The smell of brewing tea was intense, but not overwhelming. Scents intermingled without warring; creating a somewhat heady atmosphere as Sokka stepped into the shop. Tea was not a common drink among the Southern Water Tribe, and even his extensive travels had not enamored Sokka of the foreign past time. As his eyes adjusted to the subdued lighting of the shop Sokka scanned the tables, almost all of them full, for the familiar face of the General. Sokka caught sight of him emerging from the kitchen, and was struck again by just how long it had been since he'd taken time for old friends.

Time had not been cruel to General Iroh, but it had taken it's due. Gone was the solid power of the Dragon of the West. In it's place a diminished, but not unhealthy form, with the mild belly of soft living once again making itself known. Iroh moved with a surety and grace that Sokka doubted would ever leave him, yet ere was that undertone of fragility that embraces all those of advanced age as well. It was the beard Sokka decided. It had made the full transition from gray to white and gone, he suspected, uncut in all the intervening years.

He was carrying a full tea service and sliding his way between the tables with practiced ease when his eyes caught Sokka. There was an instant recognition followed by hastily covered confusion then a blossoming smile. Iroh set the service before his customers and with deft motions set out the cups, utensils, kettle, and accompaniments. With a swift bow and soft words to his guests he turned and hurried to Sokka, arms spread wide.

"Bless my soul. I was expecting company today, but I must admit you were not the one I expected. Sokka my boy, how have you been?"

Sokka bowed respectfully, remembering the hand-over-fist style of the Fire Nation at the last second. "General Iroh, Sir, It is a pleasure. I'm sorry it's been so long."

Iroh embraced him, and Sokka's impression was reinforced. The act was driven by purpose and will, but there was a flagging strength in the limbs. "Come now, no formality between us." Iroh let Sokka go and held him at arm's length, studying him,"You've grown into a fine strong man Sokka. I am sure your father is quite proud."

Sokka fought down a blush and held up his hands in protest,"I'm just lucky to have good metabolism. I've not done anything worth calling hard work in forever. Too much time spent on projects here and there."

Iroh's smile never fled,"I know. I have kept tabs on all you've done across the lands. It's very impressive, and a good use of your talents." Iroh turned and Sokka followed him back further into the shop. "Your sister on the other hand. I worry about what she is doing to herself these days."

"You've heard from Kataara?" Sokka forgot his whole purpose for a moment, hungry for news.

Iroh looked back over his shoulder and sighed softly,"Not from, of." he clarified,"I do not know where to begin. It may be best if you took the time to go and see her yourself. She is island hopping off the West Coast of the Earth Kingdom these days."

Something in Iroh's voice gave the suggestion added weight. Sokka wanted to ask more, found himself tongue tied, his mind a jumble of wants and needs. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye and grasped onto it like a life line for focus,"General." he waited for Iroh to turn,"A game of Pai Sho?" Sokka indicated the empty board beside the kitchen.

Iroh's face brightened immediately,"You have learned to play? There are not many who do in Ba Sing Se. It seems it is out of fashion these days." he hastened over eagerly and pulled out a stool for Sokka before seating himself.

Sokka felt almost guilty as he stepped over. He reached into the soft leather bag and ran his fingers over the playing pieces within before drawing his hand out without taking a single one. Instead his fingers set the piece he'd palmed from the start in the exact center of the board. Iroh gazed down at the White Lotus for several minutes before shaking his head with a slow chuckle,"I must really be getting old to have not seen that move coming." he gestured to the bench,"Sit, please. We can talk as we play." He paused,"Do you know how to play?"

Sokka nodded as he took his seat,"I did learn how, it just seemed like I should, after meeting all of you." Sokka reached out to remove the Lotus piece but Iroh put a hand over it before he could.

"This is your first move." his voice was steady and sure, that of a teacher again,"It is a weak one, but we do not always start out in positions of strength or choice in life. Learn to win from a disadvantage and winning from strength will follow without effort."

Sokka withdrew his hand and nodded. While Iroh plucked at the pieces in his own bag Sokka mulled over how to begin. Iroh placed a piece and Sokka was pulled from his thoughts to consider a reasonable counter. He was no where near as practiced at Pai Sho as Iroh, but he'd won a few games during his travels and didn't want to embarrass himself now. Back and forth the pieces fell. Sokka began to take more time and consider his moves, but it became apparent quickly that he had been worked into a trap many moves back and now he could only concede, or play the game out to the obvious end. Swallowing his pride Sokka conceded.

Iroh smiled gently,"You must visualize your goal from the beginning, if you only guess at the end when already halfway down the path, you may find you have been going in the wrong direction the whole time. You were wise to concede though. Some might stick out a losing gambit to the bitter end, but when you are guaranteed to lose the best course is to try a new game."

They began anew, this time Iroh went first and played the White Lotus to the center. After only a few moves Iroh frowned,"You really are unfocused. What could be so terrible that you cannot speak of it, nor can you put it from your mind?"

Sokka held his next move hovering above he board, then closing his eyes set it down in a random spot, shattering the complex pattern of the game with random chance. "Toph was kidnapped. We rescued her, but the burnouts who took her were lead by a Captain. His name was Anzu. He knew the ways of bending, but didn't bend. He took away bending."

