Chapter 9

Azula was in an excellent mood. Her spy network had finally given her reliable information about the Resistance's location, and her plan to infiltrate it had been set in motion. Even better, she had found the perfect location to stage the inevitable confrontation: the Si Wong Desert, conveniently full of sandbending ruffians. She could hide her own involvement in the plot by contracting with some tribesmen, and innocently pick up the pieces when the waterbender broke poor Aang's heart. The anticipation of satisfaction reminded her of a happy childhood memory.

Walking beside her guard from her training gym to meeting room, she asked the new captain brightly, "Tell me, captain, do you hunt?"

"When I can, my lord."

"My father used to take me hunting. We went after tiger monkey, or puma goat, but sometimes all we found were elephant rats." Azula recounted the moment from her past. "Father preferred to use traps. He would lecture me about the importance of choosing the correct bait, and the latch that springs the trap at just the right moment. I was fascinated by the concept as a little girl, and began designing traps of my own, drawing pictures on my school notebooks. He encouraged me, and had our weapons master create one of the traps from my diagrams."

"Did your trap work?" Raiden wondered, charmed by the story.

"No," Azula frowned. Somehow she had forgotten the ending of the story until she was in the middle of telling it. "It didn't injure the animal severely enough, and it got away. Father told me later that he knew it wouldn't work, and made me set the trap anyway. He wanted me to learn from my failure."

"Did you refine the design and try again?"

"No," she looked down. "That was when Aang arrived, and reeducating him took all of Father's attention. Then I got to know him, and lost interest in hunting."

"Ah. I understand. Well, if you ever want to rekindle that interest, I would be glad to take you to my family's lands." He blushed, realizing she had access to hunting grounds much more abundant than any he could command. "Or to accompany you in the royal forest. I've always wanted to explore there."

"Thank you for the kind offer, Captain. But now I have a very different kind of prey to catch." She closed the meeting room door, shutting herself in with her spymaster.

When Aang and Katara returned from an impromptu (and surprisingly eventful) trip to watch a wrestling match in Gaoling, they found that the Resistance was welcoming a new member. Yoshio had proven himself by getting word to the town contact that the Rough Rhinos were getting ready to raid one of the organization's safe houses. Without his swift warning, several agents would be on their way to the Fire Nation for execution.

Yoshio had been taken blindfolded to their forest hideaway and given a bunk and food. He sat in the place of honor at dinner that night, next to the Avatar.

"Where are you from, Yoshio?" Aang began a friendly conversation.

"Whaletail Island, originally, but I've been all over the islands of the Southern Sea and the inland Earth Kingdom."

"Whaletail Island is close to where I grew up, the Southern Air Temple!" The airbender exclaimed.

Yoshio nodded and leaned in confidentially. "I've always been curious about the Air Nomads. Family legend says that a few refugees from the Air Temple ended up in our village and went into hiding."

"How could they hide?" Aang gestured to his forehead.

"Well, the adults couldn't. But the children could. When the soldiers came for the adults, the local families claimed that the children were their own, even though they didn't look much alike."

Hope, relief, and joy flooded Aang at the idea of even a few escaping the massacre. "Did they ever learn to airbend?" He asked eagerly. "Or were they too young, and without teachers?"

"No, I don't think they did, not too much anyway." He shook his head with a regretful half smile. "Too scared to reveal themselves, I bet. They said my great great grandfather was one of those children!"

"You're kidding!" The airbender laughed with delight, grabbing the other man's shoulder. "You're my long lost cousin!"

"I was hoping you'd tell me more about the Air Nomads. What was life like in the Air Temples? What does airbending feel like? And what does it mean?"

The two young men talked long into the night. From across the fire, Katara smiled to see it. She was glad Aang had finally found a friend in the Resistance. Next to her, her brother noticed the direction of her gaze.

"Everything ok there?"

"Of course! If Aang's happy, then I'm happy."

"The other night he sure wasn't happy about Jet's plan. But I'm glad he said no. I don't trust that guy."

