Daughter of Hate

by Blutus Mindpretzel

The war is over. Azula's motives remain unknowable as her child stands to shake the foundation of everything built since the fall of Fire Lord Ozai. For Toph, Mai, Aang, Katara and the rest, the world is an even more dangerous place than it was when they were children. And despite being long since gone, Sasuke's impact continues to shudder their world, perhaps more than they know.

32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Kyoshi's Secret

Kakashi just managed to notice the tall, slithering form before he grabbed June's arm and pulled her quickly into the dark of an alley, a split second before a tall, wormlike spirit floated past, its blue and purple hue lighting up the ground at its feet while it passed. As the strange hissing sound of it faded away, Jun was wise enough not to make a sound, but Kakashi flinched a touch as she jabbed him in the side, a typical reaction she had whenever he seemed to make such contact with her.

They had made it into Ba Sing Se with no event and while Kakashi was more than experienced in maintaining focus, the back of his mind was well at work with what he had so recently learned.

Upon nightfall and the clear departure of a majority of the spirits, he, June and Nyla had approached the side of the wall that Sasuke had informed him had been the last place he had seen Madara. He had been readily preparing himself for disappointment as it seemed to him that the chance of even a creature with as incredible attunement and senses such as Nyla finding a trace of his quarry was deeply unlikely. If Madara had last been here over a decade ago, and had left by trans-dimensional means, it seemed rather likely that such a trace wouldn't even have remained. His decision in putting a semblance of faith in June and her animal though paid off sooner than he might have ever guessed however as, well over a hundred yards from the wall, June leaned down and patted Nyla on the snout.

"Whenever you're ready… tell me what you sense."

The creature's head lifted and its snout almost seemed to furl slightly before it nearly bucked them both off as it reared back and let out a distressed sound.

"The hell—!" June shouted as she dug her heels into the saddle's stirrups and yanked back on the harness. Nyla's legs gave out from beneath and the animal more or less dropped onto its belly, looking rather pitiable. Cursing, June swung her way off of the saddle and moved quickly around to kneel in front of Nyla, putting a hand on top of and underneath her snout, murmuring softly in words that Kakashi couldn't hear. It was strange seeing June remotely in a state of soft and gentle nature, and he might have remarked on it had the situation not been as serious as it was. He too slid down from the saddle and gazed around the area carefully; just because they had seen such a vast number of spirits leave the city, there was no telling what sorts might still be around, on patrol or otherwise.

After a minute or so of collaborating with her partner, June got to her feet and brushed off her thighs before walking over to Kakashi with an appraising look on her face.

"You want to know what Nyla sensed?"

Kakashi regarded her with an equally playful look, though both their tones remained steady.

"More than anything."

June threw a look over her shoulder and seemed to be weighing something in her mind before she turned back to him with a sigh.

"He got wind of someone impossibly powerful the moment I had him start sensing. We're still pretty damn far away from where the scent originates, which only tells me further that this has to be Sasuke."

Kakashi didn't so much as react as he was forced to remember yet again that he was playing something of a con with June.

"But that's not the weird part… Nyla caught the scent, but when I asked him where it was in relation to where he first sensed it…"

She looked over Kakashi's shoulder and gave her chin a soft jerk.

"It's not leading away from here, not really in any direction."

Kakashi looked to where her gaze was cast and his eye met the towering wall of Ba Sing Se.

"It's leading right here, right into the city."

It was a damning thing indeed, but Kakashi had forced himself to think on this rationally. Based on what he had spoken to Sasuke about, Madara wasn't even within this world any longer, and his being not only within the world, but also right there in Ba Sing Se didn't make sense considering what he had been trying to accomplish the first time he had stepped into the world alongside Obito and Sasuke. If he was orchestrating these events as they believed, what reason would he have to come back into the world when he could freely command the spirits from wherever he was within the spirit world?

We still don't even know how they're heeding his orders… assuming that they're following his orders at all.

Kakashi had forced himself to keep from thinking on the uncertainties that surrounded the whole matter, for he knew that dwelling on any unknowns was a very dangerous game. Doubts and the like were a quick path to distraction, and regardless of what he thought, June and Nyla had given him a lead.

"I'll make my way into the city," he had told June. "From there—"

She didn't let him get any further than that as she aggressively grabbed him by the collar.

"Not so fast, mask," she growled, using the somewhat unfriendly, yet also somehow playful nickname she had bestowed onto him during the course of their travels. "I had a feeling you'd try something like this. You use me and Nyla to get yourself a proper heading and then you take off. By my recollection though, we had a deal, you and I. And I've nearly fulfilled my end."

Kakashi had taken a moment to try and think of how he might alleviate the situation as June was looking at him rather dangerously; he had looked past her at Nyla and she had given him a dismissive gesture.

"I'm going to drop Nyla off just behind the last bluffs we passed. He can take care of himself, and I don't intend to leave him there longer than a day. And if you're worried about me keeping pace with you, don't. I can move just as fast as you can."

This wasn't true of course, but Kakashi didn't want to antagonize her any further by suggesting that he could make it to the wall and back before she even realized what had happened. He also knew that he needed to play his approach to the wall somewhat carefully regardless; there was a powerful presence within Ba Sing Se, and he wasn't about to drop himself into something he wasn't prepared for.

"My apologies, I misspoke," he said, offering her a smile from underneath his mask. "I meant, we'll make our way into the city. I suppose I'm just rather caught up at the idea of being this close."

He somehow imagined that June didn't believe him, but he knew by her attitude that she didn't really care what his motivations for trying to give her the slip were as long as his end of the bargain was held up. And for the time being, her tagging along didn't provide Kakashi with any negative correlations.

That was how Kakashi had found her by his side as they waited in the alley for the all clear.

Poking his head out, he quickly looked left, right, ahead and above for good measure and finding the roads and sky clear, he turned back to June and gave his head a jerk. She followed his lead and they worked their way down the dark streets, hugging the sides of the buildings as closely as they could.

"I assume you have a plan?" June asked quietly and Kakashi nodded. Taking Nyla into Ba Sing Se would have been the most efficient method of going about the matter, but the shirshu had seemed badly distressed just being near such a strong scent which suggested that he would be of little use the further along they brought him, and there was no telling if such a creature would dissuade their attempts to remain undetected by any prowling spirits. June had clearly had her own reasons for leaving Nyla, but Kakashi assumed they were likely for fear of his wellbeing and mental state, which he could appreciate considering how close the two seemed to be, more friends, rather than pet and owner.

"We work our way towards the center of the city and the palace," he said softly. "My hunch would have to be that—"

It happened far more quickly than Kakashi would have anticipated and he felt himself being mildly impressed by the would-be thief's speed. A lean figure raced from around a corner in the dark of night and rushed up behind him with an agility that might have gotten them past anyone else, but there was little that a normal person could have done to sneak up on Kakashi. He waited until they were right on top of him before turning and lashing out with an arm to grab them as they raced past and the shadowy person was yanked to a halt.

"Get off me, asshole!" they snapped and Kakashi's immediate reaction was to look around him quickly to keep his eyes peeled for anyone who might possibly have heard the sound, but unfortunately, the thief had gotten a hand on something of June's and she stepped forward, snarling as she did.

"You rat!" she barked. "What do you think you're—"

There came a distant wailing that almost sounded like it could have been the wind whistling by, but Kakashi knew better than to assume something so trivial and he looked directly to the sky. Off in the distance, towards the top of the wall, he saw a dim purple shape seemingly spread its wings and arch its bizarrely shaped body, the sound coming from its direction.

"Aw crap," the thief muttered. "Iroh's gonna fry me."

They tossed June back the small bag that they seemed to have snatched from her side and gave their head a jerk.

"Come on, you two. You both go down, and I'm gonna go with you, and that shit is not happening tonight."

Kakashi gave a last glance at the purple shape that seemed to be falling from the wall in what he knew was most certainly a controlled fall of sorts before turning to the thief.

"We're right behind you."

He and June ran after the figure without another word, taking several twists and turns down different streets and into alleys, not slowing at any point. Behind them Kakashi heard what sounded like the pitching wail growing louder if not necessarily closer to them and he wondered what matter of creature was moving their way, and he found it rather odd that the creature had only needed a raised voice to be heard through the city to burst into movement.

Eventually, they slid up in front of what looked like a teashop and the thief banged their hand on the door, hissing at the crack between it and the doorframe.

"Iroh! We've got a watcher coming in!"

