Burn My Dread Complete

By Iain R. Lewis

Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.

"Your love's still with me. You gotta tell me, you're looking over me."

-- When Moon's Reaching Out Stars

Month 3: The Lovers

I Am Thou

Crack!

"And another!"

Another, louder crack, echoed in the empty lecture hall. Aang stood, staff at the ready, but the weapon was falling out of his fingers at the scene in front of him. Azula and Katara watched equally dumbfounded.

Toph was boxing a badger mole.

"Come on, come on, just going to take that! Bring it!"

Correction, Aang mentally added, she's beating a badger mole in a boxing match. The Spirit looked absolutely dumbfounded, as much as a badger mole could look, anyway, and as it roared, she punched it straight in the nose.

"Toph, uh," Katara started, slowly, hesitatingly adding, "Maybe you shouldn't provoke it--"

"Maybe you're right, Katara," Toph said, matter of factly. She paused for a second, and then said, "Nah, this is too much fun. Hey, I just saw the nicest badger-mole fur rug for sale, was that your mother?"

She threw another punch and her fist stopped mid-air, just short of hitting the Badger-Mole spirit. At first it seemed like Toph was playing a trick on the Spirit, but she grunted, trying to pull her hand back. "What the --"

The badger mole craned its head and the stone gloves -- with Toph still in them -- were sent flying across the room. "Well," Azula said, watching the arc of Toph's trajectory, "That was certainly pointless."

"Well, at least the spirit is punch-drunk now," Katara said.

"Yes, indeed. Let's be positive, yes?"

"Er, y, yes!" Katara said. She muttered, under her breath. "We're in so much trouble now."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Azula!"

Aang tightened his grip on his staff, and with a wide swing, he shot out a bursst of air, knocking some of the chairs into the creature's path. The Spirit knocked them aside, blindly. It seemed to be sniffing around for a scent, and it located one, moving slowly towards Katara.

"Oh great," she said. She bended the water out of her water bottle, and it snaked up to her hand. "I can do this!" She whipped at the creature's snout, and with a loud crack, it connected. The creature reared back, and sniffed around some more. "That didn't seem to hurt it."

"No," Azula said, "It wouldn't. This thing is thick-skinned. It's going to take more advanced Waterbending than just your Water Whip, Katara." Azula took a running start at the Spirit, "Let me show you." She kicked, blue flames igniting mid-air, and she landed with a fiery burst.

The Spirit squelched the flames with its claws, and swiping at Azula, who dodged expertly. "All right, perhaps this is going to be tougher than I imagined." Aang blew more chairs in the Spirit's path, and he ran at it with his staff at the ready.

He smacked it in the snout, and then striking again with a blast of air aimed at its claws. "This thing is tough," he muttered, as it launched back several feet, and climbed back ot its feet. "No matter what we do, it just doesn't seem to want to stay down."

He took position in front of it, ready to face it down, Avatar to Spirit.

"Move aside."

Before he could make any protests, the ground beneath him slid him to the right and Toph walked forward, rolling up her sleeves. "Toph? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Didn't I say this was between me and the Badger Mole? Leave this to me."

She stared down the Badger Mole, as best she could when blindfolded, and she punched the ground. A fissure extended from the point of impact across to the Badger Mole. It erupted with a massive stone spike, and the Badger Mole was knocked aside. It recovered, destroying the spike and bending it towards Toph.

Toph grinned, punching it mid-air and shattering it completely. She then turned on her heel, bending the earth beneath the Badger Mole, and causing it to sink into the floor. The creature climbed back up, bending the floor around it upwards like a barrier, and then knocking the bits out in all directions.

Aang leapt up into the air, and looked down as Toph tore apart the barrier flying at her and rushed at her opponent, punching it square in the snout. As he landed, the creature was still reeling underneath a barrage of punches, the earth underneath Toph heaving under her attacks.

"Toph, do you need any --"

"Handling it, Twinkletoes."

"Oh, okay."

"Maybe you should make sure Power Princess and Sugar Queen aren't buried under that rubble."

"Oh! Oh, good idea." Aang turned to the others. Azula seemed to be all right, pushing off pieces of stone with relatively few injuries. "Azula, where's Katara?"

"Somewhere," she muttered, "How should I know?"

She grunted, "Are you okay?" he asked her, as he helped her to her feet. "You look like you got hit hard."

"Maybe," Azula said. She pulled her hand away quickly, "Find Katara, I'll be all right."

