A. N. : Slightly longer chapter today, I don't control these things. As someone with chronic knee pain, I gotta say that sometimes not having them feels like it would be easier. No matter what you end up thinking of Kamishima, I'd say that's the one thing they're definitely correct about. Having knees sucks.
Sea Walkers aren't allowed to sell weapons.
That's what Aang's new friend – Ichirou, his name is Ichirou – tells Suki when she asks where she could find a sword. No one in the village would be able to give her one, the Fire Nation took them all when the village was created, and forging new ones would potentially risk the lives of everyone here.
The best they can do is give her a knife, or a small hatchet. Or a staff, if she'd prefer that.
Suki sighs. Thinks.
Right out of the gate, the hatchet is out. She wouldn't know how to use it efficiently in combat. As for the dagger, if Suki has to fight in close quarters anyway, she'd rather rely on hand-to-hand techniques. Or on a fan. She misses her fan.
Which leaves the staff. Now, Suki has never used a staff per se, not in the way Aang sometimes used his glider – she wonders what happened to it, now that she thinks about it – but she might just have an idea.
She asks Ichirou if he could lead her to a woodworker. Next to her, Aang makes an excited ooh at the prospect. It makes Suki smile.
He's been really sweet this whole day, all smiles and boundless energy, speaking about his old friends and the newer ones, pointing to things he recognizes from back then even now, a sculpted figure on a roof or a turn of phrase or what little meaning he can grasp from a tattoo.
They hold hands as Ichirou guides them, the way Suki has been doing with Toph these past two days from time to time, the way she's seen Aang doing with most of everyone in the group too.
She didn't remember him being so physical with his affection, but then again… back home, she was busy training and watching over her sisters, and then over Sokka too. And Aang had spent maybe two weeks with the others at the time – how long exactly was it ? She doesn't know, can't really ask, and anyway, Suki doubts anyone but her would care enough to find out or even remember.
When did you wake up from your long sleep, she asks anyway. Justifies it to Aang with a smile and a just thinking it's been a while since we first met that isn't even really a lie.
The next time they saw each other, he wasn't in any mood to hold hands, she remembers. Losing Appa had hit him hard, and Suki hadn't known what to do for him, beside standing by him and the others and ensuring they got where they needed to be.
Abandon hope, the entrance to the Serpent's Pass said. Aang had agreed then.
If the person Suki was two days ago went back to this place, what would she think ?
Aang had said, then, that hope is a distraction, something the monks warned about. The Suki from two days ago might have said hope doesn't matter, only duty does. Hope is something people want, after all. Something she didn't allow herself.
She tightens her hand around Aang's. He runs his thumb over the back of her hand in answer.
She will become strong, for their sake, so no one gets hurt again, so she can choose to live once more, without handing that decision to Toph or to anyone else anymore.
Beside getting a new weapon, though, she doesn't really know how to go about it. They've been pondering, with Toph, what being strong really means, but finding an answer isn't that easy. Maybe it's situational.
Maybe being strong can mean fighting well, or smiling and silently supporting a friend, or…
So you're the kid who was the Yellow's friend ?
The voice welcoming them into the workshop is loud, energetic in spite of its owner's age. The person introduces themselves as Kamishima, Wood Master of the Sea Stern – that means I'm the most important person in the village, they add with a wink, before asking them not to repeat that to Grandmother Shami.
Aang laughs, and Suki snorts.
Kamishima – Master Kamishima, Suki supposes, although they don't seem to care much for formalities – asks what they can do for Aang, and seems to deflate a little when told that, actually, Suki is the one to need their expertise.
Rather than a staff, what she wants – what she knows she can use to the fullest extent – is a bokuto. A training sword made of a single piece of wood, she adds at Master Kamishima's head tilt.
Oh, is their answer. Well that's boring. At Suki's baffled splutters – what does that even mean ?! It's their job ! – they wave a hand and tell her to wait for their apprentice to come back, she'll take care of Suki's request.
Then, they go back to what they were working on when Aang and Suki entered, which – Suki will admit she has no idea what it's supposed to be. There are many parts of various sizes spread across the floor, but she doesn't see how they'll end up combining. Then again, she isn't the Wood Master, reluctant as they are to do their job.
Of course, Aang can't resist asking about it. Blowing on the hole they just drilled out, Kamishima's answer is nonchalant. It's a leg, they say, shrugging, eyes strained on the wood piece in their hands.
Aang and Suki share a look.
With the way the workshop is laid out, with tools and materials all accessible from the ground, and the work bench being nothing more than a rough straw mat, Suki had assumed Kamishima's legs had just always been gone. That they were used to living this way.
She shuffles her feet awkwardly. Next to her, Aang bites his lip.
And then Kamishima barks out a laugh. The leg is for a man named Sabimaru – forgot his shin in the Earth Kingdom three months ago – obviously, they say like that was in any way obvious. You couldn't pay them to make that stuff for themself – I've heard how you guys talk about your knees, they conclude, shaking their head with an amused snort.
Ichirou, who stayed near the door after guiding the two of them to the workshop, lets out a deep sigh. He is hiding his face in his hands, and Suki gets the feeling that he's used to these kinds of shenanigans from Kamishima.
Toph would like them, Suki thinks, but she really doesn't.
Prosthetics are fun, Kamishima says while grabbing another tool. Lots of moving parts, lots of thinking and adjusting and precise sculpting to ensure it all works properly. Ankles move, so do knees, so do fingers, but not everyone uses them the same way.
Sabimaru likes to fish big game, so he needs something solid that will carry at least twice his weight, with a flexible ankle so he won't fall on a moving ship. The wood, of course, needs protection against the damage of sea water. And since he will depend on this leg to live, all of the most fragile parts, the ones that will get worn out first, need to be easily and quickly replaceable.
That's interesting work. As complex and vital as building a watertight ship. That's what the Wood Master does.
Ah. Well. Suki guesses that means the dislike is mutual, then. With some luck, hopefully, Suki's request and the accidental insult it carried won't cause trouble for Aang. Kamishima – Master Kamishima, no matter how little she thinks of them, she can't allow herself to disrespect them in thought, she could slip up and worsen the situation and get Aang and everyone in trouble with the whole village and –
Twelve tools on the floor, one in Master Kamishima's hand, five fingers around her hand and two gray eyes looking up at her and Aang asks if she wants to see if they can find sweets somewhere while waiting for the apprentice.
She breathes.
Sure, she says. Let's get you something.
Suki lets Aang lead her for the five steps it takes to leave the workshop.