What followed couldn't be called an awkward silence, given Tom-Tom's cries and his mother's grateful sobbing, but the servants looked unsure of what to do and Toph didn't want to say anything in case she got targeted for a similar hug to the one that Mai was enduring. The impasse was broken when two guards looked cautiously into the room.
"My lady," the older in appearance of the two guards spoke. "There is some great beast within the old stable yard. The servants are afraid to enter the area."
"Just leave him alone and he won't disturb anyone," Toph told the man. "On second thoughts, put a guard there to prevent any children from wandering in. I don't think he eats meat, but he might stand on someone by mistake."
Lady Seung drew back in slight concern as the younger guard left, obedient to his superior's nod. "You brought a monster here?"
"He isn't a monster, mother," Mai explained somewhat wearily, even though she'd barely said anything to the woman yet. "He's just... rather large and inconsiderate."
"You almost sound fond of him, Spiky."
"He's the most dangerous animal I've ever seen, little sister - which is quite impressive. Of course I like him." Mai tried to subtly break her mother's grip, with no success.
"D-dangerous animals?" Seung asked tremulously tremulously. "Oh Mai! What have you been doing? And how could you worry us so? We all thought..." She sobbed slightly and drew Mai closer with one arm before letting go with the other to try to pull Toph into her embrace. "Thought you had both been killed."
Toph backed up. "No hugging," she warned.
Seung gave her a motherly look. "It's alright Toph. I know you must have had a frightening time but you're safe now. Your parents will be so proud of you. They were beside themselves with grief when they came to Omashu."
The girl's lips parted but no noise came out at first, her distraction testified to by the fact that she was firmly entrapped in the hug before she could gather her wits. "They went to Omashu?" she gasped out as Mai's mother squeezed her.
"Of course," Mai's mother confirmed. "Your father wanted to know everything about your time living with us. He couldn't believe at first that you had been - are - a fire bender. The two of you must be very close. He'll probably come all the way here when I tell him you're alive."
Toph's eyes went wide in absolute terror and Mai quickly locked her own free arm around the younger girl and lifted her off the ground before she could start earth bending. "Let's all sit down," she suggested firmly and pulled deliberately back from her mother, forcing Toph to take a seat next to her. "We can have tea and you can tell me all about what you've been doing since I last saw you."
"What a wonderful idea," Seung agreed decorously and beckoned imperiously for the servant to hand over Tom-Tom. She seated him in her lap as she settled onto the opposite couch, cooing over her 'brave little soldier boy' until he stopped crying. "After you..." she paused and dabbed gently at her eyes with a handkerchief, "...after you vanished, your father decided that Tom-Tom and I should live somewhere safer than Omashu."
"And you came here, rather than the capital?"
Seung lowered her face. "I persuaded your father than Ember Island would be safer. Prince Zuko's disappearance left our family open to criticism within the court." She sighed. "I only returned to visit the capital a few days ago, for the royal wedding."
Mai raised her eyebrows. "The royal wedding? Don't tell me that Azula found a man who could put up with her?"
"Not Princess Azula, dear. Prince Lu Ten and your old friend Ty Lee. She was such an adorable bride and he looked so handsome." Seung sighed. "Just think, if Prince Zuko hadn't vanished, you could also be joining the royal family."
"I didn't feel that way about Zuko," Mai said straightfacedly. She wasn't even lying any more. "Is he dead do you think or just missing?"
Seung shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Mai, I know that you're very fond of him but as he hasn't reappeared by now the consensus is that he's dead. It's only to spare Lady Ursa's feelings that no funeral has been held yet. The poor woman is a wreck, only Princess Azula was able to bring her out of her shell when she returned home for the wedding. Goodness knows how she's doing now that Azula has come here."
Mai's heart almost stopped beating. "Azula's here?"
"Why yes, dear. She was travelling with the happy couple when they set out on the honeymoon so she'll have been here for a few days now. The Fire Lord sent her here to rest after having to spend so long in Ba Sing Se, she must be exhausted." Mai's mother brightened. "We can invite them all to a dinner! Your friends will be so glad to find that you're alive, and its years since you've seen Prince Lu Ten. We can write the invitations as soon as I've written to your father and to Toph's parents." She turned to Toph. "You'll adore Azula, everyone does."
Toph lowered her face demurely. "I'm sure that the Princess and I could be great friends." Butter would not have melted in her mouth. "But would it not be insensitive to celebrate our return when her own brother remains missing?"
Oh, that was a good try, Mai noted. Although knowing her mother...
