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.

27. Ch 27 - The Painted Lady

Chapter 27 - The Painted Lady

After departing from Jeong Jeong's camp, Zuko led the team back to the Fire Colony village that held the fire festival the previous night. They needed clothing that would allow them to blend in once they arrived to the Fire Nation. Practical as ever, the Fire Prince decided to have everyone outfit themselves before they officially set off on their new adventure.

Walking into the clothing store, Sokka had the bright idea of just getting four full-bodied red hooded cloaks, calling them the perfect disguises. Needless to say, everyone disagreed. Zuko was the first to point out that no one just walks around covering themselves completely in a cloak. If anything, four cloaked teenagers would just attract more attention, walking around in broad daylight. With his first idea shot down, Sokka mulled over the other options the clothing store had.

Zuko was the quickest to select his outfit from the shop. No surprise there really. He was the most familiar with Fire Nation clothing after all. A simple travel tunic with shades of dark red and crimson and a golden trim lining as well as a pair of sturdy black boots. It was functional, practical, and easy to move in.

Sokka was the next one out of the changing rooms. He wore a heavier set of red sewn-together leathers with a large maroon shoulder guard and a matching wide belt sash. He also had a pair of red and black travel sandals.

Katara followed wearing a bright red top, secured over her left shoulder while leaving her right shoulder bare. Her midriff was exposed while she wore a long double layered red skirt that reached her ankles. On her feet were also a pair of red and black travel sandals. Furthermore, her hair had definitely grown much closer to its original length once again. She had the top portion tied off in a top knot while allowing the rest to billow out down to her shoulders.

"Those colors really do suit you," complimented Zuko when he saw her emerge from the changing room. The Fire Prince found the waterbender's azure eyes and caramel tan skin being highlighted by the rich and deep Fire Nation reds.

"Thanks," blushed Katara as she tried to hide the color on her face by pretending to adjust her hair a little bit. 'He's getting really comfortable saying things like that now,' the waterbender thought to herself fondly. It made her happy.

"Hey, hey, hey," interrupted Sokka to Katara's annoyance as her Brother interjected himself into the conversation. "Katara looks great in Water Tribe blue. This is just a temporary outfit."

"Maybe keep the Water Tribe call-outs a little quieter," chided Zuko lowly as he looked around to ensure no one had heard the Water Tribe boy. Fortunately, there was only a bored looking cashier at the front of the shop reading a book and paying very little attention to anything else.

Jin emerged from the changing rooms last. "How do I look?" she asked the others. She was dressed in a sleeveless red tunic top that reached over her waist. A pair of dark crimson shorts came to a rest at the top of her thighs; however, Jin also wore long black leggings that picked up where the shorts left off. She had a pair of black travel sandals on. Long ash colored gloves also graced her arms past the elbows to make up for her lack of sleeves. To complete the outfit was a long golden belt sash tied off to her left side, which draped down to about her knee.

"I think Jin wins the best outfit contest, hands down," praised Katara as she gushed over her friend's outfit.

"Katara's right. That get-up is definitely you," agreed Zuko with a head nod. He turned to walk towards the front of the shop. "If everyone's ready, then I'll go pay."

The Water Tribe girl continue her fawning over Jin's outfit. "I should have known that you would be the best at putting together an ensemble." Elbowing her Brother, Katara asked, "What do you think Sokka? You haven't said anything yet."

"Huh?" sagely replied Sokka as the nudging elbows from his Sister to his side seemed to return his senses to him. "Yup, good outfit, great pick," he said hurriedly as he took a couple of steps backwards only to knock over a clothing mannequin. The Water Warrior crashed to the ground in a heap.

"I'm okay. All good!" Sokka scrambled to get up as he jumped back to his feet, lifting the mannequin with him and attempted to fix the clothing on the display, which somehow became more disheveled the more the Water Tribe boy flailed. Deeming the mannequin fixed, which it clearly wasn't, Sokka took another step back only to collide with a second mannequin. "Still good!" he managed to get out as he got back up and retreated outside the store.

"What's his problem?" muttered Katara as she watched the awkward display of her Brother. Jin shrugged in response as the two girls returned to talking about their new outfits.

Zuko weighed his coin bag in his hand as he walked out of the store to rejoin the others. "Not much left. We'll need to keep an eye out for ways to earn more travel expenses as we go."

"That wasn't ever a problem when it was just me and Aang," said Sokka smugly, while secretly grateful for the change in topic. "People always seemed to be willing to give us free stuff, since you know, Avatar and all that."

"Well goodie for you two," grumbled Zuko as he put away his coin bag. "However, you won't be living a charmed life of free stuff anymore. Here in the real world, we need money to survive because people don't normally give charity to regular run-of-the-mill travelers."

"But aren't you a prince? And aren't we heading back to your country? Aren't your people, like, I don't know... obligated to help out royalty?" protested Sokka.

"First off, Banished prince. So my return to my own country may not be entirely welcomed everywhere we go. Second, most of the common people don't even know my actual face. The royal family rarely ever ventured from the Imperial Fire Palace except to go to planned venues like ceremonies, presentations, or announcements. And almost all of those were in the Capital anyway. Thirdly, I never made any public appearances after receiving my scar. People know of my scar, but burns are not that uncommon in the Fire Nation, especially when students are learning firebending. I can probably get away with saying it's a training accident," listed out Zuko.

"So no free stuff?" asked Sokka after a moment to confirm.

When Zuko ignored him, Katara asked, "So you never got to see your own country?"

Zuko looked out across the nearby sea. "No. I read about places in books and charted locations out on maps, but I was never permitted to travel anywhere. Though, there were a few times back when I was a kid that Mother took the entire family to the Ember Islands for family vacations. I got to see the beach, make sand castles, normal kid stuff. It was nice."

"Then, we'll have to tour the Fire Nation. All of us, together, once all the fighting is done," announced Katara as she made the decision on the spot.

"Hmm... so we can get the lay of the land in case something else happens. Good thinking Sis," praised Sokka as he seemed to contemplate the advantages of knowing the lay of the land.

"That's not-" started Katara, only to pause as Zuko put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Never mind him," dismissed Zuko as he revealed what he had in his other hand. "Here, I thought this would suit you as well."

A red ribbon with a small golden plated Fire Nation crest came into view. The waterbender instantly recognized the simple piece of jewelry. It was a necklace.

Rubbing the back of his head, Zuko added, "I saw it amongst some other pieces back in the store when I was paying for the clothes. And since you gave your other necklace to Jeong Jeong to give to your Father, I thought that you might like a temporary replacement. You know, just until you get your Mother's necklace back. It's definitely a bit plain compared to your other necklace, but a Fire Nation necklace should help you blend in better too."

Katara hugged the Fire Prince as she accepted the gift. "Thank you." Undoing the clasp on the necklace, the Water Tribe girl handed the jewelry back to Zuko while lifting up her hair behind her neck. "Could you help me?"

"Of course." Zuko slipped the necklace around the waterbender's neck and clasped it back together.

'That was actually smooth of him,' blinked Jin as she watched her friends interact. 'Who knew?' Feeling a little jealous, the earthbender decided to mess with Sokka a bit instead of interrupting her friends' moment together. Leaning against the Water Tribe boy's side, Jin put the back of her hand on her forehead as she sighed exaggeratedly, "If only someone got me a present too..."

To Jin's surprise, the Water Tribe boy seemed to tense up in response to her teasing. Sokka didn't turn to face her nor did he have a witty or snarky comment ready to go.

Instead, Jin nearly stumbled over when Sokka dug through his bag, pulled out a map, and spun on his heels as he buried his face in the sea chart. "W-We should keep moving. We'll need to stick to a strict schedule if we're going to rescue this Iroh guy and meet up with Dad in time," the Water Warrior stated as he furiously studied the map despite the chart being upside down to anyone who bothered to notice.

"You're right," acknowledged Zuko as he started to lead the group towards the clearing outside town where they had left Edel.

"You okay there?" asked Katara as she helped her friend regain her balance.

"Yeah," replied Jin distractedly as she watched the retreating form of the Water Tribe boy bump into Zuko thanks to the sea chart that was blocking his vision. Zuko gave a shove back to Sokka in response, which erupted into a whole thing with the two boys arguing about watching where the other was walking. "Never better," the earthbender added absently.

---

The teens reached the outer islands of the Fire Nation later that afternoon as they flew at a decent pace. Zuko directed Edel to touch down in an uninhabited area. "We should get our bearings first. If we just fly around aimlessly, then we may be spotted and reported."

"Alright, I needed to stretch my legs anyway. Riding Edel is fun and all, but long distances aren't that comfortable," commented Jin as she stretched.

