Kyoshi Island had always been a beautiful place, both in the scenery and the women warriors who called it home.
Beauty was the last thing on the minds of the adults sparring in one of the training grounds. The amount of effort it was taking Ty Lee to avoid the arc of Sokka's sword was less than pleasing to the young woman. She still managed to keep her frustration off her face but the big grin she usually wore was waning as she forced her body to work despite the cool early morning temperatures. It was her own damn fault really for telling Sokka (in a fit of drunkenness) that she could take him without any weapons. He was a fucking sword master after all, she should have known better. Still she managed to find at least one opening and dove forward, striking three points on his arm that disabled his arm and dropped his sword. Not taking any chances she disabled his other arm with the same method and caught his sword in her feet as she vaulted backwards.
"I win!" she cried throwing her arms up in triumph.
"Okay, okay you win," Sokka said, his laughter echoing in the training ground.
Ty Lee felt the unwanted shivers race up her spine. She had thought Sokka was cute when he was a gawky teenager. The only thing ten years had done was to turn the 'cute' teenager into a very very attractive man. Water tribe peasant or no, Sokka was an attractive man--even to Ty Lee who, by all accounts, should not hae found him so. He had grown like a weed in the years following the Winter War and constantly fighting without bending had given him the muscles to compliment his height. Now that he was a full fledged Sword master, well, Ty Lee knew she was not the only woman on the island of Kyoshi who was more than a little in love with Sokka.
Two messenger hawks circled above the pair before descending. Ty Lee held out her arm in a practiced gesture as the bird landed and bent to offer her the contents of the tube on his back. She slipped the scroll out of the tube and opened it.
"Hey--" Sokka trailed off as a messenger hawk bearing the emblem of the Fire Nation flapped in front of him, glaring hotly, "Ty Lee could you un-block my arms now? Ty Lee?"
Ty Lee was standing with her own letter gripped between her palms, her skin already much closer to the color of the face paint she usually wore. Sokka frowned, feeling worry swell up in him as Ty Lee's eyes darted back and forth across the words, as though if she red them enough she could change the words the ink formed on the paper. Sokka felt the beginnings of panic stir his senses. What was wrong? He stepped forward, trying not to be unsettled by the way his arms hung down his sides as he made his way to the trembling woman. The hawk landed on his shoulder and waited.
"Ty Lee?" he prodded again.
"O-oh right," she looked up at him, her lips quirking into the saddest smile he had seen before she quickly undid her blocking with one hand, her other still clutching the letter.
"Thanks," he said, his hands going for his own letter. His eyes scanned the words with disbelief, "this is impossible," he breathed looking at Ty Lee who shook her head, "damn it, how could they do this?! Zuko's got more guards in that place than the Boiling Rock!"
"But its--its Azula," Ty Lee whispered, her voice soft and sad.
Despite the necessity of her actions in defending Mai, Ty Lee blamed her betrayal for Azula's madness. Even if there were times she didn't like the Princess, Azula was her friend. She had chosen another friend over her and while she didn't regret saving Mai's life she knew that their betrayal had been a painful blow for the Princess who considered herself invincible. There had been a point when the three of them, when her, Mai and Azula, really were friends. Though Ty Lee loved being a member of the Kyoshi Warriors she knew Azula's memory was a major factor in her swearing not to return to the Fire Nation for a long long time.
"We have to go to the Fire Nation," Sokka spoke, his voice firm, "and figure this out," he looked at the hawks, "come on, we've got to tell Zuko we're coming."
"Right," Ty Lee said, swiping the few tears from her cheeks as she let the authority in Sokka's voice direct her, "I'll go reply, you go tell Suki."
Sokka picked up his sword as Ty Lee bounded off. Sokka had left the Southern Water Tribe behind years ago, long after he and Suki had become friends instead of lovers. Duty was the killer of their would-be relationship. Her duty was to her people, her warriors, not to him. He wouldn't dream of taking it away from her. The two had parted on good terms and remained friends, despite no longer being lovers. She even helped him and Toph dig through the rubble to find his sword and boomerang.
