"Well enough," Taed took Kraj's hand in a greeting. "I had... an interesting run-in with some of our brethren in the Fire Nation. The situation took longer than one would hope. What dark news shadows the day?" Even as he asked the question, though, he began to sense what sort of thing had happened. Perhaps it was the tiny sliver of Galgori in him.

Goen and Meng at last reached the doors to Aunt Wu's home. "Here we are!" Meng said, giggling and winking at Goen. "You know, Aunt Wu can even predict who you're going to maaaaaaaaarry."

Goen backed up a couple more steps. Again. "Right. And... uhm... that's totally relevant!" he said brightly. There was an uncomfortable pause, as Meng continued to sway back and forth with her hands behind her back, gazing longingly at the earthbender, while Goen just looked around the area and absent-mindedly scratched the back of his head. "...I need to go inside now." He pushed open the door and rushed inside in the hopes of evading Meng, forgetting in his partial panic that the young girl worked here.

OOC: Okay, lemme get this straight... I must now post as Taed, Goen, Aunt Wu, and Meng. Ugg.

Goen continued to walk quickly through the lobby, until Meng caught up to him and pulled him down into a seat. "Oh Aunt WUUUU!" she giggled. "You have another customer!" She skipped down the hall, where Aunt Wu had just emerged.

"Is this another one of your love interests?" the prophetess leaned down and whispered conspiratorially with a wink.

"I think so," Meng clasped her hands in front of her and swung from side to side. "Give him a really good reading, huh, Aunt Wu?"

"If the bones let me," the prophetess replied, sweeping into the lobby.

Taed bowed his head in anguish. "It must have just happened as I was being returned to the Earth Kingdom. That's horrible news, Kraj." At the mention of Goen and Etsu wandering in the village, however, his head snapped back up. "We have to see Aunt Wu about something. Or so claim several spirits, at the partial goading of Ko. I just remembered."

Taed nodded to the departing figure of Kraj, and left the inn calmly, headed toward the center of the village where he supposed Aunt Wu's home would be.

"Welcome, young earthbender," Aunt Wu said, surprising Goen with both her appearance and her knowledge of his bending class. Then again, he was in the Earth Kingdom; those were probably more common. "Come right inside, and I can give you your reading." Goen bowed in gratitude and preceded her into the firelit room, and Aunt Wu shut the door tightly. "Now. What have you come to glean from me?" Instead of sitting across from him, she sat next to him and waited patiently for an answer.

"'Glean'?" Goen was confused, but he thought he could figure it out from the context. "Well, I'm looking for my brother. My adopted brother I guess, he's not blood, but he's as close as it gets." He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "His body is here in the city, but his spirit was taken by our guardian spirits a week ago, and I want to know where it is."

Aunt Wu was shocked. This sort of thing was almost unheard of. "Well," was all she could say for a couple moments, as she composed herself. Finally she gestured with her hand. "I suggest a bone reading in this case. Pick whatever one calls out to you the most from the bin behind you."

As the blue-fire bender was approaching the center of the city, he suddenly realized that he had his own firebending abilities back. Discreetly, he made a tiny little flame hidden by his cupped hands, and was glad to see both that it worked, and that it was a familiar cold blue color again. Sighing, he eliminated the flame, and then crossed over the hill to the center of town. Immediately he saw the most beautiful sight in the world, leaning against the wall by a building with a sign that said "Oracle: Inquire Within."

"Etsuko," he whispered. The sight stunned him. Then he hollered louder, "Etsu!" and began running toward her. All thoughts of anything else had left his mind.

Taed reached the top of the hill by Aunt Wu's house; to his horror, Etsuko seemed to have vanished. Had she been a hallucination? Fortunately, no. Looking down toward the town square, he saw her walking off into the distance as if in a daze. Without hesitation he ran after her. In a few seconds he had caught up to her, and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Etsuko..."

Goen went to the vat behind him and closed his eyes before he reached in blindly and pulled out the first bone that his hand closed around. Opening his eyes and pulling out the bone, he saw it was slightly scratched. "Is it bad if it's scratched?" he asked.

"No no, that's the whole point. The scratches crack when you throw the bone into the fire, and I read the cracks to tell you what it is that you mean," Aunt Wu explained. "Go ahead and cast it on the fire." Goen obliged, and the fire started to smoke.

Taed swept her into his arms and just kept running his hands through her hair, along her shoulders, keeping her tight and feeling her comfortable figure settle closer to his own. He closed his eyes and took in the feeling; it wasn't until that very moment that he realized just how much he had missed Etsuko, and how important she was to him. In such a short time they had been through so much together, from that first meeting weeks ago fleeing from Princess Azula in the Fire Nation Capital. Who would have dreamed a waterbender and a firebender would fall in love like this?

