A/N: I don't really even know how to start this author's note. Sorry doesn't seem to cut it, but I am. My muse threw a summer-long bitchfit, so I gave her a hiatus. I think she's just commitment-phobic (this story passed its one year anniversary late June), and wanted to work on some other stuff. So I let her. I'm back at college now, so I'm getting back into the work routine. Also, NaNoWriMo is coming up again, and I'll be using this story again. But for now, updates might be slow.
117 reviews, 70 favorites, 96 follows. I don't deserve you. You guys are great, and I love you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. Just Mira.
Also, I haven't totally proofread parts of this. I was just really excited to get it done, so bear with me for now. I'll go back sometime this weekend and really clean it up.
Chapter Sixteen
Something Strange is in the Water
Mira woke to a pounding headache and a body that didn't feel much better. She'd forgotten what the morning after a fight was like (healing session aside). Parts of her that Nakaru hadn't even touched throbbed with a dull pain. Getting up would be a monumental task.
She lay sprawled across the bed, sheets askew and hair tangled. Her eyes slid closed, and she tried to bask in the sun spilling in through the small window across the room. But as the light warmed her skin, she remembered that heat and pain didn't always go well together. Cold was the best remedy, and she wasn't going to find it remaining where she was.
A rattling groan filled the room as her aching limbs slid across the bed. It took two tries to stand up; the first time her ribs had protested loudly as she moved and her backside was quickly reacquainted the sheets. Once she was safely vertical, she tottered over to the door and slid it open with a weak push. Her head rested on the doorframe for a moment before she pushied off and stumbled into the common room.
"So you are alive," Sokka drawled from his position by the bay window. "Katara kept going in to check and make sure you were still breathing."
"Takes more'n that to get rid a me," Mira mumbled before collapsing on a squashy pillow.
"You look like death warmed over, by the way," he added cheerfully. Mira flipped him a rude hand gesture without even bothering to open her eyes. "Jeez," he murmured, insulted. "Touchy, touchy."
"If I look like death warmed over, how d'ya think I feel? Now wouldja shut it for a mo?" she snapped.
"You sound different," Sokka said thoughtfully.
"You sound like ya normally do: loud 'n' annoying."
"So Mira's finally up." Toph's voice was now in the room, and somewhere close by, too. "Hey, you don't look so good. What happened?"
"Imagine you faced yourself in an Earth Rumble VI match last night."
"Ouch." Despite her closed eyes, Mira could practically hear Toph flinch.
"Yeah. Pretty much."
"Wait, you were fighting last night?"
"Dammit Sokka, why are you still talking?!"
"…Sorry."
Mira sighed crossly and cracked an eye open. "Where's Katara?"
"She and Aang went out early this morning. I'm not sure where or when they'll get back."
"When they do, tell Katara to find me, alright?" Mira said, delicately pushing herself off the plush rug. Her muscles screamed in protest, and she grit her teeth in pain.
Sokka watched her with concern. "Need help?"
"No," Mira barked as she rose unsteadily. "I'm fine."
"Yeah, right," Toph snorted. "I've never felt you move so slow."
"Shut up, Toph," Mira scowled. "You're telling me you never felt sore after a match?"
"So you were fighting!" Sokka crowed.
"You're so lucky I can't move," Mira hissed. Her feet were unsteady as she lurched out of the common area and into the bathing room down the hall. She sat down heavily on the edge of the bath and started filling the tub with the cold water. When the bath was full, she stripped off her clothes (leaving her bindings) and gingerly eased into the water.
Goose pimples erupted on her skin as the frigid water washed over her limbs. Mira immediately began to shiver, but she forced herself to slide the rest of the way in. The low temperature would help to ease the soreness, but that was hard to remember when it felt like you'd been submersed in a glacier. This was why Mira never went very far south or north: the cold didn't agree with her (and that was putting in mildly).
Her eyelids fluttered close and she gripped the sides of the bath until her knuckles were white. Ever so slowly, the aches within her muscles began slip away. Either that, or her limbs were going numb.
"Mira? Can I come in?" Katara's voice sounded from the other side of the door.
Mira nodded, then realized immediately that the waterbender couldn't see her. "Yeah," she added quickly.
The door slid open, and Katara poked her head in. "Everything alright?"
"The cold's good, and yet it hurts," Mira said haltingly. "I'm not quite sure how I feel about that."
One healing session later, Katara had left and Mira's body was much happier. She marveled once again at the power of waterbending healing. Normally, it'd have taken Mira three or four days with non-bending healing sessions every morning before she even began to feel remotely back to normal. But just two sessions with Katara and one ice bath later, she almost felt like she had two days before. Granted, she had overextended herself then—and would still remain stiff for a day or two—but considering the alternative, Mira was happy with the result.
Once she was dressed, she re-entered the common room to find Aang sprawled face-down on the rug. "Looks like I'm not the only one who had a rough night," Mira quipped.
"He's just being impatient," Katara explained, a small smile on her face. "You dropped those flyers this morning, Aang. You can't expect someone to have information already."
A soft knock on the door contradicted her words, and Aang was up like a shot. Mira watched him go in astonishment. "Really?"
Aang flung open the door, revealing—
"Colie?!" Mira cried, rising quickly and practically sprinting to the door. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Followed you las' night," she said quietly, eyes downcast. It was obvious she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, given the dark circles around her eyes. "Needed ta talk ta you. But Daichi's bloody bones, Mir, now I know why you was mum on who yer pals were." She eyed Aang with a mixture of incredulity and wariness.
Shock and anger battled for dominance. After a prolonged war, shock finally won out and Mira pushed the door open further. "Might as well come in." Aang, who was still holding onto the door, sidestepped with a bemused expression on his face.
"Who's this?" Sokka asked suspiciously.
"Colie. She's a friend." Mira answered automatically, and Colie looked up from her examination of the floor, eyes wide and startled. "Was a friend," Mira quickly corrected, and something in Colie's expression swiftly died.
"Wait. Is she the one you were fighting for?" Katara said suddenly, eyes narrowed and nostrils flared.
"Yes," Mira replied. "And you've already lectured me on that, Kat, so please spare me the repeat performance." Katara opened her mouth to retort, but seemed at a loss of words. Finally, she nodded silently, and Mira turned back to Colie. "Why're you here, Col?" she asked icily, bracing herself for the worst.
"You was right," she said. "Ev'rything ya said ta me. But I was jus' tryin' to help. Ya hafta know that."
Mira remained silent, face expressionless. She did know that. Whatever Colie did, she did for family. But there were some lines you didn't cross, and Colie had broken that rule in the worst way. It would take a lot more than a little pandering to set that right. If she could set it right.
Colie didn't wait for Mira to come up with an answer. "I got out," she said solemnly. "An' I didn't give 'em the money. Ya know the rehab clinic they're tryin' ta open down in the West End? Showed up in the middle a the night, plunked the money down, then left. Paid my debt ta society, like I knew I had to. Went back, told Chien and Ret I was done. 'M out."
Mira was thunderstruck, though she tried not to show it. "I—really? Cos I swear to Kyosei, Col, if you're lying—"
"I'm not!" Colie protested earnestly. "Ask Temal! I had ta threaten one a Ret's thugs ta do it, but I'm free 'n' clear. Wanted ta tell you. Cos I didn't want ya ta think I was the girl ya saw last night." Her mouth twitched in a grimace, and the pain she'd been trying to hide came to light briefly before she clamped it down.
