A/N:

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Hatching plans/Niece Wen

3

"Sokka…"

A voice that once had been powerful, unyielding, steeled, and mischievous now spoke his name as in a prayer. The lips that dared shape into those simple syllables caught his own: warmth overtook him, spreading all across him, as though he had been freezing cold and someone had lit a fire from within him… oh, she had. As she always did…

She had melted his defenses, broken past every wall he'd dared build and helped him see he was more than ice. He was as smooth as a river, as thunderous as a storm, as merciless as a waterfall, as subtle as snow… he was water, just as she was fire. Upon knowing her, he had known himself too.

That kiss should spread for another moment, just for another instant, just for one more breath, his heart would continue beating powerfully if it did…

Blackness, seeping into a bloody wound.

Helpless, bedridden, pale and unmoving, unable to speak.

Desperate, hurt, pleading for his life, leaping into an inferno that might consume everything.

Tears, spilling down her pale cheeks, as she drifted away… broken, alone, just like him.

Sokka snarled, slamming a tightened fist on his room's wooden floorboards. He hadn't even opened his eyes yet, but he had already lashed out against the damn subconscious mind that never seemed to cut him any slack. His dreams were merciless, whether when reminding him of the bliss or of the sorrow, serving as a childish, persistent scratching on the scabs across his battered heart.

He opened his eyes, glaring at the ceiling of his room. Not a single agreeable dream had graced his mind ever since he'd returned to the South Pole. Either he'd have dreamless nights, which were the better alternative, or he'd find himself lost in nightmares, waking within the first few hours of climbing into his sleeping bag, drenched in cold sweat as his mind fed him horrific images of Rhone hacking Azula's body apart, or the corruption consuming her completely… or of Ozai burning her into nothingness, the very fate he had intended for Sokka. Every one of such dreams drove across an infuriating message that never failed to make Sokka seethe: powerlessness. He never had a say upon the contents of those dreams, only upon forcing himself awake when he recognized them for what they were.

But there were worse dreams yet… such as the one he'd experienced today, at first. He covered his face with his hands, breathing heavily, trying to still himself. Sometimes she'd feel so close, so damn close that he could breathe in her scent, taste her kisses, feel the softness of her skin against his own, hear her voice so clearly… and then it'd dawn on him that he had lost her. That he would wake up without her, with nothing but memories of her, the echoes of her presence rippling through his mind. He couldn't decide whether his dreams or his nightmares pained him more. Perhaps the nightmares were preferable simply because waking up meant an escape, and his actual reality would offer a smidge of relief… the dreams, however, beckoned him to sleep forever, if just so he could continue to feel her with him for a moment longer.

His father's confession regarding how he coped with Kya's absence still lingered in Sokka's mind. Trying to evoke Azula's image intentionally, however, pained him profoundly: maybe he needed more time before that idea worked for him. Maybe it'd never work, come to think of it… maybe it only would on the day he accepted she was lost to him, beyond all hope.

For now, though, he turned on the sleeping bag and his gaze fell upon the necklace that rested by his side. That blue flame, carved into the pendant, made it all the easier to remember her, as memories of their blissful week together came to mind. The smiles on her face, the pure bliss she showed him, the way her eyes sparkled… they had matched her pendant, just as her gold fire matched the blue.

A deep sigh left his lips as he picked up the necklace, finding little respite in pressing his lips to it.

"Make sure to visit me again tonight, alright?" he said, with a thread of a voice. "I hate waking up from those dreams, but… I miss you too much to care about the pain whenever I'm in them."

It was a step forward, he guessed… not evoking her image entirely, but speaking to her, all the same. Sometimes he allowed himself to imagine his words would reach her… sometimes he allowed himself to wonder if perhaps, during those moments when thoughts of her would emerge so powerfully in his mind, as good as beckoning him to lose himself in his memories of her, Azula might be thinking of him just as strongly, just as desperately.

He'd put an end to her despair one day, and that day wouldn't be as distant as it felt right now. That was the purpose of the meeting he'd arranged for that very morning.

The feast had proceeded without a hitch, and he hadn't caused any chaos in it this time. The tribespeople had rejoiced in their survival, singing, dancing, feasting to their hearts' content, relaxing as they allowed themselves to believe that the defeat of the Fire Nation at their shores meant the enemy would be gone for good. Sokka knew better than to hope for that… but the battles left to be waged against the Fire Nation wouldn't be held in the South Pole if he had a say upon the matter.

He had spoken to the Tribe's leaders through the night – his father and two prominent members of the other tribes that merged with theirs –, to his friends as well, later on: they were to meet with him in Hakoda's igloo later today, and he would present his case and plans to them. He could already tell his sister and Kino were intrigued, while Aang appeared apprehensive – no doubt, recognizing the subject Sokka intended to discuss involved the future of the war. Yet the one who appeared immediately distrustful of Sokka's invitation was Zuko: Suki had seemed to soothe him as Sokka walked away, but the Gladiator recognized a certain darkness in her gaze that suggested she wasn't all that happy about the prospect of a war meeting, either.

They wanted to enjoy the feast's night, and Sokka guessed his quick aside with them hadn't helped matters much: Suki's injury seemed well on its way to healing, however, and Sokka guessed they longed to reclaim the kind of normalcy in which they'd dwelled for years until his arrival. Sokka had certainly thrown a wrench in their lives without intending to, and he supposed they wouldn't feel any better about him once they heard him out today. Even though he had finally humored Mari with stories that night, delivering the tale of the Spirit Library at long last, it didn't seem her parents were all that intrigued by his storytelling this time, even if their daughter's enthusiasm made a remarkable comeback upon hearing more about her beloved Princess Jing's adventures. They could tell something dangerous brewed in the horizon… and they likely guessed Sokka would be the herald of unsettling tidings on the very next day.

He sighed as he sat up, setting down the necklace carefully by his bedside once more. In the end, his aching heart would always surrender to the need to see her again, no matter how painful it might be. If pain was the price to pay for the sake of building that bridge between their souls once more, he'd suffer it without hesitation.

He dressed up and stepped out of the room, working on breakfast even before his sister or grandmother woke up. They were surprised by his diligence once they woke up as well, and while still being slightly apprehensive over letting him cook, they welcomed his help and worked with him on their first meal of the day. Katara stopped by at Hakoda's room to check on her father's condition, offering him another round of healing water, before he joined the rest of the family for breakfast.

Katara stepped outside again afterwards, doing her rounds on all her patients, accompanied by Kanna this time. Sokka stayed in the igloo today, preparing as best he could for the meeting he'd requested, spreading his father's favored map of the world by the dimly lit fire, eyes scrutinizing every area depicted by the cartographers, every location he had traveled through, whether by visiting them outright or just seeing them from a distance… the map yielded no answers, but Sokka guessed he'd come by them eventually. Even if not today, even if not right away, he'd find the answer he sought sooner than later.

Two hours after breakfast, the common room in Hakoda's igloo was packed, though not as tightly as it had been on the day of the battle. Kanna remained outside, tending to the more delicate patients while her granddaughter took her seat close to Sokka's position, by the map. Aang sat on Sokka's other side, with Kino right beside him. Zuko and Suki had left their children in the care of their neighbor, whose sons had been thrilled for a chance to play with their Princess Jing for a few hours, at least. The other tribal leaders sat by Kino's side and Hakoda was the final member of the very exclusive circle Sokka had summoned that day, sitting opposite to his son, at the other end of the circle around the fire.

"I think that's everyone… right?" Katara asked him, glancing at Sokka sideways. "So…?"

Sokka cleared his throat awkwardly, his gaze shifting around the low-burning fire at the center of the group. He was truly foolish, feeling awkward about public speech at this point… again, thoughts of Azula returned to mind as he pondered just how much better she'd be at it than he was… but it wasn't the time to think about that. Instead, he allowed those thoughts to strengthen his resolve as he raised his head once more

"Well… thank you all for coming, first off," Sokka started, hoping to keep his cool as he rose to his feet. "I've asked all of you to come here because of the battle we faced a week ago. We won, without a doubt, even if we took losses of our own. It's probably the first time since the Hundred Years' War began that we've delivered such a powerful blow to the Fire Nation's forces. It's great news for the Tribe… and at the same time, this success has created an opportunity for us that I don't intend to squander."

The eyes of every occupant of the room fell upon him: most were curious… but Zuko, naturally, looked guarded, even irritable. Well, his mood was sure to worsen as the meeting continued, Sokka knew as much…

"I instructed Aang and Katara to prevent any messages from leaving the battlefield," Sokka continued. "They built that last wall, right past the final ships, to ensure they wouldn't be able to send any of their skiffs with messages requesting reinforcements or informing the rest of the Fire Nation's forces of how badly the battle was faring for their fleet. The only messenger hawk sent by the Fire Nation to inform the Fire Lord of our victory over his troops was intercepted by Aang and is kept in safe custody in his igloo. This means… the Fire Nation's greatest strength, the main means through which they've triumphed in the war, has been disabled."

"You mean… communication?" one of the older warriors asked, and Sokka nodded, promptly.

