Of Fire
Chapter 12
Toph walked slowly down a large corridor of the Fire Nation Palace, a piece of paper in her hands. Her brow creased in frustration as she ran her hand slowly over the text on the page, feeling the slight raising of the ink. It was a map, she knew. It was the instructions that were giving her a hard time. Understanding the sounds the words made and what the symbols that illustrated these sounds looked like had been easy. A few lessons on the beach with a few teachers as they drew them in the sand had done the trick. So, technically, she could read. The only problem, at first, being that it had to be carved in stone, metal, or sand for her to see it. But since people hadn't done that for millennia, this trick was no good to her.
The blind bandit had gone through every scholar in the Earth Kingdom who might be able to teach her to read on paper. In her mind, there was no reason why she shouldn't be able to. Her reasoning being that if she could see with her feet, there was no reason why she couldn't read with her hands. The scholars had disagreed, telling her that they had no idea how to help her. A few had some good ideas, ideas that helped normal blind people to read. But reading indented words on heavy paper was not her task. For her task, to complete her goal, she would have to learn to read on paper. So when the Earth Kingdom failed her she went to the Fire Nation. Zuko was always boasting about their excellent school system.
Well, that wasn't true. She had gone to Katara first, to see if the Master Water Bender could heal her eyes. For some reason, a reason she knew but refused to tell anyone, not even the water from the spirit oasis could heal her blindness. Luckily, Toph hadn't expected it would, so she wasn't too disappointed when it didn't work. But she had to at least try. So after that, she hopped a boat and visited her good friend the Fire Lord to tell him the good news – in private – and to see if anyone in the Fire Nation could help. Once Zuko received confirmation of Toph's 'Good News,' he promptly ordered his best scholars to help her.
In the end, they failed her as well, though the Fire Lady was very helpful with what Toph had asked her to teach her. Honestly, she had preferred to ask Azula for these lessons – seeing as the princess was already teaching one person. But Zuko and Mai agreed that keeping this good news known to the fewest amount of people as possible was a good idea. Toph didn't agree but shrugged it off. If they didn't want Azula to know, she wouldn't tell them otherwise.
The Fire Nation scholars, the Earth Bender found out, were annoying and uppity. In the Earth Kingdom, people respected her a great deal. Not only because she was infamous as the Blind Bandit but because of her dealings in the war. The scholars of the Fire Nation had no such respect for her. Their ideas were faulty and half-baked. She had about given up, telling them – in not so many kind words – to get out and leave her alone. The scholars left without verbal complaint. No one seemed to understand her or how to process her gift to benefit her. She ended up going to the garden to calm down, to feel the earth under her bare feet when she was approached by her current teacher.
The seven year old princess of the Fire Nation had sat down beside her without a word, taking a pose similar to her own. And for the longest time they meditated – not saying a word. It was Toph who spoke first. "Isn't it time for your training or something?"
'No,' the silent voice replied. 'Both of my parents are out of the country.'
"Anniversary?" Toph asked with a crooked smile, knowing full well that it was none of her business.
'Business,' Detia answered, not the least bit amused. 'The tasks I was given are finished for the day.'
"I see."
'No, you don't,' came the girl's sharp reply, which only amused the Earth Bender more. 'Not with your eyes, at least.' Toph nodded but remained silent. 'I can help you learn to read,' the girl suddenly offered, making Toph laugh.
"What could you possibly teach me that everyone else hasn't already tried?" Toph asked, honestly wanting to know with no sharpness to the question.
The little girl thought for a second. 'They do not know how to use your ability to help you. They don't understand it. Our situations are similar. You are blind, but you can see. I am mute, but I can speak. I can teach you how to read on paper, if you want me to. If you don't mind being taught by someone twice your junior.'
The blind woman turned to the girl, though she could clearly see her without turning. "You think you can teach me to read?" Detia nodded. "Alright then. I'm just about willing to try anything," she chuckled.
It had taken a month, but true to her word, Detia had taught Toph to read on normal paper using her hands. It was hard to see using her hands and feet while simultaneously concentrating on the words and her surroundings. Learning to see the words with her hands had been easy, just as easy as seeing with her feet. The little girl had explained that Toph was limiting herself by believing that she didn't already have the ability to read with her hands. Detia had said that the Earth is constantly moving, pulsing – something Toph had already known but amused the girl by acting as if she didn't. The seven- year-old had chuckled lightly before telling Toph to feel closer, focus on the Earth as it pulsed, cutting out everyone and everything else.
