Chapter 18 - The Old Masters

She was back in the lush green garden again. The small verdant patch of vegetation surrounded by icy walls and frigid, icy water. However, there was no firebender with mutton chop sideburns this time or fish swimming in the tiny central pond. Only a stillness to the area and a faint glow of moonlight peeking through the break in the ice roof above the cavern.

Movement caught Katara's eye and she saw what she thought was a ring-tailed winged lemur dart from a small bush and disappear down a dark tunnel in the icy wind. 'Momo?' The name caught in her mind as she stood at the tunnel entrance unsuccessfully attempting to see through the pitch blackness.

A familiar voice echoed throughout the area from back at the tiny pond behind the waterbender. "So, you're a princess? You know, back home I'm kind of like a prince."

'Sokka?' gasped Katara inwardly as she spun around on her heels at lightning speed. But there was no one there. No one else in the green garden. Hesitantly, Katara slowly took a couple of steps back towards the central pond.

It was then that another voice seemed to speak up from the direction of the moon overhead. "Prince of what?" Katara did not recognize this voice. But it sounded feminine and kindhearted.

"A lot of things," came the reply from over at the decorative wooden archway with the moon and ocean symbol.

'That's definitely Sokka,' deduced Katara knowingly. Only her Brother would think a silly reply like that could possibly be witty or charming.

The garden was quiet again for a couple of minutes. Walking around the perimeter of the tiny central pond, Katara heard her Brother's voice again. "So it looks like I'm going to be in town for a while. I'm thinking maybe we could... do an activity together?"

"Do an activity?" giggled the feminine voice from high overhead above the verdant garden.

'Very smooth,' mocked Katara to her Brother as she rolled her eyes. Having to listen to her Brother's clumsily attempts at flirty banter was cringe worthy at best.

The waterbender saw the lemur that she swore was Momo dart out from the original tunnel the animal had run into before diving directly into the pool of water in the center of the island. However, the resulting splash was much grander than what Katara would have expected a small creature could have caused. The plume of water rose higher and higher until it came crashing back down and washed over the waterbender.

Katara opened her eyes as the sun shone overhead. Zuko and Than were already awake. The Fire Prince was practicing with his swords off to the side of camp while Than was fussing over a squirming Hope as he changed the girl's diaper.

Biscuit, Bree, and Than's ostrich horse were all still hitched to some nearby trees. Than's spooked ostrich horse had been milling about at the end of the mountain range as the group had exited the previous day. Jin helped to soothe the skittish animal, which fortunately provided Than and his family a mode of transportation for Ying and Hope to ride on as they traveled onward.

As the waterbender sat up, she desperately tried to recall the bizarre dream she had been experiencing. It felt like a far-off memory, but it wasn't her memory. It couldn't have been. She had never been to that green garden amongst the ice. If anything, it was more like someone was showing her a scattered dream. Almost like someone was attempting to reach out to her. 'But why? And who?' mulled over Katara, deep in thought.

As breakfast was prepared and the travel bags were packed, Katara wasn't any closer to figuring out who's memories those were. They involved her Brother somehow. That much was for certain. But the waterbender didn't know who the other voice in the dream belonged to. Someone her Brother clearly knew.

At various points throughout the morning, both Jin and Zuko had asked her what had her so distracted. Katara told them that it wasn't anything too important, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't understanding some vital message that was being relayed to her.

The morning travel itself continued uneventfully as the group made good time down the straightforward trail towards Ba Sing Se. Reaching a fork in the road, Than pointed down the path to the left. "Not too much farther now until we get to Full Moon Bay. There, we can catch a ferry to take us to the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se."

The Water Tribe girl was only half listening when she thought that she saw a ring-tailed winged lemur dart from one tree branch to another. Her head perked up immediately. However, there was no additional movement in the trees above. No indication that any animal was moving around.

"Keep a close hold of your passports," warned Jin. "Grandma's told me that the attendants at Full Moon Bay are very strict and will not issue you a ferry pass if you lose your credentials. Probably best to keep your papers on your person, just in case your bags get stolen or lost."

Ying moved their passports from her pack and placed them within the folds of her tunic. "We'll be sure to be careful. We can't come this far only to be turned back now."

Another set of tree leaves rustled to their right as Katara's head snapped in that direction and she was positive that this time she caught the signature sight of the ringed tail of the ring-tail winged lemur. "There! Did you see that?!" she pointed.

Everyone looked to where the Water Tribe girl was indicating but nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be there. "All I see are trees," stated Faye.

This time a bush on their left swished and Katara looked in that direction as the others followed her gaze. "What about that there? Did you see the lemur?"

"Lemur?" asked Jin. "I heard the wind run through the leaves, but I didn't see any animals. Besides lemurs aren't native to this part of the Earth Kingdom. They tend to live closer to the foothills of the mountains near the Air Temples."

The waterbender turned to the Fire Prince. "Did you see it?"

Zuko stared at the trees and bushes around them for a bit longer, but eventually relented and shook his head.

Katara started to second guess herself. "I guess there wasn't anything after all." She placed her hand against her forehead as she rubbed her eyes for a moment. "I must still be tired. Let's get... There!" she shouted as she spotted the ring-tailed lemur sitting on the wooden sign post in the middle of the fork in the road. The lemur jumped down from the sign and took off down the right side path.

"Katara, you're really starting to worry me," fretted Jin with concern. "There isn't anything there."

The Water Tribe girl tugged at Zuko's arm. "We need to go down the right path. There's something down that way for us. I'm sure of it. I think my Brother might be over that way. Or maybe some clue that could help us find him."

"The right side path is leads away from Ba Sing Se," protested Than.

Zuko looked back at the pleading eyes of the waterbender next to him. His Uncle was supposed to be in Ba Sing Se. Katara's Brother was supposed to be in Ba Sing Se. They needed to go to Ba Sing Se. Why was she so determined to take another detour? Is this what Jin meant when he heard her talking about sometimes needing to take a leap of faith to show you trust someone? Was this his turn?

Zuko eyes set in resolve. "You all can continue on to Ba Sing Se. We'll meet up with everyone again later. Katara and I are going down the right side path for now."

"I don't know why you're doing that, but alright, we wish you the best," replied Than, still a little perplexed as he scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Come find us when you arrive in the city. We'll likely be setting up near craftsman's alley. I've got some friends there that are going to be helping us get established in the Lower Ring."

As Ying and Faye also said their goodbyes, the other group started to depart down the left side road towards Full Moon Bay. "Jin," started Zuko. "I'm sorry that we couldn't take you all the way to Ba Sing Se, but we'll find you in the city too."