That was quintessential Colie. Crack a joke, toss off a flippant remark, all to make sure that no one knows how you feel. Do what you can to survive. And above all, protect the ones you love. That was why she'd crossed that line. She'd done it for family, and while Mira hated that, she understood it at the same time. It's why she so desperately wanted to believe Colie. But years of living on the streets left her cynical, and it would take more than Colie's word to convince her.
So Mira hesitated, and Colie's eyes darkened as she read the doubt in her eyes. "Ya don' believe me," she said flatly.
"You were selling drugs," Mira pointed out, her voice almost breaking. Colie's betrayal had hurt more than she'd wanted it to. Daichi, she wanted to believe Colie. She wanted to believe in the girl who'd (for some strange, inexplicable reason) become a close friend. Mira had problems trusting people as it was, so casting asides all hurt and doubt would be well-nigh impossible.
Colie thrust out her hand petulantly. "Look. There's yer proof," she muttered. A bloody X was carved into her skin. The oozing and crusted blood around it showed that the wound was recent. Mira reached out and gently grabbed her hand. It was true, then. Ret was famous for marking those who left his service. Colie'd been marked, so she truly was out of the gang and the drugs.
"Katara," Mira said tersely, jerking her chin. "She needs healing."
Whatever reservations Katara had about Colie, they were erased when the younger girl saw the wound. She retrieved her waterpouch from her room and within minutes, nothing more than a faded white cross traced Colie's hand. "I can't keep it from scarring," Katara said as she released Colie's hand. "Sorry."
"S'okay," Colie said weakly. "S'posed to see it, anyway."
"Everything alright?" Katara asked, gentle concern coloring her voice.
"Never seen an actual Tribe waterbender before. Or been healed by one," Colie answered, rubbing the place where the cut had just been.
"Never?" Sokka asked skeptically.
"They stay in at the North Pole," Mira said. "You find some with Water Tribe blood from the occasional immigrant, but not a lot directly from the Pole." She turned her attention back to Colie. "Daichi. You got out. And you paid your debt." She couldn't help the small smile that spread across her face. Her friend may have committed a grievous wrong, but she hadn't gone one day before fixing it. Now Mira would be keeping a closer eye on her, sure. But so would Temal. Colie wouldn't be going back to that lifestyle (and not just because Ret might be gunning for her).
"Toldja." Colie smiled thinly. "Temal didn' know whether ta be happy or scared."
Mira swore under her breath. She'd forgotten about the risks. "Are they safe? Temal and Ryo?"
"Like I said, nearly had to carve up one a Ret's men, but I'll think they'll leave me alone. And don' be worried 'bout Temal. You haven' seen the things she can do with a knife."
"I'll take your word for it," Mira said warily, but she was relieved all the same. If Colie wasn't worried for them, chances were they'd be fine. "I'm proud of you, Col," she added quietly.
Colie scowled half-heartedly. "Don' need yer approval. Did it fer Temal an' Ryo. An' fer me."
"Still proud of you," Mira said, nudging her. "But following me? You're lucky I didn't catch you."
"Please," Colie snorted. "You wouldn'ta caught me. You could barely see straight."
"Oi," Mira protested, but before she could say anything further, Sokka cleared his throat.
"So, this may be just me, but anyone else feeling very confused right now?" he asked, raising his hand. He was soon joined by Aang and Toph. Katara raised her hand halfway. "Right, then. Mind explaining?" he directed to Mira, eyebrow raised.
"It's a long story," Mira complained faintly.
"We've got time," Sokka replied, crossing his arms. "You can start with who she is," he nodded to Colie, "and what exactly you were doing last time you were here."
"I told you, this is Colie," Mira deflected. "She's a friend."
"Care to elaborate?" Sokka wouldn't back down.
"Daichi, I feel like I've brought a boy home to meet the family," Mira muttered.
"'M flattered, Mir, but I don' swing that way," Colie deadpanned.
Mira nudged her none-too-gently. "Shut it, you know what I mean."
"I do. What're, you ashamed a me or somethin'?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
"No," Mira snapped. She felt cornered and she didn't like it.
"So ya just like keepin' yer past in this neat little box shoved in the back?" Colie questioned. "I dunno, it's like yer two different people."
Spirits, you have no idea…
"It's just, you're from two different worlds," Mira said gesturing between the two. "I just didn't figure you'd mesh that well."
"Ya don' have too high an opinion a me, do ya?" Colie said suddenly, tilting her head.
"You were selling drugs, Col."
"And I got out!" she grumbled. She shoved her scarred hand in Mira's face. "I coulda stayed in. Hell, it'da been easier. But I chose to do the right thing, cos a you, and ya gotta gimme credit fer that! Don' keep holdin' it over my head."
Mira closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. Finally, she opened them again and fixed Colie with a serious expression. "You're right, and I'm sorry. You got out, and that does count for something. You're better than what you should be, given the circumstances."
"Wha's that s'posed to mean?" Colie asked, sounding slightly insulted.
"You rose to the occasion. A little late, but you redeemed yourself. You wanna do the honors and introduce yourself?" She swept a hand to the others.
Colie's lips twitched, and she quickly smothered the expression. She turned to face Mira's four companions, arms crossed and hip cocked out defiantly. "'M Colie," she said. "Mira's friend and manager. Met her a couple years ago when I tried ta snatch her purse."
"Bet that didn't end too well," Toph sniggered.
"Gave her a black eye," Mira supplied. Colie whipped her head around to glare at her. "What?" she shrugged. "'S true."
"Why am I not surprised?" Katara rolled her eyes, but there was a chuckle in her voice.
"Anyway, she came by ta say sorry—"
"Don't have to put it like that," Mira mumbled.
"—and I got her ta fight fer me in an underground fight club. She was good, too. But my boss, Ret, tried ta get her ta fix fights. She said no, he sent some thugs after her, and she scarpered." Colie caught Mira's eye, and the older girl nodded subtly. Colie omission of Mira's crime hadn't gone unnoticed, and she appreciated it. "Nex' thing I know, I find her down an alley. Got her inta one last fight, which she won, of course. I made a few mistakes, but I fixed 'em. Came over here to tell her." She paused, eyeing Aang warily. "'Course, I didn' know she was with you."
"Uh…it's nice to meet you?" Aang extended his hand to Colie.
She shook it, smiling ruefully. "Never thought the Avatar was comin' back. Now 'm shakin' his hand." Her eyes flicked to Mira. "Never thought you'da been one to help him."
"Lotta things you don' know about me, Col," Mira said quietly, eyes serious.
She snorted. "Knew ya fer months 'n' months. 'N' I still don' know anything 'bout you." She looked up at the others. "She do this with you?"
"You've no idea," Sokka said.
"Oh, believe me, I think I do."
"Alright, so when did this turn into the third degree?" Mira snapped. "You know a hell of a lot more than she does." She jerked her head in Colie's direction.
"Gee, thanks," she said dryly.
Toph began to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted her. "Oh thank Daichi," Mira said under her breath.
Aang's attention was immediately diverted as eyes widened and a grin bloomed on his face. "Maybe it's news about Appa!"
He rushed to the door as Colie leaned over and whispered in Mira's ear. "Who's Appa?"
"What," Mira corrected. "It's his pet. Been lost for about a month."
Aang flung open the door, but it wasn't a good Samaritan with news on Aang's lost friend. The original Joo Dee stood at their doorstep, hands folded primly and eerie smile plastered across her face. "Hello, Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Mira." Her smile faltered as she caught sight of Colie's face, but it was quickly replaced.
