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"I am disappointed in you, my agents" said Long Feng as he passed before the seven Dai Li subordinates who had been sent to dispatch of Katara, including Ling and Ping as they met in their base in Lake Laogai. "I am disappointed because when charged with a simple task that was vital to the success of our mission you were thwarted in your efforts by a pregnant woman, a fat old man, and a blind little girl."
"Sir," Ping spoke up. "If I may they were bending masters."
"Is that so Ping?" Long Feng said slyly as he walked over to him. "Tell me are you not Earthbending masters? Were you not selected for this mission because you seven were the most capable fighters the Dai Li has to offer? Evidently not, seeing as now the Avatar's wife and children still draw breath and now they are aware of our continued existence."
"Sir," Ling interrupted, "if I may, the failure of the mission is my fault. I had the opportunity to kill the Avatar's wife but I let it slip through my fingers. I was the leader of the assignment and I should have had the foresight to know she would not be alone for long. As second-in-command I take full responsibility for the failure of the mission."
"How noble of you Ling" said Long Feng. As he strolled over to his right-hand man he noticed him cradling the charred remnants of his right hand. "What happened to your hand?"
"The Dragon of the West struck it with a bolt of lightning. I doubt that it will ever heal" said Ling gravely as he failed to move his fingers that were now dyed a crippled shade of black.
"Very well seeing as you take responsibility for the failure I will only punish you this time" Long Feng said as if he was being fair. "The rest of you are dismissed with a firm warning, for now. All but Ping, you will remain here for a moment."
"Yes sir!" all the agents answered gratefully. All but Ping left.
"Come with me Ling" Long Feng invited. "We will tend to your hand and decide an appropriate punishment."
"Yes, sir, Long Feng."
With his Earthbending, Long Feng slid opened a stone door that led to a separate chamber of the base and filed into it along with Ling.
The only thing inside of the room was a large makeshift table made out of an unrefined slab of rock. Resting on the table was a simple metal brace that appeared to be half of a handcuff nailed down to the desk.
Long Feng unfastened the brace and held it up. "Put your hand here" he instructed. Ling had no idea how this could aid in the healing of his hand, but his trust in Long Feng was absolute. He slid his wounded hand under the cuff, and Long Feng refastened it and firmly locked his hand in place.
Long Feng then reached into his sleeve and pulled out a shining, faultless gem.
"What is this Ling?" he asked as if it was relevant.
"A diamond, sir" Ling answered obediently.
"Exactly, and a rather beautiful one at that, tell me, do you know what a diamond begins its life as?"
"I believe it starts out as coal sir."
"Precisely" Long Feng said with the kind of forced pride a kindergarten teacher has when his student learns that one and one is two. "Ironic that something as crude and simple as a lump of coal can become the world's most magnificent gem, is it not?"
"Quite ironic sir" Ling said robotically.
"It is not an easy process I am sure you know" the Dai Li head continued condescendingly addressing Ling as if he was a child. "Even when the coal becomes a diamond it is not a beautiful gem; it is a ragged dirty rock, but jewelers carefully clean them and, this is the most important piece of all, smooth out the rough edges, making the diamond a rare gem as opposed to a simple stone."
"Yes sir."
"A diamond is perfection Ling" Long Feng went on. "In order for perfection to be achieved the rough edges must always be smoothed out. This is true of our lives as well. The Earth Kingdom in control of the Dai Li is perfection but there are rough edges that must be smoothed out. Azula was a rough edge, but we smoothed her out quite nicely."
"Yes sir" Ling said as he caught the double-meaning of 'smoothed out'.
"The Avatar is a rough edge, a particularly coarse one, one that the diamond cannot be perfect with. His wife is a rough edge, a smaller one, but one that must be smoothed out for perfection to be acquired. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
Long Feng smirked maliciously as he approached the table. Quickly and cruelly he ensnared Ling's broken hand in his grasp, causing him to grunt in pain.
"For another example" he said evilly. "This hand is a rough edge and it must be smoothed out."
He then retracted to the table's edge, and with his Earthbending, rose up a large boulder that had been hidden from Ling's sight and raised it above the table. Ling gasped in fear as he realized what he was about to do.
"Please don't sir!" he pleaded.
"Sorry Ling, but the Dai Li has no room for rough edges" Long Feng responded coldly.
"I have always been your most loyal and trusted agent sir!"
"And after all these years, my most loyal and trusted agent has finally failed me."
Outside of the chamber, Ping's ears rang with the deathly screaming of his colleague.
Long Feng casually exited the room, alone.
"Good news Ping" he said happily. "You are promoted to second-in-command."
Ping's eyes widened. "What about Ling?" he asked gravely.
"He will remain on as my left-hand man" the leader joked darkly.
Ping swallowed his on own breath, though regardless he calmly asked, "What is my first assignment sir?"
