"Hello, Rayna," a deep, husky voice called out.

Rayna looked up towards one of the five old men standing before her. She recognized his voice, but couldn't quite make out his face. It was until the man stepped out from the shadows that Rayna realized who he was. Tears welled up in Rayna's eyes, and she ran into the man's embrace.

Zuko looked over towards Rayna and the mysterious man. Zuko had never seen him before, but Rayna obviously knew him very well, otherwise she wouldn't be so happy to see him. Zuko slowly walked over towards Rayna.

The old man looked over and noticed Zuko approaching them. "And who is this young man?" he asked Rayna.

"Oh, right. I forgot you two hadn't met," Rayna responded. She walked over and grabbed Zuko's hand, pulling him towards the man. "Zuko, this is Morro, my guardian," she said. Zuko extended his hand towards Morro. "And Morro, this is Zuko. He's my…um…," she hesitated.

"Boyfriend," Zuko stated firmly, "I'm her boyfriend,"

Although he looked shocked at first, Morro eventually smiled and shook Zuko's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Zuko. I am Morro, Rayna's master and guardian,"

After shaking Morro's hand, Zuko bowed before him, "It's an honor to meet you, sir. Rayna has told me many wonderful things about you, and I'm glad she has you as her guardian,"

Morro chuckled bit, "My, my, such polite manners for a teenager,"

"So, you don't mind? You know, that I'm her…boyfriend?" Zuko asked.

"Of course I mind," Morro firmly responded. His once smiling face turned into a frown, "If you ever do anything, and I mean anything, to my little girl, I promise that I will hunt you down and torture you to your last dying breath,"

Zuko's eyes went wide with fear, and even the others felt afraid for him. Morro's reaction reminded him of Aram's initial threat towards him back on the airship. Zuko gulped, "I promise, sir, that I will never harm Rayna. I care about her, and I love her,"

Morro continued to stare down at Zuko, "For your sake, I hope you're telling the truth," he said. He then grabbed Rayna and turned away from Zuko. Zuko felt his spirits sink; first Aram, and now Morro too? He couldn't impress anyone in Rayna's family.

After Morro and the other masters revealed that they were members of the Order of the White Lotus and that they were summoned to Ba Sing Sae by Iroh, the Grand Lotus, they led the group to the White Lotus camp to find Iroh. When they arrived, though, Zuko couldn't bring himself to enter Iroh's tent.

Rayna looked over and saw him sitting in front of the tent. "Morro, I'll be back," she said as she walked away. Although Morro wanted to stop her, he knew that Rayna was determined to comfort Zuko so there was nothing he could say or do to convince her to stay. Instead, he sat back and observed Zuko and Rayna's interaction.

Rayna sat down next to Zuko and gently held his hand, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Zuko lowered his head, "No, I'm not okay. My uncle hates me, I know it. He loved and supported me in every way he could, and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?"

"Zuko," Rayna said gently, "You're sorry for what you did, right?"

Zuko looked her in the eyes and nodded, "Sorrier than I've been about anything in my entire life,"

Rayna smiled sweetly, "Then he'll forgive you. He will,"

Once Zuko went into the tent, Rayna walked back towards Morro. He leaned against a rock wall with a proud smile on his face. "What are you smiling about?" Rayna asked curiously as she leaned next to him.

"You remind me so much of your mother. She too had a healing soul," he responded.

"What do you mean? I was just comforting him,"

"True, you were comforting him. But it's more how you comforted him," he explained, "He was so unsure and scared of facing his uncle, but, the moment you walked over and reached out to him, his body and mind was immediately calmed and soothed," he smiled, "Perhaps I've misjudged your relationship with him,"

"I'm guessing Aram told you about him?"

Morro chuckled, "The moment we asked about you, he immediately told us about Zuko. We didn't believe him at first, but he kept insisting that Zuko would lead you to a life of lies and a heart full of pain and sorrow. The moment I saw the burn mark on your shoulder, I realized that Aram wasn't lying about Zuko hurting you. That's why I was so cold towards him. But seeing you two together just now, I feel that you will be safe in his hands," he smiled.

Rayna rolled her eyes, "I'm safe in my own hands, thank you very much. Just because I'm dating him doesn't mean he has any power or control over me. The only person in control of me is me,"

"You truly are your mother's daughter," he smiled. Soon, though, his smile turned into a serious expression, "Rayna, I know when something is troubling you. You can try to hide it all you want, but I know when your mind is flooded with worries,"

Rayna sighed, "Guess I never could hide anything from you,"

"You might as well tell me what's wrong, child. I'd never permit you to enter battle with a cluttered mind; what kind of master would I be if I did that?"

Rayna sighed again, "It's hard to explain. The short version is that I'm not sure if I can fulfill my destiny as a warrior,"

"I see. I assume that this must do with the fate of the Fire Lord?" he asked. Rayna nodded in response. "But that's not what your worried about, is it? You're worried that you might have to take someone's life during battle, correct?"

