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Chapter Text

Western Air Temple
Namjoon

The child is scruffy as a mutt, obviously malnourished, yet somehow filled with boundless energy. Namjoon can't fathom that they are only two years apart.

Namjoon has been with the temple since birth, has lived and breathed the nomadic life, has recently completed his studies and been granted the sacred markings of an air nomad. And now, to punctuate this great achievement: a responsibility in the form of a 15 year old who has obviously never had cause to meditate in his entire existence.

Taehyung is an orphan, with untapped potential as an airbender. While collecting supplies in Daegu, Monk Jamyang had been pickpocketed by Tae, gold scooped out by the wind and carried across a current to the ruffian loitering nearby. When asked if he wanted to prosecute, Jamyang decided instead to offer Tae a home, and training.

They live practically on top of each other, sharing a room with barely just enough space to fit the extra cot. They eat together and work together. Sometimes when the water supply runs low, they have to bathe together, and isn’t that an adventure in innuendo and awkwardness. Taehyung learns theory and practical bending from the masters, same as Namjoon did, but Namjoon is expected to give him extra help, to get him up to speed with all the monks who began their journeys when they were 5, not 15.

Namjoon’s disgruntled. He doesn’t mind taking care of a new monk, but Tae doesn’t seem to want to take any of this seriously. He complains about everything, the vegetarian food, the early morning hikes, the rigorous bending training and endless amounts of theory. Granted, Tae always has a wide smile despite his whining, and attacks each task with gusto regardless of how vocally he loathes it.

But there is a time and place to goof off, and that isn’t when Namjoon is trying to transcribe ancient texts. Tae demands attention incessantly, chattering away, bending his way up the walls and dropping his head directly into Namjoons field of vision, hair shoving itself unceremoniously in Namjoons mouth.

“That’s it. Thats, that’s the limit.” Namjoon says into Tae’s hair. Taehyung’s airball runs out, and he falls directly onto Namjoon’s crotch.
“Sorry Joon!” Taehyung clambers off, wincing as if he is the one in deeply traumatising pain.
“I was wrong!” Namjoon wheezes, “This is the limit. I will never have children.”

In an attempt to redirect Taehyung’s obviously boundless energy, Namjoon has him muck out the bisons’ stalls. He is a natural with the bison. The task takes twice as long as it could have, with Tae halting his work to jump up and pet their ears, itch their backs and bear hug them (bison hug them?). After two hours of heavy manual labour, the sheer joy on Taehyung’s face belies the feces he is splattered with.

Taehyung finally clears the last stall in the adults stables, before sprinting to the calves across the clearing, hefting his own into his arms. Yeontan is much too large to carry at this point, but that doesn’t stop Taehyung. Namjoon can’t fault him, hugging his own bison, Moni. Moni rumbles in return, licking a soggy stripe up Namjoon’s arm. Namjoon grins fondly, calling Taehyung over to take a flight with him. The boy deserves it after so much work.

Jamyang turns out to be right about Taehyung’s potential. The boy picks up in a day concepts that took Namjoon weeks to grasp, his flickering attention during theory turning to rapt focus when working practically. Taehyung makes a game of flinging chandraki pieces up in the air, juggling them from several feet away and then sending them stacking neatly on the floor. The sheer precision of this takes Namjoon’s breath away the first time Tae shows him. The impression of a dirty rough child trying to escape his lessons being replaced with a new reality. A strong, intensely intelligent, absolutely bonkers young man who always knows when to pull Namjoon away from his study funk.

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Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom
Hoseok

There are a lot of stupid laws in the Earth Kingdom. Hoseok reckons the absolute stupidest one is the prohibition of dancing. Earth dancing that is, moving to the beat of a drum, the ground moving with you. The law didn’t even make sense, dancing is just a beautiful version of regular earthbending, which, Hoseok trembles in anger when he considers this, is perfectly legal. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s FUN. Maybe its because it brings people together, lets them organise outside of society's strict structures. Whatever the reason, Hoseok isn’t gonna let some measly royal decree stop him.

The underground dance circuit is pretty literally underground, buried deep into the bedrock below the outer ring of Ba Sing Se. Bearing dangerously close to the mantle at the centre of the earth, the cavern they meet in is always a few degrees shy of a sauna. Folks enter sweating and leave drenched, after shaking the earth apart and pulling it back together with every pop of their limbs.

Hoseok first came when he was 9, hanging onto the skirt of the older girl who worked the same shift as him, bending coal into the fancy trains heading to the inner circle. At 15 he has spent half his life in there, he remembers every face, every person who has joined, danced, drifted into the circuit and back out again when it became too risky. He has danced with all of them, always making sure not to exchange real names, not to exchange locations. Plausible deniability and all that. The exhilaration of dancing has always been enough for him, seeing these people night after night, dancing for a few brief hours, is enough for him that he doesn’t feel the need to tangle himself in seeing them in the daylight. That is until he meets Tteoki.

Tteoki doesn’t come up with the name himself. He barely talks, he stays in the shadows, he lets his long hair hang and cover his features. Tteoki could almost blend into the wall, if not for his dancing. Smooth as silk, movements precise, the ground rippling away and towards him like water as he dances. His body contracting and releasing in bursts of carefully controlled energy .It’s breathtaking to behold. Hoseok wonders where in the world the boy learned to move like that. His level of bending is improbably high for anyone his age, if he’s guessing right. Refined in a way Hoseok’s only seen in bending masters, beards grey and faces sagging, completely different from Tteoki’s youth and beauty. It leaves him with even more questions about the true identity of his new obsession.

Tteoki gives nothing away through his appearance, always in the plainest undyed tunic, rough cloth covering his lower body, almost like a lowborn. Yet the cleanliness of his hair and skin betrays a different background to that of Hoseok and his peers. He carries himself upright and has an air about him like he is fully aware of the space he inhabits. His small, delicate and in Hoseok’s opinion unfairly cute hands look clean and soft. They don’t seem like hands that are used to scrubbing and carrying and fixing.

If there was any justice, the whole world would halt when he danced, all eyes giving him the attention he deserves. But alas, there is only Hoseok, and the 30 or so other regulars, their voices hushed as they watch Tteoki in the dim light.

The boy is one of the last to arrive, usually, and one of the first to leave, always. Hoseok is distracted for a week after he first turns up, trying to catch a better glimpse of the face attached to that unfairly toned body. Eventually, in the aftermath of a particularly beautiful demonstration of Tteoki’s skill, Hoseok lets go of all decorum, grabbing onto the boy’s sleeve as he is about to leave. His sleeve slips off of his smooth shoulder, hair whipping to the side as he turns to stare at Hoseok.

“Hi! Your dancing is incredible. Im Hope! Do you have a name?” He says, immediately regretting his words. Excellent. Hoseok sounds insane and Tteoki is going to hate him forever.

Tteoki just shakes his head, face scrunching up in a smile, and Oh. Hoseok’s brain ceases all function, the sleeve slips from his grasp. The boy turns with one last lingering glance and parts the wall, leaving Hoseok struck dumb behind him.

Hoseok knows what to call this beauty. Manggaetteok. Tteoki. His face is gorgeous, but so squishy like a rice cake. It’s almost indecent, how cute his smile is.

Hoseok makes it a mission, to see Tteoki smile as much as possible. And for a while it works. He never gets a word out of him, but Hoseok’s antics are enough to earn a smile every once in a while, a laugh if he is lucky. Tteoki starts singling him out when he is dancing, his eyes catching and returning to Hoseok’s with every turn. Hoseok finds himself doing the same and it feels private, insular, secret.

Seasons pass, Hoseok watches as Tteoki’s bending becomes more and more impressive, his motion more fluid, more exactingly perfect. Hoseok tries more than once to get to know him better, to coax him to stay just a few minutes longer after the meet has ended. Once or twice, Tteoki has lingered long enough to give Hoseok a wave, chubby fingers at odds with his muscular arms. But always, he leaves alone, and leaves Hoseok wanting.

It’s two years after they first met, at the turn into the new year, trees barren and food becoming scarce in the outer ring, that it happens. The cavern is a blessed warmth comparative to the cold of the ground above, and everyone peels off several layers when they enter. Hoseok is getting bolder, brushing up near Tteoki as they watch the other dancers, hands skimming past each other. Tension seems to snap between them as Hoseok dances, thrumming taut like the wires of a gayageum. Hoseok feels himself lose control a little, bending becoming a little more explosive than usual, as he struggles to contain the emotion rumbling like a landslide through him.

Tteoki joins him then, his bending like a soothing balm to Hoseok’s. It’s unprecedented, Tteoki has never joined him before. They spin around each other, orbiting, bodies arcing near but never making contact, rock rippling and breaking with each harsh breath. Hoseok’s vision tunnels, neck almost cracking as he spins, trying to keep Tteoki in sight, wanting to hold him still in front of him, not wanting the dance to ever end.

When they do stop, they are bare inches from each other. Tteoki makes the first move, leaning towards Hoseok and giving him a chaste kiss. The group around them erupts in hollers and gagging noises, pulling them to the side. Tteoki giggles, but turns his attention to the next dancer.

When Tteoki leaves that day, he blows a kiss towards Hoseok, and Hoseok, the sap that he is, catches it and pulls it to his heart.

That’s the last of time Hoseok sees Tteoki. He vanishes entirely, and Hoseok has no name, no location with which to trace him. Plausible deniability and all that.

Hoseok feels a bit of himself break apart in his chest.

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The Palace, Fire Nation Capital
Seokjin

“Why are you hidden away here, don't you want to be celebrating with your brother?” Yoongi’s tone is sardonic, he knows exactly why Seokjin is here, buried in scrolls and bound books, rather than sloshing with red wine in the great hall.

“Tch. Celebrating. Gukkie doesn't need another person applauding him for being the new fist of the fire nation.”

Yoongi sighs, “I know. I’m glad he has you, at least. You’ll keep his head on straight.”

Jeongguk has been a prodigy for years now, the greatest firebender in three generations. It’s almost as if he soaked up all the latent bending Seokjin would have had, if he hadn’t been a dud. A non-bender. A failure of a fire nation prince.

Seokjin had had 19 years to come to terms with being a disappointment, and it didn’t sting half as much as it had when he had been 8, and Jeongguk 2, belching fireballs and giggling sparks. Seokjin didn’t envy his brother the constant training, the blistered palms from hours upon hours of practice, trying to live up to the Fire Lord’s standards. And now, Jeongguk was 13, and had cracked open a palace wall in a fit of laughter. He was an earthbender. Gukkie was the avatar.

“What happens now?” Jin asks, as if Yoongi would know any better than him, flipping through the history book more hurriedly. It’s been 300 years since the last avatar born to the fire nation, and the texts are written in a dialect he only barely understands.
“He's still a child, they're all acting like he is leaving tomorrow to lead the army”

“Relax, Jin. Jeongguk isn’t going anywhere. He still has years of training left with me. He fucked up yesterday and almost set fire to the Queens rose garden, I’ve got him on breath control for the next month” Yoongi collapses into the chair next to him, tugging a scroll forwards and getting to work scanning through it.

“Yoongi.”

“Jin.”

“You know father. He is going to get worse, he’s gonna ruin Gukkie.” Seokjin’s voice cracks.
Yoongi grips his hand and stares daggers directly at him.

“Jeongguk will be fine. We’re both here Jin, we’re here for him. I’m here for you.” Yoongi abruptly opens the scroll again, “Now get back to reading, we gotta figure this shit out.”

So they get to work. Yoongi diligently works with Jeongguk on his firebending, and diligently reads moth-eaten yellowing scrolls with Seokjin. Together they learn that there is protocol, convention. Gukkie will have to travel the world, first mastering air, then water and then earth. It’s terrifying and relieving. Gukkie will be out of the grasp of their father for crucial formative years, but he will be far away from Seokjin too.

Seokjin grabs onto the time he has left with Jeongguk. Merely 4 years until he comes of age, 4 years of his brother’s laughter, of him crawling into Seokjin’s bed after a scolding. Of sneaking into the kitchens and cooking together, competing to fit the most dumplings in their mouths.

Seokjin acts nonchalant, feigning disinterest in the whole avatar thing, while secretly reading anything and everything he can get his hands on, storing away stray pieces of information the Fire Lord’s advisers drop, importing scrolls from the earth kingdom on every bending formation known to man and greedily digesting them, ready to share the knowledge with Jeongguk the second he asks for help.

The Fire Lord seems to approve of Seokjin spending more time mingling with the advisers and charming the nobles. The approval means nothing, compared to the value of overhearing where Jeongguk is going to be travelling when he comes of age.

The Western Air Temple, a year with the nomads.

Seokjin talks to all sorts, sends and receives plenty of letters, he is expected to make himself useful securing allies with his exquisite face, charming manners and pretty words. He does such a good job of it that he is entitled to his own carrier hawk, trusted so implicitly by the Fire Lord that his letters haven’t been checked since he was 15 years old.

It’s nothing to send a hawk to the temple, to learn who exactly was going to be raising Gukkie for an entire year.

Chapter Text

Western Air Temple
Namjoon

Seokjin is ridiculous. He spends half his letters regaling Namjoon with the minutiae of his life, his encounters with the palace staff, his latest experiment in the kitchens, the turtle duck that shat on his brothers pristine armour three minutes into a military parade. He spends the rest picking apart the bending theory he has been learning from fire nation textbooks, comparing it to what Namjoon has told him, asking Namjoon for his opinion, because it seems Seokjin actually values Namjoon's opinions, and isn't that the strangest thing of all.

It’s been 18 months. 18 months since Jamyang decided it wasn't worth answering all of the prince's inane questions himself, and asked Namjoon to ghostwrite the letters for them. 18 months since Namjoon slipped up and responded to one of the jokes this prince peppered into his letters with the delicacy of a hailstorm with a riddle of his own. It’s been 18 months since the prince, jokester he may be, instantly realised his correspondent had changed, and immediately started asking questions, not about airbending and the life of a nomad, but about Namjoon. And Namjoon couldn't help but answer them, and eventually return with questions of his own.

Their friendship has grown like a thistle, thick and strong, pushing through the uncertainty Namjoon feels talking to a royal prince, the distaste he has for the fire nation and its practices. He may be naive, but he has grown hopeful in the last year, that the next generation of firebenders won't be so bad, if people like Seokjin are leading the government.

Seokjin's letters rarely follow the same pattern twice, the topics ever changing, the tone lighthearted and serious in turn. But Namjoon has never seen a letter this brief, with handwriting this shaky before.

The avatar is arriving, years too early, and without his royal retinue, without his royal guard in tow. The avatar is arriving and so is Seokjin. Namjoon's entire breath leaves him.

“Taehyung get down from the ceiling. We have no TIME. we need to dust. We need to get the good pillows out. We need to get Rid of the stools - we cant let them know we SIT”

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Halfway between the Fire Nation Capital and the Western Air Temple
Jeongguk

Jeongguk rested one cheek on the rim of the basket, turning the other towards the cool air, eyes clenched shut. He had never travelled far enough away from the palace that he couldn’t go by carriage, had never had cause to travel by airship. It probably didn’t help that the person manning the airship wasn’t a qualified captain. No, they couldn’t risk taking anyone but themselves. So here they were, 3,000 feet up in the air, Jin driving the ship with one hand, holding an instruction manual aloft with the other. He was doing a decent job of not killing them, but a terrible job of making the ride smooth. Reading the manual had been Jeongguk’s job, until he went green, and then his job was to not throw up.

By sunset they were halfway across the western sea. At some point in the last hour the sky had started spitting, and Jeongguk amused himself with heating his hands up and watching the droplets turn to steam before they reached his palms. Jin hyung had figured out how to maneuver the ship, rising into cloud cover whenever they caught a glimpse of a ship below, ducking down low to the frothing waves when they could get away with it. Jeongguk kept asking to try flying, and Jin had let him for about 0.4 seconds before yanking him away from the wheel in fear, the ship having tipped sideways alarmingly.

The adrenaline from earlier that day had well and truly crashed at this point. Jeongguk was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and Jin was practically swaying where he stood. The problem with this particular method of transportation, Jeongguk realised, was that you had to just keep flying without pause. No rest stops, no comfy bed and certainly no hot meal on a golden platter. They had what Jeongguk had managed to hastily pack: a metric fuck ton of plain rice, three persimmons, nine plums, soggy steamed yams and a singular boiled egg. The fruit had been decimated earlier, the boiled egg split lovingly between them. Jeongguk stared morosely at the yams and rice.

He thought about what came with those golden platters he was missing so much. Cured meats and fish, seasoned to perfection. Jin hyung with burned feet, their father punishing him for his improper wisecracks to a visiting delegation. Tenkasi and Udon, fried batter and noodles, deliciously salty and filling. A letter to the colonies in the north, threatening annihilation if they fail to supply the expected taxes; the expected weapons; the expected scores of children to be drafted for military service. Dorayaki, red bean pancake with sweet azuki in the middle. An order, in front of a congregation of commoners in the great hall, for Jeongguk to mutilate the face of a man who had stolen rice from the royal palace. The man had five children to feed, and had eaten none of it himself.

Jeongguk’s choice was this: comply, or else the five children would watch their father be killed, and then the merciful Fire Lord would take them as his slaves so they weren’t forced into the same life of thievery and corruption as their wicked father. This, Jeongguk’s father explained, was Justice. This was what Jeongguk had to learn to unflinchingly carry out as crown prince, the fist of the fire nation. Discipline, Order and Strength. Jeongguk wasn’t allowed to look away as the flames roaring from his fingertips charred the thief’s hair, turned his skin to melted wax.The blood rushing in Jeongguk’s ears drowned out the jeers from the crowd.
That night, he crawled into Jin hyung’s bed for the first time since his voice had begun to break and hyung had promised to get him out before Gukkie was ever asked to do a repeat performance.

True to his word, within 48 hours, Jin hyung had pulled together his resources and found them both transport and a place to lay low. Jeongguk had ransacked the pantry, packed a meagre bag of everything he couldn’t bear to leave behind, repacked it when hyung told him he could only take one scented candle and said goodbye to the only home he had ever known. Not forever though. Not forever.

Jin had a plan. It turned out he had been planning for years at this point, which Jeongguk shouldn’t have been surprised about. His hyung was a lot smarter than anybody had ever given him credit for.

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Western Air Temple
Namjoon

About three quarter hours shy of dawn Namjoon jerks awake to what sounds like Moni crashing into the stone pillars outside.

“WhuHappen?” Taehyung has bolted to his feet, holding his staff aloft like a weapon. Namjoon squints blearily, listening intently, hoping the bison would just bumble its way back to its paddock without Namjoon having to do anything.

A scream rents the air, and then:

“Fuck.” Namjoon says succinctly, before grabbing his staff and bursting out the door.

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Taehyung

There is a boy, (the avatar) hanging from his (avatar) robes, hooked onto one of the spires that thrusts down from the bottom of the temple towards the canyon below. His long (avatar) hair is cascading, straight, silky and utterly braidable. His plump (avatar) lips are parted, as he yells hoarsely for somebody to help him the fuck down. His (the avatar’s that is) brother is sprawled safely in a pile of rubble and the decimated remains of what appears to have been a flying boat.

Taehyung is below him on Moni, trying to get close enough to pull him onto her back. The avatar is making this simple task very very difficult, flailing about like a child. Tae gets close a couple times, but gives up when a perfectly manicured foot connects with his face.

In a feat of athleticism that Taehyung didn’t previously realise he possessed, he leaps from Moni to hold onto one of those beautiful ankles, the added weight ripping the avatar’s robes cleanly in half, sending both of them hurtling down onto Moni’s broad furry back.

The avatar is heavier than Taehyung had expected, knocking the wind out of his lungs, elbow wedged firmly into Taehyung’s stomach. He doesn’t seem inclined to move, and Tae only gets his breath back when Moni lands, and the avatar scrambles to the ground.

“Why is the temple upside down?” the avatar stares around at the architecture like it’s personally offending him. Which to be fair - he was just in mortal danger because the ground wasn’t facing the way he was anticipating.

It’s the brother who answers, not Namjoon hyung, who is the knower of all knowledge.

“I told you earlier Guk -” He sounds exasperated, “The temple was built under a cliff to hide it from, well, Us. The Fire Nation that is. 4000 years ago I think?” He looks to Namjoon, like a lion-puppy expecting a reward for being right.

“Almost,” Namjoon grins, “4479 years ago this coming spring.”

See. Knower of All Knowledge. Namjoon hyung is the most intelligent man on earth.

Taehyung smiles proudly, but then gets distracted by the avatar, who has realised his state of shirtlessness, and is trying to pull the tatters of his robes around his smooth golden chest. He should just leave it, in Taehyung’s opinion. The view would be much nicer.

“Uh,” Namjoon startles, remembering his manners, “Uh, Avatar Jeongguk, Prince Seokjin, my name is Kim Namjoon. Welcome to the western air temple.”

Taehyung kicks his ankle.

“Ow! This is Tae. Taehyung. He’s my… student?”

“I’m your learning buddy. You’re the avatar,” Taehyung says intelligently, turning his attention to Jeongguk “You’re meant to fix things but you just broke a 4479 year old building. That’s okay though, you’re too handsome to be held accountable for anything”

“... Thanks.” Jeongguk says. Taehyung’s heart stutters for a moment. For somebody who screams like a girl, Jeongguk’s voice is surprisingly deep.

“Excuse me, I am the only one handsome enough to dodge the consequences of such extreme damage,” Seokjin says matter of factly, “But enough about my beautiful face. I have been awake since the night before last and I am this close to losing consciousness where I stand. I need a bed.”

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Namjoon

Seokjin wasn’t lying about being exhausted. He and Jeongguk slept all the way to the following evening. Brimming with nervous energy, Namjoon fussed around, but there was nothing much to do but wait. It was exhausting doing nothing.

Taehyung finds him attempting to meditate. Except, as Namjoon was wont to do when nervous, he accidentally floated up to the ceiling, bald head scraping the stone, so lost in thought that he hasn’t bothered to come back down.

“Come groom Moni, she did a good job last night, she deserves a reward.”

Namjoon nods gratefully, dropping to the floor and following Taehyung out to the paddock.

When the princes finally wake up, Namjoon brings them to the food hall, where they all eat Tukpa that Tae had cooked because Namjoon isn’t allowed near knives when he is this distracted.

Avatar Jeongguk eats in silence, barely looking up from his bowl. Seokjin attacks his bowl with gusto, helping himself to seconds. Tae has a little smile on his face, pleased.

“Where is everyone else?” Seokjin glances around, as if expecting the monks to appear from the shadows, dancing a little jig.

“Monk Jamyang and the others left for the eastern temple yesterday. The elders thought it would be best, given the circumstances. No - Don’t worry,” Namjoon rushes to assure him, “We were all going to move on in a month or so anyway.”

Seokjin looks skeptical.

“We’re Nomads remember? It was no hassle. We would rather the Fire Lord thinks the temple is empty, that way we can hide you here in peace”

Seokjin looks like he wants to protest and apologise, but thinks better of it, lapsing into silence.

“So, avatar,” Namjoon begins again, but is cut off by the avatar’s quiet voice.

“Jeongguk, please call me Jeongguk.”

“Jeongguk,” it’s awkward on Namjoon's tongue, “Monk Jamyang was intended to be your airbending teacher when you came of age. We have to lie low for a few months at least, but you can have access to all the scriptures on air bending we have in our library. Monk Jamyang mentioned they planned to return within 8 months, and then you can begin. If you still want to learn, that is.” Namjoon trails off, confused by Jeongguk's disinterested face.

“I still want to learn. I’ve got to eventually right? I’m the avatar.” Jeongguk doesn’t look convinced by what he is saying.

“Right.” Namjoon echoes, and sighs gratefully when Tae takes over the conversation, citing plans to teach the princes airball and chandraki, to show them the bison:

“Of course Jeongguk-” The name sounds more natural from Tae then it did from Namjoon, “- already met Moni, but we were only flying for like two seconds after I caught you so that doesn’t count. All the other bison are gone with everyone but you would Love them! Moni and Yeontan are still here though, and they’re the best most sweetest flying bison ever!”

“Ahh that’s great! I’ve always wanted to see a real flying bison, ever since Namjoon sent me that sketch you made of Yeontan.” Seokjin grins brightly.

Seokjin’s smile lifts Namjoon out of the embarrassment he was sinking into. It was so much easier to talk to Seokjin in writing, and despite how much Namjoon had heard about Jeongguk, seeing him in the flesh feels like a greater separation than hearing of his antics second hand. He can’t fathom that the quiet, serious teenager in front of him is the same person as the Jeongguk in Seokjin’s letters.

“He showed you that?” Tae asks curiously, immediately shrinking into himself.

“Yeah, Namjoon always goes on about his impressive younger brother. I wish I could draw like you. Alas, I have perfect looks but no artistic bone in my body. ”

Taehyung beams. Pride is a poison, but Namjoon can’t help feeling proud of Tae.

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Taehyung

Taehyung has reached a few conclusions in the last three days. The first is that the Prince and the Avatar would greatly benefit from Taehyung’s company. He would bring great joy to their lives. Both of them are so depressing and sad all the time. It was clear something dramatic had happened to them back home, or else they wouldn’t be here, at the temple, but Namjoon hadn’t mentioned anything and Taehyung has tact enough not to ask the princes.

The prince spends all his time with Namjoon hyung, because apparently these two have been friends for ages and ages, (but not as long as Namjoon and Taehyung). They spend all their time studying and talking about boring stuff like taxes, and Taehyung tried to eavesdrop but it was so dull he fell asleep halfway through a debate about the ethics of vegetarianism. For the record, the prince is right - the deliciousness of meat far outweighs the whole murdering an innocent animal thing. The avatar isn’t much better. He either sticks to his brother like a leech or he practices bending formations for hours and hours and hours, face pulled in a rictus of concentration.

He wants to hang out with them, inject their lives with some Taehyung, spread joy etc etc. But it’s obvious Namjoon hyung is trying to get rid of him. He keeps finding more dumb chores for Taehyung to do, or suggesting he go play alone with Moni and Yeontan when Taehyung wants them all to play a game of airball together. It’s not fair. Taehyung wants to hang out with Seokjin too.

The second thing Taehyung has concluded is that fire bending is scary as fuck. Watching the avatar train from a perch behind a pillar. Even from here, he can feel the air rippling and burning, oxygen starving itself to fuel the flames. The avatar is powerful, that much is obvious, fire reaching from one end of the courtyard to the other. It sends shudders down his spine whenever he feels a wash of heat flare towards him.

From his hiding place, Taehyung can’t really see the avatar’s face - he’s got his back to him. So he takes a little while to notice the growing agitation, the bending getting less controlled. Where before, the fire burned itself out before reaching any of the surrounding walls, now it catches onto some of the vegetation, sparks skittering and burning holes into the roof.

A trailing cord from Taehyung’s robes catches alight. His brain stutters as the flames lick up towards his skin.

Instinctually, Taehyung pulls his breath from the bottom of his lungs, arms flying forward, forcing a spiral of wind up and away from him, blowing the blaze out like a candle. Jeongguk startles below, freezing in place when he notices Taehyung.

Taehyung leaps down, furious.

“Be a little more careful you prick! I don’t suppose you noticed but this space is not that big. You could set fire to the whole damn temple if you aren’t careful!” Taehyung bounces forward, the latent adrenaline serving to push him up a foot or so in the air with every step, as if trying to make him taller than the avatar. Taehyung halts in front of him, but is so restless that he produces an air ball and stands on it for good measure.

The avatar looks shell-shocked, eyes wide as a baby goatdeer, mouth moving up and down soundlessly.

“Apologise!” Taehyung says impatiently.

“I’m sorry?”

“Good! Don’t firebend so recklessly again!” And with that, Taehyung speeds off, still balancing one-legged on the ball.

Chapter Text

Namjoon

The candle is squat and misshapen, almost burnt out, but Namjoon doesn’t have the wherewithal to go find another one to light. Besides, he is just going to read one more page, just one more, and then he’ll sleep.

The sound of shuffling feet on the other side of the door takes a second to poke through his concentration. He doesn’t bother to look up when Taehyung comes in.

“Tae, listen to this line: ‘Happiness isn’t something you have to achieve, you can still be happy during the process of achieving something’”

“I’d never considered that,” says Not-Tae.

“Yah! Jeongguk, hi, hello, are you okay?”

The candle chooses this moment to sputter out, casting them into pitch darkness. Namjoon fumbles, tossing his book aside, reaching into his drawer for another candle and a matchstick. It’s only when the light returns, and Namjoon can see the avatar standing nervously by the door, that he briefly wonders why Jeongguk didn’t use his fire.

“Namjoon-ssi,” Jeongguk pauses, as if to fortify himself, “Teach me airbending.”

“What?”

“Please.” Jeongguk adds as an afterthought.

“Sorry? You want me to teach you bending?” Namjoon hadn’t been under the impression that Jeongguk had any interest in airbending at all.

“I’m nearly 16, I’m coming of age in just a year and a bit and it’s not like any of that official waiting means anything anymore anyway!” Jeongguk seems to lose steam, “Please?” He tries again.

“No, no it’s not your age, I learnt how to bend when I was like, three,” Namjoon’s brow furrows, “It’s just that, you’re the avatar. Don’t you want a proper teacher?”

“And where am I going to find a proper teacher in the next month without compromising the safety of hundreds of innocents?”

“Fair Point. I’ll teach you.”

“Excellent!” Jeongguk’s face is transformed by his smile, buck teeth in full view, he no longer looks ready to throw himself off of a cliff.

“Go to sleep. We start at dawn.”
The smile slides off of Jeongguk’s face. Namjoon grabs his candle and ushers Jeongguk out the door. He has to go find Tae and drag him bodily to bed.

-------------
Seokjin

Guk nudges him across the bed, and then sprawls half on top, like a terrible weighted blanket with pointy elbows.

“I’m gonna learn airbending.”

“Alright. I think if we lay low for a couple months we can risk travelling out to the other airbenders. Namjoon says Monk Jamyang is really good, I’ll bet you enjoy-”

“Namjoon is gonna teach me. Here.”

Oh. Oh, they get to stay with Namjoon. It would take years for Jeongguk to master the element, and Seokjin isn’t about to leave him, so. Yeah. Years. Wow.

“Wow. Okay.”

“Okay.” Jeongguk eases his elbow out from Seokjin’s spleen, flops onto the clear space in the bed and tucks himself under his big brother’s arm.

Seokjin drifts back into half-sleep, just barely aware of Jeongguk breathing into his shoulder.

“Hyung?” Guk’s voice is muffled.

“Hmm?”

“Are you happy?”

Seokjin frowns, “Uh, I guess I’ll be happy when we’re completely safe?”

“But what if we’re never safe?” Jeongguk has wedged himself further into Seokjin’s armpit, “You can still try to be happy while we are waiting for safety.”

“That’s true. When did you get so smart?” Seokjin finds his hand, squeezes it, “Don’t worry Gukkie, I’m happy. We got out, Guk. We got out! Of course I’m happy.”

Five hours later, Namjoon, Seokjin, Jeongguk and Taehyung stand before an ornate pair of doors, a web of tubes criss crossed over the opening. The first dregs of light are barely spilling over the horizon, reflecting on the skin of Namjoon’s exposed shoulder and neck, turning him pink as the rose petals that would have once been sprinkled in Seokjin’s bath.
Mere moments before, Seokjin had been snuggled warm in bed, with no intention of waking before the bison. And then: a cold blast of air, shocking him into consciousness. Seokjin’s precious sleep lost as collateral in Taehyung’s efforts to wake Guk up.

Of course, Seokjin was well within his rights to turn back over and close his eyes, but then. Namjoon. Face puffy with sleep and eyes bright, poking his head around the door and suggesting Seokjin join them.

“You’ll find it incredible Seokjin ssi! I promise it’s worth it.” Namjoon was almost vibrating with excitement. Seokjin hadn’t been able to say no.

So now: here they are, in front of a big old door, and Namjoon being cryptic as anything and refusing to tell them what’s inside.

“We’ll just have to open it!” and Namjoon is bouncing with anticipation, “Jeongguk tell me, have you ever tried to bend an element other than fire before?”

Jeongguk nods, “I’ve tried to bend them all but, but it only worked with earth.”

“Alright. I want you to try bend air again, into this funnel.” Namjoon gestures at one end of the tubing, “No pressure if you can’t, just give it your best try.”

Jeongguk, looking apprehensive, lifts both hands up in front of the funnel and makes a face like he’s constipated.

“You’re holding your breath. Air bending is like fire, you have to breathe through it - try again”

Jeongguk deflates, rolling his head back and straightening up before trying again. This time, a little gust blows up in the tube, reverberating like a long fart.

Seokjin and Taehyung burst into giggles, but Jeongguk just looks frustrated.

“Good!” Namjoon lip is twitching like he wants to laugh, but was holding himself back. “Alright, Tae, come help me.”

Together, he and Taehyung each blow air in one end of the tubing, the sound this time rich and brassy, like a Jinkai Horn but much deeper and fuller. The tubes twisted and folded up, unravelling, the door swinging outwards of its own accord.

It takes Seokjin a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside, and when he does he almost screams in fear. Hundreds of figures are packed inside, looking for all the world like spirits waiting to attack. But they are unmoving, made of packed clay. Statues.

“Jeongguk…” Seokjin’s mouth drops open, “It’s-”

“It’s my past lives,” Jeongguk finishes, “isn’t it?”

“Exactly!” Namjoon beams, “Every Avatar since the beginning has a statue in this temple, from Wan, all the way to the avatar before you - Jian of the Earth Kingdom. Each successive avatar born into the next nation in the cycle. Air, Water, Earth and then you, born into the Fire Nation!” Namjoon says this all very rapidly, as if the words are tangling up in an effort to get out.
“Let’s go in! Meet your past lives!”

“Maybe. Not yet.” Jeongguk speaks haltingly, “Maybe once I’m better at bending.”

Namjoon blinks, and his face falls “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Jeongguk says firmly.

“Hm. Okay. Go set up breakfast with Tae, Seokjin ssi and I will come along soon.”

“We will?”

“Just because Jeongguk doesn’t want to see doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you skip out on this.” Namjoon grins at Seokjin

Jeongguk departs with Taehyung, visibly relieved.

“Oh and Jeongguk!” Namjoon calls after them, “We aren’t done for the day. Eat something filling - you’re going to need it!”

-------------

Namjoon

Namjoon turns back to Seokjin, excitement returning. He is a bit put out by the avatars disinterest, but he knows Seokjin is going to love seeing all this. He had done his best to describe it in their letters, even asked Tae to try drawing it. But now Seokjin is here! In person! Namjoon almost skips in his glee.

“Seokjin ssi-”

“Why do you keep calling me that? I was Jin hyung in your letters.”

Namjoon halts, mid skip.

“I…” Namjoon frowns, thinking, “You turned up in your fine robes and it just hit me. I'd forgotten I was writing to royalty. It seemed wrong to be so familiar as to call you Jin hyung when you are so important and I'm just... ” Namjoon trails off.

“I like you being familiar, and who cares about me being a prince. It never did me any good. And stop talking nonsense! How dare you claim you aren't important! Are you saying I have bad judgement? Do you think I would be best friends with an unimportant person?!”

Namjoon is caught between laughter and a sudden burst of shyness.

“Best friend? Really?”

“Of course Namjoon-ah” Seokjin smiles and his face is so very kind. Flustered, Namjoon gestures to him to follow inside, walking quickly ahead so Seokjin can’t see his blush.

Statues line up in concentric circles, forming a maze of walls to walk through, the oldest at the centre.

“You know, Jin-Hyung, when I was little, I snuck in here and got lost.” Namjoon says as Seokjin catches up to him, “The old monks were livid! Technically nobody is allowed in here until they get their tattoos, ‘cos it’s so sacred. But I really wanted to see Wan’s statue, and I was sure I would be careful enough…”

Too short to see over the tops of the statues, Namjoon had jumped, trying to see the route back. His bending new and uncontrolled, he had ended up rising into the rafters and getting stuck there, too afraid to bend his way down and risk breaking the priceless artefacts. An elder monk, coming in to pray, found him hours later, clinging like a koala-monkey with tear tracks long dried on his face.

Seokjin cackles at the story and Namjoon grins goofily, delighted by the way Seokjin laughs.

As they get deeper in, Seokjin gets distracted by the changing garb on the avatars. He halts before a fire nation avatar, wearing robes loose and beaded.

“But. Where is the armor?” He sounds bewildered.

“Armor?”

“We have scrolls showing this woman. Avatar Hinata was a military leader, she expanded the fire nation beyond the islands. Tore down the Joltara forest so that the rebels hiding there would be burned. Why is she wearing such frivolous clothes?”

Namjoon is confounded.

“Avatar Hinata deserted the army? And led a rebellion? I - I thought she would have been erased from your texts entirely!” Namjoon says. Seokjin flaps wordlessly. Namjoon continues, “Hinata was a war hero yes, but she hated the fire nation military, she fought them. These are the robes she wore when she was executed.”

“I didn’t think, I thought -” Seokjin flounders, paces towards the next fire avatar and gestures a little manically. “What about him? Avatar Asahi - the rising sun? Shut down the uprisings in the colonies?”

“Exiled to the colonies for speaking out against the Fire Lord, fled house arrest in Shiratoro and freed an entire complex full of political prisoners on his way out.”

Seokjin gapes, poleaxed.

“Avatar Riku?” He asks weakly.

“Yah, Riku,” Namjoon pulls a face, “Riku was awful, he’s the reason spirits abandoned the fire nation mainland - he convinced the fire lord to make hunting them legal and burned any entrances to the spirit world he came across.” His mouth twists in disgust.

Seokjin nods at this, looking less like he had been hit by rhino-snake.

“I wonder.” He scoffs, looking around at the statues standing around him, “I wonder how many lies I’ve been told. How many heroes I’ve been told were murderers.” He blinks. “I wonder what lies they will write about Jeongguk.”

“We are deserters just like Hinata. But - worse! Jeongguk is the crown prince. If they can’t cover up what he has done, his name will be dragged through the mud.”

Namjoon’s heart hurts a little at how worried Seokjin sounds, and he says the first thing he can think of to soothe him,
“Who cares about what history says, as long as you live your life well?”

It seems to work. Seokjin smiles ruefully.

“You’re right. Live our lives well. Well.” He sighs. “Do you think... do you have any history books? With the avatars’ real life stories in it. Not propaganda?”

“Of course! I’ll give you some so you can read while I head out with Jeongguk.”

Namjoon remembers what he promised last night and balks, “Shit, Jeongguk.”

Seokjin makes a questioning sound. Namjoon’s already halfway down a panic spiral.

“Hyung, I mean, what if I’m terrible and fuck up the avatar forever and he never learns to air bend? What if he gets hurt while we are training and then you hate me for being the reason the avatar died tragically young!” Namjoon’s hands rise to grab his head in panic.

“Whoa! Stop. Take a breath for me.” Seokjin manacles his hands around Namjoon’s wrists, gently prying them down and holding them between their bodies. “Namjoon. You’ll be fine, Jeongukkie is a smart kid and you are the most intelligent monk I have ever met.”

“I’m the only monk you’ve ever met.”

“Exactly.” Seokjin laughs squeakily, and the ridiculous noise breaks through the anxiety Namjoon has been choking on.

“I stayed up all night -”

“You idiot, why?”

“-Trying to figure out what I am meant to teach Jeongguk. I’ve never even taught a normal airbender, let alone the avatar. Where are you even meant to start? I broke into Monk Jamyang’s private library because the main library had nothing and read through eighteen scrolls on basic bending forms but then around 2am I realised that creating a spiritual connection was probably the best place to start and I thought showing him the statue hall would get Jeongguk excited but I guess. Not.” Namjoon pauses, lightheaded, surprised when he has to heave in a lungful of air. He must have forgotten to breathe.

“How are you still standing?”

“Pure adrenaline.”
-----------

Jeongguk

Taehyung had lent Jeongguk his spare set of robes, knowing that they would be robust enough to last in the outdoors, while Jeongguk’s were likely to fall into tatters.

Jeongguk hadn’t thought very far ahead when he was packing his clothes. The empty air temple had supplies of food for another two seasons to split between the four of them, fresh water from an underground well, had an endless stock of candles. What it did not have, Jeongguk discovered, was extra clothes. Air nomads did not hoard material possessions; they had to travel light.

Jeongguk’s wardrobe currently consisted of the tatters he arrived in, two more outfits that were similarly gorgeous and comfortable, but would not survive a minute in the mountains.
That left him with his armour, but the minute Namjoon sees him in that he sends Jeongguk back inside to change into something less cumbersome.

Taehyung is the same height as him, but markedly slimmer, so his robes fit oddly, chafing. Jeongguk digs out a wedgie as he and Namjoon leave the temple.

There is no path from the temple to the ground above, just a sheer cliff face, foreboding, the rare foothold an act of benevolence. Jeongguk stares up, then swivels to shoot an incredulous look at Namjoon.

“We have to get up there? How? On Earth?”

“Usually one would use an airball, or fly using a staff, but we are going to climb,” Namjoon pulls out long rope with a flourish, “I’ve been meaning to try this for years! Never got round to it.”

Namjoon, the redundant asshole, flies up the cliff, attaches a rope to a tree, and hops back down as if jumping on invisible steps to Jeongguk.

“Can’t you just teach me how to bend my way up there?”

“Not yet my young learning buddy. ”

Jeongguk pouts, taking a hold of the rope and securing it around his waist. He leans back, propping his feet against the cliff face, and begins to climb.

It’s tough work. Jeongguk is remarkably strong for his age, a product of pushing and pushing and pushing himself to his limits, trying to make sure his father’s pride in him didn’t turn to disdain. But this, this is using muscles Jeongguk didn’t even know he had, the rope threatening to slip through his fists, scraping painfully when he loosens his grasp.

About halfway up, he has an epiphany, digging his heels in the earth and urging it to move for him. Muddy earth creeps up his ankles, anchoring him to the side of the cliff. He grins triumphantly. Three arduous drags of his feet later, Jeongguk is panting, legs straining with the effort of remaining rooted to the ground, hands still burning from holding the rope. Fuck. He gives it up as a bad job, doing it the normal way is much less effort.

If only he had been born to the Earth Kingdom, had grown up around earth benders. The earth is foundational, integral, used to build. Fire is used to burn. Jeongguk shudders, pushing the thought from his mind.

When he reaches the top, he collapses onto his back. It takes a long moment until he gets his breath back long enough to untie the rope from around him and chuck the end down to Namjoon.

Cheating is definitely involved. Namjoon takes a fraction of the time to haul himself up, the air below him like a cushion of support. Jeongguk notes the difference between Namjoon’s hands and his own reddened palms.

“Namjoon-ssi?” Jeongguk pants, “Why couldn’t we have flown up here on Moni?”

Namjoon scoffs, “And miss out on all this character building and exercise? Look at us! Fit young men, that got our blood flowing!” He stretches his long limbs out, starfishing, then turns, “Come on, we aren’t there yet, gotta keep moving”

Jeongguk glowers at Namjoon’s back, following sullenly.

It takes them the better part of the morning to reach their destination, the sun having climbed nearly to its peak. Jeongguk can feel the sunlight play over his exposed skin. Firebenders always burn brightest when the sun is up and lending its energy. Jeongguk can feel it, settled under the skin of his fingertips, ready to spark and blaze. He tamps down on the feeling, forcing his hands to cool down. Firebending creates more trouble than it is worth. The whole point of this is to learn airbending. If he learns airbending he won’t have to rely on firebending anymore, he won’t risk hurting anyone anymore.

They crest a hill, leading to the edge of the cliff they have walked around onto and suddenly Jeongguk can see why Namjoon wanted to bring him here. The tangle of thoughts in Jeongguk’s mind disappears for the moment.

When Jeongguk and Jin hyung had arrived at the temple it had been nearly pitch dark, the firelight from their airship casting a dim glow around them. Jeongguk had gotten a very brief look at the temple as a whole, shrouded in darkness. He had leaned over the side of the ship, squinting, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Hyung had panicked at the sight of Jeongguk halfway out of the craft, let go of the wheel to grab him and well. What happened next was history.

Seeing it while careening forwards in the dark was one thing, seeing it while dangling precariously from its highest spire was another. Looking at the temple from this vantage point, legs hooked over the grassy verge, the entire building sprawled out like a painting in front of them, is unimaginable. How they managed to construct it is beyond Jeongguk. Jin hyung had probably told him all about that at some point on that endless journey across the ocean. He would have to ask him again.

Below his dangling feet the canyon spreads like a crack through the mountain side, huge and gaping where they are sitting, and receding into jagged rock in the distance. The temple is a contradiction. The smooth precise lines of it are a direct contrast to the irregularity of the surrounding cliff. Yet also, it looks almost grown organically from the earth, the pillars and walls made from the same rock, the painted tiles a gentle green, allowing the temple to sit amongst nature without looking out of place.

After letting Jeongguk look his fill, Namjoon directs him to sit a little further away from the edge. His eyes are sparkling and while his smile isn’t huge, it creates little indents in his cheeks like he is stopping himself from smiling any wider. Jeongguk wonders briefly what it would be like to be proud of your home, to be proud to show it off to newcomers.

He would have been, once. Proud that is. He was proud of being crown prince, proud of all his family had achieved, proud of the legacy his grandfather had left behind, of great peace throughout the Fire Nation. It had taken a little while for that to unravel. For Jeongguk to question why he was crown prince and not his older brother. To realise that the peace inside their great nation came hand in hand with violence. Nobody made waves, nobody caused disruptions when the threat of death, or worse, enslavement loomed over their heads.

“The first thing to know about air bending is that the more at peace you are with yourself, the more content, the easier it becomes. If you know yourself, if you love yourself, the bending will come naturally.”

Jeongguk nods blankly in response.

“So we are going to take our time today, clear our minds and meditate. You’ll see, meditation creates a connection between your body and your mind. It will greatly help you with your bending, and it will be crucial in your connection to the spirit world.” Namjoon settles quietly, opposite Jeongguk.

Namjoon shows Jeongguk the correct way to sit: spine straight but relaxed, legs folded criss cross, hands resting gently on his knees. Eyes closed and head free of all thoughts.

And Jeongguk does try, but the grass is kind of poking up through the seat of his borrowed clothes and the wedgie is back, but he doesn’t want to move to fix it in case Namjoon opens his eyes and catches him. He keeps slouching forwards by accident, spine curving, before he remembers and corrects it.

“Jeongguk, close your eyes.”

Jeongguk jumps slightly, Namjoon hadn’t opened his eyes - how would he know?
Unnerved, Jeongguk does as he is told, closing his eyes, the midday sun filtering through his lids and turning his vision blood red.

Unbidden, he sees blood and raw, burning flesh. His eyes snap open.

Shaking himself, Jeongguk closes his eyes again, forcing his thoughts to other things, Jin hyung smiling dopily at Namjoon over breakfast; Taehyung striding forwards, rocketing a foot off the ground with each step; Yoongi hyung playing his gonghu, grinning when Jeongguk joins in with his soft voice.

