"What do you mean my cousin is missing?" Lu Ten demanded.
Zhao chuckled and poured himself another cup of tea. "Exactly what I said. Prince Zuko is missing, presumed... well. Missing. He and his
entire force disappeared almost without a trace."
Lu Ten reached over and forced the cup away from Zhao's lips. "Don't play games with me, Admiral. I can read your face like a
scroll. You have more information and I suggest that you share it before I decide that your withholding it is an indication of complicity."
"Well, since you're asking so nicely." Zhao relinquished the cup. "Patrols sent out to find Prince Zuko did find some of
the komodo rhinos that his soldiers had been mounted upon. They were roaming loose near the coast. The nearest village, some pathetic hamlet whose name I
forget, had been burnt almost to the ground and there was some evidence that two firebenders had duelled." He smiled. "I have ordered my men to
report any other information, but at this time... we must consider the possibility that your cousin is dead."
"An agni kai. Interesting," Lu Ten observed. If that was so then Zuko might well have been killed, but it was far less likely to be
the result of factional conflict within the Fire Nation than that a firebender would side with the Earth Kingdom. And while Zuko's skills were not on par
with Lu Ten's, he was nonetheless among the most powerful firebenders alive and escorted, at last report, by a score of elite soldiers.
The most likely explanation was that Zuko had been eliminated as part of a move against either Lu Ten or Azula. While the young prince had
not committed to either of them, his death would sow suspicion between them and if evidence were to appear painting one or the other as responsible then the
Fire Lord would almost have to take action.
And Admiral Zhao was almost certainly aligned with Azula. How truly good, Lu Ten thought drily. Any evidence that turned up would be used to
her advantage, not his. Well, there was more than one way to handle that.
"When you're done with your tea, Admiral," he ordered. "Detach a squadron and take control of the southern region again.
Turn every rock you have to in order to find my cousin, or his resting place. And that includes shaking down any remnants of the Water Tribes you can find. If
there's any resurgence of oppostion on either side of the Southern Ocean I want you to stamp it out."
Zhao's smile grew feral. Lu Ten knew that the Admiral had cut his teeth in the fighting against the Northern Water Tribe and had
campaigned vigorously for increased raiding against what little remained of the Southern Tribe. Until now, however, the Earth Kingdom had been the
priority.
"In your absence, those elements of the Southern Fleet still in the lakes will answer to me," Lu Ten added casually. The addition
would place more than half of the Fire Nation's Navy under his direct control, strengthening his own position.
The Admiral's eyes narrowed at that addition but the reasoning made sense: he couldn't pull most of his ships away from their places
blockading the lakes without undermining the overall strategy for Ba Sing Se, something that would cost him his rank, if not his head. And it was nonsensical
to think that he could direct operations here while he was in the Southern Waters.
"Of course, your highness," he agreed. "I'm surprised that you don't want to handle the matter
yourself."
"Tempting," admitted Lu Ten. "But I've spent my whole career with the Northern Fleet, whereas you know the area. No,
it's best overall for you to handle this. And you'll certainly seem more action down there than you'll find here."
Zhao laughed sharply. That was true, the Earth Kingdom had made no more than token efforts to contest the inland lakes that cut the continent
in half. "Of course. I will find your cousin, if I have to depopulate the whole south pole to do it."
Both men had already written Zuko off as dead.
.oOo.
The spirit world, in Toph's opinion, was very boring.
"What's taking so long?" she wondered out loud to Aang, who was trying to walk her through the basics of airbending. It was
proving challenging for both of them, since without her earthsense Toph simply couldn't tell what he was doing unless he was literally pressed against her
and she thumped him soundly any time he tried to manhandle her into position. Treating her like a doll was simply not acceptable. "Surely I should have
either died or recovered."
"I don't know," the youthful Avatar admitted. "If the lightning had struck any one of the other chakras, you would have
died almost instantly: the third chakra is the only one that can survive a strike by that much chi. If you'd been struck anywhere other than a chakra, the
lightning would have grounded itself through you - again, probably fatally since that would tend to take it through the fourth chakra, your heart. You need to
move more lightly on your feet. Stop putting your heels down."
"That puts me off balance," Toph protested, but she obediently rose up slightly, balancing on the balls of her feet. "So I got
hit the one place that wouldn't kill me. What's the problem?"
Aang hesitated before replying. "Well I only know the theory - Lightning is one of the most difficult forms of the firebending arts and
I never met anyone who had mastered it," he qualified. "But from what I understand, once the lightning wa there, you could have redirected it out of
you safely."
"It sounds like waterbending," Toph said, walking - mincing almost - through the kata that Aang was trying to instruct her in. It
didn't actually involve bending air, since she couldn't learn that in the spirit world, but he seemed to think that her defence could use the
help.
"You'd probably know more about that than I would," admitted Aang. "I never learnt how to waterbend. I barely mastered
airbending before I left the temple. I don't think you've quite got it. You're too stiff. Stay flexible, ready to move away before you're
struck."
"You must be wrong anyway, I never got any chance to redirect anything. The lightning fire hit me and -" she clapped her hands
sharply "- I'm in the Spirit World with you sneaking up on me."
"I was not. And you didn't have to hit me."
"Hah. Ask anyone who knows me and they'd tell you that you were just asking to get pounded, sneaking up on me. I bet that's why
Kanna sent you instead of coming for me herself."
Aang sounded dismayed: "She wouldn't do that!"
"Are you sure?" Toph grinned, knowing that she'd gotten under his skin. "You got set up, and you didn't suspect a
thing."