The door opened without so much as a second in passing and the thief was grabbed by the collar by an older man with a kind face that, for the moment, was twisted angrily.

"Inside, both of you!" he said urgently and both Kakashi and June followed his order. Kakashi looked back at the old man and was surprised to see him actually step out into the street as the thief grabbed them both by the wrist and pulled them behind the counter.

"Get down! Hopefully they won't do a headcount, but you never know…"

Obliging, Kakashi listened closely as the wail grew closer and closer with the ground almost seeming to rumble beneath their feet as the thief leapt out towards where the old man was standing.

"I don't need your permission to go outside, Iroh! It's none of your business—" they started to shout before the old man cut them off.

"Go inside and be quiet! This is the last time I want to have to deal with this!"

As Kakashi listened, he heard that the wailing had cut off entirely, but a moment later, a hissing inhuman voice rasped through the shop.

"Breaking curfew has already been addressed here, has it not?"

Iroh spoke in what seemed like quite the mollifying tone.

"Forgive the child, I beg of you, kind spirits. So many of our young don't understand and don't know how to cope with these conditions…"

"The Avatars are being more than generous with even letting you people out of your houses during the daytime," the voice continued aggressively. "More of these incidents, and things will change, that you can be sure."

"I understand. This will not happen again."

There was a great feeling as though something large were moving away from the front door before there came a heavy thudding as though a great pair of wings had just pushed off from the ground. A pause came as the thudding grew distant and then faded before the door slammed and the thief's voice broke out.

"Ha! That watcher is dumb as a box of rocks! And when are you going to stop calling me a child, old man? I'm a grown ass woman after all."

Kakashi slowly got to his feet to see the thief leaning against one of the tables in the teashop with a broad smile on their face. Iroh looked less than pleased as he moved away from the door, crossing his arms as he did.

"As long as you keep making rash and childlike decisions, the title of 'child' befits you just fine. Regardless of how many times we are able to play your antics off, we cannot hope to continue such a charade every time you get caught getting careless while out at night!"

"Come on, Iroh," the thief said. "You said it yourself, the spirits are just occupying the city, they don't want to kill anybody. They didn't even kill that weaponsmith from downtown who tried to lead a revolt, they just threw him in the dungeon."

"That's not the point! You're jeopardizing…" Iroh started before seeming to realize that the argument either wasn't worth his time, or wasn't going to result in anything worthwhile being resolved. He turned to Kakashi and June, and his eyes seemed to flicker with recognition at the sight of her.

"June," he said, his voice growing warmer. "You're still in the Earth Nation?"

She fixed him with a humorless smile.

"Iroh," she replied. "You're still alive?"

The dig at his age might not have been meant in fun, but Iroh clearly seemed to take it as such and he chuckled in good humor.

"These old bones don't seem to want to stop me moving," he said and June crossed her arms.

"Well, if they feel like wrapping around me, play it a little cleaner next time."

Iroh's good natured expression seemed to wince a touch and Kakashi sensed a history between the two, but he kept his mouth closed as it really was none of his business. Clearing his throat, Iroh didn't seem like he wanted to dwell much on it either and he turned to the thief.

"How'd you get tangled up with Smellerbee anyway?"

June pulled a face at that.

"What in the hell kind of name is—"

Kakashi decided to speak up then, not wanting to watch any sort of verbal jousting be instigated between June and the thief who was making a face right back at her for what she had been about to say.

"We were making our way through the city when Smellerbee here tried to make off with something of June's."

The thief winced as Iroh slowly moved a disapproving and somewhat exasperated look to her.

"I thought we were well since past this sort of behavior," he said tiredly and Smellerbee raised her hands in a gesture of apology.

"Old habits. Saw the two of them out and thought they were trying to get away with a pleasant, romantic night out and I took the shot."

She looked at Kakashi with a curious gaze.

"He's fast though. Like, really fast."

Iroh looked to Kakashi as well and offered his own gesture of an apology.

"I'm sorry that you were nearly roped into a whole mess of trouble because of the young lady here, but I would like to ask…"

He looked to June as well, his eyes moving between the two of them with interest.

"What has the likes of you two doing out at night when the city's been on lockdown for quite some time?"

June, looking almost proud of their goal, smirked back at him.

"We're on the hunt for Sasuke. We were able to trace him to here inside the city."

Smellerbee seemed to completely forget any semblance of annoyance she possessed for June just then and looked at her with an intense interest.

"Get the fuck outta here. No one's seen Sasuke since the day of the invasion."

June looked at the young woman with a raised eyebrow.

"Not a matter of seeing him, sweetheart, just a matter of knowing where he's been which tells me right where he's going to be."

Smellerbee's smile grew as a challenging look flickered in her eyes.

"You seem to be pretty confident for someone who doesn't seem to have found him yet."

June continued to smile right back.

"I've been held up by a few things, street rats for example."

The younger thief narrowed her eyes just slightly.

"Oh? Maybe we should go for a walk and try and find them, I'll help you stamp them out under the moonlight. Should be totally romantic."

June's grin only widened.

"Yeah? You want to hold my hand?"

The two women continued to swap petty words, but Kakashi's eyes were locked on Iroh. He hadn't missed the moment where the old man had heard Sasuke's name come out of June's mouth and the mixture of confusion, concern and trepidation all told him that he needed to keep the conversation from coming back to Sasuke. Iroh clearly had some kind of history with Sasuke and whatever it was, Kakashi didn't need it reaching a point where it compromised his situation with June.

He knows something about Sasuke. And I don't need to know what, but I definitely don't need her hearing it.

Deciding to try and at least ease Iroh's mind, Kakashi walked over to the table nearest the old man while Smellerbee and June continued to passive-aggressively bicker with one another and sat down. He gave a glanced back at the two women and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, giving Iroh a raised eyebrow of his own.

"How'd you get tangled up with a fireball like her?"

His question immediately seemed to start doing the trick and Iroh gave him a genuine and amused smile.

"Which one?"

That was enough for Kakashi to give a small chuckle.

"Smellerbee."

Iroh drew fingers through his white beard and looked ponderingly off towards the ceiling a moment.

"She would have come to Ba Sing Se over a decade ago. At the time, she was caught up in a rebel group led by a young man who had a burning hate for the Fire Nation and who I fear might have dragged her and the others of their company into a great deal too much danger than his revenge should have been worth."

Kakashi couldn't help seeing Sasuke's face flash in his mind as he listened.

"The young man eventually was killed in the course of his activities," Iroh continued. "His group remained together for a period of time, but drifted apart after the war ended, and while they all remained in Ba Sing Se, they had to find some semblance of real work, at least to a degree."

Though it was clear that he had been feeling some particularly mixed feelings for Smellerbee and her reckless behavior, Kakashi could see the fondness in Iroh's eyes.

"I found her when she was at a low point, still just a kid, but not having much of an idea what she could possibly do for a living. I decided to offer a job as a contractor of sorts for me."

"A contractor?" Kakashi inquired.

"Of information," Iroh clarified. "I needed someone within the city to keep tabs on important going ons and pertinent information when I wasn't around. Smellerbee became my eyes and ears throughout Ba Sing Se in that sense, and she excelled at the work I gave her. Her rebellious nature still comes out from time to time, through thieving and aggressiveness and reckless attitudes in general, but I'm glad for her services and the skill at which she operates."

He never had quite lost the worried light in his eyes, but it only seemed to worsen as he continued.

"She's been staying at my shop since the invasion took place. She was always the type to sleep wherever she was, but the spirits imposed a great many rules and restrictions on the city since they claimed it as their own, and a curfew was one of them. As you can see, that hasn't stopped her from still finding ways to get up to trouble, even when she knows what's at stake. Though that hasn't just stopped her as it rather seems the two of you also found reason to try and slip past the spirits during these dark hours."

Kakashi gave a nod and drew his finger along the wood of the table, trying to think how best he could approach this without getting too specific, nor giving away something to either Iroh or June by consequence of what he was actually in Ba Sing Se for.

"I need to get to the palace," he finally said, deciding to remain ambiguous as much as he could, and hopefully mask his intentions purely by saying what he was planning to do. "The quicker the better, and I need to get there quietly. I very much appreciate your helping us dodge past the spirits the way you did, but I… we really must be going."

He corrected his syntax as he felt more than saw that June and Smellerbee had finished their confrontation and had moved over to listen in on the conversation. Kakashi certainly didn't want June thinking any more on his potentially pursuing this on his own.

