Azula knew that spying on her uncle and grandfather might get her in trouble; she had been playing Pai Sho with Iroh when a servant had interrupted them, and told her uncle that he was required by Fire Lord Azulon in his study. Her uncle told her to remain in the tea-room where they had been playing their game, and that he would be back soon; she had wanted to follow his request, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she tailed after him. The guards were a bit of an issue, so she wasn't able to directly follow him into the Fire Lord's private section of the palace, and had to walk around through the servants section, where they prepared the Fire Lord's meals, tea and washed his clothing.

The servants were easy to fool, as they were consumed by their tasks, and she was able to sneak around to the other side, where there were no guards to stop her. She knew that there would be Imperial Firebenders outside the doors, so she decided to enter another room nearby her grandfather's study, that being his personal tea room, and after checking where the guards were, she found a spot to hide in the room, listening to their conversation through the wall; she had missed some of it, but when she started listening, she was able to make out their words clearly enough.

"But Iroh, I must warn you, the office of Fire Lord changes you, and requires things of you that you might not be comfortable doing." she heard her grandfather warn Iroh, sounding rather foreboding; she couldn't be sure if he was referring to the war, or to matters within the palace.

From what she understood, the Fire Lord took the management of his household very seriously, and snuffed out dissent and any wayward voices very quickly, whether it came from ministers, high ranking officers, or his own family.

"You told me once that being the Fire Lord was my purpose, my destiny." her uncle explained, sounding confident in his tone, "I am ready for my destiny."

"No, no you are not." her grandfather snapped back at him, obviously not happy with his son's behaviour, which confused the Princess, "But you must handle it all the same."

Iroh had been going to all the war meetings, dealing with nobles, business leaders and representatives from the colonies and outer islands; from what Azula could see, he was doing his job as Crown prince quite well, and was more than ready to take on the title of Fire Lord when his father ultimately passed away.

"Father... what's wrong?" her uncle asked, sounding rather concerned by his father's tone.

"Are you blind, my son? Has your grief blinded you to the future you face? You will be the first Fire Lord to rule over a new age of peace, and though I am sure you will find comfort in that, you should not." Azulon warned him, and the Princess furrowed a brow, still unsure what he meant by his words.

Her uncle was a man of war, and had spent most of his life fighting for their nation, and ultimately, that was what had cost him his son, and had changed him; Iroh was not the same wise and headstrong general she had known him to be when she was a little girl, but even then, she didn't think he would be a bad Fire Lord.

"What is the danger I face?" he asked Azulon, though instead of letting his father answer, he retracted his question, "I know."

Azula narrowed her eyes, realising that they weren't talking about the war, or Iroh's change of heart after Lu Ten's death; they were talking about her father, who clearly wanted to make himself the next Fire Lord, even if their grandfather would not have a bar of it.

"I know you have the skill and knowledge to be a great Fire Lord, Iroh. And you can give that skill to your heirs. They're both a little dumb and cocky, but that's probably just because they're children." he explained, and Azula snarled slightly upon hearing her grandfather insult her intelligence; she might not have had the same wisdom her uncle had gained through his years of serving his country, but she wasn't stupid- she knew exactly what she wanted to achieve, and how to reach it.

"Children aren't the smartest." Iroh noted, and Azula grimaced slightly, realising that he might have just agreed with his father, "But they have hopes and aspirations. I know they will serve our nation like..." he explained, before trailing off, a moment of awkward silence passing before he finished his sentence, "like how Lu Ten wanted to."

Azula was glad that her uncle thought a little more highly of her than her grandfather did, but she still grimaced at the mention of her cousin, knowing that she wanted more than anything to become a Princess he would be proud of. He was everything she wanted to be, but he had died, fighting in a war they had practically won; now she and her brother were going to be the heirs of their nation, and after their father passed, one of them would be the Fire Lord. That was a long time away, but she knew that she had to think about it, as she was soon to be of age, and able to serve their nation properly, as her cousin had.

"That they will. You know what's coming. If you didn't, then you wouldn't be coming to every single war council meeting, eyeing off your brother like a bird of prey." the Fire Lord revealed his own observations; since she had been to war meetings with her uncle and father, she knew that her was right, and realised that it was more than obvious her uncle knew her father had something planned for after Azulon died.

"What should I do, Father?" Iroh asked him, and the Fire Lord's serious tone didn't make her feel like he'd be doing anything kind.

"Deal with the problem when it comes to you." he gave him a rather simple answer, "If you do not defend your right, then it will be taken from you. A Fire Lord is expected to defend his throne and dignity the same he defends his country and his people."

"I remember." her uncle responded with a quiet voice; maybe he had been told that long before the present conversation, and it was only now that he realised the importance of Azulon's words.

"So will you do it?" he asked his son, and Azula tensed up as she realised what he was actually asking him; Azulon was suggesting that the right course of action to deal with her father was to kill him.

She loved her father, and was loyal to him, as any daughter should be, and she was infuriated by the idea that her uncle could even do that.

"I know I'm strong enough, I just don't know if I have the will to do it." Iroh gave his thoughts, and she was sure she knew why; kinslaying was a dishonourable act by any measure, and she was sure her uncle did not take it lightly.

"If you do not, then his treachery will be justified. The strong rule over the weak, Prince Iroh." Azulon warned him, and Azula tensed up, realising that her father had told her the same thing; if he was thinking the same way Azulon did, then maybe that meant that he would be perfectly fine with killing Iroh, a thought which disturbed her greatly.

She understood why her father wouldn't like her uncle, but she couldn't comprehend why he'd want to kill him; he was going to be the Fire Lord now that Lu Ten was dead, so any action against his brother was just impatience escalating. She knew her father was a man who did what he believed was right and necessary, but she couldn't see him being that brash. That would be acting like Zuko, who was always temperamental and acting on his feelings rather than considering the ramifications of his decisions. She looked down, knowing that her grandfather was right in a way; Iroh had to defend his birthright, so if it came down to a fight, then she knew where it would go. It was the only way her father would be Fire Lord without Iroh dying a natural death, which she hoped wouldn't happen for some time.

"Is... is that all you wanted to tell me, Father?" Iroh asked the Fire Lord after a long, almost painful silence.

"Yes." he confirmed, "Unless you had something you wanted to tell me."

"I don't." he stressed, "I've left my niece waiting at the Pai Sho board for too long. Enjoy your day, Father."

"I won't." her grandfather snapped back at him, "Just go." he demanded, and Azula glanced back toward the doorway, knowing that she had to leave so she could get back to the tea room before her uncle did.

She moved to the doorway at once, and glanced out of it for servants and when she saw that the coast was clear, she paced down toward the servant's area once more, listening out for voices and footsteps; she could hear a few servants nearby, though from what she could hear, it simply sounded like they were working in the kitchen, which she could avoid easily enough. When she reached a bend in the hallway, she glanced around the corner, seeing a servant striding down with linen in her hands, and the Princess realised she'd need to find a way around her, or at the very least, some place to hide as she made her way down the hallway.

She noticed that there was a door nearby, but she couldn't hear anyone inside; she decided to just open it up and step inside the room. It was just a small storeroom, with a few boxes of goods, such as paper, fabrics, and other materials that might be of use to the servants in doing their jobs. She moved to hide herself behind where the door would be when it opened, knowing that if the servant was to step in, the door would cover her and allow Azula to step out stealthily without being spotted. The servant walked by without opening the door, making her smile for a moment, just relieved she didn't have to spend any more time hiding. She moved to stand right by the handle of the door, and pulled it slightly ajar so she could glance down the hallway, where she could see the servant girl pacing on, presumably to take the linen to her grandfather's bedroom.

She pulled the door open completely, before stepping through and moving down the hallway at once, knowing she had to get back to the tea room with haste; she ran down the hallway, unable to hear any more servants, and once she reached the edge of the servant's section, she was able to regain her composure and begin pacing down the hallway, heading back in the direction of the tearoom. When she reached a corner, she froze still as she realised her uncle was standing right there, watching her with his eyes narrowed, obviously suspicious of her not being where he left her.

"Azula, why are you here?" he asked, glancing back up the hallway toward his father's study, where she could see the guards standing duty, "Were you following me?"

She kept a straight face, wondering whether it would be worth it to lie and try and excuse herself, or if she should just tell him the truth; she glanced back down the way they both ought to be heading and decided she could tell him on the way, and perhaps, get some answers out of him, now that she had to tell him what she had done.

"I was." she admitted, and the former General raised a brow, before he began to walk down the hallway, Azula walking beside him.

"How much did you hear?"

"The bad part, I presume." she admitted honestly, "Unless there's something worse than Grandfather telling you to kill Dad."

"Th-that's not..." Iroh tried to excuse what Azulon had said, but simply ended up sighing, realising that she had made the right deductions about their conversation, "You shouldn't have been listening to that."

"Because it was a private conversation?" she preempted him, and her uncle scoffed, shaking his head, seeming disappointed, though not in her.

"No, because you're a child, Azula." he admitted, "You may be thirteen, but you haven't... seen the things I have. Or done the things I have. My father has never been the kindest man, and he has expected many things of me. Things I would never expect of you." he explained his reasoning, "Don't worry about what he says."

"But he's right, Uncle." she warned him, "Father... he wants to do things. I don't know what, but I think he wants to be Fire Lord sooner rather than later." she admitted what she knew, or at least, understood about her father; she didn't know anything solid, and was unsure if her uncle did either.

"I know my brother." he assured her, "He's always been... temperamental. I know he wants what he thinks is best for our nation, but that doesn't mean he should be Fire Lord yet."

"Will you fight him?" she asked him bluntly, knowing that was what Azulon wanted him to do.

"Only if he wants to take the throne." he admitted, "I will not start a needless feud that will do no good for our family."

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping." she apologised, knowing that her uncle obviously wasn't comfortable with her knowing what she now did, "I just... I knew something was up."

