The doors swung open, and Azula reared her head, frustrated to see the foreigners had once again graced her with their presence. Other than the blind girl, none of them were a physical threat to her, though her presence made the Fire Lord temper any frustrations that arose in her by having her tea interrupted by them. She had just gotten through a report from the Minister of War about confrontations on the frontlines, and how they had followed the Avatar's earlier demands to avoid fighting the Earth Kingdom forces. She immediately rescinded that order, given the Avatar was off with his Water Tribe girlfriend prancing about in the Earth Kingdom. However, on a second thought, Azula gave the caveat that Fire Nation forces should withdraw from any military bases not directly protecting colonial settlements from the Earth Kingdom or disorganised threats such as bandits, looters, and deserters.

So, now, to have to deal with the foreigners once again, was more than a nuisance. She simply wanted to rest before she inevitably had to deal with some other matter of governance. With the war over, subsidies that formerly were vital to the war effort were being withdrawn, and funds were being moved around to better ensure the Fire Nation's tax revenues were being spent efficiently. She didn't want to so fast destroy the systems her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had built up before her, but the war footing of the Fire Nation economy benefited them very little with no need to use the arms and men they had on the ready. So, the end of the war meant more work, not less.

Her father probably had had to change very little after becoming Fire Lord, as he was simply following through with the plans laid out by Azulon, but she had no such plans to follow. The only person who might have had half a mind about how to prepare the Fire Nation for a world after the war was her uncle, and he was dead. Any wisdom he had was lost on that ship, and anything he might have shared with Zuko wasn't something she could easily ask for, not without causing her far more problems than any old advice from her uncle might solve. Her father, on the other hand, might have something to tell her, but given his ironfisted manner of ruling and preference to violence over diplomacy or subterfuge, he would probably just tell her to kill her enemies and be done with their 'game'.

"And what might I help you with?" she asked them as politely as she could muster, though her tone made her feelings more than clear.

"What are you letting go on out there?" the blind girl asked her, "We almost got jumped by angry protestors."

"You're the one occupying their city." she reminded her of the state of affairs, "The Home Guard should be dealing with any violence... that is their job." she added, making clear that protocols would be followed, no matter if any protests were beneficial to Azula or not.

She was aware of what was going on, because the Dai Li had immediately informed her as soon as she returned to the palace; she was pleased to hear that the people were making their feelings clear, but realised that she could just as easily abuse the situation to her advantage. If she had to, martial law could be established in the capital to prevent further unrest, but she could just use that as a threat; her real ideal outcome was the foreigners taking their leave, out of her city, so she could govern without them breathing down her neck and effectively overseeing her and the actions of her ministers.

"We're not occupying the city." Toph retorted, "We're making sure you keep up your end of the bargain, remember?"

"I recall my conversation with the Avatar quite well." she assured her, hoping that her calm visage would at least temper their feelings towards her; the new girl didn't seem to be falling for it in the slightest.

"You used to be so good at playing tough." she reminded her, "We know who you are."

"Good." she responded sharply, "I don't want my enemies to think I have changed... I have not." she assured her, "I have simply come to understand that we are in a new situation... the war is over, and I am not intending to restart it only to have my bending removed and be thrown in a cell next to my father." she explained her mindset, not wanting to go into any detail about her plans; the honesty, she hoped, would get them to understand that she wasn't trying to fight them, not any more.

"So, you're playing the long game." she realised, "Everyone here is hoping that there will be peace, but I'm sure most people won't be satisfied, especially not in the Earth Kingdom." she acknowledged what was happening; she was not stupid, even if she was a peasant who liked to play dress up, "You won't win."

"The Fire Nation won the war." she reminded them, "I think you forget that with your show with my father and making my home your own... in terms of industry, manpower, and morale, we have won. The Earth Kingdom was only lingering on out of pure spite and will... and now they think they've won. I don't mean to mock them, but they're idiots if they think they won the war. The Avatar did... and your White Lotus friends in Ba Sing Se."

"So what?" Sokka retorted, "I don't see what this has to do with the protests." he argued, "Do the people out there know exactly what's going on out on the frontlines?"

"The propaganda has served its purpose." Azula acknowledged with a smirk; there was no point lying about it, as the Avatar and his cronies had surely seen it at work while they were sneaking about her nation, "They know how hard our soldiers have fought, and that victory was ours until it was snatched by the trick of a child. Would you not be angry if that happened to you?"

"You're the one who lost. Not them. Aren't you angry?" Suki asked her, and Azula felt tempted to tell her then and there how she actually felt; she was angry at herself, but to say that would imply that she was fallible- that she was capable of making mistakes.

She could not make herself seem weak, unless it proved to grant her some advantage; at that very moment, it would not.

"Anger is for children and idiots who can't see past themselves." she declared, her words a farce, but believable, "I am the Fire Lord. I have greater purpose than my own whims."

"You're an absolute monarch. Your whims are the purpose of the Fire Nation." Toph retorted, clearly not believing her words.

Despite her desire for control, Azula wasn't really lying; the Fire Lord was always meant to serve the greater good of the Fire Nation, and its glory. She ought to be offended by the blind girl's insults, but they mattered little when they could not influence her path. She had spent much of the past five years preparing for the very situation she now encountered: ruling the Fire Nation, not simply being an extension of her father's will. She knew it would inevitably come, but had not expected it to arrive so soon. Now, she had to act not merely on her own desires, but for the sake of every person in the Fire Nation.

"You can say what you like... it will not change the feelings of the people outside this palace." Azula retorted, "They are afraid of you, and what this new age will bring, and I am meant to protect them from you. If they commit crimes against the laws of my nation, then they will face justice... by the hands of our law, not your whims." she retorted, staring the blind girl down even if she couldn't comprehend her focus.

"My whims?" Toph asked her, as if she couldn't comprehend what she was saying, "I don't think you get it. We're not here to lord you around for the fun of it. There's a world out there that your nation destroyed."

"And you think I am not constantly aware of that?" she asked her in return, "I am trying to make good of my word. If you foreigners get in the way of that, then who is the real problem?" she asked them all, "I will make sure the Fire Nation can settle peace with the other nations, but that requires me to have full authority over my own city, my own nation." she declared, and Sokka crossed his arms.

"So then, great Fire Lord, what do you propose?" he asked her, his mocking tone making her harden her glare; however, she took his words as a serious opportunity.

"End your occupation." she told them what she wanted, "And when I say that, I don't mean to expel you from the Fire Nation. You are needed here to ensure we can negotiate a peace settlement." she hedged her words, "I can set aside a military base near the Caldera, and you can be moved there. You will be safe from any protests, assassins, and any other kinds of agitators. Protected by the Home Guard, and my word."

"And then how would we make sure you are keeping your word?" Suki asked her, "If nobody's here to keep track of things, then how can we be sure you'll actually come to any meeting to make peace?"

"Oh, well, I would ask you to rely on my word... but I see nobody here will take it seriously." she conceded, "So, I would still have some of you here. The important leaders, and yourselves, the Avatar's closest allies. The palace will be safe, as it always has been."

"It wasn't on the Day of the Black Sun." Sokka reminded her, and she almost laughed at his words.

"From whom?" she rhetorically questioned him back, and he cringed.

"Okay... but then aren't we your hostages instead?" he asked her, "This palace is full of guards loyal to you... or your father. It doesn't really matter. If you give the word then we'll all be thrown in prison instead."

"And why would I sacrifice everything for that? The Earth Kingdom would certainly restart the war even if I killed every last one of you, let alone the retribution the Avatar would bring down upon me and my nation." she asked him, finding the idea absurd; it would make sense, if she could possibly survive the aftermath of such a ploy, "That's a stupid suggestion."

"Yeah, she kinda has a point there, Sokka." Toph agreed with her, "But I still don't trust this... I don't want our allies getting threatened, but everyone being here is a threat, and you want to get rid of it, right?"

"A threat to peace." she clarified, "If the people get frustrated enough, they will depose me, and kill every last one of you... and then who exactly will the Avatar have to blame? He can't take my bending if I'm dead or in a prison cell. You cannot hope to win against the industrial might of my nation, if it is put against the Earth Kingdom once more."

"Fine." Sokka sighed, "I see your point. We shouldn't be making our... 'victory' so public... but the Fire Nation needs to understand they have to negotiate. You can say you won the war all you like, but that won't stop Aang."

"I know that." she mumbled, and then smiled, pleased that she had at least, by word, gotten some kind of concession out of her 'prison overseers'.

"But I just have one little problem." he acknowledged, placing his hands on the desk, "I can't even be sure that those protesters were all just common people, mad that we're in their city. You still control the Dai Li. We know they're in the city, even if we haven't seen their faces."

"Yes, and what of it? Are you accusing me of using them to stir up the protests?" she asked, "Why would I potentially endanger my own rule?"

"Because you've been gambling so far, why not gamble a little more?" Toph declared, smirking as if she approved of the tactic, "You have to put something on the line if you want to win, and this game, you seem like you're pretty good at it."