"The palace is perhaps the most dangerous place in the Four Nations right now," Iroh said, a warning glint in his eyes.

"Because of the Avatars?" Kakashi asked, and Smellerbee spoke up before Iroh could.

"Those two bitches have been sitting all high and mighty in the palace since the invasion began, having their peace and quiet while the city falls apart under fear and control."

"Avatar Kyoshi and Avatar Yangchen have been in the palace since the invasion, yes," Iroh said, looking slightly put off at the way Smellerbee had described the situation. "They are as powerful as any being in this world could be, and I can't imagine they would like any sort of trespasser present."

I would imagine not… but they probably wouldn't expect someone like me. Not that I intend to be seen regardless.

"I have no business with either of the Avatars," Kakashi said simply. "I simply need to reach the palace to confirm some information I have."

He realized just how much that statement was asking for clarification as it left his mouth and he silently hoped that no one would do just that and ask him to specify.

"What's got you fixed on the palace?" Smellerbee asked of him, and he found that was at least a question he could somewhat dodge.

"It's just a matter of securing the whereabouts of someone, not for the purpose of anything other than that."

"But what—" she started, but June cut her off.

"Sorry kid, but we're running a pretty tight ship here as is. Can't have any more interested third parties."

Smellerbee crossed her arms and gave Iroh a wry smile.

"Not a very nice thing to say to the person who can lead you right up to their backdoor undetected."

Kakashi gave her a look, then turned to Iroh.

"Is that true?"

The old man looked slightly distressed at her words, but didn't so much as seem to even think of denying them.

"Indeed. Smellerbee perhaps knows this city the best of anyone I know."

Looking pleased at the endorsement, she gave Kakashi a look of her own, though she briefly flicked her gaze smugly at June.

"So how about it? You looking for a tour guide?"

---

Sasuke had been sleeping soundly enough that he imagined it had taken him quite some time to actually notice the repetition of sound that woke him. Somehow, he was distantly aware that he had been laboring under some rather intense dream, but one that he couldn't remember the smallest detail of. Only that it had been something exceptionally worrisome to his mind.

He lay there under the cover of his bedroll as his mind blearily regained consciousness, listening to the sounds over and over again; a soft patter, a gentle thud and quiet grunt, several short steps, and then the cycle would repeat. It sounded so strange to his ear, but when he opened his eyes, he found it rather ridiculous that he hadn't figured out what it was prior to seeing it.

Somewhat slower than she had been trying the previous night but no less determined, Soza was attempting to run up the wall of ice that made up their temporary living space. By the time her second foot made contact with the ice, every time she would fall flat on her back with a small utterance of pain. She had lain out her own bedroll and the spare blankets to give herself some cushion, but it was clear the impact was still painful. She tried over and over again however, not seeming to show any signs of stopping, and Sasuke sighed as he sat up.

Soza hadn't want to stop for dinner last night, though she had made no progress on actually ascending the wall in the slightest. Her first foot would touch, and then as her second foot came up, she would be falling by the time it reached the ice. No matter how many attempts she made, she would try again, and again, and again, until Sasuke practically had to drag her to dinner. She had leapt to her feet after wolfing down Jin's stew, but Sasuke had forbade her from trying any more that night. By the time she had finished making her attempts that hour, she was sweating and panting, likely aching, and most certainly exhausted, though her determination likely would have made her push on regardless. It shouldn't have surprised him that she would have woke before him to resume practicing, though it looked to be more an exercise in self-harm than anything.

"That's enough," he said wearily, and Soza either didn't notice him, or didn't care. She tried for the wall and again went crashing onto her back. Gritting her teeth and cursing under her breath, she struggled to her feet and looked back at the ice wall angrily, but as her knees bent as she prepared to sprint, Sasuke was suddenly behind her, wrapping an arm around her chest and holding her still.

"I said, that's enough."

He could tell that she wanted to argue with him and demand to be released, but she must have been very tired indeed as she only panted in his grip, her body still tensed. Sasuke let her pull in air for a minute or so in the hopes of simmering her down before asking, "How long have you been at it this morning?"

She panted a moment longer before angrily muttering back, "Probably about two hours."

Sasuke found himself both angry with her for stubbornly attempting what he knew would be something of a relatively impossible exercise, and also at himself for allowing her to do so; no doubt her entire body was as sore as it ever had been, and yet still he imagined that if he let her, she would continue.

"Why haven't you stopped?" he asked. Part of him wanted to tell her off, but while he knew that part of it was his fault, he also knew that giving arguing with her or scolding her would be like throwing rocks at a mountain to try and get it to move. Another approach would be needed and while he still had no intention of actually teaching her about Amaterasu, or Susanoo, or anything that he felt might put her in a place where she could endanger herself or others, he felt that perhaps some information might at least put her mind at ease. Even if only temporarily, Sasuke thought as he looked at the sweat rolling down his daughter's neck. It was clear that her determination was not something he was going to easily be able to stem.

"I can do it," she growled frustratedly. "I know you're probably laughing in your head watching me try over and over, but I know it's possible."

Sasuke felt a twinge of sadness that Soza had been raised in such a way that she would have assumed that her own father would find her struggles amusing.

"There's nothing funny about it," he said firmly. "In truth, I'm rather shocked at your stubbornness however."

"It's not being stubborn when I know I can do it," she said, the stubbornness in her tone adding a somewhat humorous irony to the whole thing. Sasuke continued to hold her as he pondered his best course of action, before giving a sigh.

"Soza, do you know why I'm able to walk up the wall? Because it's the same reason why you can summon Amaterasu, just as I can."

This seemed to catch her attention and she turned to look at him, her glistening face focused intently on her father.

"Why?"

Knowing he was committed at that point, Sasuke sat down and pulled her with him, causing her to sit in his lap as he found himself almost unconsciously running his hands through her hair.

Is this what feeling and being affectionate for your daughter is like?

"You possess something that no bender has. While there is an energy that constitutes a bender's abilities that someone who isn't a bender lacks—"

"That's our chi, right?" Soza asked and Sasuke nodded reluctantly, actually not entirely sure of the particulars himself.

"I believe so. But you and I have an energy different to that. It's called chakra."

"Benders have chakra too," Soza said and Sasuke shifted where he sat slightly.

"This is different to the chakra you're used to probably hearing about. The way it runs through our bodies is different, and the things that it allows us access to are different."

"Oh," she said, and he could tell she was thinking as she waited a few seconds before speaking again. "Is it because we share blood?"

"That's right," he answered and he could tell that Soza was starting to get excited in his lap just by the energy she was giving off.

"So what does that have to do with walking on walls?"

Sasuke took a long inhale before starting his explanation.

"Chakra is something that we can gather physically and use it as physical energy, as opposed to using it inherently for controlling water or fire per say."

"I can bend water?" Soza exclaimed and Sasuke put his hands on her shoulders, massaging her gently in an attempted to keep her at least somewhat mellow.

"Not in the sense that you mean," he said. "But that's a different matter; chakra can be gathered at any point in your body for the use of mobility, attack, defense, just about anything you can imagine. If your chakra is strong enough and your will is strong enough, it becomes a very flexible tool. When I walked up the wall last night, I gathered my chakra in my feet and used it to grip the ice while keeping gravity from reacting as strongly to my body's presence."

"So it's chakra, it's not some trick!" Soza said somewhat triumphantly and Sasuke looked down at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

She grinned up at him fiercely.

"I thought for sure that it had been some trick and if I just kept trying, I would figure out how you had fooled me!" she said. "But now I know that what you did really was real!"

"You didn't trust me?" Sauske asked, genuinely curious, but he could tell that Soza believed he had taken offense and he could also see in her eyes that trust never really had taken any part in it.

"No, I do," she said much more somberly, looking down with something like reserved shame on her face. "I do trust you, dad, it's just… after trying that much, I started to wonder, you know? How you had done it, and if there had been some gimmick involved."

She straightened her back and winced, but her smile returned quickly.

"That means I can do it!"

Attempting to pull free of him, Sasuke didn't relinquish his grip and Soza looked back at him, her brow furrowing and her smile sliding away.

"What are you doing?" she asked sharply, giving her arm a tug to try and free herself. "I have more work to do!"

"Not now," Sasuke said, doing his best to remain as impassive as he could. He didn't want Soza seeing just how her wild determination was affecting him. "You're worn out, and we have much ground to travel today again. In case you had forgotten why we're out here."

