Flint and Spark [4/??]

[gaisce]

Title: Flint and Spark
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Content tags: Azula/Toph Beifong, post-series, slowburn (emphasis on burn), bonding through property damage
Summary: Five years after Sozin’s Comet, a tenuous balance is on the brink of collapse. A Southern Water Tribe diplomatic envoy disappears in the middle of negotiations with the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Each side blames the other, ready to send the nations back to war. Toph can stop the conspiracy, but with her only help being the manipulative exile, Princess Azula, her enemies may not be the biggest problem.

Or, Toph and Azula go on a Life Changing Field Trip.

The path between the clinic and Song’s home was the ideal distance for Toph to test her newly bandaged feet, just enough to push herself, but not too much to leave her stranded in case the fire ivy had lingering adverse effects. Trying to find out precisely how much it would impact her earthbending senses was an urgent matter she needed to treat as a minor inconvenience, and so she insisted on walking. Even if it meant she had to give up the opportunity to coerce Azula into carrying her again, tempting as it was. She consoled herself by snagging a fistful of Azula’s tunic to keep her close, a contingency in case her connection with the earth was too damaged to notice any sudden movements and also to remind the exile that she was still on a short leash for starting this whole ordeal by running off in the first place.

Fortunately, she could make out the ground even through her irritated skin and bandages, albeit in an undefined way that resulted in the movements around her blurring into their surroundings. Song, who was walking ahead of them as their guide, was a muddled shape that steadily swayed from one foot to the next. Azula, who was walking directly beside her, was near enough that Toph could discern the purposeful steps and an indication of where her arms were positioned, made clearer by the metal cuffs. So when Toph felt Azula’s hand cover hers she wasn’t entirely surprised except for the unexpectedness of the gesture. The firebender plucked Toph’s hand from her tunic and laid it over her manacle, covering the length of her outstretched forearm the way guards at the Beifong estate would offer their arms to escort Toph to her parents or tutors.

“Still within striking distance,” Azula said under her breath, turning her wrist slightly to demonstrate the metal at Toph’s palm, “but stop dirtying my clothes with your grubby fingers.”

Toph responded by summoning whatever dirt was on her arm to the pad of her thumb and smearing it on Azula’s skin where it met her metal cuff.

“How are you doing so far?” Song asked, looking back to check on them.

Toph paused, trying to sense if the healer had noticed the shift in their hands and if she found that as suspicious as it appeared to be, especially with the two of them waging a silent war of annoyance on the other. “The bandages are holding up,” she said, “kinda ticklish though.”

“That’s wonderful! It means the fire ivy spread wasn’t too bad. The most discomfort is in the first two days, then you can probably take them off as long as nothing gets too aggravated.”

Toph raised up her other hand in a mock salute. “Got it. I’m sure Mei Li will do everything she can to make sure I avoid anything aggravating. Including carrying me over any offending puddles or suspicious grass. Right, buddy?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Azula echoed dutifully, her arm as stiff as her response.

“You had better. I don’t want to have you coming back for another treatment,” Song said with mock sternness, so unconvincing that Toph didn’t need her earthbending senses to tell she was smiling as she said it. “And if you do, I’ll make you go to my mother so you’ll really get a scolding!”

Considering the previous violent threats Azula and Toph had bandied between them earlier in the morning, being sent to Song’s mother was laughable in comparison. Yet both of them indulged Song by treating it as if it were truly a concerning punishment, Toph by smothering the laugh threatening to come out and Azula keeping a carefully neutral expression. Having sufficiently warned them, Song left them at the gate of her house to go on ahead and prepare her mother for the unexpected guests she was bringing with her.

The moment she left, as if on cue, both of them simultaneously dropped their arms to their sides. Radiating displeasure, Azula twisted at her metal cuff as if she could scrape off the dirt Toph had smeared on her. Toph wasn’t happy about the circumstances either, but had spent enough visits as the “honored guest” of functions to know that this may also be the last moment to breathe freely in a while.

Undaunted, Toph nudged her, this time aiming for the sleeve of her upper arm. “Hey, before she gets back, we should get our stories straight.”

Azula moved from her cuff to the new area Toph touched, giving whatever dirt found there a dismissive flick of her wrist. “You mean beyond the story that we’re childhood companions?”

“Just say friends. You’re gonna make it sound weird with that companion talk, like it was an arranged playdate or something.”

“And we’ve known each other since we were children,” Azula restated with marginally less contempt, which was about as close to compromise as they could get. “What else do you think might come up?”

“Things a nosy host might ask,” Toph sighed, as someone who endured plenty of those interrogations. “Small talk stuff. Like, when we met or something…”

“Age seven or so.”

“Your age seven or my seven? Nevermind, it’s mine. We met at the Beifong estate.”

“It would make more sense to say we met at school.”

“Didn’t go to school. I had private tutors and overprotective parents who kept me inside the whole time.” Toph tried to sound glib instead of bitter, because she would have preferred to keep that part of her past out of it, to instead pretend that Azula was simply a classmate, but she had spent a lot of time shutting down any grifters who tried to claim her accomplishments as part of their bending school, so her vehemence for declaring herself self-taught in almost everything might be well known enough for Song to have heard through Earth Kingdom rumors.

“Then Mei Li would have to be a servant,” Azula surmised, not with the same disdain she used when sneering at so-called peasants, but a flat practicality.

Toph shrugged. “More like the kid of some servant or trader who spent a lot of time with my dad.”

“Fine then. We’ll say trader, it gives an excuse for there to be times where we were out of contact in case we accidentally contradict each other. Then we can simply misremember the timing.”

