Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Legend of Korra

Ayana

Thankfully they didn't have too far to go before they heard gunshots echoing back at them. At the sound, Mustang quickened his pace, and she tried hard to match his stride. She was still mostly leaning on him, so he could only go so fast with her, anyway.

They approached a large doorway, and they could hear voices echoing from it. As they got closer, they could distinguish words. Al was yelling in an angry tone, "I'm tired of watching the people I care about die! I'm not leaving you, not when I can stand and fight to protect you!"

They rounded the corner into the room and Mustang shouted. "I couldn't have said it better myself!"

In front of them, Lust turned around in surprise. Barry's armor lay shattered in pieces, and Al's armor sported gaping holes and missing parts as stood protectively in front of Hawkeye. She was kneeling on the ground in front of a large white door with intricate symbols carved into it. They didn't have time to see if she was injured, though, because Al, upon realizing who they were, immediately transmuted a massive wall between him and Lust.

Mustang shouted to Lust, and the wrath was palpable in his voice. "You said you're nearly impossible to kill? Well, I'd still like to give it a try!"

Ayana already knew what he needed before he asked. She had her arm wrapped around him for support, but she raised her free hand and produced a ball of fire in her palm. He still had his gloves on, but they were soaking wet. He couldn't produce his own flame, but he still had the transmutation circle he needed.

He glanced at the flame out of the corner of his eye, and she saw them glint in gratitude.

Instantly he took the fire from her hand and sent it to Lust, burning her alive. Her screams filled the room as, again and again, Mustang pulled from her fire and repeatedly scorched Lust. She was regenerating herself but to no avail. He was relentless, furious, deadly with his attacks, and finally Lust froze.

Mustang paused his flames, and together, the two of them watched as Lust's body, and her Philosopher's Stone, slowly disintegrated into dust.

Al carried her back to the hotel that night. She'd tried to walk but it was slow going, and she finally gave in to Al's insistence that he help her. Winry was shocked at the condition they both returned in, but surprisingly she didn't hit them with any hidden wrenches.

Ling and Lan Fan were there, too, keeping Winry company. Apparently, Ling had spilled the beans on Mustang's plan earlier, and that's how Al had known where to find them. They also knew Ed was safe with Fu, Armstrong, and Breda, thanks to Ling's reassurances; they just had to wait for him to return from the east.

She was secretly relieved they had a couple weeks to relax. Her leg really hurt, and while she could walk, it was with a limp and some pain. Mustang and Havoc had been hospitalized after the whole incident, but both were expected to be okay.

Ling and Lan Fan didn't seem to have anything else to do, either, since most days they hung out in the hotel room with them. Ayana didn't mind. Contrary to her initial impression of them, they turned out to be nice people. She didn't bring up topics relating to her world, including the legend of Yosono Kami, and they didn't bring it up, either.

Every now and then, she'd find a quiet corner, usually the hotel roof, and meditate into the spirit world to continue her search for the portal. She needed to find it, so she could figure out the route to her own portals once she crossed through.

On this particular morning she was still having no luck, but all her frustrations disappeared when she saw a familiar face coming towards her. At first, she didn't believe it was real.

"…Jinora?"

"Ayana!" Jinora exclaimed as she waved and ran over to her. Her spirit friend Furry-Foot, a giant dragonfly bunny, followed close behind. Ayana sprinted to close the distance, and they met each other in a tight hug with both of them crying tears of joy.

"Gosh, Ayana, where have you been? We've all been worried sick! You've been gone for months!"

"It's a very long story." She pulled back from the hug and sat in the grass. Jinora sat beside her. "I'm sorry if you all have been looking for me back home, but you won't find me there. Somehow I ended up in another world."

Jinora gasped. "I didn't even know there were other worlds!"

"Neither did I. I have a theory on getting home, though; if I can find the portal that this world has and open it, I could cross through to the spirit world and then get back home by crossing through one of our portals."

"That makes sense." Jinora said. "How can I help?"

"You can keep an eye out for a portal here. I used to come in here looking for it just to confirm it truly existed, but I recently heard a local legend that pretty much confirms it does. Now I just need to locate it."

Jinora's eyes lost focus as she thought. "Hm. Finding it on this side won't correspond to a specific location in the world you're in?"

"I don't think so. Ours don't."

"True…." They sat for a bit, mulling over the situation.

"I've got to be getting back soon. I've been gone for a while. We should pick a meeting place, so that we can find each other in the future." Ayana suggested.

"Alright! Every time I come to the spirit world, I'll go there first to find you. And I can have Furry-Foot wait for you if I'm not there. What location do you want to use?"

She thought about it. "How about Hai-Riyo Peak? Not the actual peak, but near the base of the mountain there's a tree that stands alone on at the top of a cliff. Have you seen it?"

"I don't think so, no."

"Here, I'll show you." She grabbed Jinora's hand, and Furry-Foot placed a paw on her shoulder. She pictured the destination in her mind and watched the world shift around them, and suddenly they were there.

"Okay great! Yes, let's make this our spot." Jinora said excitedly. "I really should go back and let everyone know you're okay. Poor Raashu hasn't stopped searching for you since you disappeared. He misses you. Next time I see him I'll send him here."

"Thank you." She hugged Jinora again. "You don't know how much hope and happiness seeing you has brought me. Please tell Tenzin I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For leaving, for abandoning the world when they need me most. How bad have the dark spirits gotten?"

Jinora frowned. "You don't need to be sorry, it's not your fault. About the spirits, well, they've gotten worse. By this point, the entire world knows you're missing, and the people are doing everything they can to control the situation. Don't worry, we'll take care of things until you get back."

"Thanks. I'll do what I can to return soon."

They hugged again and agreed to meet at roughly the same time tomorrow. Then they both returned to their own physical worlds.

