Chapter 19: In which I went about Saving the World (Patreon)

Anya hadn’t spent much time captured, but standing here with her wrists bound to the side of the room by metal chains, she realized that she didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary engaged in the activity.

Making matters more unfortunate were the frozen frogs beginning to squirm their way loose in her nomadic outfit, the cold mucus that had been frozen against them oozing unfortunately against her making her shiver in disgust.

When she had left the South Pole two years ago, she hadn’t exactly expected this.

What had she been expecting? Save the world like her destiny said she had to, learn Earthbending and Firebending like her destiny said she had to. Not that she had gotten further along with that, far too caught up in the changed world.

Pakku, the mean old grump, would be disappointed.

While he had taught her and Katara well, he had never shut up about some guy named Hakoda, supposedly the greatest student the guy had ever taught if you listened to him for half a second.

Honestly, whoever this Hakoda was kind of pissed her off. Four years since she had emerged from the iceberg, fully an adult, and she was being measured against some random guy who supposedly bent water well.

Nonsense.

She could bend two elements, great! That at least made her twice as good as him.

Though the truly awful thing that sat in the back of her mind now was just how little time she had left to master the elements. She had a year to learn both Earthbending and Firebending before the Comet returned, or so Roku said, and she didn’t know if she could do it.

Would it have killed her past self to give her a bit more of a warning four years ago?

Maybe Hakoda should have been the Avatar, she scowled to herself. Maybe Hakoda wouldn’t have been captured by some guys with arrows.

Generally feeling sorry for herself, she looked up in surprise as the metal door in front of her thudded once, the sound of a body bouncing off it.

The air became icy cold, and then the metal door shattered inward, frozen metal flying through the air.

He stood there in black, a long high ponytail of black hair swaying above his head and a ferocious white and blue mask glaring at her.

In his hands, he carried two dao blades, their surfaces a shining silver steel, her sharp eyes noted flecks of crimson across them.

He walked towards her, swaying in a patterned martial motion until he came to a stop in front of her.

She attempted to meet his eyes, opening her mouth to say something anything-

His swords flashed, and instinctively Anya shut her eyes; she opened them only after she felt no pain and heard metal break and saw her metal cuffs had been shattered.

“Who are you?” she asked for lack of a better question.

The man cocked his head at her, then shook his head, and there was something exasperated in the movement. “What kind of Avatar gets captured by guys with bows and arrows?” he grunted out before turning and beginning to walk away.

Anya followed him for lack of anything better to do. “It wasn’t like that,” she shook her head frantically, “I mean they were super good at pinning me just with their shots and-“

“Didn’t need a response,” the man said dryly, his voice muffled, vibrating in a way she had trouble identifying what it was supposed to sound like naturally.

Several Fire Nation guards came charging down the corridor, only for the man to simply walk through them with his swords flashing through the air, silver arcs that moved so quickly the men didn’t even have a moment to try and stop before they collapsed to the floor unmoving, dark red liquid beginning to flow out of them.

“You killed them,” Anya whispered, horrified, looking at the man, beginning to shake her head, her mouth opening to say something, say anything, only for the man to interrupt.

“I came here to neutralize the Yu Yan,” the man grunted. “They’re being neutralized, Avatar; you should be thankful. If you can’t be thankful, be quieter.”

“No,” Anya shook her head, bracing herself, “I’m not going to let you kill these people.”

“Then I suppose you better stop me,” the man shrugged and then kicked off the ground, beginning to rapidly sprint forward as more guards came toward him, only to be dispatched within seconds, the man not halting as he ran through them in flares of crimson blood.

Anya growled and charged after him, glancing into the rooms as she ran, before she finally spotted her staff, grabbing it and then picking up the pace, bending the air out in front of her to increase her speed.

They were Fire Nation, it was true, but all life was sacred, even Fire Nation life.

Of course, it didn’t seem to matter how fast she ran; she couldn’t keep up with the trail of bodies the man in the mask was leaving behind.

The man was efficient, lethally so, made worse by the fact that when his blades were too slow, he bent crimson red from underneath his slicing blades to end anyone out of reach.

When Anya finally broke free of the stronghold, she found herself coming to a skittering stop as she looked around at what was a massacre.

Fire Nation bodies littered the ground around the man, but it wasn’t just him now; a tall, white-haired woman stood in equally black clothing, hugging a mature hourglass form that made Anya feel oddly self-conscious, who wore a sneering green cat face mask, the guards around her sliced to pieces by what looked like water bending.

Another woman stood off to the side in black clothing, a long spear held over her shoulder, the tip soaked in crimson as she looked about impassively with a red fox-like spirit’s mask on her face; she was slimmer and seemed oddly nonplussed as she looked about her hair in a black ponytail that trailed down her back.

“Spirits,” Anya choked, bile rising in her gut, looking about in horror.

The woman with the green cat face turned to look at the man. “Blue Spirit,” she said quietly, “We’ve neutralized Pohuai Stronghold.” She shrugged her shoulders in a casual, almost lackadaisical manner as if she were merely discussing the weather.

The so-named Blue Spirit nodded. “Thank you, Lion.” He turned as the woman with the fox spirit mask made her way over to him.

“Fox?” he asked curiously.

Fox shook her head and just leaned into him, seemingly drawing some casual strength from the movement.

Anya finally managed to say something. “Why?” she whispered, and the assembled group turned to look at her.

She was trembling, she realized, but she couldn’t stop it. “Why would you do this?”

Fox spoke, her tone quiet but certain, “Pohuai Stronghold is a standout in this region for the projection of the Fire Nation’s military force; the Earth Kingdom had retreated almost entirely from the surrounding area; we’ve now dealt with that situation.”

Anya shook her head, denying the words, “No, we can’t do this, you can’t do this, life is-“

“We’re fighting a war, Avatar,” Lion said, her arms crossing across her stomach, “You’ll do things your way, we’ll do our job our way, now say thank you for the rescue.”

