In the Intelligence Training Program, he is taught how to expect the unexpected, how not take things for granted, how to be prepared. But despite all the skills taught, despite being mentored by the best in the force, Tom-Tom never expected to see him. The boy shuts his eyes as he runs his hand over the ring he took from his sister's body just before she was cremated. He has it on a band around his wrist, it's one of the few keepsakes he has of her.

Their mother, broken as she was, made sure that their home was largely rid of anything that could trigger a painful memory. She had thrown away the paintings in her husband's office, the paper flowers her daughter had given her for Mothers' Day and every piece of clothing Mai had worn.

When the woman lost her child, she lost something else- her sanity. It began with polishing, ridding any shiny surface in their house that might bear Mai's fingerprints. Then she began washing her daughter's sheets and blankets to remove any smell that might linger. And one day, when the things were 'cleansed' of the traces of her firstborn, Lady Azoro had burnt them all.

The Governor had caught her, nearly successful at her attempt to rid the girl's ashes, he had stopped his wife, scolding her fiercely. With pained eyes, he had turned away and hugged the urn to his chest. At the action and thought that there might be a possibility of her lapsing back into the inferno that is heartache, she fought him, hitting him in the chest and finally slamming her fists into the thing. It fell from the Governor's hands, its contents almost splattered on the floor.

Tom-Tom's father's reaction brought the then seven-year-old boy a significant amount of pity for it bore a parent's despair and the brokenness of a man who would never see his daughter again. Tom-Tom had made special efforts to conceal the ring that he had taken from Mai's corpse when he had the chance.

As a child, he had adored his sister, she was everything he looked up to. He remembers playing with her stilettos when he thought she wasn't looking. But she obviously was because the next time he wanted to play with them, they would be relocated and he would have to seek them all over again.

On the night of her passing, he had grown hungry. It was in the middle of the night and Mai was the only other person in the house that was awake. Well, there were the guards and the housekeeper but he had always shied away from their staff. Mai was his sister and he found that he could always rely on her.

Jie, he remembers the word that came upon his lips that fateful night and regrets it. I'm hungry, the young military trainee will always remember the words that indirectly sealed his sister's fate. He remembers that her usually stern features morphed into one of great love and kindness, as she stared down at him. The look on her face, the one of undoubted patience will forever haunt his dreams.

Go to the kitchen, I'll get you some fire flakes, her tone was dull and monotonous as it is most of the time but there was a touch of love in the words that seemed so simple. On hindsight, he should have just settled for the cereal, he should not have been that much of a pain, but he was immature, something that in his mind, still doesn't justify his petulance.

I want dumplings, the words were plain and yet so demanding. He wanted something that their home did not have. Normally when he made such requests, he would receive 'no' as the answer, but that night, his sister was in a much more patient mood than most and had ventured out to buy his food.

The news came to their family very suddenly, the police sent a rookie who knocked on the door slightly too hard for it to be deemed auspicious. Tom-Tom was there when the guard on the first floor, received the news.

Are the Governor and his wife awake? When the guard had answered with a 'no', the man continued. I was told to pass the message that their daughter is dead, Tom-Tom will never, ever get over the nonchalance in the man's voice. He will never forget the way he delivered the news that forced his childhood to a sudden halt. He vowed never to consume dumplings ever again, a promise he has kept for a decade.

The young man thinks about the injustice that makes his mind whirl. He never understood how a man who was rewarded in every way by the Fire Nation, could become loyal to a religion that was their enemy. Till now, the young man cannot comprehend the betrayal.

And then there is Zuko. At such a tender age, an age where forgiveness is second nature and malice does not surface on the agenda, Tom-Tom had felt bad for his sister's boyfriend. When he witnessed his father push the man to the ground on the day the funeral was to be held, he had wondered why his father was so angry. Zuko was in every way a good boyfriend, loving and loyal. Yet, there was nothing that could reconcile that fact that the then prince was bad luck… is probably still bad luck.

It had be taught and then reiterated to him that Mai's plight was due to the prince's in-auspiciousness and the fact that he was a jinx, who had brought much suffering and pain to his family and theirs. As a child, he had believed them and kept his distance, even though the young man had gone to see him at the Fire Nation school in Omashu.

It was difficult for Tom-Tom to deny the prince. After all, it was true that Zuko had a hand in raising him, cleaning him when he wet himself, feeding him when he was hungry and even washing him when he was dirty. Tom-Tom adored Zuko but he listened to his parents words and avoided the man who was meant to become his brother-in-law. When his parents got word from Tom-Tom's teachers that the prince was seeking their son out almost every afternoon, his father had made the radical decision to move the family and resign from his post in the parliament.

