Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but as it turns out, my holiday break was actually BUSIER than my school schedule, since my mom was doing family stuff the whole time, as well as I was trying to balance seeing some of my old highschool and middle school friends.

But I digress!

As always, thank you so much to all my reviewers (I'm still behind on replying, I'll get to it eventually...) : dazed. lizz, Hristonostore Onnediel, snowflake05, cherokee69, myottodog, Aaliyah92, Guest, ZutaraRobstar3, Loftcat27, Guest, alias093001, Zebra Blu, Sebastian Orian Weasley, lucel18, Jacpin2002, KnightOwl247, kawaii25, 181513, and Moonflier!

Guest: Maybe Katara needs a good slap! She is very good at intellect and planning capabilities, but Zuko is in the box that is 'feelings and emotions' which Katara is actually sort of awful with, when it comes to romantic intentions, actually.

Guest: Super glad you're liking it! Next book we'll get even more POVs, but that's a ways off

"You seem happier tonight." Katara breathed in the night air of the Royal Capitol. The air at home always tasted like 'cold.' Sokka claimed that cold doesn't have a taste, but Katara always disagreed. Cold tasted sharp, like fresh snow. The air here didn't taste just like 'warm', but it tasted like 'city'. It tasted like smoke and Fire Nation food and summer breezes. And, up on the roof, she had a good inhale of it.

Zuko had brought her up here with a small basket, and the pair sat staring at the stars. Zuko had offered her a sweet rice ball with a sticky fruit sauce that clung to her fingers.

"I'm happiest when I'm with you," Zuko admitted frankly, shoulder to shoulder with her.

"I had thought you were mad at me," Katara admitted in a rush, "After...well, after."

"I'll admit I was upset." Zuko titled his head. "But it's fairly impossible to stay mad at you."

Katara nodded to herself, licking off the sauce between her fingers. She realized after a second that Zuko was watching her tongue flicker in the folds of her digits, his pupils darkened and bleeding out into the golden flecks in his eyes. Katara felt a warm blush come all over her body, a shiver that sent her hairs standing upright.

Zuko noticed this and laughed to himself, looking away. Of course, it wouldn't be proper to launch herself at him on the roof, as much as she wanted to.

She looked up, gnawing on her lips. "I haven't had much time to stargaze since I came here," she said out loud, more of a thought than a comment. "It's familiar to do this."

"You study the stars a lot?" Zuko tilted his head.

"We have to. To travel anywhere by sea, I mean, once you're on the waves there's no land masses at all to tell you where you are. It was used a lot more when we visited the North, but we brought it back into use when we started having to go farther out to find fish." Katara gnawed on her nail. "You know them?"

"A bit. I spent a lot of my formative years in military training on the Navy ships with my Uncle. It's when I found Kuzon, remember?"

"Of course, right." Katara laughed to herself. "What's your favorite constellation? Mine is Kaguyagat."

"What? Was that a sneeze?" he said, trying not to sound rude.

"Kaguy…" Katara started again, but saw his blank stare. "You know, the fox. Right there." She pointed up.

"Oh, you mean Hoki Hosi… we call them the brush stars. Like, flickers of ink across the sky," Zuko said.

Katara laughed out loud. "I like mine better."

"I do too," Zuko agreed.

They spent the next hour comparing constellations. Katara realized that of course they'd have a totally different views on the stars, despite looking at the same constellations. It was a weird feeling to think that when her mother was teaching her how to chart the choppy dark seas using The Caribou stars, General Iroh was teaching Zuko the same thing but with a different name. In the beginning, had they this conversation, it would have reminded Katara about how different they were. Now, it just made her smile. She was glad to find out this information.

"Prince Zuko? Prince Zuko…?" A guard called for Zuko from below.

Katara looked down, but Zuko pulled her back against his chest, and a half-giggle, half-shriek erupted from her lips. He put his hand over her mouth, and she could feel his own chest quaking with laugher.

"Shh," he said. "Just for a little longer."

"What if it's important?" Katara sighed, knowing their stolen time was at an end.

