[-Chapter Thirteen-]
I loved my father very much: that was a proven fact. But in that moment, I didn't want him within one hundred feet of Aiko. Not with that new law he was supposed to follow. How could he possibly take Aiko away from me in the name of following the rules? With just one look at his face, I knew. He has this faith that everything will work out okay… He thinks Koori is really in charge of her Chen-Li, but that isn't true. Aku will torture Aiko. He'll make her life a living hell. My arms tightened around her involuntarily, as if I could somehow meld her into my skin and keep her safer that way.
"Nothing much, dad," I answered as lightheartedly as possible. I was curious to register that the Chen-Li hadn't tried breaking down our door yet. My thoughts kept racing in a zillion different directions, trying to guess their next move, but I had to deal with the situation at hand.
"You're packing clothes in our food sack," he retorted dryly. "Aiko looks scared out of her wits. And you… you look positively furious." My heart spluttered and then came to a screeching halt for a few precious seconds. My father stared at me, waiting.
"Dad…" I fumbled, trying to find the right words. "Dad, Aiko and I are leaving." His frame straightened into an intimidating barrier at my words. Bright blue eyes hardened into chips of ice, and a great deal of muscle bulging occurred in the region of his neck.
"What?" he repeated, almost dumbly, but I could hear the anger and disbelief in the word. I tried to stare at his black hair, focus on the way it shifted and bobbed with his movements, and failed. My eyes traveled invariably to his smoldering gaze. "Why?"
"Because," I whispered, knowing that telling him a lie was pointless. He just knew me too well, and I didn't resent it any more than in that moment. "Aiko is an Earthbender." My voice cracked on the word. I winced.
The shockwave that traveled up my father's body in that moment was visible and stunning. His face transformed from guarded to an emotion that I couldn't define. "My daughter, an Earthbender?" He looked down at Aiko. "Is this true?" She nodded, and the indefinable emotion faded to horror. "My daughter… an Earthbender…" He passed his hand over his eyes; his shoulders began shaking. Suddenly there were sobs, little cries that sounded too dry to be wet with tears but the tears were there, pouring down his face. I had never seen my father cry before. Has he gone crazy or something?
"Dad," I said softly, wishing that I knew how to reassure him, but there were no words. How can there possibly be words? Our family life will crumble away into dust. Unless we find a solution in two years, Aiko will be lost to us. But I won't let that happen. I will save my baby sister before she ever reaches the age of ten. Ten—the word was suddenly a looming storm cloud instead of a bright ray of sunshine.
That was when the knock came at the door.
The echoing rap froze my heart in its tracks before it dutifully continued beating. The knock was official, and crisp, and heavy. So this was their plan of attack: talk to my father, one of the most law-abiding citizens ever devised by creation, and then use the rules to tear her away? I won't let it happen. Never in a million years.
Now, Hikari, a voice whispered softly. Maybe you're judging him before he can really do anything. Give him a chance. I watched him with tense muscles. He was still bent over, shaking; after another knock, he froze. Time seemed to melt away. Aku was still knocking and my father hadn't moved. I stomped all over the feeling of hope that rose in my chest. No. Don't get your hopes up. But I approached him anyway, hand extended like he was a wild animal. Would he strike me? Would he collapse? I couldn't be sure.
"Dad?" There it was again, that broken whispery sound that I hated. It shouldn't come out of my mouth, not ever. "Dad, I know you think that we have to follow the rules all the time, but you don't have to—" My hand hit his shoulder at the same time as the next knock came. His head snapped up and my hand jerked back. Slowly, slowly, my father let his arms fall to his side and he started walking towards the door. "Dad!" I hissed. "Dad, you don't have to do this. We don't have to give Aiko to them. I can take her, I can take her out of here and we can run. We can run somewhere far away." With a start, I realized that I was crying. "Dad, please don't. Please, Daddy. Don't take her away from me. Don't give her to them, anyone but them, please daddy don't…"
My dad kept moving forward to answer the door so I sprinted ahead of him, crossing our "living room" in three strides and standing resolutely in front of the ill-fitted obstruction.
"Hikari, get out of the way," my father mumbled. I knew he couldn't have been thinking clearly; he had witnessed firsthand the horrors of Bending and scared me with the tales when I was younger. He knew what would become of Aiko. I simply stared at him and remained where I was. "Move," he repeated. I shook my head, and when I met his blue eyes, words failed me. "Hikari, don't be ridiculous. Get out of the way."
"Open up!" the Chen-Li's leader commanded, his voice muffled from behind the door. My father shot me a surprised look and then set his face in determination.
"Move, Hikari," he hissed, his voice businesslike. "The law has come knocking at our… door."
I stared at him evenly. "If you are going to be giving Aiko over to the Chen-Li, I will never speak to you again." His eyes snapped to my face. "I'd sooner run away than share a roof with someone who would betray their own family for the sake of a stupid law—"
"Hikari! Be silent! I need you to trust me."
"You haven't earned it. But you can earn it now. Tell me you're not going to do anything to hurt Aiko."
"I am your father—"
"Junichi! This is Aku! Open the door!"
"—I do not need to justify myself to my own daughter—"
"I am trying to keep Aiko safe."
