Of Fire
Chapter 23
Detia watched silently, her bending stance lowering, as Yuna again drew water from the air and lifted herself to the bottom level of the arena, landing beside Angi. "Whoa, wait a second," Toph's voice carried. "I'm not ready to fight yet. Especially not against her."
Even from her position on the ground Detia could see her mother smirk as she crossed her arms. "Can you be ready in ten minutes?"
"Watch my stuff, and I'll be ready in five," Toph countered as she began taking off her metal wristbands and crown.
Realizing that she was no longer going to fight Yuna but Toph instead, Detia took off towards her parents, easily running up the fifteen-foot wall. She stopped climbing when her feet were firmly placed on the edge of the railing of the wall. "I need all my weights taken off," she informed Ty Lee, her golden eyes flicking over to the Earth Queen as she took off all of her heavy metal jewelry and most of her heavier clothing.
"Weights?" Azula questioned. This was the first she had ever heard of her daughter wearing weights. "You make her wear weights."
"Since she was three, it helps with her balance," Ty Lee informed as she gently placed her daughter's Fire Nation armor on the ground just as Detia tossed her wristbands and belt near them. "And without them she's super light."
Ty Lee pulled at her child's boots, then handed one to Azula. The ex-Fire Bender's eyes widened in utter surprise. "It weighs at least ten pounds."
The acrobat nodded. "I know." She smiled. "All together I believe she has about…" her grey eyes turned to her daughter, who was folding her silk weapon carefully.
"About sixty pounds," Detia answered, placing her gift on the ground just as carefully as she had folded it.
"But you only weigh at most a hundred pounds!" Azula exclaimed, more annoyed that it had taken her ten years to find this out than the fact that her child only weighed about forty pounds.
"Actually on average without any weights on I weigh about forty-five pounds," Detia informed as if she was reciting her times tables. Azula exhaled deeply, her hand going to her forehead again. She growled lightly, wishing her headache would go away. "Does your head hurt?" the little monster asked.
Hard golden eyes looked up into younger ones and Azula nodded. "Yes," she answered.
"I've heard it's a common side effect when a lightning bender first begins utilizing their mental abilities, if they have them," Toph intoned as she pulled her long hair into a leather band before taking off the heavy leather fabric covering her feet.
Azula looked to her daughter for the answer to the unasked question. "It's true," Detia agreed. "Luckily for you it won't come all at once. Unlike for me. You remember when I was two and I collapsed?" It was rhetorical. She knew both of her parents remembered that day clearly, even though worse things had happened since then. So, she didn't wait for them to answer before she continued. "That's what happened. My mind opened suddenly and I could hear everything."
"Talk about major mental overload," Angi intoned from her place seated on one of the stone benches. "Are you guys ready to start this thing yet? I've waited forever to see this."
"What do you mean?" Ty Lee inquired, turning to the Fire Bender.
"Ignore her," Detia stated as she stretched, her simple white silk clothing that she wore under her regular tunic swaying in the slight breeze.
"Are you cold in that?" Azula inquired, eyeing her daughter's sleeveless white silk shirt, the loose white silk pants that reached to the middle of her shin and the belt that tied everything together, all of which matched perfectly with her hair.
"No colder than Toph," Detia countered, wiggling the toes of her bare feet and drawing Azula's attention to the Earth Bender.
The ex-princess almost chuckled at the outfit Toph was wearing and how closely it matched her daughter's except in green. The differences being that Toph's shirt was high collared, the long sleeves were rimmed in yellow cord, and her pants fell to her knees. She was also barefoot (not that that was anything out of the ordinary) and there was no metal on her person. "What no metal?" Azula remarked.
"I might not die from it, but getting struck by lightning is not fun. Especially if it's localized by whatever metal is on my person at the time," Toph reasoned as she turned to Detia. "You ready to get your ass kicked?"
"No," Detia answered with a smirk as she stood on the edge and motioned for Azula to come closer. With a quirked eyebrow, the ex-princess moved closer to her daughter and sighed when Detia placed her hands gently on Azula's head. Like magic the headache was suddenly gone. "Now," she said as she stood straight. "Just because we have a past doesn't mean I'm going easy on you." She leaned back and fell off the wall, landing soundlessly on her feet.
"That little brat," Toph murmured as she jumped over the edge of the wall and landed with a loud thump in the sand below.
"Finally!" Angi exclaimed, rushing to the edge to get a better view.
"Why are you so excited?" Ty Lee inquired as she set on the stone bench, easily pulling Azula to sit beside her. "And what did she mean by a past? What kind of past?"
Yuna chuckled from her place on the bench. "They were close," The water bender answered. "But that was a long time ago."
"Because they were 'close'," Angi continued with air quotations and a roll of her red eyes, "they never ever came to physical blows. This fight will be the very first one in the history of the entire world," the god of fire stated with the same excited energy she used when she first saw Toph. "I'm so excited!" she admitted, smiling widely back at her water bending partner.
"I believe it's about to start," Yuna intoned.
