To my readers: thank you for continuing to voice interest in my story even after all this time. I've wanted to finish it for a while but unfortunately writing chapters the way I like can take a lot of time and life often gets in the way forcing me to take breaks. But it means so much to me when someone asks me to continue. I will do my best to see this story through to the end. I greatly appreciate your continued patience and I really appreciate your reading. I will do my best to make the rest of this story worthy of your attention.

It was like a dream. Everything looked so hazy and nothing seemed real. The only sensation Aang was aware of was a dull throbbing in his head, the same kind you get when've been trapped in a deep, almost endless sleep and are suddenly woken up. He was unaware of his entire body until he felt his hand twitch slightly, then he felt his leg. Finally he became aware he was lying down on his face. He propped himself up and became even more confused.

He was in some strange forest, surrounded by plants he couldn't identify. There were small streams and rivers weaving their way around everywhere. It felt oddly familiar. A creeping sensation went up his spine and suddenly he realized where he was.

He was in the Spirit World. And in a sudden burst of awareness he remembered the confrontation with Long Feng.

He put a hand to his head, tasking his brain to figure things out. "What's going on?" A thought entered his mind and terrified him. "Am I…dead?"

"Not yet" a familiar voice answered. Aang looked down and saw Avatar Roku's reflection in a pool of water. Roku rose up and became real.

"Roku" Aang acknowledged as he finally started to feel awake. "What's going on?"

"You are in a state of suspended animation, similar to when you were trapped in the iceberg for all those years, "Roku explained. "Because you were in the Avatar State your body sensed the danger it was in and acted to preserve your life force."

Aang felt relieved. "So I'm not going to die."

Roku shook his head sadly. "I didn't say that." Aang's shock was apparent so Roku continued speaking before he asked his next question. "This is different than last time. You entered this state to survive the cold of the iceberg. Now your heartbeat has been slowed enough to delay the spread of poison through your body but it will not stop it completely."

Aang was doing his best not to panic. "What doe that mean?"

Roku sounded dire. "The Avatar State has only bought you time. The poison is still slowly working its way through your system and once it reaches your heart it will never beat again."

Aang was no longer able to remain calm. "What?! Well I've got to hurry I have to do something I have to…"

Roku stopped him. "I'm sorry Aang there's nothing you can do."

"What do you…?"

"If you reenter your body then you will exit the Avatar State and your pulse will return to normal. Then you will die immediately."

Aang's felt like he was out of breath. "So what are you saying there's no hope at all?!"

"As far as I know no one has ever survived being exposed to this sort of toxin," Roku said. "However there is one plant I know of with flowers that are said to be able to cure any venom. But it is very rare."

"That doesn't help!" Aang replied. "I can't go looking for that flower if I can't go back to my body!"

Roku nodded solemnly. "True. Nor can you direct anyone else to do so while you are unable to interact with the physical world."

Aang's eyes widened and he dropped to his knees. His voice was filled with despair. "There really isn't anything I can do."

Roku knelt down and put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "No. You can only wait and pray that someone saves you before it's too late."

Aang lifted his head and looked Roku in the eyes. "Because my body is still in the Avatar State…" He trailed off, too overwhelmed to finish the sentence.

Roku completed the thought for him. "If you die the Avatar will be destroyed forever, never to be born again into any nation."

Sokka, Suki and Toph were on top of Appa's back, flying urgently to save Katara. They were going so fast Toph had to exercise all of her willpower to avoid getting sick.

"If I barf all over the saddle you have no one to blame but yourself" Toph warned when Sokka insisted on going no slower.

Suki was wearing her Kyoshi Warrior armor and paint again, feeling far more comfortable than around the house. She was taking the time to sharpen the edges of her fans and her katana. She had left Little Hakoda in the care of Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon so they knew he'd be safe.

Sokka was at the reigns, which made sense because he was the only one who had been to the cave they were looking for. But more than that he had a look of grisly determination on his face, refusing to take his eyes off the sky for a second.

Suki gently put a hand on his shoulder. "Sokka I can fly Appa for a little while. You need some rest."

"I'm fine" Sokka said without even turning around. "I studied the Earth King's maps so I know the fastest way there."

Suki sat down next to him. "Please just for a little while."

"I have to save Katara" was Sokka's only answer. "I won't fail her again. I don't have time to rest."

"Sokka…" Suki said, looking away with shame. "I was there too, trying to protect her and the baby. I also failed. This isn't just your burden to bear."

"I'm her brother" Sokka replied with insistence.

Suki grabbed his face and made him look at her. "And I'm your wife! Please don't shut me out just because you feel guilty!" She looked in his eyes and saw more than just guilt; shame, emasculation and fear. She knew protecting his family meant everything to him. Sokka tried to look away with shame the same way she had.

Suki smiled and decided to try a more humorous approach, one that was reminiscent of when they fist met. "What you think just because I'm a girl it's not my job to protect your family too? You think I should go back home and start cooking dinner?"

Sokka couldn't help but smile a little. "I know better than that now." He grinned in his usual cheesy way. "You'd definitely kick my ass again if I still acted that stupid!"

