I wanted to sigh but held it back.  We were at the town meeting and it felt like everything had devolved into chaos almost immediately.

“I’m all for peace,” an older hydra was saying, “but I refuse to agree with integration!  I’ve lost my brother and my daughter to kapras, and I will not dishonor them by fraternizing with the enemy!”

“You killed my mom!”  A kapra glared back at him.  “You should be glad I’m not attacking you here and now!”

And that was just a small fraction of it.  The townspeople had mostly split into their two relative sides when entering the school auditorium – the only place large enough and on neutral territory that could house most of the town – and while Gia and Jorge and the people on their side who were trying to argue for integration were desperately attempting to calm people down.

As the squabbling continued, I closed my eyes briefly.  I’d been hopeful maybe things could change, but this really wasn’t that different.  People said they wanted peace, but they still hated the other side.  How could I guarantee that things would stay peaceful if the curse was lifted if that hatred still remained?

“Enough!”

Everyone looked at the front of the room, startled, when Toph’s voice boomed through the room.  He looked at them with that smile on his face, one that somehow read that they were all in trouble.

“I’m a sphinx,” he stated before any of them could ask, “and I’m older than all of you, so I’m taking charge of this meeting.  And we’re going to start by all sitting down and being quiet.”  He stared at several people who seemed inclined to argue and they quailed under his gaze and obediently went to sit down, too.

I noticed Manuel there, looking a bit hesitant, but to my surprise, as the meeting started, I also spotted Marilyn in the far back.  She didn’t sit down and looked very grumpy about being there.  I decided not to call her out, because she was allowed to know what was going on, too, but I doubted she was there to join the discussion for good and I might have to be prepared for Marilyn causing a scene.

But for now, Toph was in charge of the room, and he didn’t waste any time.

“Aren’t you tired?”  He asked them.  “Tired of fighting and fighting and losing loved ones and peace and safety to this feud?  You’ve all lost so much.  Peace of mind, loved ones, futures – so much that’s been lost for no good reason.”

People bristled at this, but Toph didn’t let them have a chance to interject thoughts on that statement.  Instead, he repeated what I’d said earlier to my family, about the history of this feud.  People looked a little shellshocked, and as they did, I opened up a box.

“I brought copies of the records on the kapra/hydra feud origins,” I informed them.  “That way no one has to just take my word for it.  The originals documents came from a friend of the founder of Rosen Library,” who happened to be my aunt, but I was leaving that out for now, “and have been authenticated by her and by several historians.  They’re, uh, in Greek,” I added, “but I’ve also attached the translations.”  I wasn’t sure this would be enough, but Gia was almost immediately coming up to the platform, her eyes sparkling as she accepted a copy.  Others followed suit and before long my box of copies was empty.  I hoped they’d be willing to share, but I wasn’t too worried about it since people were almost immediately crowding around anyone with a copy to see the documents.  They included a narrative from the kraken, several shipping records with details on the ship that sank, on the dye that the kapras had made, on the storm itself – a storm that had far exceeded anything the Mediterranean normally saw – and so on.  All the details spelled out.

“The truth is,” Toph stated in a sympathetic but firm voice, “this feud started because people disagreed at who was at fault, when really no one was at fault, it was a storm and nothing more.  If one side was at fault, they both were.  Which means this entire feud has really been for no good reason.  Yes, it’s a part of your own history, but really, if you think about it, can you really say you want to carry on a feud that’s arguing over a ship and cargo long since lost?”  He looked at them almost sadly.  “The origins of the feud were lost to most of you, with the only reason you have been fighting being that it’s your history.  Your heritage.  Kapras hate hydras and hydras hate kapras.  So you fight.  And you die.  And the next generation does the same.  Just – just because.”

They glanced at each other, looking almost abashed, but he wasn’t done.

“I’m not faulting you for the past.  You didn’t know, and the thing is, it’s the past.”  He straightened up a bit, eyeing a few members of the crowd specifically.  “I heard you all – most of you want peace.  You’re glad that the curse has prevented fights and deaths.  Well, that’s the first step.  Recognizing that peace is desirable.  But you need to put the past behind you, too.”  He spread his hands to both sides of the room.  “You have all been hurt by this feud.  You’ve all lost loved ones, lost time, lost peace of mind, lost potential futures – you’ve all given up a lot to this feud.  And maybe you’ll never be able to fully forgive someone who killed a family member you loved.  But unless you are willing to put that behind you anyway and strive for a better future, this town will never change.  If you let your hatred fester, then someday, if the curse is lifted, someone will start the feud all over again because they can’t let it go.”

