Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Kyoshi!” Lek said, suddenly close to her, propping her up as best he could from underneath her arm, the last person among them who should have tried to hold her up physically. “Kyoshi!” She lasted less than two minutes before succumbing to the pain.

Lek struggled under the strain of Kyoshi's dead weight, but he refused to drop her. Kirima and Wong raced to his side and they each brought one of Kyoshi's arms around them and they had to drag her to Pengpeng. Lek ran out from under Kyoshi and headed towards Pengpeng, they needed to get Kyoshi out of there and fast. Lao Ge earth bent a platform for Wong and Kirima to step on and to agitate their friend as little as possible. The earth bender raised the slab up to be level with the saddle and they laid her down on it gently, Kirima propped her head up with a rolled up blanket, covering her up with a couple more careful to avoid her hands.

-

Rangi stood stock still, she couldn't move to save Kyoshi's falling form, the smell of burnt fabric and skin lingered heavily around them, it burned her nose and made her eyes water. She almost lost Kyoshi. She repeats this over and over in her head like a mantra, her throat still burns from the raw screams she produced when she saw Kyoshi get struck by Xu’s lighting. Stop!

“Rangi! Rangi! We gotta go now!” Hearing her name and the desperate tone that was seeped into his words snapped the fire bender out of her thoughts. She wasn’t used to hearing her name come from Lek’s mouth, the company preferring to use their annoying nicknames, let alone that kind of emotion coming from the young earth bender.

She rushed towards them and swung herself up onto Pengpeng's saddle, she clambered towards the prone body covered by blankets and replaced the one by her head using her lap as support instead. She refused to let her go until they got to wherever it was they were going. She spent the entirety of the ride focused purely on Kyoshi, smoothing caresses to her face and hair and whispered words of comfort, she wished more than anything that she would magically become water bender. Rangi had never felt so helpless before, sitting there holding Kyoshi’s limp body against hers, how could she let this happen? She’s the Avatar’s bodyguard, she should have protected Kyoshi and yet here they were. Lighting bending she scoffed to herself, what was a fire bender doing locked up in the earth kingdom anyway. She always thought lighting bending was a myth told to scare young benders in the academy, like if it were something only monsters were capable of producing. Well in this case it was that, Xu was a monster and if she had known she would have never let Kyoshi get caught up in this. If Kyoshi had not taken care of Xu, Rangi would have done whatever it took to finish the job. She would gladly tear him apart with her bare hands given the opportunity, she shook herself from those thoughts, Not now, Kyoshi needs you.

-

The rest of the company wasn’t faring any better, Kirima had a distressed look on her face, she was out of her depth trying to treat Kyoshi's burns. The damage was unprecedented, the metal fans helped do a number on her hands and even if she were a renowned healer, she knows this isn’t something you come back from. She silently promises herself she will do whatever it takes to help her sister. “It looks like the chain mail took the majority of the damage to her upper body, I won’t really know the extent until we get her out of them. But…Rangi I don’t know about her hands I-I’m not that good of a healer and the fans… it was too much. I’ll do whatever I can to try to ease some of the pain at least.” Kirima pulled some water from the skin pouch she had and set on working on Kyoshi’s hands with the determination to help her friend present on her face.

Rangi nodded to what Kirima said, she had seen Kyoshi’s hands before she passed out, she was used to seeing scarred hands from so many Agni Kai’s, but on Kyoshi it just hurt. Kyoshi always managed to get scars from her duties, but to Rangi it’s just a reminder of how she can’t always be there to protect Kyoshi and these new ones are going to be an even more painful reminder. But they are still part of Kyoshi and she will love them just as much as every other part of her.

-

Wong’s face was twisted up in a pained grimace, he stared at Kyoshi's unmoving form, he could still picture her body tensing up as the lighting hit her full force in the chest and the smoke that rose from it as Xu kept hitting her. He shook his head to rid himself of those images and stared out into the night sky though the grimace did not leave his face for a while. He felt for his sister in that small time they have been traveling together she grew on him and the time they spent practicing fan training brought him back to the old days with Jessa and Harak. Even though she never wanted to know about them he sees so much of them in her. It was a big loss for the company when they passed and they were unable to help them. But he can help Kyoshi now and vows to himself then and there to always look out after her.