“Might also excuse your overly formal behavior, Princess. You sound like you were raised by pretentious blacksmiths.” Or soldiers, Toph thought, remembering the way she held her arm out and stood at attention, her rigid posture not able to entirely shed her true upbringing.

“No, you already told her I hated getting dirty,” Azula pointed out, as if Toph weren’t mocking her, and if it weren’t abundantly true, “which would be hard to reconcile with a trade entirely composed of sweat and dirt. Besides, you’re already an earthbender. I would be deferential to your talent and redundant to your abilities.” It was tempting for Toph to point out she hadn’t started behaving deferential yet, but Azula continued before she could say anything, “You said your parents were overprotective? That means Mei Li’s family trade would be something they thought you needed, something unthreatening but valuable.”

Toph shrugged, thinking the only thing they would want more of would be soft, suffocating restraints. She idly remembered Azula’s cuffs when— “Clothes. A blind girl might need a hand picking out her wardrobe, right?”

“Good thinking,” Azula said, a pleased hum in her voice and no trace of sarcasm. “That would work perfectly.”

Toph, who had resigned herself to enduring Azula’s undermining and manipulation for the rest of their journey, was almost sure this was another trap. Not merely cooperating, the firebender was listening to her and offering compromises without hesitation. She even complimented her. It brought a new understanding that this may have been what really made it possible for the former princess to overthrow Ba Sing Se with just two allies and some Kyoshi Warrior facepaint.

Not letting her guard down, Toph said, “And you let me lead the conversation.”

“Fine,” Azula conceded, as if they weren’t at each other’s throats just an hour before. “Anything else?”

“My dad…”

“What?”

Toph held her tongue. Besides her name, her connection to the Beifongs had been lost for years. Azula wouldn’t need more than the obvious facts. “His name’s Lao Beifong. If you were some merchant’s kid, you’d remember it.”

In the blurry facsimile in Toph’s mind, the shape of Azula nodded and showed absolutely no sign of betraying her. It felt so sincere, the only thing keeping her from believing it was the numbed sting under her feet.

---

“So there are some surprise guests you brought with you?” said a voice, a more weathered and warmer version of their host’s.

“Yes, Mother, as I just finished telling you a minute ago,” Song replied, kneeling in front of the engawa and removing her slippers.

Noticing the act, Azula elbowed Toph surreptitiously. When the blind earthbender turned slightly, Azula elbowed her again, this time more insistent, and tapped her foot.

“What?” Toph hissed under her breath.

Azula’s voice was a threatening whisper. “I don’t think I’ll be able to take off my boots when your restraints are grafted to my skin.”

“Oh, fine,” Toph growled and made a fist then opened her fingers so the metal would open around Azula’s ankles as well. They gave a soft creak as they stretched upon her command.

“Are you okay?” Song called back to them, having finally removed her slippers and was waiting patiently on the wooden platform.

“We were just—” Azula gave the merest pause, “debating etiquette. Toph’s feet are always bare, but since they’ve been recently bandaged and covered in medicine, we wouldn’t want to track anything on your clean floors.”

Toph wanted to protest that her feet were cleaner than whatever stink people made when they shoved their feet in sweaty wrappings then released the noxious mess afterwards, especially since she could just earthbend the dirt off them, but it was a good excuse so she let it stand.

“I think we can make an exception for the injured,” Song said cheerfully, “But thank you for being so considerate.”

Azula inclined her head. “It’s the least we can do to repay your generous hospitality.”

“I’m going to puke if I have to hear you keep laying it on so thick,” Toph muttered through a forced smile as she clambered up onto the wooden engawa.

Song’s mother greeted them at the doorway. “I have to apologize. I wasn’t expecting you, so it may take me a little longer to prepare a meal for everybody.”

Hoping Azula would remember their conversation and let her take the lead, Toph clasped her hands together and gave their host a perfunctory bow. “Don’t make a fuss on our account.”

“She loves to fuss over people,” Song said. The fond tone made it sound like a compliment instead of a criticism. “Honestly, she would be more upset if I didn’t bring you with me.”

“I do not fuss, I simply want to be a good host! And we haven’t had guests in so long. Song, you really should have told me before they were at our doorstep,” her mother shook her head, her affected dismay matching the fond teasing of her daughter. “Now they’ll think I’m a stingy cook!”

“I told you it wasn’t planned, Mother. I ran into them while I was looking for ingredients, and—”

“Let me guess, the white jade plant?”

“No,” Song said, glancing apologetically at Toph, even though she wasn’t sure she could pick up on it. “But we’re out of fire ivy balm. And, you’ll never guess but these are friends of the Avatar! His earthbending master, Toph Beifong, and Mei Li.”

“I’m more a friend of a friend,” Azula supplied unhelpfully.

“Oh my goodness!” Song’s mother sank into a formal bow, her hanbok pooling out as she touched her palms to the ground. “You are welcome here, more than welcome! It’s an honor! I only wish we could offer you something better than our meager lodgings.”

“Really,” Toph waved a hand in their direction as if to wipe away the awkward formality that had suddenly interrupted their introductions, “you’ve done so much already. Like offering to feed us after Song helped bandage my feet...”

“The fire ivy incident,” Azula added with a nod to Toph, once again very unhelpfully.

“Treating a wound is nothing compared to what you’ve done. We’re simple healers, but you...” said Song, her hand absentmindedly waiting at her mother’s side to help her stand, to smooth a crease or carry a load, ready to assist. “You helped save the world. You brought hope back to everyone.”

