Zuko

"Did you talk to the chief?" Zuko asked as soon as they arrived at the rented house with Master Fung.

"I did." Toph said, a light blush tainting her cheeks, Zuko stifled a laugh at the sight.

"Toph, i hate to say it, but i kinda like this girly side of yours, had you shown it to me a couple of years back, we might have been dating by now." Zuko joked, and Toph punched him in the arm aggressively. "OW!"

"I think you know you deserve it." Toph said with a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah, i guess i do." Zuko agreed rubbing his sore shoulder.

"To be honest though, i don't know what it is about The Chief that intrigues me, but i kinda found him fun to talk to. but he seemed very.. Lonely." Toph said with sympathy.

"How so?" Zuko asked curiously.

"I don't know. he spent a lot of time talking about how The late chief Arnook and Princess Yue were all he had in the world, and after their death he felt so lonely and depressed, not to mention he took the responsibility of this nation prematurely. I felt so bad for him, you know. i even gave him.. a hug." Toph said hesitantly fearing that Zuko might tease her for it, but Zuko wasn't feeling like teasing right now, for the story about's chief's depression struck a nerve.

"I get what he's feeling." Zuko mumbled sadly. Toph turned to him abruptly, Zuko figured his confession must have made her confused, so he decided to clarify,

"When i heard of my uncle's death in prison, i felt like i should just end my life right then and there." Zuko confessed.

"What?!" Toph shouted startled by Zuko's confession.

Zuko sighed, "The fact that i thought Aang was dead as well back then made it even worse, i felt like i had no one left, and had you and Azula not come to rescue me back then, i might have actually done it. that's why i know how The Chief's feeling. he needs someone to make him feel safe and reassure him that there are still things to live for. so i encourage you to go for it, Toph."

"Go for what?"

"I saw the way you looked at him.." Zuko started, and Toph smirked, but before Toph made her remark, Zuko immediately figured his mistake and corrected it,

"Well, not looked. i meant how you 'sensed' him or whatever.. bottom line is, i know how you feel about him, and if you feel like it's the right thing to do for the both of you, then go for it." Zuko finished.

"You are taking this way too far there, Sparky. feeling bad for someone doesn't mean feeling for them that way." Toph said, although there was hesitation in her voice.

Zuko smirked, "Whatever you say, Toph." Zuko said, satisfied with the fact that he's right.

Master Fung finally joined them, "So, what do you think about this new situation? the evacuation might start in a couple of days, do we stay here after that or do we join them?" Fung asked.

Zuko contemplated his choices, "I don't know. The evacuated people are going to need guides to lead them through The Earth Kingdom anyways, and of course The White Lotus must provide them with those guides. I suggest you go with them, Master Fung."

"Wait, Why should The White Lotus guide them through The Earth Kingdom? They are not children." Toph objected.

"They do have children, Toph, Elderly as well. and we need to provide them with a life that isn't that far inferior to their current one." Zuko then regarded Master Fung, "I suggest you contact The White Lotus members right away, tell them to search for a town to host these people as soon as they land on Earth Kingdom soil." Zuko said.

"Already done, Prince Zuko. Master Jeong Jeong is leading the search himself. he's Firenation, but he's been living in The Earth Kingdom for quite some time."

Zuko was about to question how Master Jeong Jeong came to their service but he pushed it for later, "Great. then it's settled, you'll go with the evacuated people."

"What about you and Master Toph?" Fung asked.

Toph and Zuko stayed silent for a while, they really never thought about what comes next had in case they succeed, what will they do? Zuko has been thinking of an option ever since yesterday, but he wasn't sure whether to put it into words or not, eventually, he decided he can't keep it for long.

"What about we go find Aang?" Zuko suggested. and the room fell silent again.

Of course Fung's silence wasn't the one Zuko was concerned about, it's the silence of the girl with the milky eyes beside him.

She looked at the ground, "I don't know.." Toph mumbled.

