Teaser: "Stop bending in the presence of government officials. Or do you want to be in more trouble than you are in already?"
A/N: As always Haziq and LoveToRead613, and Er1sCha0s, your comments made our days and I really hope you'll like this new chapter as well.
And in the end notes there is a note for new OST to this story, and how to find it :) Enjoy!
Chapter 27 一路順風
The masses of people parted in increasing panic as Aang circled with Appa, as he struggled to find a spot to land that wouldn't flatten any tents. The people's cries of alarm sounded eerie in the large dome and Aang felt bad for scaring them by entering this way. Now it was too late to find the official way in, though.
They had barely settled down, when guards were already pushing through the frontlines of a crowd that was still cowering in an attempt to show they meant no harm, Aang quickly jumped down and raised his hands in a pacifying gesture and the siblings followed his example. In the meanwhile, Zuko kept an eye out for Toph until she had gotten over the saddle's edge, before jumping down himself. He was acutely aware of his facial covering, and very glad for it, as hundreds of eyes were trained on them right now. Way too many people, he inwardly shuddered.
"We come in peace!" Aang announced at the approach of three burly earthbenders in guard uniforms. He seemed to just ignore the fact that said guards were slowly surrounding them.
Toph grabbed Zuko's hand, and Zuko found himself thankful. He knew she hadn't done it for her comfort, but for his, and the warm, steady hand was rooting him in the present. He so wasn't ready for this.
"We didn't know where the entrance was," Sokka added, awkwardly shrugging his shoulders.
"All of you! Come with me!" The leading guard ordered, a stripe of gold cloth indicating he held a higher rank. "Take your beast with you!"
"Appa is a Sky Bison, he's friendly." Aang protested at the name-calling, but he set out to follow, and with him, his whole entourage did. Toph was still holding Zuko's hand, and he got the distinct feeling that she had some sort of agenda for doing this, one beyond keeping him grounded.
A wide breach opened up where the head guard walked, and there were even more stares, and now also indistinguishable whispers. Appa had to hover at times because tents were standing everywhere, but the space cleared up towards the back. Aang halted in shock at what he saw there.
There were animal pens. Appa was led to the largest, which was already occupied by several ostrich horses, and didn't look that big at all, barely big enough to fit Appa in it.
"Full Moon Bay has a strict rule against free-roaming animals, so your beast will have to stay in here for now, and we expect you to bring feed for your animals. This isn't a free rest stop."
"Is that really necessary? Appa wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Yes, if you can't agree to these conditions, you are welcome to leave, but you'll have to go the official route this time."
"No, alright," Aang said resignedly, "Appa? Please go in."
It quickly became apparent that the ostrich horses weren't gonna fit together with Appa, so they had to be relocated to the adjacent pen. It hurt Zuko to see Appa squeezed in. He barely fit through the gate, and once in, Appa couldn't really turn anywhere and unhappily grunted as he settled himself down.
"I'm sorry Appa, it's just for a little while." Aang comforted his companion.
Zuko heard two nearby guards whisper something about people selling their animals because they couldn't take them with them on the ferry. Based on the snippets he caught, there was speculation that they usually weren't told this immediately to make it easier.
"Now, to you," the leader started, but right then, he must have seen Momo peek out somewhere and as he, somewhat annoyed, grunted: "Your lemur has to go into a cage too, here. Are there any other animals we should know about?" His gaze was stern as he scanned each of them.
The group all shook their heads and, with heavy hearts, they handed Momo over to the handler, who had been writing something on a paper.
"This is a sky bison? And a flying lemur?" He asked and they nodded in confirmation. "This is for when you come to retrieve your animals," he said, stamping the paper before handing it back over.
"Well, then, let's get going."
They were once again passing the crowd while being led away, and Zuko shuddered at the whispers. He knew he was hidden below fabrics and layers, yet he felt naked and gawped at. Many unpleasant memories were stirring inside and it was hard to push them away and stay focused.
It was quickly becoming apparent that if he was with the Gaang, he'd quite likely be dragged into focus, simply by association. How he hadn't thought about that, he couldn't fathom, he'd known how much attention the Gaang drew to themselves, he'd even used it to his advantage when he was their adversary. Now, it dawned on him just how much scrutiny that would bring him. It definitely wasn't what he wanted to be under in a city like Ba Sing Se.
They had to split up, he realised at once.
It wouldn't need to be permanent, but it would be better if he was not perceived as part of their group. He had to think of a plan quickly, and he knew it would not go over well.
Aang was whispering to Sokka and Katara about Appa's food when the guard stopped and announced:
"I'd like a word with you all, but we'll form groups. You, you, and you. Come with me." He pointed at Aang and the Water Tribe siblings. "You two, wait here." He looked Zuko in the eye. Oh, this was not good, he just hoped that the others wouldn't mention anything much about him and his association with them. They hadn't really discussed a cover story beyond that he was from one of the Si Wong Tribes.
On a positive note, this gave him more time to think of how he wanted to handle this situation. It just was so much harder when he couldn't speak any of his thoughts out loud.
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Aang and the Water Tribe siblings were led into an earthbent room for privacy, then the earthbender moved and called forth a simple bench out of the ground for them to sit on. He motioned for them to be seated, after sitting behind a stone desk that had a high pile of paper stacked on it.
"We don't normally interview people that get here like this unless they seem suspicious to us… or in your case, drew a lot of attention upon your arrival. How did you find us?"
"Well, we really just knew that Full Moon Bay must be somewhere here, but since we were flying, we weren't following any pathway, so we didn't meet anyone who could have told us where to go. As we knew that Full Moon Bay has a ferry to Ba Sing Se, we decided to try to find the entrance on the cliffside instead, therefore." Sokka took the lead.
"Why did you come to Full Moon Bay at all? You could have just flown over the lake and gone to Ba Sing Se directly."
"We were advised that just flying into the city might not go over too well, so we decided to come here to figure out how to approach this legally."
The man chuckled dryly. "Yeah, arriving as you did here won't go over well there either, now, where did you hear about Full Moon Bay?"
"The Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, who is our Father," Sokka waved at Katara and himself. "told us."
The man snorted again, and Sokka got the impression that the guy was mocking them.
"And why are you going to Ba Sing Se?"
This time, Aang replied. "I'm the Avatar, and, well, Katara here is my waterbending teacher, and the other girl, Toph, my earthbending teacher."
"Well, that one I haven't heard before." The man smirked, unamused. "The only thing that makes you more credible than the ten other avatars that came here the past two days, is that you actually came on a flying bison. But come on, two little girls, your bending masters? And one of them is blind, isn't she!? She could never be a proper teacher, you're just trying to bring her along."
"I am the Avatar, I'm not lying," Aang said, indignant, but not quite yet outraged. "Here, I'll prove it to you." He did the little airbending trick that gave off an annoying sound, then moved on to pulling water out of the glass that sat on the table and was just about to move into an earthbending kick when the guy called out.
"Stop bending in the presence of government officials. Or do you want to be in more trouble than you are in already?"
"Sorry. I didn't mean to threaten you." Aang said sheepishly.
"What do you want in Ba Sing Se?"
"We need to meet with the Earth King," Sokka said matter of factly.
"The Earth King? You do have high expectations. What makes you think the Earth King has time for a bunch of rascals like you? Even if one of you is the Avatar." he sneered.
It was ever so clear that he wasn't taking them seriously.
"And who are you to make that decision?" Sokka crossed his arms.
"Aah, you're right. I'm just the head guard on duty needing to catch anyone with shady intentions before they enter the city, not my business at all. This is a refugee route, you are not refugees."
