Disclaimer: We don't own Avatar. We're not making any money from writing this.
Hi, people who care enough to hang about. Myself, the daily grind has gotten to me and I nearly fell off the map.
I promise I'll finish this, it will likely take some time.
My goal is to have it finished before the end of Summer. At least.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Chapter 36: Uncovering the Unpleasant
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The morning sun invaded Lin's window and lay siege to her eyes.
But that was not the only sunshine in her room.
As Lin opened irritated eyes to take stock of her surroundings, she caught sight of a familiar face.
"You are Ty Lee," she said.
Ty Lee's face lit up. "That's right, Mai!"
Lin flinched. "Every time I tell someone that is not my name, they don't believe me. I won't expect you to believe me, either."
"Now, that's what I call catching on!" Ty Lee hopped up from her chair to sit on the edge of Lin's bed. "So, since we're best friends, why don't you talk to me about your problems?"
"My problems," Lin said, wondering when her stomach's rumblings had gotten so mobile, "such as they are, are not of anyone's concern, and yet they are constantly treated as matters of life and death."
"They are. Your life and your death. No one wants to see that last part."
Lin paused.
"I have always known this," she said.
Ty Lee's smile was gentler now, not a brilliant shock of happiness.
"Care to tell me what happened while I was away? I hear you visited the home for Joo Dee recovery."
These words sent a shock through Lin's mind.
She could hear her own voice urging her to remember what had happened, to share with Ty Lee.
"You rarely ever shared stuff with me… before, you know? You kept to yourself and that was how it would be. But now…"
Her inner voice scolded Lin for refusing to focus.
"There was a man at the door, and he was nervous to see me. But he looked… into my eyes… and told me he'd seen it all before."
"You mean, the dilated eyes, where there's hardly any gray any more?"
Lin paused again.
Her inner voice was really getting tired of that.
"Yes. Even the way I spoke… I was like one of them."
"What was it like to see them?" Ty Lee asked.
Her voice was sweet.
And so was her smile.
Even her large eyes, which sought to probe into Lin's own, were gentle and full of concern.
How could anyone be afraid of her?
"It was terrifying," Lin confessed. "Each of them… their faces were different, but they were all… the same."
Ty Lee had seen her fair share of "Joo Dee" and so she nodded. "Always the same," she confirmed. "Did they say anything to you?"
"Some." Lin bowed her head so that her fringe of hair could shield her eyes.
Ty Lee reached out and gently put her hand on Lin's shoulder. "Hey, you can tell me. Go on, tell me what they said."
"Some knew me as a conqueror, a cold-faced woman who did not care who died in her path. They screamed and they hid at the sight of me. I… no one has ever done that before."
"You do it to Zuko all the time."
Lin tensed once more. "That's because he's… different."
"Is his scar what scares you?" Ty Lee asked.
Lin blinked at her in disbelief. "Of course not."
"I can understand if it is," she said. "When I first saw it…" She looked away. "Well... you don't have to lie if it scares you."
"It doesn't."
"All right, I believe you. Back to the Joo Dees. They called you a conqueror. Why do you think that is?"
"Everyone says I look like the Fire Lady. The fire Lady helped to conquer this place. I suppose it's only logical."
"I suppose," Ty Lee allowed. "Did you recognize any of them?"
"How does someone remember something like that? They were… a mass of identical faces… they were… so hollow…"
"Funny. That sounds like something I'd have trouble forgetting. I have had trouble forgetting it."
"I don't want to think about it."
"Right. Let's talk about something happy. Like… when we were kids."
"You were happy when you were a child?"
"Sometimes." Ty Lee caught herself.
How could she just falter like that?
She didn't let her smile fade.
"When I was happy, I was very happy. It made up for being… one of the mass of identical faces."
Lin looked cautiously into Ty Lee's face and scooted closer to her. "You know," she said, "I don't think it's possible to make a group of people just like you. I don't think any of them could give off as much light as you manage to. It's… refreshing."
"Hearing you say that means a lot," said Ty Lee. "Let me tell you about this one time I pulled a prank on my best friend in the whole world."
Kesuk looked back for what seemed the millionth time. "Yes, Sura, she's still following us," he said.
"Are you all right back there, Lin?" Sura asked. "You can come up here with us, you know."
"I'm all right," Lin said. "I don't want to walk any faster. You stay up there together and have your romantic time. I'd rather not be a bother."
