Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Being a light sleeper came with some serious downsides. Even more so, when Izara woke up hearing her name from outside the doorway, she shared it with Mika, Ming, and Kaina, whose voice was the one she heard. The voice got closer, and another unfamiliar one was much deeper. The footfalls got louder, and she realised there wasn't any choice anymore; she needed to get up. Not being a morning person didn't help.

She opened her eyes and sat straight up, startling Kaina, who yelped in surprise as she walked towards Izara's bed to wake her.

"Sorry to wake you. Warchief Sokka is here to see you." Kaina moved out of her way as she got out of bed and shuffled towards the hallway.

"Izara," Sokka said with a hint of urgency. "I need you to come with me. Dress for training."

"I'll be just a minute then." She replied with no hint of hesitation. Chances were that he was here on behalf of Suki, so she took it as an order.

After she zipped inside, she quickly changed into her training gear and thanked Kaina. Judging by the sunlight in her shared room, it was around 8am when Suki's classes began in the morning. Sokka led her to the training grounds, where everyone seemed to be waiting for Suki to arrive, but she wasn't there. She expected to be her demonstration partner or something, but she didn't like the feel of this.

They reached the edge of the training grounds, and Sokka turned toward her abruptly, stopping her in her tracks before she ran into him.

"Suki wants you to teach today. She isn't well, and both Luan and Guozhi are busy. She said she showed you the techniques she was going to teach today last week, so you're the only one who can fill in."

Izara immediately began shaking her head violently, showing her protest. Still, Sokka simply shoved a note into her hands before she could speak. He gestured to it with his eyes, and she blinked a few times before finally realising that she needed to open it. It was only a tiny piece of paper, barely bigger than her hand. She opened it to find only one word written there in tidy, feminine handwriting.

Please?

There was also a haphazardly drawn sad face next to it, and Izara could see and even hear Suki pleading with her in her mind. As she slumped her shoulders in resignation and nodded slowly, Sokka shoved another note into her hands.

She opened it and couldn't help but groan at its contents.

Thank you!

The drawing next to it was a happy face, and Izara stared blankly at Sokka, who simply shrugged and held his hands up to relieve himself of all responsibility. A wry laugh escaped her as she looked over to the other guards, who were starting to stare at them, wondering why they were standing there in silence.

Mustering up all her courage, Izara put on her game face and walked out in front of the guards. Some knew her, but most were on different shifts or didn't know her. None of them had seen what she could do either. They whispered amongst themselves before she finally spoke.

"Line up!"

No one listened, and she rolled her eyes. Of course, they wouldn't listen. She didn't have any authority over them. Even though it went against every fibre of her being, she would have to demonstrate why they needed to listen to her.

"Warchief. Could I borrow you for a moment?" Thankfully he hadn't moved from his spot where they were standing earlier, and he power walked out to stand in front of her. He seemed to be falling in line to help reinforce her authority. Everyone watched them but didn't do anything.