Archive of Our Own

The world doesn’t understand Shouto.

He’s an aberration. An anomaly.

His siblings turned out one way or another, but the spirits must have tired after so many tries. The youngest, the one who bends more than one element, has to be cursed, people say. He ought to be a warning from the Spirits to all those around to not repeat it - to not mix what shouldn’t be mixed. It’s the only explanation, people whisper. It’s not natural.

After all, only the Avatar is supposed to bend more than one element.

It’s a curse.

(It’s a blessing, his father said over and over. He took Shouto to visit the Fire Lord one day, and the smile the man gave Shouto sent a shiver down his spine.

The people who whisper don’t know the Fire Lord approved his father’s idea and provided him with everything needed to bring back a waterbender from the Southern raids. They don’t know their leader gave Enji’s union with Rei his blessing).

(Shouto’s mother barely left their house before she disappeared. Fuyumi and Natsuo did, but their heads were always down. Shouto doesn’t know how they endured the neverending gossip).

People whisper about how Shouto’s not going to last when his father isn’t nearby and they think Shouto isn’t paying attention. Water and fire are bound to clash inside of him. He’s doomed to fade away and perish, leaving only rumors of his eerie calamity behind.

Shouto survives, and as the years pass by, he gets better and better at bending both of his elements.

Their family rises in position in the court, getting more power and respect, given out by the Fire Lord himself, and from then on, nobody dares question Shouto’s abilities.

Cursed, their eyes keep saying in the shadows of silence.

Shouto’s skill in bending soon becomes common knowledge among the nobles, so it’s not so much of a surprise when his father arranges a position for Shouto in an important infantry squad so early. It’s not part of one of the battalions he commands and it’s a squad focused on defense and scouting, but Shouto doesn’t doubt he’ll be transferred sooner or later - to under his father’s command, no less. Being a General seems to give him a lot of leeway in what he does.

(Like training Shouto so brutally until he puked breakfast. Like gifting Shouto waterbending scrolls the Fire Nation shouldn’t have and forcing him to read them until his eyes were dry and the forms were seared into his mind.

Like making Mother disappear after she bent boiling water to Shouto’s face).

Even more so when the Fire Lord approves of his actions.

“It’s good to get an early start,” his father says. “You’ll rise in the ranks quickly, and soon, you’ll be ready for the frontlines. You’ll do amazing things there.”

Shouto thinks of the soft smiles his mother used to give him. Sometimes, she was allowed to train him - mostly, during the nights closest to a new moon. Those were peaceful days of training, and Shouto wouldn’t have to worry about bruises and aches before going to bed. It was just him and his mother, bending the water from their pond in simple smooth ribbons and freezing it in silly blobs.

She seemed to shine when so close to her element and away from the vicious crackle of a fire.

(Shouto used to daydream about what it’d have been like to grow up in the South Pole with his mother’s family and his siblings. The idea of being surrounded everywhere by pure white snow was odd, but he could bet they’d have had peaceful nights all the time. His mother, his siblings, and he, all together. Even Touya would have loved it despite the cold).

“I’ll lead you to glorious battles, Shouto. You’ll see,” his father continues.

Shouto resists the urge to snort. His father takes his silence as an agreement and smiles, satisfied.

Shouto rather thinks the Fire Nation is the curse.

&&&

Like everything in his life, Shouto adapts to work in the army distinctly well.

The sergeant that assigns their tasks each week doesn’t look twice at Shouto. He explains to Shouto when asked that he knows about his double bending, and he makes the necessary adjustments in his assignments due to it - often meaning more workload. Whatever expression Shouto makes at that, he only earns an unimpressed look.

“We’ve all seen a lot of weird things out in the field, Private,” the sergeant says. “Spirit-related and otherwise. I read your files - you're skilled, and that’s what matters to us, so pull your weight.”

It doesn’t prevent Shouto’s colleagues from giving his scar and his dual-colored hair wary glances, but they do cooperate with him during their shifts.

Scouting turns out to be easy, but it’s a good distraction. Shouto also doesn’t mind the concentration it takes to patrol their designated perimeter, and it’s exhilarating using his waterbending to cage enemy trespassers in ice. Nobody complains about him using more water than fire - at least, not where he can hear it.

“That was awesome, man!” One of the newcomers who was drafted along with Shouto says after one of such times. Shouto looks at him from the corner of his eye, and the boy’s hand halts centimeters away from clapping Shouto’s back.

The boy gives a nervous laugh and pulls his hand back.

“Come on, Kaminari,” another boy says. His polite smile falters slightly when he catches Shouto’s eyes.

Before they’re out of hearing range, Kaminari says: “Damn, I thought I was gonna get frozen there for a second.” He sighs loudly. “Thanks, Sero.”

“No problem, man. Sometimes I think they made a mistake and Todoroki is actually waterbender kidnapped from one of the Poles.”

“It’d make so much sense!”

Times passes, but Shouto doesn’t make any attachments in that unit.

&&&

Eyes are watching him from a tree.

Shouto breathes out, willing his inner fire to remain as a simmer, and uncaps his waterskin. The water is right there, sitting on the edge of his consciousness, one flick of a wrist away from following the guidance of his chi to clash against the intruder.

Yet, Shouto doesn’t move.

He just - stops.

He stares back at the eyes.

The person on the tree seems to take that as an answer to some unknown question, and instead of taking advantage of Shouto’s hesitation, they come from behind the leaves. The moonlight illuminates a boy’s face, giving him an almost ethereal look.

There’s a prickling on the back of Shouto’s head as if there’s something familiar about this person.

The boy jumps down. It’s a windless winter night, but there’s not even a whisper of the sound of leaves rustling or boots crunching dirt underneath them as the boy makes his way closer. Shouto tenses, watching his silent steps.

“You-” the boy says. He swallows, making an absent-minded gesture toward his own head. “You’re the one who’s like me. Aren’t you?”

Shouto narrows his eyes but doesn’t answer him. He moves his hand closer to the waterskin, and against everything he was ever taught, he doesn’t attack. He waits.

The boy pauses, and it’s only then that he seems to pay attention to Shouto’s uniform. He curses softly, shifting back and distributing his weight between his feet.

“You're a soldier,” the boy says. “Of course you're a soldier. That’s just my luck.”

Shouto should’ve immobilized the boy by now and called reinforcements to detain him. He’s a fighter, going by his posture, and fighting an earthbender in the middle of a forest isn’t a good idea.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” He asks.

The boy raises his hands, but he doesn’t make a further move to attack Shouto either. “I could ask you the same! You bend more than one element, don’t you?”

That’s not exactly a secret. More than a few Earth Kingdom soldiers had already seen Shouto bend. Shouto raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

The boy gives him a sad smile. “That’s fair. So you can’t hide like me at all, huh. The Spirits weren’t very kind to you. Is that why you're in the Fire Nation army? Were you forced to work here?”

Shouto frowns.

Then what the boy had been implying clicks into place, and the world slips away from under his feet.

Everything tilts dizzyingly, tumbling away from their axis until gravity doesn’t make sense anymore and the air feels like lead. Shouto scrambles to take hold of something, anything, because this can’t-

“Wait,” he says, feeling his mouth dry all of a sudden. He only notices he had taken a few steps forward when the boy backs away. “Wait. You too? You bend more than one element too?”

-this can’t be true.

(Shouto thinks of his mother’s sad smile one of the times she talked about her homeland. The years faded her words in his memory, but he remembers crying and how his mother’s arms trembled as she held him).

(She bent boiling water at him because his left side looked too much like his father. She couldn’t take it anymore, she was broken because he- ).

Can it not?

The boy doesn’t answer him for the longest time. Then he nods, dropping his fighting stance.

“Yeah,” he says softly.

The boy holds a cupping hand up, and a fire lights up inside it, small but brilliant, held with such care as if it was a precious, delicate thing. He makes a sharp gesture upward with his other hand, and a few leaves follow a spiral up. The fire dances at the unnatural wind but doesn’t falter, casting shifting shadows on the boy’s face.

All the air escapes Shouto’s lungs.

“That’s…”

“Not possible?” The boy offers after Shouto’s voice dies out. He closes his hand, extinguishing the fire. “I thought the same until I had a dream last night. Part of me wanted to believe it, but I just couldn’t. Not without seeing it with my own eyes.”

Shouto forces himself to breathe in slowly. He can almost hear his father’s voice in his ear, spatting at him to drop this ridiculous act. This is the enemy, taking advantage of a weakness Shouto should’ve never let others see. He should be better than this - he is better than this. That’s what he was trained for, after all.

Only, it’s the first time someone bent two elements in front of him.

His fire burns something fierce under his skin, but instead of letting it roar and attack, Shouto only lets a small flame engulf his fingers. He meets the boy’s eyes and pulls a glob of water from the waterskin. It feels natural how the water follows his lead and stretches into a ribbon to circle around his hand.

The boy’s shoulders drop. He runs his hand down his face, blinking fast.

“Water and fire.”

Shouto returns the water to the skin and exhales, extinguishing the fire. “And you're fire and air.” He gives the boy a look. “How?”

The boy sighs.

“How do you think?”

“That’s impossible. All the air nomads were killed a hundred years ago.”

There’s a pause.

“Were they?”