Still not looking, but just feeling, he held her as they stood in the village square, people stopping and watching, or passing by after giving silent judgment to them. He wasn't aware, and he wouldn't have cared. All he sensed was her presence.

"Oh my..." Aunt Wu said in surprise. "What a great deal of smoooOOOOH!" she fell backwards off of her cushion as a large flame leapt up toward the door. Immediately the bone crumbled to dust and smothered the large flame. The smoke crept toward the doorframe and oozed underneath it for a short time before finally fading away, and the fire burned a little less than normal.

"Does that always happen?" a particularly wide-eyed Goen asked.

Aunt Wu picked herself up in a dignified fashion and brushed off her skirt. "Never has. Not as bad as the exploding bone when the Avatar came through here, but it's still unprecedented." She bit her lip as she looked at the smoky door, and then said after a pause, "This is going to seem like a long shot, but why don't you take a look outside?"

Taed leaned softly into Etsu and whispered through her hair. "I love you. More than I confessed before on the beach at Pyrazure. I was so worried about you while I was taken away; I was afraid something might have happened to you during the fight with the pirates, and that I wouldn't be there when you needed me again." He closed his eyes again and gently kissed her forehead, and then carefully brought her head back up so he could look into her eyes again.

"The spirits took me away to show me the meaning of my oath with the Galgori," he explained. "I got to see Coer again... you may not remember him, he was only with us for a short time before he left with Anei and Hokori. I saw them too. They're all doing quite well."

Taed didn't know what else to say or do, so he just stood there still holding Etsuko in his arms.

With a funny look at Aunt Wu, Goen pushed the door to the lobby open, and slowly stepped through the lobby to the front door. Meng started to run toward him but stopped when Aunt Wu gave a small noise and lifted her hand in warning. Instead the young girl opened the front door for Goen, who stepped out and glanced around for a moment until he saw two embracing figures down the hill. One of them was Etsuko.

Goen's heart skipped a beat. He started running toward them.

Taed leaned against Etsuko for a moment, and then he breathed and pulled away slightly. "I need to speak with Aunt Wu. I think she's supposed to tell us where we need to go next. Come with me?" he asked, offering his hand.

At that moment Goen came running up, out of breath, and stopped next to Taed and Etsuko with his hands on his thighs. "Gimme... a moment," he panted, holding up a finger. "Taed... you're back... you brat..." Taed and Goen both chuckled, and Taed patted his brother on the back. "Good to see you again, bro."

OOC: Ooookay then. Given Etsuko has not had the opportunity to reply, and nothing has been going on since July, and I really need to get Taed out of this village... I am going to have to employ some minor godmoding. The plot twist included in this post was approved months ago by Etsu and myself. Also, I am working under the assumption that with time flowing differently amongst my various RPs, I can have Taed leave here in this post, and return to Mothhaudh (see Fire Nation Towns and Villages) before the invasion.[/size]

Aunt Wu smiled in her doorframe at the sight of the reunited lovers and brothers, and was about to go back inside to see what other customers were waiting, when the voices of spirits began to whistle past her ear. ...the island... ...Ozai is angry... ...by sea they come... ...a shadow looms... ...there is not much time... ...the last light... ...the lost souls...

Such clarity of voices, even though they only spoke in phrases and rushed past her, barely stopping to say anything! "You there!" she called loudly with considerable alarm, walking rapidly toward Taed and his two companions. "Yes, you. Your arrival heralded the arrival of seven spirits who just spoke to me in obvious words."

Taed looked rather alarmed, and so did Goen to a lesser degree. "We have seven guardian spirits on our island--"

"Yes, yes, that was it!" Aunt Wu's hands began flying in frantic random motions. Then she brought them to her temples, trying to remember what she had just heard. "There was something about an island... and something about... Fire Lord Ozai's anger. A great shadow looming over--"

"Oh dear spirits of the world," Taed whispered in fright. "For centuries we kept out the forces of the Fire Nation because the xolabs kept us safe. Now that the barriers are down... the island will be overrun in a matter of hours!"

"Now, now, calm down," Aunt Wu put her hands on Taed's shoulders, even though her frantic wide-eyed look didn't seem very calm to Taed. "It would take the Fire Lord at least a few weeks to mobilize a fleet to your island... and if we are just hearing about it now, there is time for something to be done."

"We'll all go back!" Goen shouted. "Kraj and Nenji and Etsu and the two of us, we've got to be able to do SOMETHING. We have one of each kind of bender, plus two highly skilled Gal--" he fell silent as Taed elbowed him viciously in the ribs. The message in the firebender's eyes was clear enough: Galgori is not a word you scream in public.

