Hatching plans/Niece Wen

5

Sickly as she remained, but furious enough to see red, Azula stomped across the small distance between herself and the open door, where a frozen Song stood, breathing anxiously as Renkai's words and his sudden, willing revelation, sank in. She only snapped out of it when Azula nearly collided with her on her way out, and by then Song gasped as Azula, pale and sickly, stormed up to Renkai: the man even didn't flinch, though. It seemed he had braced himself for this sort of reaction… he would have had to have suspected it was coming well before saying the incriminating words he had.

"You…!" Azula started, raising a hand menacingly: sparks of orange flames danced over her palm, and she didn't let them fade away when Renkai raised his hands, in an effort to placate her fury.

"Princess, please…"

"How dare you…?! How did you…?!" Azula started, though her head spun violently, her balance nearly broken: she was in no shape to confront the dangerous man before her… but she intended to try, nonetheless. "Step away from her now, or else I'll…!"

"You needn't threaten me at all! If you'll just let me explain…" Renkai said, his voice tinged with exasperation… yet he could tell she hadn't listened to him just now: Azula's eyes shifted through the room frantically now. "Princess?"

Her weakened fire wouldn't suffice to truly threaten Renkai, she knew so… but one more relic of her past might offer her the edge she required to truly threaten Renkai into submission.

She rushed off towards the cabinets Song had been inspecting earlier, just as the healer turned around, slowly, her distraught expression immediately chilling the blood in Renkai's veins.

"N-no, please…" he told Song, gritting his teeth before yanking off his helmet quickly, letting them see his unusually sincere, emotional expression. "I… I know you don't trust me, I understand that, but if I meant you any harm, I wouldn't have… P-Princess!"

He froze in place when Azula, breathing as heavily as she did, tossed Wolf's Bane's scabbard aside, pointing the white blade in his direction.

Only then did Song react. She gasped, as good as jumping between Renkai and the blade Azula had recklessly raised towards him.

"Azula…!" Song gasped, shaking her head quickly. "Don't…! I…! I get how you're feeling, but that's not going to help!"

"I don't know. Might be the best way to help, if he dares… i-if he dares blackmail us, if he means to bring his damn boss here after revealing you…!" Azula said: she was so tired, so tormented by her circumstances, that her right hand's grip shook violently as she held the sword. Curses, of all times to lose control over her own strength…

"You don't have to…! Oh, please, just wait a moment and listen to me before waving blades around so carelessly!" Renkai huffed, losing his patience for once, it seemed to Azula: exposed as his face was, the spy finally seemed to show her his true self, though it might just be another lie, a fake persona, for all they knew. "Princess… you're going to hurt yourself if you keep that up. If… if my explanations don't suffice, then I'll let you run me through, freely! But please… stop forcing yourself right now."

"Ren…!" Azula gritted her teeth… but she lacked the strength, truly, to hold up her threat. Wolf's Bane seemed to weigh about ten tons today, to her utmost chagrin, but she did her best to keep the sword pointed at him anyway. "What makes you think… that I'd believe anything you say? That I'd trust any of your explanations…?!"

"Perhaps you shouldn't trust me, then, but your common sense, which as far as I have seen, shouldn't be lost beyond hope!" Renkai said, gritting his teeth, glancing at Song again. "How do you think I'd ever recognize her from behind, when she's changed her hair and usual clothes as much as she did? You certainly would give my observation skills a lot of credit if you expect I wouldn't have been as fooled as anyone else just with that…"

"You wouldn't have been. Not if you paid attention… which a spy is supposed to," Azula snapped… but he was right, to a degree. Even if he had somehow recognized Song's voice in Wen – although it would be easier said than done, her act was quite convincing –, could he truly have been so certain of whom he spoke to, just by looking at someone from behind?

And Rui Shi would be pleased, he said…?

Azula snarled, gripping her sword's hilt tightly.

"You… you knew where she was," Azula asked, finally reaching the conclusion that, going by Renkai's relieved face, he had hoped she'd reach. "How? Why?! He didn't tell me, he didn't tell Sokka…! Why the hell would he tell you?!"

"Because…!" Renkai gasped, gritting his teeth. He closed his eyes for a moment, potentially at a loss of how to explain himself properly, but he brushed his short bangs with his gloved fingers, rubbing his pale face with them before readying himself to answer earnestly. "Because I helped him get her there."

Azula's eyes widened, as did Song's. The healer stared at him in utmost confusion, glancing back at Azula quickly to confirm she was as shocked by Renkai's claim as she felt.

"Didn't you… didn't you ever wonder? How… how he could sneak past the General's forces to find you that night?" Renkai asked, looking at Song pleadingly now. Song winced. "The General… he commanded me to go with them. The only member of the third squad who came along, because he… he trusted me, at the time. When I went to my room, though, to prepare for the assault, Rui Shi was waiting for me there. We came up with a plan: I gave him one of my uniforms so he could switch places with me, told him to take my place in the assault team, and I tailed them from a distance. Once they entered the house, and the chaos began, I… I stood near the door. I waited for it to end… and I pretended I had just been keeping guard by the entrance all along. Meanwhile, Rui Shi kept you safe in your room, and he had a chance to take you to the bay, to help you escape and reach Lo and Li…"

"You… you were part of that raid…?" Azula asked, and her outrage now seemed to mix with her permanent heartbreak. She shuddered, glaring at Renkai as though he had just stabbed her in the back, despite he was, by all means, attempting to convey the exact opposite thing.

"I… I didn't do anything to him," Renkai said, gazing at Azula pleadingly. "They… shoved him down the stairs, at one point… t-that was when I first saw him…"

Azula dropped the sword. Renkai gritted his teeth as she covered her face with her hands, in a failed attempt to contain the tears so easily triggered by the memory of the worst night of her life. Song didn't feel all that differently about it, it seemed: she hugged herself, still staring at Renkai in disbelieving chagrin as the man stood in the room, glancing between them both, unsure if to continue or not… though he had to. If he stopped now… no, he had to ensure they understood. Of all things, he needed to ensure they'd understand what the past months, a little over half a year had been like, for him…

"I helped him up. I warned him… to stop fighting back against them, or things could be worse for you," Renkai said, fists clenched. Azula sobbed silently into her hands… and Renkai almost expected her to tell him to stop. Yet… she didn't. All the better, then. "Once… once he was in the Prison Tower, I snuck past the General, as he explained matters to Warden Poon. I found him prison clothes, food… even some medicine they'd kept stashed away in some compartments. I brought it all to him, as soon as I could, I undid his shackles…"

"You… T-that was…?!" Azula gasped, finally looking at him through her tearful eyes. Renkai nodded promptly.