Toph did as she was told, even though she had no idea what good it did. While she was still concentrating on the Earth, Detia placed the Earth Bender's hands on the paper, guiding them over the large text. The instant her hand touched the paper, her super concentrated mind focused on the paper and the ink that lay above it. And, like magic, the words and their meaning appeared in her mind as if they had been there the whole time. She had been so ecstatic that she had jumped up from her seat, grabbed her little teacher and threw her in the air – catching her in a tight hug. 'You're not out of the woods yet,' Detia's stern voice informed after she had been placed on the ground and dusted her outfit of invisible dust.
Toph had laughed, "Who cares? I just read on normal paper and it was only my first lesson!"
Detia rolled her eyes, though Toph couldn't see that. 'Just so you know, I'm rolling my eyes.'
"Gods, you are so much like your mother." Toph laughed. Detia only lifted an eyebrow, as the Earth Bender remembered a day from the past. A day of darkness for the Fire Nation but amusing conversations for the Earth Bender. It made Detia smile. "Alright, Sifu Detia," Toph stated bowing to the little girl, which turned that smile to a smirk real quick. "Teach me what you know."
And Detia did. Hell, on their second lesson Detia had given Toph the temporary ability to physically see as Detia did normally. In no short terms, Detia explained that it was only temporary and would last only twenty-four hours. Any longer would have permanently damaged her ability to see with her feet. Toph assured Detia that a day was enough, and then told her that she was kinda cute for a little kid, ruffling the head of long white hair until Detia slapped her hand away. Luckily for Toph, all of the Gaang was at the palace, and she was able to actually see what they looked like but pretended that she couldn't because it amused her. Surprisingly, Sokka had been the only one to figure it out, but because they were so much alike, he played along with Toph's plan and didn't tell anyone. How he restrained himself Toph didn't know.
At the end of her twenty-four hours she realized that she really didn't miss the ability to physically see, it was nice but limited, which was what Detia's plan was all along. Toph much preferred her way, which she found she couldn't do while she could see. She had told Detia of her revelation and asked to learn more. In retrospect, she wondered why she readily told a seven-year-old something that would usually have to be pried out of her. After the thought hit her, all Toph did was shrug it off and never broached the subject again. She didn't really need a reason for doing anything she did.
The hardest part was seeing multiple things at once. Standing still and reading a piece of paper was much easier than walking and reading, which was why Toph was reading the map in front of her and trying to figure out where it was going. Her little teacher had run off into the palace for this game of hide and seek, her footsteps too light for even Toph to hear or see for that matter. She cursed lightly under her breath, wondering why Detia had to write so small as some of the words jumbled together. "Toph," Azula's cold voice said from not too far away, making the Earth Bender jump.
"Damn it," Toph cursed, a hand on her heart. "You scared me," she admitted, earning a lifted eyebrow from the princess. "Can I do something for you?"
"It has come to my attention," Azula started, her tone cold as ice and sharp as daggers, "that you have been spending an excess amount of time with my daughter."
"I don't know about excess amount of time." Toph countered, just to get on Azula's nerves, which she succeeded at.
"Regardless, people are starting to talk, and I don't like what I'm hearing. Would you care to join me in a private room?" the princess demanded in the form of a question, motioning to a door not far from them.
Toph looked down at the paper in her hands before rolling it up and stuffing it into her belt. She could use this little rest to regain her bearings. "Lead the way," she offered.
Azula nodded, leading the way to an open door. From what Toph could tell, the door lead to a small meeting room with only a table in it. A few servants were setting up the tea. Azula sat and Toph followed, sitting in front of the Fire bender. No words were spoken until the last servant left the room. Azula sipped her tea with exaggerated properness before opening her eyes over the rim of her cup to study the blind Earth Bender. "I assume you are aware of what people are saying?"
"Nah," Toph answered, purposefully improper. "I don't usually pay any attention to rumors."
Azula nodded. "Neither do I. However, these rumors concern my daughter, and I cannot over look them."
Toph nodded in understanding. "What are they saying?" Toph asked, brushing her long unbound black hair – that hung to middle of her back in large waves – over her shoulder.
Azula set her cup down, though never took her hands off it. "They say that your relationship with Detia is less than appropriate, to put it mildly."