"Why don't you know?"

"Because i'm not sure whether i want to see him again or not." Toph finally confessed.

"Come on, Toph. you are seriously not still overthinking the whole thing. I thought you got over it yesterday."

"I'll never get over it." Toph said decisively.

"I seriously disagree. speaking with Aang does wonders to a person, you know that."

"That's why i don't want to."

"Toph.."

"Besides, i need to stay with The Chief anyways.. like i said, he needs someone by his side, especially after the evacuation, he'll go with his people to lead them in their new territory, he is going to need me.. Aang doesn't need me." Toph said. Zuko sighed and was about to speak but before he could, Master Fung interrupted.

"She's right about that, Prince Zuko." Zuko turned to him abruptly, he was making it worse, but Fung only shrugged,

"Chief Hahn is going to need all the help he can get leading the evacuated people, all of them are going to be non-benders, since we're leaving all the experienced benders there at the north pole, it's not going to be an easy life, especially for those people leaving leaving members of their family behind. he's going to need all the support, and if Toph and I can provide him with that, then that's what we'll do. don't worry about her, she'll be fine." Fung reassured.

Zuko stayed silent for a while, not sure what to say, of course they had to make sure the evacuation process goes smoothly, but that doesn't mean Toph has to leave. or maybe it does, he wasn't sure.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose, "Alright, then i'll stay with you."

"We definitely have no use for you here." Toph said bluntly.

"What?"

"Aang needs you more than the chief does. i'm sure seeing you will make him feel much better." Toph said.

"So does him seeing you." Zuko argued.

Toph was silent for a second before saying, "Yes, but i am not sure i want him to see me just yet." Toph said.

Zuko finally understood her feelings, maybe she'll come to her senses in the future, but right now, she does need some time alone to process this,

"Alright. Then it's decided." Zuko declared. and Fung and Toph nodded.

a bittersweet decision, but one he doesn't have to care about right now, all he needs to care about is the evacuation that's happening in a couple of days.

Miki

It was past sunrise and Miki wasn't at Master Pakku's school yet, it was her first time being late, but for Master Pakku, there is no difference between a first and a tenth. She woke up late in the morning, but that was due to a night of wine with the guy who is basically her partner right now, Kai.

As soon as her and Kai got on good terms, they started seeing each other frequently in various places not just the bending academy, what started off as a hanging out between friends developed into a date between two people who like each other, and then developed again into a date between Lovers, all in the span of three months. Of course they were both of marrying age, but the timing wasn't right for marriage, they both agreed to postpone it until this spirits problem is over.

She made her way to the school, panting and in poor condition, but what was rather odd was that she found no one at the school, Miki searched the entire school for clues, anything to give away the reason why the school is open, yet nobody was there, she thought she might find them in the canteen, after all this is the place everybody seeks after training.

She made her way to the Canteen, she found the doors open but nobody in sight, until she caught sight of him, sitting alone at a table, seemingly in deep thought, not that she wanted to converse with him, but he was the only person around.

"Good Morning, Chief Voccak." Miki greeted cutting his train of thought as he looked up at her startled.

"Oh. Hello, Miki." He said with a formal smile, before getting back to his contemplative state, they have been training together under Master Pakku for the past couple of months, so their relationship is no longer Boss-employee, they are teammates, they are equals. which was exceptionally odd for Miki for the first couple of weeks, but then she got used to it.

"Where's everyone?" She asked.

"Master Pakku called the day off, his dear wife is travelling to Kyoshi Island to meet her.." He trailed off for a while, seemingly unable to complete the sentence, but then he did, "to meet her son." Now this is news for Miki, she didn't know how to react to that, Is Lord Voccak talking about another son of Lady Kanna, or is he talking about THE son of Lady Kanna?

"Chief Hakoda is alive?" She asked, she wanted to ask about the entire family, but she surmised that the survival of Chief Hakoda means the survival of his family.

