Barley stared at the Earth Kingdom as they sailed away. Syndrome stood beside him. Barley waited for him to say something, but he didn't. The only sound was the waves, and the occasional bird overhead.

"Mine! Mine! Mine!" the birds seemed to be saying as they flew toward the Earth Kingdom. That seemed strangely fitting, now that Syndrome had taken its biggest city for himself.

"Don't think I'm an idiot," Syndrome said suddenly. "I'm sure you must have grand ideas of stealing the Avatar while you're here. I don't recommend trying that."

Barley just focused on the horizon and tried to keep his expression neutral.

"Have you heard of the Boiling Rock?" Syndrome asked.

"That's a prison, right?" Barley said. "The biggest, most fearsome, most highly-guarded one in the Fire Nation." Many of the scenarios in "Tales of the Four Nations" involved breaking in or out of the Boiling Rock. He probably knew the layout better than Syndrome did.

"Exactly. That's where you're going if I even suspect you're trying to screw me over. So just don't."

Barley nodded. A promise he had no intention of keeping.

A boy walked out onto the deck. Blond hair, scarred eye. Violet's brother, Barley realized. Maybe Barley could talk to him, persuade him to join his side and help him steal Jack-Jack.

"Ignore him," Syndrome said when he saw Barley looking at Dash. "He's nobody."

"Oh," Barley said, turning away so Syndrome wouldn't see how interested he was in talking to Dash. "So, uh, when does the training start?"

"Once we get back to the Fire Nation. You'll be in a secure room, heavily guarded, and I'll be getting daily reports of your progress." He waved his hand. "You can go away now. I'll tell you when we arrive."

Barley went below deck. He wandered around for a bit, unsure where to go. Did he get a room on this ship somewhere?

A few minutes later, Dash walked down. Barley looked around to make sure no guards were there, then ran over to Dash.

"Dash! I want to talk to you."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you," Dash said.

Barley lowered his voice. "Just listen. I know your sister. Your real sister, from the Air Temple! I can take you to her, if you help me…"

"Will you people leave me alone?!" Dash snapped. "My old family is dead. I'm part of the Fire Nation royal family now."

"What?" Barley said. "Syndrome–"

"Yes, I'm his son now. So stop trying to turn me against him. It's not going to work."

"Dash, he's not the good guy! He's the one who killed your old family," Barley said.

"You think I don't know that?" Dash burst out. He paused, seeming surprised by his own anger, then continued. "Of course I know that! But it's the reality I live in and I deal with it because I have to! What am I supposed to do, think about it and cry?"

Barley tried to get back on topic. "Well, now you can be reunited with someone from your real family. Your sister–"

"She's not family," Dash said coldly. "I don't know her."

"But you did, for half of your life. And she knows you. She wants to reconnect, catch up on all the years you've missed together."

"It's a little late for that, isn't it?" Dash said. "It's been years. Why now?"

"It's not her fault. She was trapped in stone for five years," Barley said. "She came back as soon as she could. She's so happy you're alive, you have to–"

Dash turned away. "I don't have to do anything." He walked away. His head was spinning, and his chest felt tight. It was hard to breathe. He couldn't quite name the emotions swirling around inside of him. Why did he feel so…conflicted? Did part of him want to reconnect with his sister? With his old life?

No, that was stupid. They weren't interested in him. They just wanted the Avatar. He wasn't going to let them use him like that. As much as Syndrome didn't care about him, at least Dash knew where he stood with him. He didn't like being tricked or taken advantage of.

He tried to ignore the nagging voice in his head telling him that maybe there was another reason. Maybe he was afraid. Afraid it would unlock some repressed trauma. He didn't remember anything about the attack on the Air Temple, and he wanted to keep it that way. What if he saw his sister again and those memories came back?

