Warning: Violence and attempted assault
Chapter 14: Resuscitate
All afternoon, cheers, yelps of drunken stupors, hollers, and songs rang through the servant quarters. They were likely due to more rewards bestowed to the servants by Lady Mimik— very likely another desperate attempt to keep their mouths shut about Hahn, especially in the stir of budding investigations regarding the sudden changes to Arnook's estate. Yue, unable to take the chaos, retreated to the solitude of her room to get some peace and quiet.
The celebrations did not quiet down, only drastically increasing by the hours even as evening rolled around. Although Yue was too tired to care, the circumstances slightly alarmed Sokka and Piandao.
"What is it that's driving them absolutely nuts today?" Sokka looked out at the partying servants, "I get it's exciting to receive bonuses but seriously, they're acting like Zhao gave each of them a mansion or something."
"It seems to me that there's something more going on," Piandao frowned. "This morning when I went to see Zhao, I noticed there's a lot more pomp and show than usual. We haven't seen his manor be so busy lately. And Hahn's place, too, was packed."
"Probably for the party. Yue said she's not going."
"Even then, I have a feeling there's more involved here. Something is just not clicking." Piandao took a deep breath and reached for his coat and sword, "I will try to see what the fuss is all about. If I end up being late, go ahead and eat. Do not wait on me."
Following a somber hour or two and a long nap, Sokka and Yue found that the pandemonium was somewhat quelled outside, though Piandao was not back yet. They wallowed in a quiet but plentiful dinner, spoiling themselves in the exquisite warmth of the bedroom fire, exhausted from the grief coursing through their veins. Soon after, the tribesman found himself diligently handing Yue her medicine.
"I'll take it later. You can just leave it on the table."
Having noticed her subtle hisses of pain with each step she took, "Your legs seem to be hurting a bit more today. The healer said you need to rest. We keep telling you not to do the chores with us—"
"It'll be like that some days. No need to worry."
But he didn't budge, holding the medicinal serum out to her, "The healer said you need to take this on time and not skip any doses if you wanna feel better quickly. I mean, I know you're a healer, too, and you obviously know better, but…If you take it now, you can sleep without worrying about us waking you up to remind you later."
She could certainly appreciate uninterrupted sleep, so she didn't protest and took her medicine, earning a smile and a nod, "There you go."
His attempt at making a somewhat graceful exit backfired when he accidentally bumped onto the table. Yue's portrait album tumbled to the floor.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll pick it up—"
"It's not a big deal. Relax."
He picked up the album as well as a few of the portraits that slipped out. Most of them had fallen upside down, persistent with how the album itself fell, but he got a glimpse of one that had fallen rightside up: it was a painting of Yue in a long white dress, posing as if she was dancing — an assumption furthered by another tribeswoman's beating of the qilaut drum in the background and yet another tribeswoman who held a flute to her lips. Yue's hair billowed around her shoulders, and her dress swiveled around her leggings as she spun, the silver anklets around her feet glimmering almost as much as her eyes.
"I didn't know you like to dance." Handing her the picture, "Which dance is this? If you don't mind me asking."
"Tui's Waltz."
"Oh, that's Tui's Waltz?" he blinked, "I've heard of it, but we don't have a lot of people who know that dance in our village."
When she placed the portraits back in their missing slots in the album, Sokka happened to get a glance of more of her dance portraits. She was always slender and graceful as if the moon itself became the grace of lapping waves for brief specks of time. "So what made you interested in dance?"
"My anaana loved to dance. I think I might've gotten it from her." And when she noticed that Sokka was still looking at her, listening intently as if she would continue, she added, "Ataata always used to say my anaana was a very graceful dancer. He met her for the first time at a dance class, and he apparently fell in love with her right then. Ataata's parents were not especially fond of the arrangement, but ataata broke away from them. He married my mother and started Arnook Industries, and a few years later, I was born."
She then saw that one of the fallen portraits was that of her and her mother. Little Yue was clad in a white dress that matched Lady Ahnah's, the proud mother planting a loving kiss on the giggling toddler's cheek.
"Anaana had supposedly wanted to teach me. I still remember her wearing her beautiful white dress… and she would glimmer like Tui on earth as she danced. It's one of my earliest memories. She would move very gracefully, and I would try to copy her. She's the best dancer in the tribe, but she found joy in my messy jumps and wiggles… and ataata would always cheer the loudest for us..." She placed the picture in an available portrait pocket, "After she was gone, it took me forever to become acclimated into the real world again… and I realized that Tui's Waltz was making me feel close to her. So I learned it fully… And every time I dance, I feel like she's with me…" Closing the album and placing it aside, "Well that's that…"
She saw that he was still paying attention to her as if everything she had to say was interesting, his gaze gentle and laced with concern. She cleared her throat, directing the conversation elsewhere, "What about you? Anyone in your family like to dance?"
He shrugged, "Gran Gran's not very good. Wearing a weak smile on his face, "But she loved to dance anyway. Pakku's kind of a stickler, and he typically tried to save Gran Gran from embarrassment. My mom was good, but she was usually reserved, and my dad was kind of shy. Katara's the best one out of us; she and Aang make great dance partners."
"You don't like to dance?"
"I'd like to, but I got two left feet."
"I'm sure you're not as bad as you think."
Smiling at her, "When you're feeling better in a few weeks, do you think you can show me a few moves?"
Though she couldn't even imagine what the coming weeks will look like; her future seemed like a complete blur at this point. "You'll be home by the time I heal. We won't run into each other again."
Shaking his head, "Nonsense. You'll be in the South, too. And you'll have a comfortable place to stay with none of these hooligans around. You'll become a famous healer…" Another moment of thought later, "And if you wanted to teach dance on the side, it might be pretty cool, don't you think? You get to do something with a hobby you love and pursue your favorite career..." He nudged her softly, "And hey, you can teach your anaana Tui's Waltz. When she comes back to you as little Nah-Nah. It'll happen, I'm telling ya. Kooriq said you're gonna be a world famous healer, and you'll have six kids."
"He also said I'll be married to you by tomorrow and that you'll be fathering my six children," she raised her eyebrows, "You want me to believe that, too?"
