Sneers

A blurry sight with black dots scattered all over it, that's the first thing Sneers saw the moment he opened his eyes.

He had no idea where he was or what he was doing at this place and the first thought that he mulled over was 'Is this the spirit world?', his sight finally cleared and he caught glimpses of his surroundings, he moved his head around since that was the only part he had control over, the rest of his body however, there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere around these parts, he appeared to be in a room, on a bed, with medical equipment all around him, but there was no one around, probably the dim light has something to do with it, maybe it's midnight. Sneers lost all hopes of trying to figure out his current state, so he resorted to another option, trying to remember what is the last thing that happened to him, but an interruption deprived him of the chance..

Someone walked inside the room, she was wearing blue clothes and appeared to be knowing her way around the place so well, but she was in a hurry and her eyes appeared to be red, that was until she caught a glimpse of Sneers.

"Well Well.. Look who just woke up." The girl said with a smile, for some reason, she looked like she never wanted to smile at all.

"Where am i?.. Who are you?" Sneers asked weakly, of course he doesn't trust the girl, and that unsatisfied smile just made him all the more suspicious.

"Oh Sorry where are my manners.. My name is Katara, a healer from The Southern Watertribe, you are in the Yu Dao infirmary, being treated from your wounds that you sustained during your stay in captivity." The girl, or Katara said.

As soon as Katara said the word captivity, the memories rushed back to Sneers' memory, Kori, the freedom fighters, the capture, Shun, Jeri and the rest of the scums, Shun dragging him to the battle after beating him up senselessly and Kori rushing to his side before he blacked out, he tried moving his hands but he couldn't, he wanted to make sure the removal of his fingers wasn't a dream, but alas he couldn't bring his hands up to make sure.

Panic took over Sneers in an instance, but that never prevented him from asking, "Where is Kori?".

"I don't know, she was here last time i was-" Before Katara could finish the sentence, she was interrupted by another presence, another girl opened the room and entered, but this face brought comfort to a tired Sneers.

"Oh, Hey, Katara.. i was in the restroom and-" The girl interrupted herself with a gasp as soon as her eyes laid on him, Sneers smiled at her, he found her shocked face very amusing, he saw tears rolling down her cheeks, and he felt some falling down his.

Eventually, the girl came out of her daze, "SNEERS!" she shouted before hurrying to his side and bringing him close for a fierce hug.

Sneers winced as much as he wanted not to, but he felt pain all over, and apparently Kori felt him wincing as well, so she broke the embrace quickly, and looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I just.. WOW! You are back! This is the best day ever! I missed you." The girl stuttered saying the words, her cheeks were stained with tears, and Sneers just couldn't look as enthusiastic as she is, but he tried his best to overcome the pain and try to express some feelings.

"I missed you too, Love.." Sneers said weakly, and Kori just cried even more.

"I'm sorry this happened to you.. it should have been me taking the fall not you.." Kori said.

"No.. No, Sweetheart.. it's okay.. I wouldn't have fared any better had you taken the fall for me.." Sneers said.

"But you would have been safe, that would have been good for me.. i am such a selfish bitch!" Kori said very close to his face and Sneers could see more tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, he wanted to lift a thumb and wipe them away, but his hand won't let him, and he probably doesn't have a thumb anymore.

"Sweetheart.. this talk won't change anything, what happened has happened, and we have come out of it alive.. all of us.. i mean you won the battle, right?" Sneers asked, hoping for a particular answer that would make him happy, Kori exchanged a weird look with Katara who was still standing at the side of the bed, Sneers never noticed her there, he thought she had left the room, but the look she exchanged with Kori made him more worried than ever, and Panic took over him again,

"Please, don't tell me Shun has won." Sneers asked.

"No.. No! Of course not, Shun is dead." Katara answered quickly before going back to silence, and Sneers breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness.. Alright that's a good thing.. right?" Sneers asked, this is supposed to be a good thing, but Kori's utter silence made him confused.

