Rose POV
After Omashu, we stopped to find some food. Sokka, our group's "master hunter" found some wrinkly berries and some questionable looking nuts. Xiu Juan seemed uninterested.
"Uh, Sokka? You are joking, aren't you?" He acted indignant.
"No! I worked very hard to find these! You should be more grateful-" I scoffed.
"You picked those off the ground over there! I saw you! I literally saw you pick that up two feet away from here!" He muttered something, and I can tell you it wasn't nice. He seems to mutter like that a lot around me.
After a short debate on this, we heard rumbling. "Hey, what's that?" Katara asked and ran toward the rumbling.
Sokka screamed after her. "Shouldn't be running AWAY from the rumbling!" But he ran after her like the rest of us.
When we arrived to the spot of the rumbling, we saw a boy, around the age of fifteen moving the boulders. Sokka told us that we should be careful, but of course, Katara jumped out from behind the rock and yelled to him. "Hello! What's your name!" He turned around and saw us, and then he ran away, pulling the rocks down as well. I scoffed and turned Katara around.
"Katara! When these people see strangers, they're gonna guess that it's a soldier or a spy! You need to be careful with these people!" Then we followed his path toward the Village he ran for.
"Hey, this is convenient. We did need food, after all!" Xiu Juan exclaimed.
"I worked hard to get those nuts!" I patted his shoulder.
"No you didn't."
"Shut it!"
And then Katara saw the boy again. "Hey! It's that guy!" And she ran for the house he had just entered. I shouted after her.
"WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU ABOUT BEING CAREFUL WITH THESE PEOPLE!" Obviously, she didn't listen to me and opened the door anyway. We followed her in.
"Hey, you're that kid!" She said to him, "Why did you run away before?"
"Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid." Aang shook his head.
"No she doesn't, we saw you Earthbending." The older woman in the room, presumably the boy's mother slammed the door and the windows shut and then faced the boy.
"They saw you doing what!" She yelled, seeming to be scared.
He denied everything. "They're crazy, mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed!" We looked down at our clothes. I scoffed and put a hand on my hip.
"Hey! You know, that's really rude." He looked at me and gave a tiny smile. I smiled back and looked at my feet. His mother, on the other hand, wasn't smiling at all.
"Haru, you know how dangerous that is! What would happen if they saw you?"
I heard a knock at the door and someone shouting. "OPEN UP IN THERE!"
Sokka whispered in a voice that was just loud enough for us to hear, "Fire Nation!" I glared at him, "everybody act natural!" Xiu Juan stood next to Katara and pretended to talk to her, and I stood with Haru and Sokka and we acted like we were conversing. And then the soldiers came in.
"What do you want? I've already paid you this week." Haru's Mother said to the leader of them.
"Tax just doubled. And you wouldn't want anything to happen would you? Fire," He made a little ball of flame in his hands, "can be so hard to control." And then he closed his hands. Haru's mother's face fell, and her defiant look faded. She opened a small cash box and put most of the coins in his hands. He picked out a few pieces and dropped them on the ground. "You can keep the copper ones." Then he left. I restrained the urge to lash out at him and instead help the aging woman, who was stooping to get the few coins that he dropped.
I immediately dropped to my knees and gathered them. I reached for the last coin, but Haru bent down and picked it up. I opened my hand and he put it in, with that small smile on his face again. He gave me his hand and I grabbed it and pulled myself up. "Thanks, Haru." I turned to his mother, and gave her the few copper pieces. "Well he was charming, wasn't he? How long have they been here?"
"Five years." His mother said.
Haru looked angry. "They're thugs; they steal from us and everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it."
"Don't say things like that, Haru." Katara seemed puzzled.
"But Haru's an Earthbender, can't he do something?"
His mother shook her head. "Earthbending is outlawed here. It has caused nothing but trouble in our Village. Haru must never use his abilities." I was horrified.
"But how can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to Earthbend is like asking us," I spread my arms toward Xiu Juan and Katara, "not to Waterbend. What can they do to you that they haven't done already?"
"They can take Haru away! Just like they took his Father." I gaped, and felt genuine sorrow on these strangers' behalf.
About an hour later, Haru showed us to a barn. "My mom said that you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning."
