The Traitors of Kyoshi

Aang watched as Longshot murdered Sokka beneath a full moon.

Perched on the rooftop of a tavern a short distance away, Aang could only make out the broader motions, so he didn't see what precisely Longshot did. The sniper had been holding Sokka as a hostage in the middle of the empty streets, holding an arrow like a knife with the head pointed right under Sokka's chin, but then Suki attacked, and everything became a blur. When it was resolved, Suki was struggling on the ground beneath Sokka's still body, viscous red liquid clinging to both of them, while a dozen soldiers closed in around them.

Aang grinned. Everything was going exactly as planned.

The soldiers arrested both Suki (sobbing dramatically) and Longshot (surrendering peacefully), and a pair of them picked up Sokka's body in a careless manner. The original soldiers- the trio of patrollers who had whistled for backup after Longshot's betrayal- watched the proceedings with what Aang thought were bewildered demeanors. One of the new soldiers went over to talk to them, and after a quick conversation, the whole group came together into marching lines and headed off in the direction of the Fire Navy garrison. Aang followed along, hopping across the dark rooftops.

The Navy base resolved itself into view as he paced the soldiers in the streets. Its massive outer walls loomed up even above his own vantage point, lit with torches that gave a false sense of life to the dead metal. Soldiers stood on duty within the pagoda-roofed stations at each of the wall's six corners, and one of the guards stepped out onto the dark ramparts above the main entrance as the group of patrollers approached. He was a pudgy man who even Aang could see was straining against the shape of his armor, and as he stepped out to stand directly over the base's front doors, he called out, "White smoke!"

The patroller in the lead, the one who had whistled for reinforcements, shouted back, "Black smoke!"

"Wet wood!"

"Coal!"

"What business?"

"Rebels, sir, wearing stolen armor! One dead, two captured. One is claiming to be an informant for the commander, requesting protection in exchange for information about the Avatar!"

Aang had to keep from giggling.

The pudgy guard made a motion back towards the nearest pagoda-station, and the doors to the base swung open with a mechanical groan. The patrollers marched through the portal, shoving Suki and lugging Sokka's dripping body, and the doors closed behind them.

Aang nodded with satisfaction. Now he had to meet with Appa for the next phase of the plan. He took off across the rooftops once again, heading for the edge of the village closest to the forest, where Appa and Momo would be waiting. Aang avoided the light, but didn't worry about any sounds he might be making; the winds he was summoning weren't just carrying him along on his jumps, they were also intercepting any noises, catching and diffusing them so that he could pass right over someone's head and they would never know.

It similar to the trick he had pulled when Longshot 'killed' Sokka, and the soldier had whistled for reinforcements. That patrolman probably hadn't noticed the way the winds picked up a little bit, and he definitely didn't realize that the sound of his whistle had traveled up into the empty sky, rather than outward to where other patrols would hear it.

And so Aang had been able to ensure that the reinforcements who had come to that patrolman's aid weren't real soldiers of the Fire Nation.

It was the most awkward trip Sokka had ever made, and that included his recent journeys on the back of a Sky Bison. Still, he managed to play dead with the true skills of a thespian (if he did say so himself), even adding little touches like letting his tongue hang lifelessly outside his mouth. He had to ignore the odd smell of the gallons of twice-smashed tomato pulp splattered across his chin, neck, and armor; Suki had supplied the mess from hidden waterskins when she 'crashed' into his body. It looked disgusting enough that the real soldiers hadn't investigated. Of course, Longshot's trick collapsible arrow had also looked quite real (even if it hadn't collapsed fast enough for Sokka's taste, leaving a sore spot under his chin where it had poked him), and the fake soldiers who pronounced Sokka dead had also very much looked real, so it was an understandable series of mistakes.

With his eyes closed, he could only listen as he was dragged through the streets of the village, then into the base, and finally into the building where Suki would be incarcerated and Sokka's body would be examined- the base's prison, the same building where all permanent prisoners taken in the Southern Seas were transferred for further processing, and where their transfer records were kept. It was in that building where the ruse fell apart, as Sabure- one of the disguised rebels carrying Sokka- stumbled over a loose plate on the floor, and her lurching bounced his head against the metal wall. His, "Ow!" didn't sound very dead, so he added a groan-like burp to make it seem like his corpse was just getting rid of excess breath.

Sokka heard a cries of surprise from the three real soldiers, one prayer calling for the destruction of the undead, and Sabure hissing something like, "Unagi breath!" and then he was dropped to the floor. Sokka's eyes popped open during the crash, and he got a quick glimpse of Mai throwing off her helmet- for she was also one of the fake soldiers who had been lying in wait for Operation: Fool One of the Patrol Groups Into Bringing Us Into Their Base- and then everything became a big fighting ball of people in black armor.

