Avatar: The Last Airbender Created By: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Avatar: The Last Airbender Owned By: Nickelodeon, a subsidiary of Viacom
All original content and characters © Acastus
Chapter XL – Lady and the Tramp
The night was pitch black, the moon had not yet risen. Nikon walked the ramparts of Mequon's inner keep sunk in a brooding silence. He was exhausted and should have been asleep, but he knew better than to even try. The staging of supplies and loading of the tank trains had not been completed by nightfall, so Iroh had decided to delay the army's departure until the following morning. Nikon had spent the day and early evening supervising the refueling of the armor and planning the last details of the battle plan based on the latest scouting reports. Now, with all the decisions made, he had only to endure the stubborn, lonely hours before daybreak.
Every hundred feet a guard of the watch stood at attention between a pair of huge fire pots. Their flames leapt to the sky, making shadows dance on the crenellations of the battlement. Each of the guards saluted smartly as the daimyo passed, their faces concealed by their hideous skull masks.
Nikon gathered his cloak about him. The steppe was hot during the day, but cooled off rapidly at night. Like the desert, there was little on the grassy plain to retain heat. Below he could hear the gentle sounds of the Yangtze as its wide, slulggish expanse skirted the northeastern edge of the fortress. These dwindled as the parapet turned north with the curtain wall.
The upcoming battle had occupied his every thought, but now his mind drifted across the dizzying events of the past weeks and months. War on the Nasu. Lake Myojin. Xian's death. The continued threat of Tien Shin. The promotion. The desert. The dam. The rockets. The mysterious and exotic seer who somehow stood astride their fates. Each swirled in his consciousness like episodes from one of the wretched pulp fiction serials sold by the cart load in the night markets of the capital.
None of it seemed real. Cycling the events over and over in his head, it seemed as if they had happened to someone else entirely. He'd grown up nameless and homeless in the gutters of the greatest city in the world. Now he was the best friend of the Crown Prince and the direct superior of another, the latter perhaps the most hated and feared creature in the Empire. He could barely add and subtract, but he was all too aware that the probabilities against such a life as he had lead were overwhelming.
Yet it was all too real. Nifong was real. He had witnessed the enemy's might at Lake Myojin and seen with his own eyes the broken bodies of his comrades.
"Will it be any different this time?" He wondered in quiet desperation, "Have we suffered all this for nothing?"
Alien and uncomfortable feelings of loneliness and doubt gnawed at him.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Nikon was jarred out of his melancholy by one of the very objects of his reverie.
The governor of Mequon stood before him, having approached from the opposite direction. She wore a white gown with many deep folds and a long train thrown over her left shoulder. The broad crimson border held in common with her formal kimono scored a deep purple in the darkness.
She smiled.
"I'm sorry. I startled you."
No one should have been able to approach him without detection. Had she been an assassin he would surely have been dead.
"Oh! Well, uh, I guess so."
He felt like an utter fool. He resisted the urge to look her up and down. Perhaps he had met an assassin after all.
The governor's smile widened.
"Normally I shouldn't inquire, daimyo Orlando, but shouldn't you be asleep?"
"Yes, Governor T'Zan," he admitted with a rueful nod of his head, "I should."
She nodded acceptance of the admission. There was no need to ask why.
"Do you often walk your battlements at midnight, your Excellency?" he inquired politely, trying to recover his balance.
"Every night. In times of trouble it gives my people comfort to know their leader sees personally to the defense of the city."
She was remarkable.
"Is Iroh asleep?" she wondered.
Nikon blew out a large breath, unaware he had been holding it, and responded, "Yes, thank Agni, he needs it. He nodded off at the end of my briefing an hour or so ago."
She studied him thoughtfully. He held her gaze, knowing that she was assessing him.
"You have become a great friend to him."
It was a statement. Such was her certainty he felt no need to respond.
"I'm glad he has such a friend," she continued in earnest, "Like Xian… he is a good man trapped in an unforgiving world."
"The world is cruel, your Excellency, but Prince Iroh has learned to handle it well," he responded with pride, "May Lord Azulon live forever, but Iroh will be a magnificent Fire Lord," then, exhaustion lowering his inhibitions blurted forth, "I know you're like a sister to him – and to Gan."
