Avatar: The Warring Earth
Book Two—Air
By Twins of the Pen
Disclaimer: Avatar in itself belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryan Konietzko/Michael DiMartino. The only things that belong to Twins of the Pen are the original characters.
"Shun? Helloooo? Earth to Shun!"
Shun blinked. He was outside with Tiki and Syaoran, watching with Kei as Tiki worked with Syaoran on his airbending… or he was supposed to be watching, anyway. Suffice to say, Zaron's challenge this morning had the giant waterbender preoccupied, and it wasn't until Tiki was practically in his face that Shun realized she was speaking to him.
"Oh… sorry," he apologized slowly, "What did you say?"
Tiki gave a little huff, frowning at the waterbender with her arms crossed. "What's the matter with you? You've been a space case all morning… and I'm the airbender. It's bad when that's coming from me."
Shun grimaced at the truth in Tiki's words. "Sorry. I'm just… thinking."
"About what?"
"Things."
Tiki made a face. Someone was being difficult with information today. "Fine. Be that way," she dismissed him, moving back over to Syaoran. "Okay, Syaoran, let's end here with a few more minutes of meditation. Then we can go to lunch."
Lunch. Shun's fate was awaiting him soon, down in the training room. He had to ask Sikka where that was after realizing he'd left before he could ask directions from Zaron, and Sikka had told him that it was a rather secluded part of the base… where no one would be able to hear him scream, in other words. Shun sighed again. He really didn't want to do this, but somehow always found himself in situations where he was demanded to do things he had no desire to. It was a good thing he was so patient, or he surely would have gone crazy by now.
Beside Shun, Kei was fidgeting. Tiki had not paid any attention to him all morning, too focused on the Avatar to remember he existed. Kei didn't like that. So as soon as she and Syaoran were finished with their meditation and headed back down into the base, the nonbender slipped an arm around her shoulders. "So, Tiki," he began conversationally, "how about you and I have lunch in my room, just the two of us?"
Tiki looked up at him in surprise. "Oh… I kind of wanted to eat lunch with everyone…" She trailed off at the heart-melting smile Kei was giving her.
"Come on, it's only lunch. We can eat with everyone at dinner. Please?"
"…Well…" Tiki began, a slow smile beginning to form on her features, "I guess lunch with just the two of us wouldn't hurt…"
Syaoran wanted to gag. This was just disgusting to watch. He'd been trailing behind the two, but this called for immediate action. "It'll hurt if Sergeant Major Tsong finds out," the Avatar interjected, moving up to Tiki's other side. "He mentioned something last night about no food outside of the dining hall, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm not about to cross him." And Syaoran knew that Tiki wouldn't either. She knew just as well as he did about Zaron's explosive tendencies. The firebender could go from mildly stoic to rough and rowdy in mere seconds, provided the right motivation. Plucking Kei's hand off of Tiki's shoulder, the Avatar gave Kei a pointed look. "So I don't think it's in anyone's best interests for you two to go off to eat alone."
Kei narrowed his eyes at Syaoran. Would it kill the Avatar to be parted from his teacher for just a few minutes? What was his problem, anyway? They said they weren't dating, so why the overprotective act?
What was worse was now Tiki was beginning to look pensive, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed. "I don't want to make Zaron mad…" she said, a hand wandering up to play with a strand of her hair. Kei pulled away from Syaoran's grasp to take Tiki's hand away from her hair.
"It's just lunch. He'd understand, wouldn't he?" Kei tried to coax, but Tiki was already shaking her head.
"Sorry, Kei," she apologized. When Kei's face fell with disappointment, guilt tugged at Tiki's heartstrings, and she tightened her tiny fingers around his hand. "Hey, don't look that way… maybe we could have our own table instead?"
Kei considered it. The mess hall would probably still be full… not the intimacy he had wanted. But, he would take what he could get. "That'll be nice," he enthused with a smile. Throwing a glance Syaoran's way, the nonbender added, "That is, if it's okay with your friend here."
"Of course it's okay," Tiki answered without missing a beat. She tugged on Kei's hand, pulling him behind her as she trotted her way into the mess hall. "Let's go find us a table!"
Feeling cocky, Kei threw a smirk over his shoulder at Syaoran. The Avatar might have a problem with Kei being alone with Tiki, but what really mattered was what Tiki herself thought. And Tiki herself didn't mind being alone with him one bit.
Shun shook his head at the events unfolding before him. Tiki was just as happy as she could be, not realizing that Kei was monopolizing and manipulating her. Shun almost went after her, wanting to have a word with Kei… but then, that was Syaoran's job, wasn't it? Besides, Shun had somewhere to be.
"I'll catch up with you all later," Shun told Syaoran, clapping a hand briefly on the Avatar's shoulder before heading on his way, bypassing the mess hall and the inviting smells within to trek the lonely road down to the training hall.
Syaoran looked back to Shun, as if the waterbender was abandoning him. And then part of him wanted to know where he was off to, considering ZanYi had yet to make an appearance today. Taking a deep breath, Syaoran let both of those thoughts go. It wasn't his business anymore what happened with ZanYi. Surprisingly, it was easy to let the thoughts drop this time. He didn't know whether it was thanks to just finishing airbender training for the morning or whether the Avatar was just getting better at putting ZanYi away from his thoughts.
