Author's Note: Thanks for the ongoing support for this project, it means a lot. Especially, thanks to Danii for the kind review. It is very much appreciated. I had a little bit of a writer's block with this story, idk where that came from… anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the story so far, and please review.
Somewhere in the Fire Nation, not far from a village on the river, 100 AC
Lu Ten was worried. Though Sokka was obsessed with their schedule to arrive on time at the meeting point for the invasion, but he too could not help but to worry that they would be late if Appa was really sick. It had cost them two days now, two days of waiting and eating scarcely little bits of disformed fishes out of polluted water.
None of them knew why the bison was sick, and since there was hardly any medicine around, the possibility of curing him was slim. Their daily shopping trip to the village became every day's main event. Lu Ten sighed, they couldn't even train because somebody of the village could see them. And spending each day lazing around, and worse, dealing with an annoyed Sokka, wore him out.
As far as he was concerned the situation of said village was quite dire. The people were poor and starving, the river had been their main source of income, yet it became polluted, and the fish went rare and disfigured, making the people ill from eating the fish and drinking the water. The obvious reason was the iron factory on the other shore. It produced iron for weapons, ships and other war instruments. It was a small tragedy amongst all the other ones this wretched war had brought upon this world. Lu Ten wondered if there was something they could do about it but discarded the thought. Of course, they could destroy the factory, but then, what would happen? Most likely the army would suspect the villagers and punish them. It was no good. In his mind, the best thing would be to end the war soon, so the factory was no longer needed. He sighed again, without the bison, none of that would come true.
Lately the villagers were in a good mood though. They had a local myth of a spirit called the 'Painted Lady' and apparently, this spirit was not only sighted in the last days, but really did bring them food and healed the sick. Very useful, to have such a spirit at your side, he thought. If only that spirit could heal their bison on a whim, maybe even leave a bit of food here, it would be even better. Since they had the Avatar at their side, contacting that spirit shouldn't be a problem, should it?
Lu Ten rolled to his side, somehow, he couldn't really find sleep tonight. Maybe it was because he lacked opportunities to get rid of his energy the last two days. Then again, maybe it was just the bits of the two headed fish he ate turning inside him. He heard someone of the others stir, then light footsteps on the grass. Maybe Katara was also having trouble sleeping, wouldn't surprise him, water benders were dependent on the moon, and it could affect them greatly. At some point he drifted into an uneasy slumber.
He tossed and turned in his sleeping bag. As almost every night, thoughts of his family filled his dreams, there was Lian, the child, his father, Jeong Jeong, his cousin, … But tonight, it went quickly from dreams and thoughts to nightmares. Though her letter had given him hope, that Lian was alright, he was reminded that everything could have gone the wrong way. What if they never made it to Earth Kingdom shores? What if she didn't survive childbirth? What if the child was dead? He had no doubt that if both were dead, Jeong Jeong would forever hate him. Thoughts like that encircled him for a few hours, his mind filling the gaps with pictures. Lian holding a bloody little bundle to her chest, crying frantically, rocking her body violently, cursing him for not being there. A child alone in the streets, dirty, homeless, orphaned, standing shivering in the rain, crying because there was nowhere to go, no home, no parent to protect it. Guilt was waving through him. He wanted to reach out to the child, hug it, warm it, protect it from the rain and everything else, but he couldn't reach it. The child turned to him, it had his eyes, filled with hate and anger it stared at him, while tears ran down Lu Ten's face. His hand almost got through to the child, but suddenly it slapped his hand away and screamed at him, "Don't touch me! You were never there for me when I needed you! When Mom needed you! I hate you!", it repeated the last sentence over and over again.
Suddenly someone started calling out his name, his first thought was Lian, but then he got aware to whom the voice belonged. It was the blind earthbender, Toph. She sat next to him and had grabbed his shoulder, shaking him in an attempt to wake him up. As he sat up, he noticed that Sokka was awake too. He was a few feet away, busy with who knew what, mumbling something under his breath.
Questioningly the firebender looked at the girl, "What's going on?", he asked her.
