Double Bender

Part 12

I was scared and sad for a while, for about a day, I wouldn't even get out of bed. It was so traumatizing to see myself looking like...like that... and knowing who made me look like it. I didn't look like myself, I didn't feel like myself. Honestly, I didn't what was real and what wasn't. Geo convinced me that I needed to move around and talk to people so I could feel better. I though it was a horrible idea but she insisted. So about five days later, I actually went up to the deck. The metal floor was cold against my bare feet, but I could have cared less. I didn't feel anything. All I felt was depression. As soon as I came up to the deck, I received several glances from the the crew and the rest of the people on board. Katara came up to me and handed Geo two cloaks identical to the one she was wearing. Geo put one around her shoulders and the other around mine. "Glad to see you're feeling better," Katara said. I nodded and looked around. "Oh good," said an annoying voice that cracked. "She's not dead." "Sokka!" Katara scolded. "What?" Said a Fire-Nation guard coming up to us. "I was just saying that she isn't dead because she's not dead." "Yeah but that doesn't mean you're allowed to be rude." Katara said. "I was simply stating a fact, that's not a crime, is it?" Sokka said. "She's just had a horrible accident, she doesn't need your taunting." Katara retorted. "You know she can hear every word your saying so maybe talk to her and not about her." Said Geo. "It's alright." I said quietly. "Tatiana," said Katara. "This is Sokka, my idiot brother." I extended my hand. Sokka shook it heartily. I winced. "Not so hard, Sokka!" Katara scolded. "I can't even shake someone's hand without getting scolded!" Sokka complained. "Oh," said Geo. "I almost forgot." She took a chain out of her pocket. A tiny glint of gold dangled at the end of it. "My mother's ring," I breathed. Geo put it around my neck. "Thank you." I whispered. I was broken and scarred, it was nice to know that I could still hold on to a tiny piece of my past. Another little girl came up to me and clasped my shoulder. "Glad to see you're awake, Double." "You remember Toph, right Tatiana?" I nodded. "Hey Tatiana," Geo said excitedly. "Did you know that Toph can bend metal?" I shook my head. "Watch this." Toph stood up and dug her fist into the cold metal and twisted her wrist. If she was anyone else, she would have not only broken her knuckles, but her wrist and arm as well. But she wasn't anyone else, she was Toph. She yanked upward and brought a fistful of metal with her. I clapped politely. "Bet you never saw that done before, huh Double?" "Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked. "Toph has wacky names for everyone." Said Geo. "Katara's names vary from cutesy to insulting names, you know, 'Sugar-queen', crap like that. I think my nickname is 'G'." Toph nodded. "Oh, and guess what Aang's nickname is." I shrugged and winced. Bad idea. No more shrugging for me. "Twinkletoes!" She said as she laughed her head off. "So, why am I double?" I asked silently. "I call you that because you can bend two elements." Better than being called "Freak."
The rest of the crew was just a small, ragtag invasion team, mainly of Water-Tribe men. There were two others who seemed very different from the other members of the crew. One of them was very large (In more ways than one) and had the deepest voice I'd ever heard. His voice was so deep that when he spoke, the whole ship seemed to rattle. His eyes were deep brown. They looked like they should've belonged to someone who was very cruel but instead belonged to someone who was kind and funny. Zuko's eyes used to look like that. The other one was a little guy with a helmet that was bigger than his head. He looked no older than ten and he was a very... rambunctious little guy. Their names were a little crazy too. When Katara introduced me, I found out that their names were "Pipsqueak" and "The Duke". "Pipsqueak," I said looking at the little guy. "Cute name." "I wasn't aiming for 'cute' but thanks for the compliment," Said the bigger guy. Then the moment got awkward. "Oh," I said. "You're Pipsqueak. I just thought that the little guy... Oh I get it. It's one of those names that makes sense because... it doesn't make sense and...yeah I'm gonna shut up now." I also found out that Duke...Sorry