A/N: Hi guys. Sorry for the long hiatus. A lot of work came up during the Fall and then there was the election and Christmas stuff that had to be dealt with.

Here is a belated Christmas and early New Year's present!

"These meetings are getting really tedious," Xaan said to the Director. It had only been hours after the meeting with fire lord that he was contacted by the Director through a page. "Are you sure you didn't mean to call Shung? He's the one in charge of plotting and subterfuge."

"We've already met," the Director chuckled.

"What's this about then?"

"Our new visitor, of course. I need you and your agents to spy on her."

"I agree," Xaan muttered. "The armor and the ship alone will hurtle us into a new age of technology. But you already knew that."

"Yes," the Director agreed sitting in his rather large ornate chair. While the chair itself showed signs of scuffmarks and age, the wood design was intricate. To the right of the chair was a really worn-down staff. If the chair seemed old, that staff was ancient. He'd never seen the Director use it, but it was always leaned against his chair. Maybe it was some sort of memento, Xaan thought. "She might also be the key to the World."

"She can open the Gate?" Xaan asked, all tiredness leaving his body. "Wasn't that the Avatar? He's its agent."

"The Avatar can indeed open the Gate, but he's forgotten the methods to interact with the World."

"How do you know?"

The Director stared off to the side as if remembering something long ago. "I asked her once. She didn't know. I doubt the current Avatar would remember."

"How do you know this woman knows then?"

"Because I've seen her kind before," the Director said.

"Really? Where?"

"That… doesn't matter. What is important is what Lo said. She needs passage to the North Pole to leave. I know for a fact that is one of the World's primary functions. If she knows about that, then she might be able to interact with it."

Xaan remained silent, absorbing all the new information that he was presented with. After sorting through all the questions he had, he picked the most important one to ask. "She said she needs to leave. Where would she go?"

"Another world, Xaan." The Director gave him a small smile, but his eyes gave away his excitement. "Most people think the Spirit World is a destination. They would say it is the home of the countless spirits that dwell within the world or the final resting place of all humans."

"What is it then?"

"A gateway to other worlds. One that only the Avatar can seem to enter. We need to change that."

He had known Zhao was going to be incredibly petty, but this was beyond the pale, even for him. First, they had been greeted by the captain's attendant and led to his opulent office to wait. The prince and his uncle each then had to sit in wooden chairs that were as ornate as they were uncomfortable to sit in, probably by design. It wasn't so bad at first, but by now they had been waiting an hour.

Across the large wooden desk where they sat, was an almost-throne like chair. Along one wall, were portraits of famous kings, generals, and strategists. The other wall was lined with paintings of famous battles throughout the war. Even Zuko had to begrudgingly admit the office looked impressive. Unfortunately, the wealth of the office clashed greatly with the mediocrity of the tea they had been served. Unlike uncle's tea, which had a lot of fragrances, that tea was bland.

"General Iroh, Prince Zuko, it is an honor to meet with both of you," Zhao said as he came into the room unapologetically. He gave a simple nodding of his head instead of a formal bow. Unfortunately, his uncle had ignored the implied insult and returned the proper greeting.

"Captain Zhao," Zuko said coolly, "likewise."

"Actually, it's commander now."

"Commander?" Iroh asked. "Congratulations on the promotion. When was it?"

"About six months ago, actually," Zhao said sitting in his chair. "Please take a seat."

Zuko sat down making sure to take note of any body language Zhao could give away. In the two years since he had last seen him nothing much had changed. He still had the same absurd sideburns that ran down below his ears. The only change that he could notice was Zhao's receding hairline had grown much worse than before.

"I've heard some rumors floating around that you had caught the Avatar. Is it true?" Zhao asked

"It is," Iroh said.

"Tell me everything."

And so Iroh did. Zuko listened patiently as his uncle explained the entire incident in great detail except for the end, which he found interesting. His uncle fed Zhao the same lies he fed the soldiers on board the ship. Namely that Akane was an explosive bender, which Zhao, like the ignoramus he was, didn't question.

"After all this time, I can't believe he's only twelve years old. How did he remain so young?"

"From what the villagers said," Iroh said, "the boy had been trapped in an iceberg in the Avatar state. Apparently, it kept him young."

"That's ridiculous. No Avatar's ever been able to remain in the state for a hundred years."

"Yet the truth remains the same. The boy is twelve years old."

Zhao scowled pushing off his desk to stand up. He walked over to a map of the southwest portion of the world. "His youth works to our advantage then. It shouldn't be that hard to capture him."

"Did you miss the part where he crumpled our ship in half? Or the ice storm impaling Akane? He only entered the Avatar state for ten seconds. What do you think he can do if he masters it?"

"Prince Zuko, unlike you, I'm not foolish enough to underestimate my opponent."

Here we go Iroh sighed.

"We didn't underestimate him," Zuko glared. "We had the Avatar detained until Akane decided to attack him."

"A failure of leadership then, why am I not surprised? Anyone else would've placed more guards around such a high value prisoner. Yet you let one man undo years of searching."

"That one man—" Zuko caught himself before meeting his uncle's gaze, a clear warning not to continue. "Regardless, my men performed admirably. That spy wasn't one of us."

"Excuses," Zhao scoffed. "He was on your ship for two years. He was your responsibility. If your men had performed admirably, you would've discovered Akane well before now."

"Zhao, are you questioning the honor of my crew?"

"Don't make me laugh. Besides your uncle, your 'crew' are literally the rejects of the navy. Men who are too old, too injured, too disgraced, to work anywhere else. They never had any honor to begin with."