"You've always been the attentive one." he noted with a slightly amused voice, "I recommend you don't go snooping around like too much. I'm sure your father won't like it, especially if you're following him." he warned her, and she nodded, knowing that her father would not react kindly if she had done the same to him.

"I know, Uncle." she assured him that she wasn't that stupid, before sighing, "Why aren't you angry?"

"Because I have no need to be angry. You just wanted to know what was going on." he acknowledged, "There's nothing wrong with that. You just should have asked me... that would have been a little safer."

"Nobody saw me, Uncle. Don't worry." she smirked at him, "I know my way around."

"I know you do." he admitted, before glancing ahead, "Just don't worry about what your grandfather said. I am going to rule my nation as I want to, not as he does."

"The old man wouldn't like it if you said that to his face." she noted, slightly amused that he was willing to say that in front of her.

"Oh, I know that." he chuckled, "But I don't want to incur his wrath and give him an actual reason to make Ozai Crown Prince."

"He never gets angry at you, Uncle." she observed, "Maybe he just likes you better."

"He never should have." he admitted, seeming sad in his tone, "He's never been a good father... or at least, since my mother died." he noted poignantly, "Ozai's only the man he is today because of him."

She scrunched her lips up, realising that perhaps some of the things her father told her had more to do with the fact his father seemed to not care about him, and less about the actual way the world and people worked.

"Is that why he hates love?" she asked her uncle, guessing that was why her father was always so cold, even to her, the favoured child.

"I'd say so. I tried to be a good brother... but I was always away, serving in the army." he admitted, "I never had the time to care, and by the time I realised what Ozai was like, I couldn't do anything about it. He blames me for how Father treated him, but really, that was just him being... cruel."

"So... this is all his fault." she concluded, and Iroh's eyes widened.

"It is." he agreed with her, "But I could have done more myself. Maybe if Ursa hadn't-" he began, before shaking his head, "Nevermind."

Her eyes widened as she realised he had just mentioned her mother, and was about to talk about her death; she guessed he felt that if she hadn't died, maybe Ozai would have ended up kinder than he was.

"Do... do you think Mother would have helped him love us?"

"Maybe." he mumbled, "I don't know." he conceded, "I know she would have loved you very much." he assured her, and turned her eyes away from him, unsure whether she was just saying that to make her feel better about her mother being dead; she had never known her, but she left an empty feeling in her life, one that she thought could have been filled with something better than her father's cold shoulders and firebending tests.

"Maybe Zuko would have been nicer." she guessed, knowing that he was always so cold and annoyed by her, which she felt had a lot to do with the fact she was associated with their dead mother, and that she got all the attention of their only living parent.

"He feels just like Ozai did." he admitted, and her eyes widened, realising how similar they must have been, at least as children, "And I can't let him turn out like that. He can be better."

"Then... am I like you, Uncle?" she asked, wondering if then it was her responsibility to be kinder to Zuko, as Iroh must have tried to have been to her father; even if her uncle had failed to bond with Ozai, she guessed she might be able to get her brother to like her, or at the very least, trust her, if he was able to give up on his stubborn disdain for her.

"Maybe." he admitted, sounding a little unsure, before he smiled at her, "If you can beat me in our game of Pai Sho, that'd be proof."

She shook her head, knowing that would be very unlikely, "I don't think I can."

"You just need to learn, and you can't learn without trying." he explained, before placing a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go. Don't worry about what Grandfather said... he's just an old, angry man."

"Yeah..." she mumbled, knowing that he was trying to reassure her, but in fact, he only made her feel more nervous about what they discussed.

"Needless worries can consume people, my niece. You shouldn't spend all your time thinking about the ifs and buts of life. Taking some time to just enjoy yourself can help you greatly."

"You must really like being retired." she noted, slightly amused by how lazy her uncle had become, despite the important role he played as Crown Prince.

"Oh, I love it." he grinned at her, "But I know I will have a lot of work to do once I become Fire Lord, so I'm just appreciating it while I can." he explained, before furrowing a brow, "So, maybe you should consider what you might be doing in future, so you can appreciate what you have right now."

"More firebending sets to do." she recalled the first thing that came to mind, before letting out a sigh, "I can't wait for the day Lo and Li won't harass me anymore because I'll be a master firebender."

"I will be proud to see that day arrive, Azula. You are already a great firebender, and you don't have much longer to go until you join the ranks of great firebending masters." he acknowledged, and she smiled for a moment, realising that he was giving credit to her abilities; he usually avoided talking about her firebending training, and just hearing that made her feel a little brighter.

Her father would compliment her skills, but half the time, it just seemed like he did so to prod Zuko into working harder on his own bending; her uncle's comment just seemed all the more genuine and not in anyway an exaggeration, or an attempt to soothe her ego.

"Thank you, Uncle." she nodded at him, her feelings of appreciation outweighing any nervousness she felt about her grandfather's words; her uncle at the very least cared, and he wanted her to succeed- the same couldn't be said for the man she was named after.

"I won't let you down." she assured him, and Iroh shook his head.

"You can't. I always will be proud of you, as long as you stay true to yourself, and do what you think is right." he assured her, and the Princess narrowed her eyes, turning them away as she considered the content of his words.

"What I think is right?" she asked, before scrunching her lips up, "I will do what is necessary to make myself a worthy heir and gracious Princess." she explained the ideal of what she strived to in all of her actions, or at least those that weren't caused by curiosity, compulsion or mere obligation.

"Will that make you happy?" he asked her, and she nodded.

"More than anything." she stressed, and her uncle's expression shifted; he was a little confused by her words, for some reason, and raised his left hand up to his goatee, which he stroked in thought.

"Worth is to the eye of the beholder." he acknowledged, "For me, you are already worthy, my niece."

"I am?" she asked, surprised that he was willing to say that when she hadn't achieved anything of note.

"You are smart, brave and ever-focused on learning more and finding a path ahead. You are worthy, my niece. All you need is something to spend your time doing, other than drilling through firebending sets." he explained, "Your schooling, at least the formal part, it's nearly over. Soon enough you'll be here in the palace taking lessons from your tutors, and lectures from senior ministers and military officials." he explained, smiling at her, "You will do well, but I feel... you might want to do more than that."

"I do." she confirmed, knowing that once she had something in mind, she would ask her uncle about it; serving her nation, however she could do it, would be vital in placing herself above her brother as her uncle and father's heir, and proving herself to the elite of her nation, whose support she would rely upon once she became Fire Lord.

"Then I recommend you think about that. I will help you in any way I can, Azula. If you need something, then you need only ask."

"I will, Uncle, soon enough."


The look on Piandao's face indicated that he was surprised about the events at Omashu; it seemed that the official military channels got word around far faster than the Order of the White Lotus could tell him of the events that occured in that military encampment. The sword master placed his hands together as he considered what Mai had just told him, and Zuko patiently waited for his response; he wanted more than anything to go help his uncle, now that he knew he was alive and safe, at least for the moment. He knew there would be dangers in trying to reach his uncle, and that was why he was patiently waiting for Piandao's response. He was looking down at the piece of calligraphy he had been working on before he and Mai returned, and seemingly deep in thought.

"Master?" he asked him, "Is something wrong?" he asked him, unsure why he had fallen silent all of sudden.

"No, nothing's wrong." he assured him, before he smiled at him, "This is good news. Iroh is safe." he acknowledged what he had learnt, before his expression faltered, "But that does not mean it will be safe to reach him. Your father's men will be intent on finding you both, and if you head toward Omashu, I don't doubt they could catch up and cause you even more grief."

"I'm always looking over my shoulder." Zuko conceded, before sighing, knowing that he was right, "You're right, Master."

"Once I hear back from my contacts in the capital, we can make a proper judgement on what ought to be done. We still don't know how far your father's conspiracy extends; anyone could be involved, for all we know. I assume it's mostly restricted to the government and upper echelons of the military, but that's just my assumption."

"I don't think my father was a part of it." Mai spoke up, making Zuko turn to face her, "He genuinely believed Zuko and I were meant to be going on a vacation when we were about to be attacked." she explained what had happened that afternoon, "He's... well, I think he works closely with Ozai." she admitted, "That doesn't mean he's part of the conspiracy."

"Hmph." Zuko let out a heavy breath, realising that many people could be simply fooled by his father's lies and machinations, "So, maybe more people are just being duped into it. I don't imagine many people would like the idea of killing or overthrowing my uncle."

"Neither do I." Piandao agreed with him, "Whoever is in the know, it can't be many people. It would only take one disgruntled conspirator to inform your uncle, directly or otherwise, to incriminate your father."

"Well, he's already been informed, so... that doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" he asked the sword master, knowing it was only a matter of time before Iroh revealed his father's treachery.

Whether he would wait to return to the capital was yet to be seen, but Zuko guessed that he might speak up earlier rather than later, as he might be able to get enough of the military on side before Ozai was able to send more assassins his way, or try and get some of his conspirators to capture him, or sink whatever ship he'd be taking back to the homeland. The Prince realised he had spent quite some time just thinking about the ways in which his father might try to come after them, or his uncle for that matter; the latter thoughts seemed far more relevant now that he knew his uncle had defeated the assassins, and by extension, Ozai would know that he would need a new plan.

"The Fire Lord will likely act on his knowledge soon enough." he acknowledged, "When that occurs, then it will make less sense for you to remain in hiding here." he noted, "Though it will be just as dangerous for you, the sides will perhaps be more clear, and you may be able to find assistance from those in the military and government who remain loyal to your uncle."

"If the conspirators make themselves known, that's half the work done for us." Mai observed, "That's the best case scenario, though."

"It is." Piandao conceded, "At present, we only know that Ozai has supporters, but not their identities. Assuming anyone to be in league with him just yet would be foolish."

