Wandering Firebender
Ninety Two: The Promise
"I've always hated these dumb parties." Toph commented, stepping out onto the balcony with Alger for some fresh air. He nodded a little and leaned on the railing, looking out over the night view of the Inner Ring of Ba Sing Se.
"I can see that. You don't seem like the type to enjoy a more sophisticated environment." Alger said in reply.
"It's not that. I can handle all the fancy sophisticated stuff. It just reminds me too much of being back home; always having to act a certain way just to make my parents happy." She grumbled.
"I see...I can understand having reservations about it then. I'm sorry that they made you feel that way. I suppose in a way everyone here has to do that in order to fit in with the occasion." He thought aloud.
"Yeah well, that's not the way I do things. I don't ever want to do things that way anymore." Toph expressed seriously, shaking her head as she spoke.
"As long as you maintain some sense of balance, I don't see anything wrong with that." Alger said in reply.
"Good. Think fast."
Alger looked over just in time to see that Toph was tossing him a small stone that she had sculpted and brought with her. He caught it in his hands and instantly felt a strange tingling sensation in his palms. He looked at her in surprise.
"What is this?" He asked.
"It's a moon rock. We got it from a meteorite. Go ahead, play around with it." She invited.
Alger began to bend the rock and was caught off guard by how malleable it was. It required a combination of earthbending and metalbending to do it, but it allowed him to smoothly manipulate what felt like liquid stone.
"Wow, I've never felt anything like this before!" Alger exclaimed in astonishment.
"Right? Pretty cool, huh? Your metalbending's gotten a lot better, bookworm. I'm almost impressed." Toph noted with a chuckle.
"Heh, well, I had a fine teacher," Alger said with a smile. "Have you ever considered teaching metalbending to others? It's a very useful skill." He proposed. Toph thought about this for a moment.
"Hmm...not a bad idea. I'll have to think about it. I don't know if I wanna let other people know my special secret just yet." She said with a smug grin.
"Hm, well, let me know when you make up your mind." Alger said. He tossed the stone back to her. It smacked her in the shoulder and fell to the ground.
"Hey! What was that for?" She questioned.
"Sorry! Forgot." He said, quickly scooping it back up and placing it in her hands this time...
Meanwhile inside the Earth King's palace, the party was well underway with guests littered all around the main hosting area. There was live music and entertainment from Bosco the bear (and company), and long tables lined with food for everyone to enjoy.
It felt especially strange for Elio to be back here. He had mixed feelings about this place because of what had happened to him the last time he'd been here. Aside from that, times were changing in the world, and him being invited in here was a huge sign of that.
He looked over and saw Sri and Cindra walking together. Cindra had on a beautiful blue dress and jewelry that honored her water tribe heritage elegantly. Sri looked pretty too, although she had to buy her dress just before the event.
"This place is amazing!" Sri said with a grin as she looked around.
"I can't believe a place this huge exists. So many stairs," Cindra commented with a little laugh. "Is it how you remember, Elio?" She asked him curiously. Elio chuckled a little and smiled.
"Well, I wasn't brought to the ballroom area of the palace when I was captured. I was in the throne room first and then one of the guest rooms, I think? I'm not actually sure." Elio clarified.
"O-Oh...my bad." Cindra said awkwardly.
"You're fine. That was a different time, obviously. Although I'm definitely happier to be an invited guest this time." He added with a tilt of his head.
"Heheh, well hey...that's good. Have you had any of the food yet? They have these really good little bite-size cake snacks." She suggested to change the subject.
"I haven't but that does sound good." Elio agreed.
There was a brief awkward silence between the three of them. Sri looked back and forth between the two of them then searched for an opportunity to excuse herself.
"Oh hey look, there's Alger and Toph. I'm gonna go catch up with them! Be right back!" She said before retreating quickly.
Once she was gone, Elio and Cindra each took a moment to compose themselves once again before addressing each other. Cindra cleared her throat and spoke up first.
