A:TLA belongs to Bryke, Nickelodeon, Viacom… other undeserving people [I'm sure M. Night has some rights, he certainly doesn't deserve them. Bryke does, but he doesn't] but not me. This story is purely a tribute to its awesomeness; no infringement intended.

A/N – well, here it is folks; chapter two. Had this written already, just had to edit. Hope it satisfies ya! In case you're curious – I have this story planned out to about the 6th chapter, and roughly planned out in my mind all the way. I have the third chapter at least halfway written, so it'll be up soon enough! Thanks, ~LS


"I have a special mission for you and Sokka." Zuko was sitting in his dramatic chair, in the shadows.

"Sokka?"

"Yes, Sokka. He hasn't been assigned to anything, and he'll work just fine for this."

"Fine," Suki sighed, "So what is it?"

"I need you to find my mother."

"Zuko…" Suki sank into the chair behind her with another sigh, "I'm not sure… I mean..."

"She's out there. I know it." Zuko's hands clenched into involuntary fists

"Where do we start?"

"My uncle. If anyone knows anything, it's him. He's still in Ba Sing Se," Zuko said.

"Ba Sing Se," Suki gasped, "But that's… Zuko… it's impossible to get into Ba Sing Se!"

"Nothing is impossible, Suki. You and Sokka are smart, and capable. You can do it."

Suki bit her lip, "What about Katara?"

"I'll take care of her."

Suki smirked

"What?" Zuko frowned

Suki carefully reassembled her features into a neutral look, "Nothing, don't worry"

"Okay then…" He shrugged, "I'm sending her to the Palace."

"Sounds good." Suki stood up and tightened her ponytail, "I'll go debrief Sokka. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"Thanks Suki," Zuko stood up also.

"You betcha," She smiled and went to go find Sokka.


Katara stayed in the bath until her fingers and toes resembled very dry Sea Prunes. She scrubbed every inch of herself clean, until she felt like an entirely new person. She hadn't had a bath in so very long. Not only was getting herself clean nice; the clean water was almost better. She bent it in little twirls around her fingers, making shapes and animals. When she finally got out she ignored the towel and bent the water from her hair and body.

She had neglected to tell the Fire Lord and Suki about her waterbending abilities. It wasn't something she talked about much. It helped when she fell into the ocean or something and needed to get dry, but she didn't know any fighting moves so it wasn't very useful warrior wise. She thought it reflected badly on her loyalty to the Fire Nation, so she kept it silent.

She was loyal to the Fire Nation, or rather, to Fire Lord Zuko. The Fire Nation was all she remembered, though after talking to Sokka she remembered some of her childhood.

She suddenly smacked her forehead with her palm. They would notice that the towel wasn't wet! Katara, you idiot! She glanced around the room for water and settled on wiping down the bathtub with the towel. Now it was sufficiently wet, and she was sufficiently unsuspected. Smiling in satisfaction, she hung the towel up and slipped into the clothes that had been laid out for her. She gasped at the softness of the fabric. How had they afforded such luxurious clothing? The clothes were of simple design, sure, (a black kimono and a red obi, with a pair of golden slippers) but they felt so amazing.

When she posed the question to the Fire Lord later, he laughed,

"That is nothing compared to the silks of the palace! I suppose you haven't ever felt anything except the burlap that your old clothes were made of."

"And fur," she murmured.

He seemed a bit disconcerted, "Right, and fur… anyway, believe it or not, this fabric feels rough to me. That may seem very spoiled or such, but I'm not complaining. I'm thankful for what we can afford."

Katara raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off, "What did you call me here for, sir?"

"I have an assignment for you. You may sit… this could take a while."

She nodded and sat at the table. The Fire Lord sat across from her and got straight to the point.

"I have spoken to you about going to the palace? Well, you leave tomorrow morning. You will be accompanied by another agent, a lady who will pose as your hand-maiden, and all the trinkets and such that are necessary for maintaining a noblewoman's image. Do you know of the court politics?

