Sorry this took so long, but I really like how this turned out.

I hope you like this and please review.

Chapter 21: The Masked Airbender

After the storm Eira wasn't feeling great, she was sure that she had caught a cold. She could see that Sokka was also not doing so well. He was coughing and spluttering, but like her he was braving it, but unlike her he was clearing not fit to do so.

"Sokka, are you really okay? You're coughing really badly and you look hot." Eira said as they were walking through a small, dense forest. Her face immediately warm as she realised what she said. She waved her hands in defence and shook her head. "No, I mean you, uh, look like you have a temperature."

He tried for a smile but he broke down in a coughing fit. Katara raised her hand to his forehead and she pulled it back quickly.

"Sokka, you're burning up." She said, obviously concerned for he brother.

"We need to rest, Sokka isn't fit to continue." Eira said, looking around for a place to rest. She spotted a small, mossy temple at the top of a small cliff. It was made of stone with what looked like a strong structure and lined with green trees.

"Aang, can Appa take us up there?" Eira asked, pointing to the small temple. Aang nodded and he quickly climbed on Appa, leaving Eira and Katara to help Sokka up onto the saddle.

"Yip yip." Aang said to Appa as he flicked the reigns. Appa slammed his furry tail to the ground and he flew up to the temple smoothly.

It didn't take long to get there, but it did take forever to get Sokka off and into his sleeping bag. He was becoming dizzy and un-coordinated as well as delusional.

Eira laid Sokka's sleeping bag on Appa, which should be warm, and she started to think of ways to treat colds that she could put into practice with minimal materials.

Okay, so bed rest, plenty of water, steam inhalation, healthy food… That should be doable. Eira thought as she looked through their supplies.

"Okay, so what Sokka really needs is rest and plenty of water. That should be good enough to ease his symptoms." Eira said as she pulled out a small bowl and their fire-making equipment. "But I do know a trick. If he inhales steam, it should help clear his airways." She explained as she set it all up.

"And whilst we're doing that… Aang, could you try find some ginger root. Gran-Gran would always make a ginger root tea when we were sick." Katara said. Aang nodded and grabbed his glider.

"I'll find it!" He said happily as he flew off into the forest.

Eira lit the fire and placed the bowl of water on it.

"Could you use your waterbending to create some steam?" Eira asked as the water began to heat up.

"Sure." Katara said, happy to be able to practice her waterbending. She breathed deeply and moved her arms up suddenly, forcing the water to turn into steam. A lot of steam. The entire temple was covered in the billowing steam.

Katara moved her arms towards Sokka and he was completely covered in steam. I'm not exactly sure that much steam was needed. Eira thought worriedly. Maybe it would help him stay hydrated as well? I'll just go with that.

The steam eventually faded and Sokka was looking slightly better, as in his coughing wasn't raspy. But he was still coughing and his fever was getting worse. Sweat covered his face and he started to laugh weakly whenever Appa made a noise.

"Hah… Appa, you're a comedic genius… Hah…" He said. Appa bellowed and Sokka laughed again. It was getting quite disturbing. Her sister started acting weird when she had a fever as well but not like this.

Katara reached for a small cloth and soaked it in water, she twisted it, removing the excess, and placed it on Sokka's forehead.

"This should bring your fever down." Katara said, her voice motherly and caring.

"Hah…" Sokka laughed weakly again. "You know what I love about Appa most?" Sokka asked rhetorically. "His sense of humour."

"That's nice. I'll tell him." Katara said calmly as Sokka rolled his head to the side to look at Appa. Appa growled.

"Hah! Ha! Classic Appa…" He said, laughing a bit stronger now.

From behind them, Aang swooped in on his glider. He flicked it shut and looked at Sokka. He frowned in concern.

"How's Sokka doing?" He asked as he walked towards them.

"Not so good, being out in that storm really did a number on him." Katara said as she glanced back at her brother sympathetically. Sokka sniffed pathetically. Katara then looked at Eira. "Are you going to be okay, Eira? You were out in that storm as well."

"No, I'm fine. Every time I felt myself getting too cold or wet, I airbent myself dry." Eira explained reassuringly. True, she didn't feel great and she did feel like a cold was coming on, but she didn't feel bad per se.

Aang, reassured, continued on.