He watched as her eyes flashed with a series of raw emotions, from realization, to anger, to guilt, to that determination again.

"I won't slow us down!" she nearly barked. "I can tell, I can see that's what you're upset about, but I won't! I'll keep pace with you no matter how fast you go!"

Her words were of course hardly of consequence when it came time to actually start traveling again.

Sasuke forced Soza to join him for a light breakfast where he found that Jin's biscuits were just as good for being filling as she thought they'd be, which pleased him and let him know that they had a fair bit of distance they'd be able to make their food last. They quickly packed up their belongings afterwards and Sasuke stepped out of the tall niche they had taken refuge in for the first time since they had found it.

The world outside was bright, almost shockingly so. The sun had risen and cast its light down over the ice and snow that made up the plains that stretched as far as the eye could see, and made it almost blinding to look down at his feet. They sky was a fiercely pale blue and, for the time being, Sasuke couldn't make out so much as single cloud in the sky. Soza marched up beside him, her face scrunched as she squinted at the brightness that had rather been even a touch too much for Sasuke before he let his eyes adjust. It didn't long for her to realize that he was looking down at her, and she turned her own gaze up challengingly as she shifted her pack over her shoulder.

"I'm ready," she said, almost impatiently and Sasuke exhaled a small sigh through his nose.

As he had expected, Soza wasn't able to keep the pace that they had maintained the first day. He silently and deliberately slowed his own movement to accommodate for her, but it only seemed to make her grow frustrated when he did.

"Why are we slowing down?!" she would snap. "I can go a lot faster than this!"

Sasuke knew fully well that she was barely able to manage this arrogant front, but he still did his best to cover ground efficiently while making the necessary exceptions to their speed as a result of Soza's tired body.

He was perfectly aware that it was his fault that they were even in this situation; he had given Soza the task of running up the wall in the hopes of frustrating her to the point where she wouldn't pester him about being trained, but it seemed that his plan had rather backfired as she seemed wholly fixed on managing what he had shown her. He had clearly also underestimated how much falling on one's back over and over would exhaust and pain them.

Or at least, I forgot what it felt like myself.

The only thing that seemed able to keep their trip from being completely debilitated was Soza's utter and forceful determination. No matter how many times Sasuke tried to approach her throughout their day to traveling, or indiscreetly tried to suggest they take brief breaks to get their bearings, Soza always would see through him and know what he was trying to do.

"Stop treating me like I'm weak!"

It was hardly that Sasuke found his daughter weak, if anything, he was finding her exceptional in a great many different ways. There had been a part of him that wondered if being raised as royalty under Azula her whole like would result in her long term endurance breaking down quickly, resulting in him seeing some spoiled side of her. And he imagined that it wasn't because she wasn't spoiled, but in terms of willpower, Soza was anything but weak. Had she been his student or something along those lines, he would have had no problems with how things were going.

But she's not my pupil. She's my daughter.

The whole reason Sasuke had taken her along in the first place was to protect her, and in just one evening, he had managed to completely scramble her head in an attempt to alleviate himself from what he imagined would have been constant nagging.

By the time the sun kissed the horizon, the second day of venturing had yielded nothing more than miles and miles more of land that didn't at all match up with what Sasuke was looking for, but as something of a small bit of silver lining, the sky remained deeply clear. This allowed Sasuke to set up their camp close to what seemed to be a natural lake that had formed off of glacial water resting near where they had stopped their search for the day. He deliberately placed them on a rather flat stretch of the icy shore, but it didn't take Soza long to trek a minute or so away and find a frozen slope that slanted enough sharply enough to make something near to a ninety degree angle.

"Absolutely not," Sasuke said, when he followed her to the place she had found.

"Why not?!" Soza demanded. She had practically dropped to the ground when Sasuke had stopped and she had cut off the firebending she had been using for flight. He could tell even by her slouched posture that her body was feeling perhaps even more exhausted than it had been. And yet, here she was, still practically desperate for a chance to continue trying to master what he had shown her.

"Soza, you're exhausted," Sasuke said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You know why it was that I took it slower today, and—"

"But-!" she started somewhat aggressively, but he cut her off.

"And no matter what you're going to try and say know to blow this aside, you know as well as I that was the case. We can't afford to waste time, and we're not going to keep slowing down because you have it in your head that you want to perfect this exercise."

Soza grit her teeth and clenched her fists and Sasuke tried to keep from thinking that she looked a great deal like her mother when Azula got irrationally angry.

"That was just because it was my first day trying! It'll get easier the more I work at it, the harder I make it for myself!"

Sasuke remembered how they had shouted at each other the previous night, and as much as he rather wanted to give Soza a piece of his mind for how thick she was being, but he had since realized that raising his voice was hardly the answer. Fighting fire with fire in terms of Soza was not something he could expect to work.

"Come back to the camp, we're going to eat and go to bed."

She didn't relent in the slightest.

"I need to keep training! I'll prove it to you!"

Pursing his lips and trying to keep himself from growing too frustrated with her, Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his daughter.

"Prove what to me?" he conceded, and he saw her eyes flash with vehement intent.

"Prove that I'm like you!"

And in that moment, Sasuke could see that this was about so much more than some desire to get stronger, some mindset of Azula's that might made right, much more than anything he had given Soza credit for.

She wants validation.

All through the day, he had been thinking to himself how ridiculous it was that Soza was so caught up in wanting to figure out how to walk up a stupid wall, and he hadn't once thought about why she actually was trying to replicate him.

Did she somehow not think she was good enough to be his daughter?

Sasuke knew he had to pick his next words very carefully because as he looked down at the intensity and eagerness in Soza's eyes, he knew that whatever he said to her might have more than just an affect on her rather obsessive work ethic. Slowly, he dropped to a knee beside her and continued to rest his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't need to be like me," he said quietly. "I don't want you to be like me."

Her expression couldn't have seemed more confused and crestfallen if she had tried.

"Then… what do you want me to be?" she asked, just as quietly, all that energy seeming to have gone cleanly by the wayside. Sasuke found the words coming to him as easily as any could.

"I want you to be like Soza."

The eerie silence of the frozen plains took over then as neither Sasuke nor his daughter seemed to have much to say in regards to that. Sasuke watched as her eyes slowly fell to her feet, and he could practically feel the cogs churning in her head as she tried to figure out what to make of his words.

"I don't know who that is…" she finally said quietly, and Sasuke could tell that she meant it. His heart, which he had always prided on being quite unshakable at least until he had met Ursa, fractured at the sight of his forlorn daughter and he pulled her close to him and hugged her. Just as he had with Ty Lee, he tried to put as much feeling in the embrace as he could, to try and offer some semblance of the emotion he was experiencing rather than trying to outright explain it.

"You don't need to know right now," he said, her hair brushing against the side of his face. "You are the only person who can find her, but she doesn't need to be like anyone else. If there are parts of me, parts of your mother… then so be it. But you will never be able to be just like me or her."

He squeezed her tighter.

"I'm not saying that to try and make you feel bad either; in fact, it should make you happy."

"Why?" she asked both glumly and curiously into his shoulder, and Sasuke allowed himself to crack a smile.

"Because you're the only person who's ever going to get to be her."

After a moment, he pulled back and saw that she was looking less dismayed, but still deeply confused, and he tried not to grimace.

I'm not very good at this whole father thing… I should have brought… I don't know, I feel like anyone would be better at this than me.

Soza's eyes flicked back towards the sloping wall of ice, and Sasuke weighed his options in doing what was best for the good of their expedition and also what was best for his daughter.

"Alright," he said with a sigh. "You can try the wall for a half hour before dinner."

He watched as that same excitable energy started to return to his eyes as she looked his way and Sasuke made sure to make himself clear.

"Only a half hour. After that, we eat dinner and we go right to sleep."

Soza seemed to catch herself as though she knew that showing too much interest was likely to not bode well.

"Okay."

"And we do it my way," Sasuke said. "Every attempt you make, you do on my mark, in my increments, not charging over and over like some dumbass bull."

Clearly hearing the authoritative tone of his voice, Soza straightened her back almost like a soldier looking for commands and nodded firmly.

"I will."

"And you will heed my words," he said sharply. "I'm going to give you more than just telling you its chakra that lets you control your own physicality, and try and tell you how to do it. You will listen to my words and not try and do anything on your own."

She nodded firmly again and Sasuke could see her trying to keep down her smile.

