Soldier's Boy

Sixteen

When he woke up the next morning, Lee had already gotten up, and was sitting staring out the window. It looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before — something that had been happening more and more often since the swamp.  The boy sat up and rubbed his eyes, then slipped from bed and moved to his brother's side.  "Couldn't sleep?"

He shook his head, and Kouji hugged him.  "Sorry," he said softly.

"Not your fault."

"Someone has to say it."  Kouji sighed and looked over at the others, still sleeping.  "Should we go get some breakfast?"

"You can, I'm not all that hungry. I'll go with you, though."

"Okay."  The two boys slipped from the room and made their purchases, and returned to the room just as Katara was waking up.

"Morning," she yawned in their general direction. "Oo, breakfast, did you get enough for the rest of us, too?"

Grinning, Kouji offered her a mango in answer.  She grinned back and started munching on it.  Sokka, seeming to have a radar for food, was the next to wake, while Kouji was eating a banana, and Aang followed him from dreamland.  After all of them — except Lee, who insisted dully that he wasn't hungry — had eaten, they got their things together and set out to search for the Blind Bandit.

Kouji and Aang conferred while Sokka went on happily about his bag matching the championship belt, and decided that the best place to start looking would be the earthbending academy, where they ran into the two boys from yesterday. After Katara glared them into submission, they informed the group that no one knew where the Blind Bandit came from or went afer her fights. When Aang asked about the girl in his vision, they told him that the richest family in town, the Bei Fongs, had a winged boar as their crest, but didn't have a daughter.

"Flying boar is good enough for me," Aang said, cheerfully. "Let's check it out!"

"Definitely!" Kouji agreed.  He beat Aang out the door.

"What's his deal?" Katara asked Lee.

"He has a crush on her. Don't tell him I know about it, I don't think he knows I do," he whispered back.

After a bit of a walk, they came to a large, walled estate, with a flying boar pictured above the door. Aang excitedly informed them it was the boar from his vision, then, rather than knocking and trying to go in that way, snuck around to the side and vaulted over the wall.  Kouji climbed up after him, not bothering with handholds and thus sliding halfway down once, then catching himself and finishing.  "Why are we not knocking?" he asked as he landed next to the Avatar.

"It's more fun this way," Aang said, as Lee — the last over, defaulting to his rearguard habit — joined them.

"Yeah, but I don't think sneaking around is going to win anybody over," Kouji pointed out.

As if on cue, their feet were knocked out from under them by a sudden unexpected mound shooting up beneath them.  All five of them went flying; Aang and Katara landed in bushes, Sokka flat on the ground.  Both Kouji and Lee had twisted midflight and thus landed on their feet, Kouji in a bending stance and Lee with his swords out.

The Blind Bandit, now in a pretty, white-and-pale-green dress, glared down at Aang. "What are you doing here, Twinkletoes?"

"How'd you know it was me?" Aang asked, sheepishly.

"Don't answer to Twinkletoes, it's not manly!" Sokka hissed.

"You're the one whose bag matches his belt," Katara pointed out, extracting herself from her bush.

Kouji was frozen in his bending stance, his face bright red.  His mouth worked, but nothing came out.  This was perhaps fortunate, given his expression; it was very likely only babble would have emerged.  Lee, noting this and frowning, slid between his brother and the girl, swords still out.

"How did you find me?" she demanded.

"Well," Aang said, getting up out of his bush, "a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth, and then I had a vision in a magic swamp, and—"

"What Aang is trying to say," Katara hastily intervened, "is he's the Avatar, and if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Firelord."

The girl held out a hand to stop Katara. "Not my problem. Now, get out of here, or I'll call the guards."

"But we n-need help!" Kouji managed to blurt out.  "Aang a-and I need a teacher—"

She put on a simpering, frightened voice. "Guards! Guards, help!"

Lee grabbed his brother's collar and dragged him away, following the others; Luckily, Kouji didn't resist him.

Two men in livery came running. "Toph! What happened?" one of them asked, worried.

"I — thought I heard someone," the others could hear her saying as they scurried back over the wall. "I got scared…"

"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph," the guard said, gently, leading her away.

"…I wonder who the real personality is," Kouji said softly.  "Bei Fong Toph — or the Blind Bandit."

"My bet's on the Blind Bandit," Lee replied, just as softly. "It's easier to play weak than to play strong."

Kouji nodded.  "Yeah…"

"Well, we're trying the front door now," Aang said, leading them that way.