The Fire Prince brushed his hand along Edel's feathers. "We'll be walking west, towards the setting sun," Zuko informed Edel as the bird squawked and flew off into the sky once more.

"Do you really think that bird understands you?" scoffed Sokka as he watched the thunderbird disappear into the clouds.

Zuko shrugged. "Edel is very intelligent. She's understood me so far." The firebender looked around the area. "I'm not going just keep her walking next to us though. I doubt that Edel would like that. She's a free spirit. Plus, she hasn't had a problem finding us before. It should be fine."

Sokka appeared unconvinced, but replied with, "If you say so." He pulled out his map once more as he attempted to figure out exactly where they were.

Katara glanced over at Zuko. The Fire Prince was staring out across the landscape. "Welcome home," she greeted as she walked up alongside him.

Zuko continued to stare outward. "It's funny. For the last three years, all I ever wanted, was to return home. Here, back to the Fire Nation." He sighed. "And now, here I am, back on Fire Nation soil. And it's foreign to me. All I ever knew, was the Imperial Palace." The firebender shook his head as he muttered softly, "What a sheltered little prince." He chuckled faintly to himself. "Geez, I sound like an idiot."

Katara shook her head in objection. "No, you've seen the world. Now it's time to see your own country. To get to know your people." In response, Zuko returned her smile with one of his own.

Sokka looked up from his charts. "According to my map, we're next to the Jang Hui river. There should be a town a bit further ahead if we follow the water."

"Sounds good to me," replied his Sister. Following her element always seemed like an excellent idea.

Jin looked at the water flowing in the river and gave a disgusted expression as she pinched her nose. "Umm... guys? Have you looked at the river yet? That water's polluted."

The Earth Kingdom girl was right. There was a sludge flowing through the river that gave it a sickly grayish color. It was murky and hazy to the eye. "I don't think we can expect to catch any good fish in that," blanched Sokka as he stuck his tongue out. He sniffed around a little as well. "And that explains the foul odor in the air too. I thought that was just how the Fire Nation normally smelled."

Careful to avoid walking too close to the water, the group continued to travel alongside the river as they eventually approached the anticipated town from Sokka's map. What they didn't expect was for the town to be in the middle of the river itself. Several buildings and structures stood on top of a maze of wooden piers and bridges with several small boats and canoes milling about around the small village. Unfortunately, there did not seem to be bridge leading from the town to the river's shoreline.

Zuko was unsure of how to approach the town without a bridge when Jin pointed towards a man who standing on the river's edge next to a sign advertising a ferry to cross with. "Hey!" the earthbender called out with a wave before anyone could stop her. "Could you give us a lift into town?"

The ferryman looked up as he noticed their group. "Sure can! My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you lot are?"

Stepping forward, Zuko simply announced, "We're from the Fire Nation Colonies, back in the Earth Kingdom."

Dock gave a low whistle as he scratched the roof of his head under his fisherman's cap. "You don't say. Wow... Colonials. Can't say we get too many of your kind back this a-ways." He made room on his ferry raft. "Hop on, I'll give you a ride into town."

As Dock paddled them along the river on his raft, Katara decided to start some light conversation. "Why is the village built over the river?"

"Because we're a fishing town," came Dock's easy answer. Then, his brow furrowed. "At least, that's how it was before the factory moved in." He lifted his paddle to gesture out towards an industrial structure on the opposite far bank, half obstructed by a bend in the river. "Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years back and started gunking up our river." The ferryman shook his head. "Now our little village is struggling to survive."

The four travelers exchanged sad glances at the depressing news that they had just heard. Zuko narrowed his eyes as he started to stare at the military factory. The Fire Prince brooded the rest of the short ferry ride over.

Arriving at the river town, the living conditions were even worse than the group had been expecting. Poverty and starvation were the first thoughts that entered their minds. Everywhere, there were sickly looking people littering the wooden docks with very little energy or drive. Several of the structures appeared unkept and as if they might collapse into the river when challenged by a strong gust or wave.

"Thanks for the ride," thanked Jin as they disembarked. She waved at Dock as he waved back before he departed on his raft.

Katara gestured with her arm as they walked across the wooden piers and bridges of the village. "Look at this place. It's so sad."

"What are you all doing, invading other places when your own country is like this?" probed Sokka as he too was feeling some remorse for the state of the river village.

Taking a moment before answering, Zuko eventually replied, "I didn't know things were this bad. The Capital is completely different. No one is hungry there." The Fire Prince continued to look around in disbelief. "Are all the rural parts of the Fire Nation like this?"

"If they are, then the Fire Nation is basically eating its own in order to continue the war effort," assessed Jin as the group continued to walk through the river village. The tense facial expression on the Fire Prince's features only continued to darken.

The dreary town began to remind the waterbender of the small no name plains village back in the Earth Kingdom. A quick glance at Zuko informed Katara that he was thinking the same.

That particular adventure of theirs didn't exactly turn out all that well towards the end, but this place was suffering too and it was difficult not to make the obvious comparisons. An old man sitting against a slanted hut coughed a short distance off to Katara's left as his grandson tried to comfort him. The Water Tribe girl stopped walking as she turned and made a declaration. "We have to do something to help."

"What are you talking about?" protested Sokka almost immediately. Then, he attempted to dissuade that line of optimistic thinking with some practicality. "No, we can't waste our time here. We have more important things to do; things that we need to stay focused on. These people here are on their own." He continued to walk along the pier. "Let's just figure out how to get to the next town and leave."

Katara chased after her Brother a couple of steps and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Are you really being that heartless right now? These people are starving! And you're willing to just turn your back on them? I know my Brother can't be this callous."

Sokka shrugged off his Sister's hand on his shoulder. "I'm not being heartless and I'm not turning my back. I'm being realistic. We can't go around trying to save every little, rinky-dink village or slum we come across or wander into. That's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. If we really want to help them, all of them, the small villages here and back home, then we can do that by taking down the Fire Lord."

Jin rushed up to the arguing Water Tribe siblings and placed her hand over Sokka's mouth. "Hey you two, maybe we should be a little quieter about, you know," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "taking out the Fire Lord while we're in the Fire Nation."

Sokka shoved Jin's hand back down as he addressed his Sister again. "All I'm saying, Katara, is we need to be logical about this. You know that our mission has to come first."

The Water Tribe girl's eyes wandered across the village again as her heart went out to the suffering people. Eventually, reluctantly, she muttered, "I guess so."

Zuko approached the others. His face was hardened, but otherwise unreadable. "Let's just get what we need and go." He gave a pained smile to Katara, who returned it with one of her own. The firebender was clearly forcing himself to accept Sokka's logic as well instead of a more emotional, sympathetic response.

The four teens reached what possibly qualified as a market square. There were only a handful of stalls selling some thread bare clothing and meager scraps of food. As they walked up to one of the open-air shops, they noticed a man who looked suspiciously like the ferryman they had encountered earlier. The only difference to this man was the hat that the man was wearing. The fisherman's cap had changed to a conical shopkeeper hat.

"Hey, Dock. You work here too?" asked Sokka as they walked up to the man behind the stall.

"I'm not Dock. I'm Xu! Dock's my Brother," replied Xu.

Startled at the uncanny resemblance, the four of them looked at each other.

"But we just saw you," protested Sokka, perplexed. "You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat."

Xu looked slightly annoyed. "Dock works on the docks. That's why we call him, 'Dock,' and I work in the shop. That's why they call me, 'Xu.'" He gave a small laugh.

"I don't get it," muttered Katara as Zuko shrugged.

"Me neither!" laughed Xu even harder, evidently hearing them despite the whisper.

"Twins, maybe?" offered Jin as the rest of them accepted the possible answer for the similar looking siblings.

Xu waved his hand dismissively. Then, he pulled a crate of rancid grey and sludge covered seafood out from behind the counter. "So what can I get'cha?" All of them recoiled at the sight of the putrid food for sale. "Hey, tell you what, I'll give you a special deal. If you buy four fish, then I'll give you a clam for free." He placed a large clam on the counter as well.

Sokka poked it with his boomerang and gagged as mucus splashed out from the shellfish. The rest of the group barely managed to hold back the sudden urge to throw up as well. "We'll just take the fish," replied Sokka with disgust as he pushed the clam back across the counter.

Zuko pulled the Water Tribe boy back as he stepped forward. "No, we won't." He looked at Sokka like the boy had grown a second head. Which if they ate those rancid-looking fish, they all very well might. "We're just came to the mainland for some sightseeing from the Fire Colonies. Do you know of any good places to check out?"