Suki smiled. It seemed she had succeeded in bringing Sokka back. "I'd totally kick your ass." They kissed passionately, comforting and reassuring each other.

Toph was definitely not enjoying herself nearly as much as they were. "Ugh and I was already about to be sick."

As they pulled away Suki responded, "Oops sorry Toph." She smiled a mischievous grin. "I forgot you had a little crush on Sokka."

Toph was certainly not amused. "What the hell is wrong with you people?!" she shouted as her cheeks turned the brightest red. "I NEVER HAD A FRIGGIN CRUSH ON SOKKA!"

She didn't actually say, "friggin" she was a bit more explicit. Quoting her verbatim definitely would have created the need for a much higher rating. Which naturally meant Sokka was laughing, until he turned his gaze back ahead and saw something horrifying.

Miles below, on the surface of the earth, he saw countless soldiers spread across the landscape, looking like one giant mass that went on forever. Before he said anything he immediately pulled Appa up into the same level as the clouds so they would be obscured from view.

"What's going on?" Toph asked as she felt Appa shaking.

"How did you not see that?" Sokka asked as he looked back.

Toph adopted the usual sarcastic tone she did when people asked her questions like that. "Oh gee I don't know. You know being blind and everything I sometimes miss a thing or two!"

Sokka felt guilty. Toph so rarely appeared handicapped it was easy to forget her disability and accidently make insensitive comments. "Sorry Toph. I just saw Long Feng's army. It was huge!"

Toph sat up, her annoyance replaced with urgent curiosity. "How huge?"

"I don't know" Sokka answered. "Too many to count even from up here."

Suki added, "There had to have been at least 10,000 down there."

"10,000!" Toph repeated. "That's insane!"

"I know" Sokka replied, with total seriousness. Seriousness he then completely dropped as he made his voice sound raspy and angry.. "I mean it's…OVER 9,000!"

Suki smacked her palm to her forehead. "Sokka please stick to this fandom."

"All right all right" Sokka said. After he turned back to steering Appa and the fourth wall was firmly put back in place he added, "If that army sees us they could let Long Feng know we're coming. We'll have to fly around them to avoid being detected."

Suki frowned. "That means it's going to take a lot longer to get there doesn't it?"

Sokka was clearly unhappy. "Yeah it does."

Meanwhile Katara was in her cell, completely and totally dejected. After spending all night totally overwhelmed by her sorrow she had long since lost the energy to cry or feel anything but anger. She was angry Long Feng, so angry she was sure she'd kill him in the most horrible way imaginable if she ever saw him again. She was mad at Ping, for daring to apologize for a death he had a hand in causing.

And most of all she was angry with herself for playing her role in long Feng's plan perfectly.

There was only one other emotion in her heart; worry. Now that she had served her purpose Long Feng had no more reason to keep her or her babies alive. He was sadistic and out for revenge as much as power. She knew he could easily be planning on killing her now. There was absolutely no more time to waste. She had to escape now. She managed to stuff her grief down long enough to think of a plan. They had sealed the door to her bathroom and kept the main door to her cell locked regularly since they had given her the grim news so escape would be harder now. But she had to try. She knew if Aang was really dead the best thing she could do for him was make sure his children lived to be born one day.

She waited patiently for her opportunity to come. When Ping came in with her next meal she stayed curled up by the wall, face buried in her arms pretending to cry.

Ping set her meal tray down gently. He looked over at her sadly but didn't say anything. He turned back around to leave. Then Katara struck.

She lifted her head. She had been swishing around spit in her mouth for hours and had gathered the perfect amount. She shot out an icicle that struck Ping in the temple. He cried out in pain and fell on his face. She had gathered all the water vapor she could pull from the air in her sleeves and pulled it out in the form of whips. She threw one forward and wrapped it around Ping's mouth so he couldn't cry out.

Ping turned around and kicked her in the knee. She buckled but stepped back to avoid falling. She flung the other whip around his legs. She would knock him out and use him a hostage to protect herself from the other guards.

Ping shot his fist at her, launching a floor tile at her shoulder. It knocked her straight to the ground. He got to his knees and began to shout for help, as the whip around his mouth had been ripped apart. Katara pulled on the remaining whip around his legs, making him fall hard on his chin and pulling herself up. The water from her first whip had already evaporated so she had very little left.

She whirled the whip around in her hand and it stretched until it tied around his neck. She would choke him until he passed out.

Ping punched the floor, causing it to crack underneath her feet. She fell straight down. She had to brace herself with her hands to make sure she didn't harm the babies by landing hard on her stomach. This caused her grip to loosen. Ping rolled on his back and encased his hands in floor tiling. He pulled his first back. As soon as Katara got back up to her knees he slammed into the side of her head. She fell on the floor, her head throbbing in pain. Another blow like that could kill her. It would at least defeat her.

She steeled her resolve and the whip in her hand formed into a long, sharp icicle. As Ping tried to pin her down with a rock hand on her shoulder she cut him across the stomach then stabbed him in the arm, forcing him off her. She gave him a kick to the nose that knocked him flat on his back. She leapt to her feet and then was on top of him, pinning him to the ground with her knees while still holding the icicle still in her hand. He flung his arm up in an attempted counterattack. She in turn brought the icicle down.