Everyone's attention turned to the arena. Detia stood at one end and Toph the other. Both waited, the tension in the air building. The instant Toph took up a stance, Detia disappeared, or it could have happened in reverse. A wall of rock shot up behind the Earth bender only to shatter seconds later as Detia's leg reappeared through it. "Shit," Azula exclaimed at her daughter's speed, moving closer to the arena unconsciously and making Ty Lee giggle.
This happened a few more times, spanning only a few seconds each time. Toph was still on the defensive, barely able to see Detia's attacks before she finished through with them. The lightning bender solidified where she began, a smirk growing on her face. Without time to spare Toph went on the offensive, sending multiple boulders at the girl in rapid succession. All were dodged or blocked with flawless ease. "Come on!" Angi yelled, getting bored fast with these basic moves.
Detia's smirk grew devious, one very similar on the Earth Bender's face as well. The earth rumbled as Toph's stance changed suddenly. Instantly, large thick pillars of stone erupted from the ground. The lightning bender dodged the pillars, unable to read Toph's mind fast enough to predict where some of the pillars would rise. As such, she ran on instincts, emitting lightning from her feet as she turned the sand under her to glass, using her light weight and the energy and height from the pillars to seemingly glide around the arena. She jumped from her smooth glass slide, flipping in midair to send a stream of white lightning through the pillars at the earth bender, then turning the sand that emitted from the pillars to continue creating her slide.
Toph sighed mentally as a wall of rock took the entire electrical burst and dissipated it. Detia used this momentary distraction to land the first blow in the fight, a knee placed firmly in Toph's gut. Angi grimaced, as did Azula who had found herself standing right beside the Fire Bender. To her credit, Toph didn't even flinch, only moved to punch the younger god. Detia was fast enough to dodge the full blow, but it did nip her shoulder. Of course, the nip was hard enough to dislocate said shoulder.
But it happened so fast that none of the spectators even suspected that Detia had forced her shoulder back in its socket as she sent bolts of lightning towards her opponent. Toph felt the blow and half expected she'd feel guilty about hitting a child with the same amount of force she'd use on a grown man. Later. Right now, as she narrowly dodged the stream of lightning that burst from the ground initiating from Detia's feet and directed with her fingers, guilt was the last thing she felt. Yes as the smell of her hair burning filled her senses, guilt was not even on the list of things she was feeling.
A solid rock wall formed around the Earth bender, so no one could see her go underground. Detia smirked and with the time Toph gave her by going underground moved quickly in her katas, forming a dragon of pure electrical energy. Similar in size to those she had seen in the mountains of the city of the Sun Warriors. It circled the arena several times, gaining speed with each rotation till it looked like one continuous large circle. Hair stood on end and metal buttons sparked harmlessly with the charged air that moved like the tide as the dragon circled, each wave of energy reacting with each person. Except Yuna who was using her water bending to dull the electrical current.
Azula stood in awe at the massive form as her hair stood on end. In Fire Bending, creating a dragon took time and complicated katas to learn. She herself had found using Fire bending for entertainment in such a way was insulting to the form. But seeing the massive dragon circle the arena like a guardian, she could see the potential of it being used as a weapon.
The slight change of the position of Detia's hands, as they turned palm to the ground, was the only warning the lightning bender gave as the dragon plunged into the earth. The force of the blow sent shockwaves in all directions, making the spectators grip hard onto anything to keep them flying back. If Toph hadn't bound Detia's feet in stone – in an attempt to keep her in one place – at that instant, the lightning bender would have been blown back as well. Crystallized sand fell from the sky as everything cleared. The arena was scorched black, a crater in the center as if it had been hit with a meteor. All the pillars that dotted the arena had been incinerated, hence the glass that fell from the sky. Luckily there was nothing in the arena that was flammable otherwise it would be gone.
Toph burst from the ground, stumbling slightly as white lines of electricity ran over her body, some escaping into the air while others connected with other body parts. "Are you finished yet?" Detia called, the smirk in her tone as clear as that dragon had been.
The Earth Bender grunted, wiping the blood from her mouth and nose as she stood straight. Now she remembered why she had never come to blows with Arjuna in the past. Getting struck by lightning hurt. It was like her entire body was on fire from the inside out, and silently she vowed that this would be the absolute last time she fought a lightning bender. She wondered if Aang felt like this after he was struck with lightning. "Probably not," Detia responded. "He died."
"Oh yeah," Toph spoke, the simple act of air leaving her lungs causing her to cough violently.
"Are you going to give up now?" Detia repeated.
Toph smirked as she nearly fell. "Not quite."
With a flick of her hand Detia was encased in rock, head to toe. Just as Detia turned the rock to glass and broke out, Toph was looming beside her. She couldn't react fast enough to dodge the blow but managed to block some of it, though that didn't stop her from skidding across the sand into a pillar that suddenly shot up. Had she not slowed her skidding with her foot the pillar would have hit her dead on instead of simply stopping her.
Detia encased herself in a cage of lightning, turning all of the rocks thrown her way into dust, as she checked to see if her jaw was broken. With the amount of blood gushing from her mouth and nose and the pain that shot through her jaw when she touched it she feared it might be. More than likely, though, from what she could tell it was only cracked. Along with like three or five of her teeth. She made a mental note to never fight a master earth bender almost twice her age in hand-to-hand combat. Detia jumped up, setting her jaw firmly as she forced her body to heal it. "Good, I didn't think you were going to get back up," Toph mocked. And though the relief in her tone was covered up, Detia could still hear it.
