Wandering Firebender
Ninety Three: Delicate Time
"How long do you think you guys will be gone?" Elio asked Cindra curiously, slinging her pack over his shoulder and carrying it for her.
"Uh...I don't know exactly. If I had to guess, at least a week or two? I guess it depends on how things go once we get there." Cindra guessed.
"Alright. Well do you have enough stuff packed in here?"
"Yep! I'm all set. And plus once we get home, I can get some more things, you know?" Cindra said with a smile.
The two of them stepped outside onto the training area within the Fire Lord's palace grounds. As they waited for Cindra's ride to arrive, Elio set her pack down on the floor next to her feet.
"Here you go. So are you looking forward to being home again?" Elio asked.
"Of course," She answered with a smile and a nod. "The journey's gonna be long but once I'm there it'll be nice. I can't wait to see mom and dad and Ansel again."
"Be sure to say hello to your family for me too." He added.
"If they don't ask about you first haha I definitely will." Cindra commented with a laugh.
"Ha yea well...I asked about them first so you'll have to tell them that." Elio said with a dry chuckle. Cindra shook her head and rolled her eyes with another smile.
"I'll be sure to let them know that you're still a dork," She teased before taking a step closer and kissing him on the cheek gently. "Take care of yourself while I'm gone, okay? Don't think I forgot about your sleep." She reminded him as she patted a hand on his chest.
"I...y-yeah I will." He replied with a short nod.
At the sound of a bellowing bison, the two of them looked to the side now and saw Appa coming in for a landing right in the middle of the training area with Aang, Katara, and Sokka already sitting on top of the saddle.
"Rise and shine! Ready to get going?" Sokka was the first to wave her over as he called to her.
"Yep! I'm ready," Cindra nodded. Elio helped her carry her bags to Appa. Aang used his airbending to lift her luggage up the rest of the way and Katara made sure that her things were secure.
"Oh thanks!" She said appreciatively.
"No problem!" Aang gave her a thumbs up.
"Alright! We got a long way to go and not a lot of time to get there so hop on!" Sokka said with another exaggerated wave of his arm.
"Guess that's my cue," Cindra said, giving Elio one more hug before climbing onto Appa. "Take care, Elio!" She waved down to him.
"Take care, guys. Be safe!" Elio waved back.
"You can count on us. Appa, yip yip!" Aang flicked the reins and Appa flew up into the air.
Cindra held on tight and kept her body close to the saddle as Appa lifted them upwards. The journey to the North Pole had begun. Once Appa had settled in the air, Sokka wasted in no time in bringing up a conversation about their objective.
"Alright! So Zuko wants us to get into some peace negotiations with the chief and his advisors. They're gonna be tough to convince so we need to know forwards and backwards what we're gonna say when we meet with them." Sokka began.
"Oh yeah. I guess you're right." Cindra said, agreeing with a little bit of hesitance.
"Do you always have to get straight to business every time we're going somewhere? We're barely in the air." Katara pointed out teasingly.
"Well there's no time like the present," Sokka replied dismissively before continuing. "Now Aang, you're the Avatar here so you should take point in this." He suggested.
"Thank you, captain obvious." Katara said.
"Am I wrong though?" Sokka asked with a shrug.
"You're right, Sokka. I think that I wanna try telling the chief about how closely we've been working with Zuko as the new Fire Lord. We're friends after all. That's gotta count for something, right?" Aang shared his thinking.
"I mean just a year ago we would've said that's impossible for the Fire Lord and the Avatar to be best friends." Cindra pointed out.
"Yeah, exactly! See, this is why we have her coming with us!" Sokka said approvingly, "Although it would help us more if Elio was coming too."
"Yeah, probably...I wonder why he isn't." Cindra wondered aloud.
"He's probably just busy with another assignment." Katara guessed.
"There's been a lot of work to do these past months. I'm glad that Zuko has been trying so hard to be proactive. It can't be easy for him." Aang said.
"Well considering how busy we've been!" Sokka commented.
"Don't get too wound up, Sokka. Think of this as a traveling vacation!" Aang said with a smile...
Cindra had underestimated just how long the journey to the North Pole would be. Even though flying bison was the fastest mode of travel in the world, it still took the better part of a week just to get to the borders of the Northern Water Tribe.
