The Firebender
Chapter 17: Plans
Water, Earth, Fire, Air
Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the avatar master of all four elements could stop them but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my cousin and I discovered the new avatar. An airbender named, Steven. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Steven can save the world.
September 3, 1245
It has been four days since we rescued Peridot from the Firenation and things have been sort of hectic. From the story Ruby told us, we assumed Peridot would be down to earth and pretty lenient with her inventions. What Ruby forgot to mention was her huge ego and the tendency to slap your hand away whenever you tried to touch anything that belonged to her.
Amethyst, like always, doesn't really care and messes with her things anyway. Somehow though, it has made Peridot actually respect her? Steven is his nice self as usual and he and Peridot get along fine, although he has to teach her a few things here and there. Sapphire doesn't say much to her but after Peridot saw how Sapphire wanted to give Ruby extra time to return to safety, Peridot has found some respect for her as well.
She and I don't have any problems and even though Ruby went through a lot of trouble to save her, she and Peridot are barely together. It's sort of like things haven't really changed.
Except for the fact that Peridot sort of hates Pearls guts, I didn't mention that?
Whoops.
Connie gently closed her journal and placed it under her bed. "What were you writing in there?"
The fifteen year old squealed, brown eyes going wide as she jumped around to spot Peridot peeking into her bedroom through the open window. "That's a violation of privacy Peridot, you just can't spy on me like that," She snipped, holding a hand to her rapidly beating heart.
Peridot shrugged, still hanging from the first story window. "Sorry, but I wanted to know. What is that thing, like a diary?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Sort of, it's a journal," Connie relaxed her shoulders, motioning for the non bender to come inside. "I just write down everything that's happening on our adventures and stuff, I even wrote something down for when we were saving you," She laughed softly as the small mechanic fell on her butt, she helped her up.
Peridot reached for the journal while she was on the floor, she observed the leather texture. "Are you planning on sharing the stories with your future offspring?"
"N-no, nothing like that," Connie flushed, shaking her head nervously. "It kind of started when my cousin, Sapphire, and I left the South Pole to travel with Steven. They were both benders and obviously, I wasn't one," She shrugged weakly, going on without noticing Peridot glance up. "So this journal was sort of my outlet to express my feelings; I was surrounded with all these amazing benders and I didn't feel like I could do anything special,"
Peridot handed her the journal back, she scratched the back of her neck. "I used to feel that way too, but then I started creating all of these inventions and I realized that I was special in my own way,"
"Yeah, same thing when I began sword fighting and writing in this journal," Connie smiled softly, looking down at the worn out brown leather book. "…I can find you a journal for you to write in, it doesn't have to be for things happening but you can write things about your inventions inside it,"
The mechanic smiled. "Yeah, that'd be great," She folded her arms. "I've been kind of bored around here lately; I have been working on these new inventions and Ruby usually tests them but she's always training the Avatar or, somewhere else. Amethyst would just ruin them—would you…?"
"I would love to," Connie grinned brightly, literally tossing her journal back under her bed. "First we find you a journal and then we test some of those cool gadgets you've been working on,"
Peridot couldn't contain her joy. "What are we waiting for?"
Steven kicked a powerful burst of flames towards the curly haired teen who easily dodged it and fluently threw a punch his way; flames, even more powerful, coming his way. The Avatar barely managed to move to the left and block it before recklessly throwing two flame filled punches.
Ruby huffed, easily slapping the weak flames away like they were annoying flies. "Those two punches were too weak, but the first kick looked amazing. What did you do differently?" She asked, folding her arms and looking down at the wheezing younger boy.
"…I th-think," He stood up and placed his arms above his head to supply more oxygen to his lunges quicker. "M-maybe my form was better and the second time it was reckless, I just wanted to get some flames out as quick as possible,"
"Form is everything, Steven, if your form is perfect then your flames will be stronger," Ruby confirmed, dropping her arms to her side. "…get a quick drink and once you've caught your breath do the form drills I taught you; I want five sets of twenty. Once you're finished do a quick cool down lap and you're done for today, we'll do another practice battle tomorrow in the morning,"
Steven nodded weakly and took that as permission to head to the lake and get a drink.
"That wasn't too harsh, was it?" Ruby asked, walking and coming to a stop once she was right in front of the waterbender who had been watching them from under the patio. "…thanks," She mumbled when a towel was handed to her, she started with her face.
Sapphire stood up and smiled weakly. "I think you were fair, and his form was pretty sloppy so it's no wonder why his flames are so weak."
Ruby nodded in relief, when she looked back up the other teen was walking a few feet ahead of her; she turned around and jogged over. "…h-hey, where are you going?" She tried to ask casually.