"Yeah, well, you're right, we are involved in the war effort, and Aang here is the Avatar, so it's very much his business by line of duty."
"You are a bunch of kids."
"So what? The war has made warriors of children, walking over the graves of their parents."
"Oh well… I… I'll see what we can do. Of course, you can take the route by our ferry, but you'll have to leave your giant fur ball behind."
"We're not leaving Appa behind," Aang protested, "absolutely not. No." a decidedly final tone to his voice.
"Oh well, you will have to, flying on him will get you arrested. And bending without a permit inside of the city's premises, will too."
"What the heck?" Sokka said, just as Aang smiled cheekily:
"Well, I happen to know that flying into Ba Sing Se as an ambassador on a flying animal is perfectly legal. As the Avatar, I can claim Ambassadorial status and do so, as does Sokka, son of Paramount Chief Hakoda, of the Southern Water Tribe. We carry important information concerning the war effort. My teachers will also have to come with me."
"What about that Sand Nomad you brought into our midst?"
"He's been travelling with us, he's under my protection."
"Do you have any proof that flying as an Ambassador is permitted?"
"Hmm, If I remember right, it's The Articles of Foundation, Book 3, Chapter 14, Section 4, Article 36, Subclause 2, associating to foreign relations, thank you."
There was a short pause as everyone looked at Aang as if he had grown an extra head.
He sheepishly replied "I memorised all the laws in various places concerning air travel."
The guard paused before he snapped back to attention
"Fine, we will check, in the meantime, we will interview your two friends, please wait outside." he group took their leave, as he muttered to himself about stupid laws, and stupid kids under his breath.
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Toph felt Zuko's heartbeat jump as they were called in. He was breathing nervously as they crossed the others on the way in and twitched in place once they sat on the bench.
"You two sure make an odd pair." The man stated and Toph didn't like his tone at all.
"So what?"
"They claim that you are the Avatar's earthbending teacher, but you are clearly blind, and I wouldn't be surprised if your companion is visually impaired as well, judging by what little I can see."
"Well, I don't care if you believe us or not, I know what I am capable of."
The head guard didn't grace her with a reply to that, instead turning to Zuko.
"So, Sand Nomad, what are you doing here?"
"I am hoping to find safety within the walls of Ba Sing Se. The Avatar offered to take me here, so I travelled with them."
Wait…That… sounded like Zuko was going to part with them here, just after having agreed to stay with them yesterday. What was going on?
"Not many of the Si Wong Tribes have come here to seek refuge in the city, why are you?"
Toph felt Zuko's heartbeat increase, and he swallowed before answering.
"I want to get as far away from the Fire Nation as possible."
"Have the Si Wong Tribes become targets?"
"Not yet."
Zuko apparently wanted to keep things vague, something Toph was sure the guard was noticing as well.
"Do you know how to use those blades on your back?"
"Yes, I do."
"Hmm, what skills does a Sand Nomad like you bring to the city?"
"Uhm, I used to tend to the trade logs of my tribe. I'm decent with ink."
"Interesting. I'm surprised you people kept that up. The myths say that Wan Shi Tong wants nothing to do with you these days."
"We're not barbarians." Zuko's voice had a sharp edge.
"Sure."
Zuko crossed his arms, and the man went for an even more personal attack. Toph swallowed and just hoped that this would go well.
"Your eyes, they're a rather unusual colour in these parts of the world."
"Well, they're becoming more common. Maybe, instead of judging people by what their parents did, you should welcome them and show them that they belong, lest you actually want to drive them away and risk them trying their chances with the Fire Nation." Zuko bit out.
"Wouldn't want anyone infiltrating."
"Do I sound Fire Nation to you?"
"Well, no, but you also don't quite sound like you're from the Si Wong Tribes."
"Yeh, they took me in when no one else would."
"What is your name?"
"Oktai." Zuko's voice was strong and determined with this announcement. He didn't hesitate.
"Who gave you that name?"
"The Khairt Eej of my tribe."
"And what was your name before that?"
Zuko deflected, raising his voice in anger. "Do you really think that if I wanted to infiltrate, I'd choose the Avatar to travel with? He draws a lot of attention wherever he goes. That'd just be plain stupid."
"You'd be surprised what people try to get into the city."
"What, dress up as the Avatar and his purported companions? I thought I saw a couple of look-alikes in the crowd, I can assure you though, Aang is the real deal."
"I won't ask again." the man pushed.
"Fine. It's all hazy by now. I fled the village I grew up in when the soldiers came back. My mum was terrified that they'd finish what they started." He motioned to his scarred eye. "We lost each other in the attack. I was an outcast for a long time, and I passed through many places. Eventually, I reached a village right at the edge of the desert, and they gave me a chance."
"And yet you left again."
"I did. It was my home, they are my people, but I was getting restless, a gut feeling. And when I met the Avatar and heard they were going towards Full Moon Bay and then Ba Sing Se, I asked if I could come along. They agreed. Who wouldn't want to travel by flying bison anyway?"
Toph did kick at his leg for that.
"You beg to differ, young lady?" the man asked, clearly having seen her protest.
"Appa's great, but definitely not my favourite travel method."
"And that has to do with you being blind I presume?"
"Yeah, I like to stay on the ground where I can sense my surroundings. You, for example, are currently leaning back on a wooden chair, your feet are crossed under the table and you've been tapping your fingers on the stone table before us."
The man immediately stiffened in shock, but covered up his unease by downplaying what she did verbally. "Hmm, neat trick."
Toph, now annoyed, kicked into the ground in front of her, causing the drinking glass that stood on the stone table to tilt as the stone table's surface shifted below it.
The man jumped a mile high, and Toph quite enjoyed that. She grabbed the rock bench with one hand and plucked a chunk out of it so she'd have something to play with in her hand.
The man stood up, heavily pushed his hands onto his desk and towered over them, or at least attempted to.
"Destruction of property is not tolerated, young lady."
"I didn't destroy it, I only deconstructed it a little, and I can put it back the way it was."
"Then do so. We're done here."
Toph shrugged her shoulders and smirked. The man obviously had enough of them. She was quick to fix the desk and bench and jumped down. Zuko followed her and his gait had a bit of a relieved quality to it. Toph was not looking forward to the talk they were going to have once they were alone. She didn't want to see Zuko go.
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"Took you long enough," Aang said, clearly glad to see them.
"We weren't gone that long," Zuko replied, and Toph shuddered at his easy-going tone.
"Come on, we need to talk," she said, trying to keep her tone light, as apprehension was eating her up.
"Alright, let's find a free spot to sit down."
They walked back to be within sight of Appa and sat down. The sky bison looked squished in and unhappy, but he thankfully wasn't protesting the confinement… yet.
"So, first," Sokka said, taking the lead. "How fast do you think we'll get what we need so we can fly out of here? Cause by how it sounded in there, it may not be as quick as we hoped. Which means, we will need food for Appa."
"I think I'll fly up and gather some for him, just in case it does take longer than a day."
Toph snorted. "Yeah, do that."
"What's so funny about that?" Sokka shot her a dirty look and rearranged his legs.
"Ah, don't mind me." Toph smirked, but then her face took on a more serious expression: "I agree that getting a flying permit could take a while."
Katara sighed "I really hope, Aang, that you remember that law passage right, cause they won't look through the entire law book on our behalf."
Toph agreed, continuing "Government officials don't like to do more than they have to, nor do they like to be pressured. They also tend to not care about us, the normal people, so we will have to keep them on their toes and hope for the best. There's something else I think we should talk about… Oktai, in there, you sounded like you'd be leaving us here, what's going on?""
There were some collective gasps and then all eyes were on him, protests already halfway up their throats.