Xu scratched his head under his hat. "Ain't nothing worthwhile to see around these parts. If you're just tourists, then kept following the river. There's a famed sword master living a couple of towns over I hear. That might be pretty interesting to check out."

Sokka's ears perked up at the news. "Really? That's definitely interesting."

"I thought you didn't want to make too many stops," retorted Katara.

"We can make time for this one," countered Sokka quickly as he pulled out his map and started making some calculations while muttering to himself about ways to save time.

Leaving the Water Tribe boy to his work, Zuko addressed Xu again. "Thanks. Mind telling your Brother that we need a ride back to shore?"

"No problem," answered the shopkeeper as he pointed with his finger across the marketplace. "Here he comes now." As the group looked down the direction indicated, they didn't see anyone.

"Hey there, it's my favorite colonials!" greeted Dock as he jumped across the shop counter wearing his fisherman's cap. "My Brother says that you need a lift. Ferry's right over this way. Follow me!"

The four teenagers looked at each other a little strangely, but didn't really have any other choice but to follow the odd man. As they walked, a little boy ran up to the waterbender and tugged at her skirt. "Can you spare some food?"

Her heart breaking at the sight of his half-starved appearance, Katara knelt down next to the street urchin and dug out a small bag of seal jerky from her pockets. "Here." She gave a slight smile as the boy bowed in thanks and watched as he walked back to share the food with his younger sisters.

---

'Traitor,' thought Aang to himself in frustration as he dared to open one eye to spy Momo sitting in Toph's lap as the little earthbender and the ring-tailed winged lemur both enjoyed a delicious bowl of bacui berries. Of all his friends, Aang would have thought that Momo would have been on his side. But no, the little turncoat had apparently sided with Toph. Probably because of the food.

"You're not focusing!" shouted Toph as she threw a berry at Aang. The small fruit bounced harmlessly off the Avatar's head.

"But Toph, I've been sitting here for hours!" whined Aang as he struggled to maintain his meditative posture. "When are we going to do something more exciting? We could practice rolling boulders again. I think I almost have that down."

"You've been sitting there for twenty minutes," deadpanned Toph. "But I'm going to make you sit there for hours if that's what it takes. Now shut your trap and listen."

Another couple of minutes passed in silence until Aang groaned again. "I don't even know what I've supposed to be listening for!" A second berry zoomed across the ship's deck as it smacked the airbender directly between the eyes. "Ow!"

"Not just with your ears Twinkle Toes! Listen with your entire body. If you want to be an earthbender, then you need to learn to listen like one," attempted to explain Toph. "I've told you a hundred times, you need to wait and listen before you can strike back. Right now, you can't even dodge these berries."

"I could avoid the berries if you let me keep my eyes open and use my airbending," grumbled Aang. A third berry crashed into his head.

"Still not listening!" exclaimed Toph as she juggled a handful of bacui berries in her hand.

Momo glanced up from the bacui berry he was eating as the ring-tailed winged lemur almost seemed to shake his head in pity of the airbender's predicament.

"Traitor..." muttered Aang once more as he rubbed his head and looked over at his small animal friend. This action was rewarded with Momo throwing a berry at Aang's forehead as well with a gleeful smile on the lemur's little face as the creature imitated Toph's training.

---

"Why didn't you let me buy the fish again?" grumbled Sokka as he foraged the area for fruits and nuts alongside the firebender.

"Because if I did, then you'd be throwing up all night and I didn't want to listen to that," shot back Zuko as he examined a mushroom. He wasn't too sure if this particular variety was edible or poisonous. And recalling his Uncle's run in with maka'ole berries, the firebender wasn't about to take the chance as he discarded the unidentifiable shroom.

A shadow overhead signaled that Edel was returning. As the thunderbird landed, it squawked happily as it dropped several rabbits in a pile next to Zuko as the Fire Prince rubbed the bird's head. With a smirk, he boasted, "And with Edel around, there's no reason for us to eat contaminated seafood."

Picking up a couple of the rabbits, Sokka grinned. "I'm starting to love that thunderbird."

The two boys returned to their campsite around the same time as the girls were returning from their foraging expedition in the opposite direction. The waterbender and earthbender cheered in relief when they saw the rabbits that each of the boys were carrying.

Removing a pot that had been secured to Edel's saddle, Sokka set-up a cooking stand while Zuko got a campfire going. Katara bent some water from the river into the air, holding the liquid in place as Jin separated the soiled pollutants from that water with her earthbending. Then, Katara bent the somewhat clean water into the pot to boil and burn away the rest of the pollutants.

As dinner was being prepared, Sokka reviewed his map again for what must have been the thirtieth time that day. "We spent way too much time at that river village today," he declared with some disdain. "My original schedule has been completely thrown off." He started to make some new calculations on the edges of the map. "It's going to take some serious finagling to get us back on track with my travel predictions."

"You know, he's kinda cute when he's finagling over there, all serious looking over that map," giggled Jin as she helped Katara prepare the rabbits for a stew.

Katara sighed. "He's just a big goofball. Whatever Sokka comes up with, he'll probably just recalculate it again later when something else catches his attention."

"That's what makes it fun," smiled Jin. "He definitely keeps things lively."

"Okay! I think I got it!" exclaimed Sokka as he held up the map with both hands, a triumphant smile gracing his face. "It just looks like we'll need to wake up fifty-two minutes earlier each day for the next two weeks."

"Fifty-two minutes? That's oddly specific," retorted Katara as she stirred the cooking pot.

Sokka started to trace his finger around the map where he had drawn a route across the Fire Nation. "Look, we only have a few weeks to rescue Zuko's Uncle, rendezvous with Dad, and get to the Fire Nation Capital City in time for the invasion and the eclipse, which, don't forget, only lasts for eight minutes on a very specific day. And we just wasted an entire day walking around this village. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, then we have to wake up earlier."

Zuko crossed his arms. "That's not a problem for me, Katara, or Jin. But you always sleep in the latest and we usually have to throw you out of your bedroll."

Sokka scratched his head as he studied the map again. "Good point," he muttered, miraculously accepting the firebender's rebuttal. Most likely because the Water Tribe boy didn't really want to lose precious sleep either. "Hmm... maybe we could just cut out all of our food breaks. Just eat and walk at the same time while we're traveling. That could work."

The responses from the earthbender, waterbender, and firebender were instantaneous as they spoke over each other.

"What?"

"No way!"

"Are you crazy?"

Shaking his head at the shortsightedness of his friends, the Water Tribe boy continued to brainstorm. "Oh I got it! We could take our food breaks and our bathroom breaks at the same time." Each of the three benders appeared extremely grossed out by Sokka's crude idea. "Hey, it might be gross, but it's efficient."

"Please don't tell me that was something that you and Aang did because I wasn't there to knock sense into you," retorted Katara with some revulsion.

Sokka shrugged. "No, we didn't need to do that. But then again, Aang and I weren't on the same time crunch that we're on now." The Water Tribe boy crossed his arms. "And you guys are so quick to shoot down my ideas. I'm coming up with ideas because no one else seems to be. Even when it was just me, Aang, and Toph, I always had to be the Idea Guy. But hey, either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning to get back on track. So let's eat up and get to sleep."

No one had any reservations with that idea of Sokka's. However, as the four of them turned in for the night, Katara looked back at the river village with a distraught expression on her face.

---

The next morning, Edel was lying on the ground with her wings spread out. Katara was next to the thunderbird, administering some first aid with her waterbending.

"What's the matter Katara?" asked Zuko with concern as he knelt down next to the waterbender.

"I think Edel might be a little sick," the Water Tribe girl said softly.

Sokka shot up out of his bed roll in a panic. "What?! Edel's sick?! That's terrible!"

Jin tended to the campfire. "Wow, Sokka. I thought you didn't care about the thunderbird very much."

"Of course I care!" the Water Tribe boy answered hurriedly as he jumped to his feet. "If Edel's sick, then I might as well throw our entire schedule away. Oh, this is going to take forever to rework again." He pulled out his map and started to adjust the schedule in the margins furiously. Pausing as he felt a cold chill, Sokka looked up to witness the evil eyes the rest of the group was giving him. Putting the map away sheepishly, Sokka coughed into his hand. "And... I'm obviously very concerned that our feathered friend here doesn't feel well."

Rolling her eyes at the Water Tribe boy's shallow attempts to be sympathetic, Jin suggested, "Maybe Edel got sick drinking water from the polluted river?"

"Maybe." Zuko examined the thunderbird a little closer. "But, I doubt Edel would do that. She's smarter than Sokka. She would know not to drink that foul water." Opening the thunderbird's beak, he observed several purple splotches. "Her whole mouth is purple. That can't be good. Is your healing not effective Katara?"

