Chapter 5: The Siege of Omashu

Aang marched up the incline, with Momo perched on one shoulder and Appa at his side while Katara, Sokka, and the Kyoshi warriors followed close behind. Reaching the top of the rise, the young airbender planted his staff on the ground and gestured dramatically towards the sight before them. "I give you the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!"

Katara, Sokka, and Suki all crowded forward to take in the sight of the great city- apparently the last Earth Kingdom city, though Aang still had a hard time wrapping his mind around that idea. Omashu was built in rising layers around the peaks of three low mountains- or maybe tall hills; Aang wasn't quite sure where the distinction came into play in this case- and from this distance it looked almost like a mountain itself, though up close it became obvious that it was made up of thousands of buildings. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as the Air Temples, Aang felt, but there was something very impressive about Omashu that left a powerful impression- and after trying out Bumi's idea of using the city's elaborate mail system for a wild ride, it wasn't a place he was ever likely to forget.

The Water Tribe siblings and the Kyoshi Warriors were still taking in the sight of Omashu when Suki turned towards the west, a frown creasing her features. "What's that over there?" she asked. "I think I see dust- and smoke."

"You're right," Sokka said. "I see it to- and that can mean only one thing. We're too late- the Fire Nation is getting here at the same time we are." He sighed and sagged. "Can't we ever have good luck for once?"

"Aang," Katara said, "we need to get inside the city. Do you think Appa can fly us over there?"

"I don't think we have time," Aang said turning and pointing at a hill much closer to them. "Look out!"

Even before the Avatar finished speaking, the source of his concern became obvious. A group of soldiers in Fire Nation armor were cresting the hill, a number of them wearing the skull-like masks that denoted firebenders. The Kyoshi Warriors drew their fans and dropped into their fighting stances- Katara following them somewhat more hesitantly- while Sokka drew his club and Aang twirled his staff. Before they could react, however, another group of soldiers approached from the other side, surrounding them.

"We're under orders to secure this area," an officer said, stepping forward. "You and your… creature are now prisoners of the Fire Army. I suggest you come quietly- I don't want to hurt kids, but I will if you make me."

Momo hissed angrily at the man, and Aang reached up a hand to comfort him. "This looks bad," Sokka whispered from nearby. "They've got us outnumbered big time, and enough firebenders to burn us all to ash if they want to."

"We can fight," Suki said, "but I'm not sure we can win. These guys look like professionals." She lowered her voice. "I didn't want it to end up this way, but I will meet my end with courage and honor."

"Well?" the officer demanded. "I don't have all day. Do you surrender or not?"

Aang glanced at the Kyoshi Warriors, then at Sokka, Katara, and Appa, and finally back to the officer. Then, slowly, he raised his hands. "If you promise not to hurt us," he said, "we surrender?"

"Smart boy," the officer said, smiling coldly. "Men, get them moving. Bind the creature and put him and the girls in the prison stockade. The boy, the two Water Tribers and whoever is the lead girl go to the prince."

The soldiers moved to obey, but before they could reach Appa Aang darted to his side and whispered in his ear. "Get out of here, buddy. Fly to the city; I'll catch you later. Go!" He slipped his staff up onto the saddle and slapped a hand against the bison's foreleg; Appa launched himself into the air and shot off towards Omashu, the Fire Nation soldiers staring at him openmouthed. Then they turned and surrounded their captives more tightly, expressions cold again.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara asked softly as they were forced together. "You can't just give up!"

"I'm not," Aang told her. "We can't fight all these guys at once- but if they think we're cooperating with them, maybe they'll let their guard down."

"Clever," Sokka admitted. "Doesn't seem to be working yet, but clever."

"Give them a little time," Aang muttered. "I hope."

