I don't own Avatar: The last airbender

Chapter 41

"Good morning sunshine!" a voice yelled. "Get up and beat it, maggots!"

"Argh…" Sokka was not a fan of 'rising with the sun' thing, he was very happy with sleeping late thank you very much. Unfortunately, life didn't work like this. Especially in the fire nation army.

He quickly got up and put on his usual uniform before reporting to the squad leader. On his way, he heard the men (and sometimes a woman here and there) talk. It's amazing how loose lipped soldiers can be in their small talk, it may help that there wasn't any reason to keep thinks quite.

There was the usual small talk the soldiers had. The hot weather, things home, girls (the majority of the last part among Sokka's age group was about Jasmine, although there were a few talks about his sister. Much to his carnage). This time, however, he had overheard something interesting.

"Hey, you heard about the attack on the med tent?" a passing soldier asked his friend.

"Disastrous, what can I say." The other said. "How did they miss a tunnel right under it, I have no idea."

An attack inside the camp? Sokka decided that it was worth digging into.

"Hey, guys." Sokka introduced himself. "What was that about the med tent?"

"You haven't heard?" the first one asked in surprise. "I thought that everyone already knew about that screw-up."

"Hey, I was on tunnel duty all day, give me a break." Sokka justified himself.

"Well, from what I heard, there was a tunnel underneath the base all the way to Amora." The other gut explained. "A group of cutthroats managed to sneak in and butcher many of the people there before the commander entered the scene and cut them down."

"Crap." Sokka said with worry, his sister after all was usually in that tent. "Do you know who… well…"

"Many of the wounded." The first guy said. "Luckily, they managed to contain the enemy until reinforcement arrived."

"Yeah." His friend agreed. "Who would have guessed that there will be a hidden water bender and a hidden air bender there, now didn't that open a whole can of worms."

"What?!"

The two men misinterpret the reason for Sokka's outburst.

"Yeah, that was my reaction as well." The first guy said. "Who would have thought that the girls that patched us up are hidden enemy benders."

"Shh!" The second guy hit the first in the ribs. "Don't say that where someone can hear you. The prince obviously takes fancy to them. I don't know about you, but I don't want to end up as rat food because someone informed the prince about your stupid mouth."

"Hey, I'm just saying." The first guy defended himself. "And it's not like I can blame him, Jasmine is hot. Katara too will be a beauty in a year or two, once she fills up her bones with some more meat."

Spirits, Sokka wanted to punch that guy so hard right now. Was this what Mi-Dved had to deal with on daily basis? Although to be fair, the big guy's huge physic probably helps keep people quiet, you don't want to anger someone who can literally break you in two.

"Wait, so what's going to happen to them?" Right now, the wellbeing of his sister was more important than minor, accidental even, slights.

"Agni knows. They had been locked up in their room, the prince doesn't allow anyone to see them."

There was suddenly a horn that meant an attack, which caused all three of them to run to the center of the camp.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked.

"Koh if I knew."

Once they got to position, spears ready, the soldiers were facing a strange group of people. He recognized the Kyoshi warriors, with Suki on the lead, as well as warriors of the water tribe. And leading the men, was no one else but-

"Dad...? Mom…?"

The two couldn't hear him, yet something caused them to turn their heads in his direction. It was at this moment that he remembered that his uniform didn't consist of a full-faced helmet.

Yep, he was so screwed right now.

Aside from Xing popping up, the night went without problems. The good thing was that with Xing, Katara and Jasmine had something to hug their worries away. And Xing was now big enough to share.

It meant that Zuko got the full night's sleep he needed, all four hours, and had time to spare. When dawn finally came, he was about to wake Mi-Dved to guard the room. Zuko had to go back to the front to empower the fire power and rally the troops, but someone had to guard the room. He usually would have left Xing in charge, Agni knows the hellhound is capable enough, but the poor thing was still sleeping so Zuko decided to give it the much-needed rest.

Then, a knock was heard.

"Who is it?" Zuko asked.

"A message for his highness from the front."

Zuko opened the door and took it, thanking the man in the process.

'It can't be from dad, it's too early and from the army. What so you think it's about, Sai?'

"Only one way to find out."

Zuko opened the scroll and read, his eyes widened a little as he read the content. Right, maybe it would be best if they all went there, now.

