Disclaimer: The following chapter is entirely fictitious. Any similarity to the history of any person living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional, except when specifically noted otherwise in the cast and crew credits. All celebrity voices are impersonated and no celebrities have endorsed any aspect of this fic.

Chapter Eighteen: In Exchange For...

'-'

"Listen," Mai explained to the stressed mother, "I may not know you, and I don't complement anyone, but you seem like a smart person, you and your husband, so I know you would know to never open a window during the middle of winter, let alone leave it open at night. And you both have experience in cold weather, so if you did decide to leave the window open you would have bundled him up extra."

"Oh my god," Suki and Sokka both gagged, rushing to the door of their child's room. For surely whoever had done this before was going to come back now. The two panicked parents collided and clumsily grasped for the door knob. However, as quickly as they had made it to the door, the two stopped. It was sharp and demonic, their movements, their hands shot to their sides in the blink of an eyes while their legs backed themselves up in a staccato fashion.

"What the hell is going on?" Sokka breathed sharply in an attempt to move his body by himself, but not even his finger would budge.

"I am so sorry," a devilishly eerie voice came from the shadows of their daughter's room. From those shadows came a short haired woman, piercing violet eyes, paler than any ghost they would ever see. "It's such a shame I have to meet you under these unfortunate circumstances." The woman emerged with not only her hand outstretched with her fingers entwined around a simplistic silver dagger, but with the tiny baby sleeping, cradled in the other.

"Who are you!" both Katara and Aang snarled at the woman, each prepping themselves into a battle stance, but the woman had other plans.

"Oh, my apologies," she smirked, quickly dropping Sokka and Suki from her grasps and snapping the blade precariously to the edge of the baby's neck. "I would like to say that none of you have the upper hand in this fight. You see, I have the ultimate control over all of you. And even if you do end up managing to release yourself from my control, I would imagine you would not even dare to put little Awinita's life in jeopardy." Uninvited, she stalked into the den and continued to smile her creepy smile. Zuko frowned in contemplation. The woman looked familiar but he was unsure of where he had seen her before. She appeared to have noticed. "Prince Zuko," she said mockingly, "or should I save Fire Lord Zuko, you seem abstracted. Is there something you would like to ask me? I swear to you I will not stab you in the hand with a steak knife." He suddenly remembered where he had seen her from. So many years back, only one evening but he remembered it so well now. She had been quiet and had almost blended into the table, but indeed there had been something suspicious about her, her scarred face and her silence.

"You," he breathed. "You were the girl… with Hykiru—"

"Oh, yes, the idiot, intoxicated bastard also known as Hykiru," the inky haired woman laughed. "Oh, but you should know by now that he died years ago, courtesy of myself. It's a funny thing, bending. It seems like once you know how to crush a human skull with your bare hands people suddenly become less intimidating." She dropped the knife from the infant's face to allow a spare finger to gently stroke her cheek. "She is such an angel, Sokka, Suki. I was not anticipating that."

"Let go of my child!" Sokka snarled, stepping forward aggressively. Suki shot her hand out to stop him, for even she would rather surrender than risk her child's life, but he brushed her off. "You will regret stepping into my house—"

"Silly man, what do you expect to do?" she asked nonchalantly while she placed the knife back in its original place. "Are you going to charge at me? Perhaps you think you can fight me off, but in reality, you can't. It's impossible."

Zuko and Mai stood quietly in the corner in the back, merely reacting to the action that was playing out in front of them. She took notice. "Zuko," she said to him in a serious tone, "you have not said more than ten words to me since I have arrived. You haven't even tried to argue with me. What is the matter?"

"I already know what you're capable of," he grunted harshly. "I'm not stupid."

"No," she spat sharply. "That's not it at all. You see, earthbenders have a better understanding of the human body than you think we do. We can sense the people around us through the vibrations, and as for the Resistance, well, you know the story. Your heart, it seems to be beating unusually hard. Did the waterbender Nayeli do something to you?" Mai's eyes drifted to Zuko who was quietly seething. "I can tell. She may have been an idiot but I can tell when you were cut on your arm she managed to drain enough that you would not dare fight at the risk of passing out. Am I right?"

"You're doing a lot of talking, but I see little action," he mumbled under his breath. She rolled her eyes sarcastically and let out a soft chuckle.

"You think I am stupid, don't you?" she asked the unnerved Fire Lord. "You don't think I realize that I am outnumbered? Granted, if I was not holding this child I could kill you all without even trying, but then I wouldn't have leverage." Sokka growled and balled his hand in anger, but again Suki held him back for she knew it was not time to attack. "But I do hope she has a stronger mind than you do," the woman added rudely. "After all, Zuko did try and warn you but who would have guessed that simple mental manipulation would manage to hold back the four greatest minds in the world. I can only imagine how stupid you must feel as of this moment."

"You're the one who killed our son, aren't you?" Suki emitted lowly.