"You're wrong!"
Toph blew a raspberry. "Don't worry. I'm sure there's some nice girl here who'll cosset your delicate ego. Some girls
like gullible boys. Don't ask me why."
"You're wrong," Aang said sadly.
"I'm more of an authority figure on girls than you are, twinkle toes."
"Not that." She heard Aang turn away. "There aren't any girls in the Spirit World. Normal people are only here long enough
to be reincarnated. Only the past lives of the Avatars are here for long and none of them are anything close to my age. And most of them don't want
anything to do with me."
Toph judged by the sound of his voice where he was and stepped closer, leaning over him, both hands on his shoulders. "Why not?
You're a bit annoying sometimes, but you aren't a bad guy."
"Because it's all my fault," Aang said softly. "I ran away and let the Fire Nation do whatever they wanted. I didn't
have the courage to do my duty. Roku and Kanna are the only Avatars who'll have anything to do with me." He sounded on the brink of tears.
Toph frowned and then smacked him across the head. "You're a hundred and twelve years old," she reminded him. "Grow
up!"
"Ow!"
"Do you think any of them would have done any better? I know people who worship Kyoshi's sandals but I'll bet you she made as
many mistakes as a kid as any of us. But she didn't get handed the world on a handbasket and told to make it right when she was twelve years old! Sure, she
kicked Chin the Conqueror's butt - when she'd had years to learn and prepare! If you'd stayed where you were, the Fire Nation would have been there
long before you'd learnt anything more than you know now. You'd have been just another dead airbender!"
"But -!"
Toph squeezed him, careful not to crush his carotid or air pipe (assuming that she could do so at all in the spirit world, which she
didn't particularly care to find out). "You just remember this: most of them have been here hundreds of years. In all that time, you think no
one's come up with any new ideas? You probably know moves none of them have even heard of, or is that master's tattoo on your head just a
decoration?"
"I guess... maybe..."
"And let's face it. It isn't gonna be more than a couple of centuries, tops, before I'm here full time. I'm counting on
you to whip them into shape so I have an actual challenge."
.oOo.
In the end it was agreed that Zuko would be allowed to advise in Toph's treatment. Rather than release him however, Toph was carried to
the same building and placed in the same room. Suki also doubled the guards, just in case Zuko decided sacrifice his life in order to kill the girl he still -
as far as they could tell - did not know was the Avatar.
Zuko paid the guards as little attention as he would the servants of the Royal Palace back in the Fire Nation, directing Mai as she ground up
leaves for an aloe that Zuko thought might help with the burn. He himself admitted though that the direct damage caused by the lightning was a secondary
problem at this state. Toph's body was slowly starving despite the thin broth that the healers were feeding her on. His best guess was that the damage to
the chakra was impeding her ability to digest the food.
"Why did she challenge me?" Zuko asked quietly. "She had to know she wasn't going to beat me. She's brilliant - I
don't deny it - but she could never muster a knockout blow against me."
"I don't know," Mai replied, not looking up from the mortar and pestle.
"How can you not know?" he protested. "You were -"
"We'd split up," Mai cut him off. "Her orders... my orders... were to watch. Or listen, in her case. To find out if you
were a threat and to report. Not to take you on in some crazy duel."
Zuko glared at the back of her head. "You're the one who said you know her better than I do, guess!"
Mai paused in her grinding. "Maybe she thought you were being such a jerk that you needed your head rattled," she said venomously.
"Suki was quite thorough in going through all the towns you've burnt since we last met."
The prince's face paled in anger. "If you're going to lay blame, maybe you should remember that I thought I was avenging
you!"
"Well don't I feel special."
"Do you have any idea how much it hurt your parents to lose you? To lose Toph?" Zuko demanded.
Mai snorted derisively. "My parents have Tom-Tom, the son they always wanted. One surplus daughter and an adoptee will be forgotten
quickly enough."
"Funny, that's not the way it looked to me." He looked at her hands. "Is there some reason you stopped
working?"
She started grinding again, imagining that it was his face.
"You saw what your mother was like when Tom-Tom went missing. Well she was ten times worse when I came back without the two of you. Your
father had half the garrison digging through the hill - if he could have found an Earthbender he could trust he'd have had them there as well. When we
didn't find any trace of you..."
"Shut up."
"...she locked herself in her room for days. Your dad was trying to hold himself together for Tom-Tom, but I could see his heart break
every time your brother asked where you were. He'd stay up late, reading reports of what guerillas did to captive Fire Soldiers. Praying that you'd
died cleanly, that Jet hadn't got his hands on you..."
"Shut up!"
"Don't tell me to shut up!" Zuko roared, eyes blazing. The two nearest guards, who had been trying to pretend that they
weren't listening, wheeled as he pulled against his chains. "You tore the heart out of your own family for no reason that you're willing to tell
anyone! Your father told me that you went up that hill because your first loyalty as a fire maiden was to your family, and then you spat on that and
wa-"
There was a sharp crack.
"I left to save my sister's life," Mai told him, arm still poised from the slap. "From
you."
She stalked out of the room, leaving Zuko staring at her in mute incomprehension, fighting back the impulse to demand to know why she thought
he would kill Toph. Exhibit One was in the same room, after all.
"Wow, you Fire Nation guys are so smooth," one of the guards observed sarcastically. "I'm amazed you ever manage to have
children."
.oOo.
"Oyaji, I hope your allies haven't abandoned us," Suki told the old man as they stood outside the shrine. "The healers are
uncertain how long Toph will last."