Toph looked and sounded tense, "Sugar Queen left the camp secretly. We found hay in her sleeping bag. And it looks like Twinkle-toes followed her.", that alarmed Lu Ten. The Avatar and the groups only healer missing were terrible news. What if they ran into trouble? Quickly he got up to his feet and dressed himself.
Then he heard Sokka call out a triumphant "Aha!", so he looked over to him. The boy held up a bag. As he showed Lu Ten what was in it, the prince raised an eyebrow. It contained violet berries. Sokka explained, "I bet these berries make a tongue look purple. Here, Toph, try some.", he handed the earthbender a handful of the berries. She ate them without hesitation and afterwards stook her tongue out. Indeed, it was purple. So, Appa was not sick, at least that was somehow positive.
A noise in the distant interrupted the silence, Lu Ten turned his head towards it, he was sure it was an explosion, and it came from the direction of the factory. Suddenly he had an idea what Katara and Aang were doing tonight. Sokka wanted to storm towards the noise, but Lu Ten held him back, "We should wait for them here.", he said with a voice so serious the Water Tribe boy didn't even think of starting a discussion. Instead, they all sat down and waited.
After about an hour they heard footsteps approaching and Katara whispering, "Shh! We don't want to wake Sokka, or the others." She turned around the corner and saw that everyone was already up and staring at her, arms crossed. Nervously she added, "Hi, Sokka, we were just out on a morning walk!"
Lu Ten could feel the boy's anger, it radiated in waves through the cold morning air, "Oh, really? A morning walk? I know you're the Painted Lady, I know you've been sneaking out at night, and I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him these berries!", Toph stuck out her purple tongue as proof. "Katara, you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now!", then he turned to the young Avatar, "And how long did you know about this?"
Aang motioned his hands in a defensive move, "Hey, I just found out this morning!"
Sighing Lu Ten stood up and walked towards the waterbender, she was sadly packing her bags. He touched her arm slightly, and she turned around to face him. With as much empathy as he could, he said, "Hey, I know you only wanted to help these people. I felt the same way."
Anger appeared in her eyes as she interrupted him, "Yet you did nothing. I did help them."
"Because I thought of the consequences, Katara. For us and for them. You destroyed the iron factory tonight, didn't you?", he asked, now raising his voice, "What do you think will happen now? How will the military react?", and as she didn't have an answer for him, he continued, "I was part of this army, I'll tell you what will happen now. They will look for the culprit, and since they don't know of us and hardly believe in local myths of Painted Ladies, they will look in the village. And when I say look, I mean, they will most likely destroy what little these people have left. If they leave them alive that is."
The anger in her eyes mixed with helplessness, almost whispering she said, "But what should I have done, I couldn't just go indifferently."
In that moment she reminded him of Lian. Her voice rang through his head from a distant memory, "I know I'm not a warrior, but I have to do something.", great, he thought, she's not even here, yet she's still making me feel like the idiot I am. Back then Lian had insisted on becoming a nurse, even though he told her it was unnecessary and probably risky. What if she would become sick in the end?
He sighed and straightened himself, with a much calmer voice he said, "I'm sorry, Katara, I overreacted. What you did was probably not smart, but it was brave and kind. It shows that you have a big heart, don't let morons like me turn that down.", she looked at him surprisingly, wondering what caused that sudden change, then he grabbed her shoulders and locked his eyes with hers, "But you have to understand that what you did was very dangerous, to the village and to you and Aang. What if somebody had seen you two, you were disguised, but Aang was not. And you two could have been hurt, imagine what we should do if a part of this factory had fallen onto your head?", he saw that she understood now, but he also saw the tears in her eyes. Quickly he pulled her into a hug.
Katara sobbed a few times before she pulled away. Wiping the tears away she said, "Thank you, Lu Ten. But I have to correct you in one point,", now it was his turn to look surprised, with a small laughter she said, "You're not a moron, Sifu Hotman.", they smiled at each other before returning to the group.
They went on packing when the silence was torn by the roaring sound of engines. Toph looked confused, so Aang's attention turned to the river, "Fire Nation soldiers are heading toward the village!", he called over to the others. Lu Ten grimaced, while Katara's expression went serious.
