"You'll be leaving?" said Momoi. Tetsu-kun had asked to come along on Nigou's walk. They'd wandered through the streets in comfortable silence and now sat on a bench in the Republic City Park, watching Nigou stalk turtleducks.

"Yes, perhaps quite soon," said Tetsu-kun. "I may not... I'd like to ask you to take care of anything I might have to leave behind." He looked down at Nigou, gamboling over the grass. "Like Nigou."

"Nigou belongs to all of us," said Momoi automatically, even as her heart quailed in her chest. "Of course I'll look after him. Dai-chan will too. Will you be following Ki-chan?" Kichan was flying out after the departed Victory, right now, ignoring Commander Akashi's order that he stay behind.

"No," said Tetsu-kun. "There's… there's someone very important to me, who is going to need my help. I can't say much more than that."

"Oh," said Momoi.

"I might never have met him again, if we hadn't come to Republic City," said Tetsu-kun, a tiny frown on his face. "I have you to thank for that." He looked sideways. "You'll be staying here for the foreseeable future?"

"Y-yes," said Momoi, startled out of her train of thought. "We- I-"

"You want to stay in Republic City," said Tetsu-kun, doing his trick of understanding just what she felt.

"Yes," said Momoi. "I love it here. I used to think that the people who came from other villages were so… because they'd be amazed that we got all those tourists in and we weren't quite like their villages. But Republic City is…" she looked over the water. "There's so much to see. There's so much to do. I love my job, it's… there's so much for me to be." She looked back at Tetsu-kun. "Do you think that Dai-chan feels like that? He was so happy, when we first came here, but now…"

"I think that Aomine-kun will manage to land on his feet, whether or not you're taking care of him," said Tetsu-kun.

Momoi summoned a weak smile. "I think he will," she said. "But until then... "

"I'm sorry," said Tetsu-kun.

"No," said Momoi. She felt the prickle of tears in her eyes. "You only came to Republic City with us as a favour to Shige-kun. You don't owe us anything."

"I've very much enjoyed my time with you," said Tetsu-kun. "I'm sorry that I'm leaving you with a burden. That was never my intention."

"No," said Momoi. She reached out and touched his hand, holding it tightly. "You've helped us so much."

Tetsu-kun squeezed her hand in return. She knew all the calluses on that hand, had clung to it countless times. "Thank you, Momoi-san," he said. Then he let go, and so did she. "I have to go now," he said. "Nigou, be good for Momoi-san. You'll need to pull your weight."

Nigou wagged his tail.

Momoi sat at the bench a little longer after Tetsu-kun left. Nigou gathered himself and leapt up to the seat next to her, bored with chasing tree-rats. She put her hand on his back.

"It feels like everyone's going away," she said, her voice very soft. "Kagamin, too… He'll have to go back, won't he? Otherwise, Master Alex Garcia, Himuro-san, and Commander Akashi wouldn't be putting all this pressure on him. We don't want him to go, but-" She buried her head in her arms. Nigou whuffed softly and climbed onto her lap. Momoi picked him up, putting her face against his mini-mane of fur, his warm little body.

Then she scrubbed her eyes, put Nigou back on the ground, and started to walk. The lion-dog kept up, sticking close to her.

The streets emptied out as she got closer to the city centre. People enjoyed watching the Fleet ships come into harbour, hoping for someone to fall off the gangplank into the water. It was better than street theater.

She walked into Police Headquarters and into the back.

"You don't need to be in, Momoi," said Susa, looking up from his desk. "You just got off shift."

"I know," said Momoi, picking Nigou up for the journey into the prisons. "I was just in the area. I said I'd introduce Narumi-kun to our Lion-dog, Sargeant. It won't take long."

.0.

Kasamatsu hit the deck, cursing, then watched as Nijimura surged over the jet of flame to kick the Mukan pirate in the face. All around them knots of soldiers were subduing pirates, and on the other ship the last of their attackers had been forced overboard.

