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Avatar the Last Airbender: A Second Chance - [Fic] Go Forth


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Lan Huo sighed as he once again struck all the targets dead on. This exercise was getting old, yet his master asured him it was essential. He'd surpassed all expectations of his bending ability, far surpassing his Sister and heiress to the throne.

It didn't really matter to him though. He just loved bending. He couldn't show off his real love, but, he did get to use everything else. He stopped, taking a towel from the wrack as one of his Father's messengers came to the training area.

"Prince Lan huo, the Fire Lord commands your presence within the marking of the hour to meet with him."

"I will clean up, and meet with him by the appointed time." he hated the high speech, but it was necessary considering who he was, and who this messenger would return to.

With that the messenger left and he looked to His Master. "Looks like that's it for today, Sifu Chang."

"Indeed, it's rare that he sends so formal a summons."

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For Lien Huo, She had just settled for the night's bath, when there was a knock at her door. A young female servant entered, never making eye contact, and averting her eyes. "The Firelord has summoned you Princess Lien Huo, and your brother, Prince Lan Huo, to the Audience Hall. He wishes you there within the marking hour."

Both of them had about thirty minutes to finish and prepare to meet their father.

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The formal summons was less unusual for Lien than for her brother, with the notable exception that her brother had been summoned as well. It was enough to pique the princess's curiosity, so she nodded politely to the servant.

"Very well. Send Yazua in, I will need her assistance."

"Of course. Is there anything else, Princess?"

"No, that will be all, thank you."

Once the woman had departed, Lien climbed out of the bath with a reluctant sigh, and went about dressing. She had insisted as a child that she would learn to dress herself, despite the complications of some of the more formal court apparel, but it still went quicker with assistance and the Fire Lord hadn't given them much time.

Twenty-five minutes later, Lien arrived outside the Audience Hall and glanced around for her brother. He wasn't here yet - The spirits only know what takes him so long, you'd think men could get ready faster... - so she waited patiently outside the large double-doors.

He'd better not be late. Father will be furious.

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Lan Huo emerged into the Hallway, coming to stand beside his sister just as the doors were opened into the Audience Hall.

"Thought I wouldn't make it didn't you?"

He smiled, and they were showed into their Father, the Firelord.

Both Bowed, and knelt as he indicated.

"Both of you have recently Turned Eighteen, and yet I sense a Plateau has been reached."

He looked at them, his emotions unreadable. "Would you care to comment on this?"

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Lien had been waiting for this day, and so she bowed her head in deep shame, though her voice carried to her father firmly - she would not be meek about her shortcomings.

"Certainly Father. Though it is no excuse, I wish to inform you that I have not shirked my duties, and that I have spent many hours attempting to perfect my fire bending abilities. I am, however, deeply ashamed to tell you that despite my practice, I am still far below Lan's abilities with bending. If it is your wish, I will once again double the time spent with Sifu Chang in order to attempt to improve myself further."

Of course, her father already knew that his daughter spent twice as much time in fire bending lessons as she was required to, driving herself furiously to better herself and her abilities. But the standard she held herself to was very high, despite Sifu Chang's concerns that she was driving herself too hard already.

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"That is part of it, but not my main cause for this meeting."

He looks to his son. "And you?"

"I have mage great strides in my art Father, but I have neglected other areas. My Sister war exceeds me in what she knows beyond bending, as my bending exceeds hers."

He didn't look at his father.

"That is also part of it. The two of you each excel in certain areas, but you have overcompensated for failure in others." He looks to Lien. "A Ruler must know balance, power with wisdom. You study much, but you know only of Life here. Our People you know only in limited fashion."

He looked to Lan. "A great General must be strong and powerful, unaffraid to do anything he'd ask of those beneath him, yet they must also know when to delegate, and let others shine brightly. You take on any task, and will not pass it to another who could do it better."

He looked at them. "I have a task for the two of you. You both should see other nations, how the other peoples live. There has been a great Spiritual Silence enveloping the lands. I charge the two of you to go out, and seek answers among the other lands. You go with my blessing, and hope that my trust in the two of you is well founded."

The last part wasn't a threat per se, but could be taken as one.

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Lien's eyes widened slightly at her father's statement, and she shot a troubled glance briefly at her brother. The two of them were too young to remember the last spiritual silence, indeed they hadn't even been born yet when Avatar Xue had decided to make her journey into the spirit world and had somehow managed to stop the disasters that had wracked all four nations.