How Sokka had left the Southern Water Tribe was a less happy story, one he was not proud of. Despite his adventures upon his return to the Water Tribe he had once again been Hakoda's son, Katara's brother, he had never been Sokka in his own right. Initially the ecstasy of having his family back had triumphed over the dissatisfaction he felt. But as time went on, as he got older and the cracks in their perfect little world started to appear, he knew he could not bare it any longer. He had spoken to his father who had met the news with dismissal, saying that Sokka simply needed more responsibility in the warriors of the Tribe. Sokka disagreed. The last thing he needed was another reason to be known as Hakoda's son who had things given to him by his father.
Katara hadn't really reacted at all. She had sat there, ramrod strait and told him that if that was what he wanted then he should go for it. As she had spoken he watched with horror as the sapphire of his sister's eyes had dulled until it was a shadow of its former brilliance. Katara's duty had been like Suki's, she was the last Water Bender of the Southern Tribe, the people looked to her for guidance and protection. She had her entire world ripped away, the life she thought she would have after the war had been stolen as the gift she wielded so well rose up and imprisoned her.
Despite his father's anger, his sister's pain, Sokka had left none the less. He had traveled the Four Nations, he had seen the world and eventually he had come to Kyoshi Island and simply stayed.
"Good, keep your hands up, that's it and--throw!"
Sokka stepped into the training hall where Suki was directing her students in the fighting arts. From the way a few were sprawled he knew her abilities as a teacher and fighter had increased as steadily as his own.
"Master Sokka!" the students jumped to their feet and bowed in respect to him.
"At ease," Sokka said with a fake air of authority that had a few of the younger ones giggling.
"And what brings you to interrupt my lesson?" Suki asked crossing her arms, amusement shining in her eyes, "I believe I told you I wouldn't need you to demonstrate a proper throw until next week--" she looked at the scroll he showed her behind his back, "everyone take a break," she ordered before leading him out of the enclosure to a wide area. He offered her the scroll and she took it, her eyes scanning the words, "this is serious," she said flatly.
"Yeah, I know," he said, "Me and Ty Lee are going to head to the Fire Nation to try and sort this out."
"Good idea," she said offering the scroll, "tell Zuko that if he needs us, we're ready to go."
"Thanks Suki," he said.
"So," Suki began.
"He's probably sent for the others," Sokka broke in, his voice soft, "seeing them again--" he trailed off, "Suki I don't know if I can do it."
"Sokka," Suki walked over to him, "yes you can. I'm sure its going to be just as awkward for them as well. But what happened to all of you, its not uncommon."
"It should be," he said, suddenly angry, "damn it we should have, we should have stayed together! We fought for the rest of the world, why couldn't we fight for each other?!"
"Sokka we both know it wasn't that simple," Suki soothed, "the world needed you all. After what you all did, you couldn't just turn your back on the people you saved, no matter how much you wanted too."
"Thats exactly what I did," he muttered darkly.
"No its not," she said firmly, "you needed to find yourself, anyone can respect that--especially your sister."
Sokka sighed, knowing she was right but still feeling horrible none the less. Suki closed her eyes as she looked at her feet, feeling sad for her friend. She walked up to him and gently lay a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort. Sokka sighed and closed his eyes, telling himself that she was right, that it was far more important to build the bridges that had bee broken rather than stand on one side of the stream waiting for the boat to come.
"So, wanna move that lesson up?" he asked looking at Suki who laughed.
"Alright 'Master Sokka' lets go so I can humiliate you properly. It'll be good practice."
"I hate it when you make sense," he moaned trudging after the warrior.
In her little house, Ty lee sat cross-legged as she wrote out the promises that she and Sokka would come to the Fire Nation as quickly as she could. She wrote two, knowing that each hawk should carry one. She finished with a happy smile and blew the ink to dry it before quickly rolling each of the replies up and sliding them into the tubes on the backs of the hawks. She stood up and skipped over to her closet, pulling open the doors to try and figure out what she should wear. She may have liked the robes of the Kyoshi Warrior but she wasn't really going to be one when she went to the Fire Nation, she was just going to be Ty Lee--if that made any sense.
"Ah-ha!" Ty Lee cried triumphantly as she extracted the cloths from the back of her closet, "Fire Nation here I come," she added softly to the empty room.
The Jasmine Dragon, Ba Sing Sei
"Are you sure about my necessity to this? I mean, the summons was for you only."
"We're trying to find a lost Princess, whose better at finding lost people than you?"