Sneers glanced at Katara who averted her eyes and looked around the room, Sneers has had enough, "Alright, will someone just tell me what's going on here?" Sneers asked impatiently, and Kori broke down again, her sobs got louder and louder and Sneers felt his insides crumbling for it, Katara came to her side and put a hand on his crying girlfriend to comfort her.

Katara then looked at him with sad eyes herself, "I shouldn't tell you this in your current state, but i guess i have no choice.." She started, making Sneers very anxious, "We won the battle, Yes.. but.." Katara stopped.

"But what? The Avatar is dead?" Sneers asked, and Katara had a look of panic on her face.

"NO! The Avatar is perfectly fine.. I hope.. it's just.." Katara said with a sigh, apparently trying to make up her mind about the whole thing.

Until she was interrupted by Kori who just said it out loud, "Sneers.. All our friends are dead, we are the only people left of the freedom fighters." Kori said, and she broke down again, putting her hands on her face and sobbing loudly.

Sneers was traumatized, the shock was just unbearable, it was too much.. he just couldn't.

"All of.. Them?" Sneers asked, and the girl nodded. "Jet?" Another nod, "Smellerbee? Longshot? The Duke? Pipsqueak? Shu? Bao?.. All of them?" Sneers asked, feeling tears gathering in his eyes and a sad nod from the girls followed.

The tears fell freely from his eyes, but he made no sound, as the shock made him black out immediately, the last thing he remembers was Kori and Katara's screams as soon as he closed his eyes and let unconsciousness take over.

Tolan

Tolan was walking towards The Yu Dao Prison, walking beside him was Prince Sokka of The Southern Watertribe, he found it comforting working with Sokka, even though he hardly noticed it, but he's grown to like Sokka in the past couple of weeks.

I mean, what's there to not like about him?.. well, his banter can be quite awful sometimes, but generally Sokka is a great guy. Tolan thought, walking beside the southerner.

"So, have you rehearsed for the interrogation, Tolan?" Asked Sokka from beside him, stopping Tolan's train of thoughts.

"Yeah, it's great feeling useful again, i mean i don't know what's there to gain from interrogating Shun's thugs but i'd like to think it's important." Tolan responded.

"Hey, the war isn't over yet, we stopped the first conquest, it's likely the firenation is regrouping for the second attack, especially that the princess is now in power, she seems to be mental, she exploded the entire palace with the rebels inside, she accomplished in one day what all world leaders were trying to accomplish since Aang stopped the potential war, that young lady is synonymous with power. also, the way Aang used to talk about her.. i hope she responds to negotiations." Sokka said, slightly down than usual.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves with the explosion thing, Sokka, they are still just rumors. also, you told me The Princess helped you escape The Firenation palace with Aang's body during the cursed ceremonies." Tolan reminded Sokka.

"Yeah, but not out of courtesy for us, she didn't look like she gave a shit about the slaughter happening inside the palace, she seemed to be mainly concerned about Aang. i mean, they might have slept together for all i know." Sokka said, and Tolan laughed loudly, Sokka looked at him meaningfully, as if questioning Tolan's actions, Tolan's laughter subsided gradually, as Sokka's expression didn't reveal amusement in the slightest.

"Wait, you are serious?" Asked Tolan, and Sokka nodded.

Tolan's eyes widened and his mouth was very wide open for birds to make a nest, "Oh My Spirits! Avatar Aang.. had an affair with- Oh SPIRITS!" Tolan exclaimed, laughing again, but this time Sokka couldn't hold it much longer, and joined him in laughter.

"I mean it's just an assumption, but.. Oh What the hell.. Katara confirmed it, it happened." Sokka said his laughter increasing, with Tolan follwing suit.

"This is the best thing i've heard in a while. Avatar Aang is the man!" Tolan said still chuckling a bit and wiping a tear from his eye.

"I guess even a maniacal princess can't deny the charms of the avatar." Sokka said.

