Chapter Text
Jae finished his Popsicle and helped Karthik clean up the cafeteria, trying not to think about all the food waste in the wake of all their other problems, especially with increased shortages due to the Faceless raids. It was far later when he was able to head back to Datu’s place, breathe in deeply before the closed door, knock, and hear Datu call, “Yes?”
“It’s me,” Jae replied.
“Oh, Jae. Come in!”
Jae pushed open the doors to find Datu sitting on the orange bench he used for weights, not touching them. He looked up at Jae’s appearance and smiled, but it was clearly forced. Electric light from the wall lanterns kept him visible, but there were shadows everywhere.
Jae shut the doors behind him and let himself settle more. He had spent the walk here – not riding on his air skimmer, since he needed time to think – thinking over what to say. He’d thought over and over of what he’d read in the journal, but also Karthik’s assault on Molin, silencing him rather than trusting that Molin could be talked down. Jae understood Karthik’s concern, especially given Chancellor Kayoko had been held under Molin’s spear, but Jae had also seen Molin backing down. There had been hope that things could be de-escalated without further violence.
As he’d gone to the cafeteria to think it over, he’d thought of Kayoko’s fear, and his own anxiety if he’d been held like that, unable to fight back, while everyone in the city was afraid. And how at risk Molin’s words put the lives of both Pavi and Nisha, who were likely to be recognized if he’d been allowed to finish what he’d been saying.
And he’d seen the way Karthik hid Pavi and Nisha’s existence from the Council, at every turn. How the lies spilled so freely from the older man leading to the speech. And how Jae had lied to Datu more than once, now, terrifying and awful as it was. Yes, he understood very well what Karthik meant about difficult decisions.
And the result had been the man Jae loved joining a group of terrified guards, and slumping over in frustration in Jae’s arms after the Chancellor was attacked.
Jae walked over to Datu and rested his left hand on Datu’s cheek, brushing the warm brown skin there. “How are you doing?”
Datu shrugged his broad shoulders, absent of his heavy armor. “You know. About as well as can be, I suppose.”
Jae pressed his lips together.
“Finished up with work?” Datu asked with a smile, trying to sound a little lighter. “I can only imagine what the Chancellor has you all up to.” His gaze lowered. “I don’t even know if I’ll have my job in the coming weeks. Would Chancellor Kayoko or the other council members even trust us now?”
Jae winced. Karthik hadn’t told him anything, but the fact Datu and the other guards had been rounded up for questioning by Shilpa, but let go, was understandable and frustrating. He couldn’t fathom how Kayoko would be comfortable in council meetings going forward, even if some of the guards had clearly never joined the group Molin had been part of, and even took Molin away after Karthik and Daemin disabled him.
Jae didn’t think Datu should lose his job. But that wasn’t his decision to make. Datu had a lot on his plate right now.
And more innocents might be drawn into this if we say nothing, Jae thought. Kayoko didn’t even know about the Avatars. And Molin had assaulted her anyway, because he assumed she would know, as the city’s leader.
Jae stepped closer to Datu, so that Datu’s right arm pressed against Jae’s chest. “Datu… what I say here can’t be repeated to others. Please. This doesn’t have to do with the council or the Brigade.”
Datu looked up at him with a frown. “Okay. What is it?”
“…The Avatar is back, Datu.”
Jae was so close he felt Datu freeze.
“She’s not some monster come to destroy us,” Jae insisted, reaching out to hold Datu’s left shoulder tightly. “They’re not… Datu, they’re nine years old, these two girls. One of them saves bugs from getting stepped on.” He wasn’t sure if it was that or how she’d saved his life or any number of other factors that had made him change his mind. Probably all of it. But I can’t replicate that for him.
“They’re…? Girls? Nine?” Datu’s eyes were wide as he stared up at Jae. “Jae, what are you—?!”
“Shh!” Jae said, leaning in closer. “Please. I’m not supposed to be telling you this. I know I shouldn’t. It’s dangerous for them. For us.” He waited until Datu was still again. “Remember when I ran after someone into the Harshlands?”
“Yeah,” Datu replied, still wary. “The other guards were wondering if you lost it.”
“I was chasing what I thought was just an unregistered earthbender,” Jae said. “But she was actually the Avatar. One of the Avatars, anyway.” Things seemed so simple back then. Sure, there were still incidents every now and then, though most predated Jae’s squad dates. Jae had no idea things could go so wrong.
“One of…? What are you talking about?”
“There’s always been one,” Jae insisted. “Just one person. But for now, for whatever reason, the Avatar is a set of twin sisters.”
Datu stared at him for a bit, clearly confused, but he wasn’t pulling or pushing Jae just yet. Then his eyes widened. “You can’t mean… Pavi and Nisha?!”
