Truce
Sokka would like the record to show that he was strictly against the idea. Quite vocally might he add. But noooo, he had to be out voted.
Now their precious, and limited, resources were spent on enemy Fire Nation terrors.
Heartless, cruel, and relentless terrors that spent over a season chasing after them in order to capture the Avatar. They even succeeded once.
But sure, let’s completely forget about all that because one of them got injured helping them fight off an even greater terror one time.
“Quit sulking,” said Toph, sipping on enemy tea. “They’re not gonna do anything. Not while Uncle is still recovering.”
Sokka gave her a disgusted look before remembering that she couldn’t see him. “Please don’t ever call him that again. That man is the General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. Not some silly old man, he’s dangerous wolf-viper like all Fire Nation. Dont let him trick you.”
Toph just hummed, “They don’t feel very dangerous right now.”
Sokka had to admit she was right, neither Princess Usha or General Iroh looked like they could put up a fight at the moment. It felt surreal compared to the absolute nightmares they were just weeks ago.
General Iroh had lost his jolly disposition. Maybe it was because he traded his Fire Nation armor for thread bare Earth Kingdom garb but he seemed smaller, more fragile. Red eyes and dark circles showing a definite lack of sleep. Combined with sunken cheek bones painted a picture of no sleep and food.
Princess Usha looked even worse. Her long hair had been cut short and uneven that it stuck up at different angles. Her face was so full of bruises that it almost hid her sunken cheeks. Bandages wrapped her throat. Even her voice was different, it was raspier and rougher.
Now, she truly looked like a the banished princess she had introduced herself as when she first meet Aang.
(A not so small part of Sokka felt joy in seeing them brought so low. After all the pain they had brought them; his people, his family, Aang, Yue. Karma was bound to get its due.)
“Still, don’t let your guard down,” he said, both to himself and Toph. “Usha is relentless, she could be half dead and still wouldn’t back down.”
Toph nodded in agreement, “She practically is, notice how she’s walking. Her left side is all messed up, I think some of her ribs are broken or at the very least bruised.”
Sokka squinted at where Usha stood tending to her ostrich-horse. She was trying to hide it but once you stopped to look it was noticeable. Her left arm wouldn’t raise as high as her right. Her steps were uneven. And every time the ostrich-horse would nudge her left side Usha would wince.
“Any fight with her would be a piece of cake,” shrugged Toph.
Sharp golden eyes turned to look at them as if she had heard. They narrowed briefly before turning back to their original task.
Feeling on edge Sokka turned to look at the other royal at their camp.
Iroh was chatting with Aang while Katara bandaged his chest and shoulder. By the way Aang was laughing Sokka could tell that he was on the edge of falling for his tricks.
“Aang, come with me set up camp for tonight,” he called motioning towards Appa. Sokka had to make sure Aang spent as little time with Iroh and Usha as possible.
Aang jumped up into the air, softly landing in front of him.
“We’re not spending the night here? It’s halfway set up, all we have to do is take out our sleeping rolls.” Aang waved a hand at the blazing fire and the pot and kettle Usha was setting out for dinner.
“I just don’t think this is the best place to spend the night.”
“Don’t insult me, boy,” spat Usha. “You’ve tended to my uncles wounds and accepted our tea. I am not some unscrupulous rogue that would break guest rights!”
Anger surged up inside Sokka. “Oh please, like we would ever believe that lie, especially after what you pulled in the North Pole. Or is kidnapping people on their own home common etiquette in the Fire Nation?”
Usha rolled her eyes. “You truly are an uneducated peasant. This isn’t remotely similar to what happened in the North Pole. The Northern Water Tribe housed and aided an acknowledged Fire Nation enemy, by proxy they allied against the Fire Nation. I was well within my rights to protect my country in any way possible.”
“You kidnapped Yue and Aang, and kept them hostage for weeks!”
Aang winced. “It wasn’t that bad, really.”
Usha just shrugged, “Princess Yue would’ve been released earlier if the Chief had just agreed to our terms of surrender. It’s not like we tortured her or anything, she was a very important hostage.”
Rage overtook Sokka’s entire being.
How dare she!? How dare she make light of the pain she had inflicted!?
He hadn’t even realized he had lunged until a solid wall of rock blocked his path.