"I didn't find the ginger root you asked for but I did find a map." Aang said, pulling out a weathered, old map. Eira walked over to them and looked at the map. Aang pointed to a small hill in the corner of the map.

"There's a small herbalist institute on top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka there." Aang explained as they all looked at the map.

Katara walked back over to Sokka and checked his temperature again.

"Sokka's in no condition to travel. I'm sure he'll feel better soon." Katara said before breaking into a fit of coughing. Aang looked horrified.

"Oh, no. Not you too." He said. Katara looked shocked, and then shook her head.

"No, no. It's just a little cough. Relax, I'm fi-" She wasn't able to finish as she began coughing again.

"Katara. You are not okay. Sokka started out like that and now he's worse than I've ever seen." Eira said. "You are going to get some rest. I'm going to look after you both as Aang goes and looks for a cure." Eira instructed.

Eira pulled out Katara's sleeping bag and laid it on Appa next to Sokka. Eira pointed to the sleeping bag.

"You need rest." Eira said to Katara. "Try and get back as soon as possible." Eira said to Aang. He nodded and reached for his glider, than a roll of thunder and a flash of lightning stopped him.

"Uh… Maybe I'll just walk." He said as he nervously placed his glider back against the pillar it was leaning on. He leaped off the building and sped down the forest in a trail of dust.

Eira was getting worried. She did know the cure and she could get some water if they needed it but she didn't exactly know where to get any of them. From what she saw, Aang travelled a great distance before he reached the herbalist institute.

"Eira?" She heard Sokka say. Eira turned around, shaking her worried thoughts from her mind. Aang would be safe in the end. She needed to remember that.

"Yes, Sokka."

"Please, water?" He asked weakly. He really wasn't doing well. Maybe it wasn't just a cold or the flu.

"Of course." Eira went through their supplies but then realised she used the water for the steam. "Crap. I thought we had some more." Eira muttered.

"Katara, I'm going to get you some water." Eira said as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Take that, you rock. And that. And that." Sokka said, jabbing his arms out in front of him, as if he was earthbending. Then, something occurred to her. They were perilously close to a Fire Nation base. She'd need some protection that didn't involve airbending. It'd be dangerous to out herself as an airbender if she needed to defend herself.

Eira spotted Sokka's knife gleaming next to him. Cautiously, she picked it up and slid it into her belt.

"Sorry." She whispered. "I need to borrow this." Eira walked down the cliff, which was slippery from all of the rain, and she frowned deeply. It would've been great if it was still raining, but noooo. She needed to find a river instead, and maybe some frozen wood frogs, if it came to that.

Seeing no clear sign of a river nearby, Eira decided to run further uphill. She would be able to spot something from there. Or not, she didn't really know a lot of survival skills. Maybe I should've gone to guides. Eira thought, smiling. If she had known that she'd be thrown into this world, she definitely would've learnt some new skills.

She laughed humourlessly as she ran up to the top of the hill, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn't as breathless as she should be. Apparently constantly fighting for your life put you in better shape. It wasn't exactly like she was unfit before, but she wasn't the healthiest and had absolutely no stamina, people tended to take advantage of that when she fought them or had to enter sporting competitions.

"Alright." Eira said as she surveyed the area. "Where are you, water?" She muttered to herself. The valley beneath her was gorgeous. It was full of lush green trees and mossy, stone buildings of what used to be. It smelt clean and pure and she could easily hear the sound of birds chittering happily. But no visible rivers or streams. That was a problem.

Eira fingered the leather water skin in her hands impatiently. Katara and Sokka needed that water. Her blue eyes narrowed as she attempted to scout out a source of running water. Nothing.

Eira threw up her hands in frustration. Why was it she could never find anything she needed?

She trudged back down the hill (well, actually skidded) and she looked around some more. She tried to remember any books she may have read with some hints on how to find water. She remembered in The Hunger Games, they found water by locating mud, but it had just been raining. How would she find any wa-

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" A yell cut through Eira's thoughts and her feet turned cold. That was Aang. Eira turned around and grabbed Sokka's knife from her belt as she ran forwards, towards the location of the scream. They had found Aang. Crap!

Eira jumped up into a tree, using her airbending to propel herself up further so she could reach a branch. She waved her arms around as she wobbled, trying to get balanced and when she finally secured herself on the tree she began darting between branches.