"Do not fear," Oyaji assured her. "They are distant from us, and it will naturally take some time for them to receive the
news. I am certain that they will send us all the aid they can, however. I made it very clear that time is of the essence."
Suki nodded reluctantly. "It's hard to wait," she admitted. "Not being able to do anything..."
"You are doing something," the old man pointed out. "You're fretting. Everyone can tell that you are gravely concerned
about Toph."
"Not just her. The firebender as well," admitted the young woman. "What should I do with him? Sooner or later, someone is
going to come looking for him. As soon as they speak to one of the Chin Villagers, they will realise that we must be involved somehow."
Oyaji nodded. "That is a problem. Can you simply release him?"
"I don't think that that will protect us." She snorted. "We've injured the most sensitive part of him, his pride. I
fear he is the sort of man who would raise an army to take revenge upon us for the indgnity of being a prisoner, even briefly."
"Ah. Well, that leaves the other alternative."
Suki grimaced. "We'll have to ensure that no one ever finds him. The Fire Nation don't believe in much that I can think of, but
I'm sure that the Fire Lord would take a horrible revenge for the death of his son, just out of principle."
"And if the Avatar lives, as we all hope that she will?" asked Oyaji pointedly. "You are not the only one who has spoken to
your friend Mai. And don't deny that she is your friend. Only one close to your heart could have injured it so deeply with a lie. I have no doubt that you
- or she - could end Zuko's life while caught in the rage of grief. But to kill him, in cold blood? Harder. Much harder, even were I sure what Toph's
reaction would be."
"Don't underestimate any of us on that score," Suki told him. "Do you know what Mai's criteria was for her team when
they set off? Killers. Her, June, Shu-lin and even Toph. I don't think that it would be as hard as you imagine."
Oyaji's shoulders hunched in upon him, aware of the true question. "I know little of June, but it does not surprise me. Shu-lin...
there are often suspicions when a fisherman known to drink more heavily than is wise suffers an accident at sea. If it is true, then perhaps her father's
neighbours chose not to see other reasons for the occasion. Mai... well, you have told me what she reported and I did not see you disagree with her decisions
there."
Suki nodded reluctantly and turned to look back at the shrine. "And Toph."
"Suki, remember that Kiyoshi did not hesitate to kill Chin the Conqueror and she was far from the first Avatar to stain her hands in
performance of her duties. It saddens me to hear than a child of Toph's age has shed blood, but I am not truly surprised." He shook his head.
"You think that you understand what the war is like, but in your heart you do not. For Toph to have survived on her own is remarkable. To have survived
and remained entirely innocent would have been a miracle."
"I suppose you're right," Suki admitted.
They watched the sunsetting for a moment and then Suki squinted. "That's a funny shaped bird," she noted, pointing to the
south-west. "Have you ever seen one like that?"
The old man squinted. "I'm not quite sure I see... Wait, yes I have." He clapped Suki on the shoulder. "That's no
bird, it's our help arriving. Have the cooks drug Prince Zuko's food again - we don't want him learning that our allies even exist, much less any
details. Once he's out, bring Toph here."
Suki stared at him, half convinced that he was losing his mind.
"Stop dawdling," Oyaji demanded and ran into the shrine, leaving Suki little alternative but to shrug and obey.
.oOo.
"Toph," called Kanna. "It's time for you to go."
Toph sat up from where she was lying on the bank of a stream, her bare feet dangling in the water. "Finally. I was beginning to wonder
if I would ever get out of this dump," she said, waving one hand to indicate what Kanna personally considered to be a rather idyllic scene.
"I'm sure Aang will miss having you here," she told the girl encouragingly.
"I'm sure he won't miss the bruises," Toph snickered, sprining to her feet. "So, what tells you that my visit is
over?"
Kanna shook her head, knowing that the incorrigable girl would guess at the gesture. "A healer has arrived on Kyoshi Island to treat
you," she answered. "It's best that you return to your body now, so that you are there to awaken. If they try to force you to wake when your
spirit is not present, then it could endanger you."
"So they have a healer there to fix me up... and I have to be there or she might kill me by mistake. Lovely," Toph concluded
sarcastically. "I'll be sure to let them all know of your deep confidence in them." She sniffed at the air. "I don't smell Appa, so I
take it I'm not being flown there."
"Oh, but you are," Kanna smiled. "Appa seems curiously reluctant to carry you..."
"Because he's smarter than most," Toph noted smugly.
"...so I enlisted another to take you to Kyoshi Island." Kanna smiled serenely. "Please do not manhandle him, as you did
Appa."
"That depends on who..." There was a rumbling growl from far above Toph's head. "Oh I do hate you."
"That's nice, dear," Kanna smiled. "Say hello to Fang."
Toph looked upwards, in almost the right direction. "Hello Fang, hello Roku. I'm warning
you in advance that if either of you try carrying me anywhere in your mouth, I'm going to pull both your beards out."
"Why would I carry you in my mouth?" asked Roku from the back of his dragon
companion
"Just covering for all the possibilities," the girl told him and then stepped aside
sharply as Fang lowered his neck towards her. "No squashing me either."
The dragon growled softly, something that Roku had long since learned to recognise as the draconic
equivalent of a laugh and nudged gently at the girl.
Who promptly clutched at her head and fell over.
"Fang?" the one-time Avatar enquired with forced calm. "What did you just
do?"
Dragon's are not well-suited to looking sheepish but there was a general sense of such as Fang
shared an image of Toph and Zuko throwing fire at each other, overlayed with two roaring dragons.
