Chapter 18: Secrets Revealed
Normal POV
Without any accidents, the members of The Red Lotus managed to pass into the highest ring of Ba Sing Se, where they split up into two parties. One headed to get the nieces of Ghazan and the other went to look for the home of Miss Ti. As the two parties were searching they came past another house. One that had a sign of two sleeping badgermoles lying over one another at which Zaheer stopped and stared for a moment.
"Heer? What's wrong?" Femke asked as she came to stand next to her boyfriend and placed a hand on his shoulder. This made Zaheer look at her for a moment before he looked at the sign again.
"This is it, Femke. This is where I grew up." Zaheer stated as he looked at the sign above the door wistfully.
"Looks grand." Femke commented as she looked at the sign above the door sadly. "Maybe someday else we can go in. Meet your parents." Femke said, which made Zaheer look at her.
"No. I don't want to see them again." Zaheer said firmly as he looked at Femke. "I just know they will never accept. They're just too stuck in their rules and traditions."
"Too bad. If they weren't, they could see how much you have grown up and how happy Femke makes you." Xai Bau said as he came to stand next to us out of nowhere and placed a hand on Zaheer's shoulder, who looked at him, smiling in return.
"I'm afraid all what will happen if I go back in there is that I will be married off." Zaheer said, gazing at the gate of his old family home one last time before he turned around and started to walk away.
"Maybe. Who knows. Maybe they changed their minds about forced marriage after you ran away." Femke said as she turned away as well and followed Zaheer.
"That will never happen." Zaheer stated firmly. "Believe me, not all people can change." Zaheer said as he and Femke turned a corner before they joined P'li and the others in their search for P'li's family home.
Meanwhile, a guard ran into a big main room of a large house where a man and a woman were having tea.
"Excuse me for the interruption, my Lady, but we have just heard the most amazing news." The head guard said as he bowed before the pair, who looked at him coldly.
"And what might that be?" Alteressa Batu asked coldly.
"We have seen young master Zaheer standing before the gate. He was in the company of a young woman and the old man." The guard said with his head still down, as Alteressa gasped while her husband Shergon looked at him, shocked.
"Xai Bau is with our son?" He asked before he smiled, hoping this meant his son knew the family secret.
"Yes, Sir. He and the young woman discussed whether or not they should go in, then left after Master Zaheer said he didn't want to." The guard said.
"Why not?" Alteressa asked as she got up with an enraged look on her face. This made the man gulp.
"Because it seemed Master Zaheer fell in love with this young woman." The man said, which made Alteressa's eyes widen in horror.
"Well then. Let's meet this mystery woman. maybe she is…" Shergon started but was interrupted by his wife, who gave him a firm look.
"Shergon, he is not going to marry some random girl we don't know. Remember, we had an agreement..." Alteressa said firmly, before she turned to the guard.
"Find our son and bring him here. Make sure that girl doesn't follow you." Alteressa said, smirking before she turned to her left where a girl with red hair in a beautiful gown was sitting, unmoving as she had been following the discussion between Alteressa and the guard. "It seems you're going to be married after all, my dear Allerys."
Meanwhile, the group of Femke, Zaheer and Master Xai Bau had found the estate with the sign of the Combustion Bender on the front gate. All of them stared at the sign, knowing what was to come. Behind that door was Miss Ti and the answers to P'li's origin.
"This is it. Ready to go in?" Zaheer asked as he looked at P'li with a small smile. She nodded firmly as she walked to the gate with the Combustion Bender sign, taking a deep breath before she let the knocker fall on the door firmly.
P'li's POV
"This is it. Ready to go in?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me with a small smile, causing me to nod firmly as I walked to the gate with the Combustion Bender sign on it, taking a deep breath before I let the knocker fall on the door firmly. After what seemed like forever, the door was unlocked and a young man with short raven black hair and piercing green eyes appeared in the doorway.
"What do you…?" He started to ask, but stopped when he saw me. "P'li? P'li! I can't believe it!" The young man exclaimed and before I knew what was happening he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, causing Zaheer behind me to look at him with a raised eyebrow while Femke muffled her laughter.
"Glad to be here as well." I said a little awkwardly, not used to be hugged by a total stranger. He had something familiar in his eyes. Something I couldn't quite place.