The world seemed to pause for a moment for Zuko as he eyed the commander. He had hated the man before, of course. Who wouldn't hated someone who took such glee in their public shaming and banishment? But now it had evolved past loathing to pure abhorrence. The Zuko from two years ago would've challenged the man to an Agni Kai. Zhao's pride wouldn't allow him to refuse and with the tutelage his uncle provided, Zuko was confident he would win the duel. But as much as he was tempted to humiliate the commander, making more enemies now would only move him further away from his goal. No, vengeance was a luxury he could ill afford now.

"Zuko will you leave us?" Iroh said, breaking the tension before anything got out of hand. "There are some matters I need to discuss with Commander Zhao privately."

Zuko nodded as he walked toward the door making sure to show no emotions.

"Urolu," Zhao called out and in response a guard stepped into the room. "Please escort the prince here to the guest room down the hall. We wouldn't him lost in the base somewhere."

"Why must you antagonize my nephew so?" Iroh asked once the door closed.

"I find it amusing," Zhao smirked before frowning. "What was he going to say before you cut him off?"

Iroh reached deep into his robes and pulled out the melted hunk of metal. "Akane was no explosive bender. He was a Red Lotus assassin placed among my soldiers."

Zhao gave a sharp intake of breath. "Does the prince know?"

"He knows Akane was an assassin, but he doesn't know about the weapon."

"Does he know about the Red Lotus?"

"No, he's convinced his father placed Akane among his crew."

"Good, good… that should sate his curiosity," Zhao murmured to himself. No matter how much he hated the spoiled brat, he didn't want to be the one to kill him if ordered to do so. No amount of support from the Red Lotus would save him from the wrath of the fire lord. "What actually happened?"

"We had convinced the Avatar that we would bring him to safety. After Zuko and I had left the interrogation room, Akane had come and shot through the guards, killing all three. He tried killing the Avatar, failed, and let the boy escape to the deck."

"But how did he enter the Avatar state?"

"Akane shot the boy's leg and he fell into the water. The rest you can imagine," Iroh said studying Zhao. He tried to hide his anger, but the indents Zhao was leaving in his chair from his grip disagreed. Was the anger an act? Iroh thought. The Reds should've informed him by now. What's he planning?

"Of all the morons the Red Lotus could've sent, they sent him?" the commander almost yelled. "Revealing it to practically everyone and not even having a kill shot ready, unbelievable!"

"You could imagine our anger then when he inadvertently released the Avatar."

Zhao grunted, the disgust on his face evident. "Does anyone else know?"

"No," Iroh replied, taking one last sip from his tea.

After a minute of silence, Zhao finally spoke. "No. Someone would've said something by now." The commander looked into the general's eyes. "As former Lotus, you know you'd have to kill anyone that did, right?"

"Are you really telling me the rules Zhao? I was in the White Lotus before the schism."

"Well with your old age I thought you had grown soft."

Iroh didn't say anything, just giving a small smile. Zhao had overreached with that snippy remark and they both knew it. In a desire to break the awkward silence that had grown, Zhao picked up the melted revolver off the desk. "It's a miracle of technology, isn't it?"

"Is it?"

"Of course. So much power in such a little tool. The ability to instantly kill you enemy faster than they can blink. Imagine how quickly we would've been able to end the war, how easily you would've taken Ba Sing Se, if this were in the hands of each soldier. With the cannons and guns we could bring to bear against the Earth Kingdom, the war wouldn't last a month."

"You and I have different definitions of miracle. That weapon is an engine of death, nothing else. There are variations of that gun that could fell fifty men before a minute has passed."

"Really?" Zhao asked. "Then why haven't the Red Lotus used it? With that gun we would be unstoppable."

"Because the White Lotus also has it in reserve. Our level of weaponry is about on par."

"A surprise first strike then. We have a mass buildup of arms before taking Ba Sing Se. With their capital gone, the rest of the Earth Kingdom would fall like dominoes."

"That would make sense if we were fighting just Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately, the Earth Kingdom is far too spread out for that to be effective. If you think the slog through the continent is unbearable now, imagine how much more effort it would require fighting guerilla armies armed with rifles throughout the continent."

Zhao tried coming up with a counterpoint but couldn't find any. Even now there were myriads of pockets of resistance that harassed garrisons and units alike. Every village conquered could easily fall back into Earth Kingdom control the next month. It was a miracle they had even managed to set up the colonies along the western coast.

"Have you received any news from the Red Lotus?" Iroh asked.

"No," Zhao said. "Nothing at all from headquarters."

"They didn't tell you to interrogate us?"

"We haven't received any word from them."

At that, Iroh paused and looked at the man. Zhao had seen that look before, the one someone gave when they were pitying someone else. "What? What is it?"

"Do you know why I left the reds?"

"No," Zhao said, not sure what to do with the non-sequitur.

"Imagine a place where everyone is trying to outsmart one another, where everyone has their own agenda," the general said, his voice growing colder. "Every day becomes a constant struggle to decipher meaning in every little action, to get ahead of someone else so you don't fall behind. You might think yourself up to the challenge, but after decades of looking over your shoulder you start to miss the one thing the Red Lotus could never offer."

"And what's that?"

"Trust."

"Just because you got tired of it doesn't mean I will."

"That's the thing, Zhao, I don't think you're cut out for it. Just like I wasn't," Iroh said as he stood up. "There are certain people that thrive in that kind of environment and, through no failing of your own, you're not one of those people."

Zhao stared daggers into the general. "How would you know?"

