Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Late Fall/Winter 128 AG]

There is the faintest echo in the distance of explosive sounds. Steel crashing, earth moving, fire raging, water whipping. There are people who are fighting for their lives, people trying to kill one another. They don't know that the freezing air, the frost of the snow, nor the cold dirt beneath them are far warmer than the places their soul will send them for the act of ending someone else's. Snuffing out a life is something she put behind her long ago, resolute in her belief that she needed to find other ways. Absolute in her faith in the new trajectory of her life.

Now though she stares into cyan eyes and she feels something different. She feels a seismic personal movement, a changing of philosophy. An instinct deep within to do and be different. The inner dragon stirs from its slumber. Vibrations shaking through her whole body. Fire and lightning coursing in her blood. A ringing in her ears as the words cut through.

"On Jin? Are you alright?"

Solemn and determined like she's never been.

"Tell me her name again?" Azula demands.

[5 Days Earlier]

Aklaq and Miki were perfectly normal members of the Lonlhai Village. Born as the Hundred Year War was ending, Miki is the daughter of lifelong Lonlhai parents and so this is all she knows, something she is not ashamed of or upset about in the least. There is something to be proud of in being born, raised, and dying in the frozen tundra of the island a few hundred miles from Wolf Cove or Harbor City. It's not something she thinks about all the time, but as a very soon to be mother, she can't help but think about the place she will raise her child in, which very often means confronting her own mortality and the safety of her environment.

Aklaq was born on Linlhao Island, a dozen or so miles east and five years earlier than his future wife. Of course, the island itself isn't much bigger than that, filled with numerous sects of tribes, all trying to survive and endure, and maintain the customs of their ancestors. While the South Pole had gone through an industrial revolution after the Hundred Year War ended, Linlhao was so removed from the capital that it saw none of the advances or benefits. This lack of connection made the island more vulnerable, more impoverished, harder to communicate with, but ultimately far more spiritual and neighborly.

Living on Linlhao is a communal effort, and Lonlhai is the center of that community. The odd shape of the island allows for Lonlhai to have a choke point, a tapering of the land mass to a single, narrow, winding valley that seems to lead to nowhere. Just as one begins to feel like they're never going to reach the end, it opens up atop a hill to large swaths of land, a scenic view by any stretch of the imagination.

Lonlhai resides along the western shore, which centuries and even only decades ago made it an easy target for pirates and raiders. A long history of violence and terror has led generations of Lonlhai Villagers to being distrustful of outsiders and not particularly welcoming. Which makes it all the more perplexing to everyone else why Miki and Aklaq had brought home with them a dying woman. A woman who opens her eyes for the first time in days.

Azula had laid her head to rest on a plot of grass a few miles east of the village. She planned to rest, regain her strength, and then head back towards her boat to return when she was ready and the weather was warmer. Now though she looks up at the beige ceiling of some indoor room, feeling a heavy weight on her chest and resonating throughout her body. She groans as she tries to sit up, but struggles against the weight.

"Oh good, you're awake!" A woman's voice chirps.

Azula startles. She thought she was alone and now turns to find the voice. A woman with dark skin and beautiful, shining cyan eyes, and sits in a chair nearby. She has long, dark brown, raggedy hair, and her belly protrudes forward. She holds a tea in her hands and puts it down. She doesn't appear to pose as a threat but Azula has no idea her intentions.

"Don't try to move, your body will still be recovering. You'll need rest and lots of fluids. We can get you both, and then worry about getting you on your feet."

"Where am I?" She asks, her voice weak and raspy. "Who are you?"

"You're in my home and my name is Miki. My husband and I found you a mile or so outside of town, practically dead. It's a minor miracle you're alive at all. The spirits carried you."

Azula figures she must be buried five or more layers deep in blankets and covers of various kinds. Mentally she wants to move, sit up on her elbows and get out of here, but physically she feels weak and fatigued. She keeps one mental finger on the pulse of detecting a threat, but a part of her feels that if they wished her harm, she wouldn't be given such comfortable furnishings. She lets the warmth run through her body for a few moments in silence while Miki sips her tea. 

"Is this Lonlhai?" She asks.

"The one and only." Miki replies without even looking up.

"Agni, I really made it."

"You were looking for it? What drew you here?"

She flashes to the brightest smile she's ever seen and the terror of seeing him hanging.

"An old friend told me about this place."

"Where did you dock?"

"I'm not sure, but the fog was so dense. And I thought the island was smaller."

"Aye. It's deceptively long, and it has shape. Not many outsiders come this way, so I reckon there's not much guidance from the closet ports. Which direction did you come from?"

"North-east. Jao-"

"Ah, so Jaohu. Makes sense, that's pretty close." Miki takes another sip of her tea. She smacks her lips before continuing. "So, my dear, what's your name? What's your story?"

Azula had thought about it long and hard on her journey here. After the disaster in Huwan, she had settled on a name to use whenever she landed in a secure location.

"My name is On Jin," she replies, paying homage to both of her fellow gender betraying friends in Ba Sing Se. "And I'm trying to find a home in the Southern Water Tribe."

"On Jin, huh? Are you Earth Kingdom?"

"Fire Nation."

"Bender or non?"

"Bender. And an Equalist."

"I don't know what that means?"

Azula sighs. Before she can get into an explanation though a sudden blood curdling scream from outdoors interrupts their conversation.

"AHHHHH!"

Both women jump a little in their respective seats. Azula looks all around trying to find the source. Miki momentarily wears a look of concern before trying to settle herself. She gingerly pushes herself up out of her chair. She strains a little but commands her guest.

"Stay put."

The pregnant woman isn't even halfway through the room before Azula decides to shirk that request. She labors against the covers and her own pain to crawl out of the bed. She lets her feet land first, slowly, to be sure she doesn't fall flat or collapse once she puts weight on them. After testing it momentarily she feels confident she can walk and gets up. Her knees and thighs aren't as forgiving and she struggles to follow. Nonetheless, she eventually turns the corner and a few feet away, Miki stands in an open doorway looking out apprehensively. Azula sneaks up on her and comes to a rest, her shoulder pressed against the frame.

Outside Azula sees a crowd of villagers gathered together around a sight. An old man is splayed out onto the ground, face down in a heap. A trio of young people stand above him, in various menacing positions. Crossed arms, proud looks on their face, devious smiles. She guesses that they're probably all late teenage years old, maybe the oldest is in their twenties. Azula tries to listen in to what they're saying to the man.

"-back after our rounds. You better have the offering prepared."

Without another word the three begin in unison to march past the crumbled body. A young boy, the youngest of the three, spits onto his motionless body. The surrounding villagers gasp and shout at this, but none move from their spots. Azula is almost out of breath just getting from the bed to the door, so while she is surprised by what she sees, she is far from feeling like she can do anything about it. Whatever this fight is about, it's not hers to have at this time. She can only watch from the proverbial shadows.

When the teens disappear from view, the crowd breaks out in murmurs about what's gone on. A short, lean man slips through the crowd and to the door. Azula looks perplexed at him but Miki is relieved.

"Aklaq!"

"She's up?"

"I told her to stay."

Azula interrupts, "Who were they?"

Out of the audience a small, dark skinned, elderly man, wearing an orange parka, emerges and leans down besides the unconscious man to tend to him. Miki's husband, the name that escaped Azula a moment ago, motions for them to go back into the hut.

"Nevermind that right now. Let's just get inside where we're safe."

Miki and Azula equally labor to retreat inside while Aklaq shuts the door behind them.

Azula spent over five years living below the poverty line of Ba Sing Se. The partnership with Mama ultimately made it far more manageable than it otherwise should've been, but nonetheless lived far below the means she had been accustomed to growing up. None of that could've prepared her for the experience of her first meal in Lonlhai. They sit together at the table for an afternoon supper.

A single slice of bread placed in the center of the plate, covered in a vomit colored stew. There was a single fraction of meat that, when divided by three, represented about one, maybe one and a half bites. Azula took the spoon and knows that this is a family doing the best it can, and sacrificing even more to give her an unearned share of the little that they have left. When they sit down though, she is hungry for something else entirely: knowledge.

"Are you two finally going to explain what happened out there?" She says, digging a utensil into the paltry heap on her plate.

The couple exchange eye contact. They had spent the time while making dinner asking her about herself and getting to know On Jin. In between her lies and half-truths they quietly debated what and how much they would share with their new house guest. Ultimately, they settled on sharing the reality of their situation with the newcomer.

"Lonlhai is under the direction of The Children of the Fifth Nation."

"Who are they?"

Miki tried to explain, "They claim to be descendants-"

"They're just the latest in a long line of bastards, and they will be the latest to feel the wrath of the Lonlhai. Fate wills it so." Aklaq interrupts.

Azula nods and slowly turns back to Miki, seeking a deeper explanation. The happy wife just nods and agrees. In her thinly veiled accent she replies.

"He's right. There have been many pirates, savages, and warlords to come and try to conquer us."

"Most have been one individual, or small groups. Rarely this large."

Miki adds, "Before the Children we had The Hunter, Chin the Conqueror, uh-"

"The Fatebringers, the Dredgen, the Iron Lords-"

"I thought the Iron Lords came before the Dredgen?" Miki interrupts him.

"That was just as I thought of them, not chronological."

"Ah!"

"If we're starting chronologically, from our lifetime anyway, we'd have to go with Koh's Disciples."

Miki replies, "Oh. The worst in generations. They were vile. I'm both lucky to have not been older to experience their torture, but also unfortunate to have been raised in the village during that time."

Azula scowls at all this. She gets flashbacks of a crowded room with Suki and Ty Lee and surrounded by her Kemurikage. Coming to Kyoshi Island and preparing for war. The King of Faces screaming as he died at Ty Lee's hands.

"If I recall," Aklaq thinks aloud. "I was 5 when they first came to the island and 11 when they stopped."

"My birth was almost in lock step with their arrival. It was most of my childhood, although I only barely remember it now. It's how I lost my father. They did unspeakable things to my…"

She trails off, the memory harsher than the biting cold. Azula nods. She had delivered justice to these monsters many moons ago, but somehow now she wishes she had done more. Done it faster.

"They killed the strong men of Lonlhai, and even women and children."

"What happened to them?" She presses, wondering what the local spin is to her deeds done in lands far away.

"They just disappeared. Not a trace or an explanation. A blessing from the spirits."

"This sounds awful." Azula mumbles.

"Aye. The Old Ones always say that was the closest Lonlhai came to annihilation."

Aklaq adds, "Until now."

"Tell me about these people. What do they want?"

"It's not what they want. It's what they take. Our supplies."

"All of them."

"They come every few months and just about clear us out."

"Call it our 'offering.'"

"Crops, resources, livestock."

Azula bites the inner part of her cheek. "And what do you get in exchange?"

"Protection." Aklaq replies with air quotes.

"Protection from worse evils, outside forces. Also known as their enemies."

"The Watchkeeper is our real protection."

"The Watchkeeper?"

"He's a nonbender, swordsman. You, um, saw him earlier."

"The old man who was lying in a heap outside your home?"

"Yes. He's been defending Lonlhai from the encroaching darkness for longer than either of us has been alive."

Azula scoffs, "He must not have had much success if you've been subjected to a myriad of warlords like you said."

"Who do you think killed those 'myriad of warlords?'" Aklaq quickly retorts.

Azula is admittedly impressed but nonetheless it begs a new question, "So why hasn't he dispatched with the Children of the Four Nations?"

"Children of the Fifth Nation," Miki corrects her. "And that's a simple question with a complicated answer."

"It's not that complicated," Aklaq rolls his eyes. He turns to Azula and skips to the end, "The rumor is that the Warden of Lonlhai has some sort of handshake agreement with them to allow all of this."

Azula doesn't ask for more information. She knows first hand how betrayal and backstabbing for power can be forged from years of cooperation, working together, and even partnership.

"I don't know much about that trio of benders, but what I do know is that it's going to be ugly when they come back."

"Why's that?" Azula probes, her meal long since consumed and the plate forgotten.

“The closest waterbending healer might as well be a hundred miles away.” Aklaq replies.

“The only person in the village who is a practiced hand in healing is Guru Achak.”

“Who?” Azula is starting to get confused by all these titles. Children, Wardens, Gurus, and Watchkeepers.

“You saw him too. He was the one rushing to the Watchkeeper’s side as they left town.”

“That old man is your only healer?”

“There hasn’t been a healer here in a generation.”

“We’ve had water benders, but not with an affinity for healing.”

“He and the Watchkeeper pretty much grew up together, they even live together.”

Azula cocks an eyebrow at this. 

"Guru Achak knows everything about everyone here in Lonlhai," Miki tells her. "He might be able to tell you more about the benders too. If you're strong enough tomorrow, we'll introduce you. After you get lots of rest tonight, under many layers, On Jin."

Azula is flattered. She replies, "Your hospitality is too kind. First you save my life, feed me, and now this? I don't know how I can repay you."

"It's what we do, it's what the spirits would want us to do." Miki replies warmly.

Aklaq adds, "Send out more blessings than what we receive and the spirits will protect us."

This is an ethos that Azula recognizes and one that Ty Lee will appreciate - should they decide to actually settle here. Azula decides to share a little more about herself after all that she's heard.

"I once had a friend who told me about Lonlhai. His family and life here. He called it a violent place. I wasn't sure what to really make of that until now."

Aklaq gets up to clean up the plates. As he does he asks her, "Who was your friend?"

Azula sees a flash of his smile in her memory and frowns. She tells them, "His name was Siq."

"Siqniq?" 

"No! Could it be?"

Confused, Azula stammers, "No, his name was just Siq."

"He was from here? Where did you meet this boy? Tell us about him, what did he look like?" Aklaq pushes for details, hastily putting the dishes aside and returning quickly to the conversation.

Miki asks, "Was he mud skinned colored and a big white smile?"

"I wouldn't describe him like that, but yes. And I met him in Ba Sing Se."

"Yue Above! He really made it?"

"You knew him?"

"Oh yes " Aklaq hums, the memory of the boy warming him. "I was 8 when he was born so he was like a younger brother to me, and I tried to look out for him as such."

"I was 3 years older than him so we did much together growing up here." Miki adds.

"Ah, but Siqniq was not long for Lonlhai. He dreamed of leaving and going on to bigger things, away from the homeland."

"You keep calling him Siqniq, but I never heard that name before?"

"That's his real name. 'Siqniq' means 'Sun.' Even though he wasn't a bender, he had a fascination with-"

"With fire." Azula finishes the sentence. It was all so very fitting.

"He left town at 12 years old, almost a decade ago."

"Our village worked hard to get him a one way trip to Ba Sing Se."

"Tell us! How do you know Siqniq? Is he well?"

The joy has ice cold water dumped on it as Azula realizes she must be the one to tell them. She opens her mouth and then stops. She gathers herself and tries to think of the right string of words to use. She decides on honesty.

"He passed away, almost two years ago."

"No."

"Oh, spirits."

"He meant so much to me. You said he was like a brother to you. We literally referred to each other as brother and sister. Part of coming here was to pay homage to him and to connect to his, uh, spirit."

The two share a look of profound sadness. Aklaq grabs Miki's hand as they sit in quiet contemplation. She guided his hand to the bump on her stomach. She speaks for all of them.

"We are very sad to hear this, On Jin. And we're sorry for your loss. Siqniq was a beautiful soul. We pray to the spirits that they guide him in the afterlife, and for a better world for our child."

Azula smiles and wants to change the topic.

"When are you due?"

"A couple of weeks. If he or she is still in here in a month, we have a serious problem on our hands."

She finds the perfect string of words she was looking for earlier.

With a kind smile and soft eyes, On Jin replies, "May Siq guide you and your future child to good health."

"-and that, children, is how Princess Yue saved Tui and restored balance, allowing Water Tribe people to bend water again. She made the ultimate sacrifice. Chief Arnook lost his only daughter, and Yue gave up her life for us. She ascended to the sky, and became the Moon Spirit."

Guru Achak comes to a stop in his lesson and looks around at the adolescents all at his feet. One small girl with broken glasses and no shoes raises her hand.

“Yes, Heran?” He asks her.

“Is the watchman going to be okay?”

Achak smiles down at the little one and sighs within. He comforts her, “Ganzaya will be perfectly fine. Thank you for asking! I will tell him you’re worried.”

The girl sniffles and wipes her nose. Guru Achak pauses and looks around. Standing off, waiting nearby, he sees Aklaq and the woman he rescued a few days ago. He turns back to the collection of fifteen or so children and tells them, “I think that’s enough for today, hmm?”

As if his words were the crack of lightning, the children rush to stand up and scurry away. Achak had hoped that the pair clearly waiting for him might also happen to run away, but alas they are still standing about thirty feet away. He collects himself, both physically and mentally, before rising from his seat in the town courtyard. He walks over towards them with all the speed of the coming winter.

“Aklaq, good to see you.”

“Another tremendous lesson for the youth, Guru. Thank you, as always, for your service in molding these young minds.”

“Enough flattery. All glory to Yue,” Achak waves him off. He turns now to the black haired woman beside Aklaq. “And who might you be?”

“This is On Jin. She comes to us by way of Ba Sing Se, where she met Siqniq. Through him she was encouraged to come here.”

“Siqniq! You don’t say?” He asks in surprise. “How is the fellow? It’s been many moons since he left us.”

“He’s dead.” Azula blunts.

“Yue rest his soul.”

"One of the more devastating moments in my life when I found him."

"I'm sorry, my child. I can't imagine, but I do share your pain. His loss is a loss for all of Lonlhai. He was one of the best of us."

"He was my brother and he is gone far too soon."

"I'll say a silent prayer for him." Guru Achak says, bowing his head. There's a brief few moments of silence. Finally, he raises his head. "Very good. We'll continue to find ways to remember him. Now, what can I do for you, On Jin?"

"She is seeking somewhere to stay, and medicine for her chest."

"Chest?"

"My breathing has been difficult," she explains, unbeknownst to any of them it's a byproduct of her lungs struggling to stay alive during her wandering of the island. "And I seek information on the three benders who came to town yesterday."

"I understand." He nods, before turning to her male counterpart. "Aklaq, I would like to speak with her alone, if you don't mind?"

"Of course, Guru. I am at your service." He bows before exiting.

"Walk with me?" He asks, and she obliges. "Tell me about yourself, On Jin?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Background, family, spirituality, whatever you'd like."

"I'd prefer to not."

"Oh?" He is surprised. "You mean to live amongst us as an enigma?"

She doesn't reply.

"This is a dialogue, On Jin," he explains. "If you can't share with me, I can't guarantee you a place amongst us."

"Alright. Fair," she concedes. "Here's On Jin: I'm 43, from the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se as Aklaq said earlier. I don't have a coin to my name. My parents were never really in the picture, and when they were it wasn't positive. My wife currently lives near Chin Village and would like to join me here, but I need my own place to live."

"Wife ?" He says, not really a question. "I suggest you refer to her as your partner. Calling her 'wife' could get you both in trouble here."

"I’ll call my wife 'my wife,' not hide it. Or find elsewhere to settle."

"Trust me, I know better than most," he pushes back. "But I’m telling you that you’re better served keeping it to yourself."

Azula remembers discussing this with Siq. Him in a drunken stupor, hidden away in his abandoned home. He had told her, 'they're quite welcoming of gender betrayers, so long as you keep your mouth shut about it.'

Now she is here, she is experiencing that in real time. She hates it, but she'll survive for the time being. 

"So," he interrupts her thoughts. "You're secretive, proud, unafraid of being yourself. Looking to start over. Did you do something in Ba Sing Se that required you to leave?"

"Indeed. I put the fear of Agni into some people."

"So you are faithful?"

"Not in the slightest, Guru."

"Well, On Jin, at least I can trust you are honest. That will suffice for now. Now what's this about your breathing?"

"It's been labored since I woke up here."

"What happened exactly?"

"I came to Linlaho by sea and got lost. I was already struggling to breathe before passing out. Aklaq and Miki found me and brought me back to life."

"I see," he hums. "Well, I don't have much but I may have a herb for you. You take it orally, and it'll take a couple of days to become effective, but some treatment should get the job done."

They walk through the village as it functions at high speed. They don't pause or break, just continue to idly meander through.

"That would be greatly appreciated." She thanks him

"If it's all the same to you, I'll drop it off with Miki later today when I bring her something else for the baby?"

"Reasonable," she accepts. When he doesn't say anything she presses onward, "Now, about the benders."

"What do you want with them?"

"Miki and Aklaq were telling me they're part of some larger group. They said you might know more about them?"

"They are part of the Children of the Fifth Nation now, but they originally were from Lonlhai. They're names are Keisuke, Binh, and Kallik. Keisuke, he bends fire, Binh, she is earth, and Kallik, he is water. They're 20, 18, and 16, respectively."

"Are all of the Children of the Nation young? Is that why they're called the Children?"

"No. That's a coincidence with these three. The Fifth Nation was from the age of Avatar Kyoshi. A massive band of pirates who ruled these waters and far more. They were ruthless and monstrous."

"So these are their descendants?"

"Somewhat. There's a great honor amongst pirates to claim to be of the Fifth Nation lineage. So this group has some of that, but is mostly just trying to resurrect the idea of the Fifth Nation. A way to instantly evoke fear, while recognizing that they're distinct from the legend."

'Not much different than the Kemurikage or Koh's Disciples.' Azula thinks.

"Okay, so benders of each kind. All from here?"

"All orphans from here. They lost their families young. So the pirate life appealed as a way to get out from under the thumb of the Warden and the rest of the life here. Much as how Siqniq sought to escape."

"Anything I should know about them?" Azula probes deeper.

"Keisuke and Binh were always close growing up, many believe Binh was in love with Keisuke and followed him to the Children. Kallik is the wild one of them. He, uh, sees things."

"Sees things? Like things that aren't there?"

"Yes. He was a masterful bender, never had any official training. Gifted, but he would talk to himself and then he eventually started telling people that he could still see his mother and talk to her. And not just her, but Spirits too. Which, in my line of work, is no joking matter."

Azula is thrown backwards in time. A poor girl lost in the backwoods of the Fire Nation, seeing her mother everywhere. Talking to her. Yelling at her. She doesn't know when the visions stopped, or how she recovered, but nonetheless she feels for the young water bender.

"That's sad." She comments, thinking of the boy.

"It is. They deserve a chance to come home and make things right. I know they would choose it if given the chance. But what do you want with them, On Jin?"

"I'm just curious."

"Tell me, are you a bender?"

"I am."

"Healer?" He asks, hope in his voice.

"Negative."

"Damn. Still, tell Thaki that when you meet with him."

"Thaki?"

"He's the Warden of Lonlhai. Ultimately he decides if you stay or not. Truthfully, I'm not sure why you want to though. Winter is coming and we’re low on supplies. You're better off healing up and leaving before Keisuke, Binh, and Kallik return."

"I see. Well, maybe you're right. But I'll tell this Thaki that I'm a fire bender."

"Fire! Oh Spirits above! What a blessing!"

Suddenly they come to a stop. A man approaches them with a limp. This was the man that Azula saw on the ground yesterday. Ganzaya they say, or, rather, The Watchkeeper. He doesn't say anything, just stares her down from a few feet. Finally, Achak sighs and puts his hand on her arm.

"We'll pick up this conversation when I bring the medicine later."

Without another word the Guru walks away and joins the man across from them. The two of them walk away as On Jin is left alone with much information to digest.

Dearest Wife,

I write to you with aching, burdened hands. I've come to find the second place we discussed. I've now spent two nights and am writing to you on the morning of my third day. I'm uncertain if you should join me. I was warned this is a place with a violent background, now in my short time I've come to understand why. This is a treacherous place, with what feels like dangers lurking just beyond view. Like a fog clouding my vision, I can't make out the enemies, but I know they are out there all the same. Everything, even the people here themself, is telling me to move. To leave this behind. What do you think? Should I leave this quest behind and come home to you? Command me as such and I will do it. Everything I do, everything in my life, I owe to you.

What would you have me do?

Yours,

Dearest

It is twilight of the next day when the messenger hawk arrives with the reply. On Jin receives it on the outskirts of the village, allowing it to land on her arm. She plucks the letter away and unfolds it quickly.

Dear My Princess,

Do you know where the greatest oak trees in all of the Fire Nation grow?

Oak trees are a powerful reminder of perseverance. They're considered royalty of the forest. They take decades to grow into full strength, but their roots grow far deeper and sooner. This makes them immovable. No matter what man or nature throws at them. Rain, snow, changing seasons, not even fire will burn the roots down. You can knock the oak down, but the roots will remain. And the great oak tree will regrow. The tree will not be moved.

The greatest oak trees in the Fire Nation grow in the forest of Jingchan. A place you may remember well.

So when the rest of the world is telling you to move on, to leave them behind and never look back, if you feel it so, then I command you to put down your roots like the great oak trees of Jingchan. And you tell them, "I will not be moved."

I'll see you soon.

Love,

Your Dearest

Shortly after receiving Ty Lee's letter, Azula sits at the dinner table inside of Miki and Aklaq's home. They once again share the stew with a small cube of bread each. She remains quiet as they chat idly about their respective days. She is quietly contemplating the words of her wife. They were measured and meant to inspire hope, and they struck quite the cord. The Jingchan woods was where Azula had led her ragtag collection of acolytes after their failed attempt to coerce Zuko into tyranny via child kidnappings and discord. They spent months on the run and found solace in that forest, amongst the tall oak trees. Until one day when a fisherman from a nearby village came to find them.

Azula isn't even sure if Ty Lee is being honest about the trees. Nonetheless, the point sticks with her. The idea being to tie the Lonlhai Village to her past humble beginnings. She is not convinced but she now knows what Ty Lee would command of her. Suddenly, Miki unexpectedly groans at the table.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

"Yes, yes. Just some indigestion. I'm going to retire to bed."

Her doting husband fusses over his wife, who bats his hands and attention away. She won't be having any of his help, perfectly capable of moving along on her own. She reasons that if she can't get out of a chair on her own, how will she move about for the coming weeks while waiting for the child to be born. As she disappears into their bedroom, Aklaq and On Jin remain. He watches the door close and then turns his attention to his guest. He lowers his voice so it does not carry.

"Thank you for your help today, On Jin."

"Oh, it was nothing."

"The extra set of hands make a big difference."

"I'm sure."

"You can carry much more than I expected," he marvels. "Do you have a lot of experience with manual labor?"

"Sort of. I mostly just keep myself in shape."

"Well, regardless, your help does not go unnoticed."

"My bending hasn't come back yet, but I'm happy to help carry some shit around."

"I'm glad you're feeling stronger today. Everyday is a little closer to full recovery."

There's another comfortable silence as Aklaq works up the courage for this next part. He brings his hands together and interlocks his fingers as if to pray. He swallows a huge lump in his throat and then tells her.

"Me and some of the boys around town have been talking. The Watchkeeper ain't what he used to be. So we've decided that, if those benders come back around, we're going to fight," he says. The last part he mumbles, almost to himself more than anything else, "Strength in numbers and all that."

On Jin nods but doesn't reply. She has still been feeling weak, although better within the last day and a half. It's an excuse, but it allows her a reason why she doesn't commit. Despite Ty Lee's inspirational words, some small part of Azula wonders about what will happen if she lets fate take its course. Perhaps intervening will only give birth to further calamities. If Lonlhai is destined to fall, she was in no place to defy Agni or Yue's will or whoever the fuck it is that plays with their lives.

"If the three of them come back to town, and take the offering? Our people will die. That's not something I can have on my conscience, especially knowing I could've tried to prevent it. More importantly, I can't bring my own child into this kind of world."

Azula listens and nods as he passionately, but quietly pours his soul out to her. With focus and belief, he orates to her in a whispered secret. 

"What you said has touched me greatly, On Jin. If I want a world that's different than the one Siqniq endured, then I have to do something for my home."

It's shortly after midnight when Azula is awoken by the sound of an ear-piercing scream. She quickly rises from her sleeping position and assumes a fighting stance, wary of an intruder. Prepared for this she has already identified all possible exit or entry points, as well as all items in the room which she could wield as a weapon, if necessary. She hears the dull sound of voices in another room before another yell.

"On Jin!"

She rushes forward and finds the bedroom, where Miki stands, one arm against the bed, one arm against her hip, legs spread apart. Aklaq is clumsily throwing a parka on. The floor is wet and it is quite apparent what has happened.

"On Jin! Perfect. I need you to stay with Miki while I go get Guru Achak!"

"I-uh, are you?" She stammers.

"Thank you, On Jin! I will be back soon!"

The feeling that Azula has at this moment is not difficult to explain. It is all the same familiar strain of her time traveling the Si Wong Desert when she fought against and alongside sandbenders. The ground was never steady underneath her at that time. Back then she learned to roll with the movement and use it as momentum where possible. Now though, there is no momentum to be had. Rather this feels like an advanced form of sandbending, where she feels like the ground might swallow her whole. The last time she was present for a birth was years ago in Lanxi, when she also witnessed death in its cruelest form.

"On Jin," She looks up at the cyan eyes, crying out for her. "Please help me."

The woman, twenty years her junior, reaches out a hand. The firebender, terrified and afraid like she's never been, does not hesitate. She moves towards the pregnant woman and places a hand on the small of her back, to help guide her away from the bed.

The sun rises to its highest point at noon above the Lonlhai Village. The clouds and sky are a nasty mixture of grey and pale blue, obscuring the beautiful sky of the Southern Water Tribe with their ugliness. It's been four days and now three benders arrive at the top of the hill overlooking the village. They've come back, as they said they would, for the offering owed to the Children of the Fifth Nation.

Down at the center of the quiet village, a man who celebrated his fiftieth birthday this year, who has seen much loss and dealt out his own idea of justice in service of his homeland, prepares for his next fight. He stands at the ready, his trusty longsword and dagger anchored in their scabbards at his hip, and he grips the handle of the longsword with a calm resolve.

Guru Achak had asked him to take the three of them alive. Three lost lambs, looking to come home, he’d said. The Guru asks so little of him that he will do what is asked, as much as possible. However, he fears that this may be too tall of an order. He will fight them with an injured leg, not able to extend to his full range of motion. Their fight before had seen him dispatched in short order, a result of their adept ability and as much as he regretted to admit it, his growing age.

'Death is on my doorstep. Will I answer the door today?'

The villagers scurry and whisper to one another. A small group begins to form. The three arrive at the center of town.

Keisuke, their leader, greets him. "Hello, old man 'Zaya."

He replies in his slow, deliberate voice. "Welcome home, children. Have you come to put your weary heads to rest?"

"No." Keisuke shakes his head, kicking a rock as Binh and Kallik stand behind him menacingly. "But maybe we can put yours down for you? Give us what we came for or we'll have to take it."

The fighters are unaware that less than thirty feet away, on the other side of a hut wall, a woman tries to give birth to her first child

"On three, you're going to give us a push, okay, Miki?" Guru Achak directs.

The sound of a mob is heard outside, as well as the floom of flames, the splash of water, and the rumbling of displaced earth. Azula knows the sounds of war, but the only thing she cares about is the woman crying out in pain.

"UGH!" Miki groans, the noise representing her best way to accept the conditions.

"One…two…three…push!"

"ARGHHHHH!" 

The door to the home swings open, a common occurrence over the last twelve hours. There has been no shortage of helpers coming and going. This time they are no volunteer though. They are a messenger. A young boy, only twelve years old, coming to get help.

"Aklaq! Aklaq!" He rounds the corner into the birthing room. "Please! They've defeated the Watchkeeper! We need you!"

"Is he dead?" Guru Achak asks, concern in his voice, he stops focusing on the birth for a moment.

"I don't know! But we need you, Aklaq!"

"I-I-I can't." He stumbles, eyes turning to his wife, as she progresses through her labor.

"Go!" She commands him. "Go! Go and guard our home against the darkness!"

He releases her hand reluctantly and takes off to follow the boy who had come running in. In that brief moment, as she watches him disappear around the corner, Azula wanted nothing more than to leave with him. This represents a great reason for her to escape this torture. Go and find something or someone to hit. She's good at that, hitting and fighting. She might be the best in the world, and she's assuredly better than anyone in Lonlhai at fighting. Her feet mindlessly move her towards the door.

"On Jin," Miki's voice grabs hold of a woman she barely knows. "Please stay."

Azula does not fear death, at least not conceptually. She has lived a life and done much. She has tried to do good after doing much wrong. What she does fear though is loss. Time, loved ones, places. Motherhood is not a concept that has been fond to her. It is something she associates closely with loss, whether she realizes it or not. Be it Ursa, her Kemurikage, Alane, Yasuko, Aiwei, or Siq. She has lost much to people who have been mothers or who were like children to her. So when Miki asks her to stay, to not let her or her child be another lost one to Azula, it touches a cord deep within.

'Miki will not suffer the same fate as Alane. This child will not be damned to the same destiny as Yasuko. I will not bury another mother. This child will not lose as I did.'

"Okay," she tells her with a slight nod. Perplexed, against all of her better reasoning, Azula agrees. On Jin takes Miki's hand into her own again. "I'll stay."

Over the next twenty minutes, On Jin and Guru Achak work with Miki to push and then push some more. Outside, the Watchkeeper bleeds and prepares to answer the proverbial door to greet Death. Aklaq and the townsfolk give their all to create a new world for their children, but ultimately all fall down to protect what little they have left. The cold of winter comes for everyone in Lonlhai.

Finally, with the latest push in an endless stream of them, the streaming is interrupted by screaming. Guru Achak shouts with joy as he pulls a bundle of a tiny human out from beyond the covers. He reaches for a tool and then snips the umbilical cord. He turns to On Jin, "The cloth! Grab the cloth!"

"WAHHH!" The child cries.

Azula searches the room before finding what he means. She finally leaves Miki's side and grabs a towel. She returns to him and hands it off. He wraps her in it tightly and with sweetness in his voice he proclaims, "It's a girl!"

The joy is short lived. When the Guru and the Empress turn to the mother, she is unconscious, her head back against the seat.

"On Jin, take the child." Guru Achak says, pushing the newborn into her arms, its screams bleating into her ears.

The world seems to come to a halt as Azula feels her heart hit the floor. She holds the baby girl in her hands but doesn't even look at her, she stares dumbfounded at the sight before her. An image forever burned into her mind, she flashes back to almost fourteen years ago. She mumbles to herself to deny that it's happening. Just as she was before, she is still, motionless, unable to move or think or breathe. Guru Achak quickly grabs the back of Miki’s neck and applies pressure to certain locations. Azula doesn't even hear the child screaming in her arms, she's so focused on what's before her. Another moment etching itself forever into her memory.

"Huhhh!"

Miki's head snaps forward, her eyes fly open and she inhales a huge breath. She grips the sides of her seats and then her hands start manically searching, reaching around her.

"What happened! What happened? Where's my baby!"

"Here!" On Jin shouts, her feet coming alive, her body moving forward instinctively. She rushes forward, and carefully delivers the child into mother's arms. "Here she is."

"A girl!" Miki shouts, a smile exploding onto her face. "Oh my sweet, baby-"

The audio cuts out for Azula. She stops listening to what's happening in the room as she sees the eyes of the child for the first time. They are as bright as their mother's and cyan in color. A ringing in her ears seems to drown out everything around her.

There is the faintest echo in the distance of explosive sounds. Steel crashing, earth moving, fire raging, water whipping. There are people who are fighting for their lives, people trying to kill one another. They don't know that the freezing air, the frost of the snow, nor the cold dirt beneath them are far warmer than the places their soul will send them for the act of ending someone else's. Snuffing out a life is something she put behind her long ago, resolute in her belief that she needed to find other ways. Absolute in her faith in the new trajectory of her life.

Now though she stares into cyan eyes and she feels something different. She feels a seismic personal movement, a changing of philosophy. An instinct deep within to do and be different. The inner dragon stirs from its slumber. Vibrations shaking through her whole body. Fire and lightning coursing in her blood. A ringing in her ears as the words cut through.

"On Jin? Are you alright?"

Solemn and determined like she's never been.

"Tell me her name again?" Azula demands.

Miki looks taken aback. Surprised by the tone and seriousness in her voice. Looking from the child to On Jin and then back again, her cyan eyes meet with the older, amber ones and answers.

"Senna. Her name is Senna."

Azula balls her fists. She turns and walks out of the room.

"On Jin? On Jin, where are you going? On Jin!"

Binh twists her torso around to check out the fur robe she is trying on. She sees how it flutters when she moves and sits when she stands. She hums happily to herself while part of the village burns around her. Kallik sits on a fence nearby, muttering to himself but utterly mesmerized by her beauty. Keisuke is the only one left still doing any work, as he takes inventory of the items they've collected. This is the sight that unfolds to the raven haired forty-three year-old woman who emerges out of nowhere, striding up to them.

"Kay," Binh wines when she sees the old hag approaching, getting the attention of her beau. "Looks like there's another one."

Ganzaya, lying on his chest, feels himself drawing closer to opening the proverbial door to death. His one eye is shut from his 'fight' with the three young benders, so he moves his one open eye to witness the latest challenger to enter the arena. He can't move to help, his longsword lying on the ground nearby but out of reach, if he even had the strength to move. He can only watch as the stranger from the other day stands opposed to his enemies. Her arms are up and at her side, extended out, inviting them to hit her.

Keisuke turns his attention away from the important work to look at her. He rolls his eyes as he tells her, "The slaughterhouse is done for today. Please come back another time."

"Lady, shouldn't you be, like, knitting a scarf or something?" Binh mocks.

Her serious expression and lack of response draws Keisuke's attention. He shifts the weight of his foot and groans. "Who are you now?"

"I'm the Fifth Nation's reckoning. Here to end the borrowed time you've all been living on." She speaks with a grave tone.

Keisuke motions with his hand. Binh whines as she comes to stand beside him. Kallik silently comes to join them both. The leader answers, "Now if I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a threat."

Kallik takes a long look at her and says, "You're not from Lonlhai. Who are you? Where have you been hiding all this time?"

"I watched from the shadows, but not anymore. Now, I am the guardian of this village."

Keisuke sighs. He looks over one shoulder at his partner, the earth bending Binh, and then the other shoulder at his deranged protege, the water bending Kallik. He turns to face 'the guardian.'

"Alright, y'all. Let's put one last shithead in the dirt, and then we can leave."

He reaches a hand back and forms a fireball. Binh moves her hands and then steps down into the ground, a small boulder rising up out the dirt. Kallik spins his arms in an arching fashion and prepares a blast of freezing water.

"HAAA!" Keisuke screams as he lunges forward, unleashing a torrent of fire, while his fellow benders send forth their own attacks.

In a flash, Azula summons a cocoon of protection with her blue fire, a trick she successfully once used against her brother, the Avatar, and his friends. The result is a massive blast of smoke, quickly expanding and engulfing the three fighters across from her. They become disoriented and cough roughly from the overwhelming volume of billowy gas. Kallik stops coughing and looks up. For the briefest moment he sees golden eyes looking at him through the fog. The next moment, a flash of light flies out and he is struck by a blast to his chest and shoulder area.

"Ahh." He tries to scream, but quickly the wind is knocked out of him.

The water bender spins and falls down, resting in the snow, stunned and shaking. Keisuke looks at this, the smoke quickly dissipating. He sees the sixteen year old Kallik face down and out for the count.

"What the fu-?"

Before he can finish that thought, a rising noise catches his ears. He turns in time to see a woman zooming through the air at him, fist-first.

"Oof!"

Keisuke takes the flying fist to the face. His head ricochets in ways it's not supposed to do. He splays out on the ground after twisting through the air partially. He is already disoriented, when he feels a weight, a kneecap, pressed into the small of his back. His breath quickly leaves him and his hair is pulled painfully back with one hand before another hand grips his forehead. His head comes up before it's forcefully pushed down into the snowy ground. His nose shatters on the first strike, blood spurting out. Before he knows what's going on, the motion is repeated. His head is smashed into the ground again and this time his front teeth shove into his lip and rip open flesh. It happens one last time, concussing him beyond apprehension.

"GET OFF OF HIM!" A girl's voice cuts through.

Azula feels the ground moving from under her so she rolls away and then into a standing position. Binh quickly kicks rocks at her. She dodges the first one with ease. The second one that is kicked out Azula swats away with a blue flames hand. She takes a half a second to assess the situation, then dashes forward.

"No no no!" Binh screams, as she reaches into her waistband and produces a pocket knife.

Azula comes within a foot of her before seeing the blade. She stops short and the girl starts swinging it wildly at her. The eighteen year old Binh has never been in a knife fight before, she is only used to bending her way out of trouble, and even then never in this sort of do-or-die nature. Azula recognizes the poor form and lack of technique. She crouches back, leans in and sweeps Binh's legs out from under her. Taking advantage of the tripped body, Azula twists the teenage girl, holding her arm away from her body in such a way as to keep the blade away from both women.

In this awkward but ultimately dominant position, Azula could probably get away with chi blocking her to disarm. However, Azula has no interest in giving the girl a chance to retrieve the blade later and do any real damage. She wants them to hurt. Azula twists her arm beyond her limits until finally the elbow snaps, the blade clattering to the ground as she screams out in pain.

"AHHH! You crazy bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you! Ahhh! Ahhh!" She sobs in pain.

Azula throws the girl down to the ground, her broken arm crashing to the earth, no longer a threat to bend. She turns around just in time to see Keisuke is standing up. Blood runs down his nose and mouth freely, as he staggers, completely obliterated, and tries to ready a sloppy fighting stance against his brutalizing opponent. He raises his fists up, feet stepping back, unable to find any footing, and he lets out a primal scream, while she moves towards him.

"RAGHHHHH!"

He throws his most powerful fire blast at her that he can manage. Azula blocks it easily with one hand, moving towards him while suctioning up the fire into her own hand. When the flames disappear from his view he doesn't have any time to react as she is upon him. Azula reaches out with one hand and grabs him around the neck. She lifts the twenty year old firebender up off of his feet. He reaches up to grab and scratch at her hand. He struggles for air as his blood drips onto her hand. With force, she chokeslams him into the ground.

"Uhh." He lets out the most difficult of groans.

Azula stands over Keisuke victorious. Her eyes turn to Binh, who whimpers in pain and defeat. Finally, she looks at Kallik, who whines and turns himself over gingerly to lay on his back against the snow. He buries his hands in it, hoping the cold touch will ground him from his shock. Azula strides over and stands above him.

"Oooh." He cries.

She looks down at him without emotion. She asks, "You're Kallik?"

He squirms like a sewer rat, and stumbles over his words.

"N-no," he replies. "I-I-I'm the Spirit of Death. You will fear me."

None of his words are intimidating. They lack the vague, haunting mystique that she's come to master over the years. He's terrified and hurt and not a threat whatsoever. It would be sad if it wasn't all so pathetic. She is reminded of what Guru Achak told her about this boy and the 'spirits' he talks to that aren't there.

"No. You're not," she shakes her head. "You're just some kid whose fucked up in the head."

Azula is not without compassion though. She remembers screaming into the sky at an apparition of her mother. The reflection in the mirror that used to keep her up at night. 

"I've been there," She leans forward and offers a hand. "And I can help."

It is a peace offering. A gesture of goodwill that Azula offers only to the water bender and no other. A chance for both of them to make things right, the first step on the long road to redemption. He looks at the hand and then at her. His right hand moves to meet hers. Suddenly, his left hand flies up as well.

"YAHHH!" He screams.

He chucks a handful of snow into her eyes and blinds her. 

"Gah!" Azula recoils.

Kallik pounces up and tackles her to the ground. When she hits the ground her head snaps back. He straddles her and quickly raises his hands to form an icicle above his head. Once it forms he grips it with both hands, holding it above her and prepares to end her life.

"DIE!" He screams.

With closed eyes and a damaged head, she grabs hold of him with her hands. Before he can thrust the icicle downward she fills him with lightning.

"Glug." He mumbles as he convulses and shakes atop her, until falling to the side.

Azula opens her eyes, and pushes him off of her. She gets up to her knees and looks down at him.

"Not today." She tells the barely conscious teenage boy.

She reaches a hand down and places her full palm on his face. Her fingers are extended out, her middle finger going across the bridge of his nose, her whole hand pushing his face down further into the dirt. He can feel this but can't move his body, too weak from the unexpected electric shock. She is furious that her gesture was met with an assassination attempt. She channels all of her fury into heating her palm. She singes the skin with her touch of the sun.

"AHHHHH!" He screams, but can't move.

Azula burns her handprint onto his face, marking him forever. However, it is not enough for him to suffer. It is not enough for him to be burdened with the print of her hand. She wants him to die, and so he will. She increases the flame, burning the skin as a smell starts, when an unfamiliar and gravely voice calls to her.

"Stop! Stop."

She releases and looks around. The elder man that calls himself the Watchkeeper is the one who demanded her to cease. He rests his head on a bank of snow, barely able to move. He is not fit to give instructions.

"No." She turns back to Kallik.

As she reaches her hand back down, the Watchkeeper persists, "It's what Achak wants. Let them live."

Azula remembers her conversation with the Guru as they walked around town. He believes, genuinely believes, that these three would come home if given the chance. She looks down at the boy, her handprint etched into his flesh. A reminder that she had offered him salvation and understanding, and he still chose violence. She shakes her head.

"Fine." She relinquishes. Looking down at him as he covers his face in pain, she spits words like venom. "Don't ever let me see you again."

She steps away from Kallik who exhales in relief. The thankfulness is short lived, replaced with resentment and rage, as he uses what little energy he has to push up onto his elbows. Azula walks away and sits on a heap of junk, legs spread apart, arms resting on her knees. She takes a deep breath in and looks down at her bruised knuckles, flexing them and checking them for strain.

In the distance, Kallik rises. He wipes blood and snot from his face as he comes to his knees, facing her. Azula turns to look at him and they stare at one another for a moment. His face is burned with her handprint but his eyes pierce her nonetheless. Finally, he speaks with diabolical intentions.

“I’ll be back when you least expect it.”

In short order, the three benders regroup and limp their way back up the hill, and beyond. They depart from Lonlhai for now, broken and battered, but filled with newfound homicidal purpose.

MANHUNT UNDERWAY FOR CONVICTED MOBSTER WHO ESCAPED REPUBLIC CITY PRISON 

A Republic City mob boss has escaped from his maximum-security prison cell, igniting a city-wide manhunt late into the evening hours last night. The prison break was allegedly orchestrated by the gang members still loyal to their don.

Authorities deployed metal benders and blimps in the search for the inmate, Yakone, 53, who had been serving multiple life sentences for his criminal empire enterprises and illegal use of Blood Bending. 

“As most of you know from his record and public exploits, he is very dangerous,” Police Chief Toph Beifong said during a press briefing outside of Republic City Police Headquarters. “While [Avatar] Aang may have taken his bending away, this is still a person of considerable influence and with bountiful resources at his disposal. We are asking-”

Katara stops reading from The Republic Times and pauses. She closes her eyes and pinches her nose. It was only a few months ago that Aang had defeated Yakone in the streets outside of City Hall and stripped his bending away. Now the mobster was on the loose again. Suki, much to Katara's surprise, was uninterested in the whole affair, too busy with her newborn. Katara, on the other hand, has the time for it. What isn't reported in the article, and what she had heard through Aang, is that Yakone was already beyond the city limits. The latest he and Toph had gathered was that he was escaping the city to try to regroup.

Katara reflects on the various 'criminal masterminds,' who have allegedly 'ran the city' in its short period of existence. This most recent iteration was Yakone the Blood Bender, but surely someone else will fill his shoes soon enough. The first one, though, was the Dragon Empress, the one that Katara conquered on the day of Sozin's Comet, her last, greatest, and most important victory. If rumors are to be believed, Yakone was the only other person alive to defeat Azula in combat while she was alive — besides herself, of course.

It's hard to believe, as she sits in her warm home and sips her hot tea in the early winter months, that the world has known almost thirty years of peace since she subdued the lightning bender in the Coronation Plaza. Almost thirty years of a peaceful world, filled with growth, expansion, and revolution. A world she is partially responsible for building. A great pride swells inside her, until she remembers those who would seek to destroy it. Yakone and Azula. Scourges and villains, agents of chaos, set upon disrupting the balance and peace she has so delicately built.

Katara sits in her comfort and pays no mind to the Decimation of Kyoshi Island; the percolating Bender Supremacist movement; increasingly extremist counter group in the Equalists. The power vacuum left by Yakone was sure to be filled with others. Nevermind she's never once traveled to Lonlhai and is blissfully unaware of the troubles of the small village. She knew not the horrors of the psyche wards in the Fire Nation. She was never barred from marrying Aang from a century-old law.

These things and many others were never plights for the world's greatest healer, wife of the Avatar, and bearer of the first new Airbender in a hundred plus years. She is now in her forties, content at home on Avatar Island, reading about a prisoner escape and reflecting back on a happy life.

She sips her tea and wonders what went so wrong in her peaceful world that people like Yakone and Azula could rule with such fear.

Chapter Text

[Fall/Winter 128 AG]

"Kodo will see you now."

Three defeated benders look from one to the other before rising. They follow the messenger with bowed, revenant heads into a stone building located at the north most point of Gaxia Island, which sits a quarter day's riding distance away from Linlhao Island, when taking a speed boat anyway. They had returned battered and broken. Binh's broken arm took round the clock healing to fix up. Keisuke's cut lips had blistered but ultimately healed over, however without a healer he was due for a nasty scar, possibly for the rest of his life. Everyone who saw Kallik was stunned; no one could understand why he appeared the worst for wear, when he was the most reserved of the group. A deep handprint scar ran across his face, causing all who saw it to pause. Now that they have been home a few days, they go before the Conqueror to explain themselves.

