[SG-1/AtLA] Through the Looking Glass Part I: Becoming, Chapter 4
Title: "Through the Looking Glass Part I: Becoming", Chapter 4
Fandom: Stargate SG-1 and Avatar: the Last Airbender
Author: darkjediprinces
Feedback: Is crack.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Hintage at Jack/Sam
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: SG-1 and AtLA = Not Mine.
Author's Notes: This chapter took forever, but now it is done and beta'd. Enjoy!
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Next Chapters:
Chapter 5
Through the Looking Glass, Part I: Becoming
Chapter 4
“So afraid to open your eyes-hypnotized
You know you're not the only one
Never understood this life
And you're right I don't deserve
But you know I'm not the only one
We're all grieving
Lost and bleeding”
-“The Only One”, Evanescence
Weapons were drawn in an instant. Iroh lifted both hands into the air, smiling sheepishly. Daniel hurried forward, frantically, standing in between the others and Iroh.
“Daniel, get out of the way,” Jack said, sounding irritated.
“No.”
“Dr. Jackson, he attacked Aang!” Katara shouted, pointing at the prone Zuko. “Why are you protecting him?!”
“It wasn’t what you thought,” Daniel insisted, quietly.
“What the Hell is that supposed to mean?” Jack snapped.
Daniel glanced back at Iroh. “I was there when Azula tried to get him to betray you. Afterwards, we talked for a few minutes. Zuko wanted to help you guys, and he thought that the best way he could do that was by getting on Azula’s good side and taking her down. But he had to make sure everyone thought-or acted like-he had actually betrayed Aang.”
Sam frowned. “When I was in the cave, and I asked why Zuko hadn’t joined us… It looked like you wanted to say something, but…”
“But I didn’t,” Daniel finished. “I had to make sure you thought he had actually betrayed them.”
Iroh nodded. “He was found out. He came to talk to me. Apparently Azula didn’t trust him completely; she had her friend Ty Lee follow Zuko. Ty Lee overheard our conversation… we had mentioned our plan, and she reported it back to Azula. Azula promptly attacked me and Zuko. We barely escaped with our lives.”
The others looked at each other incredulously.
“…Daniel isn’t in the habit of defending someone without a good reason to do so,” Jack said, finally. “And he’s no fool. Most of the time when we’ve been in question about someone, he’s been right about them.”
“Well no offense, but, we just met you guys,” Sokka said. “How do we know we can trust you? I mean, you seem okay, but… We’ve been fooled before.”
“Iroh has shown that he wants to help you,” Daniel responded, quietly. “But I realize that Zuko’s actions make his intentions questionable… What it comes down to is choices. Invariably, there’s an easy choice, and there’s a right choice. The easy thing to do here would be to simply tell yourself that Zuko will never change, and refuse to help him. If you do that, he’ll probably die. What do you think the right thing to do is?”
There was a moment of silence. Aang sighed. “Get him on Appa’s back. Iroh… come on.”
Daniel exhaled, knelt, and hoisted Zuko over his shoulders. He then climbed onto Appa’s back and laid Zuko down before helping Iroh up. The rest of the group finished packing and joined them. Appa then took off at Aang’s command.
Daniel dug into his pack, pulled out a first aid kit, and began treating the cuts on Zuko’s face. Sam helped him, though he knew she wasn’t very good at first aid in the first place. As Sam started to dab isopropyl alcohol on a cut near his right eye, Zuko winced and opened his eyes.
“…Dr. Jackson?”
“Feeling better?”
“…Not really.”
Daniel chuckled. “Your uncle says you were found out.”
Zuko shut his eyes and winced again as Sam rubbed alcohol on another cut on his chin. “I was careless. OW!”
“Sorry,” Sam apologized, quietly. “I know it stings. It’s supposed to.”
“…What’s it for?”
“It’s so the cuts won’t get infected,” Daniel told him.
“…Where are we?”
“Not sure. Getting as far away from Ba Sing Se as possible, that’s for sure.”
* * *
“As far away from Ba Sing Se as possible” turned out to be a small village several hundred miles away from Ba Sing Se. They landed on the outskirts in a small wooded area, being careful to stay hidden.