Voccak sighed, "Yes. Apparently, he escaped the cursed Ceremonies. A messenger hawk arrived yesterday at Master Pakku's hut, when we arrived this morning for the training, he informed us of the good news and then left to get his wife to the port." Voccak said.

They both stayed in silence, both in deep thought and apparently having a lot on their plate, Miki looked at Voccak, she's probably known him more than anyone in the city, even more than his right-hand man Hedrick, yet she's never seen him in a more miserable state.

"Alright, Lord Voccak. What's bothering you?" Miki asked.

Voccak lifted his head, "Nothing is bothering me."

"You wouldn't have been sitting here if you weren't. apparently, this is the only place you know other than your office, and so you use it to escape from work."

"How do you know me so well?"

"I was your maid." Miki said with a small smile.

Voccak sighed, he thought twice before asking her, but eventually he did, "Tell me, Miki.. am i a poor leader?"

Miki was taken aback by the question, she double checked to make sure that it was indeed Chief Voccak standing in front of her asking her that question.

"What?" She asked.

"Am i a poor leader?" Voccak repeated, this time looking at her with anticipation.

Even though still shocked by the question, Miki tried to find the right words to respond to this question, sure, she never liked Voccak that much, but does that make him a poor leader?

"I don't know what to say, are you asking for my opinion or.. the people's opinion?" Miki asked, trying to avoid the answer.

"I'm asking for your opinion."

Miki kept looking around, still trying to find the right words to answer this question, "I'm not sure.. i mean, you made most people happy, you agreed to join the fight against the spirits, the country is prospering under your rule.. But.." Miki stopped.

"But what?" Voccak inquired.

Miki sighed before finally voicing out the reason behind her resentment, "But you were never supposed to be our Chief." Miki said, She didn't even know how she could voice that out, she supposed hanging out with Master Pakku made her bolder than ever, before, she would never even look Voccak in the eyes, now, she's telling him what she really feels about him, such upgrade.

It was Voccak's turn to be taken aback, "What do you mean?" Voccak asked calmly.

"This position was never yours to begin with, you took advantage of a bad situation and made your way to the top, the city was in complete disarray and so what better timing than this to finally take the position you sought all your life, even when Chief Hakoda was here.." Miki stopped, as the realization hit her..
She continued, "Wait a second, now i know why your stomach is in knots.. you are afraid for your position because it turns out that Chief Hakoda isn't dead after all." Miki said, Voccak averted his eyes and that was the confirmation she needed.

"What makes you think so?" Voccak asked looking perplexed.

"We both know it's true." Miki said and one look at his eyes confirmed her assumption.

Voccak went silent for a full minute, his silence made Miki wanting to leave, until he finally spoke. "You're right.." He started, startling Miki in the process, "But not for the reasons you think." Voccak continued.

"What do you mean?" Miki asked.

He took a deep breath, visibly reluctant to speak but he spoke all the same, "I sought to rule the southern watertribe a long time ago. but not for personal gain.. it was because i hated seeing our beloved tribe being so negative. I hated seeing it being stepped on and forgotten due to Hakoda's methods of ruling. Men like me are ambitious and willing, Eager for change. While men like Hakoda are traditional and backwards, living in an ancient fantasy world, never bothering to ask real people what they want. This is why The country prospered under my rule, Miki. I listen to the people, Hakoda only listened to himself." Voccak voiced out, letting all these pent up thoughts out to Miki.

Miki grew silent for a moment, not even believing that Voccak would confide in her, after all this time of shunning and ignoring her in his office, he finally decided to speak to her, what a perfect world we live in. Eventually Miki got over the shock and spoke, "I don't recall anybody being unhappy during Chief Hakoda's rule." Miki said.

"That's because you were a little servant girl with no possessions and nothing to worry about." Voccak said bluntly all of a sudden, startling Miki.

