We were seated in one of the boxes in the great hall that had been built especially for the festival. The king stood on the stage in the center, flanked by Bosco and his generals. He was nearing the end of his half hour long speech, and we had clapped and shouted several times, but now, it was really boring. He was succeeding at saying words of intense wisdom and making the crowd feel reverent and excited, but I was not one for speeches.
Finally, finally, he finished, and we all stood. The festivities had officially began, and we were allowed to go and look about. Our group stood and filed out of the box and into the hallway.
"Hey, guys?" Zuko asked us. He wore his crown and I was still a little unnerved by his new, regal appearance.
"Yeah?" Aang asked. He looked like he was ready to have some fun- he was only 114, and he loved to do things that kids liked to do. We were all still kids, but some of us were governing nations and creating peace in the world, so I guess it was a little different.
"Before we go, do you think we can find Mai? She's supposed to be arriving soon." We all agreed- it wasn't a hard request.
"Oh, and has anyone seen Toph?" Katara asked. I looked around- how could I not notice that the little bender girl wasn't here?
"I think she went to deal with the Dai Li. They're supposed to be coming with us, or something." Aang replied. We were outside on the main steps of the palace by this time, and Aang was kneeling on the ground, sending little cyclones out in different directions.
"I'll go get her, and Mai." Zuko told us, walking off. I sat on the ground, and Sokka and Katara joined me. We sat silently, watching the spinning air tops fly off. Sokka took out his sword and began to draw in the dirt with its tip, attempting to draw a Momo duplicate. I loved how childish his drawings were.
It seemed to take forever for Zuko to arrive. We chatted idly, but mostly, we wanted to go and see the city, the festival, and the people. I was planning on dragging Sokka down to the Lower Ring and visiting with some people, then we would go to the Upper Ring and see Iroh in his tea shop, where all of us had agreed to meet.
"Uh, guys? I think I found some people who said they knew you." All of us turned to see Toph, the Dai Li, Mai and…. The rest of the Warriors! I stood up and embraced each of them. Not a one wore their uniforms, and I got to see how pretty they all looked dressed up. Back home, we didn't have too many reasons to get ourselves looking fancy.
"Oh spirits, you're all here!" We had a little group hug, and then Ty Lee's head popped out.
"Suki! This is great- all of us are here!" She bounced over to Mai and Zuko, tossing her arms over their shoulders. I witnessed Mai smile for the first time. It was sort of shocking.
"Well, I guess we can go!" Sokka was still intently scraping pictures in the dirt, so I pulled him up. All of us evacuated the steps and head our separate ways.
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Two of the girls came with Sokka and I, and the rest bounced off in pairs of two and clusters of three. Their names were Tomi and Yuri, and they were three years younger than me.
"So where should we go fi-" I began asking Sokka, before he ran way to look at the things the merchants were selling. Sokka thought it was lame to be in touch with his feminine side, but he loved shopping more than anyone I knew. I looked around the area we were at- about a block up and to the left, there were people sitting at tables, conversing happily.
"Hey Sokka, the girls and I are going to sit down over there." I told him. He pointed to the place, and I nodded. He went back to his browsing, and Tomi, Yuri and I all trudged to the table.
"So Suki, what have you done since you left?" Tomi asked me.
"Um… I came here?" I said, not sure what they wanted to know.
"Oh… So Sokka hasn't tried anything?" I smiled- the girls didn't know anything about a certain moon goddess and her former relationship with Sokka.
"Nope… Nothing exciting." They looked disappointed. I was their superior, the oldest among them, and one of the few who had a boyfriend. I guess they wanted affirmation that love was worth it, and while I knew it was, I couldn't supply them with the answer they wanted.
"Why are you still with him, then?"
"Because I love him, and he loves me!" I said, smiling even more. I wondered who had given these girls their education in the arts of romance- not me, to be certain. Maybe it had been their stint in jail that had made them become skeptical of the things people said made life worth living.
"But… you're not getting anything out of it!" Yuri added.
