"Maybe you stand by me through good and bad makes all the difference in my life
Day by day sweetheart I find these are the ties that bind
The little things you do that please me so oh the way you always understand
When several joys bring peace of mind these are the ties that bind"

- Don Williams

muted fate, chapter XI: "the ties that bind"

Pepper found herself waking up from what was once a deep sleep. She simply couldn't rest in such a strange new place. She had been out on the streets for so long that sleeping in a cot with a blanket and pillow was foreign to her. The low hum of the inner workings of the ship was a new sound to her. She tossed and turned for a little while until she finally gave up sleeping altogether. FourEyes was watching her silently. Pepper felt his eyes and looked at him – there was something strange in his eyes as he looked at her.

Pepper gave a weak smile, "Can't sleep either?"

"No," FourEyes breathed. His voice was small, as if his throat had shrunk. He was still staring at Pepper strangely.

Pepper decided not to look and him. The look in his eyes was making her feel awkward. She started to get out of bed, "I'm going to go up to the princess. She said we could always go there if we couldn't sleep,"

As soon as Pepper was standing up and off the cot, FourEyes got off the bed and walked over to her. He took her hand, "I'll come with you!"

Pepper blushed a little and took her hand away from FourEyes, "…maybe someone should come with us," She then quickly added. "There's safety in numbers,"

Seyvan then suddenly sat up. He had his eyes closed, but he had been listening to their conversation. He turned to FourEyes and Pepper, "I'll come too,"

"Seyvan?" FourEyes asked, frowning, "Why? You don't even like the princess,"

"Just like Pepper said – there's safety in numbers," Seyvan quickly answered.

FourEyes scoffed but Pepper smiled, "The more the merrier!"

Seyvan smiled at this, knowing he had won this battle with FourEyes. FourEyes grumbled something and forced open the door. It creaked open loudly. Rain stirred in his bed and rolled onto his side. Ribbon still slept on. Ashes continued to toss and turn in her current nightmare. Seyvan, Pepper, and FourEyes stepped out of the room and into the hallway. It was late at night, and very dark. Most of the guards were already sleeping in their rooms and those who were on duty were sleeping on their feet. The heat coming from the coal fueled heart of the ship filtered upwards and it was most humid in the area they were in.

"It's so…quiet," FourEyes said.

"I know. Where is everybody?" Pepper asked.

"It's late at night! They're all probably asleep!" answered Seyvan.

There was a creaking noise behind them and Seyvan spun around but saw it was only Ashes opening the room's door and closing it. She then walked up to the trio, a blank look in her eyes.

"What's she doing here?" Seyvan growled.

"She must have seen us leave," Pepper answered. She then smiled at Ashes, "Do you want to come along, Ashes?"

Ashes made no true reply and stared into nothing. Then after a minuet, she slowly nodded. Pepper and FourEyes smiled but Seyvan scowled. The children continued down the hallway and came to a guard who had nodded off during duty. The children decided to quietly pass by him and then go up the stairway leading to the other levels. It was dark and the sound of them going up the stairway echoed through the area.

"Where's the princess' room?' FourEyes asked.

"Do you guys really think she's a princess?" Seyvan said, folding his arms, "She doesn't look like she has noble blood in here to me,"

"Looks can be deceiving," answered FourEyes.

"Lies are deceiving too," Seyvan answered.

"I think it's this level," Pepper said as she walked through a doorway, "She said she was right above us,"

This level was closer to surface and less humid. There was more cool air from outside circling through it as well. The guards eyed the children suspiciously. They huddled more close together under the watch of the guards at the doorway. There was two of them.

"Isn't it past your bedtimes?" one of the guards said.

"We can't sleep," FourEyes said, "and the princess said we could go to her,"

The guard scoffed but the other said, "Let 'em through, Ishikawa. I saw Prince Zuko and his wife with them,"

The guard sighed and let the children pass. They rushed by him. The guard continued talking to the other guard, "You really think he married her?"

"Figure he must have some sort of burning passion for the girl to carry her up the stairs earlier,"

"That's true,"

Now the children ran into another roadblock on their trip – which room was the princess in? There were three elegant looking doors but none of them gave a clue to who slept in which room.