Either way, that was good, because he seemed to have another problem entirely now.
"So where do I sit?" he grumbled, looking around the dining hall. It was packed, so it would be a miracle anyway if Kei got what he wanted. People were smooshed in every table possible. It was as he was searching that he found a familiar raven-haired ponytail at a nearby table.
However, just as he started to walk over, ZanYi stood up from the small pack of her AKs, empty tray in hand. "Syaoran," she greeted with a nod, and Syaoran could already tell she seemed to be in better spirits than she had on the island. There was a spark to her eyes, and already she seemed less agitated than normal. "Finished with training?"
"Yeah, we're just breaking for lunch," Syaoran agreed.
"Where are the rest of you?"
"Well, Kei has dragged Tiki off to some table of their own," he started to explain, and already ZanYi's eyes were narrowing at him. "Don't worry, I'll crash it," Syaoran stopped her quickly before she had to say a word, knowing where that look was going.
This seemed to appease her immediate concern, but ZanYi noticed something missing. Something big. "Where's Shun then?" she asked.
Syaoran shrugged his shoulders, absolutely clueless to where he could have gone. "I thought he was going looking for you, but if you're here, then I don't know."
"Oh, are you guys looking for Shun?"
Both Syaoran and ZanYi turned at the familiar voice, finding Sikka striding into their midst, Ransik closely at her side. "He could be at the training room. He was asking me about where it was earlier," the waterbender proposed, trying to be helpful. Nodding, ZanYi quickly excused herself, a hunch forming in the pit of her gut, since Zaron was absent as well.
However, with the lieutenant gone, that left Syaoran alone to his own devices again. "This place is crowded," Ransik noted, looking at the Avatar, "There's a seat by us if you'd like to join."
But Syaoran could only shake his head. "No, it's okay. I've got somewhere else to be. Thanks, Ransik, Sikka," he told them before scurrying off to get his food. It took a lot of searching, but eventually he managed to find a less crowded part of the dining hall, where it seemed Kei and Tiki had set up their lunch. "Hey," he greeted, walking over to take a seat. Knowing he was intruding—though not particularly caring—Syaoran added, "Sorry. Shun had to go somewhere and ZanYi just went to look for him. There's nowhere else to sit."
"Oh, really?" Tiki asked, blinking her gray eyes as she glanced around the crowded mess hall. Sure enough, she didn't see Shun or ZanYi anywhere. "That sucks. Well, you're always welcome, Syaoran."
Kei's expression suggested that he disagreed with Tiki's sentiment, but he said nothing. Instead, the nonbender angled his body towards Tiki, sitting quite close to her on the bench, and acted as if Syaoran did not exist. "So, Tiki, you were telling me about the cabbage incident?"
"Oh yeah. So I hadn't eaten in a couple days, being on the run and all. Lili and I enter the outskirts of Republic City, and there I see a cabbage merchant! Normally I try to pay for food, but I didn't have any money on me at the time, so I was starving. So, while the merchant's back was turned, I managed to swipe a cabbage. Unfortunately, he caught me at the last minute and gave chase. I had almost outrun him before I ran into some Neo-Equalists that were in the city. And they had been looking for me for a long time…"
Tiki grew quiet, contemplating her food rather than eating it. Kei quirked a brow at her sudden silence. "So what happened next?" he prompted gently. The tiny airbender managed to shake herself out of her thoughts, and she flashed Kei a smile.
"You can imagine: I started running for my life. Ducking, dodging, swerving, swinging… I even had to jump on a few heads to get away. Finally, I lost them in a forest nearby. I could finally settle down to share my cabbage with Lili… but even that didn't last long."
Tiki turned a fond grin onto her pupil, the Avatar. "Because right after that, I met Syaoran. The rest you could call history."
A corner of Kei's mouth turned down. He knew they had history together—Syaoran had known Tiki a lot longer than Kei did, and they had been through so much together. Even so, the nonbender couldn't help but be jealous that the Avatar's name constantly popped up into the conversations he had with Tiki.
Syaoran ignored the look on Kei's face to roll his eyes at just the memory of the incident. "Yes, that was such a lovely meeting," he said with sarcasm. "After all, I loved having a horde of Neo-Equalist Chi-Blockers swoop in and try to take me back to the concentration camps."
It was the day that had gotten all of them into this whole mess—Tiki, Syaoran, ZanYi, and Shun. It was had brought them to the Resistance the first time around.
"But I guess if you hadn't brought trouble, we wouldn't have met Ransik and Sikka, never met the Resistance," Syaoran resigned, knowing it was that moment that their team was first starting to assemble, "and you'd probably still be trying to teach that lemur how to tell jokes."
Those jokes never were very funny.
Tiki resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Syaoran. But she did wrinkle her nose at him. "I didn't bring trouble. It just follows me around like a stalker," she asserted. "You just happened to get caught up in my baggage. But I've already told you my thoughts on the odds of us meeting."
