Collide

by FoxBlitz

Katara had been so sure of her plan to liberate the prison rig. How was she to know how efficiently the guards would respond to an uprising? Zuko had been positive that his best course of action was to travel separate from his Uncle. What else was he supposed to do when he came across a person from his past? Sometimes, through all the doubt, two people collide. Eventual Zutara.

32. Ch 32 - The Misanthrope

Chapter 32 - The Misanthrope

The metal lock on his steel cage refused to budge for probably the hundredth time as Aang grew more and more frustrated with each successive failure. Why did metalbending have to be so hard? Toph always made it look so simple. Besides, he was the Avatar, so why couldn't he figure this out? He was supposed to be the strongest bender in the world, able to use all styles of bending.

The improperly bandaged wound on his foot where the drill clamp had been carving a hole the other day wasn't helping matters either. Every time the wagon hit a bump on the road, Aang could feel the stringing pain anew. This sensation of lingering torture was insufferable. How did anyone ever deal with this kind of torment?

Clang! The cylindrical bars reverberated piercingly as one of the Fire Nation soldiers struck the container with the flat portion of his broadsword. "Quit moving around in there, brat!" the guard warned.

Feeling irritation as the ringing in his ears took a minute to subside, the airbender decided it was time to enact the escape plan that he had determined to have the greatest success. One that had worked for him, time and time again. The moment had come... to be annoying. "Mrghph!" retorted Aang against his cloth gag, squirming slightly.

"I said be quiet!" demanded the guard as he struck the cage a second time.

"Mrrrgghph!" stressed Aang once more, squirming with greater force.

Another guard looked over at the commotion as the convoy continued to march along. "Are his rope bindings loose? Commander Mai isn't going to be happy if the Avatar gets free."

"Mmmrgghppphh!" pleaded Aang a third time as he kicked the metal bars himself.

The first guard leaned in closer to the airbender, extending his hand through the cage, as the soldier lowered the cloth gag. "What?!" the Fire Nation soldier shouted with annoyance.

Aang simply smiled childishly with a goofy grin. "I just wanted to say thank you for the key." With that, the airbender plucked the small key to the cage from the soldier's belt and exhaled a large gust of wind from his mouth that blew the Fire Nation soldier backwards, head over heels, while also knocking the metal cage off of the horse drawn wagon.

As the locked box came to stop, Aang's grin quickly faded as he realizd the door to the cage was positioned downward into the ground. He threw his body against the side of the heavy cage. The steel container shifted slightly, but not enough to tilt the cage over to expose the door to open away from the ground. This hadn't been the plan.

The airbender could hear the guards scrambling to react to the sudden confusion. Managing to grasp the earth through the bars to the cage, Aang earthbent a small rock outcropping from the ground to push the cage over onto its side. Using the key to throw open the formerly locked box, the Avatar popped his head out only to have his exceedingly vulnerable neck encircled by a magnitude of sharp spearheads.

"Heh-heh," nervously laughed Aang as he raised his still bound together hands in a show of surrender. "I just wanted to stretch my legs."

As one of the guards lowered his spear to move closer, Aang smirked again as he exhaled heavily a second time while holding firmly onto the sides of the metal cage. This caused the steel container to rotate on its side, picking up speed as Aang increased the strength of his breathing. Simultaneously, a heavy sand cloud grew as a result of the momentum, obscuring the guards' vision of Aang.

"Don't wait! Unleash your firebending!" ordered Mai immediately as she rushed back towards the bustle of activity in the rear of the marching formation. She had been out front, leading the group.

Realizing his trick wasn't going to work much longer, and because he was almost out of breath, Aang ceased his impromptu airbending to grab the road through the bars of the cage yet again and barely managed to envelope himself in a crude earth dome.

A moment later, multiple bursts of fire crashed against the hastily constructed earthen walls. The entire structure shook and Aang was worried for a moment that his barrier was going to fail, but it appeared that Toph's training had been fruitful after all. The crude earthen dome held.

As Aang attempted to figure out his next course of action, he paled as he heard Mai command her troops loudly from the opposite side of the walls. "Don't let up! If he wants to hide there, then we'll cook him out. He's basically a clay brick in a kiln right now!"

With that, the temperature in Aang's earthen dome spiked rapidly, and it didn't show any signs of stopping as the firebenders outside rotated their flames to keep up the intensity. The airbender racked his brain for some kind of inspiration to get out of this mess, but to his dismay, he didn't see a way out. 'I should have never left Toph and all the others...' regretted Aang inwardly, sweat dripping heavily from his forehead. 'If Sokka was here, then he'd have a plan.' Aang closed his eyes as he prayed, 'Someone, anyone... I need help...'

A gurgling outburst rang out from the opposite side of Aang's crumbling earthen dome. Then, another gurgling death knell as one of the Fire Nation soldier's screamed, "Ambush!"

From inside his barrier, the airbender heard the clashing of metal, confused shouts, and more death as the fighting outside grew increasingly intense with each passing moment. Split between lowering his earthbending to see what was going on or building another wall with the time he suddenly found himself with, the decision was taken out of the airbender's hands when one of the Fire Nation guards came crashing through the weakening dome barrier.

Aang scrambled to the side to distance himself from the Fire Nation soldier. However, the man didn't get up. Upon closer inspection, the large gapping slash across the man's neck was a good indicator that this particular guard wasn't ever getting back up again.

A whistling shrill rang out through the air as a slick dagger flew harrowingly near the Avatar's head, sinking deeply into the chest of a firebender who had been climbing on top of the broken earthen dome to strike at Aang from above. The firebender was dead before he hit the ground.

Aang stared in shock at the two dead soldiers surrounding him, their blood pooling at his feet. The airbender thought he was going to be a little sick actually, at the sight and smell of all the unfamiliar death around him.

A figure poked their head around the broken wall of the earth dome and Aang panickily lashed out with a burst of airbending. With his bound hands, the gust was rather small, but it was still strong enough to knock someone off their feet. Or it would have been, if the unknown figure didn't quickly pull their head back behind the wall. "Stay back!" warned Aang as his eyes shifted wildly, his brain already plotting the best possible direction to run.

"Are you trying to get on my bad side, Avatar?" came a familiar voice from the opposite side of the earth wall. "It's safe out here by the way. The soldiers are all taking dirt naps."

Aang was nearly about to launch himself away with a burst of airbending when he recognized the owner of that voice. "S-Suki?"

The Kyoshi Warrior poked her head around the crumbling earthen wall again, just as the entire structure collapsed to the ground. "You had me worried there for a minute. I thought you wouldn't remember me."

She looked different without the battle make-up that all Kyoshi Warriors traditionally wore; however, Suki did have two razor sharp chakrams at her side. Suki smirked when she noticed Aang staring at her weapons. Lifting up one of the chakrams, she commented, "It's not a steel fan, but it's the best I could find in the Fire Nation. Gets the job done."

As Aang was about to ask how Suki was here in front of him right now, he heard someone struggling to get free off to the side. Looking to his left, Aang saw Mai pinned underneath another person with scruffy dark-colored hair, who was using his body weight to prevent the weapon mistress from getting up.

"Jet, just restore her mind already," ordered Suki as she walked over.

Aang spun around in surprise. "J-Jet?! What's he doing here?"

Without answering, Suki helped the Freedom Fighter restrain the struggling Mai.

"You'll never escape the Fire Nation alive," grunted Mai as she flailed.

"You might be surprised what I can do," taunted Jet slyly.

"Jet, the code phrase," repeated Suki sternly.

"Fine, fine," grumbled Jet as he leaned down close to whisper into Mai's ear. "Legacy - Unmovable - Ten - Nightfall - Solid - Eight - Tradition - Jewel - Two - Earth."

As Jet finished saying the end of his bizarre sequence of words, Mai's eyes seemed to glaze over before refocusing in confusion, as if she was noticing things for the first time. "Where am I?" Mai realized that she was being restrained. "What's going on? Release me!"

Jet laughed as he hopped up and away from the weapon mistress, narrowly avoiding the swing of a hidden sai that slid from the weapon mistress' sleeve into her hand. "Whoa there, cutie! That's no way to be appreciative towards the person who just saved you from yourself."

"What's he talking about?" asked Aang towards Suki.

Securing the chakrams to her belt, the Kyoshi Warrior answered. "Azula's been controlling the will of her prisoners. Surely your friends told you about this? They ran into Jet while he was under Azula's control in Ba Sing Se."

Shaking his head, Aang frowned. "They didn't tell me anything." The airbender left out the part where his friends hadn't been around to tell him.

The expression on Suki's face was unreadable for a moment, then the Kyoshi Warrior shifted to a contemplative pose. "No matter. We can explain everything once we meet up with your friends."

The airbender laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Umm... actually, I don't know where they are. I'm searching for them myself." Shifting gears, Aang changed the topic. "But what about you? How did you get here?"

Answering for the Kyoshi Warrior, Jet spoke up first. "I think the words you're looking for, Avatar, are 'Gee, thank you, I sure was hopelessly done for until you two saved my useless butt.'" The Freedom Fight leaned over as he cleaned his bloodied hooked blades on the tunic of a decreased Fire Nation soldier.

Aang had to fight down the bile that quickly built up in his throat as he noticed the dead soldiers at Jet's feet once again. "Did you have to kill them?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to leave these Fire Nation scum alive to kill you?" mocked Jet as he sheathed his swords. "I've said it a million times, the only good firebender, is a dead firebender. These degenerates got off easy. They got a quick death."

Mai narrowed her eyes as she drew some kunai into her free hand from another hidden holster in her sleeve. She still had the sai in the other hand. "Then, why did you leave me alive?" The weapon mistress didn't like the judgmental glare the Freedom Fighter sent her way.

