Terribly sorry that this update took so long, everyone. The past few months got really tough for me. More on that later. Thankfully, it's really long, to make up for that absence. For now, allow me to thank all of you for your continued interest in my story. Though authors do write for themselves, it would be a depressing life indeed to have nobody to share their work with. Knowing that there are people out there who enjoy what I do is what has kept these stories going all this time.
So, thank you for spending your time on me! I truly appreciate it. Even if life gets tough, it's heartening to know I have fans out there eager to read what I write for them.
Having taken a detour to visit some of the wounded troops in the camp, Xisheng was certain that he would be met with irritation and complaints from the girls when he finally made it to his appointed dinner with him. After all, they'd already expressed displeasure with his decreased availability these days, so they probably weren't too keen on him creating even more delays when he didn't actually need to.
And yet, when Xisheng actually made his entrance into one of the few stone buildings that had actually been erected in the camp so far, he'd actually found himself in a more confusing situation. Ty Lee's mouth was agape in abject shock as she leveled a disbelieving look at Azula. Mai was wiping water from her chin and coughing, clearly indicating that she had encountered an issue drinking normally, but even her eyes gaze was affixed to Azula. And Azula, for her part, seemed completely unbothered at all. In fact, she looked kind of smug, not to mention amused.
Of course, everyone did turn their gazes onto Xisheng when he entered the small earthen structure, but his arrival was clearly so unexpected in that moment that none of the girls managed to say anything to him. Needless to say, Xisheng was very curious as to what could have created such an odd situation before his own arrival, so he asked the only thing he could to try and get some clarification.
"Did I interrupt something?"
Ty Lee managed to pick her jaw up off the floor, but even so, she seemed way too stunned to actually speak up. Or perhaps she just had no idea what to say. Mai was still working out her coughing fit, so this just left Azula to provide Xisheng with an answer.
"Nothing important. I just told a hilarious joke, is all. One that Ty Lee was a bit too much of a prude for, clearly."
This explanation prompted Xisheng to raise an inquisitive eyebrow, as it just didn't really sound right. Azula did have a penchant for solid dry humor, but enough to make someone like Mai spit out their drink? Even Xisheng hadn't managed to make her laugh that hard, and he humbly considering himself the best at making Mai laugh or smile, at least as far as he knew.
"Well, come on then: I have to hear such an amazing joke."
Strangely enough, both Mai and Ty Lee turned their attention to Azula, eyes full of anticipation. Xisheng admittedly found himself even more curious. Had Azula really said something that funny? Not to be mean to the girl, but he didn't think her capable of it...
Put on the spot, Azula remained quite calm, merely shrugging. "Sorry, but it's not the type of joke that can be retold with the same impact. One of those 'you had to be there' types, you know?"
Disappointed, Xisheng cast a confusing glance in Ty Lee and Mai's directions, quietly asking them if Azula was being serious right now. Surprisingly, they both seemed to agree.
As soon as Mai managed to clear her throat entirely, she quietly agreed with Azula's assessment. "No, she's got a point..."
Seeing that Mai was agreeing to the provided excuse, Ty Lee slowly followed suit, though she didn't seem confident in doing so. "Uh, yeah... sorry, Gohan..."
Honestly, Xisheng found the whole thing pretty suspicious, and he didn't quite believe the excuse he had been given. But at the same time, all three girls were dodging his question, and Xisheng knew how to take a hint. He didn't know what types of things girls talked about when all by themselves, but Xisheng imagined that, much like men, there were some things you would rather keep among your peers, so to speak. Xisheng himself knew that he had shared a few conversations among all male soldiers that he wouldn't want to repeat to any girls.
Besides, Xisheng was hungry and pretty tired, so he didn't think it was worth it to press the girls over this. He was eager to just sit down and eat.
"Alright, if you say so. What are we eating tonight?"
With that, Xisheng moved into the dynamic none the wiser as to what had been said a few moments before his arrival. For him, the moment was quickly lost as he focused on sating his hunger and sharing some of his daily travails with Azula, who was interested in the technical affairs of his leadership.
As for Mai and Ty Lee though, they found it hard to act with any normalcy at this point. They were both mentally reeling from what Azula had said prior to Xisheng's arrival, trying to determine exactly what the Crown Princess had meant by her unexpected words at that time.
'She had every intention to'? In response to Mai's quip about marrying Gohan? Just where the hell had that sentiment come from, and so strongly? So nonchalantly, at that? Azula had never said anything like that to either of them, as a child or since their reunion some months ago. Romance was something that hardly ever seemed to be on her mind, so it was kind of crazy for her to supposedly be looking seriously at a marriage candidate all of a sudden, right?
Even worse, the way she had diverted Gohan's interest when he first arrived raised some questions for both Mai and Ty Lee as well. Azula had specified that she had just told a funny joke, but was that really all it had been, or had it just been an excuse to deflect Gohan's curiosity? It wasn't like Azula had never told out of pocket jokes without any warning before, and she was remarkably calm about the whole thing, even with the man she was supposedly considering for marriage sitting right next to her, eating at the same table. So, just how serious had she really been? Or had she been serious in the first place?
As dinner wore on, both Mai and Ty Lee tried to hide their thoughts behind normal behavior, though it was hard to tell how good they were doing. At any rate, Xisheng never called them out on any odd behavior, so perhaps they did pretty good with it. Although, maybe it was just that Azula was keeping him pretty occupied. Though Xisheng was the type to try and make sure the rest of his company wasn't being ignored, Azula was commanding a lot of his attention with continuously invested questions about camp, the battle plan, and overall logistics. That meant neither Ty Lee nor Mai actually had Xisheng paying explicit attention to them too often, so he didn't get much time to scrutinize them.
Eventually, there came a moment when Xisheng elected to excuse himself for a moment of relief, promising that he would return soon. All of the girls handled the announcement with grace, with nonchalant nods and smiles, but as soon as Xisheng actually left the room, the air grew tense. Silence engulfed them, with both Mai and Ty Lee leveling clouded gazes at Azula. As for the Crown Princess, though she continued to sip her water seemingly without concern, her knowing gaze made it clear that she knew what was on their minds.
Figuring there was no need to drag out the silence, especially since they had a limited amount of time, Mai slowly spoke up, pondering how direct to be with this.
"So... you didn't propose to him."
Yeah, this was a pretty good approach, wasn't it. It was subtle enough to sound like Mai was just curious about whether or not Azula had really been joking. It gave Azula the leeway to admit to that, if it were true. Although, when Azula put down her cup so she could speak clearly, she didn't state any such thing.
"Of course not. This would hardly be the time to do something such as that."
Ty Lee's expression grew more contorted as her worries were reinforced. "What do you mean...?"
Azula stated her perspective as though she was saying nothing unusual at all. "Gohan is under a lot of pressure right now. He's in charge of this entire force, leading them in a complex military operation with a high potential for complications. He's dealing with the stress of that leadership, and the lives that have been lost under his command, as well as the thought of who else might die in the future. The last thing he needs right now is for me to place another potential point of complication on his shoulders. He's dealing with enough for now."
After stating all of this, Azula also offered a dismissive shrug. "Besides, a marriage proposal from a member of the Royal Family isn't something you can make on a whim. There are many things to consider. Gohan is technically yet to be recognized in any way befitting of a Crown Princess, and we don't know the real details of his lineage, not to mention the fact that I would have to raise the idea with my father... though the prospect excites me, I'm not going to foolishly skip over all of the fine details that must be ironed out for something of such magnitude."
To this, Ty Lee struggled to eke out her words. Azula wasn't joking. She was completely serious about this. The brunette felt her chest constrict with dread as she the full weight of the realization set in.
"Y-you... you're really serious about this, Azula...?"
The Crown Princess of the Fire Nation leveled an unflinching gaze at her childhood friend. "Completely. I was always going to have to marry someone to continue my lineage. And I was never going to settle for anyone that wasn't spectacular. I've found a man that I respect, whom I trust, who is a competent warrior and intellectual... why deny that he's perfect for me? It would be foolish to ignore him in favor of some theoretical future man I haven't met yet. I know what I want, and as always, I'm going to pursue what I want. The real question is, why do you sound so bothered by it?"
Ty Lee grit her teeth as she averted Azula's piercing gaze. She contemplated just blurting out what was on her mind, but she couldn't find her voice. Besides, it seemed like she didn't really need to. Azula was more than capable of connecting the obvious dots before her, which caused her to smirk.
"I see... well, I've always enjoyed competition. But you won't beat me, Ty Lee. Count on that."
Feeling a flare of anger rise up within her, Ty Lee nevertheless stayed quiet. Her inner thoughts were too tumultuous to allow for cohesive speech right now. She had a lot of different things she felt like saying, but she didn't know what order to say them in, or how angrily, or if they needed to be said aloud in the first place. She wasn't the type to be able to get her thoughts in order right away when it came to big obstacles in her life.
Seeing that the brunette wasn't going to respond to her challenge, Azula turned her attention to Mai, whose gaze was clouded as she stared down into her nearly empty cup.
"What about you, Mai? I'll admit, I'd be immensely surprised to learn that you care about this."
Mai glanced sideways at Azula with narrowed eyes, but she held the look only for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and finishing off the little bit of liquid she had left in her cup.
"It's none of my business. I was just surprised you were so blunt about something like this out of nowhere, that's all."
"I expected no less. After all, Zuko's still... ah, well, you know."
Mai's expression grew troubled as she focused her gaze on the bottom of her cup. "...yeah."
Though she was wrapped up in her own thoughts, Ty Lee still cast a surprised glance in Mai's direction. Surely she didn't actually agree with Azula's sentiment? Not after what she had revealed that day on the boat... but then, Ty Lee wasn't a mind reader. What Mai said and what she thought weren't necessarily aligned. Maybe she was experiencing the same misgivings as Ty Lee right this moment.
At any rate, Azula didn't seem bothered by her friends' behavior. Or maybe she just wasn't picking up on it properly, though it was difficult to imagine her missing such obvious signs from the two girls. Maybe she was too busy reveling in satisfaction from the decision she had made for her future. Admittedly, Azula was a little giddy at the thought of it, which might have been taking up more of her mental attention.
Marriage... lots of young girls swooned at the thought of finding the perfect soulmate, having a gorgeous wedding, and living together forever after. Sometimes the dream involved having kids, too. But all of that had never been of much interest to Azula growing up. Her mind had been focused on grander things: being a perfect daughter of the Fire Lord, preparing for the day she would one day be Fire Lord herself... marriage had always been nothing more than a necessary stepping stone to securing the future of the throne in Azula's mind. Something she would one day have to do just to ensure that the bloodline could be continued. A political maneuver, and nothing more.
On top of that, Azula had never actually considered the idea that a man out there could be good enough for her. She had been interested in boys, but mostly out of curiosity. She'd always assumed that they would fall short of her expectations, little more than a passing novelty during puberty and little more.
So, needless to say, Azula was quite unused to this feeling of giddiness. This anticipation for a romantic future with a particular man. She'd never felt this way about someone before. A year ago, she would have scoffed at the notion of being truly smitten with a man, never mind a man of common origin. But her worldview had changed a lot in this last year, with much of that change being tied to the very man that now had her desire.
Hell, she'd used to think Mai's infatuation with her brother was pitiful. Young love seemed so foolish at the time. The universe had turned the notion on its head for amusement. But Azula couldn't even find it in herself to be mad about it. Frankly, she couldn't find it in her to care much about anything else at the moment. She knew Ty Lee was upset and that even Mai was behaving oddly in the face of the news Azula had shared. But the Crown Princess didn't care to worry about it right now. She was too busy thinking about the many steps she would need to take to achieve the future she wanted.
How would her father react to the news that Azula had a particular suitor in mind? And one with no special bloodline? Xisheng was an impressive specimen when it came to Firebending and strategy, but he was still a commoner. Would his achievements at Ba Sing Se be enough to make Xisheng worthy in Ozai's eyes? Would taking down the wall be enough, or would they need to achieve even greater feats? Truly, Azula now had even more reason to ensure their success here at Ba Sing Se.
With every girl at the table lost in her own thoughts, silence soon reigned over the room. But since Xisheng had only disappeared for a brief respite, it wasn't long before his presence upset that silence once again. Unlike Azula though, Xisheng was very aware that the atmosphere was odd when he returned, and he wouldn't believe that a joke was the cause of it this time. When he took his seat at the table again, Xisheng donned a smile even as he carefully examined his friends.
