Chapter 21: Familial Impact: Part I

He had only been in the city for a night and a day, and he already felt like a spider-fly banging around in a glass jar... with no air holes and a clutch of grub-scorpions for roommates. Despite his love for progress, science, and industry, he was not overly fond of cities – seeing as the worst things happened to him while visiting them. Everything from crawling around in a sewer, getting offal in his mouth, and having little purple monsters attach to his face, to his best tactical plans unraveling in disaster and allowing his father to be taken prisoner, to watching his first love sacrifice herself and fade away... occurred within the walls of a metropolis.

Ba Sing Se was by far his least favorite, however. At least Omashu, the Northern Water Capital, and even the Fire Capital had their redeeming qualities. It was Ba Sing Se that gave him his first and last breach of brainless optimism, then crushed it in the cruelest way possible, nearly costing him one of his best friends and dooming the world to Ozai's rule. Plus, that poetry club was just way too strict. No appreciation for free-verse.

Sure, General Hao was practically weeping tears of joy when he, Ren, and the Freedom Fighters brought Kuei in through the palace gates. Yes, he enjoyed the most succulent meat the city had to offer, and held the promise of having more – cooked to order – whenever he wanted (which was frequently). And of course, it was fantastic having a king's blessing to peruse any of the University libraries or Dai Li archives. He could spend the rest of his life here consuming beef and books.

But as before, there were greater things at stake. Not everyone within the palace looked quite so pleased to see Kuei back on the throne. Taku representatives were beginning to get on the bad side of Ba Sing Se officials, and vice versa. There were unconfirmed rumors about a massive naval battle off the northern peninsula of the Fire Nation mainland, and he had no correspondence from either Aang, Katara, or Zuko to confirm or deny it. Toph had not yet arrived, and no couriers or scouts had heard anything on her whereabouts. And to add a final, unsavory frosting to the current tower of disaster-cake, an official message circulating with Suki's signature indicated she was in pursuit of a dangerous fugitive, with a description suspiciously similar to Azula, somewhere in the middle-southern reaches of the Earth Kingdom.

He had no idea what to do. Search-and-rescue for Toph? Play at diplomacy for Kuei? Investigate whatever quagmire may have gone down in the Fire Nation? Rendezvous with Suki to assist with her dragnet? Find the bug that had crawled up the Taku Assembly's ass?

Which was why he was going to talk to someone who may give him a sense of direction. Or possibly confuse him even more. Either way, it was a better plan than spending another day pondering and deliberating. Because men do not pace and fret, thank you very much.

"So, you are telling me that the legendary General Iroh, Dragon of the West, the man who arguably should have been Fire Lord... runs an Upper Ring teashop?" Ren asked, as they walked down the wide, stone avenue. The Upper Ring, unlike most of the city, boasted quite a bit of elbow room, especially along the gaping band of cobbled stone that made up the High Concourse. Only the grandest residences and the most exclusive shops and cafes occupied this realm. That is, except the Jasmine Dragon, when Iroh could cajole the wall sentries into turning a blind eye to visitors from the Middle (and sometimes even Lower) Ring.

"Yup," Sokka replied, distractedly.

Ren creased his brow. "So... what's he like?"

"Jolly. Except when he's not."

Ren rolled his eyes. "Informative."

Sokka shrugged. "He's the kind of guy people write epics about. I can't really do him any justice with just a couple words... you'll find out soon enough."

After a few moments, Ren spoke again. "I never imagined my first contract would be this exciting... or lucrative."

"I bet. You went from offering a freebie to the Avatar to getting a significant reward from the royal coffers," Sokka said, then added, "Not that you seem to need it, particularly."

Ren grimaced, slightly. "Well, it means I was able to get new crossbow bolts smithed quickly, and it will be nice living off something besides my father's guilt-money for awhile."

"What, you don't get along with your dad?" Sokka asked with a raised brow.

Ren shrugged. "I do not hate him or anything. It is merely the fact that the first fifteen years of my life was absent a father, and now it is as if he is trying to just... buy off those lost years with gold."

"Hm." Don't know how I'd feel about that. "What about your mom?"

He pursed his lips. "Oh, my mother is a bit... free-spirited. The circumstances around my conception were, well... ignominious seems perhaps too strong a word, but you can imagine the events that would lead an Earth Kingdom clerk working in a neutral port to father a child with a young Fire Colonial woman."

Sokka adjusted his collar. "Uh, yeah. I guess that explains why she was okay with you taking off with us. Free-spirit and all."