He woke the other three humans, Xing was still in a deep sleep, another sign of how tired it was.

"What happened…" Katara said with a voice that was still half asleep.

"Great news, the troops found your dad and your mom together and healthy. We should get there as soon as possible, however, before things heat up." Zuko stopped for a second. "No pun intended."

"That's amazing!" The water bender called. "We need to go there now!"

"But how?" Jasmine asked. "It's not like we all can just fly there. And in case you have forgotten, Komodo rhinos hate me."

"I should be able to fly you all there." Zuko said. "I already flew Mi-Dved here, compare to him the two of you are just a minor weight."

They left the room, with Zuko ordering a big and tasty meal for Xing to eat once the dog got up. They decided that Zuko will carry Mi-Dved like he did before, with the big guy holding his sister bridal style. Katara hung on Zuko's back, hands hugging him tightly and head rested next to his.

For some reason Jasmine looked grumpy while Katara looked extremely smug, weird. It was Katara who had the least comfortable position and had the more risk of falling.

"Unbelievable, Every. Single. Time…"

'Not now Sai.'

Anyway, the group reached the commotion soon enough. And a good thing too, the weight of his three passengers was much bigger than he anticipated. Not that he was going to tell that to the girls, he had enough tact for that at least. Besides, the last guy who disrespected the two is now in a pit with rats eating him alive from the inside, he had no will to share this fate.

They reached the destination to a very uncommon scene. The acting commander of the fire army in the area was standing awkwardly next to Suki, who had the Kyoshi crown on her head and stood equally awkwardly. The two leaders looked at the scene of Sokka in a fire nation foot soldier's uniform getting turn down verbally by an angry Hakoda and a woman who looked like an older version of Katara. Zuko didn't need Sai's scanners to guess that she was Kya.

Zuko landed and Katara immediately jumped off his back and ran to her family.

Zuko stood next to Suki and the commander, the Amora siblings flanking him.

"So." Zuko asked as he looked at the ruling family of the south finally united. "What did I miss?"

"Your highness!" The man saluted. "We intercepted a large group of people that were identified as enemy forces from the barbarians of the water tribe. They were, however, accompanied by the Kyoshi warriors, so we held fire to ask questions first. Lady Suki here debriefed us about the situation, but we decided to inform you in any case to clarify it."

"Good man." Zuko then turned to the Kyoshi warrior, noting once again her tiara.

"The apprentice wears the crown, with the master not in sight. Such a promotion could mean only one thing in this situation." Sai told Zuko mentally before he may have done something stupid like asking where Lin is or congratulating Suki on her promotion.

"Talk to me later." Zuko said instead. "We should have a few days before father's men will arrive to arrest me."

"Yeah… Thanks, I-" Suki took a moment to register the last part. "Arrest you?! What the heck happened here while I was gone?!"

Zuko decided to indulge her.

"Yesterday there had been an assault on the medical rent in camp proper by an underground tunnel, which was missed from the maps because our source could pinpoint only the tunnel web inside the city proper. To keep story short, during the assault both Katara and Jasmine displayed their water bending and air bending respectively."

"What?!" Suki retorted. "Katara, I had my suspicions, but Jasmine? First Mi-Sha and now her? I thought that the air benders were supposed to be extinct."

"Obviously, we missed a few." Zuko admitted. "Either that, or it's nature finding a way."

"At least tell me that the two aren't related." She begged.

The two that Suki talked about were obvious. Knowing that everything said was heard by all the people next to them, Zuko had to be careful with his words. Whatever he said here will reach his dad sooner or later.

"There is no way we can check to be sure." Zuko half lied. He technically could and did find it using Sai, but a sentient artifact older than the fire nation isn't something you can use as a proof in court. "Jasmine and Mi-Dved are both orphans in the eyes of the fire nation law and have no certification of their father, if they even share one. Anything else said is just speculations."

"Aha" Suki said unconvincingly, but was smart enough to not push farther in this direction. "But why all the drama with the arrest?"

Right, Suki isn't a citizen of the fire nation, so she doesn't know its laws.

"Well… Ever since our, ahm, skirmishes at the south, grandfather's addict about housing and hiding water benders was clear. Any attempt at hiding water benders from the authorities will be considered as allying with the enemy, and therefore treated as a betrayal. I knowingly hid Katara's water bending for months, and even as a prince I'm not above the fire lord's addicts."

