A/N: So this chapter was about to not by typed up tonight. My mom and I almost went to my grandmother's house to stay the night, but she doesn't have wifi, and I want to keep my promise to finish this story quickly. Right now, I believe I only have about 5-10 chapters left. It gets hard though around this point where the main climax is about to happen and it just gets really frustrating. I have so many ideas for oneshots, including one where Korra expresses her fears to Katara that after she loses her bending she has failed to live up to Aang, and then I may do a Pemzin one because they are one of my OTPs. But I am going to try to finish this first before delving into those. Anyway, thank you for reading and please take the time to review. God bless!

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Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or "Legend of Korra".

Ursa had never felt more terrible in her life.

Days had passed since her initial capture, and she could feel in her bones that the raid would be taking place soon. The General had been talking to some of the men stationed at her door earlier that morning, speaking of the plans he had been giving the soldiers on the United Forces base.

The Princess was shocked at how much time the General had been spending here, rolling her eyes at the fact that the Commander and other soldiers hadn't yet discovered his disloyalty yet.

The Fire Nation man had appeared in her room a few times in the span of a few days, talking bitterly about how her father had been the reason his father had fallen from power, speaking about how the Fire Lord promotes peace and love yet he never gave the man a chance to switch his loyalties. He just deemed him unworthy of trust.

The Princess could see the hurt within the General's eyes, yet she couldn't see what the big deal was since the man himself was now in a high position in the Forces. She didn't see why he felt the need to get revenge.

But then again, he was just a power hungry man. He didn't care if he was already powerful, he wanted more.

Ursa assumed that she would feel better as more time passed, but the headache she had awoken with just wouldn't go away. They had been feeding her decently, and they had been allowing her to use the bathroom, though she would admit she was a bit wobbly as she walked down the hall because of her weakening joints from the bonds, her vision slightly unfocused. Even with the oppurtunity to nap all day, it wouldn't go away.

Neither did the feeling of nausiation.

To the rebel's disgust, she had thrown up a few times. The General, though not taking very good care of the Princess, wouldn't let them just keep it around so they made the young girl mop it up. It gave her some time free from her bonds though, but she couldn't do anything since the guards he would send to watch her were usually firebenders.

Her pale wrists were raw from the thick rope tied around them, causing her to release little whimpers whenever she had to move her hands to switch positions.
Her ankles weren't any better off, they had dry blood caked on the material of their bonds.

"Water."

Sho walked into the room, stoic as ever despite the cheerful sunshine beaming through the window. He had to resist the urge to turn away as he took in the disheveled Princess's appearance. Her usually silky black hair now oily and matted, her tatterd clothing sticking to her legs and arms where she had been bleeding because of his reckless trek up to the village.

Ursa allowed the young man to put the glass to her lips, him allowing her to take a longer sip then usual today, watching as her amber eyes looked down the bridge of her nose a bit dazed.

"You won't be alone for long."

Ursa's brows furrowed together, a look of confusion appearing on her pale features, "What do you mean?"

"According to the General, the Avatar's son will be joining you soon."

Ursa fought back a grimace, keeping her expression impassive though her heart continued to beat wildly. She should have known that the impending raid would also mean the rebel's plan to capture Bumi was also approaching.

"Well maybe then I'll have someone to clean up my barf with."

Sho shook his head, green eyes rolling as he placed the glass on the floor beside them, shifting his weight into a crouched position, "You need to stop doing that. The General thinks you're just trying to kill yourself."

The Princess scoffed at the boy's implication, "Tell him not to flatter himself. I'm not trying to do anything."

Sho gave her a hard look before he glanced down a moment, his face turning unsure as he tried to word his next question, "Do you know the Avatar's son well?"

Ursa could see what he was doing, and she couldn't believe the General was a big enough of an idiot to allow Sho to do it. He was prying for information. They wanted to know whether they would be able to use her in the capture of Bumi.

The Princess, after months of practice, found her lying to be quite groundbreaking. She looked the young man right in the eyes, amber ones shining with nothing but innocence, "I know who he is. But he hates me. We had a fight at a party and now he won't have anything to do with me. Why do you think I ran away that first day when I saw him?" She stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

Sho nodded slowly taking in her words, eating them practically from the palms of her hands, "I see now."

Ursa gave a small bitter smile just to sugar coat the whole ordeal, "He probably wants me dead."

Sho looked her in the eye for a moment, searching for any sign of dishonesty, but he found none. After he picked up the glass, he vanished from the room.