Azula certainly seemed fine. Relaxed, content, and returning his gaze unflinchingly whenever Xisheng looked in her direction. Mai's gaze was affixed to the table in front of her, seemingly so lost in her own thoughts that she was now oblivious to the world around her. She didn't seem to notice Xisheng examining her at all. As for Ty Lee, she was clearly aware of her surroundings, but she seemed uncomfortable and sheepish. Whenever Xisheng did look her way, the brunette averted her gaze. To Xisheng, it seemed like more than discomfort. She seemed sad too. Just what the hell had happened in the few minutes that he had been gone?
Moreover, what could he do about it? If things were this uncomfortable upon his arrival, was anyone going to actually talk about it if he asked? Besides, what could have happened for Azula to be in a good mood while the others weren't? Xisheng was at a loss. But still, this was one of the few opportunities available to Xisheng lately to actually spend time with everyone. Come tomorrow, his plate would be full of command obligations once again. So, he had to try and do something. Azula had been taking up most of his time thus far, so perhaps now was a good time to try and give the others his attention. He just had to find a way to get a conversation going that wouldn't seem so blatantly out of place. He didn't want to make it obvious to the girls that he was trying to pry into their thoughts and feelings. That kind of thing was best done subtly.
"Ty Lee, do you mind if I ask you something? I was visiting the infirmary earlier this evening and thought about you."
Though she was deeply troubled by her own thoughts at the moment, Ty Lee still couldn't ignore Xisheng's statement. Yeah, she had some big things on her mind, but how could she not wonder what about the infirmary of all places had caused Xisheng to think about her? That was just too odd to let slide.
"Uh... that's kind of worrying..."
"It was nothing bad. It's just that, while I was in there... I remember how, when I was hurt, you could use your chi-blocking to dampen my pain. There were a lot of soldiers in the infirmary today that could have benefit from something like that."
Perhaps because she was already feeling out of it, Ty Lee got the wrong idea almost immediately. "Oh, I... I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that..."
Xisheng wasn't dense enough to miss the brunette's misinterpretation of his words. "Hold on, I'm not accusing or criticizing you. Taking care of the wounded isn't your responsibility. You aren't even enlisted, so you're really not obligated to do anything around here."
Despite these assurances, Ty Lee didn't seem convinced. "But... I could have helped a lot of people today. I didn't even think about anyone who was suffering..."
"This is the first battle you've ever been close to. It's not surprising that the aftermath of it wasn't on your mind. And it's not surprising that your thoughts after a big battle like this were on the people you personally know. Everyone is going to care more about those close to them. Strangers will always come second. Besides, I wouldn't expect you to personally tend to everyone who was hurt. That's way too much work to place on you, especially since, like I said, it's not even your job. What I was really wondering was whether or not you'd be willing to teach chi-blocking to some of the medical staff."
Finally, Ty Lee perked up a bit. Maybe Xisheng's statement was actually interesting enough to draw her out of the doldrums, at least for the moment. "Oh?"
Xisheng nodded. "I won't demand it of you. But considering that you taught me a bit about it, and you never claimed it was some sort of all-important secret technique that could only be passed down with extreme discretion. And I know that you've expressed some misgivings about it being used for fighting, but if you shared it this way, it would only be used to help people."
Eager to actually feel good about something in this moment, Ty Lee found herself fairly accepting the idea. It wouldn't be enough to take her mind off of what Azula had shared tonight, but it at least felt good to imagine helping a bunch of suffering people in some way. Furthermore, though she was reeling from Azula's proclamation, Ty Lee was well aware of the value of putting herself in a good light.
"Yeah... I think I would be alright with something like that. I'd like to be able to help in some way, even if I'm not officially expected to..."
As for Azula, she couldn't help but notice Xisheng's grateful smile or his intent focus on Ty Lee. Now that she had her future love life on the mind, Azula also knew the importance of scoring points... and potentially blocking others from doing so. It was a bit petty no matter how she sliced it, but at least she could be a little subtle about it. Part of her acknowledges that what she was about to say wouldn't even actually discredit Ty Lee in any way, since she had still already offered to do something kind and charitable, but it was about blocking potential future wins for the brunette. Azula wasn't doing this to be malicious, but if Ty Lee was going to pursue the same man that the Crown Princess wanted for herself, she had every right to try and push for herself.
"I do understand the idea you're going for, Gohan, but are you sure it's a good idea? Pain is uncomfortable, but it's also an important indicator of the problems a person is experiencing. Numbing the wounded to pain could be detrimental to their overall care... you can't tend to wounds you don't know about, and you may never know about them if the wounded can't feel them and tell someone."
Xisheng seemed a little surprised to hear her input on this, but he wasted no time in responding. After all, Azula had definitely been taking more interest in almost all aspects of the battlefield and its associated fields. So he probably should have expected her to start engaging with him on topics that she wouldn't have before.
"That is true, but I'm not saying we just blindly numb every wounded soldier to all pain. If we teach the technique to the medics taking care of the wounded, they can numb pain at their informed discretion. It'll just add another tool to their healthcare arsenal, that's all."
Azula frowned a bit, as she was unable to really deny that assessment. Well, at least she'd tried. Besides, it wasn't like she was really all that worried about the thought of competition over Xisheng's heart. She was just competing on principle. Surely, with everything she had to offer, there was no way she could lose to anyone in an area such as this. Sure, Ty Lee was attractive and nice, but plenty of girls had traits like that. Almost no one in the world could offer the same incentives to a potential partner as Azula could.
Glad that he had at least gotten Ty Lee to engage with him a little bit, and having provided a solution for Azula's counterargument, Xisheng turned his attention to Mai. This whole time, she'd barely taken her eyes off of the empty cup in her hands. On top of that, she hadn't said a single word since Xisheng had returned to dinner. She was always the quietest member of the group, but this was something different. This wasn't the content silence she often exuded. It was more... reclusive. Isolated. This was someone ignoring the world around them by getting lost in their own thoughts. Xisheng hadn't often seen her like this in their relationship... but the few times he had seen it, it was usually because Mai was deeply upset.
As always, he didn't like the idea of leaving her like that. He knew better than to push when it wasn't welcome, but at the same time, Xisheng always wanted Mai to know that he noticed how she felt, and that he was willing to offer whatever help he could as long as she wanted it.
"How about you, Mai? You think learning to use rope-darts will take our army to the next level?"
Though she hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation thus far, Mai still noticed when her name was called, and thus heard at least the back half of Xisheng's statement. At first, she was a bit surprised, since he was obviously joking. There was no way he honestly thought teaching rope-dart skills to the rank and file would be practical, and Mai knew he was observant enough to notice when she wasn't really in a joking mood.
But when she turned a tentative gaze away from her empty cup and towards his eyes, Mai realized what was really going on. Xisheng's intent was fully clear in his eyes, in the gently probing expression. Of course he recognized that she was troubled by something. And of course he wasn't going to just blatantly inquire about it right in front of others. He was quietly asking if she was alright, in his own way.
Damn, this was what she liked- no, what she really loved about him. He was always paying attention to her, but never in a way that was overbearing. It wasn't like her parents, who had always been watching Mai just to make sure she behaved in a way that was suitable for their appearance. It wasn't like Ty Lee or Azula, who could recognize when Mai was upset but never seemed to acknowledge whether or not she wanted to be confronted about it. Their curiosity about her problems always took precedence over whether or not Mai actually wanted to talk about them. Even Zuko had been a lot like that, back in the day...
Gohan always met her where she was comfortable. He didn't push her to act a certain way, or speak her mind when she wasn't ready to. He always gave her space to be herself, and he never got exasperated about the fact that she wasn't the easiest person to deal with. That level of understanding and acceptance from him had always been the thing that made him stand out the most in Mai's eyes and why she had ever even felt that opening herself up to a new friendship was worth it at all.
So, despite some dire thoughts, she couldn't help but smile ever so slightly, and stow whatever bitter remark she might have made initially. "I'm not sure that would be a good idea. We'll get more people hurting themselves than the enemy if they try to learn something like that."
A little relieved to see a smile, even though it was slight, Xisheng smiled himself. "Then I guess you'll just have to stick to teaching me, huh? Though I might need a few years of tutelage to reach the level you display so easily."
Mai's smile fell a little bit as she glanced over at Azula, who was pointedly focusing her gaze elsewhere. After all, the implication that Gohan would need Mai's attention for several years to achieve this particular goal was not lost on the Crown Princess or Mai herself. Of course, Mai wasn't the type of girl to make a wild assumption just because of a comment that was almost certainly innocuous. From Gohan's point of view, he probably couldn't see any way that his comment could be misconstrued. Why wouldn't he think that his friends would be around for years to come? He probably wasn't thinking about any romantic connotations at all, at least not in the same way Azula probably was right now.
Honestly, Mai was kind of annoyed. For someone with the gumption to declare who she was marrying in the future like it was a foregone conclusion, Azula sure was insecure when it actually came down to it. That pissed off the older girl somewhat.
What she might have said to dispel the tension ended up as a mystery to everyone, as Mai had no chance to do so before a solid thumping sound emanated from the makeshift wooden door to the simple room.
Frankly, everyone seemed surprised that they were being disturbed at this time, even Xisheng himself. He'd made it pretty clear to his subordinates that he didn't want to be bothered for the rest of the night, unless there was something truly vital that needed his attention. In fact, the voice he called out with was the most irate any of the girls had heard from him in a long time.
"Shinji, if that's you, we had better be under attack."
Incidentally, the voice that came from the other side of the door was Shinji's, and the young adjutant sounded a little nervous. He'd never actually had Xisheng irritated with him before.
"P-please accept my apologies, Commander. But we've received a message from General Lu Bei. It's quite extensive, and includes a great deal of tactical information about potential reinforcements, among some other, er... 'unique' circumstances relating to his absence from the assault force that was supposed to accompany the Drill. Aranai claimed that this was all information you needed to be apprised of immediately."
Admittedly, Xisheng did find himself intrigued by the notion of correspondence from General Lu Bei of all people. Lu Bei was Xisheng's old commander from before he even departed for the North Pole. The General had also been slated for tactical involvement in Qin's awful plan with the Drill, but had never actually showed up to the forward staging area in time to do so. There had been no messages from him either, and thus, no one in Xisheng's force had been aware of why Lu Bei had failed to appear for the battle. As far as Xisheng knew, the General was a very respectable officer who would only have missed such a large battle because he had been waylaid by a serious obstacle.
At any rate, gaining the reinforcements and assistance of a respected general was a huge priority, and Xisheng admitted that this was a good reason for his evening respite to be interrupted. Still, he couldn't help but sigh in frustration. Why couldn't this message have come in the morning?
Noting his dismayed expression, Azula quickly chimed in to assuage Xisheng's concerns. "Don't worry about it. It's already late anyway, and you have many responsibilities awaiting you tomorrow. Take care of this, then go ahead and retire for the night. We should all probably do the same."
Xisheng glanced at Mai and Ty Lee to see if they would be as graceful about his sudden exit, and received a nod and a shrug of acceptance from them. With everyone graciously releasing him from his social obligation here, Xisheng offered an apology for the interruption before rising from the table again and turning towards the door.
"Good night, everyone. Please rest well."
Azula muttered to herself as her pupil made his exit. "It's you that needs to rest the most out of all of us..."
Xisheng didn't hear this, and soon enough, he was gone from the room and walking away from the earthen structure altogether with Shinji in tow. When it was obvious that Xisheng was gone, Mai wasted no time in getting to her feet, her expression now a lot more sour than it had been a few minutes ago.
"Well, I'd love to stick around, but all we were doing was sitting in awkward silence anyway, so if you don't mind, I'll be going now."
Azula didn't seem perturbed by this at all. "Suit yourself."
With no one stopping her, Mai was stepping out into the darkness of the night-kissed camp in no time. Glancing up at the stars, which were a bit hard to see with the smoke of several campfires in the area stretching into the sky, she found her scowl growing even more pronounced. She knew why this was, but also knew that dwelling on it right this moment was just going to make her feel even worse. Right now, sleep sounded appealing just because it meant she wouldn't have to think about anything while doing so.
Determined to quell her misgivings with rest, though she doubted the effectiveness it would have, Mai began to stalk towards a a much smaller stone structure that had been erected specifically for her to sleep in. Azula and Ty Lee had gotten similar ones, but they were all separate. After all, young noblewomen needed their privacy, and it wasn't like it had cost more than a few minutes of time and effort from some Earthbenders.
And yet, Mai hadn't made it very far from the structure they'd all been eating in before she heard familiar light footsteps approaching from behind her. Sighing before she even turned to confirm her suspicions, Mai was not surprised in the least to find Ty Lee hurrying to catch up to her, with the obvious intent of dragging her into a conversation. Apparently the brunette had extricated herself from Azula's presence without any trouble as well.
