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Fanfic: Head Games
Title: Head Games
Author: Dark Puck
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Pairing/character: Xin Wan (OC); Ichiro, Yui, and Kouji (OCs); Liu (OC)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mindbending of children, creeptastic
Notes: Xin Wan, Liu, and most other Dai Li OCs belong to Bex and are used with her permission and assistance.
Summary: A refugee child in Ba Sing Se is found somewhere she shouldn't be by a Dai Li agent. This proves disastrous for her and her brothers, as they have a secret: they're all from the Fire Nation...
Stringless Puppet
Existing in this place now are uncleanable lies
I wonder when it has begun
How far do I have to go to see the light?
Xi Zu can't understand why Lei has run away. It just isn't like her! The outside world has been cruel to her because of their mixed Fire blood, and she is rightfully wary of it. The only reason he hasn't been the same is probably because that same Fire blood enhances his anger at his sire and at those who harass his sweet little sister.
But still, something isn't right. Xin Wan seems… well, more annoyed than worried about Lei, all alone in Ba Sing Se. Of course, it's different here than it would be in their home village — there is no war in Ba Sing Se, and certainly nobody here has noticed the amber eyes that are a sure sign of Lei's heritage.
Xin Wan asks him constantly where Lei is, and that's something else Xi Zu can't figure out — Lei keeps moving. He has no idea why she won't stay put — unless she's deliberately trying to make it hard for him to find her. But why would she do that? What is going on in Lei's head?
His cousin is gone now, probably off to talk to the Dai Li. He has forbidden Xi Zu to leave the house to look for Lei, but the boy simply can't wait around for his sister. He has to go find her. This decided, Xi Zu locates paper and writing materials, then writes out a note for Xin Wan, apologising for disobeying him and explaining that he had to go out to find his sister. He's spent his whole life looking out for her, after all; he can't just stop now.
Ever the perfectionist, Xi Zu scours the note, looking for mistakes, and frowns — he's written 'Yui' where he could have sworn he had written 'Lei'. Annoyed, he blots out the error and rewrites the character, but the damage is done. With a sigh, he leaves the note on the table and slips out of the house like a wraith in the early evening hours.
By the time darkness falls, he's snuck out of the Lower Ring and is enjoying a bowl of noodles in the Middle Ring. Like most of the food here, it tastes exceedingly bland to him; Xi Zu can't help but wonder why he feels like his meals should be spicier.
He sighs. I could really go for some fire flakes.
— Fire flakes? Since when do I eat Fire Nation food?
Something is strange here, and Xi Zu can't help but feel that it's related to those nightmares he keeps having, of the firebender trying to kill him and another firebender — somebody he knows and loves — coming in to protect him.
Frowning, he rubs his chest, feeling the scar there under the fabric of his shirt. He should probably talk to Xin Wan about the nightmares when he brings Lei back.
But first he'll have to find Lei.
Xi Zu closes his eyes, seeking out the feeling that is his twin sister in his head, and checking its proximity to him. He frowns again; Lei has moved to yet another part of the Lower Ring. Even taking one of the earth trains, it will take him two hours to get near her, and in that time she will have certainly moved on.
Well, if you stay here, she'll only get further away, he reminds himself. He finishes his meal and then heads for the earth trains, checking the bag at his belt to make sure his sand is still there. Xin Wan has taught him more earthbending in the past two weeks than he's learned his whole life, but Xi Zu prefers working with the fluid, responsive sand that enables him to move almost as lightly as a Dai Li agent. Fast action and reaction are key to his preferred style of combat, though Xin Wan has assured him he won't see much in Ba Sing Se.
Xi Zu, however, believes in being prepared for all eventualities, and has thus kept up his practise with sand when Xin Wan worked and Yui and little Mi-Cha played under the watchful eye of one of the Dai Li trainees. Alak in particular had been interested in how Xi Zu earthbent, as had Mi-Cha's father, Commander Hyo.
It's odd, Xi Zu reflects now, but sometimes it had seemed to him that Hyo had pitied him and Lei. Maybe because of their Fire blood, or even their relation to Xin Wan — a blind man could see that the Commander and Xin Wan didn't get on. Dai Li are weird, he decides, paying for his ticket and taking his seat on the train.
Three hours is a long time, and he's going to use that to figure out how to convince Lei to come back with him.
Lei hasn't moved.
Xi Zu frowns as he steps off the earth train, tugging his jacket straighter. Maybe she's realised it's time to go back home.
Or maybe she's in trouble.
The boy's frown deepens, and he quickens his pace to get to his twin. If she's been kidnapped to get at Xin Wan, Xi Zu will make them regret that they were ever born!
It takes him another hour of walking to find Lei — and to realise she isn't alone. Two men stand with her, one old, short, and portly, the other young, taller, and athletic. Lei has a torch in her hand.
Xi Zu slows, his hand dropping to the bag at his side. "Lei, what are you doing?" he asks her.
Lei closes her eyes, then lets out a sigh and opens them again. "I'm not Lei," she says softly.
Xi Zu blinks. "Of course you are. You're my twin sister."
"I'm your twin sister," Lei tells him, "but I'm not Lei. And you're not Xi Zu. Xin Wan did something to us, made us remember fake lives."
"That can't be true!" Xi Zu cries. "Xin Wan loves us!"
"I know he does," Lei replies, stepping forward; Xi Zu shies away from the fire and then wonders why. He doesn't fear fire. "But he made us into Lei and Xi Zu. We're not Earth Kingdom. We're Fire."
"That's a lie! Our father—"
"Is going to freeze in hell," Lei interrupts him, "but he never raped our mother. I'm not Lei, I'm Yui."
