Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

334. Chapter 334: Unwilling enemies 4

Unwilling enemies

4

Fire burned brightly, pouring from the child's fists: one, two, then a third strike, and she threw in a wild, spinning kick for good measure, too. The instructor, a nervous man, yelped and jumped away from the burst of fire that, regardless of his best efforts, still reached his clothes. The little girl released her mirth without a smidge of remorse, laughing carelessly at her instructor's reaction.

"Azula! Show your instructor proper respect!"

That simple command sufficed to make the child tense up and glance back with uncertainty: her mother's unyielding, stern stare caused the little girl to pout before turning towards the instructor once more.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled the repeatedly practiced words so softly that Ursa could barely hear them – the instructor surely hadn't heard her either, busy stifling the flames that had caught his robes while he laughed carelessly to dismiss Ursa's outrage.

"No need to scold her, Lady Ursa!" he said, unable to mask his tension. "Your daughter is quite extraordinary, her skill with firebending is remarkable! It's… it's a miracle that a child as young as three can be so agile and produce so much fire! I shall be more careful, I shall…"

"So should she," Ursa said, frowning. "Azula, your fire is not a toy: it's a gift you must be very careful with. Don't use it recklessly."

Again, the girl's reaction was just a frown and a pout – again, she failed to see the danger in her actions and she only found her mother's concern frustrating and annoying. Ursa sighed, knowing that wouldn't change for the better anytime soon. Knowing, too, that most mothers and daughters reached the most contentious peaks of their relationship when the child became a teenager. To think she and Azula were already quite so conflictive when she was still so young…

Was Ursa doing something wrong? Was it her fault? Or were their characters so dissimilar, their instincts so contradictory, that neither could understand the other? Azula was too young to show proper empathy and relate to others, Ursa supposed, and expecting otherwise from a three-year-old was certainly wrong on her part… but what of herself? How was it so difficult to comprehend Azula's position? Ursa had been a child, too. She had tutors as well…

But she wasn't a bender. She hadn't been born to a complex Royal Family. She wasn't praised and lauded by a doting father constantly, nor had she ever experienced having a sibling of her own.

Said sibling, standing half a head taller than his younger sister, tensed up when it was his turn to show his firebending talent. He dared glance at his mother, smiling at her as if hoping that her support would give him good luck, just before the instructor began speaking to him.

"Be very careful now, Prince Zuko. Take it easy, don't force anything… remember to breathe and draw your power from within," the man said, with a nervous smile.

Zuko listened, breathing deeply, shoulders squared as he prepared himself to make his next move. He raised his left hand first… then he stumbled, for he should have used his right fist instead. In his hesitation, a spurt of fire poured out of his left… when he struck the right hand forward nothing did, for he was out of breath by then.

"Now, now, try again…"

"I… I will do it. I…"

He was distracted now by the teasing, devious smile from his younger sister: Zuko's eyes narrowed, and he turned his back on her as he tried to focus… something he clearly would fail at, for his sister leapt around him, protesting about wanting to watch while Zuko yelled at her to go away.

Ursa sighed, burying her face in a hand. Azula's talent had many drawbacks, and one happened to be Zuko's deep, festering insecurities over his sister's superior prowess. At such young age, the little girl could perform feats that Ozai swore not even her also-prodigious grandfather had achieved so early in life – he spoke the words with unprecedented pride, always with a smile. It certainly encouraged Azula… and it discouraged Zuko, just as much.

He was a firebender, and probably a stronger one than he realized. But the better his sister performed, the more nervous and anxious he became. Where Azula seemed to find fire so natural, where it came to her with such ease, Zuko even appeared frightened of flames at times, uncertain of how to control them, especially when he unleashed more power than he intended to. He simply needed guidance to channel that power properly… and the question was whether or not this instructor could provide it.

Seeing her son lose heart hurt Ursa deeply. He was a sweet boy, but more than anything, he sought affection and acknowledgement. He found them easily in her… not so much from his father, for he had been too young to appreciate Ozai before Azula's birth. It took seeing Ozai laughing, caring for his sister, for Zuko to start craving his father's attention… and while Ozai had humored him a few times, it was clear he was far more taken with his daughter than with Zuko. The chief reason for that was her superior firebending skill, it seemed…

Azula was so young still… she didn't need to be taught as many complex katas and moves as their instructor had taught her so far. While she understood Ozai's eagerness to explore his daughter's talent thoroughly, Ursa dreaded that he could be pushing it too far. Perhaps Azula would benefit from safer, tamer instructors, instructors oriented towards teaching her restraint rather than laughing it off nervously whenever she set his clothes on fire.

And Zuko… perhaps he, too, could benefit from changes. One idea had come to mind a few days ago, upon hearing a story about a certain, extraordinary soldier from some nobles who visited the Palace. A soldier who might be able to provide the solution they needed for Zuko. He could also offer another advantage that Ursa meant to use to persuade her husband of hiring him…

"Was there something you wished to speak of?" Ozai asked that evening, as he shrugged off his daily clothes, intending to change into a sleeping robe instead: Ursa bit her lower lip as his muscular body was exposed for her, and she immediately determined she wouldn't allow that sleeping robe to conceal him from her eyesight for too long that night. "You mentioned it before dinner…"

"I do, yes," Ursa said, with a smile that always concealed her intentions, whether good-natured or not, expertly. "I have some concerns regarding, well… our children's education."

"Do you?" Ozai asked, glancing back at her over his shoulder as he fastened his sash. "Regarding what, exactly?"

"I witnessed their training today, with their firebending instructor," Ursa explained. "Azula… well, she set his robes on fire."

"Who? The instructor's?" Ozai said, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Ursa's deadpan stare spoke for itself, though his amusement didn't recede. "I see. Well, I too would find it quite worrisome for an instructor in firebending to be so incompetent as to not be able to extinguish the fire on his clothes…"

"That's… that's not what I mean," Ursa said, raising an eyebrow. "Azula is impressive, extraordinary, you know that better than anyone, you're the one who recognized her talent… but she's not going to benefit from teachers who can't help her reel her impulses into control. She's so young, yes… but if her fire output is quite so strong, and she's not taught to control herself, she might cause conflicts if she has untimely, inappropriate reactions, to say one thing."

"Conflicts?" Ozai asked. Ursa shrugged.

"If, say, a nobleman one day happens to make a misguided remark in her direction, once she's older…"

"He'd deserve to be set on fire for it, yes."

"Ozai!"

"Why not?" Ozai said, simply. "Any fool who dares disrespect our daughter…"

"And what if that fool happens to be stronger than her?" Ursa asked, her voice more muted now. Ozai scoffed… until his wife finished her line of thought. "What if that fool is none other than your father?"

Her words finally gave him pause. Ozai frowned as Ursa breathed deeply, eyeing him with genuine concern.

"I think Azula's training would benefit from different teachers. From people who would actually understand the delicacy of her situation… and allow her to fulfill her potential without recklessly encouraging her mischief, whether intentionally or not," she said. "But that's… that's something we can discuss later, actually. I suspect we'll have different ideas on that front, and I'm open to hearing you out about them. It's Zuko, however, who concerns me…"

"Did the instructor say anything about him?" Ozai asked, frowning. "Is he not making sufficient progress?"

"Well, Zuko gets very nervous when he feels he's being measured against his sister," Ursa explained, remorsefully. "He's not a prodigy, he's two years older, and he can feel a rift in skill between himself and his sister… it's not easy for him, Ozai."

"I suppose it's not," Ozai said, raising an eyebrow. "Is it you would like for him to be taught on his own, rather than with the same instructor as Azula, then?"

"Yes… and no," Ursa said, eyeing Ozai warily. "To be perfectly honest, as much as Zuko might have plenty of potential as a firebender too, I fear… he'll likely always be at a disadvantage when it comes to his sister. Even if we changed their instructors, even if Zuko had the very best one, I… I don't believe it's quite likely that he'll ever feel, well, equal to Azula when it comes to firebending. And the way they're acting around each other because of that, I… I don't like it, Ozai. It worries me."

Ozai breathed out slowly, stepping closer to his wife. She had been leaning against one of the bedposts, but she stood upright once her husband took her face in his hands, pressing his lips to her brow.

"You mustn't want them to ever become anything like Iroh and myself," Ozai concluded. Ursa swallowed hard.

"He has changed since Daiyu's death. Even so, there's moments when I can't help but feel the same unease around him that I did before that tragedy struck," Ursa said. "Either way, I don't want our children to be as contentious as you and him used to be. I'd have thought that, as they're so much closer in age, and as we're watching over them as much as we do, this wouldn't happen… but if this continues, Ozai, our children may find themselves at odds more often than they already do, and I would rather prevent that."

"Do you have a solid idea in mind? Or would you like for me to suggest a solution?" Ozai asked – his unease was plain across his face, for he seemed to lack any manner of confidence at coming up with better plans than hers.

"I do have one… an idea that might help Zuko in this situation. It could be unconventional," Ursa admitted, with an awkward smile. "But I do think that the firebending angle won't help. Giving him something else to focus on, instead, might just help prevent this competitiveness between them from truly laying roots…"

"Something else?" Ozai repeated, eyeing Ursa with confusion. "Such as… what, exactly? He already has more academic tutors than she does, does he not?"

"Well, she will have them soon too, once she's older than three, but I meant… in terms of combat abilities too," Ursa said. Ozai raised an eyebrow. "The Fire Nation has always prized strength, there is no questioning that, and I believe Zuko might just exhibit greater strength if he's allowed to… broaden his horizons, so to speak. So, in this case, I thought to suggest that they could be broadened by having him learn the art of the sword."

"The art of the…?" Ozai said, frowning. "He is not a non-bender. He doesn't require…"

"Oh, Ozai… imagine your parents had been shoemakers," she said, eyeing him skeptically. Ozai pouted slightly. "And you had been born a firebender indeed, which has no usefulness for that particular line of work, but perhaps you had a knack for it! Wouldn't it be cruel to limit your growth by forcing you into only doing what your family expects of you? Perhaps you have other interests… you enjoy music, as does Lu Ten, right? What if, perchance, either of you happened to be musical prodigies rather than firebending ones…?"

"It would be entirely pointless, considering we're members of the Fire Nation Royal Family," Ozai remarked. Ursa sighed.

