"Well, I'm sure you'll be a great Fire Lord then."

The smug look on his sister's face made Zuko want to punch her right in it; she was smaller than him, and his arms were longer- he could probably do it before she could conjure some flames to defend herself. Break her nose, and maybe she'd shut up for good; he decided against that, knowing that it would only make her respond with double the force and double the malice.

"Shut up." he demanded, before deciding to take matters into his own hands, and turned around, walking away from the situation before he escalated it any further; he wanted to hit her, to teach her a lesson, but he knew that it wouldn't change a thing- punching Azula would not bring back Lu Ten.

He was told that anger made him weak; he couldn't believe that at that very instance. It was impossible to not be angry; his cousin was dead, and he didn't deserve it. His father dismissed his death as if it were nothing, all while his grandfather bickered with him over the line of succession. There were no tears for his cousin, only empty words, and they made him furious. So Zuko stomped off, not daring to look back at his callous, mocking sister, and just left her be. He wasn't to blame for Lu Ten's death, and she at the very least, showed some sadness about the turn of events; at the very least, she cared about him, even if she only saw Zuko as an obstacle to be dismissed. As he strode down the halls of the palace, he repeated the same words in his head: 'I am not weak', as if they would make the declaration true.

He knew that wasn't the case; his weakness was what his father chided him for, and he knew he wouldn't do so if it didn't exist. He was angry, however, that he could consider the bond he held with his cousin weakness; Lu Ten was the closest thing he had to a best friend, even if he was a lot older than him, and he had missed him all those months, hoping each day to hear of his uncle's inevitable victory over the Earth Kingdom, so they'd return home. Now, Iroh would return, but he wouldn't be the same; he didn't know who could be, after the loss of their only child. He grit his teeth, now angry that he was so angry; his uncle was the one who was really suffering- the fruit of victory had turned to ash in his mouth, and now he had no son to love. Zuko clenched his fist, remembering his father's frustrated face; he didn't know if he would even mourn him if he had died like Lu Ten. He might even celebrate, because he got rid of the incapable heir.

Zuko grit his teeth, wishing he wasn't how he was; he wished he could just stomach the pain, but he couldn't; that was why he was trying to get to the training courtyard, striding with haste and his fists clenched. He stormed past servants and guards, all of whom noticed his mood, and stepped back, not wanting to get tangled up in it. That was wise of them, as he was about one more little tick from screaming out in fury. So Zuko moved as fast as he could, and quickly enough, he reached the open wide space of the courtyard, where the midday sun shone down, making it a lot brighter than the mostly dim and gloomy palace. He immediately moved to the change room, which was a small covered area with curtains where he could get out of his robes, which were just going to impede his training. Calling it training was a bit of a misnomer, given he had no intent of following his forms or perfecting them in the slightest; he needed to express his feelings, and the only way he could see how was through his flames.

The Prince immediately drew off his shoulder guards, which covered the top of his torso, and then took his outer robe off, leaving him with only the undergarments he'd wear underneath; they were suitable enough for what he was about to do, and so, without any hesitation, he moved out into the training courtyard, feeling the warmth of the sun on his exposed forearms and his face. Its power strengthened him, and with it, he was able to wield his element with as much power as he possibly could. Zuko took a single long and deep breath, before he thrust his right hand forward, creating a fire stream which was impressively large; he was less concerned about its awesome size and more with the growing desire he had to set everything in sight on fire.

He spun himself around, and began to shoot fireballs at the dummies that were set up against the wall; eerily enough, they were designed to imitate the royal guards who protected the Earth King himself, and he assumed such men were some of the last his cousin had faced. That only heightened his rage, and he continued to throw blast after blast at the dummies. The barrage of attacks knocked them back, quite forcefully at that; he was unable to hit them over with mere fireballs, and decided to step up with two fire whips, which he conjured and threw forward; they were larger and brighter than usual, and he wasn't surprised that when they made contact with the dummies they were immediately set alight. He spun himself around and sent out a kick, a fire stream moving out of his right foot into one of the dummies, throwing it to the ground, audibly snapping whatever stand it was being held on.