"There's more to love than the physical. it's the emotions, the experiences that make it real. Like, when its really early in the morning and you've barely slept and you just know you look terrible… Then he sees you, and he looks at you like you're a goddess and you feel like the world stops, and it's just the two of you. That feeling is what makes love worth it." They looked at me, and I could see them imagining the scene I had described, and then I saw them realize what I meant. Yuri smiled hugely, twirling a piece of her long, brown hair. Tomi giggled.
"Suki!" Sokka walked up behind me, reached over my shoulder and placing a small parcel in from of me.
"Sokka! You didn't spend your money on me, did you?" I blushed.
"Who else would I spend it on?" He kissed my cheek. I pulled the twine that held the brown paper in place, and it fell open to reveal… A gemstone?
"What is it, Sokka?" He grinned at me, a secret dancing in his eyes.
"Something very important." I looked at him, frowning playfully. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon. Oh, and you need to help me pick the last piece." I looked down at the deep green stone, then smiled. Sokka would probably wait until later to tell me- until I didn't have two little warriors with me. I wrapped the stone up and stuck it into my belt, safe and hidden.
"Hey, we're gonna go and find the others- we're going to meet for lunch. See you later?" Tomi said, standing. I nodded and waved as they flounced off, giggling.
"So… What was this last part?" I asked. Sokka sat across from me.
"Do you like gold or red better? Or any other color that you think would go well with the stone." I thought about it.
"Well, either a light gold or a cream color." He nodded, and we stood and continued to walk.
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Finally, we were in the Lower Ring. Sokka left me again to go and search the vendors again. I walked to the home of a family whose child Katara had delivered- Ying and Than and their daughter, Hope. I knocked on the door of an address I had memorized, which was then answered by a now two year old Hope. She looked at me, trying to remember who I was. When she couldn't, she backed up slowly, then ran away, yelling "Mommy!".
"What is it, Hope?" Ying asked, her voice slowly approaching. When she saw me, she put her daughter down and embraced me.
"Suki! Oh my, you look so pretty! We've missed you!" Than walked up, scooping his daughter up and smiling.
"May I come in?" I asked. Ying grabbed my arm and led me down her short hallway and into the kitchen, where she set out sticky buns and tea. Ying and Than sat down, but hope didn't seem to sure.
"Hope, don't you remember your aunt Suki? She came and watched you while we worked all the time!" Hope just stared at me. Instead of trying to remind her of our past, I just offered her a piece of a sticky bun, and she accepted, settling herself into my lap. I understood the language of children.
I talked to the family for a long time, asking about the state of the place, if anything had gotten better, and anything else we stumbled upon. An hour passed, and I had to go.
"Ying, Than, it's been great seeing you guys!" I still held the child in my arms. She was clinging to me, just like she used to.
"Suki! Please don't go… we have to go to work, and nobody is here to watch Hope." Than said, tickling his daughter's tummy. She laughed an adorable laugh and smiled.
"Well, I promised I would meet the avatar and our friends in a little while… I could just take her with me and bring her back later tonight, if you want." And Sokka was waiting for me. Ying nodded.
"She'd probably be safer with you than with anyone else." She said. Ying went to a room and fumbled around in the dark for a few moments, then emerged holding a bag and a sling. I slid Hope into the sling and put her on my back. Sokka would carry the bag. We said our farewells and Than gave me instructions, and we left.
About three blocks away, I found Sokka sitting at a little table on the street, his arm laden with small packages and unused scrolls.
"Sokka, you didn't buy anything else for me, right?" I asked.
"Only one thing. But it's a surprise so you- Suki, is that a baby on your back?" Sokka pointed and I nodded.
"Do you remember Hope? That baby that Katara delivered? Yeah, this is her." He looked at her, then smiled. Sokka had a secret love of babies.
"Well why do you have her?" He asked, brushing a piece of her hair out of her face.
" Her parents had to work and I agreed to watch her for them." He nodded, and we began walking towards Iroh's tea shop.
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The surprising thing about Hope was that we all knew her. Not just those of us who had been there at her birth, but also Iroh and Zuko too.
"How do you know her?" Aang asked, entertaining the girl by making bubbles filled with fire. He never let her touch them, though.