"I'm not saying you would gain more notoriety and glory should you choose to pluck an instrument's strings for a living. But you would likely find life far more… bearable, I suppose, if you were allowed to explore your calling as secondary ventures while you continue to uphold and fulfill your duties to the family."

"Hmm…" Ozai eyed her with skeptical eyes, and Ursa readied herself for further verbal fencing between them… only to be pleasantly surprised when one of his hands slid down to her chin, hoisting it delicately. "I suppose I can understand that. Duty certainly brought us together… but I find far more pleasure in our fulfillment of that duty than what is strictly necessary or appropriate, I should say. Perhaps it is a calling, as you've put it…"

Ursa couldn't hold back a smile, and neither could he, at that point. She licked her lips quickly before offering him a teasing kiss.

"If you do understand now, then… may I interest you in a slightly controversial proposal?" she said. Ozai breathed deeply.

"You can still think of something more controversial than requesting for our son to learn swordsmanship?" Ozai said. Ursa smiled.

"It's about that, of course," she said. "You've thrived over the last three years because your father has been terribly bitter over the fact that our daughter is an extraordinary firebending prodigy, don't even try to deny it…"

"I wouldn't deny it, not to you. And what does that have to do with anything?" Ozai smirked. Ursa chuckled.

"Well, what would you say if I propose another similar possibility? A way for you to deliver yet another message at your father regarding what a successful father you've been, and what a failure of a father he has been, in turn, to you?" she asked. "You want to strike away at his pride, you always do…"

"And you expect we could do so through Zuko's potential swordsmanship training?" Ozai asked. Ursa nodded.

"A few visiting nobles spoke of something only a couple of days ago… something that I had heard of before, but I forgot about it until they mentioned it. Your father doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, we know that, but the ones he does have… they're vexing for him, aren't they?"

"Such as?" Ozai raised an eyebrow.

"Such as the former captain Piandao, the man renowned for being the best swordsman in the Fire Nation."

Ozai's eyes shifted, narrowing as his wife's cleverness caught him by surprise, yet again.

"I cannot say for sure whether or not Master Piandao will agree to train Zuko…" Ursa said, a hand upon Ozai's chest. "But he has taken some students over the years, judging by what those nobles said. We can bring Zuko to him, request that he's trained, and once it's a done deal, we could let it be known…"

"Would Master Piandao be open to visiting the capital to train Zuko?" Ozai asked, skeptical. Ursa bit her lip.

"It's not likely, but we can ask. We would be the ones to pay him a visit initially, however," she said. Ozai hummed. "He dwells in Shu Jing, from what I've learned…"

"Indeed, in the largest mansion of the island," Ozai said. "It would be where my father sent a hundred soldiers to forcefully recruit him into his services, after Piandao took residence there upon his retirement… only for him to defeat them all, if the stories are to be believed. I suppose, if just for my amusement, it might be interesting to hear the story behind that battle from the man himself."

"And as for your ongoing war against your father…" Ursa said. Ozai smirked.

"You always know exactly what to say, don't you? Exactly how to appeal to my priorities and my needs, too," he said, a hand slipping down to her lower back. Ursa smiled brightly, leaning into his body. "Though… how would we go about doing this? When?"

"I'm thinking… on one of our vacation trips to Ember Island?" she said.

"Shu Jing is quite far away from Ember Island," Ozai remarked. Ursa smiled and nodded.

"We'd simply take a detour of a few days in order to visit Shu Jing, and then take our full vacation in Ember Island once matters are settled with Master Piandao. Simple, I should hope…"

"It will mean a slightly longer vacation than usual, then…" Ozai said, frowning… though he shrugged before long. "Which my father isn't bound to protest, either way. The less he sees of us, the better, it appears."

"And isn't it grand that the next time we see him, you might just have delivered yet another blow to his arrogant dismissiveness of you and your family?" Ursa said. Ozai chuckled.

"Every day that goes by, you prove me right over and over again: I certainly made the best choice of my life upon marrying you."

He spoke such words on occasion, and Ursa's heart jolted whenever he did: she was delighted to be at the receiving end of enthusiastic kisses, and of a far more effusive form of celebration afterwards, too. The deviousness and the scheming they dared indulge in might seem inconsequential, and it might just backfire, in the end, but to them, it was the thrilling core root of their marriage. Long ago, Ursa had seen through the arrogance and dismissiveness of Ozai's relatives and understood his frustrations like no one else ever had: she had become her husband's primary ally then, and she hoped to retain that role in his life for as long as possible, too.

Thus, within another week, their latest scheme was ready to yield fruit: their usual ship set sail, but for once, their captain carried them further than Ember Island.

"I admit, I've never traveled this far away from home," Ursa laughed, gazing into the horizon hours after the Great Gates of Azulon were gone from sight. "It's invigorating somehow…"

"I'm sure it is," Ozai said, wrapping an arm around her waist as he stood behind her. His wife smiled, relaxing in his embrace. "Though I assure you, the world beyond isn't quite as impressive as you might hope it is."

"Ah, my well-traveled husband knows what he speaks of, doesn't he?" Ursa asked. "Did you truly find no enjoyable locations across the entire world, Ozai? That's difficult to fathom…"

"If you would like, perhaps we could visit the Western Air Temple one day," Ozai said, startling his wife. "It's quite an unexpected construction, I'd dare say…"

"Is it?" Ursa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's, uh, upside down. Within a cliff," Ozai said. Ursa's eyes widened. "If just for the novelty, it's worth seeing."

"That… that's odd. Interesting, but odd," Ursa smiled, folding her arms over her chest.

"Perhaps we can arrange a visit someday," Ozai said, kissing the top of her head. "Though I would much prefer to stay in Ember Island for as long as possible…"

"Even if it means I'll drag you to another play?" Ursa asked. Ozai scoffed.

"You only do it to torment me. I refuse to accept that your standards for your favored art medium could be quite so low…"

"Ah! Low standards, you say? Is that right, Prince Ozai?" Ursa said elbowing his ribs teasingly – her husband laughed, flinching away from her arm but ensuring to retain his physical contact with her all the same.

Their lighthearted, playful banter contrasted strongly with that of the other occupants of the ship's deck: mere instants after teasing her husband, Ursa winced upon hearing raised childish voices behind them.

"Ow! Mom! She pulled my hair!"

Ursa sighed heavily before turning around: the two kids had plenty of toys to play with, but it seemed a disagreement or another had caused Azula to react adversely to Zuko, somehow…

"What's going on here?" Ursa asked, sternly: Azula winced, glancing up at her and hiding her hands behind her back. "And what are you hiding back there, exactly? What did you do, Azula?"

"Nothing…" Azula said, with a small voice: Zuko, his ponytail half-undone, pouted and glared at his sister.

"She pulled my hair!" he repeated.

"And why on earth would your sister do that?" Ozai asked, stepping forward as well and crouching by the little boy: Zuko's face flushed upon being addressed directly by his father.

"B-because, well, I…" Zuko stammered, only for Azula to fill in.

"Zuko said he eats all the mochi!" she exclaimed. Ursa grimaced.

"Well, evidently, he won't be doing that anytime soon, but what mochi are you even talking about?" Ursa asked, perplex. "There's no mochi on this ship."

"No mochi…?" Azula asked, her golden eyes suddenly bright with worry.

"We might find some in Ember Island, once we get there," Ozai said. "And Zuko will have his fair share, same as you. There is nothing to worry about…"

"But she took my kendama!" Zuko pouted. Azula shook her head.

"I didn't take it!"

"It's not in my toys!"

"Maybe you left it at home," Ozai said. Zuko eyed him with unease.

"But I brought it…"

"Then I suppose we'll look through all our luggage, and you'll behave yourselves while we do," Ursa decided, sighing heavily as she ran a hand over Zuko's hair. "Though I'll fix your hair for you first, dear, and then we'll get the kendama…"

"You don't know how to play it…" Azula mumbled begrudgingly, and Zuko pouted again.

"It's mine!"

"I want to play it too!"

The arguments between their children ever seemed to be a matter of life and death, only to boil down, in the end, to simple conflicts. They were young and innocent still, unaware that one day, they would face far more complicated problems than who owned which toy. Nevertheless, Ozai and Ursa sought to placate the children, with Ursa aiding Zuko in finding the missing kendama, and Ozai distracting Azula by asking her for a firebending demonstration without bending – a necessary precaution on a wooden vessel. It pleased Ursa that Azula would show sufficient restraint, not releasing even a spark fire while making the right moves to summon them… though she tried not to dwell on the fact that this meant her daughter's alleged accidents in training, when setting anyone's robes on fire, might not be quite so accidental after all.

Nevertheless, Ursa resolved not to sour their vacation with such discussions and conflicts: if Azula was making better progress to control her bending, that would benefit everyone in the long run. They flowed into an easy sort of calm after the kendama was found – stuffed clumsily in Azula's bag, but yet again, Ursa decided not to make a fuss over her daughter's mischief and simply handed the toy to Zuko –, and Ursa ensured both Azula and Zuko would have their turns at playing with the toy.

The children got along far better when both their parents were with them, and they even insisted on seeing whether or not Ursa and Ozai could actually play with the kendama themselves. That didn't go very well, however, for neither one had much practice or experience with the toy, a ball attached to a wide, wooden hammer through a string, with which they would be expected to perform fun tricks and always keep the ball landing safely on any of the hammer's eligible surfaces. Ursa's attempt saw the ball bouncing off her head at one point, and the children's laughter rang all across the ocean, it seemed, as she smiled at their joyful, innocent amusement.

Their two days at sea, then, passed by smoothly, if with a few hitches again whenever tempers rose between the children. But soon enough, the four disembarked at a wholly new location that wasn't prepared to receive any royal visitors. Ursa took care to ask for directions from the sailors at the port, who appeared deeply confused and nervous about the regal family that had only just arrived in their remote island. Nevertheless, they provided them with proper instructions and, within around a half hour, the two parents and their children were marching up to the gates of Master Piandao's grand mansion – Ozai carried Azula in his arms, for she had grown tired of walking halfway to their destination, while Zuko clung to his mother's hand and gaped up at the tall, white building with amazement.

Ozai struck the door's knockers. They didn't need to wait long before the door swung open, revealing a man with graying hair and a stout build, clad in a brown changshan attire. He appeared unsurprised to receive guests, though he eyed them quickly, as if hoping to assess them before they so much as introduced themselves.