"Maybe, but she still worries like all mothers do, even as she tries to hide it, and she must have settled down when she realized she was going to raise a child... I sent her a letter yesterday. As for my father, I shall be willing to give him a chance when he is willing to live under the same roof as us. He's not merely a humble clerk anymore, after all."

"What, he own a trading company now or something?"

Ren smirked. "My friend, I believe I have properly spilled enough of my guts today. What about your father?"

"Well, besides what's bound to be in the epic scrolls and plays? He makes the best elephant-squid stew, and he's the funniest guy I know. He taught me everything I know about surviving in the wilderness, and how important it is to think outside the box." He nodded to the large building nearby. "The rest will have to wait, because we're here."

Sokka took one step up the stairs to Iroh's tea shop and immediately realized something was wrong. There were no murmured voices coming from within, no delicious scents wafting through the windows, no steam pluming from the kitchen's vents. The front door should not have even been closed, and with the lunch hour in full swing, the place was ordinarily at least busy, if not packed.

"Rather quiet, wouldn't you say?" Ren asked.

"Yeah... that's not right." Sokka took the remaining stairs two at a time and promptly tried the door, finding it locked. "Hmm."

"Do you suppose he went to assist the Fire Lord?"

Sokka scratched his chin. "Maybe. But he loves this shop, and last I heard he had enough employees to run the place in his absence, even if the tea wouldn't be quite as good. I doubt he'd close it."

"General Hao seemed to believe he was still in the city, too."

"True, but the poor guy probably doesn't know which way is north with all the sleep he's been getting the past few months. Huh." Sokka squinted at the door.

"What?"

Reaching up to the edge of the door frame at about shoulder height, Sokka ran a finger along a dark stain in the wood. Thin, black flakes fell away, and the tip of his finger came up stained. "Scorch mark? A recent one, or it wouldn't be quite so flaky... or dried ink maybe?" Sokka turned to face his friend. Looked over his shoulder. Blinked.

"Should we..."

"Nope! Let's grab something to eat elsewhere!" Sokka replied, loudly.

"What? But..."

"I'm in the mood for some Chameleon Bay Crabsters anyway, ever had them?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Delicious! I know a place!" Sokka said, all but dragging Ren away from the teashop.

Ren hissed in his ear. "Why in the blazing hell are we leaving?"

Sokka whispered back. "Because we are being watched."

"Oh." Ren started to glance around. Sokka put an arm around his shoulders and nearly shook him.

"Act casual man, you're good at that kind of thing."

"Right, right, okay," Ren replied, loosening up.

Sokka raised his voice to normal. "Seriously though, best seafood I've ever had, are you armed? And coming from a tribesman that is quite the endorsement."

"Sounds like something I must try, no, I thought it would be crass in the Upper Ring."

Sokka rolled his eyes and turned down a side street towards the Middle Ring.

"Glad you asked! The serving girls there are pretty easy on the eyes, never go anywhere unarmed, how's your hand-to-hand?" Sokka finished with a laugh as if he had told a dirty joke.

"Alright, you sold me! Non-existent."

"Wonderful!" He said with a smile. "Wonderful." He added with a groan.

Sokka had now turned them into about the shadiest alley one could find in the Upper Ring, which was to say that it was like the safest and richest street in the Lower Ring. Still, if one wanted to provoke an ambush... Ah, Dai Li, how predictable you've become.

He was not fully armed, but good old Boomerang was something easily dismissed as an accessory, toy, or cultural quirk, so Sokka could take it with him virtually anywhere without anyone feeling threatened. Unless they had seen someone get cracked in the brain pan with it before, that is.

The instant he caught a conical hat poking over a shingled roof, he ripped it from his back holster and let fly.

A satisfying thwuck and a thumpa-thumpa-thumpa-whoosh-smack later, and Sokka had a moaning agent at his feet. He caught his weapon on the return arc, and was hardly surprised when two more robed men dropped down in front of him.

"You have assaulted an agent of the Dai Li. You'll be coming with us," one of the men said.

Sokka laughed. "Come on, you have zero authority in this city or anywhere else. Defection can really ruin your credibility."

"It seemed to work for the current Fire Lord," the other agent said.

"Good point."

The next response was a rock fist that Sokka barely managed to avoid colliding with his face. Judging by the thump behind him, Ren may not have been so lucky. He retaliated with another throw of his boomerang, but without a wide area he could not manage a curve, which meant it was not coming back.

Not that it mattered, because the first agent to speak peppered it out of the air in a hail of stone bullets.

"Surrender, or lose your life," the other agent said.

He glanced back at Ren, who was clutching at his chest but still standing. Now they were both unarmed and against elite earthbenders. Maybe provoking them was a bad idea.