Her tone was cool, and Anya felt like she was standing in the South Pole once again as the woman looked at her with a feeling so frigid it froze the air around her.

She couldn’t, didn’t want to say anything; this whole thing was anathema to her.

The Blue Spirit spoke again, “It’s not necessary, Lion; we didn’t come here for thanks or for an alliance.”

Lion crossed her arms over her stomach but didn’t say anything else.

He turned to look back at her, “We’re doing things our way, Avatar; all you need to understand is that right now we’re on the same side.”

He turned and walked away.

Fox followed after him without a word while Lion continued looking at her for a while longer before the woman shook her head. “You don’t deserve his help,” she said, her words echoing quietly in the air before she followed after her comrades.

Anya remained standing, nauseous, attempting to avoid looking at all the bodies; she felt a squirming in her clothing from another half-frozen frog and then released a breath.

She had to go help Katara and Sokka.

-

“Hakoda!” Katara startled as she heard her Father’s name called out in a happy, cheerful voice, and she spun to see a teenage girl, her age or perhaps a bit older, with long brown hair tied into a braid and soulful grey eyes that reminded her of Anya charging happily through the festival crowd to slam into a tall boy who had eyes the color of the ocean in the morning sun and long black hair that draped down to his shoulders with a white streak parsed through the black.

Though in truth Anya hadn’t been cheerful in a little while since both she and Sokka had been sick some weeks ago and the girl had shut down any conversation that attempted to broach the subject.

In the Fire Nation town they were in, it was a rather strange sight, but the people around them seemed used to it, and she heard a couple chuckling quietly about young love.

“Ty Lee,” the boy murmured, rubbing her back in a gentle, soothing way. “I missed you,” he said, his voice rumbling out, and the girl giggled, tightening her grip on him.

“Don’t sweet-talk me,” she purred happily, rubbing her face against his chest. “You know it doesn’t work,” she giggled, embedding her nose into his neck.

“Big Sis?” came a questioning voice from behind the girl, and together they turned to see a group of kids looking up at Ty Lee questioningly. “Who’s this guy?” the lead boy said, scowling, evidently upset he no longer had the pretty girl's attention.

“He’s the guy who's going to make you snow cones!” Ty Lee cheered happily, bouncing on her feet.

Hakoda laughed and then reached into his satchel and drew forth a stack of paper cones, then flicked his hand, swirling water from a pouch out, causing Katara’s breath to catch as it formed a soft, snowy, icy sphere before he poured a sweet-looking pink fluid atop it, handing it to the kid.

The kid looked suspicious before he took a bite, and then his eyes widened. “It’s good!” he cried out in shock.

“I told you!” Ty Lee leaped onto the back of Hakoda, who took the extra weight with aplomb. “Isn’t he the best?”

The children cheered, and Katara didn’t know what to say or do; here was a waterbender with her Father’s name making some kind of treats for Fire Nation children, none of it parsed to her.

She watched as Hakoda distributed more snow cones with the grey-eyed girl clinging to his back until she saw the girl turn her way and raise an eyebrow.

She murmured something into Hakoda’s ear, who nodded, and after the last child was served, walked towards her.

Katara did her best not to startle as she met blue eyes, and then Hakoda smiled as he looked at her.

“I haven’t seen a lot of Water Tribe around here,” Hakoda smiled gently. “You with the traders from the North?” he asked.

Katara nodded her head, thankful the boy had given her an answer without her needing to do anything. “Yeah,” she shrugged, attempting to make the move easy, “Just stopping by on our way back.”

She hesitated before a real question made its way through, “I didn’t expect a Fire Nation village to be so,” she looked at the giggling girl on his back, “Welcoming of Water Tribe and waterbenders.”

Hakoda chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s a work in progress, but since trade has opened up, so have the people,” he grinned faintly. “It’s harder to hate people you trade and break bread with.”

Katara nodded her head even as she kept looking at the waterbender; everything about him said it was so, including the streak of shining hair, but she had to ask, “Your name, Hakoda, do you know Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe?”

Hakoda looked surprised but then nodded, “He’s an old master of mine,” he said easily.

Katara bowed a bit, placing her hands together, “Then you’re my senior apprentice. I wanted to thank you-“

She was interrupted as Anya came barreling by, followed by a medium-height man with dark hair fluffed about his head and a kind smile.

The smile widened as his eyes landed on Hakoda, and he immediately bowed, “It is a great honor to see you-“

Hakoda held up a hand with an easy smile, “Easy Chey,” before he turned to look at Anya, who was looking between the two of them, seemingly confused, “And who is this?” he asked curiously.

Katara tensed, but Anya smiled winningly, “I’m here to learn Firebending, and Chey told me there was a guy who could help.”

Chey and Hakoda exchanged a look, and Katara’s gut clenched as her lie was seemingly instantly exposed.

Chey smiled easily, “Hakoda is also visiting us, as it so happens, so we can all go together.”

Katara retrieved her sis- brother who had been filling his gullet with Fire Nation snacks and had immediately given their companions a suspicious look with a sharp, “Who are they?” Sokka growled out, his face now in a narrow scowl.

Katara didn’t have any answers.

They left the Fire Nation town, journeying into the surrounding forest, and Katara noted how the girl Ty Lee kept shooting Anya strange looks, looking befuddled even as she gripped onto Hakoda’s neck, not willing to cede her position for seemingly anything.

They arrived in a seemingly large encampment and stopped at a hut like any other, stepping inside together to see an old man with grey hair shooting out of the sides of his head sitting cross-legged on the floor, candles sitting around him gently flickering.

“You have come, Avatar,” he grunted aloud, and Katara shot a worried look at their traveling companions who seemed remarkably unbothered by the news, Ty Lee whispering something quiet into Hakoda’s ears.