"Good day," Ursa said, smiling kindly at the man. "Is this the residence of Master Piandao?"

"Indeed, it is," the man said. "I am his butler, Fat. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

"Might we speak with Master Piandao directly?" Ozai asked. Fat eyed him carefully, as though gauging what kind of man he was in the blink of an eye. "I am Prince Ozai, this is my family. We are not here on behalf of the Fire Lord, if that concerned you."

"You're… not?" Fat said – his apprehension appeared to shift into confusion, but he nodded and bowed his head towards Ozai. "Please… do come inside, Prince Ozai."

Together, the small family marched into the mansion. Azula clung to Ozai closely, much like Zuko clasped Ursa's hand firmly, neither one certain of how to behave in an entirely new environment for them. It wasn't the time for the parents to offer reassurances to the kids, though: they followed Fat through the mansion, all the way to the backyard… where a tall, dark-skinned man swung a jian blade towards a non-existent opponent.

Fat urged them to stop right by the terrace from where they could look out at the sword master. While he hadn't intended it, Piandao put on a show of his swordsmanship for the four onlookers – the youngest of whom appeared not to understand any of what the swordsman was doing, having never seen a sword in action before.

After one final flourish and a pivot that landed him in a smooth kata, Piandao breathed out and rose to his full height: he dared glance towards the terrace, having sensed he was being watched… though he didn't hide his perplexity upon finding a small family rather than overly eager candidates, desperate to become his apprentices by any means necessary.

"Good day," Piandao called out, sheathing his sword. Ursa smiled, nodding in his direction.

"Good day to you as well, Master Piandao. Your skill with the blade is as remarkable as we were told, it seems," she said. "It was quite an honor to witness your training, if I may say so."

"You may, though as talented as you may think me to be, your family certainly caught me off guard," Piandao said, marching to the stairs that led up to the terrace.

Within a few moments, the tall swordsman reached the family. He appeared perplexed over the visit of parents with such young children, but he offered them simple smiles as he bowed his head towards them.

"I am Piandao, as you already know. I can see that you are of noble birth… though I dare guess that you might be royalty, instead."

His eyes rose towards the hairpieces on both their heads: Ozai cleared his throat before nodding.

"As I've told your butler, we are not here at the behest of Fire Lord Azulon. We have no interest in recruiting you to the Fire Nation army anew," he said. Piandao smiled and nodded.

"That is good news, then. I'd much rather avoid the unpleasantry of saying 'no' to the Fire Lord a third time…"

"You are quite an impressive man. More so considering how my father has been as determined to recruit you and you have stood your ground against him," Ozai said. "I am Prince Ozai, second son of Fire Lord Azulon. This is my wife, Lady Ursa, and these are my children, Zuko and Azula."

"I see," Piandao said, bowing his head in their direction. "It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," Ursa said, smiling positively at him. "Naturally, we're not here solely for a chat… we would like to discuss the possibility of training for our son, actually."

"Training?" Piandao said, blinking blankly. "I… I see. How old is he?"

"Five," Ursa said. Piandao winced. "I understand if he may seem too young, but he has already received firebending lessons. The notion of training in any martial arts isn't foreign for him. Perhaps you could choose a less intensive training regime for him, should it be more appropriate, but…"

"I assume there's a deeper reasoning behind this request," Piandao said, eyeing Ursa and Ozai with uncertainty. "Perhaps we should speak more privately?"

The implication in his question was obvious. After hesitating for a moment, however, Ozai and Ursa set down their children, urging them to stay in the gardens while they spoke to Piandao. Fat offered to watch the siblings, and Piandao led the two parents into his mansion, offering them a seat at soft cushions in one of his sitting rooms.

"Your firstborn son, as I have understood, is a firebender, Prince Ozai," Piandao started, focusing his attention on the royal. "It seems that your lineage, and the expectations of your family, would demand that the boy hones those skills and excels at them… something I'm sure you experienced personally in your youth as well. Why would it be necessary to teach him any manner of swordsmanship, if I may ask, when he is a firebender?"

"The boy's circumstances are not as simple as they appear," Ozai said. "For one thing, much like myself, he is unlikely to ever take the throne. His position in the Royal Family is that of being the fourth in the line of succession, right after my brother Iroh, his son Lu Ten, as well as myself. Zuko is by no means eligible for the throne… yet, in his role as my firstborn son, he has faltered in developing his firebending skills in comparison to his sister. She was born a prodigy, you understand…"

"I had not heard as much," Piandao said, narrowing his eyes. "Is that so?"

"She started firebending briefly after being born," Ursa said, with a tight grin. Piandao's eyes widened. "Apparently, it's… a very rare occurrence, if it has ever been registered at all. She seems to grasp fire in an instinctive way that very few firebenders can claim to. Zuko's growth is being stunted by his insecurities, spawned by seeing his three-year-old sister surpassing him at developing firebending skills: the gap between them, I fear, is only bound to grow wider as they grow older. Zuko is nervous, perhaps he lacks the discipline he needs to perform better as a firebender… but perhaps he simply has other interests, potential to grow in ways that aren't the traditional ones for the Royal Family. In his case, as my husband said, he's not likely to inherit a throne at all. Therefore, allowing him to pursue other potential avenues of learning should represent no harm at all. It will help him, I hope, and his heart will benefit from the lessons I expect you would be able to teach him through your swordsmanship."

"I see," Piandao frowned. Ozai raised an eyebrow.

"I understand the situation is far from common, but I don't believe that teaching my son should cause you any trouble with the Fire Lord, should that worry you," Ozai pointed out. Piandao shook his head.

"That isn't quite what worries me, Prince Ozai. The truth is, I… I do not accept just anyone as my student. I tend to be quite particular about who I pass on my teachings to. It seems quite harsh to judge a five-year-old, is all… his mind is as young as his body, still. I don't expect he'll be ready to prove his worth at this age, therefore…"

"What exactly do you seek, upon testing students to unveil their worth?" Ursa asked. "Is it that difficult to see the virtues you seek in a child?"

"I wouldn't say difficult… but the boy, as much as you may hope to raise him in the best way you can, does live in a complex environment and he may learn bad habits in it. He might also internalize darker beliefs than those I would like to see in any of my students," Piandao said. "Should he return home after training with me, only to repurpose his lessons for the wrong reasons…"

"He's still young," Ursa said, pleadingly. "If you identify any worrisome behaviors in him, it shall be entirely possible to amend them still. I understand your apprehension, but our family… well, the four of us stand together in the chaos of the rest of royalty, if I may say so…"

"May you?" asked Piandao, glancing at Ozai with confusion. The Prince nodded.

"There are many pressures and conflicts within the Royal Family. I'm certain that comes as no surprise," Ozai said. "Ursa and I have become a unit, a team, I should say. Where my brother spends months abroad, leading forces in the war and leaving his son behind to learn how to become a soldier like him, Ursa and I are with our children on a daily basis. We often take in Lu Ten, as well, whenever his grandfather doesn't require him for any official business. We take our children on frequent trips to Ember Island, to indulge in culture and a much quieter life than that which their cousin can lead. Whether our parenting will yield the fruits we hope to or not, it remains to be seen. But if the environment of the Royal Palace concerns you at all, I assure you, Ursa and I intend to make every effort to keep our children from becoming mindless soldiers who will fulfill the Fire Lord's duty at all costs."

Piandao didn't seem to believe those words – and perhaps he was right to. They weren't lies, however, Ursa knew as much… not when it came to the seating Fire Lord, at any rate.

"If so…" Piandao said, breathing deeply. "I suppose we can arrange this, then. I do hope you know that the young Prince Zuko won't require any servants to look after him, and that I can provide accommodations for him here, even if not quite on par with what he'll be used to, being a resident of the Palace, but…"

"Wait… what?" Ursa smiled awkwardly, eyeing Piandao with unease. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean… my students stay with me until they're ready to move on," Piandao pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "It's my method of choice as a teacher."

"We wondered if, by any chance, you would be open to traveling to the Capital to teach Zuko there…" Ursa asked: for once, Piandao smiled, though it was not a pleasant grin.

"Not a chance," he said. Her heart sank.

"Zuko cannot be committed to swordsmanship for weeks, months at a time," Ursa said, eyes wide. "I… I understand that this would be the regime you would have for adults, but for children? I don't believe that would be the correct choice. He's a boy, and he needs to be with his family to…"

"Thus why I cannot quite understand why you've brought him to me when he's so young," Piandao pointed out. Ursa grimaced. "I suppose we could arrange a different schedule and procedure for him, but I must ask… are you quite certain that this is what the boy wants? Or is this but a test of his potential?"

"We… are not," Ursa admitted. Piandao's eyes narrowed. "He is young, however… it's hard to say what he will or won't like right now. On his own, when he's not being watched, he's quite a spirited firebender. What truly hinders him is the lack of discipline and fortitude whenever pressures get the better of him. I do believe he can excel, Master Piandao… he just needs a chance. And I hoped you would be able to provide one. If… if you were to accept him, we could bring him to you once a month, perhaps. We could even stay for a weekend, if you would like? If the arrangement doesn't work for you after the first sessions, we may test other solutions. For now… that's the thought that crosses my mind."

"As for payment, name whatever price you please," Ozai said. "We will be able to match it."

Piandao breathed out slowly. He seemed to ponder the situation for just a moment longer before nodding and rising to his feet anew.

"I cannot say I'm entirely comfortable with this… but I suppose your proposal for a monthly visit is not unreasonable. As it is, I expect the boy will be too young for thorough instruction… but a more flexible regime might allow me to settle the grounds for more appropriate training in the coming years."

"Then… will you accept him?" Ursa asked, eyes alight with hope. Piandao breathed deeply. "If you happen to need anything else from us…"

"Not from you, but from your son. While you're correct to say that passing judgment on a child would be unreasonable, sometimes it's possible to take a guess at what someone's character will be like since early stages of their lives," Piandao said. "I shall speak with Prince Zuko briefly, then."

Ursa and Ozai exchanged a quick glance, and the husband caught his wife's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. She smiled before they, too, rose to their feet, following Piandao back out of the building…

Fat was nowhere to be seen in the balcony where they'd left him. Zuko and Azula were gone, too.