They enter his chamber, his back to them. The room is incredibly small, all things considered. There's a war table with a map of all of the islands that the Children of the Fifth Nation occupy and offer protection. This takes up the majority of the space, but a large stone fireplace and mantle takes up the rest of it. Finally, desks and a few chairs, the room filled with columns of papers reaching towards the ceiling. Everything in the room is cramped and tight, except for the distance between the Conqueror and his young soldiers. The gap between them might as well be galactic. The three are silent, knowing better than to speak before being spoken to.

He stares at a flickering flame as he says, "Am I to believe that the Watchkeeper did this?"

Keisuke keeps his head bowed as he replies, "No, sir. Not the Watchkeeper. We disposed of him with ease. It was someone else. A woman. She could bend fire and lightning, but it was unlike anything we've ever seen. She didn't have to move her arms to bend, it didn't make any sense."

"And she was strong, so strong. She broke my arm!"

Kallik remains silent, as does Kodo, who is deep in thought trying to remember some long forgotten words. He asks them, "What did she look like?"

"Like any Child of Ozai, a Fire Nation bitch through and through. Gold of eyes and black of hair. And blue fire."

"Tall?"

"No."

"Did she have a name?"

"No," Keisuke replies. "She just called herself a protector of the village, or something like that. But she's never been there before. We would know! She had blue fire too! And she-"

"Blue?"

Kodo the Conqueror knows of this woman. The Children of the Fifth Nation were raised to know their history of these waters and the sands beneath them. Most believe the legends of the Faceless Demon to be nothing more than tall tales told to youths to convince them to act right. Kodo knows better though, as his rise to power was thanks in large part to the Faceless Demon's annihilation of the rival Koh's Disciples. In spite of all of his success, he will not tempt the same fate that had once destroyed his enemies. The Demon has existed in these waters once before, and now she has resurfaced. Kodo makes up his mind.

"I've heard enough," he interrupts Keisuke. "The offering from Lonlhai wasn't good enough to begin with, now that they have a protector, we will cut ties entirely."

All three of the defeated benders are stunned. 

"C-cut ties? I don't understand. If they're under prote-"

"It's not your place to understand, boy. Your place is to gather offerings. Mine is to decide."

"But Lonlhai is-"

"Not a threat and not particularly useful. It is an out of the way village that's more trouble than it's worth."

"We can't just leave them alive!"

Kodo spins on the spot and swings his arms. Water rings appear around all three young adults, forming sharp icicles that stretch towards their throats.

"Do you wish to Challenge for the Mantle?" Kodo commands.

Keisuke is quiet. Kallik looks between the two.

In a hushed, quiet tone, Keisuke replies, "No. Never."

"Then understand when I say that Lonlhai is no longer our concern. You should be on your hands and knees thanking me for my mercy that I not only allow you to live, but do not offer you punishment."

"Yes, Conqueror. Of course." Binh starts quickly.

"We are not worthy." Keisuke adds. All of them bow their heads in respect, icicles still stretching towards their throats. "We will never be worthy."

The three former members of the Lonlhai Village are seated together near the living quarters. It's been a few hours since their puzzling meeting with the Conqueror. They've whispered amongst themselves trying to piece together what happened and what their next steps will be for Lonlhai. Keisuke and Binh have been stomping around like adolescents who were scorned by their crush. Kallik, on the other hand, has been calm. He is unmoved by the decision or the voraciousness with which it was rendered. Keisuke knows with his water bending friend this is just the calm before the storm; and he feels confident that a tempest is coming.

They huddle up and their de facto leader explains, "Lonlhai can not be left alone."

"Yes." Binh nods.

"If this 'protector' has a chance to grow, if the village is given time to realize it is free?"

"There will be no turning back!"

Kallik finally speaks, a grave tone in his voice. "The woman must die. The Spirit of Death commands it so. All of Lonlhai must die."

A little perturbed by the 'Spirit of Death' thing, but wanting to encourage the rage, Keisuke chirps, "Well said, friend."

"So when do we leave?" Binh whispers the traitorous question. "When do we burn it to the ground?"

Fraught with careful concern, Keisuke answers, "At first sunlight."

"Not me," Kallik replies. Both benders turn to him. He adds, "I will meet you at the top of the hill. I must convene with the Spirit of Death tonight first, so I will depart now to complete that under the moonlight, and then head to the island."

The three agree to make for Lonlhai and figure out a plan of attack when they arrive. They come to the realization that razing the village and returning with the protector's head on a pike will force the Conqueror to accept them back in, and add Lonlhai to his list of conquests.

The sun has been in the sky for about an hour now when Ty Lee finally boards her boat. She sits in idle silence with her hefty bags of belongings. She had ultimately decided to keep her home on Kyoshi rather than sell it. She didn't really need the coin, and if she ever did, she could always change her mind.

What's more is that if things go south, and the wives need somewhere to duck and hide, they will always have a home in Kyoshi Island. In the meantime, Ty Lee brings many of her most important essentials. She figures her wardrobe will change in the Southern Water Tribe and her color palette may as well. If she needs anything else, she can return to Kyoshi within a few days, no problem. 

Suki had been curious but not overbearing in asking where she was leaving for. Ty Lee assured her it was somewhere nondescript and that they would simply fade from existence.

"That's all fine and good, but don't go up in fire and smoke, now. We may need you back here eventually." She recalls Suki telling her.

The boat kicks to life as the engine sputters. Ty Lee holds on tight. It's a three hour ride and Azula had sent her detailed instructions on the hour-long trek across the island from the port to the village. Apparently no such instructions were given to her and if Ty Lee was reading between the lines, Azula was most displeased with her attempt to navigate the island without direction.

Four hours away. It seems like so much more than it actually will be for her. It's such a large amount of time and yet so insignificant as well. Not much more separates Ty Lee from her bride, her partner, her wife. She has waited miles and moons and missions for this moment. She can wait for four more hours.

Suffice it to say that Ganzaya and Azula had gotten off on the wrong foot initially. The swordsman is unaccustomed to strangers taking up residence in his homeland, and the way of life of the Southern Water Tribe village also lends to a certain amount of defensiveness. Nevermind that within moments of her regaining consciousness, he coincidentally was beaten to a pulp by some former mentees. When they finally crossed paths in the village via the Guru, he was not in a very welcoming mood, while she was too beleaguered to rightfully introduce herself.

Given how Azula eventually announced her arrival before the village, it's fairly moot. Any kind of greeting or 'get to know you' questions would've been irrelevant the moment she brutalized the trio of benders trying to raid their home. As a result, approximately three days after Senna was born, in the waning days of the year, the two are finally sitting down to their first real conversation. It's high noon and Guru Achak has convinced them to meet at a fire pit outside of The Watchkeeper's home.

It is here where On Jin strides up to when she watches him lodge his longsword into the ground beside the pit. He gets on his hands and knees to set to work on preparing a fire. She comes to a stop above him, watching him struggle to scrape rocks together above some firewood. She observes for a few moments before offering to intervene.

"I can he-"

"Don't."

The Watchkeeper keeps at it for several more seconds. The time that elapses becomes awkward and tense. Azula lets it go on for far too long and then twirls her fingers. A tiny baby flame appears and with a flick of her wrists it soars across the distance and explodes onto the wood. The Watchkeeper doesn't jump back, doesn't react, he just stops what he's doing and stares down at it with seething frustration.

After a few seconds he finally steps away from the fire. He doesn't growl or give On Jin an angry expression. He just watches the flames. This goes on for another awkward length of time before he finally stands back and squats down onto a log, eyes never leaving the fire. At last he turns to the raven haired woman still standing nearby. When he speaks, it is a strained, gravelly voice, which seems to pour out of his mouth like lava from a volcano: slow, deliberate, but never stopping.

"Are you waiting for something?"

She screws her face up in confusion, as it was he who has been delaying and staring out into space. She wants to argue with the older man, but decides it's immaterial and so she simply sits down as well. His eyes remain locked on her, having taken the attention away from the fire. She pretends to not notice him studying her features. Finally she raises her eyes to meet his, in an effort to ward him off. Instead he just looks into her eyes now.

He speaks again, "What are you missing?"

"Come again?" She seeks clarification.

"What do you need?"

On Jin furrows her brow now, as she believes he has asked two different questions. She tries to answer, "I don't need anything. I'm in a good place, if the Warden will have me."

He growls now, which confuses On Jin. He was unphased when she lit the fire despite his insisting she not; but when she tries to answer his questions he gets mad.

"The Warden is a man in leader's clothes. But under them he is just as any other."

Azula looks now at the fire instead of the man to avoid further strange eye contact. Nothing he is saying is making sense, and she isn't doing anything to clearly communicate either. They may have started with odd beginnings, but this interaction is compounding the matter. She wonders if the two of them will ever understand each other.

He breaks the silence with another question, "Does recognition become you?"

She scoffs, finally understanding the question he is asking. "I've been known before. I like a life of obscurity better."

"The villagers have given you a nickname already, have they not? They whisper your name with reverence in their living rooms and toast to a stranger at their dinner tables." He speaks his most words consecutively to her yet.

"I'd prefer they didn't." She retorts.

"We don't get to decide that." 

The Watchkeeper is incisive and insightful. He knows more than he lets on, so Azula decides to try and extract some of what he doesn't let on.

"And what do they say about you? What do you wish they'd say?"

He looks away from her and the fire and looks out into the distance. Stacks and stacks of hills leading out of the village, overcast skies giving a grey-blue tint to everything around them. The smoke from Azula's fire billows quietly and quaintly. It provides warmth and light. The Watchkeeper speaks as slow as the time ticks by.

"Some call me a 'Savior.' I prefer 'Teacher,'" he explains. Finally his eyes turn to her. He conveys a grim, intense resolve in his golden eyes. He teaches, "Lesson number one: Redemption? There is no such thing. There is only repentance for our transgressions, and hope that the Spirits take us."

This quote and this moment hangs between them as a moment frozen in time. Azula absorbs it into her memory, letting the quote become tattooed onto her mind. A man wishing to be viewed as a teacher giving a lesson on redemption to a woman who is closer to a spirit than a person and who wants to fade from existence into anonymity. The soft crunch of snow is barely audible as a third party approaches.

"Ganzaya is always so overly melodramatic, I hope he's not scaring you off?" Guru Achak laughs as he approaches.

Taken from her vexed state, Azula turns to the Guru who stands over her, smiling down.

"No, no." She replies numbly.

Unconvinced, the Guru pivots, "Well, On Jin, there's a new face in town. A brunette woman who claims she's in search of you."

It's shortly after noon as the boat finally creaks to a stop at the northern dock. Binh disembarks quickly and goes to examine the other boat already docked. She looks it up and down while Keisuke secured their own vehicle. She notices evidence of multiple parties. She wonders if Kallik had stolen a vehicle from somewhere else before making his way here.

"He must be here already." She announces.

Keisuke finishes his work and starts walking towards her, "C'mon. He said he would meet us at the top of the hill."

Her boyfriend begins walking away. Binh steals one last glance at the other empty boat at the dock. She feels uneasy about this, without seeing Kallik herself. The boy has a history of erratic behavior. Nonetheless, Keisuke forges onward, so Binh runs to catch up.

On Jin is led to the entry of Lonlhai by Guru Achak, the Watchkeeper deciding to stay behind. Azula is reasonably sure that she’ll be met by her wife, but nonetheless it is a relief when they come around a corner and the tall Kyoshi Warrior is on the other side, making idle conversation with the man On Jin has come to know as Thaki, the Warden of Lonlahi. He is a small man with dark skin and blue eyes. Ty Lee doesn’t see her coming so she announces herself.

“Welcome to where you’re going.”

The grey eyed beauty knows these words from anywhere. She turns on the spot and squeals loudly. She quickly erases the distance between them.

“Oh! On Jin!” She stresses the name. She smiles and waves an arm to the Warden as she says, “I was just talking with Warden Thaki about you! I told him how we have been together since childhood. On Jin and Rangi against the world!”

‘Rangi? I guess she got sick of Ty Lin?’

“I was surprised a woman of Rangi’s appeal could spend such time with, ahem, you.” He replies.

On Jin turns to Thaki and nods. With a broad smile she tells him, “It’s true. We’ve spent many moons and moonlit nights together.”

A man’s voice speaks outside of her peripheral, but walks up and into her view as it does. “I don’t remember you being so crass, On Jin?”

“Huh - AHHHH!” Azula screams as loud as she possibly can at the sight.

A short and stout man strides up to her. A spirit from beyond. A ghost from her past. Smaller now than before, his hair greyer, his once defined muscles withered away from years of imprisonment. She leaves her wife’s side and instantly envelopes him in a bear hug, which he gladly responds to, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. He laughs heartily and Rangi smiles from ear to ear at the sight of the old friends reunited.

Amongst the rabble rousing she whispers in his ear, “What name do you use?”

He quickly whispers into hers, “I’d never change it.”

On Jin leans back, still gripping the man as if he may disappear for years if she ever let go. Loudly, voraciously, with great glee in her voice, she greets him, "Lin!"

They hold one another and stare at the other. They take in every inch, every deformity, every crack. The new lines etched onto their face, the new sprinkles of salt in their hair, the new bags under their eyes. Each tries to memorize the details so they can remember them fondly. Whether they want to admit it or not, they both had dark moments in the last few years where their faith did waver and their belief did fade. It was not certain that they would ever see one another again. Now they share a glorious moment of being reunited.

"Come," Azula tells her old fisherman. "We have much to discuss!"

They excuse themselves despite the protests of Thaki. They head someplace where they can talk in private. While the three of them have spent very little time all together, they each have their own history together that goes back lifetimes and transcends names and places.

"Ukiuk, look! It's them!" A small girl's voice squeaks with panic from their position of concealment. 

Ukiuk is a seven year old nonbender who lives with his mother, Yatah, and younger sister, Yakaro, amongst the hills of Lonlhai. Their home is near the very top of the slope that leads down into the main village. Many of Ukiuk's forebearers were sentries, guards, brave men who stood at the metaphorical and symbolic gates to the village and stood fast against dying light and a steady supply of treacherous enemies. Generations who would roll over in their graves if they could see their descendants now. Terrified of his own shadow.

"There's nothing we can do about that, Yakaro! They're strong, we are not!"

Yakaro, enough courage for the both of them, rolls her eyes. She gets up from behind the boulder and runs away, headed down the long hill. She runs to the village center to warn them. She calls over her shoulder, "Come on, Ukiuk!"

Against his better judgment, the young boy leaves his safe space in hiding to chase after his six year old sister. They are gone and out of sight by fractions of a second when Binh and Keisuke reach the plateau above the village. They gather together at the top and look down and all around. They had expected to find another.

"He's not here?"

"But we saw his boat."

"Well, we saw a boat."

"What do we do?"

"I say we give him a few minutes and see if he's around somewhere. But it doesn't feel right. He should've beat us here."

"Fine. No complaints here. In the meantime, let's create our plan of attack for if and when he does arrive. Shit, even if he doesn’t show up."

“After she saved me on the pier, I began working with the RCPD. Most of them still didn’t believe me, but even if Toph didn’t believe me, she still wanted him put away. So I helped them locate more of my fellow escapees. Our collective testimonies are what did him in.” Lin explains.

Ty Lee cuts in, “I heard through Suki that it became apparent that they couldn’t tie the human trafficking charges to Yakone, only his underlings. But all of the blood bending talk really brought it home.”

“And they asked about your background with me? Or should I say, Suki did?”

“Indeed. And I’m sorry to say that I traded my freedom for many of your Empire’s secrets. Including what happened when you fought him."

“Water under the bridge, old friend.” She assures him with a smile and hand on his shoulder. “I was counting on so much happening. How is Ai Zhou? The children?”

“They are grateful that I’m alive. I am…crushed. I missed years of their lives. They searched for me and tried to go through proper channels. Unlike a man who once lost his boat though, they had no up and coming Empress to turn to.”

Azula smiles at the nicety, but mostly she is furious. “I wish I could’ve done more. For you and for them.”

“You sent a woman to topple Yakone and in doing so set me free. I trust you did what you could. My faith in that never wavered.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t there for the sentencing,” Ty Lee pivots back to the main topic. “If the rumors are to be believed it was quite frightening.”

“Yes, yes. But enough about me!” He waves her off. He turns to the woman now known as ‘On Jin.’ He motions with his hand and says, “Tell me everything!”

The three gather in Miki and Aklaq’s home. No one is around so they are able to speak freely, use their own names and such. Azula recaps her life over the last few years. She outlines in great detail how his letter, using their special coded language, arrived just in time to warn her of impending doom. She was able to depart from Lanxi before the Kemurikage could find her, ducked into the Nokizo Village Island hideaway for a bit, then bummed it in a temple in Gaoling. After being dubbed the 'Lady in Red,' she left and joined a Sandbenders Clan in the Si Wong Desert. She briefly became a bounty hunter for a few days to a woman known as 'The Widow.' Azula and Ty Lee then reunited on Kyoshi, where they spent almost half a year living together before Azula finally moved to Ba Sing Se. She worked as a librarian in Ba Sing Se before becoming an Equalist Icon and getting swept up into a completely different empire of the Lower Ring.

"No dear, you have to tell it in order," Ty Lee interrupts her. "You became a part of Mama's empire and then I convinced you to become an Equalist Icon."

"That's true," she concedes. "After a couple of years, I outplayed the Red Lotus and completed a hostile takeover of the First Bank of Ba Sing Se."

Lin marvels, leaning back and drinking some water, astonished at how much she accomplished the last few years. Azula then takes them through her trip to Huwan and how someone dressed as one of her Kemurikage found her and tried to kill her. Ty Lee, learning the intimate details of this for the first time, fusses over her very much alive wife. After that, Azula finally parlays the story of her origins in the village. This final story incurs many questions, about the villagers, the background, and the benders who attacked.

The three are discussing the next steps, the future of what Azula, Ty Lee, and Lin will be and where they will go. Ty Lee glows about the idea of being able to settle down together at long last. The mood is positive when the door to the hut blows open. A small child runs into the house, a small boy follows her, and finally Aklaq follows behind both looking frantic.

"Guardian! Guardian! We need you!" She screams out.

All three stand up quickly and come to the door. Azula looks down at the girl, mouth agape, trying to discern what's going on.

"Sorry!" Aklaq apologizes. "I couldn't stop them."

"It's fine," she waves him off. She turns her attention to the small girl and boy, "What's the meaning of this?"

"They're back! They're back! We saw them!" She cries, reaching up and grabbing On Jin's hand.

The child tries to pull On Jin towards the door, but just as she does the room shakes, and explosive noises can be heard from outside. Everyone staggers to avoid falling down. Collectively everyone goes back outside to see what is happening.

The sight is terrifying. Giant boulders fly through the air one at a time, crashing into homes. They originate from the top of the hill, the bottleneck entry point to low valley village. This is not the only point of concern though, as a small figure flies through the air with fire feet and rains fire down upon the village. Massive waves of fire come down and burn homes and people alive. The group goes running as the flames spread out across the village. The figure comes to a stop and screams out above the village.

"PROTECTOR! Show yourself!"

He crashes down to the ground and then flames raise up again towards the sky. The group comes from out of protective cover just as a building begins to collapse. On Jin reaches both hands up and bends the fire away to prevent further structural failings, but the damage to the village is done.

Everywhere they turn there are horrors. The village burns around them. Children and livestock are burned. Villagers try to put the fire out on their homes and on their neighbors. It is devastating and heartbreaking for the brunette from Kyoshi Island who just moments ago saw this place as a great new starting point. The woman now known as Rangi can't comprehend the amount of damage being done to the village and people here. She grows furious with angry tears. Ty Lee turns to Azula, a grim tone about her. She whispers to her wife so the others do not hear.

"We're fighters, Azula. It's what we do. It's what we've always done," she says, wiping tears away. She summons her strength as she tells her, "Whether it was the Earth Kingdom army or Koh's Disciples or the Avatar or each other or these people now. We fight."

On Jin nods at Rangi. Azula agreed with Ty Lee. She tells her, "They already tried to kill me once. They won't stop until we're dead."

The ground shakes as more rocks crash into buildings and people. The village is ablaze around them. It melts all doubt from Ty Lee's mind.

"I know what I told you in Lanxi. But if this is going to be our home, we have to fight for it," she pauses as she measures her words. They are indelible. "We might even have to kill for it."

Azula doesn't reply. But there is a look in their eyes. There is an understanding that passes between them. They nod their heads. Ty Lee gives her orders.

"You go take care of the rocks. You can fly up there faster than I can run. I'll take care of the Fire Bender."

On Jin nods before jumping into her own fire feet and zooming off towards the village entrance. Rangi barks commands at Aklaq to protect the children. Unlike everyone else running from the flames, she runs towards them - just as she always has in her life.

Binh goes to chuck another rock out into space but just as it starts to fly through the air it is struck by lightning and explodes into rubble. A figure zooms through the air and quickly lands on the ground a few feet away from the girl. Binh's eyes bulge as she is confronted with the woman who broke her elbow just a few days ago. She quickly gets into a fighting stance, not wanting to be caught off guard again.

Azula looks around the clearing for any signs of anyone else. In the few seconds it took for her to fly up here she wondered if there were more of them; if reinforcements had been brought along, or if they had just returned alone. She is both appalled and surprised to see it is just the girl. Azula yells at the teenager.

"You've killed these people. We let you all live…and you wasted it!"

She zaps lightning, which misses and hits a tree nearby. The bark explodes, Binh raises up a piece of earth to shield herself from the hail of wood, and Azula dashes forward.

Ty Lee arrives on the scene and from about thirty feet out she watches a fight unfold. The fire bender is in hand-to-hand combat with an old man. She runs forward as she watches the fire bender rip the man's sword from him.

Keisuke sends the Watchkeeper to the ground and stands above him. He grabs the longsword with both hands and drags it along the ground. He growls at the man beneath him, "No more mercy. No more lessons. No one left to save you!"

"Are you sure about that?" Rangi speaks to the open battlefield.

He looks up in surprise and doesn't recognize her. He steps away from the Watchkeeper, stepping on the man's ribs as he pulls the sword towards the woman before him.

"Another protector?" He marvels, rage in his voice.

She approaches and stops a few feet from him as he lifts the blade up to fight. She shrugs.

"Something like that."

Azula and Binh bend elements at each other, Azula surprisingly on the defensive. She is using her fire to redirect projectiles from the young girl. Binh finally sees an opening and bends the earth beneath Azula, sinking her feet into the ground. Binh uses a bit of earth to reach up and grab Azula's left hand. The firebender looks down into her right palm and sees her scar. She balls the fist, but before she can shoot fire out the Earth reaches up and grabs her hand. Her fingers are pulled apart so she can’t form a fist.

Azula turns to look at the girl, concentrating with all of her might. She has left herself completely exposed if Azula could just get something off. So she changes her focus. She thinks not of the fire in her heart, but of the lightning in her body. She sends the mental command. From her outstretched fingertips, lightning cracks and strikes the earth bender right in the torso. She flies backwards through the air.

Ty Lee doesn't need to go to Keisuke. He comes to her all on his own. He dashes forward with the blade. The Watchkeeper and the few onlookers trapped by circumstance watch from afar at their dance. It is a breathless display of evasive maneuvers by the tall, brunette woman. Keisuke can't land a single blow. Every fire blast, wave, punch, kick, or jab of the sword is avoided. As if she's some sort of spirit, or the wind, or like she's not even there; almost as if she is a ghost.

Finally, after letting him exhaust himself, she tires of playing with her food. He lunges forward with the sword and his arm is momentarily fully exposed. She quickly strikes him twice, dislodging the blade from his grip, and then squats to sweep his feet out from under him. He hits the ground square on his back and loses his breath.

Azula stands over her opponent, defeated and struggling to breathe. She looks down at her and asks her.

"Do you have any remorse? The people you've hurt? The irrevocable damage you've done?"

Binh still thinks she can win. Still thinks there's a way out of this. As there has always been in her life to this point. She shakes her head as much as she can up at her conqueror.

"I'd do it all again." She replies with a nasty smile.

Azula pauses. Lightning crackles from her hands as she considers the life before her. She sighs with a heavy heart but certain.

"I believe you."

Lightning blasts forth and all Binh sees is white. Then she sees nothing.

"Do you yield?" Ty Lee asks the man on the ground. 

The strange woman stands directly above him. Keisuke inhales a huge breath and then takes advantage of the position. He opens his mouth and spits fire up at her.

"Ahhh!"

Ty Lee jumps back and away, her arm partially on fire. She falls to the snow and smacks at the arm, rubbing it in the icey mess on the ground as the young man next to her cackles. When the fire is out she grows angry and rises up. She looks at the sword she knocked out of his hand and walks over to it. She pulls it up and lifts it up onto her shoulder with relative ease. She returns to the fire bender and then wields the sword over his motionless body. She delivers a speech to the boy.

"I used to believe that killing was wrong. Period. There was never any purpose for it other than to continue to further the cycle of death. But what you've done?"

She looks around at the charred corpses.

"Children? Little children ? Burned!" She shouts, the sword dangling over him. "There's no reforming you. There's no saving you."

He does not fear her. He does not believe her.

"You're just like everyone else that comes to this Agni-forsaken village," he chides her. "Weak of will and weak of body. You couldn't live with yourself if you killed me."

Ty Lee scowls as she pushes the blade right through his gut. He screams out in pain. She twists the blade with force and it rips his insides apart. His scream dies down until it is silent. She replies.

"I learned to live with it a long time ago."

Somewhere north of the Linlhao Island, a few dozen miles into the Earth Kingdom, a young sixteen year old water bender sits in a dark tavern by himself. He eats a hearty meal and enjoys himself, alive and well. He knows that his childhood friend and boyhood crush are likely gone by now. He plans for a trip to Republic City. He is seeking out a man who, if the rumors and headlines are to be believed, can help him. A man who can teach him how to hone his rare bending ability under the light of a full moon.

No one comes near him or sits beside him. He brings no friends on this journey. The other patrons stay away, quietly whispering how odd it is that the teenager in the corner keeps mumbling to himself.

"They're dead because they were fools," the 'Spirit of Death' rations to him.

"They were our friends, but they were foolish. Going against The Conqueror's orders? Returning so quickly when they had no backup, no additional training?" He replies to himself.

"They rushed headlong into my waiting arms. We will not make that same mistake." He says.

"When we return, we will be so powerful that neither The Conqueror nor The Woman will be able to stop us."

He eats his food in the dark and plots for the travels ahead, chasing after a man called 'Yakone.'

Night gathers and Lonlhai comes together, against Warden Thaki's direction. He wanted to take stock of the dead, account for their losses, give time to mourn. Azula and Ty Lee felt differently, and that was enough for The Watchkeeper to agree with her. The Guru was the final straw, as he represented the spirit of the village, and even he fell on the side of gathering. Warden Thaki was not present, protesting the show and making it publicly known that he did not agree with the meeting.

A large pillar of fire burns in the center of the village, where much of the damage was done. It lights up the dark with its sheer power and brilliance. The survivors in Lonlhai crowd and quietly whisper to one another, many crying and comforting. They work through their grief and fighting to not collapse under the weight of their pain.

Lin sits on the outskirts of the crowd, away from prying ears, as Ty Lee sits down beside him. She settles into the chair. Her eyes scan the dozens and dozens of people and families. Her mind flashes to the man she killed, the one she later learned was named 'Keisuke.' Her mind pans to how Azula used to put bad men like Keisuke in the ground often. How her life has boomeranged back to this. Almost as if on cue, Lin comments.

"When she was younger, her detractors had a saying. 'Everywhere she goes evil men die and they applaud her for it!'" He laughs. "They said it as if it was a bad thing that evil men died . I warned her against digging three graves. She took it to heart. But this?"

"This was different."

"Mhm." He agrees.

"She didn't seek this out. It wasn't a personal slight or attack on an empire. They came to us and we doled out justice."

Azula can be seen beside the fire, consoling Miki who is cradling her newborn. After she puts an arm on her, Miki then nods in acknowledgement and finally departs with baby Senna.

"She's not the Dragon Empress. Not anymore." Lin replies.

On Jin jumps up onto a makeshift stage.

"Call it what you want," Ty Lee agrees. "But she's a hero to these people."

On Jin stands before everyone who has gathered. She garners their focus. She seizes control of everyone. She screams loudly, for everyone to hear, no matter how close or far they may be.

"I AM THE GUARDIAN!"

The quiet whispers become revenant silence.

"The fire of the dragons runs in my blood! The lightning of the skies courses through my veins!"

They feel a sense of wonder. They watch with rapt attention. She makes a promise.

"And I swear to you, that those who would wish to harm you will die screaming!"

"You used to scream so loud!" Katara jokes.

"No I didn't, Mom!" Kya retorts.

Aang and his wife burst out laughing at the expense of their twelve year old daughter. This humiliation does nothing good for the mood of the pre-teen who now feels her cheeks singe with embarrassment. They had been discussing Tenzin's crying as a baby and how his screams haven't changed even as he's aged. Kya made a baseless statement that she never screamed as a child, and was rebuffed. Now she grows irrationally angry at her mother. Her little brother does not help the matter.

"Yeah, Kya! I bet you did!" The nine year old says.

"You shut up!" She demands.

"Hey! Kya!" Aang interrupts.

"Sorry. I'm sorry." She apologizes, even if it's not sincere.

Kya would like nothing more than to get up from the table, storm off, and make a scene. However, as the daughter of the Avatar, there is a certain expectation that weighs on her to be a type of way. She feels that pressure right now and keeps her head bowed, focused on her food. She must not step out of bounds, she must remain in her box. Unaware of this internalized pressure are her parents sitting across from her.

Katara is pleased with her life. She eats her meal in tranquility, the distant rolling waves crashing into Avatar Island providing a natural background noise for them. Theirs is a beautiful life filled with peace and comfort. She briefly reflects on the terrors of her youth. The Fire Nation on the hunt, her battle against them. She was once a fearsome fighter, an undefeated warrior, a super power all unto herself.

That was her youth. Now there is no need to be such violence. She doesn't need to be a fighter or to go to war with great power. Her worst battle anymore is with her adolescent children and homelife, mundane issues. She worries for her son, Bumi, the twenty year old who no longer lives at home. 

Such is the life of the Avatar's wife. She has nothing to prove anymore. Stay at home, give the best life to her children, support her husband. It's everything anyone could ever want or dream of in life. There is surely nothing she wants for, nothing she has to do. She tries not to think that her life is now defined by her motherhood. It barely crosses her mind. She's too busy with the big problems in life, like the screams of her children and how loud they did or did not used to sound.

Chapter Text

[Spring 129 AG]

One lesson that Ganzaya learned long ago is that blood and bone do not hone the blade. His longsword and his dagger are not refined by cutting down his enemies in the heat of battle. Only iron sharpens iron, and he is beginning to believe that he can whet his blade upon the stone of a powerful woman. Over his many years The Watchkeeper had come to believe that no successor would ever come to save Lonlhai. In his mind, his darkest fear was that Lonlhai would fall and join the ranks of the old Air Nomad temples. As a boy the horror stories of the air bender genocide had stuck with him and haunted his dreams. He's spent his life in service of guarding his homeland from the same fate. As the years have worn on him, his blades have dulled. A few months ago though a woman of immense power arrived and now she sharpens his blade with her own. At this precise moment, he does exactly that; he runs his dagger against a stone in rhythmic, even strokes.

A fourth moon now dawns since the Day of Burning Rock. It had been declared that name by the ever faithful villagers, who believe the Spirits had led them out of their desperate situation. The story of how Miki and Aklaq had found On Jin near-death on the side of the road, saved her, and then she turned around and saved the village twice in a few days became an instant legend. Her speech at the bonfire that night only cemented it in the deep lore of Lonlhai Village for all-time, The Guardian accepting her place among them.

In the aftermath of becoming the protector, On Jin had asked the villagers in private to not speak of her blue fire and lightning abilities to those outside of the village. She warned them that spreading the story too far could invite greater dangers. They listened and agreed with solemn reference, especially with the Guru backing her in all of these conversations. 

Over the last four months, the village has been rebuilding. Working to repair the damage, both physical and interpersonal. One such person not doing anything to assist with the efforts in either regard is Lonlhai's Warden, Thaki. He has been grouchy about The Guardian and her "partner," The Ghost, since their arrival. It may be best to describe their relationship as 'prickly'; Thaki acts like a prick, and Rangi refers to him as one. Right now, The Guardian, the Ghost, and the Guru walk through the village together, headed to Achak and Ganzaya's home after making some rounds. They are discussing their much maligned Warden.

"I just simply can't believe it to be true."

"Believe it, Achak." On Jin tries to convince him.

"I've known that boy since he was born. I was 12 at that time and now I am 66. Most of my life, and all of his. And I simply can't believe that he would-"

"Talk shit about gender betrayers?" Rangi finishes his sentence.

Annoyed, the Guru replies, "It just does not befit someone of his station. At a public village festival no less? With all the wandering ears? Knowing the treacherous state we're in right now? And besides, you both passed the Ice Dodging last week. You’re not even considered ‘outsiders’ anymore!”

They arrive back at the hut, where standing just outside, off to the side, The Watchkeeper sharpens his dagger. On Jin comes to a halt when she spots him. Rangi and Achak proceed indoors, not realizing that On Jin had stopped. She moves forward and approaches to watch him work. Azula stays there for a few moments just watching the rhythmic work and listening to the satisfying sounds of steel sliding against steel. The sharpening of his cutthroat dagger, a practice fitting for a man who has spent his life preparing for the next fight.

"That's a good blade." She comments.

The Watchkeeper stops and stares down at it. Beside him his longsword is lodged into the snowy ground. He holds it in his hand and turns it over. It has an ornate handle, the shape of a dragon's open maw producing the blade itself. It is a reminder to himself of his lineage dating back to the Fire Nation, even if he himself is from Lonlhai.

In his classic slowed speech he replies, "Strong ore, very old. From a mountain on the island. It's name is 'Eclipse.'"

Azula nods. "Dragon on the end?"

"My mother was from the colonies," he tells her. "Wanted a new life. Came here."

"Have you ever been? To the Fire Nation?"

He turns briefly and waves a hand at his longsword, "I trained under the greatest swordsman who’s ever lived."

"Piando?" She asks, remembering both that Zuko trained under the man, as well as the stories she heard throughout her life.

"Only time I left here," he labors through saying. Azula's eyes turn to his longsword. He continues, "My blade and myself were forged by the fires of his training."

He steps away from the whetting stone. He holsters Eclipse into its scabbard at his hip, then dislodges his longsword from the ground. He walks slightly away, into an open space for training.

"Moon's Veil and The Watchkeeper have defended Lonlhai since the day I returned with her."

Without further comment he launches into practice swings. He has to use both hands to lift Moon's Veil up off of the ground and slicing through the air. He is slow and labored. Azula cannot imagine how he would go about fighting others. She wonders if the longsword serves as a weighted training for the dagger. It's all fascinating to watch as he dances and parries with a dozen invisible foes. Azula realizes that they may not be imaginary enemies but rather previous ones, those who had come to kill the Watchkeeper and met with their own end instead. Perhaps, she thinks, one day she could ask him to train her in the ways of the blade. For now, it begs a question that Azula has been curious about for a long time with The Watchkeeper. Given that they aren't exactly close, she decides to take this moment to ask.

"Why do you keep fighting?"

He pauses his practice swings to look at her. She presses on.

"Sharpening your blades? Preparing? Fighting for this place when your enemies are stronger?"

He puts his sword into the ground and places both hands on the pommel. He thinks for a few seconds, shrugs, then furrows his brow as his golden eyes meet with hers.

"Long ago I swore an oath to protect."

She shifts the weight of her feet and digs deep.

"Don't you feel like," she pauses. "Like an immortal soldier? Going from one fight to the next, forever?"

Ganzaya sees much of himself in this woman. He does not do a good job relaying his feeling of connection. Instead he shares his thoughts on this matter which he has gathered over his many, many years. Though he struggles to talk, these words are important to him so he shares them all.

"There is no glory in stepping aside as the battle unfolds," he tells her. "The glory belongs to the one who is on the battlefield; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; and even who dies, because there is no living without eventual death."

The Guardian and The Watchkeeper stand in solemn silent understanding. She nods her head in acknowledgement and he continues.

"At best, the soldier on the field knows great success and peace, and at worst finds peace after life. But who goes to their grave knowing they dared greatly, so that their soul will never know the cold and lonely place of those who never fought at all."

She chuckles a bit at this last line.

"Those who never fought at all? You mean like the Warden?"

"Do you worry about him?"

Now it is Azula who shrugs. "I’ve heard rumors that he’s going to try and oust me and Rangi."

"The Ghost?"

"Indeed. The Ghost."

"Why?"

She lifts her hands up with open palms, unsure of how to answer. She offers her opinion, "I think he’s been unchallenged for so long. Now we show up and are changing this place. I believe he fears us."

"He will not act."

"And if he does?"

"Worry not, Guardian," he wretches Moon's Veil from the ground to resume his training. "Thaki has never been a soldier on the field."

The full moon shines brightly down upon Republic City. It's been over a year since Yakone was arrested and approaching a year since his bending was taken away. Various factions of gangs and mobsters have tried to fill the void, but their efforts are cannibalistic, feeding on each other in an endless loop of trying to stay on top. It is violence in its most raw form. Toph and the RCPD have a field day cleaning up the streets, keeping things at a tolerable level of turbulence. 

Amongst the chaos, in the dark corners of the underground world, there are whispers. The most faithful of believers speak sweet nothings to those who will listen that their once proud leader will rise again. They believe beyond measure that Yakone will return to them, as he foretold when he made his daring escape from City Hall. True his bending was removed by the Avatar, but if anyone could return it and resume their place atop Republic City's underworld, it would be the man who dominated it for fifteen years.

"Ugh, please!" A woman struggles to breathe, underneath a pier by the Yue Bay. She is not held down by strong arms or an iron-like grip. She levitates off the ground and fears dying as a young boy moves his hands to keep her afloat. "I swear! I…don't know!"

"You were supposed to be the best of them." Kallik spits at her. "All the others said you would know!"

The young blood bender squeezes her tighter and she tries to cry out. She gasps and searches for air while trying to tell him, "He went…North…Pole. That's all…I was allowed to know!"

Suddenly, she falls to the ground and crashes into the wet sand and rushing sea water. She coughs and tries to catch her breath, afraid for her life and afraid of the young boy before her.

"The North Pole, hmm? So they were right. You did prove worthy." He starts as she huffs for air. Another voice in his mind speaks to him. He tells her, "Now that you've served your purpose, we're done here."

He raises his hands up.

"Wait, no-!"

He moves swiftly and her head spins around on her neck, snapping loudly. The water splashes and crashes into her body again and again. The water bender feels no remorse, he simply walks away from his latest victim. He whets the blade of his blood bending skills on the rock of Republic City's darkest souls. He finally has a direction to go in finding his mentor and teacher.

As a child, Kallik had survived death.

As an adult, he creates it.

It's shortly before high noon when Suki and Lomin arrive at their destination. A battered little Earth Kingdom village nearly fading out of existence lies before them. It was nearly a third of a day's travel for them, significantly cutting down on what should've been half a day's travel. They acquired mongoose lizards and a speed boat to make the trip much shorter than anticipated. Now they arrive before an endangered town known as Huwan.

"Alright, so how do we play this, Suk'?" Lomin asks her old leader and mentor.

"The adults will hide the truth, if it's real. The children won't know any better. Try asking them."

"Cards close to the chest."

"Do we know how to play it any other way?" Suki quips.

Lomin smiles, exhilarated to be back on the beat with Suki. She laughs and begins walking towards the town as she replies, "No we do not."

Suki had left an indelible mark on Lin and his life with her endless pursuit and rescue of him through the criminal labyrinth of Republic City. So when he arrived at her door, just after the turn of the new year, she was not surprised. What was surprising was the hand-written message from Azula that he brought her. It detailed the events she endured in Huwan and how 'The Unbroken' was actually 'the last Kemurikage.'

"I thought she was the last Kemurikage!? What do you mean there's another one!" Suki recalls yelling at Lin, although moreso yelling at the letter than the man himself.

At the time, Suki's daughter had just been born. She was only a few months old, so Suki refused to partake in such a dangerous exhibition. Now that it's been a few more months, she has asked Lomin to join her on this trip, as a personal favor. One of those 'don't ask me why, but I need you to do something with me' type favors. This was not a common occurrence for Suki, so Lomin obliged without hesitation. The plan was to come and poke around for a few hours and see what they could dig up, but Suki was hellbent on leaving by next morning to limit her time away to a maximum of a day and a half. Now that they've arrived they begin the research portion of their escapade.

"So, one last time, we don't tell them that we're Kyoshi Warriors, correct?" Lomin asks for confirmation.

"Right. We can say we're from Kyoshi Island, but I think if our contact finds out that we're Warriors, then they may go into the wind."

"And I shouldn't fear this 'Unbroken' that we're searching for?"

"From what's been relayed to me, she's not a bender nor a very good fighter. But she is dangerous."

"Approximately mid-40's in age?"

"That's right."

"With a possible facial scar?"

"Maybe. We'll see."

They approach the closest civilians and begin their search.

Katara reshapes the attack from her water bending opponent into a slope of ice and rides alongside of it. She moves too fast for her opponent, reforming it to swing behind them. By the time the woman can get her torso turned around, Katara is already flying in behind her. She delivers a soft blow to the back of the neck.

"Yaaah!" The girl screams as she falls to her knees.

Katara bends the ice around her feet so it finishes spinning around and she ends up standing directly above her defeated opponent.

"Had enough?" She gloats over the girl kneeling before her.

"That hurt, Mom!" Kya yells.

The soon to be teenager looks up and her teal eyes puncturing her mother with their anger and frustration at being defeated yet again.

"Don't take it so personally, Kya. You're much further along than others your age." Katara comforts with the platitude, offering a helping hand.

Disgruntled but not too proud to ask for help, Kya grabs the hand and is helped to her feet by her mother. They step away from their training grounds on Air Temple Island and walk off to the side where the waterskins await. They take some time to catch their breath and relax. Kya's water bending training had progressed into advanced lessons, with Katara only holding back slightly. If asked to give an honest assessment of her daughter's abilities, Katara would say she is competent and even strong in some areas, but not impressive either. She wouldn't dare say this to the young brunette, but Kya feels the pressure all the same.

"I'm not as good as you were."

Katara reaches a hand out and touches Kya's shoulder. She replies, "Just focus on yourself, Kya. Not what I was like at your age."

"You were a self-taught water bending master! Then you went and taught Dad! How could I ever live up to that?"

Katara sits up straight and tries a different approach. "You're right. I was strong. But that's because we were constantly fighting. We were in the middle of a world war, Kya. You don't have to be like me or your Dad, worried about Fire Nation Princes and Princesses coming to kill you. You can be your full self, without having to worry."

There is much truth in Katara's words. She was strong and she did help end the war. But over the years, her life has not been what she thought it would be. That's not to say she's disappointed, as it has given her and her children a glorious opportunity she was not afforded. She is blessed and knows it and she does not take it for granted.

All the same though, a nagging voice reaches out to her over these many years, telling her that she was meant for something more. She was once the most powerful being on earth, the greatest healer and a prodigy waterbender; she was a formidable soldier and the Avatar’s significant other. She is not on the battlefield any more. Now her front is the field of motherhood. She is the reason the Air Nomads have not gone extinct and have another chance at life. No one would mistake her path as easy or unburdened. But it is not what she thought her path would be.

"Are you sure?" A pair of pleading, searching, teal eyes appeal to her.

She is not.

"Absolutely."

After an hour or so of failed attempts and blackballing by the townsfolk, Lomin finally is ready to take a break. They come to a stop somewhere in the center of town and huddle up. A young girl with jet black hair sits in front of a small tent, the kind the homeless or very low income in the village seem to inhabit. There's an empty chair beside her and she listens as the strangers stop in front of her 'home.'

Lomin mutters, "Well, I'm starving so I'll go ask around for a watering hole and see what I can gather in rumors along the way."

"Sounds good." Suki replies and Lomin is off.

When the Lomin's bushel of black hair disappears around the corner, Suki stands and feels very annoyed by the whole thing. She wonders if the whole village will just shut them out before they run out of time. As if a gift from Kyoshi herself, the young girl sitting a few feet away speaks to her.

"Hello stranger. Care to rest your feet?" She asks while waving a hand to the open seat beside her.

Suki considers the seat as well as the opportunity. Before she can answer though she notices in the tent behind the girl is the shape of a motionless body. She chases this lead first.

"Perhaps?" She replies. "Do you mind if I talk to whomever is inside first?"

"Hmm?" The young girl looks over her shoulder as if forgetting someone was in there. "Oh, no. Please come back later if you wish you speak to them. My host is a brittle old woman, and she's had the worst headache bothering her for the last two and a half days. She's finally getting some rest, I'd hate to disturb her."

Suki is empathetic to this, suffering from her own headache as they speak, although hers is more likely from dehydration. She gestures to the chair.

"Understandable. Can I still have a seat?"

"Please!" The young woman answers.

As Suki sits down she asks, "So your host ? Is she not your mother?"

"No. No. Not mine. She's just a kind old lady, who's allowing me to stay with her, but she’s not my mother."

"I see." Suki nods as she sinks further into the chair and feels the warmth of the sun sinking into her skin. From the seated position she finally notices the young girl is beautiful. Her jet black hair marvelously frames her thin, pointed face, and giant emerald eyes. She wears a golden pin to hold back the part in her hair. If Suki had to guess her age she'd say the girl was a pre-teen.

"Well, my name is Suki. It's nice to meet you -" she trails off, waiting for the girl to fill in the blank with her name.

"Oh! Sorry. My name is Yasuko."

"Yasuko. Very pretty name. Well, a pleasure." She reaches out a hand and Yasuko reaches back to shake.

Suki doesn't remember being at a wedding with this girl, because she was a toddler at the time. For the same reason, Yasuko doesn't remember the odd, quiet brunette woman at such event. At present, Suki makes light conversation while she soaks up the sun, "So, you're not from around here?" 

"No, no. I'm from out East. Far to the east." The young girl explains.

"Yeah?" Suki considers asking where exactly, but the girl is probably not saying where on purpose. She shifts, "So what brings you to Huwan?"

Yasuko thinks, 'Rumors of a woman with blue fire.' What she says though is, "Well, I'm looking for someone."

"You don't say?" Suki asks, her interest piqued. "Me too."

"Yes. My Dad died a few months ago-"

"Oh no. I'm, I'm so-"

"Yeah. I miss him a lot. The healer said something was wrong with his heart."

"Oh goodness. What about your Mom?"

She averts her eyes as she tries to explain, "She died giving birth to me."

Suki sits up, her heart breaking for this Earth Kingdom girl. "My dear, what are you doing here?"

"There was a woman who was like a mother to me. I was traveling to the Dreaming City and then I heard she might be here."

"The Dreaming City? Like Republic City?"

"Yeah. Sorry, when I was younger I always called it the Dreaming City. It's where the Avatar lives and it's the land of opportunity and such. It's a dream just to live there."

"Well, I take it the woman isn't here?"

"No. But the people here have taken me in. Which, I'm really lucky to have. They weren't letting anyone in for a bit because of some incident. But they let me stay."

Suki feels like she has a pretty good idea what 'incident' she's referring to, but she plays it cool. This poor girl could be vital to unlock the secrets of Huwan. She prods the girl.

"I mentioned earlier that I'm looking for someone too."

"You did!" She smiles.

"When you arrived and were welcome into town, did you get to meet The Unbroken?"

"'The Unbroken?'" Yasuko asks, a puzzling look on her face. "Who would that be?"

Now Suki is the one who is puzzled. "There wasn't any kind of initiation or process involving someone? A leader in the town? Maybe a woman?"

Yasuko shakes her head with certainty. "No. None of that. I heard that due to the incident someone left town in a hurry. But I haven't really gotten many details besides that."

"Hmm."

"I also haven't asked for too much information. They're giving me a roof over my head. It's not my place to ask questions."

"That's smart. You seem very wise and capable for your age. How old are you exactly?"

"Thank you. I recently turned 13, and the women and people in my hometown who helped raise me were great role models. They taught me to never fear the wrath of fire."

Suki smirks at this phrase. She thinks about how it sounds like something Azula would say. Just then Lomin appears from around a corner, looking excited. She smiles widely at her partner.

"Hey! I found a place for lunch. C'mon."

"Alright, I'm right behind you." Suki tells her.

Suki turns and looks at Yasuko. Her own blue eyes meet with the green of the girl across from her. While Yasuko could not help her to locate the last Kemurikage that Azula spoke of, she nonetheless gave her valuable information and a heart wrenching story. 

"Well, Yasuko, me and my friend are off to look for our person some more. Thank you for what you shared."

"It was my pleasure to chat with you, however brief." The beauty smiles. "Perhaps we can do it again later?"

"Ah. I'm afraid we aren't here for you long. I have my own daughter that I need to get home."

"Oh! How wonderful. What's her name? How old is she?"

"She's a newborn, about half a year old now. And her name is Hana."

"Well, enjoy your meal. And may the Avatar protect you in your journey!"

"Thank you. And if you ever decide to head to the Dreaming City, stop by Kyoshi Island on your way."

"Why? All I know about Kyoshi Island is that it is a dangerous and scary place."

