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—-
Within the span of one day, Jae’s life had been turned on its head.
As much as this wasn’t the first time this happened— his life had already been completely twisted in on itself multiple times after meeting the twin avatars, this was the one that would change his life.
The summit was supposed to bring an ounce of peace to Ellora, bring stability and expand upon alliances.
So how did it end up like this?
The summit was going so well— they had all nearly come to an agreement! Until the faceless had arrived, they talked on and on about themselves, as much as Jae could sympathise with them, he also couldn’t understand why they do what they do, and then…
Nisha arrived.
Jae was confused, why would Nisha reveal herself? She was safe hiding and letting it all play out. She could’ve stood on the sidelines and not interfered, she would’ve been fine.
He saw everything unfold, he saw the lies Karthik had neatly woven together unravel, he saw the idea of Nisha just being Kathik’s niece unravel, he witnessed the people’s face twist in shock and horror right before his eyes because Nisha had revealed herself as the avatar.
He heard their panicked screams, their accusations that she was here to cause destruction and terror.
He didn’t know what to do. Should he stand back and let Nisha, a nine year old girl with nothing but pure intentions, be attacked and demonised by adults who should know better? By the adults that claim to care and protect all children but will gladly attack Nisha for something that’s out of her control?
His eyes were locked on Nisha but for a moment he felt and succumbed to the urge to look up to the clear ceiling and saw Pavi. She looked so worried and it ached Jae’s heart.
It ached Jae’s heart even more when Kayoko told the guards— told Datu— to arrest Nisha.
Datu, his lover, the one man he knew he could fall back on up until he met Pavi and had his life changed. And Nisha, the young girl who, despite her prickly outside, was like a younger sister along side Pavi to him.
Suddenly, the floor began to tremble beneath everyone, panic flooded the building as people accused her of causing this, it was so absurd, she’s only a child and yet people are treating her like she’s doomed to repeat Korra’s actions and Jae knew he had to act.
He ran across the room and grabbed Nisha, holding her close to himself and ran to the balcony where he knew Pavi could meet them at.
“Jae! Jae— what are you doing?!” Nisha screamed, trying to get out of his grasp. She was so desperate to prove she’s not like Korra, that she’s here to help.
“We need to get out of here, Pavi isn’t far and—“
“Nisha! Jae! What’s going on?” Pavi came down from the ceiling with Geet besides her.
“There’s no time to explain, we have to leave Ellora!” Jae quickly said to the girls, they both listened and took off.
The three of them were running because they knew if they stopped there would be no tomorrow, Nisha and Pavi both chose to continue on their cat-monkeys while Jae ran ahead of them.
After a lot of running, they ended up in a secluded alleyway where no one would find them.
All of them were tired for one reason or another, Jae was the most tired after running so much. He knew they couldn’t rest for long as guards would be on their trail.
Datu would be on their trail.
“Girls, I need you to listen closely. I’m going to go back to my home and get things like food, water and other essentials as well as my air skimmer. While i’m doing that I want you two to make a run for it—“
“But how will be meet back up?” Pavi interrupts, clearly against the plan.
“And we’re not going to leave you alone?! What if they get you and then—“ A panicked Nisha was interrupted by Jae.
“Alright, I hear you…” Jae reconsidered his plan before speaking again.
“We can go together, but we cannot be found, that means absolutely no detours or stalling, got it?” He left no room to argue.
They all got up and went back to Jae’s home by taking a mix of shortcuts and travelling over roofs as fast as possible.
Eventually they made it, and Jae quickly began to pack essentials into a large bag he owned. He told Nisha and Pavi to take their own bags for things they need, not including Pavi’s rock friends which deeply devastated her.
Jae make a quick remark, simply stating.
“When this is all over, you’ll see your friends again. If we can…no promises”
After packing what they needed, The twins rode their cat monkeys while Jae traversed on his air skimmer.
“Alright, all we really need to do it get to the wall, then, you two can earthbend it to create and exit, there’s a spot close to us that’s weaker than the others so it won’t be too difficult.”
The twins nodded and they continued their escape, the wind rushed past them as they continued.
