I Don't own Avatar the last air bender.

chapter 49

Deep in the spirit world, sensō, the spirit of war and conflict, sat on his throne. It was an atrocious thing, literally made out of the suffering of all who knew the horrors of war. Be it self aware or not. No number of words could do justice to how horrible and demented the ever shifting and ever-growing thing was.

All around the spirit, as far as the eye could see, the land was filled with brine and sulfur. Rivers of fire, and something too red to be water, originating from the throne created a vein-like pattern all around.

It is not to say that the land was without any life, far from it. Many spirits regarded those nightmarish planes as their home, wither they wanted it or not. All those emotions mankind produced during war created such a variety of spirits. From the rage and suffering of the soldiers who lived and died by the sword to the loss and pain of the mothers who had their babies kidnapped. All got their representation here.

And on top of the throne sat its master. The ever-changing colossal figure of the single spirit of war of the spirit world. He sat on the throne, as if resting, and trails of smoke came to his mouth, as if he was breathing it.

Only if one looked closely, and had the ability to look at such a thing, they would have discovered that this trial of smoke is actually a river of souls. All those who died in war, being fed to the spirit. Literal lambs for the slaughter, meat for the grinder.

It was sad and ironic in so many ways.

But let it never be said that the war spirit only takes. Once sensō devours the souls, he feeds on their essence. All what they were, all what they felt, all what they knew, all what they could have been, it is all food to the ever-growing spirit.

And when the soul is rid of anything to chain it down, it is released from the bottom of the throne or from one of the rivers to start the journey anew. Hopefully a better one than the last, with nothing to hold it back.

It was a circle of life, so to say, one proposed, designed by, and put to practice, by the war spirit.

"You did what?" The war spirit asked the only other spirit in the room who wasn't a mere extension of Sensō's will.

"I have made a miscalculation." The mother of faces said from the ground as she looked up to the other spirit.

She stood there at full size with all of her glory, a mountain by herself, but next to sensō she looked like a flying lemur standing next to a sky bison. That was how big the war spirit grew.

"Obviously." The master of all war snorted. "What did you expect? They are made of flesh and bones, they can't be at two places at once, nor can two of them possess the same place at the same time. I expected a higher standard from a spirit of your caliber."

"I will not hear about work ethics from the spirit of war himself! War crimes are literally part of you!" the Mother defended herself. "I lost myself to pettiness, I know. My desire to hurt the Oni overridden my thinking, and now the best opportunity to end this threat is compromised."

It wasn't seen, but Sensō rolled his eyes behind the mask.

"And you came to me… Why?" The war spirit asked. "State of the mortal mind is looking like a problem for our own spirit of wisdom."

"The owl refused to interfere with the human world." The Mother answered. "And while he does have the theory, probably, you have experience with the traumas of the human mind more than any creature in existence. And between us, the chances of you accepting to help are far greater than the owl's."

So the brute was more compassionate than the intellectual, go figure. But the Mother's logic was sound, Sensō had a close relationship with how war break sentient beings.

"And why should I even help?" He asked. "That sounds like a 'your' problem, I have enough duties to do as is."

"It may be our best chance to end the Oni's rampage before it starts, who knows how many spirits will perish if it's allowed to grow in power again." Surly the war spirit understood the risks, at least this was what the smaller spirit thought.

"Try harder." Was the reply. "Humanity always brought the best wars. If anything, it's a reason to not let the host be assassinated."

"Does the death of tens of thousands of spirits mean nothing to you?!" She raged. "And stop calling that thing 'Humanity'! It's a disease, not a part of the world!"

"No matter what name they choose for themselves, no matter what they or anyone else think, Sai is the very embodied of the human spirit. As for the disease part, humanity can be considered as a disease as well, and by many criteria."

"That thing is no spirit!" The Mother continued to rage. "Have you forgotten what it did to us?! What it did to me?!"

"Yes, I remember quite well that time when little Sai managed to enslave you and made you produce an inexhaustible number of monsters loyal only to them." Sensō remember eons past. Fun times, but he wouldn't tell her that.

"And yet you defend that abomination?!"