Aang smiled to him. "Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay." Appa, whose mouth was already stuffed with hay, turned at hearing his name.
Haru left, and I ran out after him. "Haru! Hey, Haru, wait up!" He turned around.
"Oh, hi. What is it?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. About what I said in the store? I didn't know about your dad."
He had that small smile on his face again, as if that was as close to a real smile as he'd come in a while. "No, it's alright. Funny, what you were saying in the store sounded just like something he would say."
"Thank you. Do you wanna take a walk?" He nodded. "Can I hear more about your father?"
"My father was very courageous. When the Fire Nation invaded," Once again, I had to hold back my natural tendency to correct people on that misnomer, "he and the other Earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one, but they fought back anyway."
"He sounds like he's a very valiant man."
"After the attack, they rounded up my father every other Earthbender and took them away. We haven't seen them since." I was so sympathetic for this boy.
"Is that why you hide your abilities?"
"Yeah. The problem is, the only way I can feel close to him now is when I practice my bending. He taught me everything I know." Haru knelt down, picked up a few rocks and spun them around in his hand. When he finished speaking, he turned them to sand. I sat down next to him. I pulled out the ribbon that kept my hair up, and then I shook my hair loose. I held the slightly tattered ribbon in my hand, being exquisitely careful of the numerous jade beads that had been sewn into it.
"See this ribbon? My mother made it for me, when I was a little girl."
"It's beautiful."
"My mother was killed by," I gulped, "A very evil Fire Nation soldier. And this ribbon is all I have from her."
"It isn't really enough, is it, Rose?"
I shook my head. "No." I wiped a stray tear from my eye. "I don't know why it bugs me so much. She always favored my sister, Xiu Juan."
"I'm sure that's not true."
"True or not, it's how I always felt around her. Xiu Juan has the exact personality of my mom. She's calm, sweet and collected. And me? Well, I'm like my dad. Hot headed, temperamental, and a bit of a tomboy. It's even in my name. I gave myself the name Rose. The one my father gave me is Rea. It means man, warrior or manly. What girl wants a name that means that?" He smiled.
"I think they're both beautiful." I smiled back.
"Thanks for letting me vent, Haru. I'm not usually like this, but…" He stopped me.
"I understand. It's fine. Thanks for listening to me about my dad."
"No problem. It's starting to get dark. We should probably head back." We started back and passed a mine. We heard a boom, and saw a bunch of dust fly out, and heard the word "help," ever so faintly. Katara sprinted toward us, with a speed I didn't think to be possible. She stopped and panted.
"Rose, Haru…come with…me! The mine…it…collapsed!" We ran to the mine, and saw an old man partially crushed underneath the rocks.
"Help me!" He croaked. Haru and I put our arms against the rocks and tried to keep them from falling, and Katara tried to pull the old man out.
"Haru, this isn't working, we need help!" Katara shouted, struggling to pull out the old man.
"There isn't any time! Pull harder!" Haru yelled back. I touched Haru's arm and looked him in the eyes, still trying to hold back the rocks.
"Haru, there is one way you can help him." He shook his head.
"No, I-I can't."
Katara joined in. "Please, there's no one around to see you!"
"It's the only way, Haru!"
Haru still stood, pushing against the rocks. And then he moved and stood in front of the mine. With a quick movement from his hands, he pushed the stones deep into the mine where they came from. Katara helped the old man up, and I grinned and hugged him from sheer joy.
"Haru, you did it!"
Later that night, Xiu Juan, Katara, Sokka, Aang and I were all lying on our mats, discussing the day.
"It was so brave for Haru to Earthbend and help that man." I said.
"Well, you must have really inspired him." Aang told me.
"I guess I did." I shrugged.
Sokka interrupted. "Alright, everybody get some sleep tonight. We need to leave at dawn."
"Dawn?" Katara asked. "Why can't we ever sleep in?"
"No way. This town is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers. If they find Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Good night."
Xiu Juan giggled. "I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts."
"Good NIGHT." We laughed and fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual, like I always do. Stared at the sun, had a very one-sided talk with Appa. The usual, and then I became thirsty. So, I got up, grabbed a pitcher and started pulling water out of the small well. I turned and started to walk in when I saw Haru's mother. She turned when she heard me. There was a tear in her eye. She told me that the soldiers came that night and took him away. I dropped the jug and ran into the barn.
