Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.
The mop-up operation was over in a matter of one day, the fleeing Commandoes largely stuck in the desert where they were preyed upon by Sand Tribe harassers and the local animal life. Some made it to the Fire Nation controlled ports, but found them deserted to the general order to return to the Fire Nation capital. The Serpent was still running amok in its lake, thus Omashu was safe on all fronts.
"So, Mr. Governor… why is half of your army headed home?" Colonel Long poked at him with a stick, the former governor hung upside down on a punishment wheel the village of Chin once sent in tribute to Bumi.
"I won't talk!" the governor had water dripping down his nose as the wheel rotated him back to an upright position.
"You won't fight and you won't talk! Pathetic!" his wife snapped from across the room, chained but allowed to sit on a padded chair. Baby Tom-Tom cooed in his mother's lap, oblivious to the fact that his new home was now in the hands of potentially hostile strangers. "Why can't you be more like our daughter instead of our son?" She held up the baby, who looked curiously at Long and the other interrogators.
"Any news?" Bumi stalked into the room, giving Tom-Tom a pinch on the cheek.
"None, my lord, the governor is proving rather stubborn," the colonel poked him again.
"Come on, you're lost here, why don't you just tell me so I can let you and your family go?" Bumi knocked the governor on the head like he was a door.
"I can't, the Fire Lord will kill me! Worse, he might kill my daughter! She's still there, you know!"
The governor's wife softened her look, worrying now about Mai and finally understanding her husband's reluctance to talk. Mai was strong, but she was in dangerous company in the form of Princess Azula, who seemed wholeheartedly her father's daughter. Disloyalty was punished severely by Sozin's family, and not always by quick death.
"We'll tell him Admiral Chan squealed, that makes more sense," Mitsu shrugged at the governor's wife. "The governor here is now officially dead," he tapped the older man on the nose.
"I can't be dead! They'll send a replacement here and have us all killed! And they'll probably bury me in the commoners' garden…"
"Oh, enough with your politicking, you coward! You show one bit of backbone and you ruin it all with that social status problem! I'll tell you gentlemen about all the army, just let us go in peace! Please, for my son!" she held up Tom-Tom to Bumi's eye level.
"Start talking, lady," Long pointed the stick at her.
"The Fire Nation is planning to secure itself during the Day of the Black Sun, when the moon blocks the sun and Firebenders lose their power. The Fire Lord didn't say much else in his letter, but that's expected at times like this. Now let us go, please!" the governess clutched her baby.
"I have to go now," Mitsu looked at Bumi and the colonel, "I'm the only one who can get to the Fire Nation in time."
"In time for what, sonny?" Bumi raised his good eyebrow.
"We won't talk about that in front of these people," Mitsu pointed at the governor. "Do what you want with them and the captured soldiers, I need to speak to the Pasha."
Mitsu called two guards in and herded the King and his senior official outside, where he broke into a brisk walk, fingering his staff.
"Slow down, boy!" Bumi held his back, "I'm tough as nails but I'm still 112 you know!"
Mitsu and the colonel looked at each other, and raised the King on their shoulders, much to the bemusement of the watching guards. They raced through the corridors and dropped Bumi on a piece of hay, the Ostrich Horse munching it darting upwards in surprise.
"Not as good as the chutes, but that was fun! I should make it a public holiday! Carry the King Day!" Bumi whooped as he pulled himself up.
"Don't you remember that the Avatar and his friends are planning an invasion soon?" Mitsu whispered to the king and the colonel.
"You don't have to whisper, everyone here knows that!" Kuei's head butted into the huddle. "The Fire Nation's spotted Water Tribe ships around the western coast! That's why they're tightening security!" Bosco's face also entered the huddle, but his bear grunts were superfluous to the discussion.
"So it's like this, you get to the place where they're discussing this invasion and stop them!" Long squeezed himself between Bumi and Kuei.
"I have no idea where they are! If I know Sokka, he'd have the whole coastline surrounded by Waterbender fog! They're at some sort of base only my Hawk knows where to find! And…"
"You left the hawk with them," Bumi slapped his forehead.
"If I may, sire?" Jing pushed his head into the huddle, making Mitsu squint. "You might do better to weaken the Fire Nation before the Invasion, maybe find some plans for their cities and military?"
