"It's my turn to ask now. Do you go to school? Like, were you ever in a school in your life?" Su asked Zari while they were taking a walk around the compound.
"No. Never. At first my mother tutored me, like addition and things... But there are all kinds of professors and other specialists in our crew, so they just give me lessons whenever they make port here. We also have quite a large collection of books..."
"Why would a bunch of professors want to be pirates?"
"Most people are here because they made one tiny mistake and the world wouldn't let them forget it. We never let talent go to waste here. And we pay way better."
"So they taught you everything we learn at school?"
"And way more. Not to brag... But I've been told my algebra skills are at a college level. My mother even lets me crunch the numbers for most of our trading deals." Zari smirked proudly.
"OK, your turn to ask now."
"Um... Can your mom really know every time you lie to her?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But she mostly doesn't care what I do... If Lin could know when I'm lying... Then I'd be ruined." she chuckled.
"Maybe you can do it. Feel when someone's lying. Try it!"
"I can't even see with my feet. I don't think it's going to work..." Su reluctantly took off her shoes and closed her eyes to concentrate.
"You never know unless you try. OK... I'm eleven years old. I'm ten years old." Zari said, "Which one is it?"
"I don't feel anything. Eleven?" Su opened her eyes again.
"No, I'm ten. But it's OK. My mother always knows when someone is lying and she's not an earthbender. I think you're a great bender, even without that." Zari smiled at her. She really hoped he wasn't lying about that. Not that she could tell...
"My turn now." she started, "If you don't go to school, then how do you find friends? You do have friends, don't you?" That was kind of personal, but they agreed: no limits on questions.
"Well, I stay here most of the time. Me and some captains go way back..."
"I meant someone our age." Su's face expression turned worried.
"There used to be some members who had children living with them. But they all leave eventually. And I stay here... I mean, it's good here, I have my tutors, my mom. And anything I could wish for."
"And you never get to leave?"
"Mother led me on missions, but there you kind of attack people. Not make friends." he made a pause, "But she did take me out one time. We went to a festival in a small village once. And we saw a play. Love amongst the Dragons. It was so amazing! The best night of my life! Only, we had to leave just before the play ended because my mom got really upset. At first I thought she just missed my dad, but she told me later it was because her mother used to take her to see that play. So I never got to see how it ends..."
"I can tell you. I saw it with Aunt Katara and Uncle Aang once. If you want that to count as your question..." Su suggested.
"Yeah, yeah! I really loved the whole festival actually. All those people... The colors, the music. I just thought I'd go when I'm older, you know... But I don't want to wait."
"I wanted to go again when I'm older too. But my sister said it was a cheesy thing that only couples could do. That it was lame to go alone."
"Well, when we're older I'll be a man and you'll be a woman. We could go together. Undercover, of course."
Zari's words made Suyin blush immediately.
"Of course. You have a deal."
They shook hands and were both smiling widely, when they heard a noise from down the hallway. It sounded like someone in pain.
"We should call someone." Su stepped behind Zari, almost hiding.
"No."
"It could be the Red Lotus people. Or worse... Let's go call Izumi or Kya."
"You can go, but this is my home. My mother left me in charge, I'm checking it out." Zari put his hands up so he'd be ready to shoot fire at the first sign of danger. He carefully started walking closer to the source of the noise and Su reluctantly followed. He'd never say it, but Zari was glad he wasn't doing it alone.
As they cleared a corner, they heard a few sets of footsteps going towards them.
"Zari, get a healer." Azula showed up in the hallway. Su was relieved it was just them returning, until she saw Lin limping behind, holding on to Tenzin.
"What happened, Lin?" Su stepped forward and raised a pillar of earth to serve as a chair for her sister.
"I'll get a healer right away." Zari turned to leave.
"Get Kya. She's really good." Tenzin carefully lowered Lin so she could sit down, "Don't tell her I said that."
"I'm fine, it's nothing, Su. They're overreacting." Lin said.
