After a deep night's sleep in the Eastern Air Temple, Aang awoke refreshed and ready to face the dawn. He stood on the wide, semicircular veranda and stretched in the morning sun. His surroundings felt almost surreal in that moment, and inside, he felt strangely serene. The nagging fears that had constantly chattered in his mind - fears of facing the Fire Lord, and of losing Katara - had not just gone silent. They were no longer there. It was as though his whole life up to this moment had been a dream, a sad and terrible dream, from which he'd just awoken.
"Hdddrrrrmmm." Appa came up behind him and bent his giant buffalo head to nuzzle the boy. Happily, Aang spread his arms wide and hugged Appa's brow. The bison rumbled warmly against his touch. Not to be ignored, Momo flew down and snuggled his head against Aang's ear, his tail swishing on the other side of his bare neck. "Hey, that tickles!" the boy giggled.
"They are glad to see you feeling better," Guru Pathik interpreted warmly, striding forward to join them. Appa bounded over to the long-bearded old sage and licked him fondly, causing Pathik to laugh as well. "And so am I."
"I feel different this morning. Peaceful," Aang confessed as Momo floated on the breeze to sit on top of his bald pate. "This place is so tranquil."
The guru smiled and shook his head. "The peace you feel comes from within you. You could not recognize the harmony of the world around you until you found harmony inside yourself."
"I have. And it's because of you. You could have given up on me after I ran away, but you didn't." Aang gave the old man in the loincloth a grateful bow, clasping his hands in front of his heart. "Thank you for helping me."
"Of course, young Avatar." The elderly mystic returned the gesture. "Thank you for helping the world. Everyone needs you now."
"I know. I won't let them down again," the monk promised. "So, where do I go from here?"
"Go to your friends," Pathik advised. "You will need their help, and they will need yours."
Aang involuntarily cringed. He hadn't left things on the best terms with Sokka or Katara, and he wasn't sure Toph would ever reconcile with him after the things he'd said. But he knew the guru was right. Aang had begun the journey with his friends beside him, and that was how he had to end it. Even if they can't forgive me, I have to try. I never would have gotten this far without their help. The world doesn't just need me. It needs them, too.
The Avatar knelt and put a hand to the earth, letting the invisible strings of oneness guide him. Amazingly, he was shown not only each of his friends' locations, but how receptive they would be to his arrival. And he knew where he had to go first.
Aang opened his eyes with determination. He waved farewell to Guru Pathik, then used a gust of wind to lift himself onto Appa's back. The lemur floated up next to him, ready to get going.
"Let's go, Appa," the Avatar called, flicking the reins as they took off into the clouds. "Yip yip!"
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Haru's legs pumped furiously, but there was no way he could catch the girl. Despite her diminutive size, Toph was a master earthbender. The ground responded to her will, speeding her ahead and leaving Haru in the dust. After several minutes of hard chase, he bent over and caught his breath.
I'll never catch up with her, he thought bleakly. But I can't leave her out here alone. The young man rested his legs for a minute and then continued his pursuit.
Dim, moonlit blue outlines of trees and rocks blurred through the edges of his vision as Haru ran. Thankfully, the path she had to have taken was fairly obvious; a narrow passage of earth between two long, wooded knolls. Just as he was about to stop again for a break, he heard the unmistakable sound of someone sniffing and breathing hard. It was Toph, half-concealed under a weeping willow. Haru swept the hanging branches aside and peered in at the girl sitting in the dark.
"There you are," he murmured breathlessly. "I was afraid you'd never stop."
"I wouldn't have," she bitterly informed him from the shadows, "but it's night, and unlike me, you can't get around in the dark. I wasn't sure you could find your way back."
Tyro's son frowned slightly. He had never thought of his reliance on sight as a disadvantage. "There's enough moon to see by, but just barely. If you'd gone much further, I might not have found you."
"Why did you come after me, then?" Toph reproached. "Don't you know it's dangerous out here? These woods are full of wild beasts. Besides, you're not used to running. I can feel your heart pounding."
"I guess for the same reason you stopped. I didn't want to leave you out here by yourself," Haru reasoned. "If you knew it was dangerous, why did you run away like that?"
"Because…" Toph sighed heavily. "It's a long story. Anyway, it doesn't matter now."
"Yes, it does," Haru persisted. "It worried me when you ran off. I know you can take care of yourself if you get into a fight, but you didn't have any food or water with you, and we're a long way from any towns."
