Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Icy winds whipped around Sokka of the Tagiuk Tribe as he stood vigil on the wall surrounding his village. He was the only one left to defend his people should the Fire Nation attack. As the last defense, Sokka needed to be decisive, unbending, strong-

“Sokka! I’m not doing your share of chores because you’re busy playing soldier!”

The irritation Sokka had been trying to keep down bubbled up at his sister’s words. So she got to skip out on chores to play with Aang and put the whole village in jeopardy, but thought she could scold him? He whipped around and shouted, “I’m not playing, Katara! I’m protecting our village!”

“From what?! The snowflakes?” Katara huffed and crossed her arms. “All you’ve done is kick out a boy with no home and stare at nothing for hours. Just give up already and come help me skin this puffin seal.”

That was completely unfair! Sokka hadn’t been the one to kick Aang out. It had been a unanimous (minus Katara and the children, but they didn’t get a say) decision of the village. Though he was just a kid and it had been a genuine mistake, Aang was still dangerous to have around. He was an airbender for La’s sake! If- When the Fire Nation followed that flare to their village, the last thing they needed was an airbender in their midst. 

So why was it that Sokka was the only one who still cared?

Barely ten minutes after getting into battle stations, people started going about their day again. In the hours since, multiple people (even Grangran!) called up to him to end his vigil. So what if there weren’t any reports of raids nearby, that didn’t mean they should let their guard down! So what if any Fire Nation cruisers close enough to see the flare would have been here by now, maybe they took a wrong turn and were still on their way!

Ignoring Katara’s complaints, Sokka turned his back to her and stared out at the cove again. He’d had his back turned for too long to talk to her. What if the enemy had come into sight in his moments of distraction and-

Was that a boat in the distance?!

“Haha! Look, Katara, look! There’s something out there. I was right!”

“Uh… If you’re right, that really isn’t something you should be excited about…”

Oh, shit, right. Sokka grabbed his horn from his belt and blew it in three short bursts. As he scrambled to pull his parka off (it had gotten cold in his warrior’s uniform!), he shouted, “Everyone! To your battle stations. And stay there this time!”

Sokka wished they had the telescopes to spare after Dad and the warriors left. He cupped his hands around his eyes and squinted to try to better see the speck in the distance. It wasn’t the stark black of Fire Nation cruisers, he was certain of that much.

The scrape of someone climbing up the wall pulled Sokka away from his surveillance. He groaned at the sight of his sister clambering up next to him.

“Seriously, Katara? This is not your battle station.”

Outright ignoring him, Katara repeated his actions to look at the approaching threat. With a hum, she lowered her hands to prop them on her hips.

“I don’t think that’s a Fire Nation ship. For one thing, it’s way too small,” she said.

Sokka huffed and resisted the temptation to shove her off the wall. “Well, I don’t know! Maybe they’ve developed some sort of new technology to get our guard down and attack when we are least expecting it!”

Katara raised a single, judgemental eyebrow. “Sure, because they need to be sneaky against a bunch of elders and children.”

To Sokka absolute dismay, Grangran agreed with Katara’s assessment and signed for them both to come down to wait at the village’s entrance for their strange visitors (not potential enemies no matter how much Sokka argued otherwise). 

As the small sailing boat came close enough to make out details, Sokka had to begrudgingly admit that the strangers probably, definitely weren’t the Fire Nation Navy. There were only two people on board and they were wearing Water Tribe parkas, even if the colors were a bit off. Well, still! They could still be working for the Fire Nation! Or be undercover!

They anchored their boat on the cove’s shore, then slowly approached the village. It was hard to make out what the strangers looked like with their hoods pulled up. So, Sokka was still tense. No matter what Katara and Grangran said, they were potential enemies until they proved otherwise.

“Who are you!” Sokka shouted, stepping forward and raising his club so it was clear he was prepared to fight. “What’s your business with- Augh!”

Katara smacked him in the stomach with her whole arm, pushing all the air out of his lungs and sending him behind Grangran in the process. Her elbow dug too deep into him to be anything other than intentional. Oh, he was going to get back at her for that the second the threat was gone.

“Excuse my grandson,” Grangran said diplomatically. “Are you emissaries of Agna Qel’a?”

The slightly taller of the pair faltered and a raspy voice came out of the shadows of his hood, “Huh? What? No? Why would you think that?” As he spoke, he pushed his hood back to reveal a teenager around Sokka’s age with a gruesome scar marring half his face. 

While Grangran didn’t react, Katara gasped quietly. Sokka knew his bleeding heart of a sister’s guard was down now. Which was exactly what the enemy was expecting by the teenager revealing his face first! Although, it was a bit discouraging when the other stranger pushed back his hood and it was an old man underneath, not a hardened, undercover soldier.

“Your parkas are of northern design,” Grangran said, not missing a beat. “If you’re not from the North Pole, how did you acquire those and what brings you here?”

At least Sokka could rely on her to be on his side, even if he was bursting with questions. How did these strangers get parkas from the Northern Water Tribe? How did Grangran even know what they looked like? 

“Oh! Well, we did get these from the northern tribe when we stayed there. But, we’re not from there. Uh-” The teenager dropped into a quick bow. “I’m Huizhong. This is my uncle, Sung, and I’m a researcher! I’ve been traveling and researching spirits and the Avatar. Sorry to intrude on you, but do you happen to know the source of that beam of light from yesterday? It seemed like it was some sort of spirit light!”

The deluge of words caught Sokka off guard, and Grangran too, since she paused long enough for the only one not processing the information overload to speak up.

“Oh! That was-” Sokka shoved his hand over Katara’s mouth and pulled back, making her stumble into him. She glared up at him, but Sokka figured it was fair payback for her elbowing him.

“Don’t help the enemy,” he hissed in her ear. She rolled her eyes, but thankfully didn’t try to fight him any more than shoving his hand away.

Grangran glanced back at them wryly, then answered Huizhong in the last way Sokka expected. “My grandchildren do happen to know the source of yesterday’s light. While I’m afraid I cannot extend the hospitality you perhaps experienced in Agna Qel’a, you may speak with them if they’re willing to share.”

Sokka’s jaw dropped. Seriously? Grangran was letting her guard down too? What, just because these strangers had supposedly stayed with the northern tribes? They could have stolen those parkas! And seriously, were they supposed to believe this Huizhong guy was a researcher? That was the stupidest cover story ever! Why would a random kid be traveling and researching spirits in the middle of war?!

Meanwhile, Katara’s eyes lit up as she bounced up next to Grangran and away from Sokka’s attempt to keep her mouth shut. “Then can we bring Aang back? I know we made a mistake, but-”

“You may offer him and our visitors dinner and assistance setting up camp for the night. But Aang is no longer a guest of the tribe, Katara, and I cannot rescind that decision lightly.”

Katara sighed in resignation, then turned to Huizhong with a bright smile. “You’re researching spirits and stayed in Agna Qel’a? That’s so cool! What was it like? Where else have you been? Oh! Right, I’m Katara.” 

She started to bow, as Huizhong had, but he offered his arm in a proper Water Tribe greeting. Katara clasped his arm with sparkling eyes and a quick, smug glance at Sokka. Okay, fine, that was a point in support of his story being true, but not proof. 

“And that grumpy pants is my brother Sokka. It’s nice to meet you, Huizhong and Mr. Sung!”

No, it wasn’t nice to meet them. Sokka reluctantly sheathed his club and crossed his arms to glare menacingly. He was ignored as Huizhong leaned toward Katara with a fervent look in his eyes.

“You can call me Hui. Nice to meet you too. What do you know about that light? Who’s Aang?” 

Sung cleared his throat with a frown. 

The intensity in Hui’s gaze lessened as he pulled away with a blush and sheepishly added, “Sorry, I’ll answer your questions too. I’m just a bit excited.”

With a satisfied nod, Sung offered his own greeting and introduction to Grangran. Their conversation was too quiet to hear over Katara regaling Hui with the story of finding Aang from the very beginning, as in from her and Sokka bickering while fishing. Was that really necessary? Grangran led Sung into the village to get those dinner supplies she offered, and Sokka was torn between following the suspicious man or sticking by his sister’s side with the suspicious teenager.

“Sokka was being a complete, sexist pig and I was so angry that I went off on him.”

Hold up, telling the weird airbender trapped in ice that she was a waterbender was one thing, but this guy? Sokka started forward, ready to cut Katara off. Her following words had him letting out a sigh of relief.

“Next thing we knew, the iceberg we landed on suddenly split open! It was a bit terrifying, really. It almost pushed us off and into the water, but Sokka’s at least good for an emergency and kept us on the ice-”

“Hey!”

“Shut up, Sokka, you’re not part of this conversation,” Katara snapped, not even deigning to look at him. Rude! “Anyways, the water from the iceberg crack started bubbling and a huge, glowing sphere of ice burst out and inside it was a boy!”

Hui interrupted with a barrage of questions, which Katara took with good cheer. This was unfair! If Sokka had interrupted like that, he would have gotten a smack on the shoulder at least. He glanced over at the village. Though he couldn’t see Grangran and Sung, everything seemed peaceful there. Well, he could trust Grangran not to say anything incriminating. Sokka was better placed here to make sure Katara didn’t spill sensitive information. There was still a high chance these people were Fire Nation spies!

Grangran returned shortly enough with Sung and some supplies in tow (and Sokka’s discarded parka which he gratefully accepted from her). With Hui’s interruptions, Katara was only just wrapping up her story. Sokka was a little proud of her because though she was acting loose-lipped, she hadn’t made any allusions to her waterbending or Aang’s airbending. 

“I actually don’t know how Aang ended up in that iceberg, and survived, so we can ask him together! He shouldn’t be too far from the village, and then we can talk more over dinner. But, I don’t know if spirits are necessarily involved.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. Yeah, sure, spirits weren’t involved with an airbender frozen in ice for what was possibly an entire century. Not that he was going to contradict Katara and provide these potential spies with more information. 

With a verbal promise to Grangran to be back after dinner—and a signed promise behind everyone's backs to keep an eye on Katara and these suspicious ‘visitors’—they set off from the village to find where Aang had wandered off to. Hui started answering some of Katara’s questions about the North Pole and his travels as they walked. Sokka stepped closer to listen in. Not because he was curious, of course, but because there was a good chance Hui slipped up and revealed his true intentions as he talked.

Definitely not because Sokka was also curious. No way.

It was taking everything in Zuko’s willpower to keep pace with Katara and not run ahead in his excitement to meet this Aang kid. He knew he wasn’t doing his best talking about his travels or research, distracted as he was. At least Katara was good-natured and wasn’t complaining. Unlike her brother. Jeez, what was the guy’s problem? He was acting like Zuko crashed into his village with the Sazanami and threatened his grandmother or something.

Whatever, Sokka’s bad mood couldn’t do anything to dampen Zuko’s mood. Energy thrummed under his skin. Anticipation had his heart thumping and throat growing tight. He knew better than to get his hopes up, but this was insane. Impossible. Unbelievable.

A boy trapped in an iceberg had been the source of the light? Of course spirits were involved! And who else would spirits keep in ice in the South Pole other than the Avatar? No, no, Zuko couldn’t get ahead of himself. He had to gather his facts before making any conjectures about the kid. Katara hadn’t mentioned any bending; he could just be spirit touched. Which was still the best lead Zuko had in months, so no way was he going to let himself get disappointed. 

“What was the coolest thing you saw- Oh, there he is!” Katara cut herself off with a beaming smile as she waved to a snow bank. “Aang!”

Zuko frowned in the direction she was waving, then nearly tripped on his own feet. It wasn’t a snow bank she was waving to. The massive, white creature would have blended in with the snow if not for its brown markings. Zuko barely noticed the boy calling out a return greeting because the creature turned its head and let out a rumbling sound. Its brown markings came down to form an arrow on its head. 

“Is that a flying bison!?” Zuko shouted, louder than he should have if the wince from everyone next to him was to go by. 

“You have got to be shitting me,” Sokka muttered behind him.

The boy beside the bison leaped several feet off the ground, then landed in front of them with a gentle gust of wind. Zuko’s breath caught in his throat. Airbending. That was airbending. This Aang kid was an airbender! How could Katara conveniently leave that bit of information out of her story?! 

Aang the airbender smirked at Sokka as he said, “See, I told you Appa could fly! He’s just tired! Nice makeup by the way. Anyways, thank you, mysterious strang-ger.” 

Aang stuttered and blatantly stared at Zuko’s face—his scar—in a way only young children did, as if he’d never seen anything like it before. Something uncomfortable twisted in Zuko’s stomach. Even when people did a double take at his scar, they were always quick to cover up for their blunder.

But then Zuko noticed the intricate arrow tattooed on Aang’s head and forgot his discomfort to exclaim, “You’re an airbending master? How old are you? Eight?!”

“Master!?” Katara and Sokka parroted while Aang shook himself out of his rude stupor and cried out, “Eight?!”

Aang laughed and propped his hands on his hips. “I’m not eight! I’m twelve! Jeez, how old are you? Thirteen?”

Zuko scowled. What right did this kid have to tease him when Aang had been the one acting like a rude toddler? “I’m sixteen, thank you very much.”

“Almost sixteen,” Uncle coughed from behind him.

Everyone froze. Heat filled Zuko’s cheeks as he turned around to yell at Uncle while the children burst out laughing. Ugh. This was humiliating.

“Sorry, sorry!” Aang said between his giggles. He held his hand out with an easy smile. “I’m Aang! I didn’t see you in the village earlier. Nice to meet you! How’d you know Appa is a flying bison?”

As much as Zuko wanted to snub his peace offering, he was a mature almost-sixteen-year-old and wouldn’t let a couple of children’s mocking get to him. He huffed and gave Aang’s hand a short shake. “Hui. You didn’t see me in the village earlier because I wasn’t there. I’ve actually been researching airbenders so that’s-”

“Ahha!” Sokka shouted, pulling Katara back as he whipped out his club. “You’ve finally gotten tangled up in your web of lies, you spy! You said you were researching spirits!”

Katara smacked Sokka on the back of his head as she pulled away from him. Zuko crossed his arms in hopes of calming his heart, which wanted to jump out of his chest. The sudden accusation scared the shit out of him. He thought he had said something incriminating!

“I can research more than one thing,” Zuko said, impressed by how level his voice sounded. He looked back to Aang with a shrug. “I’ve been researching spirits too. But it’s because of my airbender research that I recognized your sky bison for what it is. And that your tattoos mean you’re an airbending master. Unless your practices have changed.”

“No, you’re right.” Aang rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really like to brag about it, but I’m the youngest airbending master on record, actually.”

Zuko took a deep breath, mind swimming with questions. If Aang was a master this young, surely he developed his own technique. Would he be willing to show Zuko what it was? As an airbending prodigy, could he replicate Yangchen’s air lantern? Who else would be a master at age twelve other than the Avatar?

Before Zuko could decide which question to start with, Uncle clapped his hands and drew everyone’s attention to him. He smiled and suggested they make camp before they got too caught up talking. Annoying, but valid, and it wasn’t like they couldn’t talk while they worked.

A couple of hours later Katara, Aang, and Zuko were huddled together next to the fire, camp made, dinner cooked and eaten. Their questions and stories kept getting cut short and interrupted by each other and their work (and eating) earlier, so now they were bouncing around topics, asking everything they hadn’t earlier. 

Uncle and Sokka sat to the side on opposite ends of the campfire—Uncle interjecting occasionally to embarrass Zuko and correct the, frankly, harmless occasional embellishments to his stories; Sokka butting in with questions of his own when he forgot he was sulking and then making a big deal about how he still didn’t trust Zuko before returning to his sulking.

More than ever, Zuko was convinced Aang was the missing Avatar. He’d obviously been stuck in ice before the war, since he knew nothing about it and was reluctant to believe the Air Temples Zuko had visited were abandoned. Katara’s sharp looks from behind Aang kept Zuko from saying much to discourage Aang from the useless hope that he wasn’t the last surviving airbender. Well, last surviving Air Nomad airbender. 

What did it mean that the Avatar (possibly) had returned? Had Zuko managed to bring back enough balance to convince the spirits to release Aang from his icy confines? Were there other airbenders out there now? Had Sarnai learned how to airbend from the flying jerboa? Or maybe Châu had from the Swamp. But wait, if freedom was back, shouldn’t his egg have hatched? Oh Agni! Zuko shouldn’t have left it behind on the Sazanami. It didn't matter how cold it was wandering the South Pole or how difficult it would have been to warm it with Uncle right there-

No, that didn’t sound quite right. Maybe Zuko had been wrong with his theories, or he’d been half right and he started the process, but the Avatar was needed to completely bring freedom and airbending back. That had better be the case; Zuko would never forgive himself if his egg hatched alone without him there to welcome it into the world.

However, Zuko wasn’t letting himself forget the minuscule chance Aang wasn’t the Avatar. After all, wasn’t Toph essentially an earthbending master at age nine or whatever? Despite being a prodigy with her element, it was obvious she wasn’t the Avatar. But then again, Toph wasn’t an airbender- 

Nope, Zuko just had to wait to confirm it directly with Aang. Until then, he was genuinely enjoying learning about the Air Nomads from a primary source.

It was Uncle who cut their discussions short with a glance at the finicky South Pole sun, which had begun its descent in the sky. Katara promised to come by again in the morning—ignoring Sokka’s argument that no, she would not—and the siblings started the trek back to their village.

“By the way,” Aang said, facing Zuko as soon as Katara turned away and stopped waving back to him. “How do you know so much about Air Nomads if we’ve supposedly been gone for so long?”

Zuko blinked and ran their previous discussions through his mind. Had he really forgotten? Jeez, he had forgotten to mention it, even when the desert came up. Unable to contain his grin, Zuko pulled his bag over and whipped out Yangchen’s memoirs.

“So the whole reason I had been in the desert was to find a spirit library, which I did. And in it I was given memoirs from Avatar Yangchen!”

“Yangchen?!” Aang gasped, awestruck and excited in a way no one other than Yue had been.

Before Zuko giddily dove into the topic, Uncle stood with a long yawn. “And I believe that is my cue to turn in for the night. Please do not stay up all night talking about Avatar Yangchen, Nephew.”

Zuko blushed and Aang burst into laughter. “Do you do that a lot?”

Uncle rolled his eyes with a teasing smile. “If he has a willing victim, then yes. Feel free to cut him off whenever you get tired.”

“No way! I’m a fan of Yangchen too!” Aang said with an elated smile, effectively cutting off Zuko’s annoyed response to Uncle. “Gyatso is actually part of her school of thought! So I know some about her, but well, I’ll admit I was more interested in other things so I only learned what Gyatso said in passing that made me curious and asked more about. But what I do know, she was really cool! I’ve never heard anything about her writing memoirs, though.”

“Well, that would be because she entrusted them to her friends, Tarkik and Siniq of the Northern Water Tribe!” 

Zuko didn’t have to feign his enthusiasm as Uncle retired to the tent with an exaggerated shiver. In the curve of Appa’s bulk and with the roaring fire in front of them, there was no rush to get in the tent. It was plenty warm enough here. 

“She wrote them because she had recently lost her best friends and bending masters, Akari and Huizhong. The memoirs helped Yangchen process her grief, and celebrate their lives. She was going to get rid of them when she was done, but Tarkik convinced her to let him keep them and help future generations… or Avatars connect with her story.”

Aang stared, transfixed on Zuko as he spoke, but didn’t react to his stress on future Avatars. “Woah. I didn’t know any of that. But, y’know, that does line up with what Gyatso’s said. Some of the other monks used to fight him on our travels in the other nations, and that I needed to study in the temples more, but Gyatso always says that true enlightenment can’t happen without connections to the world around us.”

“That’s almost exactly what Yangchen said!” Zuko exclaimed, then winced in the direction of the tent and scooted closer to Aang to show him the opening page of Yangchen’s writings. “Wow, that’s so cool how her debates with Huizhong carried down through the years to become a philosophical cornerstone of her teachings!”

“Uh… Yeah!” Aang reached out for the book but froze when Zuko reflectively jerked it away. Shoot, no, of all people, Aang deserved to look at and handle Yangchen’s memoirs.

However, Aang pushed ahead and didn’t address Zuko’s protectiveness of the tome. “To tell you the truth, I’m not the most versed in the, well, nitty gritty of our teachings. Gyatso says I have time to dig deeper into that later. Does Yangchen mostly write about that sort of stuff?”

Zuko grinned. “I don’t care about nitty gritty philosophy stuff either. I just know the surface level of what Yangchen talks about with that stuff. No way I would have read this whole thing if that was all she talked about.”

“Does she write about her mastery? Did you know she was one of the youngest masters before me? But apparently her mastery technique was so hard that it was lost to time!”

Ha, did Yangchen write about that. Zuko didn’t have to turn to the page to share the story, but he felt bad for pulling Yangchen’s memoirs away from Aang. He made sure to angle the book between them as he shared the story, so Aang could easily see Yangchen’s tight script with the help of the fire in the fading sunlight.

At the conclusion, Aang was giggling and explaining how he imagined the elders’ expressions when Yangchen bent fire at her mastery ceremony—the same expression they made when they got pelted with cakes. 

“How’d Yangchen meet Akari anyways?” he asked.

Though Zuko would love to go into that tale, enough time had passed for Uncle to be asleep. His heat signature was steady and hadn’t moved for a while, a good sign he wasn’t going to rouse.

“Actually, uh, before that, um-” What was the best way to bring this up? He should get Aang further from the tent, just in case Uncle was pretending to sleep and was eavesdropping. “Could I pet Appa?!” 

Aang stared at him for a moment, jaw slightly agape, before grinning slyly. “How long have you been waiting to ask that?”

Heat filled Zuko’s face and he scrunched his shoulders up to hide his blush in the fur of his hood. “I just thought of it!”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Aang snickered as he effortlessly used his bending to pull both him and Zuko up on their feet. Not giving Zuko a chance to argue, Aang pulled him over to the massive sky bison dozing beside them. “His favorite spot is right at the base of his horns.”

Standing on his toes, Zuko could just reach to give said spot a good pet. Appa rumbled and sleepily opened his eyes to stare at Zuko. Now, Zuko wasn’t well-versed in air bison but he did know what Knowledge Seekers and narwolves enjoyed, and that was warm hands. With a quick peek back at Aang, Zuko hid his hands between him and Appa to pull some heat from the crackling fire. This time when he reached up to dig his fingers through Appa’s thick fur, the bison let out a deep, appreciative sigh. He pushed his head down and toward Zuko so he had better access to his horn.

Zuko smiled and warmth filled his chest. He totally understood the devotion Yangchen’s words held for her own sky bison, and how Akari struggled to resist throwing herself into Shosha’s furry coat. Zuko had half a mind to do that himself.

“Wow, you have a magic touch!” Aang praised, breaking Zuko out of his thoughts.

Right, this was supposed to be an excuse to put some distance between them and the tent. Zuko forced an awkward smile, then went around Appa’s massive head to pet his other side. Once Appa closed his eyes again with a rumbling hum, Zuko brought his hands back to himself and turned to face Aang.

“Are you the Avatar?”

Aang froze and the color draining from his face had nothing to do with the temperature.

“Because I’ve been researching spirits and airbenders and the Avatar in search of the missing Avatar. I’ve met a lot of people I’ve thought could be the Avatar, but nothing’s ever lined up so perfectly before. You’ve been in ice for a hundred years, you’re an airbender, you’re an airbending master, your mentor raised you on a previous Avatar’s doctrine, and I read plenty of descriptions of the Avatar’s powers that the mysterious blue light that shot out of your iceberg sure sounds like it came from the Avatar spirit.”

“I- Uh- Well- Yeah… I am.” Aang acquiesced with a deep sigh as his body drooped. “It’s not that I was trying to hide it or anything, but it’s still kinda new to me. I only found out a few weeks ago- Or. I guess a hundred years ago, now… Wait-” His head shot up, eyes wide. “Missing Avatar?! Has no one known what happened to me this whole time?”

Zuko forced himself to take deep breaths. He couldn’t lose his cool right now. This was a pivotal moment. He found the Avatar. He did it. Something everyone thought was impossible. 

This was only the beginning, though. He needed to get Aang on his side, the Wings’ side, so they could work together to end the war and bring balance back so his lóng egg would finally hatch. 

“Yeah, I suspect you disappeared not too long before… Well, before the Air Nomads were gone. And I think very few people outside the Air Nomads knew you specifically were the Avatar. Not to mention no one knew if you survived or not. For the longest time, people have been waiting for the cycle to continue, or have feared it was completely broken.”

Aang stumbled a step back, struggling to process the information. Oops, Zuko probably should have softened that blow some… 

Rubbing his hands over his face, Aang fell against Appa to take comfort in his fluff. “And it’s been a hundred years? That’s- I can’t believe- Wait, then why have you been looking for me, uh, for the Avatar?”

This was a pivotal moment and it needed to be handled with finesse, care, and the truth if there was any hope of Aang agreeing to work with him. Yes, Zuko could do this. He’d spent enough time with Kavi and Jae to understand the delicate balance of being Fire Nation and working against the war. Finesse. Care.

“I’m Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation,” Zuko blurted out. Like an idiot. Oh Agni help him. But Aang wasn’t running away screaming. He merely stared at Zuko in confused shock. No going back now. 

“I’m not actually a scholar named Huizhong, obviously, since I just said I’m not. Um, this has been my cover to help my search for the Avatar. You see, I was actually banished from the Fire Nation for, er, disagreeing with my father. That's not important right now. But the terms for coming back home was finding the Avatar. But- I’m not your enemy! I swear! In my research, I’ve discovered the truths of the war and that the Fire Nation is in the wrong and how amazing and peaceful the Air Nomads were! I’ve been working since then to try to bring balance back to the world! Obviously a big part of that is ending the war, so, if you come with me, we can work together and end the war and bring peace and freedom back!”

“Uh. Okay. Wow. That’s… a lot…”

“Sorry, I’ve never done this before, well, once, but she already half figured me out and we hadn’t just met, but-” Zuko snapped his mouth shut and forced himself to think before he spoke more, something Yue in particular scolded him a lot about. 

Aang was still staring at him with a shocked expression, leaning against Appa for support. It was better than getting angry or scared. Zuko hadn’t completely bungled this yet. 

“I know this is a lot to process. I’m not trying to pressure you into aligning with me or anything right now. But I really wanted you to know the truth before we got any closer. It wouldn’t be good to build our relationship on lies. If you want to have a future relationship, of course. I hope you will, I really want to work together, of course. But. I’m shutting up now.”

Aang started to tremble. Oh no, was he holding back tears? Was he scared? This was- Aang hid his face in his hands as he burst into uncontrollable giggles. This wasn’t the reaction Zuko expected. The giggles continued far past Zuko’s patience, but he forced himself to cross his arms and wait for Aang to compose himself. Maybe this was a weird shock response.

Eventually, Aang stopped laughing long enough to catch his breath. He wiped some tears from his eyes, but they were from laughing too hard rather than any sort of negative emotion. “You said you’ve been traveling for how long again? How have you not ruined your cover yet? You’re horrible at this!”

“Hey! My cover has been impeccable! You try meeting the person you’ve been searching for for three years and see how well you handle explaining yourself!”

Aang frowned thoughtfully. “Sorry, guess that was kinda inconsiderate of me. I don’t know if I’d do any better sharing such a big secret either… Probably not so great, now that I think about it. I hadn’t even told my friends that I was the Avatar yet before I-” With an uncomfortable cough, Aang pushed himself off Appa to give Zuko a consoling pat on the shoulder. “Thank you for trusting me with the truth, even though we just met. It couldn’t have been easy.”

For some reason, Zuko would prefer if Aang went back to laughing at him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this child acting so mature. Zuko definitely would not have reacted like this at age 12. (And if he was honest with himself, he probably would not react like Aang now.) Instead of addressing that, Zuko shrugged off Aang’s hand and stepped back.

“Well, like I said, it needed to be done. Um, do you want to hear about Akari and Yangchen now?”

Aang snorted and shook his head. “How about in the morning? I don’t think I can handle any more new information tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s… fair.” Zuko winced. 

He did not do a good job of easing Aang into this. Hopefully it wouldn’t matter, so Kavi and Jae would only hear about his success. They were going to be so surprised when he came back with the Avatar on their side. Ha! See if they ever shooed him away like this again! 

“Well, you’re welcome to join us in our tent for the night," Zuko said. "Appa’s warm, but the pelts Ms. Kanna lent us really do their job.”

“Yeah, thanks. But I think I’m going to stay out here and think a little by myself first, if that’s okay?”

“Of course that’s okay! You don’t have to ask me for permission to process all this.” Zuko felt ridiculously bad for piling this all at once on a twelve-year-old, Avatar or not. Seriously, what had he been thinking? He was such an idiot. “You can let yourself in whenever you’re ready. Don’t worry about waking Uncle, he could sleep through a rampaging komodo rhino.”

Aang grinned and waved Zuko off, then settled back into Appa’s side with a pensive expression. He would probably be out here thinking for a while. 

Zuko knew he wasn’t falling asleep anytime soon. The only reason he was retiring was to give Aang some semblance of privacy. If he gave him room to think by himself, that looked good, right? It proved Zuko wasn’t lying about not forcing Aang to join him, right? It felt like something Kavi would do; it had to be the right call.

Except.

Almost an hour later, Aang’s heat signature started to move not toward the tent to turn in for the night but away from the camp. Zuko sat up frowning. He wasn’t running away, was he? Appa wasn’t moving, so surely not.

But… It wouldn’t hurt to follow him and figure out what was going on.

“Vindication!” Sokka shouted, quickly shushed (and probably smacked) by his sister.

“Stop celebrating bad things just because you’ve been proven right!” Katara hissed.

“But Katara,” Sokka whined. “I was right. You and Grangran ignored my very reasonable suspicions and I was right!”

Katara sighed. “Fine, whatever. I won’t doubt you next time. But can we please focus?”

Thank you, Zuko thought with a huff. Even with his breath of fire and heatbending, he was freezing from hiding outside Katara and Sokka’s home as Aang repeated everything Zuko had confided in him. 

Zuko wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing. On one hand, he felt incredibly betrayed by Aang immediately running off to question his story and intentions. But on the other hand, it was a reasonable response for a kid stuck out of time. Aang didn’t know the political landscape of what was basically 100 years in the future for him. Regardless, it still stung that he didn’t take Zuko at his word.

“Besides, you’re not right if everything Zuko said is true!” Aang argued, not that it made Zuko feel any better. “He’s not a spy or the enemy or anything. He wants to stop the war!”

“Of course everything he said isn’t true! He’s Fire Nation! They’re evil!” Sokka scoffed. “He was just saying whatever he could to get you to trust him so he could drag you to the Fire Nation with him.”

Aang’s heat signature shifted uncomfortably. “You weren’t there. He really sounded genuine. Besides, an entire nation of people can’t be evil. One of my best friends is- was from the Fire Nation!”

“Maybe that was true a hundred years ago, but, Aang…” Katara trailed off uncertainly.

“Listen, you came to us because you don’t know anything about the world right now, right?" Sokka said. "We might not have heard anything about Prince Zuko or his banishment or his quest to support or disprove what he said, but we can tell you that the dad he ‘had a disagreement’ with? He’s the Fire Lord. And he’s a real piece of work.” 

What did Sokka know? He lived in the middle of nowhere at the bottom of the world. He didn’t know anything about Zuko’s father. He didn’t. 

“Nothing good will come from delivering yourself into the Fire Lord's hands.”

It wasn’t like Zuko was planning on going straight to the Fire Nation! The first step was rendezvousing with the Wings and planning accordingly with them. Aang’s return was going to totally throw a wrench in their current plans. Wait, shit, he hadn’t mentioned the Wings at all to Aang, had he? Would it help or hurt Zuko’s case if he revealed himself to clarify things now?

“But, if Zuko really wants to end the war, then surely he won’t just give me to someone bad?” Aang asked.

Okay, maybe it was best to let Aang keep talking. This was possibly not him not trusting Zuko, but his way of dealing with how overwhelmed he felt. Which was entirely Zuko’s fault for saying too much.

“That’s putting too much trust in a prince of the Fire Nation!” Sokka said.

Katara sighed. “Aang, I understand that you had a friend from the Fire Nation and want to think the best of Hui- Zuko because of that. But you really don’t understand what the Fire Nation has done while you were frozen. I mean, just to start with, there’s a reason I’m the only waterbender in the village. I’m the only waterbender left in the whole South Pole! And it’s top secret. If the Fire Nation ever found out, they’d kill me… Like they killed my mother.”

Well shit. Somehow Zuko had forgotten about the waterbender raids Kavi had educated him on after meeting the Southern Water Tribe fleet. Of course Katara and Sokka were especially distrusting of Zuko’s intentions. Their mother had been killed by the Fire Nation and Katara was in hiding. However, Zuko hadn’t been the one to make those orders and definitely wouldn’t snitch on Katara now. They shouldn’t be judging him for his nation’s crimes!

But judge him was exactly what they did.

Zuko curled into himself with a twisting stomach as Katara and Sokka continued telling Aang every horrible thing the Fire Nation had done in the past century, starting with the Air Nomad genocide they’d previously been downplaying to spare Aang’s feelings. Now they went into detail of the lies that had been told, the thoroughness of the attack, and linking it to current military campaigns and to Zuko.

It wasn’t fair! Everything they said was true, of course. Despite the war actively happening around him, despite meeting so many people displaced and affected by it… Zuko had been thinking of things in the abstract. Of wanting to expose the truth of the Air Nomads, of wanting to bring peace to bring airbenders back. To hear it laid out so plainly for Aang’s understanding… Zuko was more certain than ever that he was right to be against the war, to not believe in the Fire Nation’s rhetoric of saving the world from itself through its rule. 

But that was why it wasn’t fair. Zuko didn’t agree with the war or its motivations, not anymore, not since he learned the truth. How dare they judge him by his nation’s wrongs. 

“Guys, thank you for explaining everything,” Aang said, cutting off Sokka’s rant about the earthbender work camps he heard about—and was clearly misinformed on! Not that it made the prisons any better… “I understand why you think I shouldn’t trust Zuko, but even if he’s the Fire Nation’s prince, he’s just a kid like us. He didn’t have any say on what his family’s done, and being out in the world by himself must have turned him against the war!”

The crushing grip on Zuko’s heart lessened. They’d only known each other for half a day, but Zuko felt like he and Aang had forged a bond through Aang’s element. Same as Zuko felt a connection to Sarnai, Châu, and even Teo, he felt it with Aang too. Zuko wasn’t an airbender, obviously, but he’d come to accept that (though not outright acknowledge) his heatbending and mission connected him to the element of freedom in a way no other firebender could.

Aang must have felt it too, felt the hot current of air connecting them, and nothing Katara or Sokka could say would erase that feeling.

At least. That’s what Zuko foolishly hoped.

“Ha!” Sokka's abrupt, mocking laugh sent a sharp lance of dread down Zuko’s spine. “Maybe I’d give it to you that someone could turn against the Fire Nation if it were anyone other than Ozai’s son. Trust me, Aang, there’s no way someone raised by that psychopath could turn out good. One time, I overheard Dad say that Ozai killed his own nephew to get the throne!”

Zuko could not hear anything over the buzzing in his ears. He felt disconnected from his body as the buzzing traveled to his extremities. Was he breathing? Maybe not since his lungs were burning. He needed to breathe, but wait, not too loud-

Father didn’t kill Lu Ten. How dare this- this uncivilized, ignorant child spread unsubstantiated rumors he didn’t understand the weight of. Father wasn’t a psychopath. He was reasonable. Harsh sometimes, sure, but he had to be for any hopes of Zuko learning to be a proper heir and-

Sokka’s words filtered through the haze muddling Zuko’s senses. He was picking up steam, making sure Aang understood every bad thing the Fire Nation had recently done was at Father’s command, and how that obviously reflected on Zuko as a person. How dare he! Zuko wasn’t a bad person because of who his father was- Father wasn’t a bad person either. He made mistakes, was just ignorant of the truth of the war—no one ever taught him otherwise! He had no reason to learn about the world as Zuko had in his banishment. He wasn’t bad, he wasn’t evil, he-

“Okay, I think I get it now,” Aang interrupted in a quiet voice.

Screw this.

Zuko shot to his feet and snuck out of the village the way he came in, careful to avoid any huts with moving heat signatures in case they noticed his shadow slide past. He was sick of hearing these children foul the Avatar’s opinion of him based on other people’s actions. The least they could do was ask him to better explain himself rather than judging him from Aang’s recounting of their conversation! 

He was one person, or okay, two if he counted Uncle, but they weren’t a threat! Well, they absolutely were plenty enough to take on the entire village if they tried to hurt them, but- That wasn’t the point! 

He hadn’t done anything to deserve this distrust.

Didn’t these stupid children know what they were jeopardizing with their falsities? Without the Avatar, Zuko was never going to end the war and bring balance back to the world. They didn’t need Aang like he did. How dare they convince him that Zuko meant him ill.

So fine. If Aang wanted the second opinion of others, Zuko would have to take him to people who were more trustworthy than Ozai’s son. 

There wasn’t really any precedent to help a guy when he woke up from a century long nap, but Aang felt like Gyatso’s teachings had him well-equipped to handle the situation. It was no different than going to a new city, right? Gyatso always said the best way to get to know and be safe in a new place was to make friends, be observant, and trust his gut. Which was what Aang did even before he realized he had washed up not only on an unfamiliar shore, but in an unfamiliar time as well.

He may have fumbled a bit when exploring the warship ruin, but he had just been told he'd been asleep for a century. Anyone would fall for a booby trap when grappling with a revelation of that magnitude.

Aang left without a fight because as much as he wanted to keep hanging out with Katara and get Sokka to forgive him, his gut told him he would do himself no favors if he argued. It was his gut that told him not to go too far, which was obviously the right call when he heard Katara calling out for him a few hours later. So, then, it was also his gut that said he could trust Zuko.

The thing about trusting your gut, though, was that it needed enough observation to back it up. Gyatso always said, ‘Trust your gut, but not on an empty stomach!’ He did mean it literally sometimes, but it was mostly a metaphor to not blindly trust others when lacking information. 

So no matter how genuine Aang believed Zuko was, he needed to know more about this place, this time. Aang considered waking Zuko up to ask him more questions, but that would still leave Aang to trust everything Zuko said about the war. Even if he was against it, his perspective would be different from Katara and Sokka’s. The best way to prove his trust wasn’t unfounded, Aang had to go to his other friends. 

(And he could also confess he was the Avatar. Aang might have failed to tell his friends before he ran away from home, but he wasn’t going to make either mistake again.)

To Aang’s overwhelming relief, Katara and Sokka took the ‘I’m the Avatar!’ thing way better than he feared. Although, to be fair, it was vastly overshadowed by the ‘Hui is a prince of the Fire Nation’ thing.

All talk of the war in their earlier discussions had been neatly sidestepped, something Aang noticed but didn’t address. Such a heavy topic wasn’t good for building friendships. He figured they could talk about it later. Aang wished later wasn't now, when he was still coming to terms with the fact the world thought the Avatar was gone for a lifetime because of him.

It was horrible. It was terrifying. It made it hard to hold on to the hope Aang wasn’t the last Air Nomad no matter what anyone said. None of it made Aang believe he was wrong in trusting Zuko. The Fire Nation had done horrible things, but nothing Katara and Sokka heard had been about Zuko doing horrible things. 

“Okay, I think I get it now,” Aang said to bring Sokka’s lecture to an end.

Sokka shut his mouth and leaned back with a smug smile, assured he had Aang convinced. Katara leaned forward, sympathetically reaching out to hold Aang’s hands in comfort. Aang gently pulled away. He took a deep, centering breath. They had lived a different life than Aang and their different experiences painted their view of Zuko, but that didn’t necessarily make them right. 

“You’re not wrong by being wary or even scared of the prince of the nation that’s hurt you so much. But, we all met Zuko already, even if he was going by a different name. Take away all the things about the war that he had nothing to do with, and just judge him based on what we know about him.” 

Aang smiled hopefully at his friends. “Does he really seem like someone who would try to hurt me because I’m the Avatar or Katara because she’s a waterbender?”

Katara frowned as Sokka crossed his arms and glared at the ground. When Zuko had still been Hui, they’d had no reason to hate or fear him. Surely even Sokka, who had been suspicious of him all evening, recognized the respectful way Zuko spoke of his travels. They never stayed on any one topic for long, but it had been obvious that Zuko met a lot of people and experienced a lot of different cultures in his travels. Honestly, he’d sounded a lot like an Air Nomad recounting their adventures. Someone like that couldn’t be evil.

“Well…” Katara started to say, but Sokka quickly cut her off.

“He could be lying! Just acting to trick us all!”

“Let me talk,” Katara scolded, smacking her brother’s shoulder before turning to Aang. “You said he admired Avatar Yangchen, right? Had read her entire memoir? I suppose, maybe, that’s good evidence to support your idea that he’s not lying… Can’t imagine a proper Fire Nation prince admiring the previous Air Avatar.”

Sokka groaned and dragged his hands down his face. “Which could still be an act! How do we know he read the whole thing? Aang said he just shared something from the first few pages. Or even if he did read it all, he could have done it to help him try to take down the next Air Avatar!” 

This wasn’t getting them anywhere. Aang got the information he needed, but there was no way he was going to convince Katara and Sokka that they were wrong about Zuko. He could leave and ignore their worries but… They were his first friends in this time. Aang didn’t want to part on bad terms or leave them to worry about him (he wasn’t ever doing that again).

“How about you guys come back in the morning like you originally planned, and then talk to him about being the prince yourselves? If you still think he’s trying to trick me, I won’t go with him. But I really don’t think that’s what’s happening here.”

Katara nodded, immediately agreeing to the idea, but she wasn’t the hard sell. Both she and Aang turned to Sokka, eyes wide and pleading. He held out with his grumpy glare for a few moments longer. Then he fell back, catching himself on his hands planted behind him with a drawn out groan.

“Fine, if you’re still so convinced after hearing everything the Fire Nation and Zuko’s father have done, I suppose I can hear him out.” Sokka paused, then tilted his head with a grin. “And if he’s really a champion for peace, then he should have no problem with us coming with you to make sure he sticks to his word!”

Wait, what?

“Sokka!” Katara exclaimed, as shocked as Aang was by Sokka’s declaration. “Are you saying we should go with them to the Fire Nation?!”

Sitting up straight again, Sokka gestured his hand at Aang. “He’s the Avatar. The world is screwed if Prince Zuko is lying! And then even if he’s not lying, there’s no way I’m letting Aang walk into the Fire Nation without friends on his side.”

This was a serious discussion, Aang knew that, but he couldn’t help cupping his chin in his hands and cooing, “Aww, Sokka, I’m your friend now?”

“Shut up! That’s not the point!”

Katara grinned and leaned closer to poke at her brother. “Weren’t you just calling him a traitor this morning?”

“Well, I was wrong. And- None of this is the point right now!” Sokka jumped to his feet to point down at them. “Either Prince Peace lets us go with you, or you don’t go at all! And that’s final!”

“Alright, I’ll see you two in the morning then!” There was no containing his dopey grin as Aang jumped to his feet. “Thank you for helping me. And caring about me.”

Sokka grumbled and crossed his arms, as if that could hide his faint blush and shy smile. Katara, however, also stood and put her hands on Aang’s shoulders with a worried frown.

“Even if we think it’s possible that Zuko is okay… I think you should stay the night with us, just in case.”

Aang stepped forward between Katara’s arms to squeeze her in a tight hug and got a shocked laugh out of her. Snickering, Aang bounced back to the entrance of their hut with a wink. “It’s fine, don’t worry! Besides, I left Appa behind and I don’t want him to worry. Really, I’ll see you guys in the morning!”

Aang left the village in high spirits. He’d felt a little—well, a lot—overwhelmed by Zuko revealing his identity and making Aang truly realize he’d been gone for a century. There was still a lot Aang didn’t fully understand, he knew that. Only experiencing the world beyond the South Pole was going to help Aang understand what it was like, but Aang felt prepared to face anything new, secure in the knowledge he wouldn’t be facing it alone.

Gyatso would be so happy to know Aang made such good friends already. Hopefully he could also count Zuko as a friend. They had a lot of important things to do, with this war and all, but maybe everyone would be alright taking a quick stop by the Southern Air Temple… Even if the Air Nomads really were gone like everyone insisted they were, Aang could still introduce his friends to his home and Gyatso in other ways.

A smile pulled at Aang’s lips as he thought about showing Zuko around the Southern Air Temple. Though he’d explored the others and read Yangchen’s memoirs, there was still a lot he didn’t know about Air Nomad culture. He’d probably be super excited to get a full tour with someone who could explain everything to him. And he could tell Aang more about Yangchen too and-

Something hard hit the back of Aang’s head.

Everything went black.

Chapter Text

“We can’t just leave!”

“There’s no way Grangran is letting us go, use your head. The letter will have to be enough, and we’ll ask for forgiveness after we save the world and all that.”

Kanna sighed as her grandchildren continued bickering over how to handle the decision they’d come to in the night. There would be no convincing them against going into the world—against taking part in the war—Kanna knew that. 

They were too much like their parents, too much like her. From the moment hushed voices pulled Kanna from her sleep, she knew Katara and Sokka were not going to allow themselves to be protected any longer.

Over the past few years, the isolation of the depths of the South Pole kept the Tagiuk Tribe safe. They had moved farther south to Wolf’s Cove after the raiders came for Katara and left with Kya’s life. They didn’t know how the Fire Nation caught word of Katara’s waterbending, and it was possible they may never know, but they took every precaution they could to protect their last waterbender. The Fire Nation rarely traveled so far south. When they did, they left a trail of destruction in their wake. Should terror descend on the Tagiuk once more, there would be enough time for the other tribes to send support. 

So when the fleet finally set sail, the most vulnerable of nearby communities took refuge in Wolf’s Cove. They were self-sufficient enough, elders caring for young children so the more able-bodied young mothers could fish and hunt. To remain isolated and hidden, and thus further protect them, there were very occasional visits from their neighbors to share supplies and information.

How opportune that the last visit had come with news of the Southern Water Tribe’s alliance with a resistance group from the Fire Nation. Kanna had not lived a life that allowed her to cling to baseless hopes, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there was a connection to this banished prince claiming to be championing for peace. 

Katara and Sokka’s argument was close to reaching the stage of petty blows. With a heavy heart, Kanna stepped out of their hut, arms laden with even heavier packs. “We will go together to hear this prince out.”

Her grandchildren jumped apart and spun around to face her with wide eyes. “Grangran!”

“What prince?” Katara squeaked.

Sokka pointed at Kanna accusingly, quickly dropping his hand under her unimpressed stare, but still exclaimed, “How do you know about that?!”

Kanna shook her head. Spirits help them, they were going to need to be a little sneakier if they were going to support the young, naive Avatar. “You were not as quiet as you thought you were last night.”

As they sheepishly apologized, Kanna pressed the packs into their arms.

“It has worked out in your favor this time, but be sure to take more caution in the future as you travel with the Avatar.”

