28
Kotaro, Katara, Aang, Toph, and Sokka all lay down, watching in awe as stars began to fall from the heavens in a meteor shower.
"Wow…" Katara breathed, "This is amazing to watch."
Kotaro nodded in agreement, but even though watching them was a beautiful and incredible sight, he couldn't help but wish that Hoshiko was right beside him. When they were younger, and the sky was clear enough, Hoshiko and Kotaro would sneak out of their homes and meet each other in the valley near the edge of the village, where no one would venture that late at night. They would simply lie down and gaze at the stars, their fingers linking together so that, in the darkness, they would always know where the other was. They would point to the sky and make up their own constellations for fun. Kotaro had made up three different ones he could remember. There was the badger mole riding the platypus bear, the panthermadillo that gave birth to a moose lion cub, and the rabaroo with five ears. Hoshiko's constellations were a bit more rational and realistic than his. There was the moon blossom flower, the cat with the mouse on its head, and, his personal favorite, the wolf howling at the moon. He shifted slightly as these memories came to him, and a flood of emotion and depression came with it.
"Kinda makes you realize how insignificant we are." Sokka said.
"Meh," Toph shrugged, "You've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times." Everyone's eyes widened as one of the falling meteors went slightly off-course, and was now heading for the earth. Everyone sat up as it came closer.
"You've never not seen anything like this!" Kotaro said as it fell closer and closer. It whizzed above their camp and went further away, crashing into the earth a mile away. Toph, feeling the impact, jumped up and looked in the direction it had come from. Everyone shared unsure glances and they got on Appa, looking to see where it had hit.
When they came towards it, they saw it was engulfed in a fire that was quickly spreading, and there was a town only a little ways away.
"That fire is gonna destroy the town!" Katara said when she saw it.
"Not if we can stop it." Aang said, moving Appa so he would land and they all, except Katara, who jumped down to Appa's head and took the reins.
"There's a creek over here, I'll bend the water onto the fire." She whipped Appa's reins and he took off towards the creek.
"Toph, let's make a trench to keep the fire from getting any closer." Aang said, he turned to Kotaro, "Kotaro, is there any way you can absorb the flames and shoot them away with lightning?"
Kotaro nodded, "I can try." The three of them dashed off, ready to put out the fire. Sokka grasped his club awkwardly.
"What should I do?" He asked them.
Aang turned back to him, thinking for a moment, then watched as Momo flew past him, "Keep an eye on Momo!" Then he dashed off.
"What, I'm just a lemur-sitter?" Sokka asked incredulously as Momo flew onto his head. He reached up and patted his head, "There, there. Feel better?"
Toph and Aang ran towards the flames, creating a huge trench around the fire. Kotaro jumped into the trench, took a deep breath, and then held up two fingers towards the fire. He took a deep breath, and the flames began curling towards his outstretched fingers. Kotaro closed his eyes as he felt the heat from the flames going through his body, and he began moving his chi as he had been taught to do. He felt the power building up in his other hand, and after a moment, a bolt of lightning shot out into the sky, harming nothing. Just as he was preparing to do it again, he stopped when he saw Katara and Appa flying by, Katara bending a huge blob of water and sprinkling the water over the fire like rain. Toph bent a slab of earth to slam down on top of the flames and they weakened in size. As Appa passed by Aang, Katara sent him the remainder of the water and he began to bend it.
"Sokka! Stand clear!" He warned. Sokka picked Momo up by the scruff of his neck and walked away.
"Right… Stand clear." He muttered. Aang bent the water up into the air as Toph and Kotaro ran for cover, and he used air bending to cool the water to a point where it would freeze, and turned it into snow. The fire was now completely out. He smiled at Katara, Toph, and Kotaro.
"Good work, everybody." He said, Kotaro looked around curiously and saw Sokka poke his head out from a snow pile, looking very miserable.
The next morning, everyone went into town for breakfast. The town, as it turns out, was good to a lot of Shinjuns, since almost two thirds of the ones there were free. So it wasn't too hard to find a restaurant everyone could agree on. It was a simple place with a small kitchen and a small area for all the customers to sit down and eat. Aang came back to the table where Kotaro, Toph, and Katara were already sitting with his own tray of vegetarian food.