Shaking her head, the waterbender answered, "I've been trying, but I think Edel mostly just needs to stay still and rest. Maybe we can find some medical herbs in town?"

"You all go. I'm staying with Edel," replied Zuko as he sat down next to the thunderbird and held her head. Katara looked back with a hidden guilty expression on her face as the rest of the group proceeded back towards the river town.

As Katara, Sokka, and Jin walked along the wooden decks of the village, they started to notice more people up and about then there were yesterday. "Is it just me, or does this place seem a little different to you all today?" asked Jin as she looked around.

The same kid that had asked Katara for food yesterday ran by the group bouncing a small red ball happily as the waterbender smiled. "Maybe something unexpectedly good happened."

Approaching the marketplace, Sokka leaned onto the shop counter. "Hey Xu, what's going on with everyone today? It's a little like this is a whole different village altogether. It's a little unsettling."

Xu was drinking some soup from a ladle as the teenagers stood at his shop counter. "Ah, something amazing happened last night," the shopkeeper grinned. "Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person." Katara tried to hide a growing smile on her face. "The Painted Lady," proclaimed Xu.

Katara face faulted at the out of the blue answer from the shopkeeper. "The Painted who now?" she attempted to clarify.

"The Painted Lady," repeated Xu as he reached down below his stall and pulled up a miniature statuette of an elegant and beautiful lady spirit, which he set down on the counter top. "She's a part of our town's lore. They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of great need." He chuckled. "I always thought she was just a legend. Until now anyway."

Sokka brushed aside the statuette with disinterest. "See? We don't need to help these people. They already have someone looking out for them," he told to the waterbender and earthbender at his side. Then, he turned his attention back to the shopkeeper. "Xu, all we need is some medicine for our sick friend. Got any herbs?"

Xu shook his head. "Medicine? Sorry friend." He pointed towards the factory upriver. "All our medicine goes to the factory. That's why there's so many sick people in our village right now."

Katara looked around. Even though many of the villagers looked a little more active with some food in their bellies, many of them were still coughing and milling about with sickly expressions. "Looks like we'll need to stay another night so that Edel can rest," the Water Tribe girl declared.

Sokka sighed. "Yippee, lucky us." Then, he remembered that Zuko wasn't there. And if Edel was sick, then the thunderbird couldn't bring them more food. Shifting topics, Sokka asked, "If that's the case, Xu, you got any more food to sell?"

Xu dug underneath the counter again as he pulled out two fish, one in either hand. "Would you like the one-headed fish or the two-headed fish?"

Katara and Jin gagged at the sight of the mutated fish as Sokka gave a thoughtful expression as he considered his choices. "Two-headed!" he decided. When the girls looked at him in disgust, he defended himself. "What? You get more for your money that way!" Both of the girls grabbed a protesting Sokka by the back cuff of his tunic as they dragged him away before he could buy the polluted fish.

---

That night a shadowy figure glided across the river towards the village as a layer of thick fog spread across the area. As the figure entered the village and passed by a still lit torch, any passerby would have seen a mysterious woman with red painted tattoo stripes along her shoulders, arms, and face. A large, flat conical shaped straw hat graced her head with a silky white veil that draped down and billowed softly in the wind.

The lady stalked quietly through the village as the people slumbered in their huts. She entered mutely into several of the structures where she knelt next to the resting citizens and carefully bent water the glowed a magnificent blue hue around them.

Some of the last people the veiled lady healed were the young sisters of the boy from earlier in the day, the one that had been playing with the red ball. The boy woke slightly as he heard the figure start to move towards the exit. "Thank you, Painted Lady," he whispered as he hugged his little sisters.

The mysterious figure paused in the doorway and nodded back at the young boy with an elegant smile. Stepping outside, the Painted Lady paused a second time as she noticed a bucket of fresh fruit and nuts just outside the door. Looking at each of the other huts that she had entered, a similar bucket of foraged food sat in each doorway.

'I didn't leave those there,' she thought to herself. The mysterious figure noticed several large wooden crates of food sitting in the middle of the village square. 'And I definitely didn't leave those there.' Feeling a little spooked herself, the veiled lady decided to depart quickly.

Returning to the river's edge, the Painted Lady raised more heavy fog as she glided across the water again in a hurry. She never noticed the blue faced spirit watching her from atop one of the wooden huts in the village. A cloud swept across the moonlight, darkening the rooftop for a moment. As the shadow passed and the rooftop was illuminated once more, the Blue Spirit had already disappeared into the night.

---

"Hey Bato, go gather Chinook and the others, would you?" asked Hakoda. "We need to go over our resupply plan for when we head ashore later."

"You got it, Chief," replied Bato as he departed from the ship's galley.

As he waited, Hakoda lifted the lid of a nearby apple barrel.

A hand reached out from within the barrel, extending an apple out at the Water Chieftain with a pleasant, "Here you go."

As an automatic response, Hakoda absently replied with, "Thank you," as he accepted the apple and replaced the barrel lid.

Brushing the apple off on the side of his tunic, Hakoda went to take a bite, only to pause as he teeth touched the fruit. "What the...?"

Yanking the lid off the apple barrel a second time, the Water Chieftain looked inside to spy a sheepish looking Aang sitting on top of the remaining apples in the barrel as the airbender waved back at Hakoda awkwardly. Glancing off to the side, Hakoda noticed that the young boy had filled most of the other apples from the barrel into the nearby baskets.

Turning his attention back to the Avatar hiding out in a cask in the middle of an empty galley, Hakoda simply asked, "What are you doing?"

Aang put his finger up to his own lips as he gave a quick, "Shh..."

Hakoda glanced around the room. "Aang, there's no one here but us. Why are you sitting in a barrel?"

The airbender gave a nervous laugh. "Umm... no reason. I just like apples."

"Uh-huh," returned Hakoda with a straight-faced expression that clearly intended that he wasn't buying Aang's flimsy defense.

Breaking down immediately, Aang plead his case to the Water Chieftain. "It's Toph! All this earthbending training. It's too much! No matter what I do, it's not good enough. I've spent hours sitting around and listening for something that I still can't understand while Toph throws berries at me. She keeps putting me in a metal box and telling me to feel the earth within the metal, but that doesn't work. And you know what the worst part is?"

Hakoda shook his head. The Water Chieftain was still catching up to what the airbender had stated at the start of his rant. The kid was talking a mile a minute.

Seeing the negative response from Hakoda, Aang finished with, "The worst part was, even though I finally managed to push a boulder across the deck with my earthbending the other day, Toph barely congratulated me! Actually, I don't think she congratulated me at all. All she did was nod once. I think she had a slight smile, but I'm not sure. And then, you know what she said?! She said, 'Good work Twinkle Toes, now do that again fifty more times.'" Aang's hands shot up into the air. "Fifty! I just barely managed to do it once!"

Hakoda nodded sympathetically. "Aang, I think Toph was proud that you managed to get the hang of earthbending, even if just a little bit. She's a strict teacher, but she's doing her best. And repetition is the best way to really make sure that you learn how to do something. I've had Sokka practice his spearfishing throw countless times." The Water Chieftain reflected momentarily about when his Son attempted to demonstrate his fishing skills the previous week. "Well, Sokka's still learning, but I think you get my point about how repetition helps."

The reluctant expression on Aang's face showed that the Avatar was doubting Hakoda's reasoning. Reaching out of the wooden cask and picking up the rounded lid, Aang sealed himself back into the barrel. A muffled voice from within stated, "Thanks for the advice, but I think I'm going to take a pause from earthbending practice for a little bit. I need a break."

Shrugging, Hakoda figured the young airbender probably deserved a little rest. He had been observing the grueling earthbending training that Toph had been putting the young man through after all.

Sitting back down at the table with the map of the Earth Kingdom coastline on it, Hakoda took a bite of his apple as he began to circle possible places his men could forage for supplies. 'We can probably trade with this Earth Kingdom town while another group stocks barrels with fresh water from the inland river over here,' thought the Water Chieftain as he studied his charts.

A moment later, the heavy galley door burst inward as the small foot of the little earthbender on the ship smashed the entrance open. Not saying a single word to Hakoda, Toph stomped heavily towards the barrel that Aang was hiding out in. Kicking the wooden cask over with a mighty blow, Toph waited as Aang spilled out onto the floor alongside an array of loose apples.

Before the airbender could get his bearings, Toph grabbed her friend by the back of his tunic and dragged him back towards the galley exit. "Nice try, Twinkle Toes, but you have the lightest footsteps of anyone on this metal tub. All I have to do is concentrate, and I can find you anywhere onboard. So quit trying to hide. It won't work."

