After the meal with Yeshe and Master Gyatsun, Cat and Tra'dur took a ferry over to the southern side of the city along Yue Bay's southern coastline. "Apparently this is the city's financial center," Tra'dur noted, reading information from a tourist guide that her omnitool was translating. "Republic City is the center of the entire planet's financial system."

"Huh. So, why are we here?"

Tra'dur smiled. "To make up for that no-meat meal we just had to endure"

Cat winced. She'd spent the entire meal worried Tra'dur would break down and start gagging. "I'm really, really sorry about that!"

"I know, and I do not blame you. I understand some species and cultures do not appreciate meat, either replicated or made."

"Yeah. Although… huh. I wonder if the Air Nation will amend its rules to account for replicators? It seems to be a case of them not wanting to kill animals for meat, I mean."

"It will make any future dinners with them palatable." Tra'dur's feline grin took a slight edge. "Ugh, it reminded me of some of the ration meals I had to eat as a kit."

"Yeah. Not a lot of meat can be raised underground, I guess."

They walked through the busy city streets, watching the passing sleek forms of vehicles. Cat blinked at the peculiar sight of some of them having the emblem of a cabbage on them. "That's just weird."

Their walk eventually brought them to the edge of a park and a bustling commercial area. It was here that Tra'dur sniffed the air and a gleeful, satisfied smile came to her. "Come on, this way," she said urgently. Cat followed her down one sidewalk and then across the busy street, taking advantage of the crosswalk and the stopped traffic.

Around one street corner were two stands, twenty meters apart. The first one had produce, mostly big heads of leafy green lettuce or cabbage, but the proprietor's attempt to get their attention failed utterly. The second was Tra'dur's stop. Her feline eyes nearly shined with joy at the sight of the rotating chunks of meat over a low flame, glistening from the juices of the meat. With the auto-translator active, she asked the proprietor, "Excuse me, but does any of this contain beef? That is, meat from a cow or another bovine animal?"

At the incredulous expression on the proprietor's face, Cat added, "She has dietary laws from her religion. She's not allowed to eat meat from cows."

"Oh. Like how Air Nomads don't eat meat at all?" The proprietor was bronze-skinned and wore a blue and red outfit. His eyes were a gray color. "Huh, you look like someone crossed a cat and a Human. Are all aliens like that?"

"No, we Dilgar are more Human-like than some other species," Tra'dur explained. "Some species are not even bipedal."

"So… ah, I'm not sure what a 'cow' is, really. Something like a hippo cow?"

"A wha?" Cat blinked and then laughed a little at the mental image of a cow and a hippo combined. "I guess? Just without the hippo part."

"Well, I mostly go with smaller stuff. How about some picken-ka-bobs? Only three yuan apiece!"

Given the first contact was still ongoing an official currency exchange wasn't yet in place, but the Republic's government was authorizing an exchange rate for the Alliance crew on leave thanks to Meridina's efforts. Tra'dur was more than capable of paying for four of the shish-ka-bobs, and Cat decided to nibble on what looked like a Cornish hen on a stick, which she was informed was an arctic hen.

Cat received the hen on a stick and turned to find Tra'dur already gleefully chowing down. "This is delicious," she said after swallowing. "It tastes like pork, but the texture is like chicken."

"Mmm." Cat took a bite of her choice and found that it tasted mostly like chicken, maybe a bit saltier. They walked past the first stall, whose proprietor was loudly proclaiming the quality of his cabbage heads. "So they have hybrid species, but not hybrid plants."

"Yes, very weird," Tra'dur managed between greedy bites.

They got across the street when they heard a loud electronic horn. A loud crash filled the air, the sound of metal and plastics smashing and breaking, followed by another crash. Both turned back to see that a traffic collision resulted in one of the vehicles slamming into the produce vendor's stall. He looked over the broken refuse of half of his inventory and put his hands to his temple in a gesture of hopeless despair. "No, not my cabbages!" he wailed.

Cat and Tra'dur exchanged glances. "Do you think there's something we can do to help?"

"I'm sure their authorities have it well in hand…"

One such authority appeared in the form of a human figure in a green outfit with a metal vest swinging down from above via a wire. A couple more joined in the following seconds.