"It probably is." Zuko dug his nose into her hair. "But let me just have this moment with you. I don't know when we'll get time alone again."

Katara's giggles ceased at the severity in his voice. She stilled against him, just felt the steady thump of his heart in his chest. The heart that pounded for her. She curled into him, sighing in quiet resignation.

"Prince Zuko?" The guard seemed panicked now.

"Spirits, they watch me twenty-four / seven," Zuko whispered. "Although, after the rebels…"

"Yeah." Katara focused in on the delicate embroidery on his robes. "You should probably let them know you're alive before they wake the whole palace looking for you."

Zuko didn't answer, but began to detach himself from her. Katara felt the lack of warmth immediately and something clenched inside of her.

"I had fun, though. I hope you did too," she whispered, helping him pack up his things.

"It was nice to forget about it all," Zuko said, his voice taking on a subtle change. However, Katara felt like she knew him so well that she noticed. "The attacks, the things that need to be fixed, the competition…" He trailed off, leaving Katara feeling a little strange. Like her stomach was being swirled about.

He took out his top knot, sighing. "Sometimes," he began, the word stretched out like he was still considering if he was going to continue with his next words. "Sometimes I wish it was all easier. That it was more normal."

It was very close to Katara's own thoughts. She swallowed hard. "What is normal, though?" she proposed, not wanting to let him wallow. "Zuko, you're extraordinary any way you look at it."

"You know what I mean. If I were normal, if we were...maybe you would have said yes."

The theory hung between them, as vast as the stars above. Zuko looked upset, like maybe he hadn't meant to have said it. Katara curled her knees to her chest.

"We're not, though," she replied a little too hotly, angry at the situation - not at Zuko - but unable to express it. "And maybe we would have never met at all or you wouldn't be proposing. Maybe we would just 'be'. Maybe you'd be married to Mai or Yue by now," Katara also threw out. "Maybe we should be happy with what we have. And I didn't say no completely. I'm still here. It just wasn't the right...time."

She hated giving him hope like that, but it killed her to see those sad puppy-dog eyes turned her way. And it was 'time', for lack of a better word. Time to figure things out, time to have him pick someone else, time for Ozai to mysteriously bite the bullet (one could hope). Time for any number of impossible things to happen.

Zuko gave a laugh, one that was a little more lighthearted than Katara expected. "Kat...I would give you anything in the world if you asked. You want a diamond as big as your face? I'll have the Earth Bending Brigade dig up every rock if they have to. You want a falling star? I'd go to the end of the earth and learn off the edge to grab it as it passes. You want clothes made from the finest silk in the country? I'd make you a whole room full of it. The one thing you ask of me, time," he added with a slight grimace, "is the one thing I fear we do not have."

"I know," Katara whispered to herself, feeling awful for asking it of him. He caught her face and rubbed his palm over her cheek, sighing.

"But, because you want it, I will give as much as I can," he added. "And I will do it happily."

"You're far too good of a person, Zuko," Katara murmured, kissing his fingertips. Zuko let out a quiet groan and took his hands away. Katara was worried she'd done or said something wrong, until he grabbed her and pulled her up into a kiss. It was a slow one, and she felt her whole body light up as she relaxed into it.

After much too short of a time, Zuko pulled away. Katara found herself following forward, wanting more.

"This is probably a bad idea," Zuko said quietly, his breath hot against her neck. Katara wasn't sure if he was referring to taking the kiss farther or the simple truth that kissing on a roof probably was bound to end in a broken bone somewhere.

"Yeah," Katara agreed to both counts.

"Prince Zuko!" The guard sounded close to having a heart attack. Zuko pinched his nose.

"I really must go. But we have things to talk about."

"We do?" Katara felt her heart thump. She thought it was all squared away. What did he mean? Was her position not as secure as she thought. Was-?

"Yes, we haven't had a time for all of us to come together and truly discuss the fact that many people are in on Kuzon's secret."

Oh, right. Yes. The issue that was much bigger than their own confusing emotions.

"So," Zuko continued, "Can you get everyone to the kitchen tonight? I'll bring Kuzon. We need to all be on the same page."

