Don't be mad, 'kay? It's a short chapter. Shorter, I suppose. Any how, found some time to write. Hope this works.

Happy...well, it's Tuesday now. So happy Tuesday everyone.

Healed and Hunted

Crossroads of Destiny

Chapter 40

The Pit

Kat

She hasn't been here in a very long time, not since Lee had first started teaching Aang how to bend fire. For all of the abuse the room had been constantly subjected to, there was very little to show for it. The ground was changed continuously, the walls repaired when needed. The landscape was never the same, yet if she looked hard enough, she imagined she could see the marks that had been left behind.

Kat's eyes drift to the stands.

This was a modern day coliseum, and children were gladiators.

There are monitors and television screens and high-tech cameras still hanging, waiting like vultures to capture the violence promised by the existence of this room.

She thinks of all it could be, of all it should be, and it makes her want to cry. How many children died here, how many of them had their hands dipped in blood? These institutions should have been a place of learning, a safe haven to practice the ways of the Inheritors. And yet.

Kat knows her father and brother are working to destroy this place, to tear it down and raze it to the ground. She doesn't want that.

No, what she wants is for this place to be repurposed. Granted, there were institutions that needed to be destroyed. There were some places where children were sent to die, "schools" so terrible that students killed themselves than face another day there.

She cannot save those people. Aang cannot save those people. They are gone, and there is nothing to do about it. But she looks around, in this empty room, and thinks that this is the perfect place to teach.

How many people, she wondered, could this place actually hold? Televised battles had become very popular, but she doesn't think the stands have ever been completely full. She thinks that twenty thousand people could fit in these seats.

One of the doors opens, and an instructor walks in. She knows this one, and he is like all the others. They were cruel and capricious, and completely in control of who fought here. Students had lost the right a while ago, though the pit had been ignored these past few months.

The president had banned such activities.

Well, banned sounded official. He had publically questioned the usefulness and morality of things like this. What, he had asked, is the point of risking our children's lives? And suddenly, people were beginning to wonder.

The instructor seemed startled to see her, and his feet paused before approaching her.

"They said I might find you here." He told her, which seemed a little contrary to his behavior. If he was expecting her, why did he seemed so surprised that she would be here? As if reading her mind he added, "I thought they would try and keep me away from you." They being the children.

"What do you want?" Kat had no patience for pleasantries today. She was in a rather malevolent mood, and his existence wasn't helping any.

"We need your help." This clearly pained him to admit. When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Every university in the country has been asked to provide evaluations. Instructors are losing their jobs, and new ones are being hired. The director of education himself is coming here."

Kat yawned, bored and tired of hearing his nasally voice. His mustache was distracting as well.

"I was told that I needed to inform you of your candidacy."

This caught her attention, "Candidacy of what?"

"They're offering you a job."

LoTus

e

a

Mushi

He missed having them around. It was quiet, and the new building didn't exactly feel like home yet. It had stairs galore, and they weren't kind to his old body. In fact, he was having to install an elevator. It was expensive, but he'd had enough left over from selling his former location to do so.

It had been two weeks since his niece and nephew had whirled off to Russia, and Katara had returned to that prison school.

Lee had called twice, but hadn't stayed on the phone very long. Mushi knew it must be very difficult for the young man. He remembered a small boy sneaking into his room, hiding from Ozia. It was their secret.

Then, later, when Zuko was thirteen, staring at his nephew in the hospital bed, wondering how on Earth Ozai could have done such a thing. That night, probably before he should have, Iroh stole the boy away, and the two of them were on a plane to the United States before the Prime Minister had even known.

They had changed their names upon arriving, and had, in seven years' time, applied for legal citizenship. This country had harbored them from a monster, and it was comfortable enough.

His nephew had spiraled out of control, a result of suddenly being free of his father's influence. Mushi had hoped that, eventually, the behavior would peter out, but it had persisted until two years ago, when Katara was introduced into their lives.

That, he decided, was truly divine intervention.

June had quit so long ago that he hardly even thought of her now. She had been something of a cousin to Lee, and had watched out for him. But she had never been good at staying in one place for very long, and had moved on.

