Twenty five years have come and gone since the end of the Hundred Year War, and the Fire Nation worked tirelessly to give it's forcefully occupied colonies back to the people who once lived there. These lands would go on to be called the United Republic of Nations. The relations between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom are strained as it is, but reports returned to Firelord Zuko of a band of mercenaries cutting off supply routes and robbing caravans. This was not uncommon, but a prisoner, who willingly turned themselves in, claimed to have knowledge on the mercenary group and their leader as well as leverage against some of the world's most dangerous criminals and benders.
Firelord Zuko walked with Avatar Aang and entered a hatch in the distant forests east of the new nation. Toph Beifong awaited them at the end of a long metal corridor, safely assumed to be underground. The hall was covered in doors, each room holding some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko named this prison The Blacksite.
"You're late, Twinkle Toes, Zuko." Toph said with a particularly sour bite in her voice.
"Mind telling me what was so important that both Aang and I had to be here?" Zuko impatiently asked Toph.
She shook her head and continued to walk with her head high and her back straight. Toph had already come to terms with her authoritative command and took it upon herself to take charge over the law enforcement of the new nation. Most metalbenders that Toph trained followed in her example and joined the force. Only her most trusted and experience benders, though, were allowed to enter the Blacksite.
"I think what Zuko means is that we haven't been called to the Blacksite in almost ten years." Aang added. "At least, we haven't been called so abruptly."
"The situation is different than most." Toph said. "You're aware that a prisoner turned themselves in recently?"
"I'm aware." Zuko replied.
"Says they have information on the Ki Cabal, among other cases." Toph stopped at a large metal door at the end of the hall, four metalbenders keeping post around the room. Toph turned and kept her eyes forward. "I'm not going to sugar coat this for you ladies. This prisoner is one of the most dangerous and manipulative we've ever faced."
"So we know them?" Aang asked, to which Top nodded silently. Aang rubbed his head, thinking back to all of the people they had fought against in the past twenty five years. Many came up, but none stood out.
"She says she will only speak with Zuko." Toph said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "Normally I would have told her no way, but...well you'll see."
"So why is Aang here?" Zuko asked.
Toph turned away and with a single swipe of her arm opened the door. Inside the room made both Aang and Zuko go defensive. The room was completely bare other than a bed and a toilet. There were no windows and only a single air duct mere inches in diameter. In the middle of the room sat a woman all too familiar with the men. Her once long black hair was now cut and barely reached her shoulders. She wore a straight jacket, and menacing aura of murder still filled the air, but something was different. She looked up to see the man and smiled. She stood and stretched her legs before speaking. "Hello, Zuzu. Avatar. Long time no see."
"Azula..." Zuko growled. His fists clenched and his demeanor changed to anger.
"What do you want, Azula?" Aang asked.
"No. That's not how this works." Azula sharply replied. "You two aren't players in this game. I speak with Zuko, or I don't speak at all."
Aang placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder and pulled him aside. "Are you sure about this? We can't trust anything she says."
"I know that. She's my sister." Zuko replied.
"She says she has information on several of the worst crimes ever committed." Toph said. "Some of these criminals I've never even heard of before."
"How do we know what she says is reliable?" Aang though out loud.
"We don't." Zuko concluded.
"Listen, fancy pants." Toph said to Zuko. "She walked right into this prison with no one noticing, not even me. The fact that she could even do that makes me suspicious. She asked for you, so you're going to talk to her."
"What do I say?" Zuko asked with a hint of remorse.
"I don't care. Whatever you have to." Toph replied curtly. "Just listen to what she has to say and leave."
"What do you think, Aang?" Zuko asked.
"I think it's dangerous, but if she has information on some dangerous people then I think it's worth looking in to."
Zuko paused to consider his options, concluding that it was best to speak with his psychotic sister. He turned and walked through the door, looking back to see Aang giving him a thumbs up, and Toph looking as stoically frank as she usually was. It was nice, he thought, that even after all of this time they hadn't changed. Toph closed the door, and Zuko and Azula were left alone.
