the recluse

All Haruko dreamt was blue. All of it, ever since she was a child. Nothing but an endless ocean, the sensation of drowning, and the ever-present feeling of blue.

She remembered, as a child, waking in the middle of the night crying. Her mother would rush over to her, scoop her into a warm embrace, and ask what was wrong. Haruko never had an answer, she couldn’t put into words what was so off-putting about her dreams, why she always woke up with tears in her eyes.

They had become more clear lately. At some point during the past year, Haruko began to hear an ever-present humming drone, steadily becoming more clear as time went on. Now, she was finally able to decipher what was being said.

It was her name. Her first name, only. Over and over again, like a mantra, the three syllables reverberating through her brain. It was so repetitive it would’ve been sickening, given any other context. But it wasn’t, somehow. The voice- the voices, it was at least two separate, distinctly female voices- were comforting, like she knew them somehow.

It was just out of her grasp, like the tune of a song she just couldn’t remember- when Haruko woke up. The chanting drone of the voices faded from her head almost instantly, replaced by the monotonous beeping of her alarm clock. Haruko gasped awake, only to find that she was safe in her own bed, the morning light pouring in from the window a warm yellow instead of the unnatural blue of her dreams.

Haruko sighed and turned off the alarm clock. The digital clock face read 6:01, just like it was supposed to. Haruko scratched the ear of Pasha, the small meerfox she had adopted off the street a few years ago, against Aunt Priya’s wishes. “G’mornin, Pasha'' She yawned.

Haruko walked through her room, tactfully navigating through piles of books and boxes and dirty clothes, to where she had left out her uniform from yesterday. She hadn’t bothered to wash it in between uses, but it wasn’t something that bothered her, and washing a uniform daily was a waste of material and money, not a luxury Haruko could afford. It simply wasn’t practical. After donning her off-white shirt and dark gray dress pants, Haruko tucked the bone-carved necklace her father gave her into her shirt, hiding it from public view. For some reason Aunt Priya hated whenever she did anything that reminded her of him, which included Haruko’s existence. She always mentioned how the man had ‘ruined her mother’, but Haruko always got the sense there was more to it. She just didn’t know what.

As soon as she was dressed, Haruko went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face- both menial tasks not warranting much thought. She took a moment to catch her reflection. She looked like a mess. Her uncombed hair and dark circles under her eyes gave her the appearance of a student who had stayed up all night studying, which she had, come to think of it. Nevertheless, Haruko resorted to washing the area around her eyes particularly well and combing her hair with her fingers as she left the bathroom to join her family at the breakfast table.

As usual, Aunt Priya hadn’t put anything special on the table for breakfast, just a couple boxes of dry cereal and a bowl of day-old fruit. Haruko sat down opposite her brother Aazir, on the right of her Uncle Mohan, who seemed preoccupied with the day’s newspaper. Like her, Aazir had thick brown hair, a prominent nose, and brown skin- the unmistakable look of a sandbender. From what Haruko remembered of him, they had inherited those features from their father. Priya looked like what she remembered of her mother, wavy black hair, soft green eyes and tan skin, although Priya wore makeup and curled her hair- both things Haruko never remembered her mother doing. Mohan had similar features, although his hair wasn’t nearly as thick, resulting in a receding hairline despite his relative youth.

“Anything interesting happening, Uncle?” Haruko greeted as she poured herself a bowl of nutri-ohs. They tasted as if cardboard were a food.

“Rail line malfunction up in Yi.” Mohan grumbled, not looking up from his paper. “Says we desert folk won’t be getting any fresh produce for a month at best.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!”Aunt Priya cried as she came over to the table with a bowl of congee, freshly heated. “Why can’t they get some of the metalbenders down in Zaofu to fix it? I’m sure they have the manpower to help out.”

Mohan nodded. “Or that Avatar girl, she should make herself useful for once and come fix a damn problem.”

Haruko nodded with her aunt and uncle’s back and forth about the Avatar. It didn’t matter much to her, but something stood out. “Was the rail line issue an accident or was it criminal interference or ...?”

Mohan opened his mouth to respond to Haruko but was interrupted by his wife, who had just noticed Haruko for the first time this morning.

“Haruko! I told you I don’t want you showing off your tattoos in here!”

Haruko looked down at her tattooed forearms, which were exposed due to her rolled-up uniform sleeves. The thick, black bands were acutely visible. Haruko rolled down her sleeves to cover them, giving Priya an awkward, forced smile.

Priya huffed. “Honestly, I don’t know how you even got them. Mohan, isn’t it illegal for teenagers to get tattoos?”

Mohan shrugged and returned to his paper. Evidently, he was more invested in the Badgerfrogs’ pro-bending win streak than the argument currently happening at the table.

“One thing I do know,” Priya added. “Is that they aren’t allowed per the school dress code. It’s a wonder you haven’t been expelled!”

“C’mon, Aunt Priya!” Haruko said. “You let Aazir wear his stupid hat to school, that’s against dress code too. Plus it’s removable!” There wasn’t any way to remove the ink from Haruko’s skin, so Priya was just wasting her breath.

“Hey!” Aazir looked up from his bowl of frost rocks. “I look cool!” He straightened his posture and puffed out his chest a bit to emphasize the point.

“You know what I mean, young lady.” Priya retorted. “Honestly, you’re so much like your father sometimes.”

Haruko pretended not to hear the last remark. She stood up. “It’s time for school.” She announced, already making her way to the door.

Aazir followed. “Bye, Uncle Mohan, Aunt Priya!”

“Have a good day at school!” Priya waved back at them.

The desert sun beat down on Haruko’s neck as she walked to school. Despite winter being close by, it didn’t ever get much cooler this close to the Si Wong Desert.

“I can’t wait for the nights to get longer,” Haruko remarked as they walked. “Hopefully it’ll get cooler out.”

“Yeah, that’ll be cool.” Aazir snorted at his accidental pun. “Dang, I just remembered I have a math test today.”

“Sucks to be you, I guess.” Haruko laughed. As she and Aazir continued down the sidewalk, they were soon joined by another familiar face- Li Mei, Haruko’s best friend since Junior High. Li mei was a delicate girl, with cleaner, paler skin and a less muscular build than Haruko. She always wore her long, dark hair in a perfect low ponytail, the very pinnacle of student professionalism, a stark contrast to Haruko’s own unironed shirt, choppy hair, and exposed tattoos. Haruko was surprised they were allowed to hang out together.

“Good morning, Haruko!” Li Mei greeted.

“Morning,” Haruko said. “Aazir was just telling us about how prepared he is for his math test.”

“Hey!” Aazir said, playing up his offense for dramatic effect, in typical fifteen-year-old-boy fashion.

Li Mei laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “If it’s not a problem, I’d rather talk about something a bit more interesting.”

“Sure…” Haruko said. She looked to the sky as she thought, even this early it was a brilliant clear blue, like an ocean she was at risk of falling into. Only one thing came to mind. “I had another weird dream.”

“Really?” Li Mei replied.

Haruko nodded. “Yeah, pretty much the same though. Not much changes with me.” Li Mei, having known Haruko for close to a decade now, must’ve gotten used to her weird dreams by now. She had explained them about a million times, though she never was able to convey exactly what they were like.

It wasn’t long before they reached the school- a flat, wide building unlovingly dubbed ‘Salai High School’. The campus was built by earthbenders during the Earth Empire era, out of the sandstone and terracotta common in the area. It was the only high school in the neighborhood, and one of the most populated in the district. To accommodate the large student population, the school was separated into different sections by student age. . Li Mei and Haruko waved Aazir goodbye as he left to the underclassman’s side of the school.

“Hope he doesn’t fail that math test.” Haruko remarked as she watched her brother disappear into the crowd.

“Avatar Aang is also known for what, class?” Mr. Sang paced around the room, gesturing the image of the Avatar projected onto the chalkboard. The classroom had been darkened to accommodate the projector light, in a way that made every grain of dust around it visible, including the clouds of dirt rising up as Mr. Sang walked around the room.

“Founding republic city?” Someone muttered.

Mr. Sang sighed and pressed a hand to his temple. “Can anyone tell me something he did that isn’t painfully obvious common knowledge? Miss Saeed, perhaps. Have anything to say?”

Haruko snapped to attention, having previously been staring at the wall, pondering her dream. “Um…” She searched her mind for anything the famed air Avatar might’ve done that was remotely unknown and interesting. There had to be something. “Avatar Aang restored the air temples and created a blend between Air Nomad and Water Tribe custom with his wife, Katara.” She had no idea where the knowledge had come from, but it seemed to please Mr. Sang.

“Thank you, Miss Saeed. Avatar Aang did accomplish much during his lifetime, and we, even two Avatars later, still enjoy the benefits he brought to the world. Now onto his successor, Avatar Korra Sato.”

Mr. Sang changed the image on the projector from that of a kind-looking, middle-aged Air Nomad to that of a resolute Water Tribe woman in her mid-thirties. Avatar Korra had dark hair that reached her shoulders and intense, determined eyes that seemed to pierce through Haruko’s soul, yet a certain kindness residing in her features, the same Aang had in his. The woman almost seemed familiar to Haruko. She attributed it to having seen her picture in books before, she was the Avatar, after all. Her photo was everywhere.

Mr. Sang continued to ramble on about Korra’s various accomplishments, which surprisingly included four separate disasters in the span of a few years. Haruko had heard it all before, they had been teaching the same stuff about Korra ever since she had arrived in Jing Zi, but it didn’t hurt to listen.

“Unfortunately, Korra did not live very long.” Mr. Sang confessed. “She ended up living only a fraction of the time her predecessors did, dying at the age of forty-seven. The cause of her death is still unknown,” Mr. Sang added, sparking interested ‘oohs’ across the class, “and she is survived by her family and the current Avatar, Hanuel Beifong.”

Mr. Sang changed the picture yet again, this time to an earth kingdom girl around the same age as Haruko, with long black hair pulled up in a ponytail and soft, pale eyes. Her features were thin, delicate and beautiful- if Haruko had to guess, she’d say the girl was from Gaoling, or anywhere along the southern coast. Everyone in the class recognized her, she was on the vidset all the time, making important speeches and doing important things, a step so high above everyone else that Haruko found it ridiculous. A couple of boys whistled as her image became visible. Haruko rolled her eyes.

Mr. Sang sighed. “As you all know, Avatar Hanuel Beifong has brought great peace and prosperity to our nation.” He gestured to the map of the Earth Confederacy on the wall and continued.

It was easy to drown out Mr. Sang’s words. Haruko had heard it all million times before. The Avatar and her various accomplishments and escapades didn’t interest her because they didn’t affect her, Haruko had priorities that weren’t celebrating a hundred years of peace with the Fire Nation.

Like always, Haruko, Li Mei and Aazir ate lunch on the roof. None of them were all too prominent socially, and eating on the roof was the perfect way to avoid the stress of engaging with others, even if it was technically against the rules.

“How’d your math test go?” Li Mei asked Aazir as she set down her small bowl of rice.

Aazir shrugged. “Could’ve gone better, could’ve gone worse. Pretty sure I got a C, at least.”

“That’s good.” Li Mei replied.

“Ughhh.. I’ve got gym next.” Haruko groaned. “Coach still won’t let me on the earthball team, even though I’m probably the best earthbender in the school.” It was a slight exaggeration, but she still felt discriminated against, especially as it was her third year trying.

“Really?” Li Mei asked. “I thought you’d definitely make the team this year. I mean, who else is he going to pick?”

“Jian.” Haruko said, then shuddered for dramatic emphasis. Her ex-boyfriend, while less of a skilled earthbender than her, was apparently ‘more of the athletic type’.

“I don’t even know why you’re still trying.” Aazir remarked. “You don’t even like sports.”

Haruko sighed. “It’s the principle of it, they don’t want someone like me on their team cause it makes them look bad.” She didn’t need to elaborate on what ‘someone like me’ meant- Aazir knew. He fell into the same category. Their coach would likely die before letting any desert-born earthbender on his team.

“And you’re gonna fight them on it?”

“Yup.”

Aazir shrugged and returned to his lunch.

Li Mei started to say something when she was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Haruko turned to the stairwell that led back down into the school- they had been joined by Padma and her group of lackeys..

Li Mei started to pick up the lunch they had spread out across the floor as Padma approached them. She was accompanied by none other than Jian himself, as well as Wei, a tall, pale boy who had moved to Jing Zi only a few years ago.. Padma, despite being only a few inches taller than Haruko and with none of the muscle definition, had an imposing figure. It had something to do with the way she held her head high and the way her long black ponytail bounced when she stepped. Like almost every other girl in school, she wore it in imitation of Hanuel Beifong, who in turn was imitating her own past life. Only the Avatar really pulled it off, but that didn’t stop Padma from trying.

“Hiya girls, Aazir.” Padma greeted as she sat down opposite Haruko. Jian and Wei remained standing behind her. Haruko shot the former a dirty glare, which he returned instantly.

“What do you want, Padma?” Haruko asked.

“Just wanted to hang out with my favorite dust bandits!” Padma’s voice was honey as she spoke, despite having just insulted two out of the three people she was talking to.

Aazir shot Haruko a quick glance. Haruko shook her head. Whatever Aazir wanted to do, it probably wasn’t a good idea.

Padma smiled. “Hey Haruko, did ya hear about the railway accident in Yi?”

She was singling out her prey. Haruko remained stoic. “I have.”

“Well,” Padma exaggerated her words. “They say it was done by bandits, you think it was your dad?”

“Our dad’s not a bandit!” Aazir interrupted, his voice harsh. “You don’t know anything about him! For all you know he’s probably dead!”

Padma recoiled. She had apparently provoked the wrong sibling.

Haruko put her hand on Aazir’s arm. “Calm down, it’s not worth it.” Aazir’s rapid breathing slowed as he returned to a calmer state. Haruko turned back to Padma, “If you have a problem with us, spit it out. I’m not afraid of you.”

Padma smiled again. One way or another, she had gotten her way. “Meet me tomorrow. Sundown. Lao’s pavilion.” With that, she and her group of lackeys left the area.

“Haruko, what’ve you gotten yourself into?” Li Mei chided.

“I don’t know.” Haruko replied, her eyes transfixed on the door Padma had left from. “But I don’t think it’s a good thing.”

the airbender

The mountain ranges in the northern Earth Confederacy looked just as beautiful as ever as Koto passed above them. It was one of the few areas in the nation that had miraculously stayed untouched by urbanization, making it a haven for wildlife, spirits, and airbenders alike. She had been staying at the Northern Air Temple for a few months now, yet the natural splendor of the area hadn’t ceased to amaze her.

“Koto, why are you taking us down?” Tashi asked from the bison saddle behind her. “We aren’t at the temple yet.”

Koto abruptly realized she had been leading her bison, Cloud, closer to the ground than normal. She guided her bison upwards. “Sorry about that, I just got a little lost in thought.”

“No problem!” Tashi replied, her voice chipper. Koto spared a small glance back to the younger girl, who, like her, was looking out at the horizon. Her thick, dark brown hair had only begun to grow back out after she had earned her mastery tattoos a few months ago. Noticing that Koto was watching her, Tashi started telling her a story about something that happened in town, despite the fact Koto was there for the event.

Koto returned her gaze to the horizon. The sight of the Northern Air Temple was a relief. Not only could Tashi talk to someone else while at the temple, but Koto’s home was also a welcome sight, despite the temple looking a bit hostile due to the ruin and incomplete construction. The many towers of the temple created a majestic silhouette, though the scars the buildings had endured were all too visible for Koto’s liking- the incomplete spires still being rebuilt, the lavacast left behind from years ago covering the temple’s foundation, the broken walls having yet to be reconstructed. Despite the wounds the temple sported, the sight of it brought a smile to Koto’s face

“It’s nice to see you home,” Uncle Rohan greeted as he, Koto and Tashi walked from the bison stables to the temple proper. Like both her and Tashi, Rohan had his airbender’s mastery tattoos, although he had earned his much longer ago. He had the same thick black hair Koto’s brothers did, and wore it short, spiked in the front. Despite being the youngest of her mother’s siblings, the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth displayed his age.

“It’s nice to be home.” Koto smiled. “Is there any news fromRepublic City?”

“Republic City…” Rohan mused. “Yes, we received a call from them earlier. Everyone’s fine back home, your father specifically told me to tell you that the new Lazerbender mover isn’t very good.” Rohan said the words awkwardly, as if he was just now encountering the idea of a mover.

Koto laughed. That definitely sounded like her father. “I’ll be sure to call him back when I can, although with these crime rates, I don’t think I’ll be seeing any movers anytime soon.”

Rohan nodded. “Speaking of that, how’d it go in Beixi?”

“It went great!” Tashi interrupted. “We delivered our entire load and got supplies to nearly the entire town!” She waved her hands around for emphasis.

“It’s a rather small farming village.” Koto explained. “But it got hit rather hard by criminal activity during the Kuvira incident, and since it's such a small town in the middle of nowhere the government forces don’t typically bother with it.” There was a chance Rohan already knew this, but Koto couldn’t be sure, and it was better to be safe than sorry. No one was expected to keep track of every town in the entire Earth Confederacy.

Rohan sighed and pressed a hand to his temple, near his arrow tattoo. “If I can, I’ll get your Aunt Ikki to talk to the Prime Minister about that. She can’t rely on the Air Nation’s hospitality to fix all her problems. If Mira doesn’t listen, at least the Avatar might”

A brief thought of Hanuel Beifong crossed Koto’s mind. Despite having grown up alongside the new Avatar, it had been nearly three years since they had seen each other. She wondered what Hanuel had been doing during that time. The airbender returned her attention to her uncle and Tashi, who were discussing a group of small children who had been amazed by the presence of a sky bison in their village.

“Actually, something weird happened in town.” Koto said. The two other airbenders turned to face her. By now, they were standing in one of the temple halls, the evening sunlight pouring through the large, open windows.

“While we were in Beixi, I noticed we were being watched by some of the local police.” Koto explained. “I didn’t pay it much mind, but they watched us the entire time we were there.”

Rohan placed a hand to his chin as he thought. “Hm… well I can’t say that isn’t concerning, but it’s probably just a local incident. Some people are just like that, wary of outsiders to no avail. Though, contact me if it happens more. Also, I have your next assignment.”

“Already?” Koto asked, although she knew it was redundant. There was always more work to be done as an airbender. It was the price for vowing to help everyone you could.

“Yes, you two will deliver food and medical supplies to the city of Jing Zi, near the Si Wong desert. It’s a mildly large city, and fairly new. Apparently it sprouted up after the discovery of oil in the area and has a decent population of relocated sandbenders. The rail lines leading there were damaged and the people there will be cut off from trade networks.”

“Isn’t it a bit far from here?” Tashi asked. She was right, none of their assignments ever led them too far from the temple, especially not to such a distant locale as the Si Wong desert.

Rohan must’ve sensed their worry, he put one of his hands on each of their shoulders. “You two are some of the most capable benders we have, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it.”

Tashi smiled and embraced Rohan into a hug. “Thank you! We won’t let you down!” Koto joined the hug, becoming enveloped in Rohan’s sunset-colored robes. “Thanks.”

the chosen

The moment Hanuel stepped out of the airship, she was met with a cacophony of cheers.

For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the noise of the crowd, but she composed herself. They were here to see her- their Avatar. She couldn’t let them down by shying away from them.

As Hanuel walked the stretch of path between her personal airship and the Ba Sing Se palace, she waved to the crowd around her, held back only by green-velvet rope barriers and some very stressed out guards. It wasn’t long before Hanuel arrived at the palace doors, where Yu Yan was waiting for her.

Yu Yan, Hanuel’s personal manager, was a thin, small woman in her mid-thirties, with bright makeup and artificially dyed and curled hair. She had practically raised Hanuel since the discovery of her avatarhood seven years ago, and despite her somewhat snooty personality, there was no one Hanuel would’ve rather seen upon coming back to Ba Sing Se.