It was one thing to battle a bender, any kind of bender for that matter, but having to deal with an angry Ty Lee and her crazy chi blocking techniques was another thing entirely. Detia almost smirked, then reminded herself that her jaw was damaged and she didn't want to do that. Toph widened her stance, ready for whatever the lightning bender was going to send her way. Or so she thought. Detia raised her hands and Toph couldn't move anymore. "That's cheating!" Toph yelled, trying to yank her body free from the invisible hold.
'We never made any limitations,' Detia informed. 'This is perfectly legal.' Mentally Toph prepared herself for the blow that was sure to come and was utterly surprised when the invisible hold disappeared. Her blind eyes searched for the lightning bender, finding that she had not moved a foot. 'Stupid honor.'
Toph laughed at how crazy that had been. She had prepared herself for some serious damage that never came. "I think we should stop," Toph replied, still chuckling. "You could've wiped the floor with me with that move."
'If we had been fighting to the death, I would have used that move the instant the battle started,' Detia intoned. 'But my stupid upbringing and basic creation doesn't allow me to cheat like that,' she growled mentally, cursing her very DNA for a second before sighing. 'So, you forfeit then?'
Toph nodded, using her bending to lower whatever remained of her bending and return the arena back to its original shape. "Most definitely," Toph whispered, knowing that the lightning bender could hear her.
"What? That's it!" Angi yelled from her position in the stands.
Once the words left her mouth, Ty Lee was over the side and rushing to her daughter, Azula not far behind. Detia had flopped down on the ground, making sure not to move her jaw and hinder the healing process. She looked up at her mommy when she came into range and would have smiled, but again her jaw. Ty Lee said nothing as she kneeled, but the emotions she was feeling were many and all jumbled up. Taking her sleeve, she carefully wiped the blood from her daughter's face, seeing from the flow of her chi where she was injured. Relief was one of the emotions that fluttered in her; at least her daughter wasn't too badly hurt. Anger was another emotion she recognized, though she wasn't sure who she was angry at. Detia for participating in this fight or Toph for initiating it.
Azula felt much the same way, except she didn't blame Detia at all. In fact, she was very proud that her daughter had won (by default, but winning was winning) against a Master Earth bender like Toph. The taller woman stood behind her wife as Ty Lee did her best to not only stop the small amount of blood that still flowed but clean it up as well.
When the blood was relatively clear from her child's pale face, Ty Lee went to the second place where the chi pooled. Gingerly, just in case it was something serious, she tore the shirt at the neck, revealing the large bruise that was Detia's shoulders. Azula gasped. 'It was dislocated,' Detia informed, not even bothering to move. 'And my jaw is fractured.'
Ty Lee sighed, feeling her anger dissipate. It could have been far worse. Azula, however, felt the opposite. "What the hell, Toph!" the ex-princess yelled. "Did you hit her like you would an adult?"
Toph, who had followed Detia's example and sat down, rolled her dull green eyes. Her body still felt like it was on fire. She'd much prefer a few fractured bones to the feeling she had now. "No, Azula, I'm perfectly okay. Thanks for asking."
"I don't care about you," Azula answered as she practically stormed over to the Earth Bender, placing her hands on her hips as she looked down at her. "What were you thinking hitting her like that?"
"She wasn't pulling her punches," Toph defended herself.
"She's a child!" Azula argued back.
"Actually she was," Yuna interrupted, appearing out of nowhere beside the ex-princess. "Her creation doesn't allow her to do certain things while in a fair fight."
Toph snorted and forced herself to stand, even though it hurt every single muscle she had. "Yeah, I know."
"You're injured." It was a statement. "Allow me to heal you." That was asked in such a way that Toph could not deny the water bender.
"Wait, what?" Azula demanded.
"It's a long story," Toph answered, the muscles in her legs giving out from under her.
As a reaction, Azula caught the younger woman, surprised at how heavy she was. "What do you eat?" Azula complained. Toph only chuckled. "I can't believe you hit my daughter like that." Azula said under her breath.
"You're not going to let this go are you? Even though it was a fair fight?" Toph intoned.
"Hell no, I'm not going to let it go. What if it was your daughter fighting, and you were in the stands watching? How would you feel watching a woman, twice the age and size of your daughter, send your child flying across the arena?"
Toph frowned; damn that stupid logic. "Fine. Next time I fight your daughter, I'll make sure she's older and asleep." Without saying a word, Azula dropped the Earth Queen, watching passively as Toph was unable to support her own weight and fell to the ground with a loud groan. "You bitch! That hurt."
Azula continued to remain silent as she walked back over to her child. 'You shouldn't be mad at her. She's in more pain than me,' Detia pointed out, still on the ground as Ty Lee created a make-shift sling from the metal lined silk that Angi had brought over to her.
"Hush. Are you finished, Ty?" The acrobat nodded, their daughter's blood ruining her clothes. Almost roughly, Azula picked her daughter up, making her flinch slightly. "I'm not very happy with you either."
'I won,' Detia offered weakly.