Katara squeezed the pack tight with shining eyes as Sokka held it as if he didn’t know what it was. He slowly looked up, guilt painting his expression as he said, “Grangran, I’m sorry I was trying to keep this secret from you. I didn’t think- You-”

Kanna pulled her boy into a tight embrace. “I don’t appreciate the duplicity, but you still have my blessing. Both of you.”

Sokka hugged her back just as tightly, smothering a quiet sniffle in her shoulder. Once he pulled back, only a slight shine in his eyes gave away his emotions. He swung the pack onto his back and stood tall with confidence. 

“Let’s go hear Prince Peace out together, then," Sokka said. "But both of you need to get back the second I say if things go south, got it?”

The walk to the camp was short, filled with Katara recounting everything from the night before, filling in the gaps of what Kanna hadn’t overheard. While Sokka was prepared for a fight, Katara was bursting with hope. After sleeping on it, she was convinced of Aang’s belief that Prince Zuko was genuine. Kanna could only pray to hope as well…

They arrived to an empty camp.

The foreign tent fortified with borrowed pelts remained, but there were no signs of its occupants or the Avatar’s massive companion. The fire was long extinguished with a light dusting of snow that had fallen overnight.

Katara's voice wavered as she said, “Did Aang decide to leave with him alone?

“No way, this is suspicious!” Sokka darted forward to better inspect the camp. “Why ditch the tent? And this!” He stood in front of a snow bank Kanna now realized was more of a deep trench. Snow was piled high on both sides of a peculiar pattern carved out of the snow. There were several such trenches. “Could these have been made by a fight?”

Things were not looking in favor of the prince’s tale. Disappointment was lighter than hope on Kanna’s heart.

A rumbling groan had them looking into the sky. The Avatar’s bison came soaring down, landing with a puff of snow. He anxiously paced for a moment—the obvious cause of the trenches—before turning to them with a plaintive sound. He approached Katara and nudged her with his nose, as if searching for something.

“Appa, where did Aang go?” Katara asked gently, petting his nose to soothe him.

Appa groaned mournfully, then turned away to continue pacing.

“There’s no way Aang left Appa here,” Sokka said, arms crossed with a frown. “Hui- I mean- Zuko must have taken him. I knew he couldn’t be trusted! But, oh noooo, no one ever listens to Sokka!”

“Now isn’t the time for that,” Katara snapped. “Who knows when they left? We need to go after them right now and save Aang!”

“And how are we supposed to catch up with them, huh? No way Zuko only had that dinky boat. He must have a full warship nearby that he kept hidden!”

Katara looked at Appa with a growing smile despite their distress. “Well, Zuko turned out to be a liar. But Aang isn’t. Appa can fly.”

“Oh Tui save me,” Sokka gasped, color draining from his face. “We are not riding that thing.”

Appa understood them to some extent. He stopped pacing to nudge Katara again. She smiled and patted him.

“His name is Appa, and he wants to save Aang too. Right boy?”

His eager groan was an obvious answer.

This was much more perilous than the original plan, but Kanna could not take back her blessing. The Avatar needed help, and her grandchildren were the only ones available to rescue him. It pained her deeply, but the spirits had brought them together, so hopefully they would be watching over them.

“After you save the Avatar, accompany him to the North Pole. He needs to learn waterbending. As do you, Katara.” Kanna’s grandchildren whipped around to stare at her in shock. She smiled wryly as she hugged them both. “Please be safe and take care of each other. You are all Aang has now in this world.”

Kanna pulled away and her own guilt bubbled up. She did not—could not—reprimand the children for their secrets; they were only following her example, though they didn’t know it.

“I’m so proud of you both. I am sorry there isn’t more time to talk, but there is a lot about the world and this war that you have been kept ignorant of. Please keep an open mind and forgive your family for the choices we’ve made to keep you safe.”

Though brimming with questions, Katara and Sokka recognized now was not the time. They reluctantly clambered onto the sky bison’s saddle at Kanna’s insistence and stared down at her with conflicted expression. Kanna smiled as Appa waited for no signal to take flight in pursuit of his companion.

“Keep an eye out for your aunt and the other women of the tribes!” Kanna signed, rather than strain her voice. “They’ll help you in any way they can!”

The children waved to her, signing back assurances that they would. Soon they were a mere speck overhead, then out of sight. As her grandchildren flew off to join the war at the Avatar’s side, Kanna made the walk back to the village by herself.

How did everything go so wrong so fast?

Iroh had been so pleased by Zuko making friends and not immediately cornering the poor child with the weight of the world on his shoulders. For Aang was undoubtedly the Avatar, who else could he be as an airbender sealed away in ice for a century? 

But somehow, it seemed Zuko had been so wrapped up in his excitement of meeting an actual airbender that he had forgotten not only about his search for the Avatar, but also how Aang would have come from the supposed Air Army, not from Yangchen’s time.

Oh so foolishly, Iroh went to sleep, content to let the children continue talking as late as they desired. The longer Zuko spoke with Aang and heard about Air Nomad culture directly from him, the easier it would be for him to come to terms with the hard truths of the war. 

Iroh knew he had dragged the confrontation out for too long. It was now imperative that Zuko understood the war was built on lies, and that delivering the Avatar to Ozai—ending his banishment—was the last thing he should want to do.

What in Koh’s Lair happened in the span of a few hours for Iroh to be woken to a bound, unconscious Aang and Zuko demanding they return to the Sazanami?

Normally, Iroh could hazard a guess of what was going on in his nephew’s mind, but he was truly at a loss this time. Things had been going so well before Iroh retired for the night! Zuko refused to speak as they sailed back to the ship, and shut himself in his room as soon as the Avatar was locked in the brig.

Had Zuko realized Aang was the Avatar and an altercation occurred? Surely that would have woken Iroh. For a moment, Iroh considered the possibility Zuko had realized who Aang was from the beginning and had waited for an opportunity to grab him without interference… 

But for Zuko to have that level of foresight and restraint without giving his plans away? Impossible. At least, Iroh desperately hoped his nephew wasn’t suddenly capable of flawlessly executing such a plan.

Iroh was exhausted, mentally and physically. They had left the Sazanami far enough from the Water Tribe village so as not to rouse suspicion. It was well into the morning by the time they returned despite leaving in the dead of the night, even with Zuko using his heatbending to push the Air Lantern to its limits. If Iroh was exhausted, he knew Zuko was dead on his feet.

While he needed to sit down with his nephew and finally have the discussion he’d been putting off for too long, the Avatar was already under lock and key. Waiting a few more hours wasn’t going to change anything. 

Besides, this wasn’t a conversation that could happen on no sleep. Once they were both rested, Iroh would resolve this and they would let the Avatar go. And, hopefully, Iroh could convince Zuko to help Aang.

But first, sleep. Agni help him, was his age ever catching up with him. Not even the sudden concern that he should confirm Zuko was retiring to bed could release Iroh from the pull of slumber dragging him out of consciousness.

Zuko fucked up.

Oh, he knew it the second he knocked Aang out, but refused to acknowledge the thought until he was already halfway back to the Sazanami. And by that point, there was no going back. 

Katara and Sokka already didn’t trust him, and they definitely wouldn't be willing to hear him out now. So Zuko just needed to talk things out with Aang in private, head back to get Appa, then… Confess to Uncle about everything and hope he sided with Zuko. If he didn’t, well, there was a reason the plan was going back to Appa before talking to Uncle.

Everything was going to work out one way or another. Zuko made a mistake, but it wasn’t like he hurt anyone or anything. Aang was unconscious, sure, but ultimately unharmed. He’d wake up sooner or later (though Zuko was a bit worried he was still unconscious…) and they’d resolve this whole misunderstanding. Then they would go find Kavi or Jae to figure out the best way to convince Father to end the war.

If Aang was willing to listen to Zuko’s apologies.

Maybe Yangchen wrote some philosophical dribble he could quote to get Aang to understand that he really was on his side, just stupid. So stupid. There was no other way to put it and Zuko wasn’t too proud to accept the truth. 

Kavi and Jae were going to be so disappointed in him for screwing up their most important alliance. Maybe if Aang didn’t accept his apology, Zuko would have to go through with his original plan of dragging him to Kavi or Jae. They would have better luck convincing Aang to join them… Right?

After making sure Aang was secure in a cell—with strict orders for the crew to leave him alone and tell Zuko immediately when he woke up—Zuko went to his room. There had to be something that could help him from Yangchen’s words and-

Baijiu flew into Zuko’s face in its usual greeting the second his door shut. A laugh bubbled up despite the turmoil he was in. It was impossible not to smile a little under Baijiu’s enthusiastic cheer. The little spirit spiraled around Zuko, as if looking for something. What? Did it know he found the Avatar and-

Fuck! Zuko was the worst person ever. How could he forget his egg?!

Zuko tossed his bag and Aang’s glider on his bed, then raced out the door and down the hall. He’d been so anxious leaving his egg behind without someone to watch it, especially when he didn’t know how long he’d be gone. The Sazanami didn’t retain heat in these arctic waters; leaving the egg nestled in his trunk like he used to didn’t sit right with him. 

So Zuko took the risk of putting it in the boiler room with explicit orders to the crew to not even think about touching the small trunk. He gave some bullshit excuse of having temperature sensitive items he’d gathered in his travels, which honestly didn’t make much sense to leave somewhere humid, but no one dared question him.

The engineers startled as Zuko burst into the boiler room and beelined for his trunk. Someone tried to reassure him that no one bothered it in the single day he was gone, but Zuko ignored them as he threw the lid open. 

Nothing moved in the bundle of blankets. Using his body to block anyone attempting to catch a peek inside, Zuko reached into the blankets and let out a deep sigh as his fingers touched the warm, unbroken texture of his egg. If it hadn’t hatched the second Aang came out of the iceberg, why would it have hatched while Zuko was gone?

Relieved he hadn’t let the lóng hatch trapped in a small box all by itself, Zuko picked up the trunk and continued to ignore the stares from the engineers as he returned to his room. Baijiu welcomed him back with a trill. They sat together in the middle of Zuko’s room, where the sun fell from the window, and joined their flames to let the egg know it wasn’t alone anymore.

One second Zuko was meditating and whispering encouragement to the lóng, the next he was hunched over the egg with his cheek pressed against it. Baijiu was curled up in the crook of his neck and chirped in annoyance as Zuko groggily sat up. This wasn’t the time to be taking a nap. With one last apology to the lóng, Zuko nestled it in his clothes chest then sat at his desk with Yangchen’s memoirs.

His bookmarks and notes distracted him from his search for philosophical support. Aang had said he wasn’t much into that stuff either. Maybe Zuko should go for a different angle. He started flipping through his bookmarks and notes, which were all for his spirit research. 

Perhaps Zuko could figure out why Aang had been frozen for a century. The kid had seemed pretty overwhelmed with how he’d been gone for so long. An explanation would be a good peace offering, right?

The deafening sound of alarms had Zuko jerking upright, almost falling out of his chair in his sudden return to consciousness. 

Shit, how long had he dozed off for? What were the alarms for? Was there an attack? Zuko moved without thinking, quickly shedding his parka to throw on his light armor and race out the door.

He nearly collided with a seaman about to knock, registering the man’s heat signature at the last second. The seaman stood to attention with wide eyes. 

“Prince Zuko! The Avatar escaped!”

“What?!” Zuko yelled. He almost pushed past the seaman to run below deck, but if Aang was free, who knew where he was now. Information, his groggy mind suggested, he needed information first. “How did he escape?”

“The guards were unconscious against the bars of the cell, sir. We think he used an airbending technique to knock them out and steal the key off them. No one on deck has seen him, so he likely is still somewhere on the ship.”

Zuko scrunched his nose. If alarms were raised because they only just realized Aang had escaped the cells, why would Aang still be on board? Why not make an escape off the ship? Sure he didn’t have Appa but- His glider! Zuko glanced behind him, the innocuous looking staff lay on his bed where he had tossed it earlier.

“Go join the search for him,” Zuko ordered. The seaman was already running down the steps of the hall before Zuko remembered to thank him for the report. Oh, whatever, it wasn’t like the crew could hate him any more than they already did.

Rather than joining the search, Zuko turned back to his room. He left his door open and propped Aang’s glider up so it was visible from the hallway. Thank Agni the Sazanami was a literal maze so Aang hadn’t found his way up here yet. Now, all Zuko had to do was wait. 

He crouched down between the end of his bed and the space behind the door. This was a complete mess. How was he supposed to talk to Aang now, while he was running loose and trying to escape? Shit, Zuko should have ordered the crew to let Aang go and not engage. What if they hurt him? Sure, he was an airbender master, but he was still just a kid.  

A whistling sound preceded someone entering Zuko’s heat sense. Quick, light footsteps pattered up the stairs, and a childish exclamation of excitement came from the doorway. Aang ran into Zuko’s room without a second glance. Spirits help them all, the Avatar was such a child! He needed all the help he could get.

Zuko kicked the door closed and held his hands up in a show of peace as Aang whipped around.

“Listen, Avatar, I-”

“Aang! My name is Aang!” Aang said, eyes darting around for another exit.

Biting back a sigh, Zuko acquiesced. “Yeah, I know, sorry, Aang. Listen. I don’t mean you any harm-”

Aang’s gaze snapped to Zuko as his jaw dropped. “You attacked me and kidnapped me!”

“That was a lapse in judgement! I’m sorry, okay? I just wanted to talk more-”

“So you kidnap me?!”

“Would you let me finish a damn senten-” Zuko growled, starting to take a step forward. He didn’t get to finish that sentence either, because Aang swung his staff at Zuko and a rush of air sent him crashing into the wall.

Stubbornly ignoring the burning in his lungs from the impact winding him, Zuko pushed off the wall. He kicked at Aang’s side, which he blocked with his staff. “Fine,” Zuko gasped out. “If that’s how you want to play it. I’ll force you to listen to me!”

“You’re really not convincing me that you don’t want to hurt me!” Aang squeaked, weightlessly jumping up to dodge another kick.

Zuko was very obviously not using firebending or any weapons, so he thought he was rather convincing. But he still hadn’t properly got his breath back under control after colliding with the wall and it was taking all his willpower to breathe enough to keep pushing Aang back, away from the door.

Despite undoubtedly being a kid, Aang was also undoubtedly an airbending master. He ducked and dodged, moving like the air itself so Zuko never hit him. 

If Zuko wanted any chance of getting the upper hand, he would have to pull his own element into play. But any firebending was not going to help his case. He’d never used his heatbending offensively before. Was there something he could-

The second Zuko lost focus, Aang launched his counter attack. 

With a deep inhale, then sharp exhale, Aang swiped his staff upward. The resulting gust wasn’t aimed at Zuko, but instead his bed. The wind launched Zuko’s mattress directly at him. He had the thought that he could maybe deflect it with his heatbending right as it slammed him into the wall again.

There was no pushing through it this time. 

Zuko fell face first on his mattress and couldn’t even try to catch his breath before he was shot up into the ceiling. His vision blackened at the edges and tears pricked his eyes. Distantly, he sensed Aang hesitating for a few moments. He paced around Zuko’s room, then shouted an apology and ran out.

No, he couldn’t get away like this. He thought Zuko was the enemy. They were on the same side! Zuko was just an idiot!

Head aching and chest feeling tight, Zuko forced himself to his feet. Baijiu came swooping down from wherever it had been hiding, but Zuko brushed it aside. There was no time for it to soothe his pain. Allowing himself the few seconds it took to fill his lungs, Zuko ran off in pursuit of Aang. Now that he had his glider, he had to be headed for higher ground.

The bridge was empty except for the helmsman, who was frozen in a state of shock. He wordlessly pointed at the door to the upper deck. Spitting out a string of curses, Zuko dashed across the bridge and into the blinding brightness of the sun reflecting off surrounding glaciers.

Aang was already in flight, laughter echoing across the landscape.

Shit! Why hadn’t Zuko thought of grabbing his own glider? It was too late now. If he jumped, could he pull Aang down? No, he was already too far. And he couldn't shoot him down either. He’d never be able to get Aang to trust him if he did that!

A rumbling groan overpowered Aang’s bouncing laughter.

Zuko leaned over the railing to look behind the ship and bit out another curse. Was that Katara and Sokka riding Appa? Who else would the two specks of blue be? Of course they came after Aang when they found him missing! Aang changed direction to fly toward his rescuers. If Aang got to Appa, there was no way Zuko was going to be able to explain himself.

If he couldn’t fly and couldn’t use his fire, there was another way.

After his heatsense evolved, Zuko had to learn how to ignore the ambient heat of the world around him or else it would have driven him crazy. Now, he cleared his mind and released that block. The arctic was cold, but there was still relative heat, there had to be for Aang to take flight.

There. Zuko could feel it—feel how Aang guided warmer air to keep his glider aloft. Without that heat, he couldn’t get to Appa and escape before Zuko could fix everything. He reached out, reached for the warm air, and pulled.   

For a moment, Aang was suspended in the sky. Then, without any heat to support him, Aang dropped with a startled yelp. He lost hold of his glider in his surprise. But even if he had his glider, the sudden absence of heat made a vortex that sucked Aang downward much faster than if Zuko had simply shot a fireball at him. 

Zuko’s shout of horror caught in his throat as Aang plunged into the arctic ocean.

“Remember, the most dangerous thing about falling into the ocean isn’t the water. It’s the cold. The cold will make your body seize up and you have to fight the reflex to gasp for air. That’s how you drown. If you don’t panic, the shock will pass and give you a chance to swim to the surface.”

Only a few days ago, Aang remembered his friend’s words as he and Appa crashed into the freezing waters of the South Pole. He remembered, but had still panicked. Mikak’s advice had been for naught. Except, it wasn’t a few days ago. It was a century since Aang last spoke with her, since he last remembered her words. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

Right before he hit the water, Aang took a deep breath.

It hurt. Spirits, had it hurt so bad last time? The water was so cold it felt like he was being stabbed by millions of knives all at once, everywhere. He couldn’t help but exhale his precious lungful of air as his mind blanked from the pain. But he didn’t let himself inhale. No matter how much his body screamed at him otherwise.

Aang knew he needed to open his eyes and orient himself to swim to the surface. He knew what to do. Mikak had prepared him for this, but everything felt so heavy. Was this how it felt last time? His last moments in his own time were hazy and drowned out by torrents of rain. Had he succumbed to the weight of the cold pressing around him and abandoned everyone he loved? Was he about to do it again?

No.

He ran away once, and though he was still struggling to accept how much time had passed, Aang knew Katara and Sokka wouldn’t lie to him. Running away again wasn’t an option. His friends were up there, with Appa, waiting for him. He couldn’t make his friends keep waiting. They came to help him, how could he abandon them now?

He was the Avatar. The world was waiting for him, had been waiting for him all this time.

As if responding to his disjointed thoughts, Aang’s hands began to move. He opened his eyes, but wasn’t really seeing. A voice filtered down through the waves, desperately calling his name. His friends were up there, out of the water, in danger.

But are they in danger? A small voice whispered. It didn’t sound like his own. Zuko said he only wanted to talk. He never used his firebending against you.

Aang frowned and tried to turn to the voice, wanted to question it, but it was whipped away in the whirling waters surrounding Aang. He felt himself ascending faster than he could possibly swim, and then he was skyward. A pillar of water supported him, suspended him above the small Fire Nation ship responsible for taking him away from his friends.

Shouldn’t he be gasping for air now that he escaped the ocean’s grasp? How was he doing this? Why couldn’t he marvel at this feat of waterbending? 

Aang felt like he’d been left behind in the water’s depths. His control of his body had been swept away with that small voice that- What had that whisper said? Aang wanted to talk to it…

Aang’s body landed on the deck of the ship, in the middle of the soldiers gathered there. His arms pulled the tower of water down to encircle him. He could only watch as Zuko ran toward him, oddly less dressed than before Aang fell in the ocean. Had… he been preparing to jump in after Aang? 

But his thoughts had no control over his actions. There was no room for nuance as his hands sent a tidal wave out to knock back those who meant him harm.

With a deafening roar in his ears, Aang’s mind caught up with his body and surfaced from the ocean’s grasp. He gasped for air and shivers wracked through him. Like a puppet gently set down by its storyteller, Aang slowly crumpled on the ground. He felt like he’d just spent the entire day training without a break, something he’d rarely experienced because Gyatso always made sure he didn’t push himself too hard.

Aang didn’t need to muster the energy to pick himself up again, because warm, gentle hands pulled him off the harsh, cold metal of the deck. He blinked up at the concerned faces of his friends and smiled.

“How are you here?” he asked, glad he could voice his own thoughts again.

“Well, it was kinda obvious you hadn’t left on your own!” Sokka said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Thankfully, this clunker of a ship makes a bunch of smoke and was pretty easy to track down with Appa.”

“C’mon, let’s get you out of here and head to the-” Katara said, wrapping one of Aang’s arms around her shoulders. Sokka came around to his other side to help pull him to his feet. “Well, do we even need to go to the North Pole for you to learn waterbending, Mr. Avatar?”

Aang’s stomach twisted uncomfortably. “I… don’t really know how I did that… Wait! We go to the North Pole?!”

Sokka laughed as he shoved Aang up on Appa’s head. “Yeah, you’re not getting rid of us now! Grangran all but threw us onto this big fuzzball and told us to get you a teacher!”

It was easy to disregard his discomfort with his strange waterbending in the face of his new friends’ devotion. Sappy words were on the tip of his tongue when dread swallowed them. Aang pushed himself up, frantically looking around in the hope that his glider hadn’t fallen into the ocean with him. “Wait. My staff! I can’t leave it behind-”

“I got it, air boy! Sit your ass down!” Sokka yelled, running behind Appa.

Aang didn’t have the chance to relax before the soldiers his waterbending had knocked away started getting up. He was about to slide off Appa, but Katara’s shout of “I got this” had him collapsing back against Appa’s warm fur.

Sinking further into Appa’s coat, Aang realized he was still damp. He breathed deeply and blew the water off his skin and out of his clothes. The relief was instant, giving Aang enough energy to sit up and laugh at Katara’s soldier popsicles.

“Great waterbending, Katara!” Aang cheered.

As Katara laughed and climbed up into Appa’s saddle, Sokka started shouting at Appa to take flight.

“There’s still an angry firebending prince! Appa! Yap yap! Hup hup! Go UP!” He dove into the saddle, Aang’s glider and something else tucked under his arm. “Honestly Katara, couldn’t you have frozen him instead of me?”

Aang snorted and pulled Appa’s reins into his hands. “Yip yip, boy!”

Appa didn’t need any directions. He was already gathering the air around them before Aang opened his mouth. As they rose in the air, the siblings’ bickering faded to the background. Aang couldn’t help but turn and stare at Zuko climbing back on the deck with the help of his uncle. He really wasn’t wearing his armor. Aang hadn’t been seeing things. Zuko took it off after Aang fell. What did that mean?

Zuko’s head snapped up and their eyes met. He scowled and shoved his uncle aside, then started moving unlike any firebender Aang had ever seen. His arms swirled, almost like an airbender, but not quite.

Something wasn’t right.

The air felt weird. Just like when it suddenly dropped out from underneath Aang and sucked him off his glider. Zuko was the one doing that? How?

Appa started drifting down. It wasn’t the same terrifying vacuum that had dragged Aang down. If this was Zuko’s doing, he was going slower than last time, but the result was going to be the same. Whatever Zuko was doing to the air, it was going to make it so Appa couldn’t fly.

Zuko said he only wanted to talk.

No, it didn’t matter. Aang couldn’t risk his friends’ safety on the possibility Zuko wasn’t lying about his intentions. 

Ignoring Katara and Sokka’s startled questions, Aang ran to the back of Appa’s saddle. The air above them was normal, so Aang raised his staff and inhaled. He swung it down with the harshest wind slice possible aimed for the space between them and the ship. Immediately, the air around them felt normal and Appa started gaining traction in the sky again.

But, Aang didn’t really think through where his gust would go after he disrupted Zuko’s strange bending. It continued to cut through the air until it sliced off the edge of the glacier beside them. Ice and snow came crashing down on Zuko’s ship. 

“Good thinking, Aang!” Sokka cheered, making a rude gesture back at the ship as Katara giggled, then relaxed against the side of the saddle. “No way they’re following us now!”

That wasn’t why Aang did it. Had they not noticed how Appa wasn’t flying right? Actually, they probably hadn’t. They didn’t understand air currents, why should they? Rather than correct Sokka, Aang smiled and plopped down next to him.

“Thanks again for coming for me, you guys. And for grabbing my staff, Sokka.”

Sokka’s grin beamed with mischievous pride. “Oh, that’s not the only thing I grabbed.” He presented a book bursting with extra papers pressed between the pages. The very book Aang grabbed on impulse from Zuko’s desk before escaping his room. Sokka plopped Yangchen’s memoirs onto Aang’s lap. “Figured you’re the one who dropped it, not Prince Liar. And I bet he stole this off someone, not that obviously made-up story of that library or whatever. It’s definitely in better hands now.”

Hesitantly, Aang opened to the first page. The small script danced across his vision until a single sentence in the middle of the page caught his eyes.

Nothing has challenged me more than overcoming the grief of losing Huizhong and Akari.

There was a lump in Aang’s throat and his eyes burned. He didn’t want to acknowledge it yet. No matter what everyone said, there was still hope.

Aang closed the book and forced a smile. “Thanks, Sokka.”

“Any time! So, north we go?”

“Well, actually. If you guys don’t mind…” Aang trailed off, unsure how to phrase his request. A hand on his own pulled Aang out of his thoughts. He looked up to Katara’s supportive smile. Aang answered with his own grin. “Well, I guess I haven’t been home in a century.”

“Of course we don’t mind!” Katara said. “It’d be an honor to see your home.”

“Whatever the firebenders left of it- oof!”

Sokka doubled over, clutching his stomach where Katara smacked him with the admonishment, “Shut up, Sokka!”

Giggling at their argument picking up again, Aang moved back to Appa’s head. He rubbed the base of his horn and did his best not to think of the person who did it last. 

“Let’s go home, boy.”

Appa groaned in response and picked up speed in his excitement.

As much as Aang didn’t want to doubt the only friends he had now, he couldn’t believe their claims that the Fire Nation attacked his people in their homes. There was no way the Fire Nation got to the temples. Something else had to have happened. And if the temples were unscathed, surely some of his people managed to escape.

But… Regardless of what he discovered…. 

Aang hugged Yangchen’s memoirs to his chest and glanced back at Katara and Sokka, who abandoned arguing to look down at the shining arctic landscape in awe.

He wasn’t alone.

“Dig this ship out and follow them!”

Jee looked up from trying to melt his men out from the ice they were encased in to glare at his commanding officer. Without his armor, Prince Zuko looked particularly childish. Honestly, what had he been thinking? That he could jump after the Avatar in arctic waters? His recklessness knew no bounds, and now Jee’s men were paying the price.

At the very least, the prince had the decency to look sheepish about his command once he turned around and saw what Jee and the other not-frozen firebenders were busy doing. 

Satisfied Prince Zuko wasn’t going to enforce the order, Jee focused on controlling his flames. Prince Zuko was likely going to start yelling at General Iroh to vent his frustrations, which was distracting but easy enough to tune out these days.

Prince Zuko’s following words had Jee looking up again in curious confusion.

“Uncle, make as strong a flame as you can.”

General Iroh frowned. “Perhaps it’s best we leave this to the crew-”

“It’ll take too long!” Prince Zuko interrupted. “There’s a chance of hypothermia setting in before they’re melted out. Just make the flame, Uncle!”

He wanted to help the crew before freeing the ship? Far be it for Jee to interpret Prince Zuko’s words and actions in a positive light—that was General Iroh’s prerogative—but in this case, he was willing to believe Prince Zuko was concerned about the frozen men’s health. For that, Jee tempered his tone and spoke gentler than he usually did when addressing the bratty prince.

“Sir, we risk burning the men if we make too hot a flame while melting the ice.”

Prince Zuko’s shoulders rose defensively, then slowly dropped as he turned to Jee. He frowned and averted his gaze. “I have a different way of doing it so they won’t get burned. Back up. Uncle, flame.”

Any modicum of goodwill Jee held for Prince Zuko evaporated. No, he’d had enough. He was not going to risk his men's health with some child’s attempt at being innovative. Jee's patience was about to finally snap, but then General Iroh sighed and repeated the order. He said it with more decorum, but it was more or less the same command.

Everything in Jee bristled. He didn’t want to trust the welfare of his men to Prince Zuko’s overconfidence. However, if General Iroh was supporting him in this, it couldn’t be that risky. Jee stepped away and motioned for everyone to follow him.

General Iroh called forth a white hot flame in his palms. The arctic air around it steamed and grew hazy. He stood a good distance from the frozen men, assuring Jee the fire would not go near them. Prince Zuko stood between the fire and the men as he twisted his arms in the same strange form he’d used against the Avatar.

An unnatural breeze rippled across the deck. Jee could see the shimmer of heat leaving General Iroh’s flame to surround the frozen men. The hot air whirled around the men and the ice started rapidly melting. What would have taken at least a better part of the hour to safely, completely excavate them took place in the span of minutes.

Prince Zuko appeared oblivious to the stunned and suspicious stares of Jee and his men, but General Iroh looked resigned and expectant to Jee’s dubious question, “Was that airbending?”

“Obviously not,” Prince Zuko said with a haughty snort. “It’s a subset of firebending. You just saw the Avatar wreck-” He froze and his eyes grew wide. “Shit the eg- My room!” Before anyone could question him, Prince Zuko sprinted off the deck. 

General Iroh folded his hands in his sleeves, his smile strained. “Prince Zuko discovered a unique way of bending in his travels. I’m sure you can see why he hasn’t been flaunting it for the resemblance it holds to other elements.”

Resemblance. That was a damned understatement. If Jee hadn’t just seen the Avatar wreck their ship, as Prince Zuko so eloquently put it, he would have a hard time believing unique firebending was the prince’s secret.

“Now, how about I help you get us out of this predicament-” General Iroh nodded to the bow of the ship buried in ice. “-while the men who were frozen go check in with the medic.”

“I would appreciate that, General Iroh, thank you.”

No matter what questions Jee (or his men, who were whispering none too quietly to each other) had, he knew better than to engage the royals any more than necessary. It would only lead to trouble.

They only just got started melting the ice when a guttural scream echoed out of the ship and seemed to shake the glaciers around them. Jee tensed in fear of an avalanche, but thankfully the only thundering came from the prince racing back out on deck. Or, perhaps, an avalanche would have been preferred.

“Uncle!” Prince Zuko screamed, looking seconds away from spitting fire. “That brat stole Yangchen’s memoirs!”

Who’s memoirs? As General Iroh tried to talk the prince down from a full blown tantrum, Jee continued working with his crew to melt the ice. A frown betrayed his usual visage of apathy in regards to the royal pair. They’d been sailing together for several months now, but Jee had no idea of the prince’s strange bending nor his apparently precious memoirs. How well did he actually know Prince Zuko?

What other secrets was their prince hiding?

Chapter Text

“Well, this is where the town should be,” Aang said with a furrow in his brow.

The stretch of shore Appa was flying them toward was very obviously not a town. There were no buildings or evidence there ever had been. Instead there was an endless field of tall grass as far as Sokka could see. The shore was rocky, something Sokka was familiar with, but that was where familiarity ended. As soon as the rocks ended, grass sprung up from the ground. It swayed in the gentle autumn breeze. The grass only ended as it hit the cliffside in the distance.

How was it so green? Weren’t green places supposed to start getting brown as winter approached? It was almost overwhelmingly green for someone who’d only ever seen the dark green of fir trees back before the Tagiuk Tribe relocated to Wolf Cove. Sokka doubted the town Aang had been talking about relocated like the Tagiuk had to explain the lack of, well, anything.

Katara kept smacking him for raising the fair point that there might not be anything left of Aang’s home, but this was exactly why Sokka did it! He wasn’t trying to be callous, but to prepare the kid for reality. He wouldn’t be handling this so well right now if not for Sokka’s warnings.

“Maybe it’s further up the coast?” Katara suggested gently. In Sokka’s opinion, giving Aang false hope was worse than all he’d said.

“No way, it’s here! I can’t be remembering wrong. I flew here with Appa by myself all the time! See how the mountain has a slight slope over there? That’s a landmark. And that’s definitely a barley field over there. And the shore is curved enough to make a good place for ships to stay!” Aang leaned over the saddle, half his body in the open air of the sky. It didn’t matter that logically Sokka knew that Aang wouldn’t fall and would be fine even if he did, it still made his heart leap into his throat. “Wait- Is that the dock? Land there, boy!”

Appa rumbled in response and spiraled down to land next to a few pieces of rotted wood leading from the shore into the bay. It would be a stretch to call it a dock now, but the posts were clearly remnants of some sort of structure rather than gathered driftwood. 

“This is where I met up with my friend, Mikak, whenever her family came by to trade,” Aang explained as he jumped to the ground to investigate the dock’s remains. “She’s the one who told me about penguin sledding!”

Katara carefully slid down Appa’s side. “She was from the South Pole?”

“Yeah! Water Tribe traders always stopped in town.” Aang turned away from the dock and started carefully walking through the overgrown grass, moving it aside with his feet to inspect the ground. “Mikak is a couple of years older than me. She actually just got her own boat last I saw her! She’s so cool.”

Sokka was glad they were focused on the ground and weren’t paying attention to him. He still hadn’t found a graceful way to get off Appa yet and just barely avoided falling on his ass again. Katara peeked over her shoulder at him with a sly grin. Shoot, had she seen him?

“Cool older girl who’s good at sailing? Huh, sounds like someone we know,” Katara said. 

Oh Tui help him. Why couldn’t Katara tease him about his stumble instead? Did she really have to bring up Tapeesa right now? Besides, it’d been a while since she last visited Wolf Cove! Sokka scowled and focused on searching through the grass. Any other time he’d be yelling at Katara to shut up, but Aang perked up as she started telling him the embarrassing story of Sokka trying to impress their infrequent but memorable visitor. He had half a mind to turn it back on Katara, because honestly, he wasn’t the only one with a little bit of a crush. Glass houses and all that.

Through the grass, there was some cracked stone. As Sokka parted more grass around it, he realized it wasn’t just one stone. There was a cluster of them.

“Hey, isn’t this a road?”

Aang suddenly appeared beside him, crouched down to stare at the cobblestone. He turned a blinding smile at Sokka as he stood. “Good find, Sokka!”

Following the overgrown cobblestone, Aang led them away from the shore. He chatted about his friend Mikak and stories she’d shared with him, but it was pretty obvious to Sokka that Aang was trying to distract himself from the implications of the missing town. A century abandoned wouldn’t make a whole town disappear. The Fire Nation had been here. Probably burned the whole place to the ground, which was why the first remnant of a building they found was its stone foundation.

Aang went silent as he scoured the foundation, but lit up with a smile as he exclaimed, “I think this was the bakery! It was near the edge of town, a great spot to snag business from hungry travelers.”

He scampered through the grass and cheered as he found another building’s foundation. “So then this has to be the Earth Kingdom style potter’s! Oh, wait, it definitely is, look, here’s a pottery shard!” 

In this fashion, Aang gave them a tour of the town and painted a vibrant picture of a once thriving community. How could he smile and reminisce so carefreely when there was nothing left? Aang treated every scrap of past life like the pottery shard like a treasure, not like a tragedy. 

“Oh! Here is the town’s monastery!” Aang cheered. This foundation was higher than other buildings, and was actually visible through the tall grass. Aang hopped up on it and effortlessly balanced himself as he walked along the narrow stone. “It’s the biggest building in town!”

Katara followed Aang on the ground as they walked the perimeter. “Why was there a monastery here when the temple’s just a short flight away?”

“Well, the nonbender monks ran the port town monasteries, so of course they’d live here too,” Aang explained with a casual shrug. He gasped and leaped off the foundation to dig through the grass. 

As Aang showed Katara the sooty beaded necklace he found, Sokka crossed his arms and mulled over Aang’s words. He admittedly didn’t know much about Air Nomads, but he was certain he’d heard something before that made Aang’s explanation weird. A hazy memory of an elder sharing stories over a campfire came to mind.

“Wait a second. Aang, what do you mean nonbender monks? Wasn’t everyone an airbender?”

“ What? ” Aang burst into giggles, dropping down to sit in the grass. “People still believe that nonsense? My friend Kuzon was so surprised the first time he visited and met the monks here! Honestly, is everyone in the Fire Nation a firebender? It’d be crazy if everyone was an airbender! Not to mention sometimes people from other nations joined us and followed our teachings!”

“So was everyone in this town an Air Nomad even if they weren’t an airbender?” Katara asked curiously. 

Aang shrugged. “Well, if they followed our philosophies, they were an Air Nomad, yeah! But there were also a lot of people who just settled in these towns because they’re peaceful and good business with all the trading. Sometimes they’d call themselves Air Nation, but it never really stuck much outside of the temple towns.”

Somehow that made the destruction of this town even worse. Sokka followed the happily chatting pair in solemn silence. The way the elders spoke of the Fire Nation’s destruction of the Air Nomads, it was to wipe out any chance of the Avatar opposing them. It was what then led to the waterbender raids. But then why so thoroughly burn this town to the ground? It was as if the firebenders had wanted to completely erase the Air Nomads from history. Which was exactly what happened, wasn’t it? If Aang wasn’t here, Katara and Sokka wouldn’t even suspect there was more to the Air Nomad’s society than the airbenders.

Was Aang too young to comprehend the scope of the Fire Nation’s destruction, or was he trying to ignore it? Sokka feared what they would find (or not find) at the temple.

“Woah,” Aang marveled, coming to a slow stop in front of an overgrown field at the edge of the town ruins. Stalks of some sort of plant swayed gently in the wind as far as the eye could see. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the barley field so full. I’m surprised it hasn’t been chowed down on by wild sky bison.”

Appa, who’d been trailing behind them at a sedate pace, pushed forward to nudge Aang with a pleading sound. His eyes were locked on the field and Sokka swore there was drool at the edge of his mouth.

“Haha, yeah boy, have a snack!”

Sokka didn’t know it was possible for a several ton beast to move so fast. Appa barrelled into the field, ripping up a giant mouthful of barley. He flopped down, legs splayed and lazily stuck his tongue out to pull more barley into his mouth. 

Katara giggled at his antics. “Is this all for sky bison, then?”

“They wish! We used barley for lots of things, not just bison food. My favorite is tsampa!”

“I’ve never heard of that. Can we make some for dinner tonight?”

“Oh… no… It’s really easy to make, but only if you already have the flour.” Aang’s shoulders slumped with a soft sigh. Before Sokka or Katara could try to cheer him up, Aang lit up with a bright smile on his own. “But if we pick some now and set it out to dry, we can bring it with us to the temple and we can use the kitchens there!”

Sokka really didn’t want to be the bad news polar bear, but even more so he didn’t want to see Aang’s spirit crushed. “There’s a chance the kitchen won’t be intact enough for us to use.”

Katara went to smack him, but Aang stopped her with a gentle touch on her arm. He looked out at the field where there was once a town and his smile didn’t reach his eyes. It was the first real sign of how affected he was by the ruins. 

“I know you’re just looking out for me, Sokka, and I appreciate it. I was prepared for what we found here thanks to you,” Aang said in a soft voice. He turned away from the town ruins and his smile brightened. “But you really don’t have to worry about the temple! The only way to get there is with sky bison! There’s no way the Fire Nation destroyed it! Not only can we use the kitchen, but there will be plenty for me to show you. Promise!”

Sokka sighed and didn’t try to argue otherwise. He hoped Aang was right. If he wasn’t, Sokka had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to go through the temple ruins with the same cheer he did here…

For Aang’s sake, Sokka really hoped his optimistic beliefs were right.

A harsh wind ripped through the port as Zuko stomped down the Sazanami’s gangway. This was their first time stopping at Outpost 205, and Zuko was taken aback by how barren the place was. There was no village or town surrounding the port, because nobody lived on this desolate, mountainous island. Whatever sparse foliage might have been in the area had been cleared away to construct the walls for the assembly and training grounds as well as the watchtowers. Those were the only permanent structures in port, the rest were all semi-permanent tents. 

Zuko shuddered at the mere thought of having to work and live here. There was no way those tents did anything to stave off the harsh cold of the southern seas.

“I want to get out of here as quickly as possible,” he said to Uncle as they stepped off the gangway. “We can’t waste any time or we’ll lose his trail.”

“Prince Zuko, perhaps instead of trying to follow the Avatar’s trail-”

Zuko’s stomach dropped and he whipped around, hissing at Uncle to keep his voice down. The last thing Zuko needed was the rest of the Fire Nation chasing Aang down before Zuko got the chance to clear up the absolute fuck up he made.

Uncle frowned. “We are going to need to make a report with the port’s commanding officer. We can’t keep this a secret.”

Like fuck they couldn’t! If Uncle tried telling the truth, Zuko would have to personally shut him up. Could he? Hopefully Uncle wouldn’t put up a proper fight, so Zuko had a chance-

A blaring absence of heat approached them. It was so dense, it was almost searingly hot in its chill. That was all the warning Zuko had before the last voice he wanted to hear said, “Keep what a secret?”

Zuko twirled around to come face to face with Zhao and- A cold sweat pricked Zuko’s brow. It took all of his self-restraint to not take a step back in horrified shock. Zhao was covered in writhing, black spirits. They weren’t quite flames and not quite smoke, but some sort of eerier, bulbous in-between. Although they were not defined as separate beings, Zuko knew this was not a singular, strong spirit.

There were dozens, if not more, of the dark spirits the deserter Jeong Jeong had warned him about. And they were focused on Zuko. They didn’t have eyes or faces but just as Zuko knew there were countless spirits, he knew they were watching him. They were waiting for him to slip up and acknowledge them. Zuko forced himself to breathe and ignore them.

“Captain Zhao,” he said through gritted teeth.

Zhao was smug as ever as he corrected Zuko and informed them of his promotion in the most pretentious way possible. The usual annoyed anger Zuko felt whenever Zhao opened his mouth didn’t flare up. How could it when all Zuko felt was cold dread? He was vaguely aware of Uncle and Zhao discussing the ship’s damage, and Uncle gave a good excuse of running into an iceberg in foggy weather. 

“Ah, I’m discouraged to hear the crew I provided you with has turned out to be so inept,” Zhao said with a delighted smile. “How has your quest been going? Please, join me for some tea as your men handle the repairs. They’re surely competent enough for that.”

Zuko bristled with the reflexive desire to defend his crew. But those men weren’t his crew. They were a bunch of assholes. If Zhao wanted to think everything was their fault, fine, what did Zuko care? With a grunt, Zuko pushed ahead toward the port office tents.

Behind him, Uncle accepted Zhao’s offer with his usual underhanded remarks about how Zhao used his time. Any other time, Zuko would have been amused by the petty dig. Not this time. He couldn’t even appreciate Uncle’s insult, because he felt Zhao’s dark spirits writhe in time with Zhao’s annoyed response. Was he going to survive this? No, he couldn't doubt himself. He had to survive.

The reception room of Zhao’s office had a large map mounted on one side, as well as a small tea table for guests. Decorative weapons lining the other walls fit Zhao’s pretentious personality. They also gave Zuko an excuse to not join Uncle and Zhao at the table. He pretended to be interested in the decor as Uncle distracted Zhao from following up about Zuko’s search by prompting him to talk about himself. Always a good strategy with the self-centered prick. 

It wasn’t weird that Zuko was ignoring them. He hadn’t seen Zhao since he ripped Zuko’s first crew away from him. Uncle and Zhao probably thought he was struggling to contain his temper. Yeah, even before his heatsense developed, Zuko probably would have tried to keep his mouth shut and ignore Zhao. Even if he was acting a little strange, there was no way the dark spirits would notice… Right?

“But that’s enough about me. How has your search of the South Pole been going, Prince Zuko?” Zuko didn’t need to turn around to see Zhao’s smug grin. He could hear it just fine in the man’s infuriating voice. “Besides your unfortunate accident, of course.”

Deep breaths. He needed to keep his cool. Former general Jeong Jeong had said Zhao’s dark spirits preyed on the strife of those burned. In Zuko’s travels and research, he also knew that spirits could be influenced by any strong emotions and acknowledgement. He wouldn’t give them an opening. 

Zuko turned around to look Zhao straight on, but he couldn’t. Zhao’s face was shrouded by the smokey flames of the dark spirits. It took everything in Zuko to not flinch and respond in a level voice, “Unfortunately, it seems the lead you provided me with was another dead end. I think it’s time I sail to warmer waters and resume the research I was conducting prior to your assistance.”

“You truly found nothing in the months you were down there?” Zhao asked, oblivious to how the dark spirits rushed into his mouth with his inhale, then billowed out of his ears and nose. Zuko felt sick. “I find that hard to believe, considering your previous successes. No strange spirits, or perhaps evidence of the Avatar to lead you out of the pole? You must know that it’s important you report anything that could affect the war effort. Nothing should be kept secret.”

Curse everything, why couldn’t Uncle have kept his big mouth shut? Zuko gritted his teeth and turned away from Zhao and the nauseating dark spirits. They didn’t scare him. He wasn’t scared. They were just distracting and he didn’t trust himself not to give them any indication he knew they were there.

Actually, why didn’t anyone else see them? Was it because Zuko knew they were there with his heatsense that they also appeared in his sight? Or were they purposefully making themselves visible to him in an attempt to get a rise out of him?

“I really haven’t found anything, which I had been hoping to keep to myself,” Zuko said to the world map. He muttered loud enough for Zhao to hear, “It’s embarrassing.”

There, that should be enough to satisfy Zhao. Zuko refused to look at him as he turned and stomped toward the exit. “Thank you for the tea, Commander Zhao. I’m going to go check on the repairs.”

Before he could pull the tent flaps aside, two soldiers stepped in and blocked him with their spears. A third soldier walked past them and stood at attention as Zuko’s heart sped up. Dammit, no, no, no!

“Commander Zhao, the prince’s crew has a different story from Prince Zuko’s about the ship’s damage. They said that Prince Zuko found and detained the Avatar, but he escaped.”

The writhing mass of emptiness approached Zuko from behind. Zuko’s shoulders tensed, but he managed to keep his expression blank. The soldiers in front of him showed no signs of noticing anything was amiss. 

“Remind me again,” Zhao drawled, leaning into Zuko’s space over his shoulder. The wisps of smokey flames clinging to Zhao were suddenly filling Zuko’s vision and his breath caught. “What is it you’re trying to keep secret?”

The dark spirits didn’t touch him, but they started to puff and flicker with vigor as they billowed toward him. Shit. Shit, shit, shit! He fucked up.

The dark spirits knew he saw them.

The pitch black, soulless eyes of a Fire Nation helmet stared up at Katara from the snowy ground. Dread and guilt twisted her stomach. What should she do?

The morning had started off so well. 

They set out from the port town ruins first thing and were met by the majestic sight of the Southern Air Temple. It stood tall and proud among the mountains as Appa flew them in. There were no signs of battle. Any damage was due to weather and age, at least that’s how it seemed from the cursory glance they got as Aang led them to the kitchens.

With just a bit of cleaning, Aang got the kitchen up and running. His familiarity with the space and organizing them to make the barley flour was a bit surprising, but Aang laughed at her and Sokka when they expressed it. 