The second Jeongguk calms, the memories rear up again, and he growls in annoyance, blinking into the daylight once more. He scrubs a hand over his face.

“Clearing my mind is impossible Namjoon-ssi!”

Namjoon’s eyes flicker a little, but his gentle smile is still intact.

“Jeongguk, I know it’s not coming easy. I didn’t expect it to - you’ve never meditated before. But I promise you, if you keep trying you’ll get it.”

Frustrated, but not willing to give up just yet, Jeongguk settles back into lotus position, and breathes.

-----------------

Taehyung

Hand poised carefully to avoid smudging the charcoal, Taehyung sticks his tongue out, concentrating on perfecting the way Yeontan’s fur markings look like little angry eyebrows. He has filled up pages and pages of Yeontan already, because the bison is a born life model.

Finishing up the drawing, Taehyung offers Yeontan an apple for being such a good boy, and flings himself up onto Yeontan’s back so he can lie on the soft fur rather than scratchy grass.

Taehyung is bored. Without the hustle and bustle of a full temple, the chores take hardly any time at all to do, there is only so much mess four tidy people can make. There are no elder monks to follow around, no children to tease, only Moni and Yeontan remain of the bison herd. And now Namjoon hyung and the avatar have been away for hours and hours.

Taehyung could have gone with the monks, Namjoon hyung had urged him to. But he had never left Joon’s side for more than a day or two since becoming an air nomad. He couldn’t fathom being apart from him for almost a whole year. The other monks were nice and all, but they had nothing on Namjoon.

There was this one time, hardly a month into sharing a room. Yeontan, only half-grown, was sick and Taehyung had been up in the early hours nursing him. When he eventually staggered back, he found Namjoon sprawled on his cot with his blanket pooled mostly onto the floor. Clumsily, he had pulled the covers back over him, but before he could collapse into his own bed, a warm hand had latched onto his. He tried to gently pull away without waking Namjoon, but had failed, and Namjoon blinked sloe-eyed up at him.
“Oh, you’re back,” He murmured, before promptly falling back asleep. Taehyung couldn’t help but note how soft his hyung’s face had looked, how nice his hand felt around his.

Taehyung has harboured a little crush ever since.

He isn’t gonna do anything about it though. Especially now Prince Seokjin is here. Namjoon’s crush on the guy is monumentally obvious and Namjoon deserves somebody better than Taehyung anyhow. If that somebody is a runaway prince of a genocidal nation then so be it.

As if summoned by Taehyung’s thoughts, Prince Seokjin appears, holding aloft two steaming bowls of gyakok. Taehyung had found him a book of handwritten air nomad recipes and Seokjin has risen to the task of trying out new ones every day and sharing them with Taehyung.

Taehyung jumps down to meet him, almost catapulting his sheaf of papers and charcoal directly into the food. Seokjin swerves away just in time, Taehyung’s work bouncing harmlessly off his shoulder, scattering the loose papers everywhere.

Seokjin quickly props the food down on the grass, dropping to his knees to help Taehyung pick it all up before it went flying away. Yeontan grabs one in his teeth, and Taehyung scrubs behind his ear in thanks. Together they snatch up all but one, and Taehyung hurriedly sucks in a breath, creating a tiny tornado pulling it back to him, before it is lost to oblivion. Seokjin gently plucks it out of the air before it hits Taehyung in the face.

“Oh, is this Namjoonie?” Seokjin turns it towards Taehyung so he can confirm it.

Taehyung can’t decide whether to feel mortified about him seeing the drawing, or annoyed at the familiar way Seokjin is speaking of his hyung. He settles on the former, resisting the urge to snatch it away.

He scowls at the almost-escapee. It is a terrible scrawl of Namjoon hyung’s likeness. He had been trying to use a calligraphy brush rather than his usual stick of charcoal and he was absolutely awful awful awful at it -

“It’s really really incredible. Would you mind if I kept it?”

Taehyung’s mouth drops open, “Y-you want to keep it? But it’s so rubbish!”

“Yah!” Seokjin smacks him over the head with the art, “What is it with you airbenders, huh?! Can’t take a compliment if your lives depended on it!”

“No seriously, this piece is really terrible, I can draw you another! I -”

“YAAAAAH!”

“B-but I-” Taehyung stammers.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” Seokjin’s voice is louder than Yeontan when he’s hungry.

Shellshocked, Taehyung doesn’t respond. He shuffles his papers into an easier pile to hold onto, and shoves them in the front of his robes. Seokjin smiles triumphantly, rolling the painting of Namjoon up and popping it securely in his pocket.

“You know,” Taehyung says as they tuck into their lunch, “You can really see the fire nation in you when you scream like that.”

-------------

Namjoon

Namjoon chews contemplatively on his sandwich. Beside him, Jeongguk eats his in three large bites and reaches for a third from the box full Namjoon had the foresight to bring. It's been a gruelling couple of hours, trying to focus Jeongguk’s attention to being calm and peaceful. The boy looks even tighter wound now, brows knit and hands clenched. Taehyung had had trouble meditating as well, but that was more to do with the excess energy bursting out and making it impossible for Tae to sit still. Jeongguk looks too exhausted for it to be that.

“Alright,” Namjoon says finally, “How about, instead of forcing a spiritual awakening you are clearly not ready for-”

Jeongguk grimaces.

“ - how about instead we just relax.”

“Rel-ax?” Jeongguk’s voice cracks. Namjoon winces.

“Yeah. Okay, um, Chanyeol hyung - another monk, you’d like him - used to do this for me when I was little. Okay so: Lie on your back and get as comfortable as you can.”

Jeongguk complies, collapsing backwards. Namjoon covers a laugh with a fake cough, badly. But Jeongguk’s frown lifts a little so he doesn’t mind.

“Look into the clouds, breathe in so deep you could almost pull them in,” Namjoon pauses as Jeongguk does so, “Feel the air filling your lungs, into every nook and cranny…”

“Hold it for a moment, feel your ribs at their bursting point. Let the breath go - slowly. Good.”

Namjoon keeps directing Jeongguk, voice as steady as he can manage. He is so tired, the sleepless night and morning hike catching up with him.

“Bring your hands onto your stomach, feel the movement in every finger, press them down one by one. Keep breathing, one, two, thre-aaugh” Namjoon can’t hold in a yawn.

“Lie down with me, teacher.” Namjoon’s eyes widen. He’s never been called that by anyone before. He likes the feeling.

“Alright, Jeongguk.”

Namjoon keeps talking, throat slowly becoming raw, his voice carried away by the breeze, until he hears a gentle snuffle beside him. Slack-jawed, Jeongguk sleeps beside him, arms folded on top of his own chest in a loose hug.

Okay. So now Namjoon can see the boy Jin Hyung wrote about in his letters. He is literally still a child. No matter how much training he has obviously had to pack muscle onto his body, his face is round with baby fat, his eyes and nose too large for his face still.

He scoffs, ‘fist of the fire nation’ indeed. How dare they take somebody so young and force him into a role so objectively evil?

Namjoon takes a moment, pulling himself back up. Maybe he should take his own damn advice for once and meditate. He is no use to Jeongguk if he gets angry.

He is no use to Seokjin either. The man has so much on his mind all the time, constantly trying to place himself between his little brother and the evils of this world. This morning, watching his usual bright demeanor slip as he realised yet another harsh truth about his nation, was painful. If Namjoon can help him, lessen the burden even one iota. That would be enough.

Eventually, Namjoon digs out the whistle he had packed for emergencies. He wasn’t about to force a sleepy Jeongguk to abseil down a cliff. Namjoon wasn’t about to make himself abseil down a cliff; he was really truly exhausted now.

Moni arrives within moments, and nuzzles her massive nose into Namjoon when she lands. Namjoon sends a little shockwave through the air onto Jeongguk’s face, a mean but effective way to wake your junior up.

Jeongguk flinches into consciousness, and then heaves a dramatic “Thank fuck!” at the sight of Moni.

They head back down, the journey which had taken the better part of the morning now taking them less than ten minutes.

“We should have flown.”

“Character building!” Namjoon reminds him

Chapter Text

Jeongguk

They fall into a rhythm. Jin hyung insists he and Jeongguk help with the chores, so every morning they wake at sunrise to sweep away the leaves and dust that whorls in through the open windows at night. Then they all congregate to eat a morning meal, Taehyung usually scraping it together for the four of them.

It turns out the building they crashed into that first night is the sleeping quarters for the young airbenders. A third of the roof is caved in, but thankfully the walls are mostly intact. While Jeongguk and Namjoon head out to the fields to meditate, hyung and Taehyung work at clearing away the debris. They can’t rebuild it, but at least they can make sure it’s clean for when the nomads come back.

Jeongguk and Namjoon don’t climb like non-benders again after the first day. Namjoon takes his glider, while Jeongguk borrows Yeontan. Flying on an air bison is so much nicer than flying in a fire nation air balloon. Yeontan is steady, and warm, with thick fur to wind his hands into and a back just broad enough for a 15 year old Jeongguk, lanky as he is, to sprawl across.

Two weeks after Jeongguk asked to learn to airbend, he has yet to actually bend any air. Namjoon takes him out of the temple, and narrates air nomad history to him; teaches him about the first avatar, Wan; tells him about the spirit world and what connection he has to it. It’s all very interesting, and Jeongguk genuinely likes learning about it, it’s just that he is itching to actually move already. He would even welcome climbing the bloody cliff again over this. Because the minute Namjoon’s storytime is over, he and Jeongguk have to sit criss cross in the grass, eyes closed and limbs unmoving. For Hours. Jeongguk manages to keep the looming memory of blood out of his head, but that just makes way for aching boredom.

In the afternoons, they make their way back down, Taehyung invariably leaps upon Yeontan the minute they land, smothering his giant head with kisses. Jin hyung, to Jeongguk’s chagrin, does the same to his little brother. Then they all faff around for a few hours, Namjoon disappearing into the library, Taehyung dragging whatever work he has to do on top of Yeontan, and the two ex-princes getting their fill of each other in companionable silence as they make dinner.

They eat, Namjoon lavishes praise on Jin hyung’s cooking. Taehyung competes with Jin to see how much he can fit in his mouth. Jeongguk sits in the corner and tries not to miss Yoongi, meat, and his dad. They all go to sleep, lather rinse repeat.

Jeongguk is going to snap if things don’t change soon

----------------
Seokjin

There is no more Seokjin can do to salvage the 4479 year old air temple sleeping quarters he headbutted with 3 year old fire nation military aviation technology. Taehyung, the sweetheart, helped him drag the rubble out, and the both of them scrubbed and cleaned until the intact structure shone. But without the expertise of a qualified roofer, they are stuck. So Seokjin releases Taehyung to whatever he does when he has free time, while Seokjin returns to his second favourite place in the whole temple: the main library.

Three years ago the panicked need to be informed for Jeongguk’s sake forced Seokjin to become a voracious reader. Exposure to the written word, and perhaps, long letters and long conversations with a certain bookish nomad have made Seokjin fall in love with libraries, has made him feel most comfortable like this, tucked into a nook in the wall with scrolls stretched across his lap.

Early afternoon sun yawns through the window, ruffling through Seokjin’s loose hair where it falls around his shoulders. He tugs at it idly, contemplating cutting it off, commemorating his newfound freedom. He remembers his mother, golden as she was, a rope of ebony black curling over her breast, down almost to her knees as she lay in her casket. He brushes the thought away, focusing again on the handwriting in front of him.

Namjoon had recommended this to him: an account of the life of Avatar Deok-hye, a woman who’s feats were so impressive and world-changing that the fire nation had simply blocked her from their history, unable to spin her life into propaganda.

Seokjin is overcome suddenly with a strange mix of appreciation and consternation. The access he now has to unfiltered, unbiased, helpful information is amazing. The lack of bullshit forewords declaring loyalty to the Fire Lord a breath of fresh air. He cannot believe how much time he has wasted on propaganda and drivel. Urgh, he is glad to leave that crapheap of a nation behind.

Seokjin rolls his neck, stretches and pops his limbs out, revelling in the crackle of his stiff bones. He is in the middle of a satisfying spine snap when Jeongguk slinks his way through the door, head hanging low. Seokjin opens his mouth, ready with a loud greeting, questions as to why Jeongguk is back so early, as to whether Namjoon is also back, and possibly available to hang out with his bestest friend Jin hyung because it’s been days and honestly Seokjin is feeling a little lonely. His mouth clicks shut at the sight of Jeongguk’s red rimmed eyes, his hands twisted together in a knot.

“Come ’ere ‘Guk.” Seokjin unfolds out of his nook and wraps Jeongguk up in a hug. Jeongguk shudders a little, but his eyes are dry when he steps back.

“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really.” Jeongguk clears his dry throat, “What’cha reading?”

Seokjin is going to prod at the wound at some point, force Jeongguk to communicate his feelings and let his older brother psychoanalyse him. Jeongguk knows this. Seokjin knows Jeongguk knows this. Which is why he lets it slide for now, rolling back through the scroll for some of his favourite quotes while summarising what he has read so far for Jeongguk. They settle together cross legged on the floor as they would in Seokjin’s acres wide bed at the palace.

Jeongguk listens to Seokjin with something unreadable in his eyes. He doesn’t say much, just murmurs in response to Seokjin’s rambling. At one point he cuts in with a quiet “You really like it here huh hyung?”

Seokjin ignores the slightly petulant tone, pats Jeongguk’s cheek and says “I really like being here with you.”

Eventually Jeongguk gets up off his butt, because he is allergic to sitting still for longer than ten minutes. Seokjin lapses into comfortable silence as the words absorb him once more. He is vaguely aware of Jeongguk wandering past the shelves, thumbing over the exposed paper. The wooden casings of the older, more fragile texts clatter as Jeongguk picks them up, shakes the scrolls out and unravels them, jamming them back into place when he is done. Jeongguk pauses for a while over one, his back to Seokjin. He leaves soon after, kissing his older brother on the crown as he exits.

True to form, later, as they get ready for bed, Seokjin pesters Jeongguk. He offers him bribes of jasmine candles, delicious pork (both of which they no longer have access to), threatens him with public affection and disembowelment. Jeongguk relents, and tells him that he is fed up of meditating, fed up of robes that ride up his crack, fed up of Namjoon -

“Call him Namjoon hyung, Guk”

- fed up of Namjoon hyung telling him to be patient. Jeongguk tells him he misses home, that he almost sort of kind of even misses Dad.

He says that last part with his face tucked into Seokjin’s ribs, where he has been burying himself, his words becoming more and more muffled. Seokjin rubs a hand up and down Jeongguk’s back, thinking, trying to come up with the right words to say. Before he can say anything, there are soft snores rumbling into his side, and Seokjin resolves to do something clever and resourceful in the morning to make everything better for Jeongguk.

----------------

Taehyung

Out of breath, Taehyung narrows his eyes at the little ball of fur and ears and tail that is getting further and further away. He is chasing after a winged lemur, leaping and vaulting around the temple. He just wants to say hello, maybe feed it some nuts, but the bastard is slippery.

Taehyung skids around a corner, runs up a wall and careens over it, falling straight to the ground on the other side. A loud OOMPH tells him that the solid wall of limbs he has just tackled is none other than Jeongguk. Taehyung scrambles off of him, and in the split second as he is straightening up he notices a few things:

First: that the lad is wearing his ridiculous floaty silky robes again and looks damn delicious, if a little scary in a ‘wearing the traditional garments of a genocidal nation’ kind of way.

Second: that his hands are whisking something out of sight behind his back. Suspicious.

Third: that he looks angry as shit at being knocked to the ground.

“Sorry! Gotta catch em! Bye!!” and with that Taehyung flings himself away, still in pursuit of that damn lemur. Heart pounding, breath ragged, but he is gaining ground! He is reaching out to grab it! Taehyung is gonna have a lemur friend! Taehyung is-!

Scratched all up one arm. Lightly bleeding. Watching morosely as the lemur flies to the cliff across from the temple.

While he patches himself up, Taehyung’s thoughts wander back to the avatar and his suspicious suspiciousness. Now that he thinks about it, Jeongguk had been acting shady all day. Jin hyung, the beautiful saint of a man, had declared that today was the day that Namjoon learnt how to cook. He had demanded that they all take a break from their usual routine and gathered in the kitchen to go through every basic skill in a good chef's arsenal. Jeongguk had badly hidden his relief when he realised he didn’t have to go work with Namjoon. And that was the first thing Taehyung didn’t understand, because from what he had gathered it was Jeongguk’s idea to steal Joon hyung away and learn airbending in the mountains all day everyday. So why is he acting like Taehyung used to when he didn’t want to go to lessons with Jamyang?

And then, Jeongguk had the audacity to say he had something else he needed to do, rather than hang out with the three of them cooking. What could Jeongguk possibly have on his agenda now that it had been cleared of the only thing he had to do: study airbending? He had made his poor poor excuses and disappeared. Jin hyung had looked confused, but let it go, so Namjoon and Taehyung had followed suit.

Taehyung had been excited to spend time with Namjoon again, and excited to see him successfully chop an onion without endangering his thumbs, or his eyes, or Taehyung’s hands that one time he tried to guide Namjoon through the chopping process. But alas, Jin and Joon were too wrapped up in each other to pay much attention to Taehyung. Taehyung had mostly skulked in the back of the kitchen watching them giggle together. And then he spotted the lemur through a window, and now here he was. Bleeding. A severe lack of lemurs’ to pet. Suspicious Jeongguk.

So Taehyung sneaks back to where he had careened into Jeongguk and clambers into one of his favourite hiding spots to watch him.

With his super detective skills, Taehyung notes:

- An expensive looking scroll laid out in the dirt, pinned open with pebbles
- Those robes really do make Jeongguk look good, it keeps stretching over his shoulders and Taehyung can see his back muscles shifting and the fabric flutters up his forearms and shit he’s getting distracted
- It’s clear he is trying to bend, dragging his foot up in a wide arc and punching it down over and over and over. It doesn’t look anything like an airbenders formation, so it must be firebending? But there is no fire to be seen, much to Taehyung’s relief.
- Fuck wait that is an airbender formation. Except all wound up tight and stiff and aggressive and shit he is trying to teach himself with that scroll and is doing a terrible job
- There is nothing for it, Taehyung’s gotta help him.

Taehyung flings himself out of his hiding place and somersaults over the boy to land neatly in front of Jeongguk, who almost punches him out of reflex before he sees who it is and staggers back. From this close up, Jeongguk looks exhausted, shadows smudged under his eyes. The corners of his mouth are set almost permanently down. Taehyung makes an executive decision.

“Come on.” Taehyung says, scooping up the scroll and rolling it up.

“Excuse me?”

“Come with me. We have something important to do”

-----------
Seokjin

Seokjin watches dismayed as Namjoon brings the blunt side of the knife down onto the onion. Instead of slicing, it slides gently over it, like a raindrop rolling over a petal. He tries again. Seokjin intercepts just as Namjoon decides to press his thumb directly on the upturned blade. They narrowly avoid bloodshed.

“I don’t understand.”

Namjoon makes a questioning noise, now trying to saw through the onion, his grip on the handle making it impossible to cut cleanly through like Seokjin had demonstrated.

“You’re? So smart? Why... is this so hard? Why can’t you cut an onion?”

Namjoon lifts his head and the knife, and with it the half onion it’s embedded in. The onion slides off and lands on Namjoon’s foot. Seokjin whimpers.
The problem, Seokjin thinks, is that Namjoon is so earnest about learning that Jin can’t back out now. The man has revealed himself to be the most sincere, wholehearted and irrepressible five year old Seokjin has ever met, determined to keep trying no matter how many times he almost stabs himself.

And to be honest, it is now a matter of pride. Seokjin has committed to painstakingly hand holding this overgrown child through a basic recipe. They are trying to make yakimeshi for lunch. He had thought it would teach a lot of good skills, preparing vegetables, cooking rice and seasoning. It’s not going well.

Taehyung had been with them earlier, but he had cannonballed out the window unprompted while Namjoon was crushing garlic. Watching as Namjoon now poorly peels a fresh onion, Seokjin doesn’t blame Taehyung for getting out when he had the chance.

“Aha!” Namjoon says, as if he has finally wrapped his head around how to do this task. Seokjin smiles at him encouragingly. Then Namjoon lifts the knife and points it directly down on the onion as if about to stab it, other hand worryingly gripped over the onion, directly in the way of stabbing trajectory.

“YAH! Stop it!”

Frustrated, Seokjin grabs both of his wrists to halt him. Namjoon’s back against his front tenses. Seokjin pays it no mind, lifting Namjoon’s noodle arms and tucking his elbows in closer to his body, guiding him through the motions. Carefully, they manage an adequate, if uneven, dice. Namjoon turns to him, the massive grin on his face belying the way his eyes are streaming with tears.

“Wow, we did it! You’re so good at teaching hyung! What’s next?” His dimples deepen further. Seokjin dies a little inside.

---------------

Jeongguk

Taehyung has steered them away from the main kitchens, where Jin hyung and Namjoon are clattering about very loudly.

“Whatever they make, it’s going to be inedible, Namjoon can’t cook for shit.”

“My hyung once replaced the palace chef when he was sick and nobody noticed, the food was that good.”

Taehyung grins, “If it’s good food I’ll eat my hat.”

“You don’t have a hat.”

“Tragic.”

Jeongguk follows Taehyung to the other side of the temple, to a small kitchen with a functioning oven and not much else.

“Let’s get down to business!” Taehyung pulls out half the contents of a cold-storage and a pie tin from his robes.

“...how.”

“The question is not how, but for what, my dear Jeongguk.” Taehyung beams at him, “I am about to teach you a very ancient air nomad tradition - fruit pies!!”

Jeongguk blinks, but figures this is harmless enough. He wasn’t getting anywhere with the bending, and hyung had told him to take the day off. Even though he can’t let go of the undercurrent of frustration he has been feeling all week, maybe fruit pies will be a tasty distraction.

“So the first thing we gotta do is get that oven going - can you do the bendy bend, start a fire?”

Jeongguk flinches. “Uhhh, No.”

“Why not?” Taehyung tilts his head like a lion-puppy.

“Fuck, it’s none of your business why. Don’t you have like a million matchsticks in storage somewhere? Use one of those.” Jeongguk shrinks away.

“Sheesh, okay, okay,” Taehyung springboards out of the room and returns within seconds with the means to get the oven going.
“Alright, next order of business - the crust!”

Taehyung and Jeongguk work surprisingly well together, not getting nearly as much flour on the ceiling as Jeongguk had suspected they would.
Taehyung does everything much faster, whipping up the cream with his bending. Determined to keep up, Jeongguk takes a fork and -

“WAH! Your arms are like a windmill! WhipWhipWhipWhipWhip-” Jeongguk grins at Taehyung’s obvious excitement.

Taehyung’s voice gets louder, and his jumping gets higher the longer Jeongguk keeps it up. Eventually, his bicep is burning, Tae’s voice is hoarse and the cream is whipped to such a firm peak that it seems immoveable.

They make two pies, one with blueberries, and the other with oranges. Jeongguk makes a delicate little plait with the leftover dough and wraps it around the seams. When Taehyung sees this he smacks a kiss onto Jeongguk’s forehead in excitement, proclaiming that the finishing touch makes the pies Perfect.

The pies go in the oven. Taehyung floats to the ceiling and sticks there like a pancake. To save his neck from having to crane up, Jeongguk lies flat directly below him on the floor. The floor is a little sticky but honestly Jeongguk has been covered in worse than orange filling and butter. They stare each other down, Taehyung’s eyes narrow. Jeongguk waits patiently for Taehyung to break the silence.

“SO,” Taehyung says abruptly, “When did you Know you were the Avatar?”

Jeongguk blinks a little at the question. He’s never left the Fire Nation, never met anyone who didn’t already know everything there was to know about him.

“When I was thirteen.”

“Yeah but How?” Taehyung probes, drifting back to the floor. Jeongguk turns on his side to keep facing him.

“I, uh, was in a really really bad mood. Jin hyung dragged me out to the gardens to get some fresh air and he kept like, telling all these really stupid jokes.”

“Yeah! Your hyung’s jokes are really funny!”

“No they aren’t! They’re terrible! Anyway, I was determined not to laugh at them because his jokes do not deserve laughter, but also I just really wanted to stay angry? I guess? But then he tripped into the pond and when he got up he had a turtle-duck perched like a hat on his head and he didn’t even notice and I laughed so hard that I cracked open a stone wall.”

“Hah!” Taehyung looks gleeful, “Aish that’s so fun! Your bending is connected to your emotions! You make earthquakes when you laugh!”

“I guess?” Jeongguk raises his eyebrows, “I never thought about my bending like that.”

“Namjoon hyung is like that too, when he gets angry he loses all his precision and when he is distracted and worried he bends without realising and ends up rubbing his little egg head on the ceiling, lost in thought.” Taehyung sighs, “What a doof.”

Jeongguk has a hard time believing Namjoon could be that absent minded, he seems too intelligent for that.

“If Namjoon is like me, and bends with emotion, why does he bother meditating so much? Why empty your head when you need your head full in order to bend?”

“Who said you need an empty head?”

“Namjoon did!”

“Are you sure? Because hyung helped me with meditating a bunch of times and he never said anything like that to me.”

“I - Maybe he didn't. But what's the point of meditating then? Why have we spent so fucking long on it? It’s been fucking weeks of sitting quietly and doing NOTHING. I want Namjoon to teach me to actually bend already!” Jeongguk pulls himself up to a sitting position, excess energy not letting him lie prone on the floor any longer.

Taehyung is glancing nervously at Jeongguk’s fists, like he expects him to lash out and burn. Something in Jeongguk shutters, and he takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. He never used to get angry this quickly back home. Taehyung wouldn’t know it, but Jeongguk has always been happy and energetic. This constant low level of painful roiling anger is new to him.

“Hey, Jeongguk.” Taehyung smiles easily at him, “You’re okay, you calmed yourself down. I’m proud of you.”

“You are?”

“Yeah!” Taehyung’s eyes disappear into his smile, “Do you wanna know why us airbenders spend all that time meditating?”

Jeongguk nods hesitantly.

“Like, airbenders are all easy breezy chill monks right? It’s because they figured out a long time ago that like, if you are angry and sad and feel like shit all the time, then all that baggage is gonna literally weigh you down, its gonna stop you feeling like, a connection to the air.” Taehyung gestures around his head like punctuation, swirling the dust motes with his palms.

“Meditation gives you time to work through anything that’s messing with your head. You aren’t meant to have an empty head, just a clear one. Some monks go even further and like, let go of everything that’s tying them to earth. I heard this one guy literally could fly, like straight up without a hang glider or anything, cos he became One with himself. But that’s not what Namjoon wants you to do I think. He just wants you to feel chill and happy.”
Taehyung pauses, “I thought meditation was bullshit at first too but, I gave it a try when Jamyang kept nagging me about it and like, it helped.” Taehyung shrugs, “I mean it can’t hurt can it?”

“Right.” Jeongguk nods, “Thank you, Taehyung. Really.”

“No problem Jeongguk-ah! Now! Get up! We have pies to plate!”

--------------

Namjoon

“Wow hyung, this already smells amazing.” Namjoon can’t hide the faint surprise colouring his voice. He has never cooked anything edible before in his life.

“I’m an amazing cook and an amazing teacher, of course it smells amazing.” Seokjin gesticulates with a spoon, unheeding of the little clumps of sticky rice that fling off onto the walls.

Namjoon heaves another deep breath in, accidentally forming a little vortex that threatens to chuck the rest of the rice out of the pot before he hastily blows it all back in, “I genuinely don’t think there could be a better dish than this on earth.”

“I’m flattered you think it’s that good but, I beg to differ, even the lowest quality samgyeopsal is better than this.”

“Samgyeopsal?”

“Mmm yes: Meat!” Seokjin grins at him. Namjoon sighs.

“We have been over this. Monks don’t eat meat.”

“A tragedy.”

“It’s not a tragedy! I personally love the food we eat. I am completely content being a vegetarian.”

“You only say that cos’ you have never tried anything else.”

And here they are rehashing a conversation they have had every few days since the princes’ arrival. But Namjoon has been thinking, and he has a checkmate:

“That’s not true! Have you ever been stung by a scorpion-lobster?”

“No?” Seokjin splutters, “Those exist??” He looks horrified.

“They exist, I got stung by one when we travelled through Saipan when I was nine. I thought it was friendly!” Namjoon shakes his head as he remembers the betrayal, “Anyway, my point is that you know you don’t want to be stung, even though you have never even seen one! The same way I know I won’t like meat.”

Seokjin looks incredulous “Yah! You can’t compare delicious food to being maimed by an arthropod! Honestly!”

Namjoon shakes his head, “You’ll get used to not eating it. And by the time the others get back and you don’t have to cook for us everyday I bet you wont even miss meat, just like Taehyung doesn’t miss it anymore!”

Seokjin raises an eyebrow “Sure.”

They continue bickering as the dish simmers on a low heat, Seokjin interjecting every so often to show him the next stage of cooking.

As they transfer the cooked rice into the fried vegetables, Jin broaches a new subject.

“How is it going with teaching Jeongguk?”

“It’s going fine.” Namjoon glances shiftily away.

“Are you sure Namjoon-ah? You can tell me the truth, I won’t be mad.”

“It’s going fine! Pretty much. I think.”

“Jeongguk says he wants to learn some formations.” Seokjin’s voice is gentle, probing.

Namjoon sighs, “I don’t want to have him try bending until he is ready. It will only make it worse if he forces it and it doesn’t work.”

“How can you be sure it won’t work? He was prodigious with the other element he has learnt.” It is a testament to Seokjin that there is absolutely no bitterness in this statement.

“I’m sure he was. Jeongguk does well with fire because it requires aggression, and even if he isn’t naturally angry, he does well at being combative. Airbending is completely different. We usually teach children, not teenagers, and we teach them to centre themselves and be happy, because that makes bending easier. But Jeongguk has been struggling so much with meditation… I don’t know,” Namjoon worries his lip.

“Maybe start teaching him some forms alongside the meditation? He might genuinely implode if you make him sit still for too long.” Jin jokes, lightening the mood a little. “I believe in you both. You’ll figure it out Namjoon-ah.”

---------------

Jeongguk

Jeongguk adores Jin’s cooking, but he misses the delicacies he had access to at the palace. He misses sweet sugared mochi, he misses steaming bao dumplings and he really, really misses meat. After two weeks of filling but plain-by-necessity food, the two pies cooling in front of him look like heaven. Crispy, flaky pastry and a veritable mountain of pastel coloured cream atop each. Jeongguk can’t wait to dig in. He flicks his hand out, hoping to get a taste, but Taehyung grabs his wrist and admonishes him.

“Ah ah, not yet. Come on, let’s take these and surprise the hyungs’.”

They each saddle themselves with a tin and make their steady way over to the main kitchens, Jeongguk closing his eyes as the fragrance of oranges steams up over his face. He is going to eat this entire pie. Namjoon, Taehyung and Jin can split the other between them but this pie. Oh Jeongguk is going to do unspeakable things to this pie.

As they approach, Jeongguk fills up steadily with anticipation, wanting to show his hyung and his teacher the gorgeous dessert he and Taehyung have made together.

Taehyung is chattering next to him...

“- you have your disciplined rigorous training going on all the time but you gotta realise we’re kids! We are young! We gotta let loose sometimes and have fun -”

...but Jeongguk can hardly concentrate, sinking into bliss over the smell of this fruit pie.

Taehyung pauses right as they reach the kitchen. Jeongguk can hear the low tones of Jin-hyung from inside.

“This is important Jeonggukkie: which do you like best? Orange or blueberry?”

“I. I like both?”

“Pick ONE”

“Uhhhhhh blueberry”

Taehyung takes one scoop of blueberry on his finger and proffers it to Jeongguk. Jeongguk blushes, but eats it. It’s ambrosia melting in his mouth. Jeongguk needs more.

Taehyung takes hold of Jeongguk’s tin, balancing one in each hand. Then Taehyung smiles at him. It’s not a nice smile. It’s a smile that prods at something in Jeongguk’s brain, warning him that something worrisome and heartbreaking is about to happen to his blueberry.

It happens in slow motion. Taehyung round kicks the door open, pies precariously balanced in his palms. Jeongguk lurches towards him to save the steadily tipping baked goods. Taehyung gives a high screech of victory, as he bends the pies forwards, out of his hands and out of reach of Jeongguk.

Jeongguk watches in horror. The pies arc perfectly across the space, somehow not dropping all their filling as they somersault, once, twice, a third time. Namjoon and Seokjin both startle at Taehyung’s voice, Seokjin clutching his heart, turning fully towards them just in time for the pies to -

THWAP. The sound is sticky and abrupt. The pies are now inedible. Jeongguk is bereft.

Next to him, Taehyung cackles with laughter.

Blue cream and crust slides down Namjoon’s face. A small pile of blue has landed perfectly on top of his bald head, making it look like he is wearing a little hat. Jin hyung is orange with cream and bright red with fury, clearly about to erupt into a tirade about disrespectful dongsaengs.

Maybe it’s hysteria over the deliciousness he slaved over for hours being smeared and destroyed in seconds. Maybe it’s the sight of his hyung’s standing shellshocked and covered in pudding. Maybe it’s the infectiousness of Taehyung’s joy, doubled over next to him.

Jeongguk bursts into giggles, eyes crinkling shut, capitulating forwards. His hands shoot out in front of him to catch his fall, and in the gasping breath between one laugh and the next, Jeongguk blasts a current of wind from both palms, catching himself on the updraft and slamming up into the ceiling. Flailing, and still unable to tamp down his laughter, Jeongguk does as he has seen Taehyung do countless times, and drags the air beneath him in a circular motion, so he falls and lands belly first not on hard stone, but instead a perfect airball.

The ball keeps going for a solid ten seconds, then dissipates, and Jeongguk flops the rest of the way to the floor. He gets the laughter knocked right out of him. Groaning, he picks himself up, and then notices the others gawping at him.

Jin hyung is open mouthed, Namjoon looks simultaneously gut-punched and puffed up with pride. Taehyung is openly, outwardly gleeful, hands clapping, feet no longer touching the floor, rising into the air like a balloon. Taehyung teeters in the air, and then launches down to hug Jeongguk with all the strength in his gangly limbs.

He is screaming in Jeongguk’s ear, octopussed around him,

“Holy SHIT! You did it Jeongguk!”

Jin hyung peels Taehyung off of him and drags Jeongguk into his embrace, whispers
“I am so, so proud of you.” Orange cream smushes between them.
Jeongguk buries himself in his brother's chest and smiles so wide his cheeks cramp.

Chapter Text

Fire Nation capital
Yoongi

Yoongi winces as a serving girl is knocked sideways, the fruit she was carrying rolling away from her. She scrambles into a full bow, not daring to get up as the head of the royal guard spits fury at her for having the nerve to get in his way. He sweeps around her, and she starts picking up the fruit, hands trembling. Her fingers smooth over the bruises, brush the dirt away. A month ago Yoongi would be on his knees helping her, but he dares not now. Now it would be read as insubordination, rather than compassion.

Tension fills and overflows the palace. Officially, both princes are struck down with a fever so intense that they cannot move about in public. The servants know better, and as such are not allowed to leave, cannot go back to their families for fear of the truth spreading.

The Fire Lord has ordered a lockdown of the capital, without giving a reason. Trade has ground to a halt. Palace guards swarm every inch of the city. Without explanation and without recourse, the commoners are buzzing and swarming, collecting in the cities’ taverns to gossip and complain. The running theory is that a rogue tried to assassinate the entire royal family, almost succeeded in killing the princes and is now on the loose. Yoongi scoffs aloud when he hears this, and then makes himself scarce when eyes turn to him. Despite him wearing the least obtrusive robes he owns, the quality and cleanliness of them marks him as of the palace, and the last thing he needs is to be cornered and demanded to explain by a horde of angry drunks.

Yoongi doubts that this lockdown is worth anything. It is highly unlikely that Jin and Jeongguk are still within city limits, Jin hyung is far too smart for that. The city has been put into an uproar for no reason. That’s not to say Yoongi knows where they are. The only place he can think to rule out is the Poles, where the barbarian waterbenders live. Jin has allies literally everywhere else.

Yoongi has already been interrogated by the royal guard, and to put it mildly it was the least pleasant experience he has ever had. Yoongi is known to be remarkably close to both princes, especially the useless elder. When Yoongi had returned from a family visit to the palace in chaos and both heirs missing, he had immediately been whisked away for questioning. It is nothing short of a miracle that Yoongi genuinely doesn’t know where either of them are. His pride takes a hit when he realises he isn’t able to withstand this torture. He would have cracked and given them up in a second. Living with this knowledge, living with some brand new scars is difficult. Living without a purpose, his entire life devoted to teaching a boy who has disappeared, is nearly impossible. Living without his best friend and confidant is painful in the extreme.

Yoongi has been listless, ordered to remain within the capital, ordered back into questioning time and again and repeating what meagre knowledge he has, which is none. He spends his days among the court, bitterly taking over Jin’s role of schmoozing, attempting to glean any information he can. A month into this Yoongi finds himself wandering into Jin’s rooms for the first time. It has been ravaged, all drawers turned out in an effort to find a clue as to where he has gone. The fire lord had ordered Jin’s correspondence to be brought to him, but Yoongi notes in satisfaction the ashes piled high in the fireplace: every letter burned.

A guard finds him sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace hours later, and pulls him before the Fire Lord. Yoongi is stoic, expecting more torture, unwilling to break down. He is surprised to instead receive orders. He is to make himself useful and join the guard. He will be stationed outside the capital. If he steps a toe out of line he will be killed. If he tries to aid the Fire Lord’s pathetic eldest son in any way he will be killed. His priority is to find the crown prince and drag him back so he can be dealt with. Yoongi keeps his eyes downcast so the Fire Lord cannot see how they burn.

-------------

Western Air Temple
Namjoon

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Namjoon bellows up to the rafters.
“OUR BEST!” Taehyung screams back down, from where he is holding the back of Jeongguk’s tunic, presumably as some semblance of a safety net while Jeongguk dangles precariously, his legs hooked onto the ledge either side of Tae and his arms outstretched into the open air. He seems to be offering a bunch of grapes to a very unimpressed lemur.

Namjoon watches for another moment as the lemur flicks its tail out to grab a grape, Taehyung giving a cheer and almost dropping Jeongguk. Shaking his head, Namjoon carries on hauling in a bucket of potatoes from the vegetable garden. Jin hyung awaits him for a masterclass on Gamjajeon.

This is what Taehyung has dubbed Mandatory Fun Time. M.F.T. is completely up to the whims of Taehyung, and as such has no fixed schedule. Namjoon’s gotten used to being interrupted so that Tae can whisk Jeongguk away to do whatever task has caught his fancy. Namjoon’s resigned himself to getting on with his own work and chores instead of waiting around for Mandatory Fun Time to be over with.

It took Namjoon a little while to understand Taehyung’s thought process, but as always, it made sense eventually. Traditional learning wasn’t cutting it for Jeongguk. No amount of meditation could cut through the block he had had with bending. It was Tae who figured out that laughter, that having fun, that being spontaneous and childish would be far more helpful. And indeed, Jeongguk is having an easier time of everything. Meditation no longer feels like pulling teeth and he is able to focus more and have discussions with Namjoon during their history and theory lessons. The biggest change has come with Namjoon finally feeling confident about teaching him bending, Jeongguk diligently working and improving rapidly, a huge grin on his face whenever he masters a move.

Namjoon can admit when he has been wrong. And he can admit when his junior has been smarter than him. Which is why he doesn’t complain when Taehyung weasels his way into their lessons. It makes sense to include him: it gives Taehyung a chance to strengthen his foundation, practice the basics again. It gives Jeongguk a peer to measure up against and practice with. It feels a little like trying to wrangle a pair of toddlers at times, this competitive, laughter-filled learning completely unlike what Namjoon is used to, but he can’t deny the results.

--------------

Seokjin

His work for the day is set out untouched in front of him, but Seokjin can’t seem to get in the right headspace to focus. Instead he gazes wistfully out of the window, where in the distance he can see Jeongguk and Namjoon working together, guiding a leaf through a series of hoops. Jeongguk overshoots, and the leaf is flung out of reach, where it is caught by the wind and carried off. Namjoon laughs and fetches another off the ground so they can continue. It echoes of the past, countless similar days watching Jeongguk work with Yoongi.

And perhaps that’s where his head is caught, back in those days. Back at the palace, back with Yoongi. With Ji-eun the cook’s daughter, doing odd jobs in the kitchens. With the few friends he had made of the palace staff.

For a little while, Seokjin had been blindsided by the sweet taste of freedom, out from under the fire lord’s thumb. Staying with Namjoon and Taehyung in this cavernous temple for the past couple months has felt like a vacation. Still: Jin is lonely.

Seokjin doesn’t notice he is crying until wetness plinks onto his hands. He keeps staring blurrily out, not bothering to wipe away his tears. He has fared far worse than loneliness for Jeongguk, would never begrudge his brother any of it, would never guilt him with his tears. But for now, Seokjin is going to indulge a little and feel absolutely shitty about how he didn’t get to say goodbye to anybody. He is going to let himself silently wallow.

The wallowing is interrupted by a teenager falling head first onto the desk in front of him. The gangly sprawl of limbs reveals itself to be Taehyung, who settles himself belly first on the desk, crumpling all Seokjin’s papers, chin propped on his hands.

“Hello.” He says, solemn.

“...Hi Tae.” Seokjin replies, hurriedly wiping at his cheeks.

Blessedly, Taehyung doesn’t mention the crying. With a flourish, he pulls out a wooden chip, flicks it up in the air. Catching it inches away from Seokjin’s face he demands “Play a match against me. Loser owes the winner 100 gold pieces.”

Seokjin can’t think of any reason not to, beyond the nagging desire to go bury himself in the dirt so he can keep feeling sorry for himself. Seokjin wills himself to ignore that impulse and helps Taehyung clear away his scrolls and set up the chandraki board.

This isn’t the first time they have played together, and by now Seokjin knows not to underestimate Taehyung. The boy can seem ditzy and naive, but he is sharp as a tack. That first time, Taehyung had giggled and made silly errors, seemingly more focused on telling a story about Yeontan’s digestive problems than on the game. In his disgust Jin had gotten distracted, had let his guard down, had thought it was just a casual game. Tae had disabused him of that notion very quickly. It was absolute carnage of wooden chips, half his pieces swept off the board with Jin still trying to comprehend what exactly had just happened.

Now Seokjin knows what to expect, and Taehyung knows that Seokjin knows what to expect. As they settle opposite each other, they each stare the other down, trying to psyche the other out. Taehyung waggles his eyebrows, and the contrast between his narrowed eyes and his wiggly brows is ridiculous, but Jin won’t crack. Jin simply scowls, pushing his laughter firmly down, and makes his first move. This time Seokjin is prepared, this time he is going to win.

Seokjin loses. He loses by a landslide. His opponent switches instantly from cold and calculating to rapturously, riotously happy. Taehyung’s victory dance carries him halfway up the wall before he collapses back into Jin’s lap and yanks him into a hug. Jin now owes him approximately 13,000 gold pieces that he doesn’t possess from all the matches he has lost just in the past fortnight. As he hugs Tae back, he thinks he doesn’t really mind all that much, laughing at Taehyung’s giddy excitement over winning.

------------

The Last Remaining Fire Temple
Yoongi

Yoongi sighs as the sentry stationed alongside him fidgets with his helmet again, clanking obnoxiously. It is the smallest size of armour, but still too large on him. If Yoongi was being generous, if he trusted the integrity of the fire nation, he would say the sentry was just barely of age. But he doesn’t trust it. He doubts the boy’s voice has even broken yet.

Apart from the two of them, it is empty in their little hallway, standing outside the Sanctuary. Every day or so a flock of fire sages will swan in. They act very pompous, making a whole production of getting into this one damn room, having to send five simultaneous blasts of fire into funnels just to get the door to open. It’s overkill, and Yoongi is tired of it.

For the moment though, there is nobody. Well, nobody except this clanging, clanking child he has been stationed with.

A few endlessly long days pass, and as Yoongi had known, his presence remains more than useless. Seokjin has more self awareness than to trust the sanctity of the Fire Temple. The likelihood of the two princes arriving here looking for safety is less than zero. Yoongi has faith that with the head Seokjin has on his shoulders, he and Jeongguk are safe wherever they are, far away from fire nation territory.

One morning Yoongi’s patience for the metallic tang of the boys helmet runs thin. He takes a moment over his lunch break to grab some clean rags. When the child is done with his meal Yoongi brusquely stops him from suiting back up. The kid jumps at being spoken to. They hardly ever talk to each other, at some point the boy must have squeaked out a name, but Yoongi had neither heard nor remembered it. It hardly matters, but Yoongi wishes he knew it, if only to offer some kind words to this child who is clearly intimidated.

He ties the rags on top of the boys head, piling a few and making sure they won’t shift around and chafe. When the helmet goes back on, it rests snugly a few centimetres higher. The child grins wide, tilting his head side to side to test that it won’t move. Yoongi turns away, not wanting to look at his happiness, not wanting to remember a different, buck toothed smile. He settles at his post. No more infernal clanking.

---------------

Western Air Temple
Jeongguk

Jeongguk breathes heavily, ribcage rising and falling rapidly. Beside him, Taehyung is unbothered, flashing his boxy grin and twirling the ball between his fingers. Jeongguk has just been decimated at airball. He almost scored a dozen times, but even with all his vast improvement in airbending over the last few months, he is still no match for Taehyung.

“Good job Jeongguk!” Namjoon exclaims, swooping down from where he had been watching across the court, “I saw that maneuver, you executed it brilliantly!”

“If only it helped me beat Tae.” Jeongguk grumbles, but he isn’t above laughing along with Taehyung when he breaks into giggles.

It’s his sixteenth birthday and for the first year in his entire life, there is no grand banquet, no fussy robes, no sitting docile by his father’s side as a parade of aristocracy come to greet him.

He has instead a friend who wakes him for the sunrise by flopping directly over him like a dead fish. He has several hours of drills completed already today, a good meal in his belly and Jin hyung looking the most relaxed he has ever seen him as he watches them from the side of the court.

The threat of his father seems distant somehow. The choking guilt of what Jeongguk had done seems less suffocating.

Later, when Namjoon whistles for Moni, ready to fly up to their grassy field, Jeongguk stops him.

“What if -” He hesitates, unsure of his own request. Namjoon waits, expression patient and open.

“What if we meditated somewhere else today? The observatory or… orthesanctuary?” Jeongguk’s voice climbs to heretofore unknown territory beyond the audible range of sound.

“Could you repeat that for me Jeongguk?”

“We could meditate in the Sanctuary, maybe, if you want to, we don’t have to,”

Jeongguk somehow didn’t anticipate the sheer catatonic joy that Namjoon was capable of. He has so many teeth when he smiles like that, he should put them away. Jeongguk blushes wildly.

