The Flames of the past (Avatar: Zuko love story)

Chapter 30: The Drill.

"I have been travelling a lot..." Mia said quietly and she took a nip of her tea, "I joined a circus and we went all over the world. We ended up in the Fire Nation where we could buy our own theater. After 3 years it was closed and I moved to the Southern Watertribe, where I've stayed the last three years and found the Avatar."  Her whole family looked at her, and Mia looked down at her feet and shook her head. "I wanted to come earlier."  Myriam nodded and grabbed her hand. "It's okay... you needed what had to be done." 
"Have you seen mom?" Camillia asked her. Mia nodded. "She is an important general from Fire Lord Ozai, burning villages down and destroy the resistance." Mia replied and she laid her head against the wall. 

"Will you stay here in Ba Sing Se?" Bohai asked. "I think so... I will work at the teahouse across the street, and live above it with two of my friends. But I will leave next month I think, I have to help the Avatar." Mia replied. "And he is here now?" Sue, her little sister asked. "I honestly don't know." Mia reached to her sack of gold and with her hand she grabbed one package of 250 gold coins and laid in on the table. "For you..." she said and she stood up, "I know that this isn't going to fix all the things I have done, but please except this and I promise after the war I will return." 

She hugged all of her siblings goodbye. "Will you come for dinner tomorrow?" Camillia asked. Mia looked at her family, that did not really felt like they actualy were. But, of course they will always be her family, to refuse would be pretty mean. "That would be nice, thanks." Mia replied and she closed the door behind her. In her hand she held the White Lotus and angrily she walked to the teashop and opened the door. "Ah Mia!" Iroh said. Mia walked up to him and gave him the White Lotus coin. "That's from your father...." Iroh said confused.
"Yes, I know and he is dead!" Mia yelled and tears filled her eyes. "I know what the White Lotus is, but I can't join them..." Mia said, "did you even know who I was when I first came to the Fire Nation?"

Iroh nodded slowly. "Did Zuko know...?" Mia said quietly, thinking if her whole friendship was real.
"No he did not," Iroh said,"you are a Grand Master now, you can't just throw your father's lifework in the bin." Zuko came down and when he saw Mia crying he walked up to her and gave her a kiss. 

"Shall we do this later?" Zuko asked his uncle and Iroh nodded. "Ah, the hostess." The owner came from the kitchen and walked off to Mia and shook Mia's hand, "welcome." He said with a friendly smile. "Thank you, sir. I will do my best." 

~

 It was nice to work with people and to serve them tea. Mia told them jokes and did some juggling tricks. People told her she looked a lot like Maya, for Maya was trained to be a hostess and an artist. To please men in the way of her arts and beauty. 
Mia passed two soldiers, sitting at a table. "That thing will destroy Ba Sing Se, I assure you." The one said panicky.
"That is ridiculous, these walls did even stand agains the Dragon of the West!" The other said. 

"What is it?" Mia asked curiously. The soldiers looked at eachother and Mia bend forward. "There is a giant drill, from the Fire Nation, that is trying to break in the wall. Maya Li Feng's idea. She's in the drill as well, she leads the operation,"he whispered and the other one nodded heavily. "Damn..." Mia whispered. "We should go back..." One of the soldiers said. "I am coming with you." Mia said and she put her things down. The Soldiers laughed. "I can fight." Mia said, trying not to hear them laughing out loud.

"Sure you do." The soldier said and Mia walked away from the soldiers. "I have to go, just for an hour or so, it is urgent." Mia said to the owner. He frowned at her and Mia started to beg him. "Alright, but be back soon." Mia nodded and she went upstair and searched in Zuko's clothes. She could find his black blue-spirit suit and she put it on. After some changes it fit and she grabbed a sack and filled it with water.