Clicking his tongue, Jet nodded towards the Kyoshi Warrior. "You can thank her for that. Apparently, you're more useful alive than dead... for now."

"If you want to rescue your friends, Jet, then we need a way into the prison. And Mai's our best chance," stated Suki. The Kyoshi Warrior looked at the Fire Nation girl. "Don't you want to get back at Azula for brainwashing you?"

"Brainwashing?" interjected Aang as he struggled to keep up with the conversation. "Like controlling people's minds?"

Suki nodded. "Yes, Avatar. Azula's done that to all three of us here. She did that to me back in Ba Sing Se after defeating me in a fight."

Aang backed up a step, unsure of what was going on. "But you're not under her control anymore?"

Begrudgingly, Suki motioned towards a smirking Jet. "This fool is, unfortunately, the reason we're free right now. He lucked into tricking a Dai Li agent into releasing him."

"More like I charmed a cute Dai Li agent when she tried to recondition me again. Got her to tell me the secret code phrase to break the mind control too," boasted Jet confidently. "That's how I freed Suki when she attempted to recapture me again and how we just freed this Mai person too." Jet crossed his arms smugly. "You all are pretty much indebted to me, you know, like forever."

Ignoring the Freedom Fighter, Suki approached Aang and cut away the restraints binding his wrists and ankles. "I am glad that we managed to find you out here in the middle of the Fire Nation. It must be a stroke of luck." The Kyoshi Warrior looked around. "Do you at least know where to search for your friends?"

"I think so," admitted Aang openly to Suki. "I had a map, but I left it in Appa's saddle. I was heading Northwest though. That's what I was doing when I got captured."

The Kyoshi Warrior smiled warmly at the airbender. "We can help you find them. Jet and I were on our way to break his friends out of a Fire Nation prison a short distance away from here. We saw you in a cage and knew that we had to help. After you help us, then we can help you."

That was the best offer that Aang had heard in a long while. Nodding quickly in agreement, Aang's goofy smile returned.

Suki glanced over at a contemplative Mai. "Are you in?"

Sheathing her weapons, Mai answered with a tedious tone, "As long as we help Ty Lee get away from Azula too, then, I'm in."

---

The wagon jostled abruptly as the wooden wheel bumped over a sharp rise on the uneven, gravel littering country path. The aged dragon moose pulling the carriage neighed loudly when the harness ropes shifted, but otherwise continued it's steady pace along the unoccupied road-less-traveled.

A pained snort and a knocking in the back of the wagon cart signaled the stirring of the formerly resting patient. "What's going on?! Where am I?!" stumbled out the heavily bandaged man before he cringed in pain from multiple sore wounds across his body.

"About time you woke up," came the stern reply from Camila as she leaned against the small wooden side frame of the wagon bed. "I was starting to think that you were just going to sleep through the rest of the war at this rate."

The Dragon of the West blinked a couple of times as he slowly acknowledged the earthbending master sitting opposite of him. "C-Camila?" Iroh looked around. "How...?"

"You just couldn't wait five more minutes before blowing the place up, could you?" huffed Camila. "And you're supposed to be the patient one. You're just lucky that I was already tunneling underneath the prison to spring ya when you decided to go all explosive-happy. Otherwise, we'd be looking for a new Grand Lotus right now." She narrowed her eyes sharply at the White Lotus leader. "Do you know just how tricky it is to tunnel through solid rock while avoiding pockets of magma?"

"I can't think of anyone more suited to the task," complimented Iroh smoothly with a smile.

Camila returned a focused glare. "Don't think empty flattery is going to be enough to get me to let this go. I'm not joking. We almost lost you there. If Han wasn't around to patch you up, we might have. Spirit-knows that I'm not that great with medicines and healing."

Iroh cranked his neck around to see Han sitting in the driver seat of the wagon with the reins to the dragon moose in his hands as the old rancher nodded in agreement with his wife. The old rancher wore a heavy hooded traveling cloak to obscure his features from other travelers on the road, few as they were. "You might have a cracked rib or two. I'd recommend minimal movement for a few days to get your strength back," assessed Han.

The Dragon of the West laid his head back down on the pillow he had in the wagon bed. "As tempting as that sounds, we don't have a couple of days, do we?" deduced the former General. "The Day of Black Sun is close, isn't it? Is Avatar Aang ready to face my Brother?"

Camila and Han shared a concerned look. Iroh frowned at their reaction. "The Avatar is not ready?"

"That would be a polite way of putting it," replied Han optimistically.

"Apparently, the Avatar is an undisciplined delinquent who is woefully unprepared," grumbled Camila.

"And that, would be the impolite way to put it," sighed Han dejectedly.

"More like honest," corrected Camila. She turned to look at Iroh. "Jeong Jeong reported in not too long ago. His assessment of the boy was... depressingly critical."

Han scratched the side of his head before shrugging. "Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a report from Jeong Jeong before that was longer than a single sentence. His latest missive of the young Avatar was... quite detailed. And not very positive. Especially since the lad abandoned his training to go off on a fool's errand in the Fire Nation, alone."

The frown on Iroh's face deepened. This was grave news indeed. The White Lotus order existed to support the Avatar in his quest to restore balance to the world. "Have we found out where Avatar Aang has gone?" asked Iroh as he considered their next move.

Shaking his head, Han answered, "By all accounts, Avatar Aang was headed towards the Magma Slags, but we never crossed paths. Perhaps the boy got lost?"

"We'll need to mobilize all our members in the Fire Nation to track him down," assessed Iroh with a sigh. They needed to find the Avatar soon. The Fire Nation was not the most ideal place for the young airbender to be wandering around alone in.

Camila cracked a kink in her neck. Rubbing the back of her head with her hand, the old earthbendering master stated, "Yeah, well, we might have some trouble on that end ourselves. A number of our members have gone dark. And I'm talking completely unresponsive."

That sparked alarm bells for the Dragon of the West as he struggled to sit up once more. "Have our members been discovered?"

"Not so much," grumbled Camila. "More like they simply just aren't of the same mindset as the rest of the order anymore."

Iroh narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Remember Xai Bau?" prompted Han.

"The political philosopher?" slowly recalled Iroh.

"Yeah, that's him," nodded Camila. "He's been raising dissent amongst our ranks. Convincing people that the White Lotus order is weak and that the Avatar isn't the answer to restoring the world. And with Avatar Aang acting the way the young airbender has been acting for the last couple of months... well, let's just say Xai Bau's been gaining a lot more support, a lot faster than we realized."

"Probably also not great that Xai Bau's been in charge of recruitment for the last couple of years too," added Han with frustration. "Who knows how long he's been planting seeds for this discourse?"

Iroh frowned at the new influx of information. The Dragon of the West hadn't talked to Xai Bau in a couple of years, but Iroh had once served as a mentor to the philosopher. The scholar had always been opinionated in his beliefs, but Iroh had always thought the man to be upright and just. Apparently, their paths had diverged somewhere since they had last met.

The old General raised his head as he turned to Han. "Do we know where Xai Bau is now?"

"Last we heard, the dissenter was on Jasmine Island, stirring up unrest," stated Han as he continued to guide the wagon along.

"What?! He's where?!" nearly shouted Iroh uncharacteristically before gripping his side as the outburst caused his injuries to flare up.

"Settle down," urged Camila. "I'd rather not have to have Han stop the wagon because you break one of you stitches. What's got your knickers in a twist anyhow? It's not like you to get so upset."

Breathing in and out a couple of times to settle himself and to ease the pain on his wounds, Iroh gingerly removed his hand from his side and sighed. "You're right. Forgive my outburst. Jasmine Island is just special to me, that's all."

The Dragon of the West wasn't anymore forthcoming with details until he glanced over at Camila, who was clearing wearing an expression that indicated that she wasn't going to let the Grand Lotus off with that simplistic of an explanation. Han kept his gaze forward on the road, but it didn't take a genius to see that he too was interested in knowing the real reason.

Iroh sighed again, before asking a question, "Do you recall 'the Devastation?'"

"You mean that Fire Nation invasion of Jasmine Island by Admiral Yueya? Of course we know about it," answered Camila sternly. "Did you have something to do with it?"

The Dragon of the West shook his head. "Not me, my Son." Camila nodded in understanding as Iroh elaborated, "Lu Ten was serving under Admiral Yueya at the time. But when he witnessed the destruction and chaos the Admiral was causing to people just trying to live peaceful lives, my Son sided with the local protectors. Together with the people of Jasmine Island, he was successful in routing the attack and driving the Fire Nation forces from the island."

"And Lu Ten somehow didn't get court-martialed for turning on a superior?" pressed Camila in surprise.

Laughing slightly as he kept a measure on his wounds, Iroh stated, "Admiral Yueya never discovered the role Lu Ten played in saving Jasmine Island. Lu Ten wore a mask to hide his identity. A disguise that he revealed to me only once. A curious thing, it was. A mask of a blue and white faced grinning spirit. Something that I believe Lu Ten gave his Cousin as a souvenir after he returned home on shore leave."

"Most impressive," approved Camila with a laugh of her own.

"After that, I transferred Lu Ten under my command. That... was before our fateful march to Ba Sing Se," finished Iroh solemnly. "When Lu Ten passed, I resolved to myself to ensure that no further harm would come to Jasmine Island, to the place that my Son sought to protect at great risk to himself."

"And now Xai Bau's there, stirring up trouble," noted Han as he guided the dragon moose along.

"Well, that settles that," declared Camila with no room for anyone else to question. "Guess we're headed to the nearest port and then onward to Jasmine Island."

