chapter 20 batu mansion secrets
Zaheer's POV
I was grabbed and pulled in before I even had time to react and we all ended in a very dark place with someone covering my mouth with their hand.
"Be quiet and don't fight me. I mean you no harm." My father's voice whispered from behind me after which a torch lit up and I could see him stand behind me. His hair more grey then last time I had seen him and a worried look on his face.
"Father? where are we? And what do you mean you?" Were the first two questions that I asked when he took his hand off my mouth.
"Just do as I say. I'm not going to turn you in." My father smiled. "You love this young lady, right?" My father asked as he nodded to Femke. I nodded in response.
"And you, you love my son, right?" He asked as he looked at Femke, who blushed as she nodded.
"That's why I am not going to turn you in." My father said with a sad smile. "I was robbed of a marriage for love and I won't let you suffer the way I am." I looked at him with widen eyes as he said this. He was suffering? Because he didn't love mother. Why didn't he tell me before? He could have escaped with me.
"Great. That still doesn't explains where we are." Ming said, which made my father grin.
"I'm surprised Zaheer never found these tunnels. They're everywhere under the house." My father grinned "They're secret tunnels build by your mother to keep the family secrets." As he said this my father walked to a large door on his right.
"Family secrets long buried. Your mother hid them here in the hope you would never find them." My father said. "But I was planning on telling you all along when you were old enough to understand."
"More mysteries. Because of course." Ghazan said while I just wondered what secrets my mother could have been keeping.
"Why didn't you tell him before if you were planning to tell him all along?" Femke asked as she came to walk next to me and wrapped an arm around me.
"Because I thought he was too young to understand but he is an adult now. The time has come." my dad smiled at my girlfriend and me as he said this. "So I snuck home and waited for you in the tunnels, hoping you would find them."
"Why sneak up on us? You could have just called." Femke commented as my father opened the door.
"Would you have trusted me?" My father asked.
"Probably not." Femke admitted with her head down.
"That's why I didn't tell you. This was the only way to get you here." And when he said 'here' my dad opened the door, revealing a room full of toys I had always wanted but never got. how did they get here?
"This isn't creepy at all." Ghazan commented as he entered.
"I don't understand. How did they get here if they're not mine?" I asked as a looked at my father, confused.
"Secret kid?" Ghazan offered, smirking.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Ming Hua said.
"What?" Ghazan fired back. "Why else would there be a secret playroom?"
"It could have been an option." Femke commented as she scanned the room with her magic. "But I'm afraid i have to disappoint you. These toys have never been played with."
"She's right. Alteressa locked these toys up down here, not wanting you to find them. They came from an old friend of mine." My father explained as I kneeled down and inspected an old train set on the floor while Ghazan kicked a ball.
"What's so weird about an old friend sending gifts for your child?" Femke asked while I put the train down and walked to a drawer that was somehow calling for me to open it. Looking at the letters in the first drawer which were all dated around the thirty five years ago and were a for my father.
Why are all these here?
I wondered as I opened one that was dated around the day of my sixt birthday.
My dear Shergon
How are you and Zaheer doing? I hope he gets the presents I sent him. I think about the both of you each and every day.
I know today is his birthday and I got him a stuffed bear. The one you told me he wanted so badly. I sprayed some of my perfume on it so he will know my scent. Please make sure he gets it, I want him to know who I am so badly. I wish I could be there with the both of you.
I love you two will all my heart.
Lianna
I cocked my head in confusion, not getting why this woman so desperately wanted me to get the bear to get her scent.
'I love you two with all my heart?' Why would she love me? I never met her. Right?
I wondered as I opened a second drawer, in which only one envelope lied, marked with a strange symbol.
"How romantic. " I heard Ghazan comment while I opened the letter.
"No. I liked her and I think it would have worked out if we had tried but we were both already engaged." My father replied. I was fully focused on the letter. which was a letter to my grandparents from a local Doctor.
Dear Mister and Miss Batu
I regret to inform you that your daughter; Alteressa Lee Batu has the illness named Hevalittus. Don't worry, she will not die from it. We could treat her before it got dangerous for her health. However, she has become sterile as a result.
WHAT? I gasped as I looked at the letter. That was impossible.