“Come on, Hanuel,” Yu Yan clipped as she directed Hanuel into the palace, though the Avatar continued to wave at the crowd.

“Come on, Yu!” Hanuel flashed her manager a smile. “I haven’t been home in months! They want to welcome me home!”

Yu Yan sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll meet you inside. Your friends are in the parlor in the west wing” She said before heading inside.

Almost as soon as Yu Yan had disappeared inside the palace, Hanuel’s attention was brought to a man in the crowd. Clearly a reporter of some sort, this man wore an expensive gray coat and carried a microphone. He was accompanied by a bored-looking cameraman trailing close after him. Both men had noticeably dark brown eyes, uncommon in the Earth Confederacy.

“Hello, Avatar!” The reporter held out his hand as he crossed over the velvet ropes, flashing a badge of some sort to the guards, who only looked more annoyed at his presence. “I’m Shota Shinobi, with the Republic City Inquirer, and I’d like to ask you some questions if I can have your time?”

Hanuel smiled and nodded. From what she knew, the Republic City Inquirer was one of the biggest news networks in the United Republic. It was a bit strange that their reporters were all the way out in the Earth Confederacy, but she shrugged it off. She was the Avatar, her return was a big deal.

“Fantastic!” Shota exclaimed. “Avatar Hanuel, how does it feel to be back home after months of diplomatic training in Gaoling?”

Hanuel looked to the camera as Shota angled his microphone towards her. “It’s great! I’m excited to be back in Ba Sing Se, and I’m ready to get to work doing Avatar business!” She laughed, it was forced, but that didn’t matter.

Shota had continued to interview Hanuel until she managed to break away from the crowd under the guise of needing to attend a meeting. In part, it was true. Shota, and by extension the general public, didn’t need to know that she was actually just going to reunite with her friends.

The quiet inside of the formerly-Earth Kingdom palace was refreshingly quiet, the grandiose, empty hallways a much needed break from the revelry outside. Hanuel loved being the Avatar- she loved being loved- but even someone like her needed a break from it sometimes, if for no other reason than to give her ears a break.

It wasn’t long before Hanuel reached the parlor on the west wing, and just like Yu Yan had said, her best friends were there waiting for her.

Mikah and Jitsuko were opposites, not just in element but in about every possible way. Mikah was tall, with broad shoulders and warm brown skin, flat features and a square jaw typical of Water Tribe men. He wore his hair in a loose low ponytail, with two braids in the front framing his face in a traditional Northern Water Tribe style, and was growing out a scruffy beard. His light blue eyes seemed to look at nearly everything with kindness. Almost everything about him radiated a sense of softness, which could definitely be attributed to his skill in healing and personal vows of pacifism- as a member of the White Lotus, he, in his own words, was “honor-bound to promote world peace”. On the other hand, Jitsuko seemed to be composed almost entirely of angles. From her metallic, golden hairpiece to her Fire Nation shoulder armor to her glasses, Hanuel could compare her to a dagger- small but dangerous. Even her facial features seemed sharp, at least compared to Mikah’s. Both being nobles of their respective nations and prodigies at their respective elements, they were the perfect companions for the Avatar.

Mikah greeted Hanuel with a hug as soon as she walked through the door. Jitsuko soon joined them. “Hanuel! You’re back!” The waterbender exclaimed.

Hanuel laughed as she broke from the hug. “It’s so nice to see you guys again!”

“How was Gaoling?” Jitsuko asked as they all sat down on the fancy couches in the parlor.

“Ugh, it was terrible” Hanuel groaned as she leaned back. “Apparently ever since my folks all moved to Zaofu, Gaoling’s just full of a bunch of boring old rich dudes who haven’t smiled in thirty years and have nothing better to do than boss people around.”

Mikah chuckled. “I know some Northern Water Tribe noblemen who would get along with them. Old master Quma talked my ears off about ‘masculine tradition’ when I told him I wanted to be a healer.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there are grumpy old dudes everywhere,” Jitsuko nodded. “Definitely seen my share of grumpy Fire Nation advisors who look like they were alive for the Hundred Year War.”

The door opened, and Yu Yan walked in, struggling to carry a mountain of paperwork. “Avatar!” She called out. “Prime Minister Mira requests your presence at a cabinet meeting!”

“Right now?” Hanuel asked as she stood up, although she already knew the answer.

Yu Yan nodded and Hanuel followed her out the door. As soon as they were outside the parlor, Yu Yan dumped a considerable portion of the paper she was holding into Hanuel’s arms then walked off, the click-clack of her heels echoing on the tile floor.

Hanuel was apparently late to the meeting, judging by the way Yu Yan ushered her into the room, sat her down with all the required paperwork, and took her place at the back of the room.

“Avatar Hanuel Beifong, how nice of you to join us.” Prime Minister Mira greeted from the head of the table. A nonbending, Gaoling-born woman in her early fifties, Mira was probably far from the beacon of democratic progress Avatar Korra and King Wu had envisioned when reforming the country, but Hanuel knew she had the nation’s best intentions at heart.

“We were just waiting for you to arrive,” Mira said. “If you’ll notice on your agenda, you’ll see we have a multitude of subjects to discuss that require the Avatar’s input.”

Hanuel looked down at the papers Yu Yan had spread out in front of her and located the agenda. It included a list of topics including taxation breaks among the upper ring, the lack of employment opportunities created by the Si Wong and Foggy Swamp Relocation acts, and the growing crime rate in the southwestern Earth Confederacy. As Hanuel read, Mira and one of the cabinet members started discussing the first item on the agenda- accessible transportation in the Coral Isles, a topic so dull Hanuel started to drift into a daydream.

“Avatar!” Minister Qiang snapped. Hanuel startled out of her thoughts and looked around, eventually making eye contact with Minister Qiang of the Earth Confederacy military. From what Hanuel knew, the middle-aged man was a decorated war veteran, having served in the Earth Empire’s army.

“Uhhhm…” Hanuel trailed off. She must’ve missed a question being asked.

“Minister Qiang asked what you think of the growing spiritual unrest in the Southern Earth Confederacy?” Mira repeated.

Hanuel started to panic. She didn’t have a prepared answer for this. “Uhhh…. I think with the help of the Air Nation, as well as improved natural conservation efforts, we’ll be able to make peace with the spirits.”

The answer was vague and optimistic enough that everyone seemed to agree, and the discussion continued.

After the meeting, as Yu Yan was packing up the papers on Hanuel’s side of the table, Mira approached Hanuel.

“Avatar,” the Prime Minister smiled. “Care to meet me in my office?”

When Hanuel looked back at her manager, Yu Yan gestured for her to follow the Prime Minister. Hanuel swallowed her anxieties and nodded.

Hanuel had always hated Mira’s office. It was sparsely decorated and always seemed cold, no matter what the weather was like outside of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

“How was Gaoling?” The Prime Minister asked, politely resting her hands on her desk.

“It was alright.” Hanuel replied. “I learned a lot, and Master Lei was able to help me refine some of my earthbending techniques.” The earthbending master, while incredibly dull, had given her some useful insight about neutral jing, the founding principle of earthbending.

Mira smiled. “I assume your metalbending is still top-notch?”

Hanuel nodded. Being born in Zaofu and being a direct descendent of the first
metalbender had definitely helped her skills in that regard. She also liked to think that since Korra was also a skilled metalbender, that the ability had somehow transcended lifetimes. It helped her feel more connected to her past life.

Mira smiled and nodded. “I’d say it’s safe to say you’ve mastered earth and-”

“I’ll be moving on to fire?!’ Hanuel interrupted. She had been waiting for this moment for so long that she forgot the rules of etiquette that had been drilled into her for years.

Mira raised a hand to silence her. “Patience, young Avatar. Firebending will come in time. For now, you will remain here, there’s some business for which I need your presence.”

Hanuel slumped down into her chair. “Alright” She huffed.

“Don’t worry. It’s only a few months. By the time the first snow falls, you’ll be off to the Fire Nation.”

Hanuel smiled. “Thank you.”

salt to a wound

“Haruko!” Aazir called out. “Aunt Priya says you need to drink some water.”

Aazir’s voice startled Haruko out of her work. She rolled out from under the car she had been repairing to face her younger brother.

Having been home for a few hours, Aazir had since changed out of his school uniform and was wearing a simple beige tunic over dark green pants. For some reason, he was still wearing the same olive green beanie he always did. Pasha was on his shoulder, but jumped to Haruko’s as she sat up.

Aazir tossed Haruko a plastic water bottle and sat down on an unopened crate. Haruko opened the bottle and drank from it- the water was cool and refreshing, she didn’t know how long it had been since she had stopped for a break.

“How’s work?” Aazir deadpanned.

Haruko shrugged. “Mr. Liwei crashed his car again. You’d think he’d just buy a new one, but you know.” She sighed and glanced at the wrecked automobile she was attempting to fix.. “Apparently wasting my time is cheaper.”

Aazir contemplatively glanced over the car and nodded. “Yeah, suppose so. Lemme guess- it’s a cabbagecar.”

Haruko nodded and stifled a laugh. The fact that Cabbage Corp products were poorly constructed was one of the few things Aazir must’ve picked up from her angry rambles. Unlike her, he had elected not to learn mechanics to support Uncle Mohan’s repair shop after he got too old to fix the cars himself, leaving Haruko to be the sole mechanic in the business. She didn’t mind, they only had a few regular customers- enough to make ends meet- and she preferred working alone anyways. It helped her think.

“Oh, you have a cut on your hand” Aazir noticed, pointing out a gash along Haruko’s palm. She hadn’t noticed the cut while she was working, it must’ve been recent. “Hold up.” Aazir continued, looking around the general area. He eventually found what he was looking for, a small roll of bandages. Haruko gave him her hand, which he meticulously wrapped with the gauze.

“Not to interrupt this adorable sibling bonding moment,” A voice from the window interrupted, “But don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Haruko turned to the open window, where she saw Ai Xue, leaning on the wall. A year older than Haruko, Ai Xue had earned a reputation at school for taking absolutely any bribe. The nonbender, like Padma, wore her long black hair in a high ponytail, reminiscent of the Avatar, with messy bangs and long whispies framing her face. Neither pulled it off to the same extent Hanuel Beifong did, but that certainly didn’t stop them from trying.

It quickly became clear to Haruko why Ai Xue was here. Haruko cursed herself, she had forgotten about her and Padma’s prior engagement. Padma must’ve hired Ai Xue to ‘remind her’ of it. Haruko looked out the window- it was almost sunset. “Alright.” Haruko stretched and stood up, grabbing her jacket from the table. “If Padma still wants to do this, let’s go.”

Ai Xue smiled wryly. “Rad. Oh, by the way- change of plans. Padma’s waiting at the schoolyard.”

“The schoolyard?” Haruko scoffed as she donned her jacket. “Does she want everyone to watch us?” It quickly dawned on Haruko that was exactly why Padma wanted to fight in the schoolyard. Her pride had gotten the better of her. “Alright. If Padma wants to lose in front of a crowd, I won’t argue about it.”

Ai Xue smiled. “Fantastic! She told me to escort you to the fight, so if you’re ready-”

“I’m ready.” Haruko glared at Ai Xue before turning to her brother. “Aazir, you stay here.”

“Really?” Aazir groaned, taking Pasha from her shoulders despite the meerfox’s yelp of discontent. “I’ve seen you fight before, I can handle it.”

“Someone needs to stay here so Aunt Priya doesn’t get worried.” Haruko shrugged as she stood in the doorway. Aazir looked disappointed, but didn’t say anything. Haruko took that as a sign of reluctant agreement and turned around to walk with Ai Xue.

The two of them walked to the pavilion in relative silence. Haruko focused not on her companion, but on the environment around them. Sunsets in Jing Zi were one of the more beautiful things about the region, though after ten years Haruko had become accustomed to them. The city moved in a routine, the street merchants packing up their wares for the day, the businessmen on their way home, the bars and nightclubs opening up for the night. Haruko supposed she and Ai Xue fit into that routine- in the eyes of an outsider, they were simply two teenage girls on the way to whatever illicit activity they were up to that night. That wasn’t far from the truth.

It didn’t take long to get to the school- Haruko walked the same route almost daily. When they approached the parking lot, Haruko noticed a small crowd gathered around a car, Padma standing on top of it.

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show.” Padma taunted, jumping down from the car. The crowd cleared around her, giving her room to stretch out her arms around her.

Haruko shoved her way through the crowd, taking off her jacket and handing it to Ai Xue. The teenagers around her parted the same way they did for Padma, forming a ring around both of them.

“Your lackey made sure I did.” Haruko smirked, raising her voice for effect. If Padma wanted theatrics, she was getting theatrics. “Really? Bribery? For some reason I thought you were better than that.”

Padma laughed and started to pace the clearing. Haruko matched her movement until they had made an entire ninety degree turn. Haruko saunk into an earthbending stance, closing her fists as she took hold of the earth around her. Padma mirrored the movement, though she still held her head high in foolish pride.

For an eternity, they stood still, locked in position and eye contact- a moment’s away from the brawl.

Someone- one of the onlookers, most likely- shouted, “FIGHT!” The word rang out in the silence, stirring action.

In a brutal response to the call, Padma thrust forward, sending a jab of earth at Haruko. It was easy for Haruko to dodge it, and easier for her to redirect it back at her opponent.

Padma only barely managed to dodge the earth Haruko sent at her, getting hit on the shin by the rocks. She took a moment of pause before thrusting upward- pulling up the ground Haruko stood on.

Haruko jumped towards Padma and grabbed her by the wrists, kicking her in the stomach.

“Figures you’d fight dirty.” Padma huffed. Her hair was becoming untied, her face drenched in sweat. “You are a sand rat.”

Haruko couldn’t muster a verbal response, but shoved Padma to the ground. The other girl almost instantly rebounded, sending a chunk of asphalt up at Haruko and hitting her in the face.

Haruko fell to her knees, clutching her jaw. Her ears rang from both the surprise of the impact and the pain. She had definitely been bruised, but she couldn’t tell if the liquid dripping onto her hand was sweat or blood.

“You’ll always be nothing, Haruko.” Padma taunted, walking around the ring in a gesture of pure and utter victory. “Nothing but the dirty sand rat spawn of a rotten deadbeat father. Your own kin didn’t want you. Aren’t your people supposed to value family or something?”

Haruko picked herself up off the dirty ground to look Padma in the eye, then tackled her, forcing the girl to the ground. She lifted a chunk of rock above her head, all too ready to crush Padma with it.

“What the- Everybody leave!” Someone shouted- their voice distinctly that of a teacher. Haruko tore her gaze away from Padma to see the gym teacher, Coach Liu, shoving his way through the crowd. Once at the edge of the crowd, he pointed at Padma and Haruko. “You two! Principal's office, now!”

Haruko stared at her hands- covered in dirt and scabs from the fight, as she waited to be called into Principal Yun’s office. Padma had been called in first, but Haruko couldn’t tell how the conversation was going. After the fresh cut across her lips had been patched up, Haruko had been sent to sit in the uncomfortable chairs in the office outside. She glanced up at Coach Liu, one of the only other faculty members still at the school at this hour, and was met with a cold glare.

Moments later, the office door opened and Padma walked out. Haruko couldn’t determine what had happened or even how Padma felt at the moment. “He wants to see you now.” The other girl monotoned, walking away from the door.

Haruko nodded and stepped into the office. Once she assured the door was closed behind her, she collapsed onto the seat opposite the Principal's desk.

Mr. Yun put a hand to his forehead. “Haruko, what were you thinking? This is the fourth time-”

“She started it!” Haruko barked, using most of her remaining energy to shout. “It’s not my fault she has some sort of problem with me.”

“Haruko, that isn’t an excuse.” Mr. Yun removed his glasses from his face. “You can’t honestly expect me to believe you-”

Haruko broke eye contact with the man, staring at her hands again. She didn’t want to think about justifying her actions, she knew she was in the right.

Mr. Yun sighed. “Haruko, is this about your father?”

“Why would this be about him? This has nothing to do with him!” Haruko retorted.

After sighing, Mr. Yun put his hand over the phone. “I’m going to call your aunt and uncle. They’ll come pick you up so you don’t have to walk home.”

Haruko didn’t respond, staring at her feet.

peacebringers

Haruko had slept in the day after the fight. She hadn’t been planning to- she hated sleeping in and the very prospect of the missing time she could’ve been using to work, but she had no energy after her brawl with Padma and ended up sleeping till noon.

When Haruko did wake up, it was because of the light pouring in from her window and the sound of children’s voices from outside. It wasn’t a school day, which would’ve excited her if it didn’t mean having to pull another shift at Mohan’s repair shop.

“Welp, gotta get up sometime.” The earthbender grumbled as she pulled herself out of bed. Her first objective of the day was a shower- she was still covered in dust from her fight and reeked of sweat and body odor. After that, she’d grab a quick breakfast (or lunch, at this time of day) and would head down to the shop.

After Haruko’s shower, she walked downstairs to encounter an excited looking Aazir at the foot of the stairs. He was practically bouncing as he stood. “Haruko! You’re up!” He smiled.

“What happened?” Haruko asked. Even though he was the more enthusiastic of the two of them, it took a lot to get Aazir this excited about something.

“There are airbenders in the plaza!” Aazir grabbed Haruko by the shoulders. From her stance on the bottom stair, she was taller than him. “Like, legit airbenders! From the Northern Air Temple! That’s not even close to here!”

“Huh….” Haruko pondered. “Wonder what they’re doing here.” She had heard stories of the airbenders before, pacifists who brought the good will of the spirits wherever they went, but like a lot of things, she had never seen any in real life, only on the vidset and in the movers Aazir occasionally made her take him to.

“C’mon! Let’s go see them!” Aazir said as he gestured to the door, clearly motioning for Haruko to follow him. “They're probably gonna leave soon, we gotta go meet them while they’re still here!”

Aazir was right, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, at least for those who lived in the middle of nowhere like Haruko did. Her work would have to wait.

Aazir dragged Haruko by the wrist the entire way to the plaza. It wasn’t that Haruko had put up any resistance, her younger brother just walked too fast for her to keep up.

When they finally got to the plaza, it was packed. A crowd had formed around a large animal- a sky bison - and two girls, around the ages of Haruko and Aazir respectively, both wearing crimson wingsuits and distributing supplies. Haruko couldn’t tell their features from so far away, other than that they both had bright blue arrow tattoos on their foreheads, just like in the movers and on the news.

“C’mon, let’s get closer!” Aazir exclaimed as he led Haruko through the crowd, once again by the wrist he hadn't let go of. Haruko had barely any time to object before they were standing in front of one of the airbenders. It was the taller of the two girls, and once they were closer Haruko could tell she was the older one. The airbender had pale skin, and light brown hair cut just above her shoulders. She had a thin, tall frame and eyes a color Haruko hadn’t ever seen before- a warm gray, like the color of tree bark.

“Hello.” The airbender greeted, and extended her hand. Haruko shook it.

“Uhhhh, I’m Haruko, and this is my brother, Aazir.” Haruko smiled awkwardly, putting her hand in her pocket.

“I’m Koto, and that’s Tashi.” The airbender gestured to her companion. Haruko could now take in the other girl’s features, tan skin like Aunt Priya’s, olive green eyes like her own. She had dark hair, but it was shaved close to her scalp, exposing her round ears.

“We’re distributing supplies here after the rail line malfunction,” Koto explained. “Does your family need any food? Or medical supplies?” Haruko could feel Koto’s eyes go from the fresh cut across her lip, to the bruise on her jaw, to the bandage over her palm. She probably didn’t look too good right now.

“Uh…” Haruko thought. They had been running low on food for the upcoming winter when produce prices would increase, and if the rail lines weren’t working, then they wouldn’t get any till spring at best. “Yeah. I guess we could.”

Koto nodded and pulled out a small notepad. “We’re distributing medical kits right now because they’re easier to distribute by mass. We’ll be making food deliveries later on Cloud.” She gestured to the bison behind her. “So can I get a family name and address down for that?”