"Guys!" They looked up from packing. "Th-the soldiers! They took Haru away!"
Sokka stood up, and put an arm around me. "Alright, calm down. Tell me what happened." I grabbed his hand and pulled it off.
"Knock it off, Sokka! Haru's mother said they came in the middle of the night, and took him away for Earthbending! I grabbed my hair and pulled at it. "Oh, this is all my fault! I forced him into it!" Katara stood up and hugged me.
"It's okay. I talked him into it, too. It's not your fault." I was driving myself crazy, until Katara turned me around to face her. "It's alright, Rose. We're going to get him back." I stopped talking to myself and looked at her.
"What? How?"
"You and I are going where they took Haru."
"No, I got that, but how?"
"We're going to get arrested for Earthbending."
"Wait, what?"
"Yep."
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Katara? You do know that you're a WaterBender, right? I mean, I might have picked up a thing or two by watching Haru and Bumi fight, but how are you going to do this?"
"I have a plan."
After Katara executed her plan to get us on board, we were "introduced" to the prison's warden. I looked around for Haru, not expecting to find so many Earthbenders. And I especially never thought that he would find me first.
"Rose! Katara!" We spun around in the courtyard, and saw him.
"Haru!" I ran up to him and hugged him, Katara running after me closely behind.
"How did you get here?"
I pointed to myself. "It was my fault you got captured, and we came to get you back."
"And so you got yourselves arrested?"
"It was the only way to get to you."
He folded his arms in front of his chest and smiled. "You two've got guts, I'll give you that. Come on, there's someone I want you to meet." He took my hand, and I took Katara's. He led us to where an old man stood up to greet us.
"Rose, meet my father, Tyro. Dad, this is Rose and Katara." I walked to him smiling.
"Hello, sir. I've heard SO much about you!" I shook his hand. He smiled and glanced at Haru.
"As have I." I lightly smiled and blushed. "Here, you two are probably hungry." He reached down and grabbed two bowls of… something. "Eat up." I took the bowls and passed one to Katara. Katara sniffed it and groaned, but I'd had prison food before. This wasn't as bad as it got. "It's not as bad as it looks." She tried it and gagged. "Well, it's still pretty bad."
I gulped down the stew, and tried not to vomit. I didn't want to seem snobby; after all, these people had been eating this for some time now. Katara began talking to Tyro about an escape plan. After Tyro said that they were just going to wait it out, I couldn't bear to think of these people rotting on this boat while the war raged on. "I can't take this. Katara, I think I'm gonna be the motivational speaker for today." I stood up, head held high. I banged on a metal lid to get their attention. One swift hit was all it took. "Excuse me! You may not know me, but I have heard much of you. I was told stories by my father of the brave Earthbenders that valiantly defended the Earth Kingdom. But I never thought that it would come to this. The Fire Nation's militia may have taken away your families and your homes, but you still have you strength."
Katara could tell that I was nervous, so she stood up and helped me. "We can tell you now that the Avatar has returned! So remember your courage, Earthbenders! Let us stand and fight for our freedom!" At this point, I'd already sat down, and Katara was up there, waiting to see the effect. Tyro looked away, and Haru's head dropped. Seeing how faithless these people were hurt me deeply. When Katara stepped down, I pulled her aside. "While I think that our speech was excellent, it's long since these people have had any hope. Remember, we have a twelve hour deadline. What should we do? Should we stay?"
"I don't know… leaving sounds cowardly… but staying is dangerous…"
"We're going to stay, aren't we? Good. I don't feel right, leaving all of these people."
That night, we told Sokka and Aang that we weren't going to leave. And we arranged a plan to get them out. Sokka, the ever sensible one, reminded us that we needed something for them to bend. Katara tapped the flooring of the all metal ship.
"But this entire place is made out of metal; purposely so that they can't bend their way out of here." We looked around for something on the ship that was made out of rock or stone, and then Xiu Juan pointed at the chimney.
"Wait. Look that the smoke. There must be coal on here. In other words-"
"Earth!" I interrupted.
"Precisely."