This time Jeongguk’s bending is powerful enough to get the pipes to sing properly rather than sounding like flatulence, but not enough to get the door to open. Namjoon doesn’t let him dwell on that failure, praising him for his improvement and suggesting they try to open it together.

The doors swing open and Jeongguk is confronted again with the sheer number of people he has to live up to.

Months ago when he had first arrived and Namjoon had tried to show him his past lives, Jeongguk had been too ashamed to face them. The avatar was meant to uphold peace and be a good person and Jeongguk wasn’t sure if he was a good person. A good person would have been strong and stood up to his father. A good person would have helped that man escape. But he was too weak and in his weakness he burned that man so badly that his nightmares continue to persist.

The months he has spent here have calmed him somewhat, he knows he is still weak but he has a strategy to overcome it. He has given up firebending, if he doesn’t bend fire he can’t hurt anything with it. He is going to master the other three elements and learn about his past lives so he can start living up to their goodness. And maybe eventually he will be a good person too.

Namjoon leads him through, pointing out the people Jeongguk has been studying lately.

“Do you know who this is?”

Jeongguk squints at the stone face in front of him - the expression is as hard as the material it is carved from.

“She looks scary. Is that Avatar Jian?” Jeongguk eyes the figure warily.

“Indeed it is, I was alive at the same time as her for a couple years. She was the avatar just before you.”

“So I was born when she died?”

“Correct, the spirit passes to another body when an avatar dies, in a cycle.”

“Earth… then fire. So when I die it’ll be a waterbender.”

Namjoon nods and pulls a face.
“If you think Jian looks scary you don’t want to meet any waterbenders.”

Jeongguk laughs in agreement. Waterbenders are barbarians - everybody knows that. As they move round Namjoon continues to quiz him, excited for Jeongguk to make connections between his book study and the real people.

“That’s Avatar Gu Lang, can you tell me what you learnt about her?”

“Uhhhh - she was born in the southern air temple?” Jeongguk feels silly for being nervous, Namjoon won’t be mad at him if he is wrong, but the hesitancy is still there. He wishes Taehyung was here, butting in with his own facts, but Namjoon is nodding reassuringly, so he continues,

“Gu Lang was the first air nomad to reach enlightenment despite marrying and having a family. Before her everybody thought you had to cut off yourself from worldly relationships. She understood that as the avatar she needed to be connected to the world and to her spirituality.” Jeongguk recites what he remembered from the scrolls, “But - does that mean only the avatar can do both?”

Namjoon shakes his head, “That’s the question a lot of people had when she achieved enlightenment. But her son went on to be the second person to do so. And both of them continued to be central to their communities and families until they died.”

They reach a clear circle of space and Namjoon gestures for him to sit with him on the ground.

“It proved that the old way of sealing yourself away and dying alone was unnecessary. Which is great, I wouldn’t want to live like that.”

“Me neither,” Jeongguk nods pensively. Namjoon continues quizzing him for a little while longer, reluctant to end the conversation. But eventually they fall into silence to meditate, Jeongguk shifting every so often, always a bit uncomfortable with being still in the lotus position.

As always his mind wanders, he thinks about his own community, his own family. The community where he was revered and othered as crown prince, but where he was friends with the cook who slipped him extra sweets and the attendant who teased him for being so picky, but always put only the good smelling oils in Jeongguk’s bath. He had left them behind, he had left Yoongi hyung behind, but he would get back to them some day. He had to. Community was important. And in the meantime, he had a new community in Taehyung and Namjoon, Moni and Yeontan. And his steadfast Jin hyung who had never wavered in the slightest, even though Jeongguk could tell he missed home too. His mind wanders, the warmth of his brother colouring every memory he has. His mind wanders, his mind empties, a feeling of calm centering him.

Jeongguk feels a touch to his shoulder. He didn’t think it had been that long, but maybe it was already time for the evening meal.

He opens his eyes and reels backwards in shock, a scream escaping him.

-------------

Namjoon

Namjoon comes back to himself slowly, stretching out his fingers, wiggling his toes. He always feels a little groggy after meditating, as if he has taken a nap. His teachers used to think he actually fell asleep sitting up, but Namjoon has always remained conscious and cognizant. His hands fall from his eyes and he is confused for a moment by the bluish light surrounding him.

He takes in Jeongguk, sitting peacefully still, face calm and unbothered, eyes blown wide open, the whites, iris and pupil overtaken by a glow of blue. He takes in the statues with their markings and eyes lit up like a response, the combined light flooding through the room

Confused for a moment, and then understanding washes over him like cold water. Namjoon runs to the sanctuary doors and yells hoarsely for help, hoping Jin or Tae are nearby.

------------

Seokjin

When Seokjin hears shouting echoing across the entire temple he assumes Taehyung has corralled Jeongguk into some new insanity. But there is an element of panic he can’t quite ignore. He follows the yelling at a brisk pace and then a flat out run when he realises the voice is Namjoon, not the kids.

The sanctuary doors are wide open, Namjoon standing between them backlit by a great blaze of what looks alarmingly like blue fire. Seokjin skids forwards, heart in his throat and his worry is immediately replaced by another. It is not an out of control fire with Jeongguk burning amidst it. It is instead rows upon rows, circles upon circles of statues pouring blue light out of their eyes.

“What-?” Seokjin is bewildered, mind racing with questions, the first: where is Jeongguk?
“Come quickly!” Namjoon motions frantically and Seokjin follows through the clay bodies to where Jeongguk is sat, looking as calm as anything, light beaming out of his eyes too.

“What’s wrong with him? What is this?” Seokjin reaches out, half a mind to shake Jeongguk out of this creepy state. Namjoon grabs his wrist before he can.

“Don’t touch him! I don’t know if it’s safe. He is in the avatar state, but something is wrong, he shouldn’t be so still.”

“The avatar state?” Seokjin has heard of it, but at the moment all his knowledge is like sand, impossible to grasp onto.

“It’s like a defense mechanism, the avatar can use it when they are in danger and it protects them. But there is no danger, we were just meditating,”
Seokjin fights the urge to pick up his brother and run. If there is a danger he doesn’t want to stick around to find out what it is.

Namjoon looks nervously around at the eerie statues. “And the statues glowing, it’s important somehow, it means something-”

“Wah! This is so cool!” Taehyung’s voice filters in from the doorway, “Hey Joon hyung! Hi Jin hyung!”

Taehyung floats in, too distracted by the sight of the statues and Jeongguk in the lotus position to notice how tense Namjoon and Seokjin are.

“This light - it means Jeongguk’s in the avatar state right hyung?” Taehyung seems excited by this development. Seokjin is terrified. But then Taehyung frowns.

“But hyung. The temples are all connected right?”

Namjoon closes his eyes and lets out a harsh: “Fuck. You’re right.”

Seokjin, still playing catch up, says urgently, “Taehyung, please explain.”

“These temples are thousands of years old, they existed before everyone started being stupid and dividing themselves up. Before all that division, all the temples were connected, and the sanctuaries still are…” Taehyung bites his lip.

“Which means the sanctuary in the fire nation temple just lit up just like this one.” Seokjin finishes with dawning horror. Fuck indeed.

“But there are at least a dozen temples globally, they don’t know Jeongguk is here specifically,” Namjoon reasons.

“No. They don't. But this is the nearest air temple to the fire nation, where do you think they are gonna check first?” Seokjin stares down at his brother, mind racing, “We need to leave. Immediately.”

“But we can’t move him!” Namjoon insists.

“Why not?” Taehyung squats next to Jeongguk, head tilted back to look at Namjoon.

“He should still be lucid and moving. Heck he should be bending right now, protecting himself. Not sitting here catatonic. I think that if we move him something bad will happen!”

“But if we don’t I know something bad is going to happen. My father is going to burn you two alive and lock both of us away until we die!”

“But he -” Namjoon looks frustrated. Seokjin is two seconds away from abandoning decorum, hefting Jeongguk over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and running to the nearest flying bison.

“Move out of my way Namjoon.” Seokjin says firmly.

“Hyung -” Taehyung interjects from the floor behind them.

“Not now Tae,” Namjoon’s stance shifts, as if he is prepared to bend if Seokjin so much as moves an inch towards Jeongguk.

“Hyung, stop! He’s awake!”

Chapter Text

Taehyung

Jeongguk stands up, eyes still aglow. His face goes from smooth and blank to ferociously angry, his fists coming up and fire erupting from them like twin daggers. Taehyung scrambles back in shock, his back thumping against Namjoon’s legs.

Wind swirls through the sanctuary, whipping Jeongguk’s hair and clothes as it centres around him.

For a moment, it looks like Jeongguk will attack, but then his cool glowy blue eyes snuff out, the pretty brown irises returning. Around them, the statues return to normal. Taehyung’s eyes take a second to adjust to the comparative darkness. When he can see again, Seokjin is tightly hugging a very limp Jeongguk and Joon hyung in his noodly goodness has bent to help Taehyung get off the floor. They all catch their breath.

Namjoon emerges from the sanctuary, followed by Taehyung and Seokjin both supporting a disoriented Jeongguk. Taehyung helps Seokjin lower Jeongguk against the wall, Seokjin quickly settling on his knees beside him, alarmed at how pale Jeongguk looks in the waning daylight. Taehyung blinks out at the sunset, taking a moment to pull himself together. All four of them breathe, aware that while Jeongguk isn’t going to implode, as Taehyung had briefly worried, it’s very possible they are about to be attacked by a much worse threat. Taehyung’s dry throat clicks when he swallows.

“So!” Taehyung says, overly bright. Jeongguk startles and looks up, eyes still a tad unfocused.

“I’ll get our food packed, Namjoon hyung please go get some bedding and clothes together and Jin hyung can stay here with Jeonggukkie until he’s better. Oh, wait -”

Taehyung rustles in his robes for a second and lifts his hand triumphant when he finds his whistle. He blows a familiar melody and then hands the whistle to Seokjin.

“Now Moni and Yeontan should be on their way here.”

“You’re amazing, Tae.” Seokjin says.

“I know,” Taehyung grins as he speeds off towards the kitchens.

Trying to scrape together luggage while running around a vast and empty temple in semi darkness proves to be a slow process. Taehyung for once thinks with his brain and not his stomach, leaving most of the delicious fresh fruit and stocking rice, pulses, nuts and longer life vegetables together in baskets and lugging them back to Seokjin, who hefts them onto Yeontan and Moni’s saddles and secures them as best he can. Namjoon seems to disappear for a long while and Taehyung briefly worries. His worrying proves useless when Joon comes huffing and puffing, dragging several sleeping sacks and heavy bags stuffed with spare robes.

Eventually they all settle on the bisons, Taehyung on Yeontan with most of the bags, and Joon holding onto Moni’s reins with Jeongguk and Seokjin settled amongst even more luggage. But just as they are about to set off, Jeongguk speaks up for the first time since they left the sanctuary,

“Wait - water. We need to bring water -”

He’s right. They hadn’t packed any and might have to fly for hours. They could all dehydrate like little raisins in the sky. Taehyung jumps down, racing towards the kitchens and filling up canteens of water as quickly as he can. He hefts them over his shoulder and runs, slowed down by their weight. The last dregs of sunlight leave the temple, the dark ratcheting up how scary and urgent the situation feels.

When he reaches the flying bison once more, Taehyung throws the canteens up to Seokjin who deftly catches them one by one. Jeongguk opens one up and drinks, seeming to perk up as he does so. Taehyung takes the last couple up with him to jump up on Yeontan. Finally, he and Namjoon gently pull their reins up, giving the call for the bison to fly.

A sudden streak of red rips through the sky in front of them. Terrified, the bison rear back, careening down to land. Taehyung can’t see anything but the bright flash of red, but he hears Jeongguk scream. Taehyung buries his hands in yeontan’s fur, trying desperately to calm him so he doesn’t buck everything out of the saddle. Just as the red sizzles out of view, another streaks around them, a ring circling as if to lasso them. Taehyung feels a fierce heat lap against his face as the ring tightens, and he processes the red for what it is. Fire.

Taehyung looks to Moni. Brightly backlit by the flames, Namjoon pulls at Moni’s reins to calm him, Jeongguk and Jin clutch at each other, frozen in fear. Taehyung tries to blow air out to push away the flames, but struggles to breathe deeply enough to manage it. Panicked, Taehyung drags in breaths that only seem to bring smoke into his lungs, sending him coughing madly.

Namjoon, having soothed Moni enough for him to stabilize, takes his staff and leaps upwards and out of the tight ring of fire, bringing himself down in a wide arc that snuffs the lasso out in one fell swoop. Taehyung braces for more heat, more red, for there to be an army of pointy helmeted colonizers surrounding them.

Instead there is nobody. Or - Taehyung squints. There is one man in full fire nation regalia. Taehyung snarls, grabbing his own staff and readying to fight. But before he can scramble off of Yeontan, Jeongguk is already on the ground, hurtling towards their attacker. Taehyung’s eyes widen in shock, Jeongguk doesn’t seem like he is in any condition to fight. He rushes behind him, supportive of whatever has possessed Jeongguk.

But instead of bending, Jeongguk tackles the man, wrapping his limbs around and sending both of them tumbling into the ground. Unorthodox, but effective - the fire nation soldier keels over like a sack of potatoes, Jeongguk landing flat on top of him.

From behind, Seokjin gasps and then gleefully:

“YOONGI!” Seokjin runs over to join the heap on the ground. Bubbling laughter and desperate sobs start emanating from it.

Taehyung shares a look of bewilderment with Namjoon. Who the hell is Yoongi?

-------------

Three Hours East of the Western Air Temple
Jeongguk

When he wakes, his body overly warm but his face cold from the breeze washing over him, the night sky wide above, it takes a long moment for Jeongguk to understand where he is. He is squashed in between two bodies, which is very familiar. It is Jin hyung and Yoongi hyung, also familiar. But they aren’t at home, safe under huge silk blankets. The stars could be explained if they were on the balcony where they sometimes slept during sweltering summer nights, but no - the ground beneath them is sloped and warm, not cold flat marble.

Jeongguk blinks and lifts his head, to catch a glimpse of luggage packed to one side and Namjoon’s back on the other and understanding dawns on him. He struggles to sit up from the octopus of limbs in encasing him from both sides, but once he manages it, Jeongguk can see Taehyung yawning deeply atop Yeontan behind them. They are in flight headed away from the temple, all of them dead tired. He doesn’t know how long he has slept, but he knows it hasn’t been long enough to shake the deep feeling of exhaustion he has felt since coming back to his body in the sanctuary. He shakes his head, he isn’t ready to process that particular adventure just yet.

This quiet is a bit strange after the mad rush. Yoongi hurriedly explained that he wasn’t there to kidnap them and take them to the Fire Lord, while Taehyung tried his best to calm down the thoroughly spooked bison so that they could head off again, this time with Yoongi safely on board. And the seventeen canteens of water Taehyung had managed to single handedly lug back in one trip. Taehyung is so cool.

He isn’t quite sure where they are headed, but by the hurried conversation Jin hyung and Namjoon hyung were having as they readied to leave, he gathers it is not to any of the other temples. It looks like being taught by monk Jamyang is not in the cards for Jeongguk.

He feels a hand weave it’s fingers through his. Yoongi hyung blinks up at him and smiles. Jeongguk can’t help but grin back. He can’t believe how silly he had been - being scared shitless by the fire lasso when the only person to ever use that move was his own Yoongi hyung. His brilliant teacher, who is such a creative and skillful bender that he had managed to beat out all the established and traditional master benders that were lined up to teach the prince of the fire nation. Jeongguk should have known right away that he was safe.
He flops down, ready to fall back asleep, but Yoongi’s voice, a rough whisper, breaks the quiet before he can.

“The metal they use for the walls and doors in the fire temple can’t be melted. But they decorated it so heavily with gold, and gold is all soft and squishy the minute you even breath next to it. It was easy to just... melt the temple entrance shut.” Yoongi lets out a heavy breath, “There is this poor little kid who I had to leave inside but... I’m sure they must have figured a way out by now. I just needed a head start before those pompous bastards tell the Fire Lord about everything. I needed to find you first.”

That… Jeongguk would need Yoongi to elaborate on that… later. But first -

“How did you figure out where we were though? We could have been anywhere,” Jeongguk whispers back.

“Jin hyung destroyed his letters.”

“Ah, I see.” And Jeongguk did. His hyung’s whole life was in his letters. He kept them safe and stacked in neat rows. The most important ones, from his correspondent at the western air temple, were kept right by his bedside so he could reread them at his leisure. Jin hyung wouldn’t have set them alight unless he had something, someone, to replace them.

Jeongguk glances again at Namjoon’s back, his head bent so the vertebrae at the base of his neck are visible. Even sleep deprived, Joon hyung is a better flier than Jin hyung, this is a very different experience than the last time Jeongguk was flown over the ocean. The calm and gentle swaying of the bison lulls Jeongguk back to sleep.

--------------

Seven Hours East of the Western Air Temple
Yoongi

Yoongi wolfs down cold beans with a gusto he historically reserved for exotic cured meats. He hasn’t eaten since dawn the previous day, right before taking over the guard shift he now thanks the stars he was assigned.

He was among the very few who noticed the sanctuary blaring with unearthly light. He hadn’t known what it meant until the Fire sage who had been inside came tripping out, stumbling on his own robes. The old man, wheezing, ordered him to send a hawk to the capital - the avatar was present in one of the temples. This was not a narrow lead - there were at least a dozen temples scattered throughout the mapped word - but with the might and reach of the fire nation military it was a sure bet. As long as word reached the capital within the hour.

Yoongi, heart pounding, had nodded. He left the sage in the hands of his partner, the sweet thirteen year old offering the sage water from his satchel. He had felt a little guilty as he fused the doors shut, locking them in.

The elder sages had trained sea lizards for travel to and from the capital. Where centuries before a sage would spend his whole life on the island, the current lot enjoyed regular trips to the upper echelons of fire nation society. Bastards. Yoongi wasn’t complaining though, the lizard he stole was fast and efficient. He had barely a drop of water splash on him from atop the lizard’s back. It was a shame the beast had disappeared once they reached the base of the cliffs. It couldn’t follow him up the side and Yoongi had nothing to tie the beast to while he was away.

When the food is finished, Jeongguk starts collecting up the mass of blankets surrounding them, folding them up neatly. Yoongi gets startled when Jeongguk takes a running leap off of the bison, but he lands on the one behind without a problem, settling next to the boy holding the reins. Yoongi watches as he takes over, the other boy dramatically tumbling backwards onto the bison’s broad back and curling up into sleep.

The sun is rising in the direction they are travelling, blinding them as it peaks above the clouds. Yoongi has managed to hit a sweet spot, hidden right behind where Jin hyung is sitting with the monk. Jin’s massive shoulders do a great job of shielding Yoongi’s eyes from the dawn. Yoongi frowns when the monk slumps sideways, leaning his head on those shoulders. What was the guy’s name again? Yoongi was aware of the long correspondence between these two, but had never had cause to ask Jin hyung about it, content to let him focus on building a network while he focused on the very important task of training the most powerful teenager on the planet.

Yoongi feels disconcerted, separate from the kids giggling sleepily with each other on the other bison, separate from these two leaning on one another ahead of him. He coughs loudly.

“Hey Jin hyung -” Yoongi prods Jin in the butt with his big toe and Jin’s hand snakes back to grab it before he can retract his foot, “where are we going?”

“For now, we are just heading to the wilderness on the outskirts of the earth kingdom. It’s the closest landmass that’s not a temple or fire nation territory.” The monk answers him.

Yoongi quirks a brow, directing his question again at Jin, “And what are we going to do when we get there? Commune with the tiger monkeys?”

“Ahh Yoongi,” Jin shakes the foot he still has a hold on, “I missed you.”

Yoongi's face heats up and he scoffs, pulling his foot away. He hides his smile when Jin starts squeaking, he had missed his hyung's stupid laugh.

It doesn’t take them all that long to land, as the sun creeps fully above the horizon, a fuzzy green mass soon becomes visible.

As soon as they land, both bison slump heavily on their fronts. Yoongi holds on for dear life as everything on the saddles slide around in response. Jeongguk and his friend are quick to leap off their own bison to go cuddle the bison’s giant heads, Yoongi is left astounded by the newfound air assisted lightness in Jeongguk’s jump.

--------------

Seokjin

Everyone’s bellies are full but there is no telling when they will be able to get more food, so Seokjin grabs Yoongi and Jeongguk and has them running an inventory on all the remaining cargo. The two airbenders in the group catch up on some much needed sleep in the meantime, sprawled on top of an equally unconscious Yeontan in the nearby shade.

Seokjin takes a moment to bask in the presence of his oldest friend and confidant. Yoongi looks a little thinner, worse for wear, but Seokjin was half worried he would get himself killed without Seokjin there to temper his attitude. He’ll take skinny over dead any day.

While they work Yoongi catches him and Jeongguk up on the uproar back home and his grand escape from fire temple guard duty. Seokjin is delighted when he relates how furious his father was, but notes how Jeongguk looks a little queasy.

“I’m sorry we left without saying anything to you… you were away and I had to get us out on such short notice... there was no time -”

“It’s fine hyung. It’s good. It’s better I knew nothing about where you were.” Yoongi’s shoulders are tight, but his voice is sincere. Seokjin’s lips press together in understanding - Yoongi went through more punishment than just guard duty.

Their conversation meanders, Yoongi asking about Joon and Tae, Jeongguk proudly relating his airbending skills and showing them off, almost sending their carefully stacked baskets of beans and rice flying with an airball. There are awkward moments too, when Yoongi asks whether Jeongguk has been keeping up with his firebending drills and again later, when he muses about the blue light in the sanctuary. Seokjin wants to know too - he hasn’t seen his brother bend fire since they arrived at the temple, and he definitely needs to know whether Jeongguk remembers anything from that terrifying hour where his body was present but his mind was clearly not. But - it is plain Jeongguk doesn’t want to talk about either of those things, so Seokjin swallows his questions and does his best to steer the conversation to safer ground each time. The ease with which they hung out back at the palace isn’t gone completely, but it is taking a while for them to find their footing with each other after months of separation.

Seokjin feels a twinge of guilt for being relieved when Namjoon and Taehyung wake up from their nap.

With two extra pairs of hands the work gets done quicker, Seokjin writing his calculations into the mud with a stick for lack of a scroll and quill. If they ration carefully, they have enough food to last them just under a week. Enough for them to stick around in this hiding spot for a day or two before needing to leave for civilisation. With three fire nation aristocracy and two monks they were not going to get very far hunting or gathering without inadvertently poisoning themselves.

Next on the agenda is fashioning some sort of camp, it may be warm enough with the sun still climbing, but by nightfall the temperature is sure to drop. They only have enough bedrolls for four out of five people.

The five of them find themselves busy for another few hours, a new job cropping up every time they think they can finally take a rest. Seokjin has never had cause to do this much physical work before in his life. It’s liberating, but exhausting.

By midday, Namjoon has wandered over to where the sea meets the rocky shore they are camped on and is poking around with an air of purpose.

“What are you looking for?” Seokjin asks curiously as he passes by.

Namjoon is practically on his belly leaning over the edge of the rocks, but cranes his neck back to say, “I’ve read there are swordtail crabs here”

“Oh fantastic! Are you sure they’re edible?”

Namjoon gasps and sits upright in offense, “I’m trying to make friends - not murder them for food!”

Taehyung has set up some sort of contraption out of sticks, leaves and the clay pot that formally held their breakfast and roped in Yoongi to get a little fire going underneath it. Seokjin again has no idea what is going on until he sees the streams of clean filtered water dripping slowly from the little leaf canopy into their emptied canteens.

Jeongguk keeps steadily working beside Seokjin, but is being suspiciously quiet. Seokjin tries to nudge him towards the little science experiment with Tae and Yoongi but he declines. His little brother has his thinking face on. Seokjin forces himself not to mother him.

He is rewarded when, during a lull in their shared afternoon meal, Jeongguk softly clears his throat.

“Uh. So…” Jeongguk cringes as everybody turns to look at him, “So - something weird happened to me. Back in the sanctuary.”

Seokjin nods at him encouragingly,

“I was meditating and it was all normal, and then, when I opened my eyes, there was this woman in full armour in front of me on a bear.”

“A platypus bear?” Interjects Taehyung.

“No - just, a bear.”

“Weird.” Taehyung says.

“I didn’t see any bears in the sanctuary,” Namjoon muses.

“Who cares about the bear,” Yoongi sighs impatiently, “what happened with the woman?”

“I thought she was an intruder… I tried to attack her but when I tried to bend, nothing happened. And when I got up, Namjoon was still meditating, completely oblivious. I was so scared and you weren’t moving even when I called out to you. And then I realised - there were two of me. The me stood up and the me still sitting on the ground meditating.”

“You were in the spirit world,” Namjoon breathes out in understanding, awe colouring his voice.

---------------

Yesterday, Western Air Temple
Jeongguk

The woman was incredibly intimidating, face painted aggressively in a way that made her look like her brow was permanently furrowed in anger. She dismounted the bear with purpose, moving closer to him. Jeongguk’s heart was in his throat and his bending was failing him. He even risked bending fire, but no flame came forth from his fist. That had never happened before.

“Your bending won’t work here.” The woman’s voice was deep and severe.

“Who are you?” Jeongguk’s voice came out quieter than intended, but if he had been any louder he wouldn’t have been able to hide the shake. “What did you do to my bending?”

“You know who I am, you told the monk about me on the way in.” Her face quirked in a smile, “I understand why you were less than complimentary.”

Jeongguk frowned, trying to place her. He pulled his attention away from her stern looking face, away from the bear beside her. She was wearing green and yellow under bronze armour, a sort of flattened pyramid shape repeating over the garments and emblazoned on her chest - earth kingdom insignia. Her hands, what he could see of them through the wrappings, were tough and weathered.

“...Jian?”

Avatar Jian, his last life in the cycle, somehow risen from the grave, nodded, “It’s good to meet you, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk glanced again at the bear, which was now somehow walking directly into the statues without disturbing them, everything passing right through its body.

“Are you a ghost?” Jeongguk asked, looking back down at himself sitting on the ground, “Am I dead too?”

“I would not call myself a ghost, but I suppose I am something of a spirit.” Jian muses, “I live on in you. As your past self, the life I lived is available to you, part of you, along with the life of every avatar before the both of us. To access our vast wisdom and guidance you need only ask. You can meet us here, in this layer of existence, in the spirit world”

“But I didn’t ask to meet you - not to be rude but, I want to go back to my world.”

“This is your world, as is the material world. You belong to both. You are the bridge between these two worlds.” Jian said firmly. “That is what I am here to show you. It’s time you were taught a little of your own history. Now -”

Jian motioned for the bear to come closer to her, patting it when it arrived.

“ - Get on Bao.”

“Wha-” Jeongguk gaped at her.

“We have places to be, Bao can get us there. Trust me, he is way more pleasant than the other way of travelling around in the spirit world”

“I’ll take my chances,” Jeongguk may be okay with Yeontan and Moni but not all big furry animals were as friendly as them. Bao looked about as personable as Jian, which was to say, not at all.

Jian sighed, then without warning grabbed Jeongguk's arms, hefted him over her head and placed him on Bao. Jeongguk yelped, struggling to stabilize without any saddle to grab onto. He didn’t want to grab the fur in case he hurt the bear. Jian mounted the bear behind him and spurred it forward. Bao surged ahead, its haunches lifting and pushing up Jeongguk’s feet with it, knocking him forwards. He locked his arms around Bao’s neck, terrified of falling off. The next second brought with it a new worry, as the bear trampled directly towards a wall. Jeongguk closed his eyes, bracing for impact.

Instead of a wall to the face, Jeongguk felt a soft breeze lift his hair, sunlight warming his face. They weren’t in the temple anymore; Jeongguk’s eyes opened to see a grand hall, not unlike the throne room in the fire nation palace but decorated differently. On the floor was a young woman prostrated before a man Jeongguk half recognised from his lessons on foreign dignitaries. When she sat back up, Jeongguk realised - the lady was Jian, but a much younger version than the once now stood next to him.

The older Jian looked stoic as she watched herself giving respect to the Earth King.

“I was very naive. When I was finished with my training I was given all sorts of special attention and audiences with royalty, something a woman from the middle kingdom could usually never hope of achieving in my lifetime or yours. It went to my head.”

Jeongguk watched as the hall melts around them, the grand gilded gold replaced with an endless sky and endless waist-high grass. As he watched, a child’s head popped up and then disappeared. A moment later an absolute monster of a creature, scaled and horrifying, swayed up above the grass right near the child before diving back.
Jeongguk gave a shout, jumping down from Bao in an effort to save the child, completely forgetting that this was the past and he could not change what was about to happen.

Before he could reach them, the grass hiding the kid from view was flattened. To his shock, it revealed the child sprawled peacefully with the monstrosity in a tangle of limbs, baby talking to it in a manner not unlike Taehyung would with Yeontan.

“What is that thing?” Jeongguk asked.

“It’s a spirit.” Jian answered, “There were many of them while I was alive, but they were not well liked by the general public.”

Jeongguk winced as its mouth opened and razor teeth yawned right next to the child’s face. “I can see why.”

“In the decades before I was born Ba Sing Se - indeed many cities - began sprawling beyond their borders, getting bigger as populations exploded.”

As Jian talked, the sun, which had been at a midpoint in the sky, rapidly set in the west. The moon followed in quick succession, the next days’ sun rising within a minute. It was like fast forward, the days skipping by between one blink of the eye and the next. Jeongguk shut his eyes, disoriented. When he got the sense of the light no longer flickering, he opened it up to see the grass clipped to its roots, and around them in the dirt earthbenders were setting foundations for new structures. Beyond the bustle of workers was a young Jian again, corralling several of the scaled spirits away from the site.

“Nobody could control them but me. They would be able to break out of any normal cage. I thought I was being helpful - the spirits could be relocated safely by me so that the earth kingdom could prosper. So that villagers could have new homes.”

“It doesn’t look like they are building new homes,” Jeongguk said doubtfully.

“You’re right. This became a resort. A getaway for the aristocracy outside the city walls.”

“What happened to the spirits?”

Jian bit her lip, “I didn’t know.” She seemed to be pleading with Jeongguk to understand, “I didn’t know -”

The scene melted away again, Jian and Jeongguk now stood before an earthen cage filled with roiling snarling spirits. They seemed to be in pain. Bao whined pitifully in empathy, and Jian stroked his ears in comfort as they watched a younger Jian approach, disheveled and distraught. She was arguing with a pompous looking official.

“They need to be returned to their home, they are angry that we have destroyed it.” Jian pleads.

“We can’t. The King won’t allow it. And besides the habitat has already been cleaned up, it would be of no use.”

“The roots still exist - if we dismantle the buildings on top they will grow back, it’s not too late!”

“Preposterous.”

“Slimy bastard,” Jian spit at the man, but he was already melting away, along with young Jian.

In their place rose a horrific acrid smell. Burning.

They stood before a forest, surrounded by scores of fire benders in military armor.

“Wha-?” Jeongguk flinched as they send a simultaneous shot of fire, the cumulative might bringing acres of trees down in ashes in an instant. Looking upon the blackened land, Jeongguk was struck again with the conviction that he should never firebend again.

“They wanted to be rid of the spirits… so they burned their homes to the roots. No roots and they died, painfully. The earth kingdom had to build alliances with the fire nation to access their benders… and this was the result.”

“But - but fire nation soldiers go to fight in the war, not this?” Jeongguk was shaken, sweating from the heat of the flames. Jian looked at him pityingly.

“What war? Who are you fighting?” she questioned him.

“The barbarians, the waterbenders -” Jeongguk stares dumbfound as the scene is replaced with another, identical, fire now raging through a valley, chasing out a weeping, panicked giant of a spirit.

“The waterbenders are too strong and too remote to be fought. No earth squadron or fire fleet has dared broach their borders in centuries. No, the war is on your own turf, on your own people. Your nation and mine has been waging a war on nature itself and the spirits have almost been wiped out.”

Once again the walls of the earth palace rose around them, the throne room materialising. The king, older than before, closer to the elderly man of Jeongguk’s time, sat indulgently eating sweets, uncaring that drips of sugar syrup ran down his hands onto the cushion he was sat on.

“When I realised what was happening I left the earth kingdom’s service, I tried my best to stop the destruction but I was only one person -” Jian stops speaking as the doors of the throne room burst open.

Past Jian, now battered and hardened, thundered in astride Bao.

“Is Bao a spirit?” Jeongguk asked and Jian nodded in reply.

“I saved many spirits, but none of them stuck around quite like him”

Past Jian was wearing her military leathers, but they were mutilated, a contrast to the guards in the room in their pristine armor.

“You have poisoned the very earth. It will be your ruin if you do not reverse the damage.” Jian loudly spoke her warning as the guards swarmed her. She leapt down from Bao, the impact of her feet on the ground sending it rippling out from her, knocking the guards down like dominoes.

Jian stalked forwards towards the king, who lumbered to his feet and was backing hastily away.

“Heed my words: the spirits cannot be kept away forever. You will be damned if you do not back down.”

Jeongguk watched, chest tight, as a guard recovered and sent a rock hurtling at Jian. Without so much as glancing at him Jian whipped it back, hitting him in the throat and killing him. A few others tried to surround Bao and bring them into submission, but were cowed when Bao simply bit the head off the nearest man.

Jeongguk felt a mixture of revulsion and admiration, watching the past Jian threaten the king, swatting guards away like flies when they tried to intervene.

Between one moment and the next, something shifted. More guards swarmed into the room, and among them, strangely, was a firebender. He caught Bao off guard, scaring him with a blast of flame. Bao careened back, roaring in agony.

Beside Jeongguk, Bao bellowed lowly, as if remembering the pain.

Jian noticed too late, her beloved bear set alight in front of her.

Jeongguk watched as she slipped into fury, rising up, floating seemingly without effort. Her eyes were overtaken by light, the elements gathering around her. Chunks of floor and wall were ripped away as the earth underneath rose to meet her, fire, water and air joining it in a molten slurry that Jian directed at the firebender who dared hurt her companion.

The surrounding earthbenders were decimated, leaving a ring of fallen dead guards around Bao. The firebender was savvy enough to escape the blast, landing on the floor, his helmet knocked clean off. Jeongguk froze. The smooth handsome features were extremely familiar, a strange mockery of his own face in the mirror.

Jian, seeing the threat removed from Bao’s vicinity, calmed. The light extinguished from her eyes, it took a moment before she regained her bearings. Jeongguk watched helplessly as the firebender, still half sprawled on the floor, gathered energy from the air around him, electricity crackling in his palms. Jian opened her eyes and was hit by a dirty, uncontrolled crack of lightning. The firebender got to his feet, striding over to Jian’s prone body. Looking down at her, the firebender, Jeongguk’s father, smiled in victory.

Jeongguk felt a blinding emotion, a swell of pain in his head. He was conscious of his feet leaving the ground, his hands curling into fists in a direct mimic of Jian moments earlier. He blacked out.

-------------

The Present, The Earth Kingdom Coast
Namjoon

Everybody is sitting stunned. Namjoon feels a little lightheaded, initially excited by the firsthand account of the spirit world and how it functioned, but now reeling with the information that spirits used to be abundant. That not even 30 years ago they had been everywhere. How hasn’t he read anything about this genocide? Why hadn’t any of the elder nomads ever mentioned it - surely they were old enough to remember the spirits disappearing?

Taehyung, as always, is the one to break the silence.

“Let me get this straight: You met your last past life, a buff lady with a spirit bear, who spent decades trying to undo her mistake which caused the eradication of spirits in the physical world. And then your father killed her.”

“And the reason you lit up the sanctuary like the celestial lights was because you went into the avatar state for the first time in your life, while in the spirit world, where you couldn’t bend.”

“Yeah that’s about the shape of it.” replies Jeongguk weakly.

“What,” surmises Yoongi, “The fuck.”

Namjoon remains suspicious of Yoongi, but the man has a point.

“So what now? Why did Jian show you all that?” asks Namjoon.

“Jian said I’m the bridge between worlds. There must be spirits hiding out in the spirit world. I think I have to make it safe for them to come back.”

“No offense Jeongguk-ah, but you aren’t nearly ready to do any of that. You have mastery over fire thanks to my brilliant teaching, a little over air - but you aren’t a fully fledged avatar just yet.” Yoongi points out, “How are you meant to fight against two militarised nations when you aren’t even fully grown?”

“I just have to learn faster. Learn them at the same time instead of one after the other. I’ve all but mastered fire and I’m getting really good at airbending now - we should find masters of earth and water to teach me.”

“I don’t know about water,” Seokjin says, “But we are a couple days journey from Busan. And I know somebody there who can teach Jeongguk earth.”

Chapter Text

Park Family Residence, Busan, Earth Kingdom
Jimin

“Of course, Jimin is still studying himself, but he is set to become the youngest master earthbender in 200 years! In fact, he has already been personally given a commendation by the King’s fourth adviser. Oh yes it's certain he will go very far -”

Jimin pokes daintily through his plate, face carefully relaxed, a smile ready whenever anybody looks in his direction, which is distressingly often. His cheeks ache a little. He has heard this whole spiel before, at the other hundreds of parties his parents have dragged him to, or hosted in the last three months. He wishes he was still in Ba Sing Se, learning at the academy instead of private tutelage in the house he has been trapped in all his life.

He curses his old housing master for the millionth time. The old nosy bastard had blabbed to his parents about how worried he was, what with Jimin disappearing from his dorm room nightly. Jimin had refused to admit where he had been, couldn't admit where he had been. It was illegal after all. His parents were too enamoured with the Earth King and reaching closer to his status that they would never question whether some of the laws he imposed were sensible and just. If they knew where he had been every night they wouldn't let Jimin out of their sight until he was dead.

His parents had been livid, ordering him straight home to Busan and barring him from meals for two days when he wouldn't tell them where he had been gallivanting off to in the dark. They assumed the worst. A lover, who would have his illegitimate babies and bring shame upon the whole family. Or worse still, their beautiful, feminine son cavorting with a degenerate boy, engaging in sin. They weren’t too far off the truth there.

So here he is, at another dinner party, primped and preened to within an inch of his life.

Jimin's little brother nudges him with his foot under the table, and Jimin catches his gaze long enough to give him a wry smile of assurance. I’m okay. His brother raises an eyebrow sceptically, but promptly gets caught up in an interrogation by the Aunt-of-dubious-connection sitting to his left.

Jimin eats at a snail pace, one lettuce leaf taking five minutes. His mother is watching him, making sure he doesn't eat too quickly or too much. He can't be seen as slovenly, and he can't afford to lose the figure she has spent the last few months carving out of him.

One of the overstuffed gentlemen sitting nearer his parents has been eyeing Jimin with disdain all evening. He makes use of a lull in the conversation to boom across the table.

“Jimin! Your parents have been very complimentary about your abilities my boy,” Jimin's jaw ticks at the too familiar term, “how about you give us all a demonstration! Who knows, what with some of the gentlemen in this room, maybe news of you will even reach the Earth King.” He ends with a sneer, mustache quivering.

Jimin had fucking met the King. Age 13, newly arrived in Ba Sing Se, the King had deigned to watch Sifu Biaggio's promising new student perform a bending set. The old man had been preoccupied more with his tea than anything Jimin had been doing, but still, Jimin didn't need this oaf’s help to get his attention.

“Of course Jimin!” His mother trills through a fixed smile, “You have a little party trick you like to do, don't you son?”

Jimin hesitates for a split second: a mistake. The band of jewels circling his upper arm pinches inwards painfully. He doesn’t dare loosen it himself, instead smiling beautifically.

“Yes mother, I would love to.” Blood flows back into his arm.

He readies himself, but is interrupted by Mustache, who claps his hands together and draws the attention of the entire banquet hall. Fantastic.

Ah well, Jimin is unfortunately used to this. He is visibly bored as he plucks an earring out, the jewel so heavy that it’s a relief to be rid of it. He wrests the jewel from its backing, and holds it aloft, so everybody can see the way it catches and gleams in the light.

Swiftly, he throws it up in the air, and pulls his fists in sharply. When the ruby lands, deftly caught in his palm, it is in the shape of a delicate lotus, petals spread wide. There is a second, where nobody is quite sure what has happened.

He offers the lotus to a girl seated at the next table. She blushes prettily, and lifts the jewel up so the others around her can see it. Murmurs spread quickly through the room. The level of skill required to bend so delicately is rare. To do so in midair, in one move, is unfathomable.

Mustache bristles, and angrily claps along with the applause. Jimin bows low to him and then the room, before primly retaking his seat.

The next day, Jimin is up at dawn, out in the extensive grounds behind their home, where he has free reign to cause as many quakes as he needs without worrying about damaging the mansion’s structural integrity.

He works through his drills methodically, working up a sweat. While he is far enough into the gardens to be hidden from the house, he doesn’t dare add any of the flourishes his body aches to perform, the threat of discovery still too much to risk.

Of course, barely halfway through, his mother charges out to find him, eyes gleaming. She forces the dirt and dust to settle quickly with a backhand through the air.

“Jimin. Inside, quickly. Your father is waiting.” And with that she sweeps away, not bothering to look back. She knows Jimin will follow.

His father is sitting far more sedately than his mother, who is vibrating in place. He smiles broadly at Jimin when he sits down. Jimin shifts nervously.

“You’ve finally done something right Jimin.” he rumbles, “All these years of dallying in Ba Sing Se, doing god knows what, ruining our reputation -” Jimin bites his tongue, “You’ve finally proved your worth.”

“That girl you gave your earring to last night, she is Lien of the Yang family. Empty-headed as you are, I’m sure you didn’t know, but you gave a lotus to a girl named for that flower.”

Jimin feels a sense of foreboding.

“Lien is 18th in line for the throne, and we have just received a letter with the official Yang seal, asking for your hand in marriage.” His mother is gleeful. Jimin blanches.

“Mother. Please -” He cries out as the bicep cuff tightens so sharply it cuts through skin.

“One word against this marriage, and you will regret your very existence.” His mother is still smiling. “The Yang family are coming this afternoon to talk over the engagement. You will be perfect.”

It isn’t a request.

---------------

The Mountains Above Busan, Earth Kingdom
Taehyung

“You know,” says Jeongguk, looking down at the city below them, “This place seems so familiar, almost like I’ve been here before.”

“You literally never left the Fire Nation in your life until we left for the temple,” says Seokjin.

They have found a cave to stay in that’s a million times better than their previous camping spot by virtue of having walls and a roof, and are now preparing to head into the city in search of food that isn’t beans and rice. Taehyung is so sick of beans and rice.

Two problems are quickly identified.
None of them can waltz into the food market because they are all wearing clothes that make them stick out as fire nation royalty or air nomads who really ought to be at the Southern Air Temple with the rest of the nomads about now.
They have no money. Scratch that. Yoongi has money but it’s fire nation and worthless here.

To Namjoon’s chagrin, Taehyung has solutions to both problems.

His face when Taehyung hands over the cash he has pickpocketed and the clothes he nabbed from an upscale laundry is a picture. Monk Jamyang may have cleaned Taehyung up a little, but he still has the skills of a street rat.

“We are monks…” Namjoon says pitifully, pulling a hat on to cover his tattoos, “We shouldn’t be doing this…”

He still eats the food they buy with great gusto. He must be sick of beans and rice as well.

------------

Yoongi

Yoongi is glad to escape from the scrutiny of the airbenders. The older one - Namjoon - clearly distrusts him, eyeing him suspiciously. Which Yoongi supposes is fair considering he attacked them at the temple. But to his defence, Yoongi had been running on very little sleep and didn’t know how else to stop two giant bison from taking off and leaving him behind. The other airbender is friendlier… a little too friendly. It’s disconcerting.

All that to say, when Jin hyung asks him to tag along to figure out where this great master earthbender lives, Yoongi agrees with no questions or fuss.

Yoongi is a master firebender, which contrary to popular belief, requires immense theoretical academic knowledge. Thus, Yoongi considers himself well-read and intelligent enough. But he is nothing in the shadow of Prince Seokjin, who as a boy memorised and digested the works of the fire nation's greatest philosophers and wrote essays arguing the details. Jin hyung’s knack for memorisation is coming in handy now - that he can remember the address of some random earthbender he schmoozed once at a banquet, and wrote to barely half a dozen times.

The only problem is that neither of them know their way around Busan, and Jin hyung has never been in any city without an escort to navigate for him. So Yoongi takes the reins, pulling Jin towards the first tavern they come across. It is mid morning, so while a few folk are scattered eating a late breakfast, or drowning their unemployed sorrows in cheap alcohol, the majority are at work and the tavern is quieter than Yoongi is used to experiencing.

Yoongi flags down the barkeep, while Jin hyung stays outside because Yoongi doesn’t trust him to not bring unwanted attention to them. She’s a weathered looking woman, whose hands keep working even as she gives Yoongi her attention.

“Excuse me - I’m new to the city and a bit lost, could you help?”

She sniffs and looks him up and down, sizing him up, “I could help… for a fee.”

Yoongi may feel like he has been dragged through a hedge backwards, but the length of his hair implies a certain wealth to be able to maintain it, and the clothes that kid Taehyung stole are unwittingly fashionable. People bleeding him dry for his wealth isn’t exactly a new phenomenon for the foremost bending master and member of fire nation aristocracy. Except Yoongi doesn’t have money on him like he usually would. He can’t fob this woman off with change from his pockets.

“I have nothing to pay you with.” Yoongi believes in being bluntly honest. Shockingly, this doesn’t get him the desired help.

“Well then fuck off, you can’t get nothing around here without means to pay for it.”

Yoongi is about to throw hands with the tavern lady.

“What drink would you recommend if one is feeling flirtatious?” Seokjin’s voice floats over from the other side of the bar, disrupting the imminent immolation. Yoongi sighs, so much for being lowkey.

The woman chuckles, turning her back on Yoongi as she leans over to where Jin is draped fetchingly against the counter.

“This rice wine is a good bet, but it’s a little early in the day to be drinking if you want to get it on with some wench.”

“What if I want to get it on with you?” Jin counters. Yoongi facepalms.

The woman coos, pinching Jin’s cheek between calloused fingers, “You’re too young for me honey. But hey, try some of the wine anyway - no need to pay.”

Yoongi glares daggers at her back - the hypocrisy!

She gets distracted by another customer shortly after pouring Seokjin his free drink. Jin hyung winks at him, sipping contently. Yoongi removes himself from the premises in a calm orderly manner with no petty stomping or pouting involved.

When Seokjin joins him, triumphant, he has in one hand a crude but neatly drawn map and in the other a wrapper full of ricecake. Yoongi takes the cake and eats it all with no small amount of spite. Jin hyung just smiles fondly.

As far as Yoongi knows, nobody outside the palace or fire temple knows about the princes being missing. That doesn’t stop him being paranoid as they walk through the streets following the map, in case any of the nobility recognise Seokjin. He half expects fire nation soldiers to spring out of the manicured bushes to arrest them. Nobody has so far, although he supposes Busan has fewer elite living here than Ba Sing Se.