"You don't recognize me?" The man asked as he looked at me with a sad face which made me back away from him a little more, observing him from this distance a little. The more I looked at him the more I had the feeling I knew him from somewhere but I just couldn't place were.
"No. But you look somewhat familiar." I slowly said as I took in every detail of his face, still not able to remember were I knew him from.
"I'm Chang, remember? Gan was my father." The man said. "You have seen me bring my dad's lunch every day. We even played together that one time before dad was killed." Chang said, which made my eyes widen in shock as I remembered.
"Here is your lunch, dad. Mom put in some extra breads as you asked." The five year old Chang said as he handed over his father's lunch to him. Who smiled as he took it before he called me from out of a corner of the room were I had been playing since Mogui was out on one of his 'business trips' and took me in his lap, which caused Chang to back away.
"Thanks chang. You asked me last night why I wanted some extra breads, right?" Gan asked as he gently took me close before he handed me some of the breads. I was biting into them hungrily as Chang nodded. "This is the reason. P'li is a soldier here as well but unlike with your daddy our boss treats her very badly because of a special power she was born with." Gan explained as he stroked me over my head.
"But won't your master be mad if he finds out?" Chang asked, a little unsure.
"Maybe." Gan said as he sat down on the floor with me in his lap. "But that doesn't scare me because helping P'li here is the right thing to do. She is a human and she deserves to be treated like that, whatever others might say."
"My friends at school say their all monsters." Chang said with his head down, which made me shiver and clutch to Gan, feeling afraid the young boy might hurt me because he thought I was a monster.
"I see. There's something I want you to try for me. Be a strong boy and come over here." Gan said as he patted his other knee. I saw Chang hesitating before he did as his father asked, sitting down in his father's lap, very close to me. "Now close your eyes." Gan instructed with a soft voice, which his son did.
"Mow I want you to tell me, what do you feel?" Gan asked as he placed a hand on the young boy's chest.
"My own heartbeat." Chang replied which made Gan nod and place the young boy's hand on his own chest.
"And now? What do you feel?" Gan asked smiling.
"Your heartbeat." The five year old smiled which made Gan nod and take his other hand, which he placed on my chest.
"Now, what do you feel through your other hand?" Gan asked as he let the boy open his eyes, looking up when he realized his hand was on my chest.
"Her heartbeat." Chang said as he looked at me.
"Do you feel any difference between her heartbeat and mine?" Gan asked.
"No." Chang answered.
"She's human just like everybody else." Gan said. "And those friends of yours should know better than to talk badly about all Combustion Benders." Gan said strictly. I looked at him in awe. This was the first time someone said that about me.
"Yes, dad. I'm sorry I said bad things about you, P'li." Chang said with his head down. I smiled at him.
"That's okay. A lot of people think that." I smiled before I offered him a piece of bread, which he took, smiling before we both started to eat. After the lunch we played together for what seemed like forever, giving me the amazing feeling I finally made a new friend. That one time would be the only time I saw him. Gan was killed by Mogui for helping me not long after that, making me feel more horrible and lonely than ever.
"Chang!" I gasped, beaming at the young man standing before me happily.
"That was me." Chang smiled at me as he hugged me once again. "I'm so glad you're here. Miss Ti was worried something happened or that you weren't able to find the letter." The black haired boy smiled as we walked into the garden of the house, which was big and looked amazing. "After my dad was killed we moved to the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. Soon after Miss Ti divorced from Mogui she invited me over and offered me a position as guard at her estate."
"Why did you take it?" I asked, not understanding he wanted to work for the wife of the man that killed his father.
"Because Miss Ti is the most amazing boss one can have. She doesn't ask too much of us, we get breaks often and she tells me things about my father which I really like since he died when I was very young and all." Chang said, turning his head to the side sadly.
"I know. I'm sorry about your father but you must know that what he did saved my life. Thanks to him I survived nine long years before my friends saved me." I smiled when I pointed to Femke, Zaheer and Master Zai Bau who were standing behind me. "Sorry. I just walk in without introducing them, Chang, these are my friends." I smiled. "Everyone, this is my old friend Chang."
"Sorta. But to me it counts." Chang smiled "Nice to meet you all. I'm glad to see P'li made more friends who respect her the way she is."