That was enough about her relationship with the Avatar. Kei wanted to talk about something else now. "You said that you're now the councilwoman of your nation, right?" Kei asked, earning Tiki's attention. "So you have a lot of responsibilities resting on your shoulders right now, huh?"
Tiki's face fell. "I suppose…" she mumbled, reaching up to clutch her amulet. Kei noticed and placed a hand over hers, loosening it from her amulet.
"Don't worry. You'll be able to handle it," he assured her with a smile. "I was just asking because I was curious: are you going to go back to your island after you finish teaching Syaoran airbending?"
"…"
Tiki stared down at her half-eaten lunch, her brows furrowing. She hadn't really thought that far ahead. Sure, they were a team—a family—and Shun and Syaoran had been upset when ZanYi had left. But that was different—they fancied ZanYi. Tiki wasn't sure that the same emptiness would fill Team Avatar if she decided to leave to fulfill her duty as councilwoman. Despite what was said, did her place at Team Avatar come with a time limit? Would she be mixing up her priorities if she chose to stay with Syaoran, ZanYi, and Shun instead of returning to her people?
Tiki reached up to play with her hair again, her other hand already occupied by Kei. Apparently, she had a lot more thinking to do. Syaoran noticed the change in demeanor and he didn't like it. He actually shot Kei a very dirty look for it. Tiki had enough on her plate to deal with; she didn't need Kei to give her any reason to worry more.
"When we finish airbending training, it will be up to Tiki what she does," the Avatar started, putting down his fork. "If she had to go, we wouldn't stop her, but she would have to know that there would be a big hole if she left our team." Looking only at Tiki, Syaoran continued, "We're a family, and you know that. Shun would miss you. ZanYi doesn't think she needs anyone, so that wouldn't be any offense on you. And we both know that there's nothing stopping those two from eventually getting together, which means I'll be pulling my hair out from my miserable state."
The Avatar leaned his elbows on the table, focusing on his friend alone. Everything he was saying was true. "And above all else, you're the one who actually believes in me. And as insane as you are in your entirety, I don't forget that."
Tiki gathered the courage to look up into Syaoran's eyes. They had that forest green look about them again, like that night in the kitchen when it was just the two of them. Tiki's face warmed, but she managed a small smile aimed at the Avatar. "…Thanks," she said, sounding relieved. Syaoran had not made her decision any easier by what he said, but he did assure her that she would be missed, despite her 'insanity', as he so delicately put it. He was awkward, but he was sweet when he wanted to be. If the table wasn't between them, she would have kissed him.
"Or," Kei interjected loudly, startling Tiki, "you could always travel around with me."
Tiki stared at him.
"…Huh?" she eventually said, staring at Kei in bewilderment. Kei offered her a half-shrug, nonchalant now that he had her attention once more.
"Just what I said: if you get bored of Team Avatar, and don't feel like going home, we could always travel together. We'll go wherever you want to go. It'll be fun—seeing sights from the deck of a yacht or the window of a jet… I'll introduce you to the finer things in life."
Tiki gave Kei a funny look. "Well… that does sound nice," she admitted, and Kei's face lit up in a brief, triumphant grin, "but, at the end of the day, there's really only one place—" a quick glance at Syaoran, "—actually, make that two places I'd rather be in the entire world." Her peace said, Tiki stood up. "I'm done, so I'm gonna go put my tray away. Be right back," she promised before walking away, her half-eaten lunch in her hands. Kei watched her leave, looking bewildered and intrigued at the same time.
"Curious and curiouser…" he mumbled under his breath. So Tiki wasn't impressed by yachts or jets, huh? He should have realized that earlier: Tiki was the kind of girl who cherished relationships more than she cherished material possessions. She was kind of monkish in that way. That just meant Kei would have to work harder to be a person she could trust and rely on, someone she could run to when she needed to cry, instead of the Avatar…
Very well then, Kei decided. Challenge accepted.
Syaoran looked to Kei at his utterings, frowning, thinking this guy just didn't get it. How did he think that Tiki would be impressed by traveling the world on fancy boats and planes? One: she had a sky bison. Already better than a jet, in his opinion. Two: their team had practically been all over the world already, and Syaoran was certain she'd probably seen more while on the run for the first decade of her life.
And three: that just wasn't Tiki. All Tiki wanted was home, family. If Syaoran knew the airbender like he thought he did, then Tiki wouldn't want to keep being on the move, never permanent. She needed her family—families. And Kei couldn't do anything about that.
The sounds and laughter of the mess hall, a brief reprieve from the war, faded away to give way to the dank loneliness and gloom of the underground base, the silence oppressive as Shun made his way to the training room. Pausing outside the door, the giant waterbender took a deep breath, willing himself to man up. Zaron only said that he had to fight, not that he had to win… even so, Shun felt like his entire life was riding on this one test of strength.
Releasing that breath, Shun turned the handle and entered the room.
As soon as he entered the room, a vicious squawk echoed throughout, and Xie Xie swooped close to his head from his perch on the door. The dragonhawk quickly moved to land on Zaron, who stood bare-chested on the other side of the room, ZanYi's dogtags gleaming around his neck. Sweat dripped from his brow, and the sergeant major set down the water bottle he had been busily drinking.