It is approaching late afternoon when they finally arrive in front of a gate whose carved flying boars match the seal Jin hyung remembers from the letters. Jin leads them through, up to an ornate door, made of carved wood. The structure is unfamiliar to Yoongi, who is used to more fire retardant homes. Jin hyung gives Yoongi a nod, as if to reassure him, before knocking heavily three times.

The sound seems to echo.

-----------------

Namjoon

Digging vigorously between Moni’s toes, Namjoon’s hand emerges, victorious and covered in toe gunk. A short distance away, Taehyung is teaching Jeongguk how to gently comb through the matts in Yeontan’s fur.

Seokjin and Yoongi have been gone for the better part of the day. It’s easy to worry about them, two wanted fire nation aristocrats wandering around the earth kingdom on their own. But Taehyung’s been providing distractions and Jin hyung made him promise only to freak out if they hadn’t made it back by late evening.

Namjoon is worried for a different, sillier reason as well. He’s been trying to quash it ever since he first turned up, but watching Jin hyung walk away with Yoongi earlier that morning made it bubble up all over again.

He doesn’t know why, but Yoongi, somebody who by all accounts Namjoon should get along with, makes him feel uneasy. The guy is Jin hyung’s closest ally, the boy he has been friends with practically since childhood. Namjoons likes Seokjin, so he should like Yoongi too, right? Right? Except it’s like an itch behind his ear, getting worse when he sees Jeongguk fawn over his incredibly qualified and experienced firebending teacher.

A brown hand appears in his field of vision, then goes blurry as Taehyung rubs warm fingers over the crease in his brow. Namjoon forces his jaw to unclench, his muscles to relax.

“What’s up hyung?” Taehyung says quietly. Namjoon considers lying, but Taehyung doesn’t seem in the mood to humour him with that. So he deflects.

“I thought you didn’t like firebending.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” Taehyung replies lightly. He hands Namjoon a wet cloth to wipe his hands off on. Namjoon does so, taking extra care around his cuticles, not because he cares about them being dirty, but to buy time. Namjoon’s eyes flicker over to where Jeongguk is still grooming Yeontan, he doesn’t appear to be listening.

“Then why do you like Yoongi after what he did at the temple.” he says finally, and it sounds just as awkward as every other sentence his brain rejected.

“Jeonggukie almost set me on fire as well once, and I still like him. He apologised for it, and so did Yoongi.”

“Yeah but Jeongguk is - and Yoongi, he -” Namjoon sighs, “I don’t know, I’m sorry Tae.”

“You don’t have to have a reason to hate Yoongi,” Taehyung says bluntly.

“I don’t hate him!” Namjoon lies, “I don’t hate anyone!”

“Hyung, it’s fine,” Taehyung rolls his eyes, “Just be careful, Jin hyung might get upset if you show it too much.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of…” Namjoon says.

“For what it’s worth, I think you could be really good friends: he’s really boring, just like you and Jin hyung.”

“Tae!” Namjoon admonishes, but his lips twitch up in a grin to mirror Taehyung’s.

-----------------

Park Residence, Busan
Seokjin

It takes knocking another four separate times before a young woman drags it open, Seokjin almost ready to leave thinking the house must be empty.

The girl looks bedraggled, hair spilling from her professional bun, a bowl of something gross looking held tightly in her hand and damp cloths draped over that arm, while the other holds the door firmly to halt the two wanting to enter.

“We aren’t buying what you are selling.” she huffs, about to close the door.

“We aren’t selling anything! We are here to see Master Park.” Seokjin says before she can.

She takes stock of both of them in their strange mish mash of upper and middle class garb. Seokjin smooths his hair down nervously. Yoongi looks stoic beside him, which calms him somewhat.

“And who are you to demand an audience with Master Park?” she says impatiently.

“Prince Seokjin of the Fire Nation,” Seokjin says, aware of Yoongi’s sudden intake of breath, “And my companion, Master Min. We have urgent business with Master Park.”
Seokjin is gambling a lot here, but based on his one meeting with Park, he doubts the man is going to turn them over to the authorities. He appreciates the trust Yoongi has in him, that he doesn’t say a word as Seokjin chances their freedom.

The young woman almost drops her bowl in shock.

The young woman, who introduces herself as Eun, leads them into the house, grabbing an assortment of items as she goes. She is still precariously balancing the bowl, from which a cloying bittersweet smell wafts. Seokjin wrinkles his nose.

Seokjin is taken aback when another equally bedraggled maid comes hurrying out of a room, relieving Eun of some of the wet cloths, the bowl and its disgusting contents. Eun leads them in after her, dumping the rest of her items on a nearby table.

Finally, Master Park comes into view, being force-fed the sickly brown soup Eun had been carrying. Seokjin supposes it must be medicinal. He looks in incredibly bad shape.

When Seokjin had initially met Master Park, he had been a welcome presence at an incredibly boring banquet. The whole purpose of it was for the Fire Lord to threaten a few Earth Kingdom dignitaries, under the guise of strengthening the bonds of friendship with their ally. Seokjin was intending to take advantage of it to find his own ally, somebody who wasn’t cowed by his father’s theatrics, and who could keep an eye on Jeongguk when he eventually went to train in the earth kingdom.

Jeongguk had been called down earlier in the evening, allowed a break from his relentless schedule to perform a bending set. A less than subtle play of power from his father. At least Jeongguk was sent away before their father began boasting and playing to the crowd. Seokjin had watched dismayed, most of these earthbenders had seemed to be falling for the Fire Lord’s propaganda.

Park Beomseok, a renowned master earthbender, had been one of the few who wasn’t. Seokjin made sure to stop by him on his rounds of the room. What began as superficially pleasant conversation eventually wandered into talk of differing philosophy in their respective nations, which in turn led to mildly treasonous talk of the state of their nations.

Beomseok hadn’t known he was talking to the elder prince. Forgotten and discarded as Seokjin was, he was not required to wear full regalia in a gathering like this. His father barely acknowledged him, so when it came time for everybody to sit and eat, and Seokjin went to his place at his father's side, Beomseok’s eyes bugged out of his head. The poor man had sweat through the meal, sure he would be carted off to the dungeons at any moment. Seokjin had beelined over to him as soon as the meal was up to reassure him he wasn’t going to get him beheaded. Seokjin may be part of the royal family but he had no loyalty to it.

Beomseok looks equally sweaty now. He is reclined among blankets on the floor, his leg propped up, his calf a sickly green, a nasty looking cut jagged through it deeply, weeping blood and pus. Seokjin gags a little, which brings Beomseok’s attention to his visitors.

“Prince Seokjin?” His face creases in confusion, or maybe pain - Eun has started to swab at his leg with the wet cloths. Beomseok attempts to get up to bow, but is held firmly down by the two women.

“Ah! Stay down, stay down, don’t hurt yourself!” Seokjin says, “What happened to your leg?”

“Aish, it’s so stupid, you’re going to laugh at me,” Beomseok says, pushing away the bowl as the girl tries to feed him again, “Took a tumble while gardening and took a rake to my shin for the trouble. Damn leg got infected.”

Beomseok’s maid finally gets the better of him, shutting him up with another spoonful of soup. Beomseok swallows, and gags loudly.

“But who cares about my leg. How in spirit’s name are you here?” Beomseok gets out between spoonfuls.

“It’s a long story…” says Seokjin.

Yoongi speaks up, “We were hoping you would teach avatar Jeongguk to bend, but we understand that you can’t.”

“The avatar - I never said I can’t!” Beomseok lifts up off the sheets again, and Eun presses him firmly down.

“You can’t sir.” Eun scolds, “He can’t, your highness.”

Beomseok looks put out by this and Seokjin feels a rush of gratitude to have at least found a friendly face in this city. Seokjin and Yoongi drag seats to a comfortable distance so they can all talk without disrupting Eun and her coworker. They catch up, Seokjin trusting Beomseok enough to tell him of their trouble and their escape from home.

Beomseok insists they stay to eat, and then urges them to invite their companions to come to stay over in his home. Seokjin and Yoongi politely disagree to the latter, spotting the harried looks on his staff’s faces. But Yoongi’s stomach growls loudly at the offer, so they don’t turn down the free meal.

They dig into Samgyeopsal, Beomseok’s leg now cleaned and bandaged up, although the man still looks pale. The food is exquisite, Seokjin actively has to stop himself moaning aloud. Yoongi doesn’t manage it.

“You know,” says Beomseok, “If you are looking for a bending instructor, there is always the academy in Ba Sing Se. They have tried to recruit me for years but I could never stomach my distaste for that city enough to move there full time. It houses some of the world’s best earthbenders.”

“Master Park, we can’t risk something so high profile.” Yoongi reminds him.

“Right, right, of course.” Beomseok muses, “Does it have to be a master who teaches him?”

“Uhh, well I guess not?” Seokjin replies, “But he’ll need somebody capable… and discreet.”

Beomseok seems to hesitate, “All the other master benders are teaching in the academy but there is somebody else in Busan, a real prodigy, but not nearly as experienced as the avatar’s teacher ought to be.”

“With all due respect sir,” Yoongi interjects, “I’ve been the avatar’s chief firebending teacher since I was 13. Age doesn’t matter to us.”

Beomseok raises his brows, impressed, “Well then, he is of the other Park family in Busan. Not related to me, as they will be quick to assure anyone who insinuates it... They are a bunch of snobs the lot of them, but Park Jimin might well be the teacher you are looking for.”

“Park Jimin?”

------------------

Yoongi

They leave Master Park’s house in the dark, and Yoongi wishes he could just conjure a small torch to light the way, but Seokjin doesn’t think it’s a good idea, so they just walk in the pitch darkness, hoping to avoid getting shanked by a stray thief.

“Maybe we should give this up as a bad job, we don’t know if this Jimin character will even want to teach Jeongguk once he realises he’s a fugitive.”

“What other option do we have?” Seokjin replies.

“That academy, could we enroll him under a different name?” Yoongi throws out.

“Gukkie is at least a decade older than the other students learning basic… Besides we need to keep him off the books and learning in private. I don’t trust that word won’t spread in the earth kingdom about us being missing - nothing screams avatar quite like a ripped 16 year old learning how to bend an element for the first time.”

They manage to get back to their camp unscathed, Namjoon having stayed awake at the base of the mountain with his flying bison to give them a lift back up. Yoongi walks in to see the two youngest sprawled asleep next to the spluttering remnants of a fire, so he finds some more dry twigs to set alight and keep it going, before shuffling into Jeongguk’s sleeping bag and going the fuck to sleep.

-------------

Park Family Residence, Busan
Jimin

Yang Lien is a nice enough girl, very quiet, very pretty. Jimin has no attraction to her whatsoever but it’s not like he had any hope in that department anyway. For a young man of his class, marriage of the heterosexual variety is inevitable. At least Lien is tolerable.

He has just charmed his way through another afternoon with her family. They are going through all the proper motions of chaperoned visits and joint family dinners, except on fast forward. Jimin’s parents are pushing for a quick engagement, and the Yang family are in agreement, so a process that should take half a year has been condensed down to three weeks. Three weeks of constant good behaviour and scrutiny.

Today was a turning point in finalising the date of the engagement celebration (only a week from now…they really are being hasty about all this) and more importantly, the venue. In order to cater to the Yang’s extended family, the ceremony will be held in Ba Sing Se. Then the marriage will take place in Ba Sing Se. And part of Lien’s dowry is a grand home in the city centre, where Jimin will get to live away from his parents. Throughout the talks Jimin’s heart lifts higher and higher.

Ba Sing Se is where Hope lives. He has a chance to find him again.

Head and heart filled with Hope as it is, Jimin is itching to dance. He can’t, of course, but once his mother finishes detailing everything he did wrong in front of the Yang’s he can be excused to go train, and that’s almost as good. Almost.

Which is why when he hears their butler answer the door and let another visitor in, Jimin is at his wits end. He wonders which of his parent’s many ‘close friends’ he is going to have to simper through meeting now. Jimin’s mother looks confused though - so this must be an unexpected guest. She still bustles over and violently smooths down Jimin and his brothers’ hair, as if it has suddenly become unruly in the quarter hour since the Yangs left.

As if on cue, once his mother is sat back down, primly sipping her tea, their guest enters the room. Jimin almost chokes.

A beautiful stranger steps into the room. The man is a fascinating study of sharp angles and soft curves. He has a narrow, willowy frame, but large hands partially hidden in the folds of his robes. A pale face shaped like the moon, something any mother would be proud of on a daughter, yet, paired with a sharp jawline, it’s perfectly masculine. His eyes are even smaller than Jimin’s, shrewdly narrowed as the man takes in the environment. His hair is pulled up in a complex manner, not fashionable in Busan but recognisably denoting his class. He must be from elsewhere, perhaps Omashu. Jimin has heard people from Omashu are very eccentric, it would certainly explain his strange assortment of clothes.

He introduces himself as Master Min Yoongi and his voice scrapes low like gravel.

“I am here on behalf of the fire nation royal family, I have a request to make of your son, Park Jimin.”

Jimin blinks. So… not from Omashu then. Jimin notes how his parents shift instantly, from lax and uninterested to alert and calculating. This Min Yoongi doesn’t know what he is in for.

Min Yoongi seems exasperated when instead of listening to his request then and there, Jimin’s father insists they move to the parlour to discuss over food. Jimin feels a twinge of pity for the servants who have to muster up an array of snacks for the second time that afternoon on very short notice. Not that Jimin is going to get to eat any of it.

Jimin zones out a little as his mother runs out her spiel about their family history - it’s what she does whenever she feels threatened. It’s embarrassing, especially since this Min Yoongi fellow looks completely unimpressed. A restless energy, the need to move, continues to itch underneath Jimin’s skin. He fixes his gaze downwards, and stays absolutely still. Min Yoongi will leave eventually, and then he can go train.

“Master Min - I would assume that means you are a master bender?” Mother asks.

“Ah, yes, I -”

“Pardon my asking - how old are you?” She interrupts. Jimin’s heart sinks a little, he knows where this is going.

“Just shy of twenty-one,”

Oh good, Jimin thinks, he isn’t younger than me then.

“But I mastered firebending when I was thirteen.”

Oh Fuck him. Mother’s smile becomes fixed - she hates it when anybody is more accomplished than her own children.

“I see.” She says sharply, “I’m afraid my own son isn’t yet a master in earthbending, but he will be in due time. You see, with the wedding preparations he hasn’t been able to give it the same attention.”

And whose fault is that?

“Actually -” says Min Bastard, “That’s what I came to talk about. As you may well know, the crown prince of the fire nation is also the avatar. He is set to shortly complete his studies with me and will soon need to master the other three elements. I have come here to offer Jimin the opportunity to teach him.”

Sorry… What?

-------------

Yoongi

Yoongi is a cup of tea and several dumplings deep before the matriarch of the Park family lets him get another word in edgewise. She rambles at length about the Park’s class standing. Then when the topic has been exhausted she moves on to her son’s accomplishments, said son looking deeply uncomfortable besides her. Yoongi tries to talk directly to him, but it’s to no avail - the boy won’t look him directly in the eye. The boy’s face is impassive, completely blank, like he isn’t even present. This is the prodigy Park Beomseok recommended?

His younger sibling sits beside him, back equally straight, but managing to sneak a hand up to grab some food every so often. Jimin hasn’t eaten at all.

When Yoongi finally gets his point across, Park Jimin’s head snaps right up, finally looking him dead in the eye. Yoongi holds back a shiver. That gaze is deadly; there is nothing passive about Jimin now.

“The Fire Lord wants my son to teach the avatar?” Refreshingly, it’s the father who speaks up this time, his voice awed.

“That’s right,” Yoongi is pleased - Park Beomseok was absolutely right about appealing to their sense of pride, “We will need to travel back as soon as possible - the avatar is eager to meet you, Park Jimin.” This at least, is true - Jeongguk was begging to come along with Yoongi, but reason prevailed and he is safely hidden at the campsite.

“I can’t.” Park Jimin speaks up for the first time, voice tight. Yoongi is surprised by the aggression rolling from him. “I’m getting engaged next week.”

“Yes, marrying Yang Lien, a most advantageous marriage!” Yoongi struggles not to roll his eyes, it’s like this woman can’t help but boast every two seconds, “But teaching the avatar…” Her voice becomes hushed.

“It’s an incredible honour, your esteem in the eyes of both of our nation’s great rulers is sure to rise considerably” Yoongi says, and then to sweeten the honey even further, “And of course you will be compensated immensely.” Yoongi can practically see the gold coins shining in these people’s eyes.

“It would be a black mark on my honour if I were to leave Yang Lien now,” says Park Jimin, his eyes firmly brown, “I’m sorry but no. I can’t teach the avatar.”

“Jimin.” the mother says sharply. Then her tone softens into something falsely sweet, “Of course you want to honour Lien, but you can’t let an opportunity like this fall out of our - your hands.”

This woman grates on Yoongi in very specific ways, but at least she seems fully on board now. The next hurdle is Jimin himself, and it doesn’t look like he is about to budge, no matter how much his mother glares at him.

Yoongi addresses the father, he looks much calmer than both his wife and son, “Sir - would you mind if I had a talk with Jimin somewhere privately?”

They both look about ready to ship their son to the fire nation by force if they have to. Jimin leads Yoongi out into the gardens, a scowl carved deep into his lovely features.

--------------

Jimin

Seething internally, Jimin stalks ahead, Min Bastard following at his heels. Part of him is surprised that his mother trusts them to talk alone, half expecting her to come with them. She doesn’t, and his surprise is quickly overtaken by his anger. Why does Min want to get him alone? Does he think Jimin can be bullied? Jimin’ll soon put that assumption to rest.

They reach a secluded area, hidden by blossoming trees. Jimin whirls round, on the offensive, but hesitates when he sees the intense expression now on Min’s face.

“Why are you marrying this girl?”

“What kind of question is that?” Jimin splutters, affronted.

“Just answer me.”

“I - I already said why - to honour my commitment to her.”

Min scoffs, “I didn’t ask you why you won’t cut it off, I’m asking why you’re marrying her in the first place.”

“Because I love her.” Jimin lies, tired of the conversation.

“Say that again as if you mean it.”

God, what an asshole. Jimin squarely looks him in the eye, ready to repeat the lie -
“I -” Jimin falters, his gaze flickering down again, “I have to marry her, it’s the only way out.”

This seems to satisfy Min, the corner of his mouth twisting up smugly. Bastard.

“A way out from your overbearing mother, sure. But I’ve heard of the Yang’s. They aren’t easy people to get along with. You’ll be going from one prison to another. And besides - that’s not your only way out.”

Jimin glares, “So what, you think if you point out how fucked my choices are I’m going to roll over and do what you want? I’m not uprooting myself just to go teach some stuck up prince in another country. How do I know I’ll have any more freedom over there? Better the evil I know than the evil I don’t.”

Min shifts furtively at that, looking Jimin up and down, as if sizing him up.

“What?” Jimin snaps.

“Park Beomseok said I could trust you… can I?”

“Park Beomseok -?” Jimin is bewildered. Beomseok, as in the master earthbender Park Beomseok? When he had been dragged back from Ba Sing Se Jimin had begged to be taught by the man. But his mother hates him, for reasons known only to her. The tutor his mother provided instead is much less competent - Jimin’s ability outstrips his by far. Jimin hadn’t thought Park Beomseok even knew he existed.

“When did you talk to Park Beomseok about me?”

“Not important. Can I trust you?” Min repeats.

“Sure,” Jimin wishes he would get to his point already, “Sure, you can trust me.”

Min purses his lips, sighs, and then says, “You won’t have to go to the fire nation to teach the avatar. You might not even have to leave the earth kingdom, if things don’t go to shit.”

“What, is the avatar going to come here? If he is going to all that trouble why don’t you just send him to the academy? Why bother with me - I’m not even a master yet.”

“The avatar is already here. He’s been in Busan for the last few days with me and his brother and a couple of monks who’ve been getting on my nerves. He ran away from the fire nation… fucking finally. One of these days the fire lord was going to mess him up permanently. I’m glad he left before that could happen. The academy is not an option anymore.”

“What do you mean… mess him up?” Jimin asks, taken aback.

“I’m already wanted for treason, so you can quote me on this,” Min laughs a little, “The Fire Lord is a fucking psychopath and his two sons are good, honest people. The Fire Lord has been trying to stamp the goodness out of them for years. It’s been hell on earth for me just watching it from the sidelines, I can’t imagine how Jin and Jeongguk must’ve felt.” He pauses, then adds, “Actually, don’t quote me - you can’t tell a soul about this, our lives are very literally on the line here.”

Jimin runs his hand over his own bicep, lightly brushing the arm band hidden under his sleeve. He can sympathise; he knows the feeling of being kept under a heel for your entire life. The itch from earlier is back, the earth practically thrumming under his feet, but Jimin ignores it.

“I won’t tell anyone.” Jimin assures him, “But I don’t see why I should agree to teach him. You lied to my parents: there is no wealth or standing to be gained from this. There is nothing in this for them. And nothing in it for me. I have bigger plans for my life than getting executed for helping a couple of runaway royals.”

“What plans? Getting married because mummy told you to?” Min says scornfully.

“Hey -” Jimin shoves him away by the shoulder and Min stumbles back a pace, “Don’t you dare talk to me like that.”

But Min sniffs, looking at him coldly, “I suppose I should have known your type, you speak of honour but you’re just a coward, too afraid to go against your parents, too afraid to leave your cushy lifestyle.”

“Shut up!” Jimin yells, hands balling into fists.

“If not a coward, then what? Are you just naive? That’s almost worse. Too ignorant and privileged to - oof,” Min doubles over, winded by the rock Jimin has just lobbed at his stomach.

Chapter Text

Jeongguk

“Shhhhhhh!” Taehyung runs a soothing hand over Yeontan’s cheek. Yeontan still seems unhappy with being stuck on his belly behind a copse of trees, but the disgruntled rumbling ceases. Jeongguk still has to strain to hear what’s going on though. They should have picked a hiding spot nearer to them.

With much pleading, Jin hyung and Namjoon hyung had agreed to let them take Yeontan out to fly after a few days cooped up inside that cave. Under oath, they would only take Yeontan through the mountain ridges, taking care not to be visible to the city. Obviously, they had immediately taken off towards the Parks’, Jeongguk giving directions from the map he had copied. They weren’t stupid though - they were careful and nobody saw them. Hyungs were worried for nothing.

Now they are huddled in the dense shrubbery of the Park’s back garden, having arrived just in time to see Yoongi hyung stalk out into the night with a man Jeongguk assumes is Park Jimin. This is what he and Taehyung came to see - both fascinated by the idea of an earthbender near their own age. Jeongguk can’t wait to start learning, he’s been wanting to properly do earthbending ever since he cracked that wall open at thirteen.

“He is very pretty, don’t you think?” Taehyung whispers into Jeongguk’s ear. Jeongguk shivers, his warm breath contrasting the cool air around them.

“Eh,” says Jeongguk, “He’s alright looking. Don’t you think he’s a bit skinny for an earthbender? I always thought they would be more… square. He looks all willowy.” Jeongguk has seen an earthbender or two when they visited his father, but all of those ones were much older, stocky, strong and sturdy. Jimin isn’t built like them at all. He is all poised and slender.

Taehyung hums in agreement, and pulls Jeongguk closer to him to give him a better view through the gaps in the leaves. A little part of Jeongguk is conscious of how Taehyung’s hand is now splayed across his lower back. He likes it being there. The bigger part of him is still straining to see what’s going on.

They both quieten, watching as Yoongi and Jimin get louder, the snippets they can hear seem hostile. Yoongi starts gesticulating the way he does when he is frustrated, a habit he picked up from Jin hyung. Jeongguk frowns, this seems to be going badly. He hopes Jimin still wants to teach him.

Then the argument seems to crescendo; Jimin pushes Yoongi. Jeongguk almost strides out into the open there and then, but Taehyung bars his way, hissing at him to keep hidden. This proves to be a mistake: Park Jimin attacks his hyung.

Yoongi is no novice, he recovers quickly and retaliates. But Yoongi has never been up against an earthbender before, and it’s clear Jimin is extremely skilled, at one point almost caging Yoongi in earth, surrounding him on all sides with earth walls. Yoongi, extremely agile when he needs to be, clambers out the top of it before Jimin can seal it completely, throwing a ball of flame his way for the trouble.

Jeongguk flinches when the fire whips too close to Jimin’s face, bile rising a little in his throat. Jimin’s long, delicately trailing sleeves catch alight, but Jimin seems unaffected, simply patting them out before sending a rippling wave through the ground which trips Yoongi, making him stagger.

Jeongguk’s breath catches in his throat as earth and fire clash explosively. There is a split second where it seems like Yoongi is going to falter, his usually sure stance uncertain against the constantly shifting ground. On instinct, Jeongguk throws his body forward, in one blow sending an uncoordinated avalanche of rock that knocks Park Jimin to the ground, and a gust of wind which snuffs out the remnants of fire smoking around them.

------------

Yoongi

Chest heaving, fists aflame, Yoongi looks around frantically, expecting bandits or worse. Park Jimin is on the ground, knocked cold and Yoongi is sure whoever attacked them is going to come for him next.

He almost has a heart attack when two heads pop out from behind a tree several metres away.

“Fuck, Jeongguk? What are you guys fucking doing here?!” Yoongi says, blindsided.

“I’m sorry!”

Yoongi looks again at the wreckage surrounding Jimin, the young man pale and splayed on his back. Even passed out, he looks regal and uptight, “Did - did you do that?”

“Yes, hyung, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hit him so hard, just stop him attacking you…” Jeongguk and Taehyung pick their way out from the thicket of trees and bushes. To Yoongi’s horror, a bison ambles its way out from behind Taehyung.

“How did you guys get in here without anybody noticing the huge fuck-off animal?” Yoongi splutters.

“Yeontan can be very stealthy,” Taehyung says matter of factly, “And rich earthbenders never consider securing their homes against attacks from the air.”

Ah yes, Yoongi remembers Seokjin mentioning how Taehyung spent his preteen years as a petty thief. He owes the clothes on his back to that.

It takes a minute for Yoongi’s adrenaline to bleed away now that he no longer fears being in mortal danger. He cycles through several emotions, frustration at the younger ones for being reckless, remnant anger at Jimin coupled with reluctant admiration at his skill in their fight and the familiar feeling of pride in Jeongguk. He should stop being shocked at how easily the kid pushes his limits to learn new skills.

The bison - Yeontan - who has been sniffing around Jimin curiously, sticks its tongue out and licks him full on the face. Gross.

He jerks into consciousness, and Yoongi is satisfied that even Park Jimin looks bad covered in bison spit.

Park Jimin groans and picks himself off the ground. For a moment he doesn’t seem to register the two teenagers sheepishly standing before him, or Yeontan panting smugly with his tongue out. Can bison look smug? They can, Yoongi decides, or at least this one does. Jimin looks straight at them, eyes unfocused. He wipes the saliva off his face, stares at his now sticky hand in disgust. It’s then that he finally notices the intruders, his perfect eyebrows furrowing and his stance dropping wide and low.

---------------

Cave, Mountains above Busan
Namjoon

Both of them are lounging, chatting, soaking up the warmth from a fire they managed to build without any help from the firebenders of the group. Namjoon feels extremely accomplished. They let the younger two leave for a little while, because both of them were practically climbing the walls being stuck inside hiding all day. Namjoon is content to stay here, in the warmth.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” says Seokjin, “How come I’ve never heard of there being master airbenders?”

Namjoon considers this, then asks “Do you know how they decide who gets to be a master in the fire nation?”

“Yeah, Yoongi went through it when he was younger and told me about it. He had to take an exam to prove he could perform certain complex bending sets, and then beat another master in a fight. He almost wasn’t allowed to try, because before him the youngest person to pass the exam was forty-four, and Yoongi was only thirteen.”

“Wow, really?” Namjoon imagines a smaller Yoongi, scowling, facing up to somebody five times his age. He again swallows down the strange twisting he feels when reminded of just how long Seokjin and Yoongi have been friends.

“Yeah! He got commended for it by my father, and then brought in as a playmate for Jeongguk. Except Yoongi didn’t want to play with a little kid, so he started drilling him in firebending instead. And did a better job at it than Gukkie’s official instructors.” Seokjin snickers.

“Air Nomads kind of have something similar I guess? In order to get these,” Namjoon gestures at the blue arrows on his arms, “you have to be proficient in certain things, including airbending. But we don’t have to fight anybody, just demonstrate our learning. More important than that is demonstrating a respect of all living beings and showing an understanding of energy and spiritual connection. Most nomads get them in their mid teens, like I did.”

They go on, comparing their respective school environments and nations. To Namjoon it feels like back when they wrote letters to each other, eager to learn anything they could about the other's life.
Seokjin never had a standard upbringing, all of his learning done through private tutors, so he mostly relays anecdotes from Yoongi's slightly more average childhood. As average as a firebending prodigy can have, Namjoon supposes. That isn’t to say Namjoon’s was any better. Air nomads travel constantly, and half of Namjoon’s schooling was done atop a flying bison on the way to the next temple.

Namjoon hesitates, “I’ve also been meaning to explain… at the temple when I stopped you from moving Jeongguk.”

Seokjin goes tense, “Explain what?”

“Well, the avatar state, it’s. Volatile. The avatar can be extremely powerful and destructive, but they are simultaneously really vulnerable. The universe’s way of keeping balance, I suppose. His connection to his past lives is wide open, which means if he gets hurt or killed, that connection might get damaged, or lost forever. And what happened with him entering the state while in the spirit world is unprecedented, I was terrified. I was trying to stop anything from happening to that connection.”

Namjoon hopes Seokjin understands, that he doesn’t hold any grudges against him for that.

“I get that.” says Seokjin, and Namjoon is relieved that he doesn’t seem angry, “But let me make one thing very clear. My priority is Jeongguk. I don’t care if he stops being the avatar, I don’t care if he loses all his past lives, as long as he is safe and alive. I’m always going to put Jeongguk above the avatar stuff. Always.”

--------------

Park Family Residence, Busan
Jimin

Jimin’s head is throbbing where he knocked it against the ground, but he ignores it, sure that Min has organised some sort of ambush. Though if these are assassins or kidnappers they are extremely bad at it, hands by their sides, limply standing around looking frankly a little shell shocked. Even Min, who a few minutes ago was hitting as hard as he got has let his guard down. Jimin lowers his hands warily, still prepared to make a run for it if he has to.

The strangers are both dressed in the same strange assortment of clothes as Min, so almost definitely working together with him. Jimin doesn’t know if he will be able to handle himself if all three of them are firebenders, he could barely hold himself against Min alone.

The scruffy one with short hair speaks up, voice lower than Jimin expects, “That ripple thing you did with the earth was so fucking cool.”

It’s like a dam breaks, all three of them talking at once.

“Park ssi I am so so so so so sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you, is your head okay? I am SO sorry -”

“Seriously wicked, I’ve seen earthbending before but nothing like that -”

“Yah! Shut up you two.” huffs Min, “You’re giving me a headache, why are you two even here right now? Do you want to get caught?”

“My head’s fine.” Jimin lies, unwilling to admit weakness just yet. The others all fall silent as Jimin continues, “But who in spirit’s name are you, and why are you in my home.”

“I’m Jeongguk,” says Jeongguk, “I’m so honoured to meet you Master Park! Sorry again for your head.” He bows at a full 90 degrees, following protocol Jimin is more used to doing than being on the receiving end of.

Jimin is about to tell this Jeongguk that he isn’t a master, but is interrupted by the scruffy one with the low voice.

“Can you do that thing with the walls again but to me this time? I wanna see if I can get out the way Yoongi hyung did.” And then, like an afterthought, he bows deeply in a mimic of Jeongguk and adds, “oh and I’m Tae!”

Jimin looks incredulously at Min, none the wiser as to who these boys are, but at least sure that they aren’t hostile. Min rolls his eyes, and explains.

“These two idiots -”

“Hey!”

“Hyung!”

“- are Taehyung of the Air Nomads and Avatar Jeongguk. They are meant to be hiding, not gallivanting around where anybody can see them.” Min says this last part sharply, and the two in question have the good sense to look sheepish.

“You’re the avatar?” Jimin stares at Jeongguk, who bows again reflexively, his long braid whipping over his head. Maybe Jimin shouldn’t judge, he’s been underestimated his entire life despite beating all his more masculine looking peers. But he truly can’t connect this round faced, wide eyed kid who hasn’t grown into his nose yet with the most powerful bender in existence. It shouldn’t be possible.

“How soon can I learn how to do that ripple thing you did in the ground? It was amazing, all I’ve really managed to do so far is make rocks crack and fall. I’ve been wanting to learn to bend like that for years.” gushes Jeongguk, eyes wide and shining. Jimin shifts uncomfortably.

Jimin feels blindsided. With Min, his intentions and loyalties are shrouded, but he has been transparent in manipulating Jimin’s parents, and trying to manipulate Jimin. Jimin can respect that. He can understand that. Meanwhile, Jeongguk and Taehyung are so… earnest. It can’t possibly be real.

“Park ssi has made it perfectly clear that he won’t be able to teach you.” Min admonishes Jeongguk stiffly, “I’m sorry for disrupting your evening… and your garden. We won’t bother you again.”

Min ushers the two of them towards the animal. Jimin watches with mixed emotions as they obey, pouting all the while.

Before Jeongguk can get on the beast however, a voice calls through the trees.

“Jimin, Master Min - are you two nearly done? Come inside for some tea.”

Jeongguk dives back into the trees, but Taehyung, perched on top of the animal, has no time to hide before Jimin’s mother steps out into the clearing. She halts, gaping at the destroyed landscaping and the huge creature sat in the centre of it all.

-------------

Yoongi

Beside him, Park goes stock still, looking fearfully at his mother. Yoongi scrambles to come up with a plausible explanation, mentally cursing Taehyung and Jeongguk for dropping him in this mess.

“Wha - Who?” Madam Park sounds rather strangled.

Park seems to recover, speaking in a bland, placative tone, “Master Min was just introducing me to his manservant, Taehyung.” He gestures at the boy, who catches on quickly and gives a vigorous nod of agreement. “And uh… I gave Master Min a demonstration of my abilities. I’ll fix it, I promise.”

Madam Park collects herself, clearly wanting more answers, staring rather pointedly at the unexplained bison, but unwilling to appear rude to her esteemed guest.

“Master Min has allowed me until the ball to think over the offer.” Park continues, and his mother is successfully distracted. Yoongi stares at him, unsure. What the hell was he going on about?

“Wonderful! What an honour -”

“I’ve agreed to go think about it mother, I’ve not promised to go.” Park winces, appearing to hesitate in interrupting his mother, but firmly doing so anyway. Madam Park’s hands are in fists by her side.

“Yes, that seems perfectly reasonable to me,” says Yoongi at last, trying to diffuse some of the tension,
“The crown prince is hardly expecting you to drop everything immediately. It’s perfectly fine for you to settle your commitments and affairs here before we leave.” Yoongi is talking out of his ass here, trying to back up Park’s story.

Madame Park accepts this, overly gracious, inviting them back inside and looking disdainful when Taehyung follows. To be fair, Taehyung looks extremely unkempt. Yoongi glances back at the trees, and can just about see Jeongguk’s eyes peeking over a branch. Jeongguk gives him a thumbs up.

Yoongi has no idea what Park Jimin’s deal is, not just rejecting the offer outright. He notes Madam Park’s hand holding tightly onto Jimin’s shoulder as she steers him inside, and decides to just roll with it. Madam Park seems about as nice a parent as the fire lord.

--------------

Cave, Mountains above Busan
Seokjin

Dusk was falling when Jeongguk went on a ride with Taehyung. Now night has truly fallen, darkness encroaching into their camp. Neither of them are back.

Seokjin’s been pacing, eyes fixed on the entrance to the cave. His thumb is raw with how much he has been worrying at it, caught between his teeth.

Moni is asleep, but Namjoon gently shakes him awake, ready to fly the larger bison out to find the others, despite the greater risk of being seen. Seokjin wishes Yoongi was here, partly because he makes an excellent lamp in the pitch darkness, but mostly because he would know just what to do to calm Seokjin down with cold hard facts. Like how the kids are not murdered in a ditch somewhere, or stranded lost and alone because Yeontan flew away and abandoned them on the next mountain over, or -

“Jin hyung, can you take a deep breath for me?” Namjoon is suddenly in front of him, hands gently holding Seokjin’s elbows. Seokjin struggles to take in that breath, and Namjoon’s hands fall to grasp his own, pulling them to rest on his chest. “Try breathing in time with me.”

Seokjin is so worried he can’t even enjoy having those pecs under his palms. He breathes in tandem with Namjoon, starting to feel less like he is about to collapse.

“Come on hyung,” Namjoon leads him towards Moni, voice low and reassuring, “We’ll find them in no time. Don’t worry.”

Like a miracle, in that moment, a rumble is heard from outside: Yeontan.

Seokjin’s heart rate rackets right back up as he watches Yeontan float sedately inside, the two kids astride him. As Jeongguk shifts to climb down, a ball of a person slumped sleepily behind him reveals itself. Why the hell is Yoongi with them?

Seokjin finds he cannot speak, ears red and face rapidly catching up. The second Jeongguk is on the ground Jin strides towards him, takes him by the back of the neck and pulls him into a tight embrace. Jeongguk wheezes a little, breath knocked out by the force of it.

Taehyung is trying to sneak past, but Seokjin yanks him into a hug too, Taehyung letting out a little ‘oof’.

Now that Seokjin has categorically made sure that they are safe and sound and in front of him, he feels secure enough to begin yelling.

“What in spirit’s name were you doing, I told you that you could take Yeontan out for a Short ride, not travel to the south pole and back! It’s been hours! Do you know how worried I have been? You’re going to make my hair go grey! Nobody wants to see that!”

“And you!” Seokjin rounds on Yoongi, who looks appropriately wide eyed and fearful, “Did you put them up to this? Did the Parks see them? How could you endanger Jeongguk like this!”

“It was my idea!” says Jeongguk, “Yoongi hyung didn’t know we were coming, we just wanted to see what the earthbender looked like. It was fine, nobody saw us.”

Yoongi scoffs, “Don’t lie Gukkah. These two knuckleheads made a right mess of things. But it’s true - I had nothing to do with it, so don’t yell at me hyung.” Yoongi takes on a petulant tone.

“What do you mean - a mess of things? Are we still safe here?” Namjoon asks.

Yoongi recounts the mess, Seokjin can literally feel himself age as he hears what happened. Taehyung and Jeongguk interject whenever they feel the story is casting them in a particularly bad light.

“And now I’m invited to this ridiculous sham of an engagement ball in Ba Sing Se, and they are going to expect Taehyung and the bison to come with me, because apparently I own both of them.” Yoongi concludes, nose wrinkling again at the implication of him owning a human being.

“Well of course you aren’t going to the engagement ball. This Jimin character sounds untrustworthy, for all we know this is a ploy to get you arrested. Ba Sing Se is the political heart of the earth kingdom: it won’t be easy to escape if the guards come for you in the middle of the celebration.” argues Namjoon.

“I don’t know whether Park is the type to betray, but you’re right. We can’t drag ourselves to another city on the slight chance that Park will agree to teach Jeongguk.” Yoongi agrees.

Jeongguk pouts at this, “Are you sure we can’t?”

“Pretty damn sure Gukkah,” Yoongi ruffles his hair consolingly.

--------------

Park Residence
Yoongi

After witnessing how meek and silent Park was in front of his parents, Yoongi had his doubts about whether he was worthy of Beomseok’s praise. But then he turned down the offer, against his parents wishes, and Yoongi’s respect for him inched up a notch. That is, until he probed further and realised why he was turning the offer down.

Yoongi has spent far too long watching Jin hyung and Jeongguk fight tooth and nail to carve their own path in life to have sympathy for a person who wants to have a different life but doesn’t have the guts to do something about it. Content to stay miserable in their comfortable little purgatory. When Yoongi expressed his contempt for Jimin’s choices, he was not expecting the guy to attack him.

It sends shivers down his spine when Yoongi recalls how Park Jimin looked, his sleek hair falling gracelessly from it’s bun, angry eyes reflecting the fire flickering on the sleeves of his garment. Yoongi had misjudged him. It’s a shame he won’t be coming with them.

This time, when they knock on Park Beomseok’s front door, Eun pulls him and Seokjin aside before letting them through to the living room.

“I hope you’re not here to ask Master Park to teach again.” Eun admonishes.

They both give her sheepish smiles. Eun pulls her hands up on her hips.

“His leg is healing, thankfully, but Master Park is not as strong as he once was. The physician said the accident in the garden is likely to happen again, Master Park is beginning to fail in his old age.”

Yoongi frowns, they had come over in the hopes that Beomseok would be able to teach once his leg is healed. Perhaps until then just give Jeongguk verbal instruction. But if what Eun says is correct, they aren’t going to be able to rely on him giving physical demonstrations, even in the future. Yoongi is acutely aware of how badly Jeongguk does without practical teaching.

Eun extracts a promise from Seokjin that they won’t convince Beomseok to teach against her wishes. Yoongi would laugh at how easily she has them both whipped into shape, except that he doesn’t know what they are going to do now. Beomseok was their last option.

They make moves to leave, defeated, but Eun halts them again.

“Nonsense, you don’t have to leave. I made Master Park’s favourite teacakes earlier, come in and share some so he doesn’t eat too many.”

Eun, unlike last time, announces their presence before they enter the room. Yoongi is reminded unpleasantly of similar protocol at the palace. He doesn’t miss the pomp and circumstance involved when he just wanted to do his tasks quickly and get out.

“Prince Seokjin and Master Min are here to see you.” Eun pushes open the doors to let them pass.

“The Spirits are looking on you kindly, you didn’t have to look long at all!” Beomseok says loudly. Yoongi is confused - look for what?

And then his gaze swings to the other person in the room, sitting primly opposite to Beomseok, posture ramrod straight while Beomseok is reclining cozily among several pillows, his bad leg propped up.

Beomseok isn’t talking to him and Jin hyung - he is talking to Park Jimin.

It’s like Yoongi’s entire head fills with static, he can’t say or do anything but stare at Jimin.

He looks ridiculously pretty in natural daylight. It’s indecent. Today his robes are more robust, fit for training, but no less well-fitting. Extremely… well fitting. Yoongi snatches his eyes away from Jimin’s waist to see the person in question staring coolly back at him, eyebrows arched.

It may feel like aeons, but it’s been barely a half a minute since entering the room. Time speeds up again as introductions are made, Seokjin waving away Jimin’s attempt to show proper etiquette to royalty.

Yoongi can tell hyung is reassessing their visit in light of Jimin being here by virtue of hyung’s face becoming charmingly, earnestly pleasant. It’s the mask he puts on whenever he is thinking extremely hard, but isn’t familiar enough with the company present to show it. Yoongi too, can’t get past that question - why is Park Jimin here, why now?

Beomseok enlightens them.

“Young Jimin here came knocking this morning. I’m delighted to finally meet him properly,” Beomseok gives a twinkling smile to Jimin, “As I was telling him earlier, I had seen some of his performances at the academy - I haven’t seen such promising talent in decades!”

Yoongi chews bitterly on a teacake. A real waste of talent on a person like Jimin.

“I’m so glad he has decided to make use of it, and I’m glad I can be of some help with it!” Beomseok continues effusively, “Jimin came here looking for you, Yoongi.”

“Why?” Yoongi blurts out around his teacake.

“You said you knew Master Park,” says Jimin, “And I didn’t know how else to get a hold of you, you never left an address or anything.”

He pauses, seeming to steel himself.

“I want to teach the avatar.”

----------------

Jimin

He hadn’t slept last night, his mind occupied with plans unravelling and his life shifting. When he was little, he thought he had it all figured out. He was going to become the best earthbender in the entire world, which would undoubtedly get him loads of money, and then he would say goodbye to his parents forever to live on the other side of the world.

He got a little older, he worked extremely hard, earned accolade after accolade. But he realised that there is no way to cut himself off from his family completely. Not if he wanted to keep his relationship with his brother, which he dearly does. Not if he wanted to stay out of the slums - being a master bender doesn’t make you any money unless you sell your soul to the academy as an instructor, and Jimin has been forced to tutor far too many snivelly nosed first years to be willing to spend his entire life doing that. And Jimin doesn’t have another trade to fall back on. He was jealous of the scholarship students in his year, who didn’t come from money, and so were skilled workers, carpenters, tailors, farmers. They could earn through their hands, where Jimin was from a background that valued lazing around doing nothing, sitting on piles of money.

He knows his father was once a mid-tier merchant - but he lucked out and found a jewel mine a few years before Jimin was born, and now other people did the hard work of mining and shipping the jewels, while he settled cozily into upper class life. Now Jimin is expected to marry well so the family can claw their way even higher up the ladder. But Jimin had come to terms with it, and he had a plan to make the best of it. He was settled, his future was certain.

Min Yoongi, with his glittering lie of an opportunity, is trying to wreck that future.

Even if the opportunity was real, Jimin hardly wants to uproot himself and move to the fire nation, which by all accounts is a terrifying cutthroat place. He doesn’t want to erase the chance of seeing Hope again, something he is relying on to stay sane.

But Min’s real offer is something drastically different. It is to commit treason, to go on the run, to teach that kid. To teach the avatar, because apparently Jimin is their only option, and it’s vital for the fate of humanity that somebody does that job. To teach Jeongguk, who showed a longing to learn earthbending that Jimin recognised and identified with.

Jimin gets up that morning and asks his parents if he can go to the local bathhouse - he needs a deeper soak than could be achieved at home after all the strenuous activity the day before. He is allowed, after his mother gives him a firm knock to the head over his insubordination the evening before in front of Master Min. His father continues to placidly eat his morning meal, unaffected by the sight of his son being punished.

When Jimin leaves, he doesn’t go towards the town centre, where the bathhouse is. Instead he winds his way through to a less familiar neighbourhood, draws up his courage, and knocks on Park Beomseok’s door.

The man is a legend, for revolutionising the study of earthbending, discovering lava bending (and remaining the only lava bender in existence) and fucking off to live however he wanted to instead of becoming headmaster at the academy as so many wanted him to. He instead spent his life fishing on the Busan coast and teaching whoever wanted it for free. Jimin desperately wanted to learn from him, but his parents sent him to the academy instead, because it is more prestigious. When he got dragged back to Busan, he thought he finally had a chance, but apparently Master Park refused to teach his mother when she was a teenager, and now she has a vendetta against him.

To his shock and surprise, Park Beomseok is delighted to see him. He apparently knows all about Jimin and has been keeping tabs on his activities. He appears to hold as much contempt for Jimin’s mother as she does for him, which Jimin finds understandable, although he is curious as to what nonsense his mother pulled to make such a nice grandfatherly figure despise her.

Beomseok listens to Jimin’s story and verifies that Min Yoongi was telling the truth, to Jimin at least, and that Beomseok recommended Jimin to him and the elder fire nation prince. Jimin is incredibly flattered. His conviction to do the right thing grows a little more.