Anya startled, looking away from the pair, her cheeks reddening a bit before she seemed to center herself, “I need to learn Firebending-“

A snort echoed through the hut, and Katara took a moment to realize that it had come from Ty Lee, who was trying to contain her giggles now. “But like,” she shook her head, giggling further, “You haven’t even learned Earthbending yet?”

Katara frowned, “How do you know Anya’s the Avatar?” And how did she know Anya didn’t know Earthbending?

Ty Lee smiled brightly and pressed a finger to her lips, “Secret!” she winked.

Katara was far from content with those words, but then Hakoda spoke, his voice like cracking ice, “Jeong Jeong cannot teach the Avatar anything as of now; you need an Earth Bender to teach you.”

Katara looked at Hakoda in surprise before her eyes narrowed. He knew.

Anya looked bewildered by the words from someone whom she had just met, but she hesitantly began anyway, “But Bumi said I would need to find a teacher who waits and listens, and we’ve been all over, and there’s nobody like that.”

Ty Lee hummed, drumming her fingers almost possessively over Hakoda’s shoulders. “What about Toph?” she asked Hakoda, who grinned, seemingly amused by the idea.

“Toph said she was too busy to be teaching kids anything,” he remarked.

“Whose Toph?” Anya asked, looking curious, fiddling with her staff.

“She’s the best Earth Bender in the world,” Ty Lee sprang her arms up, her voice mockingly deep, before shaking her head, “She’s also the most repressed Earth Bender, but,” she shrugged, grinning easily, “She’s cute ya know? So it works for her.”

Katara regarded the strange grey-eyed girl hanging off the water benders' back.

Ty Lee jabbed Hakoda in the side of the neck, lightly, and Katara noticed his neck muscles relax.

“Toph would be your best choice,” he said aloud, rubbing his chin. “But she’s kind of,” he hesitated and then turned to the door as the ground vibrated as the hut’s hanging curtain was pushed aside, and a short teenage girl stepped in through the hole, her dark black hair coifed in a messy bun on her head, wearing tan and green, her bare feet thudding across the floor with ease.

She didn’t even glance at Katara, Anya, or Sokka.

She jabbed a finger at Hakoda, “You’re late for sparring, asshole; you told me your date wouldn’t take all night.”

Ty Lee purred, looking half-lidded at the other girl, “Finally giving in, Toph? I didn’t know you wanted his body so badly.” She ran a hand down Hakoda’s chest, trailing it. “But there’s always room to share,” she grinned wickedly.

Toph’s cheeks colored a bit even as Katara saw her visibly paste on a vaguely ill expression. “You’re just as sick as Azula is,” she gritted out.

Ty Lee hummed, placing a hand on her cheek smilingly broadly, “But what would Yue think if she heard you?”

Toph scowled, “Yue’s even worse; she looks at him like he’s the fucking Moon Spirit itself.” She shook her head before finally looking at the other three members of the tent. “Who the fuck are you guys?” she asked.

Hakoda finally spoke up, seemingly having ignored the outrageous conversation that had Katara’s and everyone in her group's mouths open, “Avatar and associates,” he shrugged.

Toph opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted as Anya spoke seemingly without reason, “You remind me of someone,” she said, looking at Hakoda seriously.

“Excuse me,” Toph spluttered, apparently not used to being interrupted.

Hakoda raised an eyebrow at her, his smile still easy and calm.

Anya took a deep breath, seemingly steadying herself. “Did you have an ancestor named Zuko?”

“Hey what the fuck-“

Hakoda held up a hand, and Toph instantly halted.

The room stiffened as Hakoda stroked his chin in thought, before shaking his head. “Fire Nation name, strange,” he looked at Ty Lee, whose face had slipped from her smile, looking confused. “Ty Lee?” he asked, a small tone of worry in his voice.

Ty Lee frowned, looking down for a moment, the cheerful brightness within her dimming. “There was a Fire Nation Prince by that name about four years ago,” she admitted quietly, “I was just thinking about him.”

Hakoda nodded before turning back to Anya, smiling softly. “It’s unlikely,” he admitted, shaking his head, before he shrugged. “I was born in the colonies, though, so I don’t have the best grasp of my own family history.”

Katara was unable to restrain her own curiosity. “But you never went to the Tribes?” she asked.

“Actually,” Hakoda grinned, “I’ve spent a great deal of time in the Northern Water Tribe.” Then something amused passed through his eyes. “I’m actually engaged to a member of said tribe.”

Katara looked at Ty Lee, who was seemingly attempting to test just how physically close one person could be next to another in the most scientific manner one could go about doing so, before going back to Hakoda.

“Your fiancée knows where you are?” and what you’re doing? She attempted to keep her distaste from her voice, but it still leaked through.

Ty Lee giggled lightly, waving a hand back and forth, “Oh, Yue knows everything about Hakoda, don’t worry! I’m going to be his concubine!”

Katara blinked, then blinked again, massaged her head, glanced at Sokka, who looked nonplussed, at Anya, who looked fascinated in a horrified manner, and at Hakoda, whose smile had become slightly more fixed, though there was definite amusement in the look. Before looking back at Ty Lee, who looked beside herself with happiness, then at Hakoda again.

“You have a concubine?” Her voice dripped with displeasure, all her joy and pride at meeting a supposedly great Water Tribe Warrior vanishing in an instant.

“Hey!” Ty Lee said, her smile dropping and her frown deepening as she glared at Katara, “Don’t be snippy with him, I wanted to be his concubine!”

This was insane. These people were insane.

The air stirred slightly, and Anya’s gaze shot to Ty Lee, her eyes widening. “You’re an Airbender?” she blurted out, and Katara realized perhaps the sanity itself might be draining rapidly out of the room.

Ty Lee shrugged easily and then winked, pressing a finger to her mouth. “That’s a secret too!” She was back to the cheerful, fluttery girl again.

“But-“ Anya shook her head, pale and looking like she was going to keel over, “I thought all the airbenders were gone?”