"Well this is a fine kettle of fish," Seyvan grunted, "I knew this was a bad idea,"

"Then why did you come?" FourEyes said to him, "It would have been fine if just Pepper and me came,"

"Guys, please let's not fight…" Pepper began.

Seyvan and FourEyes were already heated up and arguing while Pepper tried to calm them down. Ashes, who was on the sidelines, watching everything, suddenly turned away from them and went to one of the doors, opening it.

"Ashes!" Pepper gasped.

Ashes walked into the room and Pepper went after her. Seeing Pepper was no longer present, Seyvan and FourEyes ceased their fighting and followed her as well. Ashes continued walking into the darkness of the room and towards a bed pushed toward the upper left corner of it. On the bed was the princess, Katara, sleeping soundly. Pepper was the first to approach the bed and stood next to Ashes, who had gone back to staring into nothing.

"P-Princess…" Pepper whispered.

Katara stirred a little, "…mm?"

"Princess, it's us," Pepper said.

Katara opened her eyes a little and looked at Pepper, "Pepper?" She smiled a little at Pepper and the others. "What are all of you doing here?"

FourEyes smiled a little bit and walked over. Seyvan remained at the doorway. He walked besides Pepper, "We can't sleep,"

Katara smiled and sat up with a yawn, "Do you want to stay with me?" Pepper and FourEyes nodded. Katara smiled. "Climb in,"

All the children eagerly laid down next to Katara, except for Seyvan. Seyvan simply grumbled and sat on the floor, leaning against the bed. Soon, they all fell asleep.

Early that morning, Zuko mustered up enough stored courage and patience to go and talk to Katara on his own without the urging of Uncle or anyone else. He carefully opened Katara's bedroom door, just peeking in case she was dressing or anything that would cause her to throw things at him again (how he didn't want to repeat that accident again). He found, instead, three of the children in her bed, all snuggled down and sleeping like kittens to a mother cat.

Zuko heard footsteps coming towards him at a fast pace from the side and he instantly grabbed hold of what was coming towards him. Zuko then saw that it was Seyvan (who had heard Zuko coming down the hallway and hid in the shadows of the room).

"Who do you think you are?" Zuko said to Seyvan, "I've been trained in the arts of war and you're just a little street rat,"

"Let go!" Seyvan growled, but Zuko's grip on the scruff of his shirt was tight. Zuko held Seyvan in the air and Seyvan kicked and growled and twisted, in all attempts to get free.

"You know, I have the power to have you tossed in the dungeon," Zuko said. The boy was starting to be a serious thorn in his side.

Seyvan didn't reply – because at this point he gripped the arm that was attached to the hand that held him captive and bit it as hard as he could. Zuko let out a yell and let go of Seyvan, clutching his arm. At Zuko's yell, Katara was pulled away from sleep and sat up instantly, wondering what was going on. The other children woke up too, and stayed close to Katara. Zuko was too busy cursing about his throbbing arm to notice.

"Zuko, what the hell are you doing?" Katara growled.

"That little bastard bit me!" Zuko yelled, pointing to Seyvan. Seyvan, at this point, quickly scowled at Zuko and then scampered out of the room. Zuko glared at Katara with his patented 'this is mostly your fault' look.

Katara turned to the children around her, "Pepper…FourEyes…go…off and…play somewhere…else,"

Pepper and FourEyes slowly moved away from Katara and then rushed by Zuko, avoiding his eyes. Ashes didn't move. She was in a deep and peaceful sleep and she refused to let it be disturbed. Zuko then shut the door to the bedroom.

"Why do you always have to be such a bully?" Katara hissed.

"I'm not the one that started it!" Zuko answered, "First off, that little monster tried to tackle me and then he bit me!"

"Now, I know Seyvan is being a little difficult–"

"–little? He's a royal pain in the ass!"

"–but he'll come around eventually. I was–"

"Eventually? Don't you mean 'never'?"

Katara broke off mid sentence and made a face at Zuko, "We could have probably avoided this entire situation if you had just stayed in your room. Why did you come here anyways?"

Zuko sighed and rubbed his hurting arm, "Katara, don't get too attached to those brats. We've set a course for Hishigata Island and we'll be there in about seven days or so,"

Katara made a face. "Who says I'm getting attached?" she huffed, "I know they still have families. I'm just taking care of them,"

"You mean you're playing mother until further notice," Zuko answered.

