"What do you think you're doing, talking to him? Huh?" Hide's grip on her arm was so tight that she could feel the growing heat in his hand through her uniform. She struggled to move away from him. "I was just introducing myself. That's all." Hide finally let go and faced her. They were alone in the courtyard now. His eyes burned with rage. "That's all? Don't you dare lie to me, On Ji. I saw the way he was looking at you, with a pathetic little smile on his face. What did you say to him?" On Ji's brow furrowed and she finally lost her temper. "All I did was say 'hi, my name is On Ji'. Is that such a crime? Agni, you're always so paranoid." Hide slapped her. Hard. "Don't you get cheeky, woman. You're my girl, and you and everybody else better remember that and respect it. I don't ever want to hear that tone again. And you better not let me catch you talking to colonial Kuzon or any other boy. Understood?" On Ji looked up at him, handing still rubbing her very sore cheek. "I won't…" Hide smirked again. "Good. See you tomorrow, darling." He bent and kissed her lips briefly, much to her disgust. As he strutted away, On Ji stared hard at his retreating back. "I won't…" she repeated softly. "…let you catch me."

Boom! Senyo dodged another explosion with increasing glee. These new Smoke Bombs that Urdu had gotten from his mother for passing gym last semester were way more fun than the little tiny pop ones they usually used for this game. The goal of Hide and Explode was to remain out of sight for as long as possible. Players hurled bombs at the seeker to try and disorient him so as to be the last one found. Of course, sometimes those who were hiding ended up getting hit by one another's bombs. But that of course made them easier to find if they cried out, so players routinely chucked bombs at one another purposefully if a hiding spot was known. The game only ended when the last person had been caught or the seeker conceded defeat due to exhaustion or being hit by too many slightly stinging capsules. The first person caught always had to be the seeker in the next game.

Shoji was the best- he rarely was the first one found. Usually, Senyo and Urdu ended up taking turns as the seeker. Senyo was younger than the rest and somewhat clumsy, while Urdu was rather overweight and had a harder time moving quickly or hiding himself than the others. But today, Senyo was playing really well. She had already found everybody except for Shoji and the new kid, Kuzon. They were playing in an abandoned rock quarry not too far from town. It was a great location because all of the jagged rocks lying around made for excellent hiding places. Out of the corner of her eye, Senyo saw a blur of movement several yards to her left. Not two seconds later, another bomb came whizzing at her. Senyo dodged, coughing slightly in the smoke, and saw a blur of motion on her right. Both blurs were headed right towards each other, Senyo turned around and ran in a straight line to the rock where she was certain she would catch both Kuzon and Shoji. But she didn't even have to get there for it to happen. Two loud yells emanated from behind the rock and both Kuzon and Shoji fell to the ground, their bodies peaking out from behind the rock. Apparently, they'd run right into each other and smacked foreheads. Senyo ran forward. "I've got both of you! Yay, I win. Haha, take that Shoji!" Shoji only groaned. "That was worse than gym class!"

Kuzon sat up, still holding his head but laughing. "Maybe putting two heads together isn't always such a good idea!" Everyone looked at him blankly. Kuzon's laughter died and his face took on a puzzled look. "Come on, you know, it's an expression. 'Let's put our heads together and figure this out'. Haven't you guys heard that?" Urdu shook his head, before burying it in his collar. There was a briefly awkward silence in the group.

Now that the game had ended, Senyo was reminded of everything that she'd seen and that Shoji had excitedly told her about Kuzon. She suddenly was filled with questions. "How'd you get the name 'Kuzon'?" Shoji chimed in. "You know, that is interesting. The only Kuzon I've ever heard of is 'Kuzon the Traitor'." Kuzon's face took on a confused expression. "Who?" Shoji shook his head. "Wow. I don't know what you were learning in the colonies, Kuzon. Everybody knows about Kuzon the Traitor."

Urdu spoke up. "About 90 years ago, Kuzon the Traitor snuck disguised himself and snuck onto Fire Lord Sozin's ship." Senyo continued. "Yeah, he was a really young guy so he looked like just a normal soldier. Except, he wasn't. Fire Lord Sozin was on a mission searching for the lost Avatar. Kuzon the Traitor waited until the ship was in the middle of nowhere near the South Pole and then he crept up behind the Fire Lord on the deck and tried to plunge a knife into his back." Kuzon's eyes had gone very wide, and his face was almost frighteningly pale. Shoji continued, surprised by Kuzon's reaction. "But Fire Lord Sozin turned around and shot fire at him before he could do it. The guards rushed in and grabbed him and threw him overboard into the freezing water. He was never seen again. They say that the whole time, he was shouting with tears running down his face. 'You killed Aang! You killed them all! You killed Aang…'"

Kuzon's skin was chalky white and to everyone's astonishment, tears rolled down his cheeks as he buried his face in his hands. "I never knew…" he murmured almost incomprehensibly. "Kuzon…" Senyo rushed over and gave him a big hug. "Don't be sad, Kuzon. I like your name. It doesn't matter that some guy who also had your name tried to murder the Fire Lord. That doesn't make you a bad person." Kuzon looked up and wiped his eyes, sniffling just a bit. "Yeah… thanks, Senyo. You're right. The truth is, I never knew where my name came from. Both my parents died when I was little. I was raised by a kind old man in my village named Gyatso. He taught me everything."