"Do you think so little of me?" the Earth Kingdom girl returned.

"W-What? Of course not! Why would you say that?" stuttered the Fire Prince as he was taken back.

"Because you seem to be assuming that I'm not going to be tagging along with you two on this detour of yours," smirked Jin.

"I thought that you were still mad at us," commented Zuko plainly.

"I am. But I'm not so upset as to just abandon you two now," answered the Earth Kingdom girl. "For what it's worth, you two are trying to be better friends. I should try a little too."

"But I thought that you wanted to reunite with your parents in Ba Sing Se as soon as you could?" asked Katara confused.

"I do, but they'll understand that I'm helping my friends this time," stated Jin.

'This time?' thought Zuko. But he didn't get the chance to ask aloud as Jin continued talking.

"You said that your Brother might be down this path, right? Well, let's go find him first. Then, we can all get to Ba Sing Se," asserted Jin.

"Jin, I... thank you," expressed Katara happily as the three of them proceeded down the other path.


Katara led the trio on foot as she kept catching glimpses of the supposed ring-tail winged lemur that they were chasing down the path. Zuko and Jin still had yet to see what they were pursuing, but followed the Water Tribe girl nevertheless as they rode atop the two ostrich horses. The waterbender seemed almost driven by something, leaving it to Zuko and Jin remain focused on keeping an eye out on their surroundings to make sure that Katara stayed safe as they chased whatever it was that they were chasing.

At one point, Katara darted left into a tangle of thick undergrowth and got caught up in the branches and thickets. Dismounting, Zuko helped her to get out of her jumbled snare. Then, he drew his Dao broadswords and led the way forward as he cut through the underbrush away from the beaten path. Eventually, they appeared to reach what each of them could only assume was their destination.

"It's a cave," observed Jin in surprise as the Fire Prince hacked away at the last stubborn branch. "You can't see this from the main road. We're a good distance away and Zuko just cut through a seemingly endless amount of branches and bushes." She looked over at the Water Tribe girl. "Okay, I'm officially getting weirded out by how you found this place. How do you know this was here?"

"In my dream last night, Momo ran off into a cave. I think we're supposed to go inside," muttered Katara lowly as she recalled the memory.

"Momo?" asked Jin.

"Aang's ring-tail winged lemur," answered Katara.

"The Avatar," followed up Zuko when Jin looked like she was going to ask who Aang was again. In fact, everything about this whole situation was starting to feel like Avatar stuff to him. Like how only Katara seemed to be able see the illusive lemur that had apparently been guiding them to this mysterious cave in the middle of nowhere.

Zuko kept his swords at the ready for the moment as he scanned the immediate area. Near the latter half of his attempts to chase and capture the Avatar, especially just before the North Pole expedition, more often than not it was Aang and Sokka who were the ones ambushing him instead of the other way around. They had been demanding to know where Katara was, not that Zuko knew at the time.

Still, the thought of this current detour being related to Avatar stuff made Zuko uneasy that he was about to be attacked again. And if Sokka really was somewhere around here, then the Water Tribe boy was just as likely to attack him without warning as he was likely to attack him with warning. Zuko didn't feel like being caught off-guard.

After a minute of nothing happening, the Fire Prince sheathed his swords as he looked at the very dark and uninviting cavern. "This would be much easier if I still had my firebending." He took some time to gather some good sized branches, chopped them down into thick sticks and wrapped the ends with some rags that he tore apart. Then, he started a small campfire like Katara had demonstrated to him a couple of times before and lit the three torches that he had fashioned together. Finally, he stomped out the starting fire he made.

"That... was inconvenient," he grumbled as Zuko finished preparing the trio some light sources.

The cave ceiling was too low for them to travel through the cavern on horseback. Moreover, the spacing between the walls didn't appear to be wide enough to be comfortable for the ostrich horses to traverse either. They made the decision to hitch the animals to a nearby tree as they checked out the cave.

Walking inside, the narrow walls formed a long corridor. Zuko kept checking for branching paths in the darkness as he waved his torch from side to side while they progressed. However, the path only appeared to continue straight ahead.

Progress was simple thanks to that, but the repetition of only taking steps directly ahead of them was causing them to lose track of their sense of time. They couldn't determine how far the tunnel stretched in the darkness. The light from their torches only reached so far. And they had lost the light of the cave entrance behind them for quite a while now. And still the tunnel seemed to stretch on endlessly.

The quiet was another thing. The only sounds were their own footsteps as they traversed the lonely corridor. No one dared suggest that something or someone might jump out from the darkness as that would only give life to that possibility and each them were already tensing at shadows on the wall as it was.

Their torches had burnt down to about half stick and Zuko was about to make the declaration that they should turn back as they would need light for the return trip when the cavern ceiling rose above them rapidly as the tunnel itself began to widen into a much larger chamber.

"Where are we?" asked Jin rhetorically as they explored the chamber that they had entered.

Zuko noticed some statues or sculptures lining the chamber further in and approached them as he lifted up his torch to get a better view. The large, rock carved figurines each stood in a different pose. "Wherever this is, someone was here before. Someone had to carve all these statues."

A portion of the chamber lit up as Jin and Zuko turned towards the light source. Katara was standing next to a blazing brazier. "I think there's more braziers," she stated as she pointed to fixtures the edges of the light. Nodding, Jin and Zuko each lit several more braziers as the chamber illuminated fully and they extinguished their torches to conserve them for the return trip.

The chamber was much larger than they had initially realized. There were four lines of multiple statues, each series of statues positioned along a given cardinal direction. And each of these lines of multiple statues seemed to be facing and moving towards a gigantic carved motif of an impressive-looking animal painted onto a flat circular rock along the floor in the center of the chamber.

"What is it?" asked Katara in awe as the three of them walked closer to view the motif drawn onto the ground in the middle of the room.

"That's... a lion turtle," declared Zuko in disbelief as he viewed the illustration. He had recalled seeing the very same animal in his lesson books back at the Imperial Fire Palace. "They are rumored to be the originators of all bending thousands of years ago. But then they all died out one day. No one knows why. They haven't existed in centuries. Some of the Fire Sages even doubt they ever existed at all."

The Fire Prince looked up from the faded drawing on the ground as his eyes traced down each path of statues to see animals painted on the chamber walls in each cardinal direction at the start of each of the statue lines. He pointed to each of the other motifs in turn as he spun slowly around the room in a clockwise direction. "That's a dragon, a sky bison, a koi fish, and a badgermole."

