EPILOGUE

IROH

Iroh walked through the corridors of the royal library, a small stack of scrolls tucked under his arm. The tall shelves cast tall shadows, and despite the brilliant daylight there was an unmistakable gloom about the place. Finding himself a suitable table, he sat himself down and unfurled the first scroll. Hungrily, he dove into it, his eyes scanning the page ravenously and devouring every word.

The venerable general was in disgrace. All across the Fire Nation's capital, his name was whispered, quickly followed by such slanderous words as "coward," or "traitor." There was little that he could do about it, and there was little he wanted to do about it. The fire that had burned so strongly in his heart had been snuffed in that one instant, and his will to do anything at all seemed gone from him. He lay awake at nights, wondering how best he could deal with that emptiness. He felt as though his son had been torn away from him far too soon, and that, more than his brother's usurpation of the throne, made him feel powerless.

Almost as soon as he had returned, he had been hit with another blow: his father had died in his sleep, or so his brother told him. This one, however, did not have nearly the impact that the loss of his beloved Lu Ten did. In Iroh's absence, Ozai had crowned himself Fire Lord. And yet, Iroh found himself unable to challenge his brother. He was too consumed by grief to muster up the rage necessary to Firebend to his full potential, and with his defeat at Ba Sing Se, the political tide had turned against him. No, Ozai was now the undisputed ruler of the Fire Nation, and Iroh could not—and would not—do anything to stop him.

"My lord," came a hushed voice. Iroh looked up to see Yen Pao, the royal librarian, standing there. With his gaunt face, his curved nose, and thick spectacles, he had a strangely owl-like look about him. His head was inclined in a bow, and Iroh wondered exactly how tight a leash his brother had been keeping the palace staff on.

"Yes, Yen Pao?" Iroh asked kindly.

"I have noticed that your lordship has been reading constantly these past three weeks," Yen Pao said humbly. "And that your lordship is perusing all materials that pertain to the nature of spirits…and the Spirit World." It was true. Iroh had been poring over tomes since his return, barely spending time in anyplace but his home and the library. That Yen Pao had been watching for so long meant that he had wanted to approach Iroh about this for some time. Iroh said nothing, respectfully waiting for the librarian to continue. "I believe that I possess a book that might be of use to your lordship."

He reached into his robes and pulled out a small, black leatherbound book with peeling gold print on its cover. Iroh took it and hefted it, before reading the title on the dilapidated cover. The Nature of All Things, it was called. It had been written by Lao Tzu, one of the many Avatars who had hailed from the Fire Nation. Iroh's eyes widened. "This is an extremely ancient and rare book, Yen Pao," he said. "Are you quite sure that I should be using this in my trivial research?" The librarian let a glimmer of a smile show on his usually serious face.

"Absolutely, my lordship. I believe you will find it to be a gateway to even higher learning." With that, he swept off without so much as a goodbye, off again to tend to his precious walls of books. Interested, Iroh put his scroll aside and opened the book. There was something lodged between a pair of pages, and when Iroh opened it, two things fell out. The first was a small scrap of parchment, while the second was unmistakably a Pai Sho tile. Iroh picked up the parchment, and read:

Midnight at the place where it grows. Iroh's brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to work out what the parchment meant. But as he did, he picked up the Pai Sho tile. It was a standard one, not from a particularly nice set. But it was the symbol on the Pai Sho tile that caught his eye. It was that of an ornate and beautiful flower-a lotus. And in that instant, Iroh knew exactly what the parchment meant.

That night, the pond on the outskirts of the city was eerily still, offering a brilliant reflection of the crescent moon. Iroh sat upon a rock on the pond's edge, admiring it. He saw a small flotilla of white lotus flowers, gently skating across the glassy surface of the pond, and for the first time in weeks, Iroh felt a strange calm about him. He breathed easy, even as he felt figures slowly surround him. A somewhat grating, unfamiliar voice penetrated the night.

"Who knocks at the garden gate?" it asked. Iroh thought for a moment before carefully wording his response.

"One who has eaten the fruit, and tasted its mysteries," he said. The robed figures around him relaxed, and all of them threw off their hoods. The speaker was a severe-looking man that Iroh immediately recognized to be the legendary sword master, Piandao. And circled around him were others, Yen Pao among them. Piandao held out his hand, and Iroh took it.

"Welcome, General Iroh, to the Order of the White Lotus."

GENERAL HOW

The Tiger General paced the war room like his namesake, his eyes not once leaving the war board. With the Fire Nation in full rout, Ba Sing Se had received word from all across the country that the invasion force's offense was ebbing. General Fong had taken a large detachment and pursued Iroh's command all the way to the edge of the shore, and though the Dragon had emerged victorious in their confrontation, the Fire Nation was still beating a fighting retreat. How should have felt happy. And yet, for some reason, he did not.

He found himself greatly unsettled by the newly prominent position that Long Feng had taken in the chain of command. In the three weeks since Long Feng had assumed control of the Dai Li, he had slowly begun to restrict access to the Earth King more and more, until it seemed as though the newly-promoted Grand Secretariat would not allow anyone a moment alone with their noble, if not young, ruler. Long Feng had assured the Council that it was all for security reasons, as General Weng had proved treacherous previously. But while the Council retained control of the vast Earth army, How could not help but notice how much more prevalent the Dai Li were becoming, or how the Palace Guard now seemed to take orders directly from Long Feng and Long Feng alone.