She smiled again.
"I suppose so, I would have been blessed indeed to have brothers like them."
"Gan probably won't be talking to any of us after what we did to him this morning though, if we all live through this mess anyway."
"No," she replied with a chuckle, "but I don't begrudge Commander Shiung's choice, it is sound. Besides, he's safer on the Inferno than he would be anywhere except the city and for all his bookishness I know he could never abide that while you and Iroh face danger."
An uneasy silence descended. He had questions, so many, but they died on his lips. Iroh had sworn him to secrecy.
She saw right through him.
"You have questions."
"Many," he confirmed.
"Ask them."
He hesitated, unable to force himself to voice his fears and to risk betraying the confidence of his friend.
She saved him the torment.
"Iroh trusts you."
"Yes."
"As he trusts me."
The implication was clear, but still unspoken.
"Please," he implored, breaking eye contact, "Lord Governor, I only want…"
"Nikon."
He looked back at her, her face now illumated on one side by the nearest fire pot and on the other by the waxing moon that had risen in the few minutes since her appearance.
"My given name is Rhiannon. Iroh and Gan have free use of it. I give it you as well."
Nikon actually welled up, an extremely rare and uncomfortable experience. He bowed deeply.
"You are everything Iroh said, Rhiannon."
She laughed, a silvery sound that filled him with joy in a way that no other sound ever had.
"Well, that could cut many ways! Still, I take it as the compliment I hope you intend."
He looked at her once again. Her smile faded.
"Ask."
He couldn't help it. The ridiculous, stupid question came out before he could even think to stop it.
"Are you married?"
She looked at him, momentarily stunned at the unexpected question.
Suddenly she burst out laughing, covering her mouth in an unconscious court gesture of modesty.
"No," she replied after she had regained her composure, "No, I'm not."
"I'm sorry," he fumbled, "That was stupid, I uh…"
What the hell was going on? He'd never been this clueless around a woman. Ever. It wasn't her rank or her golden locks either. He had no idea what it was.
Her laughter died down to a chuckle. She cocked her head in a good natured way.
"You are sweet, despite your reputation, but I don't advise courting me, Nikon, and I think you know why."
Nikon dipped his head in acknowledgement.
"I know, I'm sorry," recovering some of his boldness he took her hand in his, "I didn't mean to be such an ass. Iroh told me how you loved Xian."
Her smile faded and she looked down at the parapet, but did not release Nikon's grip.
"Please believe me," he continued, "for the short time I knew him, Xian was my hero, who stood in the place of my own excellent father. I would die rather than let the same thing happen to Iroh."
She squeezed his hand once and released it. She looked back up at him, her expression taut.
"I believe you."
The wind whipped the fire in the pots. It rustled his cloak and the purpled edges of her gown.
He pursed his lips, then ventured forth.
"Will we lose?"
"I don't know."
"Have you… seen anything then?"
So there it was. She knew without asking Iroh had confided in this man. She did not question it, for she believed in the Crown Prince.
"So, he did tell you."
She drew herself up, and though she was shorter than he, she seemed to tower over him.
"Commoner you were born, Nikon Orlando," she thundered, "but you have been called to a higher destiny! Swear to me on your friendship with the son of Azulon that you will keep this secret!"
Suddenly he was afraid of the imperious woman before him who regarded him with cold and penetrating eyes.
He swallowed once and nodded his assent.
"I swear, Rhiannon."
Her intensity ebbed, her countenance slowly falling vacant.
"It is well then, Nikon… for what Iroh told you is true… now and then I see the crystal visions," she replied, "I keep my visions to myself… dreams of loneliness, despair and heartbreak. Would you really see these things with me?"
He steeled himself and pressed on.
"I would."
"You are brave then."
"I am a fool," he offered with complete sincerity.
"Aren't we all?" she countered.
He took a breath.
"Did you… did you see what happened at Lake Myojin? What… happened to Xian?"
Her eyes widened. She had expected questions about the future. Instead he asked her the very question she had intended to ask him in trade about the past.
"No…," she replied, "did you?"
"Didn't Iroh tell you?"