Widening his eyes with a sheepish flush, "No, no, I didn't mean that! I told you not to worry about the matchmaking stuff, remember? I'm just saying that things will work out the way you want them to. He did say you'll get to have everything you want, so…"
Taking pity on his embarrassment, she let the matter go with a sigh, "I get it. You're just trying to be nice."
And from there, she focused her energy on the other questions he had for her as they went through her album, managing to pass the time. Portraits of her childhood, her life during healing school. There was even a time when her aunt had visited her extensively, judging by the portraits of the two of them during Yue's early life.
"Where…where is your aunt now?" Sokka asked hesitantly, looking over a picture of a young Yue in the arms of a warm-eyed tribeswoman.
"She's no more…" Turning the page, "She's been with the Spirits for a while now."
"I'm sorry," he softened his eyes. "I thought…"
"It's fine," she shrugged. "It happened a long time ago."
Many a time, Arnook didn't miss out on the chance to accompany his daughter to field trips and, when she became older, her temporary moves to different Earth Kingdom villages. Sokka was able to get a glimpse of all the various volunteer medical camps Yue had traveled to in the Earth Kingdom, and he noticed the persistence of Arnook's presence nearly anywhere she went, whether it was bringing food for her and her friends or stopping by to give donations to the local charities. The two were indeed very close, making Arnook's loss all the more painful and Yue's incessant grief much more understandable. And as expected, there were several paintings of Yue with her father, one such picture having been torn in the corner.
"Oh, this one's ripped," Sokka pointed out.
"I ripped the corner off," she clarified, "Someone was in the background. I cut him out."
"Who?"
"Some man who used to be friends with my father."
Concerned, "Was he another one of those people who hurt your ataata?"
"No, this guy's a different kind of jerk…" she sighed, a ray of expression slipping through. "He was friends with my father several years ago. I think I was eleven or twelve years old at the time. My ataata liked his company, so that man came to visit very often. I used to call him, 'Uncle.' And he had been nice and all, and my father eventually hired him as night security. But… late one night, he came to visit. It wasn't his shift, but he came anyway. And he had been very drunk. Ataata had gone to a business meeting in the next village at that time, so he wasn't there to greet him. So 'Uncle' came to my father's study to wait for him there… but I was already waiting for ataata there, too. The man came in and sat down. He tried small-talk, but he kept slurring his words. I didn't really understand what he was saying. And then…and then he started looking at me funny…"
Sokka feared where the story was going, more so when he caught the tremor in her fingers and the pure discomfort in her gaze.
"And then he started asking me about boys. If there was any boy I liked in school. I didn't know why he was asking me those things… but I just said no… And he kept moving his chair closer and closer to me and saying how I was…young and naive and didn't know about the world as much as I should…and he said that there were certain things about boys that young women needed to know…"
Sokka wore a horrified look.
"He looked scary and irate and… and on top of that, he just smelled horrible… but I didn't want to sound rude, so I told him I had homework. And then he started following me and saying he'll help… and I ended up hitting him with my book. And then I just started running away from him. He started chasing me. And I ran as fast as I could to my room and locked the door. He kept banging on the door yelling at me to open it. He did this all night."
"What about your ataata?" he asked worriedly, "The meeting couldn't have taken him all night."
"There was an issue with his yak-horse carriage, apparently, and he had to stop in the middle of his way home. It was three hours past midnight, and no one was there to give him a ride back. There weren't even gondola services. So he walked home, and it took him longer."
"Was there no one else around to watch over you?"
"There were, but I suppose they all assumed my father called him in to keep guard, so they didn't suspect anything." Turning away, finding the floor more fascinating than any form of eye contact, "He kept banging on the door and… then he passed out in front of my door. My room and the hallway just kept reeking of alcohol all night, and his snores were the only things I could hear. When my father found him like that in the morning, he was furious. The man tried to cover it up by saying he was keeping guard outside my door because he'd been worried about me, but ataata had his suspicions. He fired him and threatened to have him imprisoned if he ever came back… And I didn't see the need to tell my father because the threat wasn't there anymore. He kept asking me if that man tried to do anything inappropriate, and I… I just couldn't tell him. I said I didn't know that all of this happened because I'd already been asleep and my door was locked."
Yue recalled how for the next several weeks, it had been pure hell for her to sleep in her room. It still smelled like alcohol in and around the room even with perfumes and incense doused repeatedly on the carpets and walls. The feeling that the man was there, that he was following her or that he was casing outside of her room…the fears that spawned in the dead of the night just due to the awful odors.
"I ended up getting a new room, so I was okay, but… over time, I think that's what made me absolutely hate being around people when they're drunk. Unless they have alcohol poisoning and need medical treatment, I do everything I can to not be around them. Especially if they're men. I know it's not entirely rational to think that being around drunk men will always go wrong to that extent. Not everyone who drinks turns disgusting to that extent. I went to healing school, I should know this… Every time I smell alcohol, especially alcohol on a man… I'm reminded of that night…"
She felt his hand hover over hers in a good faith effort to be comforting, protective rage lingering behind clouds of care. "I'm sorry. I didn't know any of this. I wouldn't have asked about that dickfaced creep if I…"
"It's not your fault," she blinked her thoughts away, "Honestly it feels nice to tell someone about this. I never got the chance to tell anyone this, so…"
"Not even close friends?" he asked. "Wasn't there anyone you were close with… enough to talk to them about this…?"
"I had several opportunities. Some of the maids who worked at our manor were particularly affectionate, but… I still never took advantage of those opportunities."
"Your dad would want to know something like that. If I was a parent, I would want my kids to tell me everything."
"Well my father and I never really talked about things like boys, attraction, relationships, anything having to do with…well, reproductive needs," she said. "For the longest time, he and I lived in the illusion that I was still his innocent little girl. He would tell me about how he and anaana met and how much he loved her. How he did what he could to impress her. But those kinds of things were just…what should I say… 'fairytale talk.' The story of a handsome man and a beautiful woman 'who lived happily ever after, the end.' That was as far as we went. And as the years went by, he recognized that I understood certain things. Of course, he never gave me the talk or anything, but by going into the healing profession, I learned these things, and he knew that. And as for any of my personal needs, the maids were there for me, typically, so there was that…"
"Just because you don't talk about that stuff doesn't mean you should've kept this from him," he said. "Your ataata loved you to the moon and back. I'm sure if he knew, he would've been more careful."