Shouto thinks of the way the leaves danced along to an unnatural wind at the call of a hand. He looks at the boy’s round features and remembers the painting of his parents’ so-called marriage hanging on a wall back at their house.

“Shit.”

“Yeah. I-yeah. I guess you understand that.” The boy seems to try for a smile, but it’s wobbly at best. “I’m Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku.” His smile becomes nervous when Shouto doesn’t answer him. “Uh, and what’s your name?”

For a moment, Shouto doesn’t know what to think.

“You're the enemy,” Shouto says instead of answering him.

Midoriya snorts, but when Shouto remains in silence, he blinks, something intense marking his features. “Are you serious? I thought-” Midoriya makes a vague gesture towards Shouto’s uniform. “I thought that wasn’t for real.”

“You think I’m wearing a Fire Nation uniform for no reason?”

Midoriya winces. “Well, when you put it like that.”

Before either of them can say anything else, Midoriya jolts. His eyes snap to the side one second before the sound of distant voices reaches Shouto’s ears. Shouto recognizes them as the people with the next shift, covering the perimeter like Shouto should’ve been doing.

They work in pairs during the night patrol because firebenders are weaker without sunlight. Shouto’s waterbending has him exempt from that and makes for a big advantage. If he decides to confront the soldiers coming, he knows he can take them, but not without the cost of making a commotion. His waterbending isn’t subtle.

“You can’t stay here,” Shouto says. “You need to go.”

Midoriya nods. Then he does the strangest thing: he extends a hand for Shouto.

“Come with me,” Midoriya offers. “I can help you get out of here.”

Shouto takes a controlled breath. His lungs expand and contract, feeding his inner fire. It’s a calming, centering move, and it’s decisive for a firebender to master it from the very beginning so they can make the most out of their attacks.

His inner fire protests, out of step with his heart. The air feels heavy.

&&&

“Todoroki?” One of his colleagues asks. “Is something wrong?”

Shouto takes a moment to answer.

“No.”

“Are you sure? You should be way further ahead by now.”

“I thought I saw something.”

“A trespasser?”

“No.”

“No? So what was-”

“It was nothing. I was wrong.”

“Ah. Well, okay then.”

The two murmur something between them, but Shouto doesn’t pay attention. They don’t question him beyond that.

He glances at the direction Midoriya disappeared behind the trees, turns around, and returns to patrol.

&&&

The words have been on the back of Shouto’s mind for a long time now. He once wrote them down, simple sentences that conveyed his world but seemed so poor at the same time. The ink had still been drying under the soft sunlight of that cloudy day when he burned the piece of paper; not a single particle of the ashes could be found later.

Shouto remembers word for word of what he wrote. This time, inside a Fire Nation army camp, a safe place, a small fortress, there are fewer eyes on him. Shouto’s hands aren’t shaking like that day when they were still under the stress of relentless hours of training with his father.

As soon as his next break starts, Shouto makes quick work. He attaches the parchment to a messenger hawk and sends it to Fuyumi. He doesn’t know which island Natsuo’s healer work has taken him to now, but he trusts Fuyumi will find a way to contact him.

From what Shouto remembers, their father isn’t due to return to their house in the capital for a few more weeks. That should give them enough time to pack what they need.

Shouto leaves his armor and prepares a light bag, and then he’s out of the camp before the eyes that always take turns watching his every move can take notice.

&&&

When Shouto tracks Midoriya, he’s some twenty minutes away from the place they met, in an area still under the Earth Kingdom rule. His camp is in front of a cave entrance, hidden by the thick foliage in the area, and he’s laughing alongside two other people around a fire.

Shouto stops by the edge of the trees.

The girl is the first to see him.

She shoots to her feet, cutting the other boy mid-word. In a quick, fluid movement, she brandishes a wooden staff. If Shouto hadn’t seen Midoriya do something similar first, he’d think the few leaves twisting up in the air were the result of a breeze. Shouto stiffens while the girl looks him up and down, a furrow growing between her brows when she sees his hair.

“Stay back,” the girl says. Her voice is steel.

“Ochako, wait!” Midoriya is suddenly there between his friends and Shouto. “It’s okay! He’s with me. I-I mean-” Midoriya glances back at him. ”He’s like me. Sort of.”

The girl's skeptical look wasn't at all unexpected.

“Midoriya,” the other boy says, edging to the girl’s side. His footsteps are as nerve-racking silent. “I saw him in the Fire Nation post nearby. He’s a soldier.”

“Not anymore.”

Midoriya doesn’t hesitate to face his friends, leaving his back open to Shouto as he explains what happened last night for them.

The genuine trust Midoriya has in Shouto is odd. Maybe it’s naivety, a weakness that is to be exploited until people are left dry and useless, as his father would say. Shouto isn’t very fond of that description. The measure of carefulness in each of Midoriya’s actions when they met, the sharpness of his eyes, hints at something entirely different, though. It’s difficult to figure out which is the misconception and which is the truth.

It’s a disquieting conclusion, but instead of making Shouto feel like he’s backed on the edge of a precipice, it feels refreshing. It's like a steady hand, one that he could perhaps trust to catch him when the ground crumbles underneath him.

Shouto’s not quite sure he likes it. He knows how the edge of the precipice works, and what it takes to not be thrown over the edge; this, not so much.

“I don’t know where I stand,” Shouto says. It’s the most honest answer he can give them. “But he’s right. I’m not with the army, not anymore.”

The girl narrows her eyes. “And we’re just supposed to believe that?”

“No,” Shouto concedes. He continues, ignoring Midoriya’s sputtering. “That would be stupid. But it’s the only thing I can offer you.” He performs slow movements with his hands so they can follow him as he bends water and fire. “I don’t want the Fire Nation to win this war either.”

Shouto meets their gazes, steadfast, and before long, they abandon their fighting positions. A relieved sigh escapes Midoriya.

“I suppose that’s fair,” the boy says.

The girl crosses her arms, but nods. “Can’t argue with that.”

“Great!” Midoriya grins at Shouto. “Now that that’s settled-” he claps his hands, “-these are my friends, Uraraka and Iida. Guys, this is...”

“Todoroki Shouto,” Shouto completes, giving them a slight bow.

They return his greetings.

With the risk from the Fire Nation camp nearby, they decide it’s better to pack up and move on. There’ll certainly be people sent after Shouto; the only question is when, and this doubt isn’t a risk any of them are willing to take.

They gather their things around the camp. Todoroki helps them douse their fire, and soon enough they’re moving.

“Where to?” Uraraka asks.

“Northeast,” Midoriya says, but Shouto shakes his head.

“To the northeast there are fields. They’ll have people sweeping a vast radius from the quarters, so we won’t have time to reach a good hiding spot. If you want to go in that direction, our best bet is southeast and turn north further ahead.”

“Through the forest and the side of the swamp.” Iida nods. “That sounds good.”

They find the east from the direction the sun had risen and from that, the south, and then they begin to walk. 

“I’m glad you decided to come,” Midoriya tells Shouto later, falling back and matching his pace. He grins again; apparently, he’s full of those. It lacks that off-putting edge like the ones some of his fellow soldiers and the people from the capital had when they smiled at Shouto. “Welcome to the team.”

Uraraka and Iida stay ahead of them, but every once in a while, they give Shouto discreet glances. Shouto can’t blame them for it.

This is all a new ground. Shouto’s nerves are still wired, his mind restless, but there is something euphoric pumping through his heart. The padlock holding him behind bars is broken. Shouto can’t say he minds this.

&&&

“Want some help with that?”

Shouto looks at the pile of dirty dishes he’s cleaning and shrugs.

Midoriya places a bundle of clothes on the ground and kneels beside Shouto by the river, rolling up his sleeves. He smiles when Shouto gives the bundle a questioning look.

“It’s for you. You know, so you don’t go around the Earth Kingdom wearing red clothes,” Midoriya explains. The 'and don’t draw attention to us' is implied there. “We’ll be leaving the forest tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” Shouto says. He didn’t bring much in terms of clothing, so he’s still wearing the robes he used underneath his armor; they’re a deep red, and Shouto admits it would be unfortunate to go around the Earth Kingdom like this.

Shouto picks the bundle up gently. It’s a full set of clothes: a beige undershirt, a green robe with white and brown details along the sleeves and neck, and dark-colored pants. The fabric feels rough against his fingers; it’ll probably chafe his skin after a while. The colors are a bit faded, giving the clothes a worn look, so they may be an extra set of hand-me-downs Midoriya and his group had.

Shouto sets the clothes back on the ground, minding the mud on the bank of the river.

“Why?”

“Hm?”

Midoriya looks at him in confusion. Water drips from his cupped hand, hitting the pan with soft plinks. He seems inexplicably at ease beside Shouto.

“Why did you ask me to come with you?” Shouto clarifies. Midoriya leans back, his expression becoming neutral even if his gaze is sharp as always. He’s paying attention. Good. “You didn’t know me. All you had on me was that I was a soldier. You had no way to know if I was going to betray you or not.”

“I know.”

“Then why? You risked-” your friends, your family, the secrecy of your people, “-a lot by doing that.”

“I had a feeling it was going to be okay.”

“You can’t…” Shouto isn’t often left speechless. “You can’t have done all that just because of a hunch.”