Mai would have offered a brusque demand as to what Ty Lee wanted at this exact moment, but she didn't get to do that. Her friend, expression sullen, was stating her intentions as soon as she got close enough for their conversation to be private.
"Mai, we need to talk."
To this, Mai couldn't help but roll her eyes. This was exactly why Gohan's observant awareness was so refreshing all the time. He knew when she didn't want to talk. Ty Lee either couldn't pick up on the same hints or just didn't care.
Despite knowing exactly what Ty Lee wanted to discuss, Mai did her best to deflect.
"I'm tired, Ty Lee. Let me go to bed."
As for Ty Lee, she was clearly caught off guard by Mai's dismissal. From her point of view, she couldn't understand how her friend was so nonchalant at the moment, and she had no qualms demanding an explanation.
"Seriously, Mai? Aren't you upset?! You've got to be bothered by this! What Azula said back there-"
Already irritated since she didn't want to have this conversation, Mai snapped at her friend to cut her off.
"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it, Ty Lee? What, am I supposed to tell Azula that she can't do it? It's not like I have any right to demand she love someone else!"
A little taken aback since Mai usually wasn't so openly agitated, Ty Lee wavered for a moment, though not enough to stop her from continuing with the conversation.
"Well, no, but... I mean, it's not about whether or not she can do what she wants, it's about whether or not we just roll over and let it happen! It's not like they're already married, she hasn't even told him anything. We can still..."
Ty Lee petered off, unsure if she wanted to use the word 'win.' That made the whole thing sound petty. Regardless, Mai took advantage of the silence to speak her mind.
"Still what, Ty Lee? You had plenty of time before now to make a move on him, but you didn't. You clearly had some sort of reservations this whole time, so why get so bent out of shape now? And I... I told you before, I don't really even want to pursue that kind of relationship..."
Mai didn't sound terribly convincing with that last part, which Ty Lee didn't miss, but the brunette was also busy inwardly acknowledging that Mai had a point about her. Ty Lee had known long ago that she wanted to be with Xisheng, but she herself had refrained from pursuing him.
And the whole reason she had done that was because Ty Lee felt like she was robbing an opportunity from her friends, and wanted to keep the peace. So now that Azula was actually taking the opportunity that Ty Lee had kept open to her, why was she so upset about it? Was this not exactly why she'd held herself back in the first place?
Well, perhaps it was true what they said: hindsight gave you perfect vision. Maybe Ty Lee had just been idealistically foolish at the time. Or maybe she'd actually been scared to seriously pursue a relationship for the first time, and was using her friends as an excuse to procrastinate. Maybe she'd been so complacent in assuming that she would always have an opening to act that she hadn't felt the urgent drive do away with her misgivings and just go for it.
Regardless, Ty Lee could only regret her indecision and beat herself up over not understanding her own desires better. The current situation was one of her own making, but all she could do now was take steps to get the ending she wanted. Which, of course, made it strange for her to be pushing Mai like this right now. Why spur someone else to throw their hat in the ring and become another obstacle?
Well, if Ty Lee were being honest with herself, it was probably the fact that she pitied Mai. Her friend, who never seemed to have anything go right in her life, who seemed to never actually get anything she wanted. Her friend who got burned so often when she got her hopes up that she no longer had the heart to pursue anything she truly wanted.
She had not been allowed to do what she wanted as a child in her own household. Any action her parents deemed unseemly was ruthlessly stamped out. So she stopped showing her true feelings to others. When she found herself with strong feelings for Zuko, and actually gathered the courage to share them even after being conditioned not to, the Crown Prince had quickly been ripped away from her. And when she wanted to, at the very least, stay in the Fire Nation where she was comfortable, even that had been too much to ask for, and Mai had been shipped away to Omashu with her family on the other side of the world.
From Mai's perspective, asking the universe for anything was a fool's errand. She never got what she wanted, and anytime she got it in her head that she could actually go after something she desired, it ended in failure.
Ty Lee hated knowing that her friend felt so utterly hopeless about... well, hoping for things. How depressing was it to always feel like you couldn't even hope for good things to happen to you? How terrible was it to lead a life like that, never daring to genuinely pursue your desires? For that reason, Ty Lee couldn't help but try and help Mai take a stand for her feelings, even if it would technically pose an obstacle for the brunette. At the very least, Ty Lee wanted Mai to feel that it was worth trying.
"You're right, Mai. I let an opportunity slip away. I knew how I felt about Gohan before anyone else, and I hesitated to really go for it for reasons even I have trouble finding sense in now. I regret letting things come to this now that it's too late. But that's all the more reason you should listen to me when I tell you not to make the same mistake! I know how much you care about Gohan... maybe Azula can't see it, but I do. I see the way you look at him, the way he makes you smile, how you don't mind being around him no matter how irritated you are. It's love, Mai. We both know it."
Perhaps surprised to know that someone was picking up on her actions and feelings that well, Mai found herself unable to retort for the moment, which gave Ty Lee room to continue.
"I know it's scary to go after what you want. I know that you, out of all of us, have had the worst luck in having things go your way. But you can't let that hold you back! Think of it this way: aren't you lucky to have met someone that resonates with you as much as Gohan does? Aren't you lucky to be in a position where you can be with that person every day, not just as a shadow or some distant admirer, but as one of his closest friends? I know it's hard to take it at face value, but life's given you an opportunity! Don't squander it like I've been doing!"
Frankly, Mai found it nearly impossible to hold a perspective as optimistic as Ty Lee's. But admittedly, she had to admit that the brunette had a point. She supposed that most people never actually got the chance to meet someone who was a perfect match for them, never mind actually grow close to them in a natural way, without having to actually try. Perhaps that was fortunate, from a certain point of view.
But Ty Lee's fervor was blinding her to the truth. Mai had missed her chance, as had the brunette. Neither of them had any hope of achieving this dream now. With a defeated gaze, Mai glanced towards the busy center of the camp, where the silhouettes of resting soldiers were illuminated against the darkness by firelight from their campfires and torches.
"Maybe you're right, Ty Lee. But it's too late now. Maybe it could have happened if we'd acted earlier, but it's an impossibility at this point. This romantic dream of yours is done, and you know it."
Naturally, this was not the response Ty Lee had been expecting, nor was she very happy to hear it.
"The hell is is! Why would you even say that?!"
Turning her now dour gaze back to Ty Lee, Mai donned one of the most pessimistic scowls anyone had seen on her in a while.
"Because Azula is your competition. And neither of us is a match for her. Denying that is outright delusion."
"And why do you think that? It's not like Azula is flawless!"
Mai scoffed bitterly, a sardonic smirk gracing her features. "So what? Ty Lee, she's the heir to our nation's throne. Do you even realize what that means? Even if we ignore the fact that she could use her authority to just force her way if she wanted to, that's not the worst of it. Think of all the benefits Gohan would get from marrying the woman who will one day be the Fire Lord. He'd be marrying into the most important family in the entire country. He'd gain more influence and power than he could possibly get anywhere else. He'll never want for anything material. He'll guarantee that any children he has will join the most prestigious lineage of the Fire Nation. Prestige, power, wealth, a legacy... Azula can give him all of that. There's nothing we can offer that comes close to all of that."
Ty Lee did her best to keep a crestfallen expression from taking over her face, but the brunette doubted that she was succeeding. Admittedly, it wasn't as though Ty Lee had never acknowledged everything that Mai was saying right now. She knew very well that, practically speaking, Azula was the most desirable option for a partner out of them all. Not even for any romantic reason, but just because marrying Azula came with so many benefits. If it came down to what would be best for Xisheng's career, social life, finances, and political future, there was absolutely no denying that Azula was the best choice for him. Mai and Ty Lee were both nobles, but they couldn't offer anything remotely similar to Azula.
Which was disheartening, no doubt. But Ty Lee knew that Xisheng wasn't the type to commit to marriage for mere practicality. He had said as much to her before, that he wanted real love above all else in his romantic future. Granted, he had probably not even considered Azula an option at the time he had said that, and maybe he'd change his mind if the opportunity was presented to him... but for her own sake, Ty Lee chose to ignore that possibility.
"There's more to love than what social and political benefits you can give the other person, Mai. Especially when we're talking about an idealistic romantic like Gohan. He's not ambitious, at least not in the sense that he's always trying to get ahead. He just wants to do the best he can to achieve what he believes in, not make the most of his name or a legacy. For all you know, he might not even want the pressure that would come with being the Fire Lord's consort! At the very least, wouldn't it be better to actually hear what Gohan wants from his own mouth instead of just assuming we're not good enough for him? That's not even just a matter of you and I getting what we want, it's also a matter of respecting his autonomy. Gohan should be able to choose what he wants for himself, without us picking and choosing whether or not an option is worth his time."
Though she still found Ty Lee's perspective to be hopelessly optimistic, Mai couldn't deny that her friend had some good points. It wasn't really fair to Gohan to try and make his decisions for him prematurely. But then again, didn't Mai have every right to remove herself as an option if that was what she wanted? If that was what she wanted...
Glancing up at the hazy darkened sky, with starlight obfuscated by smoke from the camp, Mai questioned what she really wanted to do, now that Ty Lee had forced her to think about it. She knew she liked Gohan. Mai wasn't going to deny something that obvious. She enjoyed talking to him, being around him, even just sitting quietly next to him. He was observant, amenable, and he'd confirmed for Mai before that he found her beautiful. Mai acknowledged that Gohan was one of, if not the, only person she was consistently happy to see and speak to, no matter the situation. Her family, her friends, Zuko... not counting her own romantic hangups, there was no one else that Mai had ever been this consistently comfortable with.
Naturally, the idea of getting romantically serious with someone who made you feel that way appealed to Mai. She imagined it would appeal to anyone. Admittedly, she hadn't thought of it prior to Azula's declaration tonight, but if she were being honest with herself, Mai knew that was the type of person she'd want to spend her life with, as far as marriage was concerned.
So, Mai knew what she wanted, in the most basic sense. But from her point of view, it was more like a pleasant daydream than a possible reality. Ty Lee might have believed in the power of true love or something, but Mai, considering her history, was a more fatalistic sort. The odds were against her happiness, just like always. Gohan might pick her, but then something would probably happen to him, just like it had Zuko. Or, she'd take a shot and express her feelings only to get rejected because she was an idiot who was so starved for validation that she was misreading Gohan's behavior as actual romantic affection for her. Or maybe he did like her, but he'd still pick Azula, whom he was clearly also very close to, because it was the best choice for his life. At any rate, Mai could see a dozen ways to get burned, and only one way to actually be happy. She didn't like those odds, and she didn't like the idea of setting herself up to be hurt.
"Look, Ty Lee... I appreciate you trying to help me, in whatever way you think you have to. I know you have some misguided altruism guiding this conversation, driving you to push me towards some more fulfilling life I might be able to attain if I'd just take a risk. You're always annoying about it, but deep down, I am glad you care. That said... please, just leave me alone on this. I am how I am. You're not going to convince me to put any trust in good fortune at this point. Just write it off as tragic and focus on doing your own thing. You've got enough to worry about already if you're really going to challenge Azula."
With that, Mai turned around and started walking away, fully intent on retiring for the night and definitively ending the conversation. This whole exchange had only served to make her depressed, and now she just wanted the embrace of sleep to alleviate her mind's travails.
Ty Lee watched her friend's exit forlornly, deeply saddened by Mai's seeming acceptance of an unfulfilled life. It was hard to watch someone you cared about despair in such an insidious manner. But there wasn't really anything Ty Lee could do about it right now. Mai was likely right. Ty Lee wasn't the person who could change her fatalistic view of the world. If it was even possible, that task would fall to someone else. The brunette could only lament how pitiable Mai's situation was, self-imposed though it may have been.
So for now, focusing on herself really was all Ty Lee could do. She had her own goals to pursue, and Mai was right in saying that the brunette had her work cut out for her if she would be competing with Azula. Though she herself had acknowledged that Xisheng wasn't the type to only care about what he could gain, there was still no denying that Azula had a lot to offer a romantic partner. If Ty Lee was going to have any chance at all, she had to act soon, and that act had to be big and bold.
Of course, tonight wasn't an option: Xisheng was busy with important affairs and had a lot to do tomorrow as well. Disrupting his rest right now would be selfish of her. But she didn't have to move literally right this moment. Azula had made it clear that she wasn't going to outright propose to Xisheng anytime soon, as she had a lot of technical details that needed to be worked out. That gave Ty Lee a bit of time to find a good moment to make her move.
The only other thing she needed to do was muster up the courage to actually do what she had in mind. For all of the teasing and insinuating she had done together with Xisheng, actually walking the talk was an entirely different matter that she had no actual experience in.
