Chapter Eight
The King of Omashu Part II
"I'm so sorry, Sokka. I'm so sorry!" Lian sobbed as she embraced the water tribe boy dressed in scarlet, her arms entwining themselves around his neck and shoulders so that she could hold him with all of her might- but she found herself to be so weak, so tired. Sokka twirled her about as he held onto her, and muttered her name and sweet nothings about how much he worried about her as she apologized over and over, tears spilling from her eyes.
Sokka's face was buried into her neck, and the hair that had escaped her haphazard top-knot. His arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly as if she had been gone for a long time, and for some reason, Lian felt as though she had been absent. She had struggled through something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Like water slipping through her fingers.
"Lian…" Sokka muttered into her hair. Lian tried to pull him closer, but instead, her arms went straight through him, and Sokka's form disappeared in a puff of smoke. The scene around Lian faded away, leaving the weakened firebender alone in darkness, her limbs beginning to fail her.
"Lian." A voice spoke, but it was one that was not familiar to her. It was deep, almost bellowing, but also calming and warm. "You must awaken." It whispered. Lian strained to hear it as her eyes began to droop.
"Who... who are you?" Lian whispered as she began to sink to her knees, her eyes barely open. Just as they began to close, a bright light began to appear, and the voice grew closer, stronger.
"No one you need to remember yet, child." The voice boomed as the light grew brighter from other side of Lian's eyelids. A warm hand touched her shoulder, and another placed itself over her forehead, like a mother would when she was concerned for her child."But for now, you must awaken."
"You must awaken."
-0-
Lian awoke with a start as she sat straight up in her bed, the blankets that had been covering her figure thrown off of her as she sat up, and her hair sticking up in every which direction. Her amber eyes scanned the room before her that seemed to be permanently tinted green, and the walls that didn't seem to have a door anywhere in sight.
She twisted around on her bed, and inhaled sharply at the sight of three more beds, each one holding one of her sleeping friends.
Aang was sound asleep with his face flat on the pillow, and one arm and leg hanging off of the bed. Katara was curled up in the fetal position, and in the bed next to her, Sokka was turning over in his sleep so that he was now facing Lian, his mouth hanging open and a small snore slipping from his throat.
Lian's lips pursed slightly at the sight of Sokka, and her eyes turned from alarmed, to gently perplexed as she gazed upon the water tribe boy, and then suddenly turned her gaze away from him, and face the wall as she brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them protectively.
Her head gave a quite the throb, and she winced as she lowered her head onto her knees, and reached up with one hand to rub the place that ached.
There was a decently sized lump on the side of her head where she had hit the stone sidewalk.
"I really hope this doesn't become a habit…" Lian muttered to herself so quietly that it was barely a whisper.
Sokka gave a groan from the bed next to her, and Lian's head quickly jerked towards the sound, and her eyes became wide and her mouth twisted slightly with alarm, her teeth exposed and gritted together.
Sokka's eyes began to twitch, and she made a small squeaking noise before scrambling as quietly as she could to make her way underneath her covers, and look as though she were asleep.
Just as Lian's eyes slid shut, and she managed to get her breathing slow enough to appear as though she had been sleeping for hours, Sokka's eyes opened, and he rubbed the sleep out of them as Lian gave a believable shift in her so called 'sleep' and slid her hand underneath her pillow.
Sokka drowsily gazed at Lian for a moment, before opening his eyes a little wider, and then gave a quiet sigh. For a moment, Lian believed that Sokka had fallen for it, and had to fight the temptation to smirk.
"I know you're awake." He whispered.
Lian stiffened at the whisper, and her eyes squeezed slightly, but she did not open them. Apparently, Sokka was smarter than he looked.
The two were silent for a moment, and Lian continued to keep her eyes shut, not daring to look at Sokka after her dream- and their previous incident.
"How'd you know?" Lian whispered back, more in concern for their fellow sleeping friends.
Sokka shrugged his shoulders from his spot on his bed, and gave the tiniest inkling of a smirk.
"Well, I was actually just guessing… but thanks for proving me right…" Sokka chuckled. Lian frowned, but the smallest smirk worked its way through, despite Lian's struggles against it.