"This facility is compromised" Long Feng informed. "The Avatar knows we are after him so he will search here first. Evacuate all the remaining agents and destroy all evidence we were ever here. And I have special assignment that I can only entrust to you. You're going to be taking a trip to the Fire Nation."
"The Fire Nation?" Ping asked confusedly.
"Yes. We have some unfinished business there."
As this happened, in the Fire Nation Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko stood on the balcony of the palace as the sun set thinking about what had transpired.
"I can't believe Ozai actually told us what we wanted to know" Aang said.
"I know" agreed Zuko.
"Let me ask you something Zuko" said Aang. "You told him Iroh is your real father but when we left you called him father and thanked him. Why is that?"
"Well Aang, I know that since you're a monk you don't know about this but, when you have a father, even if he's the worst father on earth…he's still your father you know. I wasted three years of my life chasing you so that he would love me, I didn't stop because I stopped caring…I guess I just…gave up hope of that ever happening."
Aang took this in slowly. He was standing at Zuko's left and noticed something odd. Zuko's eye was now completely healed, his brow and lashes were even fully re-grown; there was virtually no difference between it and his right eye and yet Aang thought, even though he didn't think it was true that his left eye appeared to squint harder than his right, as if it was so used to the scar being there that it acted as if it still was, that the scar had changed it so much that it would never be truly gone.
Aang then understood the pain within Zuko and realized how much of a close friend he must have considered him if he was willing to tell him that. He said, "Believe it or not, I know what it's like to have a father."
"How is that possible?" Zuko asked.
"Air Nomads may not be raised by their parents but they are raised by a guardian. My guardian was my closest friend Monk Gyatso. He may not have been my father, but he might as well have been; he raised me since I was born, he taught me everything I know about Airbending and he loved me with all his heart."
Zuko seemed surprised. He knew only about the Airbenders what his biased society had allowed him to, and seeing as they had destroyed that civilization themselves, they did not look fondly back on them.
"But let me ask you something" said Zuko. "Do you ever wonder about your real parents? Do you ever wonder who they were?"
Aang felt a strange connection with Zuko, him being from a broken family and Aang not having one at all.
"Air Monks are supposed to be detached from the rest of the world but I think at some point everyone of them wonders about their families, though they never admit it."
"Do you know anything about your family?"
"...One day my mother stumbled into the Eastern Air Temple, she told the sisters she was in labor and begged for their help. She gave birth to me and then died before they found out who she was. When they found out I was an Airbender they sent me to the Southern Air Temple to begin my training."
"They knew you were an Airbender when you were a newborn?"
"Airbenders show their talents earlier than any other type of bender. Newborn Airbenders are indentified early and then sent to the temples. You see, the Air Temples weren't the only part of the Air Nation, for example if you look at a map you'll notice that Whale Tail Island is colored white. The rest of the nation was made of humble villages. When the people living in them discovered they had an Airbender child they sent him or her to the temples to be trained and never saw it again."
"Why would they send it to be trained if they would never see their own child again?"
"The life of an Airbender is a life of freedom, adventure and spiritual enlightenment. Anyone in the Air Nation who wasn't an Airbender envied them. People whose families produced an Airbender wore it as a badge of honor, even if they never played a role in that baby's life other than naming it."
"Why would the Air Nomad's want to separate a child from his family?" Zuko asked, always having wished he had a loving family and not seeing how not having one could be a good choice for anyone.
"A monk is supposed to separate himself from humanly attachments so his spirit can be free" Aang said as if he was quoting a textbook. This was always a part of Airbender morality he had trouble following; he had always valued Gyatso as a father and had acted on his feelings for Katara despite romance being forbidden for Air Nomads.
"…What about your real father?" Zuko asked hesitantly.
"What?"
"You knew that you mother was gone but did you ever think about your father; did you wonder who he was, where he was or ever think of looking for him?"
"…I'm about to tell you something I've never told anyone; not Gyatso or Katara, no one. When I ran away from the Southern Air Temple my first…deluded fantasy was to find my father and start a new life with him, but then I realized how ridiculous that was and just kept flying south."
As Aang said this, Zuko pictured himself on his lonely Fire Nation frigate, sailing across the cold sea in a desperate attempt to capture the Avatar and win his father's affection.
"I don't think that's ridiculous at all Aang" he said. "Wanting a father, a family, that's not ridiculous."
"Thanks Zuko" Aang replied. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure Aang" replied the Fire Lord.
"Never tell anyone I said any of this. I've given the Air Nomads enough reasons to be ashamed of me."
