Hello all, how're ya'll doing? :) Sorreh for the delayed posts and all but whoa~senior life is crazy. Seriously. I've had it up to here *points above my head* with boring-ass homework, bitchy-pessimistic teachers and a lot of deadlines. It's insane. And they say before college, High School is child's play. O,O" owh dear...

Anyway, I ain't here to complain. I'm here to present you guys with another Chapter! Big, big thanks to those who reviewed and left such wonderful comments/compliments/critiques! You guys are awesome! ;) FF is definitely a way to get some steam off-Too bad I ain't a firebender though, could just blast random fireballs all over the place when I'm pissed. Or just swim for hours in a water bubble. Tsk tsk... Homosapiens...

I'm rambling again~Thousand apologies! .

Just a note though-and a sad one at that...Your Life's Worth is coming to an end very soon. *bursts into tears* Yeap. It's almost the end! *bittersweet!* BUT, I do have a surprise at the end that may or may not branch out into a very, very, very short sequel/one-shot. What say you? Plus I'm revising this FF at the end anyway, so those interested in the maybe major-minor changes should definitely re-check it out! ;) 's all up to YOU.

Till then, do R&R this Chapter! ;)


"This is her house?" Katara gasped, gaping open-mouthed at Amai's not-so-humble abode, her eyes the size of Momo's as she took in the noble, majestic structure that currently towered over her. It was no match for the Palace, definitely-but this was how the blue bloods lived? Spirits. These people are rich.

But Zuko was indifferent towards the grand house, given that he lived in the grandest building in the Fire Nation, and simply shrugged.

"Hmm… It's okay…" he muttered, jokingly sounding unimpressed, earning him a small glare and an exasperated eye-roll from his girlfriend.

"Nobles and royals…" she hissed under her breath, but Zuko heard her and nudged her right arm.

"Isn't your father the Chieftain, Princess?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Doesn't mean I am one," Katara refuted, referring to 'Princess' as a snooty brat. "And I thought I was a lowly peasant?"

Zuko blushed, recalling the old times when they weren't exactly on good terms-and swallowed hard before taking her hand in his and leading her towards Amai and Onni's house.

"You know you don't have to come… I don't want Amai to treat you badly," Zuko said, looking concernedly down at Katara as they neared the main entrance. "And I don't want you ripping her head off. Yet. You might blow our cover."

Katara rolled her eyes and smirked. "Haha. Funny. No, it's okay. I don't explode as easily as fire. Amai's going to need a lot to really get to me. Plus I need to see if Suki's still here… I feel bad leaving her with them alone."

"Yeah but she could've gotten valuable information out of them," Zuko replied.

Katara shrugged. "I guess." she then looked up at her boyfriend with a scowl. "Plus I have to make sure she doesn't get her manicured, grubby paws all over you."

Zuko grinned, both amused and in a way happy that Katara was a little jealous.

But then again...there was that server boy at the Golden Dragon...


Within seconds, they were both right in front of the dark, floral-theme carved Cypress doors-seeing the absence of a door-knocker. Only a bright golden keyhole was adorned onto the right door above a rectangular wooden doorknob.

"Should we knock?" Katara asked, looking around for something to signal their arrival. A giant bell, perhaps?

Not wanting to stay too long inside or outside, Zuko just went on to pounding the door, the doors rattling a little from his forceful knocks. It seemed as if he was punching it the wrong way.

After five pounds, the couple heard the sound of hasty, clicking footsteps scurrying towards the door, becoming louder and louder as it neared. There was the sound of a lock being opened and the doors were immediately thrown open. The couple flinched slightly at the sudden, swift movement.

A slim, tall and pretty middle-aged woman stood at the door. She had the typical noble pale white skin and light, almond-shaped brown eyes framed by short but curly black lashes. Her ram-rod straight black hair that framed her square-shaped face was tied into a half topknot that was designed to look like a giant black fan at the back, adorned with pink and orange flower pins while the rest of her hair flowed down to her waist. She wore a dark pink and orange kimono-style dress with a dark green sash tied around her waist. It was definitely different to what usual, typical Fire Nation noblewomen wore.