"The koi fish seems to be drawn on top of another picture... is that the moon?" noted Katara.

Zuko's eyes widen in realization as he recalled all his research into Avatar lore. Research that he had originally thought would one day help him capture the Avatar. "Each path of statues starts with one of the animals that is said to have taught the nations how to bend in the first place. Dragon for fire, sky bison for air, koi fish for water, badgermole for earth. They're in the order of the Avatar cycle: fire, air, water, earth."

"The line of statues leading from the sky bison are all destroyed except for the first sculpture," observed Jin.

"The fall of the airbenders..." whispered Katara. The three of them exchanged uneasy looks. This place was starting to feel much more spiritual with each passing discovery.

Zuko started walking towards the dragon portrait. He had noticed writing underneath the image. Katara and Jin followed him. "The Dance of the Dragon," he read. "What does that mean?"

Jin looked back at the statues as she voiced her thoughts. "Maybe that's what the statues are doing?"

Each of them looked back across the room. The lines of rock statues all appeared to be in motion as their eyes followed each carving, one to the next. The dragon line was striking sharp, piercing poses while the koi fish line seemed to flow from one movement to the next. The badgermole line had the least motion of all the statue lines, but each pose appeared solid and balanced. The lone statue remaining in the sky bison line had a whimsical feel to its posture, but it was difficult to be sure without more figurines in the line-up.

"I'm going to go check out the koi fish picture," shouted Katara as she ran to the left around the chamber, checking out the wording under the sky bison drawing as she passed by on her way to far side opposite the dragon portrait.

Jin walked to the right towards the badgermole wall illustration at a more hesitant pace. "I'll take a look over here."

Zuko looked back up at the dragon painted into the rock wall. It felt alive. How could a still-painting feel alive? As he studied the scales and claws of the serpent-like beast, he could have sworn that he saw the body move.

"This one says the Shimmer of the Koi Fish!" announced Katara loudly, pulling Zuko's attention back across the chamber. "And the one under the sky bison read the Flight of the Bison!"

"This one reads the March of the Badgermole," called out Jin after a moment as she viewed the illustration of a large badgermole intensely.

"We should mimic the statues!" shouted Katara both suddenly and enthusiastically. She was starting to get excited being surrounded by the spiritual feel of this chamber. "They look like they're going through bending forms! We should copy them!"

"But I'm not an earthbender," noted Jin as she looked at the row of statues in front of her.

"Please Jin?" pleaded Katara. "Let's just try!"

Jin looked over at Zuko, who just shrugged in return. He may not have his firebending right now, but he was starting to get curious at the ancient firebending form in front of him. "There's no harm in it. And we're here anyway. Might as well do something."

Still unsure, Jin walked down the row of earthbending statues as she practiced their moves and learned their stances. Katara and Zuko were doing similarly down their own respective rows.

A fair bit of time later, all three of them were feeling more or less confident that they had their specific steps down. Each of the three then stood at the starting points of their lines as indicated by the stones on the ground.

"Everyone ready?" asked Katara excitedly from her end. At the confirmation of the others, she declared, "Alright, begin!" She was really getting into the moment.

Each of them moved through their motions at a steady pace. They shifted crisply from one stance to the next, each motion deliberate and practiced. Together, they finished standing on the lion turtle silhouette in the middle of the room, each breathing a little heavily from their concentration.

"That was fun!" cheered Katara. "I felt like I was connected even more to my element. Did you guys feel anything?"

"Maybe," responded Zuko. "I'm not sure." He flicked his arm out in a punch but there was still no firebending that answered his call. "It's like my bending is still there though, just out of reach."

Jin shook her head. "I told you. I'm not an earthbender. I didn't feel-"

The Earth Kingdom girl didn't get a chance to finish her statement because at that very moment the entire lion turtle motif flooring at their feet shattered into a thousand little pieces underneath them as the trio fell into darkness with surprised shouts.


Zuko tumbled head over foot as he dropped further and further down, ceaselessly. He thrashed about wildly with his arms in a vain attempt to grab onto something, a ledge, an outcropping, anything, to stop his uncontrolled descent. As he turned around to face his fall, the dark ground rushed up to meet him as he shut his eyes and braced for the deadly impact. It never came.

Daring to open one eye, then the next, Zuko found himself laying unharmed on the dirt ground in the middle of an empty village. The bright sun shone blaringly overhead. Before he had time to question how he ended up, wherever it was he had ended up, he spied both Katara and Jin laying unconscious a short distance away.

As he shouted their names and ran over, the sound of heavy, armored footsteps marched down the deserted street and Zuko looked up to see multiple firebenders approaching with violence in their eyes. The Fire Prince stood protectively over his fallen comrades. He reached for his swords, but the weapons weren't there.

"Stay back!" he shouted with a wave of his arm as fire erupted from his hand. He barely registered the return of his bending as the first firebender was upon him.

Zuko blocked a fire punch instead of dodging. With Katara and Jin right behind him, he dared not to allow anything to pass him. He countered with a blast of his own fire that threw the firebender back several feet.

Another opponent was already upon him as the bender came crashing down with a flaming axe kick. Raising both arms to intercept the fierce blow with an overhead block, the Fire Prince pushed back to knock the man off balance. Then, grabbing the bender's shoulder, he threw the enemy away.

This continued for some time. Block and counter. Deflect and strike. Parry and throw. However, the advancing firebenders appeared to be relentless. And Zuko was getting tired as he started to breath in heavily. He settled into another stance. He would not be moved.

"Come on! I could do this all day!" he shouted defiantly at the swarm of opponents.

"Oh, of that, I have no doubt, little prince," roared a booming voice from far above Zuko. The Fire Prince's surroundings blurred as his head spun. The unidentified voice spoke again. "But there are two sides to every story."

Blinking away the dizziness, Zuko noticed that Katara and Jin had disappeared from behind him. In their place were several cowering Fire Nation civilians and a couple of wounded Fire Nation soldiers wrapped in bandages. None of these people could fight.

The sounds of more footsteps echoed across the village as Zuko spun back around. He noticed another swarm of people rapidly approaching. This time, however, they were an angry mob of Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom people. And at the forefront stood both Katara and Jin, joining their dissent with the rumblings of the unruly crowd.

"Katara! Jin! What's going on?!" he called out to them.

"The Fire Nation killed my Mother!" shouted Katara as she flung a torrent of water directly at the Fire Prince, knocking him off his feet.