Toph shifted awkwardly, wishing she could curl her toes into some dirt and connect to something that would instinctively respond to her, but didn’t hold so many expectations. While she normally loved the praise and adulation, the vulnerable awe in Song’s voice was too revealing, where talk of her saving the world seeped through the social niceties and turned surefooted ground into something slippery. Like whatever they wanted from her, even if they didn’t demand it, wasn’t something she knew how to properly give.

“You’re undervaluing yourselves,” Azula replied, kneeling to sit in seiza, eyes level with Song’s mother. Her back was ramrod straight, her voice carrying the attention away from Toph’s discomfort. “While my friend here may have helped overthrow a tyrannical empire, war is a destructive act. Even when seeking to end it, it’s inevitable that you become a part of its fallout. People are hurt every step of the way. Some who may even deserve it, but it makes victims of everyone...” She looked around the room as if to include an invisible audience before gesturing to them with an upturned palm. “And you ‘simple healers’ are the ones who save them. You give them hope that they can last another day, and show them that it is possible to recover from their injuries. That is no small feat.”

Song’s mother gave a flustered laugh. “Are you a storyteller, Mei Li? You make our work sound so heroic.”

Azula chuckled, her lips pulling back to show teeth for a brief second and then back to a neutral smile. “I wish. No, I’m merely grateful for the help you’ve given us. Not many would be so charitable.”

“Since we’re practically strangers,” Toph interrupted, trying to soften the tone Azula was giving their conversation. “You take in strays often?”

“Oh, we used to have so many more people travelling through during the war,” Song’s mother said, “even though we were never occupied. Song couldn’t stop bringing in refugees who lost their way, or came with injuries from wherever they fled from. But in the past few years we haven’t seen as many, just the occasional trader who cut his hand on a broken vase. I swear, she has the biggest heart.”

Song dipped her head, a small flush spreading across her cheeks. “Mom, Toph and Mei Li are probably starving by now. Maybe you could hold off embarrassing me until after they’re fed?”

“I’m allowed to be proud of my daughter,” her mother responded with unrepentant humor. But she gathered the folds of her clothes and nodded to both guests. “Please wait here while we prepare everything. It won’t be long, and then I can continue bragging about Song without interruption!”

Hearing the creak of the floorboards and Song’s soft pleas for her mother to be a little more circumspect, Toph surmised the two had gone to the other side of the house to finish preparing food for their guests. She waited a little longer, making sure they were far enough away, then turned to the exile.

“Pretty convincing speech you gave back there.”

“It came from sincere sources,” she replied. “The prison’s healers were desperate to find meaning in their work, otherwise they would be wasting their lives trying to fix irredeemable monsters. At least now their justifications can be of some practical use.” Toph furrowed her brow, and Azula, sensing she had overstepped, shrugged. “Song fixed your feet, didn’t she? They don’t suspect I’m lying...”

“It’s not a lie, but I did not peg you for a suck up.”

“You wanted me to fend off suspicion, and what better way to do that than present myself as everything I’m not? Your dull, eager-to-please attendant.”

It was hard to articulate how Toph rankled at that description. Maybe because, as infuriating as Azula could be, an obsequious attendant could only be following her out of duty, and Toph struggled to fabricate how she could have a meaningful bond in those circumstances, when ordinarily she would have immediately dismissed such “help” the instant it presented itself.

Growing up, she had never made friends with any of the servants at the Beifong estate, not because she felt she was superior to them, but they were always so formal and she had to pretend to be the same. Her attempts at friendliness were seen as childish, either pitied and gently discouraged by the softhearted ones, or rebuked by the stricter servants who feared her father’s disapproval more than her disappointment. When she recalled how she interacted with “Mei Li,” the most sincere seeming instances of their friendship was when the other girl couldn’t help but let the facade slip, where the distance of decorum was interrupted by their personal vendettas, like Azula’s arm proffered to keep her steady, followed by a taunt that could almost be a private joke.

Toph waved dismissively. “Just lay off the groveling. Can’t you act normal or something?”

“Observing the rules of hospitality is normal,” Azula protested in exasperation, “if you weren’t raised by animals or bandits.”

The earthbender grinned in spite of herself. She almost wanted to tell Azula about the badger moles, but just as she was about to respond she heard Song walking back to invite them to their makeshift meal. The firebender shifted, tensing in her shoulders to tell Toph that she would not be groveling any time soon, before she pushed herself up to stand. Even if it was unconsciously developed, they managed to communicate to each other with subtle gestures, Azula with her sharpened perception and Toph’s natural senses substituting what silent glances and hushed tones could use.

---

At the dining table, Song put the chopsticks down near Toph’s setting with a slight click of the lacquered sticks, which Toph was grateful for, a subtle cue telling her where they were without handing them directly to her. It was another unobtrusive sign of how observant Song could be in the ways people adapted to their surroundings, and how she was used to offering help without drawing attention to the act. A sensitivity which probably came from her time dealing with the injured and the sick.

When Song went to seat herself, Toph sensed the extra care used when she spread the folds of her hanbok over her right leg. It was a habitual gesture, not indicated by the easy untroubled way Toph noticed her walk when they arrived, but she had met enough people whom the war had left scars on their bodies and how, even after fully recovered, they were cautious. She set the chopsticks in her fingers and wondered if some of that care also came from the healer’s personal experience.

Azula had begun gathering samples onto her plate, making appreciative comments as to the quality of the food and generally behaving like a normal person instead of a prisoner who had spent the last five years being served meals by guards. Toph took advantage of the time to stuff a room temperature dumpling in her mouth, savoring the taste and the time she could eat at a host’s table without interruption, as Azula prattled on about herbs or food arrangements.

