Chapter 19: Temple Child

There are some people who specialize in the politics of blood and classify it into sacred and taboo. These people have earned the popularity of the Water Tribe long ago, and for the past several centuries, they have woven into our tales the significance of such classifications. As a result of that, today we pay no importance to the fact that blood is blood no matter whose it is, where it comes from, or what its complex purposes are; through the lens of toxic masculinity and our fetish for swords and severed heads, we as a society have come to identify life-giving blood as taboo and impure, and instead, we have come to worship the blood that is spilled to end a life on the battlefield. Here in the Water Tribe, the blood of war is considered highly sacred, even made into an offering for the Spirits. The blood of intact virginity is rewarded— a testament to the woman's loyalty to her husband despite the fallacies such superstitions really bring. The blood of childbirth, while celebrated in the privacy of a midwife's mind, is deemed horrid by the public, thus something to be barely tolerated.

Pain and death have been shoved into our temples while life-bearers and nourishers have been driven away. Impurity of the female sex, say all the false scholars, but how disappointing it is to see society equating womanhood in its entirety with impurity when that same society provides opportunities only by looking at one's genitalia? Who is truly impure here?

But such questions are not meant to be asked or given answers to, according to the distorted scriptures that have ruled over our country for the past several decades. These modified scriptures have taught us to be selective in many more areas than simply gender: along with men over women, we have rich over poor, profiteering over education, superstition over reason, belief over nonbelief, deprivation over nourishment, and martyrdom over life. But I ask you, my friends, how can we claim to be children of the moon and ocean if we are so selective? Does the moon choose to shine on some and neglect others? Does the ocean refuse to offer its goods to some and pamper others? Does the planet stop spinning if a woman looks up into the sky or wades into the water? Does the world explode if children are born next to the idols?

"Sokka? Sokka? Prince Sokka? Hey, Socks!"

"H-Huh?" Sokka looked up from the papers he was reading and looked to Kanguq and Muktuq standing by the doorway.

"Do you find our Lady's speeches to be that interesting?" Kanguq asked.

"Yeah...yes…" Sokka rolled up the scroll he was reading and placed it in the box of other scrolls given to him by his friends. "These are all the copies of her speeches you have?"

"This is the third time you asked us this, Socks," Muktuq laughed. "I promise, this is all we have."

Sokka would've stayed longer and learned more about Lady, but his friends were alarmed when Kameli brought in the news of a sudden allegation: a woman had been arrested an hour before for supposedly dissuading a servant from providing service to a radical Nationalist— Kinji, supposedly an acquaintance of Khasiq and a religious leader who oversaw the events at the Great Temple of La.

"She could be an ally," Kanguq said. "Every tribesperson knows exactly what kind of person Kinji is. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the first to screw up."

"This is getting ridiculous," Sayen hissed, "No investigation, no inquiry. They just decide to throw that lady in prison without asking further questions."

"According to what I heard, the lady is refusing to show her face."

"Refusing to show her face?" Sayen wondered, looking to Kanguq. The tribesman seemed to ask the same question that was running through her mind. Could it really be Lady…?

"I think it's a good idea to go meet with her once," Muktuq suggested, "but it's best if we take this up with the Council of Elders first so we don't run into any problems. I'll call for Eiji, Rin, and Ting Yun."

In the meanwhile, Sokka managed to process all the information he had learned to the point of not dropping his jaw every five seconds, and he made his way back to the palace. The Revivalists repeatedly emphasized that it was best if people didn't know that he (and by extension, Katara, who had accompanied him last time) was affiliated with them, so he laid low to avoid being recognized on his way back from Kanguq and Sayen's estate. He then took to wandering the palace halls again in search of Yue, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"She never spoke very much," Sayen had told him. "She did not mix with the children. She often kept to herself. Whenever Hama or the rest of us got too close to her or touched her hand or something, she would get very uncomfortable and flinch away. She never made eye contact, either. Hama always thought she was sheltered an unhealthy amount or was abused."

It seemed that the explanation of her being sheltered made more sense. He had always wondered how it was possible for someone to cope with not having any form of social life whatsoever. A sheltered environment was definitely something that affected her in her childhood and would probably play a major role in how she was today...but Sokka couldn't help wondering further. If Arnook had downright ignored her claim that the supposed "Earth Kingdom groom" that he'd arranged for her had really been an imposter...was the chieftain really treating her okay? It seemed to Sokka that the fact of the matter was negligence, too, and perhaps deliberate attempts of shutting down her methods of self-expression.

Sokka also felt it was annoying that the people she called her friends— the angakkuit and the Revivalists as far as he knew up to this point— seemed to be judging her for her liberality and preference for conversation over conflict. The angakkuit might not stop to rest until they instilled in her their discriminatory ways in the name of tradition, and the Revivalists, though having raised some good points of retaliation that he personally agreed with, were not content with her more peaceful approach.

To think of the stressful life she might be leading, balancing her personas as princess, Lady, and servant— as far as he knew, that is. Not to mention what happened with those Earth Kingdom imposters trying to sell her; if Professor Zei's article really was true, then she was likely still recovering from that incident.

With a worried sigh, he slipped into the royal kitchen this time in hopes of spotting her. Supposedly, it was a move that was highly discouraged by palace protocol, but Sokka didn't care for those kinds of formalities. Even then, all he had to look forward to were surprised shrieks and bewildered looks of unveiled ladies, none of them being the milky-haired beauty he was looking for.

"It's His Highness, the prince of the South!"

"Oh my goodness!"

"Ladies, show your respect—!"

"Intros and bows later," he said, interrupting them. "I'm looking for the lady assigned the number eight."

