Chapter 1 - Deals
I was happy.
"Asami!" her face glowed with a smile as she looked at me, giggling as her hands went to vulnerable spots to attack.
"Mommy! That tickles!" I half-heartedly tried to get away, but her hands were too quick.
"I've got you!" her smile still glowed.
I was happy.
Behind her there was a dark figure. It grew. Flames grew around it.
I was scared. I wanted to scream.
The flames lurched out, wrapped around her. She screamed.
"Mommy!" she was gone.
I was broken, I wanted to cry.
"I'm here sweetie" his voice was soft, comforting, his arms where strong around me, protective.
I felt safe.
"I now see..." his voice was hard now, I looked up and saw a metal arm with a claw, "there is no chance to save you!" the claw came down and everything ended.
I awoke with a gasp of shock, slick with sweat from the harrowing dream; or rather nightmare. I was still in the cabin I'd booked on the airship. I struggled for a few moments before managing to calm my breathing.
I glanced over at the clock; we should be arriving their soon. I groaned inwardly at having to come to such a secluded location for this meeting. The order of the White Lotus' existence may be publicly known nowadays, but they still liked their whole cryptic run-around and secrecy.
Personally I could do without secrets, they had a tendency to hurt. My mind found its way to thoughts of my father and the secrets within my mother's journal. I was thankful when my mind drifted to thoughts of a certain southern water tribe girl; bittersweet as they may be, unrequited feelings could be unpleasant sometimes, but this was a welcomed respite.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself to my feet, stretching my stiff limbs as I walked over to the small desk in my cabin (first class was pretty spacious) to look over a handful of reports from the R&D centre, one good thing about the area for my meeting is that I could take a look in on the new prototype desert vehicle, judging from the reports it was getting along very well.
Everything seemed to be in order. We'd be landing soon, I'd better get dressed and gather up my things. I'd already called ahead for reservations at an inn for a few days; not that I expected to be here more than one or two. Make the deal, check up on R&D and head home to get things in order.
That's if this deal worked out.
I couldn't imagine why it wouldn't, there's no way they would want the truth to get out after all. I really didn't want to resort to blackmail, and would never go through with releasing any of the sensitive information; but things were desperate with the company and I really needed this deal to go well.
Thoughts of arguments to make, counter-arguments to the most obvious points against me, and of whether or not the grandmaster himself would actually show up. My mind was a mess as I went through the minutia of my morning routine as best I could in the confines of my cabin.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as opposed to my usual style, Amon's defeat had given all members of 'Team Avatar' a certain level of notoriety and I'd prefer to remain incognito; it was also requested of me. The hair and sunglasses should throw people off enough.
"Attention all passengers." the announcement came over the P.A. system "We will soon be landing at Misty Palms Oasis, all who wish to depart should gather their possessions as soon as possible." the female voice sounded forcibly upbeat.
Taking the advice I'd gotten from the nice lady, I began to gather up my things into my bag and slung it over my shoulder, picked up the single suitcase I'd brought with me and left my cabin.
The docking station was sparsely crowded at best, the town may have had a bit of a boom after the story about Avatar Aang fighting a giant talking owl somewhere in the area had gotten out (next time I see Master Katara, I should ask her what really happened) but the area had wound down after no one had found evidence of a giant talking owl; for some inexplicable reason.
"Your ticket please ma'am." I handed over my ticket to the jaded looking attendant, she checked it, punched it and handed back with rehearsed precession and utter boredom, "That you very much, enjoy your stay." she wasn't even trying to hide it. I wondered how bad times had been around here and how many of the locals would be as enthusiastic.
I checked in at the inn (under a fake name of course), dropping off my bags before heading to where my secret meeting was going to take place. As I walked in to the flower shop I was glad as I noticed that the shop was deserted, save for the shop keeper behind the counter; he wore an oddly serene smile, as though he hadn't a care in the world.
"Good afternoon ma'am, how can I help yo-" I still didn't like the whole song and dance.
"I'm here to see the grandmaster, password: Azure Flame." and with that his smile disappeared. He gave a quick look around the store to make sure that it was in fact deserted before waving me past the counter to the back room.
It was a small, dark room, only a single light bulb and two chairs facing each other, one of which was occupied.
"Greetings Ms. Sato." the aged voice's owner was just out of sight, hidden from the dim light. He gestured towards the opposite chair, "Please, take a seat." I did so, not taking my eyes off the figure of what I assumed was the grandmaster I'd been expecting; just out of the light "I trust you're journey here was not unpleasant." and here came the false pleasantries, I guess I should play along a little.
"No, altogether quite pleasant." I kept my expression as neutral as I could
"Good, I apologise for having to call to such a remote area for this meeting, but you understand the need for secrecy I hope." I was so glad that the hollow pleasantry was over nice and quick, time to get down to business .
"I understand, after all the possible crisis if this information got out to the general public; it'd be quite dreadful." I may not have been able to see his face, I could just sense the grandmaster's scowl.
"Yes, it would cause much strife." his voice had grown an edge as it lowered, he was not pleased at my implication, neither was I. "I trust that you would like to avoid that."
"Of course I would, It'd be just heartbreaking to see a succession crisis in fire nation-" the grandmaster cut me off curtly.
"Good to know your feelings on the matter." I had him on the defensive, time to press the proposal.
"I didn't request this meeting to talk about possible loose ends from decades ago." time to cut to the chase whilst I had the advantage. "I trust you considered the proposal I sent." the grandmaster took a deep breath before continuing.
"Yes, and I fail to see how the united forces would benefit from acquiring these new weapons." he was trying to regain an advantage.
"Really? I find that hard to believe considering how easily young General Iroh's fleet was decimated by the Equalist planes." I noticed a tightening in his hands, I'd struck a nerve; he was as hot headed as the history books mentioned. "The reason that the fleet was defeated so easily was due the technological advantage they possessed."
"An advantage that your father supplied." and now he had struck a nerve. I cast my eyes downward for the moment.
"I admit that my father's choice of associates was... " this wound still felt raw, "unsavoury." I looked up to meet his shadowed face once more; my expression as stoic as I could manage. "But regardless of his choices, it cannot be disputed that he is a brilliant engineer and inventor, letting his designs go to waste would be quite, well, wasteful." I was able to work my way back to a smirk by the end with my small joke.
"And if these weapons are put into production, how can we trust that they will only be supplied to the united forces? And not to less reputable individuals." It seemed that the grandmaster had calmed himself somewhat. "Considering the choices of your father, how can we be sure-" now it was my turn to cut him off.
"Grandmaster, " my tone had just the tone of harshness that I wanted, "I would think that you would understand the poor logic behind judging some based on their parents... Or, their ancestry." I made sure that the contempt for the type of judgement he'd been passing a moment ago was apparent; it seemed to have hit home.
"Good point," the old man in the shadows let out a small chuckle, "Very good point Ms. Sato." he let out a long sigh before continuing "Very well, Future Industries will receive the contracts by the time you return to Republic city." I stood up, trying not to smirk too much at the victory.
"Thank you very much," I gave a respectful bow as I prepared to leave, "Grandmaster Zuko."
"You are welcome Ms. Sato, may your journey back to Republic city be a pleasant one." and with that I left the darkened room, my smirk growing as I headed back to the hotel.
I'd done it, I'd managed to save the company; the deal had been made.
An: I apologise for the lateness of getting this complete and posted, considering that I mentioned this months ago. This story is going to be a bit darker than my other stuff and lacking in korrasami due to Korra being miss not appearing in this in this fic, I hope that you all still enjoy it.
Please remember to review so I feel motivated to complete the next chapters faster.