"Ouch…" Suki said.

"And then we have Jasmine." Zuko continued. "Being an air bender is a death sentence by Sozin's orders, harboring an air bender is sharing their fate. And it doesn't matter if she only now unlocked her bending or if she has no connection to the culture, the law says that by principal all air benders should die for the continuation of the breaking of the avatar cycle regardless of their motives, beliefs, gender or age."

"That's evil." Suki commented accusingly. "There is world domination, and there is just plain evil."

"Didn't make the rules." Zuko defended himself. "Besides, I too think that those addicts ran their course, they become counterproductive. But since the last time I said no to father I got this thing" Zuko pointed at his scar. "I need to be the fire lord to change it."

"This is messed up." Suki concluded.

"You don't know half of it." Zuko said, relieved that Suki didn't seem to blame him in this situation. "We'll give the family a few minutes to themselves, and I'll send them home. The sooner they leave to the south, the better."

"As for now, continue as usual, captain Shuki." Zuko addressed the man with his first name, which Sai fished out for him. You would be surprised how much calling your underlings by their name improves their performance.

"As for you, Suki, get some rest. You and the girls earned it." He said to the girl. "Talk to human resources about sending the fallen back to Kyoshi island for burial, it's part of their responsibilities."

The girl nodded somberly.

"Mom, I can't believe that we're together again!" Katara cried in relief as she hugged her mother for the first time in years.

"I know, sweetheart, and I'm not leaving you again." Mom hugged her. "Look how much you've grown, you're already a woman yourself."

"I missed you." Katara said with tears as she put her head into her mother's skin.

"I missed all of you too, more than anything." Mom said before adding. "And your father told me about what you had to do, I am sorry for having you put into a such dangerous situation with the fire prince."

"What-"

"I'm sorry that I couldn't keep your water bending hidden, and that it was the fire prince of all people who caught you." Mom clarified. "You shouldn't have been in the dragon's maw because of my mistakes."

"Mom, please, stop saying nonsense." Katara said. "I would do anything to bring you back home. Besides, you can't blame yourself for Zuko figuring out my water bending with a glance, you were kidnapped."

"Why did the fire prince even was in such a remote place, I have no idea. Banished or not." Mom mattered.

"It's actually one heck of a story." Sokka said, his tone made it clear that he knew just how thin the ice he was walking on was. "Apparently there was a treasure deep in the ice in the middle of the pole."

"We'll talk about this later." Dad said. "Anything that can help us advance our position will help. The most important thing is that we are all together now, and that there aren't any more things to worry about for now."

"Actually…" Katara remembered then the very important detail from the day before. She told them everything about the events that led to her revealing her water bending and what followed. Her mother and brother had a look of terror, while her father had in addition a pondering look, thinking what to do.

"Sorry…" Katara looked down. She looked up again as she felt father's hand on her shoulder.

"First of all, none of this is your fault." Dad said in a calming tone. "You did what you must to save your and your friend's life, no one can fault you for that. Know that whatever the future will bring, we'll face it together, as family."

"Zuko said that he'll convince his father, fix things on his end." Katara said hopefully.

"I will talk to the prince." Dad nodded. "But it also emphasizes the need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Speaking of the devil, Zuko was walking towards them.

"Zuko!/prince Zuko." The family said.

"Hello." Zuko nodded. "I'm happy to see that all of you are safe and sound."

"Thank you, prince Zuko." Father said.

"That said." Zuko turned then to her brother. "Are you out of your spirit damned mind?!"

Zuko's hair turned to honest to La flames for a second at the last word. Sokka was about to try to say something, but Zuko held his hand and stopped her brother in his tracks.

"The only reason that I'm not skinning you alive is because you're no longer under my jurisdiction. That, and the fact that you will be drilled enough by your family."

"He got that right." Dad said sternly as he put a hand on Sokka's shoulder, making her brother flinch.

"A-actually, maybe I should s-stay a little longer." Her brother stuttered. "You s-see, the squad is a-already understaffed and-"

"They'll manage." Zuko said while crossing his arms.

"But I need to get properly punished –"

"You're not a fire nation soldier, so you're not bound to the military addicts." Zuko rebuked her brother once again. "And as I said before, you're not under my jurisdiction anymore. Your family is once again whole and our agreement is terminated, you're free to once again be under your father's care."