“I’m glad you enjoy the food, Mei Li. If you stay for dinner I can make roast turtle duck,” Song’s mom said.

Instinctively, Toph wanted to decline. Despite the fact that Azula was behaving herself, there was no guarantee that would last. The longer they stayed, the more likely she was putting Song and her mother in some kind of trouble.

“That’s far too tempting an offer,” Azula said pleasantly, “but it would be up to Toph. You see, I’m just happy to be going anywhere with her after we’ve been estranged for so long. We don’t have any fixed destination in mind. But I don’t want to push you after your accident.”

Toph realized Azula had directed that last part to her, her voice a quiet lull. She furrowed her brow, wondering why she made a show of giving her the choice. Was it her way of pushing her into making a hasty decision? Or did she do that on purpose to keep her true intentions from being known?

“It wouldn’t hurt to rest up today,” Song pointed out with a doctor’s remonstration in her voice. “And roasted turtle duck is my mom’s specialty.”

Toph swallowed the remnants of her food and pursed her lips, sensing Azula’s abstention was also an invitation for Song to meddle yet again. “I guess one night wouldn’t hurt. Especially if leaving means having to miss out on a local delicacy.”

Song leaned over the table to murmur, “And it means I can check up on your feet in the morning.”

“Oh, Song!” her mother exclaimed, turning to her daughter as if she suddenly remembered something. “If you used up the aloe today, we need to make some more for Toph and a new order. Hok asked for aloe and a dozen arnica poultices to be delivered to their store as soon as possible. Nothing serious, but apparently their caravan ran into a rough patch.”

Toph raised an eyebrow. The name held the echo of a money pouch and the effusive promises of returning any favor, which made her feel hopeful for the first time in this journey. “Hok? As in, ‘son of Honest Goong,’ that Hok?”

“Yes, do you know him?” Song’s mother asked in surprise, and Song’s body language mirrored her mother in this sudden turn of coincidence.

“We might’ve met during that rough patch,” said Toph.

Azula continued eating as nonchalantly as if they were discussing the weather, putting a larger than normal bite in her mouth to ward off any questions her way. Toph found it a small mercy compared to her other contributions.

“Ah! So you were the one who chased off those thieves!” Song’s mother said, full of admiration. “You really are a hero.”

“He mentioned that, huh?”

“He said they were chased by raiders and saved by an earthbender who scared them off. I wish he mentioned it was the legendary Toph Beifong, but Hok always likes to cut straight to business.”

“Yeah, it makes sense. We were both in a hurry…” Toph said, her mind cogitating a new plan. She needed to make contact with the Order of the White Lotus, and to do it in a way that wouldn’t give too much away to Azula. If she could intercept Goong or Hok and present her circumstances, surely they had something like a carrier hawk to deliver a message on her behalf. That left one remaining complication, which was taking care of Azula herself. She couldn’t leave the exile alone with free rein, and it would be impossible to bring her along without having her figuring out exactly what she was doing, which meant she would have to sideline her somehow. And to do that it would mean Toph would have to resurrect the spectre of her long ago identity: the privileged Beifong heir finding ways to distract her servants while she escaped to freedom.

“Oh, Mei Li,” she said, her voice pitched innocent and sweet, “remember earlier when you were telling me how much you wanted to repay them for their generosity. Wouldn’t helping Song make new medicine be a great way to do that? Then they could deliver it sooner.”

“I would be happy to,” Azula said, not hesitating to match the faux eagerness. The only sign of her frustration being the tightening of her fingers on the dining table as she turned to face Song, seeking an alternative to Toph’s proposal. “Although I don’t know if I would be anything more than a hindrance.”

“You wouldn’t,” Song assured them, “And I think it’s very kind of you to offer, Mei Li! I’d love to have some extra help grinding the poultices. The work can get a little repetitive, so having someone to talk to would make it go so much faster.”

“And, as you can tell, Mei Li is excellent at conversation,” Toph added, resting her chin on her knuckles and smiling. “Full of stories and jokes. Sometimes I wish I had her way with words.”

“Please,” Azula smiled, in a way that implied everything she wasn’t currently saying was the real threat, “you’re giving me too much credit.”

Toph braced for more, another excuse to get out of helping, or at least trying to convince Song to make her do the work too, but Azula merely accepted the compliment. And, like a perfect host, Song’s mother soon closed up the silence with another topic, returning their talk to the exchange of small pleasantries and fulfilling her promise to embarrass Song with more stories of her as a precocious child, the older woman’s enthusiasm making up for the lack of it in her guests, who behaved with the polite interest of someone being enthusiastically introduced to an unfamiliar idea and trying not to show how foreign the concept was to them. Eventually, Song had declared she had enough to turn her face red and ushered Azula out along with her as an excuse to leave the table.

Toph, grateful for the food and the newfound opportunity, offered to clear the table with Song’s mother, and nonchalantly asked, “If Goong is here, could you tell me where his shop is?”

“On the other side of the village, across the bridge and first building on the right,” the older woman replied, her voice growing confused as she seemed to realize Toph was not asking out of idle curiosity, but intended to go there right away. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to go with Song and Mei Li?”

Toph decided to go with something partially true. “I want to follow up on the caravan attack. When I left them yesterday, nobody seemed to be injured. You said the medicine was just for minor scrapes, so maybe it wasn’t something I noticed, but it would make me feel more at ease to check on him to see if everyone’s okay.”

“Oh, of course,” said Song’s mother, who had probably felt the same concern and gone out of her way to check up on her patients before. “I’m sure Goong would appreciate that very much.”