"Oh, I never said I defended them. I merely stated facts." Sensō said before looking down to the smaller spirit. "And a certain level of respect is needed when addressing to me, specter, especially when one seeks my help."

The threat was not ideal as well. The Mother Of Faces was an ancient spirit, her coming to existence is what led the forces of that time to be self-aware. But compared to something like Sensō, who existed as the very concept of conflict even before her, she had no delusions that she will run out of spectral bones to break when he is done with her.

"I gave you self-awareness." She stated.

"Indirectly." He responded. "And unintentionally. And yet, you have some leniency for this. So I will ask again, why should I help?"

"As of now, the war you so lovingly cradle like a baby is in a stalemate. If the abomination is allowed to continue, it will conquer the world. And with it ruling the mortal plane, there would be no wars for you to feed upon."

Sensō could put some holes in her argument, there will always be a resistance group. And even if not, human nature required conflict. Humankind can't live without war, be it for resources, religion, or any other justification. And Humanity knew it. They will find war for mankind, out of necessity if not out of will.

But it wasn't important right now. In any case, Agni's favorite mortal just had too much potential to let her be thrown away like that. Sensō was extremely curious to see what this girl has to offer to the war. He also was curious about what Agni has to say about the entire ordeal.

"Very well, I will deal with the girl's mental problems. Shouldn't take more than five minutes." The spirit of war declared. "Just cover for me until I return."

"I- ah… fine?" The Mother Of Faces thought that it would take more than that to move the war spirit. Perhaps the brute wasn't as beyond help as she thought. She still resented him for the beat-up he gave her son.

The river of souls had been redirected. Instead of feeding the war spirit, it now drained into a ball at Sensō's hand. It was no bigger than the nail of its creator, but still could contain the entire higher ring of Ba Sing Se with ease.

"Here, take this." He handed her the spare. "Process the souls while I'm gone."

The moment the Mother was handed the sphere, she almost got crushed under the weight of humanity's sin and suffering. She groaned in pain, both physical and mental, as she barely held the burden. She didn't even have the strength to look up to see if Sensō already left.

And to think that he held it like nothing!

The Mother Of Faces clearly regretted a few of her recent choices.

In the forests of the fire nation, a single dragonfly flew in the air. It moved with speed and precision that only a dragonfly is capable of. With the length of a grown man's hand, the dragonfly was bigger than most of its kind yet still small enough to be considered prey.

And yet, no bird of prey dared to come close to it. They sensed that it wasn't a regular insect, but even then, they didn't comprehend the sheer horror of the creature. For it was no mere dragonfly, but the very avatar of the war spirit itself.

One may question why would someone at Sensō's caliber would choose such a form, was it his favorite animal? The answer was no.

Sensō's favorite animals who contested for the first place were ants and termites and all their hybrids, for they are soldiers since birth, war made manifest in the animal kingdom. Humanity, as it is with this world war, doesn't hold a candle to the death and devastation those creatures face in a single park. Bees and Hornets came second, they too can't live without war.

But if Sensō had to choose one creature to become, it had to be a warrior and not a soldier. And for that, the dragonfly was the first choice. A hunter and predator so deadly it never misses, a warrior that knows what its target will do before the target itself, a flyer like no other that is nearly untouchable in air.

Honestly, the fact that the form needed to be a small one was a bonus.

The dragonfly flew through the trees until it reached its target. Princess Azula, who was now sitting next to a tree in a catatonic state. Sensō sat on her nose, looking at her. He had to admit that Agni had talent for choosing champions.

And now, came the ugly part of the job. The dragonfly repositioned itself so that its tail was right in front of the princess's nose and walked backwards. The tail entered the snot and continued its advance deeper and deeper until it reached the brain and Sensō could work his magic.

"This is disgusting." The war spirit muttered to himself. "She owns me one for this."

Sensō was no stranger to gruesome sights, he reveled in it. It literally came with the job. But all the gore in 'blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne' didn't cover sticking his butt through that.

In any case, once the process completed, Sensō began fixing the damage. First thing first, he shut down the neural activities and put the human to a coma. It would do to rid her from trauma just to replace it with another.