Nijimura stood up, dragging the unconscious pirate by the collar. Another pirate, coming in to rescue their leader, was blasted off the side of the ship by Nijimura's free hand and landed in the sea with a splash. "Think that's about it for them," he said to Kasamatsu.

"Yeah, somehow," said Kasamatsu. A wave of water lifted the unlucky pirate back out of the water and into the hands of waiting soldiers, and the officer who did it dusted off his hands and walked towards them.

Major Higuchi saluted smartly. "Thanks for the assistance, Capta- uh, Airbender Nijimura."

"No problem," said Nijimura. "We saw the signals and came along to help out. Akashi's been hunting the Serpentine a while, right? He tell you to pick them up?"

"The last communique from the Victory was that she was two days sail away, sent this morning," said Higuchi. "Commander Akashi will indeed be glad to know that we managed to get ahold of a Mukan ship."

Nijimura strode to the railing of the pirate ship to survey the ship of their erstwhile victims. Kai circled above, still growling under his breath.

"What's in there that the Serpentine was so hot on getting their hands on?" he said. "Can't be more than a handful of passengers in that ship outside the crew, and definitely no cargo."

"Just one," said Higuchi.

A young girl dressed in rich white furs waved at them and bowed. Kasamatsu, fresh out of Republic City, thought he saw a family resemblance to Councilman Nakatani's stuck-up young cousin.

"The princess of the Northern Water Tribe," said Higuchi. Somewhat self-consciously, he waved back to the little girl. "We were patrolling out of schedule when we caught the distress signals. No one expected the Serpentine to be out here on this route, so we sent up some of our own." He grimaced. "That's when you came in."

"What was she doing all the way out here?" said Nijimura.

"She visits relatives on the coast of the Earth Kingdom every few months," said Higuchi. "She left about a week ago, and her visits usually last a week. The crew is all waterbenders, and they transport people and small shipments regularly along this route."

"So these guys knew she was coming and tried to kidnap her?" said Kasamatsu. "Ransom? Hostage?"

"That's war with the Northern Water Tribe," said Nijimura. "Not the rich people the pirates usually prey on- there's lots of people living out here who'll look the other way if some Earth Kingdom money bleeds. But they wouldn't keep quiet if their princess got taken hostage." His face twisted. "The Mukan tried to take her brother in Republic City, too. They've gotta have some kind of plan going on."

Kasamatsu shook his head. "No, Kise was there," he said. He'd been right, then. "He said that the Mukan picked Midorima out because they mistook him for someone else who'd been giving them shit. The lieutenant babysitting Midorima corroborated. He got involved by accident."

Nijimura scowled harder. "Geh," he said, visibly giving up. "I'll leave the politics to Akashi to sort out. You good to keep hold of these guys and bring their ship in?" he said to Higuchi.

"That is already in progress," said the Major. "We're going back to the base, and when the Commander Akashi arrives we'll have them ready for interrogation. And the crew, to see if there's anything they can tell us themselves."

"I'll meet up with Akashi on the way," said Nijimura, lifting his face into the wind to check its direction. "Kasamatsu's got Kai, he can drop her bring her back to the capital city faster than she can get home herself. The sooner she's back home with her family and behind all that security, the better."

"Wait, what?" said Kasamatsu.

"Fly the princess back home," said Nijimura. "From here, you'll get there and back to the base way before sundown."

"Uh," said Kasamatsu.

They both looked at him.

"Is there a problem?" said the Major.

"We didn't bring Kai's saddle," Kasamatsu pointed out. "What if she falls off?"

"Catch her," said Nijimura, as though it was obvious.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine," he said. He lifted his hand and Kai floated down, flicking his tail curiously. "I'll see you guys back there, I guess."

"I'll radio down to the Victory about your arrival," said Major Higuchi, while Nijimura leapt onto the small ship to explain the arrangement. "We'll be expecting you at the base as well."

Kasamatsu nodded and bent air around himself, leaping up onto Kai. Nijimura carried the little princess up to them. She was very excited to have a ride on an air bison.