Suki combats this notion, one she has heard for many years after The Decimation by Koh's Disciples.

"Well maybe you should stop by sometime and I can help show you the beauty of my home."

Yasuko flashes a bright smile as Suki gets up. Suki extends a hand and they shake. The young girl replies, "Thank you, Suki. I'll keep that in mind!"

With one last bright eyed glance, Suki takes off to follow Lomin. She had just had the most delightful conversation with the girl, filled with hope for the future world, even when personal tragedies interrupted life. She has a lead that the Unbroken, who was looking increasingly like the last Kemurikage, had skipped town after their duel with Azula. As she disappears around the corner, the smile fades from Yasuko's face.

"What did they want?" A woman's voice asks from the bed inside the tent, very much awake and not at all nursing a difficult headache.

"Don't worry about them," Yasuko answers without removing her eyes from the place where Suki disappeared to. "I led them astray. They won't be back."

The Guardian and The Ghost are passing through the center of town when a man comes to stand before them. His skin is as dark as night and his eyes a shiny blue. On Jin recognizes him as one of the water benders whose family is in a dire situation after the Day of Burning Rock. They realize too late that he is moving to stand in front of them. He swiftly uncorks a water skin and moves his body so the water flows out and into a whip above him.

Rangi asks him, "Ronam? What's this about?"

"Sorry, Ghost. But a man's gotta do what's necessary to provide."

On Jin steps forward, raising a hand not to attack, but to diffuse. She replies, "Hold on, Ronam. What's this about? Provide? How?"

"Just know it ain't personal." He replies.

Azula grows agitated, "What isn't personal?"

"This."

Striding up to them is Thaki, The Warden of Lonlhai. He is a small man, with his own set of blue eyes and dark skin. His hands are soft and smooth from never working a hard day’s labor. He's ruled Lonlhai for eighteen some odd years now, after the King of Faces killed the last Warden. He smiles with all of the devious intention of a man who believes he's won the game already.

"You're reign of terror over Lonlhai is over, Guardian."

"Her reign of terror?" Ty Lee laughs. "I think you need to look in a mirror, Thaki."

"Are we really going to go this way, Thaki?" Azula challenges. "Paying Ronam to fight for you? You're just going to get him hurt." 

"Ronam here might get hurt, yes," he concedes. "But he's not alone."

Now six more men make their presence known, appearing out of hiding nearby and stepping up to form a semicircle around the two women. Two earth benders and the rest are water benders, they all prepare their various elements and take aim at the pair across from them. All of them are desperate men who need the coin, even if they really believe in The Guardian and The Ghost and have come to like On Jin and Rangi. Thaki takes this opportunity to make a show of them, publicly denouncing the women.

"This pair of gender betrayers , are disastrous for our home!" He shouts as the villagers begin to gather. "They have brought with them nothing but trouble and despair. Had it not been for them, The Children of the Fifth Nation would've taken their offering and we would have never faced The Day of Burning Rock."

He smiles gleefully, his voice filled with joy, his chest swelling with pride.

"Anyone who has followed them to this point, I offer you an opportunity. Step back from their sacrilegious path, rejoin us, and you will be welcomed with open arms."

His voice now changes, his hands waving all about. He is hostile and filled with indignation.

"Or remain at their side, and brace for a premature meeting with Yue herself."

It is a difficult predicament for Azula and Ty Lee to be in, as they must disarm and defeat their opponents without lethal force. They dig their heels in and brace for a fight, waiting for the first move. Nerves build, anxiety spikes, and fear is present amongst everyone, a potential bloodbath about to ensue.

"Enough!" A loud, strained voice calls from behind Azula.

Everyone turns their attention to the old soldier striding up behind the Guardian and the Ghost. He comes to a stop and stands in between the girls, the benders, and Thaki. He lodges Moon's Veil into the ground, quite literally staking his claim on the plot of land between the assailants and the married women behind him. He strides up to the Warden and stops before him. His dagger is holstered, as always, in the scabbard on his right hip, his left hand resting on the pommel. A colossal showdown decades in the making now unfolds.

Staring with venom and a menacing tone in his voice, Thaki tells him, "This is my village!"

The Watchkeeper does not hesitate. His words are as sharp as his blade, his voice as strong as his longsword. His famous slow and deliberate delivery further driving home the point.

"Not anymore."

"HAHAHAHA!" The Warden laughs at him openly. It is boisterous and obnoxious on purpose, indicating the incredulousness of it all. In the background, Azula and Ty Lee remain ready for a street fight. They do not know what to expect next. The village gathers in mass to watch the showdown of a lifetime between the two biggest figures in the history of Lonlhai.

"Are those really going to be your last words , boy?"

In a moment that happens quicker than a strike of lightning, Ganzaya steps forward and unsheathes his dagger. Eclipse flies sideways through the air and then remains still, the shiny metal glistening in the sun. Up above, some birds flutter away when the gathered crowd gasps in collective shock.

Eclipse runs red with blood.

Thaki falls to his knees, grasping his slit throat, trying to halt the bleeding. He gurgles for air, looks up at his longtime nemesis. Ganzaya looks down at him with pity, and that is the last thing The Warden sees before collapsing to the ground. His crimson blood stains the immaculate white of the snowy ground.

"Not mine. Yours."

Chapter Text

[Fall 130 AG]

"I'm not saying it's mumbojumbo-"

"But you're saying it's mumbojumbo."

"-I'm just saying, it's always been hard for me to conceptually believe in higher powers."

"We know there is reincarnation with the Avatar but you doubt that there's a being above us?"

"Don't you come at me too, Rangi!"

The Guardian, the Ghost, and the Guru are walking out the back of Achak's home, where the Watchkeeper is waiting for them. It's a brisk Fall morning on Lonlhai Island, the sun has not risen yet over the horizon, and almost the entire village is still sleeping. The two wives carry heavy travel bags on their back in preparation for what they hope is the final trip they will be taking with their Sword Master before finishing their training. Ganzaya waits patiently for them, staring out to the east. The crunch of the snow supplies the only noise as the whole group comes together.

"Alright, 'Zaya, we're ready."

"He's Sifu 'Zaya, On Jin."

"He's not a Sifu, Rangi."

"Isn't he?"

"No. He's just a master swordsman."

"Doesn't that make him a Sifu by default?"

"Enough!" He finally interrupts them, annoyed at their jabbering interrupting the peace and tranquility.

Achak laughs jovially. "Alright then, I'll leave you three to it. Good luck."

He leans in and delivers a quick peck on the cheek of Ganzaya, who wraps an arm around his partner briefly as a show of affection. It is no secret amongst the people of Lonlhai that their three greatest protectors and wisest spiritual consort are all gender betraying couples. However, just as Siq had once told Akola, the people are supportive in their own, private ways. It also helps knowing that the village would collapse without the four of them, so they don’t have much choice but to support.

"Will you join us after sunset tomorrow?"

"Oh, of course!" Achak smiles. He turns to the wives now. "I need On Jin to see it, so she can believe it at last."

"See what?" She asks, to no avail.

Ganzaya nods in approval and Achak finally departs, heading back to his home. The Watchkeeper reviews their list of supplies. He runs down a long list of necessities making sure they brought it all. The inverse of their youth, Rangi is fully prepared after a life in the paramilitary; On Jin has drifted so much over the years she is mostly just agreeing to the items even if she's not sure she brought it. When Ganzaya is satisfied with their list he asks one last time.

"Sword mastery is no easy task. The path forward will span days. It will ask as much mentally of you as physically. Are you certain?"

"Yes, Sifu Ganzaya." Rangi stands at attention.

"Sure thing." On Jin examines her cuticle.

He grumbles at her before lifting his bag off the ground. They do the same. The sun rises up over the mountains and hills. Ganzaya walks out towards it, two gender betraying oddballs on his tail.

Azula has always been a skilled fighter. She was bred for it from an early age by Ozai and prepared for it with the toughest bending and hand to hand combat masters the Fire Nation could afford. By the tender age of fourteen she found herself as a warrior and in the middle of her homeland's global conquest machinations. Follow that up with nearly thirty years of being an eternal soldier and there was almost no place that she didn't have experience or practice. Almost .

"Sloppy!" Ganzaya shouts while easily parrying On Jin's swings. He side steps as Rangi also tries to hit him. He places his practice sword in the brunette's and redirects her right at her wife. "Off balance!"

The adult women collide into one another, the shorter Azula nearly toppling over with her lanky wife. She course-corrects them both and guides her to stand tall. They get their footing on the slick ice and stand back-to-back, swords held out in front of them, pointed at their foe. Two of the most accomplished fighters alive, being made into fools with the blade.

"Pathetic." The old man opposed to them spits out.

"For a man who doesn't say a lot you sure talk a lot of shit." Rangi points out.

Azula doesn't say anything, too focused on keeping the blade held up in this position. This training has taught her that longswords do not suit her. She needs something lighter, more agile, to fit her fighting style. However this isn't the first time she's been at a disadvantage in a fight. She puts to use her sharpest blade: her brain. She plays out in her mind a dozen moves and countermoves. She settles on an idea and begins.

"Remember the cave on Gou Island?"

"How could I forget? You tried to kill me afterwards."

"Not the point. Let's go with the same strategy."

"You're announcing your plans." Ganzaya interrupts, disappointed in his students.

"Right. Like Gou Island!"

"Let's go!"

Just as they had done over twenty years earlier, they replicate their attack strategy. Ty Lee bounds to one side in twirling motions, gaining momentum. Azula goes straight at the target, roaring as the blade drags behind her in the air.

"Simple." The Watchkeeper mutters to himself.

He falls back two strides, but only to fool Azula into thinking he's retreating. The moment he sees her kicking off the ground harder to get more push in her dash he surges forward. It's so quick, for an old man with such limited mobility, that Azula isn't prepared. She tries to bring the wooden sword forward, but it's too heavy and his 'blade' quickly overcomes hers. He has her in a submissive position, but she smirks with a raised, amused eyebrow.

"Got me, but not her!" She gloats victoriously.

"Hubris." He mumbles.

Ty Lee tries to fly in from the side with a sneak attack, but once again he sniffs it out. He deftly moves both his and Azula's blades simultaneously in the direction of her wife.

"Whoa!" She shouts and tries to stop her motion.

The end result is Ty Lee and Azula side-by-side, their blades straight up, pushing against his blade, perpendicular to theirs. Although they have both blades going against his, he fully controls this situation. He lets the blades fall forward for a moment and then pushes upward with all of his strength. Both wives stagger backwards. Not wasting time Ganzaya kicks Ty Lee's thigh, causing her to fall to one knee, her sword falling out of her hand. With another kick of the chest she goes tumbling back, and then sliding along the ice.

Azula tries to raise the wooden longsword to attack but she's too slow and he is already turning to her, smashing his sword near her hilt. Though it is wooden, the vibration stings her hand and she loses her blade. He uses his left hand to push onto her shoulder and send her falling back as well. In the end, Ty Lee and Azula huddle on the ice together and look up, disarmed, at their superior opponent. Ganzaya poses above them, not intentionally, but nonetheless drawing their ire and respect.

Both of their blades are at his feet. He holds his practice sword at his side and looks down at the pair. Azula is uncertain of how Ty Lee is feeling right now, but her own eyes dart from the practice sword to the face of the Watchkeeper. They dance back and forth frantically. Azula has not lost in a fight like this since the day her empire was toppled. Sick memories poison her mind and blur the line between what she sees and what she feels. The day a blade pressed against her neck and threatened to end her life. Her breathing becomes quick and shallow. She feels her heart pounding. Ty Lee notices the quick breaths and looks sideways at her. Azula contemplates stepping away from the fight, surrendering and quitting.

Ganzaya sees the fear in her eyes for the first time since she came to Lonlhai. He puts a foot on the handle of her longsword, seemingly signifying his dominance over her, claiming victory and her blade.

The next moment though he kicks forward and her sword slides on the ground towards her. With all eyes on Azula's blade, neither one sees him do the same to kick Ty Lee her sword too. They both come to a rest in front of them. All four eyes rise to meet the amber ones of the man across from them. He eggs them on with three words.

"Pick it up."

The wives scramble to their feet, clutching the handles of their respective swords.

"Now be perfect." He demands.

They steal a sideways glance at one another. Then they dash forward together.

"Where are the girls?" Aang asks as they settle into their seats.

"We're right here!" A voice responds.

The whole room looks up as the vision of two young beauties stride into the room. The rebellious fourteen year old water bending daughter of the Avatar enters side by side with the graceful sixteen year old daughter of the Fire Lord. Kya and Izumi walk in, elbows locked around each other, goofy smiles on their faces.

"There you two are!" Ursa exclaims. "Where were you?"

They separate and go to their respective seats at the ornate table. They giggle a little before Izumi replies, "We went for a walk, that's all."

None of the adults are exactly sure what 'went for a walk' could be a euphemism for exactly, but they're confident it's code for something. Nonetheless, the two families gather around the table in the Royal Palace's dining room, with great excitement and much conversation to be had for the night. Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Lady Mai, and Crown Princess Izumi had invited Avatar Aang, Master Katara, and their children Bumi II, Kya, and Tenzin to join them for a meal. They are also joined by Zuko's thirty-five year old half-sister Kiyi, Kiyi’s three children, Ursa who has recently turned sixty-six, her husband the also sixty-six year old Ikem, and finally the eldest uncle to the Fire Lord the eighty-six year old Iroh. Even Bumi II, the twenty-two year old young lad, on leave from the United Forces, is able to attend tonight.

They launch into a lavish, decadent multi-course meal. As he did throughout their childhood, Iroh entertains the "children" of the group with tales of his life that enthrall them, despite their best efforts to be 'too cool' for the old man. Kiyi, fresh off some humanitarian efforts in the colonies, quietly updates her mother and father on her humorously awkward love life, speaking quietly so her children do not hear about her exploits. Mai pretends to not listen to these stories before finally breaking down and asking questions. Zuko and Aang proudly look out across the table at their collective families and mutter quietly to each other about 'how nice this is' and 'we really should do this more often.'

Katara revels in it all, one of the architects of the world and the families around them. As the courses progress, she recedes from conversation, sipping on plum wine and reflecting on her life and the lives of all of these loved ones. She feels incredibly lucky and thankful. Finally, the food reaches a point where there is too much of it and she stops eating. Some extravagant bean and bread dish grows cold on her plate, her fork idly pushing at it. She looks up at the table all around her and smiles. She says nothing as she sits comfortably in this peaceful moment. 

The Watchkeeper slaps together a bowl of gruel and hands one to each wife. After a harsh two days of training in the freezing cold, the warm plate of beans and a single lump of bread looks like the most appetizing thing either woman has ever seen. They gulf it down with haste and force, ignoring the fact that it tastes terrible. 

"Do you have a name in mind?"

"I do."

After an unusual pause with no further words, "Care to tell us?"

"No." On Jin blunts.

The sun has set on their second day of training and they are done for the night. The Guru will be arriving in an hour or two. The three adults huddle around a campfire, each flicker of the flame providing a momentary, fleeting warmth to chase the chill away. Rangi talks in between hasty bites.

"Well I have one in mind," she chirps up. She pauses momentarily to build suspense and then adds, "Kyoshi's Fan."

"Honor. Duty bound. Deadly sharp." Ganzaya muses out loud, thinking of the name.

"That's great, Rangi." Azula nods.

The short, black haired woman takes her wife's bowl and stacks them together in a pile. She runs the backside of a dirty and thick sleeve across her mouth to wipe away the crumbs. She sits back down into a quiet contemplation. Everyone of them stares into the flame and reflects on the last two days. The Watchkeeper clears his throat to get their attention.

"I need to ask something of you, Guardian." He states in his gravelly tone.

After dinner, the children have departed and now it is just the adults left at the table. They chatter idly amongst and with each other, carrying on about current affairs, politics, and the latest pro-bending happenings. Conversation turns over and develops into a discourse on this generation of children. They discuss in vague and uncertain terms their futures and what they will be able to do with their lives as Republic City continues to develop. Katara remains quiet as this topic comes around, becoming pensive. They think and talk about how history will remember them and how they feel their lives and the lives of their children will play out as a result of the world they've built. Finally, it is Zuko who pulls her out of her trance-like state.

"What do you think, Katara?"

Surprised to be called upon, the brunette beauty sits up straight. She smiles a little and bows her head slightly. "Oh, I don't think you want to know what I really think about the world we've built."

"Sure we do!" Ikem of all people encourages her. Katara didn't like him that much, he always seemed to be trying too hard.

"Go ahead," Ursa adds. "Give us your full, unfiltered thoughts on the state of the world! I'm curious?"

Katara darts her eyes to Aang. They share a knowing look, one they've shared hundreds of times. He knows her feelings and thoughts, even if she has only rarely shared a glimpse of them. He gives a soft, subtle nod.

"Piando asked this of me, many years ago," he starts, the crackle of the fire supplying the background noise. "When you first arrived, I asked you about being recognized."

"You did."

"You have been recognized."

"I have."

"Then tell me about yourself. Your real self."

Azula turns to her wife for guidance. The brunette reaches a hand out and takes the fire bender's into her own. They share a look and a million feelings and thoughts are exchanged. Ty Lee gives a subtle, soft nod.

"Alright," she starts. "My real self. I've gone by many names, but my first-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"I do not want to know the names you've been known as. I want to know about your true self."

"In the wake of ending the 100 Year War and building Republic City, I thought my whole life would be this sort of," she looks for the right word. "I don't know, grandiose, forever adventure? An endless summer sunset."

"I had a role in the 100 Year War…an important one…for the Fire Nation. I was a weapon of war, and I was one of the last pai sho chips to fall. When I came out the other side of it I pursued a path of a forever soldier, one always going from fight to fight."

She stares at the fire and remembers the loneliness that she mistook for other feelings.

"It felt like there was this cloud hanging over me. A darkness that followed me around, and trapped me."

"And then as my post-War life unfolded, it's just been one setback after another. You know? I was the one who defeated Azula! Me! I was an expert in combat and now I haven't fought anyone for any greater purpose in years."

"And then things changed. Someone tried to kill me, held the blade to my throat and all but ripped me open," she recounts the harrowing details. "When I escaped I was determined to not waste that second chance. I never wanted to fight again, if I could avoid it anyway."

She laughs at this last comment.

"So much for that, huh?"

"I thought I would single handedly reshape the world."

"Begrudgingly, almost against my will, I've had a hand in, uh, various 'events.' Terrorist groups, same-sex marriage in the Fire Nation, the downfall of a kingpin in Republic City. Political movements, socioeconomic practices of predatory banks. Who knows what else."

"I meant well. I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. Rise above so that I could lift those below."

"I don't do any of these things for glory or because I want to, like, 'change the world' or anything else superfluous like that." She explains.

She waves her hands about as she gestures, a little exasperated. This next part is something she thinks a lot about and so she emphasizes them.

"I do things because they're the right thing to do at the time, or because they serve my own personal interest at that moment, and the ripple effects just so happen to end up being bigger than myself."

"I know that may sound self centered, but I promise I'm coming from a good place."

"I'm not altruistic. I'm narcissistic and self-centered. That's the real me."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm a mother and it is the most rewarding thing to ever happen in my life."

"I never wanted any of this. I wanted to raise children with my wife."

She looks at Ty Lee and in those grey eyes she sees many lives. She thinks of Yasuko, and Senna. Aiwei and Siq. Even the Kemurikage girls. It's disheartening to know it's too dangerous to adopt here in Lonlhai.

"That's something that feels empty in my life."

"But at the same time it's sort of been like a death for me. A death to my personal freedom and my old life."

"The world believes I'm dead. They think I died over fifteen years ago, and that death, in a strange way, gave me freedom that I never knew beforehand."

"So what do I think of this world we've built?" She asks the group. "We carved it out of the leftover, broken pieces after the war. And we've had to protect it from chaos and fire and lightning that's threatened it for so long. We can't rest until it's all expelled."

"I once tried to remake the world with fire and lightning. Now? Now I just want somewhere that I can rest, and watch the sunset."

"Or at least that's partially how I felt while the Dragon Empress was alive and represented the greatest danger to it all. Thankfully now she's with Agni somewhere."

"Please, Katara, that's enough about Azula." Zuko finally speaks up. "I respect you and accept that you have a different opinion about her, but you did not know her or what she did."

Iroh speaks up after this comment.

"She has been gone for seventeen long years now, Katara is welcome to have her own feelings about my niece. I believe we should let go of those who are gone. Missing them only prolongs our pain."

For some reason this bit of wisdom rubs Zuko the wrong way. It doesn't help that he's slightly inebriated as well. He’d had a little too much sorghum liquor. "Oh? Is that how you justify it to yourself?"

Ursa comes to Iroh's defense. "What do you want us to say, Zuko? We miss her just as much as you do!"

"No, you don't." He replies combatively. The whole table was awkwardly watching this tense discussion but now it feels like it's tilted into something else entirely. "You don't miss her. You don't even pretend to miss her!"

"This is outlandish, Nephew." Iroh replies, an open palm gesturing around the table. "We did everything we could for her before she passed."

"Did you? Did you do everything you could?" Zuko asks. He grows hostile and jaded as he asks, "Or is that what you just tell yourself and others to save face?"

"I'm hurt by this, Zuko," Iroh cries out. "You are hurting me!"

Zuko rises from the table then slams his hands down onto it, shaking the fancy plates and silverware.

"Really? Were you hurt when you told me to 'take her down?' My sister, my own sibling. But you weren't willing to do the same to your sibling?"

The whole room is stunned by this turn of events. Iroh looks especially shocked. He momentarily mumbles, trying to think of the words to say. Zuko doesn't let him, barreling onward.

"Ozai was a manipulative father and a literal tyrant but you wouldn't lift a finger to him. No problem sending me and Katara to do your dirty work against my sister, who was deranged and in need of help."

Ursa stays silent, wrestling with her own complex emotions of the psychological harm she herself inflicted on her deceased daughter. Zuko isn't done yet and continues on.

"She needed compassion, not combat. You loved me, but never her. You were my guiding light, but you left her alone in the dark."

When Zuko finally stops, Iroh stands up. Slowly and quietly he turns to leave. Before he walks away though he turns back to the table, to his nephew. He tells him something.

"I remember your speech at her funeral. You said she had 'a goodness in her heart.' But she was wicked from birth." He declares. He wears a solemn expression before adding, "Even now, right now, defending her like this, you're proving that she was never as good of a person as you are."

Iroh means to turn away and leave now. Zuko cuts off his retreat.

"Well, we actually agree on something, Uncle. She wasn't as good of a person as I am. She was better ." He smiles and then turns to his long time friend, Aang. "In a world featuring an all-powerful figure of order and balance, she was a better person than the Avatar!"

Sick to her stomach, Katara can't help but interrupt.

"You can't possibly be serious?"

Zuko doesn't stick around to answer. He leaves the table, his robes billowing in his wake.

"He is, and he's right." Mai replies calmly. With no inflection in her voice she adds, "She was the best of us. All of us."

Aang wears a look of surprise, and perhaps amusement, but nods. He believes that they believe this. Meanwhile, Katara, perturbed by this bizarre turn of events and conversation, scrapes her chair back. She stands up and leaves the table and the company. Shortly thereafter, everyone goes their separate ways for the night.

When cooler heads have finally prevailed, and some of the alcohol has worn off, Zuko makes his way to his uncle's chambers - accompanied by Mai. It's quiet and late and many are preparing to retire for the night. He knocks apprehensively. He considers leaving straight away, but his wife, present with him, commands him to be here, and demands that he not leave. Finally, a voice on the other side of the door invites him in. He pushes it open and enters. 

With Mai's guidance Zuko clumsily works his way through a genuine, heartfelt apology for his outburst earlier. Iroh accepts it without condition and offers his own apology for being equally combative. They leave their hurt and their resentment behind, sealing the forgiveness with a warm embrace. When they finish though, the conversation is not done. Zuko and Mai linger, to Iroh's surprise. Mai gives a soft, subtle nod to encourage Zuko and this is the last thing Iroh sees before his world is turned upside down.

"Uncle, there's someone we-I need to tell you," the Fire Lord stammers. "It might help you to understand some of what's happened and why I acted the way that I did earlier. But it will still be hard to hear."

Iroh, still not understanding where this conversation will be going, tries to offer comfort. "Please, Nephew, treat this like drinking a bad cup of tea: it is better to do it quickly before it becomes even colder and more burdensome."

"Heh," Zuko sighs. "I appreciate that, but this cup is quite cold already. Are you ready?"

Iroh sits down while Zuko stands, Mai sitting beside him, holding his hand. Iroh smiles, "Unburden yourself and share with me."

Zuko takes a deep breath and psyches himself up.

"I want you to know before it's too late. That's why I'm telling you now: She's alive. Or at least she was as of a few months ago, I haven't gotten any updates lately."

Iroh understands what is being said. But like any surprising news his knee jerk reaction is denial.

"She…as in your sister? Azula?"

"Yes. Azula is alive."

"She is?"

"She is."

"No." He objects.

Mai adds, "She's changed a lot. I think you'd hardly recognize her."

"She's done a lot of good. So much good."

"She has?"

"She's helped more people than I have time to explain. We don't even know the extent of it all because we only get bits and pieces."

"How long have you known? Why have you not told anyone?"

Mai replies, "We found out a few years after the funeral. We didn't know then."

"How is this possible?"

"She got lucky. Very lucky."

Mai disagrees. "She's a survivor. She always has been."

"Can we help her? Can I do something?" Iroh asks next.

"There's nothing left that you can do for her in this world. Besides keeping her life a secret, which is how she wants it."

Iroh mumbles to himself, almost absentmindedly, "Nothing in the material world." 

"Huh?"

"Nevermind," Iroh waves him off. He pivots, "Thank you for telling me this, Zuko. This secret is safe with me. And I will do all that I can for her someday."

Zuko, confused by this and shaking his head, smiles. "Of course you will, Uncle."

They spent the next hour or so answering Iroh's various questions and quenching his thirst for knowledge on his still living niece.

It is growing later and colder when Guru Achak arrives.

"Did you bring them?"

"Of course, dear!" Achak replies.

The Guru produces two long packages from his travel bag and hands them to his life long partner and de facto husband. Ganzaya takes them carefully and then carries them to the campfire, where On Jin and Rangi still sit, a blanket covering their laps together now.

"Kneel. Both."

Azula and Ty Lee share a moment of eye contact and then do as they're told. They remove the blanket stand side by side in front of the Watchkeeper, and then kneel before him.

"Rangi, when you first arrived, it was clear you were a practiced hand. Quick, decisive, strong. You have shown through the months that you had a full potential, but your reach was too short for it. As if you had trained with a shortsword your whole life."

She nods and he unsheathes her blade.

"For this, I bestow upon you Kyoshi's Fan."

The sword is a scimitar, crude and very long, with a short handle but a curved blade that extends and broadens near the tip. The handle was similar to the fans that Ty Lee was used to, but significantly longer and stronger at the point.

"And you, On Jin." He turns his attention to her and holds another scabbard. "In your training, I have seen you struggle to control powerful swords. In what you've told me of yourself, the burden of judgment weighs heavy on you. You do not take it lightly. So you needed a sword to match your wits."

He unsheathes the blade, a katana. It has a single edge and curves. Unlike Kyoshi's Fan, it has a long handle which can be gripped with one or two hands. He reaches down and places it in her open palms. Similar to Eclipse, Ganzaya's dagger, her katana has a dragon's open maw on the handle. 

"Both of your blades were forged by the fires of the volcano in Caldera," he explains, to much shock. "The three of us have Fire Nation roots, even if we grew up elsewhere."

"Thank you, Master Ganzaya." Ty Lee says with reverence.

"The name?" Ganzaya asks Azula.

She looks down at her blade and remembers. She whispers into the night.

"Agni's Lament."

"How much further do we have to climb?" Azula prods the Guru from the back of the line.

"We're here." He replies, continuing to lead the way to the opening they are just below.

Achak had arrived after dinner with the swords in tow but a bigger objective to achieve. He leads a march up the mountainside that they had rested at the foot of. It is not a particularly long venture, but the newly dubbed swordmasters are exhausted from two long days of training, cardio, and breathing exercises. It is frigid and dark and the hour is late. The full moon shines down through some thin clouds up above. Ganzaya is the second in line and joins his partner at the plateau. Ty Lee is next, and when she arrives she exclaims.

"Wow! On Jin you have to see this!"

Azula climbs the last bit of rock and reaches the level they are on. She steps up beside her wife and up in the sky she witnesses a glorious sight. High up above in the heavens there are green and blue flashing lights. It is mesmerizing and inspiring. For just one moment Azula feels her awe cracked open. The bright moon shines down as well.

"These are the Southern Lights," Guru Achak narrates. "What you see above us are the light Spirits and the dark Spirits in balance. They're meant as a reminder of our connection to the Spirit World. And this is the only place in the entire South Pole where you can still see the Spirits dancing."

Eyes still up above Ty Lee can't help herself from interrupting, "Why? They're so beautiful. Is it because of all the industrial buildings at Wolf Cove?"

"Not exactly," he speaks. Azula can't look away at the beauty. "It's because our connection to the past and spiritual ways is being forgotten and left behind by our secular leaders across the South Pole. I truly believe that if Lonlhai were to ever fall, the lights and the spirits would go out in the South. And then who knows what might happen with the Spirits."

Azula, for the first time in her life, in the presence of Guru Achak, her wife, Yue the Moon Spirit, and the dancing spirits forming the Southern Lights, feels overwhelmed. Perhaps for the first time in her life she feels a power greater than herself. She feels infinitely small compared to the vastness of the spirits above her out in space and the cosmos. She recalls talking with Aiwei about the Spirit World and not having much faith in it. Then her own run in with a spirit had changed the calculations. All of which has led her to this moment. Azula feels that Avatar Asuna is there with her right now. Standing right beside her, hand on her shoulder, looking up at the sky with her.

[Winter/Spring 131 AG]

Kodo the Conqueror emerges into the townsquare as a massive pillar of fire rises above the village. The Children of the Fifth Nation have no peers, no force as powerful as them who can compete. Yet the village threatens to burn and a young man stands waiting for the old master. Kodo examines him, coming to a stop a few feet away. There are dozens of members of their operation standing around, waiting, watching. The man opposed to Kodo has the mark of an open palm printed across his face. A giant red badge of shame. A forever reminder that he was defeated in battle and could be defeated again.

"What's this about, Kallik?"

The water bender raises his hands at his side.

"Isn't it obvious?" The now eighteen year old boy says. "I've come to Challenge for the Mantle."

"You've brought outsiders?" He asks, referring to the fire bender's working the pillar of flame and other followers that Kallik has amassed in over two years of being absent from the Children of the Fifth Nation. "Will they be fighting for you? Since you aren't capable of defeating me alone."

Kallik spreads his legs apart and spins his arms around.

"I think you'll find me more than capable of ending your life. Do you accept the challenge?"

Kodo forms his own fighting stance. Icicles and rings of water form circles around him as he raises his fists up in Kallik's direction.

"I accept!"

Kodo the Conqueror steps forward and moves to throw his hands out in front of him. Kallik puts his hand straight out in front of him and brings it downward. Kodo's water and ice fall flat. Surprised he tries to move his hand but he can't. He feels suddenly that he can't move any of his extremities.

"Wh-what is the meaning of this!"

He leaves the ground, his feet kicking about as he tries to stay grounded. He feels an invisible hand wrapping around his throat and his entire body, suffocating the air from his lungs. He is levitating off of the ground and splayed out in the sky.

"This means your end, Conqueror."

Kallik moves his hands in opposite directions. A cracking noise that could be mistaken for thunder is heard throughout the camp. All of Kodo's body spins around, but his head stays facing Kallik. The onlookers scream out in agony. Their steady leader and master is killed in front of them, without any effort. The body falls to the snowy ground below.

Kallik approaches as the Children look from one to the other. It is customary when the Mantle is won for all to kneel before the new Holder. As such, a few of the men begin kneeling and the women follow suit. Others take longer as the terrifying sight before them becomes a grim reality. Their conqueror is dead; the new conqueror stands before them. Kallik stops at Kodo's dead body and turns around, arms again extended out, making a show of the victory and speaking to the audience.

"Fear not! I am the Spirit of Death. And I am here to guide you home."

Some of the people weep. Kallik pays them no mind. He points to the moon.

"When Yue blesses us with the next full moon, we will take back what is ours. We will wipe Lonlhai from the face of the Earth and reclaim our homeland!"

The followers that Kallik has garnered and brought with him begin chanting in support. In due time the entire compound of the Children of the Fifth Nation come to join the chanting. Not because they believe in this new leader, but because they fear him.

Chapter Text

[Spring 131 AG]

On Jin,

I hope the winter was kind to you and Rangi. Hana and I made out quite well, narrowly avoiding much of the bad weather. I should be making a trip out to Wolf Cove later this year, perhaps the two of us can stop by during our travels to see you both. It’s been too long.

Within my scroll you probably found another enclosed. It’s from your brother. I am…not sure what to say. I’m sorry? I know things were complicated. In any event, I wish you well. I’ll write again when I know more about my trip.

Sincerely,
Suki

"Zap zap?" Asks the voice of a toddler.

"Zap zap." Azula replies with a whimsical look on her face.

The Guardian holds out her hand in front of Senna and channels a tiny bit of lightning into her fingertips. The resulting spark between her long, slender fingers makes the two year old giggle with laughter. It's a smile and sound that warms Azula's cold heart and produces her own laugh before Senna lumbers forward and crashes into the firebender in the biggest bearhug that the child can muster. Azula holds her tight and keeps her safe and sound.

It's late in the evening on an early Spring night. Ty Lee and Azula are babysitting the child so that Miki and Aklaq can have a date night, including keeping Senna overnight so the married couple could fornicate in peace. That's not exactly how they worded it when they made the request but the truth was thinly veiled.

Ty Lee and Azula had bought the home beside Ganzaya and Achak's, out on the outskirts of town. Coin had been a difficult thing to come by for Azula ever since leaving Lanxi, but Ty Lee had garnered a small fortune from her life as a Kyoshi Warrior, and without all of the expenditures of constantly being on the run. 

Right now, Azula and Senna play on the living room floor. In the bedroom Ty Lee completes her nightly routine of stretching, exercising her chis, and smoothing out her aura. 'Mastering my chis,' Azula recalls her always classifying the entire endeavor of the activity. The firebender thought it was all very silly, but had grown accustomed to it. Meanwhile, in the corner of the living room Ganzaya snores obnoxiously, fast asleep in his favorite chair - which isn't even his chair. Ty Lee had the chair upholstered and the fabrics shipped in from Kyoshi Island, and she often fought the old man in a silent race to be the first to sit in it. Senna wobbles away from Azula and plays with some of her favorite toys, leaving the firebender to reflect once more upon the news she was delivered this morning. She pulls it from her pocket and scans it once more.

Sister,

Our uncle has passed. I know you won't come home for the funeral, but I wanted you to know. I love you and hope to hear from you soon. 

Best,
Brother

Just as she is finished rereading it the door to the home opens slowly. Senna doesn't even bother or notice and keeps plugging away with her blocks and figures. Azula is expecting a guest so she doesn't blink. Achak comes around the corner and into view of Azula holding up a finger to her mouth to request quietness. When the Guru enters the living room and hears his partner snoring in the chair he can't help but to chuckle. He gingerly walks in and sits beside On Jin.

"He sure is cute, isn't he?" Achak whispers.

"Truly one of a kind."

"I mean, the depth of that thing?"

They listen while Senna plays idly. A floorboard creaks while Rangi enters the room now and quietly comes to join On Jin on the couch. Ganzaya lets out perhaps his loudest snore. The three struggle to contain their laughter. When it all dies down, they watch Senna play for a bit. Finally, when the comforting silence has run its course, Achak turns to the raven haired woman.

"You wished to discuss something with me, On Jin?"

Before she can answer Rangi reaches a hand out, "Are you sure, honey?"

"I'm sure. I'm sure," she grips her wife's hand. She turns back to the Guru, "I'm seeking your counsel because a family member has passed away."

When On Jin said she wanted to discuss something earlier in the day, Achak figured it would be a serious matter. Nonetheless he is surprised, given how little On Jin ever speaks of her family. He sits up and whispers to her, "I'm sorry for your loss. Will you need to depart for the funeral rites?"

"No," she replies quickly. "I won't be going."

"Ah. So an estranged family member?"

"Yes, that's one way to describe it." She tightens her grip on Rangi's hand.

"Why are you seeking my counsel then?"

This is a question that On Jin isn't sure how to answer. She keeps her eyes on the toddler blissfully unaware of such difficult topics and family dynamics.

"I'm just…surprised," she starts. With a strange look on her face she tells him, "I don't believe he's really gone. I always thought the old fart would be around forever."

"This is not the first loved one you've lost."

"No, it's not."

"Yet it strikes you so?"

Senna yawns and then hobbles over to Rangi's waiting, open arms. The brunette picks up the small girl and wraps her in a warm embrace.

"It does. And I don't know why." Azula admits. "We weren't on good terms, we were never on good terms. I just can't believe he's really gone."

"What would you say to him? If you could talk to him again?"

Azula isn't sure. She sits in silence for a moment just thinking about the question. Senna yawns, causing Rangi to yawn as well. Ganzaya snores. This doesn't feel like the time for such a massive heart to heart conversation. Achak makes a tough call.

"Tell you what, why don't we sleep on it and talk about it tomorrow?"

On Jin nods in agreement, needing more time to think about the Guru's question. She motions towards the Watchkeeper in the corner. Rangi gets up, cradling the sleeping Senna, and walks with her out of the room to put her to sleep.

"What about him? Should we wake him?"

"No," The Guru shakes his head. "Leave him. He loves that stupid chair and I love that it makes him happy."

The first full moon of the lunar cycle hangs high in the sky above Lonlhai. The village has always been waterfront, but without proper docking stations or really a pier at all. A village stuck in the past, focused on its spirituality, they do not want for more trade or traffic. While there have been pushes over the decades every now and then to build out the dock, there has never been any sort of urgency from the village leadership to forge a safe harbor. Under the current leadership though, heavily featuring one with such a militaristic view on life, the thinking around the waterfront has begun to shift. Not to feature trade, like she had done with Lanxi many years earlier, but one for safety. As such, there are watchmen who volunteer to keep a lookout on the water and to physically walk down and check the pier every few hours. 

A pair of villagers who make their rounds.

“Absolutely perfect weather, right?”

"Couldn't ask for clearer skies. Is there even one single cloud? Anywhere?"

"If there is, I don't see it."

"Would've been a great night to go see the Southern Lights."

"Oh yeah."

The pair come to a stop and look out at the rolling waves. They stare out together and share a moment of solitude. It is peaceful. So peaceful that they do not see the water benders along the coastline. In the distance though, rounding into shape, they see a ship approaching.

"What the fuck is that?"

Not just one ship. Many beside it. All swiftly approaching the sleeping town.

"We better go wake the Guardian."

They step back to leave when the water around the dock reaches up around their ankles. They are pulled down, screaming, to a watery grave. The Children of the Fifth Nation approach Lonlhai unimpeded.

Kallik would not say that he grew up in Lonlhai. He would say that he survived it. The land on Earth where his parents were killed. His mother succumbed to an unknown disease. At first he wondered if his special abilities could've saved her. But he wonders no more, for she came to him and told him. It was a parting gift to him, she explained. Her curse became his blessing. That was how he learned to bend the very blood of those around him. Now he returns to the battleground he faced every day in his adolescents, and arrives as a hero.

Lonlhai sleeps around him, while his army quietly is brought ashore from their ships. He stands in the village square where he was forever marked, which brought with it a kind of fear he had never known. His hand reaches up and delicately touches the part of his face with her handprint on it. Her handprint. The nameless woman who nearly killed him, but lacked the conviction. Part of him is grateful. She had bestowed upon him her mark, but also a direction. He needed to become not just more powerful, but all powerful. He had to accept his destiny as the Spirit of Death. He had to become a hero.

They do not know yet but they will learn. He has come to liberate these people. The circumstances are wrong, for now. They needed to understand just how much they needed him. Only when there is a raging fire can water save. So through water, blood, and fire, he will make them anew. A cleansing fire to burn out the virus that has spread upon this sacred land.

"Ragh! No!"

Some of Kallik's most loyal soldiers force an old man to his knees in front of him. He stays on all fours, his body in pain, his breath short, his psyche traumatized by the events of the last few minutes.

"The Watchkeeper wasn't home." Someone tells their leader.

Achak grabs his body at the parts where they beat him. He doesn't feel any blood but this provides little solace.

"What shall we do, Conqueror?" A lieutenant asks him.

Kallik the Conqueror can feel his mother's presence. Nearby, somewhere, she is here, guiding him. Leading him to his ultimate fate, as The Spirit of Death. She whispers a directive to him. He looks down, a solemn understanding sweeping over him.

"Burn the ships."

"Sir?" One of his followers exclaims.

"Are you mad?" Another asks.

"How will we retreat if we need to?"

He turns on them.

"Am I not The Conqueror?" He asks rhetorically. "Burn the ships. There will be no retreat. I want our people to fight as if their lives depend on it. Any one who wishes to retreat will not devote themself fully to our cause."

"But-"

Kallik twists his arms, causing all of his surrounding compatriots to involuntarily kneel before him, their bodies his to control, their whims not their own. He commands them.

"We will conquer this land or we will die. There will be no other outcome."

They groan and struggle in pain.

"Am I understood?"

"Yes, Conqueror!"

"Absolutely!"

"Of course, Conqueror Kallik!"

He releases them from their bodily prisons.

"Good," he huffs. "Now burn the ships."

They rise up fixing their clothes and stretching their limbs after the difficult position he put them all in. Kallik looks out at the quaint, sprawling village. He must save them.

"After you burn the ships, then burn it all down. We need to cleanse this place of its unholy parts."

Most of the acolytes nod and begin to depart. One stays to ask.

"What about the woman? The Guardian?"

Kallik touches the scarring on his face and feels himself full of contradicting thoughts on her. He fears her more than anything. He wants to be the one to kill her. He hopes she doesn't show up. He is confident he will win if she does.

"They better pray she comes."

There is a distant sound rustling in the background, steadily waking Azula from her slumber. A familiar, stuffy smell fills her nostrils. Groggily she opens her eyes, wondering if the experience was part of some dream. The room is lit up though, blinking from the windows with flashes of orange red flames. She sits in a panic, her sense alive, her anxiety spiking, her memory returning to Huwan. When someone tried to burn her alive. Uncertain of if it is her home or simply outside, she scrambles up, reaches across the bed and shakes her wife out of her sleep.

"Ty Lee! Wake up!"

Ganzaya had briefly awoken after On Jin and Rangi had retired. When this happened, he had a choice. Stay in his incredibly comfortable chair for the night, or rise and go to lay with his beloved at home. It was a simple question which required not much thought. He was far too cozy to get up and crawl into a cramped bed with the Guru.

His pleasant sleeping dreams are interrupted by a waking nightmare.

"Ganzaya! Wake up! Wake up!" On Jin shakes him with one hand, while the other fastens Agni’s Lament on her waist.

Rangi runs to the door and swings it open, Kyoshi’s Fan already holstered at her side.

"What? What's going on?"

"Oh my Kyoshi. Oh my fucking Kyoshi." Rangi cries out.

"Come on!" On Jin runs towards the door while Ganzaya rolls out of the chair, secures his dagger and longsword, and then chases after her. 

Ganzaya and Achak had chosen their home on the outskirts of town as a way to be able to detach from the drama of the village. A way to separate from the villagers and give themselves some clarity. It was a choice that has paid dividends throughout their decades of life together. On Jin and Rangi had moved next door to stay close to them and continue to learn from each other and grow closer together. Now though their distance has hurt them.

Lonlhai burns.

The home beside them burns, the village burns, there are people burning. Everything burns. Azula is too stunned to move until she is shaken by Ty Lee.

"Azula!" Ty Lee doesn't even try to hide her name. "The fire! Extinguish the fire!"

She turns to Achak and Ganzaya's home, burning down. She puts her hands up and runs towards it, pushing the fire down, subduing it, working quickly to control the flames. She fears Achak is still inside, but part of her also fears the possibility he isn't inside. Her mind races to think who could be behind this, with The Unbroken rising straight to the top. 

A stampede of feet scurry past, screaming at the top of their lungs. Many see the Guru on his hands and knees at the town center, but none will stop. Achak feels like one of his ribs was broken and now poking at his insides. He can't open one of his eyes, his mouth filled with the bloody liquid that tastes like iron. He struggles to breathe, but wishes for it more than anything. Bending and nonbending soldiers stand around him, preventing any kind of escape. Bloodied and beaten, Achak fights for his life at the feet of a specter of death.

"You're not afraid?"

Huffing for air he struggles through his words just as his loving partner always spoke.

"I believe … they will come … for you."

Kallik makes a tsk, tsk sound. Disappointed but commanding, he speaks.

"You believe in too much, Guru. In your guardian, in Yue, people, in change. In Keisuke and Binh. And in me. And for that I have judged you as guilty."

Azula extinguishes the fire and Ganzaya runs right in through the burned door. Ty Lee turns to her when he enters.

"What the fucking Kyoshi is going on? Who would do this?"

"The Unbroken. The Last Kemurikage. Maybe Xai Bau and the Red Lotus found us?"

" Here ? And all of these people? It feels like too much. Too personal." Ty Lee frets.

Ganzaya comes running out, hands raised, shaken.

"Not here! He's not here!" He shouts, uncertain and afraid.

"Fuck." Azula curses.

Ty Lee can feel it becoming more personal by the second. She looks out across the landscape and watches the villagers all headed for the distant mountain caves, a positive sign if that was even possible right now.

"Where could he be? Where the fuck is he?" Ty Lee yells. "What do we do?"

A voice screams as it runs towards them, "On Jin! Where is Senna!"

"Where's our baby!" A second voice screams

On Jin, Rangi, and Ganzaya all turn to see the parents running straight at them.

"You're alive! Senna is inside!" Rangi runs to the door and Aklaq follows her to go inside.

"They're burning homes but they aren't stopping people from running!" Miki explains as she moves towards the door, Ganzaya and On Jin following close behind. The twenty-six year old mother takes in her own deep breaths.

"Who is it? Who’s they?"

She screams of relief when Aklaq emerges from the door holding their baby girl. Bursting into fresh tears,  she takes the two year old girl into her arms.

"Who?" Ganzaya demands to know.

Aklaq holds his child and his wife in his arms. He turns his head to the group.

"It's them. The Children of the Fifth Nation. They've come for us."

"It's not too…late, Kallik. You can…still make this right. … The spirits are … merciful."

Kallik squats down to look Achak in the eyes. Then he throws a rope over his neck.

"But Death is not."

The Conqueror stands up and bends the body to levitate up off of the ground, while his men pull the ropes to anchor them and keep him floating above forever.

“They have Guru Achak.” Miki tells them, answering a question they had not asked.

“Where? Tell us!”

“Town square. They had him captured near our home, I saw!”

“We must go.” Ganzaya says forcefully, both hands tightening around the hilt of Moon’s Veil.

“Yes, quick!”

“Wait! What do we do?” The parents grab On Jin before she can take off.

“Go!” She commands the others, before turning to her old friends. “Do exactly what we planned for in case of emergencies. Go to the caves on the outskirts of town. Take cover. Don’t come out for anything except me, Rangi, or Ganzaya. If no one comes by noon tomorrow, send out the messenger hawk we keep there to Lin, you remember Lin right? And prepare for an escape at night. There is food and water and weapons waiting. We will come. We will come for you."

Azula puts each of her hands on the side of their faces. Then she turns to Senna and looks into her cyan eyes. She wishes them well and then sends them away. She looks down at Agni's Lament, her trusty katana, in its scabbard, at her side. At this moment she notices that it's slightly loose around her belt. The belt loop is one shy of its normal place. She reaches down and pulls it flush against her body.

She is ready to fight again.

'Faster! I have to run faster!'

Azula trails Ty Lee and Ganzaya on the mad dash towards the village center. The birthplace of her time here in Lonlhai. The place where she defeated three benders and etched her name into the minds of an entire commune. A few days later the sky fell on the Day of Burning Rock. 

'Can't let them down!'

Azula pulls fire away from the village as she runs but she can't evaporate all of it unless she were to stop, which isn't an option right now.

'Not good enough.'

She has brought ruin and devastation to these people.

'Run. Run!'

The Warden had said all she brought was 'trouble and despair.'

'Maybe he was right.'

She's not as good as she thinks.

'We're close. So close.'

Guru Achak is being lifted through the air by some powerful unseen force. He thinks of Lonlhai's protectors and prays that the Spirits look out for them. He looks up to the moon and sees Yue. He knows she will protect this place, even if she can't save him. His entire life in service to the Spirits, to the village, to its people. So many memories that pour into him in the blink of an eye. Friends, family, people he's mentored, the love that he shared.

His body drops, the rope tightens, and the last thing he thinks about is Ganzaya's face.

There is a growing smell of ash and soot as the fire rages practically unchecked. Columns and columns of grey and black smoke rise up, obscuring views and filling lungs. Lonlhai was once a sanctuary for the spiritually intune, but now it is a bonfire for sacrifice. A malevolence crashing down upon the quiet, forgotten land, strangling all of the oxygen from it. The village square emerges into view as the Guardian runs up behind the Ghost and the Watchkeeper. The two come to a stop, horrified by the sight. High above, dangling by the throat, legs barely kicking is the Guru.