"Ugh... weird shapes," Toph grumbled, rising to hands and knees as Kanna moved to assist
her. "What happened?"
Roku cleared his throat. "I fear that Fang was perhaps a little enthusiastic in greeting
you," he said a apologetically and reached down for Kanna to lift Toph up to him. "Did you see anything when he touched you?"
Toph moved her hand back and forth in front of her face, eyes not tracking it at all. "Is that
a good enough answer?" she asked snidely.
"I meant in your mind," the old Avatar explained, lifting her easily to sit before him on
Fang's neck. "Dragons speak directly from their mind to that of those they wish to address. I believe that he wished to deliver a compliment of sorts,
that you and my great-grandson fought like dragons." He did not feel that it would be wise to mention that Fang's implication had been 'like
mating dragons'. "However, for one unaccustomed to sight, it must have been disconcerting."
"That was sight?" Toph asked incredulously. She shook her head. "You can keep
it."
.oOo.
Mai eyed the white-haired woman suspiciously as Toph was carried into Kyoshi's Shrine on a
litter. Her face didn't suggest that she was much older, if at all, than Mai and her long, elaborately ordered ivory hair and dark skin made her look like
a reflection of the pale-skinned and raven haired fire maiden. Her heavy garments were a mix of blues and whites, the latter mostly fur and announcing her
origins more clearly than anything else: one of the Water Tribes, and clearly not the hidden band from the swamp.
But after generations of raiding outlying settlements and the all out invasion of the Northern
Tribe's citadel towards the end of Azulon's reign, the polar tribes had almost ceased to exist. Scattered groups were known to have withdrawn into the
interiors, away from the seas that allowed the Fire Nation to attack them but were also their principal source of food. This woman's appearance did not
speak of a hardscrabble survival however.
"You must be the Avatar's sister," she greeted Mai warmly. "My name is Yue. Oyaji
has told me much of you."
"Nothing good, I'm sure," Mai replied. "You can help her?"
"I hope so." Yue gestured towards a part of the floor. "Please place her here,"
she requested, unstoppering a waterbag.
Mai stepped back reflexively. "You're a waterbender?"
Oyaji placed one hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "The women of the Water Tribes learn to use
their waterbending skills to heal. Their abilities are unparalleled."
Water poured upwards out of the waterbag, forming what Mai could only describe as some kind of
floating puddle above Yue's hands. Kneeling over Toph, the water tribe woman brought the water down upon the savage scarring inflicted by Zuko's
lightning and it slowly sank into the girl's body, Yue closing her eyes in concentration.
"Is she bending water... inside Toph?" Mai asked, incredulously.
Oyaji nodded solemnly. "That is how they heal," he explained.
Mai could see by the expression on Suki's face that the other girl was thinking along the same
lines that she was, flinching at the thought but at the same time unable to stop considering how such a technique could be used as a weapon. Fire Nation
propaganda painted waterbenders as using their water like a whip, flogging ineffectually at armoured soldiers. This painted a very different picture
however.
The techniques might be too slow for use in open battle, but Mai could imagine dozens of ways that
it could be used in raids, harassments and assasinations: a perfect tool for a guerilla war. And the polar ice - or the depths of the Foggy Swamp - would put
all advantage in the hands of a flexible defense of that nature. Somehow, Mai thought, I don't think that the Water Tribes are going to be wiped out as
easily as the Air Nomads were.
Yue exhaled strongly and lifted her hands, drawing the water out of Toph. Mai could see that it was
stained, no longer as clear as it once had been. Rather than returning it to the bag, Yue let it spash into a basin and sat back on her heels. "The
physical damage is healing," she reported. "She will bear the scar for the rest of her life, but it is forming cleanly for the most part and I have
removed any traces of infection that I can find. As for the chakra within..."
She looked over at Mai. "I gather that something was done to her chakras before this injury?
What can you tell me about it?"
"I'm not a bender," Mai warned. "And I wasn't there, so all I know is what
Toph has told me."
"I understand," Yue nodded. "Tell me what you can."
"As I understand it, her parents disapproved of her bending. She said that they hired someone
to tamper with her chi, to prevent her from using it. It was done when she was asleep, so she doesn't know exactly what was done - I would guess something
involving pressure points but as I understand it, those would only have a temporary effect."
"Usually, yes," Yue agreed. "Most likely several techniques were used in combination.
What were the effects?"
"It didn't completely seal away her bending, but it weakened it considerably. She told me
it took as much afterwards to bend two handfuls of sand as it had before to throw boulders hundreds of yards. This was before we discovered she could fire bend
so I can't compare the other arts, but according to her firebending teacher, she was above average in her ability to control and sense fire, so I presume
that those were less affected."
"The third chakra, where she was struck, is sometimes referred to as the seat of power,"
mused Yue. "What you're describing would almost have to follow from some damage to it. Add in the attack and the Avatar is incredibly lucky to have
survived."
"Can you help her?"
In response, Yue lifted a second waterskin from the floor, this one more elaborately decorated, but
also carefully reinforced and with a far stronger seal upon the stopper"The only thing that I can think of that would is this: water from the Spirit
Oasis."
Oyaji exhaled. "I thought that it had been destroyed."
"It was," Yue confirmed. "My parents and the Avatar carried Tui and La south with
them and rebuilt it for them but it will take many more years before it we can impose upon them for more water. However, we also have a small supply of the
water from the original." She weighed it gently in her hands. "This is half of what we have left." Slowly she began to undo the seal. "I do
not know how potent it will be, but if this cannot heal the Avatar then nothing will."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Zhao chuckled and poured himself another cup of tea. "Exactly what I said. Prince Zuko is missing, presumed... well. Missing. He and his
entire force disappeared almost without a trace."