He grit his teeth and began to throw move punches toward the dummies, fireballs coursing from his fists, hammering them again and again, the creaking and cracking of the wooden stands audible as he moved closer. He then clenched his fists, letting the fire course out from under his palms in the shape of a dagger; each of them grew out from his hands into bright swords of fire, akin to the dao which he had learned to fight with from Master Piandao. He then swung his fists forward, slashing the flame swords right through one of the dummies; he had first thought the move had no effect, but the dummy then fell forward, the top half having detached from the bottom. It slammed on the ground in front of him, and he took a deep breath, before turning around once more.

Zuko's anger had not subsided in the slightest, so he decided to continue his attacks, even if they weren't against anyone or anything; he charged forward, letting out a shout as he charged a massing of flames behind his hands, which he threw forward, creating a wall of flames that flew out ahead of him, encroaching all the way to edge of the training yard. He did not stop there, spinning around as he massed more flames in his hands, quickly forming a spinning mass of fire around himself. He then threw the massing of flames forward, coiling them up into thinner fire streams which struck the other two dummies right over, snapping them off of their stands.

His chest heaved, and yet all he could think of doing was scream, to let all the air escape his lungs; he hated the feeling inside of him, but he couldn't excise it. It was just like his cousin said- despite the power he wielded, his anger was a weakness. It made his flames wild and unrelenting, which made them far more dangerous; perhaps, however, that was what he needed. If Prince Zuko was not to be a weakling, as his sister often mocked him to be, then he'd be dangerous, powerful and angry; he could use that anger, and channel it, as he knew he just had. He threw his arms out, and dispersed the flames that had surrounded him, snuffing them out to nothing, before he gasped out for air; he was not exhausted, but simply thirsty- he had forgotten to drink before he trained.

Suddenly, before he could go fulfil that rather basic desire, he heard clapping; the slow pace of it was rather eerie to the Prince, who wasn't used to getting praise from anyone other than his uncle, who was at that moment probably somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, far from the palace. He turned his gaze around to see his father, who was in his own training gear, and realised that he was clapping at him. The pursed lips on his father's face, along with bright, prideful eyes, were near alien for him to see, and a stark contrast to what he had seen earlier in the throne room.

"Prince Zuko." he addressed him, his tone almost sounding surprised; he couldn't think of the last time his father was openly surprised about anything, "That was a brilliant show of your firebending." he acknowledged, "Far better than those forms your tutors make you do." he added, reminding him of the last time he had tried to show his firebending skills to his grandfather, who was not impressed, and neither was his father.

He bowed toward his father, a simple sign of respect, knowing that he didn't want to earn his ire, given his approval of bending, "Thank you, Father."

"You have the raw strength, my son, you simply need to apply it." he stressed as he approached, before raising his chin, "Would you like to train with me, Prince Zuko?"

His eyes widened, realising what he father might be suggesting, "Did you want to spar?"

"Of course not, you're far younger and smaller than me. It wouldn't be fair." he stressed, before crossing his arms, "But I can see you could use some guidance. An untamed dragon isn't a very useful one, wouldn't you say?"

He wanted to smile at his father, but simply bowed once more, "Yes, you're right, Father." he agreed, before turning his gaze up, "I- uh, just need to get a drink of water."

"I see." he nodded, stroking his goatee, "Go. I need to do some breathing exercises to begin anyway.' he gestured over to the side of the courtyard, where the servants would usually serve to his father after his training.

He assumed that some water was waiting there, and upon closer inspection, striding on inside, he saw a jug, along with a few cups, all of them clean. He picked up the jug and poured out some water, and in the corner of his eye, he saw a servant, who was surprised to see him there.

"Oh, Prince Zuko. I didn't expect to see you here." he admitted, "Did you want me to pour that for you?" he asked, the Princes shaking his head.

