"I can't believe it…" Aang murmured as he stared at the dark plumes of smoke rising from the city on the horizon. "I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed… untouchable."
"Up until now, it was," Sokka said, folding his arms. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great stronghold left."
"I knew it was a bad sign that there were so many Fire Nation soldiers this close to the city..." Zuko muttered.
"The Fire Nation has tried and failed to take the city for decades," Iroh mused, shaking his head slowly. "We'd all but given up on it. Taking control of Ba Sing Se was deemed a more realistic victory..."
"Now's probably not the best time for a Fire Nation military history lesson, uncle," Zuko admonished.
Aang couldn't help but agree.
"This is horrible," Katara said, walking up next to him. "But we have to move on."
Aang frowned. "No. I'm going in to find Bumi."
"It's too dangerous," Zuko argued, his brow furrowing. "Katara's right. We shouldn't stay here. The entire surrounding area is probably crawling with Fire Nation troops."
"I don't care!" Aang snapped angrily in reply.
While he felt slightly guilty when the Fire Prince flinched in response to his outburst, he shook his head and turned to flick his glider open.
"Aang, stop," Sokka interjected just as he crouched down to prepare for takeoff. "We don't even know if Bumi is still..."
"What?" Aang demanded, whipping back around. "If he's still what?"
"…A–around," Sokka finished unsurely, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I do believe there's a chance Bumi is still alive," Iroh interjected, placing his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Though there's no way to be certain if they kept him in the city... On one hand, it might make sense for them to keep him here if they want to get information out of him, but on the other hand, his presence makes things that much more risky if he were to escape."
"Uncle, you're not helping," Zuko grumbled.
"If there's even a small a chance he's in there, I have to try to find him," Aang urged desperately.
"I know you had your heart set on Bumi," Katara said kindly, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "But there are other people who can teach you earthbending."
He narrowed his eyes at the waterbender and pulled his shoulder out of her grip. "This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend."
Despite several more attempts to deter Aang from attempting to break into the city to rescue the mad king, the airbender's stubbornness refused to wane. Thus, Zuko decided it was better to go with him than let him go by himself. Everyone else seemed to feel similarly.
"There," Aang said. "That's how we're gonna get in."
Zuko peered over the edge of the saddle to see that they were swooping down towards the edge of a narrow cliff, where a round, metal door was protruding from the earth.
As he, Katara, Sokka, and Iroh donned their hooded cloaks, Aang hopped onto the top of the door and began attempting to pry it open with his staff.
"A secret passage?" Sokka asked as they each dismounted. "Why didn't we just use this last time?"
With a bang, Aang at last managed to get the door open, and a wave of sludge poured out of the hole. The smell that immediately hit Zuko's nostrils nearly made him gag.
"Ugh!" Sokka exclaimed, pinching his nose.
"That answer your question?" Aang replied cheekily with a smirk before hopping inside the sewage tunnel, Katara following swiftly after him.
"You're really expecting us to trudge through this?" Zuko shouted into the tunnel, cringing as he yanked his foot away from the flow of sewer slime that was still pouring out of the hole.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Sokka grumbled.
Aang stopped and turned around. "Well, you guys are welcome to wait out there," he replied, narrowing his eyes as an annoyed look appeared on his face. "I'm not going to let a little sewage get in the way of finding Bumi."
Zuko looked at Iroh with a desperate expression, and the old man blinked in surprise.
"Don't look at me. You think I can stop him?"
"You could at least try," Zuko huffed as Aang continued to look at them expectantly.
"It's okay, Zuko," Katara said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Aang and I can bend the sewage out of the way. As long as you stick close to us, we can avoid getting covered in muck."
Zuko stared at the waterbender apprehensively, then looked back down at the sludge. He tried not to gag again as another wave of stench wafted up his nose.
"Here, nephew," Iroh said, pulling something out of his sleeve pocket. "You can use it to cover the bottom half of your face, to help with the smell."
Zuko looked down to see that his uncle was holding out a long brown scarf.
"Plus, it might be a good way to conceal your identity. Better than a hood, anyway. And less obvious than your Blue Spirit mask."
Iroh did have a point. Zuko sighed heavily as he accepted the scarf, wrapping it fully around the lower half of his face and around his head, covering his scarred eye. He didn't particularly like only being able to see out of one eye, especially while traversing the dark of the sewage tunnel, but it wasn't like he could see very well out of his left eye in general anyway.
Once Zuko had fully secured his wrappings, Iroh entered the sewage tunnel and helped him climb up. He felt a full body shiver as he stepped ankle-deep into sewage.
"Alright. Let's get this over with," Sokka sighed, taking a deep breath and pinching his nose again as he hopped into the tunnel after them.
While the scarf did not end up helping very much with the smell, thankfully, together, Aang and Katara did manage to keep them from getting completely drenched by the onslaught of sewage as they trudged onward.
"Eughh!"
Just as Aang, Katara, and Iroh had begun climbing up the ladder to the closest manhole, Zuko heard a splash, and turned to see that Sokka had tripped and fallen face-first into the sewage.
"Sokka, stop freaking out!" Zuko said as the Water Tribe boy flailed around in the muck. He hovered apprehensively over his friend for a moment, then held his breath as he leaned down and hoisted the other boy out of the sludge, his eyes watering due to the severity of the stench.
"Eugh," Sokka exhaled again one last time as he regained his balance. "Thanks, buddy." With that, he smacked him on the chest two times with the back of his hand before continuing forward, leaving a glop of sludge on the front of his shirt. Zuko groaned.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought," he heard Katara say as he followed Sokka out of the manhole out onto an empty street.
However, the Water Tribe girl gasped when she saw that both he and Sokka were now both covered in sewer sludge—Zuko only slightly less so than her brother.
"What happened to you two? I told you to stay close to us so we could avoid the sludge!"
"Sokka tripped, and I had to help him up," Zuko replied as he attempted to shake the sludge off of his hands.
"Well pardon me for being a little clumsy," Sokka grumbled.
Katara simply sighed in response, and before Zuko knew it, he and Sokka were both being smacked face-first with a barrelful of water, followed by a blast of air from Aang.
Zuko barely managed to catch his scarf as it flew off of his head, and when he turned to look at Sokka again, his eyes widened in horror.
There appeared to be two round, slimy purple creatures attached to either side of the Water Tribe boy's face!
"They won't come off!" Sokka screeched as he tried and failed to yank them from his skin.
Zuko moved to make an attempt to help the Sokka calm down again. However, he yelped when he saw that one of the purple creatures had attached itself to the back of his own hand.
"I've got one too!" he exclaimed, waving his arm back and forth wildly in an attempt to shake the creature off. "What do I do?!"
Suddenly, Aang darted forward, his arms hooking around both boys and tackling them backwards, where they landed on some crates stacked in front of a nearby building.
"Shh! Stop making so much noise!" Aang scolded, though his tone was lighthearted, and there was a hint of a smile on his lips. "It's just a purple pentapus."