"Of course," Katara agreed, pushing down her childish glee she'd see him again tonight. "In three hours or so?"

Zuko leaned forward and gave her a small peck on her cheek, a domestic gesture that was so unexpected. "Until then."

Then, he disappeared over the side of the roof.

XXxxXX

Come on, boy, you need to memorize this! Knowing military positions of the past will help you in your future endeavors.

"I'm trying, Gopan, but not all of us were librarians and scholars our whole lives," Aang murmured, flipping back to the last place in the book that he recalled absorbing information from. Which was, he was horrified to find, pretty far back.

Technically, you were.

"Thank you, Yangchen. I can always count on you to state the obvious." Aang rolled his eyes, propping his elbow on the long table to support his head as he blinked wearily.

I say you've been hanging around too much with my grandson. Zuko's sarcasm has been rubbing off on you.

"You know what?" Aang snapped, standing and rubbing his eyes. "This would be a whole lot easier if all of you just-"

"Oh, ah, are you busy?" Aang spun on his heels to find Ty Lee staring unexpectedly into the library, looking around. "I heard you talking to someone…" she said.

"Lady Ty Lee." Aang fumbled to bow to her, and suspiciously, all the voices in his head went quiet. At least for a second.

Ty Lee chuckled behind a hand. "I think I'm supposed to bow to you, Master Kuzon. You're part of the Royal Family, after all." Her eyes glimmered with mirth, since obviously, she now knew he wasn't truly.

"I wasn't talking to anyone, not really. I was just…" He lifted the title of the tome, Historical Victories and Militant Accomplishments, for Ty Lee to see, giving a weak smile. "Doing some homework, I guess."

"Sounds, uh, exciting."

"No, it's really not." With a decisive flip of the cover, he closed the book, forever losing the page he'd been on. This got the attention of the past Avatars.

The fate of the world rests on your hands-

She's a fine girl, child, but there are more important things to consider-

The Avatar can continue his family line in due time, but it's quite irresponsible-

"Aang?" Ty Lee asked quietly, looking up at him.

"Sorry. I don't mean to be elsewhere, but my mind is a little full," he said.

"Prince Zuko mentioned something about that. I can see it in your eyes, all your past lives fighting for their voice to be heard," she said, gazing at him with a thoughtful hum to her voice.

"You can see it?"

"It clouds your true self. It's muddy. It must be difficult, I'd imagine, to know what parts of you are you and what parts are your past lives," she said, raising a philosophical question that Aang had battled with many times. He was surprised that Ty Lee offered such a thought, since any intelligent ideas she may have had were usually overshadowed by Mai or Azula. She'd never been dumb, though, he realized. She'd always stayed near the top of the Royal Lessons and picked up on theories and equations quickly.

"I guess I'm all of them and none of them, all at once," Aang said. He rubbed his head. Avatar Suluk was arguing with the seated group that Aang should be allowed a moment of fancy, since he realistically couldn't be saving the world every minute of every day. Kyoshi was arguing that he'd have plenty of time for that after, and that every moment he wasn't focused on the war at hand was a moment he was losing. And Kuruk, poor Kuruk, was just in the corner all weepy about his lost love, reminiscing that Ty Lee's smile reminded him of his late wife.

"Arguing again?" Ty Lee guessed when he dazed out for just a moment.

"Yeah."

"Here, lemme just…" She leaned around, and Aang jumped as she touched the back of his neck. He laughed uneasily as she let him settle back down. She rubbed a spot just where his neck met the spinal cord. There was a strange feeling, like he'd shocked himself, and then it was still. It wasn't painful as much as it was a shock, a minor discomfort that only lasted a moment.

All of a sudden, it was just silent in his brain. Not the silence in which no one was talking for a rare moment, but a silence like he had before the attack, when his brain had been his own.

"What did you do?" he asked in absolute awe.

"I had a theory," Ty Lee shrugged, leaning back onto a cushy chair, "That your connections to the Avatars were using spiritual chi. I can block chi. I mean, fill in the blanks from there." She laughed her bell-like laugh, which Aang had always found so enchanting.