"Good. You showed," Zaron remarked, as if he had doubted it. The firebender's words were clipped, his eyes stern. Having already been there for the past half hour to warm-up, he was ready to roll. This wasn't something he was going to take lightly.
Shun frowned at the bird perched on Zaron's shoulder. The giant waterbender was now convinced that the thing was evil. Shutting the door behind him, Shun made his way further into the room, remaining opposite of Zaron. Setting his satchel down to the side and uncapping his canteen, he turned to face the sergeant major, the same resigned tone he'd used earlier manifested in his expression.
"So how do we do this?" he asked, "What are the rules?"
The déjà vu of the moment was not lost on him at all… he just did not care to recall it. The other day, he had wanted to spar ZanYi even less than he wanted to spar Zaron now.
Zaron clicked his teeth, and obediently Xie Xie left his shoulder. Flying up into the rafters, the dragonhawk made its roost, peering down with watchful eyes, particularly at Shun. Then Zaron gave him a similar look, just as sharp.
"First one to drop." the sergeant major told him.
Turning away from Shun, Zaron paced away from him, putting space between them. "Just one thing before we start…" The firebender turned back to face Shun, eyes critical of the large man at odds with him. "What is it that you think you love about ZanYi?"
Shun raised his eyebrows. "Think?" he quoted, sounding affronted. "Believe me, Zaron: if I didn't know I was in love with ZanYi, I wouldn't be standing in front of you right now. Your sister is the most infuriating woman I've ever met."
She was infuriating, yes, and she made Shun want to tear his own hair out sometimes with how stubborn she could be. And yet, somehow, he wouldn't have her any other way. Maybe he was a masochist. He rubbed his chin, the prickle beginning to return, as he pondered how to articulate to the overprotective brother before him just what he loved about the lieutenant. Seriously, where did he begin?
"…She's very driven," Shun decided, his eyes far away as he spoke. "Dedicated to her cause, which makes her one heck of a soldier. She's independent and proud, so it's difficult to get her to accept help… but she's not above it when she realizes she really needs it, which isn't often. She's strong and courageous, often to the point of reckless. But she can be gentle… just when she thinks no one is looking. And she's fierce when she's protecting someone… even if it's at the cost of her own well-being."
Shun's eyes tightened, the memory of ZanYi's battered form in the freezers still haunting him. "Even when they had done all they could to break her, she refused to give them anything. That day made me realize, when I rescued her from the coolers, that I was in love with her."
Forcefully pulling himself out of his reverie, Shun focused on Zaron, his eyes defiant. "Does that answer your question of why I 'think' I'm in love with ZanYi?"
Zaron was just silent, impassive as the bomb was dropped on him. However, never had any man been able to answer that without some stupid cliché. Never had any man been able to look him in the eye and say any of that. ZanYi was his sister; he knew her better than she let anyone else.
Except Shun, it seemed. This man seemed to understand the parts of her that made her whole, not just one facet of her. He knew ZanYi, good and bad, and accepted it all. According to the giant, it was the only reason he was standing here ready to fight the sergeant major.
Shun was serious. And that's what made this all the more vital.
"Yes," Zaron answered simply, not wanting to give anything else away. He cracked his neck from side to side, rolling his shoulder to keep them loose. "Then let's get started."
And then Zaron rushed forward, fists ablaze.
Shun had a split-second to react, and he did so: he jumped back, splashing water onto the floor in front of him. With a bit more concentration, he caused the water to freeze into slick ice. If Zaron didn't watch his step, he would slip and fall, causing the makeshift Agni-Kai to end humiliatingly fast.
Shun didn't expect it to be that easy—it was never that easy with the Tsongs—but this was his first line of defense until he could figure out Zaron's fighting pattern.
Indeed, Zaron did slip, but he let his other foot catch him on the sturdy floor. With a quick flash of his hand, he melted the ice, removing the obstacle entirely. Continuing his charge, he came in close to Shun, elbowing the waterbender roughly in the sternum before following up with a fiery punch to the man's stomach.
Shun absorbed the blow, moving back with the punch. He winced and hissed a little as the flames burnt through the fabric of his shirt to his stomach, but that could be dealt with later. Right now, there was a fierce, overprotective brother to be dealt with.
Deciding to use his raw strength (for once), Shun grabbed Zaron's arm and whipped him around to fly into the wall behind him. Summoning more water, the giant waterbender blasted the sergeant major's back with a torrent, freezing him in place on the wall. Only Zaron's shins and hands were free, depleting most of Shun's water supply, but it was worth it—in his position, getting out of his icy prison was going to take Zaron a bit of effort.
Zaron growled angrily, pushing with all his might to break free from the ice. And when that didn't work, he set his limbs a blaze, melting the ice that barricaded him. As the ice got thinner and thinner, and the steam grew higher, the sergeant major then broke from the ice.
When he turned back to Shun, he launched a blazing, sweeping kick across his shoulder, following up with a straight punch to the waterbender's solar plexus, knocking the wind right out of him. Zaron's own breath was starting to come out shorter, and he struggled a bit to regain control of the breathing, lest it impact his firebending.