Confused Aoi looked at her when she jumped out of the window and followed the two soldiers out. "You won't give up do you?" The one asked. Mia shook her head. "I am Mia Li Feng." She said. The soldiers looked at her. "And you want to help us?" Mia nodded. "Of course I do, I am not the person on the wanted poster. I was that person, but not anymore. I know how I can stop it." Mia said and she looked at the soldiers. "Please let me help you."

"Alright." They replied and Mia smiled. "Is is true you can bend three elements?" The one soldier named Tai asked her. "I do." Mia said with an awkward smile. "That's cool." The other soldier Gong said quietly. Up the wall were lots of big rocks and soldiers running around. Mia looked down to the drill and watched the soldiers shooting rocks at it. "You have to destroy it from the inside." Mia said.
'How do you know?" Gong asked.

"Because..." Mia started annoyed, "I lived at the palace in the Fire Nation capitol, I have seen things like this being made." Mia walked to the General called Sung. "Who are you?" He asked. "I am Mia Li Feng," Mia said, "and I have come here to take this drill down."
After the man got a panic attack that Mia Li Feng was in front of his nose, he send Mia down to do her job. 
Mia succeeded to enter the drill fron beneath, and now she was in one of the hallways, somewhere in the machine control part. Mia put her mother's necklace on and searched for a guard. 

She knocked him out and studied the map he had with him. All kind of pipes rushed through the hallways and Mia had actually no idea what she was doing. Deep in her heart she wnats to see her mom, and destroy her. Burn her into a pile of ashes. She knew that wouldn't be the solution, but she hopes that she could find peace after she would be dead. 

Mia looked at the map and ran around a bit, looking for the control room. Four guards stood in front a room that would probably the control room. Mia looked at them, and they looked back at her. What could she do? She grabbed her sack of water and she shot pins of ice to the guards, that were now stuck to the wall, no possibility to bend. Mia smiled and she walked to the door. She took a deep breathe and opened it. 

The control room was full with eldery men, but one person stood in the middle. When the person turned around, Mia shivered as she looked into the red eyes of her mother. The blue eyes of her mother were gone, now her eyes were dark red, like red diamonds. "Hello my love..." Maya said. Mia narrowed her eyes, and stood in fightening position. "Hows your dad?" Her mother said with a big smile. "He is dead." Mia replied. Maya smiled brightly. "Finally that coward of a man died..." She said and she laughed. Mia's eyes got filled with tears and she shot fire at her mom, who duck away and send it back to Mia. Mia could block it, but she got whipped away by it and smacked hard against the wall of the other side of the hallway. 

With pains she stood up, and her mom ran up to her, with her fingers on fire. Mia started to run and run, and she saw a ladder with an open gap. She climbed up the ladder and she came outside, on top of the drill. Quickly she closed the door and blocked it with some rocks that fell on the drill, thanks to the soldiers. She looked around and saw Aang and Momo at the beginning of the drill. She couldn't believe it. "Aang!" She yelled and she ran up to her friend. "Mia? What are you doing here?" He asked while he hugged her happily but very confused. 

"I came to stop this thing." Mia said. "Good, I need your help," Aang said, "Sokka and Katara are trying to destroy the pillars that hold this together. I need to give the final blow, so the whole thing collapse." Mia nodded and looked to the rocks, nothing happened. Rocks kept flying down on the drill, close to Mia and Aang. "General Sung," Aang yelled as hard as he could, "tell your soldiers to stop shooting rocks down here!" Of course, they just continued. Aang and Mia tried to make a gap in the metal. Aang tried to cut it with water, while Mia tried to melt it. Just under the wall, little fountains of mud came out of it. "Can't Appa help a hand?" Mia asked. "Appa is missing." Aang replied. "What?" Mia asked amazed. "I think he's here in Ba Sing Se." Aang said. 