"Great Agni, it's incredible!" Aang let out a sharp laugh, almost unbelieving. "I can't...spirits, Ty Lee!"

"It will wear off in about two hours, I think. I mean, I can teach you how to do it. You probably shouldn't do it all the time, but every once in a while shouldn't be too bad. Just until you get it under control," she said.

Aang opened his mouth to nearly argue 'but I like it when you did it', and he waited for the onslaught of Avatars telling him otherwise. Blessedly, none came.

"You okay?" Ty Lee asked worriedly. "No weird side effects from it? Oh, Agni, I didn't muck it up did I-"

"Ty Lee, hey." Aang leaned across the table. "Really. Thanks," he said. "I'm just not used to it, that's all."

Ty Lee relaxed. She sent him a smile that made him feel a little dizzy. "Anything for you, Aang."

XXxxXX

Zuko shuffled through the files profiling each Choice contestant on his desk. He flipped half-heartedly through the top five or so, wondering if his emotions had shifted enough to change his personal ranking system. While he'd done some real soul-searching and changed around a lot of the order in the past week or so, the number one seed had stayed the same.

Katara, as always.

He leaned back in his chair, just on the edge of tipping it, recalling the moment he'd claimed with Katara on the roof. He'd slipped away from the guard for some 'personal time' and had gotten sorely reprimanded afterwards, since a missing Prince in light of recent events was never a good thing.

Agni, it was worth it though.

The image in his mind of Katara lapping up that sauce with no idea how she was affecting him would both be the bane of his existence and his most satisfying memory for weeks to come, if that was all the time he was going to get with her. And, frankly, if she'd asked, Zuko would have gone farther.

Putting them in a precarious position on the roof hadn't been his plan, but it had worked out in the favor of the situation.

A part of Zuko, though, also was angry at himself. If the situation demanded it and Katara truly could not be budged on her opinions, Zuko was going to walk out of this married. And, with the little time he had, he should be spending quality time with the other girls, seeing if any of them could fit so perfectly the way he knew Katara would with him. Instead, what was he doing? Giving everything away to Katara and falling deeper in love with her than he thought possible, putting distance - mile upon mile - between Katara and even his second choice.

"I'm an idiot," he murmured out loud, feeling another migraine creeping up.

"Yes, but what else is new."

Zuko snapped his eyes open, slammed his chair back onto the ground, and hastily threw his arms over the files. He glared at Azula, who sat on the edge of his desk, perched while she enjoyed a piece of chocolate she'd chipped off his personal supply, looking almost bored. She'd slipped in without him even hearing.

At his murderous gaze and the way he hoarded the papers to his chest, Azula snickered. "Spirits, you're so...dramatic. You think I haven't seen your little ranking of the girls?"

"Azula-" Zuko growled warningly.

"Oh, I won't tell a soul," she said, going back in for another piece of chocolate. "A lady's honor," she said, crossing her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"One, you're a lady? Two, you have no honor. Three, you have no heart," Zuko said, leaning back, but still shuffling the files into his lap, just in case.

"Sibling honor then." Azula shrugged, unconcerned. "It's nothing anyone couldn't guess. It would do you good to be a little less transparent."

"Are you here just to lecture me on something you know nothing about?" Zuko asked, standing up with the full intention to drag his sister out of his room.

"You think I want to be here?" Azula gave him a long side-glance. "Zuzu, I'm here for you." She flaunted a scroll around, which she had pulled from her lap. "This, dear brother, is the exact set of rules the ladies have gotten on Father's little scrimmage. Caecillia got the sages to write it down and sign it. I think you should move her higher up frankly, she's got something there. She should be at least above On Ji, who has the disposition of a kitten." Azula made a face like she'd just seen a bug.

"Most people enjoy kittens," Zuko said, not surprised that Azula actually did know the order he had the girls in currently, just honestly a little tired.

"Mhh. Still. I mean, you can really see that good military training coming through. She's precise, she's not too much of a beauty, but makeup can fix anything, and she's a girl who doesn't like surprises," Azula said out loud.