'No, it's fine. I can pour my own water." he assured him, before taking a sip from the cup; he glanced over back toward his father, and saw him standing still with his arms together, presumably just doing a breathing exercise.

He was surprised that his father was so approving of his firebending, and then he remembered why it was so potent; Lu Ten was dead, and he had nothing else but anger to power his flames. He grit his teeth upon recalling the fact, and sighed, knowing that getting so angry was the only reason his father had approved of his abilities. Zuko didn't want to be consumed by rage, as much as he had been while training; he took another sip from the cup, finishing it off the water. He wanted his father's attention, respect and love, but he knew that his cousin was right; power did not come from anger, it came from an unyielding drive. He desired to be a worthy heir for his nation, the kind that he knew his cousin wanted to be; he knew he mightn't become a great firebender like his uncle and father, but he knew that he could, if he tried his best, and did what was right, become worthy of the throne that until that day, he had not even considered.


With the panic of the explosion long gone, Zuko's fears were quickly replaced by aches and pains throughout his body; as he lay, shrivelled up in the corner of a dusty and dimly lit warehouse, with only a tarp to cover him, he could only hope for better days. He knew it was better than being dead, but the pain made him regret his actions greatly; he knew it was stupid of him to be so bold, and follow his father around to begin with. Perhaps if he hadn't let his suspicions get the better of him, then he mightn't have found out what he had, and he could have served his father blindly. Being his father's tool was not what he desired, but he hated the very fact he'd gotten himself into a situation where his father tried to have him killed. He knew it went against everything he ought be like as a son, but he knew that at the very least, it vindicated his own feelings; Ozai was a terrible father and a manipulative person, and even if he wanted to care for his children, his desire for power was clearly in the way of that.

Rolling himself over, he glanced over to where Mai had been sitting, until she left; he had been in a daze when she had, so he was a little unsure why or where she had gone. He assumed she had gone to get some food, or perhaps to go find a means for them to leave the capital. The place they were staying was for the most part derelict, but they had taken a measure of security by hiding in the attic of the warehouse; Zuko knew it was cramped and had a sickening smell to it, but it was tolerable given his condition. He hoped that Mai would return, if only because he feared what might happen if somebody decided to go inside the warehouse; there were crates and various bags laid throughout the building, so he knew that it was still being used. He couldn't move fast nor quietly enough to avoid being spotted if somebody decided to snoop around, and he didn't want to knock out an innocent worker for just doing their job.

The Prince wished he felt better already, or that he was just a better firebender; if he had been, perhaps he would have had the guts to challenge his father to an Agni Kai and stop him and his machinations before they came to bite him. He had almost died the day prior, and it was only his caution that had saved him from being incinerated by the explosion that was set off inside the hideout, which he presumed had killed his father's body double. He kept running over the fact in his mind, and tried to ignore it, if only to save himself the anguish of knowing how terrible his father really was; he didn't even have the guts to address Zuko directly about his treachery, but instead decided to have him killed.

He sighed, and wished silently that he could have had a better family; being a Prince was a great honour, but he knew that the life of a commoner would have been preferable if he could have had a decent father and a living mother. His mother was dead, and she had been as long as he could remember, though he had vague inklings of memory when it came to her. He couldn't remember her face, only knowing it from the portraits he'd seen of her- there were only two, one of her and his father when they were married, and another of them with Zuko when he was a baby. He didn't really know what it would have been like with her around, but he knew she had to have been a better person than Ozai.

The Prince heard the sound of a door opening below him, and he tensed up, wondering whether it was Mai or if it was a worker; he preemptively curled himself up, and pulled the trap over himself, to hopefully hide his presence if it was a worker coming to pick some goods up. He remained as still as he could, and slowed his breathing down, hoping to remain hidden. He tensed up, listening to the sound of footsteps climbing up the creaky wooden stairs that led up to the attic, before he heard a low-pitched whistle. He pulled the tarp away from his face, and relaxed as he saw that it was Mai, who was standing by the top of the stairs with a bag slung over her shoulder, along with a headscarf that nearly covered her whole face. She pulled the headscarf off of her mouth, and eyed him with a curious face, or at least, he guessed that was what it was; her expressions were hard to decode, but he had gotten rather adept at understanding them over the years.

