I want to take time to personally thank Fengxian for the suggestions and ideas! I wanted to fit one of them into this chapter but then decided to make it be the first thing in the next one. Again, thank you! It gave me something different to work on and incorporate into this fic! Hope you guys like this chapter, invasion is gonna be the chapter after the next!
~th3rdhal3~
"Yeah, this river is totally polluted. It explains why I haven't caught anything yet, cuz normally my fishing skills are...off the hook!" Sokka held up his mud covered fishing hook for all to see. I simply rolled my eyes.
"Just stop now, Sokka." I groaned, growing tired of hearing bad pun after bad pun. The five of us, well except Aang, sat in Appa's saddle as the Sky Bison trudged through the polluted water. The avatar had jumped into the murky river and was playing a hide-and-seek game with Momo. There was no way I would join him; the thought of that sludge on me made my skin crawl. Aang hopped back up onto Appa's saddle.
"It definitely feels polluted." The avatar agreed. The muddy water dripped off his body. The boy then outstretched his limbs and drew in a deep breath. I knew what he was planning to do and I tried to object to it.
"Ew, Aang-don't!" I did not want to get showered with murky sludge, and I was pretty sure no one else in our party wanted that either. The air-bender sucked in more air. "Aang, I'm warning you: if that stuff gets all over me, I'm going to kill you!" The avatar ignored my threat and carried out his action. He bumped his fists together and a jet of air sent the muddy water flying in all directions. A glob caught me in my good eye, disabling my vision. "That's it!" I hollered, diving towards where I had just seen Aang. The force of my tackle sent us both soaring off of Appa and into the polluted river. It was the last place I wanted to be, but since Aang had sprayed us all with the contaminated water already, avoiding it was inevitable. The Air Nomad and I wrestled in the sludge. I dunked him several times, trying to hold him under as long as I could.
"What are you doing?" Katara reprimanded, growing worried as she watched the two of us fight in the river. Aang resurfaced and fought to push me under. We were pretty well matched in brute force alone.
"Finishing what Azula started!"I explained, fighting to keep my head above the water.
We found a town about a half mile down the river. The town was built in the middle of the river on piers and docks. Since we couldn't risk flying in on Appa, we found a more secluded area up by some hills on land. Appa stayed put with a large blanket of leaves which covered all except his horns. I told Aang it looked a bit strange, but he didn't think so.
One of the locals by the name of Doc gave us a lift to the town on a raft. The people in the town looked absolutely miserable. Like Doc had said, it was a struggle for them to survive now. I had seen poverty before, but never to this level. And of all places, in the Fire Nation. It made me thank the spirits for my health and well being. I also prayed for the poor citizens in the village.
"We have to help these people." Katara said to me, observing the poor living conditions and malnourished townspeople. Her blue eyes were filled with care and sorrow. The water-bender was right; something should be done. As peace keepers, it was our duty to help people in need. But how could we help them and where would we start?
"I would if I could, Katara," I reassured her. My face molded into an expression of melancholy as well. "But I don't think there's anything we can do now. We're only passing through." The Water Tribe girl frowned and stared at the dock boards below. I wished we could help somehow, but we couldn't stop and intervene every time there was a problem.
I was still getting use to the constant confusion and ridiculousness of Doc and "Xu." We all knew it was the same man with the crazy white hair, but he was convinced he had a brother. I gave up on trying to tell him he was nuts and wasn't fooling anyone. Appa came down with something overnight and he seemed pretty tired. Half his tongue was purple instead of the normal pink, which tipped us off that he was under the weather. The gang and I headed into town for some food and medicine to help Appa recover quickly.
The second day in the town was less depressing than the first for some reason. The people and even the scene itself seemed happier. The gang noticed it as well. "Something amazing happened last night!" Xu told us from under his hut-stand. "Food was delivered to our village by a wonderful and mysterious person...the Painted Lady!"
"The painted who now?" Katara asked, obviously misinformed. It made sense why the group seemed utterly clueless. They had not grown up in the Fire Nation or had read any myths or folklore about the region.
"She's a spirit." I explained to my water-bender friend.