However, no Avatar had yet been brought forward to replace her. To everyone's knowledge, Avatar Xue might still be alive, trapped somehow in the spirit world. Or perhaps she had been killed in her Avatar form, thus ending the cycle of rebirth. The only thing people did know was that Avatar Xue had never returned, and neither had any earthbender risen up as the Avatar to take her place.

So now, the knowledge that such a silence had descended again upon the world was deeply troubling news, and Lan could see the worry in her gaze. After a long, shared glance between the twins, Lien turned back to her father and nodded seriously.

"Of course, Father. This is grave news indeed. We will do everything we can to find out it's cause for you. I trust your spiritual advisors have no idea what has caused this silence?"

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"They know quite little. This is why I will first send you to Ba Sing Se, the Earth nation Capitol. In a city of it's size someone should know more. I have sent ahead, letting them know of your arrival. You will be emissaries, so avoid fighting unless you must."

He looked to his son, who'd remained quiet. "No comment from you Lan Huo?"

"I will do as I must to serve the interests of my nation, and the Firelord."

He wasn't displeased with the answer but the lack of emotion bothered him.

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They spent the rest of their evening packing and preparing for an early morning voyage. By dawn the next day, both twins were dressed in traveling clothes befitting simple travelers. The trappings of status they carried were very few - suitable garments for meeting with Ba Sing Se nobility if it were it to become necessary, Lan's swords for protection, and Lien's hairpiece, the symbol worn by those who were heir to the throne of the Fire Lord.

It was their mother who was at the gates to see them off - their father had already taken the time to present their task to them, and it was as good of a goodbye as they could have hoped for from him, considering not only his many duties but also his stern disposition. Their mother, on the other hand, gave them worried embraces, and sent them off with motherly, yet regal concern and pride.

They were taken to the docks by palanquin, and from their the twin siblings boarded a boat destined for the shores of the Earth Kingdom, a merchant vessel that they had been assured would reach the shores of the Earth Kingdom within three days. From there travel to Ba Sing Se would be only a few days.

Once the ship had departed the shores of the Fire Nation, that was it. There were no more servants, or trainers, or nobles. Just the son and daughter of the Fire Lord, on a ship with a bunch of merchantmen and exported produce.

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Lan was actually happy. "However long this takes Lien, we're largely free to be ourselves."

He smiled, heading off the rebuttal he knew she'd make. "What I mean is, we don't have to be the princess and prince of the nation all the time. Where we're going, so long as we're mindful of ourselves and surroundings we can avoid the fanfare we normally get."

He nods. "Even you have to admit it could be fun."

He chuckled. "If not that, then you can see it as a chance to get in touch with how the people you'll rule over live, and how those of the other nations live, all first hand.

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"Perhaps. At least about getting to see how those of other nations live. If I surmise correctly we won't be returning to the Fire Nation soon, unless we can find out what's going on. I don't consider it 'fun' to have to investigate something as serious as this. It' is my duty."

She saw him shrug slightly. It was the answer he had expected from her, and she felt a small tug of sadness at the idea of dampening his spirits, even if his response wasn't necessarily appropriate to the situation. She wasn't sure if he even realized the significance completely.

"But it will be nice to travel without the fanfare, I confess. It's too bad Father never thought to send us on anything like this without such dire circumstances necessitating it. Do you remember what happened the last time the spirits went silent, Lan?"

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Lan sighed. "No, I don't."

"I get that this is really serious, that we both need to be on our guard and aware of things, but I'm excited to be free."

He looked at her. "I do know that it was very bad, and only the Avatar was able to quell it."