"Those contacts of yours... they're not going to be putting us all in danger by looking around in the capital, are they?" she asked, and the sword master furrowed a brow.

"We have a policy of burning our letters once we receive them in the order." he explained, "That is so that if any of our members are arrested acting against powerful individuals, they cannot root out our organisation by determining our membership." he explained the protocols they were using, "Unless your father has some very effective torturers on his side, I doubt they will be able to get much out of my contacts. They won't even know you are here... merely that I sought information."

"That means they could come here still." Mai warned him, "How long do you think it would take... if that was the case?"

"Maybe a week. I doubt Ozai would have men on the ready in this area. We're not exactly in the most populous and well-travelled part of the Fire Nation." he explained, before furrowing a brow, "I don't imagine we'd have any way to know if they were caught."

"You expect a reply." Zuko noted, "If they don't reply soon, then something must have happened."

"Maybe." Piandao replied, not going as far to say that would be evidence of his contacts being caught, "For all we know, the investigation may take time. You saw a few meetings, Zuko, not the full extent of your father's operations."

"I..." he mumbled, unsure what he should say to that, "I don't know what to do."

He knew that he didn't know as much as he would need to try and act on his father's conspiracy, but he didn't want to stay at Piandao's estate for much longer; not because he didn't like his former master, who he respected greatly, but because he wanted to try and help his uncle, and no longer feel like a helpless boy who had nearly got himself killed out of a mere lack of caution.

"Patience is something I know you struggle with, Prince Zuko." the sword master acknowledged rather bluntly, "I know you want to help your uncle and stop your father's plans, but you cannot do anything until we have a better idea of who your enemies are. Acting rashly will... well, I am sure you already know what can happen."

The Prince raised a hand to his cheek, knowing he couldn't argue against his point, as much as he wanted to, "There's nothing we can do then."

"Not necessarily." Mai spoke up, earning both their attention, "There's still Azula." she warned him, "And there's nothing to say Ozai believes she knows anything about the conspiracy."

"What, do you think she's going to be crazy enough to go against him?" Zuko asked, skeptical that his sister would do what he himself wanted to do; she was always the pragmatic one, and he doubted she would just reveal her knowledge without some kind of plan to imprison their father with the charges that could be laid on him for his treacherous actions, "If she goes to the capital, he'll imprison her... or worse."

"We can't be sure of that, Zuko." Piandao agreed with Mai, "I don't know your sister well, but it seems that she is trusted more by your father, and so far, doesn't seem to have done anything that would indicate she knows about the conspiracy, even if she actually does. Prince Ozai may believe she is still loyal to him, and if he calls on her support, in the case your uncle declares his treachery, she could... well, deal with him directly."

"I don't think whoever is supporting my father would take her shooting him with a lightning bolt too kindly. They might call her the traitor then."

"If it is the result of an Agni Kai, then it is legal and any potential crimes are voided by default. That is what Fire Lord Sozin made law." he explained, and Zuko nodded, remembering that from his tutorials about the Fire Nation legal system.

Agni Kais formed an easy bypass for legal disputes, and though they had been traditionally practiced for hundreds of years to end feuds between individuals, families and even entire kingdoms, they were never part of the nation's laws until Sozin made them so. A number of generals and other high ranking officers had been displaced from their ranks by many a great firebender who found themselves offended by their actions in the past; Fire Lords had never been overthrown by the tradition, as the Fire Lord's authority had always been seen as being vested to him or her by the Fire Sages, and not by the individual's personal honour.

"I know that... but my father might just have her arrested before she can demand an Agni Kai." he noted what would most likely be the outcome of his sister going to the capital to confront their father, "He's no idiot. He knows that she can remove him from the line of succession legally, and she hasn't... shied from talking of her desire for the throne."

"That's just talk, Zuko." Mai argued, "Has he ever really doubted her loyalty?"

"No." he admitted, "She's just really good at lying, I think." he explained his reasoning for that belief, "Covering her emotions and true feelings so she can seem like she's on his side."

"Azula does know how to fool people. That's why I think she can do it." she explained, "But even then... I still think we can help. Her and Iroh both." she stressed, and Piandao nodded.

"Let us wait for the response." the sword master suggested, before chuckling, "After all that, I didn't even thank you two for going shopping. I'm sure Fat will appreciate all the ingredients for making some more meals."

"It's no issue." Zuko assured him, "We're more than obliged to go on errands for you."

"For a boy who nearly died to an explosion two weeks ago, you're rather eager to do work, Prince Zuko." he observed, "That dogged determination is admirable." he acknowledged, before glancing down at the paper he was writing on, "Perhaps I might write a poem about it."

The Prince chuckled, not thinking that an errand was worth him writing a poem spouting the virtues of a Prince who had yet to do much of note for himself or for his country, "Perhaps not yet, Master." he conceded, "I have yet to prove my determination can do much."

"You have survived. That is proof enough." he reminded him of what he had gone through, and the Prince sighed.

"Surviving is only the beginning." he acknowledged that he had some ways to go to reclaim his position as Prince of the Fire Nation, and to serve his country as he had always wished to; taking his mind from the future, he glanced past Piandao to the courtyard outside, and wondered whether he ought to do some training for the inevitable fights he would face- generating lightning wasn't within his reach yet, but he could certainly spend some time improving his swordsmanship.

"Do you want to go do some sparring, Mai?" he asked the girl beside him, her expression shifting to one of interest.

"I might." she gave a vague answer, "Are you firebending or using swords?"

"Dao." he clarified, before narrowing his eyes, "Also, Master, I think I'll need to get some new swords. I'm just using yours at the moment." he noted, making Piandao chuckle.

"Well, I've got the forge ready to use at any time, Zuko. If you want to make some new dao, you're more than welcome to do so." the sword master explained, before smiling, "I can help you with that, if you like."

"Uh, well, I'd appreciate that, Master." he acknowledged him, giving his former master a bow, before he turned to face Mai, "So, was that a yes or a no?"

"Yes." she finally gave an answer, before rising to her feet, "Let's see if you're good enough to fight off some more assassins."

"Well, that was the idea." he admitted as he followed her to his feet, before making his way after her as she left the room, aiming for the door that would lead them out into the courtyard.

"Good luck." Piandao raised a hand to farewell them before he returned to his calligraphy; Zuko turned around as he reached the door out of the room, and glanced toward his former master for a few moments; he felt like thanking him, but his pride was getting in the way of that, so he simply nodded at him, before following after Mai.

He stepped through the rear door out into the courtyard, and was forced to raise his hand up to block out the glare of the midday sun; he noticed that Mai was reaching into her sleeves as she paced out into the centre of the courtyard. She drew out some throwing knives, and glanced at them for a moment, before putting them back in her sleeves.

"I thought you were about to stab me with those." he gave her his thoughts, before glancing over to the weapons rack where Piandao's dao swords were sitting, ready for him to use, "How are we going to do this?" he asked, unsure what exactly she wanted to do for their spar.

"I'll get some of those training daggers instead." she explained her thoughts, making him snicker; she had asked Piandao for some training weapons the other day, and upon finding out they were in the shape of swords, she cut the lengths of the blades and used her sai to carve them into the shape she desired.

He nodded, and moved to pick up two of the training swords, which unlike the actual blades he had ready, were made of wood, and therefore wouldn't pose much actual danger to Mai, given he wasn't intending to whack her into submission with the wooden blades. Once he had his blades in hand, he gave them a few swings; they weren't the same weight as the dao, even if they were of a similar shape, which would disadvantage him slightly, given that Mai's weapons had been carved so that they'd be best for her fighting style and what she was used to.

Moving into form, he kept his eyes on his opponent, who was collecting her own wooden blades, which she held in both hands; though at first glance, one might think that the greater reach of Zuko's swords would make victory certain for him, he knew that Mai's speed and unpredictable movements made her a far more intimidating opponent that she might seem with a pair of wooden daggers. She narrowed her steely glare at him, and though he couldn't tell what she was feeling from her eyes, he was sure she was imagining his own tactics, and how to counter them.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, and she raised her chin up slightly, looking at him with slight suspicion.

"No firebending, got it?" she reminded him, and the Prince nodded; he wasn't going to renege on what he told her- he would use the wooden dao, and that was all.

Without any hesitation, Mai moved toward him, readying both her daggers in hands, before she swung one of them up, aiming to slash up his face, something that would leave a serious gash if it was a real blade; he already had his dao ready to block, raising his left blade up, keeping the wooden dagger away from his face. It seemed that her move was a feint, as she thrust the other dagger right toward his gut. Zuko had no option other than to weave to the side, leaving himself open as Mai's arm grazed by his chest; she threw her elbow back, striking him in the gut, making him wince as he tried to reorient himself and get ready to counter her next attack.

The Prince swung his wooden dao around so that they were crossed in front of him, ready to block Mai as she turned around and readied both her daggers; she spun one around, holding it toward the ground as she looked ready to slash his arm. Instead, she swept her left foot forward, kicking Zuko right in the shin; he grunted as he felt his right leg give way, and feeling as if she would abuse his momentary weakness, he decided to distract her by swinging his right dao hard at her. She leapt back, letting the Prince reorient himself, and he let out a deep breath, realising that he might not be fast enough to beat her.

"I need more practice." he admitted, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"This is practice." she reminded him, before leaping at him, holding her left hand forward, with her dagger oriented so it would strike his face side-on; he raised his right dao up, blocking the dagger and flicking it away, right out of her hand.

She had another plan, which didn't surprise him in the slightest, moving her right hand toward his gut, holding the tip of the blade along her so that if it were real, she would be able to disembowel him by stepping forward. Instead of surrendering, as Mai might have wanted him to, he just fell back onto the ground, landing on his bottom and rolling backwards, doing a somersault before he landed on his feet, spinning his swords back around so he would be ready to fight her once more.

