"All right, enough of that. It's all behind us now. I'm back, and I even turned a profit," I said, steering the conversation away from the unpleasant subject. After all, Suki and I were going to need a private conversation later, and the others would only get in the way.
"Profit?" Dandan asked immediately, her interest piqued.
"Indeed. The journey ended successfully, so..." I picked up the scroll containing the will and burned it away in a burst of blue fire. "I won't be needing this anymore."
"Blue fire?" one of the girls stammered in shock. "How?!"
"There are ways to learn it," I replied, carefully sidestepping a direct answer. "Though they're rather dangerous."
Overall, I had settled on blue fire for two reasons. First, out of the entire spectrum, it was the hottest and most destructive—perfect for combat. There was also green fire, which, thanks to its chemical side effects, could potentially poison an opponent, but the effects would hardly be immediate. Besides, there was the second reason.
Azula was considered one of the most powerful firebenders in the entire Fire Nation, and blue was her signature flame. Which meant having the same color would earn me a few extra points simply by association. Of course, being able to use the entire spectrum would have been even more impressive, but that wasn't happening anytime soon.
The problem was that a firebender's flame depended heavily on what kind of... hmm... spectrum of internal energy was being fed into the Fire Chakra and converted into actual fire. By default, everyone's energies combined into the familiar orange flame. I could tune my body to produce a particular "mixture," but the process took about five hours. Faster than that was, unfortunately, beyond me for the moment. The processes involved were simply too delicate.
On the bright side, I suspected lightning wasn't far off anymore. Splitting Chi into strictly positive and strictly negative components wasn't actually that difficult. The real challenge lay in directing the resulting lightning outward instead of letting it pass through my own body. I knew how it was supposed to be done... in theory.
As for practice… well, I wasn't rushing it. To be honest, I was scared. The memory of electricity coursing through me, burning its way through flesh and bone, did not exactly inspire confidence when it came to experimentation.
Hm… Right. I'm getting distracted.
"So, I trust you've all understood and that nothing like this will happen again?" The Kyoshi Warriors nodded in a disorganized fashion. What a mess! They couldn't even answer properly!
But fine… if I started drilling them now, I'd only make things worse.
Women…
"Then for failing to carry out your commander's orders—five duties each. Every one of you. And since I don't want you having enough energy left for more foolishness, I'm declaring the start of advanced training. Vacation's over. Dismissed!"
"Yes, sir."
The guilty subordinates hurried to disappear from sight.
Honestly, "extra duties" were the absolute minimum punishment. Men in their place might have earned themselves a few lashes, and if something like this had happened during an actual campaign, the penalty could have been a noose or one-way posting to the back end of nowhere.
But I simply couldn't bring myself to hit them. During training? Certainly. Like this? No.
Anyway, this was only the beginning. There were still people left for a "private conversation," and so...
"And as for you, Suki, I'd like you to stay."
The girl froze mid-step.
Her departing friends gave her looks that were an odd mixture of relief and sympathy. Relief because a scapegoat had finally been found, and sympathy for that very same "scapegoat."
I waited until the others had left and the door had closed behind them. Then, after giving her a few moments to stew in nervous anticipation, I crossed the room and slid the bolt into place. The commander-and-subordinate portion of this conversation was over, but that wasn't the only relationship between us, and there were other things that needed to be said.
I stepped closer.
She stood there, avoiding my gaze, her fingers trembling slightly…
I let out a heavy sigh.
"What is it with you?" I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. "I'm back. Everything's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Yes, it's unpleasant, but you don't need to punish yourself this much over it."
"I..." The Kyoshi Warrior shuddered faintly in my embrace. "Chan... Your father, he was right. I..."
"No. Don't start that. You hear me?" I gave her a small shake while hugging her even tighter. "Get that nonsense out of your head. I don't care what that old fool filled your ears with! For fifteen years he couldn't care less where I was or who I was with, but the moment I accomplished something, suddenly he's concerned about finding me a suitable match!"
I wanted to spit, but restrained myself. Even so, my tone made my feelings perfectly clear.
"You're the best, Suki. The very best. And I have no intention of giving you up, no matter what society decides to think."
"Hnn..." came a pitiful sniffle against my chest.
"You don't believe me?" I pulled back slightly and gently lifted her chin, looking into her eyes.
"I do, but..." She looked away. "You shouldn't have to sacrif..."
"All right! Someone here is clearly not understanding something!" I scooped Suki up into my arms and turned toward the bedroom.
"C-Chan! Wait! What are you—? We can't just—! A-And besides, I'm serious!" the warrior protested, displaying the first genuine signs of life she'd shown all day and finally stopping her impression of a half-boiled amoeba.
"Exactly! You're seriously trying to leave me because some old goat bleated a few words of disapproval at you," I shot back, making no effort to hide my outrage. "Which means there are a few things we need to clear up!"
We were already in the bedroom, and without the slightest remorse, I dropped the thoroughly overwhelmed girl onto the bed. A moment later, I was above her, pinning her hands over her head.
"Point number one," I informed her, staring into her wide gray eyes, "I love you!"
And then I decisively silenced any possible objections with a kiss…
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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