Sokka smiled silently at the sight of Lian's smallest smirk, and swallowed his chuckle as he watched Lian force the smirk into an unmoving frown.
The two fell into another deep silence for so long that Sokka began to believe that Lian had actually fallen back to sleep, when actually, the two remained awake. One with their eyes closed, blocking the other's image from their thoughts, while the other watched their companion carefully, his eyes unmoving an almost blank as thoughts of apologies rushed through his head.
"How long was I out this time?" Lian whispered after the prolonged silence. Sokka took a moment to think, and he wondered exactly how late it was.
He shrugged even though he knew Lian couldn't see him, and answered.
"A few hours. You missed dinner. The King of Omashu is insane, and he knows Aang is the Avatar." Sokka listed. Lian opened an eye at this, and silently asked Sokka the inevitable question.
"He doesn't know you're a Princess. Or a bender. So let's keep it that way." Sokka answered silently. Lian gave a pleased smirk, and shut her eye again, blocking out Sokka once more.
Sokka frowned at the disappearance of Lian's amber eyes- or, eye- and looked away from her for a moment.
"Why did you pretend to be asleep?" Sokka asked carefully. Lian frowned, but didn't open her eyes, and shifted nervously in thought.
She was quiet for a few moments before she finally answered.
"I didn't know if I wanted to talk to you. I am mad at you, you know." She answered in an equal whisper. Sokka frowned deeply, and looked away from the girl for a moment, while Lian contemplated on if that had been the right lie to tell.
They laid in silence again, and Lian breathed in deeply as she tried to think.
Sokka propped his head up on his hand with is elbow deep in his pillow, and frowned at Lian as she breathed in and out deeply, and slowly.
"Listen… Lian…" He began quietly as he moved to sit up in his bed, and Lian began to open her eyes.
The golden haired girl didn't speak, she didn't move, she just watched as Sokka sat up, and pondered what he would say next.
Sokka found himself frozen as he watched Lian, his thoughts a bit muddled at the sight of both of the firebender's ochre eyes, and found himself clearing his throat and having to fill the time with noises before finally remembering the words he wanted to say.
"I'm… I'm really sorry about… you know. Earlier." He stuttered as he rubbed the back of his head, and averted his eyes from Lian. Lian's expression still remained blank as she listened to Sokka. Sokka glanced at Lian just in time to catch her blink, but that was the only reaction he could see from her.
He sighed, and continued as he looked back towards the floor.
"I had no right to tell anyone about your personal life, and no right to say the things I did. I was just so frustrated and… I don't even know what came over me." He sighed as Lian lifted herself slightly from her bed, and gazed at Sokka as he spoke. "I don't even know what came over me… I just know that as soon as I said it, I regretted it right away. I really did. I still do…" he trailed off, and Lian was now sitting up, her golden hair falling down in waves around her face as she watched Sokka speak.
Sokka remained silent for a moment before looking up at Lian, and spotting the girl with the ochre eyes and the undecipherable expression watching him, her hands at her sides and her hair falling about her face and shoulders.
What she did next surprised him.
The Princess stood, and walked towards him. Before he knew it, she was sitting down next to him on the bed, facing the wall she had previously had her back to, and the blank expression still on her face.
"I forgive you." She said quietly. A giant smile spread across Sokka's face. "But-" Sokka's smile drooped.
"I hope you don't expect me to share any food with you any time soon." She finished. Sokka thought on this for a moment as Lian cast him a sideways glance, her amber eyes trained on his pondering expression with a small smirk.
Sokka finally decided that this was fair, and then threw his arms out, and smiled widely again.
"That's fair." He whispered as loudly as allowed and then suddenly engulfed the firebender in a hug.
Lian grunted at the surprise hug, and blinked as she was pressed against Sokka's chest for the second time that day. "But I hope you expect a hug!" He chirped, causing Lian to cast him a confused glance from her awkward position where her arms were pressed between Sokka's and her own chest, and her face was crammed against him with her hands pointed out awkwardly above Sokka's biceps. A shiver ran down her spine and her thoughts went haywire.
"Wow… this is… uncomfortable…" Lian managed to get out as Sokka looked down at her with a slightly surprised expression. Lian then patted Sokka's bicep awkwardly, and spoke out of the side of her mouth. "But I appreciate the sentiment."