She shook her head.
"All he told me was Xian died in battle, but he wasn't there. You were."
"I was," Nikon confirmed bitterly.
She lurched forward, intense once again, "Tell me what happened, Nikon, please. How… how did he die?"
He had expected to hear prophecies of doom, now he found himself launching once again into the tragedy of the Little Round Top and the destruction of the leviathans. He had to hold back tears once again as he related the dying prince's final agonies.
"I'm so sorry," Nikon concluded miserably, "We… I… should have saved him somehow…"
The governor looked past the young commoner into the night. Wordlessly she put a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort.
"You try to comfort me, Rhiannon," the daimyo commented with a mixture of incredulity and bitterness, "but it is you who should be comforted. I can only imagine how you must feel."
"There is no comfort for me, none at all," she replied gently, "do not hold yourself to account for the impossible. I am not the only one who grieves."
After a few moments she turned to face him once more.
"Why did you ask me that? Why the past instead of the future?"
This time it was he who looked away, unconsciously biting his lip. He'd been caught fishing and hadn't thought ahead how to answer the charge.
Her quick mind, almost unique in her ability to operate through stress and anguish, analyzed Nikon's account.
"What was Xian doing out there, Nikon? He was needed on the line," she asked as Iroh had weeks before, then with sudden intensity, "And where was Tien Shin?"
Nikon met her gaze.
"Iroh asked the same thing, but we never pursued it."
The suspicion hung between them.
"What we didn't know when Iroh asked the question originally was that Tien Shin did survive… using Xian's tank train."
Bitter tears sparkled in the alternating harsh orange light of the fire pots and the soft pallor of the moon.
"He got him alone, then…" she whispered, "You know that, right?"
Nikon looked at the ground and nodded.
"Chieng was certain the moment he showed up in the Comet, but we haven't brought this to Iroh. There's no evidence and no motive as far as we can tell. There's no way in that situation Tien Shin could have expected to survive. Why kill your commanding officer in the middle of a hopeless battle? Don't mistake me – I don't put it past him at all! I think he did it, in fact I'm damn sure he did it! I just don't know how or why. Anyway, Iroh has enough on his mind without us bringing hugely explosive allegations like this to him."
She wiped the silent tears away as they came.
"He'd believe you, evidence or motive withstanding, and that's the real problem," she responded, "Iroh would kill Tien Shin without compunction if he thought for a moment he was responsible for Xian's death."
Nikon twisted away to look out over the parapet, his countenance becoming wild.
"But would that be the worst thing?" he suddenly roared in frustration, "We're at war, he's the commanding general, you're the lawfully appointed governor, who cares if Tien Shin accepts agni kai or not? Maybe we should just kill him!"
The governor eyed him for a moment before responding.
"I pushed for the same thing yesterday," she revealed finally, "but Iroh argued against it. He's probably right. As much as we hate it, defeating Nifong is more important than getting rid of Tien Shin."
Nikon, rapidly cooling in the face of the governor's controlled demeanor, grunted in unhappy agreement.
"Iroh said we needed him to win," she continued skeptically, "but is it true? Do we need actually need my horrid fiancé for this battle?"
Another ugly question. There seemed to be no shortage of them.
Nikon sighed. He felt old.
"Yes, yes, we do, or let's say our chances, whatever they may be, are better with him than without him."
Rhiannon smiled gently.
"Now it is my turn to be sorry, that was rough of me. I know that must have hurt to admit."
Nikon laughed.
"You have no idea… or," he reconsidered, "well, yes, I guess you do."
Then he caught it.
"Wait… fiancé?"
Her countenance went cold.
"Yes. Didn't Iroh tell you that either?"
"Uh... no."
Suddenly he understood Tien Shin's veiled threat in her audience chamber the day before. The thought of this beautiful creature shackled against her will to the monster they both suspected of Xian's murder was almost too much to bear.
"No!" he cried again, his voice rising, "No way!"
Without even thinking his hands turned to fists wreathed in blue fire. Expertly and without hesitation she grabbed his flaming limbs, brought them together and doused them with the palms of her hands.
"Talented, I see," she observed with approval, "but this isn't the time for a display."