"Somewhat…" She blushed, "I used to watch and listen to the dinners, through a crack or such. I've always longed to be a noble."

He grinned slightly, "Well, you'll get that wish. You will be posing as 'Azami', the daughter of a recently promoted governor of a colony called 'Spark' –"

"Original," she interjected.

"Yes, yes, complain all you like. Your father is Governor 'Zon', your mother Lady 'Taki'. You have no siblings. You have spent your whole life in this colony, and your father has just now been promoted governor. This will cover any mistakes you make in manners or politics. As I mentioned before, you will be taking notes on the loyalties of the nobles. All we need to know is if they would be receptive to a proposition…or if they would give us away. I will meet with you every week for your report. It is very important that you never call me Zuko, or Fire Lord, when we are together. We will be in private, but you still don't know who is listening. My name will be Roku."

Katara gave him a questioning glance, but he chose to ignore it

"You can return to your room now, your new maid will be waiting for you. Her name is Isamono. You can become acquainted, and she can bring you up to date on the goings on in the Royal Court."

She nodded, and began walking toward the door slowly. Her fingers moved tensely through a waterbending form against her thigh. She put her hand on the door, but did not open it, opting instead to turn back towards Zuko.

"Excuse me, sir, but I just have one request."

"Yes?"

"Could my name… could it have a 'k' in it? It may seem like an odd request, but it is important to me."

She bit her lip, anxious for his answer

He shrugged, "I'll talk to Suki about it and get back to you."

"Oh, thank you!" she replied happily

"You're welcome. Good day, Katara."

"Good day, Fire Lord!"


"We're going where?"

"Ba Sing Se."

"But it's still under siege! You can't just walk into a place that's under siege!"

Suki sighed, "That's why we're not just going to 'walk in'. We'll come up with a plan to enter the city, subtly"

"Right. 'Cause I'm so good at subtlety." Sokka snorted

"You were chosen by Zuko himself, so stop complaining. I suggest you get your things together. You'll need clothes and any personal belongings you want to take. Don't worry about anything else. We will be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Suki leaned against the door frame

"What if we get attacked? There aren't enough of us to fight back!"

"I think we'll manage."

"What if one of us gets hurt! Then what will the other one do? Go for help, or stay with the victim?"

"We won't get hurt."

"What if… we… um…"

"If you're done, I have things to do…" Suki stood up off of the door frame

"I'll think of something, I know I will!" He came over to close the door behind her.

"Why don't you go see Katara," Suki suggested.

Sokka frowned, but he nodded.

"Sokka," Suki placed a hand on his arm, "We're going to do amazingly, ok? Your first mission will be a success!"

He sighed, "Ok, Suki. Whatever you say."


"Come in," Katara was responding to the sharp knock that had just been made on her door

The door opened hesitantly and Sokka slipped in. He took note of the simple, impersonalized room, and of his sister sitting at the small vanity with her hair down.

"Sorry to bug you. I just thought I'd… come talk." He looked around awkwardly

"That's a wonderful idea!" She smiled and gestured to the edge of her bed, "Here, have a seat!"

He sat down gratefully, placing his elbows on his knees and facing her with a smile.

She, in turn, swiveled to face him, the 'soft' kimono she was wearing swishing nicely.

"So…" He looked around the room to find a subject, and his eyes found a splash of blue that brightened the black vanity table, "What is that?"

She followed his gaze to the blue necklace, "Oh… that's… that's my mother's necklace. Our mother's necklace."

He held his hand out and she gently placed the necklace into it. He turned it over; admiring the craftsmanship, the excellent design, and the condition it was in even after years on the street with Katara.

"She gave it to me right before… right before she died."

He handed it back carefully, "Do you remember any of that?"

She nodded slowly, "I remember that raid. I remember her giving me this necklace."

Her eyes glazed over, and the brush was limp in her hand as she fell into memories.

"Katara, come look at this!"

The little girl scampered over to view her brother's five-hundredth snowman.

"Why don't you make them a little different, Sokka? They all look the same!"

