Thank you to all my reviewers who stick with me (through thick and thin!): LightDas (TPC), amaryllis529, Auri Kvothe, lucel18, LittleMargarita, KnightOwl247, samuel adams17, cherokee96, storyofanunknownfangirl, cofybianva, sophiecambellbower, slythindorRen, alias09001!

Walking up to the Royal Palace late in the afternoon the next day, Katara nearly expected it to be burned down, or to find out that Ozai had done something really crazy in their weekend gone, like invited the Equalists to live with them or culled half the girls himself and thrown their items onto the lawn.

The palace, however, looked exactly as it always had, perhaps a missing spire or two from the attack. Overall, it was familiar. Familiar enough that when they pushed the grand doors open, the scent that was kicked up from the carpet and the walls felt homey. It did disturb Katara slightly to have such a pleased unconscious response to the burning smell of incense and cloves.

Behind Katara, the whole caravan of girls and others followed, some stumbling slightly or wincing at the bright sun.

If Katara asked Toph, having half of the group hung over was a mark of a successful party. Katara wasn't sold on this.

She did consider the party a success on a much different scale; Ruan-Jian had kept away from her the rest of the night, no one made too big a fool of themselves, and the party didn't end with Azula burning the place down. She'd heard stories whispered among other girls about certain events that Katara assumed were true that indicated most other people had equally as good a time.

Maiha apparently found her 'back-up' suitor, and he'd professed he'd wait for her, because Maiha had said she was '98% sure she wasn't going to be the winner'. Ty Lee sent warm smiles to Aang when no one was looking, which made Katara sure something had happened, though she was unsure what. Azula had finished the night with a scowl, and whoever made her so unhappy, Katara wanted to high five them.

She'd heard some other tall tales. Arrluck had been found at the end of the night half-naked with an Earth Kingdom girl, because surprise-surprise...being the possible future leader of a nation was a turn on to a lot of girls. Hahn had struck out horribly with everyone he tried to charm. Ruan-Jian had set his sights on Jin after Katara, but Jin was more tight-lipped about her opinions. Nadhari had apparently gotten so drunk that she became, arguably, nice...but this was one rumor Katara thought was totally ridiculous. She doubted any amount of spirits could make Nadhari a pleasant person.

Aang and Zuko, and whatever their secret plan was, had gone well. Zuko had sat talking to Rasra in the open for about ten minutes before taking him somewhere private. Katara hadn't been stalking Zuko's every move (but then again, she sort of had) and they had been out of the view of the party for at least half an hour, if not more. After they'd exited, Zuko had seemed a mixture between even more wound-up but also pleased? Katara hoped he was planning on telling her, or the group of the secret-keepers soon, because Katara and secrets being kept from her never went well together.

"Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the beach, ladies," General Iroh said, greeting the group as they arrived, a smile on his face. Katara smiled back. She may not be pleased to be in the same house as Ozai again, but she'd always look forward to the gentleness of Iroh.

"It was a blast!" Toph said honestly, her grin a little bit more mischievous. "Look at how all those girls are stumbling around."

General Iroh laughed. "Lady Bei Fong," he said in a half-serious and half-teasing manner, shaking his head at her.

Zhi elbowed her way to the front, corralling the girls before they could return to their rooms. Zuko, Azula, and the others were able to slip past her. Iroh followed behind Zuko, clasping his nephew on the shoulder, gleefully asking about the weekend.

"Ladies! I know that it's been a long day already, but please quickly drop your items off and meet me back in the Ladies' Area," she said. There was a string of groans that followed, which made Zhi look more frustrated than usual. "Let me remind you all that none of you were forced to partake in alcohol last night, so the fault is merely your own. Perhaps this will be a lesson in decorum and consequences for the future. Now, swiftly!" she said, clapping loudly twice. The sound echoed around the chamber. Nadhari rubbed her temple, sighing loudly at the noise, and Kilee, who had certainly had too much to drink, winced very visibly.

"Consequences for the future," Alcina parroted jokingly in Katara's ear, putting on a ridiculous accent, once Zhi was gone. "Agni, she's serious."

"Well, she is sort of right," Katara said. "On the other hand, it was a party, so…" She made a weighing motion with her hands.

The girls did not hasten swiftly to put their things away. The sober ones deposited their things and walked at a semi-leisurely pace to the Ladies' Room. Those who were less fortunate took their dear sweet time. As she passed one of the bathrooms, Katara spotted Kilee with her head in a basin, moaning.