Now began the process of slicing up the components and memories of the mother and suppurating them from the daughter. A lot of iterations of cut and paste were involved, but in the end, there were two separate entities. Sensō also placed it so that the daughter's identity was the dominant one.

Now came the filtering part. Sensō placed a buffer zone, a bridge of sorts, that worked like 'master slave' protocol little Sai was so proud of inventing. The daughter could sand out order to seek information from the mother, but otherwise there was no connection between the two. The mother was basically cocooned now, dormant.

Double checking that there wasn't something he missed, as well as making sure that all the memories of the daughter's identity from the point Mother breached her were erased completely, Sensō healed any physical injuries from the process and considered his work done.

And so, the dragonfly fetched its tail from the girl. Said tail was covered in all kinds of liquids better not mentioned.

"This is disgusting…"

And so, the war spirit flew back to the spirit world, with a full minute to spare, but not after leaving one final parting gift. War, like life itself, was very dull with all work no play after all.

One may say, 'The two worlds were separated by Raava and the first avatar Wan, spirits couldn't just travel back and force at will'. The truth is that in effect the small and weak spirits, and got weaker through the centuries. For greater spirits it was more like a fence to climb over, a bump in the road for Sensō.

Perhaps Raava thought that the stronger the spirit is, it would show more 'maturity' and will stay in the spirit world. Honestly, Sensō couldn't understand what The First Action was thinking. But perhaps connecting oneself to a human, influences your thoughts.

Ancient history (that for Sensō was yesterday news) aside, he flew to his throne and regained his true self. There he saw the Mother at her last leg as she was going to be crushed by humanity's weight.

"It wasn't even five minutes." He said as he took the ball with ease and sat on his throne. The ball was shattered like glass between his fingers and the river of souls continued its original trail, to his mouth. "In any case, I am done. The girl is cures from the trauma you gave her, all the other traumas are a different story."

"How…" The smaller spirit asked as she rested on her knees, breathing heavily. "How do you do it…"

"You will have to be more clear." Sensō raised an eyebrow behind his helmet.

"How do you bear it all, all the time." She continued. "All this suffering… all this experience… I watched the life of each and every soul that died to war in those five minutes, the sheer magnitude of all the perspectives… it's overwhelming, it nearly broke me. How do you manage to do it for eternity? And so easily?"

"I am made of sterner stuff." The war spirit said it as a fact. "By definition, I was built for it. Literally. You speak of it as if it's some great burden, for me it's a day to day task. You baffled at how I manage, I'm baffled at how everyone else can't."

"But surely you get tired from time to time." The Mother asked.

"I am the spirit of war and conflict." Sensō declared. "And weakness will not be tolerated."

"Besides." He continued. "As you experienced just now, it's not like someone can just take over for a while."

"I see…" The spirit of identity said after a while. "Thank you, for your help. I have achieved… new perspectives from the experience."

"Getting your own medicine is making you sorry?" Sensō asked.

"Yes." The Mother said with no hesitation in her voice. "I am mature enough to admit when I'm in the wrong. A soul of tar she may be, but the little girl didn't deserve what I had done for her."

"By the your leave then, my lord." She bowed.

"Be well." Sensō nodded and The Mother Of Faces disappeared.

Something was wrong, it was the thing Xing thought.

The vixen continued her attacks relentlessly. Strike after strike, bite after bite. All things considered, she was far weaker than the old fox who shared her number of tails, somewhere around the level of a six-tail or so. Which brought the following question: She shouldn't be a problem to deal with, so why was it so hard?!

For some unknown reason, Xing's attacks were far weaker than they should be, the explosions missed their mark by a bit and have been less potent than they should have been, and Xing reaction time became bigger. Heck, Xing even retreated instead of parry, that never happened!

It could feel the frustration of the vixen, however. She was angry at Xing for killing all those foxes, but it was a different kind of anger from what Xing felt when facing a prey that just watched their entire close ones being killed and devoured by the hound. It reminded Xing more of the behavior of one who had their hard work just ruined for them, or having been denied a grand prize.

Be it as it may, it still didn't answer the question of why Xing was underperforming. It was as if the hound didn't want to win, or didn't want to hurt her.