"But what about–"

"You used your all of your bro points when I had to bail you out that one time when you tried to infiltrate that squad, which thinking backwards should have been a red sign."

Sokka bent his head down, excepting his fate.

"I'll only need you to hand back the uniform." Zuko said, to which her brother lifelessly nodded.

"Putting the matter of my brainless son aside for now, what do you plan to do with the entire situation around my daughter?" Dad addressed the camelephant in the room.

"I have already sent a letter to my father to explain the situation in the most favorable way possible. I expect him to have me arrested by week's end and have me sent back to the fire nation for a trail, most likely with my sister as the one putting the chains on me." Zuko started his explanation.

"This is hardly reassuring." Das said.

"It shouldn't be." Zuko agreed. "But I can convince father that going after Katara is counterproductive. For that, however, your journey ends here. You got your wife and your happy ending, keep it. Go back to your home, live your life, and stay there. Your part in this war is over."

"And how will you make sure he will?" Dad asked. "The last time you tried it, it didn't go so well."

"Because this time, I will stand and fight."

"I said 3.873 percent carbon, not 3.9! Get it right this time or Agni helps me, you'll never find a work ever again!" The quality inspector yelled. "And find some use to this garbage anyway, you have wasted enough money, you useless sack of lard!"

Satoru thought that the man was a bit too harsh, but the nephew of Loban understood the importance of precision in work. Especially when said work was for the crown prince's project.

Satoru didn't completely understand what the project was for, but all he knew was that it was big. In the literal sense. It was so big that they had to use this gargantuan cruise building shipyard just to build parts of it. He didn't see so much metal in one construction ever, and that wasn't even one of the main parts of the project for crying out loud.

In any case, Satoru was here for a different reason. They figured out how to send voice through wires, in a way. They managed to create an instrument that beeps as long as the needle touches the bottom of the instrument. They managed to create a code of short and long beeps that analogue to letters.

This was a groundbreaking success, and patenting it caused Satoru to be known across the entire fire nation. Already the army requested many of those systems in their larger ships, but it wasn't enough for Satoru. The code could be easily misinterpreted, how does a beep is considered short or long? What if the receiver or the sender messed something up?

For that, Satoru worked on his next invention. He tried to transfer entire lines of voice to the other side through the wire. If his work is true, then it will revolutionize communication yet again, and could be of use to the entire public. And because this time there is no light involved, the fanatics at the temples had no reason to raise their voice.

He talked about the invention, which he named "caller".

"Hello? One, two, three, do you hear me?"

He waited for a second, did his experiment fail?

"I hear you, nephew." He heard the voice of his uncle from the other side, if a bit distorted. "Well done!"

"Yes!" He raised his fist to the air.

"Hey." Zuko walked to Suki as she was busy talking to some guy that Sai recognized as the one who's responsible for ferrying the bodies back for burial. By the looks of it, they have some kind of a disagreement.

"Zuko!"

"Y-your highness!"

"I see that you have already discussed about ferrying the fallen Kyoshi warriors." Zuko gave the man a look that left now room for arguments. "Right?"

"Y-yes your highness, t-they will be ready in three day-"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning!" The man knew better than to argue with the prince.

"Good, we shall not keep you away from your duties anymore." Zuko gestured a little to the side.

Recognized the dismissal as what it was, the man bowed and walked quickly away.

Suki huffed. "Thanks, the guy was starting to piss me off."

"Let me guess, the Kyoshi warriors aren't technically part of the fire army and therefore not part of his responsibilities?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah.." Suki agreed. "So, what can I help you with?"

"I need a status report on your mission, Xing can't exactly fill forms. I would have asked Hadoka, but we all agreed that he had to get out of here as soon as possible." Zuko answered as the two walked to a private spot. "But mostly I wanted to ask how you are doing, your promotion and Lin's absence say a lot."

"I… Yes…"

They entered an empty room and Zuko closed the door. Suki then began to regel him with her story. How they successfully managed to get into the city and meet the water tribe warriors, the meeting and Suki's skill demonstration and the bomb planting.

She continued to the next day, how they herded the people out of the holes once the bombs were set off. Here, however, she stopped for the first time.