"That's exactly what Mom says when she's not fine." Su grabbed Lin's shoulder, wanting to show support, but her sister winced in pain and pulled away.
"Maybe you shouldn't touch her." Tenzin said, probably with the best intentions, but Su hated being told what to do.
"What happened?" Kya ran over and pulled all the water from her pouch to start healing Lin's leg.
"Lin took down the Dai Li." Tenzin smiled.
"I didn't. We beat them. Together." Lin was a bit distracted by Kya pulling her pants up.
"As if..." Tenzin started, "Su, I just blew out some candles, Azula dealt with the King and Lin took care of everything else."
"I wish I could have worked on this sooner, Lin." Kya complained.
"What did we miss?" Bumi joined everyone followed by Izumi, wearing her long hair in a bun, just like Azula did when she was young. It was good for practicing.
"Now that I have you all here, I think it's time we discussed the plan again." Azula made a pause until she was certain she had everyone's attention, "My associates are capturing an Earth Kingdom ship as we speak. We will use it and the King to lure the Red Lotus to attack us and take us prisoner. Since we have benders of all elements here, we will be separated and taken to different prisons. From which we will all escape separately, but at the same time, saving our allies as we go. Any questions?"
"I might just be stupid..." Bumi raised his hand, "But how exactly do you expect us to break out of a prison our parents can't escape from?"
"We will come prepared. I'll go over each escape plan with the people that will be executing it. Now get some rest. We leave in two days." Azula looked at Lin one more time and then left them.
oooooooooo
Is someone somehow told Tenzin a month ago what he'll find himself doing, he would have called him crazy. But sure as rain, there he was, in a pirate hideout, sparing with Princess Azula.
She asked him to train with her, since she never really fought an airbender who wasn't also the avatar. And it was a reasonable request... They were there to prepare and train. But there was something about fighting the villain of so many stories he'd heard, that made him uncomfortable.
"How's Lin recovering?" Azula shot a stream of fire in Tenzin's direction which he successfully dodged.
"She's good. Kya would like her to take it easy since it's only been a day since we got back..." he performed an air swipe, which Azula deflected with a wall of fire, "But she has to train with Su for the escape."
"I'm really glad you agreed to this." Azula dodged two air kicks and reciprocated with a fire whip.
He barely made it clear from her last attack so he didn't speak. Azula reacted by sending another blast his way, stronger this time. Just as she was beginning to think she might have overdone it, she saw him cutting the flame blast in two with a swift slicing movement. He recovered fast and fired an air blast which sent Azula flying.
"Again? Your father must be very proud." she got up from the floor and walked away to get some water.
"You've never fought an airbender. Considering, that was-" Tenzin stammered.
"Pathetic. But I'll work on it. It's a shame we'll probably never do this again, when we get your parents back."
"True. I don't think they'll be too pleased with what we're doing now."
"Well, as I got older I discovered a passion for learning about other elements' styles and applying it in my fighting. So this was very useful, thank you."
Tenzin never thought he'd be thinking this, but Azula really wasn't so bad. She had a way of bringing out the best in the people around her. And he just liked being treated like an adult for once. Being the youngest child meant he was always the family baby, no matter how big he got.
"Do you maybe know where I can find a Pai Sho game around here?" he asked, taking some water too.
"Why do you need it?"
"It's for Lin. She asked me to come play with her."
"Right now? I thought she was training with her sister."
"Not now. She just said Come by my room tonight. We'll play Pai Sho."
"I see." Azula chuckled.
"What? But she doesn't have the game in her room, so I thought I'd bring it." Tenzin stared confusedly, which seemed to entertain Azula even more.
"Well, you can get the one from my room." she smirked, "You kids have fun playing."
Tenzin was still confused, but decided to just forget about it and go find Azula's game. She stayed behind to practice on her own, but she didn't even get in a good hour before someone disturbed her again. It was Zari.
"Mom, I wanted to talk to you." he said, carefully. Something was clearly on the boy's mind.
"You know, we haven't sparred in a while. Come on." she invited him with a hand gesture.