As she started to walk into the direction of the village, her brother held her back, "No, Katara. We're leaving."
She turned towards him, furious, "No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me! I'm going down to that village, and I will do whatever I can."
Sokka looked at the ground for a moment, his sister walking away from him. He quickly looked at the others until Lu Ten laid a hand on the boy's back and shoved him slightly forward. The Water Tribe boy sprinted after his sister, "Wait! I'm coming too."
She eyed him questioningly, "I thought you didn't want to help."
In a reassuring tone he said, "You need me, and I will never, ever turn my back on you."
Happily, Katara hugged her brother, "Sokka, you really do have a heart."
A few feet away, Aang sniffled, "He really does have a heart, doesn't he?", only to be elbowed by Toph. As he fell to the ground the young Avatar could hear his firebending teacher chuckle.
A while later, Lu Ten and Aang were standing in the polluted water, beneath the wooden ways of the village. He just hoped that everyone was in position as he heard the army lieutenant, Mung, rant at the villagers. Just as he expected, they would burn the village to the ground. He thought, he remembered this guy back from his time in the army. Essentially a big bully, back when he met him, he had been just a private. He thought, if he had been under my command, I would never let him raise in a position of power.
Just as they wanted to light the first roof, their torch was blown out. He smiled at the airbender at his side. It happened a second time when a vast amount of fog approached over the water and there was a flute heard from a distance. Lu Ten could tell that the soldiers were getting nervous, even more so, when something growled with a deep voice, but nothing was seen. Good work, my fluffy friend, he thought, as the voice echoed over the water. Then they heard a repetitive, loud thudding noise, like giant footsteps. Okay, it was maybe a bit out of character for the Painted Lady, but Toph had to do something too.
Then Katara appeared on the water surface, clothed like the Painted Lady with make-up and everything. With a sudden burst of waterbending she approached and stepped onto the dock. Now Mung was really nervous. He shouted to his soldiers, "Do something!" and shoved them forwards. Lu Ten prepared to defend Katara if he had to, but Aang quickly airbended at them from beneath the dock, rattling them. They ran off and Katara destroyed some of the soldiers' jet skis, causing the rest of them to flee.
Lu Ten smiled, before he heard Mung, "I'll take care of you myself.", my turn, he thought. Mung bended an arc of fire towards Katara, but it was shut down as a wall of fire shot up from the ground and hit the arc, two and a half meter off the dock. Aang the sent Mung off the dock with airbending. In a moment Katara was above him, raising her arms threateningly, "Leave this village and never come back."
She returned to the dock as the Fire Nation lieutenant swam away towards the nearest jet ski. She was greeted by a cheering crowd, celebrating their spirit, until one of them saw the smudged make-up on her face. Suddenly the cheers turned into an angry mix of "You tricked us!" and "You're a waterbender!", Lu Ten looked worriedly at Aang, that was not a good development.
Quickly Sokka ran in between the crowd and his sister, Aang and Lu Ten steps behind him. The Water Tribe boy stood tall against the whole village, "May she is a waterbender, but she was just trying to help you. Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her!"
Katara laid a hand on his shoulder and shoved him to the side, smiling, "Sokka, it's okay. I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have ticked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you, you have to help yourself."
One of the villagers scratched his head, "She's right, but what should we do?"
Lu Ten grinned as he disappeared into the crowd. Then he called out from behind some people, "Maybe we can clean the river!"
The villagers' faces lit up, "Yeah, we can clean the river! Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a waterbender.", the man, Dock, if he remembered correctly, said as the crowd began to cheer again.
Lu Ten saw that Sokka had pulled the man aside and quickly joined them. Dock was explaining something to Sokka and Aang about his brothers. The prince raised an eyebrow as he saw that the man managed to even annoy Aang. He caught a pleading look from Sokka and guessed what this conversation was about. The man didn't notice Lu Ten approaching but turned around quickly when a bandaged hand was laid on his shoulder. He shrieked back as Lu Ten spoke with all the authority he could muster, "You won't tell anyone about this, will you? I have no doubts, the army would come back if you did.", smiling down at the old man.
Dock stuttered, "O-Of course not, Prince Lu Ten, your majesty, Sir."
