"One exception doesn't invalidate the rule!" the girl dismissed my argument uncompromisingly. "Over all those centuries, a bender with enough talent and intelligence to master several elements would inevitably either have tried to seize a throne somewhere or become an adviser to an existing ruler. And they absolutely would've gone down in history."
"And attracted the Avatar's attention, who would've gotten rid of them as a 'disruptor of balance' and a threat to his exclusive position. After that, they'd have been forgotten very quickly, just like anyone else who challenged the Avatar without also happening to rule some enormous nation. Can you name a single bender from the past who challenged the Avatar and is remembered by history for something other than being a monarch whose campaign of conquest the Avatar stopped?"
"Um..." The heir to the throne faltered slightly, clearly trying to remember. "Ahem!" That one was indignant. "That proves nothing!" she nevertheless refused to concede.
"It proves that stories about people like that could easily have failed to reach us," I replied, equally unwilling to suddenly back down. "Especially since, until quite recently, cultural exchange between the different nations was extremely limited, so legends from the Earth Kingdom simply never reached the Fire Archipelago. Even now, when we've had colonies on the continent for a hundred years, I doubt there's a single governor who can boast of having collected every legend and old-timer's tale from his territory and sent them back to the homeland for our historians to study."
"Psst, Suki," Ty Lee whispered to her friend. "Chan isn't secretly studying Earthbending or Waterbending, is he?"
"No! Of course not!" the warrior exclaimed in alarm.
"Heh-heh, what a silly idea!" Toph chimed in, her palms sweating nervously. And naturally, that couldn't help but attract attention.
"...Chaaaan," Azula addressed me in a very, very sweet and kindly voice after examining the faces of my would-be defenders, "why do I get the feeling that you, dear, have neglected to tell me something about your many talents?"
"Well... I'm pretty good at playing the flute..." I tried to wriggle my way out of it, but...
"Chan! I know you can spin a line of bullshit with incredible skill, but those two clearly weren't talking about your flute-playing. And you're defending your position far too confidently."
"All right." I sighed. "But I'm asking everyone here, very seriously, not to let this leave this room. I already have enough enemies as it is..."
"So it's true?" the princess exclaimed in surprise. In response, I simply waved my hand, and...
"My teeea!" Iroh's cry was filled with religious horror and despair as the fragrant brew rose from his teapot, floated through the air, and settled into my cup.
"..."
"..."
"Cool!" Ty Lee was the first to recover. "How did you do that? Was it hard? What else can you do?"
"Tea... My sweet, delicious tea... It was stolen from me..." Iroh was mourning his beverage. A little too theatrically, if you asked me, but why not? The man clearly wanted some time to process all the revelations he'd received today, so he'd retreated into himself and let his hapless tea-lover persona take over on the outside.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Azula asked once the initial excitement had died down.
"The ability to use other elements is a powerful trump card. And the fewer people who know about it, the stronger that card becomes."
"...Reasonable," the firebender conceded.
"Besides, I'm not good enough with Water or Earth for either to give me a serious advantage in an open fight. So they're best used as supplements to my arsenal and an unexpected trump card."
"So," Zuko joined the conversation, "you're almost an Avatar?"
"No." I shook my head. "I'm learning everything on my own, from scratch. He has the experience of hundreds of incarnations behind him and the power of a Great Spirit, even if that power has been weakened and distorted. I can only be considered a Grandmaster in Firebending, and even that is more of an advance than anything else."
"Modesty doesn't suit you," Azula snorted. Well, yeah. She considered herself a Grandmaster, and since I could fight her as an equal—or even "put her flat on her back"—then, accordingly, I had to be Great and Mighty too. Uh-huh. And now that I was apparently going to become her husband, all the more so. It simply wouldn't do for a princess to marry anyone who wasn't Great and Mighty.
"Um, is there some way to... well, learn bending?" the acrobat asked timidly.
"Ty Lee?" Ozai's daughter turned to her friend.
"Well..." She scuffed the floor with one foot. "There just... aren't any benders in my family, so I thought... Ah, never mind!"
"It matters." I smiled at the little bundle of positivity, who had suddenly wilted. "But keep in mind, it's going to be difficult. And first, you'll need to study Energybending. You already know some of the basics, but that isn't enough."
"I agree! Thank you!" And just like that, she threw herself at me and wrapped me in a hug.
"Why do I get the feeling she didn't just ask to become his student, but got a marriage proposal instead?" Mai snorted.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