They didn't leave word on the location they had moved to.

Finally when Tom-Tom found within himself the rebellious nature he had been suppressing, he decided to run away from home. That day his father had caught him with a hooker he had met at the brothel in the city they were living in, and had attacked him, locking him in his room and refusing to listen to reason.

Tom-Tom, having channeled his anger at the bastard who killed his sister into doing obstacle courses, was far more apt than many. Thus he found a way to climb down the pipes beside his window, running away from home and never looking back.

When he had no more money and was tired and a little more than desperate for his next meal, he joined a moving circles and trained as an acrobat, quitting a year later when he was fitter and of age to join the military. They placed him under training in the elite unit. When asked which part of the military he hoped to join, he had said the commando arm of the military police. He had looked forward to being a full fledge military police personnel but now, as he stands at ease, ready to receive his Red Barrette, he finds a slight reluctance to join the force.

"Recruit Tom-Tom, appointed the position of Junior Investigating Constable in the Royal Military Police, with the rank of Corporal," he doesn't hear it the first time and requires the announcer to repeat herself.

The young man steps forward and finds himself face to face with the man who was his sister's boyfriend. Zuko is in full military regalia and looks more impressive than Tom-Tom remembers. Silently he wishes to Agni that he will not start exhibiting any form of hostility to the Fire Lord. He moves forward, presses his fist to his open palm and bows. The man returns the gesture and hands him the Red Barrette along with a kris as is customary for commandos.

Tom- Tom braces himself for anything the Fire Lord might say and is ashamed to admit that he's disappointed when nothing comes from the man's lips. And then a small smile graces Zuko's features as he pats the newly appointed Corporal on the back. Tom-Tom is slightly surprised at this gesture and then he has an epiphany- Zuko is a good man. And now, on this day he recognizes the fact that the best way to honor the memory of his sister is to create new ones with her lover.

Zuko

X

I stand in the South Eastern Earth Kingdom state of Geylang, at the crime scene where the decomposing head of a male victim was discovered. There is no need for any other hypothesis because it is very apparent that the death of this man was a result of foul play. The Military Police physician on duty is inspecting the severed head when I arrive.

The smell is putrid, hideous and makes my stomach churn. As I look at the head, it is apparent that the eyes have been gouged out and the head badly mutilated. Whoever committed this murder must have been livid, vengeful and maybe even a little mad. I shake my head as Tom-Tom comes to stand beside me. The day after his Passing out Parade, he came to see me and had told me that one of the things in his life most difficult to accomplish was the forgiveness of me. I am grateful that he came to the realization that the best way to connect with his sister, is to, as he put it, build memories with me.

"Sir," he says as he ushers me to a location about ten meters away from where the head was discovered. "We found this," he says and gestures to a faded pair of footprints. I am proud of the man who has recently joined my department. He is sharper than many of the veteran officers in the force and I am glad that he is molding well into the job. There are not other pairs of footprints which probably means that it must've been raining or that the culprit was an earthbender who had smoothed the soil, missing out this spot.

"Nice work, let's take a mold and search for any other clues that there might be," I say and move back to the place where I was standing before. Snapping on a pair of gloves I bend down beside the physician and with his permission inspect the fourth victim of murder in this new year, or whatever remains of him anyway. I touch the skull and can feel a dent. I must've been a blunt object that hit his head, and probably knocked him unconscious or killed him. Though I'm not sure.

"Is there any way to identify the victim?" I question and glance at the doctor. Yong looks up at me, as he ponders this over. "Come on, there must be something," I say and stare at him, as my face exudes question.

"The parts of the head where the cheeks were, there are bite marks that can only mean that they were eaten by an animal," the doctor says and scratches his chin. "Maybe if we can find the animal tracks and follow it, we can locate the body of the victim," he says. I don't buy it. The only animal in this area that I know is likely to have eaten the cheeks are winged wolfdogs. Though they are a lot smaller than their non-winged counterparts in the Fire Nation. The creature is barely a meter and a half long. It isn't likely that they severed the head of the victim.

It must be that victim was first beheaded by the perpetrator, who probably scattered the body parts all around the countryside.

"No," I say as I sigh softly and continue with my exploration of the head. "Wait, I think I might have something." As I pry open his mouth, I see silver. Silver teeth… that certainly is curious. Most Fire Nation people have golden eyes. Though there are a few who have grey eyes instead. My sister's lover, Ty Lee has them, and so does Tom-Tom. These people are considered the bearers of the eyes from the Nether World, which are often attributed to reincarnated dragons.