"But if she's so obsessed with the avatar, we could use this to our advantage, right? maybe Aang could charm her into submission." Tolan pitched out, which was followed by a snort from Sokka.

"You have a lot to learn, Kid.." Sokka started.

"Hey!" Tolan protested.

Sokka continued, "Princess Azula is clearly not the same person as she was the last time she saw Aang. Yesterday, when Katara conversed with Aang about the whole thing, he was shocked that Azula would do such a thing. Katara said he was in denial." Sokka said.

Tolan was shocked, but for something else. "Wait, Aang talked to somebody? i thought he was going to stay in that rented home for the rest of his life."

"He agreed to talk to my sister last night, but i don't think it ended well, Katara didn't look very happy last night, she was supposed to leave for Kyoshi Island today to see our mom, but she said that when she returned to the infirmary last night, a patient of hers got very sick, so she has to stick with him for a couple more days."

"I don't understand what Avatar Aang is doing, i mean, an Avatar isn't supposed to act this way, he has a major responsibility, and he is not allowed to be mopey and depressed, he needs to be in shape all the time." Tolan said, he got very upset when Avatar Aang refused to attend any of the meetings they had in Yu Dao.

"Don't get too upset about it, he refused to talk to anyone, even his air nomad natives, Master Tenzin and the boy Senge who was with him for the last two months. They asked to see him to say goodbye before they left for the airtemple and he refused to even meet with them." Sokka said, and Tolan got even more upset with The Avatar, how could he do that to his own people?

"And here i thought The Avatar was supposed to be the best of us." Tolan said distastefully.

"He's still the best of us, he's just taking some time off, it's been just a week, Tolan, i would take more than a week to get over losing two of my best friends." Sokka defended his friend looking at Tolan angrily, and then silence ensued and none of them spoke a word for the rest of the distance.

Soon, they reached the Yu Dao prison, it was time to interrogate Shun's thugs, they entered the prison still in silence, with the exception of Sokka talking to the guards informing them of their arrival and asking for permission to see the prisoners. Permission was granted, and they entered the prison, they made their ways to the cells where Shun's thugs were kept, and they stood there motionless for a couple of seconds looking at them inside their cells, before Sokka broke the silence.

"Hello, Jeri.. it's been a while." Sokka greeted.

Jeri lifted his head from the floor he was laying on, looking as helpless and fragile as a turtleduck out of its pond.

"Oh.. Hey, i remember you.. Prince Sokka, right?" Jeri said with a smile, and Sokka nodded, he then turned his look to Tolan and his smile turned to a frown, "Well Well, if it isn't the treasonous Lord Tolan, nephew of the great King Long Feng, we were expecting a shipping cargo with your name on it a couple of months ago." Jeri said sarcastically.

"Oh, you haven't heard? turns out you didn't have quite the competent sailors." Tolan said bantered back and Jeri couldn't help but chuckle.

"If it make any difference, it was Firelord Ozai who hired them, one of his many failures." Jeri said, making Tolan set his mouth agape.

"A Firenation soldier who isn't treating a Firelord as a god.. that's interesting." Sokka said.

"I don't believe in Gods." Jeri responded, and it was Sokka's time to chuckle.

"Turns out we have a lot in common, My Friend.." Sokka responded, "We have some questions for you that needs answering if you don't mind.. there are chairs prepared for us here, we are going to take a seat." Sokka and Tolan took a seat in front of the cells facing Jeri,

"Now, Jeri.. we are going to ask you some questions, and we want appropriate and hopefully honest answers to them. just a fair warning though, both of us are very patient men, and we can stay here for as long as it takes to get words out of your mouth.." Sokka got closer to Jeri's cell and looked him in the eyes,

"By Any Means Necessary." Sokka said, observing Jeri's face, which exactly showed what seemingly is the reaction Sokka was hoping for, slight fear, not enough but still progress, Tolan observed the whole ordeal like Sokka was a master and he was an apprentice, even though Tolan spent his whole life learning for The Dai Li and eventually leading them, Sokka's techniques seemed to be much better and safer, at least it doesn't require brainwash, which wasn't exactly one of Tolan's favorite parts of the job. Sokka straightened up on the chair and continued,

"so you better think carefully about your answers, Deal?" Sokka finished with a proposal, waiting for Jeri's response.