This being her second time traveling long distance with the Avatar and the others, she felt a lot more comfortable around them than she had the first time around. Their friendly and inviting demeanor often made it easy to forget what important people each of them were.
Still, her nervousness about the mission grew the closer they got to the North Pole...that is, until they finally arrived at the outer wall in the middle of the afternoon. Once she saw the insignia of her home, the anxiety was swept away by overwhelming happiness and a sense of nostalgia.
"Finally we made it!" Katara said with a smile.
"It's good to be home." Cindra said as Appa came in for a landing by the docks.
As soon as Appa's paws touched down on the snowy ground, a crowd rushed over and gathered around them. They all hopped off and waved to the crowd. A few people immediately recognized Cindra as well as the others. She looked around but she didn't see anyone from her family nearby.
"Avatar Aang! What are you doing here?" A young girl in the crowd asked as several kids ran up to him all at the same time. Aang chuckled and waved to them as he gave his answer.
"Oh you know, just dropping by. We wanted to see how you all were doing." He said simply.
"Hey guys? Would it be okay if I went to go see my family?" Cindra requested.
"I mean we kinda just got here. We need to go and talk to the chief and stuff. We shouldn't waste any time on that." Sokka pointed out.
"Let her go see her family first, Sokka. She's been away from home for months." Katara came to her defense.
"What? I'm not saying no! Just not right now!" Sokka clarified.
"That's okay. I'll go see the chief first and let him know we'd all like to speak with him and his counsel tonight. That'll give Sokka time to get us settled and then you can go see your family, Cindra." Aang decided.
"That's perfect! Thank you, Aang! I'll come and find you guys in a little bit." Cindra said excitedly.
"We'll probably be in the market getting supplies." Sokka said, giving her a thumbs up.
"Okay! Got it! See ya in a bit!" Cindra grinned and took off running towards her home.
Cindra was overjoyed to be able to pass by familiar places again. She must've looked crazy sprinting through town waving at everyone with a big smile on her face. She reached the front door of her house in no time at all and knocked on the door.
"One moment!" She heard her younger brother's voice call from inside. Cindra took in a breath and stood straight, smiling wide when he finally came to the door and opened it.
"Hey, Ansel!" She greeted him. Ansel's eyes widened in surprise.
"Cindra? W-What're you doing here?!" He exclaimed in shock as he hugged her tightly. Cindra hugged him back and squeezed him as tightly as she could.
"I'm here on a mission with the Avatar and his friends! But I had to come see you all first. Are mom and dad home?"
"Yeah they're inside. Come in, come in." He gestured for her to enter.
Cindra stepped inside the house, brushed her boots off, and hung her parka up on the coat rack as she had done a million times before. It was truly good to be home.
"Who was at the door, Ansel?" She heard her mother's voice speaking from the kitchen.
"Hi, mom!" Cindra called to her, making her way towards the kitchen.
"Uh...Cindra! Oh my goodness!" Cari exclaimed, nearly dropping her cooking utensils on the floor as she set them down so she could rush over and hug her daughter tightly.
"Hey mom!" Cindra said again with a giggle, "I've missed you guys!"
"What brings you back so suddenly? I thought that you were doing important work out there." Her mother inquired.
"I am! But now that important work brought me here! I had to come see you guys first before we go talk to the chief." Cindra explained as she let go.
"The chief?"
"What's all that noise out there?" Cindra's father asked, coming out from the hallway.
"It's me, father!" Cindra answered, coming out to greet him and hugging him tightly before he even realized who it was.
"Wh-Cindra! Well I'll be! Just when I thought today couldn't get any better!" Kawan laughed and hugged her in return, wrapping his arms around her and embracing her fully.
"It's so good to be home. Did you guys redecorate?" Cindra noticed after letting her father go that there was new furniture, new decorations, and a new rug in their living room now.
"Yes. Your mother thought that it was time for a change, so...she picked everything out." Kawan said with a chuckle.
"And I had two big strong men to help me put everything in its perfect spot." Cari joked.
"Must be nice having those around." Cindra replied with a chuckle.
"What brings you back home, sweetie?" Her father asked now.
"I'm here with the Avatar and his friends on a mission. We're going to be speaking to the chief later." Cindra answered.
"About what? What's happened?" He asked with a hint of worry.
"Oh nothing's happened. We're actually here on a peace mission." She clarified.