And as much as he wanted to learn about his airbending culture, and about his real family, he was afraid of that too. Afraid that if he saw what his life could have been, if he had faces and names to put to the loss, he would be forced to properly grieve it. He wasn't ready for that, not yet.

~~~~

Lotso furiously yanked on the chains. "Let me out! I run this city!"

"Not anymore," Alberto said. "If only someone had tried to warn you. Darn." He looked around at the rusty black walls. "So this is where we die, huh?"

"I don't wanna die!" Luca whimpered.

"There has to be a way out," Violet said.

"Oh! Maybe Ian can metalbend us out of here!" Alberto said. He looked over at Ian, who was just numbly staring at the wall. "Hey, Ian! Metalbending time!"

Ian shook his head slowly. "I can't." He couldn't even think straight through the panic and despair that had taken hold of him. There was no way he'd be able to use his seismic sense. Especially without Barley here.

"Not with that attitude," Alberto said.

Ian sighed. He supposed he didn't have anything to lose by trying. He closed his eyes and tried to use his seismic sense. But the cold and the fear and the pain radiating down his shoulders made it hard to concentrate.

He opened his eyes. "I can't do it." His heart felt heavy as he looked down at the ground in shame. His friends were depending on him, and he'd let them down.

"Alberto, can you help me bend some water out of my pouch?" Luca asked. Their movements were restricted, so they wouldn't be able to bend unless they did it together.

They awkwardly started taking up some waterbending stances, doing the best with the level of movement they had. A stream of water floated up out of Luca's pouch. Violet held her breath, waiting for them to drop it, but they didn't.

"Now what?" Alberto asked.

Luca splashed the water onto the middle links of Alberto's chains and froze it. "It should be easier to break now, if we could just find something…"

"I've got it!" Alberto began swinging back and forth, picking up speed. "Wheee!"

The metal broke, and he flew across the room. He dropped to the ground, landing on one knee and steadying himself with his hands. He stood up. "Hey, it worked!"

He helped Luca free himself. Then Luca freed the others. Woody, Bo, and Jessie helped pull Buzz down, since he couldn't really move.

Luca looked into his pouch. He was running out of water, but he should have enough to heal Buzz. He quickly healed Buzz's injuries the best he could.

Buzz sighed with relief. "Thank you." Woody helped him up. Buzz leaned on Woody, still weak from his injuries.

"Now let's find a way out of here," Alberto said, looking around.

"Wait!" Lotso yelled. "Free me too!"

"Really? Why should we help YOU?" Alberto spat.

"Don't leave me here! Please, I'll do anything!"

Luca hesitated. He didn't have much water left, so he probably shouldn't be wasting it on Lotso. But he felt bad leaving him here to die.

"I can get us out of here," Lotso said. "I know a secret passage out of the dungeon."

Woody narrowed his eyes at Lotso. He didn't know if they could trust him after he brainwashed and hurt Buzz. But they didn't have many other options. "Okay."

"What?!" Alberto exclaimed.

"Well we won't get out on our own," Woody said. "And he's as much a victim of the Fire Nation as anyone else."

"It's his own fault," Alberto said. "He didn't pay attention until it was too late. That's not our fault, so why should we help him?"

"I mean, he's right," Bo said. "But so is Woody. I say we do it."

Luca used the last of his water to free Lotso. Lotso opened a secret panel in the wall, revealing a keyhole. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked it. The wall swung inward into a secret passageway.

"This leads outside of the palace," Lotso said.

"Why?" Violet asked as they started walking down the passage. It seemed like they were just asking for a prison break.

"There's a whole system of secret tunnels under the city," Lotso said. "We debated putting one in the dungeon, but we ultimately decided we should, for times like these, when I might be locked in my own prison."

They walked for several minutes. Lotso looked around. "I can hear Fire Nation soldiers in some of the other tunnels. We have to hurry."

They walked faster until they reached another wall. Lotso unlocked it with the same key. "It's right out there. I'll go last, in case they catch up."