Jeri sat there looking to be thinking it over for a while, he then turned his attention to Sokka again and nodded.

Sokka smiled, "Excellent. Shall we begin?" Sokka said, motioning for Tolan to take the floor, Tolan nodded to the watertribe warrior, and regarded Jeri.

"Jeri. You've been Shun's right hand in Yu Dao, we supposed that you had some insight into The Firenation future plans, are we correct about our assumption?" Tolan asked.

Jeri stayed silent for a while before answering, "There are no future plans, she ended them all."

Tolan and Sokka weren't very stunned by the answer, "You are talking of The Princess?" Tolan asked.

"Yes, with Zhao and the rest of the rebels dead, there are no future plans, you can ask Princess Azu- Oh Forgive me, Firelord Azula.." He sarcastically corrected himself, "you can ask her about Future plans."

"So, you are saying that you are done?" Tolan asked.

"Yes, we are done." Jeri confirmed, looking at the ground with a defeated expression.

"You can still be of help, Jeri." Sokka offered.

"Yeah, scrubbing your floors and stabling your ostrich-horses aren't actually written in my resume." Jeri quipped, and Sokka chuckled.

"Don't worry, you'll have to learn them soon if you are to stay alive in this prison.. or you could help us with a mission and save yourself the hassle." Sokka offered again, and Jeri lifted his head in confusion, Tolan was just as confused as he wasn't exactly familiar with Sokka's improvised plan.

"Are you saying what i think you are saying?" Jeri asked.

"I'm listening." Jeri finally said, and Sokka smiled appreciatively.

"We want you to smuggle The Avatar into The Firenation Capital." Sokka said, both Tolan and Jeri had a look of bewilderment on their faces, but Tolan overcame it seconds later as he started to follow up on what Sokka was doing, he smiled knowingly as he realized Sokka was going through with a plan he suggested earlier.

Zuko

The Frozen Tundra of The Magnificent Northern Watertribe, Even though it's his first visit but Zuko could list a thousand places he would rather be.

They finally arrived with Master Fung and three waterbenders at the gates of the city, wearing watertribe heavy watertribe coats but it wasn't enough for Zuko to shelter himself from the cold, it was freezing, and even though he's wrapped up in heavy clothes, the cold still reached his limbs, it was awful.

"A-are w-we there yet?" Zuko heard Toph ask, of course she was still with them, and nobody had it harder than her, not only will she feel the freezing cold, but she's gonna expose her feet to the frozen ground to feel her way through he frozen tundra, it's going to be so hard for her, but they needed her in this particular mission.. or Zuko needed her, Master Fung didn't ask for it.

"The gates are in sight, one more mile." Master Fung assured, and Toph sighed heavily.

"Thank goodness." Toph said happily for the first time since they left on this atrocious ship, he was used to metal firenation ships, these wooden watertribe ships weren't exactly his style, they were basically ships with masts that are being canoed using Waterbending, they are like a small boat, only a waterbender is the paddle.

"As soon as we get inside the city, i don't want you to interact with anyone, especially you, Prince Zuko. nobody likes Firenation people here." Master Fung said.

"Nobody likes Firenation people anywhere." Zuko corrected with an expression free of amusement.

"Yeah, well.. here, it can get a little bit extreme. so be cautious." Master Fung said, and Zuko eventually nodded.

They finally reached the city gates, and the three waterbenders talked to the city guards on the wall, they finally had permission to enter after they told them that they have an important message to deliver to the chief of the city, who Zuko knew earlier that he is Hahn, Chief Arnook's nephew, he's said to be a prick, but at least he wasn't one of his father's confidants like Long Feng in Ba Sing Se, or Voccak in The Southern Watertribe.