"Curses, they found out? We hid it so well. We weren't going to say anything to you until she got much older," Toph informed with a light smile.
"What?" Azula countered, the smell of burning tea filling the room as the cup in her hands broke.
"I was kidding, Azula. Geez, learn to take a joke." The blind Earth Bender quickly amended.
"That is not something to joke about. If you had been telling the truth, I would have to killed you." Azula said with all the seriousness in the world.
Toph nodded. "You're right; it's not something to joke about. I'm sorry. Nothing inappropriate is going on between me and Detia. She's only seven years old. That's disgusting."
"I agree."
"You have some sick people in this country."
"I agree with that as well," Azula agreed, making Toph chuckle.
"Seriously though, I do love your kid," Toph admitted and Azula's cold demeanor returned. "Only a little bit more than I love everyone else's kids. She's smart and cute, but she's only a child. Those kind of thoughts hadn't even crossed my mind until you said something."
Azula nodded. "All of that's true, but you have been spending a lot of time with her."
"Yeah, she's teaching me to read," Toph said with a smile.
"But you're blind." Azula stated. Toph only smirked. "Alright, I'll accept that. From the way you were walking around, it seems you are trying to read on normal paper. You do know that they have some kind of reading for the blind, right?"
Toph paused then whispered. "Alright, I'm going to tell you something that Zuko and Mai didn't want me to tell anyone."
Intrigued, Azula leaned forward slightly. "Okay, what?"
The Earth Bender paused before beginning. "Recently, I've been spending time in Ba Sing Se, messing around with Bumi. You know who that is right?"
Azula rolled her eyes. "Of course, I know who that is. He was the King of Omashu and took over ruling Ba Sing Se after the war. He is the King of the Earth Kingdom."
"Right," Toph smiled. "Well a couple of months ago, he called me into his private chambers and offered me to be his heir." She paused again.
"Really," the princess stated, completely intrigued. "Did you accept?"
"In a way," Toph answered. "He gave the task of learning to read from normal parchment, because no ruler should be without the ability to read. How else are we supposed to make treaties or whatever. Once I do that, I will accept the offer and become Queen of the Earth Kingdom."
Azula nodded. "From what I'm told, you are something of a wild child. Why would you want to settle down?"
Toph shrugged. "It seems like the right thing to do," she answered vaguely, giving Azula the impression that she knew more than she was letting on.
"I see," Azula remarked, letting her impression go. "And Detia is the only one who would understand about your unique ability. She would know how to properly utilize it."
"Yeah, kid's smart as a whip with a tongue just as sharp. She gets it from you, and I think it's hilarious," Toph admitted.
Azula smiled, it was all true. "So, you are not doing anything inappropriate with my child?" she asked, just to make things clear.
"Not yet," Toph smirked.
"Don't make me kill you," Azula warned, knowing that Toph was only teasing.
Toph laughed. "Hey," she said stopping Azula as she was about to stand. "I have a request."
"What?" Azula asked as if it annoyed her to be there.
"You're really good with political stuff, like negotiations and things, better than Zuko or Mai. I know because I've been to a few negotiations with you. I was in the back so no one saw me." She elaborated when Azula was about to ask which ones she had been to. "Could you teach me? I know I won't be as good as you, but still, I need to know this stuff," the Earth Bender asked, purposefully stroking the Fire Nation Princess' ego.
Azula thought it over for a minute. Having the future ruler of the Earth Kingdom as her ally would definitely benefit her. "I suppose I could do that. I'm already teaching Detia, another student wouldn't hurt."
"Sweet." Toph smiled in triumph as she stood, taking the map out of her belt. "I have to go find your brat now."
"Toph," Azula said, grabbing the younger woman's attention. "Good use of manipulation."
"Learned from the best," Toph countered and continued her search.
~x~
Detia sat in the garden, hidden by the dense underbrush from most everyone. Her favorite little cousin sat beside her with her back leaning up against Detia's side. Neither said anything as they read their respective books. Detia had concluded it a good day for reading, the sun was bright in the sky with no clouds to block it, and the weather wasn't too hot. So, the lightning bender took a random book from the section of the library that she hadn't read and headed outside. After finishing her lessons with Toph, she found she had a lot of free time. Ezra had caught up with her quickly, a book in her hands as well.