Lu Ten then patted the man's shoulder, "Good, thank you. Mr. Dock, isn't it?"
As they walked back to Appa, Sokka looked at Lu Ten questioningly, "Hey, Lu Ten. Why did this guy knew who you really are in an instant?"
Lu Ten smiled, "Well, Sokka, without flattering myself, I think I can say I was pretty popular back in the days. Also, there's a proverb, that fools often see the truth."
Sokka raised an eyebrow, "You trusted on a proverb?"
Lu Ten shrugged his shoulders, "I can't help it, I am my father's son.", he grinned.
A few nights later every one of the group was awake and marveling at a meteor shower. "Wow, this is amazing to watch.", Katara said.
Lu Ten laid on the grass, the bandaged hands folded behind his head, "It happens not that often, but it is also not an uncommon event in these lands. Like fire itself, it is beautiful to watch, but it burns you when you get too close. Or in this case, it is very unpleasant to be hit by it."
Sokka sat not far from him, "It kind of make you realize how insignificant we are.", Lu Ten raised an eyebrow at this sudden philosophical outbreak.
Toph rolled to her side, "Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times.", making the others chuckle. Suddenly a big meteor came close to the group, making everyone gasp as they felt the heat.
The Water Tribe boy stood up, "Oh, man. You've never not seen anything like this.", as they watched, the meteor crashed next to a nearby town. Concerned they looked at each other before they boarded Appa and quickly headed over to the crash site.
They saw that the fire from the meteor would destroy the town and immediately went into action to put it out. Katara flew with Appa to a creek they saw earlier to get as much water as she could. The others jumped off, Toph and Aang went to create a trench to stop the fire from reaching the town, while Lu Ten tried to contain any sparks or debris that could make it over the trench and onto the town and tried to keep the worst of the heat away from Toph and Aang. Sokka asked, "What should I do?", only to be handed the lemur with a quick, "Keep an eye on Momo.", from Aang.
After the trench was finished, Katara arrived with the water and the benders began to put the fire out, Katara with the water she brought, Toph using earthbending, Aang blowing out the flames with airbending and Lu Ten with firebending, pulling the fire from the material into the air, where it vaporized. The combination of water and airbending caused some snow to rain down on the Water Tribe boy.
When the last bits of the fire were out, they returned to Sokka. "Good work, everybody.", Aang praised the group as Sokka emerged from a large pile of snow.
The next day they decided to have lunch in the town they saved in the night. They sat down in an outdoor restaurant, all chatting happily. "These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night.", Aang smiled.
"And we better keep it that way.", Lu Ten added, "If they knew, we would be in big trouble. We were lucky that the snow melted overnight."
Toph pouted, "Yeah, maybe, but still, the worst part about being in disguise is that we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love."
Lu Ten wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the Water Tribe boy, "Boo-hoo. Poor Heroes.", he was sitting a bit away from the group and now turned to the side. Katara and Lu Ten exchanged a worried look.
Katara soke first, "What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."
Sokka sighed, "It's just, all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires and flying around and making other stuff fly around or burn it to shreds. I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything.", he sighed again.
Katara was the first to answer, "That's not true. No one can read a map like you.", and Toph added, "I can't read at all!"
"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time? I mean, look at Katara's hair, right? What's up with that?", Lu Ten slapped his forehead and grimaced as the girl blushed.
Suddenly awkward she ran a hand through her hair, "What? What's wrong with my hair?"
The young Avatar quickly realized his mistake, "Nothing. I was just trying to…"
Lu Ten interrupted his pupil, "Look, Sokka. I think you are incredibly brave, leaving your home at such a young age to fight in the war alongside a small group of people to save the world, but knowing you better, I also see the creativity in your plans and an intelligence and realism that is rare at your age. Altogether paired with a sense of humor that is sometimes above my understanding. I don't see why a warrior with such great perks would question his worth."
Sokka looked back at them questioningly, "Look, 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.", Lu Ten sighed. Can't this boy listen?
Katara stood up and sat down next to her brother, "I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but I hope you know, none of us see you that way.", then she lifted her gaze, "I know something that's going to make you feel better.", the others looked at each other questioningly.