As Han adjusted their course, Iroh spoke up once more. "As much as I appreciate the support, there are more pressing concerns we must address here in the Fire Nation. The young Avatar must be found. And there is little time left before the Day of Black Sun. We need to remain focused on my Brother's next move."

Now, it was Camila's turn to smirk. "You don't know, do you?"

"There are few newspapers in the Magma Slags," replied Iroh. "I'd imagine that there are a great many things that occurred during my stay in such crude accommodations that I am unaware of."

Camila appeared almost downright giddy to be the one to explain to the Grand Lotus all the latest triumphs of the Fire Prince; from stopping the Southern Raiders in the South Pole, to rallying Jeong Jeong's full support in creating a resistance force of former deserters, to joining forces with Water Tribe sailors and Earth Kingdom soldiers, to solving internal, domestic problems within the Fire Nation. The old earthbending master's smirk only continued to grow as she observed the surprise slowly transform into pride and happiness on Iroh's face as he listened to the stories about his Nephew.

---

"Where are we going?" asked Katara as she was led by the hand in the low light, early morning hours. "The sun's not even up yet."

"It's a bit of a surprise," answered Zuko cryptically as he moved a low hanging tree branch out of the way. "Careful now, should be just up ahead."

The Water Tribe girl moved forward as the Fire Prince held the foliage back. Moving past the tree, the ground began to slope upward gradually. Ascending the incline using only the cover of stars above, the pair of them managed to reach the plateau of a flat hill.

The scattered trees of the nearby forest remained a fair distance from the hill crest, providing a break in the canopy that allowed the slowly brightening sky overhead to be seen. The sounds of wildlife could be heard as early morning animals began to stir in the wildness.

As she took in the sight, Katara asked in amazement, "How did you find this place?"

Setting down the covered basket that he had been carrying along, Zuko replied, "Hama had a map of the nearby area hanging above the dining room table. I hoped that this place had a good view. And it looks like I was right."

The Fire Prince was indeed right. From this spot on the grassy knoll, both the firebender and waterbender had an excellent view of the nearly fallen moon as the celestial orb descended below the lone mountaintop on the island. The warming orange and pink hues of the slow rising sun were mere moments away from peeking out from the far off horizon.

"So you stole me out here to watch the sunrise with you?" smirked Katara. "How daring. What would the others think?" she teased.

"Well, if Sokka would ever get up before noon, then maybe we could ask him," smirked Zuko in return. Then, he shrugged. "Jin would probably say that we aren't sneaking around by ourselves nearly enough."

That caused the Water Tribe girl to laugh. "You're probably right about that."

Spreading the wool woven blanket across the open field on the hill, Zuko motioned for Katara to sit down next to him. "There was another reason why I wanted to bring you out here. I thought that... well..." The Fire Prince seemed suddenly unsure about his own idea. "I thought that, maybe, it would be a good thing to center yourself with some meditation before you started your waterbending training with Hama today."

"Mediation?" echoed Katara, a little perplexed. For all the times that she had observed Zuko meditating in the early morning during their travels, it only just now dawned on her that she had never once attempted to join him in his concentration. She had always been content with simply allowing him his space to focus. Perhaps she had felt like she might have been intruding if she got too close when Zuko was meditating or maybe she just didn't want to disturb him when he seemed so at peace. But now, here the Fire Prince was, willingly offering to share his early morning ritual with her.

The firebender appeared anxious when he heard the doubtful response from the Water Tribe girl. "I... umm... I figured that you might be a little nervous about learning from an actual waterbending master. But... ah, this was a silly idea. Never mind, you don't have to meditate."

Katara grabbed the Fire Prince's arm as the firebender turned to dig into the basket. "No. It's not silly at all," the waterbender stated earnestly. "I'm flattered that you want to help me get ready to train with Hama. You've always been encouraging my waterbending. Thank you."

As the Fire Prince hid the blush on his face with a turn of his head while muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "You're welcome," Katara attempted to adopt one of the meditative poses that she had seen Zuko assume dozens of times throughout their travels. Needless to say, the Water Tribe girl's posture was amateurish at best.

If the uncomfortable knot in her back wasn't already a clear enough indication, the obviously judgmental stare of the Fire Prince definitely meant that the waterbender was doing the exercise wrong. "This is harder than you make it look," admitted Katara as she shifted her weight around. "Any pointers?"

"Make sure your back is straight, yet relaxed. Your head and neck should be aligned over your spine, and rest your arms in your lap comfortably," offered Zuko. He took one of his regular meditative poses. "Like this."

Katara studied the Fire Prince's form for a moment before making some corrections and asking, "Is this better?"

"Your shoulders look very stiff. Meditation is sort of like waterbending. You want to stay loose and relaxed," assessed Zuko.

Shaking out her shoulders, Katara suggested, "Do you mind helping me? Like you did back when you first helped me with learning waterbending forms?"

A blank look remained on Zuko's face for a moment as he thought back to what the waterbender was getting at, until suddenly the blush on his face returned full force. "Uh, yeah... I can do that," he managed to get out.

Getting up, the firebender knelt down behind the Water Tribe girl as he massaged her shoulders softly, kneading though the tension in her muscles. Katara could feel her stress melting away as she loosened up. It seemed that Zuko had been right after all. She had been more nervous than she had realized about learning waterbending from a true waterbending master.

However, despite the tautness of her muscles slowly alleviating, another emotion began bubbling to surface. The Water Tribe girl hadn't realized it in the moment that she had asked, but now she was rapidly becoming aware of the close proximity of the Fire Prince's presence as he continued to massage her shoulders with great care.

Placing her hand on top of Zuko's, Katara felt the firebender cease his massaging of her shoulders. Adjusting her head upward, the waterbender gathered her courage as she gestured for the firebender to draw his head closer. Obliging, Zuko didn't seem overly surprised when the Water Tribe girl pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Above, shimmering reddish-orange and lavender pink tones enveloped the retreating black and deep purple hues as the novel sun levitated higher and higher.

As the pair of them paused a moment to breath, Zuko whispered, "We're missing the sunrise."

"There'll be another sunrise," teased Katara as the two of them kissed once more.

By the time the waterbender and firebender finished their make-out session, all hints of the shadow of night had long since been erased from the sky. Any inkling of continuing with meditation appeared to be out the window too. But at least Zuko had succeeded in breaking Katara's tension before training with a waterbending master, even if the method he had achieved that feat hadn't been the one he had originally intended.

As the two of them sat back down on the wool blanket, they looked at one another before Katara laughed merrily and said, "Thanks. It's been a while since we've been able to enjoy each other's company like this."

"With everything that's happened since we left Camila's ranch up until now, it's definitely been different than when it was just you and me traveling together aimlessly across the Earth Kingdom plains," agreed Zuko. "We have so many more responsibilities now."

"True," acknowledged the waterbender. "But we also have so many more friends to help us now too."

Thinking back, the Fire Prince realized that his girlfriend was right. Jin and Sokka were right at their side, but they had also gained the support of several others along the way too: Camila, Han, Hudson, Than, Ying, Faye, Hakoda and the Southern Water Tribe warriors, Toph, Gran-Gran and the Wolf's Cove village, Jeong Jeong, Chey, and the Fire Nation deserters, Piandao. Zuko had long since stopped hoping to ever have this many people in his corner. He never had this kind of support before he had been truly exiled. It seemed the Fire Prince was better at gaining support outside the Fire Nation than within it.

Reflecting on what he had gained, Zuko almost missed Katara's follow-up question of, "Do you miss it? The freedom of the us just traveling by ourselves?"

Glancing over at the Water Tribe girl, it was fairly easy to see that she was split in her consideration of her own question. Answering honestly, Zuko stated, "I miss it a bit, yes. But I don't think either of us are the type to abandon a job halfway. Everyone's counting on this surprise attack plan to work."

Opening the basket that had been left off to the side since they had arrived, Zuko carefully removed a teapot and a pair of ceramic teacups. With purpose, the Fire Prince delicately placed the drinkware onto the blanket.

Katara watched with rapt interest. She had never seen Zuko focus so closely on handling tea before. Usually, the Fire Prince just quickly wolfed down whatever beverage that had accompanied their meals.

As the firebender warmed the teapot with delicate firebending just enough to heat the refined liquid within the kettle, the waterbender began to smell an enchanting medley of fragrant aromas. Curious, she asked, "That smells absolutely divine. What kind of tea is it?"

"It's an infusion of jasmine and ginseng," explained Zuko. Then, after a moment, he admitted, "It's my Uncle's favorite, and the only blend I actually know how to make. It... uh..." The Fire Prince sighed once before continuing his admission. "It took me several hours to remember exactly how Uncle brews it."

Katara smiled as she thought back to Zuko telling her to wait at the front door while he darted into the kitchen to grab the small basket. "Is that why you didn't want me to see inside the kitchen?"

A faint smile graced the firebender's own face in return. "There's a lot of dishes in there that I still need to clean up and countless failed concoctions that I doubt even Sokka could bear to stomach."

That got a laugh from the Water Tribe girl as she happily accepted the cup of warm tea that Zuko offered her. Both of them raised their glasses in salute to Iroh's recipe.

Taking a small sip of the inviting tea, Katara allowed the harmonious flavors to dance across her tongue. She tasted the earthy, bitter cut of the ginseng root as sweet floral notes of the jasmine blossom balanced the drink. Just as she thought that she had experienced all the flavors, a burst of oaky sweetness appeared that elevated the tea even more.

As the Water Tribe girl's eyes darted towards the Fire Prince, she noticed the firebender watching her with anticipation as he finished another sip of his own drink. "Vanilla," Zuko answered, before his girlfriend could even ask. "My Uncle's secret ingredient. Took me forever to figure that out."