Sura was about to contradict Lin's assumption, but Kesuk squeezed her hand.
"Let her stay out of the way," he said.
Sura frowned. "Kesuk, that's no way to talk about her," she said.
"Isn't it?" Kesuk asked moodily. "All she's doing is leeching of everyone so she doesn't have to recover, right? If she just made a bit of effort—"
Sura slapped Kesuk's shoulder. "She's nearly died trying to free herself, Kesuk. That's not laziness, it's being trapped in her own mind. How do you think you would like it if that happened to you?"
Kesuk crossed his arms. "Sura, you're just pitying someone who doesn't deserve it! She's Fire Nation, remember? How can you even trust her at all?"
Sura crossed her arms right back. "You haven't seen her when she's helpless, Kesuk. You haven't seen her begging to see the husband she keeps forgetting. I have. I've stayed up at night to make sure she wasn't discovered crying and taken for more brainwashing!"
Lin stared at Sura. "Um… excuse me?" she asked.
Sura looked pityingly at Lin. "I'm just telling Kesuk what's wrong with you."
"How about telling me?" Lin asked. "And… in clearer detail?"
"Well—" Sura was cut off by the floors suddenly giving way and dragging them all down, closing above their heads.
Lin let out a blood curdling scream and reached for Sura. "It's too dark!"
"I know, Lin!" Sura said.
"Anyone could be here!" Lin continued.
"That's right, Lin," Sura replied, trying to keep her calm. "Take my hand, Lin!"
"Where is it?" Lin asked desperately.
A second later, she asked in a shaking voice: "Kesuk? Is it your hand I've got?"
"No," Kesuk said. "It's probably Sura's, right?"
"No," Sura said in a small voice.
A second later, Lin screamed again.
"Lin! Where are you?" Sura called. There was no answer.
Kesuk and Sura clung to each other as they were dragged further into the depths of the ground, and only opened their eyes when they sensed they'd stopped.
Eerie green light emanating from large crystals lit up a series of tunnels, and the two waterbenders could sense water nearby.
"What is this place?" Sura asked.
"It's the tunnels under the city," Kesuk said in an instinctively low voice. "I've been here once before. But this time…" he shook his head. "I don't get it."
"Lin?" Sura called into the empty expanse of cave.
"She's not your problem any more," said a strange voice from behind them.
Sura and Kesuk whirled around just in time to dodge stone hands that were aimed directly at their throats.
"What are you doing that for?" Kesuk demanded.
"You are with the Fire Lady. You are fair targets."
"No, we aren't!" Kesuk said, dodging again.
"You are not with the Fire Lady?" asked their attacker with more than a little mockery. "Surely you are, as I saw you speaking with her."
Sura shivered slightly. She didn't like the thought of being watched. "Why do you have to keep torturing her? Hasn't she suffered enough already?"
The earthbender snorted. "As she is not dead, the answer is no."
"Why would you want to kill her?" Sura demanded.
"It wouldn't be a very good revolution if the former ruler remained alive to fight again, would it, little servant?"
Sura's eyes flashed with anger but he had given her an idea. She remembered that she did have a little bit of water in the pouch she always carried. She stared hard at his eyes. "I am not a servant, you big coward!" She smirked. "Since that is what you must be, if you would attack a helpless girl from the Northern Water Tribe. You are nothing but a clumsy bully." All the time she was talking, Sura was slowly walking toward him, and she carefully, with very small movements waterbended the water into a sheet of ice right in front of his feet.
"I can't believe they're letting us in for free!" Ty Lee gushed. "I guess being friends with foreign dignitaries has its perks!"
"We're likely good for business," Suki remarked. "When you think about it, they'll likely have signs posted outside saying: Kyoshi Warriors choose us!"
"It's fair," Ty Lee said with a giggle. "We did."
"I was thinking we'd get one of their steam baths, I hear they're the best around for them."
"Oh, they are. I was here when we… conquered it. If the same people are in charge—"
"I'm sure they won't be mad at you," Suki said gently.
"I was going to say that they have these really great pedicures. We should totally get some!"
"Toph and Katara have no idea what they're missing!" Suki said gleefully.
"I think they said something about one time being enough," Ty Lee said with a shrug. "Their loss, if they'd rather help Zuko deal with politics."
"How many messages has he forwarded home?" Suki asked.