Soza kept her word. She didn't so much as take a step without Sasuke's go ahead and she seemed to listen very intently to every word he said. She didn't grow impatient when he had her stand still for minutes on end to try and channel her chakra and she didn't grow frustrated when her attempts were met with the same results that had been happening that morning. Sasuke was sure to catch her every time before she struck the ground as he had no desire to see her grow any more hurt from the exercise than she already was.

"Find that energy. Find that feeling of power and direct it not through your mind, but press it to the bottoms of your feet. Focus only on the wall and ascending it, for it has no more power over you than your Amaterasu. It exists separately from you, but that doesn't give it any reason to defeat you because it has no will of its own. If your will is strong enough, your chakra will let you defeat the wall; hold the chakra close to yourself, and remind yourself that it belongs to you."

He offered Soza every worthwhile piece of advice that he could, everything that he remembered he had used himself during the time he had performing this same exercise under Sasuke's tutelage. Unfortunately, the thing that he recalled being the most motivational and helpful to him in growing stronger and getting higher each time wasn't something available to Soza, which he supposed might have been a good thing.

We tried so hard to one-up each other, day after day. Every time we ran up that tree, we'd look each other dead in the eye, just silently promising that we were going to be the one to reach the top first.

Tipping his head back slightly, he watched his breath wisp away into the pale dark sky, caught up in a rush of memory.

Naruto… what would you do if you were me?

"Dad?"

Pulled from his thoughts, he saw Soza poised for another attempt at the wall, her arms tucked, her knees bent. Sasuke looked at her and for a moment, all he saw was a group of three children waiting for their instructor's direction. Yellow hair and determined as all hell, pink hair and deeply focused, black hair and full of hate.

He needed a moment before he spoke, just so he would be able to keep his voice steady.

"Sorry… let's try it again."

---

The palace loomed tall above them, but Kakashi had his gaze focused on the back of Smellerbee as she slipped them right up to the palace's back gate, just as she had promised. She, Kakashi and June huddled up beneath some bushes and shrubs planted around the grounds and she jerked her thumb upwards.

"Roof is usually covered with watchers, those big nasty purple flying things that nearly ran us down earlier. Any other approach and we risk getting spotted by them, but from here…"

She rustled off into the bushes a little further and gave a grunt of satisfaction.

"This grate opens up right into the lower levels, and doesn't put us in any of their sight lines."

Kakashi looked at both Smellerbee and June's faces, noting the excitement on both their faces, and he sighed. He had been pondering this for a period of time as they had made their way over to the palace, but this was as good a time as any to make this somewhat choice, especially since he was now precisely where he wanted to be.

This will get dangerous, no matter what I find. And I can't have either of these two in harm's way. June, you helped me figure my way here to the city, Smellerbee, you got me right up to the palace, but now…

"Sorry, ladies," he said and they both had time to at least start to turn and look his way before his hands reached the backs of the necks, finding the pressure points they were looking for and pinching. Two sets of eyes rolled back and both women passed out in his grip; Kakashi lowered them to the ground gently and looked up towards the shadow of the palace.

They'll be safe in the brush here, no one will find them. And I'll get them out of here when I leave.

A single nagging doubt pricked the back of his mind.

"What if you don't leave?"

He ignored it and slipped right up to the grate. A quick couple pulls and the grate gave way to his touch and he found something almost relieving about slipping inside the structure on his own. He had found that he rather enjoyed June's company over the past several days, but knowing he was about to be able to move without needing to be watching out for someone else gave him a very freeing feeling.

Darting from shadow to shadow, he made his way through the lower levels of the palace, as silent and unnoticeable as he could have wanted to be. He passed all manner of spirits, and not a single human as he worked his way quickly up several flights of stairs, and found that his progress was actually rather fluid and done with ease, at least until he hit the main hall. There was something of a commotion going on and Kakashi slipped into the darkness behind a pillar to listen in.

"Avatar, the troops will have reached the Northern Water Tribe in a matter of days. Per your orders and those of Kyoshi, we cannot proceed to their borders without your permission."

Kakashi peeked around the marble to see a towering giant of a spirit that nearly tripled the height of a human standing in front of a stoic looking woman.

"Be that as it may," the woman was saying in reply, "without Kyoshi present, we cannot give the order. Make haste to the border, but if we are not able to confirm marching on, you will instruct the generals to hold position until otherwise given the command."

While it wasn't exactly easy to look at the spirit's face to determine its expression, as it was as equally hard to even try and locate a face, Kakashi could tense a very tense and impatient energy leaking from the creature. It stood before the woman for a period of time, its body slowly roiling and fluctuating before it inquired, "Where, pray tell, has the other Avatar been?"

"Kyoshi is occupied," the woman stated flatly. "Not even I am allowed into the deepest recesses of the palace to see her during this time, though my assumption would be that she is meditating or has gone back through the portal to try and speak with the spirits who have encountered Sasuke and whose forms have still yet to coalesce."

The answer didn't seem to give the spirit before her much clarity, but it eventually lowered its upper body into what must have been a bow before it turned and walked from the wall without another word. Kakashi remained where he was, keeping his eyes on the woman as she remained standing in the center of the hall and it was then that he was able to note some rather familiar features about her. The orange garb and blue tattoos clicked for him then as he realized that she looked very much similar to Avatar Aang.

She must be Avatar Yangchen.

Yangchen had a deeply intense look about her and it was clear that her mind was racing. If what Kakashi had been led to believe was accurate, both she and Kyoshi were the two women holding the most power among the spirits, but it seemed as though Kyoshi was being a touch distant in recent days.

No sign of anything too noteworthy thus far, except for the fact that the spirits are definitely heading north as I surmised. I'm running out of time.

After near a minute, Yangchen walked towards the stairs that would lead to the palace's lower levels and Kakashi felt comfortable moving again. He flitted through door after door, to the point that it definitely felt to him like he was being consumed or at the very least swallowed by the palace itself. Reaching a door eventually that was guarded by an entire platoon of armored and armed spirits, he was required to use transformation jutsu to get past them. It must have been through here that Kyoshi had ordered that she not be disturbed, if anything was being put under such tight lock.

If I've any bet to learn something, this is the best choice I can make.

He slipped within a much darker hall than the ones he had been previously working through, walls of a deep red lit only by torch surrounding him. The cavernous hallway led him to another door, and yet another, several twists and turns leading him into a deep silence as he moved quietly into the heart of the palace.

Kakashi's feet drew to a swift halt as a cry of pain echoed from far off, something that might not have even made it to his ears had he been any further away. It was the first sound he had heard in minutes now, and it just further reminded him that he needed to keep all but invisible. He continued on his way, a couple more brief shouts of hurt resonating towards him and getting louder as they came, telling him that he was getting closer by the second. Eventually, he finally saw an open door and he moved quickly towards it, and found it to be ornate and decorated, and Kakashi imagined this very well could be the throne room. Risking a glance inside, he tried to confirm whether or not that was true.

It did appear to be just as he had assumed, deep, rich colors making up the walls and carpet that made their way around the series of steps that led up to a throne. Someone was sitting atop the throne and there was a person on the floor before them, battered and struggling to push to their hands and knees.

"You failed. I gave you ample time, and even with all the resources at your disposal, you could not deliver me Sasuke and his child."

The figure on the ground shook badly as they tried to push themselves upright, their voice weak and angry.

"You… promised… you'd let her… go…"

"I promised her freedom when you succeeded in your task."

"But I… we've found them… they're north…"

"Splendid news. Why don't you head that way and bring them to me then?"

"They're… you know that he's… he's powerful…"

"And you have an army at your disposal and no small amount of power yourself."

The person on the throne leaned forward, smiling and speaking in a tone that Kakashi had heard before; he might not have heard it in many years, but that never meant it had kept from slithering back into his head time and time again.

"Instead of completing the task before you, you dared to try and raise a hand against me. I will need to collect payment for your insolence, I think."

The struggling form of Avatar Kyoshi seemed to find the strength to make it to her hands and feet then. Despite the state she was in, and the obvious pain that was plaguing her, her expression shone only of hate.

"Don't you dare—"

Kakashi could have told then and there that she was making a mistake, but nonetheless, the figure on the throne seemed to almost flicker a moment before Kyoshi's body curled and she crumpled to her knees, gasping in pain. The person sitting then rose to their feet and their face passed into the light for Kakashi to get a proper look at the face that was exuding that grimly familiar tone.

