A/N:

Ashley Barbosa: I'm glad you're enjoying OOC Aang so far. Don't worry, his actions will be explained soon... very soon.

phieillydinyia: Good too know you're loving it so far, and dw, Aang's action will be explained soon. Just keep reading.

TheQuietReader23: (I know you're gonna have a fucking field trip with this Chapter hahahahaha) Yep, Aang predicted it and was counting on it, remember, he has a plan. Well, he didn't think she loved him in the way she loved Aang yet, but he was hoping she would eventually. So, when Aang returned to 'help out' he knew his chances with her (which were already slim) were now even slimmer. You're close with that Hakoda thing, the deal with the North and South is a whole other thing that will be explored in Book 2. No, he was not the one, there was someone, but Councilman Quinn (you) was not him. Nope, nothing weird about Azula's laugh, pure coincidence. And no, there aren't two Aangs hahahaha. Sokka and Toph will be fully revealed in Book 2, but I'll throw more hints. You are close though, nice interpretations of their missing dialogue btw :) Atrocities as Amon and something else. Katara and Zuko convo finna be awkward and you're spot on with Azula there. You're getting there with the Zuko and Hakoda thing, keep going. Photo! Well, you get a good long look now buddy!

XOXOXOXOXOX

Chapter 11: The Engagement Party Part 2

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are… tonight's entertainment, and we have one question…"

The man's eyes bore into the guests. So incredibly dark, clouded with what one could assume was either hatred or insanity – either way, they were uneasy.

"Where… is… Quinn… Red?"

When no one answered, Amon began pacing around, pointing his sawed-off shotgun playfully at a few individuals as he awaited a response. Walking around, he swiped a drink out of the hands of a woman, frightened and surprised, she yelped; thinking he would hurt her, but he simply swiped the drink from her hands and took a sip before turning around and spitting it onto who he assumed was the woman's husband.

"Oh…" he mock gasped, "hehe ha ha ha, hehe ha ha ha… Sorry about that." Stifling his laughter, Amon took a handkerchief out of his pocket and threw it at the man who growled in response as he bent a flame in his hand. That caught Amon's attention and suddenly, a laser originating from a sniper from a rooftop was aiming for the man's head.

"Before any of you do something foolish," warned Amon, "you should be aware of the fact that I have planted charges across this room and… well, the entire Palace actually. Not to mention all my men and the snipers on the rooftops who are all keeping an eye on you. So, if any of you try something stupid… well, I urge you to reconsider as your explosive personality will probably…" Amon attempted to stifle his laughter to no avail, "…explode in your face. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA…"

The guests all stared at the man wearing the clown makeup in curiosity and dread, wondering whether this man was insanely clever or immensely insane. Amidst the crowd was an observant Mai who was analysing a way to remedy the current situation without causing any unnecessary harm to the civilians. Noticing Mai's eyes darting from man to man, from the charges planted on the walls to the snipers above them in the distance, her eyes finally landed on a calm and collected Iroh who simply shook his head – knowing that she was likely planning something, Iroh gestured to her to not risk it. Sighing, Mai slowly nodded as her eyes finally landed on a considerably worried Ty Lee whose own eyes were fixated on the man they knew to be Amon. From what Zuko had told the public – which was all the knowledge Ty Lee and Mai were able to gather since they weren't in his 'inner circle' anymore – they understood that while seemingly crazy, Amon was a calculating and ruthless individual who could rival even Azula's cunning. So, when Iroh gestured her to stay put and Ty Lee seemed more frightened than ever – possibly because Amon's aura represented something completely unknown to her – Mai knew better than to provoke an unpredictable and highly dangerous man like the one before them.

Regaining his sense of playfulness, Amon strutted across the room as he approached a short Water Tribe official, hooked his hand underneath his chin and forced him to face him.

"You know where I can find Quinn?" Amon began playfully, "I need to talk to him about something… just something little, huh?" When the man gave no response apart from the rise in fear painted across his face, Amon simply shrugged his shoulders and turned to someone on the other side of the room, now unbearably close to both Mai and Ty Lee who observed him cautiously.