"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night." Aang said as he sat down.
"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is that we don't get the hero worship anymore!" Toph sighed, resting her head in her hand, "I miss the love."
"Boo hoo. Poor heroes." Sokka said sarcastically. Everyone looked over to see he was sitting on a ledge that overlooked the small town, his still steaming food in one piece.
"What's your problem?" Katara asked, seeing her brother's bad mood, "You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."
"It's just… You guys can do all this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around." Sokka lowered his head unhappily, "I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything."
"That's not true." Kotaro said in an attempt to cheer him up, "Out of all of us, you're one of the best map readers I've seen."
"I can't read at all!" Toph said, following Kotaro's attempt.
"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time?" Aang asked, he reached over and grabbed a small piece of Katara's hair, "I mean, look at Katara's hair, right? What's up with that?" Katara blushed embarrassedly and took her hair back, trying to hide it.
"What? What's wrong with my hair?" She asked worriedly, looking around.
Aang, seeing what he had done, said, "Nothing! I was just trying to-"
"Look," Sokka said, catching their attention, "I appreciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm… not. I'm just the guy in the group who's… regular." Katara got up from her seat and went over to sit beside him.
"I'm sorry you're feeling so down," She began, "But I hope you know none of us see you that way." Sokka didn't meet her eyes, his face was still downcast. Katara thought for a moment, then smiled and put her hand on his shoulder, "I know something that's going to make you feel better?"
"You do?" Sokka asked sadly.
"Shopping!" Sokka said happily, clapping his hands in excitement as he walked into the weapons emporium. He walked through the shop's hallways that were filled with an assortment of different blades and weapons, "Maybe a little something to re-invigorate my battling." He smiled as his eyes caught something and he picked up a pair of nun-chucks, "Hey! What about these?" He let out small battle cries as he spun the nun-chucks around, doing tricks with them, but only ended up hitting himself in the head. Kotaro couldn't help his laughter when he fell over and knocked a few weapons on top of him in the process. He walked over to another part of the store, looking over a couple of belts that were made for carrying small weapons, which he could use to carry a few of his things in while they traveled. Katara was trying on a pair of gloves next to him, and asked his opinion on them. Kotaro shrugged and was about to answer, when he stopped, seeing something behind Katara and looking at it oddly.
"What do you think?" Aang asked, Katara turned around and saw Aang, who was completely decked out in very high quality armor, with a huge helmet in the shape of a dragon's head, and armor that made him look like he was more vicious than he actually was, "Pretty slick huh?" Katara and Kotaro grimaced, "All I need to complete the outfit is a wind sword."
"What's a wind sword?" Katara asked, holding up her hand to block the reflected light that came off the helmet.
"It's where I get a sword handle, and swing this around and bend out air through it like a blade." Aang said, moving his only free arm, which wasn't covered in armor, in a swinging motion with a sword handle, and making whooshing sounds.
"Yeah… nice." Katara said unsurely. Her eyes widened when Aang began to lose his balance and Kotaro quickly ran behind Aang, catching him before he fell, some of the armor coming off in the process.
"You might just want to stick to what you know." Kotaro said, helping his friend stand back up and starting to help him out of the armor.
"Yeah… thanks Kotaro." Aang said, moving his no longer armored hand to help get the armor off. Kotaro grabbed the empty sword handle and looked at it.
"Although, that whole bending-sword-thing is actually a pretty cool idea." He said, looking over it, "You think I might be able to do the same with lightning?" He looked up at Aang and Katara, who shrugged unsurely.
Everyone continued to peruse the store, but Sokka had the most fun doing it. He tried out a nagi-nata, a large bludgeoner weapon, a pair of twin swords, a long spear, and many others. Kotaro watched him try out each one with amusement, because he didn't know how to use any of the weapons properly. This point was proved even further when he took a small knife and used it to pick his teeth. Something caught Sokka's attention and he looked to see an incredibly well-designed sword mounted on a wall.
"Ooooh!" He walked over to it, looking at the expert craftsmanship, "That's what Sokka's talking about!"