"Maybe we should clean up first?" Kouji asked.  "We're a bit… um, scruffy."

"We'll be fine," Aang assured him, then promptly went up to one of the guards on the door. "Hi! I'm the Avatar and these are my friends! Can we come in, please?"

Kouji winced, and frantically tried to brush the dust off his pants and hide the hole in the knee, then tried to smooth down his hair.  There was a little confusion, then they were announced and brought in to meet the Bei Fongs. Toph was there, looking sulky and annoyed. Her father looked a little surprised. Her mother showed no expression at all, though that may have been more due to the heavy makeup she was wearing than any lack of opinion on her part.

The children were quickly invited to stay for dinner, which Aang immediately and cheerfully accepted for all of them.  Kouji, hiding behind Lee, internally panicked and wished that Aang had agreed that they should go change — especially now that he could see the bloodstain on the hem of Lee's shirt.  After a few minutes of highly uncomfortable small talk, they were ushered into a dining room.

"Blow on it, it's too hot for her," Toph's father ordered the servant who brought out the girl's food.

What the hell? Kouji thought, trying his hardest not to stare at her.  I'm starting to see why she sneaks out to fighting tournaments.

"Allow me," Aang said, clearly trying to butter up the Bei Fongs before asking if he could borrow their daughter for several months on a long quest of uncertain survivability, and sent a tiny tornado across the table.  This brought applause from the Bei Fong parents — and Master Yu, who was also a guest — as well as a magnificent attempt to refrain from eyerolling on Kouji's part.

"Avatar Aang," Madam Bei Fong said, bowing her head slightly, "it's an honor to have you with us."

"In your opinion," her husband asked, hard on her heels, "how much longer do you think the war will last?"

"I'd like to defeat the Firelord by the end of the summer," Aang explained, "but I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first." He gave Toph a very significant look. Her eyes narrowed.

"Well," said the master of the house, "Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land."  Kouji bit his tongue until he could taste blood.  "He's been teaching Toph since she was little."

"Then she must be a great earthbender!" Aang said, grinning. "Probably good enough to teach someone OW!"

Kouji grinned — he'd felt the earth move, even if nobody else had.  Toph's father looked at around the table quizzically. Toph made a tiny smile and politely ate more of her food.  "Toph is still learning the basics," Master Yu said, making Kouji very glad that he wasn't eating or drinking anything at that moment.  He bit the inside of his cheek this time.

"Yes," her father said, "and, sadly, because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master."

Aang exchanged a confused look with his friends. "Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is." His chair slid forward of its own accord, and Aang's entire face was rather intimately introduced to his dinner.

"I don't get it," Kouji admitted.  "What does sight have to do with earthbending?  Badgermoles can do it, and they're blind."  His chair did the same trick Aang's had, too fast for him to counter.  He was, however, able to turn his head to the side rather than get a face-full of food.

Aang sat back up, pushed the bowl onto the top of his head, glared around a minute, then smirked and, by means of a very fake sneeze, blew everyone's bowls over.

"Real mature, Aang," Lee breathed, trying to wipe off his shirt before it stained and he lost yet another.  Kouji passed him a napkin to help, glaring at the Avatar.

"What's your problem?" Toph snapped, shooting up out of her chair.

"What's your problem?" Aang snapped back, also rising.

Everyone stared at them, until Madam Bei Fong broke the tension. "Well, shall we move to the living room for desert, then?"

"We're never going to get her to teach us," Kouji moaned quietly to Lee, where nobody else could hear him.  "Why'd I bring up the stupid badgermoles?  Stupid, stupid—"

"If we get five minutes alone with her, we might be able to convince her that coming with us is a way to escape," Lee cut him off. "If we can get five minutes alone with her, and Aang doesn't do anything else stupid."

"In this house?  Lee, she has to hide what she is even more than I ever did!"  His hand drifted to his chest.

"I know," he said, wearily, one of his own hands twitching slightly in a vaguely-recognizable pattern. "So she's pretty much a lost cause. But it's not your fault." 

Kouji sighed, carefully took Zuko's hand, and they caught up to the rest of the group.  Desert was just as painfully awkward, and the Bei Fongs insisted the five of them stay here, rather than going back to their hotel. They were shown to a large guest room on the second floor, with Appa waiting for them right outside.

Just as Aang was saying goodnight, Toph appeared in their doorway. Aang yelled and shifted into a goofy, half-combative stance.