"Get moving!" the officer snapped, and the soldiers began marching with their captives caught squarely in their midst, including one young airbender who was desperately hoping he hadn't made a horrible mistake.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki were separated from the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors just before they entered the Fire Nation camp that was quickly being pitched across the canyon from Omashu. Tents emblazoned with the outline of a flame in red or black were being pitched in an ordered, militaristic manner while soldiers mounted on rhinos patrolled the edges, men and beasts both looking foul-tempered and more than capable of handling themselves in a fight. In the midst of the encampment was a single, larger tent surrounded by guards. This was the destination to which the guards were leading them. Suki shot a longing look at her warriors as they were lead away, and Aang hung his head. His plan hadn't saved them at all; it had merely led them from bad to worse.

At the edge of the camp, an incident of some sort appeared to be underway. A middle-aged man in Earth Kingdom green was held between two soldiers, while a third was examining a cart of some sort of vegetable. "You can't do this!" the man was shouting. "You don't have the right!"

"In the name of Fire Lord Iroh we confiscate these cabbages in the name of the Fire Nation war effort!" one of the soldiers intoned, and gestured to the third, who took hold of the cart and began pushing it off towards wherever the supplies were kept, while the Earth Kingdom merchant collapsed to the ground, sobbing about his cabbages. Aang gave the man a pitying glance and wished he could do more to help, but for now, he and his friends had more immediate problems- like getting out of their predicament alive.

They weaved their way through the camp until they came to the central tent, where the officer gave a short, respectful bow to the head guard and spoke to him in hushed tones. The guard nodded once, then pulled the tent flap open and gestured for the soldiers and prisoners to enter.

Inside, the tent was spare, having been erected only recently, but a folding table stood in the middle of it and bent over it, apparently studying maps spread out before him, was a man. The officer approached him and then went down on one knee, averting his eyes. "Highness," he said. "We have brought you prisoners we captured near Omashu; we would not trouble you with this ordinarily, but we thought that these might be an exception."

The man beside the table- the Prince- raised his head, and Aang could tell by looking at him that he was closely related to Zuko and Azula, though he looked at least ten years older than them. His eyes moved from each captive to the next, finally settling on Aang's forehead- then they widened. "I don't believe it," he said in a soft, even voice. "Father will be amazed when he hears about this- you've earned yourself a promotion, Lieutenant, and probably a small fortune to go with it." He smiled; it wasn't a cruel smile, like Azula's, but still, the fact that his captor was happy didn't strike Aang as a good sign. "After a hundred years, the Fire Nation finally has the Avatar."

"What are you talking about?" Katara said, doing her best to sound shocked. "Aang's not the Avatar. How could he be? He's just a kid!"

"The airbender tattoos are giveaway enough," the Prince said. "The Fire Sages reported that the Avatar had returned only weeks ago; I don't know how he is so young, but perhaps can tell us." He raised a questioning eyebrow at Aang, who regarded him defiantly.

"I'm not going to talk about myself with you," he said; then an idea struck him. "At least, not unless you let my friends and the Kyoshi Warriors go first."

"I'm sorry- I'm afraid I can't do that," the Prince told him, though he sounded almost regretful. "The Fire Nation is at war- if your friends are warriors, they will be conscripted into our service." He glanced at his prisoners again. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," Sokka said. "You're the Head Jerk."

The Prince gave a genuinely amused laugh. "I like you," he said. "It takes a brave man to mock the one who could have him killed on a whim." Sokka gulped noticeably at that, but the Prince shook his head. "But you don't need to worry about that, as long as you cooperate- I'm not my Uncle Ozai, to inflict pain merely because I can. I am Lu Ten, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, son and heir of Fire Lord Iroh, and I have come to claim this city, the last bastion of the Earth Kingdom, for my father's empire."

"You won't win," Suki said harshly. "My people will fight you- and my warriors will never be part of your army."

"They fought at Ba Sing Se as well," Lu Ten said. "Very valiantly, too, as I remember. But in the end, they lost the City of Walls, and they will lose Omashu as well. I have learned strategy and leadership from my father himself, and I have long prepared for this. I cannot fail." He regarded his now-quietly defiant captives for a moment, then gestured to his soldiers. "Take them to the stockades and watch them carefully. Do not allow them to escape, at any cost. And sent a messenger hawk to my father- tell him that the campaign begins, and I have a surprise for him. A mighty gift."