Hakoda listened to the airbender's protests about needing a break from training fade away as the pair made their way down the corridor. Taking another bite of his apple, Hakoda shook his head again. He might feel pity for Aang and all the intense training the young boy had to endure, but Hakoda was wise enough to know better than to interfere. He didn't want to get on Toph's bad side either, after all.

---

The next day, Zuko joined the others when they headed back into the village. Sokka looked incredibility miffed about having to spend even more time here. Apparently, Edel was still feeling under the weather.

Nearing the marketplace, the Water Tribe boy settled into a chair and set his head down on a table in frustration. Dock was sitting in the opposite chair polishing a small statuette of the Painted Lady. Sokka talked into the table as he said, "Hey there Dock. Is Xu around?"

"Let me check," answered Dock as he set the figurine down and ducked behind his shop counter. He popped back up wearing Xu's hat. "You're all back again? Well, what can I get for ya?"

"Our friend is still sick," explained Jin. "We mostly just stopped by to check on the town, but do you happen to have any food that isn't covered in sludge?"

Xu gave a thoughtful expression as he rubbed his chin. "Nope!" he answered with a smile. When Jin sighed, he added, "I know that its tough, but hey, if you guys are lucky, then maybe the Painted Lady will visit you all in the night as well. Maybe she could even heal your friend."

Sokka picked up his head from the table as he sarcastically addressed the heavens. "Oh yes, the Painted Lady. And while she's healing our friend, maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack and we'll all have a sing-along too."

Xu looked at the Water Tribe boy. Not realizing his sarcasm, he smiled. "Yeah, maybe! That would be fun!" Sokka shot the man an annoyed glare. "You know, the Painted Lady visited us again last night," added Xu. "Healed most of our sick folks too. So kind of her."

"Is that why this place is so festive?" asked Jin as she observed the town some more. In the center of the town, several of the villagers were raising a newly carved, large statue of the Painted Lady. As they finished pulling the statue up with rope, everyone cheered and applauded. Then, they settled down to pray together.

"Yup!" replied Xu merrily as he grinned at Jin. "It's all because of the Painted Lady."

Katara smiled as she examined the statue. "Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady?" She caught herself. "I mean, spirit?"

Sokka rolled his eyes at the statue honor the town's savior spirit. "Well, I just hope this Painted Lady returns to the village every night. Otherwise, this place will just go right back to the way it was."

Katara leveled a frustrated glare at her Brother. "Why would you say something like that? Look at how much better off these people are."

Sokka returned his Sister's exasperation with his own. "Yeah, for now they are. But just look at them. Really look. It's all a bunch of idol worship. They haven't learned how to support themselves. They aren't standing on their own feet. If the Painted Lady leaves them and goes back to the Spirit World, then they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves." He indicated to the military factory upriver with his thumb. "If she really wanted to help, then she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory." He made an explosion sound with his mouth as he widened his arms to simulate an explosion.

Katara looked at her Brother in vexation. She hated it when he was right. Especially when she didn't have a good counterargument.

Finding some humor in the situation, Jin joined in with Sokka. "I don't have too much knowledge about spirit magic, but I would have imagined it would be more like this." She made a similar explosion sound as she raised her arms in a similar gesture to the one Sokka made.

Emboldened by the fact that at least one of his friends was joining him in his silliness, the Water Tribe boy rose to his feet and made another demonstration of the factory blowing up as Jin laughed at his antics. Katara stormed off at the merriment of her Brother and her friend as Zuko watched her with a concerned eye.

---

Later that night, shortly after the four teens settled onto their bedrolls and went to sleep, Katara rose and walked over to the edge of the river as she observed the torch lights of the military factory in the distance. A scowl appeared on her face as she returned to the campsite and filled her bedroll with dried grass before tucking the clutter under a blanket to disguise her absence. Just like she had done the previous two nights.

Then, she prepared her makeshift Painted Lady attire. Bending some water into a thin sheet of ice, she used the reflection of her impromptu mirror to apply the red striped markings on her face, shoulders, and arms. Wrapping herself in a ragged red cloak and placing the veiled, wide conical hat on her head, she looked the very likeness of the statue in town.

Briefing checking to see that her companions were all still sound asleep with a quick glance backwards, Katara walked back to the river's edge and raised a layer of heavy fog as she glided across the water towards the factory. Reaching the far side of the river near her target, the waterbender started to walk along a hilly route to the backside of the building.

The Water Tribe girl paused when a shadowy figure emerged from behind a tree. The moon was still hidden behind the cloudy nighttime sky; a boon that had enabled Katara to sneak this far without too much concern that was now a hinderance as Katara couldn't determine the face on the hooded, black cloaked figure before her now.

Reacting quickly, the waterbender lashed out with a water whip, but the figure sidestepped as if they had seen that kind of surprise attack before. Undeterred, she summoned additional water whips to her side, similar to an octopus and lashed out again and again. Katara was silently cursing herself. She should have been more wary of guards. This was a military factory after all. Of course they would have patrols at night to monitor the surrounding area. If this hooded figure got away and sounded the alarm, then her entire plan would fail.

The Water Tribe girl frowned as none of her water whips connected with the shadowy figure. He didn't move like a normal firebender. There was a fluidity to his movements that wasn't typically observed in the traditional rigidity of firebending forms. Still, Katara thought it was a bit odd that he hadn't counterattacked her at all yet. Even if this cloaked figure was waiting for the right moment, this was starting to get insulting. Did he not think her a threat?

She narrowed her eyes. This jerk was acting conceited and she was going to show him why it was a bad idea to underestimate her. Katara pulled back her water whips and formed them into large icicles that she fired at the enemy firebender. He used his flames to deflect the more dangerous ones as he rushed at her.

'Gotcha,' the Water Tribe girl smirked inwardly as the hooded figure neared. Just before he reached her, she summoned a heavy layer of steam in an attempt to stun her adversary as she spun around his attack and lashed out with another water whip. Katara's eyes widened when she realized that the firebender had avoided this counterattack of hers as well.

'That's impossible! I've only practiced that attack with...' the waterbender managed before the firebender kicked out her front leg and caught her by her back as she fell, holding her at a slanted angle in his arm.

"So nice to finally met you Painted Lady," smirked a grinning Blue Spirit, the moonlight breaking across the clouds overhead to illuminate the azure shade of his mask.

Katara struggled meekly for a moment out of sheer principle before ceasing to fight when he kept her arms pinned to her side. "How long have you known?" she relented with a little bit of irritation.

Zuko lifted his mask over his head. "Since after the first night. Once you all left to go into town, Edel stopped pretending to be sick and was just as active as always. After a little investigating of my own, I found the purple berries you fed her, and figured out those fruits left the purple splotches."

"And you just played along this whole time?" asked the Water Tribe girl in confusion as to why Zuko didn't say anything earlier.

"You were helping my people. And I wanted to help too," the Fire Prince admitted.

The waterbender's eyes widened in understanding. "That was you who left the food when I healed them the second night!"

The firebender helped her back to her feet. "It took a while to gather all that food, but I had to do something. Luckily the patrols around the factory's warehouse aren't that observant. And it wasn't like I could heal the villagers myself."

That mystery solved, Katara pouted a little as she reflected back onto the brief shuffle. "I wouldn't have lost if I had known it was you, you know?"

Zuko smirked, "No, you only thought I was some random Fire Nation soldier who was seriously trying to attack you."

She gave him a playful shove. "If you were some random soldier, then you wouldn't have been able to counter my last attack."

Zuko caught the Water Tribe girl's arm and pulled her back in close. "Oh, you have some more waterbending tricks up your sleeve, my Painted Lady?"

"Oh, I have all sorts of tricks, my Blue Spirit," Katara answered with smile matching Zuko's. Both of them started to lean in closer for a kiss when they instead heard sounds of people approaching. Both of them paused and looked up the hill towards the factory.

"I'm telling you, I'm sure that I heard something down this way," announced a Fire Nation soldier as he walked down the hill with a fellow guard holding a flame in his hand like a lantern.

"Let's just check it out and get back," his buddy said. "It's almost shift change and you're dragging me out here to check out make-believe noises."

Interrupted, the firebender and waterbender separated as they moved to avoid the real Fire Nation patrol. As the guards reached the shoreline, a heavy mist rolled in. "Where'd all this fog come from?" grumbled the second guard.

"Wait, what's that? Out there on the water?" asked the first guard as he raised the flame in his hand. His eyes grew wide in fright as he noticed the haunting appearance of the silky veil billowing in the evening breeze and the figure standing on the water's surface. "It's a spirit!"

Katara raised a large wave of water behind her as she stated in a commanding voice, "You have polluted my river for too long!"