Eira didn't really care about how she was likely to fall and how she didn't really have the right balance to do it as swiftly as maybe Jet, or his friends. She just cared about staying hidden and getting there quickly.

It was quite fun, to jump between trees, and Eira decided to focus on that, rather than have to focus on the danger she was putting herself in.

She made her way to a small, muddy clearing and she looked around in horror. Arrows littered the ground and the murky, frozen water was disrupted. It was splashed everywhere and several trees were snapped.

The archers and Aang fought here. Eira sat down on the branch she was on and tapped her head in frustration. Think, Eira! Think! Try and remember where they took Aang! She thought quickly as her mind flicked through the episode. She remembered them with Sokka, then Aang went to that old cat lady, then he fought the archers and then he was in prison… Dammit!

Eira's best bet was to follow any tracks she could find to the best of her ability, which wasn't much, but it was something.

She jumped down to the muddy ground and looked closely. The mud was disturbed as if someone was dragging something heavy along the floor. The trail stopped as it went onto the grass, but even then the grass was slightly flattened. Also, the area around it looked like it had been hit but a strong gust of wind. Eira looked ahead and saw that pattern continued.

Amazing archers, not so amazing kidnappers. She thought as she allowed herself to smile slyly.

She jumped up and followed the path, thinking of all the ways everything could go wrong. Brain, I really hate you…

o.O.o

The path eventually led to a road, and that road was thankfully bordered by a rim of trees. It was almost going too well. Along the way, Eira had re-adjusted her scarf to cover the majority of her face as she'd almost been noticed when she had past two disgruntled and windswept Fire Nation lookouts, it had been close. One of them saw her and she had to push them back with a dust cloud before vanishing.

Ever since then she'd been getting jumpy. She was stopping every couple of minutes and every time she heard anything, she'd whip out the knife. She needed to calm down! If she continued like this, she'd just blow her cover as soon as she got near the Fire Nation camp.

Eira stopped and took several slow deep breaths to calm her erratic pulse. She closed her eyes and snapped them open, her mind clearing. She pushed her scarf above her nose and she began to sprint off towards the end of the road.

She jumped onto a tall tree and surveyed the area. The sky was overcast and it was dark as night was approaching. The trees completely stopped in a circle around the base that would make it difficult to get in stealthily.

The base itself was surrounded by layers of walls with a large gate in the centre. Sentry posts were evenly spaced between themselves on the walls and the building was tall with a layered, spiked roof.

It reminded her of the Fire Temple, and of course, what happened there wasn't a complete and utter disaster which almost ended with them perishing in molten lava... Eira wasn't very hopeful that this would turn out much better.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts again. She needed a way to get in. She very much doubted that she could single-handedly go and charge in there through the front gates, so stealth was the only way to go.

A small carriage was passing her as she thought and Eira thought that she could go and sneak in through that, but a small glint of a steel sword and a blue mask made her think otherwise. Zuko was occupying that. She'd have to find another way. Somehow…

Eira stood there, surveying the area for weaknesses and found it. As soon as the carriage approached the doors, the guards all went to focus on it. She could use that lapse in concentration to speed past them.

Her mind set, Eira readied herself. She crouched slowly and as soon as the guards ducked to look under the vehicle, she ran.

She was silent and swift, not leaving any visible trace. She darted up the wall with surprising ease, why was it that her airbending was easier to do when she wasn't trying to directly manipulate the air?

She leaped up onto the wall and ducked onto the roof, happy that she hadn't been seen. She slid the knife out of her belt again and ran down into the main building. Every time she saw a guard she punched at them and just before she made contact, a blast of air would slam them into the metal walls, knocking their heads inside their helmets and knocking them out cold. A pang of guilt tore through her but she continued anyway, ignoring it.

They shot fire at her but she dodged it, turning the circle to avoid them with ease. She grabbed her knife and slammed it down on one guard's helmet and she elbowed another in the gut. Wow, you'd think the Fire Nation soldiers would do better than this. Eira thought as she tore through them.

Eira was breathing heavily and heard hurried footsteps coming her way. Trouble. Eira looked around for a way out, but she saw a frog hopping out from under a door… A frog… It was Aang's cell! No wonder there were so many guards.