“Uh. Saeed.” Haruko blurted out. Priya would be upset with her for using her father’s family name, but it was the first name she thought of. “As for the address, 1478, Sandridge Avenue.”

“One order of food supplies for the Saeed family….” Koto muttered as she wrote in her notepad. She paused. “Could’ve sworn I’ve heard that name before. Anyways, it was nice meeting you!” Koto bowed at them both, using a gesture Haruko hadn’t seen before, she put her fists facing each other so the arrows on her hands would face each other. Haruko awkwardly imitated it out of respect.

“Do you guys have anywhere to stay?” Aazir blurted out.

“Aazir!” Haruko snapped at her brother.

“What, if they’re doing all these deliveries it’s gonna take them more than one day!” The boy retorted.

“Actually, we don’t.” Koto glanced to Tashi. “I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.”

Something about the way the airbender said that stuck with Haruko, it made her want to know more about Koto. She was used to the way people acted in Jing Zi, but Koto was nothing like any of that.

“You could come stay with us!” Aazir offered.

“Aazir!” Haruko said through gritted teeth- she didn’t want to seem hostile to the outsiders, but she doubted Priya would be too happy about bringing home strangers.

“Really?” Koto smiled. “That’s very kind of you.” She called over Tashi and explained the situation to her.

“That sounds great!” Tashi exclaimed. “And way better than sleeping in a random inn. I hate inns.”

“So…. it’s settled?” Haruko asked. She still wasn’t convinced of the plan’s success, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now.

Koto nodded. “Yeah, we’ll finish up here and then head to your place.”

It didn’t take long for Koto and Tashi to finish distributing medical kits, and before she knew it, Haruko was leading the two airbenders and their giant bison to her home.

“Your bison’s pretty big.” Haruko said. She hadn’t meant to say something so obvious, she just was trying to make conversation and it was the first thing to come to mind.

“Cloud? Yeah.” Koto smiled. “She’s actually kind of small for a bison of her age.”

“Cool.” Haruko replied. “I actually have a meerfox. They’re native around here and
usually feral, I don’t know how I convinced Aunt Priya to let me keep little Pasha.”

At the sound of her name, Pasha climbed out of Haruko’s hood and sat on her shoulder.

“Aw, cute!” Koto scratched Pasha’s head, the unexpected closeness made Haruko’s heart race.

“Anyways.” Koto continued. “Are we going to a house or a repair shop? Because I’ve heard both.”

“Oh… uhh.” Haruko stammered. “It’s both, kind of. The repair shop is right next to our house, our uncle bought both properties a while ago when land was really cheap because of the sandbender relocation act.” It struck Haruko that she was giving Koto too much information. “Anyways, Aazir and I were thinking you could probably keep your bison- uh, Cloud- in the yard of the shop. It’s not perfect but-”

“Thank you.” Koto cut her off. “Again, the alternative was a random inn and a parking lot. You’re being way more hospitable than you need to be already.”

Haruko smiled, then realized where they were. “Uh, we’re here!” She gestured to the small house and adjacent repair shop. She was briefly struck with the thought that to their companions, their home was nothing but a stop to stay for the night, and their real home was no doubt more beautiful, not to mention bigger.

“ … We should get inside.” Haruko said. Aazir was already at the door.

Koto said something to Tahsi before joining them. “Alright.” The airbender smiled.

The lights were on when the group walked in, which meant that Priya was home. Haruko directed the airbenders into the living room. It was small, with a few seats, a coffee table covered in magazines and Aazir’s homework, and a small vidset.

“Aunt Priya!” Aazir called into the kitchen. Apparently, he was more observant than Haruko and had noticed which room she was in. “We have guests!”

Priya marched from the kitchen, wearing a beige cloth apron embroidered with pastel flowers. “I swear if it’s more of your troublesome- Oh!” Priya’s eyes lit up at the sight of the airbenders.

Koto stood up and bowed to Priya, the same gesture she had done in the square. “We don’t mean to be rude, my companion and I are peacekeepers traveling to deliver supplies in your area and needed a place to stay for the night. Your niece and nephew offered your home, I hope that’s alright.” She sounded so calm, so confident in the way she spoke, Haruko guessed she spoke with authority figures all her life, authority figures probably way more important than a random high school student’s aunt.

“Oh, it’s not a problem at all!” Priya smiled and patted Koto on the shoulder. “Your people have done so much good for this world, you and your friend are always welcome in my home.”

Tashi jumped to her feet and enveloped Priya in a sudden hug. “Thank you!” The woman seemed surprised but didn’t object other than gently patting her on the back.

Koto gently pulled Tashi away, Priya straightened her glasses. “Well, I’m going to continue making dinner, you air nomads are vegetarian, right?”

Koto nodded. “Yep.”

“Alright, I’ll make sure to make something special for you two, it’s not often we have such important guests over!” Priya beamed with pride before returning to the kitchen.

As soon as her aunt was gone from the room, Haruko turned to face the group. “Ok, uh, Aazir, you can help Tashi go figure out where she and Koto are gonna sleep.” She turned to the Air Nomads. “We don’t have any spare rooms, but we have couches and spare beds. I’ll help Koto get Cloud situated.”

As Tashi and Aazir ran upstairs, Koto turned to Haruko. “You’re quite the leader.” She remarked.

“Eh, that’s just bossing around my little brother.” Haruko shrugged. “Pretty easy stuff.”

Koto laughed, covering her mouth with a hand. “I wouldn’t know anything about that, I just have older brothers. But we should go, Cloud’s gonna get impatient.”

“If we clear that.” Koto gestured to the piles of crates and scrap metal across the yard, “And get some soft blankets or something out here, I think this should do. Cloud’s used to sleeping outside, and as long as it doesn’t storm or anything, she should be alright.”

Haruko nodded, highly doubting the probability of a storm given the climate. “Alright, let’s get this cleared out.” She walked over to one of the piles of crates and dropped into a bending stance. “Stand back” She warned Koto before gently lifting ground a few inches and moving the crates to the side of the yard.

“You’re a pretty good earthbender.” Koto commented as Haruko continued to clear scrap.

“Thanks.” Haruko replied after she had cleared a sizable area in the yard. “Though this technique’s pretty simple. I’d offer to show you, but … y’know.”

“Do you not get many other types of benders here?” Koto asked, intrigued.

“Nah, it’s mostly just earthbenders. Sizable number of us are sandbenders from the Si Wong desert, me and Aazir included, but that’s still just earth. I’m pretty sure there was a waterbender at our school once, but she graduated a few years ago and I haven’t seen her since.”

“Huh….” Koto looked to the horizon, lost in thought. Her hair seemed to float in the wind for a brief moment, until Haruko cleared her throat and Koto turned her head and returned her attention to her.

“Uh… you were saying earlier how some blankets would be good… and we have some in the shop…. That we could use.” Haruko stammered. “If that’s good.”

Koto smiled. “Sounds great.”

home again

“Avatar Hanuel, I cannot stress enough how excited we all are to have you back in Ba Sing Se!” The news reporter beamed. Hanuel didn’t remember his name, or even what news channel she was being broadcast to, but none of that mattered- the only thing that did was that she remained poised, graceful, and confident. The perfect Avatar, just like she had been taught to be.

“I’m excited to be back!” Hanuel said, flashing a smile to the camera. “While I enjoyed my stay in Gaoling, nothing compares to my hometown!” That was a manufactured lie, like every other part of the script she had been given before the interview. The real avatar Hanuel was from Zaofu- born and raised among her metalbender heritage. But that, at least according to Mira, went against the idea of a ‘unified nation’, since ‘Zaofu always fancied itself a separate part of the world anyways’. Hanuel didn’t know if she technically believed in all that, but it made Mira happy and it made the people happy, and that’s all that mattered.

“So,” the news reporter continued. “We’ve all been wondering, but what’s next for the avatar? Following in your grandfather’s footsteps and mastering lavabending? Travelling to the fire nation to move onto firebending? Connecting with the Avatars past?” He gave a forced laugh.

Hanuel laughed in reply, hers all as fake as his. “I don’t think I’ll be lavabending anytime soon,” That part was true; no matter how many times Grandpa Bolin had tried to teach her, she couldn’t get the hang of melting rocks. She figured it was because she was a metalbender- no one, not even the Avatar, could do both. Hanuel continued to the next of the news reporter’s points. “As for fire, the Prime Minister and I have discussed going to the Fire Nation and starting my firebending training in the near future.” That was one thing Hanuel was actually excited for- and she was happy to disclose it with the public, even if it meant her training would no doubt be highly publicized.

The rest of the interview passed without much happening; it was the same it had ever been, a comforting routine. After the cameras shut off, Hanuel met Yu Yan backstage, ready to spend the rest of the day relaxing with her friends.

“You did wonderful.” The woman said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Unfortunately, you have a meeting in five minutes with the national senate.”

“Really?” Hanuel groaned. Relaxing would apparently have to wait.

“I cannot allow a limit on immigration in my province!” Senator Yumi declared. She had always been one of Hanuel’s favorite state senators, typically showing up in full Kysohi Warrior attire, complete with the war fans on her belt and the white-and-red makeup on her face. She was younger than most of the other senators, and stood out among the crowd, both in appearance and political stance.

“Kyoshi Island is so close to the Southern Water Tribe, their influences on our culture are so important and long withstanding that without them, we wouldn’t be Kyoshi Islanders.” Yumi continued. “For the spirits’ sake, Governor Suki was married to the chief of the Southern Water Tribe! We can’t just ignore that cultural connection.”

“If you and your historical reenactment troop want to join the Southern Water Tribe, that’s between you and Chief Saila.” Senator Lu of one of the northern states retorted. There were too many Earth Confederacy states- twenty-seven in total- for Hanuel to keep track of, but she knew all of the senators, at least a bit. “I won’t have any of that ‘cultural cross-contamination’ happening in my nation.”

“Cultural- what?” Yumi stammered. “Kyoshi Island is just as Earth Kingdom as anywhere! The last earth Avatar was from my homeland!”

“She was also half air nomad and a criminal by oath.” Lu said while Hanuel pondered how both senators knew more about her own past life than she did. “You’re painting Kyoshi to be much more of a paragon than she actually was, as is typical for your… type.”

Yumi seemed about ready to give Lu another retort when she was stopped by a hand on her forearm and a calm, pleasant voice. “Senator Yumi, calm down. It’s not worth it.” Jade Beifong, Hanuel’s mother and the Senator of the State of Zaofu, said. “Senator Lu, I think what Yumi is trying to say is that the legislation you’re proposing would destroy the cultural link between the residents of Kyoshi Island and those of the Southern Water Tribe, a link that has survived since before the Hundred Year War.”

The discussion went on for what seemed like hours, with neither side of the argument relenting. Eventually Mira had to call time on the debate lasting too long, and everyone had to shuffle out of the room uncomfortably.

“That could’ve gone better.” Jade complained as she and Hanuel walked out to the lavish palace hall. Like Hanuel, Jade had silky black hair and light green eyes, although Jade was shorter than her daughter by about half a foot. She wore the signature metallic jewelry and floor-length robes of Zaofu, but in a fashion that accommodated her metallic leg prosthesis, operated by metalbending. They made her footsteps echo across the halls; Hanuel had memories of hearing her mom from rooms away back in Zaofu, where everything was made of metal and the sounds were so much clearer and sharper.

“Yeah…” Hanuel sighed. “I think I’m gonna try to visit home for a bit, I know I just got back but it’s been forever and….” She trailed off.

“You should at least try.” Jade smiled, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. “Even the Avatar deserves a break.”

“You’re right, thanks mom!” Hanuel waved goodbye as she ran off to talk to the Prime Minister.

Mira was still in the meeting room, and seemed to be finishing a conversation with the senator of Gangbei.

“Hello, Avatar.” She greeted as Hanuel approached her,

“Hi,” Hanuel replied. It was an exceedingly casual way to greet a world leader, but Hanuel could get away with it, being the Avatar. “I was wondering if I could maybe visit my family in Zaofu, at least for the weekend?” She gave the most convincing smile she could muster.

“Hm, what purpose would this visit serve?” Mira put a hand to her chin.

“It would serve me well to reconnect with my family,” Hanuel said, coming up with excuses as she uttered them, “And I could better refine my metalbending techniques; there’s no better place to learn metalbending than Zaofu! And I should probably patch up all my earth skills before moving on to fire.” Hanuel concluded.

Mira seemed to think it over for a moment. “Very well. You and your companions may visit Zaofu for the coming weekend. I do want you back by next week, though. We have business to attend to.”

Hanuel nodded, a smile growing on her face. “Thank you!” She thanked Mira about four more times before setting off to tell her friends the news.

the stranger

Koto pulled her knees up as she watched Haruko work-the earthbender had explained whatever part of the car she was fixing, but it was lost on Koto.

Haruko had the look of an earthbender- a stocky muscular build, skin like red clay, and hair the color of the fresh, rich earth found in cooler climates. Her face was square and defined, with a heavy brow and sunken eyes. Haruko’s body seemed to be covered in scars, which was surprising. She seemed the same age as Koto, if not younger.

“I like your tattoos.” Koto complimented. At some point, Haruko had taken off her green jacket, exposing thick, black bands of ink across both forearms. The design was symmetrical, four bands on each arm, with the two in the center having a break where Koto’s own tattoos were.

Haruko looked up from whatever she was doing and made eye contact with Koto for a brief moment, then looked down at her arms, as if she had forgotten them. “Thanks.”

“When’d you get them?” Koto asked.

“About last year, Aunt Priya almost killed me when I did. You?”

“I earned my tattoos when I was fifteen, so about three years ago.” Koto hesitated. “Do yours mean anything?”

“Strength, endurance, fortitude.” Haruko explained as she worked. “That sorta thing, earthbending stuff, y’know.”

While Koto wasn’t an earthbender herself, she was familiar with the philosophy- the idea of standing strong and persevering in conflict was strange compared to the negative jing, Air Nomad philosophy she was raised to believe in. The quality of perseverance would also explain the scars.

“Where’d you get the cut? The one on your lip.” Koto asked. It was only after she said it that she realized she might be pushing Haruko too much.

The earthbender stopped her work, thinking over whatever her response would be. “I got in a fight.” Haruko stated. She didn’t elaborate, and Koto didn’t press the question. She gazed out the window Haruko had opened onto the busy market street. It was about halfway through the afternoon and the city of Jing Zi was bustling, despite it being the hottest part of the day.

“I wonder when Tashi and Aazir will be back…” Koto mused, not expecting Haruko to reply. Their younger companions had set out about an hour ago to deliver supplies across the city on Cloud, they would probably return soon.

As if on cue, the shop door opened as Tashi and Aazir dragged in what looked like a body.

Haruko wasn’t expecting Aazir and Tashi to be back so quickly, and certainly not lugging a person dying of heatstroke, but she could deal with that later. She jumped to her feet and ran over to help.

The woman they had brought in was much taller than both of them, even taller than Koto by a considerable amount, though her thinner build made her easier to support as Haruko guided her to a couch they had set up in the shop. She had brown hair the same shade as Haruko’s, though it was much straighter and longer, tied in a loose braid that reached her mid-back. The woman wore loose green clothes that exposed a great deal of her tan skin, which was spotted with sunburns, freckles, and scars.

As soon as she had laid the woman out on the couch, Haruko turned to everyone else. “Aazir, get me some towels from the house. Tashi, get some water, there’s a bathroom down the hall.” She gestured to where it was. “And buckets in the shop. Koto, help me keep her cool… doing some airbending or something.” She gestured with her hands in a vague imitation of the bending art she had never actually seen.

Everyone nodded as they received their respective tasks, and Aazir and Tashi ran off to retrieve supplies. Koto assumed a light stance and alternated arm movements, creating a breeze that circulated the room, cooling it considerably. Haruko turned to the woman.

She noticed that she wasn’t really a woman, more of an older teen girl, only a few years older than her, just tall. Her long, soft features were familiar to Haruko.

“Hang?” The earthbender asked.

The woman tried to prop herself up on her elbows. “How do you know my name?” She rasped.

Tashi ran in with a bucket of water, and seconds later Aazir returned with an armload of towels. Haruko wetted one of the towels and put it on Hang’s forehead.

“We were classmates, I’m two years below you.” Haruko explained. She had seen Hang’s face around the school back then, but never spoke to her before now.

Hang’s rapid breathing slowed down some as she cooled off.

“What happened?” Tashi asked.

“Probably heat exhaustion.” Haruko explained. “It’s pretty common here, especially if you spend too much time in the sun.”

Hang tried to sit up as she gestured to Tashi. “W-water.” She muttered.

Tashi thrust the bucket of water at Hang. To Haruko’s surprise, instead of drinking the water, Hang made a fluid motion with her hand and pulled some of the liquid to her arm- waterbending, something Haruko had only seen once or twice before. She created a bubble over a cut on her forearm and moved the water; it produced a faint blue glow.

“You’re a waterbender…” Koto stated, even though it was obvious.

Hang gave Koto a long stare. “Yeah..?” She said before muttering something about being bad at healing.

“What is all this racket going on?” Priya’s pitchy voice came from the shop. Haruko turned just in time to see her enter the lounge area they were all standing in, still wearing her apron.

“Wh- who’s this?” Priya gestured to Hang.

Hang didn’t respond, just looked at Priya blankly.

“We found her on the streets, she was dying!” Aazir explained.

“You’re taking in random riff-raff from the streets…” Priya muttered. “Well, I suppose you can stay, at least for the night while you recover. My home is becoming a boarding house for wayward teens…”

“I won’t be here long, I promise.” Hang said, her voice dry and coarse.

“Where do you live? Tashi and I are doing supply deliveries and we could get you a medical kit so this doesn’t happen again.” Koto interrupted.

Hang looked to the side. “I’m kinda… homeless?” She shrugged. That definitely explained why she was out in the heat.

Koto stiffened, seemingly uncomfortable with the reality of life in the rural Earth Confederacy. “Well, if you ever need a place to go, the air temples offer sanctuary and relief to those in need.”

Hang scoffed. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

Hang rested for the rest of the afternoon, while Tashi and Aazir continued deliveries and Haruko worked in the shop. Before long, night fell and everyone gathered in the house for dinner. Priya had unfolded the table’s leaves to accommodate the guests and had cooked up a thick vegetable curry.

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Koto said as the meal began.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Priya smiled. “We should be the ones thanking you, your aid will do wonders for this town.”

Mohan nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything. Likewise, Haruko focused on her food instead of the conversation Priya was having with Koto about air nomad cooking. Across the table, Hang seemed to have a similar idea and was resting her head on her hand as she ate, still weary from the heat and her injuries.

“Aazir! I keep telling you, Pasha isn’t allowed at the table!” Priya cried. Haruko looked up to see that Pasha was sitting on her brother’s shoulder, being fed a piece of apple.

“Aww…” Aazir whined as Pasha scampered across the table onto Haruko’s shoulder to hide in her hood.

“Hey kid, watch this.” Hang caught Aazir’s attention with a gesture of her hand. Aazir’s eyes went wide as he watched the waterbender pull the liquid out of his cup and froze into a sphere of ice. Hang dropped it to Aazir’s hand, he immediately started marvelling at it and showing it to everyone else at the table.

“That’s neat, but how’re you supposed to drink a ball?” Mohan pointed out. Hang shrugged in reply. “It’s just a neat party trick, y’know?”

Aazir seemed like he was about to respond when he was interrupted by a jarring knock at the door. Mohan huffed and stood up to go get it, with Koto following close behind.

Haruko stayed at the dinner table but could hear snippets of the conversation from the door. It was the cops- they were here because the shop didn’t have a permit to house a sky bison. Although the conversation started out polite and hushed, it soon escalated as Koto started yelling at whoever was standing in the doorway. Haruko exchanged an awkward, worried glance with the other people still at the table.

It wasn’t long before Koto and Mohan returned to the table. Mohan seemed to glance around nervously and kept his distance from Koto, who was fuming with anger. Haruko stood up and looked Koto in the eye.

