The Firebender

Chapter 21: Our Sister Tribe

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 13, 1245

What is Ruby thinking? Asking Sapphire to teach Lapis waterbending? I mean, even if it does seem like a crazy idea, I wouldn't mind seeing it myself. I can't imagine what it must feel like to be separated from your element, and for so long. I bet Lapis would be able to learn a lot from Sapphire too, about our culture and beliefs. But Lapis isn't like us, just because she was born into a tribe doesn't mean we're instantly long lost cousins.

She was raised to be in the firenation. That's where she belongs, and that's where her morals lie.

Aside from giving Lapis free waterbending training, Ruby isn't even stopping to think about how Sapphire feels in terms of this whole arrangement. My cousin is basically in love with Ruby, and now Ruby is flaunting her ex crush around like a piece of meat! And then she expects Sapphire to train her! It's madness.

I have half a mind to say something, but, I know Sapphire can take care of herself. I just hate seeing her be used like this. I swear, the next time Ruby does something to hurt my cousins' feelings, I'm going to step in and do something about it.

That's a promise.

Connie slammed her journal shut and shoved it inside her backpack which was sitting on the dirt ground beneath her. After making sure her journal was in a safe encumber, she slung the bag around her back and crossed her arms with a huff.

"I can't believe Sapphire is doing this," Connie mumbled under her breath as she leaned heavier into the tree behind her. "And all because Ruby asked her to. Can't she see how uncomfortable Sapphire is with this situation?" Her brown eyes were focused on the trio who had walked further into the forest to talk about the training arrangements.

Amethyst chuckled from her spot in the tree where she sat on a sturdy branch. "It sucks that we can't watch the drama explosion that's coming," She grinned, trying to read the lips of the firebender who had pulled Sapphire aside for a second. "Oh, I know what she's saying,"

The earthbender cleared her throat and gave a mock, Ruby, impression. "Hey Sapph, can you do me this favor and I promise I'll meet you in your room later tonight so we can do—"

"Amethyst!" Pearl stepped in with a bark, face pink as she darted her eyes back and forth to Connie. "Stop it, I'm sure Ruby is just trying to make sure that Sapphire is fine." She looked back over to the trio before sighing. "We aren't going to be able to watch them practice, so we might as well go back inside and get dinner ready. Connie, how about you join us?"

Connie shook her head and glared at Ruby as if she were Sapphire's guard dog and had been tied up away from her owner. "No thanks, just tell me when dinner is ready and I'll catch up," She brushed off the offer.

Pearl shrugged. "Okay, don't stay out too late," She patted the girl on the head while giving Amethyst a look that said, talk to her.

When the airbender was out of ear shot, Amethyst jumped down out of the tree with a grunt. "Let's get out of here Connie. It's boring, and kind of weird, to keep watching them like this." When the younger teen remained mute, she grinned. "Steven and Peridot are working on some new flight suits that will help him fly in the sky easier when he airbends. I bet you don't want to miss it,"

The nonbender bit her lower lip. "…why would I leave just to watch someone else? I can do that here," She was confident in her response, but Amethyst could tell by the way her eyes wondered; she was itching to see Peridots' invention.

"Steven even found this weird pink shield while he was exploring the temple, it kind of matches your sword," Amethyst saw Connie's back stiffened. "He said it would be too much of a burden to carry something so heavy around during battle so he was thinking of tossing it. Maybe you can catch him before it's too late—"

Connie backed away from the tree and sprinted towards the temple where she knew Steven and Peridot would be. "I have go to get that sword! Amethyst, you better not be lying!" She yelled over her shoulder, not slowing down to even look back to see a reaction from the earthbender.

"I'm not, he totally found a shield!" Amethyst shouted back, chuckling as she lowered her voice deviously. "…I just forgot to mention that Steven was already planning on giving it to you,"

Her eyes looked back over to the trio before she began to slowly follow Connie, she smiled. "Oops,"

Ruby placed a comforting hand on her girlfriends right shoulder as Lapis began walking towards the running stream. "Are you sure this is okay? You can back out now if you're not fine with this. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything,"

"It's fine," Sapphire whispered, and found herself telling the truth. "Really, I can't understand how she must feel to have to keep this bottled up inside. You just give us a few hours,"

Ruby's curly hair bounced as she gave a steady nod. "Okay, but don't take too long, she has to be back before Jasper notices she's missing. I'll save you both a plate," She placed a chaste kiss on Sapphire's lips, only to get pulled back in by plumper lips brushing back unconsciously.

Lapis looked away at the touching of their lips and tried to make herself busy by looking into the stream. Her blue eyes reflected at her.