Aang was getting really tired and so did Mia. "What I would give to be a metal bender..." Aang said and Mia nodded in agreement. Momo suddenly started to make weird sounds and Mia and Aang turned around and they were just in time to avoid two shots of Fire: Maya and Azula. "Momo get out of here." Mia said and she stood down next to Aang, facing the two rivals. The fight started. Azula against Aang and Mia against Maya. As Mia thought about it, Azula would be the perfect daughter for Maya. Azula was like, the younger version of Maya. Mia used her waterbending and when a rock came down, she used it to shoot it at Azula, who made a perfect split to avoid. Mia raised her eyebrows, and faced herself on her bloodown mother again, who wanted to kill her own daughter. 

Out of the wall, came another wave of mud, that looked more like a tidalwave, for it flushed away, Aang, Maya and Azula off the drill. Mia could stand her ground, and a minute later, Aang climbed up. The hole in the drill was big, and Mia and Aang had a brilliant idea. They cut a rock in the shape of a giant pin, and placed in in the hole. Aang by his airbending, ran up to the wall, holding Mia's hand, who ran up weith a bit of earthbending. They jumped, and fell down and down. Mia saw Maya and Azula climbing up the drill and just before they wanted to shoot some lightening, Aang and Mia came with such a speed in the rock that Azula and Maya got blown away. That was the final blow. Out of the drill came lots of mud and it just collapsed. Nothing moved anymore. Aang hugged Mia tightly and Mia hugged him back. They went back to General Sung and by Mia's big surprise Katara ran up to Mia and hugged her tightly. 

"I have missed you so much, how did you get here?" Katara asked. "I came with Zuko and Iroh." Mia said and Sokka immediately let her go.  Toph hugged Mia too. "How is your father?" She asked. "My father is dead." Mia replied with a straight face. "I am so sorry to hear that." Katara said and she laid a hand on Mia's shoulder. "It's okay." Mia replied. "At least the drill is down, I have seen my father and now I try to built up a future here in Ba Sing Se with Zuko and Iroh." 

The whole team looked sad. "You are not coming with us?" Sokka asked amazed and sad. "I don't see the point. I do not even know for what I am fighting for. My 17-year life, has been a total mess. I have a curse on me... In the Fire Nation I will be wanted, in the Earth Kingdom I will be wanted. What kind of life is that?" Mia said. 

"Please Mia..." Aang said, "Appa is missing, we have been attacked by a giant owl in an underground library... And there will be a solar eclipse, close to Sozin's comet... we could beat them then, but we can't do it without you." Aang said. "How long will you stay here?" Mia asked. "I don't know... a month or so." Sokka said. Mia nodded slowly. "I will think about it." Mia replied.
"YES!" Sokka yelled. "Team Avatar did it again, and are going to the next adventure!" 
"Sokka, stop with that Team Avatar, it makes no sense." Katara said annoyed.
"What about..." Sokka started, "the BoomerAANG Squad! There is Aang in boomerang!" 
"I like it." Aang said with a big smile.

"What's the time?" Mia asked. "It's late in the afternoon." Toph replied.
Mia's hand rushed to her mouth. "I have to go back!" She said. "Teahouse the Green Leaf, that's were I work...ed." Mia waved at the team. "See you around!" She yelled. Mia ran and ran and she almost fell in the teahouse, her head as red as an tomato and her skin shimmering of the sweat. "You are fired." The owner said. "I just saved the city! I saved your teahouse!" Mia yelled at the man.
"You cannot do that!" She yelled again when the man frowned. 

"You know what, fine. I am going to search for another teahouse, where I can dance and sing for the teadrinkers..." She said and she walked to the door. "Wait!" The man said. "You can stay, but never do that again, you understand?" Mia nodded. "Wash yourself and come down, I want to see what you got." The owner said.

"You saved the city?" Zuko asked. "I did." Mia replied. "A giant drill wanted to come into the wall, let by my mom and your sister but me and team Avatar did destroy it." Zuko narrowe his eyes. "With them? So know you are best friends with them again?" He asked. "I did not say that!"
"Then what did you tell them?" Zuko asked. "That I would stay here with you and Iroh, built up a new life or so." Mia said and she kissed Zuko. Zuko grabbed her hand. "Mia... that's not going to happen."