It was nearly an hour before everyone made it to the room.

"I have made notes of those who were tardy and how long," Zhi said in a clipped tone.

"The horror," Katara side-whispered to Alcina.

"-but moving on, the schedules for the remainder of the trips have been decided. I will be handing out to each of you the trips you have been chosen to attend, so that you can properly plan and make choices about your upcoming time here. Some of the locations may have a project to work on, and you may need to start brainstorming right away." Zhi motioned to Wei, who began to hand out individually scrolled parchment.

"Having your name listed for a future location is not a guarantee of your presence. The Prince may choose to cut any one of you at any time. This is just a best-case plan, pending your continued participation," Zhi added when a couple of the girls began to whisper that they were settled for a location nearly six moons in advance and that had to be near to the end of the Choice.

"Zhi!" Nadhari raised her hand. "What happens if someone, and oh, let's just pick someone randomly, On Ji," she said all at once, which told Katara On Ji had not been targeted randomly, "gets sent home and had dates still listed. Would another girl be put in the place?"

"I cannot confirm or deny that. That is up to Prince Zuko if he wants to fill the roster to capacity again," Zhi said.

Katara unraveled her roll. She wasn't exactly sure, but from the chattering, it seemed like four girls were picked per trip.

Before she could read her own, Toph was waving her sheet in front of her face.

"Sugar Queen, be a dear and read this to me?" she said, not so much a question as much as a command.

Katara rolled her eyes, but unfurled it.

"Just give me the ones that will happen in the next two or three months."

"You don't think you'll be here longer?"

"Okay, hm, it says you're going on two: the trip to Gaoling and the trip to Kyoshi. The Kyoshi one is soon; leaving tomorrow. Then the one to Gaoling is next week. After that, you're good for a while."

Toph frowned. "Ugg."

"Wish you were on more?" Alcina asked.

"Less. I wish I was on none," Toph said, slouching low. "This is hell. I've decided just now."

Katara threw Toph's sheet back at her, sighing. Her friend could be so melodramatic sometimes.

Katara finally unrolled her own sheet. She counted off the number of times she was listed, and eventually switched to the number of trips she wasn't on instead. It seemed that, by and large, most girls were placed on 4-5 trips on average. Katara was on so many more; eight or nine that she could count, just in the 'near' future!

Almost guiltily, Katara folded the slip into a tiny square and wrapped her palm around it. Her first trip was early next week, and then she was going pretty regularly from there. Eventually, the other girls would realize that she was going on a disproportionate number of trips, however, Katara wasn't going to announce it right now.

Not like Nadhari, who was boasting about the numbers she had on her sheet. It ground Katara's teeth to imagine someone like Nadhari nearly matching her numbers, especially since chances were their trips overlapped often. If it was that Nadhari would be gone all the time and Katara here, she could have spun that for herself to be a plus. No Nadhari would be like a vacation in itself. She seemed to be not so lucky.

"Katara, did you notice your final trip?" Ty Lee asked, scooting her chair between Katara and Alcina, shielding her body away. Alcina was talking with Anaselma, and didn't seem to notice.

"Huh?"

"I bet Toph has the same one too," Ty Lee said, tapping Katara's fist. Katara un-creased her paper, looking at the very bottom. She then grabbed Toph's from the floor, holding it close an out of views of others. While most of the writing indicated that someone else had written this, probably Wei, Zuko had managed to grab Ty Lee's, Toph's, and Katara's for a final note at the bottom.

Midnight.

Nothing else needed to be said. It was understood.

XXxxXX

"Every time that we all meet, shit goes down. Expectations are shot out of the water. Truths are brutally revealed," Sokka said as he settled himself on a sack of potatoes, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Shoji snorted, Aang glanced his way and gave a shrug, and Zuko kicked his shin, hoping to wake him up a bit more.

"It's because we're always discussing things that could very easily get us killed," Zuko said in a tight voice. "We're not a group of old men sitting around playing Pai Sho," he added with a scoff.

"Yeah, well," Sokka opened one eye to send a half-glare at Zuko, "This 'Group Without A Snappy Name' gives me anxiety. Guhwasen."

"Gesundheit?" Shoji said, scratching his head.

"No, it's the acronym of the title. GWASN!"

"That's awful," Aang winced.

"Hey, Mister, I don't see you offering up any better solutions!"

"As I said before, a name isn't exactly on our lists of concerns," Zuko snapped.