The Duke was very sensitive about his name. He would get very angry if you didn't pronounce the "The" in his name. The two said they used to be part of a group called the "Freedom Fighters" and their leader was a guy named Jet. "Jet?" I asked. "Bushy hair, wacky eyebrows, chews on string of wheat, shortest temper in the world, Jet?" "Yeah," Said Pipsqueak. "You know him?" "Oh yeah," I said. "That idiot tried to kill me once." Pipsqueak and The Duke looked confused, like I was talking about a different Jet. "It was in Ba Sing Se, he wrecked the tea shop that we worked in." "Why did he try to kill you?" Pipsqueak asked. I cringed. He tried to expose Zuko and I tried to defend him. Now I wished that Jet had won that battle. At least that grief wouldn't stick to me for the rest of my life, on both the inside of my body and the outside. At least that kind of pain wouldn't leave me broken and sad and angry, wanting revenge on the person I had once loved. Okay, maybe it would've but... you get my point. Pipsqueak was still waiting for an answer. "Drunk," I answered. Pipsqueak looked at the ground, ashamed that his former leader had supposedly gotten drunk and tried to kill someone. "So where is he now?" Asked The Duke. "I don't know." I replied. Katara looked dismal. I changed the subject. "Hey Toph," I asked, searching for a topic. "Can you show me that metal-bending again?" "I'll do better than that. I'll teach you how. If you're up to it." The look Katara gave me signaled that I should say no, on account of my injury, but I couldn't resist. I wanted to learn this. When I saw Zuko (If I ever saw him again) I wanted to be better than before. I wanted him to see that I was better off without him, I would be new, and improved. I nodded eagerly. Toph led me and Geo over to an empty spot on the deck and sat down. "Seeing that you're still on the mend, we'll start with something simple. How about just...shifting the metal. Like this," She stood up and punched the metal. It separated and crunched and when she pulled her hand back, there was a dent in the floor. "Just start with that," I placed my hand on the metal and suddenly saw how Toph could do it. Metal wasn't a completely different element, it was still earth, but it was in a different state, purified or polished. But even though it was purified, it was still earth, which still made it bendable. I pulled my arm back and brought it foreword, but hesitated a little. My fist hit the floor, but nothing happened. My fist throbbed. "What happened?" I asked as I rubbed my fist. "You hesitated." Toph answered. "If you want to bend that metal, you'll have to be completely rooted and completely sure of yourself." Geo had a better motivational speech than Toph. "Pretend you're punching Zuko's face." That got me. I dug my fist into the floor and I not only dented it, but punched a hole into it. Geo and Toph looked at me in shock. "That felt good." I said. "What next?"
Two more weeks passed without event. The days were all the same, more or less. Katara taught me water-bending in the morning and Toph taught me metal-bending in the afternoon and in the evening, then Katara would heal my back some more. I was certainly feeling better than I had before, I wasn't as depressed and I was able to move around much better than before. Then, one evening, while Toph was teaching me more metal-bending, a boy with bandages wrapped all around his body, tired eyes, and thick black hair ran up on the deck. He looked like me from about two weeks ago. There was also a large blue arrow across his forehead. Aang. "What's going on?" He asked frantically. "Aang!" Katara cried. "Twinkletoes!" Said Toph. "That's gotta be you!" They all ran over and hugged Aang. "What's going on?" He asked as Katara wrapped a cloak around his shoulders. "What happened?" "What happened," said Geo, "is that you got fried." "Thank's for the info, Geo." Said Katara sarcastically. "Just doin' my job." Said Geo. "Who are you?" Aang asked. "This is Geo and Tatiana. You should remember them, you met them in Ba Sing Se." Aang closed his eyes as if he was thinking hard. "Oh yeah. Now I remember you guys." he shook hands with me and Geo. Then we were joined by Sokka, who was, of course, still disguised as a soldier. "Hey, Aang." He said. "Good to see you back with the living." Everyone rolled their eyes at the same time.