"Then he… he told you?"

Azula's horror suddenly shifted in nature as she stumbled back: it wasn't possible. Sokka did say a guard had helped him, he had told her so in prison. His story matched everything Renkai had said right now. It worked, perfectly…

Renkai had been helping them? All along, Renkai truly had been an ally, rather than a spy, an enemy? Had Sokka failed to recognize him because they weren't close? Because he had been beaten so badly he couldn't tell who hid behind that helmet…?

"I tried… to do away with his final shackle, the one on his ankle, but I couldn't," Renkai said, shutting his eyes tightly. "Maybe, if I'd found the right keys… maybe you could've gotten away sooner, all of you…"

Azula shook her head, both as a response to his theories… as well as a denial of the unbelievable truths that swatted against her now. Renkai… was that why he'd been so kind as of late? Had he been working for them, helping them, faithfully, for all this time, without their awareness? Was that why he'd walked behind her, up to the Temple… and then in front of her, always ready to cushion her fall, if she were to trip? Was that why he'd never been harsh, even when enforcing the Fire Lord's orders…?

The sudden discovery only brought up far too many questions he had to answer, immediately… yet it was Song who asked the most important of them all, rather than the emotionally overwhelmed Azula.

"Why?" Song said: tears blinked in her eyes as well, but she still could speak… she still could formulate thoughts, when Azula seemed to be unable to do so, her mind rewinding to the nightmares of those days, to the horrors she had lived through while fearing she'd cause the death of the man she had loved most. "If you did all this… Renkai, why? I… I'm grateful, don't get me wrong, but…"

"But I was an outsider?" Renkai asked, swallowing hard. "I never fit in all that well in the group…? Yeah, I… I didn't. It's true. Because… well, you were right: I was a spy for the General. From the moment I was assigned, that was the whole purpose of my being in the third squad. I… I was supposed to discover whatever secrets the Princess was hiding."

Azula flinched, raising her gaze again: she knew she'd be an unsightly mess now, but her vanity was the least of her concerns lately. Yes, it was obvious enough that Renkai was a spy… but had he learned anything about her? Had he actually reported on her activities to the damn General…?

"You didn't… didn't join them in helping us get away," Azula managed to say, her voice thick with tears. "You… you stayed here. You're Captain of the Third Squad now. Even if… if the General decided he liked you better than anyone else, if he'd thought… if he'd thought you'd failed at your duties, he would have tossed you aside, wouldn't he? He would've… he would've gotten rid of you. But he didn't. He… he kept you, and even promoted you? Renkai…"

"It doesn't make sense…" Song said, glancing at Renkai warily, as Azula stepped forward, her confusion surging… and her accusatory, tearful glare falling upon the tall guard.

"You did give him information… didn't you?" Azula said, gritting her teeth. "You told him… you spoke out about…?"

"I… I did," Renkai admitted. Azula's face was contorted into a snarl as Song's confusion merged with outrage, too. "But the General decided my suspicions were… meaningless."

"The General… what?" Azula repeated: her initial reaction receded as another rush of confusion took hold of her.

"It… it happened a long time ago," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "Shortly after I was assigned to the third squad. He tasked me with finding dirt on you, basically. Anything to prove that you were a threat, betraying the Fire Nation in some way or another. Fool that I was… I didn't slow down to ponder that petition. I just assumed my commanding officer had good reasons to distrust you, and… and your closeness with slaves and foreigners only strengthened my beliefs, at first. The others… they admired you, they never stopped singing your praises, and I didn't understand at all, for a long time. After my first mission watching you, I realized that your relationship with the Gladiator was… it wasn't normal. You two… you didn't act the way a royal would be expected to act with a slave."

Azula gritted her teeth, lowering her gaze again. Renkai swallowed hard, determined to continue his story, even if it might break the Princess's heart further.

"I saw… only a few glimpses of evidence suggesting there might be an intimate relationship between you," Renkai admitted. "I saw him placing his hands on your shoulders, in Ba Sing Se… and the way you spoke suggested a closeness that shouldn't have existed between you. Then, one day, the two of you were nowhere to be found, while we were still staying in Ba Sing Se's Palace… I learned later that you were in the prison cells, though I didn't want to believe that. I didn't expect this was enough evidence, so I decided I'd wait for something stronger, and something stronger did happen when I… when I overheard the Gladiator, speaking to that bastard, the man who… who attacked you that day, at the bay."

"You overheard them… when? The… the battle? How…?" Azula asked, her mind immediately flashing to the last moments of the showdown against Rhone and the Bloodlust Spear in that empty beach: the confusion on her face increased when Renkai shook his head.

"You asked a group of us to follow them… to take down that monster if he did anything dangerous," Renkai continued. "It was when people disappeared mysteriously in the Capital, and you were looking into it…"

"You were part of that group…" Azula reasoned, remembering only briefly her annoyance over Renkai's presence that day.

"The Gladiator admitted to him, without a shred of shame, that he was in love with you," Renkai said. Azula flinched, again unwilling to meet the guard's eyes. "I… I thought it was enough. That I could run to the General with this… and I did."

"Back then…?" Azula said, frowning. "So long ago, and… and he did nothing?"

"He didn't believe me," Renkai said, frowning heavily. Azula's lips parted. "He said… he said that he knew for a fact that women hid worse secrets than romantic affairs of the sort. He told me to find something worthwhile, or actual, solid evidence of your transgressions with him, or else I'd be better off not coming back at all. He… he was particularly angry that day when I asked to speak with him in his office… I didn't make much of it, but he hid something in his desk in a rush when I entered the room, as though I wasn't supposed to see it. I guess that worsened his mood, but ultimately… he rejected my report. And that's… that's why I had a chance to save the rest of the guards, when the time was right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Azula asked, glaring at him warily now. "Y-you saved…? But you… you could have gotten Sokka killed, if the bastard had believed you, he would've…!"

"I…! I admit, I wouldn't have been torn up about it back then, because I… I didn't care about anything but fulfilling my orders," Renkai admitted, gritting his teeth. "I didn't think twice of what the consequences would be, because… his life didn't matter to me as much as my advancement did. I know it must sound revolting to you, but I swear… there's more to what I must share with you, Princess. Please… listen to the end. Please."

Azula snarled, hands balled in tight fists. In the end… that was how all of them had been raised, wasn't it? Azula herself had barely cared about the life of the woman who stood beside her right now, back when they'd first met. Yet if anyone even dared try to hurt Song now, Azula wouldn't hesitate to pick up her sword again and slit their throats, just as she had threatened Renkai just now. It made little sense for Renkai to have changed as much as Azula had… but how to explain his efforts to help Sokka otherwise? He couldn't be lying, taking credit for another man's actions… what other man under Shaofeng's command could have attempted to help Sokka, or to save him? Perhaps his story wouldn't make any sense in the end, and Azula would determine Renkai was merely playing them after all… but so far, enough factors in it had won him the right to continue sharing his story.