Sokka just regarded Zuko for a moment before nudging Aang. "Zuko is grumpy," he muttered in a stage-whisper that Zuko could absolutely hear.

Zuko turned away. He had been more irritable of late, and a lot of it was coming from that damned party last night. Yes, a tiny part of it was because he was still hung-over, but a larger part was why he'd drank at the party at all. Seeing those boys fawn over Katara had been infuriating.

It's not that he actually thought Katara liked Ruan-Jian, that had been stupid of him to even ask that. He knew Katara to be of sound enough mind to find him annoying...but a part of him wondered if maybe she didn't? Totally without cause, true, but there was so much Zuko didn't know about her preferences. Was Zuko the norm of who she liked or the antithesis? And, even more than that, it was the first time that Zuko had to watch Katara and imagine she might marry someone else.

And that infuriated him.

He didn't think he owned her, but Zuko knew that he would love her and care for her and give her the entire world if she asked, so it was crazy to him that she'd settle for some asshole who would treat her like a doll or an interesting pet.

It was the first time that he really thought about how after all this, after how much he loved her and how his heart bled at the thought of being without her, he might never actually have her. And worse, she may sail home to the South and he might never see her again.

He was angry when he thought about this.

And he knew, he knew, it wasn't fair to take it out on Katara, or on Aang, or on Sokka. But great Agni, he was young and he didn't claim to know it all or be a perfect master of his emotions. It was the Fire Nation way to hold grudges, lash out, and push everyone else away until it was just you, sitting alone on that cold stone pillar high above everyone else. As much as Zuko fought against this, blood history was hard to shake.

The door opened and shut nearly silently. Zuko glanced and bit back his frustration; it was nearly half an hour past midnight. There were a number of reasons the girls could be late, however, and it would do all of them no good for him to stew about it.

"We're here," Katara whispered silently. "Zhi was patrolling the halls tonight," she said by way of explanation.

As always, it was more than a little cramped all together.

"As well as a name, I think we need a more convenient meeting place," Sokka said as he hauled himself up onto a shelf, ducking his head awkwardly between his shoulders.

"Once again," Zuko exhaled out, "Not our biggest concern."

"I'd hope not! We nearly got caught!" Toph said, crossing her arms. "And you!"

Zuko startled, realizing that Toph was angrily pointing at him.

"Yes, you, Sparky! What's the deal, sending me to Kyoshi and Gaoling?" she said furiously.

"Aren't you from Gaoling?" Shoji asked.

"Shut it, Embers," Toph held up a hand, "I'm talking with the Prince right now."

"You have to go to Gaoling. I know, I couldn't get you off that list," Zuko said. He knew that it would be no fun for him or Toph, but spirits he'd tried. "And I thought you might actually like Kyoshi...you know, it's only the women there who are the warriors."

Toph cracked a knuckle. "Yeah, well," she sniffed, "One place is doing something right I guess."

"It's only for a short trip," Zuko said. "And then, after those two, I believe you aren't on the sheet to go for at least two moons."

"Well okay." Toph crossed her arms. "But don't ask me to like it."

"Noted," Zuko said, letting out a small smile. Toph was furious at him, he should be terrified. Something about her anger relaxed him, even made him laugh.

"Can we get to the actual reason we're here?" Shoji asked, and Zuko realized he'd been furtively checking the entrance every couple of minutes. Every second they all met as a group they were one second closer to being found out.

"Yes. Right." Zuko rubbed his hands together. "I guess I'll come out with it. Aang and I are trying to make some sort of system to sneak Airbenders through wherever they may be - Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom - to a safe place where they cannot be killed. We're not just trying to identify them before Zhao does just to talk to them, we're hoping to make them vanish completely. An underground chain."

Toph brightened. "Underground?"

"Not literally," Aang threw out. "Although…" He rubbed his chin. "Remind me to talk to you later, maybe."

Toph tapped her head. "Noted."

"This won't happen without help," Zuko continued. "Aang and I have been talking about finding like-minded people who aren't in danger themselves to help us smuggle them out. People who will let them stay in basements overnight, let them hide on ships, give them food, give them clothing…" Zuko trailed off. "We need them in a lot of places. We don't want to send the people the same way every time, in case one way becomes compromised."

"Is that why you were looking for that kid? At the party?" Katara asked, understanding dawning. Zuko felt a warmth in his heart. Katara always figured things out quickly.