"We haven't seen her all day today," stepped up one of the older maids. "Is there something wrong? Did she do something to upset you?"

"No, she's my friend. I was just…"

"A friend?"

"Well she's not here, sir."

Apparently she hadn't been seen all day. Among the servants preparing the vegetarian delicacies, she was not there, and it wasn't confirmed that she would be in the evening team of cooks, either, prompting him to wonder if she really did cancel all her plans. He kept looking, though, heading to the parts of the palace where he'd seen her before, even that pelt room where he'd seen her play with those kids before.

"She babysits some mornings."

So he asked around, realizing that today was not the day of her shift. He still didn't give up, wandering back to the gardens just in case. When she wasn't there, either, he rushed through the inner ring— not without dodging several concerned security guards along the way— so he could get to the boundary leading to the middle ring, where the Moon Temple awaited. Swallowing his previous resolve, he stepped into the temple, immediately earning glares from the fuming angakkuit.

"Who told you to come back here?!" barked an angakkuq who immediately recognized him.

"You think you can march in here however you want after insulting our Spirits?!" yelled another.

"Please move aside," he frowned, "I'm speaking to your priestess lady and no one else—"

"Woah woah, woah there," a third angakkuq stopped him. "You are not seeing Mother Osha without our permission!"

"Seeing your priestess isn't important," he retorted, "though it seems she'll be the only one to tell me where Yue is—"

"So you found out her name, did you?"

"Oh Spirits, oh Spirits—!"

"If you make a move on Yue and break her heart, we'll break you in half, you infidel—!"

"Prince Sokka, welcome."

The composed voice was a stark contrast to the hollers of the priestesses-in-training. Everyone turned to the direction where the voice was coming from, and stepping out of one of the back rooms was Osha. In her hand was a metal scepter housing a jewel that Sokka felt unmistakably matched Yue's eyes. The middle-aged woman walked over to them, motioning for the angakkuit to leave the prince be.

"I was expecting to see your parents here. It seems you are here, too."

"My parents?" Sokka asked. "Are they coming here?"

"Soon. We will be discussing your birth chart."

"Ugh," he rolled his eyes. "I'm not here for that."

"I know. You have come searching your moon," she said, still calm. "Well your moon is not here."

Sokka only appeared curious. "My moon?"

"I told you before, did I not?" Osha said, a spark in her eyes. "Your eyes followed the moon all this time, but now your entire being is following her, is it not?"

Sokka quirked his eyebrows. "I don't get what you're saying. I'm looking for Yue. Well, her name does mean 'moon,' so if you put it that way...yeah…?"

"Mother Osha, don't speak with him," began an angakkuq. "The last time he was here, he insulted you and the Spiri—!"

"The moon is not here, Prince," the priestess ignored the angakkuq. She squinted her eyes as if studying him. As if she was searching for something in him or trying to read him.

"Don't tell him anything about her, Mother Osha, please!"

"He's a player!"

"What if he does something unspeakably horrible to her?"

"We can't let our Tuiup paninga make the worst mistake of her life by trusting an ungrateful infidel!"

Sokka glowered at the angakkuit, but Osha seemed to shrug it off. "Ignorant humans blame the clouds for blocking the moon from the waves, but the Spirit of the Ocean knows that it is He who is the water that forms those clouds. The clouds are Him, the waves are Him. Tui Herself is nothing but Him, and He Himself is nothing but Tui. Those who are not aware of this truth speak a million things, but the Being merely laughs."

The priestesses stared at Osha. Sokka blinked blankly at her.

"You can never be a threat to the moon," Osha said, eyeing the prince knowingly. "The moon cannot be hidden in the palm of one's hand, and the ocean cannot be contained at the tips of one's fingers. It is our duty to let the moon shine on the waves and let the ocean reach for the light according to their natures. If we aspire to stop either one, we will be the greatest of fools."

But her monologue (or as he called it, shaman nonsense) had long flown past his head. "Yeah...uh huh...interesting..."

Osha only smiled in that knowing manner of hers. "Run along now, Tuiup Tui. The moon and her history can't hide from you for long."

Tui's Tui? History? Sokka raised his eyebrows, deeming it best to leave the place for the sake of his sanity. "Uh... okay…thanks...for the deep shit, I guess..." And for completely wasting my time. Where on earth is she?

An angakkuq screeched in his face, "Cursing at the temple, how shameless!"

"Yue's gone too far with what she's allowing among sacred walls!" another shook her head. "I swear!"

"You dare curse in our sacred temple?!"

"Rot in hell, you infidel!"

"Thanks!" he called back, glaring at them, "I'll see y'all there!"

After managing to cover his face and making a thorough search through the middle and outer rings, he returned disappointedly to the inner ring, crossing into the Eastern courtyard of the palace. He didn't expect, however, to become the target of plentiful amounts of bison snot moments after stepping into the courtyard. Giggling before him was his sister, who was accompanied by the goofball the world addressed as the Avatar, and standing beside the monk was a sky bison, groaning and pawing at his giant nose.

"Don't worry, the mucus washes out!" Aang assured, waving in greeting.

"Thanks, that makes me feel way less disgusted!" the prince gagged before he was splashed by forceful tidal waves that washed off the snot. In the milliseconds following that, he nearly had the air in his lungs knocked out as Aang blasted him with high-speed winds, drying him instantly. Sokka sighed at the momentary reprieve until Katara dragged him over to have him meet the bison.

"This is Appa," Aang said, smiling affectionately at his animal companion. "Appa, this is Sokka."