"He's so beautiful," said the little girl, once they'd settled her on Kai's back. Her eyes sparkled. "What's your bison's name, Mr Airbender? Can I pet him? Or her?"

Kasamatsu coughed. "Uh, him," he said. "Name's Kai. Hold tight to the band, okay? You don't want to fall off."

Kai heard his name and rumbled in acknowledgement. "Okay," she said. She rubbed her knuckles into the thick fur. "Hi, Kai," she said.

Below, Nijimura waved to them and leapt off the ship, snapping out the wings on his flightsuit. He arrowed out over the water, heading south as fast as he could bend.

"Yip yip," said Kasamatsu. Careful of the Water Tribe Princess, Kai rose and soared in the opposite direction. They would have to fly slowly, but they had plenty of time and she was dressed warmly.

Above them, high in the cloud cover, Haizaki hissed steam out from his mouth and brushed ice out of his bison's fur. She too wore a hood, protecting her eyes from the icy air. "Let's go," he said, watching the small dark shapes streak away.

.0.

"I can't believe Kise really thinks he'll just fly up and everything will be okay," said Kagami, arms folded in the small space.

"Kise thinks that the commander will let him join in," said Aomine. That was not altogether accurate. What Kise had actually said was, 'What's he going to do? Throw me off the ship? Again? How many times can he do that?'

Kagami scowled. "He still won't like it," the prince said. "And he's used to strong-arming his way through to get whatever he wants. No matter what it takes."

"So... like this one?" said Aomine.

"Oh, yeah," said Kagami. The elevator dinged on arrival.

The butler of the Imperial Penthouse Suite bowed them out of the elevator and into a room set up with a large table in the center loaded down with treats and tea. Kagami's not-brother.. that was going to get confusing… stood up to welcome them.

"Taiga, Aomine, welcome, welcome," he said, smiling warmly. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. We really didn't get much of a chance to talk at the party, did we?"

"Not really," said Kagami, taking the seat Himuro indicated for him. With another smooth motion, Himuro dismissed the butler.

"Thanks, uh, for having us," said Aomine, a little embarrassed even though they'd just been here for a much fancier party.

Sitting at the table, head propped up in one massive hand as the other hand ferried food to his mouth, was the rich kid Aomine had briefly met the other day. Aomine had never heard of the Murasakibaras, but Kagami had explained their position with 'they're rich. Very rich.' and left it at that.

He didn't look rich. Himuro was dressed much more like Aomine's idea of a prince, shining with gold and silk, smiling sweetly as he presided over the table.

Aomine jerked his chin at the other boy and Murasakibara acknowledged it with a nod.

Himuro sat down. "This is nice," he said, smiling at all of them. "You're hungry, of course. Try some of the buns! They're freshly made, and we can always have more."

Aomine shrugged and set to. It all looked the same and he had no idea what half these things were. Kagami had already filled a plate with various delicacies, and now stuffed his mouth with glutinous rice. Aomine took a bite, then started shoving food into his mouth. This was the best food he'd ever tasted.

Murasakibara wordlessly pushed a plate closer to Aomine. "'nks," Aomine mumbled. He'd thought the stuff they served at the party was good. Rich people food was amazing.

"And now that I have your attention," said Himuro, closely watching Kagami chew and swallow, "Taiga, have you given any more thought to returning to the Fire Nation?"

"No," said Kagami. He turned to Murasakibara. "This is very good," he said politely. Aomine chewed and thought about how weird it was to see Kagami come over all well-behaved like that.

"Thank you," said Murasakibara gravely.

Himuro sighed.

"I told you, I told Alex, I told that asshole," said Kagami, downing another steaming cup of tea. "I'm not going back."

"You'll have to someday," said Himuro and refilled Kagami's cup. He filled up Murasakibara's and Aomine's cups too, while he was at it. "I'm not saying you have to patch things up, I just think it would good if you showed your face there once in a while. People are barely certain you're alive. Strange rumors have been flying around all over the Earth Kingdom." He laughed. "Why, during my travels, some people even mistook me for a Fire Nation prince. Imagine that!"

