Chapter Thirty Four

The Greatest Earthbender in The World.

Finally, after four days of riding, training, sleeping, riding, eating, and then riding some more, Zuko and his Uncle made it to the rich trade city of Gaoling. Zuko was tired, sore, and quite frankly a little nauseated by his Uncle's… aroma. He did not smell much better, but he was blind to that malodorous truth. Four days of constant travel and exercise was not a recipe for soft scents and leisure.

His uncle had begun training both Zuko and himself anew, stating that he expected there would be a battle ahead of them. Zuko was inclined to agree: he was well aware of the danger awaiting them. Although he had to admit, he was rather surprised by his Uncle's progress. The man had begun to return to his previous physical prowess far more quickly than Zuko had thought possible. After less than a single week, Iroh's stomach had shrunk significantly and his muscles seemed to swell of their own accord. It was actually quite impressive.

Iroh brought Sugar Foot to a halt, jarring Zuko from his thoughts. The pair dismounted the animal and walked alongside her as they crested the hills surrounding the city. They progressed rapidly down the path towards the city in an amicable silence until Iroh spoke.

"Now that we have made it to Gaoling, I must confess that I am looking forward to a hot bath, and a steaming cup of jasmine tea." He said with a wistful expression on his face.

"I agree, Uncle," Zuko said, "Though I think that I'd rather have a meal of something other than rice and jerky in place of the tea."

Iroh laughed, "I don't see why we can't have both."

Zuko rolled his eyes but smiled to himself anyway. He had taken to being much cheerier on this trip than he had been in years, and he felt optimistic about the next few days, even if he would have to fight against the Fire Lord in the weeks to come.

Before long they made it to the city gates, which seemed redundant as there were no guards. They just let people walk through, as if there was no war going on, the idiots. Zuko was astonished that the Earth Kingdom had lasted as long as it had without falling completely. And then he saw the second gate, which was heavily guarded.

"Name and business." Said a bored guard.

"I'm Mushi, and this is my nephew, Lee." Iroh said, "We're looking for some friends of ours."

The guard rolled his eyes. "You may enter, but keep in mind that any trouble will see you in the stocks for a week."

"Of course, of course, we will be careful not to cause trouble, sir," Iroh said with a bow. When Zuko didn't follow his example, Iroh stomped heavily on the younger man's foot. Zuko grunted in pain and bowed as well. The guard waved them on without as much as a second thought, and soon the Fire Nation royals were past the gate and into the city proper.

They did not have to go far before they found an inn with a stable for Sugar Foot, and it even had a bathhouse in the building next door. In minutes they had a room, a stall for Sugar Foot, and were scrubbing themselves clean in the bath.

In less than an hour, all of the accumulated filth of the road and short voyage by sea had been scoured from them, and both men were enjoying a meal. In a piece of additional good fortune, the innkeeper had a fresh stock of jasmine tea.

While the pair were resting and eating, Sugar Foot was having the time of her life in the stable, for she was being brushed and petted by every stablehand in a mile radius, for the news of her affectionate and sweet disposition had reached far in the short time she had been there. Before the end of the day, a group of local children would sneak into the stable to toss her treats, and put ribbons in her feathers.

Zuko was completely unaware of the treatment given to his faithful companion, for he was busy plotting his next moves on his mission to join the Avatar. He tapped his chopstick on the rim of his bowl as he thought. How could they quickly track down Aang and his friends, without them leaving before Zuko got there?

He supposed that Aang would stay with whoever he had found to teach him earthbending for a number of months and that all he needed to do is find out where that was. He leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. The answer was simple enough, he just had to go looking for information. Now that he decided on his next course of action, Zuko stood.

"Uncle," He said, "I'll be back shortly."

"Where are you going?" Iroh asked, his eyebrows raised. "It's nearly sundown."

"I… I'm going to find out if anyone knows where the Avatar might be." Zuko said, but he hesitated to take a quick scan of their surroundings to ensure that there were no eavesdroppers

"Perhaps it would be better to start in the morning," Iroh advised cautiously, "We have been exerting ourselves more than usual of late, and a man needs his rest."

Zuko paused on his way to leave the inn. He turned to his uncle and replied, "I know, Uncle. I won't be out all night, just an hour or two. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find them, so I want to start as soon as I can."