"To get started on dinner, I'm thinking about cooking up some fish and I'll have to go to the stream to get them so," Sapphire trailed off, not even glancing in the firebenders direction as she sped up.
Ruby huffed, letting the towel fall loosely around her neck; she gripped both sides of the fabric and stopped walking. "How long are you going to keep avoiding me?" She snipped, voice hard and all signs of her playful nature void.
Sapphire also stopped, she didn't turn around as she bit her bottom lip. "I haven't been avoiding you,"
"Yes you have," Ruby said without missing a beat, taking one step closer. "I only see you at dinner, we never jog together anymore and this is the first time in days that you've watched Steven and I train; what's going on?" She lowered her voice at the end, almost begging to know why she was acting so strange.
Sapphire shook her head. "You're over thinking it, I've just been busy with my own training and I felt like I've been intruding on your workout time with Steven—"
"Stop lying," Ruby rolled her eyes. "I know it has to do with what I said a few days ago when we rescued Peridot, and I've apologized." She looked down at her dirt covered shoes. "…but just in case you didn't get the message, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to make your feel uncomfortable and I just want things to go back to normal, Jasper just got to my head and—"
"Are you okay?" Sapphire's soft voice almost startled her, and when she looked up the other teen was now facing her; a little closer than before.
Ruby rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm trying to make sure that you're alright, not the other way around," She smiled lazily, but gave the woman what she wanted and took a step closer so that they were a few feet apart. "She was cool, she just wanted me to come back home so we could be sisters again. She didn't seem as crazy as before but I know that things could never change,"
"As long as I want to become the Firelord, she will always be after me," Ruby sighed. "So I refused and she just told me that the next time we see each other, it won't be on the best circumstances…she told me that Yellow Diamond missed me," She said so soft that the other bender almost didn't hear her.
Sapphire's eyes widened from behind her heavy bangs. "Do you think she meant it, how do you even feel about that?"
Last time they spoke, Sapphire was certain that Ruby held nothing but hatred for her mother.
"I don't know if she meant it but even if she did, it wouldn't matter," Ruby took a deep breath and gave Sapphire her full attention. "You, Steven and the others, are my family now. You've all given me your trust, friendship, faith and a nice place to stay; and I'll always be grateful for that."
Sapphire took a chance and mumbled. "…friendship, is that all you want from me?" She continued when a delightful blush began to spread on the other teens face. "What did Jasper say to you that made you act so different that night?" She had to know, she had to know if she even had a chance.
If not, then she would really leave it alone for good this time.
Ruby shifted in her spot, her hands were shaking at her side. "J-just silly sister stuff, nothing important," She lied, trying to wave off the subject.
"Right," Sapphire nodded stiffly with her eyebrows furrowed. "That's what I thought," She turned around swiftly and once again started to walk towards the stream of water in the woods.
Ruby sucked her teeth and ran after her, dodging tree branches left and right. "W-wait, why are you so upset? Just tell me why you're angry, I'm not a mind reader Sapph—" She grabbed her fleeting right hand and turned her around. "Talk to me." She exhaled, staring at the waterbender.
"I like you," Sapphire snapped, stealing her hand away when the grip was loosened due to her confession.
Ruby swallowed. "…w-what?"
"I like you, okay?" Sapphire repeated, once again trying to walk away.
Ruby was quick to follow, falling into a fast walk at her side. "For how long, why haven't you ever told me?" She frowned, so many questions were building up inside.
"Tell you?" Sapphire growled, turning back to stop Ruby's heated glare with a cold look of her own. "How could I? You're always talking about how great a friend I am and how you're so happy to see our friendship get stronger, why would I embarrass myself like that?" She raised an eyebrow.
Ruby stuttered; she didn't know what to say. "H-how long have you felt this way?"
Sapphire shrugged, refusing to look at the other teen and settled with glaring at the ground. "…I've always been attracted to you, from the first moment we bumped into each other at that market. I didn't know if I liked you or not for a while but I knew that I felt something," She lowered her voice. "But I think I realized just how much I cared about you when I shared that story about my bloodbending with you," She confessed.
"You were just so supportive and when you held me I just felt so safe," Sapphire whispered, it was her turn to blush. "And then when you told me that I was so much more than the one thing that had consumed me for so long, I just knew," She finished.
Ruby's eyes looked ready to pop out. "That long?"
Everything seemed to make so much more sense now. The way Sapphire snatched her hand away after she talked about their friendship growing stronger, why Sapphire was so protective over her when she got injured trying to rescue Peridot, the hopeful glances everyone gave her when she and Sapphire returned from the village with the supplies and the disappointed headshakes she would receive from the others occasionally.