"Yeah," mumbled Kagami. "Hilarious. Look, let's drop it, okay? I haven't seen you in forever. And look at you. You're living it up. Tell me about your life." Kagami's mouth worked. "What's happened to you?"

"It's been quite uneventful," said Himuro. He ate a little crisp biscuit. "I've really just been travelling the world, like you."

Kagami snorted. "Why did you want both of us?" he said.

"I invited your friend for Atsushi," said Himuro. "He's a big Lion-Dogs fan."

Murasakibara looked annoyed. "No, I'm not," he said, seeming to wake up a little. "I just listened to a couple of their matches on the radio, that's all." He shifted his shoulders then darted a glance at Aomine and said, "Notbad."

"He had tickets to the championship match, but they had to be refunded after the tournament was cancelled," said Himuro. "It was a shame that I didn't get to see it either."

"Oh, yeah," said Kagami. He shared a glance with Aomine. Somehow that part of their life seemed really far away. Everything seemed really far away, actually. Aomine felt full and weighed down.

"Are you going to keep doing it?" said Himuro. "The Arena and the League is shut down, isn't it? And you can't be thinking of living there long-term."

"That's not-" said Kagami. Aomine looked away, trying to make sense of what they were saying, and saw that Murasakibara had put his head on the table, possibly out of embarrassment.

"What about your father?" said Himuro. His voice was so smooth, so even and reasonable. "You're the only heir he has left, you don't think he wants to see you?"

Kagami stared at Himuro, his fists clenched. "What's up with you? You don't care about my family. You were the one who came up with idea of running away in the first place."

"Alex is under a lot of pressure, she asked me to-" said Himuro, blinking at Kagami.

"No," said Kagami. "You were harping on that before Alex even arrived. Why do you suddenly care so much about getting me out of here?"

Himuro put his head on the side. Kagami stared at him. "Tatsuya?" he said. "Why are you- why-"

Kagami tipped his head back, breathing laboured breaths, his eyes sliding shut even as he braced his arms on the table and tried to stand. He failed, toppling sideways into Himuro's arms, who lowered him to the floor.

But that was… he was… "Kagami?" said Aomine. His vision was blurring. He was so tired. Murasakibara had already slumped over, knocking the teapot off the table. They'd been chugging tea the whole meal, while Himuro nursed his one cup. What the hell. Fuck. Fuck.

"You caused a lot of trouble when you interrupted Mako's shakedown, Aomine," said Himuro, voice still pleasant. His blue eyes were very cold. "I got Atsushi out of the way to the party and everything. And then they just missed getting Taiga, too. They've been looking for him for a long time, you know."

Something garbled came out of Kagami's mouth. Aomine's eyelids had drooped almost to the point of closing. He raged at himself, surely he knew something to get up, get out…

"The next time we meet..." said Himuro, his voice very soft. He was bending over Kagami, reaching around his neck for- the necklace? But why..."Come at me like you want to kill me, Taiga. Goodbye."

.0.

Kise swooped straight towards the stern lights of the Victory, skimming the horizon in full view so that he wouldn't get shot down by anyone on watch. He'd been flying for longer than he had anticipated: the ship had made better time than he'd estimated.

Something made Kise falter his approach, and adjust his flight to swoop over the length of the ship. Now that he was closer, he saw the ship clearly.

There was no one on deck. No one patrolling, no one taking measurements, no one on watch, no one walking and relaxing in the free areas, no one manning any of the open-air stations that Kise could see.

This was bad.

Kise landed on the deck, and immediately soaked his feet. The decks were covered with water. There was too much for it just to be sea-spray, thrown up by the normal motion of the wind and waves. Waterbenders? But if there'd been some kind of fight, there would be more than that. There would still be people around, mopping up or taking over duties. Even if Akashichi had been-

A chill went down Kise's spine. He couldn't think of anything which would take down his firebending master, let alone the entire ship full of trained soldiers.