"Maybe later. Now I just wanted to ask if... When we save everyone... If the Fire Lord..."
"You know how I hate the mumbling."
"I want to go with Izumi! And see the palace. And cities like Omashu and Ba Sing Se and Republic City. Somewhere that isn't here!" he took a deep breath to calm himself down, "I would come back. A week. That's all I'm asking."
"We've had this discussing already. You know very well why I can't let you do that!" Azula tried to remain composed, but the whole conversation was deeply hurtful to her. She gave that boy everything he wished for. And sometimes it seemed like his biggest dream was to leave her.
"I know we have rules about going to the mainland... We don't go unless we have to, we don't go twice to the same place, we don't give our real names..."
"And why, Zari? Why?"
"Because that's how you get caught..."
"And?"
"We're smarter than that! I know... I know... But this would be with the Fire Lord's approval. He wouldn't throw us in prison after we save him."
"I haven't spoken to my brother in twenty-five years. I don't know what he'll do. I can't guarantee your safety if you go. They could use you to get to me. And I can't let that happen."
"So I should just stay here? And never see Izumi or Suyin ever again? Like with all the others that left?" Zari knew crying was not something he wanted to do in front of his mother, but it was becoming increasingly hard to hold back.
"I can't make people stay here by force, Zari."
"But you can let me go with them! I... I came up with the plan about the Earth King and now I don't even get to go." he ran towards the door and let it slam after him.
Azula got lost in her memories for a moment, remembering her last conversation with her father that didn't take place in a prison. It went a little something like this. He made her stay behind and everything fell apart. Damn him!
"Zari! Zari wait!" she walked after him.
"Stop. Turn around." she said and the boy obeyed, his eyes already filling up with tears.
"I don't want you talking to me like that," she was now right in front of him, "But you're right. You are a part of this. You can go with Bumi to the non-bender prison. There, you'll meet your aunt Mai and you can ask her about coming with them. A week. Any longer and I'm attacking the Royal Fleet."
"Thank you." Zari lunged forward to hug his mom.
oooooooooo
After almost a full day training with her little sister, Lin really needed a break. She was exhausted, angry and her leg hurt again. Azula came by to talk to her at one point, to tell her the crew members have been complaining about the small earthquakes her and Su's quarreling was creating. Lin always thought her mother was the reason for all the fighting in their house, but now her and Su were fighting just the same without her. Guess, the damage was done.
As she waited for Tenzin's visit, she thought about her father some more. She laid flat on her bed and tried to imagine a scenario in which someone deems her mother too soft, as he put it. None came to mind. Her mother was a lot of things, but soft wasn't one of them.
There was a knock on the door, followed by Tenzin's awkward sounding voice.
"Are you... um, decent?"
Hopefully not for long, she thought before calling him in. She waited a few seconds to sit up on the bed, at which point she realized he was carrying a Pai Sho board in his hands. She tried to stop herself, but at that point it was already too late, she let out a small, girly giggle.
"What?" he stopped walking forward, thinking it was something he was doing.
"You really brought a Pai Sho board?"
"Yeah, I borrowed it from Azula..." he was interrupted by her chuckling again, "What's so funny about Pai Sho? Did I hear it wrong?"
"You're adorable... You see, when someone invites you to... Just, I'll give you a clue." she swiftly stood up from the bead and pulled him over to kiss him deeply.
"Oh... Oh!" at least he knew now what Azula found so funny. Of course, he didn't really have time to think, since Lin kept kissing him with one of her hands around his neck. She used the other to take the game from him and set it down gently without breaking lip contact.
"Is this OK?" she stopped to ask.
"I've played enough Pai Sho."
oooooooooo
Su was sent to bed by her sister about an hour ago. It was just not working. She had problems falling asleep before, but that was because it was boring and she wasn't tired. This, tonight, there was a pretty strong thunder storm. She tried to ignore it, like her mother always told her when this sort of thing happened, but it just wasn't working tonight. Maybe it was because she wasn't in her own bed, but tonight it was like every lightning strike was ten times louder.
