Another ship. Zuko had not been sure when he would have been on one again, but it came sooner than he expected. This time, he did not feel like he did when he traveled to the Southern Water Tribe. He simultaneously felt more optimistic and more worried. Far from his father's and sister's cold gazes, the prince could work to stop the soldiers in secret and chip away at the Fire Lord's empire piece by piece. Under the watchful eye of the informants, Zuko could just as easily sentence his uncle and himself to death. So, whatever he had to do needed to be quiet as well as effective.

Zuko felt the ship stop when the anchors were lowered. He left the room and saw Iroh speaking with some of the soldiers. The man could do that so easily. Iroh spoke with them warmly and made them feel at ease. His nephew had no way of knowing which of the soldiers he mistrusted, if any at all. Iroh noticed Zuko and left the people to approach him.

"Are you ready for our new journey?" he asked.

The boy nodded. "I think so. It'll probably help to observe things first to see how they're going."

This made Iroh smile. "And what better place to engage in people-watching than at a tea shop?"

Iroh began going down the ramp of the ship. Zuko followed after him, subtly watching the people around them. They looked different from those of the Water Tribe. He had seen illustrations of Earth Kingdom citizens in scrolls, but what separated them from the tribesmen was the look in their eyes. Too many of the citizens were scared–doubtful that anything would change for the better. They had been too close to the war for too long. It was fresh for the Water Tribe. They had remained steadfast and strong-willed. What gave Zuko hope was the spark he saw behind some of their eyes. He might have been able to reach them. While he traveled through the city with Iroh, Appa was flying the children to another part of the Earth Kingdom. They had been flying for a while before land came into view. Aang's eyes lit up before his jaw dropped in horror.

"We're too late," he said.

The siblings went forward on the saddle to see where he was looking. To their dismay, they saw a Fire Nation flag and smoke blowing in the wind.

"I-it used to look so bright," Aang said. "Now, everything's covered in soot." The boy frowned and flicked the reins. "Appa, let's head down."

"Woah, hold on," Sokka said, putting his hand on Aang's shoulder. "I know this is bad, but do you really want to fly straight down? That place doesn't look like it has much water anywhere. If we get attacked, it'll just be your air and my sword and boomerang against who knows how many firebenders."

Aang looked up at him sadly. "But Bumi's down there."

Sokka hesitated, glancing at Katara. He wanted to say that it was likely Bumi was already gone. From age or the war, Sokka doubted the friend had survived. Still, he hoped for Aang's sake that he had.

"Maybe if we're careful, we can look," Katara suggested.

"Do you know if there's a back entrance?" Sokka asked.

Aang paused for a moment. "Yeah, I do. There are these carts that Bumi and I used to ride on. We wouldn't be able to bring Appa that far with us, but the three of us could ride on one. That'll bring us into the palace."

The airbender began to guide Appa towards the back of the kingdom. When they found a spot without anyone nearby, they landed and hid the sky bison under some brush.

"Do you remember what the inside of the palace looks like?" Sokka asked. "Also, are you going to recognize Bumi if you see him?"

Aang tapped his chin. "Well, he'll look really different, but he has a laugh that I'd recognize anywhere. If we get him to do that, I should be fine."

"Sure," Sokka thought sarcastically, "because who wouldn't laugh after being taken over by the Fire Nation?"

As stealthily as they could, the trio started moving inwards on the island. They heard the sound of something rushing by. It blew a strong gust of wind at them and Aang pointed, grinning.

"That's it. When the next one comes, we'll hop on."

Sokka's eyes widened. "We're hopping on that thing?!" he asked in a harsh whisper. "It'll rip us in half."

Aang shook his head. "We'll be fine. I'll use airbending to get us from here to there."

The siblings nervously looked at one another. When they heard another cart coming down the tracks, they tensed up. As their friend had warned, he used airbending and blasted them upwards so that they landed right in the center of the cart. As soon as they did, the force of its movement flung them back. The Water Tribe duo were consumed by terror, but in spite of the new reason they were there, Aang could not stop smiling as memories of a simpler time flooded his brain.

The trio continued looking for Bumi, and Zuko and Iroh had arrived in the tea shop. Sitting down, the prince glanced around and noticed that his uncle had placed a hand on the table. He did this just loudly enough to get his attention. Following Iroh's eyes, Zuko saw some firebenders walking outside of the building. Their armor looked more worn than the soldiers who had gone with the relatives, so Zuko realized that they were people who had been there prior to their arrival.

"Do we follow them?" he asked quietly.