"You have a good eye." The shop owner said, coming up to him, "That's an original from Pian-Dao. One of the greatest sword masters and sword makers in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here."
"That explains how you got one from him." Kotaro said, looking at the sword, "His swords are unbelievably rare." The shop owner nodded.
"Yeah, I get a good deal because my shop isn't too far away from him." He said, when a pair of customers came in, he went over to greet them and welcome them into his shop.
"That's it!" Aang said suddenly, "That's what you needed all along, Sokka!"
"A sword?" Sokka asked in confusion.
"Not the sword," Aang said, "A master." Sokka reached up and took the sword off from where it was displayed, "We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Pian-Dao."
"That's a great idea!" Katara said, "I could have never gotten to where I am without master Pakku."
"Yeah, same here." Kotaro said, "I learned the basics of lightning bending from my brother. Everyone needs a teacher."
"I learned from badger moles." Toph said, "They don't talk, but they're still good teachers." Sokka pulled the sword out of the sheath, looking over it.
"It would be nice to be a master sword-fighter." He said, looking over the sword's excellent craft, "Alright, I'll talk to him."
So, once they returned to camp, Sokka headed off to Pian-Dao's castle that was a little ways from the town. While he was gone, the heat of the day seemed to only increase, causing everyone to not want to do anything.
"So, what should we do today?" Aang asked as the four of them lay on their backs, looking up at the sky.
"I'm tapped out." Toph said, "I already picked my toes. Twice!"
"Twice? Why twice?" Kotaro asked, turning his head towards the blind girl in confusion.
"The first time was for cleaning," Toph said, "But the second time's just for the sweet picking sensation." She wiggled her toes happily when she said this.
"Sokka's been in charge of the schedule," Katara said, trying to get the image of Toph picking her feet out of her head, "I'm not sure what we should be doing."
"Plus, it's so hot today." Toph said, picking her nose lazily.
"…How hot is it?" Aang asked, hoping to get a joke.
"I don't know. Real hot?" Toph replied.
"It's so hot…! It's so hot…!" Katara tried to come up with a good joke. She sat up and ran her hand across Momo's fur, "Momo is- is shedding like Appa! Huh? Huh?" She looked for Aang's approval as he scratched his head.
"I guess the jokes don't run in the family." Aang said. Katara frowned.
"Oh, everyone's a critic." She said, lying back down. Kotaro got up.
"Well, as much fun as it is hanging out with you guys," Kotaro said, "I think I'm going to do some training."
"Ooh!" Toph immediately jumped up, "I'll come with you!" Kotaro looked at her unsurely.
"Actually, Toph… It's probably better that you don't." He said, Toph frowned.
"Why?" She asked.
"Lightning is pretty dangerous, I wouldn't want you to get hurt." Kotaro said. Toph's frown deepened.
"What, you think I won't be able to handle it because I'm blind?" She asked angrily. Kotaro took a step back, holding up his hands defensively. He knew this was dangerous territory he was treading into.
"No! That's not it at all!" Kotaro said quickly, "To be honest," He lowered his hands and looked over at Katara and Aang, "I don't think any of you should come with me."
"How come?" Aang asked.
"Lightning is powerful stuff," Kotaro began, "And once I fire it off, I don't have much control as to where it goes. It could turn around and hurt one of you, or branch off and shock you to death. Only the strongest masters can manipulate the bolt to go exactly wherever they tell it to. I just think it's safest if you guys stay here."
Toph crossed her arms across her chest and pouted unhappily, "Fine." Kotaro smirked at her childish behavior.
"Maybe when I'm able to get more control, okay?" He said, he walked away from the group and headed to a small, flat area a little ways away. He set up some targets made from old bits of dead trees nearby. He shed his shirt, revealing his heavily scarred body underneath, and turned in the direction of his targets. He took a deep breath in and out and lifted up two of his fingers, pointing them to the sky. He felt his power building up inside him as he slowly moved it down, his fist next to it. He shot out his fingers, and a bolt of lightning came shooting out, missing his target by a paper's width. He sighed in aggravation and tried it again, the same thing happening, but on the opposite side.