“Well, no, not really." Midoriya gives him a rueful smile. "I told you I had a dream. The spirits showed you to me, and I knew then that I had to meet you,” he says. His gaze seems lost somewhere far beyond the river, seeing things Shouto isn’t privy to. “You said you never had a dream like that.”

It’s not a question, but Shouto nods in answer. “The spirits don’t talk to me.”

“Maybe you still have to awaken that ability.”

“I don’t have a connection with the Spirits, Midoriya. Not like you.”

“See, that’s the thing. You think that, but you've never tried to talk with them either, have you? So you can't be sure.”

Shouto has no answer for that. He rubs one of the plates harder than necessary, pushing memories of an empty house and solitude that he didn’t dare to let breathe most of the days to the back of his mind. 

Midoriya sighs.

They clean and dry the dishes in silence. Shouto stacks the plates on top of the pan and makes to get up, but a hand on his shoulder stops him.

“You don’t have that look in your eyes,” Midoriya says, and Shouto knows he’s not talking about the Spirits anymore. The weight of his gaze locks Shouto in place, and that’s dangerous, too dangerous. “Maybe you’ve seen it before. It’s- hatred and malice. Greed. You look at those eyes and you see those feelings are roots that run so deep inside those people, like a hunger that’s waiting to devour your soul. It's neverending, and it feels like it’ll swallow you if you dare step close to that abyss.”

“A fire that won’t be contented until it burns everything in its path,” Shouto says softly.

"Yeah. It's terrifying. Those are the eyes of the people who support this war.” It’s a juxtaposition, the soft intensity that emanates from Midoriya and presses against Shouto. “But it’s not in everyone - not from the Earth Kingdom, and not from the Fire Nation.” His grip tightens. “I didn’t see it in you and I still don’t. So yes, I took a gamble, but I don’t regret it.”

The urge to snap that he could still be planning to betray Midoriya and his friends is a reflex, but he holds it back. It wouldn’t be the truth, anyway.

The sides of Midoriya’s mouth lose the hardened edge that pressed them into a thin line, and his whole face seems to soften along with it.

“Can I ask you a question back?”

Shouto nods after a moment.

“Why did you decide to come?”

Shouto had been expecting this question for days. He mulled over what to say - or even if he should say nothing at all - but nothing seemed adequate. Now, when he opens his mouth, words loosen from his tongue, and it’s easy to let them bubble over. It feels right.

He tells Midoriya about his past.

Midoriya listens in silence.

“I think the Fire Lord had plans for me, so that's why there were always eyes watching me.” Shouto closes his eyes. “One way or another, I had to figure out their blind spots so I could make the most of my free time, and when my father got me in the army before the drafting, I decided to use that window of opportunity. The Fire Nation is overconfident; they don’t leave many cracks exposed, but those that they miss still contain critical data.”

“So if you climbed the ranks,” Midoriya offers.

“The more information I’d find, probably. Then I could pass it along to someone from the resistance,” Shouto completes.

“That’s…” Midoriya blinks a few times, shaking his head. “You found a way to get inside info even in your situation. That's amazing.”

“Maybe in theory. It might not have ever worked, in the end. Progress was too slow because there were too many eyes on me, but by the time I noticed that I was already in.”

Midoriya frowns but doesn't disagree. “And then I showed up."

“Yes. So you see.” Shouto looks at his hands. “On my own, I couldn't do anything. I was only ever meant to be a weapon, a means to an end in this war for my father and the Fire Lord. If that was the only way I could do something good because of my cursed bending, I was willing to try, no matter how long it took, but if there was another way-”

“That’s not true!”

Midoriya’s shout jolts him.

“What?”

"Todoroki, listen to me.” Midoriya grabs Shouto’s hands and holds them tightly. “This power is not a curse! Other people may have meddled with the energy of the world and with the spirits, but this bending was born inside you. It was given to you. It’s not your father’s bending or the Fire Lord’s or even the Spirits’, it's yours. Nobody else gets to decide what to do with it but you.”

There’s an ember burning in Midoriya’s eyes, strong and encompassing, and it pulls at something in Shouto’s chest until it aches. For one baffling moment, Shouto forgets about his father and the war; he remembers old words from his mother about choice his free will, and he feels the pull of the river in harmony with the beat of his inner fire. He feels whole.

Shouto thinks he can begin to understand why Uraraka and Iida found it in themselves to trust Midoriya’s words.

Midoriya lets go of Shouto's hand all of a sudden. He stammers something nonsensical, waving his arms every which way, looking for all intents and purposes one second away from bursting into fire.

“I-I’m so sorry, Todoroki! I didn’t-I didn’t mean to-” Midoriya gestures toward Shouto’s hand.

Oh.

Shouto tries not to frown.

“N-Not that I didn’t want to!” Midoriya continues. He covers his face. “That sounded weird. It’s not like I- well, I mean-” He takes a deep breath just when Shouto is beginning to wonder if he’s going to have to contain a forest fire. His entire face is red, but his green eyes don't seem resentful or regretful when they meet Shouto’s again. “I just- I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. It wasn’t right to just, you know. Sorry.”

Shouto curls his fingers, feeling the absence there. “It’s fine. I didn’t mind.”

It’s surprisingly true.

“Thank you,” Shouto adds. There are still words and feelings simmering in his chest, but he can’t make sense of them. The knot of thoughts in his head feels clearer for the first time in years, though, and the warmth in his veins doesn’t feel as cursed for once.

Midoriya’s voice wavers when he gives a chuckle. He rubs the back of his neck and doesn’t meet Shouto’s eyes anymore. His gaze seems distant once again.

Maybe Midoriya understands him more than Shouto thought.

&&&

The village is a mess.

Shouto ducks as another tomato flies by and tries to get a clear shot at the Fire Nation soldier punching fire at Iida. Something soft hits his back, and his shot is slightly off the mark; he freezes the soldier’s legs.

It’s enough of a distraction. When the soldier looks down, Iida knocks her out with a well-placed strike with his staff.

Iida nods at Shouto, who inclines his head back.

Uraraka runs by, staff twirling so quickly Shouto can barely keep track of it, and shouts at them to follow her. She knocks vegetables and rocks out of their way, clearing a path to Midoriya. The four of them reunite and deflect fire as they keep trying to push the Fire Nation soldiers away under a torrent of insults coming their way, and Shouto wonders at how the three airbenders move around each other. All their movements are firm but fluid in a way that has to come from their bending, yet the air never shifts during the fight.

The Fire Nation soldiers retreat not long after.

The rocks don’t stop coming until they are out of the village too.

They walk until they find solace by a cliffside. Uraraka lets her bag fall and slides down the wall of the cliff to the ground.

“That was…”

She doesn’t finish her sentence.

They set camp slowly. Shouto keeps his ears alert for any suspicious noises, even if there had been no signs of pursuit from either the Fire Nation soldiers or the villagers.

Iida clears his throat. “I think some thanks are in order.” He turns to Shouto. “Thank you, Todoroki. Your help was much welcomed.”

“Yeah! Man, having someone who can bend in a jiff during a fight is such a help,” Uraraka groans. “We need other waterbenders in our group. Or an earthbender too, that would be nice.”

Midoriya makes a strange, muffled noise. He is sitting a little ways away from them, curled up in a ball with his fingers pulling at his hair. Iida and Uraraka exchange a look.

“Izuku,” Uraraka says softly. “You know it’s not your fault, right?”

Midoriya doesn’t answer her. She crawls closer to him and puts an arm around his shoulders.

“Uraraka is right, Midoriya,” Iida says. “None of us could’ve known the villagers would react like that.”

Midoriya shakes his head. “I should’ve been more careful."

“If anyone here is at fault, it’s me,” Shouto says.

That gets Midoriya to look up. “You can’t control your hair color, Todoroki.”

Shouto presses his lips into a thin line. “Maybe not, but I need to find a better way to hide it. The Fire Nation will always come after us the moment they recognize me.”

It’s the second city they visited since Shouto joined their group. They didn’t stay for more than a few hours in the first one, but the people had been pleasant and hadn’t looked twice at Shouto’s scar. If he had noticed the Fire Nation soldiers tailing him this time, they could’ve avoided this mess. He should know better by now than to fall into a false sense of security.

“Enough of that, guys. It’s nobody’s fault,” Uraraka interrupts them. She waves a hand at Shouto. “Todoroki, I can help you adjust your bandanna so it won’t fall off again. I have a few hairpins.”

“And in the last case, I am sure we can find a good hat in another town,” Iida says.

That's... odd, to put it mildly.

Iida’s voice doesn't sound harsh. It had been either that or neutral whenever he addressed Shouto ever since they met, interchanging whenever he seemed to get suspicious of something Shouto was doing. Why it sounds now, of all times, friendly, he has no idea. Shouto figured this would have been it for him since Iida and Uraraka have no reason to want him tagging along when a single glance at his hair is enough to get the Fire Nation scurring after them. Discretion is key to their group and their mission, and Shouto puts it all in jeopardy just by existing near them.

Yet, they aren’t chasing him away. The shift around Iida and Uraraka doesn’t ooze disapproval but instead seems to clean the heedfulness that painted every interaction they had with Shouto. It's offputting.

