Let's praise thanks to Elvira once more, you know, for ideas and stuff.

It was the first time Ghazan has ever killed anyone.

Somehow he thought that every mission the Red Lotus throws at them would go by smoothly and successfully, but this time something went terribly wrong. He never saw himself as a killer. A thief, sure. Stealing was easy, and the damage he made could never be compared to taking a life.

Zaheer and P'li wouldn't understand – his spiritual mumbo-jumbo and her dedication to everything Red-Lotus-related made killing too easy for them. He was dedicated too, obviously, but he couldn't push away the guilt.

He waited for the two of them to run off to the sound-proof tent he made for them in order to talk to the only person he knew would understand. She sat right across from him, the flames accentuating the sharp angles of her face. It was surprisingly beautiful.

"Do you ever feel guilty about your dad?"

"Never," she looked at him for a moment. "Should I be?"

"I don't know. He was a bad person, but he was still your father. You could have just ran away and leave him behind."

"But then he'll send people looking for me. My poor crippled daughter has gone missing, she can't do a thing on her own! Please help me find her! I'd have to spend the rest of my life running away from him. The good thing about dead people is that they keep quiet," she circled around the fire, sitting next to him. "If your sentry had lived, you know he would have told everyone exactly what he saw. The four of us stand out in a crowd. Once the police start looking for us, it won't take long until they find us."

"There should have been a way around it. I didn't have to kill him. I didn't even mean to."

"He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. You're going to kill a lot of people from now on - it's a secret organization meant to establish a new order. It's going to require some sacrifices, so you better get used to it. If you wanted a calm and peaceful life you should have become an acupuncturist," she laughed.

He didn't know whether he should be terrified of her or kiss her.

Ghazan wasn't surprised to see Ming Hua's deal fall to shambles. That sort of thing never works out. His little metallic box was even worse than the cage he had on the ship – now he couldn't even see the stars through the small crack. The metal boiled him alive during the day and froze him at night.

There were interrogations, too. They hackled him for hours, trying to get him to confirm or disprove Ming Hua's stories. He never said a word, and to his surprise, they didn't torture him for it.

On his second night he had not one, but two visitors.

"Ghazan, guess what!" Bolin said with his overly-enthusiastic smile, contrasted by Lin's ever-sullen expression.

"You're busting me out of here?"

"Not exactly - we can train together! At first everyone asked, are you out of your mind? And Mako said, Bolin, he tried to burry you alive twice, why would you want to train with him? And I said that if we're going after the Red Lotus I better step up with my lavabending, and you're the only one who could teach me, so eventually they agreed. "

"Here are the rules," Lin said in a tone that was supposed to intimidate him. "You're going to be outnumbered, constantly. If you ever try anything, one move out of place, I will personally hunt you down. And you could never know what might happen to Ming Hua."

He knew she was bluffing. They didn't hurt him when they wanted him to talk, so why would they hurt her for doing nothing at all? She might be going out of her mind, but she's safe physically. And if anyone ever lays a finger on her, he'll bury them himself.

"Where is she?"

"That's confidential."

"Is she in a cell like this one?" They knew he'll never run without her. She could be in the box right next to his, or halfway across Zaofu, and he'll have no way to find out where. He was eaten by guilt for what he said to her, wondering if he ever gets to make everything right. That's not how he wanted to say goodbye to her.

"Maybe," Bolin said in a pseudo mysterious voice. Ghazan soon realized he's not going to get much out of them, but a good practice was fine, too.

They didn't handcuff him on their way to the field, but they were escorted by a giant flock of guards. As if it weren't enough, it turned out they have an audience – some members of the metal clan just had to watch two lavabenders at work. He won't be able to run away anytime soon.

Once he felt the earth beneath his feet, every single one of his problems vaporized. It was a heavenly sensation, one that made him feel alive again. He didn't even mind he was helping Bolin defeat his precious Order – once they had all their secrets, one more lavabender wouldn't make any difference.

Bolin was actually pretty decent, better than their last time in the cave. Ghazan considered letting the boy win their first fight, but he was no cheater. By the time their session was over he already had Bolin on his back.

"That was awesome!" Bolin said as he got up and bowed to him. It was weird. No one's ever done that to him before. He bowed back, probably doing it wrong. This kind of formalities was never his thing.

"I got you pretty bad," he grinned, examining Bolin's scraped skin. "You could use a healer."

"I guess, but Korra and Kya aren't in Zaofu."

"Ming Hua could heal that in a second," he said casually.

"Oh, no. Nope, not going to happen. No. I rather suffer in silence. "

"Can you do anything in silence?" He punched his shoulder. Three of the guards immediately sprung into action, loosening up when they realized it was a false alarm.

"How can she heal, anyway? I thought she's only capable of killing things."

"That's her forte, but she's a decent healer too." She did manage to fully recover from that lightning wound. "Look, I know she can come off a bit strong, but you can't keep her locked up. She's not any more dangerous than I am, and training against her could really improve your bending."

"We get what you're trying to do," one of the guards said. He was probably some captain, by the ridiculous amount of metal he was wearing. "She's staying where she is, and it's time for you to go back where you belong."

What was it with these metalbenders and their delusions of grandeur? And why did they always have to clad themselves in these stupid armors? A well-aimed rock to the chest would hurt just as bad, no matter how many metal plates they have on.

He couldn't make peace with the thought of her sitting there alone, all day, every day. She deserved better. She's done everything to help him, and in a strange way it even partially worked, but what has he done to get her out of her crisis?

"What has to happen for her to get out?" He asked Beifong as they escorted him back to his miserable box.

"Her information has to check out. We need to know she's not bluffing just to buy herself some time. Until then, she's a prisoner like any other."

He was no cop, but he knew how they think. Ghazan has never heard Ming Hua's confession, and they were never left alone to get their stories straight.

The Red Lotus's strongest weapon was its secrecy, and once Ming Hua blew that off, it was only a matter of time until they go down. The damage has already been done, but he could keep her from suffering any more than needed. He owed it to her.

"Would it speed things up if I talk?"