As he practiced, he couldn't help but be reminded of a time when he was younger, and practicing back in his village.
A young, thirteen year old Kotaro shot off a small lightning bolt at a wooden stump. It veered off its course and struck the ground. He heard clapping and looked over at Hoshiko, who was applauding his efforts. Kotaro stood up straight and tried to make himself look nice as she came over to him.
"Hi, Kota." Hoshiko greeted.
"Hey." Kotaro said, clearing his throat when his voice cracked. He made his voice sound deeper than it actually was, "What's up?"
"Not much." Hoshiko said, she moved so she sat on a nearby fence, and he moved to sit comfortably next to her, "I really liked your lightning." Kotaro scoffed, looking away.
"It missed the target." He said unhappily.
"But still! The fact that you actually got one out that could go that far is really good!" Hoshiko encouraged, not wanting him to feel bad, "You're getting a lot better!" Kotaro looked away.
"No, I'm not." He said, he turned back to her, "If I ever want to be as good as my dad, or my brother Kai, then I need to actually hit the target!" He jumped off the fence and glared at his target, shooting off another bolt at it, only to have it veer off once again and go straight up. He growled in frustration and stomped his foot angrily, "Rah! Come on!" Hoshiko frowned sadly and walked up next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Kotaro, is something wrong?" She asked him, "I mean, you're usually not so adamant about getting your lightning right." Kotaro looked at her, then down at the ground.
"It's nothing." He said, "Don't worry about it." Hoshiko frowned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head on one of them.
"Kotaro, we're hanbun tamashis, I know when you're upset." She said, "You can't lie to me." She lifted her head, "Tell me what's wrong." Kotaro sighed and turned to her.
"It's just… my dad and my brothers were all so amazing and so powerful." He said, "Ever since I was a baby, I've looked up to them. I want to be just as strong as they were, and I want to make my dad proud."
"What makes you think you haven't made him proud now?" Hoshiko asked, her hands resting gently on his shoulders.
"What makes you think I have?" Kotaro asked angrily, moving away from her and starting to pace angrily, "I mean, I'm too young to join the army, I'm not strong enough to protect anyone, and even if I tried, I'd just make everything worse!"
"That's not true!" Hoshiko insisted, "You're a lot stronger than you think, and you don't need to join the army to prove anything." Kotaro stopped his pacing and looked at her.
"Oh, really?" He asked, "Then how is it that I can't protect anyone? I wasn't strong enough to help my dad when he fought, and I'm not even strong enough to help my mom except with chores!"
"…You protected me…" Hoshiko said quietly, Kotaro looked at her in surprise, "When we were six, and we got lost in those woods… I kept on crying, but you looked after me." She held out her hand, "The entire time we were in that wood, you never let go of my hand, and you looked after me." Kotaro reached out and took her hand. "I never wanted you to let go of me when we were there."
"Yeah…" Kotaro stepped closer and looked Hoshiko in the eye, "And I don't want to let go of it now, either." Hoshiko blushed and looked away. Kotaro put his hand under her chin and made her face him, "I never want to let you go." He leaned in and pressed his lips gently to hers in what was their very first kiss.
Kotaro walked back to the camp, shirt in hand, to find Katara and Aang going over their map of the Fire Nation.
"So, where are we going next?" Katara asked, she looked over it, "We're starting from here…" She pointed to a spot on the map.
"No, we're over on this island." Aang said, pointing to another part of the map. Toph sighed and linked her fingers together behind her head.
"You noodle-brains don't know what you're doing." She said, "I miss Sokka."
"Ooh!" Katara said quickly, "I got one!" She turned to Toph with a sly smirk, "If you miss him so much, why don't you marry him?" Toph turned over on her side, there was no reaction other than that. Katara scowled.
Aang looked up when he noticed Kotaro's presence, "Hey Kotaro."
"Hey." Kotaro responded, walking by him. He didn't notice how Aang and Katara's eyes were drawn to the scars along his back and chest from his time as a slave, but Katara's were mostly drawn to his incredible physique. When he tucked his shirt away with his things, feeling that the heat was too much for him to wear it, he noticed them staring at him and he stood back up, facing them. "What?"