Sokka could only sit there as the Rebels of Kyoshi struck at the Fire Nation in the heart of its own base. By the time he stood up again, the soldiers were down and the rebels were cleaning clubs and knives. Mai dashed off down the hallway on the right, the one leading to the building's administration offices according to her knowledge of Fire Nation construction, while Sabure and Longshot were leading the rest of the rebels down the hallways to the left.

According to the plan, the entire first floor of the prison would be cleared in another two minutes.

It would have been fun if it weren't an act of treason.

It was a short dash from the prison's vestibule to the administrative office, and Mai slowed down only a little as she kicked the door in. It produced a sound that jolted all the clerks inside, but even as their heads snapped up from their desks to look at her, she was already throwing some of the blades she had been able to hide in her soldier disguise. She didn't have enough ammunition to pin everyone to the walls, and even the clerks in this building wore some basic body armor, so she had to play it smart. Tendons, veins, and arteries were Mai's targets, and she hit every one.

Screams and splashes of blood heralded her success.

There was no other way to pretend to be on the side of the rebels, on the side of Aang.

Of course, Mai was authorized by Azula to do whatever was needed as part of the ruse, and that included killing loyal servants of the Fire Nation. And, really, Mai didn't care about a bunch of military drones. It's just that she had never killed anyone before, and she hated that Azula had asked it of her. In an instant, the fight for the administrative office was over, and Mai hurried to try to give some aid to her targets before they died for a cause they were never understand.

Sabure led the way down the left-hand hallways, and although she was well aware of the danger of this mission, her responsibility gave her all the courage she needed to complete it.

As an Earthbender in Kyoshi Island's rebellion- the only known descendent of an Earthbending Kyoshi Warrior to be carrying on that legacy- Sabure had lots of responsibility given to her, from controlling access to the old Warriors' Dojo to watching over the Avatar and his friends as their guide and guardian. Now, she was responsible for leading the sweep of the prison building's first floor, for quickly and quietly taking out anyone who could interfere with Aang and Sokka's search for Katara of the Southern Water Tribe.

Sabure rather liked the idea of the last Kyoshi Warrior Earthbender helping to find the last Southern Waterbender.

The first rooms she came across were small holding cells and interrogations closets. She passed those in a run- Suki, Longshot, and the other rebels trailing behind her- coming to a stop only when she glimpsed someone moving in what looked like an infirmary. The man was wearing a plain uniform with no armor over it, so he barely had time to turn and widen his eyes before Sabure landed a pair of heavy chops on his neck. He dropped in an instant, and she nodded with approval. She could have immobilized him with the power of the Earth, of course, but that would have been noisier, and the time hadn't come for that yet. Leaving her friend Yuujin to tie up the unconscious infirmary worker, Sabure went back into her run, but skidded to a halt when she came across another interesting room. It was a bare-bones shower room with all the piping left exposed, and while it was as empty as the holding cells, that wasn't what interested her.

She motioned, and Chijin came over with her backpack of supplies. Sabure opened it up and dug around until she found what she was looking for- the white Yungi rocks. The rebels used these stones to make Longshot's trick smokebomb arrows; the heads of the arrows contained one of these stones small enough to fit neatly into a fist, along with a compartment of water that would break open on impact. When the stones met the water, they dissolved, turning into an almost explosive cloud of chalky dust.

Sabure took the whole supply of the Yungi, dumped them all beneath one of the shower heads, and turned the water on.

The 'smoke' erupted out like a volcano had gone off, but Sabure was already running along, her arms swinging in a basic Earthbending move. Without a proper rooting, such motions wouldn't have been able to lift even a small rock, but the small chalky particles in the cloud didn't require much power at all. And so the cloud followed Sabure in her run, and when she turned the corner of the hallway, she punched both fists ahead of her, sending the cloud streaming forward to blanket the halls. It was the closest she'd ever come to Airbending.

She heard cries of surprise and alarm from the guards up ahead, and one at a time, she waved a hole in the dust cloud to reveal the soldier who had made the sound, just for a few seconds.

A few seconds was all Longshot needed to aim and fire an arrow.

A few seconds was enough for Suki to sneak up and start spraining joints.

Overall, it took no more than a minute to clear all the hallways and lock the doors leading to the stairways. The first floor of the prison officially belonged to the Rebels of Kyoshi Island, and Sabure had fulfilled her responsibility.