He wasn't ready to see him. No amount of thought beforehand or hunch could have made it any easier. Kakashi was a well trained and experienced ninja, and his hardened mind had been able to take much in years past.

But looking ahead then and seeing… him.

There was no mistaking it, who it was. But Kakashi realized then just how badly he had wanted to be wrong.

Madara Uchiha stood over Kyoshi's humbled form, not an ounce of anything other than relaxed arrogance seeping from his features.

"I'll do what I want to whom I want, including you, dear Avatar," he said with a vicious smirk. "Perhaps you were considered something of an untouchable warrior in your time, but daring to approach me, on your own no less? There comes a time where bravery falls off into stupidity and I think you have more than achieved that today."

Laying eyes on him was enough to paralyze Kakashi to his core. This had been his hunch, his own belief, but to actually now know it to be true was something that he couldn't have described. It had been something that he and Sasuke had so matter-of-factly discussed, no sense of fear or tenseness even then, just an understanding. How different it was now, how much more daunting it all seemed now.

One of the most powerful and devastating Shinobi that ever had walked his world was standing just before him; though he still seemed to be under the Edo Tensei judging by his eyes and skin, that was the only part of him that might have suggested a debilitated state. His voice, his posture, his expression, everything else about the man let off an aura of pure power.

"Why don't you just… deal with him yourself?" Kyoshi growled from where she knelt. Kakashi could see streaks of blood running down her temple and from her mouth, and there was no doubt that judging by her hunched and shaking form, she was hurting more than she was letting on.

"You can ask every variation of that question that you would like, but I will not be spoiling that for you, Kyoshi," Madara said and stepped down the stairs to stand just before her. It was quite clear that Kyoshi would have stood a great deal taller than him were she on her feet, but the difference in their position told a completely different story. Looking down at her for a moment with an almost polite curiosity on his face, he ordered quietly,

"Bow, Avatar."

Swallowing what was likely a mixture of bile and blood, Kyoshi turned her head up at him, defiance written on her face, but when he raised an eyebrow at her, her shaking lips curled and she complied, lowering her head in a low bow. Madara chuckled at the sight before bringing a heel up to slam into the back of Kyoshi's head, driving her into the ground at his feet. Kakashi could see her face clenched in pain from where it was pressed to the ground, but she didn't retaliate.

"You have been given one task, and one task only. And you still come to me expecting leeway for your failures."

He lowered his head slightly to look directly down on her and Kakashi could see malice on Madara's face as it slipped into shadow.

"You will go north. You will kill Sasuke and his child, or bring them helpless before me, and only then, I will I consider our… arrangement finalized."

Straightening, he drew the toe of his foot back and gave her a small kick under the chin; it might not have seemed much, but his strength made it sufficient to knock Kyoshi onto her back where she lay panting while Madara turned his back on her.

"Safely or in pieces. It's always been up to you, after all."

He stood before the throne, gazing towards it as he clasped his hands behind her back while Kyoshi weakly staggered to her feet. Kakashi watched as she stared at Madara's back, hate and fury burning in her eyes even as her expression somehow remained mostly steeled. He watched her hands twitch as though she were about to reach for a weapon that he couldn't see, but with a grimace, she straightened her hands going to her side and unclenching almost forcefully.

"It will be done."

Every word of her brief statement rotted with disdain, but she turned and walked just past the shadows where Kakashi was hidden out of sight behind the pillars that lined the throne room. Her movements were almost regal, but it was clear that she was trying to hide a limp; as Kakashi watched her leave, he saw the injuries on her face almost seeming to be somewhat healing.

The spirits seem to have regeneration abilities… perhaps the Avatars more than any.

The door boomed shut behind Kyoshi's passing and it struck Kakashi that he was now alone in the throne room with Madara only a dozen meters from him. It took a fair bit to rattle him, but in that moment, he felt nothing short of pure nerves dancing around his insides.

I have what I came for. Time to leave and get to Sasuke before the spirits do. We were right.

He looked to the door, trying to imagine what would be the best way to exit the room without being noticed. In his head, he had already perfectly mapped out three ways that he could reach the grate from where he had entered, where he could then grab both Smellerbee and June, and make from the palace back to Iroh's without alerting anyone in the palace, spirit or otherwise. Settling on a plan, he drew his hands together, preparing to make the hand seals necessary before a rich, menacing voice drifted out. It wasn't spoken in a loud volume, but it was impossible for the voice to not reverberate about the room as though shouted from a rooftop.

"We've always played in the shadows, but the time for such games has passed, wouldn't you say?"

Kakashi didn't so much as breath as he remained in the dark, trying to listen for any sounds of the room's only other occupant moving.

"I can't expect you to understand my motivations, nor do I intend to try and explain them. While we walk between worlds, so to are our minds in very different places."

The soft sound of Madara stepping gently down the steps before the throne caused Kakashi's gut to twist with dread.

"You trained the boy, did you not? Has it surprised you then, to see him so many years later, tangled up with power, with love? Have his conflicts made him a stronger man for it, or weaker? What do you suppose this world has done to him that our own world might not have?"

He chuckled softly.

"Such curiosities to me. Though I suppose I have the leisure of affording them. Not like you, though, isn't that right?"

The movement wasn't something Kakashi was able to take note of, nor was it something that should have been able to happen quickly, but in less time than it had taken him to blink, Madara's voice sounded again, this time directly in his ear.

"Kakashi Hatake?"

---

Yue knew that she was scared, even as she tried to keep such thoughts far from her mind. Ursa had sat down with her for quite nearly a half hour and spoke in soothing tones to try and keep her calm, and make sure that she wasn't going to pass out before going through with it, but Yue still felt scared. She had trekked alone with Sasuke for weeks, fought and killed in several intense situations, faced down a mountain sized serpent, and even had to try and deal with her feelings towards Sasuke that she couldn't quite figure out. And yet now, going to see the two people whom she had known best before her passing had her insides in utter knots.

The Northern Water Tribe was very clearly trying to keep it under wraps that they were gearing up for something like an invasion, but it was clear to Yue that things were far from ordinary, even if the citizens were more or less oblivious to the happenings around them. Their group had been granted residence in the palace, and without so much as a word from any of them at least as far as Yue could tell, Tangith must have assigned some of his personal elite to monitor them all from as much a distance as could be acceptable. It was clear that some like Mai and Suki found them obnoxious additions to their daily routines, but there was no doubt in Yue's head that the chief had done so with no ill intent, and the action was a result of his concern that perhaps some assassin, human or otherwise, might make for them, given their connection to Sasuke. The chief was nothing if not aggressively paranoid, but given the circumstances, that was a welcome trait.

Military drills and amassment had begun around the palace and near the entrance to the city. Sokka and Katara had both spent time in Tangith's chambers and it was quite likely that they had been summoned for advice on defenses for the city, assuming that invasion could happen. The others had been able to keep to themselves for the most part, Azula never so much as ever seeming to leave her room, Aang wandering the halls looking to be trying to keep his nerves down, Jin, Ty Lee, and Toph seeming to spend a good deal of time with one another, Suki restricting a lot of her space to near Azula's room, with Zuko seeming to keep an eye on her as well. Ursa had been keeping to herself right up until Yue had finally mustered up the courage to knock on her door; her brief conversation with Sasuke had been what had held her off for over a day.

If Ursa is really… pregnant, what business do I have bothering her?

And of course, she didn't dare tell Ursa about her suspicion and how Sasuke had been far too flustered to deny it when she had brought it up to him, so there really wasn't a reason to keep her distance that Ursa knew about. So Yue had finally gone to her door and rapped her knuckles, doing everything she could to drive thoughts of a Sasuke and Ursa baby from her head in the hopes it would keep her from accidentally making mention of it.

"Yue, hello," Ursa said warmly when she answered the door. Her smile was genuine, but there was a tiredness in her eyes that was unmistakable. Yue wondered if that was a natural result of her oncoming pregnancy or if she just wasn't sleeping well period, either due to missing Sasuke, or worry over Azula, or fear over the child within her, or any combination. It struck Yue then that she felt very guilty for approaching her when she must have had just such a great deal on her mind then.

"Hello," Yue had said and then immediately cleared her throat and cursing herself in her head as she did.

Way to be anything but subtle right away.

"How are you?" she had then blurted out and wanted to punch herself in the nose the moment she did. Ursa had indeed looked slightly surprised at the question, but seemed somewhat grateful to even have been asked such a thing.