Katara explained everything that happened in Ba Sing Se, and Aang looked confused the whole time. "...Azula took over the entire city." Sokka cut in. "So the Earth-King's army is a no-show for the invasion. So, we went to plan B. Just a small, ragtag team of our friends and allies." "By the way," Said Katara, "nice hair." "I have hair?!" Aang said. He started running his hands all over his head, which was now covered in thick black hair. "Geez, Aang." Geo chided. "What's the matter with hair? It's not like it's going to kill you." My own hand absent-mindedly wandered up to the back of my head, where my long, thick hair used to be. "How long was I out?!" Aang nearly shrieked. "A couple weeks," said Katara. "Everything okay?" Asked a deep voice. I looked up and saw a man with dark hair in that barely made it past his ears. His skin was dark, like Sokka and Katara's. Like everyone else, he wore a Fire-Nation disguise. Katara didn't seem all too impressed with this guy. As a matter of fact, as soon as he spoke, her usually warm expression changed to an annoyed or...almost angry look. "We're fine, Dad." She said, sounding even more annoyed than she looked. "I'm Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father." The man said, extending his hand to Aang. "He knows who you are." Katara said. "I just called you 'Dad' didn't I." Hakoda looked a little dismal. "I suppose your right." He said. Aang was in a much friendlier mood. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Chief Hakoda." Aang said, shaking Hakoda's hand. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Avatar Aang." Hakoda said. "Great, great." Said Katara. "Now you know each other. So can you give us a little privacy?" "Of course." Hakoda walked away. "Geez," said Geo. "Are you mad at your father or something?" Katara's expression changed back to the one I recognized. At the same time she looked confused by Geo's question. "What?" She asked. "No. What gave you that notion?" "Um," said Geo. "I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that, um, you seemed annoyed to see him and you kind of snapped at him." "I'm not mad at him." Katara said. "Aang, you don't think I'm mad at my own father, do you?" Aang shrugged and then cringed. I made the same mistake a few weeks ago, recalling how painful it was just to move my shoulders up and down in less than one second. "Okay," said Katara. " Let's go upstairs. You need a healing session." She took Aang back into the ship. I sighed. "What's the matter?" Geo asked. "Seeing Aang like that...It kinda reminded me of...you know." "Don't think about that." She said softly. I did my best to follow her advice, but it's hard not to think about something when the thing you're not supposed to think about is permanently marked on you skin.
The next day Sokka and Hakoda went over everything with Aang again. "After the incident in Ba Sing Se," Sokka explained, "we had to get you to safety. We ran into my Dad and the other Water-Tribe men back at Chameleon Bay. The Earth-King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise. So he set out alone. Well, not completely alone. He, of course, took Bosco with him. Soon, the bay was overrun by Fire-Nation ships. Rather than try and beat them all, we captured one and used it as our disguise. Since then, we've been traveling west." He held up a map and pointed along the route we'd been taking. "We just passed the Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a couple Fire-Nation ships, but none have bothered us." Aang still had his doubts. "So what now?" Hakoda stepped in. "Well," he said. "We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan." "It's Sokka's invasion plan." Said Katara looking annoyed again. "Yes," said Hakoda. "Sokka's plan. We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King's armies but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire-Nation vulnerable." Sokka cut in again. "So we're planning a smaller invasion. Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth-Kingdom. We've already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke." "Good to see you again, Aang." said Pipsqueak with The Duke on his shoulders. "And the best part is," Sokka said. "the eclipse isn't even our best advantage." He leaned in and started whispering. "We have a secret." He looked left, then right like someone would actually hear him. "You." He whispered. Aang looked insanely confused. "Me?" He asked. "Yep." Said Sokka standing up. "The whole world thinks you're dead. Isn't that GREAT?!" A big, goofy grin crossed over his face. Aang looked horrified. "The world thinks I'm dead?!" He asked. "How is that great news? That's terrible!" "Actually, no." Sokka reassured. "If the world thinks you're dead, then the Fire-Nation won't be hunting us anymore. Even better, they won't be expecting you on the day of black sun." "No no no!" Aang said. "You have no idea...!" He clutched his head. "This is so messed up!" Suddenly, in the distance, we saw another Fire-Nation ship. Everyone looked nervous. "I'll handle this." Said Aang. "The Avatar is back." He opened his glider thingy and then groaned and clutched his side. "Wait a