"Nothing." Katara said quickly, blushing at the fact that she was caught, while Aang didn't look away.
"You were a slave, too?" He asked him. Kotaro nodded.
"I thought you knew that, Aang." He said, coming over and sitting next to Toph.
"I did, but I didn't think you were like Hoshiko." He said sadly, Kotaro's brows furrowed and he frowned.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, Hoshiko has all these scars on her back," Aang said, "And a brand. I didn't think being enslaved was filled with that much pain."
"Actually, I lived a pretty good life when I was enslaved." Kotaro said, "It was only on the first day that I got the majority of these. It's to help 'break you in' before you're sold." He said, gesturing to all the scars on his body, "It wasn't my owner who was strict with me. He himself wasn't so bad."
"Oh." Aang said, "Who was it?"
Kotaro grinned, "Actually, it was Pian-Dao."
"Seriously?" Toph asked, "And you didn't go with Sokka to go see him?"
"Well, Pian-Dao and I didn't know each other very well." Kotaro said, "I don't really see much point in going to visit him. After all, why would he remember a slave?" He scratched Momo behind his ear when he came up to him.
Kotaro slept beside Appa, away from Aang, Katara, and Toph that night. He didn't dream, he only slept. So, when he was awoken from Toph crying, "Sokka's coming!" He didn't mind it. He stood up with everyone else, who all smiled widely when they saw Sokka coming up over the hill towards them in a formal training gi.
"Hey guys," He greeted casually, "What're you doing?" Toph, Katara, and Aang all ran towards him, pulling him into a big group hug.
"Sokka!" Aang cried happily.
"You're back!" Toph said.
"We missed you so much!" Katara said as she and the others pulled away.
"Say something funny!" Aang said, ready to hear one of Sokka's jokes.
"Funny how?" Sokka asked, Katara and Aang started laughing. Kotaro smiled and shook his head at their sudden clinginess to Sokka. Sokka turned to Toph and asked, "What's their deal?"
"I don't know." Toph said, turning away, "They missed you or something. I didn't care." Kotaro saw the blush on her cheeks as he went over to Sokka.
"Thanks, that warms my heart." Sokka said sarcastically before Kotaro clapped him on the shoulder.
"They really missed you." He said.
"Okay…" Sokka said slowly, not really understanding him, "Anyway, I need some help."
"With what?" Kotaro asked.
"Follow me." Sokka said, they did as he asked and followed him to the crash site from the meteorite, where it still rested in the middle of the huge hole it had made in the earth. "I need to get this to Pian-Dao's castle." He turned to Toph, "Can you get it out with earth bending?"
"Easily." Toph replied confidently, stomping her heel into the ground, making the meteorite shoot up into the air and landing a few feet away from where they were standing. Sokka went over to it and, after a quick detour to camp so Aang and Kotaro could get their shirts back on, Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Kotaro pushed the rock up, while Toph used earth bending to help push it along. They got it up to the gate, where Sokka went up to the door's knockers, which were in the shape of two dragon heads, grabbed both of them, and started banging them against the door. The gate was opened by Pian-Dao, who didn't seem very surprised at the way he had knocked on the door. He looked among his friends.
"Who's this?" He asked, his eyes lingering on Kotaro a bit longer than everyone else.
"Oh, these are my friends." Sokka said, "Just other good Fire Nation folks." Everyone bowed respectfully to him, and he bowed in return. "Do you think we could make a sword out of a meteorite?" Pian-Dao walked over to the huge rock, putting his hand on it and feeling the material.
"We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world." He promised. They brought in the meteorite, making sure Toph didn't earth bend it in, and brought it to the workshop Pian-Dao had in his castle. As they walked through its hallways, Kotaro recognized every part of the castle he had been in. Although he had only been a simple servant, he soon came to know every part of Pian-Dao's castle when he was living there. When he had gotten enough money to buy his freedom, as he and Pian-Dao had agreed on, he gave him some extra money and sent him out into the world to be on his own. Kotaro was very grateful for the man, being so kind to him when he was there.
"Something interesting?" Pian-Dao asked him as they walked, noticing as he walked through the castle. Kotaro looked back at him, shaking his head.