"Where…?" Ursa frowned, worry flaring inside her quickly.

Piandao frowned, focusing on their surroundings, on any sign or trail of the children…

A loud, childish voice screamed, and then they heard a loud splash.

The sword master's face twisted with discomfort before he rushed to his garden. Ursa and Ozai followed immediately.

Fat stood atop a bridge, hands covering his mouth: the two children, it seemed, had escaped his control at some point or another… and now they were in the middle of a rather spirited fight inside the pond in Piandao's mansion.

"Azula! Zuko!"

Their mother's outraged voice ever served as the best wake-up call for the children: Azula, busy shoving her brother back into the water, turned towards Ursa and yet again hid her hands behind her back. Zuko, soaked from head to toe, seemed to panic at the sight of the three shocked grown-ups who had only just stepped into a very strange crime scene, it seemed…

… And so, he broke down in tears.

The entire situation appeared as a nightmare to Ursa, who had no clue of how to unravel whatever madness had taken hold of her children – one mere instant of not keeping watch on them, and suddenly they were fighting each other in ponds of homes that belonged to people whose respect they were attempting to obtain. Had she truly never taught them to show restraint in other people's homes, if not their own? Or were they simply so reckless that they required persistent supervision, at every point in time…?

Ozai, recognizing Ursa's temper was flaring in a dangerous way, resolved to cut things cleanly by asking Fat for towels, and by scooping up a worried, scared Azula, carrying her with him all the way inside the mansion. Meanwhile, Zuko stood by his mother, trembling and not necessarily because he was cold after his fall into the pond. Ursa bowed her head remorsefully towards Piandao, who stood as good as petrified after the utterly unsightly display by the two children.

"I'm so sorry. Truly, there was no ill intent on their part, not towards you, but… I'm afraid children are difficult to rope in, ours quite so," Ursa said, rising back to her full height, unwilling to meet Piandao's gaze. "If… if you believe there's no merit to teaching him now, I will be deeply sorry for it, but I shall understand. I…"

"It's… it's quite alright," Piandao finally said. The tone of his voice made Ursa frown slightly as she dared look at him…

He was smiling.

"Are you sure?" Ursa asked, puzzled.

"The children were told to stay in the garden. Technically, they did exactly that," Piandao smiled. Ursa's cheeks flushed slightly with utmost shame. "It was certainly a surprise to find them in the pond… it cannot be understated that your children are quite spirited, Lady Ursa."

"Too spirited, at times," she said, with a tight grin.

Piandao knelt then, and Zuko, clinging to his mother's leg, pulled back further. The man, crouching on his level, daunted him deeply.

"Good day to you, Zuko," he said. Zuko swallowed hard, eyeing him warily. "My name is Piandao. If you're willing… I may teach you the art of the blade. Do you wish to learn from me?"

"I…" Zuko started, shrunken against Ursa's leg. "I… I'm sorry about your garden…"

Piandao smiled – the boy was a nervous mess, expecting his transgressions to be far more severe than they appeared to be to the sword master.

"You needn't apologize anymore. If anything, I hope Fat hurries and brings a towel to help you dry up soon," Piandao said. "Are you cold?"

"A… a little," Zuko said.

"Your mother says you're a firebender," Piandao said: Zuko's cheeks flushed before he nodded. "Perhaps breathe deeply, then… as if you were about to perform a kata. Fill yourself with power, but don't release it. Once you do that, you may just warm yourself up with your own bending, provided you can maintain it long enough…"

"You're… a firebender, too?" Zuko asked. Piandao shook his head. "Oh…"

"I'm a non-bender, and a master of the blade," Piandao said. "Your mother believes you could be a good student for me. I have hopes to teach you patience, discipline, even fortitude of spirit: with all these virtues, you may become a strong swordsman, as well as a stronger bender than you already are."

Zuko's eyes widened with illusion then. He glanced up at his mother: as unsettled and nervous as she was, Ursa still managed to offer a small smile to her son, encouraging him gently.

Zuko smiled brightly then, as good as forgetting that his sister had dared him to follow her into the pond while they walked with Fat. She had taunted him while misbehaving openly, splashing in the pond while the older man appeared utterly perplex by her recklessness, nervous about how to put a stop to a royal child behaving with such abandon. Zuko had tried to scold her, as their mother often did, but his attempt to pull Azula out of the pond failed when his sister jumped out of his reach: he lost his balance, and he fell clumsily into the pond. Outraged and upset, he had lashed out at Azula, and just as they were about to start a full-on fist fight, their parents had arrived and intervened.

The chance to become a swordsman, to learn from the tall, dark-skinned, kind man before him was a strange one to be offered right after his misbehavior. He didn't seem to know what to make of it, even as Ursa patted his back gently.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, dear," she said. "I'll be with you on every training session."

"With… with me?" Zuko asked. Ursa nodded. "And Azula?"

"She will be with your father, of course, while you train and learn to be a swordsman," Ursa said.

She probably should have found it wrong for Zuko to appear more encouraged then. A light twitch on the corners of Piandao's eyes suggested that the boy's reaction didn't fully sit well with him, but his discomfort was gone when Zuko smiled and turned towards Piandao with a nod.

"I… I will learn! I will be… a swordsman," he said, with a shyer smile now. Piandao smiled, reaching out and clasping his shoulder.

"Then I will look forward to having you as my apprentice, Zuko. I can only hope to teach you everything your mother and father believe you can learn from me."

Zuko nodded enthusiastically again: the training wouldn't begin right away, only a month later, but Ursa was deeply relieved by Piandao's decision. Shortly afterwards, as Fat helped Ozai wipe Zuko clean with a towel, Ursa smiled and bowed at the sword master.

"Thank you. I… I understand today may have been a rather strange day for you," Ursa said, with a soft laugh. "But I look forward to coming back in a month, to bring Zuko so he may learn from you."

"It has been a lively day, for certain," Piandao agreed. "That being said… I do hope to be able to teach more things to Zuko other than just swordsmanship. Discipline, fortitude…"

"Right, well, anything you wish to teach him, we will be grateful for it," Ursa smiled positively. Piandao breathed deeply.

"I suspect he's still too young to understand honor as a concept… but that, above all else, is what I fear your son needs to learn about most urgently."

"Honor?" Ursa repeated. "As… as a warrior?"

Piandao smiled, turning his kind gaze upon her. For a moment, Ursa felt like a child, and a strange surge of outrage at being looked down on nearly seized her over the expression on the man's face…

"Honor is no different in a warrior than it is in a shopkeeper. Than in the weakest farmer or the most powerful king. Than it is in a former soldier like myself… and a noblewoman such as yourself. Honor is found in the manner one carries oneself through life, above all else. But… I suppose I shall hope that your son conveys its meaning more clearly to you, once I've taught him enough."

Ursa eyed Piandao with uncertainty then, unsure of what his words meant. Unsure of how, exactly, her son would be the one to teach her any lessons… but a part of her remained intrigued. A part of her wondered how deeply this might change Zuko… how deeply he might understand these lessons that Piandao appeared so confident about.

The man had piqued her interest then, though. He had frustrated her eventually, too. As years passed, she would see his wisdom for herself, understanding far less of it than she should have. Her heart was not ready for the challenges he would spring upon it… challenges that worsened as time passed.

But even he would come to regret those challenges one day. Even he would realize the faults in his choices… much as she had come to regret her own. Perhaps that was why he had become her closest friend… why he was one of the few people she dared to trust genuinely.

Thus, now he sat with her as her breathing normalized. His hand on her back offered support as they knelt by the closet. Ursa breathed deeply, opening her eyes again: returning to reality wasn't easy now. Everything always felt vertiginously confusing when she came back to herself after a strong episode… but it had been a long time since any of her bends had been quite so painful. The memories, however, had eased her heart. She breathed deeply, swallowing hard, and she dropped her head against the closet's door.

"It's over?" Piandao asked, softly.

"How long was I…?" Ursa asked, gritting her teeth. "Zuko asked us to… is it over yet? What Zuko wanted us to…?"

"I don't believe so. It didn't take that long," Piandao said, reassuringly.

Ursa sighed – it was already dark outside. There were no lit lanterns in the room right now, leaving them to crouch side by side in the shadows of her room. Darkness could be comforting sometimes… but it was cold, and she felt unsettled. If Zuko's game truly hadn't ended already, she would be glad to partake in being surrounded by bonfires, light and brightness to chase away the shadows in her soul.

"Thank you for… for helping me," Ursa said. Piandao nodded.

"It has been a long time since you've had such a severe episode," he said. "I would assume being around Zuko has helped with keeping them in check. Hopefully… hopefully once you return to Azula, that will help too."

"Heh… I don't know if I would deserve to return to her, to begin with," Ursa said, with a sad smile. "Every memory I reach for just… it just reminds me over and over again of all the mistakes I made. To think of how I… how I lashed out at her, scolded her, tried to force her into becoming someone she was not. And then I went and… and did what I did. She deserved… she deserved a better mother. I wish I had been wiser… that I had been able to realize I was failing her from the start, but I didn't. I didn't…"

"Well, as it happens… your daughter has grown in more ways than either of us know," Piandao said. Ursa grimaced, eyeing him with uncertainty. "She might wind up proving you wrong about many things… by extending compassion towards you when you least expect it."

"Oh… you never do change. You really don't. All you ever do is say… infuriating things," Ursa said, with a dishonest laugh. "Azula, offering me compassion? I… I couldn't… I'm not worthy of that. She should never… she should save it for someone who deserves it."

"What if she decides you are?" Piandao asked. "Sokka thought he wasn't worthy of her, either, and…"

"He's the worthiest man alive. The best man I could have ever hoped would become my daughter's partner," Ursa said, sniffing and dabbing at her nose with a hand. "I am… this mess. And I wish I weren't, but… I've reaped what I sowed. This is me… and I have to find some way to come to terms with that."

"Well… until you do, I will be around to say unhelpful, infuriating things as often as you need it," Piandao said. Ursa scoffed.

"I could use some consideration and compassion from you," she said, her voice charged with sarcasm. Piandao smirked.

"You can get both. On my terms."