Shun exhaled sharply, the punch to his solar plexus effective. The blow knocked him off balance, and he flailed before falling back. He did, however, catch himself on his hands. Noticing that Zaron's breath was coming in short huffs, Shun decided to try his donkey kick trick on him—only this time, he used the full force of his legs to kick the sergeant major back into the wall he had just escaped.
Making sure his feet landed solidly this time, Shun scuttled backwards quickly, flipping around when he was at a safe enough distance to do so and pushing himself back up to stand on his feet, his back facing Zaron.
And Zaron hit the wall with a sickening crack. The air seemed to expel from him, temporarily gone. But combat trained him to always be ready, always get back up, and to do it as fast as possible.
Zaron planted his feet to steady the earth below him, took a deep breath and breathed as much fire as he could from his mouth straight at Shun. Even with uneven breathing, he had not become a sergeant major for nothing. The heat was still high, the blast of fire swift and overwhelming.
But before the blast hit Shun, there was the swift flash of blue flames and the angry grunt that both men knew all too well. Quickly between the two men, ZanYi swirled her azure fire to meld into Zaron's fiery wave before dispelling it outwards, forcing it to go up in smoke.
"What are you two doing?!"
The lieutenant's shoulders heaved with some raggedness, her breath smoothly controlled. As soon as she'd seen the steam wafting from the training room, her suspicions had only grown stronger. ZanYi looked from the burns that littered Shun's body to her aching brother. Her golden eyes narrowed at the latter.
"This was on you," she accused, knowing whatever was going on, Zaron had started it. Shun didn't fight.
"Stay out of this, ZanYi," her brother told her through a narrowed look. With a swift and angry fury, her fire hotter than ever, bluer than the sea, ZanYi began to fling discs of fire at the sergeant major. Zaron had to put forth effort to avoid them all, his sister faster than he, more controlled.
"No!" ZanYi yelled defiantly, looking between the two of them again, but holding her place in the middle. "I'm not moving."
Shun's eyes widened at the scene before him. He had expected ZanYi to come and seek him out eventually, but he had been hoping it wouldn't be this soon. One thing he did not expect, however, was for the angry lieutenant to begin firing at her brother. Shun knew she wouldn't be happy about this, but to attack her own flesh and blood over this…
Shun's body reacted before he made the conscious decision to. Surrounding his hands with water, he closed the distance between him and ZanYi, grasping her blazing hands. With a loud hiss and fizzle, steam began to pour from their joined hands. Shun pulled ZanYi backwards, her back hitting his chest as he enclosed his arms around her, keeping his hands folded over hers.
"ZanYi, please stop," he asked as calmly as he could, his eyes boring into hers, "it's all right, we're just sparring. It wasn't like Zaron attacked me: I agreed to this." At least, Shun was assuming that was why ZanYi was upset—because she thought Shun and Zaron were fighting. They kind of were—there was no way anger was not involved in this spar—but Shun was hoping that he wouldn't have to tell ZanYi why.
He wasn't ready to reveal the tenderest part of his heart to her yet.
ZanYi struggled against Shun at first before she looked up to meet his eyes. "You agreed to this?" she repeated, disbelieving it. Shun wouldn't even spar her without a bit of coaxing. Yet he was trying to tell her that he agreed to spar with her brother? And rather heatedly, it seemed.
No. There was something else to this.
She looked back to Zaron, glowering. "What is this about?"
"ZanYi—"
"Tell me what this is about," she cut him off and repeated, her tone lethal like her lightning. Zaron couldn't answer though. He was too busy looking at how Shun was readily embracing his sister… but to stop her from firing at him. The sergeant major wasn't sure to be thankful or to be angry all over again.
He stood up tall and looked into his sister's eyes, repeating her own words back to her, "It's none of your business."
That did not help his cause at all, and ZanYi could feel the heat rising up to strike him again. But then she heard the whistling steam and knew if she tried anything, Shun was going to be the one who ended up burnt.
"Shun, let go of me," she told the man, staring angrily at her brother.
"No," Shun denied at once, frowning now at Zaron as well. Was the man purposefully trying to rile his sister up? If so, the sergeant major was not doing himself any favors whatsoever. Far be it from Shun to get in the middle of a family squabble, but if he did not finish what he started with Zaron now, the sergeant major was just going to challenge him again another day. Shun had to end this today.
Shifting his grip a bit, he kept both of ZanYi's hands clasped within one large one, an arm still tight around her as he freed up his other hand to turn ZanYi's face towards him. "I want to finish my match with Zaron," he explained calmly. "So, please, let us finish. I'm not going to let you go until you agree to not interfere…" Shun leaned in closer to ZanYi so she could see just how serious he was, "if you don't like it, you're just going to have to burn me."
The giant waterbender knew that ZanYi probably would have no qualms about this: he was a healer; a burn was no sweat. But this situation was something he could not yield to her. He was fighting for her, in a way, so he needed to be allowed to finish. Shun wanted to prove once and for all to Zaron—and maybe a little to himself—that he was worthy of staying by ZanYi's side.