"Yes?" the woman asked in a soft, gentle voice. "May I help you?"

Zuko attempted to straighten up, given that he wasn't dressed like a noble as well as the fact that the woman standing in front of him was not a servant.

"We're looking for Amai and Onni?" he said, but it sounded more like a question than an actual statement.

The thin-lipped woman suddenly lightened up, a smile gracing her ruby painted lips as she quickly stepped aside and did rapid waving motions with her right hand towards the interior of the home.

"Ah! You must be Lee! 'Ai said you might be coming! Come in, come in!" she exclaimed warmly.

Zuko and Katara shot each other a sideways glance before bowing thankfully towards the woman and entering the house. Katara's jaw instantly dropped to the ground once she laid eyes on the gloriously majestic interior. There were rare, clearly expensive and probably years and years old antiques as well as terrifying breakables all over the place. This house was a death trap. Every vase and tapestry looked as if it might shatter into a million pieces if a leaf were to sit on it. Katara almost didn't want to step onto the extravagant rug that covered the floors.

Once the kind woman closed the door, she faced Zuko and Katara-both silently wondering who this was.

"I am Amai and Onni's mother," she introduced herself with a formal bow of her head, as if she read their minds. Of course. "My name is Li Yi."

Zuko and Katara bowed respectfully in return. "My name is Lee and this is my girlfriend Tomi, Aunt," Zuko introduced.

Li Yi's eyes widened a little before reverting to her usual warm façade. She then nodded once before looking over their shoulders.

"'Ai! 'Ni-ah! Your friends are here!" she called loudly as Zuko and Katara awkwardly waited. The firebender noticed that Katara was quite tense, so he reached out to gently take her right hand, his thumb gently caressing her palm. He felt the waterbender relax a little before she looked up to give him a small smile. He frowned when he saw that Katara kept blinking rapidly, and that her eyes were slightly reddened and bloodshot. Clearly from the eye-colour changing elixir.

Zuko lowered his head until his lips were near her ear and whispered very softly-inaudible enough for Li Yi to be deaf to it.

"We won't be too long… Just hang on…"

Katara nodded as Li Yi studied the young couple with questioning narrowed eyes. Within a few seconds, Zuko could hear noisy clicking and stomping sounds approaching them-and he squeezed Katara's hand. He instantly braced himself-his entire body stiffening in a second.

Two young noblewomen dashed into the room through a hallway in front of them. One of them had a regular, welcoming smile on her face while the other looked like Azula's doppelgänger.

"Lee!" Amai's high-pitched squeal nearly shattered his eardrums as she boldly tackled him right up front in front of her mother, suddenly her arms flung around his neck in a tight choke hold nearly knocking him backwards-along with his breath. The impact of it tore his hand from Katara's-which was probably a good thing, if not she would also get knocked back.

"Boundaries!" Zuko hissed lowly at Amai accompanied with a fierce glare, completely and totally aware that Li Yi was beaming at her hyperactive daughter while Onni just greeted Katara warmly with a handshake.

"You made it," Onni said to Katara, smiling widely. "Suri left quite some time ago. I think she went home."

Katara nodded, understanding and relieved that Suki was okay… The Kyoshi Warrior can take care of herself-but she would never, ever, ever forgive herself if something happened to her brother's soul mate. But she still wanted to really impale Amai with an ice spear at the moment. Or freeze her and then break her up into tiny pieces.

When Zuko finally got Amai's paws off of him, he grunted and shot her another fiery glare before wrapping an arm protectively and reassuringly around a very disgruntled and annoyed waterbender.

"You seem to have very nice and polite friends, Ai…" Li Yi pointed out, admiring Zuko up and down as if he was a candidate. Suddenly the male firebender felt absolutely uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the women around him.

Amai beamed proudly and stood uncomfortably close on Zuko's left, much to the latter's obvious but well ignored irritation.

