Iroh felt immense relief when he saw the cottage. The journey was over. He had no idea how Arlei managed to make the trip over and over again, but apparently, according to her, this trip with him had been her slowest one yet given the extra baggage. Her words.

Arlei slowed Sho down to a walk as they approached the cottage. "Kani and Koru," she said quietly to Iroh. "They're twins, but they don't look it. Fraternal twins."

So they were non-identical siblings that might as well have been born at different times. Iroh suddenly remembered that these children were Seiya's, not Arlei's. It was a jarring thing to remember. But there was still a question that continued to bother him.

"Who is their father?"

"I don't know, and I prefer it that way. For his sake, I hope I never meet him." Arlei dismounted from the saddle and led Sho towards the cottage. As they drew closer, Iroh spotted two little faces peeking from the window. The faces disappeared and, in a second, the front door burst open. A little girl and boy, both looking around four years old, ran out.

"Arlei, you're back!" the little girl cried as she raced over. Arlei knelt down and the two children latched onto her with hugs.

"Are you okay?" Arlei asked. "You two didn't have any problems on your own yesterday, right?"

"I made bread!" Koru boasted proudly.

"It was gross!" Kani announced.

Koru scowled at her, but Arlei put a hand on his cheek. "That's good. You'll practice and get better," she assured.

It was as though the woman he had traveled with had disappeared entirely. Today she was replaced by a gentle, motherly figure. Iroh was quite astounded at the transformation. Perhaps this was what the soldiers meant when they had called her 'the hunter with a thousand faces' during the war. He couldn't help but wonder if this was her true face.

At that moment, the twins noticed him. "Who's that funny-looking old man next to Sho?" he whispered to Arlei. She rose and guided the children out to face him. "His name is Iroh," she introduced. "He… raised your mother when she was little."

"Oh!" Kani said, swaying from side to side. "So did you! So does that mean he's your husband?"

The look on Arlei's face could have melted through steel. "No," she corrected sternly. "He raised her when she was still in the Fire Nation."

"The Fire Nation!" Koru exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "Did you live in the Fire Nation?"

"Koru, take him inside and then you can talk about the Fire Nation all you want," Arlei instructed. "Kani, do you want to take care of Sho with me?"

Koru led Iroh into the cottage. It was a cozy little thing, and it was very neat. Arlei must have taught the little ones to look after themselves. Iroh spotted what looked to be a lumpy stone on the table. But it had a chunk sliced off. Oh right, it was Koru's "bread."

Koru snatched the lump and tipped it out the window. Then he climbed onto a chair. "So what is the Fire Nation like?" he asked eagerly. "Arlei said that's where Mama was born."

"It's a grand country, and its people fierce and proud," Iroh explained. "But until recently, it was a country constrained under war. Its citizens' minds held the grandiose illusion that they were far better than any other culture. As a result, they themselves suffered under their own constraints. Power and recklessness were praised while true talent, art, and compassion were pushed aside."

Koru frowned. "I always thought the Fire Nation was like a paradise," he said. "Like a big, big home."

"Now that peace is returning to the world, and the Fire Nation is under the care of a new, wiser firelord, it is indeed returning to a paradise," Iroh said. "But you must understand that I lived there only during times of war."

"Is that why you live in Ba Sing Se now?"

"I suppose. I will always consider the Fire Nation to be my first home, but there is no place I'd rather be than here."

Koru looked down. "I was hoping you could take me to the Fire Nation," he muttered. "Mama can't go, and I don't think Arlei likes the Fire Nation at all."

Iroh felt bad. The boy wanted to go to the place of his origins, but had no way to go. Perhaps he'd be able to ask his nephew. At the thought of Zuko, Iroh suddenly wondered whether he knew about these children. He ought to know, but it would surely break his heart to realize what had happened to Seiya.

"Did you know that Arlei once went to the Fire Nation?" Iroh asked. More than likely, this wasn't something she had told them.

And as expected, Koru's eyes lit up with surprise. "Really?"

"Not willingly. She went as a prisoner. This was during the war, when she and I were enemies back then."

"Is that why she looked like she wanted to throttle you when Kani asked if you were her husband?" Koru wondered. Now that he thought about it, Koru's description of the look on her face fit perfectly.

Before he could answer, he heard the door open. "Koru, you better not be poisoning him with that nasty bread!" Kani called out as she came in.

Koru crossed his arms. "We finished it!" he argued back.