So now, they sat silently reading their respective books. Detia closed her book suddenly and sighed, causing Ezra to look at her in wonder. Before the little girl could ask, a loud stomping and breaking of limbs came to her ears. Both looked in the direction of the sound as a tan-skinned girl, no older than Detia, stormed into the opening muttering something like 'stupid boys.' The girl stopped, her thick chocolate hair done up in a ponytail with two thick braided strands falling from her short straight bangs – typical Water Tribe hair style - swishing with the slight breeze. Her predominantly green bellbottom pants and shirt were covered by a blue tunic giving a clue to her mixed linage. Her blue eyes widened in surprise but softened. "Hey," she said in a friendly manner. Ezra turned back to her book while Detia waved. "Can I sit with you?" Detia shrugged and motioned for the girl to sit with them. She did, straightening out her blue loin cloth, not sitting too close but not that far away. "Do you remember me? We met once."
'I do,' Detia answered. 'You're Yue, second daughter of Sokka and Suki.'
Yue smiled. "Hey, wow you have a good memory." Detia only nodded. "So, what are you guys up to?"
"Reading," Ezra answered coldly.
"Oh," Yue said with an awkward smile. "Well, it is a good day for reading," the girl agreed with an odd laugh. Silently, the two older girls stared at each other for a second or two. "So, Detia, um…we don't see you around much, so I don't really know what to talk about."
'After what happened two years ago, you still want me to hang around you?' Detia asked in wonder.
"What happened two years ago?" Yue asked, honestly confused. "Oh. Oh! You mean with the egg." Detia nodded. "That was awesome, why wouldn't we want you around? At the very least, Lu Ten wouldn't act like he's better than all of us."
'He acts that way?' Detia asked.
"Not all the time but sometimes. And that really gets on my nerves," Yue admitted.
Detia nodded in understanding. She had set him straight about his superior attitude towards her a long time ago. 'But after what Gyatso said I thought I wouldn't be welcomed.'
A brown eyebrow lifted. "You mean when he got into that fight with Ezra?" Again Detia nodded. "That was a misunderstanding. What he said was that your powers were great like a monsters'. If you know him, that's a compliment. He has an odd fascination with large things that have a lot of power that he calls monsters, like a dragon. Ezra came in at the wrong time when he said this and demanded that he take it back. He wouldn't because it wasn't an insult to him, and Ezra pushed him. He hit her while he was falling. He got all scraped up by that fall, too."
'Is that so?' Detia asked as she grabbed the collar of Ezra's black robe, forcing the girl back down as she tried to get up.
"Yeah," Yue answered, smiling as she watched Ezra try to pull away from her older cousin. "You shouldn't blame her," Yue defended. "She was only doing what any good cousin would do."
'I know,' Detia replied, letting Ezra go who fell backwards before standing up and brushing herself off.
Yue grabbed Detia's free hand suddenly, surprising Detia with the ease at which the other girl touched her. Hardly anyone touched her so readily, her family and Toph excluded. "Come on, I'll reintroduce you to everyone!"
Before Detia could do anything, Yue pulled her up and rushed her back to the group – her earlier anger long forgotten. "Look who decided to come back," a male voice said mockingly as Yue entered the main section of the garden. "Hey, you brought Detia with you," he said much nicer this time. "Way to go."
"That's my older brother, Atrayu. You can ignore him," Yue informed Detia, who nodded slightly, only able to see that the boy in question looked very similar to Sokka, though his eyes were brown – he even wore only light blues and white like his father – before Lu Ten blocked her view.
"Detia! Perfect timing," he exclaimed taking control of his cousin, pulling her away from Yue and over to the side before any of the other children could say anything to her. "You're just the person we've been looking for." She gave him a suspicious look, which he ignored. "You see, Tenzen…" he paused. "You remember him, right?"
'The Avatar's oldest son? Yes, I remember,' Detia confirmed.
"Good, well anyways, he was talking to his dad about the different styles of bending and Fire came up. Apparently, my dad and Uncle Aang went into the ancient city of the Sun Warriors and learned Fire Bending from there. I thought that, since it was summer and all, we could all go on a short vacation to that city. You never know, we might learn something." Detia nodded, she understood that he really only wanted to learn to be a better Fire Bender and maybe beat her at their mock Agni Kis. "But, I asked dad, and he said no."
'That makes sense. The place is probably riddled with booby-traps,' Detia offered.