Just when Jimin asks where he can find them, the people in question stride through the door.

Things move very quickly after that.

The prince - Seokjin - thoroughly questions him. He looks way more like royalty than Jeongguk, with broad shoulders and a bone structure Jimin wishes he had. To Jimin’s relief, the fact that he rejected the offer initially doesn’t come back to bite him; Seokjin accepts him without prejudice.

Unfortunately, Jimin has a bit of a caveat. He can’t leave with them immediately. He wants - no he needs, to go to Ba Sing Se first.

Neither of them look very impressed when Jimin refuses to tell them why, but Yoongi begrudgingly agrees to accept the invitation to the engagement ball so that he and Jimin can be ready to rejoin the others and leave the minute it’s over.

Then it is on to logistics: while Yoongi and his ‘servant’ Taehyung can travel in the first class carriage Jimin’s family is going to reserve, Jeongguk, Seokjin and the monk Jimin hasn't met yet are going to need to buy their own tickets. And apparently they are all broke. Jimin can’t offer them any money - his savings are all controlled by his parents.

Beomseok waves away their concerns, adamant that if he is considered too frail to keep working, that should mean he gets to spend his retirement throwing his hard earned money at whatever he wants. And what he wants right now is to buy Yoongi and Taehyung a new wardrobe so they don’t stick out at the ball, he wants to buy train tickets and he wants to organise the forged papers everyone but Jimin is going to need to be allowed through the great wall at Ba Sing Se.

In short, Park Beomseok is amazing. Jimin’s mother can die mad about it.

---------------

First Class, Busan to Ba Sing Se Rail
Taehyung

The Parks clearly don’t like Yeontan. Jimin seems vaguely disgusted, which Taehyung can understand - Jimin was slobbered on by Tannie, but once he gets to know him more they’ll be fast friends. Jimin’s parents however… Taehyung would rather keep Yeontan far, far away from them.

They all have secret identities they have taken on, Yoongi pretending to be an upstanding fire nation citizen, Taehyung pretending to be his indentured servant, Yeontan pretending to be owned by Yoongi. Taehyung has to laugh at that; as if a flying bison could ever be owned by a human. Flying bisons choose people, not the other way around and no culture on earth has been given that honour as readily as the air nomads. It’s unheard of for anybody but an airbender to have a loyal bison.

Taehyung supposes that’s why Jimin’s parents are so covetous of Yeontan once they are introduced to him properly. Covetous, whilst also deathly afraid of going too near him. Monk Jamyang always told Tae that fear and awe are a dangerous combination. Not to mention that Yeontan clearly hates them too. And Yeontan is an excellent judge of character.

Which is why, once the initial thrill of being on a real train, watching avidly out the window to see earthbenders outside whizz past as they bend the train forwards dies down. Once the humour in pretending to serve an exasperated Yoongi has been mined. Once Taehyung has thoroughly explored every nook and cranny of their extremely beautiful private room in the Park’s private carriage. After all of that, Taehyung can’t help but to worry about Yeontan.

Of course, Yeontan is too big to stay with them in first class, and because of Taehyung’s minor fuck up in the Park’s garden, they all expect Yeontan to be travelling with Yoongi somehow, rather than flying with Namjoon and Moni up in the skies. So Yeontan got led away by an extremely surprised station-hand to stay in the back carriages with all the bulky luggage.

Taehyung makes up his mind to go check on Yeontan, to make sure that he is safe and warm and nobody is messing with him.

To do that, he needs to sneak past the room where the Parks are, climb out the emergency exit at the back of the carriage, and then walk along the top of the train without getting smushed to smithereens by the tunnels above. Easy enough.

Once he is up on the roof, Taehyung pretends to be a tightrope walker in a travelling circus, keeping a steady foot in front of the other. Every so often he has to duck down and press flat like a pancake, either because a tunnel is approaching, or to avoid being seen by the earthbenders stationed every half mile to keep bending the train forward. Yeontan and Moni can rarely be urged to fly as fast as this, and Taehyung takes the opportunity to feel the air whooshing past him, lifting and playing with his hair and clothes. It’s invigorating.

When Taehyung reaches the less pristine, longer carriages where all the ordinary people are travelling, he has to resist sticking his head over the side, to see if he can spot Jeongguk and Jin hyung. Namjoon was initially going to travel with them, but it was too much of a risk to try and explain why an air nomad with a perfectly functioning bison is trying to ride a passenger train into Ba Sing Se. So with much reluctance from Taehyung and Jin hyung, and much resignation from Joon hyung, it was decided he would fly with Moni completely separately, and come in through the trade and goods entrance into the city, the way Namjoon has heard monk Jamyang usually goes the rare times when he has business in Ba Sing Se.

Taehyung, now safely inside the back carriage and snuggling with Yeontan, thinks he must have a weird switch in his brain. The minute he knows for certain that Yeontan is fine, he starts worrying about Namjoon and Moni instead. He hopes they are safe, but there is no real way for him to check on them until everybody reaches their destination.

On the way back, Taehyung has a harder time sneaking past the Park’s rooms, because all of them have shoved into the room that formerly only occupied a sleeping Jimin, and which has a huge window cut into it. Taehyung presses himself behind the exit door and the wall before any of them spot him. All this secret agent business is exhausting.

From here, even bending his neck to an uncomfortable degree, Taehyung can’t get a good look at what’s going on , but he can hear everything fine. And what he is hearing doesn’t sound… pleasant.

Jimin’s mother’s voice is mocking, “ - can’t honestly have thought we would let you gallivant off to the fire nation without oversight? Of course I’m coming with you, idiot boy.”

“And as for your request to go visit your old friends at the academy before the ball. We’ll be far too busy, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until afterwards.” says the father smoothly.

“I meant to go alone, father,” Jimin sounds… worried?

There is a resounding SMACK. Taehyung stifles a gasp.

“Alone? In Ba Sing Se? Don’t be impertinent.” His mother says scathingly, “I know exactly what nonsense you’ll be getting up to if we don’t keep an eye on you. You’ll be staying right by my side.”

Taehyung’s skin crawls. He was right to be wary of Jimin’s parents. He’s glad Jimin’s going to be coming with them, far, far away from these awful people.

---------------

The Yang-Park Engagement Ball, Ba Sing Se
Jimin

Usually these kinds of gatherings weren’t focused on Jimin, usually he was able to blend into the background at least a little. But an engagement ball where he is the groom to be? He has no chance.

A parade of distant relatives and family friends, many of whom would probably be happy to see him dead in the ground, come to congratulate him. The aunts coo over him and Lien, ignoring both their wincing when their cheeks are pinched between the women’s sharp nails. The uncles are more variable, some interrogating him about his studies, some giving him a terse grunt of congratulations, a few giving him a hefty shoulder or back slap that knocks the wind out of him. His father is busy talking politics with his merchant buddies, while his mother sweeps around mingling. Every so often she descends on them, asking Lien in a sugary mothering tone whether she needs anything and stroking Jimin’s hair just a touch too forcefully, a reminder to behave. Despite this, Jimin can tell she is pleased with him. Everything she has been grooming him for his whole life is coming to fruition.

None of this bothers him in small doses, but concentrated into this one evening… it’s a lot. Jimin’s glad he isn’t going to have to suffer through the actual wedding, he can only imagine how much worse that experience would be.

Lien must be just as uncomfortable as he is, but her face does not betray even an ounce of frustration. She remains perfectly gracious, silent unless spoken to. A few times, when a particularly nasty comment is thrown his way, her hand, hidden behind swaths of fabric, finds his own to give a gentle squeeze of camaraderie. Jimin feels truly sorry for what he is planning to do to her.

Jimin is hyper aware of Yoongi’s presence in the hall. He tries to keep him within eyesight, watches him making small talk with the guests. Jimin can’t figure out the weird knot in his stomach the couple times Yoongi agrees to dance with one of the several young women vying for his attention.

The dances are stiff, formal and extremely limiting. Step forward three times, move left, circle around your partner. No sudden movements, nothing too quick. This is allowed, this is appropriate. The wild, uninhibited, shameless dancing Jimin was exposed to on the circuit is not appropriate at all. Hope, with his elastic energy, would be most unwelcome here. Add in the element of earth to the mix, and they would be arrested on the spot. Lien prompts him a couple of times to dance, but Jimin declines. He wants to let her free to dance with some of the other gentlemen on the floor if she really wants to, but it would be unseemly for the bride-to-be to dance with anybody other than her fiance.

Instead he watches Yoongi: watches him stumble through the first, unfamiliar with earth kingdom customs. Watches him smile gently, match his large palms to the ladies’ smaller ones. Watches him gain confidence, moving with more surety.

Min Yoongi watches him too. Every so often, their eyes meet. Jimin wants to flick his glance away, blushing under the scrutiny, but he forces himself to match his gaze until the other breaks it first. Each is wary of the other, their first unsteady meeting looming large, but they have an understanding now.

Without dancing to be getting on with, and the older guests midway through getting drunk and heavy with food, Lien and him find themselves alone, in a lull. Jimin doesn’t mind it: it’s a companionable sort of quiet. That is until -

“The firebender is quite handsome, in a way. I can see why you like him.” Lien says conversationally. Jimin gapes at her.

“I - Lien ssi I swear,” Jimin stumbles over his words.

Lien laughs a little at his expression, not unkindly. Jimin’s mind is spinning, trying to understand why she isn’t kicking up a fuss, calling off the engagement. Maybe she is waiting until after the ball, she seems like a tactful person.

“I - I’m sorry.” Jimin says finally.

“No no, I’m sorry,” she says, sobering a little, “I’m using you. I’d heard you never looked at the girls at the academy, that’s why I asked to marry you. I figured you wouldn’t be interested in bedsport with me.”

“You still want to marry me?” Jimin asks, crestfallen, “Even knowing…”

“I’ve never looked at boys either…” Says Lien, voice laden with implication, “It is a relief to me that my parents think you’re a good match.”

Guilt rears its ugly head inside Jimin. He was able to rationalise leaving Lien before, sure that she would only suffer embarrassment and nothing more. Here, he sees the mutually beneficial marriage he is tearing from her. A husband who wouldn’t force her, who wouldn’t condemn her for any love that might arise with another woman. And Jimin… Jimin would have a wife who would afford him the same courtesy.

For a split second, Jimin considers just staying. Sticking with Lien and building a friendship with her. He could find Hope and love him and wouldn’t even have to risk execution in the process. He wouldn’t have to suffer through whatever is involved in being a fugitive. He could officially complete his studies in Ba Sing Se with the master benders in the academy. Sure, the Yangs would keep him under their thumb just as much as his parents always have, but eventually… he would be free. He could be free. But.

“Lien -” He drops the honorific, “I have to tell you something.”

--------------

Taehyung

Pretending to be Yoongi’s manservant is all fun and games until Madam Park ropes him into serving food at the ball. All the other servers are fully trained employees of the catering company and despite Madam Park’s insistence that they are short-staffed, don’t seem thrilled to have the extra pair of hands. Still, the manager gives him a tray of drinks and Taehyung strides out among the crowd with the confidence of a person who has never had to work retail in his life.

It’s been a long time since he has been around anything beyond the simple fare and clothing of the nomads. Being surrounded by opulent robes, jewels and frankly sexy looking food is overwhelming. Taehyung’s hands itch to finagle some of that jewelry into his pockets, to sneak bites of the appetisers, but he promised Yoongi he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.

The server carrying sweet potatoes in little crystalline bowls ushers him behind a pillar when Taehyung’s composure begins to visibly flag, and slips him a bite. Taehyung scarfs it down, and groans at how delicious it is. The girl makes him smile and checks his teeth are clean of the sticky sauce before releasing him back into the fray.

Taehyung makes a game of the task, pretending not to see the people waving him over. He lasts about three turns of the entire hall before the first drink is taken from his tray. At one point a fussy looking woman follows him all the way across before she is intercepted by a different server offering her a glass and his apologies. After this, Taehyung gets pulled aside by the manager, who threatens to tell Yoongi. Taehyung refrains from laughing in his face.

Yoongi eyes him when he comes back out onto the floor but Taehyung can’t get a read on his expression. When Yoongi excuses himself from his conversation to come check up on him, Taehyung realises the strange scrunchy face Yoongi did was in fact concern. He almost cups Yoongi’s cheeks, this hyung is so cute! But he doesn’t, because manservants don’t do that.

About halfway through the evening, Taehyung, now resigned to his fate and behaving himself, notices something extremely dubious. One of the guests, large and burly, holding onto the wrist of the sweet potato girl with thick fingers. It could be innocent, maybe he just wants another bowl and is being extremely impolite about it. But as Tae watches, he still doesn’t let go. Nobody else is paying any attention to them, tucked into the side away from all the dancing. The tray of sweet potatoes wobbles as she tries to tug out of his grip. Taehyung frowns.

He gets stopped by several guests on his way over, but keeps determinedly heading there, spurred on when she turns her head a little and he can read the distress on her face.

“Would you like some wine, sir?” Taehyung says loudly, shoving the drinks tray under his nose aggressively. The man lets go in surprise and sweet potato girl staggers back, nearly dropping her own tray. She bows hastily and retreats, leaving Taehyung staring the guy down. He huffs, scowling at Taehyung.

“Sir?” Taehyung says again, rattling the glasses in front of him. The man narrows his eyes and walks away.

--------------

Yoongi

For the hundredth time this evening, Yoongi wonders if he has made a mistake. Park said he had something important he needed to do, some reason he needed to attend this ball, but Yoongi has been keeping tabs on him the entire evening and he hasn’t done anything except sit around making small talk with his fiance.

Yoongi keeps getting distracted from this task by inconsiderate people trying to mingle. There is a very good reason Yoongi never attended any of the functions in the palace court, despite Seokjin begging him to come along. Being courteous and pleasant for this long is exhausting. Navigating the snide back-handed compliments and jealous schmoozing is draining.

Yoongi has also been trying to look out for Taehyung, feeling vaguely guilty that he’s working while Yoongi spends his time eating and lounging. Never mind that it’s Taehyung’s own fault he is in this mess for snooping on him and Park in the first place. Taehyung doesn’t make this easy on him, disappearing every few minutes.

Several older women attempt to flirt with him, which he finds incredibly funny. He wishes Seokjin was here to see it. Although if Jin hyung was here, Yoongi would probably not get any attention at all; Jin is the kind of handsome that leaves no room for anybody else.

While floating around the hall, trying to keep track of Taehyung without making it obvious that he is doing so, he overhears some of these same women, now a few drinks deep and gossiping.

“I wouldn’t call him handsome,” one of them snarks, “his face is beautiful for sure, but not handsome.”

“No guesses as to why,” another snorts, “I’ve heard sodomy turns you into a woman if you do it enough times.”

Yoongi wrinkles his nose, disgusted. He feels sorry for whichever poor soul is the recipient of this nasty gossip.

“I wonder if he’ll even be able to perform on their wedding night. I do feel sorry for the poor girl, who knows if she’ll be able to have children with him.”

Spirits. They are talking about Park. Yoongi wonders if he knows what kind of vile rumours are spreading about him.

Yoongi has tried not to put much thought towards those men who lie with other men. He knows it happens, he has seen several dragged into light in court. The fire lord’s favourite game is to order such couples to do an Agni Kai, to the death. Yoongi finds the punishment abhorrent, as he does most things in the fire court. If Park really is that type, Yoongi doesn’t give a damn and neither should these old hags.

Yoongi, frustrated, abandons subtlety and stalks up to Taehyung. He grabs a glass, downs it, and orders the kid to let him know if anybody is being a dick to him. Taehyung smiles widely and assures Yoongi he is fine in a voice that sounds suspiciously fond.

Later, Yoongi becomes vaguely aware of a gaggle of young women tittering near him. He ignores it. This proves to be a miscalculation.

Several of them swarm him at once. Yoongi is taller than them all, but that’s not counting the elaborately piled hair that is suddenly all he can see. One of the young women squeezes his bicep to get his attention and another his waist, which Yoongi is scandalised by. From what he has seen so far, touching between courting couples is to a minimum in public, limited to hands brushing briefly, and even that only during dancing. It dawns on him that the girls know this, and have created this ring around him for the express purpose of hiding such improper behaviour from disapproving parents. They want him to dance with them, which - absolutely not.

He extricates himself with great difficulty, only to be immediately intercepted by Park’s father, who strongholds him into a circle of his friends.

“Maybe you can enlighten us!” he exclaims, “We’ve just been discussing the trade ban your nation took down only last week. Some of these upstanding gentlemen are merchants, they fairly lost a quarter of their annual earnings and without any explanation! You surely know why?”

Yoongi pales. The trade ban was part of a shoddy attempt to trap Jin and Jeongguk within the fire nation’s borders while they were searched for. Of course, they were nowhere to be found, and against all his advisor’s warnings, the fire lord refused to lift it even months after they had fled. Yoongi supposes the ban has been made redundant now that the fire nation knows Jeongguk has definitely managed to travel to one of the temples, and so is out of the fire nation. He obviously can’t tell these men the truth, not without revealing that the crown prince is missing, and his pretense of offering Jimin a job in the fire nation is a lie.

So he does what he has been increasingly doing today: he channels his inner Seokjin.

“It was a real shame, wasn’t it? I hadn’t been able to get my favourite imported rice wine,” Yoongi actually prefers flamed whisky over any earth kingdom alcohol, but is still not over Jin hyung getting free wine in that stupid tavern, “I’m thrilled it’s been lifted, it’s allowed me to travel here and get my fill!”

The men guffaw in agreement and Yoongi waffles on, distracting them and eventually making excuses to leave, resigning himself to dancing if it keeps him away from the old men and their probing questions, or the old women and their two-faced awfulness.

Yoongi has extremely good hand eye coordination and the credentials to prove it. But dancing is a struggle for multiple reasons. Having to work with a partner instead of against them is difficult, and even more so when these partners are more interested in checking him out than helping him figure out these unfamiliar steps. After several turns of this, he can’t fathom why any of them still want to dance with him - he must have stepped on everybody's toes at least twice.

The dances, once he gets the hang of them, aren’t too different from what he has observed in the fire court. Fussy and intricate, spending more time slowly walking around the space parallel to each other than anything else. Yoongi has a hypothesis that dancing is only worth doing if you are friends with, or are attracted to, your partner. And Yoongi is neither of those things, regardless of how ardently these girls flutter their eyelashes at him. He simply isn’t the romantic type.

After a while his feet begin to tire, and he contemplates just hiding behind a plant pot for the remainder of the evening. Across the hall, near the elaborate set up of chairs Park and his fiance are sat on like stuffed dolls, a commotion breaks out. The movement and chatter die down, letting Yoongi more clearly see what’s going on. He freezes. He shouldn’t have taken his eyes off him for even a moment.
Sprawled on the floor, Madam Park standing over him furiously and soaked from head to toe, is Taehyung.

---------------

The Little Rabbit Inn, Ba Sing Se
Jeongguk

All this waiting around while everybody but him is allowed to hang out with Jimin is boring. Jeongguk wishes he could serve at the ball with Taehyung, he bets it would be fun. Jin hyung says he would be caught within minutes, if not by being recognised directly, then by acting too princely to pass as waitstaff.

So Jeongguk sucks it up, and makes use of the time, pushing the furniture to the sides of the room and practicing his forms with Namjoon. Namjoon joined him and Jin hyung early this morning, looking extremely tired and windswept from his long journey on Moni. They too, were tired from long hours spent sitting in a cramped train carriage. Jeongguk never thought he would miss travelling by rhino horse, but at least that doesn’t involve getting kicked in the leg by a toddler for miles. So when they all met up and booked into the inn with Beomseok’s money, all of them promptly fell asleep. But now they’ve been up for a little while, and Jeongguk has some energy he needs to burn off.

To Jeongguk’s delight, Jin hyung has joined in for the activity. There isn’t enough space to do anything too challenging, they aren’t even really bending: breathing deeply, trying to feel the energy reach their extremities. Namjoon says it will make Jeongguk more mindful of his body and surroundings when fighting.

Namjoon spends more time supporting Jin’s poses than teaching Jeongguk, which Jeongguk finds suspicious. Jin hyung doesn’t usually need help in stuff like this. Yoongi hyung sometimes used to make him train against Jin without bending, just to test his hand to hand combat. Jin usually won. Once, a cocky soldier using the palace’s training grounds challenged him to a match, unbelieving that a nonbender could do any damage. Jin hyung roundhouse kicked him in the face. It was awesome. So why does hyung suddenly need Namjoon hyung’s help to stay in a squat correctly?

Not very challenging this may be, it still wears them out, all that tensing and holding straining their muscles sore. When they’ve finished up, Jeongguk all but collapses onto the bed.

“You know,” says Jeongguk, while they scarf down some of their rations, “I wish I’d been born a peasant. That way I could go to the ball with Tae. AND -”

Namjoon nearly chokes on his rice at Jeongguk’s loud exclamation.

“- all I would have to do is learn bending, none of the political military garbage father expected me to do.”

“Well you have one out of two of those things,” mutters Jin, “We’ve been eating like peasants for months now. The only thing you have to worry about now is mastering the elements, the fire lord can’t make you do anything anymore.”

“And I get to learn earthbending soon,” Jeongguk grins, “I’ve been waiting for this ever since I cracked that wall open in Mama’s garden.”

The whole palace had gone nuts when he did that, his father chief among them. Jeongguk was thrust even further into the spotlight, his life even more restricted and scrutinised. And all he had wanted was to start punching rocks. But he had to wait and wait and wait, endlessly wait. Because he had to master fire first, because the official avatar cycle would have him learn earthbending last out of all of the elements, because because because. Jeongguk had resigned himself to not learning it until he was ancient, like twenty five or something: old as hell.

“I’ll crack you open!” Jin hyung teases, putting aside his emptied bowl and tackling Jeongguk into the bed.

-------------

The Yang-Park Engagement Ball, Ba Sing Se
Taehyung

The catering manager has been swanning around, keeping tabs on everything. Taehyung tries to tell him about the guest harassing his staff, but before he can say anything, he gets hustled back to the kitchen to swap his tray of empty glasses for fresh ones.

When he returns, he can’t see the manager anywhere, it’s like the man evaporated. So he stays firmly planted by sweet potato girl and is vindicated by the creep returning not once, but twice. Both times Taehyung gets the satisfaction of clearing his throat extremely loudly and watching the man frustratedly storm away. Sweet potato, whose name turns out to be Seoyeon, jokes that he is like her own guarding knight.

Taehyung asks Seoyeon whether she knows who Jerkface is. It turns out she does, that the catering company has served at many of these families’ functions and that Jerkface is part of the established set of socialites. Socialites being, the young men and women who are supposed to be wooing each other at all these events. What Jerkface lacks in charm and a personality, he makes up for in enough wealth to escape any and all consequences. None of the refined young ladies want to give him the time of day despite this, or rather, because of this. So he redirects his energy at pawing at a different server each time.

“Hurrah, tonight it’s my turn.” says Seoyeon cheerlessly. “And the manager knows about him, so I wouldn’t bother telling him again. Nothing will be done about it.”

“That’s awful!” Taehyung protests.

“That’s life.” Seoyeon shrugs, “Now go, my little knight, that drunk man is calling for you.”

And indeed, a guest who has had so many glasses from Taehyung that his face is purely red with it, is beckoning him over for another from the front of the hall.

Taehyung begrudgingly does so, weaving in and out of the denser crowd in front of the bride-and-groom-to-be. He takes a moment to appreciate how pretty Jimin looks in his robes and with his hair done up all fancy. The girl looks just as pretty, if a little smothered under all the layers of fabric she has on. Taehyung much prefers what the monks wear, it’s light and breezy by necessity.

Distracted as he is, he doesn’t notice Jerkface in the throng, foot placed to trip Taehyung over, until it’s too late.

Taehyung lurches forward, managing to stay upright thanks only to years of airball practice. Unfortunately, he can’t say the same for his tray. The expensive wine goes flying, glasses shattering against the floor. The woman in front of him has the misfortune of having the entire back of her outfit drenched.

Said woman turns in a slow and furious circle. Taehyung stands frozen, an apology stuck in his throat. It’s Madam Park.

Her nostrils are flared. Her lips pursed in a flat line. Taehyung swallows.

She takes a deliberate step forward, glass crunching beneath her heel. She raises her palm and backhands Taehyung so hard he falls to the floor.

Chapter Text

Jimin

Jimin can only hear a rushing in his ears. He doesn’t know what compels him… what pushes him to his feet this time when he has never before.

What happens next is choppy, time skipping forward in bursts: one moment Taehyung is on the floor and Jimin is sitting frozen by his fiance’s side. The next, Jimin is ten strides forward, body in formation as he has drilled into himself a thousand times before. His mother is far away from Taehyung, having been pushed back by the jagged rift Jimin has just ripped through the floor between them.

Jimin can’t believe he just did that. Oh god. How could he have just done that. In front of everybody, in public? He is so screwed she must be so angry oh no oh god oh no.

As if on cue, the string of jewels on Jimin’s upper arm constricts cruelly, cutting deep. He wonders absently if it’s drawing blood, the greater part of him panicking as his mother directs the full force of her anger on him, her hand curled in a claw to keep forcing the jewels into him. He readies himself to capitulate, to grovel on his knees if necessary, to beg for forgiveness. But then he thinks - for what? He doesn’t want to undo what he has just done. What he should have had the guts to do years ago.

It’s so easy, what he does next, he can’t quite believe it. It shouldn’t be this easy. One little flick of the wrist, one tiny movement, and that wretched jewellery flings outwards and apart, tearing his sleeve to shreds.

As if to punctuate the moment, one shard hits Jimin’s mother, bouncing harmlessly off her shoulder.

Jimin feels a gentle hand at his elbow. Lien tugs him back, moving to stand between him and his mother.

“Go,” says Lien firmly, and when Jimin stands rooted in his indecision, gives him a shove, “You said you wanted to escape all this, so go!”

So Jimin goes.

---------------------

Yoongi

It’s frustrating, trying to wade through the crowd to reach Taehyung. Yoongi feels like he is in a dream, struggling and struggling to do something and getting no closer to his goal. But eventually, Yoongi wrangles himself beside Tae, helping him avoid the glass crushed around him as he gets to his feet.
“Are you okay?” Yoongi’s voice is frantic, noticing the red mark across Taehyung’s cheek.

“I’m fine,” Taehyung assures him, voice a little shaky. Yoongi fusses over him regardless, not believing he is fine at all - he brushes a few stray shards from Tae’s clothes just in time to witness Park Jimin turn tail and flee from the scene.

Madam Park moves as if to follow him, puce with anger, but is stopped by Park’s fiance, who puts a wall up right in Madam Park’s sour face. Yoongi grins.

The fiance then looks dead at Yoongi, annoyance painted on her face, “Go after him you idiot!”

Yoongi startles, but does as she says.

Pitch darkness surrounds them once they leave the bright lights of the ball. Yoongi can barely see Park’s jewellery glinting in the distance, and hurriedly conjures up a light in his hand as he strides forwards, Tae in tow.

Park is stone faced when they catch up with him. Yoongi doubles over, holding a stitch in his side: the fucker is so fast. They have come to a halt besides some huge open carriages filled to the brim with cabbages. Yoongi watches with confusion as Park hauls himself up and settles atop the small mountain, looking impatiently down at them. Taehyung gets the memo immediately, launching himself up with a boost of wind while Yoongi is still staring dumbfounded. He clambers aboard himself with help from Taehyung, bony behind struggling to find comfortable purchase atop the cabbage pile.

As soon as he settles, Park makes a sharp motion and the resulting jolting slide of the carriage makes Yoongi’s stomach swoop unpleasantly. As they rattle through the dark, picking up speed, Yoongi’s hands scrabble to grab onto anything stable, he finds nothing but loose cabbage, the leaves ripping uselessly, until one hand snags on Park’s robes in front of him, and Taehyung’s knee besides his own. He holds on for dear life.

He has no earthly idea what Park is doing, where they are going. The cargo carriage they are in hurtles around bends, going down down down out of the upper ring of Ba Sing Se. As they duck into the middle ring Yoongi half expects them to slow down, for this adventure to simply be Park’s way of getting them to the Inn to join the others. Except they keep going and going and eventually get spat out in the lower ring, where burly workmen on the night shift are waiting to load up cargo carriages for the upper ring. Park leaps down and Taehyung and Yoongi follow hot on his heels, the alarmed shouts of the workmen vanishing into the distance.

Running while wearing such stiff garments is near impossible. Taehyung almost immediately sheds his outer robes, flinging off the little hat all the servers had to wear, kicking his shoes off. Yoongi follows suit, except he keeps on the shoes.

Park hasn’t said a word since they left the ball. Yoongi has a million questions, but it feels wrong to breach this silence. It is clear that Park needs space right now.

They wind their way around the backstreets of the lower ring, their dishevelled upper class garb drawing curious looks. Park ignores them, even when the stares turn into wolf whistles. Or perhaps ignore is the wrong word. That would make it seem intentional. But Park seems to have blocked out everything except his goal, moving forward with blinkers on towards… somewhere.

Somewhere turns out to be a derelict, grubby little building tucked behind an industrial site. Yoongi can’t fathom why Park would want to come here. Park shoves his way inside, the door splintering with his efforts.

Inside, Yoongi isn’t any more enlightened than he was before: the place is empty, devoid of furniture that would indicate a purpose. There is a huge gaping hole in the ground, covered over with metal bars and chains. Bolted over the bars is a sign declaring ‘Illegal activity shut down by order of the King’. Park stands at the edge, his back to Yoongi, hands at his sides shaking.

-----------------

Taehyung

He’s had worse injuries; training as an airbender lends itself to bumps and bruises. But Taehyung’s cheek still feels tender and he has to resist the urge to press and poke at it. Taehyung is glad when Yoongi grabs onto his hand early into the escape from the ball, it makes him feel more secure, and stops him prodding at his swollen face.

Jimin sets off in the cargo carriage with the type of ease that makes it clear he has done it hundreds of times before. Which is strange, because Taehyung was under the impression that the boy is too refined to do something like this. It just makes Tae like Jimin even more. He opens his mouth to comment as much, but Yoongi, white knuckled, grabs onto Tae’s knee. It tickles, and Tae assumes it means Yoongi doesn’t want him to talk.

They eventually end up in a place that reminds Tae viscerally of the home he escaped when Jamyang took him in. A forgotten, unwanted and disintegrating building - the perfect place for a discarded child to sleep and hoard all the knicknacks he has lifted from various pockets.

Taehyung is confused by the hole and the metal. It seems haphazardly done, like a useless patch to cover up the hole. Why would anybody bother putting metal bars when they could just fill the hole with dirt to accomplish the same thing?

Taehyung is even more confused by what Jimin does next.

In a rage, Jimin begins bending the floor up in chunks, the hole ripping wider and wider. As more earth tears away, more of the bars become visible, having been spiked much further across the whole floor than initially could be seen. Taehyung and Yoongi have to stagger back to the edge of the room to avoid having the ground crumble beneath them.

"Hey… HEY!" Taehyung exclaims, "STOP! You're gonna get hurt!"

The precarious pillar of untouched earth that Jimin is standing on crumbles slightly, sending him stumbling back. His foot falls into a gap in the bars and Jimin lets out a roar of pain as he hits the bars with a sickening clang.

Taehyung can only see the back of him, but it's pretty clear when the anger bleeds into anguish. Jimin sobs, bowing forwards and clutching at the bars holding him up.

Yoongi and Taehyung make their way gingerly across the bars to the huddled figure of Jimin.

"Let's get you up, shall we?" Yoongi says gently, crouching in front of him. Tae strokes his back carefully, wary of being rejected. Jimin drags a hand over his face, smearing tears.

"It's all f-for nothing," he weeps, "I ru-ruined my whole life for nothing."

It takes a little while for Jimin to manage anything more coherent than that. He calms down with great shuddering gasps, crying as Taehyung hasn't since he was a child. But eventually he calms, eventually they tug him upright, manoeuvre his leg from where it got caught. Eventually they limp out from this godforsaken building, slumping outside where the ground isn't caving in.

Jimin sits legs akimbo and very much still reminds Taehyung of a child, a sharp contrast to his demeanor at the ball.

Yoongi, from where he is sprawled face down in the dirt, asks, "The hell was all that?"

"It was the reason I needed to come to Ba Sing Se," Jimin says, voice rough from crying. He swipes ineffectually at his tears.

“When I was 13 I got shipped off to the Academy. I was doing really well and finally meeting people who weren’t vetted by my family first. But then I started doing so well in my training that they put me into private lessons, and making me perform for the aristocracy. And it was suffocating. I was finally away from my parents, but I was surrounded by more versions of them. I needed an out, I needed some sort of release.”

“That hole - it used to be a secret. I would come here every night I could while I was studying in the city. I would come and I would dance, and I would crawl back to my dorm in the early hours with barely enough time to sleep before I had to drag myself awake for morning drills.”

“Why would you have to do that in secret?” Yoongi asks, puzzled.

“Dancing is forbidden by order of the King.” Jimin and Taehyung parrot dully in unison, exchanging a commiserating look.

“How do you know that?” Yoongi asks Taehyung, confused.

“I was born in the Earth Kingdom,” Taehyung replies, “And I heard that goddamn rule so many times I swear it was drilled into my skull.”

“Dancing is forbidden, which is stupid and pointless,” Jimin continues, “So when I heard about this place, I couldn’t stay away. And it was here that I met my hope.”

“Your hope?” Taehyung asks, settling next to Jimin and giving him a hug.

“My Hope… just after our first kiss my parents dragged me back home” Jimin almost lapses back into sobs, but pulls himself together, “I needed to see him again one more time before I leave the city, maybe he could come with us - but those monsters shut the place down. He’s never going to come here again, I don’t know where he lives, I don’t even know his real name!”

“You mean to tell me,” Yoongi says quietly, “that you dragged all our asses into Ba Sing Se so you could come kiss some boy?” Taehyung can hear the rage simmering under his words.

“This was the important thing you needed to do?” Yoongi is hissing now, ears turning red.

Jimin stares at him, tear tracks still sparkling on his cheeks.

“Hyung -” Tae frowns at him, willing him to be a little sensitive. To his relief, the telepathy seems to work, Yoongi swallowing down his rage.

“Your life before this dance thing,” Yoongi says instead, “That’s what Jeongguk has been dealing with since he could walk. The hell he’s been through -” Yoongi cuts off, “He needs a teacher who is going to take teaching him seriously. And this whole Hope charade makes me think you aren’t going to take this seriously.”

“He will, hyung.” Taehyung says reproachfully, “Jimin’ll prove it to you - tomorrow morning.”

“I will?” Jimin murmurs. Taehyung elbows him. “I will!” Jimin says decisively.

“But for now,” Taehyung jumps upright, dragging Jimin up with him, “We are heading back to Joon and the others, and we are going to Sleep.”

------------
The Little Rabbit Inn
Yoongi

The whole trek back to the middle ring, following Jimin’s lead because it is dark and the dance hole was in the middle of goddamn nowhere, Yoongi’s head is full of this mysterious Hope. Ironically, the name incites a flame of righteous anger, but Yoongi knows that anger isn’t going to help anything, so he keeps it doused, for now.

There is another, niggling feeling, of annoyance. He can’t pin down why he is feeling that way, but this Hope person just sounds like somebody who would irritate him.
Yoongi probably just needs to sleep. Taehyung is walking ahead of him, shoeless and dishevelled. By the time they reach the inn Yoongi is ready to drop. In his haze it takes him a moment to remember which room Jin hyung had said they would be in. Jimin taps his foot impatiently while he dithers over room 7 and 9, unsure of which it was and unwilling to barge in on a random stranger at the middle of the night.

He is relieved when knocking on 7 reveals a sleep hazed Namjoon, who promptly turns around and flops back onto his bed. Taehyung follows suit, sprawling directly on top of the monk and ignoring his disgruntled groan. On the bed by the window, Yoongi can see Jin and Jeongguk curled like parentheses around each other, lit softly by the dying glow of the lamps.

---------------

Jimin

There are only three beds and two of them are taken.

Jimin is dead on his feet, makeup all smeared from crying earlier - which he is going to try his best to bury the memory of because damn that was embarrassing. He still feels a little raw; he is avoiding thinking about Hope for fear of collapsing into tears again.

He can see Min Yoongi eyeing the empty bed as well.

All he wants is to crash and have the sweet sweet release of unconsciousness so Jimin will be damned if he doesn’t get that bed to himself. Yoongi and Jimin glance at each other, both unmoving, at a stalemate.

They’ve been butting heads since they met, so Jimin is surprised when Yoongi plods his way over to the corner piled high with their supplies and yanks out a bedroll. The surprise is quickly replaced with annoyance. How dare he take the high road and show Jimin up?

Still, it is creeping steadily closer to dawn, so Jimin capitulates, crawling into the empty bed and resolving to flip off Yoongi’s smug face in the morning.

-----------------

Yoongi

The first time Yoongi wakes, he is too warm. It takes him a second to come to, one bleary eye creaking open. It appears that in the night, both Jeongguk and Taehyung migrated onto his tiny tiny bedroll to smother him. He attempts to squirm out from under them, but they are respectively using his arm and shoulder as a pillow and have him pinned.

Across from them, Jin hyung is awake and washed up already, not a hair out of place. Yoongi catches his eye and silently pleads for rescue. Jin sniggers, abandoning him in his time of need to go poke Namjoon into consciousness.

Trapped and helpless, Yoongi gives up and drifts back into the haze of sleep, tucking his face into Jeongguk’s hair.

The second time Yoongi wakes, it is violent and abrupt. There is a lot of loud talking that he hasn’t got the wherewithal to comprehend just yet. Taehyung and Jeongguk have scrambled up in response, pretty effectively kneeing and elbowing him to wakefulness in the process.

It turns out Jimin was serious about proving himself to Yoongi, determined to begin training Jeongguk immediately.

Jeongguk, Yoongi notes fondly, is practically fizzing with joy at the prospect, a grin plastered on his face and hands in fists of barely contained excitement. This is not particularly surprising; Yoongi often found himself hard pressed to keep Jeongguk’s attention on his breathing drills when he would rather try smashing rocks together. And now he finally has the chance to learn properly.

Their small and overfilled room seems even more so now that everyone is awake and talking, rather than asleep and unmoving. Jin hyung takes charge, the youngsters falling into silence to listen to him. They agree to leave the city the following day, after gathering supplies and resting. Jimin looks a little pinched at this. Yoongi suppresses a scoff, sure that Jimin is thinking of that 'Hope'. Jin asks Yoongi to come along on their mission to get supplies, but Yoongi declines, wanting to see the earthbending lesson.

The three of them set up in the garden behind the inn, usually used for overflow from the tavern inside. The place is empty at present, with plenty of packed earth to dig into. Yoongi perches himself on a low wall, watchful eyes following as Jimin leads Jeongguk through his very first earthbending stance.

It’s a good thing, Yoongi decides, that Jimin wants to teach him while they are still in Ba Sing Se. It means that if he is absolutely terrible, they can release him to go find his Hope or whatever, he won’t be stuck with them anymore. After all the trouble of convincing him to teach, Yoongi feels a little guilt curling in his gut that he is so eager for an excuse to give up on Jimin.

-----------------

Namjoon

"47 silver pieces for a bag of beans - is that expensive? Do we have enough for that?" Jin hyung asks, squatting in front of a sack and checking the price scrawled on it.

"....we do if we only eat plain rice for every meal. Or if we sleep in the street tonight." Namjoon answers, counting despondently through the coins they have left from Beomseok's generous gift. Between the train fare and a night in a safe inn, the money is disappearing fast.

"Well if you would just let me..." Tae mutters mutinously.

"And what would Jamyang say if he found out you were pickpocketing again?" Namjoon admonishes, "besides, we can figure this out… we just need to budget a bit more."

"Maybe we are just looking in the wrong area," reasons Jin, "this is good quality food, so it's expensive. We need to find the cheap stuff."

"Maybe the markets in the lower ring?" Tae suggests. And off they trek, away from the wide sedate roads of the middle ring and towards the bustling, cramped streets of the lower.

The official entrances between each ring are guarded, but the people getting stopped are the poorest folk, the ones who are dressed in rags. Namjoon, Tae and Jin have no problems waltzing through. Finding the market is easy enough - they just have to follow their ears to a most deafeningly loud and busy square.

Between Taehyung’s haggling and Jin hyung’s charm, Namjoon soon finds his arms laden with several paper bags full of reasonably priced groceries. Tae is carrying one measly pouch of peanuts, mostly so he can munch on them as they walk; Jin hyung carries nothing at all. But Namjoon has no qualms about heaving all the food himself as the trio wanders around, exploring the alleys and side roads, for all the world looking like tourists and not fugitives.

At one point they spot a street performer with a koala monkey spinning tricks and Taehyung demands they stop so he can draw it. A pencil and scrap already half covered in sketches emerges from where he always keeps them tucked in his clothes. Namjoon shares a fond smile with Seokjin as they watch him pore over his drawing. It takes minutes, and they are off again. Taehyung keeps scribbling as they walk, and shows Namjoon a doodle of him as the koala monkey. Namjoon complains loudly. Jin laughs delightedly and asks if he can keep it.

It is difficult to see over the top of the bags, and Namjoon is spatially-challenged at the best of times, so it is unsurprising when he finds himself sprawled across the ground, having bumped into somebody.

Namjoon levers himself up with a groan, then spots the person he knocked into. Hair, clothes and apron all in disarray with a few, thankfully wooden and unbroken, cups and saucers scattered around him. Immediately, a string of apologies falls from Namjoon’s lips, as he scrambles to help the man up, haphazardly helping him to stack the dishes up. When everyone is righted once again, groceries, crockery and all (although this time with Tae and Jin taking their fair load to avoid another mishap), Namjoon can’t help but spew another ‘sorry’, which the man answers with a bark of laughter and a - “If you are truly sorry, come in another day to buy some tea!” Which Namjoon sheepishly agrees to.

Belatedly, Namjoon notices the teashop they have wandered past, gentle aromas permeating from it into the dusty air outside. They bow their goodbyes to the tea-seller and head off on their way, Taehyung giving him a light scolding about looking where he is going. It is word for word the same speech Namjoon has heard from monk Jamyang a million times before, which he tells them so, receiving a giggle for his efforts from Jin hyung and an elbow to the ribs from Tae.

----------------
The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Hoseok

Plates stacked and butt dusted, Hoseok sways back into the shop, musing over the rarity of an airbender wandering around the city. He wouldn’t have clocked it without the tattoos, the boy was wearing regular clothes. But those tattoos! Blue like lightning on his shiny head! Hoseok wonders if it hurt to get it done...

Hoseok is pulled from his thoughts by “Ya Hoseok-ah! Halmeoni is being unreasonable again!”

Hoseok grins and skips over, dumping the dishes on the counter, charm turned up a million, “I hardly think it’s unreasonable - Halmeoni just wants the best server to make her tea!”

Yongsun huffs and turns away to make another order, but Hoseok can see her cheek lifted in a smile. Halmeoni meanwhile, is perched on a chair, grinning huge and toothless at the sight of Hoseok. He greets her with a customary kiss on the cheek and gets on with her order of jasmine tea.

Halmeoni, which is the only name for her Hoseok has ever heard, is ‘Halmeoni’ to the entire neighbourhood. She is ancient and has been for as long as Hoseok has known her, bent over her cane and with enough wrinkles to compete with an elephantdeer. And ever since Hoseok started working at the teashop, she has refused to be served by anybody but him. Hoseok doesn’t mind and neither does Yongsun, no matter how much she kicks up a fuss about it.

It’s been nearly six years that Hoseok has been working here, Yongsun for six years and three months. She had vouched for him to get him the job, as much as one can vouch for a weedy, scrawny, underfed thirteen year old. Still, he had worked as hard as any adult to prove himself, and here, he is still gainfully employed all these years later. The work was hard and often thankless, but there were people like Halmeoni to brighten his day, keep him hopeful. And sweating in a teashop day in and day out is infinitely preferable to the job he and Yongsun had had before. Hard labour, bending out in the dusty streets for pittance.

Yongsun had been his shift partner then and he had been in awe of her - so tall (at least she seemed so back then), loudmouthed and sure of herself. So ready to make friends with everybody, even snotty little kids like him. She had taken him under her wing, far too rough and snotty herself to be anything like a parent, but making a pretty fantastic older sister.

He and Yongsun keep on working, feet aching from standing, cheeks aching from smiling, until the last customer has left for the night. While Hoseok wipes down tables and tucks in stray chairs, Yongsun heaves a sigh and the finances book up from where it is stowed under the countertop. Hoseok takes a glance at the numbers scrawled up and down the page and winces. Mathematics has never been his strong suit.

Sure he can take payment and give change fine, but deal with the mess of accounting the way Yongsun does nightly? No thanks. He should probably learn, maybe if he does he can help Yongsun out with it more. He knows it weighs on her, keeping the shop running pretty much alone. The last owner - old Dongyul - had died a few months ago. The Jasmine Dragon was his pride and joy. With no children, he had left the shop to an unsuspecting Yongsun in his will, which Yongsun had had to fight to have upheld. The government and bank vultures had been all too willing to swoop in to take the building and kick them to the curb.

She and Hoseok had moved into the quarters above, and taken to running the shop full time. It is a little difficult without Dongyul, and they should probably hire some more people, at least for the busiest times in the day, but they are managing.

The tiredness is settling into his bones after working from sun-up to sun-down, yet Hoseok feels a familiar restless urge to move. Eyes darting to Yongsun, he goes to pull the screens down over every window. His feet are already skipping to an unheard rhythm. She taps her lip with the pencil, then says warningly -

“Hobi. Don’t. It’s not worth it.”

He deflates. She isn’t wrong but. It’s been over a month since those stupid Dai Li agents came and blew the dance circuit to pieces. Yongsun and Hoseok had barely escaped with their lives intact, and have been keeping their heads low ever since. But! Surely nobody followed them back here. Surely nobody is watching their shadows through the screens to see if they are dancing...

“Come on,” Yongsun says, shutting the book with a heavy thump, “The soup has been simmering upstairs all day and I’m starving.”

Hoseok’s stomach rumbles in agreement, and he follows behind her gracelessly, foot still itching to tap tap tap against the floor.

Chapter Text

Holding Cell #7, Xiantong Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Seokjin

A catterfly buzzes around the room, bumping into the metal walls. It came in through a truly miniscule window placed high enough that Seokjin can’t see out of it even if he jumps. Taehyung had managed it with airbending, but had nothing useful to report; he isn’t familiar enough with the lower ring to know where they are, or how far they’ve been taken from Jeongguk and the others.

The catterfly thunks into Jimin’s arm and he brushes it away frustratedly. He goes to try and smush it into a little dot on the floor, but the little thing bumbles out of reach at the last second.

Taehyung frowns, “Don’t hurt it!” he says reproachfully.

“I’ve had about enough of your save the animals schtick for a lifetime,” Jimin grumbles, from where he is listlessly sat on the cell floor.

“They were HURTING them!” Taehyung bursts out for what must be the fifteenth time that afternoon.