"Jet's always been kind of a loose cannon." Katara admitted. "But you've never seen him fight with those hook swords."

"And he's never seen me throw—" Sokka pulled his silver swoop from its shoulder strap "—my boomerang!"

Katara couldn't help laughing to hear Sokka's familiar braggadocio, undampened by his years of captivity. "That boomerang. I never thought I'd miss it."

"You miss the weirdest things." He mused. "Like Gran Gran's sea prunes. I spent my whole childhood hiding them and feeding them to the birds, anything to avoid having to choke those things down, and now I think if I caught a whiff of those wrinkly, disgusting, giant ocean raisins, I would bawl like a baby."

"For me it's the sounds of the turtle seals and otter penguins," Katara recalled. "And I miss bundling up in a nice fur, keeping warm in the cold."

"It cannot be normal to sweat this much." Sokka declared.

"How do they stand this heat?!"

The siblings chatted a while longer, until Ty Lee came over to her boyfriend and sat down in his lap. Katara took the hint and bid them good night.

Aang and Yoshio were still talking. Katara decided to let him enjoy his new friend.

"Good night, sweetie," she said to her boyfriend, leaning down to give him a quick kiss.

"You're going to bed?" He asked, surprised.

"It's pretty late," she pointed out.

"I guess we lost track of time," Aang gave a sheepish sidelong smile to his companion.

"It's ok. I'm glad you made friends. Welcome to the group, Yoshio." The waterbender went off alone to her tent.

"Tell me, what do you think of our new Fire Lord?" Piandao asked Raiden on his day off, over tea on a sunny patio on his estate.

Azula's beauty was the first thing that came to Raiden's mind, but of course that was not the kind of thing Piandao was interested in. "She's the best firebender I've ever seen. She has no interest in governing, and spends all her time either training or scheming with her spymaster. She's particular about details. Solitary. Imperious. She's not happy." He summed up his impressions.

"Is she stable?"

"Hard to say. If not, she hides it well. She certainly has a temper. She startles easily. The others say she talks to herself, but I haven't seen it." Raiden set down his teacup and asked the question he'd been dying to ask since his promotion. "What exactly is my assignment? What is the goal you want me to help you achieve?"

Piandao sighed. "It's a hard question to answer, because things are still very much in the air right now."

"It's hard to do my duty without clear orders." Raiden pointed out.

"I understand." Piandao leaned forward, and his young friend mirrored him. "First of all, I want you to keep me informed. Second, to avert, or at least minimize, any imminent damage Fire Lord Azula might do. Third, to await further orders. When we know more about what kind of leader she is, the Elder Brothers and I will decide on the ultimate goal."

"What are the possibilities you're considering?" Raiden pushed, hoping that since he was so close to the situation, he would be taken into confidence.

"Ideally, we are hoping to be able to….manage her." The swordmaster admitted delicately.

"Turn her into a puppet?"

"Basically. We would place someone in her cabinet to make the real decisions. Several of our best Fire Lords in history have acted mainly as figureheads. Until Sozin, that is."

Raiden shook his head. "It seems to me Azula's too smart to be used like that. She likes power too much."

Piandao sighed. "You're probably right. If our attempts to direct her fail, and she begins to lead the world on a truly disastrous course, we may have to depose her."

"A coup? In favor of who?"

"Her uncle. Or perhaps her brother."

"But the whole country reviles them both as traitors," Raiden argued. "And she's such a great firebender, it would be nearly impossible to kill or imprison her."

"We would have to poison her, or kill her in her sleep." At Raiden's horrified face, Piandao nodded acknowledgement. "I know. Dishonorable tactics. That's why we're reluctant to attempt a coup unless absolutely necessary."

"She's so young." Raiden protested. "Isn't it possible she could grow into her position, and become a decent ruler?"

"Given her upbringing, unlikely. But I suppose a miracle is possible."

Author's Note: Please leave me a review! I'll update again in a week!