Daniel spotted a marker on the road just outside the woods and slunk over to it. The Chinese characters “Lu Men” were carved into it. Green Gate, he thought.
“Daniel, come on,” Sam called. Daniel hurried back over to the camp. Everyone was off of Appa’s back and gathered in a small circle. Zuko leaned against a tree, holding his side, which was where his most severe injury was located. A throwing dagger had been imbedded there, which Daniel and Sam removed before treating the cut.
“Okay, let’s get one thing straight,” Sokka said, promptly, glaring at Zuko. “We don’t trust you.”
“I’d expect no less,” Zuko responded, quietly. “And I’m not asking you to trust me right away. I just… Give me a chance. I want to help.”
“We gave you that chance when we decided to help you,” Aang answered. “Mess things up and it’ll probably be the last thing you do.”
Zuko nodded solemnly.
“There’s still the question of Daniel,” Sam said.
Iroh glanced over in Daniel’s direction. “You showed some of the same abilities as the Avatar in that cave. You entered the Avatar State and used both Water and Fire to attack Azula.”
“I don’t remember any of it,” Daniel responded.
“You wouldn’t,” Aang said quietly. “You wouldn’t have been yourself. I’ve learned how to control it, so I can enter and leave it at will now, and be perfectly aware of my actions while I’m in it. If you are another Avatar, and haven’t had any training… You won’t be aware of what’s going on around you when you’re in the Avatar State.”
“How will we know, though?” Daniel asked, frowning.
“We test you,” Aang responded, standing. “Lead you through some basics in each of the four Bending Arts. First Waterbending, then Earth, Fire, and Air. If you can control all four… then you probably are.”
“Alright, but… we should test the rest of my friends too,” Daniel said. “They might be able to control one of the Elements too.”
“Are you serious, Daniel?” Sam asked, incredulously. “I kind of doubt it.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a skeptic, Sam,” Daniel retorted, a teasing note in his voice. “You’ve never believed in this sort of thing.”
Sam rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything in retort.
“Also, you guys are gonna stick out like sore thumbs dressed like that,” Aang pointed out, gesturing to their uniforms.
“…He’s got a point,” Sam conceded, though she looked very unhappy at the prospect of dressing in local attire. Daniel didn’t blame her, given the last time she’d had to do so, she’d been kidnapped and sold as a slave.
“We can’t use our weapons either,” Daniel added. “We’re trying to keep a low profile. The most you guys have in the way of projectile weapons would probably be bows and arrows, right?”
“And catapults,” Iroh added.
“Trebuchets?” Daniel inquired. Iroh nodded.
“My staff weapon can be used in close combat,” Teal’c said, softly.
Daniel nodded. “You’ll be fine, then. The rest of us have training in other forms of combat.” When Jack and Sam looked at him oddly, he added, “I took Kendo in college. If I can find a katana, I’ll be able to defend myself.”
“There should be a weaponsmith in town,” Toph said. “Most Earth Kingdom villages have one.”
“We don’t have any money.”
“We’ll find a way to pay for it,” Katara responded, quietly. “We should go ahead and head into town, find some clothes for you guys. Maybe weapons.”
“I’ll go with you. I want to actually have a say in what I wear this time,” Sam said. Daniel chuckled.
“I’ll come too,” Daniel added. “Call it… cultural interest.” At this, Jack rolled his eyes but grinned anyway.
With some effort, Zuko pushed himself to his feet. “I’m coming.”
Katara eyed him suspiciously.
“I’ll help Dr. Jackson find a katana he can use,” Zuko told her quietly. “I’ll stay well within sight.”
Katara eyed him apprehensively, then sighed. “Okay. No sudden moves.”
Zuko gave her a short nod. He started to move towards Appa, but Daniel stopped him.
“Don’t, you’ll hurt yourself. What do you need?”
Zuko grimaced. “There’s a brown and gold sheath containing two broadswords up there. Just… in case there’s trouble.” Daniel nodded and climbed onto Appa’s back, rooting through the group’s gathered belongings until He uncovered the sheath Zuko had described. He held it up.
“This it?”
“Yeah.”
Daniel climbed down and passed the sheath to Zuko, who slung it over his shoulder. Daniel and Sam removed the vests and leg holsters from their uniforms so they would look slightly less suspicious; however, Daniel tucked one of his pistols into the belt of his trousers and hid it beneath his jacket. He gave the other to Sam, who did the same.