"He was already more careful. He never hired any male security guards to guard me. He never went on any business trips at night. He took many, many precautions in all kinds of ways. He banned alcohol on the premises entirely, and he stopped drinking, too." Taking a deep breath, "As I grew older, the awkwardness went away, but I still never wanted my father to find out for a different reason. I never wanted him to think he failed me in any way. He didn't fail me, of course, but I know that he would've felt guilty for the rest of his life. Even if nothing had really happened that night because of the possibility that something could have happened."
"Of course it would tear apart any parent," Sokka said. "But maybe you still should've told him."
"Maybe…but I just didn't want to hurt him."
A few more minutes of quiet followed with his hand giving hers a reassuring squeeze every now and then. Eventually, "I'm glad you trusted me enough to share this with me… And I'm glad talking about it made you feel better. You know you can tell me anything."
"I didn't say all this for your sympathy," she frowned, defensiveness rearing its head again, "I only told you these things because after you go home, we'll never see each other again. You'll get caught up in your own life and won't remember me or this conversation."
Frowning, "How bold of you to assume I'd leave you in the dust."
She said nothing, closing the album that they had now perused through.
"Hahn is almost always drunk. He forces himself on women on a regular basis, and he's an overall asshole. Why would you still wanna go through with this?" Giving her a pleading look, "Don't do this to yourself, Yue, please."
She refused to respond.
A sharp rapping at the door pulled Sokka out of his short slumber. He saw that he had dozed off facedown on top of the album and that Yue had long drifted off to sleep, having fallen back against the pillows. The knocking continued, and the sharpness of the commotion was not at all characteristic of Piandao's softer knock. As it turned out, the visitor that Sokka was expecting to drive away was not one of Hahn's representatives. It was a frail-looking Water Tribe man, his face drenched entirely in tears and his body quaking like there was no tomorrow.
"Uh… is there anything I can help you with?" Sokka blinked.
"I-I need to see Miss Yue."
"And who are you?"
"Miss Yue knows me. I'm a friend."
"Does she?" Sokka raised his eyebrows.
"Yes. I'm Minri's older brother—"
"Minri?" Sokka glared, "Do you even know the kind of shit that woman pulled?! She did a grave injustice to—!"
"I had nothing to do with any of the decisions Minri took, I promise! Please, this is an emergency," the man let out a sob, "My wife needs Miss Yue's help immediately. I don't know who else to turn to, I… M-Miss Yue provides treatment free of charge—"
And even before Sokka could say something, he heard the creak of Yue's bed, the shuffle of feet and the opening of her room door. She made her way out as quickly as she was able in her sleepy daze, concern and recognition having taken over her exhaustion. "Mr. Kimiq?"
"Miss Yue," the man blinked back a fresh stream of tears, "I understand this is not a good time. You're still recovering from the accident and not in the best of situations, but there's no one else I can turn to. My wife's in labor and… I've had several healers come for help, but they're saying it's a complicated case and… they won't help unless I pay them their fees outright. They're demanding thousands and I… I won't get my salary until next week…" Appearing more faint and pale by the second, "I-I don't have a single copper piece left on me… I've spent all my money on my wife's medicines and healing sessions." His hands folded in a plea, "I know you and Minri are not on great terms right now, but I had nothing to do with what she—!"
"Don't think about all of that. I'll be happy to help however I can," Yue assured.
"Yue," Sokka said, alarmed, "Are you sure this man—?"
"Where's your wife now, Mr. Kimiq?"
"At our igloo. I-It's a bit far from here. A little farther down Kinjen's Peak."
"Kinjen's Peak," Yue wore a burdened look, "You came from an hour away?"
"I had no other choice," wiping his eyes, "The last silver piece I had, I used it to get a ride here. I-I have a carriage waiting outside Mr. Zhao's residence."
"Yue, can I talk to you for a minute, please?" Sokka pulled her aside, suspicion brewing in the glare he cast the man, "Are you sure this guy can be trusted? Do you know for sure if he really is married and has a wife—?"
"Yes, he does. I met her before."
"But are you sure he's telling the truth about this? What if Minri has something else up her sleeve and she's using him for it? He seems convincing, but we can't take any chances. He says it's an hour-long journey. I just don't know if… I can just get Master Piandao to give him some money so they can pay to see a healer."
Yue took another look at the weeping man before shaking her head, "I'll never know for sure until I go there and see for myself if he's telling the truth, but… what if he is telling the truth? What if his wife really does need help? I wouldn't trust him in any other matter, but this has to do with someone's health and well-being. I can't ignore that."
"What about your health and well-being? Do you ever think about that? You're still recovering. You shouldn't be straining yourself, especially now. I'll get Master Piandao to help him out. His wife's gonna be okay—"
"I highly doubt Master Piandao has thousands on him," Yue said. "And I can't live with myself if that lady needed my help but I didn't do anything about it because I was busy being selfish."
"Protecting oneself and being careful isn't selfishness," he frowned, but the more he kept hearing the man's sobs and the more he kept watching the epitome of compassion melt at the poor man's suffering, the more her question kept ringing in his ears— What if he is telling the truth?— the quicker he relented, albeit with great vigilance. "Fine. Let's go."
"You're coming?"
"Of course I'm coming," he said, scribbling a quick note for Piandao.
"There's no telling how long it will take."
"I don't mind—"
"There's nothing much you can do there anyhow—"
"I'll wait for you outside or something, but I'm not turning my back on you."
Too tired to argue, "Fine, but there are guards surrounding the premises. I'm trying to think of how we can even go without being seen. We obviously can't just walk out like this."
Sokka thought for a moment before catching sight of his boots and parka in a nearby corner. "I've got an idea."
Beneath the dark of the night near the relatively quiet gates of the servant quarters, two guards were on the verge of dozing off when they suddenly saw a trio of tribesmen heading their way.
"Oh look, it's Mr. Ingiullik," a guard mumbled, capturing the other guard's attention. Indeed, Sokka was the more infamous of the trio — currently a person of intrigue among the guards and servants with his obvious loyalty to the former heiress.
"Isn't that Kimiq?"
"Yeah, that's him," the first guard said. "Haven't seen him in a while."
"But who's the one in the middle? I haven't seen him in these parts."
