Chapter 17: Home At Last
Ghazan's POV
"Dahlia?" I asked in shock when I saw my sister standing before me after being away from her for so long. We didn't left on the best terms and I was still mad at her for leaving me when I was sixteen. That said, I felt relieved we had at least been recognized by a friendly face who wouldn't turn us over to the White Lotus.
"Ghazan, it has been so long." Dahlia smiled as she went over to me and gave me a hug which I returned, taking noticing the smell that hung around her. "What happened to you? You smell like you have been sleeping in the street." I said as I gave her a playful poke.
"You, on the other hand, look a lot fitter. Did you train?" Dahlia smiled as she gave my arm a small squeeze.
"You can say that. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your one true love?" I said as my smile fell.
"No, he... he kicked me out. It didn't work out between us the way we hoped and I got him three daughters while he wanted sons." She said sadly.
"I've been wandering the streets ever since, hoping to find you. I'm so sorry about leaving you. I shouldn't have chosen him over my own family." Dahlia cried as she fell on her knees.
"Exactly. Being the naivé one is my job." I said as sat down by my sister's side. After all we've been through and all the harm I caused others I just couldn't stay mad at her. She was also my only living relative.
"Can't blame me for trying." Dahlia smiled as she ruffled my hair in an affectionate way.
"Are you gonna introduce us or do we have to do that ourselves?" Ming Hua asked.
"Nah, I'll get to that." I replied.
"Dahlia, these are my friends; Femke, Zaheer, P'li, Ming Hua, Tziza and our leader Xai Bau." I said as I pointed out each of them.
"Everyone, this is my big sister Dahlia." I said as the others nodded in return.
"So he kicked you out? Are your kids still with him?" Ming Hua asked as she took a step towards Dahlia, who got behind me.
"My youngest is at our old home, waiting for me to return with some sort of food. My former husband kept the oldest two to work for him as payment for everything I cost him." Dahlia said as she picked up some things from a trash heap and looked them over.
"His own daughters have to work for him?" Femke asked with a horrified look on her face.
"To make up for everything I cost him." Dahlia repeated.
"Is money and power the only thing that man cares about?" Femke asked, angry.
"Many of the Upper Class still think about children as a way to preserve their family line. There is little we can do about it." Zaheer said with a sad look to Femke as we started walking, following Dahlia to my old family home.
"The worst part is that us from the lower class can't do anything about it." Dahlia said with a sad look on her face as she opened the door to her house.
"Dahrina! Mommy is home!" Dahlia called as she walked in first. I followed closely after her as I saw a shabby looking girl not much older then three or four run to her and hug her.
"Mom, you're back! Did you bring some food?" The girl asked with a small voice. At which Dahlia nodded and handed her the little food she had.
"I also brought someone along who wanted to see you." She smiled, which made the girl's eyes grow wide in joy.
"Did dad finally come to get us?" She asked hopefully, turning sad as Dahlia shook her head.
"No, but uncle Ghazan did." She smiled as I now walked in and looked at my little niece with a small smile.
"Hey kid, nice to meet you." I smiled as I held out a hand to my niece as she hid nervously behind her mother.
"Is he the Lavabender from your stories?" The little girl that was my niece asked with a beaming look.
"Yes. This is your uncle ghazan; the Lavabender I told you about." Dahlia smiled as she stroke my little niece over her hair.
"Awesome! Mom told me a lot of tales about you." The girl said with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure she has." I smiled in return as I stroked her softly over her hair.
"What have you been up to? I heard you took down the Earth Queen and I read in the newspaper you attempted to kidnap the Avatar twice, almost managing to kill her the second time." Dahlia asked me as we all sat down on the floor.
"Yeah. Good times. I have been jailed for thirteen years as well and have a lot of tattoos." I boasted, not seeing how shocked my sister looked until she crossed her arms.
"What were you thinking!? The Avatar is the protector of our world! Everyone needs her!" Dahlia told me sternly. "And even so. You really think murder is the answer?"
"Hey, I believed I was doing the right thing." I said defensively. with my arms crossed.
