"They saw you doing what?" The kid's mom gasped.
He puts his hands up quickly, "they're crazy, mom. I mean, look at how these kids are dressed." He points out making Aang and the others squirm uncomfortably, but not me.
"I look great. I don't know what you're talking about," I say crossing my arms in my green robe. I didn't have on all of the Kyoshi uniform, but I did have on the base. The robe and the headpiece. The rest of my attire was in my bag that was on my back.
"Yeah, you do look...the most normal of your friends." He stutters, blushing.
"Hey! I think I look pretty good too.." Sokka defends, I walk over to him and place a comforting hand on his shoulder as I giggle.
"You know how dangerous that is, Haru! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!" His mother scolded.
"Open up!" Someone yelled, pounding their fist aggressively on the door.
Sokka looked through the blinds, "Fire Nation! Act natural!" He commands.
We all take our own positions: Haru holds his chin, staring at Katara, very cross-eyed. Sokka stares at an apple, weirdly. Katara leaned far forward with her eyes wide, and her mouth stuffed with some kind of berries. Aang has his hand on top of a barrel, with a big smile. I stood next to Haru's mother, the look of concern clear on my face as I kicked the floor a bit below me and grabbed at my robe sleeve.
The soldier walked in, suspicious of my friends. They're bad at acting natural. I heard a splash and looked to see Aang's hand into the barrel of water, making him fall to the ground.
"What do you want? I've already paid you this week!" His mom states defensively.
"The tax just doubled." He pauses, "and we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" He juggles fire between his hands and everyone took a step back, except for me. I only raised an eyebrow. "Fire is sometimes so hard to control."
Haru's mother and the tax collector walks across the room, with me close on his heels. She opens a small chest before giving him a small handful of earth kingdom money.
"Sir," I begin, making him look towards me, begging me to challenge him. "I know you're just doing your job, but I want you to stop and ask yourself: is this what you want? What do you gain by invading others homes and taking their money? I get that you believe the Fire Nation deserves to rule all, but I disagree. What you're doing here, is putting the world out of balance." I explain.
"You know nothing, little girl." He shrugs me off and I step in front of him.
"Hear me out, these people have done nothing to you-" he cuts me off, "Get out of my way, peasant." He snarls, shoving me to the ground.
"Keep the copper pieces." He says, dropping them to the ground and walks out.
"Nice guy." Sokka says sarcastically when the door slams.
"What were you thinking, Liena?" Sokka asks, turning to me as Katara helps me up.
"I wanted him to open his eyes." I say simply.
"And how did that go for you?" He asks.
"Honestly, I think pretty well. Sure, he did take money, but he left some too.." I point out.
"You're going to get yourself in big trouble thinking like that." Haru's mother shook her head.
"How long have the Fire Nation been here?" Aang asks, after giving me a look of understanding.
"Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships." His mom explains.
"They're thugs. They steal from us. And everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it." Haru says bitterly.
"Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that." She says angrily.
"But Haru's an earth bender. He can help." Katara says, hopeful.
"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" Haru's mom gives a meaningful glance over to her son. "He must never use his abilities." She forbade.
"How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are." Katara says in dismay.
"You don't understand." The mom shakes her head.
"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" I placed a hand on Katara's shoulder to try to calm her down, I was upset too but there has to be a reason for the carefulness.
"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father." And there it was.
It was now nighttime. I was laying outside in the grass, thinking about the events from earlier. I wanted to help Haru's family. I wasn't sure how, but I needed to help them in some way. Think Liena. Suddenly I heard a big boom somewhere close by. I jumped to my feet and followed where the noise had come from. I rounded a corner to see an old man being pinned to the ground by fallen boulders of a mine.
I gasp and ran to the man trying to lift the rocks off of him with my bare hands. What I would give to be an earth bender right now. "Don't worry, I'll get you out somehow." I promised. "I don't want to leave you.." I whispered as I looked around for something to wedge underneath the rocks.
I found a big log and dragged it over to him. "Help! Help!" The man continued to scream in panic.
"I'm trying! I'm so sorry!" I apologize.
The log wasn't enough. I looked around before trying to use my airbending to make the rocks fly away from him. But nothing worked. The man's eyes were huge, to say the least. Suddenly, Katara and Haru were by my side. They began to pull on the mans arms but it didn't work.
"It's not working! We have to get help." I say, holding the man's hand in an attempt to calm him down.
"There's not enough time." Haru responds.
"Haru, there's a way you can help him." Katara points out and my eyes went wide.
"I can't." Haru says, clearly worried.