Another jump to the side to avoid another stream of blue flames. Once again, having a clear shot but not utilizing it. The vixen came at the hound with a grace Xing never seen before, and the black beast could only react when the vixen was almost too close. The keyword was almost. Even with the late reaction, Xing could have smashed her to the floor with ease. She may be fast, but Xing was faster. But yet again, Xing missed the opportunity.

A strange thing was that the more the vixen fought, the weaker the smell she emitted was. It helped Xing to concentrate a little, but not by much.

As she continued her, admittingly useless, attacks, Xing backed more and more away. One misstep caused him to step on a stone and lose balance. The vixen, noticing this, used the opportunity to jump on the bigger animal. The result was the two of them falling downhill like a wheel. Xing, being bigger, stronger and the more martial capable, had the upper paw when they stopped falling.

The vixen was forced down to the ground with her back up, face pressed against the ground. Xing was above her, locking her movements and pressing the weight down. The vixen tried with all her might to move, fear was taking hold as she thought that her fate was the same as all the other foxes before her. In her panic, her tails moved to every possible corner and in the process touched a place that made Xing shiver a little with an unfamiliar feeling.

Confused, the vixen noticed the change in her captor. Repeating her movements, and making Xing shiver again, she studied the spot that made such an effect and Xing knew that somehow thing changed. The complete disappearance of fear from the vixen, combining with the overload of the smell the female produced were a clear enough sign. The knowing smile she shot at him was another dead giveaway.

The nine-tail easily crawled out from under him, her tails brush against Xing's neck up to the chin (Wait, how did she manage to escape?! Xing held her so firm before!). Once outside, she turned to face Xing and opened her tails like a peacock. It was a fascinating sight that Xing couldn't look away from.

The feeling of something touching Xing's fur broke the hound's daydreaming. Xing immediately noticed the vixen was near the neck, a single bite and she could cause sever harm! Xing knew it was too late to stop her, but for some reason she didn't go for the neck but… brushed herself against Xing's front limb? Yes, the vixen seemed to put her muzzle as if checking the condition of the limb's muscles.

And was she… purring?!

The sudden event caused Xing to stumble a little away, but it seemed to only empower the nine-tail as she continued her newfound way of assault. She brushed against each of Xing's limbs and against the sides of the belly. If anything, her purrs only grew stronger, as well as the smell she produced. She liked what she saw.

'There are many ways of sedating~'

Xing heard a beautiful voice in the head.

'There are many types of control~'

The vixen turned and brushed her tail against Xing's chin. When Xing looked at her again, the vixen hid her face from the snot downwards with her tails. Not unlike what those painted female imitations, who's current alpha wanted to have master's pups as well, did.

'There are many means of manipulation~'

The vixen now came closer to Xing as she swayed her figure hypnotically, the hound did nothing to stop her as she reached the male snot to snot.

'There are other types of hunger to quell~'

Her face brushed against Xing's. She reached to the ear and bit, playfully. Xing, who momentarily paused from the fact that the hound let someone so close to such a vulnerable place, then found the act a bit annoying if a little endearing. When Xing tried to bite back the same way, the vixen simply giggled in the hound's ear and skipped gracefully away.

'There are many actions of passion~'

Xing followed her, but the vixen just kept skipping at the last moment. To be fair, Xing also didn't try very hard to chase her. After a few tries, however, the vixen didn't move from her place as Xing jumped, and the two animals were once again entangled. Xing was on top of the vixen as before, but the vixen was with her back on the ground as she looked at Xing with a strong emotion.

'You have so much left to learn~'

She bumped her snot against Xing's and warped her tails around the hound's body, like fluffy scarves. She then pulled with the tails and slid underneath the belly escaped.

'If you want a next generation~'

She wiggled her tails and baited Xing to run after her.

'Show me how much you are willing to earn~'

She then ran away, signaling Xing to follow.

It was stupid. For all Xing knew, she was luring to a trap. There also wasn't a reason to stay, there was more than enough energy to return to the master. There were a thousand and one more reasons why Xing should return immediately, but all of them were cast aside.

For Xing was a he, and the vixen was a she. It was as easy as that. Xing's body moved as if on its own, to fulfil the task all living thing must. He was answering a call, one that was even stronger than a direct order from the master.

