Team Avatar observed as the two groups of people returned home.

"This might be more difficult than we expected," Suki said, sighing.

"But at least we got them to stop this time," Aang commented.

"I guess we could start the plan then," Zuko mentioned.

The Avatar's eyebrow lifted. "What plan?"

"This is what happens when you miss team meetings, Twinkle Toes. It'll be girls talking to the Rhijaj people and boys talking to the Xei folks."

Sokka sighed. "And what better time than when they're all cooling off from trying to kill each other?"

"Actually, it might be a good thing," Katara said. "Since they're emotional right now, maybe we'll get better information out of them. They could be more honest about their feelings than if we talked with them when they were calm."

The others agreed with her point and began heading off to the islands. Despite Katara's optimism about the timing, she was starting to regret that they would be the group to first speak with the people from Rhijaj. This island's warriors had begun the battle. It seemed like they had the potential to be more aggressive than their neighbors. Remembering what the princess had said, the friends began heading to the palace. Toph's face was scrunched as she stepped.

"It feels so weird walking here," she said. "It's like there are little critters everywhere. I keep expecting them to crawl on us."

"Maybe it'll get better as you adjust to it," Suki offered.

The younger girl shrugged. "Hopefully. Just don't ask me if anyone's waving to us. I'm not sure I'd be able to tell with their teeny tiny arms."

Reaching the palace, the group stopped in front of the construct. Their presence was immediately noticed by the people. Several guards exited the building, led by Durnaz. She smiled up at the trio, but there was another emotion behind her eyes.

"You came to talk! I was hoping that my brother hadn't discouraged you from wanting to get involved."

Katara gave her a smile. "I know how it can be with brothers. They just do what they want sometimes."

"Yes, and far more often than I'd prefer."

Durnaz turned to the palace and suddenly felt embarrassed. The ceiling was not large enough for the visitors to enter. Somehow, the princess had forgotten about that and neglected to mention it in her invitation.

"Would you mind if we spoke out here?"

"That's fine," Suki assured her.

"Thanks for understanding. I'll get my mom. I think she wanted to speak with you some more too."

Durnaz hurried into the palace and the throne room. Before she entered, she could hear the sound of scolding taking place.

"Our people could have died, Buraid," Ebrah chastised, her brows furrowed.

"Our people are dying!" the prince protested. "At least today it would've been as warriors instead of captives."

The queen's harsh gaze fell on him, making him go silent. Despite this, the young man's temper was not quelled. He felt on edge, and when someone came up on his left, he firebent in their direction. Durnaz moved back with a blast of air.

"Buraid!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Sorry, I thought you'd be gone longer, so I wasn't sure if you were someone from Xei."

Squinting at him, the princess then turned to look at their mother. "The giants are here if you'd like to speak with them."

Intrigued, Ebrah rose from the throne and walked with her daughter. After a few moments, Buraid also joined them, huffing as he made his decision. Just before he left the room, he spotted a servant and pointed at her.

"You might as well come along."

The girl's head was low as she cleaned. "I wouldn't have anything to contribute."

"Probably not, but it might be useful if you go to listen. If they say something I need to remember later, you could remind me in case I forget. So, come along."

Meekly, the servant followed after the prince. She did so fearfully. There wasn't anything about the giants that made her want to meet them. They were terrifying beings. Nothing resembling a person was meant to grow so tall. Seeing them up close only worsened her fears. She nearly fainted, but Durnaz saw and helped steady her on her feet.

"And this is Inaya," the princess said, gesturing to the girl.

The friends waved at her, but Inaya just nodded as a hello, still feeling a little woozy from fright. Ebrah stepped forward and slightly bowed her head.

"You have my apologies for my son's actions. We did not mean to demonstrate such violence. Truly, we are people who prefer negotiation and peace."

"To a fault," the prince mumbled.

Ebrah heard him but decided against shooting him a glare.

"Durnaz said that the king was taken," Katara said.

"Yes. When Aryan–my husband–was taken, we knew that something needed to be done."

"Speak for yourself," Buraid grumbled louder.

This time, his mother did comment. "Buraid, if this is going to be too much for you, would you return to the palace?"

Buraid frowned at her and the giants. "Of course, because that's what we always do, right? If there's a problem, we just push it down and hope for it to go away. Since I'm the problem right now, I suppose it's my turn to go away."

"You're not a problem," Durnaz told him.

Her brother scoffed at her. "Like I'd believe you actually think that."

The prince turned and reentered the palace, shooting a meaningful glance to Inaya. When he was gone, the princess sighed.

"Sorry again about him."

"Has he always been that angry?" Suki asked.

"Not always," Ebrah answered. "It makes me miss those times, but nothing is accomplished by living in the past."

"It sounded like he wanted a war a while ago," Toph commented, trying to discover if she could still sense where the prince was going.

"It's not that he has a desire to kill," the queen insisted. "We just have gone through these problems with Xei for a very long time."