Katara had won. The icicle had reached his neck before he could react.

But before she knew what she was doing, her hand stopped, just short of impaling his windpipe.

His surprise was obvious. He froze with a wide-eyed look on his face. He was unable to move. He seemed ready for the attack to land, almost hoping for it like the idea of death didn't bother him at all. But the finishing blow never came.

Katara couldn't get the look on his face in the Jasmine Dragon out of her head. He had been a second away from killing her. He seemed as ruthless as any enemy before. He changed into a totally different person when he learned the woman he was supposed to kill was pregnant. He just couldn't kill her.

And now Katara couldn't kill him, even to escape. She felt sorry for him.

Other guards had heard the commotion. They came running in and saw Katara seemingly about to kill Ping. They tackled and wrestled her to her feet. They slammed her against the wall and fastened shackles around her arms and legs as she grunted angrily.

Ping stood up, helped by others. His various injuries were still bleeding and he was out of breath. He looked at Katara with utter bewilderment, like he did not understand what had just happened at all.

"Are you ok sir?" one of the guards asked.

He was very shaken up but managed to say, "Yeah I'm fine."

"I'll teach you a lesson!" another guard said as he raised a fist to Katara. She wouldn't be able to stop him.

"No!" Ping said, stopping him. "She's secure now."

"She tried to kill you!"

Ping shook his head, appearing very distracted. "Long Feng…ordered us not to touch her. I have to go meet with him now. Just…lock the door and keep standing guard."

The others didn't look satisfied with that but they complied. They all walked out. He slowly turned to follow them. He turned around and looked at Katara. She had a bruise on her head from where he had hit her. She was panting in exhaustion and the shackles pulled her tightly against the wall. She bowed her head in disappointment of her failure.

Ping stared at her. Whatever he was trying to figure out he couldn't. He left.

"Someone did a number on you" Ling observed when Ping arrived to confer with Long Feng again. It was easy to quickly move from the prison to the mine. There was an underground tunnel connecting them.

"The Avatar's wife tried to escape" Ping explained.

Long Feng was standing in a corner staring at a map of the Earth Kingdom. He was still paying attention though. "I assumed she would become more difficult to control once we killed her husband. But it hardly matters we've achieved our goal."

"What are we going to do with her now sir?" Ping asked. He had been wondering for a while.

Ling quickly responded, "I say we kill her! And I volunteer myself for the task. I still owe her for my hand." He rubbed the stump on his right wrist angrily.

Long Feng still faced the map. "Not yet Ling. We may still have a use for her."

Both of the agents were clearly surprised by that response.

"What use sir?" Ping asked. "We already used her to kill the Avatar as planned."

Long Feng turned around. "The colonies have been proving a thorn in my side; the biggest obstacle towards quickly establishing total control over the Earth Kingdom but they have taught me a lot. For one thing when two benders of different elements end up mating the results can be unpredictable."

The two brothers were clearly intrigued, which was his intention, so Long Feng went on. "In the colonies we've seen all matter of occurrences, Firebenders birthing Earthbenders, Earthbenders siring Firebenders, both benders producing non-benders or any combination. This has taught me that it is possible the baby growing in Katara might be an Airbender."

Ling was clearly not happy with a line of thought that lead to sparing Katara. "Why does that matter?"

Long Feng's response was quite arrogant. "Firebenders have no tact. Their strategy for victory is always just to burn down everything in their path. They never stop to consider the possibilities. The destruction of the Air Nomads was a short-sighted decision."

Ping was surprised. "You want to rebuild the Air Nation sir?"

"In a sense" Long Feng answered. "One child would not be enough to do that. But still having the world's sole Airbender under my control would be quite useful. As you know we plan to conquer the Water Tribes after the other two nations to ensure the next Avatar doesn't rise up against us. I'm hoping we will be able to discover the new Avatar at a young age in order to raise it as our ally."

"Our ally?"

"It's been seen all throughout history. The side with the Avatar is nearly always the side that wins. Avatar Aang was our enemy, an obstacle that had to be removed, but a new Avatar could be a blank slate, the most valuable weapon in our arsenal."

"Excellent idea sir. But what does that have to do with the baby?"

"A worthy question" Long Feng acknowledged. "You see an incomplete Avatar would be less useful. With Aang dead all Airbenders are gone so there will be no one to teach it to the next Avatar. Because the next Avatar will be born in the Water Tribe air will be the last element it will need to learn. If Katara's baby turns out to be an Airbender we can spend it's early life seeing if it's possible to teach it using intuition and historical texts and that way it will be able to teach the next Avatar. I will have both the last Airbender and the Avatar under my control."

"Brilliant!" Ling complimented. "No one will be able to oppose you!"

Long Feng drank in the praise gladly. "Indeed."

Ping asked, "What if the baby turns out to be a Waterbender or a non-bender?"

"Haven't quite decided yet," Long Feng answered. "Having a Waterbender in our service could be useful, especially one raised to be loyal to me since birth. However it might not be worth all that effort compared to the last Airbender. However if I decide such an agent is an unnecessary luxury or if the baby is a non-bender I suppose I will let it die with its mother."

