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Fanfic: Dependent
Title: Dependent
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: G/K
Summary: The orphaned daughter of a Dai Li agent has gone missing, and they have been ordered to find her.
Notes: An AU in which Lu Ten kills Hyo and is then captured by Long Feng. Takes place three years or so before the canon timeline. Liu, Jae, and Qin all belong to Bex and are used with her permission and input. Thank you, darling!
There were likely several things Captain Liu could have been doing rather than searching for a missing child. But this child wasn't an ordinary one — she was the recently-orphaned daughter of one of their own, and Long Feng had ordered the Dai Li to find her.
And so it was that Liu was taking a chance and travelling deep below the city, to the abandoned ruin that had been Ba Sing Se a long time ago. Few remembered it even existed — but the Dai Li were among those few, and still maintained passages that led to it.
He emerged into a large cavern, lit bright as day by green, phosphorescent crystals. The walls were peppered with homes built into the very living rock by ancient earthbenders, save for the rear of the room. This wall was smooth, and neatly bisected by a waterfall that crashed into a bender-made river bordering two squares of earth before flowing out on either side.
The light-crystals thrust from the ground in what had once been a manmade pattern, but nature had had her way with it for hundreds of years. Now parts of the pattern were smashed, while other crystals grew where the ancients would have found them inconvenient. Against one of these natural formations huddled a small figure. The air was filled with the sound of quiet sobbing, nearly drowned out by the waterfall.
Without a doubt, this was Hyo's missing child.
Not wanting to frighten her, Liu let his steps drag against the ground and his robes rustle. She gasped as he drew closer, finally picking up on his approach, and scrambled out of sight. He frowned, knowing the scarf that covered his face and throat would conceal the expression. Apparently she had been told stories about what happened to unaccompanied little girls — and knowing how ill-liked the Dai Li were, Liu couldn't help but wonder if that had been done to make certain she remained with whoever took her in.
Unfortunately, the damage done to him during the Siege had left him unable to speak, unable to call a reassurance. Instead, he drew as close as he felt able, then knelt and took out his writing case. Carefully he poured a measure of water on his inkstone, then mixed it with an inkstick. Movement caught his eye, but Liu remained focused on his task, spreading a sheet of paper on the ground before he finally glanced up as if considering what to write.
The child really looked nothing like Hyo had, he noted. She was peering out from behind her light-crystal cover now, neither coming forward nor fleeing. He returned his attention to his paper and began to paint.
The spirits were cruel, Liu thought, to first take one of the few agents to have family, and then to take the man's widow before their child was old enough care for herself.
But Hyo had been Dai Li, and the Dai Li took care of their own. Liu remembered Hyo, remembered watching him grow from an angry boy to a rational man. He could have gone far in the organisation if he had lived, and now his only child was their responsibility.
If Liu could convince the little girl to come with him.
The spirits also enjoyed a good laugh at the expense of mortals; he imagined they must be in hysterics at the moment, allowing the only mute Dai Li agent to find a child almost too young to read. There were, however, ways around that, and she wasn't so young as to have no memory of her father.
Liu finished his painting and placed it where she could see it, then began work on a second, in case her recollection didn't include Hyo's face. He had only just begun sketching her mother's face when movement caught his eye: the child had sidled out from behind her cover and was examining the portrait of her father.
Remarkably for a child two days missing, her clothing was immaculate, her hair unstyled but brushed to perfection. Her face, however, was red and blotchy from crying, and in her right hand she clutched a shard of light-crystal so hard her knuckles had gone white.
Liu set aside his second picture and now painted directly on the ground, using simple child's characters so she could understand him. 'Hello.'
She didn't reply, but lifted her free hand and waved solemnly.
'Are you Mi-Sun's daughter?' he asked, taking care to keep the characters simple.
The girl hesitated, but then nodded.
'Your father was a member of the Dai Li,' he wrote. 'So am I. I have been asked to find
you. Family of the Dai Li should not be lost.'
It took her some time to read the message, but he could tell by the end that she didn't comprehend it. Stifling a sigh, he tried again. 'You are Hyo's daughter. He was Dai Li. We do not let family of the Dai Li suffer.'
This she understood, and communicated thus with a nod.
'The Dai Li would like to give you a home.'
At that she startled, her eyes flying wide. 'If you wish it,' he added, 'come with me.'
She hesitated, biting her bottom lip, but then she walked to him. Liu smiled at her, knowing it would show in his eyes, then rolled up his writing case and offered his hand to her. Trustingly she slipped her hand in his, and he led her out of Old Ba Sing Se.
Still she clutched her light-crystal like a lifeline, and this close, Liu realised that its sides were perfectly smooth, its edges too rounded for just cave litter. Hyo's little one was special, and certainly must not be lost.
The Dai Li had but one crystalbender, who had been discovered when his family attempted to sell him to a jeweller. They had taken him away, but hadn't been able to intercept any others. Qin would be delighted that another had been spared the crystalbender's fate.