"The Fire Nation burned my village and my Grandparents' ranch!" yelled Jin as she somehow pelted him with rocks just like Gow had done.

Zuko landed near the terrified Fire Nation civilians. Shouts arose from the enraged mob as they jeered. "Get them all! Tear those firestarters apart! They deserve no less for the pain they have caused!"

Struggling to rise to his feet, Zuko put himself between the uncontrollable horde of people and his weakened countrymen. He had no idea what had come over his friends, but he needed to protect his countrymen first. Then, he would figure the rest out. He stood tall and spread his arms out wide to intercept any further attacks from striking the injured behind him. "Listen to me! I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation! Let them go! Give me all of your anger, all of your pain! I will take it all in their place!"

A club smacked him upside the head and he grit his teeth as he forced himself to remain upright. A fierce blow to the back of his leg from a metal baton and a brutal punch to the gut. "Go on! Get out of here!" Zuko shouted to the wounded Fire Nation civilians behind him as he dropped to one knee.

"Don't you want to fight back Zuko?" mocked Katara as she levitated a series of icicles above him. "You can't protect anything like that. Soon you will break and we will be free to crush those Fire Nation people behind you. You have the ability to fight again. I saw your firebending. Why don't you use it now? You didn't seem to have a problem fighting earlier."

Zuko heard the Water Tribe girl's voice, but those were not her words. This was not the Katara he knew. He raised his head in defiance as blood trickled down the side of his face from a cut on his temple. "My nation invaded all of yours. You all are protecting your homes. There is so much anger, so much resentment. I can't keep adding to it. Not anymore. Not after what I have seen firsthand," declared Zuko as he stood back up once more. "But I can shoulder it. I will shoulder it."

"An interesting answer," contemplated a booming voice from behind the firebender as everyone around the Fire Prince blurred out of existence. "Fire, is the element of power. It is ability manifested and given endless potential. But what does power mean to you? You have displayed an incredible strength of heart."

Zuko managed to turn around as he stared in awe at the sight of an impressively long red and black dragon that was snarling at him with fiercely jagged teeth. "There are two sides to fire. It can destroy." Fire crackled as the buildings in the area burst into flame and lightning crashed overhead. "And it can give life." The faint warmth of a cozy fire washed over Zuko as his injuries disappeared and he felt rejuvenated. "But what do you see? Which side do you feed? Shall we find out?" The dragon inhaled a long wind of breath deeply as it opened its maw wide and breathed out fire that enveloped the Fire Prince.

Zuko shouted in surprise as he instinctively raised his hands in a meek defense. But the fire did not burn him. Lowering his arms, Zuko stared in stunned silence at the multicolored vortex of fire and flames spinning all around him. He was enchanted by the sight. "I understand," whispered the Fire Prince as the vortex slowly dissipated and faded away.

With another mighty roar, the red and black dragon curled its body, then propelled itself skyward, circling once overhead before disappearing into the clouds above.


Katara awoke in her bed; her bed back in her igloo in the South Pole. She had been having the most frightening dream of falling uncontrollably just before she woke up with a start. Something felt off, but she couldn't quite place what that was. She was home after all.

Rising up out of bed, the Water Tribe girl readied herself and exited the igloo into the village proper. "You slept in today sleepyhead," joked Kya as her Mother knelt near the igloo entrance knitting some repairs on a fishing net. "Your Father and Sokka should be back from their early morning fishing expedition soon."

Katara looked down the path. "I think I see them now!" she exclaimed as she waved at the two of them approaching the house. Her Father was carrying a fish rope of several large fish while Sokka started to run towards her carrying a single small sized fish.

"Look what I caught Katara! It's my first catch!" cheered Sokka as he reached her. "Pretty soon I'm going to be old enough for my ice dodging rite of passage and then I'll be going out there and catching much bigger fish all by myself!"

Sokka looked young. Really young. Like when they were kids. Before... before something bad had happened. Try as she might, Katara couldn't remember what that was. And Sokka wasn't that young. He was exactly as old as he should be. Just one year older than she was. Everything was exactly as it should have been.

Katara spent the rest of the morning happily alongside her family. Eating her Mother's cooking within the warmth of their igloo around a cozy fire. Laughing at some joke that either Sokka or Hakoda told. Everyone enjoying the company of a loving and caring family. Everything was right with the world.

And yet, despite this, there was a continuous nagging feeling at the back of Katara's mind that refused to go away. As she started to play tag with her Brother, the Water Tribe girl was running and hiding from him when she ran directly into a koalaotter in the middle of the village center.

Picking herself up from the snow and ice, Katara looked quizzically at the small animal that stood back up and returned her stare. There as a scar along its left eye seemingly from a fisherman's hook. The koalaotter stomped around a couple of times, huffing and puffing with urgency. Then, it turned and darted away.

"Zuko?" The name escaped from her lips from under her breath, as if from a far off memory. 'Where did that name come from?' the Water Tribe girl slowly started to dwell upon. Katara felt the pull at the back of her mind again. 'This isn't right. This isn't how things are anymore.' The memories came crashing back like a tidal wave.

"This isn't right!" the waterbender shouted out loud this time as she spun around and reached across with her bending as she pushed the snow and ice away from herself.

"Don't be like that Katara," coaxed Sokka as he approached her. "We're a big happy family again. Don't you want that?"

"More than anything," whispered back Katara softly.

"Then stay with us," pleaded her Mother. "Nothing has to change. We can stay together this time."

"No one has to go anywhere. We're home," assured her Father.

Katara wavered. Nothing had to change. She remembered wishing for so very long as a child for things to go back to way they used to be. When her family was whole and together.

The waterbender felt a tug at her leg as the scar-faced koalaotter returned and growled lowly at the sickeningly, sweet faces of her family. Her resolve hardened.

"Things have changed," defied Katara, her voice becoming stronger. "I've changed. We all have. We had to in order to survive. That doesn't mean that I can't still hold onto you, but I need to keep moving forward."

"Very well stated," announced a feminine voice from an enshrouding white mist as everything around the waterbender blurred and disappeared. "Water, is the element of change. It is the embodiment of conversion. Always flowing, always in motion. You have adapted and you must continue to adapt and grow."