When they arrived at the spot, Nisha and Pavi began to bend the wall to make a whole large enough for all of them to fit through. They’d certainly improved since he last saw them, even if he could tell Nisha’s form was off and Pavi wasn’t fully in the moment.
Just as they finished creating the hole in the wall, they heard the footsteps of the guards and knew it was their time to leave.
And Jae thought for just a moment.
There was no turning back now, and he knew was he was signing up for when he joined the white lotus.
But at no point did he truly think he would have to leave Datu and become a traitor to his home.
But this was his reality if he wanted to protect them.
They left through the hole and while everyone else would never know, Datu would know that when the traitor Jae and the avatars escaped, Jae looked back.
Datu lead the guards to them, and he saw Jae’s face for a final time.
He saw that pained look on his face, the regret for leaving Datu was plastered all over him.
But he could also see his will to stick to the path he has carved out. He was going to help the avatars and become a traitor.
And despite everything in his body telling him he should hate Jae, that he was a hypocrite for speaking so highly of Ellora only to betray it.
He couldn’t do it.
Because he knew Jae. He knew that he was doing it for a reason, he knows Jae is someone who doesn’t do things without reason, so even if Datu couldn’t understand it, he knew Jae had a reason.
But soon enough, all he could see was the back of Jae’s head and their matching blue hair tie.
He stopped, he told the guards that pursuing them would be pointless as they had already gotten far and they weren’t equipped to deal with the harsh lands.
But deep in his heart, he knew he had stopped the guards from carrying on because he couldn’t bear to see his Jae be detained. He couldn’t be the one to arrest him or even be there to watch.
—-
As the three continued to travel, they had grown tired and desperately needed a break from their escape, so they took refuge in a long abandoned building.
The three of them sat together, Pavi between Jae and Nisha. The three of them held onto each other’s hands and didn’t speak, giving them a moment of peace within all the chaos.
“What do we do now…?” Nisha asked, their was a trace of anger in her voice that was drowned out by her own fear.
“…We stay on the run. As much as i’d love for us to simply go to another haven, the representatives have already seen Nisha and me very clearly, so that’s not really a possibility.” The words that left his mouth worried the girls.
“But it’ll be fine! We’ll stay here in the meantime and…we’ll work something out, together” He smiled at them, and they tried to smile back but it was pointless, after everything that had happened, it wouldn’t be easy.
“Y’know, i’ve missed the feeling of the earth around me” Pavi comments, it managed to lighten the mood.
Jae stood up as the two girls began to talk, he stretched for a moment before setting up two tents and putting the sleeping bags in each, Nisha and Pavi would share one while Jae had his own.
He began to look through what had been brought by all of them.
He had brought non perishable food, water bottles, sanitary items and toiletries.
In Nisha’s bag was mostly the same things as well as a few personal belongings, this was mostly the same for Pavi but she had brought her kalimba as well and a few more personal belongings. There was also a variety of other things that had been brought, Jae had also brought money and a sewing kit, Nisha had also brought his first aid kit while Pavi had brought a few extra things that would come in handy.
Jae calculated how long they could go until they ran out and figured they would last around three weeks if he missed meals in favour of the girls getting more to eat.
But what was he going to do after that?
They were all recognisable, Jae because of his long hair, Pavi because of her leg and Nisha because of how many people had seen her when she revealed herself.
What should he do? He can’t exactly grow Pavi a new leg and he can’t really change Nisha’s appearance that much but—
He could change how he looks, he could cut his hair.
He dismissed that thought for a second, but it came back quickly.
If he cut his hair then he’ll be less easy to recognise, he could go into a haven and get food and supplies for them while they waited here.
Could he properly train? In air bending sure, but any other bending? Probably not, he could go off what they’ve already been taught but there’s only so much he can do.
“-ae! Jae! Me and Nisha wanna explore, come with us!” Jae was pulled out of his thoughts by an eager Pavi.
He nodded and the three of them began to explore the old building.
He can think about the future at another moment.
For now and until the day he takes his last breath, he would stay by their side and make sure they’re safe.