"Right you are, young lady!" Xu...or was it Doc, smiled at me. "She's part of our town's lore." The older man placed a figurine of the Painted Lady on the stand for everyone to see. The miniature statue wore thin robes of beige and her face and shoulders were painted with red markings. A crescent moon was displayed on her forehead. She also wore a douli* on her head. "They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend...until now!" Sokka listened to the old man skeptically. The boy then turned around to take a good look at the town again. Children played on the docks and the atmosphere was more friendly and inviting than it had been the previous day.
"See? We don't need to help these people. The mystical spirits and powers that be have got it covered!" He tried convincing his sister. "We'll just take some medicine for our friend." The Water Tribe boy reached into his coin bag.
"Sorry," Xu began. "All the medicine we have goes directly to the factory. That's why there's so many sick people in our village." That meant we couldn't give Appa anything for his sudden sickness. I hoped our Sky Bison friend would become well soon without the help of special herbs. Sokka was already on everyone's case about sticking tight to his schedule; the setback would be all we'd hear about for weeks to come.
"Looks like we'll have to stay another night so that Appa can rest." Katara quickly concluded. I found it a bit odd that she immediately jumped to that decision without consulting anyone. She also seemed to be in a peculiarly chipper mood. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I had a hunch that Katara was keeping something from us. Sokka reluctantly agreed with his sister and after purchasing some nasty looking fish from Xu, we headed back to Appa.
Toph also noticed Katara's eagerness to stay near the village. At first, my cousin and I didn't know what to make of it. We guessed that the water-bender was trying to find a way to help the town. We also thought that Katara might be looking for a chance to meet the Painted Lady because she was a river spirit. Heck, the girl might have just been pleased to spite her brother. "All I know is that miss fancy pants has been actin' kinda strange these past few days." The blind girl whispered to me as our campfire began to die out. "I can feel it." I concurred with my relative. The darker skinned girl had been acting a little suspicious ever since we visited the town. And last night, she had wandered off somewhere when everyone else was asleep. I was only half awake when it happened, so I had not clear idea where she might have gone.
"I wonder what she's up to. I'm gonna stay awake and follow her if she goes anywhere tonight." I clued Toph in on my plan. The little earth-bender thought it was worth a shot.
"Fine by me if that's what you wanna do. But I'm getting all my hours of well deserved rest." Soon after, we all hopped into our sleeping bags and hit the sack.
A few hours after everyone officially called it a night, I noticed Katara was missing. I hadn't actually seen her leave though because I must have nodded off at some point. I wanted to kick myself; the whole point of pretending to be asleep was so I could be awake when Katara left our campground. The water-bender could have been gone for a while at that point, but that didn't discourage me from going along with my original scheme. I silently unzipped my sleeping bag and wriggled out. Sokka was snoring loudly and Aang and Toph were out cold.
I decided to take the route I swore Katara had gone down the night before. Once I was out of earshot of the others, I began to run down the stoney path. I was still getting use to the terrain on the edges of the homeland. The ground wasn't nearly as rocky closer to the palace. It was dark that night, but the crescent moon helped provide some light to guide me around the hills and ledges. Soon, the path grew slanted and it descended down to the waterside. That's when I noticed the figure in the distance. A dark, maroon cloak trailed on the ground behind the person. The figure wore a douli and was surrounded by an eerie looking mist. I couldn't believe it but Xu had been right; there really was a Painted Lady!
Wait till I tell the guys! I thought. The only spirits I had ever encountered were Avatar Kyoshi and my father. Running down the path and gathering momentum, I called out to her. "Excuse me! Wait!" The Painted Lady stood at the edge of the shore. I created a mini landslide on the ground so that I could reach the spirit in time. The Painted Lady whirled around quickly upon my arrival, face hidden by the douli. "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am," I began politely. "It's an honor to meet you." The spirit turned away from me and started towards the water. What? She's leaving? I was bewildered. "Please don't go," I begged the Painted Lady. For a moment, it seemed as if she was going to take off across the river and leave me there by myself. But instead she waited, though her back was still to me.