“Let’s go on a walk.” She said. It was more of a demand than a suggestion. Koto nodded as Haruko guided her out the door.

The earthbender spared one last glance at the people remaining at the table. “We’ll be back soon.” She announced.

the walk

It was close to an hour after sunset and the streets were emptier than normal, with only a few other passersby in sight. Already, the air was cool enough that Haruko needed to wear her jacket.. She wondered if Koto was cold; though her wingsuit covered her entire body, it was hard to tell how insulating the fabric was.

As they walked a simple route down the street, Koto started to ramble.

“I can’t believe them!” Koto sighed, placing a hand to her forehead. “All we’re trying to do is help, and they try to boss us around. The Earth Confederacy barely recognizes us as a nation, they can’t treat us like foreigners and deny that we’re an independent nation!”

Haruko nodded along, pretending to know enough about the situation to be invested in it. Truthfully, Koto was complaining about issues Haruko didn’t know existed.

“The modern air nation is ethically mixed! Yes, we have a larger population of people from the earth kingdom but that’s because the earth kingdom is huge!” Koto lamented, gesturing around with her hands. “Of course more earth kingdom individuals got airbending during harmonic convergence, there’s more earth kingdom individuals!”

Haruko tried to nod along but was getting more lost by the second. Koto continued rambling about what happened, gesturing around with her hands. Apparently the police officer who showed up had demanded that she and Tashi pay a fine for ‘illegally keeping a flying bison’, even though it was perfectly legal for Air Nomads to have sky bison, at least according to Koto.

Instead of trying to make sense of whatever international affairs Koto was rambling about, Haruko took in her hometown, trying to see it through the eyes of an outsider, like how Koto saw it. She tried to see it in a way she didn’t, ignoring her own memories of the streets and plazas. In the daytime, Jing Zi always seemed to be bathed in a golden light, especially during the evening, when the sunset would illuminate the entire sky and cast long shadows across the floor. By night, the city seemed to become an inverse of itself, everything empty and chilled and illuminated by the moon and the city lights. Jing Zi was such a small city it didn’t have the same nighttime hustle-and-bustle she had heard of on the vidset. It wasn’t alive, but it wasn’t as quiet as the depths of the Si Wong desert were, the desert she remembered from her childhood. Out there, the sky was so vast and clear you could see every star in the night sky.

She and Koto reached a bridge-the Beifong Legacy bridge that ran over the highways leading to the rest of the world. It was a breathtaking sight, the city alight in the dark of the night, and even though Haruko had seen it and passed this bridge almost daily, for some reason it took her breath away today. Haruko noticed that for the past few moments, Koto hadn’t said anything and was staring at the open sky above them.

“It’s beautiful…” She whispered.

Haruko smiled. “You should see the sky out in the real desert. It’s so open you can see for miles.”

Koto took a moment to respond. “You’ve lived in the desert?”

Haruko hesitated. She didn’t know what parts of her past she could trust Koto with. “Let’s get going home, I’ll tell you on the way back.”

They started walking home. “When me and Aazir were kids, we lived a nomadic lifestyle as sandbenders with our parents. Our dad was native from the desert, but our mom was from here and only joined the tribe when she married him.”

“I never knew the sandbenders were nomadic…” Koto mused. “Guess we have something in common, then.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Haruko continued. “Anyways, we lived there until my mom died when I was about five, and a few years later the sandbender relocation act was put in place and Aazir and I were put into the care of our aunt and uncle.”

“If it’s ok,” Koto asked. “What happened to your father?”

Haruko stopped walking for a brief moment. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in years.”

It didn’t take long for them to return home, and the rest of the trip passed mostly in silence. Haruko guessed that Koto felt guilty after asking Haruko about her past, even though there was nothing she could do about it.

The first thing Haruko noticed when they arrived back home was that Cloud was gone from the yard. The second thing she noticed was that Hang, Aazir and Tashi were in her place.

Tashi ran up to Koto as soon as she saw her and grabbed her by the forearms. “Koto, they took Cloud!” She sobbed. “We couldn’t- they just…”

“What?!” Koto’s voice rose in pitch. Her brow furrowed. “Who took her?”

“The cops that were here before.” Hang said. “Apparently they can just confiscate stuff- or bison- if you don’t have a permit.”

“What are we gonna do?” Tashi whimpered.

“We’re gonna get her back.” Koto stated.

Hang nodded. “Alright, I’m in. You won’t be able to pull something off like that with just two people, you’ll need my help.” Haruko was surprised at how passionate the waterbender seemed about the situation, Hang had seemed like the type of person who wouldn’t bother with anyone else’s business unless it affected her.

“Me too!” Aazir piped up. “I know seismic sense, which might come in handy.” He turned to Haruko, his voice uncharacteristically grave. “You should come too.”

“Really?” Haruko stammered. “My bending isn’t as stealth-oriented as yours is and-”

Koto put her hand on Haruko’s shoulder. “Please.” She near-whispered, her voice close to breaking.

Haruko nodded. “I’ll help in any way I can.”

Koto turned to Tashi. ”I want you to stay here, just in case.” The other airbender nodded and wished them good luck before Koto turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s go.”

the catalyst

The city seemed near-dead as Hang led the four of them through the streets. Haruko had initially pegged the waterbender as an outsider, like Koto and Tashi, but from the way she navigated the backstreets and alleyways, it was clear Hang knew the city as well as Haruko, if not better. Even though she was still limping and clearly weary from her injuries, Hang had made her way to the front of the group, with Koto, Aazir, and Haruko trailing her.

“Turn here” Hang made a gesture with her hand. She spoke with a directness, an urgency Haruko wasn’t used to. The waterbender seemed comfortable with the situation, at least more comfortable than Haruko. “They’re probably keeping your bison at the police headquarters.”

Hang led them to an empty office building. Haruko knew it as what used to be the Jet Gold business office before the oil processing company had gone bankrupt a few years ago. Now the five-story-tall office building was completely empty and had been up for sale for what seemed like forever. No prospective business wanted property so close to the police station. It dawned on Haruko why they had stopped here.

“Can you guys climb?” Hang said, pulling water out of a leather waterskin she wore on her waist. Koto nodded and jumped a story up, her movement propelled by airbending. Hang followed soon after, creating a sort of grappling hook with the water she had brought. Not knowing exactly what to do, Haruko ran at the wall and started to scale it.

It was a simple enough idea, to assist her climbing by slightly altering the bricks in the stone wall, but it took a lot of precision and dexterity to both keep the wall intact and keep herself from falling. It definitely wasn’t the most effective version of earthbending-enhanced wall climbing technique, but it was the quietest one Haruko could think of. She made it to the top of the building just before Aazir..

Hang helped Haruko up and helped her dust herself off, she had returned the water to her waterskin in the time it had taken for Haruko and Aazir to get up. She wordlessly led the two of them to where Koto was standing, looking over the edge at the police headquarters.

The building was small, at least compared to the office building they were standing on. It stood a few stories high, with a large courtyard in the back. In the courtyard was Cloud, tied down by metal cables. Koto looked visibly worried at the sight of her bison in pain.

“I think I have a plan.” Hang said. “You see that fountain in the front?” She gestured at a water feature in front of the building. Haruko hadn’t noticed it before.

Hang continued. “If I can get to that, I can create a wave of fog that will make it easy for you-” She pointed at Koto. “To drop in and free your bison. But I’ll need cover.”

“I’ll do it.” Aazir stated.

“No, you’re going with Koto. That seismic-whatever it is will come in handy if you’re being sneaked up on. Haruko’s coming with me.”

“I am?” Haruko asked.

Luckily for Haruko, Hang helped her on the way down from the tower, using the same technique she had used to get up. Haruko felt exposed on the street, so close to the headquarters, but for now, they could hide in the shadows.

“I need you to create a distraction so I can get to the fountain,” Hang whispered. Haruko nodded, dropped into a quick bending stance, and made an upward punching motion, creating a rift in the street in front of the building. Her sudden movement had done exactly what she wanted it to- catch the attention of the people inside. Within seconds, a pair of officers ran out to subdue and arrest her.

Haruko pulled up a wall of stone in between her and the cops for defense, then sent it at them. She was outnumbered, but not outmatched. If she kept reminding herself of that, maybe it would be true. As Haruko dodged the small bullets of earth shot her way, Hang maneuvered through the battle to the fountain and pulled out nearly all the water in the feature, using fluid, almost dance-like movements Haruko hadn’t ever seen in real life.

For a moment, the water stood still, reflecting the moonlight in a ball over their heads, until Hang, with a fluent motion of her arm, dropped it onto the ground. The water didn’t make an impact but evaporated into a thick mist as Hang bent it, spreading the fog around the entire headquarters. The flowing movements of her arms seemed almost reminiscent of the airbending Haruko had seen Koto perform earlier.

The fight didn’t stop. Haruko was hit in the shoulder by a chunk of asphalt, which she immediately sent back in the direction it came from. She lifted another wall to hide behind, and to her surprise, Hang emerged from the fog right next to her.

“What now?” Haruko asked.

“Now that I’ve created the fog, Koto and Aazir should be on their way to free Cloud.” Hang grimaced and clutched her side, she must’ve gotten injured during the fight and wasn’t recovering well.

Haruko nodded. She stood up briefly to send a chunk of earth at her opponents- it was difficult to aim when she couldn’t see, but that meant they couldn’t see her either. For now, it was a waiting game. “Do you think they’re-”

Haruko’s question was cut off by a low, loud roar from above. Haruko and Hang both looked up to see Cloud descending from the heavens. The fog around her seemed to clear as the bison descended, and as she came closer Haruko could see Koto and Aazir riding her.

“Come on!” Koto yelled. Haruko could barely hear her voice over the ringing in her own ears but the message was clear. She and Hang exchanged a quick glance before racing to Cloud and climbing onto her.

As soon as Haruko and Hang were sitting in the round saddle with Aazir, Koto near-shouted the command, “Cloud, yip yip!” And pulled them into the sky. Haruko watched from above as the mist cleared and the scars of the battle became visible.

leaving home

“You can tell her where we are, but don’t tell anyone else.” She turned to Haruko. “I’m going to get changed, civilian clothes will make me less recognizable. You and Aazir should gather up anything you’ll need.”

Haruko nodded and entered the house.

The house was quiet and dark as Haruko and Aazir crept through it, Priya and Mohan had gone to sleep long ago. She didn’t say anything to Aazir as she ran up the stairs as quietly as she could, taking every measure to be as stealthy and efficient as possible.

Haruko didn’t bother to pack her schoolbooks; the heavy tomes wouldn’t be practical to bring on the run. She packed clothes- work pants and tank tops and a spare jacket for cooler weather, socks and underwear and anything essential. She made sure to pack the jerky treats she bought for Pasha, and the first-aid kit she kept on her bathroom counter. Haruko hesitated over the framed photo of her family she kept on her bedside table- the four of them photographed before her mother had died, Aazir barely three years old, the paper burnt on the edges. She settled on taking it, removing the photograph from its frame, and folding it before stuffing it into her satchel bag. Haruko did one last scan of her room before leaving it, unsure when she would come back.

She reunited with Aazir, Koto, and Hang outside. Tashi was busy preparing Cloud for yet another departure, and everyone else seemed as on-edge as Haruko did. Aazir had packed a bag like her own, Hang had gathered what belongings she had brought from the shop (which, surprisingly, included a banjo that Haruko hadn’t noticed before), and Koto had donned an outfit of off-gray pants and a crimson sweater over a yellow button-up. Her arrow tattoos were still visible, but she looked less distinctive without the uniform.

“All packed and ready?” Koto asked as Haruko locked the door behind her.

“I guess so.” Haruko replied. She exchanged a nervous glance with her brother.

“Alright.” Koto put her fist over her hand for emphasis, she spoke in a grave, serious tone. “We’ll head off to the train station; we should be in the Coral Isles in a few day’s time.”

If there was one thing Haruko was grateful for, it was that the train station, and the train itself, were relatively empty so late at night. They boarded a southbound train without any trouble, save for a few strange glances. Haruko didn’t mind them; it would take a lot to offend her now.

They quickly found two pairs of seats facing each other next to a window. Haruko took the frontwards-facing window seat; Aazir sat next to her and almost instantly fell asleep against her shoulder. Hang took the window seat across from Haruko and put her bags on the floor by her legs as she turned to look out the window. Koto filed in behind her and pulled out a book titled ‘The Complete Collection of Laghima’s Poetry.’ It seemed too boring to strike up a conversation about, so Haruko stared out the window, following Hang’s example.

It wasn't long before the train started moving, and the train station- then the Jing Zi skyline- began to disappear from view. The landscape became less urban by the second, eventually spreading out into desert scrubland. Haruko barely had time to register what was happening as she left the home she had known for years, running away with strangers to a part of the world she had only seen on the vidset. In the past twelve hours, her world had expanded incredibly and flipped itself upside down, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sinking guilt as her home gradually disappeared from view.

the city of silver

Hanuel’s home was bright, it was beautiful, and the sight of Zaofu’s metal domes over the horizon filled her with a sense of relief and awe.

“Mikah! Jitsuko! We’re almost here!” She exclaimed as she leaned on the airship’s railing, her face so close to the window that the glass almost fogged up.

Mikah was quick to abandon his and Jitsuko’s game of Pai Sho (much to the latter’s frustration) and accompany the avatar near the window. His face alighted with joy as he noticed the city in the distance. Hanuel was sure he had visited her hometown before; they had been friends for years and she had undoubtedly forced him to attend at least one Beifong family reunion, but Zaofu was the type of place that always took your breath away.

Jitsuko, now without a Pai Sho opponent, was quick to join the two of them. “The domes are platinum, right?” She asked, leaning on the railing.

“Uh, yeah, I think.” Hanuel responded, trying to remember what she had been taught. “Back when Kuvira was in power she made her giant robot out of them, but they’ve been put back since then.”

Jitsuko laughed. “Duh. But that’s a pretty sweet defense system you got there. Gonna be really hard for anyone who wants to get in.”

Hanuel smiled and returned her gaze to the city they were rapidly approaching. She could always count on her firebender friend to look at things from a militaristic standpoint; Hanuel was pretty sure she had attended the Royal Fire Academy.

“Yeah, isn’t the property value, like, crazy high?” Mikah added. Hanuel laughed; she could also rely on Mikah making astute observations that only a completely normal, grounded person would notice. He always brought a sense of stability to her life.

As Hanuel and her companions disembarked from their personal airship, Hanuel noticed a small crowd that had gathered to meet them. It was tiny compared to the masses that had greeted her when she arrived in Ba Sing Se, but these were the people she wanted to see the most.

“Dad!” Hanuel exclaimed as she ran down the airship’s ramp and enveloped her father in a hug. Seok Beifong was a tall, muscular man with the same bright eyes and warm smile as her. He took after his father, and in turn, she took after him.

Hanuel turned to the rest of the group. In attendance were her paternal grandparents, Bolin and Opal, her Aunt Ahn, and her two cousins, Ai and Ji-yong, who were both younger than her. They were all dressed in the long, elegant robes common in Zaofu, save for Opal, who wore a modified version of Air Nomad robes. All together, they were the entire earthbending side of her family, other than her mother. Hanuel exchanged hugs with each of them.

“It’s so nice to see you again!” Bolin smiled as he broke from Hanuel’s hug. “How’s your mom doing?”

Hanuel smiled. “She’s doing great, we’re working on new legislation to improve the lives of Earth Confederacy citizens everywhere.”

Bolin laughed. “Y’know, it’s so relieving to know that there’s good people in charge of the nation now. I can’t tell you the last time that happened.”

“Your cousin Tashi is here as well.” Opal smiled and put a hand on Hanuel’s shoulders. The woman was considerably shorter than her, and had a vibrant blue arrow tattooed across her forehead like every master airbender.. “She arrived last night, and is resting now, but you two should catch up.”

Hanuel nodded, recalling the last time she had seen her airbender cousin. It must’ve been her tattoo ceremony a few months ago, just before she had set off to Gaoling last spring on Avatar duties. It would be nice to see her again.

As Mikah and Jitsuko walked off the ship to join the group, Ahn cleared her throat, looking Hanuel straight in the eyes. Of all her family members, her non-bending aunt had always managed to be the scariest, even though Hanuel knew she meant well. “I’ve made sure that no press will show up during the visit.”

Hanuel smiled, relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with the press or fans while spending time with her family. It was good to be home.

“Yes!” Hanuel exclaimed as she won yet another match of power disc- her eighth victory this afternoon.

“No fair.” Ji-yong complained as she stretched out a bruise she had gotten during the fight. “You’re like, the Avatar.”

Hanuel stuck her tongue out at her cousin. It was nice to be able to be herself, outside the view of the public.

“I can heal that up for you.” Mikah suggested. The waterbender had decided to come watch the game while Jitsuko read about architecture in some hidden library nook. Ji-yong shrugged and looked like she was about to say something when her face lit up. “Tashi’s up!”

Hanuel turned around, spinning on her heels. Her airbender cousin was, in fact, awake and was now walking around the estate in yellow-orange civilian clothes. Her hair had grown since Hanuel had last seen her at her tattoo ceremony, but it still wasn’t to the length it had been before. Hanuel ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug.

“Hanuel!” The shorter girl protested, trying to get out of Hanuel’s grasp. “C’mon.”

By the time Hanuel let go of the airbender, Ji-yong and Mikah had joined them.

“Spirits, your tattoos are so cool!” Ji-yong exclaimed. “I wish earthbenders got mastery tats, that would be sooooo cool.”

“Awww, thanks.” Tashi laughed and put her hand to her forehead. “They did hurt though, so…” She shrugged, and Ji-yong seemed to agree with the unsaid statement.

“So, why’re you here in Zaofu?” Hanuel changed the topic of the conversation. “I thought you were out doing air nomad things.” She gestured around, alluding to the nomadic lifestyle Tashi lived, but Hanuel could barely understand.

Tashi forced a laugh. “Uh, yeah. I was out with Koto, but we ran into some complications… I’m taking her bison back to the temple for her.” Tashi quickly glanced away, as if she had revealed too much of a secret.

Koto, Hanuel’s best friend since the age of six, was the great-granddaughter of Avatar Aang and one of the best airbenders she knew. When they learned she was the Avatar, Hanuel had wanted Koto to be her airbending master. Hanuel was reminded of the fight they had a few weeks before Koto’s tattoo ceremony; she hadn’t seen her friend since. Koto hadn’t even shown up for Tashi’s tattoo ceremony, apparently dealing with some ‘spiritual business’ with her Uncle Rohan. “Is she alright?” The Avatar asked.

“Oh, uh. Yeah. She’s fine, she just had some… stuff to deal with. Elsewhere. Uh…” Tashi gestured with her hands as she stammered.

Mikah must’ve sensed the tension in the air, because he put his hand on Tashi’s shoulder and led her over to the power disc court. “Come on, we were watching the metalbenders play a sport I barely understand, you can tell me about sky bison while we watch.”

Tashi visibly exhaled as Mikah led her away from the conversation, yet Hanuel couldn’t help but feel sick to her stomach as she returned to the court- the sinking feeling there was something Tashi wasn’t telling her.

the coral isles

Haruko woke to the rumbling sound of the train and the light pouring into her window. For a moment, she could pretend she was back home, simply imagining things as she floated between dreams and consciousness, as long as she ignored the rocking sensation of the train and the soft whispers of the other passengers. The illusion was shattered as soon as she opened her eyes.

In her sleep, Haruko had ended up with her face against the train window. Her hair clung to the window in a static effect as she got up. She felt absolutely terrible, the uncomfortable sleep and pain from her bruises only adding to her insurmountable dread of leaving her home.

Haruko heard a small “Brrm?” sound; she looked down to see Pasha curled into a ball on her lap. She was glad she had brought her little meerfox; the small animal’s presence brought some sense of normalcy to her situation.