“It’s the young trainees' jobs to wash and grind the barley! As you get older, you start sifting. And then younger monks did the roasting! I just started roasting after I got my mastery, so we can totally do this!”

Since they had prepared the barley the night before, it took Aang no time to roast a batch and sift the sand out with his airbending. He set Katara and Sokka up with grinding as he prepared another batch. It was hard work, grinding the grains into a fine powder, but Aang’s cheerful stories about his home and family made it easy to ignore the burn in her arms. There was so much about the Air Nomads that she never would have even imagined before she met Aang.

Aang quickly joined them in grinding with the promise to Sokka that they’d keep making more to bolster their supplies after eating and a tour. The tsampa was tasty, albeit a bit messy to make on Katara and Sokka’s end. Katara wished they had some butter tea to try the supposedly even better version of the dish. Perhaps they could get more ingredients during their travels…

Stomachs satisfied (even if Sokka still complained about wanting meat), Aang took them on a tour of the temple. It was beautiful even after being empty for a century. And miraculously, despite Sokka’s concerns, there still weren’t any signs of the Fire Nation with a closer look. So the day should have continued being fun and lighthearted.

Then Sokka fell into a snow drift while trying to play airball with Aang and unearthed a weathered Fire Nation helmet.

The Fire Nation had been here. They had set foot in Aang’s home and killed his family where they should have been safe, where they should have been most secure. A lump formed in Katara’s throat and made it hard to swallow. Distantly, she heard Sokka saying they should tell Aang. They needed to prepare him for whatever other evidence they might stumble upon.

“Hey Aang, come over here,” Katara said, her own voice sounding far away and disconnected from herself. “There’s something you should see.”

Sokka nodded, satisfied with her choice, but Katara instantly felt regret. They hadn’t seen anything else so far. What if this was the only careless firebender to leave his helmet behind? What if Aang could continue without knowing the horrors that happened in his home? Katara would rather have not known, not seen, death in her own home.

So at the last second, as Aang ran over smiling and unburdened by the tragedy that had befallen the temple, Katara reached her arms up and pulled. The snow piled on the ledge above them tumbled down and buried the helmet. As well as Sokka, who loudly protested suddenly being covered in snow.

Forcing a smile and laugh, Katara claimed she wanted to show Aang her waterbending. He readily believed her and laughed at Sokka’s soggy, snowy state. With an ease Katara could only hope she would one day emulate with her own element, Aang whipped the air around Sokka and dried him off, to Sokka’s disgruntled thanks. 

“Anyways, sorry, I got distracted. I haven’t played airball in 100 years!” Aang laughed and bumped shoulders with Sokka. “Thanks for playing with me!”

“Yeah, anytime,” Sokka said with a weak thumbs up. Under his breath, he added, “Never again. I think I almost broke something with that last fall. You can play next time, Katara.”

“C’mon, guys! There’s more I want to show you before we have to get back to work!” Aang called, already several paces ahead of them, bouncing on his toes with excitement. 

“Do we really have time to tour more?” Katara asked cautiously. “We picked a lot of barley…”

“Psh, trust me, we have plenty of time. Look at how fast we were with two batches when you were just learning! We’ll finish the rest in no time.”

“If you say so,” Sokka said with a fake smile. “Lead the way!”

Aang happily did so, and Sokka held Katara back. “We can’t hide the truth from him.”

Katara jerked out of his hold and ran after Aang. She knew Sokka was right. Of course it wasn’t fair to keep Aang ignorant of what really happened but… Was she so wrong for wanting to anyways? If they didn’t find anything else, there was nothing wrong with Aang thinking the airbenders fought elsewhere!

Aang led them through several courtyards and buildings, briefly demonstrating how other games were played or how training devices worked. There was no more evidence of firebenders, so Katara felt justified in her actions, no matter what Sokka kept whispering or signing at her. Eventually Aang led them to a small courtyard with a humble statue of an older man. 

“Guys, there’s someone you need to meet!” Aang bounded up to the statue and held his arms out to it with a wide smile. “This is Monk Gyatso, the greatest airbender in the world! He’s my mentor and my best friend. He taught me everything I know.”

Gyatso the statue sat with his legs crossed and fists pressed together as if greeting them, or perhaps meditating. His face was carved with care. Even through time and weather, his eyes looked down on them with kindness and a hint of a smile welcomed them closer.

Aang bowed for a long, quiet moment. He abruptly straightened and gestured for Katara and Sokka to come closer. “Gyatso, this is Katara and Sokka! They broke me out of an iceberg and are accompanying me on my journey to learn the elements. You must have been really worried about me. But you don’t have to worry anymore. I have good friends on my side and I won’t forget anything you told me, promise.”

Moisture filled Katara’s eyes even as she smiled. Sokka sniffled next to her, but she kindly didn’t draw attention to it. They bowed together and offered their own greeting to Aang’s mentor. The statue didn’t respond, of course, but Katara felt a warmth settle over her and knew their words reached the spirit world.

Wherever Gyatso was now, he knew Aang wasn’t alone. And if Katara had anything to say, he would never be alone again.

“Now there’s someone I need to meet!” Aang said, skipping off past the statue and deeper into the temple.

Sokka shot Katara a skeptical look as they followed him. “Aang… There’s not gonna be anybody here…”

Katara had half a mind to smack him, but Aang laughed, unbothered by Sokka’s harsh practicality. 

“You never know! I survived in an iceberg for a century.”

“Good point.”

“Besides, Gyatso said someone who can help me with this whole Avatar thing would be waiting for me whenever I was ready to talk to them. So they gotta still be there!”

There was something in what Aang said that reminded Katara of… well, something. It danced at the edges of her mind, teasing her with the idea of a thought she couldn’t quite grasp. 

The doors to the Air Temple Sanctuary swung open to reveal statues upon statues. They all stood in silent awe for a second, then Aang ran off to a statue of an airbender woman. “Hey! This is Avatar Yangchen! The one who wrote the book I stole from Zuko!”

On Yangchen’s right was a firebender. On her left was a waterbender, and beside him was an earthbender. “Of course!” Katara exclaimed as she finally remembered the story she’d heard. “The person Gyatso was talking about was yourself!”

Sokka and Aang stared at her with varying levels of judgment and concern. 

“Uh, Katara, really don’t think Aang needs a special room to talk to himself.”

“Yeah! I can do that anywhere!”

“Oh, that’s not what I mean. Your past self. The Avatar cycle is a cycle. The stories say that the Avatar can consult with their past lives to help them!”

Aang turned to Yangchen’s statue with shining eyes. “Woah, really? Gyatso was friends with the Avatar before me, and he never mentioned anything like that before.”

“He was? ” Sokka asked. He shook his head and patted Aang’s shoulder. “That’s lucky he was your mentor, then.”

“Yeah…” Aang’s laugh was uncomfortable enough that Katara felt the need to quickly step in.

“You should try talking to them, the Avatar before you.”

In a blink, Aang’s discomfort was gone and he was smiling again. “That would be Avatar Roku!” 

He walked three statues up from Yangchen and stopped in front of a firebender. Of course it was a firebender. Air came after fire in the cycle. But Katara’s mouth still felt dry, and Sokka said what she couldn’t.

“You were a firebender?”

Aaang rolled his eyes. “I know the Fire Nation is evil now and all, but firebenders aren’t evil. My friend Kuzon was a firebender, and we had the occasional firebender join the monasteries you know!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Sokka scoffed and took a step back from Aang and Roku’s statue. “Get talking so we can finish cooking and then get flying. The sooner we leave, the sooner I can get my hands on some meat!”

“Is food the only thing you think about?” Katara hissed, stepping back with him so Aang could focus.

Sokka grinned. “Oh, I think about sleeping too. And fighting. And- Uh, is that how he’s supposed to do it?”

Katara whipped her head around to look at Aang. He was pale and shivering. His eyes were still open, but they were distant and unfocused. His lips were rapidly turning blue. In the time it took Katara to take in Aang’s state, the shivers got worse and turned into convulsions. 

“Aang, stop!” Katara yelled, pulling him away from Roku’s statue. 

Although his gaze was still unfocused, he wrapped his arms around himself and whispered, “Cold, Katara, it’s so cold…”

“Yeah, something tells me this Roku guy doesn’t feel like talking,” Sokka said with a scowl as he wrapped an arm around them both to sandwich Aang between his and Katara’s parkas.

As color started to return to Aang’s face, Katara asked gently, “Are you alright? What did you see?”

“I… I don’t know. I don’t remember. I just- I just suddenly felt like I was back in the iceberg.” Aang shivered and hugged himself tighter. “But I don’t know how I know that, because I don’t remember being in the iceberg.”

“You really can’t get any weirder, can you?”

Before Katara could elbow Sokka for being a jerk, something clattered in the hallway. They all exchanged surprised looks, then ducked behind the statues. Sokka went to one, and Katara supported Aang to hide behind another. 

Quiet footsteps approached, and a horned shadow spread out from the doorway. Tui and La, how were there firebenders here now?! Did Zuko somehow follow them?

Thankfully Aang was already mostly recovered from his strange trance and pulled away from Katara to stand on his own. He posed himself ready to attack, same as Sokka who had his club drawn and raised over his head. The footsteps stopped.

And then a strange chattering sound echoed through the room.

Aang’s eye lit up and he popped out from behind the statue, same time as Sokka did with his club. Sokka froze while Aang gasped in delight. Slowly, Katara stuck her head out to get a look too. 

It wasn’t a firebender in the doorway, but some big-eared animal. Katara sighed and sunk to the ground, tension rendering her boneless.

“Lemur!” Aang cheered.

Sokka had a manic look in his eyes as he argued, “I think you mean dinner!”

The boys took off after the poor creature, bickering whether it would be food or a new friend. Katara watched them run out and shook her head with a snort. She would not be joining that chase, thank you very much.

She gingerly pushed herself upright again and was about to walk after them, but the Air Avatar Aang first pointed out caught her eyes. Katara went over to Avatar Yangchen and looked up at her. Much like Gyatso’s statue, there was a kind look in her carved eyes. 

“I hope your memoirs can give Aang some guidance until he figures out how to talk to you all.”

Zuko may have been a sneaky, lying firebender, but at least his nefarious deeds put the previous Air Avatar’s words in Aang’s hands. Katara had a feeling he was going to need them.

It was unfortunate that the closest port for repairs and supplies was this one. This particular outpost was so bare bones that it didn’t have a proper name, despite being the oldest port in the southern seas. It was officially only referred to with its naval code, Outpost 205, but it had countless unofficial names. The kindest was ‘Southernmost Outpost.’ The most popular was ‘Last Stop of Civilization.’ It was a stretch, because the barren lands of the rocky island barely qualified as civilization. 

At least it didn’t sound like Prince Zuko was planning on heading back south in pursuit of the Avatar. If Jee and his men were lucky, they’d head north and make port at a proper town. They could get a proper drink while the royals strategized how to track down a child with a giant flying monster.

“So the gossip was true!” A familiar and welcome voice jeered as an arm slung over Jee’s shoulders. Shipwright Ananya grinned up at Jee. “Jee, you old dog. How’d you manage to crash the banished prince’s ship?”

“ I didn’t crash it,” Jee said with an eye roll, allowing Ananya’s casual demeanor with a barely concealed smile. Same as Jee, she’d never been able to escape the South Pole, so they’d known each other for quite some time.

Ananya’s smile grew. “Well? What happened, then? The whole port is buzzing with curiosity.” 

“You won’t be hearing anything from me until Prince Zuko makes his official statement.”

“Buzzkill. Knew the rumors you were thrown at the prince were true as soon as my guys told me the prince’s crew weren’t gossiping.” Ananya shook her head with a snort, not as bothered by Jee’s non-answer as her words would make one believe.

But what did she mean by thrown at? 

“How’s it working for him? Had a few fresh faces come by in the past few months and have been hearing some interesting tales about him.”

Jee looked around discreetly. His men were busy loading supplies and assisting Ananya’s shipwrights assess the Sazanami’s damage. He tilted his head down so his mouth was partially concealed by her arm still over his shoulders. “He’s a damned brat is what he is. What could you have possibly heard about him?”

Ananya raised an eyebrow. “Kid’s, what, 14?”

“Almost 16.” 

“What's the difference?” Ananya snorted. “If what I’ve heard about him and our current commanding officer here have even a fraction of truth, not surprised he’s been difficult. You’re not the talkative type, Jee. Your ‘brat’ probably thinks Zhao assigned you to keep tabs on him.”

Wait, what? Jee thought her choice of words earlier was odd, but there was nothing to misinterpret now. Who assigned Jee and his crew to spy on the prince? Had it not been at the prince’s behest that they got this detail? Before he could ask for more details, one of Ananya’s workers came jogging over. She pulled away from Jee with a strong pat on his back.

“Boss, here’s the report!”

Ananya read it over while Jee’s thoughts spiraled. Was there an actual justification to Prince Zuko’s demeanor? Surely not. 

“Well, good news!” Ananya said, slapping the scroll against Jee’s chest with a wry smile. “Don’t have to worry too much about the prince and Zhao being in the same place for too long. The old girl looks worse than she actually is. If you don’t care about cosmetics, we can get her seaworthy by evening.” 

Jee didn’t know who this Zhao was, but even if rumors were wrong and Prince Zuko had no problems with him, Jee knew the prince would want to be back on open waters as soon as possible.

“Sounds perfect. Prince Zuko will want to leave the second you’re done.”

“Damn, was hoping to get something out of ya over a drink.” Ananya sighed. She gave him one last pat on the shoulder. “Next time, old friend. And try to have an open mind about the prince. From what I’ve heard, really think you’ve just gotten off on the wrong foot.” 

With Ananya back to work, Jee was once more alone in supervising. His crew didn’t need him watching over them, but appearances were important when under a prickly commanding officer. Jee frowned. He did not like the implications of what Ananya said. The Fire Navy gossip mill was slow to reach the southern warfront, so it wasn’t strange Jee hadn’t heard anything about the prince before getting assigned to him. But if there was talk going around with enough traction to actually reach the Last Stop of Civilization… Why hadn’t he or his men heard any of these whispers during their shore leave while in a more central, populated port town?

“Captain!” Chatri, the head helmsman shouted as he ran toward Jee. “I’m sorry. I completely forgot this is Seta’s first time working for someone high profile. I left him alone to catch up with a port friend.”

Jee’s blood ran cold. While not written in any official protocols, it was an unspoken rule to keep quiet until official reports were made. Then you knew whether you were toeing the line of insubordination or not when you gossiped. Seta may have had three years in the navy under his belt, but he’d been under Jee the entire time. He had no reason to learn the ropes of military political games yet.

“How much did he say?”

Chatri winced. “Better question is what didn’t he say.”

Koh’s lair. Jee rubbed his temple where a headache instantly bloomed. “Take over for me, and get a fire under their asses. I’ll wait to intercept Prince Zuko. Hopefully I can calm him down enough that he won’t try to hunt down who talked.”

All too aware of prying eyes, Jee did not break out in a run. He briskly walked away from the dock to the path leading to the officers’ tents. For once, one of Prince Zuko’s outbursts was going to be justified. Before talking with Ananya, Jee wouldn’t have held out on the hope of preventing the prince from going on a rampage against the crew…Now, however, Jee dared to hope he could take the fall and no one else would have to suffer Prince Zuko’s ire.

From the moment Zhao appeared at the docks, something had been off with Zuko. He was always instantly in a bad mood whenever the man was even mentioned, but this wasn’t Zuko trying to control his temper. Iroh was hesitant to say Zuko was acting afraid, but he was certainly more cautious about Zhao than in their past encounters. He stubbornly disengaged from the conversation and wandered aimlessly around Zhao’s office, suspiciously keeping Zhao out of sight.

It wasn’t until Zhao directly addressed Zuko and forced him to interact with him did Iroh start to have an idea of what was going on. Zuko was forcing himself to not react to something, but his tenseness did not line up with his conversation with Zhao. When Zhao stalked up behind Zuko and Zuko immediately tensed despite Zhao’s silent approach, Iroh’s heart dropped.

He closed his eyes and took a deep, centering breath. Once he was aware of the flicker of life within himself, Iroh attempted to spread his awareness beyond his bodily confines. There was the barest tickle warmth from the braziers lining the tent, but Iroh lost the feeling the second he opened his eyes. Iroh knew he would fail, but he had to try nonetheless. 

Zuko’s heatsense technique continued to evade Iroh. He’d never struggled with his firebending before, and it was a challenge to conceal his discontentment with himself from Zuko. But even without a confirmation by his own senses, Iroh knew what had his nephew so on edge.

Once Zuko calmed down from finally losing his temper after Zhao claimed the search for the Avatar for himself, and the guards left them to their temporary prison in private, Iroh raised his suspicions. 

“Prince Zuko, is there anything outside of my scope of senses that I should be aware of?”

Zuko froze, then whipped around to stare at Iroh with wide eyes. After a quick glance over his shoulder, he scowled and plopped down in the chair beside Iroh. He crossed his arms and scrunched his nose in a furious sulk. “It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing you can do about them anyways.”

A chill ran down Iroh’s spine. No matter how he rephrased the question, Zuko refused to say any more about what Iroh knew were spirits. The only thing Iroh managed to confirm was that they were alone, implying the spirits had left with Zhao.

From what felt like a lifetime ago, Iroh remembered the words of a White Lotus bulletin. Back when he’d still been a foolish war-mongerer, Iroh had inquired whether spirits took sides in human affairs. There were varying responses, but the response from the named member, Camellia, haunted Iroh during his spirit journey. Camellia often alluded to the existence of dark spirits that preyed on the victims of the war. In their response to Iroh, they’d all but outright said that only dark spirits would ally with the Fire Nation. 

It had been some time since Iroh thought deeply of Camellia, but he had not forgotten his suspicions of their identity. The timing had been just right, and Camellia was clearly of Fire Nation education but turned away from the nation’s ideals. Now, in the face of dark spirits lurking near his nephew, Iroh had the final piece of the puzzle. General Jeong Jeong had defected after engaging in a fierce battle with his former pupil. A man with a flagrant disregard for human lives who was much too liberal with his use of fire.

Iroh desperately wished he was wrong, but the terror clutching his heart did not allow him to hold on to such a hope. Zhao had dark spirits hiding in his shadows, and if Iroh was correct, they preyed on victims of fire. There was no chance of running away yet, so Iroh sent pleas to more benevolent spirits to help protect his nephew. He was incredibly proud of Zuko for using the knowledge he’d gained through his travels to handle the dark spirits responsibly, but Iroh feared no amount of knowledge could protect Zuko the longer he was exposed to the dark spirits. 

Much too quickly, and yet equally having taken far too long, Zhao returned. He tilted his chin up, looking down on Iroh and Zuko more than he naturally did with his height. Smug satisfaction rolled off him in waves. From Zuko’s sudden rigid stance, Iroh could only assume the dark spirits were just as apparent to Zuko.

“My search party is ready. Once I’m out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you’ll be free to go,” Zhao said.

Zuko scowled but did not move from where he was seated. “Who’s the pathetic one now? Need a head start to win against a teenager?”

“Ha! Hardly. This is for your own safety, so you don’t suffer the consequences of getting in my way.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Zhao.” Zuko twitched, as if he was about to stand and push into Zhao’s space. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest and tilted his chin just as haughtily as Zhao. “I found the spirit library. I’ve traveled the world and seen more than you can imagine. And I’m the one who found the Avatar. So I’ll find him again before you, no matter how much of a head start you give yourself.”

Zuko’s calm confidence caught Zhao off guard. A vein bulged in his forehead as he crossed the room to stand directly over Zuko. Iroh tensed, ready to intervene, but Zhao did not physically lash out. He bent over so his face was level with Zuko’s, smirking at the minute flinch Zuko couldn’t contain. 

“You can’t compete with me,” Zhao said, each word enunciated with precision. “I have hundreds of warships under my command. And you? You’re just a banished prince with a crew ready to sell you out at the earliest opportunity.” 

Zuko leapt up, forcing Zhao to back up or allow Zuko to collide into him. “And whose fault is that?” Zuko shouted.

“Prince Zuko, that’s enough,” Iroh said, standing as well. But Zhao was already grinning like he won.

“You’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re worth anything because you’ve gained the approval of colony scum, the military’s castoffs, and losers who should have died instead of tainting our ranks with their weakness.” 

“Kavi’s not a loser,” Zuko spat out. He clenched his fists and breathed harshly through his nose, but miraculously restrained himself to just that. 

Zhao had no appreciation for Zuko’s restraint. His eyes flashed with gleeful cruelty. “But you haven’t earned the approval of anyone who matters. Do you really think the Fire Lord wouldn’t have allowed you to return, Avatar or no Avatar, if he saw you as anything other than a failure and disgrace to the Fire Nation?”

The temperature in the room rose as Zuko’s breath audibly grew harsher. “You’re. Wrong.”

“Your scar says otherwise.”

Zuko closed the meager distance between them, forcing Zhao to crane his neck down to maintain eye contact. There were no signs of his previous wariness as he shouted, “Maybe you’d like one to match!”

“Is that a challenge?”

“You know what, yeah, it is.” Zuko stepped back and stood straight with an air of confidence. “An Agni Kai, at sunset. When I win, you won’t interfere with my search for the Avatar.”

Zhao scoffed. “Very well, the same applies to you when I win.” He turned to leave, but paused to say over his shoulder with a smirk. “How unfortunate your father won’t be here to watch me scar your other eye. But I suppose your uncle will do.”

Now it was Iroh struggling to contain himself. Oh, his entire body burned to lunge at Zhao for that comment. How dare he even think about laying a hand on his nephew- Who was completely unfazed. Zuko demanded to be permitted to return to the ship to prepare for the Agni Kai, confidence unwavering. It clearly unsettled Zhao and made Iroh feel foolish. Now was not the time to allow Zhao to get under his skin, Zuko needed his support.

They were allowed to finally leave the tent, and did so in silence. Iroh broke it first once they were out of earshot, hoping to get answers about the dark spirits around Zhao. But Zuko stubbornly refused to speak of them and picked up his pace to walk ahead of Iroh. 

Iroh hurried after him to raise his concerns of the Agni Kai but was thwarted in that as well, for Lieutenant Jee stood on the path ahead of them. He was standing in such a way that Iroh suspected he had been there for some time. When he spotted them, Lt Jee stood to attention and addressed Zuko once he neared. 

“Prince Zuko, I take full responsibility for the crew breaking protocol and jeopardizing your quest,” Lt Jee said, dropping into a deep bow. “It was not done maliciously, but we have betrayed your trust nonetheless. I accept any punishment you deem worthy.”

Somehow in the face of dark spirits and the Agni Kai, Iroh forgot about the crew speaking to Zhao’s men. Iroh broke into a light jog to catch up so he could intervene, but Zuko had not come to a complete stop to hear Jee out. He’d slowed enough to listen, then shrugged and kept walking.

“You can’t betray trust I never had,” Zuko called back. “I didn’t have any expectations of you, so there’s no need for any punishment. Uncle, I’m going to prepare in my room.”

Iroh stopped next to Lt Jee, staring at Zuko with a bewildered expression. While Iroh knew his nephew had matured during his banishment, he never expected Zuko to react in such a way to this situation. Melancholy pierced Iroh’s heart. How had he not realized Zuko’s distrust and detachment from their current crew ran this deep?

“Sir,” Lt Jee said, his usual stoicism twisted by a conflicted furrow of his brow. “My men still broke protocol.” 

Iroh sighed wearily. “It seems guilt is the only punishment Prince Zuko has dealt you. I won’t undermine his decision. Please prepare the crew to set sail regardless of what happens this evening…”

As far as firebending ability went, Iroh was confident in Zuko. Where Zhao had power, Zuko had technique and creativity. What concerned him were unseen factors… However there was nothing Iroh could do but fret and oversee preparations to set sail. For all the experience Iroh had with spirits from his search for Lu Ten, he did not understand them the way his nephew did. 

Some of the tension in his heart eased when Zuko stepped out on deck just as the sun began its descent. On his shoulder sat Baijiu, to the confused glances of the crew who had yet to learn of their resident spirit.

“Prince Zuko, I have not seen Baijiu out of your room in some time.”

Zuko shrugged with his free shoulder. “It insisted on coming with me. Probably remembers Captain Asshole- Sorry, Commander Asshole from its time with Koji. Don’t worry, I told it to sit to the side if it wanted to watch me kick his ass so bad. No one will notice it.”

No mortals would, but perhaps its presence would help deter whatever was hiding in Zhao’s shadow from interfering with the fight. Iroh could not help, but his nephew was not alone going into this fight. Baijiu took off with a twitter and Iroh watched it fly with a lighter heart.

This Agni Kai would not break Zuko.

Chapter Text

“Come back little buddy! I promise I’m not gonna let this scary guy eat you!”

“Try and stop me, air boy!”

Aang laughed and knocked Sokka down with an airball. He had no qualms playing dirty, even if he knew Sokka was probably mostly joking to lighten the mood. But if Aang didn’t protest, he wouldn’t put it past Sokka to eat a lemur… So just in case Sokka was completely serious, Aang gleefully cheated in their race.

But why was this the first lemur they’d seen? The only lemur they’d seen. Aang knew the temple would be empty, but he didn’t expect it to be so devoid of life. Why hadn’t lemur packs taken over the place? Where were the sky bison sleeping if not in their cozy shelters in the temple? It was too quiet.

Which was why this lemur’s chattering filled Aang with so much joy, so much hope. They were out there, somewhere in the mountains. And this little guy was adventurous and curious enough to investigate the humans in their territory. 

The lemur leaped off a balcony. It didn’t matter that Aang left his glider behind, he knew this temple like the back of his hand. He didn’t hesitate in using his momentum to send him soaring past the temple’s walls. Cushioning his landings with gentle gusts, Aang jumped from towering rock to towering rock underneath the balcony.

“Hey! No fair!” Sokka yelled after him, and Aang just laughed in response.

Despite losing one pursuer, the lemur didn’t slow down. Aang kept calling out reassurances, but it made sense the lemur wasn’t convinced by his words. They were probably the first humans it had ever interacted with.

The chase led Aang all the way to the outskirts of the temple grounds where the solitary meditation huts lay. The lemur ducked into one, so of course Aang followed. He stepped inside the building cautiously, not wanting to scare the lemur, but also out of respect for the meditation hut.

Weathered cloth still hung from the ceiling, blowing gently in the wind. Aang never spent longer than a day in solitary meditation, but he knew some of the older monks could spend weeks meditating with only the mountain winds as their companion. He walked lightly around the debris. It felt wrong to recklessly run through here as he had been through the rest of the temple.

Aang parted the fabric separating the meditation room from the entryway and froze.

There were firebenders. Dozens of skeletons in rusty, deteriorating Fire Army uniforms. Not the unfamiliar armor Zuko’s men had been wearing, but the armor Aang remembered. He once saw a parade with Kuzon during one of his visits to the Fire Nation. They had marveled at the perfectly in sync soldiers marching together and how their armor shined in the sunlight.

But Gyatso had suddenly pulled Aang away from the parade, and cut their visit short. He never said anything about it but… Had he known? Had there been signs of the coming war that Aang had been too young and too oblivious to see that had led to… this?

This was wrong. Firebenders shouldn’t be here, where monks meditated to reach higher stages of enlightenment. Aang needed to leave, needed to-

His gaze moved from the red adorned corpses to a bright spot of orange against the wall. The firebenders spread out in a semicircle around it.

Aang couldn’t breathe. That was an airbender. An airbender was at the center of this carnage. What did- Oh spirits. The roof was crumbling away and the wall directly behind the airbender was barely standing compared to the rest. The airbender had… No, surely not. But the evidence was right in front of Aang. The airbender must have created a vacuum, must have sucked all the air out of the room and sacrificed themself to take all of these soldiers with them. How could they? Even if it was to protect the temple, to take a life? To take this many lives?

No matter how much Aang wanted to close his eyes, to turn around and leave, his gaze betrayed him and kept looking. So he inevitably noticed the airbender’s prayer beads resting on their skeletal chest.

He knew that mala. Aang spent endless hours staring at the carvings on the large guru bead centered on his mentor’s chest. Every monk carved their own mala. No two were the same. There was no denying the truth.

This was Gyatso.

Gyatso sacrificed himself, sacrificed his beliefs, to defend their home.

Aang’s legs buckled. He dropped to his knees and struggled to fill his lungs. What happened to the other airbenders in the temple? Where were they resting? Had they also stood their ground in the temple and Aang somehow hadn’t found them yet, or were they scattered through the mountains where they desperately tried to fight off the Fire Nation? Because it had to have been desperate. Everyone kept saying there were no airbenders left.

Aang had accepted it. At least, he thought he had. But surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers with Gyatso before him, Aang realized he’d been holding onto the smallest shred of hope that he wasn’t alone. He really was the last. Everyone was dead. Had died a hundred years ago because Aang selfishly ran out in the middle of the night—

It was too much. It hurt. It was unbearable.

Sokka’s voice filtered through the pounding in his ears. When did he catch up? Did it matter? His attempt at comfort was pointless. Nothing would be alright. Aang was alone and it was all his fault. A hand touched his shoulder and something in Aang snapped.

He raised his head from his hands and called to the air around him. How dare these soldiers desecrate Gyatso’s final resting place. How dare they have stepped foot on temple grounds with only thoughts of death and destruction. 

Wind swirled around Aang, lifting him off the ground as Sokka pleaded for him to stop. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t move his head to check on his friend. Sokka’s shout was scared and pained. Was he okay? Aang was still angry, still upset, but he didn’t want to hurt Sokka. He was not choosing to do this. His body was moving on its own—again, just like it did on Zuko’s ship. He couldn’t control it.

Aang rose higher to stare out at the surrounding cliffs. How many other airbenders were out there? Surrounded by their enemies as Gyatso was? If Aang left now, could he find them? Free them from resting with those who killed them and their beliefs?

Another voice joined Sokka’s, pleading for Aang to listen. Katara sounded scared. Was she scared of him? He was angry and upset, but not at her or Sokka. Aang wanted to turn to her, to acknowledge his friends. His body wasn't his to control. What was Katara saying?

A whispered voice fought past the whirling winds in Aang’s mind. Through the wind, and further distorted as it was underwater, Aang could barely make out the words.

Listen to your friends, little brother. Let go of your grief and embrace your love.

It was as if a bubble burst and Aang could hear again.

“You’re not alone, though, Aang!” Katara’s pleas finally reached him. He missed what she said earlier, but it didn’t matter. What she was saying now filled him with warmth and his fingers twitched at his command. “I’m here, Sokka is here! We’re your family now and you don’t have to deal with this alone!”

The violent winds slowed. Aang floated back to the ground, which was now free of red. The soldiers were gone and Aang’s stomach churned at what he just did—because he did that, even if he had no control over it. His feet landed on the ground, where he stood stiff and unable to turn to his friends as they approached him.

“Katara and I aren’t gonna let anything happen to you,” Sokka said from one side. “Promise.”

On Aang’s other side, Katara grabbed his hand and squeezed it in her gloved one. One moment Aang knew this as a distant fact, the next he slammed back into his body. He felt the soft fur of her glove, the pressure of her grip. His limbs had no strength and he collapsed into Katara, who easily caught him and held him like he was someone precious. How Gyatso once held him.

“D-did you really mean it?” Aang gasped, his throat dry and tight. “We’re… We’re family now?”

Sokka joined them on the ground and hugged them both. His embrace was stronger, but no less loving than Katara’s, than Gyatso’s. “Of course she meant it! You became my little brother the day we pulled you out of that iceberg, even if we didn’t realize it at the time.”

It hurt, but it wasn’t unbearable. Tears streamed down Aang’s cheeks. He buried his face in soft parkas and left his grief out. He would let all of it go, would not hold back a single tear, in the arms of family who loved him.

The setting sun cast a golden hue over the training grounds. Four bright bursts of heat blazed from the fires lit at each corner of the wall, which was lined by nosy soldiers hidden from sight. He didn’t care enough to draw attention to their spectators hiding behind the walls. They would only be able to hear the fight, and if things went Zuko’s way, they would be hearing Zhao’s defeat.

A speck of spectral chill sat on the top of the wall, blending in with the arctic winds blowing from the south. Baijiu’s presence was barely detectable. It was still a reassuring presence, no matter how small, when faced with the gaping maw of nothing that almost concealed the human heat tangled in its tendrils. Zuko could feel the dark spirits’ attention on him, even from across the field, searching for any minuscule opening to pounce.

They nearly got the better of him back in Zhao’s tent. Zuko’s scar still tingled with the phantom pain of a dark spirit brushing past it. He wasn’t going to let Zhao intimidate him again. If the dark spirits got close, it would be on Zuko’s terms. He was going to destroy Zhao and find Aang. Those stupid dark spirits would be powerless once he and the Wings ended the war with the Avatar’s help.

“Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko,” Uncle said quietly. Unlike Zhao, who had a retinue of witnesses, Zuko only had Uncle. “With a strong foundation, you cannot lose.”

Zuko kept his head bent in the proper Agni Kai ready position, but glanced up with a small grin. “Kavi said I could kick his ass. I won’t make a liar out of him.”

With Kavi’s confidence in him, with his determination to see the future he and the Wings envisioned, Zuko needed to be strong. He needed to win against anyone who wanted to destroy peace and freedom. This was the first fight and Zuko was not going to cower when this was only the beginning.

Zuko stood and stared at the writhing, smoking fire enveloping Zhao’s body. They could only hurt Zuko as much as he let them. He would not fear them, would not let them have power over him. Zhao was not stronger than him, and neither were the dark spirits. Zuko could defeat them both. He had to.

The gong signalling the start of the Agni Kai echoed through the barren port. Zuko harnessed his determination and took the opening shot, punching a fireball at Zhao, quickly followed by another. Zhao effortlessly sidestepped them. Weak, too weak. That was always Zuko’s problem with his fire. He was always too weak, his rage and anger never burning bright enough.

But this was Zhao. How could Zuko’s hatred not be strong enough? He pulled at his fury for the man who took his crews, meddled with his search, demeaned his friends. But that wasn’t all Zhao did, was it? He was the embodiment of everything wrong with the Fire Nation’s war. He burned allies and enemies alike, reveled in others’ pain, had zero regard for life. Zhao was so vile he’d allowed himself to become a vessel for dark spirits. If Zuko couldn’t harness his hatred and anger into his firebending now against this man, when would he?

Zuko’s next punch sent an inferno of fire at Zhao. Rather than dodge, Zhao met it head on. He dispersed it and smirked, as if Zuko’s fire—Zuko’s rage —was nothing more than a game to him.

With a shout, Zuko kicked a flurry of fire lashes, increasing the strength of each kick until he forced Zhao into a crouch to split the flames with his own fire. The dark spirits danced ominously, uncaring of the heat surrounding their host, focused solely on Zuko.

Distantly, he heard Uncle shouting advice, but he couldn’t hear it over the blood pounding in his ears. Chest heaving from the effort of his opening attack, Zuko gritted his teeth and fought back the chill of despair upon realizing Zhao was unfazed and hadn’t unleashed his own attacks yet. Dammit, this was exactly what his firebending instructors scolded him for. He let his anger control his actions and didn’t think with a cool mind.

Zhao went on the offensive. He advanced with a blazing punch. His fire was unnatural and wrong in Zuko’s heatsense, stabbing the back of his head with an unnerving pain. Dark spirits were intertwined with Zhao’s fire, a smokey absence of heat bundled in flame. There was nothing to do but catch the fireball and disperse it to his sides. Zuko had no time to acknowledge the phantom chill of the spirits on his arms or investigate how he felt them dissipate with Zhao’s fire as they hit the ground. 

The following attack was even hotter, as if to counter the chilled, oozing, spectral smoke coating the flames. Again, Zuko dispersed Zhao’s fire, but the spirits were slower to leave his side. Fear tried to claw its way up his throat, but Zuko resolutely ignored it. The spirits couldn’t hurt him. As long as he didn’t fear them, they couldn’t hurt him. They couldn’t.

A higher concentration of dark spirits filled Zhao’s third assault. Zuko diverted the flames, but the spirits’ icy hot tendrils trailed down his arms before pooling around his feet. His pulse thudded like a drum, drowning out all other sounds on the training field. Were the spirits getting stronger? Could they hurt him? The deserter Jeong Jeong had warned him, warned him that he would be a target to these dark spirits that feasted off the pain and misery of those burned. But- Zuko wasn’t in pain! He wasn’t miserable! He-

Zhao’s fourth fireball knocked Zuko off his feet and sent him skidding across the ground. His arms stung with light, surface burns. The rough, gravelly dirt scraped his back with pricks of pain. His throat seized up. The last time he was on the ground in an Agni Kai arena, he didn’t leave it on his own feet. Smoking flames gathered around his splayed limbs. They didn’t touch him, couldn’t, but they could still smother him. The dark spirits started reaching up and over, cutting him off from the weak heat of the evening air.

No, he couldn’t let them win. Groaning with pained exertion, Zuko pushed himself up and out of the haze of dark spirits’ trying to smother him. A shout came from above. Zhao leaped forward, no longer shrouded in black flames. The spirits were concentrated in Zhao’s fists and lying in wait around Zuko. In the breath it took Zhao to center himself, despair consumed Zuko. He couldn’t win. This was the end. He was a fool to ever think-

A familiar, comforting emptiness landed behind Zuko and spread out. Just as it did in Quiji Forest, Baijiu used its gentle flame to chase away the spirits crowding Zuko.

Fire filled his vision, but Zuko wasn’t afraid.

Zuko spun out of the way and kicked out at Zhao. He felt his kick land, and as he used his momentum to twirl onto his feet, Zhao dropped to the ground. Behind him, he could sense Baijiu’s spirit-chilled gentle flame combating the dark spirits’ tendrils of iced, smokey fire. In front of him, Zhao was a mere man. Not a single spirit danced in his palms or lurked in his shadow.

Right, Uncle said to break his root, didn't he?

The second Zhao pulled himself upright, Zuko advanced. He shot fire from his feet as he slid them forward, not allowing Zhao to properly regain his footing as he retreated. Zhao flailed back as Zuko sent a proper kick at him. He was no longer afraid, no longer angry. Determination fueled Zuko’s fire and it was enough to send Zhao flying back with the next kick. Zhao hit the ground hard and limply rolled several paces away.

Zuko rushed to stand over Zhao, posed for a killing shot. There was no opening for Zhao to make a counter attack. This was Zuko’s win whether he lethally finished the fight or not.

Zhao stared up at him, face twisted in anger to conceal his pain and shame. “Do it!”

It would be so easy. Zuko could get rid of this man, who had been harassing him for years. Zhao wasn’t going to listen to the terms of the Agni Kai either, Zuko had no doubt about that. The man was shameless and had no respect for Zuko. Defeating him wouldn’t change that. Zhao would continue to get in Zuko’s way. If Zuko got rid of him, there would be one less person for the dark spirits to congregate around, one less person to endanger Aang before Zuko could resolve the misunderstanding between them. It would be better for the world if Zuko ended him right here.

But-

Wisps of dark spirits appeared around Zhao’s singed skin. They flickered and puffed with split interest between Zuko and Zhao. Though they did not swarm on Zhao yet, Zuko knew they would turn on their former host without remorse if Zuko released his flames on him.

He wouldn’t do it. He refused to do it. Zuko would not use his fire to contribute to the death and despair of this war, even if it was against his enemies. 

With a shout, Zuko gathered all his rage, all his resentment, and blasted the ground beside Zhao’s head in an inferno of his emotions. A soldier hit the gong, signifying the conclusion of the Agni Kai. There would be no denying Zuko’s victory even without stooping to Zhao’s level.

“That’s it?” Zhao sneered. “Your father raised a coward.”

My father didn’t raise me.

The words came unbidden to his mind, and Zuko almost said them. He tried to shy away from the thought, but it was true, wasn’t it? He was raised by his mother, his instructors, Uncle, his crews. In fact, it was thanks to his crews that he knew a bit of the gossip surrounding Zhao and his rapid rise through the navy’s ranks.

Zuko looked down at Zhao with a smirk. “And Genkei promoted a loser. Hope you gave good enough service to make up for that humiliation.”

Holding back laughter at Zhao’s face going bright red, Zuko turned around to look for Baijiu. He couldn’t feel it anymore, wasn’t sure when it left his range of heatsense. Perhaps its presence weakened from fighting the dark spirits. Zuko looked up at the walls of the training grounds in hopes of spotting the little bird spirit with his sight.

Behind him, Zuko could sense Zhao standing, but disregarded him. What was he going to do, keep lying on the ground with his soldiers watching him? It was only natural for him to stand up.

Uncle ran passed just as Zuko felt the sudden burst of heat from firebending behind him. He didn’t have time to worry about the fire because the empty void of dark spirits gathered for one last assault. Uncle smothered Zhao’s flames but the dark spirits relentlessly surged forward on the remaining sparks. They were surely resentful that this battle had not resulted in a meal.

Zuko had no idea where Baijiu was, but he couldn’t always rely on it. Its gentle flame had obviously worked against the dark spirits, but Zuko couldn’t use the gentle flame yet. Could heat work the same way? Zuko reached out, pulled from the braziers at the corners of the wall, pulled from the dissipating heat of Zhao’s sneak attack, pulled even from his breath puffing out in a steam cloud. He wrapped the heat around him, then pushed it out.

A hot wind surged through the field as Uncle tossed Zhao away. Zuko opened his eyes as he inhaled and realized he couldn’t detect spirits with any of his senses. The dark spirits were nowhere to be found, same as Baijiu. They were gone, but Zuko doubted they were defeated. They were going to gather on Zhao again and continue spreading despair everywhere he went. That bastard!

“Who’s the fucking coward now-” Zuko whipped around, snapping his mouth shut as Uncle caught him with a stern look.

Uncle shook his head dismissively at Zhao. “It is in our lowest moments that our true character shines. Not once since his banishment, no matter what you did to drag him down, has my nephew acted as disgracefully as you have now in your defeat. You should be ashamed of yourself, Commander Zhao.” With a sigh, Uncle folded his hands in his sleeves and turned to leave. “Perhaps there is some merit to the rumors, since you are so undeserving of your rank.”

Zuko bit his lip to hold back a smile and trailed after Uncle. “Do you really mean that, Uncle?”

“Well,” Uncle looked around conspiratorially, then leaned closer with a small grin. “He has been promoted at an unprecedented rate.”

A laugh escaped before Zuko could school his expression. There were still soldiers hiding behind the walls of the training ground. Zhao likely had the reputation of laughing after crushing his opponent in an Agni Kai, but it wasn’t one Zuko wanted. Zuko was content to return to the ship in silence and continue their conversation later, but Uncle spoke up again.

“Has Baijiu flown ahead of us?”

Zuko froze. Had Uncle not seen Baijiu fly down to help in the middle of the Agni Kai? If he hadn’t, then Uncle probably had no idea half the fight had been against dark spirits, not Zhao. Without Baijiu, Zuko might have lost. No, he would have lost. 

He still couldn’t feel any spirits.

The fight felt like a blur, so Zuko couldn’t be certain but… He couldn’t remember sensing Baijiu after he got the upper hand against Zhao. There had been significantly less dark spirits in Zhao’s final, desperate attack. Had Baijiu gotten rid of the rest? What was the cost for such an act? Its physical form was relatively new and it was still a young spirit in the grand scale of the spirit world.

Zuko’s vision blurred. His gaze darted up into the last rays of sunlight breaking past the horizon. He blinked wetness away. Baijiu wasn’t here to fuss over him, and Zuko wasn’t going to honor its bravery and friendship with tears. Zuko didn’t know enough about spirits to know what happened between Baijiu and the dark spirits, but he did know one thing for certain.

Spirits existed and grew due to human belief.

“Yeah, Baijiu’s flown ahead,” Zuko said around the lump in his throat. He smiled and hoped Baijiu could feel his gratitude and love, wherever it was.

La give him strength, Sokka’s arms were killing him! He desperately needed some meat or else he was going to shrivel up and perish. Weird flour dumplings and lemur procured fruit weren’t enough to counter the hard labor of making said weird flour and holding out against Avatar state-grade winds. (Not that he was about to complain about the latter, Aang already felt guilty without a reminder of what happened the day before.)

“So, off to the North Pole now?” Katara asked gently, pulling Aang’s attention away from the Air Temple dwindling in the distance.

They set off first thing this morning and the rising sun cast an ethereal glow over the abandoned temple. If they hadn’t found Gyatso’s body and evidence of the battle that took place a century ago, it would be so easy to believe the temple was an untouched relic of the past.

“Yeah!” Aang smiled and jerkily turned away from the sight of his home. In a blink, it disappeared behind the surrounding mountains.

Once he stopped crying after coming out of the Avatar state, Aang had been scarily fast to bounce back. He started regaling them with stories of Gyatso with seemingly effortless cheer as they finished preparing the barley flour. Sokka had a hard time believing he was as fine as he was acting, but neither he nor Katara called him out on it. Honestly, Sokka never wanted to see the kid cry like that again.

“Well, the North Pole isn’t going anywhere,” Sokka said, trailing off at the end of his sentence as he doubted himself. Was he really about to suggest this? But, ugh, Aang was looking at him with his big, wide shining eyes as if he knew Sokka was going to suggest something irresponsibly carefree. “What if… on the way, we make a few stops?”

Katara regarded him with a confused purse of her lips. “Well, of course we’re going to need to stop for supplies sooner than later, not to mention we need to give Appa breaks…”

“Yeah, but that’s not the kind of stop I’m thinking of.” Sokka pushed past his hesitation. “Aang, do you remember those hog monkeys you were telling us about last night?”

Aang’s smile was blinding in the morning sun. “Do I ever!”

Without any further prompting, Aang whipped out their map and started energetically pointing out the locations of his and Gyatso’s ridiculous mission to ride as many animals as they could in a month. Katara was smiling at Sokka like she was holding herself back from saying something sappy. This was so embarrassing.

Sokka coughed to cut off Aang’s rambling. “I thought it’d be nice to get to know Gyatso better by revisiting some of those places, and then, well, we could make new memories too, y’know?”

“That’s a great idea, Sokka!” Aang cheered, launching himself at Sokka to hug him.

Allowing the hug for an appropriate two seconds, Sokka then tried to push Aang off. So of course Aang had to cling tighter like a little shit. He squeezed the air out of Sokka with his stupid flour-grinding muscles. This was unfair!

Katara clapped her hands together, uncaring of Sokka’s plight. “We should plan to visit Aunt Atka too so Aang can meet her!”

Sokka gave up trying to shove Aang away and his breath hitched for a different reason. “Maybe she can tell us where Dad is, and we can introduce you to him too, Aang!”

“I’d love that,” Aang said, the words muffled by Sokka’s parka as Aang buried his face in it.

Taking pity on him, Sokka patted him on the head and shared a smile with Katara. “Cool, so quick family trip on the way to the North Pole. It should be smooth flying all the way since no one other than Prince Zuko knows about your return. And you said it seems like he wants you for himself, right?”

Aang pulled back and scrunched his face with a conflicted expression, one he always wore whenever Zuko came up in conversation. “Yeah… Something like that. Anyways, you’re probably right. No one else knows the Avatar is back, so let’s have as much fun as we can before they do!”