"How do you know about her background?" Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. Caecillia didn't like talking about it much, and Zuko was under the impression that it was a carefully guarded fact.

"Well, I read it in her entry bio, of course." Azula laughed like it was obvious. "Oh, you think I haven't vetted each and every girl too?" she said at Zuko's surprised expression. "I mean, this is going to be my sister, so I wanted a hand in wading through the thousands of applications that were went in. Father was all too happy to agree."

The idea that Azula, in any way, had been instrumental in bringing the girls in that had arrived sickened him. That she knew them in the slightly intimate way that their bios had given, all had to be laid out, so there would be no nasty surprises like a hidden child or a history of arrests. It felt like an invasion of their privacy on some level, because he'd been under the impression that only his father and the Sages had seen the applications.

A part of this made sense, though. It's how Azula knew how to get under each girl's skin so easily.

A slim smile crept on his face.

"What?" Azula narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Nothing," Zuko chuckled. There was one girl Azula had a preoccupation with to the point of mania: Katara. But, Katara had been a last moment find, a bargaining chip, and so she didn't have an application. All the things in her file were accumulated after the fact, as stories were published and documents were charted. Azula couldn't glean information beforehand, she had to take what was thrown at her like everyone one else. No wonder Azula was so consistently frustrated with Katara.

But, Zuko doubted Katara could be summarized in a simple bio, anyway.

"Is that all?" Zuko said, slipping the scroll to his own lap. "Or, are you just going to sit here and eat my entire chocolate stash? You could also just get your own like that." Zuko snapped his fingers.

"Ah, but it is a universal truth that chocolate is much better tasting from your sibling given unwillingly," Azula said, taking the last piece and hopping off his desk. She left without a closing remark, and Zuko considered that if the price he had to pay for an unexpected visit from his sister was just his chocolate, he'd gotten off easy.

He was about to put the bios back in the locked drawer that he usually kept them in, but in light of Azula's taunts, he hesitated. He shifted them between two or three places, finally settling on his pillowcase.

And, his pillowcase reminded him of another obligation. He patted his chest, still feeling the journal there, and fished the wrapped fabric ball of poison dust from a deep trunk.

The night waited.

XXxxXX

The store-room felt cramped with the whole group sitting around. Shoji, in the corner, was yawning into his helmet. It was past his time off, and usually he'd be sleeping, had this not been of such importance. Aiga was leaning against a wall, looking a little tired too. The handmaids had been doing double the work with helping the palace staff repair anything that needed fixing if they were available, as such was their extended jobs. Ty Lee was in the corner, sitting on a sack of potatoes, but her leg was bouncing up and down. Toph and Sokka were milling around, just...waiting.

Everyone was just waiting.

The door opened to the kitchen and everyone jumped, as though all six of them would fit behind sacks and shelves if someone other than the Prince were to arrive. Luckily, Aang came first, followed by Zuko. He very firmly closed the door behind him and Shoji stepped forward to light a lantern Zuko had brought with him.

By the light of the flickering flame, the eight all sat in a circle, unsure of where to begin.

"We need a name." Sokka broke the silence. "Something cool, something snazzy."

"How about 'Let's Not Get Killed For Treason' and make this quick," Shoji offered, glancing nervously at Zuko. Katara saw him give a slight smirk, but Shoji's joke revealed a very ugly truth.

The knowledge they all had could not only get Aang killed, but could cause each of them in turn to die a horrible, horrible death.

"We need to make some rules, be telling the same story." Zuko took charge, since he was the one who gathered them. Katara got the sense he had taken it upon himself to be the unofficial leader, but he was still trying not to step on Aang's toes. Avatar trumped future Fire Lord, Katara guessed. He was glancing at Aang every so often, trying to read the cues of the sixteen-year-old.

Aang just looked overwhelmed.

He'd gone from having no one in his corner to seven people, but at the same time, not much to do with it.

"Okay, but what about the death dust?" Sokka held up a finger. "Where's that?"