"Okay, but even if we ignore that." Sokka raised a hand, "The Dai Li are your men. They aren't loyal to the Fire Nation... you stole them from Long Feng back in Ba Sing Se. That means they'll tell you what's really going on."

"They will." she nodded, before sighing, "Fine, do you want to know what the real issue is? It's not even the Avatar and his stupid plans... it's everyone I trust to enact my will." she argued, and the three of them looked confused, though the Water Tribe boy was the first to realise what she meant.

"So, you don't trust your own ministers?" he asked, and she pointed her index finger behind her, gesturing to the map of the Fire Nation that hung on the wall.

"I have a whole nation to consider when I am making decisions. I have to worry about every little angle that could lead to rebellion." she explained her reasoning, "I cannot let those who would undermine this peace settlement stand in my way."

"But you could undermine it yourself." Suki spoke up, "How can we trust that you'll even go after the right people?"

"It's called trust for a reason." she retorted, "It goes both ways."

"I think you know why we're not going to just trust what you say." Toph spoke frankly, even if she was stepping around the issue at hand.

"I tried to kill you, and I imprisoned her." she gestured to Suki, who was barely containing her anger towards her.

"And I won't lie, I think about killing you." the Kyoshi Warrior made her feelings clear, "But I know that's a stupid idea... and you've made a good case for why it will cause more problems for us."

"I'm glad I have persuaded you to see why it is in your best interest for me to be the one ruling this nation."

"No, you haven't." Suki retorted, "We could just have you replaced by some kind of council, and they could govern instead. Your ministers were doing that, from what I understand, while they had you locked up."

"They were." she nodded, "But I believe you're missing the point here. My government is filled with men and women loyal to my father, or my grandfather before him. They were all raised with Sozin's mission in mind, and will stop at nothing to ensure that it is fulfilled. Therefore, I have to make my own authority clear."

"And how will you do that?"

"Persuasion, bribery, and intimidation." she admitted, "You can hate me for being corrupt, but I am the one who will keep the Avatar's dream of peace alive. The Earth King will surely fail at that."

"I know the guy, he does want peace, and what's right for his country." Sokka argued, and Azula scoffed.

"If you forgot, I was in Ba Sing Se as well, pretending to be her." she gestured to Suki, who raised a stiff lip, "I know he's a weakling, in body and spirit. He might have the heart that you claim, but that does not make him a naive idiot who will fall in line with whatever his advisors tell him, and given that the Dai Li are no longer in his ear, it will be the Council of Five instead. Can you trust them to come to a peaceful solution?"

"More than you." Suki snapped back.

"And what if your plan fails?" Toph added another question, and Azula smiled.

"Well, if they make themselves traitors to their Fire Lord, it's quite simple. They die." she acknowledged with a grin, "And if they try to reinstate my father as Fire Lord, well, I'm sure you wouldn't want that, would you?" she asked them rhetorically.

"And what can we-" Sokka began, before scoffing, and breaking down laughing, "You're insane!"

"And if you were the Avatar, what would you have done?" she gave him a hypothetical; though they were all naive, none of them struck her as being anywhere near as pacifistic as the Avatar.

"You're suggesting we kill your own father. You're basically giving us permission." Suki acknowledged what she was saying, and Azula rolled her eyes; as much as she appreciated being the Fire Lord over her father, she certainly didn't want him dead.

His death was completely avoidable, and she would do what she could to make sure it could be avoided. However, Azula could not trust that her underlings would do what was in the best interests of the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation, but for their own gain. Ozai would grant bounty and riches to whoever was willing to strike it out and restore him to the throne, if he thought he could keep it. She didn't think her father stupid enough, nor motivated enough, to try and seize the throne from her.

"No, I'm not." she retorted, "If you were to kill my father, I would find that a grave crime against my nation and my family." she stressed, before narrowing her eyes, "But I am not speaking about what is in my interests, I'm speaking about what is in your interests."

"You're crazy, you know that, right?" Sokka prodded her, though perhaps he was really just that shocked, and wanted to know if she was aware of her own callousness.

"I am not crazy to see politics for what it is... a complex game, and you, all of you, have the slightest understanding of how it works."

"I mean, you can say that about them." Toph spoke up, placing her hands on the desk, "But I'm no dummy. I think you should rethink your plan here."

"Why, because the people will have my head if I dare to go after the sycophants and rats in my government?" qusetioned her back, and Toph snickered, leaning in closer to whisper.

"No, the Dai Li." she clarified, "I mean, you know what they were doing in Ba Sing Se. If they're the ones telling you everything you want to know, why would they tell you the truth?"

"Hmm." she hummed, and smiled, "I must admit, you weren't wrong. You are smarter than them." she acknowledged, before she stiffened up; the Dai Li were the ones who told her about Zuko, and now she realised that their words and drawings could have been an utter farce.

They had access to the records in the palace, knew what he looked like, and they might have figured out he was the Blue Spirit, if they'd thought to look through the reports she had been sending back to her father. Then, all they had to do was make her think he was aiding her enemies, and then she'd be forced to act. Hunt him down, even if he hadn't done anything they claimed.

She could not understand what their end goal would be in such a scenario, but she guessed that it would be to make her leave the capital, so they could govern in all but name; perhaps for self-enrichment, perhaps for some grander conspiracy of world-domination, she could not tell. The Dai Li had never struck her as being overly ambitious beyond their control of Ba Sing Se and the Earth King who ruled there. However, in granting them authority within the Fire Nation, she may have brought a greater threat to her nation than the Avatar himself.

She turned her head and grit her teeth, "I hope for all our sakes that you are wrong." she admitted, "It would be awfully convenient if I were to agree with you and go ahead with your earlier demands... but I will have to wait. There is much yet to be seen, and I have not had reason to doubt the Dai Li yet."

"Your power was tested, wasn't it?" Suki asked, "You were thrown in that cell, and then what were they meant to do?"

"Remain loyal, while I figured out a way to be released... which I did." she gestured to the room around her, "I am free, as much as I can be with the Avatar's threat of taking my bending hanging over my head."

"And how can you be sure that they're following your orders anymore?" Toph pressed her, and the Fire Lord narrowed her eyes.

As much as she'd like to retort and say that they were still serving her, they had yet to fulfil her orders in any meaningful way, other than providing her with intelligence, as she had been requesting. That intelligence could just as easily serve their own ends rather than hers; this was obvious now that she thought about it, but she didn't want to believe it. Not because she felt that she was powerless without the Dai Li, but because she would otherwise be at the mercy of people she could not trust, and she was certain had no personal loyalty to her. The Ministers, as dutiful as they might have been in service to the Fire Nation, had their own interests in mind, and they were serving her father for their own reasons. If some of those ran counter to her plans, then she couldn't be sure that they could be trusted.

"I cannot." she bluntly admitted, "But I can test them... and it will be hard to do that with your allies swarming the city and breathing down everyone's necks. The ministers won't lower their guard while the city is full of armed foreigners, and the Dai Li won't be able to prove any treason, on their behalf, or on behalf of the ministers."

"Why are you telling us your plans?" Sokka asked her, "That won't make us trust you."

"No, it won't. So, let me offer up what I can. I will use the Dai Li to root out my father's most loyal fools, and I will give myself an excuse to arrest them. If you really want, you can try and find them yourselves. You have everything to gain from their downfall."

"So do you." Toph reminded her, and she raised her hands up, gesturing to the useful idiots in front of her.

"Well then, we're in agreement."


Burns, cuts, grazes, and a few bruises; that was what Zuko received for his efforts to defeat the bandits harassing the village of Liangyuan. He had not spent that much time there, but he understood that the villagers were peaceful, and without his aid, they would struggle against bandits. He might have had some self-interest in aiding them, but he knew that he could have just as easily fled. He had been victorious, with the aid of some of the villagers, but he knew that he couldn't reveal his identity as the Blue Spirit. That was going to cause him more problems, and he didn't want Azula coming back around to arrest him. So, instead of letting them treat his injuries, which they offered to do, given how hurt he had gotten, he ran off into the woods.

They probably thought that was the last they would see of him, and as the Blue Spirit, he hoped that was true, for their own sakes. Zuko couldn't stay out there for long, as he needed his injuries treated. So, he quickly decided to turn back around; he needed his stuff, after all, and he knew that Kuang and Chu still had more work for him. Like every other person, the necessities of bare survival came before his absolute safety, which would probably be secure if he was to leave the village and not return.

He stumbled through the woods, making his way back around to the farmhouse; he hadn't seen the brothers during the fighting, but they did come out to aid the injured villagers evacuate from the parts of the village that had been razed by the bandits. So, he doubted they'd run into him at the barn; his assumptions were proven correct when he saw the barn completely intact and still closed up, as he had left it. He cowered down, making sure Yong and Chang didn't spot him, in case they were still inside the house.