The moment the door closed behind him, a sigh broke through the girl's thin lips, her heart rate starting to slow as she mentally applauded herself for thinking so quickly and potentially ruining a part of their plan.

She was glad Bumi hadn't tried to rescue her already. They had kept her so heavily under guard that he surely would have been caputured along with her if he hadn't of waited it out. Ursa hoped that Naomi and the children had been able to follow her knife marks to the village where the United Forces were staying to inform him of the whole ordeal.

Suddenly the Princess became tired again, just as she had been everyday. Her head began to feel light as the world started to tilt at a weird angle, her head still pounding to a point where it was becoming normal for her to feel like this.

She lay back on the floor, a sigh escaping her lips as the feeling of the cold wood seaped in through her clothes, causing her muscles to relax almost instantly.
She looked up at the wooden ceiling, the panelling now familiar to her for it had been the only view she had seen in days.

The Princess could hear the men chatting in the other room about the United Forces, but she was too comfortable to care.

So she slept.

In a village quite a distance away, a young man stood in the middle of the town, his lips pursed as he listened to the Commander read off a list of instructions that the General had left for him.

The men were all dressed in their red uniforms, weapons in hand though the raid wouldn't start until much later. These men were prepared for anything.

Perhaps it was the scare with the coastal village the other night, but Bumi had noticed a distinct difference in the Forces after that turn of events. The men suddenly were a bit more on their toes, none of them sleeping as easily as they once had as one ear always faced the window in case their base was ever to be overtaken.

The Avatar's son stood, the autumn air still hot and humid due to their relative closeness to the bay not a very big distance away. It was muggy causing Bumi to sweat, but that wasn't the only thing that was causing the drops of perspiration to appear.

He couldn't help but feel that leaving his knowledge unsaid and letting the soldiers walk into an unfair battle was an extremely dangerous choice. Though they had talked about it night's ago, discussing exposing the General instead of informing the Commander, Bumi couldn't help but allow that nagging in the back of his mind take control at the moment.

Turning to Mako, Bumi whispered lowly to avoid having other soldiers hear, "I'm getting a bad feeling about keeping this a secret."

Mako nodded in return, his voice quiet too, "I know, Water Tribe. I've been thinking about it all morning."

Bumi looked back up at the Commander, the man standing tall before his troops reading multiple different plans and trying to figure out which tactic would be best.

"Mako, call me crazy, but something's telling me that we need to tell him."

The Fire Nation soldier's face became unsure, though he had been feeling the same way. His lips were pursed as he thought of the pros and cons of the situation, finally he released a sigh.

"Do what you want, wild child. He doesn't seem to be a traitor, and we didn't see him there when the rebels were holding their little conference."

After the Commander ended the meeting in the middle of the village, he allowed them to disperse to either rest or change. But Bumi inquired if he could have an audience with him.

"Well, of course."

They sat down in what the Commander had been calling his office, multiple maps spread across the table of the towns around the area, red marking the ones in which were still under the control of the people within them, black marking the rebel's towns.

The Commander looked at the young man with expectant eyes, leaving a cup of tea resting in front of him.

"Sir," Bumi started slowly, his stomach churning as he readied himself to share the information he had gathered, his heart picking up speed, "I witnessed something a few days ago that I think you should know about."

The older man looked at the soldier a bit unsurely but gestured for him to carry on, "Well than share, my boy."

The Avatar's son released a shaky sigh, his usually blunt nature completely escaping him at that moment, "Mako and I were walking in the forest on the day I was to return from my leave of absense. It began to rain and we had lost our way, then we ended up accidently stumbling upon the town in which we are going to raid tonight."

The Commander nodded slowly, listening to what the boy had to say thus far, "Alright, is there some weakness you spotted?"

Bumi shook his head, "No, sir," He hesitated for a moment before his stormy grey eyes looked directly into the other man's, "But I have a reason to believe there is a traitor among us."

The older man's dark brows raised, "Is that so?" He stroked his beard thoughtfully, but Bumi saw a strange look pass over his pensive eyes.

"Yes, sir."

"Well," The man sat up in his chair, taking a sip of tea from the steaming cup and looking expectantly at the soldier, "Who is this traitor?"

Taking a deep breath, Bumi spoke clearly, "The General."

The Commander sat still for a moment, his expression not changing. Bumi's palms began to sweat as they grasped the handles of the chair he sat in, nervously waiting to see if the older man would believe him. This could have just endangered not only him and Mako, but Ursa as well.

But Bumi's eyes went wide as the Commander shook his head slightly, laughing under his breath.

"You are sharp as a whip, aren't you?"