“Whoa, you need to calm down,” said Toph, dragging her foot behind her making the ground beneath him roll backwards and moving him to where he previously stood. Toph grabbed his shaking arms to keep him steady.
“You don’t understand, Yue was shattered when we finally rescued her,” he insisted, breathing deep to keep himself under control. “She couldn’t even speak about what happened on that ship without looking like she wanted to cry. The first thing she did when she saw Pakku was insist he tell her father to evacuate and relocate their city.”
Sokka knew that he couldn’t properly explain it. The new heaviness that seemed to shroud Yue. Nothing like the weight of duty and responsibility that she used to carry. It was a haunting feeling.
He turned back to look Usha. Part of him hoping to see an ounce of guilt in her face.
There wasn’t.
Usha had stood up at his attack, arms ready to counterattack. Once she deemed him under control she sat back down, emptying a waterskin into the pot.
“You insult the Princess by acting like she’s a fragile gossamer-lily. She’s the heir to the Northern Water Tribe, don’t ignore the iron she holds beneath.” Usha gave him a hard stare. “She’s right to want her city relocated. Our Navy knows where it’s located and how to sneak in. The sun doesn’t set during northern summers.”
Cold terror seeped in his bones. The brutal implications hitting him like a brick to the face, flashes of the Southern Air temple racing through his mind.
“Tui and La,” gasped Katara. “The Fire Nation is going to attack them again.”
Iroh shook his head. “No, don’t worry. Another naval attack would be pointless and wasteful. There is nothing to be gained from a siege.”
Usha nodded solemnly, rubbing at her neck. “With Zhao dead there’s no one to push for an attack on the Northern Water Tribe. Zoryu is the only person skilled and experienced enough to competently command the Navy. And considering that ambush I foolishly fell into he will most likely be focusing his attention on the Earth Kingdom and Southern Tribe fleets.”
Sokka tried to process all this new information. “General Zhao is dead?!”
Aang wildly shook his head. “Zhao’s not dead, well, technically not. Spirit foxes dragged him to the spirit world. It was scary but there wasn’t anything I could do, Zhao needed to answer for his crimes. I did manage to convince them not to kill him, so spirit world imprisonment it was.”
Judging by the looks Iroh and Usha shared death would’ve been a more merciful sentence.
“What crimes did this Zhao commit against the spirits,” asked Toph with morbid curiosity.
Iroh frown deeply. “I can not say exactly what he did but from what he said I can infer that he broke the rules of hospitality while under a spirit’s domain.”
“And conspired to kill a Divine Spirit,” added Usha.
“Allegedly,” said Iroh.
Usha rolled her eyes, reaching into her tunic to pull out a small dark pouch that seemed to shift and faintly glow. “Well, if that’s all said and done, you are welcome to go on your way now. Thank you for your service in healing Uncle, this should be more than enough compensation.”
Opening the bag Usha pulled out a long golden rod that shouldn’t have by any means fit inside that tiny bag. With a flick of her wrist she tossed it at Katara.
“What is this!?” Asked Katara incredulously.
“Let me see it!” Called Toph racing to snatch the rod from her.
Iroh looked pained. “Niece, there was no need. Surely we could’ve repaid their kindness some other way.”
“I already used one of the pins to buy our ostrich-horse, Uncle. Using another to pay for their healing expertise should be no issue. It seems fair to use royal funds to treat Royal members.”
“Can’t really call it buying if it was done without the former owners knowledge.”
“Uncle.”
Sokka ignored their disagreement to see what the rod that Toph now had in her possession actually was.
It was a hair pin. Its body was gold with a red stone at the end and dangling from it was a small tear drop shaped pearl. Knowing Usha’s sneakiness it was probably gilded lead and colored glass.
Toph held no fear; flicking the red stone with her nail to make it ring, biting the stick and feeling for her teeth marks, and rubbing the pearl against the front of her teeth. “What color is the stone?”
“Red,” he answered.
She gave an impressed whistle. “This is one high quality product, the jade it self can fetch a decent price.”
Sokka instantly perked up at her words. “How decent?”
Toph considered for a second. “Well, it would be higher if it were the whole set but hypothetically speaking if we were to trade it at a fair exchange we would be twenty ostrich-horses richer.”