"You truly are…" Ursa hissed. Whatever curse word she wanted to speak, it faltered on her tongue: as ever, her conscience caught up with her, reminding her that he was her closest friend and confidante… though even then, she didn't feel particularly forgiving with him today. "You've always been like this. From the moment we met, you…"

"Oh? I thought I'd been a perfectly agreeable host that day…"

"You started talking about honor and that was the first thing you did to mess with my head," Ursa said, glaring at him. Piandao smiled. "And you smile because you find it hilarious, of course…"

"I didn't even remember that. But I suppose it sounds like something I… wait. Was that what you saw just now? The memory you returned to…?"

Ursa breathed deeply, closing her eyes and running a hand over her hair. She shrugged before pushing herself up to her feet, clumsily clinging to the closet's door – when Piandao rose quickly to help her, she ensured not to take his hand.

"I remembered how I wound up coming up with… with the idea of bringing Zuko to you," Ursa said, with a mirthless laugh. "How I earned myself even more of my daughter's resentment… though that didn't happen fully until later. Ah, but a few years after that, I had Lo and Li become her firebending instructors… she was still too young to know I was punishing her for things that, heh, probably were completely normal? I don't even… I barely remember who I was as a child, I think I just forced myself to obey my parents because I was… I was scared. I feared displeasing them, I feared violence, I didn't want to cause trouble… and then I thought I'd scare her the same way. I would use my authority to make her… oh, what a mindless wretch I was. What a fool, what a fool…"

"Ursa…" Piandao frowned, as she ambled awkwardly before rising to her full height and staring at him in that dark room.

"So, your lessons failed," she said. Piandao frowned. "The first one, anyway. Honor? I… I don't know what honor is. I'm as disgraceful and shameful as can be. There was no honor in how I carried myself as a mother… as a wife, as a daughter, as a member of the Royal Family? No. If anything… acknowledging my failings always makes it so much easier to understand my fate. To know why I deserve this… and why I don't want kindness or forgiveness from Zuko, or from Azula, or from you, or…"

"You are as keen on punishing yourself now as you were to punish your daughter in the past," Piandao said. Ursa clenched her fists, shaking her head. "Is that infuriating too?"

"Yes," she said. "Because… she didn't deserve it. She never did. Whereas I…"

"You were trapped in circumstances you could barely see clearly, Ursa. Your husband was unhelpful, you know he was going to do what his father demanded… your choices have never been nearly as damning and horrifying as his were."

"Then why are his hands clean… and mine are not?" Ursa asked. Piandao snorted.

"Because he makes others kill for him," Piandao answered, bluntly. Ursa winced. "Not just you… but his whole army. His conscience is clear… because he's never had to see what you have. He's never had to feel that surge of panic upon committing a sin that can't be taken back… but you know what it's like. I know what it's like, too. And as much as we may hate ourselves for what we've done… there is so much more out there that we need to fight for, isn't there? We don't have the leisure time, the opportunity, to waste away self-pitying or condemning ourselves. There's much for us to do still… your son is waiting."

Ursa gritted her teeth, but she nodded after a moment. The bonfires would help… the energy of Zuko's friends would, too. Perhaps even seeing Sokka… perhaps that, too.

Piandao moved carefully, pulling out the coat Ursa had been looking for. He offered it to her carefully, and this time she didn't crumble under the weight of another panic attack.

"Shall we?" Piandao asked. Ursa swallowed hard and nodded.

They didn't speak on their way down to the courtyard. They simply walked, side by side, until they reached the back of the Palace: several piles of wood had been gathered there, though none were lit just yet. A number of people gathered in the location, but Ursa didn't think everyone was there just yet…

Zuko happened to be talking to Kino, as expected – the younger man waved enthusiastically at her, and Ursa managed a forced grin, and a gentler wave. Zuko noticed them then, smiling too… his expression cleared some of Ursa's anguish, even if not for good. Her grin grew more honest, but she nodded at Zuko, as though asking him to focus on his friends rather than her.

Thus, she took her seat at a log that probably would burn in the bonfires eventually. Piandao joined her there, taking his seat by her side.

"Feeling any better yet?" Piandao asked. Ursa breathed deeply and shrugged.

"He makes me feel more real," Ursa admitted, glancing at her son wistfully. "Maybe because he's so grown… maybe because he's so changed. But now that I told him what I did, I just… I keep backtracking into darkness. I thought the worst of it would be over now, it felt like it was once I found him… now, I'm not so sure. Maybe it's because he has to leave, too, and I… I don't know when I'll see him again. I don't know if he'll succeed at his quest. I don't know anything, it feels like…"

"You do know he's strong," Piandao said. "Stronger than I ever was, to say one thing."

"Far stronger than me, goes without saying," Ursa whispered. "But… you truly think so? That he's stronger than you? I thought… with his joining the White Lotus, that you would be upset at him. You've seemed to be, for the past weeks…"

"Well… that's difficult to explain," Piandao said, with a frown. "I would never presume to say my burdens are heavier than yours… but I carry my own set of them all the same."

"And instead of working through your own, you're forced to pick up after the sack of old bones I've become…" Ursa said, with a dismissive smile. Piandao huffed.

"Don't speak of yourself that way. I'm aware that you have no interest in looking in a mirror, but… the years have not been as unfavorable for you as you might think."

"I don't care. Whatever vanity I clung to in the past is well and truly meaningless by now," Ursa whispered. "Either way… perhaps I should hear of your sorrows and burdens. That way I could give you infuriating responses just as well…"

"I wouldn't find them infuriating, I'm sure."

"Try me, then."

Piandao breathed deeply, running a hand over his hair before settling with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I imagine you don't know that I… I'm the longest serving member out of the three Fire Nation-born Grand Lotuses?" he started.

"I didn't… though I'm not surprised to know that," Ursa remarked. Piandao sighed.

"King Bumi was part of the order first, of course. I don't know him too well, personally… the same is true for Master Pakku, the waterbender from the north. I have never met him before. But before Iroh or Jeong Jeong so much as knew of the Order's existence… I was a young man with wild dreams and an inquisitive mind. A dangerous young man, talented with the blade… and with numerous frustrations with the country I'd been born to."

"You weren't pleased with the Fire Nation since your youth?" Ursa asked. "Why?"

"Firebenders," Piandao answered, with a sad smile. Ursa raised her eyebrows. "The… the prizing of firebending as the cusp of greatness in our nation triggered a bitterness inside me that I could barely withstand. My parents abandoned me at an orphanage once they grew convinced that I wasn't a firebender. Their entire reason to have a child was to claw their way to power through their offspring… upon growing old enough to understand that, it sickened me. I'd see it everywhere… how firebenders would advance faster in the military ranks solely because of a power they just so happened to be born with. I had to work ten times as hard, develop a mastery of the blade others could only envy, to even hope to stand on the same level as them.

"The Order took advantage of that bitterness. I didn't realize some of the men under my command were part of the White Lotus right away. Once they grew convinced that I could be useful to them, they persuaded me to join them so I could right the wrongs of the Fire Nation in whatever way I could. By not killing all our enemies on the battlefield and allowing many to escape, by steering our leaders wrong, little by little we began sabotaging, decreasing the impact of our soldiers' actions on the Earth Kingdom army and civilians as best we could. But eventually, White Lotus orders arrived demanding for a different kind of action than what I was prepared to enact. We were told… to assassinate General Iroh."

"Then… you truly were commanded to do such a thing?" Ursa asked, eyeing him warily.

"And I intended to go through with it, at first," Piandao admitted. "But the more I thought about it, the less convinced I was. The harder it became to persuade myself that it made any sense. My men would die, the army would as good as cannibalize over this chaos, Fire Lord Azulon would only become more ruthless and merciless, and Iroh's brother, Ozai, could take his place should anything happen to him. It made no sense to commit to a course that would simply kill a man who, as dangerous as he was, could have been so much worse… I'd seen General Iroh talk with lower-ranked soldiers where other army leaders wouldn't. He didn't show any overt disdain towards me for being a non-bender, where others would. His own lord father, goes without saying…"

"Found non-benders an appalling addition to his family, yes. I lived it in the flesh," Ursa remarked, grinding her jaws together after she spoke.

"Ursa…" Piandao said. She breathed deeply, shaking her head afterwards.

"I'm fine. Just… keep going. What did you do next?"

Piandao breathed deeply – speaking with her about Azulon wasn't impossible on most days, but when Ursa's worst memories returned with a vengeance, she would grow increasingly unstable upon so much as thinking of the man. He clapped her shoulder gently with a hand before resuming his story.

"I knew General Iroh was not a good man. No one who led the Fire Lord's forces so effectively could claim ignorance and innocence over what those soldiers did on the battlefield. That he didn't kill enemy troops with his own hands on every single battle didn't make him any less responsible for their deaths, considering he was the one strategizing to see those deaths realized. But I did not believe that killing him, in turn, would fix matters, like I said… and while I refused to follow the White Lotus's orders, my men did not. Their attempt on General Iroh's life was not successful because I, personally, sought to stop it. In doing so, my group was caught. Iroh himself told his guards, the ones who would have had us executed for treason, that I had protected him… I wished he had said nothing once my allies and friends were dragged away to the very pyre I had known would await us all, the fate I had meant to prevent, had the General been killed.

"So… I saved myself. Only myself. It felt like the most pointless survival. I didn't wish to serve in the army anymore, not only for the army's own sake, but for the White Lotus's sake, too. I retired from service… I left before the White Lotus could attempt to send any new infiltrate agents to convince me to stay and fulfill whatever their next designs might be. I traveled the world… I saw much more of it than I thought I would. I met countless people, I dueled numerous sword masters, and I kept my distance from the Order as best I could. But they caught up with me eventually, once one of their leaders died and left a mansion in Shu Jing empty for the use of any Fire Nation agent who could inhabit it. At the time, I was their best, their safest choice. They offered me a life of peace and quiet, where I wouldn't need to do much of anything other than provide them with a safe location to stage operations, should it be necessary. It didn't happen, however, so my time there was indeed peaceful…"

"Until the Fire Lord sent his people to hound you and recruit you once again," Ursa said. Piandao shrugged. "And then, not long after… we came along."

"You did. And I suppose you may have wondered… if I agreed to teach Zuko for more reasons than I explained back in the day," Piandao said, eyeing Ursa with uncertainty. She sighed, hanging her head and shrugging.