"I'm just being nice," Katara hissed, starting to get out of bed. Ashes only rolled onto her side and continued sleeping.

"You shouldn't be on your feet," Zuko said.

"I've been in bed enough to rest," Katara answered.

"You were on your feet all day yesterday. And then you exhausted yourself. I'm carrying you around again,"

Katara glared at him, "Since when do you care so much about what I do? There's no one around that would care if we act like we're married," Zuko was about to open his mouth when Katara answered for him. "Ashes is dumb. She probably doesn't even understand us when we talk. I'll be fine on my own,"

Zuko let out a grumble, "Fine then, I'm going," And then he left Katara's room. He found that Pepper, Seyvan, and FourEyes were playing tag in the hallway and almost knocked him over. "Damn it! The hallway of my ship is not your playground!" Zuko yelled.

Pepper, Seyvan, and FourEyes were a little startled by him, but then decided to continue playing. A little miffed, Zuko went off to go practice his Firebending.

At inn, behind the locked door of their room, Beelzebub and Aang sat on one of the beds with the map spread out between them.

"Okay," Aang said, "the last time I saw The Shadow, it was before I died. We were on an island somewhere…" He traced his finger along the map and pointed to an area in the middle of water. "…here,"

Beelzebub looked at the location of Aang's finger, "Sorry, kid, but dere en't nothin' dere,"

Aang looked at the map, "But...but this was where we were!" He looked up at Beelzebub. "I'm positive, because we were going to travel all night to Huo Island, but Sokka saw an island where we could rest," He pointed to the map. "And Huo Island is right here. I couldn't have imagined that island we were on,"

"Dis Shadow fella," Beelzebub said, rubbing his chin, "tell me somethin' kid…ya told me he was a spirit, who was he in his past life?"

Aang bit his lip, "He was an Avatar, but he turned evil in life and couldn't redeem himself in death,"

"Well, if he was an Avatar, dat means he had tah master Earthbending. He could have raised land up from beneath da sea if he used Waterbending tah part it," Beelzebub said. He then asked another question: "And how long has da Shadow been dead?"

Aang paused, "…long, very long. It has to be at least…maybe a thousand years ado. He was the 13th Avatar, so that's a while back,"

"A while back, indeed…" Beelzebub mused, "If he's old number 13, dat would make him…" He briefly counted on his claws. "At least 1, 539 years old…give o' take,"

Aang's eyes widened, "Really? That old?"

"But what bothers me…is why he would come after ya and your friends? What did he do exactly?"

Aang paused, remembering the painful memory, "…he killed me. And then he killed my friend, Sokka…" He gripped the part of his chest where his hear once was. "…and then he killed my flying lemur and…my flying bison Appa…they were my friend too…" he sniffed and tears welled in his eyes. A dull pain filled his chest.

(but why?)

It was a terrible, empty, feeling.

(why does it ache?)

Aang felt his heart aching from the pain and loss. But why did his heart still ache when it was gone and all he was was a reanimated corpse.

(why does it hurt so much?)

Aang sobbed, "Even though I was gone…I knew…I knew he had killed them…only Katara survived…"

Beelzebub patted Aang on the head as Aang cried his eyes out.

"You know, Prince Zuko, you could try talking to her a little more," Uncle suggested.

"Don't you think I've tried that?" Zuko hissed.

"I mean, actually trying to talk to her as a person," Uncle said.

Zuko let out a growl. He had only been able to practice his Firebending for a short amount of time until Uncle interrupted him. Zuko was finding that the entire conversation was souring his mood.

"Don't you think I've been trying to do that for the past two days?" Zuko snapped, "It's impossible! She's a Waterbender and I'm a Firebender! She probably blames me for everything that's wrong in her life right now and she hates with a passion!"

"She doesn't hate you, Prince Zuko," Uncle said, calmly. He was starting to feel like neutral ground for two warring countries and didn't want it to remain that way, "she just doesn't understand you very well. The problem I see here is that you two lack common ground to talk about,"

"We lack common ground, Uncle, because we have absolutely nothing in common!"

Uncle fought the urge to sigh as he rubbed his temples, "At least try talking to her without losing your temper, Prince Zuko,"

Zuko let out a grumble and went back to his Firebending.