“Urgh.” Jimin replies, face now buried in both palms. Seokjin is surprised by how calm Jimin appears to be, given how volatile Yoongi claims he is.

Seokjin paces to the other side again, looking out through the metal bars at the front of their cell. He gives the door another test shake, as if this time it will magically creak open. It doesn’t.

“I don’t get you Tae, you leap at the chance to forsake your vegetarianism, but then you go and pull a stunt like this.” Seokjin muses.

Taehyung sniffs, chest puffing up, “I contain multitudes.”

“You sure do,” Jimin replies, sliding down until he is lying flat like a pancake on the metal floor. Seokjin can’t imagine that it's comfortable.

-----------------

Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Namjoon

Namjoon isn’t worried. He isn’t. He genuinely isn’t. He is sure that Jin hyung and Taehyung and Jimin are simply Taking their Time.

At least, that’s what he keeps telling Jeongguk, who looks on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It’s nearly sundown, and they were meant to meet back here mid-afternoon. They’ve packed their belongings and paid their last night at the inn and by all accounts should be half a day away from the city by now. Except they aren’t.

By the time they think to check the animal keep, the whole thing is shut for the night. Namjoon half thinks he can hear Moni and Yeontan in there, bellowing mournfully. He shivers. If the bison are still in there, why? What had stopped the others from getting them out and getting to the rendezvous point?

Yoongi suggests they walk around this area, in case they got hurt and are just resting in some nearby tavern. Namjoon hasn’t got any better ideas.

The three of them must walk through every street in the east sector of the lower ring by the time the last dregs of sunlight have left the sky, but they see no sign of them. Jeongguk suggests splitting off to search more effectively but Yoongi shuts that idea down with a gruff ‘I’m not losing you as well’.

So they stick together. As the night picks up a little chill, they pass restaurants, taverns and Inns full of light and warmth and food they can’t afford, and devoid of the three people they are searching for. Namjoon’s stomach grumbles.

“Hey!! Air guy! You back already?”

Along the street, a few heads turn at the sudden screech. Jeongguk startles, hands going up in a defensive stance, while Namjoon spins so fast he nearly topples from the weight of the pack on his back. Yoongi neatly catches him with a hand to his elbow.

“Whoa, are you okay?” It’s the teaseller from yesterday, “sorry if I scared you.”

“I’m fine,” Namjoon says, shrugging his elbow out of Yoongi’s grasp, “I swear I’m not always this clumsy.” Next to him, Yoongi snorts his derision.

“I’m sure you aren’t,” the teaseller grins, pushing in the last of the chairs and skipping over to them. “We still have like a half hour til closing, plenty of time for you to have that tea you promised!” He smiles brightly, “Where’s the other two you were with? The little artist and the guy with the eyebrows?”

Jeongguk bursts into tears.

---------------

Holding Cell #7, Xiantong Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Jimin

He feels like laughing. It’s not even been three days and he is already rotting in a petty crimes jail. He never should’ve left that ball.

Prince Seokjin had asked him to come with him and Taehyung to collect the bison. Jimin hadn’t realised that was plural until they got to the sanctuary and he was confronted with two giant hairy dirty animals. The new one was even bigger than the one which wrecked his mother’s garden.

The animal keeper, slimy little man that he was, decided he wanted more money than they had originally agreed, because of how difficult looking after bison turned out to be. Jimin had scoffed, looking at the tiny cramped enclosure they’d been given and how despite always being kind of grubby, the little bison definitely looked markedly dirtier than Jimin remembered it being. If that man had expended even an ounce of effort on the bison Jimin would eat his shoe. Jimin turned to say as much to Taehyung, but Taehyung had disappeared. Jimin had been a bit confused, but got distracted by the prince starting up a haggling match with the keeper.

Jimin had a half-baked idea to just fob one of his jewels off on the guy, but then he remembered that his jewels were buried safely in his luggage, and his luggage was with the avatar. To avoid looking conspicuously wealthy, he had donned some ill-fitting peasant clothes like the others in this rag tag group. The collar itched.

It was around then that the shouting broke out. Jimin hadn’t gotten a full picture of exactly what happened until all three of them were in metal shackles on the back of a jailcart.

Turned out, Taehyung had been distracted by some whining creature and had taken it upon himself to float the animal right out of its enclosures onto the surrounding street. And with the success of that, promptly done the same to every animal in that area. Jimin had caught a glimpse of the chaos of stalls being upturned and men being bowled over by little furry horned things before the cart doors closed on him.

Jimin can’t bring himself to be that angry somehow. He is more annoyed with himself than anybody else for thinking this whole adventure would turn out positively. It’s genuinely laughable. He’s bounced straight from a metaphorical prison to a real one.

---------------

The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Hoseok

The kid visibly calms down after a few sips of chamomile. Hoseok tries to pour cups for the airbender and his grumpy friend but they turn him down, faces consternated.

“We really don’t have any money-” the airbender starts.

"Oh you aren't gonna pay for any of this," Hoseok makes an executive decision, "It's on the house"

"Are you sure?" Asks the airbender, but his friend has already taken the tea out of Hoseok's hand and is drinking deeply.

"Absolutely," Hoseok fills up another for the airbender, who takes it with a grateful smile, "Hold tight for a bit while I help this other table!"

Hoseok whisks around, setting another few customers to rights and grabbing change from the locked box at the back for a harried Yongsun. When he looks back to check on the little group, their heads are bent together in deep conversation. Hoseok let's them finish their tea, fixing up another few orders in the meantime.

The last rush before closing eventually clear out, leaving the three still clutching empty cups and talking in low voices. Hoseok is loath to interrupt, but he also really wants to know what their deal is. He goes with his tried and true method for interrogation:

"Who wants some steamed buns!" He sets the tray down with a flourish between them. He pulls up the fourth chair and plonks himself down.

"That's too much - you already gave us the tea!" Protests the airbender. His stomach growls loudly.

Hoseok smiles, pushing a plate in front of him "You can pay me back by telling me your names, I can't keep calling you the grumpy one," he says to the grumpy one.

The grumpy one looks affronted.

"I'm Namjoon." Says Namjoon, "and this is Yoongi and Jeongguk,"

"I'm Hoseok, nice to meetcha" Hoseok beams, “Is it true that airbenders can fly?”

He sits with them, asking increasingly silly questions that he is only half-kidding about wanting answers to. Namjoon’s face wanders from bewilderment to laughter, his companions seem to relax a little as they make their way through the basket of buns. Hoseok munches along with them, only slightly feeling guilty about Yongsun cleaning up the kitchen alone - he’ll make it up to her tomorrow.

His guests wolf down the buns, which is either a huge compliment or they just haven't eaten in a while. All signs may point to the latter, but Hoseok chooses to believe his patisserie talents are to blame.

The kid, Jeongguk, says thickly around a mouthful "thanks for being so nice to us,"

"Hobi's like that," Yongsun comes up from behind, firm hand rubbing Hoseok's shoulder, "too nice I would say." His guests wince at that. Before any of them can attempt to pay again, Hoseok intervenes.

"Yah I'm not too nice, I'm incredibly selfish, I'm trying to bribe my way into being friends with an airbender and his very cool looking posse" He pulls an exaggeratedly calculating face.

The tension breaks into laughter

"We really appreciate it. We have some groceries on us, but nowhere to cook them," says Yoongi, whose grin changes his whole face.

"Oh?" Hoseok asks. So they don't have a kitchen? Is that why the little one cried?

"We actually, we're just travellers here, we were meant to move on from the city today but there's been a bit of a hiccup. And we can hardly set up a campfire in the middle of the city to cook dinner" Namjoon explains.

That makes more sense.

"A hiccup?" Hobi asks, "Does this hiccup have anything to do with your friends from yesterday?"

Jeongguk's lower lip wobbles threateningly. "...they're missing," he admits, "and Ba Sing Se is huge."

The kid quavers his way through the story, Yoongi’s rubbing his back soothingly as Jeongguk increasingly looks like he is about to cry again. Hoseok doesn’t blame him - if he ever got separated from Yongsun he would probably cry as well. He tells the kid as much, and both he and Yoongi give him a grateful smile.

Hoseok blinks at the mention of the animal sanctuary, “You have Sky Bison?? That’s incredible! Can I meet them?”

“We’re heading back there first thing tomorrow to see if we can’t get a clue from the workers about where our friends have gone - you can tag along if you’d like.” Says Yoongi quietly. The man hasn’t said much throughout the conversation, but he has definitely warmed up a little. Hoseok beams at him.

“Sorry to break up this little chat but -” Yongsun calls from where she has sat herself with the finances book, brushpen held aloft and dripping, “Hobi, it’s the weeks’ end. I’ll go for you but then you’ll have to finish these accounts for me.”

Hoseok pulls a face at the thought of all that maths, “I’m going, I’m going,” He pauses for a moment, “Do you guys wanna come with me?”

---------------

Yoongi

Yoongi wants to believe that Jin hyung is fine. Historically, when Jin’s gone missing Yoongi’s been able to trust that he is fine. Granted, it’s only happened the once, but still. Something about him disappearing in the middle of a city like Ba Sing Se, without Jeongguk, it worries him. Not to mention who he has disappeared alongside. Yoongi can’t decide whether he reckons Taehyung is to blame or Jimin. Both seem equally capable of making a straightforward mission go sideways.

He’s frustrated when they get corralled into that teashop, not least because it seems a very effective sales strategy, to make your patrons cry, offer them tea in consolation, then make them pay for it. Except that’s not what Hoseok does. Instead he gives them a whole meal for free, and makes Jeongguk, who hasn’t smiled all afternoon, laugh. Yoongi concedes that it’s probably a good idea to eat and recuperate, as traipsing around without a plan hasn’t worked thus far.

In the here and now, Hoseok cryptically asks them to come along with them, and while Yoongi’s first instinct should be to say no, say that they need to be on their way and not impose on his hospitality any longer, something in him wants to be around Hoseok a little longer. The man is bright and bubbly, with eyes perpetually screwed shut in laughter.

Hoseok ducks into a room behind the tea counter, and comes back heaving a hefty box. Jeongguk leaps up to help him carry it. The box turns out to carry the unsold, still edible food from the week. Hoseok is going to take it to some street children he’s friends with. Yoongi blinks in incredulity at this, surely no-one is that perfect?

Jeongguk jumps at the chance to go, eager to be useful. Yoongi is split between exhaustion from carrying around a heavy pack all day and fondness for him. It’s this fondness for Jeongguk (and not the fact that he is quickly becoming enamoured with Hoseok) that makes him agree to come along.

Namjoon sticks around the teashop to stay with the luggage, although he claims it’s because he is tired. Smart, Yoongi thinks, begrudgingly. Namjoon must have realised it as well, that Hoseok is suspiciously kind and is probably luring them out to steal all their beans and rice.

They leave out the backdoor, Yoongi free to hold the door open while the other two stagger with the box. Yoongi’s forehead crinkles, he wonders how Hoseok makes this trip by himself every week. Maybe it’s just an exceptionally heavy load this week. This question is answered when Hoseok uncovers a wooden wheelbarrow to plonk the box into. Jeongguk smiles his relief, panting a little already from the exertion of just carrying it through the shop.

The wheelbarrow trundles along, coming out of the alley they are in. Yoongi and Jeongguk follow behind like ducklings in the narrow space.

Winding through the streets, Yoongi keeps his eyes out for any glimpse of Seokjin and the others, not expecting anything, but unwilling to not at least try. His ears are reserved for the jovial chatter Hoseok keeps up the whole journey, about Yongsun who is practically his sister, about the teashop and the old halmeoni who comes by every day without fail and about the children they are heading to meet.

Hoseok cheerfully tells them that he had been homeless as a kid, a fact that makes both Jeongguk and Yoongi flounder for the appropriate response, and which Hoseok laughs off like he laughs off everything. He tells them that he used to stay under an underused tunnel, a place that stayed fairly dry, if not that warm, and which others like him flocked to. He tells them that not every child that sheltered there stuck around, but the ones that did made sure to help pull the others up with them when they got the opportunity.

Yoongi returns his story with one of his own, about how when he was little he had gotten frustrated over some silly, petty thing and resolved to run away from home. He had packed a bag and taken only a bag of boiled sweets for food, and headed off into the night. He had barely lasted 15 minutes before he got a fright and hurried back home, to parents that hadn’t noticed that their youngest son wasn’t asleep in bed as usual.

Yoongi pointedly ignores Jeongguk’s wide eyes. He probably hasn’t told him this story before… he doesn’t usually like telling stories about when he was a child. He doesn’t think they are that interesting.

Hoseok’s reactions are so loud, screeching with laughter, and collapsing sideways into Yoongi’s arm as they walk side by side. It makes Yoongi feel a little bit interesting.

----------------

Slums, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Jeongguk

The children sit piled upon one another, a mass of limbs and too big eyes in too small faces. Some of the youngest of them are fast asleep across the legs of the older ones. But, Jeongguk notes, the older ones must hardly be ten years. His heart hurts that children this young have to look after themselves. When they see Hoseok approaching, a few children get spat out of the pile, landing lithely on their feet and racing over to pull at Hoseok’s sleeves and usher him closer, faster.

Most of them ignore Jeongguk and Yoongi, but one little girl walks right up to him, face craning up to look at his. Jeongguk blinks. The girl blinks back. As if having assessed him and found him adequate, she gives a little nod, takes him by the hand and pulls him forward to where Hoseok is opening up the box and distributing sweetmeats into barely patient hands.

Hoseok neatly pulls a chair out of the ground. Literally out of the ground. He flicks his wrist up and a stool emerges from the flat rock. Jeongguk’s gotta learn how to do that.

Hoseok settles on his stool and the kids immediately swarm to sit by his feet and lean over his shoulders and sit on his lap, swallowing him up. Jeongguk perches himself next to the little girl while Yoongi hovers awkwardly by the wall. Like siblings, the kids squabble and talk over one another, each desperate to tell Hoseok their piece first.

“Look,” says a quiet voice. Jeongguk’s gaze shifts to the source and finds the girl proferring her knee to him. It’s small, like the rest of her; bony, like the rest of her and steadily slugging blood from a sharp cut. “I fell over.” she says succinctly.

“Wow, that’s a nasty battle wound you have,” Jeongguk says, “you must be very brave.”

“I am very brave.” The little girl preens.

“You know what would be even braver?” Jeongguk says, ripping a strip off the bottom of his shirt. The girl makes a questioning sound.

“If you let me bandage you up. Are you brave enough?”

She nods resolutely. Jeongguk gets to work quickly, worrying a little about not being able to boil his makeshift bandages, but hoping they’ll do the job as he wraps it neatly around her leg and tucks the ends in. He can see broken glass shattered across the side of the tunnel, and wonders if that’s where she fell.

“How do you know how to do that?” Another child pokes their head near.

“My hyung taught me,” Jeongguk replies.

“My hyung has a dragon.” The child says. Jeongguk holds back a laugh; dragons are extinct, and a little kid in the earth kingdom certainly wouldn’t have one.

“That’s so cool!” He says instead.

“Do you wanna see it?” Then, before Jeongguk can reply, “HYUNG, COME SHOW US YOUR DRAGON!”

His hyung squirms his way out of the puppy pile atop Hoseok, clearly holding onto something gently in his arms. He is trying to feed it a pastry, but whatever it is seems uninterested.

A scaly head pops out from the feathery coil in the boy’s arms, gives a firm squawk and then reburies itself firmly in his armpit.

“That’s so cool!” Jeongguk whispers, much more honestly this time, “A geckogrouse! I’ve read about these! Yoongi hyung come look!”

Jeongguk might actually be more excited than the children are. He can’t find it in himself to be embarrassed. The little group he’s accumulated seem delighted by his enthusiasm, echoing it back with equal intensity and bounding right up to a distressed looking Yoongi to show him the creature too. Jeongguk sees why they thought it was a dragon, winged and scaly as it is. It can’t breathe fire like a real dragon, but it’s still cool.

Yoongi hyung looks appropriately awed at the geckogrouse, which leads to Hoseok with about nine children attached to his four limbs coming over to also gawk at the geckogrouse.

“Where did you find this Manchu?” Hoseok asks, giving the creature a stroke along its neck.

“A magic man gave him to me and told me to look after him!” Manchu replies easily.

“What magic man?” Hoseok’s voice goes sharp.

“The magic man made alllll the animals in the zoo fly and gave me this one to take care of. He said I could! So it’s mine now.” Manchu cradles the geckogrouse closer, as if worried Hoseok’s going to take it away.

“Did you see what the man looked like? Manchu?” Yoongi says suddenly, eyes focused.

“Um,” says Manchu, looking up at the three men focused on him, “Am I in trouble?”

------------------

Holding Cell #7, Xiantong Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Taehyung

Poor Yeontan and Moni, stuck in that dreadful place. Taehyung took one look at that filthy cramped place and couldn’t believe Joon had willingly left their babies in there.

He does admit he was a little rash in how he handled it though. Especially looking down at the solid hunk of black bread he’s been given as a meal.

Jimin taps his on the tray, which makes a loud Twang. Seokjin is sucking on his to try and soften it.

“...Sorry,” Taehyung says at length.

“It’s fine,” Jin hyung sighs, at the same time that Jimin retorts “Apology not accepted.”

That’s fair, Taehyung concedes. Jimin’ll forgive him once Taehyung busts them all out of here. He’s still mulling over how to actually do that. He’s had brushes with the law before, but never actually been imprisoned for anything. When he had gotten caught back in his hometown, he’d ended up being taken on by the air nomads.

Seokjin had tried getting some information out of the guard who gave them this terrible dinner. The information gleaned was not very promising.

“When are we likely to get a trial?”

“Maybe three.” She had replied.

“Three days?”

“No. Years.”

“Years?! I demand to see a lawyer!” Hyung’s eyes had nearly popped out his skull.

She had given a big belly laugh at that one.

Taehyung tries to take a bite out of the bread. It nearly breaks his tooth.

“If only this was actual rock, I could bust us out of here,” Jimin gestures with his piece, sprawled on the floor lethargically.

“But that’s tiny, and we’re in a room made of metal!” Taehyung says incredulously.

“I’d manage,” Jimin says mulishly. “Flatten it, make it spin, saw a hole through that wretched wall.”

“There is stone literally on the other side, can’t you just bend a chunk in here through the window?” Taehyung asks.

“There is?” Jimin says

“Of course there is! We’re on the ground floor. Couldn’t you feel it with your earth powers?”

“That’s not how earthbending works, Taehyung. I can’t feel through metal. Nobody can.”

“Oh.” Taehyung’s always able to feel his element, can’t imagine not constantly being in touch with it, “Can you still do my idea? Get it in through the window?”

“I can certainly try.” Jimin stands, “Prince Seokjin, can you keep watch for me, tell me if any guard’s come round.”

He plants his feet wide, the lethargy shaken off. He lifts his arms in a wide sweep upwards. Taehyung shifts his attention to the window with bated breath.

Nothing happens.

Jimin grits his teeth and repeats the motion, vein popping out on his forehead.
Again, nothing.

In a rage, Jimin picks up his bread from where he had left it and hurls it at the window. It hits a bar with a thunk and bounces back, rolling to a forlorn stop at his feet.

"Guard's coming." Seokjin informs them.

-----------------

Slums, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Hoseok

Hoseok's initial worry, that Manchu is somehow being conned, gets swept away by Yoongi’s conviction that this ‘magic man’ is their missing friend.

After Hoseok has assured Manchu three times over that he won’t get in any trouble, the boy opens up. The zoo is clearly the animal keep, there aren’t actually any zoos open in the lower ring, none that would house a geckogrouse at least. It turns out, the man who made the animals fly (another airbender! Hoseok realises with childish glee) got whisked away in shackles by the city’s guard. Manchu hadn’t stuck around once the guard had turned up.

“That does sound like Taehyung,” Jeongguk says worriedly, “Namjoon hyung’s always saying how he’s gonna get in trouble. What if they are in an underground dungeon? How are we going to get them out?” He sounds increasingly panicked.

Yima, who has woken up her little sister to share a pastry with, pipes up, “They won’t be in a dungeon, that’s only if you are really really in trouble. They probably put Magic Taehyung in jail. Don’t worry,” Yima says to a still panicking Jeongguk, “It’s not so bad in there.”

Hoseok winces. He’s familiar with the Guards’ practice of scaring errant children with a stay overnight in a cell. Unfortunately, with the square meal per day and the sheltered roof, these kids might fare better in there than out here.

“Gonna add jailbreak to the reasons why we are fugitives from the law,” Yoongi is saying to Jeongguk, who laughs weakly. Hoseok raises an eyebrow - he’s been harbouring fugitives? Eh, he shrugs internally, it’s not the only illegal thing he’s ever done.

The kids are eager to help in the proposed jailbreak, but Hoseok shoots them down. He’s not going to let any of them get in permanent trouble with the guard. His common sense is telling him not to get mixed up in it himself, that it’s not his problem and Yongsun will definitely kill him if he gets caught trying to help some strangers escape prison. His bleeding heart and thirst for adventure override all of that.

It’s getting late, and despite the excitement, several kids look about ready to drop to sleep. Hoseok bids them goodbye, promising to be back next week. He hasn’t missed a week since he started doing this months ago, but it’s good to reassure them.

-----------------

The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Namjoon

He doesn’t realise how much energy Hoseok creates in a room until they leave in a flurry, leaving a rather pointed silence. Namjoon sits awkwardly for all of two minutes before Yongsun plonks a pile of receipts in front of him and asks him to sort them chronologically for her.

“Hobi might be jumping at the chance to give you free room and board, but I’m not,” she says wryly. Namjoon feels oddly grateful to have something to do with his hands and whirring mind. He works methodically, Yongsun beside him is quiet and focused. It’s kind of nice, doing work side by side with somebody like this.

That just reminds him of Jin hyung again. He wonders whether they’ll have time again as they did at the temple, to sit and work calmly and quietly together, side by side. Jin has this habit of flicking the brush pen under his lip when he’s thinking, ending up with ink smudged like a beard. God Namjoon hopes he’s alright. He must be, he’s the most capable person Namjoon’s ever met. He has to be fine. Plus, he has Taehyung with him, and Taehyung’s like a cat - he always lands on his feet.

Yongsun makes a frustrated noise, and crosses through the things she has just written. Namjoon looks over curiously, to see a scribbled mess of numbers that are crammed so small and tight on the page that it takes a moment for him to parse out what he is actually looking at.

“Would you mind if I tried balancing that?” Namjoon asks, worried he’s overstepping. Yongsun snorts.

“Be my guest,” she passes him the brush, “I just can’t figure out where...”

Namjoon’s no whizz at mathematics, but keeping a temple full of monks clothed and fed requires money to exchange hands. Jamyang had always insisted that the younger monks be involved in keeping track of that money, so that they appreciated the value of the things they had. Namjoon’s spent enough time puzzling over what to ration to eak out enough money for the ‘luxury’ of soap to have some sort of handle on this stuff.

The first thing he does is copy everything over to a fresh clean page, because the chicken scratch is honestly giving him a headache, and is a pain to parse through. He works through it methodically, Yongsun leaning over his shoulder and interjecting occasionally to clarify things. It makes him a little nervous, to be frank. It’s a relief then, when he finds the sticking point and unravels it, revealing just what a problem this bustling successful tea shop is facing.

“Why is most of your profit going into this ‘T’ column?” Namjoon asks.

“T for Tax. It all goes into the King’s coffers.” Yongsun replies bitterly.

“Isn’t tax a good thing?”

Yongsun rubs a hand over her forehead. “It would be, if any of it actually went to help the public. But if the King releases any of it, it just goes to expand our territory beyond the wall, or to make the Upper Ring even wealthier. I went up there once you know, back when I was a laborer. Repaired a fountain. I’d never even seen a fountain before I went up there. The whole place is gorgeous. Makes me want to break things.”

Namjoon thinks of the day spent trudging around the lower ring. How uneven the roads are, how shoddy the buildings. Even the Jasmine Dragon, as well looked after and relatively well-off as it is, reflects the poverty of the community it is part of. He can see it in how worn out the chairs are, how rough the floor, in the bent posture of Yongsun pouring over the accounts to make sure they have enough money to keep operating the next week.

From what he’s gleaned from Seokjin, the Fire Nation is in much the same state. The elite hanging onto their gold while the majority struggle to survive.

He says as much to Yongsun, careful to phrase it without revealing that Seokjin is the literal prince of the Fire Nation. It’s good that he did; Yongsun has a lot to say about the Fire Nation. Lots of swearing. Namjoon can’t say he disagrees with her to be honest.

They get buried in their conversation, receipts and accounts book forgotten, until Yongsun’s stomach rumbles loudly.

“Ah, I usually eat dinner with Hobi… I wonder where they’ve gotten to, it’s been hours,” Yongsun remarks.

As if on cue, the back door squeaks open. A moment later, the three of them tumble in, looking frantic. Jeongguk immediately runs to Namjoon and speaks faster than Namjoon has ever heard him, words fighting to leave his mouth.

“Manchu said he had a dragon but it wasn’t it was a geckogrouse - have-you-ever-seen-a-geckogrouse? - I hadn’t so I was like where did you get it and Manchu said from a magicman but it wasn’t magic it was Taehyung! TAE GAVE HIM THE GECKOGROUSE! Isn’t that good news?!”

“Uh…” Namjoon replies.

Yoongi fills in the details. Namjoon can feel a migraine coming on. But maybe he should have expected it when he sent Taehyung to collect Moni and Yeontan. The sanctuary leaves a lot to be desired, and the keeper seemed completely disinterested in his own job. Namjoon had hardly felt comfortable leaving the bison there, but it’s not like he had a choice.

He should have expected that Taehyung wouldn’t keep a cool head, and attempt to free every creature in that damned place. If Namjoon is surprised about anything, it’s the fact that he got himself caught.

------------------

Yoongi

Planning a jailbreak is difficult when you aren’t sure which of the many jails in the Lower Ring your jailbreak-ees are actually in. It’s even more difficult when you have a sixteen year old, highly wanted fugitive of an avatar determined to come along and help.

“I’m not a baby!” Jeongguk whines, not helping his case at all.

“That’s not the point,” Yoongi says frustratedly, “You know why you can’t come along,” He tries to gesture with his face at Hoseok and Yongsun, trying to explain that he doesn’t want to blow Jeongguk’s cover.

“Are you having a stroke?” Jeongguk asks, pout melting into panic. Yoongi flattens his expression, looking at Jeongguk deadpan. Jeongguk gracelessly returns to the pout.

“I’ll be useful! I promise! You know how good I am at fighting!”

“Oh! Are you an airbender too?” Hoseok looks up with interest from where he, Namjoon and Yongsun are rifling through a map.

“...Yes.” Jeongguk says.

“Sweet.” Hoseok grins.

Yoongi’s going to make Jeongguk do sooo many fire squats for all the stress he is giving him.

“You aren’t coming, that’s final.” Yoongi says, and then turns away from Jeongguk’s look of outrage to ask, “Have you found anything on there yet?”

“We’ve narrowed it to two probable locations near the animal keep,” says Namjoon, “here and here.” He points on the map.

“That’s assuming that they were taken by the Guard and not the Dai Li,” says Hoseok.

“Who's the Dai Li?” Jeongguk asks, curiosity overriding his intent to sulk.

“The King’s personal protection. They’re creepy as fuck,” says Yongsun, “If the Dai Li took your friends away, they’re as good as gone.”

Hoseok interrupts firmly, “Manchu said it was the Guard and besides, I doubt the Dai Li would come out for something like this. Don’t worry Jeongguk.” He says kindly, giving Jeongguk a pat on the shoulder, “We’ll get your friends back.”

Chapter Text

The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Hoseok

It’s the weeks’ beginning, so no matter how exhausted he is from planning a jailbreak the night before, Hoseok is up and out before the crack of dawn, ready to get baking. They’ve had to diversify somewhat from strictly being a tea shop in order to survive. They’re just shy of being a full on restaurant, but the food they make still qualifies as sides to a drink, rather than a whole meal. It’s a lot of effort but the hard work has paid off; they are still in business… Hoseok just wishes he didn’t have to wake up so early to manage it.

Rubbing both eyes vigorously to try and wipe out the sleep dust, he wanders into the kitchen, dithering between whether he wants to bother with a real cooked breakfast or not. He’s surprised, when he opens his eyes, for Yoongi to be standing there, nursing a bowl of food. Hoseok glances longingly at the potfull of piping hot porridge still on the stove behind him.

“Mind if I have some?” He asks

Yoongi snorts, “It’s your food, you don’t have to ask me.”

“Still, thank you for making it,” Hoseok intones, voice quiet to avoid waking the guests who are still asleep. Speaking of, “You’re sure up early, couldn’t sleep?”

“I slept fine… or as fine as anybody can when their friends are imprisoned in a foreign country. But that aside, I tend to wake up early.” Yoongi snaps his fingers and a flame rises between them, “Firebenders rise with the sun.”

Hoseok is wide awake now, the thrill of danger pumping in his veins. Visitors from the fire nation aren’t a rarity like air nomads are, but they are still few and far between, so Hoseok hasn’t actually seen a whole lot of firebending up close and personal. It’s frightening, and exciting. He flinches back from the flame, and Yoongi’s eyes shutter. He lets his hand drop, the fire extinguishing.

The both of them collect themselves. Hoseok clears his throat.

“What’s a firebender doing travelling with a group of airbenders?” He asks curiously, doling out porridge into a chipped mug and digging in.

“I can’t tell you that,” Yoongi grins, softening the blunt answer, “And I like you too much to spin a lie.”

Hoseok blushes. He looks down into his porridge, reminded suddenly of Teokki. It’s been nearly a year since they kissed, and Hoseok hasn’t really had time for entertaining romance in the months since, although not for lack of suitors. He isn’t sure if he is ready to try now.

Hoseok is saved from having to answer by Jeongguk wandering sleepily out, immediately reaching for Yoongi and draping over him like a scarf. Hoseok wonders again, internally this time, how a firebender and an airbender became so close.

Soon after, Hoseok heads downstairs to the tea shop’s kitchen, pulling out the rice-flour. He’s suddenly in the mood to make manggaetteok. When he is elbow deep in sticky dough, Yongsun joins him, preparing the more regular staples for the day.

A short while later, their guests appear, a lot less sleep rumpled. Yoongi gruffly requests that he and Yongsun keep an eye on Jeongguk. The latter sulks as he watches the older two consult their map, graciously accept a pack of food from Yongsun, and head off on their way.

Finally, Hoseok sets his dough to rest, rinsing his hands and pulling out the ingredients for the filling.

“Here, pop this on,” Yongsun says, flinging a green apron at Jeongguk, who catches it deftly and stares at it slightly bewildered.

Hoseok can’t help but laugh when he turns back around a moment later to find Jeongguk hopeless tangled in the strings. Jeongguk giggles along helplessly, giving himself up to Hoseok to untangle and set him to rights.

Jeongguk proves himself useful, dashing between Yongsun and Hoseok doing odd jobs until it’s time to open. The three of them have already been on their feet nearly three hours by the time the first customers trickle in. Mostly elderly early birds, who want a cup of tea and a conversation first thing in the morning. They are delighted by Jeongguk, who thoroughly steals the attention from their usual favourite, Hoseok. He can’t say he minds when he sees Jeongguk wincing his way through a cheek pinch.

Quickly, it gets busier, the first rush of the day with the breakfast crowd, who demolish the first batch of manggaetteok. Hoseok barely has the time to catch a breath, run off his feet taking orders and mopping spills and pouring tea, but he does appreciate that it’s markedly easier to bear this morning, with an extra pair of hands about the place. They might have to hire Jeongguk on a permanent basis

---------------

Exterior of Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Namjoon

Namjoon is many things. A monk. A gardener. A vegetarian, pacifist and friend-of-bison. He is Not some slab of muscle that Yoongi can direct to do his bidding.

Except when Yoongi whispers angrily at him to “just knock him out already, use that beef for something useful!” Namjoon gets flustered and wacks a fist into his helmet. With a clang the helmet dents, the guard (who Yoongi was holding pinned to the wall with fire at his throat) crumpling to the ground.

"This helmet is really terrible quality," Yoongi remarks, "It doesn't do its job at all."

Between them, they drag his dead weight onto the floor of the alley. Namjoon realises with mild horror and resignation that the guard is quite large, so the clothes swap is going to have to be with Namjoon. He tries to quash his moral compass as they strip him, Yoongi alternately helping and standing as a shield in between Namjoon and the alley entrance.

Despite sitting rather awkwardly, the dented helmet does the job of hiding Namjoon’s tattooed arrow, while the gloves and shoes take care of the rest peeking out from his new clothes. Namjoon feels a little sorry for leaving the guy in just his undergarments, but it’s a warm enough day. Yoongi holds his hands out in front of him, wrists neatly crossed. Namjoon fumbles for the cuffs hanging from his stolen belt, hooking them onto Yoongi’s wrists. He is careful not to cinch them too tightly.

Taking a deep breath, Namjoon grabs Yoongi’s arm and tugs him forward, leaving the alley and pulling through the street toward the jail’s entrance. Nobody bats much of an eyelid as the two of them march in through the front gate, then the front door. Yoongi begins to struggle a little, trying to twist out of Namjoon’s grasp. At a loss, Namjoon pinches his side to get him to stop, but Yoongi just smirks and keeps wiggling around like a caught fish.

“Who’re you?” says a man gruffly.

“Uhhhh, Lee. Sir.” Namjoon says, giving Yoongi a shake before looking up into a barrel chested man he assumes is a higher up in the Guard.

“Never seen you before, Lee.” the man booms.

“Uh, yes, I’m a new transfer… from Daegu.” Namjoon tries to round out his vowels the way Taehyung does.

The man sniffs, “Daegu must have different standards. See to it that you get a new helmet sharpish, boy. Can’t have you walking around looking sloppy.”

“Yes sir,” Namjoon cowers.

“It’s Captain to you, boy”

“Yes, Captain.”

“And what’s this one in for?” he gestures roughly at Yoongi, who has stopped pretending to struggle.

“Impersonating a guardsman.” Namjoon says, straight-faced.

The Captain harrumphs, “These degenerates get bolder by the day. Take him to the holding cells for now, we can process him later.”

“Yes Captain. Will do Captain.” Namjoon bows, heart jackrabbiting about inside him, before marching Yoongi into the corridors beyond.

Once they are out of sight of the throng of people at the front, Namjoon lets go of his deathgrip on Yoongi’s arm.

“So…” Yoongi says, looking down an endlessly long corridor, “What now?”

----------------

Holding Cell #7, Xiantong Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Seokjin

His eyes flick worriedly between the bars of their cell and Taehyung, who has managed to wedge an arm through the tiny window at the top of their cell and is using that as leverage to stay up there, as his airbending can only keep him afloat for so long. Taehyung’s feet are flat against the metal wall, body contorted and eye pressed up to the remaining gap in the window. He reminds Seokjin a little bit of a koala-monkey like this.

“Well done Taehyung-ah!!” Seokjin whispers, “But hurry before the guard with the wart comes round again!”

Jimin hovers below Taehyung, arms outstretched, although Seokjin is wary of him being squashed flat if Taehyung loses his grip. Taehyung grunts, straining. Seokjin whips his head out the bars again, sure that the noise is going to attract attention.

Thankfully for Seokjin’s fried nerves, Taehyung manages, with only minimal groaning at the effort, to airbend a handful of small stones from the ground outside.

Panting, safely back on the floor, Taehyung apologises, “If I could use both hands, and wasn’t spending half my energy staying up there, I could’ve gotten you more…”

“No, no,” Jimin replies, closing his hands around it, “I can work with this.”

A weight seems to come off of Jimin’s spine now that he has his element in hand. He tosses it between his hands experimentally, the loose gravel melting and solidifying together into one bigger chunk.

“Hide it!” Seokjin says under his breath, just as Warty strolls past the cell front, small eyes sliding disinterestedly over the three of them huddled together.

Once he is out of sight, Jimin pulls the lump out from where he had sat on it, gleefully continuing to pull it around like it’s dough. Jimin brings his hands apart, stacked vertically. The rock bobs amorphously between them in the air as if hung by strings. Taking a breath, Jimin crunches his hands almost the whole way together, and the rock flattens sharply, small spikes forming along the edge of the disk. Jimin makes it spin in midair, halting and dragging it away when Taehyung tries to poke at it.

“Quit it, unless you want your hand sliced in half,” Jimin says, although the irritation from earlier has disappeared from his voice.

“Will that work?” Seokjin wonders, looking at how small and thin the improvised blade is and eyeing the metal walls apprehensively.

“Only one way to find out,” says Jimin, excitedly jumping to his feet and taking his new toy up to the wall. He sets it spinning, carefully bringing it close…

It is immediately apparent that this is not going to work. A dreadful, ear splittingly loud noise vibrates through the entire room and beyond. Jimin stops instantly, but the damage is done. From all along the corridor, disgruntled prisoners complain loudly, and within a moment Warty is back.

Time seems to stand still as the guard takes in the tableau of their escape attempt, the contraband earth in Jimin’s grasp lit up like a flare by the sun streaming through the window.

----------------

The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Jeongguk

By the time the lunch rush begins, Jeongguk is ready to sleep for the next hundred years.

Not even Yoongi’s most grueling training sets compare to a morning dealing with some of the most rude and obnoxious people Jeongguk has ever met. Or maybe, Jeongguk considers, it’s because none of them know who he is. He’s only ever been surrounded by people who defer to him, for being the prince, or respect him, for being the avatar. But the lady who yells at him for giving her sugar instead of honey doesn’t know he is either of those things.

Hoseok is really kind to him, suggesting he take a break and go rest in the back for a moment. But Jeongguk just sets his chin and keeps working, determined to prove he can handle it. He is not a baby, no matter how much Yoongi hyung treats him like one.

The work is useful at least, for keeping Jeongguk’s mind off of his missing hyungs. He almost ran out of tears last night, worrying over Jin and Tae.

Eventually, in a brief lull between customers, the three of them sit for the first time in hours and scarf down some delicious fried noodles. After the paltry food they’ve been subsisting on since leaving the air temple, Jeongguk is in heaven.

“If you’re an airbender too, how come you don’t have those blue arrows like Namjoon?” Hoseok says curiously. Jeongguk chokes on a noodle.

“I’m just a beginner, didn’t start learning until recently…” Jeongguk says shiftily.

“That’s weird,” Hoseok muses, “You’re what, fourteen?”

“Sixteen!” Jeongguk corrects.

“Sixteen then, an awful long time to go without learning your element. I was breaking rocks over my head by the time I was two!”

“Hoseok,” Yongsun admonishes, “don’t be insensitive. Not everyone learns at the same pace, especially if they don’t have access to a teacher.”

“Ahh, sorry Jeongguk.” Hoseok apologises easily.

Jeongguk swallows a mouthful guiltily, waving off Hoseok’s apology. He thinks of his childhood spent focusing solely on bending, in prestigious training grounds and with the most accomplished master in the fire nation. Lying is making his stomach hurt.

Hoseok is easily distracted from the subject when Jeongguk asks him about his earthbending. Yongsun assures them that she can handle the few customers trickling in, and Hoseok practically drags Jeongguk out the back door and into the alley to show him some tricks.

Jeongguk drinks it in. Jimin had shown him basic forms during their one lesson together the other day, but those had been almost unbearably simple. Which is probably a good thing, because Jeongguk, while having sufficient power to perform them, had absolutely no control. A steady lift of a clod of dirt from Jimin translated to Jeongguk catapulting his own straight into the sky. Bending the same clod out in front resulted in Jeongguk nearly punching a hole through a tree.

Hoseok isn’t sticking to basic forms. He’s juggling hands-free with rocks, sending them spinning around Jeongguk’s head. He chucks one upwards, where it shatters and reforms, becoming a cube, a sphere, a very complicated shape Jeongguk can’t name without counting all it’s points. It’s gone before he can finish counting.

It’s incredible. Jeongguk itches to try it himself, holding his hands tightly behind his back to stop himself.

At least he has one thing up his sleeve that’s a little bit impressive. It’s gratifying how excited Hoseok gets when Jeongguk sets himself atop an airball, clapping delightedly. Confidence building, Jeongguk sets himself back on his feet and suggests he put Hoseok up on one too. Hoseok looks almost paralysed in a mixture of nerves and excitement, staying absolutely rigidly still as Jeongguk rushes the air beneath his feet into the familiar motion. It’s harder than doing it for himself, but Jeongguk is proud when he keeps him up for a good thirty seconds before the ball diminishes and Hoseok is set back on the ground.

Yongsun takes this moment to stick her head out and usher them back to work. Not even the most irritating customer can knock the smile off of Jeongguk’s face.

---------------

Honiyu Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Yoongi

They’ve walked through every corridor in the damn place, yoongi stumbling every so often without the use of his arms to keep balanced. Namjoon’s got a loose grip on him, partially for the pretence of escorting him to a cell, and partially to stop him falling face first on the floor.

Every cell they look into, there are gaunt prisoners, some sitting listlessly and harmlessly. Others pacing, still others sleeping despite the early afternoon sun streaming through the tiny windows in each cell. There are no shutters on those windows, Yoongi wonders how they fare in bad weather. The worst ones are the cell occupants who just stare the whole time. Yoongi shivers the few times one of them comes right up to the cell bars to keep watching them walk until they turn a corner.

Eventually, they end up returning to the same corridors as before. It’s clear they’ve got the wrong prison. Jin hyung and the others aren’t here.

“Time to try Xiantong then?” says Namjoon defeatedly. Yoongi agrees, and they set about trying to figure their way out again.

They are nearly at the entrance, when they run into the Captain. Yoongi gulps, shrinking back into Namjoon.

“Lee?” The Captain bristles, “What’s taking you so long to do this task?”

“... Couldn’t find the holding cells, Captain.” Namjoon says.

Yoongi continues to be impressed by Namjoon’s quick thinking. Except that his quick thinking results in the Captain leading them back the way they have just come, escorting them personally.

“Remember the route, I won’t show you again.” The Captain lectures Namjoon.

Namjoon nods his head vigorously. The dented helmet, already sitting askew, slips right off his head, revealing the bright blue tattoos.

Namjoon’s face drains of colour.

Yoongi swings a foot up, sending a flare arcing between the Captain and themselves. The captain staggers back, while he and Namjoon take off running. As they race towards the front reception, a few more guardsman catch on and try to stop them, but between Yoongi’s flashbangs and Namjoon shoving them back with his airbending, they manage to hightail it out of the building.

A few streets away, they duck behind a cabbage cart, panting madly. So that was less than ideal. They have to hope Xiantong isn’t alerted to the mess they’ve just created at its sister location.

Yoongi grips the chain between his cuffs, heating them. He yanks his hands apart and the melting chain weakens enough to snap.

--------------

Holding Cell #7, Xiantong Jail, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Jimin

The guard’s eyes pop out, wart on his chin wagging as he realises what Jimin has in his hands. He reaches out, trying to bend it out from Jimin’s grasp. The rock makes an aborted attempt to follow through, but Jimin quickly yanks it back, smiling at how weak the guard’s bending is.

Fuming, the guard yanks out a key and fumbles the cell doors open, seemingly determined to physically wrest the weapon out of Jimin’s hands. Jimin settles into his stance like second nature, thrilled to have a chance to stretch his bending properly. But the moment the guard steps a foot inside a great gust of wind blows him backwards, whistling through the cell like a hurricane. Jimin’s feet slide forward a few inches with the strength of it.

“RUN-” says Taehyung, arms flung forward as he keeps the guard pinned to the opposite wall with the strength of his bending. Jimin runs.

Seokjin and Taehyung are hot on his heels, the three of them quickly outstripping the guard, only to run headlong into a group of them. The guards speed towards them, but before Jimin has time to panic, he feels the scruff of his shirt gathered in Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung uses his momentum to propel himself, Jimin and Seokjin over the guards. Jimin holds onto Taehyung’s arm, sure that he is going to slip right out of his shirt and directly onto the surprised faces of the guards below them. It doesn’t happen. They land roughly on the other side of them, Taehyung’s hands still on Jimin, pulling him forward and forcing him to keep running.

The next time they come across a guard, Jimin is ready, his little makeshift blade morphing into a less lethal blunt object that he lobs at their helmets to knock them out. It makes a satisfying dull thunk when it hits. Jimin hopes viciously that they all wake up with concussions.

He returns it to a blade as they approach the door, the rock willingly springing back to that form, as if familiar with it. With as ear splitting a noise as before, the blade rips through the metal. It takes a frustratingly long time, but Taehyung has his back while he works. Seokjin has picked up a metal pipe from somewhere, swinging it ferociously at the few guards who try their luck. One or two get a tooth knocked loose. Finally, the door falls open.

Beyond it, is beautiful, beautiful dirt.

The three of them race into the open space, and Jimin promptly wrests a chunk of earth out of the ground and into the faces of the approaching guard. They keel over. In the distance, a lone guard approaches, helmet askew, bringing in another prisoner. Jimin readies himself, rooting into his stance once more, only to be knocked aside by Taehyung, who rushes out from behind him right into the arms of the guard. Jimin stares at him incredulously.

The guard spins him in a circle, precarious helmet flying off. Jimin spies a flash of bright blue.

“Namjoon!” Seokjin yells, joining the group hug. From behind all of them, Jimin spots a bedraggled looking Yoongi. Yoongi looks to the loved up airbender-nonbender sandwich and then back to Jimin. He shrugs. Jimin laughs brightly.

--------------

The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Hoseok

Word must have gotten round to the Middle Ring about the manggaetteok, because there has been an upsurge of notably well-dressed people ordering them all day. It’s great for business, but terrible for Hoseok’s humour. Markedly busier it may be, but still, like clockwork, the lunch rush dies down and gives them all a little breathing room to get the teashop in order before the ebb of customers comes back.

Hoseok stacks the cups and plates up, directing Jeongguk to wipe down the cleared tables. They work steadily, and when the inside is set to rights they head out to the handful of tables outside.

It's then that Jeongguk jerks up in excitement. Hoseok turns to spot the artist who had been with Namjoon that first time, windmilling his way down the street towards them. This must be Taehyung.

Taehyung crashes into Jeongguk’s arms, the wet cloth caught between them and getting grime on their clothes. The two of them pay it no mind, giggling into eachothers shoulders. Jeongguk suddenly pulls back, with a “Jin hyung?”

“Right here!” Eyebrows says, coming towards them at a slightly more sedate pace. Seokjin, the older brother, Hoseok infers, as Jeongguk pulls him into an impossibly tighter hug than he had given Taehyung.

“I, I w-was so Worried about you!” Jeongguk hiccups, desperately clinging to his brother.

Seokjin laughs wetly, running a large hand over Jeongguk’s head, “We were fine. It was like staying in a hotel, practically five star service!”

Hoseok feels a flush of empathy, glad that they’ve reunited, and glad that a kid as sweet as Jeongguk has such a good older brother.