The street did not have much. It was a small business district in the upper ring, and streets like this were used to make deliveries to the various shops without cluttering the pretty concourses with wagons, pack animals, and their various leavings. This meant there was nothing lying around, no windows to dive through, and no cover. Just a corridor of stone and a bunch of locked doors.

Ren stepped forward with his arms up, some blood trickling from his mouth. Sokka was about to protest, even if it was in vain, until Ren suddenly stopped short and put a boot on the fallen man's neck.

"Back off," he said, "or I'll crush his throat."

The other pair exchanged a glance, hesitating for a moment. Sokka frantically scanned the area for anything useful, because in a second they would probably-

"You are not a killer, child," the first agent said.

"You also under-estimate the pragmatic nature of Dai Li protocols," the other added, drawing back for another attack.

"Wait! We surrender!" Sokka shouted.

Ren slumped, then raised his arms again. As both young men found themselves shackled, Ren grumbled. "They called my bluff."

"Well, I thought you were pretty convincing, but these guys would sell their own mother if it meant they got to swagger around the streets of Ba Sing Se again."

Sokka did not imagine his stone cuffs getting tighter as they were marched into a sudden opening in the ground.

"How is she doing, Mom?" the voice of a young man asked.

Awful.

"Well, I'm no physician, but I think she'll pull through. It will take some time for her injuries to heal though."

Also, you're too loud.

"I still can't believe I found her alone out here."

Wasn't Plan A.

"Alone, fighting canyon crawlers... and you and your father ran straight at them."

She sounds pissed.

"Mom, if we didn't act right away, she would have-"

Died. Yeah.

"I know." A sigh. "We should let her rest."

But I can't sleep, all I keep thinking about is-

The sensation had been akin to being passed through some giant serpent's intestines. For the briefest moment, she thought she had been swallowed whole by one of the creatures, but she could sense far too much detail beyond her cocoon to mistake it for something organic. Blind, but no more so than normal, with little air to breathe, her body had been squeezed along an ever-lengthening chute. She had held her breath, too tired to panic, and followed the scene just a few feet above her, where the sky met the earth.

Two earthbenders. She knew them. Recognized their stride, their style, and the resonance of their voices. The elder beat back the things that had been seconds from making a meal of her. The younger cradled her body in the earth and dragged her away. He was gentle about it, almost with a light flair that seemed utterly contrary to the essence of earthbending. She had mocked him for it in the past.

Even as she was drawn from danger, she had felt her life oozing slowly from her shoulder. Under so much strain, she had so little vitality left to hold herself together, and the raw flesh (bloody bug-meat) she consumed had been doing more harm than good, threatening to drain her last reserves of strength as her stomach rejected the sour, fibrous sinews.

"You should rest, Mom." The voice snapped her back to the present. "I could use a break from the bridge anyway, let me look after her for awhile."

A yawn. "I suppose it has been another long night. Try not to disturb her though, the poor dear."

Gentle steps padded off. Bounced off the walls. She was in a small room, lying on a cot. Or more likely an alcove or cave of some kind. The building, if it could be called that, smelled fresh and hastily constructed. An earthbender's shelter: solid but simple.

"She's tougher than she looks." He may have been addressing his mother, but she must have been out of earshot for something whispered so quietly.

She tried her voice. She had tried a dozen times over the past dozen hours (she guessed), but previously, no sound came out. It hurt too much.

"Wuzzat sposse mean, Mustache?" Toph croaked.

Ah, success. It still hurt, as a dull ache instead of a hot lance.

Haru laughed, weakly. His hand fell over hers, an automatic gesture of relief from one friend to another. "I thought you had gone mute, Toph."

"Hwuh?"

"I mean, when you were awake, you were silent... for a whole day."

The way he said it made it sound like she had broken some kind of world record. Toph chuckled, but stopped when pain danced through her chest. She winced, hastened to master the pain, cleared her throat as gently as possible, and focused on not sounding like a drunk from the Gaoling slums. "Come on, I can't be blind and dumb," she managed to say. "Especially with all your yapping likely to make me deaf too."

He laughed, stronger now, and released his grip. "I never thought I'd miss your snarky comments so much."

Toph had no real concept of shadows, dark clouds, or the like, but she still felt like the room had become enveloped, somehow. Haru fell silent, and so was she; the laughter from seconds ago scurried away as startled mice.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" she hazarded to ask.

"Yeah... pretty bad."

"So, I'm down for the count for a while, huh?"

"You... shouldn't get out of bed for a few more days."

"Damn."

"Ha, in a word. Toph, you realize-"

"The tunnel was a nice trick," she interrupted. "You've been training."