"How was destroying the world order going to help people like me? It only made things worse! Thanks to you this whole block almost burned to the ground because some blockhead brought down the wall!" Dahlia roared at me. Femke took my niece outside.
"We thought it would solve itself and that you after that all could decide your own fate without those walls blocking you." I said defensively.
"That only destroyed order as we know it. Those walls are needed to prevent the two worlds from colliding. Do you know how many innocent people got hurt or killed because of what you and your friends chose to do? Do you know some of those victims could have been my daughters? Your nieces?" Dahlia said harshly, which made my eyes widen in shock before I looked down in shame. I don't know how many people got either injured or killed because of the fires and looting that had started after I had brought down that horrible wall. I figured the chaos it caused was a good thing.
"No…" I said now with my head down, realizing what I had done.
"What you did was terrible, Ghazan. Deep down you know that. The world needs to be balanced. That includes the Avatar. What you did was not just horrendous but also very irresponsible. What would mom and dad think of you if they had been here?" Dahlia said
"And what about my family? Look around! This city has been a warzone! Do you know how hard it was for me to raise three daughters while our city is in flames and you have to fear looters and rioters?" Dahlia challenged, making me look down. I hadn't even thought about this.
"I now know Dahlia. I'm sorry for the harm I must have caused you." I said as I looked down.
"Zan." I heard Dahlia mutter as she looked at me sadly before I felt her arms around me.
"I'm just glad someone slapped some sense into you." Dahlia smiled as she hugged me. "Don't do it again." Dahlia said as she tapped me firmly on my chest.
"I won't. Promise." I said as i crossed my heart, holding up my free hand to show I was honest with her. "Also, I am on a quest to try and save the world for real now." I said, which made Dahlia look at me with widened eyes.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes, Femke is one of the legendary Voortrix fairies and she told us our leader Zaheer is one of the Voortrix clan as well and we somehow obtained fairy powers while we travel with Femke to try and save the world." I said.
"That sounds great, Zan. I really hope you will manage it." Dahlia now smiled as she rubbed me over my hair as Femke and the others came in again.
"I got ice cream." Dehlia beamed at her mother as she showed her mother. She had never gotten a ice cream before.
"That's nice of them. In any case; why are you all in Ba Sing Se? Aren't you wanted?" Dahlia asked as the others all sat down.
"We do, but we heard that someone here knows something about my parents." P'li explained as she looked down at her lap.
"Your parents?" Dahlia said, looking a bit confused at the rest, who all nodded and looked down sadly.
"I was sold as a slave to a man named Mogui when I was a child, until your brother and my other friends came to get me out of there." P'li explained, which everyone confirmed with a nod.
"I can understand why, I would also do everything to see our parents again." Dahlia said with a sad look on her face, which made me look down. This was true for the both of us.
P'li's POV
"I understand why. Ghazan told me everything. It must have been hard to be all on your own with a younger brother to care of." I said as I looked at Ghazan's older sister with a sad look in my eyes.
"My intention was to marry someone rich to take him in and at least be able to get him properly schooled so he wouldn't have to end like our parents." Dahlia said as she looked at Ghazan with a small smile on her face.
"You were?" He asked, surprised at this, he'd always thought his sister had just wanted to leave him.
"Of course, you didn't think I wanted to abandon you?" Dahlia asked with a shocked look on her face, which turned sad when she saw Ghazan just looked down, answering her question.
"Zan…" Dahlia said as she sat down by his side and placed her hands on his arms. "I never planned on abandoning you. He made me. I had no other choice." Dahlia said as she looked her brother deep in the eyes.
"You had to tell him 'no' and stay with me. Simple. And it had spared you a lot." Ghazan answered obliviously as he looked to the side.
"I couldn't. Things aren't that easy in this world for a poor woman who can't bend. It was my only way to survive. People do crazy things to survive." She said. A silence followed after this.
"Anyway, coming back to the reason you're all here. Why now? Why didn't you come to look for them earlier on?" Dahlia asked as she looked at me.