Both waterbender and firebender shared another amusing round of laugher at that. Producing a plate of shortbread cookies, Zuko added, "I hid some of these yesterday before Sokka could eat them all while we were out shopping. I figured they might be good with the tea."

The Fire Prince might have been right. However, given that both teenagers were hungry this morning from just waking up, any food probably would have paired well with the jasmine tea.

A couple minutes later and only crumbles remained on the once plentiful plate. As the two of them were finishing their cups of tea, the snapping of a twig at the base of the foothill signaled the arrival of an intruder to their otherwise tranquil morning.

"There you are, Katara!" greeted Hama as she waved up the hill towards the Water Tribe girl. A well hidden frown flickered across the old innkeeper's features for the faintest of moments as she noticed the boy at Katara's side. Then, the cheerful facade returned as Hama added, "I had thought we might get an early morning start on your training, but it appears that you're an earlier riser than I am. I hope you've at least eaten something."

Waving back at the old innkeeper, Katara stood up. "Good morning Hama! Zuko was just treating me to a cup of tea and a light breakfast. I'll be right along!"

"I see that," returned the old waterbending master. "I also saw the messy state he left my kitchen in. I have no doubt that will be resolved before midday, right? Young man?" There was a sharpness in Hama's tone as she addressed the Fire Prince.

Zuko sheepishly nodded in acknowledgement of knowing that he needed to clean up the kitchen once he returned to the inn.

Taking one last sip of her tea, the Water Tribe girl turned back over to the Fire Prince as she handed him the now empty teacup. "I'm sorry that I have to run. Thank you for this morning. I had a wonderful time with you. Wish me luck!" The waterbender was practically bouncing up and down with excitement as the notion of learning from an actual waterbending master. It had been her initial reason for leaving the South Pole after all.

Accepting the empty teacup, Zuko answered, "You'll do great. Of that, I have no doubt." The Fire Prince's eyes glanced over at Hama and for the briefest of instances, he could of sworn that he had seen a dark glare on the innkeeper's face as their eyes locked. And then, just like that, the questionable look of contempt on the old waterbending master's face was gone, replaced with a matronly smile as Hama greeted Katara and guided her towards the nearby field where they were going to train.

In fact, the look of scorn had been so brief and Hama's cheerful banter with Katara as the two waterbenders walked away had been so authentic, that Zuko started second-guessing if what he had thought he had noticed had been real or not. Despite his initial misgivings of the innkeeper, Hama had been nothing but kind to their group for the last few days. And she was even willing to take Katara under her wing and teach her actual waterbending forms. For that, Zuko was grateful.

Dismissing Hama's possible look of contempt as a trick of the early morning light, Zuko carefully gathered up the teapot and cups, replacing them in the basket as he folded up the wool blanket. Ensuring he had gathered everything that had been brought to the grassy knoll, the Fire Prince returned to the inn.

---

Walking into a clearing a good distance from the village, but still nearby to Hama's inn, the two waterbenders slowly approached a meadow of red and orange wildflowers in the distance.

"Growing up in the South Pole, waterbenders are totally at home within their own element, surrounded by snow and ice and seas. Water is bountiful," lectured Hama. She stopped the pair near a rocky outcropping. "But, as you have probably noticed on your travels, that is not the case wherever you go."

Katara nodded in agreement. "I know. There have been several times when my waterskins have run low and I see my usefulness in a fight quickly decrease. Especially during longer fights. During those times, I feel like there is almost nothing I can do." Hama listened as her young waterbender pupil continued. "Once, when we were struggling against some brutes in a little Earth Kingdom village, I ran into trouble when all my water mixed with dirt and became a muddy mess."

The elder woman raised her index finger to make a point. "And that is why you have to learn how to control water... wherever is exists."

The young Water Tribe girl thought deeply for a moment before answering. "You mean, like being able to separate water from the mud once again? Believe me, I've tried. It's very tricky to pull off."

"Not bad, but that is still a limited way of thinking," explained Hama. "Did you know that you could even pull water out of thin air?" As a demonstration, Hama whipped her hand around to manipulate the water vapor in the air, liquefying it and coating her fingertips with ice claws. "You must keep an open mind, my young waterbender. There is water in places you might never think to look otherwise." With a flick of her wrist, Hama released the ice claws into a nearby tree as they sunk swiftly into the trunk with a dull thud.

Katara observed in amazement. "The moisture in the air," she muttered, catching on quickly. "I never even considered that." The Water Tribe girl attempted to copy what she seen from Hama. Nothing happened at first. This technique clearly more difficult than Hama made it appear.

The old innkeeper was about to give Katara another tip, when she saw the struggling young waterbender pause and breath in and out slowly in concentration, centering herself similarly to the accursed firebenders plaguing the countryside. Hama frowned at the sight. Especially when Katara tried again and somewhat managed to create a single ice claw on her ring finger.

"I did it! Sort of!" cheered the young Water Tribe girl excitedly as she appeared proud of her noticeable progress.

"No, you didn't," critiqued Hama harshly, her tone more stern than Katara had heard it before. Crossing her arms, the waterbending master ordered, "Let me see the basics. Show me your regular waterbending."

Feeling a bit more nervous now, Katara slipped into a waterbending form as had created herself and began to demonstrate her style of waterbending, using the water in her canteens. Stealing a peek at Hama, Katara noticed the old master's expression full of disapproval. Missing a step, the stream of water Katara had been bending waivered and splashed onto the ground.

"It's worse than I realized," grumbled Hama. "You've never had any formal training, have you?" It wasn't really a question. Hama clearly already knew the answer from observing the young waterbender's form.

Shaking her head, Katara sighed. "I'm self-taught." That used to be something that the Water Tribe girl took pride in, being able to have come this far through her own hard work and tireless effort. But now, in front of a true waterbending master, one from her own Tribe no less, someone who Katara had been hoping to impress, that fact was seeming more like a disadvantage.

After a moment, Katara added, "I've received some tips from other benders, but you're the first actual waterbender that I've met." True, there had been the ancient water spirit and the Lion Turtle, but Katara didn't think right now was a good time to bring them up. And besides, Hama was the first human waterbending master the Water Tribe girl had come across.

Hama seemed to be considering something intensely, which only twisted at the unease and apprehension that Katara was already feeling all the more. Opening her eyes, Hama firmly glared at the young waterbender. "Do you truly wish to learn the proper ways of waterbending?"

Nodding her head vigorously, Katara eagerly replied, "Yes, more than anything."

"I am not a lenient teacher. I am quite strict and I will demand that you follow my instructions to the letter," demanded Hama. "As the last two remaining Southern waterbenders, we have a responsibility to ensure our art is not lost."

"I want to learn," readily stated Katara. "I'll start from the basics if I have too."

Hama motioned for the two of them to change locations to a nearby stream. "Then, we'll start with a water source. The techniques I had wanted to teach you today will have to wait until you get rid of the bad habits that you have already developed."

"Bad habits?" parroted Katara, slightly perplexed.

"Your form. There was no rhythm or grace. Waterbending is fluid. We act in concert with our environment, flowing from one move to the next," explained Hama. "What I saw from you was a hodgepodge of attempting to direct the water where you wanted it to go, instead of moving with the watering and guiding its path."

Confused, Katara asked, "Aren't those kind of the same thing?"

Shaking her head, Hama replied, "They are completely different. We are not crude earthbenders. We do not slam our element brutishly against a problem. We are not like the airbenders in the old stories. We do not flutter around the battlefield doing nothing of value. And we are especially, not firebenders. We do not force our will onto our element and attempt to control something that we have no business controlling." Hama paused to settle herself, her comment about firebenders riling her up.

The old innkeeper stared firmly at the young Water Tribe girl, as she continued, "We are waterbenders. We work with our element. We flow with the energy. Our defense becomes our offense. We turn our opponent's attacks back on them. And to do that, we move with the water. We don't attempt to control it."

The pair of waterbenders reached a small running brook, surrounded by thin trees and small shrubs. There, Katara began her formal training under Hama's critical instruction. And while the old innkeeper clearly had a strict side to her, Katara was grateful for the diligent teacher. Hama was tough, but fair. As Katara saw it, the old waterbending master only wanted what was best for the young Water Tribe girl, and that was ensuring Katara was the very best waterbender that she could be.

---

"And why are we shopping again today?" vexed Sokka as he walked through the marketplace with his two friends. "We just did this yesterday."

"Yes, but I made a mess of Hama's kitchen this morning, and I want to make it up to her by restocking the food we've eaten," replied Zuko as he indicated to a shop vendor for some of the fruit on sale.

"Okay, but why are we here too then? Jin and I didn't make a mess of the kitchen," grumbled Sokka as he accepted the basket of fresh fruit the Fire Prince placed in his hands. "In fact, we didn't even get breakfast this morning, because Hama went searching for you and Katara. And you rushed us out here after cleaning up the place. If anything, you owe us lunch," reasoned the Water Tribe boy.

"Fine, fine, I'll buy you lunch," sighed Zuko as he paid the vendor and moved on to the next stall.

Jin and Sokka grinned at the prospect of a free lunch. "That was pretty clever of you, guilt tripping him like that," whispered the earthbender to the Water Tribe boy.

"I learn from the best," replied Sokka as he adjusted the basket of fruit in his hands. The Earth Kingdom girl felt pride in Sokka's compliment of her. Or at least she did, until the Water Tribe boy spoke up again. "Toph's great at guilt tripping people into doing things." That earned him a punch to the shoulder as Jin marched forward to catch up to Zuko while Sokka was left wondering what he did.