"Hm? What can I say? Being told I bend like a little girl was really motivating."

"Well, I'm a little girl, maybe it was a back-handed insult?"

He laughed again, and the imaginary clouds vacated the room. "You mean a compliment?"

"Yeah, whatever you softies call those fluffy nonsense words."

He pressed something into her palm, and her fingers reflexively closed over it. A large marble of her favorite rare substance, whatever it was.

"Found this out there. I hope you don't mind: I used your... repeating arrow technique. On some of the more aggressive ones. Seemed the best thing to do, and that space rock of yours is so... willing."

She compressed and poked the extraterrestrial ore back into a thick ring over her little finger. "Thanks for finding it, but we are not calling it the repeating arrow technique. Something that bad-ass deserves a more quality name."

"I'm sure you'll think of something." He took a breath, and she was too busy fiddling with her jewelry to interrupt this time. "Sorry I didn't move faster. We heard the noise, came and saw you shooting those things, but there were so many, and my dad and I, we didn't know how to get you out without all three of us-"

"Hey, Fur-lip, it all worked out. No sweat. In fact, be happy I owe you one; the Bei Fongs always pay their debts."

He exhaled. Not quite a sigh. More like ten sighs at once. "Alright, well, glad to see you're recovering."

"Of course I am." She waited for Haru to agree, but he gave only silence. "So, where am I exactly?"

"Oh! Uh, we're in the eastern steppes of the Great Divide."

"Okay... and you're here, why?"

"Well, to make a long story short, a lot of refugee caravans returning home from Ba Sing Se were headed south, far more than the Full Moon Bay Ferry could handle. So Dad and I volunteered with an earthbending relief effort: we're building a big footbridge that stretches from the northeastern edge of the Divide, near West Serpent's Lake, all the way to the southeastern edge which opens to the plains north of the Si Wong."

Again, she was reminded that her geography knowledge was lackluster, but once she pieced apart all the compass directions that Haru just spewed out, even Toph had an idea of the scale. "That is a huge bridge."

"Yeah, but we put in a lot of hours, and we have a couple dozen earthbenders working on it. Should be finished before winter."

"So that was the pounding I sensed the other day..."

"From that distance? No, wait, of course you did. World's Greatest Earthbender."

"Don't you forget it."

She heard the rustle of his tunic as he stood up. "Well, I should get back to work, I'll make sure someone gets some food in here for you."

Her stomach twisted. "It's not some, uh, local delicacy, I hope?"

"No, it's Mom's cartato stew today. Why do you ask?"

Yes, sweet merciful spuds."No reason. Oh, and you might want to have some of the earthbenders here on a guard rotation."

"For the crawlers? They'd never be so desperate to attack us with the racket we make every day."

"It'll be story time later, but... you remember what we told you about the Dai Li?"

Like your absent-minded, obnoxious neighbor, the one you regret inviting to the party... the shadow-clouds apparently forgot their purse.

"What about them?" Haru asked, but it was clear from his tone that he already knew bad news was coming.

"Well, hopefully they all got trampled by a boarqupine, but since I don't seem to be that lucky lately, I'm pretty sure they'll follow me here."

Zuko tensed his grip on the reins as his rhino-drawn wagon lumbered down the dirt road stamped across some rolling foothills; a plume of dry dust roiled behind in their wake. He considered snapping the leather straps along the flanks of the two animals pulling his little entourage along, but he was well aware that their hide was too thick for that to feel like anything more than a mild nuisance. From his training, he knew most riders were firebenders, and many used their element as spurs. Yet even though his mind looped with thoughts of 'can't these blasted beasts go any faster?', he did not quite have the heart to tread that fine line – between command and cruelty – necessary to press the creatures on harder.

Still, he had at least another day of travel at this rate, and whipping the komodos with fire was likely to become more palatable as his patience wore away. If only Pohuai had eel-hounds! But then, for the longer trip to Ba Sing Se, the rhinos' stamina would probably win time over pure speed. It was a small blessing, at least, that Gaipan was more or less on the way to the city. Did his father not realize that? Or was he racing to a rescue that was already far too late?

No. This was for his uncle, and his mother. Maybe a little fire to the backside would be okay? After all, Ty Lee was not here to get upset and scold him for it. Mai would probably not care, and Katara was hopefully quite asleep. And the beasts were trained for it, right?

Overhead, the cry of a dragon hawk caused him to start, interrupting his breath and dissipating the beginnings of a fire whip into a few harmless sparks. Am I really that on edge? Almost immediately, the front curtains of the wagon parted, and Mai crawled out, squinting and shielding her eyes from the nearly midday sun with one hand. The other, covered in a thick falconer's gauntlet, she extended far out to the side.