"Zuko." she addressed him with a whisper, "How are your burns?"

"Better." he told her, his words a near exaggeration; if anything, they hurt more than they had when he had first been hit by the explosion, and as the fatigue he had felt had faded, he became more aware of the pain, "Did you find- uh, anything useful?" he asked her, shuffling around slightly to keep his eyes on her as she approached, dropping her bag on the floor nearby, before she sat herself down beside him.

"Is there any reason your father might be leaving the Fire Nation Capital?" she asked him rather nonchalantly, and the Prince blinked a few times, surprised by the question; he didn't think there'd be a good reason for Ozai to leave if he wanted to secure his control over the Fire Nation government and make himself Fire Lord by law.

"N-no... no that I know of." he assured her, before narrowing his eyes, "Why are you asking this? Did you see him?"

"No, not him. A royal palanquin was coming down the main street; people came to look at it, but nobody waved out of it." she clarified, the Prince glancing off to the side, unsure how to comprehend what she was telling him.

"Why would Father..." he mumbled, before turning around to face her, "Unless it wasn't him."

"I think it has something to do with the 'holiday' my father spoke of. He was told that we were going to Ember Island." she explained, before pulling one of her throwing knives out, flicking it into the air before catching it with the opposite hand, "I think your father is trying to cover up our disappearances."

"That sounds like him." he conceded, before cringing slightly, a sharp pain striking his side; he just assumed it was from the movements he had made; Mai leaned closer to him, placing a hand on his sternum.

"Don't move too much, Zuko. Are you trying to make your injuries worse?" she asked him, the Prince shaking his head before he leaned it back onto the wall behind him.

"No, I don't." he assured her, "I just... urgh..." he let out a groan, knowing that he couldn't continue to sit where he had for what seemed like forever, "We need to leave."

"I'm working on it, Zuko." she stressed, "Don't get too impatient. I'm not exactly used to trying to smuggle a Prince out of the Fire Nation Capital."

"I wish we didn't have to leave." he added, "This isn't... right. Uncle's the Fire Lord. My father ought to be in chains for what he's done."

"But he's smarter than you, Zuko." she argued; there was no humour in his voice- she was being completely serious, "That's the danger here. We don't know how many steps ahead of us he already is."

The Prince cringed, knowing that she was right, even if he didn't want to admit it; his father was already aware of Zuko's actions long before he realised he had caught onto his sneaking around, if his suggestions at the last dinner they had shared was any indication. He didn't want to think he was incapable of outsmarting his father, but it didn't surprise him; the man wanted to take the throne for himself and destroy all his enemies. Somebody with such aspirations had to have all his potential loose ends tied up, and Zuko happened to be one of them.

"We're not going to win, are we?" he asked Mai, before his straight face faltered, realising he had ignored her own experiences, "Are you afraid?"

She turned her eyes away, and that told him more than any words would; she was human, even if she was able to pull the most stoic, uncaring faces and hold them against the odds. The distant look in her eyes told him she wished she wasn't there- that their nightmare would come to end. He was sure, however, that it was real, as he'd already slept on his burns and woken to their biting pain.

"What do you want me to say?" she retorted, less angry and more disheartened in her tone.

"I'm sorry, Mai." he simply told her, "This is my fault." he stressed, before pulling himself up slgihtly, "If I hadn't been so... stupid, then maybe we could have slept in our real beds."

"Just don't worry yourself too much." she suggested, her eyes meeting his own, as if to try and calm him simply with her gaze, "You're going to have a panic attack if you keep overthinking this."

"I- I just-" he stammered, before dropping his head down, "I don't know how we're going to win."

"We don't have to win, Zuko. We just need to get out of here." she stressed, before looking out to the nearby window, "Maybe we'll get to your uncle, or Azula. They'll be able to help us."