"Uh, I just realised that it might be in my best interest to not enter the city with you, as you'll be high profile and I'm trying to go under the radar. We can meet up once we're in the city, but I think it's better if people don't guess a close connection."
Katara stared at him, shocked, then proceeded to voice her protest: "But we need you, you actually know how to negotiate and you have your own deal to make."
"Yes, that's true, It won't be forever, but if I'm found out before we're ready, I'm worse than dead, I need to stay out of the limelight. Furthermore, it would discredit Aang if I'm being connected to Aang without proper explanations and all. Things will end badly."
Aang looked at Zuko with saddened eyes. It was still strange to see Zuko wrapped in those sand-coloured robes, "You are my friend. I never wanted to put you into danger but I wish we had more time. I'll miss you."
Zuko did not protest against being called Aang's friend, which Aang counted as a win.
"I'm not gone yet." He simply said.
"You better not disappear completely," Toph exclaimed.
Katara looked distraught and seemed out of words.
Sokka sighed deeply. "You're probably right, but ugh, just after we are finally all getting along."
Zuko just shrugged. "It also means I can't help you with getting that permit, I need to see to it that I get a ticket for the ferry instead."
"Why can't you do both?" Aang asked.
"Because you never know what sort of information gets passed on to Ba Sing Se. I need to avoid attention, the less they think they know, or feel like they need to know about me, the better."
"Okay, well. We need to figure out a meeting point within the city, otherwise we won't ever find each other. And probably a time to meet up too." Sokka was already thinking ahead.
"I know Ba Sing Se has a famous library, but I don't know if it is accessible to the public. I hope so though, I think it would be less suspicious to return to the same spot if we could go in to have a read." Zuko said, eyes gleaming with veiled excitement. "I think the city is divided by districts and social classes though, so it might not be that simple."
"I want a map of the city, do you think you can get any maps of the city here?" Sokka said.
"It's a refugee camp, not a tourist spot… but maybe?" Zuko shrugged. "Let's keep our eyes out and meet up again after?"
"Sounds like a plan, meet up back here?"
"Sokka, I'll need money, these tickets aren't just given away."
"Ugh, you're right, dang, our funds have dwindled fast."
"I'm really sorry." Zuko said.
"No, I shouldn't have brought it up. How much do you need?"
Zuko grimaced. "I think I saw on a sign that tickets cost five silvers."
"Wow, they're really ripping off all the refugees." Aang's voice was displeased.
"What did you expect?" Zuko asked.
"I had hoped that these people would try to help the refugees make fleeing easier, five silvers is a lot, not everyone has that, especially not so close to the city if they travelled from afar."
"Whatever, Sokka, could you give me the money so I can be on my way?"
"Ugh, sure. I'll give you six, just to make sure."
"Thank you." Zuko slipped it into a pocket and got up. "See you later. Oh and Toph, try to avoid mentioning your name if you can."
With that, the rest of the group got up to find out where and how to get their permit.
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"Next!" the sneering, ugly, woman demanded. Then, once she looked him up and down: "Passport!" and Zuko was so thankful that the Khairt Eej had been so kind as to provide him with a cover beyond just clothes and a name.
She had warned him that he may still face difficulties because the Sand Nomads were barely acknowledged as part of the Earth Kingdom at times, but it would give him all the more credibility anyway.
He held out the stiff waxed paper.
"Where's the rest of your lot?" She frowned and eyed around critically.
"I'm alone."
"Sand never travels alone." She disagreed. "What are you hiding?"
The woman still had her meaty hand on his passport, now studying it.
"This is way too new."
"My tribe only issues passports when someone leaves," Zuko informed her, trying to stay calm. He'd anticipated this, and when did things ever just go smooth for him, anyway? He knew he shouldn't think like that, he could get through this, no one would recognise him. He just couldn't help but feel nervous though, it was his first day wearing his disguise, after all.
"Dirty traders…" she mumbled something more, but Zuko could only understand the word 'uncivilised' out of it."
She was scribbling something down on her desk, then grabbed a stamp, dipped it, then pushed it down loudly. "Five silver." She held out her hand.
Zuko handed her the money and took his passport and ticket back. That had gone smoother than he'd ever expected, all things considered.
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Sokka was ecstatic. Suki was here! Suki was here, and he was a bit ashamed how he hadn't recognised her immediately, despite having never seen her with her signature look missing. And he also knew he hadn't heard her voice in months, so that had made it even harder. She'd given him quite the scare too, attacking him like that.
He'd sputtered and defended their group with the fact that they'd already been interrogated before she'd finally relented and revealed who she was. Turned out she was just as beautiful without her face paint.
And now she had led them through the crowd, to the booth where general, non-ferry questions were being addressed.
Aang was speaking to a thin, droopy-eyed lady who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. The feeling was mutual, but Sokka still tried to be polite and not roll his eyes too much as she huffed at Aang:
"Flying permits? Flying is impossible." Sokka realised that from this location you couldn't see much of the bay, so she may not have seen them come in.
"Not if you have a flying bison."
"Those are extinct."
"We came on one and we need a flying permit for Ba Sing Se." Aang pressed.
"There are no flying permits for Ba Sing Se, and who do you think you are anyway?"
"There are laws for a flight permit," Aang insisted. "The terms to hand one out are in Ba Sing Se's Articles of Foundation Book 3, Chapter 14, Section 4, Article 36, Subclause 2: A flight is permissible into Ba Sing Se and her districts, may be permitted if an Ambassador is being sent into the city. They may bring their servants and bodyguards along, but they are to be accompanied by two Earth Kingdom guards until the city's guards dismiss them, or imparts them into alternative management."
"There is no such paragraph." she snapped.
That was when Suki stepped up, addressing the lady by her name.
"Láo Lèi, they are with me."
"Oh Suki, I hadn't seen you, my turtledove. But there really are no such things as flight permits, and this is the third so-called 'Avatar' I've seen today, every demand I hear is more ridiculous."
"I can assure you, this is the Avatar that came to my village, remember me mentioning that? Because of these people, I am now here, helping. Please humour us and look up the citation Aang mentioned?"
"If you insist. I've never heard of it though." Láo Lèi turned around and went to the back. She eventually returned with a thick tome of a book. She thumbed through it, requesting the article number once more, and then started reading.
"Alright, the boy recited the passage correctly. However, you can't just claim to be an Ambassador to gain passage to the city, I'm sorry."
"I am the Avatar." Aang blew at the bell that hung there to alert the lady of people, to prove his point, and it rang.
"Surely there's some laws in that book concerning the Avatar?" Sokka said.
"Will you cut it out?" the woman said at the same time to Aang. "I believe you, happy kid? Well, do you know the passage, I'm not going to look through this whole book to find it."
"Uhm, no, I don't know the passages for the Avatar, I didn't know I was going to need them."
"Well, he is the only Airbender left, doesn't that make him a representative enough?"
"A representative of whom? Himself?"
"Láo Lèi, please, I vouch for him, he is the Avatar and Sokka and Katara have been along with him from the start. And Katara and Toph are his bending teachers, I assure you. Sokka has been sent as a representative of the Southern Water Tribe, they carry information relating to the war."
"Well, I can halfway believe the blue girl is his teacher, but that blind girl?"
Toph was quickly getting very annoyed at being doubted at every turn. "Yes, got a problem with that? I am the best."
"Where are your parents?"
"None of your business. Look, why don't we get the guard here who interviewed us? I'll go find him." Toph determinedly stalked off, alone.
The woman stared at her and Sokka could see her eyes widen in worry. "Shouldn't someone go with her?"
"Nah, she'll be fine."