As Zuko ordered some fresh bread, Jin asked him, "Still though, I'm a bit surprised that you're doing all this for Hama, just because you made a mess of her kitchen. This is a little above and beyond for you. There wouldn't happen to be another reason, would there?"

The Fire Prince paused at Jin's curiosity. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Oh, really?" returned Jin as she stretched her hands over her head. "So you're not trying to get on Hama's good side to make up for the fact that you were so suspicious of the woman to begin with? And because, I don't know, Katara's completely grateful for finally finding a master to train under? Not to mention that Hama's from the same village as your girlfriend?"

"What?! No..." denied Zuko as he accepted the bread from the shop keep and handled the loaves to Sokka to carry as the Water Tribe boy approached his friends. Under Jin's inquisitive eye, the Fire Prince begrudgingly added, "I mean, of course, I'm appreciative of Hama teaching Katara. And I do feel bad for being doubtful of Hama to begin with. But I don't need to get on the woman's good side."

"Uh-huh," seemingly accepted Jin as she pointed to the box of cookies sitting on the baker's counter. "Then, you wouldn't mind if I took those cookies you just bought, would you?"

The firebender swiftly swiped the box of cookies and slipped him into the bag he was carrying. "Uh... actually, I'll hold onto these. I need to make sure that Sokka doesn't eat them on the way back to the inn."

"Because you need to replace the last of the cookies from Hama's kitchen pantry that you took to share with Katara this morning?" pressed Jin with a sly smile.

"No... because..." the Fire Prince struggled to come up with a decent response. Finally, he muttered in defeat, "Ugh... You're too insightful for your own good, Jin."

Digging into his pockets, Zuko handed the Earth Kingdom girl some money. "Here, you and Sokka go find some place for us to eat lunch. I'll get the last of the foodstuffs by myself and join you two in a couple of minutes."

Accepting the bribe to stop teasing the firebender for the moment, the earthbender relished in her victory as she tossed the small leather bag in the air once, before catching it deftly. "You should know better than to think that you can keep anything from me," gloated Jin smugly.

Watching the Earth Kingdom girl point Sokka in the direction of a nearby meat skewer stall, Zuko walked into the nearby general store to grab the last item on his list. "Some jasmine tea leaves, please," ordered Zuko as he addressed the store owner. He needed to replace the copious amounts of excess tea leaves he had wasted brewing several failed concoctions this morning after all.

As the shop keep collected the requested bundle of items, the Fire Prince's eye was drawn to several various ribbon spools up on a shelf behind the counter. Almost all of them were traditional Fire Nation reds and golds. However, one of the spools caused to Zuko find himself asking, "How much for that ribbon?"

The shop keep paused in her work of wrapping up the jasmine tea leaves to look to where the firebender was pointing. "That one? You can have it for free with the amount of tea leaves you're buying already. You'd be doing me a huge favor actually."

"How's that now?" asked Zuko as the store owner handled him both the wrapped bundle of tea leaves and the strand of ribbon.

"It was a factory defect," admitted the shop keep as she shrugged. "Been taking up shelf space for the last couple of months now. No one wants the thing even after I marked it down repeatedly."

Zuko could understand why. After all, who in the Fire Nation would typically want a piece of ribbon with so much blue fabric? The strand of ribbon was a good length and about an inch in width, half of that split horizontally with the top half traditional Fire Nation crimson and the bottom half a shade of dark azure. Useless for most Fire Nation projects, but perfect for the idea that had sparked in the firebender's mind when he first saw the ribbon.

Pocketing the ribbon, Zuko thanked the store owner and walked outside to join his friends. Unsurprisingly, Sokka had a meat skewer in either hand, chomping away greedily as Jin laughed at the Water Tribe boy's antics.

"Save one of those for me?" asked the Fire Prince as he approached his friends.

"That depends, are we done shopping yet?" grumbled Sokka.

Handing the firebender an extra meat skewer, Jin pointed towards a tent on the opposite side of the street. "Don't mind him. He's just a bit grouchy that I didn't let him get more than two meat skewers. Anyway, hurry up and eat, because I want to check that place out."

Glancing over at the red and white striped tent, the Fire Prince asked, "And that place is?"

"The lady selling the meat skewers said it's a traveling fortune teller!" answered Jin excitedly. "I want to get our fortunes read!"

Sokka coughed and started to choke on a piece of meat. Punching himself several times in the ribcage with the side of his fist, the Water Tribe warrior eventually cleared his airway as both of his friends looked at him with concern. "You alright there?" asked the Earth Kingdom girl.

"Fortune telling is just a bunch of nonsense," grumbled Sokka. "I should know. Aang and I had the misfortune of encountering a fraudulent fortune teller back in the Earth Kingdom named Aunt Wu. She was just a really good con artist. Playing on people's imaginations and getting others to make her 'predictions' come true." The Water Warrior used air quotes to describe what he thought of Aunt Wu's divinations.

Jin laughed at the Water Tribe boy. "Of course fortune telling doesn't always come true. But that's half the fun! It's all about letting someone guess about what's to come and then seeing how accurate they are. Sometimes you might get to consider a possibly that you wouldn't have thought about otherwise. But you shouldn't take their predictions too seriously."

Sokka mulled over the Earth Kingdom girl's viewpoint on fortune telling. Pulling the last piece of meat from his wooden skewer, the Water Tribe boy reluctantly grumbled, "Well, when you put it that way, I guess it couldn't hurt to check the place out."

Zuko shrugged. "Never talked to a fortune teller before."

Pulling the arms of both boys, Jin guided her friends over to the red and white striped tent. Poking her head inside first, she announced, "Hello! Are you open? We were hoping to get our fortunes read."

Sitting inside the dark tent, covered completely in a midnight azure shaded full-bodied heavy robe, sat the fortune teller. A rich golden trim lined the robe's shawl and a wide hood obscured every facial feature in shadow, save for the man's pointed chin.

Several candles lined the rounded edges of the tent interior, while a circular rug with intricate purple and amber symbols was spread across the base of the floor. A small table was positioned in front of the man with a couple of soft, lilac colored pillows on the opposite side for customers to sit on.

As Jin, Sokka, and Zuko claimed their spots, with the Earth Kingdom girl directly in the middle and clearly the most interested to be there, the cloaked man tapped a small glass bottle with some money inside. Dropping the last of the lunch money that Zuko had given her into the jar, Jin stated, "Is that enough?"

The fortune teller nodded as he withdrew the money container with a wave of his arm. With a sweep of his other arm, all the candles in the tent interior, save for three directly behind the fortune teller, were extinguished.

'Is this guy a firebender?' considered Zuko as his focus heightened.

However, the cloaked man simply spread a deck of cards across the dimly lit table. Holding both sides of the deck, the fortune teller caused the cards in the line to surf back and forth as the three teenagers watched.

"I could do that," grumbled Sokka. Jin quickly shushed him as she continued to observe.

Flicking a single card from the stack, the prophet caught it before sliding it towards Sokka. "The Temperance card. Your future has changed since you last had your fortune read, hasn't it? Where there was once only struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted, there is now acceptance. Like metal in a forge, undergoing extreme temperatures and pressure, you too, are being honed into something more than you once were."

The skepticism that had been plastered all over Sokka's face ever since walking into the tent had been replaced with newfound interest as the Water Tribe boy placed an elbow on the table and leaned closer. "So you're saying I'm becoming a great warrior?" He glanced over at Jin. "Maybe this fortune telling stuff isn't so bad."

The dark azure cloaked man's hand lashed out again as he plucked two cards from the line-up this time and revealed them towards Jin. "The Magician and the Chariot. You have awoke a dormant power inside of you recently. A grand achievement, a sign of empowerment, and in such a short span of time. The world has become more accessible to you. But caution must be observed as it is possible to magnify mistakes when you grow too fast. The Charioteer is called upon to be extra attentive to the way ahead in order to ensure a safe journey for you and your friends."

"Hmm..." considered Jin as she listened to her fortune being read. She was a little astonished that this fortune teller may have been talking about her recent earthbending power. Or perhaps she was just reading too much into it and the man had simply gotten a lucky guess. A new power could have just been a change in attitude, which she had also attained ever since Zuko and Katara helped her to get over the lost of her former village.

Shifting his focus towards the Fire Prince, the prophet didn't miss a beat as he shuffled the deck once more before pulling three cards with a deft sleight of hand. Even the cloaked individual paused for a moment as he seemed slightly taken back for having drawn so many cards. Aligning the cards on the table, the fortune teller stared at the selection for a moment. Then, looking back up at Zuko, the man stated, "The Prophecy of the Three."

Zuko studied the cards on the table. There was an image of what appeared to a village idiot getting mocked by others, a small kid standing next to a baby lamb-calf, and finally an heavily armor-clad soldier with a spear and shield.

The cloaked man explained, "The Fool, simple and selfish, unable to see potential futures despite having all the support in the world. The Child, bright-eyed and pure, filled with unbound hope for tomorrow. And the Warrior, honorable and just, an instrument to make the impossible, possible."

"Those all seem like contradictory roles," deduced Zuko as he finished listening. "How can I be blind to the potential future while still seeking a future that I can't see?"

Off-handedly, Sokka commented, "No one said that you had to be all three of them at the same time. That, or this guy's just making stuff up as he goes. That's what these mystic types do. They bend and twist words and meanings to fit whatever story they want to tell." The Water Tribe boy reached across the table for the remaining deck of cards still spread in a line, the backs of the cards face-up. "Here, could I see the deck for a second? I want to see what other cards there are."

As the Water Warrior's fingers brushed up against one of the cards, the three candles in the back of the tent interior abruptly went out. There was a shuffle in the darkness as the fortune teller stood up sharply and boomed, "Skeptics are not allowed to touch the cards!"