"Yeah. I'd talked to a shopkeeper on Ember Island who lost her son because he was an airbender, who probably was turned when Dhakiya was. She gave me a list of his best friends who might be willing to help. Obviously, this is always a gamble, because if we get one person who isn't willing to help...or worse, has turned their loyalties…" Aang stared at his hands.

Shoji made a cutting motion across his throat. That summed it up.

"And?" Katara's voice trembled.

"He's in. He thinks he convince his other two friends on the list," Zuko said. "It's in the very early stages, but now that it's been started, we realize it's so much bigger than two people."

"Yeah, sounds like a ton of shit to do," Toph said. Ty Lee was nodding quietly.

"What do you need us to do?" Aiga spoke for the first time.

"Listen," Aang said. "Listen and report back to us. If you hear anything about people who go in trouble because they spoke against Zhao and his crusade, or someone who might have an airbender in the family, let us know. We'll determine if they can help us. No person whom we can have help us is too small of a task. We don't need everyone to throw away everything; if someone can only give food from time to time or donate toys to the children on the run, or even be an ear themselves, that in itself is enough."

There was a silence among the group, a somberness that was not touched by jokes.

"This weekend," Zuko broke the silence, "We think most of the Kyoshi warriors may be able to aid us. I know we've said before that Suki is a person who we could bring into the fold, or maybe on the outside, but having the support of an island would be incredible. While we're on trips, also keep an ear open, since these are all locations that would make sense on the way to take people. I didn't pick them for their natural beauty or food scene."

"Where would they go?" Ty Lee asked.

"Only Zuko knows." Aang shrugged. "But it's safer that way. He had someone to help even before I knew what was going on. It's where Dhakiya is."

"It might not be worth it," Katara spoke slowly. "But the South would always be willing to hide refugees. It might be too hard to get to, or they might notice if ships are going there all the time, but," She exchanged a look with Sokka. He nodded, "My parents would never say no."

"And, pissing off Fire Lord Ozai would probably make my father giddy," Sokka added.

"While we're gone the next two days in Kyoshi, Aang and Zhao don't have any plans, though that may change," Zuko said looking right at Katara. "If it does not, we need to start teaching him waterbending. Earthbending too, but I feel he'll find waterbending easier than earthbending. He's nearly mastered firebending. It's dangerous to do it in the palace, but we can't put it off any longer."

"Of course," Katara agreed immediately. She shared a look with Aang, smiling softly at him. "We'll figure it all out."

Of that, Zuko could be certain. He wracked his brain, and found nothing else he needed to speak to everyone about. He motioned to the door.

"Meeting adjourned. But Aiga, before you leave, can I talk with you?"

XXxxXX

"I'm surprised you managed to get us out of the Palace," Katara said, waving to some townspeople as she walked beside Aang.

"Being a member of the Royal Family has its perks," Aang said, smiling at Katara, "As well as being part of the military."

"Maybe Ozai figured it would be easier to assassinate me away from the palace and had no reason to say no?" Katara offered with a shrug. Aang gave a choked laugh.

"I really shouldn't be laughing, but spirits, Katara."

Zuko had left that morning for Kyoshi Island, along with Suki, Toph, Anaselma, and Maiha. For as much as Toph flopped around and complained about it, it wasn't the worst group to be lumped with. Aang had knocked on her door early that morning, asking if Katara would be open to a trip down to the city with him. As Katara didn't have any previous engagements, and she loved the city, she readily agreed.

"Oh, you know he'd love to get me out of the competition," Katara gently shoved Aang's arm.

"Yeah, like just have you cut." Aang rolled his eyes.

"I think you severely underestimate him," Katara said, but at least she could laugh about it now. "He hates every inch of me."

"I'd say we should toast to that," Aang said quietly, keeping his expression bright as he waved to some more gawking common people.

Katara understood from last night that this was not just a cute little trip to the shops in the middle circle. It was more, but to what extent she didn't know. It wasn't exactly safe to talk about, however.

Their day could have been split into three distinct parts, Katara would later consider.

The first; Aang led Katara deftly through the maze of streets with a familiarity that Katara was honestly surprised to see. It was the sort of confidence that Zuko had here from his nights of the Blue Spirit.

"When I first came, the palace was stifling. I wasn't the crown prince, so I was allowed outside often," Aang said.

