A/N: The characters of the Avatar Universe are in no way owned by me. But, I still love writing them.
Hello again! I hope you enjoy this next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! You're in for a little bit of a surprise, I think!
"Did you see that?!" Sokka shouted, standing on his seat, jeering with the crowd at the fallen bender known as Pebbler. Toph called the match and the badgermoles came out to the arena, clearing away the debris for the next match. She looked happy on her podium, thriving off the energy of the crowd around her as she egged them on with her words.
"Well, that's everyone I have scheduled for tonight," she feigned disappointment before turning to the crowd. "Unless any of you wimps want to show The Boulder who's boss. He's an old fart, I'm sure you can take him."
I hate it there, Aang. All my dad does is treat me like his delicate princess, and all mom does is let herself be bossed around by his highness, Toph said to me once, moments before she challenged Xin Fu for control over Earth Rumble XI. Even with his most prize possession at risk, she still beat him in less than ten seconds.
The Boulder made a dramatic gesture with is arms. "The Boulder does not take kindly to being called old."
"Can it, Gramps!" she snapped back. "C'mon, no takers?"
"I will!"
Toph's head snapped around in my direction, her eyes wide and mouth hanging ajar. She recognized my voice, and was not expecting to hear it in the slightest.
"Well, well, well," she laughed. "Looks like Twinkle Toes is back for a rematch. Figures he'd save it for an old man that can barely even bend anymore."
"The Boulder does not take kindly to the insinuation that he cannot beat this puny man."
Toph's foot twisted and slid back, and The Boulder went sailing from the arena. "You'd break a hip. Tonight, I think we'll give the audience a real treat."
"How on Earth did you think that was a good idea, Aang?" Katara snapped at me roughly ten minutes later. Her hands were already covered with water, ready to heal but I waved them away. Toph had given me more than a few scrapes and bruises in her lessons—I wasn't going to let these bother me.
"Are you kidding me?" Sokka cried as he approached. "That was awesome! The way she—" He made a throwing gesture "—and you just—" he made a move as if to dodge something "—man, that was so cool."
Yue frowned. "It was invigorating but very foolish, Aang."
I shook my head, glancing toward the stands as they dissipated.
"HEY, Twinkle Toes!" The ground shook as Toph Beifong stormed her way over. "That was some of the crummiest earthbending I have ever seen—I should have let you duke it out with The Boulder if you're gonna bend like that. What have you been doing all these years?!"
"Good to see you too, Toph," I grunted, lifting myself back up and slowly drifting back to my feet.
She smirked, her feet shifting slightly under her. "What's with all the people?" She inquired, her arms crossing over her chest.
Katara moved to say something, but my hand on her forearm quieted her.
I looked around, noticing the slowly dissipating crowd, reveling in the show we'd given. Unwanted eyes stared down at us, and while I'd had the foresight to cover my tattoos, we all stood out. "Is there somewhere more private we can talk, Toph?" I asked, half expecting her to just throw up some walls to feign privacy.
Toph nodded and jerked her head toward the wall, where a small segment had dropped down. We all followed her in, filing through a short maze of tunnels until we reached her office—large enough to fit all of us, since it lacked any décor. All she needed was a desk, a chair, and somewhere for their rest of us to sit.
And someplace to keep the belt, of course, which Sokka and Azula were both admiring.
"If you want your own, you gotta take me down," Toph sniffed as she plopped into her chair and kicked her dirty feet onto her desk.
I'd explained Toph's vision to everyone before we'd arrived—she got rather irritated if people blatantly pointed out she was blind and asked about her feet. She was kind to some inquisitive minds, but not always.
Azula snorted, not bothering with a verbal response. Her natural ability in her element made her almost impossible to beat unless you could catch her off kilter. Or fling four different elements at her from four different sides; even then that was difficult. Her eyes narrowed on the earthbender, analyzing her movements as the gears worked in her mind. Azula's talent was in analyzing her opponent and predicting their next move. She was almost always right.
"That's not why we're here," I said, my eyes saying more as I stared at Azula, warning her to back away. I knew someone itching for a fight when I saw one.
"No," Toph agreed. "I imagine you're here because of some of the rumors I heard those gossips yammering about in town. They were sayin' you attacked the chief of the south 'cause his stupid daughter wouldn't marry you, and then you kidnapped her and ran to the Fire Nation for sanctuary. Now a war started cause they wouldn't give you up."
"That is not what happened!" Katara snapped.
Toph quirked an eyebrow, filing the silence with her own annoyed smack of her lips. "I didn't say it was. If Aang was that stupid he wouldn't have showed up. I have no sympathy for people as stupid as that."
Her cheeks flushed at her words, and Katara mumbled an apology, though she looked enraged at the insinuation.
"Now, would you mind telling me who the heck everyone is?"