"NO!" Azula shouts.

She takes one giant step into the ground, kicks off, and flies up into the air with her rocket feet. She gets only a few feet into the air when a giant sheet of rock blindsides her and grounds her instantly.

"On Jin!" Ganzaya goes to her aid and helps her up.

"We have to get up there and get him down now!" She replies, brushing off the damage and not knowing about the scrape on her forehead from the Earth attack.

"Right!" He agrees.

Ganzaya leaves On Jin and swiftly runs up beside Rangi, both warriors brandishing their swords. They run towards where the ropes are anchored but as they approach a half-dozen machete wielding assailants appear from hiding. Moon's Veil and Kyoshi's Fan are drawn wide. The two sword masters don't have the luxury of considering the dangers of this fight. They're friend is dying. They launch themselves forward and dance with blades.

It is a torrid weave, The Ghost is untouchable, swiftly slipping between jabs and attacks with all of the agility of a young, pliable, circus attraction. She deftly avoids attacks, using her opponent's momentum against them, and when the opportunity is right she sticks them with the pointy end. The Watchkeeper, on the other hand, uses brutalizing, deadly force to swing his massive, two-handed longsword and chop down multiple enemies at once.

Meanwhile, the Guardian rises and spots the Earth Bender who was stationed in hiding to attack her. She steps forward and fires an inferno at them to try to erase them from the living. Naturally, the Bender cocoons themselves in a rock formation to save themselves. When she is satisfied that they are out of the equation she turns back to the dangling Achak. She eyeballs the threads and quickly steps forward and swings her arms upwards to send out massive waves to burn down each side of the rope.

Her arms never complete the movement. Her wrists are shackled, something tight wrapping around them. She looks down and finds water whips. Two on each side, from a total of four different water benders, all determined to keep her in place. They grapple onto her, pulling her down, her hands being led to the dirt, until finally she falls on knees and kneels in the village center. In the background she hears the clang of swords, and she wonders how the others fare. When she looks up finally, rage and grief choking her, she already knows before she sees the lifeless body.

The Guru is dead.

"RAGHHHHH YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!"

Azula touches the water whips and commands the lightning to flow through her. It zaps from her palms to the fingertips and then in the blink of an eye it traverses the water whips and instantly kills the water benders who had been holding her down. She stands and rips Agni's Lament from its scabbard.

"YOU WANT ME? COME AND GET ME!"

Benders and non-benders converge on her. Azula swings the sword and with it streams blue fire in waves at her enemies. Those who are hit by it are consumed by a blaze so strong their ancestors could feel the scorch. Azula spins the blade both in an arc and in her hand, then points the katana's tip towards her foes, unleashing a lightning blast that chains between a slew of would-be attackers.

The first one who makes it to her doesn't expect an expert swordswoman. She easily parries the overhead strike and then her katana slices down through their arm, lopping it clean off. She then runs it across the stomach, opening their intestines onto the battlefield. There are two others who approach. She uses one hand to parry with Agni's Lament and then with her free hand she points it at them and a massive, blue fireball devours their head, rendering them unrecognizable in less than a second.

She is rage and fury and all of her power has unleashed. Years and years of training, practicing, fighting, sword skills, fire bending, lightning mastery, it is all on display. The Guardian kills every last one without mercy or hesitation. Until there are none left to stand in her way. Until she stands alone, with Ty Lee and Ganzaya, the latter of which is huffing for air, while Ty Lee grips Kyoshi's Fan and looks up above, crushed by the weight of their collective failure.

Out of the darkness, a figure approaches. A dark skinned boy, no older than eighteen or nineteen. He wears a parka made from the skin of a polar bear dog, the fur circling his neckline. Azula huffs angry breaths, looking at the boy, who wears a mark upon his face. He tries to intimidate her.

"You've come to meet your end."

"YOU?! You did all of this?" She screams, Agni's Lament shaking in her right hand.

"Your Guru is dead and your village is burning. You may have killed my fighters, but now you will join them," he tells her, arms rising up both for show and in confrontation. "I am the Spirit of Death and I will it so."

"I AM THE HAND UPON YOUR FACE!" Azula steps towards him, spinning the katana's handle in her palm. Ty Lee and Ganzaya walk up to join her. "I AM THE LAST WORD IN YOUR MOUTH! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME."

Kallik takes a defensive stance as his enemies draw near.

"I am going to bathe these blades in your blood for what you've done!"

Kallik puts his hands up. Ty Lee and Ganzaya stop. Azula steps forward and jabs Agni's Lament forward to send a lightning blast and strike him down. But when she finishes the move, nothing comes out.

"Huh?"

"A-zula." Ty Lee struggles to get the name out.

Ganzaya hits the floor, Moon's Veil clattering to the ground. He assumes a position where he is bowed, knees on the ground, hands down in front of him. Ty Lee's body comes forward, to her surprise and against her will, her legs take steps towards The Guardian.

"Wh-what…is…happ…ening?"

Azula flashes back to the worst moment of her entire life in a rooftop construction zone for a sports arena in Republic City. She feels a sinking feeling, remembering it all too well. The way she was puppeted about by the mobster and the one they'd come to call the Dragon Slayer. The hyperventilating when her ex-girlfriend ripped out her bloodied head piece, pressed the prickly end of the knife to her throat before chopping off her top knot. This felt exactly like that moment. It was happening again.

"Ahhh!" Ty Lee screams as she steps forward, and extends her scimitar towards Azula.

"I'm afraid only one of us will have their blood bathed in this steel."

"What's happening!" Ty Lee screams.

"He…he's a blood bender." She whimpers.

Kallik moves his hands again and now Azula falls to her knees, Agni's Lament crashing to the dirt. Ty Lee struggles but ultimately she comes to a stop behind Azula, and Kyoshi's Fan rests on her shoulder.

"Is that what this is!?" Ty Lee mutters, her mind racing. All of the conversations with Suki and Zuko and Sokka and Toph and Aang and everyone else come rushing back to her. A theory that she and Suki had discussed about blocking bending with blood. She strains to say, "Azula. It's not the bending he's blocking. It's our chi paths. He's blocking our chi with our blood!"

"What do you mean, Ty?"

Kallik steps forward and moves to right in front of them.

"Now… kill your Guardian!" He commands.

Ty Lee focuses like she's never focused before on her chi. She mentally traces all of them, from her spine down through her shoulders and legs, from her fingertips to the tops of her toes. She takes a deep breath in through the nose. She opens her eyes and grips her scimitar. With total concentration, focused breathing, and absolute effort she pulls Kyoshi's Fan away from Azula's neck; she swings it backwards and behind her, as she forces a foot back, and assumes a fighting stance. 

"I am the master of my chis! Not you!"

Kallik is a safe distance away but looks at her completely perplexed.

"How are you-?"

Before he can finish his musing, Ty Lee breaks free. She lurches forward and swings the blade at him.

"FUCK!" He screams as she runs the blade across his arm and cuts through the skin, producing a gash in his left arm.

He scrambles backwards in fear, allowing her to break fully free and come to attack him again. With his uninjured arm he spins it and then launches it at her. A pool of water from nearby bends and flows forward, crashing into her and sending her flying backwards. He pushes her until she hits a wall and then keeps the water pressure flowing into her to subdue her. 

"TY LEE!" 

"Stupid bitch!" He screams at the defeated wife.

Kallik is unaware that the hand he had used to bend water at Ty Lee was the one keeping Ganzaya down. The Watchkeeper rushes forward in a surprise attack ripping Eclipse from its holster and going for the kill.

"STOP!" Kallik swings his arm and more water appears and crashes into Ganzaya, defeating him and sending him tumbling backwards towards the raging inferno engulfing the village.

"Not your fight, Old Man. This is between me and your heir apparent."

All while her partners were free and moving, Azula has remained kneeling before Kallik. Now, with both of them out of commission, she rushes to think of her chi paths and how she could break free of them. She regrets not paying more attention to Ty Lee and wishes like anything that she could know right now the secret to set her free. Slowly, Kallik walks up and stands before her. His head is down, not meeting her involuntary eye contact, pensive at the moment. He lets out a long, drawn out, tired breath. Kallik squats down and grips Agni's Lament by the handle. He rises up and with his good arm he contorts Azula to stand before him and become spread eagle.

Kallik tickles her left oblique with the tip of the katana. She grunts, groans, and tries to fight it. Dreaming of this moment and yet fearing it for so long it's almost unbelievable that it's here now, and he has emerged victorious. All those years of fighting and all of those who laughed at him. All the people who laid down in front of them, leading him to this moment.

"I want you to know," he mutters to her in a low, weak tone. "That it cut me to know I was leaving Binh to die. But I waited patiently, and now my blade, your blade, will cut you far deeper than her loss ever cut me."

With a few pounds of force he pushes the tip of the katana into her oblique.

"AHHHHH!" She cries out in agony and desperation.

He pulls it out. He twinkles the fingers of his good hand, causing blood to slowly pull out of the wound he has opened on her, small amounts of crimson liquid floating through the air. He forces her to her knees and bends her spine backwards as he leans over her, raising the blade to her throat.

"You see this?" He asks, her own blood floats and forms a ring around his neck, slowly spinning in place. "This is Ultimate Power over the mortal plane. I am more powerful than you could've ever dreamed, and do you know why?"

Azula has been in terrifying and perilous positions before but never quite like this. She can't recall Ty Lee's words. She can't bend her fire or lightning. Even if she could bend, if he stabs her, then the blade would act as a conductor and any lighting would fry them both. Her mind begins racing through all of her life's moments. So many things are warping through her eyes that she can't catch them before they're gone.

He is practically on top of her, the katana inches from her throat. She looks up into the dark, plain, clear sky as the final thing she will ever see. He gloats in a menacing tone.

"I'm the Spirit of Death . What were you the Spirit of again?"

The last thing she thinks about is Ty Lee's face before a blue, translucent hand reaches through Kallik's chest, grips her by the throat, and rips her from her body.

Azula stumbles before falling onto her hands and knees. She opens her eyes and for the second time in her life she has entered what she believes to be the 'Spirit World.' She is still in the physical realm, the center of Lonlhai Village, but time has come practically to a halt. Unlike when Siq's shop was attacked in the Southside, she is not awestruck by everything that is happening, but the fact that it's happening right now is a surprise. She takes a few deep breaths and collects herself. She tries to summon the courage to face Avatar Asuna again. When she is ready she turns around.

A figure stands behind Kallik, short and stout. They have Earth Kingdom garb on, with different tones of green, accented by yellow. It looks nothing like the figure she remembers seeing when she was visited last time. She steps cautiously around them to see their face. As she walks around she sees a long, white beard and many lines on their face. A man. One she knows from a lifetime ago.

Confused and uncertain, she asks, "Uncle?"

He turns his face away from looking at the back of Kallik's head and instead looks up at her, a genuine smile appearing on his lips.

"Hello, Niece."

"How?"

"How is never quite as important as 'why.'"

She doesn't answer his riddled response and he fills in the blank.

"You chose me."

She is incredulous.

"No. Impossible!" She tells him. "I never would've chosen you. I wanted Avatar Asuna. She understands me!"

Iroh nods and looks away. He stares through Kallik, at her corporal body on the verge of being killed. He wears his contemplation on the etchings of his face, and in the droop of his shoulders.

"You and Zuko are right about that. I never did understand you," he admits with a sad voice. At last he confesses to her personally, "I think that I didn't want to. As Zuko told me before I passed, I was his guiding light, while I left you alone in the darkness."

She rubs her eyes, loose tears spring free.

"Fine. If you're here, then how do I fight a bloodbender?"

"I am unsure. I do not have experience fighting with any."

"I need my bending!" She protests.

"Was it your bending that made you what you are?" he asks. With renewed vigor he balls his hand into a fist. "No, it was your ambition. It was your drive. Your insatiable thirst for perfection. Your immeasurable love for others. Your most powerful ability was never your bending; it is your emotions."

"Then what do I do? How do I fight him with my emotions?" 

"In the spirit world, your emotions become your reality." He says.

She looks up in wonder as the clear skies fade away replaced with large, billowing cloud formations. She looks down again at her body and Kallik standing above her, ready to issue the kill stroke. Finally, she turns to Iroh and he looks at her. A remorseful look in his pale amber eyes.

"Before I heard of your legend, I used to think you were a coward. Now I see that you had courage that I never did. Courage that Zuko never had."

He raises a hand in farewell and turns to walk away. He takes a few steps and she ponders what he's said. She calls back to him.

"I'm not as good of a person as Zuko! Everywhere I go I bring death and devastation with me."

"You're right about one thing: You're not as good."

He stops and looks back at her.

"You're better."

Her shallow breathing from the emotional conversation evolves. It changes into heaves of exhales. The skies above quickly have gathered with massive, sprawling clouds and now roar with thunder. Gearing up for the next moment. Mentally preparing to fight. She closes her eyes. Her heart beats in her ears and she feels a sense of falling as her spirit drops back into her body. She opens her eyes and Kallik is standing over her once again.

"I'm the Spirit of Death . What were you the Spirit of again?"

She whispers back to him.

"Lightning!"

Kallik raises an eyebrow and wears a look of confusion. He suddenly hears loud, rumbling clouds.

"Hm?"

Before he can raise his head to look to the sky, the storm explodes and a lightning bolt cracks down from the heavens. It crashes into Kallik and runs right through him and into her. The katana never touches her neck. He never sees it coming. The lightning shoots right into his spinal cord and disintegrates it on the spot. Kallik is dead before his body even stops shaking.

Azula, free from his blood bending, falls backwards onto the ground. His lifeless body falls on top of her. She pushes him off and stands up. She quickly hobbles over to her wife and finds Ty Lee, barely conscious, head against the wall. When the grey eyed woman looks up she can't believe her eyes for multiple reasons. First, Azula was approaching, seemingly alive and victorious. Second, for a brief moment Azula's usually amber eyes appeared to be replaced with bright lights, seemingly made of lightning itself. Azula blinks and they are gone.

"You did it?"

"I had some help." She replies, checking Ty Lee for injuries.

"But I didn't do anything?"

"You did plenty. But it was someone else."

"Who?"

"My uncle."

"I'm sorry what?"

"I'll…explain later. Doesn't look like you sustained any other injuries. And look, the village is still burning down. I'm gonna do what I can, but I need you to check on Ganzaya. And I want you to know that I love you."

Ty Lee is befuddled by everything going on. She doesn't care. Azula understands and that's all that matters.

"I love you too."

Ty Lee grabs the back of Azula's head, and pulls her in for a kiss. Their lips meet and almost as if on cue the clouds above sprinkle down rain. Azula can't help but laugh at it. Despite not seeing the humor, Ty Lee finds her laugh contagious and can't help but laugh either.

When they stop, Ty Lee asks, "What do we do about the Fifth Nation?"

"Leave them and the remaining fires to me. You and Ganzaya work on any survivors here."

The storm rages above, but Azula stands up despite the now driving rain. She looks up and thinks of what Iroh said about her emotions being her most powerful ability and how they can impact the world around her. Her love for others guides her forward.

She lifts up off of her feet with her palms outstretched, the fire evaporating quickly. She flies up above and sees the pirate ships burning at sea. She will have to defeat the stranglers, but Kallik had undone his army all on his own.

They had burned the ships.

Far outside the outskirts of Lonlhai, along the cliffside, the weary and worried survivors of the village who had found a way to escape are huddled together. They gather in a series of tunnels that Rangi had paid an Earth Bender off the record to build about a year ago. For much of the night they weep and grieve lost ones and ones they assume are lost. Gradually the conversation turns over to the four protectors of Lonlhai: the Watchkeeper, the Guru, the Ghost, and the Guardian. There are rumors, loud whispers, that the Guru was taken captive and hung up. Those who arrived last are the most adamant about this story.

For one particular set of parents, they actively try to shield their small baby Senna from any of the horrors unfolding around them. They had been among some of the last to arrive and so now remain close to the entrance. No one is exactly sure how or when, but soon after Miki and Aklaq arrived, large cloud formations formed and a great lightning blast boomed down and struck the village. It was a tenuous, worrisome time after the lightning blast, pregnant with fraught and panic, when rain began falling down. A moment later, a small figure could finally be spotted floating up above the village. 

In the distance the survivors of Lonlhai, those who made it to the cave system, could see lightning and fire blasts. The ships out at sea were already burning when the figure shot them further full of lightning and sent them to the bottom of the South Sea. The figure disappears into the village for a while before finally flying up and slowly comes into view. It floats through the air, descending towards them. Finally, landing a few feet away is The Guardian. She approaches the civilians.

Miki and Aklaq step cautiously out to greet her. Many others pour out and shout their applause and adulation for their hero. However there is one that Azula focuses on most. A tiny pair of legs, hiding behind Miki's, peering out at her. She squats down and reaches a hand out to Senna, amidst all of the hoopla and questions and thanks. The cyan eyes come to focus on the golden ones in front of her. She waddles forward, towards the woman with black hair and a weary look in her eyes. Senna asks a question.

“Zap zap?”

Azula shudders a bit, breath catching. All of the carnage and death. All of it to keep this small girl safe from the dangers of the world around her. She laughs at her innocence and her pureness. Something Azula could only preserve through fire and lightning. She opens her arms and baby Senna runs into them. She whispers back to the child.

“Zap zap.”

Chapter Text

[Spring/Summer 133 AG]

It's been many years since Suki has been to Ba Sing Se. Even on her way to the city she was trying to recount the last time and she's not quite sure. Probably as Zuko's protection on some international political affair thing, and even then it would've been to the Upper Ring. So while she's here in the Lower Ring the forty-seven year old woman nonetheless makes plans to detour to some of the Upper Ring's best dining opportunities. She's only had a few meals outside of either Kyoshi Island or Wolf Cove in the four and half years since Hana was born. 

'Fuck that's going to be delicious.'

At this time of the year it's annoyingly hot, with her clothes sticking a little too close to her body. Nonetheless, it's nice to be out of the house, off of the island, and out of her regalia. She winds around a final bend and comes to the door described on her scroll of parchment. She stops in front of it and checks the scroll one last time. Finally, she knocks.

"Coming!" Someone yells from the other side.

A moment later the door opens. A beautiful woman with brown hair, brown eyes, and light skin stands on the other side. Suki would guess she's in her mid-forties. She takes a moment to scan Suki before asking.

"Uh, hello? Can I help you?"

"Who is it, babe?" Another woman asks as she approaches.

This one has brown hair, light tan skin, and dark olive green eyes. She leans against the first woman and also looks at Suki, taking her in and trying to rationalize what she's doing here.

"Hello! It's so nice to finally meet you both!" Suki says, with a closed eye smile.

"Meet us?" On Ji asks.

"Do we know you?" Jin follows.

"You do." She assures them. Their befuddled expressions are not lost on her. She introduced herself, "My name is Suki of Kyoshi Island."

"Oh?"

"Oh. Oh!" Jin shouts.

"Hmm? Why is that name vaguely familiar?" On Ji muses.

Jin leans forward and whispers something into her wife's ear, which makes her jaw fall down. Suki smirks at this exchange. She leans in, extends a rolled parchment, and whispers to them.

"Akola of Ember Island sends her regards, and she sends me to ask a favor."

Lin of Baochou Village first met the Dragon Empress a little over thirty-one years ago. He spent the first third of that time working directly for her, until her ‘death’ in 113 AG. He then spent another eight years building his fortune working for the Dragon Slayer, a sort of watchful eye keeping tabs on various activities. He had a family to feed and the business was lucrative. After that he spent a little over six years as a prisoner of Yakone’s before being rescued by Suki of Kyoshi Island. It’s now been almost another six years and he is approaching fifty-eight years of age and he could stop working any day. Generational wealth was not something the poor, broken fisherman thought he would acquire when he found the deposed Fire Princess in the woods of Jingchan, but given it is within reach now, he is determined to keep going. 

Before Azula came to live in Lanxi, Lin had only rarely stopped at their port. It was a nothing place on the route to Chameleon Bay, but it had some unique charms and represented a place to sleep if the day’s journey called for it. While she lived in Lanxi, it underwent a revolution and developed into a noteworthy port and one worth trading in if you were in the area. In the twelve plus years since she departed from that very port, it has developed into a super power of the South Sea. Many would argue it has overtaken Chameleon Bay as the premiere port of the Southeast. All of that growth and prosperity under the watchful eye of one man.

Lin sits in the town square of Lanxi as the sun rises to high noon. He has always been a man who leads with his stomach, and so he knows that they’ll break for lunch any moment now and he’ll have his opportunity. Right on cue, the doors swing open with all of the momentum of the wind while political leaders seek some peace from each other. The last one to exit, who closes the doors behind them, is the forty-six year old Chairperson for the Council of the Elders. Lin picks up his sealed scroll and leaves his spot to stand before him.

“Greetings, Chairperson Po Boh!” He greets the man.

Po Boh of Lanxi turns around to find a short, stout man with a long gray goatee and longer hair. He has green eyes and is not a resident that Po Boh recognizes. The mountain of a man is not in the mood; he’s famished and wants to be left alone for a couple of hours while in recess so he can come back more prepared for the afternoon session. He is gruff with the man.

“Hello, Stranger. I’m afraid if you do not have an appointment, I cannot stop to chat.”

“Well that is quite alright. Might I accompany you as you walk to wherever it is that you’re going? Perhaps we could ‘chat’ while en route?”

Po Boh rolls his eyes and begins walking away. “I can’t stop you from walking or talking, but I make no promises that I’ll listen, Stranger.”

Lin walks beside him merrily and uses the sealed scroll to poke the man in the arm.

“You don’t have to talk with me. But perhaps you could read this request from an old friend of yours?”

“An old friend of mine ?” Po Boh asks, taking the scroll and breaking the seal.

Before he can open it, Lin whispers to him, “I believe you know her as Asuna the Coward.”

[Summer 133 AG]

Two figures who have a hard time being undercover, try their best to inconspicuously march through the lower income section of Gaoling. They keep their heads down and hoods up. They've hidden their identity before although not in many years. There was perhaps a time when they could've gone anywhere in the world and been unknown, and really they did for a while, but that time is gone. Now there's almost nowhere in the world they can go where at least one of them won't be recognized. They climb the stairs and push open a pair of double doors.

A small man with a grey beard and grey eyes approaches. He lifts his glasses up onto his face and squints at them as the sun pools through the gap between them. He can't quite make out their faces but that doesn't change his greeting.

"Welcome to the Gaoling Community Library. How may I assist you?"

The doors closed behind them and he can see their faces now as they remove their hoods. They are a man and a woman, Fire Nation from what he can tell, with black hair. The man has amber eyes while the woman has tawny ones. They smile at the old man with all of the grace of two strangers in a foreign land looking for help.

"Hello! We are here to talk to you about an old patron of yours." The woman says.

"I see? I'm not sure how much help I'll be in that case. I'm nearly 70, and my memory is not what it used to be. Have you already asked any of the neighbors? They have sharper minds than mine."

The man replies this time, "We're only looking for you, Muhong."

He takes a closer look at him now and is astonished.

"Spirits save the Queen! Sir, has anyone ever told you that you bear a striking resemblance to the Fire Lord!"

The forty-nine year old Zuko can't help but put his palm up to his face in exacerbation with Mai unable to stifle a giggle. All of his efforts to conceal his identity completely unravel.

"Really?" She asks Muhong, while also teasing her husband. "Are you sure? No one has ever said that before! I don't see it, personally?

"Oh, certainly! I don't know much about the Fire Lord but I know he has a scar just like that one. Sorry to point out your beauty mark, Sir."

"It's fine," he replies quickly while Mai dawns a wicked smile at his misfortunes. "We have to ask you about a woman who you knew here about a decade or so ago."

"A decade ago?"

"Eleven plus years, to be exact." Zuko adds.

" Eleven years? Did she grow up here? Did something happen to her?"

"She didn't and she's fine. She sent us to talk to you. She was only here a short time, but you'll know her by a specific name." Mai replies.

"I'm afraid I'm completely lost! Can you explain?"

They quickly exchange a look and then Zuko answers.

"The townsfolk called her Lady in Red, and she's asked us to come request your help."

"MOM! How many times have I told you to STAY OUT OF MY ROOM?"

"Excuse me? What kind of tone is this , Kya?"

Up until about 12 seconds ago, Katara had been enjoying her lazy afternoon of reading and meditation. She'd spent most of her morning cleaning the home and was thus relaxing and getting some much needed alone time. Kya had come in like a hurricane a few minutes ago, huffing and puffing about something or other. The dutiful mother was planning to check in on her only daughter once she calmed down, but now it seems the fight was brought to her.

"You never fucking listen to me!" The 16 year old decries her 46 year old mother.

"Language!" Katara shouts, now standing up and approaching Kya carefully. "What is all of this about?"

"All of what?"

"You! This! You come in like an air blast from your Father, slamming doors, stomping about, then come to yell at me ? Start cussing at me , of all people?"

" You went into my room without my permission! Again!"

"Kya, darling, who I love so much. So much so that it's abating my incandescent rage right now about this, I went in to clean your room for you!"

"I don't care!"

"I made your bed and did your laundry. You can see the floor for the first time in months."

"I didn't ask you to do that! I didn't want you to do that!" Kya huffs, turning and storming off. She shouts over her shoulder, "Why does no one ever listen to me? Why does no one ever think about me! About what I want!"

The door to her room slams shut before Katara can offer a response. She's left alone with herself and her thoughts, trying to untangle whatever just happened. This sort of outburst has become increasingly less rare, a fact that makes Katara uncomfortable and uneasy. Throughout Kya's entire life, from birth, she and Katara have always been close. This has only increased exponentially in the last few years when it was discovered that Tenzin is an Airbender. Ever since then, he and Aang have been flitting about all over the Earth, whichever way the wind blows them.

This has left Katara in the precarious position of having to raise a teenage girl single handedly. Not that she minds, it's been tremendous bonding with her water bending daughter and helping her develop her skills and to grow, but there's also been a barrier developing lately. This recent outburst is just the latest in a line of them. Bumi's teenage years had not been proper training for the journey of a teenage girl. 

She just wishes that she could stop it all. Freeze time in place and hold it all captive for a moment. Stop Bumi from getting older and leaving home. Stop Aang and Tenzin from flying out the door to some far off Air Temple. Stop the wall that's building between her and Kya.

'I just wish I could stop all the growing.'

"I'm quite proud of how quickly they're all growing."

Azula lifts a small leaf up into the sun. She admires the way it fights for life and clings to the light. Gardening was a hobby and calling she answered while in Lanxi; one she had regrettably left behind, but thankfully picked back up. She stands amongst a vibrant, expansive greenery, taking it all in. In the greenhouse, she grows flowers from all over the world. There are of course her classic moon flowers and fire lilies, but also some white loti, peonies, jasmine blossoms, sunflowers, white dragon blossoms, and roses. She's close to a breakthrough on silver lilies, but nowhere close yet on pink flowers. It's a natural give and take, as with all gardening.

Suddenly, a 47 year old woman crashes lightly into her and hangs onto her arm with one hand. Ty Lee rests her head on Azula's, in her free hand she holds up a four-and-a-half year old child, while the other hand idly plays with the arm of her lover. Ty Lee runs her fingers up and down the skin and lightly taps here and there, rubbing her nails against her, giving Azula goosebumps. She hums happily as she looks at the flora as well.

"You've grown so much." Ty Lee tells her with a voice full of wonder.

"So prity, Aunt Aunt Jin!" Senna exclaims.

"Thank you, Senna!" Azula smiles before returning to being judgemental about the work she's done. "I can do better. I need different tools."

"Pfft," Ty Lee pushes back. "You have the best gardening tools in the entire village, maybe on the entire island? What more could you need?"

"I didn't say better tools. I said I need different tools."

The greenhouse they stand in was built as an addition to the school as a way to practice water bending in a constructive and developmental form. 'The world needs more farmers' On Jin had told everyone, and water bending in a greenhouse would allow benders and nonbenders alike to learn this skill. Really it was all just a thinly veiled political move by the Guardian for some wish fulfillment. Many of the villagers saw through it, but they also didn't mind giving On Jin something of her own, especially since she was dedicated to making it worthwhile as an investment of physical space. 

The Burning of Lonlhai was over two years ago now and the Guardian and the Ghost delayed not one second on working to rebuild it. They reasoned then that this is their home now. They have fought for it and killed for it. They would not hesitate to do so again. Many lives were lost and much of the village was ash that day. It took long days, tireless effort, and incorrigible faith. Azula's indelible spirit and Ty Lee's bottomless heart had saved Lonlhai and its people from the brink of extinction. 

During the rebuild Azula had wanted to update parts of the village, bring it to more modern times, just as she had done in Lanxi. She was encountering resistance from a variety of parties on the topic, a nuisance she was not deterred by initially. One particularly devastating and honest conversation with Aklaq later and she was set straight. He had successfully parlayed to get that the ethos of Lonlhai are to stay connected to the Spirits and the 'old ways.' This was but the first of many times that Azula missed the guidance of Guru Achak.

She compromised where she could, but where she couldn't she stayed strong. She lost the fight for the tall-wall fencing around the village's outer perimeter. On the flip side, she convinced them to build out the pier to allow for small passenger boats, and most prominently the building of a school for children. At her request the school contained a small, public library with an external exit for the villagers to use regardless of class operations, and the greenhouse for growing flora in the cold tundra of Linlhao Island.

Azula hears the door to the greenhouse open, a pair of voices conversing enter, and then the door closes behind them. She stays where she is, checking the temperature, inspecting the soil, sprinkling water where necessary. Ty Lee and Senna watch as Senna babbles incoherently about her 'Aunt Run G' and her 'Aunt Aunt Jin.' The footsteps draw closer until a mother's familiar voice is heard.

"There's our little water bender!" Miki says as she reaches out with open arms.

"Mommy!" Senna shouts, nearly leaping out of Rangi's arms and into the arms of her 29 year old mother. "Mommy, Mommy! So many plants."

"I know! Aunt On Jin has done a beautiful job growing the garden."

On Jin approaches with a quizzical look on her face, eyebrow arched.

"I'm sorry, rewind, did someone say 'water bender?'"

"Ah, yes! Sorry, I was supposed to tell you." Rangi admits, a blush appearing.

Aklaq tries to hide a triumphant smile because he knows On Jin is about to pop off. "I knew you forgot. I could just tell, when On Jin didn't come running to talk about it?"

On Jin's voice is loud as she yells, "What in Agni's name do you mean you forgot to tell me? How could you forget to mention that the child can bend?"

"It was only a few days ago!"

"Three days." The 34 year old Aklaq chirps.

Rangi doesn't even look as she punches him in the shoulder, to his and Miki's amusement.

"Shut up, Aklaq!" She says, not revoking eye contact with her wife.

"Spill. Now!" On Jin demands the room.

The three of them relay the story of how three days and two nights ago, after On Jin had already gone to check on the port authority before bed, while the other three remained, they watched as the little girl had unexpectedly lifted water out of Miki's drinking cup. The excitement was palpable, but when Rangi arrived at home a little later to tell On Jin, the firebender had already passed out in bed from exhaustion. Rangi explains how she wanted her wife to get some sleep and meant to tell her the next day. She had all the best intentions and none of the execution, so very typical of Rangi.

"A new water bender for the village! This is excellent news!" On Jin already is moving past and forgiving her wife. "Some day perhaps we can train her in all the things we know?"

Miki and Aklaq put up forced smiles at this idea.

"On Jin-" Miki tries to let her down easy.

"Only enough to defend herself! She must be strong. The world will try to take that from her, as a woman."

"Maybe she'll be a healer." Rangi chimes in, hoping to pivot away. "Wouldn't that be something?"

Azula considers it for the first time. The small girl, the one she held in her arms the moment she came out of the womb and who has given her everything to fight for, being a healer. The first healer in over a generation in Lonlhai. It would be incredible. She can't help but smile. Her amber eyes turn to the cyan ones.

"Someone to heal the hurt and broken. Yes, Rangi. That would be something ."

"Yes, well. While we wait to watch her develop as a water bender, we come here with some news. Your friends arrived at the outer gate, which was when we made our way here."

"Oh! Tremendous! Early, per usual."

On Jin and Rangi go to take their leave.

"Just, uh, can you finish- ?"

"No problem. We know what to do." Miki waves her off.

Just as they're about to exit though, Aklaq makes a joke.

"I hope this stranger with a face scar is better than the last one who came looking for you, On Jin!"

Lonlhai is alive. 

Azula and Ty Lee, or On Jin and Rangi, or the Guardian and the Ghost, walk through the rebuilt Lonlhai Village. The last two plus years have not been all peace and prosperity. Various vandals and outlaws have come to do harm to what remains of the village, and all of them have met their end. Whether by Agni's Lament, Kyoshi's Fan, the Ghost's fists or the Guardian's bending, all have been turned away without any further loss of life to the villagers. Azula has, at times, sought the counsel of Suki via letters, knowing the woman had her own experience rebuilding Kyoshi Island after The Decimation. There have been political differences and strong opinions, but nothing that Azula hasn't met with before this.

'The mantle of leadership has come with burden, criticism, and doubt, as it always does.' She thinks.

All the same, Lonlhai is alive. Senna, Miki, and Aklaq are alive. The people live and the heartbeat of the village pounds onward. Approaching the age of 50 years, barely two years away, Azula feels there is no greater good in her life than what she has done for this tiny, nothing, nowhere village. They march forward against the spirit of death that permeated the island in those dark days after the Burning. Now, as their friends come into view, Ty Lee doesn't march. She skips forward in a hurry, too excited to just keep walking. At the very end she leaps into the open arms of their childhood friend, Mai.

Azula can't help but shake her head and laugh at this as she approaches, but while doing so she gets her own physical greeting as a man with a face scar and a few more lines around his lips charges forward, puts his head down, and wraps her in his arm in a huge hug. He takes in a large whiff of her aroma and even after she's done hugging him back he keeps holding on to her.

"You alright?" She whispers to him.

"I just... I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again."

"Oh, brother." She huffs air through her nose.

"It's been 15 years , Sister!" He says, still holding her tightly and refusing to back off from the hug. "At a certain point letters can only do so much. Plus your insistence on never coming home."

Two other figures approach. Azula puts her hands down in-between them and physically pries her brother off of her.

"Don't hog her all to yourself now, we're all excited to finally meet The Guardian ." Suki teases with a sly smile.

"Oh shut it, you." She replies while opening her arms and welcoming the Most Powerful Being on Earth.

Lin smiles at these interactions and whispers, "A pleasure to be in your service once again, Emp-"

"Ut-ut!" She puts a hand up and now moves over to embrace her old friend. Afterwards she tells them all, "I think I prefer Guardian over that one. Or none. Just On Jin. Please." 

Mai wears a shit eating grin as she comes in for her own hug, "Now I know exactly what to call you to piss you off."

Azula rolls her eyes while everyone laughs at her expense. The Guardian puts all of that aside, breaks away from Mai's embrace and tells them, "Alright, well, we have much to do and little time, so get something to eat for lunch and then straight to work. They'll be time to catch up tonight at dinner. We've prepared a Lonlhai delicacy for us to all share."

"So business-like." Suki grumbles.

Ty Lee whispers to Mai and Suki that she'll join them for food and catch them up, blatantly and unashamedly ignoring Azula's directive. The Guardian gives her a pass and turns to her fisherman.

"Lin, did you secure the items?"

"I did, Guardian On Jin." He hoists up a long, rectangular, bulky bag.

"It's just On J- ugh, forget it," she sighs. She turns to the others. "What about the books for the library?"

Mai waves her hand and an earth bender walks up. He is struggling to keep afloat multiple slabs of rock, carrying loads of books on top of them. Suki speaks for the group.

"In order of your stoppings, we've got offerings from Kyoshi Library, the Library of Lanxi, Gaoling Community Library, and the Southside Lower Ring Public Library."

"As well as a few relevant scraps from the Royal Library." Zuko tells her, a smile wide on his face.

Mai adds, "Should be more than enough for your school."

"Perfect." She replies before directing the Earth Bender to take them right to the library. She adds, "I'll be behind you to sort them so once you drop them off you're free to leave."

She turns to the group of friends. "As for the rest of you, go! Eat. We've got work to do."

Ty Lee breaks and starts to lead Mai and Suki away. Lin stays a moment and observes as Zuko steps forward.

"Can I join you?" He asks.

"No, please. Join Rangi. You must be starving from your travels."

He shakes his head.

"I'm not hungry for food. The only thing that will sate my appetite is quality time with my sister."

"I agree!" Lin smirks, bouncing on his feet.

She observes the two males who have had some of the biggest impacts on her life. She chews on her cheek as she thinks for a moment. She concedes at last.

"Fine."

"So I'm thinking you do your best, teaching them what you can over the next three days. They're all experienced, but nothing like what you know. Then, maybe in a few weeks, I'm thinking three weeks, once they've had time to put the new knowledge to work, you return and take them on an expedition?"

"A perfect plan!" Lin replies.

Azula, Zuko, and Lin sit together in the brand new Public Library of Lonlhai. While Azula had been excited to bring the library to the village, there was barely anything left of the various texts in the village after the Burning. So, when the time came, in the months and weeks leading up to this grand reunion, her compatriots had gone out to all of her old stomping grounds and used her curried favor to metaphorically fill out the bookshelves of her new home for knowledge. Now the three of them sit together, idly chat and reconnect while physically stocking the shelves.

Zuko places a trio of books on a high reaching shelf and organizes them. He asks, "I overheard some villagers talking about fire benders for the entire island?"

Azula can't help herself from flipping the pages of one book she recognizes from Lanxi and that she loved reading. She replies, "That's right. Outside of me there's just four of them. Which is tough because outside of Lonlhai there's still six other main villages spread out across Linlhao."

"So some of them will have to pull double duty for protection."

"And the villages aren't close together. An hour ride between each of them on a mongoose lizard, longer or shorter depending on which one you're traveling to or from."

"Alright, so," Zuko rubs the back of his head trying to think. "You want me to teach them about Fire Nation customs? Or the true origins of fire bending from the Sun Warriors? Because I assume you're the one teaching them to fight."

"You're right, but no. I teach them to fight. I want you to teach them how to make good tea. No one on this island knows how to, least of all me!" This quip earns a raucous laugh from both Zuko and Lin. She smiles to herself as she waits for them to die down. When they're done she grows more serious and adds, "They're also all fathers. I think you can speak to your experience of raising a child and keeping a fractured family together, some inspiration they will surely need."

"I see." He replies, head down at a book, thinking of the ways he can talk to her men about this.

"But mostly it's the tea," she sincerely remarks. It pulls Zuko out of his daydreaming. "I miss it. It reminds me of home. And Uncle."

Zuko stops what he's doing to turn and look at her from across the room. All the way out here in the Lonlhai Village, together for the first time in over a decade, there are plenty of unbelievable things about this situation. Most of all though is what she's just said. He gets up and walks across the room, his steps more fraught with confusion and anticipation.

"I'm surprised to hear you say that. He's been gone some nearly 3 years now. Do you wish to return? I could show you where we laid him to rest."

Azula flips to an old poem she knew well and scans the page. In the margin, in her own handwriting, she sees a note. 'Show Alane!' It is a reminder of her past self, probably some 20 years ago. A world and a life filled with more hope. A reminder of the permanence of death. When he finally sits down across from her, she looks up and their amber eyes meet.

"Tell me, how do you want to die?"

He looks at her with more surprise now. Even Lin sits up a little more. She looks over at the older man.

"Both of you. How do you want to go?"

Zuko mumbles, "I hardly-"

"I'll get back to Uncle shortly. Just. Keep the thread for a second."

They sit for a moment with a little quiet at first, both apprehensive and contemplative. They’re not sure where this came from, or where it’s going. After thinking for a few moments though, Lin replies, "When I was imprisoned by Yakone, I came to peace with this. I welcomed the idea of dying in service to the Empress."

He is so sincere that it disarms Azula. They look at one another, he holding her up in his mind, and she seeing him like never before. He has always been in service to her. He called her to a legacy beyond starving to death in some damn woods. If not for him, she would not be here or herself. If not for her, he would not be where he is today. She nods gracefully.

"Well, I for one hope it is in some great honor to my homeland. I should die as I lived."

"Ha. Honor. You never change, do you, Zuzu?"

"I guess not," he laughs before becoming serious again. "What about you?"

"I'm… not sure. I used to think that I would welcome my death. That I could go with grace or face it valiantly, like an old friend."

She pauses as this sits like a sword on her chest.

"But the few times I've been presented with my own death? I was so scared. So scared. I didn't want to leave Ty Lee or you all behind. When Yakone and Zirin… and the Unbroken… and then when Kallik," she trails off. Neither Lin nor Zuko have heard any of these stories. Zuko still has not heard what happened with Yakone all those years ago. They don't know who the Unbroken was nor do they know the name Kallik. They remain silent and let her feel through this moment and her emotions. When she finally emerges from it she says, "I don't know how I want to die."

Zuko sorts through his own feelings and emotions on the subject. He looks at his younger sister, who has never needed any guidance, least of all from him. But he senses something in her, in this pit of despair she riles in. He takes a leap of faith.

"Do you feel it with him too? Like he's not really gone."

Azula feels a loose tear trail down her face as she reflects on the many faces of death she has crossed. The loved ones she's lost. She gathers herself to answer her older brother's question.

"You mean Iroh?"

He nods.

"Oh, of course. I know he's not gone." She laughs a bit. Lin finally comes and sits beside them as well, putting his hand out for her. Zuko does the same. She takes both and holds them, her head bowed. She sucks the mucus back into herself and says, "I feel a greater connection to him in his death than I ever did with him alive."

Zuko dawns a weak, sad smile as he tears up at the memories. Lin speaks for both of them, "I am glad you feel that way, Empress. I can sense his spirit is strong with both of you."

After another moment of sitting in silence, hands all clasped together, Azula breaks free and shuts the poem book. She stands up to put it away and when she returns to the busy work she finally finishes answering Zuko's question.

"As for going home, I'm not sure. I don't know if I can face it, or deserve it. But what I do know is that I must remain here and continue building up this place."

Zuko stands and then offers a hand to the 58 year old Lin to help him up. He goes back to his station of book organizing and asks as he crosses the room, "What about Mai and Suki?"

"We have a new Warden, voted on by the people." She begins explaining.

"Is it you?" He asks, only half-joking.

"Agni no. I can't be seen in the eyes of the Southern Water Tribe leadership. That would be disastrous to our efforts." She chuckles to herself. She continues, "Can you imagine if Sokka or Katara showed up here? They might try to kill me in the streets."

"They would be unsuccessful." Lin quips, but gets no reaction from either sibling.

"No, it's the man who carried me from death's cold embrace to this village. His name is Aklaq, and I want Mai to teach him about leadership."

"Not from me? The Fire Lord? Someone they might actually work with if he ever became the Chief?"

Azula puts her latest book down then leans back. She contorts her body in such a way that she can look across the room at her brother. She offers him a sweet tone with honeyed words.

"Oh, you poor, poor boy. You think you lead that country? Mai pulls all of the strings in the shadows, let's be honest with ourselves."

"Haha! You may be onto something there." 

"And in case you're wondering, Suki is here to recruit warriors to Kyoshi Island."

Lin asks the question on Zuko's mind, "Why would you want them to leave?"

"So they can find better lives elsewhere." She answers simply.

"I see?" Lin and Zuko reply in unison.

Azula shrugs.

"Not everyone is meant to stay at home their whole lives. Some folks need to travel and discover themselves to realize how much they miss their home or how much more is out there. By doing this we can establish a pipeline for future generations."

"You've really got it all figured out, huh?" Zuko marvels at her.

Lin offers his own wise words.

"The Dragon Empress presides over a different sort of empire now."

Azula, Lin, and Zuko stop outside her home.

From the bulky bag that Lin had provided, Azula pulls out a large piece of wood with faded writing on it. She kneels down and nails it to the stake outside her home. Zuko can't help but chuckle.

"A little on the nose, don't you think?"

She sees his point and chooses to ignore it.

"No idea what you're talking about. It's a welcome home sign."

"Oh, it's a welcome sign alright."

The group walks in. The sign, taken from her old home in Lanxi, hand delivered by Po Boh to Lin, reads the old familiar greeting she kept outside that home so long ago.

'Welcome to where you're going.'

"Oh, it was priceless!" Suki shakes the room with laughter. She reaches for her glass of plum wine. "Whatever you did before skipping town, it worked. Those ladies are just rolling the entire Lower Ring right now. It was an impressive operation."

"Does that concern you, Fire Lord Zuko?" Lin asks. "To hear that a major city is being partially shadow puppeted, while you meet with the figure heads on world matters?"

Zuko, put on the spot but in front of a safe audience, shrugs his shoulders. "I'm sure the underworld of Caldera and Republic City are sprawling enterprises I could never understand."

Ty Lee sips some water and adds, "Well Suki would know more about the Republic City stuff. She spent all those years in it, looking for you Lin!"

"Oh, sure. I used to, but not anymore." She rebuffs the notion. "Ever since I had Hana, I'm completely removed from it."

"Tell me again, how old is she now?" 

"She's about to turn 5, very soon. A few months."

"You got pregnant real quick after your Yakone operation, huh?"

"It wasn't planned like that, but, ya know. These things happen. And I'm blessed for it, trust me."

"So now she's back at home," Ty Lee adds. She catches herself and corrects, "Well, my old home, anyway."

"Yeah, I've settled back into a life on Kyoshi Island, with regular trips to Wolf Cove with Sokka. Actually, I'll be back towards the city in a month or two for a dinner on Air Temple Island."

"Hmm, you will?" Mai asks. She turns to Zuko, "Maybe we should invite ourselves to join?"

He smiles and nods. "Anything for you, My Love."

"Ya know, Zuko. I met another love of yours while I lived in Ba Sing Se," Azula tries to start some drama.

"Shut it, Empress," Mai cuts her off. "Ty Lee already told us and we squashed it."

"Oh boo!"

The room fills with laughter. The whole gang is gathered around the dinner table, enjoying fresh seafood and rice prepared by Ty Lee for the group's meal together. 

"Well, as far as updates go, Lanxi is thriving. It is much different, much more progressive than I remember it. They've grown so much. Po Boh was exhilarated to receive your letter, Empress. He said he's waiting for you to play Pai Sho again."

"After we knew she was living in Lanxi, and even after we heard you left, we made it a point to use the port more in our trading in the South Sea." Mai reveals.

"I think that makes sense. It's always made sense. Lanxi is more central to the trade routes than Chameleon Bay!" Azula channels her old Asuna self, vouching strongly for trade in Lanxi.

"Well, Lin," Suki cuts in. "How have you been? It's been a few years now since we met on that dock in the moonlight."

"Ah yes, when I saw you with the backdrop of a burning building and thought I would finally die."

"How did you burn that building down again?" Azula asks.

"Long story, not worth telling. This dude, chasing me, you all get the idea. We've all been there before."

"Oh, of course," Mai deadpans. "Who among us hasn't burned down an ocean front property while trying to break up a human trafficking ring in an undercover op, while simultaneously taking down the most powerful mob boss, kingpin, and Bloodbender the world has ever seen?"

The room chuckles along with Mai as Suki just rolls with it. "Yes, exactly. We've all done exactly this, no reason to belabor it. So, Lin, how have you been?"

"I am lovely. We recently celebrated Ai Zhou's 56th birthday. Roka, my first born son, he's 27 now and has been married three years. My daughter, Yuku, she's 23 and got married late last Fall. It's a race between the two to give us grandchildren."

"Think you'll retire any time soon?" Suki asks him. "I know when you were working as a witness against Yakone, we talked about-"

"Not yet. Soon though. Not much more to go before I can retire and relax for the rest of my days, knowing Roka and Yuku, and their children, are taken care of for life."

When it's clear that Lin has no more to share, Ty Lee turns the conversation over to the Royals at the table.

"Well, what about you two? How's the family? How's my mother-in-law who doesn't know she has a second daughter-in-law?"

Zuko gives a socially polite laugh. He is always tense about discussing Mother around Azula. It's a delicate topic.

"Uhm, she's good. Yeah. Good. She's into her 70's now. Noren passed away recently, so that's been hard. On top of Iroh's passing a few years ago, we've lost much."

He trails off, so Mai picks it up.

"Izumi just turned 19. I think she'd make the Empress quite proud," she says with a smirk, both sincerely and because she knows the name annoys Azula. "She's smart as fuck and sharp as a blade. Charismatic, beautiful. She's going to be a worthy Fire Lord someday."

"She really is." Suki adds, based on her limited interactions with their daughter.

"Oh sure. I haven't been to the Palace in a few years but I definitely remember sharing those sentiments." Ty Lee concurs.

Zuko finally has the motivation to speak again. He tells everyone, "Kiyi had a couple of kids since we last saw Azula. They're 13, 10, and 9 now. No father in the picture though, so she’s looking for a good man."

"You mean she wasn't a gender betrayer?" Azula asks with a sarcastically sincere tone. "I had such high hopes for my long lost step-sister."

This gets a small crack from the table. Azula can tell her joke didn't land as well as she had hoped. She decided to push the conversation forward herself.

"Well, I'm glad for them all. Even Ursa. She's a grandmother four times over now.”

"Ya know," Ty Lee grabs Azula's hand and squeezes. She unloads one of their deepest secrets with their family and friends. "We've talked for years about adopting."

"Oh?"

"Not surprised."

"Yeah?"

"It's true," Azula confirms. "Just never felt like the right time."