Iida sits down on Midoriya’s other side. Uraraka leans more of her weight against Midoriya, pressing him against Iida until he’s sandwiched between them. Midoriya squeaks, earning smiles from his friends. Uraraka winks.

Shouto nods back, slowly. “Sounds like a plan. Thank you.” He hesitates before adding, “Midoriya. I can teach you a few firebending moves if you want.”

Midoriya’s attention snaps to him. “What? Are you serious? You would really...?”

“Of course,” Shouto says, and he finds that he does mean it. “We could start with meditation and breath control. It’ll help prevent your inner fire from flaring up by mistake.”

“That would… Spirits. That would be great.” Midoriya’s voice wavers. The look he gives them is regretful, but resolution hardens its edges like water being frozen at a turn of Shouto’s hand. “Thank you, guys. I won’t let it happen again.”

“It's fine," Uraraka says, dragging the vowels on. "Looking at the bright side, at least we know some people of the Earth Kingdom still have fight in them."

Iida makes a chopping gesture with his hands. “That is good news, but they ought to learn to direct it at the proper targets."

“True.” Uraraka taps her chin. “Hard-headed, the lot of them. I thought they were meant to be patient and good listeners.”

“If they are, that town has a most outlandish way to show it.”

"When we settle on a place to move to, we need to make sure we have good neighbors."

“Sorry,” Midoriya murmurs.

Uraraka rolls her eyes. "Stop with your complex.” She nudges Midoriya with hard her shoulder, which ends up with Iida losing his equilibrium, and all of them almost toppling to the ground.

“Ochako, come on,” Midoriya whines. “That’s not- don’t laugh at us, Todoroki!”

Shouto hides his mouth behind a hand. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Midoriya gapes at him from the tangle with his friends. Iida tries to pull them off him, and Uraraka lets out a guffaw.

They barely escaped capture and worse that day, but Shouto will remember it with fondness in the future.

&&&

Shouto stares at his reflection on the lake.

He takes a deep breath and plunges his hands in the water, closing his eyes. His muscles are sore and his shoulders are aching, but he pushes all thoughts away and focuses on the water around his fingers.

He tries to feel for - something.

The instructions from the waterbending scroll are still clear in his mind despite the years. He extends his consciousness, trying to connect words to sensations.

Shouto gets lost in the time. He is hurled back to reality, the sun beating down on his back, the surface of the lake still and silent, and he blinks at the water in confusion. He has to hold himself back from tensing in reflex and instead just listens, searching for what caught his attention as a heartbeat passes - two, three, and he hears a shifting behind him.

Shouto reacts. He whirls around, pulling the water out of the lake in a ribbon around his back and over his shoulder to-

A yelp.

A familiar yelp.

Shouto halts the water whip.

He stares at Midoriya’s distorted face through the water as he waves his hands up in a panic.

“Todoroki, it’s me! Ah, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!”

“Shit. Shit, Midoriya." Shouto coaches the water back to the lake and takes a deep breath. Weeks later or not, it’s still hard getting used to how silent airbenders’ footsteps are. "I'm sorry."

“It’s okay! I guess I should have made more noise. We're all a bit strung up from the way here.” Midoriya gives him an apologetic smile. "Are you busy?"

"No." He hadn't been going anywhere with the water, anyway.

Midoriya makes a concomitant noise. He sits by the lake and pats the ground, and Shouto joins him. They remain in silence for a while.

It's calm here. The air seems fresher, the water is clear and the wildlife seems unperturbed despite their proximity to a village, according to Iida's map. Shouto has an idea of what this means, and it sours the view. It's a nice break from the barren land they crossed, nevertheless.

Midoriya shifts.

“It’s weird being back in the mountains after so long wandering the plains of the Earth Kingdom.”

“You must have missed it.”

A sad tint paints over Midoriya’s smile as he looks down. “Not that much. I mean, I miss the mountains because it reminds me of my mom, but I never stayed in our camp up north long enough for it to feel like home. We’re nomads, and we can’t risk people discovering we’re still alive. That's why some of us scout the Earth Kingdom from time to time. Then we move, and the cycle restarts. So here we are.”

"It must be hard.”

“A little bit. It got easier after I met Ochako and Tenya. They’re like part of the family, and we built something safe together.” Midoriya chuckles softly. “Ochako loves traveling more than any of us. You’ve seen her - it’s hard keeping her from trying to make friends with everyone.”

“The pot talking about the kettle?”

Midoriya gapes at him. “Hey!”

Shouto’s mouth curls up. He laughs when Midoriya pushes his shoulder.

Midoriya rolls his eyes. “I guess what I meant to say is that neither the mountains or anywhere else we made a camp is my home, and they’ll never be. Home is wherever we might be, as long as my whole family is there. That’s what I miss. Maybe that’s my firebender side speaking - I don’t think the Air nomads of the past were attached in any way like that, but, well. That’s me.”

Midoriya’s green eyes find Shouto’s, and there’s something so fierce and intense in them that Shouto’s inner fire sings along to.

Home, huh.

Shouto breathes out a “yeah,” and it’s the only thing he manages to say over the hollowness that steals his voice away.

His home isn’t back at the Fire Nation, at the large house where he lived with his father and his siblings, at that place that was so cold despite being in the heart of the Fire Nation. That house is only a shell hiding the hours upon hours of training so brutal that often left him sick, disguising how he was forced to master new waterbending and firebending stances in a matter of days least he wanted to face punishment. It hid harsh orders and towering walls that separated him from his siblings, and it covered one of his brother's disappearance and his mother’s breakdown.

No.

Home is-

Home was back in his mother’s arms, seeing her smile as she taught him, Fuyume and Natsuo how to make snowflakes out of water. She’d pull Touya into a hug when he got upset because he couldn’t train with them, and they’d all laugh and push each other around, playing.

That had been so long ago.

Shouto swallows. “Yeah,” he repeats in a whisper.

Midoriya lays his hand on top of his, and Shouto shivers as warmth envelops him. He gives in the urge to flip his hand around, entwining their fingers. Midoriya's smile is soft, a delicate thing under what was weighing him down before.

“Todoroki, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why is your hand so cold? I mean, I don’t remember it always being like that,” Midoriya says, and Shouto blinks in astonishment at him. He squints at Shouto’s right hand resting on his lap. “Wha-you’re hurt!”

“Ah.”

"Ah? What kind of answer is that? I-” Midoriya runs a hand down his face. “Spirits, you should’ve said something. Was that-”

“When the boulders fell on us,” Shouto completes.

Trouble followed them more often than they expected. The retaliation from the Fire Nation soldiers guarding a cart with supplies was hard to avoid, especially when they recognized who Shouto was (it was ridiculous. Shouto's hair had been fully covered then. If word of his companions was spreading, that was going to be a problem). The news of him defecting circulated around much faster after the Fire Nation issued his bounty.

He curls and uncurls his fingers. Despite the lack of pain, they’re still swelling. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine! I mean, I know our group doesn’t have much in the means of supplies, but we have bandages and some metal to make splints. I’m sure we can find the proper herbs around here somewhere, but we’re still close enough to the forest that we can turn around and go look for something there if the vegetation here isn’t enough. And even if we don’t have a healer, Ochako knows how to set broken bones, so we-” Midoriya breaks off, taking a deep breath. “S-sorry. I was rambling.”

“I don’t mind.”

“R-right.” The tips of Midoriya’s ears are red. “It’s just- Todoroki, you could’ve said something. Don’t go around with broken bones.”

“Like you're one to talk.”

“You know that’s not the point.”

“I know.” Shouto sighs. “I didn’t mean to hide it. I just wanted to test something first.” Shouto pulls away and immerses his injured hand in the water again. He barely feels the cold prickle his skin as he wills the embers of his inner fire to remain low. Even distorted through the water, the purple painting his skin is visible while he flexes his fingers slowly, concentrating on the water around them, but - nothing.

Midoriya scoots close enough for his shoulder to brush against Shouto’s. He looks at the lake and then up at Shouto. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m a waterbender.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya says when Shouto doesn't continue. “And a firebender.”

Shouto closes his eyes for a moment. He gets lost in the sensation of the cold water around his fingers. If he tries, he knows he can pull it. However, nothing is guiding him to the flow of chi under his own skin like the scrolls taught. No unmistakable knots in his energy pathways that he can unravel are revealed in some mysterious way. “Yeah,” he says at last. “And I can’t heal.”

Midoriya is silent for a moment.

“Is that why you came here alone?”

“Not exactly. I was just walking, but then I remembered the water in the lake is bound to be colder than the one in my waterskin,” he says. His bending is always better when it comes to ice and snow, and cold water is the closest he can get to it. “But it’s not working anyway.”

“You know… some say that not every waterbender can heal.”

“In theory, everyone can. Some just never get the hang of it.” Shouto takes his hand out of the water and lights a small fire on his hand. It comes easily, despite how stiff and numb his hand feels.

“You think your firebending is getting in the way of that somehow.”

It’s not really a question.

“I haven’t found a way to prove it,” Shouto says. “Until a few months ago, I thought I was the only person who could bend more than one element other than the Avatar, so. Who knows.”

Midoriya looks thoughtful as he lights a fire on his hand and holds it beside Shouto’s. His fire is smaller and more yellow, but it holds steady, and despite the sunrays illuminating their surroundings and making the water glint, it still casts a warm glow across Midoriya’s face.