Zuko watched apprehensively as the Avatar reached out his index finger and touched one of the purple creatures on Sokka's face, rubbing it gently. With a small squeak, the pentapus' legs curled up, and Aang carefully removed it.
While Sokka removed his other pentapi with the same method, Aang took Zuko's hand in his own and used the same technique.
As Zuko lifted up the creature with his other hand and observed it, he smiled slightly. "...They're actually kind of cute."
When he looked back up, he met Aang's gaze, and immediately noticed the Avatar was smiling as well.
Just as Zuko began to feel the tips of his ears begin to burn, an unknown voice shouted in the distance.
"Hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?"
Aang quickly let go of his hand, and Zuko looked up to see that three armed Fire Nation guards were approaching from down the street.
While Iroh stepped forward, he and Aang hid behind Katara and Sokka. Zuko quickly wrapped his scarf back around his head, while Aang removed his fabric belt and made a similar use of it.
"They're with me!" Zuko heard Iroh say as he and Aang stood back up with their disguises in place. "These are my grandkids. We were just on our way home from… visiting my sister."
"You know the rules, old man," the lead guard said with a sigh. "I'll let this slide since this is your first offense. But don't do this again. The next guards you come across might not be so lenient."
"Of course," Iroh replied cordially. "Thank you, gentlemen."
With that, his uncle turned around, expression and body language indicating for the rest of them to begin walking in the opposite direction as well.
"…Wait."
Oh no… Did they recognize uncle? Zuko thought anxiously as they each froze in place.
"What's the matter with him?" the lead guard said, gesturing to Sokka.
Zuko saw Katara's eyes widen as she stared at the back of Sokka's neck, where he noticed that several small red welts were dotted all over on his skin. He looked down and saw that the same small welts covered the back of his own hand.
"Uh… he has pentapox, sir!" Katara said quickly as the lead guard drew closer, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Umm, It's highly contagious!" she added, suddenly grabbing Zuko's wrist and holding his welt-marked hand up. "See?"
"Oh, it's so awful. I'm dying," Sokka moaned, and the guard jumped back in revulsion.
Katara's eyes moved to Zuko, and she elbowed him.
"Ow!" Zuko frowned, rubbing his arm before at last realizing what she wanted him to do. "I mean, uh. Yeah. It's pretty bad," he added awkwardly as he coughed lightly into his free hand.
Thankfully, Zuko's poor acting did not draw suspicion from the guards. Instead, they backed up even further as Sokka continued moaning and began coughing dramatically, taking several jerky steps forward.
"And it's deadly!" Katara added.
"Hey, I think I've heard of pentapox," the lead guard said over his shoulder, voice shaking. "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"
"We'd better go wash our hands," the second guard replied.
"And burn our clothes!" the third guard yelped.
With that, all three of the guards took off down the street.
"Thank you, sewer friends," Aang said with a smile to the pentapus in his palm as he petted its head.
As they approached an area of the city that appeared to be under construction, Zuko spotted several Fire Nation soldiers ahead of them and made a shushing motion over his mouth with his index finger before quickly darting behind a pile of lumber next to some scaffolding, the rest of his companions following.
"Let's find Bumi and get out of here," Katara whispered anxiously as the soldiers passed in front of them.
"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asked.
"Somewhere he can't earthbend," Aang replied as he surveyed the city. "Somewhere made of metal."
"That might be a bit difficult to find considering they've covered practically half the city in metal," Zuko murmured with a frown as he peered ahead. "It almost feels like home."
"I guess we should keep moving forward, then," Katara sighed.
Before they could get much further, however, a rumbling noise sounded from somewhere above them. Zuko stopped in his tracks, holding his arm out to make sure nobody walked ahead of him, and gaped as he spotted two large boulders hurtling down what looked to be one of the old delivery shafts.
Zuko's gaze followed the trajectory of the boulders' path, and his eyes widened when he spotted what looked to be a group of Fire Nationals making their way through the street below. While he couldn't tell for certain from this distance, it appeared several of them were unarmed. They were likely civilians.
Suddenly, Aang leapt forward and pulverized the boulders with a blast of airbending, creating a large cloud of dust.
For a moment, all was silent. As the dust cleared, Zuko could see that the party of Fire Nationals had stopped.
"The resistance!" a voice cried out in terror.
Suddenly, one of the people below whipped their arm forward, and Zuko leapt forward to push the Avatar out of the way as several darts landed into the lumber behind them with a series of thunks.
"We need to get out of here," Zuko shouted as he unsheathed his broadswords, eyes widening as he spotted two Fire Nation guards ascending the ladders in front of them.
Thankfully, he managed to slice through both of the guards' spears with relative ease, and Katara sent her water whip towards them, knocking them off the edge of the platform and crashing down into the scaffolding below.
"Nice job!" Zuko nodded to Katara.
Katara smiled and nodded gratefully in return for a moment before her eyes widened again and she made a sudden movement, raising a barrier of ice in front of both of them. Zuko flinched backwards when he saw several more darts lodge themselves in the ice, and turned around to continue running, Katara holding up the rear. Whoever this dart-thrower was, they were clearly very skilled, and very dangerous.
When they caught up to Aang, Sokka, and Iroh, the Avatar motioned for them to move past him, and he stepped forward with his staff.
Not wanting to leave Aang to deal with the dart-thrower by himself, instead of continuing forward, Zuko turned back around, holding up his broadswords in preparation to block any flying objects that might soon be coming their way.
As the dart-thrower grew closer, Aang somersaulted forward with a grunt, whipping his staff down to create a powerful strike of airbending that resulted in the scaffolding that separated them from their attacker crashing to the ground.
Just as they were about to turn back around, however, Zuko spotted a glint of something out of the corner of his eye. Acting quickly, he leapt in front of Aang and blocked the object—a throwing star—with his swords, sending it flying off to the side.
Zuko immediately felt a spark of anger ignite deep within him. That was far too close for comfort. If he hadn't blocked the throwing star, Aang might have been…
Suddenly, as the dust from the fallen scaffolding cleared, the form of the dart-thrower became visible.
"Mai?!"
Upon hearing Zuko's exclamation, Mai appeared to be temporarily taken off guard, her eyes widening in astonishment as well. However, before either of them could make another move, he felt himself fall through the ground, and everything went dark.
Aang winced as he opened his eyes to see that he and his companions were now in a dim, green-lit underground tunnel. All around them stood what appeared to be a crowd of people dressed in green clothing, and directly in front of him stood a serious, broad-shouldered man who wore the signature helmet of an Earth Kingdom soldier.
While the man looked somewhat familiar, meaning he had likely seen him amongst the guards the last time he had been to the city, he did not know his name.
"You just saved us from being kabobbed," Aang said with a sigh of relief as he and his companions pushed themselves up from the ground. "Thank you, mister…?"
"Yung. Captain of the Omashu army," the man replied curtly as he began to walk in the opposite direction, gesturing for them to follow. "You interfered with our ambush, Avatar."
That was who the man was. Aang opened his mouth to reply, but Katara spoke first.