The soldiers bowed and withdrew, taking their prisoners with them. As the tent flap closed behind them, Aang glanced back and saw that Lu Ten was still staring after him, his face set in the calmly confident expression of someone who is certain that destiny is on his side.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

"What was I thinking?" Aang moaned as the gate of the prisoner stockade slammed shut and was locked. "I thought we could do like I did on that Fire Nation ship- wait for them to let their guard down and then run. But here there's nowhere to run to. There's just too many of them." The airbender plopped to the ground dejectedly and put his head in his hands.

"Don't worry, Aang," Katara said, sitting down beside him. "We can get out of this- we just need to figure out how. You've never been in a situation like this before, and I think you did fine."

"Yeah, we're in the middle of a Fire Nation camp and maybe about to get shipped out to the Fire Lord," Sokka said. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"I failed too," Suki murmured from where she stood nearby. "I left Kyoshi Island with such big dreams of joining the war and taking the fight to the Fire Nation, but in my first battle all my warriors were captured and me along with them." She shook her head. "I should have done better."

"Katara's right," Aang said, getting back to his feet. "We can't just give up. Now, I might be able to airbend myself over the wall if I took a running jump for it, but without my glider I can't carry anybody with me, and I'm not leaving you. We need to find another way out."

"It's too bad the lock's on the other side," Sokka muttered to himself, stroking his chin. "If it was over here, I might be able to figure out how to get it open- which is probably why the Fire Nation doesn't put it there. So what we need is some way to get them to open the door for us."

"We could wait until they bring us food," Katara volunteered. "They'd have to open the door then."

"Don't think that's a good idea," Suki said. "We don't know when they'll feed us, and they might even have some way to get the food through the wall without opening the gate."

"Maybe one of us could pretend to be sick," Aang said. "Then, when the guards come in to see what's wrong, we could get out!"

"Nah, that's one of the oldest tricks in the book," Sokka told him, though his eyes were thoughtful. "But maybe we could make it work if we played it right…" Before the young warrior finished speaking, however, the earth rumbled beneath the stockade and the guards outside the gate gave panicked shouts that quickly fell silent.

"What's going on?" Katara asked.

"I think someone's out there," Suki said, tensing to spring. "I don't think they like the Fire Nation, but that's no guarantee they're on our side either. It could be bandits, or even animals."

"Shh," Sokka muttered, pointing at the ground beneath the gate. It was rumbling and visibly buckling, and then forced its way open to reveal a bearded man in a tan and green uniform who quickly motioned towards them. The four young travelers glanced at each other quickly- whoever this person was, it seemed unlikely that they'd end up any worse from following him than they were already- and then jumped down into the hole after him. The man gestured with both hands, and the earth sealed itself above them.

"Follow me; hurry," he said, making his way down what was now revealed as a low tunnel; a group of about five other uniformed men were waiting there, one of them carrying a torch that lit a small area around them. "The king had us dig these tunnels during the months before the Fire Nation attacked- so far as we know, they have no way to know about us being down here, but I still don't want to spend any more time right below their camp than I have to."

Aang and his friends followed the men- Earth Kingdom soldiers, probably- in silence for some time, while the tunnel sloped steadily downwards. Finally, the Avatar spoke up. "Thanks a lot back there," he said. "We didn't know how we were going to get out of that one. How'd you know to find us anyway?"

"The king sent us," the lead soldier said. "You've got a smart bison, kid- smart, or lucky. He came straight to the palace, and the king just took one look at him, nodded, and muttered something about 'that boy' getting into trouble again before laughing like it was some big joke. Then he called my men and I and told us where to go to find you and bring you to him."

"That sounds almost like he knew you," Katara said softly to Aang. "You wouldn't happen to know any Earth Kingdom royalty, would you?"