Later that day, Lu Ten leaned at the wall of a shop selling weapons and armor while he watched the Water Tribe boy try out different weapons. He sighed, they boy had no idea how most of them worked and hit himself a couple of times. His mouth turned into a grin when he watched the young Avatar try on a scary looking armor, trying to impress Katara and also, explaining to her what a wind sword is. Lu Ten chuckled, shaking his head a bit, when the armor got too heavy on the twelve-years-old and he fell over. He went over to him and helped him up, "Well, student, maybe you should pick something a little lighter. Do you need help getting out?"
The Avatar nodded, slightly embarrassed, "I think I'll stick to what I got.", Lu Ten only chuckled as he began to help the kid out of the armor.
"Your hands are really getting better, aren't they?", Katara asked him.
Lu Ten looked up from his work and smiled at her, "I think so too. Maybe I can use them at the Day,", he stopped himself, "You know.", she nodded.
When he sat the last piece of the armor back on the rack, he heard a voice from behind, "I think I've got hit by a lion turtle! Is that you, Prince Lu Ten?"
The prince stiffened, who had recognized him now? Slowly he turned around and a wide smile crept on his face, "Wang? Is that you?", he went up to the counter and both men exchanged a quick hug. The teens looked at them questioningly as Lu Ten turned to them, "Hey everyone, this is Wang. He's one of the best blacksmiths in this whole nation."
The other man laughed whole-heartedly, "Too much praise, my friend. These days I'm much more of a merchant. But if you want something done, I can still reactivate my hammer.", Lu Ten declined, but Wang insisted in giving them a discount if they wanted something. "Also,", he added, "How is it possible that you're here, I thought you were dead. And who are these kids? They're not yours, are they?", making Lu Ten laugh.
He then began to explain, "I did not die, but I understand why everyone thought so. When we fought on the second wall, the section we were fighting on exploded and I woke up inside the walls. I got thrown into prison for a few years until these kids helped me escape. That's why I'm traveling with them. The war had them separated from their families, and so I thought, I should help them find their parents again.", he knew it was a lie, and he didn't like that he had to lie to an old friend, but he had to, to protect them. "Also, Wang, my uncle seems not that much thrilled about my reappearance, so do you think you could, you know, keep our little visit a secret?"
The blacksmith nodded understandingly, then he smiled mischievously, "But only under one condition, my prince. You come here tomorrow night and we have a nice evening with lots of stories from the past and even more raspberry wine. How does that sound?"
Lu Ten quickly looked over to the teens, then back to his old friend and sighed, "Somehow every time I meet you it ends in raspberry wine, but fine. I think we can spend another night in this town.", then they saw that Sokka stood in front of a rack with swords, staring at one, of course, he wants the most expensive one, Lu Ten thought to himself.
Wang immediately walked over, "You have a good eye. That's an original from Piandao, the greatest swordmaster and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here.", something glimmered in Lu Ten's eyes as he heard this. If he remembered correctly, Piandao was a friend of his father's, or at least he had been. But he kept these thoughts to himself.
Aang interrupted his thoughts, "That's it! That's what you needed all along, Sokka."
Confused the Water Tribe boy looked at the monk, "A sword?"
"Not the sword, a master. We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Piandao.", the young Avatar said.
Every member of the group liked the idea, at last, Lu Ten nodded in agreement, "Indeed, I wouldn't know anything about firebending without my father. You should at least ask him, the worst possible thing is that he says no.", afterwards Sokka agreed to talk to Piandao.
Later that day the group went up to the swordmaster's castle. Sokka quickly grabbed the knocker and began knocking. He paused a bit after every knock, but nothing happened, before he started to knock louder and frantically. Suddenly the door opened to reveal a servant, "Can I help you?"
When Sokka regained his composure, he said, "I've come to train with the master.", Lu Ten raised an eyebrow at him, no doubt, the boy had some courage.
The servant frowned, "You should know the Master turns almost everyone away. What did you bring him to prove your worth?", which made Sokka patting his clothes to find anything.