"No they don't! Look, this one is fatter! And this one has a bigger mouth! And this one –"

"Ok, ok, I get the point!" She turned as if to walk away, but instead she scooped up a snowball and hurtled it back at her brother.

"Hey!" He pouted for a few moments before retaliating with a larger snowball

A standard snowball fight ensued, filled with many giggles and protests. It was only interrupted by a smiling face and a loving voice

"Katara? Katara honey, come here please!" Katara turned to see her mother beckoning for her to come.

"Pause the game, mmmk?"

"Ok," her brother grumbled

She ran inside to find out what her mother wanted.

"I have something for you Katara! Your birthday is coming up, right?"

The child nodded excitedly

"Well I have a very special gift for you. This was given to me by my mother, your gran gran, and it means a lot to both of us. Now, I think it should continue on its cycle and go to you." With a kind smile, her mother handed her a genuine betrothal necklace, the same one she'd seen in her mother's treasure box sometimes.

"Oh, mama, it's beautiful! Thank you!"

The lady's smile grew, happy as she was with her daughter's contentment and gratefulness.

"Take care of it Katara. And remember, that necklace was designed to hold love. If you are ever feeling particularly alone or unloved just remember the necklace and remember all the people who love you. People like me! I'll always love you, Katara."

"That's wonderful, mama! I'll never be sad!" The girl threw her arms around her mother happily

"I'm so glad, dear!" The mother held her child close, cherishing these wonderful moments of childhood, for she knew they would be gone too fast. If only she knew how fast.

"Can I go show Sokka?" The girl detached herself from her mother and prepared herself to dash outside.

"Of course," the lady replied.

"Thanks," the child yelled this over her shoulder as she commenced the dashing

"Sokka, Sokka, look what mom gave me!" The girl displayed the necklace proudly to her brother

"What's so great about that?" the boy scoffed, "It's just a dumb old necklace!"

"Is not! It's a treasure! It was gran-gran's!"

"That's great," the brother patronized, "What I want is a new weapon! Dad was showing me the spears yesterday… I want one of those!"

The girl crinkled up her nose in disgust, "A spear? What kind of history does that have?"

"It has history if it was dad's spear!"

"I suppose," she conceded.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then the boy grinned and threw another snowball;

"Game unpaused!"

She laughed, and the battle continued, until the dreaded black snow was spotted. All she remembered after that was screams, of running to her mother, of being sent away, and then of being captured. She remembered the men's hands grabbing her arms and dragging her, screaming, to the boat. She remembered her brother yelling her name over and over, and she yelling his. And most of all she remembered the sight of her mother, lying on the floor, eyes staring at nothing.

"Katara?"

Her brother's much older voice brought her back to the present. She glanced down at her hand, where she was gripping the necklace tightly.

"I was remembering," she explained

"That's not a very healthy pastime," Sokka replied, "But… I think I remember that necklace."

She continued to stare at the necklace

'If you are ever feeling particularly alone or unloved just remember the necklace and remember all the people who love you. People like me! I'll always love you, Katara.'

"She lied to me," Katara said abruptly

"What?"

"Mom. She lied to me. She said she'd always love me, but she's not here now, is she? She's not loving me now!"

"Katara…" Sokka sighed, "Just because she's not here doesn't mean she doesn't love you."

"It does!" Katara was annoyed to find the inevitable tears in her eyes

"Be reasonable Katara. She still loves us, very very much! She just can't be with us here anymore."

Katara turned her gaze from the necklace to her brother. No one would ever understand the impact that her gaze had on him. No matter what the emotion, if she looked at her brother with those piercing eyes he would feel it too. At this moment, he felt immeasurable pain and loss.

"You really loved her."

"Didn't you," She sobbed

"I did, I really did, but even I… I don't feel that… emotional."

"I'm just thinking about all the things I was supposed to learn from her. Millions upon millions of things I don't know, just because I didn't have a mother."

"Oh Katara, you can't think like that."