Lu Ten waved the comment off. "What's a few booby-traps? We can handle that; most of us are trained for things like that." Detia consented, that was true. "Besides don't you want to have more of a challenge when we fight?" Detia did want that. "All you have to do is ask Aunt Azula and Ty Lee if they'll take us." He paused to let her think it over. "So, what do you say?" Detia smiled and nodded. "Excellent!" he exclaimed then turned back to the group. "She'll ask."
Except for two youngest children there, who didn't know what was going on, everyone congratulated each other. "They haven't said yes yet, guys," Yue intoned, breaking their good mood.
"Party pooper," Atreyu said under his breath, earning him a punch in the arm from his little sister. "Ouch," he whined rubbing his arm.
Detia smiled at their antics before easily finding Azula and Ty Lee's minds. Her parents were sitting side-by-side in front of Toph and Suki. Zuko and Mai were talking to Sokka in some other part of the palace and Katara and Aang weren't actually at the palace this time. Detia waited to see what the adults were talking about, finding that they were talking about Toph's future coronation. 'Mommy, Mother,' Detia called mentally, gaining their attention easily and that of Toph's because, for some reason, Toph was always capable of hearing her and because she didn't want Lady Suki to feel left out allowed her to hear as well.
'Yes,' Azula and Ty Lee chorused, smiling at each other when they did.
'Everyone was wondering if you would take us to the Sun Warrior city for a vacation of sorts.'
'Any particular reason why?' Azula inquired.
'One of the Avatar's kids said that his dad learned Fire bending from the ruins. Lu Ten wants to go check it out. He thinks he'll get better somehow,' Detia informed them.
They nodded. "The summer solstice festival is two days away. It might do the children some good to learn more about the people who started the festival," Ty Lee easily consented.
"I think it's a good idea," Suki also agreed.
"I'll go if everyone else is going," Toph informed. "That place is full of booby-traps. I can at least help avoid them."
Azula was silent for a second before saying, "The royal airship is fully stocked with just about everything we'll need. It should only take us a couple of hours to get there, if that. All we have to do is go."
'So that's a yes?' Detia asked.
"We should tell Zuko, Mai, and Sokka of our plans before we go." Suki suggested.
Azula nodded, quickly calculating how long it'd take to tell Zuko and the others plus whatever time it took to convince him it was a good idea. "Be ready in an hour at the front gates of the palace."
Detia nodded mentally before cutting the link. She turned to the other children who were looking at her expectantly. 'They said yes,' she informed and smiled when Lu Ten hugged her.
"You're the greatest you know that!" he exclaimed happily.
'I know,' she answered back with a half smirk when he stopped smiling and let her go. 'We have an hour to get ready. Then we meet up with my parents, Lady Suki, and Toph at the gate entrance. We will then take a balloon to the ancient city,' she said, bringing his attention to that.
"Let's go!" Lu Ten yelled. "We have one hour to get ready. Let's meet up at the front gates before then."
The other kids nodded and headed inside to get their things ready. "Detia," a young male voice called timidly after the other kids were gone.
The lightning bender turned and was face to face with a young boy about the same age as Ezra and Ursa. His short, clean-cut dark brown hair spiked up as his timid grey-blue eyes looked up into her golden ones. She recognized him as the Avatar's youngest son, Gyatso. 'Yes?' she asked curiously.
He fidgeted with the golden yellow rims of his sky blue tunic. Slowly he swallowed and took a deep breath then bowed deeply. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean for it to be taken the wrong way. I thought what you did was really cool." He paused, glancing up at her before straightening. "I know you don't like my dad. But I was hoping that it wouldn't extend to his kids."
She smiled. 'You are forgiven. I'm sorry I took it the wrong way. And I don't dislike you guys. I thought you guys didn't like me.'
"That couldn't be farther from the truth!" the little boy exclaimed as he impulsively hugged the white-haired girl, for the second time that day surprised by how affectionate these kids were. She patted his back lightly two times before he let go. "Hey! Did you ever manage to get that egg opened?"
Detia nodded as they walked together towards the palace. 'He's around somewhere.'
"Cool! Will we be able to see him?" Gyatso asked excitedly.
'Probably,' Detia assured, 'He likes to tag along whenever I go somewhere besides here.'
~x~
Detia stood next to her mother looking over the guard rail of the air balloon at the ancient city of the Sun Warriors. 'Uncle Zuko gave you a hard time about coming here?'
"Yeah," Azula answered with a slight smirk. "But your mommy gave him a stern look and here we are."