The gates of the city opened magnificently, A portion of the icy wall is lowered, allowing them to enter into the city. There were Canal workers with canoes that used waterbending were waiting to transport the group into the city.

"Were these people expecting us?" Zuko asked Fung.

"No, they do that to all visitors, it's actually easier than it looks, not too many visitors you know."

"I wonder why." Zuko said sarcastically, shivering slightly from the freezing cold.

The group finally reached what appeared to be a resort of rental houses made of Ice, Zuko knew it was a bad idea to travel up here, he'll never get a good night sleep with those ice roofs above him, he'll stay up all night fearing their collapse. They got off the canoe, took all their supplies and luggage which weren't much since Master Fung made them throw away anything that identifies them as The Prince of The Firenation, or The daughter of Lord Beifong.

Toph had a teary goodbye with her family, her sister Luna took it the hardest as she hugged Toph fiercely while her parents kept arguing with her, telling her to stay instead of going on this dangerous mission, they also cursed Zuko for asking her to come with him, and as soon as that happened, Toph lashed out at them telling them that Zuko didn't decide for her, it was her choice and hers only, that she's capable of protecting herself, her parents tried to argue more, but she surprised them with a hug, it appeared to be the first time she ever hugged them, she told them that she'd be alright and that they have Luna with them, but Zuko needed her more than anyone at the moment, which warmed Zuko's heart, Toph can get very affectionate sometimes, of course she severely punched his arm afterwards when he mentioned it, but she's still lovely.

"So, how's your feet coping?" Zuko asked her.

"You know, normally it's a little hard to see with the shoes, but i guess the ice is so strong it's still sending signals to my feet, i can feel my way around just fine." Toph said.

"Great. I was kinda worried you wouldn't like it here."

"I didn't say i liked it here." Toph said, and Zuko chuckled.

"Yeah, i hope it's going to be worth it." Zuko said and they kept walking towards their rental home, of course they were going to rent two homes, one for the three white lotus waterbenders that are going to ask the chief to meet with Master Fung, and the other for Master Fung, Toph and Zuko.

They arrived at their homes and entered, it wasn't as bad as it looked outside, there were wooden pillars to support the ice roofs, so Zuko felt a little safer, and Zuko knew he wasn't one to complain, at least he isn't a grounded fugitive anymore, he can walk the streets whenever he likes now.

All three of them put their luggage aside and started tasting their beds,

"It's getting late, we need to get some sleep if we are going to talk sanely to the chief tomorrow." Master Fung said and laid on his bed,

Zuko took the bed in the middle, Fung on the right, and Toph on the left. Zuko looked to his left to find Toph fast asleep, he smiled and decided to follow suit, he laid on the pillow and waited for sleep to come, He put a hand on his left eye feeling the scar, it was still swollen a bit and it hurt a little, he's grown accustomed to this new look, it made him look horrendous but at least it reflects how he feels inside, with that thought he gave in to slumber.

When he woke up, he looked to his left to find Toph sprawled out on the bed still sleeping and snoring heavily, but when he looked to his right, he found that Master Fung wasn't in his bed.

Zuko got up, he splashed some water on his face, he noticed that it's sunrise so he must have slept for approximately five hours, he decided to leave Toph to rest a little bit more and walked out of the house to search for Fung.

He found him standing outside the house with another man as he was so engaged in the conversation.

"Master Fung." Zuko callled out catching the master's attention.

"Hello, Lee.. this is Lee, a companion of mine from the earth kingdom." Master Fung told the guy next to him, covering for Zuko, the guy waved to Zuko and Zuko got over his confusion and waved back. Eventually Master Fung ended the conversation with the man and got near Zuko.

"So that's my name now. Lee?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, don't you like it?"

"It's alright. But why Earth Kingdom?" Zuko inquired.