Katara turned to take in the radiant sight of a regal looking young woman wearing the finest of white silks as her silvery hair rippled as freely as in the wind as if it had been underwater. "Water can adjust to fit the need." A torrent of water crashed down behind the woman as it froze solid before returning to water and next to steam. "It can heal." A wounded bird was wrapped in water as the wing recovered and the bird flew into the sky. "It can hurt." The silhouette of a person rose up from the snow dune, appearing as if to be walking, but the motion was odd, almost like someone else was controlling the other person's movement. "It can be destructive one minute." A wave crashed over the village destroying all the igloos. "And calm the next." The water softly receded back into the ocean. The celestial woman finished her explanation and looked back at Katara. "So which are you? One of them? All of them?" With a wave of her hand, a tsunami of water plunged down onto the Water Tribe girl.

Katara shrieked in shock as she crouched and attempted to hold back the water to no avail. She held her breath and shut her eyes as the water arrived. But the water did not suffocate her. Opening her eyes again, the Water Tribe girl stared in amazement at the various glows and hues of blue water whirlpooling all around her. "I see now," Katara murmured as the maelstrom slowed and ceased to be. With a snap of her fingers, the celestial woman exploded into a flurry of finely powdered snow.


Jin was back in her old village as huts burned intensely and smoky thick ash littered the sky. Everywhere she looked, there was destruction and devastation. The Earth Kingdom girl started to run frantically in a panic.

This wasn't right. She hadn't been in the center of town to witness the chaos from this end. Her family had run before the attack on her village had even come. She had merely seen the village burning from the distance. Her childhood home disappearing under the a black cloud of fire and smoke.

When the villagers had gotten word of the impending Fire Nation attack, her Father and Mother gathered what they could, packed the wagon, and made to leave. Jin had protested. Several of her friends and their families had made the decision to stay back in a combined effort to try and fend off the invaders with the rest of the town. Jin had wanted to stay and help, but her parents persuaded her to leave.

Later, the Earth Kingdom girl stayed behind at her Grandparents' ranch when her family stopped there for a short rest break. Mostly, it was because she had felt horrible for wavering and leaving her friends behind. Jin had needed some time away from her parents to come to terms with how things had turned out. To deal with the notion that she and her family had abandoned their old village and friends. And now she was right back, smack dab in the middle, of the site of her old village's downfall.

As Jin ran, she caught sight of an armored firebender riding on top of a komodo rhino. The rider charged at the sight of her as the Earth Kingdom girl darted between two burning huts to escape the animal and rider. She ended up in the village center.

There, tied securely against two wooden stakes, were Zuko and Katara. "Jin!" shouted Katara. "Please help! They'll be back any minute!"

As Jin rushed to aid her friends, another voice called out to her. "So you'll save the people who lied to you, but you wouldn't lift a finger to protect the people you grew up with?" Jin froze cold as she turned to see the ghostly shadows of her former friends grouped together on her left, standing in the fires that raged across the burning village.

The voices of her friends continued to echo their sorrows. "We died Jin. We couldn't protect the village alone. Too many people fled before the Fire Nation arrived. If everyone had stayed, we could have won. We could have repelled the attack. You promised us that you would help. But you ran."

The grouping of ghostly friends turned to the captured Fire Prince and Water Tribe girl. "And now you're standing with a firebender. The prince of all firebenders no less! And a waterbender who sympathizes with the Fire Nation. These are your new friends? These are our replacements?!"

Jin felt so small under the accusations of her old friends. All the fears that she had been praying didn't happen every night for the last month were starting to come true. All her fears that her friends and their families didn't make it out of the village in time. That they didn't survive the attack. That they might have refused to be taken prisoner. That the Fire Nation wasn't taking prisoners that day. All her fears. All of them. Each one that she had been hiding behind her smile for the last month. Each one bubbled up sharper than the last.

The Earth Kingdom girl wanted nothing more at that moment than for the earth to open up and shallow her whole. She figured that she deserved no better. She had gotten so mad at Zuko and Katara for lying to her about their backgrounds while she had been hiding her own the entire time. When in fact, she might actually have Katara beat in the category of who was the bigger hypocrite.

The armored firebender rider returned at the top of the hill leading down towards the village square. "Jin, just go! Get out of here!" shouted Zuko. "We'll figure something out. But you can save yourself. Don't worry about us!" Zuko and Katara continued to struggle against their bonds.

With a mighty roar, the komodo rhino charged. Jin turned to run, only to pause after taking a single step.

"Run away coward!" jeered her one of her old ghostly friends. "Save yourself."

Jin returned to position herself between the charging war rhino and her new friends. "I'm not running anymore," the Earth Kingdom girl proclaimed soundly.

"Jin! Please! Just go! You can't stop a stampeding komodo rhino! Get out of the way!" pleaded Katara when she saw what the Earth Kingdom girl was doing.

Jin wasn't exactly sure herself what she was doing. Only that she needed to act. And her body seemed to moving on its own as Jin willed herself to stand her ground. Jin settled into the stance she recalled from statues in the chamber with the badgermole drawing. "I'm not losing anymore friends!" she declared with vigor as she stomped heavily on the ground in her horse stance.

An enormous earthen wall rose up in front of the Earth Kingdom girl as the rampaging komodo rhino collided heavily with the barrier, rider and all. The wall shook but held strong.

"I see you found your center," lumbered a deep and heavy voice from beneath the ground as the forms of Jin's ghostly friends as well as the firebender and waterbender tied to the wooden stakes faded away. "Earth, is the element of substance. It is will given form. It takes strength in one's convictions to move, for it is very stubborn. You held fast to the love you have for your friends."

Jin looked upward at the imposing sight of an old, gigantic badgermole as it emerged from the rock and soil. "Earth is solid and firm, unmoving and slumbering." Several blocks of earth crashed down all around Jin as the ground shook at the impacts. "It takes great force to move, but once it begins, it takes even greater force to stop." Multiple boulders plowed through the blocks around Jin as rocks shattered everywhere. "It can be ground into a fine powder." A wave of sand washed across Jin's legs. "It can be softened into a workable clay." Water dampened the sand and earth as a sticky mud clung to Jin's feet. "It can be heated." One of the burning huts sank into a pit of lava that swirled underneath it. "It can be refined, but it is still earth." The sound of a blacksmith's hammer echoed throughout the village as several steel rods pierced out from the ground around the square. "Which form shall you take? What is the strength of your convictions?" The old badgermole's paw swiped across the ground as a storm of rock, sand, mud, steel, and lava spun faster and faster to surround the Earth Kingdom girl.

Jin cried out, startled, as she raised her hands in a vain attempt to block out the sand and dirt from striking her. But the medley of earth did not harm her. The Earth Kingdom girl watched, astonished, as the sandstorm built in speed and tempo all around her, the various forms of earth colliding, breaking, reforming, and building. "Is this what I've been missing?" Jin pondered aloud as the sandstorm blew over and collapsed back to the ground. With a flurry of claw swipes, the old badgermole dug back down into the earth.