The scent of ink and parchment replaced salt and steel. It was a nostalgic smell, one that reminded Kavi of his uncle’s office, of practicing calligraphy under his uncle's attentive gaze. Memories of his family, however, only made Kavi melancholy and bitter. There were days when Kavi resented the little calligraphy shop he set up as the Wings’ contact point between their military members, deserter and civilian members, and their increasing number of foreign allies. Of all the shops he had to choose, did he have to open one that put him so out of sorts?

Not that he had that much of a choice considering his partner upon leaving the military. They had woefully underutilized Amphon’s forgery skills during their stint on the Sazanami, so Jae made quick work in getting both her and Kavi out of the military. While Kavi ran the information and communication side of their cover shop, Amphon used their shop's supplies to forge an absurd amount of documents for the Wings. Things were moving fast, and it was going smoother than ever thanks to Amphon.

As long as everything continued going according to plan, they should be able to extract Zuko from the South Pole in the following month. The rumors they started spreading about Zuko caught like wildfire within the military ranks. It was equally more dangerous and safer for Zuko to return now. With the spread of the rumors and the vocal support for their banished prince from the lower ranks, there was actual evidence the higher ups could use to support the idea Zuko was building political power. But at the same time, with the widespread awareness of Zuko’s situation and his growing popularity, there was a greater chance of the public speaking out and protesting unfair actions against Zuko.

The next step was pushing Zuko’s narrative domestically. Their test campaign in Yu Dao was incredibly successful and was something of a happy accident. Through family members of Zuko’s previous crewmates, they organically garnered positive public opinion which also led to a good number of Wing recruits. They were going to follow the same idea in the nationwide campaign. Thanks to Zhao messing with the Sazanami’s crews, they had double the family and friends to work with. (Kavi resolutely did not think of his own remaining family when these plans came up.)

Kavi set aside the reports he was reading to rub his temples. He felt like he had a perpetual headache since setting up the shop. Desk work was never the life he was supposed to have, but unfortunately it seemed to be his fate for the time being. 

His health backsliding certainly wasn't helping his headache. Pushing himself while on the Sazanami finally caught up with him not long after settling in this small port town and he was stuck using a cane again. It wasn’t the shop's fault, just his own stupid arrogance, but it still contributed to his occasional resentment of his new post. At least his partner was Amphon, who was much too kind and patient about Kavi’s mood swings. 

Speaking of Amphon, she was taking longer than usual to grab their lunch. Kavi doubted she ran into any trouble—it was more likely she got distracted and lost track of time. Perhaps he should close up and try to intercept her on the way to the tea shop.

The only other bright spot to Kavi’s days of paperwork was found in the nondescript tea shop at the edge of town. Jae had tossed him Iroh’s stupid White Lotus tile and told him to have fun with it. And, oh, had Kavi ever been having fun tag teaming with Hydrangea to rile up the order’s decrepit, immobile members. Honestly, Kavi was beginning to feel a little offended that King Bumi hadn’t granted him his own name yet.

It was too soon for the next bulletin to be out, but now that Kavi was thinking about it, he couldn’t sit a moment longer at his desk. At the very least, a walk along the pier and breathing in some salty ocean air would clear his head before getting back to work.

Before he could act on the thought, Amphon burst through the shop’s front door, gasping to catch her breath.

“Woah, what’s wrong?” Kavi leaped out from behind his desk to guide Amphon to a chair. “Are you okay?”

Amphon waved off his help, supporting herself against the door frame. “I’m fine! But there’s talk in town, Kavi! The nearby temples. They lit up!”

“What? The Army targeted them? Why would they-”

“No! The Avatar iconography lit up!” Amphon counted out on her fingers. “Statues, murals, shrines, anything dedicated to an Avatar, they all just lit up! People are saying the Avatar is back!”

There was that headache again. Kavi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit.”

Amphon stared at him with wide, concerned eyes. “I mean, it’s not necessarily true and-”

“The Avatar was last known to be in the South Pole. And where did we send Zuko? By himself? I honestly shouldn’t be surprised.”

“We still don’t know that Zuko is involved,” Amphon said meekly.

Kavi leveled her with an unimpressed look. “Don’t waste your time hoping. If he wasn’t, he will be. Go ready the hawks, I have a lot of letters to send out.”

If the real Avatar was back, they would need to bump up their timeline for revealing Zuko’s identity to their foreign allies. Who knew what sort of crazy alternatives they would come up with when they learned the Avatar wasn’t Huizhong the scholar.

Chapter Text

“Alright! Last stop, elephant koi!” Aang leaped off Appa, thrumming with excitement. “You guys are gonna love this one!”

Sokka slid off, landing in a crouch before standing and leaning against Appa in an attempt to look aloof. “On a scale of hopping llamas to hog monkeys, how much do they want to be ridden?”

“I’m not too sure!” Aang laughed as he sent a gust of air to cushion Katara’s fearless leap out of the saddle. “I haven’t ridden them yet. Gyatso said I needed to wait until I was older to try the elephant koi. And, well, I’m older now, right?”

Katara eyed the bay they landed next to warily. “I think maybe we’ll let you try this one first before we join you…”

Aang did his best to contain a sigh, then turned to Sokka with wide eyes, “Sokka?”

“No way.” Sokka crossed his arms in an X. “I’m with Katara on this one. I should have listened to her about the hog monkeys. My butt is still bruised!”

“Oh, you’re right!” Katara leaned over to get a good look at Sokka’s bruise through the hole in his pants. She rested her cheek against her hand as she sarcastically bemoaned, “But, Sokka! You’re such a big, strong man. Surely you can take on the elephant koi like you did the hog monkeys.”

The last thing Aang wanted was for them to get this argument started up again. Earlier, they both got mad at him when he offered to fix Sokka’s pants in Katara’s stead. He could understand why Katara yelled at him, since his offer saved Sokka from his punishment for being rude and pissing her off. But why did Sokka get mad?! How was Aang explaining that all Air Nomads learned basic household tasks betraying their brotherhood?

Thankfully, an elephant koi breached the bay before the siblings’ squabbling could start again.

“Look!” Aang cheered, pointing as if they wouldn’t have noticed the fish as big as Appa. “There they are! Watch carefully, you'll see. You’re gonna want to join me in no time!”

Without waiting for a response, Aang ran toward the water, stripping as he went. As soon as he dove under the waves, Aang leaped back out with a shriek. The water was freezing , but that wasn’t about to deter him from his mission! Especially since this was turning out to be way easier than he feared.

Aang had been worried about this stop, which was why he left it for last, just in case it was a bust. He vaguely remembered the steps Gyatso said he needed to take to ride the koi, as in, Aang remembered there were steps. As to what they were? Well, Aang had been hoping that being in the area would jog the memory. 

Instead, the elephant koi came without any work whatsoever! Today was Aang’s lucky day! Or maybe there was some other creature that had a bunch of steps to ride because it was super easy to swim up to the koi and grab hold of its dorsal fin.

The elephant koi breached again, this time with Aang along for the ride. The muffled rush of water broke to the roar of whipping winds and distant gulls. Aang held on with one hand to turn to the shore and wave. Katara waved back cheering and Momo mimicked her by her feet while Sokka stood with his arms crossed, probably still unconvinced of how fun this was. 

Since there was no way to control the elephant koi, Aang was soon under the water again. The koi gained speed in its domain and Aang had to cling tight so he didn't get knocked off. They shot up into the air again, buffeting winds as strong as the water currents. This was way better than windsurfing!

Aang glanced back to shore, then frowned. Katara wasn’t there anymore. She should be watching so she’d get jealous and decide to join him. Aang was certain that she’d love this as much as he did. It had nothing to do with her being a waterbender, but because she was way more adventurous than Sokka. Even if neither of them were willing to admit it.

Suddenly, Sokka started shouting and Katara came running back. Momo flew haphazard circles around their heads as they both waved and yelled at him, but crashing water and whistling winds made it impossible to make out what they were saying. Aang grinned and waved back. Whatever they were saying didn’t matter. Sokka called Katara back for him! Maybe Aang should ask him more about this brotherhood thing…

The fish he was riding suddenly jerked out from under his feet. Aang went flying, and not the fun, purposeful kind of flying. His limbs flailed helplessly and he couldn’t get his wits about him fast enough to airbend. Aang crashed back into the bay. He had a moment of disorientation, a moment where the cold water made his chest tighten and heart thud. The water wasn’t even that cold! Mentally kicking himself, Aang swam back to the surface with a gasping breath. See, he told the seed of panic, everything was fine!

As a shadow cast over him, Gyatso’s words played in his mind.

“The tricky thing about riding elephant koi is luring them into the bay without alerting the giant unagi that lives in the area.”

Aang slowly turned around. Looming over him was a giant dorsal fin. 

“AAAHH!!!!”

The breeze quickly answered Aang’s call as he leaped out of the water. Whispers of wind swirled underfoot as he ran on the water’s surface away from the unagi. He could hear the water parting behind him, but refused to look back to see how close it was. 

When running this fast with the wind’s assistance, stopping was no easy job. “Sorry, Sokka!” Aang yelled as he rammed into him, sending both of them flying back to the tree line.

Silence settled over them. Aang went limp against Sokka, letting out a heavy, relieved sigh. Momo chattered with concern as he landed next to them. Sokka groaned and dropped his head back against the tree they slammed into.

“I hate you so much right now.”

“What was that?” Katara exclaimed as she ran over to them.

Aang shuddered as he pushed himself off Sokka, swirling air around both of them to dry off. “Pretty sure that’s the reason why Gyatso said I should wait ‘til I’m older.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Wow, who would have guessed?” Using the tree to support himself, Sokka gingerly stood while rubbing his bottom. “I think you just gave my bruise a bruise.”

“Sorry!”

Aang started getting dressed, an offer to fix Sokka’s pants behind Katara’s back on the tip of his tongue. But as he was pulling his shirt on, someone grabbed him from behind and pulled the fabric tight around his face. There were echoing exclamations of surprise and fear from Katara, Sokka, and even Momo. 

Next thing Aang knew, he was bound, blindfolded, and dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. At least he wasn’t knocked out again?

“Cowards! Jumping us when our guard was down!” Sokka shouted, right next to Aang’s ear, obviously caught too. 

“Shut up unless you want to be gagged,” a feminine voice said, ruling out the possibility that Zuko had caught up with them. 

They were hauled onto their feet, then shoved forward to walk on their own. A couple of times, they tried to question their captors, but quickly shut up when threatened again with being gagged. The blindfold was itchy; Aang really didn’t want to find out how the fabric tasted. Finally, their trek ended when they were tied to what felt wide and solid enough to be a tree trunk, but it was much too smooth.

“What do you want with our island?” An older, masculine voice demanded.

The same voice to threaten them earlier added, “And don’t even think about lying, or we’ll throw you back in with the unagi.”

Sokka struggled against their bindings, pulling it tighter around them. “Why should we say anything to a bunch of cowards who won’t show themselves?!”

Someone roughly pulled the blindfold from Aang’s face. He blinked hard against the sudden brightness. Once his eyes adjusted, he first spotted Momo tied up in a bag at their feet. His sigh of relief caught in his throat as he goggled at the crowd surrounding them. There were a handful of older folks flanked by a group of uniformed women. Something about their facepaint tickled Aang’s memory, but he wasn’t sure where he recognized it from.

“Huh?” Sokka exclaimed. “Who are all of you? Where are the men who ambushed us?”

The warrior in line with the elders stepped forward and Aang realized she was around their age. Though her facepaint obscured her expression some, her disdain toward Sokka was all too clear as she spoke. “There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?”

Aang wracked his brain for what Gyatso said about the elephant koi. Surely dealing with the island’s inhabitants was part of the process! Sokka opened his big mouth before Aang could remember.

“Now hold up, there’s no way a bunch of girls took us down!”

“That’s rich coming from you,” the warrior said, stepping closer to grab the collar of Sokka’s parka. His eyes grew wide. Instead of punching him, which Aang totally expected her to do, she drew a fan from her belt and reached down between Aang and Sokka to poke the hole in Sokka’s pants, right where his purpling bruise was visible from the side. He yelped as she smirked. “You couldn’t even handle some hog monkeys.”

“You were spying on us!” Sokka shrieked as one of the elders called out in a scolding tone, “Captain Suki.”

“Of course we were spying on you.” Rolling her eyes where only they could see it, Suki stepped back and returned her fan to her belt. A squad of uniformed female warriors who had fans—it was so distinct, so why couldn’t Aang remember why it felt familiar? “Do you have any idea how strange a group you are? Two of you dressed like Water Tribe, a boy riding the elephant koi , all flown in on some massive beast! Now, who are you and what do you want?”

Katara spoke up, shouldering Sokka before he could. “We’re really sorry for coming here without permission. We just stopped by to see the elephant koi and will continue on our way. We mean no harm!”

“A likely story,” an elder said suspiciously. “But you can just as likely be Fire Nation spies.”

“Fire Nation spies?!” All three of them shouted in disbelief.

“That’s ridiculous!” Sokka exclaimed, wiggling like he wanted to spread his arms to gesture at them. It only managed to make the ropes pinch and make Aang lose the thread of memory he almost had. “Look at us! We’re obviously not Fire Nation.”

“And yet, you don’t seem to recognize us, for all you claim to be Water Tribe,” Suki snapped, eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.

“Why would I recognize a bunch of girls playing warrio-OW. Katara!”

“I apologize for my idiot brother. He’s still learning his manners,” Katara said sweetly. “What he means to say is that we’re Katara and Sokka of the Tagiuk Tribe. If you’re familiar with the Southern Tribes, then you’d know we’re the southernmost one. So we’ve never met anyone besides our neighbors.”

Suki frowned and looked back at her elders. “Do we not have any warriors with the Tagiuk?”

“I don’t believe any are stationed with them. They might not have revealed their identities when accompanying supply drops…”

“What are you-” Katara started to say, but her question was cut off by Aang’s shout.

“I remember now! You’re Kyoshi Warriors!”

How could he have forgotten? Mikak had tons of stories about visiting Kyoshi Island on her trade routes! The facepaint, the fans, the all-female warriors—Mikak had been completely enamored by them! That had been part of Gyatso’s warning about riding the elephant koi, too. He was supposed to get permission from the Kyoshi Island elders first, and then they’d help divert the unagi’s attention to make riding safe and fun.

All attention was on Aang, and he had a feeling they’d kind of forgotten about him. Suki glared at him, and as if reading his thoughts, said, “Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you , stranger. These two have plausible stories. Who are you supposed to be?”

“Oh! Hi, I’m Aang!” 

Everyone kept staring at him, and Sokka grumbled under his breath, “Forgetting an important detail there, buddy?”

“Right, right. And I’m the Avatar!”

“Throw the imposter to the unagi!” One of the elders shouted. He was silenced by the elbow of another elder, who stepped forward with her arms crossed.

“We’ve already heard reports of a possible Avatar. And he was a boy named Hui, not Aang,” she said.

“Wait, wait, wait, Hui ?! Short for Huizhong? Claimed to be a scholar researching the Avatar? Has a big nasty scar on his face?” Sokka squirmed again, arms straining against the rope. “He’s not the Avatar! He’s the Fire Prince!”

The elder rubbed her temples, then turned to Suki with a sigh. “Untie our visitors. This seems like it will be a long conversation, and I’d rather have it inside.”

“That seems risky, Elder Susupo,” Suki said, nose scrunched with scorn, unsurprisingly directed specifically at Sokka.

“Aang, some airbending might help right about now,” Katara hissed.

“Oh! Good idea!” All of Sokka’s squirming might have hurt in the moment, but it did help loosen their bindings some. So it wasn’t too much effort to take a deep breath and blow himself up and out of the ropes. 

As Aang floated back to the ground with a wide smile, the Kyoshi Warriors and elders stared up at him in shock and awe.

“I think you’re right,” Suki said quietly. “This is going to be a long conversation.”

Though young and inexperienced, Suki was still a captain of a squad. As a captain, no matter her age or experience, Suki had been told the hidden histories of Kyoshi Island that were reserved for captains and elders. She’d felt strange upon receiving her secret education with her vice captain, Uari. When her mother supported that unease and encouraged Suki to disregard the tradition of secrecy, as she was starting to with her squad, Suki’s relief had been overwhelming.

The reason the revolutionary Captain Rera suddenly questioned something she had overlooked for so many years? A boy by the name of Huizhong.

Mom hadn’t written much about him, but what she did write made it obvious she respected Huizhong as a scholar and possible ally. However, in the same letter, she directed Suki to the story of the False Avatar from Kyoshi’s beginnings as an important starting point to break the silence on Kyoshi Island’s secrets.

Suki, of course, took her mother’s warning to heart. The problem, though, was that Suki didn’t read Mom’s letter until after the council meeting where Tapeesa and the Fire Nation anti-war group explained how the Wings and Southern Water Tribes came to work together. Which, again, was thanks to the scholar boy, Huizhong. The scholar boy who Tapeesa very obviously thought was the Avatar. 

She never said it outright in the meeting, since Fox or Byeol-ha shut her down or changed the topic whenever she tried. Even so, she talked around it enough that they might as well have let her share how the Southern Water Tribe believed Hui was the Avatar. By the time Suki got around to reading Mom’s letter, Tapeesa had already pulled Suki aside to lay out her rather compelling theory of Hui being the Avatar. Fox and Byeol-ha’s reticence on the topic was only more proof to her, since they were clearly hiding something from her.

Ultimately, whether Hui was the Avatar or not didn’t make much of a difference in the face of his and his resistance group’s goals. Not only did they want to end the war, but they wanted to make the world safe for airbending again—to bring airbending back . Through the mixed bending practices Suki had only just learned about, Hui and his Wings hoped to achieve what should have been the impossible. 

It was that impossible goal, not the possibility of the Avatar’s return, which eventually led the council to agreeing to the alliance proposed by Fox and Tapeesa on behalf of their leaders. 

Since then, there had been a lot of coordination and discussions between the three allies. The rest of the senior squads were sent out abroad while Suki and her squad were left in charge of the island’s security. It was a daunting responsibility, but the Wings assured the senior warriors that their intelligence network would catch word of the Fire Nation turning its eyes on the island in time for back-up to arrive. 

In all those discussions, there was no mention of Hui and what he was up to. It was almost as if Hui had gone off the radar during those months. Suki tried really hard to heed her mother’s warnings, but she couldn’t help but suspect there was no word of Hui because he was training. So when Kyoshi’s statue lit up a week ago, Suki figured it was Hui finally coming into his Avatar powers.

Instead, a pair of sheltered Water Tribe siblings showed up claiming they were with the actual Avatar and that Hui was a Fire Nation prince. 

Once ushered into the council hall and warmed up with proper hospitality from the elders, Aang, Katara, and Sokka shared their story. Trapped in an iceberg for a century? It was a fanciful tale, but not unbelievable. It was their recounting of meeting Hui, who allegedly was really Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, that had Suki brimming with questions. 

Aang kept trying to defend the prince, insisting that maybe everything was just a misunderstanding. Katara and Sokka were resolute that Aang had been thoroughly duped by Prince Zuko’s act. Although the siblings were ignorant of the Water Tribe’s recent alliances, they weren’t naive , as Aang seemed to be. So Suki had to put a little more weight to their assessment of the encounter.

Which she really didn’t want to do. If Hui had been fake this entire time, she struggled to fathom the ramifications to the alliance and the war effort.

Their visitors concluded their story with Aang going into an emotional trance that could only be described as the Avatar state, which occurred on the exact day Kyoshi’s statue lit up. Regardless of anything else they said, there was no denying that Aang was the Avatar.

The elders started talking in circles about the very ramifications Suki didn’t want to consider. Ignoring them, Suki raised her first question.

“Did Prince Zuko say anything about bringing airbending back?”

Aang perked up from where he was starting to sulk after his opinion was thoroughly ignored. “No? What? How would someone do that?!”

Suki didn’t answer his question, instead continued with her own. “And he didn’t mention anything about his alliance with the Water Tribes?”

“Wait, he tricked our people too?!” Sokka interjected, horrified.

“No, he didn’t say anything about any alliances,” Aang said reluctantly.

Suki nodded. “So then I’m assuming he definitely didn’t say anything about the resistance group, the Wings.”

“To be fair, we didn’t have that much time to talk…”

The elders were quieting down to listen to Suki’s line of questioning.

“And he didn’t say anything about Yangchen to you two?” Suki directed at the siblings.

Katara shook her head. “Not a word!”

Sokka leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table with his eyes narrowed in thought. “Have you ever met this ‘Hui’ before?”

Suki raised an eyebrow as she appraised him. Although he had been insanely rude earlier, it seemed he wasn’t a complete idiot. “None of us here personally have. However, another warrior squad spent a week in his company, and your people have known him for a couple of years.”

“Do you know who he’s met from the Water Tribes?”

An elder eagerly supplied, “He’s met both the leader of the spies and the fleet leader.”

Both siblings gasped and exclaimed, “Aunt Atka? And Dad ?!”

“Wow!” Aang laughed awkwardly. “You guys didn't tell me your family is in charge of stuff.”

The council looked ready to stumble over themselves apologizing for the rough treatment their ally’s children were put through. Suki rolled her eyes. There were more pressing matters at hand.

“Then you two would know best, having met both Prince Zuko and being close to the Water Tribe leaders. Would they be tricked by his act?”

“No way,” Sokka said at the same time as Katara’s, “Absolutely not.”

Aang fidgeted with the lemur in his lap, moving its arms around mindlessly, a hint of desperation in his voice, “But I don’t necessarily think Zuko was acting -”

“My last question,” Suki ruthlessly cut him off. “Was Prince Zuko an airbender?”

The trio’s jaws dropped.

“Of course not!” Sokka exclaimed. “He’s a firebender, obviously!”

“Well, I never saw-”

“He breathed flames at me when I was grabbing your staff on his ship, Aang. So, yeah, he’s a firebender.”

Aang frowned. “Well, it was weird firebending. And, he never directly attacked any of us! So-”

“Hui had been spotted airbending by multiple sources,” Suki said, cutting him off again. Aang snapped his mouth shut and stared at her with wide eyes. He was a sweet kid, but he was letting his kindness delude him to reality.

Katara knitted her eyebrows together. “Wait, are you saying Zuko was pretending to be a real person ?”

Sokka slammed his hands on the table before Suki could respond. “Wait! When Zuko was pretending to be Hui, he said he was researching the Avatar. Is that what Hui was really researching?”

Some of the elders gasped, finally catching on to what Suki was leading up to thanks to Sokka’s question. How unfortunate that someone so stupid could be so smart. 

Suki solemnly held Sokka’s gaze. “I’d say Hui is the leading Avatar expert these days. Focusing on the previous Air Avatar, the one you stole the memoirs of.”

“Tui and La,” Sokka groaned, dropping back on his cushion as he dragged a hand down his face. “Aang isn’t the first person Zuko’s kidnapped.”

Chapter Text

Yesterday had been pretty overwhelming. Aang was almost eaten by a sea monster, they were ambushed by the locals, and then they were treated like honored guests as the Kyoshi Island council revealed that Katara and Sokka actually knew nothing about the war.

Katara hadn’t felt like such a child in years. Why had Grangran kept them in the dark of all the recent developments? They had allies—allies who had been living with the other tribes for almost an entire year! But the Kyoshi Warriors weren’t even their first formal allies, no, that honor went to a Fire Nation group.

The abject horror Katara felt about the fact was, perhaps, part of the reason Grangran hadn’t told them. Katara was mature enough to acknowledge that she would not have handled the revelation well. Honestly, the only reason she probably wasn’t more upset by the idea now was due to how overwhelmed by everything she was.

Sokka was handling yesterday’s events far worse than her. Not only was he reeling from the new information, but his pride was wounded on top of it all. He’d been overpowered by ‘a bunch of girls’ and then had been told that his role as the villager’s protector had essentially been a lie. Grangran hadn’t trusted him with vital information of their allies, nor how the undercover Kyoshi Warriors were the true final defense of Wolf Cove.

From how the council had spoken, it sounded like the only reason Zuko showed up on their shores unannounced was because his warship stayed on open water, far from any of the tribes. If there’d been even a glimpse of his ship heading toward Wolf Cove, back-up would have been posted in the village.

Ever since Dad left, Katara and Sokka felt like they were proper adults. Instead, they’d been treated like children without even realizing it.

So Sokka stormed off first thing this morning, probably to make an ass out of himself trying to soothe his pride. Suki was definitely going to bruise it more, Katara had no doubt about that. Katara almost felt bad for her brother, but he had what was coming for him if he kept up his stupid, macho man sexist act.

Meanwhile, Aang ran off to… act like a child. 

For all that he tried to back her up the other day by explaining how the Air Nomads equally divided labor and there was no such thing as ‘women’s work,’ he seemed to have no problem leaving Katara to handle all the chores necessary to continue their journey.

Whatever, it wasn’t exactly something new, doing chores by herself because Sokka thought ‘warrior practice’ was more important. It did sting a little that Aang was off playing instead, but Katara was doing her best not to think too deeply about it. They would be leaving soon and neither of them would be able to shirk chores during their travels.

The plan to ignore her annoyance with Aang lasted until she caught sight of him admiring Kyoshi’s statue with a gaggle of children. Katara gritted her teeth and focused on the produce selection available to them. This was no different than when Aang played around with the kids back home. Sure, he had actual responsibilities now, but she really shouldn’t be surprised. Of course he was going to choose to play instead of work when given the choice. Katara should have asked him more directly to help and not have expected him to volunteer of his own accord. Even if he really should have.

“Hey, Katara!” Crap, Aang noticed her and came running over with a big, carefree smile. “Wanna come play with us?”

Patient, be patient, Katara chanted even as she huffed and pointedly put food in her basket. “A little busy right now, Aang. You could help, you know.”

“Help with what?” Aang cocked his head, staring at the food stall as if the answer wasn’t obvious.

“Making preparations for when we leave? We’ve been living off tsampa all week and we’re running low, remember?”

Aang propped his hands on his hips. “Well, yeah, but you can just do that tomorrow, or whenever! C’mon, I promised everyone a ride on Appa. Join us!”

Nevermind that Katara had practically been living on Appa and a ride held no appeal to her, there were more pressing reasons to turn him down. “We really shouldn’t stay too long, Aang. You heard the council last night. Kyoshi Island is trying to stay off the Fire Nation’s radar. Hosting the Avatar won’t exactly help them.”

“Oh come on, one extra day to relax won’t hurt anyone!” Aang puffed his cheeks out in a pout. “We need a break after all that serious talk yesterday! Come play!”

Honestly, it would be nice to destress after yesterday’s conversation. But how could she possibly relax when everything they learned made their journey all the more time sensitive? Between this new alliance and Aang’s return, there was actually a good chance of ending the war!

Katara glanced behind Aang at the bright-eyed, carefree kids growing restless the longer Aang spoke with her. Even though some of the girls had started their Warrior training, they weren’t actually part of the war yet. Aang didn’t have that luxury.

“We’ve been relaxing and playing all week with our little field trips,” Katara said softly. “It wouldn’t hurt to be a little more serious, Aang.”

She was trying to be considerate, but Aang had to go and ruin it.

“Jeez, way to sound like Sokka,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Quit letting your jealousy hold you back!”

“Excuse you!?”

“Well, yeah! You clearly want to come play with us but feel like you can’t, so you’re jealous! Just let it go and do what you want!”

“I’m not jealous! Just- ugh! Go play! I have important things to do!” Katara swung the basket around, making sure to bump Aang with it, and stomped away. He called after her, but Katara ignored him, as she should have done to begin with.

How dare he!

But, even worse, if Katara was completely honest with herself… He was right. She was jealous, just not for the reasons he thought. It wasn’t that she wanted to play around, but she wished she could be as carefree as Aang and those children. Even if she and Sokka hadn't been treated as adults back home, they still hadn't been children. The war had always been at the front of their mind.

The children of Kyoshi Island had an excuse. They were young. But this wasn’t a case of Aang’s age. She and Sokka certainly weren’t so irresponsible when they were that old. Was it due to growing up without a war looming over his head? Despite accepting the fate of his people, Aang seemed to keep forgetting that there was danger waiting for him out there. 

Katara wished it was possible for her to forget about the war and all it had taken from her.

Back in their room, Katara only just set down the supplies when someone knocked on the door. She opened it to one of the elders, a woman who reminded Katara a lot of Grangran.

“Ah, Katara, are you the only one here at the moment? Do you have some time?” At Katara’s begrudging nod, Elder Susupo smiled and ushered her out. “There’s some things we want to go over with you to help your journey.”

That would be something great to do as a group, but fine, Katara could relay the information. She followed Elder Susupo out, then gasped as she remembered a thought she had before falling asleep. “Actually, while we’re at it, there’s something I wanted to ask you about the Avatar!”

Elder Susupo grinned. “I believe you know him better than us.”

“Not about Aang-” Katara blushed, realizing she was being teased. “You know what I mean. Aang doesn’t know much about being the Avatar, so I was hoping you or the other elders knew some things from Avatar Kyoshi that could help him.”

Thankfully, Elder Susupo did not point out that Aang wasn’t there to ask such questions. It’d probably send Katara into a rant. Instead, she smiled and led Katara into the council hall, where the rest of the elders and snacks were waiting. Well, at least Katara got to eat more of these delicious treats than Sokka and Aang.

Given the floor to ask her questions first, Katara explained what happened in the Air Temple Sanctuary when Aang tried to contact Roku. Unfortunately, the elders didn’t have an immediate answer as to why Aang had such a strange, severe reaction. 

“It’s said that Kyoshi struggled to make contact with her predecessor in the beginning,” one elder mused. “But I believe the circumstances were different.”

“She had little respect for Kuruk initially,” another elder agreed. “Which hindered making a connection to communicate.”

Katara nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s the problem here. Aang said his mentor was friends with the previous Avatar. It seemed like Aang had a lot of respect for him.”

The elders talked in circles until one raised his voice, “It’s possible there’s a different emotional block, then, similar to Kuruk’s problem.”

As to what Kuruk’s problem was, Katara didn’t have a chance to ask because they all burst into another round of talking in circles. It was hard to keep up, so Katara turned her attention to her snacks.

“I don’t think an emotional block would have caused such a severe reaction as Katara described,” someone said, cutting through all the side conversations and theorizing. “Surely nothing at all would have happened. You said he turned cold?” Katara nodded. “Perhaps it has something to do with him being frozen for so long.”

Katara spoke up before they got caught up discussing ideas again. “Like the connection got frozen maybe? So what can we do to help him talk to Roku?”

“Maybe time will help thaw the connection. Or going somewhere with stronger ties to Roku…” The elder trailed off and coughed awkwardly. “Which would be difficult.”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t give you a more definitive answer, Katara,” Elder Susupo said, effectively closing the topic.

Katara smiled. “No, it’s more than we could have thought of on our own. Hopefully the Avatar spirit will help Aang figure it out. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Several hours later, Katara was glued to a map with a spinning head, desperately wishing she’d taken Aang up on his offer to play with the children. Everything the elders were sharing was really important: movement of Fire Nation troops, the status of various ports and towns to make supply stops, as well as the movements of the alliance members. It was nice to know exactly where Aunt Atka was, and the latest area Dad was in so maybe they could find him too. If the debriefing had stopped there, all would have been fine.

But the elders kept trying to explain strategic maneuvers and things they should look out for. It was all going over Katara’s head, so she was doing her best to commit it to memory to share with Sokka later. He was a bull-headed idiot, sure, but he also loved this sort of thing. It was far too late to interrupt to find him and drag him into this…

Speak the spirit's name, and it shall appear.

“Katara! There you are! Finally found you.” 

Sokka burst into the room just as Katara was seriously considering taking the risk of offending their hosts to find him. She turned around, not above begging him to take her place, but all words died at the sight of her brother in a full Kyoshi Warrior uniform. The elders also fell silent, allowing Sokka to continue speaking uninterrupted. 

“What in the world have you been up to- Woah, that’s the most detailed map I’ve ever seen. Cool!” He stepped closer to observe the map with a critical eye. “Are these markers for Fire Nation ships? Oof, we definitely want to avoid flying over Mo Ce Sea.”

An elder looked on the verge of laughing as he shook his head and muttered, “Just like her mother.”

“Uh, Sokka?” Katara found her voice to draw his attention, since he seemed to completely forget he was looking for her when faced with the map. She meant to ask what he wanted her for, but what came out was, “What’s with the… outfit?”

His blush wasn’t visible through the facepaint, but it was obvious from his bashful shrug. “Ah, well, I may have been acting like a bigoted idiot, like you’ve been telling me since forever. Don’t get started. I’ll come up with a proper apology to you later.”

Katara wasn’t even about to get started. She could only stare in silent shock. Who was this boy and what did he do with her brother who would rather try to dig a fish hook out of his thumb with another fishhook than apologize for rudely turning her help down?

“But- anyways! Suki is a really amazing warrior and the only way she was going to agree to teach me anything was if I followed her rules. So, a traditional warrior uniform.” Sokka turned to the elders. “Sorry, can I steal my sister for a bit? I think some of your forms will help her waterbending.”

“Wait, what?!” Katara nearly knocked the whole table over as she fully turned around to face Sokka. “Really?”

Sokka raised his chin smugly. “Yeah, Kyoshi martial arts borrow moves from across nations and elements. Suki was showing me this one move and compared it to moving like the tide. And I realized you might benefit from her lesson too.”

Forget an apology. This was more than enough without Sokka recounting all the dumb, sexist shit he’d said over the years. He thought of helping her waterbending? He wanted Katara to join a lesson on fighting despite being his little sister? Tui and La, how did Suki achieve this in a single day?

“Thank you, Sokka!” Katara cheered, leaping to her feet to pull him into the kind of tight, crushing hug that made him get squirmy and embarrassed in front of an audience. He actually put up with it, because he apparently decided to be the best big brother ever. Someone cleared their throat. Shoot. Katara freed her brother and smiled sheepishly at the elders. “Um, sorry, could we finish this later?”

Some looked like they might say no, but Elder Susupo waved her off with a laugh. “Improving your waterbending is just as important as planning your future route. We can continue over dinner.”

She didn’t need to tell Katara twice. Anything to get a break from this.

Rather than following Katara to the door, Sokka hesitated. He frowned at the map as he pointed to something. “What does this marker mean?”

“Neutral ports,” someone answered.

“How’s that different from these green ports, then?”

The elders who were looking disgruntled about Katara leaving were now turning to Sokka with cautious interest. “Those are Earth Kingdom ports, so there’s no chance of running into Fire Nation there.”

“So neutral ports are seriously neutral?” Sokka started to sit. 

Oh, honestly, Katara should have gone to find Sokka the second the map came out! She’d already heard all of this and did not want to hear a word more. “Is Suki in the training hall?”

Sokka didn’t even look up. “Yeah. Could you tell her I’ll catch up with you in a sec?”

Katara quickly agreed and left with a wide smile. The elders were obviously pleased by Sokka’s follow up questions, whereas Katara had just been trying her best to memorize everything. This arrangement was much better.

And, maybe, Katara could learn some waterbending even before they got to the North Pole.

Although the waters they were sailing through were not below freezing anymore, it was habit to head to the boiler room if he couldn’t sleep. And spirits help him, Seta really could not sleep after Lieutenant Jee called the crew together to warn them about tomorrow’s plans.

In the boiler room, the head helmsman and Seta’s direct superior, Ensign Chatri, was the only one sitting at the makeshift break spot at the edge of the room. The fire barrel in the middle of the crates turned benches was lit and Seta strongly suspected the teapot sitting on the grate was spiked.

“Hey kid, couldn’t sleep?” Chatri asked in a fatherly tone.

Seta leveled Chatri with the most unimpressed look he could muster. He’d long given up trying to get the crew to stop calling him kid, but he was never going to let the mother-henning pass. Chatri was the worst offender, since even some of his grandchildren were Seta’s age or older.

Chatri snorted and rolled his eyes, but said again in a less concerned, casual manner, “Couldn’t sleep, brat?”

It wasn’t much better, but it was the best Seta could get from him. He sat with a sigh. “Yeah, you neither I see. Is no one on duty tonight?”

“Nah, Zenil is back there doing some meditating.” Chatri jerked his chin in the direction of the boilers, and Seta could just make out the bulky protective gear next to a boiler behind Chatri. 

“Might do some meditating myself.”

Chatri grinned and lifted his cup. “I offer an alternative.”

“Absolutely not,” Seta scowled. Nevermind he found alcohol foul (which didn’t help the ‘baby of the crew’ allegations), but tonight was the worst possible night for such self-medication. “If we’re really invading Kyoshi Island tomorrow, you shouldn’t have any either.”

A loud clang echoed through the room. Chatri snorted. “Just keep meditating, Zenil, jeez.”

Seta worried his lip between his teeth. Of course Zenil was on edge. They all were, and it felt like Seta was the worst of them. It wasn’t like Seta had never been part of combat operations before. In his first year, they had several clashes with the Water Tribe fleet. But then the fleet went on the offensive and left the South Pole.

For the past two years, their ship, the Raiu, had mostly been patrolling the arctic seas. Sure, they had the occasional altercation with Water Tribe fishing boats, but Lieutenant Jee tried his best to avoid them and only ever relieved them of some of their wares in exchange for letting them pass relatively unharmed. 

Seta had a lot of respect for Lt Jee for that. He knew other South Pole patrols made a sport out of raiding Water Tribe villages, claiming it helped control the fleet’s actions in the north… but in reality, it was just terrorizing civilians for no other reason than to assert power.

Lt Jee didn’t care for it. He went so far as to fake the occasional report to make it sound like the Raiu crew was more aggressive than they really were. Lt Jee was an honorable man, and the entire crew respected and agreed with his decision of a little bit of insubordination. The Southern Water Tribes were making their last stand of resistance by sending the fleet into the thick of the war, but that didn’t mean the civilians deserved to be terrorized.

Just as Lt Jee and Seta’s hometowns were once Earth Kingdom and now proudly claimed their loyalty to the Fire Nation, so too would these lands. One day. It’d probably take another century, as it did with the northern colonies, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t view those civilians as future Fire Nation.

Seta had been quick to fall into line with Lt Jee’s morals, sharing the colony-born experience. Others who joined the crew at the same time as Seta had been slower to come around, but Lt Jee was persuasive and unbending. Honestly, Seta respected the man so much. It was fortunate for Seta that his first detail was under Lt Jee, but it was a shame Lt Jee was still in the South Pole for Seta to work under him. He had been part of one of the first waves of colony-born enlistments and had been stuck in the South Pole his entire career for the mere fact of being colony-born.

But he hadn't let his difficult career turn him into a jaded man who soothed his ego by inflicting pain on others. He remained stalwart to his morals and influenced generations of good soldiers.

And now he was going to have to jeopardize his morals all because of Seta.

“This is all my fault,” Seta groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

Chatri had pulled out another teapot while Seta was lost in thought, and prepared an un-spiked brew of tea while he said, “Pretty sure this is the prince’s fault for ordering the invasion to begin with.”

“No! Well, yes. But Captain wouldn’t be going along with it with so little fight if it weren’t for my screwup at port!”

“C’mon kid, that’s not true.”

“No way, it absolutely is.” Seta dragged his hands down his face, then clasped them tightly together in his lap. “I know he’s feeling guilty for breaking Prince Zuko’s confidence. No matter how much he can’t stand the prince, Captain would never deliberately sabotage his mission. And, I mean, the kid is a spoiled brat, but, well, I already told you what Mina told me at port. That commander is a creep and has it out for him! I feel guilty for accidentally selling him out!”

Chatri shrugged and pressed a cup of the new brew into Seta’s hands. “I think you’re letting your guilt put too much weight on the incident. I personally don’t think Jee would be putting up more of a fight against these orders even if you hadn’t made that mistake. 

“The prince is determined to chase after the Avatar, and the general is adamant he’s not doing it undercover. Which means going in ready for a fight. If Jee didn’t have us form an invasion party, then he’d be the one responsible for not providing backup in enemy territory to the Fire Lord’s son and brother.”

Well… When put that way…

“Still a load of bullshit,” Zenil said, suddenly behind Seta.

With a yelp, Seta whipped around to stare at the engineer with wide eyes.”When did you get over there!?”

“What are you talking about?” Zenil frowned as he took a seat and accepted a cup of the spiked tea from Chatri. “I heard Chatri tell you I was meditating.”

“Yeah, but I saw you over there,” Seta said, pointing behind Chatri.

They turned to look, and at that exact moment, the boiler room door clanged shut. 

“Aw shit kid, did you finally see the ghost?” Zenil said.

Seta paled. He thought the engineers were just fucking with everyone with those rumors. “No, no, absolutely not. You’re playing a prank on me.”

Chatri shook his head solemnly and poured his tea in the fire, making it flare up from the alcohol. “Best make an offering now and hope it wasn’t a bad omen.”

Zenil nodded and followed suit.

Groaning, Seta downed his cup and held it out for a refill of the spiked stuff. He usually wasn’t the superstitious sort, but he wasn’t taking any chances today.

And he resolutely decided that no matter what Chatri and Zenil said, his eyes were playing tricks on him. He definitely hadn’t seen the Sazanami’s ghost sitting by a boiler.

Zuko was pissed.

Normally, he could leave his anger behind when he went gliding. Without fail, he calmed down with nothing but the wind around him. Well, without fail until this time.

Because Zuko was furious.

When Uncle shut down their argument over how to approach Aang on Kyoshi Island, Zuko figured that meant Uncle wanted to think it over more. He would try to come up with a better plan, fail to, and then cave to Zuko’s original plan to just go on the Air Lantern and ask to talk to the Avatar.

Zuko wasn’t an idiot. He knew that he’d well and truly blown his Huizhong cover. The second Aang saw him, the Kyoshi Warriors would know who he really was. But he wasn’t going to try to go undercover as Huizhong. No, he needed to do damage control for the Wings while also trying to clear up his massive fuck up with the Avatar. If Aang and the Water Tribe siblings spread word that Hui the scholar was actually Prince Zuko, it could put the Wings in a lot of danger with their allies!

No way, Zuko was not going to let that happen. The Wings already suffered enough after the siege. Zuko was not going to be the reason they went through something like that again.

Uncle didn’t know that angle of Zuko’s motivations, but he didn’t need to. Why Zuko wanted to peacefully talk with the Avatar had no impact on his foolproof plan! He would minimize his threat level by going on the Air Lantern, apologize for ‘pretending to be Hui,’ and claim that Hui was a friend who’d helped him with his search for the Avatar. Then he would apologize for trying to kidnap Aang. Once that was all settled, he would make an excuse to talk without Uncle around, then explain the Wings and stress again how Zuko really wasn’t a bad guy.

Of course Uncle thought it was too risky a plan. Because he always thought anything Zuko did was reckless and risky. But, seriously?! Landing on the island with Lt Jee and his crew as back up? Was Uncle the idiot? So what if the Kyoshi Warriors were elite fighters and could be trouble for Zuko and Uncle if they chose to fight? They wouldn’t fight if he and Uncle went in without a show of force!

Sure, they might apprehend them for a little bit if Aang revealed who Zuko was before he got to the apology part of the plan, but the Kyoshi Warriors wouldn’t hurt them! Zuko had already factored that possibility into his plan. It was just a minor step between arriving and apologizing. What did a bit of confinement matter in the grand scheme of the plan? Honestly, Zuko had spent an entire week with a squad! Uncle should trust that Zuko knew what he was talking about!

But what did Uncle do? Did he ask Zuko more questions about his assessment of the Kyoshi Warriors to soothe his worries? Did he sleep on it and come to the conclusion that Zuko’s idea was the only logical one? No! He went behind Zuko’s back and made it sound like Zuko wanted to invade Kyoshi Island! He couldn’t believe it! And what made matters worse, it sounded like the crew actually agreed with Zuko that it was a bad idea! Except, they thought the invasion was Zuko’s idea!

So fuck Uncle. If he was going to go behind Zuko's back and implement his own plan, then Zuko would too.

Since he couldn’t exactly unload the Air Lantern by himself without getting found out, gliding it was. It was going to make his presence on the island a little tricky to explain, but maybe it’d be fine to reveal he was a heatbender in this context. He could say that Hui taught him about mixed bending. Yeah, that could work.

Gliding from the Sazanami to Kyoshi Island was a piece of cake after gliding to Omashu with Ty Lee on his back. And despite his belief gliding would not quell his unbridled fury, Zuko did feel a little better once the island came into sight. 

It was late, but not too late when he dropped on the coast closest to the village he saw from his aerial survey. A shiver ran down his spine as he collapsed his glider and secured it in the carry case Jingyi designed for him. 

The night air was chilly, but nothing compared to the South Pole. Zuko rubbed his arms and realized it was apprehension, not the weather, making him feel chilled. He felt woefully naked without his swords, but… It was fine. He knew how to defend himself in hand to hand combat without his firebending, and he’d learned quite a bit of Kyoshi style martial arts with Captain Rera’s squad. 

Besides! Zuko didn’t need his swords or his firebending since he was only here to talk.

Shaking off his unease, Zuko set off toward the village. It was only a few feet from the coast when he felt the heat signature of someone nearby. Because Zuko wasn’t an idiot, despite what Uncle believed, he didn’t blindly approach the person. He snuck through the woods, confident in his ability to move undetected after several months of going unnoticed by the crew. 

Through the trees, he spotted the full Kyoshi uniform as described by Captain Rera’s squad. It was dark and Zuko couldn’t see all the details, but woah, it really was as majestic as they said. Hopefully he could get a better look in the daylight.

Knowing who he was dealing with now, Zuko stepped on some leaves and knocked a tree branch as he walked to give the Warrior sign of his approach. He pushed out between the trees and called out, “Hi!”

The Warrior whipped around, drawing her fans. She did not immediately attack, since Zuko held his hands up to show he was unarmed. See, Uncle? Zuko knew what he was talking about!

“Sorry for dropping in unannounced at this hour, but I’m a friend of Hui’s. Or at least, I’m assuming you’ve heard of him. Uh, I’m a friend of someone who met with and stayed with one of your undercover squads in the Earth Kingdom and-”

The Warrior swiftly closed the distance between them and pointed the sharp edge of her fan to his throat. Not close enough to touch, but enough to be a threat. “Not another word until my captain gets here,” she said. When Zuko didn’t argue, she whistled, sharp and loud, then glared at him in silence.

Zuko didn’t want to test her patience or get on the bad side of anyone before he could explain himself, so he kept his mouth shut despite wanting to talk. Now that she was closer, Zuko could see that this Warrior was quite young. Maybe even younger than Zuko. 

Well, Captain Rera’s squad had mentioned that he was around the age the Kyoshi Warriors were fully initiated. He just wasn’t expecting a fresh Kyoshi Warrior to be in charge of patrol this late. Or maybe that did make the most sense, leaving more experience squads well rested in case of an emergency. 

Two heat signatures approached them, but split off before coming through the trees. The one to reveal herself had an elaborate headpiece, denoting her as a captain. But she was hardly older than the other girl, still closer to Zuko’s age than an adult’s. The unseen Warrior moved to position herself behind Zuko. He didn’t acknowledge her. He was trying to get their guard down so he could talk, so allowing them to ‘get the jump on him’ would be in his favor.

“Who are you? What business do you have with our island in the middle of the night?” the captain demanded.