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It didn't take all that long for Toph to find the guard, though it was a bit of a challenge in this sea of people. It helped that the guards behaved differently than the refugees, so she'd been able to single them out and check individually until she'd recognised the one.
"Hey, you," She realised she didn't know his name. "Come with me."
"What for?" She could feel his annoyance.
"You're the one who interviewed us."
"So? Be glad I decided you weren't a security risk."
"Yeh, I'm glad, now you just have to let the paperwork people know that and we'll be out of your hair."
"I have to do no such thing. I did my job, I am doing my job."
"How do you run this place efficiently if you all aren't working together?"
"None of your business."
"You're hindering the Avatar."
"You are hindering me on my job."
"Are you going to refuse the poor, helpless, blind girl?"
"You see plenty, little girl, I don't know how you do it, but I know you are not helpless."
Toph walked up to him and grabbed his hand, grip strong.
"Let me go, I'm not coming with you."
"Do you want to lose face?" she asked. "Cause I can drag you, no problem at all. I'm not above using some force. Your fellow guards might try to stop me, but they'll see you having been taken hostage by a little girl."
"Stop it."
Toph stomped into the ground and the guy stumbled forward.
"Maybe I should deem you a security risk."
Toph laughed. "Maybe you should." She probably shouldn't be feeding into it, but she enjoyed the fact that the guy was starting to take her seriously just a tad too much. She tugged on his hand as he'd stopped again. "I'll tell you how I learned. See. I know you want to know. But you'll have to come with me. It won't cost you much and you might learn something."
"You are a menace." He hissed but relented and started following her. Somehow she even made it so she looked like she was being led, whereas she was the one in the lead.
"I feel the earth's vibrations, I know how to interpret them. So as soon as something or someone moves, I sense where they are and how they move. I can even feel heartbeats."
"How did you learn?" The man was walking more easily now, she had piqued his interest.
"Badgermoles taught me."
"Badgermoles? Animals, blind ground diggers, teach?"
"Well, I'm blind too. So, I guess they got me?"
"That's ridiculous, so you followed them into their burrow and did what?"
"Ehm, more like, stumbled and fell."
"So?"
"I started exploring the earth, up close and personal. No bending moves, no proper way to do things, no nothing. At first, I was really scared when I fell and realised I was stuck in a hole in the earth, but the badgermoles found me, they were just there, and for the first time, no one was reprimanding or belittling me. There was no one trying to save me from getting dirty."
"So you're saying that the badgermoles took you in and did nothing and you learned how to be on your own."
"That's not at all what I'm saying. They took me in. They comforted me and treated me like one of their own. They kept a nose on me, they made sure I wasn't risking my life, but they also didn't try to keep me safe at all costs. For the first time, I felt free. I didn't have to keep up appearances, I could be, and explore the earth that was there. So what if I was covered from head to toe and there was dirt below my fingernails? it didn't matter. Finally I got to feel earth, I got to be earth."
"Hmm, your parents didn't let you get dirty?"
"Oh, nah, that was a big no-no."
"It's healthy for a kid."
"Well, tell that to my parents." Toph chuckled. "Anyway, so yeh, they are the original earthbenders. Did you know they love music? And they listen, they listen to the world, they listen to the earth, to the vibrations. So I learned to listen, I learned to feel. You gotta touch Earth to feel it. You gotta be as quiet and steady as earth to read it, and as stubborn as rock to move it. Most earthbenders are loud, they're stubborn, but they don't listen. I think being blind has helped me, I'm less distracted."
The man seemed out of words, they continued to walk back in silence.
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By the time Toph returned, the Gaang had managed to get the woman to hand them some of the supposed paperwork they would have to fill out either way, but the lady was still rather unwilling to sign off even a regular travel permit. They weren't refugees, after all.
At the moment they were filling out forms for a process called naturalisation. Sokka thought he would have to ask Zuko later what that was, but apparently, it was needed for all the other forms they would need to fill out as well.
"Uhm," Aang said. "I don't have parents, and my guardian is dead. Do I need to fill this out?"
"You could put Roku there." Sokka chuckled.
Katara rolled her eyes, "We'll talk about this later." She pointed at the approaching Toph.
Toph greeted them, finally letting the hand of the guard from before go. He looked lost.
"This is…" Toph turned expectantly to the guard and waited till he awkwardly offered up his name.
"Lìnɡ Rén."
"Lìnɡ Rén here has interviewed us earlier," she said, addressing Láo Lèi.
"So, what are your conclusions?" The lady went on asking and the guard groaned. It was obvious that he knew he'd been bullied over and had no way of tactfully backing out now.
"This Avatar at least gave me probable cause to believe he is indeed the Avatar, though I still find it hard to believe. He looks so young."
"He could recite an ancient law about flying into Ba Sing Se."
Lìng Rén nodded and picked out his next words, annoyedly admitting that the Earth Kingdom girl was good, though unconventional, and yes, he could see her being a teacher.
Katara turned back to the form she was filling out. She didn't see the point of it.
Sokka had just handed his own to the lady, who took a break from talking to the guard to complain about his chicken crawl and told him to redo the entire thing.
Suki had turned to Toph to fill out her form for her.
"So, this will get us approved for Ambassadors?"
"Oh no, this will allow you to fill out the forms for a request to be approved for a diplomatic mission as ambassadors within the city, along with a request of residency for the duration of the stay while there."
"Those are separate things?"
"Yes. Please write who you are, how you came to be here, and what the goal of your mission is."
"This is ridiculous. Can we write this together?"
"No, everyone has to write their own."
"Who's going to read this?"
"It will go through the official channels. We should have the response in about six weeks."
"SIX WEEKS?" the group exclaimed in various stages of outrage.
Lìng Rén awkwardly stood next to it and wished to be anywhere but here. He didn't want to get caught up in a brawl, these kids were ridiculously powered. This wasn't in his pay grade.
"We don't have that long!"
"We need to get to the Earth King as soon as possible."
The kids were all talking at the same time, too. It was giving him a headache.
"The Earth King? You want to talk to the Earth King? Even as the Avatar, that's a ridiculous thought. The Earth King is very busy."
"Well, the war is busy too. It's not going to wait. Isn't there anything we can do to speed this process up?"
Toph groaned and said, "I wish Sparky was here."
In the meanwhile. Láo Lèi tiredly looked at their group and probably lamented her career choices. "This is what you have to do if you want to do it the correct way."
"Yeah, you know what, let's send a pronouncement instead, we're not asking to come, we are coming. Let's make sure we get the flight permit sorted out as well as we can, and go."
"I do strongly advise against that." Láo Lèi urged.
"We don't care, time is of essence, we're not requesting to be ambassadors."
"Well, I cannot give you a flight permit, we have to send in a request and they'll send back the approved forms."
"Let me guess. Six weeks." Sokka spat in frustration.
The woman stammered out a yes.
"Well. let's fill out the form anyway, you can send a copy, we'll keep one. Is there anything else we need?"
"Uhm Animal Custodianship, but those forms are at the animal pen."
"Do those need to be sent in for approval?"
"No, they're just papers confirming whom an animal belongs to, but you cannot take animals into Ba Sing Se, as that is illegal, Ba Sing Se is a closed ecosystem, your animals could have illnesses and that would be a threat.."
"Great, let's finish up here and go to Appa."
"You don't happen to have any maps of the city?"
"If you're willing to pay the fee." she whimpered.
00000
"I don't think we'll be able to leave by tonight. So we should get Appa some food." Sokka said while they were walking back. "We also really need to talk to Zu – oops. Aah, I crave soup..."
"... I think I'll fly through the dome's opening after we get the papers and gather some branches for Appa to eat."