We quickly rolled through the introductions, Toph's eyebrows getting higher and higher as we went—she recognized their names.
"What did you get yourself roped into, Twinkle Toes?" She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "And what the heck do I have to do with it?"
"We want your help," Azula interjected. "We need someone trusted in the Earth Kingdom to vouch for us. Aang's name has been tainted with the accusations of kidnapping, no one will believe the girl he's supposed to have kidnapped, and Sokka has been accused of kidnapping as well." She shrugged. "And no one trusts the Fire Nation, let alone the Prince and the Princess. The Beifong family has influence, though. King Kuei will see Aang, but we need to get into the city before that's possible."
"Just ride Appa in," Toph interrupted. "They'll see the Avatar's bison and let him fly right over."
"That's not possible," Zuko said, speaking before Azula could. She had a look in her eye that said her patience was wearing thin—that was never good for negotiations. "Until we get an idea of what the North and the Fire Nation Usurper are telling the Earth Kingdom what happened, moving through the gates of Ba Sing Se may not be possible."
Toph rolled her eyes. "I think you guys are making this into a bigger deal than it actually is. If you don't want people to know you're Fire Nation, just don't dress like a Fire Nation Citizen."
"It's not that simple, Toph."
"Then explain it better, Aang," she snapped. "Cause from where I'm sittin' it just sounds like you guys are being a bunch of sissies who don't know how to handle crap without your mommies and daddies holding your hand."
I frowned as the tension in the air went taught, and Katara slammed her hands down on the desk, jarring Toph from her reclined position. "Listen hear, you little brat. Chief Arnook has been spreading slanderous rumors about everyone in this room, and we have no way of knowing if the Earth King believes them. If they do, then anywhere we go, there's a chance we're captured, and the Northern Tribe will do Spirits knows what with us. No one in this room is familiar with the Earth Kingdom—save for Aang. And even he says you're going to be a better guide than he is. So, either you get over yourself and help us out, or tell us to get out of here because the world doesn't have time to wait for you to be in the mood for it."
Katara's words rang in the silence.
I don't even think I was breathing after that display—all of us waited to see if the earth above our heads was about to be dropped on us, caving in to a blind earthbenders rage that a scrawny little waterbender might dare put her in her place.
Yet, rather than rage twisting her face, Toph smiled. There was fury behind it, to be sure, but it was not malicious. Scheming may have been the better word. Her eyes twinkled in the delight of mischief as she leaned forward and rested her arms against her desk. "A better guide than you, Aang?" she asked sweetly.
Her tone chaffed, but I didn't have time to ask her why she was suddenly feigning kindness. She should have been furious. "I can't tell when someone is lying as well as you can," I conceded. "And none of us know who we can trust right now."
"I figured that much," Toph snapped. "Fine, I'll go with you. Provided that Sugar Queen here stays off my back."
"Wh—"
Sokka slapped a hand over Katara's shrieking mouth. "Sounds good to us!"
We prepared to leave the next morning as the sun rose. Appa protested the amount of people on his back—having never carried more than four people, seven was quite a lot, even for him. We'd be nine if Mai and Ty Lee ever showed up like we hoped. We still hadn't heard from them, but since they knew nothing of our travel plans, everyone still hoped we'd find word in Ba Sing Se.
"C'mon, boy," I soothed, rubbing his forehead with my left hand. I held a melon in my other hand, offering it to him as a bribe. "I know it's a heavy load, but we'll stop whenever you feel tired. Ba Sing Se isn't even that far away! The trip will be over before you even know it."
The bison grunted, shifting his head away from my hand, but still taking the melon from the other. Appa was always thinking about his five stomachs.
"Are you two ready?" Azula asked from behind me, crossing her arms as she approached.
I shrugged. "He's being stubborn. He could carry us easily, he just doesn't think he can—or he doesn't want to." I swiveled back toward him, glaring slightly.
He was unfazed.
Azula's mouth lifted slighting into a small smile as she crouched in front of Appa, gently holding out her hand for him to investigate. "Poor Appa," she crooned, gently pressing her palm against his fur. "He's probably agitated that you've been using him as little more than transport, lately."
I frowned at her.
"What?" She shrugged, as if it was obvious. "You were out of it for over a week, you wake up and you're only spending time with Katara. You've barely spent any time with him since you've been awake."
I rubbed my neck, trying to keep the flush rising at bay—I didn't like the accusation in her tone. "There's a lot going on Azu—"
"I know there is, Aang," she interrupted. "But you need to remember what your priorities are. I know you love Katara, and I know you feel like you have to catch up for lost time, but you can't shirk your other relationships and responsibilities just because you've found love."