The man in the middle was rather slender, and the parka he wore seemed to be a tad bit big for him. His hair was covered entirely by the hood of his parka, and apart from his eyes and nose, there was nothing that could be notably seen of his face given his gigantic beard and plentiful moustache. The man's eyes seemed especially familiar — fairly large, a gentle baby-blue in color— and his gait did not seem naturally masculine at first glance.
"I'm surprised you're not staying for the reception, Mr. Ingiullik," the second guard said to Sokka.
"I-I was told by my sister to keep Mr. Ingiullik entertained until the reception's over," Kimiq jumped in, trying not to show his anxiousness, "Master Piandao did not want any trouble."
"Master Piandao is one smart man," the first guard nodded, his attention still lingering on the man in the middle. "You there," pointing, "I haven't seen you around here."
"This is, uh, Minkiq. My cousin."
"Cousin, huh? Well I'm not sure why he's so nervous."
Yue gulped, fighting the urge to take a step back. Sokka casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "My friend's new on the job. He's a timid guy; it'll take him some time to get used to things."
"It took you no time at all," the guard quipped, his eyebrows raised. "Not everyone can be as bold as you, I suppose. Better give the boy a nice pep talk." With a lazy saunter in his step, the first guard opened the gates, "Anyhow, keep out of trouble, Mr. Ingiullik. Your fascination for the heiress is only gonna erode your lifespan."
Any other comeback that danced on Sokka's tongue was substituted by a death glare given the greater priority at hand. They boarded the carriage quickly though trying not to come off as desperate, and they sped away as fast as they could, their pulses skyrocketing until they finally made it out of the premises. The breath that Yue had been holding in finally left her as she turned back and looked several times, confirming that they weren't being followed.
"They didn't suspect anything," Sokka told her. "We made it."
Yue then yanked the fake beard and moustache off of her face, "How do you wear this?" she handed them to Sokka, "They're so itchy."
Which managed to extract the tiniest of smiles from him; for once, it was good to see her relieved.
Yue let the whipping of the winds and the sights of the vast open tundra slowly wash over her. For the longest time, she kept staring outside; the fierce adrenalin that she had kept suppressed for a long while suddenly began to bubble, coaxing out dangerous what-ifs. And Sokka seemed to have sensed that. The suggestion even lingered on his tongue: We don't have to go back. This is your chance. Let's never go back. But he couldn't speak of this in front of the tribesman who was dragging them this far all of a sudden.
"I'm not lying. You'll see for yourself," Kimiq choked out, having noticed Sokka's glare.
"You better hope every bit of what you're saying is true," the Southerner hissed, "Or you're gonna regret this, so help me Spirits."
"Ohhh, Ozaaaii!" came a desperate moan that rang through the private chambers allotted for Hahn's most prestigious business partner. Ozai grunted, sheathing himself inside a dark tribeswoman, pinning her down in a mating press. Kura squealed and lay against the crimson sheets, delirious from pleasure, her legs winding around his shoulders, but the sparking of the time candles were quick to remind her of the event that was calling to her.
"I need to get going soon," she warned, hoping Ozai hadn't ripped her dress too hard in his enthusiasm earlier, "Hahn will be suspicious."
"He's waiting on a special someone. You know, your goddess from the heavens," the firebender cupped Kura's breast, resuming the dance of his hips. "Why end the fun…uhhhgghhhh… here? Doesn't seem like she'll be here anytime soon…mmmm..."
"Seems like you're waiting for her, too," she gasped, surprising him with her comment to the extent that he stilled within her momentarily.
"There's no need for you to chop anyone's head off," she continued, panting. "There are ways to get what you want without such violence."
Raising his eyebrows, "You overheard me."
"But I assure you I'm not a threat to your plans. I only want to help you get a hold of her. Obviously it's good for me if she's out of my way, and it's good for you if she's in your way." She tightened around his length, coaxing a grunt out of him, "Zhao can't give you what you want."
"Oh?" a disbelieving huff, "Is that right?"
"He's a coward. He pisses his pants at the mention of the Avatar. One of these days, that Southern mutt will make a move on the 'goddess from the heavens,' and Zhao won't be able to do anything about it. Despite all the plans he told you, going against the Avatar's brother-in-law still isn't something to risk after all."
Her words piqued his interest.
"I need Hahn alive," she whispered in his ear, biting his earlobe in the process, "Long enough for us to get married and for me to be in the race for his property. I don't care what the hell happens to him after that, and I don't care what the hell you want to do to her in the meantime."
Ozai sighed, worked up from the impatient circles of her hips, "I'll think about it…"
Circling his pecs, "I know you've been thinking about her this entire time, Ozai. I know you want her. I know that even now, you're imagining I'm her. You're picturing yourself claiming her. Marking her as yours…"
Ozai didn't deny any of the statements she said, the beast in him unleashed. "I guess you really do know all about my obsession, you little minx," he huffed, proceeding to throw her against the glass window and proceeding to rail her harder.
"I…ohhhh…oohhhhh…aahhhh! I know…mmfff… exactly…haaahhh…what you—aaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Her toes curled as she reached her peak, but her eyes widened mid-pleasure when she noticed an equally wide-eyed and flushed Minri gawking at her through the window of the chamber. The servant girl quickly turned away, pretending as if she saw nothing but very clearly in the know of Kura's rendezvous in the shadows.
Turned out Kimiq hadn't lied.
There was very little Sokka understood about the situation. He sat by the canal a little ways away from the home, holding onto his parka that Yue had returned to spare it from possible birth fluids. The least he could do was attempt to provide some comfort to the mother-to-be's old father, who also took his place by the canal and spent his time praying abundantly. In the meantime, the female relatives of the servant family bustled about and did what they could to help, particularly at Sokka's explicit request given Yue's inability to run around in her state. The benders and midwives, clad in white healing robes, gathered along the entrance to the home not necessarily to help but to observe exactly how a 'plant mom' could save the day as much as Kimiq believed she would.
An hour crawled by with relatives rushing in and out of the home amid choruses of pained wails that could be heard from inside. One of the aiding women briefly stepped out, making her way to Sokka, "Miss Yue is not sure how much longer this will take. She told you to go home if you'd like."
He shook his head, "I'm not in any hurry. I'll wait."
"Ugh," one of the healers from the group groaned, standing up and stretching her legs, "I'm going home. Losing a night's sleep over this isn't worth it."