"Relax," she said. "Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, okay?"

Aang stared at her for a minute, then nodded, relaxing. "Will you listen to me now?"

"Let's go outside."

"Okay." He waved goodbye to the others, then followed Toph out into the garden.

Woe-faced, Kouji watched them go.

Lee watched them, too, then sighed. "Well, they got their five minutes. Let's see if Aang can talk her into leaving."

"I hope so," Kouji replied, moving over to the window and staring out it.

Lee joined him there. After a couple minutes, Aang and Toph came into view, though they were far too far away to be overheard.  The muscles in Kouji's shoulders tightened, though he said nothing.

Lee put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed slightly, just as the girl spun and crouched down. "What is she…?" Lee started.

Before he could finish, one of the professional earthbenders from before shot up out of the ground in front of them, and two metal cages dropped from above, trapping the two twelve-year-olds. The other fighters joined them.

Lee used several words he'd never uttered in his brother's presence before.

"Sokka!  Go get help!" Kouji snapped, pulling himself up to balance on the window sill for a moment, then throwing himself from the room and racing for the earthbenders.  "Aang!  Toph!"

Lee followed, pulling his swords out as he leapt.

But by the time they got there, the earthbenders and cages were gone. In their place had been left a note, pinned to the ground with a long knife.  Lee had to pull Kouji off the wall and hold him off the ground to prevent him from climbing over and following.  "We don't play by their rules, one of them could get hurt," he hissed, as Sokka, Katara, and Toph's parents joined them.

"But—" Kouji started as Sokka pulled the knife — and note — from the ground.

It was, in fact, a ransom demand, from Xīn Fù and the Boulder, demanding five hundred gold pieces in exchange for Toph's safe return. Due to Sokka's inappropriate and very distracting glee over now having The Boulder's autograph, Lee was the only person who noted the fact that the note made no mention of Aang.

Kouji punched Sokka in the arm and took the note from him.  "Grow up," the ten-year-old told him tartly.

"Master Yu," Toph's father was saying, "I need you to help get my daughter back."

"We're going with you," Katara said.

Toph's mother walked quietly over and knelt between the two depressions in the earth. "Poor Toph...she must be so scared..."

Lee got a tight, unreadable look on his face and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll get her back.  I promise."

"Let's go," said Kouji quietly, his grey eyes dark.

It took them a couple minutes to organize, and for Master Bei Fong to retrieve the money from the safe in the house, and then they set out for the arena.  Kouji was oddly quiet, his face set as he flexed his hands.  Lee, too, was quiet, and spent those few minutes checking the edge on his swords. Clearly, he was expecting to have to fight.

"They'll pay for this," breathed the younger boy as they reached the door.

"Let's just get the hostages out intact. Worry about payback when Toph and Aang are safe," Lee breathed back, as Master Yu shot the money over at Xīn Fù.  Toph was released, but Aang was not. 

Kouji's eyes narrowed.  "And Aang?"

Xīn Fù unrolled a wanted poster. "I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar."

This was all the provocation Lee needed, after the day he'd been having and the lack of sleep the night before. Before the others could stop him, his swords were out and he'd shot himself across the arena at the earthbender.

"Lee!" Kouji called in warning as the rest of the professional earthbenders arrived, cutting Lee off.

Lee snarled, and turned his focus to 'Fire Nation Man' instead, pumped too full of adrenaline and rage to pay attention to the hits he was taking, or Aang telling them to leave, that he'd be okay. 

"We stick together!" Kouji yelled up at Aang, then threw himself into the fray with a series of small rocks flung at the Boulder.  The bigger man blocked this attack with a  shield of earth, which he then punched at the small boy.  Kouji yelped and dove to one side, barely avoiding the attack. However, the difference in skill between the Boulder and the self-trained Kouji was painfully obvious; the boy was panting and tired and starting to falter.

Lee was not so lucky with his own dodging, already slowed significantly, to the point where it was probably just his rage keeping him on his feet. 

And then help arrived, from an unexpected source. At Katara's urging, Toph pulled herself away from her overprotective father, and quickly and neatly — though with perhaps a few more insults than was strictly necessary — shot all the professionals and Xin Fu out of the ring, one right after the other, while Katara and Sokka worked on the metal cage.

Breathing heavily, Kouji watched her in awe while he pulled Lee out of the way.  "She's so beautiful…"

Lee paused, bewildered, when there were suddenly no more targets. "Huh…?" he mumbled, then fell over.

