Chapter Text
After Kayoko stormed off with other guards and benders to go deal with the rest of the mess of Ellora’s lockdown, fleeing benders, talking to the departing envoys, and hunting down the Avatar, Datu saw Jae draw in another shaky breath behind Kayoko’s back. So Datu grabbed Jae’s hand in his own and pulled Jae away.
“Datu?” Jae hissed in surprise.
Everyone in the compound was scared and running around, helping the fallen envoys, cleaning up the damage from Anomaly, figuring out how to reschedule patrols with fewer benders… And word of what happened was spreading along with the alarm.
But Datu didn’t want to worry about that for now. They ended up in a thankfully still orderly training room and Datu shut the door behind them, before setting his spear by the exit.
“Datu,” Jae began again, “I need to find the Avatar! Nisha’s out there alone, and she needs—!”
“You’re still covering for them,” Datu said as he turned to face Jae, who looked terrified. “Aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” Jae replied, his expression becoming determined. “I am.” He breathed in deeply and his gaze grew steadier. But Datu could see the slight tremble in his hand.
Datu shut his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to ground himself amidst all the chaos of the day. “The Avatar really is a little girl, huh?” Seeing her bend all those elements… It was awe-inspiring and terrifying…
“I told you—” Jae began.
“I know!” Datu interrupted. “It’s just… another thing to see it. And they’re twins?” Imagining two people, especially children, like that out on the loose…
He supposed he could understand why the Order of the White Lotus kept things quiet.
“Yeah,” Jae said.
Datu breathed in deeply and ran a hand over his eyes. “You know, I hoped… I really hoped it was just… a mistake or something.”
“I told you they’re the Avatars,” Jae said with a frown.
“I know and I believed you,” Datu said as he put his hand down and walked closer to Jae to hold his hands again. “Obviously I believe you now. But I hoped, just…” Datu looked into Jae’s dark eyes and said, “You’re really guarding the Avatars.” It was all truly real now.
“I am,” Jae said. His expression grew worried. “Though now that Nisha’s fled, I have no idea where she went. And that was horrible… She was so upset…”
“A nine-year-old against the Faceless?” Datu asked. “Especially a bender like Agam, who seems really strong? That’s… yeah. And all of Ellora fearing her…” Including me.
“And losing Karthik, Shilpa, and Hamka…” Jae added. “I need to get out there and find her. And Pavi!” He frowned. “Why weren’t they together? They always are these days…”
“But the other benders are going to come looking for you once you’re out of here,” Datu said, looking pointedly at Jae’s new badge. “Commander.”
Jae glanced down and then away. “This is all wrong. Karthik didn’t want me to join them, but… I should have been with them! Maybe together we could have…” But even he didn’t sound convinced.
“As great a bender as you are, I don’t know that it would have been enough,” Datu said. “And then you’d be down in prison with them.” Datu didn’t want to imagine that.
“But I’m not a Commander,” Jae said. He reached up to the badge, as if to yank it off, but paused, possibly wondering who would have the job if Jae didn’t.
“It puts you in the best position to help the others,” Datu said, watching the indecision on Jae’s face. “You made the right call.”
“I thought I’d shake to bits,” Jae said after a while, smiling nervously at Datu. “Attacking Commander Karthik? Admitting all that to Chancellor Kayoko…?” He laughed, a bit manically, and said, “Wow, I’m so great at this whole secret society thing… I’ve spilled all their secrets in less than a year!”
“You had one of the more level heads in that room,” Datu replied. “Chancellor Kayoko… I’ve never seen her like this… She was enraged.”
“She and Karthik were close,” Jae said. “At least that was the impression I had.”
“Yeah,” Datu said. “I can only imagine…” He smiled sadly. “If you hadn’t told me about all this in advance…” He could almost picture himself in Kayoko’s shoes. “Though at least I’m not in charge of the haven.” I just have to tear apart the Brigade Compound...
“Things are going to get worse moving forward,” Jae said. “Without Karthik in charge, and Kayoko ready to rip anyone in her way to shreds, and now the Avatars are missing… All while the summit is ongoing!” He frowned. “At least I think it is. I’ve never done one of these before.”