"Well I'm staying," another healer huffed, "He insulted us by calling that herbalist in! I'm not leaving until I see what happens."
"If we sophisticated bending healers couldn't do it, what makes you think a herbalist can do anything?"
"She doesn't charge, apparently. That's why."
"Exactly, she doesn't charge. You can't expect her to provide quality services. The cheaper the deal, the lesser the quality."
"And the nerve he has to give her a royal welcome as if she's a goddess who came down from the heavens. Hmph!"
"I mean, what the hell is her education and experience? And what's our education and experience? Any reasonable person would rely on a bending healer or a midwife by profession, not some self-proclaimed plant mom."
One of the more sympathetic healers, who had just then stepped out to fetch water, glared at the group of women, "How can you be so heartless? That poor family is going through a rough time, and she's the only one who has stepped up to help. The least you can do is respect her hard work. The poor thing can hardly walk, and she's still slaving away. And don't underestimate her prowess. I've worked with Miss Yue before. She received a gold medal from a prestigious medical university in the Earth Kingdom—"
"Anyone can get a gold medal in planting things," another healer rolled her eyes, and the sympathetic healer just shook her head in disappointment, heading back inside.
"He's desperate, let it slide," the other healers yapped on. "He'll realize soon enough that we were right. There's no way those two will both make it."
"If he can't afford to pay for his wife's medical expenses, he shouldn't have gotten her pregnant in the first place. They had their fun; no use crying about it now."
Sokka's glower at the women's gossips didn't change, but he found it a greater priority to comfort the shaking old man, who kept sobbing and sinking further into his hands, spiraling in his worst anxieties. "Don't listen to them," Sokka told him, "They don't have hearts, and I doubt their degrees mean anything if this is the behavior they picked up from healing school. But Miss Yue isn't like them. If I were you, I would trust her judgment. She said everything's gonna be okay, so it will be."
"But how can the world's finest healer not charge?" the man shook his head skeptically, "It seems too good to be true."
"But it is true," Sokka insisted. "She's not the type of person to help people just for money. She's just like the Moon Goddess she looks like."
It wasn't until another three hours that an ear-shattering scream and the shrill, healthy cries of a baby chimed through the home, flowing in tune with the local Tui and La Temple bells that clanged in the wee hours of the night. The excited cries, relieved breaths, and joyous laughs of the relatives followed suit. One of the aiding women rushed out to announce proudly to the quivering old man, "It's a girl! You have a granddaughter!"
"Oh thank the Spirits!" the man scrambled to his feet, "H-How is my daughter—?!"
"The danger has passed. Mom and baby are doing absolutely well," the woman beamed.
The moments following that were a blur. The proud new grandfather thanked Sokka for his company before racing inside. One by one, the aiding women filed out, citing the need to give the new family privacy now that the mother and child were both doing well. The other healers were embarrassed since their hypotheses were proven wrong, but they tried not to show it, continuing to whisper amongst themselves.
As the minutes wore on, Yue did not step out. Sokka approached the home for inquiring purposes, slowly stepping inside. With most of the people still moving out of the otherwise-crowded home, he was able to slip in unnoticed. An aiding healer who was stepping out of a particular room noticed him wandering aimlessly.
"Uh…I'm looking for Yue."
"Oh, Miss Yue is cleaning the baby," the woman smiled, "She'll be right out. Unless you'd like to see the baby while you're here."
"Oh…sure. If I can…"
Pointing to the corridor from which she was coming, "Down the hall to the right. But make it quick and keep some distance. We don't want germs near the baby."
Sokka slowly made his way in, looking around to see if anyone else would run into him, but it seemed no one else was there. He could hear the little coos and whimpers of a newborn in response to a very soft voice.
"You are so adorable. Yes you are, precious, yes you are!"
He peeked through the flaps of the curtain, finding a tired Yue seated in a chair with a small, swaddled bundle in her lap. Despite her exhaustion, she was smiling, reaching for the baby's fist. "Let me steal a kiss real quick." And she planted a soft kiss on the newborn's fist, fishing for her pulse next, a gentle finger hovering over her tiny wrist, "And your pulse is great," Yue sang. "Look at you. Everyone was worried for no reason."
With the sudden spill of more moonlight into the room, Yue briefly looked up, finding him standing by the doorway, "I'll be right out. I'm nearly done."
Not realizing he was lost in a sort of trance, he blinked, "No rush. I just wanted to see the baby."
"Oh…well yeah, sure."
The frolicking newborn was snuggled up against Yue and was sucking on her little fingers, occasional whimpers leaving her. For the most part, though, she appeared content, maybe even on the verge of sleep in the calming quiet, undeterred by the waft of a cool moonlight breeze given the warmth of her little blanket.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?"
Sokka nodded, not realizing that he had been smiling; nor did he realize how his smile had widened when the newborn's hand curled around Yue's index finger.
"Wow, you've got a good grip there," Yue chuckled.
The baby cooed.
"Yeah, you do. You're a strong one."
Sokka noted the wince on her face as she tried to stand up. He held her by her shoulders, gesturing for her to remain seated, "Just take a minute to breathe, okay?" he frowned worriedly, "You really overdid it today. The healer said you shouldn't strain yourself. Seriously, anyone could've done the cleaning."
"I just wanted to spend some time here…like this…"
And he saw then a dormant melancholy in the young tribeswoman's gaze, which was churning to the forefront in spite of her efforts to remain somewhat cheerful. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I just need to give them the baby, and we can leave—"
"I'll take it from here, Miss Yue," the healer who had authorized Sokka to come in stepped into the room. "You've done plenty today even while you're in pain. Please be seated. I'll be happy to take a look at your feet—"
"Thank you, but we need to be moving on. I'm taking something for the pain. I'll be fine once I go home."
"Alright, I'll get Kimiq real quick, please wait here—"
"That's not necessary," Yue insisted.
"But the family wants to thank you personally—"
"I don't have time," she barely kept herself from raising her voice, hit by irritability and impatience, "Please, let them have their moment. I need to get back."
The healer didn't argue, giving Yue a warm hug and whispering a gentle, "It was an honor working with you tonight. Take care of yourself," before taking the infant from her. Yue gave a tired nod of acknowledgement, watching the healer leave with the child, hearing the immediate reactions of love and joy ringing through the little home.
"I figured it would spare you some suffering if you get sterilized."