"Zaheer? What's wrong?" Femke asked me with a worried look as she placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I found a letter of a local doctor to my grandparents on my mother's side. What it said is just… " I stammered as I handed her the letter. "Read it for yourself."
"Heer. I have to admit something." Femke replied with a shy smile on her face. "I never learned to read and write in the language of this realm." She confessed as she handed the letter back to me.
"Sorry. But you might want to work on that." I smiled as I took the letter back and folded it before putting it away.
The letter says my mother had an illness named Hevalittus. a woodvillages illness." I swallowed. "It made her sterile."
"Explains why you're an only child." Ghazan said.
"Probably why they're so adamant on the whole 'Wedding' thing. You're the sole heir." Ming Hua added.
"No. This happened before I was born." I said, reading the letter over to be sure. "Years before I was born."
"Hang on. Back up! Alteressa can't be your mother if that's true." Femke realized with a shocked look, after which I suddenly heard many footsteps and before any of us could react we were once again surrounded.
"Shergon. I should have known you would betray my trust at some point." Alteressa"s voice called from behind me and when I looked up I saw to my shock she had an Equalist's glove on one hand and held a Kami stick in the other one.
"You of all people should have known from the beginning I never intended to keep my word." My father said as we all raised our hands. "You knew the burden of my past was to heavy for me to bear."
"You're a traitor and a liar. I should have eliminated that whore a long ago as my parents told me." Alteressa snarled as she pointed the Kami stick at my father's chest "I was a fool to believe you would keep your word."
"Finally. Now i have a chance to set things right." My father said. "Xai was right; I should have told my son the truth sooner and flee. That would have spared him a lot of pain."
I gasped in shock when my father said this before I turned and looked at my Master. "Master Xai Bau? You knew my father kept things from me? And you never told me." I asked with a mixture of shock and betrayal in my voice.
"Yes but please understand your father forbade me to speak about it." Xai Bau answered, just as hurt by this as me.
"How do you know each other?" Femke wondered as she looked from my master to my father, which made Xai Bau shrug while Tziza groaned.
"You two are impossible." She groaned. "Just tell him the truth."
"It's indeed time the man knew all the Batu family secrets." Xai Bau said as he looked at his second in command.
"There's more?" Femke asked shocked.
"Let's just start with the whole 'Sterile before Zaheer was born' thing." Ghazan said.
"Yes. The Batu family has more than one secret." Xai Bau said while we locked eyes. "I told you my first name is Xai and last name is Bau. But the documents that you found were fake, Zaheer." My master looked down as he admitted this. "Xai Bau is just my first name."
"Xai. I forbidyou to tell him." Alteressa cut in firmly, looking at my teacher sternly.
"Shut it!" Femke snapped.
"Go on." My father encouraged as he came to stand next to my master and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He has the right to know who you truly are."
"I know Shergon. I should have done it immediately." Xai Bau replied as he gave my dad a soft smile. "My full name is xai bau Heero Batu." My eyes widened when he said his last name, knowing full well what that meant. "Second son to Lee and Amira Batu."
"So all this time, you were my uncle! And you never told me." I raged, tears of betrayal welling up in my eyes as I realized all this time I had worked for my uncle without being told so.
"I. couldn't tell you. I promised your father not to." Xai Bau said while backing away from me, knowing what I was capable of when angered. "I wanted to and I have been on the verge of telling you more then once."
"How long did you know your nephew worked for you?" Ghazan asked.
"Since I looked into his papers right before your first mission started." Xai Bau admitted. "I wrote your father at once. I had to tell him you were with me. He told me to keep a close eye on you but to never reveal myself as your uncle, afraid you wouldn't be accepted if you were known as the nephew of the Red Lotus founder."
"Nice going." Ghazan smirked.
"It was because he was my prodigy." Xai Bau smirked as he looked at me. "Without any help you proved yourself a true Red Lotus member. Making your father proud even though what we did was against everything he believes in."
"Him being your uncle does explain a lot." Ming Hua commented with a smirk on her face. "At least considering P'li." P'li and I both blushed a little when ming said this. To the dismay of my mother.
"A Combustion bender? You fell in love with her?" Alteressa asked me with a mocking grin. "Maybe your second option wasn't so bad after all."
"Does it matter in love?" My father asked as he looked at P'li with a small smile. "If you loved him you would have been welcome with me."