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Lien sighed, and turned away from him to hide her irritation. Yes, she was excited to be free. To not be surrounded by the constant pressure and presences at home. To not have to spend hours a day studying from a textbook, or sitting quietly as her father met with other noblemen, or trying to force herself with sheer will to be as good of a bender as her brother even though she probably never would be. That was part of the problem. To have this opportunity at any other time would have delighted her.. and yet, they never would have been granted it. One day.. one day, Lan would get to do this whenever he cared to. He could leave, explore the countryside, enjoy himself as he pleased. How often would depend, of course, on how heavily she called on him for purposes of duty. Her father had no sibling, he had been an only child, so he called on her - as his heir - quite often. Perhaps if he had some other kin to share his burdens with that he knew he could trust as much as he trusted his daughter, less would be expected of her, and she would be able to experience life a little more beyond the confines of the palace, and the duties expected of the heir to the Fire Nation. But that was not to be.. and she wondered sometimes, once their parents were gone, how dutiful her brother would be to her, how much of her responsibilities she would be able to share with him.. or if he would forever be absorbed only with his bending and his meditations. It was moments like this that made her think those thoughts, and wonder how much her brother could be truly counted on as they grew older. And she knew that the seriousness of the situation made it wrong for her to feel any sort of excitement, or happiness. The situation was too grave.

"About twenty years ago, not long before we were born, the world fell into a deep spiritual silence. It lasted a week, with little understanding of why, or what had caused it. At the end of that week the world began to experience disasters - occurring one after another, or even at the same time - the likes of which are rarely seen. Great volcanoes erupted, flooding the Fire Nation with lava and ash. Earthquakes shook the ground and formed chasms, as if a thousand earthbenders had, at the same moment, decided to vent their fury. Hurricanes ripped even the oldest trees from the earth, and patches of ocean froze over so swiftly that marine life died and ocean vessels tore themselves apart on the unexpected icebergs. It was.. terrible."

She leaned forward against the rail of the ship, still gazing out at the pink, dawn-streaked horizon, the wind blowing strands of her hair behind her. She was wearing it loose, something he rarely saw her do, and it made her look lovely and relaxed, though her expression told another story.

"People cried out to the Avatar, begging for help, but she was only one person, and she couldn't combat the disasters by herself. After a week of this, convinced that the spiritual silence was linked to the disasters, Avatar Xue decided to undertake a very dangerous journey - a physical journey to the spiritual world, something that to our knowledge has never been done. It worked. Or at least, as far as we can tell. Avatar Xue disappeared, and within a few days, the disasters had stopped. People began picking up their lives, going about their business and rebuilding the devastation. But Avatar Xue was never heard from again. People waited.. and waited.. and she never returned. Not only that, but so far no earthbender has stepped up to claim her place. If Avatar Xue died in the spiritual realm, would she be able to reincarnate? Did it break the cycle? Or maybe she's still alive, still stuck somewhere on the other side, unable to return to us. Now.. it's happening again. The spirits are quiet.. and if all hell breaks loose, there is no Avatar to save us, Lan."

She turned, her expression grim, brows drawn sharply together and the corners of her lips turned down slightly. She reminded him so much of their father when she looked at him with that expression, it was startling.

"Is that serious enough for you, Lan?"

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Lan looked at his sister, his face utterly impassive. "Then we will have to save ourselves Lien."

His attitude of nonchalance was gone, his voice dropped to what passed for his serious tone. "We're going abroad to figure this out, and I guarantee you, we will get to the bottom of this. But you and I alone can't handle this. No one nation can. That's why the Firelord Sent both his heir and his 2nd born to the Capitol of the Earth Kingdom. Start with the largest nation, then we'll move to the others. By the time we've crossed the globe, we'll know something, and even if it isn't enough, we will have made connections, estabilished contacts with people across the globe we wouldn't normally have.

Should the disasters start we'll have allies against it in place, and even if we don't have the Avatar, surely the combined might of benders across the world can solve our problem."

It was incredibly idealist, and something he could only say to her. "It's always duty with you Lien. I know your burdens are infinitely heavier than mine, but if you never learn to enjoy life, even a little, Then what's the point?"

"You've gone on before about living for the people, about how you will subsume your own desires. That's not what our people need, or want."

He looked down to her, and smiled. "Never question whether I will stand beside you or not. You are my twin sister, my only sister. When you are Firelord, I will serve in whatever capacity you require of me, even if it is simply to remind you to have fun at times."

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She glanced over at him, and the corners of her lips turned upward in a faint smile. Then she leaned over, nudging him playfully with her shoulder.

"Fun? What is this fun you speak of? Perhaps the tutors left it out of my curriculum on accident?"

He chuckled slightly, and shook his head at her.

"No, not at all - I think the Fire Lord instructed them to leave it off."

She chuckled then, and it made her look younger, more like an actual teenager. Lien's smiles always pleased him.. probably because they happened so rarely.

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