Chapter Text
Kyoshi dd not even try to sleep. She sat in her bed, playing with a candle that was set in her bedside table, changing its intensity with only her breathing. That was her way to remain calm and alert while she waited for everyone to be asleep. The estate was in complete silence. It should be dark too, but Kyoshi knew that a couple of torches would be left on throughout the night. There was a shelf with books that she could read to entertain herself while she waited, but she did not want to touch them. She did not feel like anything here was hers. The books had surely belonged to the waterbending teacher who had occupied the room before her. The one who had died in Yun´s ill-fated confrontation with Tagaka. If Kyoshi had been doing her duty as the Avatar the past two years instead of hiding and letting Yun handle all the problems, maybe this Waterbender, and many more people who had perished in that conflict would now be alive. The candle burned with more intensity, and Kyoshi pushed all these thoughts aside to focus again on her breathing and the candlelight.
When she deemed that enough time had passed, she stood up and left her bedroom. She was not surprised to see two armed guards sitting in the hallway. They were startled by the sound of her door, and they quickly stood up, ready to face her. But then they realized who she was and quickly lowered their weapons and inclined their heads, maybe embarrassed at being caught nodding off in their shift, or maybe as a sign of respect for the Avatar.
Yun had told her that there would be guards. She had asked him everything about the estate´s security. He had been suspicious about her questions, so Kyoshi had to tell him that she meant to prank Jianzhu to scare and intimidate him into releasing Kirima. Her excuse seemed to convince him, and he was willing to answer all her questions after that. Maybe he had his own grudge against Jianzhu and was happy for her to take her revenge.
She learned from Yun that the guards were benders and capable fighters, but not the best. Their main purpose was to alert everyone else if an assassin snuck up at night. They were not here to control Kyoshi´s movements, and they did not have the authority to question her. However, they would certainly think it suspicious that the Avatar was going out in the middle of the night, and they would surely tell their fellow guards about this in the morning, if there was no excuse or explanation for her behavior. She muttered something about looking for a healer to help with a headache that would not let her sleep. They nodded and let her walk past them. They did not seem to notice that she was wearing her makeup.
It did not take her long to find the hallway where Jianzhu´s room was. There were two more guards waiting there. Kyoshi greeted them with a smile. She could easily beat them if she wanted to, but a fight would be too loud, and she would rather not wake Hei Ran, whose bedroom was nearby. Fortunately, Yun had prepared her for this as well, with the perfect excuse for them to let her in.
“I have something important to discuss with my Master,” she lied. “An urgent message from my past life.”
They frowned. She knew that if it was anyone else, they would not be allowed to wake the Earth Sage at that cursed hour. But how could they refuse the Avatar´s request, when she said it was an urgent matter, and they had no authority to demand a justification? And the mention of a past life made it a spiritual matter, something almost sacred. Her white and red makeup only added to the intimidation. She tried not to smile when they stepped aside and let her walk up to the door.
She went in and closed the door behind her immediately. She lit a small flame to be able to see the room. There was a small desk with paper and ink, a comfortable looking bed and two nightstands. The man she was looking for was sitting up on the bed and staring straight at her. His hair was messy and he was wearing a nightgown; he had probably just been startled awake by her opening the door.
“Avatar Kyoshi,” he greeted her. “To what do I owe you this late, unexpected visit?”
“I´d like to know what you want from me,” she answered. “Are you hoping to control me? To use me to your advantage for political reasons? To overcome your enemies and rivals for you?”
“Of course not!” He exclaimed, defensive. “I just want to teach you how to be a responsible and dutiful Avatar. As the Avatar, the peace and balance of the world depends on you, and it is a heavy load for a young girl to carry alone. That´s why you need qualified masters to teach you.”
“I agree that I have a lot to learn,” Kyoshi admitted. “The truth is, just a few weeks ago, if I had found myself in this situation, I would have broken my aunt out of jail and run away the first chance I got.”
“I am glad you did not,” Jianzhu acknowledged. “I have my fair share of experience with Avatars who run from their duties, and constantly cleaning up the mess is exhausting.”
Kyoshi frowned, wondering whether he was criticizing Yun or Kuruk. Not that it mattered. Yun was not the Avatar, and Kuruk was long dead.
“I will not run from my duties anymore. I will rise to them. Rangi has helped me learn that lesson.”
The Earth Sage smiled. “Well, I will be happy to hear all about that story tomorrow over tea. But I think that you should go to bed now, unless there is a really urgent matter that you need to tell me about. I expect you to be ready for training in the morning.”
Kyoshi shook her head. “I just wanted to let you know that I am not leaving. I will train, and study under my new masters. I will do what I can to help keep the peace in the world. So, if that is all you ever wanted, you can die peacefully, knowing that your mission has been accomplished.”
Jianzhu quickly got out of bed and faced her. He did not assume a fighting stance, but she knew he was ready to fight her if she attacked. But Kyoshi did not regret her words. She wanted him to know.
He smiled at her. “I hope I will die peacefully, when the time comes. But you have no need to worry about my dying anytime soon. I am quite healthy, and I am hard to kill.”
“I bet you are. Unlike my brother, whom you killed easily while he could not even defend himself. I am the Avatar, yes. But I am also a member of the Flying Opera Company. If you were a daofei, I would challenge you to a duel on the lei tai for such an unforgivable offense.” She looked at him and made a scornful face. “But you are just an abider, with no pride to defend, no sworn brothers you care about. And too many servants and people under your control. So, I´d rather settle this privately and quietly. It will be better for everyone.”