He began chasing after the Vixen.

This wasn't good, it wasn't good at all.

Katara was a much tougher case than Jasmine. The later may have been an air bender, a much greater crime then being a water according to the fire nation, but at least Jasmine had an alibi and could be said to be a loyal subject. Katara, on the other hand, not so much.

The water tribe girl was the daughter of the chieftain, and there was no denying that. And unlike the late and unlamented Mi-Sha, her father was still very much alive and did give a damn about her. By all sense, she should have been hunted and brought as a bargaining chip against her father.

The fact that she isn't even present doesn't help. At all.

All of those were facts that the accuser wasn't shy of letting be known. Really, it would take a miracle to just keep the young water bender unchained. No matter, it was Iroh's turn now.

"As we are speaking about the water bender, and not about prince Zuko's actions concerning her, I honestly see no reason for concern." Iroh stated.

"Have you finally gone senile, brother?" Ozai stated. "In case you didn't hear, there is a rough water bender on the loose. A direct daughter of a known enemy."

"Yes, but why kill a dying wolf when it will expire in its cave soon enough?" Iroh countered. "Hakoda and his men are back in their holes, their population is just not big enough to recover. In just a generation or two we'll see the complete end of the south tribe. And their way of life doesn't allow them to convert people to their tribe, you need to be born to it. Or to the north pole."

"And why shouldn't I just sand the armada to crush them once and for all, if they are as vulnerable as you say." Ozai squinted his eyes.

"Because Hakoda showed that he cares about his reputation more than his family." Iroh answered. "His entire campaign to free his wife is proof enough of this."

"I Don't follow." Good, that meant Iroh got his brother's attention.

"If he really cared about the wellbeing of his wife, Hakoda would have tried to parlay with the fire nation. And while we didn't have her, as she was actually taken to Mi-Sha through deceit, at the time Hakoda was sure it was us. He didn't stop his crusade even for a second to think that we may harm his wife if he continues, therefore it's clear that her life means little to him."

"The same should apply to the daughter. Taking her away will cause him to act, and the result will be a wounded rat that bites at our fingers instead of one that dies in the corner."

"Hmm…" Ozai brushed his beard. "A fine assessment, but perhaps we should get an opinion of an expert."

"Expert?" Whoever they may be, Iroh wondered.

A thin and old looking man went before the fire lord and bowed. He wore civilian clothes, of a good enough quality but not something a villager can't afford. Iroh didn't recognize him, however. No, it wasn't right. Something was familiar, but the retired general couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yon Rha" Ozai called. "Is a retired commander of the southern raiders, the last of them. He has decades of experience fighting against the southern barbarians."

"I live to serve." The old man said from his kneeling position.

Ah, that would explain it. Iroh didn't have much connection to the southern front.

"What do you say about my brother's idea, Yon Rha?"

"The barbarians of the south have proven quite adaptable, my lord." The man said. "My last raid, given to me by false information, have shown just how resourceful those savages can be if given resources of any kind. Their home forces them to. By the estimations that are given concerning the current population of the south pole, they lack the manpower needed to rebuild their civilization to anything more than a village to their name. In contrast, sending in forces will give them the opportunity to gain resources and rebuild themselves. In this case, I agree with prince Iroh's point."

"And the water bender?" Ozai asked.

"A no variable." Yon Rha stated. "She may have water bending, but she'll never master it enough to be considered a worthwhile threat to go after without a master to teach her. And that's if she'll have enough free time to self-train, which she wouldn't have now as she'll be too busy doing her chores and holding her tribe back from the brink of extinction."

"What's more, the undoing of the southern water tribe will be their very strength. Their adaptiveness and close community basically trapped them in their icy home instead of leaving for the continent for a better land. An invasion may force them to relocate outside the pole and will cause a hard to-track diaspora in which they will grow in a much more opportunist environment."

"And bringing the water bender here?" Ozai asked.

"As prince Iroh mentioned, chief Hakoda will start another expedition regardless to the wellbeing of his daughter. It may very well end with his men scattering across the continent and resulting the same problem we now face with unknown number of wild air benders."