"Which is the only reason I'm not scolding you." The ex-princess placed a light kiss on her daughter's forehead as she started walking to one of the exits on the level.
"I really wish you wouldn't do things that get you hurt like this," Ty Lee interjected, following beside her wife.
'It won't happen again,' Detia promised. 'That's the first and last time I go against Earth.'
Ty Lee sighed. "Good. I really don't like seeing you get hurt."
Detia leaned her head where Azula's shoulders met her neck and sighed at how cool her mother felt. Her golden eyes looked at her mommy as she replied, 'I know.'
"Big Sis!" Azula cringed as her little sister raced over to her from the exit they were going to.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Azula growled, though she didn't stop.
The younger woman didn't seem the least bit perturbed, turning on her heels to follow beside Azula. "You could tell me a hundred thousand times and I'd still call you big sis," Aziza informed with a wide smile as Azula glared at her. "Did you see that large circle of light in the sky just a second ago? The town's in an uproar! The archeologists say it was a form of lightning bending or something. What happened to Detia?"
"Are you always this annoying?" Azula all but hissed, ignoring the chuckles from her wife and daughter.
"Probably," Aziza answered honestly, her smile widening. "As your little sister, it's in my job description to be needlessly annoying," She remarked as if stating a fact, and Azula couldn't really argue because she was needlessly annoying to Zuko – more so than Aziza was to her. The girl's golden eyes caught sight of the earth bender and Detia's two friends. "What happened to that girl?"
"That's Toph," Ty Lee answered. "She and Detia got into a fighting match."
"Ohh," she drawled. "So did she create that huge light thingy?" Silently, Detia pointed her good hand at herself. "You did that?" Detia nodded. "That was awesome. From what I'm told, that's a hard bending move to learn."
"Well of course," Azula offered, indignant for her daughter. "Detia is a master of her element."
"I thought it took years…"
"She's been training for years," Azula interrupted. "As my daughter, nothing else will do."
Aziza's black eyebrow lifted and she mumbled, "You sure are prickly."
"What was that?" Azula's golden hawk eyes glared, like a predator eyeing its prey.
"Nothing." The younger to-be-royal sing-songed. "But that was totally awesome, what you did. I wish I could have seen it up close." Aziza paused as she looked at her niece, smiling inwardly at the thought that she had a niece. "How are you going to explain to mom what happen to your kid?"
"What do you mean?" Azula inquired, ignoring the stares of the villagers as they headed to the inn.
"Well." The girl paused. "I mean. She looks pretty beat up. What are you going to say?"
"The truth always works," Ty Lee intoned, looking exhausted.
Aziza shrugged then her eyes lit up. "Hey, there's a hot spring lake up the mountains a little ways. It's said to have healing properties. We could go there. I love that place."
"Hot spring lake?" Azula repeated.
Charcoal hair bounced as Aziza nodded enthusiastically. "It's this huge, deep lake in the middle of the mountains, and for some unknown reason, the water is always really warm. It's been that way forever."
Ty Lee made a slight moaning noise. "I could use a dip in a hot spring," she said lightly.
"Not today," Azula stated in a tone only slightly lighter than her tone that was not to be questioned. The ex-princess rolled her eyes when she felt Ty Lee's large eyes on her, begging her to let them go. "Ty Lee," Azula called. "Detia's asleep." All eyes fell to the little girl who was curled up against Azula as best she could with her injuries, breathing evenly and sleeping soundly. "Tomorrow, when she's up to it, we'll see."
"Is she going to be up to it tomorrow?" Aziza inquired, grating on Azula's nerves.
The older sister ignored the question as she walked through the open door of the inn her mother owned. "Welcome back," Ursa greeted from behind the counter, her eyes widening when they caught sight of Detia. "What on earth happened to Detia? Does this have anything to do with that white light in the sky just a second ago?"
"It sure does!" Aziza announced before Azula or Ty Lee could reply.
Ursa sighed, swallowing her concern and the reprimand she was going to give Azula for allowing Detia to get hurt that bad. Those kinds of remarks would do nothing to mend the rift between them. "Well," she started again, choosing to trust that Azula knew how to raise her own daughter. "Matt, the archeologist," she elaborated at the confused look on Ty Lee and Azula's faces, "came by while you were out to apologize for his behavior. He realized that what he was asking seemed…cruel," she explained, her eyes looking down as Detia's hand that wasn't in the sling gripped the shirt Azula was wearing. And though the child wasn't smiling, Ursa could tell that Detia was, at that moment, very happy. With a small smile, Ursa placed a metal violin on the counter. "He wanted her to have this."
It was not the wooden one that Detia had mock played the other day. The metal violin on the table had new strings but otherwise the metal looked old. It was polished, sure, but it just had an old feel to it. Ty Lee picked it up, surprised at how light it was considering it was metal. "We'll be sure to give it to her when she wakes up. But now we should put her to bed."
"That's it? You're not going to scold her for letting your granddaughter get hurt?" Aziza whined lightly.
"Aziza," Ursa sighed, shaking her head at her youngest child. "Stop trying to get your sister in trouble. She's a grown woman. I'm sure she knows what she's doing."
