Pre-Chapter A/N: Perhaps it's best if I begin this with an apology. I've been on a hiatus from posting for the past three weeks. Not writing, as those of you on my pa-treon can testify, but posting on public sites. Why? Not because I went and did a bait and switch on all of you, I promise. While I remain thankful to those of you who subscribed to my pa-treon in the meantime, I do want to add that my hiatus was not a ploy to force anyone to do so. To explain what happened, I'll have to go into more detail on my mental health than I'd otherwise be comfortable with, but you deserve an explanation.

Those of you who have been reading my stuff for a while can attest that I'm usually terrible at responding to comments or reviews. That's because I generally have an aversion to confrontation and awkwardness. So when, over three weeks ago, one of my stories was placed on Content Review at Spacebattles, I was justifiably crushed. The second I found out, I went to the chapter and deleted the risque scenes (which, mind you, were not full-on sex scenes, which was what I understood the website to prohibit). However, the story remains on content review for one reason or another. I do not blame them for this, as it stems from my lack of complete understanding of the rules. However, the subjective manner in which said moderators enforce rules leaves much to be desired. That is beside the point. I felt crushed by the decision and, as a result, found it difficult to post on that site or any other.

But I feel that I've allowed my issues to limit me for much too long. I must lean on the strength of my fictional characters and post regardless of how I feel. So here's the chapter. This chapter is dedicated to everyone else who suffers from sometime-crippling anxiety. As always, thank you to all of you. You rock!

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We set off at dawn, because of course we did. There was nothing more cliche than that. Me, and two hundred men, nearly half the encampment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Shinsuke. Sung hadn't been kind enough to allow to pick the entire team of hundred that I would have preferred, but at least I'd been able to ensure that Toji was on the team that would be following me to hunt down the most dangerous element against the Fire Nations military interests in the Earth Kingdom. The Mountain.

Between last night and this one, I'd been doing my best to try to come up with strategies for the hunt. He'd been roaming the mountains and plains of the Earth Kingdom for years now. Sniffing him out was going to be next to impossible, but there was at least one thing working in my favour. The report had said he had a half thousand men with him. It was going to make beating him more difficult, but I had an idea or two. The important bit about his numbers, though was that he'd quintupled them since he'd attacked the encampment just a few months ago,. That wasn't even enough time to begin training completely new soldiers in a single combat style . The hope here was that they were going to be sloppy. The mountain knew how to vanish into the woods with nary a trace, but it was likely that his recruits wouldn't have anywhere near the required level of skill to pull off the vanishing act with the same alacrity. At least, that was the hope. It was also possible that every single one of them had assimilated well into the Mountain's tactics and were just as skilled in turning into mist and vanishing in the air.

It wasn't likely, but it was possible. That was why we pushed things in our journey back to Han's camp. The men had no idea what would be happening after we met with the General, but that was just for operational security, and also plausible deniability so Sung could say he had no idea about my plans later on. It was just the kind of plan within a plan that he'd execute. The only hope I had was that he wasn't actually trying to actively fuck me over. Considering my Grandfather's new position on Ozai's advisory council, I hoped it would be unlikely. I mean the news that he and I weren't on the best of terms couldn't have travelled this far, could it?

I stirred my mount and moved across the march to the front. The tip of the spear, if you would. There, I met Lieutenant Colonel Shinsuke, and the Head of the Healing corps of the camp, Amara. "Well met, Lieutenant Colonel" I said with a bow of my head as he noticed my approach.

"Captain Natsu, or is it Major now?" He asked with a bright smile on his face. He was a very personable man, smiling widely and projecting a loud boisterous voice. I could already tell that I wouldn't like him even though everyone else did. He screamed fake to me. That smile, wide as it was, didn't reach his bright gold eyes as they shined with a hidden flame. This was the son of the Butcher of the Water Tribe, I reminded myself. His father's actions were well-known, and the fact that they were controversial within the fire nation itself went to show just how bad they'd been. He'd singlehandedly, with those raiders under his command, culled the Southern Water Tribe from a population of thousands to the hundreds that remained now. He'd taken their water benders for the 'glory of the Fire Nation' and started a breeding program that led to people like Amara.

I turned to the healer next. She wore her hair long with flowers running their way through, but that was the only splash of colour to be found on her that wasn't red or black. She wore the fire nation uniform well, with nothing to hint at her water tribe ancestry beyond the bronze skin she had. Shinsuke's father was hailed as a hero by most of the top brass of the military because of the breeding program. He'd taken all the scrolls and information the southern water tribe had on healing and then bred all the female water benders he'd captured to produce a generation of children.

Those who showed water bending talent were trained to be healers from a young age. Now, they made up most of the healing corps' higher ranks. Sure, there were healers and doctors who didn't have the benefit of bending within the corps, but still within every division of the army there were at least ten water bending healers to provide vital aid. We were also trained to protect them with our lives as they were the lifeblood of the army.