"I've lost track, and I was the one he got to carry them to the messengers. He wants as many Order members as possible out of power… that won't be easy, but I think his ideas will work."
"You think the people will react well to the total dismantling of a legitimate political party?"
"In the Fire Nation, if a person or group loses their honor, they are no longer legitimate. How honorable is what they've done? The conspiring, attempted regicide and the use of slavery?"
"I guess you're right. But I don't want to think about politics right now. Let's go get pampered!"
Lin's hands were secured behind her back, but she wasn't sure why.
She wasn't exactly a threat, because she had no idea where she was.
The haunting green light surrounding her wasn't helping matters. "Sura?" she called.
No answer.
Lin felt pinpricks of fear crawling up and down her spine.
Was she… alone?
Alone with no way of defending herself?
Alone with the knowledge that she could not find her way to safety?
Alone with the voice in her head begging for freedom?
She called for Sura a few more times.
Where was she?
What if Sura were in danger and she had no way of getting to her?
Oh, yeah, Lin thought, my hands.
She tried to move her hands free, but realized it was as if clay had been molded around them.
"Understand now?" asked a thoroughly disinterested voice.
Lin's ears pricked up more at the tone than the words. "Yes," she said slowly, turning to look at the speaker.
"Then you know that you're my prisoner," the earthbender came closer.
"Why am I your prisoner?" Lin asked.
"I don't have time to go through this with you again," said the earthbender. "I'm just going to take you to my masters and let them deal with you."
"All right," Lin said.
At least she wasn't alone.
"Do you think they cleared this place out just for us?" Ty Lee asked.
"It's possible," Suki said as they found places to sit in the steam bath.
"You know what this place needs? Music. It's so quiet!"
"That's what we've got each other for! Let's chat about something meaningless for a change."
"Like shoes! We don't discuss shoes nearly enough! I saw this one pair at that banquet we saved Mai from and they were just gorgeous! I've never seen embroidery that pretty outside the Fire Nation palace!"
"What color were they?" Suki asked.
"They were black and green, with this little orange floral pattern here and there. But what really caught my attention was—"
The Kyoshi warriors fell entirely silent in the wake of a sound.
It was a small sound, but it unnerved them, all the same.
Someone was in the room with them.
Ty Lee leaned forward, near the surface of the water.
Suki followed suit to hear as Ty Lee whispered to her.
"If it's a cute boy, he's mine."
"Naturally," Suki said, one brow rising.
"If it's an attacker…" Ty Lee's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He's ours."
Lin walked calmly behind her captor, wondering if she'd see Sura any time soon.
What had happened while they'd been falling through the floor?
Was Sura still in the floor?
"Sir," Lin ventured timidly.
The earthbender grunted at the title. "What is it?"
"What happened to my friend and her friend?" No need to reveal too much about Kesuk, Lin thought.
"My friend is with them," he said dismissively.
"All right then," Lin said.
At least she had some idea of where they were.
The only way to be of any help to anyone was to keep calm.
This fact resounded clearly in her mind, spoken by a voice as plainly as script on an official scroll.
If Sura and Kesuk were accompanied by guards, they were likely considered important.
Were that so, it followed that some care may be taken of them.
It also meant that since both their captors were 'friends' they'd likely meet up soon.
And that would be her chance.
Sura and Kesuk ran down a tunnel until they reached a wide open cavern, complete with running water and several high ledges.
"This looks perfect for a battle," Sura panted.
"Don't say battle!" Kesuk panted back. "We just ran away from the fighters!"
"I think a battle is going to happen," Sura said.
"Isn't this guy supposed to be an elite earthbender? I'm not elite," Kesuk said.
Sura sighed. "We've got to do something… We don't even know where Lin is!"
Kesuk sighed. "Why do we care where Lin is? She isn't our queen and her disappearance may weaken the Fire Nation long enough to make up for the crimes they've committed against the world."
Sura glared silently at Kesuk, not sure if she should release her anger on him.
The ground beneath the waterbenders' feet quaked.
"Our friend has found us," Sura whispered.
Kesuk grabbed Sura and jumped out of the way of the disturbed earth.
Their earthbender foe advanced, lobbing stones the size of their skulls right for them.
Kesuk did his best to combat this with slicing strikes of waterbending.
"I can't keep this up forever!" he said through gritted teeth.
"Neither can he!" Sura said, and bent enough water for herself to trip up their attacker.
