Note to Reader: So I decided to list Zuko as one of the principle characters of this fic because he seems to have a much more prominent role than I had originally planned.

A big thanks to all you regulars out there and an extra special thanks to Passionworks for the regular reviews.

Enjoy.

Chapter 8: Coping With It

"Nothing! You're saying you learned 'nothing' from that man?" Zuko yelled as he paced through his uniformly ornate study. Bai Tan stood at the center of a labyrinthine yellow design woven into the red carpet that covered most of the floor space, while he absorbed his lord's fury.

"With respect, Fire Lord Zuko, please, calm yourself," he requested evenly. "What I said is that our… creative attempts at information extraction didn't glean anything useful from the subject. What we do know is that his name is Kazuo and that he was a Fire Sage before you began your reign, but all of that could have been found out by one of the older advisors identifying him. It would seem that he was telling the truth when he stated that he 'knows nothing.' Either that, or he is quite the impervious fellow," grinned Zuko's head advisor.

"Nothing. Nothing at all!" The Fire lord fenced his face behind his fingers and wiped down his well trained, black, pointed beard. "We can't have this Bai Tan. We can't have these madmen running loose and burning down restaurants and tea houses. Destruction. Murder. And for what?"

"Nothing, lord. They're anarchists." The advisor stood as a marble pillar against the wind. "That's what the lack of pattern and social connection between the assailants suggests. Kazou, himself, seemed to be operating with a thoroughly broken mind. As you say, my lord, they are madmen."

"It's almost like your implying that these Loyalist insurgents don't exist, that it's all just some deranged figment."

"Copycats, my lord. One man sees it happen and does it himself under the same pretense."

"Regardless of reason, or the lack there of, this has to stop."

"Yes. Though I don't have any direct evidence, I do have a theory, if your lordship would allow me."

"Of course."

"The man, Kazuo, said something that intrigued me. Actually, several things. I noticed a discrepancy in his diction, his speech. Most of it was very vulgar, but sometimes it would seem his words were not his own. This points to some degree of organization. Even if there isn't some mass grouping of insurgents taking place somewhere within the country, there is a common thread tugging at these men."

"This has been happening far too much for it to just be coincidence."

"My lord, I agree, but, to be honest, I've never dealt with this kind of anarchic terrorism before. There are no significant names and nothing connects them. It would seem that they truly are, as the madman so elegantly put it, 'disparate slivers.'"

"He said that to me, when I had him against the wall."

"Yes, about that, my lord." The Fire Lord's advisor cleared his throat. "I believe, for your own safety, you should refrain from appearing in public until this crisis is resolved. This is my personal opinion, though I'm sure the council would agree with me."

Zuko replayed the scene in his head. A deafening cacophony, the blaze, the screaming meat burning with pine, his wife, his heart, his people. It was his sacred duty to protect them all. Above all else, that was his purpose as Fire Lord.

"You're right, Bai Tan. I shouldn't be walking the streets. If I die, this country will just get worse. There's no legitimate heir to the throne, yet. Things would fall apart," Zuko had lowered his voice to a lament. As he stared up at the four fabric banners that hung above his desk, the promises he made in his first days as the new monarch welled up in his ears. Fire, Water, Earth and Air, all the elements mingling, to form a unified whole, like the Avatar: the singular embodiment of the oneness of the world. He wanted the world to reflect everything his good friend, Aang, is. That was his dream.

He scanned the emblazoned wall hangings, his gaze stopping at the cyclical swirl of the Air Nation insignia. It grieved him to recall that his lineage had been responsible for near total massacre of the Air Nomad's and their culture. Sure, their legacy lived on in the Avatar, but his great grandfather's vile act of genocide made Zuko feel responsible.

It was hard for him to look Aang in the eye when he had these thoughts and yet he greatly desired to have his friend by his side, right now. He wondered when Aang would return from his solitary travels.

"Excuse me, lord," Bai Tan ventured, breaking the long silence and Zuko from his ruminations. "Was there something else you wanted to speak with me about?"

"Yes." The Fire Lord looked past Bai Tan to Naoki, who stood by the deep red door. The armored guard stiffened under his lord's gaze. "I'd like it if we could finish this conversation in private."