She turned to look at Usha’s direction. “You definitely short changed yourself with that trade.”
Usha bristled. “I did no such thing! It wasn’t just for an ostrich-horse. They had healed Unlce when he poisoned himself, they gave us dinner and let us sleep in their home. I’d say it was good compensation for medical assistance, food, lodging and transportation if a bit generous!”
Toph shrugged at her outburst, deciding it wasn’t worth her time to debate financial decisions with the banished princess.
Aang perked up at her words. “Well, if it’s really worth that much then we need to do more than just heal your Uncle. Why we share our dinner with you and share the camp?”
The only people who thought that was a good idea were Aang and Iroh.
“While we’re discussing proper compensation. Young Lady, would you be so kind to share your healing towards my niece? I’m afraid our brief separation lead her to face some vicious situations.”
Katara looked at a tense Usha, then at a smiling Iroh, and then at Sokka shaking his head. “Well.”
“Please Katara,” pleaded Aang. “She got banged up helping me fight Azula.”
At the mention of the other princess Usha seemed to bristle even more. Had she been an owl-cat she would’ve been hissing and swiping at them.
“If she’ll let me,” Katara conceded.
Iroh instantly turned his smile to his niece.
“No.”
“Please, my niece, you need to have your injuries treated before they get worse.”
“I’m fine, they will heal on their own.”
“Please don’t be so stubborn and accept this boon.”
“I don’t need it, I’ll deal with it like I always have.”
“What would Satomi say if she were to see you like this?”
The with roar the campfire rose to a pillar before dropping down to barely a smolder.
Usha’s face was blank as she stood up.
Emotionlessly she stopped infront of Katara, arms spread out.
After an encouraging nod from Iroh, Katara began to spread water over Usha’s body, wincing as she cataloged each injury.
“Don’t,” hissed Usha when Katara’s hand landed on her neck.
“What happened to you?” Katara looked at her in disbelief. Usha pushed her hands away.
“Nothing that you need to know. You’ve healed the more serious issues, that’s enough. You lot can go now.”
Aang looked at her with big polar puppy eyes. “Please can we share the campsite? It’s already getting late and by the time we set up it’ll be dark.”
Usha gave a loud sigh dragging her hands over her face. “Fine, do what you want. Just stay on your own side of the fire and I want you leaving by daylight tomorrow.”
“How can we trust that you won’t pull an ambush while we’re sleeping and try hand us over to the Fire Nation?” Asked Sokka, grabbing the back of Aang’s tunic to stop him from racing to get their things from Appa.
Usha looked at him like he was particularly dense child. “Because, peasant, Uncle and I are considered wanted criminals by the Fire Nation. We can’t go near any stronghold to turn the Avatar in without being imprisoned as well.”
“That doesn’t make sense, you are the most dedicated person to the Fire Nation I’ve ever seen. It’s borderline insane, why would they want to imprison you?” Asked Katara.
“15 casualties, 22 wounded 9 of which were career ending, loss of a major political hostage, loss of the Avatar, and debilitating damage to a Class B battle ship.” Usha listed with her hand. “I had a chance to not only restore my honor but to deliver a great victory to my nation. My poor choice lead us into an ambush. I took command of that ship, so the responsibility of that fall out lands on my head.”
Sokka tried to understand the reason but couldn’t follow the train of logic that would’ve lead to here. “If you feel responsible, why don’t you turn yourself in?”
“Because it is a greatly unjust decision,” snapped Iroh, looking more furious than Sokka had ever seen him. “Usha is not the only high ranking official to have suffered a major loss in battle, it is unjust for her to be imprisoned for it, especially considering there were traitors involved.”
Usha gave him a grateful smile. “Uncle was also sentenced to imprisonment due to being the most senior officer. We both felt that each other’s sentence was unfair and decided the only course of action was to find a place where the Fire Nation would find us.”
Aang gave her another hopeful look. “Well, if the Fire Nation considers you a criminal-“
“Don’t,” Usha cut him off. “Dont ask me to betray my country and my family just cause I’m no longer in their favor. This is just a temporary truce. You help me, I’ll help you until daylight tomorrow. Then we’ll go our separate ways. Not allies, maybe not enemies, just strangers. Deal?”