"Alright," Ruby said a bit out of breath, when Lapis looked up she smiled at the hint of a blush on her friends face. "Don't kill each other while I'm gone please, and make good choices," The firebender half joked before pinching Sapphire's arm playfully. "…okay," She mumbled awkwardly as she jogged towards the temple to give them privacy.

Lapis looked over at her foe and couldn't help but let out a weak chuckle. "I really thought Ruby wouldn't be one of those people who makes things weird. She, and everybody else around here, are acting like this is some kind of love triangle where she has to choose between us,"

Sapphire giggled, much to the other woman's pleasure. "I know, my cousin and the others can be a little over protective at times. That's kind of why Ruby and I are keeping our relationship a secret, because they're all crazy—"

"And it's too much fun to watch them squirm and freak out," Lapis smiled brighter at Sapphire's nod. "It's a genius plan,"

The younger teen brushed her dress down lazily before she stepped over to the stream, she sat on her knees and gestured for Lapis to follow. "Now, do you know anything about waterbending?"

Lapis shook her head, lip tucked between her teeth. "…no. Yellow Diamond would be suspicious if I were to even mention a scroll on waterbending, so I had to steer clear." Her eyes seemed to brighten as she watched Sapphire lazily bend a portion of the stream into a small ball, bending it into different shapes. "I went to firenation schools, learned their history, took on their culture and morals, social norms. I didn't know my real parents and I don't have anything from them, except my bending, and I don't even use that," She mumbled angrily.

"…I've never felt close to them, and I'm starting to think holding in my bending might be the reason why," Lapis whispered.

The long-haired teen frowned and dropped the water with a plop. "Do you know if they're still alive, or who they are?"

Lapis shook her head. "No. I was too young," She paused. "I only have this bending to remember them by, and it still doesn't feel like it's enough,"

"…well, that's just because you haven't learned about, our, culture and where you really belong. So," Sapphire looked up at the sky, it was still bright out but the moon was slightly visible in the sky. "Let's start with what waterbending is,"

Lapis scoffed, a joke on her tongue. "Waterbending is just moving water with on your own free will,"

"In a sense, yes," Sapphire said, raising a hand to pull another string of water out of the stream. "But it is also the element of change. Earthbenders learned from bagermoles, firebenders learned from dragons, airbenders learned from flying bison's and we learned from the moon,"

Lapis raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "The moon?"

"We gain our strength from it and on the most extreme cases, we can do extraordinary things during a full moon; that's when we are at our strongest," Sapphire decided not to go into the bloodbending aspect to spare both of them the arguments to follow. "The moon and ocean spirits take the form of koi fish which reside in the northern water tribe,"

Lapis tuned in to the words that were spoken. "You're from the southern tribe, right?" When Sapphire shook her head, she stopped. "You're from the north? Like me?"

"Our sister tribe, the southern tribe, is where my cousin Connie is from. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I went to live with her; but the south has taken me as their own." Sapphire said, trying not to go into much detail. "We are a prosperous tribe; the south is a little less so. I'm the only bender from the south, and I wasn't even born there, so I guess part of me wanted to fix that when I left to travel with Steven,"

Lapis could tell it was a pushy subject and moved along. "…you guys use those necklaces, betrothal, to declare engagements right? That's about the only thing I know," Lapis shrugged as she thought back to their fights where Sapphire was wearing one. "I assume Ruby didn't grow the balls, but she would have the courage to stop a wedding, so it must be from family."

"My mother passed it over to me," Sapphire said quickly; Lapis wanted to kick herself for continually bringing bad things up. "But you know some of our culture now so let's start bending. We can begin with something easy, like the water whip,"

Lapis huffed. "The water whip is easy?"

"You have to start somewhere," Sapphire stood up with an excited grin. "Come on, we have a lot of techniques to go over!"

Lapis groaned as she slowly got to her feet. "Geez, Ruby, what have you gotten me into?"

Connie was ecstatic as she trudged her way to the forest with a pink shield strapped to her back, matching sword in hand.

Steven had given her the weapon with no questions asked, expect for when he asked if she would test its strength with his bending. At first she was unsure, she wouldn't want to damage the beautiful craftsmanship but she supposed it would be better to get hurt in practice then on the battle field.

What good would a pretty shield do if it didn't do its job, right?

But it does the job fantastically, Connie quickly discovered. It appears heavy but it's truly easy to carry around, light even. She assumes it must have belonged to someone amazing, had to be a nonbender because it protected her against every element Steven threw at her.

Ruby and Amethyst were so impressed that they had to join in on the fun. But after an hour of dodging fire blasts, rock slides and weird exploding gadgets from Peridot; Connie decided she needed a break.

The others still wanted to examine the weapon so she promised another round right in the morning when they've all had time to rest. They began to bicker but Steven cheered them up by mentioning dinner being finished. Connie stopped Ruby when she started leaving to tell the waterbenders about the food being ready, and said she'd do it herself.