Her eyes narrowed and Her cheeks got red, she stood up abruptly, "Thank you, Lord Voccak. always a pleasure talking to you." She huffed out, and then started taking steps towards the door, until a hand on her arm stopped her, it was Voccak's.

"Stop. Alright, i apologize, i shouldn't have said that. Please, Miki. I finally found someone other than Hedrick to talk to." Voccak said with little desperation in his voice.

Miki couldn't help but feel bad for him, and so the anger couldn't take over her for long, her eyes softened as she regarded him.

"I'm not that little servant girl anymore, Voccak. I sure hope you start treating me with respect."

"I've always respected you even when you were a little servant girl. Otherwise, i wouldn't have asked Master Pakku to teach you." Voccak said.

Miki looked at him and saw sincerity in his eyes, making her sit back in her chair.

Voccak sighed, "I never said Chief Hakoda's rule wasn't of anybody's interest. many people loved the chief and supported him, but that's not a route towards greatness.. for too long we have been under the mercy of the firenation, them being the superior nation made us dependent on The Avatar to keep them at bay. and you saw for yourself what happened when The Avatar was defeated.. Why do we have to be dependent on The Avatar? why can't us be the superior nation? I spoke to Hakoda multiple times about it, pitching out new ideas, trying to get him to understand that change is what this nation desperately needs. and yet he wouldn't listen. Yes, the incident in the firenation gave us all a good scare, but in hindsight, it was the best thing to happen to us. Now, The Firenation is no superior to us. Now, we shape our own destiny independently, without The Firenation or The Avatar to bug us." Voccak said.

Miki was so baffled at how this man was so fluent when it came to explaining his actions, it was like he rehearsed it multiple times before talking.

"The Avatar always sought to help us, he never bugged us." Miki defended the man, her defense was based on the rumors that Master Katara is now following him, if Master Katara trusts The Avatar, then she does too.

"The current Avatar is weak. He let the firenation take over the world in an instance. Yes, he might have fixed his mistake and ended their conquest, but at what cost? How many people suffered and died until he came out of hiding? I made sure our people stayed safe. i did what was necessary." Voccak said,

turning his head to the side as he said so. is that a look of shame on his face? Miki asked internally.

"What do you mean?" Miki asked appearing to be very confused.

Voccak was startled by the question, "What?"

"What do you mean you did what was necessary to keep our people safe?" Miki asked, suspicion creeping in.

Before Voccak could explain though, Both of them were interrupted by Master Pakku who entered the canteen area, with a paper in his hand, apparently he didn't expected either of them to be here.

"Oh.. Miki. Lord Voccak. Can't say i am not surprised by seeing you two conversing in a closed area." Pakku said.

Miki decided to let go of Voccak, maybe she will question him about it later, but for now, she decided to talk to Master Pakku.

"You should have told me that today was free of training." Miki told The Old Master.

"You are not to tell me what i should do, Young Lady. I am the master, you are the apperantice." said Pakku with a smug smile, Miki couldn't keep her facade for long and smiled as well.

"I wish Lady Kanna a pleasant voyage to The Earth Kingdom, Old man." Miki said.

"Thank you, Miki."

"What's that you are holding?" Voccak asked, looking at the sheet of paper in Pakku's hand.

Pakku sighed and took a seat beside the two, "This is a message from The White Lotus." Pakku said, making Miki and Voccak look at him with anticipation.

"What does it say?" Miki asked.

"They told me that a party of The Order will travel to the northern watertribe to ask for a full evacuation of civilians, they will only keep the warriors in the city. and they are asking us to do the same for the southern tribe." Pakku said. Everyone went silent for a couple of seconds.

Voccak finally broke the silence with a groan, "I knew that it would come to this."

Azula

It was time to visit a particular prisoner, One that would rid her of all her sleepless nights and terrible assumptions.

Azula stood outside a familiar place contemplating her choices, should she go in? or should she just turn away? maybe it's a bad idea, after all they are still her friends, and she isn't fully aware of their intentions.