Something gentle passed over Ty Lee’s face, and she looked at Anya, her lips curving into a painful smile. “Not all of them,” she admitted with a calm quiet before looking firmly at Anya, “We’re pretty scattered, though. The only other one I know is a girl named Sosha; none of the rest of my family inherited the ability.”

Something painfully hopeful emerged on Anya’s face. “Would you,” she hesitated, “Would you come with us?” she asked in a small voice.

Ty Lee smiled gently, but Katara already could see the answer before the girl shook her head. “I belong to Hakoda,” she said, her voice loud in the silence, “I won’t leave his side for any reason.”

Katara felt her gut stirring, and she took a deep breath, attempting not to stir the water in her waterskin in her rage. It wasn’t like the other girl didn’t have a right to do as she wished, but... “People don’t belong to other people,” she scowled angrily at Hakoda, not voicing her true frustration at blowing Anya’s hopes away. Hakoda merely raised an eyebrow at her.

Toph snorted, shaking her head. “You don’t know half of anything, girl. It’s disgusting, but,” she released a deep sigh, “Ty Lee decided a long time ago who she was going to spend her life with, and trust me, being his concubine isn’t the worst thing; he was lucky to talk her into that.”

Ty Lee’s head spun to look at Toph, her expression visibly excited, “Does that mean-“

“No!” Toph bit out angrily, glaring at her, “No, it does not mean I’m joining you and your friends worshipping his existence.”

Ty Lee sighed, shaking her head, “You don’t know what you’re missing out on, Azula says-“

Toph held up a hand, and Ty Lee stopped instantly; smiling again, her amusement resurfaced.

“I don’t care that Azula is absolutely sick in the head, I don’t care if you fawn over him, or if Mai likes to laze in his bed, or if Yue is working out a rotation of warriors to keep in said bed,” Hakoda’s head shot up, and he looked at Toph in surprise, “I said I wasn’t joining the Harem.”

Hakoda coughed, looking at the nonplussed group of other people in the room, “Is now really the time?” he asked dryly with the air of a man fully aware all of his credibility had just been obliterated.

Both Ty Lee and Toph seemed to calm down instantly, Ty Lee shrugging and leaning on Hakoda’s shoulder, and Toph scoffing but nonetheless sitting down at Hakoda’s side, notably far closer than anyone in Katara’s group was sitting next to each other.

Hakoda smiled sympathetically at Anya, and despite the fact that all the evidence surrounding the man made Katara sure he was an enemy of every woman in the world, this was a gentle thing with no edge to it, no expectation, a mere attempt to show a friendly face.

“Avatar, trust that I’ll take good care of one of the last of your people,” he looked a bit bemused, “Though I do understand that’s probably a tall order,” he admitted.

Anya did not look any less devastated, regarding Hakoda with small, sad grey eyes.

Ty Lee spoke up, and now she actually looked serious. “It’s not that I don’t acknowledge you as another air nomad,” she said, “But please understand Hakoda is everything to me, and I made a promise to him when we were ten with our pinkies,” she grinned, “And I can’t break that! Plus we’re all on the same side anyway; we’re also working against the Fire Nation!”

Anya blinked, and then her eyes widened in surprise. “Really!” she exclaimed.

Toph slammed a palm against her face, and Hakoda just let a small smile spread his lips apart.

“We were trying to break everything to them gently,” he pointed out in the new silence.

Ty Lee giggled and tapped the side of her head with her knuckles while shrugging, “Oops.”

Katara’s lips turned up against her own will in amusement at the girl who in many ways was so like Anya before they turned into a fierce scowl as Ty Lee pecked Hakoda’s cheek with a light, airy kiss.

This guy was awful.

-

Ty Lee pecked Zuko’s cheek again, giggling to herself, enjoying the way that his aura flushed faintly red, hiding his embarrassment from her in the physical world, but she was an expert on Zuko’s aura, so that wasn’t going to work.

She hugged herself tighter against him, pushing against the cold sadness in her gut from denying Anya’s request; she knew how lonely it could be, but…

Well, in truth it was Zuko, and in larger truth it was everything that the Dragon Lily had made in four years. Four long years of work to keep the world on a knife’s edge, to prevent its end, and the Avatar had been…

Penguin sledding, wrangling Elephant Koi, sliding down Earth Kingdom transit chutes.

In truth, the Avatar seemed to spend at least half her time goofing off when she could be mastering the Elements. She hadn’t really done anything about the war no one in this world except her had lived without. She hadn’t done something about the fact that two of her sisters were already dead from Court politics and the failed assassination of an Earth Kingdom general.

Ty Lee pressed her face into Zuko’s shoulder, deciding right now she just wouldn’t listen, would lie against Zuko giggling mindlessly while she controlled her desire to blast Anya through the tent.

She could totally do it too, and she bet that if she gave Zuko the look, he wouldn’t even scold her too harshly for it.

Zuko’s finger gently tapped down on her neck, and Ty Lee sighed and refocused, listening again.

“Could we talk?” Anya asked, her arms folded on her stomach as she looked at Ty Lee with a small, pained frown.

Ty Lee very consciously did not go back to putting her face into Zuko because while she didn’t want to have this conversation, which was unlike her, she would have it anyway because an Air Nomad deserved to hear some words from her even if she didn’t want to be the one to say them.

Ty Lee nodded and then flipped to her feet and waved for the other girl to follow her.

They exited the tent and walked for a while until they had drifted down to the river, and Ty Lee felt Anya hold the air in place around them. She turned to look at the girl, her smile still on her face but not as wide.

“What’s up?” she asked, crossing her arms slightly.

“I mean,” Anya shook her head, “I’ve thought the Air Nomads were gone all this time, yet,” she shook her head again like attempting to shake the idea out in a flurry of brown hair, “I don’t understand,” she said, “The Air Nomads still exist?”