"I'm no—"
"Do you think I don't realize that stunt you pulled last night was to impress your girlfriend? You wanted a chance to show off your earthbending, only to get shoved off the platform not two minutes later. Not only did you bring attention to yourself, Aang, but you brought attention to every person that was with you. If you were going to pull a stunt like that, you could have at least told us to blend in. Instead, it was three water tribe, two fire nation, and an air nomad sitting in an earthbending arena. That sounds surprisingly familiar, seeing as that's what the North and the Fire Nation are asking the Earth Kingdom to look for."
She shoved a flier into my hands. No—not a flier. It was a wanted poster.
"There were dozens of them pasted around the town this morning. I ripped off what I could find, but there's bound to be more elsewhere." She gave Appa one last pat before finally looking at me dead in the eyes. "I expect this behavior from the teenage boy that trained with my brother and me—not a fully realized Avatar."
"Azula…"
"We need to leave," she shouted across the clearing to the others. To me she said, "Now—before whoever is carrying those posters gets to our next resting place."
I was thankful we'd brought Toph. Given the news Azula shared with the others, Toph was the only face that would be unrecognizable in any Earth Kingdom villages if the agents putting up the fliers beat us to the next stop. The only issue was that she was blind and had no way of knowing if fliers were already up.
"I don't understand why I have to go with her," Katara muttered, examining the Earth Kingdom clothing we procured for her.
We were tucked away in an abandoned hut just outside a small village between Gaoling and Ba Sing Se. I promised Appa we could rest whenever he wanted, in addition to promising we'd get to fly without the saddle more often.
"We need to know if it's safe to enter the village and you're the least recognizable," Azula said with a wave of her hand. "Yue and I are royalty—some people might know our faces. You, you're just a Southern Water Tribe girl with no royal status—just the daughter of a chieftain."
Azula and Lu Ten were very similar in their blunt ways. Lu Ten, however, tended to try to soften the blow with at least a soft, sympathetic look, and his matter-of-fact behavior typically was rooted in his desire to protect the Fire Nation—he was always honest and kind with friends.
Azula just liked being in charge—almost too much—and it often went to her head.
"And that," Zuko mutter beside me, "Is why she'll never be Firelord."
I snorted beside him and Azula's attention snapped in our direction. "I don't recall any of us inviting you two to watch ladies change. I understand if you're curious, Aang, but seeing as you and Katara have already seen each other naked, I don't see a reason for you to be here."
My cheeks flushed, and Zuko let out a bark of a laugh as he grabbed my arm and tugged me out of the room, Toph howling as we left.
Sokka tailed them when they went into town, full aware they could take care of themselves, but we all agreed having someone watching them from afar felt safer. Meanwhile, the rest of us sat and waited. Zuko and Azula used their unspent energy sparring against each other—both trying to keep their minds off what was really bothering them: Mai and Ty Lee.
"Look at her," Yue sighed beside me. She sat with her thighs tucked against her chest, her chin on her knees with a look of admiration in Azula's direction. "She makes fighting look so graceful. She dances around Zuko like she's taunting him."
"Yeah," I mused, watching to two. "She gets cocky, though. She'll start out with every move calculated, but as soon as he shows signs of fatigue, she'll get over confident and slip up. Watch."
Sure enough, Zuko's shoulders started to sag, and his breathing became more labored. Azula's devious grin deepened and she set herself deeper into her stance. She took one step forward and Zuko's leg shot out, hooking her around her ankle and forcing her to the ground.
Yue let out a gasp of surprise. "But she's a much better fighter than him!"
I shook my head. "Their strengths are in different areas. Zuko's patient—he listens to his opponent and figures out what they're weaknesses are. Azula's approach, while calculative, is to tire them out as fast as she can, and then deliver the final blow."
"What is your approach, Aang?"
I scoffed, shaking my head. "The monks taught me to avoid physical conflict. Everything can be solved if we are willing to listen to what others have to say."
Yue frowned, angling her head towards me with an inquisitive look on her brow. "You haven't listened to what the North has to say at all, and now it's led us to the brink of war yet again."
"They wanted to enslave the South," I snapped.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, nostrils flaring. "No, they didn't. My father wanted to unite the tribes and make us stronger. All you saw was Hahn trying to take Katara from you." She shook her head. "I understand how you feel about her, Aang, but you are so, so far from understanding what is happening in the North."
"And you do?" I growled back. "The North hardly has any rights to speak of for women! You're not allowed to bend, or to fight, or to do anything that might be self-serving."
"You trained there for two years and you've learned nothing of our culture. What right do you have to speak about something you don't understand?"
"It's my job to keep the balance, Yue, and the North is upsetting that balance."
"Is it?" She asked as she stood, she looked over her shoulder as she walked away. "Because from where I'm standing, Aang, you're the one going from nation to nation, trying to make sure they're on your side before you even confront my father."