"That bird has been crowing overhead for at least ten minutes, Zuko. Were you just going to wait until it dropped dead?" Mai asked. Her tone was surprisingly short, and now that he looked at her more closely, he realized that she had just woken up. Her hair was completely undone.

"Um, sorry," Zuko said gently, not nearly so clueless as to rile her when she was still half-asleep. "I guess I've just been lost in thought."

"As usual," she replied, still blinking and searching the sky for the bird.

"I didn't know you practiced falconry," Zuko stated, trying to change the subject.

"Messenger birds are kind of like throwing knives, only they can deliver messages more articulate than 'I want to kill you'."

That... barely makes sense. It would be best to just let that comment go unchallenged. Evidently, banging around an uneven road at high speeds did not allow her a very restful sleep, and she had stayed up with him for most of the previous night's ride besides. So he just nodded as she adjusted the glove on her arm. "We'll have to get you your own gauntlet, then."

"Make it black. Or burgundy. Not this vomit brown color."

Most noble girls would quail at the very idea of having the sharp talons of a raptor swoop down anywhere near them, but Mai seemingly made it her daily mission to dispel whatever assumptions he happened to have about the fairer sex. She still sometimes teased him for offering her a pretty shell at the beach. Never living that one down.

Besides, there was something particularly alluring about the way she leaned out from the wagon's bench, donned in light (but not scandalous) sleeping attire, her back slightly arched, hair free and waving around in the gentle breeze, with his too-large glove enveloping her arm. A scene and pose, if she was willing, he might like to have commissioned by a court painter when they got back home.

The bird squawked and landed heavily on her forearm, and she leaned back against the bench, raising an eyebrow at what was undoubtedly a stupid, doe-eyed expression on his face. He rubbed his jaw, perhaps masking his sheepish grin, but probably not. My mind is all over the place... maybe I should get some sleep next.

She plucked a scroll from the sealed canister on the bird's back. A black ribbon adorned the parchment. "It's for you," she said, needlessly. There was the slightest rosy tint to her cheeks, but it could have just been the chill in the autumn air.

Zuko unfurled the message, scanning it quickly. "An update on Azula's whereabouts from Suki." Zuko frowned. "She's in the southern Earth Kingdom... apparently she has help... from a waterbender and an earthbender." He palmed his face. "And she managed to steal their tank."

"The earthbender is probably a Dai Li agent, but what waterbender in their right mind would want to help Azula?" Mai asked.

"I think you just answered your own question." Zuko said, scowling.

"Brainwashed?"

"I can't think of any other likely explanation." He kept reading. "No one was seriously injured, at least, and Suki seems to be taking a page out of Aang's book and noting the theft makes Azula easier to track."

"True, but your sister must know that too," Mai responded.

"What are you two talking about? I never did get to ask where we were going." Katara said, poking her head from the wagon curtains between the two nationals. Zuko noted she appeared even more exhausted than Mai, and though he would never say so aloud, far less presentable. She had not even changed from her workout the previous day, and her blue tribal tunic had the wrinkles to show for it. Though, to be fair, he did not exactly give her any time to clean up, stopping only for necessary breaks.

"Well," Mai started, "basically this adventure across the Earth Kingdom is going to be one family reunion after another. For Zuko, that is."

Katara rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Okay, well, we have Ozai going back to prison, so..."

"We're looking for my mother." Zuko said.

Katara suddenly looked a lot more awake. "What? But I thought-"

"My father thinks I can't save her and Uncle together. But I will." He looked down at the ground speeding past. "I have to."

Katara turned to Mai. "What if it's just a trap?"

"Wouldn't be the first Ozai sprung on us," Mai said with a shrug.

Zuko faced the waterbender. "I have to take the chance, Katara. Please understand."

Katara sighed. "That's exactly what he would be betting on, if this is a trap, but... if it were my mother..." Zuko put a hand on her shoulder. She did not need to say any more.

"Thank you, Katara."

She smiled. It was the first time he had seen her do so since Aang vanished.

"And I promise," he added, "that as soon as I know they're safe, we'll look for Aang. He's my friend, and I'm worried about him too."

The smile evaporated, and Zuko wondered if perhaps bringing Aang up was the wrong thing to do. "Well, where to then?" Katara asked, a bit less warmly.

"Gaipan. It's a colony town," Mai supplied, reaching into a pouch on Zuko's belt and drawing a few scraps of dried meat for the bird still perched on her arm. It did not seem terribly happy about the offering, but fresh strips were not readily available.

Some of the color drained from Katara's face. "I'm... familiar with the place."