"What about you, eh?" He asked as he approached a petite woman dressed in green, formal robes – this woman was the date Councilman Quinn had brought to the party, and Amon acted like he didn't know of her at all. "You know where he is?" Then, smirking when the woman shook her head in denial, Amon pointed towards her covered womanhood as he asked teasingly, "You haven't hidden him down there have ya? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA…"

Her eyes grew wide in fear, thinking he may have noticed, but he could not recall the woman's pulse spiking as he was too busy laughing at his own joke. Somewhere behind her, Mai had to stifle a chuckle but couldn't stop a small smile from tugging at her lips; clearly, she had found it somewhat funny while Ty Lee stared at her astonished, worried and both amused.

Not realising that the woman was growing nervous, Amon ignored her as he waved her off and walked towards an accomplice of his. General Fang's heart rate quickened when he noticed Amon strutting towards him, imitating a giddy pony. Amon hadn't told General much of what he was planning to do, so, when he wildly began intimidating guests while asking for Councilman Quinn Red of the Northern Water Tribe, he was somewhat worried, needless to say. However, when Amon approached the General, took the cherry he was planning to eat from his hand and began munching on it instead, Fang feared whether Amon was planning to expose the General right then and there.

"You know," Amon spoke as he began munching on the fruit in his hand, "I'll settle for his loved ones."

Realising that if wanted to maintain his position as the General and reclaim his cover, Fang stood tall as he challenged Amon with fake confidence as he was anything but confident in that moment.

"We're not intimidated by thugs," growled Fang.

Amon raised an eyebrow as he took another cherry and began munching down on it, "Is that so?"

The General mock chuckled, "I've dealt with men like you bef- "

"There are no men like me," Amon cut him off, pulling out the dagger that was tied to his belt as he stepped forward, not backing down from the General's challenge.

"Of course, there are men like you," Fang attacked. "There are always men like you; hungry for power… men who slaughter the innocent."

"So, if I am hungry for power, and if I slaughter innocents… then what exactly are you?" Amon challenged further, causing the General's nervousness to rush forth as he knew that one wrong comment would give Amon the upper hand.

"I am a General of this Great Nation," Fang decided to power through, ignoring Amon's black eyes boring holes into his own as he spoke with such hypocrisy, "and I hunt down and destroy men like you."

"You know," Amon began, cutting Fang off before he could say more, "you remind me of my father." As he brought the dagger closer to the General's face whose eyes were laced with dread, he spoke menacingly and accusingly, "Always so proud, and judgmental… and angry." Amon whispered, "So, so very angry. And let me tell you – " Suddenly, Amon gripped onto the back of Fang's head and brought his dagger towards the General's eyes, staring into him with such malice as he gritted out, "I hated my father."

"Okay, stop," before Amon could go any further and have more fun with Fang, a rather sweet yet commanding voice interrupted him, causing him to turn and glare in the direction from where the rude interruption originated.

Though, when Amon's eyes landed on Lady Ursa, his glare softened, and his frown transformed into a smirk as he strode towards her with mock suave. "Well, hello beautiful," Amon flirted, his voice suddenly low and husky as he straightened out his hair playfully while walking over to Ursa who stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by Amon's men who had their guns trained on the people in the crowd. "You must be the only woman whom Zuko's sucked the tits of."

Lady Ursa's eyes widened as her face was flushed with embarrassment for a moment while the on lookers attempted to hide their second-hand embarrassment.

Walking around her, Amon's eyes travelled up and down Lady Ursa's figure as she uneasily glanced around her, attempting to uncover what Amon's intentions were.

"And you are beautiful," Amon commented as he finally circled her and met her eyes once again. This time however, Lady Ursa's defiance and confidence had dissipated and was instead replaced with the fear of the unknown – which was exactly what Amon was in that moment: a phantom, an enigma, the unknown.

"You look nervous," Amon observed as he leaned down slightly to meet Lady Ursa's eyes who cowered slightly when Amon drew closer. "Is it the scars?" Amon frowned. Her eyes immediately darted towards the various scars marked across his forehead, the white paint seemed to only make them more noticeable as Ursa hadn't seen scars so large and vivid until her son was gifted one. "You wanna know how I got em?" Amon asked, causing Ursa's eyes to widen as Amon reached for her and wrapped his hand around the back of her, holding her close to him. "Come here. Hey," he whispered as she struggled, trying to force him and the dagger he held close to her mouth away as he attempted to stop her from struggling, which he eventually did. "Look at me," Amon whispered menacingly when Ursa stopped struggling for a while and latched onto the clear brokenness clouding the man's dark orbs.

