FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Hahn thought she didn’t particularly seem convinced, but maybe she was just hard to read. Either way, he felt that maybe he shouldn’t have wasted his breath, or maybe he shouldn’t have even approached her at all. After all, she was still young, from the looks of it– was it silly to have blind faith in a child? But then again, weren’t they all children, to some degree? The Fire Lord that sat on the throne now, the Avatar… and even him. What could their little experience afford them? How could they possibly know how to deal with the unprecedented fallout of a millennium-long war?

He weighed her words as he pieced together his own. He knew it would be difficult to strike a balance between being the savior for the aristocrats and a champion for the working class, not especially if they were fundamentally so at odds, but maybe there was a way to somehow unite them all. If he was being honest, that was probably the part that was the haziest of all in his plans: it had been an unexpected curveball to learn that the commoners hadn’t been a fan of Ozai (why hadn’t they revolted earlier?), and Hahn had been spending the past days figuring out how to piece things together. But he was working on it.

“I don’t need them to love me, just respect me enough,” he said. All he had now was plans to attempt to charm the two groups with words, a display of the different facets of his life history that would connect the best to each group, but it didn’t escape him that the battle for that would be hard-fought. Perhaps for the commoners, his tale of building himself up from nothing would prove inspiring, humbling even, when compared to Zuko, but the aristocrats? They might appreciate him as a scholarly man with knowledge on power, leadership and economics, but his lack of legitimacy, coming from the Water Tribe, was a hurdle he had to figure out. He needed something better, and it seemed like Smellerbee might have just that. “But what do you suggest?”

“if they want to say it was fear that kept them doing whatever ozai said, then i say we may as well use a proven method.” she crossed her arms tight over her chest and dug her fingers into her arms. her heartbeat picked up and she hoped it didn’t show on her face that she was making a decision now. she hoped he sensed confidence from her and not the nerves because she knew just because she’d been thinking over some more drastic measures didn’t mean she’d committed them to anyone yet, not really. it was the call jet would make. it was fuzzy whether or not that made it a bad call automatically. she had to stop comparing herself to him. she wasn’t him. it just felt like he would know better than her.

“keep notes on which council members and rich types treat you badly. it won’t take long for them to learn that if they treat you like anything less than authority, they end up missing a few rooms in their house. they treat you well, nothing happens, and they don’t need to be scared. hahn from the water tribe means safety. it means protection. zuko the fire lord means things happen that they wouldn’t like to happen.” smellerbee didn’t know if he would like that. if hahn would be opposed to violence and explosions and putting people in danger for the sake of a good goal. she wouldn’t promise no one would get hurt.

Caught off guard by the response, Suki gave the stranger a firm shake of her head. “I apologize about the confusion. I was speaking to the owner.” She gestured to the man with her freehand. In addressing this, she hoped that there would be no further reason for the scene to escalate. But this was merely wishful thinking, and things only managed to get worse. 

Suki grunted at the shove, resulting in the release of her grip. Rather than continuing to approach the girl, she stood her ground, offering her hands upwards to show that she meant no harm. Of course she didn’t want anyone to get hurt over a petty crime. But she also didn’t want the shop owner to be unfairly deprived of any earnings. She was stubborn and refused to drop the matter so easily.

“Listen…” Through her peripheral vision, she could a crowd forming. Considering her association to the Avatar and her standing as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki could only desperately hope that the other would meet an understanding with her. “If you did swipe that second skewer, I will cover the costs— so long as you apologize to the owner. After that, you can go along with your day and this won’t need to be reported.”

smellerbee bit into the meat skewer again, pulling it off the wooden spike and chewing as she looked the other girl up and down. well postured, made up, cleanly dressed, and oh so painfully law abiding. there was a delicate balance between obedience and blindness. “so you’re accusing me of a crime?”

apologizing to a fire nation business owner, who probably enjoyed the privilege of selling earth kingdom meats imported here after being taken from homes. who sat fat and happy in the good favor of a recent coronation to keep his business open here. she wasn’t going to feel guilty about a few bites of meat and vegetable. and she certainly wasn’t going to let some overdressed princess type tell her what to do because she thought she had authority under all that war paint.

     The vibrations in the earth beneath Toph never gave off any sign of movement up until now. Whoever she was facing was a silent one, ninja style. Upon hearing the opposer’s voice she was ready to attack, but something rang a bell in her brain. She definitely knew who the girl speaking was. “I’ll do whaever I want.” Toph snarled and dropped down her boulders with a force, dust spreading from the two craters they originally came from. “Well, you don’t have much to rob and if you were a firebender I would’ve sensed you from miles away. So I’m not concerned about any of these.”