"They have no idea, no way of knowing, what the outcome of the battle was, short of sending more ships to learn of it," Sokka said. "The prisoners revealed many ships stationed in the south were sent to partake in this operation: this suggests they won't have numbers to attack us again for months, at least, and if we mislead their leadership…"

"Wait, mislead them?" Suki repeated, eyes wide. "You mean…"

"We'll send the bird to the Fire Nation after all," Sokka said, firmly. "We'll claim the battle to seize control over the South Pole continues, but that the Fire Nation forces have matters well in hand… and most importantly, that they've succeeded in their mission, and that I've been slain in battle, as commanded by Ozai."

The agape mouths and wide eyes across the room might soon shift into dismissal of Sokka's idea… but at first, at least, disbelieving silence reigned in the room. It was an opportunity to carry on explaining his intentions, then…

"If Ozai believes I'm dead, his motivation to see the Water Tribe destroyed will decrease," Sokka said. "He will likely trust that the forces he sent will suffice to annul whatever threat we represent to him and his vanity, and it might be months before he notices anything's amiss, if we're lucky…"

"And if we're not?" Zuko asked, point-blank. "I… I doubt he'll stay idle forever, even if you reassure him in that message with whatever palatable lies you can think of. It might take him less time to react than you think it will."

"Well, the Tribe won't be defenseless if he reacts any sooner," Sokka said, frowning. "I don't expect he'd send as many ships as he did this time, even if he suspects something's amiss…"

"He's not likely to think we could've defeated them as thoroughly as we did, is he?" Katara said.

"And his forces are already spread thin," Sokka added. "By the time he realizes what's happened, if any forces he happens to send discover what the real outcome of the battle was… well, it should take him longer still to gather even more troops and send them here. Armies and navies take a while to prepare to strike. But even in the worst-case scenario, we'll have the chance to buy time for the Tribe by redirecting Ozai's destructive efforts elsewhere…"

"How, exactly?" Zuko growled. Sokka spread his arms, gesturing at himself.

"Through the news of my sudden return to life, far away from here."

Again, silence fell upon the room. This time, even Aang and Kino were astonished – they had been the only ones who had known of Sokka's intentions to make use of the messenger hawk to feign his death, but they didn't realize that was solely the first step of Sokka's plan. Hakoda leaned forward, elbows on his crossed knees as he studied his son intently.

"You… will reveal yourself?" Hakoda inquired, his voice deep. "How?"

"Probably by striking at some other fraction of the Fire Nation's forces, somewhere in the Earth Kingdom," Sokka admitted, breathing deeply. "Ozai will be outraged to learn I'm not dead after all, and he's likely to focus his efforts on tracking me down and killing me once more. The Tribe will be safe…"

"But you won't be," Katara said, frowning. Sokka nodded in acknowledgement. "Sokka… I get that you're trying to protect the Tribe, and to be honest, so far it sounds like a good way to do that, but… you can't just pick fights with the Fire Nation willy-nilly, can you?"

"Striking back at them anywhere but here will put you at a disadvantage," Zuko said, shaking his head. "There will always be many Fire Nation forces stationed in any location you might try to attack in the Earth Kingdom. Fighting them off by yourself would be suicide."

"Not everywhere, mind you… but it's fairly true, yeah," Sokka admitted, nodding.

"And you'd put the Earth Kingdom people at risk, too," Zuko finished, folding his arms over his chest. "You can't save us at the expense of endangering them, can you?"

"I don't intend to," Sokka said, breathing deeply.

"Then what do you intend?" Zuko asked, frowning. "So far, it sounds like your plans aren't as solid as you might have thought they were. And if your endgame is what I think it is…"

"I'll need a stronger plan than this? Well, yeah, but I haven't finished, and I'm also not going to run out of the igloo right away to enact my ideas, Zuko," Sokka said, rolling his eyes. "If anything, your willingness to shoot them down should be a good thing: you'll point out flaws and I'll figure out how to patch them up. Perfect, right?"

"It's not perfect, it's…! It's madness, Sokka," Zuko scowled. "Look… I get it, okay? Now that this battle ended and that you've come up with this idea to play dead, you feel it's the perfect timing to stage some crazy operation to save Azula from our father, but it's… it's about as insane for you to do that as it was for the rest of us to go find you, a couple of years ago. It's risky, it probably will end up with everyone involved dead… and you know, just as well as I do, that it's the last thing she'd want."

Sokka frowned heavily: that same cloud that ever fogged his eyes hung over him anew after Zuko's intervention, heavily enough that the firebender almost wilted at the sight of it. Almost.

"Yeah, the last thing she'd want is for me to drop dead trying to save her," Sokka agreed. "So I guess it's good news that I'm not planning on doing that, huh?"

"Sokka…"

"This isn't a suicide mission, Zuko," Sokka said, frowning heavily. "And yes, saving Azula is part of it, why would I lie about that? It's the first thing on my mind, the main thing, and if I have a chance to do it, why would I waste it? No better opportunity will come if we just sit here waiting for Ozai to realize it's sketchy for his troops to have sent no word at all about their mission: this is a golden chance. If I don't take action now, I never will find a better moment to do so. If anyone's going to set this world free from that tyrannical piece of shit… this is the place to start."

"Wait… woah. You're saying… you'll kill the Fire Lord?" Aang asked, eyes wider yet.

"I'm saying… that I'll take the fight right back to the Fire Nation," Sokka snarled, purposeful and blunt. "I'm waging war on the Fire Lord."

Even Zuko fell silent this time, though Sokka doubted the firebender's speechlessness would come from a place of admiration and awe. He simply hadn't expected Sokka's plans would be that ambitious… but they were. He'd had a week to ponder how to go about fulfilling them, and he intended to explain more now…

Or at least, he meant to do so until his sister leapt to her feet, clasping his shoulder firmly with a hand.

Where the others still seemed stunned, Katara's bright gaze and disbelieving smile spoke for themselves. Worried as she'd been for Sokka's fate, unsure about how he'd jump into danger, now she appeared utterly delighted by Sokka's dangerous plans, instead.

"Hell… I've waited too damn long to hear someone say those words," she almost laughed, before throwing her arms tightly around her brother.

Sokka couldn't hold back a small smile, patting Katara's back gently. Well… he had intended to ask if anyone wanted to join him. It seemed he wouldn't have to ask at all when it came to his sister…

"I won't be going blindly at this," he said, and Katara relinquished her hold on him slightly, intent on hearing the rest of Sokka's plans. "I have a fair amount of insight on which cities and strongholds are better guarded, as well as some knowledge on the Fire Nation itself that I'm sure will count for something. Once we have enough forces to mount a proper attack, we'll deliver plenty of damage to seize Ozai's attention…"

"And where, exactly, do you plan on getting those forces?" Zuko asked, scowling again. "Are you going to bring all the Tribe's warriors and fighters with you?"

"Uh, no. I actually meant to take only as many people as can fly on Appa," Sokka shrugged carelessly. "That is… if Aang agrees to that?"

The Avatar remained silent so far, but Sokka's question cast everyone's focus on him. He gazed at Sokka with apprehension and uncertainty before responding with a question of his own.

"You… you want to fight back against the Fire Lord?" he said, softly "To defeat the Fire Nation, and end the war?"

"Yeah. As far as I can tell… the only way to stop the bastard from destroying everything within his reach is by putting an end to his reign, altogether," Sokka said, firmly. "As wishful as it may be to say so, what I've learned about his forces and inner circle probably will come in handy. Frankly… most his commanding officers are as good as incompetent. No doubt, their persistence is impressive, but they're not strategically brilliant by far. Like I said earlier, their success mainly hinges on communication: if they can report the existence of any threats across all Fire Nation-held territories, they can prepare forces to extinguish those threats before things get out of hand. Cut off their communication and they'll be in a bigger world of trouble than they can imagine…"

Sokka slowed his explanations upon sensing Aang's nervousness. He breathed deeply as he waited for whatever question he'd have to answer next.

"In short, yes. I mean to fight in this war and defeat the Fire Lord, whatever it takes," Sokka said, softly, as though lacking in conviction – despite having it in spades.

Aang swallowed hard, lowering his gaze. He fidgeted for a moment, toying with his thumbs before glancing at Sokka again.

"You want to bring back balance… don't you?" he asked, softly. "You don't… you don't just want to destroy the enemy. It's not about that… is it?"

"If I could win this war without shedding another drop of blood, I would do it in a heartbeat," Sokka said, tightening his fists. "But short of discovering I'm a mindbender, and that I could untwist Ozai's fucked-up mind and make him stop the war, I don't think that's going to be possible… not anymore, anyway."

A different outcome had been possible, once. That had been what he'd wanted… what he'd betted on, even. If only they had never been discovered, if only their secret had been protected for a little longer… if only that had been the case, Azula would have become High Governor. She would have set so many things right… and then, once Ozai died, she would have been Fire Lord. She would have ended the war and fixed so much of what her predecessors had broken. She would have even fixed more than that, correcting the mistakes of countless world leaders from centuries, millennia ago, ensuring their world would be on the right track… ensuring they'd find true balance, at last.

But it was too late to cling to that beautiful dream anymore. At this point, the war would never end unless they fought it to the bitter end.

Sokka flinched upon realizing he'd fallen silent for a moment, lost in thought. Yet upon glancing back at Aang, he found the Avatar was rising to his feet, much as Katara had before.