"Zhao, if you're going to lie, you need to know the truth. If the Avatar enters the state, the main temples and shrines of each nation harmonize with him giving off an immense white light. As soon as the Avatar revealed himself, everyone in the world knew, including the fire sages in Capital City. From there it wouldn't have been more than half an hour before my brother, and in turn, the Red Lotus were notified. Seeing as the Red Lotus have soul slips on all their members, they'd know when Akane had died. From there it'd be easy to conclude from the timing we were involved."

"I have to admit, your plan to keep us here while you interrogated my men was clever. An hour would be enough time for you to get corroborating stories before you came to us. Unfortunately, you tipped your hand when you mentioned rumors about the Avatar."

Iroh walked up to the desk looming over a disgruntled Zhao whose breathing had grown unsteady and was a little bit more than unsettled. "Zhao, I'm going to give you this warning only once. Don't jump into that den of snakes. You'll never have your peace of mind again once you work your way higher."

"I'll take that into consideration," Zhao said softly but with a hint of venom. "Collect your nephew and get off my ship."

"Goodbye commander," Iroh said exiting the room, "and good luck."

It was quite the sunny morning, even for Capital City. The sun gleamed alone in the sky and not a single cloud could be seen. Azula hated sunny days. For one thing, everything was too bright. She didn't know why but she hated how illuminated everything felt. Would it be too much trouble to ask for overcast days? And then the heat itself was bothersome. The dry heat stagnated the wind so she couldn't even feel a breeze. If it weren't for the fact that a so-called goddess fell from the sky, nothing would've been able to drag her out of her cool training place. Though the engineering marvel before her certainly sweetened the deal.

"So, what do you make of it?" Azula asked the science director who seemed to be obsessing over every detail of the ship. Behind her stood the twin elders, Major Fahou, and his company of soldiers all patiently waiting for his advice.

"Thirty-five meters wide and eight meters tall of material which seems to be harder than steel. Its circular design is clever since it maximizes its area. But I'd have to see inside to see how well it could survive the heavens." Xaan stared at the ship marveling at its size and all the intricate metal that studded out of the ship. "A ship to travel the stars… how poetic,"

"I don't care how poetic it is," Major Fahou, a burly man with greying hair, said. While Xaan considered him a boorish fool, unfortunately his presence was required as he was the only Red Lotus military liaison present on Capital Island at the time. "Is it a danger to us? Is it a threat to the nation?"

"There's no way to really know that," Xaan said. Why did science always have to take a back seat to the military? "We would have to check what's inside, but if our visitor managed to crash here from the heavens at the speed it came in yesterday, then the obvious answer is yes. All it would take for her to destroy the city is for her to take her ship and ram into it."

"Then the task is obvious: we need to destroy it."

Azula scowled. "Anyone want to explain to this idiot why that's a horrible idea?"

"Major," Elder Li said, "You did read the report on our guest, yes?"

"What of it?"

"She has powers we've never seen and claims to be a goddess. Even if we could destroy the ship, which is highly unlikely, we'd then be the target of her anger. Have you ever been the target of a goddess's anger?"

"N-No?" the major stuttered.

"Me neither and I don't intend to find out."

"Then what should we do?"

"Major I understand your worry," Xaan said diplomatically. "We can move the ship to another location. That should allay some of the threat it poses. Besides you saw the armor she had. Imagine what else we could find on the ship."

"Hmm," the major muttered in thought. The potential the ship had for the war could outweigh its harm. "You might be right."

"Hold on," Lo said. "There's nothing to say that she can't detect us moving the ship or even approaching it."

"I think the both of you and Xaan are overestimating our prisoner." Azula walked toward the ship in defiance of the major's order to stay thirty meters from the site at all times. "If she had the means to escape, she would've done so by now. All she's done is crash her ship, float a little, and show she was stupid enough to lose her arm in combat. While powerful, the woman reeks of rank incompetence. Even if her act was an elaborate disguise, she's not omniscient. If she were, then it doesn't matter what we do, she'll know anyway. If she detects us near the ship, then we'll say we were just inspecting it. Are there any other objections?"

The princess waited for either the science director or elders to say something, but none spoke. She would've even heeded the advice of the major if he had anything smart to say.

"Alright then. Major Fahou order one of your men to approach the ship," Azula said.

"Private Arak!" the major yelled.

"Yes sir!" one of the helmeted soldiers replied.

"Approach the ship. Report if you feel anything unusual."

Azula rolled her eyes when she saw the soldier walking down the crater with his spear aimed toward the ship. What good would a spear do against whoever or whatever was in there? Clearly, they were vastly technologically superior. Then again a spear was better than nothing.

The soldiers and elders watched with bated breath as Private Arak had finally reached the ship when suddenly, his body seized up. The private did an about face and walked toward the platoon.

"Private Arak return to the ship!" the major ordered, but it was to no avail. The soldier continued to march forward, stumbling as he tried to climb up.

"Something's wrong," Elder Li said.

"No kidding," Azula remarked, a little unnerved by the soldier. Even from where she stood, she could see the man's dazed eyes, as if all the life had been sucked out of him.

After a couple of tense minutes of clawing, the private had made it up the crater and stood completely still before he spoke. "What's going on?" Arak looked around. His whole platoon had their spears pointed towards him and some even had a small fireball in their hands.

"You… you don't remember?" Major Fahou asked.

"Remember what, sir?"

"You stopped at the ship and turned back. You don't remember that?" Xaan asked.

"No," Arak shook his head. "I was walking to the ship, but now I'm here. Why? What happened?"