“No,” Ty Lee shook her head, “The Air Nomads are gone.” She gave the other girl a small, sad smile. “And that’s probably for good; we scattered across the Elemental Nations, and after a hundred years we’re more them than we’re Air Nomads.”

Anya frowned, “But you could all come back to the Temples-“

Ty Lee held up a hand, uncharacteristic, but she needed to be clear here, “So we can live as monks and nuns? I got to be clear here, I am a pure virgin lady of good repute, and I aim not to die that way once I get Z-“ she changed her words instantly, “Hakoda to have a spare moment where we’re not attempting to hold the world together, that you,” she jabbed her finger clearly at Anya, “Have not yet fixed despite definitely existing for at least the last four years.”

Anya blinked and then shook her head. “I only left two years ago,” she attempted to say defensively because she knew she should have done more and she had been trying, but it hadn’t been like the world was getting worse, and why was it her responsibility to-

“I know,” something softer appeared on Ty Lee’s face, “And it’s okay, Hakoda’s right about a lot of things, but he was more right than usual when he said that even if the Avatar did emerge, it wasn’t necessarily their job to fix things.”

“What?” Anya said, “No, I have to stop the Fire Nation. I have to-“

Ty Lee interrupted, “No, the world has to stop the Fire Nation, and we’re working on it.” She grinned in a wide smile, “As Toph would say, we got a kickass team.” Her smile dipped. “We don’t need the Avatar,” she held up a palm and fire erupted in a bright golden spark even as she twisted an air orb around it.

Anya looked at the display, her all too familiar grey eyes widening as her mouth fell open slightly, then she screamed.

-

If I had known Ty Lee was going to use the dual bending I had given to her to absolutely terrify the Avatar, I would have-

No, seeing Anya crawling backward across the ground like a crab was actually amusing enough I wouldn’t have changed that action.

"Spirits damn that stupid bitch,” Toph scowled next to me, her eyes locking directly onto Ty Lee’s face as she released a breath of gusty air that blew throughout the clearing as we sprinted down to where Ty Lee was standing in front of a terrified Avatar.

If I had known giving Toph the ability to dual-bend would give her air, and that said air would also give her the ability to see everything within her chi range, I would have-

No to that too; not only had that rectified her one weakness, but it had turned Toph into the world’s biggest voyeur that she claimed not to be, which was even more amusing.

Given that there wasn’t a single thing in this world we couldn’t find together, I somewhat wondered how we had let the conversation get this out of hand this quickly.

We landed in front of Ty Lee, and I held out my palms attempting to calm the panicking Avatar down. “Avatar,” I said shortly, “It’s fine, no dark spirits or anything.”

Anya was rapidly shaking her hands, face white like a sheet, “No, you don’t understand, that’s like bad, super bad, the Air Nuns-“

“Were wrong,” I said, attempting to calm her down, “I’ve collected sufficient evidence to prove that being a Dunshi is neither fatal nor harmful.”

“Dunshi?” I turned to see Katara and her brother standing behind us, panting from their own sprint, Katara scowling and her brother with a narrowed, angry look.

“Dunshi, those who can bend two elements,” I dipped my head, “The Air Nomads believe their existence to be the work of malignant spirits; it is untrue.”

Katara looked concerned at Anya, who was slowly recovering herself, before she glared back at me, “How do we know anything you’re saying is true?”

I pointed at Anya, “She does, or at least can tell I think I’m telling the truth.”

Katara blinked and then looked at Anya in surprise, “You can tell when people are telling the truth?”

Anya winced and looked away, “All airbenders can,” she said quietly.

Katara seemed to need to sit there and chew on that for a moment, which was fair.

So I looked to her brother and attempted to lighten the subject back to cooperation, “Sokka was it, you are at the Avatar’s side, but I find myself unimpressed by your stance,” I crossed my arms, “Who trained you?”

Sokka scowled at me. “My Father did; you saying he did it wrong?” Her voice was particularly offended, but I suppose the machismo was to be expected if she wanted to keep her secret, so I didn’t bother to feel offended in return by her tone.

“No, he didn’t. You’re the Southern Water Tribes, Prince. I’ve seen Chief Hakoda fight, and your movement isn’t anywhere close to his.”

Sokka looked even more offended, as well as a new layer of outrage.

“Cool it, sugar tits,” Toph barked out, and I withheld a wince as she seemed to almost gleefully prove once again why I tried not to bring her to anything that started with the concept of diplomacy, “You can keep those likely aggressively perky breasts a bit closer to yourself, maybe tighten the wrapping a bit.”

Sokka squeaked, grabbing herself as her face flushed red, and Toph smiled gleefully.

“Toph, another word and you’ll be giving up foot massages for the next week,” I said shortly.

Toph stiffened, then glared at me, her eyes once again locked onto me. “You fucking wouldn’t,” she sneered.

I raised an eyebrow, and Toph, for a moment, looked visibly unsure, her eyes flicking to Ty Lee.

Ty Lee gave me a considering look before she shrugged at Toph, “I don’t know. Isn’t your truth sense supposed to be way better than mine?”

Toph frowned, her eyes narrowing at me, “It’s the best,” she said, before shaking her head and sighing, “But Zuko’s the second best liar I’ve seen.”

Instantly, all three pairs of eyes of the waterbenders and Anya snapped to me, and I very consciously did not palm myself in the head so hard I fell unconscious as Toph paled and looked at me, the smallest amount of guilt flicking through her eyes.

“For the record,” I say aloud in the silence, “this is the reason I don’t bring you or Ty Lee on anything that resembles a diplomatic mission, and this justifies it for the rest of time.”

Anya looked at me, her eyes wide and open. “What?” The words were flat and disbelieving.

“Look,” I said, raising my hands, “If we could all calm down and talk like reasonable adults, the next few minutes are going to be so much better for all of us.”

Katara glanced at Sokka, who glanced at Anya, who nodded, a gentle tilt of her head down. “Explain, please,” Anya said slowly.