Lu Ten reached over and forced the cup away from Zhao's lips. "Don't play games with me, Admiral. I can read your face like a
scroll. You have more information and I suggest that you share it before I decide that your withholding it is an indication of complicity."
"Well, since you're asking so nicely." Zhao relinquished the cup. "Patrols sent out to find Prince Zuko did find some of
the komodo rhinos that his soldiers had been mounted upon. They were roaming loose near the coast. The nearest village, some pathetic hamlet whose name I
forget, had been burnt almost to the ground and there was some evidence that two firebenders had duelled." He smiled. "I have ordered my men to
report any other information, but at this time... we must consider the possibility that your cousin is dead."
"An agni kai. Interesting," Lu Ten observed. If that was so then Zuko might well have been killed, but it was far less likely to be
the result of factional conflict within the Fire Nation than that a firebender would side with the Earth Kingdom. And while Zuko's skills were not on par
with Lu Ten's, he was nonetheless among the most powerful firebenders alive and escorted, at last report, by a score of elite soldiers.
The most likely explanation was that Zuko had been eliminated as part of a move against either Lu Ten or Azula. While the young prince had
not committed to either of them, his death would sow suspicion between them and if evidence were to appear painting one or the other as responsible then the
Fire Lord would almost have to take action.
And Admiral Zhao was almost certainly aligned with Azula. How truly good, Lu Ten thought drily. Any evidence that turned up would be used to
her advantage, not his. Well, there was more than one way to handle that.
"When you're done with your tea, Admiral," he ordered. "Detach a squadron and take control of the southern region again.
Turn every rock you have to in order to find my cousin, or his resting place. And that includes shaking down any remnants of the Water Tribes you can find. If
there's any resurgence of oppostion on either side of the Southern Ocean I want you to stamp it out."
Zhao's smile grew feral. Lu Ten knew that the Admiral had cut his teeth in the fighting against the Northern Water Tribe and had
campaigned vigorously for increased raiding against what little remained of the Southern Tribe. Until now, however, the Earth Kingdom had been the
priority.
"In your absence, those elements of the Southern Fleet still in the lakes will answer to me," Lu Ten added casually. The addition
would place more than half of the Fire Nation's Navy under his direct control, strengthening his own position.
The Admiral's eyes narrowed at that addition but the reasoning made sense: he couldn't pull most of his ships away from their places
blockading the lakes without undermining the overall strategy for Ba Sing Se, something that would cost him his rank, if not his head. And it was nonsensical
to think that he could direct operations here while he was in the Southern Waters.
"Of course, your highness," he agreed. "I'm surprised that you don't want to handle the matter
yourself."
"Tempting," admitted Lu Ten. "But I've spent my whole career with the Northern Fleet, whereas you know the area. No,
it's best overall for you to handle this. And you'll certainly seem more action down there than you'll find here."
Zhao laughed sharply. That was true, the Earth Kingdom had made no more than token efforts to contest the inland lakes that cut the continent
in half. "Of course. I will find your cousin, if I have to depopulate the whole south pole to do it."
Both men had already written Zuko off as dead.
.oOo.
The spirit world, in Toph's opinion, was very boring.
"What's taking so long?" she wondered out loud to Aang, who was trying to walk her through the basics of airbending. It was
proving challenging for both of them, since without her earthsense Toph simply couldn't tell what he was doing unless he was literally pressed against her
and she thumped him soundly any time he tried to manhandle her into position. Treating her like a doll was simply not acceptable. "Surely I should have
either died or recovered."
"I don't know," the youthful Avatar admitted. "If the lightning had struck any one of the other chakras, you would have
died almost instantly: the third chakra is the only one that can survive a strike by that much chi. If you'd been struck anywhere other than a chakra, the
lightning would have grounded itself through you - again, probably fatally since that would tend to take it through the fourth chakra, your heart. You need to
move more lightly on your feet. Stop putting your heels down."
"That puts me off balance," Toph protested, but she obediently rose up slightly, balancing on the balls of her feet. "So I got
hit the one place that wouldn't kill me. What's the problem?"
Aang hesitated before replying. "Well I only know the theory - Lightning is one of the most difficult forms of the firebending arts and
I never met anyone who had mastered it," he qualified. "But from what I understand, once the lightning wa there, you could have redirected it out of
you safely."
"It sounds like waterbending," Toph said, walking - mincing almost - through the kata that Aang was trying to instruct her in. It
didn't actually involve bending air, since she couldn't learn that in the spirit world, but he seemed to think that her defence could use the
help.
"You'd probably know more about that than I would," admitted Aang. "I never learnt how to waterbend. I barely mastered
airbending before I left the temple. I don't think you've quite got it. You're too stiff. Stay flexible, ready to move away before you're
struck."
"You must be wrong anyway, I never got any chance to redirect anything. The lightning fire hit me and -" she clapped her hands
sharply "- I'm in the Spirit World with you sneaking up on me."
"I was not. And you didn't have to hit me."
"Hah. Ask anyone who knows me and they'd tell you that you were just asking to get pounded, sneaking up on me. I bet that's why
Kanna sent you instead of coming for me herself."
Aang sounded dismayed: "She wouldn't do that!"
"Are you sure?" Toph grinned, knowing that she'd gotten under his skin. "You got set up, and you didn't suspect a
thing."
"You're wrong!"