"Go on… just… go on," Azula said, shaking her head as she wiped her tears hastily with her palm. Renkai breathed out slowly before focusing again: he had truly expected his latest confession, however honest it might have been, might be a dealbreaker for the Princess.

"Many… many months later, almost a whole year later, I guess, I found a new angle I thought I could work with, in order to gain information about your movements and choices," Renkai said, swallowing hard. "It was… it was a morning when the Fire Lord summoned you before dawn. While I empathized with your distaste for being woken that way, I thought… I thought your reaction might have been an indicative of something more suspicious. I thought, back then, that perhaps you had spent the night someplace else…."

"I had," Azula admitted, staring at Renkai in horror, unafraid of admitting the truth anymore. Song glanced at her in confusion, and Azula grimaced. "It was… that night, after the executions. The slave riot…"

Song flinched: the only good part she recalled of that night was the strengthening of her friendship with the Princess when they spoke before Azula went to Sokka. The darkness of those unwarranted, unfair murders, still tainted her heart whenever she recalled that dreadful memory…

"You… you thought I'd gone to…?" Azula asked, gritting her teeth, but Renkai shook his head.

"I was done looking into your relationship with him, or so I thought," Renkai said. "You were hiding your tracks well enough, at the time… so I gave up on finding anything damning in those regards. I figured you might be up to… to something treasonous on a larger scale. Conspiring with the Fire Lord's enemies, something like that…"

"I wasn't," Azula said, sharply. Renkai nodded.

"You weren't… but after that morning, I thought maybe the General was."

Both Azula and Song froze again: their previous conversation, their thoughts regarding Shaofeng, returned to mind. Renkai's earnest, narrow and dark eyes gazed at them intently, begging them to hear him out now, more than ever.

"I left you to your meeting with the Fire Lord… and I went to see him," Renkai conveyed. "But I didn't get to talk to him at all, that morning. I heard a ruckus in his office. As though he were moving things, changing the furniture's location… and then, through the ajar door, I glimpsed the brightness of fire: when I dared look inside… I'd never seen him more furious before. He was burning papers, wrathfully, tearing his whole office down, it seemed… and I couldn't understand why. But he'd acted strangely before, on the very day I reported my suspicions of your relationship with the Gladiator. So, on that day, I found myself wondering if perhaps the one with dark secrets, the one who intended to betray the Fire Nation, was him. If… if he simply wanted you out of the way over fearing that, if you ever gained enough power, you might thwart whatever he was attempting to achieve."

Azula's tears had stopped by then, heartbreak replaced by utmost chagrin: treason? What sort of treason? While it wasn't regulated, the slavery system before the laws hadn't involved anything that truly amounted to treason against the Fire Nation… or had it?

"Two days later… I learned you were hard at work, persuading the Fire Lord's council to accept the slavery laws," Renkai said, earnestly again. "It made sense to think that… that this was why the Fire Lord had summoned you that morning. And it also made sense to think that, whatever the General had been up to, it was connected to this matter, somehow."

"That's what… what we were talking about before," Song pointed out. Azula grimaced, a hand rubbing her pounding forehead. "When you said… that the General's taken over the Enforcers? That maybe… maybe he was in charge of the slavery trade before. But…"

"But why would it be something treasonous, if my father commanded it?" Azula asked, looking at Song in puzzlement. "Why would he… why would he need to burn any evidence? Why would he…?"

"Because something within his operations, if not the operations themselves, was treasonous indeed," Renkai said, frowning heavily. "I… I'm still looking into it, in truth, Princess, but…"

"You… you were looking into this," Song gasped. "And you asked Rui Shi to help you, didn't you? And then…! B-but… why? Why him? How…?"

"Because I… made a choice quite similar to the one I made today," Renkai admitted glancing at them both with a wary grimace. "I knew I couldn't do it alone. Uncovering the General's secrets… it was easier said than done, and I needed an ally. Who better than the actual leader of the third squad…? The man the General had as good as singled out as his worst enemy and threat. He was convinced, above all else, that you'd fire him, that Rui Shi would take his place as soon as you took office…"

"Sounds about right…" Azula hissed under her breath.

"And he meant to prevent it by any means necessary," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "He wants Fire Lord Ozai in power… because that, somehow, gives him the freedom to act, to conspire, to work in the shadows, a freedom that he wouldn't have under anyone else's rule. His role as General… it makes corruption and illicit dealings easy enough if the Fire Lord holds him accountable for none of it. But you wouldn't do that… so he couldn't have you interfering in his schemes. After a while, I realized that was the truth behind my mission to spy on you… and that perhaps the greater threat against our nation wasn't you, Princess, but… him, instead.

"But I didn't reach that conclusion quite that easily. I… I clashed with Rui Shi once, when I had been hoping to confirm my hunch about your relationship with the Gladiator. He asked me… if my job was to protect you, or to spy on you. The question sat ill with me, it forced me to question my choices and my allegiances: I saw the way the other guards acted with you. They trusted you, they followed you faithfully and… and they were happy, perhaps the happiest guards I've ever seen. They were… they were men who never once doubted the direction in which you'd lead them. When you nearly died during that battle at the bay, every single one of them was distraught beyond belief: how… how could I possibly believe a leader who inspired her men that way could be hiding dark, dangerous dealings, while the General…? Curses, sometimes, members of the Imperial Guards simply would disappear. It didn't happen often… but it did, on occasion. Why? No one knows. They were discharged, retiring at an alarmingly young age: every last one of the guards lived in fear of General Shaofeng, at all times. He always had been much harsher and crueler than… t-than you ever were, even when you were at your most unpleasant, Princess."

Despite the words were obviously insulting, Azula couldn't even find it in her to be offended. She had no illusions regarding the goodness of spirit of General Shaofeng: tossing him over the sponsors' balcony remained one unexpected highlight in an otherwise dreadful day, and she damn wished she'd done more damage to him than she actually had… yes, she had certainly been harsh and even cruel to Renkai, but she doubted she'd dealt more harm to him with the worst of her grudges than Shaofeng could with the smallest of his own.

"I started to rethink my mission even then, although I still intended to follow through with it," Renkai said, fists tightened, his face tarnished with regret. "But I… I stopped keeping such close tabs on you. I thought… if you were doing anything wrong, the evidence would be easy enough to come by. If I saw any signs of harm, of choices that could hinder the Fire Nation, I'd certainly investigate and attempt to unravel how dangerous they might be. But if this was the full extent of your treason, your possible betrayal of the Fire Nation, I… I couldn't see the harm in it. For months, nothing you did was alarming. The General requested more reports, but I had nothing to offer, and he seemed cross with me for it… then, once the slavery laws were official, he hardly contacted me anymore to demand for reports again.