"Is that right? And what about that rock under the window?" Arlei said as she closed the door behind her. Koru turned red. "Set a kettle over the fire, Koru." Without so much as a glance towards Iroh, she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Kani, get the kettle," Koru dismissed as soon as Arlei was out of earshot.

"She told you to do it!" Kani pouted. "And I fed Sho, so it's your turn to do something!"

Koru grumbled as he hopped off the chair. Kani wandered over to Iroh and stared at him. There was something genuinely curious in her gaze. "Your beard is funny," she suddenly said. "Can I touch it?"

Her forwardness amused him. "Go ahead," he invited. He was about to bend over and pick her up, but to his surprise, she scrambled up onto his lap and tugged on it. After taking as many yanks as he could handle, he gingerly took her hand and pulled it away.

"Arlei seems like she's mad at you," she whispered to him. "Are you two arguing?" How was he supposed to explain a lifelong bitterness that spawned from the death of her people to a young child? Did that count as an "argument" to her?

"You seem very nice," Kani continued. "I don't know why she would be so angry at you. But she's so sad." The little girl glanced over the shoulder, then leaned towards Iroh and spoke very quietly. "She tries to hide it from us, but I can see how sad she is. Sometimes she'll stare out the window like she's waiting for someone, or she'll wake up during the night and cry. I'm too afraid that asking will make her more upset. At least Koru and I make her happy. And Mama does too." She leaned back and began to tug at his beard a little more gently this time. "Did you see Mama when you were in Ba Sing Se?"

"I did," Iroh said. "Does Arlei take you to visit her?"

"Mama won't let us go to the city," Kani answered. "But Arlei brings her here." Suddenly, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Can I call you 'grandpa?'"

"Of course." Iroh put an arm around her. "I suppose you've never had a grandpa before, have you?"

"No." Kani lifted up her head as her brother returned. "Koru, we have a grandpa now!"

"Should we tell Arlei?" he asked. Then, as though summoned by her mention, she appeared from the bathroom.

"Wash up, you two," Arlei said as she put a hand on Koru's shoulder and gently steered him towards the bathroom. "I'll have dinner ready when you're done. And share the bathroom this time—and I don't want to hear any splashing!" She quickly added as the two children ran past her. Arlei turned to the kitchen, which was a simple counter and stove underneath a window. "No, you can just sit there," she said as Iroh stood up. He walked over to her anyway.

"The girl seems quite precocious," he noted.

"I fear she knows more than I suspect," Arlei admitted. "Koru, too. I know I can't shelter them too much, but I want them to be children while they still can. It's what I owe Seiya."

"You're doing the right thing." For once, she remained silent instead of making a snappy remark. Instead, she focused on the preparation of their meal. Which, amazingly, was coming along well. She could certainly handle a knife, although that was no surprise. It flew across the cutting board, slicing at an alarming speed. With one hand, Arlei scraped the diced onion aside and, with the other, threw a garlic glove into the frying pan's bubbling oil.

She seemed to read his mind with the silence. "Surprised? Once upon a time, I used to be a housewife. This was before I became a warrior."

Well there was something Iroh didn't expect to hear. And then he remembered Kani's words. He thought of something uplifting to say. "He must've been a lucky man," he praised.

Arlei glared at him. Nope, wrong thing to say. "He was a liar and a coward," she said before turning away. A loud splash and an angry shout suddenly came from the bathroom. In a calmer voice, Arlei said, "Go check on them."

"Is this your idea of a joke?" Zuko demanded angrily.

"We're not kidding," Katara said. "It's been her all this time. But it's not her fault. It's that innkeeper, he's… he's keeping her like some kind of slave!"

"He's what?" Zuko shook his head. "No… no! I don't know what you think you might've heard, but Seiya would never do anything like that!"

"He's threatening her with the lives of her children," Aang said.

Zuko grew pale. "With the lives of who? Are you two seriously trying to mess with me? Cut it out!"

"She told us herself," Katara said, her voice growing quiet. "A lot happened these past seven years. She has twins. A boy and a girl."

"T-twi…" Zuko stammered. "But… but she's only 19!"

"I know."

Zuko let out a shaky sigh. "This is… this is a lot to take in. I want to see her."

"You can't get anywhere near that inn," Aang warned. "The innkeeper knows who you are. He wants you dead."

"Why hasn't the Earth King done anything with this psychopath?" Zuko cried out in frustration. "This is crazy!"