"A week ago, we charged into battle," Aang said, frowning. "We lost good people… though not nearly as many as the Fire Nation lost. I had thought the violence, the deaths, would never be justified… and the truth is that they're not. Nobody should have died a week ago… nobody, on either side of the war. But unless Fire Lord Ozai decides to withdraw his troops of his own volition, there's no way to end this war without fighting it… just as Katara once said to me."

The Avatar's words surprised the waterbender: Katara froze upon the intense, wistful and earnest gaze he offered her… as well as the respectful nod he offered her.

"I didn't understand what you meant fully then… but I understand now," he said, softly. "For a long time, I feared I'd failed as the Avatar because I've done nothing to save this world… but I also feared that, if the chance to do something came up, I'd fail to seize it. I don't want to fail again, though… and I don't want to let the opportunity slip past me, now that it's clearly in front of me. So, Katara, Sokka… I'm coming with you."

His conviction was stalwart, strong and firm as a mountain. He didn't waver at all upon speaking his mind, though the determined expression shifted into a smile when Katara and Sokka grinned at him first.

"You will, then…?" Sokka said, with enthusiastic relief. Katara gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Aang chuckled softly but nodded, pleased by the siblings' positive reaction.

"Wait… you're all taking off, then?!" Kino squeaked, glancing between the three with a chagrined grimace. "Well, damn… if you're doing this, you're not doing it without me!"

"Kino?" Katara gasped, startled by his willingness to go to blatant, outright war with his own nation. Yet it seemed Kino wasn't fazed by that particular matter, or at least, not fazed enough that it would genuinely stop him: he folded his arms over his chest, firmly.

"I mean, you guys would've had to ask eventually," he decided. "And we all know you could make good use of a Fire Nation spy in your ranks for whatever it is you'll do next! I'll infiltrate anything and everything, and no one will ever be the wiser, you'll see!"

The three who remained on their feet smiled in disbelief at the proud Kino: Hakoda, to Sokka's surprise, appeared amused by the former soldier's conviction, too. The warriors with him… they seemed intrigued, and not as opposed to Sokka's plans as he had feared they'd be. Yet…

"Are you guys serious?" Zuko spoke up again, and this time he appeared even more distraught by the meeting than he already had been. All his friends intended to take off to fight a war that, as far as he could tell, they had no means to win… Sokka certainly understood his apprehension, though it still surprised him when Zuko turned towards Hakoda, aghast. "You're not going to allow this, are you?"

"Am I not?" Hakoda responded, blinking blankly. "Why… as long as this plan of Sokka's makes enough sense, I don't see why I wouldn't."

"But…!" Zuko gasped, horrified. Hakoda glanced at his children, smiling warmly at them.

"I've stopped you both before, or tried to, when you meant to make choices I wasn't ready to allow. I wanted to hold you back out of fear… out of needing to keep you safe with me for as long as possible. In Katara's case I tried to stop her, at first, because I dreaded she would charge into a hostile world blindly. However, the more we worked on plans to reach out to Sokka, to rescue him and reconnect with him… the more I realized my true role in your lives isn't to stop you but to guide you as best I can until you can step forward without needing my help. This may be a crazy endeavor… but it was just as crazy when we set out to war, wasn't it?"

"We didn't even have any benders with us, let alone the Avatar," one of the other warriors agreed with Hakoda, who nodded before turning towards Sokka again.

"That being said… I must say that I don't think four people can fight and win a war on their own," he said. "If you'll travel on Appa, he will enable you to move quickly, perhaps he could help you escape from dangerous situations… but that won't allow you to bring a sizable army with you anywhere you may go. Many of our warriors would likely want to go with you, but the bulk of our forces would need to travel by sea…"

"And that would slow us down and make it easy for the Fire Nation to realize we're up to something," Sokka said, before shaking his head. "I don't intend to bring any ships with me. Only however many people Appa can carry, like I said."

"Then… you truly think the four of you can turn the tides of war?" Hakoda asked. Zuko scoffed.

"You're mad if you expect that," he said. "There's no way it would work. Yes, you'll paint targets on your backs, but you'll never beat my father unless you can objectively take down his army. And as powerful as Aang and Katara may be, and as much as your sword can cut through anything in this world, you can't believe that will be enough to beat him, Sokka."

"I'm not expecting that," Sokka said, though he was apprehensive: his next solution wasn't one he was all too fond of, but he knew, objectively, that it was the best way forward… even if one almost as dangerous as marching to the Fire Lord's doorstep to demand that he released Azula and ended the war, just like that. "But there's an army that, if we play our cards right, might help us out."

"What… the North?" asked one of the warriors. "I'm afraid they're not likely to be of much help. They refused to bolster our numbers when we visited them, and they weren't even under siege at the time. They'll be even less likely to help now, when they've been at war with the Fire Nation for well over ten years…"

"Huh. I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind for the future, but that wasn't who I was thinking of," Sokka said, breathing deeply.

It was ridiculous how hard it was to utter the words… but he had to put up with the discomfort and simply admit the key to his plan resided in a very risky move. It was one he had pondered with Azula, long ago, fleetingly… but that they'd pondered it before didn't mean it was a safe choice, not then, and certainly not now.

He breathed deeply, acutely aware of the judgment he'd receive by many of the room's occupants, including those who'd already given their wholehearted support to his endeavor:

"I'm going to find the Order of the White Lotus."

As surprised as she'd been by many of Sokka's claims so far, it was the first time Suki reacted visibly, almost violently, to any of his revelations. She nearly jumped where she sat, a confused frown on her face… accompanied by a hint of curiosity that her husband would certainly take badly if he noticed it. For now, though, Zuko was quite busy reacting similarly to how he had throughout the rest of the meeting… although this time, it seemed others might actually agree with him.

"The White Lotus? Are you insane?!" Zuko exclaimed. "Sokka…! Azula herself told me they tried to kill you! How the hell do you plan on joining them? Might as well throw yourself at the Fire Nation's forces, at least their people used to like you when you fought in the Arena…!"

"I… didn't say I'd join them," Sokka said, raising a hand as though to slow down the frantic firebender. "I said I'd find them. And once I do? I'll offer them an alliance, not my fealty or my membership: they have been less than effective so far, haven't they? Their intent, it seems, is the same as mine: they want Ozai off the throne, and they want the war to end. However different our methods might have been, however little they trust me because I didn't drop everything in my life and rushed to join them right away, ultimately, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain from an alliance with the man the Fire Lord despises and reviles above all else. If nothing else, I can serve as a decoy, lure his forces away from theirs while they strike at him when he least expects it…"

"And you think they'll trust you? Hell, how could you possibly trust them?" Zuko asked, running his hand through his hair. "Sokka…"

"If the Avatar is with me… that makes us two of Ozai's worst enemies," Sokka continued, ignoring Zuko's earlier question as he glanced at Aang. "When the time is right, we'd reveal ourselves. We're assets, practical and useful. Wasting the chance to forge an alliance with us… it's unlike them, to say the least. They've accepted members from all over the world, Zuko, there's Fire Nation people in their ranks: many Fire Nation people who lived in the Capital were members of their group. Whatever bad blood they have with me, what I can offer them, strategically speaking, should at least give them pause…"

"Alright, say that they actually go for it: what's going to stop them from killing you when the job's done and the world's free from my father's madness?" Zuko scowled. "If you're not their member but their ally, you'll need to build a strong case for yourself if you hope they won't decide you're too dangerous to be left alive, for whatever reason."

"They would have to go through us to touch him," Aang said, firmly. Katara nodded promptly, and Zuko sighed, burying his face in his hands. "I mean… my status as the Avatar should count for something, right? I bet I can at least earn my friends some sort of immunity from that kind of double-crossing if they're scared of the consequences…"

"I like the way you think, Aang," Sokka said, with a weak but grateful smile. "Well, does that help at all, Zuko? I don't intend to put myself in a situation where those bastards would choose to kill me… but if you're worried about how I'll survive afterwards, at least it means you think there's a chance we could stop Ozai if we join them, huh?"

"That's not what I… ugh," Zuko groaned, glaring at Sokka before his eyes turned pleading instead. "You know, just as well as I do, just what kind of shit my father's capable of. Do you really understand the kind of risk you'll be taking by doing something like this? What he might even do to… to Azula?"

"Considering he might already be doing his worst to her, as we speak? Honestly, Zuko, she's his hostage already. I know he'll want to use her against me, and for all I know, he might have already tried to…"

He swallowed hard, pushing back the surging dread, the tears of despair over the dark direction his thoughts were leading him. He drew in a deep breath before regarding Zuko again.

"I spent two years tormented and treated like garbage by someone just as rotten as your father, if not quite as powerful," Sokka said, frowning heavily. "Your sister, for her own reasons, set me free from that hell. And after spending all these years as a slave, I'm free now, while she isn't. I can't accept trading my freedom for hers. I can't sit back and wait in the hopes that Ozai will remember she's the daughter who saved the Fire Nation over and over again, risking her life for their people if that was what it took to protect them. I can't expect him to decide he's grown bored of punishing her. I can't pretend that he'll change, that he'll stop, that he'll ease up, when two years in the Amateur Arena taught me that people like him don't ease up at all. You know it, first-hand: ten years at sea and he treated you like garbage when you returned. You turned your back on him when you knew it was the right thing to do: Azula doesn't even have that choice anymore. Whatever it takes, whatever I must do to break his hold on her and put an end to the torment he's surely inflicted upon her, I will. And if the only way to achieve that is by ending the war and defeating his forces for good, I'm ready to do it."