The boys were both talking at the same time and Suki wasn't able to follow either boy's thoughts. She frowned. The Gaang hadn't changed one bit, and that little girl was an interesting addition. A bit of a loose cannon, and too young, like all of them, she made a mental note to find out what her jig was when she had half a chance.
A lonely figure draped in sandy colours was leaning against the gate in front of where Appa was penned in, a hand absently stuck into the fur to give scratches. Upon seeing them the figure straightened. It seemed to be a man, the belt he wore over his shoulder suggested a lean build, even as the flowy clothing hid the rest of his stature. What struck her as most odd though was the veil wrapped around the head and neck, which left only a small slit for the eyes.
She'd never met anyone dressed like that, certainly no one with good intentions, but this looked like cultural garb, especially now that they were closer and she could make out the blue embroidery. Very atypical. The overall get-up tickled something at the back of her mind. Stories about Sand Nomad traders, coupled with warnings, and a sense of distrust.
She couldn't help but feel suspicious about this guy, even as he walked towards them, gait determined, while none of the kids reacted negatively. The flowy garment only accentuated the stealth of his gait.
"Oktai." Toph exclaimed happily. "How'd it go?"
The man acknowledged her with a nod before replying, voice raspy and young, but otherwise neutral sounding. "A bit of prejudice, as expected, but I did get the ticket. I can board the ferry tomorrow. How did it go on your side, why are you being escorted by a guard?"
"Eehm, about that." Sokka's voice sounded weird. "This is Musha Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors."
The guy's eyes widened momentarily, and Suki's attention was immediately drawn to the golden iris. And one eye was narrowed and the skin discoloured? Off?
"We know her from way back."
"Honoured to meet you, Musha Suki, leader of the Kyoshi Warriors." The guy spoke formally, taking a medium bow.
"This is Taishi Oktai, of the Dōngjì Tribe in the Si Wong Desert." Aang introduced him.
Suki looked at him with open distrust, refusing to return the bow.
"Come on, let's sit down and catch you up on things."
So, it turned out this guy was going to split away from the group, but was being kept informed anyway. The guy was avoiding her gaze, keeping his deformed eye away from her as he sat down with the rest of them.
She now saw that the belt he wore across his abdomen held the sheath of some sort of sword in place as she saw the hilt peek out from behind him as he leaned forward to sit down cross-legged, relaxing his hands in his lap. He looked rather harmless, in spite of that.
Skin and bones, she mentally noted. The resting hands appeared unnaturally long and spindly and there seemed to be a hint of scarring around the wrists. Suki tried to see if he wore a belt and knife with his trousers, but the flowy garment obscured his body, and possibly any other weapons he carried. And his arms were conveniently in the way as well.
"Well," Sokka started, "they expect us to send requests to be acknowledged as ambassadors and to wait six weeks for the approval."
There was a snort from behind the veil. "Of course," entirely unsurprised.
"Well, we're not going to wait that long."
"Yeah, we don't have the luxury of time. They won't like you essentially breaking into the heart of the city though."
"Any ideas on what we could do?"
"Hard to say without getting a feel for the city first."
"We bought a map." Aang exclaimed. Waving the paper before spreading it out on the ground.
"I suspect you will be in the upper ring, anything less would be an insult to the Avatar, and I am pretty sure the refugees enter the lower ring first, so it might be possible that I'll be stuck there. Unless I can get work in the middle ring somehow."
The whole conversation with the supposed Sand Nomad struck her as odd.
"Ba Sing Se's University and Library are in the middle ring. So we can't count on me being able to go there."
"Why aren't you going with them?" Suki had to ask. This guy definitely had something to hide.
Oktai eyed her and sighed. "I'd discredit them. It's better for everyone if I'm not seen as part of the group."
He turned back to the group and subject, throwing her another guarded glance before setting out to talk: "I'll have to find work to afford a living, I will be busy. I'll wait somewhere every day for a time if really needed, but it would probably draw attention, I'd rather avoid that if I can."
Suki wondered whom he was trying to protect, the group or himself. He was kind of right though, he did not look trustworthy with his gold eyes and veiled face. The Sand Nomads didn't have too great a reputation either.
"Hmm, if you can make it to the library, you could leave a note in a book." Sokka mused. "Otherwise, I think we'd have to make do with an agreed time at a gate so we can find you."
"Alright. If I get in, I'll place a note with my address in the… hmm, let me think, Yuèjīng, I'll try to secure the note so it doesn't fall out. If that doesn't work, I'll try to be on the West Gate, if there is a curfew, then right when the gate opens, if they don't, then at six in the evening for half an hour."
"Please write that title down for me."
"Give me the map."
The guy's penmanship was immaculate. It was unreal how clean the letters were. Certainly not what Suki had expected of a Sand Nomad.
"Yuèjīng, the Classic of music?" Aang asked.
"Seriously?" Toph said in a jesty voice. "Of all the books in the greatest mortal library, you chose that one?"
"Mum made me read it, she liked to meditate on poems and their deeper meanings. What better than the Classic of Music to understand harmony and its majesty… And Uncle, of course, used it to try to teach me the Tsungi horn. I think it's perfect. How often do you imagine people go to the library to read it… perfect place to hide a note."
Suki wondered why Sand Nomads would use ancient, classical, literature to teach their children.
"Just give me three days in the city to be able to figure out if I can place that note and do it, or not. Anyway, back on topic now. So, you said you won't wait for approval, how are you going to prevent them from catapulting rocks at Appa?"
Sokka set out with his thoughts. "That's a good question. I don't know if it's wise to just fly onto the wall or farther. They probably won't shoot us if we fly over people's homes though."
"We could disguise Appa by bending a cloud around us." Aang said.
Oktai sighed. "Yeah, I don't have a solid answer, flying farther might be better, because it gets you where you need to go, but fact is, if you fly into the city, it can be seen as an invasion. Technically, you, as the Avatar, have the right to set foot in any territory, more so if you get those Ambassadorial passes, but they need to believe you are the Avatar, and that right may not extend to your friends. The Avatar makes sense as an Ambassador, even with how young you are, but two seemingly random foreigners and a young girl makes your case difficult. Furthermore, those rights may not be acknowledged. You're not fully realised as the Avatar, you are vulnerable. "
The veiled guy with the golden eyes was acting as an advisor, Suki realised.
"So, what do you suggest?" Sokka asked.
"I think it's best if you land on the wall. It's polite to knock on the door and not just barge in and make yourself at home somewhere. The same principle applies here. It's best to avoid pissing off people as much as possible."
"Makes sense. Thanks."
"We do need at least two Earth Kingdom guards with us though, if we are to follow that law about ambassadors and air travel that Aang recited." Sokka pointed out. "Suki? Would you be able to do that?"
"Come with you as your guard? I'd love to, I've been working here for a while, so it should apply to me."
"I think it's just until we've met with the local authorities and they can take over," Sokka clarified.
"Well, having that figured out, so long as Suki can get someone to come with her, let's figure out how to feed Appa?" Katara changed topics.
"Oh yeah, I'll take care of it." Aang said, already springing to action taking off with his glider.
Katara just sighed. "I wish he'd wait to discuss it instead of just doing the first thing that comes to mind."
"Did he take off?" Toph asked.
"Yeah," Oktai said, "he flew through the roof."
"I don't think you're using that saying right." Toph teased.
"I meant literally. There's an opening to this dome, and he flew out of it."
"I see, yeh, I can see that not going over well…" Toph turned to Suki: "but you'll do damage control, won't you." she smiled all sweetly.
Suki groaned into her hands.