     Toph crossed her hands, furrowing her brows. There was a bold fighter facing her and she knew that with every fiber of her body. If she wanted to do any harm to Toph, she would’ve already done it. The cogwheels in her head were twisting and turning like crazy. “What I am concerned about is that I know you from Ba Sing Se yet I can’t quite put my finger on you.” The puzzle pieces slowly came together. The underground fighters who Team Avatar had encountered while Toph was imprisoned and busy inventing a new bending style. A lot of things missed from her brain since the events at Ba Sing Se, but Aang and Katara had filled her up on everything she had missed. “You fought at the cave, didn’t you? When Twinkle-… Aang got struck by Azula?” she inquired, hoping she had the right person.

she took measured steps, to the side, not toward, getting a better view of the girl moving earth. swords swung in a circular arc, catching red firelight from the streets as smellerbee slowly slid it back into the sheath. she huffed out a breath to clear the dust from her nose as the earth settled around them. “true enough, clunky metal armor isn’t exactly subtle.”

it took her too long to recognize the other girl in the dark. it had been frantic when they met. the dai li were going rogue, appa was missing, jet had just appeared out of nowhere after being thrown in jail, and they were suddenly swept up into an underground prison system full of brainwashing and creepy smiling ladies. the new girl traveling with the avatar wasn’t at the top of her priority list on what had rapidly become one of the top five worst days of her life. she couldn’t remember the girl’s name. but it did prompt her to put the second sword away and stand up straight. there wasn’t really a threat anymore. traveling with the avatar meant the girl was opposed to killing people in the street for being suspicious. not without proof, anyway.

“when you take out an entire fleet of air ships flying to burn the earth kingdom down, you can give me lip about what is and isn’t worthy of romance,” sokka said, waving his hand dismissively. “until then, i don’t want to hear about it.” and if that seemed like a bit of a jab for not recognizing his contributions in ending the war … well, that would be because it was. after all, sokka’d run out of patience for the number of people who had decided in, what, less than a week? that the number of times they’d put their lives on the line to end this war wasn’t enough.

no offense. sokka grinned at that, guilty though it was. she was right; he hadn’t spoken up about the water tribe. “that whole forum was for the fire nation. i didn’t need to start bringing water tribe business into it. they’re the ones who have to change the most, right? so if they need a place to talk about it, so be it.” he shrugged. it sounded a little lame, even to him. “you’re the one who pointed out that we’re staying in the palace. that conversation doesn’t need to happen in front of a bunch of fire nation people. i’m with aang; the thing i care the most about is getting everything to a point of lasting peace. and that’s what zuko wants, too.” of that much, sokka was sure. 

“and, look, i’m not going to say you’re wrong that the fire nation could use a little… how do i put this? global education.” who couldn’t? when sokka remembered the version of himself who had never left the southern water tribe— yeesh. sure, not as bad as, say, a brainwashed fire nation citizen who had been raised to believe in the greatness of their nation, that the war was them spreading their goodness to those backwards other nations, yadda yadda, but still too embarrassing to spend too much time dwelling on. “and you’re right. i didn’t like jet or his methods.” he wouldn’t dwell on that part. it was too callous even for sokka to go on about jet’s manipulation and terrorism to his family. “but i did—i do like the freedom fighters. i liked the idea of this scrappy band of teenagers taking down entire militias. the problem was when you lost sight of the people you were helping.”

he watched the pebble as it skipped, too, and paused for a moment. “so i guess that’s what i wanna know. do you want to help bring in the future, or do you want revenge?”

smellerbee wasn’t a smiley person. but the idea of sokka, who she knew best using a water tribes style club and a boomerang somehow taking out the whole fleet of airships raining down fire was a pretty damn good mental image. she had to look down to hide the grin. “fair enough. any guy who takes out just one fire nation airship gets a few good points, i guess.” so she’d ease off about romance among enemies and traitor lilies. spirits, the fire nation didn’t deserve lilies. they were too nice.

“and why do the fire nation people need a private audience with the fire lord to discuss how hard the war has been on them when the only real action he’s made so far for the earth kingdom is to declare the end of the war? it wasn’t even the fire nation that freed ba sing se! opening the fire nation boarders so that everyone could come watch them put a crown on his head worth more than a whole year’s flock of fat and happy chicken-pigs isn’t really replanting the lands burned or building up villages that were wiped off the map. but the fire lord’s priority is to hear about how sad his soldiers are they had to murder people and how sorry his council is that ozai was willing to burn the earth kingdom alive? holding an open meeting so the fire nation people can weep about how hard the war was on them isn’t really making anything right.” 

she didn’t mean to get worked up. especially not when she was trying to prove to sokka she wasn’t jet, and she wasn’t doing things his way. sokka had hated jet when they left that first time. some bitter part of her wondered if they even cared that he died for them, for the avatar. if he was redeemed by that to them. they forgave the price who hunted them, lied to them, sold ba sing se out, but would they see jet’s final actions as making him worthy of being a war hero? it shouldn’t matter what they thought of him, but so much of her identity and the war were folding over that moment in her heart. holding jet until he finally stopped breathing. watching the corners as longshot carried him out of that pit. the bubbling, gurgling rage she had for the firebender they met who had put jet on his final path. watching him, lee the sad refugee, stand with his sister as they declared ba sing se belonged to the fire lord. knowing she could have helped to stop this if she’d believed jet. the idea of finding the place where her guilt ended and her hate began wasn’t really a hobby she was interested in taking up.