Well, she supposed that anything could be learned via a trial by fire, if need be. Everyone had to experience a first time at some point.
Xisheng was up early the next morning, having only slept a few hours due to the letter he had received from General Lu Bei and the wealth of information that letter had provided. With a lot of new details to consider, Xisheng had stayed up later than he should have, pondering how his military situation would change when Lu Bei arrived.
Speaking of that arrival, it was actually happening this morning, which had come as a surprise to Xisheng. He hadn't expected reinforcements this soon. But then, Lu Bei had supposedly already been on his way to Ba Sing Se before Xisheng had even arrived. The man had been waylaid, though he had asserted that he wouldn't explain why until he arrived at camp.
So for that reason, Xisheng had not gone to bed until fairly late at night, and he was also up fairly early in the morning, because Lu Bei's letter had promised that his troops would arrive before noon. This had the young commander feeling a bit worse for wear, but he had no choice. Right now, he was sitting in an empty command tent, poring over a map of Ba Sing Se and wondering what he would do with the new resources that would soon be available to him. Or if he'd even be in charge once an actual general showed up.
It was fairly dark in the tent, with the flap closed and only a single torch in the corner to illuminate the area, but a little bit of early morning light managed to grace the area when someone else made their way into the tent.
"Commander, sir! Here's something from the mess, as you requested."
Xisheng, who had been leaning over a table with the map in front of him, straightened his back and turned towards Shinji, who was bowing low enough for his messy topknot to be parallel with the ground, even as he offered up a plate of food that the young adjutant had gotten from the mess. Xisheng shook his head in bemusement, finding some humor in it even though he was tired.
"Shinji, I've told you before that you don't have to be so reverent, especially when we're alone. It's awkward, especially when we aren't that far apart in age."
Xisheng took the proffered plate of hard bread and mash as he said this, which allowed Shinji to straighten his back. The young adjutant seemed unperturbed by Xisheng's admonishment.
"It's only fitting, sir. Especially now that we've breached Ba Sing Se on your plan. Everyone here in this camp should be giving you their utmost respect!"
After taking a bite of the rations he had acquired, Xisheng gave Shinji a questioning look.
"Wouldn't the most respectful thing you could do for me be treating me as I wish you to? I'd actually think it disrespectful to ignore such a request from anyone."
Shinji's dull tawny eyes widened in fear as the blood drained from his face in horror. Apparently, the realization that Xisheng may have been insulted by his behavior was a terrifying one.
"S-sorry, sir! I mean, if you want to be called 'sir!' I meant no disrespect!"
"Sir or Commander is fine, Shinji. Just don't go around worshipping the ground I walk on. While I appreciate being recognized by others, I don't want to feel like I'm far above them. We're all comrades fighting the same war."
"It's difficult not to treat you that way when you say such admirable things, sir."
With a small chuckle, Xisheng hurried to finish off his sparse breakfast as he contemplated a few more thing about the map of Ba Sing Se. During a moment when his mouth wasn't full, he asked Shinji a question.
"What time of day is it right now, Shinji?"
His baby-faced adjutant wasted no time in responding. "It was about an hour past sunrise when I arrived here, Commander."
"I see. General Lu Bei should be arriving soon, if his letter from last night is to be believed. Let's go and greet him, shall we?"
Shinji nodded and stepped to the side so Xisheng could exit the tent, then followed behind his young leader. As for Xisheng, he was momentarily blinded by the light of the sun as he stepped outside, as his vision had adjusted to the dim light of the command tent. Though it was early morning, the temporary base camp of the Fire Nation was rife with activity: the mess hall was crammed with soldiers getting their first meal of the day, people were carrying supplies to and fro, and some troops were even in the process of erecting metal structures, as they had received materials from the previous base which was being deconstructed at this time.
Looking upon it all, it was difficult to remember that they were right in the middle of foreign territory. This hodgepodge camp, comprised of dozens of white tents, a few metal structures, and some earthen fortifications, seemed relatively removed from danger at the moment. But they were within Ba Sing Se's own territory now, and could come under attack at any time. Xisheng couldn't ignore that reality, even as the hustle and bustle of the camp tried to drive the notion into shadow.
As Xisheng and his adjutant began walking towards the "rear" of the camp, the side that faced the breach they had made, he noticed many soldiers and colonials acknowledging his presence. Some just followed his movements with gazes of admiration, while others actively bowed or saluted if he was close enough to them.
Xisheng was a bit surprised to be on the receiving end of so much adoration and respect, but he supposed it was only natural at this point. He now had an amazing achievement to his name, and as recently as last night, soldiers had been singing his praises among their comrades. Even so, it would probably take a while to get used to it. In an effort to distract himself from the awkward sensation, Xisheng turned his head to speak to Shinji as they walked.
"Can I ask you a personal question, Shinji?"
Naturally, his adjutant agreed right away. "Of course, sir. Anything you want."
For a moment, Xisheng questioned whether or not he should ask this of anyone, since it provided some implications about his personal life that were probably best left private. But he supposed, if he were vague enough, it would be fine. Besides, while Xisheng had never lamented his status as a sole male among a group of beautiful women, he couldn't deny that the lack of a male companion left him with no one to talk to about certain topics.
"If you had multiple girls that were all romantically interested in you, what would you do?"
Shinji's thin eyebrows shot up into his hairline, evidence that he had absolutely not expected this kind of question from his commanding officer. Still, Xisheng had already told him to be a little less formal, and this question was being asked directly to him, so he didn't really have any reason to refuse an answer, right?
"Er, well... first of all, I think I'd be really happy. Hard to imagine having multiple girls interested in a guy like me. I'm not even sure what it's like to have one..."
Xisheng resisted the urge to apologize for the question he had asked. Honestly, he felt a little bad now that Shinji had said that. But his adjutant seemed to move on well enough.
"The closest I've gotten was when Hua Xin, a girl from my village, kissed me on the cheek before I left for basic training and made me promise to come back safe."
Though he had somewhere to be, Xisheng stopped in his tracks and leveled an expression that was half judgmental and half pitying. Surprisingly, Shinji seemed to recognize the look right away.
"On Ji looked at me that way too, when I told her the same thing... did I do something wrong?"
Xisheng didn't make any comment on what he was actually thinking. Shinji was clearly of the dense variety. Anyone with some social sense would have known that this Hua Xin girl was into him after something like that. Granted, one could possibly accuse Xisheng of the same thing, but they would have been wrong. He was fully aware of the strong emotions the girls held for him. He just had no idea how to act on them, or if he should in the first place.
Instead of commenting on that, Xisheng said something else as he continued walking. "You said before that On Ji is your little sister, right?"
"Yes, sir, by a few years."
"Well, sisters tend to know better when it comes to these things. After all, they know what types of things a girl would do if she liked someone."
To this, Shinji grimaced. "I hope not, sir. On Ji is still just a kid, I don't want to even think about her pining after any boys. I'm worried she'd go after the worst kinds without realizing it..."
Since he didn't actually know enough about Shinji's little sister to comment on her romantic aptitude, Xisheng chose not to. This left Shinji with enough room to continue speaking to him.
"Anyway, if I did have two girls who were both interested in me... well, I'd have to let one of them down gently and simply accept the feelings of the one whose feelings I reciprocated, wouldn't I?"
Since his situation was more complicated than that, Xisheng offered a counter. "And if you felt the same way about both of them?"
"Oh, well... I-I'm not really sure, in that case. I don't know if I even could feel strongly about more than one girl. Can you really say you love someone if you have the same types of feelings for someone else?"
Honestly, Xisheng did not have an answer for that. He'd pondered it a few times himself, considering his situation. His feelings for the girls were... difficult to categorize. He had never been in love before, and it was difficult to figure things out when his very first experience included multiple girls.
What even constituted "love?" It was obviously more than mere physical attraction, but even if that was all that was required, all three of the girls were beautiful. Was it a willingness to die to protect someone? But then, he was willing to do that for any one of them if need be. Some might say that love meant being happy when with the other person, but, although it was in different ways, Xisheng greatly enjoyed spending time with all of his companions individually. In some circles, love was something you felt when you really connected with and understood someone on a deep level. But even to this, Xisheng felt uncertainty. He felt equally bonded to everyone. And if someone just asked, 'who would you daydream about spending the rest of your life with,' Xisheng still couldn't answer that question definitively. From his perspective, all three possible futures would be enough for him to be content.
This would have been a lot easier if the girls themselves didn't feel the same way about him. At least in that case, reality could have done the choosing for him. But he was no fool: Ty Lee had openly admitted how she felt about him, and had never said or done anything to imply that her feelings had changed. In fact, they had only seemed to grow stronger.
Mai had not admitted any such feelings to him, but Xisheng could see the signs. She treated him differently than anyone else. She was more open with him, spoke to him freely, actively sought to spend time with him when possible... not to mention the smiles, the giggles, and the fact that she only seemed to be flustered by him or because of him. Granted, maybe Xisheng's view was biased. Assuming that Mai wasn't into women, there were no other men around for her to interact with. For all Xisheng knew, this was just how Mai was with men she found attractive in the slightest, but he would stake his life on the fact that this was not the case if need be.
And Azula... well, not that long ago, Xisheng would have never believed that she had any romantic inclination towards him. The idea was preposterous, or would have been to any sane person. And yet, in these past few weeks, and the past few days especially... he could not have possibly missed the way she looked at him. She'd never been shy about praising him in the past, but that had always been in a practical sense: as a warrior, a soldier, or a leader. She'd given him impressed looks plenty of times, but that was not the same as the looks she gave him now.
Admiration. Beyond an appreciation for his practical abilities. The way she had looked at him immediately after the battle for Ba Sing Se's outer wall... it was different from any look she'd ever given him before. Maybe Xisheng was making an assumption that he shouldn't have been, but he couldn't deny what he saw. And besides, in all humility, Xisheng felt that it was natural. Azula had praised his skill, his intellect, his principles, and more. If she appreciated so much about him, didn't it stand to reason that such appreciation could evolve into affection? Not that you couldn't appreciate someone's qualities without falling in love with them, but the more you liked everything about a person, the more likely you were to love them, right?
Basically, Xisheng had no idea what to do. Even if he could settle on one single person he unequivocally 'loved' more than the other two, he didn't know if he wanted to endure the repercussions of making a choice. They had a tightly knit group dynamic, and he had no idea what would happen to it if a wedge as big as this one was driven between everybody. Moreover, he didn't want to hurt anyone he cared about, which was another big problem with not having a clear favorite...
"Sir, where'd this question come from anyway?"
Brought back to the reality of the sun-stricken camp around him, Xisheng shook his troubled thoughts from his mind.
"Just curious. Come on, we should hurry to the breach. It won't do to be late to the meeting with General Lu Bei."
Though Shinji's curiosity was not satisfied by this answer, the young adjutant nevertheless did as he was told. He wasn't going to press his superior if it was obvious that the topic was no longer on the table.
With the two of them quickening their pace a bit, it only took a few minutes to cross the Fire Nation's budding camp. It was already quite large, considering the number of troops it was housing at the moment. That was another big reason that it was so ramshackle at the moment. It had only been a short time since the Fire Nation army had made it into the city limits, and there were a lot of them to provide shelter for in such a short timeframe. Really, it was thanks to the colonial Earthbenders that the Fire Nation invaders had managed to establish themselves even this quickly.
Either way, it was not long before Xisheng and Shinji had reached the breach in Ba Sing Se's walls. Standing before it, the sight was a bit surreal. For miles and miles in either direction, the wall was immaculate and unflinching as it reached into the sky. Seemingly invincible and unyielding, so immense and awe-inspiring... it made it all the more bizarre when Xisheng's gaze rested on the massive, gaping hole in the otherwise uniform architectural wonder.
It was technically just a hole, but it felt more like an actual void, relative to its surroundings. Like staring into the deep ocean below you while swimming: it felt alien, because it was so out of place. The walls of Ba Sing Se had likely not sustained damage this severe in centuries... if they had ever sustained such damage at all since their creation.
Of course, the activity going on around the breach also made the scene a bit strange. Even this early in the morning, the forces of the Fire Nation were busy here, removing rubble from the destroyed wall, filling in the giant hole that had been left behind from Xisheng's explosion, and systematically widening the breach itself by gradually tearing down the parts of the wall that still stood. Naturally, these processes involved a lot of colonial Earthbenders, many of whom could be seen right now, using their bending to move chunks of stone and mounds of dirt.