"Please, there's no one around to see you. It's the only way!" Katara begs.
"I know it's scary, but this seems to be the only option right now." I say and he looks at me with fear in his eyes. "I'll help in any way I can," I comfort.
Haru steps away from us, taking an earthbending stance. He blasts all of the boulders away with one quick movement. He clearly didn't need my help, he was a better bender that I thought. I run to the old man and gently helped him to his feet, leaning most of his weight on me.
"Haru you did it!" Katara says in amazement and Haru comes to help me.
"You didn't even need my help. You're an amazing bender," I compliment. We walked away from the mine, and I continued to pester the man about his injuries. I escorted him back to his home and made sure he was well taken care of. Katara and Haru had already left.
"Are you sure you want to stay here? He seems to be in good hands." Haru had said, acknowledging the old man's family.
"Yes, I'm sure. I need to make sure he rests."
"Make sure to be back tomorrow morning, at the latest. We're leaving soon." Katara said.
I sat next to the old man, who was laying in his bed wrapped in blankets. His wife was placing a hot towel on his head. "Excuse me, can I help at all right now? I could make some food or run into town to grab some medicine." I offer.
The wife seemed like she was about to refuse but the man looked at me, "actually- I would like some water." I nod quickly before leaving the room and running down their wooden stairs. I got him a cup of water. Before I made it to the stairs I looked around at the small, cute house.
It was charming, with it's many windows and cozy feel. There were toys in a small basket that I assumed belonged to their grandkids. I look around some more..
Then I saw it—the Fire insignia hanging down on one of their walls. I gasped, worried I'd made a huge mistake in coming here. But I calm myself down. We just helped him. He wouldn't do anything to harm us. Would he? I was nervous but I needed to remain calm.
Then came the pounding fists on the door. The wife ran down the steps, giving me a harsh look. Her husband limped down the steps, stopping halfway, giving me the same look. She opened the door and there stood two Fire Nation soldiers.
"You're coming with us." They order. I backed away, looking around for another exit. There it was. I blast air at the two soldiers, pushing me towards my exit. I open the door, thinking I was safe but I was quickly bounded up. "Nice try." One of them laughs.
***
I couldn't see a thing. Once again, I had a sack on my head. I hate this. I had chains on my wrists and on my feet, I was dangled in the air.
"Who is she?" A man asked.
"She's an airbender, sir. This girl was said to be attacking an old man who works in the mines. Her and an earth bender." Someone responds, making me squirm.
"I didn't attack anyone!" I yell.
"Where's this earth bender?" The man sneers, disregarding my statement.
"He's already on the ship sir." The same person says.
"Perfect."
They remove the sack from my head, making a piece of hair fall into my face. "She's a pretty one, ain't she?" The warden grabs my chin, forcing my grey eyes to look up at him.
"Please remove your hand, before I remove it for you," I threaten, grossed out. "Why am I here?"
"You're an airbender. You're not the avatar, so not as important. But you are an airbender, and the Fire Lord would pay a high price for you." He responds, making me more grossed out.
"I'm not going with you. I have other plans." I refused.
"You don't have a choice." He sneers. The warden and the guard walk out of the dark room I was in.
So how am I getting out of this? I wonder. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. Next, I looked down at my chains. I still had my robe on, but my headpiece was gone and so were my fans. Thank goodness they didn't strip me, as I still had one more trick up my sleeve. Literally.
I shimmy around, blasting air into my sleeve from my finger tip. It was a strange angle, but I did get what I wanted eventually. The spare hair clip I always kept in the pocket of my sleeve came tumbling down. I just barely caught it. "That was a close one." I mumble to myself.
I jiggled it around in one of the keyholes, eventually getting one hand free. It was all pretty simple from there. I got free and airbended myself softly to the ground, landing with one hand on the ground and my face looking ahead. "Alright, now to find Haru." I left the room, using the air scooter to move quietly and quickly. Aang just taught me that move, and boy was it useful.
I got out to the main level where lots of people were. I'm not sure how long I was in that room but I saw Katara and Sokka stood back to back with guards surrounding them. "Listen well, child. You're one mistake away from dying where you stand." The warden threatens.
I breathed in, sucking in a lot of air around me, then I blew out; creating a mini tornado, knocking the warden on the ground and his helmet ended up on his butt. Two guards quickly helped him up as I ran to my friends' sides.
"Liena! You're okay!" Katara gasped, relieved. "Sure am." I grin as an angry warden stalks towards me, I only stood straighter.