Once he reached the barn itself, he opened the door slowly, and slid inside, quickly dispensing of his mask and outer garments; they were pretty cut up and would need to be mended before he bothered to wear them again. Zuko only knew the bare basics of that, so he was hoping he could try and get Yong or Chang's help with it, if he could fool them about the reason for the damage. He then put his outer robes back on, though he realised that they would seem odd with his cuts and grazes, so he elected to leave them off, and instead wear only the tunic he had and cut at it where he had been injured on his torso.

Once he thought it looked as it should, he packed the rest of his things up, and left the barn as it had been before. He closed the door and locked it again, before he paced back around, trying to find a good spot to be found by the villagers. Past the treeline that divided the family's farm from the neighbouring plots of land, he could see a damaged house in the distance, and heard the voice of a woman calling out for help.

Zuko paced over that way, knowing that was a good opportunity to make himself known; he could see a young woman, struggling to pick up debris, presumably looking for a relative inside the house, which had been partially burnt, with some structural beams collapsing into the house. Flames and smoke were still billowing out from the other side, telling him that whoever was in there was in danger. He had brought some bandages with him, and made sure to fasten them over his own injuries first, before he got the woman's attention.

"Do you need help?" he asked, and she turned around, jumping back out of fright; perhaps it was because of the scar on his face, but she quickly realised he wasn't one of the bandits.

"Oh, please, my father, he's stuck inside the house." she pleaded, pointing at the collapsed doorway, "He can't get out, and there's a fire inside."

Zuko nodded, and he glanced around, trying to find an alternate path into the house; the doorway was a no go, even if was able to sneakily use his firebending to get rid of the fire, as he couldn't fit himself under the beam. Lifting it up was a stupid idea without any help, and that wasn't even considering he might have to drag an old man out of it.

He turned to face the woman, "What's his name?"

"Zhu." she clarified, and Zuko nodded, knowing that's who he had to call out for once he got inside.

He didn't waste another moment, and ran around to the nearest window. When he pulled it open, smoke billowed out into his face. Zuko pulled one of the rags he had brought to cover wounds and tied it over his mouth. Then, feeling confident that he wouldn't be debilitated by the smoke, he leapt through the window, and called out.

"Zhu!" he shouted the man's name, "If you can hear me, call out!"

"Here!" he heard a low shout, followed by some coughing.

Zuko reached his hand out, and reached towards the smoke, and the fire that lay off on the other side of the room. He bent at it, making sure to dampen the fire so it wouldn't make any more smoke, before striding across the room, making sure not to trip on any of the debris. When he reached the nearest doorway, he squinted, struggling to see with all of the smoke, and called out again.

"I can't see you!" he called out to Zhu, who coughed once more; he heard him to the left, and paced down the hallway, towards another source of fire.

The roof had caved in from the burning, leaving an open hole for the smoke to billow out of, though there was a beam in the way; past that he could see that Zhu was trying to get a beam out of the way, so he could climb out of the collapsed area. He didn't seem that injured, which was good, as he could probably walk himself out once Zuko had got a path laid out.

"Over here!" he called out to Zhu, "I'm coming over."

"What about the fire?!" he asked, and Zuko cringed, knowing that for an 'ordinary' person, they would struggle to get through the collapsed portion of the room without being burnt badly, or just passing out from the fumes alone.

"Do you have any buckets of water in the house?" he asked, and Zhu gestured behind him.

"In the kitchen! Be quick, I think I'm... urgh..." he groaned, and turned away to cough.

Zuko understood what was going on, but knowing that the man might not last much longer, he elected to bend the fire, dampening it so it wouldn't make as much smoke. He did it while Zhu was looking away, before running off, hoping that he had given him enough time to get the water. When he got over to the kitchen, he could see that the room wasn't on fire, and that there was another doorway leading out of the house, though this one wasn't as badly damaged; however, the ground outside of the door was on fire, as well as all the surrounding foliage, which told him it might be a bad idea to try and take Zhu out that way.

He grabbed the bucket and hoisted it up with both hands, finding it quite heavy; he carried it out and down the hallway, before tossing the water over the flames that covered the collapsed part of the house. Now that he had cover, he was able to snuff out whatever embers remained with a swipe of his hand, while Zhu remained unaware of his firebending. The old man almost cheered, but sputtered and coughed instead; Zuko climbed over the collapsed beams, glad that he had bandaged up his hands, meaning that they weren't going to get so easily burnt.

When he got to Zhu, he helped him shove the beam out of the way, allowing him to climb out; Zuko gestured to the gap that was left in the wall where the roof collapsed, "We can go out that way." he directed him, and the old man nodded, stumbling forward before he struggled to climb over the debris.

Zuko's attention was drawn by a sudden crashing noise, realising that another burning portion of the house had collapsed; he cringed, hoping that what remained of the roof and walls wouldn't collapse in on them. Once Zhu was outside, Zuko vaulted over and dusted himself off. His daughter ran over, surprised to see her father uninjured, and overwhelmed with joy. The two of them hugged, and she turned her eyes to Zuko.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, "I thought I had lost him." she admitted, and her father hugged her tightly.

"I nearly suffocated in there." Zhu admitted, sitting himself down on a fence near the house, "Terrible that the house is gone... my father and his brothers built it themselves."

"You can always rebuild." he assured him, and the old man sighed.

"Mayhaps... I'm not nearly young enough to build a house myself." he conceded, and Zuko cringed.

"The people of your village are kind enough. I think they'll be willing to offer a helping hand." he assured him, knowing that the people of Liangyuan were honourable.

"I'm sure they will." his daughter agreed, and Zuko nodded, before turning around.

"Where are you going? You're hurt." she observed, and he gestured towards the road.

"The hospital." he assured her, "I know when I'm spent." he declared, and began to stumble forwards; he was exhausted, but he had the energy to get to the village's hospital.

Suddenly, he heard a shout, followed by some screaming; Zuko cringed, turning around to spot some peasant women being dragged away by already injured bandits. He recognised them, as he had fought them earlier; he thought he had knocked them out, but it seemed they still had some energy left in them. They spotted Zuko, Zhu, and his daughter, but didn't try to attack, one of them gesturing an axe towards them.

"Don't you follow!" he warned, and the daughter looked terrified, but stepped forward; she felt driven to something, and that was admirable.

"F-Father." she gasped out, "We have to do something!" she exclaimed, Zhu grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Quanshui, stop it." he warned her, "We can't fight them." he declared, and she turned to face Zuko.

"Can you get help?" she asked, and he shook his head, before picking up a stray plank of wood.

"You find somebody to help... I'll keep the idiots occupied." he declared; he wasn't trying to be heroic, but simply knew that they couldn't just wait and let the bandits drag the women away.

They were struggling against their captors, trying to scratch, punch, and bite at them, but they couldn't do anything, and one of them was knocked out by a bandit after she got a good bite on his arm.

"You bitch!" he declaimed her, before drawing out his sword, "Maybe I should cut a few fingers for that."

"The boss wants 'em whole, not in pieces, you moron!" the other bandit retorted.

They weren't paying attention to Zuko, who was dragging the plank towards them while Quanshui was running to get more help.

"Let them go." he decided to give them a fair warning, and the bandits eyed him up.

"Have we beat your arse already?" the more agitated of the two asked, "I don't remember that ugly mug."

Zuko let out a deep breath, and cursed the fact that using his firebending would have gotten him in more trouble than he already was.

"This kid looks like he's fought in more battles than you, Sha." he warned his comrade, whose arrogance held up until he sputtered out blood when the plank smacked hard into his face.

He fell on the ground, the woman he was holding falling down, still unconscious; her head was bleeding, and he was unsure how hurt she was. He couldn't focus on her when Sha lunged back up at him with his axe.

"I'll fucking kill you!" he screamed out at the top of his lungs; Zuko weaved out of the way, and blocked the axe with his plank.

He was able to hold off a few axe swings with it, but the plank was cleaved in twain by Sha's axe after only three swings. Once it was two planks, he tried to knock the bandit out by tossing one part at his head; that only seemed to piss him off further, and he grabbed Zuko by the throat. He gasped out for air, before his instincts kicked in; he threw a punch into the man's gut as hard he could.

Sha stumbled back and loosened his grip; the other bandit was about to try and hit him with his sword, but was forced to restrain the woman he had caught, who was frantically throwing her own hands at him. The now agitated and disoriented bandit lunged at him with the axe, but Zuko could see it coming, so he leaned into the swing, and grabbed the handle of the axe.

"Oh..." Sha mumbled, his eyes widening with realisation, realising that the young man was physically stronger than him, at least in that moment.

Zuko didn't waste a moment, and headbutt him, before grabbing the axe and smashing it into his ribs; the bones cracked audibly, and blood spilled out of his robes. He slumped over and fell to the ground; he was sure he wasn't going to get back up.

"You fucker!" the other bandit accused him, pushing the still conscious woman aside to lunge at him; she tried to fight back, but fell flat on her behind.

Zuko was less worried about her, and more so about himself as he had to weave out of the way of the sword swings; he rolled out of the way, and picked the axe out of the other bandit's body. Sha gurgled and coughed out blood; he felt a tinge of sympathy, but knew that the man wasn't worth helping, which was why he had struck him fatally in the first place.

