Note: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated works or titles. All rights go to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

The Fire Nation;
Fire Nation Capital Fire Lord's Private Bathing Quarters:

Zuko undressed himself and stepped into the basin, letting the water soak him. As he relaxed, the water began to steam and slightly bubble and he relished the heat. To some, bathing was a luxury and he indulged in it every night. It was relaxing and soothing, not to mention good for hygiene...

"Fetch me some towels," he said, looking at the servant girl who waited at the door.

She nodded in response and exited the chamber quickly. Zuko leaned back and closed his eyes, recalling the troubling news he had been getting all the past few months, the past few days being the most recent, and startling. He wanted answers and a solution, not shallow promises of his officers...

His reign is a hard one. Tasked with pacifiying the recent regime of war-like violence in the Fire Nation was hard, and many die-hard followers of his father had to be imprisoned for the sake of peace, as well as their own. There were riots throughout the Fire Nation, as well as escalating acts of vandalism and violence until, finally, Zuko brought in the Fire Nation army to quell dissent. And then there was the task of rebuilding the world, repairing all the damage that was done, fixing the relations between the Fire Nation and the other nations...it wasn't easy, and Zuko very well knew it wouldn't be easy, but it had worn him out. He lost the energy and drive he had when he was a young man and old age took a heavy toll on his body, more than one would percieve with a look, and more than he liked to admit to his cohorts, friends, his children, even his wife.

His thoughts drifted to his family. Without Mai, Zuko doubted he'd be the man he was today. Together they were happy, and Mai stood by her husband's side and a source of neverending support. They had two children together, two boys. The elder, Shen, would take Zuko's place on the throne after he passed. Shen looked more like his mother than he did his father, and his personality being a mixtue of both; serious, quiet and calm.

The younger son, Kuzon, is the exact copy of Zuko as a youth; hot-headed, short tempered and stern. When Kuzon was born, Zuko's close friend, the Avatar, witnessed the birth and suggested the name for the child, after a boy Aang was friends with before he was frozen in the iceberg. Zuko liked the name and thought it had meaning, coming from a friendf and the Avatar both, and gave the boy the name. Kuzon wasn't exactly fit to have a position of rule, instead focusing on his Bending and combat abilities, and joined the Army at a young age. Instead of being pampered and having priviledge handed to him, Kuzon rose through the ranks on his own, a feat that he, and his family, were proud of. Zuko wondered how Kuzon would act with his passing, and hoped he would stand by his brother.

As Zuko wondered, the door opened and a servant came in, bearing the requested towels. Zuko watched as the man approached and laid the towels down near the basin. He asked the man to hand him one and the man complied, lifting and offering a rolled towel. As Zuko took it, the man sezied his wrist.

"What are you doing? Get off me!"

"I must apologize, Fire Lord Zuko, but your time is at and end." the man said.

"What!"

Zuko formed a fist with his other hand and swung it in an arc at the man, sending a blast of fire from the fist. The man bent and swept his free hand, and Zuko's fireball twisted and dispersed. Growling, Zuko stood up and wrapped his hand around the attacker's arm and heaved, lifting him up and tossing him over his shoulder. As the man crashed to the ground, Zuko jumped and brought his heel down onto the man, who rolled out of the way at the last second as fire flared against the tile.

"Not bad, old man, but you're tired, aren't you?"

"'Old?' I am not the only 'old one' here!"

Laughing, the man got to his feet and sent a spinning-kick at the Fire Lord's direction, a curving stream of fire lashing out as the foot spun and curved in motion. Zuko ducked as the stream skimmed the wall behind him and pushed both arms forward, blasting two gouts of flame out of his hands. The attacker flipped to the side, his robes getting caught by the flames as he travelled in the and, upon landing, bounded forward, tackling into Zuko and knocking them both to the tile. As they struggled, the robed attacker pulled a dagger out of his left sleeve.

"Good-bye, Zuko. You're an obstacle in the way of Ozai's legacy flourishing." the man whispered. "With your death, the colors of the Immortal Phoenix will spread like wild-fire! I, Desheng, shall be immortalized as the one who slew Fire Lord Zuko!"

Desheng reared back, black robes billowing like smoke, the blade, gleaming in the cande-light of the chamber, was held tightly in his right hand. For a split-second, Desheng looked with satsifaction in Zuko's eyes, the eyes of a man who is watching his own death coming and was utterly helpless to stop it. Grasping the dagger with both hands, Desheng plunged it viciously into Zuko's chest; straight into the heart of the elder man. For several minutes, the two men stared at each other. Zuko's face curled into a snarl before finally going limp and relaxing. Desheng peered at him before stepping off the body, smirked triumphantly, pulling the dagger out of Zuko's chest.

Within minutes, the facility at which Azula was still being held would erupt into the flames, and the Princess would be bound for the capital. The Royal Family would surrender or die, it did not matter to Desheng, as his forces were much more skilled, and vicious, than the guards guarding the family. Sliding the dagger back into it's holster on the underside of his left forearm, Desheng slid out of the chamber like a shadow.

The Swamp:

Hau and Hang Mai snuck out of their family huts when everyone else was asleep. They met by their canoe, each carrying a small bag with food and a few extra supplies. Quietly, they pushed the wooden canoe into the water, got in, and started to Waterbend down the river. Until they were a good distance away from their village, they remained silent.