"I think I miss her more than I miss anyone else, because I know she's really gone. I still have hope that I'll see dad, and gran-gran, and everyone else someday, but I know I'll never again see mom."

Sokka sighed and held out his arms. She fled into them gratefully. It had taken them only a few days to renew the bond they'd had before. Once sister and brother, always sister and brother, as they say.

Now she sat, sobbing on his shoulder, and he simply held her. Sometimes, that's all you need to do.


Early the next morning, two piles sat out on the dock. Next to one was Suki, pulling things out of a pack and putting them in a different one. Next to the other was a tall woman, with black hair and green eyes; Isamono.

Zuko walked up and nodded to Suki and Isamono.

"Thank you for doing this, ladies. As you know, you are the backbone of these operations. Your partners are newbies, rookies, and while they have a good skill set, they are still untested. It is your responsibility to make sure these missions go off without a catch. I don't believe either of these assignments is impossible, though they may be hard. Uh… good luck!" The women thanked him and went back to their various tasks.

"Suki?"

She jumped at the whisper, "Oh, Zuko! My goodness, you scared me! I thought you left!"

"Ah… sorry. I didn't."

"Right…" She nodded awkwardly, "So, what is it?"

"I hate to have you go. You run this place as much as I do."

"More, even!" Suki smiled, "We've been over this before. You'll be fine! Amiza will help you… I've been training her."

"I know, I know."

"Zuko," Suki put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "We'll find her, ok?"

He nodded, "I'm just worried about you guys. This is no time to go travelling. The roads are worse than they ever were during the war."

"Who said anything about roads?" Suki grinned and removed her hand, "Can you go get Sokka for –"

"Suki?"

"Oh, hello. Never mind, Zuko." Suki smiled at Sokka, who had just walked up, "Are you packed?"

Sokka nodded, and pointed to the giant pack he was holding.

"You don't really need that much stuff, you know…"

Suki continued to explain 'light' packing to Sokka, but Zuko had turned to where Katara was rushing down the dock.

She was dressed as a Fire Nation noblewoman, to fit her part. She had on a long red dress, with a high golden collar and her hair was done in an elaborate style, complete with ornaments.

The fact that she had the skirt hiked up to above her knees and her shoes in her hand as she ran towards them, unfortunately shattered the image.

"Sorry I'm late," She gasped, once she'd skidded to a stop.

"No problem," Zuko smiled slightly

She moved to put something in her bag, and he remembered the good news he had. His smile growing, he slid up next to her.

"Katara?"

"Oh!" She jumped, surprised at his nearness, "Yes sir?"

"I talked to Suki and she said your name could definitely be changed. It will now be Mizuki."

"A bit late?"

He ignored this; "Is it satisfactory?"

"I suppose," She said, "Thank you, really."

Zuko nodded, "Of course."

"Come M'lady, I'll help you into the boat." Isamono came over with an outstretched hand and Katara blushed,

"Oh, you don't have to… Oh. Right." She sighed, "Sorry, I just forget sometimes."

Zuko grabbed her arm, "You cannot forget," he hissed, "No matter what, you can't let something like that slip. You MUST keep your image up."

She yanked her arm out of his grasp, eyes wide with fear, "I will. I'll keep it up."

"Sorry," He muttered.

Suki walked up and muttered something in Zuko's ear while Katara slipped her shoes on and handed her bag to Isamono.

"Goodbye Katara." Sokka came up and gave her a hug

"Goodbye Sokka. I wish we could have more time to figure out what happened in our lives, but Azula needs to be stopped." Katara patted her brother lightly and then allowed Isamono to help her into the boat.

"Good luck," Called Zuko.

Katara waved until her arm grew tired, and then she watched the shore fade. The only family she had left was standing there on that dock, and she was headed in the opposite direction. It went against every grain in her body, to be leaving Sokka, but the Fire Nation couldn't survive much longer with Azula at its helm.

Sokka turned away from where his sister was a tiny dot against the horizon, to face Suki and Zuko.

"Let's go."