PTG: Hello, peoples. Taking a quick break from DotAMS to write something serious, here.

I'll warn you now. The narrating voice of this piece is female, a cross between Fire- and Earthbender, and immensely powerful.

She's also 43 and has five kids.

I had just finished nursing Toki when Taori burst in, slamming the door open.

"Lady Gold-Eyes! Fire Nation scouts! They're in—"

He petered out, staring at Toki, averted his eyes in embarrassment. I ignored this, adjusting my robe and putting a cloth, then Toki, over my shoulder. "Where?" I asked calmly.

"The foothill path, Lady." Taori's eyes were still on the wall to his left. Then he looked back at me. "But they're coming fast, maybe ten minutes close, and their camp is at the mountain base. There's a warship in the harbor, and there're prolly a bunch more on that, and I dunno how many more—"

I nodded. "I understand." I shifted Toki a bit. "Go tell Gitsu I'll be there in a minute. Make sure that everyone's armed, if they're not already." Taori nodded and disappeared.

The sun glinted in the doorway, and I sighed before taking Toki off my shoulder and putting him in his carrying-sling. The weather had looked promising: bright and dry, and after the weeks of rain we'd had recently, that would be a relief. Standing up, I arranged Toki's sling on my shoulder and shut the door on my way out.

There was a crowd at the end of the street, where the warriors had gathered in front of Gitsu's house. Gitsu himself was not visible: as village patriarch, he was probably inside conferring with the older warriors. The younger ones milled about, pretending to be at ease, and I made my way between them to the door. Taori was there, and he stepped quickly up and held the door for me. I nodded thanks.

The inside of the house was bright with sun and candles. Gitsu and the warriors stood, he at the front and attempting to keep conversation with three people at once. I approached the front.

"Ah, Gold-Eyes, you've arrived." I nodded, and Gitsu and I exchanged bows. "Have you been informed?"

"Somewhat," I answered. "Taori told the they're ten minutes again –"

"Less."

"He also said that they're scouts."

"It appears to be so, though of an unusual combination. There are five of them: two officers, two benders, and a spearman. They probably don't know about the village, yet, or they would have brought more men."

"And they're coming from the north?" Gitsu nodded. "Very good," and I nodded myself. "What are we planning? The sandpit? Or shall I trap them?"

"The second may actually work better, lady. Do you have any change in your method?"

"Not really. Just make certain everyone's in a circle, and hidden, and I'll wait in the street and take it from there."

Gitsu nodded. "Very good, lady." He raised his voice to the men, and I stepped to the door and glanced around. Gitsu finished addressing the warriors, and as they filed outside, I turned back to him. "By the way, have you seen the twins?"

"No, lady. I would assume they are outside with the younger men."

I nodded thanks and followed the last person through the door. The twins were outside, separated from the other men. They were busy showing off their weapons to Hodi and Kirasai, the latter two of whom were duly impressed.

"…and this one," Toma picked up an arrow, "this one I used to shoot a Firebender straight in the head."

"Wooooww," said Hodi, and Kirasai asked, "right here right here?" pointing to her own skull.

"Right there," repeated Kip gravely. The twin shared a look whichmy two younger children missed. "Then we jumped on his rhino and rode it out of the forest."

"…carrying the whole village to safety," finished Toma. "Oh, it was a very brave deed we did, wasn't it?"

"It certainly was."

"Extremely brave," I nodded. The children all turned to me, and Hodi and Kirasai ran up. "Mama, mama, they said there's Firebenders coming here!"

"Well they said right, Kira."

"Haha! Stupid Firebenders!" Hodi spit on the ground like he'd just done something daring. Kirasai looked at him and then at me, pointing accusingly. "Mama, he jus called me stupid!"

"Oh, Kira, I'm sure he wasn't referring to you. Right, Hodi?"

Hodi realized his mistake. "Course not," he reassured his older sister. "I said the ones in red are stupid." Kirasai looked down at her brown-green dressed and was placated, and Hodi continued. "They're all all a bunch a scared cowards anyways! I could kill them! I could take out my sword and they'd they'd they'd…" Hodi looked at his stick, then waved it at my leg. "They'd run and I'd cut them in half like that!"