"See? Hardest part's over." Hau said in the dark, moving the boat swiftly down the waterway.

"Not really...getting back before sunrise and folks are awake is the hardest part."

"Don't you ever have fun? C'mon, it's our night to ourselves. Let's enjoy it."

The swamp was dark and active with sounds everywhere. Nocturnal creature noises; from screeches to dull grumbling, as well as the endless, static-like chattering of insects. The air swarmed with hundreds of tiny bugs that clouded around the pair, attracted by the heat of their bodies. Hau swung his arms back and forth, sending wide shots of water to sweep away the bugs.

"Remember the story the elder was tellin' tonight?" Hang Mai asked. "About how the Avatar beat the Fire Lord, and that our tribe helped with some invasion or other?"

"I think he made some of it up...'specially the part about the Fire Lord." Hau replied. "So, what about the story?"

"Well, what do you think the Avatar looked like?"

"Like you an' me, Hang Mai. A person. Maybe he was old, maybe young. He might've had a funny lookin' beard, or a mustache or no hair at all. Or maybe he was a she." Hau said. "I dunno."

"I thought someone like the Avatar would look more...spirit-ly or somethin'...I mean, he-or she-can bend all the elements, right?"

"Yeah. Water, earth, air and fire. All of 'em. Must be cool to have all that power."

"Maybe it's a burden...I mean, to learn all about them and study the kinds of people. You can't get careless with it." Hang Mai said.

"I dunno, maybe." Hau shrugged, sitting down in the canoe. "I don't really care much, anyways."

"You don't care?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Doesn't affect me. Not like I'm the Avatar or the Avatar's gonna come an' visit our village an' help our people in some way or something." Hau replied. "Kinda makes it seem like we're unimportant or something."

They remained quiet as the canoe kept along it's course on the river. The water here was moving a bit faster than the water-way in which they fished during the afternoon, and it wasn't as muddy. But it wasn't clean water, as there was moss and algae floating on the surface; dark green spots mixed with the occassional muddy spot. Overhead, glowing insects shone like small stars as they flew about in the dark, and it was quieter here, save for the sound of the water and the insects. Hang Mai sat at the front on the canoe, watching the surroundings in front of them while Hau, like always, rested loosely at the rear.

"Hey, Hau," she leaned forward and elbowed him. "There's some lights up ahead in the distance."

"Probably some of the bugs..."

"I dunno, come look. They aren't like the bugs..."

Hau leaned forward and crawled to the front of the ship to look where Hang Mai was pointing. The lights were moving down the river at a good pace, and were a flickering yellowish in color. Hau softly grunted.

"Boats." he said quietly.

"Boats? But..."

"Three of 'em, from what I'm seeing now. Dunno if there are any more, but those lights are comin' from fire...probably tied to the boats so they can see in the dark. Lanterns, maybe, I dunno." Hau said, eyes scanning the distance.

The river water began to get more turbulent as the boats approached and within minutes, Hau and Hang Mai were looking at the wooden fores of the boats. As Hau had stated, there were lit lanterns tied to the front and sides of the ships, providing illumination and vision. The swamp-dwellers steered their canoe clear of the ship at the head of the party, going along it's right side, looking up with awe at the wooden construction. There was movement on the deck and then the pair in the canoe watched as they were being looked at by a few faces from the deck of the boat.

"Hello there!" said a man from the boat. "Swamp benders!"

"How do you know who we are?" Hang Mai called up.

"Look at us," Hau muttered. "Wearin' leaves an' bark compaired to what those guys are wearing..."

"Let's call it a hunch," the man grinned. "Is there a village around here?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"It's important. We would like to talk with your chief, or elder, or whoever rules you." the man called down. "Could you take us there? We intend no harm."

"We can take you there, I guess..." Hang Mai answered, turning to Hau. "Should we?"

"We can't outrun them if we try to run, and if the got weapons or something, that'd be a short trip. They say they don't mean harm, so I suppose...I dunno. We're gonna get caught either way."

Hang Mai nodded at her friend and turned back to the boats. She raised a hand and motioned for them to follow. The man smiled and nodded, shouting for the boats to follow the small canoe. Hau stood and outstretched both arms to the side and twisted his body. The canoe turned on the spot and began making it's way back up the river. When they were ahead by several feet, the trio of wooden ships lurched forward and followed.

"Shall we give 'em a look at how it's done in the Foggy Swamp?" Hau suggested.

"Sure." Hang Mai grinned.

Hau cracked a wider grin and began to spin his arms in wide, circular motions. The canoe picked up speed and kicked forward. She laughed and turned back to watch the wooden boats shrink away. She watched as the sails of the wooden boats pushed forward, as if getting a good wind and pick up speed after them, keeping the pace. As they grew closer, she saw circular currents of air behind the sails.

'Airbenders!' she thought.

"Hau! They're-!"

"I know," he replied.

For the first time in her life, Hang Mai saw Hau surprised. They continued down until they reached their village, at which he steered the canoe onto the riverbed and jumped off, rushing to alert the elder. At the commotion, others were leaving their huts and watched as the wooden boats grew closer.