"Glad to meet you as well. It seems we owe your father a lot of thanks for keeping P'li alive long enough for us to realize she was there. We're sorry to hear your father died while trying to save your friend." Xai Bau said as he bowed to Chang, which Chang returned before he turned to me.
"Come on! Miss Ti is in the living room right now. She will be so excited to see you." Chang said as he led me by the hand to the living room, the others following behind us, wanting to hear the story. The living room was a traditional room with a lot of things in it, including two thrones where the heads of the house sat. In one of the chairs I recognized Miss Ti, who was still looking the same as I remembered her but her black hair had turned grey.
"I'll go in first, wait here." Chang said as he stopped around the corner of the living room at which we all nodded before Chang went in. "Miss Ti, there are some visitors that would like to see you." Chang announced with a loud voice, after I heard he gave a bow.
"We didn't expect any…" Miss Ti started but stopped when she seemed to realize something. "She came, didn't she?" She asked, trembling with emotion.
"She did, ma'am. She's waiting outside the door." Chang replied before he signed to us that we could come in, which I did. As soon as Miss Ti recognized me her eyes filled with tears, clamping her hands over her mouth before she ran towards me and before I knew what hit me I was in her arms, softly sobbing as she gently took hold of me. Her touch brought back all my memories of her. Memories filled with joy, laughter and hope.
"People in this house like their hugs." Zaheer commented, which earned him a playful prod from his girlfriend.
"When I was young, I didn't had to try that." Zaheer muttered, which made me giggle a little.
"P'li. My little P'li. You've grown." Miss Ti smiled after a moment as she let go of me.
"Miss Ti. After that one horrible day I thought I would never see you again." I sobbed. After the divorce between Miss Ti and Mogui I had never thought I would see her again and now almost thirty years later I was standing face to face with her again.
"Me neither my dear. But I never gave up hope. After I heard Mogui was murdered I went to the house and placed down that note in the hope that you would find it and come look for me." Miss Ti smiled as she stroked a hair from my face. "And now you're finally here. I can finally reveal the truth about your past." Miss Ti smiled as she hugged me once more.
"I was shocked to read that the people that abandoned me with your late husband weren't my real parents." I said with a smile on Femke, who nodded.
"I can see why. They were told by Mogui to never tell you the truth about your past. Just like how he forced me to keep the truth from you." Miss Ti said as she looked at me sadly. "Please try to understand that I couldn't tell because if I had and you tried to escape because of that, he would have hurt Hong."
"I understand and I'm happy to hear the truth at long last." I smiled as we all sat down, jumping to our feet as we heard a lot of noise coming from the back off the house, followed by thumping footsteps and before I knew what was going on I was lifted into the air by a boy that looked slightly younger then me and reminded me a little too much of Mogui.
"Li! Li! I can't believe you're here! I can't believe you actually found our note! " The young man exclaimed happily as he held me close, which made me smile a little as I wrapped my arms around him.
"I'm glad to see you as well, Hong." I smiled, happy to see the first friend I ever made. "You might want to put me down now." I joked, which made Hong look at me smiling before he put me down.
"Sorry." He muttered before he stepped backwards to give me some room.
"It was Femke here who found the note together with Zaheer and Xai Bau." I smiled as I pointed at my three friends. "I also had to deal with your father's ghost." I said which made both Miss Ti and Hong look at me with widened eyes.
"How in the world did he…." Miss Ti asked.
"I don't know for sure but he managed to lock us in some dream world where he had a lot of children, all combustion benders, under his command. He tried to drill us into good obedient weapons, but my friend Femke and I managed to escape in the nick of time with the use of our fairy powers." I explained before I crossed my arms in the V sign, which transformed me into my new Enchantix form which made Miss Ti gasp.
"You look beautiful. I never knew that kind of magic truly existed." Miss Ti said.
"I always thought they were just part of the fairy tales mom used to tell me." Hong said.
"Watch it, you begged me for those stories each night before going to bed." Miss Ti said with a teasing smile on her face.
"To return to the reason were here. Miss Ti, who are my real parents?" I asked, which made Miss Ti smile a little.