“Who knows,” Midoriya repeats.

&&&

They cross the Earth Kingdom with careful steps. Their pace to the east is slow, skirting the desert, but they never stop advancing.

Most of the nights, they spend under the stars. They cook with their old pan and exchange stories.

They laugh a lot.

“I’m telling you it’s true! The lady at the stall told me.”

“Well, given the story is originated in the Foggy Swamp, I would say that is debatable.”

“What, you're calling the Foggy Swampers liars, Tenya?”

“Not at all! I am merely stating a fact. The swamp is surrounded by spiritual energy, so it is said people often see things that are not there.”

“That's true,” Midoriya pipes in. “Rumors say the hallucinations can get so bad that some people never find their way out of there.”

“Damn,” Uraraka says. “That’s a bummer. Imagine how cool it would be if there really was a seaweed monster out there.”

Midoriya gives a nervous laugh. “I’m not sure cool is the word I’d use.”

Shouto puts an arm under his head and closes his eyes. He listens with a smile as Iida picks the thread and starts another story.

It’s peaceful.

&&&

“That was the place, wasn’t it?”

Midoriya looks up from where he's twiddling with his fingers. There’s only them in the dimly lit living room. Iida’s voice can be heard from over the next room, where he’s talking with the innkeeper, and Uraraka disappeared down to their shared bedroom a while ago.

It’s a quiet night. There haven’t been many visitors in the city for a while, according to the innkeeper. Everyone who does come here is on their way to Ba Sing Se. It’s terrible for the businesses in town and it makes hard for them to go by inconspicuous, but they needed to stop.

“Yeah. It-” There’s a sheen to Midoriya’s eyes, something soft in the reflection of the candle glowing in the depths of their green. He blinks a few times, taking in a shaky breath. “It was.”

Ever since they left the forest to cross a deserted span of land to reach this city, a silent haze had been hovering over their group. Something uncomfortable had crawled into Shouto’s stomach, tying it into a knot as he watched Midoriya’s face waver between thoughtful and euphoric. None of the three airbenders had said anything, but the cautious anticipation that surged in the air around them couldn’t mean anything else.

“You can go back to your people now,” he says. “To your mom.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya breathes out. A hiccup of a second, in which many emotions flicker through his face, and then a grin breaks through, bright and so full of joy that the knot inching up Shouto’s chest loosens. “Yeah, w-we can. Spirits, I can barely believe it. It’s been-it’s been so long. I-I still have to make sure Tenya and Ochako agree, but then-”

He sniffs, rubbing his sleeve across his face. When Shouto reaches out tentatively, he foregoes Shouto’s hand completely and pulls him into a hug.

Shouto freezes. His heart skips a beat, two, three, and he swallows reflexively. He forces his hands to move and pat Midoriya’s back, but despite the stilted quality to it, Midoriya burrows closer to Shouto. Warm tears slid down Shouto’s neck and claw their way into his chest like an ache, and he sighs, settling his arms over Midoriya’s back.

“That’s great.”

Midoriya pulls back. The tear tracks on his cheeks glint under the firelight.

“You’re coming with us, right?” Midoriya asks, and the ridiculous knot in Shouto’s stomach unravels in one pull. “I mean, you don’t have to! Only-only if you want. But you're welcome in our camp anyway. I’m sure my mom would love to meet you.”

Shouto isn’t so sure about that. He is half-fire, and he did serve the Fire Nation army for a few months. Nonetheless, Shouto joined their group of airbenders without any expectations. He had wanted to get away from the grip of the Fire Nation, and some part of him hoped to find the right path for him in this war during their search.

He isn’t sure what the answer to that is yet, but he might have found something different on the way. Something good.

He meets Midoriya’s eyes.

“Yeah,” Shouto says. He smiles. “I will.”

The joy in Midoriya’s grin is worth it.

&&&

A slam pierces the silence. It's a dull sound, so it probably came from the wooden counter.

Shouto exhales in silence, closing his hand in a fist.

“Don’t play around, girl,” a rough voice says. “You don’t want to get on our bad side. Now, let’s try again. Did you see any of these people?”

There’s a rustle of a paper and another thud. It's dark inside the cabinet, so it's only due to their proximity that Shouto feels Midoriya lean forward. The two fail doors closing them away from the rest of the shop creak at the slightest touch, according to Yaoyorozu's warning, so Shouto gropes around with the most delicate touch he can manage until he brushes against Midoriya's hand. He grabs it and squeezes, feeling how Midoriya freezes. A silent shudder racks his frame, and Shouto keeps holding on even as Midoriya returns the grip and slumps, leaning back against Shouto.

“...I did.” It’s hard hearing Yaoyorozu’s voice, ever so sweet and passionate the last few days, tremulous. “They came by about an hour ago.”

“And what did they want here?”

“What do you think they wanted here?” Jirou growls. She makes a choked noise and dissolves into coughs. Yaoyorozu sucks in a breath.

“I don’t know,” another man says. “You tell us.”

“They came looking for healing herbs,” Yaoyorozu says quickly. “A-and bottles for water. Bandages.”

“Is that all?”

“Y-yes.”

“Did they say anything else?”

“They mentioned something about leaving town soon.”

There are a few grumbles, and Shouto only manages to catch a few words about ‘uselessness’ and ‘hurry’ before a door slams close and there’s silence.

Shouto keeps his breath as silent as he can. He feels Midoriya tensing again, but he makes no further movement.

There are three rasps against the cabinet door.

Midoriya bursts out, and Shouto follows right behind, squinting his eyes against the change in lighting. Uraraka and Iida push the trapdoor open with Jirou’s help, and disentangle themselves from the metal rods and boxes, wincing at the clanks they make despite their carefulness.

“It's okay,” Jirou says, grinning at them despite how out of breath she sounds. “They're probably in another shop by now.”

Nothing seems out of place in the room beyond two crates turned on their sides and a few ripped sacks with leaves spilled on the ground. There are no signs of fires or broken irreplaceable objects. Yaoyorozu is leaning against the counter, and she gives him a nod when their eyes meet.

“Are you two alright?” Midoriya asks.

“Yeah,” Yaoyorozu says. She brushes a strand of hair back and winks at them. “We’re used to this, don’t worry.”

“That doesn’t make it any better.” Uraraka shudders. “They're awful. I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“That’s a price we’re willing to pay to get closer to the end of this war.”

“Is there anything we can do for you?” Iida asks.

“You’ve already done a lot by bringing us that message.” She pats one of the folds of her dress, where Shouto had seen her slip the scroll earlier. They had taken a detour to this city just to bring it to her, as requested by one of the people who helped them avoid Fire Nation patrols back in the last town.

“Yeah, man. If anything, keep going like you are. You’re helping more than you think.” Jirou looks at Shouto and Midoriya at this. She picks a few things from jars and boxes around the room, packing it all in a parcel before offering it to Uraraka. “Here. I put everything you asked for earlier today. If you manage it well, it should last you for a while.”

Uraraka thanks her, and puts it inside her bag.

“We’re indebted to you,” Midoriya says, bowing to them. He shakes his head when Jirou waves a dismissive hand. “We are. We should’ve done something, not just-just hide .”

He spats the word like it's a personal offense, and coming from Midoriya, it might as well be. He's biting his lips, his frame still trembling slightly and a look in his eyes that Shouto has seen but a few times during their travels.

In some strange way, he understands Midoriya; his blood is still boiling, his muscles aching in a way he knows they'll only be satisfied when he gives back what the Fire Nation has been doing to the world for so long. It’d have been a catastrophe, though, because there is no doubt there are more soldiers close by, enough to outnumber them by the dozens, and even if they could win, it wouldn't be without the town taking a great toll for their actions, and that just wouldn’t do.

“Hey, hey, don’t start on that now.” Jirou puts a hand on her hips. “We're the ones who told you to hide. Our village is in the direct path of some supply lines from the Fire Nation army, so soldiers come here to mess things up more often than you'd think. It’s not the first time they came to my parent’s shop either. Me and Yaomomo are used to it.”

Shouto knows that doesn’t appease Midoriya like Jirou probably meant to. He puts a hand on Midoriya’s shoulder and gives a shake of his head. Maybe Midoriya sees some of Shouto’s reasoning in his face because he acquiesces with a sigh.

“It’s better if you go now,” Yaoyorozu says. “The soldiers won’t be busy interrogating the other shops for much longer, and if anyone sees you leave here later, it’ll be worse.” She grabs Shouto’s hand, puts a small object on his palm, and closes his fingers around it. “You know," she looks at Iida, Uraraka, and Midoriya, “we heard from some acquaintances that a certain someone from your culture returned to the spotlight of the world. It might be interesting to look into that.”

She winks. There’s no time to react to that before she pushes them to the back of the shop in the most polite manner Shouto had ever seen someone do that.

Jirou is the one who guides them out through a back door and into an underground passageway. She leads them in silence through a labyrinth of tunnels until they come out in a field on the outskirts of the city, and before long, it’s only the four of them again.

“The airbender Avatar is alive,” Uraraka says. She turns to them, a look of marvel in her eyes. “That was it, right? That’s what Momo meant.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya says in a breath.