“Did I wake you up, Pash?” Haruko whispered as she pet Pasha’s head. She looked around the two seat rows she and her companions had claimed. Aazir was still asleep, leaning against her shoulder. Across from her, Hang was awake and was looking out the window. Koto was nowhere to be seen. She must’ve gone off to get food again.

Hang must’ve heard Haruko speaking, because it wasn’t long before she looked away from the window and made eye contact with the earthbender. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” They had been traveling just over a day now, and the scenery around them had changed from the rough, dry mesas and deserts Haruko was familiar with to a lush, green forest.

Hang pulled out the map she had taken charge of yesterday. “We passed Gaoling last night,” The waterbender mused. “So we should arrive in Aringreu in a few hours.”

Haruko nodded, returning her gaze to the scenery outside. Even from inside the train, she could tell how different the world was in this part of the Earth Confederacy. There were trees everywhere, lining both sides of the tracks and casting green-tinted light into the beige interior of the train. The world seemed more alive here, at least compared to anything she had seen before.

As the train pulled in for a stop on Kyoshi Island, Koto returned to the seats, carrying a tray of food. “I got breakfast.” She announced, waking Aazir up.

“Ooh, nice.” Aazir smiled. “Whacha got?”

Koto sat down and looked at the tray. “We have steamed buns and congee. I got tofu pudding for myself.”

“Man, why do you get first dibs on the food?” Aazir complained as he picked up a bowl of congee from Koto’s tray.

“Because I’m the one getting the food for everyone!” Koto retorted. Over the time they had spent on the trip, the four of them had gotten more comfortable with one another, even if that only amounted to making sly remarks at each other.

“Thanks, Koto.” Hang said as she took two buns off Koto’s tray, handing one to Haruko. “I already told this to Haruko, but we should be arriving soon.”

“Good.” Koto remarked. “I’m getting a little sick of trains, to be honest.”

The moment Haruko stepped off the train, she was immediately confronted by the humidity. The air in Aringeru was so dense with water, it was like moving through honey. She must’ve hesitated at the train doors for too long, because Koto quickly took her by the wrist and pulled her over to a bench where the rest of the group had congregated.

“We’re supposed to be at Hira Family Inn.” Hang said as she unfolded a roadmap. Haruko didn’t know where she kept getting maps from. “The best route seems to be to go down Makapu Street and turn left here, I’ve heard it’s on Lotus Boulevard.”

“Do you even know where this place is?” Koto berated, leaning over the map. “If it’s an inn, we should check around the tourist-y areas.”

“It’s an inn for criminals!” Hang replied.

As her companions bickered, Haruko took off her jacket, much to Pasha’s distaste. Layers had been practical out in the desert, but it was too humid here. After checking that Aazir was doing the same, she started to take notice of the people around. Aringeru grand station was full of people, most of whom had dark brown hair and brown skin like her, but there wasn’t a consistent look other than that. People milled about in every shade of every color, adorned in green cloaks and blue headscarves and red dresses. Haruko knew the area was diverse, but nothing could’ve prepared her for the mix-mash of elements and culture that confronted her. She had been worried about their group standing out amongst the crowd, but apparently, that wasn’t a concern. The area was as different from Jing Zi as she could’ve ever imagined.

“Alright, it’s settled!” Koto clasped her hands together; apparently she and Hang had reached a solution that they both agreed on. “Let’s get going, the less time we waste, the better.”

Hira Family Inn was a small building made of wood, meaning whoever lived in it was probably not an earthbender. It was located on the outskirts of a bustling outdoor market, and it was mostly due to Hang’s height and map-reading skills that they were able to find it.

The door was propped open by a barren flowerpot, and it took a bit of maneuvering to actually get inside. The interior of the lobby was strikingly quiet compared to the bustling market outside. A simple wooden desk took up most of the space in the room, accompanied by a few straw chairs, a magazine rack, and a muted vidset, currently playing the news. A mix of magazines, paperwork, and a random assortment of bowls covered the desk itself. Behind it sat a teenage girl not too much younger than Aazir, with warm brown skin, vibrant blue eyes, and curly black hair that reached her back. She seemed entirely engrossed in her reading material- a magazine called BenderLife with a picture of Hanuel Beifong across the cover- until she heard the group enter the room.

“Lola Tuli!” The girl called towards a door leading elsewhere in the inn. “We have guests.”

Moments later, a short elderly woman walked in from the other room. She had the same features as the girl behind the desk, save for her white hair tied up into a low bun. “You four.” She beckoned them to the desk as she rummaged through the drawers, seemingly searching for something. “Do you want a room? Two rooms?”

Hang approached the desk; she had to bend down a bit to make eye contact with the woman-Tuli, apparently. “Actually, we’re here because of the… uh.” She lowered her voice. “The criminal safehouse.”

“Hmph.” Tuli nodded before turning to a door opposite the one she had come through. “Tala! We’ve got another of your people here!”

A few more moments and a crashing sound later, a tall, muscular teenager appeared in the doorway. Looking like they had just fallen down, the person was in the midst of gathering themself as they entered the room, their confidence unwavered. They had the same features as Tuli and the teen girl, although they wore their hair in a high bun and had copper-colored eyes. Intricate, abstract tattoos covered their upper arms, shoulders, and what of their chest was visible beneath their low-cut shirt. “Yeah?” They replied, walking over to Tuli and pressing her hand to their forehead in an act of respect, then stood back up.

Tuli gestured to Haruko and the rest of the group. “They’re your type.” She huffed. “You can take care of them.”

“Alright.” The person spun on their back heels to face the group, they extended their hand. “I’m Tala, I run the safehouse part of the inn.”

Hang took his hand and shook it firmly. “Thank you, I’m Hang and these are my companions, Haruko, Aazir, and Koto.” She gestured to each of them respectively. “We’re in need of a place to hide out from the greencoats, at least for now.”

Tala’s gaze lingered over each of them for a brief moment. “Alright, you can stay here for a few months until my associates and I can get you set up somewhere safe and out-of-country, or it becomes safe enough for you all to return home.” They gave the group a confident, charismatic smile that threatened to melt all of Haruko’s natural defenses.

“Come on,” Tala gestured to the door and the rest of the inn outside. As they were leaving, Tuli called something out.

“Tall girl! You want healing on that nasty bruise?”

Hang, rightfully assuming she was the one being singled out, turned back and gestured to herself, her hand over the large, purple-green bruise covering her shoulder. They were all visibly wounded, but she looked the worst out of all of them. “Uh, yeah I guess.”

“Follow me.” Tuli said as she left through the opposite door.

“She’s a master healer.” Tala explained as they led them into the inn’s courtyard- an open space surrounded by stone walls and covered in dense foliage. “Waterbending. Masina’s a waterbender too, she’s learning the craft.”

Haruko assumed that Masina was the girl with the blue eyes inside the shop. “Cool.”

As Tala led them around, they started recounting a brief history of the inn. “It was founded by my great-great-grandfather, back during the hundred year war. We’ve always taken in outsiders but we just started doing it officially- don’t worry, we don’t charge you guys- Oh hi Ahsa!”

Tala had spotted the woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties, roaming about the courtyard and basking in the open sun like a lizard-toad. She didn’t look a thing like Tala or the rest of their family, with her pale skin, narrow frame, and straight, long hair bleached blond at the tips. The only resemblance she had to any of them was her strikingly amber eyes, a shade that closely mimicked Tala’s. She seemed familiar to Haruko, both in face and name, but she couldn’t quite place it, a far-off memory too easily confused with a dream.

“Hey Tala.” She casually replied. “Who’re these guys?” She glanced over the group, her gaze catching on Haruko and Aazir.

Tala smiled and put an arm around the woman’s shoulder. “Everyone, this is Ahsa, my mentor and compatriot. Ahsa, this is Haruko, Koto and Aazir.” Haruko was surprised by how well Tala remembered their names.

Ahsa smiled and extended her hand. Haruko shook it. “Nice to meet you.” The woman said. “In the nature of honesty, you should know that Tala and I are part of the same organized crime group, and it’s our mission to bring freedom to every corner of the world. You in no way are being pressured to join, but I think it’s nice if our guests know who they’re in the hands of.”

Haruko nodded, she didn’t have any personal problem with that. Tala’s guided tour went on normally soon after, but Haruko noticed Koto’s gaze staying on Ahsa for a moment too long.

Tala led them each to separate rooms, Haruko’s being the last. The rooms were, as Tala described them, ‘small and homey’, with a door and window each that led to the outside. It wasn’t much, but it was a definite relief from the train car Haruko had slept in the last few nights. She dropped her bags inside and didn’t bother to unpack, planning to sleep for the rest of the day.

“Hey, are any of you by chance an auto mechanic?” Tala asked, still standing in the vicinity of the doorway.

Haruko nodded. “I am, actually.” It was strange how convenient the coincidence was; she would’ve suspected spiritual interference if she didn’t know any better.

“Great!” Tala smiled. “Cause our satomobile has been broken for a while now, and we’ve got no one to fix it; every mechanic on the island overcharges way too much and I’ve just been waiting for one of the guests to know how to fix it.” They shrugged bashfully.

“I’ll see if I can be of any help.” Haruko shrugged.

The Hira family satomobile was a wreck. It was an old model, even by the standards Haruko was used to, and was missing three out of four tires. When she mentioned these issues to Tala, they looked at her like she was speaking another language. Not wanting to give up on her promise, Haruko focused on something she could fix- the exhaust system.

“So, Tuli’s your grandmother?” Haruko asked as she worked.

Tala made a sound of approval as they played with Pasha, watching her work. “Yep. Masina’s my cousin, her mom and my mom were sisters.”

“Were?”

“Yeah, they all died quite some time ago in the Sun Plague outbreak. Y’know, that plague in the Fire Nation a few years back? We had a bit of an outbreak here, too. It took both our parents. That’s why Lola Tuli took us in, y’know.”

“Huh.” Haruko mused, surprised by how similar Tala’s background was to her own. “Uh. Me and Aazir’s… our parents also died when we were really young. We were raised by our aunt and uncle.”

“Interesting.” Tala remarked. “Where’re you two from, by the way? You don’t look much like the folks we get around here.”

“Jing Zi.” Haruko replied. “Si Wong Desert.”

“Wow, you really are from far from home.” Tala laughed. “How’d you get caught up with an airbender and a Swampbender?”

“Koto- wait, swamp?” Haruko replied. She had heard of a ‘Foggy Swamp’ before, but had never researched it in depth.

“Yeah, the tall girl- Hang.” Tala gestured above their head, alluding to the waterbender’s height. “From the looks alone, I’d say she’s from the Foggy Swamp tribe down near Gaoling. We get some refugees from there from time to time. Is she a waterbender?”

Haruko nodded. “Yeah, she is.”

“Cool.” Tala nodded. “She reminds me of someone, though I can’t exactly place who.” Haruko knew the feeling.

“What about you? Are you a bender?” Haruko asked. Based on how they had described their relative’s bending arts, Haruko guessed they weren’t a waterbender, but that only ruled out one of four elements.

“Yup. Firebender.” Tala smiled, and as if to prove their point, created a small flame that danced above their fingers. The light of the fire caught Haruko off-guard, it had been quite some time since she’d seen fire up close.

“Huh.” Haruko replied. “Never met a firebender before.”

“Well, now you have.” Tala smiled. “What about you?”

“Earthbender. Aazir and I both are.”

Tala smiled. “Nice. My mom was an earthbender.”

“Didn’t think firebending was too common here, aren’t we a bit far from the Fire Nation?”

“It’s technically not,” Tala replied. “I was the only firebender in my class back in school. And it’s because during the hundred year war this place was really heavily hit by the Fire Nation, they had a base that’s still standing up on one of the hills. All that colonization resulted in a lot of firebending babies.”

“Huh.” Haruko replied. The casual discussion of such disturbing historical events was somewhat new to her, but if Tala could joke about it, she wasn’t going to pay it much mind.

The two of them continued to talk while Haruko worked, trading stories about life and the places they grew up. Haruko found Tala surprisingly easy to open up to, something about them made her feel safe. For the first time since leaving home, she felt able to breathe freely.

an unlit candle

A few days into their vacation at Zaofu, Hanuel found Jitsuko in the library, of all places. It was one of the smaller private libraries in a corner of the estate Hanuel didn’t often visit. The metal furnishings of the room were all somewhat dusty, as if Jitsuko was the first person to visit in quite some time.

“Spirits, you’re a nerd.” Hanuel mocked her firebender friend as she read. “Whatcha reading about- war tactics again?”

“Architecture, actually. It’s pretty interesting, written by your great-grandfather about how he built the city.” Jitsuko lifted her book to show her. It was in fact, about architecture, and seemed too big for Jitsuko to be able to pick up. Hanuel sometimes forgot how strong her friend actually was; she had graduated the fire academy three years early.

“So.” Hanuel said, not caring that she was interrupting. “I had an idea.”

“What’s your idea?” Jitsuko didn’t look up from her book.

“So you know how you’re a firebender. And I’m the Avatar.”

Jitsuko looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow, as if to say ‘and? What about it?’, although Jitsuko had known Hanuel for so long she probably knew where the conversation was headed.

“Can you teach me some firebending? Please?” Hanuel begged lightheartedly. “It’s the next element and I’ve literally never done it before, I should probably get some practice in before I start.”

Jitsuko sighed and shoved her hefty book back onto the table, creating a small cloud of dust. “Fine.” She grumbled, getting up to walk out of the secluded family library. “But I’m only showing you the basics.”

Hanuel smiled. “Sure thing, Sifu Tanaka.’

“Don’t call me that.” Jitsuko replied.

Hanuel led her friend to the best training plaza in the estate, an open garden on the south side of the main residence. The area was generally quiet enough that benders could practice and peace, and there was enough rock in the ground and nearby metal to provide easy ammunition. Of course, they wouldn’t be earthbending today.

“Legend has it this is where Avatar Korra learned to metalbend.” Hanuel said as she and Jitsuko found a place to practice.

“What legend, your grandpa?” Jitsuko sneered, lightly punching Hanuel in the shoulder. The Avatar laughed in response, used to the back-and-forth of her and Jitsuko’s relationship.

“Alright,” Jitsuko dropped into a bending stance, which Hanuel imitated awkwardly.

“Try to lift your center higher.” Jitsuko gestured to her own stance. “Firebending’s light, and not as grounded as earth.” She took a breath and quickly moved her fist outward- a move Hanuel recognized as a fire fist. A brilliant, golden flame sprouted from Jitsuko’s motion and danced across the sky for a brief moment, quickly dissipating into smoke and thin air.

“Wow…” Hanuel breathed.

“You try now.” Jitsuko near-ordered, regathering her posture.

Hanuel imitated the motion Jitsuko had performed, fully expecting to see at least a spark flash before her eyes. Nothing happened.

“Hm.” Jitsuko put a hand to her chin. “Your stance is really good for a beginner, and you’ve got the breath control down. Firebending relies on drive and energy, maybe you’re lacking that?” She shrugged.

“I don’t know.” Hanuel said, repeating the motion. “I feel pretty driven. And energized.”

Jitsuko seemed disappointed as Hanuel continued and eventually sat down on the steps, Hanuel followed her closely.

“It’s so strange…” The firebender muttered. “Y’know, most firebenders have the opposite problem when they’re beginners, we create too much flame and don’t know how to control it- that’s why our schools are so rigid, to beat control and discipline into us. But you’re not like that.”

“Maybe it’s cause I’m the Avatar?” Hanuel pondered. “I mean, the four elements are all pretty different, and I’m used to earth, so…” She didn’t want to follow the trail her thoughts led her down. She was the Avatar, she was going to firebend someday. She would just have to work at it.

Jitsuko nodded, a strong resolution in her movement and voice. “You’re right, and I’m hardly a professional teacher. Once we get to the fire nation, my sister will have you firebending in no time.”

Hanuel smiled, remembering what she knew of Jitsuko’s older sister, Ochako. From what she knew, the woman was one of the best firebenders in the world and taught at the Royal Fire Academy. “Sounds great.” She hesitated before getting up and returning to the estate. “Thanks for trying, anyways.”

the spark

Time passed quietly in Aringeru, and Haruko was almost getting used to it. She had formed a routine the past week-and-a-half, she had found normalcy in the work she did fixing the Hira family car, and then their neighbors’ cars. Her wounds had been healed by the power of waterbending. Things were going well, as well as they could be.

“Your turn.” Tala said. They were sitting on the lounge room floor with Aazir, and had been trying to teach the boy Pai Sho for just over half an hour.

Aazir’s hands hovered over the pieces, he picked one up. “Can I-”

“No.” Tala stated blankly, and redirected Aazir’s hand to a move he could actually play.

“How long have they been at this, again?” Hang said from across the room, she had stopped tuning her banjo to make the remark.

Haruko shrugged and continued to pet Pasha, who was sleeping on her lap. She was going to say something, but was interrupted by the door opening. Koto and Masina walked into the room.

“Tala!” The younger girl said. “Grandma wants you to go to the market and get food for dinner.” She pointed at Hang. “She wants you to help cook.”

“Alrighty.” Hang set her banjo on the couch and told Haruko not to let anyone touch it before heading out the door to the kitchen. Apparently she was the best cook out of the four of them, and Tuli had enlisted her help in kitchen matters. Haruko suspected it was just so they could talk about waterbending or something.

Tala started to pack up the Pai Sho pieces, with Aazir’s help. “Did she say what she wanted?”

“Yeah. Get a fish.” Masina stated before leaving in the direction Hang had gone.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Aazir said. “Can I come with you? We haven’t been to the market ever since we got here.”

Tala seemed a bit surprised, but nodded. “Alright. It’s just a market, though.” He looked at Koto and Haruko. “You two wanna come?”

Haruko exchanged a glance with Koto and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Will be nice to get out.”

Koto nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’ll probably buy some food on my own, because…” She waved her hand in the air, by now the entire group knew that she was vegetarian.

Tala smiled as he sat up. “Alright, let’s go.”

The Aringeru open market was as abuzz with energy as it had been the day Haruko arrived. Everything seemed more alive and colorful in the coral isles, at least compared to the pace of life back in Jing Zi, the pace of life she was used to. The market, according to Tala, had been designed long before the invention and popularization of cars, resulting in a labyrinth of small tunnels only accessible by foot, or a small, manpowered cart. The whole area was packed with bodies, Hang had nearly tripped over a small child twice. It was still undeniably humid, but the heat was helped by the fact that many of the merchants kept fans in their stalls, to cool both the products and the customers. Aringeru was still as colorful as Haruko remembered being, both in regards to the diverse population and the literal color of the tents and canopies overhead, shielding market-goers from the harsh afternoon sun.

Haruko kept close to Koto as they walked through the plaza. Even though she trusted Tala’s guidance, she was an outsider here and didn’t know where anything was, it would be easy to get lost.

The airbender adjusted the jacket she was wearing- Tala had lent her one of theirs to cover up her tattoos. It was too big for her thin, lanky frame, but Haruko suspected that was for the better, it was hot out and the loose fit would probably be welcome. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” Koto replied. “Just a lot to take in.” She was right, the sounds and sights and smells of the market had almost been too much for Haruko at first.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we don’t get lost.” Haruko took Koto’s wrist in her hand to reassure her. Koto laughed, smiled and thanked her.

“What do you mean fifteen yuans for a salmon-crab? That’s outrageous!” Tala said as they bartered with a stallkeeper.

“I’m telling you, those uppity mainlander greencoats.” The merchant glowered. “They keep policin’ the fishing boats, restricting what areas we can fish, what fish we can catch. I only got these fish right here, so I gotta price them high or else I’m not gonna be able to feed my kids. You understand, right Tala?”

Tala nodded, apparently they had a good enough relationship with this particular merchant to compromise. “Alright, we’ll take the salmon-crab.” They fished through their wallet and produced the required amount of money.

