Chapter 37: Lianna's Revelation
Zaheer's POV
All of us gasped when this woman said her name but I was most shocked out of all of us. Lianna the name of the woman that had both warned the Firelord about Atteritta's existence and tried to send presents for me to my father.
whether or not they were the same person or not I didn't know she knew my father.
"Were you the one that warned the Firelord about Atteritta?" Femke asked, also shocked.
"I am. I also tried to contact Zaheer since he was a young child." Lianna smiled as she looked at me. "Your father has been my best friend since our school days."
"We might finally get some answers about that 'Sterile' thing." Ghazan commented. Lianna looked at them with widened eyes.
"You know about that?" She asked.
"I recently found out." I admitted smiling.
"He didn't tell you everything, did he?" Lianna asked carefully as she took a step towards me.
"He didn't have the chance. We had to flee soon after we found out about it." I said. "I know enough to assume you're my biological mother."
"Well, I…" Lianna started but stopped as a bunch of Alteressa's guard grabbed her from behind.
"No!"I called as I took a bending stance, blowing the men away before I ran to Lianna and helped her back up.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"I am, Zaheer. My son." She smiled at me as I looked at her with widened eyes before I went over and hugged her. My mother. My true mother.
"How? Why?" Was all I could say, many questions popping in my head at once, not understanding why she had left me with Altressa, why she had never tried to visit me. Why she hadn't somehow tried to smuggle me out when she had the chance. Why she didn't come to me when I was at the Red Lotus with my uncle!
"I will explain later. For now we have different problems." Lianna smiled as she pointed at the guards, who got up and were soon joined by a dozen more.
"You promised to never contact Zaheer." Alteressa's voice called as she walked towards us with my father trailing behind her. His arms were forced behind his back by one of Alteressa's guards as he looked at my biological mother with a smile on his face, his eyes beaming, knowing I knew who she was now.
"I didn't. He found me." Lianna stated firmly before she looked at my father with a smile on her face. "Are you okay, love?" She asked my father, sounding worried.
"I'm fine. Better now I know my son knows his real mother. Who will love him no matter what he chooses." Shergon smiled as he looked at me with a proud smile. "Never forget; love will alwaysconquer evil."
After this statement he suddenly blasted the guard of him with a gust of air before he ran away with the guard chasing after him.
"Wait what?" Femke asked as she looked at my father a rather deadpan look.
"Even coïncidences can get inherited, I guess." Ghazan remarked.
"He was one of the new airbenders as well? How did the Earth Queen miss him?" Bumi wondered out loud as we all watched Shergon dive and blast with the little airbending he managed to produce to get away.
"He's rich. Whenever conscription rolls around the elite don't get asked. And if they do, they're on a very convenient vacation." Zaheer replied.
"Clever, if not lazy." Femke remarked with a shrug as Alteressa ordering around her guards.
"Subdue him! Don't let him get away!"Alteressa called as one of the guards took his bow and arrow and tried to hit Shergon. I looked away with tears running down my face as my father collapsed halfway through a leap to a roof.
"Brother!" Xai Bau called out, running towards his brother with a look of horror on his face. He was bleeding rather badly.
"Father!"I shouted, before running to my uncle's side as he looked over my father.
"He's still breathing. Get a medic over here." Xai Bau called while Miss Ti came to sit by master Xai Bau's side.
"I can heal him, just hold still." The older woman said as she used her bending.
"I said subdue him, not murder him!" Alteressa called with an angry look to the man who had shot, who looked back nervously.
"I'm sorry, my lady. It was meant to be a warning shot I swear I didn't mean to hurt your husband." The man stammered.
"I will deal with you later." She growled as she looked at the rest of her guards. "Take that woman, we're leaving." After which the guards ran towards Lianna but I was faster and got in front of her, spreading my arms wide to defend her.
"You're notgetting her." I said firmly as my friends all got in front of her as well.
"That woman is a liar. Whatever she told you it isn't real." Alteressa tried but I knew better than to believe her. This woman was my real mother. I could feel it in my heart.