second," Said Geo. "You're gonna fight a whole ship of Fire-Nation soldiers?" "Yes." Said Aang painfully. "And I'm an armadillo-bear." Geo said sarcastically. "Aang," said Katara. "hold on. They don't know that we're not Fire-Nation." Aang wiped the sweat from his brow and put his glider away. Hakoda and another Water-Tribe man put on their helmets as Hakoda said, "Everyone stay calm. Bato and I will handle this." Everyone ran and hid. Katara and Geo pulled a tarp over the very large, hairy creature, I think his name was Appa. Yeah, his name was Appa and he was Aang's flying bison. I remember him from Ba Sing Se. The little lemur thing, Momo, climbed up onto my shoulder as I ran into lower deck cabin with the others as we all hid below. "I hate not being able to do anything." Aang muttered. "Hopefully," said Toph, "you won't have to." Bato and Hakoda went out to meet the other soldiers. There were three of them, two were wearing masks, the third stood in the center and had a threatening mustache and beard. "Commander?" The third man barked at Hakoda. "Why are you off course? All western fleet ships were given orders to move towards Ba Sing Se to support the occupation." Hakoda nervously gave his response. "Actually, we're from the...eastern fleet. We were given orders to drop off some cargo." "Really?" Said the third man. "How considerate of Admiral Chan to tell us that there were ships in our area." Sarcasm. "Is it really so hard to write a quick note and send a hawk over?" "Next time," said Hakoda, "we'll send two hawks, just to be double sure you get the message." They bowed to each other respectfully. Hakoda and Bato casually went back to the upper cabin but the trio of guards stayed where they were. They started whispering some more crap about Admiral Chan. I had no idea how I could hear but I did, loud and clear. I guess that's what happens when you're part earth-bender. "Sir?" One soldier whispered "Admiral Chan has been on leave at Ember Island for two months." The first soldier was silent for a few moments, then said, "What? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things? Hmm, something isn't right here. They should've known that. I think this might be a captured ship." A nervous chill ran up my spine. The Captain lowered his voice to a whisper. "Just stay quiet until we're all the way across the ramp. Then we'll sink this ship." My eyes widened. Toph locked eyes with me, mirroring my expression. "They know!" She shouted as she quickly shot up and bended the metal walkway that connected the boats and the three men fell into the water. Katara and I jumped out of our hiding places and brought up the water. My back started stinging again. I cringed. Cut that out, I thought to my own back. We pulled the water up and then pushed it foreword, pushing away the other ship and then made a full steam ahead.
We thought our work was done when suddenly, the men climbed back onto their ship and shouted, "Fire!" Fire what? Someone cut a line or a chain or a lever or something on their ship and lit a fire. Then the catapult slid around and a huge rock, covered in tar and set on fire was launched at our ship. It hit the side the side of it. Toph started to bend rocks and the other ship. We busted several catapults but there were just too many. Another rock flew towards us and Toph met it in the middle with another rock. A piece of flying rock-debris hit me right in the shoulder. "Ouch!" I screamed. I shook my fist at the other ship. "Watch where you're flinging those things!"
Unfortunately, they had more stuff they could use. They aimed some sort of torpedo at us and hit us right in the side. The boat jostled. "We're sinking!" I screamed. "No we're not," Katara reassured. She quickly started bending the water towards the burning parts of the ships. Suddenly, Aang rushed out onto the deck with Sokka right behind him. "Aang, no!" Sokka shouted. "You're still hurt and you have to stay a secret." "Fine," Aang said reluctantly. He went back inside. "Sokka, look out!" I screamed. Sokka was tossed to the side as another torpedo, this time on fire, was launched at us.
"How we doin'?" Toph asked. "Things couldn't get any worse!" Sokka yelled. Suddenly, a huge green serpent rose out of the water and started screeching at us. "The universe just loves provin' me wrong." Sokka moaned. "You make it too easy!" Toph shouted. "She has a point." Geo said. "Shut up!" Sokka's voice cracked.
Suddenly, the serpent was hit in the cheek with a flaming rock ball. It screeched at us again and went below the water. When it resurfaced, it wrapped itself around the other ship, crushing it. "Thank you, the Universe." Sokka said.
That night, after we pulled into a town, Geo, Toph, and Sokka left for town to buy some food. Katara stayed with Aang because he was in no condition to travel. I stayed on the ship because I was exhausted from that afternoon's fight. I slept for a few hours when I heard running in the hall. I managed to pull my hair into a small pony-tail and walked out into the hallway. I caught Geo running up to the deck. "What's going on?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes. "Aang's gone missing!"