"They trampled over each other…" Suki lamented. "We couldn't do anything, they literally ran over each other. I'm not stranger to people dying, but civilians getting killed by civilians because of our acts is a first."

"You did good." Zuko promised.

Personally, he didn't really care about those people. They were parasites that fed from his people and therefore had to be dealt with in one way or another. He may have felt some waste over the kids that got in the way, but he was reminded by Sai that they grew up in the same environment and had the same values. They will grow to be just as bad as their parents and Zuko didn't have the resources to try and rehabilitate them, the protection and security of his people came first. Of course, he couldn't say anything of it to Suki.

"You gave them an out of that hell." Zuko continued. "Don't think of the few people that didn't make it, but of the thousands who you saved and now can have a chance for a better life."

"Yeah… I guess you're right." Suki agreed.

"I hope so, it's part of my job description." Zuko joked. "Anyway, what happened next?"

"Phhh, smartass." Suki elbowed him. He had to admit that it was cute.

"Anyway, so what's next?"

Suki continued to tell him about their mission, about how they located the place where their missing sisters should be, how they got in and saw that someone was already there taking names. She continued describing the trail of corpses they followed until they reached a large hall with a big, cooked turtle-like monster.

"Huh, I see that Xing had fun."

"Wait, Xing did it?" Suki was bewildered.

"Well, yes. The wounds and positions of the animals you described do fill Xing's call card." Zuko explained. "And that cooked turtle fits the bill exactly. It was too armored, so Xing just cooked it from the inside."

"Dear Kyoshi… but Xing is so cute, he can't be so ruthless."

"Xing is a predator after all, you know." Zuko said. "Besides, you call me cute as well, and my kill count is high you know."

"T-That's d-different!" The new head of the Kyoshi warriors was blushing heavily now.

"Anyway." Zuko continued. "Please continue."

She talked about the girls that they discovered, and that they were left there as some kind of bait to be used by any invader so the true people of interest would be left safe in their hidings. The thought of using any human being like that, as if they were cattle for slaughter for a meat that wouldn't even be eaten, sickened Zuko to the core.

They had found there also clues of the whereabouts of their missing sisters, which Suki was invested in following immediately after they put the fallen warriors to rest. Some of the trails led to a few people of the noble clans, Zuko of course promised to aid Suki both in getting inside the fire nation and keep things quiet.

Suki continued with their meeting with Hadoka. The girls discovered the secret tunnel easily enough, probably because of the fact that the entrance was torn apart by Hadoka and his man. Then, using the maps Toph provided, they searched the corridors until they met Hadoka and his man.

The traps they met somehow made Sai nostalgic.

"Ah… the boulder in the corridor, classic. I remember trapping avatar La-Snu in a similar underground maze. Good times."

Zuko was reminded that for all proposes, the thing inside his head mentored the mortals who had the biggest kill count in human history.

Then, finally, they reached to the battle, and Zuko had to admit that it was a pain and a half. Killing not one but five enforcers was nothing to scoff at. Sure, he could do it on his own with a bit of Sai's help, but for the baseline none bender it was an achievement.

And then, there was the chimera. Now that was something. Just hearing about it made Zuko happy that Suki was alive, that healing ability was surely over powered. In fact, Zuko was impressed that Suki managed to survive so long, let alone cut the goat's head off.

"That's impressive." Zuko told her straight up. "You were absolutely amazing."

"I-it was nothing." Suki blushed at the praise, very happily.

"No, it wasn't." Zuko insisted with a honest smile. "I can hardly think of many people who could have done what you did. It was exceptional, just like you."

Zuko was worried about his female companion now, because it looked as if she was melting with steam coming out of her ears. He was pretty sure that she wasn't a fire bender, but after Jasmine he didn't take anything for granted.

'Sai?'

"No, she isn't a bender. And she's fine, she's just having a temporary overload as a result of a vile women-bender."

'What?! We must stop the witchs at once!'

"An extremely thick one as well… Don't worry she'll get over in in five seconds."

And so she did. She then continued to the very thing he wanted to talk about, Lin.

"A-and she just shot a grappling hook and took them both right into the mouth of that thing, I couldn't do anything but watch!" Suki cried. "It was so fast, yet I could see everything so clearly. The fang just shank her, and then threw her off to the wall like discarded garage!"