Of course, there were regular Fire Nation troops helping out where they could, but it was mostly just carting off debris in vehicles after they were filled up by the Earthbenders, or standing guard while their colonial comrades were busy with their work. This was the scene that Xisheng and his adjutant approached, though everything appeared to be business as usual for now. There was no indication that a renowned general or his troops had arrived or were approaching the area. Shinji commented on this once the two of them had stopped some distance from the breach.
"It seems we might be a little early, sir."
Xisheng provided a potential alternative. "Or Lu Bei is late. He was already delayed before. Hopefully, nothing bad has befallen his forces. It's not like the entire Earth Kingdom military is holed up inside the city here with us..."
Unfortunately, it wasn't like Xisheng had the means to help Lu Bei if that was the case. Aside from not actually knowing the old general's status, even if he did, Xisheng didn't have the available troops to send away from his current position. He had to keep everyone here so they could hold onto their foothold. Even if Lu Bei was in such trouble that his forces were facing annihilation... it was more important for Xisheng to maintain the Fire Nation's position here in Ba Sing Se.
As awful as the notion sounded, the loss of a talented general and his sizable military force was technically sustainable. There were other experienced leaders in the Fire Nation military, and more troops available than Lu Bei's. Not to say that the blow wouldn't be significant, but it wouldn't be catastrophic. Meanwhile, the position Xisheng held in Ba Sing Se right now afforded the Fire Nation a one in a million opportunity to achieve their war goals. Not only that, but the method Xisheng had used to achieve this victory was unlikely to work a second time, meaning it would go to waste if the Fire Nation was pushed back out of the city.
Granted, that was a big reason they were widening the breach. If they were pushed back out beyond the wall, the Earth Kingdom would not have enough time to rebuild it completely before the Fire Nation could attack again. That was crucial, since Xisheng's strategy wouldn't be viable in that second attack. Of course, the Fire Nation would still be put into an incredibly tough position if that happened. Even if they didn't have to get through the wall itself, they would be forced to fight their way past a major chokepoint guarded by Earth Kingdom soldiers far less complacent than they had been before the wall came down. Now that they had to rely on something besides a wall they had thought invincible, Xisheng had no doubt that the Earth Kingdom would fight with more conviction.
Xisheng was not fully cognizant of how long he was lost in his thoughts, but acknowledged it may have been for some time when Shinji spoke to him again.
"Sir, it seems that one of the lookouts sees something!"
On Ji's older brother said this while pointing out towards the breach, were a Fire Nation soldier was waving a banner around to signal his fellows: specifically, he was signaling that friendly forces were approaching. Breathing a sigh of relief, Xisheng motioned for Shinji to follow him towards the breach proper so they could also see what and who approached them. It did not take long before the duo was standing among the Fire Nation lookouts next to a large pile of rubble from the wall, comprised of boulders several times taller and wider than any man standing there.
In the distance, across the flat plain of dirt that surrounded Ba Sing Se's outer wall, one could see the silhouettes of a marching formation, with red and black banners raised above them as they approached the city. Technically, there was no guarantee that this was Lu Bei and his troops, but Xisheng couldn't imagine that it was anyone else. That said, it was still going to take some time for these distant troops to arrive, so Xisheng had nothing to do but wait.
When he was standing around like this, not saying anything, he couldn't help but wonder what his fellow soldiers thought of him. Having been a guard for several high-ranking individuals throughout his career, Xisheng was always aware of how he might have looked to the people around him. Hopefully, he appeared stoic and stalwart, but at the same time, maybe it would be difficult to do that at his young age. Maybe it would just seem like he was trying too hard. Still, whatever their perception, as long as the troops followed him, Xisheng supposed it didn't make much difference.
Within another half hour, the reinforcing Fire Nation troops finally got close enough to the wall for Xisheng to actually note specific details about them. For one, the force wasn't quite as large as Xisheng had envisioned. There were several hundred men, but Lu Bei had been in charge of a massive defensive front before coming here, so Xisheng had been expecting more troops.
Secondly, there were very few vehicles among their number. The entire procession had but three Overlords, and no tanks. Instead, there was a large number of komodo rhinos carrying various things on their backs: supplies, personnel, and near the front of the column, presumably General Lu Bei himself.
Admittedly, Xisheng had never actually seen the man in person, so he couldn't know for certain. But he also couldn't imagine the man riding atop the lead rhino as anyone else. His rigid and refined posture, accentuated by ornate red and gold armor, bespoke a man with prestige and presence. And once the procession was close enough for this man to dismount his steed and approach Xisheng on foot, the young commander was even more certain.
Lu Bei was not yet an old man. He was not nearly as old as Iroh, but he was getting there. His short black beard was starting to show signs of gray near the tips, and his face was wrinkled around the eyes and forehead, even when not making an expression that would cause them. Bright amber eyes cast a sharp and observant gaze across the world before him, framed by bushy but well-maintained eyebrows. A dark scar carved a canyon diagonally across his nose, but it was clearly a remnant of a long bygone battle.
This was a man well-known across the Fire Nation for his leadership, strategy, and military prowess. This was the man Xisheng had served for years prior to the North Pole invasion, even if he had never seen the general. Despite now being in a position of prestige himself, Xisheng couldn't help but bow deeply as Lu Bei came close to him. Naturally, the rank and file troops under Xisheng's command did the same.
"General Lu Bei, it's an honor to meet you in person."
To Xisheng's surprise, Lu Bei bowed back to him, though not as deeply. Granted, he got the feeling that this was due to the older man's back more so than a lesser degree of respect.
"The honor is mine, Commander. A man of your age, achieving a feat so great as this-"
Lu Bei raised his gaze to the giant void that now existed in the walls of Ba Sing Se before finishing his sentiment.
"-well, I daresay you possess far greater prowess than I did at your age. You've wrought a great victory for our nation. All but the Royal Family should bow to you at this point."
Xisheng couldn't deny that this praise from a man he respected made him feel quite good, but he refrained from appearing too giddy about it. It was kind of silly: he'd been praised several times by the Crown Princess of the whole nation, so he should have been used to stuff like this. But he had to admit, there was something even more validating about this acknowledgment from a renowned military leader. It was one thing to be praised by people outside of your field, but getting acknowledgment from someone who that was actually a renowned figure within that field, well... that gave you irrefutable validation in thar regard, did it not?
Instead, he tried to remain professional. Not that it was difficult to do, since Xisheng actually had a lot of things of import to ask the General.
"You speak too highly of me, General. If you don't mind my saying so, your force is... not quite as large or equipped as I had hoped."
He said this while glancing towards Lu Bei's troops, but it wasn't like his older compatriot needed the hint.
"Indeed. Fear not, this is not the entirety of my force, merely the vanguard. As I mentioned in my letter, we were waylaid by Earth Kingdom troops during our march. Though we eked out a victory, many of our vehicles were damaged. Any other time, I would have hunkered down until we could repair our machines, but I believed it more prudent to reinforce your position here in Ba Sing Se as soon as possible, even if I could not provide the full bulk of my forces in doing so. That is why you see only a fraction of my forces here today."
Xisheng saw nothing wrong with any of this: it all made sense as far as he was concerned. It definitely was better that Lu Bei had brought any troops at all, as his were the first to arrive and reinforce Xisheng.
"I understand completely, General. Rest assured, we're grateful for your reinforcements regardless of their number. Please, direct them to our camp. I'm sure they'd like to rest after a long march."
With a nod, Lu Bei motioned towards one of his lieutenants, who then shouted back to the procession of Fire Nation soldiers, ordering them to march through the breach and towards the friendly camp. Even while they were underway, Lu Bei continued to speak towards Xisheng.
"Many thanks, Commander. Rest assured, the remainder of my force will arrive soon enough. My engineers estimated that it would only take a few days to get everything in order when I left."
Xisheng noticed that, although the foot soldiers and rhinos were being ushered towards the base, Lu Bei's Overlords were not moving. The old General must have caught him looking, because he lowered his voice and leaned in to speak to Xisheng somewhat conspirationally.
"Commander, I must profess... there is a matter of import I must discuss with you posthaste. I apologize for pressing you with this immediately upon my arrival, but as you are the leader of this base, I dare not assume your permission in any regard. Do you recall the other contents of my missive?"
"If you are speaking of the 'unique circumstances' you mentioned within it, then yes. Though I must admit, it wasn't very telling."
"Indeed. I did not wish for this information to be exposed in open transit. Tis better to be... discretionary with it."
With that, Lu Bei raised a hand to signal one of the Overlords, at which point the driver pulled a lever to open one of the cars attached to the main engine. After doing so, he stepped out of the cabin itself to go and stand before the opening door.
It was too far away for Xisheng to hear what the driver said to whoever was in the car, but he could see the gesture indicating that whoever was in there could exit the vehicle with his permission. That being the case, it was not long before several individuals were stepping out of the towed car, though Xisheng couldn't restrain the look of incredulity on his face as he identified threads of blue and white. Slightly behind him, Shinji exclaimed without a second thought.
"Wha-?! Water Tribesmen?!"
True to Shinji's words, the people stepping out of the Overlord were of the Water Tribe, undoubtedly. They had the dark skin, the blue eyes, the same style of light blue and white clothing that he recalled Katara wearing in their scuffles; even the hairstyles were distinctly reminiscent of what Xisheng could remember from his brief time at the North Pole.
Of even more interest was the exact nature of these Water Tribesmen. In total, eight of them stepped out of the Overlord's rear cabin. All eight of them were women, and their ages varied wildly. The youngest looked no older than ten, and the oldest, no younger than seventy. Admittedly, most of the others were quite young, with most of them appearing to be young teenagers or perhaps just young adults. Regardless, Xisheng found himself immediately questioning what was happening here.
"General, what is this? Are these prisoners?"
Lu Bei stroked his black and gray beard once before answering. "Nay. They are far more interesting than that. They are volunteers from the North Pole. They were directed to my forces before we set out to join you here by a village census office on the north coast of the Earth Kingdom."
Xisheng raised a bewildered brow. "Volunteers? To fight?"
"Not quite. I will allow them to explain their goals personally."
Lu Bei waved the soldier guarding the women of the Water Tribe forward, at which point said soldier ushered them towards both Xisheng and his compatriots. It didn't take long before these women and girls stood in a line before the Fire Nation natives. All of the young individuals bowed, though it was not a customary Fire Nation type. The oldest woman did not, though she did step forward ahead of the others, a cane fashioned of some sort of long bone in hand.
This woman's silvery hair was tied in two close buns at the back, and her darkened skin bore the wrinkles of age around her forehead and cheeks. Crow's feet framed dark blue eyes that hovered over a disarming smile. She seemed the type to be someone's sweet grandmother, though it was hardly like Xisheng could confirm that right away. This elderly woman spoke up before Xisheng could.
"Hello. My name is Ahnah. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"
Still quite confused, Xisheng nevertheless met the requirements of a polite meeting. "Commander Xisheng. I do not mean to be brusque, ma'am, but what exactly are you and your compatriots doing here? General Lu Bei tells me that you're volunteers of some sort?"
"Quite so, Commander. Though not the kind you may be expecting. We are healers, not warriors."
Though it did make more sense for these young women and girls to be healers rather than volunteer combatants, Xisheng's confusion wasn't actually lessened all that much. After all, the nature of the aid wasn't what he was curious about, but rather the fact that there was any aid being offered at all.
"And you all are volunteering as healers... for the Fire Nation? I hope this doesn't sound ungrateful, but why? It wasn't terribly long ago that the North Pole was invaded and occupied by the Fire Nation. I can't imagine that anyone there would be eager to offer healing to their recent invaders."
Ahnah bobbed her head as a rueful smile crossed her features. "Indeed... make no mistake, there is no shortage of ill will and contempt held for your nation in the North Pole. This benevolence is not a matter of supporting your nation's cause. It is a humanitarian act, something Lady Yue urged those capable to do. This war has caused much suffering, and, being powerless to do anything else, our lady wishes to at least alleviate some of that suffering, even for those she could rightly call her enemy."
Recalling a conversation with Yue, Xisheng was impressed to learn that she had adopted such a stance. Spirits, that moment seemed like a lifetime ago at this point... but it had really not been even a year, had it?
The elderly Ahnah continued before Xisheng could get lost in his thoughts. "Rest assured, this is not an act of kindness extended to you alone. Many healers left the North Pole to offer aid to the Earth Kingdom... many, many more than stand before you now. Most of the girls with me volunteered to help your nation because they are pure of spirit and kind to a fault. Or perhaps some of them have come to see your soldiers as more human since the occupation. Whatever their reason, they believe your soldiers are deserving of some compassion as well, from a basic human standpoint. That said, be aware that we shall not heal anyone to the extent that they may return to battle against the Earth Kingdom. We wish to ease the suffering of the wounded, but we will not aid in the motion of a war machine."
