Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

274. Chapter 274: S Air T-Secret Writings 3

A/N:

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

THIS WAS A DOUBLE UPDATE!

PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER (273) BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THIS CHAPTER!

Southern Air Temple/Secret Writings

3

Standing guard by the refuge appeared to be the most nerve-wracking yet painless job in the Palace these days. The fierce creature, trapped within the building, likely wished to kill every soldier who had helped restrain him… and so, the one who stood outside the refuge's gates that day could only flinch and force himself not to imagine what the dragon might do to him if he somehow gained the strength to break out of his shackles and burn the whole world to cinders.

Yet he would have much preferred to continue imagining world-ending scenarios than actually witnessing one directly: he gasped in shock when the Captain of the Third Squad of Imperial Guards strode up to him… accompanying none other than the fallen Princess Azula.

"Y-you're not allowed to…!" he immediately said, nervously, his spear trembling in his hands.

Renkai raised his own hand to appease the soldier, who froze in place as he eyed them warily. The Princess's hung head only rose when they were a few steps from the nearest door – the one guarded by the soldier. She grimaced at the sight of the door, finding even more locks and chains around it than there had been, before. Getting through all that… Space Sword would be the ideal means to do it, she reasoned wistfully. If only using it were still possible…

"Princess Azula intends to visit her dragon. I am here to ensure no harm comes to her, and that she won't act in any way unbefitting her station," Renkai said, simply.

"O-oh… huh," said the refuge's guard, swallowing hard as he pulled his spear closer to himself. "Well, if you say so… b-but, uh, are you sure she's allowed to? I mean, um, well…"

"You would question a superior officer?" Renkai asked, enforcing his authority with a subtle, casual tone. The soldier before him flinched, regardless.

"N-no, no, no! Of course not! Haha, I wouldn't dream of it…!" the man exclaimed, unconvincingly.

His eyes flickered towards the Princess, who stood quietly, obediently, behind Renkai. Unlike the Imperial Guard, whose face was covered and whose emotions were impossible to gauge, hers were evident, apparent by the distraught expression on her weary features.

"Well, then…" Renkai said, nodding at Azula.

She gritted her teeth and stepped forward. Her hand trembled when she raised it to touch the door, the same cold door where Renkai had found her all those months ago…

She could feel Xin Long inside. She could hear his breaths… though they seemed shallow, as though he were just moments away from choosing to stop breathing altogether. Azula's hand clenched into a fist as she snarled, pressing her face to the door.

"Xin Long…?" she called, her voice brittle.

The breathing suddenly stopped… then it returned with a sharp, sudden hitch.

"I hear you. Xin… I'm here. I'm back…" Azula said, gritting her teeth as she shivered against the door.

She was back… but not to free him, not yet. If anything, the best she could do was start tracking down the specific problems she'd need to take care of once she did try to break him out of his imprisonment… she was still too powerless for anything else. She had found new allies, old ones, too… but she was a far cry still from standing toe to toe with her father, as things stood.

A soft groan, a note carried forth with a powerful hint of mourning, reached Azula outside the refuge. She gritted her teeth, flinching as she felt the urge to pound on the door, to push through it, to knock it down… and she was still powerless to do any of that. Curses, she couldn't do anything at all, not for her dragon, not for herself…

"U-uh…" the soldier voiced behind her, though Azula didn't react to him. "Is it… alright?"

"We literally just got here. You'd have a better chance of knowing if the dragon is well than we would," said Renkai, sternly. The soldier grimaced.

"W-well, you see, that's partly why I'm asking? I don't know if… if the Princess can tell, maybe, if the dragon is eating? We always push food inside, and drop water on him, the way we were ordered to, but… we don't know if he's eaten anything lately. He doesn't roar much as of late, either, so…"

Azula gritted her teeth, hands falling on one of the chains around the door. If she could do one thing, if just the one… Xin Long had encouraged her to keep on living, to keep on fighting, when she was at her lowest point. Now that she had found scant stability, even if she doubted it would last forever, she felt the need, the urge, to return the favor somehow.

"Can you… let me in?"

The soldier gasped, and even Renkai froze at her question. As sad as she sounded, as brittle as her voice remained… the boldness of her request was certainly in tune with the woman she had been, long ago. She turned her pleading eyes on the soldier, who winced again upon being on the receiving end of the Princess's helpless plea.

"He's… he's not doing well. I know you might think this is just a trick, but… I swear it's not. He's in danger: if I did anything stupid I have no doubts he'd be executed for my actions… so I know better than to do anything of the sort, believe it or not. Please… just let me in. Let me talk to him and… and feed him, if he hasn't eaten at all. I… I don't think he has for days, at least."

"Days?" the soldier said, biting his lip. "That's… that's no good. We are supposed to keep him alive, and he does have the food right there. Couldn't you persuade him to eat it… from out here?"

"I could try… but I won't know for sure that it worked, much as you don't know," Azula said, softly. The soldier grimaced.

"W-well… I mean, I could let you in, but we'd all be in so much trouble if we got caught," he said, running a hand over the back of his neck. "It's… it's dangerous to even try."

"I know that, but…" Azula said, gritting her teeth, unsure of how to persuade the man.

"I'll deal with the consequences if anything goes wrong," Renkai said, suddenly, startling both Azula and the other soldier. "I will take responsibility for the Princess's actions. It was me who brought her here, and I who now advise you to open that door. Please, proceed."

Azula glanced at him in grateful disbelief as the soldier whimpered softly… yet he reached for the set of keys he carried with him.

"D-don't get any funny ideas…" he said, shyly. "I don't have the keys for… for all the locks and chains within, okay? If you try to break him out, everyone would notice and…"

"And they'd have all our heads for it. I know," Azula said, nodding. The guard breathed out slowly as he undid the first lock.

"And I rather prefer to keep my head where it is, so… please be careful," he begged, working on the next lock.

He did it deftly, and Azula guessed he had unlocked the door several times through the past months to push food inside for Xin Long. Her heart pounded in her chest as the man finally undid the last chain, shooting a wary glance at her and at Renkai.

"Okay, then… don't do anything crazy, and don't take too long in there," he said, swallowing hard. "I'll close the door a bit once you're inside, so it doesn't look like there's anyone within, but… I'll still leave it ajar and hear anything you say. If that's alright with you…"

"It is. I have no complaints, just… just let me see him," Azula's breath hitched, and the guard sighed.

"Very well, very well…"

He reeled the door open slowly, and light fell upon the unkempt refuge once he did: a swarm of flies crowded the uneaten chunks of meat that lingered before the limp, weakened form of the heavily shackled dragon.

Azula gasped: her eyes were flooded with tears at the sight of him. His proud, beautiful body had been restrained completely, chained down, held against the dirt floor of his refuge by a whole net of restrictive chains. His extremities were shackled, as was his tail… any dangerous moves would elicit a world of pain once the chain yanked his other extremities if he moved at all. His head lay on the side, his blue-white mane blackened with dirt and soil… and his golden eyes, slowly brightened by the sunlight that fell upon his features, featured none of the warmth and joy they ever had boasted of before their world fell to pieces.

"Xin Long…!" Azula sobbed: her tears spilled immediately as she rushed to him, skipping over the food, ignoring the flies, all be it so she could touch him, reach him…

Xin Long groaned in response, and the Princess fell to her knees right beside his head: her hands slipped through his mane, trembling violently as her mischievous dragon, so full of life and excitement, seemed utterly devoid of both of them right now. Her heart pounded in her chest, but each beat hurt more than the last: he was broken. He was even more broken than she was, and she already struggled to keep on living. At this rate…

At this rate, Xin Long might simply stop trying to survive altogether.

"N-no, no, Xin, please…" she whimpered, running a hand over his horn, over his ear. "I'm here now, I… I'm back, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

The dragon responded weakly, once again. He didn't want to make her more miserable, that was why he hadn't wanted to communicate as often anymore… he didn't want to burden her with his own sorrow and grief when she had so much of her own to deal with. Yet she finally had the chance to visit, to see him… and she found just how vulnerable her staunch protector was these days. Her body shuddered as she slid her hands over the damnable chains keeping her dragon in place… and inevitably, she let herself think none of this would be happening at all if only Sokka were here. How she had come to rely on him, to need him in a thousand ways… he could fight whenever she was too weak to do so. He could stand up for her when she failed to do it for herself. If he had been here… wouldn't he have set Xin Long free already, long ago? For a fleeting, pointless moment, Azula allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to lie there, with Xin Long… to be caught here, breaking the unspoken rules, to wind up at the receiving end of the guillotine that hung so high above them both.

She dared glance at it, finding the only open doorway in the refuge was meant to shed light upon that perennial threat: it dangled up there, at such a distance that it would truly break through a dragon's thick hide if it were dropped. Azula gritted her teeth, burying her face in Xin Long's hair at the wretched thought… she might as well die too if that happened. She couldn't allow it, not to him…

The hand that fell upon her shoulder startled her, but she refused to let go of the dragon even after noticing it.

"I will clean out the spoiled meat, and bring more," Renkai said, right behind her. Azula glanced at him, distraught. "Perhaps… perhaps he will be more likely to eat if you're the one who offers it."

Maybe he would be… but as things stood, Azula wasn't sure Xin Long could be persuaded to do so. Renkai didn't wait for an answer before beginning his work, collecting the pile of rotten meat slowly, propping it on the basin where Xin Long's water used to be. In a matter of moments, he stepped outside the refuge again, leaving the Princess alone with her dejected, defeated dragon.

"Xin…" Azula said, softly, pressing her face to his scaly brow. "Please… I… I'm sorry. I can't… can't do much yet, I know I said I would but…"

He knew that. He understood that. He had witnessed how much sorrow and agony she had endured so far… just so, he had been relieved, at least a little bit, to know she wasn't alone anymore. To know she had others to rely on… others who could offer her relief while he could only bring her more sorrow. As things stood, maybe he was better off…

"No!" Azula cut him off, shaking her head and clinging to him more tightly. "Don't…! Xin, I can't…! Don't think it, please, don't…!"