Bai Tan glanced back at the motionless Naoki and then turned to Zuko. "Do not worry, my lord. Naoki is one of my hand-picked agents. Why do you think I assigned him to guard you? He is as trustworthy as I. So, please, what concerns you?"

Zuko was a little hesitant, "Have your men captured her yet?"

Bai Tan knew this question would be posed and he had a report ready. "I have received word that they joined with a small group of Kiyoshi Warriors to apprehend your sister."

"And," the Fire Lord spoke eagerly.

"I'm afraid, she escaped, again." Zuko growled as Bai Tan continued. "Sadly, it cost two of the three young women their lives."

"Something has to be done."

"Indeed, lord," agreed the advisor as his ran his fingers through his black hair and up his rigid topknot. "I assure you. You needn't worry yourself. The agents I have tracking them are, as I have mentioned many times before, the best men to get this job done."

"No, Bai Tan," his advisor tensed at his advisee's disapproval. "We need more. We need to catch her, now."

"If I may, my lord, why is the apprehension of your sister so important?" The former Earth Kingdom Advisor had been waiting for the moment when he could slide in this question. It would have been better revealed organically, but Bai Tan was an opportunist. If there was even a crack in the dam, he would pull the river through or at least enough to sate his thirst.

Zuko slumped into the high back chair in front of his desk and sighed. Paperwork continued to pile up. "I'm afraid, Bai Tan. Her escape. The intensification of these attacks. I can't help but feel that it's all connected. The Dai Lee helped her escape."

"That is what I reported to you, lord. Former Dai Lee agents were responsible for the jailbreak, according to our intelligence."

"What if they intended to use her as a rally point for their cause? What if they're mustering a force against the Fire Nation right now, in the Earth Kingdom?"

"I don't doubt that there are a few bitter souls who would like to see the Fire Nation fall," said Bai Tan with a perfect mask of concern. He tugged at the green trim of his jet-black, silken dress robes.

"I'm afraid for my people, and my wife, more than myself, but…" Zuko paused, recalling every battle he had fought against his sister. Whether by skill or underhanded cunning, she always managed to beat him. In the deep fibers of his primal emotion, he feared her.

"Lord, it is very unlikely that the incidents are connected. Her escape and the increase in attacks is just coincidence. Fear not. We'll have her in custody soon."

"Just to be sure," the Fire Lord said, leaning forward onto his desk and pulling out a blank piece of parchment, "I'm calling in a friend."


The next morning Azula rose, feeling fresh, almost purged of all her apprehensions. It wasn't until she reminded herself of the situation that stress tightened once again within her. She'd learned to live with it.

After a morning of stretching her sinews until they felt several inches longer, she ran through her sets step by step. Though her much sought after perfection still dangled unreachably in front of her, like a tomato-carrot on a string, she managed to make it through her basic sets with an amateur level of competency. She was still furious with her physical incompetence, but at least she wasn't scraping herself on the ceiling or falling to the floor, anymore.

Lunch time came and she joined the host family and Qilaq downstairs. Her traveling companion had been very absent since yesterday evening, say for sleeping in the room that night and attending meals. This morning he was gone before Azula even woke up, his bed left helter-skelter. She was more curious than concerned, though she still hadn't quite pinned down Qilaq, yet. Whatever truths he held, they either lied untouchable in the abysmal trenches of his soul or bubbled to the surface with little visible regard. What he said obviously wasn't as important as what he didn't say.

Aimi was a little chattier during the meal and the boy radiated that iridescent innocence, as usual. The man of the house, Nobu, remained stoic, say for the occasional cough. Azula admired that about him.

When lunch was done, Azula went back to the room and continued to drill her sets. Each mistake was shaved away with precision repetition. Soon, she felt comfortable enough to start producing small amounts of actual fire. It was a stone room with very little flammable material in it and she felt she had enough control at this point. She ran through the first part of the most basic Firebending set and kept the flames smaller than her fists and feet.

However, as she reached the climax of the dance, she scorched the wall in front of her and stopped abruptly. It wasn't a large mark, but she was reminded of why bending is best practiced in an open space and also of the fact that her alter ego is not a bender of any kind. She wiped as much of the burn off of the masonry as she could and sat at the foot of her squat bed.