Iroh nodded and waved at Zuko to continue. Zuko smiled at him and left the inn, turning left to progress further into the city. He noticed a group of children carrying ribbons hurrying past him, but he paid them no mind. A soft spring breeze tousled his hair, and for a moment it fell into his line of sight. He brushed it away with a hand and considered getting a tie for it, but discarded the thought as unimportant. He had a mission to complete.

Zuko walked through the city, looking for a market or tavern he could hear some news in. Perhaps he would ask one of the guards if they had heard anything. He pondered the idea of impersonating a postal worker and snooping around the post office, but decided that he wasn't likely to fit in, given his appearance. He crossed a narrow river that cut through the city. A number of small boats floated on the waterway, and some of them were manned by merchants selling any number of goods. It seemed to Zuko that the money and goods were exchanged by a bucket on a pole from the boat to the top of the wall along the canal.

Zuko crossed over the bridge and spotted a notice board not far away, but before he reached it he overheard a pair of men speaking.

"...Did you hear what happened in Omashu a few days ago? The resistance was destroyed." Said one man, and the second man's mouth fell open in dismay.

"No! How?" The second man replied. The first man nodded and said, "I heard that the FIre Lord's daughter found where they were hiding and defeated them single-handedly."

"That's just the Fire Nation propaganda, Kakashi." The second man said, but the first man, Kakashi, shook his head in disagreement.

"No, Major Wen of Omashu made it here by herself, and from what I heard she was the only one to escape. I'm telling you, Tien, it's not propaganda." Kakashi said.

"You can say that, but we both know that there's only one person in this city with enough connections to really know what's going on." Tien chopped his hand into his open palm as he spoke. Zuko's ears perked up. Perhaps these two would be able to tell him something useful after all, and he wouldn't have wasted time standing in front of this message board and pretending to read.

"Lao Beifong." Kakashi said sagely. He and his friend started walking, and Zuko turned away and headed in the opposite direction. Had he followed them, he would have been privy to the next part of their conversation, and that would have saved him a lot of trouble.

"No, you idiot!" Tien said, "It's General Long! The Beifong's might be the richest family in the kingdom, but their connections are all business arrangements. Why would he know anything about the war?"

The sun had just barely dipped below the western horizon, and the world was cast in the pale blue haze of twilight. Zuko reentered the inn, and he was pleased with himself as he had found a lead, as well as the location of the Beifong estate. He decided to get a few hours of rest before heading out to investigate the estate in the night. He would prefer to meet with the man in the morning, openly and ask him without subterfuge, but Zuko did not believe that a member of the Earth Kingdom peerage would welcome a prince of the Fire Nation into his home. He also rather doubted that the man would willingly tell him where Aang was.

Zuko scanned the common room, but didn't see his Uncle. He made his way to the stairs and up to their room. When he got there, he found his uncle doing pushups on his knuckles. He pushed himself into the air and clapped his hands at the top of each repetition, and stopped when he noticed Zuko enter the room, although he did not rise. Instead, Iroh maintained his position and spoke to Zuko from a plank.

"Did you find anything?" Iroh asked. Zuko nodded.

"I heard some rumors, and learned of someone with contacts all over the Earth Kingdom."

"What rumors?" Iroh asked. He lowered himself and started doing sit-ups with his feet anchored under the bed.

"Just that Azula single-handedly crushed the resistance in Omashu." Zuko answered. Iroh paused in his exercise for a second, and then continued.

"That sounds like her, but I imagine her friends and the army probably helped. She's close."

"I know." Zuko said. He didn't like the idea of Azula being so near, especially if she thought him to be her enemy. He admitted that she probably did, as their last encounter had not gone well. He realized that since he had agreed to let Jee and Tahno start their stupid rebellion he had become her enemy. Not a good thought. He brushed his hair from his eyes and said, "We need to find Aang as fast as possible. Although, I still think that you would be a better teacher for him."

Iroh stopped his exercise and sat lotus-style on the ground before his bed. He looked at Zuko and stroked his beard. "It is not my destiny, Prince Zuko."

"You keep saying that, but I still do not understand!" Zuko countered.

