Arlei wasn't exactly sure what time it was, but it was dark and that mean it was time to sleep. Sho was passed out next to the embers of the fire. Arlei scooted away from the cliff face and lowered herself onto her side. She rested an arm between her head and the ground. As she closed her eyes, she heard him ask it.

"How did you meet her?"

Arlei's eyes remained closed as she pondered his question. She considered brushing it off and telling him to go to sleep, but for some reason she didn't.

"I don't think you want to know," she answered truthfully. Even as she spoke quietly, her voice rang out loudly in the still night air.

"By the time she disappeared, I had already lost my son." Arlei's eyes opened. She stared at a tiny pebble that was inches away from her face as she listened. "Even though she wasn't my own, the pain was still the same."

What was going on? How was it that she was starting to feel something else that wasn't bitterness or resentment towards this man? Was it sympathy? No… it couldn't be.

Arlei's face tensed into a frown and she reached forward to flick the pebble away. She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. "Go to sleep," she ordered grumpily. But as she said it, she felt a stab of involuntary guilt at her rudeness. What was going on?

Perhaps it was the way he seemed to behave like a person—someone with compassion and empathy, not a ruthlessly cold killer. Maybe it was how he was telling her about the personal, humanizing parts of his past. All these years Arlei had believed that she was the victim and he was the monster. Oh, the bitter irony.

"Tomorrow," she promised, her eyes still closed. "Tomorrow, you'll know everything. But for tonight, just… go to sleep."

Today had been a long, gruesome day. Even though King Kuei had ordered the Dai Li to lessen their security over the avatar, the head of the Dai Li now had them spend nearly every one of their waking hours sweeping through and "cleaning" the city up.

The memory of earlier that day haunted Jangzhen as he approached his estate. An old beggar had slipped past security and made his way to the Middle Ring in hopes of finding better coin. His actions had come to the attention of the Dai Li, but instead of putting him into a shelter, they had thrown the beggar into prison. The cold injustice immediately stuck out to him, but Jangzhen had held his tongue for fear of the backlash from his superiors.

The Dai Li have a talent for skewing justice into something unrecognizable. That's what his mother had once said. At the time, he had brushed her words aside, refusing to let her mar the dazzling image of the agents he had clung so stubbornly onto. Only now was he realizing the truth in her words.

Jangzhen placed both hands on the heavy front door of his home and gave it a light push. The door opened slowly as the young man attempted to stay as quiet as possible. As he peered into the house, he noticed that it was completely dark. Shen was probably asleep.

Then, as he opened the door wider and stepped in, he caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark. Before he could react, a shriek rang out. Jangzhen let out a surprised cry himself. He stumbled backwards and fell back through the threshold. As the door creaked wider, the moonlight illuminated the figure standing in the dark.

Jangzhen sat up and glared at his little brother. "What did you scream for?" he demanded angrily.

"Because you screamed!"

"Yeah, only after you screamed!" Jangzhen pulled himself back onto his feet, attempting to ignore the pain in his rear. "Anyway, you should be in bed!" He shut the door behind him and raised his arm towards a pair of pillars that stood on either side of the door. The pillars, carved from the large crystalline formations of old Ba Sing Se, began to glow a brilliant green.

"I couldn't sleep!" Shen whined. "Mama isn't home!"

"So? She sometimes works late. She'll be home in an hour or so. And if she catches you out of bed, she's going to get mad."

Shen tugged at Jangzhen's sleeve. "But I have a really bad feeling!"

Jangzhen sighed. "Shen, it's fine." The little boy was uncharacteristically silent. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Can we go out and look for her?" Shen pleaded.

"Are you crazy? At this hour? What if she comes home while we're gone?" Jangzhen took the boy by the arm and led him back to his room. As they walked into Shen's room, the little boy suddenly stopped and pulled back.

"What if she doesn't come home?"

Jangzhen felt anger bubble in his chest. He was getting sick, just sick, of Shen being such a baby. As he turned towards his brother with frustrated words ready to pounce from his tongue, he saw tears in the little boy's eyes. Then he started getting a little worried. A tiny part of his mind began to truly wonder if his mother was okay.

But he had to push that fear aside for Shen. It had always been his responsibility to stay strong—once for his mother when she had nothing else left, and now for a little boy who needed his big brother. Crouching down, Jangzhen said, "Don't worry, Shen."

"I'm scared," Shen admitted. "I think something bad is happening. Mama is too busy with the king and you're too busy with the Dai Li to see it."

Jangzhen felt guilt course through him. "I'm sorry, Shen. It'll be fine. Mom is fine. Just go back to bed. When she gets home, I'll wake you up and let you know, okay?"

"You promise?"

"Yeah."

"When the soldiers tore me away from the Fire Nation, Zuko had grown so distant from me that I doubt he noticed. And even if he did, he wouldn't have done anything to stop them." Seiya's eyes were closed, but a tear fell from between her lashes.

"I'm sure he missed you," Katara said. "Believe me when I say this, Seiya—he was so happy when he found you here."