Location: Cadera City, silent and low populated streets Time: After the forum, late at night Closed starter for @smellerbeesting​

     A lot had been said in the public forum that Zuko decided to muster up. Toph wasn’t sure if her friend would now regret his decision, but she also couldn’t deny the people were right. As a citizen of the Earth Kingdom, one who lived shielded away from the war and bathed in gold pieces, she felt like her opinion on the matter wasn’t needed. Her two cents, however, was that the protestors were right, no matter if Zuko and Twinkle Toes liked it or not. She wasn’t the one to advocate patience and nomad-like ways of teaching and learning. Everything that Toph was brutality and impulsiveness – that’s what saved her skin all the time, not overthinking. Yet, no one would get what they wanted out of this war if there was impatience.

     Toph was walking with her face pointed at the floor, kicking at dirt and pebbles as she walked. The time of nocturne always suited her better. It reminded her of the many restless nights spent in secrecy mastering the one thing she truly loved in this crazy world - earthbending. Upon hearing an abrupt sound behind her in one of the narrower alleyways, her instincts spoke their word. Toph shot her head at the direction of the noise, bending a massive boulder out of the ground and letting it hang in the air, feet in a wide stance, and fingers curled into fists. “If you’re brave enough show yourself. Either way, if you try to do something stupid, you’ll regret it.”

smellerbee couldn’t sleep, even if she wanted to sleep, she couldn’t. the rest of the freedom fighters were staying in harbor city, but she couldn’t go there yet, not when she wanted to know where people were going, when they were going to sleep, which rooms they slept in, which rooms their kids slept in. teo’s list had given her a lot to think about. so much of war was just war to her. the burning, the poisoned water, some of it felt like just what happened. but the idea that she was really, really looking at the men who decided towns she knew and people she loved had to burn just reminded her that she wasn’t just here for zuko. she had the council too, the people who deserved to pay.

she wasn’t really watching, used to moving silent and quick, so she didn’t expect anyone to see her slip down from the rooftop on the empty streets, tucking her quickly drawn map into a pocket. the last thing smellerbee expected was to have a rock the size of a horse ready to launch into her face. both swords were in her hand before she could finish a blink and assuming a defensive stance in response. “i’m not here to rob you. and i’m not fire nation. put down the rock.” smellerbee couldn’t see the voice behind the rock, but there was a tingling sensation of familiarity in it that she couldn’t place.

Hahn had learnt that if you let your emotions ride you, you might get pushed off the edge. Quite literally, in his case. It sounded like Smellerbee had a personal vendetta against the Fire Lord, letting it drive her. But what right did he have to judge? He was probably the same when he was her age. So he put the thought on the back burner, turning his focus on her question instead.

He let out a mirthless chuckle. “Well, for starters, I used to be a sergeant in the army. I know what it’s like to lead, what it’s like to make difficult decisions, and most importantly,” he paused, more for effect than anything, “I know what it’s like to make the wrong ones and not crumble under them.” He’d been a wreck for the first few days after his failed mission, sure, but who wouldn’t if they’d lost everything? At least he knew how to brush the dust off his knees and come back stronger. Most people were weak, held back by their regrets. Hahn? He had his fair share of them, but he was never going to let them control him, try as they might.

“They,” he gestured backwards to where the pair came from, “think it’s easy. Make some noise, and at best the Fire Lord listens to their pleas.”

“At worst, create a power vacuum, put a new face up there,” he sneered, pointing a finger in the general direction of the palace, “and everything is okay. Perhaps it will be, for awhile. But it’s a cycle. Wait until Ozai’s old followers come back, stronger. Wait until they demand more, stage another coup. What happens then?”

He shook his head. He hadn’t meant for a monologue, but it came anyway. “For real change, you need to dig deep. Secure roots in every corner, every heart.” Taking out a piece of folded paper from his breast pocket, Hahn brandished it at her. His manifesto, if you will. “I have nothing to lose. I’ll do everything it takes.” His voice had descended into a low, harsh whisper, eyes narrowing into slits. Let Smellerbee have a taste of his determination. “So what say you?”

sargeant in the water tribe army wasn’t exactly an overwhelming accomplishment to her. the fire navy had practically crushed the southern water tribe, and the northern tribe hadn’t been involved in any major battles in the sea to her memory, none that were talked about in the earth kingdom anyway. as far as she knew, the only time the northern water tribe really got involved was on their own land, which had been deemed impossible to reach until the attack on the moon. rumor had that battle ending with the avatar saving everyone’s asses.

smellerbee didn’t know what she was listening for, what part of his qualifications would believe he was worth propping up. part of her wanted to hear the kinds of things jet used to say. that he had no mercy. that he’d do whatever it took. that he understood pain and he knew how to inflict it back. smellerbee also knew that jet was no peacetime hero. the things she valued in him were not what would make a good leader here, they had a different place in the world. she needed to hear something jet wouldn’t do. and jet wouldn’t give one shit about securing anything but fear in the hearts of the fire nation.