"In time you will."

"What does that even mean?" Zuko asked, exasperated.

"It means," Iroh stood up and stretched, "That I am going to take a bath."

With that, Iroh left the room. Zuko raised his hands in exasperation and ran them through his hair. He pinched the bridge of his nose and flopped onto his bed. He decided to put aside his uncle's cryptic response and get some sleep, for he had a long night ahead of him. Within minutes he was asleep and willed himself to awake a few hours before dawn.

Zuko crept along the wall of the Beifong estate, carefully keeping a lookout for guards. After the first pair turned around a corner of the large house in the center of the grounds, Zuko leapt from the wall and rolled to slow his momentum. He clung to the shadows of the statues and topiary as he ran towards the building. He made it to the building and climbed onto the roof, just in time for the second pair of guards to miss him. He stayed where he was, the guise of the Blue Spirit in place to hide his identity. After the voices of the patrolling guards had faded, Zuko continued his infiltration of the building. It was two stories, and there were several smaller buildings around that he assumed served as homes for the servants, as well as a stable. He was operating under the assumption that Lao Beifong would keep his messages and correspondence, anything that would be of value to Zuko, inside the main house. Probably on the top floor.

Zuko stalked across the roof until he came to stand above a shuttered window, which he opened a crack to peer inside. The window was at the end of a long hallway that led along the exterior wall. The right side of the hallway was lined with a few sliding doors. Zuko noted that the floors were made of solid marble, which he thought a bit odd. He decided that wasn't important and continued on his mission. He crept inside and quickly opened the first door. What he found was who he could only assume to be the Beifinongs, sleeping in their bed. He closed the door silently and moved on.

He had roughly an hour to find information on where Aang might be, and he wanted to be gone by that time. He did not want to be on the property at sunrise, and he figured that he could come back the next night if he didn't find anything. He rounded a corner and opened a new door. This room contained a child, a girl around twelve years old, and she was snoring violently. Zuko blinked in surprise, as he had not heard anything about the Beifong family having any children. Maybe she was a niece who came to visit for a while?

The girl stopped snoring and stirred. Zuko held his breath, but the girl only rolled over and faced away from him. Zuko carefully closed the door and continued his way down the hallway. He found a final door and opened it, revealing it to be a study. Maps were framed along the walls, with red strings connecting separate points. There was a desk and filing cabinet at the far end. Zuko smiled to himself. He found what he was looking for.


Toph rolled over for the seventh time. She closed her eyes. It didn't really make a difference, but she heard that it was what people did to go to sleep. If they could see.

Before long, she decided that she wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. She wondered what she would do that day. Probably the same boring things that she did almost every day, for there were no earthbending fights for her to participate in. She could sneak away again. Meander through town, or go into the mountains to visit the badgermoles.

Her mother would likely insist that she spend the day with her tutors, being read accounts of history, philosophy, or other pointless high society junk that her mother wanted her to learn. Toph was just glad that she could sneak away from time to time. But still, she wondered, would she do that today? And why couldn't she sleep? It was nearly dawn, but she felt like she could almost hear something. Like paper shuffling just on the edge… no, she definitely could hear paper shuffling. She furrowed her eyebrows. Was her father awake so early? That was unlike him.

Toph tossed on the tunic that she donned whenever she left her family estate. Her bed was wood, feathers, and silk, so she couldn't see anything just yet. She wasn't sure why, but she had an odd feeling about whatever that sound was. Once she was dressed, she got out of bed and sensed around. Her parents were still asleep, the guards were patrolling, and that sound was… an intruder! Toph realized that she would be fighting today after all.

Toph slammed open her door and bolted into the hallway. The intruder heard the sound and she could sense him hurriedly stashing the papers he had been scanning back where he had gotten them. Toph charged into her father's study just as the intruder drew a pair of swords. The man rounded on her and stopped when he saw Toph.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She demanded of him.

"I'm not going to tell you that." The man said, "and besides, it's not here. I was just about to leav- ooof!"

Toph launched a rock into the man's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The man doubled over and stepped back but was able to dodge the next projectiles. He regained his breath quickly and drew his swords, deflecting the next volley. He hooked his sword around the first thing he saw and threw it at Toph, failing to realize that it was a blanket that would do little more than hamper her movements for a few seconds at best.