Several people were looking at each other, while others looked angry or rebellious and some others – Gia and Jorge included – were nodding eagerly.

“There are centuries of hurt between your people,” Toph said gently.  “That can’t be undone in a day.  Even in a year.  It may take a long time before you can truly start to put the past behind you, but you need to be dedicated to that, if you truly want peace.  You need to be willing to put the past in the past and let go, and just start things over.  Either aim to integrate the town – fully, with no hydra side and no kapra side, just Terium.  Either that, or,” he paused deliberately for effect, “you need to leave.  You need to let this town end or let one side have it and the other side goes to someplace new.  This whole feud thing can’t continue.  You need to find a way to end it once and for all or leave so that you’re no longer constantly at war with each other.”

There was silence in the room following this declaration, as people looked kind of stunned.

“You all agree that you want peace, right?”  Toph pressed.  “Well, peace with an undercurrent of hate isn’t real peace.  It’ll end eventually.  If you want lasting peace, you either have to integrate and put the past behind you, even if you can’t forgive it, or you have to leave so that the war ends either way.  Partial peace isn’t peace.”

One of the kapras looked like he was struggling immensely with this.  “Leave?  You would have us leave our homes for – for them?”

“For peace,” Toph corrected gently.  “And for your futures.  For a chance at a better education for your kids.  For peace of mind.  For better jobs.  For not spending your life in fear.  Yes, these are your homes, but are they really worth fighting over for just that?  Is it worth losing your children, your father or mother, your brother or sister, your partner, your friend over?  Is it really?”

The kapra subsided in their seat, unable to answer.

The hydra next to Jorge cleared their throat.  “We want to integrate, some of us,” she told Toph.  “Jorge and I, we want to combine our stores.  Then everyone has to come to the same place.  Right now the only place where people interact with the other side regularly is school, but adults – they don’t have to.  Not unless they’re looking for a fight.  This would change that.”

Toph nodded eagerly.  “That’s a good step.  Starting some integrations.  Maybe it’ll only be the store at first, but you’ll be able to save money if you do this, right?  You can place larger orders together than having to pay for smaller orders separately.  And your store can hire both kapras and hydras and be a flagship proving that it is, indeed, possible to work together.

“And that’s the important thing.  Taking steps towards improvement, steps towards ending this once and for all.  You’re not going to get perfect change in a short amount of time, given all the harm this feud has done to all of you.  But taking small steps – looking to the future even if you’re planning 10 years down the road – that’s what you all need.  Maybe you can’t forgive someone now, but maybe you can agree to shop at a store where both hydras and kapras shop.  Maybe you can’t see living next to the other side yet, but maybe you can agree to help fund better education for your children so they can start to get real educations.  And,” his tone turned very stern, “the school needs to be off-limits for the feud.  I know,” he cut off protests, “it’s been standard for the young people to be involved.  Well, it shouldn’t be.  Is it really fair to ask children to be involved in a fight of this nature?  To risk death?  To not be able to get a proper education because their teachers are too invested in the feud to just do their jobs?”

A lot of people were nodding along to this in agreement, and even the ones who seemed upset that Toph was setting a rule like that seemed unable to challenge the idea of the school being truly neutral.

“I second this!”  The history teacher hopped to his feet, looking eager.  “We’ve started seeing a change in the education in the past few years, without fighting being present on a daily basis.  Kids are starting to pay more attention and to want to learn, and some of us have been able to actually start making lesson plans.”  He looked at the other teachers, some of whom were agreeing, while others looked stubborn.

“We need the school to be off limits,” the history teacher went on earnestly.  “The future is the children, right?  Well, they haven’t been able to have a proper education for decades.  I know you all know that, don’t pretend otherwise.  Those of you who’ve gone elsewhere to get a degree have all mentioned you had to supplement your education before you could even enroll.  And that’s to our shame, that we’ve let our children suffer not just physically, but academically because of this feud.  And mentally as well.”  He crossed his arms stubbornly.  “Don’t tell me you don’t know that many of you were afraid to go to school because you knew you might risk injury or death to do so.  Don’t tell me that that constant fear doesn’t have a mental effect on you.  Don’t tell me many of you don’t suffer from anxiety and depression and PTSD because of what you saw at school as children.  Well, no more!”  He almost shouted those last words, he was so angry.  “How dare we do that to our own children?  We should all be ashamed that we’ve let that happen for so long and that it was even encouraged instead.”  He steamed for a moment, then nodded as if that was the final word.  “So I agree.  The school has to be off limits for any feud.  We can’t tolerate it.”

He sat down, and there were quiet murmurs from the crowd.  Some of them had the decency to look ashamed and some were clearly in agreement.