Violet went first. She blinked as she stepped into a brightly-lit space. She wasn't outside. They were in the throne room. Waternoose and about a dozen soldiers stared at her. This was a trap, probably to keep the Fire Nation off Lotso's back while he escaped.

"The prisoners!" Waternoose yelled. "Get them!"

Violet realized her friends were standing next to her now. She looked back into the passageway, thinking about running back in there, and saw Lotso slamming the wall shut.

"Hey!" Alberto yelled.

The Fire Nation soldiers closed in on them. Violet leapt up and jumped back down, sending out a wave of energy that pushed some of the soldiers back. Ian pelted them with boulders, relying more on instinct than any kind of technique.

"I'm out of water!" Luca cried. He ducked as a soldier swung a fiery fist at him. With a sweeping kick, Alberto knocked the soldier off his feet. Luca looked around in a panic. They were outnumbered. Ian was shielding himself behind stone walls that kept getting broken. Woody was doing his best to help Buzz fight but they were getting overwhelmed.

Jessie, Bo, and Violet were leaping around, dodging attacks and striking where they could. Their Red Panda Warrior and airbending training had made them far more nimble than the others. Even so, they were struggling to take down the soldiers, spending most of their energy on the defensive.

The big throne room doors burst open. There was a flurry of bright red and gold. The Red Panda Warriors.

"Mei!" Bo and Jessie cried. "Girls!"

The Red Panda Warriors began attacking in a deliberate and synchronized pattern of moves. Jessie and Bo effortlessly slipped in beside them, all of them working as a well-oiled machine. Only Abby was straying from the group. She was going feral, biting and scratching the Fire Nation soldiers wherever she could.

Now that the Fire Nation soldiers were distracted, Violet and Ian were free to go on the offensive. They immediately went after Waternoose. Violet sent furious gusts of wind at him, driven by pure anger. A burning force pushing her forward despite her exhaustion. She was sick of being hunted by this man. And he was the one who had led the invasion that had destroyed her home and killed her parents.

At this thought, an anguished scream burst from her lips. It sounded jarringly loud even to herself. It almost startled her back to her senses, but not quite.

She narrowed her eyes and concentrated, sensing the air in his lungs. She jerked her hand up and pulled the air straight out of his body. He gasped and gurgled as his face turned blue.

"Violet!" Alberto cried, his voice coming out strangled and tight from panic.

This snapped Violet out of it. She stopped and released Waternoose. She stared in horror as his limp body collapsed on the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Everyone was staring at her. Even the Fire Nation soldiers had stopped fighting to stare. Ian's eyes were almost popping out of his head. Luca had his hands over his mouth as if he were going to be sick. Alberto was the only one staring at Violet, not the body. She wanted to crawl into a hole when she saw the pure shock on his face. It was like he was questioning his entire view of her.

Woody went to Waternoose and checked for a pulse. "He's alive."

Violet let out a shaky breath of relief. She covered her face. "I almost killed him."

"I mean, he deserved it," Alberto said, although he couldn't hide the tremble in his voice.

That didn't comfort her much. Killing wasn't exactly forbidden by the airbenders, but peace was one of their core values, and she felt like she'd betrayed that. That weighed heavy on her since she was one of the few airbenders left.

The Red Panda Warriors took out the rest of the Fire Nation soldiers, then joined Violet and her friends.

"What do we do now?" Bo asked softly.

"What can we do?" Ian said. "Syndrome got all his teachers. He won."

"No he didn't, not yet," Alberto said. "Jack-Jack still has to learn the elements. Until then, we have a chance."

"A chance to do what?" Ian asked.

"Invade the Fire Nation and get Jack-Jack back. Duh."

"They're too powerful," Ian said. "We'd never make it out of the palace alive." They would have to fight hundreds of guards at the palace. They weren't ready for that. And he'd lost his earthbending teacher.

"I might have an idea," Luca piped up. "I heard Syndrome talking about the Black Sun. I think that might be an eclipse."