00000
Lìnɡ Rén did not look pleased when he came over after Aang had flown through the dome and out of it. Katara felt bad for Suki, who had to explain herself to her superior.
He insisted on waiting till Aang got back too, which led to an awkward 20 minutes. Katara went over to Appa who still wore his saddle and got some seal jerky for everyone. To pass the time, Suki started to recount how she had been and all that happened after they had last seen her.
She told them about the extensive fire damage and that it had taken them weeks to rebuild the village, which had Katara throw a worried glance towards Zuko, who was looking down at the ground to avoid Suki's eyes. He was quiet and withdrawn, only relaxing once the others were telling Suki about their travels again.
Then, Suki's questions turned to Zuko, which… wasn't ideal. Katara knew Zuko wasn't all that good at lying, and he didn't like being the centre of attention. As Oktai, he was still awkward, but his story made sense and he somehow managed to not contradict himself. She eventually felt herself relax a little.
Oktai had fled his original home town upon a Fire Nation attack. He'd been separated from his mother and cast out due to his eyes until the Dōngjì Tribe had taken him in.
She could see Suki soften, growing less suspicious. Lìnɡ Rén also seemed to believe him, which helped further. The story time was cut short when Aang finally decided to return, an armful of big branches in his arm, which he struggled to get down safely.
"Oh, hey people, this is harder than I thought. Can you give those to Appa, I'm gonna get more." He said, already going through the motions of jumping off the ground again when Suki grabbed at his cape and sat him down.
"Not so fast. Aang, you going out there could expose this entire place, you cannot, under any circumstances, go out through the roof again."
"But Appa needs food!"
"You can go see if anyone sells something, but you can't leave up there, someone could see."
"There was no one."
"You can't be sure of that."
Aang dejectedly bent down to gather his branches, dragging them over to the pen Appa was staying at.
Zuko did call after him. "I think I did see a cabbage merchant somewhere."
00000
"I told you already ... no vegetables on the ferry! One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se! Security!"
"No, wait." the cabbage merchant turned to a familiar voice. He recognised at least three of the kids that were running towards him.
"Not my cabbages." He screamed, protectively spreading his arm in front of his cart, fearing for the worst, his mind caught in the memories of a crashed cart of damaged goods and a distant sorry. That was usually how it went with these kids. And they just kept showing up wherever he went. He was even more surprised when they all skidded to a halt.
"We'll take your cabbages, all of them."
Wait, what?
00000
One finally happy merchant later, after promising to bring back his cart, they finally fed Appa and Aang cuddled up to him to say sorry. He also finally unsaddled him. Planting the saddle just in front of the pen so they could hang out on it there.
Sokka went to request the animal custodianship papers, where they heard that if they really were going to take the animal into the city, then someone would have to check Appa for diseases.
"Well, then find someone who can do that ." Sokka exclaimed, getting quite annoyed at this whole thing.
Zuko stepped in. "Who do I have to find and get here?"
He got the name of the head of the animal pen which was due to be back here the following day.
Then there was nothing left to do. Suki went for a talk with her fellow Kyoshi warriors and to see who could be recruited as the second guard to accompany them.
Zuko had been far away in his thoughts when Sokka approached him. Startled, he turned to the side to evade immediately. Sokka just looked at him confused.
"Hey, Zu-, ehm… could you give me, or, us, another lesson now, before we split up?"
"Uh, sure." Zuko scrambled up. He had thought about it before, after the talk with Lìng Rén, but there'd been so much else to think about, he'd pushed it out of his mind. He really should be teaching them, especially Katara, he might be able to do more once they had reunited in the city, but if for some reason they couldn't, he'd at least done his best before then.
"Katara, come join us?" Katara sighed, but there was nothing else to do here and she was bored, so she got up. "Let's warm up a bit, then review what you both learned from last time."
Zuko led them through a couple of warm-up exercises, then focused on having them show what they learned last time.
The review went well, Zuko went at them quickly and both the siblings showed that they remembered the moves he'd taught them decently well. They repeated the exercise, Zuko telling the siblings to practise on each other, so he could give pointers more easily. After a few rounds of this, Zuko let Sokka come at him again to demonstrate another move for them to learn.
Sokka stretched out a hand to grab Zuko's wrists and Zuko, having his eyes trained on it, felt himself reacting. He went through the motions to deflect, he'd been prepared. The unreasonable surge of something within him left him somewhat winded. He gulped a few breaths to calm down, glancing around subtly. No one had noticed and he went on to explain the movements feeling vaguely disconnected. He ignored this inner echo and pushed onwards.
His senses heightened, he felt himself prepared to bolt, despite knowing that there wasn't any acute danger. The veil on his face was a comfort when he took a moment to notice it, but wherever he was with half his mind, he was without. When he looked down at himself, he was seeing a stranger.
It was good, people weren't recognising him, it was good, it was doing its job. To him though, it felt disconcerting. Like in the beginning, when he'd first been introduced to his scar. A face that was not his, marred and mangled beyond recognition; the scar drawing all attention.
He didn't have time to think about this now. He had moved on to teach the siblings a reverse grip, so they could hold onto an attacker and control where he'd be, instead of sending him tumbling to attack again.
He manoeuvred Sokka into a headlock and it came to him that he couldn't run, the flame had gone out. He was sucking in quick breaths of air, trying to stay calm and keep his bearings.
"Hey, Buddy? Mind letting me go?" the guy he held in a headlock said and only after a moment, he registered the voice as Sokka's. Right, they were training, and he found himself holding his hand as if he were holding a fire dagger. He let go abruptly.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Now practise on each other." Zuko said, voice a little shaky. He hugged himself and breathed deeply, focusing on his inner flame till it grew more steady. Katara had observed well, but she hadn't quite gotten down every move, so after a few moments, he stepped in to correct her. Then, when they switched, observed Sokka do the same moves. He made sure they were doing everything correctly before moving on.
Finally, he felt more in control again and decided to have both the siblings have a go at him as the attacker. Like with firebending drills, he very consciously breathed through the whole exercise and managed to keep himself rooted in the present. For some reason, being in this position, on the receiving end of the headlock, was less triggering, but it never helped to be prepared to breathe through these flashes of disjointed emotions and thoughts that plagued him. He was super careful to always fix his headscarf immediately after, to ensure it wouldn't come loose.
Next, he taught them some options on what to do when being grabbed by the wrists. He had thought he was prepared for the feeling of a tight grip wrapping around his scars but he did the first thing that came to his mind. Sokka ended up on his stomach, arm unnaturally stretched against Zuko's leg and Zuko stared at Sokka's blue clothing as his brain caught up with the situation. He let go abruptly, trying to calm his racing heart.
He heard steps close behind them and turned around, just to double back a step when he saw a Kyoshi warrior in full costume.
"What are you doing?" It was Suki's voice, curious, guarded. Zuko, grateful for his veil, averted his gaze, trying to subtly keep his bad eye from getting noticed more than it needed to be.
00000
When Suki returned, back in her Kyoshi attire, she felt more like herself than she had in weeks. She'd returned to the rather strange sight of the water tribe siblings fighting, no… training, with the Sand Nomad Oktai, who seemed to have the lead, but was acting a tad rattled. It wasn't too obvious, but something was going on with the dude, she was sure of it, and she didn't know what to make of it. He seemed to be a decent teacher though, she found after observing them for a while. It made her curious about his skills.
He did have a stronger reaction to her change than she'd expected, but he then awkwardly moved before explaining that Chief Hakoda had requested him to teach Katara. Sokka had probably asked to be taught as well, and from what she was seeing, he did need the training.
"That's lovely, would you be up for a spar, just hand-to-hand? I'm curious about your skills."