"Okay," Aang answered, turning to look for Katara,

"Aang, wait," Azula called, suddenly, "I think I see her." He turned, and saw her pointing at a large piece of the floor that had been wedged up by the main corridor. "Katara! Are you okay?"

"I'm -- I'm okay, but I'm kind of stuck. I can't move my arm."

"Does it hurt to move it?" Aang asked.

"No, it's just," she grunted, as she pulled at her arm, "My forearm's too big to fit in through the space. Oh, my spirits, that was close --"

"Don't think about that,' Azula said. "Aang, I know you've been practicing your Earthbending, but I don't think you have the precision to move this without hurting Katara."

"Yeah," Aang said. He was barely grasping the basics as it stood, but he didn't want to tell Katara and Azula that, "But Toph's busy with that Badger Mole."

"I'll be okay," Katara said. "I can wait until Toph's done."

"G, great," Azula said, leaning down against the wall, "That'll be great. For you."

"Azula?" Aang asked, eyes widening, "You're bleeding!"

"Yeah, thanks for noticing," she muttered.

"You need healing."

"No, really? I need healing, well, I suppose I'm just a fool for foolishly thinking I'd be fine. Katara is our only healer, we just have to hope Toph deals with that spirit fast."

"Aang could do it." Aang looked up, and back at Katara. "It's easy, Aang. You know the basics." She grimaced, "First, you need to see how severe the wound is." Azula's face flushed. "Where are you bleeding, Azula?"

"My abdomen."

"Uh," Aang said, "So, I need to look at it?"

"Yes," Katara said. "Azula, trust me, Aang can do this."

"Fine." She lifted up her uniform's blouse enough to show the wound. Her blood was covering the majority of the scrape, but it was a deep wound. "There, see it? Is that good?"

"Wow, Azula," Katara said, "You sound embarrassed. Aang, how bad is it?"

"It's a big scrape, and it's bleeding a lot."

"Okay, that's good, Aang. Really!"

"What?"

"It means it's not a severe wound," she said. "But we have to stop the bleeding. You have your water bottle on you, right?" Aang answered, and she made a relieved sound, "I was worried you'd have to bend it from mine over here. Okay, bend the water over the wound."

He did so.

"Is it in place? Now, this is the tricky part. You have to use the water as a focus for her naturally energy. Her 'chi', to use an old Earth Kingdom medical term. It flows through the body, just like water, so you'll be able to bend it towards the water on the wound."

Aang nodded, and focused. As he did this, the water gained a pale glow. He gasped, surprised, but kept his focus as best he could. "Aang, is it working?"

"I think so -- Azula?"

He turned to her, and found her watching him with a critical expression on her face. Upon his eyes meeting hers, she looked embarrassed, "I'm fine, now. I must say, Aang, I'm surprised you picked up that so quickly. It took Katara months, and meetings wtih old Water Tribe healers who still remembered the old traditions."

"Hey!"

"Katara's just a... good teacher, I guess," he said.

"Indeed." She pulled down her blouse over her stomach, and stood up. "Well, I feel much, much better. Katara, are you going to be all right here?"

"Yes," she said, "Though my arm is killing me. This is so not comfortable." She laughed weakly. Azula frowned, and waved Aang away dismissively.

"I'll stay here with Katara. It's pretty obvious Toph can handle this without me. Go."

"Okay --"

Azula sat down by the slab of rubble. "You know, you're a horrible liar. Your arm's fine, how about your legs?"

"Okay, one of them's definitely pinned under here," Katara said. "But don't tell Aang."

"I won't," she said. "I just hope Toph stops toying around with that thing."

"Let's be positive," Katara murmured. "This dumb spirit -- why'd it have to be an Earthbender?"

"Okay, Boomerang is somewhere," Sokka said, going down a mental checklist, "Club is ready to go. Spirit is beckoning me to attack. And it's got both fans at the ready. Okay, this will go terrific if I just charge blindly."

Instead, he put away his club. "Hey, Zuko!"

"Yeah?" Zuko said. He stood in front of Yue, acting as her protector. Though the spirit seemed entirely focused on Sokka, he didn't know when it was going to get bored with him and decide that the defenseless spirit would be a fun plaything.

"Think you can give me a hand here?"

The spirit cocked her head, and looked at Zuko. It smiled, though it wasn't the threatening smile Zuko imagined it would be giving him. It seemed almost peaceful. "Okay," he said, tentatively, "What do you need me to do?"

"Tackle her."

"What?"