"What?" Alberto asked.

"When the Sun is blocked by the moon. I think that might take away their powers temporarily. Since they get their power from the Sun."

"So if we invade during the eclipse…" Violet said.

"They won't have any power!" Alberto crowed. "That's brilliant, Luca!"

Luca blushed a little. "I mean, it wasn't all my idea. Giulia's the one who told me all about eclipses and the Fire Nation's connection to the Sun."

"Oh. Of course." Alberto turned away, and Luca couldn't see his expression.

"So, um, when's the next eclipse?" Ian asked awkwardly.

Luca shrugged. "I dunno." It could be tomorrow, or in a hundred years.

"What, Giulia didn't tell you that too?" Alberto said.

Luca felt a stab of annoyance. Alberto's attitude and snarky comments weren't helping them at all, and Giulia had been nothing but nice to them both, so he didn't see why Alberto had to attack her like that. "No. She didn't."

"Is there anyone we could ask?" Woody asked.

Barley would know, Ian thought, his heart sinking. His game probably had dozens of locations where they could find wise people who would be able to help them. He tried to think back to all the stuff Barley had told him about "Tales of the Four Nations." But it was too painful to think about now that Barley wasn't here.

Maybe Buzz would know. Buzz wasn't a huge player of the game, but he would sometimes sit in on their sessions.

"Buzz, are there any places in 'Tales of the Four Nations' that might have books or knowledge or something?" he asked.

"The Bookworm's library," Buzz said. "In the Si Wong desert of the Earth Kingdom. It supposedly has knowledge from all over the world."

"That's perfect!" Woody said. "You'll have to find something in there."

"You guys go. We'll stay here and try to free Ba Sing Se," Mei said.

"And I'll try to get Buzz out of here," Woody said. Maybe they'd go see if any parts of their old home had survived.

"Are you sure you'll be able to find the library without a map?" Buzz asked.

"It's a huge freakin' library. It shouldn't be that hard to find," Alberto said.

"You can't just walk out like this. There are Fire Nation soldiers everywhere," Colette said.

"You need a disguise!" Mei said with a grin.

"Like what?" Ian asked.

The girls smirked, and several of them removed the sashes around their waists.

Ten minutes later, Violet and her friends were all dressed in Red Panda Warrior outfits, complete with makeup.

"You smudged your lipstick," Miriam said to Alberto. She tried to reapply it. "Stop squirming." She grabbed his chin. He reluctantly stood still and let her run the lipstick over his mouth. Her thumb wiped the corner of his mouth. Gently. Intimately.

Violet watched, a stab of jealousy burning in her chest. She knew it was stupid. But Miriam was so close to him, touching him, their faces an inch apart. Violet wanted that. Even now, when he looked ridiculous.

Now she might never get the chance. After what she'd done, he probably couldn't even look at her.

"There. Now you all look like Red Panda Warriors," Mei said with a grin when Miriam was done.

"And this won't attract attention?" Alberto said.

"It probably will, but at least you won't look like the escaped prisoners," Miriam said. Alberto grunted in begrudging agreement.

The Red Panda Warriors escorted them out of the palace. Alberto walked behind Violet, a little awkwardly. The incident with Waternoose had freaked him out more than he wanted to admit. He thought of himself as pretty tough, but he had been completely unprepared to watch someone die in that way right in front of him. Especially at the hands of someone as shy and unimposing as Violet.

Violet herself was still in shock about it. She couldn't get the image of Waternoose's blue face out of her mind. It made her feel sick to her stomach. Worse was the power she'd felt doing it. It had been almost exhilarating, knowing she had the power to starve his body of something it needed with just a flick of her wrist.

She would need to be diligent and keep herself in control. She couldn't let herself ever do that again. Otherwise she might slip over the edge and do something she would regret. And become somebody she didn't want to be.

She looked over at Alberto. He was staring at the ground, not looking at her. He probably thought she was a monster. And she didn't blame him.

She lowered her head in shame as they left the city.