Zuko, Katara, and Jin slowly stirred as they lay on their backs upon the cold stony ground, forming a circular formation with their heads close together and feet pointed outward. A heavy mist covered them, obscuring their sight. Zuko sat up first, gripping his temple as his thoughts whirled. "The fire was so beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never even imagined."

"So many different shades of blue," muttered Katara as she sat up as well. "It was alluring... and frightening, at the same time."

"Strength of conviction..." echoed Jin as she joined her friends in a sitting position.

"You all have done well to make it this far," approved a majestic tone from the misty shadows. The voice reverberated in every direction as the three of them stood up back to back as they attempted to determine the source. "The old masters have judged you, and have given each of you visions of the meanings of your respective elements. A worthy achievement." Then, the unseen voice became stern. "But I taught the old masters. Are you prepared for my judgement?"

"Show yourself!" demanded back Zuko in challenge.

"Ah, predictably the blood of Wan speaks first. His was a noble pursuit. But a foolhardy one. Doomed to struggle for an eternity in a ceaseless endeavor. Seeking to bring peace to a species that is so naturally inclined towards violence and strife." The majestic voice grew sad and harsh. "I sense much of his recklessness in you."

The Fire Prince had absolutely no idea who this mysterious voice was talking about. However, he wasn't about to let himself be compared to someone he did not know. "You judge me based upon another? Name your challenge! I will prove that I am capable!"

The entire area vibrated as a bellowing laughter echoed every which way. "Reckless indeed! But I never said that was a bad quality. Ambition is the catalyst for growth just as much as it is the facilitator of folly."

Placing a hand on Zuko's shoulder before he could fire off another objection, Katara reasoned, "You speak as though you know us, but we know nothing of you."

"Everyone has a story, young Daughter of the Water Tribe of Wolf's Cove. And I know many stories. For I am the keeper of histories and the guardian of antiquities. I was the first and I am the last. I am the one who came before and I am the one who remains," declared the majestic voice. A flash of light flickered from the mist and the trio swore that they saw the colossal silhouette of a hulking giant hidden in the fog.

Finding her own voice, Jin spoke up, "Were you the one who led us here? The one who guided Katara to bring us to this cave? What can we do for you?"

"What can you do for me, Daughter of the Earth?" The mysterious voice sounded exceedingly pleased. "Hmm... no one has asked me that in such a long time. Most that appear before me are always making requests but never offers. What can you do for me?"

Zuko was getting increasingly tired of the vague responses. "We don't know. What is it that you want from us?"

"Nothing," resonated across the void lowly as a silence fell across the group. Then, much louder, as a blinding light swept away the hovering mist, "Everything."

All three of them raised their arms to dampen the blinding radiance that illustrated the area as the fog dissipated all around them. They were standing on a small rocky ridge overlooking a massive sea.

There was an island in front of them. An island covered in a small, verdant green forest of trees, just off the ridge. Then, the island shook.

They watched, stunned as a behemoth of a creature rose out of the water, growing higher and higher as the water fell off its body and crashed back into the sea. "It's a..." started Zuko.

"Lion turtle," finished Katara.

"Just like on the mural," added Jin.

"I am the last lion turtle," confirmed the colossal titan. "I congratulate you for finding my refugee. Many have searched. Few have found. Fewer have survived. Barely any are worthy." The turtle glanced behind the trio. "Though, you might have had a little help."

Katara turned to see what the lion turtle was looking at and blinked when she saw a young girl, maybe just a year or two older than she was, with silvery hair and a royal appearance. "You're the one I saw in my dreams," muttered the waterbender in shock. Then, Katara paused as she remembered further. "There were more times than that too, weren't there? With the bacui berries, and when Zuko was heavily injured after his fight with Gow, and at the ranch when Azula attacked."

The spirit girl nodded with a merry smile. "Once I found you, I was there when you needed help the most."

"But, why?" asked Katara, perplexed. "Who are you?"

"My name was Yue, the Princess of the Northern Water Tribes. I met your Brother and we fell in love. It was brief, but it was exhilarating. However, my life was not my own. It was a gift from the moon spirit Tui. When the Fire Nation slayed her during the siege of the North, I made the decision to give the life she saved back to her. I am part of the moon spirit now."

Yue smiled sadly. "Your Brother would talk for hours about how much he missed you. I pledged to myself to find you and help in any way I could. It took a while, for I did not know where you were until you were brought under the light of the moon."

"That was you and Sokka talking in my dream last night or at least a memory of it," the Water Tribe girl realized. "I don't know how to thank you for all that you've done."

The Northern Princess wrapped Katara up in a warm hug, which the waterbender returned. "Everything I did, I did for Sokka. He was hurting. He is still hurting. He has never forgiven himself for losing you. Or for losing me. When you do find him again, let him know that I will always love him. But it is time for him to heal, to move on, and continue to live his own life."

"I will tell him," affirmed Katara. It was the least she could do after all in exchange for all the help she had received from a spirit that she never knew until now. The two broke away from their embrace after one final squeeze and Yue began to levitate slowly skyward towards the moon.

The Northern Princess glanced over to the Fire Prince as she departed. "I do not blame you for the siege on the North. I know that it was not your doing. However, they were your people, your responsibility. As a fellow royal, what will do you to make it right?" As she finished, Yue faded back into the moon above.

The Fire Prince was interrupted before he could even shout a response back to the waning spirit. "Many choices lay before you. Many destinies. Many endings. Some pleasant. Others less so. Countless combinations and innumerable amalgamations. Which is right? For the world? For you?" riddled the lion turtle.

"You speak as though you are expecting us to save the world," assessed Zuko as he addressed the colossal titan. "Isn't that the Avatar's role?"

"The Avatar is but one possibility. But is he the only possibility? People have turned to the Avatar a myriad of times throughout the ages to solve problems of their own making. And they may continue to choose to put their faith in the Avatar, if that is their desire. Such is the fallacy of humans," recounted the behemoth. "Though, if you are so concerned, Wan's blood flows through your veins too. So, in a way, I suppose, balance would still be restored the same way it has always been," the titan mused as if he was the only one to realize the connection. Which he was.

"Who is this Wan you keep mentioning?" pressed Zuko. With all this circular talk, riddles, and references to things he did not understand, this lion turtle was seriously starting to remind him of his Uncle. Which was both bittersweet and confounding at the same time.