"From what I hear, you're very fond of children. And I know it, Yue, you will buckle and want your own."
She did not notice the increase in Sokka's concern; the speed with which her energy drained from that point was alarming him as did the sheer torrents of tears that rained down her face. "Yue—"
"I'm fine," she nearly snarled, cursing herself for breaking and looking at everything but him, "My legs just hurt."
"Let me go get that healer—"
"No," she shook her head. "I just want to go back. It'll be fine once I sleep it off."
Sokka didn't buy it, only reaching into his pocket. She heard the rustle of a bag and the jiggle of a medicine bottle.
"I brought it along," he took out a pill, reaching for a small thermos of water that he had also brought along with him, having stored it in his parka pocket, "In case you needed it."
"Oh…" drying her eyes, "I…thanks…"
She shakily took the medicine, not saying anything for a long time, not protesting when he helped her up to her feet a few minutes later and helped her to the carriage. He wrapped his parka around her shivering form.
"No no, I need to take a shower when I get back. Your parka will be ruined—"
"We'll wash it off later. Keep it, you're cold."
She let herself fall back tiredly against the seat, her eyes closing as the pain in her legs and feet very slowly ebbed away.
"Yue…"
"Hm?"
"We don't have to go back."
She gave him a look.
"We really don't have to go back," he nearly begged in his tone. "No one there knows you're here, and no one here is gonna pay any attention to where we're going next. I asked around, and there's a cargo port around thirty minutes from here. I'll send a message to Master Piandao through messenger hawk real quick, and he'll meet us there. We can catch the next cargo ship and hightail it out of the North. This is the perfect opportunity."
But Yue did not seem to entertain his adrenalin rush and went back to closing her eyes — really an effort to stop the wave of grief and pain that was quickly filling her eyes with boiling moisture, "If I run away now," managing to keep her voice even, "And if anyone finds out that Kimiq was the one who asked for my help…and that he was responsible for me leaving the premises in the first place… He and his family would face Hahn's wrath and Zhao's fire—"
"Oh come on! None of us is gonna rat Kimiq out or anything!" he said in exasperation, "And no one recognized you! He said he was taking me and his 'cousin' away from the mess—!"
"Well even if they believed you and his 'cousin' ran away, Zhao won't have any problem with that. He might even be relieved that you're not involved, and he doesn't even know this 'cousin' to begin with. But if I go missing, they will definitely investigate and get to the bottom of this." Turning away, "I promised Kimiq in the delivery room that I won't give anyone the chance to suspect him. I have to go back. I don't want to think about what will happen to his family if I don't do this… And I don't want to think about what will happen to Minri…"
"I get that you don't want an innocent family to get hurt, but I can't believe you still care about Minri," he said, glaring at the mere mention of that woman, "Even after that snake made your life hell."
"As much as I hate her, I don't want to see her dead. I'm not going to put anyone in danger, I told you this."
"But what if—?"
"Please, just let me sleep. I don't want to talk about this."
He didn't say anything, silently griping and cursing the circumstances with a disappointed scowl at the universe.
"Thank you, by the way. For helping us get here."
He blinked at her, "It's not much."
"No, it was everything." Managing a smile, "It was a good plan. You're a pretty smart guy."
Despite an urge to grin at the compliment, he retained a pout — no matter how ineffective— because how close they had been to just leaving this hell behind for good! And they probably would have if the Atsanik heiress wasn't so gentle and sweet and kind and radiant and righteous and self-sacrificing and stubborn…
…and innocent… He melted completely when her head fell against his shoulder at a sudden bump in the road. Through the vestiges of her drifting drowsiness, she managed to weakly pry herself off of him, "Sorry, sorry…"
"It's okay, I don't mind," he whispered, wondering if she heard him as she sank back into sleep. She didn't notice when she fell against him the second time, too tired to pay attention to her surroundings. He brushed her hair away from her face, breathing in the new baby smell that lingered on her person, her soft snores drowned out by the whistle of the Arctic winds.
He'd known he was in trouble since the moment he saw her, flailing like a koi fish in waters of feeling— warm feelings that he didn't understand, which had been bubbling within his seas of grief like little flower buds in a muddy pond but had now bloomed into a thriving lotus garden. There was no going back now.
Is this what they call love?
"I-I won't say anything," Minri promised Kura, "I didn't see anything."
"No no, don't say that," Kura drawled, folding her arms, "Imagine that I'm Hahn for a moment. Tell me exactly what you saw."
Gulping, "I…I didn't see anything."
Raising her eyebrows, "Tell me, Minri. You're not in trouble. If you were to tell Hahn what you saw, what exactly would you say?"
Looking from her to the firebender, whose fingertips blazed with a willing fire. "I-I would tell him that… M-Mr. Ozai is… being intimate with… Miss Kura…"
"Good, good."
Good? Minri blinked, confused.
"You will tell him exactly this, but you will replace my name with Yue's."
"Y-Yue's?"
Fiddling with her painted nails, "You were roaming the halls trying to see if Yue ever made it to the reception, but you were shocked to see her luring Ozai into a closet. You heard Ozai telling her it's not right to seduce another man when she was going to be engaged. That he as Hahn's business partner could never betray him in such a way. But she insists that Hahn doesn't have to know."
Minri swallowed, knowing fully well that this was Kura's tactic, in reality. The sheer ease at which she pulled Ozai into a dark room and offered her fruits to him, the insistence that Hahn did not have to know…
"And when Ozai still refused, she started weeping like a madwoman," Kura went on, leaning against the wall and dragging her hand against the tapestries in a dramatic fashion, "'Poor me,' she sobs. Says she's lonely and needs a man's touch to feel loved. That Hahn could never be man enough for her. And in her desperation, she begins to strip in front of Ozai. Ozai is only a man; that, too, a man of fire. He just couldn't stop himself. They fucked for hours."
Minri felt a nauseous churn in the pit of her stomach, "Yue… Yue's not like that…"
"Is that what you're telling Hahn?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, "No, no, I… I was just saying…"
Kura reached into the pocket of her dress and fanned herself with a stack of cash, managing to capture Minri's attention.
"But that's not my concern," Minri blinked at the cash, a spark of delight in her eyes as Kura placed the cash in her hand. Kura then reached into her pocket, pulling out extra cash, which visibly brightened Minri's face, "Here's a little more. In case there are any…oh, I don't know, reporters at the reception who'd like to hear this story?"