"Is that a new uniform?" She asked.
"No. Same one. I just had it cleaned on my way here," He answered, adjusting his sleeves. "I like that dress. It looks really nice on you." He complimented with a smile.
"U-Um thank you..." She said with a faint smile.
"Have you met up with Katara and the others yet?" Elio asked curiously.
"No not yet. I haven't really gone anywhere yet...this is all so overwhelming," She said, letting out an exasperated breath. "I feel underdressed." She expressed nervously.
"You don't look underdressed." Elio commented in response, chuckling a little as he looked her over again.
"No? Oh good, that's a relief." She let out a sigh and tried to relax a little.
"Do you wanna...?" He gestured with his head for her to walk with him then turned and offered an arm to her.
"Oh! Sure!" She nodded and took his arm.
The two of them began to walk around the gigantic ballroom in search of some food and drink to snack on. As they made their rounds, they kept an eye out for their friends and continued to talk among themselves.
"I was speaking with Fire Lord Zuko before the party. He wants you to go on the next outreach mission." He informed her.
"What? Just me...?" She asked, pointing to herself. "Why?"
"He wants to try and negotiate some kind of arrangement with the Northern Water Tribe." He explained. Cindra's eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh...I see..." She spoke slowly, hesitant to give her opinion out too fast.
"Mhmm," He hummed and looked at her sideways. "I don't see that going well honestly, but he's sending you, Katara, and the Avatar to give us the best possible chance of establishing something."
"Really?! Well that's good that they're going then...because I-I don't really have any negotiating power."
"You don't need to. It's more of a political game now." He said as they stopped to get themselves some drinks.
"Tch, I hate politics!" She shook her head at this. Elio chuckled before continuing.
"Just showing your support and advocating for it will help a lot. You understand both sides better than anyone." He pointed out.
"Yeah I do...if Fire Lord Zuko really believes that I can do it then I will."
"I know you'll do your best." Elio encouraged her with a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Elio." She said appreciatively, smiling in return.
The two of them took a few sips of her drinks. They weren't able to find their friends yet, so the subject shifted to the two of them catching up, since they hadn't really seen each other in almost a month.
"How has your training been going?" Elio asked first.
"Oh it's going good. Nothing new really. How about yours? Have you made time to train?" She asked.
"Honestly? I've been falling behind on it lately with how busy I've been. And it has been affecting me." He admitted in a muttering voice.
"We should train together again like we used to." She suggested with a nostalgic smile.
"Heheh, I forgot about that." Elio recalled.
"Seriously?!" Cindra exclaimed, slapping his elbow with her free hand. "Jeez, after all we've been through!" She pouted at him, letting go of his arm so she could fold her arms.
"It feels like a whole other lifetime these days." He said with a chuckle, stopping and turning to face her.
"Yeah that's definitely true." She agreed.
She stood there and waited for Elio to say something else, perhaps crack a joke or apologize for not remembering. Instead, however, Elio just trailed off and looked to the side, not saying anything. It was then that she noticed how tired his eyes looked.
"Elio...? Are you okay?" She asked, stepping in closer and running her hand down one of his arms, "You look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?"
"Uh...define 'enough'." He said with a breathy chuckle.
"Elio...you need to get more sleep." She said.
"It's not so much the sleep – it's the rest." He clarified.
"How's that? What do you mean? Do you...still have the nightmares?" She asked worriedly.
"Sometimes, yeah." He confirmed with a nod.
"Ah...tell you what, I'll come by and make you some tea to help you sleep better. It'll help calm your mind too." She offered.
"You don't need to worry about that, Cindra. I'll be alright." He said to reassure her.
"No," She shook her head and folded her arms again. "You're not gonna brush this off, Elio. I insist. This is going to affect your health and you need to be in your tip-top shape." She said firmly.