Fire Lord Zhao liked to think of himself as an intelligent man. He'd risen through the military ranks rather quickly, lingering in positions he believed would grant himself knowledge to be used later in life, such as knowledge of where the royal family hid their secret bunker. He was always one to seek out advancement—never happy in one place for too long. So, when the water tribe "peasants" (as he described them) came to him with a plan to put him on the throne of the Fire Nation, well he couldn't really say no to such an opportunity—especially since Ozai and Iroh had done so much to ruin the Fire Nation's reputation.
He already had a network of spies and informants, and as soon as the peasants left his office, he'd told his spies, "Watch that one closely. You can never trust someone with that gleam in their eye."
He recognized that gleam because it was remarkably similar to his own. Hinting at plots and plans being laid out under the surface, that no one else knew about.
He was pleased that he'd had the foresight to ask his spies to watch Sangok, because today they came back with new. Disturbing news.
"Interesting," he mused from his cushion. "And those were his exact words?"
The spy nodded. "You were to be disposed of as soon as the princess was back with her family."
Zhao chuckled to himself, feeling rather pleased with himself. Long ago, he ventured into the deserts of the Earth Kingdom and made a startling discovery. Perhaps now was the time to put that information to good use. "Very well, then," he replied. "See to it that preparations are made for a fleet to head North."
"Sir?"
"If they wish to be deceptive, then we will bring the Northern Water Tribe to her knees."
Lu Ten had been foolish the day of the attack. His loyalty to his father left him and the royal family vulnerable, and he hated himself for it. He would have been more useful fighting outside in the thick of it. Instead it was three firebending masters in the bunker, defending themselves from enemy soldiers that had to be funneled in through the narrow archway. They lasted hours with Ursa looking on from the corner, neither fretting nor scared, simply observing and hiding from the crossfire.
But, all people must rest, and the brothers grew weary, leaving the youngest to fend off the attack. It was hopeless, they all knew it.
Finally, they were taken, but they were saved Zhao's wrath by the compassion of the North. They were not evil people, after all, only warriors who believed they were protecting their own.
Zhao did get one final blow, though.
"The Avatar is dead," he had said with a huff of a laugh.
Ursa collapsed into her husband's arms, shock the only think keeping her from tears. Ozai and Iroh were equally as shocked, but Lu Ten knew better than to believe the lies of the enemy. He kept his mouth shut, though. Feigning complacency; knowing it was better than dying.
Have courage, my son. His mother had said to him when he was a boy. The Avatar will return one day, and you will have to help him. Stay with your father. A sick, dying woman's words, he'd thought them meaningless. But now, he wondered if stepping into the spirit world had granted her clarity of the future.
Her words had haunted him in the courtyard as he helped Yue onto the bison, and it was her words that sent him racing back to the palace to protect his father.
Deceit and lies had never been his way—he valued his ability to tell the truth, and he hated presenting himself as a servant of Fire Lord Zhao, but he did what he had to do.
"The North?" Lu Ten confirmed with the rat of a spy next to him.
The man nodded eagerly. "I've just come from the Fire Lord, he said the whole fleet is to make haste there immediately."
Lu Ten accepted his orders, passed them along to his men, and slipped away a few hours later.
A few weeks had passed since his father, uncle, and aunt were captured. His vow of loyalty to Zhao was given at the false king's crowning ceremony. If his father suspected his deception, he gave no indication—only expressing disappointment when Lu Ten tried to visit him. He wished he could tell his father that he was just trying to get as much information as possible, but he didn't want to risk it if other guards were listening. Instead, he endured his father's scrutinizing glare, no matter how hard it pained him.
He slipped down a dark alley, and disappeared in a small door, where two women in dark robes stood, waiting for him.
"Were you followed?" Mai snarled, her knives out.
Lu Ten shook his head.
"What news do you have, then?" Ty Lee asked.
Lu Ten sat with them, explaining the news Zhao's rat had told him. "Is that enough?" he asked when he finished.
The two looked at each other before nodding. "Now, they'll be able to formulate a plan, rather than aimlessly travel into the Earth Kingdom."
"Where are they?"
"Reports said they've yet to leave Kyoshi Island, but Aang woke up a few days ago. They'll be leaving soon. We'll likely make it to the island after they've left, but they'll be able to tell us where they've gone," Mai replied, examining her knives again as she looked toward the door.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Lu Ten?"
He shook his head. His plan was to watch Zhao, learn what he planned to do in the North, and get that information to them whatever way he could. "I can't leave my father," he said instead.
Ty Lee looked at him sadly. "We'll tell them 'hello' for you."
He gave her a curt nod and stood. "Be careful."
They nodded, and he slipped out the door, putting on the mask of a Fire Nation extremist ready to serve his nation.
Thanks for reading, reviews are what keep me motivated, guys! I love hearing your thoughts.
Have a gorgeous weekend,
Em