As much as he still frowned, Zuko didn't respond this time. Sokka breathed deeply, expecting more protests or requests for further explanations: he received a rather poignant question from another source, instead.

"How are you going to find them?"

Suki spoke up for the first time since the meeting began. Her eyes settled on the map Sokka had laid down on the floor before him, as though expecting him to have pinpointed potential locations of the White Lotus headquarters by then. Sokka grimaced at her question: that, of course, was one of the bigger problems in his plans.

"Well… to be perfectly honest, I'm not fully certain," Sokka said, biting his lip as he glanced at the map. "I know it's likely that they're not up in the north-eastern mountains, because they would have had the perfect chance to recruit the Mechanist and his people if they were anywhere close to that area. I'd say they wouldn't hide anywhere near Ba Sing Se, not the bulk of their forces anyway… so I'd expect their main base of operations to be someplace else. Admittedly, I don't have enough to go on… but I hope that tile Piandao left for me will be good for something."

That was the best hope he clung to… and what a lucky hit it had been for the guards to successfully tuck the old tile into Sokka's bags. Surely they thought it was important, stored in a special fabric pouch as it had been… and who knew if it might play a useful part in finding the White Lotus?

"You want to use a White Lotus tile to find other members of the Order?" Zuko asked.

"Well, if I can't find any better ways to do this, yes," Sokka said, with a shrug. "Yeah, Jeong Jeong tried to kill me… but Piandao gave me that tile, too. They wanted me to be part of them, they just went about it the worst possible way they could have…"

"Don't you think that maybe Master Piandao wants you dead just as much as Jeong Jeong did?" Zuko said, wary. "If he tried to recruit you initially and then did nothing to stop Jeong Jeong…"

"That's not what it sounded like when the bastard attacked me. Definitely seemed like Piandao and him lead different factions of the White Lotus, to a degree," Sokka said, breathing deeply. "If Jeong Jeong refuses to work with me, I can still hope Piandao will make a different call…"

"And what if there's more factions than theirs?" Zuko asked. "What if you only have Piandao on your side, and lots more enemies than allies?"

"I already told you I will make myself too useful for them to kill," Sokka said. "What more do you want me to say? At least trusting that one of them won't want me dead will be… well, worth something. If we have any chances to track down at least a single White Lotus member…"

"You may end up wasting a lot of time trying to find any of them," Suki commented: both Sokka and Zuko fell silent at her new intervention. "They're very elusive, Sokka. Very secretive. You know my sponsor, Oyaji, used to be one of them… well, he probably still is, he's just not very useful to the Order while in prison. But my point is that I lived with that man for years and I learned absolutely nothing about the Order of the White Lotus: Oyaji told me both the Order and myself would be better served the less I knew about them. I believed that… and maybe I shouldn't have, because now, when we need them the most, they can't be found, but…"

"Maybe we should start a rebellion in a small town?" Katara suggested, looking at Sokka. "If we start fighting back against the Fire Nation without them, don't you think maybe they'll decide to seek us out?"

"That's a good idea," Sokka said, nodding. Katara grinned gladly. "Though I'd rather we keep a low profile, if possible… but that'd be one way to draw their attention, if we don't have any leads at all. But Suki…"

The non-bending woman grimaced as Sokka scrutinized her, the look on his face eerily reminiscent of their reencounter in the Capital after Ty Lee had saved her from Shu Wo's disgraces.

"I know you may not recall anything noteworthy that could point us in the right direction," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "But… think beyond your period as his gladiator. Back when you were in Kyoshi Island: did Oyaji travel often? Did he receive messengers on occasion? Maybe dressed all in black…?"

Suki frowned: at first, it seemed she found the questions strange, perhaps even pointless… but then she raised a hand to her chin, thinking back, further back, than she usually did.

"I… huh. I mean, he didn't travel a lot, no," Suki said, biting her lip. "But there was one time… he had returned after a few weeks of absence. I didn't think much of it, though local people didn't travel out of Kyoshi Island all that often other than for trade's sake, especially when I was a child. Still, he left for several weeks and traveled northwards… as most everyone did, seeing as nearly everything is north from Kyoshi Island, but still…"

"Not entirely true…" Sokka said, leaning over the map as he studied it intently. "We can rule out two locations that probably would be obvious, but still… not Whaletail Island, and not the Southern Air Temple either. Maybe Gaoling can be ruled out too, though that's still more to the north, but northeast, I'd say…"

"There was no one in the Southern Air Temple when Katara and I visited it years ago," Aang said, soft and sadly. Sokka breathed out and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Neither the northern nor the southern temples, then," Sokka determined. "Western or eastern… not impossible, though not very likely either. I sailed past the Eastern one once, and it looked completely empty."

"I guess so," Aang sighed, allowing his gaze to shift away from the mountains on the map, and to the center of the Earth Kingdom instead. "The desert?"

"Not likely," Sokka said. "It's too hard to live there, the sandbenders aren't all that friendly, and there were no fortified locations around there… I saw a lot of the desert earlier this year and unless they're underground somehow, it's probably not what we're looking for."

Aang nodded: this practically ruled out the entirety of the eastern Earth Kingdom. Sokka reached the same conclusion for further reasons yet:

"Suki, when were you and your sponsor caught? If… if I'm allowed to ask," he said, wincing upon realizing it might still be a sore subject. Her pained grin let him know he was forgiven for his blunt question.

"In relation to… what, exactly?" she said, biting her lip.

"Well… in relation to the White Lotus's attack on the Capital, I guess," Sokka said, biting his lip. "Was it two days, one day…?"

"Uh… huh. It wasn't that long," Suki admitted, frowning. "It happened right after my final fight in the League, on that very night. I think, by the next day… things were blurry, but I remember being dragged underground without really knowing what was happening altogether. I was in bad shape, so…"

Zuko grimaced, reaching out to take Suki's hand. She offered him a heartfelt smile, squeezing his fingers gently before continuing with her explanation.

"Anyway, I guess it was… the next day, outright. It wasn't very long at all," she said, with a shrug. Sokka grunted, frustrated.

"I guess asking if you know how your sponsor delivered the money he earned for the White Lotus is too much?" he said. "If they usually collected the money and intended to bring it to their headquarters right away… it'd explain why they had a ship at the ready, or at least, close enough to collect them all when they attempted to escape. I doubt they'd have their headquarters within the Fire Nation's main islands, though… that'd be too risky, and not at all a good place to host the army they're supposed to have."

"Woah. They have an actual army?" Kino asked, eyes wide. Sokka nodded.

"As far as I know, Jeong Jeong did," he said. "If each faction had about as many soldiers to their name… well, we'd be talking about one hell of an army, for sure."

"There's nowhere to hide something that big without the Fire Nation ever learning of it," Zuko said, frowning.

"To be honest… Zuko is right about that," Hakoda grimaced, glancing at Sokka over the fire. "Maybe you're not right about each faction having an army of its own, but the Fire Nation had very little trouble tracking us down while we were fighting in the war. Fact is… I never even heard of the White Lotus, back then. If they wanted to help defeat the Fire Lord…"

"They should've reached out to other resistance efforts? I guess so," Sokka said, though he frowned before long. "I actually called them out on that, Jeong Jeong in particular. I told him they never did anything to help anyone else, and he had no answer for that. The White Lotus, as far as we'd understood it, was as good as a group that ended up welcoming anyone who didn't wish to bow down to the Fire Lord. They may not have been strong enough, back in the day, to help you in the war, Dad… but they might be strong enough now, ten years after the Fire Nation occupied the Earth Kingdom and subjected their people to their rule. Those who escaped slavery and who wouldn't pay the coin to become Honorary Citizens… the White Lotus might have welcomed them all. Maybe their numbers aren't as big as I expect… but maybe they just found a good place to hide from Ozai. A place where their troops wouldn't be likely to…"

His gaze swept over the western Earth Kingdom territories, the likeliest locations where the White Lotus's base might be. Back when he had been attacked by Jeong Jeong, they'd set up a campsite… if their base had been anywhere nearby, in some strategic location in the northwestern Earth Kingdom, they could have rushed out from their hideout, without needing to resort to camping and tents. So perhaps, despite being sighted in the area, that wasn't truly the center of their operations…

Which led his eyes lower, to the mid and southwestern Earth Kingdom instead. There were many forests in the middle area, he remembered Haru and Song's villages had been around these territories. But further down south, closer to the desert…

His finger fell upon the darker section, near the western shores of the Earth Kingdom, outlined on his father's map: it was one place people wouldn't venture into, willingly. It was dangerous, he knew so himself… and he had only been at its outskirts, he hadn't set foot inside it. Entering that thicket of vegetation would be far more dangerous than traveling near it, he surmised… and wouldn't that make it the perfect means through which to protect the presumed base of the White Lotus?

"Suki…" Sokka said, frowning as he glanced at her again. "Did your sponsor ever say anything at all about a swamp?"