Xisheng donned an incredulous expression. "The Fire Nation forces occupying the North Pole allowed healers to go and join the Earth Kingdom? I find that hard to believe."
Ahnah's gentle smile creased into a thin line for a moment, but she didn't say anything. Admittedly, she didn't have to. Xisheng already understood why she was silent.
It was likely that a lot of the healers from the North Pole had left illicitly, without permission from their occupiers, to join up with the Earth Kingdom. After all, they were Waterbenders, living in a city of ice on top of the ocean. No matter how tight Fire Nation security was, it really wouldn't be that hard to escape their notice and leave. A Waterbender of any middling skill could fashion an entire boat out of ice, or just push themselves around on an iceberg to get where they were going with ease.
Obviously, Ahnah didn't want to admit to knowing about this, because Xisheng could theoretically send a report to the occupiers at the North Pole and alert them to this illicit exodus of Waterbenders intent on aiding the Earth Kingdom, and there could be repercussions for Water Tribesmen there if he did so.
But Xisheng wasn't going to do that. Chances were, most of the people who were going to leave to help the EK had already done so. Besides, it would have taken Xisheng's message forever to reach the North Pole. A messenger hawk couldn't get there on its own, what with the giant ocean between here and there. That message would have had to go to the northern shores of this continent first, then by boat to the North Pole. By the time that all happened, it wouldn't even matter.
"I understand. I won't inquire further about that."
Ahnah seemed surprised to hear this, but also relieved. "Your graciousness is much appreciated. If you are willing to accept aid, then my girls and I are ready to tend to your wounded... though only to the extent I mentioned before, of course."
Xisheng furrowed his brow as he assessed everything he was being told. Though it was difficult to believe at face value, it wasn't like humanitarian drive didn't push some people to help their enemies. Heck, there were people in the Fire Nation over the years who had sided with the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes, with some of them even going so far as to defect, offer material aid, or plan prison breaks.
But just because it was completely possible for some people from the Water Tribe to want to help even their enemies on some small scale, that didn't mean Xisheng was just going to pretend there weren't other possibilities.
They could be spies, technically. But then, what good would that do? For the same reason Xisheng wouldn't bother sending a message back to the North Pole, any information these women found out while they were here would take ages to reach the ears of the Fire Nation's enemies, if they ever found a way to send that information at all: it wasn't like they would have access to messenger birds of their own, after all.
Saboteurs, then? But what could eight lone Waterbenders, most of whom were quite young, actually affect to sabotage the forces here? They wouldn't last long if they tried to launch any sort of attack, and if something just went mysteriously wrong with the base, they would literally be the first suspects. Would they risk the Fire Nation actually caring if they could prove it or not? Xisheng could just as easily have them all executed just because he believed they did something wrong, even if he couldn't prove it.
He supposed they could be assassins... anyone could kill someone else if they just caught them unawares. Even the young girl who looked like she was ten could kill somebody if she knew Waterbending and caught them off guard. But then, why hadn't they just assassinated Lu Bei? Xisheng doubted the General had told them about the victory at Ba Sing Se or where they were going, so they would have had no reason to believe that they could wait and catch even bigger prey than such a renowned general.
Perceiving Xisheng's tumultuous thoughts, Lu Bei spoke up for the first time in the while. "I can see your mind turning with considerations for the nefarious, Commander. I am glad to know that you are so mindful. Be that as it may, I can at least vouch for their stated intent. They tended to many of my wounded soldiers after joining my forces. Some of whom would not have survived at all without their aid."
Though it was reassuring to hear that, Xisheng acknowledged that it didn't actually mean these Waterbenders didn't have ill intent. A dedicated double agent would do many things to be helpful to those they were infiltrating if it moved them closer to some overarching goal. Still, it was hard to believe that the Northern Water Tribe would have even possessed actionable intel to plan some sort of scheme as advanced as this, months in advance of it actually happening. At the very least, there was no way these women could have been sent to intentionally do anything about Ba Sing Se: the battle hadn't even happened until very recently. There was no way they would have known about it.
Some small part of Xisheng wondered whether or not he should run this by Azula to get her approval before making a decision, but at the same time, he feared that doing so was the wrong call. Xisheng was the commander of this force. The responsibility of making decisions that could affect the force fell squarely on his shoulders. Moreover, it wouldn't look great for him to defer his decision making to Azula.
The eyes of a renowned general, Xisheng's adjutant, and in a broader sense, all of Xisheng's subordinates rested on him and the decisions he made. How were they supposed to trust his judgment if he couldn't even make a decision like this one on his own?
This was not to say that all of his concerns would just disappear, but Xisheng had to make a decision himself... and bear the consequences that may have come with it.
"Very well, Ahnah. I won't turn away aid for my wounded soldiers, especially if you and your comrades can save those who might otherwise die. But I hope you understand that I can't just trust you at face value. You will all be monitored closely and you must adhere to any instructions you are given. You won't be imprisoned, but your freedom will be limited. I appreciate what you're offering and am grateful for your aid, but I still have to keep the safety of my men in mind."
Ahnah's eyes gleamed with a strange light Xisheng couldn't decipher.
"I can respect your caution. That wisdom is admirable in a young man your age. So long as you do not mistreat my girls, I can accept that we must bear your scrutiny and precautions."
"Thank you for your understanding. I will ensure that you are taken care of and treated fairly."
With another slow nod, Ahnah turned her elderly gaze to her fellows behind her, motioning to them with the hand that didn't hold her cane.
"Then, I suppose we should introduce ourselves in full. Girls, extend your courtesy to our young Commander."
With this prompt, Xisheng was subjected to a series of bows and introductions from the other Waterbenders that had accompanied Ahnah: Kara, Oma, Kira, Pala, Yuma, Koyo, and the youngest, Aina. For the most part, it was just an interesting glance into the name etymology of the Northern Water Tribe, but it also gave Xisheng a chance to appraise each of them. From a first impression, he couldn't notice anything suspicious about any of them. They were just young girls and women, all of whom acted a bit nervous, though that was understandable considering their situation.
Oddly enough, the thing Xisheng couldn't help but notice the most was just how similar all of these people were. Of course they all came from the same culture, but they all had similar skin tones, they all the same hair color, their eyes were all blue... Xisheng couldn't help but marvel at the homogeneity. The Fire Nation did have a lot of people with similar traits, but there was still a decent number of people even among the home islanders who deviated from the 'standard.'
Was it just that the Northern Water Tribe was so isolated? Xisheng supposed they didn't have much in the way of genetic diversity, considering that isolation... oddly enough, that could end up changing soon. Technically, occupying soldiers weren't supposed to mingle directly with the occupied citizenry of the land, but that rule was never followed in its entirety and it was impossible to enforce without fail.
Xisheng imagined there would be a few mixed children cropping up in the world with Fire Nation and Water Tribe heritage sometime later this year. Soldiers got bored, stressed, and lonely. Sex was fun, relaxing, and offered companionship, so lots of soldiers would try and get some if they could while deployed. Unfortunately, some of that activity would undoubtedly be unscrupulous, as it always was when men with power and no supervision or personal morals were involved. But it wouldn't all have to be coerced.
There were reasons why the local popular of an occupied place would willingly engage with the occupiers in such a way. Sometimes, it was to try and curry favor. In some cases, sex under such exotic and unusual circumstances was enough of a draw for some people who didn't care about the other details. Prostitution was always a thing no matter where in the world you were. And sometimes, though rare, actual feelings of affection sprouted between occupier and occupied. When soldiers were a far-off thing, a mere idea of an enemy nation's intent, they were easily vilified. But when they were actually among you, even still as an opposing force, you'd undoubtedly come to see them as people. Not always good people, but people nonetheless.
At any rate, Xisheng wondered what genetic impact this war would have on humanity. Really, this conflict had brought more change to the human race than anyone had fully realized yet.
When the volunteers from the North Pole had all introduced themselves, Xisheng turned his attention to Shinji.
"Escort our guests to the camp. Help them get settled in: lodgings, food... and be sure to tell Major Shairo that he needs to assign some soldiers to both protect and watch them."
Shinji bowed. "Yes, sir, right away!"
With that, Xisheng's adjutant led Ahnah and the others away, which allowed the young Commander to turn his attention back to Lu Bei, who was watching the departing individuals thoughtfully.
"General, I know you've only just arrived, but I'd like to discuss our strategic situation as soon as possible. The moves we make over the next couple of days will be critical to our success here in Ba Sing Se."
Lu Bei nodded without hesitation. "Of course. We must take full advantage of your success here. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity that cannot be squandered. Though perhaps we should not discuss this in the open."
"Fair enough. We have a command post set up within the camp. It'd be my honor to escort you."
With a slight bow of gratitude, Lu Bei began to follow Xisheng back through the breach in the wall, though not as quick of a pace as Xisheng could have mustered on his own. He had not noticed it before, being too busy taking everything about Lu Bei's arrival in, but Xisheng could now see that his older superior had a mild limp that kept him from completely walking at a normal pace.
Well, that was fine. Though there were many important things to discuss, it was still early in the day, and Xisheng had a few other things he could talk about while they were moving leisurely.
"If you don't mind my asking, General, who did you bring with you from the Defensive Line? I'd be curious to know if any of my old comrades are among your reinforcements."
To this, Lu Bei cocked one of his bushy eyebrows in genuine curiosity. "You served in one of my divisions?"
"Not that long ago, yes. Specifically the 3rd Infantry Division."
"Ah, the Iron Cacti. Very illustrious."
Though he was in the presence of someone he considered his better, Xisheng could not help but snort in amusement as he leveled an incredulous look at Lu Bei.
"Yes, well, that wasn't what they were called when I left. I'd always wondered if they'd earn a name one day, but that one..."
Lu Bei chuckled at his reaction, a deep and throaty sound befitting his age. "Indeed. They became quite renowned for their ardent defenses in the wasteland. I believe the incident involved using a nearby cactus as their line in the sand that must not be crossed by their adversaries. They never did lose the ground they claimed as their own. Though I must admit, this happened recently: you must have left their ranks some time ago to have not known about it."
Well, it wasn't the ultra badass name Xisheng had imagined back in the day, he supposed a moniker that suited the division's achievements was the best thing they could have.
"I was one of many pulled from the Line to take part in Admiral Zhao's assault on the North Pole. The 3rd must have earned their name after that."
"Indeed. Unfortunately, that division stayed behind to hold that line. That was what had earned them their name, after all. I do apologize. Though I am sure they would be overjoyed to learn that one of their number reached so prestigious a position."
"You're too kind, General..."
After that, the two walked in silence for a few moments, but Lu Bei broke that readily enough.
"Forgive me for posing an inquiry as pointed as this one, Commander... but rest assured, anything you utter to me about this topic will be kept private."
Stepping over some rubble as they neared the outskirts of the Fire Nation camp, Xisheng cast a sideways glance at Lu Bei's scarred visage.
"You may ask me anything, General."
With a carefully concealed emotion in his eyes, Lu Bei met Xisheng's gaze. "The Crown Princess of the Fire Nation is here, is that correct?"
Curious as to where Lu Bei was going with this, Xisheng answered honestly. "She is."
"Then I must ask a question that some would consider... seditious. Radical types, naturally, but I know there are some in the military who are too overzealous for their own good. Simply put, I must know: how much of a detriment to your operation is this child of the Royal Family?"
Xisheng's brow furrowed as he tried to discern what exactly Lu Bei was asking him. Ultimately though, he figured he would just have to ask for clarification.
"Detriment? You'll have to be more specific."
"Allow me to be frank, Commander. I do not know the Princess personally, but I know she is but a child, and one who wields power far beyond her wisdom. It is within her power to influence any aspect of this operation, no matter how ill-conceived her decisions may be. It would not be the first time in our nation's history that a member of the Royal Family believed themselves inherently superior to the leaders of their military, taking the reins of a battle and leading us to ruin. I am not outright claiming that the Princess is such a type. But you already commanded one battle while she was present. I must know if she will be the type to interfere with our strategies."
For a moment, Xisheng felt a little offended by Lu Bei's implication, but reason prevailed soon enough. Lu Bei had every right to be concerned. Technically speaking, Azula could override anyone and anything on this base. Even though she was not qualified at all to be dictating military affairs, she could do so by right, according to the laws of the nation. And there were plenty of people out there who believed themselves competent enough to make huge decisions even without any real qualifications.
Xisheng was glad to say that Azula was not a problem in this regard.