Minri nodded, bowing and setting off with the cash. Kura grinned, turning to Ozai, "You know, just to rile Hahn up a little more. Public stunts always make things more interesting."
"Tread lightly," Ozai warned, "'Goddess' will end up dead if he gets too mad."
"Nonsense. Her bodyguard would never let that happen."
Sokka didn't move a single inch for the next hour, and as they made it back to the hellish premises, the wee hours of the night had entirely shrouded the premises in darkness, sleep having successfully assailed the guards.
"Yue?" he whispered, gently shaking her shoulder, "Yue, we're back."
"Mm…"
Noting her difficulty in moving her legs, "Can I take you inside?"
"Mhm…"
He took care to blow out any of the torches that lit up the quarters' gateway before bringing Yue into his arms. He carried her through the dead streets, finding that Piandao had been pacing outside of their little home, waiting for them. He widened his eyes, quickly pulling them both inside, "What are you doing carrying her in public? What if someone saw you—?!"
"She's in pain. She can't walk that far," he said, carrying Yue to her room and placing her on the bed. Despite her earlier insistence at a shower, she sank right into her pillow and slipped deep into sleep, a mumble of thanks barely leaving her lips. He draped her blanket over her, his palm brushing away the sweat at her temple and lingering against her cheek for a split moment.
Piandao lingered by the door to the room, seeing clearly how his student was gazing at the tribeswoman as if she's the most precious thing in the world. The swordmaster cleared his throat, whispering, "We need to talk, Sokka. It's important."
When they both found themselves in the hallway, Piandao took extra care to close all the windows and cast thick curtains over them. He made sure there was no one around the premises, and he took the extra step of checking Yue's room once more before joining his worried student on the pelts. He then let loose the hardship he'd been hiding, "I can't tell you the number of people that came knocking this evening. Everyone was asking for Yue."
"It's just a dumb party. It's better if she didn't go anyway."
"Actually, it was supposed to be an impromptu engagement."
Sokka widened his eyes, "What?"
"Hahn was not a fan of his mother's insistence on auspicious dates, and he hated that Yue kept leaving him in the dust. That's why he planned to become engaged to her in front of a large group. He invited all of his friends and business partners for the occasion. He also authorized large-scale bonuses for the servants, almost four times the value of their actual salaries. That's why the crowds were so wild earlier."
"You can't be serious…"
"He had an engagement necklace ready and everything," he said, watching the horror unfold on his student's face, "And you can imagine how enraged he was that she didn't come—"
"But she never agreed to—!"
"SHH!" Piandao interrupted the young tribesman's roar, pointing to her bedroom door to remind him she was asleep, "Do you really think Hahn or any of these people care whether she agreed to this or not? Obviously he planned something, and she didn't come because she justifiably loathes him, and obviously he blames her for it." Shaking his head, "We can't take any more chances, Sokka. Hahn is dangerously upset. We need to be more alert than ever." Looking in the direction of her room, "We need to convince her to leave with us as soon as possible. Things are a thousand times worse than we imagined. It's dangerous to keep her here any longer."
Noting the devastation in the swordmaster's eyes, "Master, what…what do you mean…? Did something happen?"
"I figured out exactly what's been going on behind our backs." Piandao reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out a thick scroll canister. "I grabbed these documents from Zhao's study. No one saw me take them." Pulling out the parchments from the canister, "These documents still need to be filed with the Water Tribe Tribunal, so they're incredibly confidential. And they tell us the entire story."
"What exactly are these…?"
"These demons forced Yue to sign them." Flipping through the pages, "Remember when Kura stopped by that one night?"
The sound of blitzing glass knocked Yue out of her sleep and made her chest jostle with crippling fear. Her widened eyes took in the towering, monstrous form of Hahn covered entirely in freezing water and intoxicant tumbling through the glass window beside her bed. A scream was ripped out of her throat, reverberating through the small abode. Before she could register what was actually happening, his hand sprawled across her cheek in a slap, a forceful shove knocking her out of bed and making her land right on her knees. She screamed, paralyzed by pain, tears instantly streaming down her face and blurring her vision. Distantly, she could hear Piandao and Sokka hollering her name and heading their way towards her, but Hahn beat them to the door and banged it shut, locking it to keep them out.
"YUE!"
"OH SPIRITS, YUE!"
Hahn growled in Yue's direction, "Surprised to see me? You shouldn't be. After the shit you pulled today," sending another slap across Yue's other cheek, knocking her down again in her meager attempts at sprawling to her feet.
"Please," she crawled backward until she reached the wall, "Leave me alone…Please—"
"Acting like a chaste tribeswoman but sleeping around with all the men in town! I know everything you're up to, you whore!"
"I don't know what you're talking abou—AAHHH!" Another slap followed.
"Don't play coy with me! You were with Ozai all night, weren't you?!"
"No, no, I don't even know who that—AHH!"
"Fucking my business partners behind my back, you double-tongued bitch!" He ripped her father's cloak off of her and threw it into the fire. She let out a shrill cry of horror, crawling towards the fire to quickly grab hold of her father's belonging, but Hahn found sadistic pleasure in her pained cries and kicked her aside before she could reach for it. Through her tears, the cloak burned to ash.
Hahn did not spare her other belongings. "Oh look, a portrait album!"
"NO, that's mine—!"
"Oooh, Daddy Dearest is everywhere in this," he leered, tossing the entire album into the roaring fire. "And…oh look! It's Daddy Dearest's diary," he spat upon the small book, throwing it into the fire, "Oops!"
"YOU PIECE OF YAKSHIIIITTT!" Yue screamed, a moment of unbridled pain and rage making her forget her condition. She shoved him aside with all the force she could manage and ran to the fire, but before she could reach in to recover her belongings, Hahn yanked her arms away from the fire's reach and twisted them around her, a fierce grip of hair rooting her to the spot and making her watch the belongings burn. Yue heaved heavy sobs, her wriggling having no effect on the tribesman, who was having the time of his life.
In another fit of rage, Yue jammed her head backward, hitting him on the nose and forehead, and as he was temporarily blinded by the pain, she broke free from his grip and propelled herself against him with a piece of furniture that she grabbed within her reach. He snatched it from her quite easily and threw her back to the floor, breaking the said furniture within millimeters' reach of her.