“Is it really necessary to go armed?” Katara asked, nervously.
“We can’t be too careful,” Sam responded quietly. Katara sighed and nodded.
“Okay, let’s get going.”
* * *
Lu Men was a small, quiet town. There weren’t many residents out in the main square, but the few who were there stared at Daniel and Sam as they entered the area. Daniel and Sam lingered behind as Katara asked where they might find some clothes and the local blacksmith.
“Blacksmith’s on the northern edge of the town, and there’s a merchant who sells clothing and food on the western edge of the market square,” the man she was talking to told Katara. Katara thanked him and walked back over to them.
“Looks like we’re going to have to split up,” she said, sighing. “Blacksmith’s in another part of the town from the merchant selling food and clothing. However, I’d rather not leave Zuko unaccompanied.”
Zuko rolled his eyes but said nothing.
“I’m going with Katara,” Sam stated instantly.
Katara scrutinized Daniel. “Can I trust you to keep Zuko in line?” She asked.
“Sure thing,” Daniel answered, laughing a little.
“Okay then.” She glared at Zuko. “One wrong move and I’ll encase you in solid ice,” she told him.
“You know I’d just melt through it, right?”
“Not if I get Toph to add some rock to the equation.”
Zuko made an odd noise but decided not to retort.
“Blacksmith’s on the north edge of town. We’ll meet back here in, say… two hours?”
Daniel nodded and the four split up, Zuko going with Daniel to the north and Sam and Katara heading west.
After about a minute Daniel had started squinting, trying to both clear his blurry vision and keep the glaring sun out of his eyes. Finally, he sighed and reached into a pocket, stopping for a moment to put in the spare pair of contact lenses he kept in case his glasses were broken or lost. Zuko paused beside him.
“You okay?” He asked.
“Yeah, just putting something in my eyes to help me see properly… I can’t see things that are too far away very clearly.” He blinked rapidly, a reflex reaction to putting the contacts in. They settled into place and Daniel’s surroundings came into focus. “There, that’s better.” He started walking again, Zuko following suit. There was a moment of silence before Zuko spoke again.
“Explain something to me.”
“What’s up?”
“You and the others come… from another world, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you get here?”
“Didn’t Sam explain that?”
“She started to, but…”
“Ahhh, she started getting into the technobabble.”
“…Techno…babble?”
“She started babbling about the technology behind the idea, right?”
“Yeah.”
“All you really need to know about it is that we used a large, circular gateway called the Stargate. Essentially it allows us to travel to other worlds almost instantly. The rest is really complicated and hard to understand if you’re not Sam.”
“So you do this for a living?”
Daniel nodded. “All four of us do. It’s dangerous but pretty damn satisfying.”
Zuko nodded. The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Finally, they came upon a building with smoke billowing out of a hole in the roof.
“Blacksmith,” Daniel noted. “C’mon.”
The blacksmith’s shop had almost every kind of oriental-style weapon Daniel could think of; katanas, longswords, naginatas, and many other weapons all lined the walls of the store, many with intricate detail worked into the metal. Daniel wandered among the blades, looking at them in wonder. Finally, he came across a katana with dragons etched into the tsuba(1) that caught his eye. Its wooden sheath was made of a dark, reddish wood. He crouched, gently running a hand along it. Behind him, Zuko stated, “Dragons. I didn’t think the Earth Kingdom smithies used that sort of imagery…”
“Help ya?” A gruff voice asked behind them, and Daniel quickly stood and faced the owner of the store.
“Uh, yeah, I was wondering… how much would this katana cost?” Daniel gestured at the sword he had been looking at.
“That? That one’s one of my favourites. Won’t let it go for any less than three hundred gold pieces. Earth Kingdom money only,” he sneered.
Zuko flinched. “I don’t have that much. Two hundred I might’ve been able to afford,” he whispered to Daniel. Daniel frowned, looking over his shoulder back at the Katana. Something struck him as odd, and he knelt again, looking at the sheath more closely.
“…It’s scuffed,” he noted.
“What?”
“The sheath is scuffed. It wouldn’t be if this were brand new.”