With a wave of her hand, Seung dismissed the objection. "Nonsense, Toph. Good news like this will surely lift her mood. Now, you'll have to tell me where you've been and what possessed you to let your hair down like that. It's a terribly daring style."
She didn't ask why we left, Mai noted in surprise. Why not? "It makes us less likely to be identified," she said. "What Toph is trying to avoid discussing is that we are facing a political problem."
Seung paled. "Oh Mai, I thought I taught you better than that. Politics is for men, dear. We shouldn't get involved in that sort of thing."
"We haven't been given the choice in that," said Mai bluntly. "If we're found, we will be killed. If it is learned that you know that we are alive then you -" she looked at the servants and the remaining guard "- all of you will probably be killed. Including Tom-Tom."
Her mother gasped and drew the little boy closer. "Mai!"
"So you see, it would be best not to invite old friends - old friends who are highly connected and would draw all sorts of attention."
"But surely they would help you," offered Seung hopefully. "You know Princess Azula has her father's ear and the Prince Admiral is also highly influential. Whoever your enemies are..."
Mai thought quickly. "I don't think that you understand how highly placed these enemies are, mother. The entire incident at Omashu was a trap for Prince Zuko, arranged by elements inside the Fire Nation who wanted to remove him from the succession," she lied. "There are two obvious people who could benefit from that, and whichever of them it is, they must be aware that the Fire Lord would never tolerate that level of infighting within the royal family." Another lie, this one so ridiculous that only someone so determinedly averse to politics as her mother would believe the facade of unity within the royal family that Ozai went to pains to present.
"You -" Seung almost squeaked. "You can't possibly be saying that Princess Azula or Prince Lu Ten would conspire to murder Prince Zuko?"
"What's not to believe?" Toph asked bluntly. "When Sozin's Comet comes back, the Fire Nation will win the war. Whoever rules the Fire Nation at that point will be the most powerful person alive. In political terms, that's about the highest prize that exists. You think people wouldn't fight for it?"
Seung sighed and looked away, wrapping her hands around her son's small fingers. "That's not something that's ever spoken of," she said after a moment and then turned to the servants, both pale-faced, and the guard, who was staring into the middle distance, apparently pretending that he had heard none of the conversation. "It is not something that has been spoken of today," she told them in a commanding tone that Mai had virtually never heard her use. "Because my daughter... my daughters are not here and this conversation did not happen. Please ensure that my son and I are not disturbed in this wing."
The functionaries mumbled understanding and retreated gratefully from the room, leaving near silence that Tom-Tom filled with cooing towards his sister.
"He missed you," Seung said sadly. "So did I. And we're going to miss you again, aren't we. Since you aren't staying?"
"We'll be quiet about leaving," Mai said, somewhat caustically. She wasn't quite as surprised by the flood of tears this time.
.oOo.
"What do you think of this?" Ty Lee asked, picking up an ornamental tea pot from a market stall and showing it to her husband. It was bronze and heavier than it looked, but the extensive ornamentation suggested that it wasn't intended for its ostensible purpose anyway.
Lu Ten ran one callused hand across the ornamentation. "It's excellent workmanship," he approved, "And from what you have said, Lady Seung would be pleased with it. But you said that she has a young son?"
"Yes, he must be two years old by now. I bet he's adorable," confirmed Ty Lee.
"No doubt. But the ornamentation on this is sharp edged," the prince warned. "If he got his hands on this, he might hurt himself." Lu Ten replaced the tea pot on the stall and lifted another, this one with less prominent ornamentation and some brass fittings. "How about this one?"
His bride clapped her hands together. "It's perfect!" Then her eyes narrowed. "But we should get a present for the little boy as well! How could I have forgotten? What do little boys like?"
Lu Ten grinned and swept her up in a hug. "Much the same as larger boys," he told her giving her a discreet squeeze.
She squealed but did not resist instead teasing her husband. "Well perhaps I should let him have a play then."
"Ah no," he said hastily. "I'm going to have to exert my jealous husband privileges. Perhaps give him a stuffed toy - a rabbit monkey or the like perhaps."
"That would be so adorable!"
Yes, Lu Ten noted to himself, he was a tactical genius. Ty Lee would buy a cute stuffed rabbit monkey - perhaps two, one for herself and one for her dead friend's baby brother - and then the shopping would be over and they could go back to the mansion to freshen up before visiting Lady Seung. And before they freshened up, they might get a little sweatier. I love this girl, he admitted. She makes me feel sixteen again.
They were examining a stall of stuffed rabbit monkeys and Ty Lee was apparently intent on testing each and every one of them for cuddliness when a shadow passed across her eyes. If Lu Ten hadn't been studying her face affectionately then he would have missed it, but he was and he had to force down instinctive reaction to what it meant.