"She's an angry spirit!" shouted the first guard in terror as the second guard dropped into a bending stance only to be immediately rendered unconscious from a blow to the back of the head. The first guard looked down at his knocked-out friend and then up at a grinning sneer of a blue faced demon. The man's eyes rolled back in fright as he collapsed in panic, foam spilling from his mouth.

Zuko and Katara looked down at the two unconscious soldiers on the riverside as they stood over them. "So... you wanna destroy the factory?" asked Zuko nonchalantly.

"You don't mind?" returned the waterbender in surprise.

Glancing up the hill at the factory itself, Zuko replied, "Something that's causing this much harm to my people isn't needed."

Katara looked up at the military factory as well. "Let's help this town and these people permanently."

A few minutes later, two patrolling guards up on a catwalk in the factory fell on their faces against the metal walkway as a water whip wrapped around their legs and pulled them from the scaffolding. The Katara took their place up on the elevated position as she watched Zuko slip in-between a couple of vats of industrial compounds and knock out two other guards patrolling on the ground level. He dragged them out of the building.

Katara used her waterbending as she rang across the catwalk, cutting the metal hooks holding barrels of hot magma along the ceiling of the factory. Pulling a lever at the end of the metal corridor, she overturned a couple of the larger hanging barrels over the various vats below.

Zuko used his firebending to superheat the boilers to the point that several of the pipes and gauges started to whistle and expand. Then, he did the same to the vats holding the industrial compounds. A magnitude of alarms and sirens were whistling, signaling warnings of elements growing out of hand within the factory as the two benders made a hasty retreat.

The of them quickly made their way back to the campsite. As they approached, Katara whispered to Zuko, "How did you get to the factory before me anyhow?"

"I borrowed Dock's raft. And I left when you were still getting your disguise together. I do have a little bit of experience when it comes to sneaking around," answered Zuko.

A moment later, the waterbender asked a different question. "Did that just qualify as our first date?"

The Fire Prince smirked. "I'd like to think your swimming lesson was our first date."

She gave him another playful shove. He really knew how to be charming when he wanted to be. "Shh! We don't want to wake Sokka and Jin," returned the firebender.

The two benders turned past the last hill next to the camp only to see both of their friends awake and sitting around a small campfire. "Oh, hi Sokka! We were just... out on a morning walk!" attempted to deflect Katara, despite being completely caught in a lie.

Sokka raised his arms in frustration as he disappointingly stated, "Oh, really? A morning walk? While playing dress-up?"

"Yes..." answered Katara, not knowing what else to say to defend herself with. A large explosion occurred behind them as the factory finally burst into flames from all the mixing compounds and destruction they had caused to it from the inside.

Katara and Zuko both cringed at the devastation erupting behind them while Sokka remained stoic as he watched the outline of smoke and fire in the distance, back towards where the military factory once stood. "I can explain that?" offered Katara weakly in defense.

"I'm sure you can." Sokka dumped out the dried grass from his Sister's sleeping bag. "We know that you're the Painted Lady, Katara. We realized that you've been sneaking out each night and we know that you've been lying about Edel being sick and feeding her," he sticked out his tongue to show purple blotches, "Purpleising tongue berries!"

Jin revealed her tongue to show similar purple blotches. "The berries are really tasty though," the earthbender muttered as she attempted to soften Sokka's anger.

"That's not the point!" Sokka turned towards his Sister. "Katara, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now!" As his Sister walked past him sadly, Sokka turned to Zuko. "And how long did you know about this?"

"Long enough to know that Katara wasn't in the wrong," defended Zuko.

Sokka glared at the firebender. "Even if this little delay prevents us from reaching your Uncle in time?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes back at the Water Tribe boy. "Uncle would be disappointed in me if he found out that we left people in trouble because we decided to rescue him instead."

As the two boys confronted each other, a buzzing filled the air. All of them turned to face the river to witness multiple Fire Nation soldiers on mechanical fan-boats skimming across the water towards the village.

"They're going to get revenge on the village because you blew up their factory," assessed Sokka astutely.

"But blowing up the factory was your idea!" countered Katara.

Sokka looked at his Sister incredulously. "I was joking when I said that! I also said spirit magic and made funny explosion noises!" He sighed in exasperation. "Did either of you think any of this through? Who did you think the Fire Nation Army was going to blame for destroying their factory? Of course they are going to attack the village in revenge!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do then?" quipped Katara.

"Leave!" shouted Sokka with aggravation to his Sister's stubbornness. "Do nothing!"

Fire burned in Katara's eyes as she growled fiercely at her Brother. "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me! I'm going down to that village, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to help."

As she started to storm off, Sokka held her back with his hand on her shoulder. "Wait! I'm coming too."

Katara looked at her Brother, shocked at his assertion. "I thought you didn't want to help."

"You need me," he replied. "And I will never turn my back on you. I loss you once before. I will not lose you again."

The waterbender hugged her Brother. "Sokka, you really do have a heart."

A resolute Zuko stepped forward with an equally valiant Jin at his side. "We're all coming."

---

Down in the river village, Commander Mung disembarked from the fan-boat and stood on the wooden deck authoritatively. "I thought we could live as neighbors, in peace. But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine, and then you destroy our factory. You lot are braver than I gave you credit for."

Dock popped up from behind the table he was cowering behind. "We didn't do any of that." He ducked down and reappeared from behind a different table wearing Xu's hat. "Yeah! Yeah! The Painted Lady brought us that food. She healed our sick too, not your medicine."

Commander Mung picked up the Painted Lady statuette from a nearby table. "Oh right, the mysterious Painted Lady did everything. Some of my men mentioned seeing a strange woman lurking around my factory. They're in solitary now for failing to do their jobs." He looked around the village some more. "And I suppose that this Painted Lady drew the Fire Army emblem on those wooden containers too."

The Fire Nation Commander threw the statuette at the container, smashing the figurine and breaking the container open as food spilled out. The villagers gasped. "This is a town of liars and thieves." Mung unleashed a wave of fire that set a nearby hut aflame. "Where is your Painted Lady now?" When no one answered, he turned to his men. "We're going to cure the world of this wretched village. Burn everything. Sickness must be purged."

Firebenders started to advance on the town, demolishing and burning as they went. One of the fan-boats buzzed by as one of the soldiers threw a metal hook that grabbed hold of a wooden support beam and ripped it apart causing the house above to collapse into the river.

Two firebenders lit another house on fire only for the flames to die out. The benders looked at each other and lit the house up a second time only for the flames to snuff themselves out again.

Commander Mung growled at his men. "Light it again!" They hastily complied with his orders only for the fire to extinguish itself a third time.

An eerie tone filled the air. "Look at that!" exclaimed a female firebender. "Where's that fog coming from?" A rich and heavy fog rolled across the river village, severely reducing visibility.

"I don't know," answered another firebender. "Something strange is going on. Maybe those guys from last night's patrol weren't full of it." The otherworldly tone only continued to grow louder.

A little village boy grinned slyly. In an ominous voice, he uttered, "It's the Painted Lady..." The maniacal smirk on his face grew wider. "She's coming..."

"There is no Painted Lady!" barked Commander Mung as he attempted to reassure his soldiers despite he own quickly growing apprehension.

The thudding sound of loud impacting footsteps banged throughout the dense mists. Jin was on the river bank picking up a large boulder and crashing it to the ground to simulate the sound of a large lumbering beast. Sokka was at her side, playing a flute to produce the spine-chilling noises.

"What's that sound?" gasped another female firebender. Her voice was full of nervousness.

A fourth firebender gulped. "Maybe it is her."

On the opposite side of the wooden dock, the fog parted dramatically as Katara, complete in her Painted Lady regalia, glided onto the pier from the water effortlessly. She paused as she landed on the wooden scaffolding, raising her arms, a tidal wave of water rising up behind her.

"Do something!" commanded Mung as he pushed a couple of his soldiers forward. Timidly, three of the soldiers advanced on the Painted Lady. She didn't move in the slightest at their approach. As they neared, the soldiers found their courage and charged with a shout.

A shadow materialized out of the mists, a smirking blue grin, as it danced through the charging soldiers, disrupting their firebending attacks and throwing them off the pier into the water. The blue faced spirit swooped back alongside the Painted Lady protectively as he drew a pair of Dao broadswords and sweeping his hand across the blades, ignited the steel with a mesmerizing flame.

"She's not alone!" shrieked one of the firebenders in terror. "She commands a demon!" The remaining soldiers ran back to the fan-boats and sped off away from the river village in sheer panic.

"Get back here you cowards!" demanded Commander Mung fruitlessly. He turned back to face the spirits. Fire burst to life in both of his hands. "Fine, I'll take care of this myself."