About this time, Qilaq came through the door with little Lee in tow. "So, are you going to come and run with us today, Shila?" asked the Waterbender, getting straight to the point. Azula considered the proposal. "Come on, it'll be good exercise. Good for your heart, loosens you up."

"Fine," she exhaled, the double-meaning in his words not lost on her.

"Alright. Let's go, Lee," he said to the boy who was scrutinizing the mark on the wall. He turned and was on Qilaq's heels as the bounded down the stairs, Azula reluctantly but quickly following.

After a lap around the block the three of them jogged down the street towards the train station. They took a left at the salon where Azula had gotten her hairs cut and saw the rotund hairdresser sweeping loose clippings out into the street. She waved at Azula, who managed a diffident wave back before disappearing behind the corner.

After about a mile total of running the boy was tuckered and stopped, flopping flat on his back in the middle of the road. Qilaq stopped and went over to the boy with his hands on his hips, playfully kicking at Lee's feet. Lee kicked back from his lax position in the compounded, tan dirt. Azula caught up to the boys and caught her breath.

"Hungry?" Qilaq asked his two running mates. "Say, Lee, that's that stand you were telling me about that sells the hot stuff, right. Why don't you take this and go get something good for us to snack on." He dropped a few coins on Lee's stomach, causing him to flinch with a laugh.

"What should I get?" asked Lee with a smile.

Qilaq returned the smile and responded. "Whatever you think is awesome?"

The two older folks watched the boy dart off toward the confection stand with vigor from some deep well of energy that every child seemed able to call up when it benefited them.

Azula was warming to the precocious little scamp. She managed a faint smile and looked at her traveling companion. "You seem to be good with kids," she said.

"'Seem?'" he turned to her. "I am good with kids." He turned in Lee's direction again. "Eh, kids are easy: simple, logical, still warm hearted. It's only when they grow up that they become… difficult and cold." Qilaq adopted a slightly somber tone as he recalled his conversation with Nobu the other day.

"How sentimental of you," Azula chided crossing her arms.

"Ooo, ow. The Truth hurts," said the Waterbender, faking at affront, but really pleased that she was actually loosening up.

Lee came running back with a little bag full of shriveled red peppers. "These are awesome. Try some, Qilaq." The Northerner picked one of the shiny little fruits from the little bag and popped it into his mouth, nodding in approval. The juices splashed in his mouth when he bit down. "You want one, Shila?" the boy asked Azula.

She held up her hand and declined the offer, as much as she liked spicy food. "I don't think that's the best stuff to eat while out on a run." She and Lee looked over to Qilaq, whose dark skin was taking on a reddish hue. He let his tongue hang out and panted a bit. Spicy food was not at all his thing. His sinuses felt as clean as a freshly carved ice chute, though.

Lee laughed outright at the spectacle and even Azula let a few chuckles slip out.

"Okay, that was good and hot," said the Northerner wiping his tongue. "Now let's go back so I can get some water in me." The three of them jogged back along their original path, but after about half a mile they slowed to a meander, silently taking in the din of eclectic dialects and the smell of dirty merchandise and everything else. This was the Earth Kingdom, after all.

When they were about a block away from home, Lee asked something that seemed out of nowhere. "Were you a bad guy, too?" he asked, looking up at Qilaq with large inquisitive eyes and a quaver in his tiny voice.

"Wh…Hmm," Qilaq was taken aback by the abruptness, but it was a fair question and one that deserved a good and ambiguous answer. "I was a bad guy to somebody."

"Papa says that the people who do water magic and ground magic were the bad guys, but now nobody is the bad guys."

"That's right," the water magician confirmed, kneeling down to his little friend. "When the war ended everybody became friends. Well, at least everybody tried to be friends."

"Nu ah," Lee disagreed. "There's this bully down the street and he calls me names when I walk by. He calls me 'Red Worm.' That's a bad thing to call somebody." Azula stood behind the two, taking the gravity of the conversation in. She wasn't very familiar with the derogatory terms directed at Fire Nation peoples, but she could gather the meaning behind the insults. Majestic Dragons reduced to slithering 'Red Worms.'