She hated to see him this way… to see him as but a pale shadow of the monument of strength he always had been. That he wouldn't be so strong anymore, though… it was her fault. It was all her fault, so much was her fault… for it didn't matter if hers wasn't the hand that had inflicted this suffering directly upon her dragon: she had been the one who had rebelled against Ozai and pushed him to reach the dreadful extremes he had. She couldn't forgive herself for it, and she couldn't understand how Xin Long didn't resent her for it, either.

But… didn't he?

A sudden shiver rushed through her body as she pulled away slightly. She gazed at her broken dragon, taking in the emptiness in his eyes, the vacancy in his very soul…

She gritted her teeth, shivering violently upon feeling a sudden crack across her soul. From the first moment, she had taken for granted that her dragon would only ever cherish and love her: their bond had shaken the foundations of her very soul, of the self-hatred she'd always tried to ignore but that nestled deep inside her heart, constantly reminding her that she wasn't enough, that she had to try harder… that she was a monster. With Xin Long's steadfast support, so much of what she had feared about herself had shrunken away, to the point where he had helped her regain her happiness when she never thought she'd feel any in her life anymore. Perhaps it was fair to say, even, that Xin Long had been her very first source of genuine, pure, unconditioned happiness…

And this was the payout. This was the outcome for his generous giving, for having bonded with her. After having everything… now Xin Long had lost it all, losing even more than Azula had. He was but a bargaining chip now, a hostage the Fire Lord would continue to take advantage of until he found a better way to reel Azula into his control. What if he found nothing else? Would Xin Long be shackled and trapped, forever doomed to be stuck to the ground, away from the skies he had grown to love as deeply as he did?

She had set him free from his world of darkness… and then she had condemned him to another, worse one, years later.

Nothing she could say would suffice. Nothing she could do would make amends for everything she had cost him. He should have left her, just as everyone else had… it would have been better, so much better…

But it was too late now. He couldn't flee from her father's wrath any more than Azula herself could.

She shuddered as she was overcome by a torrent of tears she couldn't restrain at all. Tears Xin Long did nothing to stop her from shedding, even as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. She shivered there, curled upon herself, hands on his mane still… her whole being utterly undone every time she gazed upon another chain, another shackle, through her misty eyes…

The door opened again, and in a hopeless, pointless fantasy, Azula wondered if it would be her father, here to condemn them both for her final crime of barging into the refuge when she had no permission to do so. Again, she'd be her dragon's undoing, if so… he'd pay the final price, and so would she. Fool that she was… she shouldn't have come here at all. She shouldn't have come here at all…

"Uh… here."

The soldier's voice startled her. Azula frowned as she glanced to the side, where he stood… to find that he was carrying the basin Renkai had taken. It had been emptied of its previous contents and filled with pristine, clear water.

"I cleaned it," the soldier assured her, swallowing hard. "The Captain asked me to bring water while he fetched some more meat. If you want me to help with getting him to drink it, I… eh…"

A low, hostile growl from the dragon made the man wince away from the basin he had only just set down on the dirt floor. Azula gritted her teeth, glancing at him through her tearful eyes. She had no idea if this would help… but she had to hope it might.

"Thank you," she said, softly. The man swallowed hard, inching back from the potential line of fire of the dragon's jaws.

Azula collected the basin, large as it was, and reeled it close to Xin Long. The ridiculous attempts to sate his thirst by tossing water at the dragon from the top of the building had always irked Azula, and she certainly hoped this particular soldier hadn't been responsible for that nonsense. She breathed out slowly, caressing her dragon's upper jaw gently, a hand trailing over the whisker that, for once, wasn't twirling carelessly in the air, as it ever did.

"Try… drinking some of it, Xin," Azula said, swallowing hard. "I know you might not want to, but… you need it."

The dragon grunted, no longer as hostile as before. Azula expected him to protest anyway, to say he couldn't possibly drink with his head on the side… yet, instead he opened his jaws slightly. Azula swallowed hard.

"This will be… difficult," she said, frowning as she eyed the chain over his neck: it had slipped right between the dragon's horns, making it impossible for him to move his head much. Yet…

She set down the basin and got to work, yanking the chain carefully… tucking Xin Long's head underneath it, in such a way that the chain would now linger below the two horns instead. It took her a long, tense moment, during which she couldn't help but eye the whole chain network warily, hoping she wouldn't hurt her dragon further with her actions… but it seemed that particular chain wasn't connected to the others. It gave way, even if it remained tense around Xin Long's neck… but it allowed him to move his head, which he did immediately upon finding himself with a little more mobility at last.

"T-there… now you can drink it better, I hope," Azula said, with a sad smile, caressing her dragon's hair carefully.

She pushed the basin closer, fully intending to tilt it towards Xin Long's jaws if need be… but the dragon, to her relief, slipped his bifid tongue out of his mouth and licked the basin's contents of his own accord. The tension around her chest seemed to fade, if just slightly, upon seeing her dragon devouring the contents of the basin without complaint. Even if the vacancy in his eyes had yet to fade… he was drinking water, far more willingly than Azula anticipated he would, going by how he'd started out.

Curses, how was any of this necessary anymore? Azula gritted her teeth as she watched him, knowing she would have no chances to persuade her father to ease up on Xin Long, not for real… if she dared claim he needed to go no further to ensure her obedience, he'd take it as a sign that she was plotting something, anything… more so after what Rei had overheard of his argument with Zhao. If they somehow thought she was pitting them against each other… wouldn't any of her choices, perhaps even every single one of them, result alarming to her father?

She had no idea how far she could go… she didn't know what she could do, not anymore. Her dragon's freedom was one of her priorities… her child, the next one. The lives of her friends, those inside the Palace and outside it, were priorities too… and much as she had failed to balance her love for Sokka and her duty to the world, upon sacrificing anything and everything for him, she feared she'd fail to balance all her remaining priorities properly just as well. Just now, just being near Xin Long when he was so vulnerable and broken, almost persuaded her to die alongside him… but if she died, her child would never be born. Her friends might still pay for the consequences of her actions, and she wouldn't be able to do anything to save them from her father's wrath any longer if she let herself die without sorting anything out. She couldn't surrender, not yet… no matter if it was the only thing she wanted to do, anymore…

Xin Long had depleted half the basin when Renkai returned: he carried a sack of meat with him, and he placed it right next to Azula, who glanced at him with earnest gratitude he wasn't used to receiving from her. He swallowed hard as he watched the dragon's continuous drinking, as relieved as Azula was upon confirming Xin Long would be willing to ingest water, if nothing else…

"Want some food yet?" Azula asked, softly. Xin Long groaned, and she nodded approvingly.

She wouldn't have touched the bloody slabs of raw meat willingly mere months ago… now, she didn't even reason with the moist, unsettling sensations as she collected a chunk of meat small enough for Xin Long to chew and swallow quickly. She offered it to him delicately, placing it near his jaws, and he scooped it up with his tongue again. After some chewing, he swallowed, and he glanced at Azula as though begging for another one. Her aching heart now seemed to hurt for wholly different reasons as she smiled and nodded at him.

"You can have as much as you want. All of it, if you want it…" she said, her voice still brittle, as she fished out another chunk of meat for her dragon.

She had no idea for how long she remained there, on the filthy floor, with Renkai sitting at a short distance from her, with the guard standing outside the refuge's ajar door, upon which he had draped the chains again in order to fend off any suspicions regarding what was happening within the building. The man shot them anxious glances often, no doubt terrified that strengthening the dragon too much would mean he would be capable of breaking his chains and taking revenge for his mistreatment… but by the time Xin Long had enough food – only three slabs of meat were left by then –, the dragon still appeared far too miserable to attempt doing anything of the sort.

Instead of losing herself to discouragement after Xin Long's mood hardly shifted upon filling his belly, Azula cleansed her hands with whatever water was left in the basin and asked Renkai to refill it. When he came back, he found Azula had collected the soaps she'd requested for her dragon long ago, soaps she seldom ever used on him, since he was far too mischievous and sloppy to care for a thorough cleaning session.

"I know you hate being too tidy, but… I hope you'll feel a little better if I wash you properly now," Azula said, caressing the dragon's scaly cheek gently.

He grunted in response, before shooting an unexpected thought to her: maybe the only upside to being chained this way was that she'd finally be able to scrub all the dirt off him, as she always seemed keen to do. Despite her heart hurt at his remark, Azula offered him a weak smile.

"Well, now… just consider this your own, personal spa for the day?" she said, with a watery smile. "Not that I'd be much good if I worked in a spa, but… it should help to do this for you, if just once in a while, I hope…"

"Do you need… help?" Renkai asked. Azula blinked blankly at his offer, glancing at him from the corners of her eyes… then Xin Long answered the question with a foul-mannered growl. "I… suppose not."

"Maybe… once he gets used to you," Azula said, with a weak grin. "For now… I suppose you can assist me without touching him?"

"As you wish," Renkai bowed his head promptly.

Azula had never done something like this for her dragon. She had certainly helped Sokka bathe a few times, whether for the fun of it or whenever he had genuinely needed the assistance… but she was far from experienced at cleaning a dragon properly. She started by rinsing off some of the superficial dirt with a round of water, then she took to scrubbing him as gently as she could with soap. The wretched chains made matters far more difficult than they would have been under other circumstances, but she continued to work diligently regardless… and she was rewarded by a strange, hum-like gurgle of Xin Long's once she reached his flanks.

"Xin…?" she raised an eyebrow… before smiling at the unexpected thought he had sent her way: she had tickled him. "Oops. Didn't realize you were ticklish over here, heh…"

Well, she should have expected it, at least: she was ticklish too, wasn't she? Azula chuckled and shook her head as she continued to work, trying not to touch his sensitive spots too much… yet his back paws shuddered often whenever she had tickled him by accident again. Tearful as she still was, Azula couldn't help but laugh whenever it happened, and Xin Long's mild-mannered complaints for it only strengthened her smile.