"Good idea, Master Jing!" Bumi cackled, "I was talking to some of those traitors earlier, one of them said Chan had the air force plans in his house on some place called Ember Island."
"Ember Island, the Fire Nation vacation spot? We've got tons of vouchers for that place in the library…" Mitsu recalled shoving tons of junk mail off the rock.
"So you take one of those airships they left behind here, and we go get those plans!" Kuei looked at his brother. "But first, we have to…get…out…of…this…hey, Bumi, can't you move at all?"
"Don't look at me, Master Jing's head is pinning me down between you two!" Bumi pulled helplessly.
"HELP!"
It took five burly men to finally separate the king and the others from their enforced clinch, but eventually the airship was ready to sail, with Bosco cowering on the edge of the boat again. Kuei patted his head and held his paw as they, made their way to the prow where Mitsu stood. Some Sand Tribe men had volunteered to crew the ship, wearing the hated Commando uniforms, while Mitsu himself was dressed in the uniform of the admiral's aide-de-camp, a heavy leather vest with metal buttons and a giant blade on his back in the fashion of the Fire Nation.
"You remember how to simulate sand bending?" the Pasha held out a small bag of sand.
"It's a matter of lifting the grains and spreading them around carefully," Mitsu made some sand flow outwards and swung it in a loop, placing it back in the bag. "Not as natural as you, but it'll do for cover."
"Why not me, I'm an actual Sand bender!" Kuei made a likeness of himself with the sand and put it back in the bag.
"Too dangerous, you might be recognized by some of the people there and the risk is too high. Azula herself might be there, and she knows what you looks like."
Kuei looked away for an instant, remembering his impromptu glass bending in the palace and the carnage he saw outside. Part of him wanted to kill her, but the last thing he saw was a look of surprise on her face as she saw what had happened outside. Talk among the Omashu men, of whom some were Ba Sing Se survivors was that Azula had planned for a bloodless coup with the help of the Dai Li, but that Chan barged in unannounced. He had no inkling of Azula's ultimate plan, however and would have gladly welcomed a second shot at the princess and his throne.
"They've never seen you before either?"
Mitsu pulled out his mask and gave it to Kuei. "This is what I wore back when the drill attacked Ba Sing Se, my first encounter with the Princess and her flunkies. One of them was the Governor's daughter, in fact. They will have no idea who I am, especially in this uniform."
"But Prince Zuko should be with them. He turned on the Avatar in the caverns, and his uncle is now imprisoned in a lone tower overlooking the capital. Rock of Solace, they called it, something for royal traitors."
Mitsu clenched his teeth at the news, although he had already heard it from the Pasha earlier. It was no less shocking or upsetting for him, but he understood Zuko' s feelings and even felt sorry for him slightly, given his sad upbringing and admiration of Iroh. Azula was another matter entirely, Mitsu was convinced she was evil incarnate, especially if Kuei's doubts about her were unfounded. She certainly had the tendency to inspire fear in people, even with her two best friends Ty Lee and Mai.
"Whatever you do, do not assassinate anyone," the Pasha put his free hand on Mitsu's shoulder. "You do not want any uproar before the Avatar arrives. You will look for the plans in Admiral Chan's house, which should be among the largest now that the Fire Lord no longer has a family house there."
"Understood," Mitsu bowed to the Sand leader, whose arm was still in a sling. "I wish you could come with me, as you always have before on long journeys."
"This is your task, to bring about the great changes that will heal the world of the last century of pain. I do not hear talk of heretics or sinners, all I see here are brave people- no, brave children attempting to shape fate. I will be here with my people, and you must be with yours as well, my lord Warden of the Rock."
"My people are down there with Bumi."
"Your friends who bend water, air and earth…they are your people, Maulana Mitsu." The Pasha coughed and two of his tribesmen came up to support him. "Your Majesty still wishes to come with the Warden?" he turned to Kuei.
"I have been in my palace for too long, ignorant of everything but my own pleasure," Kuei stood to his full height. "Right now, all I want to do is see the world and help Mitsu and the Avatar set things right. I'm no good at the ruling people business just yet, plus Ba Sing Se is still in enemy hands. I've left Bumi in charge of everything here; he is much more capable than I am at the moment."
"You use potential terms, sire," the Pasha grinned, "at the moment, right now, just yet. Are you planning a return?"