Zuko placed a ball of fabric in the center of the circle. Meaning to or not meaning to, everyone flinched back at least an inch. Sokka scooted back a full foot, shaking his head in a clear 'don't you dare get that near me' sort of way.

"We need to get rid of it," Aiga whispered. "Soon. The journal too."

"We need to move it to somewhere not in the palace. I don't trust people," Sokka agreed. "Er, sorry Zuko."

"No, none taken." Zuko raised an eyebrow. "I don't either, most days. I don't trust anyone outside this circle anymore, if I'm being honest." And, though maybe he didn't want to say it, his list of people he trusted might be even smaller, Katara wondered.

"Well, it's probably safest with Sparky, eh?" Toph shrugged. "I mean, until we can get out of the palace."

"I don't know." Zuko scowled. "I learned today that my sister has been snooping in my stuff. If she were to see this…" He swallowed hard.

"I don't think I could. Between my training and the meetings with the family, I undress and redress twelve times a day it seems," Aang bemoaned.

"I'm blind," Toph said, which was in itself a good enough reason.

"The guards can search our rooms anytime," Aiga twittered nervously.

"And the guards don't have their own room," Shoji sighed.

"Well...I guess I could," Sokka said, realizing the options were limited.

"I'm not sure. I mean, we don't want this falling into the wrong hands, obviously. Keeping one person on it seems bad, strategy wise," Katara said, something that no one else had brought up.

"I should be the one." Aang shook his head. "It's mine. This stuff is about me, when it comes down to it, and my legacy."

"Which is why you shouldn't!" Ty Lee broke in, looking horrified. "Aang, we're expendable. You, the Avatar, you're not."

The idea that the rest of the group was 'expendable' had Aang looking ill.

"Maybe we all share the burden," Zuko sighed. "Yes, even you Toph," he added when she opened her mouth. "Switch off every day. Until I can get us out of the city, or even a small group of us. And split it up, minimize the fallout."

"How soon will that be?" Shoji ran his fingers through his hair.

"I wish I had an answer," Zuko said rather honestly. "In the meantime, no one congregate in a group larger than three of you at one time. No reason to give anyone suspicions. No one talks about it. No one uses code-words or whatever to refer to it, because you're probably not half as smart as you think you are. Also, does anyone speak Old Nomadic?"

"I studied first lessons of it," Ty Lee spoke up. "But I don't recall much."

Everyone else basically just looked at Zuko rather blankly. Katara had never even heard of it before now.

"Great," Zuko sighed. "You're going to start learning it. It's a dead language, which means no one knows it. That's how, if we really have to, we can communicate about anything involving us or him or the book." Zuko held up the journal. They'd discussed just burning it at the palace, but if any pages were to be seen, or survive, or if someone were to find out what they were doing, having seen the smoke...as dangerous as it was to have it intact, it wasn't worth risking it yet.

"Yes, sir." Toph saluted him. "I don't know anything about anything."

"Lose the sarcasm, keep the idea," Zuko instructed, holding back a groan.

"I'll take one first," Sokka said when no one moved to leave the room nor take the items. "Tui and La, protect me," he murmured to himself, gathering the power wrapped in fabric delicately in his arms. There was another pause, and no one moved again.

"Fine, I'll take the journal." Katara finally said.

"Water Tribe coming in clutch," Sokka raised his hand to high-five it. Katara gave a low, angry scowl.

"Right, we should scatter," Shoji suggested, "or else people are going to notice our absence, and more than that, our combined absences."

"True. Dismissed, uh, team."

"See? We need a cool name." Sokka said.

"For a club that's not supposed to exist?" Ty Lee tilted her head. "Might be better it doesn't?"

"When it requires a cool name, we'll get a cool name," Zuko said with slight aggravation. "Now, seriously. Scat, all of you. Shoo. No, not all at once." Zuko dragged a hand over his face as everyone went right to the door. "Hasn't anyone a lick of espionage in them?"

"Right, um. Maybe those two first." Sokka laughed nervously, and Katara knew he felt stupid since he was smarter than that. He was pointing at Aang and Shoji, who had reason to be seen together. "Then Katara and Aiga." Katara was a little disheartened to not have a chance to catch Zuko alone again, but it made sense. "Then...where's Toph?"