"Hmm… a fair assessment." Ozai brushed his beard again. "But still, the lack of complete submission leaves a sour taste in my mouth. No, such an insult cannot be left unanswered. I want a direct supervision on the leftovers of the southern tribe if I see that they don't suffer enough, I'll order one final raid to finish them all. In any case, the problem will solve itself by the year's end."

By the year's end? Just what are you planning brother?

"The first sign the girl shows of anything resembling defiance against me, and her body will burn on the spire right here."

That wasn't a win, it was merely postponing the inevitable. But for now, for now it was enough.

Now there was only one person left, Zuko himself.

Hamma would have never thought that she would willingly step a foot in the fire nation capital, and the royal palace no less, but here she was. Standing among the crowd of fire nation citizen that she despised in every fiber of her bone. It was the lesser evil, she convinced herself, Hamma had to see how this trail was going.

It was decades after her escape from that accursed prison, and after she began her revenge on the fire nation. It was a passing rumor that she heard from travelers that told her about the possibility of a new water bender from the south tribe. Well, it didn't begin as a water bender.

It firstly started with rumors about the banished prince going to the south pole and returning with treasure as well as a water tribe girl as his attendance. Hamma scoffed at first. If there was such a treasure in the pole, the water tribe would have found it long ago.

Really, some of those tales were just so wild. In any case, if there really was a "Katara" girl, she pitted the poor las. Hamma couldn't imagine how it was to be under someone so monstrous as a prince of the fire nation.

It did make her want to go and check on her home, but she couldn't bring herself to face those old memories. Perhaps it was a mistake now, because the next thing she heard was shocking.

Apparently, this "Katara" girl wasn't only real, but a water bender and the daughter of the current chieftain of the southern tribe. This Hakoda who's name she was familiar with somehow. And the fire lord was so furious that he imprisoned his own son for a trial.

The moment she heard it, she knew that she had to gather as much information as possible. Her time here was over, she had a student she needed to teach her legacy to. And so, she sold her inn for cheap and used the money to reach this trail, as well as save it for the trip to the south pole.

She of course had to tie loose ends, so to speak, and got rid of the people she imprisoned with her blood bending. It won't do for the fire nation to know about her existence because she was sloppy. They wailed in their death as much as they did in their life.

She got in time for the part of the trail where they discussed about the water bender, which was exactly what she needed. Hamma could feel her old body straining as is, she wasn't sure she could have managed to stand for so long for another few days.

Oh, but self-control was the hardest part. Before her were some of the people she despised the most. Generals and aristocrats of the fire nation that fattened themselves from the suffering of her people live the bloated leaches they were. And she was forced to hear that rat Yon Rha and that devil Ozai talk so casually about eradicating her tribe. Oh, if it was a night with a full moon…

But it wasn't. And somehow, she wasn't sure even blood bending would help her overcome the arrogant demon sitting on his firey throne. The power of the fire lord… radiated, for lack of better term, through her bones. She felt it at first when she entered the capital, dismissing it as her emotions playing with her, and felt it more and more as she got closer to where the trail was being held.

It was honestly frightening and overwhelming. Hamma felt that even if she tried and succeeded to blood bend this evil, a single roar from the fire lord would break every bone in her fragile old body. It was no wonder why the royal family thought that they had a chance in taking over the world with the avatar gone. It also made her feel a strange mix of fear at the power that could have gone to the south and erased them at any given opportunity, indignation and offence that the fire lords didn't think that the tribe was worthy of their personal attention, and relief that she didn't have to face that.

But it also made the need to pass her teachings even more dire. The fire nation planned the complete destruction of her tribe, at a year's time no less. Hamma can't defeat this evil, but perhaps this Katara girl could.

Of course, Hamma will have to stay for the prince's trail. Not because she cared about what happened to him, she would have preferred him to die in a pit, but because hearing him will give her a much-needed information about the happenings of the tribe.

"Argh…" Azula woke up with the worst headache ever. "What happened…?"

She remembered meeting the spirit, she remembered the spirit putting a hand (was it right to call this thing a hand?) on her face, and then nothing. A feeling of something wet oozing down her face caught her attention. Putting her hand on it, she discovered it came from her… nose?