"No," she said honestly. "Despite what Zuko may have said to you about the Resistance being stealthy and coldhearted I like to think of myself as one of the kinder assassins. The one who killed your child was more likely a firebender or a waterbender, seeing as how he froze to death. But me? I am a simple earthbender. I don't kill children. They cannot defend themselves. How could I possibly justify a duel with a child? It's wrong, and it's cruel. I prefer my, how you say, prey, to be able to defend themselves. I guess that's part of the reason why I took on your father and Hiashi, Zuko."

"You killed my father?" he exclaimed just before he could register what else she had said. "Wait, you killed Hiashi!"

"I expected her to fight back, but I was taken aback when she didn't," the woman sneered. "I do have to say, it was quite a disappointment. I can't say I wasn't looking forward to it."

"You bastard!" Zuko barked, allowing his anger to manipulate both his fists and all the candles in the room.

"Oh no you don't, Zuko," she scolded, pressing her dagger closer to baby Awinita's neck.

"Zuko shut it!" Sokka snarled at him. Despite his anger Zuko dropped his hands and allowed the lights to return to their normal size.

"She was nice to you," Zuko said in a garbled tone. "She defended you when no one else did. How could you betray her like that?"

"Betray her? Defended me? How dare you act like you know me!" she scowled. "I bet you don't even know my name. You remember me, you say, but do you really? Besides, she did to him what I could have done. She did nothing special. And like I said before, I took care of him myself."

"That doesn't matter," he snapped back at her. "Even if she didn't do something you could have done yourself you still should have been grateful."

"Grateful?" she cackled. "Grateful for what, exactly?"

"Grateful that she at least tried to help as opposed to—"

"You? Who told her she was stupid for helping me?" she smiled mockingly. Zuko's face fell. "You think I didn't hear you, but I can tell you I am not the sheepish little brat I use to be. And I am certainly not stupid anymore."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Really? Is that why no one bothered to question why their friend Tsuchi has been missing for almost twenty minutes?"

"Where is she?" Katara demanded from the woman, but she shook her head in lieu of laughter.

"Tied up to a tree somewhere, possibly dead" she answered quickly. "Not quite sure where, but I would give it a while. Carbon fiber shackles aren't quite easy to bend off."

"You tied her to a tree?" Aang growled.

"What, would you have liked me to tie her up from her neck from the tree boughs?" she asked him earnestly. "You must forgive me, I am not a barbarian. I do not lynch people in such a manner. By the way, Suki, I would not do that if I was you." Inches away from the boomerang on Sokka's belt, Suki's hand unnaturally flung itself away from her husband. "I know you would never be stupid enough to put your child in danger like that."

"You were stupid enough to let Katara slip out to find Tsuchi," Suki derided. Katara had indeed managed to slip out the front door quietly, everyone had seen her. But the woman did not seem to notice.

"Don't call me stupid," she snarled viciously, pressing the knife once again dangerously deeper into the infant's skin. "Or you will regret it."

"You come here to kill my child and all you have done is torture me with threats! It only makes sense that I begin to wonder if you even have the skills to do so." Suki finished her derision and no sooner after she had said it was she falling to the floor quickly without consciousness.

"Suki!" Sokka gasped. He quickly caught the limp woman before she had a chance to hit the floor and hoisted her up enough to set her on the bench.

"Well, what do you know," the woman giggled. "I think I do have the skills to do so."

"What did you do to my wife?" Sokka ordered the woman to tell him.

"Relax," she understated, "she's only unconscious. Electrolytes in your body do a funny thing with the heart. Isn't chemistry just intriguing?"

"She raised a point; you've done nothing but talk!" Zuko argued. "But I guess that's just what I would expect from a filthy lowlife such as yourself. Playing mind games is what you thrive on, so your pathetic torture club was just an apt choice—"

"Choice?" she laughed out maniacally. "You think I would choose this life? Do you think I would leave a life of freedom for slavery? Do you think I would leave behind hopefully two parents that would have loved me for being raised with several other hundred children that aren't your siblings, just being raised as if we were livestock? Or maybe a house close to friends where I could grow up normally instead of being drilled for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, just constant bending exercises until you can't feel your arms any more from the beatings you get for doing it wrong. Or instead of play sparring I can get my knees reset because they were pulled out of their sockets during practice? Or how about exchanging my green eyes for five weeks of nothing but migraines, nausea, and muscles spasms after being injected with god knows what, watching my eyes go from its normal color to this ghastly purple color, watching my skin go from dark to blotchy before finally getting pale, or watching the hair that took me twelve years to grow just start falling out! Yes! I can see why it's such a fucking glamorous lifestyle! But no, it doesn't matter. There is nothing I can do. I have to live with it or risk death, and that is not something I wish to suffer through. The only way I can survive is if the Resistance falls, and there is no way that will happen any time soon. Everyone is united, everyone is on the same plane…"

And finally Zuko understood what Gingitsune meant.

One cannot fight fire with fire…

But instead they must fight fire…

With water…

"Not everyone is," he interrupted. The woman knitted her brows together, both confused and insulted that he would interrupt her. "You're tricks are amateur at best."

"Excuse me?" she cracked in bewilderment.

"Zuko, what are you doing?" Mai muttered to him, but he ignored her and the glowering looks from both Sokka and Aang.