The young man's dark brows furrowed, "Excuse me?"

The Commander shook his head again, a smile still on his features as he grabbed the paper he had been reading to the troops earlier firmly within his grasp, "Bumi," His voice was amused yet also knowledgable, "I have been aware of the General's disloyalty to the United Forces for a short while now. I sent word to the Fire Lord not too long ago about it. Why do you think we were able to conquer this town?"

"Uhhh," Bumi's expression became unsure, "I don't know? We fought well."

"I changed the General's plans. I gave the soldiers other directions as opposed to his."

This confused the soldier though, "But I was still in the front line of people. I was a huge target of the rebel's."

The Commander nodded slightly, before he pointed at the young man, "But you are a skilled fighter. I figured though they may get you in a tough spot, you would be able to handle it."

Bumi's face broke into a genuine smile at that, his heart soaring at the fact that the Commander had just complimented him so greatly. Though he was a danger at the front, he was a good enough warrior for them to still keep him in that position.

A small dubious feeling still stayed in the back of his mind, though the General looked at him with such a genuine smile, that he couldn't doubt the man was telling the truth.

"So the Fire Lord knows?"

The Commander nodded in return, taking another sip of his tea as he glanced out his window momentarily to where the other soldier's were practicing, "Yes. But this raid tonight isn't just to liberate the town as we did last time. We are taking prisoner's of war, and when his back is turned, the General will become one as well."

"So you are aware that he is holding the Princess captive?"

The older man looked stunned at that, "No, that would be new information."

Bumi nodded solemnly, "I think they're going to use her against the Fire Lord somehow. I also am sure that tonight will also be the night where they attempt to capture me again."

The Commander lifted his hand to his beard again, stroking it thoughtfully, "Now that does raise some problems."

"I have an idea if you don't mind me sharing, sir?"

The elder nodded his head in consent, "By all means, share."

Bumi told the man of his plan in capturing the Princess before the raid began, grabbing her before they are able to use her in any way against the Forces. The Commander sat and nodded his head slowly as the young man detailed his idea.

"I'm sure they are keeping her there," Bumi's eyes darkened as his voice became some what bitter, "They want to use her as bait. But if we were to take her when the rebel's are vulnerable, right before they believe we are to attack, we may have a better chance of gaining the town and gaining prisoners like you want."

The Commander nodded his head, eyes pensive, "I don't see why we couldn't do that. In fact, that would probably end up benefitting us in the end."

Bumi nodded along with him, "Have you also switched the plans the General left you?"

The older man smiled, "Of course," He pointed at the sheet he had been grasping this entire time that he had read to the soldiers, "I've completely changed the angle of his attack. Our strongest men will be going against his weaker men, followed by a similar surprise attack on the stronger benders and such on the rebel's side. The General's group though tonight hasn't changed whatsoever, so he won't notice that I have switched things around until everything begins happening. He hasn't put it together yet that I have been changing the plans."

The Avatar's son nodded, "That's very clever, sir. But why haven't you told the other soldiers yet?"

The Commander's face became grim, "Just in case someone went and told the General of our knowledge. It would shatter our element of surprise."

Bumi nodded, "That's probably the best precaution you could take," He released a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, "Since I'm what they are after, I say I'm the one to rescue the Princess. They will be thinking that I'll be on the front line fighting, but I'll actually have already freed Ursa and started making my way far into the forest by then."

The Commander nodded slowly, "I think this actually may work."

Bumi smiled, "By the end of today, we could estinguish the fire behind the rebellion."

The older man chuckled slightly before he looked at the young soldier, his eyes suddenly wise, "Nothing can extinguish the flame, but we have the ability to contain it."

After a few more minutes of extra planning, Bumi stood and shook the hand of the Commander, his heart thumping in relief that he had finally gotten all of that off his chest. He also was grateful that the Commander was on their side.

"Bumi?"

Just as he had opened the door, the Commander had called for his attention. The young man turned, a nervous hand running over his wolf tail at the serious tone the Commander had used.

"Yes, sir?"

The older man smiled at the young man, "I think you have the makings of becoming a great soldier someday. Maybe when this is all said and done, you'll find yourself gaining some power within the Forces. Most of them would have spilled their guts if they had discovered what you had. You played it smart, Bumi."

The young's soldier's face lit up at such a great compliment, "Thank you,
sir."

The feeling within him was something he couldn't desribe. Finally he was being admired for something that wasn't his parentage, finally it was just because he was himself. He was just Bumi. Suddenly, it was enough.

He had never been happier to be just Bumi in his life.