A smile grows on Uraraka’s face, and she throws her hands in the air with an excited whoop. Midoriya runs a hand through his hair and down his face, covering his mouth for a few seconds before a burst of incredulous laughter escapes him. “That’s what the dream I had last night wanted to show me!”

“Dream?” Shouto asks.

“Yeah! It was just like the one I had two weeks ago. You know, the one with the mountain of ice breaking down and light coming out of it? But this time it was an erupting volcano.” Midoriya frowns. “You didn’t have this dream either?”

“You know I don’t have spiritual dreams like you, Midoriya.”

“Maybe you still need some training,” Midoriya interjects. He makes some movements with his hands that Shouto recognizes as simplified versions of firebending katas. “Like you're helping me with firebending. I know how to bend, but I needed you to push me in the right direction for me to figure out how to control fire.”

Shouto wants to argue that he already knows how to meditate, but he makes the mistake of meeting Midoriya’s eyes. He wonders how he ever mistook Midoriya for an Earthen when there’s something so clearly fire in the shine of his eyes. Before he knows it, he’s giving in.

Midoriya pumps his fist in the air. He starts to mutter about dreams and bending, vibrating in the same intensity as when he finds an interesting piece of knowledge to analyze and tapping his chin, and Shouto’s eyes follow the movement, linger on his lips without meaning to.

Uraraka whoops again and grabs Midoriya’s hand, pulling him into a spin, and soon their voices dissolve into excited blubber. The grass around them sways, and Shouto can’t help but smile at their excitement.

He finally opens his fingers to see what Yaoyorozu gave him.

“What is it?” Iida asks, peering at the object on Shouto’s hand.

“It’s a pai sho tile,” Shouto says. He rolls the white lotus tile between his fingers, a vague memory of something his sister told him long ago coming to mind. He puts it in a safe compartment sewn into his boots.

“Just one tile? Without the rest of the set?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s… an unusual gift.”

Shouto snorts. “That’s one way to put it. But I have a feeling it might be useful in the future.”

“I’ll trust your word on it.” Iida makes a small pause. “You don’t sound very happy about the news,” he says, sounding too casual for his soft tone to be anything but intentional.

“Neither do you,” Shouto says in a matching low voice. They both watch as Uraraka and Midoriya keep celebrating.

“...Yes. I suppose-” Iida straightens his shoulders, grimacing. “I suppose I’m not sure what to think about this Avatar yet. From what Yaoyorozu said, it’s the same one who disappeared a hundred years ago.”

“And a hundred years is a long time to not show your face when the world is at war,” Shouto completes, and Iida nods. Shouto’s chest feels heavy. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

And hope for the best is left unsaid between them.

&&&

As with all that happens in Shouto’s life, things fall into a lull. It’s a tentative sensation of peace as they make their way to the airbenders’ camp on the north, and when Shouto thinks he could get used to it, it all goes astoundingly wrong.

The attack comes from out of nowhere. Their camp for the night isn’t set. Shouto is explaining to Midoriya the best way to arrange logs and twigs to make a fire that lasts longer when the ground twists and rushes to meet him. He hears alarmed shouts before the world is swallowed and there is only pitch blackness.

He comes to a cell of steel and a dry throat. Midoriya is pacing from one wall to another, mumbling something unintelligible and glancing at the sealed door every few seconds.

Shouto has to try a few times before he can muster the energy to make his vocal cords work. “What…”

Midoriya whirls around. He’s kneeling by Shouto before he can figure out how to make his tongue continue working.

“Hey,” Midoriya says, pressing his fingers to Shouto’s cheek. His other hand hangs just to the side, and that’s when Shouto notices his hands are bound to each other by stone handcuffs. “How are you feeling?”

Shouto feels strangely breathless like there’s a weight on his chest. When he tries to move, his whole body aches, and he shivers. It’s an odd combination, but it’s familiar from training days he overexerted himself or got sick. He doesn’t remember either happening. He notices his wrists are bound together like Midoriya’s.

“Tired,” he says, closing his eyes. He takes a deep breath through the dull pain, reaching for his inner fire. It flickers in answer, faint but there.

“Hey, don’t go back to sleep. Did you hear me? Todoroki ?” 

When Shouto opens his eyes, Midoriya is frowning at him.

“I don’t-” Shouto has to stop and swallow. He needs water. “I don’t have a concussion.” He shakes his head, ignoring Midoriya’s protest to stay still. It doesn’t hurt like his torso, but every movement is a struggle like walking through water. “I’m fine. ‘m just tired.”

The downward twist to Midoriya’s mouth doesn’t look satisfied. He brushes some of Shouto’s hair away from his forehead. “I didn’t want to move you around too much, but I tried to check for any head injuries. I didn’t find any blood or any obvious bumps, but...”

That fits with what Shouto can feel. The world is becoming clearer through the dim lighting, and the aches from his chest and shoulders sharpen along with his vision. “No head injury. Just-” Shouto puts a hand on the side of his chest, “-it hurts here.”

Midoriya grimaces. “You might have hurt your ribs. The earthbenders that attacked us buried you in the ground and wouldn’t let you back up. For a moment, I thought…” Midoriya trails off. He shudders, looking away.

Ah, so that’s what happened.

“I’m fine,” Shouto repeats.

Even from the side, Shouto can see Midoriya’s mouth wobbling. “Don’t lie.”

“It’s not a lie. I just need to get my breath back. Considering the situation, it could be much worse.”

Shouto watches as Midoriya sniffs and murmurs something under his breath. The cell is still dim and there are no windows, but Shouto can see him brushing away any tears that escape his eyes.

He doesn’t look weighted like he’s sad, though. His brow furrows and relaxes, erratic, and there’s a tension in his jaw. When Shouto feels like that, the last thing he wants is someone to restrain his movements. He’d punch a wall, but he supposes Midoriya would have done that already if he wanted to.

Midoriya’s a tactile person - that’s an unchangeable fact that Shouto has learned, and Iida and Uraraka would know whether to hug him or just stay close by.

Shouto struggles to sit up, but with Midoriya’s help, they manage to weave around their bounded hands until Shouto is leaning against the wall.

“Can I see…?” Midoriya asks when Shouto hisses in pain, making an aborted move toward Shouto’s robe. Shouto nods.

There’s no sign of blood as Shouto expected, but darkening blotches mar his skin. Midoriya doesn’t say anything, but from the sensation when Shouto puts his weight against the wall again, his back must look the same.

Midoriya sighs, watching him as he tries to find a comfortable position. “It’s a good thing they didn’t hit your head, at least.”

Small mercies.

“Where are Iida and Uraraka?”

“I don’t know.” Midoriya looks exhausted. “They weren’t interested in them. They only came after you.”

Shouto eyes him. “Then why are you here?”

“I might have, uh… tried to firebend at them?” Midoriya moves his hands frantically from one side to the other in an odd manner due to the stone handcuffs. “It’s just- they were going to take you away! They weren’t listening to us, and you were unconscious when they bent some rocks to handcuff you, so you couldn’t do anything, but they kept mentioning something about how all firebenders had to be expurgated from the Earth Kingdom and-” Midoriya sniffs, his fingers twitching before he curls them into fists. “I had to do something.”

A faint memory crosses Shouto’s mind, and he moves in an impulse. He pries Midoriya’s fingers open and holds one of his hands flat against his chest. It’s an awkward position when only the tips of his fingers can reach the back of Midoriya’s hand at the same time, but Midoriya is pliant and his gaze seems locked on Shouto’s chest as he takes a purposeful deep breath. Pangs of pain radiate through his back, but those only register at the edge of his attention.

“It’s okay. I’m alright,” Shouto says, softly.

Shouto’s father would often threaten his mother when he was a child. Sometimes his words seeped into Shouto’s dreams, and he’d wake up with screams locked in his throat. His mother used to pull him into her arms those nights, humming until he fell asleep again. Feeling her warmth from so close was what calmed him down.

Tears overflow from Midoriya’s eyes. His face contorts and he hiccups, and Shouto lets go to accommodate Midoriya as he presses closer, putting his forehead to Shouto’s collarbone. His hair tickles Shouto’s nose, but Shouto doesn’t move away. He breathes in the smell of dust and soot, an improbable mix, and it makes Shouto wish he could pull Midoriya even closer.

They remain like that for a while in spite of the uncomfortable position. It’s silent outside the cell. Shouto has no idea how long it’s been since they were captured, but his inner fire is protesting the lack of sunlight.

Midoriya pulls back with a watery chuckle. “I should be the one taking care of you, not the other way around.”

His voice is hoarse. Shouto feels his own expression soften as he runs his thumb over Midoriya’s cheek, wiping away the remnants of tears and some dirt. “I don’t mind.”

Midoriya’s mouth pulls into a small smile. “Thanks, Todoroki.”

He sits beside Shouto and makes a few other questions about what Shouto is feeling, and the moment passes. They determine that without knowing Uraraka and Iida’s whereabouts and whether they saw where they were taken to, they need to prepare for the worst.

“They weren’t planning to catch us,” Midoriya says. “But then they must have heard you talking about firebending. I think they’re just trying to protect their town, and we were kinda coming in this direction. I didn’t get to see the prison when we got here, but it must be small if they put us both in the same cell. Steel is more effective against earthbenders even if it’s useful against firebenders, so they must be discussing what to do with us now.”