"So, I had a wife… beautiful, like you. Who tells me… I worry too much. Who tells me ought to smile more." Amon began speaking, his voice gaining volume as he went on while onlookers watched in fear and anticipation. "Who gambles and gets in deep, with the Underground… hey!" Amon yells, catching Ursa by surprise as she immediately stops trying to pry away from his iron like grip and listens intently after his next few words echo through her ears. "One day they carve her face…" At that, everyone's attention was now glued to Amon, Ursa and his story – wondering exactly how much of it was true as he spoke with conviction, yet his tone retained that same contradicting-serious-playfulness at the same time.

"I lost my job after the war… so we have no money to pay a healer or for her to get surgeries. She can't take it," Amon's voice suddenly became shaky, laced with what was undoubtedly a deep pain originating from within him as he continued. "I just wanna see her smile again. Hm? I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars! So," as Ursa attempts to pry her face out of his hands again, Amon forces her back and stares into her eyes as he brings his dagger towards his forehead and acts like he's slashing across it, "I stick a razon against my forehead and swipe it across. Up and down, scars everywhere on my face. Then, I dab my hand in my blood," Amon's smile transforms into a grin, "and I put a big red smile on my face… for her. And you know what?" Again, Amon's voice trembled as he shook Ursa slightly in anger and rage as he spoke, "She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves…"

With Ursa realising that Amon's grip on her was now loosening, she waited for him to let his guard down to strike. "Now I see the funny side," Amon continued, the playfulness in his voice now returning, "Now I'm always smiling. Argh!" Just as he had allowed his grip on her to falter, she kicked him in the knee roughly, causing him to stagger backwards before he laughed it off. "Ha heh ha ha ha… you got a little fight in you; I like that."

"Well, then you're gonna love me!" Yelled the Fire Lord as he came crashing down into the room through the glass roof above him, two of Amon's snipers incapacitated in his hands.

Still kneeling, Zuko – after seeing that his mother had slipped away, and the guests were all rushing for the door – let go of the two snipers as they fell limply and shot flames towards Amon who rolled to the side and dodged them with ease. No gunshots were fired as Amon had instructed his men to not shoot unless necessary, and since there were many innocent civilians in the room with him, he didn't want to risk losing the support of the public as he knew he needed it for the success of his plan. As his men began dividing, Mai, Ty Lee, Iroh and other benders and non-benders joined the fight.

When Zuko stood tall, he immediately channelled the pain and anger he felt from Katara's supposed 'betrayal' and incorporated it into his firebending, thus, his flames were much more explosive and dangerous – not only to others, but himself. Noticing this, Amon decided to fuck with Zuko's head some more as he figured that his new strategy was to act like an airbender.

"Fire Lord Zuko!" Amon cheered as he clapped his hands in welcome, "I was wondering when you would show. Though I seem to have missed your fiancé," Amon smirked when Zuko growled and shot another flame towards him, which he dodged just as easily. "Now, now Zuko," Amon fake pouted as he dodged yet another stream of fire, "this is no way to treat your humble guests. Did daddy not spank you enough to teach you propriety?" Zuko growled once again as he ran forward, punching and kicking, thus extending flames from his limbs that were trained for Amon. Knowing he couldn't dodge these without using some subtle bending, Amon instead chose to unshed his sword and linked it with his spirit. As the slices of flames arrived, Zuko smirked thinking he had won, but Amon cut them down with his sword just before impact, thus extinguishing the flames.

Zuko stared in confusion and annoyance before he growled again and returned to an offensive posture. Amon shed his sword and made a break for Zuko, using some subtle bending to catch him off guard as he was at Zuko's side in mere seconds. The Fire Lord didn't have time to ponder over whether he had noticed some subtle airbending boosting Amon's speed as he was immediately met with a punch to the gut that knocked the breath out of his lungs.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA," Amon began laughing when Zuko dropped to his knees, but as he went to kick him, the Fire Lord regained his bearings and caught the kick. Knowing he had caught Amon by surprise, Zuko swept Amon off his legs and proceeded to punch the man in the face. However, Amon caught his punch in his hand and when Zuko tried again with the other, Amon used both his feet to kick himself up, thus colliding with Zuko's mid-section and launching him into the air and sending him flying as a cushion of air had boosted the intensity of Amon's kick.