Blanket or not, it gave him a chance. Toph sensed the intruder dive through the window and onto the roof, but she was already moving. She quickly opened a hole in the floor and fell through it into the dining room. She landed with ease and sealed the dent she had made, and then discarded the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. She dashed to the wall and opened another exit, leaping through before sealing that one as well. She didn't particularly care if the house was full of holes, but her mother hated when the house was destroyed by the earthbending.

Toph paused to search for the would-be thief, and felt through her bending that he was scaling the wall of the estate. She smiled to herself and resumed her pursuit, crashing right through the wall as the man touched down on the other side.


Zuko landed on the ground outside of the Beifong estate and breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that he had gotten away from the small earthbender. He straightened to his full height and took a step just in time for the child to crash through the wall beside him.

Zuko dodged an earthbending attack and started running. He had stayed too long, and the occupants of the estate had risen, and somehow the girl he stumbled upon turned out to be an earthbending prodigy. Great. How had she followed him? He knew that nobody had seen him get over the wall, and he doubted that he had left footprints. He knew he had been silent, so he thought that perhaps it had merely boiled down to luck.

He did not want to fight this girl, both to avoid hurting her and because he doubted he could win without resorting to firebending. Though it galled him, he took the other option: he ran.

"Hey! Get back here so I can kick your butt!" The girl said as she gave chase, tossing rocks at Zuko with incredible precision. He barely managed to avoid being hit and was almost encased in rock. He evaded the would-be prison and vaulted over it. He sprinted as fast as he could, trying to maintain an unpredictable path as he ran, but it seemed like this earthbender was able to read his movements before he made them.

The chase continued in that fashion as the pair of them entered the city proper, with Zuko barely keeping his feet all the while. He took a desperate leap over a fence and into an alley, landing in a roll. He righted himself quickly and started to run forwards again, but the moment his foot touched the ground the earth beneath it shifted, causing him to slide to one side and making him fall. He balanced himself with a hand, which was immediately encased in rock.

"Now that I have you here," The girl said, "I want to know what you were doing in my house!"

"Uh…" Zuko said through his mask. Well, he thought, firebending it is, if only a little bit. He broke the rock holding himself in place and scrambled up the side of a building. He sprinted across the roof and leapt over another alley. He scanned quickly and saw no pursuit. He gave a sigh of relief, and quickly divested the mask and black garb of the Blue Spirit, tying them into a bundle which he attached to the regular clothing he wore beneath the disguise.

The sun shone brightly and the spring wind blew gently through the morning air. The city of Gaoling was rising. Zuko was glad, for it was something he could use to his advantage. Tucking his dao into his belt, Zuko merged with the crowd. It wasn't common for the people of this city to carry swords, but it wasn't rare from what he had seen. He hoped that moving his dao from his back would be enough to establish his anonymity.

Zuko started his way towards the inn, keeping an eye out for the small earthbender as he went. He was near the river that flowed through the city when he ducked around a corner, quickly scanning the way he had come from to be sure she hadn't followed him.

"You can't hide from me, genius."

Zuko almost jumped out of his skin. She was right there, standing a foot away from him. How had she gotten the drop on him? He turned to run again, seriously considering that he might have to firebend at her, despite his misgivings. He had gotten a grand total of zero steps when he was shot into the air by a column of rock. He flailed his arms wildly trying to gain some semblance of control, yelling in surprise. He landed and was immediately shot into the air again, and again, and then a fourth time.

"Why." The girl said as she threw him again. "Were you going through my dad's things?"

Zuko fell to the ground again and was launched with far greater force than he had been previously. He sailed over the buildings and across the street, and when he started to fall he saw that he was over the river. He did his best to right himself so that he landed feet first into the water, which was surprisingly deep. He was fully submerged and had not yet touched the bottom when the water arrested his momentum. He kicked for the surface.

Alright, Zuko thought, that was it. He was going to unleash a rain of fire on that earthbender like she had never seen before. He was angry enough that the concept of blowing his cover was no longer enough to keep him from defending himself. His head broke the surface, and he made for a small boat that was moored along the side of the wall that lined the river. He climbed in and readied himself for the girl's reappearance. A minute passed, and then another. Ten. Then twenty. Zuko suspected that she was lying in wait for him to reappear, and after nearly a half hour of sitting in wet clothes, he was willing to oblige her.