"Yeah, because he saw you were about to crush those people," the Water Tribe girl argued. "Several of which appeared to be unarmed."
The captain sighed, while his two companions who walked behind him shared a guilty glance.
"Those weren't just any civilians. They were the family of the man who rules the city now."
"I don't care who they were," Katara snapped angrily. "You were trying to kill people who didn't have a chance to fight back."
"Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good."
"We knew someone once who thought the same way," Zuko muttered darkly. "Victory shouldn't come at the cost of innocent lives."
"Tell that to the Fire Nation," Yung snapped in reply. "They couldn't care less about what kind of lives they take. Though I'm sure you and your uncle already know this well, Prince Zuko."
"I understand how you must feel," Aang interjected quickly before an angry-looking Zuko could say something he might regret. "But this isn't the way to fight. It's not like earthbenders to resort to underhanded methods like ambush."
"You saw what that girl could do with her darts and throwing stars. Too many of my soldiers have been seriously injured because they underestimated her."
For the first time, Aang noticed a hint of fatigue in the man's voice.
"We have to do what we can to fight for our home," Yung continued. "To make sure people like her can't hurt anyone else."
Aang bit his lip as they continued walking in awkward silence for several more minutes. He found it very difficult to believe that Bumi would allow his soldiers to use an ambush as a battle tactic, meaning there were two options to explain what was going on here: either he did not know his friend as well as he thought he did, or…
He didn't want to think about the other option.
"...So is King Bumi with you guys?" he asked hopefully as they exited the long tunnel and entered a large, open space, where several hundred mor Omashu citizens were gathered. "Is he leading the resistance?"
As the rest of the Omashu citizens filtered into the large room ahead of them, Yung and his two companions stopped. The captain turned to face him, and Aang's eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw anger in the man's light green eyes.
"Of course not!" Yung snapped, raising a clenched fist. "The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle," he continued as he turned to face the crowd of citizens below them. "We were prepared to defend our city... to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered."
Surrendered? Aang thought, his brows furrowing as he looked down at the ground. Why on earth would he do that?
"The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do," Yung continued, a disgusted sneer on his face. "He looked me in the eye and said, 'I'm going to do nothing'."
Yung made a disgusted noise as he shook his head slowly.
"It doesn't matter now," he said darkly. "Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for."
Aang shook his head. "Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation, but you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."
"You don't understand," Yung replied angrily. "They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!"
"Captain," Iroh said, speaking for the first time since they had arrived in the tunnel. "I would advise you to listen to the Avatar. It appears you do not have the strength or the numbers to win this fight. If you continue like this, not only will you get yourselves killed, but you will put the entirety of Omashu's citizens' lives at risk. Believe me when I tell you that the Fire Nation will punish the innocent regardless of whether or not they participated in the resistance movement."
From the way the captain's eyes widened, Aang guessed that this was not something he had considered.
"I don't know, Yung," one of the captain's companions said softly. "It sounds like they have a point. Living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me."
"Yeah, I'm with the kid and the old man!" the other companion added in agreement.
Yung's brow furrowed, and he turned to look back out over the crowd of citizens below again before his gaze moved back to Aang, an uncertain look in his eyes. At last, he sighed.
"Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?"
"Suckers!"
Everyone turned around to look quizzically at Sokka, who was sporting a wide grin on his face.
"You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."
While his uncle and the rest of his companions had decided to eat dinner with the resistance members, Zuko had opted to take his steamed bun to-go, as he was not particularly in the mood to spend what little energy he had left conversing with strangers.
After he had finished the last of his meager meal, he laid down onto the bedroll in the room Yung had prepared for them to sleep in for the night. It was far from the height of luxury—if Zuko'd had a choice, he'd have preferred a decent inn like the one they had stayed the last time they were here. However, he was so exhausted that he couldn't bring himself to care too much. Even this thin, flimsy bedroll felt like a down mattress after the day he'd had.
He stretched his arms over his head, and his mouth widened into a yawn, eyes feeling heavy.
However, as his tired gaze lingered on the faintly green-lit rocky ceiling above him, the memory of the glowing crystals from the Lovers' Cave suddenly flashed in his mind.
With a jolt, he sat upright, exhaustion seemed to all but disappear as his fingertips drifted to his lips, then down to his chest, where his heart was beginning to pound. Of course, he could feel that his face was burning again as well.
Neither he nor Aang had yet spoken to each other about the kiss since it had happened. Not that they'd exactly had the chance to. Right now, Aang was understandably worried about Bumi, meaning now was probably not the time for him to be concerned about something so trivial in comparison.
Aside from this, Zuko didn't even know if the kiss had actually meant anything.
We were in a desperate situation, with no other options. People do crazy things when they have no other options.
He winced as he recalled Aang's reaction to his initial suggestion of the kiss in the tomb. He definitely couldn't forget that. It seemed fairly unlikely that the Avatar would change his mind about something like that so quickly.
I'll just act like I normally do, he decided. If it meant something to him, Aang will bring it up. And if he doesn't…
The sound of an audible yawn interrupted his thoughts, and his gaze shot over to the doorway, where he saw his uncle.
"Ah, Prince Zuko! I thought you'd be fast asleep by now."
Iroh regarded Zuko with an amused look for a moment, and Zuko sighed in frustration as he plopped onto his back again.
"Believe me, I wish I was," he grumbled, folding his arms. "But my brain seems to have other plans."
"Well, it's definitely been an eventful twenty-four hours," Iroh said as he removed his outer cloak and began to fold it neatly. "Would talking about what's on your mind help at all?"
Zuko bit his lower lip as he contemplated how much or little he should tell his uncle. While he recalled how surprisingly accepting the old man had towards Piqa and Avu back in Agna Qel'a, he still didn't really feel comfortable telling Iroh about his feelings towards Aang.
"Did something interesting happen while you and Aang were in the tunnel earlier today?"
Zuko's eyes widened considerably, and he sat back up again. "No. Nothing happened. Why do you think something happened?"
Iroh raised an eyebrow and cocked his head slightly to the side. "We were all trapped in there for several hours, and you and Aang never got the chance to explain how you were able to find the exit. I was merely curious, but if you don't want to talk about it, that's perfectly fine."
Zuko pressed his lips into a thin line. He supposed there was no harm in telling his uncle about the crystals. He didn't have to include details about the…
To his annoyance, thinking about the kiss immediately resulted in his cheeks beginning to burn again.
"Are you alright, nephew?" Iroh asked, expression abruptly shifting from curiosity to concern as he crouched down and reached out to touch Zuko's forehead with the back of his hand. "You look feverish. I hope you didn't actually catch some illness in that sewer..."
Zuko batted his uncle's hand away with a frown. "I'm fine, uncle."
Iroh narrowed his eyes slightly, but did not argue as he backed away and sat down on the bedroll next to Zuko's.
"If there's something that's truly bothering you, Zuko, you know you can talk to me."
I know. You literally tell me this all the time.