"A peace mission? Oh, the food will be ready soon! Come sit at the table and tell us more." Her mom invited.
So the four of them sat around the dining room table. Once all of the food and drink was served, they got right back into the discussion. Cindra was eager to tell them about how things had been progressing. She was also excited to catch up on what she had missed while she'd been out.
"I will. But first, what did I miss?" She asked with a smile.
"What did you miss...?" Her dad asked, not understanding what she meant.
"Well yeah, I've been away for months. What's been going on back home?" She asked.
"Not much, honey. Things are really back to normal now." Her mother answered.
"Although, your brother has ranked up again in his waterbending training. He's getting close to master now." Kawan gestured to Ansel with a proud smile.
"Really?! That's great! I'm so happy for you, Ansel! I'm glad you're not struggling anymore." She said happily.
"Well, I wouldn't say that, but I've overcome my block, and I'm content with that for now. I still have a long way to go before I can accept the title of master." He acknowledged humbly.
"You'll get there before you know it, son. We have no doubt of that." Their father said surely.
"Thank you. What about you, Cindra? Any crazy stories to share from your time traveling?" Ansel asked to change the subject.
"Ugh, where do I even start? Haha I could go on and on!" Cindra said with an exasperated laugh.
"Well, why not start with your new mission? You said it was a peace mission with the Fire Nation?" Her mother suggested, clearly curious to hear about what their intentions were for being sent here.
"Right, yeah. Fire Lord Zuko wants to establish better relations with the Northern Water Tribe, so he asked me to come here with the Avatar and his friends to talk with the chief and the elders about...opening that up, I guess." She explained, unable to think of a better way to describe it.
"Really? Does the Avatar think that it's possible?" Kawan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's why we're here. I think it would be really good. But it's not gonna be easy to convince the elders." She acknowledged.
"That's an understatement," Ansel commented. "If they're even willing to listen to a proposal." He added to further convey his doubt.
"You don't think they would?" Cindra asked.
"It's hard to say. The chief is a patient man, but it hasn't been that long since the siege either. There's still a lot of anger towards what the Fire Nation did to us." Kawan pointed out.
"But the Fire Nation is different now. It's not the same people that attacked us." Cindra countered.
"Be that as it may, you've seen that first hand. They haven't," Cari pointed out. "It'll be tough to convince them."
"Yeah, that's true..." Cindra said, pursing her lips as she considered how to approach this.
"It's not impossible but I wouldn't get your hopes up, Cindra." Kawan advised...
After having lunch with her family, Cindra met up with the gang again and gave them some further insight on how to approach the upcoming conversation with the elders based off of what her family had told her. Thankfully, they were already beginning to consider this.
They spent the rest of the afternoon getting settled and planning out their talking points as well as potential arguments and counterarguments. At sundown, the four of them made their way up to the chief's palace and met with the chief and the elders for dinner in a large private meeting room.
It was hard for Cindra not to feel intimidated among all of the prominent men of her tribe. Looking at Aang and the others made her feel like she was the only one who felt this way; if they were nervous too they were doing a much better job than her at not showing it.
"Welcome back, Avatar Aang, Katara, Sokka, Cindra; it's good to see all of you again." Chief Arnook greeted them with a pleasant smile.
"And you too, chief! How're things going in the ole sister tribe?" Sokka asked. His more laid back tone earned him a side eye from Katara.
"Things have been continuing on as normal since we finished repairing our home after the siege." The chief answered in response.
"That's good to hear. I'm very sorry for all the trouble you went through, and I'm glad to see that the Northern Water Tribe is okay." Aang said sincerely.
"Well thanks to you, we won't have to worry about it happening again." One of the advisors said in reply.
"Although, things would have gone much better had you been here." Another commented afterwards.
"I know. There's only so much I can do. I may be the Avatar, but I'm still just one person." Aang apologized humbly. The others didn't feel like he really had to apologize but they were impressed by the gesture nonetheless.
"We can't dwell on that now. We've recovered, and the world is better as a result of what happened that day. But that was then, and now it is my understanding that it was the Fire Nation that sent you here to speak with us?" Chief Arnook now inquired.
"Yeah. We're here on behalf of Fire Lord Zuko and Elio." Cindra answered.
"Well, mostly Zuko, but Elio also says hi." Sokka clarified.