Iroh contemplated the board and answered casually,"There are many who know the ways of pressure points, ways to block chi flow and numb the body." he set down another piece, maneuvering to respond to Sokka's random gambit.

"This is different. He stole Toph's bending without touching her. He canceled out bending at a distance, not with his hands. He wants the Avatar dead." Sokka set down another piece, seemingly at random.

Iroh regarded the board for several silent minutes. He did not look up, did not speak. Finally he reached out and took his white lotus piece form the board, signaling concession. His voice held a bit of begrudging admiration amid worry."There are no random moves. I should have remembered that. It has been too long." He looked up, holding up his white lotus piece and staring levelly at Sokka over it,"Tell me everything you can about this 'not bending.'"

Sokka launched into as detailed an explanation as he could muster. He wished now he'd brought Toph along, a second hand account could only be so good. As he spoke Iroh's face became more and more clouded. When Sokka finally finished his tale a silence grew between them.

Iroh reached out to tug the strings on his Pai Sho bag closed,"I do not know the name of what you are describig, but I do know something about it." he sighed and shifted, looking at the moment a man feeling the weight of his years.

When he did not elaborate Sokka prompted,"Then, please Tell me. Anything you know can only help."

"Only Help?" Iroh's voice put lie to that statement. "Sokka, I will share what I know with you, but only on the condition that you do not share it with others. The fewer people who know and understand what this Captin Anzu does, the better. It is a thing that is at its best, forgotten."

Sokka wasn't sure exactly how to keep that promise, but didn't hesitate,"I will keep what I can."

Iroh seemed satisfied with the oath, conditional as it was. "How much do you know about bending Sokka?" he asked.

"Just what everyone does really. Only certain people can do it, it involves Chi somehow. It's tied to specific elements."

Iroh nodded,"All true, all true, at least now it is." he didn't explain what he meant, simply going on,"What this Captain Anzu does is tied closely with bending, yet is at it's core, the exact opposite of bending." Iroh patted his stomach as he explained,"Bending is a positive interaction. Benders have a specific harmony with the elements inherently in their chi. They manipulate their chi internally, and the elements respond in sympathy to them."

Iroh must've seen Sokka's confusion because he tried again,"Think of a toy boat on the water." That Sokka could follow. "If I put my hand into the water beside it and push the water, the boat moves. I have not touched the boat, yet, it has responded. A Bender manipulates his or her own chi. Elements respond to that manipulation by the laws of natural order."

Sokka stroked his goatee and nodded, his eyes looking unfocused across the Pai Sho board,"I think I understand."

Iroh took a moment to chuckle,"Well, then you are thirty years ahead of where I was at your age." he smiled fondly then continued,"Even those who cannot bend can manipulate their own Chi. They simply lack the natural harmony with the elements to become benders. There are those, like Ty Lee, who learn to put their chi to use through the martial arts. Their chi interacts with that of others when their bodies touch. It is still a sympathetic interaction. She does not take away bending so much as upset the harmony between a bender and his element. In time this balances out, like waves quieting upon still water."

Iroh set both hands upon the board, then turned them palms up and studied them as he explained,"What Captain Anzu does is an act of negation. It is a strange thing, manipulating one's own Chi to the negative rather than the positive. Chi inside us wants to stay a positive balance, for only by maintaining the positive can life be sustained. Captain Anzu, and those like him, force their chi negative, then force it in bits and pieces form their body." At this Iroh closed his hands and a slight shudder ran through him,"It encounters the energy of the natural world and negates it. The energy of a stone in flight, of a fire burning, of a bender." Iroh shook his head,"It is uncertain just what the limits are. Only a handful of people in each generation even begin to comprehend such a thing is possible, and not one in a hundred years is willing to put such a method to the test."

"Why not?" the question came quickly, and without thought.

Iroh looked up, levelly, at Sokka again. His eyes were hard; there was something personal in his answer,"Have you not heard what I have said? This technique is the antithesis of life, of nature. To use it one must enter a state of temporary living death. Even when one is not using it the damage remains. These techniques tear at the chi, the soul of a person. To use them you must spend yourself, one piece at a time, until there is nothing left. What follows is not even death. Death is simply a part of the natural cycle. To use this, you obliterate yourself from that cycle. Those with the insight to discover this technique normally realize the terrible price and the terrible damage that can be done with it. They lock their discovery away, never to be touched. That is how I should be."

Iroh leaned across the table and reached out, grasping one of Sokka's hands in his,"It is imperative that you find this Captain Anzu, you must find him, and kill him."

The hardness in Iroh's voice was a shock, but another more immediate concern rose in Sokka's mind,"How do you fight someone like that?"

The hardness eased, Iroh released Sokka's hand and sat back,"That, I do not know."

"Perhaps I can help."

Sokka jumped, Iroh did too. They had been so wrapped up in their conversation they had both missed the subtle presence of the man standing beside them. The voice snapped them back to the here and now and they both reacted at once. Sokka's was louder,"Aang!"

Beside them, a far cry from the gangly youth of five years ago, stood the Avatar. His air tribe robes hung loosely, but what they revealed was muscle hardened by training and bursting with the energy of a youth in his prime. His eyes were solid, strong, and at peace. He smiled a smile that was an echo of the old Aang, with all the nuances of the new,"Hey guys."