"Major send two more men," Azula said ignoring the soldier.

"Why? We already saw what would happen."

"We need to see if the effect is reproducible." Normally Azula would've have taken offense at someone questioning her orders, but she was too fascinated to bother. What had the ship done to this soldier?

"But we don't know what would happen," Li said, wary of any sudden movements from the private. "Right now, he was sent back. But what if the two turn against us?"

"Then we capture and study them."

"Princess, we must be careful," Elder Lo chimed in. "We are trifling with a god."

"No ,we are trifling with someone who claim's they're a god."

"But Princess—"

"I have to agree with Princess Azula," Xaan interrupted. He too was too curious to stop investigating when they just started. "Whatever she is, she is no god. Her ship is not magical or some mystic object, it is technological. Major, send two more soldiers in."

"Yes sir! Anzin, Fumin, approach the ship!"

Two soldiers stepped out of the crowd and walked toward the ship. With trepidation, they made their way through the crater and over the broken trees. Anzin took one step forward, tapping his foot at where Arak had become "possessed". To his and Fumin's relief there was no change, nothing had happened. Perhaps Arak's "possession" had been a fluke.

"Report on status?" the major yelled.

"We're fine. Nothing so far," Anzin said.

"Look for an entrance. Take note of any strange detail you see."

"Yes sir!" Fumin replied unsure how to carry out that order.

Unfortunately, everything here was strange. The metal that made the exterior was much smoother and shinier than he was used to. Littering the top of the ship were an endless series of hollow pipes that pointed in many directions. Even the legs of the ship were interesting. How were such thin legs supporting such a massive ship? It had to be at least ten tons. The strangest part, however, was that there was no entrance. He and Anzin searched for some kind of door or hatch but couldn't find any. How did anyone get in the ship? Just as the two were about to explore underneath the vessel, it happened.

Their bodies seized in place before becoming as stiff as a statue. Then, just like before, the soldiers marched toward the soldiers, each step synchronized. A minute or so later they had climbed the crater.

"What happened?" Anzin asked looking back between the ship and the elders. "How did we end up here?"

"You walked all the way back here," Elder Li said. "Do you remember why?"

"Not really/No," said the two.

"Was there anything strange you noticed?" Xaan asked.

"Other than the ship, sir, there was nothing."

"So, you lost a minute of consciousness," Azula said pacing back and forth. "From what we observed so far there's some sort of effect caused by the ship, or something in the ship, that makes people walk away from it. Those who approach it don't even notice that they've been affected."

"What kind of technology could affect people's minds without being seen?" Xaan wondered aloud. That settled it. He needed to get into the ship. Even the littlest of devices in that ship would jump the Fire Nation into a new age.

"It's strange isn't it?" Elder Lo said. "They took twice as long."

"You're… right," the princess said, her eyes shining with realization. "The two men took twice as long to be affected. Whatever the effect is, it gets tempered by the more people present. We need to send ten men in."

"Ten men?" Elder Li gasped. "If we send that many men in who knows what kind of reaction the ship might have."

"What do you mean?"

"The ship might have more defenses," she looked around before whispering. Fortunately, the soldiers were preoccupied with the latest visitors to the ship to notice their conversation. "If the ship can already control their minds then it might turn them against us."

"Perhaps we should send five men in then," Xaan suggested.

"Xaan," Lo said, "this isn't like you. Usually, you would be the one voicing constraint."

"True, but the rewards far outweigh the risks. The technology in there could literally change the world. That's why it's imperative we get in there as soon as possible."

"The ship isn't going anywhere. We can get in at any time."

"Are we sure about that?" Azula asked, recalling a memory. "Didn't she say the ship could repair itself?"

"She did," Li said.

"Then we don't have time to waste. It could fly away by the time we're ready."

"Send in five men," Xaan said to the major, "same instructions as before."

Five men stepped forward at the major's orders and marched toward the ship. The commotion from the soldiers had immediately died down as tension filled the air. They approached slowly, wary of any danger should it present itself. They had made it to the edge of the crater when the inevitable happened, their bodies seized in place.

"Did the effect get stronger? They're not even halfway to the ship," Azula wondered aloud.

Instead of returning, the men, to everyone's surprise, stood completely still. Seconds passed, and then a minute went by as no one moved. Just when Azula was about ready to take a spear and prod one of the soldiers, her body seized up.

Enough.

What was that? she thought. Someone had spoken, but she couldn't hear from where it came from. She couldn't even turn her head to look. All her muscles were locked in place. No matter how much she willed it she couldn't make her body move. An initial sense of panic started to rise which she immediately crushed. Right now, she needed her mind the most. If there was a radius of effect when the soldiers' approached the ship, was there a temporal one too? Azula reasoned. Could there be a limit to how long the ship could control people?

All of a sudden there was a pull on her body and, no matter how much she resisted, she was lifted three meters into the air. From the corner of her eye, she could see that everyone else had also been lifted. The soldiers were as useless as ever. Xaan and the major had been frozen in place, their fingers pointing to each other in argument. Li had her hand on her saber while Lo had already drawn one of her two daggers before they were frozen. How did they know? Azula pinned that question for the future.

Identify yourself.

The voice, cold and empty as the void of space, echoed through her mind emanating the type of gravitas that she had only associated with her father. Where had it come from? There was no one around from what she could tell. Wary, Azula tried to answer but found she couldn't speak. How do I communicate if I can't talk?

Think it.

Her mind came to a complete halt. You can read my thoughts.