Kouji caught him, and staggered.  "She took all of them out in like thirty seconds," he told his brother.

"Oh…" Lee struggled to push himself upright again, or at least take more of his weight off his brother. "Ow…"

"You should learn to dodge," Kouji told him as they rejoined their friends.  He looked over at Toph.  "Th-thanks," he said to her, flushing.

"Whatever," she said, as Katara made Lee sit down so she could clean him up.

"That was brilliant, Lee," the waterbender said, exasperated. "Really brilliant. You're lucky you didn't break anything."

"What was he supposed to do?" Kouji asked her.  "Just let them sell Aang to the Fire Nation?"

"He wasn't supposed to charge in there alone," she said, trying to at least lessen the worst of the bruising — which she thought, but didn't say, might actually be something torn — on his torso.

When she'd cleaned him up enough that he could walk with minimal staggering, they headed back to the Bei Fongs' house, in eerie quiet.

"Dad," Toph started, when they got there. "I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient, helpless blind girl you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. I love being an earthbender! And I'm really, really good at it! I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me a secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me. But I'm twelve years old, and I've never had a real friend. So, now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me."

Kouji watched quietly, leaning into Lee and very carefully not feeling his ribs.  Surely the Bei Fongs would understand…

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph," Master Bei Fong assured his daughter. "It's made me realize something."

"It has?" Toph asked, eagerly.

"Yes," he replied. "I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day."

"What?" yelped Kouji, rocketing upright.  "But she's amazing!  A master!  Sir—"

"We're doing this for her own good," Toph's mother said, gently, with a note of sadness in her eyes.

"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out," Master Bei Fong said, before Kouji or any of the others could interrupt again. "They are no longer welcome here."

"I'm sorry, Toph," Aang called, over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, too," she said, sounding near tears. "Goodbye, Aang."

Having no reason to stay any longer in the town, they went straight to Appa and started loading up. Lee, noting a certain stiffness in the way Kouji was moving, sent Katara over to check him out, mentally upbraiding himself for not doing so sooner after the fight.

"I'm fine!" Kouji protested, giving Katara a pleading look: don't tell him I'm hurt!

Katara, while Lee was distracted helping Aang with the saddle, cleaned him up, relieved to find nothing too serious. Kouji was better at dodging rocks than Lee, so, like his brother, had no broken bones. The bruising was only half as severe.

Now his look was grateful as he called over to his brother, "Katara says I'm fine!"  He got carefully to his feet and helped her up, then went to join the packing process.

Just as they were about to take off, Toph came running up to them.

"Toph! What're you doing here?" Aang asked.

"My dad changed his mind," she told him. "He said I was free to travel the world."

"Well, we better get out of here, before your dad changes his mind again," Sokka said.

"Good idea," she agreed.

"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph," Aang said, grinning.

"Speaking of which, I wanna show you something," she said.

"Okay!" He jumped down, eager for the lesson, and she knocked him off his feet.

"Now we're even. And I'll take the belt back." She held out her hand. Sokka mournfully dropped it on her head.

Once they were airborne, Lee slid up next to her, with an odd, closed expression. "You ran away, didn't you."

"Shut up." She punched him.

"It's okay," said Kouji, not looking at her.  "Lee and I did, too."

Lee flinched, and returned to his usual spot to curl up and star off into space.  Confused, Kouji turned his head and looked over at him, then crawled across the saddle to lay down beside him as not-Fluffy hopped onto the older boy's chest.  "My mom and I fought a lot, the last few months before I ran away," he said, abruptly, after a few moments of silence. "Now she's dead and I'll never get a chance to say I'm sorry."

Kouji flinched, remembering Zhao.  Not once did she beg…  He wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him tightly.  Lee didn't hug back, but curled a little closer, shaking slightly. The boy said nothing.  What could he say?  There was nothing he could say to make Lee feel better, nothing that was not an empty platitude.  So instead he tightened his hold and did his best to comfort Lee in silence.

After a couple minutes, Lee pulled away, surreptitiously wiping at his eyes. "So. Where to next?"

"Far away from here," Kouji said thoughtfully.  "And then Aang and I can learn earthbending."

"So a practice spot. Good plan."

Kouji crawled forward to confer with Aang about a place to eventually land, and Lee returned to staring off into space, hugging his knees to his chest.

Current Location: my bed
Current Mood: bored
Tags: au, avatar, fanfic, soldier's boy