Iroh discreetly shook his head as he smiled at a server and ordered two cups of jasmine tea. Zuko could not stop listening for any sounds of a struggle outside. The server returned with the tea before he heard anything. Finally, it happened. Zuko recognized the sound of fire being blasted as well as when it made contact with a building. Without looking at Iroh to ask, the boy ran out of the shop. His eyes widened when he saw a store completely engulfed in flames. Momentarily, he glanced around to see where everyone was looking. They were focused on the flames, which meant that he could act without being noticed. Going around the side, Zuko entered the building. It still had workers and customers inside. They were huddled together in the center, trying to get as far from the fire as possible.

Zuko turned to the flames and reached forward. There was a lot of fire, but he could possibly control some of it so that it did not get any closer to anyone. The prince began moving the fire back. As he did, he heard a new noise. Someone yelped, but it sounded like it was from surprise as opposed to being from pain. Zuko looked back and saw several people sinking into the ground.

"How…"

The boy did not finish what he was saying as he had to try harder to keep back the flames. On the outside, more soldiers were adding to the fire. They did this until a new flame combined with theirs and extinguished the fire completely, leaving nothing but smoke in its place. The soldiers looked at the culprit, then paused.

"General Iroh?" one asked, confused.

Iroh regarded the store and the soldiers. "What order did my brother give you?"

"We're supposed to take over this land."

"Are you accomplishing that by killing civilians?"

The soldier hesitated. "These citizens were disrespecting us by not hanging our flag from the store's roof."

Iroh gave the group a smile. "I'm sure that we can find a much less violent way to convince our new neighbors to believe in the Fire Nation."

"But…"

"Come," the older firebender requested. "I think you could benefit from some calming tea. We can order some now."

Unsure what else to do, the soldiers began to follow Iroh into the shop. With them gone, Zuko poked out of the building and saw that the coast was clear.

"Thank you for helping us," someone from within the shop told him, bowing his head.

Zuko smiled. "You're welcome." He started to frown. "I don't know who was behind getting people out through the ground."

No one there seemed to know either, so they began filing outside. When they were gone, Zuko left as well and tried to look around. He noticed the presence of someone else and turned.

"There's only one other firebender I know who goes against the soldiers," he heard someone say. "Let me guess, you're Iroh's nephew?"

Zuko saw Toph. "I am. How do you know him?"

"He's my soldier-fighting teammate. Or at least he was until he left a little bit ago. I'm glad he's back."

"Are you the one who got some of the people out?"

Toph grinned proudly. "Right about that. If he didn't tell you, I'm the best earthbender."

"In Gaoling?"

"The world."

Zuko looked doubtful. "What makes you so good?"

"The fact that I can't see you."

The prince's expression took on a look of shock. At the distance he was standing from the girl, he had not been able to see her eyes.

"You're blind?"

"I am, so it makes me focus on feeling where everyone is standing. Just from feeling through the earth, I know you're right there," she said, pointing to the boy. "I doubt anyone else is doing that. There's nowhere on the ground where someone can hide from me. I could even feel people getting nervous as their hearts beat faster."

"That does sound pretty impressive," Zuko admitted. His face lit up with an idea. "Since you were helping Uncle before, want to work with us again? We were sent with a lot more soldiers, but we're trying to find a way to free everyone."

Toph thought over this, then rubbed her palms together. "Kick some Fire Nation butt? How can I say no to that? Let's start tomorrow with plans."

The earthbender began walking away, but Zuko hurried after her.

"Wait, where are you staying? I won't know how to find you."

Toph just smirked at him. "Don't worry. I'll find you."

"Well, what's your name?"

"I'm Toph. I'll call you mini Iroh then?"

"I'm Zuko."

"Should be fun to work with you, Zuko."

"You too, Toph."

Zuko watched in awe as the girl sank into the earth. Suddenly, the ground smoothed over and looked as though nothing had happened.

"Uncle sure makes interesting friends," he thought, returning to the tea shop.

Zuko met back up with Iroh while in Omashu, the trio had made it into the castle. Aang looked around, trying to remember how everything looked.

"They changed it," he said, frowning slightly.

"Do you recognize enough to know where he might be?" Katara asked.

"Maybe the dungeons, but it wouldn't make sense to put Bumi there since he could just bend his way out. He's a really strong bender."

The friends heard someone talking and hid behind a wall. Two soldiers went down the hall and entered another room. Aang moved quickly, using air to blast him through the door with them. He found a corner of the ceiling and kept himself there with his hands and feet.

"Crazy old king," one of the soldiers said, removing her helmet. "I don't know how he stayed in power so long."