"I know right?" she squealed happily. "Lee, I'm sure you have met my Mom. She's one of the most gorgeous noblewomen around!" Amai proudly gestured to her well-preserved mother, who was blushing lightly and covering half of her face with her long, wide orange sleeves while she flapped a slim hand at her daughter.

"Oh, Amai-stop!" Li Yi chuckled. "Don't embarrass your mommy dearest now!"

Onni and Amai both laughed-as Katara and Zuko forced an uneasy chuckle.

"Come on, ma, you're too modest!" Onni chirped. "You're forty-five and still looking amazing!" she then turned to Katara. "Not a single wrinkle! Mother thinks ladies should keep their appearances as milky as possible. No sun at all!"

Katara cracked a toothy smile. No sun? At all? Milky as possible? Was this the beauty philosophy of all Fire Nation noblewomen? Was that the ultimate secret to their ghostly but pearly and porcelain pallor? She was very, very shocked about that fact that Li Yi was forty-five! How was that even...doable? Talk about ageing gracefully! She bet that the woman probably didn't know what a wrinkle was or what it looked like!

"Onni!" Li Yi chastised, quickly walking over to lightly and playfully swatting her eldest daughter's arm. "Don't go around exposing my age all over the place!"

"Come on! Let's go into the tea room!" Amai urged Zuko-quickly changing the subject while yanking him by the arm. "Everyone's been waiting for ages!"

Zuko frowned as he re-grabbed Katara's hand again, both of them being tugged away by Amai into the tea room, with Onni and Li Yi trailing behind them cheerily.

"I didn't say I would come. I didn't confirm anything," Zuko said sharply as Amai pulled him through a relatively small but bright corridor.

Amai rolled her eyes and chuckled. "But you still came, silly," she argued playfully. "Plus you have to come. We aren't leaving to the Sanctuary without you. No way I'm leaving you here all alone."

Katara scrunched up her nose as she glared icily at Amai's back. She makes him sound like such a child!

When they reached their destination, Zuko saw Bacca and Reza sitting on one side of a simple table. There was a decorative tea set in the middle and a presently used pot next to it, accompanied with a large plate of half-eaten Oriental treats. In front of the boys were a few half-drunken to empty tea cups.

"Hey! You made it!" Reza exclaimed, smiling at Zuko and Katara with a wave. He then looked at Bacca and gestured to the empty seat between them. "Move in, Bacca! Let Lee and Tomi sit together!"

Before Zuko or Katara could say a word, the boy obediently moved in a seat, leaving three empty seats to his left.

Li Yi took the seat on one end while Onni sat on the chair facing Reza.

"It's alright, we'll sit on this side," Katara said, pointing to the other side of the table opposite of Reza and Bacca.

Almost immediately, Zuko pulled out the chair opposite of Bacca next to Onni, and motioned for his girlfriend to sit. Katara's eyes widened with surprise a little-quite shocked at Zuko's sudden chivalrous, gentlemanly display. But she sat anyway-who was complaining?

Once she was comfortably seated, Zuko quickly sat on Katara's right.

But much to Katara's irritation and Zuko's discomfort, Amai instantly dominated the seat on his right, immediately shuffling closer to him until their arms touched. Zuko flinched at the disturbing close contact and moved away from her.

Li Yi frowned disapprovingly at her youngest daughter. "Amai, go get some more Cinnamon tea for your friends! And get a clean cup for Tomi here!" she scolded.

Amai glared at her mother and blushed furiously-as Katara tried her hardest to contain her amusement. The rebel girl then stood up huffily and nodded towards her mother.

"Yes, mother," she said tartly before walking into another corridor leading to the kitchen. Her movements were stiffer and more mechanical than usual.

"Miss Li Yi was just telling us about her family," Bacca explained to Zuko and Katara. "Apparently they came from a long line of nobles. Obviously. Because of Amai and Onni's Uncle Bujing, they managed to get quite close to the royal family. But ever since Phoenix King Ozai and Princess Azula fell, they were completely cut off because of Bujing."