They went to three doors, one in each of the levels. At each one, Katara and Aang were invited inside, but Katara was left out of the main conversation. She made polite conversation with whoever was left behind: a wife, a brother, a young daughter. She accepted tea in whatever form they were offering.

In the high level, the wife boasted about how specifically curated the tea leaves were, how delicately they were wrapped, how flavorful every mouthful was, to which Katara had no disagreements about. It was quite good tea.

The brother in the middle level had a standard tin of oolong, nothing special added in, and packed in bulk. He had a teacup that was mostly clean, while he himself drank from one with a small chip on the rim.

The daughter in the lower rim offered, but Katara graciously denied. Their tea was in a box, a box not meant for tea at that, and as the daughter made herself some, she used a quarter of what was usually used in a medium-strength brew.

Katara had a feeling what was happening behind those doors, but a part of her wished to join. She didn't want to be so arrogant to talk ad nauseum about her skills in politics and handling different people, but she did feel as though she was specifically qualified for helping get this secret passage off the ground. She was more than a pretty face in the competition, which Zuko knew, and she was almost sure Aang knew.

This wasn't her project, so Katara said nothing, despite how desperately she wanted to be in the room too.

"Success?" Katara asked when Aang announced they were done for the day, "All?"

"Of sorts." Aang rubbed his neck. "I didn't want to push my luck, although there's about eight more people either Zuko or I need to try to talk to. Three was ambitious enough as it was."

"And?" Katara pressed. If Aang was going to use Katara as his excuse to get out of the Palace, she wanted to know what he was doing.

"The first family was very willing. They were friends with Dhakiya's father, you see. He gave us their name specifically. They have houses - two vacation houses - they are willing to let us use, as well as their location in the city. The people we just visited were going to give me anything I needed for the cause, but I haven't decided to what extent I'll use them. They have so little to begin with."

"And the middle people?" Katara asked, recalling that the brother had been kind.

"Afraid, rightfully so." Aang knit his eyebrows. "They did not...they didn't say no, not exactly. They just asked that they be a last resort, not a common contact."

A part of Katara flashed in anger. They had so much to give, and were willing to only give on occasion? Poorer people would give Aang anything, as it should be! But, after a second, she relaxed her shoulders. It was easy for Katara, who already hated Ozai and whose tribe was autonomous, to offer help, but it was harder to rebel against the man who could very easily have you killed for sneezing his direction.

"We should get lunch. Shop," Aang suggested.

"As a cover?"

"Because I want to," Aang chuckled. "Not everything is always so...calculated." She forgot she was not talking with Zuko or with Sokka sometimes. Aang was much simpler, a refreshing perspective.

They ate lunch at a place that served mostly Northern Water Tribe cuisine, chatting lightly about a lot of things that were safe and unconnected to any of their looming issues at hand, and mostly that ended up being about the other girls in the competition. Katara wasn't looking to be catty, and that wasn't in Aang's nature, so it was honestly about the weekend they'd just had and what ones Aang had started to become friends with.

Then, they started meandering through the shops.

"I'd like to, if possible, stop at a weapons store."

"Why?"

"Well," Katara crossed her arms, "We only have an all-important duel coming up against the Royal Family in 12 days...where you will also be participating."

Aang blushed. "Yeah, that, right."

Waterbending was a given for her, and Katara had done enough with fans to feel like she might write that as a secondary weapon. Suki had already offered her a gilded pair, saying that Kyoshi Island would be honored to have Katara practice their form.

She wanted something else though.

Sokka's lessons were still continuing, and Katara was still sitting in the shade and taking notes. Sokka was much better with swords than she was, but Katara was learning. She knew that Sokka would get his own at the end of this, but Katara had to find one for herself. And, if bloodbending was not going to be her third option, she needed a sword. She couldn't put something down that may not even work the day of. No, better to stick with things that she knew would work. She may not be a master at a sword, but she knew what end to stick people with, and she knew that they consistently did cause damage.

The shop they found was mostly empty. The store manager bustled right up to Aang first, until Aang explained with a small blush that it was actually Katara who was interested. The man blanched a bit, but then noticing her nice clothes and how she politely stood by Aang's side, decided she was still worth the money to be welcoming to.

Katara would have gone elsewhere, had there not been such a wide selection for her.

She took her dear sweet time weighing swords in her hand, testing out pommels and cutting small fruits that were brought out to test the sharpness. She probably could have gone a bit faster with her selection, but Katara first wanted to be absolutely sure this was her weapon and secondly, she enjoyed seeing the manager check the time thrice.