"Sura!" Lin called.
Sura broke her concentration as she cried: "Lin!"
Both Lin and Sura were pulled to the ground by earthbent restraints.
Kesuk dropped to his knees and tried to slice through Sura's restraints.
They merely reformed when he'd succeeded, and he found himself restrained in kind.
He glared at the earthbenders. "I'm telling you, I'll let you have the Fire Lady if you'll let Sura and I go!"
The earthbenders looked at each other.
"You're not going to try saving the Fire Lady?" the earthbender who had captured Lin asked.
"I've been trying to tell you: I have nothing to do with her."
"I do! Kesuk, please try to help her, at least for my sake!"
"I don't need anyone to help me," Lin said softly. "Save yourself and I'll be happy." She tried to smile as she said it, but the voice in her head was arguing too ardently with her.
"I won't be!" Sura said.
"Are you sure about that?" Kesuk asked, voice strained. "She's Fire Nation, Sura! You can't trust her!"
"That's right," said the earthbender who'd captured Sura and Kesuk, "you can't trust the Fire Nation. We'll take this one and go." He motioned to his comrade, who earthbent the still-bound Lin out of the ground.
"Kesuk, you need to get over that distrust of the Fire Nation!" Sura said. "I've spoken with the Fire Lord! He's trying so hard to help the other nations he hasn't had time to get to it all! If you'd just give them a chance, they'd prove it to you!"
Lin looked at Kesuk blankly. "You dislike me because I'm from the Fire Nation. You think I harmed you personally due to my heritage?"
"I know your story," Kesuk said to her. "You were a pampered noble living the high life, and just happened to get bored enough to help track down the Avatar!"
Lin blinked. "I… was…?"
Ridiculous! She was a servant for spirits' sake!
"Kesuk, don't be a bully!" Sura warned.
"If something is going to be said to her, it should be said now! After all, I don't intend to see her again!" Kesuk turned back to Lin. "Your people raided my home, and took Sura away!"
Lin stared hollowly at Kesuk.
This was the worst accusation anyone had presented her! "Are you blaming me for hurting my friend? My sister? She is the only person who always does what is right. She is the only person who knows what must be done and accomplishes it. I would do the world a disservice to harm her."
"You let others harm her!" Kesuk said. "You married the Fire Lord and had the power to do something, and you didn't!"
"What are you talking about?" Lin asked. She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she couldn't stand it.
"You, Fire Lady Mai, were in a position to help Sura and you didn't! You allowed your people to keep behaving like barbarians!"
"Kesuk!" Sura snapped, "stop it right now! I already gave Zuko a ton of grief about that… and it's not like he needs any more! He already feels tremendously guilty about what happened to me, but it really isn't his fault! Mai had even less power than him, and no time! The only reason either of them knows what the Order was up to is because of this mess!"
"Be quiet before we gag you!" said an earthbender, busy with pulling Lin away.
"There's no need for that, we're negotiating!" Kesuk said.
"We are not negotiating!" Sura shouted. "Let me go so we can fight fairly!"
The earthbenders smirked.
"This could be fun," said one, who released Sura.
"Very well," said the other. That one tossed Lin toward the water, where she landed with a thud.
Sura took a fighting stance next to Kesuk. "I'm going to protect Lin. If you don't help me, I'll know you've changed more than I thought you had, and I'll have to give back your necklace."
Kesuk looked at Sura in stunned shock. "You really care about her more than me?" he asked.
"Not more than you… but she's my friend. If you can't respect that, I have no business marrying you. Get over your prejudice."
Lin was struggling to breathe, as she'd been winded by her fall.
She lay like a rag doll, remembering her orders not to escape.
The voice in her head ordered her to fight.
But what was left in her to fight?
The voice asked too much.
It would not let her yield.
It would not weaken.
And it issued an order.
Toph walked with Topekaia, Katara around the palace gardens, feeling the various paving stones with her feet, and all the many differences they offered. "It's nice to relax a little," she commented. "Helping Sunshine is nice and all, but it's tiring! All that stress… not to mention the Angry Lord's constant worrying…"
A moment of contented silence passed between the women, each meditating on how nice a day it was.
Toph's head jerked up. "Twinkletoes is coming… he's being followed by Sokka and Zuko."
"How nice! They can enjoy the weather with us!" Katara said.