Zuko lit up a flame in his hand with his firebending to provide some light back into the tent. The silhouette of the fortune teller loomed against the curtains of the tent. The man was easily a full head taller than even Sokka, who was the tallest member of their group. A fury raged in the man's piercing golden eyes, the cloaked hood having fallen off in the outburst. Long pale, almost bluish-silver, hair flowed past the fortune teller's shoulders.

"Look!" observed Jin as she pointed at the table. A single face-up card remained on the horizontal surface; an image of a tall, vertical column being struck harshly by lightning. As the three teens looked at it, the prophet chuckled menacingly through a deep voice. "The Tower."

As Zuko looked back at the fortune teller, the Fire Prince was startled to see striking deep red eyes glaring back at him. The firebender could have just sworn the man's eyes had been amber not even a moment ago.

The prophet took his time explaining, drawing out each word deliberately. "The harbinger of disaster. Upheaval and despair. Inevitable and unavoidable. A great tragedy is coming." As the man paused yet again, the candles lit in sequence throughout the interior of the tent, starting from behind the prophet and ending at the front entrance.

With the additional light, Zuko noticed an impossibly large, two-handed scythe hanging on the tent wall behind the fortune teller. As the Fire Prince's focus returned to the prophet, he realized that despite everything going on in the tent, the dark azure cloaked man had never stopped glaring directly at Zuko and his friends.

With one last warning, the prophet gave a final prediction. "The black wind howls. One amongst your group... will shortly perish."

"W-What?!" came the collective gasp from each of the teenagers.

However, the dark azure cloaked man wasn't hearing anymore of it as he corralled his customers out of his shop with a shove. As the heavy tent flap closed behind them and was secured shut, Zuko, Sokka, and Jin stood outside attempting to figure out what had just happened at the end there.

None of the three said anything for several minutes as they replayed the last few minutes over and over again in their heads. Multiple passersby stared curiously at the three petrified teenagers milling about the tent entrance of the wandering fortune teller.

It was the Fire Prince who regained his senses first. "Good going touching the cards, Sokka," blamed Zuko. "You just had to have the fortune teller put a curse on us."

"Me?" protested the Water Tribe boy. "I just wanted to see the deck of cards. Besides, he was just trying to scare us with all those theatrics. I mean come on, he could have picked any of those cards and claimed it was a bad omen. That's what fortune tellers do, they play on both your fears and dreams. Back me up here, Jin."

The Earth Kingdom girl appeared a little more visibly shaken than she had been before she initially urged everyone to visit the traveling fortune teller in the first place. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Sokka's right." The earthbender attempted to compose herself once more. "Like I said earlier, it's just a game. This one ended a bit more intensely than the other fortune tellers I've seen, but he still gave us some interesting predictions to spectate about."

Zuko nodded uneasily without saying anything. To him, it seemed like the Earth Kingdom girl was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince her friends of her words.

---

The better part of the afternoon had passed by the time that Katara had finally managed to get a firm grasp of the waterbending basics that Hama was incessantly running her through. Maybe it was because Katara had been over-thinking it, but finding a sense of rhythm with the ebb and flow of her waterbending had been tricker than normal. It wasn't until the errant memory of dancing with Zuko back at Camila's ranch flickered in her head, that the Water Tribe girl regained her tempo. But once she did, Katara progressed by leaps and bounds with guiding her element along instead of attempting to direct it.

Nodding approvingly at her young pupil, Hama acknowledged, "You learn quickly. That's good." The old waterbending master glanced up at the position of the sun in the sky. "Perhaps we have time enough today for me to still demonstrate what I wished to show you earlier."

With a wave of her arm, Hama guided Katara back over to the multicolored meadow that they had been walking towards originally. The young Water Tribe girl hurried along eagerly, excited at learning a new technique from her master. Hama gestured to the open field surrounding them. "Do you see these flowers?"

"How can I not?" returned Katara. "They're beautiful." Rows upon rows of seven-petaled sunburst flowers of a mixture of red and amber-orange hues spread out all around them.

"They are called fire lilies," explained Hama. "They only bloom a few weeks each year, but they are one of the few things I have come to like about this dreadful country since living here." She raised her arms into a bending stance. "And like all plants and other living things, they are filled with water."

With a sharp, swiveling motion, Hama spun, ripping water from dozens of the fire lilies within close proximity to her and creating a scythe of water that cleanly cleaved a deep indent within a nearby boulder resting in the meadow. The old woman paused afterwards at the exertion.

"That was incredible!" shouted Katara in admiration. It truly was. Being able to perform such powerful bending out of seemingly nowhere. She looked down at the withered flowers with a tinge of sadness. "It's a shame about the fire lilies though."

Hama did not appeared worried about her favorite flowers being destroyed in the least. "They're just flowers. When you are a waterbender trapped in a strange land, you do whatever you must to survive."

Katara nodded. "I know what you mean. I was a Fire Nation prisoner myself before."

"W-What?!" cursed Hama in shock. The elder woman could scarcely believe that the Granddaughter of her best friend had the misfortune to experience a similar fate to her own.

Katara grew a little sorrowful of the memory as it returned. "Earlier this year, I was trying to help some earthbenders escape from a prison rig. It..." the waterbender paused for a moment, "...did not go well. I was captured and held prisoner for several months. There was water nearby, just on the other side of the metal walls, but I could never reach it. I was untrained and my guards were always careful to prevent me from having water to use."

Hama listened with growing anger that another waterbender from the Southern Water Tribes was subject to the same atrocities that she had to suffer and endure.

The young Water Tribe girl pulled up her tunic sleeve on her left shoulder. "They gave me this, when they were about to turn me into a slave." The Fire Nation brand was still solidly burnt into the waterbender's skin.

Hama was absolutely livid right now with barely contained rage. She wanted, needed, to lash out at something or someone. Pulling even more water from another gathering of fire lilies, the old waterbender cleaved the nearby boulder in half this time. A loud crashing sound echoed across the meadow as the diagonally sliced rock fell apart.

Katara's tone switched from being gloomy to hopeful as she watched her master lash out in anger and frustration. Katara covered her shoulder once more. "But it wasn't all bad. Zuko freed me. He was the one to get me away from my captors and made sure that I received medical treatment for the first time in months. When I told him I wanted to travel with him, he allowed me to follow him."

Despite Katara's explanation, Hama was still seething at learning the knowledge that her pupil had once been a Fire Nation prisoner, regardless of how long that had been or how she had been freed.

"Lots of things happened after that," continued Katara as she reminisced lightly with a tiny smile. "Zuko was the first one to actually help me learn how to waterbend properly." She gave a small laugh. "It was funny watching him try, since he's not a waterbender, but somehow, his diligence and persistence paid off and he helped me find a breakthrough. We clashed a lot, early on. Argued about several differences of opinion, but I think that helped us grow closer, you know? We started to understand one another. Although, it took our other friend, Jin, to make us realize just how close we had become."

The older woman froze as she listened to the young waterbender's words. Then, sternly, the old waterbending master stressed, "If you truly wish to become a great waterbender, then you should be focusing on your training right now, not some boy. These are the formulative years. The amount of effort you put into training now will pay great dividends later. You don't have time to waste chasing some silly puppy love."

Shaking her head, Katara argued, "Some time ago, we met this old Guru up on a mountainside. He said something similar, that love gets in the way of responsibilities." Conviction settled into the Water Tribe girl's features. "I want to get stronger so that I can have both. So don't worry, I won't fall behind. I'll get stronger with my waterbending," she affirmed confidently.

"You're being greedy," disapproved Hama sharply. "That kind of thinking is why the Fire Nation is causing so much chaos in the world. They aren't satisfied with what they have and want more. Water Tribesmen know better than that. We know how to live in harmony and to not overreach."

"It's not that," insisted Katara as she continued to refute her master. Thinking for a moment, the Water Tribe girl figured that she could probably trust the connection she felt with another woman of her Water Tribe. "Can I tell you something?"

As Hama nodded, Katara explained, "I need to get stronger, because I keep seeing Zuko put himself in greater and greater danger to protect the rest of us, to protect me. I don't want him to feel like he has to keep doing that."

Shifting slightly, the Water Tribe girl continued, "Soon, we're going to meet up with resistance fighters to overthrow the Fire Lord and end this war. Zuko's going to have a large part to play in that battle, and I'm worried that he might not focus on what he has to do if he's constantly worrying about my safety. I need to get stronger so that he doesn't have to worry."

Katara smiled as she observed the reds and oranges of the fire lilies all around them. The wildflowers really were a sight to behold. The floral scent actually reminded her of tea that she had shared with the firebender this morning. "That's why I've been holding back on telling him just how much he means to me. He needs to focus right now, and I can't be the one distracting him," she whispered softly and mostly to herself.

Hame grit her teeth at what she was hearing from her pupil. This wouldn't do. This just wouldn't do at all. As an elder of the Southern Water Tribe, it was Hama's responsibility to demonstrate to the younger generation the errors in their misguided thinking.

Clearing her throat with a cough, the waterbending master drew Katara's attention before speaking once more. "Tomorrow night, I'll teach you the ultimate technique of waterbending. It is best done during the full moon, when your bending is at the peak of its power. But once mastered, this technique will make you powerful enough that no one can harm you ever again."

The young waterbender was intrigued, but also cautious. "But wait, isn't that dangerous?" Katara asked. "You said that people have been disappearing in this area during the night."

Hama scoffed as she began walking back towards the inn. "Oh, Katara. Two master waterbenders beneath the light of the full moon? I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Unsure, but her interest in learning this ultimate technique outweighing the risks, Katara jogged to catch up as she answered, "Okay, but let's not stray too far from the inn, just in case."