"Just do it!" Sokka said. The Spirit waited expectantly, he looked over at Sokka, who shook his head and waved his hands, telling him not to look over at him. The Kyoshi Warrior turned to look over at Sokka, who whistled innocently, and then back at Zuko. She put a hand on her hip and waved him over.

Zuko prepared to lunge, when he noticed Sokka was right behind her with his club at the ready. He tried to avert his eyes, but it was too late. The Warrior noticed his gaze, and turned behind her, finding the club coming down on her hard.

With a crack, she doubled over. make-up flaking to the ground. She looked up, and a whole side of her face was gone. There was nothing underneath it, it looked like a doll had been smashed in by an unruly child.

She rose to her feet and struck, Sokka ducked under the first strike, but was blindsided by a sudden kick to his stomach.

He struggled for breath, and when he looked up, she came at him with a fan aimed clearly at his face. He brought his hand up to hold hers back, and found himself amazed as she struggled to break his grip.

Zuko frowned. "Idiot, I'm an idiot."

"Don't blame yourself, Zuko," Yue said, putting a hand on his shoulder, He shrugged it off, but she didn't seem offended. She looked to her side, thinking. "We need to think of a way to help Sokka. Can't you attack it?"

"I don't think it'll do much. It seems resilient to everything but Sokka's weapons. Sokka's -- his boomerang!"

"Oh, good idea. But where did it land," she muttered, looking around. "There!" she pointed to some dense plantlife. Zuko ran there, rustling through the branches, and grabbing it. "Do you know how to use it?"

"Not a clue," Zuko said. "I'll figure it out."

"Okay, if you say so," Yue said, unconvinced. "You can't afford to miss, Zuko!"

"I know!" he grunted. "Just throw it, right?"

"At an angle," Yue added. "You want it to arc."

"Arc, okay," Zuko said, rolling his eyes, "This thing sounds so easy to use!"

"I don't know much more than you," she apologized.

"Well, let's just hope someone up there likes us, okay?"

He threw the boomerang. It didn't fly quite as fast or as true as when Sokka used it, but it still flew through the air, and hit the warrior in the back of the head. Reeling forward, pieces of make-up fell on Sokka, and when she looked up, only her eyes remained. She stumbled backwards, and struck with a desperate swing of her fans.

Sokka deflected it with his club, and struck with his own attack.

The spirit didn't have time to react as the club struck her straight across the eyes. The make-up shattered, and in its place, nothing. Falling to its knees, the spirit vanished. Sokka looked around. "Did we destroy it?"

"I don't know," Yue said. "I still sense something -- be on your guard, everyone."

"We should tell the others," Sokka said. "I don't know what's going on, but I've got a bad feeling about it."

"Right," Zuko said. "Still don't like this."

"Yeah, yeah, we know. Mr. Gloomy doesn't like something, stop the presses," Sokka said. He received a growl from Zuko for his joke. "Some people don't appreciate good humor."

But from behind them, something laughed. I am thou...

The Badger Mole spirit roared in pain as it struggled to keep its footing. Toph's attacks came relentlessly, and she'd left her humor behind. She was angry, and it showed. She stomped and spun her heel, and the earth underneath one of the Spirit's legs sunk, and with her hand she raised up its claw with a jutting column of stone.

Unable to hold its balance, it fell flat to the ground,

"Toph, we need to hurry, Katara's in trouble --"

"Right, Aang, I'll just finish this thing off right now, why not?"

"Really?"

"Not really! No matter what I do it just seems to want to keep going," she said, "Whatever it is, it's really persistent." She grunted as the earth beneath her jutted up. She smashed it down with a solid punch. "And to make matters worse, it's almost impossible to read what it's going to do. Badger Moles don't bend earth like Xin Fu did."

She paused, and grinned, "But I know what it reminds me of!"

"What?"

"They see like I do," she said. "But I've got the advantage here." She removed her blindfold. "Oh, I'd hold onto something. This is going to get a little quakey."

"A little -- are you nuts? Katara's --"

"In trouble, I know."

"She's under a rock slab!"

"She's what -- oh, boy, this just makes this more fun."

"You're going to --"

"Make this floor rattle so that vibrations are all fuzzy," she said. "Try some of that Airbender thinking you keep using."

"That could cause the rock --"

"Relax, Fancy Dancer, I know what I'm doing," she answered. She took a breath as she dropped into her stance. The earth around her began to shake, the sound of chairs moving left and right, rattlng as they went.