"Really?" Qilaq responded tilting his head a bit. "Well, maybe we should go see this bully and have a talk with him."

"Really?" Azula asked, quirking an eyebrow. She wondered if that pepper had sent her Water Tribe companions mind wonky.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Lee tentatively.

"It isn't," confirmed Azula.

Qilaq was optimistic. "It'll be fine. We'll just walk up, you can tell him to stop, Lee, and we'll act… imposing."

"We're imposing?" Now she knew he was off.

"To a five-year old, sure. All adults are imposing to kids. Come on, Lee." The child seemed reluctant, as did Azula, but the boy lead the way east down to the end of the street. There, two boys were playing in front of a house with a few shingles missing from its verdant roof. It looked as though a pile of replacements had been stacked right next to the staircase to the front door. There were no signs of life in the house.

The smaller of the boys tapped his larger friend and pointed to the approaching foreigners. The big boy couldn't have been more than a year older than Lee, though he was nearly twice his width. The two kids frowned at Lee's approach.

"What are you doing here?" asked the larger boy scornfully.

Lee faltered and turned to Qilaq who smiled warm and motioned forward. The Fire Nation boy swallowed and clenched his fists. He stepped up to his bully. "You should stop calling people Red Worm," he said with firm resolve.

The two boys laughed like farm animals. "But that's what you are," said the wide child. "You're a slimy Red Worm. That's what you are," and they laughed again, but a little less under the glare of the two grown ups standing in the street. Of course, once he realized what grown ups these were, the large boy narrowed his beady eyes.

"You're Water Savages," he said, pointing at the two blue clad 'savages' in question. "You live in the ice and don't cook your food. You eat things while their still alive. That's what you do."

"Charming, isn't he," Qilaq said under his breath with a crooked smile.

"Truly," agreed Azula.

"Qilaq and Shila are nice," said Lee, raising his voice to his adversary. "They don't do things like that. They're nicer people than you."

Both Qilaq and Azula felt their hearts flutter at the absolute honesty with which Lee defended them. The boy was not just another mindless innocent. He carried within him a flame of brotherhood that shined out and warmed even the cold, jaded hearts of the Northern Warrior and the former Fire Nation princess.

"Shut up, Red Worm!" the bully retorted. "Go back to where you came from!"

At this remark, Azula's adopted a black look and struck down, stomping her foot and sending a thin line of fire between Lee's legs. The little blaze flared up in front of the large boy, singing his eyebrows. The smaller, mute boy was off and running down the street, while the bully retreated in through the front door of his home in a panic.

Lee gapped, stunned by what had just happened and he examined his hands for evidence that they had summoned the flame.

Azula smiled wryly, very pleased with her covert attack. She had managed quite a bit of control with such a slight movement. It was a good sign of her prowess returning.

Qilaq just gaped. After the initial shock wore off he grabbed Azula firmly by the arm and gave her a shove back towards the inn. "We're going back." He turned to the boy. "Now, Lee." Lee turned and obeyed immediately. He had never heard Qilaq serious. He sounded like his papa.

After arriving home, Qilaq told Lee to keep his lips sealed about the incident and then followed Azula upstairs. Once in their room, the Waterbender slammed the door shut. He was five paces away from livid. Azula was actually a little tense. It wasn't that she hadn't seen him like this before, but it was in such stark contrast to his regular mood that it was slightly frightening.

"Az… Shila…" he corrected and calmed himself. "In the name of the Moon, why did you do that?"

"You're the one who said, 'We should go see this bully and talk with him," retaliated Azula.

"Yes, 'talk with him,' not burn his face off."

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me that little brat didn't deserve it."

"He did, but…" Qilaq thought about remarking on her impulsive behavior with a few choice negatives, but thought better of it and reassessed the situation. "Well, maybe this whole thing will just blow over. Ahg, that is so ridiculously optimistic. With our luck it'll blow up before it blows over." he turned and squeezed his fingers at Azula. "Control, Shila. There is a time and a place for things like that."

"Don't get preachy with me, 'brother,'" Azula came back with a challenging lean towards her lecturer.

"Yes, sis." Qilaq threw up his hands and walked over to the black scorch mark on the wall. "Dammit," he muttered.