He ignored him, and used the axe's blade to catch the sword, parrying it away before he threw the axe as hard as he could at the bandit, striking him in the arm. It didn't go as far to cut the limb off, as Zuko was no where near strong enough to do that with a relatively blunt axe, but it did leave a good gash in his sword arm, giving him the chance he needed. He lunged at the man, forced the sword out of his grip, and then put him in a headlock.

This bandit was stronger than the last one, and struggled a lot, throwing both of them down to the ground, before trying to bite at Zuko's arms. He stomached the pain, and turned the man down into the dirt, before smacking him hard in the side of the head; he stopped resisting, and fell limp. The tired, pained, and frustrated boy rose to his feet, and wiped the sweat from his brow as he saw Quanshui returning with some of the villagers.

The woman who was still conscious leapt to her feet and exclaimed, "You saved us!" she exclaimed, and Zuko cringed, not wanting to be seen as a saviour when he was just cleaning things up; the bandits were scum, and he had no care for their lives.

"I couldn't do nothing." he argued, knowing that was wrong; he didn't need to stay in the village when the bandits attacked- he made the conscious choice to help, instead of protecting the barn like he said he would, "They'll be scared... or pissed off." he realised that the brothers would have no idea where he was.

Zuko turned around, and quickly checked his injuries, before he approached the villagers that had come to help with the bandits. they looked at him with awe, and perhaps a little suspicion. One of them gestured to him, and eyed him down.

"You're- uh, Lee, right?" he questioned his name, and he nodded, knowing that he was Lee now; hearing his real name might actually frighten him, because of what it meant- he was not Prince Zuko, not any more.

"I am." he confirmed, before gesturing the axe he was holding towards the bandits; one was dying and the other unconscious, "Do what you want with them."

"Are you-" the same villager asked, and Zuko sighed, dropping the axe down.

"Yes, I'm exhausted... and yes, I'll go to the hospital." he answered the question he was expecting; the villagers looked at him with confusion, and the one who spoke stepped forward.

"No, I mean... are you him?" he asked, Zuko's lips stiffened; he didn't want to admit it, knowing what worse things it might bring to the village.

"Who?" he feigned ignorance, though he hoped they could read his eyes and know to keep their mouths shut, "I'm nobody."

"Well, thank you, nobody." one of them offered to shake his hand, "We're in your debt. Do you need anything? We can help you to safety."

"I can walk... What would help is less questions. I want peace."

The villager looked at him pensively; his aged face and weary eyes told him things that words alone could not.

"So does the whole Earth Kingdom... but we cannot always get what we want."


Katara had only briefly been to the Fire Nation colonies before; she had been to occupied villages, like Haru's village on the coast of the Earth Kingdom, but those were just villages ruled by the Fire Nation, who had no real attachment to the place besides the resources it provided their empire. The colonies, however, were a very different kind of place. She had visited them briefly a few times, though the most interesting time had been when they had visited during a festival, before Aang met Jeong Jeong for the first time.

That had shown her a side of the Fire Nation she had never seen before, but it was no less insidious than the way they fought and wrought destruction upon the other nations. The Fire Nation constantly sought to congratulate itself, and made an effort to maintain its domination over its own citizens, even when they were far from their homeland, both in distance, and perhaps in time as well. Most of the colonies in the border regions, where Fire Nation control was weak, were all new. This recency meant the colonists probably didn't identify much with the land, but she knew they wouldn't just leave without a good reason.

So, when she and Aang landed in a colony, she wasn't expecting a warm welcome; the people there were more confused by their presence than anything, and they were directed by the local garrison to the mayor of the colonial town, which was called New Hachitani. The town was supposedly named for another located in the Fire Nation homeland, which no longer existed, having been destroyed in a volcanic eruption around five years prior. That might have been to try and gain some sympathy, as the settlers themselves were mostly from that town and its surroundings, but Katara didn't care for it. Stealing somebody else's land just because their own was destroyed was unfair, when they could just have easily rebuilt it.

The Mayor of New Hachitani lived in a large manor of sorts, reminding her of some of the fancier houses she had seen while they were travelling through the Fire Nation, which sat up on a hilltop, above the rest of the settlement. The manor seemed to function almost like a little fortress, having walls around it, though she doubted they would do much good against earthbenders. The soldiers didn't make any small talk, unlike the people who had greeted them when they first arrived. So, it had been a long awkward silence as they walked up the slope, they were greeted by the Mayor, and a few other men and women, who seemed to be local representatives, as well as a few military officers.

"Good day, young Avatar." the Mayor addressed them, or more specifically, Aang, "I am Mayor Banken. These are some of the officials who administer this territory, and I thought to call them here as soon as you arrived."

"Do you know why I'm here?" Aang asked him, and the Mayor just smiled back at him, seeming confident.

"I imagine to ask us about the peace settlement the Fire Lord has agreed to. News spreads quickly by messenger hawk." he guessed; the young Air Nomad cringed, and pointed back the way they had come from.

"Not far from here... there's an Earth Kingdom camp." he clarified, "They shouldn't attack, but we're- well, I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"By who?" one of the military officers asked, "If New Hachitani is in danger, then you should tell us what is going on."

"It's not the Earth Kingdom soldiers, at least not yet." Katara clarified, "There are angry people, the people you've displaced by making this colony. They want their land back... they expect it back, as the war is over."

"That's not how these things work." the Mayor stated as if he knew what would happen, before Aang or Katara had a chance to explain anything, "The Army is here to protect us."

Katara sighed, before gesturing to the front door, "Maybe we should go inside and talk about this."

"There's not much to talk about, is there? I mean, we will be sending a representative to the peace conference, whenever that takes place." the Mayor explained his own intentions, and Katara clenched her fists; his ignorance was astounding.

"Please." Aang requested, "I only want to make sure nobody is hurt... and that the war doesn't start again."

"We have no intention of attacking anyone." one of the officers assured him, "The chain of command is respected, and our General would never think to disobey his Fire Lord. The armistice will be respected."

"Again... this isn't about you." Katara emphasised the point she had been trying to make, "Please, can we just go inside and speak about this. We met with the Earth Kingdom officials. You'll want to hear what they had to say."

"Alright, alright." Banken agreed to her proposal, "We'll go inside. I am sure my friends here would like to speak their mind on the peace settlement." he acknowledged the presence of the others, "If you want to hear them, that is?"

"We can hear your opinions, that doesn't mean we will respect them." Katara bluntly declared; Aang seemed to disapprove of her stance.

"Sorry, no, we will listen to you... and we hope that the Fire Lord will too, so that everyone knows how we can make peace." he tried to soften the stance she had just given, though he was just giving platitudes; there wasn't all that much he could say to people that stood in the way of what they both wanted- peace, and for the Fire Nation to return to the Fire Nation.

"Well then, come on." the Mayor gestured for everyone to follow him inside.

The group entered his manor, and made their way through the foyer, before going to a lounge area, where there were some large seats and a table, ample space for them to sit down while they discussed matters. The Mayor turned to a servant once entering the room, and gestured to a door, muttering something quietly; the servant nodded and paced away. Katara guessed it was tea, knowing that was an expected courtesy, and might calm those sitting in on the meeting.

Once everyone was seated, Mayor Banken gestured to Aang, "So, Avatar, please, explain what must be discussed."

"This colony cannot stay here." he bluntly told him what was obvious to Katara, but clearly not to the people before them, "The war might be over, but the people who lived here will not be happy if you are allowed to stay."

"Allowed by whom?" one of the people seated across from him asked; she was an older woman, presumably a bureaucrat of some sort, given her long, fine robes, as well as the scrolls that she had fastened to her belt, "The Fire Lord, the Earth King, or the peasants?"

"The Earth King will not want Fire Nation settlers in his country." Katara acknowledged, "The Fire Lord has agreed that the colonies need to be... uh, dealt with, though she hasn't agreed to anything just yet."

"So then, we must follow the will of her majesty." one of the military officers decided, "We will remain here until she commands otherwise."

"I have been given authority by the Fire lord and her Council of Ministers to order anyone to do anything." Aang clarified, and those surrounding the table looked confused, then aghast.

"W-wait, are you ordering us to leave?" the Mayor nervously asked, and Aang shook his head.

"I won't order the colonists to leave. The soldiers have to." he clarified, turning his eyes to the officers, "If you are attacked by the people who used to live here, then the war will start again."

"We would have to respond with force." one of them conceded, "But we are obliged to protect the Fire Nation citizens that live here. That is our duties, beyond fighting the Earth Kingdom, or anyone else." he warned him, "We cannot abandon them."

"That's why the settlers need to leave." Katara clarified, "You will be safe away from the frontier, and the locals won't be able to attack you."

"If what you're saying is true, then it is the Earth Kingdom that stands in the way of peace." the same officer declared, before raising his chin, "How can we sit idly by? We should request the Fire Lord take action."

"You can do that... but I don't think she'll agree to fighting." Aang argued, "That's not what we agreed to."