“I am Hakoda,” I said, nodding my head for a moment, “But I was born with a Fire Nation name; colonies remember?” I smiled easily and then shook my head. “It just so happened that the year of my birth, a Fire Nation Prince was born named Zuko; I was named in his honor.”

The tension eased visibly from the water tribe members while Anya still looked in shock.

Anya looked at me seriously, her eyes almost searching, “Zuko is just what, an ancestral name you don’t use anymore?”

“I am Hakoda,” I smiled easily. Now wasn’t the time to drop everything on her; already far too much had been said, and while I wasn’t sure purely emotional turmoil would trigger an Avatar state, now was not the time to discover it. “That is the truth, whatever else I may be.”

Anya frowned, looking down, her teeth gritting slightly, her eyes flicking to Toph, her brow furrowed, before she looked back. “I don’t know if I can trust you,” Anya said quietly, “But I don’t have a lot of options right now. I need to learn Earth Bending; can you help me?”

“He can’t,” Toph grunted out, crossing her arms. “I can, though,” the words were soft, unlike her, reluctant.

I looked at her, surprised; Toph had been explicit that she didn’t want to teach anyone.

“No,” Toph held out her hand, a finger to my lips. “Here’s how it’s going to work,” she jabbed a finger at Anya, “I’m going to teach you for as long as I can stand; my assumption right now is about a week. While doing that, I’m going to continue work on that project you gave me, then you're going to visit me, check in on me, whatever you need to satisfy that sappy bullshit you always preach.”

I hesitated; it wasn’t like we weren’t all deployed around the area currently, and with Tia and Druk about, there was no real trouble in traveling within such a short distance.

Still, Toph was far from blind. The air and earth could give her the complete picture of me, and so she sighed and stepped up next to me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. “Hey, it’s me,” she grinned, her smile small but there. “I can handle whatever bullshit these guys try and put me through.”

But she wouldn’t have anyone to guard her. No one in the Dragon Lily would be by her side. “We work in pairs,” I grumbled quietly, “Specifically so we have someone to watch our back; you’re not better than that.”

Toph snorted and jabbed herself confidently in the chest. “I’m the greatest fucking earthbender in the world; I can handle myself.”

Yeah, that was Toph.

Her hand settled on my arm for a moment, and she looked strangely contemplative. “But,” she said, quieter, “I think if I did get into trouble you’d probably be there with some stupid fucking rescue regardless so it wouldn’t matter.”

Anya grimaced, her head bowing down, “I understand that it’s a large ask, but we promise to return your-“ she looked between us, seemingly confused, “Girlfriend to you?”

Toph’s face flared red, and she spun the earth and air trembling at the motion, “I ain’t his fucking girlfriend!” she roared out, then turned to glare at me, “This is all your fault, you womanizing asshole!” she spat before beginning to stomp toward the Avatar’s group.

I rolled my eyes; leave it to Toph to say something like that, mean it, but still get pissed at me whenever someone tried to imply we were in a relationship.

And judging by Katara’s horrified gaze, I had apparently confirmed every bad thing she had already thought about me. Sokka was simply avoiding my gaze, staring at Toph with an awed look as if she was witnessing her personal hero.

Anya looked caught between laughing and simply walking away to process everything that had been revealed to her.

“Well, are we going?” Toph snarled, kicking the Avatar’s group into high gear as they fled before her.

Ty Lee sidled up beside me, worming her way under my arm. “She’d be so much happier just admitting she likes you,” she said sagely.

The air trembled around her, but Ty Lee grinned unconcerned, crossing her arms. “And she’s still not as good an airbender as me,” she giggled.

I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “And what do you think happens when she gets good enough?”

“Oh, she’s going to totally try and flatten me,” Ty Lee giggled and then wrapped her arms firmly around my arm, submerging it fully into her breasts, the soft warmth of them enveloping me. “But you’ll save me,” she batted her eyes cheerfully up at me.

“I will?” I asked dryly.

Ty Lee nodded and then leaned into my ear, brushing her lips against it softly. “Because when we find a moment, I’m going to finally see for myself how much I’ve wound you up for the last four years.”

“Ty Lee,” I said, not sure what I was saying, if I was chiding or if I was making a plea, the words quietly leaving my lips.

She hummed softly, shaking her head, smiling softly at me, “Yue and Azula want to wait for marriage; that’s fine. Mai’s still fighting with herself, Suki won’t talk about anything but the mission, Ao may not even have those kinds of feelings, Yi and Ya don’t want either of them to be first, and Sosha,” she hesitated, “Sosha doesn’t feel like she has the right to those kinds of feelings which is why you still can’t give her a second bending.”

The air was quiet between us as she looked softly at me. “We’re adults, Zuko, and you’re straining under all this; I can tell. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

I snarled and then wrapped my arms firmly around Ty Lee’s waist, and she looked up at me in surprise. “Ty Lee, I love you,” I said firmly, my heart thundering in my chest in agreement. “I’ve told you that before and I mean it; what we have isn’t any less than what I have with other people. Don’t treat it like that.”

Ty Lee groaned, slamming her head into my chest in frustration. “Spirits damn it, Zuko, I’m fucking horny!” she snapped out, and the air froze as she panted lightly, her grey eyes bright, her cheeks beginning to color slightly.

“So please,” Ty Lee smiled cheerfully, “Do something about that?”

She smiled sweetly up at me.

-

Ty Lee pasted on her normal cheerful smile as she dragged Zuko into the hut that they had been staying in, nothing the feeling of Toph’s chi in the air around them. She looked back at Zuko, her heart tumbling slightly as he looked at her with darkened blue eyes.

“I want to see your actual eyes,” she said quietly.

Zuko nodded slowly and pressed flickering flame to them for several seconds, revealing pale golds that seemed to spark in the darkness as they looked at her.

Ty Lee’s heart clenched again, as did her poor neglected cunt.