He wonders where Yoongi and Namjoon are, and looks up to see them walking down together with a third guy, who must be Jimin. The three of them look to be deep in discussion. Jimin’s head is turned, long hair in a curtain obscuring his face. Yoongi has a cuff on each wrist, although its chain is broken, while Namjoon is clad in a Guardsman's uniform. Hoseok huffs a laugh, he can’t believe their harebrained scheme worked.

Jimin gestures animatedly at Yoongi, one hand absently manipulating a rock like fluid. Something in the back of Hoseok’s memory prickles. Jimin’s hands, the elegant gait, they seem somehow familiar.

Jimin’s head turns. Time stops.

The tray falls from Hoseok’s hands.

It… It can’t be.

“Tteoki?” His voice cracks.

A few paces away, Tteoki comes to a halt, eyes wide. His lovely face looks so different in daylight.

“Hope?”

Chapter Text

The Jasmine Dragon, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Jimin

“Hope?”

Jimin drinks him in.

His hair is longer, curling past his ears and hanging in his eyes. Neatly pressed clothes covered by an apron replace the raggedy, loose garments Jimin has always seen him in. His eyes are the same: watching, watching, watching... staring from across a dark room, staring from across the street. Twinkling in the firelight, sparkling in the bright sunshine. From anyone else, Jimin would find the scrutiny uncomfortable, but from Hope, it’s always brought with it a thrill. The thrill of being wanted; the thrill of wanting him back.

He’s barely spoken three words to the man, always paranoid about getting caught. But Jimin spent two years seeing Hope nearly every week. Two years to learn his smile, to memorise the look on his face when he masters a movement, the explosive way he encourages and celebrates other people’s successes. Two years is enough time, to know a person, to be able to miss a person. It’s enough time to grieve losing them.

Jimin doesn’t know what he is feeling now. His heart is racing, his thoughts flurrying. Hope stumbles forward, reaching his hand out like he thinks Jimin is a mirage that will disappear if he blinks. His hand catches on Jimin’s own, it pulls him forward into an embrace.

Hope’s fingers are wiry, his body equally so. But he is warm and his body gives when Jimin meets his hug with equal force.

“Teokki,” Hope says again, voice teary, holding Jimin to himself so tightly, Jimin can barely breathe.

“Teokki?” Jimin moves back enough to look Hope in the eye, “Like a rabbit?”

“No,” Hope laughs, hand coming up to cup Jimin’s cheek, “Like manggaetteok.”

Jimin blushes deeply, both from the embarrassment of the nickname and from the sensation of Hope’s warm thumb gently stroking over his face. Jimin doesn’t think anybody has held him like this before. His mind flashes back to the last time he was this close to Hope. His breath catches in his throat, gaze flickering down to Hope’s lips.

Awareness returns to him, of where they are, out on a random street in Ba Sing Se. His new friends are all staring. Taehyung looks delighted, Jeongguk confused while Seokjin and Namjoon share a look of surprise. From behind them, Yoongi glowers, eyebrows drawn.

Quickly, Jimin steps back from Hope, wary of judgement. But Hope keeps their fingers tangled together, not letting him step back too far.

“My real name is Hoseok,” he says, “Can I know yours?”

“I’m Jimin… sorry I couldn’t tell you before,” sorry that the lack of a name made it impossible for them to find each other all this time.

Hoseok only shakes his head, “I understood why you didn’t. You looked like you had a lot more to lose than the rest of us if you got caught.”

“Uhm.” Jeongguk says, rocking forward on his toes, “Not to interrupt, but. What’s going on?”

------------

Yoongi

Yongsun closes the tea shop early.

Everybody gathers to hear Jimin and Hoseok explain their story, sitting cozied up to each other, hands still wound together. Yongsun perches herself on a nearby table. Jeongguk and Taehyung are collapsed in a puppy pile on the sticky floor, listening raptly, while Namjoon and Jin hyung sit on chairs behind them, knees brushing.

Yoongi feels abruptly cold and alone.

He doesn’t want to hear it, the history they have, the mutual longing they felt for one another. Jimin looks hesitant to admit the nature of their relationship, but Hoseok is quick to say the word love. Jimin looks startled, and then incandescently happy. Jeongguk looks shell-shocked at the possibility of two men loving each other, but is no less excited for them. Jin hyung has always been a romantic, although never had the time for it. Now, he sits forward with a small smile on his face, happy for the pair in front of him. Taehyung has been sympathetic to Jimin’s plight from the first time he divulged it that dreadful night of the ball, and is eating up the happy ending with his face cupped in both palms.

It’s shocking, how giggly and sweet Jimin has become all of a sudden. Yoongi has only known barbed language and emotions shuttered behind strict composure. The few times Jimin has let himself break the mask, all he has shown is pain and anger. Anger at his situation, anger at Yoongi. It’s why Yoongi has felt so free to direct that anger back, to have an outlet for all the struggle and pain life has dealt him so far. But it’s hard to feel that anger towards somebody who is so visibly, vulnerably, relieved to have found his Hope.

Now that he knows it is Hoseok - kind, generous Hoseok - Yoongi can’t help but feel bad for harbouring such rotten feelings towards the guy Jimin had cried over the night of the ball. Hoseok doesn’t deserve that. But still, he can’t help the ugly itch he feels at the thought of those two together. It feels a lot like jealousy, says the voice in his head. Yoongi tells that voice to shut up.

Yoongi burns with the desire to leave, so he tucks his legs up into a pretzel that will require effort to get out of. He is going to act like an adult about this if it kills him.

Eventually the conversation turns to the other events of the day. Yoongi had already heard the abridged story on the way back from Xiantong, but Jin hyung is such a wonderful storyteller that he doesn’t mind hearing it all again. He finds himself impressed by Taehyung’s ingenuity in figuring out the jailbreak plan, Jimin chipping in to give rare praise for Taehyung’s bending. Yoongi reminds himself to give the kid more credit in the future. Taehyung downplays his role entirely (although he isn’t quite able to hide his pleased expression at the compliment), talking up Jimin’s ability to bust them out with only a handful of dirt.

Namjoon and Yoongi give a hair raising account of their near escape with the Captain, finally explaining to their curious audience the reason for the shackles and Namjoon’s outfit. It’s supposed to be a tense and awe-inspiring tale, but when they mention that they had ended up in the wrong prison Jin hyung laughs his ridiculous squeaky laugh and it ruins the whole atmosphere. Yoongi doesn’t mind as much as he pretends to, his scowl hiding a sense of lightness and relief that his best friend has returned to him safe and sound.

-------------

Jeongguk

Jeongguk kind of wishes he had been imprisoned too. It just sounds so incredible how they all worked together to escape, not to mention that they got to use their bending in combat. Jeongguk isn’t going to complain, but it sounds much cooler than just helping out in a tea shop all day.

Jin hyung makes sure to thank Yongsun and Hoseok a million times for looking after Jeongguk, which only makes Jeongguk feel even more like a child. It’s as if he’s not even the avatar. Jeongguk’s read the scriptures - avatars way younger than him have fought in literal battles and won. Meanwhile Jeongguk is kept away from all the action in case he gets a little bruise. It’s not fair.

Not that Hoseok and Yongsun know he is the avatar. Yoongi hyung made it pretty clear that it was too dangerous to go spreading that information around because of how father - the Firelord. How the Firelord reacted to them leaving. And the earth kingdom remains an ally to the fire nation, so as long as they are here they can’t let people know who Jeongguk is. Jeongguk understands this, it is logical. Jeongguk gets it.

Except. Jeongguk is pretty sure Jimin isn’t gonna leave Hoseok behind now, which means Hoseok is obviously going to come with them when they leave Ba Sing Se. And if he does that, he’s gonna find out from all the bending practice that he is travelling with the avatar. So it’s inevitable that Hoseok is going to find out. And besides… a person who goes to an illegal dance meet for years and doesn’t bat an eyelid at a jailbreak isn’t going to hand them in to the authorities… right? So it’s fine if Jeongguk just tells him that he is the avatar, right? Right.

Which is why, when Hoseok asks how Jimin ended up travelling with a bunch of airbenders and a firebender, Jeongguk says outright, “Oh, it’s because he’s my bending teacher.”

“...you’re teaching airbending?” Hoseok asks Jimin, confused.

“No,” Jeongguk chuckles, vaguely aware of the heart attack he has just given all three of his teachers and his brother, “Jimin teaches me earthbending, and I’m getting pretty good at it - right Jimin-ssi?” He says brightly. Jimin just stares at him, aghast.

“What Jeongguk means is -” Seokjin begins.

“That I’m the avatar.” Jeongguk butts in, before Jin hyung can baby him any further.

Yoongi puts his head in his hands.

------------------

Taehyung

This is hilarious. Yoongi looks so mad it’s like he is gonna explode. Taehyung’s eyes ping pong between the group, from Jeongguk’s smug face to Hoseok’s shell-shock to Seokjin and Yoongi spluttering like fish. Taehyung’s stomach growls, he could do with a whole platter of fish about now.

“What a revelation.” Taehyung says, “Now, is there any chance this tea shop has some food? Only I haven’t eaten anything in about two days.” Taehyung’s stomach growls again, louder this time, to punctuate his statement. Jimin’s and Seokjin’s rumble their agreement.

Hoseok and the other server person who has been hovering in the back this whole time spring into action. They bring out So Much Food. Seokjin fumbles with the purse that contains all the coin they have left. It was meant to go towards paying the fee at the so-called ‘animal sanctuary’. Hoseok waves it away, and Seokjin gets distracted by the prospect of eating something other than inedible rockbread.

Taehyung’s mouth twitches at the sight of manggaetteok. He waves one in Jimin’s direction. Jimin goes bright red.

Everyone ignores the whole avatar fiasco in favour of digging into the spread. Jeongguk sits back, chewing on a roll, looking put out. Taehyung feels a little bad for pouring cold water on his big moment but sue him, he’s hungry.

------------------

Hoseok

He chews his food carefully. Today feels like getting suckerpunched by one overwhelming thing after another.

At length, Hoseok gets up, goes to each of the windows and pulls down the blinds, not taking any chances in case they are being watched. Besides, Namjoon still hasn’t changed out of his guard garb. The pointedly loud chewing that was attempting to cover the awkward silence quiets down a little. Hoseok retakes his seat, palms skidding down his trouser leg.

“So. The Avatar, huh? Explains why a sixteen year old is bending like a beginner.” he muses.

Jeongguk perks up immediately, “Yes exactly!”

“Just to brush up on my current events - please correct me if i’m wrong but - are you not also a fire nation prince?” Yongsun chips in. She says this calmly, voice even, but Hoseok can tell it takes effort to keep it that way.

“...Not anymore.” Jeongguk replies. “But yes, me and Jin hyung were princes.”

“So now you’re, what, fugitives?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t have survived another day in the fire nation.” Jeongguk says slowly, his brash confidence from earlier gone, “And fa - the fire lord doesn’t take kindly to people who don’t do as he says. He must be so mad at us right now…”

“He was.” Yoongi says quietly.

“What are you doing here? Ba Sing Se is like the worst place to hide, the city is crawling with spies.” Hoseok says, glancing again at the covered windows.

“Chalk that up to your Tteoki over here. He wanted to come find you.” Yoongi says. Hoseok is surprised by how clipped his tone is, but he supposes he must just be stressed about the whole situation. It’s pretty clear that Jeongguk has gone a little rogue here. Then Hoseok registers what Yoongi actually said and -

“You came to the city to find me?” Hoseok feels oddly giddy. He never imagined his feelings for Tteoki would be reciprocated. Jimin only nods, playing with his long braid.

Yoongi huffs a tense laugh. Hoseok returns his attention to him and the others.

“We came to the earth kingdom to find Jeongguk an earthbending teacher. We found Jimin, and we were headed out of the city. Sorry to put you in danger like this. Once we get our bison we’ll be right out of your hair.” Says Namjoon. “Especially now that half the guardsmen in the city have seen what we look like. They’re going to be on the lookout for a group of airbenders and firebenders. Jin hyung, did they take any identification of you guys?

“Not really,” says Seokjin, “They seemed busy, they just shoved us in a cell without processing us at all. They didn’t even bother to check for weapons, not that we had any.”

Hoseok’s not surprised, the guardsmen are like the earth king: useless, incompetent puppets for the Dai Li.

“Still,” Continues Namjoon, “We shouldn’t stick around for longer than we have to.”
The others nod their agreement, Jimin included.

Hoseok connects some dots in his mind. His heart sinks. He is going to lose Jimin for a second time. Probably for good. As if sensing Hoseok’s panic, Jimin reaches for his hand again, twining their fingers tightly.

--------------

Seokjin

As frustrated as he is with Jeongguk for acting so rashly, Seokjin concedes that letting Hoseok and Yongsun in on the secret probably won’t backfire as badly as Yoongi seems to be worried it will.

Yoongi wants to leave immediately, ready to break into the sanctuary and high tail it out of Ba Sing Se in the next hour. But everyone is exhausted and Seokjin had an absolutely terrible night’s sleep in jail. It’s probable that his back will never recover. So when Hoseok offers to let them sleep in his room again, the way he apparently did for Yoongi, Joon and Gguk the night before, Seokjin does not decline.

The room is not tiny, but it certainly isn’t spacious enough for seven people. Hoseok goes to sleep on the floor of Yongsun’s room, who is apparently not his sister, although they sure act like siblings. The rest of them fold up like origami to fit in the space. The three prison inmates get the bed, which Seokjin’s back is delighted to hear, while Jeongguk and Yoongi curl together on the floor. Namjoon somehow falls asleep sitting cross-legged with his back completely straight against the wall. Seokjin smiles fondly. It must be a monk thing. He still snores, but after a night of hearing a lot of yelling and crying and other mysterious unidentifiable noises, Jin is so glad to hear Joon’s snoring.

Taehyung is wedged in the middle, arms wrapped around Seokjin’s middle. It’s quite cozy, but Seokjin takes awhile to fall asleep. On the other side of Tae, Jimin seems equally awake, staring at the ceiling.

“Hey,” Seokjin whispers, “I’m glad you found Hoseok.”

Jimin flicks his eyes to him and says sincerely, “Thank you.”

Seokjin takes a breath, a little bit afraid of Jimin’s answer to his next question, “You’re still going to stay on as Jeongguk’s master though?”

Jimin looks at him for a long moment, thinking. Then he nods.

“I wasn’t lying to Yoongi when I told him I keep my word.”

Seokjin can’t detect a lie.

He hums in answer, turning over and trying anew to fall asleep.

----------------

Hoseok

Neither of them can sleep. They talk about the tea shop for a while, a mindless back and forth about next month’s budget. Their hearts aren’t really in it though. Both of them can sense where the conversation needs to go. They both know what Hoseok is going to do.

Yongsun perches on the edge of the bed, gesturing for Hoseok to sit in front of her. He goes, and she braids his hair back, the way she did every morning when he was little to keep it off his forehead at work.

It’s been a long time since they’ve been desperate enough to do that job, and Hoseok’s heart breaks when he thinks how half the children he looks out for are in the same position now. It’s not horrific work, not anything sordid, but it’s dangerous. And more than one little earthbender has gotten crushed or passed out from exhaustion doing that labour. Yongsun always looked out for the younger ones. And her favourite, although he wasn’t allowed to make the other kids jealous about it, was Hoseok. Her little hope.

When Hoseok got a little bit older, and started getting into trouble with the boss more often, Yongsun found an outlet for him. She took him along to a secret hideout, where incredible earthbenders moved and shook and danced all night long. She didn’t take him too often to begin with, and for the first few years they only ever went for a couple hours before returning to the streets to sleep. But Hoseok stopped getting in trouble so much, and his confidence and skill rocketed. And eventually, Yongsun got him work in the tea shop, and got a roof over their heads for the first time in his life.

He owes her everything. He had planned to spend his whole life trying to repay that.

“Noona…” Hoseok says, voice catching in his throat. Yongsun’s fingers take out the half-finished braid so she can keep running her fingers gently over his scalp.

“Yes, Hobi,” she says gently.

“I’m sorry -”

“Don’t be sorry you idiot.” Yongsun tugs his hair lightly, “Don’t be sorry. I had to watch you mope over that boy for months. If you make me go through that again, then I’ll give you something to be sorry about.”

Hoseok laughs wetly.

“I didn’t mope that much,” he fake protests, trying to help lift the mood. Yongsun tanks it right back down with her next words.

“Hoseok, I’m going to miss you so much.” she yanks his arm, pulling him up into a hug. He burrows his face into her shoulder like he is nine years old again.

“I can stay,” Hoseok says suddenly.

“No, Hobi.”

“What about the shop?”

“I’ll hire Manchu and his bloody geckogrouse.” Yongsun shakes him, “You’ve been stifled here since the Dai Li shut the place down. You deserve adventure, and you’re not gonna get it stuck with me. I’m a boring old fart.”

“You’re thirty-two.” Hoseok laughs.

“I know, practically deceased.” Yongsun pokes him, “You’ll resent me if I keep you from going off on an adventure with your sweetheart and the avatar.”

“I’d never resent you noona.”

“I know Hobi.”

-------------

Jimin

It’s the hour of the spirits, the night the blackest it is going to get before it lightens for dawn. Jimin peels himself away from Taehyung’s sweaty embrace. He feels restless. Around him, the others sleep soundly, even Seokjin, although he took a lot longer than the others to settle down.

He gets out of bed, half a thought formed to go grab some water. He stumbles over the sprawled figures on the floor, unable to see in the dark. One of the figures groans (low, raspy - Yoongi) but doesn’t wake.

Picking his way over them more carefully, Jimin tiptoes into the kitchen, not bothering to light his way. He feels his way over to the tap, and proceeds to dunk his head under it to drink, hair held out of the way over his shoulder.

Around him, the room flickers into view with the lighting of a lamp.

Soft footfalls come towards him. A hand brushes over the top of his spine. Jimin shivers. When he lifts his head, thirst sated, a drop of water still sits in the corner of his mouth.

Hoseok turns him gently around. His gaze is heavy. Watching, watching. Jimin watches him back.

Slowly, gently, Hoseok ducks his head. One hand comes to rest gently on Jimin’s waist, the other tangles softly in his loose hair.

He kisses the drop of water away.

---------------

The Sky above the Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se
Namjoon

Namjoon isn’t able to relax until he is sat atop Moni again, riding high into the morning sun, disregarding all the rules Ba Sing Se has about only exiting at it’s ports. He spotted more than a few citizens gaping up at them as they swept out above the city.

Behind Moni, Yeontan yawns his way into the sky, Taehyung hugging the top of his shaggy head.

The poor bison must be hungry and exhausted, so as they fly beyond the thick walls of the city, Namjoon keeps an eye out for a safe place to land to give them water and food.

It was Jimin who took point on breaking into that miserable sanctuary, tearing below the earth and ripping the chain cage around the bison with jagged rock. He doesn’t look too happy to be riding Yeontan though. He sits with a hand clapped over his mouth like he’s going to be ill. Hoseok isn’t faring much better, desperately clinging to the side of Yeontan’s saddle.

Namjoon was unsurprised when the tea seller announced in the morning that he would be joining them. Jeongguk was overjoyed at the news. He sits behind Hoseok now, laughing and rubbing his back to make him feel better.

Up in the air, the smog of the city fading behind them, Namjoon feels like he can breathe again. He pulls gently on Moni’s reins, urging him higher still. He revels in the feeling of the wind this high up.

He lets out a ‘WAHOO!’ of joy, Moni rumbling his agreement. He turns to share his bubbling happiness with the others. Behind him on the saddle, Jin and Yoongi hunker down against the wind, laughing along with his joy.

Chapter Text

A day’s flight away from Ba Sing Se
Namjoon

Being thrown unceremoniously into mud has to be the worst way to be woken up in the morning. Granted, it’s his fault for falling asleep on Moni’s tail, but seriously! If Moni could put up with it all through the night, why couldn’t he wait until Namjoon woke up naturally? It is practically still dark, Namjoon could have done with another couple hours shuteye at least.

Namjoon gets his answer when Moni shakes out his tail and plods his way into the river they’ve settled down near to. Swimming takes precedence over Namjoon’s comfort. He hears a quiet chuckle and looks back to see Yoongi poking at the fire and laughing at his predicament. He stops when he catches Namjoon staring.

Namjoon looks down at himself - he’s gotten mud into every nook and cranny. He looks like he is wearing clothes made of mud: gloves, socks and all. Namjoon bursts into laughter too, prompting Yoongi to grin at him. Since the jailbreak attempt it’s been a lot easier to get along with him.

Everybody else is still asleep, and Namjoon is tempted to just lie down in the dirt and catch another few winks, except it’s starting to dry under his knees and armpits and that feels unbearable.

Following Moni’s example, Namjoon goes for a swim, shucking his muddied clothes off and trying to scrub the dirt out of them to the best of his ability. It’s nice to feel clean, especially since washing up in Ba Sing Se was more of a scrub-the-sweat-away-with-a-wetcloth type of deal than full on bathing. When the worst of the grime has been beaten out, he drapes the clothes out on a relatively clean spot on the banks to dry, and grabs the blade out of his pack in the meantime. The water’s surface is too broken up to have any clear reflection, so he does it by feel instead. It’s a ritual he’s done every day since he got his arrows: smoothing water over his scalp and scraping the knife gently along, removing the tiniest bit of fuzz that grows overnight.

He lets himself drift downstream, starfished on the surface of the water. As he winds up in deeper water, Moni swims beneath him and scoops him up onto his head. Namjoon rolls his way onto Moni’s back with a thump, and gives him a pat for looking out for him. Moni carries the both of them upstream again, to where Namjoon can see Seokjin following their lead, stripping his shirt off and wading into the water.

Golden light from the dawn washes over him, and Jin turns his face up, closing his eyes and smiling at the warmth. He lifts his hands from the water, droplets trickling over him as he pulls his hair from it’s usual topknot, the long strands falling around his torso.

Namjoon’s mouth goes dry.

Flustered, he slides off of Moni’s back, breaking the water with a splash. Seokjin startles, falling back onto the bank.

“Ow, Joon!” He complains, levering himself back up and rubbing at his leg where it bashed a rock.

“Sorry hyung,” Namjoon swims forward to try and help, but Jin just bats him away.

Both of them startle this time, when Jeongguk comes cannonballing into the river, landing right between them and drenching them both. Jeongguk emerges, triumphant, looking like a drowned rat.

-----------------

Yoongi

He nearly burns the oats. He keeps nodding off, wooden spoon going slack in his hands. Paranoia had kept him awake all night, watching over the camp and the surrounding woods against animals or soldiers, or some particularly fanatic Ba Sing Se guardsman who followed them for an entire day's worth of flying away from the city.

Faint sounds of shrieking and splashing carry over to where he is sat, in the dry clearing they set up camp on last night. The shrieking and splashing are at least keeping him awake. Taehyung is the next up, popping up like a ratmole from his bedding and scrambling to join the others in the river, peeling his clothes off as he goes and leaving them strewn about.

Yoongi’ll join em, after breakfast is done.

The two earthbenders of the group are the last to rise, Hoseok looking none the worse for wear after sleeping rough, although Yoongi supposes the guy is used to it. Hoseok cheerfully thanks Yoongi for making breakfast, but gets called into the water by a dripping Jeongguk, who has come back to peep if the food is ready yet. It isn’t, so Yoongi is left all alone with his thoughts and a lump of sleeping bag that contains one Park Jimin.

Jimin takes his time emerging, yawning delicately and rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Then he shivers at the crisp morning air, looking disdainfully around and wrinkling his nose.

“Urgh.” Jimin says, cringing when he sees a worm wiggle beside him. Yoongi snorts derisively.

“Sorry if this isn’t to your liking, your highness.” he scorns. Jimin whips round, pretty features screwing into a scowl.

“Don’t call me that,” he snaps, “Besides, I’m not the one who has literally lived in a palace.”

“I'm not the one cringing at a little bit of dirt right now.”

“I love dirt, I’m an earthbender” Jimin protests hotly, “the bugs though…”

Yoongi actually agrees: bugs are pretty gross. He isn’t going to tell Jimin that though.

They are interrupted by a half-dressed Taehyung, who settles next to Yoongi and shakes his head like a wet dog, spraying all over Yoongi. Ignoring Yoongi’s spluttering, and Jimin’s pointedly mean laughter, he holds out a bowl between his still dripping hands for Yoongi to ladle oatmeal into. Yoongi sighs, and obliges. He hands serving duties over to Namjoon, who is thankfully fully clothed, before going for a morning wash of his own.

------------------

Jeongguk

At breakfast, when Jimin told him to finish quickly so they could get started on his first proper lesson, Jeongguk practically vibrated with excitement. That excitement is gone now entirely.

“Again.” Jimin commands.

Jeongguk complies, resetting his feet. The movement is getting almost too familiar now: reach down, fists clench, lift up - hold the movement - push forward, remember to transfer your weight from the back foot to the front, release fists.

“Again.”

Jeongguk blows a strand of hair out of his face. He does it again. And again, and again and again and over and over until he would rather die than do it any more times.

“...Again.” says Jimin.

Jeongguk sighs, “Can I at least try it with the actual earth this time?” He whines.

“Nope.” Jimin pops his mouth on the ‘p’, “Do it again.”

Stroppily, Jeongguk does the motion again.

“That was worse, don’t let your frustration cloud the movement. Do it again.”

Jeongguk glares at him. Jimin let him use earth that first time in Ba Sing Se, but now he’s stripped it back to the kind of training a toddler who can’t use their bending properly does. The same boring set over and over and over. He literally hasn’t done anything else this whole hour. Namjoon wouldn’t treat him like this...

“Do it again.”

“Master Jimin. Why can’t I try it with actual bending?” Jeongguk tries being polite.

“Don’t call me master.” Jimin says, “I haven’t earned that title yet. To answer your question - you have absolutely no control when you bend earth. I ask you to make a hole and you make a crater. I ask you to make it go forward an arm span and you shoot it into the next town. So we are doing the sets until they are perfect, and then you can try it with earth. Okay?”

“Okay.” Jeongguk grumbles.

“Good. Do it again, keep your arms up higher this time, you’re dropping them too low.”

Jeongguk does it again.

And again.

Again.

-----------------

Seokjin

Yoongi is moping.

Why he is moping is unknown, but of more pressing concern is the fact that there are no musical instruments, no court to play fireball, no alcohol for drinking games, none of the old haunts at the palace Jin could have taken him to to distract him.

So Seokjin gets creative.

He yanks him up by the shoulder abruptly, dragging him back and pinning him to a tree. Yoongi wriggles under his weight, hooking a leg around Jin’s and pulling him off balance. It gives him enough leeway to spin and face Jin, shoving him back. Seokjin’s on the backfoot now, walking backwards as Yoongi advances, moving them back into open space and away from the treeline.

Seokjin feints one way, and then ducks and rolls the other way, getting his limbs around Yoongi’s knees and toppling him. The both of them struggle, Jin’s face getting smushed into the dirt, but eventually, Jin ends up straddled across Yoongi’s middle, both hands holding him down by his shoulders.

“I concede.” Yoongi pants. Seokjin gets off of him and helps him up.

“Best two out of three.”

The sparring matches go from best out of three, to out of ten, to out of twenty. It feels exhilarating to be moving like this again, it’s been so long since he’s had the chance to move like this. It’s different from running through the halls of Xiantong jail. That didn’t require any skill, just fast enough legs to keep up with the two benders clearing a path ahead of him. Here there are no elements to contend with, just sweat and grit and struggling out of a headlock Yoongi pulls him into.

At some point, between matches, Seokjin goes to the treeline and picks up two fairly weighted sticks, chucking one to his partner. Yoongi catches it on reflex and then drops it on the floor.

“Oh no, we’re not.”

“Oh come on!!! I haven’t been able to practice since I left the fire nation!”

“But I’m terrible at it.”

“Only terrible compared to me, and you’re still heaps better than most people. Come onnnnn Yoongi,” Jin begs him, “do it for hyung!”

Grumbling, Yoongi picks up the stick and leans into his stance, stick extended before him. Seokjin grins and mirrors him.

By the time Seokjin was pushing seven years old, it had become clear that he was never going to produce so much as a puff of smoke, let alone any fire. He had been practicing the movement and sets since toddlerhood, and he liked doing it. He didn’t see why he needed to stop. He didn’t want to stop. But when he tried to prove to his father how good he was, it didn’t matter how steady his stance was, how clean his lines, how advanced his forms. There was no fire, so Seokjin was worthless.

Seokjin didn’t beg for his father’s attention after that, but he didn’t stop learning. He became excellent at hand to hand combat, a skill any firebender worth their salt should have. And after he charmed a master swordsman who was attending his fathers’ court for the season, Seokjin got himself a ticket to becoming excellent at sword fighting too. If the Firelord was aware of Seokjin’s skill, he never acknowledged it, preferring Jeongguk over him always. But Seokjin knows now, he knows it is better to have that man’s contempt than to have his approval.

In the here and now, Yoongi loses once more to Seokjin. He doesn’t make it easy though, both of them working up a sweat, Seokjin panting harshly as he fights.

They’ve been at it for a while, and Seokjin’s original plan seems to have worked; Yoongi isn’t moping anymore. No, now he’s just baring his teeth in a mad frenzy to land a hit on Seokjin - a huge improvement. And then finally - Yoongi gets him, stick held against Seokjin’s neck. He smiles, grin like a shark.

From the edge of the clearing comes applause. The two of them had been so hyperfocused on their fight they hadn’t noticed Hoseok and Namjoon leaning against the trees, an audience to their contest.

Having beaten him once, Yoongi seems to gain new energy, egged on by their spectators cheering him on and booing Seokjin. Yoongi manages to get another couple wins, but eventually Seokjin has him on his back once again, point held to his throat.

Hoseok playfully picks up his own stick and bounces in front of Yoongi, challenging Seokjin and promising to reclaim Yoongi’s honour.

“That’s not how that works,” Yoongi points out, but he is smiling from ear to ear. Seokjin laughs, delighted.

Hoseok is very different to what Seokjin expects from an earthbender. He has seen a few in action, and they tend to be grounded, keeping their centre of balance as close to the earth as possible. They are solid and firm, hard to topple over, but slow to move.

But you could almost mistake Hoseok for an airbender, the way he bounces and dodges Seokjin’s advances, his wiry body moving fast and agile. Hoseok doesn’t make any moves to land a hit, letting Seokjin take the lead, as if figuring out the way he needs to move. If Yoongi has minimal skill, Hoseok has none, but he holds his own against Seokjin for a lot longer than most beginners could. They make their way around the space, Seokjin really feeling worn out at this point. Their sticks clash against each other, Hoseok’s breaking clear in half. He overbalances, tripping backwards. As he falls, the ground rushes up to meet him and prop him back up.

“Foul!” Yoongi calls, “No bending allowed!” Hoseok graciously admits defeat, shoulders heaving up and down. The both of them take the moment to sprawl on the ground, exhausted.

Namjoon stands over him, twirling a stick of his own, eyes twinkling.

“I’ll let you catch your breath hyung,”

----------------

Taehyung

Lunch, Taehyung is disappointed to note, is a return to beans and rice, cooked in a sort of sludge form over their firepit.

The hyungs, hungry from whacking each other with sticks all morning, dig in with gusto. Jimin and Jeongguk, having presumably chucked rocks at each other all morning, follow suit. Taehyung chews his sludge mournfully. Oat sludge for breakfast, bean sludge for lunch… he misses the tea shop.

It’s Namjoon’s idea to try foraging in the woods around. Seokjin stays put, saying he’s used up all his energy for the day. Hoseok and Jimin are wrapped up in conversation together, feeding each other bites of food in some weird mating ritual. Yoongi hyung is passed out, arm thrown over his eyes as he sleeps. That just leaves Jeongguk and Taehyung to come along on Namjoon’s quest.

Yeontan plods along behind them, trying to get his massive head into Taehyung’s armpit. Taehyung swears Yeontan thinks he is the size of a pygmypuma, not a giant sky bison. He reaches behind Tannie’s ear to give him a scratch as they head further into the trees.

“If I had my library, there would be scrolls with drawings of edible plants, detailing what to look out for. But I’m sure we can figure it out without it!” Namjoon says, “For now, just keep an eye out for anything that looks like it might be edible,”

There isn’t much, just lots of trees, and Taehyung is pretty sure it’s not possible to eat bark or leaves. Curious, Taehyung plucks a leaf off a low hanging branch. Yeontan follows suit, snatching up a mouthful of the star-shaped leaves. They both chew pensively, and as one, spit them back out disgustedly. So that answers that.

They find some mushrooms that Namjoon is certain are edible. Taehyung thinks it’s weird that they grow out of the side of trees in wide green ripples, instead of the little capped stalks he has always associated with mushrooms. Once they spot one, it’s like they are everywhere, and Taehyung soon ends up needing to carry them using his shirt flipped up to form a little basket. Namjoon muses that they should have kept Yeontan’s saddle on so they could use him to carry some things too.

“Hyung! What about this?” Jeongguk comes skipping back through the foliage carrying a branch full of red-tipped white flowers.

“Ooh!” Joon looks excited, “That might be the white dragon bush! We can make tea out of that!”

“Might?” Taehyung asks.

“Or… It might also be the white jade bush, whose poison causes itchy red patches and, if untreated, death.” Namjoon scratches his chin and then reaches to fiddle with one of the flowers, “delicious tea or deadly poison?”

Taehyung shares a look with Jeongguk, who looks away immediately, both of them trying not to laugh and hurt Namjoon’s feelings.

“Maybe we can ask Hoseok hyung?” Jeongguk suggests, “He knows all about tea.”

“Great idea,” Namjoon says, “onwards!”

Apart from the probably poisonous flowers, and the verdant green mushrooms that they literally don’t have the space to collect any more of, there isn’t a whole lot here. Taehyung supposes it might be the time of year, except that when they left the air temple it had been mid-summer, and by now it must be approaching harvest season. Woods like this ought to be teeming with life and food right about now. There aren’t even any animals around, no birds, nothing scampering around. No sign of droppings, no rustling leaves as they move around. Nothing.

Eventually, they’ve wandered far enough from their camp that they can’t hear the rush of the river anymore. That’s when they stumble across the reason for the odd lack of fauna.

Taehyung is demonstrating his ability to walk backwards, stumbling every so often on purpose to make Jeongguk laugh. So when they see it, Tae’s first clue is their reactions.
Namjoon takes a deep, painful intake of breath, a shaky hand coming up to his heart. Jeongguk goes ashen pale, his eyes going wide in horror.

Taehyung spins and when he sees it, his hands drop to his sides, mushrooms tumbling out of the makeshift sack all over the forest floor.

What was once forest is now burnt black, razed to the ground. The ground is covered in ash, stretching so far out that Taehyung can’t see the end of it. By a twisted blackened stump, Taehyung spots something small and furred lying on its side, its coat charred and smudged over with ash. He gags.

When they head back, Jeongguk is silent, the way he had been after getting trapped in the avatar state. Taehyung has his hands full with the mushrooms again, and wishes he could give Jeongguk a hug. He settles for bumping his elbow gently into his side.

Back at camp, Seokjin takes in the news with a frustrated shake of his head. The newbies to the group, Jimin and Hoseok, don’t know about Jeongguk’s whole spiritual call to action. Taehyung fills them in, while Jeongguk lives up to that spiritual schtick by deciding to meditate by the river. Namjoon thinks it’s a great idea of course, but Taehyung’s not so sure about leaving Jeongguk alone with his thoughts like that.

He gets distracted by Yoongi, who insists Taehyung take him back to the burnt remains, determined to scout the area. Taehyung promises that there hadn’t been anything there, just endless emptiness. There wasn’t anything left there for a soldier to hide behind. Yoongi won’t hear it. Taehyung sucks it up, leads him back through. It takes a lot longer without Jeongguk and Namjoon’s chatter to fill the time.

Just as Taehyung had said, there isn’t anything dangerous left, nothing left to be destroyed.

Yoongi sways when he sees it.

“You know,” Yoongi says to Taehyung, “I never doubted those bastards are capable of things like this. But it’s another thing to see it.”

--------------

Jimin

Spending time with Hoseok is like a dream. They spend every spare moment they are alone talking, catching each other up on their lives apart. They talk about their first impressions, how Jimin had wanted to talk to him but had been paralysed by fear. Hoseok apparently knew from the first day he saw Jimin that he was some rich boy. Jimin crinkles his nose when he hears that, he had really thought he blended in with the crowd, but apparently not.

They talk about their families, although Jimin skims over some particularly traumatic things he has packed away deep deep down to deal with later. Jimin mostly tells him about his little brother, and Hoseok talks about his older sister in all but blood.
They get interrupted by the foraging trio turning up and dumping a whole heap of wonky green things in front of Seokjin. What’s gonna kill Jimin isn’t getting executed for helping a bunch of fugitives, no, no it’s gonna be eating the fugitives’ cooking.

Distracted as he is by the prospect of eating the foraged food, Jimin doesn’t notice immediately how troubled they are. It’s a hard pill to swallow, when it gets explained. Jimin’s always been aware that the Earth Kingdom is somehow indebted to the Fire Nation, that the King has struck up some sort of bargain. He didn’t know their deal involved torching huge swaths of the countryside.

And don’t take him wrong, he isn’t some kind of tree-hugger like these nomads are, but even he can see what’s wrong with this. Taehyung claims it’s got something to do with the spirit world, which honestly, thinking about makes Jimin’s head hurt. Spirits are more folklore than anything else to children in the earth kingdom. Jimin’s grandmother, bless her soul, used to claim to have played with them as children. But nobody alive has seen any, and Jimin was half-convinced they don’t exist at all. But if the avatar says they do… well. Jimin half-hopes the two worlds stay separate, he can barely deal with the animals that do exist in this world.

As if to prove his point, the smaller bison bumbles over and tries to eat Jimin’s arm. Or it is going to, but Jimin flails out of the way before it can manage it. Taehyung falls backwards laughing, before he catches sight of Yoongi fretting nearby and sobers up. He heads over to check on Yoongi, leaving Jimin to the mercy of the bison. He hides behind Hoseok, which proves useless because of how terrified he also is of the beast.

When the avatar returns from the riverside, he looks a lot less panicked. His face is set in resolve when he asks to run through the drills from the morning again. Jimin literally has no other purpose here than to teach (a novel feeling after being micromanaged all his life) so of course he agrees.

Jeongguk is a lot more serious about this than earlier, not complaining one jot when Jimin makes him redo the same thing over and over. Jimin eyes pick apart his form, but he can’t find any of the sloppy mistakes he was making before. He gives the go ahead to bring bending into it. Jeongguk does a passable job of hiding his relief as Jimin demonstrates how much earth to bring up and how far they are aiming to move it.

He executes it perfectly. Jimin feels pretty smug about being right. He expects Jeongguk to repeat the motion again but Jeongguk is looking at him with big eyes, like he’s waiting for something. Jimin stares back, confused, before it clicks.

“Oh - Well done.” Jimin says brusquely. Jeongguk beams. “Do it again.”

---------------

Hoseok

Hoseok can’t quite believe that he is travelling with the avatar and a whole retinue of master benders. If he hadn’t seen Jeongguk bend both air and earth with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.

It’s also fascinating - watching Jimin at work. Hoseok never had any sort of formal schooling for his bending, but used earthbending for his job all through his childhood alongside seasoned benders, and picked it up decently well.

There is a lot more formality, in the way Jimin makes Jeongguk hold himself, in the strict movements they are running through. Hoseok’s always been taught to shortcut his way through all of that to get to the part where the rock goes where it needs to go. Jimin’s way is probably better, more proper.

A weight settles beside him where he is sat on the verge of grass overlooking the two benders. Yoongi offers him a bowl of something steaming hot.

“Mushroom soup, Namjoon swears it’s edible.” Yoongi says.

“Thanks,” says Hoseok, lifting the bowl to his mouth to take a swig. It nearly burns his mouth, which might be a good thing. The flavour isn’t offensive, but it’s not… good. Best finish it before it gets lukewarm and it tastes even worse.

“We’re going to move on from here first thing in the morning.” Yoongi speaks softly, so not to disturb the lesson, “We didn’t find any sign of any people, but if there is still forest standing, there is every chance they will come back to burn down the rest of it.”

“Is this why you guys fled the fire nation?” Hoseok asks, “The whole, spirit genocide thing?”

Yoongi huffs a bitter laugh, “We actually didn’t even know about all that bullshit until after Jeongguk and Jin hyung escaped. The firelord’s tendency towards ruining good things begins at home, those two had to get out before the psychopath hurt them too. Or worse, made Jeongguk into a mini him.”

Hoseok notices the wording there, “You didn’t go with them?”

“I didn’t get the chance, I wasn’t there when they left. By the time I got back and found them gone… it’s not something I particularly want to relive.” He sounds pained.

“Sorry,” Hoseok says.

“No no, it’s fine. I’m fine, sorry.” Yoongi really doesn’t seem fine, but Hoseok doesn’t push it.

“So, you guys left the fire nation and started getting Jeongguk trained up then?” Hoseok says.

Yoongi hums a yes, “they spent a few months in an air temple with Namjoon and Tae, and then we picked up Jimin in Busan.”

“So next up is a waterbender?” Hoseok asks.

Yoongi chokes on his soup. “No?!”

“What?” Hoseok doesn’t know what he said to warrant that reaction.

“Don’t you know anything about waterbenders?” Yoongi says.

“Not really…” Hoseok says, “Just that they live at the ends of the earth where it’s coldest.”

“That’s true, they live at the north and south poles, away from the rest of us.” Yoongi says, “And it’s a good thing they do. They are a bunch of savage barbarians who practice bloodbending.”

“Bloodbending?” Hoseok asks, alarmed.

“Bloodbending.” Yoongi repeats grimly, “Our bodies have a ton of water in them, and waterbenders can use that to control us.”

Hoseok frowns, “Where did you learn about that?”

Yoongi shrugs, “I don’t know where I learnt every single thing I know,”

“It just doesn’t make a ton of sense. We have a lot of air in our bodies too, but that doesn’t mean air nomads go around puppeteering us.” Hoseok muses.

Yoongi splutters, “That’s different -”

“And firebenders wouldn’t even need a body component, you can just click your fingers and make people burn alive.”

“But we don’t! Because we are civilised!” Yoongi erupts, frustrated.

“Are you two quite done?” Jimin yells up at them, “Only you’re disrupting our lesson.”

“Sorry!” Hoseok and Yoongi call back, and then turn back to each other sheepishly.

“Sorry, You’re probably right anyway,” Hoseok concedes, “I’ve never been to school - I don’t know a lot about the rest of the world.”

Yoongi’s eyes flicker a little, “Yeah.. no, it’s fine, sorry for yelling.”

“No worries,” Hoseok gives him an easy smile. Yoongi smiles back.

“Oh!” Yoongi remembers, “Namjoon wanted you back at camp - something about a white flower tea?”

--------------

Jimin

Jeongguk’s managed to perfect another set by the time Seokjin lays down the law on bedtime. It’s irritating, especially since Jeongguk is half an hour away from getting a third set under his belt, but Jimin isn’t going to argue with the eldest prince of the fire nation, even if that prince no longer claims the title. Jeongguk has no such qualms, and begs a little more time to practice.

“You’ve been at it all day, you need to rest. We are going to be heading out bright and early in the morning. You need your sleep,” Seokjin sounds like a parent. Jimin rolls his eyes, “I saw that Jimin - you need to sleep too.”

Jeongguk laughs at the incredulous look on Jimin’s face.

It’s true, Jimin didn’t sleep a whole lot the night before, but that’s because they are sleeping out in the wilderness. How is anybody expected to feel comfortable out in the open like this?

Clearly, everyone except him, because one by one they all curl up and fall asleep as if they are in comfy beds and not in sleeping bags on the hard ground. Everyone, except one person still hunched over the fire, poking at it every so often.

“Hey - psst,” Jimin whispers. Yoongi turns a weary eye to him. “Why didn’t Seokjin make you sleep too?”

“I’m keeping watch.” Yoongi says.

“Weren't you keeping watch last night too? Have you slept at all in the last two days?” Jimin worries, noting how bedraggled Yoongi is looking.

“I think I took a nap at some point,” Yoongi scratches his head, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Jimin frowns. And then wriggles his way out of his blanket and goes to stand in front of Yoongi. “Go sleep, I’ll keep watch.”

“What - no, don’t be silly.” Yoongi yawns.

“You look like shit. You should sleep.” Jimin cuts off Yoongi’s next protest, “Go, I promise I’ll wake you up in a few hours and you can take over again.”

Yoongi accepts with a lot of grumbling, but once he is horizontal he conks out almost immediately. Jimin smirks.

Then he looks at the fire and the stick he has been handed, and wonders how he is meant to keep this thing going.

------------

Yoongi

When Yoongi wakes up blinking in the bright morning sunlight his first thought is that Park Jimin lied to him.

He glares blearily at the person sitting up with the fire, before he realises that it’s not in fact Jimin, but Jin hyung.

“Were you expecting somebody else to be sitting here?” Seokjin smiles.

“So what, did Jimin make you take over for him? I’m sorry - I told him to wake me up when he wanted to switch,” Yoongi can feel himself getting worked up.

“Nothing of the sort.” Jin shuts him down, “I got thirsty a couple hours back and woke up myself. I think Jimin was trying to pull the same stunt you did, staying up all night like a lunatic. I made him get some shut-eye.”

“Oh.” Yoongi says, feeling bad for judging Jimin too harshly. Seokjin smiles that annoyingly knowing smile again.

Yoongi goes to scrub the fur off his teeth and splash some water over his face and finds Namjoon kneeling by the water with a blade in his hand.

“Whatcha doing?” Yoongi asks curiously. Namjoon startles, and nearly nicks himself with the knife. Creeping up on him was clearly not the best idea.

“Oh, this?” Namjoon says when both their heart rates have settled somewhat, “I’m shaving my head, so my arrow can show through.”

“Do nomads have to do that?” Yoongi wonders.

“No, we don’t have to, it’s a personal choice,” Namjoon says, “But most do. It brings us closer to our element - no barrier on our head from the wind. I have seen some people grow their hair back out over it though, and plenty of the girls just keep the front bit shaved.”

“I reckon you should let your hair grow out then.” Yoongi suggests. “At least for now - we are still so close to Ba Sing Se, and they’ll definitely remember the airbender who broke into one of their prisons. Your arrow is really noticeable.” Yoongi says all this very quickly, trying to lay down his points logically so Namjoon understands.

“Okay hyung,” Namjoon says, brows knit, “If you think that’s best.”

Yoongi nods, relieved.

“Did you ever figure out about the white flower tea?” Yoongi asks, curious, as they head back to the others.

“Oh yeah - highly, highly poisonous.”

Chapter Text

Along the Ni Gang River, Earth Kingdom
Seokjin

Somewhere in the weeks they spend heading down the river, getting further and further from Ba Sing Se, they settle into a routine. They don’t stick around anywhere longer than a week, packing up and hauling everything onto and off of the bison every few days to satisfy Yoongi’s worry about being followed.