Often, as a means to signify that they were in fact the chosen ones, their parents have silver teeth installed in their mouths. Distantly I wonder and then dismiss the thought that there might be a link between this case and the religion which believers claimed my beloved's life.

"Corporal!" I call Tom-Tom and wait for him. He is by my side in a heartbeat.

"Yes?"

"You have a silver tooth," it isn't a question. When I was younger and Mai and her brother were in the Fire Nation while their parents were abroad, I would often stay over at her house and help her take care of Tom-Tom. That included brushing his teeth. I wasn't surprised that their parents, who are very superstitious, had installed a silver tooth in their son's mouth.

"Yes," he says hesitantly and looks at me confused. "I don't see how…"

"So does he," I say and beckon him to inspect the mouth of the deceased. "Find me any and all records regarding Fire Nation citizens here in the Earth Kingdom with grey eyes and silver teeth. "I think I've found a link."

X

As it turns out, there are only a few people in the Earth Kingdom of Fire Nation decent with silver teeth. Two of them are tycoons who are still alive, one was the deceased retired Captain Hiroshi and the other three are men of military standing, of which one is missing. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened to him.

"His name's Tanaka," Tom-Tom says as he hands me the case files. "He's a fairly low ranking officer in the military," says the man as he watches for my reaction. "I did some digging," he tells me as I look up at him. "He was deemed unfit for combat recently after an exchange with some guerillas left his knee busted," he takes in a deep breath.

"According to his men, he had been very depressed and had visited the brothels very often. There's more," he says, effectively gaining my attention. "We know the prostitute he kept patronizing," he states, his tone tells me he is proud of himself even though it is not reflected on his face.

"What's her name?" I ask as a small smile creeps up on his features.

"Tia," he states.

And that… that is the monster I wish to bring to justice.

X

She is standing in the doorway as the madam, who has a shrill voice talks over the din coming from the next room. Some customers can be really noisy and it can be quite sickening. Katara suppresses the urge to roll her eyes. The madam is not a nice lady. Unlike her predecessor, she is a rude and obnoxious bitch with a bastard son. The boy has golden eyes and Katara suspects that he is part Fire Nation, though none of the girls have voiced this theory.

"I'm not finished you slut," the woman's voice booms as she pulls on Tia's hair causing the girl to stop in her tracks and try to struggle free. Katara wants nothing more than to stuff her fist right up the woman's ass and rip out her intestines, but she knows that any and all rebelliousness will be rewarded with more trouble.

It has been three months since Mammy passed and this woman, a former prostitute herself has become the new Madam. She had bought the business over from the landlord who actually didn't have the right to sell it. Katara sometimes hates Earth Kingdom people for the greedy bastards that they are.

"Don't struggle," she screeches as she slaps the girl on the face and embeds her fist in her abdomen. "I said, I don't want you to resist me," she announces in the most awful sound imaginable such that when the police come to the door, Katara is almost relieved.

"Good evening," a man with an angry scar and features too severe for his youth says. "Is something happening here?" his voice is warning and although Katara immediately has the urge to question his appetite for justice (or lack thereof) she doesn't. In fact, the waterbender is thanking him silently for his intervention.

"Nothing's the matter Sir," the Madam's voice is dripping with sweetness as she hurriedly releases the young lady's hair from her grasp and hiding a pinch to the girl's back, signals for her to leave. "Have you come for a good time?" she asks and smiles. Katara wishes to wipe that look off her face with a tight slap.

"No," the other man, who looks to be more of a boy, says. This surprises the old woman for she has never seen men who have been able to resist the charms of her girls.

"We are looking for Tia," the scarred man explains. The woman exchanges looks with Katara as she moves to the military policeman's side and grabs his hand, pulling him into her brothel. "We want to see her," he says, instinctively pulling his hand away.

"Come inside, I will explain everything to you," the Madam states and winks at Katara who nods in response. The two men enter as they are promised answers. Zuko and Tom-Tom soon find themselves in a bedroom with pictures of nude women plastered all over the walls. They watch with a little alarm and for Tom-Tom only, a little arousal as the lady in blue removes her clothes, revealing a pair of plump breasts and a most tempting body.

"My name," she begins, "is Katara."

A/N: review people! so they meet! WOOTS! lol a kris is a kind of dagger often found in south east asia. 'jie' is a salutation to an elder sister in mandarin.