"So… where to next?" Cat asked Tra'dur. When she received no answer Cat turned and saw Tra'dur chowing down as if she were starving. She giggled loudly. "Alright, I'll pick then…" She brought back up the guide and looked it over. "The Future Industries Air and Voidflight Museum looks interesting…"

The sun was coming over the horizon when Julia stirred from sleep again. There were no nightmares this time, no dreams filled with terror and panic and pain, and the sleep she'd enjoyed as restful.

The shower awaited her, but first came her morning routine. Now that she was physically recovered from her captivity, Julia felt capable of resuming that routine to its fullest. With her robe tied close at the waist she walked out onto the balcony and took in the dawning sun for a moment, centering herself.

When she was ready Julia raised her arms into a ready position and assumed her first form. It'd been nearly two weeks since she last practiced and her movements were stiffer and less smooth than usual. But the muscle memory was there to guide her through the exercise. She followed her preferred flow of t'ai chi to mok'bara stances and back again, fusing the Klingon martial art Commander Worf introduced to her with the one she'd learned since she was a preteen. The differences were there, but the principles were compatible, indeed nearly the same, allowing a flow of movement. Sleep faded from her mind and she felt ever more ready for the day.

"Hey!"

Julia stopped and looked to her right. Across the open air of the courtyard below was another wing of the palace, the wing reserved for the royal family. And on a balcony at the same level of hers, Miko was standing, her arm waving. She had on a black and tan-colored set of clothing, pajamas Julia guessed, and her hair was in something of a disheveled mess. Julia waved back and watched Miko take a few steps back.

Then Miko burst into a quick run and leapt from the balcony. Flame erupted from her feet, acting like jets. Her arms whirled in mid-air and a gust of intense wind blew Julia's own hair into her eyes. Through the strands of blond-colored hair Julia saw that the gust was from an intense pocket of swirling air that caught Miko as she landed, cushioning that landing for her. Julia used a hand to brush her hair out of her eyes. "You could have just walked around," she pointed out.

"Ugh, no. My grand-uncle's people would be clinging to me the whole way," Miko answered. "Besides, this way is quicker. And I've done it plenty of times."

"And annoyed your mother every time?"

"Yeah. I always loved that growing up. Annoying Mom was something to pass time when she wasn't dragging me to royal functions." Miko shook her head. "I wasn't the best daughter, I guess."

"Parents understand." Remembering her conversation with Ursa during the night, Julia asked, "So, bad dreams?"

A wan look came to the young woman's face. "Bad ones, yeah," said Miko. "That chair. You too?"

Julia nodded. Over the past couple of days she'd had a few dreams about the chair. As if her subconscious couldn't quite comprehend she was no longer a prisoner. "It wasn't the only way he hurt me, but that chair, it just won't go away," Julia confessed.

"Yeah. I wish we'd smashed it before we left. Maybe the dreams wouldn't be so bad then. Or feel so real."

"Maybe. But dreams don't always make rational sense. That chair left its mark on us and I don't think it'll go away so easily."

Neither of them were interested in continuing that conversation. Miko began the change of subject. "What was it you were doing? I mean, the movements you were making?"

"Oh, my forms? For the last eighteen years I've practiced t'ai chi," Julia explained. "It's a martial art from various Earths that originated in China. I use it as part of my morning routine."

"Oh." A certain look came over Miko. "Because it looked really familiar."

"It did?" Now Julia felt curious. Given the other signs of a link between this world's Humanity and Earth, this could further elaborate on that link. "In what way?"

"Well…" A small blush appeared on Miko's cheeks. "Actually, it sort of ties into my problems."

"Oh?"

It was clear Miko felt some kind of shame or embarrassment about what she was about to talk about. Julia was about to give her assurance when Miko said, "Because the way you moved? That's how Waterbenders move."

Julia blinked at that. "Huh?"

"Each Bending style, it… it has its own movements, it's own forms."

"And the people who manipulate water like you do fire, they move like they're practicing t'ai chi?"

"Yes," Miko said. "I mean, I've seen Waterbending. It's the next element I'm supposed to learn. But I've had trouble with the teachers, and how it works."

"By trouble you mean?"

"Well, the way you move, they move, it's too slow, and it doesn't feel right," Miko said. "Firebending is quick and aggressive and direct. And Airbending is really mobile too. It's about spiral movement, being light on your feet. But Waterbending is… well, it's not those things."