Azula smirked at her sister. Who, in return, promptly stuck her tongue out. Again, Ursa only shook her head, smiling slightly.
~x~
The sun had been set for some time when she finally woke. Both of her parents were sleeping on the bed with her in the middle. Carefully, so not to wake them and further injure her arm, Detia crawled out of bed. With her undamaged hand she rubbed her eyes and started to yawn. Pain shot through her jaw as she moved it and she mentally groaned. Neither her shoulder nor jaw had completely healed yet. Notably, the bruising on her shoulder was now only a dull yellow and there was only bruising on her jaw with no fractured bone, except maybe a tooth or two. She sighed, mentally of course, and made her way to the kitchen. Water sounded really good at the moment.
The kitchen was small when compared to all the other kitchens that Detia had been in. The windows were open, allowing the cool breeze to filter into the room. Blue rays from the nearly full moon streamed past the drawn curtains, shedding their pale light on everything they touched. A storm was brewing, about a day or two away. Detia could feel the electrical energy in the air, which did nothing to hinder her healing abilities. The light of a single candle placed on the table in the kitchen flickered with the breeze, illuminating the woman sitting at the table looking out the window in a warm orange glow. Purposefully, Detia made a noise before approaching her grandmother.
Ursa turned to the noise and gasped loudly, dropping the empty cup in her hands. It took a minute to realize that she was not looking at the spirit that saved her daughter's life so long ago but her granddaughter. The older woman sighed heavily, picked the cup up from the floor, placed it back on the table, and smiled gently at her granddaughter. "It's late," she stated warmly, seeing so much of Azula in the girl's appearance. "What are you doing up?"
'I'm thirsty,' the little girl answered mentally, the room too dark for Ursa to notice that Detia did not move her mouth as she spoke.
"Would you like me to get you something to drink?" Detia nodded very slightly, but enough for Ursa to see her nod. "Alright then," the older woman smiled as she stood. "Come sit down and I'll get it for you." Silently, the young goddess sat at the table in the seat opposite of the one Ursa was sitting in. "Is water okay?"
'Yes.' She heard.
Sitting the cup of water in front of her granddaughter, Ursa promptly retook her seat, her eyes lingering on the make-shift sling. "How are your injuries?"
Detia drummed her fingers against the cup, keeping her head cast down slightly so her grandmother wouldn't see her mouth not moving. 'They're healing nicely.'
Ursa chuckled, though it seemed somewhat forced. "I saw what you did to that earth bender."
'Toph?'
"Yes," Ursa confirmed with a nod. "She was dragged in here about an hour after you. She said that her body was on fire from the inside out. I assume that's what happens when you strike someone with lightning." Detia nodded to confirm, still lightly tapping her fingers on the glass. The sound of a chair scraping the floor as it was pushed backwards surprised her into looking up. Silently, Ursa moved a drawer in the kitchen, opening it with a slight whoosh. The older woman returned, placing a straw in her granddaughter's drink before returning to her seat. "Your jaw is not fully healed is it?"
Embarrassed, Detia shook her head in the negative. 'Thank you.'
"You are most welcome," The older woman remarked warmly. Briefly, silence fell between them as Detia placed the straw in her mouth and began to drink. "Detia?" the girl's golden eyes glowed in the moonlight as they looked up at her grandmother. "It was you, wasn't it. The spirit that brought my daughter back to life?"
The lightning bender removed the straw from her mouth, hesitating before answering. 'Yes, that was me.'
Ursa nodded. "I'm not complaining, but why? What was so special about my little girl that wasn't with any number of children that likely died that day? Were you just using her so you could be reborn into this world?"
'No,' Detia answered calmly, though her tone stabbed into her grandmother's head like a knife. 'That's not how it happened. I would have saved her life regardless. She offered to be my mother after I told her I was bringing her back to life.'
Ignoring the sharp pain in her head that quickly dissipated, the older woman nodded. She had no idea how that had happened and was in no position to argue over it. "Why her?"
Detia sighed mentally, placing the straw back in her mouth. 'She would have been the first.' Detia answered, not looking up. 'She would have been the first lightning bender in thousands of years. When she died, I was going to keep her with me because bringing her back to life would mean giving her to her father, who would only hinder her abilities. But then there was you.' Ursa sat silently, listening to her granddaughter as the memories that she had buried long ago resurfaced. 'You loved her so much. I thought that, if she had you on her side, she could grow to be a…' she hesitated, breathing out heavily before raising her eyes to meet Ursa's glazed eyes. The golden orbs glowed in the light of the moon. 'I thought she could be something great if you loved her as much as you did on that day.'
Ursa placed a hand over her eyes, trying to force herself not to release the tears. "I'm sorry," she finally stated after a few minutes of controlling her emotions. "If I would have known…."
'Don't apologize. You had no way of knowing,' Detia interrupted. 'Things turned out for the best. I love my mother and the person she is now. And she loves me and the person I am.'
"Yes, but…" Ursa exhaled heavily, her breath forming a white cloud. For a minute there was silence as Ursa gathered her thoughts. She looked at her granddaughter, and her lips formed a soft smile. "I'm glad that she has so many people who love her now."