A second later, Sokka threw open a door with an exclamation of "Surprise!"
"Sorry, Sokka," said Katara, "Toph already told us you were coming."
Sokka frowned at Toph. "That's not nice," he said. As Sokka walked through the door, he allowed Aang and Zuko to emerge behind him.
Toph smirked. "Does it bother you?"
Sokka sighed. "It's not worth it," he said.
Aang clapped Sokka on the back. "Good to see you've learned something!"
"No, it isn't!" Toph said, stamping her foot into the ground, and leaving a print.
Everyone, even Zuko, laughed.
"What have you been talking about?" Katara asked, going over to stand with Aang.
"Mostly, these two have been trying to tell me jokes," Zuko said with a shrug.
"We did tell him jokes!" Sokka protested.
"It just didn't work," Aang said.
"You guys just aren't funny," Zuko said, folding his arms.
"I am, too, funny!" Sokka complained. "Even Lin thinks I'm funny and she doesn't laugh at anything else!"
Quick as a flash, Katara lashed out and whacked Sokka upside the head.
"Hey," Sokka whined, "that's not fair."
"Neither is playing the Lin card," Topekaia said.
"It's just off limits," Katara said.
"It's fine," Zuko said wearily. "Thank you, but it's fine."
"How many?" Ty Lee asked.
"Three? Four? Eight?"
"One was already too many. And they keep… moving…"
"They're going to try and surprise us," Suki whispered. "We just have to react well enough when they try to—"
"Hello, girls," said an all-too-familiar voice. "Am I interrupting?"
Ty Lee vaulted out of the water, aiming straight for the speaker.
Her hand was caught midair by a stone clamp, one that pinned it to a column.
"Now, now, Ty Lee…" said the speaker, coming closer and tugging on Ty Lee's braid, "is that any way to treat an old friend?"
Lin watched as the earthbenders attacked Kesuk and Sura.
Two more arrived, breaking up Kesuk and Sura's attack strategy and forcing them to dodge rather than fight back.
How long could it take her to rally her strength and find a way to escape?
The way the voice in her head talked, she should already have done so!
That was hardly fair…
The odds were out of her favor already without trying to make them worse.
"Hey, Useless! Get off the ground and help out!" Kesuk snapped at her.
Lin twitched, redoubling her efforts and coming up short.
If she could not follow commands what good was she?
"Whatever she wants, we should get rid of them now and dispose of the evidence!" someone said behind her.
"Agreed. No one will find them if we bury them now!"
The ground opened up underneath her.
A broad grin spread across her face.
She flipped over as her arm restraints weakened, then with a firm grip on the edges of the crevice they were trying to make her fall into and pulled herself to ground level, standing on her feet.
She was weakened and dizzied by the effort but she was free!
Her arrow launchers were free, too!
"Heads up!" she shouted at the others, and aimed a shower of arrows at her enemies.
Startled, the earthbenders had to break their attack pattern.
"Useless, is she?" Sura asked. "I wouldn't say that if I were you!"
Lin smiled at Sura.
"We're going to drown you, Waterbenders!" an earthbender laughed.
Lin frowned in confusion. "Isn't that impossible?" she asked.
"Shut up!" the same earthbender who'd spoken before shouted at her.
Lin bit her tongue, silently reprimanding herself. She hurried to Sura's side. "We'll fight together, right?" she asked.
"Sura isn't going to be fighting," Kesuk said. "But if you want to, go right ahead!"
"All right!" Lin threw a knife at each of the earthbenders, disrupting their bending motions so they couldn't throw rocks at Kesuk.
Sura frowned, but decided not to argue. Instead, she directly defied Kesuk, freezing the legs of one earthbender in place, even as others appeared as reinforcements.
Kesuk blinked. "That's not what I meant to do..." he said.
Sura rolled her eyes.
Lin frowned at Kesuk. "Is your bending malfunctioning?"
Sura snickered as Kesuk looked at Lin disdainfully.
Lin did not understand this, but shrugged it off. There was a fight on, after all!
Bending a boxlike enclosure around their enemies, one that reached the cave roof, the earthbenders consulted each other.
As the earthbenders talked, Kesuk and Sura began to talk, as well.
Lin tried to follow their conversation, but they kept bringing up historical anti-siege techniques of the Northern Water Tribe.
Instead, Lin just paced around the walls of the enclosure.