The Badger Mole looked around, sniffing. It dug its claws into the ground, and it seemed to brace itself ro an attack. Toph frowned, "This isn't going to be easy, actually."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure I trust this looking thing."

"Relax, you're Toph. You'll do fine, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, "Sure, I'm all confident most of the time, but this is kind of new ground I'm crossing here."

"Just take it slow, okay?"

"Yeah, good idea," she said. She slid her feet out into a wider stance, more like the one she'd shown him earlier that morning. Then, she struck with a jutting rock attack from both sides of the creature. The shaking stopped as the rocks burst out from underneath the flooring, and it turned to strike one, tearing its claws out of ground to cut it in two.

The rock on the other side struck it clean, and there was a clear cry of pain as it pierced the badger mole's flank.

"Got you." She grinned at Aang, "Okay, let's go get Katara out of there."

"Are you sure you got him --" he stopped, watching the Spirit. "Toph, something's happening." She turned, and narrowed her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Like I'd know."

The Badger Mole shrunk. Its claws became fingers, and its snout moved back into its face, arcing into a human nose. The markings on its face remained, and the person looked up. He was young, fair, and he seemed to be clutching his side where he'd been struck as a Badger Mole. "What the --"

He smiled at them, but without a word, he fell to his knees and vanished.

"That was weird --"

"No time, Twinkle-Toes. Katara needs us, remember?" she said.

"Yeah, let's go."

Toph looked at the rock slab, and frowned. "Ouch, that's a big one." she pulled down her blindfold and closed her eyes, frowning, "This is going to be tough. Good thing the Amateur here didn't give it a try, or Katara'd be needing a wheelchair by now."

"Toph --" Katara muttered.

"Don't worry, I can do this," she said. She felt the rock with her hands, and then slammed down on it, The rock crumpled up under her hands and she raised the slab's lower edges up, and opened up a larger hole for her arm.

"Katara!" Aang cried out, "Your leg."

"I'll be fine, I just need to heal it," she said. "That rock took me by surprise, that's all. Did you beat that spirit?"

"I think so," Aang said.

"You think so?" Azula said, raising her eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean? Did you think you defeated Koh, too?"

"It just kind of vanished," Toph said. "After turning into a guy."

"A guy?" Katara asked, bending her water over her leg, "What do you mean?"

"Like he looked sort of human," she explained, "But not. It's really hard to explain. Anyway, after he did that he kind of disappeared, and not in the usual way Spirits do."

"Very peculiar," Azula said. "Regardless, when Katara's ready, I think we should find an exit. I think we've done enough exploration for now. And hopefully with that creature defeated, we'll see less cases of Apathy Syndrome."

"I hope so," Katara said. "Okay, I'm ready. Where do we go? The path back was a dead end anyway, and now we can't even go back that way with all of this rubble."

Aang looked over towards the wall they were exploring before they were attacked. The projector was still on, its light cast down a long passageway behind the screen. "There," he said, "We'll go that way."

"Lead on," Katara said, smiling as best she could.

Behind them, something lingered.

...Thou art I...

"I sense Aang and everyone about seventy-five floors up." Yue continued to look around, eyes glowing with her spiritual energy, as she tried to sense higher up the tower.

"That's pretty high," Sokka said. "Do you sense anyone else in here?"

"No," she said. "No one is in this tower except Aang, Katara, Azula and Toph."

"That's not good," Sokka said. Zuko just grunted, looking at the elevator. He cocked his head to the side. "What is it?"

"This thing's working now?"

"Yeah," Sokka said, "Why? Wasn't it working for you? How'd you get out of here before?"

"I don't remember," Zuko said. "I must have used this, but I don't know how."

"I have good news!" Yue said. "The elevator can carry us up to the seventy-fifth floor! We can meet up with them and decide our next course of action. And we can tell them about the strange behavior of that spirit."

"Sounds good to me. Come on, guys, we're going to go up and give them some back-up."

Zuko nodded, grunting. He looked around the foyer. Besides the elevator it looked much the same. The main stairwell circled up the tower, and at the top, dangling seemingly in mid-air, a clock spun around.

The clock was closer to midnight than he remembered.

"Coming, Zuko?" Yue asked. The door to the elevator was behind held open for him. He walked on, and looked around. "Don't worry, I know it looks like it's about to break, but it works just fine."

"Hrm."

"Oh, don't be a big grouch," Sokka said. "It's fast, too." The elevator creaked to life, and began to climb the many floors of the tower. Zuko looked around. Through cracks in the tower, he could see the Spirit World, briefly, and as he got higher and higher, it became more obscured in cloud. "Pretty high, huh?"