Sokka's expression turned deadpan for a moment, and he released Lian with a wiry grin. Lian flashed him a tired smirk, and a carefully controlled- but still slightly shaky, laugh.
It was then that the stone wall in front of Sokka's bed abruptly slid open, and Lian and Sokka jumped in surprise , each of them jumping a foot away from each other, and away from the door. Lian quickly pulled her hood over her hair, and held it near her face as three Earth Kingdom guards marched through, and moved towards them.
"You're coming with us." One of them barked as he reached for Sokka. Just as he was about to reach for the water tribe boy, Lian moved in front of Sokka, and shot the man a fierce look, and slapped his large hand away from her face.
"Touch any one of us and I'll make sure you'll never be able to use your hands again." She snarled as she held her hood with one hand, and continued to push away the guard's hand with the other. Sokka's eyes were wide at the sight of the Princess defending him so soon after their quarrel.
The guard glared at her, and before he could proceed with yelling at her, Sokka pulled Lian back, and stopped her from doing anything rash.
"It's alright, Lian." Sokka muttered as he glared at the guards, and reached out to lower Lian's arm. Lian hesitated, her gut telling her that backing down was a bad idea- but she decided to listen to Sokka, and lowered her arm slowly, even though her amber eyes were piercing the distrust towards the guard.
But before Lian could put her arm all the way back at her side, the guard that had snarled at them snatched her wrist, and roughly pulled her away from Sokka. Lian gave a yelp of surprise, and snatched Sokka's arm in her free hand as she was pulled away from him, and Katara was awoken from her slumber.
Lian prepared to give a shout, but it was quickly silenced by a hand over her mouth. Sokka's arm was pulled from her grasp, and her amber eyes began to shoot daggers at the guards as they began to make their way out of the room with the three kids, Katara gave a little bit of a fight through her drowsy state, Sokka thrashed and cursed from behind the guard's grasp, and Lian kicked, screamed, and hit everything she could with her free hand, and feet.
The earth door slid shut without even disturbing the young Avatar's slumber, and Lian's eyes darted around her surroundings, searching for a way to escape.
"Stop squirming!" The guard holding Sokka commanded in a gruff voice as he struggled to keep a hold on Sokka. Lian spotted Sokka struggling, and began to thrash even harder, before suddenly composing herself.
The guard holding her shot the girl a puzzled look- and then looked down at her- just in time to spot her foot come flying up towards his face, a stream of fire following in its wake.
The guard gave a girlish scream, and his grip on Lian loosened for only a moment- which was all the firebender required. Lian slipped from the man's grasp, and spun about on the floor to sweep the guard's legs out from underneath him, sending him tumbling to the ground with a loud thud.
From her spot on the ground, Lian moved to throw another punch at the man, but just as a spark of a flame came from her fist, a slab of earth came flying out of the wall, and trapped her hand against the wall causing the Princess to cry out at the sudden impact. Lian was thrown against the wall viciously, her shoulder screamed in pain from the sudden yank on her muscles, and her head still tender from her previous injuries, she was left dazed for a moment- but she quickly composed herself, and prepared to attack once more. She raised up her other hand to strike, but it was also thrown into the wall by another slab of earth that came flying out of nowhere. Her hands were now trapped, and her face was pressed against the stone wall by her arm, and her hands were only a mere two inches from one another.
"Lian!" Katara shouted from her spot in the guard's arms. Sokka twisted his neck in order to get a good view of Lian from his place in the guard's grip, and his eyes grew wide at the sight of the defeated Lian. He gave an undecipherable shout, and began to fight against the guard's grip once again.
Lian turned her head slightly, but she didn't speak clearly and only groaned in response. Her hands ached. They weren't broken, but they hurt enough to prevent her from bending for a while.
"Well, well, I see now that waking you up this early probably wasn't the best idea." A voice spoke from the end of the hallway.
Lian opened her amber eyes slowly from her position against the wall, and through her golden tresses, she spotted an elderly man dressed in hideous purple dress robes, and a ridiculous headdress with two long purple feathers protruding from it. His eyes were wide and held a look of insanity to him, his figure hunched with age, and his fingers long and spindly.