Shoji leaned closer. "Is that how you became such a good fighter? 'Cuz you're really good. I bet you would've beaten Mr. Wei if the bell hadn't rung." Kuzon blushed a little. "Thanks. Yeah, Gyatso was really good. He trained me- said it would prepare me for whatever I faced in the world." Senyo noticed something in his voice tone. "'Was'? Do you mean he…" Kuzon sighed heavily. "Yes. Gyatso died… a few months ago. He was killed by Fire Nation soldiers. They didn't understand what they were doing. They thought he was… a spy." Kuzon's face hardened. "But they were wrong. Gyatso was a wonderful, wise, kind teacher. He didn't deserve it."

The group sat stunned at the grief shining from Kuzon's face. Suddenly he seemed so much older than all of them. Shoji tentatively broke the silence. "So… who do you live with now? Is that why you moved here?" Kuzon slowly recovered. "Well, I had no other family and no where to go. But I knew I couldn't stay in that place with all of my memories of him. So I packed my possessions and set out alone. On my way, I ran into three other teens… we had all been abandoned in some way or another in our lives and we decided to stick together. And we decided to return to the Homeland and try to make something of our lives away from the war. So that's why I'm here."

All the youth gaped, utterly amazed by Kuzon's story. Senyo squealed excitedly. "Wow, Kuzon. So you're a like a nomad now? That's incredible. Could we meet your friends sometime?" Kuzon stood up with a thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe. We'll see." He looked around at all of them, and made a visible effort to change the subject. "Well, thanks for inviting me today, guys, I had a great time. Hey, why doesn't On Ji play with all of you? She seems really sweet. What's she doing with that angry guy ?"

At this, Urdu and Shoji simultaneously groaned. "She has no choice. Her parents are forcing her to date him." Urdu shuddered. "That guy is Hide, okay? He is the headmaster's favorite, and he can do whatever he wants. He's awful. He took my written communications homework and burned it right before class the other day. Ms. Kwan nearly gave me the paddle." Shoji patted Urdu sympathetically and turned back to Kuzon. "Yeah, and he's only gotten worse since his father died. Well, he won't believe it, but his father's been missing in action for months now in since the failed Siege of the North. His dad was Admiral Zhao."

Kuzon nearly choked on his own saliva. "Admiral Zhao? Hahaha, wow. That explains so much." The group looked at Kuzon curiously. Shoji gasped. "You knew Admiral Zhao?" Kuzon stopped chuckling and suddenly looked like a rabbitmonkey caught in front of a tank. "He, uh, docked his ship at my colony once to resupply. I saw him barking orders at his soldiers and he accidently set a crate of fish on fire. It just seems like his personality and Hide's are pretty similar." Shoji grinned. "Nice. I can totally see Hide doing that. Well, maybe once he finally accepts that his dad isn't coming back, he'll stop walking around like he owns the place." Senyo rolled her eyes. "One can only hope." Kuzon smiled. "Hey everyone, I've gotta go. My friends are probably worrying about me. But thanks again for everything. Flameo, hotmen!" And with that, Kuzon dashed off.

Senyo turned to exchange a quizzical look with her cousin. "Flameo?" As they all headed out of the quarry, each reflected on what they all had learned about their new friend. Senyo marveled at how exciting Kuzon's life was. She'd lived at home with two parents and gone to school most of the time since she was five. Kuzon had seen the world, and now took care of himself with other kids. He'd seen the parts of the war in person, instead of just reading about them in books. There was so much she could learn from him, and she wanted to. And besides that, he was fun and free. This was one friend she wasn't going to give up easily.

Meanwhile, Shoji ambled along slightly behind the others, kicking rocks as he went, utterly lost in his thoughts. It was weird how strongly Kuzon had reacted to learning about his namesake. And equally strange how he'd first reacted to Admiral Zhao being Hide's father. Not to mention that he wondered about the death of Gyatso, Kuzon's caretaker. Had Fire Nation soldiers really killed an innocent man? Was he innocent? Kuzon seemed sure, but then Kuzon had seemed sure about the Air Nomads in class, and what he'd said had been absolutely crazy. If the Air Nomads hadn't been a threat to the Fire Nation, if they hadn't even had a military, there was no way that Fire Lord Sozin would have ordered an attack on them. And after Gyatso's death, why did Kuzon go out on his own? Didn't they have orphanages in the colonies? Like Senyo, Shoji was most intrigued to meet these friends of Kuzon's whom he now lived with. How had they ended up on their own too? Shoji scratched his head. There were a lot of things about Kuzon that just didn't add up, and forced Shoji to question ideas about the world that he'd always believed. Shoji had a feeling that somehow Kuzon's entrance into his life was going to change him, and he didn't know whether to be terrified or elated by that eventuality.