A/N: Those readers who have read the original Scorched Earth will probably appreciate this more than others. Looking back on the story, it's only natural to see things that should probably have been different. I don't have the time or the inclination to rewrite the whole thing, so whenever I feel like it, I'm writing up little peeks into an alternative version of the work, answering 'what if' questions. It's strictly for my own amusement and so unedited and with no regular updates. But if you want to take a look at what could have been, or just want to sample my work in the Avatarverse, go right ahead.

Someone else in Siensao's position might have asked where it all went wrong. But she knew exactly where and when that was. You wouldn't dare slay her, he says. I proved him wrong, didn't I? It was so easy…such a little life to end. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the books and scrolls in front of her. Concentration, though, was in as short supply as money for the syndicates these days. Her reserves of self-pity, on the other hand, were at an all-time high. Father would be ashamed of me. Well, fuck him. All his discipline didn't save him from the Dai Li. All it did was let him die before they could crack him open like an oyster.

The door opened and Siensao looked up at once, ready to dive for the secret passage out. Then she relaxed as she saw who it was.

"Hello, Yukari," she said, a weary smile creasing her face. "How did it go?"

"Precisely as you instructed," the Selfless Warrior answered, "I killed the target and the new leader of the gang has already begun setting up trade routes between Dekari and Ba Sing Se. There was some death as he consolidated his position, of course."

"Of course," Siensao said, frowning at Yukari's still features. The other woman had aged very well, still radiating vitality even when standing still. Siensao, on the other hand…well, ten years of stress and bad fortune could do horrors to your complexion. She expected grey hairs any day now. At least I'm old enough to have them. Some people die very young indeed.

"I may need you again once he tries to backstab us and take over our operations here," she continued, "But that won't be for at least another half a year or so. I have another assignment for you." Rifling through the scrolls, she produced one in particular and tossed it over to Yukari. The Selfless Warrior caught it in one hand and unrolled it.

"The new trade is a start, but we need more funding if we want to regain any ground here and more funding means muscle to get businesses paying us again. Thank the spirits we invested in the legitimate fronts when we did. The Si Wong caravan guards will be perfect, but they'll need to be handled with delicacy. Convince them to do a few jobs for us, and I'll bet a few of them will get a taste for it, and soon enough I'll have people thinking all the desert folk in the Lower Ring answer to us. That'll be a start. Do you need anything while you're here?"

She was already looking back down at her work when Yukari answered.

"Maybe," the other woman said, startling Siensao into looking back up. "I haven't decided yet."

"And what is it you can't decide about needing?"

Yukari moved, still so effortlessly fast, and her sword appeared in her hand, its point lightly touching Siensao's throat.

"Your death."

Siensao slumped down in the chair as much as she was able, letting out a deep sigh.

"Oh, thank the gods. It's finally time. That's a relief."

"You knew?" Yukari asked.

"I suspected," Siensao said with a shrug. "You'd have told Zuko about me when you met with him. It was an obvious thought for him to assign you to keep an eye on me and subtly bring down the syndicates and ensure anything I tried that he didn't like failed. But I wasn't sure. You're very subtle, Yukari."

"If you even suspected, why keep me at your side, send me on these assignments, allow me to reduce the syndicates to the remnants they are?"

"Her name was Hoshiko," Siensao murmured, feeling the familiar roiling in her gut, "And she was ten years old."

Yukari waited, her blade not wavering a fraction.

"I lost everything that day," the merchant went on, looking at something only she could see. "Can't have a Grand Secretariat that kills children, even enemy children. And I can hardly go for a walk outside without seeing my wanted poster. Hell of a list of war crimes on that one. Most of them are even true. So the only thing left was the syndicate, the one thing I wanted to get away from. My father's legacy and my grandfather before him, both of them miserable bastards. I could always look at them and see myself becoming like that if I kept on running this damned syndicate and fighting shadow wars against everyone else with a knife."

She shook her head slowly.

"If you're going to ask me why I deserve to live again, I can save you the time. I don't. It took me years to admit it, but I don't. I really don't. I let you get away with everything because the syndicates are full of people who would gladly murder a dozen like Hoshiko for a gold piece. And there are thousands of families out there who suffered under our rule, kids on the street that joined our gangs. I couldn't think about them without seeing her face. The less said about my dreams, the better. It didn't all happen at once, but…well, ten years is a long time to think. So if you want to, go ahead, kill me. I deserve it. My only question is why now?"

"You are attempting to build up the syndicate again," Yukari said. "This is unprecedented."

"Well, it's hard to try and keep Kuei's rule and kingdom safe without money," Siensao said. "If we go down, I'm out on the street, and I can't do anything to help anyone. But I understand what it looks like. Look, just go ahead, all right. I'm…really tired. Of everything."

"Would you do it again if you had the chance?"

Siensao chuckled, a bitter smile on her lips.

"That's what really gets me. Despite everything…yes, I would. I saved Omashu and the desert tribes. I probably saved the Earth Kingdom. And all it cost was the life of one little girl and my peace of mind. The Earth Kingdom needed a monster that day. Just bad luck it had to be me. Or good luck, depending on how you look at it. Someone else might not have done it."

Yukari nodded.

"Thank you. That's all I needed to know."

Siensao closed her eyes and waited to see if it was time for her to die.