"I wanted to thank you for what you've done for this village. It would meant a lot to my friend to know that someone else cares." The spirit moved to face me again and for a split second, I could make out red markings against a tan complexion. Too soon the douli covered her eyes and nose. "I haven't met many spirits," I admitted. "But I think you're the most beautiful I've seen." A light shade of rose appeared on the spirit's dark cheeks. Spirits could blush? I learned something new every day.
"Thank you." The Painted Lady replied all mysterious-like. I smiled warmly. Then, I saw a flash of blue as the spirit looked to the west.
"You remind me of someone." I told her, trying to get a better view of her face and features.
"Oh?" The spirit responded, avoiding my gaze. The way she spoke was very familiar. "A mortal?" The voice was a dead giveaway. With a new found epiphany, I gathered my courage to step closer to the river spirit.
"Yes. She's very dear to me." I explained. I raised my arms up to touch the sides of the douli. "I'm not quite sure if you know her. Her name..." I lifted the hat from her head, letting the chocolate brown strands spill down her back. "...is Katara." I stared at the shocked and confused look upon the water-bender's face. Red markings covered her skin and a yellow crescent moon was painted onto her forehead. "Tara, what are you doing?" I smiled wryly at her. Though I was a bit surprised it was really her in disguise, I didn't show it. She looked cute in her getup, thought I knew she was going for a more serious appearance.
"I was just trying to help the village." Katara stared at the ground. "And since everyone thought I was the Painted Lady...I kind of became her." She made a gesture at her wardrobe. I sunk it all in. We started pacing down the way we came.
"It was extremely generous of you to help the town prosper again. It's truly amazing what you've done. Just in a few days, everything seems so much better here." I praised her. The darker skinned girl beamed at me. I suddenly remembered the compliment I had given her when I thought she was the Painted Lady. I began to feel a bit embarrassed. I picked up the douli and handed it back to the water-bender. "Here. I don't want to stop you from aiding those in need." Katara placed the hat on top of her head again and hid her hair in the maroon hood of her cloak. Just as we were about to part ways, we saw someone sprinting down the path toward us.
"Hide!" Katara lunged at me, taking us both down at the side of a boulder that jutted out of the ground. It shielded us from the figure's view for the time being. I landed on my back and I was pretty sure where I had made contact wasn't exactly flat. In other words, the fall wasn't very fun.
"Damn it, Katara! What was that for?" I hissed at the girl who now lay on top of me. She raised a finger to her lips, symbolizing the need for silence. The footsteps came to a slow trot close by and none other than Aang came into view. The kid must have woken up shortly after me and realized the two of us were gone. The avatar completely missed us and inspected the area of land along the edge of the river. He stared out past the water in the direction of the village. If the Air Nomad stayed oblivious, and if Katara and I could keep quiet, maybe he wouldn't see us and give us an earful for sneaking out late. Unfortunately for us though, at the angle Aang stood, there was almost no way he could miss us once he turned around. Upon spotting us, the avatar's gray irises widened and his headband flapped behind him as he drew closer.
"Painted Lady!" He gasped and called out to Katara. "I have a favor to ask! Do you think you could help heal my-" All of a sudden, his tone changed as our images became clearer in his vision. "Why are you attacking my friend?" Katara hadn't moved off of me at this point. And at first glance, it might have looked as if she were trying to strangle me or something. The avatar did a double take as he went right up to us. He blinked several times and glanced back and forth at both of us. "Wait...Karuna...Katara? What are you guys doing out here?"
"Well gee, Aang. What does it look like we're doing?" I replied, sarcastically from my place on the ground. There was a moment of silence between us and in that time the avatar's jaw opened slightly. Next, he made a face.
"Uhm..do you really want me to answer that?" All color drained from my face. Within seconds, Katara and I both scrambled to get off of each other. I was not expecting that kind of response from the kid; he was 12 after all, and pretty well mannered. In a certain light it was amusing to see that side of Aang. "So what's going on you guys? Seriously." The avatar asked, still quite confused. Katara and I looked at one another. There was no point in lying to Aang.
Katara removed her douli once more and looked down. "I'm sorry for being secretive Aang. I just wanted to help this village. The town looks to their patron spirit, and I guess I became a symbol for her. There was no way I could convince Sokka to let us stay to lend a helping hand, so I had to create a roadblock or two."