"No, sir," He said, "Just admiring your home." Pian-Dao gave a small smile to him, then turned his attention back to the workshop once they arrived. Kotaro recognized the only other servant the castle had, a man named Fat. Kotaro always found his name to be very humorous, because he actually was a little fat. Pian-Dao asked everyone to leave them so Sokka could have some peace when he was making his sword. They did as he asked, and Kotaro went into the castle's rock garden, still finding it as peaceful as it was when he last saw it. Toph followed him, not having anything better to do while they waited.
"So, you were a slave at this place?" She asked, Kotaro nodded, "…Is it weird being back?"
"A little bit." Kotaro said, "But not in a bad way." He looked over at her, his eyes meeting her milky ones, "I have some pretty good memories here, but they're not all good."
"Do you think Pian-Dao recognized you?" Toph asked, Kotaro shook his head.
"No, if he did, he wouldn't have asked me what I thought of his home." He said. He walked through the rock garden, old memories from his time spent here coming back to him.
"Kotaro!" Pian-Dao called, Kotaro jumped up from where he had accidentally fallen asleep in the rock garden and instantly jumped up, looking into the face of his master.
"I-I'm sorry!" He said, bowing quickly, "It was an accident, master! I'll get back to work!" Kotaro had been working at Pian-Dao's castle a little over a month, and he was terrified that the man would punish him if he did anything wrong. This feeling was only intensified by the fact that he was one of the best swordsmen in the Fire Nation. Kotaro was about to run off, but Pian-Dao caught his shoulder. Kotaro looked up at the man curiously.
"Did I say anything about your work?" He asked, "Fat has already done most of the day's chores." Kotaro blinked with a blank expression as Pian-Dao removed his hand from his shoulder.
"Oh…" He said, he looked up at him, "But… then, why did you call me?"
He smiled warmly at him, "Well, you worked very hard yesterday, and I thought you deserved a break. I'm not angry with you for falling asleep."
"You're not?" Kotaro asked in surprise. Pian-Dao shook his head.
"No, I'm not." He said, "Actually, I wanted you to join me for a game."
"A… A game?" Kotaro repeated in confusion.
"Yes, it's a personal favorite of mine." Pian-Dao said, putting his hand on Kotaro's shoulder in a fatherly way as he led him away from the gardens to the castle, "Do you know how to play pai-sho?"
"My father played that game a lot when I was young." Kotaro said, "I think I remember most of the rules…"
"Well, perhaps a refresher, just to be safe." Pian-Dao said with a smile.
…
Kotaro grunted as he lifted the heavy box of materials onto the cart that was heading into town to sell Pian-Dao's various weapons. He let out a breath of relief once it was set up. He reached over to the side of the cart and pulled the rope around the boxes, making sure they'd be secure while the cart went down the road.
"Thank yeh kindly, son." The man who owned the cart said to Kotaro, tipping his hat to him.
"You're welcome." Kotaro said, reaching behind him and pressing his fists into his spine, popping it in a few places. When he stood up straight, he looked in surprise at the copper piece of money the man was giving him.
"Fer yer troubles." The man said, taking Kotaro's hand and placing the copper piece in his palm. Kotaro looked at the money in surprise, looking over the copper piece, and biting down on it to make sure it wasn't fake. He smiled when he saw that it was a legitimate piece of money.
"Thank you, sir!" Kotaro said, bowing towards the man before running back through the gates of the castle, closing them behind him. He ran past Fat, who was his usual bored self as he went to finish up the chores he had been given for the day. Kotaro ran into his quarters, which was a relatively small room with only a bed and a table, but a comfortable room. He ran in, reached under his bed, and pulled out a small bag. He dumped the contents of the bag onto the table, showing that it was all copper, and a few silver pieces of Fire Nation currency. He quickly counted up all his earnings over the past year from those he had helped in his enslavement. He smiled when he realized he had just enough. The same amount that Pian-Dao had paid for him when he was sold as a slave. He quickly put all the money back in the bag and jumped up, ready to show it to Pian-Dao, but stopped just as his hand reached the door to go out. He looked down at the money, then back at the door, then back at the money, and then walked out of the room.