This time.

When the rest of the infiltration group arrived, Mai was in the process of coaching one of her targets in pressing his wound closed. ("Keep your hand there and push down hard, or you'll bleed to death. Press hard.") If her 'allies' didn't take too long to find the location of Sokka's stupid sister, then these soldiers would probably get treatment and be saved; the Fire Nation knew a lot about how fire could close even deep wounds. Mai stood up and nodded to Suki, noting that the other woman's armor was still covered in Sokka's fake blood. Reminded of the mess on her own hands, Mai tried to scrape the blood off on her armor, but it stuck to skin much better than metal. It was like mud in that respect, but she had never found the touch of blood to be anywhere near as gross as dirt sludge.

It struck Mai that it was a fairly odd double standard.

The last to arrive in the office was Sokka, still covered in his own mess of fake blood. It was apparently the fashion for the night. "Okay," he said, "are we all set here?"

Suki nodded. "We're right on schedule for Aang's distraction. Longshot, start setting up for our exit. You three, back him up and guard these captives. Everyone else is on the Records Team." She turned to look at Mai. "Still with us?"

Mai ignored the way Sokka was grinning beside her and said, "It will be marginally less boring than standing guard here, so I guess so."

Of course, it wouldn't be boring at all. They would have to locate paperwork from a decade ago without being discovered, and then Mai would have to somehow break away from the rest of the group and sneak off to the building's telegraph to code a message and send it off to her true master.

Katara's location, wherever that might be, would be the rendezvous with Azula and Zuko.

Appa let out an unhappy roar as he sailed through the night sky over the bay, and Aang couldn't disagree. "I know it smells, but we'll get rid of it soon. Just a little longer!" However, the cargo hanging in a massive tarp from Appa's body didn't just smell; it was outright turning Aang's stomach.

He was a lifelong vegetarian, and would never be able to tolerate fresh raw meat.

While Momo tried to bury his nose in Aang's shirt, the Airbender chose to put all his attention on guiding Appa to the Navy base's shipyards. He picked out one particular vessel- a big metal battleship that didn't seem to be crewed- and steered for the space above it. Flying at night was usually hard, but the soldiers had hung lanterns on everything, so there was plenty of light to see by.

Plenty of light to target by.

When he was above the ship, Aang directed Appa to slow down, climbed down across the furry head, and yanked the 'trigger rope' that would release the tarp. It flopped open below Appa with unpleasant squishy sounds, and pounds of bloody chum dropped through the sky to land with a massive splat all over the ship. Since Appa hadn't entirely stopped, the chum trailed through the air as he continued to fly over the base itself, creating a handy little line to match the dripping that the cargo had be doing the whole time Appa was flying in over the bay.

After that, it was only a matter of waiting, and Aang was gratified that it didn't take even ten minutes to spot a giant fin cutting through the bay, following the trail of blood in the water to the Navy base.

The alarm bells and gongs in the base were going off even before the notorious Unagi reared up from the waters- an eel as tall as the Dawn Spire at the Eastern Air Temple- and began attacking the chum-ship.

Aang waved and wished the big guy luck.

Yon Rha was just about the have dinner- the steaming plate of grilled eel fillets over rice was being placed in front of him by a servant- when the alarms gongs started going off. He was tempted to ignore them for a moment and at least sample the dish while it was hot, but the gongs sounded like they were having dents pounded into them, so with a sigh he rose and jogged out of his private quarters.

He met an aide before he even made his way out of the parlor, and the man broke protocol by speaking first: "Sir, the Unagi is attacking the Calamitous, and we just completed the repairs from its last-"

"Shut up! What's the status of the catapults?"

"Being loaded, sir! And the watch captain is scrambling everyone we have on base!"

"Good. I don't know what riled the monster up, but we need to convince it that whatever it wants isn't worth the trouble we can cause. I need to get out there and-"

At that moment, Zhao poked his head into the parlor, eyes wide and his characteristic sneer nowhere in sight for a change. "There's a giant eel attacking one of your ships."

"Yes, we noticed."

"Does this happen often?"

Regulations prevented Yon Rha from giving the answer that first occurred to him.

Even Mai was impressed at the size of the administrative building's archives, but the symbols on the sides of the filing cabinets were the standard military markings. "These are organized by date and will discuss the transfers in and out of the prison," she said as she strolled past one long cabinet. "These three contain complete records for each individual prisoner who has ever been incarcerated here, organized by name as represented in the official Fire Nation orthography, including medical records for the duration of the stay here. And those will be numbered communications, and won't make any sense without the reference numbers listed in each prisoner's records." When she turned around, at the far end of the room, she found the others staring at her. "What?"