"Azula's not going to be happy when she finds out about all this." he noted, before chuckling, "She actually looks up to him, you know." he commented, though he knew that he was not too unlike Azula a few years prior; he'd learned however, that Ozai wasn't infallible, and he wasn't doing a good job at keeping his secrets secret- if she'd learned what he had, perhaps she would have personally challenged him to an Agni Kai, as unlike him, she could probably beat their father.

"Azula really does like your uncle." Mai observed, throwing her knife up into the air once more, before catching it in her left hand, "Ty Lee might tell her... actually, she might tell the army." she observed, before her eyes widened, "We should message her to assure her we're not dead.

Zuko nodded, not wanting Ty Lee to inadvertently set off a civil war on the presumption that they were dead; even if they wanted to appear so to his father, if only to avoid getting actually killed, if she believed they had been killed, then perhaps she'd send their evidence off, just as they'd told her to.

"We don't have an easy way to get a messenger hawk, do we?" he asked her, hoping for the best, but knowing that they mightn't be so lucky to find a way to message her friend.

"Hiring one." she told him as a matter of fact, before reaching into her pocket, "Money is something we are in short supply of."

"Well..." he mumbled, before cringing, "Could we steal one?"

"From a post office?" she asked, the Prince nodding, knowing that was where they were located; most nobles, as well as the royal family, had their own messenger hawk posts in their homes, but the common people could go to the post office to send and receive messages, "Maybe." she nodded, "I could try to go there tonight, but I'd have to leave you here for a while."

"It's... it's alright. I can hide well enough." he argued, making her look at him with an ever so skeptical face.

"Really? You can barely walk without grunting and groaning." she warned him, before shaking her head, "It's unsafe for us to be here." she gestured around the attic, the Prince sighing, knowing that nowhere was safe for them after what had happened.

"Nowhere's really safe. We could pretend to be vagrants, but then the guards might come and harass us."

"We are vagrants, Zuko." she corrected him, the Prince wincing, realising how far he'd fallen in the course of two days.

"Well, I guess that gives us an excuse to steal whatever we need to survive."

"I'm not a master thief." she warned him, "You seem to be far better at sneaking around."

'Well, as soon as I stop grunting and groaning, I'll get right to stealing whatever we need."


"Aang, why did we have to ride the mail chute?"

The young Avatar cringed at Sokka's question, realising that his idea was pretty dumb in hindsight; he had just wanted to have a little fun after having being stuck on Azula's ship, and then having to fight off the craziest firebender he'd ever seen, but now, as they were prisoners of the King of Omashu, Aang took back his desire to have some fun. The guards had taken them prisoner, and now some angry cabbage merchant wanted them dead; he was a little interested, however, given that they were going to go see the same king the Fire Lord, Azula's uncle, had been intending to go see. That was until he was shipwrecked, and his niece sailed as fast as she could to go find him. He just hoped that his little escapade wouldn't ruin any relationship he could forge with the local king, knowing that he would be helpful to talk to given his communications with the Fire Lord who he was originally intended to be taken to.

"Sorry, guys." he apologised, before making an awkward smile, "It was fun wasn't it?"

"I mean... it was a really dangerous version of penguin sledding." Katara admitted, before turning her eyes to face the king, who the guards were forcing them to approach, "This guy seems... interesting." she admitted, the young Avatar nodding; upon examining the man's appearance, he noted that his robes and hat were surprisingly colourful for an Earth Kingdom ruler, not that he'd seen many, not to mention he looked so old that he had to be at least ninety years old, if not a hundred.

They were forced down to their knees by the guards behind them, and one of them stepped forward to address the elderly monarch, "Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, travelling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages."

Behind them, Aang heard the aggrieved cabbage merchant crying out with an agitated voice, "Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!"

"Silence!" the guard turned to gesture to the merchant, "Only the king can pass down judgement. What is your judgement, sire?" he asked his liege, who narrowed his eyes at the trio; the three of them cringed, hoping that he would be at least a little sympathetic.