"Princess Azula has granted me her full backing in overseeing all military affairs here. She fully supported my plan to take down the wall and allowed me to have full control over the decisions made for this force. Plus, the Princess is more mature than her age suggests: she is not blind to her faults, and she does not presume to be superior in every aspect of her life to everyone else purely by the merit of her lineage. Not to say that she does not take pride in it, but she is not foolish enough to believe that being of royal birth makes her superior in all skills and practices. She can recognize that people like you and I are better suited to leadership. She is wise in that sense, and many others. Rest easy, General."
The old man beside Xisheng leveled a curious glance at him, but ultimately did not say anything about that specifically.
"I see. Speaking of your strategy to lay the wall low, I am most interested in hearing about it. I imagine it must have been a stroke of genius that allowed you to formulate such a successful tactic."
Missing any hidden thoughts Lu Bei may have had, Xisheng simply did his best not to sound like he was bragging.
"Well, I must admit, it was a plan that required a lot of forethought..."
Hours after Lu Bei's arrival, Xisheng found himself stepping out of the war room in the center of the camp. He had spent all of those hours in the war room with the older general, discussing many points of tactical importance. That included the exact number of troops he could expect as reinforcements, the full breadth of equipment they'd bring to bear, and how their logistics would be set up would need to change to accommodate the new forces.
Of course, a great deal of time had also been spent simply bringing Lu Bei up to speed with the complete situation here in Ba Sing Se. How many forces Xisheng had of his own, his casualties, the presence of the Colonials from the colonies, how the wall had come down, and much more. Honestly, they had barely spent any time discussing their future plans for the battle.
But that made sense: you couldn't start planning together with a new person unless that person understood what was going on and could be on the same level as you. Anytime a new officer came into a military operation at the highest level, there was a lot they needed in order to get up to speed. Besides, though it had been several hours, it was only barely past noon, since Lu Bei had come early in the morning. There was plenty of time to get into the rest of the details today.
And even high-ranking officers had to eat. Lu Bei had excused himself half an hour ahead of Xisheng, who had stuck behind for a little bit to continue ruminating over his future battle plan. But soon enough, his stomach began to rumble as well, and so the young commander left the command post in due time.
Now under the towering noon sun, the temperature had risen by several degrees. Ordinarily, a Fire Nation native would hardly think the temperate weather of the Earth Kingdom 'warm,' but Xisheng had not actually been in the Fire Nation proper in several months. His body had already acclimated to other weather, so even this felt a little warm compared to the norm.
Glancing around the camp, Xisheng saw nothing unusual. Soldiers were tending to various tasks among the tents, Colonials were doing jobs only they could handle with their Earthbending, and the cacophony of an active war camp was as prevalent as ever. Gazing upon it, Xisheng's thoughts briefly turned to the girls, mostly just because he hadn't seen a single one of them all day. That wasn't too unusual for Mai or Ty Lee, who had nothing to officially do around the camp, but Azula often visited the war room during the day. Xisheng couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't done so today.
The sad part was, Xisheng was a little grateful for not seeing any of them today. Considering the amount of stress he already had to deal with military affairs, he didn't know how much of the inherent confusion of his relationship problems he wanted to deal with on top of that. He hated to think that, but he couldn't deny it either.
The problem had to be dealt with at some point, but he needed time to figure out how, and he didn't actually have time to dwell on it much throughout the day. He had a war to fight and an army to command. That took up most of his mental energy every day.
"Commander, sir!"
Pulled from his thoughts, Xisheng glanced to his left to see Shinji approaching him once again.
"Hello, Shinji. How did that last task go?"
About an hour ago, Xisheng had asked his adjutant to check back in with the Water Tribe volunteers who had shown up this morning, and to ensure that there were no big problems regarding them so far.
The young soldier bowed as he came to stop beside Xisheng, but quickly rose back to his full height.
"Everything seems fine for now, sir. Officer Aranai found a spare tent and relegated them to a corner of the camp where there's nothing important for them to spy on or sabotage if they have nasty ideas. Major Shairo assigned an entire squad to watch them. Though that seems like a lot..."
"Well, it is a full group of Waterbenders, who will most likely be near each other most of the time. Many of them are young, but even so, they could be dangerous if they wanted to be. Better to be safe than sorry. How did the Major react to the situation? I didn't have time to ask earlier."
"Well, he didn't look very happy, but he didn't say anything either..."
With an image of the irritated Major in his mind, Xisheng started walking away from the command post.
"It's about time for lunch, Shinji. Walk with me."
With an eager nod, the slightly shorter boy fell in step next to Xisheng, just a little behind his shoulder. He seemed to be growing a little more comfortable with treating Xisheng as less than an idol.
"Yes, sir! About those Waterbenders, I know we can't trust them completely, but the old lady was already in the infirmary today. She healed a guy's leg! The medics were sure it would have to be amputated before that... it's incredible. Kind of seems unfair that benders of other elements have nothing like that..."
Xisheng smiled ruefully. "Yes, I'd say that Waterbenders are one of the luckiest around just because of that. They've certainly been blessed in that regard..."
Frankly, Xisheng felt that all of the other elements had gotten luckier than Firebenders. Waterbenders could heal, Earthbenders could build entire cities with the least amount of effort possible, and Airbenders had been able to fly. He supposed Firebenders had an easier time with things like forging, but it seemed like a poor trade off.
He didn't get to dwell on this for very long, since Shinji spoke up with a different point.
"Well I'm glad they're here to help. Though I don't think that little girl should be here. She's way too young! She reminds me of On Ji..."
Xisheng raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said On Ji was only a few years younger than you? That young Waterbender, Aina, only looked eight or nine to me."
"OK, On Ji is a little older than that, but it's practically the same! I can't imagine a child that young in a war camp. It's horrible that it's even allowed."
Honestly, Xisheng couldn't disagree. Aina wasn't even the only stupidly young child on this battlefield. He couldn't forget about Shishi, the young girl who had helped develop the tunneling strategy as part of Kori's hand-picked team. But forcing the young into battle seemed to be a major aspect of this war: hell, Shinji was only fifteen or so, and Xisheng had been around that age when he'd been shipped off to war too. That was just barely a step above these other young kids.
"I don't disagree with you, Shinji. Unfortunately, the most I can do is ensure that they are not put directly in harm's way. Hopefully, a war like this one will never be waged again. If this one could end it all, at least for a few generations..."
Well, Xisheng wasn't naive enough to think there'd be no more wars at all after this one ended. Even if the Fire Nation somehow conquered the entire world, factions within it would start a war of their own at some point. It didn't matter how or why, as long as humans existed in this world, they'd find reasons to fight. Still, Xisheng could at least hope for a future where the conflicts that arose were not as extreme as the current one.
To his side, Xisheng heard Shinji mutter something. "Thinking about it now... I really wish I could send a letter to On Ji. It's been a long time..."
Xisheng looked over his shoulder to address his adjutant. "That could likely be arranged, just-"
He wasn't sure why it caught his eye, but in looking over his shoulder to appraise Shinji, Xisheng noticed a Colonial some paces behind his adjutant, walking in their direction. This shouldn't have been weird at all. The camp was full of Colonials walking around, moving from one place to another as they carried out a task or went to the mess hall.
But this one moved with an odd purpose. His darkened eyes seemed focused right on Xisheng and Shinji, and his pace was just a hair above casual, like he was intentionally restraining himself from moving fast enough to be conspicuous. Now that his eyes were on him, Xisheng did everything in his power to fully assess the stranger in a single moment, to determine if he was being paranoid.
His clothes were the simple browns and greens of every other Colonial around here. His hair was in a long braid, which Xisheng had seen plenty of the Colonials sporting. A clean-shaven face, furrowed brows, there didn't seem to be anything truly suspicious about him until Xisheng's examination moved lower down the man's body.
His hands were covered in stone, like little earthen gloves. And seeing that, Xisheng whirled around, swiftly using one arm to shove Shinji out of the way as he prepared a blast of flame in his free hand.
Some small part of Xisheng acknowledged that he may have been overreacting. He was jumping to an extreme assumption here, just based on a few niggling suspicions. But what reason would an Earthbender have to carry stone in a subtle, concealed fashion like that as he approached the commander of the entire force here? And besides, only one of two things could happen now, and if Xisheng was mistaken, it would become apparent very quickly.
But Xisheng was not wrong. As the unidentified Earthbender noticed that Xisheng was preparing to defend himself, he dropped all pretenses and immediately took one step forward and jabbed his arms in the direction of his target, immediately shooting tiny pieces of his stone gloves, seemingly just small joints of it.
This form of attack was much quicker than Xisheng had been expecting, but since he'd already been ready to defend himself, he still managed to react in time. The small stone projectiles were fast, but they were also small, meaning they were easily vaporized when Xisheng swiped his arm in front of him with a flaming fist.
Shinji had been sent sprawling to the ground, but despite his awkward position, the rookie soldier did the absolute best thing he possibly could have: he screamed at the top of his voice.
"We're under attack! The Commander is under attack!"
Even in the overwhelming noise of the camp at noon, Shinji's shrill cry drew the attention of plenty of nearby people. They looked up from the supplies they were counting, stumbled out of a chair as they panicked about an alleged assault, or emerged from tents with urgent confusion. No one expected an attack to happen smack in the middle of the camp, and though everyone had been aware of the possibility of such an attack, it was still very sudden.
Xisheng knew his troops would react quickly, rushing to his aid in just a few seconds. But those few seconds, while faced with this unknown assassin, was plenty of time to dance between life and death.
So he still had to fight his best, because it was still a one-on-one duel for the moment. Xisheng launched a knife hand strike forward to create a precise horizontal arc of flame, fully intending to follow it up with a sweeping ground attack to catch his opponent after he ducked.
But Xisheng's assailant was no amateur. He did duck Xisheng's first attack, but in that same motion, he kicked his foot into the ground, which sent a ripple through the dirt towards Xisheng's own legs. It arced right into his right leg, shifting the entire ground right underneath him and sending that leg careening off to the side, forcing Xisheng down to his other knee and interrupting his follow up attack.
This put Xisheng in a very bad position when another salvo of stone digits came his way, as he lacked the stability at the moment to move out of their trajectory. With an inability to dodge and not enough time to use Firebending to defend himself against the danger, Xisheng could only situate his arms to guard his body.
He always put his armor on every day around here, exactly because there was no way to know when you'd find yourself in danger while in enemy territory. So with one armored gauntlet in front of his face and the other trying to cover his torso, Xisheng weathered the small stone barrage, feeling multiple sturdy impacts on his armor. He had no doubt that there were some prominent dents in it now.
He wondered why these small stone projectiles were the preferred method of attack here. A giant boulder would have killed Xisheng just now. But then again, if this was an assassination attempt gone awry, perhaps there was a reason for it: the stone gloves allowed an Earthbender to have a subtle, stealthy form of attack at a moment's notice, and Xisheng was certain that the fast moving stone, tiny though it may have been, would have killed him with a direct hit to his exposed head.
Xisheng would have sent a counterattack towards his opponent now that he had the chance, but when he peeked over his arm, Xisheng saw that his assailant was already being swarmed by Fire Nation soldiers from around the camp. There was no point in attacking now, because he would just endanger his own men. But a shout from behind Xisheng revealed that he was not in the clear yet.
"Commander, look out!"
Heeding Shinji's warning, Xisheng craned his neck over his shoulder to identify a new threat, even as he attempted to shove himself aside from his current position to evade whatever danger was approaching him. The sight that graced his vision was terrifying.
Behind him, emerging from the shadows that lied between two tents, was another Earthbender, as unassuming as the first assailant. He was already at the end of a bending motion, with a boulder the size of Xisheng's torso careening through the air towards the young commander. He was in no position to Firebend. Though he was already trying to move, Xisheng could tell he wouldn't be able to get out of the way fast enough. This was going to kill him.
Xisheng could not think of anything else in that moment, which was why he was all the more surprised when he felt his body being shoved to the side against its will. Shinji, seeing his commander in mortal peril, was throwing himself into Xisheng's body to move it out of the way.
In slow motion, Xisheng could tell that the boulder would miss him as his body was forced aside. But at the same time...
There was a sickening squelch as the boulder passed through the space Xisheng had occupied a moment ago: a space that was now occupied by Shinji. Xisheng watched in horror as the young soldier's body was ripped away from him, squashed into the ground by the boulder that had been meant for Xisheng. Blood and gore painted the ground around the point of impact immediately.
Though horrified, Xisheng primarily felt wrath dominating his consciousness. In a moment of retaliatory fury, he managed to compress his bending into a tiny sphere of yellow light at a speed faster than any he had managed before. Without hesitation, Xisheng shot his arm towards his assailant, unleashing the burning starlight in his palm. At the short distance between them, it lanced into the Earthbending assassin in a split second, exploding his body into chunks of smoking viscera.