June sighed but had to agree. Iroh gave a satisfied smile as he went about tidying his shop. Though he was one of the main advisors to his nephew, Iroh spent most of his time in Ba Sing Se. He had not let the nationalism that seemed to be taking the world over affect him. Ba Sing Se seemed to be one of the few places in the world that had not gone insane, something Iroh found to be very amusing. When the letter had come with Zuko's news and plea, Iroh had kicked everyone out of the shop and immediately started to pack his things to go. Everyone but, of course, June.
In a time of peace, bounty hunters were generally frowned upon and June's cliental had decided that save for the occasional mission, they were going to attempt to do things legally. No clients meant no money and that was a problem for both June and Nyla.
Iroh liked June. June liked the fact that Iroh could give her a job and didn't mind the Shirhsu in his front yard. Though she took the occasional job, occasional was the key term and the rest of the time was spent in Ba Sing Se at the Jasmine Dragon. She liked tea, she liked money--hell on some days when the tea was particularly strong (or spiked) she liked Iroh. Admittedly she sometimes got cabin fever and left but at the moment she was fine. And she was glad that she was fine at the moment since she doubted that she would have heard about this otherwise. The Fire Nation was good at keeping would-be rebellions quiet
"Are you ready?" she asked with a sigh as she drummed her fingernails against the wood of the table.
"Impatience is not something to be proud of, nor to encourage," Iroh said wisely.
June didn't bother to hide her eye roll. Their relationship was based on need--his need for company and the occasional helping hand, hers for food and a place to stay--but every once in a while he'd treat her like that nephew of his and try to cram some crazy sage-wisdome down her throat. June did not appreciate that. FInally Iroh nodded, showing he was ready and the two stepped out into the courtyard. Nyla yawned sleepily and raised her head, sniffing out her mistresses scent as the two got Iroh's bags onto the back of the animal before climbing on themselves. With a flick of her wrist, June sent Nyla charging forward taking the two of them back towards the Fire Nation.
Iroh knew Zuko was an excellent Firelord. He ruled his country with fairness and intelligence that far surpassed his age. But the fact of the matter was that the Fire Nation under Ozai had been one that ruled the world. Even if it was wrong for the rest of the world, being a citizen of the Fire Nation was not a bad thing during that time. Though Zuko was an excellent Firelord, discontent was still sweeping through the Nation. Every so often a rebellion group would arise and try to take over, praying on the dissatisfaction of the people. Zuko was very very good at ending them before they got too powerful or word of their existence reached the outside world.
But no group had ever kidnapped Azula which meant either these people knew something he didn't or they were very stupid.
He wasn't sure which was worse.
Azula had never recovered her sanity. The last time he saw her was a year ago on one of her 'good' days. Crazy or no the girl was still family and he had accompanied Zuko on a visit to her. 'Good' for Azula was a cationic-like state where she sat listlessly by the window, her amber eyes dulled and foggy. She didn't move, she didn't speak, she didn't do anything. His brother may have been rotting in prison but it seemed Azula was locked in her own mind, a decidedly worse place.
Time had been a cruel judge for the young woman. Locked away her muscles had atrophied as her mind continued to disintegrate. Her waist length hair had been cut to her shoulders for maintenance sake but sometimes in fits of madness she'd tug the ebony locks until they fell away leaving her hair thin and brittle. Her room was guarded against Firebending but Zuko hadn't been able to bring himself to remove the gift his sister prized so much. It was as though Zuko was just expecting her to wake up one day and call him 'Zuzu'. He would be waiting a very long time then. Iroh had seen the woman with his own eyes, Azula was not getting better any time soon.
It was a real tragedy. She may have been crazy but the fact was before her madness she had been her father's favorite child, his future heir. He had groomed Zuko the best he could but still, he was an old man. Even if he hated to admit it, knowledge was suited to the past generation, the generation where the words 'fair play' meant something. Azula had been groomed in the same ruthless ways as her father, by him no less. He had a feeling if anyone could help them now the old Azula would have been able too. But she was long gone, completely replaced by the madness that took her over.
Iroh couldn't help but pity her, though he doubted she'd stand for it if she knew.
"Would you stop having one of your introspective moments and give me directions?" June snapped over her shoulder.
"Of course," Iroh said, "you make a left up here."