Ping's brow quirked. "Die with its mother sir?"

"No matter what happens with the baby Katara will have to die as soon as it is born. It's not as if she'll agree with our plans peacefully. She would raise that baby to be our enemy. Besides she will have no further use at that point. It's not as if she'll be producing any more Airbenders with her husband dead."

Ling curled his lip in anticipation. "After her baby is born may I kill her sir?"

Long Feng chortled. "Sure after all you did an excellent job of killing her husband, that is unless your brother wants a turn." He looked at Ping.

Ping felt uncomfortable. "No sir…Ling can do it."

Long Feng apparently had been trying to see if Ping would react. "You've seemed rather distracted lately Ping. What exactly is on your mind?"

Ling eyed his brother with anger. He may not have told Long Feng the failure at the Jasmine Dragon was Ping's fault but that doesn't mean he had forgotten Ping's reluctance to kill Katara.

"It's nothing sir…" Ping said. He could immediately tell that wouldn't be enough to placate either of them. "It's just…the Avatar's wife is so pathetic. It's difficult not to pity her on occasion."

Ling snorted in derision. "You've always been so weak."

Long Feng seemed more or less content with that answer. "You certainly have always been almost too kind for your own good but of course that's why I choose you to watch over Katara. You're the one of my men I knew I could most trust to keep your own enemy healthy. That's why you will remain in charge of Katara's protection until her baby is born."

Long Feng wasn't a fool. He knew Ping had reservations. He just had never been given a reason to think Ping would disobey him since he didn't know about the Jasmine Dragon.

"Yes sir."

Long Feng marked a few more things on the map then turned around with a clear sense of purpose. "In two days time our army will reach Ba Sing Se. When it does we will tear the walls down, kill that fool of a king, and take total control of the Earth Kingdom. The Avatar's friends may try to rescue Katara while most of our focus is diverted toward the battle. Return to the prison and make whatever preparations necessary to ensure she stays there. Then return to join us in battle. You two will be rewarded for all your loyal years of service with a front row seat to our victory."

"Very good sir," Ping responded. "Have you figured out a resolution to the colony issue?"

"I have thought of a solution" Long Feng responded. "I'm still working on the details. Right now we have more pressing matters." He walked over to the coffin where they had placed Aang's body, unable to detect the subtle hints of life in it. He put his hand on the casket. "I can't wait until we march onto the battlefield waving the Avatar's dead body as our flag. Wouldn't be surprised if they surrendered right there."

That night Ping returned to the prison. Katara was meant to be in total isolation until after the battle so she wouldn't cause any problems. Extra guards were placed around all the entrances. Ping wasn't going to screw with his head by interacting with her at all. At least that's what he planned but something kept nagging in the back of his mind and he couldn't let it go.

When most of the guards were asleep or patrolling the outside entrances he entered her cell. She was naturally still awake. She was in too much misery to sleep and still held up by her shackles.

"What do you want?" she asked weakly. She had been crying again and didn't bother lifting her head. Her clothes and face were both worn with all she had endured.

"Why didn't you kill me?" he asked calmly.

She tilted her head up for a second. "Hm that's an ironic question."

He took a step forward. "Tell me why."

She stayed in the same position. "It doesn't matter. Why should you care?"

He became agitated. "You had me. You could have killed me and escaped. Why didn't you?"

Now Katara was intrigued. She looked at him with a little defiance. "It sounds like you wish I did."

He was insistent. "Why didn't you?"

Katara let her head drop again, her boldness gone. "I…I couldn't."

That wasn't enough for him. "Why not?!"

She suddenly shouted, "Because you didn't kill me!" That silenced him. "Because…you're not like Long Feng! I don't think you're a bad person. Even though I told myself I had to do whatever it took to escape…I just didn't want to kill you."

Ping remained silent for a long time. His pity for Katara had grown greatly when he learned she was meant to die at the end of her pregnancy no matter what. He didn't quite know what to say.

"You're a fool," was what he settled on.

"What?!" Katara snapped with great offense.

"I'm your enemy" Ping reiterated. "I played a part in the death of your husband. Showing me mercy is childish at best and stupid at worst."

Katara was angry now. "Well the same can be said of you! You let me live when it was stupid to!"

She thought he was going to snap back. But instead he calmly replied, "Yes you're right."

That set Katara off. "What is wrong with you?! What the hell is your problem?!"

Ping responded with indignation, "Excuse me?"

"You don't make any sense!" Katara shouted. "Why are you like this?! Why do you show me mercy then remind me we're enemies?! Why do you work for Long Feng even though you're nothing like him?! Why do you help him do these horrible things?! Just…who are you?!"

"Who am I?" Ping repeated curiously as if he didn't fully understand the question.

"I can't figure you out," Katara added. "I've tried to but I just don't know anything about you." She hung her head in sadness again. For a long time they were silent.

Ping sounded like he had worked a math problem out. "You want to hear my story."

Katara looked up, confused. "What?"

"You want to hear my story to see if the way I am will make sense once you know more about me."

Katara was surprised he was volunteering this idea himself. She nodded. She knew she couldn't escape, not after the last attempt had failed, not when she was shackled and had no water to use. There wasn't much else she could do right now. And she really wanted to know more.