"So you made Appa sick?" I couldn't tell if the Air Nomad was shocked or angry with her.
"No, no!" The water-bender clarified. "Well...if he is sick, it's because I've been feeding him a ton of berries; that's why his tongue is purple. To me it looked like he had some type of cold virus, but he should be fine." Aang paused for a minute to comprehend. The avatar's mood seemed to lighten.
"Wow. That was pretty clever, Katara." Aang praised her. The water-bender glanced up at him.
"You're not upset?" She seemed surprised. Aang just shook his head.
"Well, you could have told us about your secret vigilante lifestyle," Aang teased, causing Katara to giggle. "But I'm glad you're helping the townspeople despite Sokka and his schedule. It's very noble of you, Katara." The darker skinned girl beamed and all the tension seemed to vanish from the three of us.
"I was on my way to do one last mission for the town." Katara informed us. "Would you two like to help me?" Aang grinned and nodded eagerly. I thought, What the heck, might as hell humor her.
"I'm game."
We left the river town in much better condition than when we first arrived at it. Destroying the factory did result in a confrontation with some Fire Nation soldiers, but the gang and I took care of them. We moved on to the next town which was much bigger and better organized. Sokka finally shared with us that he felt left out since he wasn't a bender and wanted to study a certain weapon.
The group and I ventured into an armory where Sokka tested out various weapons, searching for one to his liking. After many accidents and failures, the Water Tribe boy was informed that a great swordsman lived on the outskirts of town. His name was Master Piando. I remembered the name because an old acquaintance of mine had mentioned him in passing once. Jade had wished to study with Piando before traveling the world on her own.
Sokka had asked me to go with him to learn from Piando. I was dumbfounded a this, since I didn't necessarily need to learn better swordsmanship; I was a bender after all. At first I declined, but the warrior boy began to follow me around with koala-otter pout until I finally gave in. The other three found great humor in this. I had to admit it did look pretty funny. Strengthening my skill with the sword might not be such a bad idea. Plus, this would be a good bonding activity for Sokka and I.
Clink! I struck the hammer against the hot metal which lay on top of an anvil. The orange glow of the metal dimmed the more I went to town on it with the hammer. After three weeks of training, Piando had Sokka and I create our own swords. I chose steel for my blade; it was strong, flexible and reliable. The heat was extreme as we worked in the flames. I pushed the bangs out of my eyes for the hundredth time that day. I could feel the heat radiating off my body even though I wore light pants and a sleeveless shirt.
I turned around to face the Water Tribe boy, who was busy chiseling more of his space rock. He decided to use the meteor that had crashed on the earth a few nights ago as his material for his weapon. The boy was shirtless and thought he wasn't quite as toned as Zuko, he was still muscular in a sense. Realizing, that I had been staring for some time, I quickly resumed my work on my sword. Once Sokka used a metal poker to place the meteor bits in the fire to melt, he made his way over to me. I was still pounding away with my hammer. The darker skinned boy observed my every move.
"Wow. You make this look so easy!" I laughed, and kept right on working. "Have you done this before or something? You're a natural!" As a matter of fact, I had. Before I became Master Yu's assistant at his academy, I had worked in blacksmith shops in neighboring towns.
"Well, my father was a blacksmith," I lied. I would've told Sokka the truth but then it might have led into a long discussion on how I got to that point. As far as the gang knew now, I lived in the Fire Nation briefly, moved out with Toph and had been living with her since. "I learned a lot that way."
"Tell me about him." Sokka urged, growing curious. It had been a while since I brought up the topic with my father. I normally didn't talk about such personal and touchy subjects. It was painful to me and the gang had never prodded me for answers or knowledge of that kind. I saw no harm in having this kind of conversation with the warrior boy though.