This time there was no answer, just silence. But Azula could tell whoever, or whatever it was, was losing patience. I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation.

Why are you here?

This ship crashed in Fire Nation territory. We were investigating it.

Silence once again took hold, this time longer than the last one. All the while, Azula went to work emptying her mind of thoughts. The best-case scenario was that the being couldn't read her thoughts, instead only communicate. It was possible she could've jumped to conclusions. After all, the being hadn't confirmed whether it could read her mind.

The worst-case scenario, of course, was that it could. Even now it was listening, just quietly observing her panic. Azula had never thought Lo's meditation exercises would actually have a real-life application, but it was her only hope. She focused her mind on just picturing the Fire Nation symbol. Filter all thoughts from your mind, Azula remembered Lo saying. Focus only on the symbol, its contours, its shape, its color. Let it consume your mind.

And so Azula did just that, and surprisingly she was doing well. Or at least she thought she was. Unfortunately, there was no real way to know if her newfound "defense" was doing anything until an attack-

Leave.

Azula felt a prickly sensation before the thought had entered her mind. Had she imagined the feeling? Before she could further explore what she had just felt, Azula felt a sudden lurch as gravity once again took hold.

"Ow," Azula managed to muster. From the chorus of groans she heard, it seemed everyone else had also been freed. There was no time to waste. "Everyone back!" the princess yelled before the monster could change its mind. They had gotten lucky, that much was clear.

"And people lived in these mountains of glass?"

"They're not really mountains, more like towers of glass."

"But wouldn't the buildings fall down?" Sokka asked. "I don't think you can make a building that tall with just glass."

"You're right," Aang said steering Appa slightly to the right. As much as he was tempted to go through the fluffy cloud, he couldn't afford to. The map he was studying would end up ruined. "The glass was for the windows, the tower itself was made of steel."

"But why would anyone want to live in that? Wouldn't they all be crowded?"

"There was no choice. Our cities had millions of people living in them. So instead of spreading out, people built up."

"So like a vertical Ba Sing Se?"

"What's a Ba Sing Se?"

"That's the city over there," Sokka said pointing to a circular region on the upper right-hand corner of the map.

"That's a city?" Aang exclaimed. There were three large concentric rings that surrounded the city on the map that he could only assume were some sort of political demarcation. "I thought it was some country or something. It takes up a tenth of the continent!"

"Yep the largest city in the world and capital of the Earth Kingdom."

"Jesus Christ," Aang shook his head in shock. "To answer your question, yes it would exactly be like a vertical Ba Sing Se."

"That sounds amazing."

"It is," the airbender acknowledged before he did a double take. Katara had been silent the entire time, focusing on her homework. Damn it! Got carried away again. "Sokka, did you actually finish your homework?"

"Yes…"

"Show it to me then."

"It's just too boring to bother completing. I understand the basic gist."

"Really?" Aang raised his eyebrow. "Then you shouldn't have a problem finishing the rest of the expanded notation homework."

"You know," Sokka said grabbing paper and pencil. "When I thought we were going on an adventure with the Avatar, I didn't expect there to be homework."

"Complaining isn't going to help," Aang chided. "If you want to learn the mysteries of the universe, you first have to speak its language."

It had all started when both brother and sister had wanted to listen to another one of his "stories". So Aang decided to start from the very beginning: the creation of the universe. Unfortunately, the idea of thirteen billion years didn't make much sense to them, which wasn't surprising. After all, how often did the equivalent of a tribe of Antarctic fishermen deal with a billion of anything? It was then, Aang realized to his horror as a teacher, how much they had to learn of the world.

Thus, the former professor had resolved to teach them as much as he could on their travels. It would serve to break up the tedium that came with day long flights and, maybe, help forget about the massacre at the temple. It had been disturbing enough for him and he served in war. He couldn't imagine what it would be like for the kids.

"Hey Aang, I'm done," Katara said, handing her assignment to him.

"How was it?" Aang gave the worksheet a cursory glance but couldn't find any noticeable mistakes. Katara had picked up the topic faster than Sokka did. Maybe she had a knack for math.

"It was easier than I thought it would be. Somehow those weird symbols you showed us make sense," the waterbender shrugged. "I just don't get the idea of zero though. Why include it as a number?"

"Why not? Nothing is important."

"Nice pun," she smirked.

"Yes, but I meant it. I can see where you're coming from. When it comes to counting, zero isn't important at all. It wouldn't make sense to note that there are zero fish. But the concept of zero is so fundamental that it pops again and again all throughout math. Right now, you've just seen it only used as a placeholder," Aang shook his head in bemusement. "Besides we're not even into negative numbers."

"Negative numbers?"

"Numbers less than zero."

"What?" Katara exclaimed. "That makes no sense. How can you have less than nothing?"

Aang laughed. Don't worry it gets worse, he thought to himself. "Let's say you owe your friend two fur coats. Would you be better off than a person who owed three fur coats?"

"Yeah, of course."

"And so negative numbers were created to first denote debt. You owe two coats so you're at negative two while the person who owes three fur coats is at negative three. You both would be worse off than a person who owes nothing. Hence, numbers less than zero."

"That…surprisingly makes sense," Katara nodded. "What have you been working on?"

"This map. I'm trying to figure it out."

"What's the problem?"

"None of the continents make any sense. My world had seven continents, but there are barely four here."

"Maybe this isn't your world then?" she offered.

"I thought about that too. But then there's the issue of the continents matching up."

"Matching up?"