As ZanYi glared then up at Shun, Zaron was doing the same thing, though the inside of him was conflicting. This man was proving every moment of this afternoon that he was just that—a real man. He didn't want any of this, but he was doing it because of ZanYi. And despite all of that, Shun was preventing the lieutenant from extending any hurt to Zaron, possibly at the expense of himself, if ZanYi kept this up. Shun wasn't backing away; he wasn't backing down. That counted for something to the sergeant major.
But then there was something else: watching that same man act so intimate with his little sister. Possibly the worst part was seeing his stoic, tough little sister seem completely unsurprised and comfortable by such actions. It was nearly enough to send him boiling over again.
"Go, ZanYi," Zaron told her, urging her tersely to make up her mind already.
Said lieutenant looked away from Shun to glower at her brother. "Shut-up, Zaron," she told him darkly. ZanYi then turned back to Shun's close, serious face. She didn't know what was going on, but something wasn't normal or right about any of this. Every part of her hated that she was expected to just move to the sidelines and watch her brother pummel away at Shun.
For a minute, ZanYi wasn't sure which one of the two men she was more mad at.
"You want to spar with him? He's not forcing this on you?" she asked him warily, skeptic.
Shun paused a beat. Technically, he had no desire to participate in this duel in the first place. But now, as he was looking down at the object of his adoration, it was impossible for the giant waterbender not to follow through until the bitter end. With a slight smile only for ZanYi, Shun assured her, "I want to do this."
And it wasn't even a lie: now with ZanYi here, Shun had even more drive to prove himself. If he could not even best her brother, Shun was concerned about what would happen if an even greater foe rose up to challenge him. Even though the giant waterbender had not started this with any intention to win, now he was determined to. He wouldn't let Zaron—or anyone else—defeat him when it came to ZanYi. She was his strength as much as she was his greatest weakness.
ZanYi had a sinking hunch there was a lot more at play here than just a sparring match. And knowing the way Zaron had been hounding her about her relationship with Shun, that hunch was that it concerned her. In no way, shape, or form was the lieutenant okay with that.
But she could go off on her brother later. She could give Shun a hefty cold shoulder later. But right now, looking up at Shun's face, ZanYi knew that, for one reason or other, the man was not going to back down from this. He was certain of this decision; she knew that from his voice and the tight grip he had on her.
So for the time being, the smartest plan of action was to let this play out.
"Fine," she eventually told him. Her gold eyes gazed up at him sharply. "Finish this. And if you get any wounds you can't attend to yourself, I'm going to make sure it's very, very painful as it heals up naturally."
Shun hoped to heck that he wasn't going to get burnt on his back, then. The look ZanYi was giving him was downright merciless.
'I love you too, ZanYi,' he thought wryly. Gesturing for ZanYi to step to the side, Shun squared his shoulders as he faced the sergeant major. "Zaron, you have one free shot at me, since ZanYi unexpectedly intervened."
It was unprecedented, Shun was aware of that. But he didn't care—fair was fair, and the fact that ZanYi had interrupted and fired at Zaron wasn't fair. Therefore, Shun was allowing Zaron to take his free shot without the giant waterbender defending himself, should he want it.
Zaron was going to respond, but then he saw the fierce look on ZanYi's face as her bewildered and infuriated eyes went from him to Shun, back and forth. As mad as she seemed to be at him, the lieutenant was also with Shun. The doghouse was getting crowded again, but Zaron didn't care. This was not a light matter, and ZanYi's opinion on it would not sway him.
He nodded to Shun, agreeing to his terms, and with a look at his sister, jerked his head towards the side. The message was clear and ZanYi didn't like it at all. As much as those two seemed to want to finish this out, the lieutenant did not appreciate being shoved to the sidelines while two out of three of the important people in her life decided to duke it out.
"You two do anything irreparable, and you both will answer to me," ZanYi said tersely, warning both of them one last time. Begrudgingly, she moved to the side, leaning against the wall with crossed arms and pursed lips. Seeing as the fire had stopped, the immediate danger gone, Xie Xie let out a shriek from the rafters, swooping close to Shun to land on ZanYi's shoulder. This time, she did not even bother to admonish the bird.
His sister out of the way, his breathing back under control, Zaron blasted the fire from his fingertips, elongating into a long whip. And with a grunt and swift steps forward, the sergeant major lashed it out towards the entirety of Shun's torso.
Shun could not help himself; he recoiled from the attack, grunting in pain with his teeth grit tightly. The whip seared through his shirt, burning his torso. With an impatient huff, Shun ripped the ruined garb from his body and tossed it to the side. Okay, Zaron had his free shot. Now it was Shun's turn.
Trying to ignore the fact that ZanYi was watching, the giant waterbender beckoned more water from his canteen to form it into the water equivalent of Zaron's fire-whip. The lightness of his canteen was beginning to worry Shun—this spar would have to end soon, and fast.
Letting his arms do most of the work, Shun lashed out against Zaron, his water-whip hitting the sergeant major across the face before Shun brought it back around to seep under Zaron's feet. With a twitch of his fingers, the giant waterbender had the water roll under the sergeant major's feet, bringing him closer to Shun at an alarming rate. Shun took a deep breath, silently apologizing to the Tsongs before he brought his fist back. In one swift motion, the giant waterbender threw a punch to Zaron's solar plexus before bringing his arm up to smash his elbow down into the sergeant major's spine. Hits like these, Shun didn't like because he didn't know his own strength. Still, if he wanted to win, he would have to pull out all the stops.