Toph blew a raspberry. "Don't worry. I'm sure there's some nice girl here who'll cosset your delicate ego. Some girls
like gullible boys. Don't ask me why."
"You're wrong," Aang said sadly.
"I'm more of an authority figure on girls than you are, twinkle toes."
"Not that." She heard Aang turn away. "There aren't any girls in the Spirit World. Normal people are only here long enough
to be reincarnated. Only the past lives of the Avatars are here for long and none of them are anything close to my age. And most of them don't want
anything to do with me."
Toph judged by the sound of his voice where he was and stepped closer, leaning over him, both hands on his shoulders. "Why not?
You're a bit annoying sometimes, but you aren't a bad guy."
"Because it's all my fault," Aang said softly. "I ran away and let the Fire Nation do whatever they wanted. I didn't
have the courage to do my duty. Roku and Kanna are the only Avatars who'll have anything to do with me." He sounded on the brink of tears.
Toph frowned and then smacked him across the head. "You're a hundred and twelve years old," she reminded him. "Grow
up!"
"Ow!"
"Do you think any of them would have done any better? I know people who worship Kyoshi's sandals but I'll bet you she made as
many mistakes as a kid as any of us. But she didn't get handed the world on a handbasket and told to make it right when she was twelve years old! Sure, she
kicked Chin the Conqueror's butt - when she'd had years to learn and prepare! If you'd stayed where you were, the Fire Nation would have been there
long before you'd learnt anything more than you know now. You'd have been just another dead airbender!"
"But -!"
Toph squeezed him, careful not to crush his carotid or air pipe (assuming that she could do so at all in the spirit world, which she
didn't particularly care to find out). "You just remember this: most of them have been here hundreds of years. In all that time, you think no
one's come up with any new ideas? You probably know moves none of them have even heard of, or is that master's tattoo on your head just a
decoration?"
"I guess... maybe..."
"And let's face it. It isn't gonna be more than a couple of centuries, tops, before I'm here full time. I'm counting on
you to whip them into shape so I have an actual challenge."
.oOo.
In the end it was agreed that Zuko would be allowed to advise in Toph's treatment. Rather than release him however, Toph was carried to
the same building and placed in the same room. Suki also doubled the guards, just in case Zuko decided sacrifice his life in order to kill the girl he still -
as far as they could tell - did not know was the Avatar.
Zuko paid the guards as little attention as he would the servants of the Royal Palace back in the Fire Nation, directing Mai as she ground up
leaves for an aloe that Zuko thought might help with the burn. He himself admitted though that the direct damage caused by the lightning was a secondary
problem at this state. Toph's body was slowly starving despite the thin broth that the healers were feeding her on. His best guess was that the damage to
the chakra was impeding her ability to digest the food.
"Why did she challenge me?" Zuko asked quietly. "She had to know she wasn't going to beat me. She's brilliant - I
don't deny it - but she could never muster a knockout blow against me."
"I don't know," Mai replied, not looking up from the mortar and pestle.
"How can you not know?" he protested. "You were -"
"We'd split up," Mai cut him off. "Her orders... my orders... were to watch. Or listen, in her case. To find out if you
were a threat and to report. Not to take you on in some crazy duel."
Zuko glared at the back of her head. "You're the one who said you know her better than I do, guess!"
Mai paused in her grinding. "Maybe she thought you were being such a jerk that you needed your head rattled," she said venomously.
"Suki was quite thorough in going through all the towns you've burnt since we last met."
The prince's face paled in anger. "If you're going to lay blame, maybe you should remember that I thought I was avenging
you!"
"Well don't I feel special."
"Do you have any idea how much it hurt your parents to lose you? To lose Toph?" Zuko demanded.
Mai snorted derisively. "My parents have Tom-Tom, the son they always wanted. One surplus daughter and an adoptee will be forgotten
quickly enough."
"Funny, that's not the way it looked to me." He looked at her hands. "Is there some reason you stopped
working?"
She started grinding again, imagining that it was his face.
"You saw what your mother was like when Tom-Tom went missing. Well she was ten times worse when I came back without the two of you. Your
father had half the garrison digging through the hill - if he could have found an Earthbender he could trust he'd have had them there as well. When we
didn't find any trace of you..."
"Shut up."
"...she locked herself in her room for days. Your dad was trying to hold himself together for Tom-Tom, but I could see his heart break
every time your brother asked where you were. He'd stay up late, reading reports of what guerillas did to captive Fire Soldiers. Praying that you'd
died cleanly, that Jet hadn't got his hands on you..."
"Shut up!"
"Don't tell me to shut up!" Zuko roared, eyes blazing. The two nearest guards, who had been trying to pretend that they
weren't listening, wheeled as he pulled against his chains. "You tore the heart out of your own family for no reason that you're willing to tell
anyone! Your father told me that you went up that hill because your first loyalty as a fire maiden was to your family, and then you spat on that and
wa-"
There was a sharp crack.
"I left to save my sister's life," Mai told him, arm still poised from the slap. "From
you."
She stalked out of the room, leaving Zuko staring at her in mute incomprehension, fighting back the impulse to demand to know why she thought
he would kill Toph. Exhibit One was in the same room, after all.
"Wow, you Fire Nation guys are so smooth," one of the guards observed sarcastically. "I'm amazed you ever manage to have
children."
.oOo.
"Oyaji, I hope your allies haven't abandoned us," Suki told the old man as they stood outside the shrine. "The healers are
uncertain how long Toph will last."