"Right," Aang said gripping the map harder as a zephyr blew through. While it thankfully wasn't very windy today, the altitude they were traveling at made it so that a slight breeze could knock their papers over. "How best to explain it? There is an idea. That millions of years ago all the continents," Aang pointed to the land masses on the map, "were once one large continent. But over time the continent split apart to form what you see now."

"That's interesting… but what's the issue?"

"None of the continents fit each other. The Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom are really close, and the north is too small while the south is too far away."

"Maybe the map's wrong? It is at least a hundred years old. So maybe they just depicted it incorrectly. I mean, I can tell you right now that the north doesn't really look like that."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no map that shows the actual size of the north, only where the Northern Water Tribe settled."

"Really? Why?"

"No one actually knows what's up there," Katara smiled recalling a lost memory. "When I was little, Gran Gran used to tell me that the "True North" was the entrance to the Spirit World. But no one would ever be able to enter it. If the constant blizzards and storms didn't kill you first, then the spirits that were supposed to guard the entrance would."

"Is—Is that true?"

"Gran Gran wasn't one to joke. Personally, I think the blizzards just kill anyone trying to go north. Same thing happens when you go too far south back home."

"Huh," Aang commented looking at the map. That still wouldn't explain the continents. Maybe we're millions of years into the future? But then humans should've evolved. Is that what bending is? An evolutionary trait? But wouldn't there be physical changes too? Millions of years of evolution would definitely change something. Or maybe I'm in alternate universe with a different version of Earth? That would explain everything.

"Hey Aang!"

"Wh-What?" the airbender stuttered.

"You zoned out there for a minute," Katara said, her face one of concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… taking time to process it all. Were you asking me something?"

"Yeah, um, those blue dots on the map. What are they?"

On both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom were various blue dots, thirteen in total. Some were located next to mountains, while others were in the heart of deserts. There was even one in the middle of the sea. "I'm not sure. Maybe the book has something on those places." Aang took out a small leather-bound book that looked old and withered. "I wanted to check to see but was afraid the wind up here would damage it."

"Wait," Katara studied the map, "Isn't the map also a hundred years old? How is it still in one piece?"

"Hmm, never thought of that." Aang held the map against the wind and no matter how tattered or beaten it looked, it somehow held together. He tried ripping it, but the "paper" seemed to bend along the direction he stretched. "It's like rubber, it just keeps stretching."

"Let me see," Katara said taking the map and stretching it. "Wow, that's so weird. No wonder it lasted so long." She tried stretching it one more time but gave up after the map just sprung back to its original form. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Kyoshi Island, we need to refill our supplies."

"You know how to get to Kyoshi Island?"

"No, Sokka does."

"But Sokka's never left the village," Katara said in disbelief. "How would he know?"

"I can read a map," Sokka said walking over to Aang. "Here. I'm done with the stupid homework."

"Thank you," Aang said before he started scanning the page.

"Please don't tell me it was the hundred-year-old map," Katara said.

"Like I'd be stupid enough to use that. I have dad's old naval map and compass." Sokka then proceeded to take out the respective objects from the bag. "The Southern Air Temple is here," he pointed on his modern map, "and Kyoshi Island is over there. So if we travel in the northwest direction we should end up there. If not, we'll probably see some islands along the way that could help point us in the general direction."

"And you're sure you got the angle, right?" the waterbender asked.

"Yes, I got the angle right," Sokka rolled his eyes. "It's about thirty degrees north of west."

"Hold on. You guys know about angles and degrees? Can I see that?" Aang asked. The compass was a plain dry compass with a needle set underneath a glass covering pinned to the cardboard depicting a compass rose. The compass rose had two concentric circles. One depicting eight trigrams, which he supposed, were the eight cardinal directions. The outer circle had twenty-four Chinese characters each depicting a fifteen-degree direction. If he didn't know any better, he'd assume this compass was just an ancient one from Earth.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we know it? How else would you navigate the sea?"

"No," Aang shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I'm guessing you guys know there are three hundred sixty degrees in a circle, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Katara asked, a little puzzled.

"No… it's just—" Aang said before reorienting himself. "Why three hundred sixty? Why not four hundred or a thousand?"

"Do you use those numbers?" Sokka asked this time, a little interested in how Aang's people navigated the sea.

"No, we used three hundred sixty as well."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I know why I use three hundred sixty," Aang remarked. "It's a highly divisible number that was passed on down from the ancient Babylonian civilization. Why do you use it?"

"I don't know. My dad and his friends always used that number along with everyone else I know back home," Sokka said. Now that he thought about it, why exactly did they use that number for the number of degrees in a circle? "I guess the same reason your people used it. It's highly divisible and, like you said, it's always been that way."

"Ok…" Aang nodded slowly. Seriously, what was wrong with this world?

Engine P_CE_QH_M6918 request for status update

…

Request Time Out

Engine P_CE_QH_M6919 request for status update

…

Request Time Out

Engine P_CE_QH_M6920 request for status update

…

Request Time Out

Engine P_CE_QH_M6921 request for status update

…

Request Time Out

Bedsheets were strewn about, the food was partially eaten, and the was desk cluttered with pages of scribbles. The entire room was a mess, a result of Black's late-night coding session. It had all started yesterday evening when out of boredom she tried to see if she could contact the world engine herself. Granted, it was a small chance, but there was nothing better to do. She had the basic script down and working in the first two hours. Unfortunately, she was a bit rusty in her telecommunication protocols, so she spent the rest of the night debugging her script. When she had finally gotten it to work it was already dawn and so she decided to leave running as she slept. It was a little bit annoying then to be woken by a loud banging at the door.