"Thank goodness." Femke smiled as she took a step towards my supposed mother and grinned. "I'm also a Combustion Bender." She snapped.
"Femke and P'li have been the best of friends since the day they met each other." I said as i looked from Femke to P'li with a smirk on my face. "Not all Combustion Benders are evil."
"Zaheer." Both women whispered, smiling before they went over to him and hugged him. "I might have hurt you but you both still mean the world to me." I smiled as I held them close, tears in my eyes as I said this.
"And you to us, Zaheer. Just stop lying." P'li smirked as she poked me.
"Could we please start focussing on the problem at hand?" Ming Hua commented, which made Femke move up her arm, ready to pull up a smoke curtain which would allow us to escape.
"Before we get out of here I must know one more thing." I said, which made Alteressa look up at me shocked. "Alteressa, are you my birth mother?"
"You can't figure that out by yourself? And here I taught you were supposed to be wise." Alteressa asked with a smirk on her face.
"Answer the question." I asked her coldly.
"No." My father answered before my mother could reply with a sad look in his eyes. "Your real mother would have let you marry for love just as much as i wanted you to." He suddenly stopped as Alteressa electrified him from behind, causing him to collapse.
"Father!"I exclaimed as I saw him collapse, soon after which Femke and P'li created a huge explosion which gave me room to run to my father and check his pulse. Bending and moving around to avoid the many soldiers who were now attacking us.
"Is he…?" Femke asked as she moved in close to me and used water to smack away the soldiers coming her way.
"How is he?" My master asked me with a worried look as he also stood next to me. I didn't reply, I was still mad at him for not telling me he was my uncle.
"Is it that bad?" Femke asked as she looked me in the eyes.
"He's still breathing but he needs medical help, fast." I said as I looked up at Femke sadly. "The sooner we get out of here the sooner my mother might get him to a healer."
"Then we have to get moving!" Femke said as she got closer to me and flipped her water whip around to swipe the soldiers out of her way. "Let's get out of here!" She called as she opened a path for the others to come to her side.
"Hang on!" P'li called back as she used her Combustion Bending to throw soldiers to the side.
"Help me out here!" Ming Hua called from a far corner of the room where a few soldiers backed her into a corner.
"Give me a minute!" Ghazan said as he used his earthbending to launch himself close to Ming Hua.
"Let's level the playing field." Ghazan called as he used his lavabending to catch the men of guard before smacking them in a wall, not seeing one of them launched a boulder at ming, which made she smacked against the wall as well.
"Yeah, no." He called as he used the same boulder to smack the man into a wall, sinking him into the ground right before the thing hit him, which made the boulder only scratched his head.
"Lucky for you, we're turning over a new leaf." Ghazan smirked as he helped Ming Hua back up.
"Let's just keep going." Ming Hua groaned as she shrugged off his help and got up herself. Both of them didn't see a man had gotten up behind them before he used his earthbending quick as lightning to send Ghazan flying into a wall, before he lunged a even bigger rock at Ming Hua.
"Ming!" Ghazan exclaimed as he watched the stone edge closer. At first I saw some fear in Ming's eyes, for the first time since we met her as a scared and scarred fourteen year old girl but that turned into raw determination in a matter of seconds, as she took a firm stance and moved her water arms out before her.
"Impossible." All soldiers gasped as a gust of air escaped from Ming's water arms, making the boulder stop and fall down in mid- flight only a few feet from where she stood.
"Airbending?" Ming Hua asked as she looked at her water arms, incredulous. "Alright then." She stated as she looked at the soldiers, before looking at a grinning Ghazan. "What?"
Normal POV
"What?"Ming Hua asked as she looked at Ghazan, who looked at her with twinkling eyes.
"This." Without another word, Ghazan pushed his lips against those of Ming Hua, who stiffened at first before she relaxed and gave in as time seemed to slow down around the two of them.
"About time." P'li chimed as she looked at the two of them kiss.
"I love you." Ghazan whispered as he held the waterbender close.
"Why now?" Ming Hua asked, more gentle than usual.
"I almost lost you twice now without being able to tell you how I feel." Ghazan admitted. "I wanted to tell you before it was too late."
"Melodramatic fool." Ming Hua smiled as she wrapped her water arms around him.
"He's waking up!" Zaheer called all of a sudden, which made Femke's head snap up..