"Lonely, aren't ya?" Kicking the broken shards aside, "Need the comfort of a man, don't ya?"
A kick to his stomach temporarily freed her from his pouncing form, "LET GO OF ME—!"
But another slap across her face ripped a pained screech from the bottom of her lungs.
"Master Piandao! Sok—mmph!" Hahn cut her off with his hand clamping over her mouth and pressing down hard.
"Shhh," Hahn's other hand grabbed her by her throat and yanked her away into the shadows. Yue kicked hard, her screams muffled beneath his suffocating hand as she was subsequently thrown into the empty closet space against a bunch of pelts.
"YUE!" Sokka and Piandao kept thrusting themselves against the bedroom door, managing to loosen it but not succeeding in budging it significantly. It prompted Sokka to give up on the door and race outside. He plunged into the freezing water, swam over near the ledge at her bedroom window, and grabbed the rope that Hahn had used to haul himself up through the window. Sokka began to pull himself up, his hands grabbing hold of the ledge as soon as he could, not minding the shards of glass that sank into his skin.
"Not exactly how I wanted our first time to be," Hahn drawled meanwhile, reeking of alcohol as he attempted to sniff into her neck, his hands pinning hers behind her in the tiny space, "But you're giving me no choice, dear wife—"
"LET GO!" she cried and shook her head, managing to bang something against his head and using that distracted moment to wriggle herself free.
"Yue, open the door if you can!" Piandao yelled, having heard her footsteps. She ran towards the door in an attempt to open it but felt Hahn's grip on her hair drag her back. He was more prepared for her kicks this time, tripping her with a quick move, and she tumbled onto the ground, crying out in pain.
Hahn only laughed at Yue's struggle whereas her hands fiddled for something — anything— to throw in his face as a distraction. Just enough to open the Spirit-damned door.
"You should be grateful that I took mercy on you and agreed to marry you! What tribesman would want to marry an insane shell of a woman who willingly threw away everything for complete strangers?" Stepping on her wrists with his boots, "What tribesman would marry a dimwit whose only 'noteworthy' task in life was helping every viper-rat in the street with a couple of plants? Who could ever love you? Not a single person here would mourn you if you died this instant!"
At this point, he was getting annoyed that she was fighting him so much. It would be difficult to keep up at this rate given how quickly he was succumbing to his inebriation. So he stuck to what he had planned for a last resort, reaching for a small container in his pocket along with a handkerchief. He doused the handkerchief with the contents of the container before stepping forward with a manic look.
"I will break you. Even if it's the last thing I do!" And despite her struggle, he managed to jam the handkerchief against her nose and mouth, suppressing all screams. Slowly the tribeswoman's wriggling body grew still. The last thing she was able to see through the abundance of her tears was the cackling face of the drunk tribesman… rivaled by the gentle, loving face of her father, whose portrait on the wall stuck out from her peripheral vision….
"LET GO OF HER!" Sokka roared, nearly managing to climb in through the window, horrified at Yue's unconscious form. "YUE! YUE, WAKE UP, YUE!"
Hahn continued to laugh maniacally as he smashed his foot against the tribesman's face, attempting to kick him down. Another subsequent kick to Sokka's face nearly sent him toppling back into the water, but he hung onto the ledge even through the seconds of disorientation that followed. Hahn sent yet another kick to Sokka's face, this time applying more force and enjoying the ferocious scrape of the broken window shards against his palms. Sokka refused to topple down, however, stubbornly holding onto the ledge, "YUE! Wake up, please!"
Irritated by his resilience and his constant chanting of Yue's name, Hahn reached into his parka and pulled out a glass bottle of intoxicant, pouring the alcohol over the hands that bled from the prickle of the shards. Sokka held back a pained bellow, using the opportunity to yank the glass bottle from the crazed tribesman, whacking it with a hard smack against Hahn's head. And as Hahn staggered back from the impact, Sokka managed to climb in through the window, jumping the Northern criminal and pinning him down.
Hahn no longer had it in him to fight, having been disoriented by the blow to his head. Maybe even a little too much, for apart from hiccups and a wide, crimson-eyed gawk from the disabling pain, he didn't move. Sokka paid no heed so long as the maniac was disabled, and by instinct, he rushed over to Yue, trying to shake her awake, "Yue! Yue, it's me, Sokka! Yue, wake up! Yue!"
Piandao finally succeeded in prying the door open, charging forward with his sword, but the deed was done by then, he realized. He screeched, "YUE!" and joined Sokka on the floor, attempting to wake the tribeswoman.
"She's not breathing!" Piandao exclaimed in alarm, frantically feeling for her pulse at her wrist, "I-I don't feel anything…!"
Sokka immediately jumped in with chest compressions as Piandao kept his hand around her wrist. The efforts managed to coax little exhales from her, but Piandao kept shaking his head, descending into further horror, "I still don't feel much! We have to take her to a healer!"
It was then that Sokka was struck with an idea.
"This is the Spirit Oasis. It's a very spiritual place."
"It's believed the water here has special healing properties, and she sees quicker progress in patients whenever she uses this water on them."
"M-Master, do we have some of the oasis water?!" Sokka shook, "From when she was treating me? I-I don't think I took the last dose…!"
"But she mixed it with some other serum that was meant to—"
"There should be a separate vial of just the water, remember?" he breathed, "I-I wonder if it's in her bag or something…"
Piandao raced over to the bedside table, rummaging through the bag. Among many tiny vials that settled at the bottom, he pulled out a few. One of them, sure enough, was labeled "oasis water." "It's here! But it's not much!"
"Whatever amount we have, it'll do for now," Sokka took the vial, wasting no time in coaxing the contents into her mouth.
Please, please, please, Sokka looked out of the window at the moon, at the wafts of moonlight that graced her face. Closing his eyes, If you're out there. Even if you're not. Please.
"Yes yes yes," Piandao nodded, "I'm picking up on a pulse!"
"I'm getting a healer!" Sokka announced, racing out of the premises with a pulse that seemed to burst out of his veins, but he froze in place, shaking his head and rushing back out inside after racked by better judgment. He answered Piandao's curiosity by picking Yue up into his arms, "Better to take her there obviously."
They left behind the Mimik heir, who was at present drowning in a pool of blood that gathered around his head.