"Plus, it's been so dangerous here in Lonlhai, it seemed perilous." The grey eyed love of her life says. Then the former Kyoshi Warrior adds one last note.

"But in a lovely twist of fate, we've really become pseudo-parents to many of the children here, especially with the school opening soon! And you all must meet Senna while you're here. She's the cutest little-"

Ty Lee keeps going, explaining to everyone about the various children of Lonlhai in their life. Meanwhile, Azula gets lost in her own head. She considers how she avoided motherhood her entire life, too scared to make the same mistakes that Ursa made, among a litany of other reasons. However, in spite of all of her efforts, at every turn of her life, whether as the Mother of Kemurikage, a mother figure for Yasuko, or Aiwei or Siq, or even now Senna. Despite it all, fate kept thrusting motherhood upon her time and again.

Katara is sitting alone at the kitchen table, nose buried in a book. The roll of the waves crashing into the island, the chirp of the birds, the gentle breeze shaking the trees, the distant sounds of ships porting and exiting at Yue Bay, the happenings of trade and travel. This is her home, where she gave birth to her children and raised them. Where she and Aang settled together after winning a war, building a city, and remaking the world.

At this present time she feels her daughter avoiding her. Their argument last night did not conclude with any apologies or kind words. Kya never came down for dinner and hasn't come for breakfast yet. Katara figures she'll have to eat eventually, so that's part of why she's camped out in the kitchen. As much as the fight rubs her the wrong way, she still loves her daughter.

When she was younger, she despised those old water tribe wives, sitting at home, only good for healing. She now knows that motherhood has its joys, and she has experienced many of them first-hand. Although her present lot in life is similar to those old women she used to decry, the Matriarch of the Air Nation is nothing like them. She has lived a full life, experienced things, seen the world. Like the ships that come and go from Yue Bay, she has traveled and traded. She could never understand how they live that way.

A creak of a traitorous floorboard alerts Katara to the presence of another. She puts her book down and turns to see the only other person at home right now. Her daughter, Kya, head slightly bowed, her brow furrowed, face all twisted out of shape. She chides the teenager.

"Finally come out of your room? Did the hunger get to you?"

Kya lifts her head. Katara's triumphant bravado melts away when she sees the puffy eyes and contorted expression. She rises up and swiftly crosses the room.

"M-mom-"

"Oh baby!"

"I'm s-sorry for what I said."

Katara wraps the young waterbender into her arms and squeezes her full of warmth and comfort that only a mother's arms can provide.

"Oh no, hush, Kya. Not another word about it."

The teen let's loose fresh tears into the strong biceps of her taller mother.

"I was just upset and angry and I didn't mean it-"

"Shh shh. It's forgiven and forgotten. I don't even remember what we said or what it was about."

Katara feels confident in this being the best route forward, but she is rebuffed by her daughter.

"I don't want to forget, Mom."

"You don't?" She asks, surprised, leaning back to get a look at her.

"I-I want to talk to you about it."

"About what, sweetie?" She says, brushing Kya's loose hair, wet from tears, out of her face. "What happened?"

Kya wipes the remaining loose tears away and uses her forearm to rub her face dry. She licks her lips and looks away. Her lips quiver as she tries to gather the courage to admit the next part. Her teal eyes turn to Katara's ocean blues.

"Zira broke up with me."

"Zira? Whose Zira? And what's the matter with him? Doesn't he know you're perfect in every single way?"

The moment presents itself. Kya takes a leap of faith.

"... Her. "

Katara sees her daughter with new eyes. Kya makes the obvious more clear.

"Zira is… a girl."

Katara blinks and rubs the shoulders of her daughter. Her water bending baby princess. She scowls a bit as she asks.

"In that case, what's the matter with her ? Doesn't she know you're perfect in every way?"

Kya's face does new acrobatics, a fresh wave of tears come exploding forth, and then she buries them all into her mother's bosom. Katara rubs the back of her head and her long, beautiful, dark hair. She stands there, holding her daughter for as long as she needs. She fulfills the role that life calls her to be at that moment. She helps to mend the heartache. Everything she hated growing up, everything she claims not to be, yet all that she cherishes to be:

Someone to heal the hurt and broken.

Azula would categorize yesterday as one of the best days of her long life. That's no small remark given the various lives she's led, places she's been, things she's accomplished. But so many of them fall short of the measuring stick that yesterday provided for her. There are a few that stick out as better in her mind. Her wedding day, when Ty Lee turned around on the bridge of Lanxi, the day Ty Lee proposed, just about every day with the grey eyed brunette, honestly. So many other days pale in comparison to the joy she had at dinner with so many of her closest confidants. The only problem is that it was missing someone.

Azula pulls her coat closer, guarding against a suspiciously cold summer morning. As the footprints behind her gathered in the snow, she steels herself against an onslaught of nostalgia and emotion that crashes down upon her as she comes to stand outside the home of her neighbor. It takes so much and so little out of her to reach her hand out and turn the handle. She lets herself in as the door clicks. She enters and wipes her shoes on the mat by the door, worn down and filthy from a disregard for cleaning it. Gingerly she puts her small, lumpy bag down by the door.

"Hey," she calls out softly. "It's me."

She enters and makes her way past the kitchen and into the living room. Her heart aches as she appraises Ganzaya, sitting in the chair, hunched over, his 55 year old self beaten by the passage of time. The thinned out, almost hollow appearance is new; he's clearly not eating enough. His hands are folded over his lap.

"Hmmm?" He groans softly, blinking his eyes, as if she had roused him from a nap. "Oh, On Jin."

He coughs to clear his throat. "Hey."

"Hi." She breathes out.

Glancing down she can't help but notice the myriad of pictures splayed out across the living room table. Paintings of Achak and of the Guru with other villagers. Most prominently though are the ones of the two of them together. Images that had once inflicted pain on herself at the memory, but which she has had to push past in her rebuilding of the village.

She leans down and gives him a close, one-arm hug. He tells her as she does so, "Good t-to see you. Wasn't expecting you though."

His speech impediment, the lifelong challenge he has faced, has only become worse over the last two plus years as he's barely spoken. She sits beside him and with a sly smile she tells him,"Geez, you don't remember? I told you last week I was coming to take you to breakfast. You're too young to be forgetting so quickly."

All she gets from him is a sad smile as he looks down and mumbles, "Not hungry."

"Oh c'mon, Watchkeeper. This will give you a chance to meet some of my friends, and even my family. Plus, Rangi is making your favorite. Eggs, with puffin-seal sausages, and seaweed cookies. All the fixings of a delicious meal that'll make you sick from overeating."

He takes a heavy, struggling breath. He repeats himself, "Not hungry. 'Sides, I'd be bad company."

Azula bites down on her lip, agonizing as she observes the once proud warrior and master swordsman lays defeated and broken hearted. To think she hated him when she first arrived, or at least felt like they may never get along. He represented something she never had: an honorable background. He devoted his life to a single objective while she bounced around the world, never tied down, never committed to any one place or cause.

But that was long ago. The circumstances of Lonlhai's destruction, twice over, had changed them both, allowing them to bridge together what was otherwise an insurmountable chasm of life differences. And while he had once had the strength to do what she couldn't, now it is she who must be strong and carry the Watchkeeper to the next phase of his life. 

"Doesn't have to be that. We can go anywhere. Doesn't have to be with anyone. Jus-just you and me, if you want?"

With another labored breath he answers.

"Appreciate it. But, I just…" he trails off, eyes catching another photo of Achak.

In that moment Azula felt a desperation tug at her heartstrings. She needs to get through to him if she can. Otherwise she knows she'll be preparing for more funeral rites before the year could end. She reaches a hand down and places it on top of his. She speaks with a low, firm, yet kind tone.

"I know it's tough, Ganzaya. I'm not going to pretend that if I was in your place, and Rangi went before me, that I wouldn't just curl up into a ball and disappear into the darkest corner I could find, waiting for the end to come. Just so I could maybe be with her after this life."

'Oh Agni. Oh Agni, take me first, when it's time. Please don't let me outlive her.'

"And I know damn well that saying something fucking obvious like, 'This isn't what Achak would want for you,' and 'He would've thrown you out into the snow if he saw you like this,' won't work on you. So let me do something so quintessentially me, and be selfish as fuck right now."

He doesn't even crack a smile at her self-deprecating humor. This doesn't deter her as she stands and briskly walks to the door, picking up the bag she had brought with her. She walks back and takes her seat again beside him. She opens the bag and removes its contents. A scroll of parchment, and some gardening tools. She unravels the parchment and lays it out. A design of a building with a title 'Achak's Academy.'

Ganzaya blinks his eyes, focusing intently on what's before him before muttering, "... what?"

He pauses and rises up a few inches.

"On Jin?" He asks, turning his head.

She smiles, surprisingly grateful for the tears in her eyes to further drive home her point. "Yeah, I wasn't going to tell you until after breakfast, but it's clear you needed some motivation. That school that we've been building for two years now? This is the charter for it. I had them name it after him. Made them, really. They didn't fight, I just wouldn't let them suggest any other options."

She sniffles.

"Achak won't get to smell his flowers on this one…but you can. You have the opportunity. But not at the rate you're going."

She finally reaches up and wipes the tears away.

"So if you're gonna insist on moping here alone until you go off into the great beyond, you better spend that time wisely, thinking about how you're going to explain to him that you had a chance to teach swordsmanship to an entire generation of young village kids, at the school named after him, but you couldn't fight for it. That you got tired and went out quietly."

She leans back and crosses her arms.

"I don't know what life's like after we die, but if there's a couch in that world, I imagine you'll be sleeping on it for, like, ever."

She watches as he struggles to lift his hands up and then touch the parchment. His eyes gloss over the gardening equipment. He turns his eyes to her and she answers his question.

"I spent some years living in this little town called Lanxi. Out to the east in the Earth Kingdom. Small little podunk town. It was there that I discovered gardening. And these are the tools I used when I lived there."

She picks up a familiar, handheld spade.

"This was a part of my life that I thought was gone. But that's the beauty of gardening: if we keep going, if we dig deep enough, we can plant new seeds. New plants, with a new purpose."

She admires the objects delivered by Lin from Po Boh, all the way from the storage they still keep of the belongings she had to leave behind.

"It takes time. It takes hard work."

She turns to him now.

"But it can be done."

She waits patiently for a response. He glares at her at first, like he glared at her the first time they met in Lonlhai, with Achak there between them. She laughs a little inside, because she can tell he's not angry at her, but rather playing a part. A role he has in their relationship. She grows hopeful, because if he's playing the part now, maybe he'll keep playing it. His face drops the facade and returns to the table, to the charter and the tools.

After another moment he pushes himself up out of the seat, rising to his feet. He's unsteady at first but grows more certain as he balances. He waves off her hands as she tries to help.

"He would fucking hate it if I never had seal-sausage again. M-maybe just a few."

"O-oh! Yeah! Absolutely." Azula replies before swallowing hard.

"And eggs. Can't have one without the other."

"Totally. Whatever you want." She rises up and takes his arm, moving towards the door together.

"And the seaweed cakes. Love those."

Azula tries not to laugh as they make their way out of the house.

Later, they'll tend to the gardens together.

Chapter Text

[Fall/Winter 134 AG]

They say the world will end in either fire or ice. For the people of a certain village on Linlhao Island, it is ending at the tip of a blade. The fire bender who has guarded them against encroaching evils lays dead in the street. In their attempt to kill the assailant they had failed in such a way that their wayward fire blasts had spread out and fanned flames upon most of the buildings. The freezing cold of impending winter welcomes all who run from their burning homes.

Amongst the soot and frost, a pair of women huddle together behind some wreckage. A mother, 41, and her 15 year old daughter hold each other and try to remain quiet as the trauma of their lives crashes down around them. One by one screams of their neighbors and friends are silenced by the wrong side of a non-benders sword. The mother takes a smog-infused breath and swallows hard. The air is heavy, her eyes sting, her heart aches as she holds her daughter for perhaps the last time.

"Yerre, my baby," Suerida starts, voice straining as she tries to whisper the instructions to her. "You need to run. It is the only hope."

"Mama, no! I can not, I will not!"

"Your the most important thing I've ever done, darling. You must live. I will distract him, but you must go-"

"I won't leave you!"

"-run, and then run some more. Go through the night and you can reach Lonlhai by morning, my baby."

"Mama." The teenager breaks down, the full weight of it crashing down on her.

"You go and get the Watchkeeper and his two wards and tell them every-"

Suddenly the door beside them swings open and a triumphant figure stands above them. They shield their eyes from the sudden infusion of light. Standing over them is a figure of immense power and they see a sliver of possible salvation forming before them. They reach a hand down, grips Yerre by the arm, and then yank her from the ground.

"NO!" The mother tries to stand but the man delivers a kick to her chest and she collapses onto the dirt.

Yerre was never taught to be a fighter. When she was still 13, the powers that be in Lonlhai sent a firebender to be stationed with them in her village of Montu, and for over a year and a half now he has stood strong as a pillar of the community, a father, and a protector. Until today, when he was slain in the streets, followed by many others. Yerre, an awkward, clumsy girl with an affinity for reading and individual connections, leans back on a foot and pulls her arms up into an offensive set, or at least her best iteration of one as she saw others make in the past. She thinks of her mother and all of her ancestors who provided for her and made it possible for her to be here right. Yerre lunges forward, swinging a fist at the man.

He dodges it with ease. In quick movements with the upward twist of his saber, he pierced through her gut and ribs, the blade slicing her insides and running out her back, inches from her spine.

"Glug!" She gasps.

"YERRE!" Suerida screams, still holding her stomach on the ground from the force of the kick. "NO!"

The man forcibly removes his saber from her body and she collapses to the ground, her crimson blood coating the sword, a pool of it beginning to form on the ground at her location. Suerida begins crawling on the ground to the body, tears spilling out, pain and anguish overcoming her. Before she can reach the body, the killer grabs her by the shoulders and then launches into the air, away from her daughter's dying body. She lands on the ground and rolls, sobs pouring out, her aching soul wishing to leave her body.

"Go to Lonlhai." A voice speaks in a tone that is low and shakes the earth.

Suerida rolls and looks at Yerre's corpse a few feet away.

"Go tell the Watchkeeper."

She cries and wipes her tears, hysterical and broken. She looks up at the man wearing a mask and in powerful armor, some of it adorned with artwork of thorns, some of it actually woven together with thorns. She gasps for air and asks him.

"What?"

The man with the saber moves towards her, standing in between mother and dead daughter.

"Tell him I'll be waiting for him, in another village, and if he doesn't show himself in 3 days then I'll take that one too."

He can see her still looking to her daughter. He knows she needs proper motivation.

"Leave now and I'll leave her body alone. But if you linger, you won't even be able to bury her. There won't be anything left to bury. Go. Now."

He turns his back on her and produces a rag from his pocket. She lays on the ground, watching him work and asks him another question.

"Who are you?"

With smooth, downward strokes, he wipes the blood off of his blade, and then turns to her.

"He called himself The Harbinger," Suerida reports. Her voice trembles and her hands shake at her side. "Harbinger Yong."

She finishes telling them the story of the Sacking of Montu. It was a harrowing journey for her throughout the day and night to arrive here in Lonlhai. She stands before the most powerful people within hundreds of miles: The Watchkeeper, a legend of old who has saved this village a hundred times over it seems. The Guardian and the Ghost are his two most recent proteges, although word has not spread to the rest of Linlhao of their true strength. This is exactly as On Jin wishes it to be, so that the story of them does not outgrow the island. Suerida pictures Yerre on the ground, the blood splattered on the ground and she feels an intense mixture of sadness and incandescent rage.

"Please, Watchkeeper," she begs him with a voice full of sound and fury. "You must find him and kill him."

Ganzaya looks into her ocean blue eyes. Eyes that have seen unimaginable horrors now. Eyes that are changed forever.

"We are truly sorry for your loss, Suerida," the Ghost replies with empathy. The tall, beautiful woman with brown hair and grey eyes sits forward in her seat, a scimitar being white knuckled. "And please know this: I assure you that it will be his ends that are met."

Suerida looks away from the woman and to the one she knows. The man she can trust, the ones that songs are sung about and that history will remember for his defense of the island. He holds her eye contact for a moment and then gives the slightest of nods to affirm what has been said. Suerida feels victorious and crushed all at once.

"My last question is this," Rangi gets her attention back. "All of what you've described? It was the work of just one man?"

Suerida nods her head to confirm. This causes much concern and pondering for the Ghost. She has much to consider and plan around. Ty Lee instructs the woman to exit and find Aklaq, who will ensure that she has food and a place to rest. The dark skinned window nods and begins to make her leave but stops. She turns back to the three sword carriers and appeals to them once more.

"Please. You have to kill him! He took everything from me. My husband, my daughter. My home. I have nothing left!"

Suddenly, the smaller woman with amber eyes and black hair sits up. She finally speaks, an inquisitive tone.

"He said to tell the Watchkeeper? Not the Guardian or the Ghost?"

Fresh tears overcome the woman. She just nods. Azula sits back and waves her off. She gives her a blessing in her dismissal.

"That's enough, Suerida. Please go. And may Yue be with you."

When Suerida is gone and well beyond earshot, Ty Lee finally offers her thoughts on the disturbing matter to her colleagues.

"What kind of monster kills everyone in a family except the mother?" 

Ganzaya just shakes his head, but Azula sees the forest through the trees.

"It's a conquest tactic," she coolly explains. "The mother of a family is maybe the most vulnerable to be left alive. If she ever wants to have a family again, she won't have a choice but to take in a new husband and birth new children. It's physical and mental warfare."

"It's fucked up, is what it is."

"I agree."

"So of course we have to go out and kill him."

"Well,-"

"Huh?!" Ty Lee sits up when she hears Azula hesitating. "So, what? We're just gonna let him run free because he's not here ?"

"I didn't say that."

"But that's the implication if we don't go out and kill him."

Ganzaya simply mumbles his famous question to her, "Redemption?"

"I'm not saying we should try and redeem him. I'm saying we shouldn't act so hastily. Maybe staying here serves a greater good!"

Azula is well aware of the consequences of not meeting the demands of this 'Harbinger,' but in her mind there is also plenty of reason to pause. She's not intentionally looking at it with indifference to the lives and homes of the other villagers. She stopped viewing others as throwaways long ago. Nonetheless, going out to face this challenger meant putting Ty Lee, and to a greater extent, Ganzaya at risk. What's more, Lonlhai is their home, and clearly from this Harbinger's perspective they are not known beyond the island. It seems that she had burned out the last of that when she struck down Conqueror Kallik. The last thing she wants is her blue fire spreading into a forest fire that alerts the world around them.

"We can not let more innocent islanders die, On Jin." Rangi demands of her.

"Maybe there's another way?"

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Not… yet."

"Then we're wasting time. She left about 18 hours ago. We have 50 some hours to get out there, track him down, and stop him from dismantling another village."

"Our responsibility is to Lonlhai, will we really leave it undefended? Wide open to another attack?"

"First he takes Montu, and we do nothing. Then he takes Shabbu's Way, or Hilad, or maybe even Bear's Cove? Will we do nothing then? Until there's nothing left to take?"

"We can send out reinforcements to the other villages. Garrisons en route that can fan out and defend far faster and wider than we can."

"Faster and wider, but not better, On Jin. Not better than us."

A tense silence falls over the meeting room. Azula traces backwards in her mind the various things she said, the ideas she has, and she considers how she could bring them up again, in a more persuasive manner. Ty Lee does the same, in considering how she can convince her wife that staying put will only create more damage and harm. Finally, the silent sentry in the room breaks the hard quiet.

"She's right."

They stare at each other a moment.

"Which one?"

"Her or me?"

"I have spent my life in service to this village. The guarding of it and protection has always been mine and mine alone. But it is not mine alone anymore. We are stronger together and we must unite the villages around the island. There will be nothing to unite if this Yong tears them all down."

"Yes! Thank you, Ganzaya!"

"No. This is a mistake." Azula tries to plead with him. She feels the tide rising against her and tries to swim against the current anyway. "Whoever this man is, he wants you , Ganzaya. He wants the Watchkeeper. We can not let him get you alone."

The widower nods in response.

"I understand."

"I'm serious." She insists.

"We know." Ty Lee says, standing up with Kyoshi's Fan in her hand, and going to knock on the sealed door.

"No splitting up, strength in numbers. If we get split up, we retreat until we can reunite. I can protect both of you, but only if we're together."

Ty Lee smiles wickedly.

"Who says we'll need you to protect us?"

The door opens and Warden Aklaq enters.

"The decision?" He asks.

"We're heading out, boss." Ty Lee explains with a mock salute. "We'll be back in probably 3 days' time."

"I don't like this." He mumbles.

"Me neither." The Guardian mumbles.

"Too bad!"

Ganzaya gets up and walks out. As he's going On Jin shouts instructions.

"Gather your essentials and meet at the gates in an hour. We can't spare any more time."

Ty Lee follows Ganzaya out the door and steps quickly to walk beside him. On Jin stays another minute to explain the situation to their Warden. Aklaq asks a few questions, but leaves with even more as Azula makes her way to gather her items. A dangerous path falls before her and she senses something treacherous is in the air.

Nightfall came in fast.

They had departed before sunset but given the time of the year it encroached on them quickly. The trio made it out about six hours before they finally made fire and settled in for a planned four hour sleep. They couldn't keep going due to the exhaustion, but time is of the essence and they know that. They engulf some cod they'd brought with them and then Rangi makes camp. Once her tent is set she quickly falls asleep.

Ganzaya is sitting on a tree stump, a quill in one hand and a parchment in the other. He is scribbling some thoughts down while they're fresh on his mind. He wears a forest green parka, which the whole village has begun associating him with; a gift from Achak shortly before his untimely demise, Ganzaya now wears it constantly as a reminder of his love. On Jin considers retiring, but instead chooses to pursue a conversation with him. A question on the tip of her mind. She comes and stands above him.

"Why?"

He just looks at her.

"Why did you agree to this?"

He gestures with a hand back towards Lonlhai. "I said-"

"I know what you said. What you said was stupid. What's going on here? Do you know this Harbinger Yong?"

He shakes his head.

"But I take it you feel responsible? Like you need to answer his call?"

He sighs. "My title is known. It inspires. And invites."

"Invites?"

He nods. "You know. Better than the Ghost. A name invites others to challenge."

"Hmm," she breathes through her nose. "I think I understand now. We bring it on ourselves with our names. Watchkeepers, Guardians, Ghosts, Harbingers, Conquerors, Spirits of Death and Lightning, all that shit."

"Indeed."

She reflects on a life of fighting in and out of the shadows.

"Yong is just the latest in a long line of bastards who've come to feel my wrath."

Ganzaya nods. He strikes eye contact with On Jin and tells her, "His blood will coat my blade." 

Now it is she who nods in silence. After another moment he points in the direction of Rangi's tent. He instructs her, "Go, be with your wife. You'll need your strength for the battles ahead."

"What about you?"

He smiles, holding his quill and parchment.

"I'll keep the last watch. Tomorrow you can, once the Harbinger has been felled by your wrath."

She lets out a breath as a sign of laughing, then turns and goes to bed. Ganzaya writes his thoughts down.

Azula has spent a lifetime around fire. She has marveled at its wonder, and shuddered at its destruction. Fire can rejuvenate and restore, rebuild with its ability to melt down barriers. Yet far too often, from her youth to her adulthood, she has seen it used to break and burn and end. So it is that she can't help but grow concerned as they approach Montu, and ash sprinkles down like snowflakes. She knows it before the others do, long before, because the smell and the touch of the ash is so familiar.

"Yue," she says aloud, looking around at the floating specks when the village remnants come into view. 

Azula begins to wonder, as they walk into what remains of the town, how much the crunch of their footsteps is a result of the snow, and how much of it is the ashen remains of the village and its people. It reminds her of the Burning of Lonlhai and the Day of Burning Rock, a debilitating feeling that threatens to shut her down. A harsh reminder of what 'cleansing' fires can do when left unchecked.

The three fighters roam through the streets looking for survivors, but can't find any. When this fails they set their sights on finding the body of Yerre, in the hopes that they may be able to return her to Suerida back at Lonlhai. After a while they find a facedown body near the outskirts, with dry blood surrounding it. There's a single puncture on the back, right by her spine. Long, black hair, and dark, tan skin. Ty Lee rolls her over and shudders. Ganzaya shakes his head in anger and suffocating sadness. The young girl has been desecrated; her face disfigured, now unrecognizable.

The Harbinger had lied.

The Harbinger must pay.

It's late again as the trio sit around a campfire once more. Night arrived and so their watch began, anticipating a potential sneak attack from their prey. The air is heavy among them, weighted down with smoke and winter's chill. The unspoken part that haunts them is the reality that they failed as leaders and as warriors to save Montu or Yerre or anyone outside of Lonlhai. All traveling members have adopted the style of the Watchkeeper: few words, lots of brooding, and contemplation.

Tracking was never Azula's strong suit. That honor belonged to Ty Lee and, as it turns out, Ganzaya. They have been leading the efforts throughout the day to try and find the Harbinger. He'd left an obvious trail, intentionally or not, which has led them to the northeast, growing ever closer to the coast of Linlaho. As an island surrounded by water, his shortest path from here would be to the Earth Kingdom's Jaohu's Island, which he could use to hit the port and express himself to Lanxi, Chameleon Bay, Quingao, Wugui, or go the other way and head towards Kyoshi Island, Republic City, or even the Fire Nation. In short, and to not repeat the obvious, once he left Linlhao, it would become exceedingly difficult, maybe even impossible, to track him down.

Which is exactly why Azula is so on edge. Because tracking isn't her thing. Never has been, never will be. She may be a hunter, but she's not a finder. As they sit around the fire, her knee bounces about a hundred times per minute. She keeps her hands clasped together and her eyes remain locked on the flame. She doesn't want to look elsewhere or at either of them for fear of accidentally lashing out at them.

Ty Lee keeps herself busy, checking the food and the tents. Every 15 minutes or so she takes a lap around their perimeter to look for threats, even as all of them are more than capable of handling anything that comes their way. She wrings her hands and fidgets a lot as she desperately tries to avoid thinking about the horrors she's seen and remind her of similar scenes she's witnessed throughout her life. It's a surprising thing that they lived and fought in the Hundred Year's War, yet her life after the war is the thing that strangles her dreams and turns them to nightmares.

Ganzaya, to his credit, is keeping his insatiable rage in check. At least that's how it appears to the outsiders. He heats the pot for their meal and in-between sitting the pot he consults maps. Every once in a while he looks to the stars and holds a hand up to measure the distance. He considers all the paths the Harbinger could've taken and how they can close the gap with their last 20 hours or so. Realistically, he knows, there are only two choices:

Kyota or the coastal village of Shabbu's Way.

They should get a better read in the morning, once the sun rises again. Shabbu's Way makes sense if the Harbinger really does plan to skip town. However, that doesn't logically make sense. The question keeps bouncing around in his mind.

'Why attack villages and challenge Lonlhai's protectors if he was just going to skip town?'

That would be chaos for chaos' sake. A lawless, looming threat over the island and its inhabitants. No, the more realistic path is that the Harbinger is after some sort of endgame. Some plot of supremacy over all of Linlhao. He is a powerful swordsman and a danger to their way of life. A nonbender whose force of will has become too powerful to be allowed to continue.

They gather for food. Ty Lee sits with a plate of beans and slop and now she pours over the maps that Ganzaya had been examining earlier. He takes this time to continue to write the note he’s been keeping. She takes a lead quill and runs it across here and there, making markings while taking idle, mindless mouthfuls of the meal from her spoon. Azula, on the other hand, eats it all so fast she nearly licks the plate clean. When she is done she stands and completes some training exercises from a few feet away.

Ganzaya sees the two women and how they work through their stress. He has known this for some time about each of them, but it is another thing entirely to be a lived experience together. He contemplates how to free them from this unhealthy habit of allowing the pain and existential dread to linger. He weighs his words carefully and tells them something, unprompted and without warning.

"We will find this Harbinger Yong."

His tone is resolute. There is a fire in his eyes more powerful than the one fighting off the freezing cold. He still dons the green parka that gives him all the wisdom of his husband. He looks at both of them before speaking again. He sits up straight as an arrow, his hands balled into fists. His words are as true as the night is dark.

"Before all the words are spoken, Moon's Veil will pierce his skull."

The crisp winter air isn't so bad when you would otherwise be sweating without it. The three hunters have tracked their prey across Linlhao, making speedy progress and it's fair to believe they'll soon be meeting with their end. At this point they have a guidance issue. Rangi is a highly talented tracker, but since moving to Lonlhai 6 years ago, she has not traveled far or very often outside of the village. So her experience doesn't help her in knowing where they are. On Jin is practically useless as a tracker. Ganzaya has the knowledge, skills, and abilities, except that he's old and slower compared to the other two. He lags behind them as they rush forward trying to decipher the next steps.

The wives in a rush to wait on a guide who is seven years their senior, but spent his years in much different, far more strenuous ways than them. From various battles and fights his knees betray him, aching with each twist, growing heavier and slowing him down over time. The group is running very short on time as the third day is drawing close to the end. If they do not find Yong in the next few hours, he could strike down one of these villages. Unbeknownst to them, the girls are approaching a crossroads, a point of choosing which way to go. The road forks and they must make a choice of either Kyota or Shabbu's Way.

On Jin and Rangi blindly wander down the path towards Shabbu's Way, but Ganzaya, a minute or so behind them, finally reaches the crossroads. His green parka is damp with sweat. He decides to stop to catch his breath and notices something about the path they are on. He kneels down and gets a closer look. Alone for a few moments he is tuned into the sights, sounds, and scents all around him. The path forward becomes clear as a lifetime of moments and memories lead him to this.

"Why do you go that route?" He asks.

They stop when they realize he has called to them, several yards away. They look at one another and mumble some disagreement before deciding to go back towards him.

"What'd you say, 'Zaya?" On Jin asks him.

"This path, why do you take it?"

On Jin turns to Rangi, who suddenly feels defensive and self-conscious. She points along the path and explains.

"The trail to Shabbu's Way looks more worn down, like it's been recently tread. As in last night or maybe sooner. The route to Kyota one doesn't have any of those signs. It's an educated guess, but I feel good about it."

Ganzaya understands now and nods in acknowledgement.

"That is wrong. Come. There is an overlook."

"Where?"

"Nearby."

The girls agree. Ganzaya leads the way down the path towards Kyota and, sure enough, a few minutes later they reach a high peaking overlook that stares down the steep hills to the village. The small enclave still stands, not reduced to rubble like Montu had been.

"You think it's Kyota? You're sure?" Rangi asks, concerned and apprehensive.

"This is where the end is met." He confirms.

"Alright," Rangi shrugs. "Then how do we want to play this? Go down and clear out the town?"

"That's best." Ganzaya agrees.

"No, if the place is empty he'll know and could run before we can even find him."

Rangi still harbors doubts about Kyota. She offers, "Maybe we should split up? I can head to Shabbu's Way and you two stay here?"

"No!" Azula shouts before Ganzaya can agree or disagree. "No splitting up."

"On Jin, you're being difficult. Are we just going to stay up here and wait for him to show up? What then? Just watch him tear the place limb from limb?"

"No. Yes? Maybe? I don't know! But we can't split up and we need to lure him in."

The indecisiveness that had plagued Azula back in the village has returned. She's out of her element now, fighting an unknown enemy on unknown terms. She has no idea what to expect, nor how skilled he will be in battle. She knows she can do what is necessary, but so many variables and unknowns make up her concern.

"Me."

Ganzaya drags her attention away from the tiny village splayed out before them.

"It has to be me." He says, with a head gesture towards the town.

"No. No!" Azula refutes.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about that, Ganzaya." Ty Lee also disagrees.

"He did not call for either of you. He is only expecting the Watchkeeper. No Guardians, no Ghosts."

"Sure, but maybe we can get closer? Stake out the village from nearby, maybe even in the town?"

"He will know."

"He won't -"

"He let us follow him here."

"No, he left markings and-"

"On purpose."

This makes sense to Azula. She felt that it was too easy for them to track him here. Ty Lee disagrees, growing desperate and concerned. This felt like multiple mistakes being made. She is allowing an older man to lead them, or this village, or another village to certain doom. 

"He will know there are more." Ganzaya says. "You must remain beyond sight or he will never appear."

On Jin turns to Rangi. She appears conflicted and doubtful. Her mind races with tracking clues, her lack of knowledge of the island, and the villages. She concedes.

"He might be right."

"I won't let us split up." Azula vetoes the plan.

"We won't, Guardian," he puts a hand on her shoulder. "You will be right here."

"No," she shakes her head. "No, I can't protect you if you're down there."

"But he has a point." Ty Lee tries to argue.

Ganzaya puts his hands up to quiet the arguing. He makes direct eye contact with Azula. His golden eyes, paled from their once summer sunset shade when he was a young Lonlhai boy born to a Fire Nation mother, looks into hers. The fiery amber of a once all powerful Fire Nation empress.

"Do you trust me, On Jin?"

He puts a hand out for her to shake.

She contemplates it for a few moments, eyes not breaking the contact. Finally, she grabs his upper arm and shakes it. A new confidence is found and she nods as she replies.

"I do." 

He nods back.

"You will have the last watch this time."

She agrees.

"Together, we will bury the Harbinger."

A fire roars within.

A couple of hours go by without fare. The last of the 72 hours elapses.

Ganzaya is waiting in the empty town center when he sees it.

A foreboding figure coming towards them, their long shadow stretching along the ground towards him like the fingertips of death itself.

Ty Lee peers down into the village square through a telescope they'd brought with them. Azula sits beside her, eyes lingering upon the man, his forest green parka easily distinguishable even from this distance. He's small from her perspective, but not tiny. She remembers a handful of other times in her life, sitting atop a hill, staring down at a waiting village. It's an oddly familiar feeling, but not one she takes much pride in.

"Oh? Here we go!" Ty Lee grows excited behind the telescope.

Azula focuses on the figure in the village. In the distance, Ganzaya stands, his back to them and the sun.

Ganzaya welcomes death. He rises to meet it, not wanting to keep his guest waiting.

His right hand grips the handle of Moon's Veil, perhaps for the last time. He tugs the pommel and the steel dislodges from the ground. The sun reflects off of it, gleaming and blinking towards his enemy.

Azula and Ty Lee watch as Ganzaya stands up and unearths his sword.

People all around the village square witness what is happening and what's about to go down. They scurrying away. A figure comes into view, their face obscured by the sun's shadow. 

Ganzaya usually keeps Moon's Veil at his side, but in this instance he wants to invite the challenge even more than just his name and the situation calls for. Every part of him entices his opponent to attack him. He lifts his longsword up and places the dull side on his shoulder.

The village is quiet in the center of town as the figure comes to a stop before him.

"Show time! Let's go!" Ty Lee shouts.

She stands up and Azula leads the way. As she's running behind, Ty Lee closes the telescope and stuffs it into her bag. They hustle to get down to the village, a surprise waiting for the Harbinger. Justice for Suerida and Yerre within grasp.

"You're the dreaded Harbinger who is known?"

The villain wears his outfit made of black armor, with a mask covering his entire face. His armor is decorated with images in the stitching of thorns. Some of his actual armor appears to be infused with real life thorns, pointed outward at his enemies. His cursed saber, Every Rose, spins in his hand, but remains at his side. The only word he speaks is a question.

"Alone?"

"Just us."

Yong looks around at the empty village square. He turns his head to the side. "You cleared out the people?"

"I did."

The road into Kyota is a winding dirt path. Their feet beat it down further as they rush and scramble to make their way. A different kind of rush goes through their minds at this time.

There is concern about the plan not working, or even perhaps the Harbinger proving to be too much to handle, even for them. The other concern is the idea that they may not arrive in time, that Ganzaya and Yong do battle before they can intervene. 

All of that seems far away as the village draws closer and closer. The anxiety shrinks away as the town becomes bigger. Victory is imminent, each step they take, each stride and pounce bringing them ever closer to the end of this dark chapter.

"Where's your Guardian? Your Ghost?"

Ganzaya smiles, knowingly. He tightens his hold on the handle.

"On their way."

Ty Lee and Azula come to a sprinting halt in the center of the village, as people stream past them. The busy roadway does not relent as the people go about their day. Their eyes fix upon the foreboding figure across from them. A small, teenage boy, with a goofy grin and holding a wooden sword.

They spin Ganzaya around in his green parka.

"Sorry lady!" Another teenage boy greets them, wearing Ganzaya's famous green parka. He has acne and a giant smile. His voice is high as he tells her, "Your friend ditched you!"

"Ditched… us?" Rangi asks.

"You tricked them? Your comrades?" Yong asks, surprised but pleased. With confidence and an aura of invincibility he asks, "Why? You can't kill me by yourself."

"Yeah, he gave us all this coin!" The child stand-in replies.

Their eyes dart between the two boys.

"He said all I had to do was sit a certain way for two hours wearing this parka."

"And he said for me to wait a couple of hours and then come out and act like I was going to fight him!"

"I know." Ganzaya concedes. He sighs heavily, the exhale leaving his lungs with much difficulty and weighting on his mind. "But I'm tired. And I wish to be with my husband."

He tightens his grip around the handle of Moon's Veil.

"So either I die with honor or I kill you."

His feet dig in. Eclipse hangs at his hip. The legendary swordsman smiles wickedly.

"Either one is fine with me." And Ganzaya attacks.

The Watchkeeper dashes forward and Harbinger Yong does the same.

"Where did he go!" Azula shouts in the boy's face, gripping tightly the handle of Agni's Lament. She foams at the mouth and a tiny bit of blue fire escapes, scaring the boy.

"I-I don't know! He went that way after he gave me the coat." The boy shields himself somewhat from the firebender.

Ty Lee advances and breathlessly asks, "What's out that way?

The boys look at each other but don't reply immediately. The Ghost grows angry and shouts at them.

"What's out that way!"

"Nothing!" One replies, shuttering at her yell. People around the village are coming to a stop to watch this scene unfold.

"There's nothing out there," one says meekly. He tries to offer to them, "Nothing except Shabbu's Way on the coast."

Azula and Ty Lee turn to one another, a terrified look in their eyes. They look back to the endless path and direction the young stranger pointed towards. Azula gulps hard, her heartbeat practically in her ears. Everything is spinning around her, the devastating truth crashing down on her. She needs to run. She needs to get there now! She charges forward into the unknown.

Ty Lee thinks quickly and turns around. She saw a single mongoose lizard in town. She runs over to its cage and breaks it open with a power kick to the door. The owners scream and shout and run at her. She shrugs them off, pushing them to the ground. She pulls the lizard out, muzzle already on, and throws her leg over the animal.

"I'm taking this, but I will return it."

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out enough coin for five new lizards. She throws it at the owners that she'd shoved to the ground.

"I'm sorry!" She shouts as she directs the lizard to advance.

She rushes forward, everything around her quickly becoming a blur. She knows instantly that she'll get motion sickness from this but that is not a concern. The lizard zips through the town, crashing into some people and miscellaneous objects before she quickly catches up to her wife.

"ON JIN!" She yells as they rapidly approach.

Azula turns on the spot and reaches a hand up. Ty Lee grabs her as the mongoose lizard warps past, and yanks her up onto the beast with her. Azula wraps her leg over it, grabs tightly onto Ty Lee's waist and they are off.

A race against time to rescue their friend from himself.

On Linlaho island, the sky is overcast. Perhaps the sun is shining somewhere, but not on their home, not today. There’s a slight wind, coming in from the northwest, blowing south. The winter is harsh, but at a waterfront village, much like Lonlhai, Shabbu’s Way is especially brutal. Snow all over the ground and ice forming along every rooftop and awning. The village was emptied out by the legendary Watchkeeper, a warrior known for generations all across the island. The wind, the emptiness, and the quiet all stir together to provide a foreboding, eerie sense to any who enter. Riding atop the mongoose lizard, the Guardian and the Ghost reach their destination in a fraction of the time it would've taken them by foot. They come to a stop in the silent village and say nothing.

A bloody body, lying on its back, facing the sky.

Azula hops off and runs the remaining way, but she already knows the outcome before she reaches the end.

The Watchkeeper is dead.

Ganzaya lies down on the ground, eyes shut, his body perfectly still, as if he was posed there for a painting or a photo. His blood stains the ground beneath him, but laying straight down on his body is his blade. Ganzaya’s hands are folded over his chest, covering the pommel of Moon’s Veil. The longsword is pointed down, towards his feet, covering the rest of his torso, and stopping around his knees. He was left this way for a reason. Some sort of message that the Harbinger wanted to be sent.

Azula's head droops and her eyes rest upon the corpse of her mentor and friend. Ganzaya joins an ever growing list of loved ones she has lost over time. An entirely avoidable death if any number of variables had gone differently. She balls her hands into fists at her side. Her eyes sting with a hot pain until she finally blinks and water slips out. She thinks about so many chances to get this right. If they had stayed home, if they had stayed together, if they had stayed on the path to this village instead of the other one, if Ganzaya hadn't gone off on his own.

'Why did he have to go off on his own?'

The hurt in her eyes grows stronger, a sweeping gust of pain spilling all over her head and body. More water dripping down, despite the best laid plans of a warrior woman. Suddenly, a weight clutches onto her. Ty Lee tenderly holds her arm and leans into her body, her own face painted with tears and anguish. The taller Ty Lee leans her head down and rests it on top of Azula's head. As the moments tick by and her memory flickers through the highlight reel of Ganzaya and Achak and everyone else that they've had to bury on this Yue forsaken island, something changes. The memories fade and are replaced. An unquenchable thirst springs forward. Her eyebrows arch, her brow furrows, her head tilts a little differently.

Ganzaya's death has created an emptiness within her. Filling the void in her heart is an anger, a rage. So strong it could shake the earth. A fire so powerful it could melt bones.

"The thought of you two dying someday is really fucking weird to me." Her 17 year old daughter says plainly.

"Aww, Kya. Don't be sad," Her husband, now 46, or 146 depending on who you ask, replies. "We all have a time to go."

"Yeah." Katara quietly agrees.

The three of them sit together at the oak gazebo, watching a beautiful winter sunset out over Mo Ce Sea. Tenzin has run off to do some post-dinner meditating and it gave the three of them some rare quality time alone. As a late teenager, Kya has been experiencing more mature feelings and musings lately. The looming existential dread of death's embrace is something she has recently come to grapple with and she now shares this burden with her parents. 

"And it's not like normal people who die, you two are special. When I die, there won't be any great mourning period where people will remember me."

"Now that is what is called a self-fulfilling prophecy!" Aang points out. "If you think you'll die and no one will remember you, then you won't do anything worth remembering."

"I don't get it." She blunts, much to her father's dismay.

Katara shifts gears. "It has to happen. To me, to you, even your father."

"Yes, okay, but that doesn't mean I want to be around to see it! I'd rather you two just live forever."

Aang shifts in his seat, turning his face away from the golden sunset and looking at his old daughter. His beard is rather long, his face containing only a few lines to show his age. He scowls a bit in contemplation before asking her.

"Why do you fear our death, Kya? What's got you so worked up?"

"I'm just," she starts and then stops. The teen girl bites her tongue and saves her thoughts. "I'm scared it won't end well. Like it will be sad, or for the wrong reasons, or that one of you will die first and then the other will die of a broken heart."

"I see," Katara starts up with a smile. "So either we both kick the bucket or neither of us goes, you got it."

She jokingly turns to her husband. She reaches a hand out and he takes it in a handshake. She tells him, "Together 'till the end. If you go, I go."

"MOM!"

"Absolutely, my dear. If you go, I go with you!"

"Dad! Stop!"

Kya is beside herself as her parents laugh hysterically. She punches his shoulder and then hers, although not with much force. Katara wraps an arm around her and squeezes her daughter tightly. Aang leans in and wraps his arms around both of them. They settle in together and watch the golden hour sunset descend over the water.

"I don't want either of you to go. Ever. I just want to," she pauses as she takes in a warm, pleasant breath. "I want us to stay right here forever."

"Don't worry, Kya," Katara hums as she mentally tries to capture this moment in her mind forever. "We're not going anywhere, any time soon."

They never found the Harbinger.

All signs pointed to him taking a boat off of Linlhao, right from the port at Shabbu's Way. A coward on the run from his fate. As far as Ty Lee is concerned he can run forever, because fate would catch up to him eventually. He would have to slow down, or stop, or make a mistake somewhere. And when he did, they would be waiting for him. Azula took Moon's Veil and Eclipse to carry with her, hoping to one day fulfill the promise that Ganzaya made by campfire.

It's easier for Ty Lee to compartmentalize and move on, at least for the time being. She shoulders the burden of busywork to keep the two of them functioning, while Azula shoulders the burden of existence. The survivors guilt and the self-blame that becomes almost all-consuming. When they eventually return home to Lonlhai, defeated and discouraged, the news had arrived long before them, crushing the villagers before they set foot back in town. The Harbinger may have only taken one life after Montu, but it happened to be the one Azula was fighting so hard to keep alive.

A few hours after finding his body, while preparing to transport it back to Lonlhai for funeral rites, Azula had found a note in one of his pockets. A small piece of parchment that was emblazoned with the name "On Jin" on it. She stuffed it away and couldn't bear to open it at first. She couldn't read it that night, or the next, or even the one after that. It's a couple of weeks later when she works up the strength to read it. Sitting alone in her living room, in one hand she grips the pommel of Moon's Veil, at her hip is Eclipse, and she finally unfolds the final words he wrote for her. 

— On Jin — 

Knew this day would eventually come. So here's one last lesson …

Everything ends, the good and the bad.

The good memories are only a blip and the bad days never seem to end. But the only permanent is death.

I'm off to join Achak and meet it.

If you're lucky, someday you'll meet it too.

For now though you've got more good to give.

I know you have hate in you. Most of us do. But you need to use it for yourself, rather than letting it use you. 

Know this, the pain can be a motivator, but should never be the motive. 

I had hoped to say this all to you in person. But we both know I was never one for long speeches, and writing them down seemed smarter given the prey we've been tracking.

This is how I wanted to go. As a labor of love. A sacrifice for my homeland. All of my life was a sacrifice for it, so this seemed fitting. Dying as I lived and doing some real good, and all that.

As good guys, we won't always win. No matter how much we want it. So if someone does harm, you go hunt 'em and get your justice.

You once said that you did the right things because they were the right things to do, not because you wanted to be right. Well, I'm here to teach you the opposite is also true. Don't hurt people because you were wronged. Hurt people because what they did was wrong.

And with this final lesson, I leave you a gift. I know longswords were never your strength. Two hands now. One hand guides, the other hand balances. Use it at your discretion - I know it'll be put to good use.

It's yours now, 'till the last watch is kept, all the words are spoken, and all the ends are met.

Till then.

- Ganzaya

Chapter Text

[Winter/Spring 136 AG]

At one time, Linlhao was a spiritual oasis. A wonderland on the edges of the territory between the South Pole and the Earth Kingdom. One could come and venture wherever they pleased and find a brother or sister in faith. There were communes all over, there were people living in every corner of this slice of earth. A place for anyone, inhabitants or otherwise, to come and be one with the spirits. Hundred of years, a myriad of pirates and warlords, and two very dedicated female Fire Nation protectors later, and the island is a mystery to all who come ashore. There are only a few main villages left, no direction, and the land paths change with seasonal avalanches from the mountains on the island.

Residing just a few miles east and a little south is Gako Island, an equally bereft and left behind place of yesteryear. The main differences being that the Fire Nation established a stronghold on Gako rather than Linlhao, giving it more resources and renown to build from after the war, decidedly less spiritual connection, a lower elevation, and numerous inhabitable villages. They also have standing maps all over the island to help guide strangers around should they find themselves lost.

For Tapisa of Gako Island, this would be especially helpful right now.

"Fucking shit. How hard can it be to find one village?" She mutters to herself as she wanders aimlessly through Linlaho's famous waterfront fog. "Gotta be around here somewhere?"

Tapisa is a 19 year old waterbender of medium height. She has tan skin and white hair, which she wears in a combination of high ponytail and braids on each side of her face. She has a small face, small breasts, small ocean-blue eyes, and muscles made of iron. She is yet another weary traveler, come in search of Lonlhai. The myth of the village has grown with the years. It was once known as the last tether to the spirits in the entire Southern Water Tribe. But about fifteen months ago something happened in the village and suddenly the walls went up, quite seriously. Walls that reportedly reached up to 30 feet high sprung up around the village's land-based exterior, and the port authority received sizable upgrades. For a nothing, nowhere village with little to no resource, it is a modern marvel. For Tapisa, though, it might as well be out in space. She can't find it and has been wandering the island for hours, as others have done before her.

"Have to prove them wrong. Have to get there," she mutters to herself again, her body struggling to compensate for the poor conditions. "Have to find The Heathen."

The native of the neighboring island stumbles through a wooded area, unaware that she is the one being hunted.

"Aunt On Jin, can we please go home now?" The child wines. "I'm hungry. And tired. I wanna take a nap!"

"C'mon, Senna," Ty Lee coos at her, a hand running the top of her head. "Just a few more exercises and we'll head back, I promise. And then I'll make you some vegetables."

"Ewww!"

"And Aunt On Jin will make you some dumplings, just the way you like!"

"Yay!"

The three are out and about in the woodlands a few miles beyond Lonlhai. They've been out hunting to help stave off the remaining weeks of winter. They could assuredly get by, and if things got dire, Lin could make an emergency purchase using some of Ty Lee's money and deliver it to the port at the village, but they're fairly confident they won't reach that point.

