Hey guys, sorry for the delay, I was just too tired to really write anything last night. But in my attemts to do so, I realized that I forgot to add some very important deails in the last two chapters, so I went back and edited them. And so you don't have to go back, I'll tell you what they are; the farmers are going to supply the Army with food, and they were hiding Guru Pathnik. Oscuridad teleported himself, Aang, and the Guru back to camp, and that's how he was in the tent in Chapter 18. That should be it, so sit back and enjoy!
Chap. 18
An Unexpected Arrival
One second, he were standing inside the cell, facing several Fire Nation Guards. Then, there was an explosion of sound and light, a strange feeling of breaking apart, and then, he was in the middle of a strange campground in the middle of a lush jungle.
But Zuko didn't pay attention to any of that, not immediately. The thing that consumed his attention at the moment was the bleeding, limp body in his arms. "
"Hang on Pong, you'll be fine." Zuko swore, as he cradled the soldier in his arms. The fireburst had scorched their way through Pong's armor, leaving several gaping holes through which patches of burnt flesh could be seen. The flesh had already blistered and cracked, as blood ran out from the wound and stained Pong's armor. Sweat poured down the soldier's face as he struggled against the tremendous pain.
"Fuego! Dammit man, get over here! Pong's hurt!" Zuko yelled, as he laid his unconscious friend down. Remembering the injuries of his youth, Zuko tore off one of his sleeves and began to tear it into smaller patches, as he looked around for any kind of water. But the only thing he saw was a small bucket near a tent that was half-full. It looked like it might have been used for cleaning dishes. But Zuko had few options, and so he grabbed the bucket, dunked the patches, and pressed them to the burns, even as Pong hissed in pain.
Suddenly, there was a groan from the bushes nearby, and Zuko whirled around, only to see a familiar red-clothed figure unsteadily get to his feet.
"I fucking hate the thunder road." Fuego muttered, as he shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Fuego! I need you! Pong's been hurt!" Zuko yelled, as he continued to press down as many soaked pads as he could.
Fuego nodded, and began to stumble his way over to where his friends were. But the trip through the thunder had been extremely disorienting for the red man, as it almost always was. He managed to get over to Pong and took a look at the wounds.
"Shit, he took it bad." Fue said. "Pull off one of the pads so I can get a clear look at a burn."
Zuko nodded, and then removed the smallest pad. Fuego saw the burn and stretched out his hand, the energy already beginning to gather. But before he could begin the process, Fuego's red face suddenly turned a shade of green, and he was forced to pull his hand away as he vomited into the grass.
"Come on, pull it together." Zuko yelled, reaching over and grabbing the red man's collar.
"Ullhhhh…. I'm sorry." Fuego moaned, his face a lighter shade of green. "I'm too screwed up from the trip to focus. I'd do more harm then good right now."
"Dammit. Where the hell are the others?" Zuko swore. "Jeoung-Jeoung could help, or Shyu."
"I don't know. They should've landed nearby." Fuego muttered. "Maybe there's someone else who can help us."
"Like who?" Zuko snapped.
But in his panic, Zuko had forgotten where they had traveled too, and a moment later, he heard a familiar voice call out, "Zuko!"
The prince turned to see Katara and a group of people coming towards them. Sokka and Oscuridad were with them, as was Luz, Agua, and Trueno. The rest of their party was with them as well. There was also a group of strangely dressed women, a pair of Water-tribesmen, and another group of raggedly dressed teenagers. But at the moment, Zuko only had eyes for his sister, as she grabbed her waterskin and knelt down near Pong.
"What happened?" she asked, as she examined Pong's burns.
"We were attacked at the prison, and he took the blow for me." Zuko said. "The next thing I knew, there was a flash of light and we were here."
"Your thunderstone worked great, True." Fuego said weakly.
"I can see. Can you ever not get sick from that ride?" the ram asked, as Katara opened her waterskin and moved to draw the water out. But as she did, she suddenly gasped, "No, there's nothing left!"
"What?" Zuko yelled in shock.
"I-I must've used it all on…" Katara began, as she turned towards one of the ragged teenagers, only to look away in shame a second later.
"Fine, we'll improvise." Luz said, and before anyone could respond, she slipped her arms under Pong's body and lifted him up.
"We're going to need to remove his armor to get his wounds healed, so we'll need privacy." The fox said, as she began to walk towards a nearby tent. "Katara, you and Agua come with me."
"Wait for me." Zuko added, as he got to his feet, as Katara and Agua followed suit. The trio quickly walked inside the tent, as the others waited outside.
The inside of the tent was large and spacious, filled with barrels, supplies, and a large table in the center. It was here that Luz placed Pong's body, as Katara and Agua stood nearby.
Zuko meanwhile, looked at the patient with concern on his face. "Is he going to be all right?" he asked.
"Well, it looks like he's got some third-degree burns, but if we can get those healed, he should be fine." Luz replied, as Agua called water out of the air to use on Pong. "Don't worry Zuko, this isn't your fault." The fox continued, placing her hand on the prince's shoulder.
"I know, but he took that blow for me and…." Zuko began, but stooped suddenly, as he looked at the scene unfolding on the table. Agua had gathered the needed water into Katara's waterskin and he and Katara were moving to remove Pong's armor, but instead of allowing them access, the solider was trying to fight them off, struggling against their every attempt.