However, now that Zuko thought about it, there was one thing he could talk to Iroh about.
"...Mai's in the city."
"Mai?"
"Strategist Ukano's daughter, uncle. She's one of Azula's friends."
"Ah! I remember now," Iroh said, snapping his fingers. "The little acrobat girl who always laughed at my jokes?"
"No. That's Ty Lee."
"Oh… Then is Mai the gloomy one?"
Zuko nodded. "She's also the person who was hurtling all those darts at us."
"I see," Iroh replied, eyebrows rising. "What do you think she's doing here?"
"Based on what Captain Yung said, it sounds like Ukano was selected to serve as governor of the city," Zuko replied, propping up his chin with his hand, his brow furrowing.
"You seem troubled about encountering her," Iroh observed. "Are you worried Azula may be here as well?"
Surprisingly, this possibility had not yet crossed Zuko's mind. "Well, I am now… "
"But that's not what was originally bothering you," Iroh inferred correctly, placing his hand on his beard thoughtfully. "...Was Mai a friend of yours as well?"
Suddenly, memories from Zuko's childhood began to flash in his mind.
For most of his life, "friends" had been a novel concept—just another thing Azula had that he didn't. Until he'd met Aang, the only people he had really been close to had been family members—as a child, it was Lu Ten and his mother, and now, it was Iroh.
Initially, he'd assumed Azula's school friends would be just like her. However, it turned out that Ty Lee and Mai were both quite different from his sister. Although he never had much in common with Ty Lee, she had always said hello to him whenever she'd seen him, and had often offered to "read his aura" (whatever that meant). Mai, on the other hand, was much more of a kindred spirit to himself. She had disliked many of Azula's games as well, and had often taken Zuko's side when she did not want to play. This, of course, rarely deterred his sister and Ty Lee from constantly attempting to rope them both into their childish schemes, all the while teasing them about what a "cute" couple they would make.
Despite all of this, Zuko did have to admit that the more he looked back on it, the more he missed those simpler days.
"Even though she was Azula's friend first," Zuko finally replied. "Mai was always… nice to me. We didn't really ever talk that much. But sometimes, she would sit with me under the tree next to the pond in the palace gardens while Azula and Ty Lee played whatever dumb game they wanted to play, and we'd feed the turtle ducks."
Iroh's expression softened upon hearing this, and he nodded understandingly. "It sounds like you two were close."
Zuko had never really thought about it that way. "I dunno. After mom left, I guess she did kind of help me feel… less alone."
Iroh's gaze lowered, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, Zuko. I just realized I've never apologized for not being there for you during that difficult time."
"Uncle, Lu Ten had just passed away," Zuko replied, brow furrowing. "You were still in mourning, and on top of that, grandfather Azulon passed away, and father stole the throne from you." He shook his head emphatically. "That would be hard on anyone. I don't blame you for not coming back to Capital City right away."
"I..." Iroh began, though he seemed at a loss for words.
"Besides," Zuko continued. "You came back eventually. And I think you've more than made up for it considering all you've had to put up with from me these past few years."
A crooked smile appeared on Iroh's face as his gaze returned to meet Zuko's own, and he chuckled. "I suppose that's true."
"Anyway..." Zuko sighed. "I guess that's why it felt strange, having to fight Mai today. And we'll probably have to fight her again, which I'm not looking forward to."
"Not looking forward to fighting who again?"
Zuko looked up to see Katara entering the room, with Aang following behind her.
"The dart-throwing girl from earlier," Zuko replied as his two friends chose their own bedrolls and sat down.
"Oh yeah," Aang said, eyebrows rising in realization. "I thought I heard you shout something right before we were rescued by the resistance."
"Wait. You know that girl?" Katara exclaimed, blinking in surprise.
"Kind of. It was a long time ago. Her name is Mai."
"Was she a friend of yours?" Aang asked.
"She was more of my sister's friend than mine," Zuko replied, exchanging a glance with Iroh. "But… yeah, I guess you could say that she was my friend, too."
Aang nodded slowly, a sympathetic look appearing on his face. "I'm sorry we had to fight one of your old friends, Zuko."
Zuko shrugged. "I'll get used to it. We're probably going to have to fight my own sister before long. And of course my father, eventually. It can't be helped."
A slightly pained look appeared on the Avatar's face upon being reminded of these things.
"…Maybe we could try to convince her to join us?" Aang posited after a brief moment of silence.
The airbender's somewhat naive optimism caused the corner of Zuko's mouth to tug into a small smile, and he chuckled. "Aang... do you think that just because you convinced me and uncle to see the light that you can convert every Fire National to the side of good?"
"Hey, I know you and Iroh aren't the only decent Fire Nationals left in the world, hotman," Aang replied, smirking as he rolled his eyes lightheartedly. "I just thought that if she was a friend of yours, she has to have some decent qualities."
Zuko felt his ears grow slightly warm again upon hearing this small compliment, and his smile widened. When his gaze briefly drifted to Katara, however, he saw that she was sporting a slightly amused expression as her eyes moved back and forth between himself and Aang.
Zuko's smile disappeared, and he cleared his throat loudly. "So, uh, where's Sokka?"
"He and Captain Yung are still sorting out this 'pentapox' plan," Katara replied with a sigh. "I'm still not sure how effective it's gonna be."
"It's the best plan we've got if we want to get the people of Omashu out quickly and safely," Aang said before he closed his eyes and shook his head. "I just can't believe what the captain said about Bumi… Why would he do this to his people?"
"This situation may not be as simple as it appears, Aang," Iroh said. "There was likely a good reason behind Bumi's decision-making."
"Then can you explain what his rationale could possibly have been, uncle?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow.
A sheepish look appeared on Iroh's face, and he chuckled awkwardly. "...I'm afraid I can't."
"I mean, I know he's a mad genius," Aang muttered, slumping his shoulders. "But I'm finding it difficult to see the 'genius' part of surrendering to the Fire Nation without even trying to fight back…"
"At least Yung confirmed that he's being held prisoner," Katara pointed out. "So he's still alive."
"You're right," Aang said, a determined look appearing on his face as he straightened his posture. "I guess I'll just have to ask him about it myself, then."
Zuko sighed. It looked like tomorrow was going to be another eventful day.
Aang tapped his staff with his index finger impatiently as he watched his friends and the Omashu civilians attach and remove pentapi to and from their faces, arms, and necks the following morning.
"Okay everyone! Into sick formation!" Sokka instructed, and the civilians began to turn around, groaning and moaning just as he had taught them to.
As they walked away, Sokka turned back to Iroh, Zuko, and Katara. "Katara and I will stay at the front. If those guards who saw us last night see us again, it'll help since they know I'm already 'sick'," Sokka explained, making quotation marks in the air with his hands. "Aang, Iroh, and Zuko—you can just stay in the back and make sure nobody gets left behind. And try not to draw too much attention, since you guys are at the highest risk of being recognized."
"Got it," Zuko replied with a curt nod, adjusting his headscarf slightly. "I can keep watch from the alleyways to make sure none of the guards get too close."