"Goddess, are you there? May I come in?" a familiar voice said outside the door.

"Sure, you already woke me up," Black grumbled, "you might as well come in."

"Apologies," Sugano said walking into the room. He wore the same crimson robe as yesterday though it did look a little wrinkled. In his left hand he held a small pad and pencil. "If I had known you'd be sleeping so late into the day I would've come at a later time."

Engine . P_CE_QH_M6924 request for status update

"That's fine," Black said stretching from her bed. "It was about time I get up anyway. So, Sugano, what brings you here?"

Request Time Out

Engine P_CE_QH_M69M6925 request for status update

"There was an incident earlier this morning," Sugano said grabbing a chair to sit on. "Around the eleventh hour, we sent an expeditionary force to investigate the damage done by your ship to the surroundings."

"Ok…" Black yawned before she realized what he had said. "Wait you approached the ship?"

"Not me personally but about a hundred men did."

"Oh shit! Are they all dead?"

Engine P_CE_QH_M6926 request for status update

"No…" Sugano said, "but they were lifted up into the air including the princess and Elders Li and Lo."

"Wow," Black said finally after a pause. "I'm kind of shocked he let you live."

"What do you mean?" the emissary asked as he recorded Black's responses on his notepad.

"Normally he'd kill anyone who got near the ship. But if everyone made it out of there intact, that's amazing."

"Who's 'he'?"

"My frie- hmm… No, my associate, is in that ship," Black said. "He's a little shy though so he chooses to remain inside."

"Does he have a name?"

"… If he does, I wouldn't know."

"I see," Sugano said, his eyes furrowed in frustration. "Why did he attack the expeditionary force?"

"Probably because they approached the ship," Black said in a tone that suggested it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But they meant no harm."

"Good to hear, they still trespassed."

"You can hardly blame them," Sugano said. "When a technological marvel that could destroy the city lands right next to them, they have no choice but to explore it." Sugano paused his notetaking and put on a more accusatory tone. "But you would know that. You didn't give us any warning. You knew they would approach the ship and trigger the trap you set. The real question is why?"

Engine P_CE_QH_M6930 request for status update

"Honestly," Black sighed, "in the rush of things I completely forgot to take your curiosity into account. I suppose I internally assumed the fear you had of me would negate your interest in the ship." It was then the other shoe dropped, and Black realized the context she was missing. "Oh, is that why you're here?"

"What?"

"I was wondering why only you came. But it makes sense now," Black smiled a wolfish grin that sent chills down Sugano's neck. "They deemed me a security risk and sent you in their stead."

Engine P_CE_QH_M6931 request for status update

"We meant no offense," Sugano said diplomatically. Whatever this woman was, they couldn't afford angering her.

"No offense taken," Black laughed. "I'd be offended if you didn't take precautions after the incident. I should have noticed when you doubled the guards outside though. Seems I've been getting sloppy."

Fear took hold of the emissary. They had doubled security only an hour ago. "How did you know that?"

"I have my ways."

"But—"

Engine P_CE_QH_M6932 request for status update

"What was that?" Sugano asked standing up in fright. He had almost missed it but he was sure he had heard the whisper. "Who's there?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Is there anyone else in the room here with you?" Sugano conjured a fireball in his hand and explored the room for the source of the sound. "Goddess, are you hiding anyone here?"

"No, I'm not," Black said, raising an eyebrow. Was this some sort of act?

Engine P_CE_QH_M69M6933 request for status update

"There! I heard it again. Reveal yourself and we will not harm you," Sugano commanded.

"Oh!" she chuckled, before breaking out into a full-blown laugh. "That's not a person, that's my arm."

"What?"

Black furled her sleeve upwards and turned off the hologram to reveal her mechanical arm.

Engine P_CE_QH_M6934 request for status update

"See, it's just my arm."

"How?" Sugano looked at her in equal parts horror and wonder. "How is your arm talking?"

"What? You don't have body parts that can talk?" she teased. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you only have two eyes."

"Do… do you have more than two eyes?" he asked, backing away from the nonsensical nightmare in front of him.

"If I said no would you believe me?"

Every instinct told him to run. This "woman" was clearly nothing but trouble. But his curiosity forced him to stay. That and the fear of what the princess would do if she found out he ran. No, he would gather as much information as he could. "Why, if I may ask, is your arm talking?"

"Hmm, I don't think you would understand," Black said.

"I would still like to try."

Engine P_CE_QH_M6935 request for status update

Sugano jumped backwards toward the door at the notification. He would've conjured a fireball by now if he weren't afraid of the woman's reaction.

How best to explain it? Black thought as she hit a tiny button on the right side of her mechanical finger. Considering how jumpy he was, perhaps having her arm interrupt the flow of the conversation every five seconds was the last thing he needed. Maybe if I try something religious… "Okay let me put it in terms you can understand. There is a…" Black paused to think, "god in the north, but I don't know its name. If I knew the current year, then this wouldn't be a problem. I would only have a handful of names to then go through. Unfortunately, I don't, so I made my arm speak the list of all its possible names. If my arm speaks the right one, then it will talk to me. Understand?"

Sugano blinked twice before slowly regaining his composure. He was clearly being overwhelmed by the impossible information being presented. His job wasn't to understand, but to simply record and report. He could try making sense of it later. "Is this god why you're trying to reach the North Pole?"

"Exactly," Black said giving him a thumb's up sign, which only served to startle the man. Oh right, cultural translation services are down. "If I could talk to the 'god' then I wouldn't need to travel there. But as it stands, it looks like that's my only option."