Zuko frowned, examining the sheath as well. “He’s right. It is. The hilt shows signs of use as well.” He brushed a hand over the frayed wrap on the hilt of the sword. A realization dawned on him. “…And the Earth Kingdom doesn’t use dragon imagery; the Fire Nation does.” He stood again. “This sword is stolen, isn’t it?” Zuko demanded.
The smithy’s face twisted in anger. “GET OUT!” He shouted.
“No.” Zuko drew his swords and brandished them at the blacksmith. “Who did you steal that katana from?!”
A bead of sweat slowly dripped down the smithy’s face. “A Fire Nation soldier who fell near here. They’re all scum, and he wasn’t needing it anymore. I wasn’t the one who took it though… one of the local soldiers did. He thought I could sell it for a good price, so he gave it to me! I swear that’s it!”
Zuko’s lip curled, and he backed up and lifted the katana from its perch. “I’m taking it. You have no right to it.”
The blacksmith sneered. “What are you going to do with it? Give it back to the Fire Nation?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Zuko snapped in return. “Let’s go, Dr. Jackson.”
“But-!”
Zuko silently grabbed Daniel’s arm and dragged him away. Daniel put up a half-assed resistance, but didn’t object much other than that. When they were clear of the blacksmith’s shop, Zuko let go. Daniel frowned at him.
“That was unnecessary,” he said quietly.
“He stole it from one of our soldiers,” Zuko snarled quietly.
“I know why you did it, but… two wrongs don’t make a right,” Daniel told him, hesitantly resorting to the cliché.
“Don’t lecture me, I get enough of that from Uncle,” Zuko resonded, a dangerous note to his voice.
“Aang and his friends won’t let you stick around if you keep this up, though,” Daniel said. “They don’t trust you as it is. You shouldn’t be doing anything to make that worse.”
Zuko prepared to retort as they returned to the town square, but sighed, and said, “You’re right.” He offered the katana to Daniel, who accepted it with a half smile.
“Don’t do it again.”
“I won’t.”
Katara and Sam were waiting for them in the town square, each of them carrying a pair of folded-up clothing.
“How’d it go?” Sam asked.
“We found a suitable sword,” Daniel said, showing it to Sam. Sam “Oohed” and leaned in to look at it more closely.
“We should get out of here,” Katara said. “No point in staying too much longer.”
Nodding, the group hurried out of town and back to the camp.
* * *
“Aww, come on, Carter,” Jack called out to Sam, who was currently hiding behind a bush in her new clothes. He tugged at his own new outfit, a grey-brown tunic and trousers. “We’re all embarrassed.”
“I look silly!” Sam objected. Her face, poking out above the bush, was beet-red.
“What’s with her?” Aang whispered to Daniel, who was dressed in an ankle-length green tunic with gold trim, belted at the waist with a dark gold sash. His new katana was stuck in the sash, along with a small, ivory pocket dagger he’d found among his belongings. He hadn’t remembered packing it, but dismissed that fact and took the chance to have an extra weapon.
“The last time she was forced to wear local attire, she wore a blue dress and veil that she absolutely despised,” Daniel whispered. “She was hesitant to show herself then too. That was nearly six years ago, too.”
Katara sighed and attempted to coax Sam out from behind the bush. “Major, you picked out that outfit yourself.”
Sam hesitated, then rose, revealing her outfit to be a long, pale green dress with short sleeves and slits in the sides for ease of movement. She wore dark grey trousers underneath it, along with the combat boots from her uniform.
Jack whistled appreciatively. “Niiiiice.”
Sam shot him an icy look.
“You look great, Sam,” Daniel told her, smiling.
Sam, still red in the face, sat down beside the campfire.
“So what now?” Jack asked.
“Now we see if any of you are Benders,” Aang said. “And if Daniel is really a second Avatar. We’ll guide you through the basics of each of the Bending arts, starting with Water. Katara will do that with you guys, then Toph will practice some Earthbending with you. Iroh will help you with Firebending, and then I’ll do Airbending.”
They nodded apprehensively.
“So… Water first?” Daniel said.
“Yeah,” Katara confirmed. “Ready?”
“Now’s as good as any time,” Jack said, after a moment. “Let’s do this.”
