A/N: Sorry to all for the unbelievably long wait, and thank you for continuing to read anyway. Just a few more chapters left before Kuzon leaves and the revolution begins. In this chapter you'll get to see Hide's perspective for the first time, and some more Shoji and On Ji. And of course, Songbai Wei is back. He's probably my favorite original character in this or any other of my writings. Enjoy!

"What was that, On Ji? Your form is far too brash for a young lady. You must focus on the grace, and not the power of firebending. Run the exercise again!"

On Ji panted hard as her lungs burned far more than the wild flame she had made in her front kick. Mr. Gosai was adamant that she adopt a far more measured, calculated tone in her martial art form, and so far she was consistently failing to live up to his standards. But try as she might, On Ji's firebending remained spontaneous and fierce. She couldn't help it. Firebending was the only manner in which she could release pent up anger, frustration, and aggression hidden inside her carefully cultivated exterior for the rest of the day. Blasted sexism. No matter how far the Fire Nation had progressed in matters of gender equality, aided in recent years by the infamous reputation of the Fire Lord's precocious daughter, there were still some glass ceilings that ordinary women simply could not break. Girls like On Ji were allowed to learn firebending, but had to develop a disciplined, controlled approach to the fighting form. It would not do for young ladies to begin picking street fights, or worse, use fire to rebel against their future husbands. On Ji almost grinned sardonically at the thought. What she would give to throw a fireball at Hide's infuriatingly smug face just once...

"On Ji!" Boom. In the aggressive line of her thoughts, On Ji had surged forward with a front kick flame far more powerful than any she'd ever produced. The hissing smoke from the three foot hole in the courtyard wall was the only sound for several moments as Mr. Gosai's and all of the other students' dropped jaws met her own horrified expression. Her teacher, naturally, recovered first. "Class dismissed. On Ji. In my office. Now." On Ji gulped. After everything she had done to be the good daughter, this was the moment it was all going to go to hell. Well, at least if her parents disowned her, she could always go live with Kuzon. Rumor had it he and a ragtag group of teens lived as nomads, traveling from place to place. Maybe they could make room for one more outcast...

As the final bell rang and the students emptied into the outer yard, On Ji's incident with the stone wall spread like wildfire. Even with such juicy gossip however, little could distract the student body from its' latent obsession with Kuzon Fire. For Agni's sake, the boy had been at school for scarcely two days and people seemed to be able to talk of little else. Songbai Wei stood surreptitiously by one of the pillars, unnoticed by most of the preteens huddled in groups whispering furiously. Kuzon had perplexed him once more in gym that day, thoroughly incapacitating every opponent without throwing a single blow. Songbai had had the foresight not to challenge to boy himself again for fear of succumbing to the skill of a mere child. If his years on the streets had taught him anything, it was that sacrificing fights was worth the temporary ridicule if it meant preserving a far more important reputation and level of respect. By now, Songbai had come to the conclusion that this was no ordinary child in matters far beyond sparring skills. Through the gossip in the teachers' lounge, he had heard of the odd events of the first day, and of the Avatar drawing that left a remarkable impression on Ms. Kwan and Mr. Shou. Curiosity had always been his failing. That was why he was out in the yard, waiting for Kuzon and hoping to observe anything that would help him put the pieces of this puzzle together.

Hide strutted confidently through the hall, smirking at all the losers who were not nearly as strong or as clever as he was. He knew they all feared him. Hide wanted to be feared. If one was feared, one was noticed. And that was the one thing that Hide really couldn't take- not getting the attention he deserved. Like when his father became a commander and this past year an admiral in the Fire Navy and never really seemed to come home for more than a night or two... no! He wasn't going to think about that. His father was the best father ever. He would conquer the Earth Kingdom and return home a war hero. Then everyone would fear Hide even more. Then his father would... he hadn't gotten a letter in months. What was taking his father so long? The last post he'd received had told him that his father was leading a massive invasion against the Northern Water Tribe. Pshh. A bunch of peasants with savage bending. It should have been a cinch.

Then the stupid Avatar had messed it all up. Hide still didn't understand that. The Avatar had supposedly been really young. And he was just one person. Avatar or not, there was no way that one person could be powerful enough to stop a whole invasion force. Whatever. The Avatar was dead. His dad should have been back in the Earth Kingdom, helping to control the rebellion in Ba Sing Se. So when was he going to write? Hide was tired of waiting. As a matter of fact, Hide hated waiting for anything. Especially his woman. She embarrassed the fire flakes out of him this morning with her little stunt in gym class. This week she'd been unsatisfactorily defiant. Hide grinned. Putting her in her place would be the most fun of all. Hide loved it when she feared him. Everyone feared him, after all. Well, except for... Kuzon. Kuzon, who happened to be speaking, actually speaking, to On Ji who was... giggling? Like hell he would.