She couldn't wait for Sapphire to see her new weapon and she was curious to see how far they had gotten in their training.

"Sapphire, you'll never guess what I got," Connie had a smile on her face as she dodged branches and vines, heading towards the stream she saw them at earlier. "…are you still practicing or what…" Her breath hitched in her throat at the extraordinary sight.

It took her all the way back to the very first day when they discovered Steven in the iceberg. They had been in the canoe and they were trying to capture fish in the ocean. So, seeing Lapis struggle to hold up a sphere like water globe in the air with a small trout swimming around caused her to gasp.

It must have been too loud because next thing she knew, water was splashing right onto Lapis' head. Sapphire managed to avoid the water by taking a knowing step back, she had almost done the same when she had first started practicing the art.

Connie couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her mouth as she watched Lapis huff immaturely, hair flattened around her small face. "W-what are you doing here? You messed me up!" The blue-eyed teen yelled in embarrassment, face set a flame as she crossed her arms.

"This is supposed to be a private session, Connie," Sapphire tried to sound serious and be the mature one, but her cousin could see the hint of a grin on her lips. "What are you doing here?"

Connie perked up, she pulled out her shield and held it in front of her with a gleeful grin so bright it could put Steven's to shame. "I have this cool shield that matches my sword perfectly! We tested it out and it protects against every element!"

"Where did you find it?" Sapphire questioned, impressed by the beauty and design. "It's amazing," She concluded with one arm on her hip, the other hanging at her side.

Connie shrugged. "Steven found it while he was exploring the temple. But it's a perfect match for the sword Bismuth made," She gestured to the other weapon her left hand.

"Or it's a duplicate," Lapis muttered to herself, flushing when both eyes were on her. "…Bismuth makes weapons based off of stuff past avatars used. Her family, for generations, have always been crafting weapons for avatars to use in battle that will let them fight fair. But over the years they've strayed from it and Bismuth has taken it upon herself to change sides. Now she makes weapons to get the upper hand in battles instead of fighting fairly,"

Connie's eyes brightened. "So, my sword might be a fake but the shield isn't! Steven said he found it here so it must have belonged to an avatar descendant from the air temple! But which one,"

"It doesn't necessarily mean they're an airbender. Avatars travel all over the world and drop their stuff off," Lapis shrugged. "Bismuth made that sword when Ruby was young, before Steven was alive, so that could belong to the avatar before him. Your sword might be the real one,"

Connie lowered her eyes. "…so it doesn't belong to me then. It's meant for another avatar,"

Lapis' eyes widened, her foot was forever in her mouth today. "N-no, Steven basically said you could have it so it belongs to you! Maybe it wasn't him saying you could use it, but…the previous avatar speaking through him and giving you permission." She ended weakly.

"The avatars are choosing you to use those weapons to save the world and protect Steven," Sapphire smiled. "…you must be some kind of nonbender to have the occupation of the avatars keeper."

Lapis nodded in thought. "I've heard of that before. Avatar Jenny, originally from the firenation, had her little sister Kiki, travel with her. She would watch over her body whenever Jenny went into the spirit world to make sure no one harmed her," She smiled softly. "It hasn't been a proven thing yet but every avatar has had someone watching over them. Maybe that's what you are to Steven, you do like him, right?"

Connie flushed, stuttering out a nervous response. "W-we're like bestfriends." She gestured to the water still soaking Lapis' face. "How far did you two get in the training?" She quickly changed the topic.

"I suck at water whips but I'm a pro at catching things in globes," Lapis grinned, proud of herself. "I think it's best if we don't go over anything serious because of unfair advantages,"

Sapphire smiled. "Oh yes, it took me months to become a master but Lapis will fly right through that with her hour worth of training," Connie frowned as she watched both of them laugh at each other.

What had happened when she was gone? It was all awkward earlier and now they were like buddies.

"Lapis is from the northern tribe," Sapphire said with ease, explaining everything Connie needed to know.

The nonbender smiled, stretching out her hand to Lapis. "Well then, I guess this makes us all sisters,"

It took Lapis off guard, the bright toothed expression on Connie's once sullen face, but she shook her hand happily. "Yes, I suppose we are. Thank you for teaching me more about our tribe and history, I feel closer to my family now; even if I didn't know them for long,"

"If you don't mind me asking," Connie hesitated. "…how did you get separated from your family?"

Lapis fought the tears down and offered a weak smile. "It's a long story,"

Connie held her hands up in apology. "I get it,"

"No, I've never even told Ruby or Jasper about the true story because they wouldn't understand where I'm coming from. But you two, you've lost so much just like me," Lapis bit her lower lip. "If it was different, if were weren't going to war in a few weeks—"

Of course, Connie had to keep reminding herself Lapis was the enemy. Tomorrow they wouldn't be friends and they sure as hell wouldn't be sisters.