"Because I was recruited into the Red Lotus afterwards and that took things over until Femke came along." I said as I smiled at Femke, who nodded and smiled back.
"I see. Too bad you didn't come in earlier then. That might have spared the world a lot of pain. They probably wouldn't have tried to kidnap the Avatar as a child. Spirits know that would be a disaster." Dahlia said as she looked at Femke with a small smile on her face. I nodded, looking down sadly, knowing she was right. If only Femke had come in sooner. If only she had managed to talk us out of the ideas of the Red Lotus. Tell us that we could save the world without harming innocents. We would have been spared thirteen years of prison.
'No, I shouldn't regret the way things have gone. It taught me some things as well and it strengthened me. I should be grateful for the way things are now and for the things that are to come.' I thought as I looked at Femke and Dahlia talking while I got up and walked to the door. The weather was nice today. It was a sign things were going to get better soon.
"Got bored of their talking as well?" Ming Hua asked from behind me all of as she came down the stairs. I had been so deep in thought that I hadn't heard her coming out of the house as well.
"I just needed some fresh air." I smiled as Ming Hua came standing next to me.
"We should be looking for your parents, not sitting around here fixing Ghazan's family issues" Ming Hua snarked, but I could hear from the way she said it she wished it would have been her. Finally reuniting with her parents.
'Just like all of us, I think she just wants to see her parents one more time before we go with Femke and save the world. This one time might be the last time.' I thought as I looked at the clear blue sky, then at my best friend standing next to me.
"I know. We all want to see our family once more before the last fight. Who knows how it will end. It might be the last time we will be able to see them." I said as I gave her a sad look.
"Li, you have never even met your real parents. You don't know how they are. I know how they are and I know how they think of me. They hate me. I think you should go back to them for a while since I'm not planning on ever returning home." Ming said after which she walked inside again. Sighing, I followed her, smiling when I saw Dahlia was standing next to Ghazan and both of them looked like they were ready to leave.
"Okay, gang. We have to first locate Miss Ti's home, from there we split up. P'li and Ming Hua stay with Miss Ti and gather as much information about P'li's birth parents as they can while Ghazan, Zaheer and I go with Dahlia to search for her other two children. Once we have them, we leave the city as soon as we can." Femke said as we all gathered around the small table in the middle of the room.
"Are you sure splitting up will be a good idea? What if you run into trouble and need us?" Ming Hua questioned.
"We're not planning on running into trouble but if we do I'll Combustion Bend in the air once. That way you'll be able to both find us and know that were in trouble." Femke said as she rubbed over her forehead with a smile on her face.
"Still, be careful." Ming Hua said as she looked at me firmly.
"I will." Femke smiled as she nodded at Ming Hua.
"Okay, next problem; we will need to take Dahlia and Dahrina with us to the highest ring. They will never let them pass without proper identification." Ghazan said as he looked at Femke, then at his sister and niece, who both looked down sadly.
"We got in through the gates fine without them, what makes you think we'll need them to get to the highest ring?" Femke questioned.
"The first gate never required identification. To get to the higher rings you do need them and none of us has official identification, I think." Ghazan said as he looked around.
"I did keep them in case of a total emergency but the White Lotus took them when I was captured I think." Zaheer said, which made Xai Bau look at Tziza with a sad face for some odd reason before he pulled something from his pocket.
"Not really. I took them from you before the start of the mission." Xai Bau admitted with a guilty look on his face as he handed Zaheer an official looking document with a seal on it that contained two badgermoles sleeping over one another, which Zaheer took.
"Never thought I would be holding these ever again." Zaheer said as he looked at his papers sadly, something I understood. Those papers said he was the son of a rich family. The heir to a fortune. The person he left behind as a teenager to become a Red Lotus member.
"I never knew your second name was Yorru." Femke noted as she gave Zaheer a teasing push, which made Zaheer push her back. "It does explain your fake name."
"There is so much you don't know about me." He said as he wrapped his arm around her lovingly, which made me look to the side.
"Anyway." Ming said as she rolled her eyes at Femke and Zaheer. "You think that will be enough to get us all through?" She asked as she looked at the papers sternly.