She thought she'd feel better after a short walk, but the dark hallway was only making her more afraid. Su really hoped she'd run into someone because that was preferable to actually asking for someone's company.
Then she heard footsteps behind her. She turned violently, like she was expecting a sneak attack.
"What are you doing up, Suyin?" Azula stopped to look at the girl more closely. She looked absolutely terrified.
"I... I wanted to talk to Lin..." Su mumbled. Unlike what she thought, the woman's presence wasn't making her feel any better.
"Are you alright? Do you need something?" Azula studied the girl's expression once again, "Is the storm scaring you?"
"Y-Yes." Su didn't like saying it.
"We can fix that easily. I can make lightning, you know. Give me your hand." Azula offered up her hand, but Su didn't want to take it. She had nothing against the woman in the daylight, but in this state she didn't trust her.
"It's alright. I'll just make a little lightning surge to pass through you," Azula made Su take a step back, "Not to hurt you, just to show you it's harmless."
It's been more than a few seconds now and Su still wouldn't give her hand.
"I have to find Lin." she said, quietly.
"Good night then." Azula continued walking and then disappeared around the corner.
Su took a few deep breaths when she was in front of Lin's room and then opened the door to peek in. She froze when, instead of finding Lin alone and asleep, she found her laying on top a shirtless Tenzin.
Realizing they both spotted her, Su slammed the door and rushed through the hallway to get away. Soon she felt someone pull her back.
"Su! Su, stop!" Lin caught up to her and was now pulling her hand.
"No! Let me go!" the little girl was openly crying and trying to get out of her sister's grip.
"What are you doing, Su? Don't you think you being a bit dramatic?" Lin tried to establish eye contact, but Su was purposely not looking at her, "You saw me kiss a boy. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"
There was a flash on a nearby window, followed by maybe the loudest thunder sound of the night. Su winced and stopped trying to run away from her sister. Lin let go of her hand.
"I know we're not always nice to each other, but that doesn't mean you can stop being my sister!" Su had a hard time speaking since the crying just wouldn't stop, no matter how much she tried.
"What does that have to do with-"
"It does! Why didn't you tell me about Tenzin?" Su wiped her cheeks but the tears just kept coming, "We're sisters! You can't just stop loving me because I don't always listen to you! It's not fair! You just act like you're stuck with me! Like I'm some horrible punishment!"
"Su, I-"
"No! You'll just tell me I'm being a baby..."
Lin thought about it. She's been so busy with her own stuff... Tenzin, and Kanto, and trusting Azula, and worrying if their mother was alright... She didn't even think about how Su must have felt. She must be missing their mother like crazy, she was only eight. And Toph was never even good at consoling of any kind.
Lin was gonna do better. She had to do better. She was all Su had at the moment.
"I'm sorry." said Lin after crouching down to hug Su, "Of course I love you, Su. I'm not stuck with you."
"But you never tell me anything..." the little girl buried her head in Lin's shoulder, "And you didn't even say goodbye before leaving and I was afraid you won't come back, like Mom."
oooooooooo
Back in Lin's room, Tenzin had just put his shirt back on and was deciding whether to leave or wait a bit longer when Lin returned, leading in Su by her hand. There were a few moments of awkward silence before Lin spoke.
"Su's a little afraid of the storm, so I said she could play Pai Sho with us."
"Of course. That's why I brought it." Tenzin smiled and started setting up the board on the floor. Lin was thankful he was goofy enough to bring it in the first place.
"So is he your boyfriend now?" Su asked, staring unblinkingly at Tenzin.
"Um..." was all he could manage.
"Yeah, he is. Now stop making him uncomfortable and sit down."
"I wanna play with your boyfriend." Su sat down on Tenzin's side of the board and moved the first piece.
"That's me." he beamed at Lin.
"Can you stop? It's supposed to be a secret." Lin made a move, too.
"I can keep a secret." Su smirked.
"Well, at least something. Since you can't knock."
The next few moves were played in silence, when Su suddenly looked straight at Tenzin and blurted out: "Do you love, Lin?"