She returned to Al's room and found the group had just ordered lunch to be delivered. The food arrived within the hour and they had just started to dig in when there was a knock on the door. Being the one closest, she stood and opened it to find Lieutenant Hawkeye there.

"Oh, hey Hawkeye, what's up?"

"Hello, Avat…"

She cut her off quickly and pushed her out into the hallway, looking over her shoulder to see if Ling or Lan Fan had heard. "Hey hey, uh…" She closed the door behind her. "Let's not use that word in front of the Xingese guys."

Hawkeye raised her eyebrow but kept a straight face. "Alright. Colonel Mustang would like to speak to you. Will you come with me?"

"He does? Okay, yeah, hang on." She cracked the door and peaked back in the room. "Hey guys, I'll be back later. Something came up. Save some for me, Ling!" The group looked at her with mouths full of food, waving her off. She shut the door and followed Hawkeye.

The Lieutenant drove her to the hospital, and they made their way to Mustang and Havoc's room. Hawkeye opened the door for her and followed her inside. Havoc and Mustang had been talking but stopped upon their entrance.

"Sir, I've brought the Avatar as you requested."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Mustang responded formally. Then to her he said. "I have a few things I wanted to discuss with you. Please, sit." He pointed at a chair next to his bed. She walked over and sat as requested. Hawkeye stood respectfully by the door with her hands behind her back.

"First, Havoc and I would like to thank you, for saving our bacon back there. I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

She blushed. "I'm just glad I could help, and that everyone made it out alive. Well… everyone except Barry, I guess."

"Second. I'm wondering if you can tell me something." He hesitated, and she waited patiently. "I'd like to know your trick for creating fire from thin air. It would be very useful for me. My gloves give me the ability to produce fire when needed, but they become useless if they're wet. A skill like yours would come in handy."

She lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap. "Colonel, I don't think that's something I can teach you. Bending ability is a hereditary condition, it's not a skill that can be taught to a nonbender." She looked up only to see disappointment in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

He held her gaze, and she watched his eyes turn from disappointment to acceptance. "Alright then. Thank you anyway."

There was a knock on the door, and she was surprised to see Edward walk in, followed by Alphonse. It looked like Ed had repaired Al's armor, since the missing pieces had been replaced and the holes were filled.

She jumped up from the chair and ran over to hug him. "Hey, you're back!"

He returned the hug strongly. "Yeah, just missed you at the hotel, apparently. Al told me all about what happened at the Third Lab, and we decided to come here and visit."

"I wanted to thank you, Colonel, for saving my life." Al said.

"You're welcome, Alphonse. Fullmetal, how was your trip out east?"

Edward smirked at him, snorting with amusement. "It was just as you said, Colonel. No city noise, and pretty women."

Mustang smiled slightly at that.

She knew from Ling's account that Mustang had sent Ed east to see Lieutenant Ross alive, to prove the whole thing was a big coverup. While she'd missed Edward, he'd needed to go; it was for his own good and she understood that. At least now he wasn't looking at Mustang like he wanted to cut him in half.

"Sir, since we're all here, I have some information for you all." Hawkeye surprised everyone by speaking. She pulled out a map and unrolled it on Mustang's lap, and everyone gathered around. Except Havoc, who stayed in his bed.

There was a red circle drawn on the map. "I counted the steps in the Third Lab basement and estimated the distance traveled. It's not exact, since the stairway curved, but I was able to make this radius around the lab for the location of that giant door we saw."

The group examined the map, and Ed pointed to a building that the circle intersected. "That's Central Command!" He pointed to another spot. "And that's the Fuhrer's estate!"

Mustang spoke slowly. "This means there's a very real possibility that the Fuhrer is involved with the homunculi."

"But then, why would he have killed Greed?" Al asked. "It doesn't make sense."

Mustang looked up at them. "You guys need to watch yourselves. This goes higher than I could have ever imagined."

Ed nodded. "Right."

After leaving Mustang's room, they decided to walk over to the Third Lab. Ed wanted to see if he could find the entrance to the basement and check it out.

She and Al waited for him outside. Al asked her, "So, on that day, what were you doing with Mustang? Did he recruit you to help? Is that why you left so early that morning without telling anyone?"

"Too many questions at once Al." She replied, laughing. "He didn't recruit me, I sort of weaseled my way in, but yes that's why I left early. I couldn't tell you guys where I was going because Mustang made me promise not to. He said it would blow the mission. I think he was referring more to Edward than you, though."

Al laughed heartily. "Yeah, that sounds about right. It's one of the reasons he sent him out east, too."

They stopped talking when they noticed Ed walking towards them.

"How'd it go?"

"It was easy, I told them I was a State Alchemist and they let me right in, no problem. While I didn't find a basement, I did see a trace of some hasty alchemy. They must have covered up the entrance."

"Hmm. How are we going to find a homunculus now, Brother?"

"I dunno. We'll have to think of something else."

She was puzzled. "Why do you want to find one of them?"

"To get some answers, of course!" Ed exclaimed. "Why they keep calling us sacrifices, and what they want you for."

"Whatever it is, they need us alive. Lust said something about it when I was down in the basement with Mustang and Havoc. She mentioned her Father being interested to meet me, and not wanting to kill a 'candidate for sacrifice'." She air quoted the last few words with her fingers.

"Her Father? They have a father? Who is he?" Ed's eyes clouded in thought. No one had an answer for him.

Sargant Brosch was down the street, running toward them and waving them down. "Edward! Edward!" He stopped in front of them and held out a flyer. "This is a special bulletin for State Alchemists, you need to read it. Scar is back in Central. He's already killed three people. I can escort you to your hotel if you'd like."

Ed quickly scanned the paper, then looked up at Brosch. "Sure, let's go."