He went down the hallways to Pian-Dao's study, where he was practicing his calligraphy. He hesitated in knocking at the open door, but did so, getting his attention.
"Yes?" Pian-Dao asked, not looking to see who it was. He already had a good idea of who it might be.
Kotaro opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again, "…I have enough." Pian-Dao stopped in his writing.
"Enough what?" He asked carefully.
"Enough money." Kotaro said, he hefted the bag, "You told me if I got the same amount of money that you paid for me, you would grant me my freedom." Pian-Dao put his brush down and turned around to Kotaro, who held up his bag of money, "This is it." Pian-Dao stood up and walked over to Kotaro, taking the bag from him.
"I see." He said, he looked at Kotaro, "You've… You've worked very hard in your time here, Kotaro. I appreciate it. You are free to leave whenever you please."
"I will, mas- sir," Kotaro said, quickly correcting himself, for he no longer needed to call Pian-Dao master. He smiled at him, "After you join me in a game of pai-sho… as a free man." Pian-Dao smiled at him.
"It would be my pleasure." He replied.
The two of them heard someone clearing their throat and looked back to see Pian-Dao looking at them.
"So… You're Sokka's friends, are you?" He asked.
"Um… Yes, sir." Kotaro said, turning to him, Toph doing the same. Pian-Dao nodded, walking towards them.
"Are you planning to stay while he's making his sword?" He asked.
"Yeah… It's not like we have anything better to do." Toph said with a shrug.
"Then, would either of you like to join me for a game of pai-sho?" Pian-Dao asked, his eyes instantly going to Kotaro, "As I recall, you still owe me a rematch." Kotaro's eyes widened.
"You remember me?" He asked in surprise.
Pian-Dao nodded, "Yes, I do. Now, will you join me, or won't you?" Kotaro smiled at him.
"It would be my pleasure." He replied.
After a night of hard work, Sokka's sword was finished, and everyone went to see the finished product in Pian-Dao's study.
"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure." Pian-Dao began, "You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away." Sokka couldn't meet his master's eyes as he spoke, "I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big, and as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me." He turned around to take the sword from Fat, who had been holding onto it, "No, it certainly wasn't your skills." Sokka frowned. "You showed something beyond that." Pian-Dao took out Sokka's sword, revealing it to be a black blade. "Creativity, versatility, intelligence; these are the traits that define a great swordsman." Pian-Dao put the sword back in its sheath and presented it to Sokka, "And these are the traits that define you." Sokka took the sword from him, still not meeting his eyes, "You told me you didn't know if you were worthy. But I believe you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained!"
"…I'm sorry, Master." Sokka said, "You're wrong. I am not worthy." Pian-Dao quirked an eyebrow curiously, "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe." Everyone felt like smacking their foreheads at Sokka's words, "I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you." He presented the sword to him, "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too." Pian-Dao said, taking out his own sword and swiping it at Sokka, who narrowly avoided it. He quickly got on his feet and blocked Pian-Dao's next strike with his sword. Everyone quickly jumped up to help him, but he stopped them by holding up his hand.
"No, this is my fight." He said, "Alone." Pian-Dao narrowed his eyes at him.
"Well, if you wish to fight alone." Pian-Dao said, "Then let's take this outside." Sokka nodded in agreement and followed him to the small courtyard outside where Sokka had done most of his sword training by practicing with Fat. Everyone else remained at the balcony that overlooked the courtyard to see the fight.
"Do you think Sokka has a chance of winning?" Toph asked Kotaro quietly.
"Considering that Pian-Dao's the master, and Sokka just started his training yesterday," Kotaro began, "The outcome doesn't look too good." Sokka and Pian-Dao glared at each other for a second longer, then started the battle. Their moves were fast and quick. Sokka mostly took random jabs at Pian-Dao, while his moves seemed more calculating towards Sokka. When one of his blows pushed him back to a small bridge, Sokka quickly jumped up, avoiding Pian-Dao's strikes as he jumped from one side of the bridge to another, easily avoiding the man's blows.