Aang had finished crying. He felt a little bit better, after releasing those bottled up emotions. Beelzebub had still been thinking while Aang had cried. After Aang had calmed down, Beelzebub continued on speaking.

"But what I doan get is why he left your friend alive," Beelzebub said, "and why he killed ya 'n everyone else but dis 'Katara' alive,"

Aang blinked, "What are you saying?"

Beelzebub was still thinking, "I doan know, kid. If ya were tellin' me a tall tale I'd say it was filled wit holes, y'know? Things doan add up here,"

Aang looked at Beelzebub, "What is it?"

Beelzebub gave a shrug, "Call me ol' fashioned, kid, but if I was an old restless spirit, I wouldn't be off tah seek trouble 'n wreak havoc 'n kill da new Avatar, 'cause he'll just be reborn and I'd have tah do it all over again. But if he's a spirit, he can't kill the livin' tah begin wit unless he was summoned or somethin' but stuff like that takes lots o' power…" He shook his head. "…sounds weird tah me,"

Aang drummed his fingers in thought, "Wait…"

"What is it, kid?" Beelzebub asked.

"It was something an Avatar spirit told me…" Aang said. A wheel turned in his head, "Iwatansei!"

"Iwatansei?"

"Iwatansei told me that The Shadow was nothing but a spirit and that necromancy and other dark arts had been outlawed years ago!" He then added. "What if he was wrong?"

Beelzebub's eyes widened, "Kid, what are trying' tah say?"

"I'm saying that there might be a necromancer still around!" Aang said, "What if there's still someone out there practicing dark arts? What if they summoned The Shadow to kill me because I was the Avatar?" Aang the paused and shook his head. "No, that still doesn't make any sense! Why would they kill me? I'm an Avatar. I'd just be reborn and they'd have to look for me all over again! It would have made more sense if he had given me to the Fire Nation…"

Beelzebub touched Aang on the shoulder, "Not as crazy as it sounds, kid. Dis Shadow maybe a spirit, but any spirit or demon can still tempt a mortal wit all sorts of promises. Let's say dis Shadow wants a body? All he has to do is promise some fool da riches of some long gone kings. O' course, dere's always a catch to dealin' wit spirits 'n such,"

"Always a catch…" Aang murmured, remembering all the catches that seemed to be present in his undead life.

"Now kid," Beelzebub said, "if we're going to fight dis Shadow, we've got tah know what we got in our arsenal. I can fight 'n do a 'lil spell here 'n dere since I'm pretty good at magic. What about ya?"

Aang thought for a moment, "Beelzebub, do you still have some of those stones?"

Beelzebub nodded, "Yeah,"

"Let me some of them,"

Beelzebub dug into his pocket and gave Aang a handful of stones. Aang took the tones and then concentrated on them, resting them in one open palm with another open palm. He focused as hard as he could, remembering all those years of training with the Airbender monks in the temple. Slowly, the stones began to hover in the air and soon they began to spin in a circular motion. Aang smiled – overjoyed and amazed that he still had his Airbending powers even though dead. Then the stones began to suddenly pick up speed and then went flying away from Aang's palms, hitting different things in the room and cracking the window a little.

"I can still Airbend…" Aang murmured in disbelief, "Btu how? I'm dead aren't I?"

"Well, Bending is always going to be a part of ya kid," Beelzebub said, "no matter what happens to ya body, as long as ya spirit is still in tact, ya will always be a Airbender 'n nothin' else. Plus anyways kid, ya not really dead. Ya just sorta…reborn in a way as somethin' else," Beelzebub shrugged. "Sure ya can't eat regular human food 'n ya doan need sleep o anythin', but ya still hang on tah ya personality 'n ya emotions. Demons can even father children with mortal women if we want tah. 'Coarse those spawn would be misfits 'n such,"

Aang let these words sink in, "…I should start practicing my Airbending again then. It feels like I'm getting stronger,"

"Probably cause ya body is agin'," Beelzebub scanned Aang's body. "Ya started tah grow like a weed! Ya have tah be at least hittin' ya early teens pretty soon!" He then laughed. "It'll be a royal riot when ya voice changes!"

Aang blinked, "…my voice is supposed to change?"