"Yeah," Zuko agreed.

"Well, there's a lot more to go."

"We're here," Yue said. "I sense them, just outside. But they seem on edge."

"Well, I don't see why. I mean, Elevator floors are generally pretty safe, right? Spirits don't hang round there. Let's go out and say hell- oww!"

His face was dripping wet, and a red welt where his face had been stung by Katara's water whip just made the swelling cheek look even funnier. "What was that for?"

"Sokka!"

"Katara, I know you have your magic fun water time," Sokka said, "But now isn't the time for it, okay? Everyone all right? What's going on?"

"We thought you were a spirit," Azula said. "Toph told us she felt some things inside."

"Whoops," Toph said, whistling innocently.

"You knew it was us, didn't you!" he accused. Toph looked over at him and batted her eyelashes.

"Me? Do that? Oh, Sokka! That's so mean!"

"You are so evil, Toph Bei Fong. So evil."

"Lay off her,' Zuko said. "It was funnier than your 'Stop the Presses' joke."

"See? See? Someone gets it, Snoozles. Thanks Sparkplug," she laughed. "So, you guys finished off that spirit, huh? Took you long enough. And here we were dealing with a badger mole."

"You fought the spirit that -- "

"That ran you over? Sure did, Sparks," she said. "I beat it up, solo, naturally." She laughed in a confident manner. "So we were just about to get out of here and you guys show up. Sorry, Snoozles, but it was too much fun."

"She told me it was weak to water," Katara said.

"See? I could have told Azula to burn your face off," Toph said.

"Indeed," Azula said, rolling her eyes. "I think we need to be serious. Your spirit is terminated?"

"Well, yes and no," Sokka said. "We don't know exactly what happened. It disappeared after I broke its face off."

"We helped!" Yue interjected suddenly.

"Yeah, those two helped me. Okay, so, after I beat it, and it's busy groveling at my feet, it just sort of disappeared suddenly. Not like your usual disappear into a cloud of spirit energy type thing that spirits usually do, either."

"Yours too?" Katara asked.

"Wait, you mean yours did it too?"

"Yeah!"

"That's odd."

"Ours turned into a guy," Toph added. "Looked like he had a badger mole face, though, which is just totally weird."

"A man with a badger mole face --?" Yue asked, and then quietened herself. She looked around, and no one seemed to have heard her. She sighed in relief.

"Yeah," Zuko said. "I think they retreated. We should wait and see. If the situation back home improves, I think we can say we've dealt with the problem ahead of time."

"I hope so," Katara murmured. "I want to enjoy being a normal student and go to a dance without having to worry about some weird monster ruining it."

"Me too," Azula said. Everyone looked at her, shocked. "What? You think I don't wish to be done with these responsibilities so I can live a normal life?"

"Well," Sokka said, "No, actually."

He received a sharp elbow to his ribs for that, and Katara smiled as warmly as she could manage, "Sokka's being dumb. Of course we know you want a normal life, Azula, but it's still a bit weird to hear you say that."

"Yeah," Toph said, "You just seem like you naturally fit into the whole Bending Club thing."

"Well, what about you, Toph?" Azula spoke, sharply, "You seem to fit naturally into it, too."

"You kidding? I love this! I'd like a spirit to crash the party, it's going to be a drag anyway. I mean, you two are so transparent even I can see what you're hoping for at the dance. You two are total girls."

"Wh, what?" Azula said, going pale.

"What are you talking about?" Katara said, blushing.

"El Oh Vee Ee," Toph said, and she broke out laughing, "I mean honestly, you're both so painfully obvious. Right, Yue?"

"Oh," she said, quietly, "I guess so. It's quite naturally, though. Dancing together, the lights all low, who wouldn't want a little romance. I bet even you wouldn't be able to resist it, Toph."

"Oh, yeah, me, in love, that's a good one."

Zuko rolled his eyes, "We're sitting here and gossiping? This is a waste of time."

"Of course, Zuzu doesn't have a normal bone in his body," Azula commented.

"I want this done with, I wish I hadn't ever become a Bender," Zuko said, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to go around making believe that I can live a normal life because of it. If I'm going to be forced to do this, we're going to get it done quickly."

"Look," Sokka said, putting his arms up, "We're all a little tired. I think it's time for us to go home and get some rest. I mean, sure, we all want normal lives, but we've got a job to do. The world is counting on us, even if they don't know it."