Lian was instantly reminded of her former, and her sister's current advisors, Lo and Li, who shared the same liking for hideous clothing and hunched posture.
She narrowed her eyes at the thought, and blew a tuft of hair out of her face, giving her a better view of the old man.
Lian despised Lo and Li.
"Hello there!" The old cook chirped when he spied Lian's golden eyes glowering at him. "You're quite the rare breed around these parts, especially with that spiritual hair of yours, Princess!" He chimed as he leaned over with a few disgusting pops of his back, and shot Lian a wide, bucktoothed smile. Lian swore there was even a tooth with a hole going straight through it.
Lian's eyebrows shot up at the words. Sokka and Katara exchanged a befuddled glance at one another.
"How do you-" Lian's question was cut off by the old man's babbling.
"How do I look in my new robes?" He questioned as he gave them a little twirl, allowing the three kids to have a full view of the hideous attire.
Lian's expression turned dry, and she stuck out her bottom lip in frustration. Her hands were falling asleep and he was worrying about how good he looked in his robes?!
"Lovely." Lian spat as she glowered at him. The man just gave a crazed grin, and then held out a hand towards Lian as he looked at the guard who Lian assumed had trapped her.
"Why thank you! Now, Shao, if you could release the Princess for me, I do require her hands in order to give her their gifts!" He chirped as he turned his back to them, and began to walk down the hallway.
It was Lian's turn for her face to contort in confusion until the guard approached her, and began to bend the stone off of her hands, and snatch her wrists before she could even dare to take a swing at him. Lian glared at them man, and unwillingly allowed him to drag her down the hall with her wrists secured behind her back, just as Sokka and Katara were behind her.
When she dared to take a peek behind her, her eyes met with those of Sokka's, and he instantly shot her a look of confusion, asking the silent question:
What did he mean by Spiritual, Lian?
-0-
Soon enough, Lian was praying that the crystal ring on her finger wouldn't have enough time to grow past her thumb, and also shivered when the wretchedly drafty cave they were in howled with wind from Aang's airbending.
Unfortunately for Lian, the crystals growth sped up with heat- which meant Lian was no longer warming herself to keep herself cozy in the winter air- and her teeth were left to chatter.
Sokka stood on her right, his eyes darting back and forth from the ring creeping up his finger, and Aang's struggles as he tried to retrieve a key dangling from a chain in the middle of a waterfall- a task that the insane King of Omashu had assigned to him while his friends anxiously watched crystal grow onto their bodies.
"This is f-fantastic." Lian growled as she shivered. Damned caves.
Sokka looked towards Lian after shooting an uneasy glance at his ring, which was already spreading over his other fingers. The poor girl was shivering, and the usual warmth that seemed to radiate from her had all but disappeared, causing Sokka to even feel a bit of the cold that had been absent since he had began spending more time with Lian.
"Here," Sokka moved closer to Lian, and pressed his warm arm against Lian, who instantly moved closer to him, and gave a sigh of relief, despite the fact that her other side was still freezing. Sokka blushed at her eagerness, but was them reminded when why she had done so when she spoke.
"T-thanks, S-s-sokka." She chattered. The ring on her finger crawled up her hand a little more, and she gave a groan of frustration. "Will t-this thing s-stop growing already?" She growled as she moved to grab it, and then tried to pry it off, just for it to creep up her hand some more. Lian glared at the purple crystal, and then back up at Aang, who was wrapped around a stalagmite with a determined expression on his face.
"I wish." Sokka grumbled from his spot next to her as he watched Aang push himself off of the rock, and dive straight towards the key- just to be shot down the waterfall.
Lian frowned deeply at the sight as the crystal creeped up to her wrist. Despite the fact that she was no longer warming herself up with her bending- she was still unnaturally warm for a firebender, something that even her Mother had noticed, and the crystal continued to creep as it fed off of her warmth.
"Oh please hurry Aang…" She whispered as she eyed the crystal, and then closed her eyes.
-0-
A few hours later and several bruises from fast growing crystals, Aang, Katara, Lian, and Sokka were leaving Omashu, and the insane King Bumi behind them.