"And I'll do my best to blend in with the other old folks in the crowd," Iroh added.
Aang's hand gripped his staff tightly as he watched each of his friends turn around and begin following the rest of the civilians. After a moment, he turned to take a step in the opposite direction.
"Aang, what are you doing? Aren't you coming with us?"
Aang sighed and turned back around to see Katara looking at him with a confused expression.
"No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi."
He saw Zuko, who was just ahead of Katara, stop in his tracks before turning around as well.
"So you were just gonna leave without telling us?" the Fire Prince demanded with a frown, folding his arms as he came to a stop next to Katara.
Aang sighed. This was exactly why he had attempted to slip away without anyone noticing. "I can move much faster if I go alone. Besides, this is the perfect chance to look for him. Most of the guards will be distracted by the crowds."
Zuko huffed through his nose, and he and Katara shared an apprehensive glance. However, neither argued, as it seemed they both knew that there was nothing they could say that would stop him.
"Whatever," Zuko muttered, turning around with a wave of his hand. "Just... do what you need to do."
"And be careful," Katara said, looking him in the eye with a serious expression.
"I will." As Aang nodded in reply, he felt Momo land on his shoulder. The lemur reached over and tugged at Aang's lips for a moment, and he sighed in exasperation as he picked Momo up by his scruff.
"Sorry Momo," he said as he plopped the dejected-looking lemur on the ground. "I'll feed you later."
With that, he used a gust of airbending to propel himself into the air, and he began his search again.
Zuko tried not to worry too much about Aang as he nervously watched the Omashu citizens slowly exit the city gates, the clanging of the alarm gong echoing repeatedly in his ears.
Just a few more minutes, and everyone will be safely out of the city.
As the last few civilians began to trickle down the main street, he decided it was probably time to sneak back into the crowd. However, before he could do so, he heard a familiar screeching sound.
He peered curiously out into the street and scanned the crowd. Surely enough, he quickly spotted Momo, who appeared to be the source of the screeching. However, his eyes widened when he also saw a baby, seemingly only a few months old, sitting on top of the lemur's tail.
Monkey feathers! Zuko thought as he darted into the crowd and weaved his way to where the baby and the lemur were. How does someone lose a baby?!
He looked around to see if any of the surrounding civilians were searching for it, but no one appeared to be doing so. It would draw too much suspicion for him to go around asking right now—he would just have to take this baby with them and find its parents once everyone was out of the city.
Very carefully, he reached down and scooped the baby up into his arms, freeing Momo, and continued following the slow pace of the civilians towards the gate, hoping none of the guards had taken too much notice.
The baby babbled as he walked, grabbing hold of his headscarf and pulling at it.
"Don't do that, please," Zuko murmured, gently removing the baby's hand.
"Well. I've asked around and told people to spread the word, but I haven't found anyone who seems to be missing a baby yet," Iroh sighed as he sat down next to Zuko, Sokka, and Katara next to the campfire they had built overlooking the refugee camp. The infant in question was currently squirming in the former general's arms, babbling just as much as it had been earlier that day.
"Then we'll keep asking first thing tomorrow morning," Zuko replied, rubbing his good eye with his fist. "His parents have to be here somewhere."
"I can't imagine how worried they must be," Katara murmured, reaching forward to let the baby grab hold of one of her fingers.
The infant was the least of Zuko's concerns right now. It had been several hours since they had left the city, and Aang was nowhere to be seen. He hoped he hadn't gotten himself captured. It would be incredibly inconvenient to have to break into Omashu's palace again.
"Aang's back!" Sokka shouted, as if on cue, hopping to his feet.
Zuko initially breathed a sigh of relief when he turned to see the Avatar, but froze when he saw that a giant beast appeared to be following him.
"What in the name of the spirits–?!"
"Oh yeah. You weren't there when Aang was doing all of those trials last time," Sokka interjected casually. "That's King Bumi's pet goat gorilla."
Zuko nodded slowly as he continued to watch Aang and the beast approach the campsite.
"We looked everywhere," Aang said dejectedly, his voice weary. "No Bumi."
Zuko immediately felt a pang of sympathy for the Avatar, and began to take a step forward to offer him words of comfort. However, Katara, who was closer, got to him first, wrapping him into a hug before Zuko had the chance to say anything.
He tried to ignore the painful twinge of jealousy he felt in his chest as he watched Aang close his eyes and lean his head on the waterbender's shoulder.
"We've got a problem."
Each of them turned to see Captain Yung approaching their campsite, a serious look on his face.
"We just did a head count."
"Oh no, did someone get left behind?" Katara asked worriedly.
Yung shook his head. "No. We have an extra."
He looked pointedly at the baby in Iroh's arms, who was currently chewing on his beard.
How …? Zuko thought before his eyes began to slowly widen in realization.
If this baby did not belong to any of the original citizens of Omashu, then that meant that he was likely the child of Fire Nation colonials.
"Ohhh no. This is bad," Zuko murmured, clutching fistfuls of his hair on both sides of his head.
"Wait. I'm confused," Aang interjected, shaking his head rapidly. "What do you mean we have an extra?"
"Zuko stole a baby from the Fire Nation," Sokka replied casually, pointing directly at him.
"I didn't steal it," Zuko snapped, shooting an annoyed glare at the warrior. "I thought it belonged to one of the Omashu citizens!"
"Well, this puts us in a bit of a predicament," Iroh said, wincing as the baby yanked on his beard this time. "But perhaps they won't put two and two together once they realize the baby is missing?"
"Or, perhaps they will, and our plan will have been for nothing," Yung added darkly. "I say we move out at the break of dawn."
"But we can't just bring the baby with us," Katara interjected with a frown. "Fire National or not, he needs his parents!"
"Well, what are we supposed to do, Katara?" Sokka asked, folding his arms. "Waltz back up to the city and say, 'Sorry, we kidnapped your baby by mistake'? How do you think that's gonna go over?"
Katara pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes at her brother.
Suddenly, a screech sounded from somewhere nearby. It was a sound Zuko recognized immediately.
"A messenger hawk!" Yung exclaimed, speaking aloud what Zuko had been thinking
Zuko quickly jogged over to the bird and twisted open the container on its back, removing the message inside. It had to be from Omashu.
As he read the letter carefully, his eyes slowly widened. The baby wasn't just any Fire Nation colonial's; he was Governor Ukano's son.
Mai's little brother...
He noticed that Aang had approached from behind, and turned to hand him the letter so the Avatar could read it.
"It's from the Fire Nation governor," Aang read aloud as they walked back to the campfire. "He thinks we kidnapped his son. So... he wants to make a trade. His son…"
His expression abruptly morphed into one of complete shock as he read the last line.
"For King Bumi!"
Aang took a deep breath through his nose as he gazed out over the Kolau Mountain range the following morning, where the sun was just breaking over the horizon, and looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms, smiling softly at its peaceful expression.
By the end of the day, Bumi will be back with us, and this little guy will be back with his parents. Everything is gonna be okay.