“Uh- Hi,” Zuko said with an awkward wave. He didn’t expect to be welcomed, but the hostility was a little surprising. “As I told your squad member here, I’m a friend of Hui’s. Assuming you know him, uh, he met with one of your undercover-”

“Yes, we know of the scholar, Hui,” the captain interrupted.

“Oh- great! Okay, so, anyways, well, I heard the Avatar is on the island. I really need to talk to him.”

The captain’s eyes narrowed. “And why do you need to do that, friend of Hui?”

“Well, you see, we have a bit of a, uh, misunderstanding...” Zuko tried not to be distracted by the hidden Warrior sneaking up behind him. His pulse thumped in his ears, but his heart wouldn’t calm down despite his certainty he would be fine. 

“A misunderstanding,” the captain repeated, deadpan.

“Yeah, a misunderstanding. I need to clear it up with Aang. Ugh, with Katara and Sokka too, assuming they’re still with him. So-” 

Something wrapped around his legs, and pulled his feet out from under him. Zuko hit the ground hard, just barely catching himself with his hands from smashing his face. The jolt mid-sentence still made him bite his tongue. He tasted iron. Only now did the hidden Warrior approach, straddling him as she yanked his arms behind his back, making his cheek press into the dirt.

The captain crouched down in front of him.

“We know all about your misunderstanding, Prince Zuko.”

Shit. They knew who he was.

Why wouldn’t they know? He should have planned this. Of course Aang and the others would have talked about him and his stupid attempt to kidnap Aang! No, maybe this was fine. Zuko expected to be restrained once Aang exposed him. The timeline was just moved up a little bit and the restraining was a bit more heavy-handed than he expected.

“Where’s your boat? Who else is with you?” The captain questioned him, grabbing his chin and turning his head so he was looking up at her.

“I came by myself,” Zuko said, trying his best to keep his annoyance out of his voice, which was hard when his tongue fucking hurt. Was the posturing really necessary when he was eating dirt? But then rope replaced the Warrior’s grip on his arms, and he realized the captain was keeping him off guard so they could further restrain him. “And I don't have a boat. Well, not here.”

The one sitting on him and restraining him dug the toe of her shoe into his side. Zuko bit back an annoyed protest as she asked, “Oh? So how’d you get here then? Did you fly over?”

“Yeah, actually. I-”

She shut him up by hauling him onto his feet. As she untangled his legs, the first Warrior he approached pulled a bag over his head, but not before he got a glimpse of what dragged him to the ground. A rope dart! How could he have forgotten about the rope dart demonstration from Captain Rera’s squad? The Kyoshi Warriors didn’t need to approach him to restrain him. He let his heatsense make him complacent about surprise attacks. 

“Uari, tell the squad to search the entire coast, then join us. Yaeko, with me.”

“Yes, captain!”

Zuko huffed and tried to reiterate that he really did fly over, so they were wasting their time, but was silenced with another jab to the side, this time with what felt like a folded fan. They pushed him forward and led him through the forest. He tried a few more times to talk, but was either softly shoved or jabbed again with sharp commands to be quiet. It was annoying, and if they kept jabbing the same spot, Zuko might get a bruise out of this encounter… But all in all, Zuko had been correct in his assessment of how the Kyoshi Warriors would treat him. A bitten tongue and a few bruises were nothing! Take that, Uncle!

As they walked, Zuko could feel the mass of heat from the village at the edge of his heatsense. They never got any closer to it, but never went so far that he couldn’t feel it. Uari came back by the time they reached their destination, which sounded like some sort of cell from the Warrior’s conversation of keys and the resulting clanging. 

Abruptly, Zuko was pushed down (guided down?) onto his knees on hard rock and there was a clear locking sound. The bag was ripped off his head and Zuko winced at how it scraped against his scar. It wasn’t necessarily painful, but it certainly wasn’t a good sensation.

The young Warrior, Yaeko, looked contrite as she stared at his scar, the bag held loosely in her hand. The captain, however, was stern and unwavering as she ushered Yaeko aside to stand in front of Zuko and stare down at him.

They held each other’s gaze in silence long enough for Zuko to realize she was waiting for him to talk first. Ha, such a juvenile intimidation tactic. Zuko looked away to survey the cave they were in. It was musty and Yaeko was struggling to light the rest of the lamps on the walls. His glider was propped up against a dusty, rickety looking table. There was only one other cell and it looked as unused as the one Zuko was in. They probably hadn’t used this cave turned prison in years. 

Zuko wiggled his bindings and some of the tension released in his chest. Despite how thorough Uari was in tying his arms and hands to restrict his firebending, Jingyi’s lessons made it child’s play for Zuko to get out even without resorting to a flame or two. But he would leave the restraints for the Warriors’ peace of mind.

“Nice cave, but is this really necessary?” Zuko asked, breaking their stalemate.

“Is this necessary,” Uari repeated in disbelief.

The captain shook her head. “Seems Sokka was right. You’re quite the smooth talker, aren’t you?”

Zuko furrowed his brow. Listen, he wasn’t delusional. He knew that talking wasn’t exactly his strong point, but he’d barely said anything yet! Forget the imprisonment, was the sarcasm necessary?

“I don’t know what Sokka’s said, but I’m really just here to apologize to Aang and explain myself. So if you could just get him-”

With a casual confidence and authority that reminded Zuko of someone, the captain pulled an old chair over to sit across from where Zuko knelt on the ground. “I think you can explain yourself to us first, then we can decide if you can talk to Aang or not. How’d you find us?”

Was that a trick question? Zuko scrunched his nose. “The location of Kyoshi Island isn’t exactly a secret? If you mean how’d I know Aang was here, well, rumors have already spread to the ports about it. I didn’t do anything nefarious or sneaky to end up here. Well, other than show up in the middle of the night, but that was just a matter of urgency and-”

Uari sighed, dropping her weight against the cell bars to lean against them. “Shit, we didn’t think to put out a gag order until after the meeting. And there were some traders in port yesterday.”

“It was an oversight, no point in beating ourselves up over it,” the captain said, patting Uari’s arm.

That calm, consoling tone… Paired with the confidence and authority… Zuko would snap his fingers if his hands were free. “Hey, are you Suki? Captain Rera’s daughter?”

From how her eyes blew wide, then immediately narrowed as her posture grew wary and hostile, Zuko was totally right. Suki asked, voice strained to sound level, “How do you know Captain Rera?”

“I met-” Zuko was about to say that he spent a week with her and her squad, then remembered he was trying to stop rumors that Hui was Prince Zuko. Coughing to cover his blunder, Zuko forced a smile. “I met Hui, remember? We’re friends! And- Wait- Shit, okay, so Aang and them probably told you I was… Um. Impersonating Hui when we first met. But he gave me permission to use him as a cover to help my search for the Avatar! I bungled that, though, obviously. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to apologize to him too once I clear things up with Aang!”

Suki didn’t react, but Uari was glaring at him like he was crazy. Okay, they weren’t convinced. Fair enough, Zuko hadn’t explained how his kidnapping was a misunderstanding. 

“So, I know I kidnapped Aang, but I wasn’t in my right mind, I swear. I wasn’t trying to cart him off to the Fire Nation or anything. I just really wanted to talk to him without Katara and Sokka bad mouthing my entire existence. I had some half-assed thought of bringing him to meet the Wings to gain his trust, but didn’t think through how the forcibly taking him somewhere part would look until-”

Uari hit the bars to interrupt him, and Suki said, “Convenient that you bring up the Wings now, but made no mention of them to Aang.”

Zuko frowned. Had he not? That evening was a blur in his memories. “I mean, I might not have mentioned them by name, but surely I insinuated that I’m not working alone-”

“Are you saying that you’re working with the Wings?”

“Yes?”

“You, a Fire Nation prince, are working with an anti-war resistance group? And just how did that happen?”

Oh. Wait. Shit. He was such an idiot. Wasn’t he trying to distance himself from the Wings so they could control when and how his identity came out? He might as well have just said that Huizhong was his alternate identity from the start! Dammit, Zuko already dug himself this hole, no point in trying to climb out now.

“Well, like I said, I befriended Hui. He’s been helping me with my search for the Avatar, being a scholar and knowing a bunch about the Avatar and all. And, you see, uh, along the way… I learned about the Wings from him and came to believe in what they stand for!”

Suki leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.”It’s a good story, Prince Zuko, but I’m not buying it. Do you want to know what I think is really happening?”

Agni’s flaming armpits. His cover was completely blown to smithereens. Kavi and Jae were going to be scrambling to clean this mess up, if they even could. No, hope wasn’t lost yet! Once Zuko came clean about everything and Aang forgave him for the kidnapping, Zuko could convince Suki not to spread his identity to the alliance until the Wings were ready. Wait, were the Kyoshi Warriors part of the alliance yet? He was assuming so since Suki seemed to know of him, well, Hui and-

“I think you kidnapped Hui to help you find the Avatar, and got lucky enough that his research led you right to Aang. I think you realized your last approach failed, so you tortured more information out of him and tried again with this ridiculous friendship story.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped. She thought he did what?! That was objectively worse than word spreading about Hui’s real identity! How the hell were Kavi and Jae supposed to rectify rumors spreading that Prince Zuko kidnapped Hui?!

Sweat beaded at Zuko’s temples even as chills ran through his body. His mind was spinning. “Okay, you’re right for calling me out. It was a stupid story, but I didn’t think you’d come to the conclusion that I kidnapped Hui! I can’t kidnap Hui, I am Hui! But, fuck, that’s not supposed to be revealed yet, which was why I was coming up with stupid stories, okay? If you’d just contact Kav-”

Wait. He still didn’t know if Kyoshi Island had officially allied with the Wings. Just because Fox probably followed up with the connection Zuko made as Hui, as they did with almost all his stops, didn’t necessarily mean the Kyoshi Warriors agreed to work with them. Zuko couldn’t go revealing the names of the inner circle to prove his identity until he knew that Kyoshi Island wouldn’t sell them out. Kavi, Jae, and Fox would not suffer the betrayal they had during the siege again because of Zuko.

Zuko took a deep breath, desperately trying to center his panicking mind. “Has Kyoshi Island officially allied with us? It was still up in the air before I went to the South Pole, and I haven’t been able to contact anyone yet. If you are, your leaders would know who the Wings inner circle are, right? I can’t tell you how to contact them, because I don’t really know where they are right now, but if you’re in the alliance, you’d know, right? If you sent word to them, they’d vouch for me! I swear!”

The Kyoshi Warriors were staring at him with a wide variety of expressions. Yaeko looked confused. Uari looked pissed off and… Suki was staring at him like she thought he was the biggest idiot in the universe. Zuko was extremely familiar with such an expression after growing up with Azula constantly turning it his way.

“Do you seriously think we’ll fall for this desperate attempt to lure out the Wings and get information you haven’t tortured out of Hui yet?” Suki asked, contempt dripping from her words.

A frustrated growl ripped out of Zuko’s throat. Uari stumbled away from the cell bars and Yaeko squeaked, but Suki remained unmoved. Zuko was too annoyed to care about keeping a peaceful image. “I haven’t tortured anyone! Koh’s Lair, I’m telling you, I am Hui! Ask me anything you know about me from Captain Rera! I can prove it! Or- just give me proof the Kyoshi Warriors have allied with us! I can tell you plenty about the Wings to prove my identity and- Hey! Where are you going!”

Suki had stood and turned away from him, shaking her head. “There’s nothing you can say to prove your claims. So get comfortable, we’ll do as you requested. You’ll be here until someone arrives who can prove them.” She looked at him over her shoulder with a smirk. “Or, prove they’re nothing more than an idiot prince’s attempt to fool us.”

Dread washed over Zuko.

“No, no, no. Wait! Get back here!” Zuko jumped up and pushed himself against the cell bars. “At least let me talk to Aang! You can’t just leave me here! I didn’t tell anyone where I was going!”

His pleas were ignored. Suki and her Warriors left the cave without a moment’s pause.

Zuko collapsed to the ground, forcing himself to breathe through his building panic. He didn’t tell Uncle where he was going, obviously, but hadn’t left a note either. Zuko foolishly thought he’d be back before Uncle noticed he had left. 

But even without a note, it was going to be obvious just where Zuko had disappeared to come morning, once Uncle found his room empty and glider missing. Uncle was going to expect the worst if Zuko didn’t come back, but if Zuko broke out now, there was no way anyone would listen to him once he came back…

What was he supposed to do?!

Chapter Text

It was morning, since light was shining through Sokka’s eyelids, but his internal clock said it was too early to be awake. If only his brain would let him go back to sleep…

The second he woke up, his thoughts went into overdrive. Or maybe he’d never stopped thinking and had been mulling over the past couple of days in his dreams too.

Sokka felt like his entire world was flipped on its head, their first day on Kyoshi Island. It took him forever to fall asleep that night, and then he ran off to make an ass of himself first thing. Suki flipped his world again, but set it right. Maybe even better than it was before. 

Warriors should be proud, but never arrogant. Warriors should be strong, but always kind. Warriors should win, not always fight. Warriors were anyone who stood up to protect their people. 

Suki was kinder than Sokka deserved, teaching him the Kyoshi Warriors’ tenets and martial arts, but also by soothing his hurt over Dad and Grangran lying to him about his responsibilities. She sympathized, but ultimately told him to get over himself. He’d only been 13 when the fleet left. Would he leave his 13-year-old self as the sole defender of the village? 

At first, Sokka’s pride wanted to say, ‘Yes! Of course!’ But then he stopped, thought like Suki kept lecturing him to do. Just a few weeks ago, he would have argued, would have defended his pride as the village’s last line of defense. But now, now he could see he was letting his pride turn into arrogance. 

He hadn’t been trained to fight like the Kyoshi Warriors were from a young age. Even now, two years later, he barely held up to Yaeko, the youngest of Suki’s squad. It wasn’t because he was weak or pathetic, but simply inexperienced. Letting him believe he was a fierce warrior defending the village gave Sokka hope and motivation to grow stronger. He didn’t necessarily agree with Grangran’s decision to leave him (and Katara) in the dark about the Kyoshi Warriors helping the South Pole but… He got it.

So, after training with Suki all morning, and then getting wrapped up learning about enemy movements and strategies with the elders all afternoon, Sokka did not struggle falling asleep last night. Which led to his current predicament. 

Well-rested and mind equally lighter and fuller than yesterday, Sokka wanted to run out and continue his training with Suki, since he essentially switched places with Katara yesterday. Not that he begrudged Katara for that. His immature self of two days ago probably would have, but not this new and improved, enlightened Sokka. Learning strategy with the elders was ultimately more important for Sokka than learning martial arts with Suki.

It went along with one of the tenets Suki taught him. Warriors should win, not always fight. If he wanted them to get to the North Pole safely, they needed to travel smartly and try to avoid conflict as much as possible. It was the best way to ultimately win against the Fire Nation. As was Katara learning how to fight.

It made Sokka’s stomach drop and throat grow tight, thinking of his little sister fighting beside him, but he needed to let go of that protective impulse to shelter her. He needed to recognize that his little sister was as much of a warrior as he was. Heck, just in an afternoon, she and Suki successfully adapted a Kyoshi move into a dependable waterbending one. The chances of their little group getting to the North Pole drastically increased if Katara was part of their fighting force.

Once it was a more reasonable hour, Sokka would wake his sister and bring her along to get more training before they left. Maybe they could push their departure to tomorrow and convince Aang to stop playing around and join them too. Or not. Sokka wasn’t too worried about getting Aang to focus on Avatar stuff just yet. He was only twelve, and it was really obvious that he’d never considered himself as a warrior before. 

It was going to take some time for Aang to adjust to this time period and Sokka wasn’t too pressed to force him to. He’d learn soon enough as they traveled further north. And his airbending was plenty strong enough to help defend them.

Ugh, Sokka wished time would pass faster. Maybe he could sneak out to get a morning run in? It wasn’t too early for that, surely.

“Sokka, wake up,” someone whispered right in his ear.

Since he wasn’t actually asleep, Sokka’s eyes immediately flew open and he started to shout in surprise. A hand covered his mouth, smothering his exclamation. He looked up to see Suki, barefaced and out of uniform. There were dark circles under her eyes and she looked tired. 

She nodded toward Katara and Aang, who were still peacefully sleeping, then to the door of their room. Slowly, she pulled her hand from his mouth. Once he silently confirmed he understood her, Suki slipped out of the room, as soundless as she came.

With a little shudder at how terrifying Suki was, Sokka quickly changed into his clothes for the day and tiptoed out of the room. Suki wasn’t in the hall, so Sokka wandered outside to where he found her chewing on a thumbnail, deep in thought.

“Is something wrong?” Sokka asked.

Suki looked up and her eyes were bloodshot. “Last night, Prince Zuko showed up.”

“What?!” Sokka rushed forward to pat her down and search for injuries. “Are you alright? Where is he?”

Suki grabbed his hands and held them still as she shushed him. “Keep it down. We captured him and he’s locked up right now. But I don’t want Aang to know. He’ll definitely want to try talking to him, which is exactly what Zuko wants.”

“He wants… to talk to him?”

With a heavy sigh, Suki let go of him to anxiously run her hand through her loose hair. “That’s what he keeps saying, at least. I honestly cannot figure out what he’s trying to achieve. So I need your help.”

“You want my help?” Sokka's voice cracked a little, emotions swirling between stunned and honored.

Suki rolled her eyes. “I didn’t need the elders bragging about your brain over dinner to know you’re smart.” She shot him an adorable, crooked grin. “And now that I’ve whipped some sense into you, I know your ego isn’t going to overshadow your intelligence.”

Ignoring the heat in his cheeks and the jab, Sokka asked, “What do you need my help with?”

On the way to Kyoshi Island’s derelict prison, Suki explained everything that happened over the night. Zuko first claimed to be Hui’s friend, and then Hui himself once Suki accused him of kidnapping Hui. He hadn’t fought and peacefully allowed the Warriors to detain him. He’d also somehow come to the island by himself but there was no sign of how.

“I’m hoping you can poke some holes in his story, since you met him when he was acting like Hui. And maybe find some insight as to what his objective is,” Suki said. “He’s got Yaeko convinced he’s a bumbling idiot, but one who’s telling the truth. Honestly, me and Uari are halfway convinced, ourselves. Because I cannot fathom why he’d want to give off the impression that he’s an idiot.”

Sokka frowned, thinking back to the enthusiastic Hui who jumped from topic to topic as he chatted with Aang and Katara over a campfire. His enthusiasm had been contagious, which was why Sokka got caught up from time to time. And then there was how Aang recounted Zuko revealing his identity. From the way Aang described it, it had been a bit of a mess. Which was the only reason Sokka had been willing to possibly hear Zuko out the following morning. Then Zuko went and kidnapped Aang, so clearly it all had to have been an act.

“It’s just to get your guard down.”

“But what good does it do when he’s already captured? He knows we’re going to keep him until one of the Wings comes to confirm or disprove his claims, and his story hasn’t wavered since. All he’s done is yell himself hoarse that he needs to be let go to assure his uncle that he’s fine, then he promises to come right back and wait for however long he needs to.”

“So in other words, to come back with reinforcements to force Aang to come with him?”

Suki sighed and rubbed at her temples. “That’s the thing, we haven’t responded to him since the initial interrogation. And yet he kept shouting all night, not knowing if there actually was a guard posted outside or not, proposing a variety of ideas for him to leave and return that all put him at a disadvantage. What does that sort of act achieve?”

“I don’t know, but let’s see if I can get an idea.”

Uari was standing guard outside the cave, out of sight of the opening and deathly still. She was still in full uniform, her facepaint hiding her undoubtable exhaustion. She sighed wearily when Suki told her to go home and get some rest. Promising to send two Warriors to take over guard duty, Uari left. 

Light bounced out of the mouth of the cave, but it seemed like Zuko had fallen asleep, or had gotten tired of yelling to what he thought was no one. Sokka shared a nod with Suki, then let her lead the way inside. Even with the lanterns lining the walls of the cave, it was dim and gloomy, befitting of a prison. There were two cells, and in the middle of one was Prince Zuko. 

Sitting cross legged, Zuko appeared to be asleep. He was dressed in black, plain clothes. His hair was pulled back in a low braid. His arms were pulled behind his back, bound from his forearm to his hands. There was no chance of him firebending. With his hands, that was.

“Why isn’t he gagged?” Sokka hissed.

Suki raised an eyebrow. “Hard to interrogate him if he is.”

Oh. Right. But still! “He can breathe fire! He’s dangerous!”

“I’m not going to firebend at anyone,” a raspy voice said from behind Sokka. 

Sokka did not shriek. Not even the tiniest bit. He whipped around to glare at Zuko, whose eyes were open with the clarity of wakefulness. Pretending to be asleep to get their guard down? Hah, Sokka was keeping tally—Zuko better be careful or Sokka would send his whole innocent act tumbling down!

“Sure, of course not. Just like you didn’t spit fireballs at me the other day!”

Zuko furrowed his brow, then sighed and rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to shoot fireballs at you. You just happened to be there as I was trying to warm the metal chain I was clinging to with bare hands in the middle of the South Pole.”

That… did make sense as to why the fire had been so easy to dodge, if it hadn’t actually been directed at him. But still! 

Sokka pulled a chair up to the cell and crossed his arms. But… was that intimidating enough? He shifted, spreading his legs and leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. There, that was a good interrogation pose, right? 

“So, you weren’t trying to firebend at me. And you didn’t mean to kidnap Aang either. All of this has been one big misunderstanding.”

Prince Zuko, son of Fire Lord Ozai, lit up with a bright, relieved smile. “Exactly! Now, if you would just let me go already so I can go back to my ship before my uncle realizes I’m not in my room, I promise I’ll come right back to wait for the Wings.” He looked past Sokka to address Suki. “I know you’ve had guards posted outside all night, they’ve heard my plans. I can bring a Warrior with me, if you’d rather. But then there’s a chance I could hold them captive, so you probably wouldn’t like that one. We could also have you follow at a distance in a boat and then you’ll know if I’m planning on gathering forces to storm the Island, which I’m not. Or we could-”

Wow. He was really good at acting genuine. But Sokka wasn't going to be fooled. He cut in, “Sure, you’re not planning on gathering your men to storm the island to get back at them for capturing you. We can totally believe you. Why else would you want to go back to your ship?”

Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes as if Sokka was being the unreasonable one. “To reassure my Uncle so that he doesn’t need to storm the island to get me back. I’ll make him promise to wait off the coast and not bother anyone while I come back and wait for the Wings. Then you all can trust I’m telling the truth, I can apologize to Aang, and then we can stop the war together!”

“And then go to the Fire Nation together you mean.”

Zuko winced. “Okay, so I realized when Aang was explaining everything to you guys that going directly to the Fire Nation was a bad idea. Of course we’re not going there first. What I really wanted was to rendezvous with the Wings and plan the best approach to our alliance. Everything works out now, though, because now the Wings will come to us and we can plan everything with our allies, assuming Kyoshi Island has joined the alliance. I’m working off that assumption, because why else would your squad be the only one I’ve seen, Captain Suki? So-”

“Hold on,” Sokka said, holding a hand up to get the deluge of words to stop. There was something in there… ‘I realized when Aang was explaining everything to you guys,’ Zuko said, as if he had been there. “Were you spying on us in the village?!”

“What?” Zuko’s eyes widened in surprise. His nose scrunched as his eyes wandered upward, as if he was reviewing his own word vomit. He must have realized what he said, because he suddenly scowled. “Oh, yeah, so what? I noticed Aang leaving camp and followed him! And then I got to hear all you had to say about what a shit person I am! I got worked up over it, okay, which is why I did something as stupid as trying to kidnap Aang to explain myself better. I already told Suki this, I wasn’t in my right mind because I was upset. Honestly, I regretted it almost immediately, but couldn’t exactly take it back.”

As Zuko rambled, Sokka’s mind went into overdrive. It was such a stupid story, and Zuko seemed sheepish and defensive about his past actions. Suki was right. It was weird to make this his grand act. What did Zuko have to accomplish by convincing them he was an impulsive hothead? 

His act as Hui made sense—get everyone’s guard down so he could kidnap the Avatar. But then the Avatar proved to be difficult to keep kidnapped. Katara and Sokka hadn’t been needed to help Aang escape confinement. He’d done that all on his own.

Wait. Had the original plan been to kidnap Aang? Why would he have revealed his identity in that case? It would have been so much easier to run away with Aang after Katara and Sokka left for the evening. They never would have known who Zuko really was. They might have even thought that Aang left of his own volition! But Zuko had told Aang who he was. If this misunderstood, peaceful ally of the Avatar thing was an act, why would Zuko have revealed his identity?

“I got it!” Sokka jumped to his feet as clarity hit him like a snowball to the face. He paced the small space outside the cells as he explained Zuko’s devious, convoluted plan to Suki.

“The Avatar’s been gone for a century. He had no way of knowing how capable they would be when he found them, and no one’s really sure how to combat airbending these days. If you need to capture someone of unknown abilities, isn’t the best way to make them come with you willingly? But then Zuko heard that Katara and I were going to come with Aang and didn’t want the extra baggage. So he kidnapped Aang! Except Aang proved to be as difficult to imprison as he feared, and escaped! So now he’s back to the original plan! Convince us that he’s on our side so we walk into his clutches!

“What do you have to say about that!” Sokka exclaimed, whirling around to point at Zuko triumphantly. His smug smile faltered at Zuko’s stricken look. The fuck?

“You- you were going to go with Aang?” Zuko said, barely above a whisper.

Sokka frowned. “Oh, shut up. I figured you out. You already said you were spying on us, don’t try to pretend you didn’t know."

“No, I didn’t know!” Zuko stumbled forward on his knees, awkward with his panic and his arms bound behind his back. He fell into the cell bars, just barely catching himself to press against them, eyes frantically bouncing between Sokka and Suki. “I was mad and left before you guys said anything about that. You- It sounded like you convinced Aang to hate me! When did- How did you suddenly change to planning to accompany him?”

Suki had taken a small step forward, as if to help Zuko when he’d almost fallen. She was frowning, and not the stern sort of frown. Sokka scowled. Zuko was a scary good actor. “Nice try, but you’re not going to fool me. You’re just trying to cover your tracks because I found the hole in your grand act. We’re not letting you talk to Aang so you can dig your claws into him again. And we’re definitely not letting you go now that you know we’re not going to fall for your schemes! I know you’re just going to resort to force again!”

Sokka turned and stomped out. 

“Suki, Captain Suki, please. Forget everything else. Even if I can’t convince you of the truth, I really can't stay!” Zuko pleaded. “I have to get back to my ship so my uncle doesn’t try finding me. He doesn’t- He doesn’t know about any of this! The Wings, the alliances, that even if I was your enemy, the Kyoshi Warriors wouldn’t hurt me! That goes against your codes! I told him that, but he really doesn’t believe it. He’s going to realize I came here by myself. I don’t know- He might- We will come here looking for me. And he’s not going to come alone.”

At the mouth of the cave, Sokka looked back to find Suki staring at him for answers. She was wavering, torn between believing Zuko’s convincing act or believing Sokka’s dismantling of it. Sokka shook his head. She couldn’t fall for Zuko’s lies. With a sigh, she walked away from Zuko.

“Then I suppose we should prepare for battle.”

They stepped out of the cave and Zuko screamed after them. His voice cracked, sending him into dry, wheezing coughs. Suki flinched. Sokka wanted to put an arm around her shoulders, show some comfort and support. But he wasn’t sure that would be welcome, so he settled for awkwardly patting her shoulder. “Listen, we can pack up and leave within the hour. Once we’re gone, you should let him go to protect the village.”

Suki sighed, minutely leaning into his touch. “But he knows too much. Kyoshi Island isn’t supposed to be openly part of the war. We let him go, and the Fire Nation is going to know.”

“Well, we’re going to have to assume that if he’s learned all this from interrogating Hui, his uncle knows too. So keeping him here won’t make you any safer. At least if you release him, he’ll leave you alone and go running after us. It’ll give you time to contact the other squads and come up with a plan for if he reports your involvement. He might not even know it’s a secret worth reporting.”

“I don’t like it…”

Sokka rubbed her shoulder, pleased she didn’t shove him away and accepted the comfort. “I don’t like that we’ve put you all in danger. I don’t regret stopping here, of course, but-”

“Suki! Sokka!”

Uari came running up the path, out of uniform but certainly not rested in the short amount of time she’d been gone. Her replacement guards hadn’t even come yet. 

“I told you to get some rest,” Suki said, rushing over to support Uari, who was breathing hard from running on such a lack of sleep. 

Uari shook her head, gasping out her words, “Lookouts spotted a Fire Nation ship approaching. And Aang, Katara, and a lot of the children are missing.”

“Aang! Seriously!” Sokka groaned. “They must be at the bay! He was bragging about trying to ride the unagi yesterday. I didn't think he’d actually try to do it!”

Suki took a deep breath. With her exhale went all of her lingering doubts and worries. Sokka could see her steeling herself to be a captain again. Even without her uniform, she was a clear authority figure. “Sokka, go pack your bags. Uari, go to the bay and explain the situation. Lead the children to the emergency shelter. I’ll get the village evacuations started. Then, we need to stall for however long it takes for the Avatar’s party to leave. And Sokka, you need to visibly leave so Zuko’s crew can point him in a direction to follow. Okay?”

The last thing Sokka wanted to do was leave this fight to them. He wanted to help. This was all their fault. But the best way to help was to leave. Warriors should win, not always fight.

So Sokka nodded and ran back to the village alongside Suki, not a single word of disagreement on his lips.

The midmorning sun hung heavy overhead. Getting Sokka up to speed and interrogating Prince Zuko again took longer than Suki intended. She should have remembered to get their prisoner water and breakfast. She should have turned his restraints around to the front so he could sleep. 

She should have paid heed to his desperate warnings about his uncle coming after him.

Of course Prince Zuko hadn’t been bluffing about back up coming for him. But there was no time for regrets. What was done was done. All that was left now was to make sure Suki didn’t make any more mistakes. 

The elders had been reluctant to evacuate with the rest of the village, but in the case of an emergency, Suki had the most authority. It was never intended that the youngest squad would have to handle such a situation, but Suki was prepared nonetheless. She followed protocol, suited up, and now was going to stall for as much time as possible without letting her squad get grievously injured.

Suki stood alone in the village square. Kyoshi’s statue stood tall at her back. Her Warriors were scattered in the woods, following the Fire Nation force and reporting their observations back to Suki as the force approached. 

There were four komodo rhinos and ten men. At least half were firebenders, denoted by their masked helmets, but it was possible even those without the signature helmet were also benders. Such as the older man leading the group with obvious authority. He had to be Prince Zuko’s uncle, Prince Iroh. The Dragon of the West. 

Suki’s stomach curdled at the thought of facing him, but she knew she must. She was the captain of her squad, and had earned the title with her strength and her wit. Only she was equipped to handle such a formidable foe…

Deep, centering breaths. Now was not the time to let fear and apprehension dull her senses. Everything was going to go according to plan. Uari had come back sooner than expected, having met the children halfway back to the village. Once she delivered them to fellow Warriors, she headed toward the bay, where Katara and Aang hopefully still were. She would tell them the plan, then would release Prince Zuko once the Avatar’s party was leaving.

Ten minutes maximum. As long as there were no problems in the bay and Sokka was making quick work of packing their supplies, Suki and her squad would only have to stall for ten minutes. It was feasible. They could do this. She could do this.

Suki heard the komodo rhinos before she saw them. They snorted and stomped up the path to the village gates, but did not pass through them. The man in the lead, Prince Iroh, dismounted and walked into the square. His men also dismounted, but did not follow him. However, their weapons were drawn and bodies were posed to fight.

Prince Iroh’s hands were folded in his sleeves as he approached Suki, as if he were on a casual stroll. The tension in his shoulders undermined his genial smile as he said, “Good morning, Captain. I apologize for the intrusion, but I have reason to believe my nephew graced your shores last night. Have you perhaps seen him?”

“I believe you know the answer to that.” Her heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of her chest, but Suki did not let her voice waver.

Ever so slightly, Prince Iroh’s smile twitched at her words. His eyes narrowed to scrutinize her as he took a step closer. “Indeed, I fear so. However, we have no quarrel with Kyoshi Island. We only wish to retrieve my reckless nephew. I will gladly pay any reparations for damage he may have caused last night, as long as you return him to us unharmed.”

It was a good offer. Except that Prince Zuko hadn’t done anything to pay reparations for. There was something better, more important to exchange the prince for, not that Suki expected it to work. But anything to stall. 

“We will hand him over in exchange for Hui.”

This was a man experienced in hiding his emotions, in playing political games, but shock still flashed over his face. Whispers of doubt tried to rise up, but Suki pushed them down. Now wasn’t the time to think about such things.

“I apologize, young lady, but I’m afraid there has been some sort of misunderstanding. We do not have anyone in our custody, let alone anyone by such a name, to offer you in exchange for my nephew.”

The doubts Suki had been feeling all night did not want to be pushed down. They prompted her to question the enemy, get to the root of her unease about Prince Zuko. But, no. She couldn’t let Prince Iroh see her waver, no matter how much she wanted to figure out the truth. She needed to act decisively—as if this was the worst possible scenario—to keep everyone safe.

“In that case, call off your hunt for the Avatar, and we’ll let Prince Zuko go.”

Prince Iroh sighed wearily. “I’m afraid I cannot do that either.” Something in his eyes changed, and Suki knew he realized she was stalling. He did not look away from her as he called back, “Men, search the village.”

The soldiers fanned out and Suki’s squad leapt out of the trees to meet them. But they were grown men, experienced in combat and most were firebenders. It took two or three Warriors to handle one soldier, so several men pushed through to the village.

Suki did not move despite this happening around her, and neither did Prince Iroh. No one approached them. Slowly, Prince Iroh withdrew his hands from his sleeves, but he held no weapons. He didn’t need any to be lethal. This was him issuing a challenge. Suki flicked her fans open, dropping into an offensive stance.

“Now, young lady, I truly do not wish to fight you-”

“Then call back your men and return to your ship, old man,” Suki snapped. She ignored it once, but she wasn’t going to let him get away with calling her ‘young lady’ again, not when he clearly had more respect for her before he heard her voice and got close enough to gauge her age through her uniform.

Prince Iroh hesitated. He was the same as his nephew, genuinely seemed to not want to fight. Even though Sokka came up with a nefarious motivation for Prince Zuko’s behavior, Suki still hadn’t been completely convinced. And now, here was the Dragon of the West pausing before fighting her. What reason would he have to feign hesitation? Had he faltered at the mention of Hui because Suki had the boy her mother met imprisoned? 

Dammit, she couldn’t let herself get distracted by her doubts. She’d chosen this course of action and could not take it back. Suki glared the Dragon of the West down, not letting a shred of her own hesitation shine through.

“I’m sorry, then,” Prince Iroh said softly. He took a step back as he punched a fiery burst at her.

It wasn’t as hot as Suki feared. She redirected the flames with her fans, then rushed forward through the lingering heat. She aimed the blades of her fans for a nonlethal, immobilizing hit.

Prince Iroh had a split second of surprise before he ducked, more nimble than Suki gave him credit for, and swiped a low kick of fire at her. Suki jumped over it, and charged again. She was still faster, and close combat was often benders’ weak point. She could do this, she could-

Blocking her attack with his forearm, Prince Iroh took advantage of the opening she left and punched an open palm into her sternum. It sent Suki sliding back and gasping for breath, but she stubbornly kept her fans raised to counter his next attack.

“I underestimated you, Captain,” Iroh said, allowing her to recover as he inched forward. “But I remain firm in wanting to leave Kyoshi Island and her inhabitants unharmed. Stand down, or I will be forced to betray my words.”

Behind Suki, she could hear the fight going on in the village. She couldn’t risk looking back, but she could hear the crackle of the fire, the desperate war cries from her squad. They were doing their best, but they were on the defensive. They wouldn’t win this fight. They never intended to, though. Come on, Sokka, where was he?

“You stand down, or you’ll never see your nephew again,” Suki gritted out.

Prince Iroh’s nostrils flared and his brow pinched. Suki readied herself for his attack. Taunting the Dragon of the West was probably the dumbest thing she’d ever done, but she could handle this. She could-

She could feel the heat even before Prince Iroh threw his punch. He’d been holding back when they first drew blows. Suki wasn’t going to effortlessly divert this fire without getting burnt. But she couldn’t stand down. She was the only one between Iroh and her squad. 

“Uncle!” A furious voice bellowed as a figure landed between her and the blaze. The fire split around them, leaving scorch marks on the ground. And as her vision adjusted from the blinding inferno, Suki realized it was Prince Zuko standing between her and his uncle, his strange staff held in front of him as if it had parted the flames. “Call off the men! What in Koh’s Lair do you think you’re doing?!”

“Prince Zuko,” Iroh sighed in obvious relief. He ignored Prince Zuko’s order and instead said, “You appear unharmed.”

“Of course I am! I told you that they wouldn’t hurt me!”

Suki’s mind was reeling. She looked skyward. Appa wasn’t flying off yet, so why had Uari let Prince Zuko go already?

“What did you do to Uari,” Suki demanded, starting to step forward, fans poised to attack, but froze under Prince Iroh’s terrifying glare. Prince Zuko turned to face her and shock had Suki taking a half step back. His back had been turned to her. Why had he turned his back to the enemy?!

“Why would I do something to Uari?” he asked, confused. He tossed a length of rope at her feet. The rope that had bound his arms behind his back. Woodenly, Suki sheathed one fan to pick it up. “I let myself out. That’s good rope, by the way. Seemed like a waste to burn it. You’re welcome.”

White noise filled Suki’s thoughts. She didn’t know how to respond, how to react. She was frozen in place as Prince Zuko once again left his back open to her as he stomped over to his uncle, sparks bouncing off his clenched fists.

Whatever he was going to say to his attempted rescuer, Suki would never know. Appa’s loud, rumbling groan echoed, drawing everyone’s attention overhead. Flying low enough that the three people in his saddle were visible, and audible, Appa soared over the village.

“Hey, Prince Idiot!” Sokka taunted. “Good luck finding us again!”

A strange spasm of frustration and relief flickered across Prince Zuko’s expression before he turned to look at the village, and then his face fell with dismay. Just as quickly, it filled with anger as he shouted, “Men! Disengage and retreat! The Avatar is getting away!”

Suki refused to take her eyes off the Fire Nation royals in front of her, even as the fighting drew closer as Zuko’s men followed his orders and Suki’s squad chased them out. Prince Zuko held her gaze, a pained pinch in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Squad! Let them go!” Suki hollered, backing up, off to the side of the square so she wasn’t pincered by the royals and their crew. Not that she was worried about being attacked. No, she knew the fight was over. And now that she had drawn back, she could look over her home and see the damage this brief fight had wrought.

Flames licked up the walls of buildings and danced on thatched rooftops. Scorch marks marred the packed dirt and cobblestone of the ground. Her squad was sooty and singed, but far better off than the village.

“Draw water from the wells,” Suki ordered, recklessly trusting the prince’s men would continue to follow his order to retreat. “Put the fires out!”

Prince Zuko had not moved despite his men running past them. He stared at the village with a frown, raising his staff awkwardly. “I can-”

A monstrous screech filled the air. All eyes turned toward the bay. Before Suki could discern the source of the sound, rain fell from the sky. Suki shielded her eyes and stared in wonder. No, not rain. It was water from the unagi, directed by the Avatar. Ha, looked like he got his wish of riding it after all. The fires went out under the force of the unagi’s spray. Appa swooped down to snatch Aang out of the air once the unagi ran out of its water breath and shook Aang off.

The last of Prince Zuko’s men stopped beside him and tried to speak, but Prince Zuko cut him off, “Get to the ship, immediately! We need to follow them!” The man looked furious, but he followed the order and rushed to the komodo rhinos with the rest of the soldiers. 

Prince Zuko started to follow, but paused to turn to Suki one last time. “The Fire Nation will not take action against Kyoshi Island.” His hands moved quickly, blocked by his body so that none of his people could see, flashing a signed apology and then a name sign. One of wings in flight. “I wish we had met under different circumstances.”

Without waiting for her response, Prince Zuko shoved past his uncle and toward the komodo rhinos, shouting more, furious orders. Prince Iroh stared at her warily, hands once again folded in his sleeves. He did not move until Prince Zuko was mounted on a rhino and shouted at him to move already. Stiffly, Prince Iroh nodded to her, then left.

Suki let them. She had a massive headache coming on, and it had nothing to do with her lack of sleep.

Uari came running into the square, eyes frantically surveying the damage and retreating Fire Nation. “What’s going on? Who let the prince out? We had a plan! Is everyone alright? What-”

Solemnly, Suki raised the rope still clutched in her hand. “Prince Zuko let himself out.”

He could have done it at any point in the night, but instead had allowed them to keep him restrained. He’d put up with the uncomfortable position, had willingly forgone sleep since they hadn’t switched his bindings to make them better suited for long-time confinement. All night, he’d desperately tried to talk with them, to reason with them.

Sometimes, the truth was the most unbelievable story.

Suki didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. She was missing information, couldn’t see the whole picture. But she was sure of one thing.

The Wings were playing a much more dangerous game than anyone realized.

Children, children, had been left in charge of Kyoshi Island and Iroh brought soldiers to their shores. 

There was barely any time to feel relief that Zuko was well and unharmed before the regret came crashing in. To think Iroh would be terrorizing children again after all this time. He had let his fear blind his judgement. He should have come up with a better plan than storming Kyoshi Island in search of Zuko. 

Iroh stewed in his regrets and simmering anger as they returned to the ship and prepared to set sail. He allowed Zuko to organize their departure, standing rigidly on deck to observe and attempt to organize his thoughts. Neither of them had addressed the other since facing off in Kyoshi Village and the silence between them was growing fraught with tension.

The Sazanami pulled away from Kyoshi Island and the Avatar’s flying bison was still a visible speck in the cheerful, blue sky. Zuko stood, glued against the railing, staring at the sky until that speck disappeared. The second it did, the tense silence between them broke.

“What were you thinking,” Zuko shouted, spinning around to face Iroh.

Anger consumed Iroh’s regrets. “What was I thinking?” he repeated, a heat in his voice that he could not restrain. He had not been this angry with Zuko since he ran off to the Si Wong with only a letter left behind. At least that time he’d left a letter and hadn’t delivered himself to the enemy. “What were you thinking? I thought we were past your reckless, childish days of going behind my back and running off without a plan!”

Zuko recoiled as if Iroh’s words were a physical blow. Iroh almost took them back, almost tried to soften them, but then Zuko hardened and stepped forward, his fists clenched at his side as he bit out through gritted teeth, “I had a plan. And you refused to listen.”

“Allowing yourself to be captured by an enemy force is not a plan!” Iroh shouted. He stepped back and took a deep breath, disengaging enough to make Zuko pause before reflexively shouting a response. Raising his voice was not going to get through to Zuko. Iroh knew this, but his stress and worry—relief and anger—were making it hard to control himself. “I thought we were past this sort of behavior, that you have matured since the stunt you pulled in Gaoling. And yet, somehow, this is even worse.”

The crew that wasn’t essential to sailing had gathered. They had an audience. Iroh wasn’t sure if that boded better or worse for the outcome of this conversation. Perhaps it was a non-factor, for Zuko only had eyes for Iroh as he huffed out harsh breaths, visibly trying to contain his temper. 

Softly, Iroh tried to diffuse the situation, “You have been so responsible. You had earned back my trust, Prince Zuko. Has the Avatar’s return made you regress so much?”

Iroh made a mistake.

At first, Zuko stared blankly without responding. But some part of what Iroh said made something snap in his nephew. A hint of smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. There was a cruel glint in his eyes, one that reminded Iroh too much of his brother.

“You’re right. I have been responsible,” Zuko said, voice far too level. “Responsible for my own mission, for making any sort of progress. Your trust means shit-” There, his act cracked with his voice, the hurt dripping through each word. “-when all you do is hold me back! Guess what, Uncle! I’ve never stopped going behind your back. I’ve just been better about keeping it from you!”

Iroh’s breath caught. “Excuse me?”

Reining his emotions back, Zuko played at nonchalant, inspecting his nails in an imitation of his sister. “I mean, honestly, didn’t you think it was weird how I left Yu Dao without finding the vigilante? Of course I snuck out and found them and spoke with them. And, obviously, nothing bad happened to me.”

“Prince Zuko, just because you’re upset, it doesn’t mean-”

“And that’s not all!” Zuko shouted over him, losing his nonchalant act as he clenched his fists and glared. “Quiji Forest? Yeah, I wasn’t gone so long talking to villagers. I spent the week staying with a teenage vigilante bandit group to figure out the real secrets of the forest. Left there unscathed too!”

“Zuko-”

“And then!” Zuko didn’t let him get a word in. “And then! You were so worried I was trying to sneak back to the desert when we went to visit Ty Lee! But you were so far off the mark. Ha! No, I snuck into Omashu, Uncle, and I met with the mad king! Obviously I had it handled since I’m standing here now with you none the fucking wiser!”

Iroh’s blood turned to ice. Zuko went where? How? That was months before they were isolated in the South Pole. How could Bumi not have warned Iroh about Zuko’s reckless actions, because surely the Grand Lotus would have figured out who Zuko was, regardless of whatever disguise he had.

“So, Uncle, I had a plan, and the experience to see it through. And you ruined it!”

Hiding in his sleeves, Iroh clenched his own fists. Zuko wouldn’t have, couldn’t have, done all this alone. No doubt, Lieutenant Kavi had helped him with these schemes. In hindsight, it was obvious that Jae had been involved as well. Who else? What else had they been keeping secret from Iroh?

“Perhaps, Nephew, if you had deigned to inform me of your past… experience, our conversation last night would not have resulted in a stalemate, leading you to act on your own.” He needed to push his ire away. It wasn’t directed at Zuko, but at the adults who had led him astray, who led him to believe that keeping secrets from Iroh was the best path forward. Iroh sighed, let his hurt and weariness show. “Am I really so untrustworthy?”

Zuko snorted, unimpressed and unmoved. “That’s rich coming from you. You keep talking about how I gain and lose your trust, and yet when I supposedly had your trust last night, you still went behind my back to plot with Lieutenant Jee! And HE HATES ME!”

Tense whispers rippled through the crowd, though Zuko still seemed oblivious to them. He was glaring at Iroh, anger burning and desperately trying to hide his pain. Iroh wasn’t sure how Zuko heard his discussion with Lt Jee, but it didn’t matter. Iroh had betrayed Zuko’s trust while trying to plan contingencies…

“Prince Zuko, Nephew,” Iroh said softly, taking a half step forward. When Zuko didn’t react, Iroh closed the distance between them to gently hold his shoulders. “I am sorry. I truly had no intentions of directing the crew without your knowledge. I am-” Iroh swallowed roughly, forcing down any sign of anger or disappointment. He kept his voice calm and infused as much of his love for his boy as he could in each word. “I am not excusing your actions, but we will return to discuss that later. For now, I want you to understand. I am on your side. We would have come to a conclusion together about how to approach the Avatar on Kyoshi Island, just as we planned our trips to Foggy Swamp, the North Pole, would have eventually gone to the Si Wong together.”