"You don't have to-"
"I do." he answered.
"You better watch the board, Su. Even outnumbered, I'm kicking your asses." Lin wanted desperately to change the subject.
oooooooooo
There was a knock on Bumi's door. It was pretty late, but he answered it immediately.
"Hi, Bumi, I just..." Izumi stopped when she realized he was shirtless, "Is this not a good time?"
"No, no... Come in." he walked inside leaving the door open for her, "I'm just trying on the Earth Kingdom uniform for tomorrow. I think it's too small."
Izumi walked in and examined the green and brown armor laid out on his bed.
"I don't know what the problem is. Put out your arms." she ordered and Bumi obeyed. She pulled the brownish tunic over his head and stepped back to take a look, hoping he couldn't see her blushing.
"That's not the problem. It's those shoulder things." he could definitely see her blushing. Judging by the look he had, he was loving every second of this.
"Breathe in." she ordered and then proceeded to put on the uniform on him. She would never admit it to anyone, but she might have lingered a bit too long at certain times.
"Oh, well, that will do. How did you know how to do it?" he said checking himself out in the mirror.
"It's similar to the Fire Nation uniform in some ways."
"Well, you saved me. I really didn't want to ask Kya to do it. She would never let me forget about the fact that I'm a soldier who can't put on his uniform."
Izumi just smiled as a response.
"So did you want something?" he asked.
"I think I have to tighten the left arm." she lied. In truth, she just wanted an excuse to stand closer to him again. She really wasn't sure what she was planning when she came knocking on his door. She just knew she wanted to be here.
And maybe, just maybe she was hoping he'd make one of his moves tonight. It was the night before their final mission. It was tonight or never.
"Tenzin just make a move while we're still young!" they suddenly heard a voice through the walls. It was coming from Lin's room next door.
"What do you think they're doing?" Bumi asked.
"I don't know. It's really none of our business..."
"Damn, if my brother is getting his ass kicked by Lin I want to be there to see it.
"Alright." Izumi reluctantly followed him to Lin's room where they found Tenzin and Lin engaged in what looked like a really intense game of Pai Sho.
Su, Zari and Kya were also there, sitting around Tenzin and cheering him on. They were all in their pajamas.
"What are you dorks doing?" Bumi asked.
"We're ganging up on Lin." Su shot him a smile.
"I think I'm holding out pretty well." Lin said.
"Not for long." Zari cut in, "Tenzin, can I?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Zari leaned forward and moved a piece on the board.
"Good one, little firebender." Kya nudged Zari.
"This isn't really fair, is it? We'll be Lin's team." Bumi took Izumi by the wrist and pulled her down to sit next to Lin. All three members of Lin's team stared at the board for a few seconds before Bumi spoke up.
"I've got it."
"Yeah, you just need to..." Izumi reached her hand out for the game piece at the same time as Bumi so they ended up moving it across the board together.
"No!" Kya sighed, realizing that move meant they've won.
oooooooooo
"Wake up, Airhead." Lin tapped Tenzin's cheek. He twitched and then realized he'd fallen asleep on Lin's bed and Su was still sleeping with her head leaned against his shoulder.
"Quiet." Lin whispered.
"What happened? When did everyone leave?" he asked while trying to get up without waking the little earthbender.
"You read her a story, it was adorable. Put her right out. And you."
"I'm just tired."
Lin stepped closer and put her arms around him.
"Be careful tomorrow." he told her, returning the hug.
"I have to tell you, after everything, I kind of want to see my mom. I have a million questions."
"I bet you do... And she'll be happy you and Su are getting along."
"She doesn't care about that as long as we don't try to kill each other with rocks."
"It that a regular occurrence at the Beifong household?" he smirked at her teasingly.
"There is nothing regular about the Beifong household," she made a little pause, "What are we going to do when everything is back to normal?"
"We'll find a way."
oooooooooo
This chapter had a bit more tearful confessions than I'm comfortable with, but what can you do... It's that kind of time, before the final showdown.