Li Yi harrumphed and flipped her long hair over her shoulder dramatically. "The nerve!" she snapped. "My dear brother was the perfect High General! The very best! He could've been a part of an amazing, powerful History that would grace Fire Nation pages! It's amazing how the little twat Prince Zuko dare talk back to him regarding his plans! A disgrace! The shame! "

Zuko's jaw clenched hard and his nails dug into his knees, but his left hand was immediately covered by a cooler, gentler and smaller hand that quickly curled itself around his, loosening his death grip.

But Li Yi wasn't done. In fact, she was nowhere near done. "And Zuko even dared to cut us off! The little rat! How dare he… We have helped and served the royal family for years! Granted, we are only loyal to the real leaders but still…the very audacity! I can hardly show my face in public anymore because of this immense humiliation! Especially to those who support Zuko's reign! Those idiots..."

"Is that way you hate Fire Lord Zuko so much?" Zuko asked, unable to contain more any longer. He felt Katara tighten her hold on his hand. Half assuring half warning.

Li Yi nodded. "He shamed my family. He's going to shame the Fire Nation as well… I know it! And he is not only just a teenager but an untrained one! I don't care if he has been raised well in his childhood Prince Zuko does not know a single thing about ruling a country properly! At least Princess Azula knows how to use her power well… She is a smart girl and uses it to her full advantage. She can command power with power. Azula should've become Fire Lord or Lady. She would've brought the Fire Nation to great heights."

Zuko's mouth nearly dropped open as he stared disbelievingly at the noblewoman in front of him.

Sensing the tension, Katara quickly changed the subject-hoping that she wouldn't spark suspicion.

"Oh, enough of the negativity!" she quickly said, waving her left hand in the while squeezing Zuko's hand with her right with as much assurance as possible. "It's not good for us!"

Onni nodded in agreement. "Tomi's got a point. We're talking about fighting the Fire Lord and the Avatar for ages now. It's getting old…" she murmured, but before quickly perking up and grabbing her mother's hand that had been resting daintily on the table, showing off a large, triangular shaped ruby ring on her right ring finger. "Oh, Mother! I have to tell you! I finally mastered all the sets! Qin says I've finally completed my training! Isn't that amazing?"

Li Yi's eyes widened dangerously and a wide smile broke out on her lips before she lunged forward to hug her eldest daughter.

"You have? Oh, that's wonderful, Onni!" she squealed, before pulling back and pushing back Onni's shiny hair behind her ears, cupping the younger girl's face with her hands. "My lovely little girl has finally become such a powerful bender!"

"You already mastered it?" Zuko gasped in horror, staring at Onni. Even Katara, Reza and Bacca were eyeing her with shock and disbelief. "So soon?"

Onni simply shrugged. "So? Amai has too."

Zuko and Katara's jaws slammed into the ground. Hard. If it truly happened in reality the droppings could've left deep cracks in the clean floor.

"Amai has too-what?" Amai asked, walking back into the tea room with a freshly filled teapot in one hand and an assuming-to-be clean cup in the other. "Why're you gossiping about me?"

Li Yi instantly shot up from her seat like a firework and grabbed the tea cup and teapot away from her daughter-placing it gently onto the table before hugging Amai tightly. The girl nearly fell backwards as her eyeballs metaphorically popped out of their sockets in shock.

"M-M-Mother?" she stuttered, her entire form stiff and her pale face hilariously redder than blood.

"My little girls are Masters!" Li Yi cried happily, pulling away from her daughter to dab at the perfectly oval-shaped beads of proud tears that were rolling down her perfectly powdered face. "Your father will be so proud of you!"

That made the couple think. Where was Li Yi's husband?

Amai immediately shifted and stood straighter, her chin held high.

"So what happens once you complete the training?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Well, we help the others of course," Onni said. "We assist the other Masters and instructors. If we are prodigies of a Master we will be able to work personally with Shan and Nazuma. Because only a Master's prodigy will be worthy to be recognized by them. They are, after all, the Grand Masters."

"Hey Lee is Masuta's prodigy!" Bacca crowed, pointing at Zuko cheerily. "Lee, won't that be awesome? When you finish training, you'll be able to work side by side with Shan and Nazuma! That's the biggest opportunity ever!"