"You're forcing the Fire Lord to stand by while our people might be massacred?" the bureaucrat rose to her feet, sounding deeply offended and disgusted by the suggestion, "You cannot claim you stand for peace if you let this happen."

"I'm trying to stop it." Aang tried to reassure them.

"Aang is trying to bring balance between the Four Nations. It's not easy." Katara backed him up, knowing that it would be a challenge to achieve such balance when there were so many unresolved issues.

"Clearly." Mayor Banken acknowledged, seeming more frustrated than before, having realised the gravity of the situation.

He hummed in thought, as if something had just appeared in his mind's eye, "You do realise you could just stop them by force." he suggested a possible solution, "These attackers would be breaking the armistice."

"The armistice is between the military forces of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, not between aggrieved civilians." one of the officers corrected him, "If civilians attack our bases, or our settlements, we would be obliged to respond with force... but I cannot say whether that would be permitted."

"We don't want anyone fighting anyone." Aang stressed, and one of the civilian officials on the table raised a finger.

"I have a proposal." he spoke up, "If the military is forbidden from fighting against civilians and Earth Kingdom soldiers alike, then we will simply need to organise militias. These could not be condoned or controlled by the government, but to serve the colonists living here." he explained, and the Mayor nodded.

"I believe that would be in order, at least to ensure the safety of our people."

"That would just lead to extrajudicial fighting and killings." the bureaucrat retorted, sounding frustrated by the suggestion, "I believe this would be most unwise, Mayor. It simply undermines the authority of the Army, who are here to protect the people, and ensure the laws of our nation are respected."

"If the Fire Lord forbids us to act, then it is the only choice the colonists have." one of the officers argued, seeming more poignant than angered by the situation, "I do not want to force people to fight, but do you think they will stand idly by and have their homes torched, and be forced to leave? This is their only home."

"I see that." Aang spoke up, "I'm sorry. I feel like I might only be making things worse." he admitted his own potential mistakes; Katara thought what was happening was necessary, but agreed that violence was something that needed to be avoided, "But please, I think that you should leave New Hachitani. If fighting starts here, it is the colonists who will be hurt." he argued, and the table seemed to be in agreement, at least in the sense that they understood that fighting was the worst possible outcome.

"I cannot agree to make the people of New Hachitani leave without due compensation. If they cannot return, then they will have lost their homes. They came here in the first place to compensate for the homes they lost in the homeland." Banken reminded them of why New Hachitani existed in the first place, "And even if it isn't permanent, we will need places to live in. There are a few towns to the west of here that might be able to accommodate us, but everything we own is here. Our homes, our farms, our industries."

"I can ask the Fire Lord to do that. I- uh, I think she will agree to that."

"As is right." the bureaucrat agreed, "I believe this is the best course of action, sir."

The officers nodded along, "As do we." one of them decided, "Militias would be a worst case solution."

"Your military base needs to be removed as well." Katara added, "It's the first thing they'd try to attack."

"We have the means to move a base, but it will take a lot more to bring the colonists to live someplace else." the officer argued, before sighing, "We will have to request the Military Governor for approval, but I imagine he will give it, knowing the armistice is at stake."

"This is not the outcome anyone here wants, but I trust that you will do the right thing by us... if the Avatar is really to serve all the nations, and not just self interest." Banken acknowledged, "I didn't mean to question your authority earlier... I just didn't realise how bad things might get."

"It's okay." Aang reassured him, "I will make sure the Fire Lord hears about your problems. I don't want the war restarting... and I don't want you to lose everything." he admitted.

Unlike Katara, he seemed to sympathise more with the colonists, and she could understand why- they would lose their homes, and that wasn't fair, but neither was it fair for them to occupy the lands of the Earth Kingdom and seize it from its original inhabitants.

There at least needed to be a plan to resolve the matter of where they would live after peace was settled, and he guessed that the Earth Kingdom wanted most, if not all of the colonies removed; she knew that the Fire Lord wouldn't agree to that, and even if he forced her to, the people of the colonies would feel justified in their anger towards the Avatar.

She knew that the people could come to hate the Avatar, and Fire Nation propaganda had already prepared them for it. Despite how petty their anger was, the people of Chin proved that the Avatar could still be to blame, even if they were doing the right thing. Aang was not like Avatar Roku, or Avatar Kyoshi, and had no where near the experience they had with politics; he was just a kid, and he wanted to do the right thing, but he never would take violence into his own hands if he could help it. That was an admirable way of living, but she didn't know how conducive it would be in keeping the uneasy peace; he was, in many ways, unprepared for the role expected of him, but Aang had the right mindset, she thought, to actually make sure the war ended for good.

"There are many people here who do not want to fight." the bureaucrat spoke up once more, "The people of New Hachitani are farmers, craftsmen, and labourers. Most of them have never seen the war, beyond the marching of soldiers through this colony." she explained what kind of people were living in the settlement, "I do not wish war upon anyone. Everyone is tired of it. Please, do not force them to fight."

"I- I don't know what I can promise." Aang admitted, "I will try and keep everyone from fighting each other, but I can't- I can't stop people from taking action." he added with a frustrated, pensive look, "I do not want people to hate me more than they already do."

"I am sure most people do not." the Mayor argued, before grimacing, "But we were taught things in school... things I realise now must have been lies. You seem to be reasonable. Measured. Wise beyond your years."

"I wouldn't say that." Aang retorted, "I am just twelve." he admitted his naivety and lack of experience; to deny it would make him look like a fool, "But I am trying to learn. To understand all sides of the war. If I don't, then I can't keep harmony between the Four Nations."

"Harmony has never really existed." one of the soldiers spoke up, "I mean no offence, Avatar, but the world has always had its wars. This one has been exceptionally long and brutal, but that is how nations are built. We did not all one day profess loyalty to the Fire Lord because we thought it was the right thing. There were many wars, and much suffering." he explained his thoughts on the matter, "I am no philosopher, and I won't claim I know more than anyone else, but I cannot say this will last... even if you get what you want."

"He speaks the truth." the bureaucrat agreed, "The inequality between the Four Nations is what allowed the Fire Nation to fight the war, to destroy your people. That will not just disappear if the colonies are removed."

"You say that we need to do more than that." Katara spoke her mind, sounding suspicious and a bit confused.

"I am saying that doing more than that would only serve to make an enemy of the Fire Nation." she clarified, "I think we can all agree... the war must end, and to do that, everyone needs to at least tolerate the settlement."

"What about justice?" Katara asked, and the table fell silent; Mayor Banken rose to his feet.

"We are not the best people to talk about that to." he admitted, "We are just considering the issues we face here... and we cannot do much to help the other nations, personally. If that is what you are suggesting."

"Yes, we need to talk to the Fire Lord about that." Aang agreed with him, presumably because he thought she would actually go along with his requests; as much as she hoped Azula would, Katara could not trust her to do so.

She had had enough, and pointed a finger at the soldiers, "You know what you've done. Don't deny it. Everyone knows, even if most Fire Nation people are too filled with lies to realise it." she accused them, her words missing the actual content, but it must have been obvious to them.

"We have served our nation faithfully." one of the older officers spoke up, "It is not a matter of whether that service was nice and rosy, but whether we helped our nation."

"And now the rest of the world needs help." Aang spoke up, "Even if the fighting stops, that doesn't change what's happened. The world is so different from what I remember before, and for things to get better, the Fire Nation can't just stand by."

"What Aang's saying is that peace can only come when we work together, even if we don't want to." Katara made his intentions clear, and those at the table seemed uneasy.

"I don't know if many in the Fire Nation would be so accepting of the idea of aiding our former enemies." Mayor Banken spoke frankly, and Katara raised a finger.

"Were you not intent on ruling over the entire Earth Kingdom?" she asked them, "Wouldn't you have had to rebuild it after your war destroyed so much."

"What do you see before you?" the bureaucrat asked her rhetorically, "This town is the work of our great nation."

"I didn't see any Earth Kingdom people here." she retorted, and those at the table seemed confused.

"Well, some of them do live here. However, the Mayor banned the expression of Earth Kingdom colours to prevent discrimination and further division in the community." the same bureaucrat clarified, and one of the soldiers cleared his throat.

"I must make it clear that isn't the general policy in the colonies. We usually allow Earth Kingdom settlements to live unimpeded."

"I don't believe that's true." Katara retorted, before rising to her feet, "We'll follow your requests, but I'm not going to spend another second listening to these lies." she declared, pacing over to the doors; she stopped herself just at the doors, waiting for Aang, and to listen to whatever else they might say.

"I- I would apologise, but I think she's right. What you're saying isn't true. I've met lots of people who were forced out of their homes. Their villages were destroyed."

There were many people in the Earth Kingdom who had been forced from their original homes, their lands torched by the Fire Nation; even if she did ultimately not agree with their methods, the Freedom Fighters were a clear example of that suffering leading to action. She expected more people would do as they had if the Fire Nation would not allow for their return, and continued their occupation and colonisation of Earth Kingdom lands.