Zuko stood deathly still, not even twitching under Iroh’s gentle touch and soothing words. He glared at the ground, unable to meet Iroh’s gaze directly. His voice was small, but still easily audible over the wind and the waves. “Sure, you’re on my side, but only once I convince you to be. You’re never on my side without wasting time arguing and me having to justify every single fucking choice I make.”

Iroh squeezed Zuko’s shoulders, trying to catch his eyes so he could see Iroh’s sincerity. He could understand how it would seem such a way to a teenager, but that obviously was not the case. “Nephew, I am always on your side, even when it seems like I am against you. I only ask questions and delay because I am trying to keep you safe.”

“Ha,” Zuko scoffed, pulling away. His hand jerked upward, toward his face. “Then where were you when-” A strangled croak cut off his words. Zuko finally looked up to stare at Iroh with a stricken expression.

Iroh had no words. He did not move to stop Zuko as he pushed past him and the crew, racing off the deck as if dark spirits were nipping at his heels. 

A heavy silence hung over the deck. Slowly, feeling like he was underwater, Iroh folded his hands in his sleeves once more. He realized Lt Jee was part of the crowd, but he had no idea if the man had been there since the beginning or not. Did it ultimately matter?

Iroh addressed him with forced levity, “It seemed the Avatar was flying toward the Earth Kingdom mainland. Let’s sail swiftly to the nearest port to learn of his heading.”

Lt Jee nodded, but didn’t immediately move to relay the information to the helm. He hesitated, warily said, “General Iroh-”

“I will speak with my nephew once emotions have cooled. For now, everyone is unharmed and where they are supposed to be. Good work today.”

Lt Jee frowned, but bowed and left to follow Iroh’s orders. Slowly, the crew followed suit to return to their posts, leaving Iroh alone on deck.

Spirits help him, when did such a rift form between him and Zuko? Was there anyone he could blame other than himself?

It wasn’t until Kyoshi Island was out of sight and everyone’s pounding hearts had calmed that the silence broke.

“What was that,” Katara shouted, smacking Sokka’s shoulder. “One second, I’m saving Aang from his poor life choices, and the next we’re running from Prince Zuko!”

Aang didn’t really feel like they were running from Zuko. If anything, it looked like Zuko had been arguing with his uncle when they were flying off. Which was weird because if he had been there looking for Aang, wouldn’t he have been fighting the Kyoshi Warriors like the rest of the soldiers?

Sokka grinned and gleefully filled them in with everything they had missed while Aang was acting like an idiot trying to ride the unagi. Not his finest moment, he would be the first to admit. But, also, after actually riding the unagi, he knew he would do it again in a heartbeat. Not that he would admit that aloud right now.

“I’m sorry, I’m still having a hard time believing Suki asked you to help question Zuko,” Katara said, shaking her head in disbelief. 

“No, trust me, I was shocked too!” Sokka laughed. “But he’s seriously a good liar. Like, I get him tricking Aang-” 

“Hey!” 

“-but he almost had me fooled until I caught him in his lies.”

Katara shuddered. ”I can’t believe we almost let Aang deliver himself to the Fire Nation.”

Aang frowned. “I don’t know-”

Sokka covered his mouth and held a finger in his face, wagging it dismissively. “Nuh-uh, nothing more from you, air boy. Suki agreed with me. He’s dangerous and I will not tolerate a single word more from you defending him. Just accept that he fooled you, and let’s hope we never run into him again.”

No matter how much Aang wanted to argue, he hadn’t been there this morning. He’d been too busy trying to convince Katara to relax and have fun in the stupidest way possible. If he hadn’t been goofing off, maybe he could have spoken with Zuko before his uncle came looking for him…

Aang sighed and nodded. With a relieved huff, Sokka let go of Aang’s mouth.

“Unfortunately, this means we're going to have to adjust our plans. I don’t think we can risk visiting Aunt Atka. We'll be delivering Zuko right to her doorstep, just like we did to Kyoshi Island.”

Katara looked crestfallen, but agreed with her brother. 

“Well, we can always visit her once we’re done learning waterbending at the North Pole, right?” Aang said, trying to lighten the mood. Katara smiled, so he took that as a win. Actually, maybe they could have one last fun trip to make up for the mess they left on Kyoshi Island. “Since we can’t conclude our adventure with your aunt anymore, I have something else as the grand finale to our itinerary before going to the North Pole! Plus, it’ll probably help keep Zuko off our trail!”

Sokka groaned. “Don’t tell me there’s something else you want to ride.”

Aang grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s zero chance of something trying to eat us in Omashu.”

Chapter Text

A few hours after Aang’s Avatar State (AAS) at the Southern Air Temple

Hidden in the shadows was Spymaster Raven. It was an antiquated practice from when the Fire Nation intelligence operations had the funding and manpower to justify such pretentiousness. There were only so many of them and Shiori—codename Puma—was fairly certain the spymaster was one of the Fire Lord’s cultural advisors. She supposed she couldn’t begrudge Master Raven too much for clinging to some sort of prestige and importance, considering the Fire Lord didn’t respect either of his positions.

“The acolytes from the colonies also sent word of iconography lighting up,” Dolphin said, completing his report about the Avatar lights.

Master Raven did not immediately respond, silence dragging on behind the gauze and darkness. Eventually, his voice rose out from the shadows. “The High Sages are unanimous in their assertion that the Avatar has returned. Until we are certain of how the Avatar’s return will affect the war effort, silence the rumors.”

Same as Master Raven, the gathered intelligence officer did not give their immediate response. Shiori shared a glance with Armadillo. They were thinking the same thing. If this was even five years ago, they would have had no problem carrying out such an order. But now… Fine, she would grasp the nettle.

“Master Raven, with the recent budget cuts, silencing rumors might prove difficult…”

Threats only went so far. Money was often a much more efficient motivation to encourage silence without rumors spreading about the silence. 

“Blasted inventors and their infernal contraptions,” Master Raven muttered, followed by a string of curses. He cut himself off, clearing his throat. “I will speak with the Fire Lord. For now, do what you can in your positions to downplay rumors of the Avatar’s return.”

This time, they all barked out a firm agreement and scattered back to their cover positions. They had a lot of work to do to convince the public that the Avatar rumors were naught but hot air. But surely the Avatar would indirectly help them by laying low and not drawing the Fire Nation’s attention to them.

“That was TOO close!” Sokka wheezed as he collapsed in Appa’s saddle. Sweat dripped in places he didn’t even know it was possible to sweat from. 

“I think we need to get you a hat,” Katara said to Aang as she tugged her parka off and collapsed, same as Sokka.

Oh, she had the right idea. As Sokka sluggishly sat up to rip off his own parka, Aang stirred up a gentle breeze to help cool them off. Momo chattered and flew around them, riding Aang’s air current.

“Sorry guys, I really didn’t think my tattoos would draw so much attention!”

“Nah, it’s my fault for underestimating how neutral these neutral ports are.” Sokka said, waving off Aang’s apology. He relaxed against the side of the saddle now that he was free from his South Pole clothes. Honestly, they needed some funds for Earth Kingdom style winter clothes, because their parkas were way too heavy duty for this weather. “We’ll keep it in mind next time we need to make a pit stop.”

“But they sure were quick to recognize Aang as the Avatar and were eager to capture him,” Katara said, rolling onto her stomach and propping her chin in her hands. “Do you think that’s Prince Zuko’s doing?”

Sokka frowned. “I don’t know, seemed to me like he wants to capture Aang himself. Maybe there’s someone else in play we don’t know about.”

“Well, anyways, we got away just fine!” Aang cheered, quick to change the topic whenever Zuko came up. Sokka suspected the kid was still holding out on the hope that he hadn’t been tricked. Oh well, as long as they kept an eye on Aang, he wasn’t going to suffer for his misguided hope. “I’ll be sure to have a disguise when we get to Omashu!”

Aang leaned over the saddle and sat up holding a clump of hair to his face like it was a beard. He pitched his voice down and said, “How would you young whippersnappers like to accompany your dear grandpa into town?”

Katara burst into giggles and Sokka couldn’t fight a grin of his own. Who knew, maybe he was over-thinking things. Surely Zuko was the only one so fervent about catching Aang right now.

The morning after AAS (and the Agni Kai)

“I want every port with a Fire Nation presence on the lookout for the Avatar!” Commander Zhao shouted at the assembled personnel. “Spread word as you head north. Capturing the Avatar is of utmost importance, and will be immediately reported to me!”

No one dared speak up to point out how Zhao’s orders went directly against the parameters of losing the Agni Kai against Prince Zuko. Baishi certainly wouldn’t be the one to say it, low position aside. It was to her benefit that Zhao was an honorless, backstabbing cretin by ordering all nonessential personnel of Outpost 205 to sail north. She’d spent the night pondering how she was going to finagle getting on a boat headed out of the South Pole so soon after she arrived. Commander Zhao neatly took care of that for her.

Too much happened yesterday to be trusted with a letter. 

Baishi wasn’t part of the Wings’ upper ranks and didn't know much about overarching schemes, but she had a good feeling that Prince Zuko was not acting according to plan. While she sent a messenger hawk first thing this morning with the immediate, essential details (that Prince Zuko found the Avatar and was in pursuit of him), the finer details would likely be important to the higher ups’ plotting.

Finer details such as that uncanny ending to the Agni Kai and the prince’s fervor about going after the Avatar. Oh, and how his crew apparently couldn’t stand him. Maybe the higher ups wouldn’t find that tidbit that important, but if they were anything like Baishi’s former head engineer, they would. Zhen was very protective of her prince, no matter how much she swore she wasn’t.

“I really don’t know about this, Aang,” Katara said, voice wavering. When Aang compared the Omashu mail chutes to ice tunnels, she was excited for their final field trip. Now, at the top of one of these earthen slides, Katara was having second thoughts. “This doesn’t seem that safe…”

“Oh, don’t worry, Katara! People use these chutes all the time to safely get their mail!”

“You know, I’ve always wondered.” Sokka leaned forward and around Katara to talk to Aang better. The cart they were in tilted precariously. Katara bit back a whimper. “How do mailing systems outside of cities even work? We don’t really exchange letters much in the South Pole, but I know there’s lots of communication going on across the Earth Kingdom somehow. Fire Nation too, I suppose.”

Aang perked up. “It’s really interesting, all the different systems that exist! Or, well, existed a century ago, but they must still be similar! You see, almost all port towns and all big cities have mailing centers, and then the surrounding towns are assigned to one of those mailing centers and then-”

“Can we maybe talk about this later?” Katara hissed as Aang shifted to better talk to Sokka behind her and the cart tilted again.

“But, Katara!” Aang protested with a pouty frown. “I haven’t even gotten to messenger hawks yet! They’re so cool! They-” He spread his arms out wide and that final movement tipped the equilibrium of their cart down.

Katara shrieked and clung to Aang, hating him just a little bit for his joyful laughter.

Honestly, who cared about mail delivery systems!

Two weeks after AAS

With the return of the Avatar, a lot of plans needed to be accelerated. Even before they received a hawk from one of their operatives confirming Kavi’s suspicions that Zuko was involved with the Avatar’s return, he’d begun making adjustments. The confirmation didn’t do much to change what he was already doing.

Now, Kavi was starting to get replies from their Fire Nation operatives, communication always much swifter when staying within Fire Nation lines. He wasn’t too worried about those plans. They’d been close to going forward with them anyways. It was their foreign allies he was worried about… With Zuko back on the board and openly pursuing the Avatar (what was going on in his hotheaded little brain!?), they needed to get started on revealing some secrets before rumors got out of hand…

The door to his and Amphon’s shop burst open. Amphon startled and almost knocked over an entire tray of ink. Kavi looked up warily. Dread ran down his spine. The man who burst in was one of the local fishermen Kavi had on his payroll to keep him up-to-date with the gossip that spread in ports much faster than official reports.

“You might want to sit down for this one, Kav,” Ushi said with a shit eating grin. “I thought the banished prince kicking that dickhead commander’s ass was the biggest news we were gonna get this month!”

Amphon preemptively had her head in her hands. Kavi wanted to copy her. He wasn’t going to like this, he knew it. 

Ushi continued, eyes as wide as his grin. “Well, prince went and one upped himself! Just heard from Rin who heard from Gilyoung who heard from Runchu that the prince stormed Kyoshi Island! You heard it from me first!” After a little dance, Ushi raced out, likely to share the news with the rest of town now that he earned his handful of coppers by telling Kavi.

“What are you doing, Zuko?” Kavi groaned, leaning back in his chair and massaging his temples.

Amphon left her desk to hover over him with a meek, but optimistic smile. “I know Zuko’s done a lot of dumb stuff before, but he definitely wouldn’t invade Kyoshi Island. The story’s gotten twisted somehow. Don’t worry! We’ll figure out how to get through this and our alliances won’t suffer for it. I’m sure of it!”

It felt like years of Kavi’s life left his body with his sigh. He needed to write a lot more letters and once again increase the timeline for a few operations. They needed to secure their standing with their allies no matter what rumors spread about Zuko. Amphon was right, they would figure this out and-

“Oh! Almost forgot!” Ushi popped his head back in. “Not sure about this one, but there’s also word that some kid named Hui got himself kidnapped by the prince? Poor sod if that’s true. Anyways, I’m off for real this time!”

Kavi fell forward and planted his face on his desk, letting out a long, loud groan.

“So tell me, young bald one,” the king of Omashu said as he sat in his ornate chair at the head of the dining table. Something about his smile tickled Aang’s memories. It wasn’t like back on Kyoshi, where he knew he forgot what Gyatso had told him. There was nothing Aang could have forgotten, and yet he felt the pressing need to remember. “Where are you from?”

Distracted by his thoughts, Aang couldn’t think of a single place ever. “I’m from… Kangaroo Island!”

The king nodded seriously. “Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really…” He trailed off and leaned forward with a raised eyebrow. “Hopping!”

Silence followed.

A guard coughed.

Aang didn’t really know if he should laugh or not. Then Sokka cracked up, nearly falling out of his chair with his laughter. The king smiled, pleased to have gotten a laugh out of someone, and leaned back in his chair.

“Please, eat, eat, I’m sure you’re hungry after a day of mischief and mayhem.” Aang bit back a giggle at that one. He’d never met a king before, but this one seemed pretty alright. “Did you see much of my city before destroying half of it?”

“I’d say it was more like a quarter of it, if you’re being generous,” Sokka piped up, mouth already full of food at the king’s blessing. He squeaked and nearly choked as Katara kicked him under the table. Aang had just scooted his chair back in time to get out of the crossfire between them.

“Actually, we did see some of the art district!” Katara said with a forced smile.

Aang brightened, easily moving past his shins’ near miss of pain. “It wasn’t there last time I was in Omashu! It’s such a cool idea! I love how there’s equal representation of bender and nonbender artists!”

Curiosity about the art district had distracted Aang from beelining it to the mail chutes, and he was glad he stopped to ask about the peculiar statues in the streets. Aang couldn’t help but be hopeful that they were a remnant of ideas discussed a century ago with a friend probably long gone from this world…

The king stared at Aang with a strange expression, then broke out in a wide smile. “Well, if you enjoyed the sculptures, do be sure to come back in the spring for our music festival! In fact, there’s quite the popular song that’s been going around that originated from these very streets!”

“Oh, really? That’s cool!” Aang said, starting to zone out of the conversation. He was more interested in picking out the vegetarian dishes spread out on the table than talking about popular things he had no idea about.

Katara, however, found the topic interesting enough to pursue. “We don’t get many musicians visiting where we live. What’s the song about? We’ll keep an ear out for it!”

There were eyes on him. Aang glanced up from tasting some soup and froze under the king’s intent stare.

“Why, it’s a wonderful song of friendship and love. It’s called ‘Love Lanterns’ after the technique Avatar Yangchen developed to gain her airbending mastery.” Alarm bells blared in Aang’s head but he was stuck motionless as the king said, “I’m curious how you achieved your mastery, young airbender.”

Suddenly there was something flying at Aang’s head. He reacted instinctively, calling the air around him to catch the… chicken leg thrown at him.

The king grinned. “Or should I say, young Avatar?”

Two and half weeks after AAS

‘Spinning faster, faster, faster~’

The cheerful tune twisting through Kori’s head really did not fit the mood. It was not a song one should be humming while frantically racing across Yu Dao to deliver important news to allies before they became difficult to contact.

Kori wished she had a song to reflect her mood. She was so angry! She didn’t want to be reminded of Zuko fondly right now. Honestly! What was he thinking?! She knew he was an impulsive idiot after the way he tracked her masked persona down, but at least he had done that in the secret of the night!

Well… no, he had openly searched Yu Dao for the Avatar as himself too. Okay, so more than anything, Kori was mad because she wasn’t surprised. She could only imagine how the rest of the Wings felt. Kavi’s latest letter was clearly written by someone else, so Kori suspected he was stretched thin sending out correspondence to cover Zuko’s ass.

At least Zuko’s fuck ups had good timing. The Fire Nation Performer’s Conference had recently concluded a few towns over, and the Hira’a Theater Troupe stopped in Yu Dao on their way out of the colonies and toward occupied lands for the first time.

Their delightful play depicting Agni and Tui as siblings who cared for and loved each other despite their differences had put them on Kori’s radar last time they were in Yu Dao. She was quite proud of herself for recruiting them. They were incredibly quick to swear their loyalty to the Wings, and to Zuko. Kori had a feeling there was something more than political ideals motivating them, but spymaster Fox had assured her there was nothing to worry about after they vetted the troupe.

Nothing to worry about in regards to whatever secrets they were harboring, at least. Kori had every reason to worry now, with them heading out to start spreading positive depictions of fire while the very prince the Wings wanted to be the picture of peace was making an absolute ass of himself!

In the dimness of a false dawn, Kori reached the edge of town and nearly collapsed with relief. The troupe hadn’t left yet. They were still finishing their last bits of packing before departing.

Kori dropped down from the rooftops and ran toward the leaders of the troupe.

“Noriko! Noren!”

“Answer this one question and I will set your friends free: What is my name?”

Bumi cackled and taunted the children as he gave them space to talk. Oh, how he felt like a child himself again. While he considered the possibility of Aang choosing to fight him, he never expected Aang to bring the fight to a draw in such a way. This was undoubtedly the same Aang as from Bumi’s childhood memories, but he’d changed. It was a good change, the sort that would help him survive his journey ahead.

His companions surely played a large role in Aang’s growth. Even in the face of their supposed mortal peril, the siblings had faith that Aang would succeed in every challenge thrown his way and save them. So assured they were of his victory, they continued to offer their support even while the genomite creeped higher.

The responsibility of saving his friends was heavy, but Aang did not falter. Bumi could see that Aang was going to keep changing, keep facing challenges head on, and keep burning with his willpower. Aang was going to be a wondrous Avatar.

“I know his name!” Aang cheered, lighting up with confidence.

Bumi smiled to himself. It was a heavy burden, the one these children were carrying, but they would not be carrying it alone for long. It was time for the world to start following the Avatar’s lead, some had even gotten a jump start on that change. And, if Bumi’s information was right, some of Aang’s future allies were already moving with the news of the Avatar’s return to lighten his burden.

Three weeks after AAS

“Do you think he’s on the rig by now?”

This was at least the tenth time Jingyi’s companion had asked some variation of that question since morning. Jingyi had lost count how many times she’d been asked since they set out on their mission. She tried being supportive, tried being consoling. She could only imagine how stressful it must be, sending your younger brother to incite an uprising on an earthbender prison rig weeks ahead of schedule… but Jingyi was at her wits’ end. They had more pressing matters to worry about, like their mission!

“You know, Fa Ying,” Jingyi said with a strained smile. “It really makes sense, now, how Bun Ma handled Ju Long so well despite her personality. She had a lot of experience dealing with anxious worrying while growing up, huh?”

Fa Ying didn’t even take offense. She sighed wearily and wrung her hands together. “I know, I know. Fretting about things won’t change anything. I should be better about it after all the stress Bun Ma and Su Suk have caused me, but this is a whole different level!”

Jingyi patted her companion’s shoulder. “I don’t mind saying it again, but seriously, the guy assigned with Su Suk is reliable. He won’t let anything horrible happen to him. He’ll sooner blow his own cover before letting someone else suffer. Trust me.”

“Thank you for saying it again.” 

Fa Ying smiled, a weak trembling thing that really made Jingyi wonder how she survived with Bun Ma as a younger sibling, let alone if her stories weren’t exaggerated and Su Suk was an even worse troublemaker. If not for witnessing for herself Fa Ying’s spine of steel while talking their way through a military checkpoint, Jingyi would have been much more concerned about their insane objective.

“Oh, wow, there it is,” Fa Ying breathed as they came around a bend in the path.

Up ahead was the imposing silhouette of Omashu. Neither of them had ever seen such a sight and took a moment to appreciate it. Fire Nation architecture could never hope to create a fortress like Omashu. It was clearly a feat achievable only by earthbending. Well… Jingyi glanced to her side. No, the Fire Nation could hope to construct a city like Omashu, if they embraced the abilities of all their citizens. 

“Spirits, you’re right, why have I been worrying about Su Suk when I should have been worrying about us?” Fa Ying cried, hugged herself as she shivered. “I’ve heard the king is insane! There’s an equal chance of him hearing us out as there is of him tossing us into the canyon.”

Jingyi laughed and took the first step forward. “Come on now, have faith in our intelligence! They wouldn’t send us out on a suicide mission. You’ll see, things are going to go way better than you’re fearing.”

For a moment, Jingyi was walking alone, then Fa Ying ran to catch up. The fire in her eyes assured Jingyi that they would be just fine.

“Well,” Fa Ying said blithely. “At the very least, if things go south, they won’t be expecting an earthbender to be representing the Fire Nation.”

The air was crisp with the promise of more early snow to dust Omashu’s rooftops. Aang stared out at the city with a small smile. Bumi always said he wanted to turn Omashu into a place of creativity and great thinkers. He was so happy that Bumi did it even with a war going on.

“Cookie for your thoughts?” Bumi asked, dangling a cookie in Aang’s face.

Aang laughed and airbent the cookie out of his hold and into Aang’s open mouth. As he chewed, he gathered his thoughts. “Now that you’re so much older than me, is it weird for me to say I’m proud of you?”

“Not at all, Aang.” Bumi’s smile softened and he shook his head, leaning against the railing next to Aang to look out at his city. “I’m very comforted to hear that. And I can only hope I continue to make you proud.”

Of course Aang’s immediate reaction was to jump to his friend’s defense, he would always be proud! But something in Bumi’s melancholy gaze made Aang hold back.

“I might have implied otherwise earlier, but you cannot concern yourself with the war right now. Now, you need to focus on getting to the North Pole and learning waterbending.” Bumi snorted as he looked down at Aang. “I know you, old friend. I know how easily distracted you get and how you cannot leave things alone when you could help. Later, you can help. But until later, I want you to trust we’re doing everything we can to help you and the people suffering from this war.”

Aang stared up at his aged friend, nose stinging with the threat of tears. When they were sliding down mail chutes, it was as if the century hadn’t touched Bumi, the same it had left Aang untouched. But now, alone on a terrace late into the evening, Aang could see the years not just in Bumi’s age, but in the weight of his gaze.

“We?” Aang asked, the single word strangled with unshed emotions.

Bumi giggled his infectious, manic giggle and some of the tension between them broke. “I have not been sitting idly on my throne, I’ll have you know! In fact, recently, I’ve been in talks with potential allies. You’ve already met some of them in the adventures you’ve told me about.”

“The Kyoshi Warriors!”

“That’s right! As well as your wonderful companions' people.” Bumi’s grin went crooked. “And you have heard of those from the Fire Nation, yes?”

Aang startled, falling back a step to center himself. “You know about the Wings too?" 

“Well, of course, since they're the catalyst that brought the Kyoshi Warriors and Southern Water Tribes into an official alliance!”

"Have…" Aang licked his lips, nervous about how Bumi would answer his question. "Have you met the scholar, Hui?”

"Have you?” Bumi asked back, mischief in his eyes. 

Katara and Sokka had retired to their room for a quiet dinner, understandably exhausted after what they had thought was a near-death experience. They had also wanted to give Aang time to catch up with Bumi by himself, which was appreciated. However it also meant that although Aang regaled Bumi with all of their fun field trips and their initial meeting… no one was there to call him out when he skipped over their scuffles with Prince Zuko. So any mentions of Hui (and the debate of his identity) were unmentioned as well until now. 

“Uh, well, maybe?" 

Bumi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Maybe?" 

“I asked first! Have you met him?" 

“Hmm, suppose it's a maybe for me too!" 

Aang bit back a frustrated groan. He almost forgot about this infuriating side of Bumi. It came off as less bratty and more batty now that he was older, but it was the same exact type of thing he did when they were the same age. 

“Okay, but you know the Wings, so you know a bit about him, right? Do you think… it'd be possible for him to be kidnapped by the Fire Nation?” 

Bumi’s mouth twitched. “Kidnapped by whom exactly from the Fire Nation?" 

“Prince Zuko," Aang mumbled. He took a deep breath and blurted out, “See, I was briefly kidnapped by Prince Zuko but escaped but he didn't really seem to want to fight. It was all a bit of a blur, and I took a book off him, Yangchen’s memoirs, that apparently belonged to Hui. So Sokka and the Kyoshi Warriors suspect Zuko kidnapped Hui too. Along with some other reasons. But, anyways, yeah. That's what's going on.”

A snort was the only thing to give Bumi away. It was enough. Aang knew that exact look. Bumi knew something and he wasn't going to give a straight answer. Because it was more amusing that way. 

Now Bumi’s eyebrows twitched as he said with a deceptively sincere expression, “Well, the Hui I know of is quite bold and creative, so I doubt anyone could hold him captive long. If they managed to capture him. Of the Fire Nation, Prince Zuko would be the lowest on my list of suspects.”

"Okay, but say if-”

“And even if something like that happened, the Wings care deeply about their scholar and are very capable." Bumi clapped Aang on the back with a delighted snort. “So you needn’t worry about potential kidnappings, or even the world just yet, Aang. We’ll keep it together, just as we have before you returned, so you can master water.”

Aang sighed and shook his head, smiling even through his annoyance. This was just what Bumi was like. 

“Yeah, sure, and once I do, you’ll teach me earth, right?”

Bumi hummed, looking back out at his city. “We’ll see…”

Aang didn’t press, not in the mood for more Bumi mind games, and instead was overcome by a jaw-cracking yawn. 

“It seems it’s gotten too late for little whippersnappers,” Bumi laughed. “Off to bed with you, now. You have an early start in the morning.”

More than anything, Aang wanted to stay and talk more with his last connection to his time, but they’d been together since Aang completed Bumi's tests. Aang had probably been keeping Bumi from important king business. Plus, if Aang stayed out any longer, he’d be tempted to delay their departure again. 

“Yeah, guess it’s time for me to hit the hay.” Aang darted forward and wrapped his arms around Bumi’s waist in a tight hug. He said, face pressed into Bumi’s chest, “Thanks for hanging out with me, Bumi.”

Bumi returned the hug just as tightly, pressing his cheek against the top of Aang’s hand. “Any time, Aang. I’ll see you off in the morning.”

Reluctantly, Aang pulled away and turned to leave.

“Oh, Aang, one last thing.” Aang happily turned on his heels to extend the moment. Bumi looked like it really had just come to mind, but something in his gaze felt calculating. “The book you took off the Fire Prince, Avatar Yangchen’s memoirs. Have you read it?”

Heat filled Aang’s cheeks as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. He’d grabbed Yangchen’s memoirs in the heat of the moment in Zuko’s room, and then Sokka proudly retrieved them from the ship deck. Before they got to the Southern Air Temple, opening the memoirs felt daunting. Aang felt like if he read about Yangchen’s grief, it would be admitting to himself that she was the only one he could turn to from the Air Nomads.

After the Southern Air Temple, Aang had been forced to accept that he really was alone. So, that was no longer a hurdle in reading Yangchen’s memoirs. In fact, since he couldn’t make a connection with Roku, Katara had encouraged him to read the book to learn more about being the Avatar. Aang had read some, really, he had! So far, the beginning years of Yangchen’s life were really fun and interesting. But… there were more interesting and fun things to do than read.

 “Ah, well… Y’know.”

Bumi shook his head, not in the least surprised. “Still not the biggest fan of reading?”

“Well, it has only been a few months for me since I saw you last!”

“Promise me you’ll give it a proper try,” Bumi said with a quiet laugh. “I’ve heard it’s quite life changing.”

Questions danced on Aang’s tongue, but he held them back. He'd gotten all the straight answers he could from his friend for tonight. 

“Yeah, promise! Good night, Bumi.”

“Good night, Aang.”

Three weeks after AAS

Although it was clearly a cold, late autumn day in this part of the world, it was far warmer than an arctic summer. The Sazanami's Head Helmsman, Ensign Chatri, was delighted to shed some layers despite the strange looks he was receiving from the locals. 

Since the Sazanami had docked in a neutral port, there was no port officer to report to. Thus, word had yet to spread that the recently docked decrepit cruiser belonged to the banished prince. If the crew didn’t say anything, there was a high chance the town would be none the wiser by the time they left. Prince Zuko likely wouldn’t draw any attention to himself, shockingly.

Only a week ago, none of the crew would have believed that Prince Zuko was capable of being as silent as death. Since the debacle on Kyoshi Island, they were faced with the reality that the prince was capable of being quiet. His silence had been received with varying degrees of concern and terror. Or, in Jee’s case, annoyance.

Chatri had to talk him down from confronting Prince Zuko after the third time he scared the shit out of the bridge by popping up out of nowhere, somehow informed of the latest news the crew had been unable to share because they couldn’t find him. He obviously wasn’t doing it to get on Jee’s nerves, so there was no point getting worked up about it.

Or, well, at least Chatri was convinced that Prince Zuko’s sudden disappearing and reappearing act wasn’t some form of vengeance on General Iroh and the crew for the disaster on Kyoshi Island. Paired with how the royals’ argument played out, it painted a completely different picture to Chatri… One that made the crew’s original assessment of the prince so far off base that it was almost cruel.

He could hardly blame Jee for wanting to keep the crew safe. Chatri had also believed that the prince’s behavior was due to entitlement, which made him a dangerous commanding officer. While Jee was seemingly unmoved by recent events, Chatri suspected that entitlement was the furthest motivation to Prince Zuko’s actions.

Chatri grew up in the Fire Nation’s underfunded and undermanaged foster system. He and his partner both had, which was why they opened their home and hearts to children without families, or who were better off without the ones they were born into. And so, Chatri knew the signs of children who needed a softer touch, who struggled to trust and lashed out as a defensive measure…

General Iroh’s obvious love and devotion to his nephew had blinded Chatri to the signs he knew so well, that was, if he was reading them correctly. It was unfortunate, if he was correct, that for all of General Iroh’s love, he was handling Prince Zuko all wrong.

“Heard it’s a flying beast!” A woman’s voice carried through the window.

Chatri paused in addressing his letters home and leaned back to better hear the conversation outside the post office.

A young voice said, “Well how in Koh’s Lair are we supposed to catch him if he can fly?”

“Hmm, maybe I should take my chance fishing in warmer waters this week,” a gruff man said.

The woman scoffed. “Please, even if you managed to catch the Avatar, do you really think that commander would fork over the reward? I’ve heard about this Zhao guy. He’s apparently a complete asshole. When he’s not offering it, if you catch my drift. Heh.”

The letters home taunted Chatri. He frowned at them, then sighed. He had hopes of the Sazanami staying in port long enough that he could potentially get a reply and hear about some of the great-grandchildren. However, it seemed they would be leaving by evening. Chatri opened his letters to edit the contents.

Even if Prince Zuko wasn’t out in the town to hear these rumors, or if the rest of the crew chose to keep what they heard quiet to extend their shore leave, they would be leaving by evening.

Chatri still wasn’t completely confident about his new impression of Prince Zuko, but he did know that his opinion of Commander Zhao was unchanging. The man was possibly worse than rumors made him out to be. 

So, Chatri quickly sent off his letters and headed back to the Sazanami to inform Jee and Prince Zuko of what he overheard.

It wasn’t often that Bumi used his full throne room twice in a week, but appearances must be kept. So once more, he sat on the throne he crafted for himself, and smiled down at the women Foxglove sent to represent the Fire Nation’s movement for peace.

Jingyi, the taller of the two, was of obvious military stock. Though she did not carry herself like someone trained for combat, she had a sharp eye and had quickly picked up on the hierarchy of Bumi’s guards and head advisor Lim, addressing them accordingly. 

The other, Fa Ying, was quiet and Lim claimed her to be meek. Bumi would have agreed with Lim’s quick assessment if not for the flash of her eyes as she surveyed him and the throne room. Unlike Jingyi, this one had some sort of training. Bumi would even say formal bending instruction, but Lim said they both claimed not to be firebenders. It wouldn’t bode well for negotiations if they started off on a lie, so Bumi was willing to believe them.

Curious, curious.

“Welcome to Omashu!” Bumi cheered, spreading his arms wide. “I trust my welcoming party treated you well on your way in?”

Both women bowed, but only Jingyi spoke as they rose. “Very well, Your Majesty. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”

“Ah, well, it was a stipulation for deepening Omashu’s relationship with the Southern Water Tribes and Kyoshi Warriors.” Bumi giggled as he leaned forward on his throne. “Very bold of your leaders, I must say.”

Jingyi matched his laughter, though the tension in her shoulders gave away her carefree act. “Yes, well, what can I say? Boldness runs in the Wings.”

“Does it?”

That was all the warning Bumi gave before he stomped the ground and sent a ripple of earth to surround the pair. His harmless wall was immediately rendered moot as a pillar of earth shot upward, and a hole split in his ceiling. The pillar stopped before the pair disappeared to the next floor. Bumi waved at his guards to stand down, stunned speechless.

Fa Ying hesitantly peeked over the edge of her pillar with a frown. “Were you testing me?” Her voice was quiet, but there was a fire in her as she addressed a king.

“It seems I was!” Bumi fell back against his throne, cackling gleefully. An earthbender! The Wings sent a Fire Nation earthbender into Omashu! They were as bold as their little prince! How delightful!

“Come down, come down. I commend your quick thinking! Going up! I must admit, I did not expect that!”

Slowly, the pillar sunk down and the pair of Wings stared at him warily. Bumi descended from his throne and pulled a table up from the ground, after a short warning so Fa Ying didn’t leap into action again. Wonderful, dependable Lim entered with a tea service.

“Please, sit, help yourselves. New friendships are best forged with tasty snacks!”

Sharing a bewildered look, Fa Ying and Jingyi joined Bumi at his table and followed his lead in serving themselves tea and snacks. Splendid, they were just as willing to fight as they were to partake in a tea party. Bumi’s mind was made!

“I’m happy to ally with you, and not just so I can work with the others of the New Horizon Alliance!” The Wings nearly made a mess as they snapped to attention. Bumi snickered. “However, I have my terms, which I hope you can meet.”

“Of course,” Jingyi agreed, eager and hopeful. ”Whatever they are, we know we can meet them.”

“I’m ever so pleased to hear you say that.”

Fa Ying frowned. “What are your terms?”

“Omashu is going to fall to the Fire Nation.” Bumi folded his hands on the table and smiled brightly. ”And you’re going to help it happen.”

Chapter Text

“Katara, can you stop playing around and join us for dinner?”

“I’m not playing around!” Katara scowled at the gurgling creek that refused to listen to her, rather than at her obnoxious brother. “I’m practicing my bending.”

Sokka scoffed and Katara could feel his eye roll on the back of her head. “You’re not even practicing what Suki taught you. All you’re doing is trying and failing to make ice.”

“Well, that’s why she’s practicing something else, isn’t it?” Aang chimed in brightly. “She’s confident with the Kyoshi move, but not this.”

Katara tuned them out as Sokka turned his nagging to Aang, and how he should be playing with water too. She pictured the way she saw the earthbenders in Omashu reach out and grab their element. Surely that could be used for ice, if she could just figure out how to reliably freeze water. Reaching out for the small creek, Katara tried to hold on to the image of the earthbenders. She peeked an eye open, but the water hadn’t frozen as she hoped. It rippled unnaturally, but ultimately didn’t listen to her. 

Again.

With a heavy sigh, Katara pushed off her knees to stand and leave the creek behind. Already in a poor mood, it was hard to hide her grimace at their meager dinner. They just restocked a few days ago in Omashu, so they should have been fine… But none of them knew the wildlife in the area and didn’t take proper precautions to secure their supplies. So, they woke up this morning to everything strewn about and half of their food soiled or stolen. 

Sokka caught the look on her face and shoved a bowl into her hands. “It’s fine, we still have the money King Bumi and Kyoshi Island gave us. We can restock later, so eat up.”

“I’ll fly solo some tomorrow to see if I can spot a town!” Aang offered, already finished with his own bowl of sad soup and eyeing the pot hopefully.

As Sokka praised Aang for the idea, and gave him seconds, Katara ate in silence, stewing in her thoughts. After working with Suki to adapt the Warrior’s rope dart into a waterbending move, Katara started looking at everything as inspiration for bending. Her water dart was her best waterbending to date, and it made sense. Of course an adaptation of an actual fighting form would be better than any of her self-taught improvisations.

During the long flight to Omashu, Katara got Aang to teach her some airbending forms. While they wouldn’t be useful in a fight yet, she did bend some morning mist using airbender methods. It proved her theory that she could use anything to waterbend better. So though their visit in Omashu was short and she was a bit distracted by the whole getting covered in rock part, Katara still observed the earthbenders and considered how she might steal some of their forms too. Unfortunately, she didn’t have an earthbender to help her like she had Suki and Aang.

An echoing boom disrupted the boys’ conversation and made Katara drop her bowl. Thankfully there wasn’t much left to waste, and Momo made quick work of licking up the little bit that did spill.

“Is that the Fire Nation?” Sokka asked as he jumped to his feet, club in hand.

Aang cocked his head and hummed. “I don’t think so.”

Another boom resounded through the forest.

“I think it’s coming from over there!” Aang shouted.

Ignoring Sokka’s protest, Aang leaped up and ran toward the sound. Katara was right beside him. He was right. It didn’t sound like Fire Nation explosives. If anything, it sounded like earthbending!

They didn’t run far before finding the source of the sound in a small ravine. There was a boy standing in the middle of it earthbending.

“Let’s go meet him!” Aang said, eyes shining in a way that made Katara smile shyly. He was thinking about her and her struggle to adapt earthbending moves.

Sokka caught up with them, hissing at Katara to stop. Katara easily ignored him again and jumped out of their hiding spot. 

“Hello there!” she called out as she approached the boy. “I’m Katara, what’s your name?”

The boy whirled around to stare at her with an undeniable expression of fear. He didn’t falter in running away despite Katara’s attempted assurance that she meant no harm. As he fled, he pulled the earth of the ravine down to block them from following

“Nice to meet you!” Aang yelled after him cheekily.

Katara tried to give him an unamused look, but she couldn’t contain her snort, undermining the attempt. Aang beamed with pride as if he made the funniest joke ever.

“Alright, enough excitement,” Sokka grumbled, stomping up to them. “Let’s get back and clean up so we can get a little more traveling done before it gets dark.”

Aang tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Y’know, he’s gotta be running somewhere. There must be a village nearby! And it’s gotta have some food we can buy!”

“Good idea, Aang!” Katara said, clapping her hands together. 

Sokka squinted at them, but relented. “Fine. But only because we need to stop somewhere eventually. Under no circumstances are you going to try to find that earthbender. Got it?”

Katara hummed noncommittally as she walked away from him, in the direction the boy ran.

“That isn’t an answer, Katara! Do not try to find him!”

Aang fell into step beside her and grinned. “In other words, it’s fine if we just happen to see him again, right?”

Giggling, Katara accepted Aang’s hand to airbend them over the rocks the boy pulled down. Sokka yelled at them to slow down and stop ignoring him. Sharing a look with Aang, they both broke out running, stifling their laughter as Sokka’s annoyed shouts raised an octave.

The village wasn’t too far from where they stopped for dinner. However, with the way the mountains surrounded it, they might have missed it from the sky. Their encounter with the earthbender was fortunate even if Katara couldn’t find him to ask for advice. They really did need to buy more food.

While Aang haggled for a hat and Sokka inspected the few food wares still out for sale at this hour, Katara watched the streets. She would stick to her promise to not seek out the boy, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to keep an eye out for him. The street wasn’t too busy, so Katara immediately recognized the boy when he briskly walked past them. 

Today was her lucky day!

“Hey, where are you-” Sokka started to ask as Katara pulled away from him.

“It’s him!” Katara said, headed toward the small shop the boy had entered. 

Sokka groaned, but grabbed Aang and followed her.

As she let herself in, the boy, whose name was Haru if she heard correctly, was being scolded by his mother. Awkward, but Katara was determined to ask him for bending advice. She shamelessly interrupted. 

“Hi! So, your name is Haru? Why’d you run away?”

Haru turned to them with the same fearful look as earlier. With a strained laugh, he said, “Uh, you must have me confused with someone else.”

“No, she doesn’t. We saw you earthbending!” Aang cheered, popping up beside her.

Haru and his mother gasped. They scrambled to pull Sokka through the door, then slammed it and the window shut. Haru’s mother peeked through the shutters, let out a relieved sigh, then turned on Haru with a stern frown. “That saw you doing what?”

Through her scolding tone, there was undeniable fear. Katara was starting to think she made a mistake. They way they were acting… It was too similar. But she thought the Earth Kingdom was different—was safer. 

“You know how dangerous that is,” Haru’s mother continued. “You know what would happen if they caught you.”

A rock dropped in Katara’s stomach. It was how it sounded. But how? Why would the Fire Nation hunt down earthbenders like they had the waterbenders of the South Pole? How could she not have known?

“Open up!” A gruff voice said, accompanied by a pounding knock on the door.

Everyone froze.

“Do not say a word,” Haru’s mother warned as she ushered them to the back of the shop and opened the door to a Fire Nation soldier.

“What do you want?” The woman demanded, angry where she had just been fearful. “I’ve already paid you this week!”

Katara wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. This wasn’t the same as the South Pole. The Fire Nation was already here and had taken control of this town. Even as sheltered as Grangran tried to keep them, Katara and Sokka still heard whispers of the work camps earthbenders of occupied lands were sent to. And Katara just charged in, almost exposing Haru’s secret. 

Thankfully, the soldiers were only looking for money and hadn’t overheard them talking about Haru. They took the few coins the woman had and left, uncaring if Haru and his mother were going to be able to feed themselves for the rest of the week… Or if they could pay the higher taxes next week.

“I’m sorry,” Katara said in a small voice once they were alone again. “I didn’t realize…”

“How long has the Fire Nation been here?” Sokka asked, straight to business.

“Five long years,” Haru’s mother said as she picked up the copper pieces the soldiers discarded on the floor. “They took control of this town, and all surrounding towns for our coal mines to fuel their ships.”

If that was the case… Katara asked hesitantly, “Do they force earthbenders to work the mines? Is that why Haru has to hide?”

“Those aren’t earthbenders working the mines,” Haru spat. “They’re cowards.”

“Haru, don’t talk like that!” His mother glared at him until he muttered an insincere apology, then she turned to Katara with wide eyes. “You are obviously not from around here. Please be more careful in the future. It varies from town to town, but especially in coal mining towns, they take away any local earthbenders and bring in prisoners who have lost the will to fight.”

“I’m really sorry,” Katara apologized again. Her throat felt too tight and she had to force out her words. “We had no idea…”

The woman’s gaze softened. “Well, now you do. Is there anything else we can help you with?”

Sokka stepped up, unmoved by their struggles, at least on the surface. “Yeah! We need to buy some food. And it’s getting kind of late. Know anywhere good to camp for the night out of the Fire Nation’s notice?”

“We got money!” Aang exclaimed, holding up their visibly full money bag.

Haru and his mother exchanged a look, then Haru grinned. “Yeah, we know a place.”

The setting sun basked Haru’s family farm in a golden haze. While Sokka and Aang fought with Appa to control himself and to not eat all of their hosts’ hay, Katara slipped out of the barn to talk with Haru.

“Hey, Haru,” she called after his retreating figure. He paused and looked back at her with a questioning tilt to his head. “I just wanted to apologize again for putting you in danger by following you into town and practically shouting about your earthbending.”

“Don’t worry about it. Honestly, sometimes I want to shout it out for the world to hear too.” He smiled wryly. “Then I could make a stand to fight those bastards… By the way, why did you follow me?”

“Oh, well, you see,” Katara laughed sheepishly. “I actually wanted to ask you for some advice on bending.” 

Haru halted in his tracks and looked down at her incredulously. “But you said that you’re a waterbender. And you’re traveling with the Avatar!”

“Yeah, and he’s been helping me too! But, well…” Katara fidgeted with the pendant of her necklace. “What’s happened here? Across all those towns your mom mentioned? It happened to us too, in the Water Tribe. But they didn’t send any waterbenders back to work… They’re just. All gone. And I’m the only one left. So, I’ve never been able to learn from anyone.”

“Oh, I’m really sorry.”

Haru led them off the path back to his house to a rock overlooking the valley. He sat on the edge of the rock, one leg hanging off the side and the other pulled up to lean against his knee. Somehow it felt wrong to join him. He looked so pensive and natural here, as if this were a regular spot to contemplate life. Haru gestured for her to sit, however, so Katara hesitantly sat beside him.

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the setting sun, until Haru spoke first. “I can’t imagine what it was like for you. My father taught me everything I know. With him gone, sometimes it feels like bending is the only way I can feel close to him again.”

Katara’s chest ached as she stroked her necklace pendant. Maybe things would have been different if her mother had been a waterbender too. If Katara had learned from her, if they could have fought back together- No, there was no point in dwelling on it.

“It’s been hard, trying to teach myself everything,” Katara said, pushing through her melancholy. She forced a smile and some excitement into her words. “I still don’t know any proper waterbending forms, but I’ve started adapting other styles! I think ice is a lot like earth. I’ve been trying to practice some of the earthbending I saw when we were in Omashu, but it’s hard to copy when I only saw it briefly.”

Haru glanced back at his house, then grinned at Katara. “Well, luckily for you, you’re staying the night with an earthbender.”

More than anything, Katara wanted to jump on his offer without any second guesses. She desperately wanted to. But… “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you in danger. Your mother can’t lose you too.”

“It’s fine! I always practice deep in the forest and I’ve never been caught. Well, except by you all, but I wasn’t expecting anyone to come from behind me.”

“Sorry again for startling you,” Katara giggled. 

Waving off her apology, Haru jumped to his feet. He held his hand out to her with a wink. “No worries! Now, c’mon, we have a bit of ground to cover if we want to get back before my mom raises a fuss.”

Katara accepted his hand up, cheeks a little warm as she mumbled her thanks.

Unfortunately, they never did get to the forest for earthbending practice. Katara at least still got to see a little more earthbending in action when Haru saved an old man trapped in the mine entrance…

She went to sleep proud of her new friend for helping, but couldn’t completely disregard the knot of apprehension in her stomach. Surely everything would be fine.

Right?