He climbed up the wall and leapt onto the ground at the side of the river opposite from where he had last seen her. He scanned the area, swords drawn, but couldn't find any sign of her. The girl was gone.


Toph thought she had overdone it a little. She hadn't meant to throw the intruder so far, but she was a little angry at both his crime and his refusal to fight back. At first, she had assumed he wasn't an earthbender. He didn't walk like one, and that he was willing to run away didn't help with that assessment. She had gotten the feeling that he would rather have fought than retreat, but he had fled all the same. And then he had gotten out of the earth cuff she had trapped his hand with, which made her think he was an earthbender, although it hadn't felt like earthbending. She briefly considered that he was a firebender, but dismissed the thought. From what she knew of firebenders, they were more likely to take ground than give it. Too bad, Toph thought. She had never fought a firebender, and she wanted to give it a try.

A waterbender maybe? The ground had been still damp from the morning dew, so it was plausible. He had such a strange feeling, as if he could burst through any barrier put before him. Like he held the power of the sun in the palm of his hand. Maybe he was Fire Nation? But that didn't make sense; why would the Fire Nation want to search her family estate?

She clicked her tongue. Why hadn't he hit the ground yet? She hadn't used enough force for him to stay up this long, and she was beginning to worry that the impact upon his landing might kill him. She cocked her head and listened, but couldn't hear anyone screaming as they fell from the sky.

She waited, and ten minutes had passed before she gave up. Maybe he was an airbender and had flown away? Toph snorted. It was more likely that he had landed too far away for her to sense clearly with all of the people walking about. She turned on her heel and began to walk home, thinking about what he could have been after. Why would he bother going through her dad's office?

"...Corporate espionage?" She said aloud. She couldn't believe that he had managed to get away from her. Now she would never know the answer.

Rather abruptly, a portly old man carrying a basket piled high with random oddities backed out in front of her. Toph tried to grab the man's attention with a warning, but it was too late and the man crashed into her, knocking himself and his purchases to the ground. Toph was unfazed by the impact, and retained her footing easily.

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't see you there," The old man said as he began to pick up his belongings.

"It's fine." Toph said, and she bent down to help. She began placing the items back in the basket in the same order they had been in before.

"You… must have quite the memory," The stranger said, "You could only have seen the basket for a moment, and yet you're placing them in the same order."

"Oh, I didn't see them at all." Toph said. She grinned at the man and waved a hand over her eyes, saying in a stage whisper. "I'm blind."

"I… see." The old man said, and Toph sensed a touch of confusion. She smiled more broadly and said, "I don't."

The old man exhaled sharply through his nose at her joke. They had finished stacking his belongings in his basket by then, and the man bowed to her and said, "Thank you for your help."

"It's no problem," Toph replied, "I'm Toph by the way."

"I'm Iro- Uh, Mushi."

Toph frowned. The man had lied when he had given his name, and she likely would have known even without her earthbending. She crossed her arms and glared at him. "We were getting along so well, and now you're lying to me. What's your real name?"

The old man looked around for eavesdroppers, of which there could have been plenty. He leaned in a little bit. "I'm afraid I can't say."

"Why not? Are you in hiding?"

"Maybe."

Toph whistled. "Wow. Why?"

"It's not something that should be spoken of so openly." The man said. Toph shrugged.

"I can keep a secret."

The man laughed and handed her his basket. "Carry this for a tired old man, and we'll see."

"So if I carry this for you you'll tell me?" She asked, following him down the road and towards the river.

"I can't make any promises, Toph. It's dangerous." He said.

"I can handle myself," came her response. "I'm the greatest earthbender in the world."

The man paused for a second before saying, "Is that how you can get around so well while blind?"

"Yeah, I can see with earthbending, but not how most people do. I sense the vibrations in the earth and that shows me where everything is."

"So that's how you managed to get so far into the city by yourself." The man said. Toph frowned.

"I don't need help! I can carry my own weight."