I looked back at were my uncle was holding my father with a sad look in his eyes as Aunt Ti tried to heal him. This was serious. He could die.
"You're a liar yourself. Why don't you tell me what reallyhappened?" I snapped, feeling the rage I had kept in my entire youth well up in me. All these years I had lived in a golden cage while I could have been with a woman that really loved me for me and would have allowed me to marry the woman I loved no matter whom she had been and what status she had.
"I'm notlying and how dare you say that!" Alteressa snapped as she looked at me firmly. "I am your mother. I've done so much for you."
"What you've done for me?" I huffed while crossing my arms. "All you have ever done was tell me who to be, what to wear, how to behave. I didn't ever wanted to be like that." I snapped at her as I took a step toward my actual mother.
"You would have never let it come this far. I can see in your eyes you and dad wanted to make me really happy, status or not." I smiled as I looked at my biological mother, who looked at me with tears in her eyes as she nodded.
"You would have never met your friends if you had been able to stay with me." My mother smiled.
"Maybe. Maybe not." I smiled as I looked at them. "Too bad we'll never know it would have spared the world a lot of pain."
"But without you, the Earth Kingdom had still been a monarchy." King Wu suddenly said as he came out from behind Mako, looking a little nervous to speak up but determined to say what he wanted to say. "Next time just don't try to kill people."
"The Earth Kingdom did need to change along with this age. However, I plan on doing so without violence. I hope you will do the same." Wu said, which made me look up at him with surprise.
"I'm willing to let go of the past and allow you to remain in my life if you still want me as I am. As I reallyam" I said as I took a step towards Alteressa and offered her my hand.
"I want my son back." Alteressa said with a stern look.
"You can't have him! That person is gone! He was a mechanism to cope in your… your created Hell."I yelled before pointing at myself. "This is me! The real me! Either live with that or leave me alone!"I yelled before I ran off with the others gasping as they looked after me.
Lianna's POV
"Zaheer?" The young woman Zaheer was in love with whispered as she looked after him. The poor man had offered Alteressa a second chance and a place in his life, which she refused.
I understand he was so upset
I thought as an ambulance finally arrived, taking my dear Shergon to the hospital for treatment, while the esteemed Chief Bei Fong arrested the man that had shot at him for questioning.
I should go after him
I thought smiling as I noted down the name of the hospital they took Shergon to before I went to find zaheer. He was in a meditative state under a tree across of the grand gate of the Batu mansion. I went to sit next to him.
"She can be… difficult." I said after a while of just sitting next to him, causing Zaheer to look up at me with one eye open before he nodded. "She has been like that for as long as I have known her." I sighted.
"I don't understand why. You have done nothing wrong." Zaheer said as he looked up at me sadly.
"Some people are like that. They only care about themselves." I said as I looked down sadly. "Even if it means destroying everything around them."
"Why can't she just accept change." Zaheer said as he looked up at the blue sky.
"Not everyone is supportive of change." I remarked while looking up at the sky as well. "Dethroning the Earth Queen brought a lot of good. But she didn't have to die." I gave my son a stern look.
"I know that now." He said, before he looked down guilt.
"You tried to do what was right, but your actions got others hurt. Innocent people." I told my son with a stern look, who nodded in understanding.
"How did I end up with Alteressa?" zaheer asked me now. "You didn't give up on me willingly."
"I didn't. I loved you from the very first time I saw you." I smiled, memories of that day started to surface.
"It's a healthy boy, Miss Ling." The midwife smiled as she held a wailing newborn in her arms.
"Here we go little man. Say hello to your mother." The midwife smiled as she placed the newborn on my chest, causing him to immediately quiet down. He was looking a lot like his father but he had my eyes. He was just perfect.
"Welcome to the world, little one." I smiled as I held my newborn son with a smile on my face, looking up as Shergon rushed into the room.
"Lianna?" He beamed as he came to sit next to me, beaming at the baby as well.