"Oh. I didn't think of that," Toph realized, glad he couldn't see her blush.
"I figured you hadn't. Luckily you didn't go too far for me to find you." Haru came and sat next to her against the trunk of the tree. "I know we haven't known each other very long, but… I want you to know that you can trust me."
"I do trust you," she said softly. "That's not the problem."
"What is the problem?"
The girl blew out a hard breath. "You're not going to let up about this, are you?"
Haru shook his head. "I'm an earthbender. We can be pretty stubborn," he teased, "but I guess you already know that."
"Yeah," she admitted with a scoff. Had she been the one trying to prove a point, she knew she wouldn't have let it go, either. But it was still frustrating for him to use the same tactics against her.
"So," he asked quietly, "what did I do wrong?"
Toph hung her head, her bangs tickling at her nose in the night breeze. "It wasn't anything you did. It's more like what you are. You're just too… good. And it made me feel bad."
Confused, the young man arched an eyebrow. "I don't understand."
"I'm not like you," she expounded. "You and your dad went looking for the Stone Fists because you wanted to help end the war; because it was the right thing to do. But I didn't go looking for the Avatar. He came looking for me, and the only reason I got involved was to get away from home." Her voice shook slightly. "My parents kept me locked away from the world. They said it was to protect me, but they wouldn't let me do a single thing on my own. I wasn't allowed to meet anyone or have any friends. They didn't even tell anyone they had a daughter."
"That's awful," Haru empathized.
"Yeah. I thought that by getting away from home, I'd finally have everything I always wanted: freedom, adventure, friends. For a while, I did, and things were great. But after we went to the South Pole, everything changed. I couldn't earthbend down there. I felt useless. And Aang made me feel even worse. One of our friends collapsed while we were fighting, and he blamed me for it, even though it wasn't my fault. It really hurt."
"Was it Katara?" The name blurted past Haru's lips before he could check himself.
Toph sat up suddenly, her sightless eyes narrowed with suspicion. "You know her?"
"Katara is the girl I told you about before," he admitted, "the one who helped us escape from the Fire Nation."
Taken aback by the realization, the tiny earthbender stood abruptly. "So that's why you followed me!" she cried, pointing an accusing finger. "You didn't care if I was okay. You just wanted to find out where Katara is!"
"That's not true!" Haru denied, scrambling to his feet. "Yes, Katara helped me, but -"
Oblivious to his response, Toph furiously turned on her heel and started walking. "I should have known," she grumbled, not caring if he heard. "It's always about Sweetness, isn't it? Aang was in love with her, Jet was in love with her, you were in love with her; if he wasn't her brother, even Sokka probably would have -"
"Whoa! Hold on."
The unexpected warmth of Haru's hand on her wrist stopped Toph in her tracks. Neither Aang nor Sokka would have dared to touch her when she was this heated, and that fear would have been justified. Out of sheer respect for his nerve in approaching her so boldly, she allowed the long-haired young bender to continue.
"Katara and I barely knew each other," Haru told her. "I'm sorry she got hurt, and I hope she's okay now. But I didn't come after you to find out how she was doing. I came to find out how you were doing."
The girl turned slowly. "You mean that," she perceived, as his heartbeat and breath remained perfectly steady.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have said it," Haru replied.
Toph shook her head and chuckled at the irony of it. Haru might not have been as brutally honest as she was, but she could definitely recognize the same earthbender frankness. "She's okay," Toph said numbly.
"I'm glad to hear that," the young man nodded. "I really am sorry about your parents. It sounds like your life has been pretty rough. I can't imagine what it must have been like, for them to keep you locked away from the world like that."
"You do know what it's like to be locked away. You were in prison!" she offered.
"But it was the Fire Nation who did that to me," Haru corrected, "not my parents. Even if they did it to protect you, it was still wrong. It's no wonder you wanted to leave."
"I tried to go back," she confessed quietly. "I thought if they could just see the real me, then they'd… anyway, it didn't work out." Her chin drooped.
"I'm sorry," he said again. And then, he did something that left her positively flabbergasted. He hugged her.
Toph's blue-filmed eyes snapped open as Haru's arms wrapped around her. She, Katara, Aang and Sokka had shared group hugs in times of joy or relief, but no one had ever held her alone like this, with the embarrassing exception of Suki when she rescued her in the Serpent's Pass. That moment had been utterly humiliating. This one, however, didn't feel bad at all. It actually felt good.