As Zuko collided against a table decorated with the various cuisine from the Four Nations – which he was now covered in – he leapt forward once more towards Amon, shooting a steady stream of endless flames as he remained in an offensive stance. Amon, realising he had to provoke Zuko further to get him to implode, decided to further tease him.

"Such intensity Fire Lord!" Amon cheered as he rolled to the side and ran across the room, trying to outrun the endless streams of fire aimed at him. "If only you had shown such intensity in bed, then maybe your fiancé wouldn't have left with the Avatar!"

Through the flames and the constant fighting and crashing of furniture, no one besides Zuko and Amon themselves had heard what the man had suggested – luckily, for Zuko's sake. However, that did little to assure the Fire Lord as he was much more angered now than ever before. Usually, using emotions such as rage and hatred while firebending can be effective, however, they become deadly when those same emotions cloud your judgement and your thought, thus they begin to overpower your ability to control your own power. So, as Zuko screamed and further intensified the intensity behind his flames, he lost his footing, used more power than he could handle and the flame blew up in his hand, thus causing him to yelp as he had burnt his own hand in the process.

When Iroh heard his nephew cry, he quickly looked towards Mai who simply nodded towards Zuko. "Help him," she stated, "we've got this."

Grateful, Iroh smiled and nodded as he ran towards his nephew. While Amon's men continued fighting against Mai, Ty Lee and the other benders and non-benders in the room, Zuko regained his focus and took a deep breath as he channelled all the pain, anger and anxiety he had built up from the last week and allowed it to flow through his body as he began moving eloquently, almost like a waterbender.

Noticing this, Amon grinned as he knew what Zuko was planning and decided to further mess with him while he stood straight, nonchalantly, he spoke: "She is quite beautiful your fiancé," Amon teased, "though, I wonder what she's doing right now? What do you think Fire Lord?"

When Zuko didn't answer and instead recalled the memory of watching Aang and Katara hugging and kissing and flirting like they were in his nightmares, Amon prodded further, "You see, I think she's having the time of her life; riding the Avatar's cock while you're here quarrelling with little ol' me."

Instantly, the moans and screams coming from who he assumed were Katara and Aang echoed through Zuko's ears, reminding him that his fiancé wasn't his, that she was never his, and that she probably never would be. The Avatar had returned and had taken back from Zuko what he had stolen from him long ago. Realising this, Zuko roared as the various bolts dancing around his fingertips begged for a release and he shot them straight for Amon. Realising this would be a killing blow, which he knew Zuko did not need on his conscience, Iroh grabbed Zuko's hand, channelled the bolt of energy through his body and released it upwards, thus redirecting it towards the roof, causing it to collapse and fall. When the smoke cleared, Amon noticed that the debris was blocking him off from Zuko, and just as he was about to clear it, one of his men informed him of the current situation.

"We have him! We have the Councilman!"

Sighing in relief, Amon nodded towards his men and they in turn made a run for it, leaping out of windows and balconies as they made their escape. Due to the debris not being completely cleared, Mai – with her blurred vision – was unable to trap the escaping men to the walls of the room as she coughed, trying to get the smoke and dust out of her lungs.

"Though it has been lovely meeting you, I must take my leave!" Amon shouted over the debris towards Zuko who was listening intently. "I hate to leave without offering you my present," Amon spoke as he ran towards the window before leaping out, "So, send me the bill for the damages. I'm sure I can help you out! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

With that, Amon had escaped and Zuko was grimacing as he glared at his uncle, dumbfounded. "Why did you stop me Uncle?!" Zuko hollered, "You let him get away! Why?!"

"Calm down nephew," Iroh put his hands on the Fire Lord's shoulders but in a fit of rage and annoyance, he just shrugged them off as he began pacing.

"Agni! I had him Uncle! He was standing right there, defenceless! I would've… I would've – "

"You would've killed him, Zuko," Iroh interrupted as an irate Fire Lord glared at him. "Had he not moved, nor I intervened, you would've killed him."