“Alright,” Tala said as they returned to the group, salmon-crab in hand. “Now Koto, do you wanna get some-” Tala stopped mid sentence. Their eyes drifted away from the group and to something behind Haruko.

“What is it?” Koto near-whispered, fresh panic in her voice. Haruko looked between the members of the group.

“UDES troops.” Tala whispered, still keeping their eyes focused on the spot behind Koto. “The greencoats.”

Haruko snuck a glance at where Tala was watching. Sure enough, two adult men in crisp UDES uniforms were walking around the plaza. It had been awhile since she had seen the soldiers in the flesh, but their iconic silver-lined jackets, stiff collars and slicked-back hair gave them away, back in the desert they had been regarded as an omen of death among the sandbenders, she could still hear her mother’s words to never trust someone in that uniform. Before Haruko could tell what they were doing, she was pulled aside by Tala into an alley between two tents.

“What are we doing?” Koto said; she didn’t have the same panic in her eyes that Haruko, Aazir and Tala shared, and instead seemed confused. “What’s going on?”

Tala hesitated and kept their voice low. “The UDES troops showed up years ago, back when I was just a kid. They have a big factory up on the hill, in the old Fire Nation base. I don’t know what they’re doing, but they’ve never come down here before. This can’t be good.”

“Excuse me, children.” Someone said from behind them. Haruko turned around- it was one of the two greencoats, standing in between them and the way out- he had them cornered. The man had light tan skin and brown hair, olive green eyes lighter than most and a neatly groomed beard. If Haruko had to guess, he wasn’t from the isles.

“What are you doing here?!” Tala exploded, tossing the salmon-crab at Aazir and marching over to the man with a fierce determination. Haruko could almost feel the small alleyway getting hotter- was that a thing firebenders could do?

“We’re clearing the plaza. Go back home, ash maker.” The man snarled, making a bending motion with his fingers and arms. The metallic bands around his wrists and upper arms detached, forming into knife-like projectiles. He was a metalbender.

Tala was clearly provoked, Haruko could see the fire in their eyes, but they took a breath and relaxed their posture. The alleyway cooled “I guess we’ll be leaving then.” Their voice carried a message of disdain towards the soldier, and they kept eye contact as they left the alleyway.

“What are we going to do?” Koto asked as she jogged to make pace with Tala. It seemed everyone else had been evicted from the market, creating a steady stream leading outwards.

“I don’t know.” Tala said. “But we’re definitely going to do something.”

Ahsa was at the inn when they got home, but Tala didn’t spend any time acknowledging her presence, they brushed off her concerned greeting and walked straight into the kitchen. Ahsa followed, yelling about how they were going to burn the fish. Surprisingly, Aazir also left for the kitchen, though for what reason Haruko couldn’t name.

Not knowing what to do, Haruko sat in the courtyard of the inn, on the steps to one of the buildings, though she didn’t know which one. To her surprise, Koto joined her.

“Hey.” The airbender said, placing a hand on Haruko’s shoulder. “You alright?”

“I- I don’t know.” Haruko stumbled over her words. Her first instinct was to lie and say that she was fine, but she doubted that would help the situation any. “I’m just trying to get used to things. I’m so scared all the time now, everything’s changed so fast. I- I miss when things were normal.” She could feel tears streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry.” Koto’s voice was soft and clear. “I can’t help but feel it’s my fault that you’re even in this mess. But that’s why I’m here.” She turned Haruko so they were making eye contact with one another. “I will make sure that you, Aazir and Hang all end up safe and sound at the end of this. Mark my words, I will do everything in my power to guarantee it.”

“Is that a promise?” Haruko asked. She didn’t often trust blatant statements like that, but the determination in Koto’s voice made her hopeful.

“It is.” Koto replied. “I’m not going to leave you alone.”

Aazir had never seen anyone as mad as Tala was. He was entranced as he watched the firebender cut up the salmon-crab for cooking.

“Dude, chill out.” Ahsa remarked, briefly stopping chopping vegetables to berate them. “You’re going to burn the fish.”

Tala grumbled. “I’m fine.”

“Aazir, will you cut the salmon-crab for my grandchild?” Tuli instructed. “I’d prefer if our fish remained un-burnt until the time we cook it.”

“Alright.” Aazir answered as Tala shoved the half-prepared fish to him. Aazir picked up the knife, but his hand wavered over the cutting board- he had no idea where to start.

“Here, I’ll help.” Masina walked around the table from where she was helping Hang stir broth. The waterbender put her hand around Aazir’s and guided it to where the salmon-crab needed to be cut. Once he got the hang of it, it was easy to return his attention to the conversation.

“As I was saying.” Hang continued. “Back when I lived in the swamp, when I was a little kid, my mom would use her waterbending to make pho. It was always my favorite.” Apparently the waterbender had been born in the swamp and lived there until she was seven. Aazir was surprised when she had brought it up, but it made more sense than her being from either of the poles.

Tuli smiled. “You’re good at the technique, dear. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were raised here in the isles.”

“Do you know any cool fighting moves?” Masina piped up.

Tuli shot her granddaughter a glance that showed what she thought of her learning fighting techniques, but Hang laughed.

“I don’t know much….” The tall girl laughed. “Uh, I created a fog over a few buildings once. That was pretty cool, not exactly fighting though.”

“Whoa.” A large grin formed on Masina’s face.

“In my experience, fighting skills are alright but the true measure of a bender comes to how practical their skills are. Take healing for example, with these two I need to heal them up practically every day. Cooking too. Practical skills.”

“True, true,” Ahsa commented. “But you have to admit shooting lighting out of your fingertips is pretty epic.’

“You can generate lightning?!” Aazir exclaimed.

Ahsa smiled. “I’ll have to show you sometime.”

Tala, who had been sulking the entire conversation, sat up and smiled. “Hey, I can generate lightning too!”

Ahsa gave him a smirk and turned to Aazir, putting a hand over her mouth to pretend like she was telling a secret. “Only cause I taught ‘em how.”

Aazir laughed. He could get used to this normal.

the heist

Dinner was served at sundown, as per usual as far as Haruko knew. At least since she and her companions had arrived at the inn, Tuli always made a large meal for the group, usually with the help of Masina and Hang. Tonight, Ahsa had stayed for dinner. Haruko had noticed that the older firebender typically stopped by the inn daily to practice firebending with Tala, but only ever interacted with her fellow firebender and rarely stayed long after. Haruko suspected the reason she was staying had something to do with what happened in the market.

Still preoccupied with her worries, Haruko tried to focus on her food. Tuli and the others had prepared a sour, savory stew Tuli had referred to as sinigang. Haruko had never heard of it, let alone tried it before, but it was good, although different from what she was used to.

The table stayed silent as everybody ate, which was strange. During the time they had spent at the inn, Haruko had gotten accustomed to mealtimes being vivant and conversational. Tala’s boisterous personality usually sparked conversations and fanned the fire, but tonight they were quiet. They barely even ate; they just picked at their food.

Tala was by far the most on-edge of anyone at the table. Their grandmother, cousin, and firebending instructor all ate their food calmly and quietly, maintaining composition. Tuli and Masina seemed to be making quiet conversation amongst themselves, though Haruko hadn’t a clue what they could be talking about. Hang and Aazir also seemed generally relaxed, though Aazir was visibly uncomfortable sitting next to Tala. Koto shared a bit of Tala’s ill temperament, though to a lesser extent. Haruko couldn’t tell if she was genuinely calmer or if she was just better at hiding it.

Eventually, the silence became too much to bear.

“Aagh, I can’t stand it!” Tala slammed their fist onto the table, eliciting an annoyed reaction from their grandmother.

“What can’t you stand, Tala?” Ahsa asked calmly, taking a sip of water.

“I’m sick of just sitting around and….” Tala gestured around themself. “Doing nothing! I hate this!”

“What are you going to do?” Ahsa replied. Haruko looked between her and Tala, and then at the others seated at the table. Only Hang, Aazir and Koto seemed as shocked as she did.

“I don’t know!” Tala shouted, hitting the table again and rattling every bowl and cup on it.

Tuli stood up. “If you two are going to plan something illegal,” She ordered, a fierceness in her voice Haruko hadn’t heard before, “You have to do it somewhere other than my dinner table.”

Ahsa and Tala exchanged a nod and left the table simultaneously, muttering apologies to Tuli before exiting the room. After glancing at Hang, Koto and Aazir to make sure they were all on the same page about the matter, Haruko left to follow them.

Tala and Ahsa retreated to a part of the inn Haruko hadn’t seen before, a room labeled ‘storage’ to the right of the kitchen. Neither of them spoke a word as they walked or even acknowledged the presence of the others, but they had a set determination.

The alleged storage room was dark with only two lanterns illuminating the space, one overhead and one on the large table that took up most of the small room. The electric lamps bathed the entire area in an eerie yellow light. Taking up most of the space on the table was a large, hand-drawn map- Haruko recognized it as the region around Aringeru. A structure on the hill had been circled repeatedly and labeled as ‘Factory’.

The two firebenders remained silent as everybody shuffled into the room and around the table. Haruko took note of her companions' stoic faces, the light from the lanterns casting long shadows across each of their faces.

“I’ve already told you about the factory.” Tala explained, tapping the map. “Ahsa and I… we both agree that it’s high time we do something about it. We’re going to perform a stealth operation and figure out what’s happening, what they’re making there. Once we figure that out, we can get some of our allies involved and stop it.”

“And this concerns us… how?” Koto asked.

“You’re the one who followed us, arrowhead.” Ahsa replied smugly.

“-and your skills will be useful.” Tala added. “Airbending, from what I know, is efficient in stealth situations. Is that correct?”

Koto couldn’t object.

“As for you,” Tala continued, turning to Hang. “I’m sorry, but I can’t condone you coming along so soon after injury. It’s just not safe”

Hang shrugged. “That’s alright.”

“I’ll stay here too.” Aazir added. “In case anything happens.”

Haruko wondered why Aazir seemed so even-tempered now after he had been so ready to act only a few days ago, when Cloud had been stolen. She was so caught up in watching her brother that she didn’t notice everyone else watching her. She was the only one left undecided.

“I- uh. I don’t know.” Haruko stammered. “I’m not very useful in stealth situations, earthbending isn’t-”

“And I’m not certain about this either!” Koto interrupted. “Just because we’re here doesn’t mean we’re going to help you on dangerous stealth operations!”

“And you’re just going to sit around and not do anything while they’re destroying people’s lives?” Tala shouted, slamming their hand down on the map. They turned to Haruko, a newfound softness in their eyes, in their voice. “Please. You’ve seen what they do to people. You know what we have to do.”

Haruko was going to refuse, but hesitated. Tala was right; she knew what Earth Confederacy troops were like, even if it had been forever since she had seen them in person. She knew, firsthand, what would happen to the people of the coral isles because it had happened to her. “I’ll help in any way I can.” She stated.

Koto gave her a worried glance, then turned back to Tala and Ahsa. “I’ll help you too. I made a promise to Haruko that I’d protect her, and that means following her into battle.” The airbender’s voice wavered as she said the last few words.

Tala nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”

bated breath

The sky was dark by the time they set off for the factory. Ahsa had made sure each of them was fully prepared, which meant that Tala donned a jacket and a pair of boots, Koto changed into her wingsuit, and Haruko was given a satchel full of small, smooth stones. It was clear that the firebender duo wasn’t all too used to working around benders that required material, but it didn’t bother Haruko too much. She wasn’t used to any of this. It only took them about twenty minutes to reach the factory. The building was huge and taller than Haruko had expected- a tower piercing the soft canvas of the night sky. Tala was right about it being an old Fire Nation building. The roofs and walls were decorated with golden dragon motifs, and the hastily applied green paint had started to chip away, giving way to the original red color.

The four of them hid in the cover of the trees outside, a space where they could see the factory, but the guards couldn’t see them as long as they didn’t give themselves away.

“Can you two get up there?” Ahsa pointed out a balcony on the third floor. Haruko nodded, an idea already forming in her head.

“Good.” Ahsa said. “That’s where most of the offices are, I think. You two will cover the upper three levels, Tala and I will take the bottom two and the lower levels.”

Haruko and Koto exchanged a glance with one another and nodded. “Alright,” Koto said. She seemed just as determined as she had when they were taking back Cloud.

Tala put their hand on Haruko’s shoulder before heading off. “Good luck.”

It was simple enough to get up to the third floor- Haruko had learned her lesson from the Cloud heist and had thought of a new strategy. She raised a column of earth from the ground and propelled both herself and Koto forward together as they held onto each other’s forearms. Somehow, Koto was able to use airbending to assist their descent, slowing it enough so that they didn’t crash into the building’s wall. The air still swirling around them, they made a soft descent onto the balcony.

“You ready?” Koto whispered. Haruko nodded and opened the balcony’s doors, leading them both to the factory’s interior.

The inside of the factory was as dark as soot and surprisingly empty. The Earth Confederacy had gutted the old building of its ornate Fire Nation interior and replaced it with a sleek, metallic design reminiscent of the Earth Empire. Haruko could hear the sound of running boots elsewhere in the maze of hallways, the distant, eerie echo of commands instructing soldiers to report downstairs. She was worried about Tala and Ahsa, but she returned her concentration to the task at hand. The hallways were unlit, save for the occasional exit sign, though Koto still pulled Haruko over to the wall, where they were less likely to be seen.

Extending her arms outward in a swift snapping motion, Koto created a sort of vortex around the two of them- when they were planning, she had mentioned a technique called soundbending, and said she could muffle their footsteps as they walked. Haruko assumed this was it.

The airbender moved quicker than Haruko, who walked slightly behind her. She checked each door, though most of them appeared to be offices or storage closets- Ahsa had been right about the offices being on the higher floors. Eventually, they reached one that was open.

The office was small, and according to the nameplate, belonged to a “Captain Jung Cho.” Haruko didn’t know a thing about military ranks, but if he was high ranking enough to have his own office, he probably had some secrets. The lights had been left on in the room, showing off its sparse decoration and overabundance of files. Koto shoved Haruko into the room and gestured to the pile, standing guard near the door. Haruko nodded; it would probably be better for her to keep watch.

The desk was practically covered in paper, from forms to reports to handwritten notes. Haruko didn’t know where to start. She resigned herself to looking through the pile, starting with the first papers on top. With no time to read each paper, she skimmed each page before setting it aside. An overwhelming amount of important-looking files mentioned a ‘Project Vine’, though what it was Haruko couldn’t tell, any files that mentioned it were simply order reports for technology or encrypted.

“I think I found something.” Haruko whispered to her companion. “Project Vine. It’s mentioned a ton but everything’s encrypted.”

“Okay.” Koto stated, keeping her eyes on the hall. “Anywhere we could find more about it?”

Haruko returned her attention to the desk, looking for a building directory she had set aside a while ago. Eventually she found it. “There’s a filing room on the seventh floor. If there's more information about this thing, I bet it’s there.”

Koto nodded. “Let’s go.”

Haruko left the papers on the desk, not bothering to rearrange them, the mess didn’t even look any different. After leaving the room almost exactly like they had found it, she trailed Koto as they slowly moved through the hall. The area was dead silent- anyone who had been there was gone by now. Eventually they made it to the solace of an elevator; Koto pressed the button to the seventh floor and the door closed in front of them.

“So.” Koto said, glancing upward at the metal grated ceiling as the elevator hummed to life. Small lights lining the walls and the subtle pressure they felt on the bottoms of their feet indicated that they were going up. She had to raise her voice slightly over the clank of the cables and gears. “Project vine?”

“I couldn’t tell much about it.” Haruko said. “Everything was written in some sort of code.”

“Weird…” Koto pondered out loud, putting her hand over her chin. “I’ve never heard anything about it. I wonder if that’s what they’re working on here.”

It wasn’t long before their elevator reached the seventh floor. The doors opened onto a labyrinth of cabinets, almost the entire floor wall to wall with metal cases. Like the third floor, it dimly lit, the only illumination coming from a few sporadically-placed lights. The cavern-like feeling of the empty hallway along with the faint buzzing sound of flickering lights, creating a liminal atmosphere of tension.

Koto immediately set off into the darkness, leaving Haruko to cautiously follow her. From what she could tell, they were the only people there, but she didn’t want to be too confident and accidentally give themselves away.

Haruko found Koto in a section labeled ‘U-V’, looking through files in one of the many cabinets. She moved diligently, at a speed so fast Haruko wondered if she could tell what was written on each piece of paper.

“I’m searching under ‘vine’.” Koto explained. “If I can find anything, maybe we can take-” She was cut off by the blaring, repetitive howl of an alarm.

A voice came over an intercom, gruff and loud and cracking through the speaker. “Attention! There are intruders on levels two-B and seven, I repeat, level two- B and level seven.” Haruko felt a surge of adrenaline. They were on level seven. Scarlet emergency lights flashed on, bathing the entire floor in fluorescent, blood-red light. Koto grabbed Haruko’s hand and started to run to the elevators. Before they could make it, the elevator doors opened, and an entire squadron of soldiers burst through- Haruko didn’t have the time to count them. She and Koto turned back around so quickly she barely saw them. They chased after them, collapsing the filing cabinets with metalbending left and right. Koto adeptly maneuvered around the obstacles, but Haruko tripped and ended up bruised. She reached for the satchel of stones she had brought, only to realize it was missing. She had left it in the captain’s office four floors down. Haruko lamented her inability to metalbend.

“I can’t do anything!” Haruko shouted at her companion. “I left my bag downstairs!”

Koto took only a second to process her words before sending a strong gust of wind at their opponents, knocking quite a few of them down. She continued sending wind down the labyrinth of cabinets as they ran.

Eventually, the two of them clamored into a stairwell. Haruko made sure the door was closed behind her, though it was only a moment's rest before climbing the stairs. She and Koto were about halfway up the flight of stairs when the door burst open and the soldiers barged in. They didn’t have enough time to register their presence and kept climbing.

The stairwell led to the top of the factory, a communications spire. After closing the door behind them, Haruko took a moment to look around. The area was small, with a door leading to a balcony outside.

It wasn’t long before the soldiers broke through the door. Koto immediately bolted to the exit, Haruko following close behind. It wasn’t a good idea; they were trapped on the balcony now with no easy escape.

As the soldiers drew closer to them, Haruko exchanged a glance with Koto. Her silky-straight hair was whipping in the wind, sticking to her lips and face. It was almost serene, how she looked in the moonlight. Haruko didn’t have time to contemplate it more; she was interrupted by the soldiers breaking through.

Haruko didn’t know what hit her; all she knew was that one moment, she was standing on the balcony and the next, she was plummeting to her death below. She was falling too fast to think, too fast to move. Maybe she could soften the earth to ease her fall- maybe she could raise the ground and hope for the best- no, it was all too late for any of those. All she could do was brace herself for impact in any way she could. In a futile move, a last hope, a moment guided by forces Haruko couldn’t name, she moved her arms around her and, to her surprise, floated down on a cushion of air. Her descent was so slow she had the time to hear the rapid beating of her own heart.

When she made contact with the ground, Haruko fell to her hands and knees, exhausted, though she couldn’t tell from what. Koto descended moments later, having opened her wingsuit midair. She immediately grabbed Haruko by the shoulders as soon as her feet touched the ground. “Haruko- what was that?”

“What was-” Haruko stammered, out of breath and caught off-guard. “That wasn’t you?” It had to have been Koto, air didn’t naturally move that way.

“How could it have been me! I was in the sky… Haruko- oh no.” Koto’s voice went silent, leaving a grave deadness that spoke for itself.

“What?” Haruko asked.

“Haruko, you airbent. That was airbending.” Koto took one hand off of Haruko’s shoulder. “And if you airbent-” she looked Haruko dead in the eyes, her voice lowering to a near whisper. “That means you’re the Avatar.”

A million thoughts raced through Haruko’s mind, none of which she could decipher, other than, “You’re lying.” Haruko repeated the statement. “You have to be lying. There’s already an Avatar, and it’s not me. It can’t be me. Why would it be me?”