"Already gone, I think. Through the ground." Shoji pointed below his feet. Sokka scowled.

"Fine, for the best, I guess. Uh, Ty Lee after, then me, then Zuko. Sound good?" He looked at Zuko. The prince shrugged, not seeing a flaw with it. Aang and Shoji ducked out first, and then, after a respectable amount of time, Aiga tugged on Katara's arm.

Katara slipped back into her bed, and it seemed no one was none the wiser.

XXxxXX

Aang took a deep breath outside the doors to Zhao's suites.

The conversation last night in the small and cramped store room had put a lot of things into perspective for Aang, most notably, that many people were willing to practically go to war for an Avatar who, so far, hadn't done anything to earn their trust or their loyalty.

All the years before, since he had moved into the Palace, it was so easy to tell himself that this was the way to fix things, by learning the Palace language and becoming one of them, so that when he pulled the rug out, no one would be any wiser. And Zuko having his back and teaching him this world, telling him he'd surely be killed if he came forward with his true identity, doing so much to keep his secret a secret...well, it would have felt dishonorable to spit on all that the young Prince had done.

But now he couldn't pretend any longer. Even if the voices were not in his head reminding him daily, the world had forced its hand.

The Avatar's return was whispered. Airbenders were on the rise, just as the horrible monsters who killed them the first time were peeling themselves up from the ground.

Aang paused, tilting his eyes upward as the Avatars mumbled in his mind.

Ty Lee's trick had given him nearly six blessed hours of peaceful mental space that was all his own. After, however, the Avatars had returned to his mind groggy and disoriented. They sounded as though they were drunk, like they'd all gone out for a grand ball and returned worse for the wear.

Aang had gotten drunk once, and he had hated it.

Passing himself off as a vegetarian in the palace wasn't hard. With all the fruits and veggies they imported from Earth Kingdom, there was a growing faction that only ingested leafy green things, as compared to meat. And, if he was being honest, the Fire Nation had more to offer a vegetarian than the Air Temples even had. Refusing alcohol, however? Silly to say, but that would have blown his cover.

So, Aang drank in small quantities, when it was appropriate. It had been early into his guise as Kuzon when Zuko had given him a little too much and the pair had gotten roaring drunk. Aang didn't really remember much about that night, but it was enough to know that he never wanted to get that way again.

He was getting side-tracked, though.

"Can you take over, Kasata?" he whispered. "I can't do it without you…"

Lately, Aang always felt like he was fighting for headspace, for his own voice to be the most present one. It was always a battle. It was only when there were no voices around, and Aang had just sat on his bed and thought about it, that he considered maybe there was a way to release his own dominant voice and let one of the other Avatars take over. They were loud enough and boisterous enough to tell Aang that they had full personalities, each and every one of them. And, they'd retained all their memories from past lives. While Aang could tap into the knowledge base containing all of Gopan's musings on bird migrations or Kyoshi's lessons on fan fighting, to actually use it was something entirely different, that often Aang fell short on.

But, maybe, if he allowed a different, specific Avatar to use his body as a conduit for just a moment…

Now, more than ever, he needed Kasata, one of the previous Fire Nation Avatars, to help him. Kasata, who had dealt his whole life with two-headed snakes like Zhao and was raised with the military in his bones. Avatar Roku was just too kind, and there was no room for kindness in these matters.

Aang needed Zhao to trust him. He needed Zhao to see him as his apprentice and take him everywhere there were airbender sightings, so Aang could finally do something. He didn't know what, but something. He needed to be able to be as ruthless as Zhao and not let his emotions override him.

"Please, if you can, now would be the time." Aang screwed his eyes shut and knocked twice on the door.

For a moment, it seemed like Kasata especially was silent, and Aang feared he'd be standing in front of the terrifying man and start blubbering incoherently. Then, it was like someone had just...shoved his consciousness back a couple paces. Aang could see exactly what was happening, but he found he couldn't move his arms or legs. He was just a voice, thoughts, floating in nowhere while someone else puppeted his body.