As time-consuming as it was to clean Xin Long thoroughly, Azula didn't stop after rinsing the soap off his scales and hair: she took to rubbing a soft lotion upon his scales next, and this time, Xin Long seemed to appreciate the light massage… until she reached his flank once more. By then she had to hold back from laughing anew as he whimpered over her massage being simultaneously funny and nice: by the end of it, though, he seemed sad about the end of his pampering session… no matter how contradictory it seemed to the Princess that he would perceive it as pampering when he was chained down to the ground still.

Yet… his spirits had lifted, if just a bit. She knelt by his head, caressing his moist mane delicately, offering him another sad smile.

"Now you're… a bit shinier, I'd say," she whispered, softly. "I… I don't think I'll be able to do this all the time, but I… I'll try to visit you every day, okay? As long as they let me, I… I'll come see you again, if you want me to."

She feared he might tell her not to come, whether for her sake or his own… but Xin Long grunted in a hopeful way now, his tone hitching at the end of the sound. She held back the tears again and nodded, smiling warmly at her beloved dragon.

"I'll do my best… I will. As long as we both hold on… w-we'll get through this, one way or another," she said, unsure of how she found any courage to speak those words when she would put no faith in them if they were spoken to her.

Yet it was so much easier to believe, to hope, that her dragon would soon be free again, flying far away from the Fire Nation and rushing to meet his brethren once more, in the northern Earth Kingdom. She had no idea what future awaited her, in truth – if there was such a thing as a future for her, to begin with – but if Xin Long could be free… if that alone could be achieved, she expected she'd be able to bear with whatever new hurdles she might have to face next.

Xin Long groaned softly again, gazing at her with warmth. Her chest ached anew, and she leaned in to embrace him as best she could. Xin Long groaned mournfully… he wished she could stay, at least for a little longer, even if he knew she couldn't. He was far from his usual self still, and Azula expected nothing else… but even so, now that Azula was so close, he dared sniff her womb softly, poking it with his nose. Azula breathed in, her heart racing when her dragon acknowledged the child she carried inside her.

"It… doesn't show yet, no," she said, with a sad smile. "But it's… in there, somewhere. A little dragon egg of its own, so to speak."

It made sense to Xin Long that she'd keep the egg inside her… it was better than leaving it in the depths of a cave, so a dragonling would grow out of his shell on his own. A mother's warmth ought to be better than the mantle of the earth… especially a mother who was the best firebender in the world, too.

Azula smiled at his remarks, and she shook her head at the compliment. Her fingers laced through his hair as she pressed her brow to his temple.

"I'm not sure I still deserve that title, these days," she admitted. Xin Long huffed. "I know, I know… if I could be that strong in the past, I can do it again in the future. That's… part of the plan, at least. I'll try to… to do better. To be stronger, for your sake… and for this child's sake as well."

Xin Long huffed in agreement, letting out another soft groan. Azula released a sigh, tightening her embrace around him… wanting to make a thousand promises she knew she would be a fool to speak out loud. She couldn't give her dragon false hopes… but she wanted to give him hopes, nonetheless. Otherwise, she might find him as depressed and dejected as he had been when she entered the refuge.

"I'll be back, okay?" she said, softly. "Try… to bear with the chains until I can come. I know it's hard… but I'll do my best to fix all of this, somehow. You… you won't be trapped in darkness forever. I'll make it my life's mission to change that, Xin Long."

He groaned and nodded weakly: his head rose slightly, pressing against Azula's embrace as best as possible. The Princess's tearful eyes nearly overflowed again, but she didn't succumb to her overwhelming emotions just yet: she pressed a soft kiss to the dragon's brow before whispering:

"I love you. I'll come back for you, Xin Long."

By then, the tears did overflow, even if she attempted to offer him a reassuring smile, too. Xin Long groaned softly… letting her know he'd wait. He'd look forward to it. He'd always hope she would be the one who opened the refuge's doors, next.

With one final, gentle squeeze, Azula pulled away, dabbing at the tears on her cheeks before rising to her feet. She offered Xin Long another sad smile… then she turned to the man who had snuck into the refuge with her. He had helped her by offering her whichever supplies she needed when bathing her dragon, under the very complicated circumstances he lingered in.

"We're done?" Renkai asked: he had taken off his helmet, but he snatched it back up and set it on his head when Azula nodded. "Very well. Let's go, then."

The soldier outside flinched when Renkai knocked on the door: they had to wait a little longer for a group of servants to leave before the soldier let them out, and all the while Azula gazed wistfully, heartbroken, at her bound dragon… aching deeply to take to the skies with him, to bask in their joined fire, to see the whole world, if they wished to do so…

"Princess," Renkai called her. She swallowed hard, glancing at Xin Long one more time.

"Goodbye, Xin," she said, her voice almost failing her again. Xin Long let out a soft moan of his own, just before Azula crossed the refuge's threshold… then, the dark dragon was hidden in the shadows of his refuge, once again.

Azula sighed as she lingered by the door: as much as she had been distraught, she had cherished every moment spent by her dragon's side. She had genuinely expected she might never be with him again… finding otherwise relieved her, deeply. Months without so much as looking at him had taken a harsh toll on her broken heart.

"T-then, he did eat?" the soldier asked Renkai, biting his lip. "Properly?"

"He did," Renkai nodded.

"Well… good. I hope. I think…" the soldier said, chaining the doors properly again as Azula stepped away, unwillingly, from the refuge. "Uh, I… I don't always have a shift here, but if you want, I can send you my schedule, Captain, and… and you can come again by my next shift. If… if the Princess wants to?"

Azula slowed to a halt before glancing at the soldier: he seemed young, nervous… yet he couldn't be unaware of her alleged crimes and dreadful mistakes if he served in the Palace. He had to know, and yet… and yet he offered her chances to visit her dragon on his shifts? Was it a trap? Was he concerned for Xin Long's health – which Azula wouldn't blame him for, she was concerned enough as it was –, or was he terrified of the consequences of being unkind to Azula…? Or, and this she doubted, had he found her reunion with her dragon to be heartbreaking? Did he hope to help them diminish their enormous grief, if he could?

"I-if you'd like that, of course…" the man said, lowering his head bashfully.

Azula swallowed hard, truly hoping she wasn't walking into some sort of trap… hoping this soldier wouldn't mean her, or her dragon, any harm. As it was, she knew of no way to save Xin Long… she couldn't think of any plans she could put into effect properly without terrible consequences. Either this man believed otherwise and hoped to catch her red-handed doing something she wouldn't be doing at all… or he didn't believe as much at all. But he was offering her a chance to see Xin Long again, frequently, perhaps even easily… she couldn't reject that opportunity, no matter how many risks there might be in accepting it.

"Please do," she said, softly. "Thank you for… for all you did today. I know it's a big risk… but you took a chance on us anyway. I appreciate it."

The soldier was left to gape at her, slack-jawed, cheeks flushing as the Princess glanced at her personal guard. Renkai extended an arm towards the Palace, and Azula led the way inside it once more, marching towards her room. It was already late afternoon by the time she had finished taking proper care of Xin Long… they had skipped a meal, so far. Perhaps Rei and Song would be waiting for her before eating their own meals… Azula certainly hoped they'd known better than to do that.

Before they could take the corner that led to Azula's room, though, the Princess sighed and glanced at the man who marched a step behind her. Renkai slowed down, startled by her sudden acknowledgment of his presence. He had expected her to remain lost in thought…

"This is still weird, you know?" she said. "That you're… so helpful."

"I can be less helpful, if you prefer," Renkai said, bluntly. Despite her better sense, Azula smiled at his offer.

"Right. That'd make everything better, wouldn't it?" she said. "I'm not saying you shouldn't help me. Just… that I'm not used to it. So, I'm even less used to… to saying these words to you, but you've earned them. You've been earning them for much longer than I realized. So… thank you, Renkai."

He remained silent, stoic… yet Azula noticed a shiver shaking his body. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of expression he might be making underneath that helmet…

"I… am doing my job as Captain of the third squad. You needn't thank me for that," he said, awkwardly. A sad smile crossed Azula's face.

"I thought so too, a while ago. That I didn't need to thank anyone for doing their jobs… especially guards. Your faces were covered, so… it didn't matter at all if you did your duty with smiles on your faces or not," Azula reminisced, with a wistful sigh. "Guess we would've gotten along a lot better if we'd met back in those days, huh?"

"Huh…" Renkai appeared unsure of what to say now, as Azula restarted her walk to her bedroom: the crimson door was already in sight. "I… didn't mean it was wrong for you to thank me. Only… you needn't do it, if you don't wish to. I know you're not exactly comfortable with me, so…"

"I'm not. But comfort is a pointless luxury to cling to when everything else is falling to pieces," Azula said, simply. "I might grow to trust you, in time… this is a good step forward if you wish to gain my trust indeed. So… thank you, Renkai."

"You're… you're most welcome, Princess," he said: despite her previous words were true, he couldn't quite help but smile… and that, on its own, was rare enough, most of all because the reason he'd smile had been the Princess, no less.

He stepped forward once they were at the door, moving to open it for her. Azula nodded in acknowledgement, rubbing her hand over her eyes quickly in the pointless hope of hiding she'd wept again from both Song and Rei. She doubted they'd remark on it, let alone that they'd be surprised for it… but she was better off taking a bath of her own now, in order to chase away the filth that clung to her after her hard work to clean Xin Long, as well as to calm down after her emotions had overwhelmed her while in his refuge…

The room appeared empty once she entered it, but within moments, Song and Rei's heads seemed to pop out from the archway that led into the annex dining room: they met Azula's puzzled eyes, and the Princess raised an eyebrow at their unexpected closeness.

"I am going to hope you two weren't plotting some sort of vicious prank on me…" she said, to which they both winced.

"No! Not at all!" Rei gasped. "Never!"

"Huh… what a wasted opportunity, we probably should've been doing that."