Appa groaned, his big brown eyes blinking at Sokka, and Sokka stepped back with a yelp, "Nice ten-ton magical flying thing…" only to be greeted with a giant lick, covered head to toe in sky bison saliva.

"Don't worry, he doesn't bite," Aang laughed. "Appa's a vegetarian."

"What a relief," the Southerner wiped the saliva away from different parts of his body only to realize that his glove, too, was covered in it. "Eugh!"

"That washes off, too, by the way," the Avatar grinned.

Sokka cast the nomad an I-am-so-done look despite reaching out his hand and daring to brush some snow off of Appa's nose. He earned a soft nuzzle from the bison in return, and he couldn't help feeling a mushy feeling in his chest. Yue would really like Appa, he couldn't help thinking, and he continued to rub the bison's nose, his touch gentle like how Yue's had been when she was coaxing the wolf out of its cage the other night. The prince grinned as Appa continued to sniff at his gloved hand.

"Since when did you get so good with animals?" Katara asked. "Either that or Appa's just a sweetie like that," she pat the kneeling bison's forehead, earning an affectionate lick as well.

"I think he really likes you, Sokka," Aang said.

"Wonderful. Though I'd appreciate it if your friends and pets don't try to use me as a punching bag every so often."

"I think that's just the universe using you as a punching back," Katara said.

"Not surprised," the prince pet some of Appa's fur. "So, you two went for your sky ride yet?"

"Yeah," the master waterbender beamed at the airbender, who only rubbed the back of his head and stood there with his trademark grin. "It was really fun! You should come with us for a ride."

"Maybe another time," he pulled his hand back, "I've got a lot on my mind."

They were interrupted by a female servant who walked out into the courtyard, leading the way for a group of male servants who were carrying a very large dish of kelp, most likely for Appa. Sokka caught hold of the number eight on the servant's uniform, feeling his breath quicken for a moment. Only a moment, though, because she was not Yue. He raised his eyebrows.

"Please let us know if your bison would like anything else, Avatar Aang."

"Thank you, miss," Aang smiled before he, too, recognized her uniform number. "Hey, are you the lady who made those custard tarts and the fruit pies yesterday? For the multicultural feast?"

"Oh...that's not me, actually, that was someone else."

Knew it, Sokka crossed his arms. "Do you know where that lady is?"

"I'm not sure, Your Highness."

The tribesman frowned, one eye twitching from frustration, "So no one in the entire palace keeps up with your servants?"

"Sokka, what's with you today?" Katara said.

"I'm sure he'll feel better if he eats something," Aang suggested. "You haven't eaten breakfast, either, did you?"

But Sokka, perturbed as he was, felt restless and didn't think about eating until he found some answers to his queries. "Are you sure you don't know where she is?" he questioned the servant.

"I'm really not sure, isumataq," she said nervously. "But if she hasn't been around here all day, I can only guess she's with the group of servants who are trying to tend to Her Highness, the princess. She's fasting today, you see."

"Fasting?" Sokka blinked.

"The princess had been on hunger strike all day," elaborated one of the male servants. "She supposedly hadn't touched a morsel ever since she woke up this morning."

"She's refusing to eat for political reasons. Something to do with her proposals not being approved by His Majesty, the chieftain," the female servant said. "At least, that's the talk of the palace right now."

A wide-eyed Sokka was reminded that, according to Zei's article, the princess had taken up a fast to be able to help the South, too. "You should not expect me to sit behind walls and eat lavish meals when there are starving mothers out there who cannot feed their infants...From this moment onwards, do not expect me to touch any morsel or sip of water your servants bring me. The day you allow me to send help to the South will be the day I break my fast."

"So she's on hunger strike because of that?" Katara asked, incredulous.

"Yes," the servant said. "There have been many other servants and physicians lined up outside of her study for hours as per the chief's orders, waiting to hear back from her or tend to her if something goes wrong. The lady you're looking for might be with them—"

"Wait, what do you mean if something goes wrong?" Sokka spasmed, earning Aang and Katara's curiosity again.

"She hasn't been eating well at all. In fact, it's the princess's sixth time fasting in the past two weeks," the servant said. "People have been saying she's likely weak. Lost some weight, too, apparently."

And now that Sokka thought about it, Yue didn't eat much last night when they'd stopped by her friend's restaurant. "And your chief's just gonna sit there on his throne and do nothing about this?!" he glared. "He's just gonna let her go hungry like that?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, sir. I have no way of knowing those details."

Sokka didn't expect to become so incensed, but with how strongly he was seething, his feet couldn't stand still. He hurried out of the courtyard and fixed the throne room as his destination, ignoring Aang and Katara as they called out to him.

He was going to get to the bottom of Arnook's nonsense today.

"Please, Khasiq, I'm begging you," Chief Arnook's whimpers reverberated through the empty throne room. "Where is she?"

"For the last time, Arnook, I have nothing to do with this," Khasiq said, quite calm for someone of his demeanor. "I have absolutely no reason to do anything to her. She's a girl, not a threat."

It was this poisonous calm of his that made Arnook's blood run cold. "K-Khasiq," the chief, bathed in the stench of intoxicants. let out a ragged breath, his eyes bloodshot from fear and panic as he knelt before his advisor, ready to grovel if need be. "I-I know you're not pleased that her alliance with Prince Lu Ten has been broken, but trust me, p-please, I intend to marry her off as soon as possible. G-Give me another chance! Please, release her!"

"Arnook, how many times do I have to tell you? I told you I know nothing," Khasiq stared at him. "Who knows where she is? She could've eloped with a man, for all I care—"

"She wouldn't do that!" Arnook choked out.