"You'll regret that, you sad excuse of an airbender." He says. Two of his men immediately shot fire at me with those words, I quickly dispersed it before it could hit anyone. I back handspring away as they continued to shoot at me, again and again.
More men joined in, trying to catch my friends and I, me as their main target. It was getting harder to avoid. But suddenly, the ship began to shake and the ventilation shaft bursts off its hinges and a large amount of coal lands on the ship's floor, with a soot covered Aang on top of it. Momo at his side. I look over to the earthbenders, who stood there with looks of uncertainty on their faces. "Here's your chance, earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!" Katara encourages, picking up a piece of coal.
Haru rushes forward, no hesitation visible but a man with a long beard, who I'd assume is his father puts his hand up to stop him. "Foolish girl," the warden's laugh filled the air, "you thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago. Oh, but you still believe in them? How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You failed."
I walked forward as the warden turned away, when I saw Katara's face fall, "you really think you crushed their spirits? Katara brought them their courage back. Earthbenders are strong, you really think they'd fall apart? Think again." I say. With that, a small piece of coal flies through the air and hits the warden in the back of the head. He spins around, seeing Haru with three more pieces hovering above his hand.
The warden sends fire in Haru's direction, I was about to intercept when a wall of coal rises in defense by Haru's father. "Woohoo!" I exclaim happily.
"Show no mercy!" All of the guards lined up, blasting fire at us all. A giant wall raises from the ground by all of the prisoners.
"For the Earth Kingdom, attack!" The old man yells. We all ducked and punched our respective elements, except for Sokka who uses his boomerang. Even Momo was involved, snagging spears thrown his way. Haru and his father worked together to create a large lump of coal. "Get to the ships! We'll hold them off!" The man yells.
"Do not let them escape!" The warden commands.
"Liena! Come here!" Aang calls. Aang tells me his plan.
We create a large funnel of air in between us, and I call to Sokka and Katara, "guys! Throw us some coal!"
They drop heaps of the stuff into the funnel, firing it at the warden and the guards surrounding him; making them all fall to the ground. "Woot woot!" I hollered, high-fiveing Aang.
"Airbenders rule!" Aang grinned.
Haru's father, whose name I found out is Tyro, and two other benders worked together to lift coal beneath their enemy, shifting them to hover above the ocean. "No! Please! I can't swim," the Warden pleaded.
"Don't worry, I hear cowards float." Tyro says in the coolest way possible, and then they were dropped into the ocean.
I run to Haru, throwing my arms around him. "I'm so happy you're okay! The guards said they captured you and I was so worried that they hurt you." I sigh in relief, finally being able to talk to my new friend after the events.
"I'm doing great. We were all worried about you." He admitted.
"Yeah, don't run off like that again, Liena." Sokka ordered, staring at the ground.
"Aw! Sokka, were you worried about me?" I joke.
"No! I mean, I knew you'd be fine." He says, embarrassed.
"Hmm.. whatever you say!" I say in a sing-song voice.
Haru turned to Katara with his father at his side, "I want to thank you for saving me. For saving us."
"All it took was a little coal." Katara modestly says.
"Oh, come on! You were great!" I elbow her lightly.
"She was. It wasn't the coal, Katara. It was you." Haru stated, making her blush and me scream internally. They are adorable!
"Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family and everyone here owes you much." Tyro thanks.
I wave them goodbye as they continue their conversation, running over to Aang. "Aang! Have you seen my Kyoshi stuff?" I ask desperately.
"No, sorry Li." He responds, getting off Appa's head to try to help me.
"Oh, Liena!" Sokka's voice sing-songs behind me. I turn around to see him holding all of my stuff.
"Sokka! You found it!" My face lights up. "Sure did. Now, what's the magic word?" He asks, dangling the gear in front of me.
"How about, give back my stuff before I blast you into the water?" I threaten, with a grin and the wind picking up around me. This little blast pushed him back a couple feet, his hair sticking out.
"Okay.. fine. But only because I want to." He grumbled. I put my stuff in my bag, leaving the headband out. I placed it on my head with a wide smile.
Good times.
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A/N: Hi friends! Here's the Imprisoned episode. Liena will be meeting Zuko again shortly, in about three chapters I believe.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm trying my best to incorporate Liena's caring nature into each chapter. And I feel like this is where you see a lot of it coming through.
As many kind people know, their kindness can sometimes be what gets them hurt.
Anyways, the next chapter is one I really loved writing. It's a totally different take on airbending that was fun to explore. Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading. Comments, votes and follows are highly appreciated;)
Xoxo, Mir
Published 12/17/21