Chapter Text
The Capital City was too hot. Too hot, and, well- it was the Fire Nation, of course it was hot. The capital of the Fire Nation. But it was always too hot, and you didn’t have to like it. Certainly you didn’t have to like it. You were used to the stiff, bracing breezes of the Earth Kingdom, the overcast clouds and vast mountains. Here, it was rocky in all the wrong ways, and not to mention it was hot.
Heat made you restless. Well, no. That wasn’t really the truth. Everything made you restless, and the heat was just an excuse. It wasn’t hot back in Ba Sing Se, after all.
But Ba Sing Se was full of cowards. And more than anything else, that got under your skin, more than heat or sun or whatever. There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Even now, your face twitched at that, and you felt your heart twist at the sound of Li Hua’s voice in your memory. You kicked a pebble down the road with a little too much force.
Thunk, went the pebble, embedding itself into a wall. Oops. You looked around, but it was the middle of the night, no one around to see. That didn’t make it any less dangerous, though- you were an earthbender in the Capital of the Fire Nation.
“Hey Firelord, good to see you, wanna see this cool rock thing I do when I’m angry?” you muttered to yourself, since you were apparently having a little Stupid Time hour. You hurried off to a different street, trying not to look suspicious, but hey, you were walking around the streets at midnight, wearing a cloak and talking to yourself. Well, beggars couldn’t be choosers.
You kept walking, this time slower, sedate. The rare breeze was a welcome and cool relief, ruffling your cloak, making you clutch your hood tighter. Your coin pouch was light enough that it shifted too, and that was enough to make you frown. You’d do a few odd jobs tomorrow, but then you’d have to leave for the next town. Maybe somewhere less hot. Hopefully somewhere peaceful, too. You wanted to explore more of the Fire Nation, and eventually find a ride to the abandoned Western Air Temple, but you couldn’t really do that if you were in jail.
“Take me back, oh, to sweet Omashu,” you hummed lazily, as you jumped from one paved stone to another, melody awkward and tangled on your tongue, “cold air, er, mmmm,” and you landed on a single shattered brick with decisiveness.
But all at once, you suddenly went silent. Even though it was dark, you could hear well enough, and see even better. The quiet thud of your jump, your absent humming, little tricks to help you see your environment and suddenly you felt- uncertain. Fear.
Because two streets away, in a courtyard, a kid was being dragged away by some guards. You would’ve strained your ears for some sound, but another jump onto the stones, and the kid was struggling noiselessly and, another jump, he was being thrown to the ground.
You didn’t even hesitate as you took off running. Towards him. There were… three guards. One was holding him, so he wouldn’t escape. One was watching for trouble. One was standing directly in front of the kid. And you were in sight of the courtyard now- it was the Noble District, everything was manicured and poised, why did they even have a spooky courtyard?- so you didn’t have much time to think about what was happening.
Could hear, though. Hear enough.
“-quiet! We were told to make this quick.”
“Then hurry. I don’t want to be seen.”
That was generally not a very good thing to hear, given the situation. The slight crackle of firebending, and the kid’s voice was muffled but so deeply, deeply scared that- that you panicked a little. You were only sixteen, you were allowed to be a little panicked.
Like your Dai Li cousin had taught you, you made gloves out of stone, and then climbed up the wall, digging improvised gauntlets into the rock and then carelessly vaulting over. You landed with a muffled sound, and looked up, just in time to see the main soldier preparing to strike a fiery fist into the kid’s heart.
And you panicked a lot.
“Stop!” draw their attention, first rule. And that got their attention. You extended a hand- you were going to get in so much trouble if they could see your face- and then punched both of your improvised gloves out as rock fists. They connected with the nearest guard with a satisfying crack, and he went sprawling onto the ground. He didn’t get up.
“Earthbender!” the one with the flaming fist shouted, and that made you freak out a little, so you brought your hands up and then slammed them down, as a section of the wall fell and covered him. That just left the one to the right- before he could escape, you made a complex motion, capturing his hands and feet. And when he lit up his own fists in fireballs, throwing one right at you, you felt the rush of heat and the kneejerk fear that came with it, and-
Released him.
Only to turn the ground under him to mud, and then solidify it just as fast. His helmeted head stared at you, struggling a little, but he was stuck. You exhaled shakily. The other two guards, they were just as stuck, and… and you’d done it.
You gripped your hood even tighter, and you knew you were going to be in so much trouble, but you allowed yourself to relax. Slightly. Just a little, and you looked to the kid still tied up in the center of the courtyard. He was looking at you with frantic, terrified eyes, and beneath his gag he was probably shouting or crying or both. You winced.
“I’m not gonna hurt you-” you attempted. He didn’t look very convinced. Then again, if you were suddenly approached by a firebender, you’d probably freak out too.
But you still held your hands up, and your voice cracked a little as you got quieter, “I’m sorry.”
You purposely didn’t move closer to him, so he could see your point, that you weren’t about to jump him. And maybe his wild eyes relaxed slightly, or maybe not, and you took the moment to stare at him. He had black hair that was in a Fire Nation ponytail, and golden eyes, and, tear tracks on his face with bruises and a few red marks.
“What… what were these guys gonna do to you?” you asked, but not like you expected an answer. That just made him shake harder. And you jolted forward, because you wanted to comfort him, but that just made him flinch harder and then you were both freaking out and to make matters worse-
“Guards! Help! I’ve been attacked!”
One of the guards had gotten his head free.
Not too far off, you could feel more guards coming to help, and you just- you panicked. Because they were trying to kill this kid- murder a kid! He looked like he was only eleven!- and you didn’t know if all the guards were in on this or not, but you weren’t going to leave him here. You weren’t going to just leave him to whatever this was. So you sprung the rest of the distance, wrapped your arms around the kid, and in an instant of absolute clarified alarm and dread, you bolted. Right out of the courtyard.
The boy you held tight was crying, and crying and crying, and the wind was whizzing by and it was too hot and the guards were shouting but-
But it would be okay.