"Are you sure about this?"
Aang turned to see Zuko approaching the top of the hill.
"Maybe you should just let Captain Yung and his men handle it," the firebender suggested apprehensively as he came to a stop next to him. "There's no reason for us to go back into the city."
Aang shook his head. "I know you're worried about me, Zuko. But I need to be the one to get Bumi. He's my oldest friend."
Zuko's brow furrowed as he turned to look out at the horizon.
After a moment, they both turned around to walk back down to where Katara, Sokka, and Iroh were waiting for them.
"You do realize we're probably walking right into a trap," Sokka said, arms folded.
"I don't think so," Aang replied, shaking his head. "I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi."
He smiled down at the sleeping infant again.
"It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this."
Aang tried his best to retain his positive attitude as he, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko came to a stop at the designated trade-off area. The city itself was once again eerily quiet; only the sounds of clanking metal from the Fire Nation's construction could be heard in the distance.
He looked up at the scaffolding to his right, and frowned when he noticed it appeared to be surrounding a large metal statue of an imporant-looking figure—presumably Fire Lord Ozai.
"I don't like being so exposed up here," Zuko muttered from behind him. "This is the perfect spot for an ambush."
"I told you it was a trap," Sokka whispered.
Aang turned to shoot an irritated glare at both of them over his shoulder. "You guys aren't helping."
"I'm sure they'll be here soon," Katara said, though he could hear the uncertainty in her tone of voice.
Aang sighed heavily. "Even if it is a trap—which I doubt it will be—Iroh's got Appa waiting for us right outside the city gates, and Sokka's got the bison whistle. We'll be fine."
"If you say so," Sokka replied with a shrug as the baby in his arms tugged at his mouth.
When Aang turned back around, he spotted three figures approaching in the distance, and breathed a sigh of relief. No Fire Nation soldiers to be seen yet.
From somewhere high above them, a familiar cackle echoed.
"Helloooo, everybody!"
Aang craned his head up and grinned in relief when he saw none other than Bumi himself being lowered towards the ground. His old friend appeared to have been imprisoned in a metal coffin, with only his face left uncovered.
Suddenly, he felt a hand grip his forearm firmly from behind.
"Aang, we need to get out of here, now," Zuko hissed in his ear.
The urgency of the Fire Prince's tone was evident, and Aang's brow furrowed as he turned to look back at him in confusion.
"You brought my brother?"
Aang snapped his head back around again to see that the three people were now standing directly across from them. He was surprised to see that they were all fairly young girls, each of them appearing to be around the same age as himself, Zuko, and the Water Tribe siblings.
Two of the girls stood on either side of Bumi's metal coffin. The girl to the left of it had long brown hair that had been fashioned into a braided ponytail and was currently sporting a bright, surprisingly friendly-looking smile. Something about the girl on the right, however, piqued his interest. Her dark hair was fashioned into a simple Fire Nation topknot, and while her unsettling smirk very much reminded him of Admiral Zhao, there was still something else familiar about her that he could not quite put his finger on.
The third girl—the one who had just spoken—was standing directly in front of Bumi's metal coffin between her two companions. Zuko's childhood friend Mai.
Now that he could see her clearly in the daylight, he realized that she was quite pretty. Her snowy-white complexion was flawless, and her shiny, jet-black hair had been styled neatly into two buns on the top of her head. Despite looking to be around the age of thirteen or fourteen, the girl's apathetic, stony expression made her appear strangely older.
Seeing as none of the three girls had yet made a move to attack, Aang decided to continue to play along as planned.
"He's here," Aang replied. "We're ready to trade."
"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me," the girl with the topknot interjected, stepping next to Mai. "Do you mind?"
"Of course not, Princess Azula."
Aang's eyes widened in realization upon hearing this name, and he mentally kicked himself for not realizing it sooner. He felt Zuko's hand squeeze his forearm again, and he now understood the Fire Prince's urgency to leave.
Of course the girl looked familiar. She was Zuko's sister!
"We're trading a baby for a king," Azula said. "A powerful, earthbending king?
"Mm-hmm!" Bumi hummed jovially in reply.
Uh oh. That doesn't sound good, Aang thought, biting his lip anxiously. And you're not helping, Bumi!
"It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"
Before Mai had the chance to respond to the Fire Princess, Zuko suddenly leapt in front of Aang, broadswords drawn.
"Take the baby and get out of here," he shouted over his shoulder.
"Oh well. So much for negotiations," Azula sighed, pursing her dark red lips and folding her arms.
"Please," Zuko scoffed. "You had absolutely no intention of negotiating."
Azula's eyes narrowed. "You know, you seem awfully familiar," she mused as she slowly began to walk forward, her calculating eyes studying Zuko's weapons intently. "I seem to recall that my disgraceful brother was a fan of the dual broadswords. It's funny, because you also seem to sound just like him, too."
A tense silence hung in the air for a moment, and nobody moved a muscle.
Suddenly, Azula whipped her arm out, and a burst of blue flames shot directly towards Zuko. Unfortunately, her attack was so quick that Zuko had no choice but to block it. He spun backwards and retaliated with his own fire blast, which fanned out of the blades themselves.
Azula was knocked backwards by this, and from the look on her face, it seemed the girl had not expected her brother to have been able to block the attack in such a way. However, her eyes quickly narrowed again as she regained her composure and moved back into an attack stance.
"So really is you, Zuzu!" she said, her voice dripping with condescension.
Likely realizing that his disguise was now pointless, Zuko yanked his headscarf off and tossed it to the side. "Surprised to see me again so soon?"
Aang's gaze moved back to Mai and the brown-haired girl, who both wore equal expressions of shock.
"Not really," Azula replied with a shrug. "I had hoped you and uncle would meet me in the Guilin teahouse. I was disappointed when my spies told me that a gaggle of Earth Kingdom brutes had shown up instead. But I can't say I was surprised."
The Fire Princess sighed dramatically, shaking her head slowly before turning to look back at her companions.
"I'm sorry, Mai. I know you must have been looking forward to reuniting with Zuzu. Though I can't say you're missing out on much—there are much better boys out there for you."
"Azula!" Mai shouted, her snowy-white face flushing bright red.
"Shut up! " Zuko snapped at the exact same time, an almost equally scarlet blush coloring his cheeks.
As Aang's eyes darted back and forth between the two, he suddenly felt an uncomfortable sting of jealousy burn in his stomach, and his eyes narrowed. Had this girl been more than just a friend to Zuko?
"All right, enough talking," he interjected irritably, stepping forward and pointing his staff towards Azula. "There's four of us, and three of you. If you just hand over the king, we'll give you the baby. We don't have to fight."
Azula smirked again before turning back around. "Mai?"
"Mai, please," Zuko pleaded, voice softening. "Don't you want your brother back?"
Mai's eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty as she met the Fire Prince's gaze. However, after glancing at Azula again, her expression returned to its former stony state.
"No. The deal's off."