Suddenly, there was a soft voice. "Avatar?" The three of them jumped and looked towards the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway of the empty Jasmine Dragon was the recognizable silhouette of a Dai Li agent. Immediately, the three of them became tense. Zuko raised his arms, Aang suspended a boulder, and Katara held up a vine of water. "What do you want?" Aang demanded.

The agent raised his hands up innocently. They were bare. "Wait!" he pleaded. He pulled off his hat and dropped it. He was just a young man, barely older than Zuko. In fact, he looked incredibly familiar.

"I know you," Zuko said. "You're—."

"My name is Jangzhen," he explained. "My mother is Jing Yin, one of the Five. You know her, right? We've… we've met before. Outside the city once, don't you remember? I'm not here to fight; I need your help."

Aang dropped his boulder back into the ground. "What's wrong?"

"My mother went to the inn you were talking about," Jangzhen said. "She hasn't returned since. I've tried looking everywhere and asking around. My brother's panicking. He keeps insisting something happened to her."

Aang looked at Zuko and Katara. "I was with her when we went to Silent Falls," he remembered. "That was a few days ago." The last time he saw her, she was looking around Silent Fall's back alley. Then he recalled something. She had looked down at the ground. "Jing Yin's an earthbender. Does she have a seismic sense, too?"

"Uh… yes," Jangzhen answered uncertainly. "She can see through the ground like Toph Beifong, but… you know, she's not as skilled as Beifong."

"There must have been something underneath the inn. She felt it. That's why she told me to go ahead," Aang realized.

Katara looked at him. "Remember what the innkeeper told Seiya? He said he'd 'take them down into the tunnel.' Is that what he's talking about? Whatever's down there can't be good."

"If no one's heard from her since, I'm willing to bet she's still down there. Let's go!"

"Hold on," Katara snapped. She pointed at Jangzhen. "You're staying here where I can keep an eye on you. I'm still not fully convinced you're not going to pull a Dai Li trick on us."

Jangzhen glared at her. "My mother might be dead, and you think I'm trying to trick you?"

"Aang and Zuko will take care of it. You stay."

"Katara, are you sure?" Aang asked.

"Yeah. Now hurry up and go!"

Aang and Zuko raced out of the teashop. They climbed onto Appa and flew straight for the Lower Ring. Zuko peered over the edge. He could see Silent Falls up ahead. "Where are we landing?"

"There's no time to land!" Aang said.

"Wait, wha—?" The next thing he knew, he was pushed off the saddle. Before they hit the ground, their landing was softened by a cyclone of wind. They had landed right in the back alley.

"Now quick, before anyone notices us!" Zuko hissed, and then shook the hair out of his face as he scrambled onto his feet. Aang lifted part of the ground. Lo and behold, there was an opening that stretched deep into the earth. The two of them hopped down into the tunnel. Aang closed the ground above them. Zuko lit the darkness with a handful of fire. "This place feels wrong," he whispered, feeling the unnatural chill. Aang closed his eyes.

"There's… something… here," the avatar murmured. Zuko felt his arms prick with goose bumps.

"Can you not say that when we're in a dark, creepy tunnel?" He looked around. The tunnel sloped downward into the earth. He wasn't sure how deep the thing went. There were dim, green crystals jutting out of the walls. It reminded him of the catacombs of old Ba Sing Se.

"Did you say something?" Aang suddenly asked.

More goose bumps. "That's not funny."

"I'm being serious." Aang paused. "I think I heard something. If it wasn't you… there's a strong spiritual presence coming from… down there." With his eyes still closed, he furrowed his brow as though he were straining to listen. "Put it out?" he whispered, as though repeating what he heard. He opened his eyes and looked at Zuko, and then the fire in his hands. "What are you doing? Put that out!"

"But then we wouldn't be able to see anything!"

Aang broke a crystal off from the wall and made it glow brighter. "Whatever presence is here doesn't want fire. I felt like she was trying to warn me."

"She?"

"It sounded like a girl. It was hard to tell, though. There were multiple voices."

Honestly, Aang just kept getting creepier and creepier. "So what… are we close to a spirit portal or something?"

"I don't know," Aang answered truthfully. "One way to find out, right?" He raised the crystal above their heads. It illuminated the tunnel for a few feet. Beyond that was darkness.

"I hate this."

"We can always go back and tell Katara you want to trade places," Aang suggested with a grin.

"Nah, let's not."

Storybooks are full of fairy tales

Of kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn just in knowing

You'll someday see the truth from lies

When the clouds will rage in

Storms will race in

But you will be safe in my arms

"In my Arms" by Plumb