It was the middle of the night when the Gaang arrived on Ember Island to talk to Iroh's contact. She turned out to be a retired royal librarian.

Aang fidgeted while Iroh and his contact went through their code phrases and the obligatory pai sho game. Why couldn't they have picked a faster set of recognition codes? This was really annoying.

The house was full of books. Every room in the place. Bookshelves from floor to ceiling. Even given that the Fire Nation printed anything and everything on a massive scale, it must have cost a fortune. Aang took a look inside one. Apparently their new friend's name was Akira.

Finally Iroh and Akira were done.

"What's happened to Zuko? Is he okay?" demanded Aang.

"And Sokka and Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors?" said Katara.

"They're all alive, young Avatar," said Akira. "The Warriors and Sokka have been deported and were on their way to Kyoshi Island by ship as of two days ago. They were unharmed."

"At least they're okay," said Katara. Her smile faded. "But they're not here. I was hoping..."

"And Zuko?" asked Aang.

"Qin has him up in the central tower of the Fire Nation palace. It's wood, so no earthbender can get in there. They say he's recovering, but slowly. He isn't being mistreated, as far as we can tell, but he does seem quite ill."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Katara. "Was the Dai li agent real, or fake?"

"The agent seems to be real?" she said tentatively. "If they were faking, they did an excellent job. Zuko is disoriented and weak, and there's something wrong with his bending."

"That doesn't sound like mindbending," said Katara, biting her lip.

"That depends on the effect they were going for, but we may be looking at drugs of some sort. At least drugs would be easier to fix." Iroh paused. "Will he be able to help with his own rescue?"

"I don't know. Are you going to go and rescue him, then?"

"Of course," said Aang and Katara together. They exchanged smiles.

"Duh," said Toph.

"Do you think we should do so now, though?" asked Iroh. "Can we reason with Qin, or do we need to rescue Zuko so he can't be taken hostage? What has Qin done with the power he has taken so far?"

"Qin has restarted warship production, and ended the soldiers-to-farmers program. A lot of army units look like they're going to get reassigned. We think he's positioning them to retake some of the recently abandoned territory, but we don't know whether he's waiting to see what the Earth King does, or plans to retake the territory no matter what. He's ended food shipments to Ba Sing Se. The first one went out before he could stop it, though, so there's a month's worth of food already on its way."

Katara nodded. "So we need to remove Qin, but things shouldn't get really bad so long as we don't delay."

"The food is Councillor Hina's doing, isn't it?" said Iroh. "Is she an ally, do you think?"

"She moved very aggressively to get the shipment off before Qin could block it, and she and Qin don't get along. She also seems a bit protective of Zuko. That may just be his age. He's about the same age as a lot of her grandchildren."

"So we have common interests in multiple areas," said Iroh, stroking his beard. "That's good to hear. Any other standouts?"

"The Fire Sages have been arguing that they ought to have custody of Zuko, and General Mak disappeared for two days after Qin took over, then got sent to the Colonies to do supply logistics. I'm pretty sure Qin wants him out of the way and not in direct command of troops."

"Really," said Iroh. "How did the Fire Sage's bid for custody go?"

"They failed, but they've got Sage Daiki visiting regularly, at least ostensibly to remedy Zuko's lack of religious training."

"I'm not too familiar with General Mak. He's new. What am I dealing with?"

"He's young for his rank, and Zuko's loudest supporter in the military. Didn't like the way the War was being run, and was enjoying being able to say nasty things about Ozai and not get in trouble."

Iroh snorted. "I understand the attraction. And my nephew?"

She sighed. "It would be better for Zuko to rescue him now, but it might cause problems getting the rest of the government onside. You do have some potential support there. Qin's official line is that the Earth King is ultimately responsible for the injuries to Zuko. Qin will try to transfer blame to you, if you 'kidnap' Zuko."

"And if we try, and we fail... it will hurt our case badly," Iroh agreed. "Is there any way to get Hina to come out on our side, openly?"

"Hina has stayed alive and in power for so long by knowing exactly where the line is and not stepping over it. If you look like you will succeed, she'll likely join you. She'd make brilliant political cover, even if she's not useful militarily. If she thinks we are doomed, she won't join in, and might even work against us."

"You're sure where Zuko's being kept?" asked Katara.

"Yes, Qin's made no secret of it."

"And if we try and negotiate, he'll likely move Zuko and hide him," said Iroh.

"What if we rescued him, then handed him over to the Fire Sages while we all negotiate?" said Aang. "I mean, they won't attack the Fire Sages, right?"

They looked at each other with raised brows. "That has potential," said Iroh. "Some pitfalls too – we don't want Zuko getting accused of being a foreign puppet, but it does have potential." He paused. "Akira, is Zuko well enough to accuse Qin of kidnapping him and be listened to?"

Akira fiddled with a dry brush. "Probably, if we can get him somewhere the public can see him. I can't be certain, though. He's not going to look very convincing if one of you is supporting him because he can't stand unaided. It should at least be a Fire Sage supporting him."

"Where can we borrow a Fire Sage, then?" asked Toph. "Or do we just fly Zuko to the Fire Temple?"

"Probably the latter," said Iroh. "Or... Akira, can you warn our contact there we're about to do this, and tell him to meet us at the front steps of the Fire Temple?"