She continued sobbing as Zuko brought her up to a hug. He was hardly what one would call an emotional expert, but having someone hugging you always helped Zuko when mom was still around. It seemed to work, because the girl in his arms could talk again after a few minutes.

"Why?! It's not fair!" The head of the Kyoshi warriors cried again. "Lin was like a mother to all of us, and a great person. She wasn't suppose to die like that! Why does it happen to people like her!"

"She wasn't asking for an answer." Sai stopped him before he could say something. "Just let her get it out of her chest."

His response then was only to hug her tighter, which seemed like the right course of action.

"I don't know if I can do it, leading the Kyoshi warriors." Suki revealed. "I don't think that I could lead them like Lin did, I don't have the experience or the know how. What if I lead the girls to their grave, like I did with Lin?"

"Bull." Zuko called. "You already led your girls in various complicated operations just yesterday, so don't you dare say that you aren't ready. You have cut the head of a freaking chimera, no one will dare saying that you don't deserve to lead."

"Besides." Zuko continued. "Don't be like Lin, be like yourself. Let her ghost guide you but never hunt you, she won't have put herself in grave danger if she wasn't certain that she had a worthy successor."

"But what if I screw something up?"

"You would be alone." He answered her. "You will have your sisters with you helping the entire way, you could talk with your mayor who's name I've forgotten. Heck, you can always ask me if you want, Agni knows I have enough experience in making people do things. Comes with the job description, really."

"Thanks, Zuko." Suki rested her head on his chest. "You're always there when I need you."

"Of course, you're important to me." Zuko said honestly.

Suki stayed still in his arms, her hug became ever tighter.

"Father take me now, here we go again…"

"Zuko… do you like me?" She asked weakly.

"Of course." Where did that come from, of course he liked her.

Another thing he wasn't prepared for, was Suki suddenly warping her hands around his head and pulling it towards her. She proceeded to connect their lips together and pushing he tongue inside while he was still in shock.

Zuko didn't understand what was happening until it was done. By reflex he pulled her closer, which caused her to warp her athletic legs around his torso. He couldn't control his limbs and tongue as it battled for dominance in his mouth and then in Suki's mouth, his body wasn't his own. It was only moments later that he regained control, but Suki was nowhere to be found.

"W-what, where –"

"Suki left running a minute ago, Casanova." Sai said in his head.

"What just happened?"

"The result of overloading stress, a combination of a warrior's and inexperienced maiden's heart, and the usual drama that seems to plague the overlords regardless of gender, generation or ethnicity."

The horn of the start of the attacks saved Zuko from having to face this new problem, whoever said that violence was never the answer?

It had been hours since Hadoka had left for the south. By Sai's estimations, they should already be halfway across the dessert. It could have gotten better, Zuko lamented, but also much, much worse.

Hadoka didn't try to pull a fast one on him (not that the tribesman had anything to pull for, he got everything he wanted after all), nor did he try to attack Zuko and his men. They parted on lukewarm terms, true, but they were on different sides after all. Considering everything, it was the best course of events.

'What do you think will happen with the greenhouse, now that the warriors are back?'

"Depends on Hakoda's acts really. Dismantling the greenhouse is not a possibility for him, not for lack of force, however. The man knows he has a decent chance to live happily, he's smart enough to avoid your wrath. He may, however, order the women to stay in their houses and forbid them from working in the greenhouse now that the men can hunt for food again."

'How much will it hurt the assimilation of the south?'

"Tremendously. But now there is little that can be done about it without worsening the situation. Fear not, your highness, as long as they keep trade, assimilation will continue."

'And how do we make sure that they keep trade?'

"Easily. With loaded battleships accompany the traders to remind the alternative."

It was very American. Zuko did know where that came from, or what in Agni an American is, but he just knew it to be true.

'Update me on the status of the battlefield.' Zuko ordered.

"Another eighth of the city is in fire nation control, tunnels in those areas have been naturalized. Local losses estimated in 36 dead and 174 wounded, both fatal and nonfatal. Artillery has 583 anti-building rounds and 327 anti-infantry rounds. Food and water supply is steady."

'It's half the area we gained yesterday, and the number of rounds is lower than ideal.'

"As I said before, as victories mount so too will resistance. This is a good pace, Amora is going nowhere after all. Although I do agree that the use of artillery should be conserved for now." Sai said before finally talking about the unagi in the room. "Now if you had your fill of violence and slaughter, may we address the situation with Suki? Half a day is more than enough time to talk about it."