With the wave of Mai's hand, the guards began to pull Bumi's coffin up off the ground again.
"Woahhh! See you all later!" the old man chuckled as he ascended.
"Bumi!" Aang shouted, and with a spike of panic, he shot himself forward with a gust of airbending.
"Aang! What are you doing?!" he heard Zuko shout.
Azula was ready for him, and immediately sent a powerful blast of blue flames in his direction. He just barely managed to avoid getting singed by jumping high into the air, briefly touching the scaffolding that lined the wall next to them with the tip of his feet before pushing off and opening his glider.
As he did so, however, he felt his makeshift headscarf loosen in the breeze, and just barely managed to catch the fabric in his mouth as it blew off, his wide eyes surveying the scene below. From the astonished look on Azula's face, she had clearly recognized who he was.
This was definitely not good.
Before the princess could make a move to follow him, she was forced to block another blast of fire from her brother, and her attention was momentarily drawn away.
Seeing as he had nothing else to lose now that his identity had been revealed, Aang continued circling up towards Bumi's still-ascending coffin.
I'm not leaving without you, Bumi.
"We've gotta get the baby out of here!" Zuko heard Katara shout from behind him as he attempted to hurl another fire attack towards Azula.
"Way ahead of you!" he heard Sokka reply, and glanced over his shoulder to see that the Water Tribe boy had Appa's bison whistle in his mouth.
Please get here quickly, uncle, he thought nervously. We could really use your help!
Despite only having taken his eyes off of her for a moment, Azula appeared to have taken the split-second opening to escape. Zuko grunted angrily as he watched his sister dart towards the scaffolding, kicking himself for succumbing to even just a small moment of distraction.
He had to stop her before she caught up to Aang. Who knew what she could do to him once she found him?
The mere thought filled him with a simultaneous feeling of terror and rage. However, just as he took a step forward to follow, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and quickly deflected it with his broadswords. His frustrated gaze landed on Mai, who was standing across from him, throwing star in hand.
"Why are you doing this?" Zuko demanded. "Your brother is only going to get hurt! Don't you care about him?"
Zuko saw no change in Mai's cold gaze. "What do you care?" she asked as she tossed several more throwing stars at him, which he avoided with a tumble roll.
"Because this isn't like you," Zuko shouted back.
Mai's eyes narrowed. "You say that like you know me, Zuko."
"I thought I did," Zuko grumbled as he deflected a shot of darts.
"Well, you don't ."
"I don't want to hurt you, Mai."
"That's rich, coming from a traitor," Mai replied with a scoff.
He heard Sokka grunt, and turned to see that the warrior was sliding towards the edge of the scaffolding on his back, holding the baby tightly in his arms. Not a moment later, he saw Ty Lee spring up from one of the holes in the platform, gracefully somersaulting as she landed and dashed in Sokka's direction.
Thankfully, he saw that Katara already seemed to be pursuing her.
"What's the matter with Ty Lee?!" Zuko exclaimed, whipping his head back towards Mai and shooting her a livid glare. "Is she crazy?! He was holding the baby! Your brother! "
Surprisingly, the apathy in the girl's dark eyes wavered for just a moment. However, her gaze quickly hardened again, and instead of throwing another projectile at him, this time, her eyes darted to his left.
While he was just a second too late to block the attack, he sighed in relief when he saw Katara manage to do so with her water whip.
This time, Zuko was ready when Mai attempted to throw another projectile at the waterbender, knocking it out of the way and allowing Katara to turn back around. She sent her water whip forward, and it wrapped around Ty Lee's ankle, causing her to trip forward onto the ground before she could reach Sokka, who took the opportunity to scramble to his feet and climb down the edge of the scaffolding, the baby still in his arm.
"Go on, Zuko!" Katara shouted as she began running back towards him, blocking more of Mai's darts. "You need to go help Aang. I'll stay here and deal with these two!"
Zuko blinked in surprise for a moment before nodding. "Thanks," he replied, and turned to run towards the scaffolding before turning back around for just a moment. "Watch out for Ty Lee—whatever you do, don't let her get too close to you."
Katara's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment as she dodged another one of Mai's attacks, but she nodded in agreement.
I hope she'll be alright by herself, he thought nervously as he sheathed his broadswords and ran up to the scaffolding to look for the fastest route up.
Not long ago, seeing a statue of his father towering over him like this might have seriously rattled him. Now, however, the sight of it only filled him with more determination. Neither his sister nor Ozai had any power over him anymore. He had control over his own destiny.
"Hold on, Aang," he said to himself as he began his ascent. "I'm not going to let her hurt you."
"Aang, is that you?" Bumi shouted confusedly as Aang landed on the top of his coffin. "Where did you come from?"
"Hang on! We're gonna get you out of here," Aang shouted in reply before taking a deep breath and beginning to blow ice-cold air onto the chain that was keeping the king suspended.
"Aang, stop your blowing for a minute!"
However, before Aang had the chance to respond, a loud crash sounded from the scaffolding next to them, and Aang's head whipped up. From a billowing cloud of dust, Azula suddenly burst forth, and he gaped as she sent a powerful kick of bright blue firebending directly towards him.
He managed to block her flames with a blast of airbending by whipping his staff forward. Despite the momentum throwing the girl backwards onto the scaffolding platform, however, the Fire Princess quickly regained her footing and hurled another fire blast at him.
This time, instead of blocking the attack, Aang leapt into the air.
"Hang tight, Bumi," he shouted over his shoulder as he landed on the scaffolding platform and held out his staff defensively. "Appa will be here any minute, and we can get out of here. I just need to hold her off until then."
Azula laughed. "Hold me off? You mean you're not going to unleash your mighty Avatar powers on me like you did with all of those troops at the North Pole?"
Flashes from Aang's nightmares appeared in his mind, and he shook his head rapidly to dispel them.
"No!" he quickly replied. "That wasn't– I don't want to hurt you, or anyone else."
"Really?" Azula sighed, almost sounding disappointed. "It's a shame you're such a pacifist. And here I thought this fight would be interesting."
As the Fire Princess moved into position for her next attack, Aang gripped his staff tightly.
"Azula!"
Aang's eyes widened as he spotted Zuko standing several feet behind his sister. His arms were lifted into an attack stance, and his amber eyes seemed to burn brightly as he glared at his sister.
"Make one move to hurt him, and I'll hit you with everything I've got."
Aang felt his heart skip a beat. Spirits, he loved that reckless boy.
Azula's red lips curled into another smirk. "Is that supposed to scare me, Zuzu?"
"You haven't seen me in nearly two years," Zuko replied. "You don't know what I'm capable of now."
"Based on what I saw from you down there, I'd say you haven't improved much at all."
Zuko said nothing in reply, but Aang could see his fists tightening, his knuckles beginning to turn white.
"I should have known that you and the Avatar wouldn't be far apart," Azula continued, her cold amber gaze shifting between the two of them. "I suppose this is my lucky day. Father will be quite pleased when I bring you both home with me."