That sounded reasonable to Sokka. “Deal,” he said followed by everyone else in varying degrees of reluctance.
The rest of the day was spent in relative silence. Each group mainly keeping to themselves only speaking to each other when necessary.
It wasn’t until much later, when the sun had set and dinner had been eaten and cleaned up. Just before they could reasonably turn in for bed was the silence broken again.
“If you don’t mind indulging my curiosity?” Asked Iroh from his side of the campfire. “How did you catch Princess Azula’s attention? From my understanding she was only dispatched to arrest Usha and I.”
“Well, it’s a bit of a long story,” said Aang.
Iroh chuckled. “Those are the best kind of stories.”
Usha seemed to agree scooting closer to them without making it too obvious.
“We originally went to Omashu to have King Bumi teach Aang how to earth bend,” started Katara. “But by the time we reached it the Fire Nation had already captured the city.”
“Why?” Asked Toph. “Word on the Earth Rumble circles was that King Bumi was a crazy good bender. Not as good as me but definitely crazier.”
Aang nodded in agreement. “That the crazy part, Bumi surrendered in order to wait for the right time to strike. He told me that my earth bending teacher had to be someone who mastered neutral Jīng. Which was you, Toph.”
“A wise decision on King Bumi’s part,” said Iroh. “By surrendering, he saved his men from needless casualties.”
“And potential starvation of his civilian population. Fire Nation army is well equipped for a long siege,” added Usha.
Sokka chose to ignore that comment. “Well, before all that, we had snuck inside the palace to try to look for King Bumi. While we were there we saved a group of people from being crushed by a boulder. After a being chased by Fire Nation and a gloomy girl with sharp knives we found out that that group were the occupying Fire officials and the earth benders that sent the boulder were part of the resistance.”
“Not that we wouldn’t have saved them had we already who was who before hand,” added Aang. “We should all do what we can to help as many people as we can.”
Katara nodded, “We managed to convince to resistance to believe in Bumi’s decision and form a plan to evacuate the whole city. Using pentapi to fake lesions we faked an outbreak and the Fire official in charge had everyone thrown out of the city.”
“Fire and ash, that man is an idiot!” Exclaimed Usha in disbelief. “You don’t release an epidemic, you contain it until it dies out or a cure is found!By releasing it he not only risked the safety of the Earth Kingdom but also could’ve potentially had the disease spread back to the Fire Nation Caldera!”
Sokka couldn’t help but agree with her. Not that he would actually tell her that. “Good thing for us the governor was an idiot because we were able to evacuate the whole city plus his son, Tom-Tom.”
“You kidnapped his son?” Asked Usha. “Seems a bit hypocritical.”
“We didn’t kidnap anyone,” he snapped. “No one knows how that toddler got mixed up with the evacuees but he just did.”
“You expect me to believe a governor would leave his vulnerable son unattended by so much as a nanny in a recently occupied city that has a history of violent resistance?”
“Keep in mind that this is the same governor who released a whole city filled people carrying a hypothetical deadly and highly contagious disease out into the rest of the Earth Kingdom,” deadpanned Toph.
Usha looked like she wanted to argue but sighed in defeat.
“We figured that the Tom-Tom’s parents realized that he was missing early on because by the time we realized he was with us the governor had sent a letter saying he would release Bumi in exchange for his son,” continued Katara.
Usha instantly perked up at those words. “So you got King Bumi free and that’s how you caught Azula’s attention?”
Katara winced. “No, not exactly. When we showed up for the trade the governor wasn’t there. Instead it was Azula, the same girl with the knives that turned out to be Tom-Tom’s sister, and this flippy girl that can take away your bending temporarily.”
“Like the triplets that helped you back on the North Pole. Only she used her fists instead of those thin needles,” added Aang.
“Wait, wait, was this girl dressed in pink, had a long braid and was constantly peppy and smiley?” Asked Usha. “And that other girl was sharp faced and monotone?”
All four of them nodded.
“That’s Ty Lee and Mai, they were Azula’s friends at that the Royal Academy for Girls,” said Usha with dread, looking at her Uncle. “If Azula recruited them for our capture then she’s dead set on succeeding.”
“How do you know?” Asked Toph.
Iroh scowled. “Azula has always demanded the best of everything from an early age. Prettiest clothes, best toys, and most delicious desserts. This also translated in the company she kept. They had to be exceptional, either smart or stronger than the rest.”