Sokka blinked. "Not that I'm not really, really grateful, but how do you know all this?"

"My uncle runs one of the most secure prisons in the Fire Nation, and he needed someone to bring along on 'Take Your Heir to Your Honorable Occupation' Day. Every year I got a shank confiscated from one of the prisoners"

They stared for a moment more, and then Suki clapped and strode forward. "Okay. Sokka, check the ones by date, I'll start on the ones by name, and everyone else can help us out. Mai-"

"I'll check out the telegraph room. There's usually some indexes to the communications references, and if Katara was transferred more than once, there may have been some queries directed back here that would have been recorded."

"Okay, sounds good. Let us know if you need any help."

Everyone got to work, and Mai slipped into the side room. It looks just like the Communications office back in her 'home' at the South Pole, with the same long desk, paper supplies, and equipment.

Including an encoder device.

Mai slipped her Royal Encoder Cog out from beneath her armor, and slotted it into the machine. She typed 'Avatar Rendezvous is' and left it at that. The rest would be supplied when Sokka found his sister's location.

While she waited, Mai prepared the telegraph. It had been a while since she last used one, but Azula had insisted she learn when she was awarded the Encoder Cog, saying something about the possibility of being stuck alone on a secret mission and needing to communicate without assistance.

As usual, Azula had proved really good at predicting things.

It wasn't that Zhao was afraid to join the efforts against the giant sea monster, but he was a valuable resource with expert knowledge of the hunt for the Avatar, and he didn't know the full capabilities of the Unagi as well as those stationed here on Kyoshi Island, so it made sense to be cautious and remain far back from the main excitement.

And it wasn't like helping would get him anything.

Plus, his position deep in the center of the parade grounds allowed him to inspect the base staff, to make sure that responded according to protocol. He observed as the personnel in each building locked down their premises, and then hung a green lantern over the main entrance when everything was checked out as safe and secure.

He also noticed that the prison's administration building had no one emerge, despite the excitement, and a lantern was never hung outside.

While Yon Rha worked to conquer the mighty sea monster, Zhao decided to investigate this other small matter.

"Found her!"

Sokka crossed the distance between himself and Suki before she even finished speaking, skidding to a stop in the perfect position to look over her shoulder. Sure enough, she was holding the a stack of papers for 'Katara Water Tribe' convicted of 'Subversive Bending' and held for two weeks, before a 'Parch Cage' was available to transfer her to specialized facilities at...

"Crescent Island. My sister is on Crescent Island."

At the Encoder Device, Mai typed in the two final words of her message, and then took the encrypted output over to the telegraph.

Zhao didn't like empty hallways. There should always be underlings around.

He had entered the prison building through the rear door, the one secured by a one-point-Firebending lock, as if he was conducting a surprise inspection. Even from behind closed doors, the clamor of the machinery room covered the sound of his entrance, with its engines and gears and massive fans, and the sounds of the equipment's thrumming echoed through the empty rear halls. Zhao found no guards to berate for not following emergency procedures, no clerks carrying records to the archives or equipment to the armory or even a prisoner to the infirmary. There was nothing but a chalky dust coating the floor and much of the walls. What was this mess? Where was everyone? Should he go upstairs to the prisoner cells, or stick to the first floor and head to the administrative offices in the front?

Zhao chose to press forward. He slowed as he moved away from the noise of the machinery room, and thought he detected the echoes of voices ringing through the metal halls. It sounded like there were people in the Archives. Zhao knew that there was a telegraph station adjoining it, with a back door he could use to sneak up on whatever was going on in the larger records room. As he approached it, he steadied his breathing, and prepared the fire within.

Zhao eased the door open, and found Lady Caldera Yu Mai leaning over the telegraph itself, tapping out a message.

He was so surprised to see her there that it took him a moment to make sense of it. His gaze ran over the room, taking in the Encoder machine loaded an encryption key cog- one of the special ones with the red trim. Mai hadn't noticed him yet, focused as she was on her transmission, and Zhao just stood there in his confusion. Why would a traitor to the Fire Nation be sending a coded message out across the network?

Then Zhao remembered Warrant Officer Lee's betrayal, and the ease with which his family escaped justice.

He remembered his theory of a rebel conspiracy that stretched to the Fire Nation itself.

Could the conspiracy extend all the way to the Fire Palace?

Zhao gasped, and the sound brought Mai's surprised gaze over to his position.