"I wouldn't say I wondered. I suspected there had to be more to it, more so after I learned you were part of the Order… but I hoped that I hadn't misjudged you regardless. I wanted to believe that you were a good man… that you wouldn't ruin my son's life with your choices."

"I didn't, I expect… but I could have," Piandao said. Ursa eyed him apprehensively.

"Is that so?" she asked. Piandao sighed.

"For the first time, I saw another way out. Your son represented a possibility for us to find a solution to the war beyond violence and conflict," Piandao said, eyes rising towards the man in question… the man who had once been a little boy, scared and confused, soaked completely after the chaotic mischief he had gotten up to with his sister. Now, he gathered the last piles of wood while his friends talked amicably with him, and he even laughed as the Blind Bandit challenged him to some manner weightlifting contest with the remaining tinder for the bonfires. "In a way… it was Zuko who truly brought me back into the fold as a member of the Order. It was my hope to shape him into a powerful force that might influence his cousin away from a path of warfare… he was my hope to find a new recruit for the Order, since that long ago."

"And yet you were outraged upon learning that he had joined them, once he did," Ursa pointed out.

"I'm no longer as idealistic as I was in those days. I'm no longer as hopeful of seeing change within the Order as I'd been when you brought him to me," Piandao sighed. "I've seen enough of their worst to know that their best will never compensate for it. We are only so successful now because Sokka has refused to be tainted by the corruption within the Order… a corruption latent, subtle, yet powerful enough to convince a man that his very own niece can be discarded, tortured and destroyed if that's what it takes to secure the future he has been chasing for. What kind of a man could pretend to know best, to truly understand what this world needs, when he lives his life with such amorality?"

"I cannot say. Though I suspect it would be easy to say that I'm no better. Nevertheless, I'm no advocate of his, just as he'd never be mine, either," Ursa said, lowering her gaze. "Zuko told me Iroh had suspicions about me… about what I'd done that night."

"Is that why you told him?" Piandao frowned. Ursa sighed and nodded.

"I delayed it as much as I could… far longer than I should have, thinking it would be better for his peace of mind," she admitted. "I don't know if he has truly accepted it just yet. I mean to give him as much space and distance from me as he may need… but even then, he's too kind. He can't help but be considerate, to try to understand my position, to accept my horrible deeds even if they should make me a much more disturbing individual in his eyes. I don't know if I raised him to be this sort of man… I don't know if Iroh did. I don't know if it's your lessons that taught him as much as he has learned…"

"I don't believe I should take any credit for that part," Piandao said. Ursa huffed. "You know, as well as I do, that my lessons to Zuko were slowly derailed. That anything I wanted to teach him fell to the wayside because the one I kept focusing on, whether I meant to or not, was you."

"I'm aware… you and all the unnerving, treasonous thoughts you always deemed worth sharing with me," Ursa said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "You hoped to help me understand the wrongs of the Fire Nation, my own wrongs, so that I might influence Zuko in the right direction whenever he wasn't visiting you for lessons. But the frequency of the lessons decreased, as did your attention on him… because whenever we were there, you were far too busy helping me sort out my mess of a life."

"And I didn't help matters much, did I?" Piandao asked. Ursa snorted.

"If you won't mind my bluntness, most times I've felt like the grand ideas you offered were only meant to make matters worse," she said.

"Oh, I'm aware. You said so a few times back then, you say it nowadays too. I don't hold it against you," Piandao smiled sadly, though the grin waned quickly. "Though I'm sure Ozai didn't make matters easier, whenever you dared approach him with any ideas that defied his own…"

"Certainly not," Ursa said, bitterly. "At some point I started to wonder if you were putting such thoughts in my head just to sabotage my marriage, admittedly…"

"You truly expected me to do that?" Piandao said, with a sad smile. "No, I certainly didn't wish to cause trouble between the two of you. Nevertheless… I cannot quite pretend that I believe he was ever worthy of you. That he could ever be…"

"Oh, I disagree," Ursa said, with a dark grin. "We're equally matched in all the worst ways, Piandao. We're just as bad as each other. Just as deeply damaged… just as dangerous to each other as we are to everyone around us. He and I… our marriage was bliss when it worked, a nightmare when it didn't. But even now, after everything I know he's done…"

"Even now, he's still the one your heart longs for," Piandao said, hoping not to sound too bitter upon speaking the words. Ursa smiled, shaking her head.

"I'm twisted. So is he. A part of me wishes I could simply walk up to him and slap him. Preferably multiple times," she said. "I probably ought to do worse than that… he has done far worse to both our children. And so, every time I remember just how deeply he hurt them, my hatred for him grows so powerful that I… I want nothing to do with him. I don't want to see him again, I don't want to face him, I… I hurt them too, though. And somehow, Zuko forgave me. Azula… oh, I hope she has enough sense not to. But then…"

"I can only imagine Zuko would never forgive Ozai, either," said Piandao, with a deep breath. "And that little girl, so close to her father? I can imagine she might find it difficult to despise him utterly, regardless of everything he's done, simply because he's her father."

"Of course," Ursa said, gritting her teeth. "It's our fault, of course. Mine for neglecting her… for assuming that she'd be fine with Ozai. He was finally involving himself in parenting without fear, without apprehension, nothing like how he acted when Zuko had been born. But even then… even then, the main thing he seemed to appreciate about her were her prodigious bending skills. Or, at least, that's how it felt. Perhaps there was more to it… but it's not like he would ever admit it, if there were. Feelings were… a waste. Hmm. We had a fight over that, once."

"A fight over feelings?" Piandao repeated, blinking, perplexed. Ursa let out a soft chuckle.

"The feelings of those he wronged, to be precise," she said. Piandao frowned. "I… took to using others as excuses, you see. Zuko was probably the best one, the easiest one… sometimes Lu Ten would do. And sometimes I'd even be so outrageous as to take Iroh's side… all be it to coax emotions out of him and confront him through the screen of his conflicts with anyone else. All I wanted was… was for him to understand rage wasn't the only valid feeling. That life is comprised by so much more than that, and yet… he couldn't possibly fathom it, no. Oh, he was maddening…"

"I can imagine," Piandao said, breathing deeply. "I don't think you'd told me about that one before…"

"It was stupid. To be honest, all of our lesser fights were stupid," Ursa said. "And I made the same mistakes he did more often than I should have. Where he used Azula, I used Zuko. I should have loved them both as equally as I could… I should have made the same efforts for both. But in my hopes of lifting Zuko's spirits, things grew so much worse gradually… and I failed to understand that the more often I took sides, the more I allowed a rift to grow in the very core of my family, and the more likely I'd be to lose them. And then… I did. I lost them, and… and I never even got to apologize to Azula. I couldn't tell Zuko the truth of what I'd done until only a short time ago. And I never… never told Ozai I cared for him."

"Cared?" Piandao asked, knowingly. Ursa breathed deeply, shaking her head.

"That I… loved him. In whatever twisted way I did… I did. The feelings were nothing like the ones Zuko brought out of me… and yet I wanted him in my life. I never imagined a future where he wouldn't be, and… and look at me now. He hasn't been part of my life for a far longer period than the time he spent with me… and yet I long for him so much the swamp constantly showed him to me. It's pathetic, isn't it?"

"Love… can be pathetic sometimes," Piandao admitted. Ursa laughed softly at his statement. "But it's terribly honest, too. Longing for what we cannot have is a curse in many ways… more so when you know there is no hope that you'll ever have what you're looking for."

Ursa swallowed hard, closing her eyes. Piandao bit his lip, glancing forward at the bonfires anew. A large group was only just arriving… and it wasn't difficult to guess who they were: the bulk of the firebenders to join the challenge were here, along with a young man on a wheelchair. Leading the group was Sokka, talking with the former captain Rui Shi.

"I suppose that knowing that kind of pain convinces us all the more to encourage him, doesn't it?" Piandao said, eyes falling upon Sokka's tall, strong figure. Ursa's gaze was drawn to him too – at this point, his presence never went unnoticed wherever he dared go. Little by little, his leadership had become as good as effortless, and everyone looked to him for guidance… "He longs for something he lost… not for something vague and shapeless he never had. It's something he may yet reclaim… something he's strong enough to reclaim indeed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come as far as he has."

"I don't know if we old fools, with all our dreadful mistakes and terrible choices, should be longing for any manner of happiness anymore," Ursa sighed, smiling a little at Sokka as he greeted her with a nod. "But if they can have some… if my daughter has outgrown the wrongful shadows I cast upon her, whether by herself or with his help, I will be content."

"I would think she has… though perhaps you influenced her in more ways than you realized," Piandao smiled. Ursa scoffed, eyeing him skeptically.

"You're not truly about to pretend that anything I left her with was… good?" she said, uttering the word with distaste. "I broke my daughter's heart constantly, to the point where she had a swamp nightmare in which I outright ruined her life in the way Ozai did. I don't think an argument can be made that I was ever… that I ever was half the mother she deserved."

"Perhaps… but even if it wasn't intentional, she has modeled herself after you in surprising ways," Piandao said, smiling weakly. "When she came to me, bringing Sokka so I could train him, it was inevitable for me to think about you. Your demeanor couldn't have been more different, of course… you were the persuasive noblewoman, respectful and thoughtful, hoping to make a good impression. But she was blunt, cold and efficient. She was fighting me, rather than persuading me. She tried her best to corner me verbally, though she understood that ultimately, I'd have the final say on whether or not I'd train Sokka… evidently, she wanted to carry herself like Ozai. To be as daunting and intimidating as him… and yet there was that spark in her eyes that couldn't possibly remind me of anyone but you."

"Oh, please. Comparing me to her is… is needlessly flattery," Ursa said. "I wish I were more like her."

"I suppose she might have wished to be more like you, too…"

"She would not be that foolish. She became far more than I could ever hope to be, and as much as I have no right to feel pride towards her, I do," Ursa said, firmly. "Whatever of myself you saw in her was most likely a matter of familial heritage… hopefully, anyway. I don't believe she'd ever wish to be like me… like the person who stopped her from learning with you. Though, say… did she ever try again, in the years after you sent me away, or…?"