Oh no.
"Is that why Amethyst said that to me that day we got back from the village?" Ruby whined, looking up at the sky in defeat. "I can never show my face at the camp ever again, Amethyst will come up with never ending jokes about how oblivious I've been! And how did they know before I did, even Steven knew!" She ranted, pacing around so quickly that she failed to notice the small laugh coming from Sapphire's lips.
She was completely mortified.
When her soft laugh turned into a loud snicker Ruby stopped her ranting and crossed her arms, flushing. "It's not funny," She demanded but couldn't help but think how cute the other girl looked.
At least she made her happy again, and the fact that she did it personally made it ten times better.
"I'm sorry, but you're adorable when you ramble like that," Sapphire said, not really listening to the words that came out of her mouth. "Come on," Sapphire pulled the other teen to sit down with her on the mossy ground, just a few feet away from the stream; when Ruby complied, they faced each other sitting Indian style. "I was planning on telling you but I couldn't, not just because you don't feel the same way,"
Before Ruby could object, Sapphire began again. "You have a lot on your hands with training Steven, your sister wanting to kill you, your mother being Yellow Diamond and a lot more that I'm sure you haven't told me about," She said with an honest shrug. "And with the war coming up I just, didn't want to distract you; and I didn't think you'd have the time for me—"
"I'll always find time for you," Ruby whispered truthfully.
Sapphire sighed, closing her eyes. "S-see, you can't keep saying things like that!"
Ruby's eyebrows narrowed, confused. "Things like what?"
"Things that make me think you're interested in me," Sapphire said hurriedly. "I can respect that you don't feel the same way about me and I'm fine with us still being close friends, although it isn't as close as I want, but I'm going to need you refrain from saying sweet and adorable things like that."
"Look Sapph," Ruby put their hands together despite Sapphire's attempt to stop it. "I admit that when we first met I didn't think much of it, but something drew me back to you and I couldn't deny how much I wanted to get to know you; but I didn't know why. I'm not going to lie, you are very…attractive, kind, sweet, compassionate, you're an amazing bender, you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, your hair is—" She shook her head.
"The point is; you think that I've never looked at you romantically but I have. Jasper just had to knock some sense into me so I could realize," Ruby pressed, fighting through her nerves and butterflies in her stomach; Sapphire needed to hear this. "I know it isn't much but when I look back I can see that I felt something for you too, but I was so focused on getting everyone to approve of me that I neglected my feelings for you,"
Ruby looked down at their hands. "Whenever our fingers brushed and I felt a spark I would brushed it off, the warm feelings I got from our hugs were placed into the back of my mind and when Jasper told me that I was crushing on you I denied it but not before I thought about it for a second; and that second was long enough for me to realize how much I was denying,"
The firebender looked up. "And I don't want to deny anything I feel for you anymore," Ruby concluded.
"I don't want to get hurt," Sapphire whispered, still unsure.
Ruby smiled softly. "I can't promise you that everything will be perfect, I know that sooner or later we are going to say something or do something to hurt each other." She spoke honestly, tightening the grip on her hand. "But I can promise you that I'll put my best into this and that I'll try to make up for being so oblivious,"
"…it was really bad," Sapphire smiled.
Ruby couldn't contain her grin. "I know, if it were the other way around I think I would have gone crazy,"
"What can I say, you're worth it," Sapphire confessed, taking pleasure in the honest smile Ruby gave her in return.
The duo was loud as they ran through the rooms and halls of the Western Air Temple. Connie had recalled a large library the building had to offer when they had first taken residence here; the only people who went there were Pearl and sometimes Sapphire. The waterbender went to check out some interesting waterbending scrolls and Pearl literally lived in there the first month since their departure. The skinny airbender liked to look through her memories of the fun times she spent in there with her friends and all the learning it had to offer.
She tried to get Steven interested in it but he was pretty much sick of Airbending culture and wanted to learn about the Firenation. Like always, he drifted to the next interesting subject once he mastered something.
But Pearl just couldn't seem to let go.
"I think I saw some blank books over here," Connie said happily as they walked into the large library, it almost reminded her of the one they found in that huge dessert.
Except this one didn't have a creepy owl lurking around, she shivered; sometimes she still saw its shadow outside her bedroom door.
Peridot ran in the direction and picked up a small dusty book, she opened it. "Ha, you're right! It's pretty old and dusty but I suppose this will do for—"
"It is not old, it is vintage," Pearl's cold voice snipped; Connie immediately put her head down like a child getting caught doing something wrong. "What are you doing with that?" She asked, looking down at the newcomer as she leaned against the bookshelf.