Beelzebub laughed as he got off the bed and stretched, "Yeah. What? Ya can't think ya goin' tah sound like a little girl all ya like can ya?" He then laid down on his bed. "Well, I'm a little tuckered out. I'm gonna take a nap. What about ya?"

Aang shook his head, "I think I'll study the map, maybe do down to the tavern to see if I can figure out where my friend is at least,"

Beelzebub shrugged, "Suit yourself,"

But as soon as Beelzebub was asleep, Aang (now feeling very subconscious) walked towards the window to see his reflection. He found that found that his height had increased almost by a foot and his new stringy dark silver hair had now grown down to his ears.

Zuko had found that with the lack of brats, Uncle, and Katara – he was able to concentrate better on his Firebender.

(one with the flame inside)

Zuko felt flames spark

(one with the inside passion.)

from his hands as he went through several practice moves. He sent a burst of flame in one direction

(girl)

"Pepper!" Zuko gagged, stumbling in his what-was-once-a-fluid move and falling on the floor. Now that his concentration was broken, the flame disappeared a few feet in front of Pepper.

Pepper stood at the doorway of the room, looking up at Zuko with innocent eyes. Zuko grumbled as he got off the floor, glaring at Pepper. He then noticed something was different about the girl. Her face had been scrubbed clean and her hair had been neatly combed and braided. She was wearing clean clothes (which was actually a cut and mended bed sheet made into a dress).

"Pepper! What are you doing down here! I could have killed you!" Zuko yelled at the girl.

"W-We were p-pl-playing hide-n-go-seek…and…I was…looking…" Pepper stammered, shaking with fear.

Zuko growled, "Didn't I say my ship is not your playground just a few hours ago?"

"Y-Yes…" Pepper said.

"Then what were you doing playing on it?"

"B-but we couldn't play in our room b-because your wife was cleaning it so we had only the hallways…"

Zuko blinked, "Wait, why she was she cleaning it?"

"When she came to find us after we left her room, she saw bugs on us and she made us burn all our clothes and then she washed all our hair and made us take baths and made us clothes and…"

"WHAT? YOU HAD LICE?"

Pepper flinched and was starting to feel scared again, "I…I didn't…know…"

Zuko was still raging, "Gods! You probably brought a black plague on my ship! I should probably throw you all overboard!"

Pepper, at this point, couldn't take being yelled at anymore and began to do what any girl like her would. She began to cry. Loudly. She was still a little girl, after all, and had never learned how to swim. Zuko panicked as soon as Pepper's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh Gods…" Zuko said. He didn't know how to deal with children, especially little girls. He then realized he had to think of something quick before someone heard Pepper cry. He quickly thought of something to comfort the girl and embraced Pepper, "Pepper, I was just kidding! You're not going to be thrown overboard! It was a joke!"

Pepper smiled a little and looked up at him, "Really?"

'If someone sees me hugging this little girl I'll kill myself,' Zuko thought. He forced a smile down at Pepper, "Really,"

Pepper's eyes widened and she held onto Zuko's waist with a big smile, "Okay!"

Zuko let out a sigh of relief and let go of Pepper. However he found a problem – Pepper wasn't letting go of him.

"…um…Pepper…you can…let go of...me now…" Zuko said.

"Kid,"

"Yeah?"

Beelzebub sat up on his bed. Aang was on his own bed, still looking at the map, "If we're gonna fight dis Shadow…we're gonna need reinforcements. Dere's no way we can do this on our own,"

Aang rasied an eyebrow. "What's going to help us?" Aang asked, "Regular people can't see or sense spirits, let alone fight them. We'd need…" He gave a shrug. "…someone like a Bender or another demon…"

Beelzebub nodded, "I would say Belphegor or Belial, since they were good fighters, but I don't know where they are now,"

Aang was about to answer when a sharp pain came from his shoulder blades. He yelped and whimpered as he rubbed his shoulders. Beelzebub looked at Aang.

"Are ya okay, kid?" Beelzebub said.

Aang grunted, speaking through teeth clenched in pain just as another sharp pain came from his shoulder, "…my…shoulder…hurts…"

"Looks like it's ya time kid. Ya wings are comin' in," Beelzebub said.

Two mounds rippled an arched in Aang's back. He gripped and tore at the bedsheets as he could feel the skin on his back breaking.