Lu Ten sighed and stepped forward, "He comes with the best recommendations and greetings from the Dragon of the West.", the servant eyed him suspiciously. It was a bit risky to bring his father into this, but since the old man most likely sat behind bars, who should prove otherwise. Now, just pray that the boy doesn't mess this up, he thought.
"Right… Let's get this over with.", the servant said, shaking his head slightly as everyone else turned their heads towards Lu Ten in surprise. Sokka entered the castle and the doors closed behind him.
Back at the camp, Aang sighed, "What should we do today?"
Before everyone could go on and whine about the boringness of the situation, Lu Ten interrupted, "I have something I wanted to show you Aang.", the Avatar rose into a seating position, "It is a special firebending technique that my father and I created ourselves, so there are only a few people knowing of it. It is powerful, but it can be dangerous. But I think, it is important for you to learn it, actually I wish I could've shown you earlier, but you know, my hands.", he gestured with his bandaged fingers.
The young Avatar was interested, "What is it about, Sifu Hotman?"
Lu Ten sat down in front of him, "Lightning.", he said in a serious tone.
The monk's eyes got big, "You think, I'm ready to bend lightning? But I thought only a master could do something like that."
Lu Ten shook his head slightly, "I don't want you to create lightning, I want you to know how to redirect it. My father came up with the idea when he studied waterbenders.", he then began a longer monologue about lightning and energy flowing and Aang almost slept in.
Suddenly a bandaged hand waved in front of his eyes. In a slightly angered tone, Lu Ten, who was by now standing in front of him and had bowed down to his eye-level, spoke to him, "Hey there, student. If I recall correctly, you've been the one recently almost killed by lightning. I don't think you want this to happen again, do you?"
Aang shrieked back, "S-Sorry, Sifu Hotman. It's just so warm today I got sleepy. I'm listening."
Lu Ten sighed and ran a hand over his face, "Aang, stand up.", the airbender did as he was told. "Now,", he mirrored his teacher as he entered a fighting stance, "focus on the energy that runs through your body. Let the lightning enter in one of your hands, then let it travel down your arm. It needs to travel past your heart and into your stomach. Do not, never, attempt to let it flow through your heart, understand?"
The monk was a bit afraid of his master's serious tone, "Yes, Sifu. Not through the heart, through the stomach."
Lu Ten nodded, "Then let it flow out through your other side and hand, don't forget to aim where you want to have it. With this technique you're wielding a great amount of energy. It needs to go somewhere. Of course, you can redirect it towards the person that tried to shoot you, but since I know, you don't want to hurt somebody seriously, I'd recommend pointing at the sky. Now, try the movement a few times with me."
Aang followed his instructions. He was aware that Lu Ten was teaching him this, so he could protect himself better against opponents like Azula or the Fire Lord himself. After a while he asked, "So, are you going to shoot lightning at me for practice?", earning himself a disbelieving stare from his teacher.
The prince shook his head, "No way. This technique is only for the emergency, it is far too dangerous to be practiced carelessly. Just imagine what would happen if you failed to redirect it. We don't have the luxury of Spirit Water anymore."
Aang nodded, "Okay, but I have one more question.", Lu Ten nodded, "Did you ever actually do it? Redirecting lightning, I mean."
Lu Ten stopped in his movements, he gestured for Aang to follow him as he went back to the campsite. There he sat down next to Appa, the monk following his example. "Yes. I have redirected lightning before. Two times actually. The first one was on a remote island in the north of the Fire Nation. My father had shown me his theory of redirecting lightning, and being the sometimes careless teenager I was, I wanted to try it out. Now, of course, my father wouldn't shoot lightning at me, so I traveled to this island, where storms are not uncommon and searched for a high point in the landscape. I knew it would make it more likely to get struck by lightning.", the young Avatar listened with big eyes, "It was incredibly stupid. I mean, I got struck and managed to redirect it at the sky, but the sheer power drove me off of the mountain I stood on and I fell, breaking several bones. Since I had told no one where I'd go, it took them two days to find me. No need to say, my father was furious with me. And the second time,", he made a small pause, "was in the royal gardens. I was on a walk with my grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, when I saw the lightning from the corner of my eyes. I quickly shoved him out of the way and redirected it at the sky. It had been my little cousin Azula, who tried bending lightning for the first time. Spirits know if she really wanted to hit us, I wouldn't count on it that she wasn't.", he sighed.