"They're probably hoping to flatten us!" Kesuk said when he and Sura had finished discussing technique.
"I don't think so. They probably would have done that already," Sura said.
Kesuk sighed. "They're probably discussing battle plans," he said.
"Then we should, too!"
"We?" Kesuk asked in disbelief. "You are not a fighter, and neither is Sura! I have to take care of both of you!"
"Wouldn't it be easier to just let Sura freeze things and let me throw things?"
"I agree!" Sura said.
"Sura can't freeze things," Kesuk said with a roll of his eyes.
"Actually, I—"
The ground began to rumble, cutting Sura off.
"I think there's something weird going on under us," said Toph.
"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.
"It's like... the earth is moving around in a weird way. I think someone just made an enormous earth box… then collapsed it!"
"Earthbenders are practicing, I guess," Katara said with a shrug.
Toph grimaced. "I don't see the practical value of doing that."
"Well, whoever their teacher is seems to appreciate the value," Sokka pointed out.
Toph frowned. "I don't think that's what it is." She got down and felt the ground with her hands. "People are climbing..."
"Then it's an exercise course, too!" Sokka said impatiently.
Toph leapt to her feet. "I. Don't. Think. So!" she said.
Sokka put up his hands defensively. "Okay, then! What do you think it is?"
Toph shook her head. "It's like there's an earthquake going on now…"
Aang got down to feel the ground now. "There's a waterbender down there!" he announced.
Katara's heart stopped for a second. "There are only three waterbenders in the city! Besides you, of course, Aang…" she said.
"We can't be sure about that," said Aang.
"I am! I asked around!" Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "Is it a battle?"
Aang looked to Toph. "What do you think, Toph?"
Toph stood completely still for a moment. "It's a battle! We need to get down there!" She motioned for Aang to get out of the way.
"Allow me," Aang said, and created a tunnel with a stomp of his foot.
Toph sighed. "What am I supposed to call you when your toes stop twinkling?"
The earthbenders filled the river with rocks and dirt.
While one distracted the enemy warriors, the other churned the river into mud and clay.
"Um, Sura…" Lin said, tapping her friend's shoulder.
"What is it?" Sura asked, her voice sharpened by the heat of battle.
"I think they're messing up your water…"
"It's all right. We can bend mud."
Lin wasn't too convinced.
With a grin, the fighting earthbender sank Sura and Kesuk's legs into the ground. "You're going to be quiet while we deal with this one!" he said.
Lin knew she was "this one" and bolted. If she got away from them, they'd be far away from Sura and Kesuk!
"Get her!" shouted the earthbender who'd been mixing mud.
"No!" Sura cried.
"It's all right," Kesuk said.
"What if they kill her?" Sura asked in a horrified whisper.
Kesuk bit his lip and looked away. "I'm sorry I was so rotten to her."
"She's leading them away from us," Sura said. "She's still trying to protect us!"
Kesuk closed his eyes. "You can't be sure about that…"
"I know her!" Sura said fiercely. "We have to get out of here and help!"
"We got to the wrong place, didn't we?" Aang asked.
"Uh-huh," Toph said.
"Well, that's great," Topekaia said.
"Tell me about it," Zuko said. "Are we going to try again, or what?"
"Right!" Aang and Toph chorused.
"Now we just need to figure out which direction to go in…" Aang said.
"You can keep running if you want, Lin Qiang, but we know who you are!" They were getting closer to her.
"Of course you know who I am!" Lin shouted over her shoulder. "Otherwise I wouldn't be in this predicament!"
"We made you who you are!" said the other earthbender maliciously.
Lin slowed a couple paces. "You were the ones who tortured me… You gave me the treatment…"
"You are a pathetic little weakling," the first said as they circled her. "I remember molding your pathetic mind. You didn't even know your own name!"
Lin looked into the man's face. "Leave me alone!" she shouted.
"When I was through with you, you were about as mentally coherent as a cave hopper! You dissolved into hysterics!"
"I know!" Lin shouted. "And now I can fight back!" She pinned them to the wall.
"You're still not thinking clearly!" one of them said with a laugh.
"You can't hold down an earthbender that way!" the second continued, bending himself free.
"Oh…" Lin began to run again.
"Wrong place again…" Aang said.
"Urgh! What is it with these tunnels?" Toph asked.
"No idea. Let's try again."
"Get back here, you little animal!" the shout echoed behind her.