"Hell yes," Kuei smiled at his brother. "But I also need an Earthbending teacher, and Mitsu recommends the daughter of the Bei Fong family."
"From I know the girl is blind in the desert, but a fearsome bender otherwise. You choose wisely, your Majesty. We of the Desert do not always serve you the way you might want, but we would rather have you than any foreign power on the great seat of your Fathers."
"That is heartening, Pasha, which is why I'm putting you in charge of the desert and as Bumi's military advisor for the north. The Colonel is very shrewd but lacks information on the north and east past the lake. I hope you can help."
The Pasha raised his non-bandaged arm and began to recite a poem.
Earth over ground
Earth underground
Dust in between
Yet sand covers all from sea to sea
Sand sees what rock does not
Sand waits till the animals rot
Oh sand, where the water touches the land
Where the sun and moon play their daily hand
"The Sand Tribes will help the King of Ba Sing Se," he bowed and started walking towards the gangplank that led back to the airship station, now abandoned save for their vessel.
"I wish I could recite poetry like that," Kuei untied the anchor rope and pushed the vessel away. Below him, Earthbenders were rebuilding the city in earnest, the Omashu style proving great for architecture with its smooth, simultaneous movements, almost like Airbending but with more muscular strength. It was as if Omashu was never invaded at all, with not a single Fire Nation banner or soldier in sight. Caravans of people were trickling in from the surroundings, now rather free of the "Pentapox" they used to flee earlier. Bumi stood alone on the tallest parapet waving; no one knew that he was actually Earthbending the new prison down the road, but that was Bumi in a nutshell, always doing what people weren't expecting.
"Maybe I could hook you up with Sokka. Heard he almost won a haiku contest back in the Big City," Mitsu handed a piece of rope to a crewman while another pointed the ship eastwards.
Mitsu looked at a calendar rolled up in his pack, noting that the Day of the Black Sun was only four days coming and that there had been no contact between the Avatar and himself. The balloon journey alone would take one day, leaving him three precious days to get the information, locate Iroh and warn Aang of the extra troops. 'No pressure' would be a total misnomer for this operation, and Mitsu worried that he would only be able to do one or two in time. Still, he had to do something, and Ember Island was after all, the home of Zhan Ming, the only known Heretic to have been a Firebender by birth. She was credited with beautiful forms of fire often copied but rarely copied well by 'pure' Firebenders. He felt pulled towards her memorial stone on the island, where she had previously summoned him at the Library. It was crazy coincidence, but the world had a funny way of dealing with things, as Bumi showed. The balloon was soon between the two horizons of east and west, the narrow sea between the Earth Kingdom's eastern coast and the Fire Nation's western coast. A faint green mist covered the place known as the Western Air Temple while there was a hint of ice flow from the south.
The crew locked the mechanism in and went down below deck, as the sea air was cold to the touch at their altitude. The two brothers were soon in sight of the first ring of volcanoes of the Fire Nation, red beacons in the eastern horizon. Ember Island was just ahead of these volcanoes, which gave holidaymakers and residents an unobstructed view of the Western Ocean but at the same time nearby spas and other relaxation facilities. The Fire Nation proper didn't start until fifty miles inward, where the first Fire Sage temples were built in ancient times long with quaint villages where an incredible mix of people dwelt. It was all on the equator, where the Firebenders felt strongest, with the most sun. Kuei, who had never seen so much water before felt impervious to the cold as he looked out over the brief intersection between the Four Nations.
"I can't believe I was shut in from all this. This is the best view I've had all my life," he breathed in the salty sea air. "Come on Bosco, the heights aren't that bad! Come on, you're a mountain bear for goodness sake!"
The bear whined, keeping its paws over its head. The heights were not something he was frightened of; it was the fact that nothing lay between him and the sea. Million ton mountains were certainly not flying airships.
"You can land this thing and stretch your legs at first light. I'll go to Ember Island and get the data we need, then the crew will take you over the Fire Nation capital. The logo on the ship will give us a clear road to cross the Fire Nation and go to the west coast. Hopefully we can find the Avatar before he launches his attack." Mitsu tightened his vambraces and shortened his staff to its bare minimum, attaching it to his belt.
"Be careful," Kuei tightened his cloak as the cold began to bite. "Chan's son is on the island."
