Love in Danger chapter 14 : How to start a Rebellion

A line of Earth Kingdom villagers stood filed near the gate at the entrance of the town during tax collection day. The tax collections were being overseen not only by Earth Kingdom soldiers, but by Fire Nation combatants as well. A collaboration agreement had been met by the Earth and Fire Nations; the Fire Nation soldiers would stay behind to assist in the reconstruction of the Earth

Kingdom and in return the Fire Nation army would be allowed to completely withdraw unconditionally in five years. It was not a settlement the entire Earth Kingdom had an easy time coming with; the citizens of the Earth Nation were terrified of the Fire Nation, they simply wanted their army to leave immediately, however the Earth King was aware that the military of his nation alone was not large enough to rebuild the nation on its own, especially after the war had greatly thinned its numbers, so he and the Fire Lord felt they had no choice but to order the Fire Nation army to help with the reconstruction.

A young man reluctantly dropped a handful of coins into the collection box that an Earth Kingdom colonel held in his palms. Two Earthbender soldiers stood beside him and three Firebenders stood uncomfortably behind him.

"The tax is 20 gold pieces" said the colonel when the young man attempted to walk away. "Last time it was 10!" the man retorted.

"The tax had doubled to aid in the relief effort" the colonel explained. "We all have to do our part in rebuilding our nation."

"Relief effort?" the man repeated. "Our village was destroyed during the war; we're the ones who need help."

"You are required by His Majesty the Earth King to pay 20 gold pieces for your taxes" the colonel said uncaringly.

"I don't have 20 gold pieces" the man said impatiently. "I had to buy food yesterday."

"Next time you will be expected to pay 30 in that case" the colonel said. The crowd murmured quietly. 30 gold pieces was easily worth twice what anyone in the humble farming village made in a month.

"That's outrageous!" the man shouted.

"You have no choice. I'm sorry but we must all do our part in restoring our great nation to its former glory."

The soldier closed the box and turned to leave.

The man he had demanded pay more than what he could afford for his taxes stood breathing heavily. He scowled and retaliated, "What do you know about the Earth Kingdom's glory, you damned hypocrite?! You say you want to restore our country and yet you and your taxes suck us dry of our wealth and force us into poverty. And while we struggle desperately to grow enough crops to earn money sufficient to appease the King and our hunger, you sit in your warm expensive bases, stuffing your faces with those dirty Fire Nation savages!"

The colonel halted but said nothing, not wanting to give the tirade of a peasant any validity.

"Those barbarians burned our cities and villages to the ground and slaughtered thousands of our innocents and yet you stand beside them as if they're your allies" the man continued.

"The new Fire Lord is not like Ozai" said the colonel. "The Fire Nation has repented its malicious ways. They are our allies now."

"Is that so?" the man questioned. "They sure weren't my allies when they killed my parents and turned my house into a smoldering pile of embers. They weren't your allies when thousands of your soldiers rode into battle against them, knowing they wouldn't return. They weren't our allies

when every single man, woman and child in this country lied awake at night knowing that they weren't safe because any day an army of Firebenders could come and destroy everything and everyone they loved!"

For a while everyone was silenced in awe by this remark. Instead of the colonel it was one of the Firebenders who answered after the quiet drifted for minutes. He removed his helmet and spoke calmly. "I know the people of my country have wronged you" he said. "I cannot speak for everyone in my nation but I am deeply sorry for all of your troubles. It is true there are some soldiers who don't regret what they have done but you must understand that we all once thought that the war was the Fire Nation's way of sharing our prosperity with the Earth Kingdom. It came as a great shock to most of us when Fire Lord Zuko told us the truth. I am deeply sorry for what happened in the war and hope that in time the people of our countries can stand side by side again."

The young, angry man stared blankly at the soldier who had spoken. He seethed with hatred as he yelled, "I know you; you killed my father!"

The man ran at the Fire soldier.

"I did?" asked the soldier confusedly, not remembering the man's face.

The young man kicked up a desk-sized rock with his Earthbending and prepared to strike down the soldier. Before he could however, the colonel stepped between them and batted the young Earthbender down with the back of his arm.

"That's quite enough of that" said the colonel. "The next time you consider using your Earthbending to attack a soldier, consider this; you now owe 45 gold pieces to the Earth King."

The soldiers then left, but the Firebender who had spoken up stared back, guiltily. The other villagers helped the young rebel to his feet.

"You have some real guts" a man about his age said.

"You were right. Everything you said was right" an old woman said. "The idea of the Earth King making us coexist with those savages is disgusting!"

"We hate them!" another man said. "They should just go home!" "Yeah!" an old man said. "My wife was killed by the Fire Nation!"

"It's a shame that now you have to pay extra taxes just for telling the truth" said a young woman. "It's not your fault you attacked that soldier, any of us would have done the same thing."

The man nodded. "I can't afford to pay 45 gold pieces by next month" he said grimly. "And if I don't pay they'll put me in prison."

"We'll help you" another woman said.

"Yeah if we'll each chip in a little and you'll be able to pay your taxes" said a man. "No" said the rebel. "I can't ask you to sacrifice your income for me."

"You can't let those soldiers push you around though!" said an adolescent boy.

"I know" the rebel replied. "That is why I will not pay my taxes at all the next time they come."

"What?" said one person.

"You can't do that!" said another.

"You'll be severely punished!" another warned.

"So?" asked the rebel. "Those soldiers will tax me of everything that I am as I am forced to look passively into the eyes of my father's killer. What can they possibly do to me that is worse than what they already put me through? If they kill me where I stand on the day when I refuse it will be worth it, because I would show them that the Earth King cannot oppress me. I would die with my honor and pride intact. I would die with freedom."

The crowd of villagers remained hushed in admiration of the man's defiance. In actuality the majority of them agreed with him, they had just never realized that going against the King was an option.

"I'm with you!" a man said. "I have a family of five to feed; I can't and won't pay 20 gold pieces each month."

"So am I!" said another villager. "I watched a Firebender kill my daughter." "Opposing the soldiers will be dangerous" warned the rebel.

"What danger? Half of us are Earthbenders!" boasted a young man. "We outnumber them ten to one!" pointed out another.

"Besides, my family was completely destroyed; like a lot of us, I don't have anything to loose!" proclaimed another.

"Very well," said the rebel. "Next month we will revolt against the Earth King's tyranny and stand up for our freedom!"

"Revolt!" shouted a woman. "Revolt!" yelled a man.

"Revolt!" shouted three brothers.

"Revolt!" all of the villagers shouted as they took the rebel by his arms and hoisted him into the air, showing their hero to the entire world, not knowing that he was in fact a Dai Li agent whose father's death was to due a heart-attack and that this exact same thing was happening in numerous villages all over the kingdom.

Dai Li is back on its feet and this rebellion is just the start of the war that is to come, the war that will tear the Earth Kingdom apart, The Great Civil War. Earth Kingdom is in danger and now is in need of the Avatar once again but will the Avatar, the master of All four Elements, master of the Avatar state and the only energybender besides the Giant Lion Turtle be able to help them or will he prioritize his Love for Katara and the unborn children she sires of him more than the Kingdom, only time can tell, only time will tell.