"Your mother, your birth mother was a young woman who was born in the upper ring." Miss Ti said as we all sat down. "She led life of privilege but she always longed to marry out of love but her parents told her this was impossible."
"Figures." I heard zaheer mutter behind me.
"At the age of sixteen she ran away to see the lower part of the city were she met your father and the two fell in love instantly." Miss Ti smiled. "Once home she requested to marry him, But they refused, telling her the son of a very wealthy warlord would soon arrive, who was a perfect suitor for her."
Mogui? Could that mean…?
A thought ran through my head as I looked at Ti, shocked.
"The girl didn't agree and ran away again. This time with the plan to elope." Miss Ti smiled as she said this while Hong behind me looked at his mother smirking.
"Far away from everything they secretly got married and three months afterwards your mother found out she was pregnant with you. Your real parents were so happy because of this. They couldn't wait until you were there, but…" Ti stopped for a moment and closed her eyes.
"But after five months of living a happy life they were found by your mother's parents, who forced her to divorce from the man she loved to marry the man they wanted her to marry but she refused, telling them she loved the other man and that her pregnancy was a blessing on their marriage."
"I bet they didn't took that well." Femke commented.
"Not at all. They told her that if she didn't divorce from your father at once he would be killed on the account of kidnapping her even though she came with him willingly. They would cover up any tracks of it being a murder afterwards." Ti said, which made Femke look up shocked.
"Wait, that's possible here?" Femke asked gasping.
"To think otherwise would be naïve. The wealthy can easily persuade the officials to cover up involvement in certain things to save face." Zaheer said, which made Femke gasp in shock.
"Horrible that these things can be done without anyone doing something about it." Femke said, tears in the corners of her eyes as she said this.
"With pain in her heart she signed the divorce papers. All to save him. This left one problem; his child." Miss Ti said. "Your mother begged to tell everyone they adopted you in order to keep the child with them but her fianceè didn't want to hear it. After it was born she had to give her newborn daughter up for adoption." Miss Ti finished her story.
"Your father was also a Combustion Bender. He is a grandson of Laniban." Ti smiled. "He told me you were the third generation born with the gift, which for him had turned into a curse after your great grandfather was beaten by the first Avatar."
"Why do you know all this? Are you…?" Zaheer started, looking at Miss Ti in surprise, who looked at me with tears in her eyes before she nodded.
"Yes. I'm that woman. P'li, you found your mother, your half brother and your home." Miss Ti said.
"You're my…" I stammered, unable to believe this was really happening. Miss Ti was my mother and I was home.
"Yes P'li, I'm your mother. Mogui made me promise to never reveal this when he was still alive but now he is dead I don't fear him anymore." Miss Ti smiled with tears in her eyes as she held me close.
"Wait, how do you know for sure she is your daughter? She was so young when you gave her up." Femke asked, distrust in her voice.
"Because she has lived so close by for nine long years. A mother just knows."
"Mother!" I cried as I wrapped my arms around her and for the first time since I was a little girl, Miss Ti wrapped her arms around me and held me close as we were both in tears.
"I heard cries. What is going…?" A man with black hair and a bandana around his head asked as he entered the room, stopping in the middle of his line when his eyes fell on me.
"No way." He whispered as he looked at me with shock, before he very slowly, very carefully took off his bandana, revealing the third eye tattoo on his forehead, making my eyes fill with tears again.
"P'li. My little P'li." The man said as he walked towards me kneeling down by my side before he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me as he sobbed softly.
"I finally found my way home." I smiled as I wrapped my arms around him as well, soon followed by Hong and Miss Ti, which caused me to cry as well, thanking whatever deity listening out there as I did so. I had my family back.
Normal POV
Meanwhile, Ghazan, Ming Hua, Tziza and Ghazan's sister and niece had found the estate of Dahlia's ex-husband as well and just let the knocker fall on the door after which a tall guard opened the gate.
"We want to see the head of the house about a private matter. Now." Ghazan said firmly, putting his feet between the door when he saw the guard was trying to lock the gate again.
"What makes you so important that you can visit Master Shu unannounced?" The man asked with a sneer on his face, which caused Ming Hua to almost attack him, but was stopped.
"Because I'm the uncle of his daughters." Ghazan said firmly, which made the man look up at him before he hurried off, returning not long afterwards with a man who wore expensive looking robes.