Silence surrounded the room as Zuko and Azula stared each other down. Finally Azula laughed and tried to raise her arms. "Oh, come now, Zuzu. Nothing? No words for your dear sister?"
Zuko stood silent, resolute. He would show no signs of emotion to this woman.
"You were never any fun to talk to, you know that Zuko? You always took things so seriously. How is it you haven't changed once since we last spoke?"
"The last time we spoke, you tried to kill our mother, and you ran. You were the one who abandoned her family." Zuko spoke. Those old wounds still scarred in his mind. He cared for her. She was still his sister, and that was a bond that's made in blood.
Azula cracked a condescending smile, nodding her head softly. "I'm sure you could never trust me again. I've done too much wrong in my life to ever be forgiven." In an almost sincere manner. "So that's why I've grown to embrace it."
Zuko shook his head, almost expressing a hint of anger. "You really haven't changed."
"I think you'll grow to appreciate me a bit more pretty soon."
"Why? Because you have information on the Ki Cabal? You tried to kill your own mother, who you don't know anything about."
"Mother and I have met again, many times actually. You should have stopped by more often. I'm sure she would have appreciated that."
"Stop it, Azula!" Zuko shouted. "Just tell me what you know, and you can spend the rest of your life in this cell."
Azula laughed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, the thing is, I'll be walking out of here today."
"And what makes you think that?"
"Because the only way for you to find the people behind the Ki Cabal, the Roku Job, and the Furi's is through me. If I cannot move freely, if I cannot act as if I am free, then you will never find the man responsible for all of it. Think about it, Zuzu. This man has killed thousands of people, and you have nothing on him, but I do. I have information that can bring him to his knees, but you won't catch him if I can't get to him."
Zuko was both intrigued and disgusting. There had been no correlation between any of those three mentioned. The Ki Cabal have big investors in the private sector, the Roku Job was a hotel heist in the Fire Nation capital, and the Furi's were a cult of earthbenders who kidnap people and force them to join and commit crimes through hypnosis. All heinous in their own way, but certainly not related.
But on the other hand of his curiosity, Azula was still his sister. She was his sister, but she was dangerous . They fought on a countless number of fronts. She was the embodiment of a sociopath, but she was also unpredictable. Whatever plan she had, he couldn't trust. But with the help of Aang and Toph, it may work. He still had to know what she had to gain. She wouldn't have a reason for turning herself if she didn't need something in return.
"So what's the game, Azula? Why are you here right now?"
Azula smiled and stepped back, dropping onto the bed that hung from the wall. "Lies will get me nowhere, so I'm going to be honest with you Zuzu. The man we're looking for has something I need. It's as simple as that. You can do with him however you please, but I need what I need first. He has power that I find disturbing, and I want him out of the picture."
"You're impossible aren't you. So what are you now, some kind of criminal? Are you in with the top dogs? I haven't seen you in over twenty years, and now you want to come back. For what? To redeem yourself? No. You were right. You've done too much wrong to be forgiven."
Azula paused, her face slowly falling from a smile to a blank expression. It was a look unfamiliar to Zuko. She looked almost serene, like a real human being. "Yes." She said bluntly, nodding her head in agreement. "I am evil, and I have done too much wrong. But this man has done far worse than I have. Let me go, and you, me, Miss Beifong, and Avatar Aang will take this man down."
Zuko removed the pendant from his hair and cut through Azula's bindings. He knew he was going to regret this later, but he needed to know what Azula was planning. He stepped back and defended his front.
"Oh, please Zuzu. What do you think I'm going to do? Attack you? You're so paranoid." Azula said as she scorched the remainder of the straight jacket into nothing.
"No, I'm cautious. You think this information you have will actually give you leverage?"
"Undoubtedly."
"What is this information then?"
"It's impossible is what it is. A type of bending that shouldn't exist but does. It's unlike anything you've seen before."
"So who's this man we're hunting?"
Azula grinned while stretching her arms, her shoulders popping with each movement she made. She stood tall and looked her brother in the face. Maybe one day he would forgive her. Maybe
"The man you're looking for, his name is Yakone."