"It'll be tight, and I can't guarantee it will get there in time. The hawks don't like flying at night. And if it goes astray, do we really want to tell Qin who we're working with directly?"

Iroh nodded. "Good point. Assuming we just show up with Zuko, do you think the Fire Sages will cooperate and keep him out of Qin's hands?"

Akira paused. "Yes, I think so. They really dislike Qin."

Iroh nodded. "Good. I don't think Qin would dare attack the Fire Temple with both the Head Sage and the Fire Lord ordering them not to. Not openly, at least. Qin would have a difficult time making the soldiers obey such an order, and if Zuko is well enough to tell them to arrest Qin instead with the Fire Sages standing beside him... I wouldn't want to be Qin."

"Qin will almost certainly move Zuko if you negotiate first," said Akira. "It isn't likely Qin will harm Zuko obviously, or openly use him as a hostage. He'd have a riot on his hands if the citizenry heard of it. That doesn't mean it won't be implied, or that he won't do it if he's cornered, or if he thinks no one will know."

Iroh nodded.

"Can we really trust the Fire Sages?" asked Katara. "I mean, there was that one on Crescent Island who risked his life for us, but the rest of them were all trying to catch Aang."

"Because that was what the Fire Lord had told them to do, and in most cases their primary loyalty was to the Fire Lord," said Iroh. "That will work in our favor this time."

"You can trust them not to harm Zuko," said Akira. "The White Lotus is well-informed on goings-on in the Fire Temple these days."

"So we rescue Sparky, stage some sort of public meeting with him if he's not too ill, then drop him off with the Sages," Toph clapped her hands. "That sounds simple enough. When do we start?"

"You said he's in the central tower," said Aang. "That should be easy to find, at least."

"He's in the room at the top. I imagine Appa could fly right to it," said Akira.

"Oh yes," said Aang. "The main thing is that people might shoot fireballs at him, and he doesn't like that."

"We could get him to roll in the mud and darken himself," said Iroh.

"That will take hours to get out of his fur," objected Aang. "Hours. With all of us working on it, and we won't have time."

"What about charcoal on his belly?" asked Katara. "Just enough to make him a bit grey?" Iroh and Aang both paused.

"I can't see the difference," said Toph.

There were eyerolls and exasperated sighs all round.

"The tower is wooden?" Toph added, more serious.

Akira nodded. "Yes."

"I can't help there," said Toph. "But I'll make an awesome diversion."

Aang snorted, then straightened hurriedly.

"Toph, can you locate Zuko from across the palace? It would be good to get final confirmation of his location before we go in," said Iroh.

"Not if he's in a wooden tower, duh!" said Toph.

"Can you tell, say from the underground tunnels, if Zuko is somewhere else in the palace?"

Toph frowned unhappily. "That's actually really hard. It's a huge set of buildings, there are lots of people in it, and some of them sound similar to Zuko. The other two towers are wooden too, so he could be in either of them and I'd never know."

Katara put a hand on Toph's arm. "You'll still make an awesome diversion."

Iroh stroked his beard with one hand. "We need a backup plan, in case we fail to rescue Zuko."

"What if we split up?" said Katara. "We go in and rescue Zuko," she gestured at herself and Aang, "and if that doesn't work, Iroh shows up separately."

"And goes all charming and uncle-ish wanting to see his dear nephew," said Toph.

Iroh laughed. "I wish I could get away with that. It's too obvious that we're connected. It would be an insult to Qin's intelligence, and he'd get even touchier. I couldn't have gotten here so fast without Appa."

"You also aren't very popular in the Fire Nation court right now, Grand Lotus," said Akira. "A lot of people assume that you're now in the pay of the Earth King. Qin might try to blame you for the Dai li."

"That is totally unfair," said Katara.

"So the Fire Nation court isn't going to trust you, for reasons," said Toph. "That stinks."

"I do still have some support, but we can't rely on it," said Iroh. "In terms of backup plans... Toph and I should look for Zuko while Aang and Katara stall Qin. I know the palace, and being able to earthbend through walls, and sense if anyone is on the other side, is priceless."

"You're on," said Toph. "I can totally tell if Zuko's in the next room. Just not if he's on the other side of the palace."

"I'm always up for trying to talk," said Aang. "And I've got plenty to complain to Qin about." He paused. "Or are you just wanting us to waste his time while you look for Zuko?"

"I doubt you will be able to accomplish much," said Iroh. "Just keep him busy and try not to restart the War. And all of you, don't eat or drink anything he offers you."

"Why?" said Aang.

"Cause Uncle Tea thinks Qin might poison us, duh," said Toph.

Aang felt like he should have thought of that. "Oh," he said. He nudged his teacup away with a finger. Dragon of the West.

"Aang, as the Avatar you are the single person most likely to be able to remove Qin from power," said Iroh. "Poisoning you is an obvious move for Qin to try. And Katara, so she can't heal you. Katara, don't mention you can do anything about mindbending."

"Because if he's the one who ordered it, he won't want it undone?" Katara asked.

Iroh nodded. "It's better if he underestimates you."

Toph laughed. "Uncle Tea, I'm so glad you're on our side."