What's more, they are out and away from the village because they have been secretly training Senna in the ways of healing with her waterbending. Aklaq and Miki seemed hesitant to the idea of their daughter being crowned 'the chosen one' and being a healer for the entire village. Senna's aunties understood that, and yet they still wanted to help her learn how to use her skills and abilities. If she just so happen to also pick up healing along the path, then so be it.

Azula scoffs as the trio walks together, snow crunching underfoot. She lifts her eyes to the girl beside her. She purses her lips and then says to her, "Volunteering me for cooking duty on top of everything else?"

Ty Lee makes a pouty face at her beloved wife. She bends down, wraps an arm around the seven year old and they both look up at the firebender. Senna, several feet off the ground now, flashes a wide open, adorable smile with multiple missing teeth. Rangi flashes her own bright, grey eyes smile and the merciless leader of Lonlhai simply melts despite herself.

"Fine. Fine! " She concedes, earning a raucous celebration from the other two, with high fives and silly dances ensuing.

"Alright, one last time. And then we're done, okay?" On Jin demands of the other two. They are immediately attentive and agree. She turns to Ty Lee. "Cut me."

Rangi pulls Eclipse from its holster on her hip. She steps forward and jabs it at On Jin, slicing an exposed part of her inner leg so that blood rushes down. The red running across the skin is contrasted against the bright white snow around them. Senna swings her arms about wildly, causing snow to rise up slowly, and then it covers Aunt On Jin's leg. The snow pushes against her leg and cools her skin, finally healing the gash after a short time.

"Huzzah!"

"Yay! You did it!" Ty Lee congratulates her with a smile and a hug.

"You've come a long way, Senna. I think we should consider telling your parents soon."

The small waterbender is quite proud of herself. "I used to not be able to do any healing. Now I can do anything!"

The wives smile down at her. "Yes. Yes you can."

The group starts heading home together.

Tapisa finds herself in an open field with trees that have been cut down, only the trunks remaining. She hasn't reached exhaustion yet, she's far too fit for that. But she is Yue damn tired and her feet hurt, so she finally decides to take a break. She sits down on a trunk and puts her feet up on some roots. 

It's when she finally stops moving that she hears it. The patter of little feet. Crackling of snow that's not her own. Low breathing. Multiple crunches of steps. She twists her upper body around to discover her hunter.

A few dozen feet away is a massive, hulking polar bear dog. Behind it is another, and a third approaches as well. One of them growls while another barks, startling her. The sound seems so close.

'Oh fuck. Oh shit oh no.'

She stands up slowly, to not scare them but when she does another two appear in her view. She spins again to find a sixth and final one coming near her. She realizes she hasn't seen much wildlife thus far on the island and is quickly coming to the conclusion that this pack of rabid polar bear dogs may be the culprit.

'O-kay. Oh my fucking. Okay, what do we do Tapisa?'

She formulates a plan in her mind. She calculates her odds and chances. The dogs are gradually closing in on her. She is surrounded on both sides, but on one side there's only one of them. And just like that it charges at her!

Tapisa bends a wall of ice to block the lunging polar bear dog. She quickly bends her feet into the snow and then bends it into a path for her to swing onto and whip around. The five polar bear dogs quickly bound after her as she starts to swiftly skate away from them. The sixth dog, who'd jumped into her ice wall, recovers and follows in pursuit.

Things were going fine for Tapisa until her right wrist snapped in half when she fell to the ground. Her ice skating through the woods came to an abrupt end when she missed a jutting branch, and she was mid-bending when she hit the ground. Now she runs through the woods at a high speed, only able to bend with her weaker, left hand. She’s stuck between creating a skate rink forward for herself or fending off the pursuing polar bear dogs. She's panicking and her breath is short and her life could end at any second. She has known fear, and she thought coming to Linlhao would be fearful. She knew she could be facing death by coming here, but this was different.

"RAWR!"

A humongous, lurching white beast explodes into view, reaching for her from the unknown.

She screams, "AHHH!"

"RWAR!"

Tapisa narrowly avoids its razor sharp claws and hits the ground with force. She intentionally rolls so she can get away, and with what little bit that she can she summons ice barriers between her and the monsters. It's not strong enough, as they barrel through it and the ice explodes into a flying dust. 

"RHAWH!"

'Fuck! No! No!'

Suddenly, Tapisa feels an unseen one sink its claws into her right shoulder and she yelps.

"Fuck! NO!"

"RAAA!"

Another paw sinks into her left shoulder and starts dragging her away. The beast who had startled her, sent her tumbling, effectively ended her life, shares a brief look of disappointment as another gets the kill. It growls loudly.

"GRAWWW!"

"AHHHHH!"

"AHHH! GET UP!"

Tapisa looks up into the face of a human. Not a polar bear dog, ripping her limbs off of her body,  but a woman. Black of hair, amber eyes, probably in her 40's or 50's. The woman pulls Tapisa up onto her feet and drags her away before finally letting her go, Tapisa nearly falling back down again, as she turns forward to face the animal. The rabid dog roars at her and bounds forward to attack. The older woman steps forward and punches her right hand out, two fingers leading the way.

Tapisa lifts her left hand up to shield her eyes as a giant, blinding light cracks forth from the woman's fingertips. The lightning crashes into the polar bear, who initially seems fine, but then stumbles as it gets closer to them before finally collapsing a few feet in front of them. Tapisa is stunned to see it hit the ground, dead. There's no time for celebrations however, as she puts her fingers down and then quickly shoots her fists forward to her left, straight ahead, and then to her right.

'Are those fireballs….blue?'

Three polar bear dogs are blasted with a fire, but their thick fur absorbs it and they are undeterred.

"I've got you!" A new voice yells from somewhere.

On Jin turns back to Tapisa and falls away from the animals. A gust of wind pushes at Tapisa's back and out of nowhere a new woman emerges, flying up towards the beasts, a massive scimitar in hand. She swings the ferocious sword parallel to the ground and with just the one swipe she slashes all three across the chest, cleaving all of them with open wounds, but the blade slides through them like it's cutting paper. The woman side steps between two of them and further swipes the blade against their obliques. These two animals let out groans and then fall down.

"BRAHW!"

The third one swings a paw at her. She tries to bring the blade up but its massive claw smacks the weapon away, the force of the blow knocking it out of her hand.

"RAAAH!"

The woman with brown hair, held together in a massive braid, moves faster than Tapisa's eyes can track. She reaches into a holster on her hip and then a flash of steel juts upward. 

"RA-"

A dagger with a dragon handle rises from her hand and silences the bear. It's jammed up through its chin, right up into its mouth. The woman wastes no time, ripping downward, slitting the throat open, and pulling it away, covered in blood, as the beast collapses onto the ground beside her.

"RAWH!"

"GRAA!"

The final two polar bear dogs advance towards them. The first woman, who had ducked away from the close combat, now steps forward. The beasts are nearly upon them when she puts both open palms out in their direction. Lightning flashes yet again, and just misses her targets. The bears see the attacks strike the ground near them and realize they are better off running away from it, rather than towards it. They peel off and run for freedom, off into the depths of the forest around them.

Tapisa watches in stunned silence as a seven year old girl uses the water in a waterskin to form an excellent ring of healing around her wrist. Within a minute, the bones reshape, connecting back together and allowing her a range of motion, even if it is limited. All while this is going on though, Tapisa is staring at the fire bending woman. She is short of height, with hair as black as a hole in the ground, and aged, tired, amber eyes. She's the right age, she's the right type, she fits the entire description physically, and on top of all of that she is here , on Linlhao Island.

"Great job, baby girl. Now c'mon all. We need to run back. Those two aren't just running home, they're out to get more from their pack. I doubt they only had the seven total. You can come with us back to our compound, but-"

The woman keeps talking, but Tapisa can't hear her anymore. She turns her back on Tapisa, and so does the child and the other warrior. They all start walking away from her and time seems to slow to a halt for her. She stands up and sees the opportunity of a lifetime. She eyes up her dominant hand, the wrist which was broken only moments ago. They had healed her, and she would use it. She stands still and moves her feet ever slightly so she can get a better footing. She twists her arms and nearby snow from a tree flies off. It shrinks and contours into an icicle projectile, and zooms forward.

The only problem was she made too much noise.

"Wha-!"

Azula turns on the spot over her right shoulder and sees it flying straight for her head. She swings her hand up and a wave of fire roars out to block the arrow-like icicle. She can only barely get it up in time, burning up most of it, but shards of ice explode forward, spraying at the right side of her face like shrapnel.

"AHH!"

Azula shields her face away as she gingerly touches where she's been struck. Ty Lee grabs Senna and protects her, but brandishes Kyoshi's Fan and turns to look at the woman they've just rescued from the wild animals. It is an unbelievable and bizarre turn of events. The time of Azula touching her face is only a moment, but for all the parties involved it feels like an eternity. When she looks back up at Tapisa, the right side of her face is riddled with tiny punctures from the icicle, highlighted by trickles of blood running down her cheek. She speaks in a low, growl-like tone.

"What do they say about not biting the hand that feeds you?" She asks the rhetorical question. After a brief pause she goes on, "How's about attacking the woman who saved you?"

The water tribe girl with braids, a ponytail, white hair, and tan skin spins her arms to form more idly floating icicle arrows. Azula responds by opening her palms towards the girl, electricity cracking at her fingertips.

"You sure you want to do this? I don't think it ends well for you." She tells the young girl. "Why don't we just go back to our village, talk this out? Whatever this is?"

"You're her!" The girl finally speaks.

"Yep," Azula sighs as the drama builds. "I'm me. Last I checked anyway."

The teenage girl speaks loudly and as if she's reciting some speech she's prepared.

"You are The Heathen. I have been sent by Yue to exorcize the demon that rules over this holy land!"

Azula rolls her eyes. "Agni above, what is this now?"

"Yue, On Jin. You never cease to amass titles and assassins."

"I don't even know what I did! Can you tell me? Did I do something to earn this title and your ire?"

"I am on a crusade, to come to this land, and slay you where you stand!"

Azula grows angry.

"Listen, young lady , everyone thinks they're going to be the one to defeat me. But no one has killed me yet. And you're not about to be the one to put me in the grave. So let's get down to the real shit: do you have a death wish? Or is there something else you're searching for?"

Tapisa licks her lips and hesitates. She has already seen The Heathen in action. She already had a free shot at her and even that was not enough. Her courage falters. The words from the woman ring in her head, they stick to her like glue and won't leave her alone.

"What's your name anyway?"

"Uhh… um. I'm, Tapisa, of Gako Island."

"Gako is right next to us!" Senna interrupts.

"Shhh." Ty Lee shushes the child.

"What?" Senna asks defensively. She mutters under her breath, "It is."

Tapisa looks up at Azula.

"Alright then, Tapisa," Azula lifts up a massive longsword from the scabbard at her hip and holds it up above her head. The imposing Moon's Veil shrinks the courage away from the waterbender. "Tell me, how do you want to die?"

"Huh?"

"We can make it quick, we can make it long. It can hurt, or you can barely feel a thing. How do you want to die?"

"I… will die for Yue." She weakly tells them.

Azula grunts at this. "So you've been sent by someone else to slay me, but you're not even ready to die yourself? Maybe, just maybe, someone is asking too much of you?"

Tapisa is struck with a thought.

"No! No, this is the temptation. This is the workings of the Heathen. I can not allow this. I must kill you!"

Azula and Ty Lee share eye contact and an affirmative nod. Ty Lee pats Senna's shoulder and steps away from the girl. She drags Kyoshi's Fan along the snowy ground and comes to face the girl. She stands in between them.

"If you want her, you'll have to go through me."

"What? No! I have no quarrel with you. My fight is with-"

"The only thing that matters, girl, is living. Staying alive. If you can't beat me, you won't beat her. Now," Ty Lee bends her knees and tightens her grip on her scimitar. "Come on!"

She dashes forward and raises the blade up over her head. Tapisa quickly lets loose all of the icicle arrows she's holding up. Ty Lee either dodges or deflects all of them with grace and agility. Tapisa watches in shock as this occurs, stunned by her ability. It is as if only the wind could graze the warrior. Tapisa calculates the woman closing in on her and so she summons a giant ice shield into her weak hand, holding it up to block the incoming attack.

She lifts it up and the blade slices right through the thick of it, stopping halfway through and cracking the ice, making it a spider's web of a shield. Tapisa used her free hand to bend the ice to thicken and freeze the blade into the shield. Ty Lee smirks at this quick thinking, but has already anticipated it. She gives a slight push of the sword towards the Gako islander, getting the water bender off balance, before pulling with all of her might. This swaying motion forces Tapisa to stumble forward, which Ty Lee then uses to her advantage as she sticks her foot out and hits Tapisa in the kneecap. 

"Yaaah!"

She falls down to one knee and then Ty Lee twists the sword, and by extension the shield and Tapisa's arm, and then spins it away. Tapisa's shield is thrusted away from her body and her weak arm is exposed. Ty Lee delivers a killer stroke to the arm with her fist, and suddenly Tapisa's arm is lifeless.

"Huh!"

Ty Lee grabs the back of the girl's head, locking her fingers into white hair. She raises her own knee up and connects it square into the teen's forehead, which ricochets back and hits the ground hard. The crusader sees stars and then feels lightheaded, the throbbing pain yet to settle in. Ty Lee mounts her in the snow, assuming a position of victory to try and coax her into surrender.

However, when Tapisa feels the body on top of her, she grabs a tuft of snow and then in her dominant hand, the only one still moving, she quickly reforms it into sharp, jagged icicles. She swings it up and grabs Ty Lee's side, stabbing her with them. 

"Wahh!"

She remains on top and delivers a blow with her hand down into the girl's face, instantly shattering her nose and causing blood to splurt all over her mouth and chin. With the shock overcoming her now, she finally exposed her right arm and Ty Lee sends two blows to her chakras to shut her down for good. 

"You alright?" Azula asks from afar.

Ty Lee stands up, leaving the girl helpless and alone.

"She stabbed me!"

"I didn't even know Ghosts could get stabbed." Azula jokes.

On Jin walks over with Senna to look down at the woman they had saved and now defeated. Rangi comes to stand beside them. They examine her and measure what remains of the defeated girl. Azula especially tries to calculate the right decision.

"What do we do with her?" Senna asks the obvious question.

Azula squats down so she's near Tapisa's face.

"What about it?" She asks. "Is this how you want to die? Frozen, alone, waiting for polar bear dogs to come eat you alive? Or should we stick you with the pointy end before that?"

The teenage girl spits up blood. She mumbles through some words but no one can understand. Azula gets closer to her face and asks, "Repeat that?"

She struggles with her breath and her words and her mouth filled with blood. She spits out.

"Thr-through Yue… only through her… am I… re… deemed."

Azula stands up straight after hearing this and looks down upon her with new eyes. The young girl fades in and out of consciousness, her head finally throbbing with pain, her arms immovable at her side, the cold becoming warm as she dozes off, potentially to an eternal sleep. Azula bites down on her lower lip and scrunches her face up. She turns to Senna.

"Heal her."

The cyan eyes' child nods and doesn't fight. Instead, the argument comes from the dead woman.

"Huh? N-o. I-I-I'm sup... osed to die. Wh-hy don't, you… kill… me?"

The last thing Tapisa sees are a pair of women standing over her and a child waving water all about to heal her.

Tapisa opens her eyelids. Covered in bandages and wrapped in blankets inside of a dark room, she can sense someone else is there with her. However, she can not move to see them - even the attempt to move is painful.

A specter moves through the darkness and steps into the light above her. The Heathen. She squats down at Tapisa's bedside and she sees her so up close now, the faintest hint of lines creasing her face.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

The Heathen shrugs.

"You fear death. You don't welcome it at all. You're not ready to go. You simply seek redemption."

She pauses.

"And that's something I can give you."

"You're torturing me."

"You may see it as that initially, but I think with time you'll learn that I'm giving you hope."

"Where am I?"

"Home. Specifically, Lonlhai."

Azula stands to leave.

"This place has given me much hope. Something you'll come to understand."

She walks towards the exit but stops. She looks over her shoulder.

"Dying for Yue won't redeem you. Living for her will."

When Tapisa finally recovers from her injuries in the forest, she is allowed to walk free. There was no processing, no examination, no questions. The herbalist who'd done the work had approved her to leave. He just kept marveling how it was a miracle she survived. Tapisa doesn't know that Senna's healing is a secret, and as such she doesn't say anything, thinking it's common knowledge. When she's let go, she walks out into Lonlhai for the first time.

Her spiritually bound community on Gako Island had convinced her this land was once a holy place that has been corrupted over the last so many years and turned into a shelter for heretics. All as a direct result of The Heathen, a gender betraying, fire bending, Agni worshiper. Yet here she stands, in a place well fortified and protected, with food for everyone, all thanks to the ones they call 'The Guardian' and 'The Ghost.'

'Speaking of food, I'm starving.'

People are wary of her as she asks for direction. They assist and point her in the right direction, but it is nonetheless terse interactions. Word has traveled that this Gako Islander is the one who created the cuts all along the side of On Jin's face. For what reason she was rescued is unknown to all but their de facto leaders. As much as she is uneasy, so too are they.

When Tapisa finally finds herself in the mess hall, she's met with incessant whispers. She sits alone and can't help but hear them. It nags at her ears like food stuck in her teeth with no way to get it out. Like a mosquito that she keeps missing at the last second and keeps coming back for more.

'This is a mistake. This was a mistake. I need to leave.'

She rises suddenly, to the surprise of the few watching her, but as she goes to leave she jumps a little at the sight.

"Hello there!" A brunette woman with grey eyes greets her with a warm smile. "Going somewhere?"

"I was-"

"Perfect! You can join me and Senna," she motions to the little one beside her. The girl who has healed her in the forest. "Senna is a little shy though, do you mind if we find somewhere more secluded to sit together?"

"Uh. Sure. Yes."

"Hooray!" Rangi shouts. "Come along, Sen."

The small waterbender sticks close to Rangi, who leads Tapisa away from the crowds and off into a corner. As they are sitting down she explains, "Senna is more introverted by nature, you understand, yeah?"

Tapisa sits across from the warrior woman who soundly defeated her in battle, and whom she tried to murder by stabbing her with icicle claws in the side. 

"Yes. Yes, I can understand that."

"But don't get confused!" Rangi cautions. "Though she be quiet, she is fierce. Right, Sen?"

The little girl nods along as she sticks a forkful of broccoli into her mouth. Her cheeks bulge and a smile spreads across her little face. She is so small and so cute. It brings a smile to Tapisa's own face and for the first time, she briefly forgets about the circumstances that brought her here.

Tapisa has been in Lonlhai for about a week now, and the leaders of the village treat her as one of their own. Their lack of reaction has helped to temper the feelings of the other villagers. They do not understand, but they have never understood before either. Many of them remember the Burning of Lonlhai and how the Guardian flew through the sky vanquishing their enemies. On Jin was not merciful by nature, in their estimation. So if she has decided to show mercy upon this assailant, then there must be some grander design at play.

Tapisa, to her credit, has awkwardly and tensely fallen into this role for herself. She has not decided if she will stay long term, but every day her strength returns and she grows closer to being able to run away. She isn't sure if the right opportunity presented itself if she would take it or leave it. Remain here or leave it behind in a puff of smoke. Regardless, for now she plays along, accepting assignments and chores, and at this exact moment she follows Miki along as they head into Lonlhai's Temple, her first time being inside.

"What are we doing in here again?" She asks the 32 year old mother with raggedy hair and cyan eyes.

"Oh, we have to clean it up 'a little bit.'" She explains as they push the doors open.

When they enter, Tapisa dawns a look of confusion. The building is spotless. Utterly perfect. The pews are dusted, the banisters nearly glisten. Everything looks already good to go. There are a couple of people sitting in silent prayer. She does not understand, until Miki explains.

"You're lucky you're with me," she says with a nudge into her ribs. "The best kept secret is that they give me all the easy tasks."

"Hmm?"

"On Jin and Rangi gets final say over all of the schedules and they love me. So they never let me do anything too difficult or hard labor."

"I see," Tapisa trails off, thinking about what comes next. "So what do we do now then?"

"You can spend some time with Yue?" She offers initially. "Or daydream and imagine yourself running away from Lonlhai. Whateve tickels your fancy."

Two older gentlemen are walking towards them as they stand by the exits and they're clearly engaged in an increasingly loud argument, or rather debate. With all of the quiet and solace, it sticks out for its vociferousness. 

"It was all of the new technology. The spreading of it, the building of the ships and the cities. That was the final straw."

The other replies, "No. The Fire Nation drove the dragons to being extinct, and that was the last of it. A mythical creature being wiped off the face of the earth was the cause of the Dark Spirits erupting during and after Roku's time."

Tapisa can't help herself from interrupting as they walk past her.

"Actually, the dragons aren't extinct."

The elders come to a stop, surprised to hear from the stranger at the exit. They ask her to explain.

"Well, Avatar Aang and the Fire Lord Zuko are known outside of our lands as being the last dragon riders. They inspire hope to people in the Earth Kingdom, among other places. And as such, those dragons being over a hundred and thirty years later, tell us that more may be out there. But even if they aren't, we can't attribute their 'extinction' as a catalyst to the dark spirits."

"But we can't rule it out, either!"

"Certainly not. Yes, you're right. We can't. The massacre and near genocide of their species likely had a catastrophic turn of events on the Spirit World, but I think much more so has been the straying from the spiritual path by more and more generations of water benders - not just those at the poles."

Tapisa earns their respect instantly and the three of them remain a while in the temple, discussing spirituality and the many factors leading to its decline among their people. Miki takes a seat and daydreams while Tapisa finds a footing in Lonlhai.

Aklaq is walking with the Lonlhai's latest expert on the spirits. He is talking her ear off about how they need a Guru.

"-and If I was still the Warden I would just appoint you, fuck all those geriatric fucks! But I stepped down so we could keep the leadership in the village growing."

It's been a few days more since Tapisa entered the spiritual conversation in Lonlhai. She showed herself to be exceedingly knowledgeable and impressed all of the village elders. Some of the younger folks, who now consider her competition in this area, are not so keen on the Outsider. Many of them find her impressive for how she conducts herself, but her legend only grows as rumors swirl about her fight with On Jin and Rangi. None of it is accurate, as all of it gives her too much credit for the ass whooping she took by the duo. All the same, people talk and they do not allow her to correct the narrative.

"Anyway, we need someone who is spiritually enlightened. Ever since Guru Achak's death, we've begun to waver in our spirituality. And you-!"

"I…," she cuts him off, truly unsure of how to finish her sentence. "I'll think about it."

"All I can ask." He concedes and they walk on.

A question comes to her that she hadn't thought to ask beforehand.

"What about the Guru though? How did he die?"

A familiar voice juts in and cuts off Aklaq before he can answer. Rangi appears out of nowhere and walks beside them.

"Hold that thought, Old Friend. I need Tapisa here for some Girl Time!"

The former Warden of Lonlhai waves her off and bids them farewell. He peels off and they are alone.

"Just getting you a break," Rangi admits when they're far enough away from him. "Aklaq can be a lot sometimes."

"He wasn't. It wasn't. It was nice."

"Good on you!" Rangi pats her on the back. She tries to pry the girl from her solidarity. "Hey, you wanna get a bite? On Jin is making my favorite: her famous chicken and rice."

"No."

"Oh c'mon, it'll be swell! You two have some big mission tomorrow before sunrise, right?"

"We do. But, no. Besides, there's a theology discussion at the temple tonight that I wanted to join in on."

"That's not for a few hours?"

Tapisa comes to a stop and Rangi does as well. She pauses and looks for the right words. How to explain that she's not ready to be around The Guardian quite yet.

"Thank you, Rangi. But… I can't."

Ty Lee is wise enough to know the inner struggle that the girl faces. Once upon a time she also struggled with the nature of owing something to Azula. A powerful woman capable of killing and caring, purging and protecting. It is a complicated conundrum and not one that is simple to reconcile with your conscience. She reaches a hand out and touches Tapisa's shoulder.

"I understand," she offers an empathetic look on her face. She blesses her, "May Yue be with you."

"Thank you." And Tapisa escapes again.

They set out before sunrise without saying a word to each other. They haven't spoken since the specter of On Jin came to her deathbed and told her she would help her find redemption. Tapisa doesn't have the courage to address her, or even look her in the eye. She's not sure why she feels such a burden of guilt, but she wears it like the parka keeping her warm in this freezing weather. The silence continues as the two of them march out of the gates of Lonlhai and back into the forest where it all began a few weeks ago.

They walk out seemingly aimless through the faint sunlight and shadows, no words exchanged. In the absence of the village noises, or conversation, Tapisa hears the wildlife better than ever and all of the little sounds that tell her about her surroundings. There's almost something comforting about the quiet if it wasn't all so suffocating.

Finally, On Jin leads her into a clearing, where a few trees have been chopped down to their trunks. Leaning against a nearby tree are two large axes, the kind Tapisa can tell will require both hands to wield, even for her and all of her strength. Part of her wonders how the woman beside her will lift it, but she quickly realizes that it's foolish to continue to underestimate this woman.

"We're gonna chop down some trees."

Those are the first words that The Heathen speaks to her.

"Sometimes they start growing too close to our walls. They're a liability to the structure, if they were to fall on their own. So we chop them down once they get to about this size."

She picks up the massive axe with just one hand and examines it. Tapisa just watches her, transfixed by this bizarre turn of events. When she's satisfied with her review, On Jin steps over towards a tree that has grown for the last time. She begins whacking at its base. With all of her strength it doesn't take long before it timbers. Seeing her not waste any time before moving on, Tapisa decides to join the fray. She grabs an axe and starts doing the work.

Over the next hour they work diligently in silence to knock down all of the trees that threaten the outer walls. It's hard but necessary work and Tapisa has no time to think about deeper meanings because she's focused on doing the job and doing it right. When the last tree falls, On Jin comes to stand beside Tapisa. The younger girl wipes the sweat away and then sits her axe against the truck of one of the felled trees. They examine this foliage graveyard and all of the work they've done. Suddenly, On Jin holds her axe out in front of Tapisa, offering it to her.

"Take it."

"Huh?"

"I need to pull this last one back. It's fallen too close to the edge."

"Oh."

The small waterbending teenager takes the axe into her hands. The next moment, On Jin is crouching before her. She uses her hands to pull the body of the tree across the snow and away from the fortified exterior. It is this exact moment when Tapisa feels temptation calling to her with its siren song.

On Jin crouches close to the ground in front of her, back to Tapisa, in a vulnerable state. Tapisa wields a massive blade, capable of cutting down any man or woman, no matter how strong they may be as a bender. No one knows where they are, secluded, out before sunrise. She could swing this axe right into On Jin's head or spine and kill her on the spot. Here in the forest, dark and deep, she could send her to eternal sleep. She could do it and then run. No one would find the body for hours, long after she is free.

All of these reasons, and the axe remains still in her hands. She does not move to strike.

On Jin turns back around, the job complete, surprising Tapisa.

"You didn't kill me."

The Gako Islander's mouth hangs down and her eyes fly open. 

"I…"

Tapisa has no words for why she didn't attack when given the opportunity. On Jin waits patiently for a response but finally decides to speak.

"Now we're even. I didn't kill you, and you didn't kill me. I had my chance, and now you've had yours." She explains with all of the calm and pointedness of an axe blade. She continues, "You can stay if you want, or you can leave. But if you stay, the path to redemption doesn't get any easier. Do you understand?"

The sun sticks out over the horizon. The first rays of light breaking over the hills and the plains, reaching out to touch the two women in the woods. Tapisa swallows hard and licks her lips. The words in her head are easier to say. She fights through it and speaks.

"I do."

"And you're ready to work for that?"

No pause this time.

"I am."

Azula smirks at her new protege. She gestures over Tapisa's shoulder before turning around and walking back towards the gates.

"Suns rising. Breakfast will be ready soon. Best that we get back."

Tapisa gladly pursues her new mentor, the Guardian.

[Spring 136 AG]

"So whatever happened to the Watchkeeper? He survived the Burning, right? How did he die? Was it from a broken heart, what with the Guru being gone?"

"No. Not exactly. It's complicated, but…"

Ty Lee and Azula are cleaning some dishes and doing some otherwise mundane house tasks when the knock comes. They turn to each other from across the room with an equal amount of surprise. Azula stops washing and walks out towards the main hallway, while Ty Lee goes to open the door. They're still confused when they find Aklaq on the other side, Tapisa in tow.

"Mind if we come in?"

"I suppose?"

The two come out of the cold and step into their home. Tapisa looks nervous and tries to not make too much noise. Aklaq removes his coat and apologizes.

"Sorry for the late intrusion. But Tapisa and I were just chatting and, well, something came up."

The wives raise their collective eyebrows to this, intrigue and concern mounting with each passing sentence.

"And I thought it was important to get you all involved right away. But I'll let her tell it."

The four stand in the hallway, beside the coat rack. The 19 year old Tapisa can't even raise her eyes to meet them

"I was asking about, erhm. Can, can we actually sit down?"

"Of course. Please." Rangi waves and the group enters the kitchen.

Once they are all seated around the table, the situation for Tapisa worsens. She can't look at them, her beautiful ocean-blues trained on the table in front of her. This moment is perplexing to the Guardian and the Ghost, as she has done far worse, and come so far. After a few seconds she finally inhales deeply and continues.

"So I was asking Aklaq about the Guru, and what he was like, and the job, and The Burning from a few years ago, and we go to the topic of… The Watchkeeper."

"Okay?" Rangi prods her to continue.

"And, um, well, Aklaq told me that he was killed."

She looks so scared.

"He was," Rangi says, knowing that On Jin won't lead any of the conversation on this topic. She wears a pained but loving smile to try and coax the girl into finishing this conversation. "It's a bad memory."

"By the Harbinger?"

'Read the room, girl.' Ty Lee thinks to herself.

"Harbinger Yong was his name," she replies curtly. She adds, with both anger and disappointment mixed in her voice, "He slipped through our fingers and the coward never showed again."

"I met him."

"What!"

"I know where he is."

The mood shifts.

"What?"

What was a beleaguered and dim topic has become a surging and suspenseful moment. Like a wave crashing, the conversation had been dull and then in a flash it became momentous.

"I had dealings with him before coming to the island. I traded with him. He-he took up residency in the Earth Kingdom a couple of months before I came here."

For the first time, Azula speaks.

"Where is he?" She demands.

"On Jin, no." Ty Lee commands.

"Tell me where."

Aklaq and Tapisa take a backseat to this suddenly turbulent and explosive argument.

"We have to leave this behind. We have left this behind!"

In all of the months that Tapisa has been here with them, she has never heard either On Jin or Rangi yell. Rangi has occasionally been hard on people. On Jin is kind towards the villagers but rarely converses with anyone outside of her inner circle, too burdened with the mantle of leadership. No one has ever , in any of the years that the two of them have lived here, ever seen the two of them argue with each other. Until now.

"No. You left it behind. I still carry it with me every Yue damn day."

They are getting louder, the emotions flowing, a deep nerve of pain disturbed by this news presented by the water bending rival turned mentee.

"What about redemption ?" Rangi asks, surprising their audience but desperately trying to prove her point to her wife. "Hmm? Remember what he said? Remember what we talke-"

"We saved her to prove him wrong. Now I'm gonna prove him right."

Rangi is hurt by this and quickly reshapes that hurt into anger. She turns to them, rising from her seat and pointing to the door.

"Get out. Now, please," and both Tapisa and Aklaq rise quickly, lightly pushing each other out of the way to leave. "Don't come back to my home raising ghosts from the grave to haunt us!"

On Jin follows them down the hallway as they head for the door, Rangi separating the groups and seeing them out. For the first time, On Jin yells at her protege.

"This isn't over, Tapisa!"

Ty Lee swings the door open and they head out. Tapisa stops and looks back. Amongst the black of night, the door provides light and in it Rangi is framed, a look of anger on her face, On Jin being held back with a fire in her eyes.

"Yes," Rangi has the last word. "It is."

[Summer 136 AG]

It's a few months later when Ty Lee wakes in the middle of the night, stirred by the same nightmare of always watching Azula open the door and get blown away by some unknown entity. In her sleepy haze she reaches a hand across the bed to pull her wife closer. She finds only empty sheets. When she opens her eyes, Azula isn't there. A sort of panic sets in as her nightmare mixes with real life. She sits up and looks around. No light, but a distant, soft, rumbling noise. She sits up and leaves the bed to pursue the sound.

Out the bedroom, through the hallway, and into the kitchen where, finally, she finds a kneeling Azula at the backdoor. The small woman is packing a bag with some essentials, trying to be quiet as she goes about her business. She scratches her head in confusion and then cuts through the silence.

"Hey."

Azula startles, but turns back to look at her wife. She forces a fake smile.

"Hey."

"You, uh, have a rotation tomorrow or something?"

Azula doesn't lie.

"No."

"Oh," she says, feigning some confusion but still having a good idea of what this is really about. She tries to ignore it as she tells her, "Well, come on. Come back to bed."

Ty Lee turns away but Azula won't turn with her.

"I can't, Ty."

Ty Lee stops. She takes a sharp inhale and feels the breath move through her whole body. There is a certain weight to it that drags her down and makes her feel like her feet will fall through the floor. These words by Azula are charged with months of contemplation and days of planning. Ever since Tapisa woke the ghost, Azula has not been the same. She doesn't eat the same, doesn't laugh the same. She doesn't take up space and isn't present anymore. Probably because her mind is elsewhere; wherever Tapisa met the Harbinger. Ty Lee knows this has been hard on Azula. But it has been hard on Ty Lee too. She turns back around, small tears welling up.

"So you're just going? Just like that? Disappearing in the black of night, and leaving me?"

"I can't let him live."

"You let Yakone live!" Ty Lee shouts.

It's such an infuriating thing to hear when she knows the course of Azula's entire life. The people she's wronged and who have wronged her. She can't understand it and has quietly stewed on it for months, years, if not decades. She continues, hands gesturing every which way as she speaks, "You let Zirin and Ukuyi go. Do you want me to keep going? Chyn? Eilore? All those other fucking girls who searched the world trying to kill you? What about Gaaler? Hmm? That pretty boy bender supremacist, whatever the fuck his name was? Xai Bau and his group? Katara? You've let go of so much. But not this? You can't let this go?"

Ty Lee has tried to keep it together, but now the anger and the frustration spill out of her via watery tears dropping out of her eyes. Reminders of all of their struggles and losses in life. She wipes her face and sobs as Azula rises, Moon's Veil at her hip, but does not approach.

"Why can't you let this go?"

Azula of Lonlhai Village is 51 years old. Small lines have begun forming on her face, betraying her youthful body. She has been known by many names in many places. She has lived different lives, as a leader and as a follower. At times, she has loomed so large it was as if she was a colossus amongst mortals. However, as she stands before her wife of over 18 years, she has never felt smaller. She tries to explain the things they do not talk about.

"I haven't." She says meekly, getting Ty Lee's attention. "I haven't let any of it go."

She forces herself to match Ty Lee's eye contact. As difficult as it is, she knows she must face this head on if they're ever to get past it.

"I still carry it with me. Like a bone in my collar, or a vein in my neck. I can't remove it, or else I'll die. I can't move on, it's so deeply embedded in me that the only choice I have is to just keep going, or roll over and die; succumbing to the darkness within that would swallow me whole if I let it."

Ty Lee is stunned. Azula remembers the sight as she hopped off the mongoose lizard.

"He posed the body, Ty."

She doesn't say anything back

"He didn't just kill Ganzaya. He arranged him. He left his sword, this sword, in his hands. He defiled Yerre's body. He has no reverence for death. He can't be allowed to live. So I have to do this, if I ever want to get a full night's sleep again."

They are at an impasse. An impossible situation with no correct answer and no way forward. One of them must bend to the other, or else both swords will break. But this is not just Agni's Lament and Kyoshi's Fan posed against one another. This is the sword at Azula's hip. It's Ganzaya's sword that will shatter if neither yields. As this thought formulates in Ty Lee's mind, she finally understands. She will not let their blades break, not yet, not from this.

"Fine," she sighs, wiping more tears away. She shifts the weight of her foot and shakes her head. "But I'm not letting you go alone. I'm coming with you."

Azula is relieved and surprised and she smiles a broken, shaky, sad smile. Ty Lee continues verbally thinking through things, "I need to pack a bag, and we have to get someone else to protect Lonlhai-"

Azula reaches behind the counter, produces a filled bag, and throws it at Ty Lee's feet. It's packed with enough supplies to last two weeks on a trip to the Isari Mountains of the Chengwan Island in the southeastern Earth Kingdom. Ty Lee looks at the bag confused. Azula explains.

"Tapisa already agreed to do it."

"You knew I'd join you?"

Azula shrugs.

"You always said we'd consume each other before we reached old age. I figured either you'd agree or finally kill me. Either way, Lonlhai was going to need someone to defend it for a few days."

"It's just so hard because he's grown up so fast, ya know?" Katara stresses to her husband.

"Mhm," he mumbles, reading over some documents at his office desk.

"I know you two have your things together, but I just hope some day he wants to go somewhere with me. Him and Kya."

"They will." Aang replies without looking up.

"You think so?" She says, turning her eyes away from the sunset to look at him.

"Mhm."

Katara becomes skeptical.

"Are you listening to the things I'm saying at this moment?"

"Oh yeah. Couldn't agree more."

"Aang, what the fuck?"

"Hmm?" He looks genuinely perplexed. "Wha-wha-what? Did I do the thing again?"

"Yes."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Katara. I just have-"

"So much on your plate right now."

"So much on my plate right now."

They blink at one another a moment as he realizes how predictable he really is to her.

"Alright, point taken." He concedes.

"What has got you so frazzled? What's got your attention?"

"Ugh, you know I don't like to bog you down with all this stuff."

"Since when?" She asks, surprised. "I've been your confidant for like 40 years?"

Aang tries to distract again. "Ugh. Well, I just don't think I want to talk about it."

"Bullshit. What is going on, Aang?" She sits down in front of him, staring into his eyes and demanding his attention.

He grows awkward and tense, uncertain of how to proceed. He hems and haws, making faces as he decides how to address this and explain it. She can see the inner turmoil playing out and she has no patience for his shit.

"Aang! Out with it!"

"Okay! Okay!" He puts his hands out defensively. "There's a new mobster in Republic City."

"Oh? That's all ?"

"No, that's not ' that's all.' " he replies, grumbling. "We haven't had anyone really amassing this kind of power since Yakone. And the information on it isn't clear. It's all such a mess and the rumors are all over the place."

"Alright, well, what's his name? What's his deal? Tell me about this New Mobster of the Week."

Aang puts his papers away and gets more comfortable as he falls into a dialogue with his wife. "It's not a 'new mobster of the week.' These guys are serious trouble for so many people living in and outside of the city."

"Okay, okay. I understand. I do. I once fought these guys too, ya know?"

"Yeah."

"So what's their name?"

"He calls himself Lightning Bolt Zolt."

"Bahahahahaha!"

"Katara!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. But 'Lightning Bolt Zolt?' Who is going to take this guy seriously?"

"Me! And Toph!" He replies, but her laughter is contagious and he can't stop himself from chuckling a bit, even as he tries to prevent it. " We're taking him seriously!"

"Okay, okay," she wipes some tears of laughter away. She settles herself before asking, "What has this Lightning Bolt Zolt even done? Something serious?"

"He formed a new gang called the Triple Threat Triad."

" Another new gang?"

"Tell me how you really feel, K."

"I mean! How worried are we about this? There's always new gangs forming or being formed. They're going to cause some stress on the RCPD for a few weeks, then a power struggle will break out and Zolt will get killed or taken out, and another one will take their place. And it's gonna be over!"

"But not this time," he says, foot tapping on the ground. "They've been formed for a few months now. And they're not going away."

"Huh."

"I agree with you for the most part. What you described? That's exactly what it's been like for the last 8 years, since Yakone fell."

"Yeah, yeah. So, what's the deal with Zolt then? How's he doing all of," she gestures vaguely, "this?"

"Well, first of all he's only 17, and-"

"What! How?"

"I know. I know."

"Aang, he's the same age as Tenzin?"

"Yeah. I know. It's, it's something. It's concerning. Mob leaders aren't built like this, not anymore."

"Well, not since. Her."

"Yeah, and that's just it, Katara," he wipes his brow. "There's rumors about, well…"

"About… what?" She notices a change in his tone. "She's dead."

'Or at least that's what Zuko wants us to think.'

"Yes, but one of, ugh. Forgive me. It's just hard to grapple with."

"Out with it. Just lay it on me."

Aang looks to the study door to make sure neither Tenzin nor Kya are eavesdropping. He turns back to Katara with narrowed eyes and a quieter tone.

"They say he's being guided by some ex-Kemurikage. And not the latter day ones that came about while Yakone ruled. One of the originals. They say it's one of her old associates."

"Of fucking course it is," she replies through gritted teeth. "It's always her . She's laughing at us from the Fog of the Lost Souls."

"It does kind of feel like that. Like she's still out there, pulling all of the strings."

"It really does," she concurs. "I feel like everything that's ever gone wrong in the city can be traced back to her. She is to blame for all of it. If she hadn't raised an army, brought them to the city, left them to Yakone, maybe he doesn't stay in power as long as he did?"

"Well, I mean. That's the conventional thinking, but Suki and Toph got that CI that was supposedly one of her most trusted port guys. A fisherman from Baochou."

"I never bought any of that. Anyone could say they were 'one of her top guys.' It's like when people claim they've met the Avatar."

“I hear you," he replies and then trails off. With the momentary break in the conversation, he returns to the original point. "I'm sure it's all just bluster, Katara. I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it."

"Are you really sure of that, or are you trying to convince yourself?"

"All of the Kemurikage are gone. They've been gone for a long time. And, honestly, I don't know why I'm even allowing myself to call them that. It's not who they are! The real Kemurikage lived thousands of years ago and haunted Warlords."

"It's so funny you've always gotten hung up on that."

"I'm not hung up on it! They're not the real thing!"

"Sure you're not, honey." She replies and he finally laughs at himself.

"Thanks for making me giggle. I really needed it. The whole thing has got me in a tizzy."

"No problem. I'm happy to help." She replies while touching his hand. She gets a little full of herself and tells him, "If you need someone to help you take down this 'Lightning Bolt Zolt,' let me know. I'm ready for a fight."

"Oh yeah?" He asks, a whimsical smile on his face.

"You betcha. You're looking at the only person to ever defeat the Princess in battle. After that? I'm not scared of a teenager named Zolt."

They share a laugh, both of them knowing she'll never have the chance to fight Lightning Volt. Still, Katara finds herself daydreaming about it: her, an agent of goodness and light, chasing down darkness wherever it leers, taking down powerful monsters in the name of justice.

The end has come. Darkness has pursued greater Darkness, and here they meet, atop Traveler's Pathway. A moment to be forever marked in history. Azula, the very Spirit of Lightning, wielding the Watchkeeper's blade. Harbinger Yong, lost long ago to a creeping darkness he had once feared so much. Different purposes, different motivations. Yet not so different. One fell to their deepest, darkest fears; the other, survived them.

The sun is high. They stand their ground atop the Pathway, Ty Lee beside her, the wind blowing at her back.

Their eyes lock, and he speaks.

"Been awhile."

Azula and Ty Lee give no reply.

"The Watchkeeper's weapon... his longsword. That was a gift."

The silence held as Azula's finger tips caressed the perfectly worn pommel at her hip.

“An offering from me... to you. Nothing left to say?"

Harbinger Yong left the words hanging in the air.

“I’ve been waiting for you. For this day.”

His attempts at conversation feel mundane when judged against all that has come before.

“Many times I thought you’d faltered. Given up...”

All she had lost, all who’d suffered, flash rapidly through her mind, intercut with a dark silhouette walking toward a frightened, weak, coward of a girl, crying over a dead body in a foreign land.

The fire burns in her.

“But here you are," finishes Harbinger Yong, the cursed swordsman. "This is truly an end...”

As the words leave his mouth, Azula swings her hand up. No, not just her hand. Her lightning. Reflex and purpose merging with anger, clarity and an overwhelming need for just that... an end.

A blinding flash of light. A single line of lightning engulfed in an angry glow.

Harbinger Yong falls. He never once raised his cursed saber, his beloved Every Rose. The forger of his power and his will. The ender of countless lives. It is done. None more will it claim.

Azula and Ty Lee stride across the field, to the corpse of the fallen warrior.

A sadness comes over Azula. She thought back to her earlier days. Of Achak. Of Ganzaya. This is finally the end.

She pulls Moon's Veil from its scabbard, and levels it at his skull. She does not know if Yong is dead on the ground. Her lightning had meant to do so, but it appeared his eyes moved behind his mask all the same. She remembers when Warden Thaki surrounded her with intention to kill. Azula pays one final tribute to her mentor, and her friend...

“Not mine. Yours.”

...and she pushes the blade downward, allowing Ganzaya's blade, now her own, to finally have the last word.

Chapter Text

[Summer 138 AG]

A girl with hair darker than the night sky watches the fire from afar. It blazes with such a glorious fury, the flames nearly kissing the clouds. Black and greasy smoke flows out, creating a musky smell. Normally malodorous, in this case it is mixed with the adrenaline of fighting and the thrill of victory, leading all the invaders to mistake it for the smell and taste of conquering. They have snuffed out another enemy land, on a warpath to resuming their place atop the globe's hierarchy structure. The girl stands alone, taking it all in, watching the village burn, contemplating how unnatural the fire appears. Her top lieutenant approaches.

"Empress Azula," he kneels before her. "Another town pillaged in your name. All of Gaxia Island has now fallen, and we dutifully lay this domain at your feet."

Her eyes remain on the fire as she contemplates it and her place in all of this. The death and the devastation. The ash and the soot. The everlasting will and determination. This is fate unfolded. This is the byproduct of a woman on the journey to ruling. This is what empire expansion looks like - but it doesn't feel like hers. It's as if someone else is growing her garden and then giving her the credit. She hates it.

"They offered little defense, not one messenger hawk left the village for Ba Sing Se, and by morning no one in the Earth Kingdom or otherwise will be the wiser that we have taken it. Yet another brilliant tactical plan, executed to perfection by you, Zarin."

He looks up from his kneeling place with satisfied eyes. She is incisive in her words.

"Almost as if you control the strings of my empire?"

He is not stunned or hurt by this accusation. He is defensive.

"Absolutely not. You are the Dragon Empress Reborn. Myself and the others follow your lead."

There comes no reply. The burning town, both with its light and its crackling, supply all of the background for this heated conversation. She stares with her sharp blue eyes into his amber ones, looking for any signs of disloyalty. He is resolute and believable enough. He breaks the silence.

"Where shall we sail for next, Empress?"

She looks away from him and gestures for him to stand. He does and she starts walking down the hill, towards the raging fires. She replies as the thirty-five year old man falls into pursuit of the Empress.

"I wish to take Lonlhai next. It represents a gateway between what we've already conquered in the Earth Kingdom, and what we seek in Wolf's Cove. There's whispers of some great challenger that holds it. Let us kill them and take their village."

"Right away, Empress. We will embark for Linlhao straight away. I suggest we canvas the island, rather than conquer it, before making for Lonlhai. Very little is known of it, not even of this challenger you speak of, because the village does not commune with the outside world. They are very hostile towards outsiders."

They stride past the charred corpses and smoldering buildings of their latest capture. The Dragon Empress is undeterred.

"We shall show them hostility."

A beleaguered, exhausted man hops off of a cargo boat and nods to the captain, an old friend but one whom he paid to take him aboard. The captain is staying the night here in Lonlhai before finishing his route to the South Pole. The voyager has long black hair, braided, going partly down his back, dark skin, and lovely green eyes. He exchanges some words with the captain regarding their departure time for tomorrow. The captain tells him he's better off remaining on the boat. The man tells him he needs to get a proper meal and sleep after their long trip thus far.

"You won't make it past their border patrol." He tries to tell him.

"Maybe not, but I need to try."

With that he's off, walking away and heading along the dock. It's been a long few days at sea, and he could kill for some warm soup and companionship. He stands in a short line at the end of the dock for a bit, with several agents waiting to receive or reject visitors. He watches as most are turned away, but some are allowed entry.

'Cap isn't allowed in, but he's not quite as persuasive as I am.' 

"Name and identification?"

"Suru of Wolf's Cove," he replies, handing over a photo ID card.

The border patrol soldier, much like all of his colleagues, is a lifelong Lonlhai villager. He is cold and hard nosed, with piercing blue eyes and massive shoulders. He speaks with a gruff tone as he reviews the paperwork.

"State your business in Lonlhai?"

"I'm just tired. I need to stay at an inn or something. I can't sleep on the boat another night."

"Occupation?"

"I, uh, I work in Republic City."

"Occupation." The man repeats himself, an annoyance present in his voice.

Suru has been warned that this place is reticent to any visitors. Outsiders simply aren't permitted within their borders. So he figures that saying he's a reporter for the Republic Times' probably won't get him very far. So he pivots and tries to appeal to the man's empathy.

"I'm just on my way to Wolf's Cove to visit my mother, who is sick and dying. I'm very stressed and exhausted and need to get a good night's sleep."

"I'm so sorry. My heart breaks for you," the soldier starts, his giant shoulder dropping a bit. He turns his head to the side a bit as he wonders how Suru must be feeling. This only lasts a moment before he straightens back up and continues, "Occupation?"

