Hello all! Before you yell at me, Christmas break was a lot more hectic than I thought it would be, and anyway this chapter was hard to write. Also, a belated credit for Aidyn's name goes to Zutarafanfairy. In her story Of Flames, Roses, and Gold, Aidyn is a discarded name proposed for Ty Lee's cat. With that said, let's get on with the show. Enjoy!
Chapter XVI: A New Sun Rises
Akira jumped awake, hurriedly shutting his mouth against a scream. When he finally felt safe opening his mouth again, he collapsed backward onto the bed, breathing as hard as if he had just completed a Guard training session.
"You must change or destroy yourself." He whispered the words he remembered from the dream, and noted, with a pang of guilt, the smell of something burning. Sitting up, he waved out the fire smoldering in one of the walls, as well as one slowly eating its way across the ceiling. "This is getting dangerous, I'm going to have to tell someone." Pushing himself off the bed, he shrugged on a robe as he entered the living room. Once again, Ty Lee was balancing on the table, snatching fruit whenever she changed hands.
"You do that every morning?"
"Pretty much! It's good exercise, and anyway it's important to start each day with stretching to get out tension."
"You learned that from watching us, didn't you?"
"Of course!" She beamed at him from her position, and he bent down to grab a ryme-fruit.
"So, it's my fault that you're up this early every morning." Laughing, Ty Lee sprung from the table and landed in front of him. By now I should be used to that, he thought, but he still tensed.
"So what do you want to do today?"
He grinned, watching her chocolate eyes dance across his face. "Today? Go swimming."
"I feel like everyone's staring at me." The sand shifted under his feet as the pair returned to their spot from yesterday. Was it only yesterday? Feels like months ago.
"And why should that bother you?" Ty Lee continued to flatten the now imaginary wrinkles on the beach towel as Akira sat down on his.
"I keep wondering what they're thinking, what I must look like to them."
"Since when do you care what anybody thinks?" The acrobat looked up with an amused expression from her towel.
Akira snorted, "I don't! Well, except for--" he trailed off.
"Huh? Didn't catch that last part." Ty Lee's smile was becoming infectious, and Akira couldn't help but grinning in spite of himself.
"I said, except for certain people, like my friends."
"Oh, really? And who would that be?"
"The Wolves, Seargent Ling, and you, right now anyway."
"What do you mean, 'right now'?" Her grin had suddenly switched to a look of irritation bordering on anger, and Akira fumbled for a moment before finding his next remark.
"Well, what did you mean when you nearly knocked me out last night?"
"Excuse me? I seem to remember that was your fault for getting up. You hit me."
"And the reason you happened to be that close? What did you mean by that?" He got up from the towel and began walking to the water, "I'm going swimming."
"Huh? Wait!" He felt her heat flare as she scrambled to follow him, then he was in the water and she disappeared from his "sight". The water felt cool, but not cold as it passed over his skin, and he turned and watched the sun filter through the waves. I've missed this, just being able to swim and relax. Suddenly a shape blocked the sun, followed by an arm, and he found himself being hauled to the surface to face Ty Lee's glare.
"Do have any idea how long you were down there? You scared me half to death!"
"Relax, I wasn't in any real danger! Sorry though." he added, as he watched her expression darken.
"Well then, next time I won't worry, and I don't care if you're screaming for--Aaaah!" Akira let go of her arm once he had succeeded in dragging her under. Her wide eyes narrowed as she fought her way back to the surface, with Akira following.
"And what was that?"
"Well, for starters, it was fun." He felt himself grinning uncontrollably as the acrobat's face slowly melted toward comprehending what he said.
A smile began creeping across her face as well, "Excuse me, but I thought I heard you just say you did that for fun."
"You heard right, milady."
"Well, in that case..." Akira knew what was coming, but was still powerless to stop it as Ty Lee grabbed onto him and pulled both of them under the water.
The cerulean world spun as he tried to loosen the acrobat's grip, and a small place in his mind screamed danger, but Akira shrugged it off as the arms finally relented and she pushed off for the surface.
"You're right, that was fun!" Ty Lee was nearly laughing as he broke the surface a few feet away. Looking over at her, Akira suddenly remembered his unanswered question.
"You never told me what could have possibly made you get that close."
"Well, I--" She broke off with a nervous glance out over the water, "Hey, why don't we get back to the beach, I'm getting tired from treading water."
Dang it. "Alright, how about a race?"
"It's not far enough for a race, and anyway I would win."
"Really? Prove it!"
"You're sure of this?"
"Yes, your Highness. According to one of ours, it was a female Yu-Yan that was involved in the attack at the factory, and we have reason to believe it was the same Yu-Yan who disrupted the dispersion at the market as well. I have spoken with the witness personally, and I trust his, er, observations. Are you sure--?"
"I am sure. My father does not need to be involved in this, especially at such a crucial time. The eclipse is approaching quickly, and there is too much for him to do as it is. Do you doubt my capability?"
"N-no! No, your Highness, I know the matter will be left in your most capable hands!"
"Good. Now get out."
"Yes, your Highness."
"One down. Enter and explain yourself."