"I'm alright, managing things alright, considering all that's going on," she had replied. "I suppose I am a touch tired though."

She had regarded Yue with those eyes that seemed to just be able to pick a person apart, and her gaze dawned with realization then.

"Oh my goodness… Yue, I'm so sorry, this is about your parents, isn't it?"

Swallowing, Yue had put her hands up in a gesture of goodwill.

"No, no, nothing to be sorry about, I just—"

Ursa had put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into an apologetic hug.

"I didn't even think to come and see you about that," the older woman said, the guilt apparent in her voice, and Yue felt guilt of her own surging in the way that her situation was putting stress on Ursa. "Please forgive me, I never meant to—"

"Ursa!" Yue had nearly shouted; she didn't want to be remotely forceful, but whatever she could do to alleviate Ursa's clear discomfort was all on her mind at that moment. "I'm serious, please don't worry about it. I don't… I wanted to talk to you about some things before I went anyway."

She could tell that Ursa wasn't entirely eased by her assurances, but she at least didn't continue trying to apologize.

"Of course, anything," she said, ushering Yue towards the couch in her room. It had been perhaps something of an awkward moment then as they both sat besides one another, but Yue hadn't needed long before the words simply began to spill from her as though a plug had been pulled within her. She told Ursa of the fear she was still feeling, even with everything else that was happening, how she still had been somehow finding herself putting off visiting her parents. As she talked, she had noticed that her confession seemed to almost be having something of a positive effect on Ursa's overall demeanor; perhaps being able to take her mind off her own issues to focus on those of another really was beneficial.

"I guess at the end of the day, even if I know that they'll be happy to see me, even if there's nothing to worry about there, I'm still just frightened of even seeing them. I can't even say why, I just am," she had said, putting her chin in her hands. Ursa had leaned back a moment, seeming to be deep in thought before she had smiled strangely enough.

"If I had to guess, it's because you're frightened of hurting both yourself and your parents. The truth is, I don't think you can avoid that," the older woman had admitted. "Your circumstance is about as unique as can be, and while I would suggest then that there really is no way to predict how you will feel and how they will feel. Based on what you've told me, your death clearly affected them badly to the point that your father stepped down and while they still appear to hold advisement positions, I would suggest that they might only do so to keep themselves preoccupied."

Her expression was focused but pained.

"I can't imagine losing a child the way they lost you. And I have reminded myself several times over the past days how truly bizarre it is that I am even able to talk to you as I am."

"What if…" Yue started, and swallowed the words down. She realized she was quite worried to so much as bring up a fear that had been looming in the back of her head, but she imagined if she didn't bring it up then, she never would.

"What if when this is all over, when Sasuke closes the spirits off… I die again?"

She didn't want to touch on just how much anxiety the thought was giving her; Yue was a person once again rooted in the physical world, reincarnated by methods outside her understanding, and she possessed no spiritual aura, no real ties to the spirit world save for how the spirits had been able to track her whilst they were still a dimension away, and her sword. Everything about her seemed to be human again, but that didn't keep the fear from her that things might be different than she thought. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"I don't feel like I'm anything but human… but how could I do this to my parents again? To show up and then be taken away again… wouldn't it be better to just not even show myself to them at all? In case I do… leave again, and have to put them through that all over?"

It was a tremendously unfair question to ask of anyone, but Ursa sat back on the couch, clearly giving it a good deal of thought. She didn't respond for well over a minute by which point Yue was getting ready to apologize for dumping this all onto her.

"I don't know I can tell you anything better than what I would do. There perhaps isn't a right answer to your conundrum, but if it were me, I would go. See them, embrace them, tell them everything you wished that you always could. Leave nothing unsaid and tell them how much you love them. Perhaps there is cruelty in the possibility that you could leave them again, but aren't the chances just as well that you might be left well enough alone when this is all over?"

Yue had barely dared to even consider such a thing out of fear that something like hope would only emphasis her worry even further. But as Ursa said it, she couldn't help but think of how happy she would be just for a chance to start over and actually have a chance to live, to be with her parents, to be a part of the world that she had spent such restricted time in even as it had been.

Still, she thought to what Ursa said first and she found herself nodding.

"You're right," Yue said softly. "I would never be able to forgive myself if I didn't."

Ursa had given her a warm smile and stood, offering a hand. Yue had taken it and the pair had walked out of the room and into the palace; a quick inquiry to one of the patrolling guards informed them that all advisors and staff were still congregated in the meeting hall near the chief's chambers, and Yue almost laughed aloud as she found herself heading in that direction immediately without so much as the smallest direction given to her. Even after all that time away in the spirit world, she still remembered fully well the layout of the structure she had called home.

She and Ursa approached the large ornate door that led into the meeting hall to find a squad of soldiers standing guard. Yue had inquired about entrance, but they had barred her, saying that the meeting room was off limit to palace guests when such a meeting was happening. For a moment, Yue had almost expected one of the soldiers to recognize her, but she supposed that was somewhat unrealistic. She might still have had the silvery hair that had made her so easy to spot in a crowd when she had been alive, but it wasn't done up in a traditional royal fashion, nor were her clothes of any similar sense. And to boot, she was a young woman now, not the girl she had been when her passing had taken place.

So she stood now off to the side, leaning against the wall and trying not to let her stomach tie her into a knot of nerves. Her toe tapped somewhat impatiently and urgently on the marble floor and Ursa took her hand.

"There is nothing to be worried about. There is nothing for you to be sorry for, to be guilty about. Your leaving your parents wasn't something that could have been avoided, and it is your right now to enjoy this reunion for all the happiness it will give you, the relief."

Yue did her best to focus solely on Ursa's words and found that they were genuinely helpful in distracting from her anxiety, even if she wasn't likely comprehending most of the meaning behind them. She squeezed Ursa's hand back which seemed to encourage the older woman to keep speaking quietly to her as Yue kept flicking glances at the door to the meeting hall to the point where she knew the number of times she had looked that way was surely into in the triple digits.

The wait took forever it seemed and yet, when the door opened at last, Yue drew back, panic surging to life within her almost immediately. She found herself internally wishing for more time to prepare even as she had been so desperately wanting the moment to finally come so she could keep from eating herself alive with worry.

Men and women of various uniform, garb and rank filtered from the meeting hall, most in deep discussion with one another in small groups as they moved. Any other time, Yue would have tried to listen in to them as they passed to see if what they were discussing was at all related to preparations for an invasion or attack of some kind, but their words were nothing but buzzing in her ears as all her attention was directed towards their faces, towards the expressions of the people moving past her. She looked at each and every one of them, her heart seeming to stop again and again as she laid eyes on each of them individually, but they eventually all passed out of the room, and as they strode by her and Ursa without a word.

Swallowing down a shivering breath, Yue looked at their retreating backs with a growing sense of panic and unease as Ursa stepped next to her.

"You didn't see them?"

Yue shook her head as the guards moved through the open doors of the meeting hall, leaving the two of them standing alone with their backs to it as they watched the room's most recent occupants stride away.

"No, I… I didn't, I…"

She was starting to feel strangely panicked. What if something had happened to them? Recently maybe even? Could something malicious be happening? Why wouldn't they be there? They were told that her parents would be there, why wouldn't—"

Yue's ears twitched as the sound of something shattering echoed out behind her. Wincing, she started to turn towards the sudden abrasive sound, but before her heel had moved in the slightest, she heard a soft, weak voice wisp out behind her.

"…Yue…?"

Though her fuzzy mind found it strange that someone would be able to recognize her when by that point she was as much a stranger to anyone in the palace, Yue finished turning and knew precisely why this person would have recognized her, even just from her back.

Her mother stood in the open doorway, a pair of scrolls under one arm, and a shattered bit of pottery at her feet that looked as though it had recently held some beverage. She looked just as Yue remembered, albeit slightly more tired and worn out; her expression was that of a belief that she was trying to fight, as though everything about the moment was telling her what was happening was true, but she was trying to keep from believing it. As though doing so would shatter her on the spot.

"Dear, is something the—"

A man drew up alongside Yue's mother, and his eyes widened, his jaw going slightly slack. A larger stack of scrolls tumbled from his arms to clatter onto the floor as he seemed to sway on his feet. He put a hand on his wife's shoulder and whether that was to steady himself or her, it was a mystery.