Even if she was a bit nervous, she also wanted this more than anything. Slowly she began to strip out of her top, revealing her large pale breasts, her nipples still shyly inverted before Zuko’s eyes.

“Um,” she didn’t know what she was doing, “Could you-“ she hesitated for a moment, “Touch them?” Her eyes flicked away, unable to meet Zuko’s soulful gold.

He stepped across the space, and she felt his hand gently grip her almost painfully sensitive flesh, squishing between his fingers as they spilled out.

She gasped, the air escaping her mouth against her will, feeling the sheer heat and warmth through his palms.

“Ah~” She reached her hands out blindly, seizing onto Zuko’s biceps as he continued to massage her chest.

She could feel slick wet heat beginning to flare out in the junction of her thighs even as she felt her nipples shyly emerge, standing out hard, proudly under Zuko’s gaze.

“You’re beautiful, Ty Lee,” Zuko murmured into her ears, and Ty Lee’s cheeks flushed bright red against her will.

She tried to retain control of the situation. “I bet you say that to any girl who lets you play with her chest,” she murmured, leaning up to nip gently at his neck with her teeth.

She let loose another soft moan as his hands continued to trace her torso, shifting down to her slim abdomen, pressing against her soft yet firm flesh even as he bent his neck down, capturing one of her pebbled nipples with his mouth and sucked gently.

“Zuko,” Ty Lee murmured, a moment of shyness overcoming her, “You shouldn’t suck there~ ah those are for our babies.”

Zuko chuckled something dark and leashed in his voice, “I think they’re mine, especially when you make sounds like that, when I do this.”

He pressed his lips directly into the side of her neck, as he moved his hands up, gently stroking her large breasts, too big to be fully held in his hands, though that didn’t stop his effort.

“Mmm~” Ty Lee sighed, shaking her head rapidly. “No, Zuko, they’ll only be yours after you fill me with your seed and make them swell with milk,” she sighed happily and then squeaked in surprise as she felt her pants being removed, stripped down her shapely legs.

Her underwear must have gone with the motion because suddenly she could feel cool air pressing against her humid mound.

Ty Lee giggled as she found herself lifted into the air suddenly, her legs now over Zuko’s shoulders, his face directly in front of her womanhood.

He paused, and she felt him stiffen before he looked up at her.

“Do you like it?” she asked, looking down into Zuko’s pale gold eyes, seeing the shape of her pubic hair carefully trimmed over her pubic mound in a clear lily shape. “It was super hard to get it just right!” she giggled again and then gasped as his lips gently made contact with her lower lips and he began to gently lick at her.

“Ah No Zuko,” she shook her head even as she made no motion to stop him, “A concubine should be the one serving her lord, not the other way around”

She let her torso roll backward, letting her legs remain locked around Zuko’s head as she bent backward and twisted herself so now her head was looking directly at the bulge in Zuko’s pants.

“It’s not fair for your concubine if she can’t treat her lord as well,” she said before pulling his pants down with her thumbs, removing his undergarment at the same time as she came face to face with her opponent.

It was a thick, long, throbbing mast she thought designed to punish teasing girls like herself, and she smiled, pressing a soft kiss to its flushed red tip.

Zuko stiffened, evidently not having expected it before he pressed further into her mons, spreading her lower lips further apart as he drove his twisting tongue further inside.

Ty Lee was unable to stifle her moan but decided to attempt to use it against Zuko as she pushed his mast deeper into her mouth, letting the vibration travel up his length.

His head hit something in the back of her throat, and she had to retreat, coughing, her eyes watering, and Zuko stopped looking down at her. “Are you okay?” he asked, “We can stop-“

Ty Lee growled and then resurged back onto the head of his penis, pushing him deeper into her mouth till she tickled the back of her throat.

She pulled back, taking a deep breath before she repeated the motion, again and again, developing a rhythm as she occasionally choked and gagged along his length.

The rhythm wasn’t enough to distract her from the building fire between her legs or how much fluid she was dripping out that was dripping down on top of her head in a humiliating fashion.

It wasn’t fair she had practiced for this, but it seemed Zuko knew her body better than she did, as his hands holding her leg gently massaged the firm tissue, sending electrical tingles through her, spurring on the wet heat dripping between her legs.

She was fighting a losing battle, and she knew it, but she was a member of Dragon Lily, and they didn’t know the meaning of surrender.

She sank down along Zuko’s shaft again, finally pushing him into her throat before her legs spasmed, tightening on Zuko’s head, and her vision flickered as pleasurable lightning shot through her, and she cried out, her throat vibrating against Zuko’s dick.

She felt him tense and then try and pull back, and instantly her arms that had been dangling uselessly shot out and grabbed around his waist, keeping him there.

She felt something hot and thick flowing down the back of her throat, seemingly unending, and it was only with deliberate use of airbending that she stayed conscious, filtering the necessary air through her nose and pockets of the fluid with conscious control as she alternated breathing and swallowing.

Evidently the tidal wave of liquid ended, and she drew back slowly, sucking for a moment on his tip to get the remaining slightly salty fluid free, holding it in her mouth as she unbent and went back to fully sitting on Zuko’s shoulders.

She looked down at him; his pale golden eyes darkened as he looked up at her. She opened her mouth shyly, showing her prize, her cheeks red, before she closed it and then swallowed, consciously making the motion slow and sensual.

“Is that all you got, Zuko?” she purred, reaching down between her legs and spreading her light pink folds for him, showing the small hole that contracted and expanded slightly before him. “I would think you want to claim all of me?” she said, smiling down at him, her cheeks a blushing red mess and her heart trembling.

“Ty Lee,” Zuko murmured, his words soft in her ears, “Are you sure?”

Ty Lee scowled, and she let the seductress fall to the side. “Zuko, I swear to Agni himself if you don’t fuck me, I’m going to chi block you until the only thing working is your cock, and then I’m going to ride you till you impregnate me,” she smiled sweetly down at him, “Okay?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. “Sure thing, Ty Lee,” he said.