"Do you have any sisters, Mr.," Suru looks for a name badge but finds none. What an odd little village. "What was your name again."

The man just blinks at him. Suru keeps going with his thoughts, name be damned.

"Because I have a sister, and bless her heart, she means so well, but she can be the Yue damned worst. She’s picky, and hates that I left home. If I'm not in pristine condition when I arrive tomorrow, I'll end up saying something I shouldn't. Then she'll cry, my mother will cry, and that could very well be the last thing my mother ever does."

The man gives no reaction.

"All because you didn't want to allow me in to stay at an Inn? Do you really want that on your conscience?"

"There are no Inns in Lonlhai. State your occupation or I'll reject your request right now."

Suru sighs.

"I'm a waiter for a restaurant." He lies.

"Rejected."

"Rej-! What! You just said if I-"

"Your request has been rejected. You serve no immediate purpose to the larger community. Please remain on the docks or you will be forcibly removed."

"And what if I don't want to stay on the dock! What if I leave?"

"Trespassing is a capital punishment in Lonlhai." The man does not blink, but other dock workers are starting to take notice and are drawing closer to this confrontation.

"By whose authority? Chief Sokka? Does he of all people think trespassing deserves death?"

"No," the man replies curtly. "By decree of the Guardian, the Ghost, and the Warden."

This stops Suru in his tracks as it comes as a surprise. An independent authority making ruling for an island within the purview of the Southern Water Tribe is not a common occurrence, let alone one with such strict policies and airtight borders.

"The Guardian or the Ghost?" He asks, but more to himself than to them.

KA-BOOM!

Without any warning there is a massive explosion of noise that can be heard even from the docks. A thunderous crashing sound of something, or somethings, striking the perimeter walls on the far reaching end of the village. The gateway between Lonlhai and the rest of Linlhao has been attacked by some unseen and unknown force. The dock and all of the village reacts with concern. The village has not been attacked since The Burning of Lonlhai and there has not been such an overt, explicit expression of aggression since the Day of Burning Rock. 

There are some screams from people on the dock and people on the other side of the dock who live nearby. No one is hurt but the traumatic moment has shaken many of them into quick hysteria. Chaos ensues on the dock and with a sudden golden opportunity, Suru takes advantage. He slips unseen into the village, disappearing amongst the crowd and disarray.

"All emergency procedures have been enacted!" Former Warden Aklaq shouts as they run up the hill that leads out of Lonlhai.

"Shelter in place orders have been issued." Warden Tarlom explains, a small, mustachioed man, who under normal conditions is quite humorous, but does not have the experience nor skills to lead in a crisis.

On Jin and Rangi march upwards towards the gates, Senna sprinting ahead of them, and just at the crest of the hill, waiting for them, is the young Tapisa. Senna gets to her first while the other four all clamber behind.

"Is it happening? Are we under attack?"

"Shh." Tapisa says to the youngling.

"Did you just shh me?"

"Shut up, Senna. Now's not the time."

"No you shut up!"

"No you shut up!"

"Are you two really bickering at a time like this?" On Jin asks as they reach the plateau.

"No!" Says one.

"Yes!" Says the other.

"Yue," On Jin curses. "Get it together. What's the report, Tapisa?"

"Lightning and fire. No earth benders, so the walls will hold."

"Oh thank Yue." Tarlom breathes a sigh of relief.

"Did you send the hawk to request a parlay?"

"Ukiuk already did." 

"Of course he fucking did." On Jin grumbles.

"Fucking coward." Rangi adds.

"Fucking shame that Yakaro doesn't seek out a sentry position. She's much more fitting than that idiot brother of hers."

"Are you two really complaining about something trivial right now?" Tapisa pouts at them.

"Yes!" One says.

"No!" Says the other.

"Truth be told, I'm not upset about him sending it." Tapisa admits.

"No, neither am I." Rangi concurs.

"Expedites things a bit." On Jin says. "Will they honor it?"

"They agreed."

"That doesn't answer my question, Tap'."

"I suspect they will. Intelligence gathering from the other villages told me earlier this morning there was some activity across multiple locals asking questions about Lonlhai. And you two."

"Alright. That'll do for now, you can tell me anything else while we're en route."

The Guardian, the Ghost, Tapisa the Ice Archer, Warden Tarlom, Aklaq, and Senna all move towards the collection of mongoose lizards that they've amassed over the recent years. Rangi notices Senna still with them and stops. She puts a hand out and stops her momentum, while all the others move forward, a handful of Wall Sentries already in position on joint saddles.

"Sorry, baby girl, but you need to stay behind."

"No! No no no no no! I can help! I can fight!"

"No, you can't. Not yet. And you shouldn't want to. That's not the life that any of us want for you."

"I can help. I promise! I can help!"

"Your healing is better served here with the people already under our care. None of your healing abilities will be of any use to us in the fight we have ahead."

"Please Aunt Rangi! Please!"

"Go back to the Recovery Wing. Help the people who are now stuck sheltering in place. That will help us out there far more than you standing around wishing you were bigger."

Senna does not want to accept it, but she knows Aunt Rangi is right. She solemnly nods before turning around and running back down the hill.

The landscape is a blur as Azula rides across the no man's land with her army in tow. Over twenty-five men riding on mongoose lizards beside her as they proceed to a parlay with their enemies hiding within the walls. It's not far, and the lizards are faster than the wind. They quickly approach in no time to the agreed upon location. Standing opposite of them is a short woman with black hair and amber eyes, a tall woman with brown hair and grey eyes, a tan young, maybe 20 something year old girl with white hair, and five men. Their small group mills about, in bored silence as the thunderous slapping of the lizards comes to a stop. Everyone stays on their lizards except for one man, who hops down and approaches. He smiles as he opens his arms wide and greets them with words that have been unsaid for some time.

"You stand in the presence of Empress Azula, first of her name. Rightful heir to the throne of the Fire Lord. Rightful ruler of the Fire Nation. The Seed of Sozin. The Prodigy with Blue Fire. The Mother of the Kemurikage. Leader of the Fire Warriors. Founder of the Red Lotus. The Faceless Demon. The Immortal Soldier. The Puppetmaster. The Dragon Empress Reborn. Ruler of all she surveys."

No one replies, but Tapisa is actively thinking about how that is an annoying amount of titles. It just kept going and going. She concludes that this woman must be extremely full of herself and will meet with a swift end at their hands. Right on cue, the girl with raven hair and blue eyes speaks loudly for all to hear.

"Thank you all for being here. Now, kneel before me, surrender your village, and disavow your Warden. I will welcome your soldiers. I will welcome your civilians. I will bless your village and its walls. All will be welcomed into my empire of fire and lightning."

All look at On Jin and Rangi. They do not reply.

"Come now, Guardian. My caravan will raid your village and plunder it with haste. There is no need for such bloodshed. Kneel before me and it can all be avoided. I am a merciful Empress."

This again is met without immediate reply. On Jin let's the moment breath, ruminate in the crisp, summer, Linlaho air. Finally she answers.

"You're right. There's no need for a fight," she starts, shifting her weight, a hand wresting on Agni's Lament while Moon's Veil is lodged into the ground beside her. She continues, "Dozens of men who don't need to die. Only one of us. So let's settle this the traditional way. You versus me."

A little unnerved but not deterred, Azula chuckles. She shakes her head in admiration of the warrior woman. She points at her non-threateningly as she replies.

"I've heard the legends about you, Guardian. The way the other villages talk about you, you're the most powerful bender to ever walk. Maybe you are. Maybe you're not," she takes a pause to let this sink in. Then she continues, "I don't know if I can defeat you, but I know my Kemurikage and Fire Warriors will crush your resistance. I have two dozen fire benders. What do you have? Three? Four benders? I've heard your only healer is a 10 year old girl."

"I have a Ghost."

"A nonbender capable of walking through men, from what I've heard?" Azula asks. Then she quips, "I wonder if she can walk through fire?"

On Jin now is the one who laughs to herself. She looks at the ground at first and then looks up. Her amber eyes pierce the blue ones opposed to her.

"It's true you have the numbers. But will your people still fight for you, now that they know you won't fight for them?"

The point is made clear as the sun, and Azula hates it. She recognizes what the Guardian has done and how she's been exposed as a figurehead, rather than as a leader, let alone Empress. She scowls with anger. She yells back her answer.

"Fine."

Azula dismounts her mongoose lizard.

"We'll do it your way."

"Empress. You don't have to do this. We need you alive, and we have the men, -" Zarin tries to explain.

On Jin steps over towards Rangi and Tapisa and begins removing her belt, with the scabbard for Agni's Lament attached. She mutters to Rangi, "How much coin do you want to bet he's the one who will betray her?"

"All of it. Literally all of it." Rangi replies instantly, leaving Tapisa all sorts of bewildered.

"Every village we burn, every life we've taken has been under your command. It's time that I do as my mother foresaw. The fire rises, Zarin."

"Ugh." Rangi mimes puking.

" Zarin ? They even did that ? It's just… sad." On Jin replies.

"Okay, but did you hear what she said?" Rangi whispers.

"Yes!"

"Might be an opportunity here?"

"I was thinking the same." She gets excited as she sees the look in Rangi's eyes.

Tapisa is confused, "See what? Aren't you worried-"

"No." Both wives reply in unison.

After further, hushed tone arguments, Azula finally leaves her second-in-command, and comes to stand before an empty handed Guardian.

"No sword? Your arrogance is almost as legendary as your name."

"The way of the blade is an honorable death. Not one I intend to provide to you."

Azula leans back on one foot and prepares a fighting stance.

"My fire will melt your blade."

On Jin does not assume a fighting stance yet. Instead she points out, "It's not safe to fight here. I'd hate for someone to die from the crossfire. Let's find somewhere we can fight alone."

"My men do not fear death. Do yours?"

An unexpected answer, so On Jin goes with Plan B.

"Okay, well that's interesting, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because - !"

Just like that she takes off running away, as fast as she possibly can and then launches off the ground and her rocket feet fly her up above the trees, further into the forest.

"What! Hey! What the fuck? Come back here!"

Azula gives chase, running quickly and launching into the air. The Dragon Empress pursues The Guardian.

On Jin lands with a snowy runway, taking several steps before finally coming to a stop. Her motion ceases and she stares up around the trees and the mountains all around them, a rugged terrain that is black and brown and contrasts the white powder that covers the ground. Although it is summer, the snow capped mountains, the island being surrounded by sea, and Linlaho's location relative to the South Pole leaves the entire island in a white haze. On Jin closes her eyes, breathes it in, and holds the breath. She hears the muffle of fire as a version of herself lands in the open field behind her. She lets the air go, exhaling, opening her eyes and once again embracing the beauty of nature.

"Welcome to your final place."

On Jin rolls her eyes.

"It's 'Welcome to where you're going,'" she tells her, as she turns around. "At least get the quote right if you're going to steal it."

The girl who stands opposed to her doesn't even resemble a younger her. Sure, she has the black-as-night hair, the light skin, and lean muscles, but none of the rest of it lines up. This Azula has blue eyes, and her jaw is round rather than pointed. This girl has more breasts now than On Jin ever had. She's probably a teenager, maybe just in her low twenties, and she's taller now than On Jin was at that same age, if only barely.

"You have lived a long, and successful life, Guardian. But here, on this field-"

On Jin wonders if she used to be guilty of such nonsensical monologuing. She crosses her arms and interrupts the girl with a booming voice.

"What's your real name?"

"-so therefore… what?"

"What's your real name? It's not Azula, I'm sure. So what's your real name?"

"My name is Empress Azula, and it will be the name that puts you in the ground!"

The girl rears back into her fighting stance and lights a fireball, which is not blue or red!

"White?" On Jin perks up. This unique characteristic grabs her attention. "You have white flames!"

"That's right. In time my White Flame will turn blue and I will retake my throne over this world."

"Fascinating." On Jin takes a step forward, marveling at it. "I'm truly surprised. You've surprised me, Fake Azula."

The 19 year old grows angry. "Stop calling me that! I am-"

"What? Fake Azula? Why not, it's an apt description. You're not the real-"

"Shut up!"

"Okay, okay. Relax."

"Relax! Relax? You are a petulant child!" And Azula attacks.

She throws twin fire balls at her enemy and then sways and twists her arms in a formation for her next attack. On Jin side steps and they both miss by a wide margin. She knows she could incapacitate this girl with a quick strike of lightning, but she has greater goals in mind. She moves forward to clash with the girl head-on. Azula sees the Guardian running forward and steps into a ground-based wave attack. From the Earth, white flames shoot up, first in a line, growing wider as they get further out.

On Jin has seen and done this sort of thing before, so she sprints faster to face the wrath of fire. Just as she and the wave attack are set to hit one another she leaps up over it and flips, giving herself a little boost from her feet. She lands on the other side of the wave, unscathed, and with a clear path towards the Dragon Empress. She sprints forward.

Azula is surprised to see the quick and fearless reaction, but has no time to marvel. She shoots out more blasts of fire. On Jin dodges one and ducks just underneath the other. She runs forward again, the gap now just feet away by the time Azula can conjure up another bending movement. She shoots the white flame, but On Jin easily predicts it again and avoids it. Finally, she is upon her opponent.

Azula tries to back up, but On Jin is instantly in her airspace. While the younger Azula may have quick twitch reactions and youthful fire, the older one has experience - not just throughout her extra years on the girl, but more experience in recent years in deathly battles. She predicts the girl's moves with ease and deftly dodges as Azula throws punches and smaller fireballs at her. Not once does she raise her own fire or lightning against the girl. Now that she's this close though, she does fly a fist at her.

On Jin punches the girl in the shoulder with her right hand, forcing her to take a step back. She then delivers a left hook right into Azula's kidney, knocking some of the wind out of her. On Jin scolds her.

"I've been in your position before!"

She pushes the girl back, who tries to gather her footing, but On Jin is boxing with her again, holding up a blocking move before throwing a fist at her again.

"And I know what it means to lose."

Azula dodges and steps forward, throwing an inferno forward. It misses over On Jin's shoulder. The older woman grabs the teenager by the shoulders, yanks her forward and headbutts her.

"Oof!"

On Jin shoves her and she falls to the ground.

"You're steadfast and all of your life you've been told - and you believe - that it is your destiny. To have such faith, and to be found in a spiritless world? It's terrifying. Makes you weak at the knees. But answer me this?"

"RAGH!" Azula screams jumping up and taking a swing.

On Jin lifts her arm up and blocks the attack, pushing the arm back and exposing her opponent. She throws a fist up and socks her across the face.

"What difference does it make? Fear it. Scramble away from it. The sun rises all the same. And now it's here. I am here."

Azula stumbles away, barely able to stand. She wipes blood from her mouth. She is not equipped for this fight, and her opponent, a prolific bender if the stories are true, hasn't even used one fire blast. Azula calculates and tries to decide on a path forward, but the only way to win is to fry the bitch alive.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way, little one." On Jin tells her.

Azula's chest heaves, fear and anger mixing into a shortness of breath. She hangs her arms out, and shakes her muscles in frustration. She yells at the woman who is beating her soundly.

"You will not survive the lightning!"

On Jin whispers back, "I am the lightning."

On Jin let's it happen. She watches as Azula twists her arms and sways about every which way. She forms deadly, serpent like formations with her dominant hand. Azula builds it up, swinging for a few seconds until it's fully powered up. An unstoppable wave of electricity ready to surge forward. Finally, she is ready. She steps forward and delivers the kill stroke.

A flash of white and then the lighting blasts at her.

On Jin holds a hand up and lets it hit her. It surges through her body, from one fingertip to the next, until she points to the sky and the massive blast of lightning explodes out of her opposite hand and cracks the sky wide open.

Azula is stunned by this, having never seen lightning redirection before in her life. She looks into the high off distance as her attack travels away. What is equally mesmerizing is the sound that echoes across the empty forest. The booming noise completely drowns out the approaching footsteps, sprinting at her. When Azula finally looks forward, it's too late. The Guardian sweeps her legs out from under her and Azula hits the ground with force.

On Jin rolls the girl onto her back and hits her square in the chakras on her left side. Auzla has no idea what this sensation is, but she suddenly feels limp on her whole left side. On Jin rolls her so she's on her back and that is when Azula realizes she can't move. She is stuck. This is how and where she will die. She looks up at the pale blue sky and awaits the end. The Guardian has won.

On Jin steps back and finds a rock formation nearby to sit down on. She takes a seat and lifts her foot up, massaging it in the places where it hurts. Her head falls back, and she shuts her eyes as she takes in the sounds around her. After another moment she finally speaks.

"Tell me about your white fire."

Azula has anticipated the end. This sort of questioning is not a welcomed reprieve.

"How dare you? Such insolence. And lack of respect for the battlefield!"

"Have you ever even killed anyone?"

"Being the Dragon Empress is my destiny!"

"So you haven't. That's good. Bad for ruling, good for your soul."

"When I get up, I will crush you beneath my heel!"

"Tell me about the white fire. Do you have any unique abilities?" On Jin asks, ignoring Azula's bravado.

No reply comes from the girl on the ground, who is currently unraveling amidst an identity crisis.

"Either you get up and kill me without answering or I kill you and never find out. Either way I'll never know. I'd prefer to know. Please tell me."

Azula, unable to move her entire left side, feels resigned to her fate. The Guardian has stated it in such simple terms. There's really nothing to argue or fight about. She concedes.

"It has healing powers. I'm a healer. I'm a joke. A fire bender who can heal!"

"A joke? Hardly! A tremendous ability. Do you know how valuable that would be? We could really use you in our village," On Jin explains, expressing empathy to her enemy. Her voice grows excited, "So many people, injuries, sick. You were right, our only healer is a little girl. Although she's 9 and a half, not 10 like you said earlier."

"What is this? Why are you doing this?" The Dragon Empress asks the Guardian. "We agreed to a battle to the death for the fate of your village and its people and you're … making smalltalk?"

"Fake Azula," On Jin refers to her as the ridiculous name. "I see you as a potential ally. A fellow protector of the weak and vulnerable. I have no interest in killing you. I left my blade because I had no intention of sending you to the grave."

"But what if I defeated you? What was your plan?"

"That never was going to happen. And if you had? Oh well. I've lived a long life, many lives in fact, and my time will come sooner or later."

"You're crazy." Azula sighs.

"Listen, you have such talent as a possible leader and role model. Why consign yourself to being an Empress? What is driving this mission?"

Azula's memory flickers in her eyes. Soft hands holding her close. A rapturous voice telling her stories. A time before she was 'Azula, the Dragon Empress.' A reminder of her life from 'before.' Simpler, happier times, that she now tells to this Guardian of Lonlhai.

"It was what my mother saw for me."

"Hmm?"

"She was one of the Kemurikage, the original Kemurikage. She fought side by side with the Dragon Empress. She helped to reshape the world. She believed that I could be just as strong, just as exceptional. That I could take her place."

On Jin's pulse pounds just a little faster.

"What happened to your mother?"

Sadder memories now fill her mind and her voice.

"She grew ill and died before any healer could save her," Azula laments. She takes a deep breath before continuing, "Agni laughed at me by giving me healing powers too late to help her."

"What was her name?"

"Chyn."

"And you? What's your name? Your real name."

"My name is Meng Shou." She confesses for the first time in a long time.

"And what does it mean?" On Jin asks. "I'm sure Chyn gave you that name for a reason"

"It means 'fierce beast.'"

"Beautiful. A more fitting name I've never heard."

The Guardian stands and walks over to Meng Shou. She stands above her.

"Meng Shou, I propose you leave your Empress life behind and join me. I can give your life a new purpose. A new destiny that Chyn would've been proud of."

It's a tempting idea. A new life. A path to redemption, perhaps. Not one she sees for herself though. She grips the snow in her hands and makes other plans. There is feeling returning to her arms and shoulders. She asks the question partly to buy time, but also because she is curious.

"Why would I do that?"

On Jin takes a stance above her, both hands at her side, open palms facing the skies above.

"Because you can't be the Dragon Empress Reborn when the original never died."

Azula lights the blue flames. Meng Shou's eyes fly open in shock, and she briefly wonders if she has been concussed.

"What! How? What trick is this, Guardian?"

"No trick," Azula assures her. "I knew Chyn. You haven't said a thing about her but I can tell you she had black hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. During the spring and summer, when the sun hit her enough, she had so many freckles we couldn't even count all of them in our camps. I know all of this because she was my Kemurikage. I am the Prodigy with Blue Fire."

"How? This. She said you. She went to her grave thinking you were dead! She said she searched the world and never found you?"

"Then I suppose this is the first step of your new destiny. Finishing your mother's search. Finding what she couldn't: A dead woman, hiding in plain sight."

Meng Shou holds onto the snow, unsure of what to do. There are cosmic, spiritual forces at play right now. Feelings and things that she can not properly explain. Fate unfolding before her.

"How? How do I…"

"How? Well, the way I see it this can go one of two ways." Azula explains.

"First, you can squeeze that snow, throw it at my eyes in an attempt to blind me, tackle me to the ground, and try to kill me. You would not be the first to try as much."

Meng Shou no longer feels numb on her left side. Instead, she feels shame and embarrassment. 

"Or, the second way: you join me. I'll tell you all about your mother. Her favorite meal. Her fighting style. You know, we once defeated a crew of pirates together, and so much more."

Azula reaches a hand down and offers it to the wayward daughter of her once loyal follower and friend.

"Let me tell you the legend of Chyn."

Meng Shou releases the snow. She reaches her right hand up and takes the one offered to her. Azula pulls the deposed Dragon Empress back up on her feet.

"This is an abomination! An utter disgrace! You betray your mother's wishes and your destiny? Because of this, this, this? Gender betrayer?"

On Jin stands between Meng Shou and her small army who'd been waiting on the outcome.

"That's a very base insult. Both ignorant and pathetic. You can do so much better if you're going to insult me."

"Zarin, it was always your empire. You can have it. The Guardian has convinced me."

Tapisa shakes her head in wonder. Another incredible effort by On Jin. When lightning struck a little earlier most at the parlay had assumed one of the girls had died. So when On Jin returned with the Dragon Empress at her side it was a shock, to put it lightly. Now Zarin and his men are coming to grips with their new reality.

"You can't just abandon our cause - your cause! You are a part of this. You don't get to just lea-"

"I will only say this once." The Guardian interrupts them, lifting Moon's Veil from the ground and pointing it at Zarin.

"Redemption is my offer to you. Forsake your paths and we will welcome you as one of our own. Or leave. Go now, and never return."

Zarin puts his fists on his hips and does not react. None of the Fire Warriors or Kemurikage react. They stay stationary. On Jin has seen enough.

"Very well." She nods, turning to Meng Shou and placing a hard on her shoulder. She turns her away from her men and her army. Rangi, Tapisa, Aklaq, Warden Tarlom, and their couple of sentries all stay standing, while Zarin and his men remain stoic and menacing.

The military strategist born 20 years too late for the Hundred Year's War fumes and bubbles with rage. He's just lost his best asset and ticket to a more global effort. Zarin finally breaks. Despite all of the onlookers and defenses he steps forward and uncorks a fireball with all of the fury of a man who's just lost everything.

"HEY! ON JIN!"

Azula looks over her shoulder and only has a moment to react. While they had called her name she knows better. The column of fire streaking through the air is not for her; it's for the girl who represents her old self. She makes the sacrifice play, wrapping her arms around Meng Shou and stepping in front of her. The fire blast smashes right into her back and sends her flying forward. She collapses on top of the teenage girl, who goes face first into the snow.

"On Jin!" Some call out to her.

"Is she alive?"

"Yue! No!"

"That's it!" Rangi screams, unsheathing Kyoshi's Fan while Eclipse hangs on her belt. "No one hurts my wife except for me!"

"You have attacked our leader, and for that you will meet with your end." Tapisa says, summoning the icicle arrows she is well known for.

Azula still hasn't said anything, lying on Meng Shou's back.

"Oh my Agni," the young girl whispers amongst the commotion. She fears the answer but asks anyway, "Are you dead?"

A groan sounds off in her ear.

"Not yet," she struggles to say. "It'll take more than that to kill me."

Ty Lee charges forward, the guards around do their best to assist, and Tapisa lets loose her attacks. While they may be vastly outnumbered and their secret weapon is lying in a heap on the ground, Azula knows that if her life were in any kind of real danger, she could and would roll over and strike her enemies down. However, with Ty Lee on the attack, she is confident that the fight will be quick and decisive. Meng Shou, bless her heart, tries to get up. Azula holds her arms and keeps her down.

"We need to help! Zarin and my men can not be allowed-"

"Just stay here a little longer, Fierce Beast. Trust me, they can handle themselves," she replies quietly in her ear. "Besides, this will be easier for you when they're done."

It only lasts a short while, just as Azula had predicted. She stays with Meng Shou and holds her down as she listens to two dozen men fall down. As she had misquoted Azula earlier, they are welcomed to their final place. The pounding of feet finally stops and then it is quiet, except for the labored breathing of her compatriots. When it's all done, and Meng Shou is free, then Azula stands.

She lifts the girl up and doesn't let her turn her head back to look at the wasteland. She keeps her facing forward and leads her back to Lonlhai. Away from the death. Meng Shous is liberated, like Azula never was, from her destiny as the Dragon Empress.

In the heart of Republic City, two figures walk together through the streets. Obscured by the post-sunset darkness, a mist-like rain floats down from above. They wear hoods not just for the weather, but to hide their real identities. They have been on this path together before, but it is nonetheless dangerous. Should they be spotted, it could spell certain circumstances they'd like to avoid. They are, after all, world renowned figures. It would be scandalous and headline-worthy for the Fire Lord and the Avatar's wife to be spotted roaming the streets of Republic City together, unaccompanied by their respective partners.

"How much further?" He asks.

"Couple more blocks."

"Better be worth it, given-"

"It will be." She assures him.

Katara and Zuko are on their way to a bar. They'll get some liquor, some greasy food, and they'll catch up on their lives. They'll eavesdrop on the common, working people of Republic City, and maybe get some intel on the latest goings on of a certain gangster by the name of 'Zolt.' Inspired by their adventure together to track down Yon Rha, going out into secret and using disguises. Somewhere along the way, it became their 'thing.' Aang and Mai both know that they're doing this, and that they've done this before, and they both consent to it. They understand that there are certain things that they can't give to their spouses that the opposite member can. It hasn't crossed any lines, at least not yet. 

Katara isn't paying enough attention as she recollects their various trips through the underbelly of the city. She also is distracted because they are at their destination, the bar right across the street. She steps out onto the street and doesn't see the automobile careening towards her. A hand grips her bicep and pulls her with force backwards.

"Whoa!"

"Oh shit!" She yells.

A horn blares as the car keeps going. Zuko screams as they go, "Watch the road, a-hole!"

The driver screams something back at him, but it's indiscernible through their speed, the mist, and how quickly he zooms past them. Zuko raises a middle finger to them as they drive off. Amused by this, Katara does the same. They watch the car drive down the road and then round a corner. This time, Katara looks both ways before crossing the street. 

They enter the bar and a busy waitress walks past them. She tells them as she sees them standing there, "Take any seat wherever you can. I'll come find you after okay? Just the two?"

"Just two." Katara replies while bowing her head.

She leads them to the darkest corner in the place, where she partially removes her hood by situating it on top of her head. Zuko does the same as he sits on the side of the table that allows his scar to be hidden away from the rest of the patrons. The waitress swings by and they order two shots per person. She doesn't notice anything peculiar about them at all. They begin conversing in earnest.

"You saved my life back there."

"You would've been fine. Could've just healed yourself."

"Oh yeah, with a head cracked wide open, I'll just heal my brain hemorrhage."

"Hmm. Fair point. Well, it wasn't the first time and it probably won't be the last."

The waitress drops off their shots before excusing herself to go handle some rowdy drunks.

"We've done our fair share of rescuing each other from the brink. I don't know how I'd be here without you."

He lifts his first shot and offers it up. She lifts hers too.

"Likewise."

They clink and take them down, the juice stinging they're throats as it goes.

"You know," Katara says after a moment. "People say they'd 'take a strike of lightning for you,' but we actually have done it."

" I did for you, you didn't shit for me."

"Okay, fine, but I'm the only reason you 'won' that fight and became the guy ."

"Man. That all feels like a lifetime ago." He reminisces.

"Because it was a lifetime ago. We were completely different people with different lives than we have now."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Well shit, Blue, what else are we here for? To brood and stare off into the distance?"

"Shut up."

Katara laughs. "Alright, sure. What?"

"I tend to look at my life as chapters of a book. There was the chapter of growing up with my parents and my sister. It wasn't very long, but damn was it impactful."

"Uh-huh."

"Then my mom leaves, and all that shit. And suddenly I'm with my Uncle. Then, next thing I know, I'm fighting you and the gang, and then I'm part of the gang."

Katara looks back on this chapter with warmth and calm. It was a time of great strife and difficulty. Her life was a waking terror, with struggles and difficulties at every turn. There was seldom ever any rest before the wicked came for them. Yet despite this, despite knowing objectively that it was a maelstrom of hard won lessons and crushing losses, there is a vibrancy to the memories. They fill her up and lay on her like a warm blanket, keeping her snug. 

"I think that was the best chapter of my life." She says absentmindedly.

The memory of her victory at the Coronation Plaza shimmers in her mind. She can almost see it all again, feel it all again. The taste of victory tastes a lot like daydreaming about previous achievements while drinking cactus juice in a Republic City shithole bar.

"Uh, really?" Zuko asks. "Not your kids being born?"

"Oh, yeah. I mean, obviously, that's the best part of my life. I love them. I just mean-"

Katara backtracks, Zuko downs his second shot. The old friends begin a night of debauchery and fun that they may or may not remember the next day.

"So the Guardian was once known by other names?"

"That's the truth, Tap'. She won't discuss it in detail, but she wanted me to tell you. She felt you deserved at least some explanation."

The village had heard the story. Once the shelter in place order was lifted it became quite clear that victory had transpired. However, when whispers turned into tales of On Jin not just defeating the enemy, but converting them to be another protector of Lonlhai, and the Ghost and the Archer had slain their enemies, well a celebration was needed for the entire village. Songs were written and sung by campfire, villagers told tales of her heroics. The Day of Burning Rock and the Burning of Lonlhai were revisited in great detail. There was some argument of what name to dub this day, but it was clear that it would be just the latest chapter in the story of The Guardian and the Ghost.

Tapisa and Ty Lee sit alone in a corner, away from all of the revelry and celebration. They share a meal, some fresh seafood and rice patties. Rangi had expected more confusion and to be asked things by their protege, now the first of two, but The Archer is surprisingly calm about all of it.

"Do you have any questions?"

"I do not." She says, staring at her plate. "On Jin did not demand to know of my life on Gako Island before coming here. I assume she came to Lonlhai for a new beginning?"

"Indeed." Rangi nods. "We came together in search of that. And we've had to fight for it. We've lost some people along the way, but we've also gained some. We have it now, and we wouldn't give it up for anything."

"Aunt Rangi!"

At that exact moment, Senna came running up to the pair isolated away from the campfire and the fun. She crashes into Rangi's open arms who holds the girl against her for a moment in a tight embrace. Tapisa registers the last words that Rangi has said to her before being so rudely interrupted.

"Excuse me, pipsqueak, we were having a conversation!"

"'Bout what?" Senna asks the older girl and her aunt.

"None of your busin-"

"Oh nothing," Rangi cuts her off, making some eyes towards Tapisa. "I was just telling Tapisa about how your Aunt On Jin and I came here to Lonlhai, and how we just wanted to have a simple life and raise a family."

Senna looks up at her with those big, giant cyan eyes. She would listen to anything that the Ghost told her. Hearing these words from Ty Lee are imprinted on her memory, seared into her thoughts as they stand here together.

"Is that important, Aunt Rangi?"

Ty Lee can't help but smile widely at the little girl.

"It's the most important thing in the world to us." Ty Lee tells her. She tries to not think about the fact that a simple life will never be possible for them.

Elsewhere amongst the celebration, similarly away from the action, Azula fulfills her promise. She and Meng Shou are on Azula's porch, seated together with empty plates and cups beside them. The Guardian has excused herself to be with her new ward and talk with them, demanding privacy from her most trusted deputies and village elders. She was confident they would be left alone by anyone and everyone who wasn't Ty Lee.

"Chyn was fearless when I knew her. Hearing you speak of her earlier, I bet when she was nearing her death, she met it head on. Unafraid."

"She did," Meng Shou says, a truly warm smile on her face as she recollects her mother's final days. "She was ready when it came."

"Here's a great story about your mother: once my Empire started expanding, I found that some men had taken up post by the first place we ever helped: Baochou Village."

"I'm familiar with Baochou, she made sure I knew the story of how the fisherman came to you all."

"Lin, his name is Lin," she explains. "He's due to return in a few days, you can meet him if you'd like?"

Mesmerized and amazed Meng Shou replies, "Yes. Of course!"

"He probably has his own stories about Chyn. But anyway, I'm getting distracted. So we hear that this outpost has taken up residence over Baochou. They're rapists and warlords and they think because we've expanded that we've forgotten where we started. So I come up with a plan to go get them, infiltration style. So I need volunteers. I need people who will put their lives at risk but also trust me entirely. One of my most vocal leaders steps up, but so does your mother."

"Was she scared?"

"I don't think so. She scolded me afterwards, actually."

"Scolded you! How?"

"She asked tough questions. Which, coming from the people below you, that's the equivalent of scolding. She just was asking if I might've made a mistake. And I can remember thinking, 'This girl has some serious balls on her! She's challenging me !'"

Meng Shou laughs and adds, "Seems like she grew in confidence after that?"

"Certainly. She helped spread my ethos of 'Only Woman.' She soared up my ranks. She was loyal and true and incredible. I asked someone to go to their death, or with rapists, possibly a fate worse than death, and she stood right up. She was ready. She was magnificent."

Azula considers how Chyn had asked her to learn more about the King of Faces. She had ignored that request, and as a byproduct, Koh's Disciples ran rampant for years longer than that, taking advantage of Kyoshi Island, but also Lonlhai. If Azula had just listened to Meng Shou's mother, there's no telling how different, probably better, things would be for Lonlhai today.

She compartmentalizes these thoughts. She focuses on what's in front of her. Regaling Meng Shou with the legends of her mother and the deeds that she did. On a day when On Jin vanquished some of the worst remnants of her previous life, she now can end her night by reliving some of the best parts of it with the people who made it all possible for her. 

Lonlhai is alive with the stories of The Ghost, the Guardian, the Archer, even Warden Tarlom and ex-Warden Aklaq. Over time it will surely be revised and updated, but the villagers will talk of how the Ghost and the Archer defeated two dozen benders on their own, while the Guardian recruited this 'Dragon Empress' to their side. After the success from a few years ago that they had with redeeming Tapisa and setting her on the path to being the next Guru, no one dares to question that Meng Shou is now welcomed into the normally shut-out community. Around one campfire, a stranger asks for clarity.

“How long has she been looking over Lonlhai now?"

"Almost 10 years!" Another intoxicated villager replies, fist pumping in the air ten times for each year.

Suru of Republic City nods and raises his glass high into the sky, "Ah yes! That's right. Ten years of The Guardian! Long may she reign!"

Those around him cheer in response. They don't recognize the stranger, but they figure he must be new, or simply from other parts of the village they aren't familiar with. Meanwhile, on some scrap paper he found, and with a quill he has on him, Suru takes notes. He prepares to write the story when this is all over, shocked by his good fortune. A fire bender defending a practically lost village of spiritually aligned Water Tribe people, for a decade. Locked away behind tight security and tall, fortified walls. A silent protector that no one is talking about, least of all the Water Tribe or Fire Nation!

A once in a lifetime figure.

A once in a lifetime scoop.

Chapter Text

[Fall/Winter 138 AG]

"No! Don't leave! DON'T LEAVE!"

The scream comes from a young girl, trying to keep a pair of older women from leaving. The nearly 10 year old is scared of either of them leaving. She doesn't understand that this is for the best; they just go, so that she can be at ease. All the same, she clings to them and begs them not to depart. In the end, it will always only go one way, just as it has every time before.

"Senna," Rangi tries to reason with her, "We do this every night. Aunt On Jin and I have to go home and you have to go to bed!"

"No! Noooo! Stay!"

The home of Miki and Aklaq is playing host, as it does every night these days, to the defenders of Lonlhai. The Guardian, The Ghost, The Archer, and The Healer, or maybe The White Flame. There was much debate amongst the group on what was the better choice of titles for Meng Shou. In any event, the group comes here every night as a ritual of sorts. They unpack the goings on of the village, they discuss politics and gossip. They eat and are merry and enjoy one another's company. Senna is enamored with all of her female role models and as she approaches her tween years, she is sure to shape her personality around what these women provide for her. Right now though she just refuses to go to bed and let the others all go home to rest.

Miki asks, "Do you want Aunt Rangi to read you a bedtime story? Like she did the other night?"

"No. Bed time stories are for babies!"

"Now who gave you that idea?" Meng Shou crosses her arms. "I loved the bedtime stories my mother told me."

"Aye," Tapisa pipes up, a wicked smile on her face. "We know."

Meng Shou shoves her compatriot's shoulder at the ribbing. They are only two years apart, and while Meng Shou has only been around a few months now, they have quickly developed into the sister-like dynamic that Senna and Tapisa already share.

Rangi gets up and kneels before Senna. She holds her shoulders and calms her. She looks into those cyan eyes with her own wide, grey ones. “It’s OK to be soft and quiet. I know it’s your nature when you’re not here with us.”

"No!" She protests, her pouty lips betraying her. "I’m strong like you and Aunt On Jin!"

It is now that On Jin finally joins the fray of trying to convince the child to go to bed. She approaches and stands behind her wife, still kneeling and holding Senna.

"Loud does not mean strong. There’s an important strength in silence."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Senna's eyes water a bit.

"Do you want me to tell you another bedtime story?" Rangi asks her, a smile spreading across her lips.

"Nu-uh."

Senna niffles, and then reaches a hand towards On Jin.

"Me?"

She nods her little head. On Jin looks around a little incredulous at everyone else in the room.

"Okay." She concedes.

Senna promptly leads On Jin to her bed and climbs into it, quickly getting under the covers. In the harsh winters, there are always extra layers around. On Jin pulls a few up from the foot of the bed and tucks Senna in, making sure she is comfy and toasty. When she's done she confesses to the girl.

“I don’t know as many good children’s stories as Aunt Rangi. You’re sure you don’t want it to be her?”

“No. You’re good. I’m sure.” Senna replies without hesitation.

“Thanks for the confidence, girl.” Azula deadpans, to no avail.

She sits with her thoughts for a moment as she racks her brain on what story she could tell. That exact moment is when she hears the creak of floor boards. Many floor boards. She is certain now that Aklaq, Miki, Tapisa, Meng Shou, and Ty Lee have all come to eavesdrop. She decides to pay them no mind. She comes up with a story she can tell Senna.

"I do have something that should tickle your imagination."

"What does that mean?"

"Uh. Give you fun ideas?" Azula tries to explain.

"Okay?" Senna tries to understand.

"Before we lost The Guru, he helped me to see the beauty of the Moon Spirit, Yue. But all of my life growing up in the Fire Nation, I believed in Agni."

"Are they different, Aunt On Jin?"

"Very. Very much so. Agni is connected with fire, the sun, and light. Yue is more known for water, the moon, and night."

Yawning, Senna asks, "So you must like Agni more than Yue?"

"On the contrary. I prefer Yue over Agni. Agni is a bringer of life, and light. Such a burden. Yue, on the other hand, sacrifices everything for others. One gives, the other sacrifices. It’s like life and death, Senna. We all live, and eventually, some day, many, many years from now, we all die. But that’s where my story comes in. Are you ready for it?

Senna is glassy eyed and only somewhat conscious. The long speech on fire and water deities has bored her. Nonetheless, she is ready for a story. She bleats out a groggy, “Yes!"

Azula runs a hand through Senna's gorgeous, thick brown hair. She starts slightly above the child's eyebrows and then moves up her forehead, onto her hair line, and then down through her hair. Her fingers, the same ones that can explode with lightning, get tangled in the hair a bit. She extracts them and starts over. The slow petting of Senna's face and hair helps coax her off to sleep. Azula does it absentmindedly as she tells the story she's concocted.

“I believe that Agni and Yue have been in love since the dawn of time. Agni brings a new sunrise every day for Yue, and Yue keeps them forever. She can’t give them back, just as we can’t make time go backwards. We are who we are. We can only move forward. So Yue gladly accepts these gifts from Agni, cycling through a lifetime of moons, each full moon representing when she is at her most thankful.”

She looks down and Senna has passed out.

“Sweet dreams.”

She kisses her forehead and leaves the room.

Out on the perimeter of Lonlhai, far from sweet dreams and bedtime stories, a lifetime villager patrols a small alcove of people on the border. Ukiuk is a 17 year old boy, who has been 'trained' as a sentry, but has retained little of his practice. It was his duty as the man of the family to take on this role, to be a warrior, and to eventually die in combat, just as his father did before him.

However, everything changed for Ukiuk the day that On Jin arrived. She rose from the dead and vanquished their enemies. She became the Guardian and alongside The Watchkeeper and the Ghost, ushered in a new era of life in Lonlhai. A death on the battlefield became both more and less possible. With each new villain who came along trying to stake their claim in these holy grounds, and with each one turned away, the chance of living increased. But each new villain meant that another may come next.

Ukiuk of Lonlhai was born in the wrong place and at the wrong time. A few years earlier and he may have died before The Guardian came to town. A few years later and maybe his father would still be alive. As it is, he is a coward, through and through. He has never tasted victory and never stuck around long enough to face defeat. His sister, Yakaro of Lonlhai, was similarly scorned at birth. She could've been a member of The Guardian's most trusted circle if she had felt the right to grow outside of her roots. However, her family dynamics had led to staying at home and learning life skills.

The siblings depend on one another. Ukiuk needs her courage and bravery. Yakaro needs his privilege and clearance to go beyond the walls. Which is where they are headed now, for his nightly patrol along the outer perimeter. He fears for every leaf drop and every twig snap. She likes to see what the world is like outside of Lonlhai. Ukiuk holds a torch up to light the way as they trudge through shin-high snow. They make idle chatter until they arrive at a clearing and find a mess of objects in the center.

"What do you figure?" Yakaro asks, stepping closer to get a better look.

"Not sure. Don't get too close!"

"Oy. I'm not getting any closer than any reasonable person would get." She ignores him and inches closer.

"Looks like animal remains?" He says, examining what looks like a pile of carcasses. "Seems like something has been gathering them?"

"You ever seen a polar bear dog do something like this before?" She asks, reaching the same conclusion as him.

"We should return to the gates. Get on the other side of the wall." He stumbles over his words.

"What's the matter? Dead animals frighten you now too?"

"My orders were just to go inspect. I inspected, time to go back!"

"Don't you think they'll ask how they died?"

"Shut up, Yakaro!" He shouts at her. "Whatever did this to them, could do it to us!"

Yakaro inspects the ragdoll bodies. They aren't human. In the dark light she can tell they are other animals. Some king beast is killing them and bringing the corpses here to draw attention. A live trap. She has gotten too close to the pile when she realizes it. Fresh meat and blood to draw in others, and when they get too close, the beast would strike. Just as they are right now.

Across from her, through the forest and the dark night, she sees two glowing, yellow eyes. Growing, hulking, and huge the beast comes from out of the shadows. It blocks their path back to the wall and gates. They have no retreat path to go home.

"Ukiuk," she mutters, real fear in her voice for the first time in her life. "Run!"

The beast advances. Ukiuk drops the torch. Yakaro stays to fight. From her first breath to her last.

Ty Lee has the nightmare again. 

Azula sits in a chair in the kitchen. The wind howls outside, and all of her drawn in window. Her outfit used to be so vivid, but anymore in these dreams it is obtuse. Ty Lee still sees her arms are wrapped in white bandages, starting from her elbow, all the way down to her knuckles. Her hair is short, and as she listens to the wind, her mind wander.

Ty Lee doesn't know how long she's been here. The dream makes it seem like both no time and much time has passed by. Azula is perfectly stationary in her seat. It feels as though no one can find her, or no one is looking for her. Now there is only the wind and the rattling windows.

A sudden knock on her door startles her and jerks her out of her trance. She looks to the front door with surprise and anxiety. She rises, and slowly ambles towards the door. 

She comes to a stop as the knocking continues. She pulls it open and before she can react, a dark figure blows her away in a hail of fire. She is engulfed in the flames and within seconds she vanishes from the Earth.

Ty Lee sits up and gasps for air. The nightmare has dogged her for longer than she can remember now. Longer than any recurring nightmare or vision she has never experienced in life. She feels her way around the sheets until she can hold the woman beside her. Azula does not stir, she does not move, except for shallow, rhythmic breathing. Ty Lee knows, once again, that it was just a dream. A real, everlasting, endless nightmare. 

The one who knocks had come for Azula, but still only in Ty Lee's dreams.

"Hey babe?" Her husband calls from the other room. "Where are you?"

"Library." Katara calls back, putting her book down.

Aang enters with the rising sun at his back, holding a couple of pieces of parchment. He doesn't look up, but rather continues to read what has been delivered. He looks up briefly at Katara, who has all eyes on him. She wonders what he is about to share with her.

" The Republic Times' is asking for our comment on a story they're about to release." He tells her, still scanning the pages.

Not alarmed, Katara replies, "Okay? Is it scandalous in some way?"

He doesn't reply.

"Aang, you're scaring me. What's this about?"

"It's not, ah, scandalous. It's just, I don't know. It's kind of damning?"

"Damning?"

"It kind of makes me look bad?"

"What's going on? What do you mean?"

"It's probably better if you read it yourself." He says, crossing the room and extending the papers to her.

Katara takes them from him and reads the request for comment first.

Media Outlet: The Republic Times'

Journalist: [Redacted]

Media type: National newspaper / Current Affairs

Deadline for comment: Five (5) Days

Enquiry short summary:

Para-military force defending island independent of Avatar or state backing

Query:

Greetings!

We at The Republic Times' have been working on an expose regarding the entities defending an island along the border of the Southern Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. Given the scale, and some of the subject matter, we are reaching out for comment from the leadership of the Southern Water Tribe and Republic City. It is our belief that world leaders are unaware of this matter and should be alerted so they can provide statements. A redacted and reduced version of the article can be found attached for your review.

Thank you!

How to reply:

Please send messenger hawks to …

Katara skips the ending parts. She says to Aang, "Okay. Interesting. Is this the article?"

"Yeah. What they provided anyway."

"Alright, let me read what they provided."

A GUARDIAN'S SECRET: INSIDE THE FORT-LIKE ISLAND THAT KEEPS STAVING OFF EXTINCTION 

It was a warm Summer night when villagers raised drinks by campfire to toast to their savior. Earlier in the day, a fearsome warrior who had titled themselves 'The Dragon Empress Reborn' had come to burn their homeland to the ground. Named after the late Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, who had ruled viciously as a mobster in the earliest day of Republic City, this teenage girl arrived with a caravan of latter day Kemurikage and Fire Warriors, determined to take the village by storm. Instead, their numbers and massive force was met by an immovable object in the form of a middle aged firebending woman who calls herself 'The Guardian.'

Lonlhai Village on Linlhao Island resides along the northeast border of the Southern Water Tribe, a skip away from Jaohu Island and less than a hundred miles from Gaoling. It is rumored to be a hallowed land, one of the last remnants of spiritual ties between the Southern Water Tribe and their ancestral origins.

But this is a village unlike any other.

The village has high reaching walls all along its land perimeter, and docking stations for trade ships which could rival the great Port of Lanxi in the South Sea. Villagers tell stories of multiple attempts, much like the Dragon Empress Reborn, to destroy the village – all of which have been defeated by this supposed Guardian. The village does not allow outsiders even a day pass into its midst. Only those born or raised on the island, or with a connection to any of its leadership may enter.

The Republic Times' sent a reporter to the village four months ago undercover to learn more about the secret society. The reporter, whose name has been changed in this article in an effort to protect their identity… 

Katara stops reading word for word, having gotten the gist of it. She marvels at it as she continues to skim it, saying to Aang, "Wow! This is fascinating."

"I know! I know," he replies, going to look at a map in the library to try and locate the island. As he does so he asks, "Do you know anything about this?"

"Nothing! I have some fuzzy memories of some warrior guy who was defending an island for a while. Maybe it's the same one?"

"The article eventually mentions someone named the Watchkeeper?"

"I think that was it? But no, nothing. This is nuts. This is going to be quite a story."

"I also, as a side note, can't believe there's already copycats of the Dragon Empress. How crazy is that? And they convinced that girl to join them!"

"Wild," she replies. Her eyes scan the page but her mind is turning. She puts it all down and says to Aang, "A fire bender? Defending an island of water tribe spiritualists? She could be the face of a movement!"

Aang agrees. "Especially in the face of the renewed angst between bender supremacists and equalists?"

"So what do we say about this? No comment? Commend the efforts and ask Sokka to look into it some more?"

"Actually, I've got a sort of crazy idea if you want to hear it?" He asks, finally locating the island on the map. He grabs a quill and circles it.

"Fire away."

"They gave us five days to respond. Just eyeballing this, it's probably about one and a half, maybe two days if you take Appa. He's a little older now, probably closer to two days."

"Oh, yes! I love this idea. We could, wait. Wait. 'If you take Appa?' Not 'we?' You're not coming?"

"I can't. I have to travel to Caldera for a meeting tomorrow. I've blown it off already twice, I think Mai will kill me if I miss it a third time."

