"Well, it's a shame, of course, to leave behind a place we poured nearly fifteen years of work into. But that's still better than one fine day exploding alongside the entire Air Temple… Hmmm… Yeah."
"Do not worry. The Fire Lord takes care of his subjects. You'll receive all the support we can provide in your new home. You have my word."
"Thank you. And what will happen to them?" he asked, nodding toward the officers currently being tied up.
"A trial. Most likely demotion and dismissal afterward. If their crimes prove more serious than what I uncovered, then prison. As for the colonel—maximum security prison without question."
"Serves him right! Oh, young man, while I had a bit of free time, I came up with a few ideas. What do you think about…"
And then the Mechanist proceeded to devour my brain by diving into technical details so absurdly specific they bordered on the incomprehensible.
My technical knowledge might surpass the world's average overall, but that was the key word—overall! I wasn't much of a theorist. I was more of a practical specialist, and in an entirely different field at that. Questions like aerodynamics or "What do you think would work better here, treated silk or coarse canvas?" were things I could answer only through common sense and half-forgotten university courses in physics, mechanics, and strength of materials.
And while the physics courses had at least been decent, the latter two had mostly been taught "for general education." Nobody took them especially seriously—it simply wasn't our specialization.
No, I'd hoped my little "arrest the bad guys" performance would earn me something like +500 reputation points in the refugees' eyes, but I had severely underestimated both the engineer's enthusiasm and the industrial-grade awl apparently lodged somewhere in his backside.
So by the end of the march back to camp—and after arresting the guards left behind with the lizards—I'd acquired a splitting migraine, a sincere desire to quietly strangle the overly inspired village elder somewhere out of sight, and a powerful urge to drink something stronger than water.
We spent the night in the same long-suffering camp, though now, instead of nearly a hundred Fire Nation warriors, it housed forty members of my retinue, thirty "unreliable" soldiers and sergeants, and ten prisoners. Well, in addition to several hundred former residents of the Air Temple.
Despite my utter mental exhaustion, sleep refused to come. After making the rounds and checking every post, I settled into my tent and began tending to weapons that were already in absolutely perfect condition. The task had long since ceased being routine and had become something closer to meditation.
And that meditation was broken by the sound of soft, nearly weightless footsteps.
Out of everyone I knew, only one person could move like that.
"Suki…"
Gentle yet incredibly strong arms wrapped around my neck, and a pleasant weight settled against my back. My nose caught the scent of her hair—clean and fresh, as though we hadn't spent the entire day trekking back and forth across mountain trails, and on the return trip hauling refugees along with us.
"Say it again," she whispered.
Say? Say what? For a couple seconds I tried to understand what she wanted from me before mentally kicking myself.
"I love you."
She pressed herself closer.
"You know… you're a terrible liar, but… I want to believe you. Because I also… love you… and that won't change no matter how many women you have around you…" She paused dramatically. "…as long as I'm the one in charge!"
That last line utterly destroyed the romantic tension of the moment—and along with it, my bad mood.
"Someone likes being the boss?" I pulled the girl onto my lap. Her arms wrapped around my neck once more, while my eyes were rewarded with a magnificent view of the beauty in her kimono.
"Maybe. So stop brooding and sharpening already sharp steel, and give your beloved the attention she deserves." Having secured her captured foothold, the warrior launched her offensive, beginning with the buttons of my shirt.
"Wait… I've spent two days climbing around mountains. I'm filthy and covered in dust." I'd always loved her confidence and assertiveness, but right now she'd managed to throw me slightly off balance.
"I think I'll survive somehow… Though there's a lake in the forest nearby… I could show you," Suki replied in a tone that made me seriously reconsider whether getting cleaned up was really all that urgent.
"Will you scrub my back?"
"If you ask nicely enough," the warrior answered in a voice dripping with smug superiority.
"Oh, I can be very persuasive."
"I don't doubt it."
And so, slipping away beneath the cover of the deepening dusk, we left the tent behind.
We didn't return to camp until dawn—clean, exhausted, and very satisfied with both nature and each other.
(End of Chapter)
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