"Easy, kid, easy…" Beelzebub said, just as Aang let out a piercing screech, "I was hopin' ya'd have ya wings come in a place further away from town…"

Aang started to yell even more as the skin on his shoulder blades began to have slivers of broken skin form in them and dark half congealed blood dripped out of it. There was a knock on the door. It was the inn manager.

"Everything okay in there? I don't want anything bad to happen to my best customers!" the inn manager said.

"Everything's fine!" Beelzebub said, quickly, "My…uh…associate is just havin' a bit o'…uh…food poisoning! He'll be fine!" This answer sufficed the manager and he left.

Aang let out a yelp of pain, and two wounds opened in his shoulders. More dark blood leaked out and two limbs outstretched themselves from his body. Beelzebub looked in amazement at Aang's wings. They were trembling, blood stained ivory feathers.

"Oh…oh wow, kid…" Beelzebub gasped, "…your wings…are so…so…beautiful.." Aang's body was trembling. He was shaking all over and felt like collapsing. Beelzebub helped him stand up. He was still shaking. "Come on, kid. We should go out 'n take those wings for a test run. No use havin' 'em 'n not knowin' how to use 'em,"

Aang sheepishly nodded. Beelzebub took Aang and opened the window. He outstretched his own wings and flapped towards the woods with Aang clinging to his back. Beelzebub made sure he flew high enough so that those below would think they were just birds. He landed in the middle of the woods, far away from town. Beelzebub then seated the still exhausted Aang against a tree.

"How ya feelin', kid?" Beelzebub asked him.

Aang let himself smile a little, despite the pain coming from his shoulders and the strange new weight of the wings, "Like crap,"

"That's just the pain talkin'," Beelzebub said, smiling widely – baring his fangs. He helped Aang stand, "Try to flex your wings. See how well you can control them,"

Aang focused, but found he could barely lift the new appendages. He let out a grumble, "It's no use. I've never had to do something like this before,"

"Don't give up, kid!" Beelzebub said, "It's takes time to learn how to use wings! Just think of them as a second pair of arms or legs,"

Aang nodded. He focused again but found that the wings were still weak and difficult to move but after some constant motion for a few hours, the wings picked up strength.

"That's it, kid!" Beelzebub said to Aang as they practiced flying in the air, "Just keep flappin'!"

Aang suddenly panicked as he began to drop from the air and frantically clawed at a tree. Beelzebub gripped his hand and kept Aang in the air, "Easy, kid, I got ya,"

"Beelzebub, won't someone see us?" Aang asked.

Beelzebub shook his head, "They'd only see specks or two people floating. They can't see our wings or horns or anything extra like that, remember?"

'Young Avatar!'

Aang craned his head in the direction of the voice. He saw a familiar spirit hovering over the treetops towards him.

"Iwatansei!" Aang gasped, looking at the spirit.

Zuko looked around the corner. Seeing that there was no one around, he quickly dashed inside of the captain's room and shut the door.

"Something wrong, Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked. He was playing a game with one of the navigators.

"Uncle, you have to help me!" Zuko begged, "She won't leave me alone!"

"Katara?" Uncle asked.

"Not Katara!" Zuko groaned.

"Then who?"

Zuko grumbled with embarrassment, "…the little girl…"

Uncle looked at him, "Which little girl,"

Zuko made a face, "…Pepper,"

"Pepper? What's she done?"

"She…" Zuko sighed. "…she won't stop following me around!"

"Following you?"

"Yes! She's been following me around like a lost puppy! And…she...will…not…stop!"

Uncle chuckled, "Oh, Prince Zuko, she probably just likes a little,"

"WHAT!"

"Oh yes. It's very normal for a little girl her age,"

"SHE'S A CHILD!"

"Exactly. She'll grow out of it eventually. Plus, you could always brag you have a mistress," Zuko's jaw dropped open in horror at this and Uncle went back to his game. "I'm joking, Prince Zuko,"

Zuko growled, "Well, I've had it with women. First, Katara, now Pepper…I'm ready to kill myself,"

"Pepper's just a little girl. Surely you're not afraid of a little girl who just innocent admires you?"

"It's not innocent! It's embarrassing!" Zuko growled, "Don't I have enough problems in life right now?"