Koto shook her head. “I- I don’t know. But that was airbending, and that was you. It has to be you. We- We’ll go to my mother. She’ll know what to do.” Koto seemed unsure of her own words, but it was all they had. “We’ll have to see her.’

Haruko nodded. They would go see Koto’s mother, and she’d determine what was happening. What kind of mishap of mix-up had taken place. Everything would end up fine. It had to end up fine.

“Are you… ok?” Koto asked.

Haruko took a moment to respond, trying to prevent herself from falling over. “Yeah, I am.” She lied. “Let’s get back to the inn.”

It didn’t take the two of them long to meet up with Tala. Haruko could barely acknowledge their presence, she was too caught up in her own thoughts.

“Hey, Haruko, are you ok?” The firebender asked, placing their hand on Haruko’s shoulder.

Haruko snapped to attention. “Oh. Uh.”

“You look like you just saw a ghost.” They explained.

“Oh.” Haruko replied. “Nah, I’m fine. Rough night.” The lie came easier than she expected.

Tala nodded. “Alright. Anyways, as I was saying, Ahsa has her own place, we can debrief in the morning once we’ve all rested up some. I think it’s been a rough night for all of us.”

Haruko spared a glance towards Koto, not daring to say more even though every instinct in her body told her they needed to talk more. Their newfound secret would have to stay hidden for a few moments more.

the revalation

The sun had risen by the time they reached the inn, the golden rays of the sun piercing over the horizon, taunting Haruko like the start of a new day could cover what had happened that night. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from collapsing into a fit of hysterics. Everything was wrong- a single movement, a simple act had destroyed everything the world had built during her lifetime, and she couldn’t help but feel it was all her fault.

Haruko couldn’t focus on what Koto and Tala talked about as they walked through the back kitchen door, she couldn’t focus on anything. She felt sick, the events of last night taking their toll on her. With barely a warning to her companions; she retched into the kitchen sink, emptying her stomach of last night’s dinner.

“Spirits, Haruko, are you ok?” Tala rushed to her aide, putting a warm hand on her back as they stabilized her. “Are you sick? Feverish? We should go see Lola Tuli….”

“I’m fine-” Haruko coughed. “Just a little shaken up.” She made eye contact with Koto. The airbender seemed worried but didn’t say anything.

Tala continued to reassure and support Haruko, guiding her to a chair to sit down in, as their cousin walked into the kitchen, accompanied by Aazir and Hang.

“Oh. You’re back.” Masina said dryly. “She looks terrible.”

Adversely, Aazir immediately ran up to her. “Haruko!” He cried as he embraced her. Pasha, who had been sitting on his shoulder, crawled over to her. “Are you ok? What happened?”

Haruko did her best to answer his questions in half-formed and vague sentences. Hang entered the room and sat on the countertop, but Masina stayed in the doorway.

“We were found out,” Tala confessed, a graveness to their voice. “I talked to Ahsa about it, she thinks the best thing for us-” They gestured to Haruko, Koto and themself, “-is to leave with her to Gangbei, where the rest of our group are located.”

“I need to take Haruko to Republic City.” Koto blurted out. The entire room fell silent in shock, including Haruko. Koto continued. “Her and Aazir. With the uh. Recent developments, it’s no longer safe to house them here, and I’d like to fulfill my promise and take them to Air Temple Island, where I can guarantee their safety.” She turned to Hang. “If you want to come as well, you can, though I’m not going to force you.”

“Republic City…” Aazir muttered. Haruko couldn’t tell if he was afraid or excited.

“I’ll go with you,” Hang stated, much to Haruko’s surprise. The waterbender never struck her as the committed type. “I’ve been wanting to go there for a while anyways, for personal reasons.”

Koto nodded. “Alright.” She turned to Tala.

Tala put a hand on their chin. “Well, I can’t exactly stay here… I’ll accompany you all to Republic City, and get a train to Gangbei later.”

“Thank you.” Koto sighed before turning to Aazir, Haruko, and Hang. “You should probably go pack; I want to leave as soon as possible.”

It didn’t take long to pack up what belongings she had, and before she knew it Haruko was out the inn door on her way to the train station. It seemed that her time in Aringeru had gone by in a flash, a brief moment in the grand scheme of things. She had barely gotten accustomed to life there, and they were leaving.

As the group made their way through the city, Haruko noticed that the market had been reopened; merchant carts selling everything from carp to cabbage lined the streets. The typical morning crowd that had woken her every day for the past week roamed through the market, typical civilians out on their daily errands. It wasn’t too long ago Haruko would’ve fit into that crowd. Now, everything was different.

“Lots of troops out,” Hang remarked, and Haruko realized she was right- there was an overwhelming feeling of being watched only heightened by the presence of many green-clad soldiers.

“Keep your head low.” Tala advised, and while Haruko felt the comment was directed at Koto more than anyone, she obliged.

It wasn’t a long walk to the train station, especially since Tala was there to guide them this time, but their journey was severely impeded by the sheer number of other people. It was as though something had plugged the flow of foot traffic, created a blockage or barrier of some kind. It didn’t take long for them to find out why.

The first thing Haruko noticed when arriving at the train station was the lack of a train. The second thing she noticed was that Tala had registered this before her and disappeared off to somewhere else- presumably to ask about it, leaving her with her three original companions. The plaza was full of people but didn’t seem busy; it seemed that everyone else, like Haruko’s group, was waiting around for something to happen.

“Trains are down.” Tala announced as they rejoined the group. “Got a friend who works on the tracks, she said the rail lines for the entire state have been blocked.”

“Bandits?” Aazir asked. “We get a lot of those up in Si Wong, could be them.”

“No, surprisingly.” Tala replied. “Says it’s a government blockade ordered by Senator Luntian.” The firebender scoffed, as if the mere thought of their state’s leader disgusted them.

“Probably because of that stunt y’all pulled last night,” Hang commented. “They’re all hung up about their secrets getting out, and they want to keep you on the island so it’s easier to find ya.” Haruko was taken aback by how strategically the waterbender thought, how easily she deciphered the government’s plan. The thought would’ve never occurred to her.

“Well, we won’t let them,” Tala said, putting a fist on their open palm for emphasis. They smirked.“Lucky for us, I know a way out they won’t be able to track.”

the captain's ward

“Tala, where are we going?” Koto kept her head high in the air as they walked through what Haruko assumed was the slum of the city. Jing Zi’s equivalent of the area was the maze of shantytowns sprawling into the desert and underneath abandoned buildings, but here in Aringeru, it was the ports- a place that reeked so much of sea spray and dead fish that it overwhelmed every other feature about the place. Even Aazir seemed disgusted, and it took a lot to disgust Aazir.

“I’ve got an idea, trust me.” Tala put an emphasis on the last two words as they walked backwards, facing the rest of the group. “I know a guy. He can get us out of here, no problem.”

Haruko surveyed the small, beat-up fishing boats lining the pier and exchanged a glance with Hang, the two of them equally doubtful.

“Will your guy need me to make the canoe go faster or is he fine with the paddles only?” Hang smirked. Haruko and Koto both laughed at the comment.

Tala frowned, but it was clear they were only upset for the purpose of dramatics. “Look- we’ll be able to get out.”

“Tala! Been forever since I saw your sorry mug!” A gruff voice from somewhere else called out, and before Haruko could fully comprehend what was happening, Tala was enveloped in a tackle hug.

The man that had embraced the firebender was tall, at least taller than Tala. He had warm, tanned skin, a face covered in freckles and wrinkles, and kind eyes. He could very easily be described as old, though he seemed quite a bit younger than Tuli. The man had a large, somewhat burly build, enough so that he made Tala look small, and wore his wavy gray hair in a low ponytail.

“Ah, I see ya’ve brought some friends along.” The man laughed jovially as he released Tala from his grip. “I’m Jun, Captain Jun if ya will.” He extended his hand, Koto shook it, albeit hesitantly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Captain.” The airbender smiled pleasantly.

“Nice to meet ya too, master airbender! Y’know, once I had a shipment down to that Eastern Temple of yours- nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. Now I gotta-”

Tala cut Jun off quickly, with the energy of someone who had sat through many a long-winded story. “Actually, let’s talk transportation. My friends and I need to get to Republic City as soon as possible.”

“Republic City, eh?” Jun whistled. “Never struck ya as a city slicker, Tala. My new deck hand’s from Republic City, all right- Hey Jae! Come on and meet our new passengers, won’tcha?”

Moments later, a young man- more of a teen boy, only a bit older than Aazir if Haruko had to guess- emerged from the same direction Haruko assumed Jun had come from. He and the old man were almost visual foils, with the younger of the two having fair skin, jet-black hair, and a thin build. He seemed like he would be more at home on the album cover for a rock band than a run-down shipyard in the coral isles, with knee-high leather boots, red-tinted sunglasses, and a studded belt. The only resemblance he had to the captain was that he tied his midnight curls into a loose low ponytail.

“Now this is my deckhand slash intern slash nephew Jae here, all right.” Jun slapped the boy on the back, causing him to almost drop the crate he was carrying.

“You’re related?” Hang asked, dumbfounded.

“Nope.” Jun smiled. “But anyhows, he’ll be sure to get us right to Republic City, won’tcha Jae?”

The boy nodded and gave a cocky grin. “Sure will. Let’s get to the boat then, we’re burning daylight!” Jae promptly set off onto the dock

Jun laughed a loud, hearty bellow. “That’s my boy!”

From Haruko’s extremely limited knowledge of boats, Jun’s Sweet Lady Lotus was around medium-sized. She was relieved to see that not only was it big enough to house them all comfortably but that it seemed in an overall better condition than some of the other watercraft anchored to the same dock. Jun welcomed them aboard with a wide smile and a dramatic flourish.

“You two look like you’ve never been on a boat before,” Jae commented as Haruko helped her little brother stabilize himself on the boat.

“We haven’t.” Haruko replied dryly. They were the only ones showing any difficulty, as Hang, Tala, and Koto all seemed to board the boat with ease.

“We’re from the desert.” Aazir added with a smile.

“Ahhh, sandbenders!” Jae smiled and gave the two of them finger guns. “Cool out, I’ve never met any of you before.”

“Well, now you have.” Haruko snapped back at him. She didn’t mean to be so rude; she was just tired. As Jae and Aazir started to devolve into a conversation about sand-sailing, Haruko focused on her companions.

“Hey, tall girl.” Jun stopped Hang by standing in front of her. The man, who had seemed giant moments before, suddenly looked small in front of the waterbender. “You’re one of em swamp folk waterbenders, right?”

Hang nodded. “Sure am.”

Jun smiled. “That sure is swell. Y’know, they say it’s good luck to have a waterbender on board.”

“Uh. Glad to be of help.” Hang replied, giving the sailor an awkward thumbs up.

Koto and Tala approached Jae, Haruko, and Aazir. “Uhm. My friends and I-” Koto gestured to herself, Tala and Haruko, “-Are a bit weary, we didn’t sleep last night. Is there anywhere we could rest some?”

“Yeah, totally.” Jae nodded. “There’s a few cabins below deck; you can sleep there while we travel.”

Jae led the three of them below deck to a small corridor lit only by a few porthole windows. On either side was a set of doors, one of which was labeled as ‘Jae’s room’.

“That one’s Jun’s.” Jae pointed to the room opposite his own. “And that’s a storage closet.” He pointed to the one next to it. “One of you can sleep in my cabin, and the spare’s got bunks. Divvy it up how you will.” Jae said before leaving back to the deck.

Koto ushered Haruko into the spare cabin, leaving Tala to take Jae’s. As the Airbender locked the door behind them, Haruko breathed a deep sigh of relief. They could finally continue talking, alone.

“So, we’re gonna keep this a secret?” Koto whispered.

Haruko looked at her hands, the ever-present memory of her airbending racing through her mind. “Y-yeah. At least for now. I can’t- I don’t want Aazir to know yet.” It was better for him not to know yet. She could barely stand to know the information herself.

“Alright.” Koto nodded. “We can keep it a secret, for now. At least till you can airbend in non-deadly circumstances. It’s not the elemental order, but we don’t have much of a choice as I’m not a firebender. We will have to tell them eventually, though.”

Haruko nodded, climbing onto the bottom bunk. Everything Koto said seemed so foreign to her; it was hard to believe that this was who she really was- the bender of all the elements, the bridge between spirits and humans, Korra’s successor- all of it seemed like a massive joke. She wasn’t the Avatar; she was Haruko Saeed, the auto mechanic from Jing Zi. Being important and world-changing wasn’t for her; it was for people like Hanuel Beifong. But apparently it was for her, and the reality of that couldn’t leave Haruko’s mind. “I-I’m gonna rest some.” She said, lying down on the bed.

“Alright.” Koto said. She didn’t say anything else after that, leaving Haruko to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean and the slow rocking of a ship on water.

interlude: sand

“Hadiyah, dear, you’re getting too close to the fire.” Lilavati cautioned, briefly pausing her work to guide her five-year-old daughter away from the open flame.

Hadiyah resisted. “Mama, I wanna help you!” She protested.

Lilavati laughed and ruffled her daughter’s thick hair- it was just like Zahrun’s. Hadiyah and Aazir both had taken more of his traits than they had hers. “I don’t need your help, sweetie. I’m just cleaning up.”

“But Mama…” Hadiyah whined.

“Why don’t you go get some sleep?” Lilavati suggested. “Aazir went to bed a few hours ago.”

“Yeah, but Aazir’s like. A baby!” Hadiyah put her hands on her hips. “I’m more grown-up than him, I can stay up till Abba comes home.” The young girl promptly yawned, defeating the purpose of her statement.

Lilavati laughed. “If you say so.”

Moments later, the door of the tent opened, letting a chilly desert wind inside. A stocky man in his early thirties entered the small home, his silhouette and facial features obstructed by the protective gear he was still wearing.

“Abba!” Hadiyah exclaimed and ran to her father, hugging him around his knees.

“Hold on, Hadiyah,” Zahrun laughed through his sand mask. “Let me get out of my cloak first.” Lilavati stood up to greet her husband, kissing him on the cheek as he removed his cloak and mask.

“How were things in town?” She asked.

“It was alright.” Zahrun folded the cloth in his hands. “I met up with Arnook and the girls, they all wanted to know about the little ones.” He chuckled, patting his daughter on the head. “We did a bit of business, and I came back home. I’ll tell you one thing I don’t like, those Earth Confederacy greencoat bastards are getting a bit too comfortable in their military base down by the gorge. They don’t belong here, Lila.”

“You never liked them.” Lilavati affirmed.

Zahrun scoffed. “That’s understating it. Someone’s gotta do something about it before they get too confident in their power.”

Lilavati didn’t respond, so Zahrun turned to his daughter. “Heya Hadiyah, did you miss me while I was gone?”

Hadiyah nodded. “It was soooo booorrring. Fatima and the other kids got to practice earthbending in the middle of camp with Aunt Farah and Abu Eisa, but I didn’t even get to watch. When are they gonna let me learn? I’m already a good earthbender!”

Zahrun laughed. His daughter had inherited his overconfident nature, for better or worse. “You’re just an early bloomer, most kids don’t discover their bending for a while. And when it is your time to learn, I’ll make sure I’m the one teaching you.”

A wide smile grew on Hadiyah’s face. “Really?!”

Zahrun nodded. “Yep. There's no better earthbenders in the entire desert than the Saeed family.” Hadiyah laughed at his comment.

“How would you like to go out stargazing with me, Diyah?” Zahrun smiled and ruffled his daughter’s hair.

Hadiyah’s eyes widened. “That sounds amazing!” She turned to Lilavati. “Mama, can I go? Please?!”

Lilavati smiled and nodded, then turned to Zahrun. “Really? It’s near midnight.”

“The best time to stargaze,” Zahrun replied with a smirk. Lilavati sighed. It was too late to refuse now; she couldn’t bear to upset her daughter.

“Fine. But be back soon.” Lilavati chided, but not without a smile.

After donning cloaks and sand masks, Zahrun led Hadiyah out into the open desert. The tribal camp was quiet this time of night, with only a few fires still lit. Instead of going to the center of the camp like they normally did, Zahrun led them outside of the camp to a ridge, where he sat down looking up at the stars.

Hadiyah sat next to him, looking up at the vast, open sky. She had never seen something so infinite, so empty yet so full of light, each star so close she felt if she reached her hand up she might be able to touch it.

“Look at that one.” Zahrun pointed to a bright star. “That’s part of a constellation- if you look at the stars around it, it makes a turtle-duck!”

Hadiyah smiled, amazed by her father’s discovery. “Are there any other constellations?” She asked.

Zahrun smiled. “Sure are, but I’ve got a gift for you first.” He fished through his pocket and produced a small pendant, carved from bone and inscribed with blessings against harm. He pressed it into his daughter’s small palm. “This is for you.”

Hadiyah took the pendant from her hand and held it up in the moonlight, rubbing her fingers across the inscriptions. “Woah.”

“It’s to protect you from the evils of the world,” Zahrun explained as he helped fasten the necklace around Hadiyah’s neck, “And so you remember your family.”

Hadiyah put her hand over the pendant as it hung near her heart. “I’ll never forget you, Abba.”

The next time Zahrun left for a long period of time was six months later. When he didn’t return by nightfall the day he left, Lilavati began to get worried. Her worries only increased when a sandstorm began raging threateningly nearby their camp.

On a windy night three days after he had left, Zahrun finally returned. He arrived during the middle of the storm, the wind threatening to blow him down. Zahrun’s coat was tattered from the wind, his entire body was covered in dust. As Lilavati helped him undress and clean himself off, she noticed something- stains of red dotting his cloak and shirt, an unmistakable vibrant crimson.

“Are- are you ok?” Lilavati’s hand hovered close to her husband’s chest, where the stains were most prominent. Zahrun stood tall and didn’t look injured, but he was good at hiding pain, and she of all people would know.

“It’s not my blood.” Zahrun whispered. The statement only added to Lilavati’s worries. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.” He kept saying. “I don’t want to disturb the kids.”

Lilavati nodded, finding it best to not bother Zahrun about the subject. He always got touchy about his work. “Alright.”

Zahrun put a hand to Lilavati’s cheek. “Are you alright? You don’t look well.”

“Shh… shh… don’t worry.” The man kept whispering. His voice was deep, and he had an accent Hadiyah didn’t recognize. Almost everything about him seemed foreign, from his blue eyes to his braided hair, to the features of his face, but her father had treated him like an old friend, so Hadiyah supposed he was trustworthy.

Her mother had died three days ago. She was gone, and she wasn’t ever going to come back. Hadiyah didn’t want to cry, not in front of the strange kind man, but she couldn’t hold in her tears.

“Shhh…” The man repeated, wiping away her tears. “It’s ok, you can cry. It’s natural to feel grief after such a major loss.”

Hadiyah couldn’t make sense of what he was saying, but it was comforting.

“I’m Arnook.” The man said.

“I-I’m Hadiyah.” Hadiyah whimpered in response.

Arnook nodded. “So I’ve heard. Have you ever heard of the great spirits of the Northern Lights, Hadiyah?”

Hadiyah shook her head.

“Well, I’d love to tell you.” Arnook smiled before beginning the story.

Zahrun placed a hand on his forehead, then ran it through his hair, glad that Arnook had offered to take care of the kids for a few hours. He needed time to think, and time to talk with the others.

“Once again, I’m devastated to hear about your wife.” Tehreem placed a hand on Zahrun’s forearm. She had always been more openly compassionate than Ahsa was.

“Me too.” Ahsa said, though her arms didn’t move from their relaxed, crossed position. No one spoke for a moment, until Ahsa did. “I hate to change the subject, but what’re you gonna do about the new acts?”

Zahrun raised an eyebrow.

“Sandbender relocation act, imposed by the Earth Confederacy government by popular vote of the senate.” Ahsa explained. “Taking effect in a few years they say, that’s when they’re gonna start moving the tribes to spirits know where.”