Danger.
Instead of sweeping her up and throwing her to safety behind the stall before turning to confront whatever threat was behind his back, the Prince Admiral took a measured step forwards and rested one hand upon his wife's shoulder. With his other hand he scooped up the stuffed toy that to his eye had received the most positive response from Ty Lee. "I think this one is the best," he suggested firmly and then lowered his lips to her ear, whispering: "What's the matter?" so softly that even the shopkeeper wouldn't be able to overhear.
The girl clutched the toy with ostensible agreement and reached for her coin bag, her face innocent of anything but pleasure at her husband's attention. ôThe man with a tattoo on his forehead,ö she whispered.
Lu TenÆs lowered face would make it hard for anyone to see that his eyes flicked around to check the area in front of him. No such tattoos were in evidence, so whoever the man was, he was behind the prince. Between them and the royal holiday home.
ôHeÆs an assassin,ö Ty Lee whispered, very careful not to let the shopkeeper hear her.
Lu Ten stepped back from her and half turned, apparently casually looking around. ôWe should clean up before dinner,ö he suggested. There û a bald, broad-shouldered man with a stylized eye marked above his nose. For a moment the young Admiral wished that his training had entailed avoiding assassins, it would make it easier to keep Ty Lee safe. But his uncleÆs teachings were straightforward: the best way to handle an assassin was to eliminate him, ensuring that others would fear to attack you.
Ty Lee nodded enthusiastically and rubbed her face against the toy rabbit monkey before tucking it into her satchel and seizing Lu TenÆs elbow. Her face betrayed no trace of fear and he reflected for a moment on his good fortune. But that was a distraction and he set that thought aside as they wove through the crowded street towards their temporary home and the man in their path.
He watched the assassin only out of the corner of his eye. Timing would be everything here. Giving the man advance warning would almost certainly lead to his death.
The two were still outside optimal range for a sudden firebending strike when Lu Ten saw the assassin's real eyes lock onto his. Damn. He knows that I know he's...
There was a crack like thunder as ki ripped across the street towards the Prince Admiral.
.oOo.
To Azula's annoyance the crowd responded to the sudden display of firebending, albeit the unusual form used by this assassin, by feeling like panicked sheep. For once the concern was less national pride (the Fire Nation were a nation of warriors, by Agni!) and more to do with the fact that she was jostled and her view of her cousin blocked at the critical moment.
By the time that she had managed to discreetly convince the fleeing shoppers that she should not be jostled - and three of them were limping as reminders to be more courteous to incognito princesses in the future - Lu Ten lay on the floor, Ty Lee apparently pinned to the ground by her husband's body across her legs. It was ridiculous to think that someone as agile would have been caught like that unless she had deliberately been tangling her feet with Lu Ten's, which meant...
Either Lu Ten had avoided the attack and Ty Lee had loyally tripped him to leave Azula's rival open to a second attack or Ty Lee had pre-emptively tripped Lu Ten to move him out of the path of the attack. Either way, Lu Ten was not dead yet. Azula's lips curled. Was she going to have to take care of this personally? No, wait, the assassin was moving in for a certain kill.
Of course, by doing so, the man was abandoning his advantage of greater range and the instant that he was inside Lu Ten's range Azula's cousin sprang to his feet, his dynamism such that Azula could almost feel his ki. He was impressive, she admitted. If he hadn't been close kin, hadn't been as ambitious as she... The smirk on her lips could have been for the irony of the thought or more probably at the startled expression that crossed his face as flames failed to rush at the assassin, or to manifest at all. It would seem that Ty Lee had come through after all.
Turning away, the princess ran for the nearest side street. It simply wouldn't do to be spotted on the scene of her cousin's oh-so-tragic demise. While dramatically appearing to strike down the assassin would clean up several loose ends, it would also arouse suspicion. No, better to tidy matters up out of sight and to leave no sign that she was ever anywhere near the scene of the crime.
She was at the corner before she registered that there had not been the sizzling report of the killing attack upon her defenseless cousin. Half-turning she saw Lu Ten slam a kick into the assassin, the larger man blocking with his forearms and then striking down at the shorter prince with one metal-clad fist. What was that idiot doing!? Why wasn't he... Why was it suddenly so dark? Worse than having a cloud pass in front of the sun.
Glancing skyward, Azula saw a dark disc across the face of the sun.
When she looked down again, mind furiously calculating the consequences and likely outcome, she was looking straight into Ty Lee's eyes.