"Did that hurt your gut, Zuko?" she asked him as he moved back into form, and the Prince cringed slightly as he realised that it did; his burns had left him with aches whenever he would stretch his muscles too much, especially around his core.

He rose back up to his feet, deciding that he wouldn't respond; she only had one dagger now, and Zuko was sure he could disarm her if he was able to predict her moves. She rushed forward, presumably so she could take advantage of his discomfort from having curled himself up to roll; she had her dagger in right hand, and threw it back into her left hand before she swung that hand and Zuko's side. He moved his right dao to block the dagger while he took the other and swung it ather neck; though he was able to reach it, and was in a position to force her to surrender, Mai had done the same by moving past his right dao, holding the dagger right under his arm, ready to stab him in the side.

"Draw?" he asked her, and after a few moments of awkward silence, holding their blades toward each other, she nodded, and with that, he pulled his blade away from her neck.

"There'll be no draws with assassins, Zuko." she warned him, and the Prince grimaced, knowing what they would be facing, though he could remain assured by one fact.

"That's why I'm glad you'll be by my side."


Wiping sweat from her forehead, Ty Lee glanced at the box of fruits she had carried into Natsu's store; after all she and Haru had done for her, she was more than willing to help them out, and it was even better that they could provide her some cover. Her gray eyes and brown hair made her look a little less specifically Fire Nation, so putting on Earth Kingdom robes made her look like any other commoner, albeit a fair-skinned and pretty one. For the past few days she had been going by the name Aki, which Natsu had given to her, and she was actually growing used to her new position, though perhaps that was only because it was far better than being on the run in the wilderness, trying to escape from Ozai's men.

She had just finished retrieving some fruit from a farmer who had just arrived in town, allowing Natsu to sell some of those fruits in her store, while the farmer could make his way back to his orchard; Haru was nowhere to be seen, and she had been told he had gone on break, though he could tell from his mother's unease that she would have preferred if he had had a shorter one. She stepped over toward her, and wondered if she could do anything to help; she didn't know where Haru had gone, but at the very least, she could try and persuade him to not do that again. She knew that Natsu loved her son dearly, and she wanted to make sure the two of them were safe, because they had done that for her.

"Do you want me to go find him, Natsu?" she asked, and she shook her head.

"He can't be that much longer." she assured her, "Just go in the back and get out the signs. I want the customers to know we've just received some fresh fruit." she gave her a new task, and Ty Lee, accepting it without question; the tasks she'd had to complete so far weren't that hard.

"I'm on it." she assured her with a bright smile, and with that, she strode on over into the back room of the store, where the signs were located; they had a number of signs pre-painted so all she had to do was find the right ones and she would be able to put them up outside the store.

She ran her hands along the wooden signs, and flicked through them, glancing at the words on each; she first found one that had the word 'fresh' on it, and pulled it out and placed it to the side, before she continued on through the stack of signs. She noted a few indicating food items until she finally found what she was looking for: the sign marked 'fruit'. Once she had the two signs, she put them under her arm, and strode on out of the back room. She made her way past Natsu, and approached the front door of the store, before she pushed it open.

Ty Lee spent a moment to check if there was any Fire Nation soldiers around at the moment, knowing that they might recognise her from the posters she had seen put up; supposedly, she was wanted for arson, as if they had blamed her for what happened at the circus, though she was unsure what had happened to her friends at the circus. She assumed that they had packed up and fled the area as soon as she left, as the day after, they had already packed up and left, though much of the camp remained as a burnt out ruin; she hadn't been able to retrieve any of her personal belongings, as they had been burnt in the flames, and she had only walked around with Haru while in disguise, not wanting to get the attention of any of the soldiers who might have been watching. There were no soldiers on the street at present, and she took comfort in that, placing the signs up in front of the store; a few people walked by, showing interest in what she was doing, and a young woman approached her.

"Oh, you're selling fresh fruits? Do you have any peaches?" she asked, and Ty Lee nodded with a smile, recalling that she had seen some in the stacks of fruit they already had.

"Yes. They're not the freshest fruit here, but they came in today." she explained, and the woman nodded, stepping over toward the doorway.

"Well, I'll go get some then." she decided, and Ty Lee watched her enter; she smiled as she realised she had just earned Natsu a customer, and she stepped in after the woman, standing by the front of the store as she went to go retrieve some peaches.

She picked them up and put them in a bag, before taking them over to Natsu, "Hi, Natsu." she addressed her with an upbeat tone, "Who's the girl?"

"My niece, Aki." she lied with a forced smile on her face, "Just these?"

"Yep." the woman confirmed, and she pulled out some coins from a bag she had slung around her shoulder.

"Twelve copper." the store owner clarified, and the woman gave her the requested currency, "Have a good evening, Qie." she smiled at the woman, and she paced on away.

"Nice of you to help your aunt." she addressed Ty Lee, who simply gave her a smile, waving as she left and closed the door behind herself; she turned back to face Natsu, who nodded at her, assuring her that she had done well.

"That could have been worse." she admitted, before stepping closer, "Does anybody know who your relatives are?"

"Not many. I came to this village to marry Tyro, so most people have never seen my siblings." she admitted, before sighing, "It's been long since I've seen my family... and him."

She grimaced, knowing that her husband's absence must have been hard on her; she seemed like an independent and capable woman, but certainly a lonely and sad one. Haru seemed to be distant, if not agitated at times, and she understood that might have had to do with the Fire Nation; whenever she mentioned the war, he became uneasy, if not outright hostile.

"Maybe you and Haru should go visit your relatives."

"Nobody would be here to work the shop if we left." she admitted, "I need to pay taxes or this shop won't be mine for much longer." she warned, and Ty Lee grimaced, knowing who might do that.

"I..." she mumbled, knowing that it was her people who were responsible for her family's problems, "That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." Natsu admitted honestly, before suddenly, their attention was drawn by the door being opened behind her; she turned around, and realised it was Haru, who had a near panicked look on his face.

"Hi, Mum." he addressed his mother, a little nervous in his tone, before turning his eyes to her, "Ty Lee." he uttered her name, a little more quietly than he had before saying it.

"Where have you been, Haru? You're lateǃ" Natsu chided him, before gesturing to the shelves, "Get started on your chores."

"Uh, yeah." he nodded, and the Fire Nation girl narrowed her eyes at him, unsure what he had been spending his break time doing, "What?" he asked her, confused by her staring.

Suddenly, the door was opened once more, and Ty Lee turned her gaze over to the figure who had entered; it was a teenage girl, around her own age, wearing blue robes that seemed unusual for the area, and she had an intrigued look on her face, with her eyes clearly focused on Haru.

"Hey, you're that kid. Why did you run away before?" she asked him, sounding more curious than suspicious, and the Earth Kingdom boy nervously stepped back, momentarily eyeing the acrobat before he looked at the other girl.

"Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid." he dismissed her suggestion, which Ty Lee assumed was a lie, and the oddly-dressed girl seemed to see right through it.

She was joined by another boy dressed in blue, probably a year or two older than herself, and a younger boy wearing a conical hat and orange and yellow robes, who seemed to be just as forward as the girl, "No, she doesn't." he stressed, "We saw you earthbending."

Ty Lee blinked for a few moments, and realised that that was what he had been keeping a secret, and what his mother had refused to mention. His mother gasped, and immediately moved to close the windows and door to make sure nobody could hear them; she was so surprised that she couldn't do anything but stand there aghast.

"They saw you doing what?" Natsu asked her son, whose nervous and panicked expression only made Ty Lee share in his emotions; she knew for a fact that the Fire Nation didn't like earthbenders, especially in the colonies, and it made more sense than not for him to hide his abilities.

"They're crazy, Mumǃ" he defended himself, trying to deny what they had accused him of doing, "I mean, look at how they're dressed; the group seemed a little self conscious, and readjusted their clothes as Natsu stared at her son with unease.

"You know how dangerous that is. You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending." she warned him, and Ty Lee knew enough about them to know what they were referring to; it made a lot of sense that he was always trying to avoid earthbending and revealing his abilities to her, given that she might accidentally reveal it to somebody who could rat him out.

Suddenly, before she could even try and ask Haru about what had just happened, some knocks hit the door, "Open upǃ"

"Fire Nationǃ" the elder boy declared with a rather loud whisper as he eyed through the blinds, "Act natural." he advised them, and Ty Lee looked at him with confusion; she was unsure exactly what he meant she should do.

Everyone got into positions, and though some of them were a little weird, she guessed their intention was to look like they were just standing around the store. The acrobat stood by one of the shelves, as if she was getting ready to pick something off of it. Natsu opened the door, and a few moments later, a man stepped into the room; he was a soldier, clearly enough, and his uniform suggested that he was of a reasonably high rank.

"Good day." the officer spoke up, "We're looking for the fugitive, who you might have heard of. An arsonist." he explained, clearly referring to Ty Lee, though only Haru understood the reference, "You wouldn't happen to have seen somebody suspicious. A Fire Nation girl, to be specific."

"No, we haven't." Natsu assured him, and the group who had entered only moments earlier did the same, nodding along.

"We haven't seen anyone." the younger boy assured him, and the soldier raised his chin up before turning around.

"They might try and harm you all... so stay on the lookout, and alert any guards if you come across something suspicious." he explained, "This is far greater a threat than any earthbender." he stressed, before stepping out of the store, "Good day." he farewelled them, before Natsu closed the door.

"Uh... well." Haru spoke up, sounding uneased by the whole situation, and the elder boy turned his gaze to him, Ty Lee and his mother.

"How long has the Fire Nation been here for?"

"Five years." Natsu clarified, "The Fire Lord uses our town's coal mine to fuel his ships."

The expressions of the group shifted to ones of surprise, before Haru spoke up over his mother.

"They're thugs. They steal from us." he explained, before he paused for a moment, his eyes darting down, almost in shame before they moved back to the group, "And everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it."