The look in Zhao's eyes said it all; he knew that Mai wasn't the defector she was pretending to be. Did he realize Azula's involvement? Zuko's? It didn't matter. He knew something, and that knowledge was dangerous.

Mai would have to kill him.

Her first deliberate murder.

Her hands went for her weapons, the small collection of razors she had packed into the belt of her stolen armor, while her eyes and mind tried to adjust to this new objective. She was used to looking for stray bits of clothing to pin, for unprotected flesh that was an avenue to mere injury, for vulnerabilities that would lead to death only after unreasonable amounts of time. She wasn't used to trying to kill so surely, so quickly. She had to devote actual mental effort to the task.

Zhao got the first blow in when he punched a fireball straight into her.

Mai was in the process of turning, of bringing her razors up for a backhanded throw while she picked her target, and so the concussive flame struck her right side, exploding against the armor over her ribs. She was knocked off her feet, flying backwards. She struck the door to the records room and crashed right through it, landing with a jolt and a clang on the floor. Before she could figure out which way was up, the pain surged out from her side to rack her entire body.

But through the burning, and the sickening way her armor was sticking to her skin, Mai had one comforting thought- her landing had been noisy.

Even as Zhao was rushing at her from out of the telegraph station, she heard the cries and hurried footsteps of her friends.

Before Zhao could Firebend again, Suki was leaping down on him from atop a filing cabinet, landing a blurring palm strike straight into his face. The other rebels- Repai and Kosokoso, Kowagaru and Yuujin, Chijin and Shisuta and Sonkei- closed in, attacking Zhao with clubs and knives, but as Mai watched, he snapped his arms, sending waves of flame out. Everyone retreated except for Suki, who ducked and danced around the fire to get right up close to Zhao to shove him straight back into the telegraph room. He disappeared within, and then a wall of earth burst up through the metal floor to take the place of the door Mai had destroyed.

Mai turned to look behind her and found Sabure at the far end of the Archives, coming out of an Earthbending stance. She called, "The path is clear, let's exfiltrate already!"

Mai let out a heavy breath that made her wince in pain. She needed to kill Zhao, but she could hardly explain that to everyone here and get Sabure to take down the wall. She'd failed Azula again.

But at least she was alive, thanks to the rebel of Kyoshi. That was something.

Then Sokka was leaning over her. "Are you okay? Can you walk? Do you need to be carried?"

Mai tried to get up, but way the motion twisted her torso made her shake with pain again. "A little (ow)- a little help would be (ugh) acceptable."

Sokka got on her good side, Suki grabbed her waist, and together they got Mai standing.

Of course things couldn't go perfectly. They had done well all the way up to finding Katara's location, but now Mai was injured and the whole escape plan would have to be slowed down.

Well, they'd just have to improvise, then.

While Suki helped Mai along, Sokka led the way back to the prison's administration office. As he walked, he untied his chest armor- still sticky and smelly from the fake gore- and dropped it to the floor of the hallway. As soon as he stepped into the office, Longshot tossed him a short oilskin rain cloak that would cover his lack of proper uniform, and he quickly draped and fastened it. That should withstand most casual scrutiny. He took Suki's place as Mai's living crutch while the rebel leader traded her own messy armor for an oilskin and got everyone into something like a marching formation, and then they all headed straight for the prison's front door.

They burst into the navy base's courtyard to find a battle underway.

Balls of fire were flying through the air to crash into a giant eel monster that was snapping and harrying the base's dockside. Sokka hadn't seen the Unagi before, and found it a terrifying sight with that massive fin and long teeth-filled beak-snout, but fortunately, the plan didn't call for him to have any involvement with the sea monster besides silently wishing it thanks for the great distraction. It was bigger and longer than any single object Sokka had ever seen, including various Fire Nation warships. The overgrown eel had laid waste to several of those warships that had been docked at the base, and was long enough to reach over them to bite at the soldiers trying to lob spears and fire at it. A large flaming tar ball arched from the center of the navy base to smack into the Unagi's glistening skin, but while there was plenty of sizzle, the monster didn't seem too inconvenienced by the blow. It opened its mouth to spray a high-pressure stream of water in the direction of the catapult that had launched the attack, soaking several buildings and even collapsing the roof of one.

All around the base's courtyard, soldiers ran every which way on direct paths, carrying equipment and setting up archery positions and conveying orders to distant points. Sokka was relieved that no one paid any attention to his group as they trotted along like they were in a hurry (which they were) to help with the fighting (which they were not), and he indulged in turning to Mai and giving her a reassuring smile as he they hobbled along in the wake of the rest.

Then a voice called out, "You there! Halt!"