"You're right about that." He nodded in agreement after thinking about it for a few moments.
"Wouldn't the Fire Lord want you to be at your best too?"
"Yes," He nodded again. "He has me on a bit of a break right now."
"Hm...well, I'm gonna take care of you for the time being," She declared. "I don't want to hear no to that either."
"Alright alright," He said with a relenting chuckle. "You are the healer after all."
"That's right!" She smiled proudly at this. Elio couldn't help but smile at her beaming expression.
"Come on, water tribe. Let's go meet up with Aang and the others." She said, having her take his arm again.
Making their way to the other side of the ballroom, Elio and Cindra were able to catch sight of Avatar Aang hanging out with Katara and Sokka. When they saw the two of them approaching, Sokka was the first one to walk up and greet them.
"Heyyy look who it is! Fire Nation!" He exclaimed with a laugh.
"Heheh, good to see you too, buddy." Elio chuckled and shook hands with Sokka.
"It's been awhile! It's good to see you too, Cindra." Katara smiled at them and stepped forward to give Cindra a hug.
"It's good to see you too, Katara," She returned the hug. "Is this the famous brother of yours that you mentioned to me?"
"Yeah! We've met before." Sokka pointed out.
"Unfortunately." Katara joked.
"Right! Sorry, I remember now!" Cindra laughed.
"Yeah!" Sokka nodded.
"How have you both been?" Aang asked.
"Just fine," Elio bowed to him respectfully. "And you?"
"Same! This is some party, huh?" Aang asked with a chuckle.
"It is! So good to see you again, Avatar Aang!" Cindra said with a grin.
"You too! Both of you! You look really different with your beard, Elio." Aang pointed out.
"Right? I was just thinking that. You look older...and homeless." Sokka commented.
"Pfft!" Cindra started giggling at this. Elio gave her a look, but she wasn't able to stop herself. "I'm sorry!" She said through her laughter.
"Sokka," Katara rolled her eyes at him. "I like it actually. It makes you look more mature." She said to Elio.
"No no yeah I agree with Katara." Cindra said after her giggling had died down some.
"Ha well thanks." Elio said with a smile.
"Yeah, I've tried growing a beard a few times but I just couldn't stick with it. It gets too itchy." Sokka explained.
"Like you could even grow one." Katara teased.
"I totally can! It's just the itch!" Sokka argued back.
"Beard oil, man. That's what got me and Alger through the itchy phase." Elio advised.
"Wow. Now you're making me want to grow a beard too." Aang said with a laugh.
"Wait, Alger grew a beard too?!" Cindra noticed.
"You haven't seen?" Elio asked.
"No!"
"I think he's with Toph right now." Sokka said.
"Yeah! They're over there!" Katara pointed them out in the crowd as they were coming back in from the balcony.
"You guys head over there. I actually need to talk to Elio alone for a minute." Aang brought up.
"Okay! Then I'll see you later, Elio." Cindra said, patting him on the arm before going with the others to talk to Alger and Toph.
"Everything okay, Aang?" Elio asked, turning to look at him. As soon as he asked the question, he could see Aang's expression grow more serious; his eyebrows furrowed and his smile faded into a faint scowl.
"Kind of...? It's...complicated. Why don't we talk outside?" Aang offered, gesturing for Elio to walk with him.
The two silently made their way out towards one of the balconies overlooking the rest of Ba Sing Se. There wasn't much that they could see aside from the lights within windows of the homes littered about the Upper and Middle rings.
"Why do I feel like you're about to give me some bad news?" Elio asked with a faint chuckle. Aang didn't respond to this right away.
"I was talking to Zuko a while ago, and he asked me to promise him something...and I don't know if I can go through with it." He began.
"Well...what did he ask you?"
"He..." Aang hesitated, letting out a sigh at just the thought of it. "He asked me to...I don't even know how to say this." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"It's alright. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." Elio reassured him with a faint smile. Aang cleared his throat and nodded.