"Do not fear," Oyaji assured her. "They are distant from us, and it will naturally take some time for them to receive the
news. I am certain that they will send us all the aid they can, however. I made it very clear that time is of the essence."
Suki nodded reluctantly. "It's hard to wait," she admitted. "Not being able to do anything..."
"You are doing something," the old man pointed out. "You're fretting. Everyone can tell that you are gravely concerned
about Toph."
"Not just her. The firebender as well," admitted the young woman. "What should I do with him? Sooner or later, someone is
going to come looking for him. As soon as they speak to one of the Chin Villagers, they will realise that we must be involved somehow."
Oyaji nodded. "That is a problem. Can you simply release him?"
"I don't think that that will protect us." She snorted. "We've injured the most sensitive part of him, his pride. I
fear he is the sort of man who would raise an army to take revenge upon us for the indgnity of being a prisoner, even briefly."
"Ah. Well, that leaves the other alternative."
Suki grimaced. "We'll have to ensure that no one ever finds him. The Fire Nation don't believe in much that I can think of, but
I'm sure that the Fire Lord would take a horrible revenge for the death of his son, just out of principle."
"And if the Avatar lives, as we all hope that she will?" asked Oyaji pointedly. "You are not the only one who has spoken to
your friend Mai. And don't deny that she is your friend. Only one close to your heart could have injured it so deeply with a lie. I have no doubt that you
- or she - could end Zuko's life while caught in the rage of grief. But to kill him, in cold blood? Harder. Much harder, even were I sure what Toph's
reaction would be."
"Don't underestimate any of us on that score," Suki told him. "Do you know what Mai's criteria was for her team when
they set off? Killers. Her, June, Shu-lin and even Toph. I don't think that it would be as hard as you imagine."
Oyaji's shoulders hunched in upon him, aware of the true question. "I know little of June, but it does not surprise me. Shu-lin...
there are often suspicions when a fisherman known to drink more heavily than is wise suffers an accident at sea. If it is true, then perhaps her father's
neighbours chose not to see other reasons for the occasion. Mai... well, you have told me what she reported and I did not see you disagree with her decisions
there."
Suki nodded reluctantly and turned to look back at the shrine. "And Toph."
"Suki, remember that Kiyoshi did not hesitate to kill Chin the Conqueror and she was far from the first Avatar to stain her hands in
performance of her duties. It saddens me to hear than a child of Toph's age has shed blood, but I am not truly surprised." He shook his head.
"You think that you understand what the war is like, but in your heart you do not. For Toph to have survived on her own is remarkable. To have survived
and remained entirely innocent would have been a miracle."
"I suppose you're right," Suki admitted.
They watched the sunsetting for a moment and then Suki squinted. "That's a funny shaped bird," she noted, pointing to the
south-west. "Have you ever seen one like that?"
The old man squinted. "I'm not quite sure I see... Wait, yes I have." He clapped Suki on the shoulder. "That's no
bird, it's our help arriving. Have the cooks drug Prince Zuko's food again - we don't want him learning that our allies even exist, much less any
details. Once he's out, bring Toph here."
Suki stared at him, half convinced that he was losing his mind.
"Stop dawdling," Oyaji demanded and ran into the shrine, leaving Suki little alternative but to shrug and obey.
.oOo.
"Toph," called Kanna. "It's time for you to go."
Toph sat up from where she was lying on the bank of a stream, her bare feet dangling in the water. "Finally. I was beginning to wonder
if I would ever get out of this dump," she said, waving one hand to indicate what Kanna personally considered to be a rather idyllic scene.
"I'm sure Aang will miss having you here," she told the girl encouragingly.
"I'm sure he won't miss the bruises," Toph snickered, sprining to her feet. "So, what tells you that my visit is
over?"
Kanna shook her head, knowing that the incorrigable girl would guess at the gesture. "A healer has arrived on Kyoshi Island to treat
you," she answered. "It's best that you return to your body now, so that you are there to awaken. If they try to force you to wake when your
spirit is not present, then it could endanger you."
"So they have a healer there to fix me up... and I have to be there or she might kill me by mistake. Lovely," Toph concluded
sarcastically. "I'll be sure to let them all know of your deep confidence in them." She sniffed at the air. "I don't smell Appa, so I
take it I'm not being flown there."
"Oh, but you are," Kanna smiled. "Appa seems curiously reluctant to carry you..."
"Because he's smarter than most," Toph noted smugly.
"...so I enlisted another to take you to Kyoshi Island." Kanna smiled serenely. "Please do not manhandle him, as you did
Appa."
"That depends on who..." There was a rumbling growl from far above Toph's head. "Oh I do hate you."
"That's nice, dear," Kanna smiled. "Say hello to Fang."
Toph looked upwards, in almost the right direction. "Hello Fang, hello Roku. I'm warning
you in advance that if either of you try carrying me anywhere in your mouth, I'm going to pull both your beards out."
"Why would I carry you in my mouth?" asked Roku from the back of his dragon
companion
"Just covering for all the possibilities," the girl told him and then stepped aside
sharply as Fang lowered his neck towards her. "No squashing me either."
The dragon growled softly, something that Roku had long since learned to recognise as the draconic
equivalent of a laugh and nudged gently at the girl.
Who promptly clutched at her head and fell over.
"Fang?" the one-time Avatar enquired with forced calm. "What did you just
do?"
Dragon's are not well-suited to looking sheepish but there was a general sense of such as Fang
shared an image of Toph and Zuko throwing fire at each other, overlayed with two roaring dragons.