"You are wearing heavy clothes, You are pale, and you have a scar. if you were Air nomad, you wouldn't have worn heavy clothes as you would have controlled the temperature. if you were watertribe, you would have been dark skinned, and your injury would have been healed." Master Fung reasoned, which made Zuko nod, but feeling sad all the same, he doesn't like being reminded of his scar, he reminds himself of it every single second.

"That's fair i suppose. so who was that guy?" Zuko asked.

"An informant of the white lotus, he was delivering some new information to me. the world has changed a lot since we left for The Northern Watertribe." Fung said looking pensively at the ground.

"What happened?" Zuko inquired.

"Zhao is dead. Shun is dead. Your Sister is the new Firelord, The Avatar is alive, and he took over Yu Dao with the help of Omashu and Southern Watertribe warriors and all of them are currently in control of the colonies." Fung said in a rush, Zuko's mind stopped functioning.

"What?"

"Process all this new information, and then come discuss it with me over breakfast." Fung said, then he left Zuko on the spot and entered the house.

Zuko was still standing motionless, what the hell did i just hear? Azula is the firelord? Aang is alive? The rebels are.. What?! Zuko held his head with both his hands, trying to wrap his mind around all this.

He got over his shock about five minutes later, and walked back to the house, he found Toph awake and waiting for breakfast with an expressionless face, which wasn't new to her, but that face wasn't as any he's ever seen, he got next to her and sat down mirroring her expression.

"Did he tell you what he just told me?" Toph asked still looking ahead without moving a muscle.

"Yes." Zuko replied.

"Alright, are we level-headed now?" Fung asked, bringing some plates with various watertribe food to the table, of course Zuko never noticed as he lost all appetite.

Zuko took a deep breath, "How come my sister became Firelord? How come Aang is still alive? and how are Shun and Zhao dead? don't tell me Azula killed Zhao and his goons because that's literally impossible, and Shun is dead? the colonies are back to the earth kingdom? so that means what the firenation conquest is over? this is a good thing, but also an unbelievable thing, are you kidding me? or are you kidding yourself? we need to discuss this with the informat he is clearly lying, or maybe you are lying, this is INSANE!" Zuko said in a rush, putting his head in his hands again,

Fung waited for him to finish before talking, "Well, that was quite a handful, but my informant is trustworthy and it's alright to be shocked, i was as shocked as you, let me recite what he told me. Avatar Aang turned out to be alive, he was alive all along and recuperating in the Southern Airtemple, he gathered an army using acquaintances of his and he went to Yu Dao and captured it, and he killed their leader Shun. as for your sister, it's said that it was Zhao's coronation day, your sister agreed to vouch for Zhao to make him the new Firelord after your father's death, and as soon as he entered the palace, a huge explosion happened taking the lives of all that were inside, Azula was out of the palace by then, so the people sought her to become their Firelord as they thought what happened to the palace was due to their choice of someone else, or maybe it's because all of Zhao's supporters were inside the palace at the time of the explosion." Fung said, with a hint of suspicion.

"So you are basically saying, Aang killed Shun, Azula killed Zhao and his supporters, and the rebellion is over?" Toph asked.

"Yes. i got confirmation from people in the city as well, apparently messages have been sent everywhere from Yu Dao about both incidents." Fung said.

"Why was the message about The Firenation palace sent from Yu Dao?" Toph asked.

"Messages were intercepted in Yu Dao as they were sent to Firenation people in the city." Fung responded.

"Fung. That's too much to handle." Zuko voiced out with a groan.

"Yeah, i know, i decided to tell you now so that you might clear your heads by the time we meet with The Chief." Fung said.

"I don't think we will." Zuko and Toph said in unison.


I'm sorry it was a chapter filled with cliffhangers, but i just felt like filling in for the events following the battle and the explosion and how it affected other people that weren't involved in either like Zuko, Toph and Sneers.

Next couple of chapters will be fun, that much i can promise. so for now, thanks for keeping up.