"Oh, where do I start? He was a brilliant man-all self taught. He passed most of that knowledge on to me. He was hard working, patient, kind and determined. No one else could have given me better guidance. He was my teacher, my protector, my best friend when I had none. All that I am now is because of him-how he raised me." I felt myself begin to tear up and my voice wavered ever so slightly. "I never stop missing him. I have so many memories, but we could have made more. He left too soon." Sokka gave me a look of sympathy. Without a word, he then opened up his arms to embrace me and I accepted his gesture immediately. He kept his hold on me as I tried my best not to cry against his chest. His arms felt like home and I suddenly never wanted to leave them.
"He sounds a lot like my dad." Sokka said a while later. The boy was still waiting for his space rock to melt at the right temperature, so I waited with him. The two of us sat against the stone at the base of the kiln. I nodded my head and smiled a little.
"When I met your father, I saw mine in him. They're very similar." The only difference was that the two men fought on opposing sides. I rested my head on Sokka's shoulder, which was surprisingly comfortable.
"You know," Sokka changed the subject. "I'm not sure if I've already told you this, but I'm really glad you joined our team." I grinned at the boy's sincerity. "I'm glad Toph did too," he quickly added. "though she can be a handful." That was the honest to gods truth. My cousin was more stubborn than a komodo-rhino, and had the temper of a platypus-bear. "I haven't had many girls as friends and it's nice to just, ya know talk instead of rough and tough guy stuff." I punched him in the arm playfully.
"Have all the heart-to-hearts you want with your sister but I'm tough as nails. Remember, I'm one of the guys, ponytail." Sokka always responded positively to my friendly teasing.
"That might be so, storm," he called me that because my eyes looked like the sea after a hurricane. "But it doesn't change the fact that you're a girl...er woman. Come to think of it, how old are you?" Birthdays hadn't exactly been the number one thing on my mind now that I was traveling with the gang. It had surprised me once I realized I had forgotten about my own birth date which had passed. It was in mid spring and there we were just beginning summer.
"15." I told him.
"So you're of age now." Sokka concluded. In most cultures, "coming of age" was on 15th or 16th birthday of an adolescent. Usually celebrations and parties were thrown, but we were in the middle of a war and it wasn't a priority. "Katara is too." He informed me. I figured the water-bender had to be around my age, though most of the time she acted older.
"So how old are you, like 10?" I teased the warrior boy again. Sokka just laughed and bopped me on the head lightly.
"You blind like your cousin? I'm a man!" He joked around, using his macho voice. I practically chocked on my laughter as it came out loudly. "17 in a couple of weeks." He continued with the same goofy voice. I couldn't look at him with a straight face. The darker skinned boy was such a ham. "C'mon, I know you want a piece of this." He pointed to himself and wiggled his eyebrows. I snorted and once again cracked a smile. He could always put me in a better mood.
"You know it." I humored him. "I'm so diggin' your non-existent six-pack!" The Water Tribe boy pretended to be offended by my response.
"Non-existent? Girlie, you have not felt the Sokkster then!" The boy was an absolute card. Taking him literally, I poked him in the shoulder.
"Have now." I giggled. Sokka stopped kidding around for about two seconds.
"No, seriously." He said without humor. "Here." The darker skinned boy grabbed my hand with his rough fingers and placed it on his stomach. The boy's skin was still pretty warm from the hours of work we had put in towards our weapons. Though his build didn't look particularly sculpted or out of the ordinary, I could feel the hardness and muscle mass in his abdomen. "See? I told ya." The boy gloated. "Impressive huh?"
"For you." I raised an eyebrow in a skeptical yet humorous way. The goofy grin returned to Sokka's face. The smirk soon vanished from my face. What are you doing? Why are you touching him? I removed my hand from his chest.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I asked him. Sokka's face suddenly fell and a shade of pink colored his cheeks. His eyes widened a bit at my question.
"Oh no, I mean yes, I do. But I didn't mean to-I hope you didn't think that-" Sokka tripped over his words. "I'm with Suki, I would never!" The boy soon stopped trying to explain himself after the failed attempts. He stared at the stone ground. "Shit." He swore under his breath. The darker skinned teen looked frustrated with himself and a little embarrassed as well. "I'm really sorry if you took that the wrong way. You must think I'm an idiot." He apologized. "I wouldn't do that. I'm not like that." I should have known better than to have my doubts. Of course the boy was telling the truth; he was a complete sweetheart and had never done anything scummy before. The reason it had seemed kind of wrong was because I blew it out of proportion. The goofy warrior boy wasn't trying to hit on me, he was just being, well, himself. Never would he ever hurt Suki or any other girl in such a way. Of course I believed him.