Despite the grotesque scene, Xisheng wasted no time focusing on it, instead getting back to his feet to the shouts of his men subduing the remaining assassin. Xisheng ignored that too, immediately turning his gaze onto Shinji's still form.
The young man was splayed out on the ground in a crumpled, undignified heap. His skull was smashed open, allowing bone fragments and brain matter to splay out onto the dirt, which was soaked in his blood. What was left of his face was hardly recognizable at all.
He was dead. Just like that. In heroic tales of sacrifice, the slain always had a chance to speak one last time before their demise. To impart some final wish to their comrades. Reality was not so kind. Shinji was gone, with no chance to leave any parting sentiment. The tragedy of the whole ordeal settled on Xisheng's shoulders as he stared blankly at his fallen comrade.
Suddenly, he felt so unspeakably heavy.
Hours after the assassination attempt, Xisheng sat alone in a room made of the Fire Nation's prefabricated steel. It was one of the few in the camp to be erected so far, and served as his private quarters for the moment, especially since there had just been an attempt on his life. Like everything else in the camp, it was sparsely furnished: a metal desk for his notes and maps, a basic chair that rested before it, a few lanterns to light the space, and a bed that had coarse sheets and a poor pillow with too little down.
The hours after the attempt on his life had been a whirlwind of urgent activity. Naturally, everyone was worried about how assassins had gotten into the base. Had they come in from the outside? If so, how had they gotten past every form of security? Had they been agents within the colonial ranks, waiting for a good moment to strike?
Major Shairo was in charge of interrogating the one assassin who had survived, but the last time Xisheng had received a report, nothing had come of that yet. The assassin was apparently difficult to crack.
Unfortunately, the fact that the assassins had been Earthbenders cast a lot of suspicion on the Colonials in the camp. It was unavoidable: the assassins could have been among the Colonials. Colonial Earthbenders had been pulling security to keep enemy Earthbenders from getting into the camp, which meant some Colonials may have allowed them in.
Sure, maybe the enemy had just successfully infiltrated the camp, even with everyone on alert. But the possibilities couldn't be ignored, which meant that an investigation had to take place. The Colonials were being investigated too, being questioned at length by Aranai and his subordinates. That process would probably take some time.
As high-value targets, both Xisheng and Lu Bei had been sequestered away after the attempt in steel buildings that Earthbenders couldn't tunnel into. Naturally, they had a lot more guards around them now as well, though Xisheng still had his privacy for the moment.
Shinji's body had been moved to the morgue tent. Aside from the assassin Xisheng had killed, the young soldier had been the only casualty. Xisheng had personally witnessed Shinji being placed among the other dead from the earlier battle at the wall of Ba Sing Se. Lying among them, now indistinguishable from any other corpse. The image still weighed heavily upon him.
After catching wind of the assassination attempt, naturally all of the girls had come to his side to worry about him. Azula had raged about the incompetence of the guards and the appalling breach of security. Ty Lee had fretted over his actual injuries, though they were insignificant. Mai had simply asked him if he was alright, then donned a worried expression when she derided an answer from his silence.
Honestly, the hours had blended together into an indistinguishable mess in Xisheng's consciousness. He couldn't remember when he had actually separated from the girls or why. Presumably because he needed to be kept in a secure environment until security could be revamped and the camp could be swept for more undetected threats. He could vaguely recall some protests from them, but couldn't remember if it had even been his idea to leave or if he had just been ushered away from them by someone else.
He'd been in his private quarters for more than an hour now, and in that time, Xisheng had simply stared at a blank piece of parchment on his desk, lying alongside a quill. Xisheng couldn't help but recall the last thing Shinji had been talking about before his death: writing a letter to his family.
Xisheng felt like it was his responsibility to do that now. Even though he hadn't done something like that for any of the other soldiers who had died under his command so far. But Shinji had died explicitly protecting Xisheng. He was only dead strictly because of Xisheng. He felt obligated.
But what would he even write? How did Xisheng tell a family that their young son was dead because he was too slow to defend himself? Hell, how did you go about telling anyone that a member of their family was dead? He had no idea where to begin, and that was why he had been sitting here for so long, staring somberly at his desk.
Lost in thought, Xisheng almost missed a quiet knocking at the door to his quarters. Xisheng slowly looked up towards the steel door, having to muster up the strength of will to raise his voice so whoever was on the other side could hear it.
"What is it?"
Surprisingly, the voice that came from the other side of that door was one he was intimately familiar with.
"Xisheng? It's me."
Recognizing Ty Lee's voice immediately, Xisheng briefly pondered a few questions about her presence. For a moment, he contemplated sending her away, because he wasn't sure if he really wanted to talk to anyone at this moment. But even in this state of unease, the young commander thought better of it.
There'd been an attack on his life today. He'd been very quiet after the fact and then disappeared into isolation. If he brusquely sent Ty Lee away, she'd be extremely worried about him, and she'd probably tell Azula and Mai too, which would worry them. Even if he didn't entertain her for very long, Xisheng didn't want to have her making any extreme assumptions about his current state.
"Come in."
With his invitation, Ty Lee quietly pushed the door open, shimmying in as soon as the crack was big enough for her slender frame and closing the door behind her. Before she could say anything at all, Xisheng commented something that had been on his mind since the brunette had announced her presence.
"The guards actually let you approach the door?"
With a sheepish and apologetic smile, Ty Lee answered that question.
"They're changing shifts right now, so no one was actually watching the door."
"Sounds like we have an issue with our security measures already."
Ordinarily, Xisheng may have said that in a lighthearted manner. This evening, his voice was sullen, and his expression bore no mirth. Ty Lee was very aware of this, and her own expression was wrought with worry.
"Xisheng... how do you feel?"
Though he didn't intend to be curt, Xisheng felt that his answer probably seemed as such.
"Poorly."
It was unusual for him to be so brief when talking to his friends, and Ty Lee couldn't help but notice how dour his tone was. Silently, she walked up next to him, gingerly placing a hand against his neck.
"...you're stressing out a lot, aren't you?"
Xisheng felt an intrusive need to get annoyed with that question, but he forced it down. Getting bitter over a friend's concern wasn't what he wanted.
"Yes. Can't help it."
Though she didn't foresee success in this particular venture, Ty Lee asked her next question anyway.
"Do you want to talk to me about it?"
Xisheng felt a little bad for saying it, since he knew Ty Lee had only the best intentions. But he had to be honest in this moment. His chest felt tight. His heart was heavy. Even his thoughts felt mired down.
"No. Not right now."
Admittedly, Ty Lee wasn't surprised to hear this answer, though it was still so unusual. Xisheng being unwilling to talk to one of his friends was so out of character for him. He must have really been feeling down... more than she'd ever actually seen him before. Even during that incident when he'd failed Azula's training, he hadn't been quite like this.
Part of her wondered if she should just leave him alone, but Ty Lee didn't think it was a good idea to leave him stewing in his thoughts for the whole night.
That said, what she had on her mind might have been a little too much. Was now really a good time to make this move? But seeing him like this, she wanted to help him. It wasn't just how tense his body was. His mental state, his emotional distress... his aura was a muddied gray, a color she'd never seen for him before. This may have been one of the only times she'd ever actually seen him depressed.
In all honesty, what she was about to suggest wasn't even an attempt to advance her romantic interests. In this exact moment, she really, truly just wanted to make him feel better, to do anything that might take his mind off of his dire thoughts even if it was only for a short time. There was only one way she could think of to do that when the problem was this serious.
"I might be able to help you relax..."
Since she had done it many times for him before, Xisheng naturally assumed that Ty Lee was referring to her skill with pressure points. Admittedly, a bit of muscle relaxation might help him out a little bit, but it didn't really seem worth it.
"Thanks, but I don't think that's going to work tonight."
If he weren't so consumed by his own thoughts, Xisheng may have noticed the hesitation on Ty Lee's face as she nervously bit her lower lip and tried to fight down a blush on her face. But despite feeling uncertain about herself, she didn't look away from him. She was embarrassed, but this wasn't about her. It was about the man she loved.
"No, Xisheng. I meant... in a way that, you know... a woman might help a man relax..."
Despite the many heavy thoughts that currently plagued him, Xisheng couldn't possibly remain unaffected by this extremely unexpected offer. Right now, in this moment, when he was feeling this way... now was the time she was going to finally act on these feelings?
There was no way he could deal with this right now. He couldn't tackle his relationship problems on top of everything else he was feeling tonight. He was already stressed about the war, the assassination attempt, Shinji's death... he just couldn't deal with making this decision and dealing with its consequences right now.
"Ty Lee, that's... I can't. I'm not ready to... I can't make that commitment right now."
Ordinarily, it might have hurt for Ty Lee to hear that. But she understood how much weight was on Xisheng's shoulders right now, and she knew how carefully he considered the consequences of his actions. It was no wonder that he would be hesitant. So right now, it didn't bother her.
Placing her hands on either side of his face and staring into those beautiful eyes of his, Ty Lee found the courage to speak her mind due to the strength of her conviction.
"I'm not asking you to. This isn't me trying to force you into anything. I'm not trying to make you take responsibility or feel obligated to commit to a relationship with me because of this. I just... want to make you feel better, Xisheng. You won't owe me anything. I won't expect anything from you after this. Just... let me take care of you. Please."
Still reeling from the speed this was all happening at, part of Xisheng scrambled to consider the implications of what was happening here and what could happen if he gave in to this idea. Even at a time like this, he couldn't help but be analytical.
But at the same time, a big part of him just wanted to let it happen. The idea of being able to let go, to stop thinking about the war, and the people who died for him... to not worry about whether or not giving into a carnal desire would ruin something in his life, or what consequences he might face for something so cathartic, appealed to him. Being stressed, feeling depressed, you just wanted to stop thinking about the things that plagued you, to have some way to dispel it all, even for one night. That was why so many people turned to alcohol.
Well, he had no alcohol. Maybe a different vice would be enough to give him some peace, just for this one night. That was why he didn't stop Ty Lee when she slowly leaned in to kiss him. That was why he didn't stop her a few minutes later when she began to take off her top, or when she got on her knees in front of him.
For once, he wanted to not worry about anything. He wanted to fully embrace something pleasurable and cathartic with no niggling worries or fears in the back of his mind. He had no doubt that tomorrow, he'd be right back to stressing out and pondering the consequences of every decision.
But tonight, Xisheng would finally let himself know some peace. He wasn't going to think about tomorrow, or earlier today. He was just going to think about the here and now: this barren room, and a woman who loved him, giving of herself to bring him some solace amidst a time of turmoil.
So it begins, lads. Sorry if you were expecting a full on sex scene, but this really isn't the right time for that. This is clearly more of an emotional step forward for the characters. I won't outright claim that there won't be explicit sex scenes somewhere in this story, but honestly, probably not. But there will be enough implications around to give some spicy hints.
Also, I've yet to see anyone acknowledge that On Ji is a canon character from the show. Shame on you fans, missing such a detail!
Anyway... about my personal life, I'm sure many of you know that I'm a freelance writer. So my job security is pretty... well, insecure. For a long time, it was going fine. These past two months, shit really hit the fan. I lost the job that was pretty much supporting my whole family. I had to scramble to find any other work anywhere, applying for like, thirty jobs, taking assessments, communicating with various clients... and even after all of that, I needed help from my family to make ends meet in a dire moment.
So, because of all of that, I wasn't able to do much writing lately. And though I don't want to think about it, there's every chance that something like this could happen again in the future. Making money is the biggest obstacle to me writing fiction. I've got to work and take care of my family, that's the bottom line. And believe me when I say that I don't expect all of you to solve that problem for me. You've got your own lives, with your own problems, and your own ends to make meet. I get that completely. But if you've enjoyed this story up until now, if it's been worth anything for you since you began reading it, and you find yourself with even a little bit of spare change every month, I ask only for you to consider if this story is worth that little bit of spare change to you. If it is, you can find out how to offer your support on my profile page.
I'm never going to can this story. Everyone loves it, and I love writing it. I'm already incredibly grateful for your time, and I don't feel entitled to anything else from any of you. It's just if you want to express your gratitude in such a way. Whether or not you do will not change the fact that I am writing this story. It will continue, no matter what.
In other news, I've picked up a few other writing things in these past two months to try and expand my skillset, put my name in more places, and stuff like that. Blogs, answering questions on Quora, Discord, other fanfiction sites: you can find links to all of those things on my profile page as well, if you'd like to check them out.
Anyway, sorry for this super long author's note! As always, thank you all for spending your time on me and my work! I appreciate each and everyone one of you!