Crap, Zuko couldn't run away from it, could he?

"Sai, what do I do?!" Zuko both asked and begged his most trusted… whatever Sai was. "What are we now? Is she my girlfriend? Am I supposed to marry her now?!"

"Hold your rhinos, your highness." Sai calmed him down. "A girl kissed you, it's hardly the end of the world, expected even. Although personally, I calculated for Jasmine to be your first kiss."

"But I kissed her back, I disgraced her." Zuko argued.

"It's hardly called a disgrace, don't tell me that you still think that babies are made from kisses. The two of you are hormonal and attractive by human standards teenagers, it's expected from you. What I'm unhappy about is the timing and your cluelessness."

"I don't understand."

"And this is the problem. Suki needed to push herself up with you assisting only when needed. Instead, you made her fall in love and be depended on you. It is not necessarily bad, or irreversible, but you worded it in a way that Suki saw as romantic instead of supportive."

"Dear Agni, what do I do?!" He didn't mean to do it, he only wanted to help her.

"First of all, do you want to start a relationship with her?"

"I-I don't know, okay? She's fun and I like to be with her, but she has her responsibilities as the head of the Kyoshi warriors and I as be the future fire lord, there wouldn't be enough time for us to actually be with one another. And as cruel as it is, from a political standpoint, Suki isn't fit to be a fire lady. She doesn't have the capital, might, or ancestry to be considered a candidate."

"That is a very though dissection of the situation, I salute you, your highness. And what if she agrees to become a mistress?"

"W-Wha?! Never!" Zuko stuttered blushing. "It's despicable!"

"Is it? I nobles and royals without a company outside of marriage where the exception, not the norm."

"Maybe thousands of years ago, not now!"

"True, perhaps my knowledge is outdated, either that of things like that are kept private now. Regardless, when a person is mighty enough, people would even expect them to go around. She doesn't even have to be known as mistress, I believe the right term nowadays is 'friends with benefits'?"

"Please Sai, I don't want to talk about marriage and stuff, I still have time for Agni's sake!"

"So be it, but you need to solve this situation with Suki sooner rather than later, it's unfair for her to be led by this. Personally, I care little about such things, but experience taught me that it will come biting us in the worst possible moments."

There was a laud boom suddenly as a tornado suddenly appeared.

"Congratulations, Mi-Sha have finally appeared."

Zuko sighed in relief. Between talking about his fillings and fighting for his life, he would happily choose the coward's way out and have a fistfight with death. For once in his life, he was actually glad to face Mi-Sha.

AN

And here we go, a kind of filler chapter for the next big fight.

a heads-up, next two week I have something that came up, so I probably would be skipping a week or two with the next chapter. I'll try my best to keep to schedule, however.

now for the reviews:

Engineer1869:

Thank you!

I'm happy you liked the reunion, I broke my head hard to write it.

And you can expect a round 2 with Xing and the chimera, in fact there will be a pov of Xing in the next chapter.

As for Ozai I will neither deny nor confirm the statement.

I actually liked this statement, and implemented it in this chapter, hope I got it right.

deniswanheda:

Heh, sorry for the scare, hope you didn't have problems at work because of that. Very happy to hear that you liked the chimera fight.

Yeah, I have plans for Azula. things will be intense.

I tried to explain a few reasons for Ozai's reaction, but his decreasing sanity of course fills a big part of the decision.

USSRFox:

In a word, yes.

Zuko my have had enough tact for that (thanks to Sai), but I think that you are fine with the alternative I wrote as well.

02cjd:

I have to say, I didn't consider many of the questions. As for Jasmine, it may be best for her sake to abandon air bending for now, at least as long as Ozai is on the throne. For Zuko it's actually a good question, I'll only answer that it's "enough". I will certainly do my homework with the old generals and warlords, thanks for the suggestion. for the rest I'll keep it as spoilers.

:

Thank you!

Not yet, but soon... soon.

I'm always happy to hear knew ideas, so don't sweet about it.

Xpparda:

Thank you!

I'll try my best to not disappoint with the Mi-Sha fight, even if you may have to wait a bit longer. As for Iroh, he'll start playing "ace attorney".