"Goodness! I'd be frightened too, I'm sure." The twins snickered, and I grinned at them. Then I crouched down til I was eye-level with the two younger children. "Kira? Hodi? You two go and stay with Granna, okay?" Hodi started to protest. "No buts. You two know it's dangerous out here. Besides, you two have to take care of Granna and Toki."

"Are you going to fight them, mama?"

"Every single one," I nodded. "But you two stay where I told you, okay? Kira, you can practice your fire in the backyard."

"Where Granna told me, yeah. Am I getting good at it Mama? You said I was getting good at it."

"Of course." I hugged the two, then, turned them in the direction of their grandmother's house. "You two be safe," I called at their backs.

The twins were deep in a whispered conversation when I stood back up and addressed them. "Kip? Toma? I know you two want to fight."

They nodded, and I sighed. "I'm not going to stop you. But you have to promise me, you stay with the other bowmen, and do exactly as they say. Do you hear me? Exactly."

"Exactly." Kip nodded.

"To the letter."

"Which letter?" Toma queried, then broke into a grin. "Don't worry, mother. See, we're big warriors, me and Kip here."

"Glad to hear it. Now will you two big warriors do me a favor and bring Toki to Granna's house?"

The town was silent. I stood in the middle of the street, facing the entrance from the woods. No one else was visible; the doors were closed, the shutters locked. The woods were quiet, but a breeze played across the treetops, making constant small noise.

I stayed where I was, waiting.

There was another sound in the woods, now, a steady, unsynchronized tramp. Moments later five men came into my field of vision. I spotted the two officers right away: the other three, though they were of differing ranks, had uniforms that were nearly identical— dark-red and armor-plated. The other two were an odd lot: one was tall, thin, and young, and the other short, stocky, and elderly. The hair of the elder one was grey, and back in a topknot, and the younger was most distinguishable by a large discoloration on his face: a scar, spreading from cheekbone to forehead, and back around the side of the head. I felt a stab of pity. He was no older than the twins.

The group was halfway across the bare stretch of ground between the woods and the outer wall when they saw me, and stopped. Obviously they had not been expecting a village, but, now that they were here... I crossed my arms and addressed the group as a whole. "Why are you here?"

The scarred boy conferred with the older man for a moment, then stepped forward. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" I asked. "Make yourself more clear."

"You know who I'm talking about. Where is he?"

"If I knew, I would have answered. Explain who you are looking for, and I may be able to give you directions."

"Directions?" repeated the boy incredulously. He gritted his teeth, and his clenched fists began to burn. "You are not to speak like that, peasant-woman!"

"I just did."

The boy gave a cry of frustration and punched a fist forward. A ball of flame shot from it and rocketed toward me. At the last moment I gauged the flame and brought another of equal strength into my own arms. Blocking the fire, I kicked a flame of my own toward the Firebender group and cried out, "Now!" bringing my hands to the ground.

The Earthbenders from our village stood from their concealment on the path's either side. Pillars of rock shot up, joined, and formed into a wall. The sand on top fell in toward the middle, and joined with the sand on the path, swirling toward the Firebenders. Fire shot from my own hands, down along the path, and the sand liquified as the last two pieces of earth wall came together. I kept the flame up, and the earth's clay baked, its stone melted, and it became a solid wall.

I dropped from my crouch to my knees, breathing heavily. Though Toki had been born over ten weeks ago, I had yet to lose the extra weight; besides, I hadn't done any bending for months. Or at least not on this scale. Someone's feet came into my field of vision and I stood up, leaning heavily on my knees and shifting my weight til I was standing straight.

Gitsu looked concerned. I knew what he was going to ask, and cut him off with a shake of the head. "Get two," I cleared my throat, "two Earthbenders. And two archers." Gitsu nodded and hurried off.

I approached the wall. The sand had become glass, the earth baked clay; on the whole, it was an effective trap. I signaled Taori to create steps to the top. The Earthbenders Gitsu had retrievedhad both worked this ploy before; they knew what to do. I waited only til they had gathered sand in an accessible place, then climbed up to the rim of the pit.

The Firebenders were alive. I wasn't sure why this relieved me. The boy, the older man, and the two skull-helmed benders had staved off the glass tide with one of fire, and the five now stood in a two-meter-wide circle of bare rock. Round them for a good twenty feet in every direction was a three-inch layer of slowly-cooling glass, muddy-brown and very effective in barring passage.