"Akashichi?" he called, pushing open a door to the inside of the ship. Were they below? "Cadets? Officers? Anyone?"

Silence.

"It's Kise!" he said, drawing air to boom his voice into a roar. "Anyone! Can you hear me? Do you need help?"

Silence, though his voice echoed down the metal corridors.
He went down level by level, calling for anyone and finding no one. Kise had seen a horror mover like this once: Shou had gotten into trouble afterwards, because the whole group of them had gotten nightmares and woken the temple with screaming.

Here, at least, there were some signs that there'd been people- chairs knocked over or doors hanging askew. On the ship, doors were either closed or secured in an 'open' position. And everywhere, sloshing and splashing with the motion of the ship, water.

He reached the communications room and here the receiver was hanging off the hook, keeping anyone from calling in. Kise put the headset back on the hook, depressing the receiver. Where was the book of call codes- Kise could send off an SOS to the closest base, at least- and he'd been trained to transmit during his year aboard the ship.

Water sloshed around his ankles. Kise reached for the reference books, on a shelf above the transmitters.

Something jerked him backwards, slamming him into the doorframe. Kise fell to the floor and accidentally inhaled seawater, coughing and choking as the grip around his ankles climbed up his legs.

.0.

Hyuuga fidgeted, ground his teeth, fingered the loops of the jacket he had on and just barely stopped himself from tapping his feet on the pavement.

Reo looked cool as a cucumber-melon. He was posing as a street peddler selling jewelry and Hyuuga had been instructed to act as his surly assistant. He had refused to tell Hyuuga more than a bit of the plan, aside from an assurance that he was keeping Riko out of it as much as possible. Everyone had their part, he'd said. And it was crucial to secrecy and success that no one knew more of the plan than their direct part in it.

"What are we waiting for?" said Hyuuga, trying again. "Telling me some codeword is my cue isn't going to be helpful if I don't know when it's coming."

"I'd advise you to worry about yourself," said Reo. "You live here and you're insisting on going underground with us, the consequences will be worse for you no matter what. You don't need to put yourself in that kind of danger."

I'm going to be there whether you like it or not," said Hyuuga, leaning over to hiss into Reo's face. "Kiyoshi-"

Reo laid a finger on Hyuuga's lips. Hyuuga blinked at him. "They're here," Reo said. A truck had pulled up, two trucks, and a double handful of people were disembarking from the back with a maximum of noise carrying… food delivery cases? Izuki was among them, a cap pulled down low over his face.

Reo and Hyuuga walked into the station behind them, acting interested in the spectacle. There weren't many people around at this time of day: before the offices around here let out and long after lunch rush.

"What the hell?" said the officer on duty at the desk, standing up.

"We got a big order coming in," said the guy leading the delivery people, hefting the metal carrying case. "Delivery here from Narook's! Come and get it while it's hot, shitheads."

They were greeted with groans of joy from the officers in the office space, who came to the open door to stare hungrily at the delivery containers.

"That's a lot of food today," Hyuuga heard an officer say. "Going out of business, Miyaji?"

"We had a cancellation," said the head deliveryman. "Fuckers are paying us full price anyway, and we can't eat this up. Move your asses, we'll set it up in the back for you."

"Appreciate it," said the officer, and the workers moved into the back of the station, past the desk and public areas, carrying their big metal containers in both straining arms.

He pressed in among them with Reo, as though he just wanted to beg a free bowl of noodles. Reo split off to the side to stand near the station wall, touching it with his hands, starting from his fingertips and flattening his palms against it. His eyes were closed and his breathing evened out, became deeper. Hyuuga was near Reo, and felt- so subtle, so understated- the ground shiver around them.

"-'s loss is our grain," said a drooling officer.

"Yeah," said Miyaji. "Wasting all this good food. Should've thrown a pineapple at his head."

'Pineapple', that was the signal, and the delivery people flipped open their carriers to pull out flash bombs, throwing them as hard as they could into the cavernous space full of officers.

They ducked; Hyuuga closed his eyes just in time.