"I'm fine." I smiled as I gave him a kiss on his cheek. "We have a son. An adorable little boy." Shergon smiled as he looked at the little boy in my arms.
"What are we going to name him?" I asked.
"How about Heer? After my brother?" Shegon offered with a smile on his face.
"That troublemaker? He looks too peaceful for that." I brought in, chuckling a little.
"What would you name him?" Shergon asked me teasingly.
"How about Zaheer? Zaheer Yorru Ling. Zaheer for short." I offered, smiling as I looked down at our baby with a soft smile.
"That sounds perfect." Shergon smiled as he gently took his son and held him close. "Zaheer Yorru Ling."
For that one moment we were perfectly happy. That ended soon do as some kind of Guards appeared out of nowhere and forced me to stand up, which I almost couldn't do due to the intense labor I was still recovering from.
"So this is the woman you actually love." Alteressa said bitterly as she came in and looked over me. As she did so, her eyes fell on Zaheer, who was still in Shergon's arms.
"And you didn't even marry her?" She said as she walked to Shegon and looked at the child with utter hate. "Get rid of it."
"No." I gasped as I tried desperately to get to my son to protect him.
"You can't be serious." Shergon said, backing away. "Get rid of an innocent child?"
"Just make sure I never have to see it." Alteressa said with a stern look.
"You and I Both know he might be your only hope to an heir." Shergon said with a stern look. This confused me.
"There are other ways to acquire an heir." Altressa said. "Why should I take your bastard son in?"
"He has my blood running through his veins. We can easily make let word get around that he is ours." Shergon said as he shot me an apologizing look as he said this. I nodded, understanding why he said this. He was trying to save our son.
"You're offering up the son you and her had as our heir?" Alteressa asked with suspicion. "Until you 'accidentally' tell the truth so he can flee to his real mother."
"I promise on the Batu name that Zaheer will never know who his birthmother was." Shegon promised with one hand on his heart.
"I'm sure you will keep your word but what about her." Alteressa sneered, looking at me firmly.
"I won't tell him. I will move out of Ba Sing Se and never return. I'll do anything as long as you spare my son's life." I said with a desperate voice, knowing his life was in her hands.
"If I ever see you again ore hear a whisper that you tried to contact my son there will be consequences." Alteressa said as she took zaheer over from Shergon and looked at him with a small smile. As soon as she looked at little Zaheer started to cry loudly.
"I won't, I promise." I replied with a small voice while looking at the wailing Zaheer in her arms with tears in my eyes. I hated to hear him cry but I knew there was no other way to save his life.
"You better keep to your word." Alteressa said icily. "For both of your sakes." After this, I was allowed to lie back down while Shergon had to go with Alteressa and my son, returning the next day as I was getting ready to leave the hospital.
"I'm so sorry about yesterday." Shergon said with a sad look as he entered the room I was packing my belongings in, which made me look back at him with tears in my eyes.
"Shergon." I whispered, before hurrying over to hug him. "How is Zaheer?"
"He is doing fine if not a bit fussy." Shergon smiled carefully as he helped me pack some things before he placed something between my clothes; a photo of Shergon who was holding Zaheer in his arms. Zaheer looked at the camera curiously, which made tears fill my eyes.
"He's beautiful. Just perfect." I smiled as I looked at the picture, knowing it would be the only one of him that I would be able to have. I would never see him again.
"I will try and send pictures of him as often as I can." Shergon offered with a smile on his face as he took me in his arms one last time. "You can see him grow that way."
"That would be wonderful but also very painful. It's for the best." I looked away, knowing this was going to hurt. I would never be able to take Zaheer in my arms or tell him I loved him. At least I would be able to see him grow up and maybe someday I would be able to speak to him.
"Don't worry, I will keep him safe. He will have a good life with Alteressa and me." Shergon smiled as he cupped up my head and looked me straight into my eyes. "It won't be forever. When he is old enough to understand, I'll tell him everything. I promise. Someday we'll be a family again."