"So what?!" Zuko spat, confused as to why his uncle was defending an insane criminal like Amon.

Iroh again moved to place his hands on Zuko's shoulders, attempting to calm him down as he spoke softly, "We'll talk about this later nephew. First, we need to tend to the guests, and you need to find your fiancé. Make sure she's safe." Iroh noticed how his nephew's face fell and cringed at the mention of the master waterbender, and even though he could sense something was wrong, he understood his nephew well enough to know that if he prodded further, Zuko would just blow up on him instead. So, since he also recognised that Zuko would come to him if he needed advice or help, he opted to leave it at that and went to go check on the guests, leaving an animalistic Fire Lord seething behind him as he wondered what he was to do about the Avatar and his fiancé… and now Amon – whom he was sure was the Avatar in disguise.

XOXOXOXOXOX

When the bag was lifted off his head, Councilman Quinn Red blinked a few times as a bright light attacked his sore eyes. When they eventually adjusted, so did his other senses, which allowed him to intently listen to the menacing voice originating from the clown seated to the Councilman's left.

"Rough night?" Amon asked, before he began giggling to himself in amusement.

Councilman Quinn groaned as he analysed his surroundings, trying to locate where he was and if there was a way he could escape. Since Amon had only been stirring trouble in the Fire Nation, the remaining Nations – besides Republic City as matters of all Nations concerned them – hadn't yet heard much of him up until now. So, realising that he was unaware about the tendencies and habits of his enemy, Red knew he was at a disadvantage – more so than he already was; tied up on a chair. Looking around, all Councilman Quinn could determine was that he was tied up in a dirty basement of some sorts. Had he arrived in the Fire Nation earlier and seen the mover of Amon interrogating and killing Lazerus Hei, he would've known that he was tied up in the same basement that was in the mover.

"Stop looking around," Amon warned as he attended to a burn caused by the Fire Lord on his right thigh, "there's no weapons for you to use that would help you escape. The only way you're getting out of here," Amon stated as he stood up, walked over to the Councilman, leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Is if I want you to."

"What do you want from me?" Councilman Quinn Red growled as he glanced away from Amon's broken eyes.

"What I want," Amon began as he grabbed a chair and took a seat directly across from the man, "is no big deal to you."

"I'll be the judge of that," Councilman Quinn Red barked as he glared at Amon who simply seemed annoyed at this point.

"I normally like to play with my food," Amon stated as he ran his hand through his red hair, roughing it up slightly as he glared back at the Councilman warningly. "I'll make jokes alluding to their death, cut them up just for shits and giggles… you know, force the fear to pump in their veins. But right now," Amon sighed as he stood up and unholstered his handgun, "I'm not in the fucking mood."

He raised the gun and pointed it at the Councilman's head, point blank. Amon could see the colour drain from his tan face as his lips trembled in fear and eyes grew wide in shock.

"Please," the Councilman begged, "I have a family."

"Oh, I know of your family," Amon stated as he sat back down, the gun still staring Quinn Red down as he spoke. "You have a wife and two kids, who have no knowledge that you left them in the North to come here… with your mistress."

Councilman Quinn Red's eyes once again grew wide in fear and surprise; clearly Amon was much more insightful than the simple, crazed criminal he was made out to be by the Fire Nation. From what the Fire Lord had told Quinn about Amon briefly during the party, he was sold the idea that Amon was more of a nuisance than a serious problem – clearly, he had been misled.

"Y-You know?"

"Your wife: Kano, spends every morning praying to the Moon and Ocean Spirits for you and your children's' health and wellbeing. And you repay her every night; when she's asleep, you leave to fuck your Earth Kingdom whore."

Councilman Quinn Red didn't know what to say or in what form he should respond; should he yell and protest and claim it was all lies, or should he laugh at Amon and act like he didn't know what he was talking about? Eventually, after arriving at no immediate solution, he just sighed and dipped his head in shame. It only perked up when Amon spoke again.

"You may be a cheating, whoring, fucking scumbag…" Amon spat, clearly disgusted, "but I know you're one of the good ones – well, when compared to the rest of them at least, adultery isn't as bad of a felony in Republic City as war profiteering or conspiring to commit murder."

