"Omashu," Amaya said softly. "I think it was because of Bumi, but Omashu always seemed like the war wouldn't touch it."

"Up until now, it couldn't," Sokka said. "Now Ba Seng Se is the only great Earth Kingdom city left."

"We have to move on," Katara said grimly.

Purpose well up inside Amaya and she moved for the city.

"Where are you going?" Sokka demanded.

"I'm going in," she said determinedly.

"But Amaya, I know you had your heart set on Bumi teaching you. It's just not possible now though."

"We don't even know if Bumi's still-" Sokka hesitated. Amaya turned to face him.

"Still alive?" she guessed, raising an eyebrow. "He is. Killing Bumi would start an uprising. I know that, and so does the Fire Nation. This soon into their hold on the city they can't risk that. No, Bumi's still alive somewhere in there, and I'm getting him out. He's the only friend I have left from then," she said softly. "This isn't about finding an Earthbending teacher. Right now, I don't care if I ever learn that. But I will get my friend out of there."

"Okay," Katara nodded. "Then we're with you."

"Good," Amaya nodded. "We'll fly Appa down to the secret tunnel."

"Why didn't we use this secret tunnel last time?" Sokka demanded when they arrived on the small ledge in the canyon around the city. Amaya grunted, the tip of her glider wedged against the cover. She strained.

"Because… secret tunnel implies it's… regularly used for sneaking. This is… more for… got it!"

The lid burst free and a wave of green, reeking mush rolled out, gathering around Sokka and Katara's feet.

"Sewage," Amaya grinned as she swung into the tunnel. Katara followed her. Amaya stirred the air with her glider, throwing the sewage around her and leaving her free to walk without it squishing under her feet. Katara bent it out of her way as the two girls advanced easily up the tunnel. Sokka followed them, taking face-full after face-full of green sludge.

When they reached street level, Amaya cautiously raised the lid and peered out. She and Katara climbed out into the street.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Katara admitted.

"Rrrggg."

A staggering slime monster climbed out of the hole behind them, reaching for them with long arms and limp wrists. Katara pulled water from a nearby bucket and drenched Sokka, washing all the green gunk off. Amaya treated him to an extra-powerful blow dry.

When he was clean several cephalopods were revealed stuck to his face. Sokka screamed, tugging at them frantically.

"They won't come off!" he yelled, staggering around. Amaya reached forwards and grabbed him before he could trip over a pile of boxes.

"Shh, you'll scare them," Amaya rebuked. She grabbed one and gently stroked its head with a finger. It pulled its suckers loose and closed its eyes, humming contentedly. Amaya brought it close to her face and cuddled it. "A purple pentapus. I love these little guys, they're so cute."

"Just get them off!" Sokka shouted.

"Oh, alright," Amaya said irritably, stroking the other two on his face and peeling them off.

"Hey!"

"Drat," Amaya cursed, ducking behind Katara and pulling her shawl up over her face to cover her arrow.

"What are you three kids doing out after curfew?" demanded the Fire Nation soldier.

"We're sorry sir," Katara said. "We just got a bit lost. We're going home now."

They turned and began walking away quickly, hoping they wouldn't be stopped.

"Stop!"

"Double drat."

"What's wrong with him?"

Katara looked at Sokka, confused, and then spotted the red marks left on his skin from the pentapus.

"Oh, er," she said, casting around for an idea. "He… has pentapox, sir!" The soldier stepped closer, eying Sokka suspiciously. "Don't get too close!" she warned. "It's highly contagious."

Sokka looked from Amaya to Katara before staring up at the soldier with a hangdog expression on his face. "Oh, it's so awful, I'm dying!" he groaned, arms reaching as he staggered towards the hastily-retreating soldier.

"Hey, I think of heard of that!" one soldier said. "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"

"We'd better go wash our hands. And burn our clothes!"

Sokka let out a few coughs for good measure as the soldiers ran away.

"Sewer fauna," Amaya grinned, rubbing one of the pentapuses. "Gotta love them."

"Kinda gross, but handy!" Sokka nodded approvingly.

They crept through the streets, ducking for cover and diving from shadow to shadow to avoid detection. There was a close call once when they barely managed to dive behind a pile of boards before being spotted by a pair of sentries.

"We need to hurry up and find Bumi so we can get out of here," Katara said.

"Where would they be holding him?" Sokka mused.