"I was actually referring to getting some sort of support in addition to your travelling companions," Wu explained. "The Avatar passed through here only a little while ago, he may still be in the Earth Kingdom, so..."

Taed shook his head. "No. It's unlikely we'd find him in time and make it back to Mothhaudh in time. If anyone leaves, it's got to be now. The five of us can go and try to trick the warfleet. We beat that one ship. Even though we had more people and they had less."

Aunt Wu had taken a moment to study Etsuko, who was still looking a bit woozy in the morning sun. "Young man, there's one more complication. Your wife is pregnant. She can't travel very fast, very far. She's coming into the painful part of it." Goen's eyes opened and his mouth gaped, but Taed couldn't move at all. It made sense... after the night on the beach, stranger things had started happening. Beyond his random spirit trips, that is. "She's got to stay here. She could stay with me; I can help her through the next few weeks, and the birthing process."

Taed nodded slowly. "Goen... stay with her."

Despite a vague realization, Goen asked, "Wh... what about you?"

"I leave right now. And without Kraj or Nenji, either. I want you to take care of Etsuko for me, but you're still young and I don't want you uncared for. Kraj and Nenji are honorable and loyal; they'll stick with you, I hope." He leaned forward and gave his little brother a huge hug. They stood there for a few minutes, Goen trying to hide a sniffle, and Taed feeling his eyes water up. Both of them knew Taed was not likely to return from this trip. Still, Taed took Goen's head in his hands and looked him right in the eye. "We've been taught that the spirit goes on when the body dies. Worst comes to worst, I'll still be here. But if all goes well, I'll be back in six weeks or so."

Goen couldn't speak, and Etsu was in even worse shape, for all the things she had just heard. It was so much to take in. "Taed..." her voice caught in her throat, and tears rolled down her face.

"I'm sorry I have to leave you like this, Etsu, but my mother is still on Mothhaudh. I've got to try and save her," he said, his own tears starting to fall. "Remember what I said, Etsu. I love you. With all my heart. You are my beautiful maiden of the sea, and you've cooled the flames of this firebender." He leaned forward again and kissed her gently.

Etsu didn't want him to go, didn't want to say good-bye, didn't want to face the reality. No, no, you have to stay here, we're having a baby, you have to help me raise her! she cried in her mind, but her head nodded and all she said was, "I love you too. Come back to me." Aunt Wu came and wrapped her kindly old arms around Etsu, and the waterbender leaned into her, crying, but more importantly shielding her eyes.

Goen reached out quickly and grabbed Taed's wrist. At first Taed thought he was trying to impede Taed from leaving, but then he realized he was saying good-bye. He took the wrist that was holding his, and squeezed it firmly. They pulled apart, but Goen dropped something in Taed's hand on the way. "Give this to her," he said, choking a bit. Taed looked... it was the stone bracelet Goen had made on the ship in the Earth Kingdom Waters.

Minutes later found Goen still looking down the hill where Taed had gone, and Etsuko still standing with Aunt Wu, crying silently.

(Part of me can't resist the poetic gesture... Minor Godmodding hopefully forgiveable. Another farewell.)

Taed's descent from the mountain was interupted by a knife planting into in the dirt at his feet as Kraj's dark-skined, blue-clad form emerged from the treeline, "Would my Blood-Brother think me so baseless as to let him leave without saying goodbye? Even in my mourning for one of the Six, I could not be so... clumsy as to miss you on your exit after overhearing the signs I detected."

The Hunter added softly, gesturing at the blade at Taed's feet, "It is customary to give a Hunter setting out on an important journey a weapon of personal importance. THAT blade was the one that made us kin, Take it with you, and I will ensure that your child is given the best help I can should your lover accept that aid from one such as I." He smiled grimly at this point, teeth flashing white in the sun.

OOC: That's fine, and actually allows me an avenue by which I mean to make my next post as Taed...[/size]

Out of sight of Goen and Etsuko, Taed was taken aback at first by the blade, but Kraj's words stabbed at his heart in a different way. Of course, how could he have forgotten the blood oath? It placed him under the jurisdiction of the Galgori as well as the Mothguaith. In a swift fluid motion he took the knife out of the dirt and wiped the sand off on his own shirt. "Be kind to her, Kraj. I know she still distrusts you in much the same manner that the Galgori distrust benders... but she has fought to keep those feelings buried, for my sake and Goen's."

He offered the hand and wrist that had sealed the blood oath, and said, "Thank you for your companionship on that last part of the journey, and for ensuring no harm came to my body." An idea sprung into his head at that moment. "And I have a request to make. Two, actually. Could something faster than me, like a messenger hawk, be sent to your comrades on Mothhaudh with the news? And what are the chances I can gain passage back into Fire Nation waters on a Galgori ship?"

OOC: Hence, Master Kalari's news. [/size]