"Are you okay Mister Shergon Sir?" Femke asked as she moved close to Zaheer again, while the fighting around them continued.
"I will survive but you all have to get out of here quickly." Shergon coughed as he leaned on his son and brother to get up. "Can you get me to the portrait of the woman with the black hair and blue eyes?"
"Sure." Zaheer said, giving Xai Bau a stern nod as the pair helped Shergon to the portrait.
"He'll come your way, dearest. Just a little bit more."Shergon whispered to the portrait as he stroked the woman over her cheek before he pushed on the right eye, which made a secret passage open.
"This way!" Femke called as she nodded to Zaheer, who hugged his father one last time before he headed in first, soon followed by master Xai Bau and Tziza.
"I hold them off!" P'li called as she waved at Ming Hua and Ghazan and Combustion bended at the soldiers to keep them at bay, which ghazan somehow saw as a cue to pick up ming hua and launch himself in the passage with his earthbending.
"Will patronizing me become a regular thing?" Ming Hua scolded the Earth bender when they had safely landed.
"How else can I show that I love you?" Ghazan smirked as he held the woman close.
"We got everyone! Lets go!" Femke called, using her own Combustion Bending to make some space between P'li and the soldiers, which gave her a way to run over to her best friend. Together the two women Combustion Bended one last time to make a smoke curtain before they disappeared through the escape and were gone.
"They have escaped my lady." The head of the guards reported to Alteressa as he saluted while two guards helped her back on her feet.
"Make sure all your soldiers are unharmed then report back to your duties." Alteressa commanded, much to the guard's surprise.
"You don't want us to go after them?" The head soldier asked.
"They'll be back once they realize someone needs them." Alteressa said, looking at a wounded Shergon, who was held by two soldiers, looking down sadly since he had been unable to escape.
Please don't come back for me. Find your mother. Find your own happiness. That's what counts most.
Shergon thought as he looked at the roof above him.
That was close." Femke huffed as she put her hands on her knees after they had all ran to the house of P'li"s parents were Ilena, Dizanna, Selvia, Dahlia and her daughter were waiting with the elves and their luggage.
"A little too close. We have to get out of the city. Alteressa will send out a search party soon" Zaheer said while P'li ran over to her parents and hugged them.
"I have to go now but I will be back." P'li assured them with a smile on her face. "This is not farewell. Only goodbye."
"Be careful." Miss Ti smiled as she hugged her daughter.
"Until soon, sis. " Hong Lee beamed as he hugged P'li as well.
"We love you dear. Come visit whenever you can." Chang Lee smiled as he also hugged his daughter.
"I love you all. Thanks for everything." P'li smiled as she hugged the three of them one last time before they all teleported away.
Zaheer's POV
After P'li said goodbye to her family, we transported back to the Western Air temple, putting a spell around it so no one would be able to get in the temple itself without our permission. This was the best place to hide until we were ready for the fight against Darkar. Also, now we knew Lanniban meant us no harm since he was P'li's family, we would sleep a lot easier, as well.
"Anyone hungry? I made dinner." Femke called after a while, which made me smile.
"Coming!" I called, walking to her but just as I wanted to sit down I saw movement by the shield. I went to check it out and let out a yell of shock and surprise.
"What is it?" Femke asked as she ran to my side, dropping the spoon she was holding when she saw who were at the border of the shield.
"Opal? Toph?" She gasped.
"Hey mom. Don't worry we just came by to drop off some help." Toph smirked as she placed a hand on the shield before she stepped aside. Revealing two men. One with a shot of long dark brown messy hair and a strange scar of the left side of his face and the other with short dark brown hair and a mask I knew only from posters I had seen from the White Lotus guards while I was in jail.
"Noatak? Tarrlok?" Femke gasped.
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That ends yet another chapter. I hope you all liked it!
A/N:
Please keep reading to find out more about Zaheer's mother.
I had in my head to make Xai Bau the uncle of Zaheer from the day i started this story. I had read lot of other fanfics that described Xai Bau (since what he looked like was never mentioned in the series) and I thought it was very possible that they were somehow related.
I ship Mingzhan! I thought seeing Ming getting struck again was a good motivation for Ghazan to finally admit his feelings for her.
How and why Noatak and Tarrlok are back now will be revealed in time.
That was all for now! I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as a beta reader and advisor.
Please leave a review!