Usha nodded reluctantly. “Ty Lee is a chi blocker like the rest of her family. She’s not more talented than her older sisters, but she does rise above them in terms of agility. Mai is an expert markswoman, she could rival a Yu Yan archer in terms of precision.”
“That’s them alright,” said Sokka. “Cold blooded group too. When we were about to do the exchange Mai called off the trade, something about it not being fair exchanging a two year old for an earth king.”
Usha looked at him with shocked disbelief while Iroh only grimaced in understanding.
“Mai refused to exchange Bumi for her baby brother?” The words slowly slipped out Usha laced with disappointment.
Katara nodded sympathetically. “I’m afraid so, the moment the deal was called off it was basically a free for all. Aang tried to rescue Bumi while Azula chased after him. Meanwhile Sokka and I were trying to fight off Ty Lee and Mai while making sure Tom-Tom didn’t accidentally get hurt. It was terrifying, Sokka almost fell off the platform with him.”
Usha shook her head in disbelief. “So it was just the three of them? No soldiers hidden away near by to assist in recovering Tom-Tom?”
Sokka enthusiastically shook his head. “Nope! None what so ever and I am grateful. Katara and I were barely able to escape on Appa with Tom-Tom.”
“After Bumi explained his plan to me, I caught up to them and fled the city,” continued Aang. “I did sneak back in later that night to give Tom-Tom back to his parents.”
“Are you okay there?” Asked Toph. “Your heart is beating like crazy but your breathing is practically non existent.”
Usha took a slow breath, the campfire rose in height and brightness before shrinking back down to normal. “I. Am. Furious.”
“Why?”
That was all it took for the floodgates to open.
“Because apparently those so called prodigies learned nothing at the Academy!! All those top marks must have been fake because none of them actually know how to handle a hostage situation properly!!! How could they be so stupid and careless!!?? They could’ve gotten someone hurt! A baby could’ve died because of their recklessness!”
Usha was pacing the campsite now. Arms waving and articulating with every shout. The fire rising and falling in sync with her.
As quick as the rant started it ended with Usha leaning on her Uncle as he tried to console her.
“They should know better, how could they be so arrogant and stupid?” She lamented.
“I’m guessing that what they did wasn’t standard procedure in the Fire Nation,” said Toph.
“No, not even close. Usually we try to secure the hostage as swiftly as possible to avoid further exchange demands. Fire and Ash, your fleet handled the situation more ideally than they did. It’s was multiple fleets that participated in that ambush and they even got Princess Yue and the Avatar back.”
“Huh, thank you, I guess?” Was all Sokka could say.
Usha just gave him a dead look before sighing. “So that’s all that happened? You got away without Bumi and took Tom-Tom with you?”
“Pretty much,” shrugged Aang.
Iroh stroked his beard in thought. “Well that explains why Azula is set on capturing you as well. Since you escaped at Omashu she considers this a loss and will try everything to rectify it.”
Usha nodded in agreement. “Azula is very competitive and an extremely sore loser. Case in point what she did today. She’ll try anything to ensure victory. Whether it’s underhanded mind games or brute force she will try it. Keep in mind she probably has the backing of the Fire Nation Army at her disposal now too.”
She paused before listing off with her fingers. “Ty Lee is best fought at a distance. She can’t beat you if she can’t touch you. She’s very obedient and passive, so unless Azula tells her what to do it’s unlikely for her to act on her own. Mai is strong but not the best fighter. Teachers described her as lazy and stubborn. Unless it was something that interested her Mai is unlikely to be proactive. She’s also unwilling to try if she thinks it not worth the effort. Keep in mind this is what I knew about them years ago and apparently it’s not that accurate.”
“Why are you telling us this? I thought you said you wouldn’t betray your family.” Toph asked.
“Because the more time Azula wastes trying to capture you four the more time it gives Uncle and I to hide,” Usha shrugged. “And it’s not really betrayal since I’m not actively stopping Azula. We’re not little kids anymore, I’m done letting her win at everything she wants just because she’s my sister.”
———————
The writers block has finally lifted!!!
Please feel free to send comment and questions at my inbox. The more the better for keeping the writers block away.