Connie swallowed and defended her new friend. "It's my fault Pearl; I just wanted to give her a journal like mine so she could write her feelings out in it. I remembered seeing these books and I thought that no one would miss them, they're blank anyway!"
Pearl unfolded her arms, smilingly weakly at the young naïve teenager. "They are blank for a reason, it was used for Airbenders to tell their story and pass it down to the next generation." Connie's eyes widened in awe. "It's sort of like what you're doing with your journal but these have been reserved for Airbenders and should be used to tell history, no express your feelings," She got out with her lips turned up.
"…what about weapons?" Connie tried, eyes lighting up to prove that she could find a loophole. "She can use it to make diagrams and blueprints of her weapons that we will be using for our upcoming battle with the Firenation. That's history, and it'll be Airbending history since she's making them here and based off your earlier models. She had a great idea for a new glider for Steven!" She lied.
Peridot frowned. "I did—oh, yes, I did. I mean, I do," She stuttered, already making new adjustments in her mind. "I can make him one that allows him to go faster than ever with much more ease than before, I'll find something to make it lighter than air. A-and it shouldn't just be airbending weapons, it should be every element,"
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You guys are fighting for bending equality," Peridot rambled. "Your weapons shouldn't be limited to just one element, you have something that the Firenation never will; an open mind. A mind that will get you further in technology, deeper in the understanding of bending; we've been separated far too long, it's time to start fusing ideas and traditions to make a new chapter in history."
Peridot finished weakly. "…why can't it start with the airbenders including every element into their book of detailed weapons?"
"…go," Pearl mumbled, a light smile on her lips. "I wouldn't mind reading some of your ideas later, if you don't mind," She said quickly, not wanting to step on the other girls' toes.
Peridot shook her head. "N-no, of course not but—why are you being so understanding about this, I haven't been the nicest person to you…"
Pearl smiled softly, glancing at Connie. "A good friend of mine taught me not to judge people based off of where they've come from and has shown me the importance of giving everyone a second chance. You may have tried to harm us many times in the past but if Ruby could change then, I guess you can too; especially if you never intended to be a bad person in the first place."
"Yellow Diamond has a way of bringing the worst out of everyone, but you and Ruby somehow found the strength to avoid it," Pearl smiled. "For that, you have my respect and I would be happy to give you the authority to write new history; and if we're going to be fighting alongside each other then we should at least get along." She held her hand out, a soft smile of her face.
Peridot took it gently, but gave her a firm handshake. "I couldn't agree more."
The birds chirped softly in the garden of the Firenation palace as two older teens sat beside each other on the mini knoll that overlooked the lake where the ducks swam freely. Jasper pressed a soft kiss on the slim girl's neck and wrapped her arms tighter around her waist.
"…how is she?" The woman's smooth voice asked, breaking the silence.
Jasper sighed, rubbing her nose against her girlfriend's neck to take in the hint of lavender; soap made from the richest merchant in the nation. "She's gotten taller, hair is just as curly, still overly stubborn; she's really just like mother, but she won't admit it." She smiled softly. "Lapis, she's become her own person and I'm so proud of her. Ruby still wants to make the world better, even though she was raised with all this darkness she found a way to walk in the light,"
Lapis laughed lightly, leaning her head back on the larger girl's broad shoulder. "I wish I could have seen her, she was such a little kid back then…I'd really like to see just how well she's grown up," She sighed, looking up at the blue sky. "And she has a crush, on the waterbender? The one with those long bangs and fancy fighting dresses?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but she won't admit that either," Jasper laughed; having a thing for waterbender's must run in the family.
Lapis bit her lower lip. "When does it start, the fighting?"
"…it already has, the next time we see Ruby won't be on good circumstances," Jasper confessed. "I just want to prepare you for when you see her fighting alongside the Avatar, and she's even got Peridot on her side…how do they even plan on taking us on?" She shook her head. "Ruby is a great firebender but she knows how strong our army is,"
Lapis shrugged. "She always finds a way, and it sounds pretty cool to me; the whole refuge thing,"
"Don't let my mother hear you say that," Jasper warned, not angry at all. "But if something were to happen here, if you weren't safe anymore, then I would want you to run away with Ruby and her friends. She would protect you; we both know she would,"
Lapis sat up; she turned around to face her girlfriend. "Jasper what are you ta—"
"Just promise me," Jasper begged, eyes heavy with emotion. "Promise me that if I tell you to, you leave and find her; that way if I can't do it myself, she will keep you safe."
