I do not own Avatar, nor do I intend to make money from this story.

3 THE KING'S HONOR AND HIS CROWN

Observe his honour, or his grace,

Or the king's real, or his stampèd face

(John Donne)

Teo is smart. Like, smart, smart.

There is no theory he can't understand, puzzles he can't solve or crime he can't foresee pieces and, more than sometimes, help to set the final one. But as much as he studied The Sweetness Case, he couldn't make sense of it, at all. Toph started calling the model Sweetness, because of her impeccable record with the media.

Katara had it all: a tragic backstory, beauty and talent beyond measure. She caught the eye of former agent Hama Chisuke at the tender age of fourteen. Until that moment, Katara worked with her father, a fisherman who provided for their little family. Being the young sister, she attended customers at the fair, selling fish all morning, only to go home and work to keep her granny comfortable and the housework finished.

Hama saw Katara's potencial, when she met the teenager fighting with a group of boys, twice her size, because they had cat-called her. Hama's exact words were published on a fashion website and spread quickly through the internet: "The manner Katara holds herself, is the manner of queens. She would not allow anyone to objectify her and she wasn't afraid of them. She stood up for herself and all she believes in."

After that, her face was the most desired, her dark skin and wild hair conquered their status as most valued among the fashion industry. She was just a girl and she managed her emotions perfectly, never slipping, building a reputation that preceded her.

When she was eighteen, she made her breakthrough on an Alexander McQueen spring show, firmly imprinting her name as the most promising from her generation. In that same year, she gave an Interview talking about her family and got hold of everyone's hearts, when she told the story of her mother. A brave woman, who gave her life to spare Katara's when they were attacked by a race supremacist group.

After that, she became everyone's person. She would attend events to raise social awareness and was frequently seen in political acts. There, she met Aang. He was a teacher who had recently joined a party, with intentions of creating more opportunities for children. Their love story was sold on every newspaper and gossip websites. Aang's projects were suddenly under the spotlight and Katara's reputation got overseas. She was nineteen.

Teo rolled his wheelchair to the elevator and Haru pushed Aang's floor. Why would such a caring girl leave her family behind? She had obviously made up with Sokka, but what made her run away in the first place? Money? Fame? It wouldn't be so hard to believe if he didn't know Aang. The guy was all about spirituality and honesty. Why would he date a girl like Katara for two years?

"Hey, guys, come in." Aang opened the door and gestured inside.

His place was a big apartment, or rather, the sensation was as if. No walls divided the room, only curtains and furniture did the job. It screamed Aang all over: the colorful mats, orange and yellow tables, plants hanging close to the windows, much light coming in and cushions everywhere.

"Why did you move here, Aang? I thought you were staying at the house. It's much bigger and there's way more security." Teo asked once he settled near the colorful pillows.

"That didn't do it for Katara, did it?" He looked so serious, Teo couldn't help but make a face. "Besides, this is closer to the office and the school. I can come and go as I please." He hesitated, "And cops were at the house, making questions, searching stuff… Katara was last seen there, you know."

The detectives eyed Aang strangely, but said nothing. Haru sat down close to Teo and took a deep breath before speaking.

"We've known each other for a while, now, but that doesn't change the fact that you are a suspect. We are here to take your statement while our guys check the security cameras from the hall." His clear green eyes focused on the young politician. "I suggest you start talking."

Aang didn't waste time.

"Okay. The first thing you should know is that my relationship with Katara was fake. All of it, created by our agents in order to make us look better to the public." He paused, giving the men time to digest the information. "Katara was a great person, but we didn't really know each other when she got interested in my project for the docks. It got me my job at the office and I'm planning on taking it to the council if I make it there."

"Why did she get interested in it?" Haru asked. Teo wanted to roll his eyes. It was quite obvious.

"Katara came from that neighborhood and she knew, first hand, how kids were treated there. I mean," he looked annoyed, "no schools around, the cops tend to pretend not to see the prostitution of young children, and when they are not sexually abused, they got to work hard. Harder than any kid should have to. She understood immediately that the Project was good. Katara was a model and got a lot of praise for her looks, but she was intelligent and she cared for…" he trailed off, looking lost. Signing, he looked out the window and touched a leaf on the nearest plant lightly. "She cares. And then she got involved in politics and the idea of faking a relationship was perfect for both of us. She would be able to attend to political events and be involved without having the media focusing on it too hard."