He wasn't even sure Lee had noticed.

The shop was full again today, and Mushi was once again thinking about hiring some help. Having Lee here was great, but even that seemed like it wasn't enough. This new location, though slightly remote, seemed to attract a more pensive sort of clientele.

They weren't older, per se, but quiet and busy. He imagined a great lot of them must be writers, typing away at their laptops as they did. None of them truly seemed to have that "businessman" air about them, so he let his write story take its hold.

Mushi knows he cannot keep this store up much longer, much less alone. But neither could he ask his nephew and niece to take over. They had their own lives, didn't they? They were going to do all sorts of things with themselves. Probably travel the world, to start with. Even if Lee didn't like flying. But there was no one else to leave the shop to.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket, answering the slight vibrations, "Hello?"

"Uncle, hey." It was Katara. It warmed him somewhere inside when she called him uncle. He was so proud and grateful to have such a woman honor him like that.

"Ah, Katara, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

She giggled, "I just wanted to check in on you. Lee's worried."

Mushi didn't quite believe her, "He could call himself, if that were so."

"He doesn't want you to think he thinks you're weak. He wants to make sure you're okay without hurting your pride." This, she said as calmly and as factitiously as if she were informing him of the color of her blouse.

It surprised him more than it should have.

"So, is everything alright?" Now her voice was colored with concern, "I hate to think of you all alone, having to deal with as many customers as you do. Do you need me to-?"

"No, I can manage." He interrupted. Lee had mentioned that Katara was close to being removed from school due to her absences. Mushi was certainly not going to add to that list.

"Uncle, you know, it's alright. I understand, I think." She took a breath, "They offered me a job here."

Mushi blinked, unsure of how to react or what to say except, "What did Lee think?"

It was her turn to pause.

"You haven't told him." Mushi surmised.

A short laugh, "You're the first person I called. The only person who could…who I could talk to honestly, I think, without being pushed in either direction. But I really did just call to check on you. We can talk more about it when I visit next weekend."

It seemed so strange to him, that such a woman would look to someone like him for advice. For all his mistakes and wrongdoings, things he had personally done that affronted her cause, she still called him first. It went without saying that this was a secret, but Mushi couldn't help but wonder why. Was there ever any doubt that she would end up teaching?

"Uncle, you'd tell me if there was anything wrong, wouldn't you?"

He thought about it for a moment too long, but answered, "Well, I'm putting in an elevator. I can't keep climbing the stairs. And I really need an extra pair of hands. Might hire someone."

"Thank you, Uncle."

It wasn't thank you for the truth, but thank you for the trust. The two of them had secrets now that would come out eventually, and were overall harmless. But for this solitary moment, it was just the two of them. Mushi felt that it had been a long time since anyone trusted him like this.

"And, Katara?"

"Yes, Uncle?"

"Thank you, too."

For saving my nephew. For keeping my health our secret. For forgiving me for the band around your arm. For trusting me, when no one else does.

"I love you, Uncle. I'll see you soon."

His Hotel Room Balcony

Lee

Soon was not soon enough. Three weeks had sounded hard, but he really had no idea. She called, he called. They texted each other. But it wasn't the same. He missed the way her smile spread across her face, like the sun reaching over and warming the sandy desert landscape after an eternal night. The way her eyes blinked back tears and emotion the way other people simply could not.

Lee was glad to be going home tomorrow. Perhaps this time, the plane wouldn't be so bad. It would be an easier flight, knowing that Kat was hours away. It might lengthen it by a lifetime, but it would make it much easier to bare.

He jumped at a banging on his door and ran to answer it, tossing his phone on the bed. Maybe room service had gotten impatient.

It was Azula, hair messy and fallen, dripping in sweat.

"Run!" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of the room, the door sealing shut behind them. He doesn't know what they're running from, or where they're running to, but all he can think about is his phone on his bed, wondering how many times Kat will call before she begins to panic.

That is when shots start going off.

That is when Lee becomes incredibly numb.

And all he can think about is the phone on his bed.