"I had no intentions of doing anything but looking into his business at that point in time, I meant to learn why he was so hung up on destroying your reputation. Shortly after making up my mind, I confirmed, for certain, that you were… intimate with the Gladiator. On the first day, when we were on our way back from Whaletail Island, I noticed the two of you were acting strangely. Simply for the sake of it, I… I followed him when he went to see you that night, and he didn't notice me. I saw, and heard, more than you ever intended me to… he didn't even glance out of your cabin to confirm you were alone when he ran to close the door."

Azula snarled: again, a stupid mistake, one that could have cost them so much… if Renkai had made the most of it. But that had happened so many months ago, over half a year ago… and her downfall had only happened two months back. If Renkai saw indisputable evidence of their relationship, and he most certainly would have seen and heard enough that night, the General would have seen to informing Ozai about it right away.

"You didn't… report that to the General," Azula finished for him. Renkai shook his head.

"No… I went to someone else, instead. Someone I hoped would help me, in exchange for my silence," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. Azula's eyes widened, and Song's hands flew to her mouth. "I… I thought he was going to throw me overboard that night. Rui Shi was on patrol, alone, on deck… and I told him I knew you were sleeping with the Gladiator. He was furious… but he held back from doing anything rash, and I'll always be grateful for that: I explained everything I've told you two so far, everything I saw from the General, how he dismissed my previous report regarding the relationship, claiming you had to be up to something worse… and I told Rui Shi of my suspicions that the General was behind something much more nefarious, something genuinely harmful for the Fire Nation, as opposed to you. Rui Shi didn't trust me… not for a long time, anyway. I told him it was fine if he chose not to believe me… but his hands were tied. If he killed me, the General would immediately take advantage of my sudden death or disappearance to level accusations both at you, Princess, and at him. He… he had no choice but to trust me and hope I would come through… and I guess I did, both by investigating the General and by warning Rui Shi of other dangers, whenever they arose. You see, at one point, General Iroh singled me out as a potential spy among your guards…"

"He…?" Azula gasped: her dormant, pointless fury towards her uncle reared its head again as she snarled at Renkai. "What did that bastard…?"

"It was before the Crescent Island Summit," Renkai continued, frowning. "He… he asked me, point-blank, if I'd seen any suspicious closeness between you and the Gladiator. I told him I hadn't, and he… he seemed cross about my answer. I deflected him as best I could… and then I told Rui Shi, immediately. I asked him to warn you, to let you know he was onto you…"

Azula flinched now as another memory seemed to burst in her mind, memories of days she hadn't wished to reminisce upon: of one day, during the Crescent Island Summit…

"He's been asking compromising questions to some guards, Princess."

"When did this happen?"

"Before we took off for the Summit. Naturally, no one has given him the answer he seeks."

Azula gasped as she shook her head: Iroh had singled out Renkai. And Rui Shi… he had thought Azula shouldn't know about Renkai being the one behind the warning? He hadn't said a single word about Renkai working with him… he hadn't explained any of this. Even if the story fit, that one element within it didn't work at all.

"Why didn't he say anything?" Azula asked, glaring at Renkai again. "Why…? He didn't say anything to Song, even, why…?!"

"He must have… he must have thought ahead, I suppose," Renkai whispered, lowering his head. "He believed, as I'd already attempted to report on your relationship once, that I'd be safer than every other guard in your service. He wasn't wrong to think so, either: when your relationship was revealed, the sole reason why the General allowed me to join him in the raid was because I had reported it long ago. He… he seemed to rejoice in it, to congratulate me for a job well done, no matter if I'd stopped doing it ages ago. Rui Shi predicted this might happen… and he believed you'd never trust me because of it, too. Even with his support – and he wasn't completely sure he trusted me either, yet – he probably wasn't certain that you would ever change your mind about me because of how bad our starting point had been… because I'd put you and the Gladiator at risk by obeying the General's orders. He kept me… on probation, so to speak. He wanted me to prove my loyalty, to demonstrate I meant to help, and so I did. I investigated on my downtime for months, I conveyed all my discoveries to him, I asked him to follow up on the leads I'd tracked down…"

"And where did they lead you? Or… is it you'd rather not share, out of fear that I might discard you if you tell me everything you know?" Azula asked, harshly.

"I have nothing to hide… not from you, not anymore," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "I know you may not trust me, not ever… but I had nothing to gain from telling you all this now, from revealing I knew who Song was, from helping you from the shadows whenever I did, or do I?"

"No, unless you're just expecting that I'd grow to trust you because of what you're revealing," Azula said, snarling.

"I had no idea that things would come to this," Renkai said, pleadingly. "My position, my role as the outsider, as the only one who ever conveyed any suspicions about your relationship… like I said, I could help the others because of that. Perhaps they didn't tell you about it, but when the General questioned them, right after we left the Gladiator in prison, the Fire Lord stormed in, too. I… I knew it was my only chance to save the others, so I took it: I told the Fire Lord I'd conveyed my concerns to the General, and the Fire Lord lost his temper at the General for not telling him about it, rather than at the others. I… I pretended there was evidence that suggested you'd wanted to promote your guards so they'd no longer keep such close tabs on you, so that you could start your physical relationship with the Gladiator… and the Fire Lord believed me. If he hadn't…"

"They… they wouldn't have had the chance to help us at all?" Azula asked, eyes wide: it was true that the squad's ability to help her, during the worst of times, had taken her by surprise. The General could have easily chosen to place blame on them for Azula's choices and done away with their group even faster than he'd meant to do away with Sokka. Did they owe their survival to Renkai, altogether…?

"The General was angry with me after that. He still is," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "My role as Captain… it's no reward, like I told you before. He believes you'll… you'll treat me as poorly as Fire Lord Azulon treated him, I suppose? He wants me to watch you just because he expects it to be… some sort of punishment for having drawn a target on his back with my choice to speak out to the Fire Lord. But he… he also tasked me with keeping an eye on my fellow members of the Third Squad after the truth was out: I never did that. Other guards, I believe, also helped them… I don't know who, but I believe they were from the Second Squad. Either way, I… I did everything I could to keep as many of them alive for as long as possible. Rui Shi… we didn't talk often after that first night, but he did tell me I couldn't go with them. That… that I had to stay here. That I was the only one who might be able to help if… if the Fire Lord happened to capture you all."