Aang shrugged. "I think I would have remembered that. But the guy who was king the last time I was here's probably been gone a while. Whoever it is now probably wasn't even born back then."

"Hate to interrupt the trip down memory lane," Sokka said, "but has anyone else noticed that we're going down?"

"You're right, son," the lead soldier said. "The tunnels go beneath the chasm that surrounds the city, when it starts rising again, then you'll know that we've arrived inside Omashu. Once we're there, I'm under orders to bring you straight to the king. He says you're the second most important priority he has today."

"What's the first?" Aang asked, curiosity overcoming him.

"The king doesn't need to tell me his business," the soldier replied, though one of the others made some comment under his breath that sounded like "probably giving Flopsy a massage," which didn't make any sense no matter how much the airbender thought about it. Still, whoever this king person was, it sounded like they were all going to be meeting him soon.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

"Escaped?" Lu Ten asked incredulously. "How is that possible?"

"We're not completely sure, Highness," Commander Shong said. The older man was a levelheaded career soldier who'd been assigned directly by Fire Lord Iroh to be his son's aide and consultant; right now his face was lined with stern displeasure, not towards his prince and student, but towards the soldiers who had made such a glaring error. "The guards claim they were attacked from below ground by burrowing earthbenders. We have men looking into it, but without earthbenders of our own, it's hard work and seems unlikely to have much success."

"Keep up the search and give me what information you can," Lu Ten replied. "They can't have gone far, and we've scouted the hills all around this area. That means they're probably headed into the city itself."

"That's where the soldiers who captured them said that the Avatar's bison went," Shong said. "They should have found a way to capture the creature when they had the chance. In any case, Highness, I agree that Omashu is their most likely destination."

"Then prepare the troops and bring up the war engines," Lu Ten told him, stepping out from his tent and turning to face the triple cones of the ancient city, Shong beside him. "Fortune has favored the Fire Nation so far in this war; with luck, today we will deliver both Omashu and the Avatar to my father."

# # # # # # # # # # # #

"Appa!" Aang called as he saw the great bison across the narrow palace courtyard. Appa rumbled a pleased greeting and hurried forward- at least as much as a ten-ton creature could hurry- and licked his companion's face with his great tongue. Aang laughed and wrapped his hands around the bison's snout. "I'm glad you made it, buddy." As he did so, Momo flew out from Appa's saddle, where he'd apparently been perched, and landed on the airbender's shoulder.

"So," a high, thin voice said from nearby. Aang pulled away from Appa and turned to see the figure heading towards him and then stopped, unsure whether to bow or rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly. The speaker was an ancient man who seemed to be attempting to hold himself with regal dignity- an attempt that was severely undercut by the fact that his wardrobe consisted of a bizarre headdress and robe in a truly garish shade of purple, that one of his eyes was larger than the other and seemed to be constantly bugged out in surprise, and that his hair and beard didn't look like they'd ever been groomed since the time of Kyoshi. The whole effect was so completely bizarre that Aang could hear Katara stifling a laugh behind him.

"Are you the king?" Aang asked, then felt rather foolish as everyone outside of their party bowed deeply, confirming that he was.

"Who else would I be?" the old man demanded. "Wait- don't answer that. I'm not sure I want to know." He moved forward remarkably quickly and stared down into Aang's face, examining him first with the large eye, then the small one, then the large one again. Something was naggingly familiar about him this close, but Aang couldn't place what it was, at least not while the king was staring at him like Sokka examining a choice bit of meat. "I've heard a lot about you, Avatar," the king continued. "Oh, yes, I have. And what stories, too! Vanishing for a hundred years, running around the southern islands like a headless chickencow, and, oh yes, completely subverting my city's mail system for your own amusement. What have you to say to that, eh?"