"Which is why," Black walked up toward the door, "I need an audience with the firelord. When are we going to meet him today?"

"I wouldn't know. I'd have to check with the princess and the fire lord first."

"How unfortunate. Maybe I can have a tour of the city then. I've never been to an Earth with a predominantly East Asian culture before."

"Forgive us," the emissary bowed deeply. "We are in the middle of preparing our city for your visit. It's not every day we receive the honor of hosting a goddess."

"I don't mind really. I think your city as is should be fine enough."

"Please, your divinity, reconsider," Sugano said, quickly thinking on his feet. "It would be a great shame that we would forever bear if you visited before the feast."

"Feast?"

"We are preparing a feast to welcome you tomorrow."

"Hmm," Black considered as she sat back down on her bed. "I suppose I can wait one more day. But I am quite interested in this world. If you don't mind, I'd like some literature to read, a history of your people perhaps."

"We have a library on base that should have what you're looking for. Will there be anything else?" Sugano asked in relief.

"Bring the books in two hours or so, along with lunch if you don't mind," Black yawned. "I stayed up all night progr—getting my arm to talk and before you barged in, I was catching up on my sleep."

"Of course. I'll relay the orders immediately. I apologize for my intrusion., Sugano said, hurriedly bowing one more time before practically running out of the room. "Goodbye."

"If you six feel anything wrong," he said to the guards once the doors closed, "report it immediately to either the Elder sisters, the princess, or me. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" the guards said simultaneously.

Sugano nodded and made his way out of the base as quickly as possible. It was only when he saw sunlight again that he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. Whatever that woman was, he prayed he'd never have to see her again.

"It still doesn't make sense. How does an arm speak?" Azula asked the emissary. Currently the three, Azula, Sugano, and Li, were meeting at their agreed upon location for a debriefing: a small abandoned house near the harbor. Originally, Azula had planned to meet in her room in the Imperial Palace, but Elder Li had changed the location at the last minute.

"It's true," Sugano reiterated. He had spent the past hour going over the entire interaction with Princess Azula and Elder Li. "Her arm spoke nonsensical words that she said were trying to find the right name of a god."

"Yes, you told me what the arm said," Azula said, annoyed at the man's slow wit, "I'm asking how did the arm speak. Did It have a mouth? The voice that spoke was it male or female? Was there a specific place on the arm that the sound came from?"

"The arm had no mouth. If it had one, I couldn't find it," Sugano said. "It was definitely a female voice, but its tone was off. There was no… emotion behind it. It was stating things plainly as one would when reading a tax record or a bill out loud. And I don't remember any place that the sound came from. If I had to guess, it could be the side of the arm."

"I don't want you to guess, I want you to report what actually happened," Azula said in frustration. She would've gone herself to interrogate the "goddess", but she couldn't take the risk Black might harm her. Especially after what happened this morning.

"That's not the issue," Elder Li said with a grimace. "Sugano, you've been taught better than this. You should've been more noncommittal."

"What do you mean?"

"You told her the feast is tomorrow."

"Wait," Sugano said confused, "we do have a feast planned tomorrow in the palace, right?"

"Yes, but she didn't know that," Li said. "It never hurts to have more time on your side. With how fast everything is moving, who knows what could happen by tomorrow."

Sugano didn't answer, instead taking the time to reflect on his conversation. "You're right. I wasn't thinking strategically, just panicking instead. I feared she would've escaped if I didn't tell her something to placate her."

"You assume she can escape," Azula said. "If she could, she would've already done so."

"Unless she's toying with us," Elder Li corrected. "Or trying to earn our trust."

"But that's the problem. If she really is a goddess, then there's no need for our trust. She can just demand whatever she wants."

"Either way, she's lying about something," Sugano concluded.

Azula nodded. "And the worst part is we can't falsify her claim. We don't know what a god is and any definitions she gives of one would be supect."

"So, what do we do now?" Sugano asked.

"The only thing we can do now," the princess sighed, "observe and collect more information."

"What do you think of her?" Black asked.

She is strong, as strong as I was when I was her age.

"Ah so you felt it too then. I'm surprised you let them live. Are you growing softer?"

There is no need for unnecessary killing or waste of such a talent. Unlike you, I'm no fool.

"Sorry, which one of us is on life support?" Black retorted. She quickly cleaned up her bed and gathered all the loose paper. It would leave a bad impression to leave the room a mess.

Black, you will restore me to my former glory.

"Won't matter if we can't get back to Earth." She gave the room one last look scanning for any garbage that hadn't been collected. The breakfast tray was sorted on the table and any crumbs she could find had been disposed of.

You said this was Earth.

"No, I said this was an Earth. My Earth is much more technologically advanced than this primitive backwater. Though, I suppose in comparison your civilization would be literal light years ahead of us in either case."

This time the voice didn't respond, letting his silence serve as the answer. She liked that about him, how short and direct he kept the conversation. It was a nice contrast to her often verbal stream of consciousness.

Black shook her head to focus and approached the center of the room. Something was wrong with this Earth and she was determined to figure out what it was. This is going to be fun, she grinned before she disappeared.

A/N:

By the by, I updated everyone's ages in the story by about two years except for Aang and Toph.

It just didn't make sense to me that the equivalent of an eighth grader was going around committing coups

and attempting to kill people.

Zuko-18

Katara-15

Sokka- 18

Azula-16

Also the underscores are supposed to be periodsd in the engine ip address but the site kept removing them cause it thought

they were links.