"Excellent!" Pian-Dao praised, "Using your superior agility against another opponent. Smart." Sokka wasn't sure why he was praising him, but didn't linger on the thought as Pian-Dao came at him again, and this time they went up some stone steps that lead to a small area that surrounded the castle walls. Sokka quickly jumped up and fought Pian-Dao from the top of the wall. "Good use of terrain! Fighting from the high ground!" Pian-Dao kept swiping at him until Sokka had trapped his sword under his own. Pian-Dao pulled the sword up and pushed Sokka back into a small forest of bamboo. He ran into it and Kotaro, Aang, Katara, and Toph lost sight of him.
"Toph, can you feel what's going on?" Kotaro asked.
"It feels like… he's just cutting down the bamboo stalks." Toph said, and she was right, as she spoke, they saw how some of the stalks began to fall, where they assumed Pian-Dao was.
"Yes! Use your surroundings!" Pian-Dao praised, "Make them fight for you!" Sokka ran out of the bamboo with a yell, and ran into the courtyard. Pian-Dao ran up and held out his sword and before Sokka could collide with it, he bent down like one would in a limbo game, and in attempt to regain his balance, put the point of his sword on the ground and, coming up with a quick idea, made a swipe, causing dirt to fly in Pian-Dao's eyes, blinding him. "Very resourceful." He turned his head to listen for any indication of where Sokka might be, and he carefully tried to tiptoe away. He stepped on a twig, making it crack, and Pian-Dao went at him. Sokka blocked his sword, but Pian-Dao easily maneuvered their blades and made Sokka's go flying from his hands. He looked back at Pian-Dao, and fell to the ground to avoid his strike. He looked up fearfully when Pian-Dao's blade pointed at his face.
Not wanting their friend to get hurt, Kotaro, Aang, Toph, and Katara jumped down, ready to fight him. To their surprise, instead of continuing to fight, he moved his sword away from Sokka.
"Excellent work, Sokka." He said, Sokka quirked an eyebrow at his words, not sure of what was happening. Pian-Dao motioned to Fat, and he threw the sheath to his sword towards him, and Pian-Dao moved so it would cover his blade. He turned to where Aang and the others were, "I think I'm a little old to be fighting the avatar." Everyone looked at him in surprise, and they relaxed out of their fighting stances.
"How did you know?" Aang asked.
"Oh, I've been around a while." Pian-Dao said, "You pick things up." Fat came over and gave him a small towel so he could get the dirt out of his eyes, "Of course, I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe." Sokka looked away guiltily, "You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try Lee, there's a million Lees."
"But why would you agree to train someone from the Water Tribe?" Katara asked.
"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation," Pian-Dao said, "Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all." He walked over to where Sokka's sword was and picked it up, holding it out to him, "Sokka, you must continue your training on your own." Sokka took the sword from him, "If you stay on this path, I know that, one day, you'll become an even greater master than I am." Sokka smiled at Pian-Dao, and the two men bowed respectfully to each other.
As they walked through the front gate of Pian-Dao's castle, Fat came running up to them.
"Wait!" He called, getting their attention, "The master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by." He held out a small bag and Sokka took it. They bid each other goodbye, and everyone surrounded Sokka, looking curiously at the gift Pian-Dao had given. He reached in and pulled out a small tile.
"It's a pai-sho tile." Sokka said when he saw it.
"The white lotus." Kotaro said, recognizing it, "Hmm."
"What does it mean?" Katara asked.
"I have no idea." Sokka said, they heard the palace gates close, and Kotaro noticed how the design on the front looked like a lotus tile with a Fire Nation insignia in the middle. "Ooh! That reminds me!" Sokka reached into his pocket, "Toph, I thought you might like this, since you've probably never had a chance to bend space earth before." He held out a small piece of the meteorite and Toph reached up and took it with a wide smile.
"Sweet!" She instantly started bending the rock into different shapes, "Check this out!" She bended the rock into a swirling circle, then a star, then an odd splatter shape.
"You know, I don't think there's such a thing as 'space earth'." Katara said, "If it's from space, then it's not really earth."
"Must you ruin everything?" Sokka asked her with a frown.
"I can't believe I missed you." Katara said with a smile, shaking her head.