Shergon promised me with tears in his eyes, kissing me one last time before he went out of the room as quickly as possible. I thought that would be the last time I would ever see him.
"That's such a sad story." Zaheer said after a long while.
"I thought so too, until today at the party. I saw you dance with your girlfriend." I smiled as I placed a hand on my son's knee. "You're a good dancer."
"Thanks. Alteressa always told me I dance better then my father." Zaheer grinned as I giggled. That sounded familiar.
"He was bad at it. He always trotted all over my feet as well whenever we danced." I said, remembering the few times Shergon and I danced.
"I wish I could have been there for you and taught you some of the other skills I possess." I smiled as I put my sock down a little and showed him I had a small dagger hidden in my shoe.
"Great minds think alike." Zaheer smiled as he put down his own sock, revealing he also hid a dagger in his shoe.
"It was your father who gave me that idea" I smiled.
"Swordsmanship runs in your blood from two sides of your real family. My parents taught me how to defend myself despite it being unbecoming of a Lady."
"Why? Women have been fighters for a long while. It's not considered abnormal any more." Zaheer said.
"Not where I grew up." I said as I looked down.
"Is that why you and father weren't allowed to marry?" Zaheer asked.
"They thought any kid of mine would be a wild child like me. That's why I never got married." I admitted with a sheepish smile.
"Any kid of your bloodline would be as amazing as you." Zaheer smiled as he placed a hand on mine and looked at me with a stern look. "They just can't stand change."
"I know but it is too late now. You're my only child." I said as I looked away.
"I would have loved to have a younger sibling." Zaheer admitted before looking up as Master Xai Bau came to us with a small smile on his face.
"The doctors say Shergon will survive." He smiled as he came to sit by our side.
"That's good to hear." Zaheer said, relieved to hear his father was going to survive this whole ordeal. I was, as well. It meant my dream of becoming a family again was one step closer.
"We have to go again soon to finish our mission. Do you want to go see him before we go?" Xai Bau asked as Zaheer nodded and got up, offering me a hand to help me get up before we walked to the hospital and into the room Shergon lied in.
Normal POV
"Dad?" Zaheer whispered as soon as he saw his father lying in the bed, his chest wrapped in bandages.
"He's going to be fine." Femke assured her boyfriend as she walked to him and hugged him. "The doctor said he just needs to rest."
"Has he woken up?" Zaheer asked as he looked at his father sadly.
"Not yet. They're keeping him asleep so the wound can heal properly." Femke said as she followed her boyfriend's gaze to his father lying in the bed with Lianna sitting next to him, gently holding his hand. Shergon himself was dreaming he heard a baby cry. This made him run to a beautifully decorated nursery and pick up the little boy that lied in a crib, crying his eyes out.
"Hush little one." Shegon whispered as he picked his infant son up and rocked him in his arms. The infant didn't stop wailing as he had done for many nights now. So much so that Alteressa got tired of him and threatened to take him away.
"He will come around, give him time. He just needs to get used to you." Shergon had assured his now wife.
"I do hope so for both of your sakes." Alteressa had told him before she had walked off which had made him gulp in fear and run to the nursery, only to find little zaheer in his crib, peacefully asleep and unharmed. He was okay for now. But that same night he started crying again because he missed his mother. There was nothing he could do to stop that.
"I know little one. I miss her as well." He told the little boy in his lap. "But she isn't coming back. She can't. Alteressa is mommy now. Please understand."
At his plea Zaheer stopped crying before he let out a small cute giggle and pulled at his father's beard. He smiled at this he was strong already.
"We only have each other now but I promise it won't be forever." He whispered as he caressed his son's cheek. "When you're older I will help you find mommy. And then we'll finally be a family."
"I'm sure he will be okay. He is your father after all." Femke smiled.
"If anyone is too stubborn to die it's someone like you." Ghazan commented with a smirk on his face.
"Femke is right, he's treated by the best doctors in the hospital, he will come around if they say he will." Noatak said as he walked to Zaheer and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We should focus on saving Atteritta as soon as the trial is over."