Yui.
That name he'd written earlier.
"And you're not Xi Zu," she continues, "you're Kouji. My little brother. And we have an older brother. Ichiro. He gave up everything for you."
"What are you talking about?" Xi Zu demands, but his memory offers up his dream from last night, of the teenage firebender protecting him. He ignores it; it's only a nightmare, nothing more.
Lei— Yui— Lei bites her lip and looks up at the old man. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know how I broke through whatever he did to me."
He offers Lei a kindly smile. "Why did you come to Ba Sing Se?"
Xi Zu's twin hesitates, then she turns back to him. "I'm sorry, Kouji," she whispers, then she steps forward and swings her torch at him. The flames arc through the air and Kouji falls back, just barely avoiding the attack. He stares at his father with wide eyes, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Dad, why?" he cries, but his father isn't listening. The man has run mad, his eyes wide with hatred, fire blazing in his hands as he rants. Kouji can barely make out what his father is saying, so great is his fear.
He avoids another blast of fire, and another, but the fourth strikes him full in the chest and he falls back, screaming in pain as his shirt catches fire. "Dad, stop!" he cries through his tears, but his father is preparing another blow—
That is slapped aside as Ichiro dives in out of absolutely nowhere. At the same time, the flames surrounding Kouji are snuffed in an instant. Their father screams something, but Kouji can't understand it anymore, everything hurts and his heart is breaking, why, Father, I'm your son!
Kouji yelled and shot upward, his arms and legs tangling in sheets. He opened his mouth to scream again, but a warm hand clamped over his face, silencing him, and then Yui shrieked his name and exploded against him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding on like she'd never let go.
"Yui!" he cried through the hand on his mouth, and the hand moved so he could cling to his sister. It took Kouji a long time to calm down, but Yui was there and she was Yui and he was Kouji and he knew who he was now.
Finally, he was able to let go of his her and look around. They were in a small apartment, sparsely furnished and most likely in the Lower Rings. Well, that would make sense, wouldn't it?
They weren't alone, either; the hand that had earlier silenced him belonged to an angry-looking young man, about Ichiro's age, with dark hair and golden eyes. Across the room and by a stove was an old man, short and stocky and brewing tea. They had been with Yui earlier, he remembered, when he had still been— someone else.
The old man turned to him, and Kouji's eyes went wide. "Y-yui?" he whispered, taking her hand in his. How in the world had she gotten the Dragon of the West to help her?
"The tea is ready," said Prince Iroh. He smiled on seeing Kouji's expression, but only poured the tea and brought it out.
"I don't need any tea," snapped the angry young man, and he took himself into another room.
The twins blinked, but thanked Prince Iroh quietly before taking sips of their tea. Chamomile, Kouji realised quickly, and flushed. His waking had been very… yeah. He finished the cup without looking at anybody.
Silence stretched for a few moments, and Kouji felt Yui shift uncomfortably beside him. Finally, Prince Iroh gently asked, "Why did you leave your home colony?"
Yui's hand jerked in Kouji's; Kouji licked his lips and turned from Iroh to hide the welling tears. He had to be strong, dammit!
"Because," Yui said at last, her voice scarcely a whisper, "Father… tried to… tried to kill Kouji."
Kouji risked a peek, and saw the air around the prince warp slightly. Emotionbending. Well, that would make sense. He didn't know what Kouji was. If he knew… The boy shuddered, and Yui leaned into him to try and lend him her strength.
"I see." Prince Iroh's voice was quiet, but tight with anger. Much to Kouji's relief, however, he didn't follow that line of questioning further, instead inquiring about their travels across the Earth Kingdom.
Slowly, he drew from Yui and Kouji the story of how they had gone from New Sozin to Ba Sing Se, including the times Ichiro had been imprisoned for being in enemy territory, theft, and for breaking the Firebending Law — though Yui had actually left that one out, implying instead that Ichiro had picked a fight with the soldiers.
Kouji had the strangest feeling that Prince Iroh knew they were hiding things, but he never once called them on it, instead encouraging them.
Yui did most of the talking, since what little Kouji did remember of the early stages of their trip was scattered and fever-mad — while he had been conscious when Ichiro had been taken away the first time, he was still convinced the Earth Kingdom soldiers had been armadillo-bears.
She also downplayed her own lockbending, Kouji noticed, implying that she'd simply lifted the passports they needed to get across the water into the city rather than breaking into somebody's luggage to get them. Well, she probably had her reasons.
His sister wrapped up the tale with Ichiro finding them a small apartment and getting a job; when she finished, Prince Iroh frowned. "I see," he said slowly. "There is one thing I do not understand, however."
Kouji tensed — he was going to ask why. That had to be it.
"How did the Dai Li come to be so interested in your family?"
That wasn't why.
"I don't know," he admitted. "They got to Yui first—" He turned to his sister, hoping she might enlighten him, and frowned. She looked uncomfortable.
"I told you," she said quietly. "I don't remember."
"Ah, of course," Prince Iroh replied. "I had forgotten." He fell silent a moment, then said, "Yui — you were able to tell me where your brother was. Can you do the same for your other brother?"
Yui both shook her head, and Kouji answered for her. "No — we can only do it for each other. I think it's part of the whole twin thing."
Now the Dragon of the West frowned. "Troubling," he commented. "If they've captured him…" Molten eyes narrowed. "He needs to be found. I do not like the Dai Li with a boy of our nation."
Next Chapter
Current Location: my bed
Current Mood:  bouncy
Tags: character: iroh, character: kouji, character: yui, character: zuko, fandom: avatar, story: head games
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