"I'm afraid that Ozai wouldn't have wanted either of his children learning anything else from me anymore, once he became Fire Lord," Piandao said. "I expect he took Azula's martial education into his own hands after you were gone. I sensed resentment when she came to me for Sokka's sake, but she never asked me to teach her personally. Perhaps she simply believed she didn't need me as her personal mentor? Perhaps she had set aside her interest in swordsmanship when she brought Sokka to me. I don't know, but…"

"But?" Ursa raised an eyebrow. Piandao smiled.

"But your daughter didn't need me to teach her any swordsmanship. If I understand it correctly… Sokka took it upon himself to teach her everything I'd taught him. They became sparring partners."

"They…?" Ursa said, with a slow, heartfelt smile. "He truly did?"

Piandao nodded, and Ursa laughed softly.

"Ah, it feels as if they could do no wrong, even if I know that's objectively not the case," she said, dabbing at her eyes with her fingertips. "I'm glad he could do that for her… if someone would have, it makes sense that it would have been him. You taught him well."

"By now, I'm the one learning from him, feels like," Piandao smiled. "And Azula was the first person to ever recognize how extraordinary he is. She saw that potential… and now he's become the leader, the beating heart of the greatest army to join the battlefields of the Hundred Year War."

"Then… they recognized each other's potential," Ursa whispered. "And found a way to live their lives while being true to themselves. Something us old folk can't possibly hope to claim we achieved…"

"Unfortunately, the current situation probably won't allow them to be as true to themselves as they wished to be. Especially her," Piandao said. "If Ozai truly intends to use her strategic mind to fight back against Sokka… their situation will be anything but enviable, I'm afraid. I wish I could say something more encouraging, but where I hoped their paths would converge in a triumphant manner, it feels like their potential reunion has become something to dread instead."

"It might be," Ursa conceded, closing her eyes. "But as lost and hopeless as I may be, I… I believe in them, in ways I don't think I've believed in anything before. I believe she has become the magnificent Princess she always intended to be… that she will conquer every danger in her path, and that he will reach her on time to help her if she can't succeed alone. They won't let each other fall… no matter if this war pits them against each other, they won't fall."

"I can only wonder what will be left afterwards, even if you're right," Piandao said, breathing deeply. "What role Zuko will wind up playing in all of this, too. The boy who fought with his sister so adamantly, ever ready to retaliate against her mischief… he certainly has grown enough that he'd want to fight to set her free from Ozai. But I can't help but wonder if yet again, he will be granted something that is denied to her. If he will reclaim his family, if he will take the throne… or if it will be her turn, this time. If she'll even want it to be, to begin with…"

"I…" Ursa said, grimacing. "I must be a terrible mother, I suppose… for wishing neither one had to ever bear the burden of becoming Fire Lord. I have no doubts they would be better at it than their father… but I wish they could have simpler lives, even so. That they could truly rejoice in their new families rather than devoting themselves to amending the countless disasters their forefathers left them as their legacy. They were so young once… they're not anymore. The hesitation of an adult, the fears of loss and failure… they hit differently now. But they're brave… they're stronger than they know. So much stronger than either Ozai or I ever could have hoped to be. I don't know what Zuko's role will be, or if I will even play a role of my own… I probably already played mine, truthfully. But until this war is over… until I know they've found their way back to those they love, to those who love them most, until they can build the families they wanted to, I will keep watching over them. I can barely do anything else as it is, with my mind still likely to descend into chaos… but until I know they've found peace, I refuse to look for any of my own."

"You're a far better mother than you'll ever acknowledge," Piandao said. Ursa let out a bark of laughter.

"I cannot help but wonder if there's some manner of imperceptible wisdom in those words, or if you're an utter fool for so much as speaking them," she said. Piandao smiled.

"Isn't that how you've felt about all our contradictory conversations, Lady Ursa?"

"Naturally," she conceded, eyeing him skeptically. Piandao smiled kindly at her.

"Whatever peace you will find in the end… I hope you know the future can take numerous shapes for you," he said. "Perhaps… perhaps they will want you in their lives, in more ways than you know. Perhaps there will be a place for you by their side. Wanting to be with your children now won't make up for all the time you couldn't be with them in their youth… but you don't deserve to torture yourself eternally about that. Learning to let go is not easy…"

"Have you learned how to do that?" Ursa asked, raising an eyebrow. "After everything you've been through… have you?"

"I'm not infallible… no one is," Piandao said. "I… I've never known how to let go of you. Jeong Jeong urged me to do so for a long time and I ignored him constantly. But if I know you're not on your way to a self-defeating future, if I know you intend to be part of their lives anew, to take your place with them… I believe I will finally learn how."

Ursa smiled kindly at him, reaching out to squeeze his hand in a grateful gesture. It meant nothing more than that… nothing more than friendly, genuine gratitude for the kindness he had showed her, kindness she had struggled to reciprocate and be grateful for, too. There was, without a doubt, a hint of what could have been, unspoken between them… a hint they simply laid to rest wordlessly, outdone by deep mutual understanding.

By then, it seemed the preparations for the event were as good as finalized. Groups were being selected, and the only ones who appeared to be left out of the process were the two of them.

"We should, uh… join in?" Piandao said, eyeing the cluster of younger people with uncertainty. Ursa sighed.

"Either we've gotten ourselves into something entirely beyond us… or this odd game might change our lives for the better. Who knows?" Ursa said, pushing herself to her feet. Piandao followed quickly.

Overlapping voices appeared to laugh and argue about whatever matches would be made for Toph's game. Unfamiliar with the names of Azula's guards, Ursa couldn't even hope to know whom to partner up with… but it seemed someone would help her sort that out.

"I'm pretty surprised the two of you decided to join in after all," Sokka smiled at them, no doubt amused by their perplexed expressions. "I have no idea what Toph's got in mind for all of us to do, but for the time being… uh, guys? Which of you didn't have partners yet?"

Two men stepped forward, and in doing so, they noticed Ursa's presence. Even though they didn't bend down in reverence, they gazed upon her in wonderment that Ursa certainly felt was out of place…

"Taro, you could work with Ursa, right…?" Sokka asked, with a weak grin. The first guard he had bonded with tensed up and smiled.

"R-right! I shall do my very best to keep our bonfire lit and strong, Lady Ursa."

"Oh, well… I won't hold it against you if you struggle," Ursa smiled. "It is a rather cold night, after all…"

"No worries! No firebender who could qualify for an Imperial Guard promotion would be fazed by the weather…" Taro smirked. Next to him, Wuhan raised an eyebrow.

"Not even firebenders who forget their cough medicines, right?" he said. Taro huffed.

"Oh, I drank it today, I did!"

Sokka chuckled, urging Piandao to step forward and join forces with Wuhan. The swordsman bowed his head respectfully, and he received the same treatment.

"I don't really understand why you need me, but I shall support you as best as I am able," Piandao said. Wuhan nodded solemnly.

"It feels that having the great Piandao as my ally means I cannot lose… but I won't take our victory for granted, nonetheless," he said. Piandao smiled.

"You shouldn't. There are countless people here who are far more impressive than I could hope to be," he said. Wuhan smiled humbly.

"Or I," he admitted.

"Then we shall have to be quite wary of our far more talented rivals," Piandao said, eyeing Sokka with a smirk. The Gladiator chuckled.

"I don't think any of us have a clue of whatever Toph's up to with this madness. I'm not the one you need to be most wary of, I'd say," Sokka said, turning towards his own partner. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow as Sokka clapped his shoulder. "Come on, let's pick a bonfire as far away from Toph as possible."

"That sounds like a good plan," Rui Shi smirked.

Little by little, the teams spread across the courtyard. The bonfires had been distributed unevenly, and most people didn't want to stand anywhere close to the center – Toph, naturally, was unconcerned about that entirely as she dragged Han, her partner, to the most exposed of bonfires. Zuko had no choice but to follow Kino to a neighboring one, while most other teams chose the outskirts of the strange circuit in which the bonfires were organized.

"Well, standing near the middle will be nice anyway, there will be more warmth there…" concluded Aang, smiling awkwardly at Katara as they wound up choosing a bonfire close to Zuko and Kino's.

"I do wonder if this should even be allowed…" Kuei mumbled to himself, even when his partner, Jianghuo, could hear him. The Palace had certainly never seen visitors as wild as the members of the Gladiator's army, at least, not during Kuei's lifetime. He probably should exert more restraint and discipline… but his curiosity and eagerness to be included had brought him to join their event immediately.

Jin, it seemed, wasn't all that concerned about the effects Toph's game might have on the Palace. Instead, her mind appeared focused on deciding who were the biggest threats on this presumed battlefield, and she even warned Qiang, her partner, to exercise restraint while keeping their fire running.

The rest of the teams were comprised by Fei Li and Teo, Jet and Shuren, Longshot and Haoren, and Anorak with Tai Wei. Once everyone had taken up their places, the Blind Bandit raised her voice.

"Alright… light up your fires!"

Rui Shi glanced at Sokka, confirming with his partner that they would do as the instigator of this strange game had demanded. With Sokka's nod, Rui Shi breathed deeply and shot a powerful blast of flames into his firewood.

The others did the same, as beckoned by Toph: a night that had been increasingly darker by the minute suddenly lit up. Warmth spread quickly, offering some respite to those who weren't handling the cold so well…

And then a rumble of earth interrupted the momentary relief.

"Toph!" Sokka roared, his voice ringing with the authority he had learned to impress unto it. The Blind Bandit smirked guiltily in his direction, though she stopped bending upon hearing him.

"Yes…?"

"You're not going to earthbend to sabotage other people's fires!" Sokka growled. Toph snorted.

"It's my game! I can do whatever I please!"

"But that's not fair! There are people here who aren't even fighters!" Aang exclaimed, pouting. Toph scoffed.

"And some of us put away our weapons before the game, too…" Kino grimaced.

"Oh, you're all so whiny!" Toph huffed, arms folded over her chest. "That way there's no fun in this contest! You're all sticks in the mud…!"

"Maybe… there's a less unfair way to play at messing with each other's bonfires?" Katara suggested. Toph huffed.

"What's the point? I wanted it to be unfair so I'd win. Simple as that," she said, grinning proudly. The growls of protest that echoed in the courtyard were music to her ears.

"Even at the last moment, she's just trying to mess with everyone if she can get away with it," Zuko sighed, shaking his head.

"I know. Isn't it awesome?" Jet, near Toph's bonfire, replied to Zuko with a bright grin. Zuko scoffed.