"I see what you mean. T'ai chi isn't aggressive, and it's not so much mobile as fluid. You don't attack or evade, you change the flow of their energy," Julia explained. "You stick to a foe and redirect their strength so you don't have to meet it head on."

Miko nodded in understanding. "It's like that. But I'm a Firebender at heart. I meet power with power. I try to hit harder."

"Well, I can see why…"

There was a knock at Julia's door. Miko went silent while Julia stepped back into the room and went over to the living area of the guest chamber. At the door was one of the domestic staff. "Captain, His Highness the Fire Lord requests your company for breakfast with the family," the man said eloquently. Spying Miko through the door, he added, "And Princess Miko is requested to attend as well."

"Uh, right. We'll be down shortly," Julia said. Once the door was closed she turned back to Miko.

"For you it really was a request, at least, as far as Uncle Daizon is concerned," Miko noted. "But not for me."

"Yeah, I got that feeling. And since I'm a guest in his palace, I can't really deny him and not look like a bad guest." Julia went back to her room. "Well, I'm going to go shower, you should probably return to your room."

"I'll see you at breakfast," said Miko before she went out onto the balcony. With a blast of flame beneath her feet she leapt away.

Julia sighed and smiled softly. "I am never going to get used to that."

After the rounds of meetings with the department heads, Kaveri returned to the ready office off of the bridge. The furnishings were nice and there were clear spaces where Julia's mementos were removed.

It was a rather stark reminder of these circumstances. Julia Andreys was no longer captain of the Aurora not due to her own deeds, but to the captivity she endured. Kaveri felt nothing but sympathy for her plight. Kaveri knew enough of the younger woman to know being taken from her command, even after rescue, was not easy.

Such consideration brought with it the reason Kaveri was here. Why Maran asked for her to command, and the secrets he confided to Kaveri's wife, and thus to Kaveri herself. Kaveri's finger found the control for the ship intercom. "Varma to Meridina. Commander, I would like to see you in the watch office."

A short time later the door chime sounded. At Kaveri's prompting Meridina entered. "You wished to see me?"

"Yes. To clear up an important matter, Commander. Please have a seat."

Meridina nodded and took one. Aware of Meridina's telepathic gifts, Kaveri began to recite entries from the Bhagavad Gita in her head, meeting her telepath subordinate halfway as she always tried with the military telepaths she'd served with in her career. Meridina noted the act. "Those are entries from your holy book, are they not?"

Kaveri nodded. "They are."

"I see. You have my appreciation." While Meridina had adjusted to dealing with stray thoughts, it was comfortable to not worry about them for the moment. "Is the ship's readiness to your satisfaction?"

"Yes. You have done well in your time as Captain of this ship. What I would like to speak with you is of a more delicate matter."

"I see. And that is?"

"The Prophecy of the Dawn, and its nature."

Meridina remained still for a moment. "You have been informed?"

"I have. Admiral Maran shared his views on the matter with my wife, and she with me. And your enemies certainly seem to believe something about it." Kaveri folded her hands together. "When they attacked Gersal, your foes were not just launching a terror raid, were they?"

"No. They were not. They were after specific objects. We believe they failed."

"Oh? And what were they looking for?"

Meridina pondered the question for a moment. She felt no deceit or duplicitous purpose from Kaveri. But she was used to not discussing the Prophecy of the Dawn with those outside of the circle who supported it. Even sympathetic Alliance supporters and authorities might have trouble accepting it.

But her own swevyra, it made her feel comfortable with the idea of sharing information with Kaveri.

"They were after the Life of Reshan, a biographical work of Swenya's mentor and teacher, and Swenya's Blade. We know they did not claim them, as Swenya's Blade was already missing when they came for it, and the Life of Reshan is in our possession. We have it now in Robert's quarters."

"Do you know why they wished for these things? One is a relic, the other a book."

"The relic I am uncertain of at the moment, but the book is more than it seems," Meridina shared. "With the aid of a scholarly work on the Gersallian language of that time, we have learned that the Life of Reshan contains hidden passages, disguised as errors in the language and syntax of the period. This hidden information is what we are still decoding."

"Then it is relevant to your Prophecy?"