"Nobody's going anywhere with you today," Zuko snarled before his gaze flickered over to meet Aang's for just a moment, and he gave a tiny nod.
Aang's eyebrows rose in realization, and he gave a small nod in return.
With a grunt, Zuko punched a fireball towards his sister. The princess was ready for the attack, however, and easily evaded it, gracefully hopping into the air.
"It seems uncle has really been slacking with your firebending training, Zuzu," Azula taunted as she landed on top of one of the scaffolding poles. "Your forms are sloppy as ever."
Zuko's features twitched with anger as he hurled another fire blast towards his sister with a roar, which she once again evaded.
Aang gripped his staff, and for a moment, contemplated if he should stay to help Zuko fight. However, that look that Zuko had given him was fairly clear: this was his opportunity to escape with Bumi while Azula was distracted.
With a gust of airbending, he propelled himself back up to Bumi's coffin.
"Now, hold on just a– Aagh! " Bumi exclaimed as Aang struck the chain with his staff, resulting in both himself and the coffin plummeting towards the ground.
As luck would have it, Aang spotted one of the delivery chutes directly below them. He quickly maneuvered Bumi's coffin into a horizontal position and carefully balanced himself on top of it, shooting a blast of airbending below to cushion their fall as they landed into the chute.
Aang laughed to himself as he and his old friend sped downwards. "It's just like old times, isn't it, Bumi?"
Bumi shouted something in reply, though Aang couldn't quite make it out through the sound of the wind roaring in his ears. It sounded like "It's good to see you".
"It's good to see you, too!" Aang replied with a grin.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted another fast-moving object above them, and did a double take when he saw that Azula had managed to catch up to them via a chute cart.
Despite his best efforts to deter her, the princess was resilient and relentless. He yelped as he ducked to avoid her multitude of bright blue fire blasts. Judging by the look on Bumi's face, his old friend appeared to be quite uneasy about their current predicament as well.
Suddenly, a roar sounded in the distance, and Aang perked up. He quickly spotted Appa rapidly approaching, being steered by Iroh. To his relief, he saw Sokka, Katara, and Zuko all seated in the saddle as well. Thankfully, the baby looked to be safe and sound in Katara's arms, his wide eyes surveying its surroundings with a look of wonder.
"Hang on, Bumi! Our ride's here!"
Aang ducked again as another blue fire blast was sent in his direction, and several more were sent in the direction of Appa. While Sokka took the reins, Iroh and Zuko both managed to block the attack with a wall of their own fire, and Aang could see the immediate irritation on Azula's face.
Taking his chance, Aang used his staff to hoist Bumi's coffin into the air. However, while his companions did their best to catch it, they were not quick enough, and he and Bumi screamed as they continued falling, crashing through another chute and landing on the one below it.
Somehow, despite all of this commotion, Azula had managed to catch up with them yet again, and was now rapidly approaching directly behind them. The princess produced a large and powerful-looking fire disc, and Aang's eyes widened in fear as he realized he may not be able to completely block the attack.
Before he had the chance to act, however, a large rock formation abruptly shot up from the bottom of the chute behind them with a loud crack, blocking the firebending attack. Aang gaped in astonishment as the Fire Princess jumped into the air to avoid getting smashed to pieces along with her cart.
"You could earthbend?! " Aang exclaimed, turning back to his old friend. "All along?!"
"Well, they didn't cover my face," Bumi replied with a crooked grin.
Aang watched incredulously as the king strained his chin upwards, and another pillar of earth shot up from the ground at the end of the chute, stopping them. Aang hopped over it, while Bumi was somehow able to orient himself to land directly on top of it.
"I don't understand," Aang said, shaking his head as his fists clenched at his side in frustration. "Why didn't you free yourself? Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?"
"Listen to me, Aang," Bumi replied calmly, which somehow irritated Aang even more. "There are options in fighting, called jing. It's a choice of how you direct your energy."
"I know!" Aang replied in exasperation, lifting up two fingers. "There's positive jing when you're attacking, and negative jing when you're retreating."
Bumi grinned. "...and neutral jing, when you do nothing! "
Aang blinked in confusion as he lifted a third finger up. "There are three jings?"
"Well, technically there are eighty-five," Bumi said, thoughtfully looking off to the side. "But let's just focus on the third. Neutral jing is the key to earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike."
Aang slowly began to nod in understanding. "That's why you surrendered, isn't it?"
"Yes, and it's why I can't leave now."
Aang's shoulders slumped as he turned away from his friend. "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending…"
"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing," Bumi replied. "You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."
Suddenly, Aang felt something land on his shoulder, and looked up to see Momo, who chittered happily.
"Hey, Momo!" he chuckled as he scratched the lemur's head.
"Momo's mastered a few jings himself!" Bumi said with a grin, and Momo screeched loudly in reply. "Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you when the time is right."
With that, Bumi let his coffin fall backwards onto the chute, and as he used his earthbending to push him back upwards, the old king's mad laugh faded into the distance.
"Bye, Bumi," Aang murmured.
"How are you feeling?" Zuko asked as he walked up to Aang that evening at the refugee camp.
The scene in front of him was very similar to the one he had seen this morning: Aang standing at the edge of a cliff, staring into the distance, Mai's little brother cradled against his chest.
This time, however, instead of the sunrise, the Avatar was gazing at the dimly lit city, and the baby appeared to be wrapped in what looked to be a makeshift baby sling.
"Well. I'm disappointed that Bumi can't be my earthbending teacher," Aang replied with a sigh. "But at least he told me what I need to look for when I choose one."
"The Earth Kingdom is the largest nation in the world. I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding a teacher."
Aang nodded, eyes still fixated on Omashu.
Zuko's gaze moved down to look at the infant sleeping on the airbender's chest.
"...That's not the only thing you're worried about, is it?"
Aang sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Mai might not have cared about her brother. But I'm sure his parents do."
"You're going back?" Zuko's eyes widened as he realized what the Avatar was planning. "After everything that happened today? Azula's still in the city!"
"Don't worry, hotman. This will be my last trip to Omashu for a long time," Aang said, his gray eyes at last turning to meet Zuko's own as he gave him what was likely intended to be a reassuring smile. "That's an Avatar promise."
Despite the attempt at a lighthearted joke, Zuko's brow furrowed as he continued to study Aang's features with apprehension. "Aang, you were lucky today," he murmured. "Azula isn't going to give up easily. And she's not one to show mercy, either. If she finds out you went back, and I'm not there to protect you, I–"
Suddenly, Aang reached over and grabbed hold of Zuko's hand, and he blinked in surprise.
"Hey. I'll be careful," Aang replied softly, giving Zuko's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll come back. I promise."
With that, the airbender let go of his hand, took a few steps back, and opened his glider while Zuko stood watching, his face burning hotter than a thousand suns.
"Wait for me here? I shouldn't be too long."
Zuko simply nodded in reply.
As he watched the Avatar take off into the night, his hand moved to his chest, tightly gripping the fabric that covered his rapidly beating heart.