On the side, ZanYi barely caught herself before she could fly off the wall and intervene again. The blows that struck at her brother were cracking and sickening, as was the sound that escaped Zaron's lips. And as mad as she was at him, it went against her will not to rush to attack his offender.
But his offender was Shun. Gentle, patient Shun. And yet, he was neither of those things in that moment. ZanYi was almost uncertain who she was watching fight. This was no spar. It was a fact to her now. Because it would take more than a spar to pull this out of Shun.
Fire pricked at her hands, flaring and disappearing with her self-control to remain where she was. ZanYi hated this. And there was nothing she could do about it. She'd agreed to stay out of it.
Zaron struggled to find his breath, and it took everything in him not to fall flat on his face when Shun struck his spine. The man was stronger than a hippo-cow. Pain resonated through all of him. But he was still a soldier, and a big brother. So the sergeant major put out his hands to catch himself and turn to face Shun, crouched on the ground. He rose on unsteady footing, and launched several flaming blasts at the large man, huffing heavily, his fire about as steady as him.
Shun jumped back again, but the first two fire blasts had already seared him, scorching his biceps. Gritting his teeth through the pain, Shun used the remains of his water supply to douse the flames aimed at him before blasting the water into Zaron's face. While the sergeant major was distracted, Shun closed in and spun, roundhouse kicking Zaron in the chest and sending him flying back a few feet.
As Shun landed, he knew he was in trouble: his canteen was empty. He almost unstrapped it and discarded it to the side along with his ruined shirt, but decided not to—if Zaron knew he was out of ammo, Shun was toast. The effort he was putting into this 'spar' was causing the giant waterbender to breathe hard, sweat pouring from him. If need be, he could always bend the sweat from his body… such an idea sounded gross, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Flying backwards, Zaron grit his teeth and put the most of his fire into his hands and feet, to keep him airborne and not on the ground. Propelling himself forward once he had control, the sergeant major zipped at Shun to give him a stern punch across his face.
Breath short, fire shorter, Zaron landed heavily on the ground, only to follow that punch up with another right hook to the waterbender's jaw. Sweat poured out of every pore in his body. He was putting almost everything he had into this spar. To do otherwise was not an option. But his stamina was running low, and his fire got weaker with every breath.
Blood was pooling into Shun's face once again… but this time it was because his lower lip was bleeding. Resisting the urge to spit out the coppery liquid, Shun threw his shoulder into Zaron's chest, forcing the sergeant major back. He was fighting just to keep standing, Shun noticed, the window of opportunity lighting up. Now was the giant waterbender's chance to finish this once and for all, before anyone got seriously hurt.
Crouching down, Shun moved closer to Zaron once again. The sergeant major was putting up a heck of a fight, even if he was a little unsteady on his feet. The tenacity and endurance of the Tsongs was admittedly impressive, and if they had been on equal ground, Shun was certain that Zaron would have bested him.
But they were not on equal ground, and for two reasons: one, Shun wanted to win even more than Zaron did. And two, the waterbender had freakish height on his side.
So when Shun shot up to deliver a punch to Zaron's chin, it was with all six feet seven inches of him. Zaron was lifted into the air once again by the blow, and then, he fell back to the floor with a sickening crunch.
Wincing, Shun immediately went to Zaron's side, his victory an afterthought. "I'm sorry," the giant waterbender apologized, kneeling next to ZanYi's brother, his hands hovering but not wanting to touch Zaron in case he broke anything. "Are you all right? If you give me a chance to refill my canteen, I can take care of your wounds." Shun held out a hand to help the man sit up: a peace offering. The spar, in Shun's mind, was over, so hopefully Zaron was not a sore loser and this matter could be put to rest.
Zaron held his head with a hand, that part of his body throbbing from the throw. But that was an afterthought. The spar was over. Zaron was down and done. He'd lost. And he didn't like it one bit.
But his gaze went over to Shun, narrowed at the man. The waterbender had just given him one heck of a fight, and the moment was over, it was like he reverted back to the docile man he seemed to be. It was quite the conundrum, but Zaron would not deny Shun's ferocity when push came to shove, and the compassion he seemed to hold.
"Don't worry about it," the sergeant major told him. "I'll be fine."
But he did take the hand that Shun reached down to him, grasping it so Zaron could sit up carefully and slowly. Everything ached. And it was going to ache for a while. But to the older brother he was, it was worth it to know just what kind of hands ZanYi was in.
"You did good, Shun," Zaron told him, looking him in the eye. He inclined his head slowly and said nothing else, for any more verbal admission would be too much for him to say. But it was all there.
Shun had won. And therefore he would stay with ZanYi. He deserved it, and Zaron saw him as more of a man than ever before for it. Quietly, voice as low as he could put it without Shun not able to hear him, Zaron added, "Just remember: you break her heart, and I will come after you."