"L-Lady Wen! You can't say something like that!" Rei winced, as Song tapped her chin thoughtfully beside her, a growing smirk on her face.

Azula rolled her eyes, though she couldn't hold back a smile of her own at Song's teasing remark. While Azula certainly preferred Song's actual self, Wen's mischief might end up growing on her, at this rate.

"I knew there was a reason why you wanted me out of this room. Next thing I know, I'll come back to it to find you've painted it all in pink…" Azula sighed, shaking her head as she strode towards the closet, to seek another of her sleeping robes to change into. Song snorted.

"Pink, huh? I would have to think about it, it's not my favorite color either," she laughed. "I'll start with something less ambitious, for now."

"Maybe don't start with anything at all and cause as little trouble as you can? No? That's not agreeable with you?"

"Not at all!" Song declared, proudly, though her eyes raked Azula's attire with keen attention. "You, uh… look a little unkempt, Princess, and you left here looking perfectly clean, too. Did everything go well, or…?"

"Better than I expected… though I doubt I regenerated any chi," Azula said, bleakly. "The guard on duty allowed me to see him. He's… well, chained down as I knew he was. He can't move much. So, I… tried to help by cleaning him up, feeding him directly and helping him drink some water. I doubt it was enough, but he seemed a little more spirited when I left than when I arrived."

"Of course," Song sighed, lowering her gaze. "Well, it's bound to be a slow, long process. Hopefully he'll be much livelier after a few more visits… if you can afford to do it again, I mean."

"I intend to try, yeah," Azula gathered her clean clothes and folding them carefully, ensuring not to bring them close to her body, so covered in filth her robe was. "And you? I expected Rei would be poring over her studies relentlessly… guess you distracted her, Wen?"

"I… may have?" Song said, with an awkward smile. "But she couldn't practice her calligraphy anyway, there was no paper anywhere around."

"Oh? We ran out?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced at the youngest of the three. "I had given her all my spare paper so far…"

"Y-you did…?" Rei asked, grimacing. "I… I'm sorry I…!"

"You'd better not be, I gave it to you knowingly," Azula rebuffed, with a lop-sided smirk. "If you're seriously going to apologize for studying too much, I might actually take offense over the apology instead…"

"I…! T-that's not what I meant…" Rei said, blushing as she shrank in place next to Song: she laughed at Rei's reaction, patting her shoulder gently.

"See? I told you the Princess wouldn't be mad at you for this," she grinned. "Now, then! Where can we find more paper? Rei is definitely antsy because she needs to study some more, so…"

"Isn't it a bit late today?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "As a matter of fact… did our food get delivered at all?"

"Oh, yeah! Damn, sorry," Song laughed. "I forgot to tell you, yours is waiting here too… though it's probably gone cold by now."

"Doesn't really matter," Azula sighed, shaking her head. "I'll eat it after I clean up. As for the paper… well, one solution comes to mind."

"Oh? Is there some secret warehouse in the Palace stacked with all sorts of supplies of the sort, by any chance?" Song asked, intrigued. Azula smirked.

"Actually…? There's a very nice market district not too far from the Palace," she answered with sardonic enthusiasm, and Song's smile faded into a pout upon hearing those words. "And as you're so concerned with Rei's education, which I find very agreeable… I'd say you should go buy what she needs, Wen. Why not, huh?"

"P-Princess…" Song groaned: Azula shot her one final proud smile before marching into the bathroom. By then Song's pout strengthened. "Oh, she's mean when she wants to be. And I was so comfortable here, to boot…"

"I suppose she realized you were," Rei giggled softly. "As you made her go out to visit her dragon…"

"So now I have to go find paper," Song said, with a defeated sigh that turned into a smile, soon enough. "Well, fine, then. I'd better do it or you'll be extra bored tomorrow. I'll try to find a Mahjong set while I'm at it, too… and hey! Maybe Captain Renkai would want to escort me!"

The guard, standing by the still open door into the room, winced at her words. He hadn't eaten any lunch either just yet… oh, well. He'd get something to eat in the market while Song found her paper.

"If you need me to…" he said. Song grinned and clapped happily.

"You're such a good sport, you…" she said, beaming before winking at Rei. "Let the Princess know I'll be back soon! She's not escaping from her evening workout, no matter how much she walked and overworked herself today!"

"You're very strict in your own way, Lady Wen…" said Rei, with a shy smile.

Song seemed to take the words as a compliment as she made her way to where Renkai waited. They took off shortly afterwards, closing the door once they were gone: Rei was left behind while a soft white film of steam poured out of the Princess's bathroom.

Everything she'd talked about with Wen had been simultaneously confusing and enlightening. The Princess's willingness to bond with a nobody like Rei… it suddenly made more sense if she had crafted a powerful bond with someone who probably should have also been a nobody in her eyes. Her illness, her misery… while she had seen the Princess smile and laugh a few times so far, Rei knew she hadn't seen her genuine happiness just yet. It felt wrong, to a fault, since as Rei had been happier while under the Princess's wing than she recalled being through all her life…

The Princess seemed refreshed once she left the bathroom, and she offered Rei a small smile before making her way to the dining room. Rei bit her lip as she followed the Princess there, sitting by her side quietly as she ate: without needing to say anything at all, they could keep each other company and relax after a long day.

"I hope staying here with Wen didn't tire you out too much," Azula said, softly. Rei smiled and shook her head.

"She… she's a good person, I think," she said. "She's very kind, and I have the feeling she can be very serious sometimes, too. So… I guess she's been so scattered and silly around you because she thinks it might make you smile."

"There's bound to be other ways to make me smile other than that," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Rei giggled and nodded.

"I suppose I'll tell her that, but… maybe she'll keep doing this anyway," Rei said, biting her lip. "You won't, uh… fire her if she annoys you too much, will you?"

"And risk finding an even more annoying and fussy midwife? That would be counterproductive," Azula said, with a smirk. Rei giggled beside her. "No, I don't think I'll fire her… but don't tell her that or she'll be way too pleased with herself. There would be no living with her if she knew her job's safe and sound…"

Rei only laughed again in response, and Azula had the feeling, immediately, that as soon as they were alone again, Rei would share with Song what Song already knew: she wouldn't be losing her job anytime soon, no matter how irritating she tried to be while putting on her Wen persona. Yet, going by Rei's concern for her… it seemed the two of them were slowly growing closer, too. Azula could only hope they would become good friends, no matter what the future might have in store.

Rei took off to her assigned quarters shortly after Song returned with a thick stash of paper she had bought in the market. The young girl's natural shyness seemed to blend slowly into comfort and innocent happiness, more so now that she was friendly with both the Princess and her midwife. She waved at them as she took off, and Song responded in kind while Azula only offered her a gentle smile and an approving nod.

"It's been a long, complicated day, huh?" Song said, once the door was closed anew, and they had proper privacy. Azula nodded, making her way to her bed already, stretching her arms to find they ached, considerably, after her hard work at scrubbing Xin Long clean.

"You can say that again, but… as much as I didn't really want to risk getting out of here, I definitely ought to thank you for forcing me to do it," Azula said, taking her seat on the mattress. Song smiled and joined her there, sitting behind her to work lightly on her shoulder again –their late-evening conversations were the main reason why Song stayed in the room after Rei was gone, but she offered the Princess further massages and exercises, nonetheless. "Xin was… well, heartbroken, to say the least."

"I can only imagine," Song gritted her teeth, hands falling gently upon Azula's shoulder. The Princess sighed, closing her eyes and evoking the sight of her chained, miserable dragon… it was almost enough to bring her to tears anew, but she did her best to control herself.

"He's already been trapped and stuck in darkness before… that was everything he knew when we found him in that cave, but even then… he could move. He was the king of his own domain, in a sense," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "Now he's just… humiliated and broken. My father sees him as a hostage and a tool… all I wanted was to cut his restraints and let him fly free. But… even if I'd had a way to do it, it would've meant risking other people I care about. He'll make someone else his hostage next, I know he would, so…"

"So… do you think, if you keep complying with whatever your father demands, he might eventually let up and loosen some of his restraints?" Song asked, biting her lip. "I know it sounds… well, dreadful, especially considering what he's been like to you. Socking up to him must be the last thing you want to do…"

"It is, and yet I've been doing it for the past months, as it is. The minute he captured Xin Long… as soon as he did that, he knew I was in his grasp completely," Azula sighed, shaking her head. "Xin seemed a little better after I fed and washed him, but… even if I don't really want to say it, I… I expect he resents me, if not deliberately, over all of this. I mean… all in all, it really is my fault, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," Song said, and Azula hung her head next. "I know it's easy to think so, that your actions and choices condemned lots of people and whatnot… but you're not the one holding a dagger to anyone's necks, or… well, a blade over their heads, as the case may be. No one forced your father to do any of what he's doing. If he thinks you did, well, he's an idiot. You were the best Fire Lord this damned nation ever had, and you only sat on that throne for a week…"

"Less than that," Azula reminded her. "Wasn't it… four days? Five, at most? Pitiful, in the end…"

"Not pitiful… unfair, I'd say," Song sighed, pressing her head to Azula's back, her hand settling on her shoulder. "You're not to blame for any of this, no matter what you say. You deserve better than the lot he's forced on you."

"Well… he did say, long ago, that I'd been born lucky," Azula said, bitterly. "Guess my luck's all run out by now, as it is. And as much as you might be right… I'm far freer than Xin Long is, right now. I'd switch places with him in a heartbeat, but… it's not going to work, I imagine."

"No, I don't think it would." Song admitted, grimacing.

"At any rate… I'll try to make things better for him, somehow. I'm not sure I'll be successful, but… at least it doesn't seem like I'm forbidden from wandering the Palace halls," Azula said, as Song returned to rubbing the skin of her damaged shoulder gently. "A few guards saw us… they didn't react in any way, not when we were on our way to the refuge nor when we came back, either. So… thank you, I guess, for helping me test that boundary."