"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka asked cautiously.
"What, jail? Of course not," she said dismissively. "The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."
Colie scoffed under her breath. "Alright, what's she been snortin'?" Mira pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh.
"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party," Toph pressed.
"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country. It was quite relaxing," Joo Dee said happily. Several sets of eyebrows shot up across the room.
Katara opened her mouth to protest, but Mira held up a hand to shush her. "Great. Sounds peachy," she replied, though her tone suggested anything but. "Then why're you here?"
Joo Dee pulled a leaflet from her sleeve. "Dropping flyers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city." Upon closer inspection, Mira realized that she was holding a "lost" flyer of Appa that Aang must have dropped that morning. "Not without proper clearance," she added.
"We can't wait around to get permission for everything," Sokka attempted to argue.
"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters," Joo Dee threatened. Well, the words were threatening. But Joo Dee's smile and cheerful demeanor were completely at odds with her message. Mira screwed up her nose in confusion and distaste. How did you react to something like that?
Aang didn't have that problem. He seemed to swell twice his size and the pitch of his voice shot up as he waved his arms in fury and began to shout. "We don't care about the rules and we're not asking permission!" He began backing an alarmed Joo Dee out of the house. "We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!" He slammed the door shut in her face and whirled around, chest heaving and face red.
"That might come back to bite you in the ass," Mira said hesitantly, watching Aang carefully.
"I don't care," Aang said forcefully. "From now on we do whatever it takes to find Appa."
"Yeah!" Toph cheered, throwing her hands up in the air. "Time to break some rules!" She slid her foot and arm out, and the front corner of the house collapsed into a heap of rubble.
Mira threw her hands up to shield her face from any flying debris. Luckily, most of the blast had shot outward, away from the house. The only thing endangering their group was a lungful of dust. "And how is that helping?!" Mira yelped, straightening up.
"Heh. Sorry."
"Y'know, I'm kinda likin' this."
"Liking what?"
"You. Gettin' all squirmy." Colie grinned widely. "Don' like when the tables're turned, huh?"
"You would like this," Mira muttered.
"Yer not really gonna make me stick up posters, are ya?" Colie complained suddenly, gesturing to Sokka, who was holding a bundle of lost Appa posters under his arm.
After Toph had destroyed part of their house, it was decided that it was better to get out for the afternoon. Aang had quickly decided that their time was best spent sticking up more pictures of Appa, Joo Dee be damned. He'd dragged Colie along, declaring that another pair of hands wouldn't hurt. Colie, needless to say, was more than a little disgruntled.
"I got an idea," Mira said under her breath, before catching up with the others. "You don't need us sticking up posters," she told Aang, and she braced herself for the inevitable tantrum.
His face fell slightly before his eyebrows drew together stubbornly. "What? Yes, we do," he insisted.
"No. You don't need us because I think I know someone who might help us find Appa." She looked to Colie uncertainly, not sure how her idea would be received.
"You do?" he asked, a spark in his gray eyes. "Who?"
"Oh no," Colie objected, backing away as she caught on. She shook her head vehemently and her choppy bangs fell into her face. She brushed them away irritably. "We're not goin' there. No way."
"There's a good chance they'll know," Mira pointed out. "We need all the help we can get."
"I'm not askin' them. No way," Colie repeated.
"Asking who?" Aang interrupted impatiently. "Who are you talking about?"
Mira finally turned toward the others. "The Hantai. That's what the resistance is called here."
"You mean like in Omashu?" Katara asked, head tilted curiously.
"I knew this city wasn't full of lily-livers!" Toph exclaimed, her face lighting up. "Where are they? Can I come?"
"No," Mira and Colie chorused together. Toph's face grew stormy and she opened her mouth to retort. Colie cut her off before she could. "Cos we're not goin' there."
"Cos they're suspicious by nature. We'll make a better impression," Mira said, ignoring Colie's previous statement.
"Yeah, fine," Colie mumbled, glaring at Mira. "Cos anythin' we get from 'em is Daichi's honest truth."
"They're opposing the Dai Li," Mira said in exasperation. "Of course they're gonna be a bit enigmatic."
Colie huffed tetchily, but her eyes softened the smallest bit, and Mira knew she had her. "Fine," she finally said. "I'll go with ya. Don' like it, though," she warned.
"You don't have to like it, s'long as you're coming," Mira countered. She met Aang's gaze. "We'll ask them what they know, then meet you back here, yeah?" He nodded, his eyes shining a bit brighter than before at the possibility of new information.
"C'mon, then," Mira prodded Colie. "Keep up!" She took off down the street, and she knew without looking back that Colie was indeed following her.
Four streets and countless back alleys later, they'd entered the Lower Ring and Colie had caught up with her. "How d'ya even know where they hide out?" she asked as Mira slipped in between two streams of people.
"Same way you know," she answered as she reemerged.
"Touché," Colie muttered. Suddenly, she jumped out of the way as a burly man stumbled backwards. "Oi!" she hollered, glaring at him furiously. "Watch it!"
"Pleasant as ever, I see," Mira commented lightly.
"Oh, shut it," Colie grumbled, but there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye regardless. Her expression sobered abruptly. "Never said thanks, did I?"
"For what?" Mira asked, dodging a rather excitable fruit merchant. She knew what for, but wanted Colie to say it out loud.
She caught on quickly. "Daichi, yer gonna make me say it."
Mira merely raised one eyebrow.
Colie exhaled loudly. "Thanks fer kickin' my ass and settin' me straight."
"You'da done the same."
"No, I wouldn'ta. An' you know it."
Mira shrugged. "Fine. You wouldn't have. So what? We're friends, Col. Sometimes that means smacking sense into each other. You've saved my life time and time again. 'Bout time I did the same."
"Ya got way more faith in me than I do," she mumbled, ducking underneath a suddenly outstretched arm.
"You don't have enough," Mira countered. "For all that cock and swagger, you've got a surprisngly low opinion of yourself."
Colie avoided Mira's gaze. "I don' have the best track record, do I?"
"Never too late to start," Mira said gently. Colie flashed a weak smile.
Before anything else could be said, the surprisingly tender moment was effectively quashed when a beefy man decided to take advantage of the crowded atmosphere of the Lower Ring market and get a little handsy with Mira. Three violent cuss words and two punches later, he was left groaning on the ground.
Colie threw her head back and brayed with laugher. "Daichi, I missed ya."
"Nah," Mira shot back. "Ya only missed my fists and disarmingly good looks."
Colie rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yeah. That was it." She indicated the thug on the ground. "Now c'mon, before his friends decide ta show up."
Mira nodded. "Lead the way."
The headquarters of the Hantai was thoroughly undistinguishable from the flats that surrounded it. A dilapidated housefront faced the street, windows boarded up and door latched tightly to discourage visitors. Laundry hung on clotheslines stretched across the alley, and the roof was patched haphazardly. All in all, it didn't look much different from the houses on either side. But the ones who knew better were well aware that the inside was anything but commonplace.
Colie marched right up to the door and banged loudly on the wood. Mira followed a bit more cautiously, eyes flicking up and down the street and peering down the side alleys.
A small hatch cut into the door flipped inward, and a suspicious pair of brown eyes looked out, scanning the two girls in front of them. "Password?" a gruff, disembodied voice asked.