He raised his chin up and let out a little snicker, "Oh, this is funny."

"Sire?" the guard asked him, a little confused by his reaction; the trio glanced at each other, all of them equally confused as each other.

"You do know you could have just come up to the palace, Aang, and I would have let you in." the King addressed him, making him drop his jaw, bewildered as to how the king already knew his name.

"How do you know his name?" Sokka asked him first, before the Avatar even had a chance to question it.

"Well, that's easy. He's my good friend. Even after a hundred years I don't forget my friends' names." he assured him, the young Avatar's eyes widening as his mouth opened wide, ecstatic upon realising who the king really was; of all the people that could be sitting on the throne before him, in was the one person from Omashu he actually knew.

"Bumi!" he shouted out his name, beaming at him brightly, before his jaw dropped slightly, a little amazed to think that his friend was sitting before him, an old and wise king, "How'd you become a king?"

"A hundred years is a long time, Aang. Crazy things can happen." he assured him, rising up to his feet, before he raised his hand up, "Please, unshackle them. I can't have the Avatar and his friends in chains."

The guards nodded, and immediately moved to free them from their shackles; Katara and Sokka were both amazed by the revelation and the former immediately strode closer to the king with an interested expression.

"We're really lucky that you're the king of this place. Aang was just talking about you, before we... uh, used one of your mail chutes as a ride."

"Well, I don't blame you for trying it. I taught it to Aang myself." he acknowledged, before raising his hand, his eyes rising to the guards, and his voice shifting to a more serious tone, "Leave us. I want to speak with the Avatar alone."

"Of course, sire." the guards both bowed toward him, before they approached the cabbage merchant, who had a frustrated look on his face.

"Come on now." one of them grasped him by the shoulder, "You can always get another cart."

"But my cabbages..." he decried their words, before turning around, clearly saddened he didn't get his justice; Aang, however, was glad, given he was asking, insanely enough, to have them killed for destroying his cart- it was truly an accident, and he felt a little sorry that the man had come all the way to the palace for nothing.

"Now, now," Bumi spoke up, eyeing the three of them, "who wants to have some dinner?" he asked, sounding rather happy to provide for them; the young Avatar wasn't surprised, given he was his friend, but it was a little generous, given they'd just run amok in his city.

"Oh! You know, I'd love to eat some-" Sokka began, Katara raising a hand to quiet her brother.

"Sokka, do you have any manners? Do you want to take the food from a bunch of people that are under attack from the Fire Nation" she questioned him, the Water Tribe boy making a sheepish smile.

"Uh, sorry." he made an awkward smile, Bumi chuckling, before he glanced over to his right.

"No, it's alright. The food might be a while however. My attendants will make sure you have full stomachs. The people in my city have been well fed, despite the siege, so I'm sure there is enough to spare for you." he stressed, before eyeing his friend, "Aang, there's some people I'd like you to meet."

His eyes widened, remembering what Azula had told him about her uncle travelling to Omashu for a peace treaty, "Oh! Am I going to meet the Fire Lord?"

Bumi blinked a few times, before looking at him with confusion, "Does being the Avatar give you the ability to read people's minds? If so, that's a neat ability."

"Ah! So I was right!" he placed his hands on his hips, proud of his deduction skills, "She said he was going here."

His friend stroked his goatee before eyeing the two Water Tribe siblings, leaning forward to whisper to them, despite the fact Aang could hear him, "Excuse me, who is he talking about? I don't want to sound senile."

"Princess Azula." Aang clarified, "My acquaintance. Maybe she's my friend. Depends if she tries to chain me up next time she sees us."

"She's not your friend, Aang." Katara argued, the King of Omashu raising a hand, perplexed but clearly having a thought in mind.

"Well, she didn't capture you, Aang." Sokka corrected him, "That's not really her doing a good job."

"Princess Azula tried to capture you?" he asked, the young Avatar nodding, making the king smirk, "Oh, that's funny."