He watched Smellerbee’s team moved into the shadows swiftly, somewhat impressed. Did the Water Tribe hate the new Fire Lord? He doubted it– they probably couldn’t care less, as long as they were served the justice they deemed necessary. They hadn’t even stuck around for the other nations when it came down to it, simply hiding behind their shiny ice walls that they’d rebuilt after the siege; they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Perhaps it was a Northern Water Tribe thing, this selfishness that ran deep in his own blood.

But telling her the truth would mean he’d lose any appearance of political authority. Whether it existed was an entirely different matter altogether, but he didn’t want to outright lie to her. It was too dangerous. A short hum escaped his lips as he weighed his words. “It’s personal,” he said, turning to look down at what little light reflected off his boots, “but I’m planning on making it political.”

“Put it this way,” he said carefully, turning to look at Smellerbee, “the Northern Water Tribe definitely wouldn’t mind one of their own people claiming the throne.” He paused. What would she think, he wondered. A complete stranger approaching her with big dreams and seemingly little power, would she ever think to trust him at all? The sunlight barely filtered through the rooftops, casting a faint glow on the girl before him, just enough for him to make out her expression. “I don’t have anything against the Fire Lord,” his words were slow, as though they were grasping to find footing in the space between the both of them, “I just have more to gain with him out of the equation in my plans.” There was little point in hiding anything from her, he thought. They’d already started down this path. He had to trust her, whether he wanted to or not. “And you? Is it personal, or political?”

smellerbee ran her tongue along the side of her mouth over her teeth, considering. he stood like rich people, and he talked like rich people, but he was saying things she could get behind. whether or not it was him personally who sat on the throne, the idea of putting someone who wasn’t from the fire nation on that pedestal sounded pretty nice to her. and wouldn’t that just be poetic justice? a hundred years spent destroying nations, wiping out the air benders, burning down the earth kingdom, and driving away the water benders only to be ruled over by another nation themselves for a hundred years.

the only problem was he didn’t have any more real backing than she did if the northern water tribe wasn’t in support of dethroning lee. she crossed her arms over her chest and drummed her fingers against her dark shirt. his people might get involved. and might was the best odds she’d heard in a while.

Location: Harbor City Time: early evening three days after the forum        - @smellerbeesting -        

The walk down to the harbor from the royal city took a total of fifteen minutes. Navigating the steep pathway down the volcano’s ridge took some careful moving, and singular focus. He was not interested in doing either of those things. Standing at the precipice of the caldera, he peered down the mountain to the port below. His father had moved their things into an apartment in Harbor City a day prior, The Mechanist hoping to create a more accessible place for a workshop and some sort of business venture. Teo was not as interested in this concept. He’d been inspired since meeting Qin and Ming, the discoveries he’d made in the palace, and his speech at the public forum. Helping people like himself was what motivated him now, as well as the desire to become independent from his father some day soon. 

He was excited to be among normal people again, the showiness of the capital city hadn’t really been his vibe. Pushing a button on his armrest, a set of glider wings unfurled from the now much clunkier back of his chair. These had been an addition added yesterday, while his father was busy moving. Having a mechanism in the chair itself was much more efficient than having attachable wings. 

Looking down the ridge once more, Teo took a deep breath and rolled forward. Entering free-fall for a moment, the updraft reliably swept up under his glider and lifted him into the sky. Laughing out loud, he leaned forward, letting out a joyful yell as he drifted towards the beach below. After a couple minutes and some excessive glider tricks, he touched down on the sand, screeching to a stop just before the steps up to Harbor City. He grinned and retracted the wings back into his chair. He’d missed this. 

Rolling himself up the steps, he sped off in the direction of the game halls, situated closer to the beach, as most of the seedier joints were. Stopping in front of Cheng Li’s Game Room and Bar and also Grill, Teo pushed the door open, wheeling towards the back where the pai sho tables were set up. Pulling a chair out and tossing it behind him to make space, he rolled forward and took it’s spot. He grinned at the people around the table, turning to the person sitting next to him.

“Hey! Let’s play a game!” 

harbor city was a less horrible part of the fire nation. being in the capitol in general felt something like being constantly pricked with tiny hot needles of paranoia and anger. harbor city was a lot more her speed. for one, there were plenty of foreigners there. it was named for what it was, a harbor, so ships came and went and plenty of people wanted a glimpse at the new fire nation for one reason or another, and any kind of room and board in caldera was expensive, even for fire nation standards. she still refused to sleep in a fire nation establishment, but she could find herself walking into buildings in harbor city.

cheng li’s was well known for trades of all kinds. the particular trade she was looking for was blasting jelly. it was surprisingly hard to come by here considering how easy it was to find in troop camps back home. she never had much skill in mixing things up to make them explode. she could use basically anything with a blade and a few hours practice, but the closest she ever got to exploding something was overcooking a batch of rice so bad it shot smoke when she opened the lid. the thing was, no one in cheng li’s wanted to talk trades of goods or services unless they got to play a few rounds first and feel the newbies out. she was pretty shit at gambling.

smellerbee was pinching the bridge of her nose, debating if she would throw in the last of her coin for the chance to stay in the game when the wheelchair slid in after the screech of a chair on wood floor. she had to double take. it was hard to forget the kid in the chair-- partly because of the strange manufacturing of his chair, but also because he had pulled out a list of all the disgusting shit the council was privy to during the war. “yeah.” she agreed, flipping a few silver coins between her fingers. “how about a new game? for the new guy?”