Mira froze. She hadn't anticipated a password. Granted, she hadn't expected to simply waltz in without a fuss. In hindsight, she hadn't totally thought this through.
Colie had, apparently. "Bosco," she said confidently. The eye squinted, then the hatch abruptly swung shut.
"If we get killed cos you took a chance with 'Bosco', I'm comin' back to kill ya myself," Mira murmured.
The door swung open without so much as a creak, and the owner of the brown eyes waved them inside. Colie shot a smug glance over her shoulder, and Mira reciprocated with a rude hand gesture.
The inside of the run down little flat was absolutely buzzing with activity. Scrolls of every size were stacked indiscriminately on a rickety kitchen table where a handful of men and women pored over their contents. Another group of people were gathered in the corner, listening raptly to a stocky man who was gesturing energetically. Several women and the occasional man bustled in and out of a cramped kitchen and passed out plates of food. A small number of children darted around underfoot, doubtless the offspring of Hantai members. Mira was a bit taken aback at the communal feel of it all. She'd been expecting something much more…militaristic.
"Back from a mission?" the watchman asked after bolting the door behind them.
"Nope," Colie said, popping the "p". "Jus' want ta speak ta the man in charge. Need some information."
The watchman's eyes narrowed immediately, and his hand drifted to the knife in his belt. "How'd ya know the password?"
"Overheard it three days ago. Ya really need to talk ta yer younger members about keepin' quiet in a back alley. Ya never know who might hear ya."
Mira leaned in close to Colie's ear. "You're gonna get us killed."
"M'not scared a them," Colie whispered back.
"It's not about showing them ya ain't scared," Mira hissed. "Please use what little common sense ya got left."
"Problems?" The stocky man from across the room had materialized by the watchman's side. He stood no taller than Colie (who was already an inch or two shorter than Mira), but his muscled arms and torso struck an intimidating profile. His green-brown eyes looked friendly upon first glance, but there was undercurrent of tension that radiated power.
"These two have the password, but they're not recruits. Say they want information from you," the watchman explained, his hand still resting on the hilt of his knife. Mira's hand gradually drifted down until her stance mirrored his.
The action did not go unnoticed. "Settle down, Ming," the stocky man said to the watchman. He eyed Mira. "You as well."
Hands released weapons, albeit reluctantly. "I'll take it from here," the man said, clapping Ming on the shoulder. Ming nodded and returned to his post at the door.
"Right then," the man said, rubbing his hands together. "I'm Buten, leader of the Hantai. Perhaps you'd like to explain why you're here."
Colie opened her mouth, but before she could insert her foot, Mira elbowed her aside. "We came for information. We only have one question, and then we'll be on our way."
Buten crossed his arm and tilted his head as he examined them. "And why should I believe you? You could be Dai Li agents, here to spy on our activities."
"But you know as well as I do that the Dai Li don't draft females," Mira fired back.
"They could be, because they know we don't suspect women," Buten countered.
"We know where ya are," Colie chimed in. "If we were Dai Li, we'da just barged in an' arrested y'all."
Buten's face broke into a smile. "I can't argue with that. Now, how can I help you?"
"A friend of mine lost his pet bison in Ba Sing Se a few weeks ago," Mira said. "I want to know if anyone's seen it."
Buten's eyebrows shot up. "There's dozens, if not hundreds of bison in the city. Why's this one so important that you would ask the Hantai?"
"Because it's an Air Bison. And it's being held by the Dai Li," Mira replied calmly.
Buten's eyes widened comically. "The Avatar's in Ba Sing Se?"
"And he's searching for his bison. You return it to him, and he exposes the lie to the Earth King. The Dai Li falls and Ba Sing Se is freed from Long Feng's oppression. So, no, it's not just any bison."
Buten let out a bark of incredulous laughter. "No, I'd say not." He rubbed a thumb across his chin, a pensive expression on his face. "Now that you mention it, Kosha did mention something like that maybe a month ago." He turned his head and spoke over his shoulder. "Someone get me Kosha!"
Moments later, the message had been spread around and a thin, weedy-looking man appeared at Buten's elbow. "Can I help you, sir?"
Buten nodded toward the girls. "Tell them that story you told me last month."
If Kosha was put off by the strange request, he gave no indication. "I was out scouting possible Dai Li movements," he began. "I heard a strange growling, so I followed the noise to a deserted back alley not far from here. I saw a large bison-type animal for a moment before the ground beneath it opened up and swallowed him whole."
"What did the bison look like?" Mira asked, trying to keep her excitement contained. Finally, they had a valid lead.
"I'm not totally sure," Kosha said slowly. "I only saw it for a moment." Mira felt her hope sink just a bit before Kosha spoke up again. "I do remember something else, though. It had strange markings, like nothing I've ever seen. There was a brown arrow on its forehead."
"Where's the alley?" Mira rounded on Buten, eyes wide and eager.
"That'll be all, Kosha," Buten dismissed. The man nodded before leaving, and Buten turned back to the girl. "Doesn't matter," he said tiredly, shaking his head. "It'll have been pulled into the catacombs that run underneath Ba Sing Se. He's not there anymore."
"Where do the tunnels lead?" Mira tried a different approach.
"We don't know," he shrugged helplessly. "That's what we're trying to find out. We don't know where Dai Li headquarters are, but we do know it's in the catacombs. We can't exactly send scouts down there, you know. It's their turf. We'd be cut to shreds."
Mira inhaled deeply, stowing away her feelings of disappointment. "It's a lead, which is better than we've had all month. It's something to go on. Thank you."
"Before you go," Buten said hastily. "We could use girls like you. He scanned them methodically. "Quick minds, quick wits…what do you think?"
Mira was shaking her head before he finished speaking. "I already got a job. Thanks, though."
Buten turned on Colie. "What about you?" Colie started to answer (and no doubt reject his offer) when he spotted the mark on the back of her hand. "You've been marked by the gangs," he said sympathetically. "We can protect you, you know. And your family."
Colie looked stunned. She blinked twice, and Buten moved in for the kill. "You think we're a band of rogues and anarchists. Lots of people do. But that's not our goal. We want a free Ba Sing Se. Free from the influence of Long Feng and his army. If we can open the Earth King's eyes, perhaps we can also focus on the Lower Ring. We're not out for power, or control. Just the opposite. We could use someone like you. A scout. Someone to eavesdrop, as you've already proved you can do. Do that for us, and in return, we protect your loved ones from gang retaliation." Buten crossed his arms and leaned back. "What do you say?"
Colie stood silent, mouth hanging open, uncertainty written all across her face. Mira tugged at her elbow and pulled her friend to the side. "What are you thinking?"
"I dunno," she answered honestly. "They're not who I thought they were. There're bleedin' kids in here!" she exclaimed, waving her hands to the children playing earth-water-fire in the corner. "Ryo 'n' Temal…they could be safe here. I—I could do somethin'. Redeem myself." She met Mira's gaze, conflict clouding her hazel eyes. "What do I do?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Whatever you think is best," Mira answered. "But if it helps…I think you'd make one helluva spy." She grinned, then sobered. "It'd be a good redemption. You'd be working for a greater good."
Colie nodded several times. "Can't believe I'm doin' this," she muttered under her breath.
"You don't have to, you know," Mira reminded her as she nudged her gently.
"Yeah," she said firmly. "I do. Fer me an' them." She turned back around to face Buten. "I'll do it."
"Excellent," he said, a wide grin spreading across his face. "We'll have someone pick up your family tonight, before you go on assignment."