"So you have returned. With your sister and youngest niece, too." The man said, looking at the young child with a look of disapproval while she beamed at him and reached towards her, in her young mind not seeing that her father didn't wanted anything to do with her.
"Daddy!" The young child said and before any of the former Red Lotus members could grab her, she had ran over to her father and hugged his knee, making the older man looked down at her with pure disgust on his face.
"Get off!" the man said as he shook his leg wildly to get the five year old child away from him, who now looked at him with tears in her eyes as her mother scooped her up and rocked her to calm her down.
"You didn't have to do that. She is also your daughter." Dahlia said sharply..
"She isn't! I only have a son from my new wife, who obeys me and managed to produce a heir." The man smirked, which made Dahlia turn pale.
"You never loved me. You were planning on kicking me out all along. All you wanted was a heir for your fortune." Dahlia said, tears streaming over her face as she realized he had used her and that she had abandoned her brother for this man.
"Do you really think with my status I would marry a beggar girl I picked from the streets?" The man said while Ghazan took his sister around the waist as she was close to crying. "All I needed was a son and heir."
"Told you that man wasn't worth trusting." Ghazan said while Dahlia looked down sadly.
"I'm just inches away from just slapping you silly." Ming hua growled as she looked at the man firmly.
"You don't frighten me." the man replied.
"you should. We kinda almost destroyed the world." Ghazan said, at which everyone gave him an angry look, since they all knew it could be dangerous to tell this man their real identity.
"Not any more. All we want is to help Dahlia to see her two oldest daughters again, then be on our way." Tziza said as she gave Ghazan a firm look.
"No. Those two are staying with me to make up for everything Dahlia cost me." The man said as he looked at the group firmly.
"They've been staying with you for about fifteen or sixteen years." Tziza said calmly. "Which means her debt has been paid of by now so the girls can come home with their mother."
"If not, well, we're not going to be pleasant." Ghazan said.
"You claim you changed and yet you're threatening my life to get what you want?" The man said as a few guards started to surround the group now.
"We just want the two girls. We're not going to use force unless you leave us no other choice." Tziza said calmly as she looked at the guards with narrowed eyes. "Ghazan is just worried for the well being of his nieces."
"They're not leaving." The man said, as he snapped his fingers, at which a man who carried a bow, shot an arrow at Dahlia's head.
"Dahlia!" Ghazan exclaimed, not hesitating one moment, he lept in between his sister and the danger, catching the full blow of the attack.
"Ghazan!" Dahlia gasped as she knelt down where he laid, looking down at him sadly.
"Fool. He wanted to protect you and now he'll die himself. He was indeed as foolish as he looked." The once-husband said.
"Ghazan." Dahlia muttered as she looked down at her brother sadly, a tear sliding down her cheek as she thought her brother would most likely die because of her.
Suddenly, as the tear hit Ghazan's chest a brilliant light started to glow.
"What?" Dahlia gasped as she looked up at the light with shock while the others smiled.
"Enchantix. Just like with P'li." Ming Hua smirked as Tziza looked at the light with shock. When the light cleared Ghazan had a pair of brilliant red and orange wings on his back, while his clothes were a mixture of green and yellow.
"Amazing." Tziza smiled as she saw Ghazan's fairy form, Dahlia's former husband was just surprise.
"I look awesome!" Ghazan cheered before flying up to the guards.
"You're going to get my nieces right now or I will kick your ass to the moon and back." Ghazan said, smirking at Ming Hua as he did so. She used to say that to him a lot when they were younger.
"Do you seriously believe I'm intimidated by a pair of wings and a new wardrobe?" The man laughed nervously as he took a step backwards. "Those girls are mine! Now go away!" The man said, and before any of them could say a thing the man ran inside his house, the guards quickly following and slammed the door shut in their faces.
Now what?" Ghazan asked as he looked at the gate.
"We could call the police ourselves and try to explain what happened." Tziza said as she looked at the gate.
"That will work. We're wanted people, remember?" Ghazan said as he rolled his eyes.
"We should go and see if we can find Femke and the others." He said as he flapped his wings a little. " Maybe Femke or Zaheer have a better plan."
"First smart remark I heard from you in ages." Ming Hua commented as she and the other started to walk off.