"Yes, milady. Well, an investigation following the debriefing of a High Guardsman may have turned up the village that aided the Avatar."
"Go on."
"Yes, well, if the description of the Avatar's dress is to be believed, there are only two places that use a similar uniform. One is Douchi University, here in the city. The other is the school at Kishima."
"Kishima? I've never heard of it."
"It's on one of the outlying islands, milady, but it has gained a reputation for fine students."
"Well, since I assume that you've already checked the University, why don't you send a team to Kishima to investigate the matter?"
"Of course, milady. What manner of team had you in mind, and when should they leave?"
"Are there any Guard Units stationed near Kishima?"
"Umm, the Red Amphibious Unit, I think. At least they were there two weeks ago."
"Check again. If they are, send a messenger hawk, and tell them to investigate. If there is any evidence that this place aided the Avatar in entering the Fire Nation, I want an appropriate response to the treachery."
"M-milady?"
"Agni, do I have to spell out everything? Burn. It. To. The. Ground. Is that simple enough for you? Now get out, I have more important matters to attend to."
"Y-yes, milady."
"Wow, that was just perfect!" Ty Lee pushed the door open, throwing a shaft of moonlight across the room. Akira just shook his head as he followed her into the house.
"Well, it was! Swimming, volleyball, and dancing on the beach, then that wonderful dinner and another dance, that was a perfect day!"
"Speak for yourself, I still can't feel my left leg after that last dance." Akira dropped into a chair after grabbing what looked like the last of the ryme-fruit, "At least we gave the people some show, huh?"
"I'll say! You've gotten a lot better since last time!"
"So have you, judging by my leg." Absently massaging the limb, he jumped as Aidyn rolled across his foot. "Wondered where she'd gotten to. Keep her in your room?"
Ty Lee scooped up the armadillo-kitten, "Yep, but this morning I let her have run of the house. She's growing a lot faster than I expected!" Unceremoniously dropping Aidyn into Akira's lap, she stretched out on the couch, "Anyway, what are your grand plans for tomorrow?"
"Honestly, more of the same sounds good to me." Akira replied, rubbing Aidyn's fur. The armadillo-kitten happily rumbled under his hand, and for a long time that was the only sound in the room, as Akira studied the patterns on her back.
It was Ty Lee who broke the sentence, "Akira, does it ever bother you to...end someone?"
"What?" Momentarily stunned by the question, he looked back down at the cat before carefully answering. "Whenever my work calls for that, I only allow myself to think of the target as just another enemy, and I block out anything else. When the situation comes to deadly force, hesitation can get you killed, so you do what you have to and keep moving. That answer your question?" He looked over to see Ty Lee slowly shaking her head.
"Not really. Sorry, I mean, do you feel anything afterward? I mean, that was a person, and--"
"Who and when?"
"Huh?" Ty Lee raised up from the couch with a confused look.
"Who was it, and when did you do it? Also, who was the aggressor?"
"It--it was a while back. Well, not really, but it was back before we had even gotten to Ba Sing Se. There was this group of warriors, a bunch of girls who were protecting this big animal-thing that belonged to the Avatar. Azula, well she decided that if we could get rid of the thing, hunting the Avatar would be that much easier. I think she just wanted a fight, she does that kind of stuff sometimes, just picking fights for something to do. Anyway, we ended up fighting them and even though the animal got away, Azula had the idea to use the girls' outfits to get into Ba Sing Se."
"Ah, so that's how she managed. All of us have been wondering about the details since the coming-home announcement. So, was it one of those warriors you fought?"
Ty Lee nodded slightly, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. At first I was only knocking them down and stunning them, but then Azula and I think the leader or something really got into it, and the rest of them sort of got a boost or something. All of a sudden, it wasn't fun anymore, me and Mai were barely missing those short swords they had, and then a girl came at me with this sword and I--" She closed her eyes and dropped her head back on the couch. "I grabbed the hand she was holding the sword in, and I--I twisted, broke the wrist to where the sword was pointed back at her, we both fell against this tree and it--you know what, let's just forget this, okay? We shouldn't be talking about stuff like this on vacation!" She left the couch and crossed over to where Akira sat still rubbing Aidyn's fur. "You know, she's really cute when she's all rolled up like that. You know what, why don't you let her sleep in your room tonight, I'm sure she'd love a new place to explore!"
"Ty Lee, why do you listen to Azula?" He watched the acrobat stiffen as a run of emotions moved across her eyes.
"She's my friend."
"She's no one's friend. The girl isn't completely human."
"She's a human, same as you, and if you actually knew anything about her you'd know that she doesn't exactly have a perfect life either, okay?" The slamming door echoed around the room, and Aidyn uncurled with a sleepy scan of her surroundings. Seeing no sign of her "mother", she looked up at Akira with a plaintive mew.
"Yeah, me too, girl. Me too."
Well, a few more pieces are falling into place. Sorry if the story stalled out here for a bit, but Ember Island was NOT supposed to take this long. Unfortunately, the universe just loves to prove me wrong, and here we are with three chapters about the place. But don't worry, next chapter we get back to the Capital, and the Wolves set out on a new mission.