By the time they left, Katara had chosen a rather pricey, but very well-made, sword that had sapphires inlaid on the hilt. It wasn't necessary for her to have the glamour of gemstones, and would have been happy from a standard metal handle, but it did remind her of her home. The sword itself had been the most balanced in her hand, and while was a smidge shorter than what she'd seen Sokka swipe around, would suit her better.

Twelve days. It seemed so far away, yet so close at the same time. In that time, she'd practice relentlessly with this, along with her waterbending, so she at least had two weapons that she had no fear in using.

Aang carried her sword for her, like a gentleman, and also because he had an open sheath. He'd opted to leave his own weapon in the palace, for Katara knew he hated ever having to use it.

Katara was talking on about the competition, and how her and Suki had been preparing, when suddenly Aang was no longer beside her. She turned once and saw him vanishing into a store a couple of feet behind her.

"Kuzon!" she scolded, "Tell me before you just vanish! You step so quietly I didn't even notice you were gone." She sighed, but Aang wasn't listening anymore.

Katara took a chance to look around. It was a high-end pet store, and the scent of animals hit Katara all at once. She sneezed, wiping her nose. She hadn't really taken Aang as a person who liked pets, considering he was anti-meat. As it was, he was looking at the cages the animals paced in with a mixture of displeasure and sadness.

She wondered if he had the urge to free them all, as Katara did.

Something had to have caught his eye, as this was hardly the first pet store they'd passed.

Katara felt her eye wandering around. She saw a couple animals from the Water Tribe, including an Arctic Hen. She snorted.

"You know we eat these in the South, right?" Katara asked the woman at the register, pointing to the beady-eyed bird.

"Yes! But there are a great many nobles who enjoy a pet that's a bit more...interesting. While we have your average pets, we specialize in ones that are harder to find," she said with a broad smile.

Katara bent down, eye to eye with the Arctic Hen. Those things were, by far, some of the dumbest animals Katara had ever met. Far be it from her to stop an uppity Fire Nation noble from purchasing an animal no smarter than a pet rock.

She straightened, following Aang farther into the store.

He was standing in front of a cage of an animal that was making a lot of noise. Katara wasn't sure what it was. It had a lean body, sort of like a cat or ferret, but the coloring - cream and brown - was strange. Its ears were also humongous, fit on an animal twice its size. And, as it moved its little arms, she saw wings bridging from its arms down to its body.

"Kuzon?" Katara asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Aang jumped, as though he hadn't completely been there, mentally, in the shop.

"This winged lemur," Aang said, spinning around, a desperation in his eyes Katara had never seen. "How much."

"This?" The shopkeeper asked, patting the bottom of the cage. "He is very expensive-"

"How much?" Aang said, snapping her off uncharacteristically.

"1,350 gold."

Katara blew out, coughing hard as she inhaled dust. "Are you crazy?" she asked, "For a...flying house cat?"

"Winged lemur," both Aang and the shopkeeper corrected together.

"He is, as of right now, the last of his kind," she said simply.

"Where did you find him?" Aang asked, eyes shining with hurt, reaching out. While the lemur snapped at the woman, he seemed to move toward Aang, reaching out his little paws for his finger.

"Near Whale-Tale Island. It took me months to classify him, as no one has seen these lemurs in nearly 116 years."

Katara felt sick looking at the animal. She couldn't confirm it, but she felt deep in her heart that this animal had to have been at the air temples, and most of its kind was probably wiped out with the people. If that dust could kill people, it likely killed all the animals too.

"I'll take it," Aang said. Katara's eyes bugged.

The woman looked at Aang dubiously.

"Sir, are you sure?"

"I will take him. Today." Aang's voice, while even, was burning with an anger that Katara had only heard when he talked about the slaughter of his people.

Aang took out his money and began to count. When he did not have enough in his pouch, and refused to leave without the animal even to return to the palace for more, he began taking off pieces of jewelry or prestige from his person, and gave them to Katara, instructing her to go and barter them away.

"Are they yours to give?" Katara asked, running her finger over a golden dragon ring.

"Yes, Princess Katara, and please hurry."

In the end, Aang walked out of there with that lemur, after selling nearly every item worth anything off his body. Katara would have sold a necklace too, and her sword back, but Aang insisted this was his to take care of.

"Will you be wanting the cage, sir?"

"Cage? Of course not!" Aang replied, horrified.