"You are troubled, General How?" How looked up from the board. That lilting voice could only belong to General Sue, the Leopard General. He did not seem nearly as cold and detached as he normally did. In fact, How was almost certain that beneath the man's braided beard he could see some semblance of a mysterious half-smile.

"I am merely in thought, General Sue." Sue didn't seem to completely believe him.

"The war has gone well for us, and yet you are not satisfied. The state of affairs in Ba Sing Se bothers you." How looked into those cool green eyes, and wondered how it was that they could so easily peer into the secret's of a man's mind and soul. He nodded gruffly, not wishing to say it out loud lest there be unwanted ears listening. Nonetheless, General Sue didn't appear to be afraid of eavesdroppers. There was something unnerving about a man who was that eternally calm.

"There is little we can do for now, General How," Sue said. "But there will come a day when the Earth King can come into his own as true ruler of our city, of our kingdom. And when that day comes, a soldier such as yourself will be rewarded." How did not feel any less easy about that thought; that could be a long way off, and he imagined Long Feng had enough resources to deny the war forever, if he wanted to.

"Until then, we must make plans." How raised an eyebrow.

"Plans?" he asked mildly.

"The Fire Nation's host is broken for now," said Sue, "but it will not be for long. Large swathes of the countryside are still under the thumb of the Fire Lord. We must free them." He tapped the war board gently, and several of the earthen pieces slid along its marble surface. "And once we have done that, we must prepare our defense for the next thrust." He tapped the board again, and the pieces once again reconfigured themselves. How nodded as he surveyed the moves being made. And as he watched Sue outlining his plan, he was hit with a sudden moment of inspiration.

"Tell me, General Sue," he said. "What do you know of the man they call Hakoda of the Water Tribe?" General Sue looked uncharacteristically nonplussed.

"I have not heard of him," he admitted. How grinned.

"I have," How said. "And I believe he and his Water Tribe brethren may be of use to us yet." He rapped the board slightly, and a small array of stone ships sailed onto the map from the margins. "Let me show you…"

JEONG JEONG

As one, Jeong Jeong's students contorted themselves to match his easy and fluid motions. He was teaching them truly advanced Firebending. They were moves that he himself was quite familiar with, but from the awkwardness of their motions it appeared that his students were having some difficulty. Feeling the big finish to the kata coming upon him, he felt the energy swell in his chest as he shifted his weight and jabbed forth his outstretched palm with all his might like a spearhead, and was rewarded with warmth and an awe-inspiring roar as a massive gout of flame shot into the air before dissipating in a rain of dazzling sparks. He watched as his students completed, and though they were all experienced men of the Fire Nation navy, the results were mostly disappointing. The most impressive student, a steely-faced lieutenant with prominent sideburns, still failed to conjure forth a flame even a third as large as his own. But, Jeong Jeong was a good teacher. They were new to this. He would have patience.

"That was unacceptable," he said harshly, standing up straight and folding his arms behind his back. If an enemy were to see you perform this, they would die of laughter!" He cast a severe eye on all of them. "You all made the same mistake," he began to lecture. "You tried to control your bodies instead of trying to control the flame, and instead you ended up in control of neither." He wheeled his arms around his head and punched the air, blasting forth a narrow streamer of fire whose end resembled the head of a dragon. "You must draw the flame out with your breath, not your hands," he said, careful to keep his breathing steady even as he spoke. The dragon soared majestically around those assembled twice before it burned out and disappeared.

"Let us take a break for an hour," Jeong Jeong said, his tone a bit kinder now. "We will resume the teaching of this form after you all have had something to eat." The crowd of officers dispersed, chatting amongst themselves. Jeong Jeong watched them go with some degree of disappointment. For all their reputation, the sailors in the Fire navy were nowhere near as disciplined as the soldiers that made up their glorious army. He expected he would be teaching them advanced Firebending for a long while yet.

"Admiral Jeong Jeong." The voice broke him out of his reverie. The lieutenant with sideburns was standing there, and the second Jeong Jeong was alert, he immediately sunk into a bow. "Your Firebending prowess is very impressive. You are truly a master of the art," he said eloquently. Jeong Jeong inclined his head in thanks, knowing that the youth was not finished speaking. "I feel held back, however, by the slow progress made by my fellow students…"

"Your progress has not been so quick, either," Jeong Jeong cut across him. He was a ranking officer; interruption was his privelege. The lieutenant shook his head.

"You saw that I was the best of your students," he pressed. "You know that I have greater potential than anyone else on this ship. You know," he added quietly, "that I am the best candidate to pass on your greatest skills to."

"What do you want from me?"

"I wish to have private instruction in addition to our group lessons," he said. There was a hint of demanding in his voice, but Jeong Jeong chose to ignore this, and perhaps attribute it to youthful eagerness. "You can instruct me, and I would be useful as a teaching assistant…" Jeong Jeong took all of this into consideration. Having someone else who could lead the class in exercises would be useful, and he seemed to be enthusiastic about the study of Firebending. At long last, Jeong Jeong nodded slowly.

"Very well," he said. "I will teach you." He held out his hand. "And what is the name of my new pupil?" The lieutenant took it, and there was a grin of triumph on his face, but one that Jeong Jeong was not sure if he liked or not.

"My name is Lieutenant Zhao."