"My family is the richest family after the BeiFongs. They will let us pass. You'll see." Zaheer said as he looked at the papers. "I wish there was another way. Using my wealth to get what I want is against everything I believe in." Zaheer said as he stared at the papers.
"I know, but we have to. For P'li." Femke said as she placed a hand on her boyfriends arm, then smiled at me, which made Zaheer nod, then look at Femke, smiling.
"Shouldn't we keep the fake names we used to get in, Miss Fresh?" Zaheer teased as he smirked at Femke, who smirked back as she gave him a small push again. He wavered. I should remember that...
"Oh shut it Mister Fresh. I don't think they will relate back to the people at the gate who we are." Femke teased.
"But what if they do?" Zaheer asked as he looked at Femke worriedly.
"Then we have to bust ourselves in somehow. Whatever it costs, we have to get into the upper ring." Femke said with a determined face. This was the first time Femke was willing to use force to get in
"You sure that's a good idea? I thought you always said fighting is never the answer." Zaheer asked as he looked at her with shock.
"I know, but once we give up one name we can't easily change it with them standing by. That would be to suspicious and we need to get in." Femke said firmly, which made me look at her smiling, touched by her determination to get to the bottom of my origin at whatever cost needed.
"You're right. Maybe we best use our cover names and I tell them my last name became Fresh after i married." Zaheer smirked at Femke, who blushed in return.
'After all this ends and if we do survive, he might ask her. They're already so close.' I thought as I smiled at the sight of Femke and Zaheer being lovely together.
"If they don't buy it we can still beat someone up to get in." Ghazan said, which earned him a glare from both his older sister and Ming Hua.
"I think that fixes any problems that might come up. Now we have to think of one more thing." Tziza said. "If we pass the guards, how in the world are we going to find the right house? The upper ring is huge."
"Good point. The team that goes to fetch Ghazan's two remaining nieces has an easy job. I think Dahlia still knows to find the house but for P'li, what was the family sign again?" Femke asked as she looked at me sternly at which I shrugged
"Wait, it was in the letter." Femke said as she got a piece of paper from her pocket and looked it over.
"Of course." I said as I looked at her with a smile on my face as stood behind her and looked at the paper.
"I remember something about a sign being mentioned in the letter." Femke said as she started to read the letter out loud.
My dear P'li
If you read this letter, it will mean you have returned to the place your story started.
I have wondered where you went of to from the day I got the message Mogui was killed and I was shocked to see your picture in the newspapers, saying you were arrested for attempting to murder the Avatar.
I hope that is all behind you now. I have a reason to leave this letter for you.
The people that left you with Mogui are not your biological parents.
Come and see me in Ba Sing Se's upper ring as soon as you can. You will be able to find the mansion as it has the same symbol on the front gate as you have on your forehead.
I will always be there for you if you need me and both Hong Lee and I wish you the best.
Miss Ti
Femke finished the letter while I rubbed the tears from the corners of my eyes. I was so close. So close to both seeing Miss Ti again and find out about my true parents.
"Now we know what to look for." Femke said sternly as she painted the sign on another piece of paper and put it in her pocket before we nodded and gathered up our stuff before we headed to the gate that would bring us to the middle ring.
'I'm coming, Hong. Ti. I'm coming at last.' I thought as I watched the gate, hoping we were able to get through without any accidents so the truth about my past would finally be revealed.
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And with that I declare that this chapter is at its end. I hope you all liked it. Sorry it took me a while to write it but I was also working on two other stories; one of which is a prequel to both The New Lotus and this story. Check it out if you like.
A/N:
On advice of my Beta, I made Dahlia not take what happened too easy on Ghazan, since she does have a point. We see in the series how big the chaos is after the Death of the Earth Queen and many innocent people got either hurt or killed in the raids.
Femke can be rather forgetful so that's why she only now thinks about re-reading the letter for clues about the house they needed to find.
Okay that's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed it!
Also thank you paranoidgirl for being such a awesome beta reader and advisor, maybe check out her stuff?
Please leave a review.