Detia only nodded, still sipping her drink. A comfortable quiet filled the air between them for at least ten minutes before the lightning bender asked, 'Can I ask you a personal question?'
Ursa hesitated, her eyes widening only slightly at the odd request. "Sure," she agreed.
'It's about Aziza,' Detia clarified, hesitant in case Aziza was a sore spot. When Ursa didn't immediately answer she continued. 'Mommy's been wondering about how she was born and who her father is.'
"Mommy?"
'Ty Lee,' Detia informed. 'Mother, Azula, doesn't care who Aziza's father is. It's enough that she is your daughter.'
Ursa chuckled. "That's very unlike your mother."
'Her disposition is changing. The closer she gets to being a true lightning bender, the more little details that used to be important to her, like who sired who, are no longer important,' Detia explained.
"I see," Ursa remarked as she linked her fingers and rested her chin over them, watching her granddaughter carefully. "I'm not sure I should be telling my granddaughter of a part of my past where I was at my weakest."
'A woman has her needs,' the lightning bender stated matter-of-factly, surprising her grandmother. 'I don't know what that means exactly, but that's what mommy says.'
Ursa chuckled. "I see."
'Mommy worries that you were forced,' Detia remarked casually, understanding to some extent what that implied but not enough to know to be tactful while bringing it up.
"I was not forced," Ursa admitted. "After I was banished," she started, her eyes glazing over slightly at the memory, "Ozai saw fit to move me from place to place, so it'd be hard to find me. I was accompanied by elite guards at all times. Over time I became very," she paused "ill. At first, my illness was attributed to home-sickness, and I did miss my home and my children. But eventually, my home-sickness became a full illness, and we had to stop at a very small village about a day's ride from here. We didn't know it at the time, but the village was the hideout of an Earth Kingdom rebellion. They noticed the Fire Nation soldiers for what they were and attacked them. Not one of my guards survived the assault. They were going to kill me too. Spirits know it wouldn't have been hard with the state I was in. But their leader stopped them. He saw how sick I was, and nursed me back to health."
'And one thing led to another,' Detia interrupted, stopping the little movie she was watching as Ursa thought about what happened.
"Well, yes," Ursa confirmed, becoming slightly uncomfortable when she realized that she was talking to her granddaughter about such things and even more so when she remembered that Detia could read minds. "How well can you read minds?"
Detia cast her eyes to her now empty cup, checked her injuries and was satisfied with how they were healing, and then looked back up at her grandmother. 'Very,' The girl answered. 'I saw the story you were telling as if I had been there with you.'
Ursa chuckled, as hard as that may have been for others to believe. She found that for some reason it wasn't that bizarre. "So that's why you stopped me," Detia nodded. "It must be hard with your parents."
Detia almost smiled, a sharp pain in her jaw warning her against it. 'You have no idea.'
"So it's not a constant thing?"
The lightning bender shook her head in the negative. 'Not anymore. I can choose who to listen to and who not to listen to. But it's really hard cutting the ties with my parents.'
"I see," Ursa chuckled, examining the little girl and wondering if Azula looked like Detia when she was ten. "Is that empty?" Detia pushed the cup towards her grandmother, "Would you like more?" The lightning bender nodded.
The older woman smiled and stood, taking the cup with her. 'Were you always here?' Detia questioned. 'After he rescued you, that is.'
"No." her grandmother answered. "When I became pregnant with Aziza, he moved us here. This is his hometown, you see. This Inn used to belong to his brother and sister-in-law."
'Where did they go?'
Ursa paused and hummed. "If I remember correctly, they moved to Ba Sing Se before I arrived."
'And him?' Detia asked, not bothering with tact.
Sighing heavily, Ursa returned to the table, placing the cup of water in front of the girl. "He left one day when Aziza was still just a baby and never came back."
"Do you know what happened to him?" a voice asked from the shadows.
'Mother,' Detia addressed before Ursa could inquire who was there.
Azula walked out of the shadows towards her daughter, her deep red night robes tied together haphazardly, unconcerned that it was very close to showing more flesh than was appropriate – she was in an Inn full or women after all. A few strands of her dark hair fell from the low ponytail to frame her face. She placed a hand on her daughter's head as she sat between her mother and Detia. The hand on Detia's head moved to her chin, gently moving the girl's head from one side to the other. Satisfied that her jaw was healing well, Azula went to the other injury, moving the collar of Detia's tunic to reveal the yellow bruise. Ursa watched silently as Azula examined the injuries. What kind of relationship did Azula have to have with her daughter to not even ask to see the injuries? To just move her clothing to the side and examine where she hurt. How much trust had to be between them?
She could remember a time when Azula, only a few years younger than Detia, had gotten injured during practice. It happened often enough, but that time it had been particularly bad. So, Ursa tried to see just how bad it was, and Azula pulled away from her. The look in those young golden eyes, a look of suspicion and doubt, as if Azula didn't know why Ursa was even bothering, was forever seared into her mind. It hurt to know she never had that kind of relationship with her oldest daughter. The older woman watched as Azula smiled and cupped Detia's cheek, her smile widening when the little girl nuzzled into it slightly. "You're healing nicely," Azula stated matter-of-factly. Detia nodded. "Not that I expected anything less."