"Likely," Meridina said. "Although how it is, we are unsure. For the time being the book remains aboard. We are still deciphering the hidden text."

"Please keep me apprised."

"Very well. Would you like me to assign help in bringing your things to your office?"

"No," said Kaveri. "I see no point in it."

"Oh?"

"I am not here to be in command on a permanent basis, Commander," Kaveri explained. "I am a caretaker for this ship and crew. I have no desire to settle in, nor provide the impression that would be given in so doing."

Meridina nodded in recognition. "Because you see this as a temporary stop before you return to be with Shai'jhur."

Kaveri didn't have to answer. Her desire to return to her loved one, after decades apart, was clear through the verses flowing through her mind. Meridina already knew something of that love, and how strong it was, from the telepathic scan to confirm the contact was consensual.

You have served so very long a career, Kaveri Varma. With a devotion worthy of the Order's finest.

Meridina hadn't quite intended to broadcast her thoughts. Perhaps she hadn't, and her expression betrayed them. Kaveri reacted with a pleasant look. "I am kshatriya, Captain. Duty is my calling."

"It is."

A tone sounded from the desk. Kaveri tapped the blinking key on her desk control panel. "Captain Varma here. Proceed."

The voice on the other end was Lieutenant Sabiha Neyzi's. "Captain, Under-Secretary Tashke is ready to resume the talks with the local government."

"Understood. Commander Meridina and I will meet her and her team at Transporter Station 1." Kaveri hit the key again to end the call. She tapped a final command into her datapad and stood. "My thanks to you on your report on the talks, Commander. It brought me up to speed."

"Thank you, Captain." Meridina said nothing more while following Kaveri out of the ready office.

The family dining hall in the Fire Palace was small, compared to the banquet hall anyway. It was still large enough to fit the Aurora's conference lounge and the Lookout together. At the central table Lord Daizon sat at the head seat. To his right was his wife Ty Lin, a thin woman with ash-gray hair arranged in a braided tail. To his left was the seat of honor which went to Ursa. Miko was beside her mother and Julia beside Miko. Other members of the family were on both sides of the table, about twenty in all. A variety of pastries and meat dishes, as well as some citrus, were the offered breakfast fare. Julia picked that which seemed the most appetizing for her plate. She waited quietly for Daizon to have the first bite. After he swallowed everyone else dug in.

Julia was finding Fire Nation cuisine to be on the spicy side, which was fitting in its own way. It wasn't quite as hot as Thai, just hot enough that Julia was frequently relieving her taste buds of the heat with the water and tea set before her.

They were well into the meal when Daizon, his plate finished for the moment, looked to Miko and asked, "The Council has asked me to look into how you are progressing, Miko."

Julia could tell Miko wasn't happy to hear the question. "Uncle, I love you, but please don't mince words. They want to know about my Waterbending training."

Daizon nodded. "Yes. I personally understand that you need time, but the Council are concerned with your development as the Avatar. You finished Airbending rather quickly, but now you seem stuck. And given Chief Lantak did not work out… I recall you sought out a trainer on Tangshan?"

"I did. Her name was Jenna."

A cousin further down the table gave Miko a bewildered look. "Jenna Kamak? The former Pro-bender?"

"And one of the most accomplished Waterbenders alive." Miko's eyes fell. "At least, she was."

"Fassbinder and the SS killed her, didn't they?" Julia asked.

"Yes." Miko's eyes teared up. "Her, her husband Hunan, and their children. They lined them up and shot them, and they just… disappeared. As if they never existed."

"You surrendered to spare them, didn't you?" Ursa asked.

Miko nodded. Her fists clenched. "I wish I had burned that yellow-eyed monster to ash," she rasped angrily. "He… he promised he'd let the people of Tangshan go. Instead he made me watch, just to be cruel."

"What kind of monster was this Fassbinder?" another member of the family asked.

"Infected with evil," Miko insisted. "His spirit is dark and hideous."

"Fassbinder's people, they represent a movement that thankfully failed in other universes," Julia said. "The Nazis believe in the racial superiority of their nation. They consider themselves supermen, and other peoples and species are thought to be inferior to some degree or another. There are few atrocities, if any, they'd refuse to commit against a people they think is inferior. Even in my history, where they were defeated, they invented industrial mass murder. They'd march people into gas chambers, kill them, and then burn the remains. They murdered millions in just a few years. The Nazis of Fassbinder's universe? They've slaughtered billions over the centuries. They exterminated entire species, wiped out whole nations of Humans they considered inferior. Other peoples they forced into zoos, making them live like animals. And the SS are the fanatical heart of their movement."