Lin kept running, but she was tiring fast.
"I heard something!" Zuko said.
"What was it?" Sokka asked.
"Someone was yelling at an animal of some kind," he said.
"Oh, I heard that, too!" Aang said.
"I don't think it was a literal animal," Topekaia said.
There was a moment of silence.
"Follow that voice!" Zuko urged.
Lin couldn't go any further. She fell to her hands and knees.
"Finally!" said a voice behind her. The ground rumbled beneath her, and she was being pulled along. She was too tired to resist.
"They're on the move again!" Toph announced.
"Where are they going?" Aang asked.
"In a general…" Toph's pointing finger traveled in a complete circle. "That way… kind of direction…" she paused. "I don't know! All these movements have started echoing against each other!"
"Lin!" Sura called in relief, still trying to wrench her leg free.
"And company," Kesuk added.
"Now it's time for you to listen to us. Again."
The earthbenders began circling Lin.
One brandished a small lantern.
"Get away from me!" Lin shouted.
She closed her eyes tightly.
Still she could sense the lantern as it travelled in a circle around her.
Her mind painted a vivid enough picture that it made no difference whether or not she could see it.
"Stop it!" Sura shouted.
"All right!" Lin cried, "if you want to talk about what happened during treatment, we will!" She lifted her head, looking right into the eyes of the earthbenders as they passed before her. "I'll tell you what's happened to me because of you! I've become a screaming lunatic, and I'm constantly getting into trouble! And none of it matters to you, does it?"
No reply.
"It's all right, Lin!" Sura said. "Just don't let them get to you and—"
"I don't want help this time!" Lin said. "I want to save myself, so maybe I'll wake up… for once!"
Sura's mouth snapped shut. "I'll let you do this on your own…" she whispered.
"You can't be serious!" Kesuk said. "She's going to get killed!"
"Be quiet!" Sura whispered. "She needs to concentrate! Let's see what happens, all right?"
"I'm not going to be defeated by you day in and day out!" Lin announced. "One way or another, I'm going to win this fight over my mind, do you understand?"
They kept pacing a circle around her.
Lin felt her inner defenses crumbling.
One thought repeated in her mind.
I'm going to die, it said.
And increasingly, she thought it may be right.
"Okay… maybe it's this one!" Aang said, breaking through a wall.
"Well… that room looks interesting…" Sokka said, trying to be helpful.
Though, why there was what appeared to be a scholar's study in the midst of the underground tunnels, nobody understood.
"I can't even tell what's real and what isn't any more!" Lin continued. "I can't remember what's a dream and what actually happened to me! And I have very realistic dreams!" She blushed to herself, recalling one such dream.
"That often happens to treatment patients," an earthbender said coldly, shining the light in Lin's eyes.
Lin batted the light away, a surge of strength returning as her mind was flooded with fury at the callousness of that remark.
"Stop moving!" both earthbenders screamed in her ears.
Lin began to laugh humorlessly. "Go on and scream! Maybe she'll hear you!"
"Who?" they asked, taken aback.
A flutter of hope appeared in Sura's chest.
"The real me. She's buried so far down… so far away… But she speaks to me. And maybe if you scream at her, she'll hear you and become stronger."
Already it was working.
The voice informed her that something was wrong.
That they should not rush this.
But it was too late—too late!
The earthbenders stopped pacing.
They smiled at each other.
"She'll wake up, eh?"
Lin nodded.
There was a manic glint in her eyes.
Sura's heart thudded to a halt for a couple seconds.
If Mai woke up fully…
"Wake up!" the earthbenders screamed in Lin's ears.
Lin laughed maniacally. "She heard that!" she announced.
"Lin, wait!" Sura called. She grabbed onto Kesuk's arm. "Stop them!" she cried.
"Do you hear this?" the screaming continued.
"She heard that! She's waking up!" Lin said.
Kesuk sent out a muddy water whip toward the earthbenders. "Leave her alone!" he shouted.
Casually, one of the earthbenders stopped screaming in Lin's ears and flicked the water whip away, the dirt overpowering the water. "I think those two are a bit too much of a nuisance," he said to his comrade.
Nodding, the other earthbender tossed Lin to the ground.
"What are they doing?" Sura asked Kesuk.
"I think they're making good on their promise to drown us…" Kesuk said.
"I think this tunnel will lead us there… No more walls to break through."