"You're overreacting to this, Prince Zuko,"

Zuko let out a grumble and decided it was time to face the music and went out into the hallway. Pepper was peeking at him from behind the corner. Zuko sensed her eyes and as soon as he looked in Pepper's direction, she ducked behind the corner.

"Pepper, come out. I know you're there," Zuko sighed.

Pepper timidly walked from behind the corner. She looked at Zuko with innocent eyes, standing right nearby the corner she had just come from.

"Come here, Pepper," Zuko said. Pepper walked over to Zuko, looking up at him, "Pepper, why are you following me?"

Pepper looked down at her feet.

"Pepper, please stop following me," Zuko said. Pepper looked up at Zuko with big sad eyes. She was on the verge of tears again. Zuko sighed, "Pepper, don't...don't cry…" Zuko sighed as he looked at the little girl's face. 'This is just perfect! I can't get rid of her without making her upset! She's like some sort of parasite latched onto me!' Zuko thought. He then said, "Pepper…if you really want to be...be around me…I could use…someone to…" Zuko coughed. He could hardly believe he was saying this. "…help me…with…stuff…"

Pepper smiled, "REALLY?"

"It's a lot of work though," Zuko quickly said, realizing that Pepper was just getting a little too enthusiastic about the job, "And you have to get up early. Really early. And, you know, it really is a boy's job but–"

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Pepper exclaimed, hugging Zuko around his waist, "I'll be the bestest helper ever, Prince!"

Zuko was too busy looking around to see if someone was looking at them. He suppressed a groan, 'I think I just made the situation a little worse…' He then took Pepper by the hand, "Okay, let me just show you to your first job…"

"Yes, sir!" Pepper said.

Down the hallway and a floor below, Katara was exhausted. She had discovered lice on Pepper's head only some hours ago after Pepper gave her a hug. Immediately, Katara had their beds cleaned, clothes burned, their hair washed, and she made them new clothes out of mended extra bed sheets. In general, Katara had played "mother" for all six children but that wasn't what had actually tired her out.

Fighting with Seyvan had done that.

Seyvan was a stubborn and willful little boy, with a deep hatred of the Fire Nation and distrust of all adults around him didn't make things easier. Why couldn't he be like Ashes? – quiet, well behaved, silent as the grave, but well behaved!

Seyvan had thrown a fit when his clothes had to be removed and burned, his hair scrubbed, and was forced to bathe and wear mended bed sheets.

Katara laid on her bed, seriously considering Zuko's opinion on tossing the boy overboard. He simply wasn't adjusting well like the others. Even as she laid in bed, she knew the other children were playing in the hallways, while Seyvan kept to himself and scowled at any adult who looked at him twice.

'He's too young to be so bitter…' Katara thought, 'I have no love of the Fire Nation either for what they've done and what they still do but…' She sighed. '…I know Seyvan would be a happy child if he wasn't so angry and bitter…'

She closed her eyes gently – thinking of her own hatred of the Fire Nation. Yes, she hated the Fire Nation for starting the war and killing her mother and taking away her father, but how deep could that hatred go now? She rubbed the twitching life in her belly and thought bitterly of a child who had been cursed with Firebender blood and was doomed to the violent ways of the Firebenders and it's nation. She felt her chill a little, thinking of all the tales she would hear about children of mixed Bending blood.

'I hope you're not a Firebender…' Katara thought, directed towards the growing child in her. The door opened a little. Katara turned her head and saw Ashes at the door. She smiled at Ashes.

"Hello there," Katara said, smiling at her. Ashes walked over to Katara. Katara found that Ashes was the perfect companion. She never complained or commented, all she did was stare into nothing or gesture with her head. Katara sometimes wondered if Ashes could speak at all. Katara sat up and patted Ashes on the head, "What are you doing here? Everyone else is playing,"

Ashes looked at Katara and then looked at her stomach. She then looked at Katara with curious eyes. Katara smiled, trying not to show her underlying bitterness, "Oh. You noticed, Ashes? You're the first one I'm with child,"

Ashes looked at Katara's stomach. She murmured something.

"What was that, Ashes?" Katara asked.

"…bee…bah…" Ashes choked the words out of her throat, "..bay...bee…baby…your…baby…esss…pek…shall…." She looked at Katara and then spoke in a plain voice: "Your baby is special,"

Katara blinked, "Ashes…you can speak?"