The rebels stopped on their heels, and Sokka killed his smile.

A gray-haired commander with what looked like industrial-strength frowning capabilities jogged over to the group, followed by several aides, and examined at the rebels from beneath a tight brow. "Where are you going? I ordered all guard staff to secure their buildings. What's happening in the prison?"

Sabure bowed. She said, "Sir! We had an equipment malfunction. A- uh-" Her voice faltered.

Sokka stepped forward, and Mai grunted with pain in his arms at the sudden motion, but he had to ignore her as he took over the fabricating. "We took a hit from the monster's water spray that backed up our ventilation. It- uh- must have clogged something critical. Equipment over-hearted and- uh- a pumping unit exploded. We evacuated the first floor and are taking the injured for healing." He jerked his head towards Mai, in case the commander was stupid enough to fail to make the connection.

The man stared, and Sokka couldn't help but think that something about the guy was familiar. Had they met before? At the South Pole? The commander's frown deepened. "What's your name and rank?"

Not so stupid after all, then. By way of reply, Sokka said, "Slush."

That was the signal for the rest of the plan to happen all at once. Most of the rebel group began running away while Longshot whipped his bow off his back and drew an arrow in one smooth motion; as a series of bolts buried themselves in the necks of the commander's aides, Sabure was swinging a fist into the air, and a small gray ball was following the motion to whip high into the sky. It exploded into fireworks as Sokka let go of Mai, reached out to grab the surprised commander's chest armor, and yanked him into a fall. Just like Suki had yanked Sokka to smack face-first into the training mats in the Kyoshi Dojo so many times over the past weeks, Sokka guided his opponent so that the commander landed on the paved ground with the sound of a shattering nose.

He turned to find Suki holding Mai, smiled at them both, and then ran with them in the opposite direction of the Unagi attack. Longshot followed at a steady walk, stopping to fire an arrow at anyone who called to them, but that merely delayed the pursuit. Eventually, enough of the soldiers would notice to mount an unstoppable attack.

Fortunately, Sokka and company didn't have to wait that long.

A heavy lowing sound filled the air, drawn by Sabure's clay fireworks ball, and Appa stomped to a landing right there in the Navy base. Without even slowing, the other rebels ran straight up the bison's tail and jumped into the saddle. Sokka and Suki took their time getting Mai aboard with a bit more care, while Longshot played rearguard and made harassing shots back at the scattered pursuit.

Sokka settled Mai against the back of the saddle and helped her loop her arms through the hold-holes. "You still doing okay?" He expected a snarky reply, but she just pressed her lips together and gave a shaky nod. Was it Sokka's imagination, or was she looking pale- er, paler than usual?

Suki settled down beside Mai and took one of her hands. "I'll watch out for her. Get us out of here."

Sokka gave her a quick salute and then shoved his way to the front of the saddle, where he found Aang ready at his usual spot on Appa's head. Aang looked back with raised eyebrows, and Sokka nodded. "Mission accomplished."

A 'yip-yip' later, they were flying through the night sky, leaving the soldiers and sea monster behind them.

Aang didn't find out about Mai's injury until he landed Appa out in Kyoshi Island's forest and all the rebels had disembarked, leaving the small group alone in the saddle. "What happened?!"

He watched while Suki probed at the armor over Mai's right side. Mai grunted, and Suki shook her head. "She took a fireball, and the heat did damage straight through her tunic. I don't want to risk taking the armor off in case any skin goes with it. We have healers on Kyoshi Island, but after tonight..." She shrugged.

Aang didn't understand. He turned to Sokka. "We need to get her help as soon as possible! Real help!"

Sokka scratched his chin. "I agree, but Suki has a point; even if we take Mai to the other side of the island, can we be sure that anyone who sees her will keep quiet about a soldier in old armor showing up with a large burn? But we do need to find help fast. Where's the nearest healer not on Kyoshi Island?"

"Chin Village, on the mainland," Suki said. "It's about half a day by boat."

Aang felt his fists clench of their own accord. "Appa can get us there in two hours." He looked to Mai.

She swallowed, and nodded. "The burn will keep that long."

"I'm worried about shock," Suki said, standing up in the saddle. "Longshot, bring a blanket!" She turned back to Aang. "You need to keep her still, warm, and comfortable."

Aang nodded, and let out a heavy breath. "I don't know what we would have done without you. This whole time- you've been-"

Suki put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm happy to help. I was starting to think that this rebellion was pointless, before you came here. You've given a purpose to all our preparations, all the equipment we've been collecting. Thank you for making it all matter."