Her puzzled expression suggested Sokka wouldn't confirm his suspicions through her… something that didn't surprise him much, considering Suki's previous claims to have been in the dark, willingly and willfully, regarding her sponsor's association with the White Lotus. Still, he had the feeling he was on the right track.

"You're sure?" Sokka asked. Suki shrugged.

"I'm not sure, not really… but I can't remember anything of the sort," Suki said, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "The few times Oyaji took off on trips, he'd never really say anything about them. And, well, if you hoped that I'd remember any evidence that he'd visited a swamp, I'm afraid I can't help much there. I've never been to a swamp, myself, so I can't say I'd recognize any signs of…"

"Sokka?"

That Zuko would speak again, cutting off Suki, but not with his same hostile tone from earlier, came as a surprise to everyone in the room. Sokka's attention shifted towards him… finding a strange shadow crossing the man's features. That his gaze would carry confusion once it found Sokka's own seemed strange, out of place… but the firebender appeared to have understood something suddenly, something he wasn't sure of how to share with the rest of the group.

"What? Do you know anything about…?" Sokka asked, falling silent as his own mind filled the blanks in what Zuko wasn't saying just yet.

A specific person had ensured he and Azula wouldn't enter the swamp on the third stage of the race. He had spoken of the spiritual qualities of the place, credited their dreams to it… Sokka and Azula had dismissed it all, carelessly, unwilling to give the man the satisfaction of their agreement or acknowledgement… then, they had discovered spirits were no folktale upon finding the Library, and the Bloodlust Spear had proven as much all over again. So… the man could have been right about the spirituality of the swamp, but was he fully honest in his warnings and efforts to keep them away from it?

Because, if Azula's suspicions about his loyalties had been right all along…

"Zuko," Sokka's voice darkened with an unsettling steel, reminiscent of that of his otherworldly blade. "Did Iroh tell you anything about the swamp?"

Zuko flinched, tearing his eyes away from Sokka. The warmth within the igloo seemed to freeze as a heavy atmosphere took its place: Sokka's brow drew, hands trembling as he clenched them into fists…

Naturally, Azula had been right.

Iroh had been the traitor, the White Lotus spy in the Fire Lord's circles, all along.

Sokka breathed deeply, releasing each breath slowly, as though to let his rage pour out that way… but it was a failed errand before it even began. He snarled before long, shaking his head, as his mind cycled back through every moment… to his very first encounter with the Order of the White Lotus: Iroh had meant to help Suki's sponsor, and those agents caught with him, by enabling White Lotus agents to march into the Palace, disguised as soldiers, breaking out prisoners and attempting to kidnap Azula… they had made their way into that secret river, they meant to escape that way, and Sokka had stopped them.

That trial for Azula's advisors. Iroh had been there, too… he had approached him, spoken to him, talking placidly about Sokka's so-called loyalty to the Fire Nation. Sokka had the distinct feeling that he couldn't read the man back then, but now, upon thinking of him as the actual spy… the man had been gauging him, trying to unravel whether his loyalty was genuine or not. Whether it was a simple front to gain Ozai's trust… or whether he truly would fight by Azula's side for as long as he could do so.

The letters… all the letters he sent to track down Zuko, that Toph had told them about. They hadn't been sent to any casual associates: he had been trying to find his nephew with the White Lotus's help. The White Lotus had never set foot on the South Pole, so naturally, they'd fail to locate the exiled Prince…

His persistence while trying to discover if Sokka's relationship with Azula was intimate or not… he had been trying to achieve this very outcome, then? To get her to lower her guard, to make her admit the truth about their bond, all so he could strike her down… the White Lotus wanted Zuko as the heir to the throne, of course they did, Iroh surely had persuaded the others that he was the best choice, who knew if perhaps the only choice…

But no. Piandao… he had believed in Sokka as an alternate plan, Jeong Jeong had admitted as much. Piandao hadn't wanted Sokka to join the White Lotus unless he had no choice. He had trusted, believed, that Sokka's influence alone would suffice in helping Azula become a better leader for her people. He stood at odds with the other two… was Iroh a leader, just like them? If so, the White Lotus was certainly an ironic organization: all three of their known leaders were Fire Nation. All had fought in the war in the Fire Nation's favor once, even if nowadays they worked against it.

Sokka breathed out again, running his hands over his hair, over his face… he needed to calm down, to stave off the fury, the resentment towards Iroh that he had set aside, and that now bubbled up and surged powerfully. Iroh truly had engineered Azula's fall… knowing this, it became all the easier to believe that Iroh had revealed them to Ozai personally. All be it so he could carry forward whatever wretched directive the White Lotus had chosen to follow…

"Sokka…" Zuko's voice only grated Sokka's patience further: he shuddered, unwilling to hear a single word meant to excuse the damned Dragon of the West. "If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then…"

"Then it means your fucking uncle was working with the White Lotus all along, yes," Sokka hissed. Zuko flinched, but he frowned again.

"Which means your big plan includes working with him."

Zuko's previous arguments against his plans had seemed easy enough to dismiss… until now. This did give him pause. Working with Jeong Jeong? That displeased him, but he thought he could handle the discomfort, so long as they had enough common ground when it came to their ultimate goals… yet Iroh? If he ever stood in the same building as him, Sokka wasn't sure he'd know how to hold back from hacking the old man's head off with Space Sword at once. No doubt, Ozai warranted far more hatred than Iroh did… but in moments like these, it was hard to stay rational regarding whom to blame for it all. Yes, if Ozai had a shred of decency in his rotten soul, he would have never acted on Iroh's accusations, he would have never hurt Azula in the countless ways Sokka knew he had, and in who knew how many more ways he didn't even wish to fathom… but Iroh had pushed him there, knowingly. Had he really been so stupid as to hope Ozai would pull his punches? He had to know Sokka would likely die for the so-called crime of defiling the Princess… and he had decided his death was unimportant, or, worse yet, a good trade-off for whatever outcome he had hoped for. So far, that outcome had been a debacle, constant grief and sorrow for the woman Sokka loved… all of it, schemed and set up by Iroh.

"I… I didn't really think my uncle had anything to do with the White Lotus, okay?" Zuko said, grimacing. "In the years I spent on the road with him he had lots of friends everywhere, he always had money well in hand, but I thought… I guess I thought my father was providing him with money somehow, or that Uncle Iroh had saved up a lot during his years as Crown Prince. But I guess…"

"It was the White Lotus," Sokka hissed. Zuko lowered his head, as good as surrendering to Sokka's conclusion. "Did he ever take you to the swamp?"

"No, never," Zuko said, quickly. "But… when I was about to leave the Fire Nation, the last time I ever spoke to him, he tried to come with me. I told him no, but he didn't want to listen. When he finally accepted that I'd leave, though, he… he started trying to tell me what I should do, where I ought to go, even though I had no intentions of following through with whatever he was telling me. I didn't… didn't want him or his friends to take care of me, I wanted to build my own life and set out on my own. Suki came with me in the end, but… I didn't want to burden anyone else, let alone anyone who had helped me in the past, the way my uncle had."

"And where, exactly, did he tell you to go that connected with the swamp in any way?" Sokka asked, still snarling. Zuko swallowed hard.

"I think he said… that if I traveled northwest to the swamp, in the southwestern Earth Kingdom, I'd find friends of his who could give me a hand," Zuko finished, burying his face in his hands. "I… I thought it was just another of those old people who'd played Pai Sho with him, but…"

"Maybe it was," Sokka said, bitterly. "Might be not everyone he knew would be a White Lotus member, but anyone he'd trust to help him look after you would likely be one of them."

"Sokka…" Katara frowned, clasping her brother's shoulder gently. "I… I know why you hate him, and I don't blame you at all. But… this plan is a good one. If you already have a nearly certain location where you might find these people, all the better, right? And as much as you won't be comfortable working with Zuko's uncle…"

"That's an understatement," Sokka said, rubbing his closed eyes with the pads of his fingers.

"You said it yourself: building an alliance with the White Lotus is the best way forward," Katara continued. "They have an army, or at least you think they might have one. They might have more soldiers, more members, than you can even imagine. If Iroh is one of them… does that really mean you absolutely can't work with the White Lotus?"

"No… what it means is I might try to kill him the minute I lay eyes upon the bastard," Sokka responded, with a fierce scowl. Katara flinched as Zuko frowned in confusion.

"Wait, what…? Sokka, I get that he was White Lotus, that he was probably their informant and that's a big shock, and I get that he'd caused Azula a lot of trouble because of me, Sokka, but what…?"

Sokka shot him a disbelieving glare… a glare that shifted into a slow realization. One that Zuko appeared to grasp at the same time as he did.

He hadn't told Zuko about Iroh's role in Azula's downfall yet. And the rest of his friends, those who did know, even his own father, hadn't told Zuko about that either.

It hadn't even been intentional… it hadn't been Sokka's deliberate plan to keep Zuko in the dark. But convincing the man to accept or agree to his plans now would grow even more difficult solely because his damn uncle was involved. Sokka breathed deeply, an unwanted tension riding up his shoulders as he prepared himself to lead the discussion down a path that would have been better spoken about in private…

"Zuko…" Sokka said, his rage slightly slowed over his guilt regarding his silence. He swallowed hard, eyeing the firebender warily. "It's not about that. I didn't… didn't tell you, I figured you wouldn't believe me, and honestly, I thought it wouldn't matter whether you knew or not, but…"

"But what?" Zuko said, glaring at Sokka. "I get that maybe you think he was involved in those attacks by the White Lotus, and well… that attempt on your life. But…"

"Not just the one attempt, mind you," Sokka said, cuttingly. Zuko frowned: "According to… to what your father told Azula, Iroh is the one who told him about us."