"How do you know what runs through the mind of a young woman of marrying age who was basically locked up in a single building for most of her life? Likely with only a few servants to acknowledge her existence enough to send her dinners? Who knows what kind of lechery she's gotten herself involved with behind your back."

"Arnook, despite seething with rage on the inside, only wept helplessly, insisting with a mere look that Khasiq was behind his daughter's disappearance. "I've promised you the tribe. I've promised you my loyalty. And I haven't strayed from them. I never will. So please…"

"Are you sure you're not planning on keeping her here? You know, so she can take the throne?" the Nationalist messed with him. "You're already submitting to her tantrums. Where's the guarantee that you won't agree to her wish to take over the North if she fasts for it?"

"I will never agree to that, I swear! I swear on the Spirits, Khasiq!" Arnook shook uncontrollably. "That child is the only reminder of Ahnah I have left. I raised her because Ahnah wanted to raise her. Nothing more, nothing less. I swear on the Spirits, on my Ahnah, my ancestry! You have to believe me!"

"Very well then," Khasiq sighed, "But alas, groveling in front of me will do nothing for you. I don't know where she is. I haven't even seen her face to this day. How will I know who she is to snatch her away so easily?"

"Please, Khasiq!" Arnook sobbed. "Please, she's young! She's innocent! She...she hasn't even had anything to eat all day—!"

"She was the one who asked from the treasury. You were the one who refused. What do I have to do with this?"

"I will do anything you ask me to do, Khasiq. Please, let her go."

Khasiq's face morphed into an impatient glare, and he kicked the chieftain away from his feet. "You idiot! Who do you take me for?! I told you I haven't even seen your daughter to this day!"

Arnook shuddered, his tear-stricken face and wide eyes frozen.

"Don't turn me into an angry man with your stupidity, Arnook," the Nationalist hissed. "Think about it. If someone was so willing to burn down his entire house just so he can kill a spiderfly, then there is no greater fool than him in this universe! Likewise, what reason would I have for putting my entire empire under risk in the presence of the Avatar and the White Lotus just so I can get that peasant you call your daughter out of the way? She is nothing to me! Even a spiderfly is more of a threat to me than she is and ever will be!"

Arnook hiccupped, grabbing a bottle of intoxicant and helping himself to calm himself down. Khasiq sighed and rose from his seat, looming over the chieftain. "Even if I did want to get back at your daughter, I don't need to go above and beyond and plan kidnappings and such things. One doesn't need to learn how to fly to shoot down a bird in the sky. A slingshot and a precise aim is more than enough for the job."

The chieftain shivered, all kinds of fears racing through his mind.

"You don't understand, do you?" the Nationalist asked. "I don't have to use every ounce of my influence to get rid of her. I just need to reveal the truth to the tribe."

Arnook widened his eyes. Khasiq responded with a mix of a sneer and a smirk. "I even have the speech prepared and everything. You want to hear it? You do, don't you? Don't worry, I'll give you the shorter version." He made his way over to the empty throne and took a seat, sprawling his arms out on the armrests as if the throne was made for him. "'My dear qatanngutiit! Here in the Water Tribe, we give utmost importance to ritual purity, and yet in such a nation we are faced with the dilemma of handling a kind of... germ, you can say. A societal germ who is out to destroy our ritual purity with her mere existence and interaction.'" The Nationalist's tone was already victorious, even without him officially making his speech in front of the tribe. "'Someone who has soiled the purity of a once-sacred temple upon her birth is in no way an ally for the children of La. Realizing this, I hope you consider supporting the right candidate for the throne, for we cannot allow such an impure existence to watch over our tribe. We will all fall into ruin!'"

"Khasiq—!"

"'And what does this have to do with the future leader of the Water Tribe, you may ask? It certainly breaks my heart to say it, but it cannot be hidden any longer. Brothers and sisters, the woman you all know as your precious princess is really someone who is undeserving of being included in any conversation. That is, the tribe's germ of impurity. The Impure One! The Untouchable One!'"

"Khasiq, please!" Arnook violently shook his head, looking back and forth, frightened to the core from the possibility that anyone might hear.

"'An enemy of La!'" Khasiq continued with a smirk. "'La struck his wrath on her not even seconds after she was born, for the Untouchable One was found abandoned. She was left to starve and rot as a sacrifice to La by her own birth parents, who have declared her a sinful burden for polluting the Sacred Temple with the filth of her birth—!"

"STOP, Master Khasiq, please, I beg you, STOP THIS!"

Khasiq only stared at his pet of a chieftain, amused as Arnook clutched his head in his hands and shook his head in utter defeat and paralyzing fear. "You see, Arnook? I don't need to go overboard in getting your daughter out of my way. Once I reveal this truth to the public, think of the humiliation she will face. It will be all over the pamphlets. 'The Untouchable One trying to contaminate the North with her blasphemy by posing as the biological daughter of the chieftain, who out of his sheer stupidity, adopted her!' She will be ostracized. Locked away in the very temple where she was born, left to die a lonely death. Either that, or the people themselves will take action, maybe drive her out of here or even burn her at the stake for her heretical existence. And even if they don't wish to, they will still have to. Just like they drove out Tui from their lives."

"Please, don't," Arnook bowed before Khasiq's feet, unable to take in a single word more. "Even though I adopted her, I was able to do nothing for her. I couldn't behave like a true father to her. I never got to spend time with her or play with her...do all the things that a father would want to do, adopted or otherwise. I couldn't share any form of love and affection. I missed out on all of her milestones. I was absent from her life more often than I ever was present. I literally locked her up in a building all her life. To be honest with you, I don't know how she grew up. I like to think that she was raised by those books of hers and the grace of the Spirits."