"He is a little...well, he's tried to escape every time he's out of it," The shopkeeper said uneasily. "I would not suggest-"

The words died in her throat as Aang unclasped the cage and the lemur jumped onto Aang's shoulders. It would not be budged.

"We will not be needing the cage," Aang all but spat.

Outside, Aang rubbed under the chin of the animal, offering it some nuts he had in his pocket.

"He's from an Air Temple, isn't he?" Katara asked quietly.

"He is. I thought them all dead...like the world probably thought me," Aang whispered.

Katara hesitantly reached out to pet the animal. It seemed to recognize Katara as a fellow friend, and allowed her to rub its soft ears.

"But there's more of you," Katara said. "So, I wouldn't count out more of him quite yet. Do you have a name?"

Aang held out his arm, and the lemur skittered around his clothes, before settling out the outstretched appendage.

"Momo."

Katara smiled. "Well, hello there, Momo."

Momo blinked at her, making a small chirping noise, before crawling back up to Aang's shoulders.

Aang squinted at the sky. "We have one more place I have secured for us. We'll still have time today, I think."

It was an empty room near the docks. Aang explained that areas like this could be rented out for anything: storage, wild parties, a secret rendezvous...but Zuko had had the idea to buy it for them to practice bending, at least for the next two moons.

Aang set Momo down near the door, along with a bag of fruit he'd bought along the way, and helped Katara drag in a tin of water.

"Before we begin, can I try something on you first?" Katara asked.

"That sounds weird."

"It's not." Katara paused. "Okay, it is. It doesn't have a name, I don't think, but I've been trying to bend blood…" She began to ramble a little bit, she admitted, to Aang about how she'd realized blood was a water-based liquid and if she could manipulate it, just if, it might swing her win in the competition.

She'd been practicing in her room, late at night, at flies and spiders on her porch. It was easy for her to control a small insect now. Humans? Much harder. If she could control a whole hoard of flies to sicc on Ozai, that would be one thing...as it was, she wasn't even sure she could control more than one fly! She would need intense practice, but she wasn't sure she could pull it off in the time left. Since, well, it sort of needed a secondary participant.

Aang's face darkened.

"I dunno Katara," he said, shaking his head. "That seems a little...bad. To control other's arms and legs and everything? It leaves a weird taste in my mouth thinking about it."

"But think, Aang! I could win the fight like that," Katara snapped her fingers, "And neither me - nor whoever I fight - would need to get needlessly hurt! In battle, I could save people by disarming fighters! I could-"

"Probably make someone turn their own sword on themselves if you wanted, make someone's hand slit their own throat," he snarled furiously.

Katara broke off, taking a step back at his harsh words. "I would never!"

"You say that now." Aang squared his shoulders. "But a power that strong, that intoxicating, will ruin even the best of people."

"And you're exempt from that?" Katara threw out her arms. "You, who will one day master all four elements? That's more powerful than bending blood!"

"Do not be so ignorant to think I am not tempted! Avatars have wrought awful things for what they thought was right!" Aang replied back with the same tone. "I spent my entire life learning how to mediate, learning how to keep my emotions in check, and there are times I still am almost overwhelmed! Never think it is easy for me."

"I didn't say that!" Katara said, seeing for the first time how much he acted like Zuko.

"I won't let you. I cannot help you with that," Aang said resolutely, shaking his head.

Katara clenched her fists. The barrels overflowed onto the ground.

"Fine," she bit out, "I won't force you."

There was silence. Katara snapped her wrist, lifting most of the water from the ground and back into the buckets.

She exhaled hard.

"Okay, do you know any waterbending?" Her voice was soft, because after all, she had asked him his thoughts on bloodbending. He had the right to disagree. She disliked his implication, but there was little she could do about that right now.

Aang blinked, wincing. Katara moved to help Aang into the first stance.

So, yes, I've been gone awhile.

Part of the problem is that I just can't seem to write the next chapter. It's not that I'm not totally excited about this story, because I still am- I've been doing a TON of traditional art as well as aesthetic boards- so I can tell I'm still super into it. And I'm so excited to write some of the upcoming stuff. It's just the new chapter...every time I go to write it, it just turns out bad? Like, trust me, really bad.

I think I just need some motivations. Some of my best motivation come from reading other really good fic because it makes me want to get back out there and contribute! So if you could drop me the names of your favorite one-shot or multi-chap, I'd greatly appreciate it, and hopefully that will kick my butt back into gear!