"Need? No, I guess not. But sometimes it's nice to let others help you even when you don't need it." He said. They took a left turn and walked over the bridge crossing the river.

"I was chasing someone. He broke into my house and was going through our things, but he got away."

"I see." The man said thoughtfully.

"Are you on the run?" Toph asked, an idea forming. "Is the Earth King after you?"

"No."

She groaned. This was less interesting than she had hoped. They were approaching an inn when she felt a familiar person in the yard behind the building. The would-be thief. She had found him.


Zuko had finally made it back to the inn. It hadn't taken him long to get there, but after waiting for half of an hour in wet clothing for an attack that never came, he was more than ready to be back. In his opinion, it was too early in the spring to be soaking wet. He could have dried himself, but that might have revealed his status as a firebender. Now that he had calmed down a little, he accepted that it was not something he wanted to get around the town.

He sat in meditation in the morning sun. He had found that the inn had a small yard behind it, and taken to calming himself further before entering the room. He wasn't sure that his uncle would be awake by now, but he didn't need to find out when he was wet and angry. He breathed in a slow and measured cadence. In, and out. In, and out. In, and… he was encased to the neck in rock.

He tried to move his arms inside the prison, but the stone had been bent far to snuggly to allow even the slightest movement. He had been caught.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" An all too familiar voice drawled out. Zuko clenched his teeth. The Beifong girl had found him. He chose to say nothing.

"Still not feeling talkative, eh?" The girl walked into sight, carrying an overly stuffed basket.

"Toph! Where are you going? I need my- Zuko?!" Uncle appeared as well, forgetting to use the cover names. Zuko glared at him.

"What are you doing with her?!" Zuko glared daggers from his uncle to the girl. Toph, apparently.

"You two know each other?" Toph spun towards Iroh, raising her arms in a fashion that was reminiscent of a mantis. "Maybe you can tell me what he's up to."

Iroh raised his hands placatingly. "I don't know why. My nephew doesn't like to share his plans with me very often. We don't have to discuss things so heatedly, maybe we could all sit down and enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea."

"I don't need any calming tea!" Toph and Zuko barked at once. They glared at each other after having spoken in unison.

"If you're not going to explain," Toph made a seat for herself using her earthbending, "I'll have to report you to the police, or get creative." She punched a fist into the palm of her hand to punctuate the idea.

Zuko growled at her. "Did you just wake up and choose violence today?!"

"Oh, I don't know. Did you break into my house?!"

Zuko had the decency to look away in chagrin as he mumbled, "That's fair."

"My nephew and I are… looking for someone. A friend of sorts, you could say." Iroh sat on the seat beside Toph. She stood up and made another seat for herself.

"And the best way to do that is by looking through my father's business dealings?"

Iroh looked at Zuko with a raised eyebrow. Zuko blew his hair out of his eyes. "No. I heard that he was in touch with people all over the Earth Kingdom, so I assumed he was some sort of communication officer in the army."

Toph rolled her eyes, and Zuko noticed for the first time that they were cloudy, sightless. He stiffened, or he would have had if he had not been encased in stone. Had he been chased and caught by a blind girl? He was thankful that Azula wasn't there to see this, for she would never let him hear the end of it. And then he was thankful she wasn't there for a few other reasons too.

"They're trading contacts, genius." Toph pinched the bridge of her nose, "So what? You're working with the Fire Nation?"

"Uh, quite the opposite really, if anything." Iroh stroked his beard. It had grown even further in the past week.

"You're saying that you're not Fire Nation?"

"Uh…"

"Uncle!" Zuko hissed. Why was the man failing at maintaining cover? "Of course we're not Fire Nation."

Toph stood up again and pointed a finger at Zuko, although she wasn't looking at him directly. "I can tell you're lying!"

"I am not!"

"You are. A person's body gives off subtle hints, and I can feel them through earthbending."

Iroh sighed. "We are Fire Nation."

Toph nodded. "Rebels? Spies?"

"Rebels." Zuko said in defeat. The secret was out, so there was no use denying it. Maybe if he was honest she wouldn't turn them in to the army. If only he could get free, then he could get out of there. He idly wondered why his uncle hadn't tried to free him yet.

"Who are you looking for?"

"The Avatar."