He unleashed an immense burst of flame at the pair as he brought his hands together, but the Blue Spirit spun in front of the Painted Lady and batted the attack harmlessly into the river. The Painted Lady then put a hand on the shoulder of her protector and he knelt in reverence to her as she stepped forward. The villagers were in awe.

Commander Mung smirked. "You're going to fight me yourself? Foolish." He launched another wave of fire similar to his previous attack. A tremendous magnitude of water rushed up from beneath the pier and flooded the fire before it could reach the Painted Lady. The water that geysered up from underneath Mung froze him up to his neck.

Mung was powerless to resist as the Painted Lady approached him slowly, anger in her eyes. She lifted him up with one hand by bending the ice he was encased in. "Leave this village and never come back," she commanded as she flung him far into the river, releasing the ice as he crashed into the water.

Sputtering from the polluted water he swam in, Commander Mung started to swim away in a hurry. One of his men returned with a fan-boat to collect his commander as all of the Fire Nation forces beat a hasty retreat.

Sokka and Jin arrived at the river village in a small row boat as the villagers erupted into a chorus of cheers and applause for their Painted Lady. They rushed up to Katara in admiration.

"I knew that you'd come."

"Thank you! Thank you for everything!"

"Painted Lady, you're the best!"

Dock approached the veiled lady as Katara turned to face him. He held his hat in his hands. "Me and my brothers, all of this town actually, we owe you a lot. I just wanted to say-" Dock paused as he noticed most of the red tattoos on the lady's face, shoulders, and arms were smudged and faded. "Hey, wait a minute! I know you! You're not the Painted Lady! You're that colonial girl from before!"

Katara gasped silently as she noticed her markings were smudged and the veil across her face had been torn in several places.

The little boy that she had helped before looked at her and said, "Yeah, he's right. You're that kind lady who gave me and my sisters that jerky."

Dock started to get upset. "You've been tricking us! You're a waterbender!" he shouted accusingly.

"No, I-" started Katara.

"She's a waterbender!" screeched another villager.

"How dare you act like the Painted Lady!" exclaimed another.

As the crowd drew closer to the Water Tribe girl, Zuko appeared between them with his flaming swords still drawn. He had heard enough. This situation was quickly escalating into the exact same fallout as the plains village, only with Katara as the source of the villagers' anger instead of himself. He was not going to allow a repeat of that.

"She is a waterbender." The Fire Prince ripped off his mask. "And I'm a firebender. What of it? We worked together to help you. Because of her, that factory is no longer polluting the river and the Fire Army has withdrawn. And this is how you thank her? With threatening words and jeers?"

Katara tugged at the Fire Prince's arm. "Zuko, its okay."

He shook his head. "No, it's not okay. You spoke sense to me when our roles were reversed. I'm not going to allow these villagers to look at you with the same hate in their eyes that we experienced back in the Earth Kingdom."

The Water Tribe girl stood at the Fire Prince's side as she addressed the crowd. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't. I shouldn't have tricked you all. But I," she looked at Zuko. "We, felt that we had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. This village is real. Your problems are real. This river is real. Waiting for someone to come and help, that won't solve your problems. The best way to solve your problems is to solve them yourself."

The villagers quieted down at the combined sight of a waterbender and a firebender standing side by side. "She's right," commented Dock after a minute. "But what can we do?"

Katara noticed her Brother standing in the back of the crowd as Sokka cupped his hand over his mouth and projected his voice over the assembly of villagers. "Maybe we can clean the river!"

Dock's eyes lit up like what he had just heard was his own idea. "Yeah! We can clean the river!" He pumped his fist into the air as the assembled villagers cheered in support. He turned back to Katara. "Thank you, for everything. The food, the medicine, the factory, making us see sense. You're an amazing person, even if you're a waterbender."

Zuko extinguished the fire on his swords as he sheathed them. "Any chance you can keep that a secret?"

Dock looked out across the town. "Most folk around here are quiet and keep to themselves. We don't get many visitors either. It shouldn't be a problem. And keeping my mouth shut is my personal specialty." He lowered his voice and leaned in towards Zuko. "But my brother Xu, on the other hand, oh, he's a chatterbox. I'll have to keep an eye on him."

Zuko sighed. "You do that."

With a smile on her face, Katara asked the easy-going man, "So Dock, are you going to help us clean?"

Dock gestured to himself. "Me? Oh no, ma'am. I ain't much of a cleaner. But don't worry. I'll go fetch my elder brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." Without hiding his switching of hats this time, he placed a third hat on himself. "Alright! Bushi's here. Let's clean ourselves a river!"

Sokka pointed at the man as he walked up. "A-ha! I knew it! I knew that you were the same guy. You're the shopkeeper and the ferryman!"

"Oh, you know my brothers Dock and Xu?" asked Bushi.

Sokka grew annoyed. "Don't try to hide it anymore! I just saw you. You switched hats right in front of us and called yourself a different name!"

Bushi waved off the Water Tribe boy dismissively. "You're mistaken kid. But you know what? That sounds like something my brother Dock might do." He leaned in towards Sokka and whispered conspiratorially, "He's a bit touched in the head." Sokka just gaped in disbelief as Bushi walked away chuckling to himself. Jin patted the Water Tribe boy reassuringly on his back as she told him to leave the crazy man alone.

For the rest of the day, everyone pitched in to help clean up the river. Katara waterbent large amounts of river water into a gigantic tub that had been hastily constructed on the river's edge. Jin then would bend the pollutants out into horse carts that the villagers would take away to dispose of. Zuko and Sokka helped with steering two of the many small boats roaming up and down the river with fine nets to gather even more pollutants. As night fell, a blue tint had finally returned to the river and the four of them departed the village.

They returned to their campsite. Looking out over the restored river and the town that had a new lease on life, Zuko put his arm over Katara's shoulder as he drew her close to him. "Dock was right. You are amazing. I've never met anyone who can do what you do. You change the world for the better. No one else could have done what you did here today."

"What we did here today," the waterbender corrected. "I got in over my head. But everyone was there to help out."

"Yeah, I guess it was worth it," added Sokka. "We're several days behind schedule now, but I guess we can just not sleep for the next week to catch up."

Jin ruffled the Water Tribe boy's hair. "You try and take away our sleep and you're going to have an uprising on your hands. Just admit it, today was a good day."

Before Sokka could retort, a wave of fog appeared in front of them. "Very funny Katara. But it's time for bed. You can get rid of the fog now," stated Sokka.

Katara shook her head. "It's not me."

The mists parted in front of them as the real Painted Lady Spirit emerged, floating wistfully above the water. "Thank you," the ghostly spirit whispered as she faded away and the fogs cleared.

The four teenagers stood stock-still in shock at the sudden appearance of the real spirit until Katara recovered first, giving a call out of, "You're welcome!" as the waterbender waved her arm in farewell to the elegant looking spirit.

---

"All preparations are underway. We're ready to break camp, boss," reported Chey from behind Jeong Jeong as the old firebender observed the work being done on their ship from over the nearby ridge.

"Very good," replied Jeong Jeong. It had taken a bit longer than he would have preferred to get everything together, but it was better to delay another day now and get their house in order, then for everything to collapse later because of poor planning. As he turned and started to walk down the ridge, he added, "We'll leave as soon as everyone is onboard."

However, after taking a couple of steps, the Admiral didn't hear a response from Chey. Halting and looking over his shoulder, Jeong Jeong observed Chey narrowing his eyes as he strained his vision to look out across the sea.

Pulling out a spyglass, the cloaked scout adjusted the magnification. "There's a ship out there." Another moment passed before Chey spoke again. "Fire Nation banners. Hmm... if I'm not mistaken, those are the markings of the Southern Raiders."

"This far north?" replied Jeong Jeong in surprise. He returned to the edge of the ridgeline. "They are out of position. Very far out of position. What are they doing out here?"

"Hunting for glory?" offered Chey as he continued to observe the Fire Nation battleship and two small frigates cutting across the water's surface. "Maybe they finally got tired of raiding fishing villages."

A frown appeared on Jeong Jeong's face. "Who commands the Southern Raiders currently?"

"From my last reports, Captain Ro Kai's in charge," answered Chey.

"Ro Kai," muttered Jeong Jeong. He recalled the headstrong man vaguely from his time back in the Fire Navy. "He always was an opportunist, even as a fresh recruit. I can't believe he made Captain. He probably climbed over several people to achieve that rank."

Chey adjusted the sight on his spyglass once more. "So what's our plan? Because it looks like they're moving to make port in that nearby Fire Colony. We can't leave with them around. Their spotters will see our ship the moment we launch from the cove."