"You're right," Azula said. "Let's get home."

Aang sighed.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked him.

"I want a normal life more than anything, but I'm the Avatar. Even after this is done, I don't think my life will ever be 'normal' again."

"It'll be all right," she said. "You'll see. When all this is done, you can go back to a normal life. And you'll have made lifetime friends with me, Sokka, Toph, Yue, Azula, and even Zuko."

"Yeah," Aang said. "We'll always be friends, won't we."

"Of course," she said.

"I, er, I -- " he hesitated, and then, quietly, said, "Never mind. it's nothing."

"All right," she said, looking aside. "Toph's just being silly. We don't really have time to think about love with all of this. We never know what'll happen next."

"Oh, oh, yeah," he said.

"It's confusing," she continued.

"Definitely. But after this is done --"

"I want to get a boyfriend when all of this is done," she said, "I haven't had time because of this stupid club and the swimming team after school."

"You're on the swimming team?"

"Mhm," she said, laughing, "Didn't know? Can't blame you. I keep it secret. There are some admirers at school who are a bit too ardent, if you catch my drift."

"Oh, right," Aang laughed.

"But it helps keep me in shape for our trips. Azula encouraged me to join it. But it takes up so much time--"

"Hey!"

Toph sounded impatient.

"Can we get going, you two?" she asked. "I've got an appointment with my pillow that I don't wanna miss."

"Oh, right, sorry, Toph," Katara said. "Just discussing something with Aang."

"I see that," she muttered, "Come on, Twinkle Toes. We got to be up bright and early."

"Again?" Aang moaned. "Toph, can't we take a break?"

Aang had a few more bumps on his head the next morning. He was found on the couch by Zuko when he came down for breakfast. The weekend was upon them, and he was dressed in something far more casual than his usual phoenix coat. The weather was getting very warm, and summer was just on the brink.

"Hey, wake up," Zuko said, poking him. "Some Avatar, sleeping on the job." He rolled his eyes and sat down on the chair.

"Oh, Zuko," Aang said, rubbing his head, "I had this awful dream. I dreamt Toph was hitting me with rocks all day."

He wanted to say something, but instead, he just rolled his eyes, "Get some breakfast."

"But I want to sleep some more," he sighed.

"He who sleeps all day wastes half of his life accomplishing nothing," Zuko said in a turn of uncharacteristic wisdom.

"Who told you that?" Aang asked. Zuko shrugged, and offered him some cereal. "Oh, thanks. You're up early for a weekend."

"Force of habit," he answered. "Yesterday was busy, so I think taking a few days off from traveling in the Spirit World may be wisest. We should wait until we have a better idea of the progress we made."

"Yeah," Aang agreed.

"Azula will probably try and encourage you to explore more," he grinned, "She's impatient, and it doesn't do us any good just aimlessly exploring an empty tower."

"Oh," Aang said. "So Yue didn't sense anything?"

"Nothing," he seemed angry, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel about that. I guess it's good that they're not there, but at least we had an idea where they went. Katara may be right, the spirits just ate them --"

"But --"

"Yeah," Zuko said. "No luck with them, either. Which means they either really ran away, or we got the wrong spirits."

Aang sighed, "I hope not. I don't want to fight anymore of them. I feel bad for those poor spirits. Their home is being destroyed."

"While maybe if we were able to negotiate your compassion would be helpful, Avatar," Zuko said, "We're at war. Total destruction is their goal, and we are the last line of defense."

Aang nodded, gloomily. "I have a headache."

"I can tell."

"Thanks," Aang muttered. "Toph is so rough."

"So?"

"So, I'd rather learn Earthbending from Katara."

Zuko sighed, "Doesn't work that way, Aang. Different bending styles, different personalities, different ways of doing. Earthbending has a few fancy moves, like making the earth beneath you give way, or shaping rocks, but it's pretty direct. Waterbending is more about movement, so it can't be taught the same way."

"And Firebending?"

"Firebending requires a lot of drive."

"That's why Azula's so good at it?"

"Yeah," Zuko said, distastefully. "She's a natural. Born lucky."

"Well, I bet you're really good at it too, but I never see you bend," Aang said. "Why not?"

"Not good at it," he said.

"I bet you're better than you think. Come on, you should show me!"

"No," Zuko said. "Like I said, Azula was born lucky -- I was lucky to be born."

Aang frowned. "Who told you something like that?"