Zuko's eyes widened. Work side by side with the rebel leaders? That would provide him the mother lode of information. It really was the biggest opportunity ever. Then they could be rid of this rebel thing sooner than he thought.

But then he'd have to master lightning... And he hadn't even learned how to generate yet let alone master it!

"No kidding…" Katara mused, turning to give Zuko the look.

"I'm sure that it'll be nothing for you, Lee," Amai gushed, taking her seat next to him again. "You know, Tomi-he's very talented and very hard-working. It's a shame you can't see him in action. It is such a joy to watch!"

Katara narrowed her eyes slightly at the smug Amai. She was about to open her mouth to speak until Li Yi cut in.

"Of course Tomi knows, Amai," Li Yi said, smiling kindly at Katara. "She is his girlfriend. I'm sure she knows all about Lee and his specialities " The well-aged woman then winked at Katara-who instantly blushed fiercely.

What was this woman implying?

Zuko cleared his throat, feeling heat pooling his cheeks. All of this talking about him was making him incredibly uncomfortable.

"Oh, I forgot all about the tea!" Li Yi cried in dismay, finally the noticing the still hot teapot and empty cup in front of her. She immediately poured the teapot's contents into the plain white ceramic cup, the dark amber-brown liquid flowing steamily from the spout into the cup before she handed it to Katara. "Here, Tomi, this is Cinnamon tea."

At first Katara was hesitant to take it-perhaps Amai had wanted to poison her or something… But again she could just be jumping to conclusions. After all...she would have to fill the entire teapot with poison-and nobody else would be able to drink it.

Unless she rubbed some sort of bane in her cup...

Li Yi noticed her pause and chuckled.

"Don't worry, dear, it's not poisoned or anything. It's a very delightful beverage," Li Yi said.

"Yeah. It's good and strong," Reza chimed in, swishing his own cup before downing it in one easy gulp. "I think you'll love it. Girls usually do. It's all sweet and spicy. Am I right, Lee?" Reza then wagged his eyebrows at Zuko, who frowned at his so-called comrade.

Gulping, Katara gingerly took the cup and bowed her head once in thanks. She then stared at the dark amber-coloured liquid sloshing in the cup. It was clear enough to the point where she could still see the bottom of her cup. Not seeing, smelling or sensing anything peculiar, she reluctantly took a small sip.

Oh Spirits…

Katara swallowed the intense tea down, hoping that the after-taste would just magically fade away. It wasn't like sugary sweet... But sickeningly sweet. It was only partially good-and very strong... She wondered how many Cinnamon sticks were boiled into that pot of tea.

"It's very…potent," she coughed while straining a polite smile, and Zuko looked on at her worriedly while rubbing soothing circles on her back as she covered her coughs with her sleeve. "It's definitely an acquired taste. But we should all try something new, right?"

"Not everybody can handle something so strong. Some people just aren't that able. Only stable people can take its robust note. Those who are weak can't tolerate its power," Amai simply said, easily finishing her full cup of tea in one swig.

"Amai, stop it!" Zuko shouted at the rebel girl, his eyes a fiery golden blaze. At that same moment, something snapped.

And suddenly, the entire room fell silent.


Cliffhanger? Like? No? Meh~:) Again, I apologize for my lateness... I've been very busy... :'( Solli Solli Solli! ."" I'll be back A.S.A.P! So much to catch up on! *sobs hysterically*

But I hope you guys at least enjoyed this wittle piece! ;) The Triple Threat are really just Amai, Onni and Mdm Li Yi because they are all dangerous in their own way. This shall be revealed in the near future. ;) You have to look beyond what you read. *in Timon's voice.

And ooh~did Zuko finally snap? Ngeheh~*rubs hands in anticipation and hand sanitizer... XD

Do stay tuned and bear with me! Patience is a virtue!(PAH!)

Till then, read and review! The reviews you leave make me write faster! ;) But not flamers though~They just slow me down. :D Sometimes. HA.

Ciao~

-Jenna