"He thought we'd fail?" Azula repeated, gritting her teeth. "And you… you wanted to help them? To work with them, to… to escape with all of us?"

"Rather than staying here? Yes," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "But Rui Shi was right… I was the only one who was safe. I was the only one who could fend off the General. The only one who could still serve the Royal Family, once everything was said and done. If you had been captured, whether all of you, just you and the guards, or you alone… my role would be to help, from the inside, however I could. And… that's what I've tried to do, Princess. For all this time, that's what I've wanted to do. I don't know if I had anything to gain from it, altogether… but even if I didn't gain anything at all, my purpose as a guard would still be fulfilled if I kept the Fire Lord, and his heirs, as safe as could be.

"I… I did have the hope that the Fire Nation would gain something from it, though," Renkai admitted, lowering his gaze. "Princess, I… I am not certain yet. I might be looking too deeply into it, thinking more of it than I should… but I fear General Shaofeng's secret motives, his choices with the slavery trade, may conceal something much more treasonous and sinister than anything you could ever do. It's not just… not just the matter of him trading slaves, but the fact that he has continued to do it after the laws came into effect: he's the one in control of the underground, illicit trade. Every lead points to him. But… he doesn't just control the slaves: he controls the crime dens, too. He protects them, and in the process, ensures their loyalty. Then, there's the forces he sent to poach Earth Kingdom folk from villages and towns, such as… as the ones who surely took you, Song."

Song gritted her teeth: she remembered those men, but she hadn't thought much of them back then. Azula's attention shifted towards her, visibly:

"Do you… do you remember what they wore?" Azula asked, scowling. "One point in common we found, during the raids, was that… the guards of the Amateur Arenas and the slave markets typically wore a strange armor, different from that of any branches of the Armed Forces."

"I don't really remember… it may not have been the same uniform, but I didn't really pay much attention," Song admitted. Azula sighed.

"I suppose they look enough like Fire Nation soldiers to pass as such in the eyes of any who see them. Is that what you mean, though, Renkai?"

"It is. At the end of the day, though, they're as good as mercenaries," Renkai snarled. "That… is the core and crux of this matter, Princess: I believe he's assembling an army of his own."

Azula's eyes widened. Song gasped, her jaw dropping. The worst man in the Fire Nation, next to the Fire Lord… no, curses, at this point, it was impossible to tell which of the two might be worse. Ozai, perhaps, had enabled Shaofeng… but he had to be in the dark regarding the General's operations, especially if they endangered his reign. Would he truly be so foolish, so unaware of whatever the General of the Guards was doing behind his back, if Renkai's suspicions were correct?

"The army… it's always spread too thin," Renkai said, frowning. "We've incorporated numerous Honorary Citizens, though, haven't we? And after ten years since we triumphed against the Earth Kingdom, isn't it expected that our forces would be bolstered, rather than constantly decreasing? Demand for soldiers hasn't stopped, recruitment efforts are still as strong as they were since I was a boy: countless prospects enroll in academies, both in the Fire Nation and in the Colonies, but only a handful of them will finish their full education and join the ranks of any military branch. The official excuse, as far as I've heard, is that our people believe we don't need so many soldiers since we've already captured the Earth Kingdom. That this conquest meant our people take for granted that a victory against the Northern Water Tribe is all but guaranteed and will happen sooner or later, thus, they don't wish to enlist at all. But when I've contrasted the numbers of enrolling soldiers and graduating ones, the difference in both numbers across the years since slavery began has only increased…"

"So, you think he's… poaching recruits out of the academies?" Azula asked, shivering. "And beyond that…"

"He could steal slaves for his own benefit, too," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "If his men were to find any commoners who appear… well, strong and amoral enough for his purposes, they might join his ranks, or at least, they could be used to serve them, provide them with food and infrastructure…"

"He's building… a parallel army, perhaps even a parallel governing system?" Azula asked, running a hand over her hair. "That is, if you're right about your suspicions. Which… you might be. That… that's all I can say so far. Then… you intended to put a stop to the General somehow? Is this what you're actually after? Because if you thought I could help you with that, or Song, when the circumstances are as they are…"

"I don't know what to make of any of what I've learned anymore," Renkai admitted, lowering his head. "The truth is, I… I had hoped that, once the Fire Lord stepped down, you would gain control of the Fire Nation and put a stop to the General's schemes, whatever they might be. Whether once the Fire Lord died, or if he simply abdicated… that's why I believed the one I needed on my side was the likeliest replacement for the General: Rui Shi. Once he took office, if he'd learned enough about the General's betrayals, he would have had every tool at his disposal to take down this army, if there really was one. With his help, you'd be able to obliterate the illicit slave trade, even if some stragglers would likely attempt to rise where the General would be shut down… but it would keep the Fire Nation safe. It would ensure that no wars would burst from within our nation. If the Fire Nation were fractured in two… the chaos, the death toll, it wouldn't be any different from what that Bloodlust Spear could have caused if you hadn't stopped it. The fact that… that you put your very life on the line to stop the Spear spoke for itself regarding how determined you were to protect this nation. It dispelled any doubts I might have had about your true loyalties. And that you returned, after everything…"

"I…" Azula gritted her teeth, fist tightened anew: she shouldn't have returned. Her loyalty to the Fire Nation… if Renkai saw it as a good thing, he most certainly was wrong. Without it, Xin Long wouldn't be in danger. Her unborn child wouldn't be in danger. Song wouldn't be here, either…

But she might have been stuck with Lo and Li for years, who knew how many years, waiting for Rui Shi to find her.

If Azula hadn't returned at all, Mai and Ty Lee could have been in greater danger too, held as hostages, used to force Azula to turn her back on Sokka to save them, perhaps…

She would have never known Rei, either. She would have never helped her. The girl would have never learned to read or write, or that she was passionate about math…

And now this: a potential civil war, brewing right underneath her father's nose. If she hadn't returned… would that civil war have erupted while she was out of reach, with no possibilities to help keep the peace in the Fire Nation? It wasn't as though she could do anything right now, as things stood… she was powerless. Renkai had to know as much… but did he hope she'd be able to do something, secretly? Or that, if the time came, she'd be the one for others to rally behind, the one to take down the threat the General represented for the Fire Nation…?

"I… I don't know what you expect from me, if what you prize is my loyalty to the Fire Nation," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "As it is… I don't feel like my loyalty was worth it, if this is how I've paid for it. I'm powerless, Renkai. If all this is true, if all your guesses are spot-on… I'm afraid you've come to the worst possible person with them. I can't…"

"I know, maybe not right away. Not until… until the child is born, at least," Renkai said, gritting his teeth. "But surely, in the future…"

"Once the child is born, my father will do away with me for good," Azula said, sternly. Renkai flinched. "That's all he wants. He's made it clear."