"Why?" he asked his friend, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, well, it doesn't really matter. She probably wanted to take you to her uncle, correct?" he asked, the young Avatar smiling; it seems that he also was good at figuring out the situation without much prior knowledge, which made sense- Bumi had always been a genius.

"Yeah." he nodded, before glancing around the throne room, "Where is he? I wanted to tell him that his niece was doing a good job."

"Well, he's meant to arrive any day now. He sent a letter a few weeks ago telling me we were going to have a grand meeting right here in my throne room." he explained, before scrunching his lips up, "Aang, you wouldn't happen to know where the Fire Lord is, would you?"

"Uh... I think he's somewhere around in the Earth Kingdom, by the coast. He's been chased around by these crazy powerful assassins."

Bumi snorted, before laughing, "Oh, that was a terrible choice of a job for whoever made it." he noted, Katara stepping forward.

"Uh, the guy who was trying to kill him... who tried to kill us, he can firebend with his mind."

"And I can earthbend with my ears." the King of Omashu quipped in return, the nonchalance of the comment surprising the Water Tribe teens, though, Aang didn't put it past his friend to do something so absurd yet cool.

"You can what?!" Sokka exclaimed with amazement, "Okay, I've gotta see this." he requested, Bumi smirking as he twisted his neck a few times, before squinting, his right ear moving, and with it, a small pillar rose up beside the Water Tribe teen, "Yeah, your friend here could probably beat that guy." he argued, before narrowing his eyes, "If he can bend as well with the rest of his body as he can with his ears."

"Why, thank you, young man." he smiled at him, his giddy grin shifting as he eyed both him and Katara, "Sorry, I didn't catch both your names. Sokka and..."

"Katara." the Water tribe girl told him her name, before bowing in respect, "Your highness."

"Oh, you don't need to be so formal." he assured her, "You're my guests." he explained, before turning his eyes to Aang once more, "Now, about Iroh."

"Iroh?" he furrowed a brow, before his eyes widened, realising he was referring to the Fire Lord, "Oh, yeah, the Fire Lord. What about him?"

"When did he get attacked? I hadn't heard about this until you spoke to me just now."

"Uh, about two weeks ago, I think." he told him, unsure if he was exactly right; he knew it had to be at least a week prior given, that was when Azula had come to capture him on Kyoshi Island and learned of the shipwreck.

"Well, if his niece is as competent a bender as I've heard, I'm sure she'll handle those assassins for him, and he'll be on his way here, unless he's got another idea." he noted, sounding understandably concerned about the Fire Lord's situation, before his face straightened, "We didn't know about your return, Aang, not until the temples lit up." he explained, "Your presence changes our plans."

"What plans?"

"The Fire Lord and I belong to a... well, it's a club of old men mostly. Some old women too, and a few young people." he explained, before gesturing to a door to his right, "Some of them are staying right here in the palace right now. They'll probably want to meet you."

"Why does a... 'old man's club' want to meet me?" Aang asked, a little confused as to why they were interested in him, other than by virtue of him being the Avatar.

"We're called the Order of the White Lotus, and we're all here to make world peace, Aang, and you... well, the Avatar's a good person for making peace." he noted, the young Avatar nodding, knowing that speaking with such people was probably a good idea; he didn't know much about being a good Avatar- the most he'd learnt about his own role was from Azula, and he'd only spent a few days with her.

His friend raised a finger, "Though I know you can make some good tricks too." he smirked at him, the young Avatar grinning.

"Oh, yeah, I can." he assured him, "I pretended to be an old man to get into your city."

"You're a hundred and twelve too... that's not pretending." he argued, before gesturing to the door, "Well, shall we go meet them?"

"Is there going to be snacks?" Sokka asked, making Katara slap him across the back of the head.

"Why yes, actually." the king confirmed, clearly holding back a laugh from her reaction, "Would you care for some jennamite?" he asked, pulling out some odd looking crystals, the two Water Tribe teens looking at each other.