* * *
(1) Tsuba - The guard of a katana.
Fandom: Stargate SG-1 and Avatar: the Last Airbender
Author: darkjediprinces
Feedback: Is crack.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Hintage at Jack/Sam
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: SG-1 and AtLA = Not Mine.
Author's Notes: This chapter took forever, but now it is done and beta'd. Enjoy!
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Next Chapters:
Chapter 5
Through the Looking Glass, Part I: Becoming
Chapter 4
“So afraid to open your eyes-hypnotized
You know you're not the only one
Never understood this life
And you're right I don't deserve
But you know I'm not the only one
We're all grieving
Lost and bleeding”
-“The Only One”, Evanescence
Weapons were drawn in an instant. Iroh lifted both hands into the air, smiling sheepishly. Daniel hurried forward, frantically, standing in between the others and Iroh.
“Daniel, get out of the way,” Jack said, sounding irritated.
“No.”
“Dr. Jackson, he attacked Aang!” Katara shouted, pointing at the prone Zuko. “Why are you protecting him?!”
“It wasn’t what you thought,” Daniel insisted, quietly.
“What the Hell is that supposed to mean?” Jack snapped.
Daniel glanced back at Iroh. “I was there when Azula tried to get him to betray you. Afterwards, we talked for a few minutes. Zuko wanted to help you guys, and he thought that the best way he could do that was by getting on Azula’s good side and taking her down. But he had to make sure everyone thought-or acted like-he had actually betrayed Aang.”
Sam frowned. “When I was in the cave, and I asked why Zuko hadn’t joined us… It looked like you wanted to say something, but…”
“But I didn’t,” Daniel finished. “I had to make sure you thought he had actually betrayed them.”
Iroh nodded. “He was found out. He came to talk to me. Apparently Azula didn’t trust him completely; she had her friend Ty Lee follow Zuko. Ty Lee overheard our conversation… we had mentioned our plan, and she reported it back to Azula. Azula promptly attacked me and Zuko. We barely escaped with our lives.”
The others looked at each other incredulously.
“…Daniel isn’t in the habit of defending someone without a good reason to do so,” Jack said, finally. “And he’s no fool. Most of the time when we’ve been in question about someone, he’s been right about them.”
“Well no offense, but, we just met you guys,” Sokka said. “How do we know we can trust you? I mean, you seem okay, but… We’ve been fooled before.”
“Iroh has shown that he wants to help you,” Daniel responded, quietly. “But I realize that Zuko’s actions make his intentions questionable… What it comes down to is choices. Invariably, there’s an easy choice, and there’s a right choice. The easy thing to do here would be to simply tell yourself that Zuko will never change, and refuse to help him. If you do that, he’ll probably die. What do you think the right thing to do is?”
There was a moment of silence. Aang sighed. “Get him on Appa’s back. Iroh… come on.”
Daniel exhaled, knelt, and hoisted Zuko over his shoulders. He then climbed onto Appa’s back and laid Zuko down before helping Iroh up. The rest of the group finished packing and joined them. Appa then took off at Aang’s command.
Daniel dug into his pack, pulled out a first aid kit, and began treating the cuts on Zuko’s face. Sam helped him, though he knew she wasn’t very good at first aid in the first place. As Sam started to dab isopropyl alcohol on a cut near his right eye, Zuko winced and opened his eyes.
“…Dr. Jackson?”
“Feeling better?”
“…Not really.”
Daniel chuckled. “Your uncle says you were found out.”
Zuko shut his eyes and winced again as Sam rubbed alcohol on another cut on his chin. “I was careless. OW!”
“Sorry,” Sam apologized, quietly. “I know it stings. It’s supposed to.”
“…What’s it for?”
“It’s so the cuts won’t get infected,” Daniel told him.
“…Where are we?”
“Not sure. Getting as far away from Ba Sing Se as possible, that’s for sure.”
* * *
“As far away from Ba Sing Se as possible” turned out to be a small village several hundred miles away from Ba Sing Se. They landed on the outskirts in a small wooded area, being careful to stay hidden.
Daniel spotted a marker on the road just outside the woods and slunk over to it. The Chinese characters “Lu Men” were carved into it. Green Gate, he thought.