"Zuko is really worried about becoming another bad Fire Lord. I know how much his family history bothers him and...he made me promise to kill him if he ever turns out like his father." Aang finally revealed.
"He...what?" Elio's eyes widened at this shocking request, "He asked you to kill him?"
"I know, I know. It's crazy, isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"I don't understand why he would ask me to do that. He knows that it's against everything I believe in to take another life. And after everything that I went through not to kill his dad, he wants me to turn around and do it to him?" Aang began to rant, letting his upset feelings show in this moment.
Elio rubbed his hands together quietly, taking a moment to consider what he was hearing: the Avatar was telling him that he had been asked to perhaps one day kill the Fire Lord – the man he worked for and considered a friend.
"Yeah, that's a lot to take in. I'm not sure how to feel about it myself if I'm being honest." He admitted.
"What do I do? I can't kill my best friend. I don't know why he wants to write himself off like that." Aang lamented.
"I'm not sure either. Only Zuko could answer that question. He knows himself, and perhaps to him there's some merit to that worry he has about turning out like Fire Lord Ozai did."
"He's not gonna turn out like Ozai. He's a good person." Aang said firmly.
"He is. I totally agree. And in that case, you have nothing to worry about, right?" Elio reasoned.
"I...I don't even want to think about carrying it out. And I don't like that Zuko's putting that on me." Aang said.
"I don't either if I'm being honest...but clearly the Fire Lord trusts you to make that kind of judgment call." Elio pointed out.
"Yeah, but...be honest with me, Elio. What would you do if you were in my shoes here? Would you do it? Let me guess, you would say that you would, right? That's what anyone else would say..." Aang grumbled and sighed.
"Well..." Elio sighed and leaned against the railing. Aang was already starting to get an idea of what he was about to say so he spoke up.
"It's fine, I get it. It's just a me thing...it's how the monks taught me." Aang said dismissively.
"Hold on, let me say what I was gonna say." Elio insisted.
"Alright, sorry. Please go ahead." Aang nodded.
"Okay, so...I had a best friend. His name was Cassian; we grew up together, went to the same school and everything – he knew that he wanted to serve in the army and go overseas, fight in the war. And that's what he did." Elio began.
"And you ran away, right?" Aang recalled.
"I did, but that didn't stop our paths from crossing again. While I was in exile, I saw him again and it was just like old times...until it wasn't. Soon he was after me and Cindra, and I tried many, many times to get him to leave us alone."
"So what did you do?"
"I had to make a choice. He chased us all the way to Full Moon Bay and I felt that I needed to protect all of the refugees there; it was my fault that Cassian and his men had been there in the first place. So despite my begging, he still didn't listen...
"So I killed him." Elio concluded solemnly.
"You killed your best friend...?" Aang asked slowly.
"I did. And not a day goes by where I don't regret it. I wish that I could take it back. It haunts me all the time – the look on his face before he fell...but if I had to do it again, for the sake of everyone else, I would do it. What other choice would I have?"
Aang took this information in quietly. He clearly didn't agree, but he didn't know what to say in response. Elio understood his position better than any of his other friends but he still couldn't get behind what he was saying.
"I'm sorry that you had to do that...was Cassian...?"
"You would've loved him if he were here...he was the best...I admired him a lot growing up. He was a lot of things I could never be." Elio said with a thoughtful sigh. Aang nodded quietly and stood up, looking back at Elio.
The sadness in his eyes showed that this conversation was starting to get to him. Aang could see that it was time to move on from the subject. Elio couldn't tell, but recounting this story only reaffirmed Aang's feelings and strengthened his resolve to stick to his morals.
"Thank you for talking to me, Elio. I really appreciate it. How about we head back inside and rejoin the others?" Aang offered with a kind smile, placing his hand on Elio's shoulder.
"Sure. Sounds good to me." Elio agreed with a nod before following him back inside...