"What in the hell?" Luz swore, as she turned at the sound of the commotion.
"I think he's delirious. Quick, hold him down!" Katara yelled, as she struggled to hold Pong down.
Luz and Zuko moved quickly, stepping to the side of Pong and forcing his arms down the table and holding him in place.
"Hold still, Pong, you need to take your medicine." Luz growled, as Pong continued to struggle. Agua and Katara quickly moved to the armor locks, flipping them open and with a tug, pulling the armor off completely. But the second the armor was off, they both gasped in shock.
"What is it?" Zuko asked impatiently, wanting the healing to begin. But then he saw it too, and his eyes widened.
"I don't know a lot about biology, but I know that this is not a man's body." Agua said, looking at the slender, full-breasted body on the table wrapped in a white shirt.
"Pong's a woman?" Katara asked quizzically. "But the Earth Army has plenty of women in it. Why would one try to hide it?"
Unfortunately, Zuko already knew the answer to that question, and he groaned as he realized it. Moving over to Pong's helmet and mask, he grasped them, and with a tug, pulled them off, revealing a full head of long, messy, brown hair and an all too-familiar face.
"Oh no. Please tell me she didn't." Luz groaned, as she saw the face under the helmet.
"I wish I could." Zuko said, as he looked down at Jin's face, while she looked back up sheepishly.
"You think he'll be all right?" Chien asked, as he and the others waited outside.
"Have faith. If anyone can help him, it is the Elementals." Shyu said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. From the side, Jeong-Jeong silently nodded his agreement.
The Earthbender smiled, and then looked over as the two Water-Tribesmen who'd come with them walked over. One stuck out his hand and said, "I'm sorry, in all the commotion we didn't get to introduce ourselves. I'm Bato and this is Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father."
"I am Chien. This is Shyu and Jeong-Jeong." Chien answered. The Water-Tribesmen nodded, and the men quickly exchanged handshakes.
"Jeong-Jeong… I've heard that name before." Hakoda said. "You did something important…"
"I am the first man to leave the Fire Nation Army, and survive." Jeong-Jeong replied curtly.
"I see." Hakoda said. "Then I am very impressed. And you?" he asked, looking over at Shyu."
"I am Shyu, Fire Sage and servant of the Avatar." The old monk said, bowing slightly. "I helped your children in the Temple of the Avatar. You have much reason to be proud of them."
"Thank you." Hakoda said, though his eyes glanced over to Sokka as he said it. Hakoda's face became downcast, as he saw his son talking to Suki and Jet. Hakoda knew that Sokka had talked about nothing but Suki's return since they had been reunited. He knew that Sokka must've have been devastated by what happened, but Hakoda did not want to interfere. This was something that Sokka would have to learn about on his own, but Hakoda would help as much as he can once Sokka was ready.
"Sokka, I'm sorry you had to find out like this." Suki said gently. "I-I was hoping for a better way."
"I'm sorry too." Jet added. "I wanted to tell you about it man-to-man."
"I just don't understand." Sokka said. "How did you two meet? How did all this happen?"
"It happened after the last time we met." Jet said. "After my….. plan failed, the villagers drove us out of the valley. I was confused and angry. I thought that I was protecting them, and then they drove me out. I struggled for a long time, but eventually, we decided that the best thing to do was to go and start over. We decided Ba Sing Se was a good place to start."
"We were working at the ferry as escorts by then." Suki explained. "Jet and the Freedom Fighters came in and came with us on a major transport. The Fire Nation attacked us, and they helped us fight them off. Afterwards, I told Jet that we could use warriors like that for the daily journeys. He agreed to help us out."
"It sounded like a good way for me to help people, and fight the Fire Nation." Jet added. "But the more I did, the angrier I got. I started looking for the Fire Nation everywhere, just waiting to bust some heads. Then one day, I almost lost a transport boat looking for Fire Nation troops. Suki let me have it when I came back. But the more she yelled at me, the more I actually started to listen. I just kept thinking about what had happened with you guys, and how I'd wanted to get away from it all. I thought about how I'd been so impressed by Suki, and how I wanted to get to her level of determination and strength. But here I was again. I just broke down in front of Suki; I was so tired of never being able to get past my hate and anger."
Suki came back in then, saying, "I tried to comfort him, but he just kept saying that he was tired of never getting anywhere, so tired of the Fire Nation. All I could do was hold him and try to comfort him. He'd always seemed so sure and confident before, and he just looked so vulnerable. I'd never seen this side of him before, and after that, things just….. happened."
"I…. I see." Sokka said, as the couple finished their tale.
"Sokka, I'm sorry. It isn't like I planned this." Suki pleaded. "I always thought about you after you guys left. I was hoping that we could….. It's just that you were gone for so long, and I didn't know how long I could wait, or if we'd ever see each other again. I'm just so sorry if I hurt you."
Sokka was quiet a moment, then said, "No it's ok. You're right, you didn't know if we'd ever see each other again. I can't blame you for it."
Suki started to say something back, but then there was commotion from the tent and Luz and Katara walked out.
"Is the boy all right?" Oscuridad asked.
"Yes and no." Luz answered. "It looks like we're going to have to hold council for more then Jet."
"What do you mean?" the bat asked. But then he got his answer as Zuko and Agua walked out, with Zuko supporting Jin as she walked.