"Don't sweat it, Sokka. I was just givin' ya a hard time." I fibbed, trying to diffuse the tension and awkwardness. The boy scoffed and shook his head at me.
"Spirits, Karuna. Way to give a guy the shakes. And I didn't even do anything wrong!"
"Maybe you shouldn't go around letting random girls feel up your "abs."" I bantered, using air quotes on the last word of my sentence. Sokka nudged into me playfully with his whole left side.
"Yeah, you are pretty random aren't you?" The warrior boy tantalized. I chuckled softly and sighed deeply afterward. The heat from the fires was making me more and more drowsy by the minute. I closed my eyelids for a moment and the last thing I remembered was leaning my head against Sokka's shoulder and feeling a warm, protective arm around me.
We took all the life lessons learned from Piando and continued our journey further into the Fire Nation. The training had reminded me of earlier years of my youth when I was still trying to perfect my fire-bending. I was glad I had been with Sokka this time around though because he was a friend I knew I would stay true to until the end.
Piando had his butler deliver us a token to remember him by before we departed. It was a White Lotus tile from a Pai Sho set. Neither one of us knew why it was bestowed upon us, but I had a notion that the sword master had his reasons. I thought of Uncle Iroh whenever I studied the White Lotus tile. I wondered what the keepsake meant.
"Geez Aang, cover up!" Toph teased from her seat on the rocks. The avatar floated on his back in the water with Momo resting on his chest. Aang lifted his head a little to acknowledge my cousin.
"What? I'm wearing trunks." The Air Nomad chuckled at his remark.
Instead of migrating on to the next town, the gang and I happened upon an enormous cratered out area in the Earth with a lake in it. We decided to stay a few days there, just like how we had camped out in the Earth Kingdom. Everyone was enjoying the water...except for Toph. She still preferred to be as little submerged as possible. Even Sokka had loosened up and joined in on the fun.
"I would hope so," Toph continued with the banter. "But it's your tattoos I'm worried about. Someone could easily spot you."
"I think we're good Toph. The walls of the canyon are high and it's not like the area is really populated or anything-" I barely had time to finish my statement when Katara came barreling out of nowhere and knocked me clear off my feet. The lake water greeted the rest of my body with its cool embrace. I tried to sit up but the water-bender was still holding onto me and laughing her ass off.
"Why are you always trying to drown me?" Every time we were near a body of water of any sorts, Katara felt the need wrestle and tackle me down.
"Now you know why she didn't have any friends when we were kids." Sokka joked in a brotherly way. Katara didn't seem to hear him. The warrior boy started to splash Toph who was nice and dry.
"You're absolutely terrible!" The pale girl complained. "Pickin' on a poor little blind girl." My cousin crossed her arms and pretended to pout. We all knew she was being facetious and really wasn't all that offended.
Katara was still stuck in her laughing fit next to me. "You should have seen your face when you hit the water!" The darker skinned girl must have really gotten a kick out of it. I could only imagine what that might have looked like. I stood up and cracked my neck.
"If that's how you wanna play, alright!" I dived at the girl's legs and took her down, thus officially beginning yet another one of our water fights. "Your brother tells me you're ticklish!" I grinned deviously. Katara's blue eyes widened with fear and anticipation. She squealed and tried to make a run for it. I pinned her down in a flash and started to tickle her sides. She thrashed and squirmed in my grasp. She kicked too; the girl had power in her legs. While trying to escape, she socked me in the side of my face. I recoiled a tad.
"Oh! Is that how we're gonna do this?" I picked the girl up and tossed her about seven feet away back into the water. I took a firm stance, digging my toes into the lake floor. Once Katara got back up, it was go time! The two of us charged at each other with full force and tried to overpower the other.
"So who do you think's gonna win?" Sokka asked Toph on the sidelines. The short earth-bender felt the ground before giving him an answer.