"How do you know about – "

"They threatened your family to keep you quiet, and understandably so, you agreed – while also taking a small fee in return," Amon cut him off again as he continued. "I know much more than that pathetic Fire Lord assumes I do, and we'll leave it at that. For now," Amon stood up, placing his gun back in his holster as he stared into the Councilman's eyes, "all you need to concern yourself with is sign something in my possession."

"What?"

"A form."

"I won't, not unless I get to read through it to know exactly what it is I'm agreeing to," Councilman Quinn challenged; though he knew that he was in position to demand anything of Amon, he also understood that he needed to establish some form of precedent, or else Amon would just walk all over him. Also, he recognised that men like Amon responded to strength, not weakness, so he opted to not show weakness around him.

"The contents of the form are of no concern to you," Amon growled.

"Oh, but they are."

"Okay, let me be extremely blunt here," suddenly, Amon unshed his dagger and brought it over to Councilman Quinn's throat as he warned menacingly, "I will allow you the night to think it over. Tomorrow, I'll return, and you better have the answer I want to hear. And if I don't like what I hear… then you'll have to spend the remainder of the day straining your ears to stop yourself from hearing your own screams."

XOXOXOXOXOX

Katara awoke with a start, her head banging against her temple as she squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her forehead, attempting to ease some of the pain. When her caresses had no effect, she got out of bed groggily and rushed over to the bathroom. There, she waterbended some water out of a bucket and encased her hands with it. Bringing her hands to her head, Katara let out a sigh of relief as the water began to glow, thus signalling that the healing had begun. Although it wasn't immediate and as relieving as she had hoped it would be, eventually, Katara's head stopped hurting to the point where she could analyse her surroundings and walk about without tripping over herself.

As she sat back down onto the bed, she realised that it was just past dawn as the Sun was nearing the horizon. For a while, she sat there wondering exactly what on earth had led her to having such a devastating headache in the first place. She recalled speaking to Aang and then Azula. She remembered Azula leaving to get them drinks and she remembered drinking a decent amount of whiskey – though, not enough to cause such a hangover. Briefly, she recalled embarrassing herself as she swooned over Aang and told him she thought he was hot and was trying to win her back. She blushed crimson; clearly Aang now knew exactly what she thought of Aang, or at least that she was as attracted to him as ever. Still, she powered through her blush and attempted to recall what else had occurred the night before – she remembered being carried. Having someone's strong arms carrying her across the palace. She recalled having a brief emotional, drunken conversation with said person and she recalled said person admitting they loved her – which brought a smile to her face before she fell into a deep slumber.

Katara could only think of a few people who would willingly say they loved her, but she could also easily pin-point how only one of them could make her smile so sweetly before falling into her dreams about said man. That same smile now tugging at her lips, in that moment, Katara forgot about her agenda and decided to reveal to Aang everything she knew so far regarding her father, him and Zuko. She also thought about admitting that she lied when he first came back; when she said they couldn't be together again, because she now wanted to be with him more than anything. Getting up, she giggled like a giddy school girls as she strode towards his room, which Katara remembered was in the middle of the corridor. Stopping by his door, her heart threating to burst open in her chest, she took in a few deep breaths to relax herself before she entered.

Although she knew it was rude, Katara didn't bother knocking as she was also sure that he'd already be up meditating – 'he always was an early riser', Katara thought to herself as she pushed open the door. Her smile dropped when she saw that he wasn't currently in his room; not meditating nor sleeping. 'He's probably meditating on the beach or in the gardens,' – Katara thought gleefully as she opted to leave to find him. However, just as she was about to leave, the sight of something protruding out of Aang's bed caught her eye. With the low lighting in the room, she probably wouldn't have noticed it if his bright orange robe wasn't protruding out from the corner of the bag.

Though she knew it was nosy, a bit stalker-ish and completely unthoughtful of her, she still stepped into the room and glided over to the bag. Blushing out of embarrassment from what she was about to do, Katara took the bag out from underneath the bed and laid it down on top of the bed. Unzipping it, Katara lightly touched the orange and yellow robes, afraid Aang might pop out and surprise her if she was too hasty. With her blush deepening, Katara sat down on the bed and pulled Aang's tunic out of the bag, holding it close to her face as she ran her fingers through the soft fabric. It felt great beneath her fingertips, but she was seeking something else; not knowing why, Katara pressed her face to the tunic and cradled it against her nose, breathing in Aang's scent.