"If he could Earthbend they wouldn't be able to hold him," Amaya reasoned. "Bumi's one of the best Earthbenders that ever lived, and I'm including past me's in this. It has to be someplace made of metal."

They took off, creeping along a ledge towards the mail chute, intending to use it for cover. A rolling sound slowly increased in volume and Amaya looked up to see a series of large stones rolling down the chute. But why…?

Eyes widening in understanding, she glanced further along the track and saw a teenage girl and a mother holding her baby. An attack!

"Hey idiots!" she called, drawing the attention of both the woman's party and the would-be attackers. "there are women and babies present. What the heck?" She swiped with her glider and blasted the rocks to rubble with a wall of air.

"The resistance!"

She paused to look over her shoulder and saw the woman's escort in greater detail as more torches flared.

"Fire Nation women and babies," Amaya said, voice echoing in the night. "Eh heh, gotta go!" She turned to run, followed by Sokka and Katara, and stopped when a searing pain bit into her shoulder. She screamed in pain and reached around, fingers brushing cold metal. Gritting her teeth, she yanked hard and pulled out a small stiletto gleaming with her own red blood.

Soldiers were coming after them followed by, the teenage noble woman, who turned out to be the one who had thrown the knife. Amaya growled angrily. She saved the girl's life and was repaid by being stabbed? What was wrong with her?

"Katara, the soldiers," Amaya ordered. "I want Miss Noble."

Katara quickly dispatched the soldiers with a water whip and Amaya squared off against the girl as she came towards her with her arms trailing. She extended her arm and a series of small arrows shot from inside her sleeve. Amaya batted them aside easily with a wide kick and a wave of air.

"So gratefulness isn't really in your repertoire?"

"You're the Avatar," the girl said in an expressionless monotone. "Why would you save Fare Nation nobles? This is a trick."

"Hn, and here I was thinking that maybe here was me just seeing a family that needs help," Amaya snorted. "Here's something you people don't seem able to grasp. I don't hate the Fire Nation. Never did. It's Ozai I have a problem with. He's the only one I want gone, and even him I don't want dead. So if you don't mind, just be glad I saved you from getting crushed and go on about your day."

"I can't do that," the girl said.

"Don't really have a choice in the matter," Amaya grinned as the ground dropped out from under her and then closed over her head. She hit the ground hard, a little ways down a tunnel from Katara and Sokka. Grim soldiers waited for them, pulling them upright and leading them down a tunnel.

"I apologize for the rough landing, Avatar," said a man with a wide-brimmed Earth Kingdom soldier's hat. "We were only thinking of your safety. The governor's daughter, Mai, is quite deadly with her knives and arrows."

Amaya winced as her shoulder throbbed. "I'm aware," she winced.

"Amaya, you're hit!" Katara yelled when she noticed, immediately she was being crushed by concerned soldiers and friends.

"I'm fine!" Amaya had to shout to be heard over the concerns. "I'll bandage it later. I just want to know… what's this?" she asked as they stepped onto a balcony overlooking a room filled with Omashu soldiers and commoners.

"This is the rebellion," said the first man. He had a beard almost as impressive as Fong's. What was it with Earth Kingdom officers and facial hair Amaya wondered vaguely.

"So is Bumi here?" she asked eagerly. "Is he leading you?"

"Of course not!" the man snapped with surprising venom. Amaya took a step back. The last time she was here, Bumi was well-loved. "The day of the invasion came. The Fire Nation was at our gates. We were all prepared to fight for our lives and our freedom. But before we could even try, King Bumi gave the order to surrender."

Amaya blinked, surprised. Bumi wasn't one to give up without a fight. But if he had done that, he knew something. "Well, I'm sure he had his reasons."

"He looked me dead in eye and said 'I'm going to do… nothing. To stand and fight is our only option now."

"No it isn't," Amaya said, shaking her head. 'I know how hard it is to leave your homeland, but you have to. You're ready and willing to fight, but you're outnumbered. What you need to do is retreat and live to fight another day."

"No! The only option is to fight for our freedom!"

"I don't know Yang," said another soldier. "Living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good."

"I'm with the girl!"

"It does sound pretty good."

"Do you think we could?"

"Fine," Yang submitted. "But even if we could, we have thousands of citizens who need to get out. How are we supposed to free them all?"

"Suckers!"

Amaya sighed. "Alright Sokka, what hallucinogen did you eat now?"

"No, hear me out!" Sokka insisted. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."

