#TEJ FATHERS GLORY

[conjectureand-gloom]

spamming christian primary school hymn songs in my taylor swift gc :)

@like-the-stars-i-shine (you aren’t on this gc but. you went to said christian primary school and yk which hymn i mean- look at the tags)

[omnivorousshipper]

ATLA AU: Chasing Legacy - Part 4

Summary: Luke Hobbs’ peaceful life in Ba Sing Se is turned on its head when he discovers the next Avatar. Now, he has to fight off crazy ex-princes, glory seeking admirals, hordes of bandits, and even the spirits themselves as he has to follow the path the universe has set his family on.

Part 3

           Standing at the helm of his ship, Brian O’Conner stared out between the two larger ships hiding his own and watched the sliver of Ba Sing Se he could see. But even that was enough to show him the bustling crowds of people and lights that strung through the streets. And even though he couldn’t see them, he knew the Dai Li were watching him back. Ever since he had started his new life as a smuggler, working under his brother-in-law Dom, he had dreaded ever meeting the rumored terrors that were the Dai Li.

           And something deep inside him told him making that deal with the guard had brought him even closer to meeting them.

           In the past few years, Brian wouldn’t have been so cautious with outrunning any authority when he had so much experience being a guard himself and knew exactly how to evade them. However, ever since his daughter had been born, he had been much more careful in the way he acted, especially when he took trips into Ba Sing Se, where the war didn’t exist. He didn’t need the extra trouble that the Dai Li wanted to bring down on his head if he ever stepped too far out of line—there was only so much criminal activity they allowed before they would make a person disappear.

           Brian leaned heavily against the railing of the ship and listened to Tej and Roman bickering on the other side of the ship. Normally, he and Dom would make trips into Ba Sing Se, but the man had stayed home to help protect a city from Fire Nation soldiers trying to round up earthbenders. So, Brian had invited Roman along to take Dom’s place, but was starting to regret it when Roman kept talking about sneaking into Upper Ring parties. The earthbender had no idea how to act like nobility and Brian wasn’t about to give him a crash course. Maybe taking up the guard’s request wasn’t the worst move if it got them out of Ba Sing Se quicker.

           Glancing around, Brian squinted when he saw a large figure appear out of a dark alley, a much smaller shadow following after him. Straightening up, Brian hurried to grab up the gangplank and set it out for the two. He didn’t need more earthbending near his boat, thank you very much.

           Watching the two figures, Brian felt a pang of sympathy reverberate in his chest as he watched the guard and his daughter holding only a few belongings. The little girl was much older than his kids, but that didn’t matter when she had an extremely frightened look on her face as they approached the boat. Brian could tell even from this distance that the girl had the same strong walk as her father and a small glint of light shone in her hair, and Brian would bet a few coins on her having a stone decoration as a hair piece. Definitely an earthbender—which meant there would be three benders on his boat. Great.

           “Welcome aboard.” Brian nodded cordially to the guard and his daughter, who hid behind the large man. “I hope you have everything you want, we’re not turning around.”

           “We’re fine.” The guard said lowly.

           “Good.” Brian smiled down at the girl, trying to seem less threatening. “My name’s Brian O’Conner.”

           “Sam.” The girl whispered after looking up to her father for any instructions on what to say.

           “Luke.” The guard told him, but the suspicious glint in his eyes didn’t disappear as he kept looking Brian over. By the tension in his shoulders, Brian knew he better keep Roman away from them or else his friend would surely piss Luke off and Brian already disliked having three benders on his boat without any of them bending and fighting.

           “Ground rules,” Brian began. “You don’t ask us any questions about anything on my boat, and we won’t ask you any questions about why you’re leaving. Second, no bending whatsoever on my ship—”

           “Why?” Sam spoke up, a small pout on her face.

           “Because earthbending doesn’t mix well with ships.” Brian told her gently. “Same goes for waterbenders. I don’t like them moving the water around my ship in case they damage it at all.”

           “What about firebending or airbending?”

           Brian blinked and frowned. Glancing at Luke, he could see the man was equally shocked by his daughter’s question.

           “Well,” Brian spoke slowly. “I’ve never met an airbender, so I doubt I’ll ever have one on my ship. As for firebending, well, the day a firebender gets on my ship, that’s the day I’ll go down with her.”

           “What do you mean?” Sam frowned, looking frightened. “What’s wrong with firebenders?”

           Before Brian could even think about a response, Luke shushed Sam.

           “Do we have a place to rest?” Luke asked, switching topics swiftly and awkwardly as Sam glared up at him for interrupting her.

           “Yeah, down below. Tej can show you.” Pointing them towards the narrow stairs going down below, Brian stared after the small family as Luke barely squeezed into the passage and Sam gazed at everything with wide eyes. He could hear them talking with Tej and Roman, and while Brian knew he should go talk to his friends about their passengers, he was still too confused by the conversation he just had.

           Even though Brian visited Ba Sing Se quite a bit, and doing a good deal of his deals in the city, he sometimes forgot that the people inside the walls ignored everything happening outside of them. The war had been going on for a century, Brian and almost everyone he knew having been born into it and fighting against the Fire Nation for as long as they could remember. But, for children like Sam that were growing up in Ba Sing Se, where the war didn’t exist, they lived a completely different life.

           Brian could only hope that Luke taught Sam about the war and Fire Nation quickly, or else the little girl might as the wrong people the questions she asked Brian. He didn’t want to see her hurt just because she was curious about the world and how it should have existed a hundred years ago.

           Shaking his head, Brian began to until his ship from the docks, and soon enough, the Skyline pushed away from the ships surrounding it and disappeared into the night. Crew and passengers alike settling down for their journey.