She loved it. It still smelled like a breath of fresh air mixed with rosemary.

After a short while, when she continued finding solace breathing in his familiar scent, Katara was reminded of those lonely nights in the South Pole – nights she spent clutching his tunic and breathing in his scent; it being the only thing that made her feel like he hadn't abandoned her completely – until the scent eventually wore off. In that moment, she found herself clutching onto his tunic yet again. Her nails digging into the cloth and her salty tears spilling onto it as she recalled how alone she felt without him, how incomplete she had felt for the four long years he had disappeared.

Being there, clutching onto his tunic then, she was reminded of exactly how much she used to love him, how much she still loved him, and how badly she wanted to be with him. Immediately, she felt like she could forgive him for all four years of abandonment if he allowed her to run into her arms and kiss him hungrily. If he allowed her to drink him in – his taste, his scent, his touch – if she could have it all, have him again, she would forgive him on the spot – though, with thoughts like that, in a way, she already had forgiven him.

While clutching onto his tunic, Katara had missed the sight of a photograph protruding out of one of the pockets. However, when she eventually pulled away and wiped her tears, she noticed it; she reached out for the rough edges of the photograph and pulled it out. Instantly, she saw that the photo had been burnt from the bottom right edge – causing it to look somewhat disfigured. Yet, when she saw the picture, she felt her heart flutter. The photograph was that of Aang maybe around 16-17 years old, holding a child in his arms; possibly a 2 year old, water tribe girl who had remnants of Aang's famous fruit tarts scattered around her mouth and fingers while she laughed.

Katara hadn't seen a sight cuter; Aang with that same goofy grin tugging at his lips and that child with a grin so adorable it could rival his own. Tears welled up in her eyes as she imagined having children with the airbender, her waterbending with their daughter while he chased after their son in an airbender verses airbender race. Although they had briefly talked about having kids when they dated, neither of them had discussed it in great detail. Yet, Katara knew from the get-go that Aang would be a great father; although he did have a loveable personality, a sixth sense told her that that personality would attract their kids to him more so than to her – she didn't mind.

As more tears welled up in her eyes and her smile grew wider, a question crossed her mind that halted all her dreams: 'Wait, who is this girl?'

As thoughts of the mystery child crossed her mind, Katara's curiosity peaked and she wondered what else Aang could be hiding – thoughts of him being Amon lingered in the back of her mind because they were never gone in the first place, she just denied their existence. However, as she went through his bag, all she found were more clothes, a few airbending necklaces, a parka Katara had gifted him, Aang's headband, a comb, and a lidded bowl hidden at the very bottom – she was at ease at first, but the bowl intrigued her. Pulling everything out of the bag, Katara revealed the bowl to herself which also brought to light four other lidded bowls and a ripped page from a children's book.

Opening the lids, Katara's eyes widened as she saw the larger bowl contained white paint, the other two contained black and red paint, and the final two contained a bright blue paint that perfectly matched Aang's arrows and a colour that matched his slightly tanned skin tone. Doubt creeping in, Katara set the bowls down on the bed carefully, ignoring the way her heart pounded against her chest as she cautiously grabbed onto the ripped page. Once she got a good look at it, she realised that the children's book was from a popular series that originated in the Earth Kingdom but was of a Water Tribe character. Analysing the page, Katara's eyes widened as the entire image of this whole ordeal was brought to the forefront in her mind – she was beginning to understand why everything and everyone around her seemed suspect.

On the page, was a clown with red hair and a sweet red smile, giving children gifts while they all laughed gleefully. Beneath the photo, Katara read the caption: "Thank you Mr. Amon!"

Mouth agape, heart skipping a few beats, sweat running down her face, and eyes widening, Katara gasped as the realisation hit her; all the secrecy, the new attitude, the aggressiveness, the comments, the constant need to be on the move, the flirting to keep her on edge, the 'always being sweet to stay on her good side', the passive-aggressiveness, manipulation and cunning Zuko accused him of, it all made sense to her now as she thought to herself:

'The man behind the killings, the mole Zuko mentioned, the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes, the man behind that clown make up… the man known as Amon… is Aang.'