"Quiet, Haruǃ" his mother angrily chided him, obviously figuring what direction his words were going in; he wanted to fight the Fire Nation, something that Ty Lee already understood from the first night she met him, "Don't talk like that."

"But Haru's an earthbender." the girl argued, "He can help."

Natsu shook her head, clearly not approving of such an idea, "Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this villageǃ" she declared, before glancing toward her son, "He must never use his abilities."

"How can you say that?" the girl asked her, "Haru has a gift. Asking him not to earthbend is asking me not to waterbend."

"Wait, waterbend?" Ty Lee gasped with surprise, the girl turning to face her.

"Yeah, I'm a waterbender. My bending is part of who I am, just like Haru." she declared, and Ty Lee furrowed a brow, confused what a waterbender was doing in the village; it seemed that the group were not from the Earth Kingdom at all, which explained their odd attires.

"You don't understand." Natsu dismissed her declarations.

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" the girl asked, obviously unaware of what had happened to the village's earthbenders; she had learned from Haru that they had been taken when the Fire Nation occupied the village, and now, she realised that his father must have been amongst them, and that was why he was missing.

"They could take Haru away. Like they took his father." she stressed, and the group's expressions shifted to ones of surprise.

"Took them... away?" the waterbender girl asked, touching the necklace she had tightly bound around her neck, with a carved blue ornament in the middle.

"Yes." Natsu stressed, before sighing, "That's why my son can never earthbend."

"Sorry." the Water Tribe girl apologised, "I didn't mean to..." she mumbled, before glancing behind her, toward her friends, "Maybe we should go now."

"I'm assuming you need a place to stay... that's why you were walking through the woods, right?" he asked them, and the group looked at each other for a few moments.

"Uh, yeah." the youngest of the group confirmed, "Do you know where we can stay?"

"We have space in our barn." Natsu admitted, "I don't want to be letting in strangers, but none of you look like you like the Fire Nation."

The elder boy nodded, stepping up toward the girl, "Yeah, we don't like them." he confirmed, "How big is your barn?"

"It's pretty big." Haru admitted, and the group nodded.

"Good, that means we can put Appa in there." the younger boy noted with a bright smile.

"Appa?" the Earth Kingdom boy asked him, and he raised a finger up.

"Appa's my flying bison." he clarified, and the Fire Nation girl narrowed her eyes, finding that to be an absurd statement if anything.

"Flying bison?" Ty Lee questioned, confused why anyone would have one of those; it only took her a few moments to realise who the boy was, and it made her more than a little nervous, "You're the Avatar." she concluded, and his straight, if not slightly pleased expression told her that was the case.

"Yeah, I am." he confirmed, before narrowing his eyes at her, "And who are you?"

"Aki, I'm Haru's cousin." she lied, and Haru visibly tensed up for a moment, before he stepped forward, approaching the Avatar.

"So, do you want to come stay in our barn?" he asked them, and the group nodded along, before he turned to face his mother, "I'll go show them where it is, so they... uh, don't get any unwanted attention." he suggested, and Natsu nodded, gesturing toward Ty Lee, "You can go with him, and make sure nobody sees this sky-bison. I don't want the guards coming around to the house."

"I will." she accepted her request, and part of her was a little eager; she wanted to meet the Avatar, partly because she knew that her friend was hunting him down, before she turned to face them, "Well, let's go."

She led Haru and the others out of the doorway, pushing it back open, before she glanced up and down the breadth of the street; she could see some guards still checking the other stores, searching for 'the arsonist', that being her, though in fact, she hadn't done any of the burning herself. Then, feeling confident they weren't going to walk into any guards along the way out of the village, she began to pace up the street, and the group kept speed behind her.

"What's with the guards?" the elder boy asked her, "They seem really... serious." he commented, and Haru decided to answer the question for her.

"Looking for some arsonist, who burned down a circus." he explained, "That was a few days ago." he added, the group nodding along.

"Why would somebody burn down a circus? Aren't those places meant to be fun?" the young Avatar asked, and Ty Lee decided to chime in with her own opinion on the matter.

"They are fun. I don't know why anybody would do that. It's just a bad thing to do." she argued, knowing full well the local guards thought she had done it; Ozai's men were ruthless and relentless, and they were willing to lie their way into getting her captured.

"Where's the sky-bison... uh, Appa?" Haru asked, and the young Avatar paced up ahead with a smile on his face.

"Oh, I know where. He's just waiting in the woods. I bet he'll be happy to meet some new people!" he exclaimed, making Ty Lee smile; he seemed like a light-hearted, enthusiastic individual, not the kind of person she would expect to be a threat against their nation.

"Not so loud, Aang." the elder boy warned him, and the girl nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Aang. We should be a little bit more... on the down low."

"Uh... yeah." his expression faltered, "We can't have people finding out who I am." his voice lowered, before he glanced back at Haru and Ty Lee, "But these guys seem nice."

"I'm not that nice." the Earth Kingdom boy deflected, "I just really don't like the Fire Nation."

"Hey, hey, you're a good guy, Haru, don't sell yourself short." Ty Lee elbowed him with a grin, not wanting him to think less of himself because of the anger he rightfully held against her nation.

She wasn't that close to her parents, but she could sympathise with the idea of losing somebody to malicious, uncaring people; one of her best friends had almost died at the hands of assassins, only for doing her duty as a citizen of the Fire Nation.

"Thanks... Aki." he acknowledged her, pausing for a moment to recall her pseudonym.

The group paced on up the street toward the edge of the village proper, and Ty Lee glanced up toward the woods, realising that's where Haru must have been practicing his earthbending. The young Avatar and his friends paced on up toward the edge of the woods, making their way up the winding path which passed by pastures and small fields of crop to feed the small mining village. She and Haru weren't far behind, and slowed down as they neared the woods proper, both glancing back behind them; none of the guards seemed to be in the area, but that didn't mean that wouldn't be seen. She was sure that if the sky bison was as large as she would imagine it to be, then they'd have to move up and around the hills around the village to avoid getting spotted, before they could reach the barn. She heard the sound of a low groan beyond the treeline, and dared to step closer, a little curious what the creature looked like.

A few moments later, the young Air Nomad boy stepped back out, and he glanced around, "Where's your barn?"

"Up that way." Haru gestured to their left, up toward the hills where his family farm was located; she could actually see the barn already, but it was still some distance away.

"Oh, okay." he noted, "Let's take Appa through the woods so none of those soldiers see him." he decided, before gesturing for them to come closer, "You guys can come meet him. He won't bite, I promise."

"Yeah, he's a vegetarian." the Water Tribe boy assured them from a distance, peeking his head back out from behind a tree, "But he does sneeze... badly."

Haru and Ty Lee looked at each other, a little confused by his comment, but they strode on closer, both silently agreeing that they ought to see the sky-bison for themselves. They stepped closer, and upon moving around past a few trees, they both made sight of a massive furry creature, with six legs, a brown arrow marked on its head and a saddle on its back; it was probably the biggest creature she had seen, and there were some big sabre-tooth moose lions at the circus.

"Wow." she gasped, "It's big." she simply stated what she thought, and the young Avatar let out a little laugh.

"Yeah, he's big, but he's really nice. Though he is a little lazy at times." he admitted, glancing back toward the sky-bison, "Come on, buddy, we've got to go. You'll get some hay and a nice place to sleep. I promise." he assured the creature, which let out a low groan before it began walking along to the left, where the two Water Tribe teens were standing, helping direct it so it didn't walk out into the fields and make itself known to the Fire Nation garrison, something she was sure would end terribly.

The young Avatar leapt up onto the tuft of fur on his sky-bison's neck, and grabbed the reins which were tied around either of the creature's horns, using them to direct it along while Haru and Ty Lee followed after it. The Earth Kingdom boy was more than a little surprised by the creature, and looked like he wanted to try and pat it.

She chuckled and tapped on his shoulder, gesturing toward the creature, "I'm sure it won't bite." she assured him, and Haru reached out, patting one of the sky-bison's fur covered legs as it walked through the woods at a slow, calm pace, easy for them to keep up with.

"The fur's soft... like you could sleep in it." he noted, and the young Avatar turned around to face them.

"Aha, you can do that... but it's pretty itchy, and it can get in your nose and make you sneeze." he warned, "It's not as fun when he's shedding."

After a few moments silence, the Water Tribe girl turned her attention to the two of them, "Do you have a stove at your house?" she asked them, and Ty Lee nodded.

"Yeah, there's a stove. Every house has a stove." she stated as a matter of fact, before raising a brow, "Did you want to cook food?"

"Well, I thought that if we were going to stay with you, then maybe I should repay the favour. After scaring Haru's mum like that... I feel a little bad." she admitted, and Haru cringed slightly.

"You don't need to say sorry... you just didn't get the situation." he assured her, before glancing down toward his feet, obviously feeling uncomfortable about his earthbending abilities; maybe he regretted doing them in front of the Avatar and his friends, given that got them in the little predicament they'd found themselves in.

Natsu wouldn't turn them away, because she was a good, kind woman with a big heart, but she was obviously afraid; she had been afraid when Ty Lee had shown up in their barn, but obviously not because she was a fugitive, but because of Haru's abilities. If he got agitated, if Ozai's men had caught her, then he might have attacked them with his abilities, and then, she didn't know what they would have done to him.

"We have a tendency to get into... bad situations." the Water Tribesman admitted, before sighing, "Katara, why'd you go into the shop?"

"I... okay, I was just being impulsive."

"The last time I was impulsive, I got caught by the Fire Nation Army. Remember that?" he asked her, and Ty Lee raised a brow; she didn't comment, not wanting to make herself seem suspiciously interested in that matter, but Haru seemed to do her work for her.

"You got caught by the Fire Nation? How did you escape?"

"Yeah, they wanted to capture Aang, I think, but I was able to... well, we negotiated our way out of the situation." he explained, though Ty Lee was sure he was being purposefully vague.