Eira stepped over a man and picked at the lock. It took a few minutes but the door clicked open with satisfying click. Eira sighed in relief but then she felt a small shiver go up her spine. Danger! She turned around impossibly quickly and held her knife at her attacker's throat.

She came face to face with a blue and white smiling mask.

"Well hello, Blue Spirit." Eira said, whispering with a smirk. "Or should I say Prince Zuko?" He flinched in shock, not moving too much as Eira's (well, technically Sokka's) knife was still hovering under his mask.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed from under his mask, recognising her under her scarf..

"The same as you. Rescuing Aang, but unlike you I have good intentions." Eira hissed back as she withdrew her knife. She slid open Aang's door and saw him flailing around, trying to vainly get his half-frozen frogs to come back to him.

His cell was time times nicer than what hers had been. Two podiums burst from the floor with metal chains going from them to Aang's wrists. A strong lamp burned in the corner and more scarlet Fire Nation banners hung from the ceiling.

Aang looked up to see Eira and Zuko step in. He lifted his head and beamed at her.

"Ei-" He began but Eira immediately shushed him. He seemed to understand and nodded his head, but he looked quizzically at Zuko, or the Blue Spirit, and then back at Eira.

"I'll explain later. We just need to get out of here, now." Eira whispered as she moved closer to him, brandishing Sokka's knife. She raised it above her head and slammed it down on Aang's bindings and thankfully they fell off without her hitting Aang's hands.

She sighed in relief and helped him stand up properly as he rubbed his sore wrists. He then suddenly started squirming and more half-frozen frogs jumped out of his clothes.

Zuko, who had apparently gotten tired of this, reached out to grab Aang's hands to drag him out but Eira slapped his hand away.

"No." she growled. She grabbed a few frogs and stuffed them into her bag. "Now, we can go." Zuko nodded and he began to run out, Aang and Eira following.

Aang gingerly stepped over the still-unconscious guards and stared at them in shock but Eira grabbed his hand and tugged at it, urging him to continue.

They sprinted through the metal corridors and Zuko motioned to a small grate. He popped it open with one of his swords, which Eira hadn't really looked at until now.

They had very long and sharp single-edged blades with leather-wrapped hilts with small blue tassels at the end of them. They were surprisingly quite elegant and well-polished.

He motioned to the open grate, still not talking so Aang would question him. Eira scowled at him.

"No, I insist. You first." She said, gesturing to the grate. Zuko seemed to roll his eyes under his mask but he seemed to realise that she wasn't going to budge on the matter and jumped in. Into the sewage water under the base. Yayyyy…

Eira jumped in after Zuko and Aang jumped in after her. The water was horrible, slimy and surprisingly opaque. It wasn't pleasant to say the least. The smell wasn't going to get out of her head in a while. She kind of wanted to complain but she didn't want to appear like a whiner.

They walked under some wooden grates and Eira took a sharp intake of breath as several footsteps walked above them, mostly because they could see them but also just the paranoia that they could fall through. It was just an irrational thing that she always never could trust.

They walked past without any problem and Eira exhaled quietly as they all walked through the water.

Eira spotted another grate and blasted it open once she made sure no one was around. She leaped out and pulled Aang up.

She reached into her bag and pulled out some rope. She wrapped it around her knife and threw it up into the wall, it landed on the wall and the force made it wrap itself around one of the small column jutting out of the wall. Eira tugged at it and it held firm.

She gestured to the rope and Aang began to climb up it. Zuko jumped out of the water and began to climb the rope. Eira looked around worriedly and then she spotted some guards. CRAP!

"There on the wall!" She heard a soldier yell. Eira quickly pulled down the rope to avoid Aang and Zuko being slashed at by the guard at the top of the wall. They both fell to the ground, Aang screaming, and she cringed as they were about to hit the ground but Aang luckily airbent a soft cushion of air, breaking their fall.

"Ah, sorry about that." Eira apologised hurriedly as she caught the knife and rope. Zuko took out his swords and looked up at an ornate balcony where the monkey-faced Zhao himself was standing.

"The Avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" He shouted angrily, stirring his incompetent soldiers to charge for them and they all began to run for the now-closing gates.

"Stay close to me." Aang commanded as they all ran for the gates that were blocked by a wall of firebenders.