“Daniel, come on,” Sam called. Daniel hurried back over to the camp. Everyone was off of Appa’s back and gathered in a small circle. Zuko leaned against a tree, holding his side, which was where his most severe injury was located. A throwing dagger had been imbedded there, which Daniel and Sam removed before treating the cut.
“Okay, let’s get one thing straight,” Sokka said, promptly, glaring at Zuko. “We don’t trust you.”
“I’d expect no less,” Zuko responded, quietly. “And I’m not asking you to trust me right away. I just… Give me a chance. I want to help.”
“We gave you that chance when we decided to help you,” Aang answered. “Mess things up and it’ll probably be the last thing you do.”
Zuko nodded solemnly.
“There’s still the question of Daniel,” Sam said.
Iroh glanced over in Daniel’s direction. “You showed some of the same abilities as the Avatar in that cave. You entered the Avatar State and used both Water and Fire to attack Azula.”
“I don’t remember any of it,” Daniel responded.
“You wouldn’t,” Aang said quietly. “You wouldn’t have been yourself. I’ve learned how to control it, so I can enter and leave it at will now, and be perfectly aware of my actions while I’m in it. If you are another Avatar, and haven’t had any training… You won’t be aware of what’s going on around you when you’re in the Avatar State.”
“How will we know, though?” Daniel asked, frowning.
“We test you,” Aang responded, standing. “Lead you through some basics in each of the four Bending Arts. First Waterbending, then Earth, Fire, and Air. If you can control all four… then you probably are.”
“Alright, but… we should test the rest of my friends too,” Daniel said. “They might be able to control one of the Elements too.”
“Are you serious, Daniel?” Sam asked, incredulously. “I kind of doubt it.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a skeptic, Sam,” Daniel retorted, a teasing note in his voice. “You’ve never believed in this sort of thing.”
Sam rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything in retort.
“Also, you guys are gonna stick out like sore thumbs dressed like that,” Aang pointed out, gesturing to their uniforms.
“…He’s got a point,” Sam conceded, though she looked very unhappy at the prospect of dressing in local attire. Daniel didn’t blame her, given the last time she’d had to do so, she’d been kidnapped and sold as a slave.
“We can’t use our weapons either,” Daniel added. “We’re trying to keep a low profile. The most you guys have in the way of projectile weapons would probably be bows and arrows, right?”
“And catapults,” Iroh added.
“Trebuchets?” Daniel inquired. Iroh nodded.
“My staff weapon can be used in close combat,” Teal’c said, softly.
Daniel nodded. “You’ll be fine, then. The rest of us have training in other forms of combat.” When Jack and Sam looked at him oddly, he added, “I took Kendo in college. If I can find a katana, I’ll be able to defend myself.”
“There should be a weaponsmith in town,” Toph said. “Most Earth Kingdom villages have one.”
“We don’t have any money.”
“We’ll find a way to pay for it,” Katara responded, quietly. “We should go ahead and head into town, find some clothes for you guys. Maybe weapons.”
“I’ll go with you. I want to actually have a say in what I wear this time,” Sam said. Daniel chuckled.
“I’ll come too,” Daniel added. “Call it… cultural interest.” At this, Jack rolled his eyes but grinned anyway.
With some effort, Zuko pushed himself to his feet. “I’m coming.”
Katara eyed him suspiciously.
“I’ll help Dr. Jackson find a katana he can use,” Zuko told her quietly. “I’ll stay well within sight.”
Katara eyed him apprehensively, then sighed. “Okay. No sudden moves.”
Zuko gave her a short nod. He started to move towards Appa, but Daniel stopped him.
“Don’t, you’ll hurt yourself. What do you need?”
Zuko grimaced. “There’s a brown and gold sheath containing two broadswords up there. Just… in case there’s trouble.” Daniel nodded and climbed onto Appa’s back, rooting through the group’s gathered belongings until He uncovered the sheath Zuko had described. He held it up.
“This it?”
“Yeah.”
Daniel climbed down and passed the sheath to Zuko, who slung it over his shoulder. Daniel and Sam removed the vests and leg holsters from their uniforms so they would look slightly less suspicious; however, Daniel tucked one of his pistols into the belt of his trousers and hid it beneath his jacket. He gave the other to Sam, who did the same.