"Sure, Toph, whatever you say," said Aang.
"I mean it this time!" Toph said.
"Right."
"Let's throw this one in, too."
"That's right, she's too much of a pain to keep around any more. I'm sure they'll understand."
"Right. She struggled! We can tell them that!"
Mai had struggled.
How she'd managed to wake up via scream inducement, she had no inkling, but she wasn't complaining.
At least she had her own mind back for the time being.
Now they were talking about drowning her.
Interesting prospective.
Trying to drown her wasn't so much an issue as drowning Kesuk and Sura.
Really… waterbenders drowning?
She got to her feet.
Sure enough, her head was starting to throb, but she put that out of her mind.
Without noticing that her eyes were no longer glazed over, the earthbenders threw her over near Kesuk and Sura.
"You look different, Lin…" Sura whispered.
"You don't have to call me Lin," Mai said in her normal voice.
Sura grinned.
"Great, so they're planning to drown us, and you're just glad she's herself!" Kesuk tried to cut through the earth around his legs with water.
"You're not going to drown," Mai said.
I might, she added to herself.
"One, two, three!" the earthbenders pushed back, making Mai, Sura and Kesuk fall to the water.
Through her blurry eyes, Mai prayed that she wouldn't kill anyone.
It was either take this chance or let them drown… like her… so she was willing to take the chance.
She sent a shower of arrows at the earthbenders, and then whirled around to pin Sura and Kesuk above the waterline, just before she went down. A thought occurred to her.
"There they are!" Aang shouted.
"Lin, it's time to work!" Mai shouted.
"She did it to herself?" Topekaia asked.
In one final act of defiance, the earthbenders solidified the silt-filled water, closing Mai inside.
"Toph! Aang, do something!" Sura called.
Toph and Aang came running, with Zuko.
Katara and Topekaia spent their energies fighting off the earthbenders right and left.
Aang and Toph broke up the hardened river carefully as Katara began to help slice through Kesuk and Sura's restraints.
Zuko got out his swords, feeling the need to distract himself, and helped Katara.
Topekaia managed to take one assailant by surprise, and knocked him out, leaving a singed patch of collar on his neck. "That ought to teach him to mess with my friend!" Topekaia said.
"Should we knock this one out, too?" Sokka asked as their target evaded them.
Topekaia answered with a tornado of flame that drove their enemies back, which Toph saw as an opportunity to knock them both out with rocks to the backs of their necks.
"Nice throw, Suki!" Sokka said admiringly.
"Hey, what about me?" Topekaia asked.
"That was a good hit!" Suki said.
"Found her!" Aang said.
Zuko immediately abandoned Kesuk and helped drag Mai out of the solidified river. "Please be breathing!" he whispered before holding a palm over her mouth. "Oh, thank Agni!" he cried when he found that she was.
"It looks like those two made quite the mess," Aang said.
"She saved us… we would have ended up like her…" Kesuk said. "It would have been harder to get three of us out… She did it when her mind was on the brink of collapse, too… she didn't let it take over her reasoning…"
"Which means…?" Sura prompted.
"You were right about her," Kesuk said grudgingly.
"Yes I was!" Sura said, finally free… of the river. "Zuko, is there a trick to getting these knives out?"
Zuko looked up momentarily. "Just pull it straight out. If she used a curved blade, follow the curve."
"I'll help," Katara said. "She's pinned me to a lot of stuff."
"In… fun?" Sura asked.
"Sometimes," Katara said. "She captured me one time for real, though."
Zuko let out a harsh grunt of laughter. "I guess it was a mutual hobby."
"Speaking of a hobby, look at us!" Toph said, pumping her fists in the air, "Back in the game!"
"This is no game," Kesuk said. "I would no sooner keep playing than bite off my own leg!"
Ignoring him, Toph continued: "We've got even more of these guys to send back to the Fire Nation… and Suki and Ty Lee even missed out! Wait until we tell them!"
"Suki and Ty Lee went to the spa, didn't they?" Katara asked.
"That's right. Want to go collect them?" Aang asked. "We should get moving as soon as we've packed enough."
"Where are we going?" Zuko asked.
"Guru Pathik," Aang said firmly.
"So you've made up your mind," Katara said.
"He knows more about finding who you are than anyone I've ever met."
"Then all that remains is the guru," Topekaia said.
"If he can't help… no one can," Aang concluded.