Things were not off to a good start since arriving in the mining town, Kaiping. Or, maybe a kid getting arrested for earthbending was a good start to inciting an uprising… No, no matter how you looked at it, a kid getting shipped off to a prison rig for any amount of time was not a good thing.

Hopefully everything went according to the Wings’ plans and the kid was only there for a short time…

Chinita of Captain Rera’s Kyoshi Warrior squad wanted to have faith in the plan, but the shortened timeline and recent events had her wavering. Well, she was in Kaiping now, so there was nothing to do but move forward and adapt to the current situation. Her partner for this mission, Husko, was following up with the public sentiment of the latest detainment. Meanwhile, Chinita was on her way to the arrested kid’s poor mother. 

All she could do was offer support and the hope that the woman would see her son and her husband again. Soon. As long as everything went according to plan. Chinita just needed to hide her own reservations about, well, everything…

There were weird rumors going around about the Avatar and the adorable scholar who connected the Kyoshi Warriors with the Wings, which led to a formal alliance with them and the Southern Water Tribe. Not just helping out where they could, but actively working in the war with them. If the rumors were as bad as they sounded, Chinita feared Kyoshi Island already suffered the repercussions of the Warriors joining the alliance… 

But Rera told them not to pay any mind to the rumors. The Wings didn’t seem to be worried about them. They had assured Rera that everything was fine and to proceed according to their plans. Rera passed the news on, then sent Chinita and Husko on their way with the warning to not let rumors distract them from their mission. Everything was time sensitive, especially with the shortened timeline. 

So despite Chinita’s concerns for her home and precious little Hui, here she was, in Kaiping. Here and hoping despite herself that another kid’s misfortune would be enough of a spark to make the spiritless earthbenders and villagers want to fight back.

“Get out of my way, pipsqueak!”

Chinita stopped in the middle of the path at the sound of young, raised voices. What in the world? She scaled the cliffside to the ledge above the main path, then crept along it to spy on those below. Were those Water Tribe children? What were they doing bickering in the middle of a Fire Nation occupied mining town?

Shit, there were soldiers coming up the path. Did Chinita reveal herself to intervene or- Wait. Were the children putting on a show? What were they trying to do?

“I’ll show you who’s boss!” The girl shouted, pointing at who could only be her brother with their resemblance to each other. “Earthbending style!”

What.

There was an awkward pause, then the girl declared her intent to earthbend in front of Fire Nation soldiers. Again. A nearby boulder shot upward, bobbing unnaturally. That certainly didn’t look like any earthbending Chinita had ever seen… But that didn’t matter to the soldiers. They took the girl away, at her brother’s insistence, giving him judgemental looks. Jeez, even Fire Nation soldiers found him heartless for turning in his sister.

As soon as the soldiers were out of sight, another boy popped out from behind a rock formation at the edge of the path. He patted the brother’s shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry, Sokka! She’ll be fine. We’ll be right behind her.”

The staged fight. The weird ‘earthbending.’ Those tattoos. The vent under the boulder. Spirits help them all, Chinita had an idea of what was going on.

Chinita jumped down from her perch, startling both boys. She raised her hands in a show of peace, so they hesitated before attacking.

“Who are you,” Sokka demanded, club drawn and ready to fight.

“There isn’t a lot of time. I’m a Kyoshi Warrior.” They immediately relaxed. So it seemed it was true that the Avatar stopped on Kyoshi Island. What did that mean for the rest of the rumors? No, she couldn’t afford to get distracted. “Are you all trying to help the boy who was taken last night?”

The Avatar nodded. “Yeah! Katara got herself arrested so they take her right to him! And we’re going to follow on my sky bison!”

“That's incredibly reckless,” Chinita scolded. The boys shrunk into themselves and looked away guiltily. She sighed. “But you’ve lucked out, because she won’t be alone. There’s mass breakout operations underway at all the earthbender prison rigs. She’ll find allies when she gets there… And, honestly, you all might be able to help.”

The boys perked up.

“You all can pass on the message that this village, and many others, are being primed for the return of their earthbenders. Morale will be low, and it’s possible the operatives there are struggling to convince the earthbenders to fight.”

Sokka’s eyes were practically shining as he asked, “Wait, really? Who’s on the rig? How else can we help? Is the Water Tribe fleet-”

Chinita held a hand up to cut him off. “You need to get going to follow your sister. I don’t know where the rig is, so I can’t help you find it if you lose her trail. But I do know that they’ll leave from the port south of here.”

“Right, thank you.” Sokka nodded definitively, pushing down his desire for answers. “And good luck here.”

He pulled the Avatar with him as he turned down the path. Their peculiar critter companion flew around their heads, chattering noisily. They were following her words without hesitation. Chinita shouldn’t delay them any longer, especially after she ignored Sokka’s questions. But…

“Real quick, how were Suki and her squad when you left Kyoshi Island?”

The Avatar turned and walked backwards with a wide smile. “Don’t worry! They’re fine! I’m sure any rumors you’ve heard are super exaggerated!”

The tension in Chinita’s shoulders lessened, but didn’t completely disappear. There was still someone else she was concerned about, despite the Wings’ assurances.

“Did you happen to… hear about a scholar boy by the name of Huizhong?”

Sokka halted and turned to face her with pursed lips. He appeared to have a question of his own, but the Avatar spoke up before he could ask.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about Hui! We just came from Omashu, and King Bumi assured me that no matter the truth of any rumors, he’s not one to be held down long. And the Wings would never let him get hurt! Now, we gotta get going after Katara. Good luck here!”

Waving brightly, the Avatar took off in a sprint, forcing Sokka, who looked ready to start an argument, and the flying creature to scramble after him. Chinita watched them and couldn’t help but smile as well.

Not only was her heart light, her mission was about to become much easier as well. After all, who wouldn’t feel invigorated once they heard that the Avatar was personally helping?

Hopefully the Avatar’s group had no problems finding the Wings on board the rig…

‘Happy Summer Solstice, family! 

Recent developments in my life as an enlisted babysitter! Ju Long has been terrified of the youngest, so I took matters in my own hands to show him how silly that was. I’m brilliant, as we all know, and the two ended up the best of friends by evening. The youngest is adamant that I’m not included in the friendship, but joke’s on him. I already decided we were friends the second I invited him to the Summer Solstice festival with me and Ju Long. He’s a cute brat. I totally get why I was spoiled growing up. We’re on the move like always, so don’t bother attempting to chase me down with a reply letter. 

Love you all, Bun Ma’

Growing up, Su Suk was just as directionless as his younger sister. Their oldest brother, Mee Noi, inherited their parents' skill for metal working and was established as the successor to the family craft before Su Suk was of schooling age. Their oldest sister, Si Fah, had an aptitude for business that the family smithy lacked, so she all but took over that aspect of their small shop before Su Suk had finished learning his maths. Fa Ying followed in Mee Noi’s footsteps and didn’t take it personally when there was little work for her at home. She hired her services out around Yu Dao without complaint.

No one had expectations for Su Suk and Bun Ma. They weren’t needed for the success of the family. As Mee Noi liked to put it: they had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Bun Ma took that as she had the freedom to do nothing. Su Suk bristled at the idea. He wanted to be important, wanted to be needed and valued. 

When other directionless, young Fire Nation men struggled to find their place in the world, they enlisted. That was never an option for Su Suk. He was an earthbender and no matter how deeply they could trace their Fire Nation roots, earthbenders weren’t to be trusted in the military. And so as Su Suk bounced from job to job, never finding anything that felt right, he bemoaned his sister’s privilege as the sole firebender of the siblings. 

Bun Ma got fed up with their family’s nagging to do something and took Su Suk’s words to heart. She enlisted, and Su Suk regretted pushing her to it every day since. 

Suddenly, every bit of news from the warfront wasn’t an object of envy—wasn’t the picture of glory that Su Suk could never get his hands on. Su Suk didn’t hear the victories in the news anymore. He heard the death toll and pictured his baby sister among them. The day they received word of her completing training and receiving her first assignment, Su Suk locked himself in his room and cried for hours.

Thank Agni that even the military could not turn Bun Ma into a completely different person. It barely took a year before she had enough write ups that she was given a new assignment as punishment, if being placed on a non-combatant ship to chauffeur the newly banished Fire Prince could be considered a punishment. For the first time since Bun Ma left home, Su Suk slept peacefully.

His fears for his sister were quelled with her new assignment, but his opinion of the war effort couldn’t go back to his ignorant idealism. When neighbors received accolades for their fallen family members, Su Suk no longer felt jealous. All he felt was hollow. If things had turned out differently, it could have been him and his family receiving that news. If Bun Ma died in service of the Fire Nation, Su Suk would feel anything other than pride.

Su Suk felt like an idiot, honestly. Why had he been so eager to go fight for the Fire Nation when their sacrifices meant nothing? More and more colony-born enlisted by the year, not because the Fire Nation was more accepting of them, but because they needed the bodies to fill their ships and stand on the front lines. 

Every letter from Bun Ma about her adventures and friends only made Su Suk feel worse. He was happy, of course, so unbelievably happy and relieved that his sister was safe and thriving. But how many others her age were fighting, suffering, dying? It wasn’t right. The war wasn’t right. Su Suk daren’t even whisper the thought, but it simmered and festered in his mind with every passing day.

‘Sorry for the delayed letter, family!

Lots has happened that really can’t be shared over letters. Short of it is, I’ve gotten a new assignment. Unfortunately, I had to leave the youngest behind, but he’s a tough cookie. He’ll be fine. He even helped me stick with Ju Long, because spirits know he needs all the help he can get. I think he’s worse than you, Fa Ying, seriously. Anyways, we’re stationed in the capital now. Can’t get leave just yet to visit home, but now you can write back to me and catch me up with all that’s happened the past year!

Love you all, Bun Ma’

All of Bun Ma’s infrequent letters were a spectacle in the household, no matter how short they were. That letter sent the family in a tizzy. How did Bun Ma get stationed in the capital?! Everyone bickered in circles until finally Su Suk put his foot down and declared that he would go visit Bun Ma. He was between jobs, anyways, so it made no difference if he was gone for a couple of weeks or not. 

It was in the backroom of a small Harbor City tea shop that Su Suk’s world was turned on its head. 

“Su Suk, seriously?” Bun Ma said between gasping laughter. “I thought you at least of anyone would have figured it out. Who else would the youngest be? It was the lowest level of subterfuge!” 

His baby sister hadn’t just been working for the banished prince. She had befriended him. And once she read between the lines of his relief and worry for her, Bun Ma revealed that she was willing to stage a coup in Prince Zuko’s name. There weren’t any plans for such a thing, not yet. Other than spreading Prince Zuko’s secrets and goals amongst those she trusted from her old crew and keeping them connected through some philosophy society, there was little Bun Ma could do. But even without an immediate plan to act, she was more serious, more dedicated than Su Suk had ever seen her.

How could he not pledge his loyalty alongside her?

Since there really wasn’t much of a plan while Prince Zuko was still so young and figuring himself out, Su Suk didn’t expect to hear about the kid any time soon. So imagine his surprise when a song started going around about Avatar Yangchen. Who else would have had a hand in that other than Bun Ma’s little friend with exclusive knowledge of Yangchen’s history? Su Suk desperately wanted to run back to the capital and ask his sister if she had any idea of what was going on in Prince Zuko’s head, but getting the travel permits so soon after his last visit would be impossible.

When rumors started going around about a vigilante in Yu Dao, Su Suk didn’t think much about it. Well, didn’t think much about it in relation to the prince. He thought a lot of trying to aid the vigilante in their work, but Mee Noi and Si Fah all but locked him in his room every night so he wouldn’t do that. Then word started traveling that the vigilante could be the Avatar and Prince Zuko showed up on Yu Dao’s doorstep.

He was holed up in the mayor’s estate and in town for such a short amount of time that Su Suk had no chance of orchestrating a meeting. 

Speculation of the vigilante being the Avatar died down once rumors started spreading of there being a second masked crusader. How did a waterbender end up in Yu Dao? No one knew, but it made more sense than the Avatar suddenly appearing. Su Suk, however, couldn’t help but think about Bun Ma’s explanation of the prince’s mixed element theories and her own earth-style firebending techniques.

When whispers about Prince Zuko started spreading through the city, Su Suk’s suspicions were confirmed. It was all too easy to trace down the source of the (positive and accurate!) rumors by bringing up his sister’s connection to the prince. When his search led him to the mayor’s daughter, everything slid into place.

Kori Morishita was a creative, passionate girl so it was no wonder that she and the prince Bun Ma described made such a fast alliance. An earthbender in a family of firebenders, she learned to blur the line between the elements same as Bun Ma had. She couldn’t stand to see the injustice of Yu Dao anymore, and took matters into her own hands. In doing so, she connected with the prince and the resistance group he’d picked up since Bun Ma was reassigned. 

Su Suk was the proud second Yu Dao recruit to the Wings and soon his entire family was involved and helping keep Kori out of trouble. Honestly, what were the Wings thinking by leaving an ambitious, reckless 15 year old with the instructions “lay low until we contact you again.” The girl was a vigilante, for Agni’s sake. Of course she wasn’t going to wait around for further instructions, hence the rumors of Prince Zuko which led Su Suk to her.

By the time the Wings’ spymaster finally followed up with Kori (far too late if you asked Su Suk or anyone else in the family), there was a burgeoning Yu Dao branch of the Wings. Fox obviously hadn’t been expecting Kori to have achieved so much in the Wings’ name in only a few months, but easily rolled with it and made sure they were properly connected to the Wings line of communication from there on.

(And during Fox’s visit, Su Suk realized they didn’t know that Bun Ma was his sister. In fact, it seemed to Su Suk that for all Bun Ma knew of that White Lotus group, she was ignorant of the Wings' existence. It certainly wasn’t something to be shared over letter and, well, it sounded like Fox would properly recruit her sooner or later due to her friendship with Zuko. So he pointed Fox in the direction of the first Sazanami crew, but kept Bun Ma’s relation to the family quiet. He couldn’t wait for her ire when she found out he joined the Wings before her.)

In the Wings, Su Suk finally found his purpose. His earthbending was valued for the opportunities it presented to future maneuvers. His freedom from obligations made him the ideal agent. No one found it strange that he wasn’t working, was going in and out of town. It was what he’d always done. So when they received word of the earthbender liberation operation, Su Suk was the first to volunteer to participate.

Even when the timeline got pushed forward and he had to abandon the original plan of befriending the local communities before getting sent to the rig, Su Suk didn’t despair. He had a mission, a goal, and he was going to see it through!

But…

Su Suk severely overestimated his ability to bond with and inspire the imprisoned earthbenders. A week into being placed on the rig, things were starting to feel hopeless. No one wanted to listen to him! They were treating him like a pariah for even alluding to staging an escape. His and his partner’s sabotage to delay ship repairs and halt production could only go on so long. Not to mention they couldn’t take too long convincing the earthbenders to fight back. The timing needed to be perfect so that it lined up with the other rigs so the Fire Nation couldn’t increase security.

The pressure was on and Su Suk was afraid he was about to crack under it.

“Katara?!” Haru, the child who arrived the day before, jumped to his feet to greet another young new arrival.

From his spot nearby, where he’d been plotting how to get Haru away from his father to gauge his fighting spirit, Su Suk watched the exchange with his pulse pounding in his ears. This girl did not move like an earthbender. 

“It’s my fault you were captured,” Katara said, guilt weighing her words as she avoided Haru’s gaze. Then, she straightened her spine and declared, all fire and determination, “I came to rescue you.”

Su Suk ducked his head to hide his grin the longer Katara spoke. Maybe he had a chance of completing his mission after all.

Chapter Text

Katara frowned at her bowl of slop. How was this fit for human consumption? And how were there not enough blankets to go around when winter was fast approaching? In the short time since she arrived on the prison rig, Katara knew rumors of conditions on the rigs were as bad as they sounded, if not worse.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” she said to Haru’s father, Tyro. “What’s your escape plan?”

The man looked taken aback by her question. “Excuse me?”

“You know, the plan to get everyone off the rig? Haru said you’ve been here almost five years! Surely you’ve come up with something. What is it? Mutiny? Sabotage?”

“The plan?” Tyro shook his head. “The plan is to survive and keep our heads down. Hope our spirits don’t completely break before we have the chance to work in a mine.”

The chance to work in a mine?! How was that better than this? Living in tiny huts on a metal deck, exposed to the open ocean and forced to repair Fire Nation ships. Mines were just as dangerous and probably harder work!

“What about escaping, taking back your freedom?!”

“Katara, I admire your courage.” Tyro placed a hand on her shoulder, but it felt more restraining than comforting. “But you are not the first, nor the last to wish for the impossible. The warden is a ruthless man. Any resistance only lengthens your stay here. Or worse.”

Tyro nodded in the direction of someone seated nearby. Unlike the rest of the earthbenders, he was alone. In fact, it looked like people were purposefully giving him a wide berth. He was seated with his legs pulled up to his chest with his head resting against his knees, so Katara couldn’t see much more of him.

“That young man arrived only a week ago, and he too was talking about fighting back. He’s only gotten hurt since. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to see you or anyone else like that. We’re powerless.”

Katara frowned and looked around the yard, properly looked this time. Everyone was visibly exhausted, many seemed lifeless. But surely there was still a chance of hope. The man Tyro pointed out couldn’t be the only one with aspirations of escaping. 

There had to be others, but they’d just forgotten what it was like to hope.

“We’ll see about that,” Katara muttered as she stood. Tyro tried to hold her back, but Katara dashed away toward the dinner tables.

She climbed onto a table, grabbing a pot lid and ladle in the process. She banged them together to draw everyone’s attention. All eyes turned to her and, for a split second, her voice caught in her throat. This was a lot of people, possibly the most people Katara had ever been around. Omashu didn’t count, the people had been spread out through the city so she couldn’t notice just how many there were. And now all of these people’s focus was on her and her alone… Katara stood straight. She couldn’t let a little bit of stage fright hold her back now.

“Earthbenders! You don’t know me, but I know of you. Every child of the South Pole knows about the brave warriors of the Earth Kingdom and was raised on stories of your courage and might. I know your pain; I know your suffering. Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless, same as they did to the waterbenders.” 

Katara took a deep breath before continuing.

“Yes, they’ve taken away your ability to bend. But they can’t take away your courage. You are still here, alive and together! If you band together and stand strong with courage as solid as your element, the Fire Nation will fear you! Because your courage runs deeper than any mine you’re forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you from your homes. It is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are! Hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away.”

By the end of her speech, Katara was slightly out of breath. She panted as she looked out at the crowd. No one moved. No one reacted. There were so many eyes on her and yet Katara felt like she’d spoken to no one. 

There was no one except for the man Tyro pointed out. He got to his feet and smiled at her despite how it pulled at his split lit and disturbed the deep, purple bruise around his swollen eye. Katara almost faltered, but this man was encouraging her, supporting her. She wouldn’t let him down.

Reinvigorated, Katara punched a fist over her head. “The time to fight back is now! The Avatar has returned. There are powers at play to make a stand against the Fire Nation. So remember your courage, earthbenders, let us fight for our freedom!”

Silence met her bold declaration. A few earthbenders looked away. Someone coughed. Humiliation crept up Katara’s neck as she searched for someone inspired by her words.

Applause broke the silence. The injured man clapped as he exclaimed, “Bravo! Bravo! I couldn’t have said it better myself!”

“Katara, get down,” Haru hissed, dragging her off the table.

Only then did Katara realize that guards had entered the yard during her speech. They were headed in her direction, but paused to turn to the injured man, who was still loudly clapping.

“Come on, even lifeless husks should feel a little tingle from that passionate speech. You heard her, the Avatar is back! Let’s take up arms and-”

A stone faced guard swiftly approached the man and punched him in the gut, making him double over with a pained groan. The guard caught him, then forced him upright with a firm grip on the back of his neck. 

Katara’s hands covered her mouth as she gasped. She tried to step forward, but Haru and Tyro held her back.

Another guard approached the man while the one holding him silently glared. “Really, Su Suk, can’t go a single day without riling Shun up? How’d you even manage to convince the girl to do that in the mere minutes she’s been here?”

The man, Su Suk, grinned and looked past the guards to give Katara a wink. “What can I say? I work fast.”

What was he doing?! Why was he acting like they had anything to do with each other, like he was the reason she brought attention to herself? Was he- Was he taking the fall for her? No, she couldn’t let him do that! Katara tried to shake off Haru and Tryo, but they held tight. Tyro went so far as to cover her mouth when she tried to shout a protest as the guards hauled Su Suk away.

Eerie silence settled over the yard.

Laughter echoed down from the battlement. Katara looked up to catch a glimpse of the warden before he turned away.

Tears burned her eyes as Tyro and Haru finally let go of her. Katara collapsed to the ground and punched it weakly. “Why did he do that? He didn’t even do anything!”

Tyro’s comforting pat on her back did nothing to lighten her guilt and grief. “He would have picked a fight with the guards sooner or later.”

“But-”

Haru squatted down next to her, a firmness in his eyes as he stared past her, at the doors Su Suk had been dragged through. “It’s because he’s the sort of courageous earthbender you were talking about.”

“There’s a fine line between courageous and foolish,” Tyro said, then pulled Katara back to her feet. “Let’s get you set up for the night, Katara, and put this foolishness behind us.”

Katara let herself be led away, but Haru didn’t immediately follow. He continued to stare at the doors and muttered just loud enough for Katara to hear, “I don’t think it’s foolish…”

Tyro’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t acknowledge Haru’s words.

Her heart was heavy and tears still threatened to fall. Katara whispered, “Neither do I.”

Sokka had a bad feeling about this—had a bad feeling ever since Katara proposed her idea. But if he hadn’t helped her execute her stupid plan, she just would have tried to do it by herself. Ugh, he hated it, hated the idea of Katara delivering herself into the Fire Nation’s clutches. It was too late to back out now.

“Don’t worry, Sokka!” Aang said brightly, not in the least worried. “Katara’s been practicing lots with her waterbending! If the worst comes to worst, they’re on ocean. She can protect herself.”

Sighing deeply, Sokka draped himself over the side of Appa’s saddle. He stared down at the endless ocean they’d been circling to kill time until night fell. If was honest with himself, Katara exposing herself as a waterbender made him even more nervous.

No one knew what happened to the waterbenders who were captured from the South Pole. Were they all killed like his mother? But then why bother taking them? Had they been imprisoned like the earthbenders, separated from their element? Would they do that to Katara once they realized she wasn’t an earthbender?

After what felt like an eternity, night came and it was time to get Katara, return Haru to his mother, then continue with their travels. Just put this whole thing behind them and focus on getting Aang to the North Pole, like King Bumi advised them to do. But, no.

“I’m not leaving,” Katara said, standing her ground and not budging from behind the crude fence separating the prison yard and the open ocean. “I’m not giving up on these people.”

Why was his sister like this! Since Katara refused to get on Appa, Sokka and Aang quickly jumped onto the rig so they could crouch out of sight and discuss this further. Or, in Sokka’s case, question Katara’s sanity.

“What do you mean you’re not leaving?!”

Katara glared at him. “We can’t abandon these people! There has to be some way we can help them.”

Aang looked seconds from jumping into her corner, like always, so Sokka quickly rebutted, “They already have someone helping them! We ran into a Kyoshi Warrior after you were arrested. She said there’s people undercover here to free the earthbenders. So let’s trust they know what they’re doing and leave it to them!”

“I think I know one of them!” Katara gasped, covering her mouth in dismay. “Now we really can’t go. He was punished because of me!”

Sokka groaned. “How did you even manage that in one evening? Katara, seriously?! Ugh, fine, whatever. Come on, we better hide so you can explain this mess.”

After Aang sent Appa off to hide in the clouds, Katara led them around the outside of the fence to a storage area. Crates towered over them, creating a maze of aisles due to poor organization. They found a dead-end in the middle of the aisles with a few single crates that would be easy enough to jump over if they needed to make a quick escape.

Katara explained what happened when she first arrived, and how the man Haru’s dad had pointed out made a scene to keep her safe. 

“He has to be one of the people the Kyoshi Warrior told you about, right?” 

Rubbing at his temple, Sokka shrugged. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And her suggestion that we help makes more sense now too. You said he was isolated, right?” Katara nodded, confirming what Sokka started theorizing. “All these people were taken from the same communities. If he’s been placed here by the alliance, they probably see him as an outsider and someone who can’t be trusted. Meanwhile, you’ve come chasing after Haru. You have a connection, so they might be more willing to listen to you.”

“Well, why’d they send him in without any friends if it’s such a problem?” Aang asked, all innocent and naive, but it was a good question regardless of how he phrased it.

Why would the alliance send in someone without connections if they suspected it could be a problem? It would have made more sense for the guy to go to one of the villages and do something similar to what Katara did or-

“It’s your fault!” Sokka gasped, pointing at Aang.

“What did I do?!”

“You lit up, that’s what!” Sokka exclaimed, then stood to pace as lowered his voice and walked through his thought process. “The world knows the Avatar is back. This is exactly what the Kyoshi Island elders were warning us about. The alliance was probably planning on making connections before coming on the rig, but it’s a race against the clock now, to act before the Fire Nation changes regulations in response to your return.”

“That makes sense,” Katara said. “Mr. Tyro said the man only just got here and immediately started trying to incite a rebellion.”

“He’s definitely part of the operation the Kyoshi Warrior was talking about, then. Did you catch his name; where he’s sleeping? Maybe we can just pass on the Warrior’s message and then get out of here.”

Katara gave him the dirtiest glare. What! They couldn’t keep dilly dallying. They needed to get to the North Pole sooner than later.

“Were you not listening to my story? The guards dragged him off after he drew attention away from me! We can’t leave!”

Right, there was that. Sokka dropped down beside Katara, arms crossed as he wracked his brain for a solution.

Aang slapped a fist in an open palm. “Maybe we can break him out of where they took him!”

“Great idea, airboy,” Sokka said, rolling his eyes. “Except we have no idea where he could possibly be. Plan to run around the whole rig and let everyone know we’re here?”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but please don’t do that,” came from behind them.

They all jumped to their feet and pressed against the crates on the other side of their alcove. Lying on one of the single crates was a man with a nasty black eye. He was on his stomach with his chin propped in his hands. 

Shifting his weight to free a hand, he waved as he said, “Hello there! Sorry to sneak up on you. You were so cute figuring everything out. I couldn’t interrupt.”

Katara reacted first, rushing forward and reaching out as if to check his injuries, then awkwardly freezing in front of him and pulling her hands to her chest. “How are you here? Are you alright? I hope that guard didn’t hurt you too bad because of me.”

“What? Shun? Oh, don’t worry, he’s a big teddy bear!” The man sat up, swinging his legs around to lightly kick his feet against the side of the crate. Despite his split lip and bruised face, he smiled wide and carefree. “I’m Su Suk, by the way. Nice to meet you, Avatar and Katara’s brother.”

“Hi, Su Suk! I’m Aang!” Of course Aang was immediately enamoured by a kindred spirit. He bounded over to Su Suk and pointed at Sokka, then bowed politely. “That’s Sokka. Thanks for looking out for Katara!”

“Aren’t you precious,” Su Suk cooed, pinching Aang’s cheek, who stood there and took it with a dopey smile.

Sokka was not impressed. He crossed his arms and frowned. “You’re the one the alliance put here to start a rebellion?”

Su Suk let go of Aang’s cheek to grin at Sokka. “The Wings put me here, kiddo. Along with my partner in crime. But your deductions are correct. Our timeline was pushed up and we’ve been struggling to get the ball rolling.”

He laughed sheepishly. “I also may have come on a little too strong at first, a lot like Katara here, but you’re right again. I didn’t have any friends, and I’m not a cute, plucky teenager, so it didn’t go over well.”

Katara hid a giggle behind her hand while Aang nodded sagely. “Monk Gyatso always said to cherish my youth and to get away with things while I could.”

Hold up, weren’t the Wings the Fire Nation side of the alliance? Was this guy pretending to be an earthbender like Katara? But how’d he go and do that? Not to mention- “Where’s your partner? Why are they letting you get beat up like that?”

Su Suk’s surprised blink was lopsided, his swollen eyelid moving slower than the other. Then he tried to reach out to pinch Sokka’s cheek, which he deftly avoided, unlike Aang. Su Suk wasn’t deterred. “Aww, aren’t you precious too. Really, I already said you don’t have to worry, didn’t I?”

He said that in regards to the guard who dragged him out, though. The guard he called by name, and a teddy bear. “Wait-”

“Ah, here you are,” someone new said from the opening of their dead-end, voice so quiet that Sokka almost didn’t hear it over his own words.

Slowly, dread filling his stomach, Sokka turned. Please don’t be what he thinks it is, please don’t be- Aang gasped and Katara whisper-shouted, “You!”

A guard was standing behind Sokka, just as he feared. Su Suk waved to him brightly. “Hi, Shun! Glad you could slip away and join us!”

Katara pointed between them, jaw agape. “But! He punched you! And Mr. Tyro told me that he’s the reason you have so many injuries!”

Su Suk shrugged. “Well, him beating my ass is a good cover to get time to talk. Plus, if he’s punishing me for being a smartass and trying to rally the forces, then no one else is.”

“Have you made a plan?” Shun, the very Fire Nation guard who was apparently on their side, asked with no inflection and a deadpan look.

Katara shared an uneasy look with Aang and Sokka, but Su Suk just laughed. “No, sorry, got distracted. Kids, Shun and his patrol buddy saw your sky bison. He stalled the report long enough to send me your way and I’m assuming sent the rest of the guards in search of other places.”

Shun nodded. Despite his expression remaining unchanged, Su Suk somehow extrapolated, “He figured you all wouldn’t go too far into the rig since you’re not familiar with it. Good brain on that one. How lucky am I to have him as my partner? Anyways, now that we have the Avatar on our side, what do you think, Katara? Can we fan some fire back in these earthbenders’ spirits?”

“They’re earthbenders,” Sokka huffed. “Shouldn’t we be, I don’t know, strengthening their bones or something?”

Su Suk snorted. “Kid, everyone’s got a bit of fire in them, no matter where they hail from.” He nodded at Katara. “And I think you’ve got the spark that can set this rebellion ablaze.”

Katara pointed at herself with wide eyes. “Me?”

“Good speech,” Shun said.

“Exactly! And that kid of Tyro’s was definitely inspired. If he moves, Tyro will too. And the rest of the earthbenders will follow Tyro’s lead.”

Blushing shyly, Katara ducked her head with a small smile. Aang bumped their shoulders together with a proud, smitten grin. Ugh.

“Metaphors and speeches are great and all,” Sokka interjected, the voice of reason like always. “But that’s not going to help us take down an entire rig of soldiers. Unless you have more undercover guards you haven’t told us about yet.”

Su Suk winced slightly as he shook his head.

Katara sighed. “If only this place wasn’t made to break their spirits. There’s nothing they can possibly bend to fight or defend themselves with.”

“Coal!” Aang exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “You guys burn coal here, don’t you? That’s earth!”

“Trust me, I’ve thought about it.” Su Suk crossed his arms and started to jut his lip out in a pout, then thought better of it, licking at his wound with a scrunched nose. “The amount I’d have to move without getting caught? It’s impossible.”

Shun snorted and his lips twitched in a hint of a smile. “Airbender.”

“Huh?” Sokka said, along with Katara and Su Suk.

Aang, however, forgot his previous wariness of the undercover guard and skipped forward to hold his hands up for double high five. “Exactly, hotman! You get me!”

Expressionless again, Shun stared down at Aang. Katara started to step forward in concern, but then Shun raised his hands and gently tapped their palms together. Aang beamed as he turned to face the rest of them.

“I’m an airbender! Moving a bunch of stuff all at once is my specialty!”

Su Suk lit up. “Of course!”

Sokka’s mind was already whirring with possibilities. “How well do you know the layout of this place?”

Shun didn’t speak, but instead answered by pulling a scroll from his belt. He unrolled it to reveal blueprints of the rig.

“Alright, now we’re talking.”

“Out in the yard! It’s time for roll call!”

Haru stumbled to his feet as Dad yanked him upright and out of sleep. Groggily, Haru followed the stream of sleepy earthbenders out of their hut. Wasn’t this earlier than yesterday’s roll call? Did the guards change up the time just for the fun of it? Haru wouldn’t be surprised, it was something the soldiers back in the village would do.

Wait, why did Dad look so anxious? Who was he looking for- Where was Katara?

“Dad, what’s-”

Dad silenced him with a sharp look. Crap, this wasn’t normal. Something was happening… something like intruders showing up in the night. Surely Aang and Sokka wouldn’t have let Katara get arrested without backup! Why hadn’t he asked more questions about Katara’s plans before turning in for the night?

As they stepped into the blinding morning sun, the abnormal number of guards present for roll call was immediately obvious. The crowd was tense, sensing something was amiss. What in the world did Katara do?

“You there! What are you doing already out?” A guard yelled, and a group of them surrounded a sole prisoner in the middle of the yard.

Slowly, the prisoner stood from where they were crouched by a vent and Haru’s stomach dropped. It was Katara, of course it was Katara.

“Step away from the vent,” another guard demanded, thrusting his spear threateningly toward Katara. “Tell us where the intruder is, and your punishment will be lighter.”

“What intruder?” Katara asked with wide eyes, as if she had no idea what the guards were talking about.

“Katara, stop whatever it is that you’re planning,” Dad said, stepping out of the crowd. “You can’t win this fight. Tell them what they want to know.”

Katara whipped around to stare at Dad, but then her gaze caught Haru standing behind him. Her eyebrows knitted together with determination. She wasn’t going to listen to Dad. Why did Haru’s heart beat faster with anticipation at the thought?

“You’d do well to listen to him, child,” the warden drawled as he stepped into the yard. Firebenders flanked him, denoted by their masked helmets. A ripple of fear ran through the crowd. “You’re one mistake away from dying where you stand.”

Katara’s confidence didn’t waver despite the threat. She stood tall and proud. Was she truly a waterbender, or was she a proper earthbender? The sort Haru grew up idolizing?

A rumbling echo filtered out of the vent, quickly followed by a spout of coal. Soldiers and prisoners alike scattered to avoid the cascade as it spilled out over the ground. Haru only had eyes for Katara, whose face lit up with a wide smile. She had been expecting this. This was her plan?

Aang popped out of the vent, covered in soot. He landed on top of the coal pile and coughed violently. Katara ran up beside him. They were painfully exposed. Where was Sokka? Haru got the impression that he was protective of his sister. Surely he wasn’t sitting this out.

“Here’s your chance, earthbenders!” Katara shouted, bold and confident despite the soldiers lining one side of the yard. She lifted a piece of coal over her head. “Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!”

Of course, coal was earth! Had just a day in this prison addled Haru’s brain? This was a brilliant plan! Haru started to dash forward to join Katara and Aang, but Dad threw an arm out to stop him. No one else moved. The warden burst into laughter and Haru gritted his teeth. Since stepping foot in this desolate place, Haru did his best to ignore the resentment simmering in his deepest thoughts. There was no ignoring it now. 

Haru was so disappointed in his father. Dad was once a strong, courageous man. Haru knew he couldn’t understand what five years of imprisonment here was like, but there was hope now! The man Haru learned earthbending from, the man who defended their village with everything he had, that man couldn’t have a broken spirit. 

And yet.

The troublemaker Dad warned him away from was still a proper earthbender. His spirit wasn’t broken, but Dad spoke as if it was only a matter of time. If Su Suk was here, he wouldn’t have hesitated to join Katara’s side. He wouldn’t have allowed the warden to mock her and claim her efforts were in vain.

Fire was in Haru’s veins as the warden turned away, still laughing at Katara. Haru’s spirit wasn’t broken, not yet, not ever. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity slide past him. He shoved past Dad and called to the earth Katara risked her life to provide them with. Dad tried to protest, to stop him and hold him back, but Haru was already slinging a chunk of coal at the back of the warden’s head.

Deep satisfaction filled him as the warden stumbled. He whirled around with a furious, embarrassed glare. Haru rolled more pieces of coal over his hand with his earthbending and met the warden’s glare with his own. He wasn’t going to cower, wasn’t going to bend. He was going to be the sort of earthbender he idolized, even if no one else would.

The warden growled and pulled his arms back in the beginning stance of a firebending move. Haru realized his bold mistake too late to react. As he started to flinch away, he noticed one of the firebender soldiers beside the warden also moving. Koh’s Lair. He wasn’t going to survive two firebender’s attacks.

The next thing Haru knew, he was flat on the ground, ears ringing and vision spotty from the sudden, blinding flash that filled the yard. Dad was crouched next to him, a wall of coal separating them from whatever attack the warden threw at Haru. But what sort of firebending was that? 

Haru blinked, vision still returning, and took in Katara and Aang huddled behind the pile of coal with wide, conspiratorial grins. Huh?

Dad dropped the coal barrier to reveal half the guards knocked out on the ground and the other half slowly regaining their senses. The ground was scorched, the epicenter where the warden had been standing. A tower of coal stood in the middle of the carnage. It slowly started to crumble, revealing one last guard standing. Haru glanced behind him, as if to immediately spot the earthbender guilty of betraying them and protecting a guard.

“Whew!” The guard exclaimed, throwing his helmet off with a confident laugh. A bruised, smiling face was underneath the helmet and Haru recognized him. That was the troublemaker, Su Suk. What in the world was going on?! Su Suk propped his hands on his hips and surveyed the destruction with a loud whistle. “Damn, that was awesome!”

“Soldier, what is the meaning of this!” The warden’s voice boomed across the yard. He was singed, but shockingly, relatively unharmed as he pushed himself upright against the wall he’d been flung into.

Another soldier grabbed his spear and pointed it at Su Suk. “Warden! That’s prisoner Su Suk! And that- that uniform! Is that Shun’s?!”

Su Suk grinned. “Fuck yeah it is. You have no idea how sweet revenge tastes.”

A firebender behind Su Suk growled and punched a fireball at him. Haru started forward, as if he could possibly erect a coal barrier to defend Su Suk in time, but there was no reason to fear. The coal at Su Suk’s feet rose as Su Suk spun to face his opponent. Except, the coal didn’t stop and form a wall, no, it caught the firebender’s attack and lit up. 

Su Suk moved like a firebender and shot the burning coal right back at the soldier who provided the fire. The firebender squawked and blocked the fire, only to get pelted by the still smoldering coal. He stumbled back and fell to the ground in his surprise.

It was the strangest way of earthbending Haru had ever seen. The strangest that anyone had ever seen if the shocked silence across the deck was anything to go by. The silence didn’t last, however. Several soldiers regained their senses and charged to defend their fellow soldier.

Su Suk was not alone against them. Dad surged forward and rained coal down on them. A roar rose up from behind Haru, and the rest of the prisoners attacked.

Haru stood dazed for a moment before smiling broadly and running after his father to join him in their fight for freedom.

The warden was wrong. Their spirits had never been broken. They’d just been buried, and it took the ocean’s waves and a gust of wind to clear away the protective barrier. And, maybe even a spark of fire to reignite their will to fight.

For the past five years, the ocean air, heavy with salt, had felt like part of their prison. Now, as salty water sprayed up in the breeze buffeting them on the deck of a stolen Fire Nation warship, it tasted like freedom.

Once the earthbenders banded together to fight with the coal children had risked their lives to provide, it had been laughably easy to overwhelm the guards. They had no chance to fear how they would escape the rig before Katara’s brother appeared at the broken gates, calling for the prisoners to follow him to the ships. The ships that had been riddled with endless, surprise repairs. The same ships that were mysteriously in perfect working order now. 

There had been no time to discuss the escape plan and how it came to be as they rushed to ensure every earthbender was accounted for before disembarking. Now, as the prison Tyro had been shackled to dwindled on the horizon, it felt wrong to interrupt their saviors to make sense of the situation.

The Avatar landed his flying beast beside Tyro’s ship and leaped onto the deck with a bright smile. He bounded over to the young rebel Tyro had written off as an ignorant idealist.

“Everything went just as you said it would, Su Suk!”

Su Suk paused his conversation with the hastily slapped together crew of those most experienced with the ships, and matched Aang’s vibrant smile. Uncaring of decorum, Su Suk threw an arm around the Avatar’s shoulders and jostled him merrily. 

“And you were fantastic, kiddo!” He looked around to wave down Tyro’s son and the other children. “All of you were amazing!”

“You were amazing!” Katara shot back with shining eyes. “I wasn’t expecting such a big explosion when you asked for Aang’s help adapting an airbending move!”

Haru’s jaw dropped. “Wait. You made that explosion? How!”

“Take note, children, coal dust is dangerous as shit around firebenders, and easy to disguise as dirt.”

Sokka actually looked on his person as if to find something to write a literal note to himself. Aang nodded, stars in his eyes. Haru’s jaw remained slightly ajar. Katara clasped her hands together and leaned closer to Su Suk with a confident grin.

“And then the way you redirected the firebenders’ attacks back at them. Those were adapted firebending moves, weren’t they? Did you figure those out by observing the guards?”

Su Suk snorted. “Guys, how many times have I said I’m part of the Wings? I learned those moves from my mom and friends back home.”

“The who?” Haru asked.

The other three exclaimed, “Your mom?!”

“You’re from the Fire Nation?!” Sokka pointed at Su Suk accusingly. “But you’re an earthbender!”

Tyro and the assembled ship crew weren’t the only ones eavesdropping anymore. Everyone on deck was staring at the small group with varying degrees of shock and wariness.

Unbothered, Su Suk shrugged. “Well, yeah, the Fire Nation colonies have both.”

“But-but, if you’re Fire Nation…” Haru frowned. “How did you end up on the rig?”

Su Suk winked, then turned his attention to the crowd. He raised his voice to address the ships sailing beside them as well. “Earthbenders! The Avatar has returned, and has helped you in your escape. But you are not the only ones freed from the Fire Nation’s tyranny! As I speak now, countless other earthbenders are being freed! A new coalition of nations has formed in the time of your imprisonment. If you so desire, you will have allies in taking back your homes!”

Hesitant whispers spread across the ships. Haru turned to Tyro with wide, expectant eyes. Tyro buried the hesitancy and fear that had consumed him over the past five years. It was time to be the man his son expected him to be again.

“Let us take back our villages!” Tyro shouted. “Take back all our villages, and then fight back! The Avatar has returned; the time to end the war is upon us!”

Whispers turned into cheers. Haru beamed at Tyro like he had when he was young. Tyro approached the group and held his hand out to Su Suk. 

“I owe you an apology, Su Suk. I misjudged your character, and you suffered greatly for it.”

Su Suk stared at his hand in shock, then shook his head vehemently. “No way, sir. I can’t accept your apology! I was arrogant and took my mission too lightly when I first got here. You’re not at fault for my mistakes.”

“If you cannot accept my apologies, then you must accept my thanks. If not for you, the children would have been in much more danger, and we likely would have lost some earthbenders in the fight.”

For a moment longer, Su Suk hesitated, then he sighed and accepted Tyro’s handshake with a wry smile. “I think all the thanks should go to Katara. She’s the real revolutionary here.”

Katara blushed and waved her hands in front of her. “No way! You did all the real work! I only came in at the last second and-”

“And reached everyone’s hearts in a way I failed to.”

Tyro rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “He is right. Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara. For helping all of us find our courage.” He nodded at Aang. “The Avatar is fortunate to have such a brave companion as you.”

Katara smiled sheepishly, but accepted the gratitude and praise.

“So, I guess you’re going to leave now, huh?” Haru cut in forlornly.

Katara sighed. “Yeah, as much as we would love to help more-”

“Your mission is to get the Avatar to the North Pole, kiddos.” Su Suk jabbed his thumb into his chest. “Don’t worry about anything else, the adults have it covered.”

“But,” Aang started to say, only to be interrupted by a nodding Sokka.

“It’s just like what King Bumi told you, Aang, we can’t worry about the war yet. We need to focus on you learning waterbending. The alliance has things covered until you’re ready to help. No more side projects!”

“I feel bad just leaving like this…” Aang grumbled, scuffing the ground with his shoe.

Tyro smiled at this child. He was so young to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, but at least he didn’t have to carry it alone. “You have done more than enough, Avatar Aang. I hope we can meet again, in a peaceful world.”

The Avatar’s group slowly said their goodbyes, then flew off on their airbending mount. Haru watched them wistfully and Tyro was thankful his son hadn’t asked to join the Avatar on his journey. Tyro wouldn’t have had the heart to stop him…

“Now,” Tyro turned to Su Suk with a raised eyebrow. “Where is your partner? I must say, I’m a bit disappointed in how they let you take the brunt of the hardships in trying to rally us to fight.”

Su Suk blinked owlishly. “My partner?”

Tyro scoffed at his innocent act. He was young, certainly, but much too old to get away with feigning innocence. “There’s no way Sokka got all the ships sea-worthy overnight, even if you were helping him. And if you’re truly part of a wider organization, they wouldn’t have sent you alone. So where is your partner?”

Mischief danced in Su Suk’s eyes as he stroked his chin. “Ah, well, at this very moment, he’s probably talking to the warden in his underwear.”

Tyro’s mind went blank. “Excuse me? He’s talking to- in his underwear?”

“Well, yeah!” Su Suk’s smile filled his face. “Y’know, since I ‘knocked him out’ and ‘stole his uniform.’ All the uniforms actually, but that was a surprise for him~”

General Iroh’s words from their first meeting several months ago echoed in Jee’s mind. Back then, Jee disregarded the general’s confidence that Prince Zuko would find something noteworthy to his quest and they would not be in the South Pole for long. It had sounded like empty platitudes to make up for Jee and his crew’s shortened leave. Now, Jee couldn’t help but reconsider because Prince Zuko’s ability to track down the Avatar was uncanny at this point.

It was shocking enough that the prince actually found the Avatar, but then the lead to find him on Kyoshi Island had practically fallen into his lap. And now, based purely on a few flying bison sightings and a whim, Prince Zuko missed the Avatar by a few hours on a random earthbender prison rig. The chances were astronomical, to the point Jee couldn’t help but wonder if the spirits were actually on the banished prince’s side, not the Avatar’s. That was a chilling thought (and was probably borderline treasonous to be unsettled by the idea).

“You want me to believe three children were responsible for this mess,” Prince Zuko shouted at the warden of the rig.

“Well, Prince Zuko, sir,” the warden said, wringing his hands together. “One of them was the Avatar…”

“Who doesn’t know how to firebend yet! How can you possibly explain this?!” Prince Zuko spread his arm out toward the scorched prison yard.

The warden continued making excuses, as he had been since he began his report to Prince Zuko. General Iroh kept trying to interfere with the interrogation (which it absolutely was with Prince Zuko leading) but Prince Zuko kept steam rolling over him. General Iroh allowed it when he normally wouldn’t have. He hadn’t put up a proper fight against Prince Zuko since Kyoshi Island.

Chatri came up next to Jee and asked quietly, “Warden’s still trying to cover his ass?”

“Unsurprisingly.” Jee rolled his eyes. “I swear, all these administrative officials are the same brand of self-absorbed, spineless ass-kissers. Get anything out of the guards?”

“It’s no wonder the warden isn’t giving any straight answers.” Chatri grinned. “The Avatar didn’t just drop in. The girl was arrested.”

“The waterbender girl? Was arrested and brought on an earthbender prison rig?”