Jae nodded his head, jerkily. “Yes. Them.” He’d decided on this, and yet it was still hard to do. And if he was wrong, both girls were in danger. As were Karthik, Shilpa, Hamka, and Daemin. “I’m in charge of looking after them. I volunteered.”
“…How long?” Datu asked, after a long silence. “How long have you been doing this?”
“I met Pavi for the first time that day I raced after her into the Harshlands,” Jae said, hoping Datu staying seated without Jae doing much meant he’d made the right choice. “And a short while later, I met Nisha for the first time.”
“You never said anything,” Datu replied, “You only said things were normal… And then you focused on the Faceless and the Anomaly…”
“Can’t you see why?!” Jae asked. “Datu, I was as alarmed as you are. As scared at the idea of the Avatar being back…” He still hadn’t learned all that much about what Avatar Korra did, but Pavi and Nisha had questions, and they’d made him wonder more than he ever had. “But I was expecting some giant monster tearing the haven down, not some little earthbender who desperately saved both our lives in a storm, even after I’d chased her into it!”
“She saved your life?” Datu asked, surprised.
Jae grimaced before he replied, “A storm was already brewing when we raced out into the Harshlands. We found shelter of a kind, but the storm found us there, too. I got buried in rubble, and Pavi ran out to rescue me, even as debris kept hitting her. But when there was this huge metal object coming for her… She airbent it away, which is how I learned she was the Avatar. And then got me out.”
“You nearly died in a storm?!” Datu asked, reaching out to hug Jae close. “Jae…” He sounded scared, and Jae didn’t like hearing that tone in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” Jae said, pained at the mountain of lies between them. “I didn’t… I couldn’t tell you.” The whole day had been one thing after another. “I needed to talk to Captain Karthik and explain, and he was being avoidant. He didn’t accept what I said. But he was the only person I could think of.”
“…Because it was a Brigade thing,” Datu said, his voice low. “So you didn’t tell anyone else.”
“Yes,” Jae said. He pulled away so that he could stare down into Datu’s eyes. “Unregistered benders are the Brigade’s problem. And because if she was a danger, then I had someone on my side who could face the problem. I didn’t want to put you in harm’s way, Datu.”
Datu frowned at him. “You did that to protect me?”
“Partially, yeah,” Jae retorted. “I also don’t have much experience bringing unhoused kids to the haven who also are superpowered enemies of Ellora. What would you have done?”
Datu stared up at him for a while, before turning away. “I don’t know.”
“I didn’t do it because I don’t trust you,” Jae said, quieter. “Or because I don’t believe in you. Commander Karthik is my commander, and we have rules. I trust him.” Even if the trust was wavering in recent days, and Jae felt like he kept breaking more and more rules.
“I get it,” Datu said. “It’s just… the rest?”
“I couldn’t risk it,” Jae said. “So many people hate the Avatar. I did. You do. What did you expect?”
“That you knew I was scared and would be honest with me!” Datu said.
“This is more important than that!” Jae said, his voice louder. His face burned a bit as Datu stared at him. “Datu, I love you, but I couldn’t risk Pavi and Nisha’s safety. And I didn’t know you were so scared until recently. I thought you, like a lot of Ellorans, viewed the Avatar as some far-off fantasy. Especially with the Faceless and the Anomaly, it seemed like everyone had other things to worry about. The Brigade recruits new benders all the time. It’s not like you bug me about not telling you about them all.”
Datu’s lips parted, but he didn’t reply. And Jae knew he was struggling.
“But I also knew it was wrong to keep the truth buried,” Jae said. “I changed my mind. There are others working with us to protect the Avatars. Surely more people could be like us and see that, well… maybe Avatar Korra did something wrong, but these girls aren’t like that. They aren’t some haunting in the night waiting to come after us.”
“They like kachoris,” Datu said, quietly.
Jae smiled and said, “Yeah. They do. And spring rolls.” They’re just normal girls. Outside the Avatar bit.
“I think I’d have noticed if they brought down Agam’s shop,” Datu said, smiling slightly.
Jae nodded, almost afraid to move in case he was imagining all this.
“…Commander Karthik knows?” Datu asked.
“Yes,” Jae said, wondering if they’d get right back into dangerous territory. “He knows. He found Nisha, years ago. He didn’t know she was a twin. Or that her twin was also an Avatar.”
“And yet,” Datu continued, sounding angrier, “he stood beside Chancellor Kayoko while she said the rumors were unfounded, that the Chancellor would find the Avatar…”
“She doesn’t know,” Jae said. “And Karthik… I imagine has his own reasons for not telling her.”