"Huh." Haru mumbled, before glancing away, "I don't think that works for everybody."

"Well, Aang being the Avatar gives us a little leverage." the Water Tribesman clarified, before sighing, "But we can't do that again. I got chained to a post for a whole day."

"Sorry for not... uh, fighting better." Aang admitted, but his friend just seemed more annoyed with his own actions.

"No, that was my fault. I thought I could fight them off. I'm just not that good at fighting."

"I thought you did good at Kyoshi Island." the Water Tribe girl suggested, "Though you were wearing a dress at the time."

"Urgh, please don't." he grumbled, obviously not liking their mention of him wearing a dress, which Ty Lee and Haru both found amusing.

"Sorry, a dress? Why was he wearing a dress?" he asked, and the Water Tribe girl raised a finger.

"He was getting trained by the Kyoshi warriors, but he had to wear their uniform. They're all girls, you see, so their uniform was make-up and a green dress." she explained, before snickering, "If you want to see it, it's in the saddle right there."

"Wait, you kept that?" Aang asked him with a surprised face, "I thought you would never want to wear that again."

"I respect the time I spent there, Aang." he declared, placing a hand on his chest, "Suki taught me a lot."

The Water Tribe girl snickered at that comment, and she turned to face him, scrunching her lips up, as if she were kissing something; the boy was more than annoyed by that unusual display, clenching his fists as he walked ahead of them.

"I can't catch a break." he snarled as he paced up ahead, and Ty Lee cringed, not really wanting an argument to start over something so trivial.

"Maybe we should talk about something else." she suggested, and the Water Tribe girl nodded, turning back to face her.

"Yeah okay... well, maybe you guys could tell us about yourselves."

"Tell you about ourselves?" Haru asked, sounding a little uneased, scratching the back of his scalp, "Well, there's not much to say."

"Nothing at all." Ty Lee stressed, remembering that she was meant to be Aki, "This village isn't that interesting." she tried to argue, but it seemed that they weren't persuaded, and the young Avatar turned to look down at them while leading his sky-bison along.

"What about that circus thing? That's interesting. Somebody burning down a circus just sounds... evil."

"The Fire Nation burns down things all the time. It's not as weird as you'd think." the Earth Kingdom boy argued, before he eyed Ty Lee, knowing that they couldn't speak about her true identity, or what had actually happened at the circus.

"Maybe they just don't like circus-performers." the Water Tribe girl spoke up, "Not that I've ever been to a circus. Did you two go to it before it got burnt down?"

"Uh, yeah, Aki did." Haru deflected to Ty Lee, knowing as an actual acrobat who had worked at Shuzumu's circus, she could actually make up some story about it.

"It was good. The performers there really know what they're doing. And they've got heaps of crazy animals they train... nothing like this sky-bison though." she noted, glancing toward the creature, in awe of its size, and really just the fact it existed, despite the fact it had been a century since the Air Temples were burnt to the ground.

"Huh... I haven't been to a circus in a while." the young Avatar noted, before chuckling, "Last time I was at one, I got chased out because I was doing airbending tricks... they said I stole the show."

Ty Lee raised a brow, wondering how he had gone to a circus without being found out by the Fire Nation, "How did you go to a circus without the Fire Nation finding you?"

"Oh." his expression shifted to one of unease, "It was before the war."

"Be-" she mumbled, before her eyes widened, "Wait- you're..."

"I got frozen for a hundred years." Aang clarified, and seemed to be saddened by the fact, "I... It just happened." he admitted, "I've only been out of that iceberg for a month, and now... things are so different."

"A hundred years is a long time." she conceded, "Back then... the world must have been so much... nicer."

"That's what I was thinking." Haru admitted, "Was the Earth Kingdom better back then?"

"I mean... people were nicer back then, and you could always get nice food in the market. The only Fire Nation people I ever saw around were merchants... unless I was in the Fire Nation."

"What... what was that like?" the Earth Kingdom boy asked, obviously a little curious about her country, which she hadn't talked that much about, knowing that he didn't like it.

"People there were... they were nice. I guess the food was a little weird, but I think that hasn't changed." he explained, and Ty Lee tried to hold back a laugh; people from the other nations probably didn't like the spiciness of Fire Nation cuisine that much, "I even had friends there." he added, before his expression became a little more nervous, "Now I only... eh, never mind." he shook his head, "Things were nice, and there was no war."

"I guess things weren't always like this." Haru conceded, before eyeing Ty Lee, "Maybe the Fire Nation wasn't so bad back then."

"The Fire Nation isn't evil." Aang stressed, "They just... forgot what being nice was like." he argued, and the Earth Kingdom boy scrunched up his lips; he almost seemed like he was about to say something nasty about her country, but he held his tongue, and smiled at her, which was reassuring.

"Not everybody."

"Huh?" the Avatar asked, not understanding his comment, "What do you mean?"

"Not everybody from there is mean." he admitted, and Aang smiled at him.

"Y-yeah, that's right." he agreed with him, "There are good people everywhere."


Haru opened his eyes, suddenly woken from his slumber by three loud knocks on the door; he was a little surprised by it, and glanced around, only to see that it was very dark, and he could barely see anything other than the silhouette of his window, peering outside, where couldn't see anything just yet. He pulled himself up from his sheets, glancing toward the door of his bedroom. He thought it might have been one of their new guests coming to ask where the outhouse or something like that was, but he could tell the sound was from the front of the house, not the rear. He wiped the sleep from his eyes, and pulled himself out of the bed, hearing more knocks on the door, this time louder. He wanted to groan in frustration, unsure what somebody was doing knocking on the door at that time of night; he realised that it could have had to do with Ty Lee again, and that was why he tensed up when he heard footsteps moving down the hall, and then, the sound of the door opening up.

"What... what are you doing here?" the Fire Nation girl asked the visitors, her words not any indication as to who had just shown up at the house.

"That's not him." Haru heard an unmistakable voice; it was the old man Katara and he saved from the mine collapse with his earthbending, and that didn't make him feel comfortable, or relieved- it made him feel afraid.

The visit had nothing to do with Ty Lee, it seemed, and the next voice he heard all but confirmed that, "You silly old fool! You took us to the wrong house!"

"What's going on here?" Haru heard his mother's voice as he stepped out of his bedroom's doorway, having pulled his tunic back onto his body, so he wasn't going to show up to the door shirtless and unprepared for whatever he might face.

"Aunt, these men just showed up. They must be looking for something." Ty Lee explained as Haru further strode down the hallway.

"He said there was an earthbender who lived here." he heard the same gruff, agitated voice speak up again, "You, woman." he spoke up louder, presumably referring to Haru's mother.

"Yes?" she asked, "What is it that you want?"

"This man reported that there's an earthbender living here." he explained, "Where is he?" he demanded, and Haru refused to step any closer to the door, knowing what was about to happen.

"There's no earthbender here." Natsu denied what was being claimed, "You must have gotten the wrong house."

The earthbender they were looking for covered his mouth, trying to quieten his breathing as the panic set in; he could see the rear door of the house, and knew he could run for it. Maybe Aang or Katara could help him; they were benders, and they seemed like they knew how to fight, or at least, deal with dangerous people like Fire Nation soldiers. Ty Lee as well, though he didn't want her to do that; she was in perhaps more danger than he was- he might be sent wherever his father and the other earthbenders had been sent, but the Fire Nation girl was wanted by people who might not care if she was alive or not. She knew something, that was certain enough, and somebody wanted her gone for it.

"The old man can't be that stupid." Haru heard one of the men speak up, before he stepped forward, and the others seemed to as well, if their footsteps were any indication, "Get out of my way, girl." he demanded, and the Earth Kingdom boy tensed up as he realised what might happen.

He knew she should just move, but Ty Lee wasn't someone who was going to give up just because some annoyed soldiers told her to; he hadn't known her for that long, but he trusted that she wasn't going to let the soldiers into the house to find and take Haru.

"No." she refused, "You're at the wrong house." she retorted, rather calmly at that, but the soldiers didn't seem persuaded.

"Search the damn house!" one of them shouted, presumably the leader, and he heard the sound of Ty Lee being pushed, and a moment later, her back slamming into the wall.

Haru didn't know what to do, his heart-beating like a drum in his chest; he could run, but that would just turn the attention to Ty Lee, who wouldn't be safe now. The Avatar nhis friends weren't safe either, and it was all his fault; he shouldn't have saved that man- he was a callous, uncaring bastard for giving him up, after he had saved him from being crushed to death by some rocks. It wasn't just the Fire Nation that didn't care about his life, but his own countrymen as well; that made him furious, but he was more afraid than angry, and when he heard Ty Lee's voice shout his way, there was only one thing he could.

"Haru, run!" she almost screamed, and the Earth Kingdom boy heeded her demand, running right for the rear door of the house, which he kicked open, before running right for the barn; the three strangers he'd let stay there were sound asleep, and though he hated to wake them up, they were the only people who could help him now.

He heard the sound of what sounded like a strong wind, but when he turned around, he realised it wasn't wind at all, it was fire; his eyes widened with fear, and he continued his sprint toward the barn. When he reached it, he pushed the doors wide open, glancing around at the sleeping rolls and the massive sky-bison; the sound of the door opening woke them up, and though Aang and Katara were more alert, Sokka wasn't going to wake so easily, it seemed.

"What's going on?" the young Avatar asked, rising up from the saddle of his sky-bison, and Haru just pointed behind him.

"The Fire Nation, they're here!" he exclaimed, the Water Tribe girl looking his way with a face of dread.

"Oh no." she gasped, before her eyes widened, "The old man." she deduced immediately, and as she rose up to her feet, Sokka groaned with frustration.