"Monstrous indeed," Daizon said. "Their attacks on our colonies made it clear they were a savage and cruel people, but the depths of their depravity were unknown to us." He looked again to Miko. "I thank the spirits of our ancestors that you were freed from them, dear Miko."

"I do too." Miko closed her eyes. "I only wish I could have saved the people of Tangshan."

"The survivors spoke of your heroism, and of your willingness to sacrifice for them," Ty Lin said. "You have nothing to regret."

"Don't I?" Miko asked bitterly. "Had I refused to surrender, had I kept fighting, maybe we would have held out. Maybe…"

"No." Julia shook her head. "Fassbinder would have just kept killing your people until he took you. And if he couldn't, he would have destroyed Tangshan from orbit. You can't be blamed for not knowing what he, what his people, are like, Miko." She set her right hand on Miko's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Miko. Although I know you'll feel otherwise for a long time, you have to remember that. You acted to protect people at your own expense, and if you ask me, that makes you a hero."

Julia spoke the words calmly, and with utter sincerity that none at the table doubted. Miko heard them and nodded in acceptance. It wouldn't stop her from feeling terrible of course, but it would help.

"You speak with wisdom, Captain," Daizon said. "And from what the history files your people provided the Council show, you are deserving of the same title of hero for your deeds."

Julia blushed slightly. "Thank you, Your Highness. My friends and I, we just came out here to do the right thing. To help people."

"Indeed."

"I would say you have been quite helpful," Ursa remarked.

One of the younger princes looked theri way from further down the table. He was in his mid-teens, from the look of him, a cousin of Miko's. Julia didn't recall his name at the moment. "The news services are saying a lot about your people. And they showed you have aliens that look like Humans. Are they really aliens?"

"The Gersallians? Yes," Julia said. "Externally they look Human, but there are physiological differences under the skin. And they're not the only ones. The Betazoid, for instance, also look completely Human, except they have dark-colored eyes. And are completely telepathic."

It took a moment for the others to parse that, or at least the term that the auto-translators used in their language for the idea of telepaths. "People who can look into your mind? Really?"

"Yes. Betazoids can do it. Some Humans from the S0T5 and E5B1 universes can too. In fact, most species from E5B1 have some telepaths in their populations thanks to genetic engineering by an ancient race known as the Vorlons."

By this point even Miko's attention was focused entirely on Julia. "I noticed there were other species on your ship," Ursa said. "Your Alliance has four, right?"

"For now. We have Human member systems and nations and the Gersallians, Dorei, and Alakin."

"The Alakin are the bird-people, right?"

"Yes," said Julia. She turned her attention from her meal, recognizing that the others were starving for more knowledge of the Multiverse. "There are also other species that are considering membership, and some of them are already serving in the Alliance. The Falaen, for instance, a species once known as Alteans…"

The Future Industries Air and Voidflight Museum was a treasure trove of information on the progress of the planet's technology. Cat and Tra'dur wandered its halls and exhibits. "I really should get Tom to come here," Cat said. "Or Lucy."

"It is interesting to see where their designs differ from the Humanity of Earth at these stages of development," said Tra'dur. A torpedo-carrying biplane was in the exhibit before them. Their omnitools provided a translation of the exhibit display, remarking that it was an authentic replica of the Future Industries Mark I Torpedo Aircraft. The unfortunate history of the aircraft, designed and built for the benefit of the failed Equalist Revolution, was laid out.

"'Equalists'?" Cat's brow furrowed in thought. "I wonder what they are?"

"We do have an uplink into the planetary extranet," Tra'dur said. She tapped at her omnitool control. "The Equalists…" The holographic screen shifted to show a man in a hooded suit. A white mask with a red circle on the forehead was hiding his face. Text rendered into Dilgar characters was beside it. "Apparently they were an anti-bender political movement from two centuries ago. Their leader, a man named Amon, could take away the metaphysical abilities of benders, and vowed to do this to every bender on the planet to create an 'equal' society. He was revealed to be a Waterbender capable of..." Tra'dur made an unpleasant face. "...of bending the blood inside of Human beings."