"But-" Something just wasn't clicking. "Why would the media knowing and talking about her involvement with politics be a bad thing?"

It was Aang's turn to look at Teo as if he was missing the obvious.

"Her agent was pretty clear that mixing her image to politics would make her lose her value as a model."

"Really?" It seemed the boy had much to learn about the fashion world. "But I thought Hama wanted Katara to look smart and strong, with ideas of her own…" It just didn't make sense.

"But Hama was not her agent anymore, by then. It was Pakku."

And then it clicked.

"So Why did you break up?"

"She had her mind set on breaking up. When she showed up on Sunday, she explained how we would leak to the press, where we should be seen in the next few days…" Aang raised his eyebrows lost in memory, "Katara had everything planned out, without contacting my agent or hers, for what I could gather. I didn't ask much…" He licked his lips. "I have a real girlfriend, On Ji, and coming clean with the media is a relief."

"Got it." And Teo really did.

Sometimes she thought she cared too much about the Sweetness case, but she couldn't abandon it. They weren't best friends, but she liked the girl, she liked Sokka and to keep her partner, finding the model was a must.

After a well deserved shower, Toph checked her phone and played the messages out loud, in the foggy bathroom.

"Hey, Toph, it's me again-"

"No, Sokka, no news." She pushed his voice away with a swing of her fingers.

"Hello, boss. Aang's alibi is checked, he was seen at the elevator and into his flat around the correct time. However, something is bugging me after talking to him… I think we should talk to her agent, Pakku, again. So, if you clear me-" Interrupting his voice, she held the little device to her mouth.

"Answer Teo." she waited patiently for the bip and continued. "You are cleared. Report what you find immediately after."

Deep sigh, one more message.

"Emailed you everything I thought was interesting, which wasn't much. The girl is completely normal for a rich kid, except for her bank account. Check it out and call me. I'll dive into some weird comments on her posts, it's racist stuff and obsessed people. Freaks."

That's why she called Suki. Perfect at her job and completely trustworthy. She might had made a move on her if Sokka hadn't fallen head over heels for the brunette. Things worked out just fine though, when she met Ty Lee and she wouldn't trade her for nobody else.

With a towel firmly around her body, the young woman walked out of the bathroom, following Ty Lee's giggles. Once in the bedroom she moved to the bed, where Ty Lee had left her uniform and started dressing. From the television, Katara's name was heard and repeated.

"I am so worried for Katara", Ty Lee stretched on the bed and rolled over. "She is so kind and really helped me when the press came at me for being gay. We weren't together by then, but she was like a mama hen and the rest of us were her baby chickens." She laughed.

"I didn't think you two knew each other so well."

"Oh, we didn't." Ty Lee said, jumping gracefully from the bed and standing in front of her, now dressed, girlfriend. "But that's her. If she could care for someone, she would. I was very much like a lost puppy after what happened to Azula..." She trailed off, fixing Toph's collar and straightening her jacket.

They didn't talk about Azula. No one with a sane mind wanted to think about that girl.

Her story was widely exploited by the media and even outside Japan, she got famous. Not because of her catwalk or golden eyes, but because of her fast descent into madness.

Azula was a bright kid, since the very first time she acted, she was nominated for her outstanding performance. By the time she was fifteen, the world knew her name and could tell from memory their favorite movies. She made a lot of money and her agency got greedy, claiming more and more for themselves. Her estranged father reappeared in her life, only to hurt her and show that she could trust nobody. But what was once a bright kid, had turned into a traumatised teenager, tired of living under the spotlight without a trustworthy friend.

Trying to get away from the toxic people surrounding her, she moved to America, working in Canada for a while. And though extremely talented, her bad temper and mood swings prevented her from creating roots. When she moved to Los Angeles, her fame was beyond great and her characters bolder. Then, Azula got the part in her dream movie that finished her for good.

Toph grabbed Ty Lee's hands and tried to soften her expression.

"I am glad you had someone there for you."

And she was. Her girlfriend was a sweet soul and even with her strength and optimism, Toph knew she would have changed if she was alone.

"Yeah," Ty Lee squeezed her hands, "me too. I just want this case to be over and Katara to come back home. I would hate for her to show up dead, in pieces, somewhere."

"For someone so sweet you can be pretty dark." Kissing her cheek, the detective grabbed her cellphone and headed towards the door. "But I agree. She deserves better."