"We should probably head back," Haru said after a moment, releasing her. "That is… if you're still coming with us?"
He was letting her make her own decision. Toph smiled to herself, genuinely touched. "Of course I am. I don't want to give the Boulder the idea that he can scare me off."
"I'm sure he would never think that," Haru grinned. He knew she was saving face. But his grin dampened a little when he felt a sharp punch strike his forearm. "Ow! What was that for?"
"It's how I show affection," Toph shrugged.
Wincing and rubbing his arm, Haru looked behind them onto the moonlit path. "We've got a long walk back," he sighed.
"I wasn't planning on walking," the blind girl told him. "Give me your hand."
Feeling a bit hesitant after her punch, Haru slowly extended his fingers. "Why?"
"Because otherwise you'll get left behind," Toph said, clasping his hand tight. "Move your legs like you're running. The earth will carry you. But whatever you do, don't let go of my hand."
He swallowed nervously, wondering what was about to happen. The ground started to swell beneath their feet, undulating up and down like an ocean wave. Suddenly, the moving mound catapulted them forwards at an alarming rate of speed. Haru yelped, gripping Toph's hand for dear life.
"Hang on!" Toph cried.
When he realized that he wasn't flying off of the rippling earth, Haru calmed down. He even started bending his knees in time with the girl beside him, pushing down on the ground and feeling it respond by launching him forward. "Hey, this is actually kind of fun!" he called out, laughing.
"You've got it!" Toph praised. She started to pull away and let him do it on his own, but to her surprise, Haru's grip on her fingers tightened.
"You told me not to let go!" he shouted back to her. "Can we go any faster?"
"Can we?" A radiant smile broke out on the girl's face. The ground rumbled harder beneath them as the two earthbenders picked up the pace, laughing as the wind whipped their hair back and they crashed through the night-darkened valley.
ooo LL ooo
Mai snuck a glance over at the tall Dai Li agent who, she had to admit, looked much better out of uniform. The handsome man beside her was dressed in the green and gold brocaded silks of the merchant class, his robes cut to emphasize his height and build. His long braid swished elegantly against his back with his long-legged stride. Watching him move was like observing a tiger-wolf in the wild; graceful and powerful, but not tame enough to be considered safe.
Tai Lan suddenly smirked. "You're staring," he remarked with pleasure.
Caught in the act, Mai quickly turned away. "You wish," the former Fire Nation noble lied, frowning as he openly laughed. She could feel his eyes returning the favor, examining her specially upswept hair and the snug fit of her bronze-colored gown, but she pretended not to be affected. "So where are we going? We've been walking for ages. Surely you can tell me now."
"Mmm… no. I'd rather this be a surprise," Tai Lan replied easily.
Mai rolled her eyes. He'd dragged her out of bed early that morning and presented her with the new dress, insisting that she accompany him on the only day off he'd managed in weeks. At the time, Mai had been excited at the prospect of going somewhere with him and getting away from the palace. But instead of riding in a carriage like any normal person of importance, he'd chosen to leave theirs behind when they entered the Middle Ring of the city, forcing her to walk with him for quite some distance. To add insult to injury, he'd been toting a splendidly gift-wrapped box that he said was not for her.
"Is it much further?" she complained. "My feet are killing me."
"We're almost there," he assured her.
"We'd better be," she groaned. "Otherwise, that box won't be the only thing you're carrying."
Tai Lan just smirked. "Here we are," he finally announced.
The pale girl's shadowy eyebrows arched. They were standing in front of a fairly pretty, if modest, dwelling - a far cry from the hovels and ramshackle apartments of the Lower Ring, but nothing as extravagant as any house in the Upper Ring.
"What is this place?" she asked, but before he could answer, a small crowd of people came rushing out of the front door - an older couple, a lanky teenage boy with glasses, and a beautiful young woman holding a toddler in her arms.
"Tai Lan! We're so glad you could come!" the older woman gushed, embracing him.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," the Dai Li agent grinned, hugging her back.
"You're still late," the boy with glasses pointed out, although he was clearly joking. "What held you up?"