"Now you know how we feel," Kasata said out loud. It was Aang's voice, Aang's own lips moving, but the way he spoke was no longer his own, replaced by Kasata's curt and sharp tone. It was unmistakable and more than a little eerie.

The door swung open. Zhao blinked at the young student in front of him for a second, unable to hid his surprise to find Aang standing outside his door.

"Master Kuzon, or...should I call you Guardsman Kuzon? Which do you prefer?" he said, his voice calm as though it was a simple question.

It's anything but, Kyoshi murmured, and Aang could only agree from his backseat position. Luckily, Kasata knew exactly how to navigate it.

"Guardsman, if I must. I'll respond to either. Service has been different, eye-opening. Alas, I feel guilt for not signing up previously." Even if he had supposive guilt, his words were delivered an with even-tempered drawl, something nearing emotionlessness.

"What kept you, if I may ask?" Zhao turned his gaze down on Aang. Not on him, per se, but down as he straightened to appear taller.

"Many things. It was never quite so necessary. I was a little older than Royal Family members usually are when they begin, and I also wanted to get to know the Palace before diving in. Know what I was protecting."

"And now it's necessary?"

Kasata laughed, but it was neither warm nor full of humor. "As you said, Commander Zhao, it is a dangerous time we enter." He paused, waiting. When Zhao did not invite him in, he continued, "I came to apologize. The other day, I may have seemed a little unwelcoming toward the idea of bringing me into such an important campaign. I did not mean to sound ungrateful. I was just surprised that anyone would consider me important enough to be considered, because I am, after all, a distant cousin." Something about Kasata seemed so sincere it made Aang feel sick. He was playing it perfectly though, because Zhao seemed to relax. Just a millimeter, but it was something.

"Guardsman Kuzon, Ozai is fond of you, and his son even more so. You are family, you do realize. Blood is terribly important," Zhao said, like he was teaching a lesson.

"I do realize. I wanted to come to express my gratitude in person that you'd consider me for this. I want to make sure that I am still considered a candidate to join you," Kasata continued.

Zhao blinked. "Ozai is very firm, so there was never a question. However, I am pleased you are showing such a renewed interest."

"These airbenders are a danger to us all, sir. As you said, this is my family, and I will do anything to keep them safe. I was more surprised we weren't leaving immediately. If you would be so kind, I would be honored to learn under your tutelage."

There was a pause, but then, Zhao smiled. It was just as awful as it usually was, but now, Aang saw it was genuine, and that made it worse.

"Guardsman Kuzon, I see a great deal of myself in you."

That's all he said, before closing the door.

Aang suddenly sagged as he felt Kasata lose the grip of the reins on his body.

"What's that mean?" Aang whispered, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Kasata sounded apologetic.

It means he's accepted you. You're going to be his new student, he's going to groom you to be a monster.

It is the way we will win., Roku assured Aang, who felt ill to hear Kasata confirm such horrors. Aang felt nothing rise up his stomach, like before. He was then even more disgusted that he wasn't going to vomit after all was said and done.

As he walked back to his chambers, legs feeling like lead, he couldn't help but think that in the pursuit of peace, he'd just signed his life to the war. That while he was trying to wipe clean the slate of the world, he was going to end up with a blackened heart. One for the many, he whispered to himself, one for the many. He felt like this was a sudden insight, and he'd just stepped over from childhood to what it meant to be an adult Avatar. Even if he realized this, he hated it.

Roku's long sigh was cryptic.

We all must sometimes do terrible, terrible things to make things good. But the worst travesty is that one day, this will fail to make you ill like it once had.

Poor Aang! And my poor Zutara babies. One order of pining, coming right up!

I have only two little notes.

When Zuko and Kat are comparing stars, they're actually looking at the Pleiades! Their versions are real life constellation equivalents, Inuit and Japanese ones.

I also sorta consider what Aang's doing at the end to be like in the show Sense8, if you guys watch that, where like other people can 'hack' into his mind to use their specific skills. I will forever be salty they cancelled that show.

As always, remember to review!