Mentally debating a course of action, Jeong Jeong quickly settled on what needed to be done. "Inform the men to launch the ship on my mark. You and I are going to have a little chat with Captain Ro Kai."

"Is this going to be one of those... reconnaissance-in-force kind of conversations?" inquired Chey as he rolled up his spyglass and tucked the cylindrical device back into the folds of his cloak.

"That will depend on Ro Kai," supplied Jeong Jeong in return.

"So... yes," smirked Chey as he departed to inform the crew down on the ship of the plan.

---

The hour was growing late as Jee observed the Fire Colony along the Earth Kingdom coastline coming into view. Following the eventful South Pole campaign, his ships required a restock of supplies. And it would be better to get that done now, before word of the Southern Raider's deviation from their assigned regions spread across the Fire Navy.

The former Lieutenant also needed some time to reflect and get his bearings. A few days earlier, his world had gotten turned on its head and he found himself in charge of a Fire Nation battleship, two frigates, most of their original crew.

"Me, a Captain," muttered Jee as he held onto the metal railing across the bow of the ship. "I still don't really believe it." It wasn't like he didn't want the rank. But he had been a Lieutenant for so long that his ambition to reach the position had been tempered seemingly forever. But as long as he held the position, he would be sure to perform as well as he was able.

Jee had been so focused on his own thoughts, that Lieutenant Zuri's footsteps on the metal deck panels were almost upon him before he heard the female firebender approach. "Captain, we'll be in port within the hour," reported Zuri.

Turning around, Jee nodded. "Understood. Make sure the men focus on gathering food provisions and the other necessities first. Ensure that we are not taking more than the Colony can give. And we pay full price."

Zuri gave a slight head nod in a lackluster response before hesitating a moment.

"Something else to report, Lieutenant?" asked Jee when it appeared that Zuri had more on her mind.

Taking a deep breath, Zuri replied, "Are we really making the right decision, Jee? We're turning our backs on the Fire Nation. Maybe we're making a mistake."

"No one's forcing you stay, Zuri," replied Jee. The new Captain was a little disappointed in his Lieutenant's self-doubt, but it wasn't like he could blame her. Even he had some reservations about what they were doing.

Still, even though Jee had resolved to see this through, he couldn't find it in himself to attempt to coerce anyone to follow. Everyone had to make that decision for themselves. "You can leave anytime you wish." Then, another thought occurred to him. "Or are you referring to Lieutenant Asher and the rest of them?"

A vexed expression crossed Zuri's face. "Asher is a jerk. He and his cronies are more trouble than they are worth. I'm not questioning your decision to shipwreck them on a deserted island outside the normal shipping lanes." Then, the female firebender's facial features relaxed. "It's not just me, though. There are several amongst the remaining crew that are questioning what we thought we used to know."

A slight smile graced Jee's face. "That's not a bad thing." At Zuri's surprised look, Jee continued, "Too much of the destruction we've caused occurred because no one had the presence of mind to question if the orders we were given were the right orders to follow in the first place. I think that was what Prince Zuko was attempting to tell us."

"Prince Zuko," echoed Zuri as she recalled her first real encounter with the Fire Royal. He had been another abnormality to all the things she had been told about him. "Everyone had said he was weak, a failure, unfit to rule."

Jee nodded along to Zuri's statement. "You are right. Everyone did say that about the Fire Prince." Then, he looked directly at the female firebender. "But what do you think about him now?"

The Lieutenant didn't answer right away. She seemed to be thinking considerably about her next words. "He wasn't cold and detached like the other higher ups in the military. Or how my entire household is. His flames when he was fighting... his flames were..." Zuri looked up at Jee. "They were warm," she finished lamely.

"Warm?" repeated Jee curiously.

Shaking her head, Zuri grumbled, "It's hard to describe. I'm not talking about the temperature of the fire. All flames are warm, I'm not an idiot."

"I'm not saying that you are," calmly replied Jee as he reflected as well.

Casting her eyes across the sea as she leaned against the railing, Zuri muttered, "It was a comforting kind of warmth. I've never felt firebending like that before. From any of the instructors at the Academy, from any of the soldiers in the Army, or from any of the members of my house."

"You're right about that," acknowledged Jee confidently. "Prince Zuko's firebending... it's different from what I remember when I used to serve as part of his crew. Whatever the Prince has been up since I last saw him, he has grown for the better."

"A curious thing, the two of you are discussing out here," interjected a sage sounding voice as both Jee and Zuri spun around from the railing of the ship. Neither officer had heard anyone approach them. And yet, here stood two Fire Nation soldiers in complete uniform, with the head visors down.

The same voice spoke up again from the first unknown soldier. "One might even consider this conversation of yours... rebellious."

Jee and Zuri both slipped into firebending stances. "Who are you?" demanded Jee, his eyes narrowing. "You're not members of this ship." None of the current rank and file Southern Raiders had worn the complete Fire Nation uniform properly in months. It was another lack of discipline that Jee intended to correct, but right now, it actually helped him to identify imposters.

In response to the Southern Raider Captain's question, the second unnamed soldier threw a handful of finely grounded powder directly at both of the officers.

Momentarily blinded, Jee was about to counter with a warning shot of firebending when the second unknown soldier spoke up. "Uh-uh," teased the second soldier. "I wouldn't advise any hasty firebending now, if I were you. That powder that's covering you, well, I don't need to explain what happens when spark powder ignites, do I?"

Jee's eyes widen as he ceased the conjuring of his flames. A quick glance at his fellow officer let him know that Zuri was also suddenly hesitant to start firebending as well. Standing back up out of his firebending stance, Jee growled, "Who are you? And what do you want?"

It had barely been anytime at all since they had decided to desert following the events in the South Pole. How did the Fire Lord already find out? And how did he already send assassins to punish them for their desertion? This was remarkably fast. No one in the Fire Nation Army or Navy worked this fast. Or did the Fire Lord keep specialized assassins just for this purpose?

The first unnamed soldier took charge of the talking once more as he ignored the questions being asked at him. "Might you be so kind as to inform us where we could find Captain Ro Kai? We have several questions of our own."

Jee took a step forward with the air of leadership. "Captain Ro Kai is dead. I am in charge of the Southern Raiders. Now, answer my question. I won't ask it a third time."

Now it was the first unnamed soldier's turn to appear surprised at the unexpected proclamation. The second soldier shrugged when the first soldier looked over at him. Turning back around, the first soldier studied Jee curiously. "Then, I believe I should be directing my questions towards you..."

"My name is Jee," replied the Southern Raider Captain as he filled in the unasked question hanging on the wind.

"Very well, Captain Jee," retorted the first soldier. He removed the helmet on his head, unruly grey hair erupting from underneath. "Since you gave me your name, it is only fitting that I give you mine. Admiral Jeong Jeong, recently reinstated by Fire Prince Zuko himself."

Jee's jaw actually dropped open in astonishment. "Admiral Jeong Jeong?" he echoed, completely befuddled. Even Zuri seemed shocked at the living firebending legend standing before the two of them.

"If it's not too much trouble, might we continue this conversation within your quarters?" offered Jeong Jeong. "The night grows chilly, and I am very much interested in hearing your story."

"O-Of course," managed Jee as he found his voice again.

Zuri brushed some of the fine powder from her shoulder. "Hold up," she protested. "If we refused to talk, where you just going to blow up us with this spark powder?"

Jeong Jeong smiled. "Whatever are you talking about? Chey was merely bluffing."

The second soldier removed his helmet as well to reveal a weathered face of an experience Fire Nation soldier. "It's just sand. I wouldn't waste good spark powder on a simple bluff." Chey patted one of his pockets with a laugh, only to pause as the expression on his face grew concerned.

Patting a different pocket, Chey's appearance only became more apprehensive. Then, the Fire Nation scout pulled out an empty cloth pouch as well as several other full ones. Checking the contents of each one, Chey muttered, "I really should start labeling these..."

Chey walked up to Jee as he softly brushed some of the fine powder from the Captain's shoulder into his palm and examined it carefully under the light of the moon. "Hmm..." Chey quickly took several steps away from the two Southern Raider officers. "You know what, probably not a bad idea for the two of you to take a quick wash, throw on a clean uniform, and then we can all talk." The scout gave another nervous laugh as Jeong Jeong sighed in exasperation.

Neither Jee nor Zuri could tell if this Chey's actions were a calculated performance to be intentionally unpredictable or if the man was just a complete idiot. Either way, neither was going to take the chance of allowing the possible spark powder to ignite as both went to change clothes before sitting down to talk with the living firebending legend that had graced their ship.