"Does anyone remember the family sign?" Ghazan asked after a while.
"Are you even serious about this?" Ming Hua said as she took a piece of paper and drew the sign on it, using Tziza's back as a surface.
"Here! Make yourself useful and look for this sign from out of the air." Ming Hua said as she handed Ghazan the paper, who saluted before he flew off, returning a moment later.
"Found it! And you might want to hurry up. I saw some soldiers go to the mansion." Ghazan said as he pointed out the way.
"Let's go!" Ming Hua said sternly before she ran after Ghazan to the mansion. Ghazan flew over to the mansion fast and looked from above as the man in the front walked to the gate and firmly knocked on the door of the gate.
With P'li
I was just listening to my father's story about Laniban, who was his grandfather, when suddenly someone knocked on the door, which made us look up while a guard walked to the door to open up.
"Its okay P'li. Certain visitors tend to knock like that." Lee said as he tied the bandana around his head again as a guard headed to open the door, after which Zaheer gasped as he recognized a few off his mother's guards standing in the doorway.
"Zaheer, you're coming with us." The leader said as he walked to the older airbender with a stern look on his face, while Zaheer looked at Femke calmly.
"No." Zaheer stated as he took a step away from the man, spreading his arms wide to protect Femke and P'li.
"Please, Sir. Don't be stubborn. Your mother only wants what's best for you. Just do as she says and you will be fine." The head of the guards said as he walked a little more towards Zaheer, who kept backing away until he was standing with his back against the wall.
"Why would I? I have everything I desire now. The freedom to be who I want to be and to marry whoever I choose." Zaheer said, looking at Femke as he said this, who blushed a little at the idea.
"Zaheer, when will you accept those are just the rules?" The man said sternly.
"Can you honestly say you're happy with those rules?" Zaheer asked.
"You can't marry whoever you choose, you need to live by all those rules is that really what you want?"
"It is how it is. I accepted that long ago. You should as well and just do as your mother says." The man said sternly.
"And you're happy like that? With all those rules surrounding you? Forcing you to behave perfectly?" Zaheer asked him.
"Yes. That's how life works. You don't always gets what you want. I accepted that things are how they are and it is about time you grew up and did the same." The man said sternly. "This is the role life chose for me. There is nothing I can do about it running away from it only makes accepting harder."
"Open your eyes to the truth. I know I made a few mistake." Zaheer admitted with a small smile to Femke, who nodded in encouragement. "But I also learned a lot. Freedom to make choices comes with a responsibility. I understand now."
"Killing the Earth Queen and causing the Kingdom to fall into chaos was horrific. Do you know how much of us got injured and killed to keep things in order?" One of the guards standing in the back said, who had a bad looking scar threw his right eye, Zaheer was certain hadn't been there when he had left the mansion as a teenager.
"Yes. I now know. The sister of my best friend told us what happened here after we took down the wall and I'm sorry for the trouble I must have caused." Zaheer said as he looked down in shame.
"That's putting it lightly." The man with the scar added as he pointed at the scar on his face.
"At least you're still alive." One of the soldiers in the back called. "We lost three colleagues to that mess!"
"That life is behind me. Tell mother i might come to visit someday but for now I need to focus on saving the world along with Femke and the others." Zaheer smiled, wrapping his arm lovingly around Femke. "We happen to be fairies."
"And you really believe that?" A female voice called in the back, making all man step to the side and salute after which Alteressa appeared in the middle, smirking as she walked towards her son, who looked worriedly from her to Femke.
Zaheer's POV
"Mother. What a pleasant surprise." I stammered, shocked as I looked from my mother to Femke, who was looking at my mother with widened eyes, unable to believe she was here. I had to admit i was quite shocked she came as well. It was very unusual for her to come when she sends her soldiers to a job.
"Are you really as naive as to believe in fairy tales?" She asked, laughing a little afterwards.
"I believe in them since I have seen them." I stated firmly, smiling at Femke as i said this, who smiled at me in return.
"Show me, then." My mother demanded, and just as I wanted to tell her Femke could transform as proof, a rustling sound was heard after which two fairies appeared. One I recognized as Ming Hua but only when the second one got closer I recognized Ghazan, whose fairy form had been slightly altered as a sign he now got his Enchantix powers as well.