"I'm glad you didn't get into any trouble," Song said, smiling a little as she applied a little more pressure to her fingertips. Azula clenched her jaw, feeling a light burst of pain when the fingers moved too close to the scar. "Okay, guess that's pushing it too far, huh…?"

"Probably," Azula said, with a sigh, as Song eased up her touch. "I don't think I can risk doing this on a daily basis yet, but…"

"How about once or twice every week, for starters?" Song asked. "At the very least, you can take daily walks around his refuge. Maybe not every guard would let you visit him… but you do need the exercise, anyway."

"I suppose I do," Azula said, closing her eyes. "I'll try to make that happen, then. And… what about you? Rei seems to have grown rather fond of Wen quite quickly… not that it's too surprising, she doesn't take long to grow attached to anyone who isn't completely dreadful to her…"

"Oh, she's so sweet-mannered it's hard to believe anyone can have such a pure heart," Song admitted, with a soft laugh. "Though, uh… something did happen, something I should tell you about already. I… hope I was right to tell her you won't be too upset about it, but it happened when she was looking for paper to work on her calligraphy…"

"Huh?" Azula raised an eyebrow, glancing at Song over her shoulder. Song grimaced.

"She found… paper you'd already written on. Recently, I expect, from the contents of what you wrote."

Azula remained stunned in place for a moment before closing her eyes in a gesture of painful disbelief. She turned around again and released a breath, running her hands over her hair as Song's hands rubbed her back gently now, both to help the chi flow and to reassure her.

"It was only the one letter, if… if that's what it was," Song said, biting her lip. "I'm sorry. I… thought to read it, in case it said anything too incriminating that she might misunderstand. And she did misunderstand anyway, but not because the letter was too revealing…"

"I knew this would happen eventually…" Azula admitted, with a soft, humorless laugh. "I'm an idiot for even doing that."

"Don't say that," Song whispered, softly. "Azula…"

"I know, I know: I'm grieving, I'm allowed to do it however I need to. It's no less dangerous, and no less stupid," Azula sighed. "If my father decides someone should go through my things to make sure I'm not being treasonous, half a glance at those letters would make him drop that horrible blade on Xin Long's neck without a second thought. I should've just burned them… I was going to, but…"

"But?" Song asked, softly. Azula let out another such humorless laugh and shook her head.

"I… can't bring myself to do it. I'm just that weak of heart lately, I suppose," she whispered. "Though, knowing that you and Rei read them definitely makes me want to burn them all the more… even if the damage is already done."

"We only read one, though I did notice that there were others," Song said, biting her lip. "She was terrified, though. Rei…"

"Bet she thought I'd skewer her for going through my things, even though I've never told her not to touch that drawer…" Azula said, sighing. "Should've told her not to look there, frankly. My mistake…"

"See, I told her you wouldn't be mad at her, but she didn't believe me," Song said, with a sad smile. "She's really… well, I wouldn't say scaredy, anxious might be a better word? The last thing she wants to do is anger or disappoint you…"

"She's not particularly likely to do either thing," Azula said, with a light shrug. "But… did she really understand the contents that well? I… I guess she's already a more advanced reader than I realized…"

"Oh, not really, she admitted there was a lot she couldn't read. But what she did… she misinterpreted, too," Song said, with a guilty grimace. "And I guess this is the most important bit about what happened. I… told her about a few things, what I thought Wen would reasonably know about? So…"

"Oh," Azula's tone sounded different now, not as dejected as before, as she turned around and glanced at Song with a worried frown. "You… told her about…?"

"I basically pretended all I knew were rumors… well, along with what I figured Lo and Li could have shared with me, if I were their actual niece and hadn't known your stories far better than they did," Song said, somewhat nervously. "But… Azula, she thought you were writing love letters to Admiral Zhao: I couldn't possibly let her… Azula?"

Despite Song's confession was anything but comforting, that last admission had brought the Princess to raise a hand in a failed attempt to stifle a snort of laughter. Song held her gaze, puzzled, before Azula actually let an actual chuckle out, unable to contain it anymore.

"She… she seriously thought I was…?" Azula asked, unsure of why she found the notion so ridiculously amusing. Song sighed but smiled, nodding weakly.

"I'm afraid so. She seemed to realize it made no sense from the start, saying you two never seemed to care that much for each other… but I couldn't just let her keep on thinking you were holding a torch for him, could I? It… it makes me sick to so much as imagine it, frankly."

Azula laughed again, covering her face with her hands as she dropped on the mattress. Song smiled, relieved to see she was taking this in stride: she wasn't sure Azula would have been so good-natured about anyone sharing rumors regarding her relationship with Sokka back in the day… but perhaps the hardships she'd faced, the actual horrors she'd dealt with, meant she was far less willing to blow small problems out of proportion, and in light of everything else, this certainly would appear small.

"Ah, I can't believe she seriously thought that… you're right, she has the purest heart ever," Azula chuckled, still, shaking her head. Song bit her lip.

"She really does, you know? She… she said she didn't think there was anything wrong with it, if you were in love with your gladiator," Song said, sadly. Azula's smile waned a little as their conversation returned to the right track. "I thought maybe she'd be offended on her father's behalf, but… she didn't seem to care. She didn't see it as a betrayal, or as a problem at all, that you might have been intimate with someone you weren't married to."

"Really, now?" Azula asked. Song nodded.

"She was confused about it all, of course. She seemed not to know why someone of your high birth would take that much interest in a slave, so I told her a few things that I figured might have been common knowledge… such as how you two worked together to save the Fire Nation? But, well, I don't think what I said really would illustrate what you two…"

"Nothing would, so don't beat yourself up about it," Azula sighed, shaking her head. "Short of telling Rei my whole life's story… I don't think she'd ever really understand what he meant to me. And it might be better for her if she doesn't understand it, too."

"Maybe," Song conceded, with a sad grimace. "She also, uh… seemed to think all gladiators were ugly because of Combustion Man, so she was quite worried about your taste in men for a moment there…"

Azula snorted and Song smiled at her new burst of laughter. Once again, the Princess shook her head fondly at the thought of how perplexed, confused and endearing her maid had turned out to be.

"I… don't really think she knows about what happened to him, though. She talked about him as… as though she thought he's still alive," Song continued. "I guess Zhao doesn't tell her… well, anything, really."

"No, he doesn't," Azula confirmed. "He's isolated her from the whole world, from my understanding… he probably thinks it's for the best, huh? Protecting his sole daughter from the clutches of terrible people aside from himself…"

"He's terrible enough as he is, keeping her away from every source of information, giving her no lessons on how to read and write…" Song huffed. "But… I guess there's that, too"

"There's… what?" Azula asked.

Song seemed uneasy now, unwilling to meet her gaze. Azula sighed before patting the empty side of the bed, nudging Song with her knee so she'd join her, as she often would. It seemed Song had been just as wrong as Rei to fear Azula would be displeased to know about how much she had shared with the younger girl: she smiled gratefully before joining her, stretching out across the bed as Azula did the same, both their gazes on the ceiling of the four-poster bed.

"You have your own suspicions, don't you? About whatever Rei's origins might be," Song asked. Azula grunted affirmatively.

"Did you confirm anything today?" she asked, closing her eyes.

"Not quite…" Song confessed. "But the things she said, once I… once I started probing her for a reaction regarding, well, your alleged indiscretions… they were a little more revealing than she probably thought they were."

"Really?"

"She said… sex was something people did for entertainment's sake," Song said, and Azula frowned as she glanced at her in confusion. "To her… there's no difference between someone who's a virgin and someone who's not, as far as I can tell. She told me she's still a virgin herself, but… like I was saying, she likened wanting sex to enjoying gambling, or riding a dragon moose? I mean… maybe there's wisdom in that, but as far as I've understood, Fire Nation society doesn't exactly promote that sort of mentality… or does it?"

"No… it doesn't," Azula said, frowning. "I'd pretend I can't speak for the lower classes, but in truth, what I saw in Mei Xun's reports about the Enforcers' raids to the crime dens doesn't suggest there was any other mentality aside from the one I know of. The virginity of slaves in brothels would always be sold to the highest bidder, pretty much… the ones who weren't virgins were always valued as lesser than those who were. I don't think you can go any lower than that in this society, so… I have trouble imagining a level of Fire Nation society that wouldn't put a ridiculous amount of value on virginity, and with it, a ton of pressure on women…"

"I guess so," Song said, grimacing. "But that just makes things weirder yet, doesn't it? The way she talked, it seriously sounded like the notion of anyone being pressured over this is completely new to her. And… well, there's also how she talked about love and marriage: she seemed not to even know that some people marry for love. Like… like the only kinds of marriages she's seen are a matter of convenience, perhaps, or just arranged ones with no affection involved?"

Azula breathed in, glancing at Song with unease: she returned her gaze warily, as though expecting Azula to give her an answer she had already pondered…

"Going by her age…" Azula said, breaking their eye contact as her gaze was lost in the horizon anew. "She was born about seven or eight years before slavery began in earnest, thus, slave brothels didn't exist, at the time. So… it's entirely possible that my knowledge on this topic is wrong simply because… maybe she was born and raised in a brothel that isn't run with slaves."

Song flinched, yet she nodded in agreement: it was what she had pondered, what she had expected… yet hearing someone else say it made it all too real.

"If she thinks sex is some casual hobby people do for entertainment…" Azula shrugged.

"She said some people got paid for doing it, too," Song mumbled. Azula huffed, pressing her lips into a tight line.

"All the more reason to think so… all the more reason why she would have such a casual, open-minded view of it. They didn't educate her at all, didn't send her to school, didn't bother teaching her to read and write, so she had no way of knowing that's not how the rest of the world sees things…"

"Do you think Zhao would actually do that, though? A brothel…?"