“They might try to use the opportunity to get information on the Fire Nation.”

“Not like that’s gonna lead to anything, but of course they wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell them that."

“One way or another, they’ll figure it out, and as soon as they do, we won’t be of any use to them. I heard the Earth Kingdom army smashes firebenders’ hands to prevent us from bending anymore, so they might try something similar.” And from the stories, age isn’t a matter of concern for them. To be fair, it’s not like it is for Fire Nation either.

Midoriya grimaces. “Yeah, let’s not get to that point. We need to act.”

The choice is taken from their hands as metallic clanks come from the lock before the door swings open. Midoriya shoots up as a man enters the cell and another stops at the entrance. They’re both carrying iron handcuffs.

“You two. Stay quiet. You're coming with us,” the man at the door says gruffly.

Midoriya takes a step back to each of the other man’s step forward. He ignores Shouto as he bypasses him, and Shouto remains curled up with his head down, breathing in. He stokes his inner fire and it flares up.

They always forget the legs.

Shouto meets Midoriya’s eyes for a split second before Midoriya jumps as Shouto sweeps his leg and knocks the man off his feet. He falls with a shout, and Shouto wastes no time to kick flames at the guard at the door, who stumbles out of the cell with curses.

Shouto follows him out and throws one attack after the other. The man ducks and avoids most of them before he makes a rigid movement with his hands, stomping. Shouto tenses, raising his bonded arms to defend, but nothing happens. The guard makes the mistake of glancing with something aking to surprise to the metal floor, and Shouto is upon him in a second, knocking him out with a well-aimed kick.

Midoriya strides out of the cell before Shouto can turn back, nodding. They hurry to the stairs at the end of the corridor together, passing by a few empty cells and no more people guarding them. This town must not be used to dealing with many criminals and lawbreakers, which is all the better for them.

“They only sent two people to get us."

"Yeah. They weren't carrying weapons, so they must be earthbenders."

"They're underestimating us.”

“Good.”

When they reach the other end of the stairs, they meet three other people wearing the same brown uniform. Something prickles at the edge of Shouto’s consciousness, and he notices it’s raining just as the guards see them and their laughter ceases. Shouto smirks.

A window shatters as Shouto pulls rainwater through it.

It’s surprisingly not hard after that.

Shouto has time to use the water and ice to break their handcuffs before anyone else shows up, and by then they're already running away from the building. They get a good head start before chunks of rocks get thrown at them. Shouto glances back and sees a few guards that must have escaped being frozen taking pursuit. With all the rain, it’s easy to divert the attacks, though, and Midoriya covers his back when a few escape his attention. He manages to pull Midoriya away just in time before the ground opens up underneath where his feet had been.

They lose the guards through alleyways and don’t stop until they’re well away and into the depths of the forest.

“I feel cheated.” Shouto huffs after they slow down. By then the rain had turned into a drizzle and is stopping, but he still moves under a tree to catch his breath. He puts a hand on his side. The aching has gotten a little worse now that the energy from their escape is fading away, but it's nothing he can’t handle. “If they hadn’t caught us by surprise the first time, I bet we could’ve taken them.”

Midoriya stumbles beside him, and Shouto’s eyes snap to him, amusement crumbling away. Midoriya puts a hand on the tree and murmurs something under his breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“Funny you would... ask that. See-”

It’s only by reflex that Shouto catches Midoriya when his legs give out on him. He lays him down on the ground slowly, cursing when he spots the red staining the side of Midoriya’s shirt.

“I can’t believe you.” Shouto pulls at the rip in the cloth, trying to evaluate the damage through all the blood. He gives up and tears a wider hole. “Since when?”

“Since, ah, since the guards threw those- rocks at you.”

“Of course. Midoriya, you- were you even planning on saying anything if I didn’t ask?”

“I was! There just-” Midoriya hisses when Shouto touches the skin near the cut. It’s not deep, but it’s going to become a problem if they don’t stop the bleeding soon. “Just- wasn’t a good time.”

Shouto makes a frustrated noise. "Of all the idiotic things for you to do-”

“It wasn’t-”

“-this has got to be at the top of the list.”

“-that bad! It’s just- a little injury.” Midoriya tries to squirm away but dissolves into a pained groan.

“Stay still." Shouto pins him with a hard stare. “You're going to make it worse. Shit.”

“It’s- that bad?”

“No.” Shouto belatedly remembers something from his healings scrolls about keeping the patient calm and not mentioning the true seriousness of the injury. He's not one to lose his calm like this; he needs to get a hold of himself and find a way to convince his heart to stop trying to climb up his throat. “No, I’m just- it’s fine. We just need to stop the bleeding.”

How is the question, when they don’t have their medkit with a needle and a thread. Shouto applies pressure to it, but a cut like that isn’t going to clot on its own. Not before Midoriya-

No.

“Todoroki.”

Midoriya’s blood is pooling on the grass, diluting as it mixes with a puddle.

“Hey.”

Shouto needs to think. He can try suturing the wound, but it’s going to be painful and leave a large scar. Maybe he can find some leaves with numbing capacities nearby, but he’d have to stop making pressure on the wound and that is not an option. He can’t ask Midoriya to do it even if he has a ridiculous pain tolerance because he won’t have the strength to keep it as the blood loss settles in him.

“Shouto.”

Shouto blinks, his eyes focusing back on Midoriya’s face. His brow is furrowed in pain, but somehow he is still gentle when he grabs Shouto’s trembling wrist.

“Ice.”

“What?” Shouto asks dumbly.

“Use ice,” Midoriya says. He squeezes his eyes shut for a second. “To heal.”

“Midoriya, you know I can’t heal.”

“Try.”

Shouto opens his mouth to argue but closes it again as the words get stuck on his tongue. He can always use the ice to stop the bleeding if it doesn't work, if nothing else, even though he'll have to be careful with frostbite. Truthfully, any viable option beyond suturing the wound has its merits right now.

Shouto straightens his back. He pulls the droplets of water resting on the leaves around them and forms a glob of clear water on his hands that freezes with an exhale. He puts it against the cut on Midoriya’s side and closes his eyes, and- baffling, it's there. The knot seems to glow in his mind’s eye, tight and draining the energy around it, and it's almost natural to allow his own chi to unravel it slowly. He picks that thread back every time it slips from him by mistake, and soon, there’s only a river of energy in the place of the knot, flowing without any hitches.

Shouto melts the ice and uses it to clean the blood away. There’s a small scar on the place where there was a wound before.

Midoriya takes in a shaky breath, his chest moving up and down slowly, and blinks somewhere at the branches of the tree. He touches his side tentatively.

“How do you feel?” Shouto asks.

“Good,” Midoriya says. Shouto helps him sit up. “The pain is gone. That was just… brilliant!” He turns an awed look to Shouto.

Shouto gives an incredulous laugh that sounds more tremulous than it should be. “You’re the one who’s brilliant.” He shakes his head at Midoriya's protests, and runs a trembling hand down his face, stopping at his mouth for a moment. “How did you think about that?”

“I’ve been thinking about it ever since you told me you couldn’t heal. It’s strange, but sometimes, when I try to firebend and it’s windy, I think I can control my fire better. Like, I can make it stronger and hotter. So I wondered ‘what if it’s the same for Todoroki?’, and the logical answer to that would be that maybe you had to use hot water to heal.

“That’s the opposite of what you suggested.”

“Yeah, because you also told me you control water better when it’s colder. Since water and fire are opposite elements, I think they settled inside you in a different way. It's as if their differences had to be accentuated to be in your control instead of mingling as it seems to be with mine.”

“That’s-that’s amazing.”

“Not really.”

“It is." Shouto smiles. "You're amazing, Midoriya.”

Midoriya makes a strange noise on the back of his throat and leans his head against Shouto’s shoulder, hiding his face against his neck.

“Midoriya?”

“I’m fine! But I may be a bit tired, I guess.”

“Ah. That’s expected.” At least according to the rest of the instructions that Shouto remembers from the healing scroll. He feels drained too.

Midoriya hums, and Shouto shivers at the puff of hot breath.

Shouto doesn’t know which one of them pulls back first, but something changes when their eyes meet. Midoriya’s gaze is intense, electrifying, unraveling something inside Shouto in one pull that feels as natural as the way they lean closer. Their breaths mingle and Midoriya sighs, sending a tingle that runs down Shouto's spine, and then they are kissing.

It’s a soft kiss, but it’s all-encompassing, tender, and it consumes Shouto’s breath. His fingers find their way to tangle in Midoriya’s knotted curls as a hand sneaks to the back of his neck, pulling him even closer and filling his chest to the brim with reassuring promises and warmth. It’s strange how the cards that had been laid in front of Shouto for a while now finally make sense. The fierce sensation and the peacefulness of whenever he was by Midoriya’s side blooms, forming a picture that is foreign, but so kind and gentle that Shouto almost feels dizzy.

When they pull away, Shouto gives in to an old urge and brushes a wet strand of Midoriya’s hair to the side, earning a radiant smile in answer. The stress from earlier has drained from Shouto’s muscles, and he feels light.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while now," he says.

Midoriya's cheek flushes under his thumb, a smidge of color against his still too pale parlor, his breath hitching even as his smile doesn't falter. "Me too," he whispers, the words carrying the world for all the emotions that press a soft caress against Shouto's chest.

