further.
"The rocks. When Sen used to sneak away from the island, he would cross the rocks. We can get to Hayao's island that way."
"But Suda, that would take hours," Ada said.
"We can get there in hours, or we can not get there at all! Come on!"
Suda led the way. It was a slim hope, but their last hope. They had to cling to every shred they could find at a time like this. Every glimmer of hope was precious, in a time when the Avatar, and the world, seemed doomed.
In the morning, before all the violence had even begun, Sen and Miyani had begun their day as they would any other. They pried themselves off the uncomfortable stone floor and went about eating a bland breakfast. At least they had something interesting to talk about this morning. Suda's birthday party had been an exciting time for Miyani. She could barely stop gabbing about how interesting it had been. Sen was slightly less enthused about the conversation.
Miyani eventually noticed Sen's reluctance and slowed down her conversation. Eventually the lopsidedness became unbearable.
"Is something wrong, Sen?"
"No, no," Sen assured her. "I'm just having a hard time thinking how I want to say this."
Sen toyed with something in his hands that Miyani couldn't see. Her heart started to pound. Sen eventually gave up on thinking and simply placed the object on the table.
It was a pair of rectangular stone bricks, each about an inch long and half an inch wide. There were circular pegs on the top of each brick and a matching slot on the bottom. Miyani recognized them. She'd spent years mulling their design over in her head.
"The bricks I came up with," She mumbled. She picked up the pair and slotted them together in various ways. She had envisioned them being made of plastic, but they worked just as she had imagined them otherwise. It was intensely satisfying to see her idea come to life.
"You must have been up all night making these," She said. "These are solid rock."
She passed them back to Sen. He didn't seem to be able to look her in the eye. She wondered why.
"Thank you, Sen," She said. She didn't know what was troubling him, but he needed to know that she appreciated what he'd done. The fact that he even remembered that silly conversation was touching enough. It had just been idle chatter on a fishing trip, but he had somehow remembered it all in exact detail. The bricks were everything Miyani had ever imagined.
"Oh, it's not a big deal," Sen mumbled. "It's easy for an earthbender."
"Ah, did you get Suda to help you? That'd explain it."
"No, Miyani."
Sen held his hand up. The pair of bricks gently drifted off the table and landed softly in his outstretched hand. Miyani stared in awestruck silence as she processed the sight before her. Sen persevered through the tense silence.
"I'm the Avatar, Miyani," He said.
Miyani was quiet. It certainly made sense. It explained why Sen's given backstory had sometimes been inconsistent, and why the Fire Lord had been so interested in him. It also finally answered the burning question of why Hayao had partnered Sen and Miyani in the first place. There was still one more thing Miyani needed to know.
"Sen, why? Why would you tell me at all? Why would you-"
Miyani didn't know the word she wanted to say next. Why would he tell her something like that? He had nothing to gain. It was a dangerous, powerful secret. Something like that should have been kept hidden, even from her. Some secrets were meant to be kept hidden away forever, weren't they?
"I just wanted you to know," Sen said. "I wanted you to know why I've been acting the way I have, why we've been partners, and why I have to leave. I wanted you to know that you can trust me."
Miyani's fingers drifted to her forehead, and she diverted her eyes from Sen. Sen being the Avatar was not the source of her confusion; that much she understood and accepted. The fact that Sen trusted her so much, that Sen was willing to be so bold, put a strange pain in her heart. Did she trust him the same way? Could she be that brave? She plucked nervously at the strands of fabric that hid her forehead.
"Sen, I'm not mad, I mean I'm happy, I guess, but, I don't know," She started stammering out excuses, trying to put her confused feelings into words. She failed. "I don't know. I need time to think about this. Please."
Sen nodded and left the cave. Miyani stayed behind, nervously tracing a pattern on her forehead. Sen found his way to the coastline, and sat cross-legged in the shadow of the volcano, watching the sun rise slowly over through the fog-shrouded sky. The volcanic mist was especially thick today. The sunlight barely pierced the murky haze.
Sen hoped that he hadn't messed things up. His and Miyani's friendship was still a tenuous thing, and something as drastic as him being the Avatar might be too much. Still, even if it put an end to their friendship, it was the right thing to do. Miyani deserved to know.
Sen realized that that was the first time he'd ever told someone he was the Avatar. Some who knew had been told by others, some had figured it out, some had already known, but Sen himself had never looked someone in the eyes and said "I'm the Avatar."
It felt right to say it out loud. Sen smiled to himself.
Distracted by his thoughts, Sen didn't notice the approaching vessel until it was already ashore.