The rest of the day was spent in a rather boring silence, only once did the blind earthbender disrupt it, "Hey Sifu Hotman,", she said, laying on her back, "Do you miss your father?"
Lu Ten raised an eyebrow at her for a second before answering, "Of course. I haven't seen my dad in seven years, I miss him a great deal. Why do you want to know?"
Toph shrugged her shoulders, "I've met him in the Earth Kingdom, he made me tea and he gave me very good advice, so I just…"
Lu Ten smiled at her, "You care about him, is that what you wanted to say?", as an answer came just "Hmhm.", so Lu Ten continued, "Don't worry about him, he's a great master, whatever he's faced with, he will make it.", that made the girl smile.
As the evening approached, Lu Ten went over to Wang's for the promised raspberry wine. The blacksmith opened the door with a wide grin, "Welcome, my friend. Come on in, the evening is not getting younger."
Lu Ten laughed at him, "Neither are we.", as he went into Wang's courtyard, he saw that the blacksmith was prepared. Two comfy chairs were standing around a table filled with a variety of raspberry wine and other beverages, as well as two glasses. He took a seat and watched Wang take the other. As the night became colder, they began to exchange stories, drink the wine and rekindle old memories almost forgotten. Lu Ten could feel that his head got lighter and lighter when he asked, "Wang, my friend, there's something important I have to ask. You know of my relationship with Jeong Lian, don't you?"
His friend looked at him with glassy eyes, "Sure, nobody made our little nurse happier than you. I remember when I was just an apprentice back then. We were working on one of those stupid ships. And then I had this accident, a part of the ship fell on my shoulder and arm. No one thought I would ever be able to work again. But Lian believed in me. She tended to me and a few months later I could swing a hammer again. I owe her one. When I saw you, I thought she would be around too. I always expected you to marry her. Why do you ask?"
Lu Ten smiled at him, "Well, I did marry her in secret before we set off to the siege for the last time."
Wang coughed a bit, "You actually did?! I thought your grandfather hadn't allowed it."
The prince took a sip of his wine before he answered, "That's why I married her in secret, Wang. Only Jeong Jeong and Zhang knew."
He was interrupted by the blacksmith, "Yeah, shame what happened to Zhang.", Lu Ten nodded, trying not to remember the pictures of his dead friend.
"Anyway,", he sighed, "Now that I've returned, I can't find her. Do you know where Lian could be?"
Wang thought about it for more than a minute, "I think, most likely she left with her father when he deserted. Their house was empty afterwards, so she was in every case gone by then. But I remember, she vanished before that, about half a year before Jeong Jeong left. Rumors said that she hid in their home back then, but I have no proof of that. Some people thought she was hiding from something or someone, but I don't know. Who should hold a grudge against our little nurse, hm? Anyway, some others said she was pregnant and that's why she had to hide at home, so that she and her family don't have to face the shame. But again, no proof for that. But wait, you said, you married her? Then it could be your child?", he grinned at his friend, "Wouldn't that be great, another little Lu Ten? Would sure piss off your uncle though."
Lu Ten sighed, "So in conclusion, you know nothing, right?", Wang nodded.
Then the blacksmith went on, "You know, I always thought that you two would have plenty of children, I mean, when I saw you back at my shop, I thought that Lian and your kids must have been staying at a hotel or something."
Lu Ten raised an eyebrow, "Wang, stop it. I haven't seen her in seven years."
"Yeah,", the blacksmith said, "Just imagine, if you two had had a normal life together, you could have like six children now."
At this point Lu Ten threatened to throw an empty bottle at his friend, who quickly changed the topic.
A few hours and bottles later Lu Ten got out of Wang's house. He shook his head a few times in the cold night air to clear it a bit, before he began to think about which street would lead him to their camp, hopefully. He needed longer than he thought for his way and ended up in his sleeping bag maybe an hour before sunrise.