The sun was particularly hot as it scorched down on all who stood in the palace courtyard. It’s heat was undoubtedly draining energy out of her body, thus, she could only assume that it was doing the same to the other Kyoshi Warriors. Unsure of how much longer they would be out, Suki wanted to ensure that they were hydrated and fed in order to make it through the day.

Once she had finished escorting a group of protestors back to their homes, she slipped into the crowd of people in search of a shop to take back a small snack for the others. She’d managed to stumble upon an alleyway of stalls with food galore, and with a smile, Suki let her eyes wander for just the right one. In the process, she caught sight of a sneaky hand grabbing hold of a sitting skewer. It was quick, and the crowd around the stall had her questioning whether or not she’d really seen what she’d seen. She kept her eyes fixated on the stall and just seconds later, Suki witnessed the act once more. 

Flicking her eyes up, she noticed that the stall owner’s attention was focused in the opposite direction. So just what was going on? Suki’s steps picked up traction as she caught the swiper’s wrist in her grip. 

“Excuse me, sir,” Her eyes remained focused on the stranger before her, but she spoke loudly in order to attract the attention of the stall owner. “Did you sell this second skewer to this customer?” 

smellerbee narrowed her eyes, twisting her hand under the stranger’s and breaking the grip. she glowered and raised her voice, “hey! did you just call me sir? i’m a girl.”

she knew that the warrior wasn’t talking to her when she used the word sir, she was talking to the shopkeeper. but so long as the attention was on her having two skewers of meat and peppers in his hands, then the attention was theft. if the attention were to shift, however, to a fight between the two girls on the streets, it’d be written off as just a scuffle between some loud earth kingdom freaks instead of theft. she was’t some fresh faced green crook. smellerbee stomped forward, shoving at the woman’s side, trying to leave the scene.

Hahn eyed the hand she had on the leg, clearly at the ready anytime the situation turned sour. Perhaps it hadn’t been a good idea to play with fire without a way to put it out, but he didn’t intend to let it grow into an unruly blaze. In any case, he supposed it was only further incentive to make sure this didn’t end up in either of their bloods being drawn. As though to convey his innocuous reasons for being here, he clasped his hands in front of him, in the open for her to see. “Well met,” he said as he gave a quick nod to the rest of the freedom fighters.

He turned back to Smellerbee–a rather interesting name, but he’d long outgrown the phase of judgement over silly matters like this–with a widening smile. It probably served him best to not meander with his words. “Hahn, and simply put, I’d like a new Fire Lord. on behalf of my tribe,” he said, voice low, “I believe you’d like that too.” There was little point in lying to her, or trying to sugar coat his intentions, but it still felt strange to let his inner thoughts take an ephemeral form in the real world. “I’ll elaborate, but somewhere where the walls lack ears, preferably,” he gestured towards the bustling streets of the Fire Nation behind him, underscoring his point.

well, dethroning the fire lord was a platform she could get behind. if she had time, maybe she’d unpack all the complex emotion she had mixed up with lee, now zuko, and the death of one of her best friends, practically the only family she had left, the hate for the fire nation, and the fall of ba sing se. but she didn’t have time. “hahn, we have something to talk about then.”

the freedom fighters moved quickly, and they walked away from the crowds, into back alleys and the shade cast by tall buildings. the group fanned out, one going up onto a roof, the others taking relaxed positions near entrances to streets. a series of short whistles signaled to her that they were watching for those ears. it looked like a well organized operation. the truth of it was they just had a small, elite team here. smellerbee walked slowly with hahn, hands moving to her hips and away from her weapons. “so, water tribe doesn’t like the fire lord sitting in the big chair either, or is it just you?”

Location: Streets of Caldera City Time: Sometime after the town hall meeting, same day CLOSED. @smellerbeesting

The town hall meeting had been much more… civil than he’d expected, considering the uproar that had been the protests only a few days ago. But he supposed that most of them had gotten that rage out of the system, dust settling to reveal a much more docile demeanor that was at the core of these people. He had to give it to the Fire Lord, too– the latter had been quick to pacify the bubbling turmoil beneath the city, but Hahn certainly hoped that this forum wouldn’t be all that the people needed to continue sucking their thumbs as they continued moving to the humdrum of their regular lives. No, he wanted them to nurse the fire inside them that had been awakened, let the flames lick all that they speak and touch.