Mira was reluctant to leave. She tugged on Colie's elbow. "Are you really sure about this?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"Ya know what? I think I am. For the firs' time in a long time, I really am."
"'Til the end, then," Mira said quietly, a small, sad smile on her face.
"I'll be in yer corner," Colie replied, reaching up and squeezing Mira's shoulder. Mira lifted a hand to her shoulder and quickly squeezed Colie's hand. Then she quickly turned and left the run-down house, trying not to dwell on the feeling that she wouldn't see Colie again.
"Mira! Over here!"
Mira stopped short and swiveled her head around, trying to find the source of the call. Her eyes landed on Aang, who was waving his arms frantically in an attempt to get her attention. She was about three or four streets away from their agreed meeting place, but it looked like she'd intercepted them on their way there.
"I know where Appa is!" they both cried as Mira hurried over to join them.
"Wait..." Aang said suddenly. "Where's Colie?"
"Eh, she decided to stay behind. Don't worry, she's alright. But, I got the information. Appa's in the catacombs. He's still here in the city!"
"But we just heard he was at Whaletail Island," Aang said, confusion and dread competing on his face.
Mira wrinkled her nose. "What? No. He's not on Whaletail Island. He's here. Who told you that?"
"A janitor in a warehouse—"
"—that Jet led us to," Katara said grimly, eyes narrowed.
"Wait. Jet? The 'let's-kill-everyone-be-damned-their-nationality-o r-innocence' Jet?"
"Pretty much," Sokka answered, a hard edge in his tone.
Mira finally noticed a boy on the edge of the group that she'd initially overlooked. He was tall and lean, with a crop of messy brown hair and squinty brown eyes. His expression, even when at a neutral calm, had an air of permanent anger. "And he told you Appa was on the other side of the world?"
"No. The janitor did," Aang said feebly.
"Whereas I got my information from a group of spies whose sole aim is to take down the Dai Li and free Ba Sing Se," Mira contradicted. "I wonder who has the stronger intelligence?"
Katara turned on Jet. "I knew it! I knew he was lying!"
"But he's not!" Toph cried. "I can feel it. He's telling the truth."
"What do you mean, 'feel it'?" Mira asked curiously.
"When people lie, there's a physical reaction. I can feel it, so I know when people are lying. Or telling the truth."
A wave of sheer terror crashed over Mira's body so forcefully she thought she might throw up. Her heart skipped a beat, and the breath caught in her throat. She exhaled shakily, trying in vain to cease her body's reaction. Toph could sense when she was lying. Toph could sense when she lying. But then—what did she know? How many lies had she caught? Which lies had she caught? And why hadn't she said anything?
Mira seized on a small hope. Toph hadn't mentioned a thing to Mira about lying. Perhaps she didn't know. Maybe Mira had underestimated herself and her ability to deceive. It made sense, since Toph hadn't piped up. There was a possibility that Toph didn't know. Mira clung to that possibility like a drowning man to a life raft. It was all she could go on, for the moment.
Mira snuck a glance at Toph. Her head was tilted to the side, eyes squinting and mouth turned in a frown, like she'd heard something strange and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. For some reason Mira's mouth went dry. She didn't like that look on Toph. Like she was chewing away at a puzzle, and was very near to solving it.
"—must've been a ploy to get us to leave Ba Sing Se," Katara was saying, shooting Jet a suspicious look.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said defensively, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture.
"Jet!" A hoarse female voice echoed from down the street. A girl with a mop of tangled brown hair and war paint on her face stared at Jet in shock before racing down the road toward him. A tall, lanky boy with a pale face followed her.
"I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore!" Katara accused, crossing her arms and taking a step or two away from Jet.
"I don't!" he cried, looking bewildered.
The girl with the war paint reached Jet and threw her arms around him. "We were so worried! How did you get away from the Dai Li?"
Mira swore under her breath. That would explain what was going on.
"The Dai Li?" Katara asked, brow furrowed.
"I don't know what she's talking about," Jet said, his voice growing panicky. He untangled himself from the girl's arms and backed away a few steps.
"He got arrested by the Dai Li a couple weeks ago," the girl said, the barest hint of a wounded look on her face. "We saw them drag him away."
"Why would I be arrested?" Jet asked, sounding genuinely confused. "I've been living peacefully in the city."
Toph knelt to the ground, one hand spread flat against the uneven cobblestone of the street. "They're both telling the truth," she said, sounding a bit baffled.
"They both think they're telling the truth," Mira said slowly. She looked to Toph. "If a person tells a lie, but thinks it's the truth, wouldn't it feel the same to you?"
Toph bit her lip as she thought. "I guess, now that you mention it," she said slowly.
"So Jet only thinks he's telling the truth?" Sokka clarified.
Mira nodded. "Three guesses as to who's responsible."
"He's been brainwashed," Aang said, sounding horrified.
"What? No, that's crazy." Jet tried to scoff. But no one was laughing. Everyone stared at him, grave expressions on their faces. Jet began to back up, a wild look on his face. "Stay away from me," he said shakily.
Mira reached out and touched his arm softly. "We're not going to hurt you," she said quietly. "We just need to figure out what's going on. You're going to help us do that, alright?"
Jet swallowed thickly, but nodded.
Mira turned to the others. "Anybody have a place we can all go? Somewhere private?"
The girl with the war paint and the quiet, lanky boy looked at each other for a few seconds, then the girl nodded. "We're squatting in an empty apartment while we're trying to find a place. It's out of the way."
"Perfect. Lead the way."
"What do you think we should do?"
"Honestly? I've got no idea. I heard that the Dai Li sometimes brainwashed unruly citizens, but I never saw it happen. Or else, I never noticed it." Mira broke off as a disturbing thought entered her mind. What if she'd known someone like Jet? Who'd asked too many questions and had to be straightened out? What if she'd never noticed that something was off?
"I bet Appa's in the same place where they took you. Where is it?" While Mira and Katara had been having a whispered conversation regarding methods, Aang had leaped right in.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jet said miserably, looking up to meet his gaze.
"We need a way to jog his real memories," Aang said.
"Maybe Katara could kiss him," Sokka said slyly. "That should bring something back."
"Maybe you should kiss him," Katara snapped irritably.
"Hey, just an idea," he defended, a mischievous grin on his face.
"A bad one," Aang said peevishly.
Sokka snapped his fingers. "Ooh, I got it!" He plucked a piece of straw from the mattress tucked away in the corner and stuck it in Jet's mouth.
Jet blinked twice. "I don't think it's working," he mumbled before spitting the straw out.
"It's gonna have to be something a lot deeper than some straw," Mira piped up. "Brainwashing's a serious thing."
"Maybe something from his past?" Toph suggested.
"The Fire Nation," the girl with the war paint (whose name was Smellerbee, Mira had learned) interjected. "Remember what they did to your family."
"Close your eyes," Katara said, her voice almost hypnotic. "Picture it."
Jet's eyelids slid shut, and he took a deep breath in. Moments later, his face screwed up in pain. His eyes shot open and his breath came in pants. "No!" he groaned. "It's too painful."
Katara knelt beside him and shifted her water pouch to the front. "Maybe this will help," she said softly. She pulled her water out and coated her hands in the glowing liquid. She placed a palm on either side of Jet's temples and closed her eyes as she worked.
Jet's eyelids twitched and his mouth stretched into a frown. He grimaced, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the wooden chair he was perched on. "They—took me to…a headquarters under the water. Like a lake."