Meanwhile in the Southern Water Tribe, Hakoda stood by himself as the sun rose over the icy tundra and the light bathed the little village in what small amount of warmth it had to offer. He was preparing to say goodbye to his son; Aang had sent a letter saying he would be visiting them soon and would need Sokka and Suki to return to Ba Sing Se with him as well as revealing Katara's pregnancy to them. It seemed as though the war had just ended yesterday and already Hakoda would again be separated from both his children. Though he realized he had to get used to it; they had both come of age years ago, they were adults. How they lived their lives was their choice.
"Good morning Hakoda" said the voice of Master Waterbender Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe. 4 years ago, Master Pakku had married Hakoda's elderly mother Kanna and was now his stepfather.
"Pakku" the Chief merely said.
"I'm worried about Katara too" Pakku said in a way that seemed like forced understanding.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know, newly married with a baby on the way. It's the stuff that keeps a father up at night. You probably wish you could be there for her right now, or that someone asked you to."
Hakoda impatiently raised an eyebrow as he said, "My mother told you to come out and talk to me didn't she?"
"What would make you think that?"
"You've been living in this tribe and married to her for four years and you've maybe said 5 words to me. Now all of sudden you're talking to me as if I'm your stepson?"
Pakku, clearly out of his element while trying to continue, replied, "Well…you are my stepson…aren't you?"
"Since when do you care?"
"…W…what do you…I'm not sure I know what you mean" the aged Waterbender stuttered.
"I'll be honest Pakku, I never liked you" Hakoda explained simply.
"W…why not?" asked Pakku.
"My mother leaves the Northern Water Tribe and travels from one side of the world to the other in the effort to avoid marrying you, 60 years later you show up with your fancy betrothal necklace, and it just happens like that all of a sudden."
"…Well in the Northern Tribe it was an arranged marriage but she didn't realize that I truly loved her but when she saw I had held onto her necklace for so long…well I guessed she thought it was sweet."
"Whatever" scoffed the Chief of the small tribe. "That's not the only problem I have with you."
"Well then please explain" urged Pakku.
"You said you're worried about Katara too. Did you even notice that Sokka is leaving today as well? Do you even care?" Hakoda asked scornfully.
"What?" Pakku asked as though he was clueless.
"Do you know that you've never once hugged Sokka or even called him your grandson? But you were so eager to tell Katara the wonderful news when you and my mother got married! I don't think a good grandfather plays favorites with his grandchildren."
"…Well…I don't mean to."
"Of course you don't; it's just in your nature."
"Excuse me?"
"I know your type" Hakoda said disdainfully. "You're a bender-supremacist."
"…I'm sorry, what?" Pakku said shortly, now losing the patience he had forced himself to have.
"Don't play stupid" Hakoda responded. "You don't care about Sokka because he isn't a Waterbender. Even though you're also sexist you still favor Katara because in your eyes a woman Waterbender is better than a regular man."
Pakku seemed to resent his stepson's tone. "If I was a bender-supremacist as you claimed then why would I love your mother, who is clearly not a Waterbender?" he asked.
"Like I said, your sexist too" replied Hakoda. "If she's not a Waterbender you feel like you're in charge, that you're the significant one. You're a sour, old inferior-feeling man who needs to feel important. That's why when she left you needed to become the best Waterbender in your village, to compensate for how empty you feel inside."
It could be seen on Pakku's face that he was dismayed and offended. "Look Hakoda, I know that I'm not the friendliest man on Earth, but I'm trying here, I'm your father now."
"You are not my father understand?!" shouted Hakoda. "My father was a proud warrior who died protecting this village from the Fire Nation while you and your Waterbenders sat by and did nothing! You don't care about anyone but yourself. You wanted to marry my mother because you see her as a possession, you don't care about Sokka because you don't have any use for him and you only care about Katara because she's a Waterbender so you see her as an extension of you, and you're only trying to be a father to me because my mother wants you to."
Pakku gasped in astonishment as this tirade escaped Hakoda's mouth. His head sunk lowly for a minute as he felt genuinely hurt. He placed his hand gently on Hakoda's shoulder and said, "Look…son."
Hakoda shrugged off his hand. "I don't need a new father" he said. "And I don't want one."
Hours later Sokka, Suki, and their infant son waited at the edge of the tribe as the time Aang promised to arrive drew nigh. Their grandmother Kanna, also known as Gran Gran, Pakku and Hakoda were waiting with them.
The Southern Water Tribe had changed in the years subsequent to the war. Rather than being a miniscule bunching of tents guarded by a thin layer of snow it was more like what it had been previous to the war. Large igloos and buildings of ice had been restored by the Northern Waterbenders who had journeyed with Pakku to help the tribe rebuild. Though most momentous of all, native children had been discovered to posses the gift of Waterbending and now unlike the others who had been born during the war, now had people to teach them.
"I can't believe Aang told you Katara was pregnant and not me" Sokka said slightly bitterly to his wife.
"Don't get upset Sokka; he wanted it to be a surprise" Suki replied comfortingly.