Aang nodded and gave her a hug, then stepped back and let Sokka have his moment.

It was almost funny, how the older boy suddenly couldn't look anyone in the eye as he said, "I'm- well, I'm really glad I met you. Even aside from the whole finding-my-sister thing. It's been- um, I want to say- well, I hope we get to see each other again. Soon. Or sooner rather than later. But later is better than never, so-"

Aang smiled as Suki stepped forward and cut Sokka off with a hug. She leaned her face towards his, but then slowed, and stepped back. "I hope so, too. But if not, I'm glad I could help you- all of you- move forward."

Then Sabure and Longshot were among them. Sabure had an enthusiastic handshake and wishes of pleasant roads. Longshot, of course, didn't say anything, but Aang could see the warmth in his eyes, and he even gave Mai a nod as he draped the blanket he brought over her. The two rebels leaped down from Appa, and Suki moved to follow them, but as she leaned over the edge of the saddle, she turned back to look at Mai. "Keep an eye on them, Mai. They need you, and I know you'll be back in action soon."

Mai said nothing, but she did wave back.

Suki leaped down, and even before her feet hit the ground, Aang had scampered back over to his place on Appa's head. "Yip-yip! And fast, for Mai!"

And so they left Kyoshi Island behind, flying out over the ocean waves while the moon lit their way.

In a moment of irony that even Zhao could appreciate, he and Yon Rha met the traitor in the navy base's prison building.

It was well past midnight when a group of soldiers dragged the young rebel into the interrogation room, shoved her down into the chair, and yanked the bag off of her head. While she caught her breath, the soldiers filed out and locked the door, leaving her trapped in the room with Zhao and Yon Rha. Zhao stood at the back of the room, waiting for the show to begin, and found himself reaching up to massage his bruised face again. He quickly put his hands down and returned his attention to the others.

"Agent Suki," Yon Rha said in an especially nasal tone, thanks to the broken nose he sustained 'battling' the rebels. "It's a shame we must finally meet under such circumstances."

The girl with the hard eyes and auburn hair maintained her composure, staring back at Yon Rha with a frown smaller than his but no less intense. "You had your soldiers lying in wait for me at the drop-point. You might have blown my cover."

Zhao had to admit he found her strength worthy of respect.

Yon Rha apparently did not agree. "And so what if I did? Your sole purpose in life is to notify me of all rebel activity on this island, especially action against my forces. You were supposed to let me know when and where I could set a trap for the Avatar. Yet a group of your people came strolling in to my base tonight, right into this very prison, while others incited the Unagi into a rampage. Do you have any idea how much damage that thing did before we drove it away? It wrecked an entire battleship!"

Suki's own voice never rose above a perfectly even tone. "I can only tell you what I know. You're aware that I'm just a foot soldier in the rebellion. The Avatar and Lady Caldera Yu Mai kept their full plans between themselves and only one or two others. I showed up at a regular meeting tonight to find out about the mission, and then I couldn't leave to send word to you about it."

"What was their objective?"

"Something in the prison records. I wasn't part of the primary team."

Zhao cleared his throat and spoke up. "And what team were you on? What did you do tonight?"

Suki looked over at him. "Who are you? My deal is with Commander Yon Rha only."

"Commander Zhao is an old friend. Answer his questions or I'll let him burn out your tongue."

Suki finally scowled at that, but faced Zhao and gave a small dip of her head. "I was part of the group infiltrating this building, but my job was to secure and hold the way out. The rest went deeper for reasons I was never told. They might have talked with some of the prisoners on the upper floors."

Zhao found that to be interesting speculation. He had encountered the rebels in the Archives, of course, and by the time he backtracked out of the communications office to chase them down, the whole group had already left the building and was running for the rendezvous with the sky bison. It was possible that this Suki was truly ignorant of what went on in the prison, but he doubted it. Was Yon Rha similarly suspicious? Thinking the situation over, Zhao rubbed his face, right where one of the rebels had delivered a palm strike that felt like it had been made of stone. Idly, he said, "Who was the best warrior amongst those on the primary mission?"

"Best warrior?" Suki's hands tightened into fists. "Hard to say. There's an Earthbender with a pretty good left hook-"

"Never mind that," Yon Rha cut in. "I want to know about the leader of your group. During the escape from the prison, a young man with vivid blue eyes tried to trick me into letting the group pass. He was supporting an injured young woman. Something about him was familiar... those eyes..."

"The woman was Lady Mai herself, but I don't know how she got injured. The guy with blue eyes was a Water Tribe companion to the Avatar. I never caught his name."