"I hope we never see him again." Lian grumbled as she nursed her bruised cheek. A large chunk of crystal had shot out at her when she had blown fire out her nose in frustration from being contained so long, and in retaliation, the crystal had exploded in grown inside and out, and even knocked over Katara and Sokka in their own crystal prisons. Aang turned his head to Lian as they walked towards Appa, and shot her a wiry, apologetic smile as she gently touched her cheek.
Sokka gently nudged Lian with his elbow, and smirked when he noticed that she was warm as she could be again, and smiled when she looked up at him with her hand over her bruised cheek.
"Well, at least we weren't crushed by rock candy." Sokka chuckled as Lian nudged him back, but just a little bit harder, causing him to stumble away, and then quickly correct his footing as Lian giggled.
Katara glanced back at them, and one of her eyebrows shot up as Aang rushed ahead playfully, and dove onto Appa's tail, just to be thrown into the air with a boisterous laugh.
"You two are being awfully friendly." Katara remarked as she slowed her pace in order to walk along with the firebender and her brother. The two in question exchanged a look with one another, and then shrugged.
"Would you rather we argue?" Lian mocked as she grinned at Katara, who blanched, and promptly shook her head furiously, her blue eyes wide and frantic.
"N-no! I'm not complaining I just-" Lian held up a hand, and smirked at Katara, who continued to stare with wide eyes.
"I was kidding, Katara." Lian chuckled as she reached over, and nudged Katara much more gently than she did Sokka. Katara cracked a smile at this, and playfully bended a bit of water towards Lian, who simply raised her hand, and released a puff of fire to turn it into steam before she ran ahead of them, and joined Aang as he played with Appa and Momo on Appa's saddle.
Sokka and Katara lingered behind, and while Lian and Aang were occupied with messing with one another- Lian giving Aang a noogie that he could not escape- Katara elbowed her brother, and send him a knowing smile. Sokka looked towards his sister, and cocked an eyebrow at her in confusion.
"What?" He questioned as they continued to walk, and Katara turned her gaze forward with a knowing smile. Sokka watched her with confusion written all over his face.
"You two…" She trailed off as they got closer to Appa, and within earshot of Aang and Lian, who were rolling around on Appa's saddle, battling each other in the ancient art of tickles, and occasionally attempting to snatch Momo, who was flitting above their heads playfully.
Lian laughed loudly when Momo suddenly dove into her hood, and pulled her down onto Sokka and Katara's rolled up sleeping bags, where she rolled off of them, over Appa's saddle, and then slid down his tail with Momo held above her head to prevent him from being squished underneath her weight.
Aang popped up from his place on Appa's head, and airbended himself to Appa's saddle, where he stood on his tip toes, and peered at Lian with wide, gray eyes.
"You okay, Lian?" He shouted. Lian responded with an slightly delirious giggle, and rolled over backwards with Momo tucked in her arms, and ended up on her knees with her long waves of golden hair ruffled and messed up about her face, perfectly framing her giddy smile, but shielding one of her ochre eyes.
"I'm great!" She chirped as Momo chattered, and then escaped from her grasp so that he could take shelter around her neck. She laughed again as she stood, and raised her shoulders in reaction to Momo's tail tickling her.
Sokka's face broke out into a small smile at the sight of Lian so giddy, and Katara watched him with a mischievous look on her usually innocent face. Aang just laughed along with the temporarily childish Lian.
"Alright you guys, we should get moving." Katara announced with a smile in her voice.
Lian obliged by climbing onto Appa without her bending, and then crawled over to her usual spot in the saddle as Sokka and Katara made their way onboard.
"Where to next, Aang?" Lian chirped as she scratched Momo's head, and leaned back against the bags of supplies and crossed her legs over one another.
Sokka sat down next to Lian, and she cast a glance at him, and then shot him a smile, in which he returned with a grin.
"Into the sky!" Aang shouted as he thrust a fist upwards, his other hand gripping Appa's reigns. "Yip yip!"
-0-
Sorry about not updating last weekend! I had a project that needed to be done last minute and college applications to do. And I'm sorry that this chapter was kind of eh. I don't really like this episode, and I've decided that I'm no longer going to go episode by episode because some of the episodes themselves are merely fillers themselves.
SO NOW THAT THAT HAS BEEN SAID, please review!