Rayna nodded, "You once told me that it takes away your life when you take someone else's life. You also taught me that Ying and Yang exists within everyone; no one is inherently good or evil,"

"It's good to know that you've listened to your master's words of wisdom," he said, "But, Rayna. You are projecting your own worries onto Aang's destiny. I assume that you've been worrying about the Fire Lord's fate for a few days now, even though it is not your destiny to face him and defeat him. Although I'm disappointed with your misplaced judgment, I understand why you are scared. As a young man, I would've never imagined that one day I would be fighting for my life as well as my village's. The idea that I would face the decision to either kill someone or spare them terrified me,"

He continued, "However, a long time ago, I read something that stated 'True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one,'. In the worst-case scenarios, you will need to take someone's life; unfortunately, that is a part of war. And yes, taking someone's life will haunt you for the rest of yours. But you are smart enough to put aside your personal feelings and do what needs to be done," he sighed, "I understand that I am contradicting what I've told you before, but I'm an old man with many different experiences. I can't always offer the best judgement calls if they are based solely on my experiences. Then again, I told you long ago that I wasn't always right rather I had more experience being wrong,"

"But remember," he said, "You are the one who forges your path; only you can make your decisions. Just as you said earlier, the only person in control of you is you. Take what I say with a grain of rice, and know that you and I will never share the same life experiences,"

Rayna nodded her head, "You're right. I didn't want to deal with the idea of deciding someone's fate, so I turned my problem into Aang's problem. Frankly, I have no business worrying about or trying to decide Aang's fate and neither does everyone else. We should only be worried about what happens in the aftermath of either his victory or defeat,"

Morro smiled, "You are a teenager, yet you are wise beyond your years," he said as he patted her head. "But, there is another thing worrying you, is there not?"

Rayna chuckled, "Perceptive as ever, I see. Do I even need to tell you, or have you already figured it out?"

"I've figured it out," Morro admitted, "But I would like to hear it from you,"

Rayna sighed, "I'm not…ready. I'm not ready to lose more people to this war. I've already lost mom and dad, and I lost Aram once before. Mom and dad…they died protecting me. And Aram…he was captured protecting me. I already have so many scars, I don't know if I can live with anymore," she admitted, "Off topic, but where are Aram, Zed, Loch, and Sabre?"

"Not too long after you left, Zed had been recruited by and joined the Earth Kingdom military. Also, Saber traveled to the North Pole to join their army. By the time we met up with Aram, only Loch and I remained, and I had already been summoned by the Grand Lotus to come to Ba Sing Sae. Last I heard, Aram and Loch were tracking down and helping war prisoners from Zai escape. In other words, they should be alright," he said,

"Rayna, I must be frank with you. Death will happen; it's inevitable in war. You may very well lose your friends, and you may very well lose your own life. Someone may die trying to protect you, or you may die trying to protect someone. I cannot give you any advice that would ease your worries in this case. I've always been an honest man, and I've never sugar coated anything for you, even when you were a little girl," he firmly stated, "All I can say is that the ones we love never leave us. They only die when we forget them. Whether it's you, I, or any other of your loved ones, we will die knowing that we fought for something we believed it. We were willing to sacrifice our lives in the battle for peace, and I think that's the greatest death anyone could ask for,"

Rather than verbally respond, Rayna started to softly weep. She knew Morro was right, but it didn't make it any easier. As she wept, Morro reached over and pulled her into an embrace. Sometimes the best thing to say was nothing at all and to let actions speak louder than words. He continued to comfort her for the next hour until she separated herself from his embrace.

"Thank you, Morro," Rayna said, "Thank you for always being there for me and knowing what I need to do to heal or succeed,"

"You're welcome, Rayna," Morro smiled.

"Oh, there's one more thing I have to tell you,"

"What is it?"

"I'm a waterbender,"

Morro paused and stared at Rayna for a bit, "Well I'll be damned," he started to laugh, "I can't believe that bastard was right! Looks like I owe him some money,"

Rayna tilted her head in confusion, "What bastard? What was he right about?"

"Oh it's nothing. Long ago, Zed, Loch, Saber, and I placed bets on if you'd be a bender. Later, we added what kind of bender we bet you'd be if you were a bender. Aram even got in on the action when we met up,"

"You guys placed bets on me?! Wait, is that why you taught me the basic bending moves? Because you weren't sure if I'd be a bender or not?"

"That's exactly why. Still, hard to believe that Saber won the bet. Zed and I bet that you wouldn't be a bender, Loch bet that you'd be an earthbender like your mother, Aram bet that you'd surprise us and be an airbender, and Saber bet that you'd be a waterbender like your father," he laughed, "I mean, a waterbender? You can't even swim! It's just too ironic,"

Rayna looked at him with an angered expression, before it softened into a small laugh, "Yeah, you're right. A waterbender who can't swim? Weird if you ask me," she smiled.