“He could go to prison for that,” Datu said. “You could.”
“Yeah,” Jae said. He didn’t want to think about it. “But there’s more at stake than my life. Those girls need me.”
Datu was quiet for a while. Finally, he asked, “Why tell me now?”
“Because I saw what Karthik’s way of doing things led to,” Jae said. “And I know I had Molin for a moment, before he stepped in. And I don’t think that’s the only path forward. And I fear that if we keep walking down that path, there will be more Chancellor Kayokos. And…” He leaned his head so he could rest it against Datu’s. “I don’t want to lose you to fear like we did Molin.”
“How does this change that?” Datu said. “You’ve told me that the head of the Brigade can’t be trusted, that the head of the council is in the dark, and my boyfriend is a liar, while there are two Avatars running around the city, unknown to most people…”
“You’ve met them!” Jae insisted. “You’ve seen them! They wouldn’t hurt you! They wouldn’t hurt anyone! They want to protect this place as much as we do. It’s their home!”
“So you expect me to lie to everyone, with you?” Datu asked, sounding angry again.
“I expect you to help me,” Jae said, making Datu’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. “Help me see a way through this in a way I haven’t, because I’d have a nonbender’s perspective, which I haven’t had. Everyone I know, thus far, who knows this secret, is from the Brigade. And this is more than a bending problem. The Avatar destroyed your world, too.”
Datu was quiet again, and Jae hoped his heart rate would slow down. He still believed in his decision, whatever Karthik said. They needed more people to know before something worse happened.
And he hoped Hamka and Shilpa wouldn’t kill him. If they felt airbenders did the right thing, well… he believed he was.
Maybe Daemin will help me, Jae thought, bitterly. Though we’ve barely talked since I learned he knew.
“You’ve been carrying this for a long time, huh?” Datu asked. “No wonder you’ve been so anxious.”
Jae laughed and said, “At least I knew. You’ve been in the dark. About this, on top of everything else. And maybe I can’t help with the Faceless or the Anomaly, but this… I could. And I didn’t want to lose you because of my cowardice.” He reached out to hug Datu’s head to his chest. “I need you, Datu. We need each other.” Then he swallowed. “But if it’s too much, then I understand if you… If you wanted…” He slowly pulled away. Losing Datu would break him, especially now. But this was larger than everything. Seeing those words in the journal hadn’t hurt in the way Jae’s lies likely hurt Datu.
Datu tightened his grip around Jae’s body, keeping him close. “To what? Leave you? Like this? When you’re facing off against Commander Karthik and the Avatar of all people?”
Jae laughed nervously. “Oh you know. Just another day in the Brigade…”
“I’m not an asshole,” Datu said. “I’m not abandoning you.”
Jae smiled then, so grateful.
Datu sighed and then said, “You’re amazing, Jae.” There was fondness in his voice. “And I’m glad you finally trusted me.”
“I’m sorry it took so long,” Jae said.
“I haven’t exactly been exuding trust, either,” Datu noted, ruefully. “With everything that’s happened.”
“I do admit I wondered what I’d have to do to make you rethink calling me a liar and a traitor,” Jae said. “Even by association.”
“Jae…” Datu began. “I’m sorry, really.”
“I mean I was a liar,” Jae said. “I did lie… And by hiding the Avatar, I can see why that would make me a traitor to Ellora. We’re already breaking so many rules… So you’re not wrong.”
“And if the Avatar wasn’t two little girls?” Datu asked. “What would you do?”
“…I don’t know,” Jae said. “I like to think I’d do the best I could, for myself, and Ellora.”
“I think so, too,” Datu said. “You’re not a traitor, Jae. Neither is the Brigade. Not when we’re supposed to help each other survive. Including two little girls.”
“And Commander Karthik?” Jae asked. “What do you think of him?” Jae hadn’t told Datu everything, nor had he spoken of Shilpa, Hamka, and Daemin, but he knew he’d probably have to say more in the coming days. He planned to take it as it came, though.
“…That one, I may have to think on,” Datu said. “But tonight… let me just think on what I’m going to say to my coworkers in the morning, assuming I have a job. And how to make my boyfriend feel less scared, even when he’s in my arms.”
Jae’s face grew hot, and then he laughed, nervously. “That you’re going to have to figure out on your own. Because I have no clue.” Jae kissed Datu’s forehead and whispered, “I really don’t…” Things had been so rough ever since he’d run out into the Harshlands, and he’d felt a little stronger once Pavi and Nisha had both accepted him. And this felt like even more steadiness under his feet.
“We’ll figure it out, Jae,” Datu said. “When we’re together, we’re unstoppable, right?”
“Yeah,” Jae said as he shut his eyes, grateful. “We are.”