Ping didn't know why exactly he decided to tell her about himself. Somehow because he knew he was only keeping her alive to kill her later he felt that he owed her. He would never betray Long Feng, but doing this much seemed right.

"Very well I will tell my story and you can decide what to make of me once I am done." He hoped doing this would clear up the confusion he had been dealing with for so long.

Katara sounded as satisfied as she could at the moment. "Thank you…Ping."

Ping nodded. He began. "My story begins like so many others in the Earth Kingdom. My brother Ling, the one who's Long Feng's other attendant, the one who hates you…"

"I remember him" Katara said dryly.

"Yes" Ping said casually. "My older brother Ling and I lived in our little home village with our parents. Our mother was a powerful Earthbender and even though our father couldn't bend he was a great farmer who could grow anything. Our childhood was actually pretty happy. We played and lived together as a family. Even though we were poor we always had enough food and we were together so we never felt poor."

Katara couldn't help but notice how much that sounded like her family.

He went on. "But as with so many others who lived through the war the happy picture was not to last. Ling was always a good brother who protected me from bullies. It's hard to believe that was ever my biggest worry but at the time it just seemed like the Fire Nation was never going to notice out town. But then of course it did."

Katara tensed up. She had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"The day the Fire Nation attacked my home it was like fire just rained down from the sky out of nowhere. I was so young I don't remember it with total clarity. My brother on the other hand…remembers it perfectly." He sounded very guilty. "We were badly outnumbered so my mother fought them off while my father took us and ran. He was heartbroken and emasculated to leave her to die but he had to protect us...although Ling never really forgave him for leaving her behind." He turned his head to the side.

Katara could tell he wasn't trying to cast his brother negatively but also that he couldn't help but let out a little resentment towards him.

"After our village was destroyed my father kept trying to find somewhere safe for us to settle and find work. Every time we seemed to find a suitable home the Fire Nation destroyed it. I got used to making friends and losing them to the war. My father eventually decided we'd only ever be safe in Ba Sing Se. It was a horrible journey but after years we finally managed to get there. It wasn't the solution we had hoped for though. Father was desperate to get us to safety. He had totally exhausted himself on the journey and contracted a fatal illness. He died almost immediately after we made it to the city…Ling called him weak and never even cried about it. I cried for weeks."

Katara couldn't help but say what she felt. "Your brother is very different from you."

Ping didn't sound offended. "He endured far more pain much earlier in life than I did and was left solely responsible for me when our father died. It changed him, made him hard."

Katara couldn't help but be reminded of Sokka being left in charge of protecting the Southern Water Tribe when the men left to fight in the war, although he still never insulted either of their parents.

"I've always been a great burden to him," Ping said. "He could have survived much more easily on his own, without having to worry about me, but he always said he'd never be like our father and abandon me to die because of his own weakness. We were young orphans on the streets of Ba Sing Se. No one would take us in or give us jobs. We learned to use our Earthbending to steal food but I was never as good at it as Ling. I almost got us caught and beaten so many times because I felt guilty." He let out a sigh. "I've always been weaker than him."

Katara felt sorry for him. She had a feeling he only considered being nicer than his brother "weaker" because that's what Ling always told him.

"It seemed hopeless for a long time. Until the day we tried to steal from Long Feng."

Katara perked up, listening intently.

"When he caught us we were surprised that instead of hitting us he expressed interest in our skill at using our Earthbending covertly. He was the son of a merchant in the Middle Ring of the city with big political ambitions. We were surprised. He took us in, gave us food, and taught us to master our Earthbending. We were already teenagers at that point but we were so notorious as thieves we never would have been able to get jobs in the Lower Ring. We became completely loyal to him in return for his generosity."

Katara couldn't believe Long Feng had ever done something that kind.

"He wanted our help with his political career. He was already trying to become involved in small political positions but he knew how much power the Dai Li held and that becoming the Grand Secretariat would be greater than being than the king himself. Back then the city was extremely inefficient especially in the way the refugees were handled. It was always on the verge of political riot and so many citizens were starving. He had a vision of how to fix Ba Sing Se and asked us to help him make it happen. We agreed without hesitation and did whatever it took to advance him. We stole money to fund his campaigns, intimidated rivals, and established connections with the criminals in the Lower Ring. He wasn't officially connected to us so he could maintain a perfect outward appearance while we did whatever was necessary to give him more power."

"You didn't feel bad about using tactics like that?" Katara asked.

"A little" Ping admitted. "But we owed Long Feng. And I knew he could fix the city." Katara groaned in exasperation but let him continue. "Then finally the day came, Long Feng was selected as Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, my brother and I were made the two top agents of the Dai Li. For the first time since I was a child everything was working out. We stopped crime. We each got a house in the Upper Ring with all the food and money we would ever need and I met…" He hesitated, clearly overwhelmed with feeling.

"You met your wife" Katara finished.

Ping nodded solemnly. "Her name was Ning."

Katara couldn't help herself. "Between her name, yours and your brother's I'm sensing a theme here, "she joked. She meant no harm.