"We really should go check up on her." P'li said.
"I wish I could go back with you but it's I better if I stay away from that village. They might hurt me if they see me." Lianna said as she looked down sadly.
"With the firelord around you'll be fine." Ghazan said.
"Remember how that didn't work?" Zuko said.
"You're a pretty good fighter. You would be able to defend yourself." Zaheer smiled as he stood next to his mother, looking at his father who shifted in his sleep.
Shergon Batu watched proudly as his son was running through the garden with a sword he had made from wood for the boy. He had been very happy with it and was now pretending he was fighting a bunch of bad guys with it.
"Take that, pirate scum." The three year old beamed as he pretending he was fighting one on one with a pirates.
"Did you see that? I almost got him" The three year old beamed as he looked up at his father.
"You sure did." Shergon smiled as he helped his son stand back up with a smile on his face. "You could have gotten him if you had taken a firmer stance." The older man smiled as he showed his son a steady stance for a battle as Leianna had once taught him.
"That looks like an Earthbender" Zaheer said, which made Shergon look up at him proudly.
"Very good." Shergon complimented his son while ruffling his short black hair before he started to teach him a few tricks Lianna had taught him.
"Zaheer! Time to wash up for dinner!" Alteressa called as she walked into the garden a few hours later, just in time to see Zaheer make a backflip with a sword in his hand, launching it into a puppet made of wood and straw.
"Got it!" the young boy exclaimed happily as he looked up at his father with pride.
"You're very good with the sword." shergon complimented as he picked his son up. "We better get washed up for dinner or your mother will be very angry with us."
"I was just getting warmed up." Zaheer whined.
"I don't want to stop either, but you know mommy doesn't want us being late." Shergon replied with a sad smile as he walked with the little boy on his arm to the main house, looking up when he saw Alteressa already waiting for them.
"Are you teaching him to fight?" Alteressa asked firmly as she looked at the puppet with a stern look. "That is not how you raise a gentleman."
"It might come in handy." Shergon remarked with a sly smile on his face as a plan formed in his head. "Any gentlemen should know how to defend himself."
"That would indeed be an advantage." Alteressa nodded. "But we have guards for that."
"They can't always help him." He offered. "These are dangerous times."
"Good point." Alteressa said as she looked down considering her husbands words a moment.
"Alright, you can teach the boy how to defend himself." Alteressa said with a small smile on her face, at which both men silently cheered. "Just make sure he doesn't turn into some sort of delinquent."
"Yes, love." Shergon said before following his wife into the house with Zaheer, who was beaming up at him happily. Shergon was just happy he was able to teach his son one of his mother's traits.
'They will meet someday. I'm sure of that.'
Shergon thought as he went inside to have dinner with his wife and son, smirking as he pictured the look on Lianna's face when she would see her son was a fighter someday.
"Look, he's smiling in his sleep." Allerys remarked as she points at Shergon ,who was indeed smiling in his sleep.
"He's probably dreaming of something pleasant." Zaheer remarked as he gently gave his fathers hand a squeeze.
"Anyway." Ilene said as she coughed to get everones' attention. "Since Darkar didn't manage to get our powers in Voorfield, we might want to check on Atteritta indeed. He might see her as a way to get what he wants."
"Ilene is right, before the trial starts we have to make sure Atteritta is safe." Femke nodded before they all looked at Zaheer, who looked back at them with a sad face.
"Could you go without me? I want to stay with my father." Zaheer sighed.
"We understand." Femke smiled as she went over and hugged Zaheer, before turning to the others. "Right?"
"Right." Ghazan said as he raised his thumb at his best friend.
"I would do the same" P'li smiled as she nodded.
"Can we go now?" Ming commented.
"Thanks." Zaheer smiled as he hugged his friends around the neck before they disappeared in a flash to Songpan to see Atteritta.
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And with that I declare the chapter finished. A big thank you to paranoidgirl for Beta Reading.
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