"—who apparently does not understand that she needs to whisper, or people will hear her." He glared at me, and for the first time in my life I felt afraid of him. "Now I need to open the door, or we won't even have a roof to share." Junichi lowered his voice and leaned in closer. "I can only buy you so much time. Aku knows you've been here. Try to get to the woods. You might have a clear shot if they haven't surrounded the house by now." I felt like someone had electrocuted me; it was all so surreal. How could this be happening? My father… my father is the most law-abiding citizen I've ever known. This isn't reality. This can't be real.
But it was just as real as the weight of his hand on my hair. "I wish I could go with you, Hikari. I wish that I had been able to show you how much I love you, better than I've been doing. This may be my last chance. You… you take care of my little girl."
"Dad, I…"
"Junichi!"
A well placed shove from my father sent me on my way to the back of our house. I found Aiko right where I had left her in the kitchen. Our bag was still by her side. I slung it over my shoulder and grabbed her hand. She whimpered.
"I'm not sure if you're aware, Junichi, but a new law was passed recently…" My heart stuttered to a halt. He couldn't have opened the door already! I looked over at the back exit of our house—we would have to cross directly behind my father to get there. A scream boiled up behind my lips; I restrained it. Think, Hikari. We can't leave. That means we have to hide. My feet began moving of their own accord, away from the Chen-Li and my father.
Perhaps it was the look in my eyes, but my baby sister made not a squeak in protest as we moved from the kitchen down the hallway and into our bedroom. I yanked the curtain aside that concealed our closet and bundled Aiko inside. Then, carefully, I crawled in after her. I could only hope that my father would be able to hide us, that the Chen-Li would just give up. Seconds seemed to become hours, and I thought my muscles would cramp up from pure nerves. That's no good. I can't do anything to protect her if my muscles—
"…are long gone from here." I stiffened at the sound of my father's voice. Too close! Aku must have started searching the house. I cursed at myself. Of course Dad wouldn't have tried to stop him from searching; he thinks we snuck out! I took too long. "She was never one to do as she was told."
"Yes, well Junichi, I also know that your eldest can be very crafty when she wants to." Aku's voice was sour, but there was a certain joy behind it. It made me want to punch him. Repeatedly. "Check that room!"
"But that's their sleeping area, Aku; surely you don't think she would be silly enough to hide in th—"
There was the sound of a curtain being ripped down, and I became distinctly aware of several sensations at once. My father's face, going slack with shock and then terror. The curve of Aku's smile as he realized what he'd found. Breeze, air pushed aside by the Chen-Li as the agents swept in. A forceful tug as Aiko's hand was ripped from mine, and bundled up into the arms of the Chen-Li agents. I jumped up with a cry but they were already retreating; they'd claimed their prize and all that I was good for was a space filler.
"Kari!" Aiko screamed, reaching out over the Chen-Li agent's back as if I could save her. I was dimly aware that my father was moving beside me, coming towards me with a shout, but I breezed past him and through the halls of my house, searching for that tiny voice so I could save her. I finally found her in the arms of that beast; they were standing outside of my house, where Aiko and I used to play together in the mud. "Kari!" she screamed again, this time the Chen-Li agents turned to face me.
"Isn't she just the cutest thing?" Aku sneered. My hands turned to fists at my side and started shaking. "Now be a good citizen and walk back inside."
"No," I snapped, and lunged for the one holding Aiko. I knew it was pointless, knew I'd never be able to overpower him, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't let them just take her away from me… not while there was still breath in my body. And I was so focused on my sister's face that I ignored everything else, including the motions of the Chen-Li leader.
I vaguely saw the flash of silver before I felt cold steel running from my right cheekbone to my right jawbone. It burned and I staggered back, putting one hand to my face in astonishment. The wound from the knife started to sting. My fingers grew sticky. I saw the blade flash again before it disappeared into the folds of Aku's robe. "Get her out of here," he commanded. The Chen-Li bearing Aiko turned and walked away. I started after her again with a desperate cry, but the other Chen-Li held me back and laughed jeeringly. "Don't waste your energy worrying about her," Aku sneered. "You have a punishment to face."
But I knew nothing could possibly be worse than watching that Chen-Li agent walk away with Aiko slung across his back. No punishment could ever hurt me more than that sight. My heart was clawing its way out of my chest, ripping me apart, crying in pain, suffocating, burning, unimaginable pain that would never go away. The tears sprang to my eyes like water pumped from a well, and I sagged against the arms of my captors. They dragged me away from my home easily enough, marching me through the streets in my failure.
I had nothing left to fight for.
A/N: Hi guys! So, happy Wednesday! Isn't it great! Back with more stories, woo! Other exciting news from my life? I'll be conducting my first ever "road trip" tomorrow morning. Going to visit my friend in another state! I know, kinda lame right? What 19 year old hasn't been to visit someone in another state? Or at least DRIVEN in another state? But yeah, that would be meeee. I'm stoked for the vacation from my house. It's getting a little boring in here! I'm also trying to become **trilingual!** Yup, taking French Lessons thanks to some awesome software. Guess what I can say now? J'ai un livre rouge. Totally doesn't apply to anything here, but the caffeine from my green tea is urging me to share this with you.
As far as HBAM goes, I hope you guys notice that this chapter is a little longer than usual. I feel like the typical chapter length was good for the old website I used to post on, but it's not so good for here. So, I've been combining chapters and rewriting things to try and find a good fit. What do you guys think? Is this too long? Too short? Just right? Please comment and let me know!
Until next week! Sorry about the long AN, I love you all!