Jianzhu assumed a fighting stance and sent some dust flying to her eyes, irritating them so that she could not open them anymore. Well, she did not need her eyes to bend. Before giving him time to move anywhere else, she made a move that her mother had taught her years ago. She was meant to use it only in emergencies, always to incapacitate, never to kill. Kyoshi had never done it before. But if there was ever a right moment and a right person to use this forbidden tactic on, it was this one. Jessa would surely not mind if her daughter used it to kill him, after he had provoked the death of Lek.
She placed the body back in the bed and covered it under the sheets before going out. Nothing else had been disturbed. No guards found anything suspicious as she made her way back to her own bedroom. It was hard to sleep after such a night, but when the knocks on her door woke her up, she was surprised she had managed to sleep at all. Lao Ge would be proud of me, she thought.
“I don´t need breakfast,” she told whoever was outside. “Just let me sleep a little more.”
“Your waterbending teacher is waiting for you in the training grounds,” Yun said. “Making your masters wait is not a good idea, trust me.”
Kyoshi sprang out of bed, put on her clothes and ran out of the room. Rangi and Yun had accomplished the mission she gave them. They had released Kirima. She hugged Yun as she thanked him profusely for his feat.
“It was nothing. We just told the guards we had orders from Hei Ran to bring her to the training grounds for some special training exercises. They allowed it, on condition that she must be shackled and supervised when she is outside her cell.”
Rangi and Kirima were waiting in the training grounds, sitting and talking quietly.
“Are we all ready to go?” Kirima asked Kyoshi when she saw her.
Kyoshi shook her head. “I´m staying. But you can leave and go to Madame Qiji´s with the other ones. I´ll let you know when you can all come here freely.”
Kirima stared at her as if she had gone mad. Living under the roof of the man who had captured her and killed Lek did not sound like a sane decision. Fortunately for Kyoshi, she did not have to explain. Hei Ran walked in with an announcement.
“Jianzhu is dead.” Kyoshi saw in her moist eyes that she cared about her old friend. Even monsters could have friends who cared about them, apparently.
“How did that happen?” Yun wanted to know. He looked at Kyoshi wide-eyed before averting his gaze.
“It looks like he passed in his sleep. He was not sick as far as I know. But the guards did not see anyone come in, and there is no blood or any wounds. He just… stopped breathing.”
Kirima raised her eyebrows at Kyoshi, who tried not to smile as she shrugged.
“I´m sorry for your loss,” Rangi told her mother.
Hei Ran sighed. “I will miss my friend. Just like I miss Kuruk. We all had our differences, but still.” She looked around as if she suddenly realized that Kyoshi and Kirima were there too. “Why is she here?” She asked about the Waterbender.
“The Avatar asked for her,” Rangi answered. “She thought it would make her training more interesting if we included benders of multiple elements.”
“That´s not a bad idea,” Hei Ran accepted. “We´ll need to find a new earthbending master as well.”
“I´ll be happy to train with Yun,” Kyoshi offered. “I´m sure he must have learned a lot of interesting things after two years of private tutoring with his late master.”
“Wait, did I just get promoted from bodyguard to sifu?” Yun joked.
“Or maybe you´ve been demoted from Avatar to teacher,” Rangi teased him back, maybe still offended that Kyoshi had chosen him as her bodyguard over her.
“The good thing is, you can now be my bodyguard again,” Kyoshi offered Rangi and she did the Fire Nation formal greeting gesture, bowing with her palm against her fist.
“I was always your bodyguard,” Rangi complained, but she returned the gesture in acceptance. Kyoshi got closer and went for a hug. She would have kissed her too, if the girl´s mother was not present.
Kyoshi was allowed to write a letter to her family in Madame Qiji´s, telling them what had happened and that they were free to come and stay in the estate now that Jianzhu was dead. Hei Ran had announced that she would have to write letters too, to present the new Avatar to the world and to announce the death of the powerful Earth Sage. Kyoshi was happy to leave all the diplomatic and legal issues to Hei Ran, while she spent her day training with her friends. Kirima was allowed to roam the estate unshackled, with Hei Ran´s authorization. A temporary room in the servant´s wing was provided for her to sleep.
“So, what happened with Jianzhu?” Yun asked when they made a pause to their training session to rest.
“Was he already dead when you came in?” Rangi also wanted to know.
“No, he was alive. I had a short conversation with him.” He saw the curious look in their eyes and smiled. “I told him that I was ready to do my duty as the Avatar. Then I intimidated him to death with a breathtaking airbending technique.”
Rangi and Yun frowned in confusion and shock, but Kirima laughed. “Well, I think your mother would be proud!” She said.
That evening, after they all had dinner together with her masters, she retired to her bedroom with her beautiful bodyguard. She stopped at the door.
“Thank you for everything, Rangi.”
“It was nothing,” Rangi said. “Getting Kirima out was easy.”
“No. Thank you for inspiring me to stand up to Xu and protect the world,” she answered. “If I ever become a good Avatar, it will be thanks to you. And I will dedicate every feat and deed I do to you.”
“You will be a great Avatar!” Rangi leaned closer to her and kissed her briefly in her lips. “You already are. And not just because of me. It´s just the way you are when you care about something. And you don´t need to dedicate any feat to me. I just want the honor of being by your side.”
“I care about you,” Kyoshi blushed. “And I want you by my side. Always.” She opened the door of her room, but stood at the door, gesturing for Rangi to come in with her.
“Then I will always be by your side.”
They spent the night together.