Khasiq rolled his eyes, sighing at the chief's rant.

"And in my efforts to get her married to a respectable prince from the Earth Kingdom, I accidentally ended up sending her with those imposters like the idiot I was…!" the chief sobbed, shaking his head, "The least I can ever do for her is not break her heart by telling her this truth. I want her to always be loved, Khasiq. I want her married to a nice man. And yes, I agreed to Fire Lord Iroh's request to have her married to his son, but I never really wanted her to marry into the Fire Nation, I admit it! You saw Ozai's daughter. I was certain that one day, she'd abuse or even kill my daughter for falling out of line! She didn't hesitate to strike lightning at a minor, you know of this—!"

"Don't waste my time, Arnook, say what it is you want to say."

"I'm saying I will find another man for her," Arnook promised. "Preferably someone who is not from the Water Tribe and doesn't believe in purity rituals...or even if he is a tribesman, he will be someone who doesn't care about all of this. He will be someone who will genuinely care for her. Please, Khasiq, you need to understand where I'm coming from!"

"I don't understand where all of this care and concern is coming from, Arnook," Khasiq raised his eyebrows. "She's not even yours."

"B-But I certainly wish she was," Arnook stammered, more tears falling and drenching his face. "She's a sweet child, Khasiq. Don't harm her. I promise. I will send her as far away from the North as possible! I promised you that I will do what I can to make sure she doesn't get in your way, and I'll do everything I can to keep up that promise. I will give up my life if I must! All I ask in return is that you spare her. Please, Khasiq, even a dying man is allowed a final wish. I have died to power a long time ago; all I want now is for my daughter to be safe and with a loving companion."

"You and your useless sentiments," the Nationalist huffed out a breath and gave Arnook a scrutinizing look. "I have not even begun my hunt yet. I haven't laid a finger on this daughter of yours because I trust that you're too much of a weakling to fall back on your word. But mark my words carefully. If you don't get her married off and out of my way, I will have to get her out of my way myself. All it takes is a little speech." He leaned back against the throne. "But do believe me when I say that I don't know where she is, I swear upon the Great Temple of La. Make a search for her, if you wish. I'll allow it for now."

It wasn't like Arnook had much of another choice. If Khasiq doesn't know, then where could she be? Forcing his deteriorating body in a bow, he pulled himself up with great difficulty, leaving behind a trail of dripping intoxicant as he scrambled out of the throne chamber. He did not expect to see, however, the utterly shocked face of the prince of the South gawking back at him the moment he opened the door.

It seemed the universe was insistent on having as many shocks as possible shoved in Sokka's face, and that, too, all in one day. Not to mention the fact that he was seething with rage as the image of Khasiq kept popping up in his mind. Furthermore, more than the revelation that she was not Arnook's daughter, the truth that she was the baby girl abandoned at the Moon Temple was more shocking to him. Adding to that was a sharp twinge of pain in his heart; the princess was compassion embodied in a person, and such compassion was not deserving of abandonment.

"I don't know how much of this story is true, but supposedly, twenty-something years ago, some lady gave birth to a baby girl in the innermost sacred chamber right next to the idols."

"It's quite tragic because the woman apparently abandoned the child. She had supposedly placed the baby in front of the idols as an offering and left her to starve overnight."

"The baby was found by the priests before anything could happen to her. I'm not too sure what happened after that, no one really knows."

A truth like this opened up a whole new door of inquiries and hypotheses, ripped apart his abrasive side like nothing else, but he didn't have the time to ruminate on all of this. The princess was missing, and Arnook was in shambles, not even bothering to cover up the conversation that was heard in all of its entirety.

"Chief, please, get a hold of yourself," Sokka sighed. "I'm sure she's fine wherever she is." Because despite her not being anywhere in the palace or the places he'd hastily scanned earlier, and despite the nonstop drumbeats in his chest that sent his mind racing, he still had a feeling deep down that she was okay. She had to be... though it would be nice if she was okay and here where they could see her. "How do you know she's missing?"

"I sent a servant to check on her through a shortcut," Arnook managed to say in spite of the shakiness in his voice. "She wasn't inside. I went to her room to check, and she wasn't there, either."

The evening gongs sounded from the top of the citadel in the distance. Arnook looked wearily out of the window. "It's nearly nightfall, and she's nowhere to be found, oh Spirits—!"

"Relax! Nothing's going to happen to her. I'll go out and look for her, and I'll bring her back here."

"You?"

"Yes. I need you to trust me on this."

Arnook gave him a look, almost as if trying to assess in this short amount of time if Sokka was someone he could trust with this level of circumstance. Though he didn't suspect Sokka in any way, and though it was true that he'd been observing Sokka from a distance to consider him as a possible suitor for his daughter, Arnook was not yet in a situation to directly approach Sokka with any issue related to the princess. Then again, Piandao spoke quite highly of Sokka, and Arnook knew the warrior was a gem from what he'd been hearing and what he'd already known regarding the warrior's achievements. "Piandao tells me that you're wanting to show your loyalty to her somehow."

"Yes," an anticipatory swallow, "If you give me the chance, and if she gives me the chance. If it wasn't for her, my family and I would've suffered; I will never forget what she has done for us."

"Then bring her to me just this once, Sokka. I won't ask anything else from you."

Sokka frowned. "But I want to be her bo…" he didn't finish, deciding to address this topic with the chieftain later. "Don't tell anyone else that she's missing, Chief. Not even your closest advisors. There are too many people here who can't be trusted, and they're all in hiding. If they find out she's missing, they'll try to take advantage of the situation."