"Mail system," Aang muttered. It had been more than a hundred years since he'd used Omashu's delivery system as a giant slide, and though the king certainly looked old enough to have been around then, there was no way he could have heard of it. The only other person who'd been in on it had been the one to come up with the idea, and that had been… Aang studied the king again, looking closely at those mismatched eyes. No, it couldn't be… "Bumi?" the Avatar asked.

The king threw back his head and laughed- and it was that familiar laugh, half-mad and interrupted by the occasional snort, and completely unforgettable once you'd heard it. "He got it!" Bumi crowed. "And in just one guess, too. I'll have to try harder next time; would have this time, if it weren't for the houseguests. Company always make everything so complicated." He got down on his knees and put his hands on Aang's shoulders. "You haven't aged a day, Aang- and I mean literally."

"I can't believe it's you, Bumi!" Aang said excitedly. "How'd you know to find me?"

"I knew you were here when Appa showed up," Bumi said, gesturing at the sky bison. "Wonderful creature; should introduce him to my Flopsy- they'd have so much fun together. Anyway, I thought the Fire Nation might have captured you, but I knew where to send my soldiers, because the Fire Nation always lays out their camps the same basic way. Lazy, if you ask me. Boring, too."

"So, I guess you do know Earth Kingdom royalty, Aang," Katara said, stepping forward. "He must be one of your old friends from before the war!"

"Yeah, me and Bumi go way back," Aang said. "He acts crazy, but don't let it fool you- he's one of the smartest people in the whole Earth Kingdom. I always used to call him a mad genius." He turned back to Bumi and looked him up and down. "But I never knew you were in line to be king!"

Bumi shrugged. "Ehh, it's a long story, and actually very dull. And speaking of stories, I think that one there has a shorter one for us." The group turned in the direction the old king was pointing, and saw a messenger running towards them. As he approached Bumi, he knelt.

"Sire," he said. "The Fire Nation army seems to be mobilizing for an attack. However, their commander and his escort have approached the main bridge and have raised a flag of truce. It is the militia commander's belief that they want to talk before they fight. What are your orders?"

"Well," Bumi said, smiling deviously and rubbing his fingers together. "It looks like our houseguests have gotten tired of loitering in the yard and decided to move in to trash the living room. Finally things are getting exciting. Well, let's go talk to them. Oh, I've been looking forward to this." The king gave another of his distinctive snorting laughs, and Aang found himself wondering exactly what his old friend was up to.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

The great gates of Omashu groaned as a team of earthbenders forced them apart, and Bumi stepped through them, accompanied by a small force of guards. In the middle of the bridge beyond waited Prince Lu Ten in magnificent armor, his helmet held under one arm; an older soldier in slightly less elaborate armor stood just behind him, and they were flanked by ten masked firebenders.

"I don't like this," Aang said from where he and his friends waited just inside the gate. "Bumi's my friend; I feel like I should be out there with him."

"I don't think you need to worry, Aang," Suki said. "You said yourself that he's a lot smarter than he looks, and he doesn't seem as worried as someone about to face an invasion of firebenders should. I think he's got something up his sleeve."

"I hope you're right," Aang said quietly.

Out on the bridge, Lu Ten stepped forward. "I am Crown Prince Lu Ten of the Fire Nation and commanding general of this army," he declared. "I want to speak with King Bumi of Omashu. Are you he?"

"Bumi?" the old man asked, glancing around and rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm. Maybe. The name does sound familiar. Have we met, young man?"

"I don't have time for games," the Fire Lord's son said. "This city is the last bastion of the Earth Kingdom that still stands against my Nation's conquest. We have tolerated Omashu for too long, but no more. I'm here to demand your city's surrender."

"Surrender?" Bumi asked. "I'd love to, but I'm afraid that if I did, the city's merchants simply wouldn't let me hear the end of it. No, I'm afraid it's entirely out of the question."

"Merchants?" Lu Ten asked, obviously taken aback and rather lost. "What are you rambling about?"