'When did you get up?' Detia inquired,
"Shortly after you did," Azula answered. "I thought that maybe you wanted to get something to drink, but when you didn't come back, I decided to investigate." The little girl nodded as her mother took her cup and drank from it before giving it back to Detia. "Imagine my surprise to find you here with my mother talking about things that are none of your business."
"It's all right," Ursa defended quickly. "I didn't mind."
Azula smirked, that was just what she wanted to hear. "Well then, if you don't mind, this man. Do you know what happened to him?"
"He wasn't like Ozai," Ursa remarked defensively. "He was a good, honest man. He wouldn't have just left."
"I never said he would," Azula remarked evenly, eyeing her mother suspiciously.
Ursa sighed, she always got defensive when talking about him. He wasn't the type of person to leave her. She still remembered the overjoyed expression on his face when Aziza was born. Looking up into the hard golden eyes of her daughter, Ursa sighed, "Don't look at me like that."
Purposefully, Azula changed her expression. "Mother, I don't blame you falling for another man. I merely want to know where he is."
"No one knows for sure," Ursa answered. "He left one morning like he usually did, and simply, did not return in the evening. A search party was launched and they found some of his clothing but nothing else."
"So he died," Azula remarked emotionlessly, knowing that it was callous of her to say that in such a tone.
"Azula," Ty Lee's sleepy whine interrupted before Ursa could reply as the still mostly asleep acrobat stumbled into the kitchen. "It's late. Stop harassing your mother, and come back to bed."
Azula smiled as Ty Lee rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her hand, the sleeve of her wrinkled pink robes falling to cover her hand and revealing most of her shoulder. Despite the condition of her attire Ty Lee's long hair simply seemed to flow over her shoulders and down her back in one silky wave. "It's Detia's fault," Azula accused casually, knowing that her wife was in no condition to argue.
With her grey eyes mostly closed, Ty Lee did her best to look displeased, though it turned out to look more like a pout. "She needs to come to bed too."
"You heard her," Azula remarked as she stood. "Your mommy wants us back in bed."
"With the quickness," Ty Lee added and giggled for no apparent reason.
'Mommy's weird when she's sleepy,' Detia noted as she slipped from the chair and walked over to her mommy, taking the woman's hand.
Azula nodded in agreement. "You two go ahead. I'll be there shortly," Detia nodded, tugging Ty Lee's hand to prompt her back to bed before she fell asleep standing up. When they were far enough away, Azula placed a hand on her mother's shoulder. "I am sorry that you lost someone you cared deeply for, mother."
Ursa smiled up at her oldest daughter and patted the hand on her shoulder. "Thank you."
The ex-firebender nodded. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"I will," Ursa replied. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Azula repeated, letting go of her mother's shoulder and following her wife and daughter back to their room.
~x~
"I am not getting into that water!" Angi and Toph chorused, both crossing their arms and looking stern.
Ty Lee chuckled from where her towel and umbrella were set up, Azula and Aziza standing next to her. "I can't believe this type of place exists," the acrobat intoned.
Aziza nodded. "The archeologist think that because the lake is surrounded by mountains that it traps the heat in, creating a hot springs type environment. The caves that they're always exploring are around here somewhere."
"They are?" Azula questioned, only a little interested as she watched Yuna, who had jumped into the water the instant she saw it, approach Angi.
"Yep," Aziza chirped, also watching the children.
"I don't even know why I'm here," Toph yelled, keeping a close eye on the water bender who was quickly approaching.
"Because I asked you to come," Detia remarked verbally, her jaw healed enough that it didn't hurt to speak, as she followed her water bending friend to the beach.
"Ask?" Angi intoned indignantly. "Is that what we're calling it now? You two conned us into coming here. I hate the water."
Toph remained silent, unwilling to admit that Detia had simply asked if she wanted to go and she agreed of her own free will – the memory of her past self and Arjuna having a great time at a lake coming to her mind. Rock encased her feet as a wave of warm water washed over them, keeping the Earth Queen right where she was. Angi, however, was not so lucky. "You're wet now. You should come into the water. It's nice and warm," Detia stated, suddenly appearing beside the earth bender, ignoring Angi as she yelled obscenities at Yuna.
Toph looked down at the little goddess, though she didn't need to. "I can't see in the water."
"Oh? Why not?" It was a simple question.
"I…." Toph hesitated, admitting that she didn't know seemed unacceptable.
Detia chuckled and took the earth bender's hand, a small surge of electrical energy running up Toph's arm. "Come on. I'll help." Sighing heavily, Toph followed Detia to the edge of the water, ignoring the energy. Detia tugged on Toph's hand when the earth bender hesitated. They stopped when the water lapped at Toph's knees. Focusing, the Earth Queen tried to get a clear picture of what was before. "What do you see?" Detia inquired.
"I can see the earth," Toph answered. "But not the water. It looks like a deep valley with caves and everything."
The lightning bender hummed. "Can you see the fish or anything like that?"
"No," Toph remarked deadpan.
Again Detia made a humming sound, her pose indicating that she was running through her mind for a solution. "That takes a long time to learn," she mumbled to herself.
"What would take too long?" the earth bender inquired.