"Kuzon, I really liked that crazy dance you were doing yesterday."

"Thanks, On Ji." Kuzon's face morphed into an infuriating little smirk. "I could show it to you again if you'd like."

Hide felt the rage in him burst forth from the pit of his stomach through his fist into a flame that Kuzon just barely managed to dodge. Stupid little punk. No one flirted with his girl and got away with it.

"What'd you say, Colony Trash? You gonna show her something?"

Kuzon didn't even flinch at Hide's snarl or irate facial expression. "Just some dance movements."

Hide growled low in his throat. Why didn't Kuzon fear him? Well, he'd make him be afraid then! "Nobody shows my On Ji anything, especially movements."

Hide surged forward, driving a punch into Kuzon's hated calm face. However, Kuzon dodged smoothly as if it were nothing. A gathering crowd of students and one unnoticed teacher watched as Hide twisted and thrashed, determined to strike hard, but failed astonishingly. Hide gasped for breath, enraged beyond belief that he could not make contact with any part of such a puny body. His movements became more wild and unpredictable. But Kuzon dipped and dodged and evaded with speed and precision, until at last Hide flung his entire body weight and fell to the ground, groaning with pain. The whole courtyard nearly stopped breathing. Kuzon remained standing, with a small little smile tugging at his lips.

Shoji gaped. Kuzon had successfully won the fistfight without laying a finger on Hide, the best firebender in the school. No one had ever seen anything like it before. But all too soon, the headmaster broke through the circle and demanded to know what was going on. Oh Agni, this wasn't good. The headmaster hated disobedience and roughhousing. Inwardly, Shoji seethed. And of course, because Hide sat in the entire staff's pocket all day, it would be Kuzon receiving punishment, when he was completely innocent. He knew that yesterday had been too good to be true, and that Hide wouldn't let any boy talk to On Ji without coming to blows eventually.

The little bubble of hope inside Shoji's chest burst. He could still remember catching On Ji's eyes this morning across the classroom after the incident with Kuzon's Avatar drawing and silently sharing the confusion and wonder that overwhelmed both of them in regards to the boy in the headband. There was so much emotion on her face, and the way she looked at him, ever so briefly, had tinged his cheeks pink for at least fifteen minutes. But no, there would be no more of that. No more could come of it, because while Kuzon might be some kind of prodigy, Shoji wasn't willing to risk loss of limb or perhaps worse, punishment from the headmaster, for On Ji. At least, not yet. Speaking of which...

"Picking fights on your second day? We need to have a conference to discuss your punishment. Bring your parents to my office after school."

Shoji winced. That was the worst. If detention was bad enough, receiving further discipline from angry parents only made the whole thing more unbearable. Hopefully Kuzon's parents weren't too... wait. Kuzon had told them yesterday- he didn't have parents! He lived as a nomad with other youth after his mentor Gyatso was killed as a spy. Which meant...

A brief flicker of fear passed over Kuzon's face. "Parents? But..."

The headmaster spoke firmly and crossly. "Don't be late." With that he turned on his heel and strode inside, followed by Hide who gave Kuzon an evil grin before following. Shoji caught Senyo's and Urdu's glances, knowing that they all were thinking the same thing.

How was Kuzon going to manage this?

...

Meanwhile, Songbai Wei vanished into the shadows and made his way out of the school and to his small, unobtrusive home. His thoughts were racing and his hands couldn't stop shaking. Kuzon was a mirror image of himself at that age, but skilled beyond his years at evasive combat. Shadow Hands indeed. The similarities struck him right to the core. Songbai was a very private man. His unique fighting style had always been his, and his alone. It was the heart of who he truly was, how he expressed his individuality in a family and society that saw him as utterly unremarkable. That a child of barely thirteen knew this countercultural form could be no mere accident. It couldn't be that he was just from the colonies, or happened to be strong and fast and coordinated. There was more to him than that. The lightness of his feet, the uncanny intensity on his face in combat of one who had known far beyond his years, the terror upon the accidental removal of his headband, and the drawing of... the Avatar...

A jolt ran down Songbai's spine that stopped him right in his tracks. Was it even possible? It couldn't be... but yet, how could it not be? Songbai Wei stood motionless just outside his house as the sun drifted towards the horizon, letting the pieces of the puzzle drop slowly but surely into place.