So Ghazan got his Enchantix, just like P'li.
I smiled when I saw Ghazan and Ming Hua land before they moved their shoulders back which caused them to change back into their normal form.
"See?" I smirked as I turned to my mother, who looked at my two friends with a look of pure disbelief, unable to comprehend that she had just seen real life fairies. "Fairies exist. And I am one of them. Femke and I have been preparing to repel an attack of an evil being ever since the whole Red Lotus chapter was closed and I got out of jail." I said sternly.
"Illegally while impersonating me and your father." My Mother said with a stern look. How did she know?
"The order of the White Lotus sent me a messenger hawk to keep an eye out for you and report if you would return home." Alteressa smirked as she took a step towards me. "You still have to pay for your crimes."
"But I changed and together with my friends…" I said, smiling as I looked at them with a small smile. "I have been started to change things for the better. Preparing to get rid of the evil that could destroy all worlds." I said, looking at Femke with a small smile, who nodded to confirm my words.
"Your girlfriend?" My mother asked as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Since when does a proper gentleman have a girlfriend while he is engaged?" She asked, which made me look at her with widen eyes, while Femke looked at me shocked.
"What does she mean?" Femke asked, looking at me with eyes full of hurt. The look I hated to see on her so much.
"Didn't he tell you?" My mother asked Femke, looking at her with fake surprise. Your boyfriend has been deceiving you. At age five he was engaged to a fine young woman named Allerys who is from a rich family we know. She is the one he will marry and absolutely not some tart who doesn't even know how to dress herself." My mom said firmly, at which I saw Femke tear up and before I could say anything to her she had ran off, quickly followed by P'li.
"With that out of the way, you're going to come home and be married as planned." My mother said as she held out her arm towards me. "And in exchange I will not tell the White Lotus you're here." She was willing to defy the White Lotus and lie about my whereabouts just to get me to marry the one she wanted me to marry? That was so messed up. I wasn't even considering her offer. I loved femke and no one else!
"Never. I would rather turn myself in then to marry her!" I said before I used my airbending to quickly leap over her and run after Femke and P'li, finding them in a corner of the garden.
"The White Lotus can be here any second! We have to get out of here before… " I started, but stopped when I saw how Femke and P'li were looking at me.
"Does it matter? You can just go and get married to someone else." Femke asked me bitterly.
"No, because she is not the one I choose to marry. My mother chose her for me." I said as I looked at Femke with widened eyes, unable to believe that she was so mad at me while she knew I ran off to avoid forced marriage. Maybe she already forgot, seeing how forgetful she could be when she wanted to.
"This is exactly why i wanted to get away. I wanted to fall in love before marrying, not get married off to the first person my mother felt fitting for me." I said as I sat down with the two women and took Femke's hands in my own.
"What you told me after that Platypus Bear attacked us, that was why you ran off? Because of Allerys?" Femke asked shocked, which made P'li look at Femke.
"He told you?" P'li asked Femke with a look of surprise.
"Of course. But it was not like I had another choice at that point, since she entrusted me with the secret of her being a princess." I smiled at Femke, who smiled back. "Besides, if i go back I will lose most of my freedom." I smirked a little as i said this, which caused Femke to return it.
"She is pretty though." Femke said jokingly.
"She's not my type. I don't like it when people are demure, I'd rather have them be free." Zaheer smiled as he scooted close and wrapped his arms around P'li and me.
"Why didn't you tell me when we were still together?" P'li asked.
"Me being engaged against my will wouldn't add up unless..." I started, looking up when Ming Hua and Ghazan walked to us, as well as Xai Bau and Tziza.
"Unless you were from a rich family. But that would kinda make you sound like a hypocrite, right?" Ghazan finished my line.
"Seriously? Now is not the time." Ming Hua asked as she looked at the Lavabender sternly.
"But it's true." Ghazan said. "Not that it matters anymore."
"Anyway…" I said as I looked at Femke with a small smile. "We should get out of here before the White Lotus turns up." I said, as Femke nodded.
"Little late to think about that." Ghazan said, which made us all look up. We were surrounded.
TO BE CONTINUED
Thanks Paranoidgirl for beta reading and advising on the story so far
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