The boy was impressed and furious. "Did you see that, uncle! How— no Earthbender can do that! No Firebender can do that!"

"Prince Zuko, calm down." The uncle made shushing motions with his hands. "Do you not see we have company."

The prince cut himself off mid-retort and looked where the uncle was pointing: directly at me. I looked down at the five, hearing the archers and the Earthbenders from my tribe at my back. I put my hands on my hips and spoke. "I'm not letting you out of there until you tell us why you're here, and why you tried to attack."

"Letting us out?" repeated the scarred boy-- prince Zuko, I corrected myself. The name sounded familiar, though at the moment I couldn't place it. There were so many princes. "Why do we need you to let us out? We can just burn our way out." He flicked his and hand a ball of flame encircled it, to prove his point.

"I suppose." I shrugged. "But then I'd just seal you off." I ignited a flame of my own. "Plenty more sand out here."

The prince was taken aback. "I thought only the Avatar-- What are you?"

"She is a Crossbreed," answered the uncle. He looked at me, and I nodded. "When an intermarriage occurs between two benders, their child may have the ...characteristics of both." He looked back up at me. "Earth and Fire."

I nodded again. Kirasai. Lady Gold-Eyes.

"I only have one question. Which of your parents was a Firebender?"

"Neither. But my mother came from full-Firebender roots, and my father from full-Earth."

"And have your own children inherited your traits?" The uncle was not looking at me, but behind me. I turned my head slightly, only to meet the nocked arrows and shared grin of the twins. I gave a mental sigh. They weren't supposed to be up here. "Not these two," I answered. "But my daughter is well-grounded in Firebending, and my youngest son is showing signs of Earthbending. Since we're having a conversation," I looked around at the glass pit, "what about you?"

"Well, I have been a Firebender all my--"

"Aghh!" The prince was growing impatient, as could be witness by the flaming fists. "Uncle Iroh, we don't have time for this!"

Iroh. I raised my eyebrows. I didn't know the Dragon of the West was such a polite conversationalist.

"You!" the prince pointed at me. "Tell us where he is and we'll leave."

"You still haven't told us who you're looking for," I reminded him gently.

"The Avatar!"

"The Avatar? Isn't he ...dead?"

"Yes, the Avatar, I saw him flying in this direction last night!"

"Flying? Airbending?"

"No," said Iroh decisively. "He has a flying beast. A bison. He also has a lemur," he added as an afterthought.

I shook my head. "None of us have seen anything fly in this mountain but birds. And the Avatar? The Avatar's back? He's returned?" I glanced back at Gitsu, but he just shook his head, equally nonplussed.

"Why are you searching for him?" I asked. The prince looked away, and it hit me. This was the banished prince. By the flame, I had been talking to the Fire Lord's son.

"It's a matter of honor," glared Zuko, recovered. "I need to capture the Avatar to regain what I have lost."

I nodded. I had heard the stories. Everyone had.

But there was another matter to solve: getting them out of here before anyone at the ship got curious and came up in search. And keeping the village safe once they were out.

I stepped back from the pit's edge to speak to Gitsu, but as I turned, I found Gitsu distracted. The Earthbenders on the ground and the bowmen by the pit's floor, all of them were craning their necks, looking at something in the sky, something improbably huge, wearing a saddle...?

"The Avatar!" yelled Zuko. "Quick, we've got to follow him--" it took the prince a moment to realize he was still surrounded by a thick ring of hot molten glass. "Open it!" he shouted at me. "Let us out, now!"

I turned my glance to Gitsu, who looked back at me triumphantly. We had the Fire Lord's son in our custody, his grin said.And his brother. "How much should we demand?" he asked, loudly enough for those in the pit to hear.

Zuko's mouth fell open, and Iroh glared. The Firebenders pulled back into fighting stances, and even the spearman readied himself. But I looked at the prince. Insane of me, to feel pity, but he was so much like the twins...

"None." This time it was Gitsu's turn to gape. "We are not in such great need as that." Gitsu scowled, but did not argue, and I turned to the pit's occupants. "But you will not tell anyone that there is a village here, least of all any other Firebenders. We've kept secret this long, and we'll not be found out now."

Zuko nodded, and I gestured Taori to make the steps out.