"Well, if I surrendered we'd have to switch over to Fire Nation currency," Bumi explained as if to someone who was a bit dim. "And that would just be a headache. We're fine like we are, thank you. Though, perhaps you could surrender to me. Yes, that would work out much better. I'd even throw you a feast, if you promised to behave." He looked Lu Ten up and down. "I hear your father likes feasts. How about you?"

"What is this nonsense?" the officer at Lu Ten's side muttered, but the prince held up his hand for silence.

"It is obvious to me that you are not interested in talking reasonably," he said. "I will warn you again; surrender now, or we will take this city as we took Ba Sing Se! That is the Fire Nation's destiny, and it will not be denied."

"Destiny, eh?" Bumi asked, and there was a keen edge to his voice now that hadn't been there before. "I've lived more than a hundred years, young man, and in that time I've found that people who talk about destiny so certainly rarely know the meaning of the word. I've heard it all before, and I'm not surrendering Omashu to the likes of you, and you can go tell your father from me that I'm really quite disappointed in him for not giving up this madness. Now get out of my city."

Anger crossed the faces of Lu Ten and his officers and they seemed ready to spring, and Aang grabbed his staff and prepared to leap to his friend's defense, but before either could move the old king gave another cackling, snorting laugh and threw off his outer robes. Beneath, he nearly as heavily muscled as any of his earthbenders- amazingly so, for someone so old- and he stomped one bare foot down on the bridge and pushed forwards with his hands. The stone bridge cracked clean in two down the middle, and the side on which the Fire Nation prince and his escort stood was thrown back into the other side, where they could be seen quickly picking themselves up and retreating back to the main force, which was even now beginning to move forward.

"And stay out!" Bumi crowed, before turning and walking back through the gate. There he was greeted by a grinning Aang.

"That was amazing!" Aang said. "The way you just told him off, and then that earthbending! How'd you get so good at that, anyway?"

"Lots of practice and green vegetables," Bumi said, turning his gaze to the wall. "Now then, I think the Fire Nation ought to be preparing their attack right about now, and I think we should go watch them. I'd hate for you all to miss the show."

Before Aang could ask what show Bumi was talking about, the king had bent a stone platform up from the ground and used it to pick them both, as well as Katara, Sokka, Suki, Appa, and Momo, up from the ground and carry them up to the top of the wall. From there, they could see the Fire Nation forces advancing towards the city from several directions, and at the head of each group was what appeared to be a steam-powered war machine.

"Mechanical bridges," Bumi murmured to himself. "Designed to extend over the canyon. You'd think if their engineers were really so clever they'd just build the things the right length to begin with. Once those are in place, it'll be getting real hot around here." He glanced deliberately at Aang and his friends, but none of them managed more than a few chuckles at the joke.

"So what do you want us to do?" Aang asked. "I bet we could fly down on Appa and take a couple of them out, but…"

"You don't need to do anything," Bumi said. "I've got them right where I want them." He smiled and turned to look back at the city, gesturing at one of the many chutes that crisscrossed it. "Now Aang, tell me- what do you see?"

"The mail system," Aang said. "Or a super slide. Bumi, we had this conversation more than a hundred years ago- I don't think sliding or mail delivery is going to help us much right now, though."

Bumi clucked and shook his head. "Oh, Aang. Always seeing what your eyes tell you. First it was a mail system. Efficient, useful, boring. Add one creative kid with too much time on his hands, and you had what could have been the world's greatest tourist attraction, if the Fire Nation hadn't decided to spoil everyone's day. But now, it doesn't take much of a stretch to turn it into something completely different…" Bumi began laughing again.

"Umm, Aang," Katara said, coming quickly to his side. "Are you sure your friend hasn't… slipped a bit? Because I'm watching where he's pointing and I don't see anything."

"And the Fire Nation's here now!" Sokka shouted, pointing over the wall. "They're planting the bridges!"

Bumi stopped laughing and smiled. "Right on schedule," he said. "And so what was once a mail system and then a slide now has a chance to become something else entirely." He gave another short burst of laughter. "Artillery."