"No one else will know," Arnook reassured. "They shouldn't. The tribe, especially, can't know about this under any circumstance. All chaos will break loose." The broken chief looked to Sokka again, asking helplessly, "About what you heard...Sokka, please don't say anything to her."

"I'm not heartless, Chief."

"So I really can trust you, right?"

Sokka responded by taking out his space sword and drawing it out of its sheath. "I would've sworn on the Spirits if I was a believer, but an oath made in blood is good, too. It can never be broken." He nicked himself against the black blade and held up his thumb, the blood from his small cut running down to his palm. "I promise you, Chief Arnook. I will do everything in my power to keep Her Highness safe and happy."

"That's my boy, that's my boy!" Chief Arnook blinked away his returning tears and held Sokka by the shoulders. "You have no idea how much this means to me." Without a second, he gestured to the tapestry of Tui that rested on the wall of his private study. "You see that? The princess looks exactly like that. Bring her to me, Sokka."

Sokka softened his gaze and nodded.

"Yue," the man whispered her name with great reverence. "That's her name. Not a single soul knows this."

"And not a single soul will know," Sokka said, sheathing his sword and hardening his gaze in determination. "Chief Arnook, when I return with her, you are going to agree to every single one of her proposals. No compromises."

For the first several minutes, his mind was blank. Though he did his best to try to clear his head, it was difficult. So much seemed to be going on at once. Nevertheless, he had a strong feeling that she was safe. He couldn't explain it. The princess was not to be underestimated, and for the sake of her tribe, at least— given her dutifulness, that is— she would be safe, possibly involved in some kind of social service.

But where? Was there even a single clue he could go off of? She could be anywhere in the city. He could survey the city again, but that would only take longer. Madam Stubborn didn't eat all day. Think think think, Sokka, think.

And that's when it struck him. "According to what I heard, the lady is refusing to show her face."

Refusing to show her face! That case! How could he be so dense? But was it really her? Why would she be in prison? What exactly happened?

Maybe it's not her.

What if it is? It doesn't hurt to try, you idiot, you don't have many options.

It was then that he raced over to Zhi's apartment in the middle ring, taking the man completely off guard. Zhi was even more confused as to why the prince of the South demanded to know more about prisons at seven hours past midday, but Sokka didn't give him the opportunity to question his intentions.

"The female prison is guarded by eunuchs," he explained.

"Eunuchs?"

"Since women weren't trained in fighting, only men had to oversee all female felons, but ever since the rise of activists and social missions sponsored by the Revivalist Association around ten years ago, there had been increased awareness of violence and sexual assault against tribeswomen, and assaults in female prisons was a major issue that was brought up. The public outcry was quite intense, and Khasiq and his government felt threatened by the activists' cause."

"Aren't the Revivalists a peaceful group?" Sokka asked.

"They are, and that's exactly why they gathered lots of mass support. Khasiq would attempt to retaliate, but everything he did worked out in the Revivalists' favor because they earned sympathy from the public for being targets of Khasiq's persecution. Khasiq had to appease the protests that were then starting to come in from the actual public, so he passed a few meager reforms. One of them is that all men who were to be in charge of guarding the female prisons were to undergo painful castration processes in order to obtain permanent positions. They were recruited from lower classes, too, with very few exceptions; apparently the men in the upper class are more deserving of their manhoods," Zhi huffed in annoyance. "The poor eunuchs were also promised hefty amounts as salaries, but that's usually not the case. So many lower-class candidates felt betrayed by the transaction."

This place needs more change than I thought, Sokka sighed. "Is there a way to distinguish the guards of the female prisons from the other guards? They'd have to have some kind of marker or label that grants them access to the female prisons, right?"

"Yes, the eunuchs wear grey robes."

"Grey robes, huh?" This information was more than enough.

"And you don't think that's suspicious at all? Asking her to bring in flowers 'for worship?' Alone?"

"Seriously, that was a twelve-year-old girl that he tried to invite into his meditation chamber. That servant really had a point in looking out for her."

The head eunuch looked up from his writing at his two assistants. "Even if it is Kinji's fault, we need to do everything we can to not expose him. Otherwise, he'll start inviting our ladies into his tent next."

The assistants sighed and looked at each other helplessly. The head eunuch frowned, embittered by the words that left his mouth. He would've gone back to his writing had he not noticed a flash of grey a few feet away. He frowned and called out to the eunuch in the distance. "Hey. Hey you."

The man in grey robes looked over to the three of them, who were now standing up from their seats. The head eunuch quirked his eyebrows curiously at the man. "I haven't seen you around here. New recruit?

The man walked over to them. "Yes," a clearing of his throat. "My first day on the job. I'm a friend of Nuqao."

"Master Khasiq's recommendation, eh? Not bad, you're actually built like a soldier. Who knew nepotism can actually work out sometimes?" an assistant joked and palpated the newbie's bicep but earned a glare from the head eunuch.

"Give your respect to Master Khasiq's acquaintance," the boss seethed before bowing. "My apologies, sir. May I know your name?"

"Fire. Wang Fire."

"Wang Fire? Isn't Wang a Fire Nation name?" the second assistant asked.

"I have a bit of Fire Nation ancestry in me," Sokka lied coolly. "Anyhow, I'd like to know where the woman who spoke out against Kinji is being kept."

"You mean Lord Kinji, sir?"

"Whatever floats your boat," Sokka said in annoyance.

"She's in cell number four in the nonbenders' ward."

"Did she reveal any details about herself?"