"What'd I say, Katara? We're eating fireballs for breakfast." he spoke to his sister with a clearly annoyed tone, before pulling himself out of the sleeping roll, "Well, it's been a while since I've whacked some... oh." he trailed off as he clearly made sight of Haru's house, which was presently burning down from the firebenders reckless attacks, presumably directed at Ty Lee and his mother; he could see the latter running out of the house, with a frantic look on her face, and he only felt more guilt.

"This is all my fault." he raised a hand to his face, and Katara stepped up beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, it's mine. We should have just found another way." she admitted, "We'll stop them, Haru." he assured her, but he shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, there's more of them... and where are we going to go?" he asked, the Water Tribe girl cringing.

"I don't know." she admitted, "Where's a source of water? I need to put out that fire." she asked, and Haru immediately pointed over toward the water pump just by the barn; she ran toward it, and began to bend the water out from the spigot, while Sokka and Aang both got themselves ready, and former readying some weapons as they all eyed the house and Natsu, who was running frantically toward them.

"Mum!" he called out to her, pacing to meet her as she accidentally tripped over as she was running; he helped her up, and he could see the fear in her eyes, "You need to get into the barn. We'll... we'll try and fight them off." he explained, "Katara will deal with the fire." he assured her, and she shook her head.

"They've got Ty Lee." she warned him quietly, "They knocked her out when she tried to fight them." she explained with a clearly fearful tone, and the Earth Kingdom boy's eyes turned to his burning home.

"She's trying to save me." he realised what she was doing, by drawing the soldier's attention; they were going to capture her, and that might at least provide him and his mother a chance to run, "I have to stop them, Mum." he admitted, and she nodded, understanding his reasoning and intentions; with the help of Aang, Sokka and Katara, he at least had a chance to stop them, unlike the certain defeat he'd face by himself.

"I know." she admitted, before they both watched as Katara drew out a long stream of water from the spigot, throwing the water over their house, which dampened the flames, and seemed to help stop them from spreading any further.

Aang then ran forward, spinning his staff around to create a gust of wind which got rid of any other flames by snuffing them out. As they approached the rear door, Haru realised some of the soldiers were coming to rush out of it to attack them, and the Avatar quickly responded by spinning his staff around, whipping up a cylinder of air that spun around both him and Haru, deflecting away their flames up into the sky above them, creating a rather impressive display. When he let go of the air, allowing Haru to clearly see where the soldiers were, he raised his fist, bending some of the earth underneath the soldiers to break their footing, which allowed Aang to easily knock them over with his airbending. Sokka and Katara rushed to join them, ready to assist as they stepped inside.

"Get them!" he heard one of the soldiers shout at the group as they entered the house, and Haru drew some dirt from behind him, solidifying it into a small shield that he could block their flames with; it only took two blasts before it crumbled and became a cloud of dust.

The young Avatar threw his staff down, creating a blast of air which knocked the two soldiers back, while the others decided to flee further into the house. Katara held some of the water she had left over from her water stream, and used it to blast one of them in the back, throwing him down face-first onto the floor as he tried to get away. Sokka drew out his odd weapon from a sling over his back, and looked ready to throw it at the soldiers, but as they moved around a dividing wall, it was impossible for him to do so.

"They're actually afraid of us." he noted, seeming amused by the fact, before he dropped his hand down, as they glanced around the interior, Haru taking note of how much damage the flames had already done.

He could see that furnishings had been thrown about by the blast of wind, thought that it was all recoverable from what he could see. That wasn't reassuring in the slightest, given he was sure he and his mother would need to flee now that the Fire Nation knew he was an earthbender. He and the others made their way through the house, and one of the Fire Nation soldiers tried to sneak attack Sokka as he turned around the corner; the Water Tribe boy was able to grab the firebenders hand, before tripping him over by kicking him in the shin. Another firebender tried to attack him, and he threw his weapon, striking him square in the chest, making him trip back and fall onto the table that Haru and his mother would usually eat at.

Rather than being afraid of the enemy, Sokka merely seemed annoyed by their persistent attempts to fight, "These stupid ash-makers don't know when to give up."

Another soldier stepped out from a corner, trying to attack them with a few quick fireballs, but Aang spun his staff around, deflecting the flames away, withering them away before they could set anything alight. He then used his staff to create a blast of air which whacked him into the wall, knocking him out, before he spun the staff around and created another gust of wind, forcing the soldiers back and throwing them off of them feet. Haru, still not seeing Ty Lee anywhere in the house, rushed forward to grab the downed soldier by the collar, and decided to ask the only question he could.

"Where is she?" he demanded, and the soldier, though dazed from being thrown to the ground, seemed a little amused by his question.

"The fugitive's in chains, and the boss is already taking her away. You'll be next, dirt-eater." he warned him, and Haru, infuriated by what they had done, punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

"They must have taken Aki." Aang deduced, his expression shifting to one of fear, "We have to get her." he declared, and raced toward the front door of the house.

Haru followed after him, and when he reached the door, he made sight of a few Fire Nation soldiers, one of which was carrying an unconscious Ty Lee; he reached to his side, feeling the earth around him, and decided that he had to act before they got away. He pulled a mass of dirt out from ground beside him, and tensed his grip, forcing the dirt to condense and harden before he threw his right hand forward, sending the rock careening toward the Fire Nation soldiers. When the rock hit one of them, they were thrown to the ground, and he momentarily smiled, feeling like he'd done something to stop them. There were still three more of them, including the leader, who were running back with haste toward the village, where they were probably going to find assistance from their fellow garrison members. He glanced to the side, hearing a groan of pain, and he saw the old man who had ratted him out, clenching his left arm which must have been burnt in the crossfire.

"Why did you tell them?!" Katara shouted at him out of the blue, obviously furious that he had betrayed them, "Haru saved your life!" he told him as she pointed her right hand at her; she didn't have any water with her anymore, though he doubted she wouldn't use her fist- she was a girl with a sense of honour that he found admirable, and in betraying that, the old man had earned her ire.

"I- I had no choice." he stammered, "Somebody would have found out... I- I knew they would ask me what happened." he tried to defend himself, only agitating the Water Tribe girl further; she looked like she was about to hit him, but her brother grabbed her by the arm, clearly not thinking that was a good idea.

"We have no time for this." Sokka decided for her, sounding just as agitated as she was, though clearly for different reasons, before turning to face Haru, "Where would they take her?"

"To their base. It's the old town hall." he explained, before he began running down the hill knowing it was only a matter of time before the soldiers gathered their strength.

If the fleeing soldiers knew Aang was the Avatar, it wouldn't just be the local garrison after them, but any Fire Nation forces that felt eager enough; he'd heard enough from around the village to know the Fire Nation didn't hold a high opinion of the master of the four elements. They had to act now, or things were going to get a lot harder, and Ty Lee might remain their prisoner for much longer than he'd like her to be.

"Let's go, right now!" he demanded, and the group heeded his command as he began to run down the hill in the direction the soldiers had gone.

Haru hoped that his mother would be alright, but he knew that the soldiers were going to be down for a while after the beating they'd received; hopefully that would give them enough time to reach Ty Lee and get her out safely. He didn't know how badly they'd hit her, but she could be out cold for a while; obviously, they knew who she was now, as the soldier clearly called her 'the fugitive', and not something like 'peasant'.

The group raced down the slope, following the track that would lead them back down toward the village; he could see the lights from the houses down there, and was sure that the other soldiers might still be awake, even if they weren't on duty. It couldn't have been that late in the night, but that worried him more than anything; if they weren't fast enough, Ty Lee would be thrown in some cell, and it would be a lot harder for them to help her. He could see the tracks the soldiers left behind, and their silhouettes in the distance; they were too far away for him to try and hit with his earthbending, as he wasn't that good at it to begin with, and hadn't tried throwing boulders that far, given it was a little dangerous to do so when he was trying to practice in secret.

"These guys are running really fast." he heard Aang comment, sounding a little exasperated and annoyed.

"Either they're afraid of us, or they're going to get back-up." Haru guessed, and Sokka didn't seem to like that idea.

"Our odds aren't very good, are they?" he asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer.

As they drew closer to the edge of the village proper, he could make out some voices in the distance, and he was unsure if they were from the soldiers or just the confused locals, who probably had no idea what was going on. He heard a shout, recognising it as being from the leader of the garrison, who had come to arrest him.

"Get out here!" he shouted demandingly, "We've got some angry kids on our tail!"

Haru reached his hands down as they ran down the street, nearing the town hall, where he knew the soldiers would be, and with them, Ty Lee; he could feel the earth below him, and was sure that when the time came, he would be able to use it to his advantage. When he made sight of the soldiers, he could see one of them was holding Ty Lee, whose arms and legs were already bound, and she still seemed to be unconscious; the other two were already in firebending forms, ready to fight them off; he assumed there were more soldiers inside the building, just about to exit to assist their comrades, so he knew they had to be fast.

He reached his hands forward, bending the ground underneath all three of the soldiers; two of them were fast enough to move out of his grasp, but one didn't, and found his legs sunk into the ground; that made him an easy picking for Sokka, who threw his weapon at him, the spinning blade of sorts careening into the soldier's helmet which knocking him over, inadvertently ripping his feet from the grip Haru had put on them. Aang and Katara both rushed to try and reach Ty Lee, the former tripping over the soldier who was holding her with a gust of wind right under his feet, before he fell, dropping the bound and unconscious girl by the steps of leading into the town hall.

Though they moved to pick her up, Katara was hit by a fireball in the side, and cried out as she fell over; Haru retaliated with a boulder that he drew out from the ground, tossing it toward the soldier, who was able to neutralise his attack with a fire blast, shattering the rock before it could strike him. Aang reached over to help the Water Tribe girl, instead of moving to reach Ty Lee, so Sokka tried to instead, though he was immediately confronted by what Haru was expecting. Six soldiers, two of them benders and the other four non-benders, rushed out, and immediately took form to assist their comrades.