"I see. Well, what is it that Fire Lord Zuko has to say?" The chief asked.
"He wants to make up for the attack. His father was the one who ordered the siege, and ever since Aang took him down, Zuko has been trying to undo the damage that the Fire Nation did in the past." Katara explained.
"That's a lot of damage to undo." One of the chief's advisors understated.
"It won't be easy." Cindra acknowledged.
"I don't think that'll be possible," Another advisor said with a shake of his head. "No disrespect to the work you're doing, Avatar Aang, but realistically our tribe can't take interest in anything that the Fire Lord wants to offer us."
"Why not?" Sokka and Cindra both asked at the same time.
"They are the ones that attacked us! Does the Fire Lord think that we're so weak that we need to feed from the same hand that bit us?" The advisors continued to argue against it.
"You said that everything is mostly rebuilt, right?" Aang asked.
"That's correct."
"Well then why not accept it anyways? It's not about weakness or needs, but just establishing a connection and working towards a settled peace." He suggested.
"I think that I've heard enough to make my decision." The chief interrupted the back and forth between the two groups.
"Please tell me you understand where we're coming from, chief." Cindra said.
"It's not that I don't, but I have to consider the needs of my tribe first and foremost and they're still hurting from the siege. It's too soon to establish anything formally or politically..." Chief Arnook began.
"But-" Cindra began to object but was interrupted by the chief.
"However, I am all for peace as well. If Fire Lord Zuko wishes to establish a formal peace agreement with the Northern Water Tribe, he can come here himself and we can discuss it properly. That's the message I would like you to relay to him." The chief decided.
"The Fire Lord would never come here." One of his advisors said.
"I see," Aang sighed "I will let him know. Thank you for agreeing to speak with us about this. If there's anything I can do to help the tribe while we're here, please let me know."
"Thank you, Avatar. I appreciate you respecting our decision." Chief Arnook said politely with a nod of his head...
After the meeting, Aang and the others filed out of the meeting room and returned to where they were staying. The advisors also went their own ways too. However, as Cindra was leaving, Chief Arnook called to her and requested that she stay behind.
"Cindra, may I speak with you privately for a moment?"
"Huh? Of course."
"Walk with me for a moment." The chief requested, walking towards the front exit of the palace.
"Is everything okay?" Cindra asked while walking alongside him. She was feeling a little nervous internally but was doing her best to keep a poker face.
"Of course. I just wanted to ask you away from the others how things are going on your travels. You're working directly with the Fire Lord and with Elio, no?" The chief asked.
"That's correct. I work with Elio but he does report directly to Fire Lord Zuko." She confirmed with a nod.
"How is Elio?" Chief Arnook asked.
"He's good. Very busy. But he's doing his best to help. We all are." Cindra answered.
"It's a delicate time in the world; that can't be overstated enough. I know this wasn't the outcome you were hoping for."
"Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed." Cindra admitted, pursing her lips quietly.
"What do you have to say about what the Fire Nation is doing? Do you think they're legitimately seeking peace?" Chief Arnook asked her directly.
"I do. I've seen it for myself firsthand." She answered without hesitation.
"You can understand why my advisors are so hesitant to believe anything the Fire Nation is saying though. They don't see what you see." The chief pointed out.
"If they did they wouldn't be arguing with the Avatar of all people." She grumbled.
"Would you be willing to provide them with some reassurance?"
"What...? What do you mean by that?" Cindra asked, looking up at him in confusion.
"We'd like you to keep a report on the things that you see on your missions. Help us build up a record of goodwill." The chief requested.
"You want me to spy on the Fire Nation?" Cindra asked in surprise.
"You're in a unique position to help us understand what their intentions are." Chief Arnook said.
"We told you what their intentions are. But you're asking me to go behind Elio's back..." Cindra pointed out.
"We all want the same thing here, Cindra, I assure you. But this will help get the people on board."
Cindra let out a sigh at this. Internally, she hated how this proposition made her feel. But at the end of the day, she did want to help. She didn't think the chief was lying to her about his intentions, but could she really know for sure?
Elio and her family members were the only ones she trusted completely.
"Alright. Fine. But don't expect me to be trying to dig up dirt. I'll only be reporting the facts; nothing more and nothing else." Cindra stipulated.
"That's all we need. Thank you, Cindra." The chief said appreciatively...