Then the firebender looked away, over to the sidelines. "ZanYi," he said, as if inviting her over, now that the fight had been finished. But the lieutenant stayed where she was. Her arms still crossed over her chest, but her hands were gripping those arms like she was still fighting for self-control. The look on her face was downright angry and conflicted.
Shun's elation at Zaron's acceptance of him was short-lived: as soon as he took a look at ZanYi's face, he knew they were in trouble.
"Um...I'm gonna go refill my canteen," the giant waterbender decided. He pushed himself to his feet with a grimace; just like Zaron, everything hurt. For the first time, Shun took a look down at himself and winced: he was littered with bruises, cuts and burns. He ran a tongue over his split lip, the feeling sickening. Perhaps he should enlist Sikka's help in healing his battered body… though Ransik probably wouldn't like that too much. He was going to have to deal with it himself, then.
Scooping his tattered rag of a shirt from the floor, Shun headed for the exit to give the Tsongs some alone time. He sent an uncertain glance ZanYi's way, hoping her fury would not last too long. He could not tell her the reason for the fight—and hoped Zaron would not, either—but he could assure her that such a thing would not be happening again. The matter was settled: Zaron had given Shun his blessing. That was all the giant waterbender needed.
ZanYi gave Shun a dark look back, dashing any hopes he might have had. "I'll get to you later, Shun Jiang," she told him, pushing off of the wall to walk over to her brother. Xie Xie soared through the air to land next to the fallen sergeant major. The dragonhawk nuzzled his beak against Zaron's arm, and the man winced.
"Easy there, Xie Xie," he grunted. But then the shadow of his sister loomed over him, and Zaron knew the reaction he'd expected was coming. Looking up to her, he could see the myriad of emotions there. Part of her was glad he wasn't hurt too badly after something like that. Another part of her was concerned.
But most of her was angry and upset.
"I'm not sorry, ZanYi."
"I know you're not."
The two Tsongs just stared at each other. ZanYi's gaze narrowed. Both of them knew they were at an impasse where that was concerned. So ZanYi decided to shift the focus. "Why did you do it, Zaron?" she asked him, "And don't you dare lie to me."
Zaron took his time with his answer, putting all of his concentration into rising up and standing. Steady on his feet, he looked down then at his sister, he told her the answer he could. "Had to make sure you were in good hands," Zaron told her. He smirked a little, continuing with words she'd heard one too many times. "Had to put him through his paces."
But ZanYi wasn't amused in the slightest. Zaron always did this when someone was interested in her, or if he thought she was interested in whoever it was. It annoyed her, but it would solve the issue by removing the male from the picture. But it never ended like this. Zaron never lost. Then again, he never fought anyone she actually cared about.
"Shun had nothing to prove to you," she told him tersely. "And whatever you think is going on is—"
"—none of my business," Zaron finished, knowing where she was going with this. "But whether you like it or not, no matter how old you get, you will always be my business. And I needed to know that if you want him at your side, that he wasn't going to turn tail when it got tough," his eyes narrowed in accusation at her, "because, let's face it, you're tough to deal with."
It did him no favors, and he could see ZanYi was still upset with him. However, Zaron knew that would go away. It always did, one way or another.
"I already know he won't," ZanYi told him, hands on her hips. "But I am not some kind of prize that anyone has to win from my brother. I will decide for myself who I choose to spend my time with. And you will deal with it."
"But this way I know that at least you made a good decision."
Even if Zaron was still justifying his actions, the words pulled the lieutenant up short. Never would she have ever expected for her brother to say anything like that. Maybe it really did take Shun pounding him into the ground for him to trust ZanYi's judgment.
"I don't need you to tell me that. You can just trust me next time," ZanYi did tell him. Then she turned on her heel to walk away, done with the conversation.
Zaron smirked, knowing that he had just managed to escape the brunt of her anger. Sure, ZanYi was still upset with him, but at least they were on a topic they regularly fought about now. It was just the normal agitation that would pass as always. "We get back to work tomorrow. Meeting at the War Room after lunch."
"I'll be there," ZanYi clipped without even turning back to face him. Instead, she strode right out the door, allowing it to slam to a close behind her. Zaron then looked down at Xie Xie, smiling a little.
"Guess we're going to have to teach you not to attack Shun now, huh? Dang it."
A/N from DJ: BAM! How's that for a confrontation? xD So, totally didn't realize I'd had Eva note to you guys two weeks in a row. Derp. So you get me this week! I hope you enjoyed this action-packed chappie! Big things are happening~! And guess what? We're about six or seven chapters away from our THREE-PART FINALE! Yes, you read that right, folks. We are cruel, yes, but watch out: things are going to start building up for one heck of a finale! Now, acknowledgements!
Revolution But Civilization: WOW! Where to begin? xD You've left us so many presents that I can't even respond to it all! I have to admit, I do love that you compared us to Bryke with our teasing xD Beware of all the ships! You never know what will sink and when... But until then, continue to enjoy, both the story and the art, since you've found me on dA as well now xD
Once Upon an Airbender: Thanks so much for the Author Alert and Favorite! I really hope you continue to enjoy the stories and that we'll get to hear from you soon! We LOVE hearing from our readers - it's our fuel!
That's it for now, folks! Hope you enjoyed and we'll see you guys next week!