Ping's face remained serious. She apologized. He went on like noting happened. "She was a student at Ba Sing Se University. She had lived in the Upper Ring her whole life and studied political history. She had all these idealistic ideas about how the war could be ended with negotiation and one day there'd be peace between the nations again. Ling thought it was nonsense; he hates the Fire Nation and wants to destroy it. I was young and naïve and thought she might be right. She was the kindest, smartest, most hopeful person I'd ever met. We fell in love and married. Things were perfect and we lived in happiness, she continued her studies and I helped transform Ba Sing Se into utopia. When we were expecting our first child I had never been happier. But then…"

Katara was surprised. "Then?"

"Then Azula took over the Dai Li. Ling hated working with a woman from the Fire Nation but it was necessary while Long Feng was in jail. When she turned against Long Feng the other agents didn't hesitate to join her but Ling and I were loyal to our leader. We feigned allegiance to Azula then tried to assassinate her. It didn't work though. The other agents caught on and stopped us. She looked at us with her evil grin and sent us off to a Fire Nation prison called the Boiling Rock without a second thought."

"That's a bad place" Katara acknowledged, remembering how her father and Suki had been incarcerated there.

"Yes it is," Ping agreed with pain in his voice. "There was no earth to bend and most of the prisoners were Fire Nation. My brother and I got into fights every day. If we didn't have each other I doubt we would have survived. The guards found any excuse to put us in the cooler. Even though it wasn't to stop our bending it was still a horrible punishment. But they never broke me. Thanks to you lot we knew about the coming solar eclipse and figured that would be our chance to escape. But another prisoner overheard us planning and ratted us out. And when they found out…" He resolutely stopped. He seemed to have decided to skip whatever he was about to say.

"You asked me why I follow Long Feng. You know why I'm loyal to him now. If that's not a good enough reason for you the only other thing you need to know is that I hate the Fire Nation! If I wasn't already loyal to him the only reason I would need to follow him is revenge! I want to destroy the Fire Nation and kill every single Firebender for what they did to me!"

Katara only became more curious with that vague explanation. "Why? What did they do to you?"

"Leave it alone," was all he said.

"Why? You think I won't understand?"

"I know you could never understand."

"Not only was my mother murdered when I was just a little girl but I just lost my husband. He'll never see our baby be born. I understand the pain of living through war!"

"You still will never be able to understand my pain."

Katara wouldn't back down. "Tell me!"

His expression became stern and angry. "Fine you think you can handle it? You think you'll understand? I'll tell you." He only considered it because he knew Katara was intended to be killed one day.

He began his gruesome tale. "They dragged me into one of the isolated rooms. I knew they must have found me out but I was prepared to endure anything to make sure my brother wasn't implicated. I thought I was prepared. Then I saw them drag Ning into the room holding our newborn son. It was the first time I had ever seen him."

Katara gasped in anticipation.

"I didn't even know they had my wife. They had kept her and the baby in isolation to use as leverage against me if I ever rebelled. The warden had only ordered them to threaten to kill them to get me to talk. But they had other ideas."

What happened next totally surprised Katara. He began trembling, his lips quivering and his knees buckling. Tears began to form but he held them back.

"Six of them, I'll remember every feature of their faces for the rest of my life. They started by whining about how lonely being a prison guard is because they can't date the female guards. Then they said it doesn't matter though because…" A single tear streamed down his face.

"No one cares what they do to the female prisoners."

Katara clasped a hand to her face. She remembered the animal-like guard, and how furious Ping had been to catch him attacking her. She felt like she was going to be sick.

He was barely keeping together. "I was strapped down and helpless with no earth to bend. They made me watch every single second. I begged them to stop. I said I would tell them anything, do anything. They just laughed. When it was over she was totally broken, physically and mentally. There are no words to describe their brutality. She had lost the energy to scream. Then almost as an afterthought one of them lit her on fire. That gave her back her voice. Another picked up my son and dropped him onto the fire like a log and I watched my family slowly burn to death."

He began crying openly. He couldn't have stopped himself even using all his strength. "I begged them to kill me! BEGGED them! It was the only end in sight for my unbearable pain! But they couldn't even give me that small mercy. They just laughed and laughed..." He shook his head wildly. His sobbing made him unable to form words anymore.

Katara was crying too. Hearing that story, watching him break down like this; in spite of everything she had been through herself it was enough to break her heart. He was right; the depths of his pain were unimaginable to her.

"You poor, poor man" she said, barely able to choke back her tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"

He managed to regain his composure. "Keep your pity," he said curtly. "I don't need any. I got my revenge."

"You did?"

"They kept me in isolation for weeks, force-feeding me and keeping me away from any sharp objects I could use to end my misery. They kept me alive just to torture me further. On the Day of Black Son fortune smiled upon me: one of those bastards came into my cell carrying a hand mirror. He preened himself in front of it, brushing his hair and talking about how handsome he was. He called my wife…lucky because she got to experience his touch." Anger had replaced sadness in his voice.

"I didn't know glass was made of earth," he explained. "And apparently that peacock didn't either. But when I got angry I shattered it by clenching my fist. Then it was my great luck the eclipse started that very minute." He balled his fist to make the point. "Shards of broken glass, a perfect weapon for an Earthbender. I freed myself from my restraints and showed him an agonizing, messy death. He had been stupid enough to leave the door open."