"No one," he muttered in a clear lie. "Look, never mind. I'm just bad at Firebending, okay? I don't have a drive or reason, just a lot of anger."

"Zuko," he said. "You need to have more confidence in yourself."

"Whatever. You kids keep yourselves out of trouble today, I'm going out," he said, getting to his feet. "See ya." He left through the front door, and didn't look back. Aang sighed, trying to figure out what he learned about Zuko there.

Aang went out that afternoon, riding on the tram down to the Upper Ring shopping centers. The ride was enjoyable, and his head felt less like Toph took a drill to it now that he'd taken some medicine. Looking around, he saw a girl looking around sheepishly. She seemed familiar somehow.

"Hi," Aang said, as a friendly overture.

"Oh, uh, hi," she said. "Did you need something?"

"Not really," Aang said, getting the sense the girl wanted to be left alone. "Is everything okay? You seem nervous."

"Not nervous! Okay, maybe a little bit nervous," she admitted, "But it's nothing. Er, sorry."

"That's okay," Aang said, confused. He sighed. The girl seemed to be in her second year of high school, at least, if Earth Kingdom schools were anything like the Phoenix Center School. She fidgeted nervously, and at the next stop, got off the tram.

At the following stop, he got off the tram and started to head down the stairs when he heard someone approaching him. "Aang," the voice belonged to Hakoda. It sounded very winded, and he turned around and said hello. Hakoda ignored his greeting, "Did you see this girl on the tram?"

"Huh?"

Hakoda had shown him the picture before, but this time he recognized heer. The picture was the same as the second year girl he'd seen on the tram. He nodded. "You saw her? Where did she go?"

"She got off at the last station," he said, "Why? Wait! That's the girl you're looking for?"

"Aang, did you talk to her? Did she say anything?":

"I said hi, that's about it.; Uh, Mr. Floes? Is everything all right."

He grimaced, "Yeah, just barely missed her. We've been trying to figure out where she's been staying. Last lead was a dead-end, but Bato's working a new lead, and said she's been spotted in this district a lot."

"Oh," Aang sighed, "I'm sorry, Mr. Floes. If I'd known--"

Hakoda looked angry for a moment, and then sighed, calming himself down, "Not your fault. Maybe I've just been working this case too hard. Did she seem hurt, or scared?"

"No," he said, "She looked perfectly fine, just like she was shy for some reason. Maybe a little jittery."

"Hey, do you know this kid named Zuko by any chance?"

Aang nodded.

"Yeah, he's Azula's brother, isn't he? So you'd have known him. Apparently the girl spent a lot of time at that tea shop he works at. Can you ask him to come talk to me when he gets a chance? I think he can give me a new lead or two."

"Sure!" Aang said.

As Aang walked away, happy to help Katara's father and feeling a better understanding of him, he was stopped by Bato, who looked more distressed than Hakoda did. "Did you happen to see that old idiot around here anywhere?" Bato said, after greeting Aang.

"Yeah," Aang answered, "He just asked me if I saw that girl you're looking for, and wondered if I could--"

"Great," Bato said, in a very dry voice, "He's making a bigger idiot of himself than I thought. Look, whatever he's asking you to do, forget it. From what I've been finding, this case isn't quite as clear cut as it seems."

"Uh, Bato, why are you angry with Hakoda. He's just worried about this girl."

"No he's not," Bato said, "He's worried because he's picturing his daughter in the same situation and acting like a father, not like a detective. We're supposed to be investigators. We discover the truth, we don't let our personal problems get involved. He's letting other things cloud his judgment right now."

"You really think so?"

"I've got a few more follow-ups to do," Bato admitted, "But I've got a pretty good picture of what's really going on. What did he ask you to do for him, anyway?"

"Talk to Zuko."

"Hah, so he's actually getting some progress after all," Bato grinned. "Even when he's being an idiot he's got that natural luck of his working for him. Well, don't worry about that, I did talk to Zuko already. Said he'd seen her in there a bunch. Last time, though, he saw her yelling with a woman."

"What?"

"Turns out she was yelling with our client, her mother. He couldn't make out much, but as far as he could tell, they were arguing about her father."

"And?"

"Split up," he said. "Sort of sad, in a way. He lives around this way. When we got the job, I put in a request for some information on him, but Hakoda went about it in his pigheaded way. You're Sokka's friend, right? He takes after his old man, so you can just imagine how it must be for me to work with him."

"Oh," Aang said, "I'm real sorry."