"Hard to tell, snoozles. The force is strong with those two."
"I feel like I've heard that before somewhere." Sokka stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"No you haven't," Toph insisted. "I made that one up. Hey, watch this!" She stamped her foot on the ground and the ripple traveled into the lake. Katara and I were pushed apart by a block of earth which emerged between us, throwing each of us back onto our butts in the water. Sokka and Toph laughed at us from the waterside. It was then that I noticed our air-bender friend had disappeared.
"Where the heck is Aang?"
"He just went down that water tunnel." Sokka informed me as he pointed to the other side of the lake. Water rushed at the mouth of the opening and seemed to run downwards.
"Hm. Looks like fun." I observed. "If Aang comes back, we'll know if it was any good."
"Karuna!" Katara scolded me for my off color comment. I meant it all in good spirit. She then rolled her eyes and did her best not to laugh as well.
The five of us were beat once nightfall came. The hours spent hanging out in the lake tuckered us out. It was pretty warm that night so we slept on top of our sleeping bags in our undergarments which we wore in the water. Actually, Aang and Toph both passed out on the solid ground. Sokka slept soundly two feet away from my cousin and Katara had curled up next to me. Right next to me. Like, as close as you can get to someone if you know what I mean. Appa's steady snoring lulled me to sleep as usual...or was it Sokka's? Everyone would have probably agreed it was on of the best nights of sleep we had yet but there was one teeny, tiny complication. I lied; it was a huge complication.
I was in the stages of light sleep when Toph woke with a start. "Guys, you're gonna think I'm friggin' nuts, but it feels like a metal man is coming!" She spoke loudly to wake the others up as well.
"Can't he come back later?" Katara mumbled beside me, still partly asleep. She buried her face into my side. I glanced around wildly, searching for the metal man my cousin spoke of. Just then, I saw a beam of light shine down from the top of the canyon into Aang's eyes. It came from a figure that stood up above on the crater's edges. That light. The ray was at a perfect angle. My military instincts kicked in and I rose to my feet. Aang was being targeted.
"Get down!" I shouted, quickly lunging at the avatar and taking us both away from the spot. A split second after, the slanted land to the side of us was hit by some kind of explosion. BOOM! It was loud; I hadn't heard anything at this volume in a long time. Everyone was pushed backwards from the force, and we are all well awake now. Toph created a reverse avalanche and directed the projectiles at our attacker. The rocks exploded out from the center and the spark seemed to stem from the figure's head. Spirits almighty! What is this? The same thing happened when Katara tried creating an enormous tidal wave to wipe him out. Steam settled into the crater after the third explosion and we used the resource to take cover and regroup.
"How do we beat a guy who blows shit up with his mind?" Sokka asked us as we braced ourselves against the makeshift rock bunker. The impacts of the explosions echoed in the canyon. That was a damn good question. Whoever the attacker was, they were extremely powerful.
"You guys get on Appa. I'll distract him!" Aang jumped to his feet and ran off through the smoke out of the canyon. The four of us didn't need to be told twice!
Sokka hoisted Toph onto the Sky Bison first. The man had descended from the top of the cliff and started in our direction. My cousin had been right when she first spread the alarm. From afar, I could see that two of each limb were artificial and made of metal. Who is he? It looked like he was going after Aang, so Katara and I turned to make a beeline for Appa. Suddenly, I heard something swish in the air very close to us. I pulled the water-bender down to the ground with me and raised a rock shield over our heads. The combustion made a dent in the shield but we were okay. Soon after, Katara and I bolted over to Appa and we took off to grab Aang and get the hog-monkeys out of there!
Mai's POV
We had done everything right. We had tracked down the avatar to Ba Sing Se. We had infiltrated the Earth Kingdom capital through espionage. We had seized control and subjugated those who stood in our way. The Earth Kingdom fell to us and lay in the palms of our hands. Azula's brilliance led us to victory. So why was the princess still so distant and unsatisfied?