-

Lao Ge sat across from him, a pensive look on his usually indifferent face, they were all caught off guard by Xu, but he knew the kid. She would be okay, she was not finished in this world yet and it would be a shame to leave her fire bender alone. He hasn’t been around them that long, but he knows his student and Rangi is important to Kyoshi, she’s her tether to this world and that’s motivation enough to keep on fighting. With that thought in mind he laid back against the edge of the saddle and stared at the changing scenery around them, every now and then he would glance at Rangi’s hunched over form as she stroked Kyoshi’s hair.

=

Lek was fairing a bit better although if you looked at his hands you could see his knuckles turning white from how hard they were gripping the reins, not to mention the unmistakable shaking that seemed to accompany them. He didn’t know where they were going, he just knew he needed to get his family out of there as soon as possible. After flying for some time, he spotted an abandoned village that had seen better days.

=

They landed near one of the better looking houses and Lek and Lao proceeded to jump off the bison to do a quick sweep of the house before helping get Kyoshi down. They entered the house and went into the closest bedroom near the entrance, Rangi and Wong each with an arm around Kyoshi, she would wake up every now and then, but could not stand up by herself. Kirima started preparing a bed roll for Kyoshi and had Rangi and Wong lay her down on it.

“We need to get her a healer around here who’s familiar with burns. These are a little too much for me.” Kirima said regrettably, she wanted to start working on Kyoshi as soon as possible but she didn’t even know where to start. She could only do so much while they were flying, trying not to agitate her wounds and she wanted to see how her back and chest were fairing, hoping the chain mail did its job.

“I’ll go.” Said Lek before Kirima even finished.

This took Rangi off guard. She didn’t expect the young earth bender to be so quick about helping Kyoshi, but then again she shouldn’t. He was the first one to run after Kyoshi when Rangi couldn’t even move her feet to help her. She was still being bombarded by the images of Kyoshi laying on the ground being struck in the back by the lighting. She couldn’t bring herself to move and it pains her so much that she let Kyoshi down.

“Right behind you.”

Wong and Lek quickly headed out the house and towards Pengpeng, Rangi walked out after them, but had to stop to compose herself for a moment before her emotions got the best of her. She has never been really emotional given the way she was raised, but when it comes to Kyoshi all bets are off and she can’t seem to control herself.

“Lek, wait.”

Lek turned around and saw Rangi walking towards them, her eyes were rimmed red and she seemed to lose that air of confidence and authority that always surrounded her, she looked so small.

“I- I just want to say thank you for what you did out there tonight. I was so overwhelmed seeing Kyoshi like that and you just went on to help her with no hesitation. I know you guys have your differences, but that didn’t stop you from going to her aid even back at the raid. Not only that I froze today and that’s not something I do. At all. But you were able to snap me out of it and get me back to her. I am honored to fight alongside you guys and I couldn’t think of people better to accompany the avatar.” She finished with a bow towards him.

Lek was shocked, he took a minute to respond, but when he did he hurried to return the gesture, he didn’t think this is what Rangi wanted to talk about. He thought she was just going to tell him they needed more supplies or something. To be honest he didn’t even know why he ran towards Kyoshi, it was sort of like instinct to protect her. Like when she broke Wai’s fingers for trying to put his hands on Lek again. With that thought in mind he looked at Rangi straight in her eyes “I would do whatever it takes to protect my family” He said with finality.

Rangi let a small smile grace her lips, she nodded towards him and then looked towards Wong who was watching them with an intense look on his face as if to say “Me too.” She gave him a nod too and told them to stay safe, she headed back towards the house feeling a bit better. Kyoshi might not know it, but she has people aside from Rangi who would protect her with their entire beings, she has family and to Rangi that is the best thing that Kyoshi could ever have.