"Actually? It fits right in with the kind of drivel he spouted to Sokka ages ago," Azula said: surprisingly, the name slipped out of her before she knew it… and the pang of pain that struck her heart arrived afterwards, as his very presence seemed to hang in the air before her. She gritted her teeth and kept going, though. "Remember that night when… when we thought he'd caught us? All those years ago? You probably would remember it, since…"

"I was here, yeah. I attended the Ball with him," Song said, with a sad, nostalgic smile. "And then…"

"Everything went to shit," Azula finished for her. Song snorted and laughed, nodding in agreement as Azula smiled a little.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," she admitted.

"One of the things he said, when he realized… when he realized Sokka had feelings for me? He told him to forget about me and to move on to other girls. That there'd always be more out there, pretty much," Azula continued. "As though he could simply replace me with anyone else and it'd be the same thing. So… he probably does think it's the same thing. He doesn't care to get married, he always said so: that Rei exists at all is… it's probably a matter of carelessness, both on his part and on Rei's mother's. Going by the things Rei said, Zhao didn't pick her name… she was completely sure he had nothing to do with the name she was given. From that, I assumed already that he might not have been aware of her existence… potentially, not until he came back from the North, even."

"That's insane," Song said, glancing at Azula in chagrin. "How…?"

"It's not that surprising, really," Azula said, grimacing. "She's… seventeen, is it? He's been at sea almost continuously since I was about twelve, shortly after my father rose to power… perhaps it began shortly after my brother was banished, too. He always came back for important war meetings and the sort, but he never stayed long. Once the battle in the North Pole heated up, he was stationed there permanently for well over seven years, if my memory serves right. With a life as hectic as that… I suppose he just decided to visit one of his favorite brothels after he was given leave to return home, and he happened upon a surprise he wasn't ready to face?"

"Maybe," Song said, grimacing. "So… Rei's nervousness and anxiety?"

"Her affinity with math, which she admitted comes from having handled money from time to time…" Azula continued. "While having no basic education in any other regards, too."

"All that, paired with her strangely open-minded view of sex and her disregard for marriage…" Song sighed.

"I don't think there's any other explanation that fits," Azula admitted, with a shrug. "Zhao… maybe he had a fit of fatherly protectiveness, I don't know, when he realized she'd likely be part of the brothel's ranks once she reached whatever age they deemed proper for service… maybe that's why he took her away and made her his maid. Maybe that's why he's so ashamed… so unwilling to let anyone know who she truly is, and what her connection to him might be."

"So, he did something good for her, in all likelihood, since it sounds like they treated her horribly back there," Song recounted. "But not only was he doing it for his own sake and reputation, as well as his peace of mind regarding whatever anyone else might do to his daughter… but he doesn't even want to acknowledge his relationship to her?"

"As far as I can tell… no, he doesn't. I guessed their connection due to his strange behavior back when I got rid of Hahn for him," Azula said. "Hahn had been harassing Rei, and Zhao was unusually mad about it. I suppose, if she came from a brothel indeed, it would make even more sense that he'd lose his mind that way. He tried to protect her from being pressured into a career in sex exploitation, only for Hahn to make a move on her while he wasn't around to protect her? It fits, doesn't it?"

"I think it does," Song said, breathing deeply before glancing at Azula. "Are you okay with this? With Zhao frequenting brothels and maybe even having relationships with sex workers…"

"It's none of my business," Azula said, with a placid sigh. "To be honest… if I thought that kind of sex trade would be handled with proper respect and decency somehow, I'd even encourage him gladly to partake in it. But I suspect it's a terrible business, especially for the very people providing the service… kind of like the Amateur Arenas, I suppose. Still… as long as he's decent to whoever he's seeing, I don't really care what he's doing or who he's doing it with. He's made it pretty clear he's not interested in strengthening his, uh, alleged relationship with me, and I'm perfectly happy for that to be the case. If he needs to unwind whatever pent-up frustrations he may have, I certainly prefer it if he doesn't try to do it with me."

"It is a false marriage, like you said…" Song sighed. "You're only stuck with each other out of convenience… the Fire Lord's convenience, that is. I guess with examples like these… Rei would never really have a chance to know what actual loving relationships are like, huh?"

"No, she wouldn't," Azula shrugged. "Brothels are the perfect place for desperate men to go to… and at least some among such desperate men would be married, if unhappily. She might have just seen those and assumed people who are married don't have sex, or don't enjoy it, and need to find other people to have it with…?"

"Goodness, what a messed-up environment to grow up in, if all this is true," Song sighed, running a hand over her face. Azula nodded, closing her eyes anew.

"I'd thought about it already, but… with so many signs by now, I guess it really is the only explanation that comes to mind. She doesn't really want to talk about it, either… I've never asked her to do so, I doubt she would feel comfortable sharing stories about a past that, well… that made her as nervous and shy as she usually is. Her willingness to apologize for things she didn't even do wrong… all of it suggests she's been through her fair share of strife, and as much as I have very little praise to give Zhao about how he has treated her, I don't think he's responsible for the worst of Rei's suffering. At least, it's unlikely that he's the main culprit."

"Poor kid…" Song sighed, shaking her head. "Well… we don't know any of this for sure anyway. Just as she doesn't know anything about you and Sokka for sure, since I tried to be as vague as possible about it all…"

"But it means we're all learning a bit more about each other than we initially intended to," Azula smiled a little. "Be careful, Wen… or your very worst secrets might just be revealed before all our observant eyes."

"Oh, goodness. I wonder what my worst secret might be…" Song said, biting her lip and tapping her chin. "Hmm…"

"Surely something perfectly nice and agreeable, knowing you," Azula chuckled, and Song scoffed.

"What, you think I wasn't capable of doing anything wild and crazy?" she asked. "Well… you're not right to think so, of course not. I most definitely… did things I shouldn't have with Rui Shi on that couch, you know?"

"Pfft. Seriously? That's as far as you go?"

"Oh, come on, cut me some slack! I'm the one who cleaned the whole place, I wasn't about to mess it up that badly," Song laughed, as Azula chuckled beside her. "Oh, now, what about your worst secret? Don't tell me you two actually disregarded my strict orders not to approach my kitchen…"

"That… uh… well, okay, but he cleaned it later…!"

"You did NOT!"

Azula's laughter strengthened as she rolled on her side, turning her back towards Song as she covered her face, hiding from her friend's judgmental glares. Song shook her head in sheer outrage… outrage that couldn't quite help but be accompanied by amusement, too.

"I knew it. Oh, I just knew it!" she scoffed, elbowing Azula's back gently. "There'll be hell to pay for that, you hear me? I have no idea how you'll make amends for that yet, but you will make amends for it, alright? I'm not messing around here…!"

Azula's guilty laughter seemed to have rendered her unable to respond so far, but truthfully, Song might even prefer it that way. She smiled and shook her head, gazing at Azula's shaking back fondly, hearing her muffled laughter and joining her with her own. Perhaps she had little to worry about, after all… perhaps the Princess had no idea what her future might bring, but in many ways, she was healing and strengthening herself. Slowly but surely, she felt more like herself with each passing day… and Song intended to be there, reaching out to support Azula until her friend finally regained enough strength and willpower to take a stand on her own. If she had chances to make her laugh and regain at least a shred of peace in every moment in-between, if she could convince her friend that life might still be worth living, Song intended to make the most of those opportunities, too.

---

"Oh! Is that it? Is it, Aang?! It is, isn't it?!"

Kino's excited cries seemed to echo across the Patola mountain range. Aang smiled as he nodded in response to the former soldier's suspicions: Appa had needed a break on one of the first, smaller mountain islands they'd reached, tired after carrying five adults on his back for several hours, but shortly after restarting their journey, they glimpsed man-made gabled roofs, topped with twisting spires, in the middle of a mountain.

"That's right, Kino: welcome to the Southern Air Temple," Aang said, his voice permeated with melancholy.

Kino's jaw lingered wide open for a long moment before his lips curled into a smile. His first visit to an Air Temple proved a most fascinating event for him… though it didn't seem any of his companions on the saddle shared his excitement. He frowned upon noticing as much, glancing back at the other three with perplexity.

"It's the Southern Air Temple, you guys? Why aren't you more excited?!" he asked. "No one must have seen this place for… for ages!"

"Well, it is a beautiful place, for sure," Katara said, with a weak smile. "But I did see it a few months before we met, Kino. It's beautiful… but I guess I knew what to expect, to a fault."

"Huh?!" Kino's jaw dropped again, though not with amazement this time.

"I've been in the Northern Air Temple, myself," Sokka said. "Visited it earlier this year, too. It doesn't quite look the same as this one, of course… but I suppose I knew what to expect too, in some ways. Guess there's not going to be a hot-air lifter system here, or a water heater, but still…"

"I didn't get to see the Northern Air Temple, myself," Zuko said, surprising the rest of the group. "It was the only one me and my uncle didn't visit when I was banished. It wasn't marked on the maps he had with us. We saw the Eastern Air Temple, we even tried to find the Avatar there, but it was empty. We visited this one, too, but of course there was no sign of the Avatar being here either. The first one we saw was the Western one, though…"

"So, you've been to almost every Air Temple?" Kino said, blinking blankly before pouting. "Damn. So, the only one for whom this is a novelty is me?"

"Seems so," Katara answered, with a dry grin.

"Well, in a way this is a novelty for me anyway. Like I said, the Northern one is different," Sokka pointed out, glancing at the Southern Air Temple wistfully. "This one… the buildings are all a bit further apart, I feel. In the Northern Air Temple, everything was connected. They didn't have those fancy spires there, either…"

"The differences aren't all that big, though, compared to how different the Western Air Temple is to the rest of them," Zuko said. Sokka raised an eyebrow, glancing at him with curiosity.

"Is it really that different from the others? I'd imagine they'd at least have some points in common, with everything being built by the same culture…" he pointed out. Zuko smirked, noticing Aang was grinning awkwardly while riding on Appa's neck.

"Well, the thing with the Western Air Temple, Sokka, is…" Aang said, grinning awkwardly as he glanced over his shoulder. "That it's upside down."

"It's… what?" Sokka's eyebrow twitched, as both Kino and Katara gawked at Aang over his revelation.