"Aw, come on." the Water Tribe boy groaned with frustration as he drew a club from his back, readying it in hand to block the sword of a soldier who rushed at him.

"That's an airbender!" the leader warned his comrades, pointing to Aang, which drew all their attention toward the young Avatar.

Haru snarled, deciding to take matters into his own hands, raising his hands up to create a wall of earth that blocked the soldiers from moving toward them, importantly keeping Ty Lee open for them to reach. Sokka reached over toward her, shaking her by the arm to try and wake her, but to no avail, while Aang stood between her and the leader of the soldiers, who was still intent on fighting them.

"You must be the Avatar." he deduced, "The Fire Lord's going to appreciate it when we give him to you in chains." he declared confidently, and the Water Tribe boy scoffed.

"Oh no, he won't." he assured him, which seemed like a rather weird thing to say, though Haru just guessed he was trying to throw him off.

Ignoring his retort, the soldier rushed at Aang and Haru, and they both attacked him with their own bending, the earthbender breaking up the ground below his feet to weaken his footing while the airbender threw his staff in a sideways motion, creating an air blast which threw him into a nearby shop, inadvertently breaking one of the windows. The pair looked at each other, the Earth Kingdom boy thinking they had done a pretty good job.

"You're a pretty fast bender, Haru." he observed, "Maybe we could spar after all this is over." he suggested, making him snicker; he hadn't actually sparred somebody before, given how secretive he was about his bending, and he thought it might be a good idea- if he had to fight the Fire Nation again, he might as well get some practice.

Suddenly, the earth wall that Haru had created was destroyed by what seemed to be a number of simultaneous fire blasts, and the dust and smoke that resulted forced him to cover his mouth, lest he breathe it in. He turned his gaze down toward Ty Lee, whom Sokka had shielded from the blast, before glancing at Katara, who was standing off to the side, shocked and clearly afraid of what might come next.

Looking at the source of the explosion, he noticed that it wasn't from the two firebenders who had been standing there, but a group of five men, all of them benders, and wearing distinctive armour that signalled they weren't ordinary soldiers. It took him a moment to realise, but he was sure that they were the men after Ty Lee, and whatever she knew.

"The fugitive is coming with us." their leader declared, and Haru recalled his voice from the group that had come to their house, looking for Ty Lee the night she showed up at their house injured; he and his men were wearing helmets now, so it was hard to recognise them to begin with.

"No, no she isn't." he snarled in return, not willing to give up Ty Lee's freedom after what she just done for him; he drew up three boulders from the ground at once, and tossed them at the firebenders, who sent out two fire whips, each of them grappling his arms, making him scream out in pain.

Sokka and Aang immediately moved to help, the airbender breaking his ephemeral shackles, which left hot red burn marks on his forearms, while the Water Tribe boy thrust his club up, whacking one of them in the leg as they tried to grab Ty Lee. Katara reached out toward a trough of water that was some distance away, and pulled out the liquid, giving Haru his own idea; he reached to either side of the stairs that the men were standing on, and drew out pillars of earth from both sides, shooting otu the rock right at the firebenders; that left them momentarily distracted, and allowed Sokka to pull Ty Lee a little further away from the enemy.

They retaliated in full force, throwing their arms forward and conjuring fire streams which they sent into the group, forcing Aang to spin his staff around to try and disperse the flames away from them; he was partially successful, the flames flickering around them, but the heat was painful, and Haru was unable to see where the men were, and thus, couldn't hit them with a well-aimed boulder or pillar. Katara helped at the perfect time, tossing the mass of water she had collected right at the soldiers, dousing their flames at once, creating a blast of steam which momentarily disguised them in a cloud of water vapour. Haru reached down to help Sokka pick up Ty Lee, who seemed to be coming to her senses; they were knocked back by another quick succession of fire blasts, and the Earth Kingdom boy raised his hand up to try and block the flames with a wall of earth; it seemed to work, though he doubted it would hold for long.

The Avatar stood behind them and sent an air blast their way, the sound of metal hitting the ground suggesting that he had knocked some of them back for the moment, "We can't stay here!" he shouted at them frantically, "We need to run!"

"I can keep them distracted with some walls for a bit." he decided, knowing that airbending could only keep back the flames while Aang was in focus, but walls were something that held for a bit longer without forcing Haru to expend energy, "Run!" he pleaded to them, and Katara grabbed the young Avatar by the arm as they both dashed up the street, aiming to get out of the village as fast as they could.

Sokka remained by his side, looking toward the Fire Nation girl with concern, "Aki, wake up." he shook her, and she groaned, blinking a few times as Haru was forced to pull up another wall closer to them as a fire stream shattered his last one.

"A-Aki?" she mumbled, before shaking her head, her expression shifting to one of concern, "Oh spirits." she gasped, the fear palpable in her voice, "We need to... I need to- get up!" she exclaimed, trying to move, yet she was unable to as her hands and feet were still bound.

The Water Tribe warrior drew out his weapon once more, having picked it up before attending to her, and used it to cut the binds on her hands and feet, before he glanced toward his sister and Aang, who they could see in the distance, waiting of them to continue down the street after them.

"We need to run." he decided, and Ty Lee pointed exactly where he was intending to go.

"You need to run. They want me." she observed, "Haru you can move the ground, right?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Why?" he asked, and she pointed to the ground behind them, near the wall of a house.

"I want you to shoot me up onto that roof." she explained, and Sokka almost laughed at the suggestion.

"You want to outrun them on the rooftops?" he asked, and she nodded, obviously having confidence in her idea.

"That's exactly what I want to do." she stressed, before moving to the spot she wanted to be launched from, "Do it!" she almost shouted at Haru, who obliged her, raising his hands up to create a earthen pillar beneath her feet, shooting her up into the air; he and Sokka watched in awe as she landed on the roof on her own two feet, taking a form that told her that she had done that before, in some shape or form.

The two boys looked at each other for a moment, before the Water Tribe teen made a mad dash toward Aang and Katara, and Haru didn't waste a moment to run right after him; he could hear the men behind him, agitated by what he had just done.

"Forget the damn earthbender! Get her!" he heard their leader shout out as they ran away with haste, the two boys not faltering in their sprint until they caught up with Aang and Katara, who were clearly surprised by what had just happened.

"You shot her onto the roof!" Aang exclaimed, both shocked and amazed, the Water Tribe girl seeming far more concerned by it.

"How... what is she doing?" she asked, and Haru shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea." he admitted honestly, before he turned his gaze back toward the path, knowing they had to get back to his mother, and probably pack as much stuff as they could onto the sky-bison- they needed to leave at once, "We need to get back to my house. She can handle herself." he explained, and they nodded, following after him as he began running up the slope, back in the direction of his house.

"Wait..." he heard Sokka mumble, "Is Aki the arsonist?" he asked him, and Haru grimaced; he knew there was little point in lying.

"Yes, but she wasn't the one who did the burning. Those men did." he explained, making their expressions shift to ones of confusion.

"Why?" Aang asked him with a perplexed face.

"Because she knows things. I don't even know what." he admitted honestly, and the group seemed even more confused.

"Is... Aki even her name?" Katara asked him, "Is she really your cousin?"

"No, but she is a good person." he stressed, "She's helped me even though she really has no reason to." he acknowledged the fact of the matter; Ty Lee didn't seem like she knew the Earth Kingdom well, or trusted them in general, but she was willing to place her trust in him and his mother, and she had put herself in between him and the very men who sought to do away with her, for whatever she knew that was so dangerous to them.

"Who is she?" Aang asked, before narrowing his eyes, "Is she from that circus that burned down?"

"Yes." he confirmed, and Sokka's eyes narrowed, seeming interested by that fact.

"This was a Fire Nation circus?" he asked Haru, who nodded, "What's her real name?"

"Her name's Ty Lee." he explained, and Sokka snorted.

"Well, that solves that mystery." he concluded, which only further confused the Earth Kingdom boy; the way he phrased that, it almost seemed like he was actually looking for her, or at least, wanted to find her.

"Wait, you know who she is?" he asked as they continued running toward his house.

The Water Tribe boy nodded, before his eyes widened, "Did...did she have a letter with her? Some papers?"

"Y-yeah, she did." he nodded, remembering that she had taken great care to keep those letters closed and out of his view, though at present Haru's mind was more focused on the fact that Sokka knew anything about that; why he did, he had no idea, but he seemed rather sure of himself in asking about Ty Lee and her letters, "She stuffed them under the table just in case the Fire Nation came around again. Do... do you know what's going on?"

The Water Tribesman nodded, and he turned to face his friends, "We need to make sure those papers aren't burnt, otherwise the Fire Nation is going to start killing each other."

"What's in those letters?" he asked, now genuinely afraid of what he might have gotten himself into.

"I'm unsure exactly, but it has something to do with the plot against the Fire Lord's life."

"Ty Lee wants to kill the Fire Lord?" he asked, shocked that she could be involved with such a thing; she seemed far too kind for it, though it made a little more sense when he considered how heinously the Fire Nation had treated his own people- perhaps she wanted to avenge them.

"No, no, she doesn't. She's trying to stop that from happening." he explained, "Those guys we just fought, they must be working for the Fire Lord's brother."

"Those are Ozai's men?" Aang asked him, and the Water Tribesman nodded.

"Wait, so are you saying we just did Azula's job for her?" Katara asked, and he snickered; Haru still had no idea what was going on, but he knew at least that Ty Lee wasn't intent on murdering anyone, which was a relief to hear.

"Yeah, pretty much." he confirmed, and the Earth Kingdom boy's eyes darted between the trio.

"Who's Azula?"

"A Princess of the Fire Nation. She captured me, but it turns out she wants to be my firebending master." Aang explained nonchalantly, and Haru's jaw dropped; that was implying that Ty Lee had something to do with the royal family of the Fire Nation, which made her showing up at his barn even more absurd.

"Okay, how did that happen?"

"It's a long story."