So when Hahn saw the girl who’d spoken up against the Fire Lord with a vehemence that struck his soul, there was no hesitance in his footing as he made his way to her petite frame. His gait was careful; he didn’t want to seem like he was ambushing her little team. Not when she’d called themselves fighters. He’d barely caught on to the last of her address to her team when he made his presence known, though he was certain she’d already sensed it when he was approaching. “Quite a speech earlier,” Hahn said, the corner of his lips upturned, “I’m impressed.”

“I think we might get along well,” he added, taking another gingerly step forward. “Shall we introduce ourselves?”

smellerbee had weapons on her now; two swords over her shoulders, and a knife strapped to her leg. it was like it was harder to walk without the weight of steel somewhere on her frame that was easy access. she’d been at war ever since she was born, she was comfortable when she was ready for a fight. politicians fought differently, uncomfortably, and without open combat. but just because she was in the city fighting a politician’s game didn’t mean she had forgotten the feeling of someone coming up behind her. her fingertips rested on the pommel of her knife. 

small city park

open air meant they didn’t have as much control over who overheard them talking, but this was a public meeting. they wouldn’t be discussing anything violent. smellerbee had to stand on a bench to be at eye level with everyone gathered, a few people she didn’t know had made their way into the circle to see what the ruckus was about, but it was mostly her people. 

“do you know what they’re saying in there?” she pointed out at the palace, her voice straining to remain loud. smellerbee had a rough voice, and it didn’t take well to shouting, but she would be heard. “the new fire lord is concerned about fire nation lands! about the fire nation coming to visit villages and putting money into restoring their own lands, the ones they destroyed. the fire lord isn’t worried at all about the fact that he and his soldiers have burned villages to the ground on earth kingdom land. about the hundreds of thousands of people the fire nation has driven out of their homes and onto streets begging for money, without their family homes, or their farmlands, to support them. he doesn’t care about anything but the fire nation.”

smellerbee stomped one foot hard on the wood of the bench. “are we going to accept that?”

“no!” came the chorus of the freedom fighters, fists up in the air. 

“you know what we do. find supplies. if zuko isn’t listening to reason by the end of the week, we remind him that the earth kingdom is here freedom fighter style.” but she wasn’t looking at her people anymore, she was looking at the man in fire nation reds she had seen at the meeting. his name-- she couldn’t remember it. she’d chalked him up to fire nation soldier scum before he’d even gotten past his own introduction.

sokka narrowed his eyes, more friendly than suspicious. “don’t question my lilies,” he said, tucking them into the crook of his arm as he turned to follow smellerbee. ash-hole. that was a good one. he’d have to use that later. “i’ll have you know, they’re for suki, who, by the way, is not a member of the fire nation. but i can’t exactly go skipping town to buy lilies from another country. aang isn’t letting me borrow appa. and besides, that’s not the point.”

the point was that smellerbee did have a point, actually, and suddenly he felt ashamed of all of it—the flowers, the palace. he’d spent months living and training in the fire lord’s beach house, for tui’s sake, though he reminded himself that that had been a vital strategic position that ultimately lead to taking down the fire lord. and that was what he had to keep reminding himself of. who’d been the ones to destroy the air fleet sent to burn down the entirety of the earth kingdom? him, toph, suki. who’d been the ones to take down azula before she could become the new fire lord and further her father’s and her grandfather’s and her great-grandfather’s campaign of terror? zuko and katara. who’d defeated the fire lord? aang. it’s not like they’d been sitting around twiddling their thumbs, and he would appreciate it if everyone else would stop acting like they had.

“‘used to’ is a funny way of putting it,” he shrugged. “look, i’m not going to pretend i know anything about what it’s been like for you guys since everything went down in ba sing se. but that means you can’t really pretend to know what it’s been like for us, either. wait, no. that’s not what i mean.” he smacked his hand against his forehead. “what i mean is… i know we’re in the fire nation, but i don’t get why all of the peace talks have immediately become centered around, uh, the fire nation. i get that it’s been rough for villagers here, too, but i feel like people are forgetting that it was way worse for people in villages outside of the fire nation than the ones in it. i know there’s a lot of innocent people here, too, and i’m not trying to blame them for the actions of their corrupt leadership. but it feels like the energy and focus are maybe being put in the wrong place.”

just jumping on a big flying bison and running off to somewhere else must make life a lot easier. she wished she could just fly out of the fire nation and come back to harass a few politicians when they deserved it, but then she wouldn’t be doing a good job being the leader of the freedom fighters. “yeah, nothing says romantic like being surrounded on all sides by lying politicians and ash-making soldiers.” not even jet could have found someone to sweep off their feet here in his free time. she could almost perfectly visualize him pretending to throw up in a gutter at the thick smell of the spicy peppers so popular here.