Amaya grinned at him. "Sokka, if I ever say you're an idiot again, you have my permission to smack me."

"Thank you!" Sokka yelled. "See, someone appreciates me!"

"You're wonderful," Katara said drily.

It was without a doubt the strangest assembly line Amaya had ever been a part of. First were the people with rags wrapped around their faces to keep out the smell as they wandered around the sewers looking for pentapi. Then there were those running back and forth carrying buckets of the little creatures to stations where people slapped them on. Other went around and stroked the pentapi, pulling them off after a while. Katara was helping fish for pentapi, and Sokka was out in the courtyard leading a class on acting sick.

"See, the marks make you look sick," he explained. "But you have to really sell it, or they won't believe!"

"Oooh!" moaned an old man, hobbling through the courtyard with a cane, one hand pressed to his back. "Oooh!"

"See!" Sokka grinned, pointing at him happily. "That guys gets it! Everybody, follow his lead!"

"Years of practice!" the old man said with a cheeky grin, thumping his cane against a wooden leg.

"Alright everybody!" Sokka yelled. "Into sick formation!"

The crowd shuffled off, Sokka following. Katara hung back when she saw Amaya hadn't moved.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked.

"We haven't found Bumi yet," Amaya said, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving here until I do." Momo took that moment to scramble up her arm and onto her shoulder, tugging at the corner of her mouth. Amaya winced and pulled him free. "Sorry buddy, I'll have to feed you later. Go with Katara."

Momo chattered and ran across to Katara, taking up his post on her shoulder instead while jumped into the air, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in search of some clue to Bumi's whereabouts.


Crowds are usually uncomfortable at the best of times. So are sick people. A group of people making sounds in unison is always unsettling. A large mass coming towards you is downright scary. When blended together, you have a nice, healthy cocktail of nervous emotions, and that's exactly what the Fire Nation soldiers were exposed to when the citizens of Omashu hit the streets, groaning and wailing and rolling through the street in an unbreakable wave.

"Plague! Plague!"

The gong ringing over the city added to the din of groans and shouts and fearful cries. All in all, it was a confusing mess of chaos and noise.


"Drive them out!"

Amaya smiled when she heard the man on the balcony shout. So that was his family, the same family she had rescued earlier. She ignored them and slipped through an alleyway, jumping and skittering along a rail before hopping up onto the roof. The slipped from roof to roof, keeping in the shadows as much as she could.

Eventually, she heard the sound of panting and grinding gears. Curious, Amaya slunk forwards along the rooftop on her belly and peered over the edge. In a large, sunken pit below, Flopsy was chained and being forced to push a wheel that kept water running through the city. Amaya scowled, angry that fire Nation was using the sweet gorilla goat for this. She knew Bumi would be distraught too; he absolutely adored Flopsy. When they were younger, he had always wanted a gorilla goat, she recalled.

"Flopsy!" she yelled when she dropped into the pit. Flopsy turned, sniffing the air. He recognized her and bounded over, but he thick metal collar around his neck kept him from getting much closer. Amaya glared at it, walking over and pulling water from below through a grate. She wrapped it around the padlock holding Flopsy in place and froze it, before shattering the whole thing with a blast of air. Flopsy's strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up. The big animals nuzzled his face into her stomach and Amaya giggled, rubbing his head briskly.

"Flopsy," she said affectionately. "Come on, down boy."

Flopsy placed her on the ground and bowed down to her level. Amaya jumped and landed on his back.

"Come on boy, we've got to find Bumi. Yip yip!" Flopsy licked his nose. "Oh, heh, right. Flopsy, not Appa. Let's go?" she tried, and Flopsy took off, racing through the streets.


Amaya trudged into camp that night, shoulders slumped and looking utterly defeated. Katara and Sokka ran over, excited when they saw Flopsy. But then they caught sight of Amaya's downcast expression and they knew she hadn't found her old friend.

"No luck?" Katara asked.

"We searched everywhere," Amaya said, shaking her head. "I just… I thought they wouldn't kill him, but… oh god, Bumi." She closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her face, shutting the world out as she tried to get a hold of herself. Bumi, the only friend from before she had left. She couldn't loose him, not now!

"We have a problem," Yang said, coming over to the sad little group.

"We've got several, but which one in particular were you talking about?" Amaya sighed.

"We just did a head count…"

"Oh no, did someone get left behind?" Katara asked anxiously.

"No," Yang said, shaking his head and pointing. "We have an extra."