"You're seriously the only person who could be crazy enough to see her being this ridiculous and find it… awesome," Zuko said, emphasizing the last word with deep skepticism.

Even so, he smiled: he found himself thinking similar things regarding Sokka and Azula often, come to think of it. Toph's thumbs up in Jet's direction suggested the strange bond between them, so difficult to gauge as it was, only strengthened with every day they spent together – whether he understood it or not was none of his business, for Jet and Toph were the ones who'd decide what kind of relationship they wanted to have.

"Okay, okay!" Sokka exclaimed, stepping away from his fireplace briefly, and once again, his energy gained him everyone's attention right away. "Toph's definitely gone off the rails with this idea… but we can find other ways to sabotage each other that won't result in severe destruction in this Palace. Right?"

"Please!" Kuei exclaimed, nodding in approval at Sokka's words.

"Bleh!" Toph scoffed. "How else are we going to sabotage each other? I don't know of anything else we could…"

"No? Really?" Sokka smirked. His tone warned Toph that her friend was up to something… certainly something troublesome.

Making a show of his well-known agility, Sokka leaned down – he didn't bother compacting the snow into a proper ball before flinging it at Toph.

The snow faltered clumsily on its way to her, even if its fragments hit her lightly. She gasped… and then smiled.

"A… snowball fight?" she asked. Sokka shrugged.

"But not just for the sake of it: we'll do it to attack each other's bonfires. Whoever's bonfire is the last one burning wins. That way, you get what you wanted, right?"

"Huh… well, then: catch!"

She leaned down, picking up stray snow, tightening it slightly and then flinging it violently at Sokka. He dodged out of the way, smirking as Toph grinned back at him: everyone else in the group appeared perplexed by the notion of indulging in a snow war…

"Firebenders are only allowed to focus on their bonfire!" Sokka exclaimed. "The partners will do the fighting!"

"T-the… fighting?" Ursa repeated, a slow and awkward smile spreading over her face. Oh, she certainly hadn't signed up for that… but going by how she saw several members of the group gathering snow quickly, smiling deviously at each other, it seemed she was alone when it came to her uncertainty about this battle.

"Don't worry! No one would be quite so shameful as to attack us, Lady Ursa…!" Taro declared… only for a snowball to hit him in the shoulder a moment afterwards.

"What…?!" Ursa gasped: she raised her gaze… to find Piandao smiling with deviousness, a shocked Wuhan standing beside him. "Oh? Is that how it is? You've attacked my firebender, have you?"

"I can very well aim for you next, then, if you'd rather I did that…"

Ursa couldn't help but smile, despite herself, before gathering some snow to retaliate. It was such a childish, foolish thing to do… but a childish joy indeed had bloomed within her heart over this strange snowball war that had started among the group.

"Hey! Katara, don't cheat! Pick up your snow properly like everyone else does!" Sokka exclaimed, upon noticing his sister had gathered a perfect snowball with her bending. She, of course, pouted and cast the snowball at him with her bending. "Katara…!"

"Fine, then! So stingy…" Katara grumbled, leaning down to gather snow like everyone else had to, as Aang chuckled at the argument between the siblings.

Not far from them, Anorak grimaced and exchanged a look with Tai Wei: he had already fielded off several snowballs by using his bending. Tai Wei whistled and shrugged.

"Guess we'll pretend that didn't happen, shall we?" he said. Anorak smiled and nodded.

"It's difficult to know you're breaking rules in a game if the game's rules are being written on the spot, right?" he said, amusing his companion.

The wild battle between the twelve teams seemed poised to last for hours: at first, strategy seemed the last thing on anyone's mind as they simply took to gathering snow and tossing it at whoever was in range. Toph's intent to sabotage her foes with earthbending was put off as she instead took to shielding Han with her own body while launching attacks on her enemies – among them, Longshot was the most dangerous, his throws quick and precise enough to strike key parts of the bonfire's tinder to cause the firewood to crumble and begin to consume itself all the faster. Kuei, of course, was a most helpless partner for Jianghuo, most of all once Katara decided to focus her fire on him, since he stood near them.

Little by little, the spirits of the twelve teams seemed to ride higher and higher. Laughter rang all across the yard as they flung snow back and forth at each other, as the defenders tried to keep the bonfires safe while the attackers aimed as best they could at either destabilizing the fire or attacking the firebender wielding it. Temporary alliances were crafted – Ursa was delighted to work with Kino once he began attacking Piandao too, nervously, but daringly. His sword master commended him for his bravery… before pelting him with as many snowballs as he could throw, and Kino shrieked for it, helplessly.

Jin focused her fire on Sokka rather spitefully, and an alliance with Teo certainly pleased her as the two of them attacked the Gladiator. He stood before Rui Shi, who awkwardly kept his hands outstretched, keeping the fire alive.

"Don't you worry, Rui Shi! I've got us covered!" Sokka exclaimed, punching past another snowball cast by Teo, who laughed every time at the sight of the Blue Wolf, so daunting as he was supposed to be, putting so much power and energy into defeating a simple snowball.

"The fact that we're up to something so utterly ridiculous is not lost on me, Gladiator…" Rui Shi said, with a skeptical smirk. Sokka laughed, picking up a new snowball to throw in an arch.

It flew high, then was reclaimed by gravity in the perfect way to strike Qiang just before Jin warned him of the danger. The blast of cold startled the firebender, who then strengthened his fire by sheer instinct…

Sokka couldn't savor his temporary victory, for Teo, quick to ready a new strike, flung more snow in his direction: once the surprise wore off, Jin joined him in attacking Sokka as well. Sokka laughed at the surreal situation, shielding his face as best he could from the exploding snowballs…

"Get the fire, not the Blue Wolf…!" Qiang urged Jin, but she seemed far too focused on taking small, petty revenges on the man to listen.

"Okay, okay, damn it…!" Sokka backed down, rolling on the snow and picking up enough of it to attack anew, this time hitting Fei Li square across the face.

"Sokka!" Fei Li exclaimed. "Oh… get him! Just get him!"

"On it!" Teo laughed.

"You'll never destroy me! I was born and raised in snow! I can do this all…!" Sokka exclaimed… until Jin's latest snowball struck him straight in the face.

She gasped, holding back the laughter when she genuinely wondered if she had hurt him. Sokka stumbled back, colliding with Rui Shi, and the world seemed to spin for a bit before he stood upright again.

"I… I'm okay. I'm okay! I… hey! That was a cheap shot!"

"I'm…! W-well, no, I'm not really sorry, come to think of it!" Jin exclaimed, trying to retain her focus on her grudge on Sokka…

But it was so difficult to do so for a most unexpected reason: she was having fun.

For the first time in months, in what felt like an eternity, everyone in that courtyard set aside their concerns, their fears for the future, and focused solely on the wild game they had built up together. Laughter rang across that courtyard for as long as they played, and even if the bonfires did start to dwindle over time, the grand, wild contest had proven to be a hilarious way to rejoice in the present… to cherish each other in this way for what might just be the last time, even if everything went according to plan.

No one knew what lay in store in the dark days ahead. Said dark days would be inevitable, rolling forward dangerously once they turned over this leaf and entered the next day. First, once Toph left, once she took the gladiators and the other forces she'd bring with her to Gaoling… then, once Sokka's group traveled north, too. No one knew if all of them would return to this Palace… if any of them would. If they would meet again at all… if the fate ahead was more ominous than they could imagine just yet.

So they had the here and now. They clung to it… they relished in it. The hope that a distant tomorrow might see them reconvening for another ridiculous bonfire snow war amused many, once the hours had passed and only Longshot's bonfire remained standing – stoic as he was, he didn't conceal his pride over his victory.

"We'll do this again one day," Sokka told Rui Shi as they gathered by the sole remaining fire after the game ended, where the whole group enjoyed a meal while laughing about anecdotes of their game and journeys – Jet was particularly amused as Fei Li recounted to him their thefts at Gaoling's governor's estate. "This game, I mean…"

"We'll have to. I'm not exactly proud that we were the third ones to lose our bonfire," Rui Shi pointed out. Sokka chuckled.

"Guess I could've done better…"

"Guess you need incentives to do better, I'd say," Rui Shi smiled. "Bet showing off how reliable you are will improve your performance considerably, once your actual partner plays these games with you."

"Right. And I'm sure yours will destroy us all, too, when she joins your team," Sokka said, matter-of-factly. Rui Shi couldn't contain a laugh. "But… we will make it happen. I bet they'd love to play something as strange as this game proved to be…"

"Definitely," Rui Shi said, smiling and gazing into the fire with hopeful eyes.

Sokka's heart churned as he thought about their impending reunion. So often he had refused to picture it… nowadays he tried, but he realized he didn't know what he'd say. Perhaps conversation would come as easily as it used to… perhaps he'd have to plan a thousand things he needed to talk about, to share with her, to explain to her. She would likely wish to do the same thing, too…

A part of him shot unwanted warnings to his mind – such as that she might be the enemy now – and he disregarded them. Azula's pain and struggles, the way he could feel them every time something dark and terrible happened to her… that mattered more than anything. He would free her from that pain somehow, once they met again. He would stand resolute in his belief, in his faith in her… and he would have to hope she felt the same way he did.

Fighting against his friends in a simple snowball duel had nothing in common with fighting a real war. The stakes here – an expensive bottle Kuei had been mortified to learn Toph had snuck out of his liquor reserves – were insignificant… but they still brought forward the feeling of bonding, of camaraderie, of strength that Sokka couldn't disregard. The fire burned brightly… chasing away the cold, the darkness, and allowing those who had been foes only moments ago to laugh together and put aside old grudges, if there were any, as they basked in the current peace among them.

He closed his eyes… letting himself believe, fickle and naïve as it might be on his part, that this was what awaited him once he reached the Fire Nation. If they truly had to fight, if they had to be unwilling enemies… the sole relief he could cling to was the hope that it wouldn't be forever. That once they were ready, they might just find themselves laughing by a bonfire, playing this wild game with Toph, standing together as the team they always had been meant to be.

He smiled to himself at those thoughts, his heart lightened by his hopes, by his unwavering faith in her… by his belief that there would be a future for all of them, for himself and Azula, beyond the Hundred Year War's long-awaited conclusion.