"Then… then I'll find a way to save you from that sort of fate, if it's within my power to do so," Renkai determined: Azula froze as he raised his gaze towards hers, finding fire burning in his eyes. "I… I never thought the day would come when I would pledge myself to you. For ages, I… I didn't understand why anyone felt as strongly about you as a leader as they did. But after everything we've seen, after everything I've lived through as a guard of the third squad… after the battle against the Bloodlust Spear? All my doubts have faded away. Any uncertainties I might have still held… they're meaningless. If you think I'm worthless, if you believe you can't trust me, there's nothing I can do about that anymore. If you believe my life should be forfeit because of the mistakes I made, I have no doubt I've earned that judgment, but if you don't feel that way…"

Renkai fell to his knees heavily. Azula and Song gasped, as the guard gazed at the Princess wistfully, in a gesture of surrender towards her.

"Then I will pledge my fire to you," he said, with a thread of a voice. "I will defend your life with my own. I will stand by your side until you command me to leave. I will protect you from any who might mean you harm. I will fight for you, until my last breath, if that's what it takes to truly serve the Fire Nation."

His intense voice rang through the room, carrying the weight of those promises, even if they weren't vows Azula could trust wholeheartedly just yet. Her chest heaved, taking in the way Renkai had humbled himself before her, offering his service, his loyalty… everything she could have needed from him, at the very moment when she needed it most. Without him on their side, Song would be in danger… but was this truly happening right now, at the best possible timing? Had Renkai been completely honest with them? As far as Azula could tell, most his claims had to be true… but she couldn't be sure.

It wasn't Azula, however, who stepped forward now. Song's fists trembled as she approached Renkai, who dared raise his head to regard her from below, still making no moves to rise to his feet.

"Rui Shi trusted you… that he would tell you where I was, when he told no one else, says as much," she said, softly. Renkai swallowed hard, offering her a half-hearted shrug.

"We didn't… didn't get to speak much when everything fell to pieces. But when we agreed on what our course of action would be, when he told me I should stay in the Fire Nation, because I was the only one out of danger, he said he'd see you off to Lo and Li, if possible. He wanted me to know because… because I'd stay in the Fire Nation. Because he believed no one would think to ask me about you, and he was right: no one has. It's possible the Fire Lord simply forgot about you…"

"All the better, if he did," Azula said, glancing at Song uneasily. "I doubt he would've found you easily, but if he'd thought to search for you…"

"Let's be grateful that thought hasn't crossed his mind so far," Song said, grimacing. "But I guess… slaves like me are easily overlooked. That's the whole reason why I could do this…"

"Indeed…" Azula said, glancing at Renkai anew. "Those vows you just made… I don't mean to sound sacrilegious here, but you'll extend them to Song as well, won't you?"

Song gasped, and Renkai eyed Azula with perplexity for a moment. He nodded before long, however, and Azula released a slow breath afterwards.

"I'm not…! I'm not the priority here," Song said, looking at Azula meaningfully. "I appreciate it, I do, but…!"

"Whatever happens to me, Song, if anything does, I intend to ensure that you leave this Palace untouched," Azula determined, sternly. "No one will get to you… but I can't do anything to ensure that myself, as I am. I'm… too weak to even hold my damn sword."

She leaned down, collecting the dropped Wolf's Bane. Azula grimaced, eyeing the weapon hopelessly… remembering countless, painful and blissful memories upon gripping it. She had reached for it impulsively, quick to distrust Renkai… even now, she wasn't sure she could trust him. Yet she didn't aim the sword in his direction anymore: she walked back to where she'd tossed the scabbard, sheathing the weapon and setting it on the right cabinet, letting her hand linger on the deep crimson sheath she'd crafted, so long ago…

"I don't know if I can trust you yet, Renkai," Azula admitted, sharply. "The fact is… if you had meant us any harm, none of your actions and choices so far would make any sense. Unless you had a malicious mind of the sorts that would impress even me, there's nothing to gain at all from revealing everything you just have."

"I… I'm not a spy for the General anymore," Renkai said, pleadingly, as Azula turned around again, eyes narrow. "After what I did… he doesn't trust me at all. He must blame me for whatever treatment he gets at the Fire Lord's hands right now. He's promoted me, like I said…"

"To punish you. He expects me to treat you to every indignity that might cross my mind," Azula finished, stepping closer once more. Renkai nodded.

"But ultimately… he believes you're powerless. That whatever threat you represented for him is gone now," Renkai said, snarling. "Either he'll undo all your work with the Enforcers, or he'll attempt to assimilate them into his forces. I can't imagine him doing anything else…"

Azula snarled, fists tightened. There was no chance Mei Xun and the others would be able to keep the damn General from turning the Enforcers into a joke if he wished to do so… perhaps he would choose to do it to humiliate Azula. Though he might also turn them into part of his presumed secret army, perhaps he would reduce the Enforcers' members themselves into slavery… there was no telling what he might do. She had no strength, no versatility, no possibilities to reach them, to warn them…

But perhaps she could try, couldn't she? Her eyes fell upon the desperate Renkai, though she thought beyond him, too: the Head Sage's reassurances that the group he was gathering was crowded by people who had known her… could Mei Xun be one of them? Another Enforcer, maybe? If so… could she send a message to them through him? Could they communicate, warn each other of the impending dangers…?

"He believes me powerless, then. That's why giving you a position of authority as my squad's captain is irrelevant, ultimately," Azula retreaded the last steps of their conversation. "But just as it was when you spoke to Rui Shi, you speak now, knowing my hands are tied. Knowing I can't do anything but trust you… because if I don't, and I try to strike you down, whether I'm successful or not, the consequences would be steep."

"I… I don't mean to trap you. I never meant to…"

"Enough. Whether you meant it or not, in the end you'll have exactly what you came here for: I have no choice but to cross my fingers and pray to gods I don't even believe in that you haven't been playing us this whole time," Azula said, shaking her head. "I… I can't trust you just yet. You understand this, just as you understood it with Rui Shi?"

"Of course," Renkai said, grimacing.

"You… will have to prove yourself," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "If you truly seek to become trustworthy, then as long as you keep your mouth shut about Song, I… I won't ask anything more from you. Do whatever you must, but you won't reveal her."

"I won't. I promise," Renkai said, nodding.

"Whatever comes later… I suppose we'll see by then." Azula said, frowning. "Whether we can continue to investigate the General and his associates… whatever we can learn, it'll take us a long time to unravel it all, for sure. But if… if I could get word out to the Enforcers, before the General does anything too damaging, before he destroys them completely, they might just be able to find enough damning information about the General too, information that my father won't be able to dismiss or hide anymore. I just… can't be the one presenting it. But there may be a way to handle it, eventually…"

"I will investigate everything myself. You and Song won't need to concern yourselves with that side of matters," Renkai reassured her.