Katara glanced at her friends, then turned back to the royal family. "We spoke with them and they said that they also lost people."

"They always say that."

"It didn't seem like they were lying," Toph added. "I can feel vibrational changes when people lie. They get nervous and have physical reactions."

This caused the queen and princess to pause, looking at one another. Durnaz's brows were pinched together as she turned to the giants.

"That doesn't make sense. We've never abducted anyone."

"They could be delusional," Ebrah offered. "I have heard of guilt making people think that their own crimes are being committed by others." She looked at Toph. "Can you tell that I am also not lying?"

"I can, but it doesn't make any of this less confusing." The earthbender sighed, then pointed to the third person there on the Rhijaj side. "Inaya was it? What do you think?"

The maid kept her head down. "I don't know."

Her voice was so quiet that it was nearly difficult for the members of Team Avatar to hear her from so high up in the sky. After a moment, the words registered and Katara answered.

"Well, we really don't either," she said, a warmth in her voice. "Is there anything you've seen that could shed some light on what's happening? Even if there isn't, we're open to just getting more perspectives."

Inaya hesitantly met her gaze. "I-I don't know. I'm sorry. I just clean."

Durnaz sadly regarded her and put a hand on her shoulder while looking at the giants. "She does a lot more than just that. Her family has been one of the most loyal to ours. She's practically like a sister to me."

The maid blushed. "I don't deserve such high praise. It's an honor to fulfill my duty. I-if I can be of help to anyone with this, I'd like that."

Durnaz had a thoughtful look appear on her face. "Megat told you about the abductees?" she asked. After seeing Katara nod, she continued. "He doesn't strike me as a delusional man, but maybe I just don't know him well enough to make that judgment. If they think we abducted someone, and we know they did, how do we go on from there?"

Ebrah had a similarly contemplative expression. "This truce will not last for long. If I know my son, he is already planning on another attack. The only actions he sees as impactful involve attacking. Without that, I am not sure how we'll convince everyone that we're making progress."

"We just need everybody to be honest with us," Suki said. "We're going to try to get to the bottom of the situation, so if you'd be willing to talk like this, we'll hopefully be able to spot some inconsistencies between stories and get to the root of the problem."

"You are welcome to come here any time to speak with us. The sooner our people are found, the better. That's all we care about."

The friends continued their questions as the other half of their team went to Xei. In the turquoise office, Megat was talking to his vice president with furrowed brows.

"Sabit's right," he said. "We need to be more aggressive with Rhijaj."

"We just agreed to a truce."

"Yes, but you know they won't abide by that."

"I don't know that actually. Neither of us does."

"Tipah," the president said, exasperated. "Please, don't make this more difficult."

"I'm not trying to. I just don't want you to do anything hasty."

"Hasty? Hasty like how Buraid had his warriors sail into our territory and start attacking? Hasty doesn't begin to describe what he did or what we should do as our parry."

"Mr. President," a new voice called, getting the two men's attention, "the giants are here to speak with you."

Megat straightened his clothes and went towards the door. Before he left, Tipah caught his arm.

"It might help if we don't speak to them in anger," Tipah suggested.

Megat nodded his head and took a breath. The two of them exited the building and bowed before the enormous trio.

"Yeah, I could really get used to this," Sokka commented.

The others shook their heads at him.

"Is this the vice president you mentioned?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, this is Tipah. My assistant is not here at the moment, but I'm sure you will meet her soon as well."

"You said that you would explain more about what being a president is," Aang recalled. "Could you tell us about that? We've only known kings, queens, lords, and chiefs."

"I can. As president, the citizens of Xei chose me from several other candidates. I was not born into the position. None of the presidents were. We have had to gain our positions through campaigns where we work to prove that we will be able to make a positive difference."

"And people just go off that?" Sokka asked. "What if you were lying the entire time?"

"That has happened unfortunately, but it is no more a potentially flawed system than automatically giving someone control over people due to birthright."

Zuko nodded understandingly. "We've seen the effects of someone getting power from being in a certain family without deserving it."

Tipah spoke up. "Also, if someone is a cruel president, we try to vote for a better suited individual when their term is complete."

This put looks of confusion on the faces of the three friends.

"How long are these terms?" Zuko asked.

"For us," Megat answered, "we have the terms last for seven years."

"So, if the war's been going on for a decade, it didn't start with you," Sokka realized.

"I guess that's what you were talking about when you said that some of the presidents haven't deserved their positions," Aang conjectured.

"You're very right about that," Tipah said. "The president before Megat was a rash, prideful man. I still think this war could have been prevented."

"You do?"

"Yes, there has to be more going on than everyone assumes. If the people from Rhijaj had only insulted us, I would not think much about that, but…" The VP paused, frowning. "The pain in their eyes, that's not something I've seen anyone fake. I truly believe they're hurting too."

Megat smiled at the other Xei citizen. "Tipah has always been an optimistic man. He likes to see the best in people."

"I can relate to that," Aang said.