"I guess. But come on I'm the brother! When someone finds out with Spirit magic that they're going to have a baby they tell the brother."
A low grunting sound emitted from the air above, indicating that Appa was approaching.
"Looks like Uncle Aang is here" Sokka said as he tickled his son while Suki held him in her arms, causing the baby to giggle happily. "Is your Uncle Aang here? Yes he is, yes he is."
"You always know how to make Little Hakoda laugh Sokka" Suki said as her grin grew wider.
"You're a natural father all right" said the baby's grandfather from who his nomenclature was derived. As he said this comment that indicated a man without bending could have worth he shot Pakku a condescending look.
"….Uh yes Sokka" said his step-grandfather. "You certainly are an excellent parent."
"Uh…thanks Pakku" said Sokka in a way that suggested that he was as shocked as if he had just seen Aang, a vegetarian, eat a giant bloody steak.
"Please, call me Gramp Gramp, or Granpakku, I know you like that name" Pakku invited with forced sincerity.
"…You said if I ever called you that again you would skewer me with an icicle like a fish" Sokka reminded as if he was trying to snap Pakku out of a trance.
"Oh you're always so funny too!" Pakku exclaimed as he made himself laugh, "…grandson."
"Is he drunk?" Sokka whispered to Suki, who shrugged in response.
With that the mighty sky bison Appa landed with a thud, the Avatar atop his head.
"Hello family-in-law!" Aang proclaimed as he leapt from the buffalo's head and landed in the snow.
"There's my little brother!" Sokka boomed as he embraced Aang and rubbed his had with his fist affectionately.
"Hi Aang" Suki welcomed as she hugged Aang.
"Hello Aang" Hakoda greeted as he extended the same salutation.
"Hi Sokka, Suki, Hakoda" Aang responded as he strained to breathe under the weight of the group hug.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me dad before it sinks in?" Hakoda asked when they pulled away.
"Sorry dad" Aang politely apologized.
"Hello Aang" Kanna then greeted.
"Hi Gran Gran" Aang replied. Kanna then hugged Aang too. Not being as familiar with her, he felt awkward, but got over it quickly. Kanna had much respect for Aang; his return had restored hope to her heart as well as the rest of the world.
"Hello Master Pakku" Aang then said, bowing respectfully.
"Hello Pupil Aang" returned Pakku as he bowed.
"So…getting back to business" Sokka started, "…looks like I'm going to be an uncle!"
"You sure are Sokka" Aang confirmed. The emotional Sokka crushed Aang's ribs in a joyous hug.
"So Katara's going to go through her pregnancy in Ba Sing Se then?" Suki asked.
"Yes" Aang nodded. "But I have something very important I need to take care of that will take a while. That's why I asked you two to come with me; she'll need some company."
"Not a problem at all Aang" Sokka assured. "Little Hakoda will love Ba Sing Se (he began tickling the infant and speaking in baby-talk again) won't you? Yes you will! Yes you will!"
"Are you coming with us Chief H…sorry….are you coming too dad?" asked Aang.
"No" Hakoda replied sadly. "I wish I could but we're still rebuilding. I'm the chief so I have to be here to look after the tribe. Tell Katara I love and miss her though."
Aang nodded. "Will do dad."
"Well we aren't going to get to Ba Sing Se standing here" declared Sokka. After many hugs and goodbyes Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Little Hakoda soared through the air on Appa's back.
Hakoda, Pakku, and Kanna stood looking after them.
"See, I can be friendly to my grandson" Pakku said proudly.
"I didn't ask you to patronize him" Hakoda snapped as he turned around and began walking away.
Pakku snarled in anger. His patience was gone. "You know, you seem to have little trouble asking Aang to treat you like his father!" he shouted.
"He never had a real father" Hakoda said, mostly to himself as he disappeared from their sight.
"That boy just won't ever accept me" Pakku sighed.
"Don't take it personally Pakku" said Kanna. "He's been through much with the war. He admired his father greatly. But it's not only that; unlike Aang he is grown. He doesn't really need a new father now, but there may still be a place for you in his heart, if you can find it."
"Maybe you're right" Pakku conceded. "But I don't think he wants me to find it."
Five days later, the previous Fire Lord Ozai sat lazily in his cell, another of his many incarcerated days filled with nothing more than the impatient wait for death's merciful embrace.
The guard in charge of bringing food entered the room and lazily dropped the tray of nourishment on the floor.
The guard then removed his keys from his belt and approached Ozai's cage, which was something out of the ordinary.
"What do you want now?" said Ozai idly as his cell door swung open, remembering being forced into the interrogation room days prior.
Quick as a flash, a cruel, stone hand snared Ozai's throat.
"The Dai Li does not appreciate squealers" Ping's voice said. "You're Majesty!"
The screams of agony permeated the entire prison.