"Laogai," Mira breathed quietly. It'd been right under her nose the entire time. How had she not seen this?
"Remember what Joo Dee said? She said she went on vacation to Lake Laogai," Sokka said excitedly, snapping his fingers.
"That's it!" Jet cried, eyes flying open. "Lake Laogai."
Mira almost had to hold Aang back from charging out the door that very instant. Wordlessly, she'd pointed to the sinking sun outside and explained that it'd be best of they held off until the next morning. He'd been on the verge of throwing a tantrum, but Katara had simply looped her arm through his and led him back to the Upper Ring house, quietly whispering to him all the way. Finally, he'd reluctantly agreed to wait until sunrise the next day.
True to his word, Aang had popped up just as the sun was breaking over the horizon. Mira helped him to wake and push the others out the door, and soon afterwards they'd picked up Jet and the remnants of his gang. They'd boarded a train to the Outer Ring (where the crops and lakes were) and set off hiking after they'd disembarked. Jet and his gang stuck closely together, murmuring occasionally. Sokka and Katara walked on either side of a very anxious Aang, leaving Mira with a curious Toph. She could feel the probing interest rolling off Toph in waves, but it was nearly fifteen minutes into the hike when she finally spoke up.
"So…are you going to tell me what that little panic attack yesterday was about?"
"I'm gonna go with a no."
Toph shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I think I know anyway."
"Then why even bother asking?" Mira asked in exasperation.
"Just trying to bring it up."
"Very subtle," Mira said dryly. "Now how about you drop it?"
"It scares you," Toph said quietly, keeping pace with Mira.
"Underground caves? Why, yes, they do scare me."
"Not what I'm talking about, and you know it."
"Do I?"
"You freaked out when I said that I could sense if people were telling the truth. That's what scares you."
"Oh? And why should it?"
"I dunno. You tell me."
"Or, y'know, I could not." Mira shrugged casually, but felt a bit stupid afterwards. Toph couldn't actually see her trying to be casual, so it was somewhat of a useless gesture.
Toph laughed humorlessly. "Wow, you're good at this. But you know I'll get there eventually."
"Okay, fine. I'll bite. Why do you think I, as you put it, 'freaked out'?"
"Sometimes, when you're telling us about your past, and stuff like that, I get a weird reading from you. Like, you're telling the truth and lying at the same time. I can't tell what's what."
Mira had to physically stop herself from laughing in nervous joy. So Toph really didn't (and couldn't) know when she was lying. She didn't need to worry about it. For now, at least.
"See?!" Toph cried. "That's it! You got really excited over that. Which means you're lying to us. After all this time, and you're still lying to us."
"No, I'm not," Mira protested weakly.
"Now, that's a lie. Why can't I get that when you're saying other stuff? It gets all…wobbly." Toph stopped and shook her head. "No, that's not the point. The point is, it's been a few months. Why won't you be honest with us?"
"Trust me," Mira said in a low voice. "You don't want me to."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it does. There are things about me you really don't want to know. And it's better for everyone if you just drop it."
Toph was silent for a few minutes. "Mira's not your real name, is it?" she asked quietly.
"No." Before Toph could reply, Mira continued. "It's a nickname."
"I know that, Miss Pants-on-Fire," Toph snapped, stomping her foot childishly.
"Fine. No, it's not my given name. It's just a nickname."
"For what?"
"Mirala," she said innocently. She nodded to the others ahead. "Ask them."
Toph let out a small shriek of indignation. "You're impossible!"
"Oh, believe me, honey. I've spent years doing this. You're good, but I'm better." With that, she increased her pace and left Toph behind, only feeling a hint of guilt as she did so. She knew she should feel worse than she did, but she'd been down that road before. It wasn't pretty, and it did more harm than good. It was better for her to box up the guilt and pack it away, and focus on the important things.
Such as, rescuing Appa. Aang gave an excited shout and broke into a run as he rounded a corner. Mira jogged to catch up, and as she turned left along a steep cliff, a massive lake came into view. The cliff bordered one edge, leaving a small shoreline. The opposite bank was just barely visible and occasional vegetation dotted the shores on either side. It would be beautiful if Mira didn't know what it truly was.
She shot a sideways glance at Jet, who was scrutinizing the water carefully. He turned his head and caught Mira's gaze. He nodded silently, and Mira gave a small smile. They were at the right place. Finally, after weeks of stagnating, they had a good lead.
"So, where's this headquarters?" Sokka asked, scratching his head they approached the shore.
"Under the water, I think," Jet answered hesitantly.
"There's a tunnel right there, near the shore," Toph said casually, pointing out toward the lake. She walked along the water slowly, until she reached a certain point. She stopped, then leaped into an earthbending stomp. A menacing rumbling bounced off the cliff wall and echoed in the air as a stone path emerged from the lake water. The stone walkway ended in a rounded disc, which Toph dashed towards, leaving the others to follow. They gathered around as Toph bent the stone disc open, revealing a dark shaft leading down into the lake water.
A bone-chilling sensation reached into Mira and clenched her insides tight. She had to remind herself to breathe as she stared into the inky blackness of the tunnel.
"Do you think you can go down there?" Katara asked quietly, looking over Mira's shoulder.
"I have to," she forced out, her breath exiting in heavy pants.
"No, you don't."
"Yes I do, dammit! The Dai Li's got him, so you need all hands on deck for this one. Now make me go down there before I can back out."
Sokka gave Mira a gentle push forward as Toph hopped down into the tunnel. Katara glared at him, but Mira nodded her head slightly in thanks. They couldn't afford for her to wait outside. Even crippled by fear, she was capable in a fight. That was why she was going. Because they needed her.
And it's not because you feel guilty? the little voice in her head asked. Because you owe them more than what you're giving?
Mira steadfastly ignored the thought and focused on the rungs of the ladder below her. Before she could reconsider, she squatted down and sat on the edge of the hole. She took a deep breath, rocked her body twice, then slid inside.
She counted the rungs as she passed them. One…two…three…
No one spoke as they descended. The only sound was their panting breaths and the rustling of clothes and weapons. Ten…eleven…twelve…
Despite Mira's singular focus on her hands as she climbed down the ladder, her mind couldn't help but wander. She recalled the argument she'd had with Toph, and a question rose in her mind: when would she tell the others who she really was?
Surprisingly, the answer wasn't never. She needed to tell them the whole truth one day; that much she did know. But when? After the war was over? Before? There was no good time to reveal that almost everything she'd said since day one had been a half-truth. But it had to be done at some point. Twenty-three…twenty-four…twenty-five…
Mira took a mental step back and marveled at her own decision. A year ago she would never have considered the truth as an option. But ever since she'd met Aang, and the others, the lying had slowly grown stale. It was tiring to try and keep up the façade—to keep track of her lies and her stories. They were a perceptive bunch, so lying was harder than it had been before, when she'd moved from place to place so frequently. Settling down made it that much trickier to keep up the charade. But even upon entering Ba Sing Se, she hadn't been contemplating coming clean. What had changed? Thirty-seven…thirty-eight…thirty-nine…
The answer, she realized, lay with Colie. One life built on lies and deception had crumbled. She'd stacked her house of cards too high, and with one fell swoop they'd all come crashing down. Her family had nearly been torn apart, and it was only through extreme lengths that their trust hadn't been dashed to the ground forever. It scared Mira more than she let on. Compared to Mira's secret, Colie's was small fish. One was only over money; Mira's went so far as to obscure her true name. If she continued to keep her secret—what kind of damage would it do? Forty-six…forty-seven…forty-eight…
That, and she was tired. Tired of pretending to be something she wasn't. Tired of running. She'd been doing this for so long, and as much as she pretended to enjoy it (though she couldn't lie, there were some parts she liked), there was something to be said about attaching yourself to people. Mira would always be an independent spirit, but she appreciated returning to a group of friends at the end of each day. Fifty-four…fifty-five…fifty-six…
Once her cards were laid bare, though, what would change? Mira winced as she imagined the fallout of telling the truth, and suddenly, honesty didn't seem like such an easy option. Where would she even begin? The anger and hurt that would follow her words started to push Mira's mind in the other direction. What was another few months, after a lifetime of running? When they beat the Fire Lord, then she would tell them. In the meantime, she would continue as she had. Sixty-nine…seventy…thud.