“Hope so,” Toph said, and truly wished that were the case. She was counting on his generosity to help her without asking too many questions. “It’ll be a short visit, so I’ll be back before Song and Mei Li finish. Then you can put us to work on any other errands you want.”

Song’s mother sighed exasperatedly. “Really, Toph. You’re our guests. You don’t have to do anything to earn your keep. I’m sure you’re used to high ranking advisors lavishing kindnesses on you for favors, but that’s not what my daughter and I expect out of helping you. All we want is for you to get better, and maybe compliment my cooking.”

Toph scrunched her brow a little. It was rare for someone to be so blunt about the way the Earth Kingdom’s real currency was traded in favors and debts, rarer still that it would come from a woman in a remote village that wasn’t big enough to need a magistrate. Then she laughed, “Hey, I said ‘thank you’ and everything.”

“You did, and the way you cleaned your plate was the most sincere compliment I could ask for. But,” she grinned coyly, “Mei Li went out of her way to tell me how delicious it was.”

The mention of Mei Li, of Azula’s ingratiating deception, made Toph hesitate. Her judgement said this was the best time to leave, with Azula otherwise occupied, and that the firebender wouldn’t notice or capitalize on the short absence of her warden to harm either of their hosts, but it was still a calculated risk. This is why taking care of other people beyond just yourself was so difficult.

“Well, that’s why I always offer to do work in exchange for food and shelter instead of poetry,” Toph admitted with a shrug as she finished balancing the last of the leftovers into her arms, knowing with each additional plate, she would have to be even more careful to keep it all from crashing to the ground. “Play to your strengths. That’s why I’m going to insist on helping when I get back, because I know I’ll never be able to outdo Mei Li’s flattery.”

---

Azula resented letting Toph maneuver her into yet another servile punishment. First, she had to carry that insolent earthbender like some pack animal, and now she would have to keep up the friendly facade of Mei Li for however long Song decided to keep them at their task. And judging from the scattered rucksacks full of weeds, twigs, berries, and other wilderness refuse surrounding them, it would be a long time before finishing.

“Here is the pestle and mortar,” Song said, as if the purpose of the objects weren’t readily apparent as she handed them to Azula’s open hands. “We’ll start with the arnica.”

Azula plucked a yellow flower with small wooly petals from the nearest pile. It resembled the mountain gold flower that grew all over unkempt meadows in the Fire Nation. From her childhood, she recalled a milky white sap that turned black and acrid when she burned the leaves, a possibly useful insight to how it was prepared. What was useless was the rest of her memory, where her mother grabbed her hand and scolded her, as if she were on the verge of setting the meadow on fire, which was ridiculous because that would be careless and she was not some inept firebender like Zuko, but apparently her mother was more concerned with the landscape than paying attention to her daughter’s talents. Or perhaps she did notice how attentive Azula was while studying the way the petals recoiled from her flame, and that was what troubled her more.

She dropped the flower in the bowl and raised the pestle, then almost flinched as fingertips touched the back of her hand.

“Not right away,” Song said, “First, we need to check there aren’t any bugs in the flowers. They like to nestle in between the leaves and we don’t want to mash them up in the mixture. Unfortunately, they’re not very beneficial from a medicinal standpoint.”

Azula, recognizing it to be her attempt at a joke, gave a weak smile. “I see I got ahead of myself.”

The healer smiled encouragingly. “Or I wasn’t expecting such an enthusiastic assistant! How about I check the flowers first, then give them to you to crush?”

Crushing things was her speciality, so Azula nodded. “That would make things go faster.”

Song began to go through the arnica, her agile fingers quickly sifting through the leaves and petals with the confidence of someone who has earned their expertise. Whatever grit or unseemly items she found, she either quickly pulled out or set the whole flower aside before dropping the finished ones next to Azula. There was no hesitation or squeamishness, only the quick assessment of Song’s glance before moving onto the next. Within a minute, Azula had enough to begin and set to work grinding them. It almost seemed like an endurable task until Song had to go and ruin it by engaging in conversation.

“It must be nice to reconnect with Toph after all those years. How did you two become friends?”

“It was more that we had no other choice,” Azula said, inwardly annoyed at how close it sounded to honesty. “We’re both only children, and there weren’t many opportunities to meet others our age.”

“I would have thought a big city like Gaoling would have plenty of kids around,” Song set another handful next to Azula, “but it seemed you both lucked out if you’re still in contact with each other, even after all this time.”

“Yes, how fortunate destiny threw us together,” said Azula, making note of the city and the fact that Song knew where Toph’s hometown was meant she would have to be circumspect.

“I didn’t have a lot of kids to play with when I was growing up either,” Song said, undeterred by Azula’s laconic replies. She set another handful of arnica at Azula’s lap almost as a peace offering. “Farming kept us busy. And there weren't enough of us to make it worthwhile for our village to pay for a teacher.”

Since Toph had confirmed the information for her already, and since Song seemed to be relentless in her efforts of socializing, Azula said, “We didn’t meet at school. Her parents had her tutored privately.”

“Oh, so you worked for the Beifong family?” Song asked, as if servitude wasn’t something to be ashamed of. But then, Azula reminded herself, anything was shameful compared to being born the heir of an empire that was destined to conquer the world. And nothing as shameful as having it all in your grasp and then letting it slip through your fingers.

“My grandfather was a fabric merchant, and we did most of our business with Lao Beifong,” Azula supplied without a moment’s hesitation, preferring the fiction of Mei Li’s life to the other thoughts churning inside her. Toph’s suggestion truly was an inspired choice for Mei Li’s trade. Beyond giving an explanation for why a tradesman’s apprentice would be allowed personal access to the daughter of a wealthy family, it was something Azula had enough firsthand knowledge to convincingly bluff her expertise in silk patterns and expensive dyes.