"Major, Sir." I said to Shinsuke, answering his unasked question before turning to the woman by his side and continuing, "Healer Amara. It's lovely to meet your acquaintance. I must say that rumours of your beauty fail to do you justice. You outstrip the stars themselves with your radiance." I said with a theatrical bow that made her titter. I wasn't lying though. She was beautiful. Easily the most beautiful woman I'd had the pleasure of seeing in either of my lives. Maybe it was because of the unmistakeable foreignness in her appearance. Her hair was black liker ours, but instead of being smooth like silk, it fell across her face in scattered curls that framed her face and caught the eye. Her darker skin shone with the sun, as it reflected the sun's rays on its moisturised surface. Her face, oh man her face. Full, not angular like I was used to, and doubly as beautiful for it. And then those looks were placed on a body that would not have been out of place on a fashion magazine from my first life. She was tall, even on the horse, I could tell she was taller than I was. And then her curves were a thing of beauty.

"Major Natsu, you honour me. It's quite the contrast then, that rumours of your taciturn nature seem to have been overblown." She said with a smile on her face. Unlike Shinsuke's, there was nothing false about it. Pearly white teeth peaked out from full brown lips that made me wonder what they tasted like.

"Please, dispense with the formality. Call me Natsu" I said, ignoring Shinsuke's raised eyebrow.

"If I must, Natsu. Then call me Amara" She said, stretching a hand that I took before placing a light kiss on it.

XXXXXX

General Han had made the choice to move his entire encampment into the forest. Instead of claiming the plains as the fire nation military ethos taught, he'd retreated deep into the forest of the earth kingdom. This meant he wasn't going to be in as much danger from earth bender barrages, but he also had no chance of employing the siege engines or technology that the Fire Nation was so proud of. Well, I guess it was a good thing that he'd lost all his tanks and weapons in the attack from The Mountain and his people.

We'd arrived late last night, and even at that hour, Amara had been keen to get right on it, and she did it well. She took charge of the healing tents and began to work on all the injured. Latest estimates put the total lives saved by her in the past seven hours as close to a dozen already. Waterbending healing was something else when it came to fixing open wounds and the type of injuries that usually came as a result of battles. But still, it wasn't all sunshine and roses. She'd saved a dozen lives, but had lost nearly half that number. They were too far gone before she even arrived, but I could see how each lost life weighed on her soul. I was too high ranked to be placed on guard duty but I'd still spent the first two hours after our arrival watching her as she did her work.

It was impressive how water bending could allow her do this. She was literally using her chi and the water to heal her patients. It made zero sense. Considering she was dealing with sensitive patients, it probably made no sense for me to start bothering her with the million and half questions on my mind so I just sat and watched and tried to figure things out. The first thing I noted was that she was definitely much better than Katara was in the show. I was sure she couldn't fight even a tenth as well as the pre-teen, but when it came to healing, she did things that I never saw in all three seasons of watching. Broken bones were the matter of minutes, internal bleeding took longer, but it only came down to isolating where the bleeding came from.

She even worked on unconscious patients who couldn't tell her what was wrong with them but still managed to figure it out in only minutes of running her water along their still forms. It was something else. Something truly magical. I could see why Admiral Rensuke had received that rank and a landed peerage to add to his family esteem after the project bore results. Water bender healers were like magic when it came to recovery and casualty minimalization.

"Healer Amara" One of the orderlies said as another body was brought into the tent. This time, the man was conscious and screaming while holding on to his leg. It was obviously broken, but that wasn't the most pressing injury, I could tell from the way she almost seemed to ignore it. The pain came from there according to his reactions, but when she got him to lay still, I noticed what had gotten her attention from the get go. He was burned badly on his chest. Friendly fire. It was one of the major problems that came with ambushes like this. It must have also happened when The Mountain ran that first attack on the day I'd joined Sung's camp. In close quarters, and confused, firebenders were prone to lash out blindly or without fully understanding what was going on. It was harshly punished in most circumstances as that kind of incompetence had no place in the foremost Army in the word.

"Lay back" She commanded when he wanted to rise again. The water in the basin, kept pure by constant boiling from one of the fire bending orderlies rose at her command before she extracted a section of it, allowing the rest to fall back into the basin with a small splash that amused me. Two hours ago, and she'd dropped the water with perfect care and control. Now, after nonstop healing for hours imperfections were beginning to show. Humanity was beginning to spill through the cracks. The water glowed in her control before she plopped it right on the burns and the man visibly hissed in relief as the numbing abilities of the water began to take hold. I could see why Master Jeong-Jeong had shown so much admiration from Katara in that scene from the show.