Golden eyes looked up at her as Toph's grip tightened when the sand shifted under their feet. "Echo location," Detia answered. "It would take you months to learn, and it's not really an Earth Bending technique. We'll just have to do this the easy way."
Toph smirked, have a vague idea what the 'easy' way was. "Do I need to lean down?"
She felt the lightning bender nod and promptly knelt, the water coming to her chest. Small warm hands covered her eyes then pulled away. "The sun's bright," Detia warned as Toph stood, rubbing her eyes before opening them.
Like she said it would be, the sun was bright, temporarily re-blinding the earth bender. She shielded her eyes and allowed them to adjust. Toph gaped in amazement at the lake before her. Surrounded by majestic mountains, that dimmed with the steam coming from the water, making it appear as if they were in a different world. "I can't swim," Toph stated absently, still amazed by the scene before her.
"Terren could swim," Detia reminded. "If you have his memories, then you should be able to swim as well."
"True," Toph conceded.
~x~
"That looks like so much fun." Ty Lee intoned as she watched Angi place her feet in Toph's linked hands and let the Earth Queen launch her into the air.
"It sure does. You wanna join them?" Aziza inquired with an excited smile.
Ty Lee didn't even answer as she stood and raced towards the group yelling "My turn!"
"I guess that's a yes. Big sis, you want to come?" Azula shook her head in the negative; she'd never been a big fan of water. "Alright then, your loss."
The younger sibling stood and made her way to the water, yelling much the same as Ty Lee did. "Wow," Toph remarked as she watched Aziza run towards them. "She really does look like Azula."
"Yep," Ty Lee agreed as she swam towards them.
"Speaking of which, why is Azula still on the beach?"
"Azula doesn't like the water," Ty Lee offered and stood next to her daughter, who grabbed her mommy's arm to keep her from going under the water.
"That's not fair!" Angi yelled from her place on the ice float Yuna made. "Why do I have to get into the water and the princess over there doesn't?"
"She has point," Detia remarked, a devious smirk forming on her face.
The expression was matched by Toph. "Azula!" the Earth Queen yelled. "Come play with us!"
Azula made a vague hand gesture. "No, that's okay," she yelled back.
In an instant the sand beneath the ex-princess hardened, and before she could say anything, she found herself in waist deep water. "What the hell!"
"That wasn't a request," Toph answered.
No sooner did Azula stand up did Toph find herself being kicked in the face and falling in the water. "There, we're even."
The Earth bender rubbed her jaw and chuckled as she looked up at the smug look on Azula's face. "That was a good shot," Toph praised as she stood. "But now that you're in the water, let's have some fun."
Azula sighed and rolled her golden eyes. "Fine."
"It's my turn to be thrown," Aziza immediately intoned.
~x~
"Would you stop gawking at my mother," Azula growled as she dabbed the ends of wet hair lightly with a towel.
"But you look so much alike. You could be her mirror image," Toph argued, earning a scowl from the ex-firebender and a chuckle from Ursa.
"It's too bad it started raining and you had to come back early," Ursa remarked, setting a hot cup of tea in front of Toph and Azula. "Where did you say everyone went?"
"Ty Lee's in the bath with Detia," Azula answered. "Yuna and Angi dragged Aziza into town so she could help them buy gear or something."
"Gear?" Ursa repeated.
Toph nodded before drinking the tea. "There are some caves under the lake that they wanted to explore, and since they don't have parents to tell them that they can't go, they're going tomorrow."
At Ursa's confused expression Azula elaborated. "Detia informed us that the storm would only be worse tomorrow, and Ty Lee and I forbid her to go out into it."
"Poor kid," Toph uttered lightly, again earning her scowl from Azula.
"Where the hell are your guards that are taking us back to Ba Sing Se?" Azula questioned instead, though the growl was still there.
Confusion was the expression on Ursa's face. Toph didn't even blink at the harsh tone or the fact that Azula should not be talking to her like that since she was of higher rank. But Toph was never one for formalities. "With the storm, I'd give them about two more days," she answered.
"Zuko will be here by then. I wanted to be gone before he arrived," Azula mumbled.
Toph shrugged casually. "Nothing you can do about it. You'll just have to wait. Maybe the airship will take longer because of the weather."
"Doubtful," Azula sighed, propping her head in her hand.
With the lapse in conversation, Ursa finally asked, "Are you not going back to the Fire Nation?"
Azula's golden eyes turned to her mother, remembering that Ursa knew nothing of what had transpired between her and Zuko. Really now that she thought about it, Ursa didn't know a thing since before she left. Not Zuko's scar or his banishment or her brief stint of insanity, Ursa didn't know anything. Briefly, she wondered how Ursa would react if she knew. Azula couldn't help but think that maybe Ursa would treat her differently if she did. "It's complicated," Detia's voice carried as she walked into the room, interrupting her mother's thoughts as she approached the table, and sat in the unoccupied seat. "But we'll be going to Ba Sing Se with Toph."
"Oh," was Ursa's disappointed response, her thoughts mimicking her tone. "I see."
"It's not like we're going to be far away," Azula informed to which Ursa nodded.
Ursa smiled warmly, thinking that she just had to make the next two days count.
TBC