"That's fine. I planned on using a clearing behind the inn for us to train at anyhow," replied Hama. As they walked along, the waterbending master allowed her student to lead the way so that Katara didn't notice the ominous expression spreading across the old innkeeper's face.

---

"How far is it to the prison where Smellerbee and Longshot are being held at?" asked Aang as he walked along the forest path with Suki and Jet.

"Not far," answered Mai as she trailed a couple of steps back, clearly not fully trusting of her travel companions yet. "We were actually almost there before your friends ambushed me."

"You're clearly forgetting that we knocked some sense back into you," refuted Jet crossly. "Or did you enjoy being Azula's puppet?"

As Jet and Mai got into another heated argument, the third one in as many hours, Aang walked closer to Suki. "Thank you again for rescuing me. I would have been in a lot of trouble if you weren't around."

"Don't worry about it," replied Suki with a kind smile. "I'm just happy that I was around to help. A shame that you were out here all alone. I thought you were closer with your other friends. What happened to them?"

Like a dam breaking, Aang wasted no time ranting about his problems. "Sokka's running around the Fire Nation with Zuko trying to save Zuko's Uncle from some prison. That's where I was trying to get to myself. They left me behind just because I was still recovering from fighting Azula in Ba Sing Se."

Suki nodded in understanding. "I fought Azula before myself. I still have the bruises to prove it. The Fire Princess is not one to be trifled with."

"Ain't that the truth!" agreed Aang readily. "I would have died if not for Katara's waterbending saving my life. I was lucky that Katara showed up when she did. She's a powerful bender. Not to mention sweet and kind and awesome and..."

Laughing, Suki interrupted, "Alright, alright, I see that Katara's important to you. And that she's strong. How come she wasn't traveling with you?"

With a sigh, Aang seemed to deflate. "Because she's traveling with Sokka and Zuko. That's why I need to find them. I want to thank Katara for saving me and to apologize for not rescuing her from the prison rig that she was captured on."

The group of four continued on for a bit further. Every couple of steps, Aang would look up and scan the skies, as if searching for something.

Suki took notice as she asked him, "Expecting someone?"

"I'm keeping an eye out for Appa," answered Aang. "I left him a short distance away when I went to help Mai. I haven't seen him since I was captured."

Mai shrugged in response. "Don't look at me. I didn't see any sky bison."

"We've been separated before, and it was terrible," grumbled Aang. "I hate that I don't know where he is right now."

"Do you think he went to find your friends? Do you think he would bring them back to find you?" pressed Suki as she continued to ask the airbender questions.

"Maybe," answered Aang. "But I don't have my sky bison whistle. I left it in a bag on Appa's saddle." 'Another poor planning move. One that Sokka wouldn't have made,' internally critiqued Aang to himself. "I don't know how Appa could find me. I was just hoping to spot him flying around in the skies."

"If we linger out here too long, then it won't just be an imaginary sky bison that we'll run into. There's patrols everywhere," urged Jet as he observed the tree line. He pointed in a far-off direction to their left. "There's one over there." Then, he indicated a ways to the distant right. "And another over there."

As the group crouched, Aang expressed, "Wow, Jet. I didn't even see them until you pointed them out."

"Any Freedom Fighter worth their salt can spot a Fire Nation patrol from miles away," boasted Jet. Then, he sneered at Mai. "That's why we can ambush your clumsy soldiers whenever we want."

Before the weapon mistress could retort and incite yet another argument, Suki interrupted, "Jet's right. There's a lot more patrols than I expected."

Sending a nasty glare at the Freedom Fighter that would have intimidated anyone else, Mai instead stated, "It's probably because I'm long since due to deliver the Avatar to this prison. And I haven't checked in. So the extra patrols are probably looking for my convoy."

"Great, so you're the problem. Big surprise there," grumbled Jet.

"Or the solution," reasoned Suki. "More patrols out here, means less guards inside the prison. We should be able to sneak in easier now."

As the rogue opened his mouth to protest, he paused as he worked out the logic in the Kyoshi Warrior's deduction. "Fine, but it's still this Fire Nation girl's fault for not telling us about the patrols earlier," he claimed, mostly just to argue for argument's sake.

"Oops," mocked Mai as she rolled her eyes at Jet, which only infuriated him more.

"Enough," ended Suki as she gestured towards the nearby prison structure. "Let's get in, get Jet's friends, and get out. Then, we can help the Avatar find his friends." The Kyoshi Warrior looked over at the airbender. "Do you have somewhere to meet up with them?"

"I think they're heading to some place called the Magma Slags," replied Aang. "I was hoping to meet up with them there."

"Ok, so we have a destination for afterwards," nodded Suki as she guided the group of four into a ditch that led towards the sewer entrance for the prison that Mai had told the group about earlier.

---

Scraping sounds raked throughout the lower floor of Hama's inn as the darkness of the evening persisted. A lone candle flickered in the dining room, the same location as the source of the monotone noise.

Zuko blew the rock shavings from his latest etchings into the light blue stone that he was currently completely engrossed in engraving. He had waited until he was sure that everyone had gone to sleep for the night before he had snuck back downstairs to work on his project without any prying eyes. He wanted this to be a surprise, a sort of congratulatory gift for Katara for finally being able to learn waterbending from a master like she had always wanted to. Next to him was a hand drawn sketch of the design he had been thinking about all afternoon, ever since this idea had come to him in the first place.

Checking his design once more, the Fire Prince started to work on the last couple of indents with his small engraving tool. He had been working on this for the better part of the night already and he was quite nearly finished. Which was fortunate, because he wanted his gift to be ready by tomorrow. At dinner, Katara had been excitedly talking about some ultimate waterbending move that Hama was going to teach her the next evening.

The firebender had been so entirely absorbed in his work that he failed to hear the sounds of footsteps walking down the stairs until they were very nearly approaching the dining room. Gripping the scratch paper of his design, Zuko incinerated it instantly with a burst of controlled firebending as he scrambled to hide his almost-completed work in the pocket of his tunic. He didn't need the sketch anymore anyway. He could finish the rest from memory.

The Fire Prince barely managed all that as he noticed the familiar stern look of the innkeeper enter the room. As Hama stared at Zuko for a moment, an awkward unease hovered overhead, before she eventually stated, "I thought I heard someone down here. What's the matter? Trouble sleeping? Or are you a little hungry?"

"Trouble sleeping," picked Zuko, grateful for the options, because he didn't have a good excuse for being down here otherwise prepared. "I've got a lot on my mind. Sometimes it helps to sit and think."

Pulling up a chair, Hama took a seat opposite of the Fire Prince from across the table. "Mind if I tell you a story?"

Shaking his head, Zuko replied, "Not at all."

The innkeeper didn't start right away. Instead, she continued to observe the Fire Prince, almost as if looking into his soul. Or at least that's how Zuko felt anyhow. Then, abruptly, Hama spoke. "It was harrowing, back when I was imprisoned. Every day, none of us knew if that was going to be the last day we ever saw. I watched as my friends, my fellow waterbenders faded away, one by one, withered and wilted due to the lack of food and water we hardly received."

"I'm so-" started Zuko.

"Don't," silenced Hama sharply, shutting the Fire Prince down before he could finish the sympathetic statement. The palm of her hand was extended outward in a gesture that meant to him to stop. "Just don't. You just listen."

Zuko nodded solemnly as Hama started once more. "The guards didn't care if we lived or died. Our well-being was never a priority for them. If we got sick, they simply forgot about us. If we asked for more provisions, they would drop food just out of our reach. Before I knew it, I was the last one left. All my Brothers and Sisters from my Tribe were gone."

Zuko really wanted to ask what kept the old waterbending master going, despite all that lost, but he held his tongue. He didn't want to interrupt a second time.

"I cursed the Fire Nation. Every day and every night, I cursed them," snarled Hama. "They brought this suffering onto me and my people." A solitary beam of moonlight flooded in from the dining room window, bathing Hama in a silvery light and making her hair appear somewhat disheveled.

Shifting slightly in unease, Zuko thought he saw his breath as the temperature of the room chilled a degree or two. The intense look of matronly innkeeper was intimidating.

"And that's why..." stated Hama as she leaned forward in her chair, allowing her sentence to hang in the air for a minute. "...I have to thank you."

"Thank me?" parroted Zuko with bewilderment. The temperature of the room seemed to return to normal as the strained environment that had covered the area dissipated swiftly.

"Katara told me how you rescued her from a fate similar to my own," acknowledged Hama. "Whatever reason you had for doing so, the fact remains that you saved a member of my Tribe."

"I only wish I could have done more," replied the Fire Prince earnestly, sighing as he felt the regret of taking so long to help in the first place. Distracted, he glanced down at the table.

A wicked grin crossed Hama's face. "Oh, but you can." Before Zuko could ask what the old waterbending master meant, and faster than the firebender thought possible, Hama flicked a water whip with the snap of her wrist that brushed alongside the Fire Prince's face, drawing a faint trickle of blood along his cheek. Behind the firebender, a small gash in the interior dining room wall appeared.

Stunned at the unexpected and unprovoked waterbending move, Zuko raised his hand to wipe away the blood before focusing more attentively on the old innkeeper. Bracing himself in the event he needed to respond to another water whip, Zuko began, "What was that-"

"Leave Katara here with me," interrupted Hama sharply as she cut Zuko off. "I can train her to be the strongest waterbender in the world. She has the greatest connection to our element that I have ever seen in the history of our Southern Water Tribe. That water whip is just the tip of the iceberg of what Katara can learn under my tutorage."

Growing serious, the Fire Prince answered back sternly himself. "That's not up to me. If Katara wants to stay, then that's her decision."