"That is usually not the case. Most of the colonies are still inhabited by their original populace. The Fire Nation came for trade and industry, not merely to steal land... if that is what you thought."

"Conquering another nation is stealing land... not that Air Nomads really care about who owns what land, but those people who lost their homes, that's something the Fire Nation needs to fix." he argued, before turning to face Katara, and pacing over to her, "We'll make sure the Fire Lord knows about your issues, and make sure they're solved. I promise." he made clear that he didn't intend to simply ignore everything they had told him.

Those at the table nodded, and Banken even got up to bow to them; when Aang stepped past the doors, they were shut, and the two of them eyed each other.

"This sucks." he admitted quietly, and she couldn't help but agree.

"Peace is hard... but-" she began, before turning her eyes away, wondering if there was a smarter way for them to go about things; the Fire Nation colonists were going to be hard to sway, and they would probably need many incentives to leave, beyond the threat of being attacked by angry Earth Kingdom civilians.

"There should be another way." she spoke her mind, and Aang shrugged.

"They don't want to leave." he observed, before sighing, "How can we make the colonists and the Earth Kingdom both happy?" he asked, and she was unsure if it was a rhetorical question.

"We can't." she decided, before cringing, "The armistice won't last at this rate... so the Fire Lord needs to do something now."

"She won't like it." Aang warned her, and Katara scoffed.

"She won't like another war either."


It didn't take Zuko that long to get back towards the centre of the village, where he could see that most of the fires were being put out, and more villagers were moving out to check the rest of the homes for damage. A few armed villagers were escorting bandits they had taken prisoner, showing them off while some children threw rocks at them. He knew that they deserved it, and didn't do anything to intervene. Some villagers noticed his injuries, and one approached him, an older woman.

"Were you helping in the fight?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Uh... yes." he answered the question; he wasn't fighting as the Blue Spirit at the end, simply trying to prevent some women from being kidnapped by the bandits; he recalled what he had done before, feeling that somebody would know how to help Zhu and Quanshui, "I just pulled a man from his burning house." he added, "Zhu. He and his daughter will need some help." he clarified, and the woman's eyes widened.

"Oh dear." she gasped, "I'll have to go find Zhu's wife Xia... she was working at the mill when the bandits attacked. She'll be glad to know her family is safe." she explained what she knew about the family, "Thank you, young man."

"It isn't a problem. I- uh, need directions to the hospital."

"Oh, of course!" she agreed to his request, "Just down the street here and turn left at the well. You can't miss it, it's quite a big building. They're full at the moment, so it might take a while for you to be checked." she warned, and he nodded.

"That's fine... as long as somebody looks at my injuries." he assured her, and continued walking in the direction he had been heading, the well already in sight.

He was exhausted, and now, he knew that he would have to rest; he'd prefer to do that in the hospital than pass out in the street. The brothers would surely be confused if they found him there; he was lucky he hadn't run into them just yet, as he hadn't figured out how he'd explain what had happened to him. He could excuse it by saying he was hurt saving Zhu, but that wasn't accurate in the slightest.

When he reached the entrance of the hospital, he let out a sigh, and glanced at the injured villagers; there were quite a few of them, but to his own relief, it seemed like most had only received minor injuries. He didn't know how to feel about his own feelings, realising that he was feeling concern for random Earth Kingdom civilians. He knew that they were innocent, and therefore, they should not face undue punishment and suffering, but he remembered everything he was taught.

The strong were meant to rule the weak, but he knew that his uncle would rather say the strong had to protect the weak. He knew his uncle would not have been treated kindly by random civilians from an enemy country, but he guessed that he would have at least tried not to hurt them. Iroh was always measured, and as kind as he could be, after all those years as a soldier, fighting against the enemies of the Fire Nation. He did not feel strong, and wondered if he was the one who really needed protection; he had helped, but Zuko was injured and exhausted, struggling to keep on his own two feet.

He strode over to the doors, and glanced inside, "How many?" he asked out, and a nurse must have caught his words.

She looked at him pensively, "Too many... your gashes are bad. Somebody will come to look at you as soon as they're available."

"I'm not more important than anyone else." he realised, and he was disturbed by that fact.

He had given away his name, his life, and now he was to be subjected to the horror of being like everyone else. Perhaps luck was not on his side, or perhaps it was; he was still breathing, after all. Zuko slumped over by the doorway, sitting himself down beside another injured man, who looked at him with sympathy.

"Good job, son." he acknowledged his efforts, and Zuko just looked down.

"Good?" he murmured, "I could have done better." he declared with a whisper, before closing his eyes.

He needed rest, and he knew nobody was going to kill him while he was slumped over there, surrounded by other injured people. After he shut his eyes, the world seemed to slip away. However, it only did for a few moments, or what felt like moments. There was a slurring of noise and all feeling slipped for those moments.

His mind was torn from that moment, and back to the ship. His uncle was offering to catch some fresh air, and Zuko refused snidely. He was so angry, about something that seemed so trivial in hindsight. He had no crew, and could no longer command his ship; without that, he had no hope to reach the Avatar. He already knew that would be a challenge if he was going to the North Pole, but he had at least a little hope before Zhao appropriated his crew. Hopeless and furious, but his uncle's offer of tea had been enough to get him to relax, even if it was only for that evening.

Iroh was kind, and Zuko was not. That was why everyone on the ship had loved the old general, and loathed the young Prince. He had earned some trust and respect with time, but the great Dragon of the West was adored. He understood why, because he had known him his whole life. He had been frustrated with his ways of teaching, and his nonchalant attitude towards his quest, but at the core, he was still his uncle. He loved him.

Zuko could not do anything as he saw what happened. He couldn't cry. He couldn't hug him. He couldn't tell him how he felt. All he could do was recall the stupid, pointless small talk he and Iroh had had that evening. Talking about how they would have to go and make their own food, how the cook was the best man on the ship, and how Iroh would miss music night. Zuko had never liked it, but now he missed it. The men were not his friends, but they had been there; they had provided a sense of stability and order in his life. They left, and Iroh died. Zuko should have told him to come with him to check, but he had foolhardily rushed out himself.

Zuko was drawn out of the trance, the flames leaving his inner eye as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he blinked a few times; definitely awake, and still in pain, he couldn't help but pout. Life had never been kind to him. It was just as his father said, he was lucky to be born.

"Lee." he heard somebody say his name, or rather, the name he had chosen; in hindsight, he would have preferred a less bland name, but it made him fit in.

"Wh-who..." he mumbled, before turning his head up; he recognised the face, but the name couldn't reach his tongue.

Not immediately, that was, and he didn't need to think for it, because it was uttered for him.

"It's me, Song. You're hurt... again." she observed, almost sounding amused, "I came as soon as I could."

"Why-"

"You've been sitting there for a while." she clarified, and Zuko glanced over, realising that the man who had tried to comfort him was gone.

"Oh." he gasped, less surprised and more relieved, "I thought I was going to have to wait."

"You were sleeping." she clarified, and he licked his lips, before glancing around, noticing that things had calmed down a bit, but there were still a few injured villagers about, most being attended to by physicians, nurses, or by other villagers.

"I guess, that's a good thing." he admitted, "Do you have burn ointment?" he asked her, and she showed him the jar she already had in hand.

"Can you get up?" she asked, and Zuko cringed.

"I would prefer not to." he admitted, before sighing, "But I'm going to have to get back to the house eventually." he added, knowing that he would have to get up, so that moment was as good as any.

He groaned as he rose, finding his back aching; he guessed that was from the poor way he had been sitting, rather than because he had hurt it when fighting. He recalled it being fine, though it had hurt a bit after he helped move debris to reach Zhu. He blinked a few times, and glanced back down the street.

"They must be happier than me." he realised, knowing that Zhu was safe, and his family was reunited; Zuko couldn't hope for anything so lucky.

"Who?"

"The people I helped." he clarified, before eyeing the entrance into the hospital, "Where do you want me to go?"

"Somewhere you can sit so you may be examined." she clarified, gesturing inside, "Just follow me."

He heeded her words, and followed her into the hospital; it was relatively dark inside, though she led him into a small room where he could be treated. There was nobody else there, meaning that he wouldn't be watched as his injuries were treated. The main reason he was concerned was because of how he had cuts and burns still healing from earlier fights, and he would prefer people not have more questions about him. He wanted to be Lee, because he wanted to disappear.

He sat down where Song had pointed, and got rid of his shirt, revealing the cuts that he had received in the fighting. She seemed surprised, at least initially, and eyed the wounds with interest, noting how he had already bandaged them up.

"You bound these already." she mumbled, "Good job... for an amateur."

"I've had experience." he conceded, and she cringed.

"I realised." she assured him that she wasn't fooled by his vagueness, "I'm not going to ask... but I advise you don't act so recklessly. You got hurt badly... and I'm going by the standards of everyone else I've seen today."

"They've got burns, don't they?" he asked, "They must be worse, that's why I had to wait."