"Good… though your timing to come forward with all this has been something else," Azula said, rubbing her face gently with a hand while she gestured at him to rise, with the other: so far, Renkai had remained on his knees, betraying no discomfort whatsoever. "Couldn't you have told me before? After everything we've been through…"

"I could have," Renkai admitted, rising back to his feet. "But I… I feared the consequences of admitting the truth. Even as of late, I didn't want… to risk your anger."

"But you decided to risk it now?" Azula asked.

"I did. When Rei and I bumped into Fei Rou, on our way out to the gardens, he gave away that Lo and Li's niece was… was the midwife that had been brought to the Palace. I didn't know for sure whether they had a niece or not, but… I did know that Song had been with them. I had enough reason to believe it could be her… but I only confirmed it when I heard her voice, while I waited to bring the food the servants left by the door"

Song sighed: she had hoped her over-the-top performance could keep suspicions at bay, but perhaps Renkai had heard her speaking far too many times not to identify the hitches and nuances of how she spoke. He was a guard… a spy, too. Fooling him would have been much harder… so it was, in a way, better that they wouldn't have to.

She turned to Azula, who, unsurprisingly, still appeared uneasy, arms over her chest. She had calmed down by now, though her cheeks remained slightly red after she'd cried earlier… Song guessed that her own were no better.

"This is what we were worried about," Song said, grimacing. "I know that it's… well, really lucky that Renkai might be on our side. But this way, we won't have to worry about tricking him, or confirming whether he's no longer loyal to the General through any other means, right?"

"You… you thought I might be an ally?" Renkai asked, glancing at Azula. The Princess huffed, shrugging slightly.

"Your weird behavior ever since I came back… it was one possibility, even if not one I was all that ready to believe," Azula admitted. Renkai hummed, lowering his gaze. "I still don't know what to make of you. Not entirely. But if you truly intend to live by those vows you've made, I may just learn how to trust you. In the end… I probably have no choice but to do so, to begin with."

Renkai breathed out slowly, holding the Princess's gaze with his own. The occasional moments where he'd glimpsed any form of kindness in the Princess typically were directed towards others: he had seen how self-sacrificial she could be, first-hand, in the battle at the bay… he had struggled to protect her that day, along with the rest of the guards, expecting it to be a thankless duty, and caring nothing if it was. From the first moment, her harshness, her steel, had been a sharp threat against him: any steps out of line and she would make him pay. That was how it had felt, to this moment… even after all those weeks of offering her whatever form of assistance he still could. He had seen to keeping her well-fed, taken her to the Head Sage – a man who, he hoped, would be an ally for her –, followed her every order as dutifully as possible while trying to keep her safe…

She still didn't trust him, he clung to no illusions to the opposite… but he could see in her golden eyes that something had changed, nonetheless. Learning of the role he had played in ensuring the Gladiator and the guards lived long enough to escape the Fire Lord's fury might have just mended some of their fences, at last.

"The Head Sage will attempt to discover if you're still spying for the General," Azula said. Renkai swallowed hard. "On my request, by my command, for that was the only way through which I dared test your allegiances, before all this. Now that you've said everything you have, are you willing to become… a link between us, so to speak? Perhaps not directly, but…"

"I'll do as you command," Renkai said, nodding promptly. "If you wish it of me…"

"I don't fully know what I wish of you yet, frankly," Azula said, rubbing her eyelids with her fingertips. "But it's entirely possible the Head Sage could help you with your investigations, far more than I ever could, to say one thing…"

"Truly?" Renkai's eyes seemed to brighten at the possibility.

"You'll have to be careful with your work…" Azula said. "If you make any suspicious moves, Shaofeng will be likely to notice, as you're no doubt aware. If he believes both of us are burned out by now, any evidence that indicates otherwise will gain us his very unwanted attention all over again."

"I'll do my best to prevent that. I swear it," Renkai said, nodding in Azula's direction.

The Princess sighed, glancing at Song again, a hint of hopelessness in her eyes. Her friend, for the first time since Renkai's intrusion, offered her a reassuring smile, reaching to clasp her shoulder gently.

"I know this isn't the way we wanted things to turn out," Song said. "Though… if you really think about it, as long as Renkai proves himself, it will be better than what we expected, right? We… we might even be able to finish what Rui Shi started. Or, well, what Renkai started with Rui Shi…?"

"I suppose…" Azula said, hands on her hips as she studied Renkai once again.

She shouldn't doubt him so strongly anymore, she knew he had been a spy – and he had admitted it readily, too. But he seemed to be loyal to the Fire Nation above all else, not to a certain leader, going by his explanations and choices so far… yet it was hard to believe the man could have had such a strong change of heart, to the point of pledging himself to her service so readily. Perhaps, if he hadn't done so, she wouldn't feel so uneasy… for if her choices, her orders, resulted in his death or capture by the General's forces, it would only make her already difficult and painful circumstances all the worse.

She didn't want to feel responsible for him. She didn't want the burden of leadership thrust upon her shoulders again… but the more she thought about it, the more apparent it became that she carried it with her anyway. From needing to protect her dragon and her unborn child, at first, now it seemed she had a potential rebellion brewing underneath her father's watchful gaze, though far weaker than the mercenary army General Shaofeng might be building if Renkai's suspicions were correct. Merely thinking of it nearly saw Azula returning to the bathroom, but as nauseous as she felt, she contained the impulse to throw up out of stress this time: she couldn't do this, could she? She couldn't tear down the Fire Nation's worst internal threat when her body could scarcely hold a sword, when her fire barely seemed strong enough to unlock a trapdoor, when any mistakes she made would risk the execution of her dragon, when she carried a child that, as small as it might still be, was impossibly fragile and needed to be protected at all costs…

Fleetingly, she let herself send a thought, a fleeting one, to the one person who had always believed she could overcome anything. The one person whose unwavering faith had taught her what love truly was, and just how to treasure it… if only he were here now, as complicated as all this might be, she wouldn't feel so alone. She wouldn't be terrified out of her mind. If only the man whose life she had done everything to save could wrap her in his warm to embrace and reassure her, yet again, that he would always be with her…

But he wasn't, not the way she needed him to be… and he never would be again, as far as she could tell. His necklace was all that remained… all she could still cling to, and so she did, reaching through her pocket to fist it tightly. Wistfully, she allowed herself to call his name in her mind… and a sudden warmth seemed to tingle in her chest, flickering weakly, but not enough that it might fade completely. He would have stepped forward, offered to deal with all this for her, if he had been here right now… he would have told her to focus on resting and recovering, on protecting their child while he handled all the dangers. Strangely, just evoking him that way sufficed: recalling the way his lips had pressed to hers, ever voicing those invaluable words he had been the first to ever speak to her…

She opened her eyes again: no, he wasn't here… but she wasn't alone anymore. As dangerous as the future would surely prove to be, Azula had the feeling that, wherever Sokka might be now, he would be relieved if he knew that she no longer fought alone… that she had found allies, old and new, who would stand beside her in her struggles against her father.