“Is it really necessary to go armed?” Katara asked, nervously.
“We can’t be too careful,” Sam responded quietly. Katara sighed and nodded.
“Okay, let’s get going.”
* * *
Lu Men was a small, quiet town. There weren’t many residents out in the main square, but the few who were there stared at Daniel and Sam as they entered the area. Daniel and Sam lingered behind as Katara asked where they might find some clothes and the local blacksmith.
“Blacksmith’s on the northern edge of the town, and there’s a merchant who sells clothing and food on the western edge of the market square,” the man she was talking to told Katara. Katara thanked him and walked back over to them.
“Looks like we’re going to have to split up,” she said, sighing. “Blacksmith’s in another part of the town from the merchant selling food and clothing. However, I’d rather not leave Zuko unaccompanied.”
Zuko rolled his eyes but said nothing.
“I’m going with Katara,” Sam stated instantly.
Katara scrutinized Daniel. “Can I trust you to keep Zuko in line?” She asked.
“Sure thing,” Daniel answered, laughing a little.
“Okay then.” She glared at Zuko. “One wrong move and I’ll encase you in solid ice,” she told him.
“You know I’d just melt through it, right?”
“Not if I get Toph to add some rock to the equation.”
Zuko made an odd noise but decided not to retort.
“Blacksmith’s on the north edge of town. We’ll meet back here in, say… two hours?”
Daniel nodded and the four split up, Zuko going with Daniel to the north and Sam and Katara heading west.
After about a minute Daniel had started squinting, trying to both clear his blurry vision and keep the glaring sun out of his eyes. Finally, he sighed and reached into a pocket, stopping for a moment to put in the spare pair of contact lenses he kept in case his glasses were broken or lost. Zuko paused beside him.
“You okay?” He asked.
“Yeah, just putting something in my eyes to help me see properly… I can’t see things that are too far away very clearly.” He blinked rapidly, a reflex reaction to putting the contacts in. They settled into place and Daniel’s surroundings came into focus. “There, that’s better.” He started walking again, Zuko following suit. There was a moment of silence before Zuko spoke again.
“Explain something to me.”
“What’s up?”
“You and the others come… from another world, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you get here?”
“Didn’t Sam explain that?”
“She started to, but…”
“Ahhh, she started getting into the technobabble.”
“…Techno…babble?”
“She started babbling about the technology behind the idea, right?”
“Yeah.”
“All you really need to know about it is that we used a large, circular gateway called the Stargate. Essentially it allows us to travel to other worlds almost instantly. The rest is really complicated and hard to understand if you’re not Sam.”
“So you do this for a living?”
Daniel nodded. “All four of us do. It’s dangerous but pretty damn satisfying.”
Zuko nodded. The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Finally, they came upon a building with smoke billowing out of a hole in the roof.
“Blacksmith,” Daniel noted. “C’mon.”
The blacksmith’s shop had almost every kind of oriental-style weapon Daniel could think of; katanas, longswords, naginatas, and many other weapons all lined the walls of the store, many with intricate detail worked into the metal. Daniel wandered among the blades, looking at them in wonder. Finally, he came across a katana with dragons etched into the tsuba(1) that caught his eye. Its wooden sheath was made of a dark, reddish wood. He crouched, gently running a hand along it. Behind him, Zuko stated, “Dragons. I didn’t think the Earth Kingdom smithies used that sort of imagery…”
“Help ya?” A gruff voice asked behind them, and Daniel quickly stood and faced the owner of the store.
“Uh, yeah, I was wondering… how much would this katana cost?” Daniel gestured at the sword he had been looking at.
“That? That one’s one of my favourites. Won’t let it go for any less than three hundred gold pieces. Earth Kingdom money only,” he sneered.
Zuko flinched. “I don’t have that much. Two hundred I might’ve been able to afford,” he whispered to Daniel. Daniel frowned, looking over his shoulder back at the Katana. Something struck him as odd, and he knelt again, looking at the sheath more closely.
“…It’s scuffed,” he noted.
“What?”
“The sheath is scuffed. It wouldn’t be if this were brand new.”