"He was the first and the unending. He is the bridge and he is the balance. He is four made one," answered the lion turtle cryptically.

Zuko sighed. He should have expected that. "I'm not going to get a straight answer from you, am I? I thought you said that you were the first."

A deep, lumbering laugh slowly began to echo across the ridge as the lion turtle guffawed mirthfully, amused at the little human for pointing out the redundancy. "There are many firsts," declared the lion turtle. "For every story has a beginning."

Brushing off the lion turtle before the titan could lead him down another tangent, Zuko focused on the main point. "I think I know what you are asking of me, but that would mean that I would be turning against my family, my people. I would be forced to fight my own country. I don't know if I have the strength to do that."

"The choice is yours to make. But allow me to say this. If you only do what you think you can do, then you will never be more than you are now. Striving to push pass your limits, especially the ones you have set for yourself, can open the way to unrealized possibilities," concluded the lion turtle. He turned to the Water Tribe girl. "Have you made your choice?"

Katara looked away from the moon and back towards the colossus. Nodding, she replied confidently, "I have." Zuko turned to the waterbender with a slight bit of surprise on his face.

"Good. You need not tell me what it is. For it is yours to hold. I shall view the tale as it inscribed within your story," approved the lion turtle. Turning to the Earth Kingdom girl, he stated, "How did it feel to bend the earth?"

"Like nothing I had ever felt before. It felt so natural," replied Jin almost instantly. Then, thinking a little more about it. "I've tried to move the earth again since we've been standing here, but it's not working anymore. I don't really know what I did. But I can still remember how it felt. But that's it, isn't it? Because I'm not actually an earthbender."

The lion turtle gave a heartily chuckle that echoed deep within its throat. "No one is an earthbender child, until they are. I and my kin bestowed upon humans the spark of bending millennia ago. My kin are gone, but their power resides within me now. So, I will rephrase my question. Do you wish to bend the earth?"

Jin looked uncertain for a moment as she looked at her friends. "It's your choice," said Katara as Zuko nodded in agreement. "We'll be your friends either way." As Jin seemed to make her decision, the lion turtle spoke up once more.

"Before you decide, know this. To accept this gift means to accept the burdens and responsibilities that come with it. You may freely refuse it without any consequence. Many have found happiness without the need for bending," the colossal titan explained.

Jin shook her head. "I understand, but I wish to learn."

"Very well," confirmed the lion turtle as it reached out with a heavy paw, water rushing back into the sea from the dripping appendage as the turtle touched both Jin's forehead and center of her chest with two different claws. The sound of chime echoed as a brilliant light flashed from claws. "It is done."

Jin knelt down and put her hand on the rocky ridge. "I feel the earth. Like really feel it. Almost as if it's slumbering, but ready to move too." She settled once again into the horse stance as she had seen from the earlier statues back in the cave and stomped down on the ground as a small pillar of earth shot up tall. Punching out with her arms, she knocked chunks of rock into the sea. "I did it!" she cheered. She turned to Zuko, "You try too!"

Zuko paused. He had bent fire again during his trial as well, but was he really ready to bend once more? Centering himself, he breathed in and out as he recalled the feeling he had when the dragon had surrounded him with fire. His eyes snapped open and he punched an enormous plume of fire into the sky, a plume far, far greater than he had ever managed before and at considerably less effort. He looked at his own hand in amazement as the fire extinguished overhead. "Fire is life. It's like a sun, burning brightly inside of you," the Fire Prince muttered as he finally understood.

Zuko narrowed his eyes sharply as he struck an imposing stance and addressed the lion turtle. "I've been running away, haven't I? That's what you are trying to tell me, isn't it? Chasing the Avatar, cursing my lot in life, that was all an excuse." He glanced briefly at Katara for a moment with sad eyes, "We have a task to complete before we can visit the South Pole, don't we?"

Zuko sighed as he returned his gaze to the lion turtle. "I didn't want to see what was right in front of me. Uncle knew though. Uncle always knew. He knew that I wouldn't accept it if he just told me outright. I really am, truly am, a terrible student."

Then, he faced Katara properly. "I know why my bending disappeared. For so many years, I had been so narrowly focused on hunting the Avatar. It had been my only drive, my sole purpose. When I wavered from that purpose, I lost sight of my inner fire." He blazed a warm glow of fire into his right hand. "But now, I have a new drive, a new purpose."

The Fire Prince looked back up at the lion turtle, his determination hardened. "I will do my part to end this war. But I will do it my way, on my terms. I will restore honor, not for me, but for the Fire Nation itself."

Katara put a hand on his shoulder as deep blue eyes burned intensely as they met resolute golden ones. "We will restore the Fire Nation's honor, together."

The lion turtle nodded in approval as he watched their displays. "You have all the tools you need. I leave the fate of the human world to the humans. Farewell young fledglings. I doubt we shall meet a second time."

"Wait! I still have things I want to ask you!" shouted Zuko as he took a step towards the lion turtle as the colossus submerged back below the depths.

Looking over the edge, Katara shouted down to the sea, "Thank you! We appreciate everything you did for us!" She waved goodbye as the sea bubbled and foamed and the waves crashed against the rock ridge.

"I don't suppose you know how we're going to get back to the cave from wherever it is we are now?" asked Jin as she looked around only to observe the vast ocean as far as the eye could see in every direction. Then, the mists started to return, much more heavily than before. "What? Everyone! Quick! Hold hands! Don't get separated again!" Each of the teens grabbed each other's hands as the fog rolled in thicker and swirled around them.


The mists only seemed to last a minute before the haze disappeared as swiftly as it had arrived. Looking around, Katara realized that they were standing in a courtyard atop a large mountain peak. There were several green roofed buildings along the mountaintop and bridges connecting two more mountains with similar structures to the one the trio was standing on. She shivered as a cool wind blew across the peak. "Where are we?"

Zuko felt a sharp pain at his forehead as a ringing in his ears followed. The bright blue sky around them shifted to a blood red as a crimson comet flew by overhead. He saw airbenders and sky bison falling as fiery catapult shots flew through the air. A regal looking firebender was arguing with some elderly monks.

"-ko! Zuko!" the Fire Prince heard a voice calling to him as his shoulder was shook. "Are you alright? You had a faraway look in your eye," asked Katara with concern.

'What was that?' Zuko asked himself as his head cleared and the sky returned to normal around him. "I think so. I just got dizzy for a moment. It passed though." When Zuko noticed the anxious look Katara was giving him, he changed the topic. "I know where we are. I've been here before early on in my search for the Avatar. We're at the Eastern Air Temple."