I couldn't remember the last time Azula had truly been happy. It had to have been before Sankari had supposedly died. After a certain age, it seemed as if only she were able to keep the Fire Nation princess at calm and relaxed. There was no one else Azula cared for as much as that girl. I had believed that Sankari was dead along with the others. The news of her passing affected me greatly. Sankari was the only one I felt close enough with to be myself around; I considered her a great friend to me. It was a shock to see her alive and breathing in the palace at Ba Sing Se. I would never have known it was her if I hadn't been paying attention. The girl from the Water Tribe had called her a different name but I distinctly remember something Sankari had said to me the night she gave up her life in the Fire Nation:
"Sankari is gone, Mai. She died once I learned the truth. I am Karuna of the Earth Kingdom"
Just moments before, she had still been dead to me. A great awakening took place inside me that day. Of all things, she was traveling with the avatar and his group. The girl I had once known was much different now, and her priorities had certainly changed. What happened to the young Fire Nation General who had such passion for her bending and pride for her country? Things change and people change. It's a simple lesson that never ceases to be taught.
I watched the waves roll in from my place on the shore. The night was cool and calm, like most. It was quite boring, but the entire day had been somewhat eventful. I didn't mind Ember Island as much as the next place, even if we had been sent there on a forced vacation-as Zuko put it. Just thinking about the prince put me in a terrible mood. The boy had lost his cool at a party the four of us were invited to, and part of me was glad I had dumped him on the spot in front of everyone. He needed to realize his temper was out of control. I wasn't asking him to become an emotionless blob, as he had called me, but he needed to stop throwing fits over nothing. That was another thing that angered me about him; he said plenty of rude and hurtful shit when he was pissed off.
"Where has my brother wandered off to?" Azula approached me. "I'm growing tired of these immature tantrums of his." She sounded very annoyed; it seemed as though she was especially agitated these days. I shrugged my shoulders. How should I know.
"I'm not his keeper." I responded in my normal monotone drawl. I thought Azula would have snapped at me then, but instead the princess simply crossed her arms and stared out into the sea with me in silence. It was strange to see the girl out of uniform or armor. I'd known Azula to rarely wear anything that average girls in the Fire Nation wore. Her hair was also hardly out of the topknot, and I was unaware of how long it really was. The princess was very beautiful, but her ambitious demeanor and predator-like nature made her seem untouchable and intimidating. I also know her well enough to know that even she put up walls as a defense mechanism. And I knew that these walls could be moved or swayed by the right person. I could get her to talk to me. "What are you thinking about?" I subtlety pried.
It took a Azula a few minutes until she answered me. She seemed to have been lost in a trance. The waves often pull one into a daze. She looked up at me with golden eyes and sighed. "Just somebody that I use to know." The silence between us started back up again. I looked behind my shoulder to make sure that the acrobat was not within earshot. I didn't want to risk hurting my friend's feelings, even if she was a bit too sensitive at times.
"Tell me, Azula, is Ty Lee her replacement, or your way of getting over her?" The princess gave me a look that would have massacred an entire army. I knew I would get this type of reaction out of her. It was the reason I had asked the question in the first place. I wanted to know.
"I don't need this from you, Mai." Azula coldly spat. "Don't stick your head in things you don't understand." That killed me. If only I was more fond of laughing.
The ocean breeze lifted the ends of my dark hair. "So that's really what's been bothering you this whole time." I concluded. The princess suddenly snapped. It was a matter of time before the breaking point would be reached.
"What do you want from me? If you want to hear some well practiced sob story then go bother Zuko! It's bad enough that I've already fucked up! I don't need to be reminded! Stop trying to play "therapist" Mai, because it's not working!" What came out of Azula's mouth was much different than any of the other times she'd yelled or screamed at about spirits knows what. She admitted to screwing something up-a personal first for her. The girl must really have been suffering in order for her to go off in such a way that proved she had feelings like a normal human being. The princess was just like the rest of us, but no one seemed to believe me. "She's back, Mai." Azula continued, in a much more level voice the second time around. She placed her head in her hands. "She's back..."
Suddenly I began to understand Azula's conflict. A sinking feeling started in the pit of my stomach. Then the question rose inside of me. Because we fought in the name of the Fire Nation, did that meant we would have to end my dearest friend's life? And would it be by my hands?