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Restoration

Chapter 8

"…meanwhile he's trying to sleep and the Fire Nation is almost at our doorstep. So I…" Hana abruptly stopped since the bird suddenly stood up and chirped frantically in alarm before it hastily flew away. She was confused for a moment until she felt the strong presence of someone. Hana lowered herself deeper into the water and crossed her arms over her chest feeling very self-conscious and embarrassed because of being caught in this vulnerable state. As soon as she felt the presence of someone, she heard a voice.

"Excuse us, please."

Hana slowly turned around to see two men standing about twenty feet away from her amongst the trees. They both wore Earth Kingdom clothes. The one was tall, very muscular and very rough looking with his large arms crossed in front of his chest, and the other was of medium height, slender build and looked refined and dignified having his hands folded and held at the level of his waist. 'These guys look like the odd couple.' Hana thought raising an eyebrow.

"We're sorry to disturb you." The slender man said bowing respectfully.

"I accept your apology. Now please leave." Hana said briskly trying not to sound too irritated or rude.

"We would like to ask you a question." The slender man said, seeming not to have heard Hana's last statement.

"Maybe I need to spell it out for you. I am bathing here right now, so Get Out!!" Hana shouted, loosing her temper. 'Who are these guys? Is Mr. Toothpick dense our something?'

"Just answer one simple question, and I promise you that we will be on our way." He continued to disregard Hana's growing anger.

"First tell me your names." Hana commanded.

"I do beg your pardon. My name is Yu, Master Yu. And this is Xin Fu." Yu said in gesturing towards Xin Fu.

"Alright, what do you want to know Master Yu?"

"I was wondering if you have seen a young man with a scar over his left eye."

"Why would you want to know about a young man with a scar?" Hana asked curiously wondering about how much trouble Lee is in to have people of the Earth Kingdom pursuing him as well.

"It's quite simple. The Fire Nation is offering a large sum for the arrest of this boy and his uncle. Have you seen anyone resembling this description?" Yu said respectfully.

"How could you possibly want to help the Fire Nation?" Hana asked incredulously.

"Just answer the question! You're in no position to make accusations." Xin Fu said harshly. At this reply, Hana moved back slightly.

Hana started to weight things out in her head quickly because she had no time to spare. 'I forgot he was here. Dang. How do I get out of this one? I could say "I haven't seen him", but if they run into him or worse Lee shows up now, then this Xin Fu guy will definitely cause me some trouble. I know that I can definitely take on the Yu guy with just waterbending, no problem. But if I have to fight both these guys with just waterbending, then it might be a little rough. Especially in my undergarments no less!! Ugh, how do I get myself into these things?!'

"Since you are being very rude, I decline in answering your question." Hana said defiantly, trying to stall as long as she could until she could think of good solution to the present problem.

Master Yu turned to Xin Fu saying, "Why does your temper have to make things more difficult?"

Xin Fu ignored Yu's question and replied to Hana, saying in a threatening manner, "You're going to answer the question whether you want to or not." Xin Fu then assumed a wider stance with his legs. Hana recognized this stance and knew that she was facing two earthbenders. The only thing that kept resounding in her head was 'Crap.'

Xin Fu could not be patient any longer. He had a feeling that this girl was hiding something, which was probably about the young man they wanted. Xin Fu was going to get answers out her or else. He quickly stopped his one foot on the ground and raised both of his arms up.

Before Hana could make a move, she was encased in an earthen prison, which resembled an upside-down cone with her head sticking out the "bottom" of the cone. Hana struggled trying to break the hard earth. She couldn't move around much since she was sitting on her heels, knees bent, and her arms were folded across her chest. There was a glimmer of hope of getting out of this prison since Hana was able to move her arms a little. Xin Fu continued, now taking on the air of an interrogator.

"Not so cocky now, huh, little girl." Xin Fu said with a smirk, advancing towards her. Master Yu only rolled his eyes feeling that this situation was getting out of hand, especially because of Xin Fu's short temper.

Xin Fu stopped his advance when he got to the edge of the embankment and crouched down saying, "I know that you are hiding something from us. Tell us were he is."

Hana thought fast. First, Hana brought her arms as far down as she could so now she had both of her elbows against the walls of her prison with both of her arms still crossed about her waist. She gracefully moved her hands on either side of her, thus, gaining control of a small amount of water surrounding her. By flicking her wrists up and down, she began to make the slashes deeper and deeper in the earth.

"I am not going to tell you anything, because I don't know anything about where this guy, who you're looking for, is." Hana retorted back trying to stall just a bit longer. She hated to tell lies but, technically, she didn't know exactly where Lee was right now.

Lee had finally found Hana.

It was more like he stumbled upon her. When he came to the river, he had chosen to go right instead of left. As a result it took Lee twice as long to find Hana because he had to turn around when he knew that he had gone in the wrong direction. Now, Lee was crouched behind several large bushes watching as the drama unfolds. He had heard Xin Fu say that he wanted Hana to answer some kind of question, but he hadn't gotten there soon enough to hear what they were trying to find out from Hana. Hana was currently in a bad spot being confined in an earthen prison. Lee thought it best that he hid for now until he found out more about the situation and to better gauge both of the men's strengths. 'At the moment, Hana isn't in any mortal danger. Wait, no, I just did not think that!' Furthermore, he could tell that even though Hana was in a tight spot right now, he knew the look on her face meant that she was working on some sort of plan to get out. So he would sit and wait for the right time to intervene, if it ever would arise.

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I hope that you liked this chapter. If you like to leave some feedback, please feel free to press the button below and review. As always, thank you for reading. I know I might have said that this chapter was going to contain a fighting scene in it, but you'll have to wait for the next chapter for that. Sorry. I underestimated how long it would take to work up to the battle. I will update ASAP. Happy Easter!!