They were getting too attached.

Sapphire probably saw it too, because she cleared her throat and ended their training session. "Maybe, when all of this is over, we can take you back home. Ruby said she's always wanted to see the tribe and I wouldn't have a problem with you joining us," She said softly.

"…in a perfect world, that would sound great," Lapis' smile was as bittersweet as her reply.

Steven bowed politely. "It was a pleasure to have you as a guest, even if it wasn't for long and I wish we could have spoken but I know our time is limited." He stood up and smiled when Lapis awkwardly bowed back; being royalty he assumed she was never the one who bowed. "Safe travels,"

Steven stepped back inside the temple before stopping at the door to wait for Connie.

"…you're not as terrible as I thought you were, and it sucks because I seriously want to hate you so I won't be so soft next time we fight," Connie said with a huff, hating the way it made Lapis smile as if she had just recited poetry. "Just don't use any sneaky waterbending moves on me, sis," She whispered.

Lapis sucked in a breath, eyes burning. "I won't," She watched Connie nod before she moved over to Steven and spoke lightly, no doubt to mention the sword and shield.

"Pearl is bad with words so she stayed inside to meditate, or whatever," Amethyst handed Lapis a bookbag. "She packed some food inside and said it would be a waste to throw it away, but it's her way of saying be careful and stay safe. So, do that," The earthbender shrugged and made her way back inside to tell Pearl she did what was asked.

Lapis barely had a chance to say, thank you, before the earthbender was gone. "Your friends are weird, but sweet," She told Ruby as she put the bag on.

Ruby shook her head. "No, no, we are evil and dangerous to you. Nothing is going to be sweet about us the next time we see you," Ruby's voice had an edge to it and Lapis swallowed thickly at the implication. "But for now, you just get back in one piece and look out for my stupid sister okay?"

"Okay," Lapis hugged the firebender before glancing to Sapphire who was a few feet away. "Hey, give us some privacy," She whispered to Ruby, pulling away from her embrace.

Ruby frowned, but looked into her friends eyes and said nothing. She headed back inside without looking back.

"Thanks again for training me, it means a lot," Lapis spoke first. "I always felt like something was missing and now I've found what it was, my culture. There is so much I should have learned but…I guess life is funny, huh?" She opened her arms. "Tomorrow we are going to be enemies but today we're sisters, and I truly hope the odds are in your favor during the war. You are all so sweet, generous, and kind, I know if you capture me you won't harm me intentionally."

Lapis' smile was sour. "…after seeing you all react like this, it makes me wonder if I've been fighting on the wrong side. But I have to remain loyal to Jasper, I love her, just like you were loyal to Ruby when nobody trusted her,"

"I understand," Sapphire offered a small smile. "Good luck tomorrow, I doubt you'll be able to dodge my ice daggers,"

Lapis snickered. "I have a few tricks pulled up my sleeves, so, watch out," It wasn't meant to be playful, it was a true warning and Sapphire understood.

"I will," Were Sapphire's last words spoken to Lapis before the older teen began walking in the direction of the firenation.

They could get Lion to get her back faster but it wasn't safe for them to travel to and from the firenation anymore.

Sapphire turned her head to Peridot, who had just stepped out from her hiding spot behind a tree, and spoke once Lapis was out of sight. "…she's an old friend, why didn't you say goodbye?"

Peridot shrugged, as if this happened to her all the time. "We'll see her again," She gestured for the waterbender to follow. "She was serious about not going easy the next time you two face off you know. This is war and her loyalties remain with Jasper, it doesn't matter how many crushes Ruby had on her. We have to be strong tomorrow."

"And we will be," Sapphire said with purpose, she smiled. "I didn't know you cared about me so much, Peridot."

The smaller teen rolled her green eyes. "Please, I was just making sure Lazuli didn't try anything funny. And I need your opinion on some suits I've been working on for waterbenders, they're fireproof."

"That, sounds, awesome." Sapphire couldn't help but grin. "Show me the designs at dinner and then we can test them out tomorrow,"

Peridot nodded. "I'm making you all suits based on your abilities, it's going to be a game changer that Yellow Diamond won't see coming,"

"Tell me more," Sapphire urged on, finding herself interested in everything Peridot was working on.

It was a perfect way to help her ignore the strange feeling in her stomach about what tomorrow would bring.

This is it for today, longer than I expected this chapter to be. I'll try to make a Christmas chapter to my other stories later this week since I'm off for break. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, this is going to have to count for the Christmas chapter because next time things are going to get sinister.

Thanks for reading!