Aang airbent a blast of air that blew them out of the way but suddenly a slash of a spear caught Eira's eye. She raised her knife to block the blow and she kicked the man in his stomach, pushing him away as another soldier came in for another slash.

She jumped up and landed on the man's spear, snapping it as she slammed her knife into his helmet. Eira looked around and saw Zuko was in a similar situation. Eira dodged another slash and she struck another man with the hilt of her knife.

From behind her, Aang stole a spear from a firebender, blasted him out of the way as he span it around and broke the spear tip on the ground. He charged towards them and span it around, creating a gust that cleared the Fire Nation soldiers around them in a perfect circle.

The moved over and did the same to the soldiers around Zuko but they were still surrounded. How many soldiers did one base need?!

Eira stole another spear and shattered the tip, just like how Aang did. She wanted some distance and she didn't want to actually maim them. She hated blood, especially if she was the cause of it showing.

"Hold onto me!" Aang yelled to Zuko as he twirled the spear around and used it as a propeller, lifting him and Zuko up. Eira began wanted to do the same but instead she just blasted everyone away. She decoded to just run up onto the top of the wall instead.

Aang and Zuko were starting to lose height so Eira jumped up and pushed them further into the air. Aang and Zuko crashed into the wall, Aang's spear/staff spinning off and they were all swarmed with more guards.

"Cachu!" Eira yelled and the confusion of hearing the strange, unfamiliar word was perfect. She slammed her stick into them and they were knocked off the wall, landing softly onto their comrades. Eira smiled under her scarf and then silently scolded herself. She shouldn't be having fun or enjoying this.

Zuko was throwing a guard off the wall as Aang airbent them over the top. They all fought as a pretty good team.

They were setting up ladders now, bamboo ladders with a lot of firebenders on them. Sounds like a bad combination.

Eira ran up to the ladders and jabbed her stick at the person on top, causing him to fall down along with all of the others.

Eira reached for the surprisingly light ladder and swung it around, straining her muscles as it slammed into the other ladders, toppling them over.

Aang was also carrying a ladder, two in fact, and he passed it to Zuko.

"Take this. Jump on my back." He yelled as he jumped onto the ladder and Eira leaped after them, carrying her ladder in hand as well.

The three escapees all wobbled on the ladders as Aang began to use them as stilts to move across the courtyard to the next, final wall.

"Give me the next one!" Aang ordered as they were almost at the end of the ladder. Zuko passed him his ladder and they all made another step, but Eira began to feel something hot and she realised the ladder she was holding was on fire!

The heat forced her to let go and it crashed into more firebenders below them.

A single firebender shot up a stream of fire but he was too late they had almost made it to the last wall. They all jumped and Eira and Aang tried to use their airbending to give them an extra burst but as they all grabbed the wall, their grip slipped and they all fell, surrounded by firebenders.

Zuko drew his swords again but as four firebenders fired at them. Both Aang and Eira dispersed the fire with a powerful sphere of air. The fire formed a deadly, hot orb around them before it disappeared completely.

"Hold your fire!" Eira heard Zhao yell as he moved forwards towards them. "The Avatar must be captured alive!" And as quick as the drop of a hat, Zuko grabbed his dual swords and crossed them in front of Aang's throat. Eira pushed her scarf up higher on the bridge of her nose and she stared angrily at Zhao.

"Open the gates, or the Avatar dies and your little search starts all over again." She threatened menacingly, growling at Zhao. He seemed to recognise her voice and even if he didn't believe she would have Aang killed, he probably did believe Zuko's expressionless mask and sharp steel blades.

He scowled at them all.

"Open the gates." He ordered through gritted teeth. The people around him looked at him with disbelief.

"Admiral, what are you doing?" An officer asked.

"Let them out, now!" He ordered again. The gate behind them slowly rose and Eira and Zuko backed up, never turning their backs to the firebenders. Eira narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Zhao and as they got past the gate, she saw Zhao begin to smirk.

They backed up quicker and as they began to reach the edge of the forest for a quick cover but suddenly Eira got that small shiver up her spine. She immediately threw up her arms in a defensive position and an arrow was diverted into a tree, going right through it. And that had been directed at her. That would've killed her.