Yue felt as though she were drifting away. She tried to launch into the entire spiel that she had rehearsed, to tell them everything about what had happened and apologize. The words wouldn't come, and Yue desperately tried even if just for the ability to say sorry. She felt that even such a small statement would root her back in reality, but even that seemed to be beyond her. Her parents stared at her, and she stared back, the distance between them almost seeming like the gap Yue had felt when she was in the spirit world and they were still here.

There came a nudge at her back then. Nothing much, just a little push. Yue might have imagined it, or it could have been Ursa. What was more significant, was how it propelled her to suddenly lunge into movement, and she raced forward, suddenly unable to bear the distance any longer.

Then, her arms were around them, and theirs around her. Yue hugged her parents as tightly as she dared, not even willing to try and think just then. She felt both of them crying as they hugged her, and she realized that tears of her own were streaming down her cheeks. Their touch was the most relieving thing that she ever could have imagined feeling, and as she stood in their grip, there was no war, no conflict, no spirits, no pain and death. It was just them, and them alone, and it was perfect.

Yue knew then, as she cried like a stupid little girl who had just skinned her knee, that words weren't necessary anyway.

For now, this was enough.

---

Yangchen turned in surprise as Kyoshi came marching towards her, moving outside the palace and into the grounds with all the focus and fixation of a general on the way to their troops, which Yangchen supposed might well have been an apt comparison.

"I hadn't expected you for another day, were you back in—?"

Kyoshi might not even have known her to be asking a question with the deliberateness that she then spoke with.

"We're signaling the generals. When they reach the Northern Water Tribe's shore, they will give exactly one chance to hand over Sasuke and his spawn. If they do not comply, we crush them."

Feeling her face pale, Yangchen forced herself to speak as Kyoshi walked by, leaving her to follow in the taller woman's wake.

"That wasn't the plan! We had everything set up, we would approach the city and request they be handed over, and then organize a series of forces to—"

"That will take too much time," Kyoshi cut her off cleanly. "Either they give them up, or they die for shielding him."

Unable to stop herself, Yangchen moved quickly to stand in front of Kyoshi and a burst of earthbending caused the ground at the taller Avatar's feet to stop her in her tracks. Kyoshi slowly narrowed her eyes, her lips peeling back and Yangchen was reminded of just how intimidating the other woman was.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked neatly, her voice not reflecting any of the challenge that was in her eyes. Yangchen was grateful she hadn't started shouting as she had felt she might have been forced to do.

"We're not murderers. We didn't come here to put down innocent people because of your ambiguous desire to accomplish this quickly."

"They gave up their innocence when they sheltered a monster," Kyoshi replied and Yangchen grit her teeth.

"That's not your decision to make."

Yangchen was feeling deeply concerned, on edge and angry all at once which she knew was a very dangerous combination. She had spent years and years with Kyoshi in the spirit world practicing calming methods and forms of meditation, and she was needing a good bit of that technique right about then.

"The sooner this is over, the sooner we can leave and the world can return to peace," Kyoshi said, her voice still an even and tempered blade. "I haven't the time to waste, nor the inclination to allow those who interfere any more mercy than my enemies."

She stepped over the small raised wave of earth that Yangchen had used to try and slow her and stared down at her dangerously.

"I trust you haven't forgotten why we came here? Why we're stepping foot in a world that is no longer ours at all?"

Yangchen desperately tried to pull up something that she could use to try and sway Kyoshi's mind, but it couldn't have been more clear to her that said mind was set in stone. She could only tighten her lips as Kyoshi walked past her, trying to think of how she might alleviate what was becoming a very deadly situation before Kyoshi said something else that made her heart nearly stop.

"You can come or stay, it makes no difference to me. But don't you dare interfere."

Yangchen spun and looked at Kyoshi as the other Avatar drew further and further away from her.

"Wait… you're joining the army?"

Kyoshi's walking didn't waver in the slightest.

"Of course. I can't trust anyone else to pulverize Sasuke and crush the life from his spawn."

---

Soza grunted as she landed back in her father's arms once more. Another night and another round of this cursed task. She was coming to hate it with every ounce of her being, but there was nothing she would despise more than giving up. So, she continued to try, running, running, and running again. Her feet would hit the wall her father created and she would barely make her second foot to its surface before falling again. Sweat dripped into her eyes as she made the rounds over and over, her pure determination causing her body to ache with tiredness something she desperately was trying to hide from her father, but she knew that he likely was able to sense her weakness.

She hated that most of all.

He knows. He knows I'm weak. He knows I'm not worth his time. He's probably thinking about how if he had another child with mother, or grandmother, or whoever else, how much more impressive they'd be to him. Not like me. I can't even walk up this stupid wall.

Her father's voice continued to sound out with encouragement, and words of advice, and Soza was too exhausted to try and discern if he was being genuinely supportive, or if he was just humoring her. But she couldn't help but feel that each word of his was becoming more like a taunt than anything, even if she knew that wasn't his intention.

He knows I can't do this. So why is he even bothering with me?

She tumbled backwards again into his grip and released a growl, ignoring her father's words telling her to maintain focus and calm. She didn't need focus or calm, she needed to climb this wall.

Three nights of this now… we haven't found any sign of what we're looking for, and now I have spend another night showing him what a disappointment I am.

Soza wanted to walk off into the dark of the night and curl up in a ball and let the falling snow ease the fury that was coursing through her. She didn't want her father to see her like this, it was quickly becoming so humiliating as to be unbearable.

"Just concentrate. That's all you need do, you have the strength, you have the will. It's just the focus you're missing."

At that, Soza finally couldn't help herself and as she pushed away from him for what felt like the hundredth time, her voice snapped angrily.

"I know! You think I haven't been listening, that I haven't been trying?!"

Gritting her teeth, she stared spitefully at the wall in front of her.

"I want to do this! I want more than anything to do this! But I can't!"

Her fists clenched and flames burst from her fists to bloom into the snow beside her.

"I CAN'T!"

She dashed towards the wall, intending to fall in her attempt to climb it and then scorch it into nothing, to at least know that she could conquer it in some sense. Soza was shaking, she was furious, she had tears in her eyes, tears that echoed her shame, her anger, her disappointment, but yet nothing—

It took her a moment to realize she was standing with her back parallel to the ground.

"What…?"

It dawned on her the moment after that and she gasped as her focus broke and she dropped back to the ground into a crouch and stared at the wall where only moments ago, her feet had been pressed against it.

"I…"

Soza couldn't believe it. With a shaking hand, she reached out to brush the wall and know then that her victory was truth.

"I did it."

She spoke the words and nearly doubled over with joy as laughter bubbled from her throat. Throwing her head back, the laughter grew loud and she yelled at the sky above.

"I DID IT!"

Roaring with victory, she slammed two fists forward and the wall exploded at the force of her fire.

"THAT'S RIGHT! I DID IT, I BEAT YOU! I DID IT!"

She spun on her heels, laughing at the sky, unable to believe how elated she felt. There was nothing like this joy, nothing like this happiness, this absolute bliss. Fire burst from her hands and mouth and she didn't dare try and quell it; this feeling was nothing she ever wanted to be rid of.

I DID IT!

Finally, she turned to face her father, the person this had all been for. Her laughter faded away into exhausted pants as she grinned fiercely his way.

"Did you see that?! I did it, I—"

She cut off as she saw his face.

Her father was standing just a short distance from her, but it somehow seemed an immeasurable gap all of the sudden. His face was nearly emotionless, but she saw the darkness in his eyes, the coldness and feeling of…

Disappointment?

Why? Why now, of all times, would he be wearing an expression of such morose disappointment?

"What's wrong?" she asked him as her heart continued to hammer in her chest. Her father continued to regard her with those dark eyes and she felt an almost colossal wave of anxiety rush over her. For a moment, she wondered if he would say anything at all; then, he turned and walked the short distance back to their camp where a small fire still burned. Soza watched him go, his feet crunching in the snow as his silhouette melted into the dark of night, lit only by the orange of the flames.

Halfway there, he stopped, and turned his head back just slightly.

"We're finished," he said quietly and Soza dashed a short couple steps forward, her hands clutched to her chest in what she knew to be fear.

"What are you talking about?" she very nearly cried out as Sasuke continued to walk away from her, his last words a shard of ice into her heart.

"We're finished," he repeated, his voice a dark shadow raising the hairs on Soza's neck. "You are not ready."

He paused in his walking a last time before leaving her standing behind him in utter defeat.

"And I fear you never will be."