"So, equal except for him, I guess," Cat said with evident sarcasm. "And the whole thing about manipulating the water in our blood? That sounds really scary. And creepy. I mean, with how these powers work, you could twist someone up like a pretzel."

"All of these metaphysical powers have some kind of terrible potential, it seems," Tra'dur said. "Which is no different from science, if you think about it."

"I suppose…"

They continued on from that display to find an aircraft marked as the first jet aircraft. It had the jet engines underslung from the wings like most early jet craft from Earth's history. This led to more advanced jets and a scale model replica of the first rocket to make it into orbit. The image beside the model showed a picture collage of the real one. In the middle was a shot of the rocket in the distance with a group of people standing in front of it. The figure in the center was a green-eyed elderly woman in a dark suit with red shoulders. There was an insignia on the shoulders that the angle partly obscured. Her wrinkled face was split by a happy smile. The engraved plaque below the image identified a list of names. They connected faces to names, with the woman in the center listed as "Asami Sato, President of Future Industries, Design Team Lead".

"Sato? Isn't that the name they use on their warp drives?"

"It is," Tra'dur said. She worked on her omnitool again, but Cat beat her to it. Tra'dur looked around Cat's head and shoulder at the English text shining in blue holographic light. "Ah, quite impressive, I think?"

Cat read off the entry. "Daughter of Future Industries founder Hiroshi Sato, Future Industries President, CEO, and lead designer, wife of Avatar Korra… Look at these accomplishments. The first mono-wing plane, the first generation of flying suits for the Air Nation, co-designer of the first supersonic jet engine, design team lead for the first three rocket types… Tom would fall in love with her, I mean, if she were here…"

"And heterosexual?"

"Well, maybe she was bi? But anyway… ah, here. Under family."

Cat highlighted the extranet link for Tra'dur's benefit, listing under "Family" a link for "Yasuko Sato, theoretical physicist and creator of space-warp drive theory". Upon activating it a new page appeared, depicting a woman of dark brown eyes and coloration with thin features. She looked thoughtful and a little stern. "So she's the grandmother for the lady who first proposed warp drive."

"Impressive, certainly." Tra'dur glanced at the next exhibit down. It was a fixed wing craft, or rather the model of one. "Their first orbiter, it appears."

"First reusable one, yeah," Cat agreed. "It's just so interesting… do the Dilgar have anything like this? Something to trace your history of flight?"

"Not any longer," Tra'dur answered.

"Hopefully you'll be able to build something like this one day. Maybe on Rohric after the spores are gone?"

"Or Omelos, if we can reclaim it," said Tra'dur. "But yes, we will. While we have much to be ashamed of in our history, we should honor those who brought us to the stars. The crimes the Imperium committed were not theirs."

Cat nodded in agreement and they continued on.

At Daniel's call, the others headed to the computer access room. They found him looking up from the displays. "Well, it took some doing, but I think I found more files for you."

Samantha and Jarod each took a station and went to work. "This definitely looks like a file directory," Sam noted. "Well done, Daniel."

"Well, it wasn't too hard. Just a few hundred translations I had to figure out…"

"Now you're just grenade-fishing for compliments," Lucy teased. She felt further concern when Daniel, despite his usual readiness to spar wit with wit, only flashed a small smile. "So, what else do we have?"

"Well, we already know this was a ship," Jarod noted. He brought up a full display showing the city and platforms with engine ports underneath. "It looks like the Ancients used them as mobile bases."

"Them, as in plural?" asked Tom.

"They definitely had a fleet of them," Daniel said. "Unfortunately some of the data is just gibberish, from what I've seen."

"The damage to the databank, not to mention what the SS Exiles' engineers did with their methods in asserting control, may have corrupted some of the data," said Sam. "But look at this astrographical time stamp."

Jarod did so and whistled lowly. "Twenty thousand and twenty years since landing. Just as we thought."

"I wonder what happened to them?" Lucy asked. "Why didn't they repair the city to fly again?"

"I'm not sure." Daniel tapped at his screen. "I do know that they came here to monitor planets in this universe."

"Which?"

"It doesn't list them," said Daniel.