'Go Mommy,' Detia rooted, making sure her mommy, who was in their assigned room getting ready to disembark the air ship, could hear.
Detia heard Ty Lee chuckle lightly. "Of course there was a lot of arguing between the two, but Zuko couldn't come up with a good reason to stop us."
"Princess," A man in heavy armor addressed with a salute as she turned to him, "we are about to land."
Azula nodded, looking to Detia to inform the rest of their party. Within thirty minutes, everyone was at the border of the ancient city. "Isn't this exciting!" Yue exclaimed as she immediately laced her arm around Detia's, moving in close.
The surprise and confusion on Detia's face amused her mother to no end. So much so, that she even pointed it out to Ty Lee, who thought it was adorable. "Which way should we go first?" Lu Ten asked, coming up beside Ezra, who had promptly taken Detia's other arm.
Everyone looked at Detia, all of their thoughts indicating that for some unknown reason she would know the way. 'Why is everyone looking at me?' Detia asked.
"We could always go towards the temple," the oldest child there, who Detia remembered was Sokka and Lady Suki's daughter, Koyumi offered, pointing to the tall temple on the opposite side of the city.
Not that she needed to remember, Koyumi looked exactly like her mother, who she was standing by. They could have been sisters. "That's a good place to start," Suki agreed, picking up her two year old nephew, who Detia hadn't met before.
'That's Kuai,' Toph offered mentally. 'Aang and Katara's youngest son.'
Detia nodded slightly as the group started to walk down the maze of houses towards the temple. Occasionally one of the adults – excluding Azula, because she only cared about her daughter – would tell one of the kids to stay where they could see them or not to run too far ahead. The stops from the temple to the beginning were few, but the detours were a lot. Lu Ten actually found an old sun warrior knife in one of the houses, after he tripped over it. He reasoned proudly that since it hurt him he could keep it. No one argued with him as he placed the knife in his belt, but Detia and Azula both noticed that the knife was not as old as it should have been. Their silent conversation on that fact was short, but now, they were both keeping a close eye on their surroundings.
Detia, with permission from Toph, kept a close eye on what the Earth Bender was seeing as well. Not only for the reason that there might be people in the ancient city but because she could stop some of the other children from activating the booby-traps. Together, the adults and Detia had already prevented three such accidents. "Hey guys, check this out!" Atrayu called from the top of a stair case, causing everyone to pick up their pace and head towards him. "Look what I found!"
"It's a mural," Koyumi noted when everyone reached Atrayu and gazed upon the huge painting.
"It looks like the Dragons are going to eat him," Gyatso observed, making chewing and crunching noises, which made his twin older sisters laugh. Detia had met them briefly the day she had met everyone else. If she recalled correctly, their names were Kya and Hanna, and they were fraternal twins. The only thing they really had in common was their skin color, which was lighter than their other siblings, closer to their father's. Kya was an Air bender, Detia noted, considering her thin straight brown hair was fashioned like the Air Nomad's and the outfit she wore was air nomad style with yellows and tans. Her sister Hanna was a water bender, keeping her thick brown hair, darker by just a shade than her sister's, tied back at the nap of her neck and wearing light blues and white. "What do you think Detia?"
The question drew the Lightning Bender out of her observation, and confounded her. Why was he asking her what she thought and no one else? She lifted an eyebrow in confusion, reading his mind only told her that he honestly wanted to know, with no other thoughts. So, she turned her attention to the mural and examined it. At first glance, it appeared as if the two dragons were surrounding the Sun Warrior with fire in order to kill him. 'I don't think so,' she stated as she studied the painting. 'Dragons gave Fire Benders the ability to bend Fire. Why would the ancient warriors paint a picture of creatures they loved in a negative light? I think this picture shows how the Dragons gave their ability to the humans.' Impulsively, the white-haired child touched the painted, running her hand that wasn't being held by Yue over the cracked and eroded painting. 'Yes, I think that is the case.'
"Cool. You are so smart," Gyatso complimented, making Detia blush.
"Hey, there's a huge sun dial calendar thing over here!" Tenzen yelled from somewhere past the wall the mural was on.
Suki sighed and mumbled, "That boy, always running off."
Then Atrayu ran past his mother, Lu Ten following close behind. "Those two aren't any better," Koyumi stated, pointing to her brother and Lu Ten.