"Absolutely. She was so pretty. I'd hate for her to die without having what we have." She threw her braid over her shoulder, while following Toph to the kitchen. "I follow her Instagram waiting to see if she would slip and let on some clue…"

Toph was reaching for the cupboard, but slowed down. Ty Lee always knew the best gossip about everyone in the fashion world.

"Huh?"

"She once told me about this mysterious lover of hers…" She chuckled while pouring the tea. "She was really sad and a bit drunk, so all I could gather is that she loved this guy very much, but couldn't be with him because of her agent and the media."

"Oh." Toph felt her blood go cold. She hated to involve her in her girlfriend in cases, but this wasn't a choice. "Ty Lee, I'm sorry. You have to come down to the station with me."

The woman had a very high pitched voice and spoke a little too fast, but with the right intonation to keep Sokka gritting his teeth for longer than he thought he could.

"That's it, people! Katara's father told us a story the model didn't want us to know. But now we know and we looooove it! Was she a good girl that rebelled against an oppressive father or just a rebel, tired of her life? Did she leave any other story untold? I am here to find out and tell y-"

The television made a sharp sound as the reporter gestured to Katara's building. He threw the remote over the table and jumped as Toph made her way to her office. She was not trying to hide herself, but she surely was avoiding him.

Before he could get to her, Suki came into his office and fished the remote from the floor, where it landed. She stared at the TV, changing channels, until she found what she wanted. Sokka sat back down, slowly.

The reporter at the TV had a conspiratory tone:

"Here you can see our missing princess and in the back her ex-boyfriend, the cutest politician we know. But I should stop saying that, right? Is he a suspect? Oh, see. Not a suspect. Behind our cute politician, we have Hama. Yes, Katara's ex-agent. Why are you talking about her, Jun? That's because she went crazy a few years ago. Weird, right? That's what I thought! So I started digging and not only she went insane… Prepare for it: She went murderous! That's right, she killed over ten people! Are you-"

"What-" He looked at Suki completely lost. "What?"

"We need to see Hama. Now."

Iroh tried to understand what happened in the official building and why no one could look him in the eyes as he passed, even if he was the most loved old man around.

He dedicated most of his life to politics, making good and bad decisions in an equal measure, but overall, he did good. He went from a noble General to President! But almost twenty years ago, he gave his public life up to raise his nephew. Many said the real reason was the death of his only son, Lu Ten, but Iroh liked to think he would have chosen Zuko, no matter the situation.

In the last decade, he had supported Zuko's decision to become a politician, which meant he was back at acts and offices, talking to boring people about very pressing matters that he wished not to know about. But if it was what his boy wanted…

"Hello, sweet Lady Wu! How are you doing on this beautiful day?"

The old lady eyed him fearfully.

"Governor Zuko is in a mood." She said in a whisper. "I wouldn't go in if I were you, General."

He tried to laugh, but if he knew Zuko - which he did - this was going to be a stressful afternoon.

"Thank you, Lady Wu, but you mustn't worry! It can't be that bad-" But before he could wish too hard, the doors to the main room opened and four man came out, looking shaken. "Oh, well." He went in.

The room was darker than it should've been at this time of the day and heavily scented of tabaco. Iroh moved slowly, adjusting his eyes to the dark. Zuko faced the window and the sound of his breaths were labored. The old man looked at the state of the room and was not surprised.

The contents of the table were on the floor, making a mess of papers, books, pens and water. There were two chairs tipped over, one of them being the governor's chair. His eyes turned to Zuko again and he decided not to approach.

"Look what came with the morning mail today, Uncle."

Iroh moved slowly and approached the governor's desk. There was one piece of paper crumbled on it.

The old General gasped.

Katara was smiling mysteriously to the camera, what at the time, was called a "Monalisa smile". Her long hair framed her face, powerful and curly, strangely reminding him of the seashore, where the waves broke. Her blue eyes were confident, her dark skin a defiance against all the others on the red carpet that night: She was pleading for the Black Lives Matter Movement, yet the guests were majority white.

Her speech had been spiring and angry. Nakhoda Katara was there to tell a story and be heard. She spoke about her roots, the Inuit and the African. Iroh remembered how strongly he applauded. He also remembered how proud and mesmerized his nephew was.

And sure enough, behind Katara, past all the lights and people posing for better angles, Zuko's marked face stood out, his eyes shining towards her.

Thanks for reading!