Jeongguk is thriving, waking early to learn from Namjoon, spending the afternoons drilling forms with Jimin. They end most nights with a little demonstration of his progression, the other boys cheering on even the smallest achievement. Seokjin can’t help but compare to the cold, overbearing gaze of the Firelord during Jeongguk’s monthly presentations as they grew up. Any praise from that man was tempered with the knowledge that failure would not be tolerated, anything less than the perfection Jeongguk worked to the bone to achieve would not be tolerated. Here, when Jeongguk bungles up a move he has been practicing all day he is not met with a sneer but a chorus of friendly voices urging him to try again.

So, Jeongguk’s doing fine and the only thing Seokjin really needs to worry about is yanking him away to play or talk every once in a while so he doesn’t overwork himself. This has left Seokjin, for the first time in his twenty-one years of life, with absolutely nothing in particular to fill his days with. Seokjin was rather expecting it to be boring. But he manages to fill the yawning void, spending hours talking with Namjoon or sparring with Yoongi and whoever else wants to join. Hoseok is rapidly picking up sword fighting and Yoongi’s polishing himself up enough to be a real challenge for Seokjin. When they settle in a new spot, Yoongi usually recruits Jin or Tae to scout the area with him, making sure there are no dangers around. As the weeks wear on, the new hope is to find a village or town of some sort, to restock and maybe get some more soap.

Three stops or so ago they had wandered into a ghost town. The bare bones of huts and houses were there, but no people, and certainly nothing to barter for. Beyond the empty manmade structures was another incinerated forest, the land blackened like a cauterised wound. They didn’t stick around there for any longer than they could help it.

They rotate cooking, usually the eldest three taking charge simply by virtue of the younger four either being incapable of cooking on their own, or too busy to. Seokjin doesn’t mind so much, he always liked popping into the kitchens back home and trying his dab hand at whatever the chef was making that day. Although he has to admit, cooking in an industrial palace kitchen and doing so over an open flame in the wilderness is vastly different. Hoseok is a revelation, finding new ways to dish up the same ingredients. It’s nothing fancy, certainly not food fit for royalty: they are cooking whatever scraps they can scrounge from their surroundings, and steadily finishing off their veritable hoard of beans and rice. Seokjin could really do with some meat around now. But he must admit having the tea seller on their team has dramatically improved the quality of their meals.

Along with Jeongguk showing off his bending, there are a few other nightly rituals. For one, Yoongi usually wants to give a little formal report about whatever the scouting trip had turned up. It’s so stuffy and ridiculous that Seokjin wants to laugh, but he keeps a straight face for Yoongi’s sake and frowns at the younger ones to stop their sniggering. It was Taehyung who started off telling stories during the evening meal, but by now everyone has had a turn at telling one. Tales of dragons and ancient ghosts, pirates and smugglers. The scary ones are thrilling to hear while the sky around them darkens.

Another, sillier ritual, is Namjoon surrendering his head to all of them to ruffle, messing with it to see how long it has gotten over the course of the day (spoiler - never any noticeably longer than the day before). He’s been growing his hair out to hide the tattooed arrow, and it’s fascinating to see it come out sticking straight up like a bottle brush. Although, as the weeks wear on, it looks less funny and more and more endearing to Jin. It looks like it ought to be prickly, but it is soft to touch, and makes Namjoon look somehow younger. But perhaps younger is the wrong word -

Seokjin is in awe of the knowledge Namjoon carries around in his brain, of the gentle way he teaches Jeongguk, of the love he clearly has for Taehyung. He is so responsible and easy to lean on, easy to talk to. He is what Seokjin’s mother might have called an old soul, and the shaved head of a monk had certainly lent credence to that. But Namjoon is clumsy and cannot be trusted alone with a boiling pot and still sometimes worries about not being a good enough teacher for the avatar. Somehow, the shock of dark hair on his head has made it easier to reconcile those two sides of him.

----------------

Hoseok

Leaving home to go travel with his long lost love and a group of strangers is probably - no - definitely, the most impulsive thing Hoseok has ever done. He doesn’t regret it.

He had worried that he would be lonely, that the group had already established itself without him and he was forcing himself in where he wasn’t wanted. The fear proves to be unfounded. Everyone is surprisingly welcoming and kind. He asks Yoongi about it, who laughs and retorts that of course they were going to like him, the way he looked after them all back in Ba Sing Se. Hoseok can’t help being that type of person, naturally falling into a caregiver role to the street kids, naturally falling into it here, with an avatar who is barely of age, whose mentors are not much older. If he was worried about being extraneous to the group he is proved wrong by how often it seems that somebody needs him. Jeongguk wants to show off a new bending move, Taehyung wants to show off his art, Yoongi wants his opinion on a recipe… Jimin wants another kiss.

Honestly, if he could, Hoseok would spend all his time kissing Jimin. At first, Jimin is coy, nervous - apparently Hoseok was his first kiss (Hoseok tries not to let that inflate his ego). Hoseok is a little more experienced, having tumbled with a couple of friends over the years. None of that prepared him for Jimin, who is so beautiful Hoseok sometimes can hardly breathe. And as Jimin grows more bold - well. Hoseok can hardly be blamed for giving in every time he whines for attention.

Not that they go much further than kissing. As it is, they hardly get a moment alone to do just that. They live practically on top of eachother, all sleeping tucked close to the fire and each other. In the day, there is work to be done. Hoseok satisfies himself watching Jimin teach, watching the firm lines of him as he demonstrates the correct forms. He knows that Jimin likes being watched, but he keeps his back firmly to Hoseok when teaching, determined not to be distracted from giving full attention to Jeongguk.

The one time they slip away into the trees for a while to indulge in each other, they return to a fuming Yoongi, who says they need to stick close together, that it is too dangerous for them to disappear off alone. Jimin takes exception to this, arguing that Yoongi goes alone all the time to scout, and both he and Hoseok are perfectly capable of defending themselves if need be. It doesn’t come to blows, but it’s a close thing. Hoseok suspects that those two aren’t actually fighting about safety.

In snatches and brief moments Hoseok learns Jimin. Learns his scrunchy eye smile is just as adorable close up, learns his words can be sharp and mean as often as they drip with honeyed sugar. That when he is offended he squawks like a turtleduck and when he is embarrassed he stamps his feet, fists waving back and forth in a way that Hoseok should Not find endearing, yet somehow does. Hoseok learns that Jimin is stubborn to a fault, taking on the night watch more often than anyone else bar Yoongi, in some sort of stalemate those two have.

Yoongi is a strange one. He is as polite and welcoming as the rest, but the man had definitely flirted with him that first morning in Ba Sing Se. He hasn’t said a word to that effect since. Hoseok worries that the constant bickering with Jimin has something to do with that, but dismisses the thought. This feud seems older than Hoseok’s entrance to the group. Taehyung confirms the suspicion, delighting in recounting the first time Yoongi and Jimin met, and how they nearly destroyed Jimin’s garden in combat. Hoseok feels rather disappointed … a fight between those two is something he’d have liked front row seats to.

----------------

The base of the Western Mountains, Earth Kingdom
Taehyung

“HELLO!” Jeongguk yells, grinning when a second later there comes the anticipated ‘L’oh oh oh’ back to them.

“FUCK!” ( fuck! fuck! fuck!) Taehyung tries next, giggling at the scandalised look on Namjoon’s face.

They’ve arrived at a series of caves and taken advantage of the biggest one to shelter from the wind outside. It’s huuuge! It goes on for what seems like ever, their voices travelling down for an unexpectedly long time before bouncing back.

Taehyung and Jeongguk joyfully keep yelling curse words the whole time they are unpacking, just to hear them rebound. To their delight, Jimin joins in, with a mouth so filthy Taehyung wonders if he has spent time with sailors. It’s the first time that Taehyung’s been able to wrap his head around the fact that he and Jimin are the same age. Usually the latter acts like he’s already been through his quarter life crisis.

Eventually though, Jimin and Jeongguk go outside to work on earthbending. Taehyung contemplates going to watch, it’s always fun to see Jeongguk huffing and puffing while smashing rocks around, but decides to go bother Namjoon some more.

When he goes to look, however, Joon is wrapped deeply in conversation with Jin hyung, both of them unconsciously leaning their heads together. As Taehyung watches, Jin reaches for Joon’s wrist, pulling his hand into his own lap to hold. He decides against pinwheeling into their midst and breaking up their sad gay longing.

Taehyung heads out of the cave, shivering a little in the unseasonably windy weather. He dodges a pebble that scatters his way from the earthbending practice, waving away Jeongguk’s apology. He has a vague plan to catch up to Yoongi, who is somewhere around, investigating like he always does when they arrive someplace new.

Instead, Taehyung encounters Hoseok squatting by the river. It’s gotten deeper than it was upstream, the water steadier and slower too. Taehyung watches curiously as Hoseok shifts the bedrock around, making a sort of tunnel in the water.

“What’s that for?” He asks curiously. Hoseok yelps, almost falling forward headfirst. Taehyung rushes to catch him, ending up pulling him on top of himself. Before he can apologise, Hoseok starts laughing, limbs so weak from it that he can’t pull himself up off Taehyung and just ends up flopping, elbowing him in the guts a good few times.

Once they’ve extricated themselves, Hoseok answers, “It’s a trap - for the fish. I’ve been craving them for weeks but we don’t have any gear to catch them. I tried making a spear earlier but the bastards are too quick and I ended up breaking it by accident. Let’s hope this works.”

Needless to say, Taehyung is very enthusiastic about this idea. He and Hoseok sit further up the bank away from the water, to give the fish the illusion of safety before they meet their untimely (delicious) demise. They sit there for an eon, waiting. But Taehyung’s patience runs out before any of the fish make their way into the little funnel of the trap - he heads off to play with Yeontan.

Yeontan is exhausted from flying most of the morning, the poor baby. Taehyung lets him doze, his own body pillowed in the fur of Yeontan’s side. It’s so fluffy and warm he can hardly feel the chill. Moni comes over for a head scratch, then settles with a thump on Taehyung’s other side. Sandwiched between two bison, warm and squished, Taehyung nearly falls asleep too. Or rather, he drifts, watching the sliver of sky that he can see past the bison’s fur. He’s never had the willpower to meditate the same way Joon can, but horizontal bison squishing comes close.

Eventually, he extricates himself, booping Moni on the nose as he clambers over him. Before he can make his way back to the cave he is accosted by a very excitable Hoseok. When Taehyung sees the four fish caught inside the trap he gets equally excitable. They are mud-coloured and mid-sized, very boring to look at. But right now they are the most appetising thing Taehyung has ever seen.

Hoseok bends the rock trap up and out of the water very effectively, but getting the fish out of the trap proves to be a more slippery and complicated procedure than either of them expected. They arrive back inside the cave significantly more damp and with the fish still threatening to wriggle out of their grasp.

Seokjin and Yoongi are appropriately enthusiastic about the concept of eating protein for dinner, while Namjoon just looks sad about the fish murder they are engaging in. Taehyung feels bad, he really does, but he’s also just extremely hungry.

Hoseok ends up being squeamish about the prospect of actually skinning the fish, leaving the task of figuring that nonsense up to the others. Knowing how good Seokjin is at sword fighting, the sight of him holding a knife aloft as he sizes up the fish becomes significantly more threatening. But then Seokjin purses his lips and makes popping motions to mimic the creature, ruining the illusion.

Seokjin does the best job out of the three of them, managing to get the whole thing into fairly neat slices. Taehyung tries his hardest, but ends up with disparate inconsistently sized chunks that would be better off in a stew than grilled over a fire the way they are planning. Taehyung pouts about it, until Yoongi tells him that he is gonna have to eat his own fish, and then he pouts harder.

They are interrupted by a huge clap of thunder, followed by the frantic rush of a sudden downpour. A wet and bedraggled avatar and equally soggy earthbending master soon turn up, panting, at the mouth of the cave.

----------------

Yoongi

Namjoon gives both of the half-drowned benders a blast of air to dry them off. This is highly effective, but also makes their long hair floof up to incredible proportions. Jeongguk always looks slightly ridiculous, that’s just par for the course for a teenager, but the sight of Jimin with erratic strands draped like a cloud over his head makes Yoongi laugh so hard he can barely breathe. The earthbender is usually so polished, maintaining his neat braid and prim decorum long after the rest of them have succumbed to the grubby horror that is camping. Taehyung always looks the most feral, but right now, with that nest on his head, Jimin’s a close second. Jimin scowls at Yoongi, but when Hoseok joins in laughing, albeit a little more kindly, Jimin gives him a sappy grin. Disgusting.

The two resume their bending lesson deep in the cave, which is a hundred times louder now that it is in the same space. At least the sound of the thunderstorm outside drowns them out somewhat. Hoseok retreats to the corner he was in before all the excitement, his back to the group as he works intently on something.

Seokjin sends Taehyung on a mission to dump the fish guts outside, and when Taehyung returns, he gives himself the windblower treatment too. With how short his hair is, it becomes less of a nest and more of a fuzzy puff ball sticking straight up. The three of them get into a rhythm, skewering the fish pieces to be propped above the fire. Once it’s cooking, and the smell is wafting about the place, it draws the rest of the group in as sure as moths to a flame.

Hoseok gets the first bite, as a reward for catching them. Yoongi holds the stick out for him to take, but Hoseok simply leans forward, biting it directly off while Yoongi’s still limply holding it out. Yoongi blinks, distracted by Hoseok’s mouth in such close proximity, teeth just barely visible. He wills himself not to blush. Seokjin does the same thing when Yoongi offers him a bite, although this time with such an exaggerated air that it pulls a laugh out of the onlookers.

He draws the line when Taehyung asks to be fed the same way, getting out the bowls and popping some leftover rice from lunchtime in with the fish to make it more of a meal. Namjoon has resigned himself to plain rice, which Yoongi feels bad about. He doesn’t complain one jot though, tucking in as if it is just as satisfying as the smoked fish the rest of them are wolfing down.

It is quite lovely, sitting here in the flickering light of the fire, thunder rolling in from the outside, eating fresh fish and sitting with the closest people in his life. Yoongi can’t help the smile that curls on his face. He catches Jimin’s eye across the fireplace and while they usually just scowl at each other, Yoongi instead smiles wider. Jimin looks bewildered. When it’s clear that Yoongi isn’t mocking him, he twitches his face in what could be a smile, if Yoongi squinted. Or a grimace.

----------------

Jeongguk

Groaning happily where he is splayed out on the floor, Jeongguk rubs his full belly.
“Thank youuuuuuu,”. He sings to his hyungs, leaning over to pillow his face in Hoseok's shoulder in gratitude. Hoseok chuckles, giving him a squeeze back. Jeongguk props his head to the side but doesn't let go, because Hoseok always smells uniquely nice, which is weird because he has been bathing in the same river water as the rest of them. Hoseok finishes off his food with one arm trapped to his side by Jeongguk.

As dinner wraps up, the ones who didn’t cook take over cleaning. Taehyung is usually involved in this, but right now he sits smug and snug on Yoongi's side while Jeongguk stands partially dry inside the cave, sticking bowls out into the rain to be rinsed and scrubbed with a rag. He gets splashed an irritating number of times, arms wet to the elbows.

The sky has darkened considerably, but it’s still in that hazy blue that exists before it truly falls to night. Jeongguk can’t tell if it has truly gotten that late, or if it’s still day behind the dark clouds and driving rain. The weather in the earth kingdom is strange. Rain like this in the fire nation only gets this heavy in the monsoon, and it would be warm. Here it is freezing, Jeongguk’s wet fingertips feeling like little ice cubes. As he looks out, the sky is suddenly illuminated by a crack of lightning. Jeongguk jumps back in fright, stacking up the cleaned bowls and hurriedly turning back to the warmth of the fire.

Taehyung is bouncing on the balls of his feet towards him, excitement lifting him like he is on springs. His warm hands grab onto Jeongguk’s icicle ones, pulling him to walk faster.
“Come look what Hobi hyung has done!!!” He says, eyes glittering. He leads Jeongguk back beyond the fire, to the corner where Hoseok had been tinkering with something while dinner was being made. Jimin lounges beside him, while the others still sit by the fire, looking on curiously as Hoseok arranges a pile of rocks so that they are in view of everybody else.

Rock-related activity is not unexpected for an earthbender, but Jeongguk doesn’t really get what he is going to do with them. It is a very pretty pile, stacked in a very neat row, each pile three slabs high. They are all artificially flat, although their edges are rough and curved still. Down the row, the slabs get smaller and smaller, the smallest about the size of Jeongguk’s palm, while the biggest is big enough to comfortably sit on. Maybe it’s like an art thing? Taehyung tried to explain abstract art to Jeongguk before, but he has never been able to really get his head around the idea. All the art in the fire nation is of real things, like trees and people and dragons (he has never actually seen a real dragon, on account of them being extinct, but the point stands that they were real once, and this weird rock pile doesn’t mimic anything Jeongguk has ever seen existing).

In his hands, Hoseok holds another couple rocks, these ones rough and round, rather than smooth and flat. Without warning, he strikes them down hard on different stacks. A sound like a bell rings out, loud in the quiet. The echo of it blends into the next strike, as Hoseok keeps striking, quickly building a rhythm. It’s music - Hobi hyung is making music!

Jimin doesn’t look surprised, nor Taehyung, but the others are on their feet, moving to take a better look. Yoongi seems awestruck. Jeongguk feels the same way. It’s nothing like the horn heavy, mournful music of the fire nation; it’s so bright, the sound reverberating through the cave around them. Hoseok’s shoulders are bouncing with the rhythm of it, his feet wiggling with it like he has too much energy to sit still. With a flourish, he finishes his beat, only to have Taehyung and Jimin dogpile him under a hug.

“Can I try, can I try?” Jeongguk begs.

Jeongguk gets his go, the notes clunking and plonking a lot, sounding nothing like the complicated beat Hoseok had going, but not terrible. Taehyung fares a little better - apparently this is not an uncommon instrument in the earth kingdom, just one that has been used less and less under the current monarch - Taehyung has seen it played before, but never got to have a go. Seokjin creates such a cacophony that all of them have to cover their ears until the echoes die down, but Jeongguk can tell hyung did it badly on purpose to make everybody laugh.

When Yoongi takes a turn, Hoseok raises his eyebrows, impressed. Jeongguk shares a proud smile with Jin hyung. Their Yoongi is magic when it comes to music. A staple present for him from the princes on his yearly name day is a new and exotic instrument for him to tinker with and figure out how to play. And just as he is able to weave gorgeous music out of those within a handful of weeks, Yoongi quickly picks up the basics of this odd plunking drum Hoseok has made. It’s nowhere near the complexity of Hoseok’s, but it has a beat that has all of them swaying, Hoseok’s foot tapping again.

It’s like the tapping in his foot travels up his body, Hoseok making bigger and bigger movements until suddenly he is upright, bouncing around. Yoongi grins, wide, and keeps playing.

Hoseok’s rough hands take hold of Jeongguk and Taehyung, pulling the both of them up to join him as he swings, feet tap tap tapping.

Jeongguk is exhausted from training all day, and getting caught out in that thunderstorm, but somehow, his body dredges up the energy to twist and spin and sway, Hoseok letting go of them, so Taehyung takes hold of both of Jeongguk’s hands instead, both of them dragging each other around, coordination second to the exhilaration of moving with abandon. Yoongi’s playing is lively, and their slipshod movement reflects that.

Is this dancing? Jeongguk wonders. It’s nothing like the dancing at court. He is breathless with laughter. Seokjin and Namjoon have joined in, arms windmilling crazily, both of them trying to out-silly the other. In a very memorable moment, Jin hyung launches into a handstand, walking forward on his hands before springing back to his feet. Namjoon looks suddenly winded, eyes wide.

Jimin is still sprawled on the floor, an unreadable look on his face as he watches the others.

That’s when Hoseok launches into a jump, arms and legs outstretched to their fullest, before curling into a little ball in mid-air. With it, there is the CRUNCH of shifting earth, and chunks of rock from the roof and walls fly towards him. It’s almost like slow motion, when he spins back out, the rocks follow him, twirling around him in the air, gracefully falling when he lands.

The music stops, the echo of it continuing for another long moment.
----------------

Yoongi

“About time,” Jimin intones, “I’ve missed seeing you do that.” He picks himself off the floor, stretching his arms above his head as he goes. “Why don’t we show you all what dancing is really good for?” He has a gleam in his eye that Yoongi does not trust.

“Yoongi-ssi, do you think you could manage something more… serious?” He continues snidely, looking over his shoulder at Yoongi.

Yoongi rolls his eyes, but gets distracted when Hoseok comes over, chest still heaving from exertion. He leans over Yoongi, sweaty front lightly pressed to the top of Yoongi’s shoulder, and taps his hands over the stones in a fairly simple rhythm, repeating it a few times over. Yoongi tries to memorise it, but it’s taking all his concentration to not fixate on the place where their bodies are touching.

“Could you keep that going hyung?” Hoseok asks. Yoongi nods tightly.

It’s a heavier rhythm, still quick, but much less lively than the one Yoongi was keeping up before. It’s simple enough that once Yoongi has the hang of it, he can look up, the muscle memory keeping his hands moving.

Looking up is a mistake.

Hoseok has stripped out of his damp shirt, lean muscle shifting in his skinny torso. Jimin follows suit, Yoongi getting an eyeful of smooth smooth skin before flinching his gaze back down to his hands drumming. He keeps his focus on playing, looking at his own knobbly fingers, aware that the two have begun moving by the shifting of shadows in his periphery, and the sounds of their exertion.

Eventually though, he gets curious.

Once he has looked up, Yoongi is not able to tear his eyes away again. Where the kids dancing before was chaotic and uninhibited, these two seem to be following a rehearsed dance. Otherwise - how could their movements be so perfectly matched? While not identical, they fit together perfectly: when Hoseok moves forward, Jimin steps back; where Jimin leaps, Hoseok slides beneath. They are not touching, but they are so close they might as well be.

What is more fascinating is the way they use their element, the earth breaking and reforming around them, matching their movements, extending the lines of their body so they look almost inhuman. As it passes through the air, blocking the light from the fire, it casts long moving shadows over the space, over the two dancers. It looks surreal, dreamlike, the firelight rippling over them as they spin around each other.

Jimin and Hoseok’s eyes keep returning to each other, gazes locked, their heads turning to find the other even as their bodies twist away. Yoongi remembers the last time he saw Jimin like this, when they fought that first night. His eyes had been narrowed in focus, his body taut with control. The control is still here, although the anger is not. He moves fluidly, his feet pointed to extend the lines of his body, making even something as simple as sweeping his arm up look ethereal. Braided back, his long hair whips around him, wrapping around his body in counter to his motion. Fine wispy strands have pulled loose, framing his face, a few sticking down over his full cheeks and forehead.

Hoseok’s hair is short and wild, almost a mimic of his style in comparison to Jimin. Where Jimin is fluid, legato, Hoseok is jerky, each movement snapping to the beat Yoongi is drumming. It is no less flawless, no less breathtaking. He is so beautiful it feels physically painful to Yoongi, a knife twisting into the soft parts of him.

They shouldn’t fit together, their technique so vastly different, but they do. A matched set, Yoongi realises. A matched set, perfectly content, without him.

With startling clarity, Yoongi realises what he wants. What he has wanted since the moment he met Jimin, snapping at the other in misplaced frustration. From the moment Hoseok handed him a cup of tea, eyes crinkled in a smile, Yoongi feeling warm warm warm. And as he realises it, he shuts it down.

He can’t want both of them. It’s greedy, it’s impossible. He is disgusting for wanting that. The both of them have each other, a matched fucking set. Who would want him butting in and ruining that? Even if they weren’t a couple, why would either of them want Yoongi? Who is paranoid and grumpy and terrified constantly that his small family will break apart. No. Yoongi is going to take this unwieldy emotion and tamp it right down, bury it until it suffocates and never shakes him again.

Yoongi’s hands work more rapidly without him noticing, the music building to a crescendo. Their bodies follow, moving faster and faster, sweat building in a fine sheen over Jimin, while Hoseok is now dripping. By now, the atmosphere has thickened. Where before, they were both carefully avoiding touch, slipping past each other, they now brush very close. If Yoongi didn’t know any better, he would think it was violent, the way they are earthbending, it looking less and less like a dance and more like a fight. And when the tension builds to a point that feels like it will snap, their bodies slam together, hands meeting forearms, flesh juddering at the impact, rock cracking together with equal force and shattering. Yoongi cannot fathom how, but the shower of debris doesn’t hit anyone, the apparent chaos tightly controlled by the two benders.

Chests heaving, sweat dripping, they finish, coming to a bow.

For a moment there is pin drop silence, the group still reeling from the performance. Then Yoongi’s ear drums are blown by their cheering, whistles and clapping. While the others leap up to embrace the two dancers, Yoongi stays seated behind the instrument, his hands smarting, an uncomfortable weight settling heavy in his stomach.

Chapter Text

Midway along the Ni Gang River, Earth Kingdom
Jeongguk

“Take hold of my hand!” Jeongguk sobs, sweaty fingers clinging desperately to his Hyung’s shirt. His other arm stretches out over the cliff face, reaching, reaching, just barely missing Hyung's fingers as they swing wildly up to meet him. A second, a third swing, and their fingertips latch together. Jeongguk grabs on with all the strength he has, but it isn’t enough. Jeongguk has a grip on Hyung’s forearms now, but can’t seem to manage to heave him up over the cliffside.

“That’s it Jeongguk, keep a tight hold. Don’t let go.” Hyung says calmly.

“I won’t!” Jeongguk sobs, teeth gritted, arms straining.

“Don’t let go. My great nation will be in your hands some day.”

Jeongguk stares, uncomprehending, wondering why Hyung isn’t helping, why he isn’t pulling himself up to safety.

“Don’t let go. To do so would be cowardly. The Crown Prince can’t be a coward.” Hyung continues smoothly, at odds with how tightly he grips onto whatever bit of Jeongguk he can reach. “Keep a tight hold now… and let your flame punish this degenerate peasant.”

Jeongguk breathes out, and flames lick down Hyung’s arms, turning them red with heat before it catches on the skin, turning it black as coal.

Jeongguk can’t close his eyes. He can’t, even when the acrid smoke coming off the burning limbs rises into them.

Hyung is screaming. Jeongguk doesn’t let go.

----------------
Jeongguk

Disoriented, gasping for a breath, Jeongguk jolts upright. Across from him, Jin hyung looks up from where he has been sitting, safe, poking at the fire. His brows pull together in worry, body already up and moving to comfort Jeongguk. His perfect, unblemished arms reach to pull Jeongguk in for a hug.

Jeongguk recoils.

The ground under his palms blackens and he shudders at the sight, dragging his hands up to cradle at his chest, terrified of touching anything.

Jin hyung pays him no mind, tucking his tightly wound form up close.

“Did I ever tell you what Eomma would do when I had a nightmare?” Jin hyung murmurs, his gentle, undamaged palms soothing over Jeongguk, as if he were a small child still and not a young man who had been learning to handle a throne. Hyung has told him, many times.

“What would she do?” Jeongguk asks anyway, his own fists still held away from his hyung.

“She would tuck me up, tight and close,” Jin hyung gives him a squeeze, “She would tell me to breathe out the nightmare into a tight ball like this -” He cups his clean, unburnt hands and exhales into them, “Then she would help me throw it as hard as I could out the window. I nearly used to fall out myself with how hard I threw.”

Jeongguk manages a wobbly smile, extricating himself so that he could lie down again, “Wish I could have met her,”

“I know Gukka,” Jin hyung says, “I do too.”

-------------
Yoongi

“Eh?” Yoongi says, squinting up at Taehyung from where he is sitting, cutting the rot off of some potatoes they scrounged several weeks ago, and have been saving for when they absolutely had nothing else to eat.

“Status report!” Taehyung repeats, arm swinging up to his chest, the other tucked firmly behind his back in a mockery of the earth kingdom guard.

“Ah,” Yoongi huffs a laugh, then straightens up seriously, ready for the routine they have struck up over the last few weeks, “Go ahead scout, what’s the report?”

“Walked a thousand paces away from and along the river as you said to. Not a damned person in the area, save us lot,” Taehyung starts, the words at odds with the formal accent he has affected. Yoongi feels a swoop of mixed emotion - relief that there is nobody around to arrest them, sharp fear at what it means that they have not seen another human in weeks and weeks of travelling downriver.

“No sign of animal life either” Taehyung continues, keeping up the silly accent as if trying to distract from the terrible news, “But I did find a whole bush of nettles!” At this, Tae thrusts forward a handful of fuzzy weeds, clutched between rapidly reddening fingers.

“Taehyung!” Yoongi exclaims, aghast.

From atop one of the bison comes a sharp “What happened?” before Namjoon jumps down to see what the ruckus is.

His frown quickly dissipates, looking in glee at the prickly plant that has caused Taehyung’s hand to swell slightly. Yoongi is very confused.

“Please tell me there is more where that came from!” Namjoon asks. Yoongi wonders if they are looking at the same sad clump of weeds.

Later that evening Yoongi chews on the tough little leaves in his nettle soup, watching Jeongguk, who seems exhausted from a day of having rocks thrown at his head by Jimin and Hoseok, gesture for Taehyung’s wiel-covered hand. Taehyung gives it to him without question. Jeongguk pokes at a particularly swollen spot and Taehyung recoils with a wince, before proffering it forward for him to poke again. Yoongi shakes his head.

----------------
Two weeks later, further along the Ni Gang River
Namjoon

Touch is something Namjoon has had to get used to.

Not that the monks he grew up around were averse to touch - but they were certainly more reserved. Or perhaps it was Namjoon’s own fault, that he was too serious, too eager to become an adult, because the kids he grew up alongside clambered all over each other when the whim took them, usually leaving Namjoon out of it. Namjoon thought that was for the best, thought he preferred it. Certainly, when Taehyung was foisted upon him, with no sense of personal boundaries and a predilection for climbing into Namjoon’s bed to cuddle in the middle of the night, Namjoon had wished dearly to return to the time before, when touch was rare.

But he got used to Taehyung: it becoming something familiar, something comforting. Since leaving Ba Sing Se, the others in the group have taken Taehyung’s lead, cuddling, stroking his prickly head, linking arms. Jimin’s propensity to back hug and tuck his face between his shoulder blades is something of a surprise, as is Yoongi tucking his feet onto his lap when they are sat around the fire. Namjoon has long since accepted that he likes it; he likes being close to people. He still struggles to initiate it himself, so is glad that the others take the initiative.

So why is it that when Seokjin touches him, when he holds his hand, when he leans a head on his shoulder, when he sits cross legged next to him, knee pressed into Namjoon’s own, Namjoon feels so peculiar?

Right now, in this moment, Namjoon reaches down to help pull Seokjin up onto Moni. They settle beside each other, Seokjin calling over to Taehyung on Yeontan that they are ready to go. Namjoon ignores the buzz under his palm, where it had met Seokjin’s. He ignores the thrilling feeling of Seokjin’s hand curling securely into the back of Namjoon’s clothes, the way he always does when Moni takes off into the sky. He ignores it for now, hoping it’ll make sense eventually.

Namjoon is also unused to hunger. Certainly hunger like this, which gnaws and snarls in his empty belly. He is faring slightly worse than the others, because the plant life dried up far earlier than the fish did. Taehyung, for all his gleeful abandonment of vegetarianism, is strict in defending Namjoon when Yoongi tries forcing him to give it up after the rice runs out and the only thing available is the paltry singular fish they manage to catch and split between six.

Tae disappeared for ages while the meagre meal was cooking, returning with a handful of deep black berries that he proudly presented to Namjoon. Poking at one, and watching the violently purple insides spill out, Namjoon morosely informed Taehyung that they were poisonous. The clawing gnawing hunger whispered to him that it didn't matter, that the berries would fill him up well before it killed him.

Which is why, now, Namjoon settles against Jin atop Moni, all of them ready to fly for however long it takes to find civilization, and something properly filling for them to eat.

------------
Taehyung

Yeontan yawns deeply and the motion of it makes Taehyung’s stomach swoop. Behind him, Jeongguk and Yoongi yelp in alarm.

“Poor Tannie,” Taehyung commiserates, stroking over the tufts of floof within reach, “I’m sorry buddy, we’ll find somewhere for you to land soon!”

Tae hopes so anyway - they’ve been at this for hours and there has been nothing promising. They’ve been going down the river, hoping to find some town or village to spend some of their meagre change in, but nothing. As they get further along, this makes more and more sense to Taehyung…

“It looks like a river of poop.” Observes Yoongi, sticking his head over Yeontan’s side precariously.

“Hyung!” groans Jeongguk.

“What? It does!” Yoongi blusters.

Unfortunately, Yoongi is right, the river is muddied brown and stinking so heavily that the smell is beginning to reach them in the clouds. Taehyung suspects it isn’t poop, but whatever it is it’s bad for the river and it is bad for anything trying to live in or near it.

Several turns of the river later, the sun is setting rapidly, and Taehyung is finding it more and more difficult to see anything except what is directly below him.

Yoongi and Jeongguk have decided to preserve what little energy they both have by napping, Jeongguk sprawled in a starfish, his leg straddling the little ball that is Yoongi. Taehyung wants desperately to join them, but he needs to keep alert.

If they don’t find food tonight, he doesn’t know how they are going to be able to wake up the next day to keep looking.

It jerks Taehyung right out of his lethargy when far up ahead a whoop of exhausted joy rings out, before Moni dives down suddenly towards something Taehyung cannot see.

----------------
Yoongi

Above them, the sky is quickly settling into the thick blanket of night. Namjoon says he saw a village ahead, but if there is one it is shrouded by the trees and the dark. They have settled a distance from the river, deep into the woods to avoid the smell emanating from the water. Yoongi is desperately tired, and desperately hungry, but still more than willing to traipse through to this village to do some reconnaissance. Before he can suggest it, Jin hyung shakes out his bedroll and forces him down onto it.

“Hyung-” he tries to protest, but Jin just frowns and sets a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“You have eaten even less than the rest of us these past few weeks - I’ve seen you sneaking your food onto the kid’s plates!” Jin hisses in a whisper, “You look ready to keel over. Go to sleep you idiot.” He shoves Yoongi very aggressively again into the ground before stalking off to air out his own mat to sleep on.

The aforementioned kids have already puppy piled themselves onto the same bedroll a fair ways away from him, but Yoongi predicts that one or both of them will migrate onto his roll by morning. Namjoon is snoring, not having bothered to get off of his bison, while Jimin is supporting a swaying Hoseok, who looks very green after flying for so long. He dry heaves next to a tree for a few moments, Jimin stroking his back. Yoongi ignores them both, getting back up despite Jin’s warning glare because nobody has set up a fire yet.

When the fire is safely set, a few scavenged twigs used as a ring to keep it in check while everybody sleeps, Yoongi lies back, rolling onto his right side and curling his limbs in like he usually does to feel secure when he sleeps. He almost immediately jerks away again.

Hoseok, having settled his rolling stomach, is lying very very close, his hand placed so near in front of Yoongi’s face that he could brush it with his nose if he leaned even a little closer. The man the hand belongs to is knocked out asleep, his eyelashes gently pressed over his high cheekbones. Yoongi’s hand twitches, wanting to reach out and touch.

Jimin stumbles over from where he had been pissing in the woods, barely keeping his eyes open as he beelines for Hoseok. Yoongi quickly feigns sleep, unable to ignore the grunt that comes when Jimin collapses half on top of Hoseok, nor the sleepy chuckled apology. Yoongi turns away onto his other side and tries desperately to slide into blissful unconsciousness.

---------------
Jimin

Soft, slow, sticky sweet kisses exchanged under the dark cover of night are an indulgence Jimin doesn’t think he will survive without anymore. Hoseok is addicting, and Jimin can’t help but crush forward whenever he pulls even a hair's breadth away. Hoseok is also distractible, moving from Jimin’s mouth to his cheek, the crook of his neck, the shell of his ear without pause. Flushed and gasping, Jimin mirrors.
When Hoseok’s hand slips gently beneath his tunic, fingertips brushing over Jimin’s trembling stomach, Jimin pulls abruptly back, eyes darting over Hoseok’s shoulder to where Yoongi is sleeping barely a foot away, conscious of Tae and Jeongguk behind him.

“Not here,” he breathes, and Hoseok swallows his lust visibly, bringing the hand up to cup Jimin’s face instead.

It has been… difficult to keep their hands away from each other. Ever since that night in the cave, their bodies spinning together like two stars trying to pull the other into its gravity. Jimin hasn’t been able to resist. Hoseok was already ridiculously handsome, but seeing him in his element again switched on something bright and electric inside Jimin.

“I used to wonder what it would be like,” Jimin says, tracing his fingers down Hoseok’s arm, “to kiss you like this.”

“Is it like you imagined?” Hoseok asks.

“Better-” Jimin is interrupted by another kiss, and giggles at Hoseok’s ardour.

They are interrupted again a few moments later, this time by Jimin’s stomach growling piteously, Hoseok’s following like a strange reply. Jimin rubs a regretful hand over his belly, wishing he had something to eat if only to quiet it.

“I’m really surprised you know,” Hoseok murmurs, lying down fully, face still tucked close to Jimin, “How a rich boy like you -” he flicks at Jimin’s nose playfully, “- doesn’t complain about slumming it like this.”

“I mean I could do without having to bathe in the river,” Jimin shudders, remembering the time a fish swam straight into his, uhh, jewels, “but the hunger I’m used to. My mother - she believes food is something to be controlled, that having it freely makes you gluttonous and without discipline. And if I had angered her… then I didn’t deserve it at all.”

It is getting easier to talk about his mother, but it still feels like a betrayal.

Hoseok makes a frustrated sound, holding Jimin’s hand tightly. Jimin smiles ruefully.

“I never had a mother, but Yongsun made sure I ate, even if it meant she didn’t.” Hoseok frowns, “I should have done more for her before I left.”

“Yongsun is strong though, she must be thriving even without you there.”

Jimin had only known Yongsun for a couple days, but from Hoseok’s stories, he is confident the woman is doing fine. Hoseok hums in agreement.

Their conversation meanders away from these painful things and into the slightly more lighthearted topic of their shared time in the dance circuit.

“At first I thought maybe you were angry with me, staring like that all the time.” Jimin laughs quietly.

“Oh no!” Hoseok yelps, then hushes when Namjoon snores particularly loudly in response, “I just wanted a proper look at you, your hair was always in your face!”

“I was petrified about being recognised.”

“It’s good you were safe - but I wish you had become brave earlier on, so we had more time before you got whisked away by your parents.”

“Me too,” Jimin says, “But we are together now.”

He blushes at saying such mushy things, and gets the blush kissed right off his cheeks.

----------
Namjoon

At dawn, Namjoon is too hungry to do much more than squint across at an exhausted looking Jeongguk and excuse him from his lessons for the day. Taehyung takes this opportunity to drag Jeongguk up and away exploring, while Namjoon just conks back to sleep.

The sun is only marginally higher, and Namjoon certainly isn’t anymore rested, when Min ‘firebenders rise with the sun’ Yoongi shakes him awake again.

“Lead me to the village.” He demands, and Namjoon complies yawningly. They go together in the general direction of the river, intending to walk along it to where Namjoon had spotted it the evening before. But the riverside is blocked off with metal fences, so they have to traipse a more meandering path through the woods to reach their destination.

Namjoon and Yoongi don’t talk much, but their stomachs growl alternately in conversation. While they walk Namjoon keeps an eye out for any berries or leaves or anything, but the place is almost dead apart from the trees. Trees that themselves look sick, their trunks thin and spindly, low bare branches barren of leaves weighing them down, the tree tops sparsely littered with pallid leaves. Namjoon brushes his hands morosely across the bark as they walk, wondering what had poisoned this place so thoroughly.

Namjoon gets his answer when the trees thin out to reveal the village. In the dark the night before it had been an obscure clump of buildings, clearly manmade, and good enough for their famished group to pin their hopes on. In daylight he can see wooden structures haphazardly built atop and across the river. Parts of it were held up by stilts, the river having widened enough this downriver to host nearly four ramshackle huts held precariously across its width. Outside a few of these huts sit wizened elderly people, hunched in their chairs. A few children, more bones than flesh, laze lethargically, feet dangling in water that is opaquely brown. The morning sun makes steam rise hazily above it, bringing with it a rotten smell that makes Yoongi gag loudly. The children watch them balefully.

Namjoon balks when he sees that the hut with ratty painted signage that says ‘FOOD N STUFF’ is in the middle of the river, the only way to reach it without swimming in filth being a thin rope bridge strung between the huts.

“You can go first,” Yoongi offers, straightfaced.

“No no, elders have priority.” Namjoon snarks back.

“I don’t subscribe to such backwards ageist ways of thinking, you should go first.”

“No really, it’s rude and besides,” Namjoon tries to push Yoongi forwards but he holds as firm as an earthbender, “You have more life experience, you’ll be better at this.”

Neither of them go first.

Instead, they both watch, aghast, as Jeongguk, closely tailed by Taehyung, emerges from the FOOD N STUFF hut and waltzes across the wobbling bridge with deceptive ease. They are both empty handed. When they spy Namjoon and Yoongi standing like a couple of lemons at the banks, Jeongguk smiles and Taehyung waves wildly, making the rope bridge sway alarmingly. They speed up, arriving before them breathless and talking over one another.

“They don’t have any grains like you wanted hyung -” Taehyung almost trips over the words in his rush to speak.

“You know how avatar Jian said there aren’t any spirits left? Well -” Jeongguk talks very quickly, almost under his breath and Namjoon struggles to catch it with Tae talking over him.

“- but the man said he had a tiny tiny little bit of leftover dried jerky and riverweed and -”

“- and he said that a spirit protects the village and this stretch of the river and -” Jeongguk continues.

“- and he said there would be some shipments of food in for tomorrow maybe maybe perhaps but he said he makes no promises -”

“ - he said she visits every so often and helps the people here and -”

“ - so if we want to eat tonight our best bet is going to the fisherman whose stall is across the bridge to the left.” Taehyung concludes, out of breath.

“- that she knew one of my past lives! Do you think she would show herself to me too?” Jeongguk’s eyes are wide and shining.

Namjoon stares, trying to process the hailstorm of words just thrown at him. Across from them, the wizened elderly are also staring, although it seems more curious than hostile now.

“Wait,” Yoongi says, and Namjoon is grateful that he is here to untangle whatever response needs to be made to these two.

“Did you just say your past life?” Yoongi continues sharply, panic colouring his words, “You didn’t tell this guy who you were, did you?”

“Relax, he’s too smart to do that.” Taehyung says.

“Yeah -” Jeongguk flashes a smile at Taehyung, “the man in the shop was really excited to tell us about the Painted Lady spirit, he told us she was friends with Jian unprompted.”

At the shop, it quickly becomes clear why the man was so eager to talk about this ‘Painted Lady’ when he pulls out statues of the spirit in several sizes, the smallest being the size of Namjoon’s pinky finger. The paint peels off of it. Jeongguk seems to hang off of the seller’s every word, looking in awe at the shabby little statue.

“Only three silver pieces for her!” he grins, two teeth missing, “A bargain!”

The food options, as Taehyung had hinted, are extremely limited. They emerge holding a bag of jerky, some vile looking riverweed and a sack of tree nuts, having been unburdened of nearly a third of the coin they had bought along just for that measly amount. Namjoon hadn’t bought the statue.

“So what d’you think?” Jeongguk asks as they emerge and wobble their way back to the bank, Jeongguk keeping a supportive hand under Namjoon’s elbow.

“I think this riverweed might not be edible.”

“No,” Jeongguk laughs, “About the painted lady?”

Namjoon’s mouth twists, “I doubt she exists, or if she does, she isn’t around anymore.” Namjoon points with his chin at the sickly water below. “This river is barely surviving and half the people here are sick, no protector spirit would let it get this bad.”

Jeongguk looks crestfallen. Namjoon feels kind of bad, but is quickly distracted by the return of Yoongi and Taehyung, who arrive back from the fisherman carrying two muck brown fish, one of which has three eyes. Namjoon suppresses a wave of nausea when the third eye gently pops out of the fish’s head, Painted Lady forgotten.

---------------
Jimin

When the boys return wielding revolting looking fish, wilted weeds and jerky so tough he could crack a tooth on it, Jimin is disappointed to say the least. He may not have eaten much at home, but the little he did eat was quality. This is barely edible, practically poisonous. He swallows down his dinner with difficulty, the hunger pangs overcoming his disgust. The royalty among the group eat their dinner without complaint, so Jimin swallows his complaints down with the slimy fish.

Hoseok and him had carried some flasks of absolutely filthy water from the riverside that morning, and spent an absolute age painstakingly separating out the clots of mud from the water, before setting up the little filtration fire thingy that Taehyung had taught them. The water was clean enough to drink, although it was a lot of effort for barely enough water to get them through cooking one meal.

Once he has returned, Jimin corrals Jeongguk into the water efforts, thinking that this is a good opportunity to practice fine control over very small particles of earth.

“It might go a little faster if you could bend the water too,” Hoseok muses.

Jeongguk frowns, then grits his teeth and twists his hand above the bowl of water. The water sloshes about a little, then the whole thing wrenches out of its container straight onto Yoongi, who is sitting innocently to the side, slicing riverweed. He splutters, his hair plastered onto his scalp, his eyelashes clumped prettily. Blinking water out of his eyes, he squints at Jeongguk, mouth pulled open in a disgruntled triangle.

“Sorry!” Jeongguk says, but he is laughing, as is everybody else. Yoongi shakes his head vigorously at him in retaliation. Jimin is giggling so much at this point he forgets that he is miserably hungry, forgets about the toxic looking fish.

-------------------
Seokjin

Jeongguk is acting weird. It’s nothing obvious, nobody else seems to have noticed anything, but Seokjin knows his little brother’s tells. Those fidgety hands, staring off into space, only barely picking over his food. Though that last one can probably be attributed to the fish being extremely... questionable.

The food is filling if nothing else, and that is all it needs to be, literally just fuel to keep them upright and functional so that they can get to somewhere better. Better is a vague concept, they have been wandering along the river with no other plans because they are lacking a map or any particular knowledge of earth kingdom terrain beyond the major cities.

Around the fire, Yoongi and Jimin are arguing again over this exact conundrum. Jimin wants to venture west, try their luck striking out into the wide plains of the continent. Yoongi wants to stick to the river and their guaranteed source of water, if less than guaranteed source of food. Seokjin hasn’t formed an opinion yet, waiting to see who is more convincing.

Jeongguk chews his lip, pokes at his fish. Something is definitely up.

The group is pretty lethargic, having finally eaten a halfway filling meal after a week of slow starvation. Yoongi and Jimin haven’t come to any consensus except that they definitely need to leave the next day; Namjoon is not going to survive on riverweed alone.
As everyone settles tiredly for the night , Seokjin opens his arms automatically for Jeongguk to crawl into, as he has been doing lately with his nightmares. But he shakes his head and lays down alone. Seokjin makes a note to poke him until he gives up his broody teenager routine tomorrow before falling into exhausted oblivion.