He calmed instantly. He'd never seen such a move before.
"Wow! How'd you do that?"
She dropped his hands.
"Years of practice."
She regarded him evenly.
"Im sorry, I, just can't imagine you with…" he trailed off mid sentence.
"Neither can I," she agreed bitterly.
"But… but… how?"
"Fire Lady Ila contrived to have me betrothed to her little monster six months before my father was nominated by the War College for the governorship. I begged the Fire Lord for leave to accompany my father since he was already quite old and the appointment was only for two years. He agreed, thank Agni. Lady Ila was furious, but Lord Azulon had already approved my request in public and his decision published in the palace register."
"I don't get it, why weren't you betrothed to Xian if you wanted to be with each other?"
He was asking ridiculously personal questions. He couldn't stop himself.
She looked at him sadly.
"Oh, you are sweet, aren't you? Imperial politics means never getting to choose your mate. Hasn't Iroh told you anything? What exactly do you two talk about?"
He felt slightly ashamed of his ignorance, though he knew she wasn't judging him for it. She sighed and continued.
"Xian was betrothed when he was eighteen to Tien Shin's younger sister. It broke my heart. It hurt so much, sometimes I didn't know if I would survive. She died of a fever while he was on campaign in the southern Earth Kingdom, but by then… I was already promised to that… that thing."
"I'm sorry," Nikon mumbled, unsure what else to say.
"I am too, for all of us."
"How did you end up staying… oh."
Nikon's voice trailed off. He remembered Iroh and Gan's first mention of their childhood friend the night after he and Chieng had returned from the dreadful retreat over the Ping Tou.
"Why did I end up staying here?" she prompted, "I'm sure Iroh told you that. The war continued to go badly, and father was an excellent governor who inspired confidence in our allies. He reappointed father to another term."
She laughed once more, this time heavily colored with melancholy.
"I helped father as best I could. He knew how I felt about Tien Shin, but he had been powerless to refuse Lady Ila. I buried myself in work to try to forget the horror that awaited me. Father made me his legate in his second term. Then he was murdered, as I'm sure you know, and the Fire Lord bade me take his place. I was shocked when I received the promotion. I expected to be ordered home."
Nikon considered this for a moment.
"If Tien Shin gets back… he'll carry out his threats, won't he? All of them."
"Oh yes," she confirmed, her voice frigid.
"What will you do?"
She paused, refusing now to meet his gaze.
"I don't know."
He suspected this was a lie, but wisely declined to press any further.
"Well, hey, we don't even know if he survives the battle, right?"
"No, we don't… but I can tell you that Iroh will survive."
Nikon stopped short, then exhaled a large breath.
"Thank, Agni! So you did see something! What, what did you see?"
She hesitated, clearly editing her response.
"I saw him… in the Fire Lord's palace."
"That's great! Oh, man, I feel much better," then suddenly confused, "but I don't get it, doesn't that mean we'll win? Why didn't you say that earlier?"
She shook her head once again.
"No, it wasn't clear whether he was victorious or not. I also saw where the battle takes place, in the Field of Coins, but you already know this now. All I can tell you is that the battle, or part of it at least, takes place where you have planned it. As to the outcome… that I did not see."
"Well, at least it's something… though I wish you'd seen a rock drop on Tien Shin."
She snorted.
"Didn't Iroh tell you I never see anything good?"
The regarded each other in silence for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Anything else you can tell me before we do this thing?" he asked after they recovered.
"Stay alive."
"I meant anything useful?"
"Staying alive is useful."
He could see she meant it.
"Okay, I guess I agree with that."
This time an easy silence settled over them. The moon sped in its arc across the sky.
"Well, I guess better try to get a few hours of sleep," he said finally, reluctant to leave her presence, but knowing it was time, "I bet it'll be the last I get for a while."
Rhiannon stepped forward and hugged him. Surprised and embarrassed, he felt a warm rush at her unexpected embrace. After a moment's hesitation he hugged her back.
She released him and without a word resumed her walk down the parapet from where he had come.
A thought struck him as she disappeared from view and he found himself calling out to her.
"Hey, hey wait a minute! What reputation!?"
The echoes of her silver laughter were his only reply.