"Ugh." She groans.

"Plus this island is going the wrong way. So you take Appa, and Tenzin, and Kya, and I'll take Bakunawa and go to Caldera."

"Hmmm," she hums. "I don't know if they'll want to go to the South Pole on such short notice."

"I bet they will! You three have been talking about going on your own little adventure forever now. What do you say? Hop on Appa, you'll be there in two days. Spend a day or two getting to know this elusive Guardian, and then you can write back or even ride back to the Times and give a statement from us that's fully formed."

Katara comes and looks at the map. Her finger taps on where Linlhao Island is located. She smiles and needs no other convincing. She walks towards the exit and yells out their names.

"Tenzin! Kya! Pack your bags! We're going on an adventure!"

It took them until the third sunrise for sentries to finally find Ukiuk. He'd abandoned his post two nights ago and had done a shit job at covering his tracks. Nonetheless, he had such a head start, and simply kept going that it was hard for them to initially make up the ground.

The dismembered remains of Yakaro were found and a hunt was executed for the wolf that had torn her apart. This kind of tragic loss could be explained and dealt with, however sad. What was inexcusable was the desertion by one of their fellow sentries. They had brought him back to the outskirts of Lonlhai, just beyond the walls and the gates. There is a tree stump and two fellow sentries drag him up to it. They position him on his knees at it.

The scene around the stump features On Jin, the Guardian, standing at the ready, both hands on the hilt of Moon's Veil. Rangi, the Ghost, refuses to be present for these events anymore. She has seen enough in her time. Tapisa and Meng Shou flank Senna on each side. Warden Tarlom is present and about half a dozen sentries all stand in silence as Ukiuk is brought to kneel. He is crying painful tears as he takes his spot beside the stump. His hands grab at the roots. He desperately pulls at them, hoping he could lift the ground up like a blanket and disappear under it.

"I know I'm a deserter. I broke my oath. I should've gone back to the gate and warned everyone. But I saw," he breaks down. "I saw that thing tear into my sister and I couldn't stay. I couldn't face it."

The Guardian sighs.

"I understand, Ukiuk. You should've fought with her."

"Don't you think I know that!" He shouts at the ground, unable to look up at her. He gets sad now and cries and begs her, "Please don't. Please! You're supposed to be the good guys! Please don't. Please. Why do you get to decide? Huh? Who chose you? Why do you - WHY DO-"

"We're not the good guys, Ukiuk. That's why we get to decide."

Ukiuk sobs, knowing he can not argue with his fate. Knowing she must fulfill her role and he must pay for his mistake. He makes one last request, and finally looks up at her.

"Please. Tell my family that I'm sorry."

On Jin nods in agreement. Ukiuk finally rests his head on the stump, his neck extended for her. He mutters to the sky, "Please, forgive me, Yue."

The Guardian bows her head over Moon's Veil. She recites a quiet prayer.

"Keep your eyes open." Meng Shou whispers to Senna.

The Guardian uses both hands to lift Moon's Veil high above his head.

"She'll know if you look away."

On Jin decrees, "I, On Jin of Ba Sing Se, Guardian of Lonlhai, sentence you to die."

She drops the blade downward, letting gravity do most of the work. The iron slices cleanly through the neck and severs the head. It is quiet for a few moments, as On Jin stares down at the dead man. A cold wind blows, as everyone sits with the reality of death and mortality. After a moment, she waves her hand. This signals the sentries to move forward so they can complete their tasks. On Jin takes a rag from her pocket and cleans the blood off of Moon's Veil's edge. After a moment she turns to her warrior girls. She motions towards the village and all of them begin walking that way. As they walk she speaks to Tapisa, but really she speaks to all of them.

"Do you know why I had to kill him?"

"He abandoned Lonlhai?"

"Not my question. Do you know why I had to kill him."

She does not answer.

"That is the burden of leadership. Choosing to take someone's life is a difficult choice. If I'm going to make the choice, I must also be the one to do it."

She slows as they enter through the gates, back into the village. They come out the other side and look down upon the valley that is Lonlhai. She waves her arms about and turns back to her first recruit, the first one she was able to redeem.

"Some day, all of this will be yours to protect."

"I hope the sun never rises on that day." The Archer replies.

Azula shakes her head as they walk down.

"No. If I have to bury you, I would never forgive myself. I only pray that you are ready to welcome it when the sun rises on that day."

The girls make idle chit chat as they all venture home. They discuss the goings on of their island and their home. What needs to be done to prepare for the coming Winter. How they can better prepare and ration food. They also discuss mundane things like clothes and the weather. Senna runs home while On Jin, Meng Shou, and Tapisa make their way to the outskirts of town. On Jin bids them farewell just before reaching her door. When she arrives, she shoves Moon's Veil into the ground just beyond the front porch. 

It's a force of habit. She knows it's bad for the blade's long term health, but it's what Ganzaya always used to do. So she does it now to pay homage to her old mentor. She stares at the longsword for a few moments and reflects on what Ukiuk said. She will have to make time to speak to the family and relay his final words.

"The burden of leadership." She says to herself as she walks back into her home and closes the door behind her.

It is not long after the group has returned to the village when a darkness sweeps over Lonlhai. A shadow flying across the land. High, up above, a creature floats down towards the village.

Rangi looks up from what she is doing in the center of Lonlhai. At first she is just as bewildered as all the others. Her eyes adjust and try to focus on what she sees. 

The shock sets in. The first step is denying it is happening.

A flying bison drops from the sky right into her homeland. 

Ty Lee stumbles as she takes off sprinting for home.

Rangi has been called The Ghost for very nearly ten years now. A nickname she earned for being able to avoid blades and fists. The stories told were that she could walk through walls and even through men. At this exact moment, she only wishes those stories were true.

There is an abundance of people gathering due to the arrival of a sky bison. No one alive in Lonlhai has ever seen this, although rumors have persisted for almost forty years now of villagers having seen the Avatar fly past the island. Now it seems those rumors have come home to roost. Ty Lee bumps into people every which way, struggling to fight through the growing crowd. The villagers have an immense level of respect for Rangi, and would normally step aside, but they're so preoccupied they don't even realize she's going against the grain.

She comes out the other side at last and sprints free, racing all the way home, silently praying that she's not too late.

Katara trudges through the snow, keenly aware of the eyes on her. It's a familiar feeling, a reminder of her youth when she traveled the world with her brother, Aang, and Toph. She focuses on the task at hand. Kya and Tenzin are in tow, no strangers to being stared at by the general populace.

The wind blows and the windowsill rattle on the home in front of her. Katara walks up to the door.

She is the one who knocks.

A sudden knock on her door startles On Jin and jerks her out of her conversation with Miki. She looks to the front door with surprise and annoyance. She rises, and slowly ambles towards the door. 

She comes to a stop as the knocking continues. She pulls it open.

Katara watches the door swing open. She's surprised by what she sees.

A small, dark skinned, mustachioed man stands opposed to her.

Azula watches the door swing open. She's surprised to see her wife, huffing for air, leaning against the door.

“I’m not too late!”

Warden Tarlom is confused but smiles nonetheless and greets the strange woman.

"Hello! How may I," he notices in the distance what appears to be a sky bison. He trails off, "help you?"

"Hello! Are you the Guardian?"

"Uh, n-no. I'm the warden of this Village. Warden Tarlom. Uh, how, excuse me for asking, but how did you get here? And who are you?"

"Greetings, Warden Tarlom! I'm an emissary from the Southern Water Tribe, sister of the Chief, and wife of the Avatar! These are two of my children, Kya and Tenzin."

The two young adults with her wave and smile.

"S-s-sister of the Chief? Forgive me, no one told me-"

"It's quite alright, this was not planned in advance. And please forgive our intrusion. This building seemed extravagant compared to those around it, so I assumed it was someone of notoriety."

"Oh, this little old thing?" He tries to quip but flops on the delivery. Deciding now is no joking matter he replies seriously, "No, the Guardian doesn't live here."

"Very well. Will you please escort us to her?"

"Actually, Mom, I think I want to check the village out? Learn about the people here and their customs. All we've heard about their spiritual stuff is very interesting."

Warden Tarlom wants to object but he is overwhelmed by all that's going on. Before he can say anything, the Chief's Sister is already replying, "That's a terrific idea, Kya! What about you, Tenzin?"

"I'm just gonna stay with you, Mom." He replies with crossed arms and a warm smile.

"Excellent," she turns back to the Warden, "So how about it? Shall we?"

Ty Lee hurriedly enters the home and closes the door behind her. She looks around, searching for anyone else and quickly spots the cyan eyes and raggedy brown hair of the village leadership's pseudo-Matriarch. 

"Miki! Hi! So good to see you! You look lovely !" Ty Lee rambles.

"Hello, Rangi. Is everything okay?"

"Can you give us some privacy? And in fact, can you go get Meng Shou and Tapisa? Please hurry and tell them to come quick."

"Okay? But is something the matter?"

There is very cleary something the matter to Miki.

"Uh. No. No. No. I just, please, I need to speak with On Jin alone."

The mother knows better than to keep pushing it. She hasn't seen Rangi act like this ever, so she concedes, knowing it must be urgent.

"Alright, if you insist."

Miki takes her coat and makes her way for the door.

"Thanks for stopping by, Miki! We'll finish that conversation later."

"Of course."

"Sorry! Thank you!"

"No problem. Farewell!"

The door closes shut and the two Lonlhai Villagers drop the act.

"Ty, what was th-"

"It’s Appa. Aang’s flying bison. It's here. I saw it."

"Huh? Aang? As in the Avatar? Is here?"

"Yes! He's here ."

"That's impossible. He has never been here. In all of their turmoil, in all of the strife, death, decay, he's never come here. Why would he come at a time of peace?"

"I don't know, 'Zula! But he's here !"

"So, I’ve heard you recently had a run in with someone named the 'Dragon Empress Reborn?' Can you tell me more about that?"

Katara and Tenzin walk with Tarlom. The small man is dwarfed by Tenzin, and even somewhat by Katara. His little legs and little feet carry him hurriedly through the snow and takes them to where they're going.

"Oh, I assure you there is nothing 'reborn' about her. That is just what Meng Shou was calling herself. But the Guardian brought her home to us. We've now had her helping us for four or five months now."

"Meng Shou?" Katara repeats to herself. "What a beautiful name. And your Guardian convinced her to abandon that life?"

"She did!" Tarlom squeaks excitedly. "The Guardian is the greatest protector Lonlhai has seen since the glory days of The Watchkeeper."

'Watchkeeper? Ah yes, I’ve heard of him and read some more. What an interesting village!"

Katara is enchanted by this whole thing. It's a society with a rich history and spiritual ties. The Southern and Northern Water Tribes had undergone industrial revolutions over the last forty years, and this island was left untouched. She reflects on why she's here and how this fight with the reborn Princess had brought her here with just a smidge of good fortune. She relives her own glory days in her mind and shares with the two men walking with her.

"You know, I defeated the real Dragon Empress when I was younger." She proudly declares.

Tenzin has heard this story ad nauseum. He could probably recite it by heart at this point. The Warden, on the other hand, shows no interest in it.

"Oh? I don’t know anything about 'the real' Dragon Empress."

"No?"

"Not a thing."

"Well. Let me tell you, she was a Fire Nation Princess during the Hundred Year’s War. In the post-war vacuum of power and evil, she rose to the top."

"I see." Says a man who was probably Katara's age when it was all happening but completely ignorant to it all. Such stories of princess and empresses and war in far away lands was irrelevant to a child of forever war in his homeland.

"So how did your Guardian convince the 'Dragon Empress Reborn' to step down?"

"The Guardian knew Meng Shou’s mother and connected with her in that way. Talked her down and such."

"Really! What a small world?"

Their destination is just beyond the bend.

"So what do we do? Do we run or do we stay and fight?" Azula questions.

"I-I-I don’t know! I don’t think we fight Aang. Not again. Maybe we can talk to him?"

Azula remembers something and heads for the door without warning. Ty Lee panics.

"Where are you going!'

"If we’re going to run, I’m not leaving Moon’s Veil behind."

She walks towards the front door and adds another note.

"And if we're going to fight, it's better to have it in-hand than in the ground."

She pushes open the door and makes an immediate left. Out to the side of her home is a whetting stone and beside that, Moon's Veil lodged into the ground. She is quick and keeps her head down. She puts both hands on the longsword's handle and rips it from the Earth. She keeps her head down and walks back to her home. Before she can reach the door a voice speaks to her.

"Greetings!"

Azula stops just outside of the front door, her back to the speaker. She hears Ty Lee yell something from inside but can’t quite hear and can't reply. However, Azula has just learned something vitally important.

'That voice doesn’t belong to the Avatar.'

Kya sips some stew she bought from a marketplace vendor and sits amongst an eclectic group of villagers. Two small children, a girl her age, a married man slightly older than her, and a middle aged woman. She started with the girl her age, finding her pretty and attractive, and thought she'd strike up a conversation. In barely a few moments she's gathered a small group and asked them to tell her about the Guardian.

"Yue protect her, she has been a blessing from the spirits upon us."

"She's really smart and cool."

"Don't know where we'd be without her and the Ghost."

"The Ghost!" Kya interrupts. "I haven't heard as much about her! Can you explain?"

The villagers regale her with tales of the Guardian and the Ghost and how they have saved Lonlhai countless times.

Tarlom leads Katara and Tenzin around the bend and spots the little home on the outskirts of town. What's more, On Jin pushes open the door and turns to her left immediately.

“This is it. That’s her!” He tells them.

“Excellent, that will be all.” Katara quickly strides past him without another word.

Tenzin offers their gratitude, "Thank you, Warden.”

As she walks up to the home Katara watches from a distance as the woman yanks a massive longsword from the earth. She turns quickly to return to her home. Katara realizes the Guardian is going to reach the door before she can get to her. She wants to capture her in the moment and not have to knock on the door. She yells to get their attention as she approaches.

"Greetings!"

The Guardian comes to a sudden stop, just before reaching her front door. Her back is to Katara and she can see she has layered, shoulder length black hair and it's as dark as night. Her skin appears lighter than the average Southern Water Tribe villager, but right in line with what she'd expect from someone from the Fire Nation who has spent a decade living here. She's shorter than Katara expected, a little less than average height. She can't see anything else about the woman's appearance. Katara comes to a stop, thirty feet away.

"Are you the legendary Guardian that I've heard so much about?"

Katara asks but with no reply. She gives her a moment. Her eyes wander to a sign nearby. Faded by the sun and time, it's a placard with a handwritten greeting. She reads it.

"Welcome to where you're going."

She recognizes the words but doesn't place them right away. She turns back to The Guardian. When an answer still does not come, she begins by introducing herself. 

"I'm an emissary from the Southern Water Tribe, sister of the Chief, and wife of the Avatar! I'm-"

The front door swings open and a woman comes outside but quickly stops when she sees Katara and Tenzin.

Katara greets her, "Oh, hel-…"

She trails off while staring at this woman. A long, braided, brunette ponytail. Light tan skin like the Guardian's. Her eyes are grey. Her face is familiar. So familiar. It's been a few years, many years, an entire decade plus since she's seen this woman. The girl who walked out the door stops in place and makes eye contact with her. She doesn't say anything, doesn't move. She's paralyzed. Katara tries to reconcile what she's seeing with what she knows. It doesn't make any sense. She does not understand. A new voice speaks to her now.

"Let's not stand on ceremony," she starts with a pause. The Guardian slowly turns around to look Katara in the eyes. She tilts her head slightly.

"Katara."

Chapter Text

[Fall/Winter 138 AG]

Katara has shallow breath and a thumping in her chest. As the milliseconds pass by she feels her pulse pounding in a more hurried pace. There's something lighter about her head, the air feels thinner. Her eyes dart all about inspecting and searching, confirming all that she sees in front of her. A face that is older, much older than she remembers. Visible lines that etch her face, but the same amber eyes, the same nose, the same wicked smile. A dead woman walks the Earth.

"NO!" Katara slips the cap off of her trusty water skin and whips out an attack.

The water slings forward and hits Azula in the wrists, wrapping themselves around them, bounding her hands together in a pair of handcuffs made from water. Moon's Veil clatters to the ground.

"Is this really necessary?" Azula asks her.

Ty Lee pleads, "Katara, please, just calm down. We can explain-"

"Mom? What is this?" Tenzin asks, taking steps forward to be beside her.

Azula smirks. She jokes, "'Mom?' I thought that might be your husband and he just aged gracefully!"

"Shut up!" Katara screams at her. With renewed anger she yells, "Shut the fuck up!"

"Is he here? Your husband?” Azula asks Katara, blatantly ignoring the demand from her captor. She is both curious and trying to break the ice. Katara is still trying to wrap her head around all of this and doesn't answer. So Azula turns to the son, “Hmm. How about you, boy? Is your father here?”

Tenzin tenses. He stands up a little taller, his arm muscles flexing involuntarily. He asks her his own question to the woman his mother has attacked, “Who are you?”

"On Jin?" A new voice joins the fray. All heads turn to Azula and Ty Lee's right, Tenzin and Katara's left. A teenage girl approaches and asks, "What is this?"

Katara looks at this new girl and feels the whole world spin around her. She must be seeing double because now there is a second Azula. This one has blue eyes and freckles and is younger. She can not allow this, she holds her right hand out to keep Azula in shackles, but then she points left hand out towards Meng Shou. A new water whip explodes out. This one doesn't just bind the hands though. It wraps up her arms, around her torso, and forms a gag over her mouth. 

"Mhm!"

Azula commands her, "Let her go, Kat."

Ty Lee pleads, "Katara, please!"

"Mom! Mom, what are you doing? What is this?"

"Everyone shut up!" Katara demands, her frustration and fear building.

As if on cue, yet another voice enters the arena. This one coming from Katara and Tenzin's right, Azula and Ty Lee's left.

“Guardian, what is this?”

Katara looks at this latest challenge. A woman with a ponytail as well as braids on each side to frame her face. She has tan skin, white hair, and a tiny face. Her eyes are as blue as the ocean and she looks ready for war based on her facial expression.

“Tapisa, stand down.” On Jin demands.

“Why does she have your hands tied? Why does this woman have Meng Shou bound?”

“It’s not your concern, Guru. Leave it alone.”

Tenzin tries to intervene, "Perhaps we can talk this out? She's a Guru?"

Ty Lee chirps excitedly, "Yes!"

Azula is quick to concur, "A splendid idea."

"No." Katara answers.

The Guru agrees, "We don’t negotiate with those who would attack us."

Katara turns to Azula and berates her, "I can't believe you're still using your bending to fight and hurt people!"

"What are you doing here?" Azula asks, ignoring her captor.

Tenzin offers a reply, "We heard the story of the Guardian and the Ghost. We came to thank them."

"Ah!" On Jin yelps. She smiles sarcastically and turns her head a bit as she talks to Katara, "So a moment ago you were here to thank me and my wife! Now you’re attacking us on our property?"

"No no no no no. No. No, that can't be. No, you can't be. You can't be the Guardian."

"Can't I?" Azula quirks an eyebrow.

The Archer senses an opportunity and raises her arrows.

“Archer, stand down!”

“Not until she releases you!”

Tenzin puts his hands out and steps forward, trying to calm everyone. "Please! We need to work this out!"

Katara spits venom at Katara, "Aang should've taken your bending away like your Father."

"Harsh, but not all that surprising coming from you."

"What's your game?"

"Nothing. I-"

"Why are you helping these people?"

"Because they-"

"What's in it for you?"

"Nothing. Well,-"

"Are you rebuilding your empire?"

"No! If you-"

"Are you starting over? Using them as cattle fodder? Is that why this village is always under attack?"

“ENOUGH.”

Azula shoots flames out of her palms, extinguishing the water, and releasing her cuffs. Katara is surprised by doesn't react. 

“Don't play dumb, Katara," Azula yells at her, frustration growing. "You know how it is for people like you and me. We're one in the same."

An affront to Yue wouldn't have been worse than this insinuation. Katara takes another step forward, one hand holding Meng Shou captive, the other balled into a fist.

"No, we are not !"

"Yes, we are. We are two of the greatest benders of our time, perhaps of all time. Fire and Water. Our very existence invites challengers. People out to take our place."

Katara listens, but it does not take the edge off.

"You want to know why this village is always under attack? Because we're protecting it. It's valuable land. And these bad guys, they keep showing up. They think they're going to be the one to finally kill The Guardian and company. But they don't. So the next group comes along and says, "I'm gonna be the one to knock them off." That's why."

Katara scoffs as everyone else becomes an audience to this showdown between titans. 

"You can play pretend all you want. But we both know deep down you're still a monster."

"Oh, I don't need you to tell me that. I remember who I am. I am the Guardian."

"Get out. And never come back."

"Ha! Are you mad? That's a death sentence for all of the people here who we've protected for the last 10 years."

Katara feels vaguely threatened and screams at her.

"By our honor we will protect this village after you're gone!"

Azula grows furious that she can't see what is so plainly true.

"Do you think it's HONOR that keeps this place safe? Do you think HONOR staves off the killers and the madmen? It's FIRE! FIRE AND LIGHTNING!"

"Then the Avatar will protect them!"

"THERE IS NO AVATAR HERE! THAT'S WHY I STEPPED IN!"

Azula spits as she speaks, unintentionally, as her anger reaches new peaks that haven't been seen by anyone in the village in her time there. She takes multiple steps out towards Katara, closing the distance between them. She calms herself and tries to explain.

"You have to understand this, Katara. I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me."

The words sound so familiar. Katara knows that the reasoning is sound. If she spent more than a few moments remembering her own past and her life, she would see the logic. But she can’t see through all of the red in her vision.

"Everything you touch burns. It's your curse. All that you hold turns to ash. That's why I can't let you stay here. This village will burn if you remain."

"It will burn if I leave. They'll be nothing. It will be a graveyard. Can't you see? That isn't what Yue would want!"

"Don't you say that. Don't you use her name. I knew her. She was my friend. And it was you and your people who forced her to make the sacrifice that she made!"

"She sacrificed her life so that people of the Water Tribe, who couldn't defend themselves, could be saved. Why won't you let me do the same?"

“I can not allow you to live freely. Not here, in my homeland."

"You can. You won't."

"That's right: I will not. And if you won’t come of your own volition," she uses her hand and summons more water to rise up in preparation to attack, "Then I’ll have to put you down.”

Arrogance is clouding judgment. Katara can't see left from right, up from down. A small voice nags at her, telling her to leave it behind. Walk away and forget all of this. But she can't let it go. She needs to 'save' this village, and this world, by slaying its 'Guardian.' She doesn't see that ice arrows gather en masse.

“No! TAPISA! NO!” 

The Archer prepares for an onslaught.

“She is now threatening you with death. I don’t understand why you won’t take action against this woman - but if you won’t, then I will!”

“Leave now, or I will make you leave," Katara demands. "Dead or alive. Those are your choices.”

"Mom! Please. Can't we talk about this?"

And so the ultimatum is cast. Azula knows that there is no more talking about it and there is no talking out of it either. She turns to her right and looks back at her wife. Ty Lee of Caldera, now 53 years old and never looking better. The famous grey eyes, the bobbing, braided ponytail, they all turn and face Azula. The wives look at one another and try to read each other for a reaction, or a direction. Azula reflects. She remembers the first letter that Ty Lee wrote to her when Azula came to Lonlhai. A description of the nature of the great oak trees of Jingchan. A decision she made almost a decade ago, she makes again. Azula balls her fist. She looks back at her latest enemy.

"Tell me Katara, how do you want to die?"

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a question." Azula replies. "I've thought about it a lot over my many years. How I want to die. Ruminated on it. Pondered it. I'm not ready, not yet."

"So you'll leave then?"

"No," she replies curtly. "Every time I think I've found somewhere to settle, my past catches up to me. But not anymore. I've put down roots here."

"So you've decided?" Katara says, almost to herself rather than anyone else.

"I will not move. You will."

The stage is set.

"I've waited so long for this." And Katara attacks.

"This is fascinating ! Burning rocks, and raging fires, and lightning, and enemies turned to friends. Passing from one generation of protectors to the next. I'm amazed! What a story!"

Kya has learned so much more than what was in the Republic Times' article. What's more is she feels so much more now. She can see how it's impacted these people's lives and made a difference. She wonders if this is how people all over the world felt, and still feel about her parents and their efforts to end the war.

Suddenly, a commotion overwhelms the peaceful calm of their marketplace eating area. People yelling and talking louder than necessary. Kya looks confused. She asks the pretty girl around her age, "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I'll go ask."

The girl rises and starts walking towards some people standing around, discussing something out of sight. Before the girl can get there someone else comes running to the table.

"Hey! You all gotta get over to the Guardian's house! The Chief's Sister is here and she is fighting with the Guardian! They're yelling at each other and people are saying they're about to start bending at each other!"

"What? No. No that can't be?"

Kya runs off towards the crowds, hoping they are going the right way.

Katara whips water at Azula, who dodges it, allowing the whip to smash into her home and break off some windowsills. Tapisa finally uncorks her Ice Arrows, which Katara clearly expects and is able to block with a shield of snow from the ground. Azula dashes forward and throws three fireballs at Katara, who quickly pulls her shield away from the ice arrows and swings them at the fireballs. This move finally liberates Meng Shou, who quickly rises and dashes forward. The ice arrows melt on impact from Azula's flames, and much of the water shield evaporates on impact. Before anything else can be done though a gust of wind blows from above, down in between them.

Tenzin jumps in the middle of the fight. Seeing Tapisa unphased, he quickly sends out a gust towards her and knocks her down.

"My quarrel isn't with you, boy." Azula tries to offer him mercy.

"Then we shouldn't be quarreling at all! We can talk this out!"

"You sound so much like your Daddy. Now move, or I'll kill you like I did him."

"Like you what-"

"Yah!"

Ty Lee swings Kyoshi's Fan in Tenzin's direction and he steps back. Her scimitar nearly cuts him and he is forced to retreat. Before he departs though he throws two gales of wind at Azula, who is tripped by the first and then flung back by the second. It's been nearly forty years since she fought an airbender, so she's a little out of practice.

When she lands she looks up. Meng Shou has reached Katara and is attacking her with the white flames. Katara has a clear edge here, but Azula watches her other protege, Tapisa stand back up and enter the fray. Azula is now much closer to her home, and realizes she left something behind. She goes to retrieve it.

Tenzin purposefully leads Ty Lee away from the fighting. She swings her blade wildly at him, with zero intention of hitting him. They are two reluctant fighters, neither one truly dedicated to the idea of killing the other. Ty Lee remembers when Tenzin was born. She watched him grow up, albeit from afar mostly. Still, she saw him in his crib. She has no desire to put him to the blade.

Tenzin simply is hoping to separate all the parties and prevent them from getting to each other's throats. Yet as he retreats, the words of the Guardian stick on him. He can't shake them. He finally stops and puts up an offensive air blast, to make the woman off balance.

"Can't you understand that this is senseless!"

"Of course I can!" She yells back at him. "That's why you should leave!"

"Why did that woman say she killed my father? My father is alive."

"Because she did kill your father," Ty Lee stops. "Long, long ago. More than a lifetime ago. Before your parents ever even had a spark of a relationship, let alone marriage and children. She killed the Avatar, and your mother brought him back to life."

Tenzin is unnerved. It is a shocking development, almost unbelievable. He balls his fist and feels tears welling up at the idea of losing his father. Now or in the past. Ty Lee sheathes Kyoshi's Fan and approaches. She puts her hands up in a non-threatening display.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this," she places a hand on his shoulder. He allows this, even as he works through his grief. She tells him, "But I assure you, she has paid the price more than anyone alive in the Fire Nation. She has worn the weight of her sins, and the sins of her homeland, on her shoulders. Your mother just doesn't want to see it."

Tenzin is not comforted by this. She is a biased party in this. She has no claim to his sadness, nor trying to dissuade it with empty words.

"Perhaps," he says, looking up at her. "Or perhaps not."

Ty Lee has been around enough. She knows what this means and she knows he's about to leave her to attack Azula.

"Yue above." She curses.

She retracts her hand on his shoulder and then quickly jabs it forward to hit his arm. He yells and quickly uses his other arm to blow her away with an air blast. She uses her hands and grace to tumble backwards and land on her feet about two dozen feet away.

'Well, at least he's only got one good arm for now.'

Katara's world will not end by the hand of White Fire or Ice Arrows. These two girls aren't even half her age, and although they are more practiced hands as of late, she has more skill and natural ability than they will ever have in their life. She puts it to use right here and now.

Katara uses the snow on the ground to rise up her own place above them. Meng Shou holds both hands out and shoots flames at the base to melt it while Tapisa slings arrows from all over the place. Katara easily maneuvers snow and water around her to rise up and deflect the blades. Much like her husband in the Avatar State, she commands the water to form a circle of protection around her. When the pillar shatters under the force of the white fire, she is able to do a controlled fall towards Tapisa, and create a barrier with the fallen pillar to block Meng Shou.

"Ahh!" Tapisa yells as she shoots an icicle at her.

The two of them are near the neighboring home that once belonged to Ganzaya and Achak. Now, Katara uses her water bending prowess to spin the ice arrow around in the air and back at Tapisa!

"Glug."

The arrows pierces right through Tapisa's shoulder and wedges into the concrete wall of the home next door. She uses the snow and her feet to form ice skates and quickly swings back around to go back to Meng Shou. The fire bender shoots two fireballs at Katara, then steps forward and unleashes a wave of white fire. She's too slow though, and all attacks miss as Katara skates around her. She drops off of the skates two feet from the ground, right in front of the firebender. Katara spins into a kick that crushes Meng Shou's left arm.

"Raghhh!"

As the teenage girl staggers, Katara quickly grabs her by the back of the head and pulls it down. At the same time she lifts her knee cap and delivers the forehead right into her knee.

"Oof." Meng Shou crashes into the ground.

Katara, sensing victory, doesn't relent. She pulls both arms of the girl back and locks them together with one hand, while the other twinkles the ice around them to rise up and lock the girl into a pair of icicle handcuffs, tying her to the ground. The same position she once put the Dragon Empress into at the Coronation Plaza.

"GET OFF OF HER!"

Katara looks up just in time to dodge the incoming blade. Azula swings Moon's Veil at her. Unlike Ty Lee and Tenzin though, she does not swing it with the intention of missing. She aims to kill. If it was Agni's Lament, Azula would channel her blue fire and lightning through the blade. Unfortunately, she's never been able to make that connection with the Watchkeeper's old blade. Nonetheless, it is sharp, and she uses both hands. One to guide, and one to balance.

Katara retreats but sees an opportunity. She throws water and ice up at the blade. Azula swings and deflects these things. They repeat this four, five times, Azula not realizing that Katara is building up ice on each hit, encasing the blade in it. Finally, on the sixth and final one, the blade is completely covered in ice. Katara uses her free hand to pull the blade down, against Azula's wishes, and crash it into the ground, removing it from the fight.

Azula leaves it behind.

Growing up outside of Republic City, with Toph Beifong and her metal bending police as a personal friend to his father, Tenzin was not unfamiliar with chi blocking. It was something he was taught and prepared for in case he ever came across it in life. However, he had never had it happen while actively in combat with someone, possibly with his life on the line. Nor did he realize it could come from such a simple tap. None of his teachers has prepared him for it.

Of course, none of his teachers were Ty Lee. She was the one who taught the Kyoshi Warriors and the first batch of RCPD officers. Everything Tenzin has learned about chiblocking was whispers down the lane from what Ty Lee taught to their master and their master's master. She has forgotten more about the techniques of it than he will ever learn.

Tenzin still has his right arm and thus his dominant hand. So he uses that, stepping forward and sending a blast of wind at her. Ty Lee sees it coming and quickly evades. Apart from Azula, and potentially even including her, Ty Lee is perhaps the most prepared fighter on the planet for an Airbender. She can move quickly, dodge, spin, and even cartwheel.

"Come on, Son. You have to be quicker than that if you want to graze me."

She gloats, and the crowds begin to build to watch The Ghost defeat another opponent. But there is one thing, much like Azula, that Ty Lee lacks in this fight. She may have once been a practice hand, but it's been four decades since she last fought Aang.

Tenzin punches a blast of air into the ground at her feet, intentionally missing. The snow kicks up all around her, causing a sort of smoke screen.

"Huh?"

Before she can react a gale of wind slices through and sends her flying backwards. Ty Lee crashes into a building and her head whips backwards into the wall. She falls to the ground feeling dizzy and hurt, possibly concussed. She stirs, trying to get up when she feels a gust of wind pushing her down onto the ground.

Tenzin advances, using his one free hand to keep her down.

Azula keeps advancing. Katara uses the ice around them and the water at her disposal. Azula swats it all away with her blue fire and quick reflexes. It is an odd experience for Katara, but Azula keeps trying to close the distance between them. Despite her clear advantage with bending elements, Azula wants it to become a fist fight. Katara doesn't understand, as this would seem to take her biggest strength away, but it also worries her. She tries to set the terms of the engagement, but despite the environment giving her the upper hand with endless amounts of water and ice, Azula seems to be dictating the entire fight.

She sends a water whip but a blast of blue fire acts as a shield and disintegrates the whip. Katara bends the ice at Azula's feet to grab her, but Azula had anticipated this possibly happening and activates her rocket feet the moment she feels the tug on her ankle. Azula is closing in now, a few feet away. Katara, desperate, mimics the move she used to win their fight all those years ago. She pulls the snow all around them up and defrosts it into water instantly. It swallows them both whole, only a foot or two apart.

The Lonlhai villagers that have gathered together to witness this clash look on in horror as their Guardian and the Chief's sister are trapped in a block of water together.

There was a time when water terrified Azula. When she feared drowning, all due to this specific encounter from when she was a teenager. But she is no longer a teenager. Katara breaths through her nose and summons the bubbles. To her surprise, Azula does the same. She exhales and bubbles spill out. She does this three more times and the bubbles keep popping, boiling the water. Her hands struggle to push fire out, the heat evaporating the water around her. Katara looks on in shock. Finally, Azula does the last thing Katara expects. She opens her mouth.

The Dragon's Breath is unleashed.

Katara is blown back, flying out of the water by the force of the fire breath. The cage of water around Azula collapses instantly. Katara, down on the ground, looks up with terror in her eyes. Drenched in water, matted against her neck and shoulders, the Guardian rises. She looks down at her opponent.

"Did you really think that would work? Like I haven't spent my entire life preparing for something like that to happen the next time? Like I didn't think about it for all these years?"

Katara scrambles up to her feet. Before she can assume a proper fighting stance though, Azula shoots a blue wave of fire just to her right to scare her, burning her right forearm. Katara screams.

"AAAAH!"

" Victory has defeated you, Katara."

Azula opens her palms to Katara's left now and with ease a blast of lightning explodes forward to destroy the ground around her. Some of the earth kicks back and strikes her in the forehead. A gash develops along the side of her face and blood begins running down.

" Peace has cost you your power."

Katara, distracted by the fire and lightning, doesn't see Azula step forward, erasing the distance between them, delivering two blows to her left arm, and then retreating. It goes limp.

"While you lounged on your island throne, I have been fighting."

She opens both palms and lightning strikes on both sides of her. She moves forward and punches Katara in the side of the head where she bleeds. Katara’s head ricochets back, and Azula's knuckles have smeared blood on them.

"I became stronger, better."

Waves of blue flames on each side sends the water bender backwards, closer to Azula and Ty Lee's home.

"My mind is sharper. My fire still burns blue. I learned chi blocking. I became a master swordswoman. I became the very Spirit of Lightning itself. You beat me at the lowest time in my life. Now… I am at my peak."

Katara, with one arm chi blocked, bloody and bruised, can't fight her off. She goes to throw her right hook at Azula, but given it's her only available hand it is easy to predict. Azula catches her fist in the air and squeezes it, hurting the hand. She ignites the flames and burns her knuckles.

"AHHH!"

Azula turns her fist to the side, away from her body, twisting Katara's shoulder and pulling it out of place, and then she delivers a kick straight into her chest. The Avatar's wife falls to the dirt. Down on the ground for a moment Katara sees her salvation a few feet away.

Azula drops to her knees and straddles her body. She delivers a punch to her face, and then again. Katara's nose breaks on the second strike. Katara feels disoriented and holds out her free hand. She bends the water and ice that coated Moon's Veil earlier. The longsword flies through the air towards them.

Azula watches the hand go out and turns to see it. The blade of her mentor flies at her. She twists her body and avoids it, grabbing hold of the handle as it flies past them. She summons a fire and lightning infused fist and punches the ice coating the blade. The mixture of extreme heat and electricity shatters the ice instantly.

"No." Katara whimpers, but it's too late.

Azula turns the blade on her and slams it down, two feet to the side of Katara's head. She had missed on purpose. The way of the blade was too honorable of a death for her. Now with the blade out of the equation though, she moves on to the next phase.

Elsewhere, Meng Shou finally comes to after her head injury. She realizes that she is cuffed and summons her white flames to burn down the icicle chains. They melt within seconds. She rises and can see that On Jin has won, straddling her enemy, but the man has defeated Rangi, seemingly with air attacks. She stumbles to her feet and advances towards him.

"Stop!" She shouts as she sends out a raging fire towards him. 

He stops suppressing Rangi, and turns to hold back the fire of the White Flame.

"Tapisa! Are you alright?" A voice calls to her.

The Archer stirs and looks up. She stares into the sky blue eyes of Miki, Senna's mother and her close friend.

"What happened?"

Tapisa's icicle arrow pierces her shoulder, pinning her to the wall. Before she can answer she looks up and witnesses the Guardian nearly killing the woman who had threatened them and defeated her with her own arrow.

Azula punches Katara's free arm twice, chi blocking both arms now. Azula is mounted on top of her, with complete control and dominance over the waterbender. One of the only people to defeat her in combat, now on the wrong side of a street fight. Azula savors this moment but only temporarily. She has learned from others to not play with her food. Instead, she pays homage to the man who taught her swordsmanship.

"Until the last watch is kept."

Azula punches her across the face.

Katara's lip splits open. She spits out blood.

Azula pulls her by the hair to straighten her face.

"All the words are spoken."

She punches her again, with the opposite hand this time.

Katara's head falls to the side and blood shoots out of her broken nose and open mouth again, staining the snowy ground.

Azula straightens her head again.

Katara is conscious, but only so much so. She tries to spit up some of the blood filling her mouth and clogging her throat.

Azula’s fist singes with blue fire.

"And all the ends are met."

Azula goes to swing her hand but something stops her. She feels a strong tug against her arm, pulling her backwards. She turns and sees a young girl with brown hair. She looks like a younger Katara. She holds her with a water whip and looks to be in a great deal of agony at the sight before her.

"Let me go, Child."

"No! Stop it! Stop this!"

"I said let go!"

Azula sends lightning out along the line of water and Kya flies back a whole three feet before her body hits the ground. She convulses and shakes, the damage from the lightning having shaken her.

"Pl-Please."

Azula turns back to Katara

"She's…she's… my…"

"Your daughter?"

Katara nods, blood everywhere.

"Good."

Azula swings one arm around to gather static build up and then points it at the almost lifeless body of the girl lying a few feet away. Katara's vision is clouded by the blood, but now it is Azula who can only see red. A chance to take everything from the woman, just as she took everything from her. Katara set Azula on the path that led her to this. A chance to kill her daughter. She feels the power ripping through her body, enough electricity to kill three men, let alone a damaged girl. Her finger tips glow and there is nothing that Katara or anyone can do to stop her.

A voice speaks to her.

"On Jin."

Azula whips her head around and a few feet to her right is Miki. The woman who had saved her life, rescued her out in the cold, brought her home, and nursed her back to life. The woman whom she helped birth her first and only daughter. The Matriarch of the Guardian, the Ghost, the Archer, and the White Flame. She looks at her with disappointment and hurt in her eyes.

Azula looks all around her. Beyond just Miki, there are dozens of villagers looking on with horror. She sees Meng Shou struggling with the second to last Airbender. She sees Ty Lee, lying on the ground clearly defeated. Right beside Miki, she sees Tapisa's shoulder impaled on the wall. Finally, she returns her eyes to Katara, nearly dead, gurgling the iron liquid filling her mouth.

A tidal wave of emotions crashes down upon her, worse than any water bender's attack. She looks back at the body seizing a few feet away.

"Meng Shou!" Azula shouts.

The fire bender stops and turns. Tenzin is thankful for the relief from the blaze. Meng Shou turns back to the one she knows as the Prodigy with Blue Fire. 

"Yes, Guardian?"

"The girl," she gestures to Kya. "Heal her."

"On it."

Azula stands up to her full height but feels a weight on her body. The aching pain of combat sets in. This isn't an unfamiliar feeling, but it's the most prolonged fight she's been a part of since The Burning of Lonlhai. She suddenly realizes that her knuckles burn and ache. The punches she had delivered are reverberating with pain now that she has settled down and the fighting is done. She looks down at them and sees them covered in Katara’s blood. The brutalizing reality of fighting is that it is all but a citrus. It feels so good to deliver the kill strokes and deal out death, until she thinks too long about them, and then they become acidic and bitter, filled with regret.

She looks down at the ground and sees her great foe. Her former rival and enemy. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, beaten to a bloody pulp, unable to open one eye. A cathartic victory, a rematch that was thirty-eight years in the making. She finally got to show Katara what real power looks like. Yet now she is filled with sadness, not glee.

Azula has won the battle, but lost the war.

She reaches down and grips Katara by the hair, who whines in pain as she feels the smaller woman start tugging. Azula pulls Katara's body along the ground and Katara wonders if this is where she'll kill her. Use her sword to chop her head off, or stand her up to execute her. She fears for her life. Azula lifts her up a bit and sits Katara up with her back against the wall of her home.

Azula crouches down to be in front of her and looks at her. Broken teeth, a nose that is barely distinguishable amongst the carnage. A gash on the side of her head, a black eye that is already swelling. She reaches down and takes Katara's waterskin. Azula uncorks the cap and then holds it out in front of Katara's face. She squeezes and water splashes all over her face. Azula reaches into her pocket and finds the rag that she used to clear the blood off Moon's Veil earlier. She uses it again, this time to wipe away the blood and water from Katara's face. Katara is too weak and hurt to fight it.

“Open up.” Azula demands, pointing the spout of the waterskin towards her mouth.

Katara refuses. Azula groans at her stubbornness. She reaches a hand up and grabs her chin and jaw, pulling them down. She points the waterskin into her open mouth and squirts some more into it. Katara gags and nearly chokes.

"Good girl," Azula tells her. "Now swish it around before you spit it out. That'll clear your mouth."

Katara does it almost involuntarily. She doesn't want to do as she's told, but she does want the relief that is prescribed. She leans forward with her back and spits out the buildup onto the snow. She leans back and when she does, Azula holds the spout up. She squirts more water into her mouth.

“Okay, now swallow. Trust me, you’ll feel better.”

Katara feels the rush of the water go down and it rejuvenates her. Azula, recognizing that she will be okay, puts the bottle down in her lap. Her amber eyes look into Katara's ocean eyes. She huffs.

"Do you really have so much hate in your heart for me that you'd empty your waterskin just to douse my flame?"

Katara nods her head. She struggles through labored breath to say, "I'm going… to tell… every… one."

Azula is incredulous.

“I could kill you, your daughter, and your son. Wipe out your entire line. But I'm choosing mercy. And you threaten my entire existence?”

"You don't deserve peace," she weakly explains, while specks of blood spit out. "Dragon Empress."

Azula hangs her head now, averting eye contact.

"Apparently neither does Lonlhai." She mutters with a sad tone.

Finally, she admits defeat. 

"What I've done can't be undone. Staying will put this village at odds with your brother and kickoff civil war. I can't do that to these people. They’ve already suffered enough."

Her amber eyes rise up. They burn with the fury of a dozen suns.

"But you, your brother, and your husband? You better protect this place. Or else I swear to Agni and Yue that I'll kill each and every one of you."

Azula stands and looks around. The villagers are shocked by what they've seen. The horror she has spread. She has failed these people and, somehow worse, now she must abandon them. She often wondered what would've happened in Lanxi if she had stayed to fight the Kemurikage. The truth is this is what would've happened. The people who knew her would've been astonished at her force and she ultimately would've left the village in a more dangerous place. 

She walks over to Tenzin, who stares with fear as she approaches. She doesn't pay him any mind. She heads over to her fallen wife and helps Ty Lee up, who holds her head.

"C'mon, Ty. We better get going where we're going."

As they limp home, Meng Shou nurses Kya back to consciousness. Her white flames pull some of the static charge out of her, slowly, allowing her body to rebound from the shock more easily.

"Thank you, Meng Shou."

"Of course... Empress." She can finally call Azula openly what her mother once did. Azula allows it, knowing this gives the girl a sense of kinship with the departed Chyn.

A fire bending healer, something Azula may never see again.

She limps with Ty Lee, guiding her wife into their home. She situates the brunette on the couch so she can rest. Then she excuses herself.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Azula exits. Her legs are tired and she wants to lie down herself, but she has promises to keep, and much work to do before she can sleep. She walks to where Katara had been defeated and pulls Moon's Veil from the ground. Katara wonders if she's going to come finish the job, but she doesn't even walk towards her. She goes towards the neighboring home. Towards Miki and Tapisa. She sticks the blade into the ground  and then kneels down to be at eye level with the women.

Azula reaches up and grips the ice arrow. She channels the heat into her palms and begins melting it. Tapisa groans a bit but feels it's pressure alleviating. 

"Thank you, Guardian."

"I'm not your Guardian. Not anymore."

"You're-you're really going to leave? You can't!"

Azula observes a gash, still pulsating with blood. She puts her hand on top of it.

"Deep breath in now, okay?"

"Huh? Gahhh!"

Azula cauterizes the wound with her blue fire, to prevent it from worsening. When this is done, she explains to Tapisa the simple facts of the matter.

"I said that someday this would be your village to protect. The sun rose earlier than expected but it's yours now. And so I leave you with two final lessons, ones that Ganzaya taught to me. It's yours now."

She steals a peak at Moon's Veil, sticking out of the ground.

"Until the last watch is kept, all the words are spoken, and all the ends are met."

"I'm not worthy. I'm not ready."

"I know you're not. But we don't get to decide when we go. Which leads me to my second lesson, the final lesson: Even when your blade is down, you can’t quit. You can’t succumb to the feelings."

She holds Tapisa's full attention. A desperate plea for her to take up the mantle of leadership.

"You have to pick it up."

Without another word or argument, Azula leaves Tapisa. She turns and sighs. She walks across the way to return home. Before going inside though , she stops at Katara's body, resting against those very walls.

"This day extracts a heavy toll, but it will be the last. We'll be gone before sunrise."

A scream pierces the sky. Little feet stutter through the snow. Azula turns around and a tiny body crashes into her knees and hip.

"No! Don't leave! DON'T LEAVE!"

Miki and Aklaq approach, concerned for their daughter, and unafraid of the Guardian.

"On Jin, please."

"I'm not On Jin. I never was."

"Please-"

"Do you remember what you two told me when I first came here? About Siq?"

They place their hands on Senna's shoulders. The child grips Azula and holds her, never wanting to let go. Holding onto her like a fish in the water, destined to escape if she releases her grip even the smallest bit. The young parents are reminded of one of their earliest memories with On Jin. In a hushed tone she gives them an order.

"Take her. Take her and do it. Go to the capitol, or the Earth Kingdom, or the Agni damned Fire Nation. Anywhere else. Don't let her die here, as Siq always feared."

"No! Noooo! Stay!" Senna cries.

Azula bends over and kisses her forehead. She digs her fingers into Senna's grip and wiggles the hands loose. Senna watches as the fish slips away.

"I'm sorry, Little One."

Azula solemnly walks away, leaving them behind to hold their daughter. Senna cries and screams. She does not understand, and she may never understand. Her Aunt On Jin and Rangi had wanted a simple life, but that had never been possible. They were extraordinary people, trying to live ordinary lives. While the family copes, the woman known as Katara speaks to them.

"Your Guardian is not who you think she is."

Miki looks down at the bloody and defeated woman. Senna hears this and cries louder. She breaks away and runs off. She will appeal to Tapisa and Meng Shou to convince them to keep her Aunt On Jin with them. Surely they will help. Aklaq chases after her, leaving Miki with the bloodied and unmoving woman. They make eye contact, so Katara speaks. She tries to sell her on a dream of hope.

"She can't protect you anymore. But I will."

Miki doesn't interrupt her. She hears her out.

"I offer you, and everyone else here, refuge at Wolf's Cove. A new home. Me? My brother, the Chief? My husband, the Avatar? We can protect you. We are the good guys."

Miki sits alone with this feeling. She had saved On Jin from going too far. She had saved On Jin from dying alone, lost in the island's woodlands. She had raised her daughter and her family, safely, because of everything that On Jin and Rangi and Ganzaya and Achak and Tapisa and Meng Shou had done. A network of protectors, a lifeline to a village that was on the verge of disappearing. This woman, the Chief's sister no less, had come to her home and eradicated it all in an hour or so. Now she would have to leave the island, as On Jin suggested, as this woman offered, just for the scrap of a hope to give her daughter a normal life. Her sky blue eyes turn to the woman on the ground.

"You killed the Guardian and the Ghost. You have no idea what you've done," she pauses as the words and truth of the matter congeal together into a lump in her throat. She makes a deal with a demon. "We will take your passage. But know this, stranger:

You are not 'the good guys.'"