Zuko's eyes widened. His lips parted. His focus on the situation crumbled…

That couldn't be. Not Iroh. Not his uncle… it was his father. If his father was saying that, it had to be a lie. It had to be a lie, it couldn't be…

The White Lotus wanted to defeat the Fire Nation. They had attacked Azula and Sokka in the past… Iroh had been part of their group before and after that, too, in all likelihood. He had told Zuko to go to the swamp months after the White Lotus had attacked the Fire Nation Capital… he hadn't broken ranks with them because of their methods. He hadn't even seemed displeased that day while they were in the catacombs, not at all…

A huff left Zuko's lips as he shook his head, but he buried his face in his hands instead of speaking. Even if his hatred for Iroh wasn't bound to diminish just because of this, Sokka's heart clenched at the sight of Zuko's sorrow. He, too, would have been destroyed if someone he had admired, cared for and idolized had done something as heinous as what Iroh had…

"You're… you're sure about this?" Suki asked, staring at Sokka in disbelief… even with an accusatory glean in her eyes. "Sokka, that's something really serious to say… and if you're not sure, then…"

"I'm not sure because Ozai is the one who said it, but I am sure that he would have been capable of it," Sokka said, bluntly. Zuko winced, still breathing heavily into his hands as Suki placed a reassuring hand on his back… though her eyes were still focused on Sokka. "The way he was acting in the last days, the way he pressured Azula into… into revealing our relationship last year? He was out to get her, and yes, we were careless and stupid for giving him a way to do it, but it seems he figured us out somehow, and he didn't pull his punches. If it's not true, then… great! I'll have one less person to hate as much in the White Lotus, but honestly, the odds aren't in his favor. Everything suggests he's the one who gave us away… and now it turns out that I'd have to join forces with him. Of all people… fucking Iroh."

"Sokka, I get that this is starting to sound like the worst idea ever, but isn't defeating the Fire Lord the main goal we have to work towards?" Katara said, uneasy.

"If I go forward with this, Katara, and I see him again, I… I don't know if I'll be able to hold back my sword," Sokka said, shaking his head. "Just as I wouldn't if I laid eyes upon Ozai again. Maybe I… maybe I shouldn't want Iroh dead for what he did, but I still do. I despise him."

Zuko shuddered, eyeing Sokka with astonishment upon hearing those words. He lowered his hands, shaking his head still as Suki spoke quietly with him, caressing his hair gently. Sokka's eyes flickered towards them briefly before returning to his sister.

"Then… we'll have to hold you back from going that far, especially if we don't know for sure that it's his fault, right?" Katara said, grimacing.

"Well… we would be able to contain Sokka, I hope," Aang said, sighing. "But… maybe it's for the better that we realized this now. If he'd bumped into Iroh in their headquarters when we finally found them and he had no idea about his involvement with the White Lotus, well… it could've been way more catastrophic. Right?"

"Right," Katara agreed, though she still watched her brother with uncertainty. "Sokka…?"

Sokka breathed out, feeling a pounding, pulsating headache drumming under his skull. He had really allowed himself to forget all about the damn spy, careless about its significance at this point… expecting he'd never see Iroh again, outright hoping he wouldn't. Now, though… right now, he couldn't help but guess the swamp headquarters of the Order would be exactly where the bastard had fled to, once Ozai started unleashing his mad rage. Iroh had been nowhere to be found, he'd taken Toph too, in all likelihood…

Then… would he find Toph in the White Lotus's hideout? Or would she have abandoned Iroh after understanding what her sponsor had done? Sokka wouldn't be surprised at all if she had… he would gladly track down Toph and attempt to defeat the Fire Nation with just her, Aang, Katara and Kino, if that was all he could bring with him. Just thinking of joining forces with the bastard who had caused Azula's downfall, who had practically orchestrated Sokka's near-death by Combustion Man's hand…

"I… I know we'd have to do this, one way or another," Sokka hissed. "As much as I hate it… as much as I don't want to have a damn thing to do with that asshole ever again. If we don't find stronger allies, we'd be facing an uphill battle of the sorts we might never win at all. But damn… if there were anyone else worth allying with, anyone at all, I'd choose that over the White Lotus in a heartbeat. You'll probably think I'm mad to be much more willing to join forces with Jeong Jeong, someone who tried to kill me than… heh, someone else who also tried to kill me?"

"Guess the limit of people willing to kill you that you'd accept in a potential alliance would be, uh… one?" Kino guessed, tapping his chin.

"Ugh, but who knows?" Sokka said, shaking his head as his mind raced madly through the possibilities. "Might be he won't even be there, maybe Ozai caught him before he could escape after all, I don't know…"

"That's not exactly reassuring," Zuko finally spoke again. Sokka eyed him warily. "Look… if this is true, it's madness. I'd understand exactly how you feel, Sokka, and I'd respect your hatred of him entirely. But if it's not true, then… what, you're going to be out for my uncle's head just because my father manipulated you into it? Maybe… maybe that's his play. Maybe…"

"Zuko…" Sokka said, and Zuko shook his head.

"You don't… you don't understand, okay?" Zuko said, swallowing hard. "Iroh is… he's…"

It was the very same uncle who had taken care of him, raised him, protected him in countless ways. He had taught him firebending, he had offered his wholehearted support, and yet…

And yet he was part of the White Lotus, in all likelihood, and Zuko had traveled with him for ten years without knowing that. How much had he known or understood of Iroh? How much had Iroh been willing to show him of himself? Only the good things, perhaps? Only whatever was convenient to persuade Zuko that he was harmless, innocent… a good influence, a gentle-mannered member of their family as opposed to everyone else? Zuko shuddered, rubbing his brow with his fingertips as Suki caressed his back affectionately.

"You should've told me this sooner. You should've…" Zuko said, shaking his head and glaring at Sokka.

"Zuko, it was hard to explain a lot of things at first," Sokka said, lowering his gaze. "You know I was in no shape to talk about… well, everything. I barely am nowadays. But I didn't think I'd ever have to face your uncle again, alright? And now… now it turns out that he might be one of the only people who can help me get back to Azula. I mean… heh. Maybe he feels bad, you know? Maybe he feels guilty. And if he does? Maybe he'll convince the rest of the White Lotus to work with me. But what if he doesn't? What if he's still convinced that he made the right choice by destroying Azula's life…?"

"He wouldn't be that stupid!" Zuko said, shuddering. "Look… I can accept it. I can believe he did this, okay? But… but my uncle isn't that terrible a person…"

"Come on…" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"If he did something this awful, he'd feel bad for it," Zuko said. Sokka huffed.

"As he fucking should, considering he destroyed his niece's life," he snapped. "I don't even care that he nearly killed me, okay? Or if he was the one who gave Jeong Jeong the information he needed to come after me when he did: the fact that he was a great uncle to you doesn't negate that he was a piece of shit to her. And I can't be sure that he's not going to stab me in the back if I dare trust him, which I don't even know if I'd actually be able to do."

"But Iroh…" Suki said, shaking her head as she glanced at Zuko… who snarled, still rubbing his brow with his fingertips. "This makes no sense. I mean, I barely knew him, but everything you've told me says he wouldn't have…"

"I… I would like to think so too, Suki. But even if I want to think he's not happy about what he's done, the truth is maybe… maybe he would have had it in him to do this. Maybe Sokka isn't wrong… maybe my father wasn't just manipulating them into hating my uncle by saying he's the one who started this," Zuko said, surprising everyone, Suki most of all. "He and Azula never got along. I… I thought it was mostly because of her, back in the day. But after Whaletail Island, it became clear to me that things weren't that simple. Apparently, he spent years holding her responsible for my leaving when it had nothing to do with her… I can't pretend to know what man my uncle has become ever since I last saw him."

Sokka swallowed hard: he had anticipated to a long shouting match, a pointless argument… not understanding, not concession towards a possibility that clearly hurt Zuko deeply. He didn't want Iroh to be a terrible person, of course… he didn't want his uncle to prove capable of instigating so much destruction. Zuko breathed deeply, as to swallow the unpleasant pill of his own words… then he eyed Sokka again, his eyes emotional.

"But you're supposed to think breaking the Fire Nation's control over the world, and saving my sister, is more important than the wrong he did to you," Zuko said, frowning. "I… I don't know how he had it in him to do something so awful, if it's really his fault. If it is… then yes, I understand that you'd want your revenge. I couldn't blame you if you hated my uncle for causing all this. But if you're consumed by trying to avenge yourself and Azula… you'll probably waste your golden chance to fight back against my father. Isn't that what you brought us here for? Isn't that the whole point of this meeting, to inform us all that you intend to take off and defeat him? Well… if you really will do whatever it takes to save Azula from everything she's been through, everything she's still going through, you may have to make sacrifices such as working with my uncle, even if he's really the one responsible for your disgraces and if he's part of the Order of the White Lotus. So… is your revenge more important than saving her?"