He laughed but it sounded forced. "I couldn't believe it. I left my cell and in the middle of the room, sitting at a table eating lunch, were the other five men, those five monsters. No one else was around. Apparently when the eclipse had started fighting had broken out in the courtyard that the guards were having a hard time suppressing with their Firebending gone so most of the them had joined the effort. But these guards were selfish and uncaring. I walked straight over to the table; the shards of bloody glass in my hand and my hate as plain as the nose on my face. I waited for them to say something as my hatred prepared to boil over."

"Then one of them looked me right in the eye and said 'She was sure was a beauty.'"

Katara felt sick again.

Ping had a much easier time describing this part. "It's amazing the damage you can do with a few simple pieces of glass in eight minutes. Or maybe by the time eight minutes were up they were too maimed to start defending themselves. Either way, it was slow, excruciating and thorough. Every time they begged for mercy I redoubled in the pain I gave them, every time they apologized or asked for relief. They had no right. My wife begged for mercy as did I and they didn't give it! No matter how cruel I was it wasn't enough. I tore them apart, careful not to kill them too quickly. When they finally died I hadn't even realized it. All that was left was a bloody, indistinguishable mess that looked like it had never been made of human beings." He had started off sounding excited but now his voice was cold, almost dead.

Katara couldn't even imagine what was being described, and when she tried it only terrified her. It was very hard to keep listening. After all the times Ping had shown her mercy she couldn't believe he had done something so gruesome. But she also couldn't totally blame him. After the horrible thing those men did to his wife there was no doubt they were monsters. Monsters that made Yon Rha look like nothing.

She had to know more. "Then what happened? How did you feel? What did you do?" Unlike her when Ping had faced his monsters seeking his revenge he had decided to take it. She needed to know she made the right choice by sparing Yon Rha.

Ping looked tired now, as if he hadn't slept in days. "I thought I'd be happy. I'd thought about revenge every minute since it had happened. I let out all of my hate at once. The problem is I also let everything else out."

Katara was confused. "What does that mean?"

"I just…" Ping started, trying to figure out the right way to phrase it. "…. Was empty, totally empty of any feeling. I wasn't happy or mad or sad or anything. I just felt drained, like everything was over. Now that they were dead I just had nothing, no reason to live."

Aang's words came back to Katara.

The monks used to say revenge is like a two-headed rat-viper; while you watch your enemy go down you're being poisoned yourself.

This is what he had meant. She had been so mad at him when he first said that, so mad that he was telling her to forgive the monster that had murdered her mother. She thought he just didn't understand her pain. But now she knew this is what he had been trying to spare her from, the reason why he it was right she didn't kill Yon Rha.

"I just didn't care about anything anymore, "Ping continued. "I slumped down on the floor next to a wall and waited…I thought about suicide again but I didn't have the energy even for that. So I waited. I figured once the other guards came in and saw what I had done they would immediately kill me." He was so casual about stating how little his own life mattered to him.

"But then my brother found me" he said. "I was so surprised but they didn't know he was planning escape. I was the only one named by that prison rat. He managed to improvise our plan and use the prison riot to escape. He was all I had left in the world, the only person who could make me stand up after what I had been through. He didn't even question why I had killed those men or done it so brutally. We just went to work with our plan."

Katara was surprised. She asked, "You mean you never told you own brother what happened?"

Ping shook his head. "He never liked Ning. He never was a social person to begin with; I might be the only person he's ever liked, besides Long Feng. So he was jealous of her. He always said we only needed each other. What's more because he always hated the Fire Nation he hated her for the pacifist ideals she held so close to her heart. She tried to be nice to him because he was my brother but he rejected her. He's never even asked what happened to her or why I never mention her anymore. I think he's relieved honestly."

Katara liked Ling less and less the more she learned about him. Sokka always protected her and put her happiness first. She couldn't imagine if he acted like this. "That's awful."

"It hardly matters now" Ping shrugged. "After that we found spare prison guard uniforms. We used our own clothes to make it look like some of the corpses I killed were our own so it would appear we had died in the fighting. We snuck out dressed as guards during the rioting completely unnoticed and the Boiling Rock's record for no escapes was secretly broken. We had some very hard years after that; we were basically wandering refugees. We got to see first-hand just how war-torn the rest of the Earth Kingdom was compared to the city. In our years of prosperity we had almost forgotten. Eventually we found Long Feng, apparently after Azula took over the Dai Li she had simply let him leave Ba Sing Se without incident. She did it to mock because she didn't think he was any kind of threat. After that we rebuilt the Dai Li. Some of Azula's agents came crawling back after she banished them but most of the current Dai Li are victims of the war we recruited. We've dedicated ourselves to revenge on the Fire Nation and those who deposed Long Feng as Grand Secretariat and to rebuilding the Earth Kingdom by placing him at its head once more."

Katarra felt this was the one part that still didn't make any sense. "But why? Why is it so important to take over the Earth Kingdom?"

Ping sounded confident in his answer. "After escaping the Boiling Rock I realized how in my years of happiness I had forgotten about the suffering of others caused by the war."