Water could heal. It could visibly fix what was broken, and it could do it with ease, while those of those blessed by Agni were just given the power to burn, to destroy. At least, that was how I saw it. Still, I was damn good at what I did so I had no qualms. I watched as the red skin began to lighten to a more healthy pink as the burn disappeared. The broken leg was dealt with as a matter of secondary importance. A chunk of water leapt from the basin to Amara's left hand before she dropped it down to the affected bone. The femur. She stayed there for a few minutes more, healing two separate parts of his body at the same time. When she rose, she turned to one of the other doctors, a man from the colonies if his skin tone was any indication and spoke to him, the leg will take a bit longer to fully heal but he should only have to spend a week off his feet before he can get to therapy. The man nodded and signalled two orderlies who picked the man up with the stretcher that had brought him in and began to leave.

Another man was brought in and they began again. Watching them, fire bender and water bender and former Earth Kindgom national working together brought it all together for me. I could see what Sozin saw. A world, not divided but united. Not four nations, but one. If waterbending healing was a universal standard, available in every hospital across the world, how many lives would be saved. If fire nation medical knowledge was added to that, what would the world become. Just look at how injuries that would have been crippling in my old world were healed in minutes. I could see it now. Roku was wrong. The four nations had always been four, but that didn't mean that they had to remain separate. I mean I didn't necessarily agree with genocide and all the other shady shit the fire nation was up to, but I also couldn't pretend that Amara being here wasn't making life better for dozens of people.

While I watched, I noticed Toji enter the tent with a smirk on his face and practically ran over to him to drag him out with me after saying a brief goodbye to the distracted Amara. Toji didn't do well with waiting, and if he was here, then I didn't have much of an interest in keeping him waiting if he was here for the reason I taught he was.

XXXXX

I cross the tent line, ignoring the sun as it hid hit my face through the foliage cover and marched forwards. I didn't have to do much walking when I saw her. We both saw each other at practically the same time. We'd seen each other just a few months before but it felt like she looked much different. That she'd de-aged at least a year in that time. There was a lightness to her movements that had never been there when we all lived in the Mainland together. Maybe it was the fact that the bandages that previously covered her forehead were gone. Now, she wore the mark of her third eye with pride. Combustion bending had saved hundreds of soldiers according to the scout's testimony, so I could see why she was no longer keen on hiding the ability regardless of what she had gone through to acquire it.

She walked, nay sauntered towards me with an easy smile on her face that I returned with little conscious effort. "I've missed you" I said once we were close enough that I could speak to her without raising my voice and instead of replying, she dragged my body into hers. The hug was enveloping as I felt myself wrap around her.

"I've missed you more" She said, whispering into my chest.

"And I've missed you the most" I replied cheekily, taking the light slap she dropped on my chest with ease.

The hug went on for a few more minutes as I just enjoyed the feeling of having her in my arms.

Toji coughed suddenly and I flushed as I took a look around us. They were trying not to make it obvious, but it was clear that much of the soldiers around us had been staring. Maki scowled and grabbed my hand before she dragging me with her as she walked away. Toji followed at a more leisurely pace, chucking to himself all the while. Finally, we got to our destination as Maki pulled me into a tent before gesturing for Toji to follow. It was a good sized tent, smaller than mine but still much larger than what most of the army was dealing with. She was also using it alone which was a surprise.

"I didn't know female Lieutenants got to stay alone" Toji said with a whistle as he observed the place.

"We don't. My tent mate died in the ambush" She said, and I resisted the urge to facepalm. Of course the idiot would put his foot in the mouth in the first five minutes. Part of me couldn't even muster up the shock to pretend to be surprised.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Toji said to her, doing a good job of conveying as much sincerity in his tone as possible. I echoed his words a second later, even though they felt hollow to me. What could you really say to that?

"It's fine. I never really knew her. I mean we spoke a bit but I always thought she was too vain and shallow for my tastes. And then the Mud eating bastards noticed that I was the one destroying most of their attacks before they could get to us, and sent a smaller barrage for me. I wouldn't have noticed until it was too late. She was the one who stepped in. I barely knew anything about her, and she saved me" Her voice cracked at the end and I grabbed her into a hug instantly, but she tore herself from my grip in a few seconds.

Her face was dry but she was most obviously fighting back tears.

"General Han says you guys are going to try your hand at hunting down those bastards" She said, poking my chest with her finger. I exchanged a look with Toji at that.

"You'll take me with you" She said, voicing the request that I was dreading.

"That's desertion" Toji said, finally, taking the bullet for me. He was a braver man than I'd ever be.

"I don't care" She said.

"Well, I do" I cut in. Maki had a bright future ahead of her, and on a more selfish note, aiding this kind of thing was worth a court martial or two.

"I'll try to get the General to assent to a transfer to our division for the mission, but we won't just take you with us like that" I said, offering the best middle ground I could.

Post Chapter A/N; And that's the bees-knees. We've got the next two chapters of this story available on pa-atreon, and you can read all of that right now just by heading to the link on my profile or searching for my username up there. Feel free to have a look.