Toph formed a puzzled expression. "Why?"

"Teach him firebending." Zuko glared at her.

The stone encasing Zuko crumbled away. He rubbed at his arms to regain some feeling and then eyed Toph with confusion. "Why?"

"You told the truth." Toph turned her head towards the inn and frowned. "You guys shouldn't be staying here." She said, "This inn is lame, you can stay with me."

"What? Why would we do that? Why would you want us to?" Zuko said suspiciously.

"Because we have lots of room and a great chef. You've seen the place." She lowered the seats she had made back into the ground. "And I've never fought a firebender before."

"A great chef you say?" Iroh said, his mouth watering. "Where do you live exactly?"

"How do you plan to convince your parents to let us stay with you?" Zuko asked. He wasn't on board with the idea just yet, but he could admit that it would be easier to get by with a free place to sleep. "And we're not interested in fighting you."

"Don't worry. I have a plan."

Zuko felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach. Did she mean for her parents or for fighting him?


"Scrambled on toast!" Ty Lee said, and she sounded a little irritated.

"Wrong. Sunny side up with bacon." Mai countered. Azula had been listening to them argue about the best way to eat eggs. She had had enough.

"You're both fools!" She slammed a palm onto the table. Her friends looked at her in alarm, and she continued. "Poached, medium. Over a bed of jasmine rice with tangerine sauce."

Ty Lee opened her mouth to argue, but her stomach growled. She closed her mouth again and nodded in defeat. Mai blinked slowly and said, "Well, that certainly does sound enticing."

The three of them had already eaten, and were just about to begin their training for the day. After being stuck without bending, Azula had decided to learn some non-bending forms of combat. Mai and Ty Lee were more than happy to help. Before they could begin, however, a messenger appeared followed by a large man. The newcomer had two prosthetic limbs and the tattoo of an eye placed vertically in the center of his forehead.

"Your highness," The messenger said, "The man sent by Admiral Zhao has arrived."

The behemoth walked to them and handed Azula a scroll. She recognized Zhao's seal and opened it.

Princess Azula,

I took the liberty of hiring this man to assist you in your efforts to find your brother and uncle. He is an accomplished bender, and the Fire Lord has authorized the use of lethal force if necessary. He is of paramount skill, and should be of great use to you in your mission.

Best regards,

Admiral Zhao.

Azula stared at the scroll. Authorized lethal force? Against Uncle and Zuko? That was… she decided not to think about it. She had heard nothing from her father about killing either of them, so she would not act on that information unless it came directly from the Fire Lord.

Now that the last member of their party had arrived, they could set out after her uncle and brother. She would have preferred to go after the Avatar first, but she didn't have a smell sample strong enough to pinpoint their direction. She had offered up the note Sokka had left for her, but June had said that it wasn't strong enough. The note had been returned to its place in Azula's belongings. Azula had ended up using the bag containing the Pai Sho tile her uncle had given her, as that was strong enough. She was glad the man had arrived early. They could leave that day.

"So… what do we call you?" Ty Lee asked. The huge man reached into his pocket and withdrew a business card. He handed it to Ty Lee, who read it and cheered. Mai read it next and scowled. Azula was handed the card and read it last. It said: The Combustion Man.


Author's note:

Please share any constructive criticism, if you don't mind. I'm doing this for fun, but also because I want to write professionally one day.

I've been having computer trouble, and I'm too poor to buy a new one right now, so if updates slow down I'm sorry. That said, I have no intentions of abandoning this story.

We're almost to the halfway point plot wise. Leaving the Spirit Library will be the official halfway point as far as plot and arcs are concerned, although I can't say about length.

Anyway, this year is off to a bad start for me. Caught the flu, almost got fired, absolutely broke, and now my computer is acting up. Plus there was some issue with my tax form at work and I paid just shy of 10,000 dollars in taxes last year. I make less than 40k, so it does explain why everything is so not cool. Oh yeah and my foot hurts. Sorry for whining, but I won't do it IRL so I'll do it anonymously. Except for my beta reader, for who I am very grateful.

To end this note, wish me a happy birthday. I'll be at work because I used the vacation day I was saving when I was bedridden with the flu, so I'll be miserable. Man alive, I'll be 25!