"Uh, sure?" He didn't sound sure.
He stepped up and did a customary simple bow that she immediately returned, in this she could respect him, they looked at each other, gazes calculating. Oktai did not wait long, he walked up to her, flowy robes, hiding his steps. He did not seem to have any body armour and was just one and a half steps away when he started gaining speed, going in for the kill, and wow, the guy did make use of the speed she'd only seen glimpses of before.
He did not go for punches, which would have hurt him more than her, as she was wearing body armour. He tried grabbing her arm as she evaded and swung a fist, he dove low and came for a kick from low, that nearly hit her in the chest. She twisted backwards and moved in for another punch. He blocked and grabbed onto her hand, quickly twisting it to send her tumbling. She safely rolled and immediately stood back up, slipping into a stance no moment too early, because Oktai was already onto her, going for her arm with both hands before she could ready a fist. He caught her wrist and she twisted sideways so she could twist his arm backwards, forcing him to let go and fall.
As expected he got up immediately catching her off guard with a kick to the plating on her stomach that threw her back. She flipped up and a few moments later she landed a neat punch into his chest that left him wheezing, but he didn't back down. Suki hadn't had a fight this challenging in a while. She pushed onwards, starting to grin as she got into the rush of battle.
Oktai did a couple of moves to evade her until he'd caught his breath again, then went for jabs into her less protected sides and hits to her arms and legs. She returned the favour trying to get his solar plexus and sides, which were harder to defend.
She took note of how similar their fighting stances were, Oktai favoured a lighter stance, legs closer together, less deep than hers, shifting his weight through the stance. He was less grounded, which allowed his movements to be a tad more springy than hers, but required him to build up more dynamic force and also demanded shifting his weight more often to keep balanced, especially with an incoming hit. His technique was solid though. And he was really good at recovering from a tumble.
The long fabric masked his legwork somewhat, she watched his shoulders for indications on where he'd go next. The veil fluttered with every movement, but it never slipped. She went for kicking the face, knowing he'd block her with his leg. And quickly reacted, going in for a kick on her own.
His punches and kicks should have been more powerful. His technique was too good, and the types of stances he used often required some amount of strength. She'd gotten the sense that he was incredibly bony from wherever her body met his. Was this natural?
The fight threw up more questions too. This sort of effortlessness required years and years of combat training. As far as she knew, this guy had been on the run and alone, at least for quite a while. It just didn't quite add up. Fighting this well required training and dedication, and a good teacher. Suki decided that someday she might have to visit the Sand Nomads to learn more.
What she found as well, was that Oktai could take painful hits quite well. It may be an in-the-moment-of-a-fight kind of thing, but usually, that didn't set in as much while sparring in a safe environment. One should train to tolerate pain, but he seemed adept at it way beyond normal. Would she notice from his reactions if she seriously injured him? She wasn't sure.
The speed of the fight was exhilarating, she felt herself panting and saw him do the same, but she could see that he was still ready. She went in for another kick-and-punch combination, making contact with his arm in an effort to block, he tried to get his leg hooked with hers to flip her to the ground as he grabbed onto her, but she managed to reverse the grip and they both tumbled to the ground and scrambled up again.
She was in midst of another swing when she heard the Water siblings shout for them to stop and let her hands sink just as Aang was stepping in between them.
"Enough."
Suki felt a surge of disappointment, but yeah, Aang was right, it was better to stop before the fight got out of hand for real.
"Are you alright?" Katara was asking the Sand Nomad. "It looked like you got hit pretty hard."
"I'm fine, Katara," Oktai was saying. "I've had worse."
"That is the worst argument ever!" Katara complained at that.
00000
Oktai did not take off any clothing, but Katara got permission to check for any broken ribs. There were none. He might have some bruising, but he said it did not feel too bad. She did the same for Suki afterwards, but they both had been careful not to injure the other, as difficult as the group found it to believe. She was fine.
At the moment, Aang and Sokka were sitting over the animal custody papers, trying to fill them out while Katara was handing out uncooked ratios. Oktai was holding a thread and needle, fixing some clothes, but went over to Aang and Sokka after they had complained repeatedly about something the paper was asking.
"What are you struggling with?" he asked.
"We don't know what is supposed to come here, they're asking for some sort of number?"
"Let me see." Oktai grabbed the paper and scanned it with his eyes. "Yeah, you can leave that blank, they'll have to fill it in when you arrive in the city. Same goes for here. That's for them to sign, not you."
"Ugh, this is so confusing." Aang lamented.
"Welcome to bureaucracy." Oktai murmured amused.
After they were done, Sokka took Suki's hand and led her away from the Gaang so they could catch up.
"So, I told you how I ended up here, I feel like I only got the very short version of what happened to you, the Fire Nation really invaded the North Pole?"
"Yeah, they almost succeeded too. And let me tell you, if you thought Zuko was bad, the guy leading that invasion was ten times worse. Admiral Zhao, I wonder what happened to him, I haven't heard of him since, maybe he died."
"What made him stand out?"
"That lunatic thought it was a good idea to kill a spirit."
"He what?"
"Yeah, he killed the moon. All the waterbenders lost their powers, it was awful, and Yue…" Sokka couldn't help but get a little emotional. "Yue, sacrificed herself and became the moon."
Suki looked at him sympathetically. Suki was wonderful like that. "You liked her." She gently said.
"Yeah, a lot."
"Was that what happened when the Moon turned red?"
"Yeah."
They were quiet for a whole minute before Sokka spoke again. "She might have it better now. As the moon. The North is really strict about what men and women can do, and the guy she was supposed to marry was a slimy git with no sense of strategy."
Suki chuckled a bit. "Maybe so. I'm glad you made it back."
They walked along for a few minutes in quiet before Suki pointed out the official entrance and told him an anecdote that had happened in her first week, then she turned back to questioning him.
"So, who joined next, the girl or that Sand Nomad?"
"Toph. Hehe, Aang had actually had visions of her in the foggy swamp before, and then when we came to Gaoling, we went to Earth Rumble Six and she was there… Aang fought her and she was super mad at him cause she couldn't figure out how he had beaten her and ran off. But thanks to Aang's visions, we figured out where to look. It was a rocky road to win her over, but we did it."
"She's certainly a force to be reckoned with." Suki agreed, then asked what she really wanted to know: "What about the Sand Nomad then?"
"Riight… ehm…" Dang, this was not going well, but he'd try his best. Improvising was his strength. "We met him on our travels, he was alone and had a fever, so we took him with us to nurse him back to health, and turns out, he's a really good fighter so I asked him to teach me some moves.."
"And Katara asked him too?"
"Uhm, no, actually. We did somehow end up meeting my dad, and he asked on Katara's behalf, just to make sure she wouldn't rely on bending alone."
"Hmm. How long has he been with you?"
"Over a month now."
"And he just kept travelling with you?"
"He was also on his way to Ba Sing Se, so yeah, we just never split up… Till now. I think he's right. It's better if we split up here. But it's going to be sad to see him go." Sokka paused "Wow, never thought I'd say that, but he turned out to be quite a decent guy."
"What made you think he wouldn't be?"
"Uh, ehm, he, ugh, he, I don't know. The veil and all. The fever was really messing with him too, to the point where he was fighting us. So it was a combination really. It got better when he got better."
"Hmm." Suki said, but Sokka could tell that she had her doubts, or was at least wondering about some details, she did not ask any more questions though.