The waterbender nodded warily. "…I promise,"
"These designs are amazing," Ruby stated, looking down at the journal that was laid out on the ground before her at the campfire. "You guys did a great job," She grinned, flipping the page to look at another drawing.
Steven nodded from where he was looking over his firebending trainers left shoulder, eyes filled with metaphoric stars. "My glider will have a place to put snacks, it's genius!" He cheered joyfully.
"Look at the design for the earthbending training wall," Amethyst grinned, leaning over Ruby's right shoulder. "With this I'll have my metal bending perfected in a week, maybe even less!" Her eyes were just as bright and hopeful as Steven's were.
Pearl nodded, arms crossed as she stood beside the proud teens who had designed it all. "We can get started on the training course early in the morning; our training is key and once it is completed we will train on it and get stronger so we can work on the war machines," She grinned. "Ooo, it's going to be so much fun!"
Sapphire, who had been working on the fish, looked up from the fire. "The food is finished," She announced and began fixing everyone a helping.
"Thanks ice queen," Amethyst was first in line for her bowl and didn't waste any time stuffing her face.
Ruby handed the journal back to the proud duo. "I can't wait to get started on all of this," She smiled softly at the waterbender who handed her a bowl as well, flushing when their finger brushed during the exchange. "…thanks,"
"No problem," Sapphire whispered, clearing her throat as she turned to give Steven and the others their share.
Connie swallowed her first spoon full and looked around at the others. "We don't have much time guys; the firenation might be planning something for all the other nations so we have to build up an army soon,"
Pearl hummed in thought. "We don't have too many allies; I wouldn't be surprised if we were all we had."
"Our numbers don't matter," Ruby spoke up from her spot between Sapphire and Steven. "We just need to get Steven close to Yellow Diamond so he can take care of her; our job is to make sure that no one gets in his way,"
Steven winced, suddenly losing his appetite as he lowered his spoon. "I don't want to kill her…"
"Well," Amethyst sighed. "You're going to have to do something about her, because as long as she's ruling the Firenation things will only get worse."
Steven didn't say another word during dinner as the others continued to talk about plans and their new upcoming machines.
Sapphire opened the door to her room and leaned against the frame, she smiled. "Thanks for helping me with putting out the fire and cleaning the dishes,"
"I still don't see why you don't use waterbending to clean everything, it'd make things a lot easier," Ruby replied with a teasing grin. "But seriously, it's no big deal, I'm happy to help,"
Sapphire gave her a small grin. "And I appreciate it,"
The firebender let her arms fall at her side as she cleared her throat nervously. "A-are you going to watch Steven and I train tomorrow?"
The waterbender nodded. "Of course, I'll meet you guys at the court yard for our warm up jog too,"
"Cool," Ruby awkwardly pointed to her room, right across from them. "I should, go," She ended weakly.
Sapphire nodded, but neither of them moved. "…goodnight,"
"Goodnight," Ruby mumbled, shoving her hands behind her back; speaking up again when the door began to close. "Sapphire?"
The waterbender looked up and replied eagerly. "Yes?"
Ruby swallowed, she was going to have to be the one who started making all the moves; Sapphire had been making them without any results for far too long. "…c-can, can I kiss you?" She asked shyly, the blush on her face deepening.
Why was she just now starting to notice how full the other girls' lips looked?
"Of course," She replied breathlessly, already leaning in.
Ruby closed the gap between them and softly brushed their lips together in a slow kiss. Their eyes fell shut automatically as the kiss grew steadier; Sapphire's arms rested on broad shoulders just before she gently pulled away with a soft fleeting flick of her tongue on Ruby's bottom lip.
The firebender groaned, resisting the urge to lean back in as she opened her now hazy eyes.
"Next time," Sapphire whispered, unwrapping her arms from the other teen's neck. "Next time you don't have to ask my permission,"
Ruby snapped out of it when the door closed in front of her face. Despite it just being a kiss, her whole body seemed to be buzzing. She moved shaking fingers up to graze her lips; she could still feel Sapphire's supple ones moving across hers.
The firebender leaned back against the door and sank down with a groan. "…so much time wasted,"
WARNING, this story may start to get a little graphic in the future but I will warn you ahead of time if you are uncomfortable with things like that. Next chapter they will get started on the weapons and training area but I'm not sure about flashbacks anymore since everything is summed up now; except for Ruby's father, that will come later.
I might give you a little insight into Yellow Diamond next chapter and how her mind was working throughout it all.
I hope you liked this chapter, again I don't know why I'm making these so long suddenly, but I'll try to update my other stories later and I hope you liked it. Please review and I'll see you soon.