"Well... yes." she nodded, "The fires were worse than the bandits." she conceded, "You aren't burnt... at least not badly."

"I'm familiar with fire." he admitted, hoping that she'd just guessed that it had something to do with his scar, and not with firebending as his own bending art.

"Oh, I- sorry, I didn't mean to-" she mumbled as she looked away with an ashamed face; Zuko just sighed, not wanting her pity.

"It doesn't matter." he reassured her, preferring that she get along with tending to his burns; she might not have understood that was what he wanted, but she did do that.

Song put some ointment on the burns he had received, before unwrapping the bandages Zuko put over his cuts. He could have cauterised them himself, and with the worst, he did, but the others he left, knowing it would be too suspicious to have burned the wounds shut. The fact she didn't make any comments suggested that his plan had worked. The ointment was already helping, making Zuko feel a lot less pained than he had when he had been sitting there. In hindsight, he was surprised he was even able to get to sleep.

She pulled out some needle and thread, and made it clear what she was going to do; he nodded, and let her get on with it, grabbing a rag to bite down onto. He had had cuts sewed up before, but it had been quite a while; even when he was hurt in the explosion, it was all burns and a few bruises, meaning that he hadn't had to worry about doing it himself. The stitches felt odd, but he wouldn't complain, knowing that they were necessary. She then tied up his arms with some new bandages, along with one along his back, where he had gotten a long, but rather surface level cut.

Once that was all done, Song gestured towards the door, "I can get some tea for the pain." she suggested, and Zuko sighed.

"I think I'll probably pass out as soon as I get back to the farm." he admitted honestly, and she titled her head.

"You say that like you've been in a situation like this before." she deduced, and Zuko laughed off her words.

"Nothing like this." he reassured her, "I- I haven't gotten cuts like these before."

"Firebenders don't cut." she made an observation that said more than the words themselves; Song was aware that he had gotten into fights before, but now, she was making the kinds of suggestions that he didn't want to hear, "Thank you for helping the villagers. You didn't have to do that."

"I didn't want everything to go up in smoke." he admitted; he didn't want to sound like he cared all that much for the village, because personally, he did not.

He defended it partly because he needed to keep his employers safe and ensure that he had somewhere to live and work, and partly on the principle of the matter. He could do something, so he did. Zuko was not really the Blue Spirit; it was just an act he played to get what he wanted, and it seemed to work out, except when it hadn't.

"I'm not going to ask anything else." she reassured him, "I know that you don't like speaking about your past... or what you do when nobody's watching."

"I don't." he confirmed her suspicions; even if she wouldn't say it outright, Zuko was sure she knew.

The fact she seemed willing to hide his secret was a relief, but confusing; she didn't owe him anything. Perhaps she cared that much that he had aided the village that she was willing to keep his alter-ego secret. Or perhaps, Zuko was just reading into it too much; she might have known nothing.

"Thank you." he acknowledged her help, "I don't have that much to pay you with."

"Don't bother... it's just a courtesy, given what's happened." she reassured him, "Go home. I'm sure the brothers are worried about where you've gone off to."

"They didn't come in?" he asked, and she scrunched her lips.

"Well, I didn't see them." she conceded, "Or did you want to stay here?"

"I'd just take up space. The barn is more than fine for me." he declared, even if he was lying; he hated living in such a wretched place.

"I'm sure you'll find somewhere better to stay soon." she assured him, and Zuko just laughed.

"In the next village, maybe. I think you have a housing shortage now."

His words were not really intended to be funny, though he thought making light of the situation would improve his own mood. Song seemed a bit confused by the joke, but she understood it quickly enough, and sighed.

"I'm sure we'll make it through this. Most people here have faced worse than a few housefires before."

"For all our sakes, I hope this is the worst you face." he mumbled, "I am sick and tired of having to-" he began, before holding his tongue, realising what he was about to say.

"Tired of what?"

"Pretending." he admitted the honest truth, though because she had no idea who he was, she could not possibly understand what he was really talking about.

"You're pretending? Pretending to be... uh, happy with the barn?"

"No, not that. Lee is just a mask." he admitted, "I'm trying to forget who I was before- it- it doesn't matter." he decided to not go any further, not wanting to discuss his past with a virtual stranger.

"I know you've lost something... someone." she admitted, placing a hand on his side, "I know that face... because I see it in the mirror. You're not alone."

"I am." he retorted calmly, not wanting to lose his cool, even if on the inside he was screaming about all that had happened; the dream just reminded him of the truth.

"It doesn't last forever." she tried to reassure him, and Zuko poignantly laughed; she was right, perhaps, when it came to the anguish, but not with the fact of life.

"Death does."


Piandao was glad to be home; it had been a long three months he had spent, travelling all the way to Ba Sing Se for the comet, waiting there, before returning home once the fight was won. After all that time, he had grown to miss his manor, with its gardens and forge. He missed the smell of the place, and the feel of the wind that came through the canyon, pattering his face most times he was outside. It was a beautiful place he had chosen to make his home, and he wouldn't choose any other.

He and Fat had helped some colonists on their way back to the Fire Nation, helping them find places to stay since their homes in Ba Sing Se had to be vacated. He didn't think that their settlement in Ba Sing Se was right to begin with, but he couldn't ignore those who needed help. Many people who had come in the aftermath of Azula's annexation of the city were veterans and urban poor from the colonies, enticed by offers of free homes and jobs in the new colonial government; they were not the kind of people who had much to return to, let alone the means to travel back to a home if they had one.

They had waved some of them off at the port in Shu Jing, the rest of them heading back towards the capital. It turned out that the Council of Ministers had provided free accommodation for those expelled from Ba Sing Se in the capital as a short term solution, with the intention being to move them to some underdeveloped part of the homeland or the colonies. He was unsure if the latter would work, given what he expected to result from the peace settlement. However, he was pleased to see their needs taken care of, preferring not to have to burden himself with them, knowing other generous individuals would too be willing to aid those like them.

However, he was still quite surprised by the unexpected company he and Fat had brought back with them. It had been many years since he trained the young Prince Zuko in the art of swordsmanship, and he imagined those years had been much longer for him than they had been for Piandao. First a Prince, then Crown Prince, an exile, and finally, no one. Lee was the name he went by in public, though he had no issue with Piandao calling him his given name in private; he felt like a completely different person in some regards, but the very same in others. He still used his sword the same way, and still had the same reactions when they trained.

He was unsure what Zuko wanted to do, and Piandao had asked if he wanted to return to whatever he was doing before the two of them were reunited at the walls of Ba Sing Se. He had refused to give an answer, simply saying that he wanted to go home. He was unsure whether to interpret that as meaning the Fire Nation, or the actual palace in which he was raised.

When they arrived at the manor, Fat went in to immediately make them some lunch, while Zuko aided Piandao in cleaning the house of the dust and dirt that had built up while they were away. It wasn't that hard of a job, and the Prince didn't complain once. So, when they were done with the last room, Piandao's office, he decided to ask him again.

"Zuko, I don't mean to press, but what are your plans now?" he asked him, "I mean, if you want to stay here with us, that is fine, but we'll need to find some work for you to do." he explained, knowing that while he usually made a decent amount of money with Fat from swordsmithing, he was unsure if Zuko would be able to do that, and if he couldn't, then he'd need to do something else to make ends meet.

"I'm not planning on staying long." he clarified, before straightening his posture as he put the broom he had been using to the side.

Piandao scrunched his lips, "So then, will you be travelling somewhere else?" he asked, and the Prince sighed.

"I'm sure you've already guessed." he retorted, making clear that he was aware of what place Piandao was thinking of- his home, "I need to... well, I need to handle things."

"By handle things, do you mean your sister?" he bluntly addressed the matter, not feeling that it was necessary to step around it.

He knew, even back when Zuko first trained with him, that he and his younger sister, Azula, had a troubled relationship; she was the favoured child, and with Zuko's exile, became Crown Princess. Though he hadn't explained what had happened with her since, he had heard the rumours that had proliferated from the colonies: Azula had been sent to hunt down those responsible for the murder of General Iroh and find her missing brother, who was nominally declared dead after the conclusion of the search. However, in the White Lotus encampment, he heard things that suggested the girl who was now Fire Lord had a lot more to do with Zuko's apparent turn from the Fire Nation than he might have initially assumed.

"Yes." he confirmed his suspicions, "I don't mean to harm her, or take her throne." he clarified, before shaking his head, "It is not your concern."

"I feel that it is, Prince Zuko." he stressed his own stance, "I am as concerned for the wellbeing of the Fire Nation as any citizen ought to be. You feel obligated to help her, do you not?"

"Help her rule?" he raised a brow, before laughing, "I'd rather live the rest of my life in obscurity than lower myself to being her servant." he declared with a snide tone, before shaking his head, "The Fire Nation's empire is falling apart, and though I might have helped the White Lotus to stop my father, I cannot just... be idle."

"Idleness is sometimes helpful. It helps you think." he argued, and Zuko laughed.