"Heh. Guess you're trying to manipulate me into not killing your uncle now," Sokka remarked, raising an eyebrow humorlessly. "Can't lie, it would've been weird if you'd just said you'd step aside and let me kill him…"

"Actually, what I'm trying to do is keep you centered, but you know what?" Zuko frowned. "Maybe this is a good wake-up call for you. If you can't bring yourself to join forces with one of the men you hate the most in order to defeat the other man you hate the most… then maybe you're not ready to do this."

"Or maybe I should just figure out another way of defeating your father that doesn't include your wretched uncle's involvement," Sokka snapped, glaring at Zuko. "Were you ready for just about every challenge that has come your way? Have you always been prepared to face whatever the world throws at you? Do you seriously think I haven't had to deal with more than enough underhanded blows by fate to not be able to figure my way out of this one?"

"I'm only saying… if this is a dealbreaker for you, you shouldn't go wild trying to make this so-called operation work without the allies you had been hoping would join you moments ago," Zuko said, curtly. "I think I understand how angry you must be, but…"

"Zuko… I'm talking about ending the war," Sokka said, sternly. Zuko grimaced. "I'm talking about setting whole nations free from your father's control. I'm talking about taking down the Fire Nation's armed forces so that they can no longer attack either of the Poles. I'm talking about giving you and your family a chance to live wherever you may wish to be, with no more fear of whatever might happen because you're Ozai's son. I'm talking about letting Aang find his place as the Avatar and working with him to build and protect true balance. I'm talking about building a world where the boundaries of nations no longer define who we are, or who others see us as. And yes, damn it… I'm also talking about finding Azula and saving her from your father, protecting her and making sure no one dares hurt her ever again.

"So, if you fear my apprehension towards your uncle is going to be more important to me than any of these things? Well, rest assured, it won't be. We can set this world on the right track, we can set every slave free, we can punish everyone responsible for the world's current course towards destruction and make them face serious consequences for the crimes they committed. And that's true for both sides, White Lotus and Fire Nation alike. I'll be willing to join forces with the White Lotus, no matter if my blood may boil just to think of seeing Iroh again… but I'll find a way to hold back somehow, if that's what it takes. I'm sorry, I am, that I didn't tell you any sooner, that you had to find out this way, but you… you should take your time to think about who your uncle really is, whether you truly knew him at all, and what his damn intentions were when it came to you. The way he started treating Azula after you left is nothing short of unforgivable, and this whole mess is but a culmination of that…"

"Wait, are you blaming me for how he acted? Sokka…!"

"I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming him," Sokka snarled, his seriousness silencing Zuko anew. "I'm saying he had plans for you, plans he wanted to make sure you stuck to, plans the White Lotus must have designed since you were a child. Plans that went to waste the minute you decided, like you said, to live your own life and make your own choices. Plans that the bastard might have decided he'd set back in motion as soon as he had the perfect leverage to destroy Azula the way he did. I've already told you, he… he was hounding her months before this, Zuko. He tried to get the truth out of her, she lied in every possible way she could think of, doing her best to convince him that there was nothing going on between us because she believed, firmly, that if he found out about us, the first thing he'd do would be exactly what he did that day: tell Ozai the truth. I'm damn sure it's no coincidence that he happened to share his suspicions with his brother on the very same day I defeated Toph on a one-on-one fight for the first time."

"I don't think… ugh, I don't know what to think!" Zuko snapped, scowling. "But whatever I may think isn't important, because it's not me who's going out there to meet the White Lotus, it's you!"

"Wait… you're not going?" Kino asked, glancing at Zuko in surprise. "But…"

"You guys… don't have children yet, alright?" Zuko said, firmly. "You don't have a family to look after. And ultimately, I… I've done better things here than I have on every year I lived outside this Pole. You don't need me there."

"But… if Sokka is right and you're part of the White Lotus's plans for whatever, you could come along and help a lot, right?" Aang said, frowning. "I mean… you, Sokka and I are the worst possible team-up for your father to face, aren't we? The son he disowned, the man he's marked as his mortal enemy and the Avatar…"

"Sounds poetic and everything," Zuko said, sarcastically. "Great on paper, not so much in real life. The Tribe needs to be protected…"

"The Tribe will be protected, whether you're here or not," Hakoda cut in for the first time in what felt like hours. Zuko froze, glancing back at him with unease. "Not to dismiss what any of you have done for this Tribe, I wouldn't be so ungrateful… but we did well for ourselves for years, fighting with no benders on our side. If Sokka's plan works the way he expects it would, we might not even need to fight at all, and by then…"

"By then, the rest of the warriors might even wish to partake in the war Sokka plans on waging on the Fire Lord," said one of the other leaders of the warriors. Hakoda nodded, though Sokka grimaced.

"I don't think that'd be wise… but I guess we'll see, when the time comes," he conceded, with a sigh. "If it's not necessary, though, I definitely won't call on anyone here…"

"We'd want to fight too, just so you know. If you ever need us, we'll come to you, wherever you may be," Hakoda said, breathing deeply.

"Then all the more reason for me to stay," Zuko said, frowning. "If you guys will be ready to rush to Sokka's aid…"

"Not right away, we wouldn't be. And not every warrior would come, unlike when we took off to fight in the war," Hakoda said, mournfully. "You can stay if you truly wish to, Zuko… but it is possible that Sokka's attempts to strike an alliance with the White Lotus might fare better if you're part of that alliance yourself, if they truly had an interest in you."

"The way you guys phrase it sounds like… like my uncle was just using me for all those years?" Zuko said, glancing between Hakoda and Sokka while shaking his head repeatedly. "What he did to Azula, however wrongly he acted towards her… despite all that, I know he did care about me. I can see that it's not fair that he treated her as poorly as he did… but there's no way he was just trying to make me into some sort of puppet. He really did care, alright? He…"

"If so… maybe you should want to come just to stop me before I try to slice his head off," Sokka said, humorlessly. "Either way… I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Zuko. If you stay here, you and Dad and everyone else will stay safe and protect the Tribe. If you come along, you'll have to brace yourself to face uncomfortable truths of your own, just as well. If you can't stomach that your uncle, the guy you remember so fondly, who cared so much about you, is also the piece of shit who jumpstarted this whole mess, then you'll probably be even more troubled once we get there than I already am, knowing now that he's very likely the White Lotus spy and always was. My goal remains what it was, no matter how difficult the road ahead may be: if you plan on coming along, you'll have to be ready to stand by your own goals if you do have them, no matter what comes your way. Otherwise… you're certainly better off staying here."

Zuko frowned: both Aang and Kino appeared distraught by the notion of leaving him behind, though it was obvious the Chief's children didn't share their concerns. If anything, Zuko wondered if perhaps they would outright prefer it if he didn't join them…

"Then you have a goal, a team, or most of one…" Hakoda spoke again, looking at his son. "A plan going forward, even if it may need some more tweaking to ensure it pays off… perhaps even a few allies? Do you expect you might be able to find anyone you befriended in your years as a gladiator, anyone else who might help you?"

"It's another possibility to keep in mind, but I can't be sure," Sokka admitted. "With the League gone, and me as the easier culprit to blame for it all… they might just refuse to join forces with me out of principle, if it can even be called that. Twisted as it is to say this, the White Lotus is a safer gamble, and who knows? Maybe a bunch of gladiators, those who hated the Fire Nation, already joined them by now…"

"It's another possibility, at least," Hakoda said. "Slaves, as well, might…"

"I'd rather not start a slave rebellion," Sokka cut him off, surprising Hakoda. "Azula and I… we talked about this before. The idea of finding the White Lotus… we thought about it after Ozai executed all those innocent gladiators, using them as scapegoats for the ones I helped escape from him. She wanted him to stop hurting slaves just as much as I did… but we both knew that asking slaves to join forces with us, when they've been mistreated and tormented beyond belief, would be practically suicidal. Most of them barely have anything to eat, they're treated as less than human by their decidedly inhuman masters… we'll be doing this for them, yes, but they have been through more than enough to be conscripted into an army, the way Ozai might do it. Our fight for freedom shouldn't come at the expense of their lives."

"Hmm… fair. That makes a lot of sense," Hakoda said, smiling a little. "Though you should keep in mind that some might wish to join you, despite everything. You can be an inspiring leader, Sokka, a beacon of hope for those who have long lost their will to keep fighting. The Gladiator who took a stand and defied the Fire Lord… legends have been written over less than that."

"Well… I'm not looking to be one, but if I do become one, it better be after Ozai's done for," Sokka sighed, glancing at the map anew: the red territories of the Fire Nation, to the west, sent jolts of pain through his chest, aiming for his heart.

If he did this, he'd come back to her. He'd reach her, hopefully before Ozai's cruelty broke her beyond repair. If his plans progressed smoothly, he might finally save her from the darkness that might intend to consume her. He would reach for her hand, clasp it hard, and never let go…

If saving her meant having to ally with Iroh, then he'd do it. No matter how deeply he despised the man, no matter how furious he was upon merely evoking his name… but he had to do it. It was for Azula's sake… it was for the world's sake. The world they had meant to change, to build, together.