Another arrow shot at them and this time it struck Zuko right in the mask. He fell down, slumped on the ground.

"Aang!" She yelled as she reached down to pick him up. He nodded and threw up his arms, just like Eira had but this time the dirt and dust around their feet was blasted up into the air, creating a large dust cloud, covering them.

Eira began to carry/drag Zuko and she just ran. The dust was awful and it stung her eyes but they both didn't stop until they were deep in the forest.

Eira dumped Zuko near a tree root and she sat/fell to the floor, exhausted. She watched helplessly as several frogs hopped out of her bag and hopped away into the forest. Aang was resting next to her, leaning against a tree.

"Thanks for rescuing me, Eira." Aang said as he smiled at her.

"Don't thank me, we would've both been captured if Zuko here didn't come as well." She said as she kicked Zuko gently, rolling him over slightly. His mask partially fell off, revealing the scared half of his face.

Aang looked at her in disbelief.

"You knew who he was and you still allowed him to help." He asked incredulously.

"Yeah." Eira said as she looked up at the dark sky. "Despite his goals and his reason for rescuing you, he was still helpful and would do whatever he could to take you away from that commander, no, Admiral Zhao." Eira explained as she got up slowly. Then something caught her eye.

She looked at Zuko carefully and she almost couldn't believe it. Tucked into his belt was Katara's necklace. Why would he have brought it here? Maybe he suspected my plan to steal it back? Eira thought as she picked it up. The dark navy choker and shimmering carved blue stone with the intricate wave pattern on it. It was Katara's, no doubt.

Eira pocketed it quickly and turned back to Aang.

"We should leave. They could be still searching, no scratch that. They're definitely still searching for us." She said sadly as she looked in the direction of the base.

Aang looked back at Zuko and then back at Eira.

"We can't leave him. I had so many friends from the Fire nation when I was younger, maybe if we show him kindness, he'll help us more." Aang said. Eira folded her arms and looked at Zuko. He won't help us until we get to the third season. Eira thought, but looking at Aang's pleading grey eyes, her resolve crumpled.

"Okay, we'll wait until he wakes up, but once he does, we're out of here." Eira said in defeat. She stared out into the direction of the base and imagined Zhao's insanely angry chimpanzee face.

His sideburns really do make him look like a chimpanzee. Eira thought, chuckling a little bit. It was good to have something to laugh about when she had realised someone just had tried to kill her. That arrow had pierced right though that tree. And it had been aimed at her.

"Eira, did you have a lot of friends in your world?" Aang asked sadly.

"Not really. I had some friends, but none that I considered my best friend." Eira said simply. She paused. "But I really miss my family." She admitted.

"It's kinda the opposite for me." Aang said. "The monks separate us from our parents at birth, so we have no worldly attachments to distract us from enlightenment. I have no idea who my parents are, but I had so many friends, from all over the world. I loved visiting Bumi and seeing his crazy ideas, I loved seeing Kuzon and getting into trouble with him…" Aang trailed off and his eyes glazed over sadly, lost in thought of his friends.

It was an odd coincidence. Both of the airbenders in this world were people ripped out of their lives. Aang practically going forwards a hundred years in time, and Eira literally from another world. They were unique and they were both never going to completely adapt to this new world they found themselves in.

But they all had each other and no matter what, they would have their friends as well.

Eira saw Zuko move in the corner of her eyes and she jumped up. She saw Zuko stare at them for a second, his amber coloured eyes flickering open, then he let out a stream of fire against them.

Knowing he wasn't fit enough to follow them, Eira and Aang leaped up into the trees and sprinted away, leaving the prince behind and Eira found the energy to smile. She had Katara's necklace. Now he couldn't use that weird animal and hunter to follow them. Score one for Eira!

Since the frogs had hopped away, Eira and Aang stopped by the bog to collect more frozen frogs and some water. Eira was kicking herself for forgetting to go back and give Sokka and Katara their water.

It was a slow arduous walk back to the temple. Neither of them really had the strength to run or fly or anything else.

They arrived at the old building, exhausted and hurt and after sucking on those frogs for a while they spat them out and they were both running around, wiping their mouths in a desperate attempt to get rid of the frog taste.

Despite everything that had happened Eira couldn't help but laugh.

Hope you all liked this chapter.

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