"Ugh... weird shapes," Toph grumbled, rising to hands and knees as Kanna moved to assist
her. "What happened?"
Roku cleared his throat. "I fear that Fang was perhaps a little enthusiastic in greeting
you," he said a apologetically and reached down for Kanna to lift Toph up to him. "Did you see anything when he touched you?"
Toph moved her hand back and forth in front of her face, eyes not tracking it at all. "Is that
a good enough answer?" she asked snidely.
"I meant in your mind," the old Avatar explained, lifting her easily to sit before him on
Fang's neck. "Dragons speak directly from their mind to that of those they wish to address. I believe that he wished to deliver a compliment of sorts,
that you and my great-grandson fought like dragons." He did not feel that it would be wise to mention that Fang's implication had been 'like
mating dragons'. "However, for one unaccustomed to sight, it must have been disconcerting."
"That was sight?" Toph asked incredulously. She shook her head. "You can keep
it."
.oOo.
Mai eyed the white-haired woman suspiciously as Toph was carried into Kyoshi's Shrine on a
litter. Her face didn't suggest that she was much older, if at all, than Mai and her long, elaborately ordered ivory hair and dark skin made her look like
a reflection of the pale-skinned and raven haired fire maiden. Her heavy garments were a mix of blues and whites, the latter mostly fur and announcing her
origins more clearly than anything else: one of the Water Tribes, and clearly not the hidden band from the swamp.
But after generations of raiding outlying settlements and the all out invasion of the Northern
Tribe's citadel towards the end of Azulon's reign, the polar tribes had almost ceased to exist. Scattered groups were known to have withdrawn into the
interiors, away from the seas that allowed the Fire Nation to attack them but were also their principal source of food. This woman's appearance did not
speak of a hardscrabble survival however.
"You must be the Avatar's sister," she greeted Mai warmly. "My name is Yue. Oyaji
has told me much of you."
"Nothing good, I'm sure," Mai replied. "You can help her?"
"I hope so." Yue gestured towards a part of the floor. "Please place her here,"
she requested, unstoppering a waterbag.
Mai stepped back reflexively. "You're a waterbender?"
Oyaji placed one hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "The women of the Water Tribes learn to use
their waterbending skills to heal. Their abilities are unparalleled."
Water poured upwards out of the waterbag, forming what Mai could only describe as some kind of
floating puddle above Yue's hands. Kneeling over Toph, the water tribe woman brought the water down upon the savage scarring inflicted by Zuko's
lightning and it slowly sank into the girl's body, Yue closing her eyes in concentration.
"Is she bending water... inside Toph?" Mai asked, incredulously.
Oyaji nodded solemnly. "That is how they heal," he explained.
Mai could see by the expression on Suki's face that the other girl was thinking along the same
lines that she was, flinching at the thought but at the same time unable to stop considering how such a technique could be used as a weapon. Fire Nation
propaganda painted waterbenders as using their water like a whip, flogging ineffectually at armoured soldiers. This painted a very different picture
however.
The techniques might be too slow for use in open battle, but Mai could imagine dozens of ways that
it could be used in raids, harassments and assasinations: a perfect tool for a guerilla war. And the polar ice - or the depths of the Foggy Swamp - would put
all advantage in the hands of a flexible defense of that nature. Somehow, Mai thought, I don't think that the Water Tribes are going to be wiped out as
easily as the Air Nomads were.
Yue exhaled strongly and lifted her hands, drawing the water out of Toph. Mai could see that it was
stained, no longer as clear as it once had been. Rather than returning it to the bag, Yue let it spash into a basin and sat back on her heels. "The
physical damage is healing," she reported. "She will bear the scar for the rest of her life, but it is forming cleanly for the most part and I have
removed any traces of infection that I can find. As for the chakra within..."
She looked over at Mai. "I gather that something was done to her chakras before this injury?
What can you tell me about it?"
"I'm not a bender," Mai warned. "And I wasn't there, so all I know is what
Toph has told me."
"I understand," Yue nodded. "Tell me what you can."
"As I understand it, her parents disapproved of her bending. She said that they hired someone
to tamper with her chi, to prevent her from using it. It was done when she was asleep, so she doesn't know exactly what was done - I would guess something
involving pressure points but as I understand it, those would only have a temporary effect."
"Usually, yes," Yue agreed. "Most likely several techniques were used in combination.
What were the effects?"
"It didn't completely seal away her bending, but it weakened it considerably. She told me
it took as much afterwards to bend two handfuls of sand as it had before to throw boulders hundreds of yards. This was before we discovered she could fire bend
so I can't compare the other arts, but according to her firebending teacher, she was above average in her ability to control and sense fire, so I presume
that those were less affected."
"The third chakra, where she was struck, is sometimes referred to as the seat of power,"
mused Yue. "What you're describing would almost have to follow from some damage to it. Add in the attack and the Avatar is incredibly lucky to have
survived."
"Can you help her?"
In response, Yue lifted a second waterskin from the floor, this one more elaborately decorated, but
also carefully reinforced and with a far stronger seal upon the stopper"The only thing that I can think of that would is this: water from the Spirit
Oasis."
Oyaji exhaled. "I thought that it had been destroyed."
"It was," Yue confirmed. "My parents and the Avatar carried Tui and La south with
them and rebuilt it for them but it will take many more years before it we can impose upon them for more water. However, we also have a small supply of the
water from the original." She weighed it gently in her hands. "This is half of what we have left." Slowly she began to undo the seal. "I do
not know how potent it will be, but if this cannot heal the Avatar then nothing will."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.