Ty Lee uncoiled one of her legs, letting it down gently to the ground till she was in a standing split on her tiptoes, one leg still curled over Zuko’s shoulder, her glistening womanhood resting against Zuko’s cock, splitting her lips slightly apart.

Ty Lee hesitated, thinking as she looked at Zuko, “I’ve never had anything in me before except my fingers,” she said quietly. “Can you-“ she looked away. “Can you be gentle to start with?” she asked quietly.

Zuko nodded, and then his hands grasped her waist, easily picking her up and pressing his head against the seam between her legs, pushing against it gently. Her fluids were everywhere, which allowed it to slip in the smallest amount before her insides clenched, pushing against the intrusion.

He was so much bigger than her fingers, but it was also that it was Zuko pressing against her, and Ty Lee felt herself spasm as a shock went through her again and more fluid gushed out of her, and she shamefully realized she had another orgasm.

Oh no, she was a bad girl, wasn’t she? The type other ladies talked about for enjoying sex far too much?

Her cheeks shamefully red, Ty Lee couldn’t help herself but push herself further down his shaft, taking inch after inch slowly into her clutching depths, a small hiss escaping her lips until she found him fully seated against the back of her, pressing against her cervix.

Except she couldn’t feel his thighs, and she looked down in shock as she realized there was still more to go. Ty Lee knew she was small, but this was ridiculous.

A small whine emerged from the back of her throat, and she drew back before slamming her hips harshly against Zuko’s, gasping as he pounded against her cervix, her vision going spotty for a moment.

Oh. That felt good. That felt super good.

She looked up at Zuko, whose face was tight, and she could visibly see his restraint breaking strand by strand as he attempted to resist teaching her a lesson that she definitely deserved.

“Oh Zuko,” she murmured, pressing a palm against his cheek and grinning in her classic cheerful smile ruined by her red cheeks, “Won’t you use me to destress?”

Zuko pulled his hips back, and she felt her insides clenching, grasping, attempting to keep him inside, only to be treated to their well-deserved punishment for that arrogance as he slammed into her again.

Zuko slammed into her in massive, powerful thrusts, and Ty Lee felt her breasts bounce and shake with every motion as he powered into her, slowly and ruthlessly, the sheer force sending her mind into a fuzzy warm haze.

She kept looking up at Zuko, a bright smile on her face even as gasps and sighs left her lips as she was thoroughly rearranged to his liking; this was what she had wanted. This was what she was meant for.

Ever since she had spent those days in her childhood bouncing around rooftops with Zuko, somehow she had known it would end like this, where he would finally teach her a lesson for pushing him too far to her whims.

She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Her toes curled, and she cried out blissfully, her eyes rolling into the back of her head for a moment from a particularly forceful thrust.

A dull ache was beginning to settle in her as he continued to pound into her, a small pain in her cunt that was entirely unused to activity such as this was stretched and hollowed out by him.

She loved it.

“Harder~” she gasped, her voice catching as he pounded into her, “You have to do it harder, Zuko; I won’t learn my lesson otherwise.”

She broke into another giggling fit before suddenly her lips were captured by Zuko and her eyes widened in surprise.

This was her first kiss; the thought was somewhat dull and stupid in her head, but it was definitely her first kiss.

She was definitely a bad girl; what kind of girl loses her virginity before her first kiss?

Her cunt clenched around Zuko harder, and he hissed into her mouth, “You’re so fucking tight, Ty Lee,” he murmured.

“It’s not my fault~” Ty Lee shook her head, attempting to explain to him, “Your dick is too good, it’s making me feel-“ she broke into a shriek, collapsing against him both inside and out as he slammed deeper into her.

“Zuko~” she whispered against his neck, “You need to fuck me like you mean it, or else I’ll keep being a bad girl who causes you nothing but trouble.” She nipped at his pale skin, leaving a light red mark.

Zuko continued powering into her, stretching her apart with seemingly even more figure, and Ty Lee felt his heated flesh surrounding her, engulfing her even as her legs remained spread apart in a standing split.

Ty Lee clenched on him again, and she heard a grunt from Zuko, and she felt through the heat in him how close he was.

“Come on,” she murmured into his ear, “Come inside me, I want it.”

She giggled as Zuko’s grip on her tightened. “We can’t have kids yet, Ty Lee,” he murmured into her ear.

“I already drank my tea like a good girl,” Ty Lee murmured into his ear. “You won’t be getting me pregnant tonight,” she hummed before gasping as he hit a particularly sensitive spot.

“But wouldn’t you like that?” she continued murmuring against his neck frantically, “The line of airbenders continued through your blood? I’m sure they'd be so strong and~” she gasped against him, “powerful!” she cried out, climaxing again.

She felt Zuko erupt in her, his hot seed spurting inside her, filling her up. She looked down hazily to see his white fluid beginning to drip out of her in slow, fat drops to the floor.

“Awww,” she whined, shaking her head, “I wanted it all to stay inside.”

Her sore internal muscles flexed around him, feeling his still hard shaft, and she looked up at Zuko, surprised.

“You’re still hard,” she murmured tiredly.

Zuko shrugged, looking surprised himself. “I guess,” he said.

Ty Lee smiled at him, new energy beginning to stir through her, “We’re not stopping till that changes,” she breathed out happily before nipping his neck again.

Zuko drove himself back into her, and she cried out happily, even as her cunt muscles protested against the movement.

She could deal with that; what she couldn’t deal with was leaving Zuko unsatisfied.

-

Author's Note: If you’re wondering why Anya didn’t start her journey earlier, I want to be clear that because Zuko did not pursue her, setting her running from the South Pole, I genuinely do believe that Anya would have stayed hidden as long as she could, only when she didn’t have a choice but to leave would she actually go out to save the world.