Mira's hands trembled as she peeled her hands off the rungs and set her other foot on solid ground. Her musings had been effective in distracting her from her fear of the underground, but they had the unfortunate side effect of unsettling her. She was determined to continue her charade, but the reasoning behind her decision did not quell the uncertainty in her gut.
The tunnel stretched out endlessly in either direction from the metal ladder. Green-lit lamps hung at regular intervals along the smoothly-cut tunnel, providing steady, eerie lighting. Once everyone had made it to the ground safely, the group set off down one of the side tunnels, making sure to keep an eye out for Dai Li agents in every direction.
"It's all starting to come back to me," Jet murmured from his position at the front of the group. He led them down a staircase to a lower level, passing several metal doors on the way. One door was cracked open, and a sliver of sickly green light spilled through. As Mira sidled alongside, she couldn't help but peer inside. She saw a large room filled with women, all staring vacantly at the Dai Li agent standing on a raised dais before them. "I'm Joo Dee," he said calmly. "Welcome to Ba Sing Se."
The women repeated him in perfect unison, their tone and pitch identical. Goosebumps appeared on Mira's arms. "We are so lucky to have our walls to create order," the Dai Li agent said, and the Joo Dees repeated his words once more. Mira quickly passed the door by, shaking her head to try and dispel the disturbing image. The Dai Li had taken these women and wiped their minds—their free will. They were putty in the agency's hands, tools to use in the conspiracy. Mira felt a little sick at the thought of it.
"I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead," Jet whispered from the front. He turned down another side tunnel, then stopped before a sealed stone door. "I think it's through here."
Toph extended her arms and swept them to the side, and the door followed. The group slowly stepped through the doorway into a large cavern enveloped in shadows. Mira's breath caught in her throat as her eyes attempted to adjust to the darker interior. She'd been able to stave off the fear before when the tunnels were well-lit, but there was no disguising the obvious location of the dark cave. Thousands of tons of rock loomed overhead—not to mention the thousands of gallons of lake water as well. Her stomach began to churn.
Alright. Time to think of something else.
The cavern seemed to hear her thoughts as lamps within flared to life. At the same time, the stone door rolled shut behind them with a foreboding crash.
All fear was forgotten as Mira gripped her lacquered rods and scanned the cave. Several Dai Li agents were suddenly visible as they hung from the ceiling, and Mira swore colorfully. Long Feng stood at the head of the room, flanked by several even more Dai Li agents. "That's unfortunate," Sokka said simply, blinking in surprise as he took in the occupants of the room.
"Because simply waltzing in and out would have been much too easy," Mira groused. She pulled her rods from her belt and twirled them around. The sap-treated wood felt cool and smooth against her calloused hands.
"You have made yourselves enemies of the state," Long Feng said severely. There was a faint stretching noise as Longshot nocked an arrow. The sound of the others preparing for a fight joined together in a militant chorus. "Take them into custody," Long Feng ordered, and the Dai Li leapt into action.
They fell off the ceiling like oversized bats and landed neatly around the motley assortment of teens. Mira's attention was immediately drawn to a slim agent who'd landed near her, but wasn't quite facing her way. Boulders flew through the air as Toph kicked and punched, and it took all the agent's skill not to be pulverized. Mira took advantage of his preoccupation and swiftly clocked him across the temple with a rod. He dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks, and Toph immediately turned to Mira, her hands on her hips. "I had him!" she snarled.
"A simple thank you would have sufficed!" Mira called. A faint prickle on the back of her neck kept her from saying more, and she twirled around in time to swat a flying rock glove out of the air. A startled yelp caught in her throat as its owner came hurtling along after it.
Their hands locked together. His fingers squeezed tightly and prevented her from pulling away. Her rods remained clutched in her trapped hands and waved uselessly in the air.
But her legs were free. Yes, it was a dirty trick, but it'd probably be a safe bet that no one would call foul on it. Her knee shot up and met the space between his legs. The Dai Li may have been expert fighters, but they were also men. He sagged, and his hands loosened their grip. Mira wrenched her fingers from his and backhanded him across the face. In seconds he was out cold.
A manic grin spread across her face as she began searching for her next target. Her smile quickly flipped as a whizz…thunk drew her attention to the ground. Two rock gloves were clamped down on her feet. She couldn't move.
Mira shrieked a curse as she tried to wrench her feet from the rocks, but they clenched the ground tightly. She could not move an inch, and she was surrounded by the Dai Li.
In short, she was in the worst possible position. Her hair flew in her face as she whipped her head back and forth, looking for help. "Toph!" she yelled. "I need help!"
Mira got a glimpse of the tiny earthbender facing off against two agents. "Bit—busy!" she called out, her voice strained.
"I'm stuck!" Mira screamed back. "And—dammit!" A flying brown object caught her attention. She turned to find yet another rock glove hurtling towards her face. Her body bent backwards to avoid it, but her feet remained glued to the floor. Her back arched into a perfect "U" as her hands smacked against the ground. Curses poured from Mira's mouth as her eyes flicked back and forth. This was the worst possible position for her to be in. She couldn't see, couldn't fight—she was a sitting turtle-duck.
A grunt of surprise burst from her chest as a heavy weight pressed against her side then flipped over her middle. A deep cry echoed in her ear, and she turned her head to see a Dai Li agent tumble over her and onto the ground. Feet clad in soft gray shoes stepped quickly around her, and a silver club with a polished blue stone came down against the man's head. "Thanks for that," Sokka said cheerily. "Just what I needed."
"So happy to be of service," Mira snapped sarcastically, pushing up into a standing position. "Now, d'you wanna try and help me out of these?" She gestured to the gloves fastening her to the ground.
"I'll see if I can draw Toph over here—look out!"
Mira pivoted her torso and slammed her rods into a Dai Li agent's stomach. He'd been running full-force towards them, until his midsection had met Mira's clubs. She turned back to the front, but couldn't even get her bearings before the next attack came. Sokka screamed at her to duck, and she crouched without hesitation. A robe-clad bulk fell across her back, and she abruptly stood up in time to flip an agent in the air and smash him to the ground.
"Would you stop using me as your own personal tripping block?!" Mira scowled. "I need help, dammit!"
The smile slid off Sokka's face and he nodded solemnly. "I'll see if I can get to Toph. You stay here." He ran off in the earthbender's direction.