"But the war with the Fire Nation is over! How will starting a civil war help anyone?" Katara asked.

"Nothing is stopping a war like that from happening again," Ping answered. "That war proved how pathetically weak the Earth Kingdom's military is compared to the Fire Nation. The Earth Kingdom's government is totally outdated and inefficient with the Earth King being nothing but an impotent figurehead."

"But that's Long Feng's fault!" Katara argued. "He kept the Earth King in the dark about the war, about the Dai Li, about everything!"

"Oh please" Ping scoffed. "Do you think it would have been so easy for him to do so if the system wasn't already set up that way? The Dai Li had been in control of the Earth Kingdom since Avatar Kyoshi founded them. The Earth King was groomed since birth to be a completely useless socialite. You should have seen Ba Sing Se before my master came to power. It was pathetic!"

"I saw it when he was in power" Katara countered. "Everyone was scared, people were spied on, brainwashed and oppressed! Long Feng was an evil dictator!"

"Those measures were the only possible way to maintain order," Ping said as if he was quoting a drill manual. "Talk of the war would have caused instability."

"That's ridiculous!" Katara shouted. "Long Feng just didn't care about the war! He wouldn't even listen to our plan to invade on the Day of Black Sun!"

"Such and invasion would have required moving the majority of the military out of Ba Sing Se, leaving us completely destabilized and vulnerable."

"You mean it would have left Long Feng vulnerable! All he cares about is his own power!"

"Long Feng is a great wise leader. Everything he does is for the good of the Earth Kingdom."

Katara was furious now. "That's a lie! He brainwashed and murdered a 16 year old boy!"

Ping raised an eyebrow. "You mean Jet, that disturbed little psychopath? You of all people know how unstable he was. When you first met him he was planning on murdering a village full of Earth Kingdom civilians. Killing him was little different than putting down a mad dog."

Katara still carried some resentment of Jet but that insult angered her. Jet's hands were certainly not clean but he had died trying to redeem himself in a way. "Is that what you really think or is that just what Long Feng told you to think?"

"I beg your pardon?" Ping responded.

"Have you ever once tried to think for yourself since you started working for Long Feng?" Katara asked. "Or are you just as much of his puppet as the Earth King was?"

Ping was angry now. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on!" Katara insisted. "Doesn't anything he's doing seem wrong to you?! You called Jet a psychopath, but how many civilians has this civil war killed?"

"That is unfortunate but unavoidable" Ping responded. "In this monarchy there is no mechanism for establishing a more competent leader peacefully. War is the only way to replace the current government with a better one. Once we have won the Earth Kingdom will be under Long Feng's wise leadership. He will use his genius to transform the whole country, not just Ba Sing Se, into a modern, prosperous nation. War and poverty will be a thing of the past."

"You can't trust Long Feng!" She was practically begging Ping to understand.

"You'll never convince me of that," Ping insisted. "My faith in him is unshakable."

Katara was determined to find some weakness in his armor. "Then why didn't you kill me?" As it always did this question made Ping hesitate. "If Long Feng's orders are so perfect why didn't you obey them? Why did you let me live?"

Ping said nothing for a second then sighed in defeat. "I guess you were right before. I tried not to think about it. I never really think about Ning anymore anyway. But in that moment you reminded me of her, if just for a second, and I pitied you."

"I knew it" Katara said.

"It doesn't matter though" Ping interjected. "I still played my role in your kidnapping and your husband's death just as ordered. I will remain loyal to Long Feng."

Katara was frustrated with his stubbornness. But she had one other counter. "Then why are you bothering to talk to me right now? Why are you telling me so much about yourself?"

Ping considered her for a moment before answering. He thought about how the plan was to keep her alive for the rest of her pregnancy then either take her baby from her and raise it for their own ends or to kill the both of them. And either way they were going to kill her.

"I guess you're just so pathetic it's hard not to pity you. Like how you can't help but hand a stray dog scraps even when you know it'll just come back for more." He turned around to leave.

"Ping stop!" Katara shouted. "You're just going to leave now?"

Ping opened the door. "I've told you my story. It's yours to figure out as you please. I have other matters to attend to." He took a step forward.

"Please wait Ping!" she pleaded. He just barely stopped short. "You know what Long Feng's doing is wrong! Somewhere inside your heart you know! That's why you told me this; you wanted to see if someone would finally understand you and I do! You were right I can't understand the pain you've endured, the things I've suffered are nothing compared to it. But now I understand why you're the way you are. And I know you are a good person deep down."

"You're grasping at straws," Ping replied. "None of that means I'll help you."

"Long Feng has no more reason to keep me alive," Katara said. "He's probably planning to kill me now. You have to know that."

Ping tightened his grip on the door. He said nothing.

"For the sake of my and Aang's child I have to escape as soon as possible," she went on. "Please help me."

Ping gritted his teeth as he held the door. He still refused to speak.

Katara had one last arrow in her quiver. "You said that Ning was a kind, gentle woman who believed that one day the nations would live in peace again. Is any of this what she would want? Would she be happy if she could see what you were doing?"

Ping lifted his head. He didn't turn around. "You talk too much." He slammed the door behind him.