Amaya's eyes widened as she saw Momo straining to drag the little boy clinging to him along. That wasn't what worried her though. What worried her was that she recognized the kid. She had seen him not to long ago, perched in his mother's arms.

"Oh no," Amaya groaned.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked.

"We accidently kidnapped the governor's kid."

"Oh no," Sokka groaned.

Later on, they were all gathered around their fire after dinner. They all watched the baby cautiously as it toddled around, pulling at Momo's tail and clambering over Appa's feet. He wandered over to Sokka and grabbed at the cudgel lying on the ground. Sokka snatched it away from him.

"No!" he snapped. "Bad Fire Nation baby!"

The kid burst into tears.

"Sokka," Katara said, giving him one of her infamous death glares. She snatched the weapon back and handed it to the baby. He pulled it into his lap and ran his hands along it, laughing delightedly. Katara wrapped her hands around his waist and cooed, "Oh, you are so cute."

"Sure, he's cute now," Yang said darkly. "But when he's older he'll join the Fire Nation army. You won't think he's cute then. He'll be a killer."

Katara held the little boy up. "Does this look like the face of a killer to you?"

"Eh, small children have always sort of scared me," Amaya admitted. "They're sort of disproportionate, and they're always happy. It's creepy."

"You're a very strange girl," Sokka said, staring at her.

Amaya snorted. "Did you just now figure that out?"

A screech broke the relative peace of the camp as a bird fluttered down out of the air and landed on a nearby stone.

"A messenger hawk!" Yang realized. Amaya got up and walked over, pulling the scroll from the bird's leg.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," she sighed. "Oh no."

"What's wrong Amaya?" Katara asked.

"The Fire Nation governor says hi. He thinks we took his kid. And…" she grinned. "He wants to trade him for Bumi."


"You get that this is almost certainly a trap," Sokka said as Amaya carried the little over to where he and Katara waited by Appa.

Amaya nodded. "Yup. Don't care. I want Bumi back, and we were going to get rid of this kid anyway. Might as well kill two birds with one stone. Besides," she wheedled. "You'll get to kick some Fire Nation fanny."

"That would be nice," Sokka admitted as they mounted Appa. They flew directly into Omashu. There was no point in trying to be sneaky, odds were the entire city knew they were coming. They landed at the construction site where they had first seen the governor's family. Amaya held Tom-Tom close, ignoring his wiggling as she stared ahead tensely, waiting for the drop to happen.

They didn't have long to wait. Mere minutes later, three girls appeared over the edge of the scaffolding. One was the noble girl, the governor's daughter. The other was clothed in pink with a long braid similar to Amaya's. To her left was a girl Amaya knew only from a vague glimpse in a dream. Azula, Zuko's younger sister.

"So, you're here," Amaya said, frowning at the one who had stabbed her. "I've got to say, I was expecting more than Zuko's little sister, pinky over there, and the Great Expressionless One."

She was ignored, although the princess seemed surprised she knew of her.

"Do you have my brother?" the girl asked.

"Oh yeah," Amaya nodded, gesturing to the kid in her arms. "I've got him."

Above them came the sound of a winch and Amaya looked up to see Bumi being lowered encased in a metal coffin with a hole for his face. He was giggling and snorting like always.

"Hi everybody!" he chirped. Amaya grinned up at him fondly. Bumi was fine, and she was about to get him back.

He landed behind the three girls and Azula turned to the noble girl.

"Mai, a thought just occurred to me."

"What is it, princess Azula?" asked the girl, Mai.

"We're trading a king for a two-year-old. A powerful Earthbending king."

"Good point," Mai agreed. She took a few steps forwards and proclaimed, "The deal's off!"

The winch creaked and once more Bumi was raised into the air.

"Bumi!" Amaya yelled, transferring the baby to Sokka's arms and running forwards. Azula came forwards to meet her, blue fire shooting for Amaya. She ignored the flames and leapt over them, much to Azula's shock, propelling herself off a support beam of a scaffolding and pulling her glider free, hopping on. Unfortunately, that was the moment when her shawl slipped won, yanked around too much by the movement. Amaya gasped as her blue arrow was revealed, and on the ground, Azula did the same.

There was no hope of keeping her secret now, so Amaya focused on getting Bumi free. She landed on top of his prison and said, "Don't worry Bumi, we're going to get you out of here."

"Amaya? Why are you here?" he asked. "Where did you come from?"