Zuko turned to her, eagerly. "You've been there recently? Did you see a kinda tall woman, slim, regal features, long, dark brown-"

"Zuko." Katara cut him off, not meeting his eyes. "Gaipan was destroyed in a flood. I never actually stepped foot in the village. Not that I could have, at the time."

He did not even realize he was pulling hard on the reins until the wagon came to a complete stop, nearly ejecting the three of them from their bench. The dragon-hawk screeched and Mai fought to keep it perched on her arm; she shot a dark glare in Zuko's direction, which he barely noticed for the smoke wafting over his heart.

"No. Don't tell me..." he muttered.

"Wait! Zuko! Let me explain." Katara grabbed his wrist. "There was a dam near the village, and last winter, Aang, Sokka, and I met some kids there. Anyway, the dam was blown up and-"

"What! Who blew up the dam! Was it you three?" The reins in his hands burned clean through, the loose, singed ends flopped to the ground, and the stench of scorched leather filled his nostrils. Katara snatched her hand away, clutching what was surely a stinging palm to her chest.

"No! Well, Aang and I, there were these geysers, but we didn't know what Jet was planning and-"

That was a familiar name.

"These kids." Zuko growled. "Did they call themselves Freedom Fighters?"

Katara seemed to fall away from her panic. "Yes, actually. You know them?"

"We've crossed paths." Don't light anything on fire, don't light anything on fire. "So, Jet blew up the dam, and Gaipan was destroyed, drowning everyone in the village? Is that what you're telling me?"

"No! Will you just listen a minute! Sokka never trusted Jet, and he managed to warn all the villagers just in time. No one was killed... I'm just saying that I don't think Gaipan is really there anymore," she finished, quietly.

Zuko launched a column of flame into the air from his lips, partner to his frustrated roar. "Why didn't you just say so!"

"I was trying! You wouldn't let me finish!"

"You two are upsetting the bird," Mai deadpanned. "Also, Zuko, you might not want to light beacons in the air."

In her indirect way, Mai had a way of soothing his fury. There were times when her eagerness to point out his stupidity grated on his nerves, but then, it was an effort she rarely made for anyone else.

Katara squeezed behind Mai and hopped off the wagon. "I saw a stream not too far off the road, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Katara!" Zuko called out. "I'm, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's only a little red, you just caught me by surprise. I'll only be a couple minutes." With that, Katara strode behind the wagon and out of sight. Zuko hunched over, exhausted, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"She knows it wasn't intentional." Mai said, touching his cheek with her free hand.

"I know. I just... shouldn't have lost control like that. I thought I had mastered my anger."

Mai laughed, a light, barely-there chuckle, but a laugh just the same. "Zuko, you wouldn't be who you are without the occasional dramatic explosion."

Zuko glared at her, or tried to, but found the expression required too much effort. "I guess."

"She should be safe, then, if Sokka got there in time to have the town evacuate."

He was just a breath away from sobbing. If Sokka had saved his mother, however unknowingly, he was going to give that man sole ownership of an entire royal cattlefarm. But if she was left behind by the villagers...

"There might not have been enough time. In an evacuation, who's going to think of the safety of prisoners?"

"Stop this, right now." Zuko looked up, met Mai's eyes, and glimpsed the anger there. "We're going to go to Gaipan and see what we find. And since we have this hawk, we can send a message ahead to Ba Sing Se, maybe warn someone that the Dai Li are active again, and they can help look for your Uncle." Her lips crashed against his, hard, and she mumbled into his mouth, "No more sulking."

It was too exhausting to sulk anyway. He managed a wan smile. "Okay. Do you mind driving the next leg when Katara gets back?"

Mai settled herself and thrust the bird onto Zuko's shoulder. Its talons poked through his cloak a bit, and he swore he caught her smiling just a little bit when he flinched. "Sure. Feed the bird. I'll write the message and get changed."

Sore was a word that described her in more ways than one. Her temperament? Definitely. Just because Suki had been able to put a positive spin on the loss of most of their equipment did not mean it was not a blow to her warrior's pride. Her body? Also yes. Sleep came in too-short clips, as she and her team tried to catch up to a steam-powered tank with their recently acquired ostrich-horse mounts. The tank was at least three times as fast, so the only way to make up the time was to push both beast and riders to their limits. A delicate balance, considering the need to save energy for an actual encounter at the end of the chase.

Some of her girls were handling it better than others. Yumi, who also had a case of the sniffles from being frozen in ice a few days ago, never rode on an animal before in her life. She managed to keep it under control, but her visage screamed misery. The fastidious girl already lamented her unkempt hair, so add in the musty bird scent to her clothes and smeared face-paint under her nose, and it was no wonder she had not broken down into a fit yet. At least the others had the sense to give her some space.