"I have had enough thinking for a whole lifetime. Uncle tried to make me think... and I should have listened. Maybe things could have turned out better if I had." he admitted, "I was a fool."

"You have had a hard life, Prince Zuko. Though you were born into privilege, I cannot say I envy you in the slightest." he conceded, before cringing, "Your sister either."

"I don't envy her... not anymore." the Prince agreed with him, before stepping over to the window, "I wanted to forget who I was... but now, I realise there's things I need to know."

"Such as?" he asked, and the Prince clenched his fists.

"If my father killed my mother." he admitted coldly, "I didn't want to believe it at first, but the longer I thought about it, the more it made sense. Whatever happened that night, with my mother, father, and grandfather, it's been kept a secret. My father wouldn't say a word."

"Perhaps you are right." Piandao acknowledged, not knowing anything of Princess Ursa's fate; Iroh had mentioned to him in passing once he returned to the FIre Nation that he was concerned about her disappearance, but had been unable to learn anything from his brother- he assumed she had been exiled, rather than killed, "Your uncle told me that he thought she was exiled."

"To where?" he immediately countered, "If she was outside of the Fire Nation, then why hasn't she tried to contact me? I- I was exiled for three years." he admitted, sounding anguished, with his anger quickly boiling up, "It's... it's cruel." he admitted, "I don't know what is the bigger cruelty my father inflicted on me: this scar, or his silence."

"I'm sorry, Zuko." he expressed his sympathy, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I understand what you're feeling. I hope you can find your mother."

"I can't find her if I don't learn where she could have gone." he admitted, before turning his gaze away, "Father will know... and if he doesn't tell me, there must be records." he explained his own train of thought, "If she... if he did 'that'... then I'll-" he began, his already present anger growing even brighter, to the point he actually started to bend flames in his palms.

"Zuko, please, calm down." he tried to dissuade him from letting his fury out, "Sit down. I'll get you some tea." he suggested, "Fat!" he called out, "What tea do we have?"

Zuko sat down at the table that was placed by the window, and Piandao sat across from him, just wanting to keep him calm; he knew he could be temperamental at times, but this was the first time his anger had been apparent since they first renuited outside of Ba Sing Se.

A few moments later, his butler stepped into the room, with an apron on, "Uh... green tea, jasmine tea, a few jars of some fancier tea you got from Prince Iroh as a gift."

"He gave you... tea?" Zuko asked, before shaking his head, "Of course he did."

"It was part of my payment when I trained you." he clarified, sounding amused by the fact, "I think I've only drunk some of those teas a handful of times." he explained, not recalling the tastes, only that they weren't bad, "Get one of those. I'm sure they'll be good, knowing his taste."

Fat nodded and paced away to go make the tea; Zuko let out a deep breath, before stepping over to the door. He opened it and went outside, Piandao following, knowing they ought to finish their discussion amiably, and with an actual resolution; he wanted nothing but to help his former student. Zuko had sat himself down on the staircase leading down into the stone garden, and had his head in his hands.

"Perhaps you can explain to me what you've been up to." he suggested, "You have gone on more journeys than your search for the Avatar, haven't you?"

"Yes." he confirmed, before shaking his head, "I don't really... I don't really know what to say." he admitted, "The months blur together. Everything was so different, and I was just trying to survive... and do right by myself and the world."

"How about the beginning? I've only heard rumours about what happened then. And, I think you would be best suited to make the truth of the matter clear." he explained, and the Prince sighed.

"Admiral Zhao seized my crew as part of his campaign to capture the Avatar and conquer the Northern Water Tribe. He failed in that, but he had found out... about my treasonous activities. I had only hoped to capture the Avatar to restore my honour. Instead of accusing me, he had some pirates I had fought with before hired to kill me. Uncle was caught in the ship and I was thrown overboard when it was blown apart." he explained exactly what had happened, his emotions remaining subdued until he had to acknowledge Iroh's death, "Uncle died, I survived. I was burnt, bruised, and struggled to even make it out of the water, let alone retrieve my uncle's body."

"Then what happened? I've heard about Zhao's death, but that was weeks later, after he was defeated in the North."

"I found the pirates... and slaughtered them. It was the first time I ever killed anyone." he admitted, seeming still disturbed by what he had done, even after all that time, "I would do it again, but- I think it has changed me. I kept doing it. I ran away, hoping to avoid the authorities after what I had done, and I wanted to find Zhao. I kept travelling north, and ran into some travelling colonists. They were threatened by some bandits, and I killed them too. I went with them to their destination, but then I had to run as my sister had caught up with me." he explained what followed, and Piandao raised a brow; he was no stranger to killing, but the involvement of Azula was interesting.

"What did she want?" he asked, "I mean, I understand that she must have been sent by your father, but to what end?"

"I didn't realise that she was actually supposed to be investigating my uncle's death and my disappearance. I thought she was sent to try and capture me for failing to capture the Avatar... or maybe even because of the pirates. I was unsure." he explained what he had thought, "I went to a port town, Kitakazewan, and hoped to catch a ride on a navy ship there. They were supplying the Northern Fleet from there, but I was caught before I could do anything."

"By your sister?" he asked, and Zuko nodded.

"I didn't want to cooperate... but something... odd happened." he explained, and Piandao's eyes widened; recalling that this had all occurred in late winter, he remembered the 'red moon', which had been the buzz of the town after its sudden appearance and disappearance.

"The red and black moons."

"Yes." he confirmed his suspicions, "It was Zhao's doing, which Azula deduced at the time. She dragged me into a cell on her ship, which had caught up with her after she had been travelling overland." he explained, before raising his head up, "Then we made a deal."

"A deal?" he pressed him, "Is this why... you're still pretending you're not yourself?"

"Uh... that's a way of saying it." he confirmed, "I could have joined her to hunt down the Avatar, but the alternative... that was getting my justice, as long as I remained 'dead'. I could be free of my duties, of my mission, of everything. At that time, I was more concerned about Zhao, but I did want an out. I had had enough of it."

"And then you killed him." he deduced the next turn of events.

"Not before punching Azula in the face. She deserved more than that after what she put me through." he declared coldly, and then nodded, "Then Zhao died. I made sure he knew, and I saw the hate and anguish in his eyes. I thought it would sate my anger... it didn't." he admitted the truth; as much as he had wanted it, it did not give him the closure he had wanted, "I doubt Uncle would have approved... but that would have been a bit hypocritical of him, given he spent his life fighting the enemies of the Fire Nation."

"And then you became nobody." he observed, "Do you want to be that? Nobody?" he asked Zuko, genuinely curious if he would maintain his side of the deal with his sister.

"I can't keep my end of the deal up... at least not in the way Azula wanted me to." he acknowledged, before sighing, "She probably already knows about what I've done. Some of it, at least."

"The Dai Li might still be loyal to her." Piandao observed, "So, they would have told her about you... about all of us, really." he observed, "So, she'll know that you stood with us... with the Avatar."

"But not as myself. I didn't proclaim myself Prince Zuko to the masses, and demand my rightful place as Fire Lord." he argued, before crossing his arms, "I don't want to make an enemy of her."

"You already have." he warned him, "I don't mean for your feud with her to persist, but it cannot be helped if you are already on opposing sides."

"We aren't. We both want peace... and what is best for our nation. I don't seek her throne." he argued, shaking his head, "I just want peace."

"That is what your uncle wanted, but he could not both serve the Fire Nation and get what he wanted." he reminded him of what had happened.

"If my uncle had persuaded me earlier... then he would still be alive." he acknowledged what had happened, and what could have been, "I was too stuck in my ways... too obsessed with my honour and title. I was a terrible nephew, and a terrible student."

"Do not be so harsh on yourself, Zuko." Piandao stressed, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You could not have known what would happen."

"I knew Zhao knew." he admitted, "It was obvious. I was just stupidly hoping he hadn't caught on. He knew I had a good reason to... do what I did." he trailed off, sounding almost ashamed; Piandao knew that he played the part of the Blue Spirit, and everyone had heard about Pohuai Fortress.

"I can't say that was the wisest decision, but... Zhao is the one who killed your uncle. He was responsible."

"I should have just told him to go on his walk." Zuko softly lamented, sounding anguished to the point he might cry; knowing the Prince, he would not, but his stiff lips and scowl told him that he felt as if he already was, "I'm sorry... for- you wanted me to explain how things went."

"After Zhao."

"The wilderness is unkind, and the locals were worse. They aren't bad people... but they couldn't trust me. Any outsider, really." he admitted what followed; he must have spent quite some time alone, and Piandao pitied him for that, as humans craved companionship, even in its most meagre forms, "I wish... I wish I had just kept moving."

"What... did stopping cause more problems?" he asked, and Zuko shook his head.

"People are the cause of everything. I couldn't just ignore everyone and everything, even if I had given up everything."

"You didn't give up your heart." he observed what he was trying to say; he wanted to help, even after all that had happened to him.

"I used to think my honour would come from capturing the Avatar, and gaining my father's respect... but that was a- dumb way of looking at things. Honour comes from your deeds, not what people call you."