When he opened them again Reo had stepped out into the doorway, and, eyes still closed, bracelets ringing, disabled the entire room of officers. The officers sunk into the ground to their waists, still coughing, sputtering, or rubbing their eyes.

The deliverymen, all waterbenders, went into action. Metalbending cops gasped as they pulled any liquid they could find- tea, lukewarm coffee, the bags hidden in the carriers- and froze it solid in their wire mechanisms and armor, jamming the systems and immobilising the police officers. Unless they could bend with their faces, they weren't going to be freeing themselves or their fellow officers any time soon.

Two graceful arm movements and a decisive stomp later, Reo sealed the doors and windows with thick panels of earth.

Reo walked through the trapped police officers and the tangle of desks to the centre of the room. The other Mukan agents followed him, and they pulled open the floor to reveal the sloping path to the underground prisons. Hyuuga couldn't help shivering, still. How far they extended and how deep they went were a matter of police legend, and he remembered being told he had to be good or end up locked under the earth forever.

Reo turned to the waterbenders. "Hold it as long as you can," he said. "Once I've located the prisoners, follow us down."

Hyuuga stepped up to stand with the benders gathering at the entrance with Reo. Reo stomped and they dropped down the shaft. Hyuuga gasped and clutched for Reo's sleeve, drawing a laugh from the earthbender. All Reo's cool detachment had sharpened and blazed: this was what he had been waiting for.

They reached a large anteroom with smaller tunnels branching outwards. There were a handful of officers here on guard, staring in shock at their sudden entry. One of them snapped out of it and began calling orders, bending earth towards the intruders.

Hell, hell, hell, it was Imayoshi, still in his civvies with a few more of the off-duty officers behind him, and that was when Reo shook out his hands and all his bracelets flowed down his arms, a silver whip. "Take Junpei," called Reo, spreading a lattice of silver liquid in the air. "He's coming with you to get Kiyoshi. I'll handle things here."

The earthbender he'd given his order to grabbed Hyuuga's arm.

"Hurry, we don't have much time!" said the earthbender. His grip, like Kiyoshi's, was inordinately strong. "We have a map of the prison- Kiyoshi-san is over this way!"

Hyuuga took off after him down the winding corridors. He counted twists and turns under his breath as he bent open earth passages between rooms or sectors. It was clear to Hyuuga that they must have had someone on the inside to supply them with Kiyoshi's location, or they would never have found their way.

Then the whole world shook, and the electric lights, already sparse, went out completely. Hyuuga swallowed a scream and lit his fist. It took three tries.

The stranger was waiting for him patiently. "Can you lead the way?" he said, once Hyuuga had stabilised the flame, his face emerging from the dark. "I'll direct you as much as I can."

"Y-yeah," said Hyuuga. He got a grip on himself. This was for Kiyoshi.

They ran through the darkness- and the noise, oh god, the creaks and rumbles and muffled, yelling voices- until finally, finally, the earth passages gave way to a wooden prison with Kiyoshi inside. He was already out of the cage, having moved an unconscious Fleet officer safely into the solid structure. The door hung open, but Kiyoshi sat cross-legged on the floor next to the soldier, eyes closed, simply, it seemed, waiting for someone to come. He opened them when the light from Hyuuga's fire fell on his face.

"Kiyoshi-san!" said the earthbender.

"Ogiwara!" said Kiyoshi, his eyes huge, blinking from the sudden brightness. "Hy-Hyuuga?"

Hyuuga wanted to laugh and cry and hit Kiyoshi, all at once. "Come on," he said. "Let's get you out of here. You idiot."

"No," said Kiyoshi. "No, you can't, you're the ones who are going to get into trouble for this, you don't know what you're- you have to get out, now!"

"I'm not leaving unless you come with me," said Hyuuga. "That was the only way she let me in here without coming herself."

"Kiyoshi-san, please come," said Ogiwara. "We have a plan. We have an escape route."