"It works sometimes," he admitted. Aang nodded. "But anyway, don't worry about Hakoda. I'll keep him in line."

"Okay, Bato!" he said. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Got a feeling I'm going to need it." He seemed to understand Bato better, as well, and wondered if the two of them would ever really solve that case.

Aang headed to the mall, and stayed there until it grew late. Taking the tram ride home was uneventful, and he entered the dormitory just after the sun set. Azula was in the lounge when he arrived. She looked up, "Welcome home," she said, and looked back down.

"Hi, Azula. Where is everyone?"

"Katara and Sokka have decided to go home for the evening," she said, "They'll be back later. Zuko is Agni knows where, and Toph said she was going to go do some training at the old construction yard. It's just you and me for now."

"Ah," Aang said.

"Yes, uh, I was wanting to ask you something," she said, rigidly. She seemed altogether uncomfortable. "That is, I wanted to ask you, if you aren't busy, of course. I understand if you have other plans, as well."

"What?"

"Just -- never mind," she relaxed, "It's nothing important at all."

"What? Now I'm curious." She frowned and shook her head, "Oh, fine. I'll just have to figure it out on my own."

She turned pale, "You can do that?"

"I'll just ask Sokka to teach me how to be a detective! It'll be like learning another form of bending." She visibly relaxed, and let loose her bated breath. "What?"

"Nothing. For a moment, I thought you were being serious." She was reading a book, the front was obscured by a folder she held over it. "Incidentally, would you like to help me prefer for the end of term exams? They are coming up shortly."

"Oh, right," Aang said. "After my midterms, sure."

"Great," she said. "Let's go to the meeting room. It's a little distracting down here." She led him upstairs, and sat down on the sofa. Aang took the spot besides her. "So, I am preparing for my history exam right now. I feel I did well on my last exam, but I want to be doubly sure."

"Oh, right."

She read, aloud, about the aftermath of the Great War. "The Fire Nation's royal family became little more than a figurehead that was abolished several years later after the Fire Lord failed to produce any suitable heirs."

"Suitable heirs?"

"They were all girls," she said, wryly. "Didn't you know Fire Nation girls were useless?"

"You're not useless," Aang protested.

"How sweet. Would you like to tell me that I could lead the Fire Nation though its post-war state as Fire Lady?"

"Why not?" Aang said.

She sighed, "Male heirs are something of a tradition amongst the Fire Nation. My brother was disowned by my father for -- well, it's complicated and not my place to say -- but even so, people are against my taking over. That's why I strive for perfection. If I show one failing, they'll use it against me."

"Oh," he felt like he couldn't say anything, but still, he tried, "Then they're idiots. You're like the most capable person I know."

"Thank you, Aang, but unfortuantely, we can't change the world so easily."

"I think you'd be perfect to take over the Phoenix Group."

"I do, as well," she said, "But it's a matter of perspective, and the board has rights as well. We'll see how it transpires. Wouldn't it be ironic, the Phoenix Group's family tradition destroyed because my father produced no suitable heirs."

"Don't talk so negatively."

"You're right," she said. "I'm sorry, Aang. I'm not always proud to call the Fire Nation my home. At least the gender roles aren't so pronounced as in the Northern Water Tribe. Anyway, Avatar Kyoshi was outcast following the war, and there was, in the following generations, a sharp decline in those called Benders until it became none."

"And Avatar Kyoshi?"

"She died at a ripe old age, and her successor in the Fire Nation was born, whoever that was. Thirteen years ago, he died, and you were born," she said. "But of course, that's not in the history books."

Aang sighed.

"You have a great power," she said, "You should be proud of it! The Avatar should command respect from all people."

"I don't really want to be worshipped," Aang said. "I just want a normal life."

"Indeed," she said. "Strange. I would like a normal life, but if I had your powers, I would most certainly use them."

Aang frowned.

"I'm sorry, this isn't a productive area to study, is it. Let's move on." She began reading about various trade laws that were made during the following years, but Aang couldn't focus, thinking about the strange feeling he had about the bond they formed, as if it was changing in some undefined way.

It nagged at him, until he decided to go to bed.

And he dreamed of the Avatars past.

To be continued.

Author's Note: We're well into act two of this story, now, and so I've tossed up a poll to see which characters people would like to see focused on in a spin-off or sequel to this story. For everyone who's been reading to this point, I appreciate it a lot and I'd like to hear your thoughts. This month is about to wrap up in the next couple of chapters, and we're going to ramp up into the third, and final act of our story.