"He's the one I'm looking for," Mitsu put one foot on the prow of the airship and launched himself toward the night beacon that Ember Island put out for the tourist ships . The Earth King meanwhile dragged his bear down to the lower decks, settling in for the night. Mitsu flew very low over the surface of the sea, careful not to arouse any watchtowers or marine patrols. The Fire Nation Navy was the best around, and despite a horrific defeat at the North Pole a month or so ago Mitsu knew they were still numerous and crucially well-armed. They weren't irregulars like Chan's Earthbenders or conscripts like the occupiers of Omashu; the sailors were all volunteers and able shipmen, given the Fire Nation's archipelagic nature. The Moon shone brightly over him as he slipped past two lightly-manned lighthouses, silent gliding in the dark from the Force Bender. The balloon was now out of reach. According to the plan, he would meet them just past the capitol's eastern wall and the balloon would rise into the clouds. The beacon grew brighter as he approached, with several vessels headed to the yellow flame.
Mitsu landed on a distant rock, noting the vessels that did come. One was empty, probably a staff transfer judging by the brooms and dusters being carted off by the lone rower. The next one had a bunch of drunken Firebenders singing silly songs and was nearly tipping over; not a good one to raid, even inebriated Firebenders could start an inferno. The last vessel headed towards the beacon was eerily silent. Mitsu levitated alongside it and lined his eyes up with a port window.
"Holy …." Mitsu couldn't hold back the tide of vomit that erupted out of his throat after seeing what was inside the ship.
"Who goes there?" A gruff sounding guard clattered over the roof of the silent ship. Mitsu saw a spear tip touch his neck, forcing him to levitate on board. The guard looked rather pitiful, his armor clearly too big for him and his spear too heavy for him to carry.
"This is a Fire Nation vessel, the Burning Warrior! Identify yourself!" the man's voice squeaked.
"I'm…I'm a special commando under the command of Admiral Chan," he showed the shoulder patch all the Commandoes wore, bearing Chan's trademark green burning serpents.
"What, you jumped onto this ship from the Earth Kingdom? I'll believe that when rabbit-birds fly!" the man pointed the spear at Mitsu.
"Rabbit birds do fly."
"Oh," the man touched his finger to his chin. "but you're still intruding on this ship. This is the funeral boat of Admiral Zhao! We're returning it to his ancestral home on Ember Island! We don't want you Earthbending scum on this ship, even if you work for us!"
"What do you mean we? All I see is you," Mitsu crossed his arms.
"I can just send a fire flare up and all the garrisons will be here, earth scum!"
"Goodbye now," Mitsu opened his palm and shoved the skinny soldier overboard and right onto a cliff wall. He found a hatch on the top of the vessel, which was going at a ridiculously slow pace. There were no sailors or crew as funeral vessels were almost totally unmanned owing to a fixed course from an outer island to the home island of the deceased. Mitsu swallowed hard and looked at Zhao's once proud face, now drained of all water and life. His bones looked more like stone than organic matter while what was left of his skin looked like a beaten up curtain torn over his ribcage. Mitsu taught it wasn't possible for a human skull to look horrified, but this was one. Some of his artifacts, including his seal and rank badge were encased behind him and were the only way he could be identified. A plaque at his feet read "HERO OF THE NORTHERN CAMPAIGN", which Mitsu knocked off and threw out the window.
"Aang told me a lot about you, you're lucky you met him and not me," Mitsu closed the window. Sounds of hollering men suddenly came to Mitsu's ears, sailors from nearby patrol vessels.
"Ahoy! Someone in there?"
Mitsu looked around, but it seems the skinny guy didn't have quarters.
"Hello? Can someone respond?"
Mitsu leapt under Zhao's funeral bed as heavy boots began to board the funeral boat. Men murmured up top for quite some time, as Mitsu readied his bending.
"Ah, these ships are creepy. Just like the guy inside," a voice could be heard. The feet noticeably stopped walking on the deck, with the boat slowly moving forward again as Mitsu breathed a sigh of relief. A mechanized clock rang the hour, even including an estimated time of arrival at the docks. It would not be until the fifth hour of day, so Mitsu chose to find the guard's sleeping quarters, given that closer to the island, navy boats patrolled more often and in larger numbers. Nothing could be done tonight, which made him despair of lost time. One more day lost, one day left to find Iroh. As he slept he clenched his fists, rocking the boat as he fell to slumber.