Oh, Come on, Azula. be reasonable, why else would they associate with a dangerous criminal? A voice inside her head told her. Of course the voice was correct, why else would Mai and Ty Lee talk to a dangerous criminal like Combustion Man? Of course it's an assassination mission.

There's no going back now. She thought, as she went inside the familiar place. It's not as hard to get in and out of The Caldera City prison as it was when she was a Princess visiting Zuko or Iroh, Now it's a cake walk to her destination. Being Firelord does have its perks. Still, This prison held bad memories for her, she remembered the worst decision she's ever made in her life, which was freeing Zuko.

She remembered the second worst decision she's ever made, which was convincing her uncle to confess treason. Although it's been a couple of months since both incidents, still she would rather keep those bad memories at bay. She cleared her head of all those thoughts as she finally reached her destination, she opened the door and ignited some light in the room using only her hand, she held the blue fire in her palm as she looked at the cage inside the prison cell, there he is laying on the ground asleep, snoring like a Pig.

"Wake Up, Ding." Azula called, No Answer came. "WAKE THE FUCK UP, YOU FILTHY PIG!" Azula angrily screamed at the top of her lungs, and the prisoner jolted up, startled at the voice that just called.

"No.. Please don't whip me.. i told you all i know!" He said all of a sudden as he shielded his body.

"Whip you?" Azula asked with confusion. Ding took a good look at the visitor, apparently he wasn't expecting such presence in his prison cell.

That's alright, Ding. i wasn't expecting to have a scum like you as a final resort either.

"Oh.. I know you.. The Princess." Ding said tiredly.

"It's The Firelord Now, Scum." Azula said deadpanly.

"Apologies. The Firelord.. Firelord Azula. Welcome to my humble cell." Ding said, but without a hint of sarcasm, which softened Azula a little.

She took a good look at the man, exactly how General Shinu described. pale, tall with a terrifying ugly scar on his cheek, Azula asked General Shinu about the man before she came to the prison as she knew General Shinu must have associated with him during her father's rule.

"Well, that's a good start. To be bluntly clear, i am not fond of meeting with a scum like you, so i'd rather cut to the chase without any unnecessary chit-chat. Did you know that your metal friend escaped prison without you?" Azula asked.

Ding frowned, apparently Azula just hit a nerve, "Yes, I've heard." Ding said, looking at the ground in anger.

"Why didn't he free you as well?" Azula asked, her plan is incredibly dependent on Ding and Combustion Man's friendship, if there is any unresolved disputes between them, there might be a problem.

"I don't know. but i sensed him distancing himself away from me as of late. probably still upset about me giving away our coordinates which was the reason our ship got raided. but it wasn't my fault, i didn't know the the guy i was talking to in the tavern was a fucking Watertribe informant!" Ding said angrily.

Azula groaned, "Didn't i just say No Unnecessary chit-chat? Do you want me to feed you your tongue?!" Azula asked loudly, causing Ding to pull himself back against the wall in fear, "If i get you out of prison, will Combustion Man agree to meet with you? More importantly, will you be able to find where he is?"

Ding composed himself, then spoke, "I am sure he'll agree to talk with me, but i don't know about finding where he is, i don't know a thing about his current coordinates." Ding said.

Azula groaned again, she thought she figured it out, she thought she had Mai and Ty Lee in the palm of her hand. Alas, they were out of her reach again.

Unless.. An idea popped up in her brain, perhaps there is still a chance to find Combustion Man, it's time to call on an acquaintance of General Shinu.

"There is a bounty hunter that will help us locate Combustion Man. Get ready, Ding. you'll be out of prison in no time." Azula said, she saw the faint smile on Ding's face, and then headed towards the door.

Don't blame me, Mai and Ty Lee. It was your choice to betray me. and it's my duty to defend myself from treasonous cowards like you. Azula thought as she left the prison, making her way to General Shinu to ask him to send for his Bounty Hunter friend, June.