"I think the answer is standing right in front of you, numbskull," the beautiful woman laughed, peering over Tai Lan's shoulder at a cringing Mai. "Come on out. I swear we won't bite, although I won't make any promises about Shu here. Sometimes he can be a handful." She indicated the baby boy in her arms.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Mai," Tai Lan presented, forcing her to don an awkward smile. "Mai, this is my family - my father, Rai Lan; my mother, Meng; my sister, Sen; and my brother, Ro Lan."
"Hello," Mai greeted dully. This is the surprise? I'm meeting his family?! She would rather have fought a whole Terror Team of earthbenders than face this torture. Still, there was nothing to be done now except endure it. "Nice to meet you."
"It's an honor to have you in our home, Mai," Meng said warmly. She ushered the darkling girl inside and steered her towards the sitting room, where a small pile of gifts sat on the central table. "It's Shu Lan's second birthday," the older woman explained. "We do our best to make it a happy day for him, because -"
"Because we love him sooo much," Sen concluded quickly, winking purposefully at her mother and shooting a quick smile at Mai. She sat the wriggling toddler in the floor.
Mai warily watched the boy amble about. Shu Lan was about the same age as her younger brother, Tom-Tom. Like I needed that reminder, she thought with disgust. Mom and Dad never wanted a daughter. They wanted a son, and once they finally got him, they didn't care if I fell off the face of the earth. Not that they cared much before he came along. The bleak feeling she'd almost overcome these last few days crept over her heart with a vengeance.
"I'm sorry you can't meet my husband, Lao Ching," Sen apologized, snapping Mai out of her moment of self-pity. "He's a sentry on the Outer Wall. We don't get to see much of him these days."
"Hey!" Ro cried, dashing after a book that baby Shu had found and was playing with rather roughly. Pages of notes showered the floor. "Not my economics homework!" He took the book back and started gathering his notes one by one. Shu cried until Sen held up a rattle, and the book was instantly forgotten.
"Ro is a student at Ba Sing Se University," Rai Lan said proudly. "We're so thankful that his older brother gave him this opportunity."
"You mean…" Mai glanced up at Tai Lan, who quickly turned his chin, as though embarrassed his father had brought it up.
"That's right," Sen confirmed with a sly wink, "our big brother here is a more successful merchant than he lets on. You ought to marry him quick. I know he's loaded."
Mai blushed. She could feel the Dai Li agent's eyes swiftly locking onto her, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze.
"Sen!" her mother reproached, seeing the tension her offhand remark had caused. "Can't you ever just be a lady? I thought when you got married, you would finally learn some manners, and -"
As Meng continued to scold her middle child and Rai and Ro chased after little Shu, Mai finally peered up at Tai Lan, who had silently come alongside her. She knew why he was lying to his family about his occupation. The Dai Li were feared and hated throughout Ba Sing Se. If the Lan family knew where the money was really coming from, Mai thought, they wouldn't have allowed him to fund Ro's education. They might even disown Tai Lan as their son.
"Successful merchant," she repeated flatly. "I guess I should keep that in mind." It was the most discreet way to tell him that she wouldn't spill his secret.
He kissed her forehead gratefully. "My apologies. I know my family can be a bit… overwhelming."
"It'll take some getting used to," she affirmed dully.
Unexpectedly, he grinned. "So, you weren't planning on bolting out the front door the minute my back was turned?"
"Please," Mai grumbled, "do you think I could run anywhere after all that walking you made me do?"
"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he interpreted with a mischievous wink, laughing when she rolled her eyes.
The family opened the gifts and shared some sweet rice cakes. The present Tai Lan brought turned out to be an Earth Kingdom soldier doll, which Shu seemed to like immensely.
Even though she'd teased Tai Lan about leaving, Mai was shocked to find that she didn't want to run away screaming. Tai Lan's family was warm and gracious. His wisecracking younger sister Sen was especially tolerable, Mai thought. She almost changed her mind when Sen dropped baby Shu onto her lap and asked her to hold him. But even the feeling of the boy squirming about on her knees wasn't one of utter torment. It wasn't like this was the kid that showed up and ruined her life.
"If you want, I can take him," Tai Lan offered from beside her.
"You think I can't hold a baby?" she droned. Her lover shrugged and let her continue holding the child. "It's a shame his father couldn't be here on his birthday."
The room fell oddly silent. Members of Tai Lan's family glanced around at one another awkwardly.
"What?" Mai wondered, arching an eyebrow. "He's just on the Outer Wall. It's not like he died in the war or anything… right?"