Yon Rha sighed. "You're being singularly unhelpful tonight. What about the Avatar? Where is he now?"

"He left on his sky bison right after the mission was completed. Given how the rest of this operation was run, do you expect that he announced where he was going?"

Yon Rha actually growled at that. "This is a complete disaster! I lost soldiers, equipment, and an entire warship, with nothing to show for it!" He whirled and jammed a finger into the air aimed right at Zhao. "This is your fault! You had me sitting on my hands doing nothing while my enemies planned to make a fool of me!"

As if Zhao was any happier about the situation. His chance to catch the Avatar and punish Lady Mai were gone, although he had at least gotten a good hit in on the latter. Fortunately, Firebending wasn't the only skill Zhao possessed. He started to smile, but his sore face made it a painful exercise. "Those orders all came from you, my friend. Of course, officers talk and give each other advice all the time, but none of it is ever recorded. To suggest after your failure that it was someone else's fault..." He saw Yon Rha tensing, and casually moved his hands to rest over his uniform's sash. "Well, I wonder what Admiral Chan will think when I give my report on the lack of initiative and discipline here on Kyoshi Island. You yourself co-signed my report on the rebel infiltrator in your communications office-"

Yon Rha actually attacked, punching a stream of flame, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Zhao brought both of his hands up to form a wedge, using his own Firebending to divide the blaze in half and send the twin gouts of fire flowing to either side of him. Zhao moved forward against the pressure, careful to keep himself properly rooted, and between the light of the flames and the slowness of his movement, his progress remained unnoticed until Yon Rha ceased the attack. The other commander stepped back in surprise at Zhao's proximity, but it was too late.

In a proper Agni Kai, Zhao would have been happy to prove his Firebending skill by defeating Yon Rha with nothing but flame. This, however, was a much more practical affair, and so he instead brought his holdout knife out of his sash and jammed it straight into Yon Rha's throat.

Suki gasped and leaped to her feet, but when Zhao saw that she was merely taking a defensive stance, he returned his attention to Yon Rha. The commander of Kyoshi Island had collapsed to the ground, covered in his own blood, but he was still managing a wheezing respiration. To Zhao's surprise, Yon Rha was actually trying to say something. Curious in spite of his himself, he leaned forward to catch the final words.

"Mo-

"moth- er," Yon Rha said. Then his strength deserted him, and the body sagged with one last bubbling sigh.

That was disappointing, but then, what did he expect of a man so lacking in creativity or initiative? Zhao turned to Suki. "You killed him, traitor."

She blinked. "I- but it was you-"

"Yon Rha briefed me on you weeks ago. I put through a transfer for one Lieutenant Kirai of Kyoshi Island, an Earthbender serving the Fire Navy. She's now a marine assigned to one of my ships. It is entirely within my power to order her into battle without any weapons or armor, against... oh, say, pirates."

Suki paled, and Zhao knew he had her.

He nodded. "So here's what happened. Yon Rha discovered that you had betrayed him, allying yourself with the Avatar and becoming a triple-agent. When he realized that, you killed him, and I bravely managed to subdue you, albeit too late to save my old friend. I won't have you executed as you deserve, though, because of your knowledge of the Avatar. Instead, I'll have you put in the brig on my command ship, so that I can continue to question you as I conduct my search. You'll be safe enough, and I'll make sure your sister isn't given any unpleasant assignments. Perhaps I can even quietly grant you a position in my service, once I catch the Avatar. It might not be ideal for you, it's a better fate than most traitors earn, and much more than Yon Rha ever intended to give you. Now, with all that in mind, is there any information you might have forgotten to include in your earlier answers?"

Suki stood there for a long moment, and then let out a sigh that deflated her whole body. "Crescent Island," she whispered. "The Avatar's ultimate destination is the Waterbender prison on Crescent Island."

Zhao smirked again, but this time, the pain of his bruised face couldn't stop it. "Good. Now, it's time to inform Yon Rha's subordinates of his untimely demise. I'd better get you on my ship quickly, as I doubt you'll last long here before you suffer an 'accident' of vengeance."

"Whatever you say, Commander Zhao." Her arms tense briefly as Zhao grabbed and twisted them behind her back, as though he had taken her prisoner, but then she went slack in his grasp. He might have lost an ally in the Navy, but Yon Rha could do no more good if the Avatar was leaving the Southern Seas, and now he had a new resource in his path to glory.

Zhao's smirk threatened to blossom into a full grin, and he had to work to school his face into an expression of anger and mourning as he opened the door to report the tragic assassination of his old friend.

TO BE CONTINUED