His peaceful sleep was interrupted rather quickly though. First the lemur, Momo, hopped onto his sleeping form and decided it a fun playground. Growling he shot the animal a death glare and it flew onto the bison. A while later Aang's voice echoed through the air, "Good Morning everyone!", Lu Ten only buried himself deeper in his sleeping back, but the monk came straight towards him, "Morning, Sifu Hotman, how was your evening with your friend?"
Lu Ten opened one eye and looked at the kid, then he turned around, away from the airbender and growled, "Tiring.", seeing his teacher was obviously in a bad mood, Aang didn't question further, and did not ask for training as well.
Only a few hours later did Lu Ten raise and was preparing tea when Toph called over, "Sokka's coming!"
The Water Tribe boy came down from the top of the hill, "Hey guys. What are you doing?", but he was immediately included in a group hug by the other teens, while Lu Ten drank his tea. He smiled as they all told the boy how much they missed him.
After they somehow left the boy a bit of air to breathe, Lu Ten walked over, a tray with the tea pot and cups in hand, "Hey Sokka, good to see you again. How was your training? Would you like some ginseng tea?"
Sokka smiled at the group, "Thanks for the warm welcome, it really warms my heart. But I need your help."
A while later they were all shoving a big piece of the meteor from a few nights ago towards the castle. Though Toph helped with earthbending, it was still heavy. As they arrived, Sokka knocked at the door frantically, like he did before the door was opened for the first time. Master Piandao stepped out, he eyed the group suspiciously, "Who's this?", he asked his pupil.
They all straightened themselves and put on their nicest smiles as Sokka said, "Oh, these are my friends. Just other good Fire Nation folks.", they all bowed to Piandao, who returned the greeting, "Do you think we can make a sword out of a meteorite?"
After quickly observing the meteorite, Piandao said, "We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world.", and as he went back into his castle, "Your friends can come back tomorrow to see the result."
On the next day, they came back as Piandao told them. They sat down inside the castle and the master presented them the black sword. They listened to Piandao, who complimented Sokka on what an exceptional student he was and how he was more worthy than anyone he had trained before. Lu Ten thought, don't let my baby cousin hear that. He had been your student too.
Then everything happened quickly. All of sudden Sokka told Piandao the truth about himself, the whole truth, the Southern Water tribe truth. Lu Ten watched with wide eyes, he didn't really just… The other group members and him stood up to support him in the resulting fight, but the boy gestured for them to sit by and watch, Lu Ten understood, this was his fight and his alone.
They watched the intense sword fight and even Lu Ten marveled at the skill the teenager had acquired in just a few days. They used the whole garden area, the high ground of a wall and the structure of a bridge as well as the coverage that some plants could provide. As Sokka blinded Piandao, kicking up some dirt from the ground, Lu Ten thought, this was it. The end of the fight. But it wasn't. Suddenly he understood what Wang had meant with the greatest swordmaster of all time. In a moment, Sokka was laying on the ground, his own sword away from him, his master's sword pointing at his head.
But Piandao stopped just as the group got up to fight him. It may have been Sokka's fight, but they didn't want their friend to die. Piandao swung the sword away from Sokka, and the group stopped. "Excellent work, Sokka.", the master said. He then gave a signal to his servant and his scabbard flew onto his sword. Then he turned to the group, "I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar."
They all looked surprised and Aang asked, "How did you know?"
The master smiled, "Oh, I've been around a while. You pick things up. Of course, I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe. 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 curiously.
Piandao explained, "The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all. Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am.", then he handed the teen the black sword.
They smiled at each other as they left the castle, just as they were heading out the door, Piandao called over, "And Lu Ten, greet your father from me once you find him, yes? I'd love to have some tea and chat with him, and maybe a game of Pai Sho."
Lu Ten was surprised, but turned back for a moment and bowed smiling, "Yes, Master Paindao. May I ask the same of you if you find him first.", the other man returned the bow and smiled.
"Of course," the master said, "and here, give this to Sokka.", he threw a small bag towards him. Lu Ten bowed again and quickly ran after the teenage group.
"Wait!", he called to them, "Sokka, Master Piandao wanted you to have this."
Sokka looked at the bag curiously before he opened it, pulling out a white lotus tile, "It's a Pai Sho tile."