Zuko frowned, examining the sheath as well. “He’s right. It is. The hilt shows signs of use as well.” He brushed a hand over the frayed wrap on the hilt of the sword. A realization dawned on him. “…And the Earth Kingdom doesn’t use dragon imagery; the Fire Nation does.” He stood again. “This sword is stolen, isn’t it?” Zuko demanded.
The smithy’s face twisted in anger. “GET OUT!” He shouted.
“No.” Zuko drew his swords and brandished them at the blacksmith. “Who did you steal that katana from?!”
A bead of sweat slowly dripped down the smithy’s face. “A Fire Nation soldier who fell near here. They’re all scum, and he wasn’t needing it anymore. I wasn’t the one who took it though… one of the local soldiers did. He thought I could sell it for a good price, so he gave it to me! I swear that’s it!”
Zuko’s lip curled, and he backed up and lifted the katana from its perch. “I’m taking it. You have no right to it.”
The blacksmith sneered. “What are you going to do with it? Give it back to the Fire Nation?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Zuko snapped in return. “Let’s go, Dr. Jackson.”
“But-!”
Zuko silently grabbed Daniel’s arm and dragged him away. Daniel put up a half-assed resistance, but didn’t object much other than that. When they were clear of the blacksmith’s shop, Zuko let go. Daniel frowned at him.
“That was unnecessary,” he said quietly.
“He stole it from one of our soldiers,” Zuko snarled quietly.
“I know why you did it, but… two wrongs don’t make a right,” Daniel told him, hesitantly resorting to the cliché.
“Don’t lecture me, I get enough of that from Uncle,” Zuko resonded, a dangerous note to his voice.
“Aang and his friends won’t let you stick around if you keep this up, though,” Daniel said. “They don’t trust you as it is. You shouldn’t be doing anything to make that worse.”
Zuko prepared to retort as they returned to the town square, but sighed, and said, “You’re right.” He offered the katana to Daniel, who accepted it with a half smile.
“Don’t do it again.”
“I won’t.”
Katara and Sam were waiting for them in the town square, each of them carrying a pair of folded-up clothing.
“How’d it go?” Sam asked.
“We found a suitable sword,” Daniel said, showing it to Sam. Sam “Oohed” and leaned in to look at it more closely.
“We should get out of here,” Katara said. “No point in staying too much longer.”
Nodding, the group hurried out of town and back to the camp.
* * *
“Aww, come on, Carter,” Jack called out to Sam, who was currently hiding behind a bush in her new clothes. He tugged at his own new outfit, a grey-brown tunic and trousers. “We’re all embarrassed.”
“I look silly!” Sam objected. Her face, poking out above the bush, was beet-red.
“What’s with her?” Aang whispered to Daniel, who was dressed in an ankle-length green tunic with gold trim, belted at the waist with a dark gold sash. His new katana was stuck in the sash, along with a small, ivory pocket dagger he’d found among his belongings. He hadn’t remembered packing it, but dismissed that fact and took the chance to have an extra weapon.
“The last time she was forced to wear local attire, she wore a blue dress and veil that she absolutely despised,” Daniel whispered. “She was hesitant to show herself then too. That was nearly six years ago, too.”
Katara sighed and attempted to coax Sam out from behind the bush. “Major, you picked out that outfit yourself.”
Sam hesitated, then rose, revealing her outfit to be a long, pale green dress with short sleeves and slits in the sides for ease of movement. She wore dark grey trousers underneath it, along with the combat boots from her uniform.
Jack whistled appreciatively. “Niiiiice.”
Sam shot him an icy look.
“You look great, Sam,” Daniel told her, smiling.
Sam, still red in the face, sat down beside the campfire.
“So what now?” Jack asked.
“Now we see if any of you are Benders,” Aang said. “And if Daniel is really a second Avatar. We’ll guide you through the basics of each of the Bending arts, starting with Water. Katara will do that with you guys, then Toph will practice some Earthbending with you. Iroh will help you with Firebending, and then I’ll do Airbending.”
They nodded apprehensively.
“So… Water first?” Daniel said.
“Yeah,” Katara confirmed. “Ready?”
“Now’s as good as any time,” Jack said, after a moment. “Let’s do this.”
* * *
(1) Tsuba - The guard of a katana.