"She said nothing all day. Well, she did say she was a nonbender, but other than that, nothing else," the head eunuch said. "We don't know her name, the name of that girl who was involved, no other details, sir."

Sokka nodded slowly. "And let me get this straight. Her only crime is preventing a twelve-year-old girl from entering a fifty-three-year-old man's meditation tent alone?"

The assistants looked uncomfortable by the question. The head eunuch sighed. "She was wrongly accusing a high-ranking religious leader of an attempt at an assault on a minor."

"How do you know it's false?" Sokka asked, eyebrows raised.

"Lord Kinji is an incarnation of La and an ascetic Water Tribe sage. Whatever he says or does is out of the holiest of intentions—"

"Oh, shut the hell up, will you?" Sokka snapped. "Don't you have any sisters or daughters of your own who are the same age as that little girl? Do you mean to say that you're comfortable sending them into Kinji's tent by themselves?"

None of them answered but only hung their heads low.

"You should be ashamed to call yourselves servants of the law."

"My apologies for saying this, sir, but you should've known a bit more about Khasiq before you snagged a job under his influence, sir," the head eunuch didn't hesitate to say. "If the Master hears you talking so harshly about his friend, he will not be pleased."

Sokka glared at him before muttering, "I think you should get going, don't you think?"

The head eunuch swallowed and bowed before leading the way, but not before adding, "Just a heads-up, sir; Revivalist Sayen and her little group said they'd be here to investigate the case further. Also, a small request keep an eye on the bitch in cell four. She hasn't touched a morsel. We don't want her dying on us without taking it up with Master Khasiq and Lord Kinji."

Sokka clenched his fist, barely managing a nod, and when the head eunuch began walking away, the prince couldn't resist maneuvering his leg a bit to trip the man without being noticed. The man fell flat on his face, roaring in pain as his nose cracked the ice on the ground. His assistants rushed to help him up while the Southern prince simply stood there, crossing his arms in nonchalance. "My bad."

In the darkness of the metal prison, Princess Yue found that she wasn't alone. Next to her were a few elephant-rats that feasted on an untouched plate of meat. She also found some company in the inmate who was next to her cell in the same chamber— a robust woman named Tanara who had formed a quick friendship with the soft-hearted replica of Tui.

"You've been in here for five years?" Yue asked her.

"Yeah, hon. I was only supposed to be here for a year at first, but then I met him, that idiot," the woman chuckled to herself. "Poor thing doesn't go a day without seeing me. He loves me that much, ya know? But he's not allowed to leave his job and his quarters in the middle ring. I'm from the lower ring, you see."

"What did you do to lengthen your sentence?"

"I didn't lengthen my sentence. I did everything I could to come back to prison," Tanara explained. "Stole two more times. Each sentence was one year. Then I advanced into dognapping."

"Dognapping?"

"Yeah, got a hold of a rich guy's polar bear dog and held it up for ransom. Got me two years." She patted the floor of the cell, "Got thrown in the same cell, too."

"Why do you have to keep coming here? Your boyfriend could just quit his job and look for some other work, can't he? Does he love this job that much?"

"He hates it here," the woman sighed. "We wish there was a way for him to get fired, but he can only get fired if he breaks some serious rules, and if he does, he'd have to go face charges for them. He can't quit on his own."

"That's not right," Yue shook her head, frowning. "Stay strong, Tanara. I have a strong feeling that things will work out."

"Hoping's not gonna help, hon."

"The princess seems to be changing a lot of rules lately," Yue said. "She might change the rules here to your favor."

"Eh, some princess. Completely spineless. Didn't even appoint a war minister for her cabinet, I heard."

"I know, it's crazy, isn't it?" the princess-in-disguise chuckled.

"If she can't be assertive to save her life or run a nation, then what's she gonna do to help us? Is she gonna bust me out? Change the entire layout of these prisons?"

"I can't say for sure," Yue shrugged, going back to feeding the elephant-rats. "Let's just hope she has enough of a backbone to do something about this situation—"

"Insulting Her Highness, the princess, will not be tolerated here."

Yue jumped at the voice and looked up at the shadow that stepped in front of her cell. She was quick to recognize the tone, and her suspicions were confirmed when she caught a glimpse of his face.

"I was so worried about you," he breathed.

Her eyes slightly widened. Prince Sokka? In a eunuch uniform? How did he know she was here? How did he keep figuring out it was her even when she was covered up? And what was he even doing here? Did he come specifically for her, or did he come here for some other reason and just happened to notice that she was here? She didn't have to try to figure out the answers for long thanks to the worried look that he cast her.

"Thank goodness you're alright," he whispered.

"Sok...M-Mr. Wang, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't tell me you're in love with a eunuch, too, Tui-girl," Tanara teased her. "Look at all that love in his eyes."

"Mind your own business, will you?" Sokka frowned at the woman, and it wasn't until Tanara grumbled to herself and went back to the corner of her own cell that he whipped out the keys from the pocket of his robes, fumbling to open the princess's cell.

"I see that you've appointed yourself as my bodyguard," she raised her eyebrows at him.

"We need to get out of here, Your Highness," he responded simply, not saying anything of her comment, his voice barely above a mumble.

"Just because I got in doesn't mean I don't know when or how to get out, Prince Sokka."

"I'm sure you have your plans, Your Highness, I'm not underestimating you," came his gentle agreement, "But I'm not having you go hungry like this. I heard what happened, and I have everything taken care of. Please," he looked up at her upon opening the cage, eyes soft. "We don't have much time."

"Mr. Wang, please," she frowned, "I already told you I—"

"Sayen and Kanguq are coming to see you," he stepped into the cell and got close enough to her so he could whisper, "They'll be here any minute now. You don't want them to find out that you're Lady, do you?"