Mira rolled her eyes at the space he'd just occupied. "Where else am I gonna go?" The exasperation didn't last long as her eyes darted around the room. Everyone was fully engaged—which meant Long Feng could sneak off silently. Mira opened her mouth to sound the alarm, but it wasn't her voice that echoed in the cavern. "Long Feng is escaping!" Aang disengaged himself from the Dai Li agent he'd been grappling with and sprinted after the shadowy figure. Jet was hot on his heels. Mira could feel spider-ants crawling up her legs as she itched to join them. They disappeared through a stone entranceway, and moments later the door slammed shut behind them.
Warning bells shrieked in Mira's head. Something wasn't right here. The way Long Feng just ran off…it felt too contrived.
As if that wasn't enough to raise red flags, the Dai Li chose that moment to melt into the shadows. Within seconds, the cavern emptied and they were left alone. The gloves around Mira's feet loosened their grip, and she wrenched them free. The only sound left in the cave was the heaving pants of her friends. Water dripped in a corner, and the splashing reverberated off the walls. Never before had Mira heard a more ominous sound.
As though they were one body, they all ran for the door Aang and Jet had disappeared through. Mira ran her fingers across the seam of the rock, even though she knew it was an exercise in futility. Toph stomped and gestured and cursed as she attempted to pry the stone loose.
"Get it open!" Katara cried, her voice shrill. Several tendrils of hair were escaping her braid, and she looked half mad with worry.
Mira reached an arm out to hold back the younger girl, who'd already taken one step forward. "She's doing the best she can," Mira said in a low voice. "We'll get through." She didn't voice her own doubts, which were screaming in unison with Katara's.
The seconds ticked by at a snail's pace. Toph's arms became a blur as she worked. She grunted loudly, but her efforts did not cease as she said, "I think he's holding it shut. I'm fighting it, but he's strong."
"You're stronger," Mira replied immediately. "He's got nothing on you, Toph. You'll break through. I know it."
Toph didn't reply as her motions gradually ceased. She brought her feet and arms back to her center, took a few deep breaths in and out. She exploded into action, her arms shooting out and pulling at an invisible thing while her feet actually sank into the ground below her. Sweat dripped from her brow. Then, with a massive shriek of stone on stone, the door slowly rolled aside.
Mira was the first one to pass the threshold, the others hot on her tail. Two figures were one the floor: one was lying flat on his back, the other kneeling beside him. Her heart skipped a beat and she went flying to the boys' side.
Jet was the one laying on the ground. It took only one glance to see that he was in a bad way. Aang knelt by his side, a pained look on his face. Katara practically threw herself to the ground opposite him, flicking open her water pouch and bending the water out before anyone could say anything. Everyone else hovered awkwardly, biting lips and chewing nails.
After an eternity of silence, Katara pulled away from Jet's chest and sat up. "This isn't good," she said weakly.
Mira didn't even know Jet (or particularly like him, for that matter), but something inside of her twisted at those words. "C'mon, you've healed me plenty of times. How is this any different?"
"He's got a few broken ribs—"
Mira cut her off. "I've had the same! You can heal those, yeah?"
"I can't heal a punctured lung!" Katara said sharply. She took a moment to compose herself before she continued. "He's got two broken ribs, maybe three broken ribs. I could heal that fine if that's all there was. But it's not." She looked down at him, hiding her face from the others. "There's a shard of bone from his rib embedded in his lung. I can't pull it out, and even if I could, he'd just start bleeding internally. I can't leave it in because it could just work itself deeper into his lung. There's nothing I can do!" Her blue eyes were shining as she looked up.
Smellerbee spoke up, her deep voice even hoarser than usual. "You guys go find Appa. We'll take care of Jet."
"We can't just leave him," Mira protested. Her words sounded weak even to her own ears.
A new voice echoed in the cave. "There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader." Mira jumped in surprise and her head whipped around to find the new arrival. Longshot met her gaze steadily, and it took a few seconds for her to realize that he'd actually been the one to speak.
A cough and a wheeze from the floor kept her from gawking too long. Jet looked at Katara tenderly. Mira suddenly felt like she was trespassing on a moment she didn't have permission to watch. His hand moved to cover hers, and he said, "Don't worry, Katara. I'll be fine."
This time, Mira didn't need Toph to know he was lying.
For all the trouble it'd taken to find Appa's cell, it was a frustratingly short distance from the cave they'd fought in. Toph swept the door aside to reveal…an empty cell. Six large manacles lay cracked open on the floor, their chains tangling together in a depressing pile.
Aang's voice was hollow as he surveyed the room. "Appa's gone. Long Feng beat us here."
"If we keep moving, maybe we can catch up to him," Sokka said.
Aang nodded, but he didn't look convinced. Mira spoke up. "It's one man with an air bison. He can't be moving very fast."
That sent him running from the room as he left everyone else to catch up to him. Mira couldn't climb up the ladder fast enough and practically ran Toph over as she popped out of the tunnel. Hands braced on her knees, she sucked in a few breaths of lake air as the others piled out of the catacombs. They raced past her and Mira stumbled over her own cloak as she trailed after them.
She looked back and saw nine Dai Li agents pop out of the tunnel entrance (answering the question of why the hurry). She hadn't even noticed them following, and that sent chills down her spine.
Aang skidded to a stop and Mira nearly crashed into him. She peered around his shoulder just in time to see six more Dai Li agents raising up a thirty-foot wall in front of them. The nine agents did the same behind, leaving the four effectively trapped between the lake and the cliff. Long Feng watched from his perch atop the first wall, his expression arrogant.
Anger and fear tangled together within Mira. She wanted nothing more than to punch the smirk off Long Feng's face, but at the same time, the absolute ease with which he'd dealt with Aang kept her from moving. She felt like a chip-mouse in a trap, watching helpless as the hand crept closer and closer…
She almost didn't notice Momo swoop down from the sky and alight on Aang's shoulder. He chittered three times, then took off once more. Every eye was drawn upwards, to a black silhouette blocking out the sun. Mira squinted, brought a hand up to shield her eyes. What that…?
It was! Appa gave a deafening roar and plowed through both walls with relative ease. Dai Li agents toppled like bottles in a carnival game. Mira laughed aloud at the image even as she reached for her rods.
But they wouldn't be necessary. Aang and Toph sent pieces of the wall (complete with a few Dai Li agents who'd occupied) flying into the lake while the remaining agents fled in a panic. Watching Appa land with a thud in front of Long Feng, Mira didn't blame them.
Despite all this, Long Feng remained unfazed. He snarled right back at Appa and said, "I can handle you by myself." His leg shot out in a vicious kick, but it would never land. Appa caught his leg in between his teeth and with a flick of his head, sent him spiraling into the middle of the lake.
There was a moment of shocked silence before a wet sucking sound cut through the air. A soggy shoe plopped onto the ground, and the tension was broken. All five teens threw themselves at Appa, including Mira. She wasn't as close to Appa as the some of the others were, but she'd still been concerned about him. She rubbed a hand through his shaggy fur and smiled gently.
"I'm glad you're okay, buddy," she whispered. "We've missed you." She allowed herself to sink into his coat and for a moment, she could almost forget about the Dai Li, and Long Feng (who surely wasn't out of the picture for good), and the monstrous task of convincing the Earth King that there was a hundred-year-war going on and if he really cared about his city he'd pull its head from the sand and start to do something about it.
Well, almost.
A/N: That's it. That's literally all I have. Well, that's a bit of a lie, but I don't have anything from the next chapter. So it'll be a little bit as I frantically try to catch up to what I've got. I'm determined not to let it get that far next time.
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