Yet, like a thread unraveling, she felt the tug of knowing she had made a mistake by assigning a grandfather instead of a mother to be her pretend guardian. Back home in the Fire Nation, tailors could be either men or women, but Earth Kingdom classes had stricter divides in their occupations. If she were being practical, she could have easily mentioned an aunt, or even a grandmother, who taught her. But after seeing Song and her mother, Azula couldn’t bring herself to lie about such a connection, even offhandedly. Not when she saw the way Song’s mom looked at her daughter with such maternal pride and adoration, and not when she had never seen that expression directed at her.

Azula cleared her throat, continuing to talk so Song wouldn’t dwell on her awkward pause, “Whenever we came to the Beifong estate I was expected to help make her presentable, like picking out the colors for her outfits and keeping her out of the mud. I suppose she found my attempts at making her look like a proper noblewoman a little imperious, which is why she calls me ‘Princess’.”

Song chuckled, “Well, I think it’s a compliment. And it suits you! You carry yourself with a lot of confidence.”

“You have to be confident to get ahead in life,” Azula said, then cleared her throat. “Ah, considering how the merchant trade is a ruthless one.”

“Hok said that too,” Song sighed in a weary way that suggested it was not the first time she broached the subject.

“He’s the one Toph helped, isn’t he?”

“Hmm,” she nodded. “You didn’t meet him?”

“No. She thought it might be dangerous and left me behind,” Azula said, hating how the truth kept invading this conversation. Although, the danger was not for her own safety. But Toph’s renewed interest in the merchants made Azula curious for more information, so she waited, letting an ingratiating smile set on her face. “Probably for the best. If I tagged along, I would have started talking business with them, since I’m not one to let an opportunity go by. Tell me, are they very well established?”

“By our village’s standards, they’re very successful. Hok and his father deal with all kinds of things,” Song said as she shifted from one leg to the other and began sifting through the flowers again. “They’re primarily traders since we don’t have a lot of resources here, so he barters with people on opposite sides of the continent, like spice carriers, miners, clothiers, anyone who's ever made a deal with his dad. And he thinks they’re all liars and thieves out to cheat them.”

“He’s right,” Azula said, and gave a twist of her wrist to seek out the bits of pulp that escaped her first round of grinding. It might be peasant work but that was not an excuse to be slack. “A merchant’s fortune comes from destroying their competition.”

“Oh Mei Li, surely you don’t mean that,” Song said in dismay. “I understand that some people aren’t going to be honest, but behaving like everyone is out to hurt you is a terrible way to see the world.”

Azula pursed her lips, wondering if she had miscalculated in stating such an obvious fact. Even if Mei Li was supposed to be benign and congenial, that didn’t extend to a gullibility that would leave her exploited to the point of starving. But she needed Song lulled into an easy back and forth, not an argument, and that meant she would have to soften the statement into something the tenderhearted healer could accept.

“Perhaps not everyone. But all it takes is one person to slip past your defenses…” Azula felt her jaw tense at the memory of a knife unsheathed and a clasped hand turned fist, both too quick for her to react. “My grandfather had an old friend from childhood, from before he became successful. He thought that proved his loyalty, but when an opportunity came, that friend didn’t hesitate to cripple him.” She set the bowl down. “Financially.”

“I’m so sorry, Mei Li,” said Song, and also set her work aside to give her full attention. There was such concern in her voice that Azula wanted to pick up the mortar again if only to shatter it. “That must have been hard for your grandfather. And it sounds like it was difficult for you too.”

“It was a lesson I needed to learn. Business or friendship, no matter how secure you think you are, you must always be vigilant about who you rely on,” she said, her voice circumspect even as she managed to look Song in the eye. This was dangerous ground in which to remain. Even if she was an effortless liar, Song’s expectations made it difficult for her to know what to say. And even though she tried to find an inconspicuous way to turn the subject back to Hok or Song’s own interests, it seemed as if Song was too invested in listening to her.

“I can see why you feel that way, but…” Song glanced down at her hands, breaking the staring contest Azula had inadvertently started. “Surely there are exceptions. You’re travelling with Toph right now, aren’t you? Your family worked for the Beifongs and you’re still good friends.”

“Toph is different,” Azula said without thinking for a justification as to why, only that it seemed the best answer. The blind earthbender certainly was different from anyone she knew. “She can afford to be kind.”

“What do you mean?”

Azula picked up the bowl again and paused to tilt it towards her, coaxing back the mixture from where it was creeping toward the edge to test its consistency. “She’s strong enough that she wouldn’t be concerned about someone overpowering her. Even if they succeeded in getting her to let her guard down, she can tell when people are lying and she can sense when she’s being ambushed.” She stared at the medicine appraisingly, wondering when this sticky pulp might turn into something useful. “So she can get into fights and then make friends with her opponents, because there never was any danger of truly hurting her.”

“You make it sound like she only does that because it’s easy.”

“No, she does it because she wants to,” Azula said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips when she thought of how much Toph resented being stuck with her. “She’s reckless about it because it’s easy.”

Song reached out to Azula, momentarily making the exile’s defenses go up before she realized the healer was signaling to her that she was going to take the mortar full of medicine. “And you worry about her.”

“She can take care of herself,” Azula said, perfunctory. Iit was a self-evident truth, the one thing about the crass earthbender she could confess to admiring. “But I understand why others, those who have to rely on their flawed judgement, need to be more distrustful.”