knowing sokka wasn’t exactly cuddling up to the fire lord was comforting. her shoulders visibly relaxed a little at his critique of the fire nation. it didn’t seem like anyone in that palace was listening in the open forum, the room was all fire nation and a few friends of the avatar, she’d had to practically demand her way in. “i’ll blame them. they don’t think of anyone but themselves. it’s the whole reason this stupid nation started a war to begin with isn’t it? they think they’re the most important people on earth and every school, leader, and politician has been telling them that for a hundred years. why should a room full of uppity fire nation types with enough funds to be in the city this long after the coronation give a skunk-bear sized shit about the people they hurt? no offense, but you avatar traveling types seem pretty sympathetic to them, sitting pretty up in the palace, eating fancy fire nation food and sleeping in fire nation silk sheets, you didn’t even speak up about what’s owed to the southern water tribe.”

where. caldera city markets when. the day after the open forum closed to @smellerbeesting

Between the protests and the forum, Sokka had come to the startling conclusion that he had no idea what the fuck was going on anymore. Especially in the early days, much of his, Aang, and Katara’s travels (more like misadventures) had brought them to small towns with unusual circumstances, and Sokka had wholeheartedly believed that those experiences had kept them grounded, that he had a sense of what regular people—people just like him; he was nobody great or famous or important—needed, wanted, felt, anything, all over the world. 

Apparently, he’d been wrong.

Maybe the last year or two that they’d spent in hiding and the glory and glamor of traveling with the fabled Avatar had skewed his perspective. Maybe he’d just been blind to the Fire Nation this entire time. Either way, sitting in the palace with Momo throwing berries into his mouth wasn’t going to fix any of that—but taking to the bustling capital city streets might.

And also he wanted to go pick up some flowers for Suki. Two birds, one stone, right? 

Mostly, though, he wanted to find Smellerbee. Seeing her take the podium at the forum had been perhaps the greatest shock of all—he had no idea when she’d gotten to the Fire Nation or how, and the guilt that the last time he saw her was as she watched one of her best friends die sat heavily on his shoulders. And more importantly… she’d raised a lot of good points. As much as he burned with a need to defend Zuko—she couldn’t know; she wasn’t there through all of it; she wasn’t there when he knelt and offered himself as a prisoner; she didn’t go with them to a black site Fire Nation prison, where Zuko willingly led Sokka without mentioning (though Sokka knew) that his presence there meant he risked being captured and executed for treason—he couldn’t deny that she’d been right to remind everyone of the scars the rest of the world had developed. Hama may have been a terrifying psycho, but she was also living proof of the damages the Fire Nation had inflicted upon just his own tribe. 

Eventually, he found her in an alley. There was no mistaking that warpaint. (Only then did he realize he probably should’ve waited to buy the flowers, and, embarrassed, he shoved them behind his back. Whoops.)

“Long time no see,” he said by way of greeting. “You got time to talk? I gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting to see any Freedom Fighters here.”

the crew she was running with right now was small. they couldn’t exactly get everyone in on one boat when people were coming in droves to see the coronation and celebrate an official end to the war. not when there was still work to be done and still troops acting as though ozai’s life and death had no sway on how they were going to treat the towns and villages they had captured. just a close team. people she trusted. people who wouldn’t mind slumming it on rooftops and alleys until they found some spot without too much fire nation stink on it to set up. she’d happily live in the trees, but the city didn’t have much in the way of thick landscape surrounding it and they needed to stay close to the action.

smellerbee was flipping a knife over in her hands, catching handle, then tip, then tossing it to the other hand, absentminded fiddling while she recounted the reactions in the meeting to the three people gathered around her. her hand gripped on the knife fully, taking a defensive pose with it when sokka appeared in the light of the alley. she only relaxed a little when she recognized him. he hadn’t really been a fan of the freedom fighters when they first met, and the second time they met was... not really a time for casual conversation about how they had been intending to change. it was hard to say if the water tribe warrior was a friend or a foe all things considered.

she jerked her head and the others dispersed through the back of the alley, making themselves scarce, and then nodded to sokka. “i’ve got nothing but time in this ash-hole. we can walk?” smellerbee didn’t wait for his consent before she walked toward, and then past him into the open street and the sun. smellerbee slipped the knife into a holster on her thigh. she side-eyed the flowers and raised an eyebrow at him, not that he could see it under her thick bangs and headband. 

“everything said today will be taken into consideration when i begin to develop our plans for transformation.”

yeah, not likely.

oh the poor soldiers who had to burn down homes and watch children cry over dead parents. oh the poor fire nation villages that didn’t get to see their fire lord come and visit. the pitiful lives they had to lead as they stood by and let the world burn down feeling helpless. it was no surprise it was an earth kingdom boy-- one she didn’t recognize but she was going to have to remember-- teo found a stash of hidden information. if only she could have gotten into the palace walls to find out what other secrets were hidden there. her fingers twitched in her gloves and she wished she had her swords on her back.

obviously the guard wouldn’t let her in carrying three weapons. they didn’t know about the one hidden in her chest plate. for her own protection. it wouldn’t exactly take out a fire bender from across the room, but if she was attacked, she was going to go down with a weapon in her hand.

smellerbee desperately wished for the easy air with which jet carried himself through rooms. people turned to look at him, captured by the way he walked and talked and the stupid stalk he liked to keep between his teeth. when she put her hand down hard on the podium, people had to turn to look at her, startled someone was there at all.