00000
After one final check that Suki and Oktai were alright, they all got settled down. The atmosphere was calm as they had a nice last evening together with Suki. She noticed that everyone had gotten quite a bit more relaxed now that the paperwork was done. Toph seemed to be constantly at Oktai's side, she was teasing him and everyone else, and even drew a few sarcastic remarks out of Oktai, who for the most part sat there rather reserved. The guy was awkward and she was starting to see why the Gaang liked him. Suki got the feeling that while he was very competent in lots of ways, he lacked confidence for some reason. He wasn't boastful like Sokka was when he tried to cover it up; instead, he just shrunk into the background.
She preferred Sokka's up-front character. Sokka had charisma and wits, and a happy, outgoing personality. There was something gloomy about Oktai, something calculating too. Yet, every so often one of the members of their group would crack that shell and she'd see a different Oktai emerge. A funny, endearing one.
Later that evening, they were all huddled around a small yellow jennamite lamp that Suki had brought. They had eaten another cold meal, and Oktai unexpectedly initiated a conversation with her.
"So, you're from Kyoshi?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't that quite far away?"
"It's an island way down south, so yes."
"What's it like there?" Oktai asked carefully.
"It's nice. We stayed out of the war for a long time, the Kyoshi Warriors made sure that the villagers were safe, so despite the war all around, it was actually quite peaceful. What about your Sand Tribes?"
"Well, we get by by trading. We're dependent on it, so we try to keep decent relations with everyone. To be fair, some Sand Nomads swindle anyone who passes through the desert, which does not help our image towards the outside. A lot of people are prejudiced towards the people of sand."
"Hmm, yeah, I've heard about that."
"So, you are a Kyoshi Warrior?"
"I'm the Leader of my village's group of warriors."
"How does that work? How do you get selected? You are quite young."
"Almost all girls train from a young age onwards, I proved myself both in skills and in leadership, so I became the leader. Usually, women drop out of active Warrior duty once they get their first child. Some of our members also have been killed defending our villages in the past."
"That's admirable. I thought the Sand Nomads were the only culture around here, which put women in leadership roles."
"Oh they do?"
"Yes. It's a matriarchal system. The men go out to trade, but at home, the Khairt Eej says what goes and what needs to be done."
"At Kyoshi Island, we still have the elders. The Kyoshi Warriors are the protectors, but they don't solely decide on the big things."
"That's good. It's better to distribute the power so the system doesn't get corrupted." Oktai said.
"What would you know about that?" Suki eyed him. It was just weird how educated the guy was for the fact that he had been on the run as a kid. She'd have guessed him to be around her age. Then again, someone dedicated could learn a lot in a short amount of time, given he had resources. Were the Sand Nomads really that well-versed in politics?
"I read a lot when I can, and then I think about it."
"Hmm, fair."
They were quiet for a moment before Oktai asked another shy question.
"Do you miss your village?"
"I do, but at the same time, I know we're needed here, and I've learned a lot in my time away."
"You mentioned earlier having to rebuild your village." He looked away.
"Yeah, the Fire Prince who hunted Aang set fire to the village, in an attempt to draw Aang out. Aang got the fire under control and fled, but most houses were quite damaged."
"I'm sorry." Oktai bowed his head, looking dejected, voice grave. It was a bit odd. "Did anyone die?"
"Thankfully no. But there were a few people who got sick after it because they didn't have adequate shelter. But we took care of them and they all were healthy by the time I left."
"I'm glad." The guy said, shoulders finally relaxing a little.
"But if I ever cross paths with the Prince again. He'll regret it. I'll make sure of it."
The guy winced and nodded, returning to his quiet self; he seemed done asking questions. It came to mind that he'd mentioned fleeing a village on fire. Her story must have made him recall bad memories. Those moments of seeing her village burning still haunted her nightmares too. So she understood. She leaned over and touched Oktai's knee to comfort him. He flinched away.
"It will be alright."
00000
The night came and went. They all had had better nights. Everyone was dreading the morning, as it would mean another goodbye. Zuko had become part of their group and no one wanted to see him off. Toph felt his nervousness.
After a quick breakfast of seal jerky, Zuko stood, the pack with his sleeping bag and things at his feet.
"Thank you all for everything, and let's hope we find each other soon in the city."
Zuko was not prepared for Aang to hug him. "I'll miss you." the boy mumbled and Zuko thought that he might agree. These past few weeks, Aang often had diffused a situation with his easygoing nature. Often very annoying, be it because he was an airhead and easily distracted, or because he was naïve, but he certainly did have a good heart. Zuko had been lucky.
"It won't be for long." He murmured back.
The water siblings were next. Katara gave him a hug too, eyes a bit watery.
"Take care of yourself." She said and he nodded in response.
Sokka gave him a traditional Water Tribe handshake. "Take care man. May the winds blow steady along your trip, brother." He smiled sadly, an expression which Zuko shared, hidden behind his scarf.
Toph tried to punch him. "This sucks.", she had a mulish expression on her face.
"Come on Toph," He said, pulling her into a hug of his own, a surprise to all the group. "See you soon."
She let it happen and raised his hands around him too."Yeh, if I don't, I'll hunt you down."
"Do that." Zuko smiled below the veil.
Suki stood at the sidelines, Zuko could feel her observing everything. Finally, she stepped up and stared at him, and his heart thumped as he stared back. Her eyes stayed void of recognition though and he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop as she held out her hand. He took it.
"Take care of them, please." Zuko asked of her.
"Be safe yourself." Suki challenged.
Zuko nodded. "Until we meet again."
He grabbed his stuff. It was hard to turn away and walk, but he was determined not to turn around till he was on the ship. So much could go wrong.
"Hey Oktai, wait. When will you arrive in the city? So we can count the days properly." Sokka shouted, remembering at once that Zuko had not disclosed that information to them.
Zuko turned around. "I think tomorrow afternoon, but I'm not sure. Good bye." He waved, then turned around and disappeared into the masses.
The rest of the group watched him go and the air suddenly felt heavy. Zuko would indeed be missed.
.
A/N 11.02.24:
New OST for Demise (and A:TLA in general) released: Zuko's and Azula's Sibling Rivarly. Enjoy!
You can find it under the name "Sibling Rivalry" by "Malva Luna", on Spotify and other streaming platforms, as well as youtube, and even Tumblr and Ao3.
Yästävä: And just like that, the Gaang is no longer complete. It was so fun having Zuko only realising right then and there that hey, it doesn't make any sense to go to Ba Sing Se with the Gaang. He did not see it coming, did you?
I also had such a blast writing Suki and using her as an outside perspective observing the group's additions, especially the suspicious one. And of course we couldn't pass by the opportunity to have Suki and Zuko have a spar and a talk about what he did to her village.
And now Zuko has been seen off, and for the first time in over a month, alone. Nothing can go wrong now, can it?
So, yeh, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and it would be lovely to hear your thoughts.
ML8991: Hey guys, hoping you enjoyed this chapter. It was definitely fun to bring the Gaang into a situation where they are now under watch. Things will only continue in this vein, so it was fun to show their different handling. The law citation Aang gives is actually based on current legislation, though in the People's Republic of China, not from the era that the Earth Kingdom is somewhat based upon (a mix of Tang and Qing Dynasty China for the most part).
Otherwise, I hope you liked Toph getting to be a little gremlin, that was fun to see become realised, and also to show that, despite everything, Zuko does still trust her, and she and he are good, in despite of Toph taking some steps over his liberties in earlier chapters. Speaking of Zuko, outside of his sudden departure, I hope you liked his interaction with Suki, that was a nice sense of clearing the air, at least for him, unlike Suki who doesn't realise hehe. Looking forward to what you guys make of the next chapter, as we begin to explore the City of Secrets and Lies. Stay tuned, and see you guys on the next chapter, thank you as ever for your ongoing support, it means everything :D.