"It just shows how weak people of the Earth Kingdom are. He would've been dethroned by now if this had been the Fire Nation. That cackle alone would've been enough to get him assassinated."

Aang's ears perked up at the description and he dropped down, surprising the pair. He pointed his air gliding staff at them.

"Where's Bumi?"

The firebenders regarded one another before laughing.

"Okay, kid, I'm sure you're a big fan of the king, but you should go find your parents. You're not supposed to be here. I'm not even sure how you got in."

When one of the soldiers stepped forward, Aang blew him back with air. This made the firebenders' eyes widen.

"A-an airbender?"

"Where's Bumi?" Aang asked again, frowning.

The pair did not answer, instead blasting fire at him. Hearing what was going on, Sokka and Katara hurried into the room as well. Before they could do anything, Aang blew more air, forcing the soldiers against the ceiling. They could not move their limbs forward and grimaced.

"Tell me!"

Aang felt like he could not lose another person from his past. How many more would be taken from him in one lifetime? Still, the soldiers said nothing. Sokka looked between them and the floor. The older boy pointed at the guy.

"The soles of his boots are covered in mud unlike hers," he suggested. "Remember if there are any spots of the castle that are damp?"

The Avatar considered the question. "Yeah actually. It's under the dungeon."

Using more airbending, Aang slammed the two soldiers into a wall, knocking them out. Speedily, he led the pair down to the dungeon. There was a new door, but Katara frowned when she checked the handle.

"It's locked."

"It's okay. Bumi and I know another way in."

Aang pushed on a spot of the wall, moving it aside so that they could crawl through. Aang went first and he felt both happy and saddened when he got to the other side. He found an older man in a newly made cell. A wooden trap covered every part of his body except his head.

"Bumi?"

The man's eyes widened. "Aang?" He began to cackle. "They say you're as young as you feel, but you really took that to heart!"

Aang went over to the bars, studying how thick they were.

"I'll explain when we're out of here. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Aang," Bumi said, "I think we could talk about it now."

"The soldiers could be here any minute," Sokka said. "Hi by the way."

Bumi grinned at the other two children. "Hi to you both." His expression became serious. "But you three should leave."

Aang blinked in shock. "What? We can't leave without you."

"I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Bumi, this isn't a game. We have to get you out of here. The Fire Nation is killing people."

"They are, but I won't let them kill me and since I stood down, they won't kill my subjects."

"But we can get you out of here!"

"Aang," Bumi told him, "have you ever known me to do something I didn't want to do?"

Aang just felt overwhelmed by confusion. "You want to be here?"

"Until it's time to go."

"That doesn't make sense."

Bumi laughed again. "I've always had fun not making sense. Can't stop that now."

"B-but what if you're wrong and they kill you? I can't leave you behind."

The earthbender's laugh faded when he saw the distraught expression on his old friend's face.

"It'll be fine, Aang. I have this figured out. Sometimes, you just have to wait for the right moment."

"I found out I was the Avatar since the last time we hung out. So, I need an earthbending master. If you don't want to leave to be safe, can you leave to teach me?"

Bumi looked conflicted, then shook his head. "Sorry, I can't. It's not the right time. There are more earthbenders, though. You'll need someone who has been active in this war and knows the importance of timing. You'll find that person, Aang. I know it."

Aang miserably looked through the bars and Bumi gave him a wild smile. He snorted as he laughed.

"Plus, after you find this master, the three of us can come up with new games that only earthbenders can play. We've never been able to do that before. So, hurry up and learn how to earthbend because I'm going to need some excitement after all the boredom here."

Sokka was standing by the door, ear pressed against its surface.

"More soldiers are coming," he said, tensing. "Whatever we're about to do, we have to do now."

Aang turned to his new friends, then at his old one again.

"Try to stay safe, Bumi," he requested, feeling his throat becoming sore. He let out a soft chuckle. "That game sounds like it'll be really fun. Would hate to not get to play."

Forcing himself to tear his eyes away, Aang left with the others through the crawlspace. They crept back to the carts and took them down to where Appa was hidden. Aang still sounded sad as he signaled for the bison to fly.

"I guess we'll just go to another part of the Earth Kingdom," he said.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to bring him back," Katara told him sincerely.

"He won't be there for too much longer," Sokka stated, confident. "If he doesn't get himself out, we'll go back for him."

Aang gave the siblings a weak smile. "Hopefully, Bumi's right that there's someone else out there to teach me earthbending. If I know how to do that, I'll be able to free him." The boy sighed. "But I just don't think there's anyone better to be my earthbending master than Bumi. I guess we'll see who I end up with."