Iru was clearly afraid of her ride, keeping low and holding on as if expecting it to buck her off at any moment. At a glance, her small body could have easily been mistaken for a courier package on the beast's back.

Osha, always looking out for the younger warriors, attempted to lead Iru's mount along while also guiding her own. A noble gesture, if Osha had any more experience riding animals beyond the year when she lived on a farm with her aunt. Poorly hidden behind her stoic expression, the girl was clearly in some discomfort.

Hei-lin, using the method she applied to most problems, started out dominating her mount more than riding it. This produced mixed results: while the first stretch of the chase went along smoothly for her, eventually the creature had enough of Hei-lin's bruising 'course corrections' and started trying to buck her off. Kanima had already traded with her, which meant that even though the she knew how to handle the animals, she had to get it calmed down from an ornery state first.

Since Kanima was the only of her original squad who had any real riding experience, she kept in fairly good spirits, and tried to spread that cheer to the others, with Ty Lee's help of course. Ty Lee, not surprisingly, rode like a circus performer, as often hand-standing on the back of her conveyance as sitting upon it, grinning all the while. At first, the antics of the pair was good for morale, but even Suki had to admit after many, many hours of riding, it was getting on her nerves.

But she could not lose her composure. She was the leader, and all her girls were following orders to the letter, if executing them with their own particular idiosyncrasies. Things were going about as well as she could expect, but she had already decided that whenever they got back to Kyoshi Island, she would add mounted combat training into their regimen. That subsequent generations would either thank or curse her, she had no doubt.

The sloping, dusty hills north of Nan Shan – and therefore even farther north of the river with the same name – made travel relatively easy for the mounts, which was a plus. Unfortunately, the mostly unobstructed terrain also allowed Azula to drive northward at full speed. The only time the ruts gouged in the earth ever deviated from a nearly straight line was due an apparently over-compensating reaction to a smallish boulder, or when the engine was clearly stopped for rest, or perhaps repairs.

What was more unfortunate, however, was the utter drudgery of the landscape. Instead of brilliant green conifers, there was an assortment of brown scree. Instead of a raging river, they occasionally came upon a murky, brackish pond. Instead of white-capped mountains, there were only yellowish mounds. Suki found herself almost wishing for bandits, just for something to break the monotony.

Plus, it was hot. This stretch of the southern Earth Kingdom was barely north of the equator. The lack of serious greenery or cloud cover this time of year made the nights rather cool, but the days were about as hot as anywhere in the Fire Nation. It would not be the first time that Suki had considered proposing a change to their traditional uniforms, at least for field missions like this. The thought was practically blasphemy, but she had to admit that working as a guard for the ferry, or operating incognito in beachwear, made her appreciate the benefits of fighting in lighter armor, or none at all.

"Captain!" Hei-lin shouted from the front of their cavalcade. "There is something ahead between those two hills, about a mile!"

As her kinswomen turned for orders, Suki held up a hand, gesturing to stop.

"It's glaring... glittering... glistening? Something that starts with a 'G'..." Ty Lee wondered aloud.

"Glimmering?" Osha offered.

"Yes! Glimmering!" Ty Lee exclaimed, and were they both grounded Suki was certain a crushing hug was in the cards for Osha.

"Glimmering, like a big chunk of metal," Kanima supplied.

Suki agreed. "Dismount ladies. We need to approach quietly."

As her warriors slid off the ostrich-horses with what was either groans of misery or sighs of relief, Suki considered a strategy. Assuming Azula and her cronies were still in or around the tank, there was a chance they had already been spotted. But they could use the hills and approach from a blind direction.

She took her spyglass from a satchel at her bird-horse's flank and tried to get a better look at where the tank was settled.

It appeared that some attempt had been made to conceal it, but then aborted for the futility. Otherwise all was still. Wedged between two hills in what amounted to a sort of shallow valley, Azula had created her best option for a last stand.

She considered the animals. Suki could picture Azula using her earthbender to tunnel beneath them, and then steal their transportation again. Falling for the same trick twice would be devastating, so she could not leave them unguarded or under-guarded. Splitting the team into three and four seemed logical, and yet against three benders they had the best odds remaining as a large group. She needed to be clever.

She needed Sokka here. In fact, when she saw him again, she planned to draft him into the Kyoshi Warriors, permanently. Kyoshi tradition, the South Pole, international politics, and rebuilding the world be damned.

Of course, Great-Uncle Oyaji might take exception to that, as would Sokka's father.