"You'll have to forgive me when I say I can't, Katara. I've had plenty of time to think about our relationship," Seiya replied, her voice firm. "Reminiscing on my past, the happier days, was all I had to keep me sane. The more I thought, the more I came to realize the truth. Neither of us truly realized that our 'friendship' was not so. It was simply me giving my everything to him because I cared too much for him. Maybe I even deluded myself into loving him." At that word, a cruel smile flickered on her lips for the briefest of moments. "And he lapped it up, using my affection to make up for the lack of his father's approval and to cover up the envy towards his sister. That's all I was. A stool for him to stand on and make him feel taller. And love? From a servant? He never would have considered it."

"You're letting your inner demons contort the truth," Aang stated.

Seiya opened her eyes and glared at him. "You weren't there. How could you say—?" She stopped as Aang lifted something from her nightstand. It was the silk scarf.

"He held onto this for years," he said. "Forgotten, but preserved. I was there when he found it. I saw the emotions that flashed through his eyes. I didn't understand them then, but I think I do now. There was sadness, but there was also longing. For days gone by."

Zuko ran out of the courtyard and back into the palace. He had checked her room, the kitchen, the laundry room, and under the tree they usually met. Seiya was not in any of those places.

He remembered the last time he saw her. It was in the hallway, as she was no longer the one who collected his clothes. Her face was lowered, and her eyes were downcast and had dark rings underneath them. She looked so tired and miserable. And she refused to look at him. It was then he realized that it had been a long time since they had last spent any amount of time together. It was his fault, and Zuko knew that. He wanted to apologize to her, to see her smile again.

But today she was nowhere to be found. Zuko stopped a few servants to ask about her, but they only shook their heads and hurried away. Exasperated, Zuko headed out. Perhaps Seiya was in her favorite bazaar looking at the stalls.

As he approached the palace doors, he caught a glimpse of two soldiers muttering to each other. He heard one of them say, "replacement." But what really stole his attention was something that was in one of their hands. A white silk scarf.

"That's not yours!" Zuko blurted out as he marched over to the soldiers. Respect was the last thing on his mind as he stared at the scarf. Seiya would've never parted with it.

"This is none of your business, Prince Zuko," one of the soldiers said gruffly.

"Where did you get that?"

The soldier that had spoken looked as though he was about to give another snide remark, but his companion spoke up. "Have you not heard, Prince Zuko? About the servant girl?"

"What? No, I didn't hear anything. Where's Seiya?"

"Are you talking about the poor servant girl?" The soldier took the scarf from the other's hands and held it out to Zuko. "I'm sorry, but this is all we found of her. I'm afraid she is no more."

Zuko took the scarf and held it in a tight fist. "What are you talking about?" In his heart, he feared the worse. The soldier's next words confirmed it.

"One of the servants reported that the girl was missing all morning. The captain ordered a search. One of the parties found this at the top of the seaside cliffs south of here, crammed into the crevice of a rock. It is likely that she jumped, Prince Zuko. She's dead."

He stood there for what seemed like hours until he blinked. He couldn't quite feel anything, like he was hollow. Then he whispered a single word.

"Why?"

"It can't be determined. Perhaps she was unhappy."

He turned around and slowly walked away in a trancelike state, scarf still clutched firmly. Zuko didn't stop until he reached his room. He laid the scarf gingerly on the side of the bed and stared at it as though he expected it to transform into his best friend. But it just lay there. The emptiness was beginning to hurt.

He already missed her.

Like clockwork, dawn approached and her eyes opened. She observed her surroundings as she sat up. It was still dark, but the sky was just beginning to turn a deep magenta.

It was time to wake the other two up and continue on their journey. But as Arlei turned towards them, she was surprised to see that Iroh was already up. His back was turned to her and a pillar of wispy steam rose from in front of him.

He bade her good morning as she stood up and walked around to see what he was doing. A pot sat over a small fire, and the steam had an aromatic scent. She had no idea where he had gotten any of those.

"I thought you might like to wake up to some tea," Iroh said. Sho had his nose stuck into the steam, eyes closed and tail lazily wagging.

"Kindly remember back to the night in the teashop," Arlei replied, all traces of last night's softness gone. "I don't care much for it. Besides…" She walked over to Sho's saddle and began packing things into it. "We need to get moving again. You have ten minutes."

"Ten minutes is not nearly enough time to enjoy a good brew," Iroh pointed out pleasantly.

"We're not out here to enjoy anything."

"It's still very early. Let the cheetah wolf rest a little while longer."

Arlei bit her tongue as she fought back fierce words. Who was he to tell her how to take care of Sho?

"I was hoping we could talk. About Shudao, I mean."

Arlei's hand froze, letting one of the leather straps slip loose from the unfastened buckle. So this was the reason he wanted a slow morning. The first words on the tip of her tongue were dismissive ones—ones to refuse the offer to air out grievances in words and instead bottle everything in. It was what she always preferred, then and now. But maybe… just maybe, it was finally time to step out of her comfort zone. Arlei thought of Seiya. She had promised. She had promised.

"Fine." She turned around and sat cross-legged in front of Iroh. "Talk, and make it brief. You have ten minutes."

But god, I miss you

So much it hurts sometimes

And I can't bring us back to

All the days gone by

Why didn't I notice

That you were not quite fine?

Now I can't bring us back to

All the days gone by

"Days Gone By" by Gavin Mikhail