“i represent the freedom fighters, a civilian militia group that defended lands from the fire nation, and protected innocent people during the war. i saw the exact kinds of crimes the fire lord’s council was hiding.” rage was bubbling up in her chest, the memories, the images, and she clenched her hands until the familiar fabric of her dingy gloves reminded her to exhale. if she started screaming now, they’d throw her out before she so much as got two words in.

“if the fire nation intends at all to make reparations to the people it has slaughtered, injured, used, and imprisoned then the entirety of the council needs to be eliminated.and that includes the fire lord.” eliminated was an intentional word. they leave the council one way or another. smellerbee’s eyes shot to zuko and she hoped that even through the black warpaint under them he could see that she hated him. “no person who has committed a crime against the earth kingdom, and for that matter the water tribes either, should be making decisions about how to somehow make it better. your words mean nothing to the people of the earth kingdom when they come from the mouths of conquerors and liars.”

“i met the fire lord before he became the fire lord. then he was just a prince, no, not even a prince. he told us his name was lee. he was sneaking into ba sing se as an earth kingdom refugee, taking advantage of the kindness offered for people who had lost homes to his people, his actions. prince zuko destroyed villages, destroyed incomes, he left people bleeding and dying. and he has the--” smellerbee paused, inhaling again. she didn’t realize she had been getting louder until her voice choked. she composed herself again and flexed her hands. “he came into ba sing se pretending to be someone he wasn’t. he took a job that could have gone to someone in need. he lied to the police force when questioned about his heritage. he let a man be sent to jail for standing up to him when he was right to be accused of being a fire bender. and despite all the kindness the city showed him and the general, his uncle iroh, who tried once to conquer it, he was nothing but a spy sent there to help his sister overthrow the king, take the city from the inside out, and kill the avatar. our so called last hope for peace.”

the sneer on her mouth was involuntary as she finally looked away from zuko and crossed her arms over her chest. “the only reason he sits on the throne is because he had the avatar beat his father, and he had his sister thrown into jail. his actions have not proven he has remorse for what he did to the other nations of the world. this change he claims to have gone through is at the expense of earth kingdom blood. he is covered in it. that doesn’t make him any different than ozai or azula. it doesn’t mean he won’t turn on the nations again as soon as the avatar turns his back. fire lord zuko will just keep kicking change down the road and claiming it’s because he’s young and he needs time. and before we know it, it’ll be another hundred years and the colonies will still be there and the fire nation will just keep expanding their land and pretending they deserve any place in the earth kingdom.” jet would have been proud of that. he loved theatrics. smellerbee was never much good at them. jet also would have finished by taking the knife out of its hiding place and throwing it across the table between lee’s zuko’s eyes and hoping it hit its mark before anyone noticed. but she wasn’t jet. she wasn’t trying to be jet. not right now, anyway. she was trying to be smellerbee and lead the freedom fighters her way. it just so happened that what she wanted now was for no member of the old royal family to be on the throne, and jet would have done the same thing.

Or as legit as a bunch of revolutionaries out to make the Fire Nation pay every damn penny taken from every citizen of the Earth Kingdom and maybe the Water Tribes too for good measure can be. Smellerbee isn’t a small thinker, an she wants the Freedom Fighters to be a force that governments take seriously. With influence. With power. Whatever it’ll take to get that be it alliances with politicians, new members with unique skills, talking to people to get a better understanding of where the pain in the world is and how her team can help with it. They don’t need to be monsters willing to hurt the Earth Kingdom people, they shouldn’t be that. They should be friends to the people, always. She won’t fall into that old pattern. But it doesn’t mean the Fire Nation gets the same mercy.

BEING WRONG

Smellerbee lost her village, she’s had her friends lose villages, she’s seen the Fire Nation do horrible things to people’s homes, families, livelihoods, and unspeakable acts beyond that. All of it was on her land, in her home. She has never actually considered that kind of behavior could take place in the Fire Nation too. Or if she did, it was deserved by people letting it happen to them and not speaking out against the Fire Lord because she would rather die than sit by and let it happen. She has a lot to learn about mercy for all victims and not just the ones easy to sympathize with.

DEALING WITH ANGER

Grief is messy. Losing her family and her village was almost easy to deal with because she found the outlet of the Freedom Fighters and someone who could tell her where to put her anger and her pain. Losing Jet also meant losing Ba Sing Se and losing one of the people she trusted most in this world to know her and know what to do about the Fire Nation. All anger and sadness she feels now is somehow redirected back to the Fire Nation and she knows a lot of people feel that way. It’s not something a few public apologizes and handshakes from Fire Nation Politicians is going to fix. Sometimes it means making things happen. Taking action into her own hands, hurting people who need to be hurt, and telling people that they don’t need to just accept what they have been given from the very people who oppressed them. Everyone in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom politicians who turned blind eyes to suffering.

CHILDHOOD AGAIN