She mentally smacked herself. Don't be so dependent. You're not a master strategist, but you are a woman of action. So act!

"Kanima, is it possible for you to lead the other six ostrich-horses around in a wide circle?" Suki asked.

"Well, I couldn't hold on to all the reins that way, but they'll follow me as long as nothing spooks them. Nan Shan seems to train pretty good steeds. In fact none of the newbies in the group would have had a chance otherwise." After a few glares her way, Kanima added. "What? No offense girls, I'm just saying."

"Okay." Suki cut in. "Circle once, about a half-mile radius, then turn and join us. By then, the surprise will be gone anyway, if we even still have it."

"Sure thing, Cap." Kanima answered with a grin, leaping back onto her mount. The rest of the girls winced, except for Ty Lee, who waved as Kanima led their mounts away.

"As for us, better loosen up quickly, because it's time for a little jogging."

Suki and the rest of their squad made reasonable time, using the approach as an opportunity to get blood flowing to the legs and work some of the stiffness away. Even with the heat and in full armor, it was a welcome contrast to the constant bouncing from riding for so many hours. As they approached from the left-flanking hilltop, Suki motioned for her team to crouch down low and stay quiet.

She listened. Nothing. They had the high ground, which would help somewhat, even though the presence of an earthbender meant high ground could become low ground very suddenly. At least there was no open body of water this time, which hopefully meant the waterbender was a lesser threat. Azula herself was a wild card, her firebending seemed to be fluctuating in strength each encounter, but the princess was no slouch in hand-to-hand anyway.

Suki slid down to the top of the tank alongside Iru, who slowly drew her katana. Though Iru was often the meekest warrior of the group, she was a fierce, cold warrior once her blade was in hand. Seeing as the youngest of their group was also their best swordswoman, Suki often wondered if it was possible to send her for training with Piandao. Thoughts for another time.

Hei-lin and Yumi dropped down next, curling to the front of the tank, while Ty Lee and Osha crawled down the rear. Hazarding a glance over the edge, Suki noticed that the trailer compartments were wide open, leaving two points of entry. Trap, obvious trap.

She would take point. The last attempt at Azula's capture resulted in Iru losing a lot of blood (from a mysteriously absent head-wound) and Yumi getting sick. Though her girls insisted she took too many risks, a complaint that only doubled in volume from when she took a nasty burn and fell off a roof in the Fire Nation a few weeks ago, Suki would never send her girls into something she would not go into herself.

And so, she flipped through the open hatch and rolled into a defensive stance, snapping her fans open. Iru followed a second later, her blade gleaming in the dark interior of the train from the light cast through the open portal. A few more moments, and Ty Lee slid open the door adjoining the two train-cars, Osha at her back, and she answered Suki's querying look with a shrug. Hei-lin and Yumi appeared at the side hatch next, their presence announced with Yumi's wet sneeze.

"Spirits bless you!" Ty Lee chirped.

"If this is a spiritual blessing, next time they can take their blessings and just go fu-"

"Quiet." Suki said, an order that sounded more like an fatigued mother than a commander.

"So, they're not here," Hei-lin said. "There are three sets of footprints outside, heading north, but the trail vanishes not even a dozen yards out."

"And look at this," Osha added, staring at the wall. "There's a map here of the area, three locations circled..."

"Let me see." Suki strode forward and glanced at the map. "Full Moon Bay, The Serpents Pass, and The Great Divide. Three different ways north." With some effort, Suki resisted the urge to punch something. She did not need to add a broken hand to all of this. "She's taunting us, or she's baiting us to split up."

"I cannot wait to slap the smugness right off her face," Hei-lin said, cracking her knuckles.

A rumble of taloned feet stamped the ground in address: Kanima was coming in. Once their transportation was tied up and fed, the girls all split up, looking for any other clues and checking what supplies Azula had not pilfered, which was not much. The tank was completely out of fuel, making it pretty much useless to them aside for being a convenient shelter for the moment.

"Hey, she took my new outfit!" Ty Lee screeched.

"It was kinda tacky, Ty Lee," Kanima said with a smile.

"I liked it. It was practical," Osha said, and Ty Lee beamed.

"I can always commission more next time we're in the Fire Nation," Ty Lee said as she fell into a very uncomfortable looking, pretzel-esque floor stretch. Or whatever it was she did.

Suki allowed her girls to banter a bit. It was as good a time as any for a rest, and if it was one thing Suki learned from her boyfriend, it was the power of humor, even if it was sometimes lousy humor. Unfortunately, as she stared at the map and its mocking red lines, Suki was in no mood for a few jokes. Azula was dangerous, and allowing her to slip away would be unacceptable.