"It's a marvelous quality and one of the many reasons I'm glad that he's my vice president. If something happened to me, I would trust Xei in no one else's hands, but I just worry that thinking the best of our enemies will only put us at a disadvantage. Like today, we were attacked for no reason outside of it being in Buraid's plans. Does that not suggest the malicious intent of those from Rhijaj?"

"It could suggest the desperation of the prince," Zuko offered.

"Possibly, but he is another example of nepotism. He does not deserve to have fleets at his command, but because his father was the king and his mother is the queen, he has them. I don't mean to condemn everyone from Rhijaj," Megat added. "That would be unfair of me, but it would be even more unfair to endanger the lives of those I've sworn to protect in favor of defending warriors being led by a violent prince. If you want to know how this war began, look in his direction. I became president six years ago, but he's always been the prince."

Megat could feel himself growing a little angrier, and Tipah turned to the giants.

"Prince Buraid is a bitter young man," the vice president said, "but I do still feel some sympathy for him. Losing a parent is an excruciating process that couldn't have been helped by seeing more people going missing."

"And you really don't know what happened to the king at all?" Sokka pressed. "Are you sure you have never seen someone with an awfully human-shaped bag over their shoulder?"

"No, I'm sure I would have noticed that."

"But you don't think they're lying," Zuko commented.

"I don't. I also don't think I have a reasonable way to explain how that could be. I just wish that I did."

"That's because there is no way to reasonably explain it," Sabit said, exiting another building to approach the group.

"And this is my assistant," Megat stated, gesturing to the newcomer. "You all will be acquainted sooner than I anticipated."

Sabit nodded her head at the giants. "You saw what the people of Rhijaj would do. Since you've been here, they've already attacked us. Are you really so certain that they won't again, or that they didn't instigate this? If you don't want to help us defeat them, fine, but don't stop us from doing what we need to do to protect our people."

Tipah cringed at her words. Hesitantly, he glanced at the giants to see if they had been angered. Megat looked at them as well, but he could not help his feeling of agreement with the woman.

"If we stepped away," Zuko asked, "what would you do?"

"We would get our abducted citizens."

"Through killing?"

"Through any methods required."

"That wouldn't guarantee that you'd get them back," Aang countered. "If anything, it would just put more of your people at risk since they'd be in battle too."

"Our soldiers are no strangers to casualties of war," Sabit said. "They understand the risks, but they also understand the potential benefits. To them, anything is worth it."

Tipah spoke up, "But we understand too that 'anything' being acceptable can often muddle morality, and that's not our goal."

Sabit glanced at him, a harsh expression just barely hidden in her eyes. She looked back up at the giants.

"Since you won't step away, what will you do? You said you wanted to bring people back, but unless you have some special way to read people's minds, I doubt that you will."

Sokka's eyes lit up. "We might not have a mind reader, but the next best thing is our truth-sensing friend who's also the perfect person to sense where somebody is!"

The firebender and airbender facepalmed.

"How'd we not think of that?" Zuko asked. "Toph can just use her seismic sense."

"Even if it's a little trickier to feel where people are, she should still be able to find large groups," Aang added.

Sabit's eyes widened slightly. "Your friend would be able to find our people?"

There was a trace of hope in her voice.

"If they're anywhere on Rhijaj, Toph will be able to find them," Aang said confidently. "She's the only earthbender I know with such a strong seismic sense."

Despite it almost faltering, Sabit managed to maintain her stern expression. "If she does, that would be nice."

Tipah was less hesitant to reveal his joy and smiled widely. "That would be amazing! I hope that she's able to answer the questions for Rhijaj too. Maybe their people are just hiding or came here as refugees without us noticing. I'd love it if we were able to get this all sorted out."

Megat was unconvinced and did not need to struggle to keep the smile off his face. "Even if she finds them, I doubt there will be peace. I want our people back, but I also want to know why they were taken in the first place. You returning them wouldn't change what Xei did."

"It wouldn't, but it's a step towards progress," Aang said hopefully.

"You might still not know why it happened, but at least you'd have your people back," Zuko mentioned.

Tipah glanced at the president. "I think they're right, Megat. It would be a major improvement."

"Morale would rise too," Sabit chimed in.

After a moment, Megat nodded. "I wish your friend luck with this."

The six people spoke for a while longer. As these conversations took place, another one was happening back in the team's dimension. In the Fire Nation, while the Kyoshi warriors were in the middle of their rounds in the prison, they were also busy discussing their hopes for the Earth Kingdom.

"I hope that the Earth King does better this time," one said.

"Apart from becoming a tyrant, I'm not sure if it's possible to do a worse job."

"Good point. In my opinion, what he's doing now is a positive sign. Getting the team together always leads to good outcomes."

This sentence caused a certain set of ears to perk up curiously. Inside a cell sat a firebender with dark hair covering some of her face.

"The team's together? Interesting," she thought, a smirk forming on her face. "I wonder what fun I could have while Zuzu's out with his little friends, playing Fire Lord."