By the time they reached the palace, Liu was carrying her — she was only a little girl, still unused to the great distances of Ba Sing Se. He set her down at last on reaching the kitchens, ignoring the surprised and wary looks the servants turned on him.
Keeping one of her hands in his, Liu laid his other hand against the wall and applied his earthbending to the stone. 'The child requires food,' he carved. 'I suspect she has not eaten in two days.' The head cook gave him a strange look, but called over a subordinate and set him to the task of feeding her.
To the surprise of all, despite the speed with which she devoured her food, the little girl spilled not one bit, nor did she leave a mess behind. The boy who had fed her looked relieved that he had so little to clean up, and Liu smiled and beckoned to the girl. She rose promptly and followed him out of the room, trotting to keep up with his longer strides.
When they arrived at Long Feng's office, Liu knocked, then pushed his way inside. The Cultural Minister and Director of the Dai Li sat as his desk, doing paperwork of some sort. Behind him, a green fire burned, tinting everything in the room oddly. He looked up, and a faint expression of relief briefly crossed his eyes. "Ah," he said, "you found her."
Nervous, the child ducked behind Liu, but she peeked out at Long Feng. The Director bestowed a smile on her, then the mute agent handed him the report he'd written while Mi-Cha was eating, summarising his discovery of the girl. Long Feng scanned the paper, and his eyebrows rose. Looking at the girl, he said, "Captain Liu is going to take you to meet Qin, young lady."
She withdrew further behind Liu, and the captain squeezed her hand reassuringly. She relaxed slightly and nodded, squeezing back. He then bowed to Long Feng, a move that the girl echoed, then he led her out of the office and went looking for Qin.
It was a long walk, not made any easier by servants and guardsmen staring at the little girl trailing after the Dai Li agent. At first, she tried to hide behind Liu, but as they moved on, she was clearly becoming more and more upset. Finally, he scooped her up in his arms, and she put her arms around him and buried her face against his neck.
A rustle of cloth, and Liu looked up in time to see a soldier's over-robe settle gently over the little girl. He nodded thanks to General How's aide, who nodded in reply, and they both moved on.
In his arms, the child slowly relaxed, and after several minutes, Liu found his quarry. The crystalbender was tucked in a side room with another agent, Jae; both men were focused on a game board. Jae was the first to look up, and his eyebrows rose in interest as Liu set the little girl down and took the over-robe off of her. She looked around, blinking, as Qin looked up as well and said, "Hello, Liu, miss." The girl bowed her hello, which Qin returned in the abbreviated fashion of the Dai Li.
Jae made a move on the board.
Liu noted that, but did not censure the younger agent. Instead he laid his hand on the table, carving a message with his earthbending. 'Long Feng has commended her to you, Qin. We suspect she is a crystalbender.'
Qin blinked, startled, as the child moved around the game board, standing on her tiptoes to see. He turned dark green eyes to the girl. "What's your name, miss?"
The was a long moment of silence, and Liu wondered if she would speak at all — trauma affected some worse than others. Then, at last, she said, "Mi-Cha."
The crystalbender smiled in reply. "My name is Qin, Mi-Cha."
Peering curiously at her, Jae put in, "I'm Jae."
"H-hello," she answered, looking slightly overwhelmed. Liu couldn't really blame her — so much had happened to her in such a short time, and the trek through the palace hadn't helped at all.
Qin removed a piece of quartz from one of his two rock bracelets, toying with it. "Do you know if you can earthbend, Mi-Cha?"
The little girl hesitated, uncertainty crossing her face, but then she solemnly offered Qin her bit of light-crystal. Rather than simply take it, the agent gave her his quartz in exchange. Mi-Cha's face lit up, and she promptly focused on the new stone, running her fingers over it and turning it over and over in her hands.
While she focused on that, Qin was doing the same thing to the crystal she'd given him, only much more intent. Jae merely looked bored.
Finally, Qin looked up. "Well, she's definitely a crystalbender, sir," he said. Liu nodded, and Mi-Cha looked up, clearly not paying any attention to what they were doing. "May I...?" she asked Qin.
"Go ahead," he replied, and she smiled and set to work. All three Dai Li watched her, though Jae still seemed bored.
Under her hands, Qin's crystal elongated, the edges growing round. She bent slower than Qin, but the other crystalbender was two decades her senior and had years of practise on her. Soon, however, she returned the quartz to the state it had been initially and offered it back to its owner.
"Thank you," said Qin with a smile, and he traded her back. She smiled in return, holding her light-crystal close like other girls would a doll.
'Congratulations,' Liu wrote. 'You have a foster-daughter.'
Mi-Cha hid a yawn, and Qin's smile faded to a hunted look. Liu hid his amusement and added, 'We should take her home.' He picked the girl back up and gave the other agent a significant look.
Sighing with regret, Qin knocked his king over on the game board, indicating his surrender to Jae. Oblivious, Mi-Cha snuggled close against Liu, resting her head against his shoulder before closing pale green eyes.
Current Location: my room
Current Mood:  awake
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