"You don't want them to find out that you're Lady, do you?" A thick pause hung in the air. She froze, eyes wider than before as she blinked up at him. Her heartbeat drummed out of control, but the look he was giving her was calm, supportive.

"I won't say a word," he promised, grasping her hand protectively. "Please."

"Angaju!"

Yue, who was muted by just how much the prince had managed to figure out and kept questioning herself as to how she could've been so obvious about herself in front of someone, forced her apprehension to the back of her mind and sported a smile. "Nuni? What are you doing here?"

A girl of twelve years stepped into the building, raced over to her, and hugged her as tightly as she could. "Angaju, you're okay!" She looked up at Yue, "They didn't hit you, did they? Like they do in the plays?"

"There was none of that, sweetie," Yue chuckled, brushing the girl's hair out of her eyes.

Sokka smiled warmly at the interaction but saw that the girl immediately hid behind Yue, thinking of the prince to be a guard. Trailing behind the girl were her parents, who stiffened when they saw Sokka in grey robes, also thinking of him to be a guard. Nevertheless, the father of the girl approached Sokka while the mother ran over to Yue and hugged her, sobbing into her shoulder.

"It's alright, Auntie Kaseeqa," Yue comforted her, "Everything's going to be fine. I didn't give away any information about—"

"My sweet child," Kaseeqa kissed Yue's forehead, "My sweet girl, may the Spirits bless you! Tui and La have sent you to save our daughter!"

"Please, sir, let her go," the man pleaded with the prince. "She was only trying to save my daughter. She didn't do anything wrong—"

"I know," Sokka assured. "To tell you the truth, I don't even work here."

"You don't?"

"Everything's fine, Uncle Toklo," Yue assured the man. "Mr. Wang is a good friend of mine. He's from the South."

"And he's helping you escape!" Nuni squealed before her mother covered her mouth, shushing her.

"You and your family need to get out of here," Sokka told them. "The guards are gonna be back any minute now."

"Even if we escape the guards, there's no guarantee that we'll escape La's wrath," Toklo sighed and turned to Yue, his eyes filled with tears, his voice shaking. "You were right all along, Yue. We feel so ashamed for believing in that bastard. He's no religious leader. He's a despicable piece of existence! So many boys are growing up to be monsters instead of men, and he's no different! Fathers like me are pissing their pants every time they send their daughters outside. Nuni is all we have left in this world, but seeing all these beasts around us… And to think that the man we looked up to as La's incarnation… Dear La, it disgusts us to think we associated that imbecile with the Spirit of Justice!"

"La has taught us our lesson well," Kaseeqa cried. "La has given us the punishment we deserve!"

"It is because La has mercy on you that your daughter is safe, Auntie," Yue said. "Don't consider this as a punishment."

"And this is not something you could've totally helped," Sokka added. "As a nonbeliever, I know what it's like to see these kinds of things happen from an outside perspective. There are plenty of Kinjis not just in the North, but in all parts of the globe, and they're hiding in every corner of every city, waiting to turn people into fools and take advantage of them. For people like Kinji, religion is a business. Faith and spirits and all that are just transactions. People are like currency. Kinji's 'followers' only serve him because they were manipulated into serving him. They don't serve a spirit or what you call an 'incarnation.'"

"But we have no choice but to nod our heads to whatever Khasiq demands of people like us," Kaseeqa said. "Even Chief Arnook is a slave to Khasiq's demands."

"No woman is going to be safe as long as Khasiq is in charge," Toklo said. "Take the princess, for example. You read the articles. She was nearly sold to the Ba Sing Se brothels!"

Yue stiffened, her fingers shaking, eyebrows furrowing. She pulled her mask up to cover her face again, staring at the ground. She was surprised, however, to see Prince Sokka wrapping his fingers around hers, his hand softly squeezing hers in a comforting gesture. He might have even expressed with his gaze a silent but powerful promise that she would never find herself in such a situation ever again.

"Relying on good men can only go so far with so many sexist idiots running around our two tribes," Sokka said. "Nuni needs to be able to stand on her own two feet. She needs to learn how to defend herself. This is why Her Highness opened up training academies for women, and she herself is not to be underestimated. This is also why Princess Katara challenged her own grandfather down South and learned combat from him. What's to say that other women, other girls can't go against their sexist authorities and arm themselves?"

"Nuni also can't be working as a servant in the palace," Yue said. "She needs to go to school so she can be around children her age, flourish in an environment that's safe, that teaches them to respect one another and treat each other as equals. But all our people think about when a child is born— particularly a girl— is what man she'll marry and how many children she should have with him. This kind of mentality can really cripple your daughter's options." Yue held Kaseeqa's hand. "Aunty, Uncle, consider yourselves the lucky ones. This incident is not the first of its kind to have happened, and it won't be the last if we don't do something about this."

"We want our child to have opportunities equal to boys, too, but if we act upon these things, what will people think? Society will never look at us the same way again…"

"You shouldn't be afraid of society," Yue told them. "If Kinji has no fear in doing despicable things against societal norms, then why should you be afraid of doing good things against societal norms? Why fear when you are doing the right thing? All that should matter for you is your daughter's future. La is in all things, all beings, and if you really choose to serve the Spirits, it is your duty to empower the La who is in your daughter."

"But when are we ever going to get such good schoolhouses in our tribe?"

"All opportunities will be provided when the time is right," Yue reassured, a flare of determination flickering in her eyes. "The Spirits will be sure to provide if you're wholeheartedly up for them."