"Up, in general," Amaya grinned, before blowing hard on the chains. She was sending out blasts of frigid air, weakening the links of the chain.

"Amaya, stop your blowing for a minute!" Bumi called. Amaya looked up, confused as to what he wanted, and saw Azula jumping from the building out towards them. She brought her glider around and slammed it against the chain, shattering it. She and Bumi dropped, Bumi yelling. Amaya oriented herself on top of the coffin, keeping a wide stance to maintain her balance, and placed a swirling cushion of air below them. Their landing was still rough, but they were off down the mail chutes.

Amaya laughed freely. "Just like only times, eh Bumi?"

"Amaya, I need to talk to you!"

"I missed you too Bumi," Amaya said. "But it's not really the time."

She produced a tornado above them that grabbed and dissolved the fire blasts sent from Azula. She was travelling in one of the carts on a rail above them. Amaya shifted her weight easily as they turned slightly, then her eyes widened as she saw Azula was now coasting along behind them. She sent a jet of air towards her, but Azula divided it around her hands and sent of burst of fire in reply. Amaya ducked under it and turned her attention back to the chute. They were heading under a series of archways. She sent a blade of sharpened air through them, the wreckage strewn across the chute in a cloud of dust. Azula's cart went into the dust with her perched on top, and came out empty Amaya sighed in relief, then shouted in surprise when the Fire Princess vaulted up from the inside of the cart.

She was set to dodging and deflecting fire blasts as well as she could until Appa appeared beside their chute.

"Hold on Bumi!" she yelled. "Our ride's here!" She used her glider to pull them through the air into and arc. Katara and Sokka reached out the grab the, but Amaya overshot. They went sailing up and over Appa, crashing through a chute before landing back in front of Azula. Amaya worked fast to deflect the next whirling wheel of fire, and she saw Bumi straining inside his prison. A boulder kicked up in front of Azula's cart, shattering it and sending her flying into the air.

"Wait a minute, hold on!" Amaya shouted. "You can Earthbend? This whole time?"

"They didn't cover my face!" Bumi laughed. They slid off the chute and a rock appeared in front of them. Amaya jumped off and Bumi balanced on top.

"Alright, hold on!" she said to Bumi. "You could Earthbend, so why didn't you escape. You surrendered! Bumi, what is wrong with you?"

"Listen to me Amaya," Bumi said. "There are different types of Jing."

"I know!" Amaya said, throwing up her hands. She ticked off the kinds on her fingers. "There's positive Jing for when you're attack and negative Jing for when you're retreating."

"And neutral Jing!" Bumi grinned. "For when you do nothing at all."

"There are three Jings?" Amaya blinked.

"Well, technically there are eighty-five," Bumi said absently. "But let's just focus on the third! Neutral Jing is the key to Earthbending. It involves waiting and listening for the time to strike!"

"Oh, that's why you surrendered!" Amaya realized.

"It's also why I can't leave now," Bumi said with surprising maturity. Amaya was hit once again by how much the world around her had changed. Here was Bumi being the mature, sensible adult, while she was still just a child.

"I guess I'll need another teacher," Amaya said sadly.

"You need someone who has mastered the neutral Jing," Bumi advised. "Your teacher will be someone who waits and listens."

"Hey Momo!" Amaya greeted as the little lemur slipped up onto her shoulder.

"Momo's mastered a few Jings himself!" Bumi grinned. "Until next time Amaya!"

He fell backwards and a rock began pushing him up the chute again while he giggled and snorted.

"Bumi, you mad genius!" Amaya praised, shaking her head.

"Come on Amaya, we've got to go!" Katara called from behind her on Appa.

"I'll be right there, I have one thing left to do!" Amaya called. She hopped to the saddle, grabbed the baby, and then jumped onto the rooftops again until she reached what was once Bumi's palace. The governor and his wife stood on the balcony holding each other close and looking sad. Amaya landed on the balcony below them and conjured a wave of air beneath her, raising herself up into their startled faces.

"I think this is yours," she said softly, handing the sleeping infant to his surprised mother, who snatched him away. "Don't worry he's not hurt. And… I'm sorry. We didn't mean for him to get caught up with us."

That said, Amaya dropped back to the balcony and crept back to where Katara and Sokka were waiting.

"Straighten out the kid situation, Amaya?" Katara asked.

"Yeah," Amaya nodded, taking Appa's reins. "Yip yip."