"You eat rocks?" she asked, her ajar mouth and narrowed glare suggesting she found the idea to be a little bit crazy; it was, in Aang's eyes, but if he was really such a good earthbender, he guessed it might be possible to actually eat them.

"No, I eat jennamite." he corrected, before taking a bite out of it, cracking a bit off and shattering it with his teeth with surprising ease, "And it's delicious." he explained with his mouth half full.

"I love food, but even that's too far for me." Sokka conceded, before scrunching his lips up, "Uh, what about tea?"

"Oh, we have lots of tea. I'm a king. Kings always offer their guests tea."

"How many kings do you know?" Katara asked him, the monarch raising his eyes up toward the ceiling, raising two fingers.

"Well, seeing the Fire Lord is a lord, not a king," he noted, dropping one of his fingers down, "and I never met the last Earth King, so then I guess that'd just be me. The only king in the world." he conceded, before snorting, and cackling, the reaction he always liked to make, and that made Aang grin, just glad he had somebody he knew from his life before the iceberg.

"I missed you, Bumi." he told him, his friend smiling back at him, though his happy face quickly faltered into one of suspicious.

"I was confused for a hundred years. I thought you might have become a hermit and grown a long beard. Mastered the elements all by yourself." he noted, before narrowing his eyes, "But you haven't aged a day. Like at all."

"Yeah, that's what freaky Avatar powers do." the Water Tribesman added, "Freak up time and aging. Maybe he'll live forever."

"That's not how being the Avatar works. Did you see all those statues?" he asked his friend, who scrunched his lips up, before nodding, comprehending his point- the Avatar didn't live forever, even if he hadn't aged after a hundred years in an iceberg.

"Okay, fair point. Maybe you'll just be the youngest oldest man ever."

"Now, that's crazy, I thought I was younger than you." Bumi argued, making Aang shake his head, finding his jokes a little too funny.

"What do us one-hundred-and-twelve-year-olds get up to anyway?"

"Schooling people with our bending." he clarified, before smirking, "Would you like to test your skills, young Avatar?"

"Oh, I guess. I don't know how much you know now."

"With age comes wisdom and strength." he raised a finger, before earthbending the doors open, leading them down the hallway.

"Strength of mind..." Sokka mumbled, before his eyes widened, "So, are you like a master strategist?" he asked Bumi, who looked at him a little bemusedly, before nodding.

"Oh, I guess I am a good strategist, but I'm mostly strong."

"How strong can a one hundred and twelve year old man be?" he asked, sounding skeptical of his abilities; the blank look on Bumi's face was the closest he'd come to being offended, though the smug look that appeared afterwards told Aang that his confidence outweighed any words of doubt thrown his way.

"Are you a waterbender?" he queried, the Water Tribe warrior shaking his head.

"Uh... no, Katara is." he gestured to his sister, making the King of Omashu snicker, pointing to him to stress his point.

"You're a lucky boy." he noted, "I might have just had to challenge you to a duel."

"I can fight." Sokka argued, his sister placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I know Suki was a good teacher and all, but I don't think you can beat Bumi. Just look at his shoulders." she gestured to the king's broad shoulders, which were indicative of a rather powerful stature, which would be a lot more apparent if not for the way he leaned over.

"Do you have back problems or something?" the warrior asked once more, obviously confused by his posture, which was very hunched, which was confusing, given how spritely Bumi seemed to be.

"No, I'm just like Aang." he smirked, elbowing the young Avatar, "Very good at fooling people into thinking I'm an old man... well, I am an old man, but I'm a master earthbender too. Nobody's better."

"Is he joking, Aang?" the Water Tribesman asked him.

"Bumi is a master of tricking people. If he's tricking people into thinking he can't fight... he can definitely fight. Or maybe... it's reversed."

"You'll never know until you come to the arena." the king shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, Aang catching his suggestion; he was just too curious about his friend's clearly powerful abilities to refuse the offer.

"Okay, you're on."