"Oh please, I think we both know that Katara won't stay unless you tell her that it's for the best, which it is," countered Hama.

"I'll... talk to her," relented Zuko after a brief pause. As much as he wanted Katara at his side, they were about to head into a large scale battle to assault the Fire Nation Royal City and face the Fire Lord. Maybe he could keep Katara safe here, learning waterbending from a master, instead of being out on the frontlines of the upcoming battle.

However, even as he thought of the possibility, Zuko knew that Katara would never go for it. The Water Tribe girl would never back down from a fight, no matter the danger or the risk. It was one of the many things that Zuko admired about her.

Standing up slowly, Hama stretched out her back with a creaking of her old bones. Then, she gestured for Zuko to accompany her to the kitchen door outside exit. "Follow me for a moment. I've got a bunch of training dummies stored in the storm cellar out back. They would especially help with Katara's training tomorrow. Can you stack them out in the yard?"

"Sure, I can do that," answered Zuko as he stood as well. "But, do I really need to go get them right now? The sun will be up in an hour or two and I can drag Sokka out of bed to make him help out with carrying them too."

"No, no," quickly dismissed Hama. "I want to get Katara started bright and early tomorrow. It would be better to have everything set up before dawn."

When Zuko still looked unsure, the old waterbending master added, "I thought you said that you wished there was more you could do to help Katara. This will most certainly help with that sweet girl's training. You want to help her get stronger, don't you?"

That seemed to win over the Fire Prince. "Alright, let's just be quick about it," he stated as he followed Hama outside.

They soon reached the heavy doors to the storm cellar, which were dug deep on sloped ground and a fair distance from the inn on the other side of an open field. Hama handed Zuko the key to the door. "The training dummies should be just down there," she explained.

Opening the dense, bulky doors, Zuko slowly made his way down the steps leading into the dark storm cellar. Raising a lit lantern that he had brought with him, Zuko held the light source at the base of the stairs to bathe the underground area in a soft yellow-orange glow. "Where exactly are these training dummies? I don't see them," he called back up the stairs.

He didn't get an answer. Glancing back up the stairs, the Fire Prince didn't see innkeeper at the top of the storm cellar anymore. "Hama?" voiced Zuko questioningly. Nothing.

Torn between walking back up the stairs or searching by himself, Zuko choose the latter. He had already promised to bring the training tools out of the storm cellar after all. 'Actually, why does Hama have dummy targets?' asked the Fire Prince to himself as he lifted up a tarp to reveal some dusty crates. It didn't make much sense as to why an old innkeeper would have training constructs on-hand and ready for use. Where these dummies really down here?

Zuko's foot struck a broken barrel in the darkness and he stumbled, catching himself before he completely fell. A shadow raced just outside the edge of the lantern light as several various loose items echoed the noise of something brushing up against them.

Raising the torch in his hands as he crouched into somewhat of a ready position, Zuko noticed a rat scurrying along the wall back into the black recesses of the cellar. Relaxing his stance, Zuko laughed at himself. His lack of sleep for the last two nights was really making him jumpy.

Checking under another tarp, the Fire Prince was pleasantly surprised to find his quarry. Stacked there, under the heavy cloth, were several ancient training dummies. Knocking his fist against the straw head of one of the dummies, Zuko coughed as a plume of dust and smoke stirred into the air. Hacking through the grimy air particles as he waved his hand to clear the area, Zuko noted, "Okay... Cough... Cough... Maybe this explains it. Hama hasn't used these things in years."

Picking up one of the dummies, the construct was heavier than Zuko would have thought a simple scarecrow of wood and straw might weigh. "Oof!" he grunted as he shifted the weight to carry the dummy easier. "Okay, so maybe just one at a time."

Emerging from the underground storm cellar, Zuko found Hama arranging the clearing for Katara's waterbending training. "There you are," commented Hama, barely looking back Zuko as he approached. "Set the dummies up over there," the innkeeper pointed to where she had already outlined on the field where she wanted the training tools.

Nodding, Zuko hammered the training dummy into place. Repeating the process multiple more times, the once sparse field soon became littered with groups of practice targets to strike with waterbending. The old waterbending master even had Zuko hang several wooden boards in the trees for more targets.

The waxing gibbous of the nearly full moon began to fade along the horizon as Zuko finished getting the last of the training constructs into position. "There, that should do it," declared the Fire Prince with a pant to his speech as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. It had been strenuous work, moving all those dummies and arranging them just so. "I'll just grab the lantern and close up the cellar," he stated as he proceeded back downstairs.

Reaching for the nearly spent lantern at the base of stairs, Zuko thought to himself, 'I wonder if Hama will mind if I observe Katara's morning training. I did set up the field after all.' Taking the lantern in hand, the Fire Prince blew out the light and turned to depart as the underground area was once again enveloped in darkness. Only the moonlight flooding in from the entrance provided any luminosity.

At the top of the stairs, standing in the silhouette of the storm cellar doorframe, stood Hama. Untroubled by the sight of the innkeeper, Zuko started up the hard clay steps as he called out. "I'll be right up."

Hama replied, but with a tone too quiet for Zuko to hear. Starting up the steps, the Fire Prince began to ask, "What was that? I couldn't-"

The unlit lantern clamored abruptly to the ground, resounding several times as it rolled down the first few steps and seemed to disappear into the blackness of the underground cellar. But Zuko wasn't concerned with that. No, the Fire Prince was much more distressed by the sudden paralysis that engulfed his entire body.

Each one of his limbs was unresponsive. "What-?!" gasped Zuko as his whole body seized. "What's happening? I can't move!" Grunting with exertion, Zuko focused on just his left front leg, but it would not budge.

This sensation. It wasn't completely unfamiliar. The Fire Prince's veins and arteries constricted. He could feel his blood moving unnaturally. It wasn't pleasant. Like thousands of little needles, each poking him constantly and invasively. Zuko knew this pain. He had experienced it once before. Back on the edge of consciousness.

There was a creaking sound as Hama proceeded down the staircase leisurely, her hands raised as if she was bending. "You..." spat out Zuko, almost as a curse, as the Fire Prince struggled to raise his gaze high enough to see the innkeeper.

"It would have been murder on my back to carry all those training dummies outside by myself," calmly stated Hama as she effortlessly continued her bloodbending. The waterbending master shifted her palms and Zuko spun around, walking deeper into the storm cellar.

"Hama? Why you doing this? What's going on?!" struggled to exclaim Zuko as his futile attempts to regain control of his body persisted.

"The only reason why I haven't disposed of you yet, is because of the fact that you rescued one of my kind from a Fire Nation prison," sneered Hama. "And that is the only good that you have ever done in your miserable life. But don't think for a second that will be enough to spare you from your most egregious sin."

"What are you talking about?" retorted Zuko. "I haven't done anything to you!"

The expression in Hama's facial features contorted into one of complete loathing. "There is no such thing as an innocent firebender." As Zuko's eyes widened, the waterbending master elaborated, "Oh, I know what you are. You may have been smart enough to not use your bending in my presence, but I've been surrounded by firebenders for the majority of my life. I can spot one of your disgusting kind from a mile away. It repulses me even now, that I had to spend so much time putting on such a farce, pretending to tolerate your presence just for the sake of your companions. How much longer until you were going to turn on them? Luring Water Tribe into the Fire Nation."

Zuko's body stopped moving in front of a large iron cage, deep within the underground storm cellar. The Fire Prince felt his limbs extend as Hama secured metal pairs of shackles to bind the movement of both his wrists and his ankles. Then, Zuko's body was lurched into the cage as the door shut behind him rudely.

"Hama! You don't have to do this! What would Katara think if she saw you doing this?" pleaded Zuko as he grasped at some way to get Hama to cease doing whatever it was she was doing to control his body. "We can talk this out."

"I'm done talking to a firestarter. I don't know how you tricked Katara into following you or why she bothered to put up with you for as long as she has, but I'll be damned if I allow a filthy flamehead destroy the life of another Southern waterbender," cursed Hama with scorn in her voice. She patted down Zuko's pockets to ensure he didn't have anything on him that he could potentially use to escape later with.

Pulling out an engraving tool and a carved light blue stone fastened to red and blue striped ribbon, Hama froze. The frown on the waterbending master's face turned absolutely murderous. She glared angrily at the Fire Prince. "Do you even know the meaning behind what this represents?" Hama snarled disdainfully.

"It's a gift for Katara," answered Zuko through clenched teeth. He hadn't given up in his desperate attempts to regain control of his body. "To congratulate her on finally achieving her dream of training with a waterbending master."

Staring at Zuko with a look of utter disbelief, Hama growled, "You know nothing, firebender." Releasing her bloodbending, the waterbending master summoned a brutal torrent of water from her canteen that caused Zuko to slam against the back of the iron cage.

Again, and again, the waterbending master did not stop redirecting the column of water back into the Fire Prince. From different sides and different angles, but with greater and greater force. His limbs bound as they were by the shackles and trapped within a confided cage, Zuko balled himself up as best as he could to defend from the relentless storm.

A couple of minutes later, a bloodied and bruised mess of a Fire Prince lay sprawled across the floor of the cage. The firebender had long since lost consciousness, taking the full brunt of the crashing water for some time now.

Hama loomed over the cage, breathing heavily, her wild hair haggardly increasing the crazed look in the innkeeper's eye. Finally out of water, Hama relaxed out of her bending stance.

Fixing her appearance, Hama secured the lock on the iron cage, clicking it shut with finality. Tugging at the latch to ensure the mechanism was secure, Hama glared down at her battered prisoner. With one final look of disgust, the old waterbending master spit on the unconscious firebender before departing the underground storm cellar.