The earth rumbled again, even more menacingly. Kiyoshi looked distraught. "But you can't- you're not even-"

"Come before the police recover and put us both in jail, stupid!" Hyuuga said, and Kiyoshi, listening intently to the earth, went.

They emerged at last into the unused basement of a nearby building. The whole thing had taken barely an hour; Ogiwara boosted Hyuuga through the hole he'd made, and they both pulled Kiyoshi up.

"I have strong objections to this," said Kiyoshi.

"Reo-san said you'd know who our driver was," said Ogiwara, leading them out onto the street. The police station was mobbed with bystanders and people trying to break in. Hyuuga hoped Izuki had gotten out of there; the station was surrounded. But no one was looking at them.

On cue, Riko pulled up beside them. She was wearing a delivery uniform too, from one of her father's companies, and a cap, pulled down low over her face.

"Riko, no," said Kiyoshi in tragic accents.

"Shut up and get in the back," said Riko. While Ogiwara was shoving Kiyoshi in, Riko said, "What happened down there? The whole city felt the shaking."

"The underground prisons go much further than most people know," said Ogiwara. "The aftershocks should be felt by most of the city."

Hyuuga swore. "So much for a quick job," he said, climbing in after Kiyoshi.

"I did warn you," said a familiar voice. Reo, nearly all his jewelry now back in place, was sitting next to Riko.

"Oh," said Hyuuga, feeling weirdly deflated. "You got out."

"Of course I did," said Reo, smirking. "Once the strike teams were clear, I made my own exit. The object of this operation was get people out of prison, not throw more people in."

"What's the plan from here?" said Hyuuga.

Reo studied him in the mirror. "We get out of here," he said.

"Helpful, real helpful," said Hyuuga. Riko concentrated on driving, but Hyuuga could see the tension on her face.

"Reo," said Kiyoshi, his voice grim. "I should have known."

"We couldn't have let you stay in there, could we?" said Reo, huffily. "They felt the same way."

"You could have not involved them at all!" said Kiyoshi.

"If I could have, I would have," said Reo with finality.

"Don't blame him," said Riko. "We decided to do this, the both of us."

"You could have stayed out of this," Kiyoshi said to her, pleading. "I would have been alright."

"No," she said, finally. "You don't understand, I overheard my dad saying that you had to be dealt with, that having you running around was a liability. We had to get you out. Do you think I'd have let him do something this dangerous if I didn't think your situation was even worse?"

Kiyoshi, closing his eyes, said, "Oh, Riko," in his soft voice.

Riko took them out of the city, where a battered airship, painted with a logo Hyuuga didn't recognise, was idling way too low to the ground. Other vehicles were parked near it, their doors hanging open and abandoned.

"My Beauty," said Reo, smiling at the expression that passed over Hyuuga's face. He moved his arms, and a forest of thick metal cables dropped from the airship. Reo gave them a quick tug to make sure they were stable. "Kiyoshi first," he said.

"W-watch," said Hyuuga. His throat felt thick all of a sudden. "Watch his knee. It's been injured."

"I'm following him," said Reo. "Teppei, let's go." He looked at Hyuuga, his eyes suddenly serious. "Take care, Hyuuga."

"Can't we-" said Kiyoshi. "What's going to happen to-"

"None of your business," said Riko, her arms wrapped around herself. "Just go."

Hyuuga watched Reo winch Kiyoshi into the airship. That was it, then. Hyuuga probably going to have to skip town himself, but at least Kiyoshi was out of jail and no one had seen Riko's face or-

The wires came shooting down again, and wrapped around Riko's body. Riko screamed and tried to run but they held fast, beginning to lift her towards the airship.

Hyuuga leapt off the ground, grabbing for her, but was dragged back by Ogiwara, who braced himself with earth and sunk Hyuuga into the ground, wrapping his arm around Hyuuga's neck to choke off his airflow.

"Sorry, Hyuuga-san," said Ogiwara. His arm around Hyuuga's throat tightened and held on; unable to firebend, to get free, to breathe, Hyuuga's world went black.