"I never really understood how they did it, either," Zuko commented, smiling. "But yeah… it is upside down. It's carved into the underside of a cliff, pretty much."

"That sounds… either really interesting or really pointless?" Sokka grimaced. "How does that even work? Wouldn't gravity affect the building, drag things down…?"

"I suppose airbenders just didn't care for something as mundane as gravity…" Zuko shrugged, as Aang chuckled and nodded.

"We laughed at it all the time!" he confirmed, bring a fond smile to Katara's face. Sokka, however, remained as utterly perplexed as he had been before.

"It's… so counterproductive," he said, rubbing his brow. "I mean, unless this is just a wholly different way of building a house than what I'm imagining? I'm literally picturing towers like these ones, upside down, but it's probably not how it was, so…"

"No, that's exactly how it is," Zuko confirmed, and Sokka flinched.

"So… they had roofs, pointing down?"

"Exactly."

"Why?!" Sokka winced, to Zuko's amusement. "Isn't the point of that design to make it suitable for channeling rain down and away from the building? If the roof isn't going to be hit by rain because it's the floor rather than the roof, why would you need to make it look like that? You don't need a roof at all if your fancy house is just… built into a cliff!"

"Maybe they just thought it looked pretty," Katara answered, with a knowing, wicked grin. Sokka groaned, pressing his hands to his face.

"I'm going to get a headache if I keep thinking about it. I'm stopping now," he grunted, eyebrow twitching as he heard both Zuko and Katara chuckling at his misery. "What's this now, you two are laughing together? Is that really how you're going to patch up all your bad blood, by making fun of me?"

"Maybe so," Katara teased him, bumping his shoulder gently with hers. Sokka snarled an empty warning in her direction, and his sister only laughed at him for it.

Appa continued to progress towards the largest courtyard in the Southern Air Temple, landing on it as gently as possible. He roared proudly, pleased to return home, and Aang patted his horn gently as he gazed at the decaying, aged structure around them. Maybe Sokka did have a point, without his awareness… maybe the conditions in which the Temples had been built and kept well before Sozin's Comet's arrival were only sustainable if there were airbenders around to preserve the buildings properly. Unlike the others, Aang knew exactly what each temple had looked like well before the war began. The Southern Air Temple, his old home… it had been infinitely livelier and more beautiful than it was right now. Patches of the walls seemed to have decayed over the abating winds, rain and snow, and many rooftiles appeared to have shattered for the same reason…

"Guess, once everything's over… I'll have to try to rebuild the temples, huh?" Aang said to Appa, gently. "It's a thought, at least."

Appa responded with a resounding, enthusiastic growl, and Aang grinned at his bison before dismounting his neck: he helped his friends unload their luggage from the saddle, and he gave them a hand at climbing off Appa as well. The sun was setting already, unsurprisingly, as it was still winter in the south, and daylight hours were far from equivalent to nighttime ones, no matter if they had made plenty of progress north from the South Pole. The orange, fading gleam of the sun in the horizon already made them miss the warmth even before it was completely gone, but they were well equipped to handle the impending cold, regardless.

"Okay…" Kino grinned, rubbing his hands as he smiled at Aang, once they'd relieved Appa from all his load, save for the saddle. "What now?"

"Uh…" Aang blinked blankly, casting a wary glance towards the archway that led to the sanctuary he had been summoned to.

He and Katara had seen the room on their last visit and his heart raced at the thought of returning to the sanctuary now. He swallowed hard as he led the way towards it: the others followed immediately, their heavier footsteps echoing across the empty, silent Southern Air Temple.

After climbing a few steps, the group reached a smaller courtyard, too small for Appa to land in. An old, defunct fountain sat there… and a few paces behind it, stood a statue of an old man. Sokka raised an eyebrow as they approached it, and Aang bowed deeply towards the statue, a heartfelt smile on his face.

"This is my old mentor, Monk Gyatso," he explained, turning his smile to the others. Kino hooted in amazement, as Katara smiled warmly at the old man's figure. "He raised me, pretty much. He was a great prankster, and he had a really big heart. He wanted what was best for me, never pressured me to be the Avatar… he took really good care of me, for all those years."

"He sounds amazing, Aang," Katara said, holding back the tears… knowing, all too well, that the man's corpse lingered in the Temple, in the place where Aang had broken down back when they had first visited the ancestral home of his people.

"Yeah… he was," Aang smiled warmly… but then he drew in a sharp breath and stepped past the statue, brow furrowed with determination.

Long ago, Gyatso had told him Roku would guide him on this journey… he had explained the role of the Avatar, he had told him much of what his Avatar duties entailed. Today, at long last, Aang felt prepared to face the expectations that hung over him, prepared to learn whatever lessons the past Avatar might be ready to impart.

"So… um. Just out of sheer curiosity…" Sokka leaned towards Katara, nudging her with an elbow. "Did this mentor of Aang's, uh, die before the war?"

"No. We… we found his body, actually, when we came here before," Katara sighed. "Maybe we could do a proper funerary rite for all the fallen airbenders… guess Aang might even think we should do one for the Fire Nation soldiers, too? There's corpses all over the lower levels of the Air Temple, and ultimately, all these lives were wasted over a disgusting war that never should have happened…"

"Yeah, Sozin and his brutality knew no bounds. But see, I'm just thinking… does this mean that the Air Nomads would make statues of their living, breathing fellow monks?" Sokka asked, with an awkward smile. Katara's face twisted into irritability, and Sokka shrugged. "Look, I'm just saying… it's kind of strange to make a statue of someone who's still alive, isn't it? At least, I've only seen it done by Fire Lords, who seem to have made a sport out of building statues of themselves everywhere only for their children to tear them down and set up their own in the same place…"

"Are you seriously comparing Air Nomads to the damn Fire Nation, or worse yet, the Fire Lords?" Katara asked, with a dangerous smirk. Sokka winced, holding his hands up warily.

"Woah, that's not my point! Not at all! I'm just saying I'm surprised they made statues of people who weren't dead already, that's all…!" Sokka pouted, shrinking under his sister's harsh, stern glare. "I thought statues were meant as… well, tributes to remember someone important, pretty much? So, I figured you usually make those when the person's already, uh, gone…"

"Makes it extra hard to get their features right if the person's dead, though," Kino barged into their conversation, tapping his chin. "Might be Gyatso knew he'd die, or the others suspected he would die because he was old, and they carved his statue beforehand so they could capture his likeness properly for posterity!"

"Huh. That doesn't sound outlandish, actually. Good thinking," Sokka agreed, to Kino's delight, as Katara rolled her eyes and sighed at their pointless attempts to unravel the secrets behind the crafting of ancient statues.

"Are you three coming or what?"

The siblings and the former soldier were startled when Zuko called them from the archway Aang had just left through. With a few awkward smiles, all three of them joined him just in time to see Aang summoning twin, powerful gusts of air that he channeled into a massive mechanism on an even larger door.

"Huh… you know, I'm not trying to annoy you or say anything senseless, Katara," Sokka said, nudging her again. "But you know, the Fire Nation has firebending-powered doors, too, not as fancy as this one, but still… I can't help but wonder what the mechanisms work like. It's got to be complicated if…"

"Huh, do you want me to come up with a waterbending powered door, too? Though you wouldn't be able to get through it, huh?" she smirked at her brother, who pouted and folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, damn. Here I am, trying to be enthusiastic and positive about bending with you, and you just have to rain on my parade…" Sokka grumbled, to Katara's amusement.

After the three small circles within the mechanism were flipped by the power of Aang's bending, the door was unlocked: it swung outwards and Aang released a deep breath before marching into the dark room. The others followed, at a distance, finding it difficult to accustom their eyes to the dim lighting until they finally discerned the statues' shapes in the darkness.

Sokka swallowed hard at the sight of the countless rows of Avatars: not only did they form a massive spiral at the sanctuary's floor, there were also several floors above them with no shortage of statues as well. How many Avatars had there been in this world? He had never truly wondered about that, but the sight of this strange room certainly brought him to ponder that question. Maybe Wan Shi Tong knew the answer… maybe he had a long list of Avatar biographies somewhere in his Library. With so many statues here, Sokka didn't doubt there would be a story behind each of them. How many had faced struggles similar to the ones Aang was supposed to deal with, with a world at war, immersed in chaos? How many had been the final remnants of their culture, the way Aang was? Had any of them restored their people from the brink of complete annihilation before…? If so, was it possible for Aang to truly restore balance in the world? Perhaps not within his lifetime, it would be virtually impossible to replenish the Air Nomads' numbers in such a short period… but perhaps within a few more generations, his people could return, rebuild and occupy their temples once again.

He couldn't help but remember, then, that Azula had her own theories regarding what had happened to the Air Nomads… theories that had proven true once she had witnessed the history of the Bloodlust Spear: she had said there might be survivors, so long as they had escaped the worst of the war. Maybe Aang wouldn't have to fight alone, to rebuild alone, if her guess was correct.

"Woah…" Kino gasped, glancing across the statues in amazement. "So… all these guys were you, Aang? For real?"

"And girls," Katara smirked, pointing at a statue with garb that seemed familiar to both Zuko and Sokka… same as the fan she held in her hands.

Zuko stepped forward, smiling before performing a small reverence towards his wife's patron Avatar. Her statue was tall and imposing, and he might have thought it was simply an artistic liberty if Suki herself hadn't told him a few stories about Kyoshi, such as how incredibly tall she was – and what a large footprint she had, too. Her image was rather imposing, but the sculptor had captured the strength of Kyoshi in this statue, strength Zuko knew the warriors of her home village had inherited as they attempted to live up to her example, the way Suki did.

"Oh! You were a girl sometimes too, I see," Kino tapped his chin, gaping at the statues in amazement. "What's it like, being a girl, Aang?"

"I… don't know. I don't remember the experiences of my past lives," Aang said, with an awkward smile. "Shouldn't you ask an actual girl about that?"