Sen inhaled sharply. "You didn't tell her," she murmured, looking over Mai's shoulder at Tai Lan.
The senbon-throwing girl turned towards her 'successful merchant' and saw that a shadow had fallen over his eyes. "Tell me what?" she asked quietly.
"Sen isn't Shu's mother," Tai Lan began with a heavy sigh. "His mother, Kara, died giving birth to him." He hung his head, eyes closed.
"I'm sorry," Mai said awkwardly, seeing that she'd unearthed such a painful memory. "I didn't know you had lost a sister."
But Tai Lan shook his head, shattering her theory. "Kara wasn't my sister," he revealed, meeting her gaze with sorrow in his dark eyes. "She was my wife."
Shock pulsed like electric currents through her body. Mai's hands shook so badly that Tai Lan had to take the child before she dropped him. "Da-da-da-da-da," the baby mumbled, touching the Dai Li agent's face with a miniscule hand.
Heat flushed the pale girl's cheeks until they turned scarlet. Mortified, Mai stood and fled the room.
"Ugh! This dress!" She swore under her breath as she rushed through the back doors into the garden. Had the restrictive garment not confined her movements, she would have scaled the wall surrounding the garden and made a hasty getaway. However, in the situation, all she could do was pace and clench her nails into her palms.
"Mai." Tai Lan's voice, that silky-smooth, deep voice she'd come to love hearing, shot through her like an arrow. He closed the screen door behind him and approached silently. "Mai, look at me."
"No!" she refused, facing away from him. "How could you do that to me? You humiliated me in front of your whole family! Why didn't you tell me you were Shu's father?!"
"I wasn't sure you would come here if I did," Tai Lan admitted.
"So you tricked me," she accused. "Thanks a lot. Nice surprise."
"I understand your anger, but please be reasonable," he petitioned.
"What part of my behavior is unreasonable?" she demanded, turning. Her eyes blazed like hot coals as they assessed him. "You dragged me out here just so you could dump a baby in my lap and tell me he's yours. Did you expect me to be happy about it?"
"No," he confessed. "But I didn't want to keep any secrets from you. As strange as this sounds, even to me... I want you to know me, Mai. All of me."
"I do know you. You're a man who would do anything to get what he wants," Mai retorted.
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "And I want you."
In two quick strides he was in front of her. Mai's anger turned to panic as his elbow looped around her waist and drew her in. There had been no room in her gown for her senbon or even a knife. She was completely defenseless. "Let go of me!" she demanded.
"That's not really what you want," he said calmly as she writhed and twisted, refusing to let her loose. "You wouldn't be angry with me if you didn't care."
"You don't know what I want! You don't know me!" she challenged, struggling helplessly against his stone grip. "Just get away from m-"
But then his lips came crushing down on hers, silencing her protests. The more she resisted, the more forcefully his mouth moved to quash her defiance. Inwardly, Mai cursed; she'd grown far too accustomed to those overwhelming kisses, and he was playing that to his advantage. Unable to fight both his desire and her own, Mai finally gave in and kissed him back. That unleashed something in him, and his passion pushed them both almost to the brink.
"Enough," he finally gasped, forcing his face backward. "Any more, and I…"
"I know." Mai herself was shaking all over. It was all she could do to stand upright. "But you can't just do that and expect it to solve all your problems. I'm not letting you off that easy."
"I don't expect you to," Tai Lan assured her. "Tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
"Don't hide things from me anymore," she insisted. "No more secrets."
"With the exception of matters of state, I think I can promise you that," he said in a rugged whisper. "Anything else?"
"Don't buy me any more dresses this tight," Mai continued. "I can't move, and I can barely breathe."
"Not to worry. We'll get it off you as soon as we can," he murmured, "and you'll never have to wear it again."
You mean, I'll never be able to wear it again after you rip it to shreds, Mai thought with a groan. She hoped Tai Lan would learn to restrain himself at least a little, or she'd be giving Shu a brother or sister before long. "Oh, and one more thing."
"Yes, darling?" he mocked caustically, arching an eyebrow.
Her face fell perfectly flat. "Don't ever surprise me again."
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A/N: I know, no Zutara this chapter - sorry! Back to that action next chapter, along with more about the war. While you're waiting for one of my ridiculously slow updates, check out any or all of the Zutara fanfics by the incredible Avidzktjo here on FFnet. She is AWESOME! The ABC's of Zutara continues to be fabulous & I totally recommend it.