"The Eastern Air Temple!" exclaimed Jin. "But that's at least several days away from Ba Sing Se by ostrich horse. How did we get here?"

"I think we were in the Spirit World, or at least somewhere like it," assessed Zuko. "I don't think normal rules of travel apply."

"What about Biscuit and Bree?" gasped Katara. "We left them back at the cave entrance tied to a tree!"

"You mean these fellas right here? They appeared shortly before you three did. Surprised me something fierce I tell ya, you all did," stated an old man with a long, thick white beard and a faded yellow toga. He was holding the reins to two ostrich horses in his hands. Then, before anyone could ask who he was, the man pulled out a bowl of some kind of soup and asked, "Onion-banana juice anyone?"


He couldn't see anything with the bag over his head. Jet stumbled as someone pushed him from behind. "Keep moving," came the stern order from whomever was escorting the rogue.

"Hey! Where are you taking me? Where's Smellerbee and Longshot?" demanded Jet angrily. He had been in Fire Nation captivity ever since that joke of an Earth Kingdom leader had given him and his friends to the Fire Nation after the traitor had so meekly surrendered the town without so much as a fight.

Since then, Jet had been traveling by wagon somewhere. If Smellerbee and Longshot were being transported with him, it seemed that these Fire Nation guards were smart enough not to keep the Freedom Fighters together to allow them the opportunity to plan an escape. Not that any of the guards told him anything other than to shut up and be quiet. And that order was usually accompanied by a swift blow from a baton.

Earlier today had been strange though. It felt like there were new guards escorting him today. Not that he knew for sure. The bag that always seemed to be over his head made that difficult to know.

"I said, where are you taking me?" spat out Jet a second time. He didn't actually expect a response. The Fire Nation was too cowardly to give him a straight answer anyhow.

But to his surprise, the rogue heard a door opening in front of him and suddenly the bag over his head was pulled off. Jet's head shifted wildly as he quickly attempted to take in his surroundings as his eyes scanned every which way quickly. Not that it helped much. The brightness of the torches on the walls made it slow for his eyes to adjust.

The first thing he noticed as his vision settled was that he was standing in some dark hallway that was definitely underground. Where exactly? He had no idea. But this wasn't some place he figured firebenders normally operated. And that assumption was proven correct a second later when the guard next to him earthbent a stone chair into the middle of the room that the rogue was being led into.

"You're not Fire Nation! You're Earth Kingdom!" exclaimed Jet in confusion as he stared quizzically at the man next to him. The guard was wearing a long draping black and dark green tunic with the unmistakable Earth Kingdom symbol on his chest. He also wore a small conical shaped hat, a little more pointed that the standard Earth Kingdom soldier bowl shaped helm. "How did you liberate me from the Fire Nation? Why haven't you taken off my chains yet?"

The earthbending guard beside him pulled out a key and unlocked the metal chains secured to Jet's arms and legs. Jet's rubbed his sore wrists as he stretched lightly. "Now that's more like it. So, where exactly are..."

Jet didn't get to finish his question as he was shoved into the stone chair in the middle of the chamber. Several rock hands and cuffs appeared and gripped Jet's head, wrists, ankles, chest, arms, and legs to prevent any movement from the rogue. Jet struggled uselessly against his new bindings. "What is this? More torture? We're on the same side! I can help get rid of the Fire Nation! Let me fight them!"

"Calm down, you're safe now," soothed a different guard wearing the same uniform as the escorting guard. This new guard had emerged from the shadows of the room and halted directly in front of Jet and some strange contraption that Jet had failed to notice until now. A small orange lantern began to move on a metal track.

Jet focused on the man who spoke. The guard was standing in the center of a small metal track that housed the orange lantern that emitted a soft, pale glow as it slowly spun around the man. It was almost hypnotizing to look at.

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation is our ally," stated the talkative guard calmly.

"What're you talking about?! The Fire Nation, allies?! You can't be serious! You're all traitors!" shouted Jet. Another earthen hand clamped over his mouth to quiet him. Jet struggled in vain against the earthen hands and cuffs that bound him securely to the chair. The orange lantern continued to swirl around on the metal track as Jet eyes kept coming back to the light.

"There is no war within the walls of Ba Sing Se. Here, we are safe. Here, we are free. Here, we can serve the mistress," droned on the mysterious guard in a monotone voice as Jet shut his eyes tightly before another earthen hand wrenched his eyelids back open.

The orange lantern was picking up speed faster now as Jet's mind screamed at him to resist somehow. He couldn't allow these traitors to do whatever it was that they were attempting to do to him. He couldn't allow them to get away with this treachery to the Earth Kingdom. He couldn't allow them to succeed. He couldn't... allow... any harm... to come to his mistress.

Jet's eyes glazed over as he watched the lantern now. The earthen hand over his mouth was released and the rogue slowly began to repeat the phrase that the guard had continued to state since earlier. "There is no war in Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation is our ally." Jet's voice was unfocused and seemingly far away.

As the orange lantern slowed to a stop, Azula walked forward from the shadows. Approaching Jet, she held his face in her hands for a moment as she examined his dull eyes. "Remember me?" she asked alluringly.

"Mistress..." was the single word answer that came from the dazed rogue sitting in the chair.

Azula signaled for the Dai Li agents to release Jet's right arm as she placed a knife in his hand. "Jam that blade into your right leg."

Jet looked down at the knife in his hands for a moment before raising the dagger and stabbing himself with a self-inflicted wound without question.

The Fire Princess smiled wickedly. "Doesn't that just make you angry? Obeying the orders of someone who you detest so much? Someone from the evil Fire Nation?"

"I... will... serve..." came the hypnotic reply from Jet as he winced slightly at the pain in his leg, but did not otherwise show any discomfort.

Then, Azula smacked the Freedom Fighter hard across the face with a resounding punch. Other than his head snapping to the left before returning straight ahead, Jet didn't react at all.

"What a useful technique the Dai Li have developed," the Fire Princess stated gleefully. "Obedience can be so hard to come by."

The Dai Li agent behind her bowed his head. "The technique is still a work-in-progress, Princess. It will need to be reapplied weekly in order to ensure the subject remains firmly under control."

"Hmm..." assessed Azula. "So there are some limitations. No matter. I'll just require skilled agents to remain at my side in order to reapply the conditioning then."

Another Dai Li agent entered the chamber from the opposite doorway and shoved a bound, gagged, and struggling Mai into the room. "After all, a good tool shouldn't question its master," smirked Azula as she looked over at her friend.