"You think?" Kino glanced at Katara, who raised a skeptical eyebrow in his direction. "Oh, but she doesn't know what it's like to be a boy! So, you know, it's not the same as asking someone who's been both things!"

Katara sighed, glancing hopelessly at Aang, who chuckled at Kino's reasoning. His focus returned to the statues before long, though: a strange, unfamiliar feeling of pride and strength nestled in his soul just upon being here. All his past lives, represented by these statues… all their power had been passed on to him. He had a lot to live up to, he knew… but he hoped to take the first step towards doing so today.

A sudden sound from the outside of the temple startled them out of their reverential observation of the statues. Sokka impulsively raised a hand to his boomerang, glaring at the door: a shadow had appeared there… a rather deform one, at that. Sokka frowned as he tried to unravel what it was, by the shape of its silhouette alone… yet Aang cut him off before he could do so:

"Oh! Katara, it's Momo!"

Sokka frowned as his gaze finally fell upon the small lemur: the creature sported ears that seemed as large as his body, if not more so. Safe to say, in all his travels, Sokka had certainly never seen a lemur…

"It's the little guy who brought you that peach!" Katara smiled, though she shot Aang a warning glare. "Though… he also distracted you when we were here, didn't he?"

"Uuuh…" Aang smiled awkwardly, as Katara smiled again.

"Not this time," she decided, pointing at Aang with her index finger. "Today, you'll meditate properly and we'll be the ones who'll keep the lemur distracted, alright?"

"Right…" Aang sighed in defeat: he'd definitely prefer playing with the lemur… but he wouldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

"It's so cute! Momo! Momo, come here!" Kino squealed, rushing outside the sanctuary, his fascination with the Avatar statues well and truly forgotten by now. Sokka huffed.

"What's he so excited about? That tiny thing doesn't even have enough meat on his bones for a snack…" he said, dismissively. Katara huffed, glaring at him pointedly.

"He's one of the last remnants of the Air Nomads: you're NOT going to eat him!"

"That's what I said! There's no point in even trying, so why waste your time hunting him in the first place…?" Sokka grunted back, shaking his head. Zuko, who had seemed willing to meditate as well, at Kyoshi's statue, huffed at their persistent interruptions and glanced at Aang.

"Know what? I'm dragging these guys out. You can try to focus while I make them behave themselves, okay?"

"Okay," Aang smiled weakly, nodding in approval.

Zuko grabbed both Sokka and Katara's hoods, yanking them forcefully towards the door, to various protests by the siblings. Kino had already chased Momo out, too: once the arguing trio finally left the sanctuary, Aang was alone within the chamber at last.

He breathed out slowly before sitting, cross-legged, before Roku's statue. The Fire Nation Avatar looked strict and strong, daunting too, with that sharp hairpiece and his ornate, also pointy robes. Aang bit his lip after taking in his new mentor, remembering he had been Monk Gyatso's friend, too…

"Well… here goes nothing," Aang smiled weakly. "Let's see if I can reach you now, Roku."

He closed his eyes, clearing his mind, fists pressed together over his chest…

"Say, do you think there's anything to do here while we wait?"

"Kino, you know we're not on a sightseeing trip."

"Bet you got to see plenty of things when you and Aang came here years ago, Katara…"

"Yeah, and then we went home to find your fellow soldiers were trying to storm our Tribe! How fun, right?"

"Uh… y-yeah, well, okay, I'm sorry about that…"

Silence. Aang breathed deeply, realizing then that he had been focusing too much on his companions' conversation. Now that they had stopped, he could try to connect with his past lives anew…

"Hey! Woah, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Oh, Sokka, don't be so grouchy. I guess Momo just likes you!"

"What? I don't need a pet lemur! I had a pet messenger hawk already, and… uh, damn. I really hope he's doing okay in Ba Sing Se, poor Hawky…"

"Well, if you don't want him, can I have him?"

"What would you do with a lemur, Kino? I already said there's not enough meat in a thing like this to…"

"Why would he only keep it to eat it, for crying out loud, Sokka?"

"Not sure Kino's equipped to actually deal with a pet lemur, though… or to be responsible for any living, breathing creature, outright."

"What? B-but… come on, Zuko!"

"Are you ready to clean all the poop and make sure it's fed every day? To train it so it doesn't eat what it's not supposed to, or knocks down valuable things, stuff like that? Really?"

"I… I totally could! Sure thing! Don't underestimate my abilities to…!"

"Guys?" Aang called back, his voice echoing across the sanctuary and reaching the other four quickly.

He glanced back at them from where he sat, with an awkward smile on his face. The four sat at the other end of the corridor, near Gyatso's statue, but even at such a distance it was possible to see they'd turned towards him too… and guilt was apparent in their body languages, even at a distance.

"Sorry, Aang," Katara said, grimacing. "We'll shut up now, okay? Promised thing!"

Aang smiled and nodded, and Katara sighed before nudging the others with her elbows. They groaned at her gesture, but even though Momo remained perched carelessly on Sokka's shoulder, they all fell silent as promised.

As chatty as they might have been, their company eased Aang's heart: being here with his closest friends felt different from the first time he'd entered the sanctuary alone. He had been terrified of being told he wasn't strong enough, or simply not prepared enough to be the Avatar. Not being alone filled him with a confidence he hadn't felt before… and so, he closed his eyes again, fell into position and breathed deeply, several times, until his mind was blank…

Though it didn't remain blank for long.

The statue that had stood before him seemed to have sprung to life in the darkness: it took Aang a moment to realize he was no longer in the sanctuary, in that room… instead, he was in a strange, dark space, hovering in midair…

Storm clouds swirled above and below him. Storm clouds not that different from those that had caught him on his way back to the Southern Air Temple, over a hundred years ago.

His chest tightened at the sudden, unwanted memory: he and Appa had tried to brave the storm, but the elements had been too powerful to overcome. They had fallen into the water, and he had channeled power he had never wielded until then… and with it, he had frozen himself and his animal companion into an iceberg that, years later, would merge into the polar casket. The iceberg Katara had pulled him out of…

But that wasn't what he saw now: instead, he still saw an iceberg… and two young Water Tribe members had seemingly found him. His heart started racing as the teenagers watched the glowing iceberg with undoubtable fear…

Wait.

Were they Katara and Sokka?

They were so much younger… but it was them. He couldn't be wrong about that, it was them…!

"What is this…?" Aang gasped, watching in chagrin as he stepped out of the ice, still aglow, still powerful in ways he couldn't possibly control. This hadn't happened, though… this wasn't how he'd awoken. Katara had been alone, Sokka had been gone…

Suddenly, the image shifted and changed, violently: the pale white of the Pole had been replaced by a streak of red that caused Aang to shrink in place. A swirling, powerful blaze of fire crossed the sky, painting it red… and with it, a barrage of flames had coated the world. No… a city. A large city, the largest he'd ever seen, with several layers of walls, and it burned, screams tore through the sky, smoke rose higher and higher…

"I don't… I don't understand!" Aang exclaimed. "Avatar Roku! Are you here? Avatar Roku, please help…!"

He didn't truly expect an answer to arrive… but it did, in a thunderous, unfamiliar voice… for it wasn't the voice he'd heard in his dream:

"The Avatar was destined to restore balance in this world. Such was his duty… his destiny."

Aang gasped: the fire faded, and once it did, the world seemed to fall into darkness. Shapes, humanoid shapes… he could see them, struggling against whips of fire, striking their backs, causing them to drop in defeat on the ground, begging for mercy. Cities… proud cities, their Earth Kingdom sigils replaced with the banners of the Fire Nation. Air Temples, broken and decayed, burning brightly…

"No… no!" Aang gritted his teeth, raising his hand towards the image of his old home, the Southern Air Temple, consumed by a violent battle, where dragons attacked the sky bison, where countless firebenders swarmed the groups of Air Nomads who attempted to hold them off…

"You are in no position to reject the consequences of your inaction… of your failures, Aang. The final chance to restore balance is long gone… the power of Sozin's Comet has allowed the Fire Lord's troops to march upon the world, to lay it to waste, all be it to sate his hubris and his thirst for misplaced glory."

Aang's eyes were flooded with tears as he watched the painful, heart-wrenching visions of destruction and violence before him. They faded into nothingness as he begged them to stop… and now he stood in thunderous, unsettling silence, in everlasting darkness, with the spectral figure of the man who had been immortalized into the statue before which Aang's corporeal body sat right now.

Aang gritted his teeth, raising his head to regard the daunting, tall Fire Nation Avatar… to find an unyielding, unforgiving coldness in his amber glare.

"I… I know I failed, I know I should've done better…" Aang pleaded, reaching a hand towards Roku. "But I can still fight. I can still…! There's still hope, Avatar Roku. I can still restore balance to the world…!"

"No, Aang. Not anymore," Roku said: behind him, new shapes started to take form, and all around Aang, too. Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation… and Air Nomads, just as well. His heart clenched, his tears spilling down his cheeks as his eyes traveled over each of them…

None regarded him with anything but coldness. All of them looked at him with disappointment… he had let them down. Every last one of them… he was the one who had to carry their legacy, but he had failed them all. Even if he had never meant to, even though he had intended to fight back, to return to his Air Temple and save his people…!

"Please…" Aang whimpered, turning towards Roku again. "G-give me a chance. I can still… I can still help. I can still fight! Balance…! It can be restored again! I know it can be done, please…!"

"You are too late," Roku said, cuttingly. Aang's stomach sank as the Fire Nation Avatar frowned heavily at him. "Without the Air Nomads, the Avatar Cycle will never be complete anew. Crushed under the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom will never rise again, either. It's over, Aang: there will be no saving the world that you unknowingly condemned…"

"No… no, you can't mean that, you can't…!"

"You failed when you were meant to fight. You fell when you were meant to rise. The comet arrived twice over, and with it, the desolation of our world was guaranteed. Balance is out of the question now: there is no restoring what has been lost. The cycle is broken… and it cannot be amended anymore.

"As the last true Avatar, you are responsible for these failings. You are the last airbender… and you let your people die."