"Ew…"

What in Agni's name was it? And it wasn't just snot, there were traces of blood and… other things she didn't know and didn't want to know. She quickly washed it on her sleeve. Not the most dignified thing for a princess, but when out of options…

As she stood, a bit shaky at first, a weight in her pocket caught her attention. When pushing her hand, she fished a pristine silver knife. It was pure in a way that no manmade metal can be, even for someone who understood little of blades like Azula it was clear. It is interesting what someone like Mai would say.

It was also meant for stabbing someone, a very specific someone. The blade just gave off this feeling even without what that spirit had told her. To slide between the ribs, to tear through the back muscles, it had the singular purpose to pierce someone's heart. A heart for a heart.

What was the last part?

Azula shook her head, discarding the thoughts. Focusing instead on the tingly feeling she got on the back of the hand that was holding the blade. It briefly showed a mask like mark, not unlike one of the faces of The Mother Of Faces. It was a reminder of their deal, Azula knew. And for some reason she also knew that it would hurt her the more she didn't fulfill her end of the bargain.

"Right, killing Zuko…"

She had to save her father from whatever it was that controlled her brother, a headache suddenly formed at the thought. She wasn't so sure as she was before. No, never mind, she will kill two birds with one stone. As a bonus, she may even be able to do something with this Oni. If it raised her failure of a brother so much, Agni knew what the limits for a prodigy like herself were.

So why was something inside of her yelled that it would be a terrible mistake?

As she put the blade back in the pocket, she noticed that something was written on her hand.

"If you want to know things about your mom, just close your eyes and think of a question. You will see a scene being played. Don't worry about the fog, it's just things your mother forgot or didn't see."

There was a smiley drawn at the end for some reason. Oh wait, there was more.

"P.S: Sorry for the mess."

A sad smile was drawn.

"P.S.S: Look what I did to your other hand~"

What?!

Azula immediately looked at the other hand, only to find that some doodle of a bird's beak was drawn on the thumb. The doodle was connected to her other fingers, making a rooster-like head in the middle of it, there was something written.

"It's a cock! Cool, right? I did it with my mouth!"

Was it a spirit older than humanity itself or a kindergarten brat?

Truly, the ways of spirits were beyond her understanding.

AN

And we are finally getting to the good part of the trail, Zuko had been passive long enough.

Now for the reviews:

02cjd :

Acknowledged. I wanted to show that things happens simultaneously, but I get your point. I'll try better at the future.

As for the water tribe, only future will tell. However with Hamma deciding to go back there to teach Katara things aren't looking too bright.

With Xing's little plot the setting is the following: Because of the overwhelming spiritual energy near the Mother of faces, as well as the quick escape Xing had to do, the hound got teleported to the spirit world. Particularly in the kitsune's mating season. Xing is the only hellhound in the area, and he's also old enough to start be interested in companions (if we pretend that it works here like with regular dogs). And kitsune was just close enough to meet the criteria (by 'for the plot' logic). Honestly, I was thinking on a way to lay some foundations for something later on and the kid next to me in the train played Pokémon with a Ninetails.

Engineer1869 :

Thank you.

A agree, the swamp benders may be able as they are relatively closer (still at the southern part of the continent), but are a secret. The other tribes don't know about them. Even then, too much culture difference. You actually were spots on a part of what I planned to do with Aang's return.

deniswanheda :

Thanks.

Don't worry, Xing will have his happy ending.

For Jasmine there is a plan in motion by Sai. It does, however, have Zuko killing his father in the very near future. A task that's getting easier for Zuko to commit by the day.

Yeah, Katara's preferences with boys should be kept on tight leash. Thant you for reminding me about the greenhouse, however.

Glad that everything's fine.

An interesting take on the Ursa/Ozai relationship.

FF8cerberus :

I already explained the situation Xing found himself in in a previous review answer here

Happy you liked that part with Katara.

Guest:

Thanks!

I try to update every two weeks, but I sometimes warn if I'm unable.

Xpparda :

Don't beat yourself

You're giving me ideas here

And happy Halloween!