"Let me try." Jarod went through the unlocked files. "Even with the corrupted data, there could be a remnant log… found it."

With a key press Jarod brought it up on the screen. Daniel and Samantha looked at it with no obvious recognition. The others weren't sure either.

It was Komin who spoke up. "That's… that's our world."

Everyone turned to face him. "It is?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. I… I can make out the continents easily, even with the different… yes, it's our homeworld," Komin said.

"I've found another planetary profile too," Samantha said. "The data's badly garbled, but I think I can bring up the planet itself." At a nod from Jarod she did so.

The second planet appeared. This time Komin was the one uncertain to what he was seeing. "I've never seen that world before," he said.

"That's okay, because we have," Lucy told him.

"Oh?"

"It's Earth," said Daniel. "The Ancients were monitoring your world and this universe's Earth."

"Then… Earth once existed in this universe," Lucy said. "But why is it gone now?"

"If the Ancients knew, it must be in one of the corrupted files," Jarod said. "As it is, all entries seem to stop about twenty thousand years ago."

"That was when the plague hit," said Samantha. "The plague that wiped them out."

"They last for thousands of years, then get wiped out within twenty years of showing up in this universe," Jarod observed. "Do you think there might be a connection?"

"It's possible," Sam said. "But we don't have any evidence either way."

"Still, we're at least a step closer to the truth," Daniel said. "Let me keep going, I'll see if there's anything else."

After breakfast Julia considered what she would do for the day. Miko and her mother were off to a meeting with members of the Fire Nation's legislative council and she still knew little about the rest of the family.

After taking some time to check in with Leo, who wanted her back up for a checkup before the day was over, Julia decided to perform extra training. After donning her white gi and cloth belt she traveled to the ground floor of the palace and out to the gardens. Cherry blossom trees were budding, soon to bloom, and the grass was soft under her sandaled feet. The air was warm and the wind cool, coming off of the pond in the middle of the garden. She stepped up to the side of the pond. Nearby were a line of ducks with turtle-like shells on their backs. They clearly had no issue with Humans as they waddled past her feet and entered the water. As they swam on, quacking much like an Earth duck would, Julia found she was regretting not bringing some bread to feed them.

Instead of assuming her starting stance Julia sat down at the edge of the pond. The beauty of the park and the fresh scents were calming, and something to enjoy. It wasn't often she got to view real nature like this.

"Oh, there you are."

Julia turned and watched Miko walk up. She was still in a formal court robe with the national sigil embroidered in gold on the dark red silk. Her hair was wrapped into a formal bun that she freed with a yank of a ribbon, allowing dark hair to settle on her shoulders. "I see you found the old turtle-duck pond." She sat down beside Julia. "Mother always brought me out here to feed the turtle-ducks when I was little."

"I'm still getting used to your world's hybrid species," Julia said. "On Earth we have several species of ducks, and several of turtles, but I don't think anyone's mixed them."

"You've seen alien animals before, right? How is this any different?"

"Well, alien animals tend to be alien. Sure, there can be some similarities. Targs from Quo'noS, the Klingon Homeworld, look sort of like boars. Big ones, I mean. Varren from the M4P2 galaxy are like big dog lizards. But there's always something different about them that makes it clear they evolved on another world. These are clearly ducks, and they clearly have turtle shells. It's… a little weird, even when you count aliens."

"Maybe I'll feel the same when I see species from Earth," Miko wondered. "I can't imagine a turtle-duck without its shell."

"Maybe you will." Julia reached down and ran a hand in the cool, clear water of the pond. "So, is everything okay?"

"Oh, it's the usual," Miko said drolly. "A bunch of old people telling me how important it is that I learn Waterbending. How I can't be a good Avatar without it. As if I didn't just spend weeks as a prisoner getting my mind drilled by a machine."

Julia gave her a sympathetic look. "It's alright. Take your time. Rushing into a decision isn't going to help."

"Well…"

Something in Miko's voice drew Julia's attention. The young woman gave her an intent look. "I haven't said anything, but I have been thinking of who could teach me. Someone I think I can learn from."

"Oh? You found someone?"

"I think. But I have to ask first."

Julia nodded. "Alright, that makes sense."

"It does. So…" Miko didn't look away. "Julia, will you be my Waterbending teacher?"