"You heard me," he said with no sign of faltering or fear. "Your little group sent a waterbender and an earthbender to kill Mai and I both, but neither one of them succeeded. And I've met an airbender from the Resistance, and I have to say, I'm not impressed."

"Airbender—" Aang began to say, but there was no time to explain to Aang what he meant.

"You can barely do anything," Zuko continued to deride, the woman's face falling deeper and deeper into her anger. "Fire probably has much more capability than everyone else."

"That's not true—" she started, but he trampled her words.

"My sister, before she was thrown in jail, could bend lightning. Energy. I wonder if the firebenders are the only ones who can actually control a person's mind by simply sparking the brain with a pulse of electricity. Is that why you had to invent that pseudo way of mind control? Because all the other elements are too weak to manage it?"

"Zuko—" Aang once again started, but again, no one paid attention.

"Or maybe that's why the Fire Nation managed to almost singlehandedly take over the world," he added just for garnish.

"And is that why in one fell swoop the Avatar managed to crush you all? After all, if I want to douse a fire all I have to do is throw dirt on it!" she quickly rebutted, but it seemed not even she was expecting those words to slip. "Perhaps you aren't as stupid as your people present themselves to be."

"Give me my daughter back," Sokka finally interrupted. "This is getting ridiculous. Your empty threats have gone on long enough—"

"Empty? Who said they were empty?" she chuckled again so casually. Without even hesitating, she pushed the blade into the baby's cheek and began to slide it quickly to the juncture of where her neck and head meet.

"AANG!" Sokka hollered at his friend. Sokka was quick to react. He charged at her, his own knife drawn and no concern for his own safety. He attempted to stab her but unfortunately she was just quicker than him, allowing him to stab the wall behind her. She was much more dexterous, moving her silver blade from the crying infant's face directly into Sokka's arm. Unable to properly grab his daughter himself, he cried out to Aang, "CATCH HER!" As gracefully as he could and ignoring his pain he pushed the woman backwards and managed to pry the infant from her arm, managing to throw his daughter in Aang's direction. Aang screamed in surprise at what he was expected to do, but just in time he bended a puff of air just long enough to grab the floating baby. Other than a simple flesh wound, baby Awinita was fine.

Sokka, however, was not as lucky as her. The woman, her hands went up, and through no will of his own, Sokka right arm was suddenly reaching for his knife that he had implanted into the wall. The actions were so quick he was unsure of what had come first. It was either the motion of his opposite arm being pulled from his socket, the burning shattering sensation running down it, or more significantly the sickening feeling of his own knife tearing into the juncture where his arm attached itself to his body, simply leaving the limb dangling barely by a small segment. Crying out in a bloodcurdling scream Sokka fell to the floor writhing in pain from his arm, which was now almost nonexistent.

He ignored his physician's request again. Zuko jumped onto the small table to push himself over the couch, delivering several kicks of conflagration towards the amethyst woman. Right behind him was Mai with skillfully aimed blades sent flying towards the same target. Though Zuko managed to grab her wrist with a hand engulfed, she replied the same way, except using him as a human shield against Mai's flying spears. She tossed Zuko aside and sprung to the door as her only means of escaping. Mai chased her out as did Zuko, despite having several arrows in his leg and stilettos in his arms and shoulder. He only managed to make it to the door frame when the dizziness set in. But the woman did not seem to mind.

"By the way, Zuko," she called out to him as she raised dust and dirt from the ground into a spiral, "my name is Kurogane, since you forgot. But nevertheless, I hope you realize what you have done." And in a split second she was gone. Which Zuko could not have been happier since he held onto his consciousness for as long as he could.

'-'

For those who are wondering, "Dude, there is no way Zuko would pass out, he was only active for like ten seconds!11one 1won!" I'm mostly basing the feeling on when I donated blood. I'm a lightweight and there's a reason why you have to be over 110 pounds. They take a pint of blood, roughly one pound, and I was underweight that day (I was stress, too, and had lost five pounds that week, but that's personal and besides the point). NEHO, I was exactly 110 so when all the blood was gone, I was 109. I looked up that our body's 7 percent blood and I did the math, which means that I would have had about 7.7 pints of blood in me. So they too one, leaving me with 6.7 pints, so 6.7 over 7.7 is about 0.8701 (rounding it), and that's about 12 percent blood loss. That's close to the border of level two hemorrhaging, which is bad (15 percent is the next level over). So going back to my main point, I had guard practice that day and the instructor told me (and everyone who donated blood that day) that we knew we had practice, so whatever sicknesses we were feeling we needed to get over it. So I went about guard practice, sucking it up (and for those who don't know what colorguard is, it's like dance, only with equipments stuff like flags, rifles, and sabres.) Two of four hours of warm ups, across the floors, running, and just practice I managed to get through before throwing up on the mat. Almost passed out twice. Barely could move. Now imagine if I had lost more blood? Zuko lost more blood than I did, so that is why that is that… though I doubt you really cared T-T. Oh, and I drew a picture of now amputee Sokka with baby Awinita, but that won't be posted until I am officially done with it. As always, please leave a review and I am also open for drawing suggestions. Until next time, Signing Off!