At a leisurely pace, because no one was in any real hurry, the group came to the courtyard of the city just in time to see Lu Ten reflect the light with his new, old knife onto the red gem that stood atop the pole at the far end of the old calendar. "Lu Ten!" Ty Lee called out. "What are doing?"
The boy looked up at his aunts. "There's a door here. We're thinking the gem thingy opens it."
"There's probably a reason why it's closed," Suki said.
"You need a bigger sword," Azula replied, surprising the other adults as she jogged over to her nephew, pulling out a single broad sword.
"Since when do you carry a broad sword?" Ty Lee asked, following her wife and the rest of the children to where Azula was standing.
The princess shrugged. "You never know. I like to be prepared."
"Who cares, as long as she opens the door," Atrayu intoned, earning a glare from his mother, which he didn't see because the instant the light from the broad sword hit the gem the doors opened.
The boys cheered. "See, I told you this was a good idea!" Lu Ten yelled. "Adventure! Just like our parents."
"Our parents didn't have their parents with them," Atrayu pointed out.
"Yes, but our parents were also older than we are." Koyumi countered, walking past her bother towards the newly opened doors.
"There's nothing in here but a bunch of funny looking statues." Tenzen informed, disappointment dripping in his tone.
All of the children, excluding Detia, Koyumi, and Ezra who didn't care, awwed. "Maybe there's a switch on the wall or something," Gyatso offered, lifting their spirits as they ran to walls.
Detia, after Yue finally let go of her, along with her parents and Toph studied the statues. "You know, this kinda looks like the Dancing Dragon form Aang and Zuko did after they came back from this place," Toph noted, choosing to leave out the fact that there was a hidden compartment in the floor.
"Yeah," Lu Ten said even though no one was talking to him directly. "I've seen dad and Uncle Aang do it."
'Maybe if you followed the statues you'll open the hidden compartment Toph isn't telling anyone about,' Detia stated, giving Toph a slightly dirty look, which the Earth bender ignored because she couldn't see it.
Ty Lee easily volunteered by stepping into the same exact position as one of the statues. When no one else moved to be the second person, Azula rolled her eyes and walked into the shadow of the statue exactly parallel from her wife, mimicking the statue perfectly. The princess nearly gasped as one of the stones under foot gave way slightly but caught herself before the sound could come out. "Alright, on three!" Ty Lee exclaimed, grabbing the children's attention and bringing them to watch as she counted to three.
Once the acrobat hit three, she and Azula perfectly performed the Dancing Dragon in unison. When they finished, everyone clapped but stopped instantly as the building rumbled. Up from the floor a stone pedestal rose, a golden egg-shaped object resting on the top. Silence filled the air as the object glittered in the rays of the sun. Lu Ten was the first to snap out of it as he ran to the object. 'Don't touch it!' Detia's voice yelled in his head, sounding as if she had been right next to him and bringing him to his knees.
"That hurt!" he exclaimed.
Detia ignored him as she walked past him to the glittery object. 'It's pressure sensitive,' she informed him. 'If you had removed it, something bad would have happened.' The white-haired girl examined the egg critically. 'I've got it, does anyone have any rope?'
"I do," Azula stated, seemingly pulling the rope out of thin air.
"You're carrying rope too?" Ty Lee asked incredulously.
"I had to be prepared. We didn't know what we were walking into." Azula explained as she wrapped the rope around the object without touching it, just as her daughter told her to do. "Okay, now what?"
With Azula holding the rope, everyone backed out of the temple. 'On three, I want everyone to pull as hard as you can,' she said as everyone grabbed a bit of the rope.
She counted to three slowly, and once she hit the number, everyone pulled and the object came flying towards them, barreling right into Toph's waiting arms. "See it wasn't booby-trapped," Lu Ten announced just as thick green goo spewed up from pedestal and the doors closed heavily.
'You were saying?' Detia countered with a devious triumphant smirk.
"Shut up," was Lu Ten's indignant response.
Detia chuckled lightly before being bombarded by Yue and Gyatso, who hugged her tightly. "You just saved our lives!" Yue exclaimed, hugging tighter and completely ignoring the look of unease on Detia's face.
"To coin a phrase, we're not out of the woods yet," Toph announced, holding the gem in her steady hands. "It seems we have company."
TBC
The next chapter should be up soon. Chapter 9 was supposed to be a part of chapter 8 but it was too long in my opinion so I split them. :P
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!