Song scraped the paste from the bowl into a larger container then handed it back to Azula. “Thank you. I know you said you’ve never prepared medicine before, but you’re very thorough. And thank you for explaining,” she said, softer. “You’ve helped me understand where you’re coming from a little more. And maybe where Hok is too.”

“It’s not something you’d want to learn through experience,” Azula said, somewhat stiffly, never used to dealing with other people’s discomfort except as the one causing distress. “Merchants profit off of others, so it’s expected that everyone is out for themselves. Your trade comes without negotiating the price of their gratitude.”

“I know you probably think I’m naive,” Song said, and Azula felt she was at her most triumphantly deceptive because she kept herself from bursting out laughing. The healer touched the hem of her hanbok, smoothing out the folds. “But I’ve had others hurt me, and take advantage of my help before. For a long time, I didn’t think I let it affect me. But, after I invited you and Toph back to my house, I realized that I kept myself more at a distance after all.”

“Oh?”

“My mom said it was a long time since I invited anyone back to our home,” Song said, “and I realized she was right. You were the first guests I invited from the clinic in years.”

Azula gave her an appraising gaze. “The lure of hosting the famous Toph Beifong was too appealing?”

The healer nodded, somewhat bashful. “Yes, although it’s not because she’s well known. Or, I guess, it’s what she’s known for, really. I think I felt the same way you did about her, that she was an exception. She helped save the world, so that meant she was someone I could trust.”

At the mention of the word, trust, Azula felt the pestle grind through the medicine to scratch stone against stone. She glanced down to see if she had broken anything.

“And you too,” Song added, mistaking Azula’s sudden distraction as feeling slighted instead of incensed. “But back during the war, we had a lot more refugees coming through our village. Some were trying to escape the Fire Nation, some were just lost. The ones who had nowhere to go, I usually offered them dinner and a place to stay.”

Putting more flowers into the mortar to cover up her scratch, Azula nodded, trying to recompose herself as being politely interested.

“There was a boy my age and his elderly...uncle, I think? The uncle was the one I treated, but it was the nephew I was worried about. You see, he already had a burn—” Song pointed to her left cheek, and Azula suddenly found herself staring with rapt attention. “It was an old scar. Something I couldn’t heal. And even if it wasn’t physically hurting him, he seemed to be in a lot of pain. I thought if I talked to him and showed him that I also was scarred by the Fire Nation, maybe he wouldn’t feel like he had to bear his pain alone.”

“Your leg,” Azula said, having figured out already from the way Song had repositioned herself, and how she carefully kept her hem from revealing anything above her ankle.

“Yes,” said Song as she rested her hand over her right shin. “I was injured in a raid. My mom treated my burn, so, except for the scarring, I made a full recovery. That’s when I said I wanted to be a healer too. But she warned me there were some wounds that no medicine could cure, and if they healed it would only be with care and time…”

Back in her cell, Azula had been lectured on the same platitudes, with the same kindly condescension. There was something broken within her, but it couldn’t be reached by either waterbenders or royal physicians, even the Avatar was powerless to mend it.

“Did he hurt you?” Azula asked at last.

Because she would have.

“No, he didn’t. He stole our ostrich horse and left,” she said, bowing her head as if reliving the defeat. “I stopped inviting people after that. Because I could make the same mistake, where I’d try to help and instead make it worse. And maybe I was afraid that he could have hurt me, but I couldn’t admit it. So instead I pretended I was being professional by keeping my efforts to the clinic and only treating what I could physically fix.”

“It sounds as if you had plenty of reasons to be cautious,” Azula said, a more indirect version of “I told you so.” Because whatever victory Azula would have felt at Song’s admission of hypocrisy seemed hollow and not worth grasping for.

“Well, you just spent all this time explaining why I should be. You were very convincing, as expected of a good merchant,” Song said, giving Azula a sad, sympathetic smile. “But I think, no matter how reasonable it is, I don’t want to live that way. I know I can’t be as strong as Toph, even though that would make things easier. But I want to try being more like her.”

Whatever small satisfaction Azula felt from Song’s praise immediately soured. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, not in the way she fights people,” Song laughed in embarrassment. “I meant the way you described her as reckless but how she can afford to be kind. She doesn’t hold back who she is, and that makes you want to be friends with her even though you’ve been hurt before,” she smiled and Azula realized it was directed at her, this girl with scattered flower petals and burn scars, “I want to be able to offer that too.”

The exile reviewed her memory to see what she could have possibly done to warrant this reaction from the healer and found nothing. Then possibly what she had done to deserve this kind of punishment and found reasons too numerous to count. She cleared her throat, grasping for some empty compliment she should be able to weave together. “I’m sure...Toph would be flattered to hear she made such an impression on you.”

Then Azula set down the bowl in front of Song, waiting for her to empty it so she could start again.

---

With the instructions from Song’s mother, Toph easily found her way across the village, even with her impaired earthbending senses. The only part of the journey that tripped her up, almost literally, was the wooden bridge that was the last of the pathway before Goong’s store. The merchant’s place was situated on the opposite end of the village from Song’s house, set in the cradle of a river embankment. With such easy access to water, it seemed inefficient they used caravans if the routes were in the same direction, but there may have been supply sources she was unaware of to make the slower trip worthwhile.

Taking a step on the bridge, she nearly stubbed her toe on a raised plank. The worn grooves of travel made the wooden structure uneven and splintered from age, although the years of disrepair were apparently not dire enough to warrant fixing it. After a moment’s debate, she decided that creating a path through the river would be a simpler solution than taking her chances on the bridge. The last thing she wanted to do was come back to Song with splinters in between her toes and have another lecture, especially since she couldn’t even blame that on Azula’s sabotage. Instead, she made her way to the underside of the bridge, bending pillars of stone from the riverbed so she could make her way without falling into the watery shallows.