“We should talk, but it might be for the best to leave it for later.”

“Yeah. The more distance between us and that town, the better.”

Shouto isn’t sure which one of them says what then, and it doesn’t matter in the end. Words don't feel enough to describe the moment anymore as he offers Midoriya a hand up and they stumble together toward the place they had last set camp, arms brushing and eyes glinting as they meet.

For all the unfamiliarity and the odd sensation of delicacy, Shouto thinks 'precious' might be a close enough description to save this moment under in his memory.

&&&

Shouto lets out a curse all of a sudden during their way, startling Midoriya.

“What is it?!”

Shouto looks at him in dismay. “I forgot to get my waterskin back.” He frowns when Midoriya gapes at him. “I’m serious. That was expensive leather.”

Midoriya bursts into laughter.

“Spirits, Shouto,” Midoriya says between chuckles. “Only you.”

“You’re buying me a new one.”

“No way!”

&&&

Something shifts after that. They find Iida and Uraraka making plans to bust them out of prison the next day, and they panic at the sight of the dried blood on their clothes. Midoriya fills them in over what happened and their discovery, while Shouto grabs some of their water and freezes it. It works wonders on his bruises, just like the first time.

Shouto smiles when Midoriya rambles about all the advantages of healing. He wants to try firebending with a breeze blowing, and Uraraka offers to help him later. They pack up and continue moving during the night. They sleep the following day, taking turns for the watch.

Things go back to normal after that. They make their way to the mountains on the north, gather information, and pass along messages on their way for strangers with a keen affinity to pai sho.

Midoriya sits closer to Shouto, and his touches last a bit longer than needed. His eyes linger on Shouto’s lips sometimes. Those nights find them straying away when Iida and Uraraka are distracted.

It drives Shouto crazy in the most fulfilling way. His chest feels so full these days that it might as well burst.

If the others notice, they don’t mention anything. In a silent agreement, he and Midoriya decide not to stop and talk about it. Their touches, tentative and brimming with resonating sensations, speak louder than words at the moment. Later, their eyes promise nonetheless, because the truth of it is that they’re in a war and they have obligations to take care of, and that has to come first. 

They hold each other to that promise.

&&&

It’s nearing the middle of the day by the time they reach the camp. Shouto knows they arrived when Midoriya and Uraraka exchange smiles. The moment they spot a few people in green garments walking around simple wooden houses, Iida’s shoulders finally relax.

“We’re back!” Uraraka shouts, waving, and some people turn to look at them, returning greetings.

“Izuku!”

Shouto steps to the side as a woman stumbles over a basket she put down in her hurry to run. She pulls Midoriya into a tight hug.

The woman is a good head shorter than Midoriya, but that doesn’t prevent her from enveloping Midoriya in her arms. The relief on her face is telling enough, but the green shade of her hair, the exact same as Midoriya’s, confirms who she is.

Midoriya’s mother pulls away, cupping Midoriya’s face with her hands, and looks him up and down.

“I’m okay, mom,” Midoriya says.

“Yes,” she agrees after a moment. “You do look mostly fine. I can’t say the same about your clothes.” She fiddles with the sleeve of Midoriya’s shirt, which is showing signs of coming apart at the seams.

Midoriya winces. “Ah, that. We, uh, we might have had an… encounter with some Fire Nation soldiers on the way up here.” He waves his hands around when his mother opens her mouth, horrified. “But! It was before we got to the mountain, so don’t worry! I think they were going to the Northern Air Temple, but we made sure nobody followed us anyway.”

“You know that’s not what I was worried about, Izuku.” She frowns. “Are you sure you're okay? Do you have any broken bones? We don’t have many herbs, but I think there’s enough to make a healing salve and-”

“No broken bones this time,” Midoriya interrupts softly. “It’s just some bruises and scratches, I promise. We’re all okay.”

Midoriya’s mother gives him a scrutinizing glance over, but it melts into relief again a few seconds later. Midoriya grins at her, and she smiles back.

Shouto glances away when Midoriya’s mother pulls him into another hug. A quick look around the small camp shows Iida and Uraraka had scattered away. Uraraka is hugging two adults, and Iida is laughing along with a man slightly taller than him. They seem at ease here around these people.

“Shouto.”

Midoriya is waving him over.

“Let me introduce you. This is my mother, Inko,” he says, gesturing toward his mother. “Mom, this is Todoroki Shouto. We met him on the way here.”

That was one way to describe it.

Shouto bows slightly to Inko. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh, no need for that, young man. Inko is fine.” She smiles at him, and there is so much of Midoriya in that. “It’s very nice to meet you too.”

Shouto notices her going over his clothes, lingering on his boots and gloves, the only pieces of clothing from his old uniform that Shouto had help. Her eyes settle on his face - Shouto remembers he took out his bandanna earlier that day - with a silent question.

“Shouto’s our friend, mom,” Izuku says firmly.

“I believe you. You wouldn’t have brought him here otherwise. It’s just…” She trails off.

Midoriya looks at him, and Shouto finds himself standing very still. He knows where this is going.

He shoves the words echoing inside his head to the back of his mind and gives Midoriya a slight nod.

“He’s like me,” Midoriya says softly.

Inko’s eyes widen, and there’s something so heartbroken in her eyes that Shouto can’t help but blurt out:

“I’m water and fire. Not - not air and fire.”

“His mother lived with him,” Midoriya adds. “...and his father. They were married, officially.”

“Oh.” Inko glances between them. She wrangles her hands, eyes lingering a moment longer on his face before she shakes her head. “Oh, my boy. I see.”

Shouto doesn’t know what she sees in him, if it’s better or worse than his actual history. He can’t bring the words to his mouth to possibly correct her.

“Well, I need to go back to helping the others prepare lunch,” Inko says. She shakes her head again as if shaking something from herself, and when she smiles at Shouto again it’s like a flip was switched. All the warmth from when she fussed over Midoriya is back tenfold, and she doesn’t avoid meeting his eyes. “Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything. Izuku’s friends are always welcome under our roof.”

Shouto bows at her again, taking in a breath that’s more painful than it had the right to be. He resists the urge to rub a spot on his chest. “Thank you.”

Inko cups Midoriya’s cheek for another moment before excusing herself.

It’s only after Inko is a good distance away that Midoriya turns to him. “Hey. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Midoriya.”

“Are you sure?” Midoriya’s mouth curls down. “I didn’t mean to corner you into talking about your life, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Not that it makes it fine.”

“But it is fine. I promise.”

Shouto is not so sure, however. It’s like a thorn was taken out of his side, but in the absence of that, Shouto doesn’t know how to feel. The anticipation to see Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida’s home camp is still built up in a tight knot in his stomach.

Midoriya’s expression is thoroughly unconvinced, but Iida approaches them before Midoriya can question him further.

“I wish to speak with every one of our group for a minute. I already called Uraraka,” he tells them. He adjusts his glasses, looking far more relaxed than the past few weeks. “Todoroki, you can leave your belongings here with ours.” Iida indicates the small pile of bags they made on top of a rock.

“Thanks.”

Uraraka prances over to them, a large smile on her face.

“Hey! So, what is it, Iida?” Uraraka asks.

“My brother mentioned some rumors he heard when he went to town a few days ago,” Iida says. He crosses his arms, lowering his voice. “The Avatar is said to be coming to the North.”

“To the North Pole?”

“That is most probable. His path seems to be erratic so far, so the probability of him slipping by us and reaching the Pole before we get to him is high.”

“Our best chance is to corner him before he crosses the North ocean,” Midoriya reasons. “We’ll have to keep our ears open to rumors then.”

“They should stop by one of the coastal towns before making the crossing. We can narrow it down if we figure out which ones are Fire Nation territory,” Shouto adds.

“Sounds like a plan! We should have a few weeks then, right?” Uraraka asks. She grins when she is met with agreements. “Great! Not that I don’t love traveling, but if there’s time, I want to settle down for a bit.”

“That would be nice.”

“It’s settled then,” Iida finishes.

Uraraka throws her arms around Midoriya and Iida. “Perfect! By the way, I can say this officially! Welcome to our humble village, Todoroki!”

Iida echoes her words, and Midoriya beams at him.

And Shouto can’t help but think of the stories the three of them told him about their camp and the remnants of their people during their long way. He thinks of how Uraraka laughed happily and Midoriya’s eyes shined, and of their anticipation when talking about the land east of here, their future destination. He remembers Midoriya’s whisper one night of how fear of being discovered and slaughtered again was a poison slowly choking them.

It had been months since they began traveling together - since Midoriya extended his hand to Shouto, and Uraraka and Iida welcomed him. Months since Shouto abandoned his post in his squad and didn’t report the airbender intruders crossing their perimeter; since he deserted the Fire Nation army and gave up the position his father arranged for him to start early

Midoriya nudges him with his foot. Midoriya, whose smile wraps around Shouto’s heart in a delicate hold and who worries, cares with every fiber of his being and is ready to take risks if it means helping others. The promise of something warms his gaze, and even if Shouto has no name for it now, it’s enough.

Shouto smiles, and along with these people, his friends, a puzzle piece thought lost to him seems to find its place inside him.

“Thanks for having me.”