At that moment, at a mail station halfway up the central cone, several stone containers were sent flying down the chutes. Bumi watched them intently from where he stood on the wall, and as they approached he shifted his stance and pulled on them with his earthbending. Several of the nearest launched from their tracks and shot overhead at incredible speeds, propelled by the combined energy of the momentum they'd already built up and Bumi's earthbending. They soared over the wall and crashed cleanly into the nearest mechanical bridge before exploding in vivid fire, sending the twisted metal wreckage plummeting into the canyon. All along the rim, other containers struck their targets, and the other bridges met the same fate.

"Fire Nation munitions," Bumi explained happily. "Captured by my people and put to better use. Using the enemy's strength against them." He glanced deliberately at Suki. "I think your people know something about that."

"They're pulling back!" Sokka called. "Without the bridges, they don't have any way to get across, until they manage to put something else together. Score one for Omashu!"

"Then it'll be a siege," Suki said. "They may not be able to get to the city to attack it, but that won't stop them from trying to choke the life out of it."

"We can stay and help," Aang said, turning to Bumi. "We owe you one. And maybe you could teach me some of that awesome earthbending you just did!"

Bumi shook his head. "No, Aang," he said, suddenly more serious than he'd been the whole time since they'd been here. "This isn't your place now- you're not ready for it. You need to master all the elements before you can truly take your place as the Avatar and restore balance to the world. First, you must find a waterbending master- water comes before earth in the cycle."

"But what about you?" Aang asked. "I can't just leave you!"

"Don't underestimate what a mad genius can get up to," Bumi said. "That young prince out there- he's smart, but untested as a commander. I think I can keep him running in circles; very amusing for me, good for him and for my city. Don't worry- I think we'll meet again before this is all over." He leaned in close. "And remember the lesson of the mail system- things aren't always what they seem at first- or even second!"

"I'll remember," Aang told him. "Thank you, Bumi."

"Majesty," Suki said, stepping forward. "If it pleases you, I would remain here. I came to defend this city, and I will help however I can- and I must rescue the other Kyoshi Warriors, who are prisoners in the Fire Nation camp. If the Avatar's place is to go, then I feel my place is here." She knelt before Bumi. "My fan and sword are yours."

"Really?" Bumi asked, motioning her to rise. "I think we can think of some good uses to put those to." He turned to Aang. "Now, you had best be going. The Fire Nation may have catapults set up soon." He smiled- a warm smile this time, rather than a half-mad grin. "Oh, and good luck."

A short time later, an old man and a young woman stood on the wall of Omashu and watched as a sky bison lifted into the air, carrying two water tribe siblings, a flying lemur, and the world's best hope for peace on his back. The two watched until the bison was out of sight, and then Bumi motioned for Suki.

"Well, come on then," he said. "I don't suppose you play pai sho?"

# # # # # # # # # # # #

"The Avatar's bison is leaving the city, Highness," Commander Shong said, lowering his spyglass. "He's making for the north. What are you orders?"

Lu Ten stood quietly for several moments, thinking deeply. "Do not pursue," he finally said. "We are not equipped to pursue the sky bison, and we have our target- Omashu." He looked towards the city. "That old king is wily, and he played us well, but it's only one move. The game will be ours, and I will deliver the last Earth Kingdom stronghold to my father's crown. However long it takes."

AN: Terribly sorry for the late update! Also, a word on structure- unlike in canon, we'll get more "Zuko Alone"-style "episodes" that focus on characters other than the Gaang in Destinies Rewritten, letting us see what's going on in other parts of the world. Suki's been left in Omashu for this purpose, since I wanted to have a protagonist there other than Bumi (who's POV I want to stay away from, to keep him unpredictable); we'll pick up a few other characters who'll get focus every so often later on. The core story will still be Aang and co., though.

Also, sorry that the Gaang were mostly observers in this chapter; I wanted to highlight that they still have a lot to learn before they're ready to deal with something this big. I hope to give all three chances to shine next chapter.