To think he'd have to start without her… to think her circumstances, the nightmares she faced, would be the driving force that pushed him into action. If only none of this had happened, the Fire Nation could have changed slowly under her future rule: this way, the changes would be quick, violent and thorough. There would be nowhere for Ozai to hide from Sokka's vengeance… nowhere for him to avoid the consequences of his actions, the way he ever did. No, Sokka wouldn't forgive anyone who had any hand in causing Azula's downfall… but the one on whom he'd focus his efforts, his energy and strength, had to be Ozai. Only then would the world change and heal… only then could he safely turn around and make others, such as Iroh, face the consequences of their own dreadful choices. What those consequences would shape up to be, Sokka wasn't sure yet… but his resolve, shaken as it had been, strengthened once more.

"You will keep the Tribe safe, then, Dad?" Sokka asked, raising his gaze towards Hakoda. "Katara and Aang probably could bend more barriers if need be, to ensure the Fire Nation ships can't reach our people this time, either…"

"Oh, yeah. We'd gladly do it," Aang said, with a small smile. Katara nodded promptly.

"Hmm, I'll ponder that," Hakoda smiled too. "Admittedly, you won't be taking off all that quickly, whether you meant to or not… a lot of preparations will be in order before you leave. Food, proper clothing, armor, weapons…"

"We'll need to design a proper flight plan to ensure we're not seen at all," Sokka said, staring at the map once more.

"A lot of people will also wish to join you," Hakoda pointed out again. "You'll have to either dissuade them or take them into consideration. I'd say… give yourselves at least a week. And I suppose that, by then, Zuko will have made up his mind about whether to go with you or not…?"

Zuko's heavy frown, however, convinced Sokka that that particular matter was settled. Perhaps it was for the better: he wasn't sure he wanted to travel with Zuko, especially if he had to leave Suki and his daughters behind in order to fight a war he never intended to get involved in. He was quite the individualist, Sokka knew… Zuko didn't want to put his life, his hard-earned stability, in any danger. Perhaps a younger Sokka would have scoffed at that… older and far wearier as he was, he understood Zuko's feelings all too well. Demanding that he joined them would be akin to asking Zuko to undergo the pain Sokka had been forced to endure, making him leave his family behind while taking off on a quest to fix the world, a quest that, despite Sokka's hopes, had no guaranteed positive outcome. Mari and Zi didn't deserve to grow up without a father… and Sokka had no intentions of forcing them to do so.

They could do this without him. It might be for the best, too, to keep the exiled prince out of this, seeing as the White Lotus clearly had dangerous plans for him. As complicated as their bond might be, Sokka certainly had no interest in seeing Zuko turned into a tool for bastards of the likes of Jeong Jeong and Iroh.

"Does anyone have anything else to add?" Sokka asked, glancing about the room with uncertainty. "If not… then I'll get started with working on the letter we'll send to the Fire Lord. I guess it's better if you write it yourself, Kino? You might be more used to the Fire Nation protocols than we are…"

"And I learned my distinctively flat handwriting in the academy," Kino grinned, proudly. "They'll have no reason to think I'm anyone but who I'll say I am."

"We'll have to go look for a seal for that letter in the frozen ships, right?" Aang asked, glancing at Katara, who nodded promptly.

"Once that's done… we'll get ready for everything else," Sokka said: his three companions appeared completely resolved and certain about the future they were choosing to face by his side.

Sokka glanced at the rest of the group again: the Water Tribe warriors, his father included, appeared pleased by the meeting's outcome, though they discussed some thoughts quietly, perhaps regarding whatever defenses they ought to request the two waterbenders to craft before they took off to fight the Fire Nation. The last two remaining members of the group, though, remained silent by then… holding hands, as they still were.

Sokka said nothing as the meeting, adjourned in such a casual way, saw each member taking off to do what they intended to. Zuko and Suki simply left the igloo, still holding each other's hands, still with bowed heads as they trudged through the snow, directed towards their home.

They didn't collect Mari and Zi right away: Zuko made to stop for them, but Suki yanked his hand urgently, leading him to their home. Zuko frowned but followed quietly, only speaking again to soothe Gruff once they had entered the igloo once again.

"It's alright, Gruff. We're back now," he said, patting the creature's head gently before shedding his parka anew, and with it, a powerful sigh. "Curses, but he's mad."

Zuko rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, no doubt trying to chase away the latent headache that had been building since Sokka had requested them to join him on that meeting today. Fighting the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord, allied with the White Lotus… no one could ever say Sokka lacked ambition. If anything, his willingness to take off on such a serious enterprise sounded… it sounded like something Azula would do, something she'd even approve of, if she were in Sokka's shoes right now. Lately, Zuko found there were far more similarities between his sister and the man she had loved than he had ever cared to acknowledge.

"This is either going to change the world forever, for the better, or he's going to ruin everything beyond reason," Zuko sighed, running his hand through his hair. "If the White Lotus really has an army, and they truly have been building it up for ages… then great, maybe he can make proper use of them, but he's never led troops of that size, and he has to set aside his feelings towards my uncle to do it, too. Beyond that, keeping my father from learning the truth about his survival until the so-called right moment is… it's wishful thinking at best, a deadly mistake at worst. My father… he wouldn't be so stupid as to believe he's really dead unless he's given genuine evidence of it. I don't even know what, maybe… a broken boomerang or something? Even that would be hard to buy as conclusive evidence, frankly. There's no way my father will be satisfied with anything but Sokka's corpse. So, all this is built on the hopes that he won't be able to attack before Sokka strikes first, and…"

"And you don't think any of it will be likely to succeed," Suki cut him off, her voice serene and stern. Zuko frowned, glancing at her with heartfelt, golden eyes.

"I'm afraid he'll get himself killed, and that my sister's chance to break free from our father's control will be gone before she's even aware of its existence," he said. "If he dies, too, then… she'll be beside herself in grief. It'll devastate her."

"So… do you think the best answer is to stay here, instead?" Suki asked, raising an eyebrow. Zuko's frown deepened. "To do nothing?"

"I… Suki, we've done a lot as it is," Zuko said. "We've kept the Tribe safe, we've fought off a whole Fire Nation invasion…"

"And you've said it yourself, the Fire Lord isn't likely to stop, not even if he believes Sokka is dead," Suki said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I… I'm sorry about Iroh, Zuko. Sokka didn't tell me about it either when I talked with him…"

"You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault," Zuko said, shaking his head. "Sounds like I just happened to miss all the conversations when they talked about that. And yeah, it's a lot to digest, but it doesn't change the reality of the madness Sokka's trying to achieve, damn it…"

"It doesn't, and if you're right about your father, maybe he'll send a hundred ships next, rather than fifty. Then, it'll be two hundred. One day it'll be a thousand. Whatever it takes to get what he wants, he won't hold back, right? That's how he's always worked…"

"Then… what are you saying?" Zuko said, frowning. "You mean, whatever happens next, we're doomed? Well… why didn't you say that to the others, if that's what you really think…?"

"That's not quite what I think. And I didn't say what I thought because if I had, it would have caused a scene for sure, and to be perfectly honest, I've had more than enough of those in Hakoda's igloo."

Zuko's perplexity saw him falling silent now, speechless in the face of the strange tinge of determination in Suki's eyes, not that different from Sokka's, or Katara's, or Kino's, or Aang's…

"You're not wrong: we have a family. We have more to worry about than they do," Suki admitted, with a nod. "Our children… they're everything to the both of us, Zuko. Our two little girls? I'd do anything to keep them safe. I think we proved as much a week ago. But that also means… that I have to think of what's best for them beyond our immediate future. Do I really want to raise our daughters in a world at war, where they'll one day grow up to learn they're related to the Fire Lord and hate themselves for it? Do I want to raise our daughters this way, cut off from both your homeland and mine, for good? Do I want to risk… another blizzard, like the one that took Yuro and Siku's baby? Do I want to see our daughter grow older and perhaps forget about Princess Jing, and slowly grow to hate her own power once more, because it's the same one wielded by the Tribe's enemies?"

"Suki…"

"I… I'm going to be blunt here, Zuko," Suki cut him off, raising a hand to stop him. "I agree that they need to be taken care of. I agree that our girls shouldn't be left alone. I don't want to miss a single moment of their growth… but I want to make sure their growth is the best it can be, too. Ultimately… that would be best accomplished by us both, yes, but it can be done with just one of us. Hakoda raised Sokka and Katara almost by himself, didn't he? It's not impossible…"

"You're not serious. You can't be… Suki!" Zuko gasped, jaw dropped as his wife eyed him apprehensively.

"Maybe… maybe the battle from a week ago awoke something in me that I hadn't experienced in forever. Maybe it reminded me that I trained as a warrior all my life, no matter if I've grown to love peace so much better than war. But whatever it is… as silent as I was at the end of the meeting, Zuko, it wasn't because I disagreed with Sokka."

Chagrin, disbelief, anguish: all of them pooled in Zuko's horrified gaze. The world before him appeared to tremble and shake, twisting into a reality he had hoped would never take proper shape… but Suki was about to spell everything out for him, in an ultimatum not so different from the one she'd spoken after they were first caught by the Water Tribe:

"So… it really boils down to this, Zuko: either you'll join them and help them set this world on the right course, or I will."