Ashes had gone back to staring into nothing. Katara sighed – she was obviously tired out and hungry as well. She was hallucinating, but sleep wouldn't come to her right away. She got off the bed and took Ashes by the hand and headed for the door.

"Come on, Ashes," Katara said to the girl kindly, "let's go get something to eat,"

Ashes made no reply.

The Avatar spirit studied Aang's face closely. He then cocked his head to the side, 'You've changed very much, young Avatar, and I just do not mean the flesh,'

Aang nodded, "I know. But what are you doing here, Iwantansei? Shouldn't you be in the Avatar realm with the other spirits?"

'I came looking for you,' Iwatansei said, 'I have much to tell you. Let us settle on the ground so I may tell my tale,'

All three of them landed on the ground, where Iwatansei recalled his story while Aang and Beelzebub listened intently.

'I knew something was wrong when all the doorways opened in our realm,' Iwatansei began, 'There were thousands upon thousands of them. The rest of my fellow spirits were afraid to venture from the realm and thought it was a sign that the end was near. I remembered you leaving with Thanatos and you not returning. The opened doors meant that Thanatos had left his post. The only way he could have done that is if he was reunited with The Devil. You hadn't returned and I knew that it wasn't a coincidence.

'I was brave enough to venture out of the realm and used my spiritual sense to track you. I landed in Hell, where your Avatar spirits trail suddenly ended at a lake of blood. I had to shake down a small imp to know that a spirit had been transformed into a demon and taken off with one of the higher demons to the mortal realm.

'But I had no way to reach the mortal realm even with all the doors opened, I didn't know the way and I had to find you fast before any other changes happened. So I had to strike up a deal with a high demon to gain access to this world and find you, young Avatar,'

"But why, Iwatansei?" Aang asked, "What would cause you to come all the way here?"

'Because I saw The Shadow,' Iwatansei said.

"WHAT?" Aang gasped.

Iwatansei nodded, 'When I first came to this world and traveled some time, I saw him at a village. He was in disguise, the image of a crone glamouried over him, but I could see with my spirit eyes what he was and the instant he saw me, he disappeared,' He then added. 'Strange though. He seemed to be branded,'

"Branded?" Aang asked.

"Means he was summoned, kid," Beelzebub said, "when anyone has da guile tah summon a spirit like Shadow, dey brand the spirit wit magical enchantments 'n such so that it keeps them under their control," he rubbed his chin. "That means we were right thinkin' he had been summoned,"

"Do you know where he went?" Aang asked Iwatansei.

'I could sense his putrid and sin filled essence a thousand yards away, or more,' answered Iwatansei

"Then you can help us!" Aang said, feeling overjoyed.

"Doan be so anxious, kid," Beelzebub said.

'What? Do you not trust me, child of sin?' Iwatansei sneered at Beelzebub.

"Now lemme tell ya somethin', old man. I en't no low class imp o' nothin' like da shit," Beelzebub snarled. He then pointed to himself, "I'm The Lord of Souls – Beelzebub – 'n I was wit The Devil in Heaven n' Hell so doan be scornin' me just cause ya think I'm pure evil cause en't o I would've killed da kid 'n ya a long time ago. Hell, I wouldn't even be here! Fact o' da matter is dat we high demons en't black 'n white like dat, understand? We got choices 'n wills!"

Iwatansei was silent.

"Now, all I wanna know is which high demon ya made a deal with," Beelzebub said.

Iwatansei let out a whistle and something flapped from above them and onto the ground next to Iwatansei. Beelzebub looked up at the high demon and gasped:

"…M-Morningstar!"

Yes, I know. I haven't been updating. Here are several reasons why. Take your pick:

1 – A monkey ate my head

2 – My family has been going through some issues

3 – Not enough time due to job searching and such

4 – Went on a road trip and got lost in Mexico

5 – Found the lost city of Atlantis and got caught up stealing gold

6 – Got addicted to Invader Zim and couldn't stop watching

7 –Went on hunger strike to protest lack of new Avatar episodes

8 – My friend the giant flying squirrel flew me away to Krypton so that we could kill Superman

9 – Taking mad scientist class

10 – Alien abduction

- ZeroSoul