“Yup, and then she teamed up with a prisoner who’s been causing trouble for the past week. From the sound of it, the real mastermind was the troublemaker.”

Jee shook his head in disbelief. The prince and the Avatar had insane luck. What were the chances of landing in the same prison as someone already planning an escape? “Was it a matter of opportunity, or an orchestrated endeavor?”

“The guards seem convinced it was all a coincidence. They said it sounded like the girl came to help a kid who just arrived a day prior to her.”

“And what do you think?”

Chatri winced. “The scale of havoc wrecked seems suspicious for a bunch of kids dropped into the situation and a single unruly earthbender who’s been here a week. Half the time, he was injured and in solitary confinement. All of the ships that were here for repair were commandeered, despite having seemingly endless problems. The barracks were raided and all the guards’ extra uniforms were stolen. The messenger hawks were also stolen. And apparently that-” Chatri gestured at the charred metal of the yard. “-was the troublemakers doing.”

“The troublemaker earthbender prisoner’s doing?”

Chatri shrugged. “Is what the guards are saying at least.”

Jee sighed and rubbed at his temples as Chatri shared more details of the prison break. What an unbelievable mess, but at least he had the foresight to bring Chatri along when boarding the rig. Hopefully this report would help make up for some of the other mess between the crew and the prince. Jee was still skeptical if making efforts to work with Prince Zuko was worth their time, but Chatri was convinced they owed the brat some goodwill. Despite his reservations, Jee tried his best to listen to his crew’s opinions. 

(And, in the deepest recesses of his conscience, he was ruffled by Prince Zuko’s assertion that Jee hated him. He did not like the prince by any means, but hate was another matter.)

And so, Jee interrupted Prince Zuko’s interrogation to deliver the true report Chatri gathered. The warden paled and tried to protest a few times, but Prince Zuko shut him up with furious glares. Once Jee concluded the report, Prince Zuko crossed his arms and scowled.

“So this was just the work of the Avatar, huh?”

The warden scrambled to defend himself. “That troublemaker! He must have been working with the Avatar! Came before him to rile up the prisoners and prepare the rebellion!”

“Yeah, except for the fact that the Avatar only returned a few weeks ago. You want me to believe a 12 year old orchestrated this when his only companions are two sheltered Water Tribe children? If anything this sounds like an…” The prince trailed off pensively. “An inside job…”

“Absolutely not, Prince Zuko!” The warden looked scared before, but now he looked close to passing out. “There’s no way there’s any traitors among my guards! I manage them tightly–I would know! It was all that upstart! He was unnatural! No normal earthbender could do-” He pointed at the yard. “-that! Maybe- Maybe he was actually a spirit in disguise sent ahead of the Avatar!”

Prince Zuko scoffed, and replied reflexively, though his mind was clearly elsewhere. “That’s not how spirits work. And besides, if he bent coal powder, it’s not that surprising he managed to blow your fire back in your face-” Prince Zuko looked shocked at his own words, then said almost frantically, “Where did you arrest him?!”

“Sir, I don’t have the histories of each prisoner memorized-”

“Did you know,” Prince Zuko said, taking a threatening step toward the warden. “The colonies have quite a few earthbenders who are raised beside firebenders. They come up with pretty unique bending styles over there, sometimes can even resemble the other element. So I will ask you again, where was he arrested.”

Jee felt frozen in place as he watched Prince Zuko speak. His words almost didn’t make sense, considering who they were coming from. How did Prince Zuko know that?

“Prince Zuko! You can’t possibly be implying we arrested a Fire Nation citizen!” The warden pleaded. “He was an earthbender!”

“Did you not just hear me? The colonies have earthbenders who are Fire Nation! All of this makes sense if you arrested a Fire Nation citizen! He could have been familiar with military procedures and engineering and used his knowledge to escape his wrongful imprisonment!”

The warden gained some modicum of his backbone as he exclaimed, “This is nonsense! Even if you’re right, that man became an enemy of the Fire Nation the second he earthbent in the presence of military personnel! And he’s undeniably a traitor now after freeing all the prisoners! If he was really a Fire Nation citizen, he would have said something!”

“And how do you know he didn’t?” Prince Zuko sneered. ”Where’s the guard who singled him out? He might have said something while that assh- the guard was disciplining him.”

The warden quickly pointed out a man working to clean up the debris of the fight. Prince Zuko did a double take and failed to hide his horrified expression. Despite the ringing in his ears, Jee still had the presence of mind to be curious. He looked for the guard as well and bit back a laugh. 

Ah, right, the rebel earthbender had knocked out a guard and had taken his place during the uprising. And since all the extra uniforms were stolen during the escape, the guard had nothing to change into. He was a bold one, at least, to continue working in his underclothes, seemingly unfazed.

Prince Zuko coughed and shook his head. “You know what, I don’t care enough to get to the bottom of this. I’m wasting time and losing the Avatar’s trail as we speak. We’re leaving.”

As he stomped away, General Iroh immediately filled Prince Zuko’s place to smooth things over with the warden, offering one of the Sazanami’s hawks to send a report and request for help from a neighboring port. The warden obviously thought better of asking for anything more from the royals and graciously accepted General Iroh’s offer.

Jee didn’t linger to listen in on more brownnosing, and instead fell into step with Prince Zuko. “Sir, you do know that if you don’t report this yourself, the warden will be omitting details that make him look bad. Such as the suspicion there was a wrongful arrest.”

Prince Zuko stopped and glanced up at Jee with a scrunched nose. “It’s just a suspicion, and honestly, it’s probably better for that earthbender if he was from the colonies if the suspicion is buried under the Avatar’s involvement. Gives him a better chance of returning home.”

It was shocking enough how Prince Zuko insisted an earthbender could be a Fire Nation citizen, but to go so far as to assist someone who would objectively be considered a traitor? Jee couldn’t believe his ears. “Why?”

Instead of snapping at him, Prince Zuko did little more than huff at Jee’s question. “If I was wrongfully imprisoned by my own people, I wouldn’t be very willing to play by the rules to get back home! One prison break orchestrated by a possible colony-born earthbender isn't going to affect the war in any way. So we'll turn a blind eye. Do you have a problem with that, Lieutenant Jee?”

“No, Sir,” Jee said. His mind was spinning. This didn’t line up with the image of Prince Zuko in his head. Was Chatri right? Had he horribly misjudged the prince?

“Wait, is that-” Prince Zuko abruptly squatted to pick up a bit of debris. Except, it wasn’t debris. It was a blue necklace. His eyes widened as he muttered, “This must be Katara’s…”

He shot upright again and stomped off to the exit, yelling over his shoulder, “Uncle! We’re leaving! Now!”

Jee pinched the bridge of his nose. Ultimately, did it matter if Jee misjudged him? So what if the prince understood the nuances of the colonies and the struggles of its people? They were still chasing the Avatar, and nothing would change that.

Chapter Text

Since leaving the newly freed earthbenders, time spent on Appa’s back felt like it was dragging on longer than usual. Katara understood Sokka’s reasoning that they needed to detour for a bit to throw off the Fire Nation. Just because she understood, it didn’t make the waiting any easier though. She wanted to head north right away! Especially after seeing so many earthbenders in action during the prison break. Her cobbled together attempts at waterbending were fine, but she wanted a teacher!

Unfortunately, there was no convincing Sokka to change their travel route. So yet another long day of not getting any closer to the North Pole was in store for them.

They all found different ways to pass the time. Katara’s preferred activity was practicing her waterbending (as much as she could practice while riding Appa); Aang’s was watching the landscape or playing with Momo; and Sokka, shockingly, picked up spinning. The first time Aang pulled out the drop spindle he grabbed from the Southern Air Temple, Sokka was full of questions and demanded a lesson. After that, Sokka all but commandeered the spindle from Aang, which Aang didn’t mind since it wasn’t his favorite chore. Sokka was getting pretty good by this point, and was proud of his work turning Appa’s endless hair into yarn. 

Seriously, if someone tried to tell her that Sokka was proud of spinning yarn a month ago, Katara would have laughed in their face.

Today, once they were settled in the air, Aang decided to join Katara with bending practice. Or, well, playing with bending as it always became whenever Aang joined in. Using airbending techniques, Katara recently managed to bend clouds. Between Aang herding clouds with his airbending and Katara directly moving them with her waterbending, they were able to play with each other. 

They were still coming up with consistent rules of their cloud game, but today was a game of keep away. They each had a cloud and had to keep it safe while trying to disperse the other’s cloud. The real challenge was keeping an eye on Momo and stopping him from flying through the clouds.

A slight breeze tickled Katara’s arm, suspiciously in the opposite direction they were flying. She swirled her cloud around to her other side and smirked at Aang’s dismayed groan. But, really, avoiding his sneak attacks was the easy part. Splitting her attention to try to bend his cloud and hers was the real challenge. 

Aang was hiding his cloud behind his back, a legal move based on previous games. Katara certainly used the tactic plenty enough, but suffered for it all the same. When it was her cloud, she had no problem bending it even when it was out of sight. She’d yet to take control of Aang’s cloud when she couldn’t see it.

However, something felt different today. Maybe it was just her imagination, but Katara could swear that she sensed where Aang was hiding the cloud behind him. If she was right, it was hovering right behind his left shoulder…

Before she could test her theory, Aang gasped and released his cloud. He leaned over the side of the saddle and exclaimed, “What happened?!”

Katara released her own cloud with a small sigh. It was fine, they would play again sooner or later and- The sight below cut off Katara’s thoughts and pushed a gasp out of her as well. 

Black slashed through the forest they were flying over. It was unlike anything Katara had ever seen.

“Was there a wildfire?” Aang marveled, jumping onto Appa’s head to grab the reins and redirect him toward the ominous black.

A wildfire could do all this? Katara thought she was done being surprised by the world beyond the arctic…

“Hey!” Sokka shouted, looking up from his spinning as they started to descend. “Why are we going down? We just had a bathroom break, like, 10 minutes ago!”

“It’s been an hour already, Sokka!” Aang shot back. “But, this isn’t a bathroom break. Look.”

Sokka’s annoyed response shifted into a low whistle once he saw the destruction below. 

A cloud of ash puffed up as Appa landed, sending them all into a coughing fit. They carefully dismounted, so as not to repeat the experience. 

“Listen,” Sokka whispered. “It’s so quiet. There’s no life anywhere…”

The barren, burnt remains of what was once a forest was nothing like the barren ice field of home. Even the wind seemed to be holding back from disturbing this ruin. But, even more unnerving than the silence of the land was Aang’s silence. He wandered into the ashy clearing, head swiveling around to take in the remains of the landscape. 

Katara started to take a concerned step forward, was about to ask Aang if he was alright, but Sokka’s angry voice filled the air. 

“It must have been the Fire Nation!” he shouted, crouched close to the ground. He slashed his hand through footprints in the ash and stood with a fierce scowl. “Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-”

“Sh!” Katara hissed, pointing to Aang’s sullen back when Sokka tried to protest.

Aang dropped to his knees, a small cloud of ash surrounded him, but quickly settled again. Hesitantly, Katara and Sokka approached him.

“Why would anyone do this?” Aang said, grabbing a handful of ash and letting it run through his fingers. “How could I let this happen?

That sort of thought process was never productive, Katara knew better than most. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. 

“Aang, you didn’t let this happen. You’re not responsible for this.”

“Yes, I am.” Aang shifted off his knees to cross his legs, dislodging Katara’s hand in the process. He hung his head with a heavy sigh. “It’s the Avatar’s job to protect nature. I can’t tell you how many times I flew over this forest, Katara! And now- It’s this.”

Sokka patted his back and firmly said, “Still not your fault. The Fire Nation did this, not you.”

Aang shrugged him off. He dropped his chin in his hands. His fingers pressed into one cheek and slightly muffled his words, “Yeah, but maybe if I knew how to do Avatar stuff, I could do something to help fix this.”

“Have Yangchen’s memoirs given you any useful advice?” Katara asked.

Aang shrugged. “It’s not exactly a guide on how to be the Avatar. I wish I could just talk to her. Or Roku.”

“Well, sitting here wishing about it isn’t going to change anything,” Sokka said, already turning to head back to Appa. “There’s nothing we can do, so let’s get back to the sky.”

Despite his nod, Aang didn’t move. “Can I just… have a moment?”

Sokka sighed, but allowed it. Without another word, he leaned against Appa with a huff. He tried to act like a hardass, but he was weak to a sullen Aang. As was Katara. How could they not be, when it felt wrong for Aang to linger on sorrow like this and not bounce back with a hopeful smile? She hovered over Aang for a moment longer, then went to join Sokka to give Aang space.

Except… for some reason she felt compelled to investigate the charred remains of the trees at the edge of the clearing. She wasn’t sure why, but it was as if something was pulling her. Following the compulsion, Katara dug into the ash with the toe of her shoe. She really didn’t know why until she unearthed an acorn. 

It was sooty, but not burnt. Katara swore she could feel the moisture left in it, a promise of life that remained. And when she followed the pull again, she dug up several more acorns. Maybe she wasn’t imagining it when she thought she sensed where Aang’s cloud was… Her bending wasn’t important right now. 

Hiding the handful of acorns behind her back, Katara returned to the center of the clearing with a smile. “Hey Aang, ready to be cheered up?”

“No,” Aang grumbled, not looking up from his sulk. 

Katara pelted an acorn at his head.

He yelped and turned around, rubbing his head with a look of betrayal. “How is that cheering me up?!”

“Cheered me up,” Sokka snickered, so he got an acorn to the head too.

“Look, these acorns are everywhere.” Katara held them up for Aang to see. “They’re not burnt! So the forest will grow back. Someday, each of these little acorns will be a tall tree. It will take time, a long time, but all the birds and animals that lived here will come back.”

She dropped an acorn into Aang’s hand and smiled. “Remember what Bumi told you. The world needs your help, but you’re not responsible for everything. There’s other people helping too, but sometimes there’s nothing you can do except let time heal.”

Aang stared at the acorn, then thanked her in a quiet voice. His smile was still too small, but at least he was smiling again.

“Hey!” Sokka jumped up, and Katara assumed he was about to harass them to get moving again, but he wasn’t yelling at them. “Who are you!?”

Katara didn’t have any water, but she still had a handful of acorns. At the very least, she could create a distraction and- It wasn’t the Fire Nation that Sokka shouted at, but an elderly man. He was slowly approaching them with the aid of cane. Probably not a threat, but his question still put them all on edge.

“When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible! But, those markings… are you the Avatar, child?”

So far, people only recognized Aang due to the bounty put out by the Fire Nation, which meant most people they met who recognized him were hoping to capture him. This man didn’t seem like he was capable of it, but this could be a trap…

“How do you know?” Sokka asked with narrowed eyes.

“My village remembers the Air Nomads fondly, and honors Avatar Yangchen since she helped our ancestors,” the man said with a wistful smile. “We’ve heard rumors that the Avatar has returned, but I never imagined…”

“Yup, I’m the Avatar!” Aang answered, ignoring Sokka’s eye roll. “It’s crazy, I feel like we’re hearing something about Yangchen everywhere we turn!”

“Perhaps the spirits have been guiding you here, then…” The man bowed his head. “We need your help, young Avatar.”

The man introduced himself as Kay-fon and explained his people’s problem as he led the way to his home, Senlin Village. The forest, Hei Bai Forest, had a guardian spirit by the same name. In Yangchen’s time, Senlin Village and many others made their livelihood through logging. However, they did not conduct their business responsibly, which led to the deforestation of Hei Bai Forest. The great spirit nearly wiped out all settlements in the forest before Yangchen stepped in and mediated between humans and spirit. 

Avatar Yangchen brokered a deal that allowed humans to remain in Hei Bai’s territory as long as they respected and protected the forest. Most villages chose to leave. Senlin Village did not, and its residents became proud stewards of Hei Bai Forest. For centuries now, Senlin villagers kept an eye on those who entered the forest and intervened when necessary to uphold the agreement Yangchen made for them.

The great spirit of the forest never interacted with them in all that time. Until now.

A few days ago, the Fire Nation ravaged the center of the forest. Senlin Village did everything in their power to minimize the damage, but there was only so much they could do. 

The first night after the fires calmed, a monster ran through the village and abducted a villager. And every following night, they were terrorized in the same way. The monster looked nothing like the Hei Bai described in legend, but what else could it be but a furious spirit?

Kay-fon sighed as he reached the conclusion of his tale, “In the stories, Hei Bai was a reasonable spirit. It understood that all humans are not the same and forgave those who apologized and made amends. We do not know if we did not do enough to combat the fires, earning Hei Bai’s wrath, or if the forest is so damaged that Hei Bai itself is injured and has lost all reason.”

“Ah, I see,” Aang said, looking extremely nervous. “I really don’t know how well I can talk to an angry spirit…”

“Better than any of us!” Kay-fon exclaimed, eyes shining with confidence in Aang. “You’re the Avatar, you have a connection to the spirit world!”

This really wasn’t fair when Aang was just lamenting how he didn’t know how to do Avatar things. Katara was worried he was going to stress out and push himself too hard trying to help… 

“Oh!” Katara clapped her hands together with a wide smile. “Maybe we can get help from Yangchen about this!”

Some of Aang’s visible anxiety melted away as he perked up. “Katara, you’re a genius! She just introduced her friends from the Northern Water Tribe where I was reading, and they fight spirits! There must be more about dealing with spirits- Wait, I think that’s what all of Zuko’s notes are on too!”

“I think you mean Hui’s notes,” Sokka asserted, crossing his arms.

Aang didn’t argue with him, but didn’t agree either. He neatly sidestepped, like he always did when the topic of Zuko or Hui came up. “Either way, there must be something useful to help us!”

They had stopped walking as they spoke, so Kay-fon was a few steps ahead of them as he asked, “Is this the Avatar connection I’ve heard about?”

“Oh, uh, haha, no, not quite.” Aang laughed sheepishly and leaped up onto Appa’s saddle. He came back down with Yangchen’s memoirs in hand, though it didn’t look like a precious relic of a previous Avatar with all the extra sheets of paper sticking out of it. 

Katara had asked Aang before about Hui’s notes and why he hadn’t taken them out. Aang had insisted on leaving them to read with the entries they were relevant to. If all the notes really were on spirits, Aang’s decision had worked out in their favor!

“Yangchen left behind a memoir, and I’ve been working on reading it,” Aang explained to Kay-fon, holding up the tome. “Maybe she wrote about Hei Bai!”

Sokka squinted at Kay-fon, pulling his crossed arms tighter together. “Hold up, you’re a Yangchen village. There’s a guy well-known for researching Yangchen these days. Know of him?”

“A scholar researching Yangchen?” the man repeated with wide eyes. He shook his head in disbelief. “No, I do not. If this scholar has read Yangchen’s accounts, and she did not write of her encounter with Hei Bai, then I do not believe he would have known of us either. We do not advertise our connection to Yangchen and our duties in upholding her agreement.”

Sokka cursed, eliciting a baffled look from Aang. Katara stifled a laugh. Knowing her brother, he was probably disappointed he couldn’t finally put an end to Aang’s doubts about Zuko.

“Well, let us hurry,” Kay-fon said, starting back down the path. “We are almost to the village. Even if she did not write of her encounter here, I hope you can find some answers in Yangchen’s writings before sundown.”

For a man using a cane, he sure could move. They shortly arrived at Senlin Village. Brief introductions were made, then they were plied with tea and snacks and given a quiet corner in the community hall to research. 

Time was ticking until sundown, when the monster would appear to steal someone from the village. Sokka commandeered Yangchen’s memoirs and skimmed over Hui’s bookmarks while Aang and Katara snacked. In no time, Sokka had his own bookmarks sticking out of the book. He went back to closely read the entries he thought would be useful and passed Hui’s notes to Aang and Katara for them to read deeper.

Through this process, they soon had a decent understanding of dark spirits and corrupted spirits. As well as an appreciation for Siniq and Tarkik. They were at the heart of every entry dealing with spirits. Katara really wanted to read the memoir herself to learn more about the twins. Maybe reading about Tarkik waterbending could help her waterbending! But… she had a feeling that if she did read by herself, Aang would slack off and rely on her sharing the information…

Now really wasn’t the time to be thinking about this.

Sokka called Kay-fon and the village leader, Bowen, over to share the conclusion of their research.

“So, how we’re understanding this, Hei Bai was corrupted due to the deforestation in Yangchen’s time. And she got through to it to make a deal and make it go back to normal. Did Hei Bai kidnap people last time?”

Bowen shook his head. “No, it ruined logging equipment and crops, set livestock free, and made the forest wildlife extremely vicious.”

“So, in other words, we don’t actually know if we’re dealing with Hei Bai again or not,” Sokka said, stroking his chin. 

“What else would it be?” Kay-fon asked. “We’ve never encountered any other powerful spirits in these lands.”

“Dunno, maybe there’s a perfectly logical, not spirit mumbo jumbo explanation to all of this. I mean, you guys did just survive a severe forest fire at the hands of the Fire Nation…”

The men did not look amused by Sokka insinuating they mistook a human attack for a spirit attack. And, really, the damage to the village houses didn’t make sense if the Fire Nation were the cause! Sokka was just embarrassing himself and offending Senlin Village.

“Well, the damage to the forest isn’t the same this time,” Katara said, elbowing Sokka for being rude. “So why should Hei Bai’s corruption be the same?”

Aang groaned and dragged his hands down his face. “But why is it going after Senlin Village instead of the Fire Nation? Even corrupted, it should have recognized that everyone here has been trying to help it!”

“To be fair, we don’t know if it hasn’t gone after the Fire Nation too…”

Katara knew she wasn’t saying anything useful, even as the words came out of her mouth. The sun was rapidly setting, and the villagers scurrying around the hall and lighting lanterns did not help the frantic, desperate mood of their research corner. Time was almost up…

Sokka threw his hands up in defeat. “Whatever, there’s nothing else we’re going to figure out by reading. We’re just gonna have to face whatever it is that comes and hope we’re prepared.”

“You’re going to stay here. Both of you,” Aang said, stepping forward to turn and face them. “Thank you for your help trying to figure out what’s going on, but I should handle the next step by myself. It’ll be dangerous.”

“And that’s why we should go with you!” Katara argued.

“The Avatar is the bridge between worlds,” Bowen said placatingly. “The rest of us would surely only get in the way.”

Although Sokka also did not agree with Aang facing the unknown threat alone, the village was on Aang’s side, so Katara and Sokka were outnumbered. They could only stand anxiously at the window, staring out at the village streets as Aang approached the gates.

This was stupid! Why were they letting random adults tell them what to do? Why did they have to listen just because they were outnumbered? This wasn’t their village; they didn’t have to listen to the council! Katara clenched her fists at her sides. She should just run out now, ignore the opinions of these strangers…

The sun finished its descent. Aang boldly called out, “Where are you Hei Bai?”

Nothing happened.

“Well, uh, great spirit of the forest!” Aang shouted as he held his staff out toward the dark forest beyond the gates. “I’m the Avatar, and I’m here to remind you of your agreement with the people of Senlin Village! They are not the reason your forest is burnt! In fact, they’re the reason the damage isn’t worse. So I hereby ask you to leave this village in peace!”

He jammed the end of his staff on the ground decisively. Again, nothing happened. 

“Well, I guess that’s settled then?” Aang said as he turned back to them.

As soon as he did, something materialized behind him. It was a massive black and white monster. It bore no resemblance to any creature Katara knew, with four gangly arms and its gaping maw. Katara gasped and grabbed Sokka’s arm. He said something reassuring, but Katara couldn’t hear him over her racing pulse. Aang was so small in front of the spirit as he tried to talk to it.

The spirit ignored him and continued its previous work of destroying the village. With a simple swing of one of its four arms, it demolished an entire house. It threw its head back and let out an ear-piercing shriek. There was a mournful pitch to it that made Katara’s throat tighten with emotion. Was this really only about the forest burning? Were they missing something?

Aang tried to get between the spirit and another building, and was smacked across the village. Katara yelped and dug her nails into Sokka’s arm.

“That’s it, I can’t take it anymore. We need to help him!” Sokka pried her hand off his arm and held it tight between his. “Katara, how do you feel about trying some spirit purifying waterbending like Tarkik?”

She froze. Why? She was the first to say they should be helping Aang, but now, in the face of a rampaging spirit, it was obviously a fool’s dream. Katara felt breathless as she said, “I can barely do normal waterbending!”

Sokka patted her shoulder and grinned crookedly. “Don’t worry about it. I knew it was a hard ask. I can at least play distraction like Siniq. Stay here.”

He grabbed his club, and then was running out before anyone could stop him. No, no, no! Katara hesitated when he asked, but that didn’t mean she would let him go by himself! So what if she couldn’t waterbend? Sokka was right, she could help distract the spirit! 

Katara tried to follow, but the village leader, Bowen blocked her path and another man pulled her away from the door. 

“No! Let me go!” Katara shouted, struggling against the strong hold around her middle.

“It’s too dangerous,” Bowen said, as if talking to a wild animal.

Maybe Katara was a wild animal. She fought harder as she shrieked, “That’s my brother!”

At the last second, she remembered the self-defense moves Suki forced her to learn between waterbending practice. Katara went limp, then shot up and headbutted the man restraining her as he bent over in surprise. 

Ignoring his pained groan, Katara raced outside. No one was in the street anymore. She ran to the village gates, only to get a glimpse of Aang disappearing into the forest on his glider. There was no sign of the spirit or Sokka. Her knees buckled out from under her and she collapsed on the ground.

Why was she so useless?

Ugh, why was Uncle so useless?!

This was supposed to be a quick stop to ask around for Avatar sightings, but then Uncle wandered off to follow rumors of natural hot springs. 

Zuko wasn’t stupid. He knew what Uncle was trying to do by being obnoxious and soaking in the hot springs. It was obvious, even if they weren’t currently on speaking terms.

Ever since his first year of banishment, Zuko hadn’t been so careless as to forget his birthday again. Last year, he made sure to remember in hopes of purposefully avoiding it. Kavi’s surprise party had truly been a surprise, but it went better than Zuko had feared. This year, Zuko had every intention of properly ignoring his birthday and knew there would be no surprise parties in store for him. Obviously not, since Jee’s crew hated him and he wasn’t speaking with Uncle. And Zuko preferred it that way. He didn’t care about his birthday.

But Uncle did, even when they weren’t speaking. Since his birthday was tomorrow, Zuko just knew Uncle’s carefree and selfish act was all a convoluted ploy to delay setting sail. If they didn’t leave tonight, they would still be in port tomorrow, and maybe Zuko could be convinced to rest. It wouldn’t work, of course, but Zuko was feeling a little guilty about the whole ‘not speaking’ thing. So he allowed Uncle to stay in his stupid hot spring a little longer.

Except, a little longer turned out to be past the deadline Zuko set. Oh, how tempted he was to leave Uncle behind, then come back tomorrow. Just to give him a little scare. However, that wouldn’t help resolve their not speaking thing, so Zuko gathered some men and headed back to the hot springs in the middle of the forest. Not that he needed a protection detail or anything, obviously, but so they could talk to Uncle on his behalf again. Since they were not speaking to each other.

Zuko had no reason to expect anything to be amiss as he stomped back through the thick foliage to the damned hot springs. Obviously Uncle missed the deadline to implement his stupid plan. What other reason could there be? Which was why he felt so unnerved by the lack of a heat signature as he neared the clearing he last saw Uncle.

There was no reason to panic. Maybe his heatsense was acting up. Or the heat of the springs was obfuscating Uncle’s presence (nevermind that Zuko sensed him just fine earlier). Actually, if Zuko lowered his restrictions on his heatsense… he couldn’t feel the hot springs either.

The men behind him grumbled as he picked up his pace, but Zuko resolutely ignored them. He was just misjudging the distance. The springs just hadn’t entered his range yet. Everything was fine, nothing was wrong. Uncle had just fallen asleep or something.

Zuko barreled through the trees into the clearing he definitely found Uncle in earlier. It was empty. The hot springs were dry, the rocks that made the pools had fallen in a way that cut off the water supply. No, not fallen. The rocks hadn’t moved naturally. And with a secondary survey, Zuko noticed cracks on the ground that were not there earlier.

White noise rang in his ears, but Zuko couldn’t panic even when there were reasons to. Uncle was gone, and no matter how upset Zuko was with him, he wasn’t about to abandon him.

Seaman Seta was the first to notice the signs the usual naval soldier would be slow to pick up. Of course, since he was from the colonies and didn’t have to be exposed to earthbending on the front lines to recognize it. He hesitantly spoke up, “Sir, I think-”

“Yes,” Zuko interrupted, not wanting to hear it from someone else, as if that could make it any less real. “My uncle has been captured by earthbenders.”

Shocked exclamations and questions came from the rest of the men, but Zuko ignored them as he thought. He had four seamen with him: Seaman Seta, the aforementioned colony-born soldier who was a firebender helmsman; Seaman Narong, another helmsman, a nonbender with a reputation for cowardice; Seaman Zenil, a firebender engineer with a bit of a temper, but he never let it show in his bending; and Seaman Delun, a firebender from the weapons department with the opposite reputation of Seaman Narong as someone who was always rearing for a fight. 

In any other circumstance, Zuko wouldn’t even consider them and would have run after Uncle on his own. The warm weight on his back, however, made him pause and consider potential risks. He had no reservations about potentially fighting earthbenders solo if it was only his personal well-being he had to care about. But he absolutely would not endanger the little lóng in his bag by going after Uncle without backup.

The lóng egg was with him constantly these days. At some point in the night while held captive by the Kyoshi Warriors, Zuko realized that if Uncle didn’t stage a rescue, the lóng egg would be left unattended on the Sazanami until Zuko was released… And then even if things went according to Zuko’s plans and he convinced everyone of his sincerity to join their journey… Zuko then needed to either convince Uncle that he wasn’t a traitor of the Fire Nation to get the egg, or sneak onto the Sazanami to retrieve it in secret…

And who knew when the lóng was going to hatch! The Avatar was back and airbending was surely returning. What if she hatched the second Zuko and Aang reached an understanding? What if she just randomly hatched and was alone?! No, that was unacceptable. 

Once Zuko returned to his room (and stopped spiraling after his fight with Uncle), he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to take any chances. The lóng would not be hatching without him there to welcome her into the world. So any time he left the ship these days, he brought his travel bag with him, the egg nestled within his clothes and essentials, along with his swords and glider. Should the Avatar’s party appear, he was ready to join them.

But it wasn’t Aang who showed up. It was the Earth Army. So the lóng could get caught up in a fight against earthbenders while Zuko tried to save Uncle. 

Dammit, why did nothing go his way!

Zuko gently set his bag down and started stripping his armor. The men protested his sudden action in varying levels of shock and confusion, but Zuko ignored them again. It was easy to decide what to do next with this lot. 

“Seaman Selun, Seaman Narong, report back to Lieutenant Jee about what has happened,” Zuko ordered as he pulled his hair loose from its phoenix-tail. “He needs to organize back-up while we make sure my uncle’s trail doesn’t go cold.”

“We, Sir?” Seaman Zenil asked.

It was quick work to change into the neutral browns and burgundies of his Hui wardrobe. Even pulling his hair into a low braid was second nature these days, which left his mind free to contemplate his choice of companions. Seaman Zenil was much too big to fit anything Zuko had on him, but Seaman Seta could probably fit in a shirt. Hmm, he could still make this work. He pulled out a brown shirt and a pair of green pants.

As he ripped the pants in half, Zuko said, “Seaman Zenil, Seaman Seta, you will be coming with me. Strip your armor. Seaman Seta, put that shirt on. Seaman Zenil, we’ll turn this into a sash. It’ll have to do.”

No one moved. Zuko rolled his eyes and threw the shirt at Seaman Seta, then tied the ripped pants into a long strip of fabric that would fit around Seaman Zenil’s girth.

“That’s an order.”

Seaman Zenil just barely held back a sneer. “So you want us to pursue the earthbenders naked?”

“No, I want us to pursue undercover.” Zuko snapped. He didn’t bother concealing his own sneer. “We don’t have time to wait for komodo rhinos, so we’ll be traveling on foot. What if more earthbenders pass us while en route? What if civilians see us pass and send word to the Earth Army of our location? We have a better chance of following my uncle’s trail undetected and unnoticed if we don’t look like we’re pursuing my uncle. Your underclothes are nondescript enough, so you won’t be naked. Now strip!”

Slowly, Seaman Zenil and Seaman Seta started removing their armor. Seaman Delun looked like he was about to try to gather everyone’s armor to bring back to the ship.

“Someone can pick it up later. You two, I already told you what to do! What are you waiting for?”

No one looked happy about Zuko’s orders, but Zuko didn’t care how they felt, because at least they were listening to him now. Seaman Delun and Seaman Narong left at a light jog they could keep up all the way back to port. Meanwhile Seaman Zenil and Seaman Seta finished changing and were staring at him warily for his next orders. Wasn’t it obvious?

“Well, let’s get going!”

Zuko turned his back to them and went to the trail of bent and broken branches he spotted while everyone was wasting his time. They followed him, but not without commentary. Of course, no one could ever just accept that Zuko knew what he was doing.

“Prince Zuko, sir, it’s already dark,” Seaman Seta said. The slightest waver in his voice gave away how uneasy he felt sharing his opinion with Zuko. “Soon it’s going to be pitch black. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until morning?

That waver deterred a reflexive snap. Seaman Seta wasn’t expressing unreasonable concerns, especially considering he wasn’t trained for land-based travel. Zuko, however, had plenty of experience these days and, even in the dim light of twilight, had no problem picking out the signs of a group carelessly moving through the forest.

“It’s a clear night, so it won’t be pitch black. And I doubt the Earth Army will wait for morning with a prize like the Dragon of the West. They’ll be moving for as long as they can, and so will we.”

Seaman Zenil grumbled curses, but they clearly weren’t meant for Zuko, so he ignored them. There was a reason he chose him over Seaman Delun. As much as he bitched and moaned, Seaman Zenil would follow orders as long as they made sense. Seaman Zenil’s quiet grumbles assured Zuko that he wasn’t being unreasonable. And since he was close with the other man and understood his personality, Seaman Seta didn’t raise any more concerns.

Lt Jee and his crew were a bunch of assholes, but at least they were oblivious assholes. For the past few months, with little else to do, Zuko had been eavesdropping on them. So he had a good understanding of how they worked, and how they worked with each other.

Eavesdropping, however, had not given Zuko a glimpse into how well-trained Lt Jee’s men were with land missions. Honestly, if Zuko had known how obnoxious these two were going to be, he would have reconsidered taking them. They kept stumbling and then lighting flames to better see where they were walking. Each time, Zuko snapped at them to put the fire out. It ruined all their night vision!

After the fifth time this happened, Seaman Zenil snapped back, “You might be able to see in the dark, but we lowly soldiers can’t see a fucking thing. Sir.”

It wasn’t like Zuko could see properly either! But, he supposed that navigating in low light was possibly not an intuitive skill one could pick up without practice… Zuko sighed, cutting off the seamen’s hissed argument over Zenil’s cursing. Seriously, Zuko didn’t give fuck, he’d heard worse.

“Fine, follow the sound of my voice, then. But stop trying to light the way. Not only will it give us away to anyone nearby, but it makes it harder for me to see.”

Seaman Zenil grumbled, but extinguished his flame. “I’d rather not be led around being called like a dog. Sir.”

Since Zuko’s plan was to repeatedly say ‘this way,’ he wasn’t too sure what else he could say without talking. But what in the world could he possibly have to say to these assholes?

“Are you familiar with the area, Prince Zuko?” Seaman Seta asked. “You seem to know where you’re going.”

Zuko was so surprised that Seaman Seta helped him that he blurted out, “We’re at the boundary of a forest with high spirit activity that I visited during my travels.” 

“A what?” From the crash of the underbrush, it sounded like Seaman Seta stumbled again, but thankfully he listened to Zuko’s order and didn’t light another fire.

How were these men so bad at walking? Zuko rolled his eyes and dived into the topic to hopefully keep these idiots from straying and tripping.

“It’s called Hei Bai Forest, allegedly named after its guardian spirit. Or the guardian spirit is named after the forest, depending on which town you ask. Not many people actually live in the forest, because apparently Hei Bai is pretty territorial and if you disrespect the forest or its wildlife, Hei Bai will punish you.”

Seaman Seta’s voice sounded a bit weak as he said, “We’re not going through that forest, right?”

Zuko shrugged. “There’s a road that cuts through it, and if I were the Earth Army soldiers who captured the Dragon of the West, I’d head to the road to move as quickly as possible.”

“Wait, so are we following a trail, or just following your hunch?” Seaman Zenil asked. 

“Of course we’re following the trail they left. I’m not going to risk Uncle’s safety on a hunch.” Considering that Seaman Zenil’s tone hadn’t been too accusatory, Zuko added, “But we are headed in the direction of the road, so I suspect I’m correct.”

“Oh… that’s… fun,” came from Seaman Seta.

Seaman Zenil sighed. “You know what, I changed my mind. Whistle after us like we’re your faithful hunting hounds. I don’t feel like chatting.”

They were the ones who asked! Ugh, seriously, Zuko would rather have even Petty Officer Takehiko over Lt Jee’s men. Takehiko was an asshole, but at least he was the Wing’s asshole. Not to mention, he’d warmed up to Zuko a lot by the end. Meanwhile, Lt Jee’s men were never going to like him.

Zuko was tempted to literally whistle at them to keep them on track, but he didn’t want to risk starting a fight. Seaman Zenil might have said it was preferred, but Zuko knew better. Since chatting was off the table, Zuko verbally pointed out tripping hazards and narrated their surroundings every time he sensed one of the seamen starting to stray. There were plenty of creatures active at night to commentate on. Though Zuko couldn’t see them, they were easy enough to detect and identify with his heatsense.

The trail left by the Earth Army eventually led out onto a road where an even easier trail to follow of ostrich horse tracks headed northwest. Seaman Zenil tried to make an argument for making camp now that they knew Uncle’s captors were traveling on the road. Zuko didn’t even entertain him and kept walking. He wasn’t taking any chances. What if the Earth Army went off the road unexpectedly and the tracks got muddled overnight? What if the Earth Army had made camp not that far ahead and Zuko could stage a rescue right now? No way was Zuko stopping yet!

At least now that they were following the road, there was less need for Zuko to vocally lead the others. Without the dense canopy of the forest, starlight illuminated the path enough that the seamen’s inferior night vision could handle it. They only needed Zuko to warn them about a few potholes in the road, or when they strayed near the steep slope off the road. It was almost a peaceful walk, if not for the pressing dread of what was happening to Uncle…

Zuko felt it the second they entered the boundaries of Hei Bai Forest. An otherworldly spirit chill settled over him, but it was different from how he remembered. Something felt wrong. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what. At the furthest edge of his heatsense, Zuko could feel something smoldering.

“There was a big fire nearby,” Zuko announced. His commentary wasn't necessary anymore, but it felt like an important observation to share. “It’s cool enough, though, that it couldn’t have been Uncle. So we keep going.”

“This is seriously creeping me out,” Seaman Zenil whispered, not quiet enough. What was creepy? The fire?

Seaman Seta scurried forward, closer to Zuko, and asked, “Sir, we… wouldn’t happen to be in that spirit forest by now, are we?”

Zuko glanced back and properly looked at his companions for the first time since they left the hot springs. In the starlight, it was all too easy to discern the fear on Seaman Seta’s face. It was odd. On paper the man was five years older than Zuko, which sounded far too old for Zuko to relate to him. And yet, he was the same age as several of Zuko’s friends. 

For a while, Zuko forgot that Seaman Seta was so young since his bushy facial hair aged him and helped him blend in with the rest of the crew. But it was impossible to forget after what happened at Outpost 205. Seaman Seta had blabbed about the events at the South Pole to his port friends, which was how Zhao found out about the Avatar’s return. Afterward, the entire crew had closed ranks to protect Seaman Seta for his blunder, much like how Zuko’s old crews had for their younger members. Technically, Zuko wasn’t supposed to know the information leak had been Seaman Seta’s fault, since Lt Jee took the fall for him. 

Seeing his blatant apprehension reminded Zuko of Ju Long, and suddenly he couldn’t help but think of Seta as a peer. 

“We are in Hei Bai Forest now, yes, but there’s no reason to worry,” Zuko said placatingly. “The fires are out… Mostly out… Well, on the way back maybe we should try making sure the embers don’t catch and start another wildfire… But regardless, we didn’t hurt the forest. There’s no reason for the guardian spirit to bother us. Hm, unless it’s been corrupted… but surely that doesn’t happen so quickly…”

“Corrupted?”

“I guess it wouldn’t be common knowledge. You see, all spirits have a specific purpose of existence. How’d she put it…” Zuko wished he still had Yangchen’s memoirs to refresh his memory. He was trying very hard to not resent Aang for stealing them. Aang deserved to have a connection to his people and culture. But still. “When a spirit’s purpose is threatened, they become corrupted and lash out at humanity. It’s not because they’re evil or anything, but it’s no different than, uh, say a dolphin piranha attacking a child that swims out too far. No, wait, I think that was the metaphor for dark spirits. A corrupted spirit is no different than a spider wasp protecting its hive? I think that’s the right metaphor…”

“You sound pretty knowledgeable on the topic, Sir,” Seaman Zenil said, joining the conversation despite his earlier assertion against chatting. He almost sounded impressed. “Did you find a mentor on spirits earlier in your travels?”

Zuko scoffed. “Hardly. I’ve figured out all I know through chance and thanks to Yangchen.”

“Yangchen?” Seta asked. “You mean the Avatar with that song about her?”

After mentally insulting the two for their carelessness earlier, Zuko nearly tripped this time. “What?! When did you hear that? You guys have been in the South Pole since it started getting popular!”

“Oh, so he does know how badly we were shafted by dragging us onto his ship,” Seaman Zenil grumbled, again not quiet enough to go unheard.

Who dragged who where now? What was that supposed to mean?

Seta cut in before Zuko could ask. “A group of us heard it at the last port we were in. I’m surprised you’ve heard it, though, Sir. I would imagine it’s not permitted in Fire Nation ports.”

“I don’t know what about our current situation makes you think I’ve stuck to Fire Nation ports while traveling,” Zuko said, proud of himself for not snarking about writing it.

“Right… Well, I’ll admit, I didn’t catch all the lyrics, but I don’t remember hearing much about spirits in the song?”

Zuko shrugged. “Of course not. It’s about Yangchen’s relationship with her companions, and balance between the elements and what not. It wouldn’t go into the minutiae of spirits.”

“So, how do you know about the minutiae of spirits, Prince Zuko?” Seaman Zenil asked much too pointedly.

Shit. Keeping Yangchen a secret had been one of the big rules since gaining Lt Jee’s crew. Although, what did it really matter if they knew about Yangchen’s memoirs now? Zuko didn’t have them anymore and it wasn’t like Zhao didn’t know about their existence. Not that Zuko really thought that Lt Jee was on Zhao’s payroll anymore. Lt Jee was an independent dick. 

Oh, whatever. It wasn’t like he was on speaking terms with Uncle to get scolded for this, so who cared? Not Zuko.

“I acquired memoirs written by Avatar Yangchen, and through them learned a lot about spirits. The Avatar is the bridge between the mortal and spirit world, you know.”

“Sure, that makes sense,” Seaman Zenil said.

The conversation could end here, and Seaman Zenil probably wanted that. But if it did, Zuko would have to stew in silence and would struggle to ignore his growing unease. Since they entered Hei Bai Forest, the smoldering heat of fire had yet to leave Zuko’s heatsense. If anything, he was sensing more the further they walked. Just how big a wildfire had it been? No, he couldn’t dwell too much on it.

“One story comes to mind, speaking of corrupted spirits,” Zuko started, pausing long enough for someone to object to his story. When neither seaman protested, Zuko continued. “Back in Yangchen’s time, the Air Nomads were a peaceful, philosophical society. So, the Fire Nation had no qualms with them. Princess Akari was actually Avatar Yangchen’s partner, joined under Agni, if you didn’t pick that up from the song.

“Anyways, Yangchen helped one of the Fire Islands with a corrupted spirit problem. Do you know much about Ma’inka Island?” Seta was still walking close enough that Zuko caught his head-shake in his peripheral vision. “It has an expansive cavern system beneath it, which hosts an incredibly unique ecosystem. The original inhabitants of Ma’inka Island respected the nature of their home, as well as the spirits that also called it home.

“Through the years, that respect began to wane and some even doubted the existence of the spirits, so people started developing more parts of the island. Which disturbed the spirits that were still very much so still there! This was early in Yangchen’s career, so she brokered a deal between them and thought that was that. However, the Saowon clan, which still had considerable influence and political power at the time, did not respect the deal. They started mining, digging deep into the land and into the spirits’ domain.

“Yangchen said, if you asked the Saowon clan, they had angered the spirits, which led to a curse befalling the land. But that wasn’t the case. Perhaps great spirits are capable of the nuance of anger and punishment, but these spirits had been corrupted. Humans made the decision to dig into the caverns, which were often nurseries for the wildlife of the area, the wildlife which the spirit’s embodied and protected. Humanity’s actions influenced the shape of the spirits’ corruption. The young of the caverns had died, so justice would be for the same to happen to the human’s young. Fortunately for the clan, the spirits weren’t powerful enough to kill all the children of the island, but they did manage to put them into a deep sleep.”

Not once as Zuko spoke did Seta or Seaman Zenil stumble or stray from the center of the road. Huh, maybe Zuko should have ignored Seaman Zenil and kept talking earlier. Thankfully he hadn’t objected to Zuko’s story now, because Zuko really needed the distraction. The smoldering wasn’t getting any better or worse, but something else was putting Zuko on edge the longer they walked.

Last time he was here, the spirit presence of Hei Bai Forest was fleeting—it traveled on the breeze, popped up between the trees, rode on assorted animals. Now, it felt like it was pressing in on him, much like the spirits of Quiji Forest had. It couldn't be the same as Quiji Forest, though. If Hei Bai Forest was trying to push people out, surely it would have affected the Earth Army soldiers, but their tracks continued steadily along the road. 

“Do corrupted spirits always act comparably to how they were corrupted?” Seaman Zenil asked when Zuko’s pause lingered for too long.

Gratefully pulled from his thoughts, Zuko hummed. “That did seem to be the pattern from what I read, but Yangchen didn’t seem to encounter that many corrupted spirits before her memoirs ended, so I’m not sure.”

“So, just curious, if say, the Fire Nation was responsible for that fire you say is deeper in the forest, how might that corrupt a spirit?”

Apprehension knotted in Zuko’s stomach. No way the spirits of this forest were corrupted within the days the fires must have been set. But… he also didn’t have any evidence that corruption couldn’t happen that quickly.

“Wildfires do happen naturally,” Zuko argued. “Part of the forest burning wouldn’t necessarily lead to corruption… But I suppose it’d be possible if maybe a focal point of the guardian spirit was caught up in the destruction? Or maybe a certain percentage of damage could lead to it… Or, I suppose the guardian spirit would be able to tell the difference between a natural fire and the ill-intentions of a man made-”

The absence of heat around him suddenly concentrated and solidified into a massive black and white creature. Zuko didn’t have time to react or really even register what was in front of him before a massive, spectral hand snatched him off the ground and took off running.