"If you have any further questions, anything else you'd like to know… feel free to ask," Renkai said, softly, breaking the silence between them. "Any orders, too…"

"Advice, rather," Azula sighed, glancing at him again. "Continue acting as you have so far. Remember that you and Song, or rather, Wen, are strangers…"

"Of course," Renkai said, nodding promptly.

"I suppose, beyond that, there's nothing more to…"

For the third time, a knock on the door froze everyone inside the room. Yet it was a soft knock… one that Azula and Renkai recognized immediately, although it didn't alarm them any less alarmed because of that.

"I…" Renkai grimaced, glancing at Azula warily. "I told her to wait for me. I didn't think I'd take so long, but…"

"But you recklessly decided to reveal yourself right now," Azula said, eyeing him intently as she stepped towards the door. "Maybe you should've played dumb for a few days…"

"I wasn't sure I'd have a better opportunity to speak…" Renkai admitted, but Azula pressed her fingers to her mouth, urging him to fall silent… and then she gestured at his helmet, too.

Renkai covered up hastily, knowing his tension would still be apparent, even if it wasn't in plain sight through his facial expressions anymore. Song grimaced, guessing already who would be on the other side of the door, but after a few breaths, she calmed herself as she returned to her persona of Wen…

"Princess…?" Rei's soft voice drifted through the door as Azula placed a hand on the knob. "I-I don't mean to pry, b-but I just wanted to be sure that Renkai was…"

Azula yanked the door open, interrupting the young woman's sentence upon doing so. Yet she smiled at Rei, in a reassuring, albeit tense manner, and Rei reflected the smile quickly enough.

"Sorry to disturb…" she said, in a small voice.

"It's alright. Renkai was… on his way back to you, I suppose?" Azula said, glancing at him over her shoulder. Renkai, tense, bowed his whole torso towards Rei.

"Please excuse my absence," he said, though he offered no explanations… not that Rei would seek any, in the first place. The young woman blushed, ever bashful upon being at the receiving end of any sort of respect she wasn't sure she had earned.

"Y-you don't have to…! I-I was fine, I was only wondering if, uh, if you'd have lunch here, or…" Rei said, glancing through the room carefully: there were two trays, but wasn't the Princess supposed to have a guest right now…?

Her eyes fell upon the third occupant of the room, closer to the wall: very little light fell upon her features there. Yet, once the woman stepped forward, Rei was immediately reassured by the perfectly cheerful smile on her face.

"Ah, there's so many people to meet in this Palace!" she said, stopping at an arm's length from Rei. "And look at that, you're so young, too! I'd ask if she's a younger sibling of yours, Princess Azula, but I've heard you're the youngest in your family…"

"And thank the universe for that," Azula couldn't help herself: the mere thought that her parents might have more children besides herself and her brother chilled her very soul. They'd messed up badly enough with just two kids… "This is my maid, Rei. Rei… this is my new midwife, Wen."

"Oh… the midwife?" Rei repeated, glancing at Song in amazement. "I… I expected, w-well…"

"Oh, someone much older and wrinkly? Well, I might be older than I look, for all you know," Song smirked. Despite herself, Azula smiled at Song's unusually bold behavior. "But it's most definitely nice to meet you! For a royal maid, you yourself are quite young, I'd say…"

"W-well, I'm seventeen, but I don't know if that's too young…"

"Seventeen! Ah, if that's so, you may yet grow a little taller," Song declared, measuring the top of Rei's head against herself: the younger girl reached the bridge of her nose. "I'm doomed to always be small, you see, my family is full of short people. My aunts, they were about my height, and then they shrank so much in their old age… you met them, right, Princess? Were they any taller when you were younger?"

"Uh… it's hard to say, considering I used to be rather small myself," Azula said, with a lop-sided grin. "I suppose they shrank just as I grew, and I was too focused on measuring my own height to care for theirs."

"Well, I should definitely start measuring mine more often," Song said, grimacing. "Imagine if I started shrinking in just a few years! It would be terrible! And to think I'd always dreamt of being tall, too… you're quite lucky, Rei, that you're still young and you might grow more, at least until you hit your early twenties, if what I learned in Ember Island's Sanatorium is true. It's too late for me now, though…"

"I… I see," Rei blinked blankly, no doubt taken by surprise by how talkative and friendly this midwife was… confused, as well, by how to respond to her enthusiastic rambling and melodramatic sighs. "Uh… my condolences?"

Song seemed as unsure of how to answer those words, just as Rei herself had been clueless about what to say after the midwife's ramblings about height. The two stared at each other blankly for a moment before the moment was interrupted by an unexpected snort of laughter… coming from the Princess.

In an instant, the awkwardness was dispelled as all three women laughed carelessly, a sound that no doubt hadn't been heard in the Palace for many months. Standing back as he was, Renkai straightened up and smiled too, underneath his helmet. Innocent as she was, removed from all the dangers and horrors that had plagued the Princess and Song, Rei appeared to calm rushing tides effortlessly with her kind presence. One day, Renkai suspected, she would learn more about the countless secrets hidden by the many occupants of this Palace… but for now, Rei appeared content enough to make a new friend. Whatever came next, Renkai could already take solace in knowing the Princess he'd found on that dark day, crying and clinging to the door of her dragon's refuge, under the pouring rain, had learned how to smile and laugh anew… how to trust, too.

Azula hadn't asked him to extend his vows to Rei, but as far as Renkai was concerned, she didn't need to request as much verbally: he had done his best to watch over the two of them during the past weeks, but his resolve to do so strengthened further today. He would protect the Princess and her friends in place of the previous third squad… of their true leader, who had tasked him with standing by the Princess's side if she returned to the Fire Nation. He had no idea where Rui Shi might be now, what fate had in store for him or the rest of the guards… but Renkai's resolve to serve Princess Azula was only made stronger because of those uncertainties. His former comrades might be free to come home one day, and if Azula accepted their services once more, the third squad would be certain to serve their Princess as faithfully as they ever did, in the distant horizon of a brighter future… a future Renkai wholeheartedly hoped he'd be part of.