“It sounds like things are falling apart,” Datu said. “I don’t think there’s much of a summit to fix. Especially when you have even fewer benders to gather together to manage anything and now we’re going to be arresting anyone who goes against Kayoko.”
“How do we fix this?” Jae demanded, gazing up at Datu in alarm. “This is so much bigger than anything I thought might happen…”
“You were protecting the Avatar,” Datu said, quietly. “What did you think would happen?”
“I don’t know!” Jae replied, sounding angry. “That people might one day see that they’re just little girls who don’t want to hurt anyone and think, ‘Well, maybe Korra was a one-off’ or something? Nisha was trying to help fight the Faceless!” Then he muttered, “Even if she wasn’t ready… She’s always trying to prove herself…”
“Not everyone is you, Jae,” Datu said. “People are scared and hungry, and their neighbors and family are disappearing. We don’t have any allies and people want someone to blame.”
“I know,” Jae said. “I just… thought it’d sort itself out.” His voice was small and sad, even lonely. “What mattered was training and protecting Pavi and Nisha.”
“You’ll need to give some sort of excuse,” Datu said. “Something so that you can go alone, or… I’ll go with you? Though I wouldn’t be of help against an Avatar…” Datu could face regular nonbenders who might harass Kayoko the council, sure, and maybe one bender alone, under the right circumstances, but the Avatar? "You're supposed to show me what or who to look for anyway."
Jae frowned. “No, that could work! Nisha wouldn’t hurt you, and it’d show cooperation between the Brigade and the guard. The way Kayoko threw you at the Avatar isn’t going to win us any favors.”
“I’m not sure she’s the one who’s going to be getting them this way, either,” Datu noted, thinking Kayoko had made and was continuing to make far more enemies than allies as the minutes passed. “Also, how do you know Nisha wouldn’t attack me? I was holding a spear at her face earlier, on Kayoko’s order.”
“She’s a good kid,” Jae said. “She trusts me. And she’s met you before. I can make it work. …I think.”
Datu was wary.
Jae gazed at him for a while, and then his expression fell. “No. I get it. It’s the Avatar we’re talking about. The person who destroyed the world. You may have met her but you don’t know her. If you don’t want to come with me, Datu, I understand.”
Datu frowned, not liking the defeatist tone in Jae’s voice. “Look, Jae, I may be scared, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going with you. I’m just assessing the situation. You need people with their heads on straight for this. Whatever comes.” Alone, they’d all lose it. “We’ve seen what happens when we turn our backs on each other.”
“I’m glad you’re with me,” Jae said as he leaned forward to rest his head against Datu’s chest. “I couldn’t do this without you.” For a powerful airbender who’d just fooled the Chancellor of Ellora and been made Commander of the Bender Brigade, he seemed so small and helpless.
“As long as you’re okay with me maybe being a bit alarmed,” Datu said with a soft laugh. “At times. Maybe a lot more. …I’m still processing.”
“I’m still processing,” Jae said with a smile. “At least we have each other to panic with, right?” It didn’t quite work as a joke.
Datu wrapped his arms around Jae and held him close. “Yeah. We do.”
They were quiet for a few more moments, before Jae said, “We need to go find those girls. Make sure they’re okay. Before anything worse happens. And I… guess I’ll figure the rest out.”
“I’ve got you,” Datu said. “Even if Chancellor Kayoko… Well. I’ve got you.” He felt like he was on the precipice of something, and it was terrifying. In the moment where Kayoko had started getting more furious, Datu had felt he was standing in the wrong place, but training kept him by her side. And he wasn’t sure what that said about him. “There’s no one else I’d rather get into all this with.” He smiled down at Jae. Here, at least, things made sense, even as the world went to chaos.
Jae looked up to smile back at him, and then pushed up for a warm kiss. Afterwards, he whispered against Datu’s lips, “I love you, Datu.”
“I love you, too, Jae,” Datu said. He let Jae go, to straighten his uniform. Datu turned back to grab his spear. And then he looked at Jae, who was gazing worriedly at the badge. But he didn't seem as overwhelmed as he was before, when Datu had pulled him in here, which was something.
Datu reached out his free hand again and smiled, trying to be comforting. “Jae?”
Jae looked up, and his expression softened when his gaze met Datu’s. “Okay. I’m ready.” He reached out to take Datu’s hand.