"I… I almost stole food from her parents." Zuko admitted, looking down. That had to have been from before he joined us.
"And I met her on a train! She was such a cute child…" He smiled and passed around another round of jasmine tea.
Our entire gang was sitting on the floor around the child, watching her bemusement. Then Toph sensed something.
"Guys… I think that she might be an earth bender!" She sat down excitedly.
"How do you know?" Katara asked.
"She sends out a signal. Here, lets see." She slammed her foot on the ground, and a stone flew in through the window. Toph caught it easily.
"Hope! Come here, Hope. Can you do something for me?" Hope nodded, watching the girl with misty eyes. Toph told her to copy the movement- She sat on her knees, and raised her hands, fingers pointing to the sky. The rock levitated a few inches, and then she let it drop.
Aang helped Hope sit in the correct position, then position her hands. She raised her hands, and the rock went up as well.
"Toph! You're right, she's a little tiny bender!" Sokka said, tossing back his cup of tea. I smiled at him, and he hugged me.
"I bet Ying and Than don't even know!" Toph told us. Another hour was spent watching Toph and the baby bond through their skills.
"Suki, There's a messenger here for you." Zuko told me. I walked to the door, and found Than standing at the door.
"Hey!" I said.
"Hi! So… I can take Hope back with me now, if you want. I have three more hours in my shift, but she can come. I'm used to taking her."
" No, no it's fine! She can come with us to the palace and I can bring her back tomorrow. It's no problem." He smiled at me. "But Than, I think you should come see this. We found out that hope can do something sort of amazing." He stepped in the building curiously. I led him to where we were all sitting, where his daughter and a blind girl sat, surrounded by rocks.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Show him, Toph!" Toph helped the girl into position, and then told her to punch the air. Hope obeyed, and a rock went flying towards me, hitting me in the leg. I winced, knowing I would have a bruise later.
"You see? Than, your daughter is an earth bender!" he looked amazed.
"That's so great!" He smiled. "How did you find out?" I told him how Toph had figured it out, and he seemed overjoyed. He told us about how there hadn't been another bender in their family for fifty years, and how they were worried the gene had died out in the family. We gave him a cup of tea, and he left, thanking us again.
Iroh had closed his tea shop and returned to his apartments, bidding us good night. Toph's Dai Li agents were nowhere to be seen, and my Warriors were probably at the local pubs, partying. I knew I would have to go make rounds to gather them all up.
"Suki." Zuko said, calling my attention. Sokka had a now fully asleep Hope settled in a sling on his back. He had put all his packages in the bag, and I carried that.
"What's up?" I asked, gently pulling a fan from my belt. I held its base and flared the razor sharp steel of the fan out, its weight and width giving me comfort. I was always on edge at night, for some reason. I always had been.
"In two days, I am going to announce my housing plan. In two months, we are going to get the first group of people to head to the first town." He smirked at my full grin. Zuko was a good leader, and he didn't care if you were from his nation or not. He just wanted to help. Plus, in about a day he had managed to begin the changes that would help the world become what it needed to be. In two months, everything about this city would change! I could begin to enjoy the celebration now.
"Are there schools? Healers? Job opportunities?" He nodded to each, and I became almost giddy.
But as I felt the surge of happiness, I also saw the men and women who were dressed in black, aiming throw-able weaponry of all sorts, bows and arrows, cross bows, swords- anything you could possibly imagine- right at our group.
Authors Note! Ahh, the comfort of a cliff hanger. I've decided that I want to get two chapters written every week, and I think I will post both on Tuesdays at different times.
Oh ,and also, I've been reading these other fics on here- Taang based shipping, with a fair amount of Sukka and Zutara- and I am so absorbed. I think that all of you should just go check them out- ther first is called "A Matter of Honor' and its sequel, "The Art of Getting Some." Seriously amazing plot and writing. Check it out!
Last thing- the next story in this little series is supposed to be Smellershot. If you really liked this, would you actually go on the see how the bigger plot plays out? Leave a comment!
Thanks again to FangedSerena4, Hank-O-Holic, and BloodIronAngel for their reviews!