After making it to the other side, Toph was wiping the excess water from between her toes, when she heard the noise of two voices talking over the burble of the river. She paused from underneath the bridge, listening to see if she recognized the speakers, and heard the familiar timbre of Goong’s son, Hok, as he seemed to be protesting something.

“Like I told you, it’s a supply matter. I already requested everything but until the clinic makes enough, you’ll have to wait. Demanding things of me won’t make the medicine magically arrive.”

Toph's interest perked up. In a surprising coincidence, he seemed to be talking about the medicine shipment that gave her the excuse to slip away and come find him, which meant he was likely talking to someone else from the caravan. She strained to listen and see if she could recognize the identity of the other speaker.

“There must’ve been something you could’ve gotten in the meantime," said the other man, "It’s your job to get us what we ask for, otherwise why wouldn’t we just take it ourselves?”

The voice’s familiarity scratched in the back of her mind, knocking her senses with alarm when she heard how he said “job” in the same threatening growl of a command as the mounted rider from the bandits she fought yesterday. The suspicion grew stronger based on the way Hok shrank back from that demand just as much as he did before when the caravan was being attacked.

“Yan, listen—”

“Only my crew gets to call me that. It’s Fixed Glare Yan to you. Unless you want to take the initiation ritual...” he jeered.

Hok swallowed, radiating discomfort. “Isn’t it enough that we’re working together…”

“We’ve got common interests, but that doesn’t make us partners. You gotta fight alongside me to earn that, and we both know the reason why you’re even in this is because you don’t like getting your hands dirty. But don’t think I came here just to shake you down for more supplies. I’m a fair guy...” Fixed Glare Yan took out a pouch full of metal coins from his belt and tossed them, hitting Hok in the stomach and making the merchant roll back on his feet a little from the impact. “See, I’ve brought you your share.”

From the clattering alone, Toph could surmise it was thirty copper pieces. A pittance for selling her out, and she grew even more indignant at Hok’s duplicity. If he was going to betray her, the least he could do would be get a good price for it!

Hok also must have realized the meager collection of coins as well, because he exclaimed, “You promised me twice this amount!”

“You forget how this arrangement works, Hok,” said the mercenary, rounding on him. “We’re the ones who stuck our necks out, so we get the biggest part of the take. We left your goods alone and only ruffled a few ostrich horse feathers. Your part was easy. All you had to do was distract the Blind Bandit long enough for us to get away.”

“And I did,” Hok replied with some defiance, even as his fist closed around the coin purse.

“Barely. Your merchant spiel isn’t as good as you promised if you could only keep her around for a few minutes. With haggling skills like that, no wonder your dad’s in debt.”

“Leave my father out of this!”

Everything in Hok’s body warned Toph that he would strike out at the mercenary, but as muscles tensed and adrenaline coursed through him, his feet stayed where they were. Apparently the young merchant’s self-preservation was slightly stronger than his pride.

“Hah, now you get some fighting spirit. Well,” he jabbed one finger directly at Hok’s chest, “if you want to make sure your old man stays in the dark about you working with dao fei, you won’t complain too loudly if things don’t turn out just right. Otherwise, we might have to go see him instead. Maybe he’s a more generous negotiator than you.”

“He’d never agree,” Hok retorted, the meager spark of defiance sputtering out in one last attempt at brinkmanship. “So if you want any help turning your raiding spoils into something legitimate, you deal with me and stay clear of him. Or you’ll have to go back to the old ways.”

“I’ll deal with you as long as you make it convenient for me,” Fixed Glare Yan responded, unruffled by Hok’s anger, but Toph noticed the threat of losing a business partner was enough to make him casually change his stance and tactics to something less aggressive. “So if you get me my medicine and supplies, then you’ll get more of the money you think I owe you.”

“You’ll get it! Just stay out of the village proper,” he hissed, looking around as if they might be discovered at any moment by one of his neighbors, unaware that Toph was crouched just a few dozen feet away from them. “The last thing we want is more attention. I’ll come to you when it’s ready.”

“Another thing,” the bandit said, unwilling to be harried. “One of my men may need more than beer and rubbing salve. He got hit pretty bad. Wants someone to look at his mouth.”

From her hiding spot, Toph clenched her fist. She would give him more than ‘a pretty bad hit’ next time.

“Well, I’m not a healer!” Hok said.

Fixed Glare Yan gave his namesake stare at the merchant. “Then get one.”

“I—” he stopped, either from fear or calculation. “...it will cost extra. Healers aren’t part of our arrangement, getting one on such short notice might need some persuading. Especially if you want them to not ask any questions about how your man got his injuries.”

“Fine,” the mercenary grunted. “But you go back on our deal and no amount of medicine will help you.”

Hok nodded, the tension of negotiating leaving him even if he was still slightly nerve-riddled from his momentary defiance. “I always deliver, that’s an Honest Goong guarantee.”

Fixed Glare Yan laughed, more at him than with him, and left.

Toph traced the bandit’s movements with her seismic senses for as far as she could, but lost him on the outskirts of the village. Briefly, she thought about following and ambushing him, but that was a reaction fueled by anger. Satisfying, but short sighted. Neutral jing meant to wait until the most opportune moment, when his whole crew was gathered and no villagers were around to interfere, then she could take them down all at once.

But first, she would have to get Hok to confess everything he knew. It wouldn’t be too difficult a task, she thought to herself as she clambered up the riverbank, since he already owed her a favor...