We decided to use the exact same trick that we tried at the Village. Only, instead of lifting a boulder, we were going to push out the coal. But, before we could execute it, the Soldiers found us. Six or seven found us, all pointing spears and scimitars in our faces. I drew my small dagger, and Xiu Juan readied her bow and arrows. We were outnumbered, and we knew it. "Stay back, or you'll never see the sunrise." We glared into their eyes. Tyro shouted to me and my sister.
"Rose! STOP! You can't win this fight!"
"He's right, child." I knew better then to turn my head to meet the warden's condescending smile. "You are one mistake away from dying where you stand." I smiled grimly.
"And it would be worth it."
And then Aang blasted the coal from the smokestacks. The pile of coal spilled out by my feet. I climbed the pile. "EARTHBENDERS! TAKE THIS COAL! IT'S THE WAY BACK TO YOUR LIVES! THE TIME FOR YOU TO ESCAPE IS NOW!" I held up a piece or the coal. But the Earthbenders didn't respond. They just… stood there. Haru reached out to grab it, but Tyro stopped him. The Warden laughed.
"You silly girl! Did you really think that you could change these people? They lost their hope long ago! Oh, but you still believe in them. Faith; a disease that will easily be cured by a few years on here, just wait." He kept laughing derisively at me. My shoulders slumped. As he turned, though, Haru took the lump of coal from me and thrust it at him. As he spun around, Haru picked up some more coal and spun it around. The Warden threw a wall of fire in front of Haru. I jumped in front of him, and raised a wall of coal in front of us. In reality, that wall wouldn't have blocked an apple, but I blocked it with my Firebending. Tyro and the rest took up the cue and began fighting back. After several minutes of combat, Tyro, and two other prisoners lifted the soldiers with the coal and dropped them into the ocean. After the fight, we got on the newly occupied ships and began sailing away. Haru came up to me.
"I want to thank you for saving me. For saving us; all of us."
I smiled. "All it took was some motivational words and a bit of coal."
He shook his head. "No, it wasn't the coal. It was you."
Tyro put his hand on my shoulder. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Rose. My family, and everyone here owes you very much."
I blushed and looked down. Haru moved closer to me and took my hand. And then Katara walked up.
"So, Tyro. Are you guys going back?"
"Yes. To reclaim our village." He raised his voice. "To reclaim all of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they ever set foot on our land!" I smiled. Tyro walked away, leaving Katara and I with Haru. He turned to me. "Come with us, Rose!" I shook my head.
"I can't. I have to help Aang, and you need to help your father reclaim the village."
Haru looked to Aang, my hand still in his. "That's him, isn't it? The Avatar. Thank you, both of you, for bringing my father back to me. I never thought I'd see him again. I only wish there was some way…"
"…I know." Katara and I both reached for our pieces of our mothers; I for my ribbon, and her for her necklace. But it wasn't there. I told her to go ask Sokka if he'd seen it. When Haru and I were alone again, he spoke first.
"I really do wish that you could come with us, Rose. Because… well…"
I pulled my hand free. "I know why, but it's for the best that I don't. I'm…" I gulped. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not…I'm not like Katara." He shook his head.
"I know what you are. And I don't care. If you were like them, you would've hurt us already. But I know that you're not." My eyes became suddenly wet.
"You know… and yet you don't… care?" I grinned. "Thank you. Most people would judge me at a second's notice. Thanks for not being like that."
He smiled back at me, and leaned forward slightly. He kissed my cheek. I could tell that that wasn't his intention, so I decided to put myself on the line. I leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. It was nice but it lasted no more than ten seconds, what with the laughing and hooting from the other men, and Tyro laughing loudly. I blushed at so much attention being called to it, and looked down.
Xiu Juan called out. "Hey, we gotta go! Who was it that said no more side trips?" They laughed, and I smiled grudgingly.
I turned back to Haru, and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye, Haru. I'll see you again soon, okay?" He nodded, still wordless. I walked toward the bison, and hopped on, gazing dreamily at the sunset, and sleepily waving goodbye to Haru, who was being slapped on the back by several other Earthbenders. I could even barely hear Katara asking repeatedly if anyone knew where her necklace was. At some point, I mumbled, "It'll turn up, Katara. Don't worry."