Zahrun put a hand to his brow. “I don’t know…”

“You’re not seriously thinking of going along with it?!” Tehreem near-shouted.

“I don’t know…” Zahrun repeated. “I’ll have to think about it.”

the song

The room was dark and empty by the time Haruko woke up; Koto had either woken up earlier than her or not gone to sleep at all, and Haruko didn’t bother checking the top bunk to find out. Judging by the lack of light coming from the porthole window, it was night, or at least it was going to be soon. After deducing that she was alone, Haruko left for the deck.

Haruko found the rest of her group gathered around a lantern on the deck. Tala and Aazir sat on the floor while the rest were perched on a haphazard jumble of crates. Hang had unpacked her banjo and was playing a relaxed tune.

“There you are!” Tala smiled and stood up as Haruko approached her companions. “I was wondering when you’d get up.”

“Yeah…” Haruko mumbled drowsily, following the firebender over to the circle and sitting next to Koto on one of the crates. “I’m up now, though.”

“Did you sleep well?” Koto asked, prompting a shrug from Haruko. She had slept as well as she ever did.

“Hang was playing us some music.” Jae explained enthusiastically. Now that Haruko was closer, she could tell he was sharpening a knife. “Did you know she could play? She’s super good.”

“Why would she carry around a banjo if she didn’t know how to use it?” Koto muttered, soft enough that only Haruko could hear her.

Hang stopped for a moment and smiled. “Thanks, my dad taught me, before he… uh, died.” The waterbender didn’t return her hands to the instrument, painfully aware of the awkward tension she had created. When nobody responded, Hang explained, “I’m from the Foggy Swamp down in the southern Earth Confederacy, when they tried to take us away from our homes …. Y’know, that's too sad of a story to talk about now.”

Haruko exchanged a glance with Aazir. Hang’s story was painfully close to theirs, even if the details were different.

Aazir eventually broke the silence. “Hey Jae, what’s Republic City like?”

“You know, I’m from Republic City too.” Koto interrupted. “Air Temple Island?”

“Oh.” Aazir replied. “I didn’t know which air temple you were from.”

Jae laughed. “It’s alright, we’re probably from different parts of the city anyways. My sister’s an Air Acolyte, though.”

“Really?” Koto smiled. “What temple, I might know her.”

“I think the Eastern Air Temple?” Jae mused, pausing his knife-sharpening to think. “Her name’s Ji-Min.”

“Oh, I think I’ve met her before.” Koto replied. “Kinda short, green eyes, double hair buns?”

Jae smiled. “That’s her alright. She only became an acolyte a few years ago, around the same time I met Jun.” He didn’t elaborate, but turned to Haruko. “What’s the desert like?”

“It’s dry.” Haruko said, as though the fact wasn’t obvious already. Jae had caught her off-guard. “Pretty sandy too.”

“When she first came to the coral isles she had never eaten a fish before.” Tala smiled mockingly.

“Well I’m sorry there’s a distinct lack of fish in the Si Wong desert.” Haruko replied. “Bet you’ve never been on a sand sailer.”

“Can’t say that I have. Although I have actually sailed, on a real boat.” Tala replied calmly.

Jae turned to Haruko excitedly. Haruko could almost tell what he was thinking.

“I haven’t sand-sailed in years, not since I was little.” Haruko explained. “When Aazir and I were kids, we moved to the city to live with our aunt and uncle.” Aazir focused his gaze on something else, as if he was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

A moment of awkward silence followed, until Hang started to play her banjo again, playing a soft song not unlike the one she had played earlier. Her voice remained rough and gravelly even as she sang, which only added to the atmosphere of the song. The lyrics described a summertime love, when the sweet smell of lotus flowers filled the air. Tala, who apparently knew the song, sang along, their clear, medium-pitched voice complimenting Hang’s rasp. It had been years since Haruko had attended a live music performance, not counting her highschool’s lackluster marching band, and even such a casual one managed to take her breath away. When it was finished, the last notes of Hang’s banjo echoing into the night, Haruko joined Jae, Koto and Aazir in applause.

Hang laughed awkwardly, a blush growing on her cheeks. “Aw, you’re too kind.” She smiled. “It’s just an old folk tune, pretty common where I’m from.”

“Really?” Tala remarked. “I could’ve sworn it’s from the Coral Isles, Lola Tuli used to sing me to sleep with it.”

“Huh.” Hang replied, staring into nothing as she thought. “Anyways, anyone got any requests?”

“Ooh!” Jae raised his hand. “Can you play the Lazerbender theme?” Koto put a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.

“No.” Hang deadpanned. She didn’t bother to clarify whether it was because she didn’t know the tune or she just didn’t want to.

Dejectedly, Jae leaned back on his arms. “Fine. I don’t have any other ideas, your call.”

Hang smiled, before starting to play again. “More old swamp tunes it is.” Haruko couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

As Hang played, Jae turned to where Haruko and Koto sat. “So, I’ve always wondered.” He said to the latter. “Your airbending tats, how much did they hurt?”

Koto blinked in response. “Well….”

“Cause they look like they hurt a ton. They go down your scalp, right?” Jae shuddered, then proceeded to roll up one of his sleeves, showcasing a thin black arrow tattooed on his forearm. “Because this bad boy right here hurt like crazy, I don’t know how much yours would.”

Koto took a moment to admire Jae’s tattoo before explaining. “They did hurt, alot, but I got used to the pain during the process.” She rolled up her sleeves to show the arrows on her hands. “They do the arms and legs first because they aren’t as painful.”

Jae hovered his hand over the blue lines on Koto’s arm. “Whoaaa…. What part hurt the most? How long did it take?”

Koto mused for a moment.”The scalp, definitely. And they took, I don’t know, a week or two because we had to do them in sessions. I had to get my hair shaved for it, but it’s grown back since.” The airbender turned to Haruko. “What about you? Did yours hurt?”

Haruko showed Jae her tattooed forearms. Jae marveled over them similar to the way he had over Koto’s. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pattern like that before.”

“It’s not that common outside of the desert. They’re from our tribe, the Najma tribe..” Haruko said, tracing one of the dark bands. “And even there they’re pretty rare. As for how much they hurt….” Haruko thought. “It was pretty bad, especially since these are old scars.”

“Oh, yikes.” Jae reflexively moved his hand back. “Burns?”

Haruko nodded, not caring to elaborate. “A long time ago.”

Koto sympathetically put a hand on her shoulder, as if to tell her it was alright. Haruko ignored her.

“Well, I won’t bother you about it.” Jae shrugged and returned to his knife sharpening. “Nice getting to know ya, Haruko.”

hurricane

The alarm bells on the Sweet Lady Lotus weren’t exactly bells, but low siren noises played through an intercom system. The sound caught Haruko off guard- she had begun to relax alongside her friends when the unmistakable sound of an alarm jarred her out of her content.

“Enemy on port side!” Jun hollered from the bridge. “Earth Confederacy military, by the looks of ‘em.” The jovial tones of his voice were gone, replaced by deadly serious orders.

As soon as he received the order, Jae jumped to his feet and grabbed something from behind him- a bow and quiver. The boy ran to one side of the ship, Hang and Tala followed. Not knowing what to do, Haruko exchanged a glance with Aazir and ran over to help her companions in any way she could.

Hang arrived at the side of the boat quicker than Haruko or Tala did, and much to her surprise, climbed over the railing and dove into the black ocean depths. Haruko turned to Tala with an appalled look, but they only shrugged like it was a common occurrence. Haruko decided to ignore Hang’s rash behavior and focus on what the others were doing.

Jae’s vision was fixed on the enemy craft as he readied his bow. “They’ve already seen us; they’ll be deploying aquatic mech soon. Dunno how but they’re tracking you guys.”

“Maybe we were spotted leaving on this boat…” Tala mused.

“No time to think about it.” Jae clipped, producing a red-and-white striped arrow and handing it to Tala. Haruko wasn’t an archer, but something about the arrow seemed off. “That’s an explosive.” Jae explained. “You’re a firebender, right?”

Tala nodded, seemingly uncomfortable with the explosive they held in their hands. They thrust it at Haruko, but she put her hands in the air, refusing it.

“When I say so, light that thing and hand it to me.” Jae didn’t look away from the enemy ship. “Now!”

Tala ignited the fuse at the back tip of the arrow and awkwardly tossed it to Jae. In a swift, fluid motion, Jae aligned the arrow in his bow and shot it at the enemy craft- a fiery explosion bloomed as it hit the metal hull. For a brief moment, a brilliant column fire lit up the night sky with an orange glow. Jae pumped his fist in the air. “Nice!”

Before Haruko or Tala could react, the Earth Confederacy ship struck back, sending a barrage of metal, knife-like darts at the Lotus. Tala tackled Haruko, forcing her behind the railing before she could get hit. After a pause in the attack, Tala stood up and adopted a calm, fluid stance similar to the waterbending Haruko had seen Hang perform. With a forward, jutting motion of their arm, they produced a flashing beam of lightning angled at the enemy craft.

“That was sick!” Jae shouted, rising to his feet as the last few darts fell to the ground. “I didn’t know you could do that!”

“We’ve known each other for a few hours.” Tala reminded him, to which Jae nodded. “Huh. suppose we have.”

“Has anyone seen Hang?” Koto asked nervously. She and Aazir were just now coming out of their hiding spots behind the crates.

“She jumped into the ocean.” Tala gestured at the sea. “Either she’s ditching us in the least-thought out way possible, or she’s got a plan.”

Before Koto could respond, the barrage of metallic darts started up again, this time with larger projectiles akin to cannonballs.

“Koto!” Tala shouted over the sounds of explosions. “Get Aazir and Haruko below deck; there’s not much earthbenders can do out here!”

Koto nodded as Haruko began crawling towards her when Hang suddenly emerged from the brine.

Riding on a spiraling vortex of water, Hang seemed to command every drop in the ocean. While Haruko had seen Hang bend before and was thoroughly impressed by it back in Jing Zi, seeing her in her element was completely different. Hang commanded the waves with ease, gracefully dodging the projectiles the Earth Confederacy shot at her. She moved with confidence and deliberacy. While Haruko was used to bending through brute force, Hang applied a different technique, using the fine tip of the knife instead of the hammer.

Haruko became entranced in watching the waterbender’s technique; she fell to the ocean’s surface but froze it just before landing gracefully on her feet. As Hang approached the ship, she pushed the water around her with sweeping, graceful, open-palmed arm movements, creating a massive wave that near- toppled the enemy craft. As it descended upon the ship, it froze into a crystalline iceberg, glinting in the midnight moon. Hang didn’t take long to admire her work and quickly turned back around to reboard the boat.

Haruko stepped back as Hang climbed back onto the boat. The waterbender was soaking wet, which wasn’t surprising considering what she had just accomplished..

“Spirits of the islands!” Tala exclaimed, grabbing Hang by the shoulders as soon as they could. “I had no idea you could do that. I had no idea anyone could do that! That was crazy!”

Jae nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve never seen anything like that- it’s nothing like the waterbending you see at pro-bending! You were all like-” Jae waved his arms around making whooshing sounds. “That was epic!”

After freeing herself from Tala’s grip, Hang started to wring out her braid. “Full moon.” She gestured upwards to the celestial body. Haruko had only heard legends of waterbender’s amplified powers on full moon nights; she never suspected they were actually true. It briefly crossed Haruko’s mind that technically, she was a waterbender and could probably do what Hang did.

“Jun was right, having you on board is definitely good luck.” Jae nodded.

“Heya cap!” Hang called towards the bridge. “Want me to help us get out of here?”

“Sounds great to me!” Jun called back.

Hang set off for the back of the boat, where she started to bend the current, propelling them forward at a much faster speed.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Haruko said to Koto as she rejoined her by the crates.

“To be honest, neither have I.” Koto confessed. “I haven’t met too many waterbenders, definitely not enough to see any at their peak potential.”

“Really? I thought you guys went everywhere.”

“Just how things turned out I suppose.” Koto shrugged. “But it’s not important. Are you ok?”

Haruko checked her body for any new cuts or bruises. Surprisingly, she found none. “Yeah, you?”

Koto nodded, then sighed. ‘It’s been kind of a long day, you wanna go get some sleep?”

Haruko nodded; she could feel the adrenaline she got from the fight wearing off. “Yeah, I think so.” She sighed as she looked back at Hang and then at the moon. Somehow, she was able to breathe calmly and simply be glad she was alive.

dues and duties

When Hanuel and her friends returned to Ba Sing Se, they weren’t greeted by a roaring crowd, much to Hanuel’s relief- while she loved being adored, the events got tiresome after a while. Instead they were met by Yu Yan and a small party of guards- all wearing the Dai Li emblem on their chests.

“Welcome back, Avatar.” Yu Yan greeted Hanuel with a firm handshake, nodding to Mikah and Jitsuko standing behind her. “How was Zaofu?”

“It was great!” Hanuel smiled, then sighed. While it had been nice to take a break from her everyday Avatar duties, her vacation couldn’t last forever, not with the responsibilities she possessed.

“You have a packed schedule today, as per usual.” Yu Yan said as they walked to the palace. “A media appearance, a meeting with the Prime Minister’s cabinet, your daily training sessions, and a charity gala tonight.”

Hanuel groaned. From what Yu Yan described, she wouldn’t get a moment of rest throughout the day. She turned around to face Mikah and Jitsuko. “Well, I guess I’ll see you guys later.” Despite being her official teammates, the two of them were rarely involved in her actual work due to it being ‘official Earth Confederacy matters’.

“Good luck.” Mikah said, giving her a thumbs up. Hanuel smiled in return; she would need it.

It was hard enough for Hanuel to stay awake during the meeting, much less pay attention to it. The conversation topic- which, according to the meeting agenda, had something to do with taxes- was so dull and legalistic that trying to understand it gave her a headache. Bored of reading through equally dull legal documents strewn across the table, Hanuel employed one of her favorite pastimes when bored: people-watching.

Minister Qiang sat directly across from her, and seemed just as ansty as she felt, though he looked more invested in the conversation. Qiang had thick hair cut in a way that showed off the streaks of gray, giving him an aura of maturity. On every occasion Hanuel had seen the man, he wore a stiff tweed jacket and a matching formal button-up. Hanuel noticed, for the first time, the pin he wore on his jacket right next to his military badges- the emblem of the Dai Li, just like the ones the guards who escorted her everywhere wore. The metallic gold of the pin sparkled in the artificial light of the room, as if it was taunting her.

“Alright, onto the next order of business.” Mira’s clear voice rang out across the room as she shuffled the paper at the head of her desk. “Minister Qiang, I believe you have some news to share with us?”

Qiang stood up and straightened his tie. “A few days ago, our testing facility southwest of Aringeru was attacked.” Qiang gestured to the map in the center of the room, to a cluster of islands southeast of Gaoling. His statement elicited a gasp from most of the people at the table, Hanuel included.

“What happened?” Hanuel asked. She had heard of the bandit activity around the area, but never suspected they would be courageous enough to attack a government facility. She didn’t even know there were government facilities in the Coral Isles.

“From what I’ve heard, a group of skilled benders managed to sneak into the facility and retrieve information on Project Vine.” The drop of the project’s name sent a gasp rippling through the small crowd. Hanuel had heard a lot about Project Vine, but she still didn’t know exactly what it was or why everyone acted like it was such a big secret- she had to swear never to even mention it to her friends. Qiang paused before continuing. “From my understanding, there were four people present- two firebenders, an airbender, and a fighter of unknown bending- presumably a nonbender, but we can’t be certain.”

Hanuel pondered the description of the criminals, wondering which of the airbenders it could’ve been. Being part of a half Air Nomad family, she had frequently visited the temples growing up and knew most of the airbenders- she couldn’t imagine any of them becoming criminals and raiding government facilities.

“I have the perfect solution to this problem.” Mira clasped her hands together pleasantly. “Hanuel can take care of it.”

“I-I can?” Hanuel stammered. Every pair of eyes in the room was on her now.

“Yes, you can.” Mira stated. “It’ll be good for the people to see their Avatar making strides to improve things for the greater good. Can you do that for me, Hanuel?”

Everyone else in the room vanished into thin air, the floor seemed to fall below Hanuel’s feet, leaving only her and the Prime Minister, locked in eye contact. Hanuel swallowed her fear. “I think I can,” She said. Mira looked disappointed. “I can.”

“Good.” Mira smiled, though it seemed ingenuine. “Try to think of it like a test.” Her words didn’t do anything to comfort Hanuel; she near-collapsed back into her seat. She tried to focus on something tangible, the map on the table in front of her.

“We have reason to believe they escaped on a small boat.” Qiang added, pointing out a location south of the Mo Ce sea. Hanuel traced a line from the Coral Isles archipelago to the location Qiang had pointed out, then north to the United Republic. “They’re headed north.” Hanuel noticed. “If they have an airbender with them, they’re probably trying to get to Air Temple Island, to seek refuge.” She pointed to an oceanside dot on the map, the port city of Gangbei. “They’ve probably not passed Gangbei yet. We can intercept them here with the help of the local militia, before they pass Yu Dao into United Republic waters. We’d have to be efficient though.”

“That’s brilliant.” Qiang smiled and gave a respectful bow. “I look forward to working with you, Avatar. Together we’ll be able to stop this menace, once and for all.”

Hanuel smiled. Even though she didn’t understand exactly what she had gotten herself into, his praise dissipated some of her worry. She turned to Mira, who looked at her with the proud, confident gaze of a teacher.

the safe plan

By her third day at sea, Haruko had gotten accustomed to the ocean, at least as much as she thought she ever would. She didn’t actively fear drowning anymore, her fears quelled by the fact that a master waterbender was onboard.

“You’re putting a lot of confidence in me.” Hang replied after Haruko shared her thoughts. “I don’t know if my skills warrant that much trust. I’m not a lifeguard.”

Haruko shrugged. “You’re a better bet than Tala.”

“Actually, I am a former lifeguard.” The firebender took a break from beating Jae at Pai Sho to input their thoughts. “So if you were dying in the water, I could also save you.”

“Haruko, do you not know how to swim?” Koto asked, leaning over from the crate she had been reading on.

Haruko shrugged. “I mean, I can save myself from dying but it won’t be pretty. I grew up in the middle of a desert, remember?”

“For the record, I spent a considerable part of my life in that town and I’m a fantastic swimmer.” Hang grinned proudly.

Haruko scoffed. “For the record, you’re a waterbender and probably have some built-in ‘great swimmer’ gene or whatever.”

“Do you earthbenders have a built-in good at… rocks gene?” Hang stammered. “My analogy kinda fell apart there.”

“Y’know,” Koto said, sounding like she was reading from a book of trivia. “They do say that earthbenders have a better constitution than others. They’re pretty formidable.”

As if to test Koto’s fun fact, Hang lightly punched Haruko in the shoulder. “Does that hurt?”

“Geez, Hang.” Haruko massaged where she had been hit. “You hit me on a bruise.”

“Sorry.” Hang apologized, then turned to Koto. “Looks like your fact was fake.”

Koto frowned. “That’s not what constitution is.”

“Argh, I can’t win against you!” Jae ran a hand through his hair in frustration and collapsed dramatically onto the deck floor, Pai Sho tiles strewn all around him. Evidently, the nonbender had lost yet another game. “You’ve gotta be cheating.”

“Maybe I’m just better at Pai Sho than you,” Tala gloated in their victory. “By the way, when’re Aazir and Jun going to get here? We need to talk about things.”

“I don’t know.” Haruko said. “I think they were getting lunch.”

“We brought sandwiches!” Aazir announced as he and the captain approached the small group only a few moments after Tala had complained of their absence. As they came closer, Haruko saw that they had brought a plate of sandwiches each, presumably to distribute amongst the group.

After everyone had been given their choice of food and the newcomers settled in around the Pai Sho board Tala and Jae had set up, Tala got straight to the point, not even letting anyone eat. “What are we going to do?”

“Hmm….” Koto mused as she ate. “If we continue to head north, they’ll probably blockade us. They know our ship and who we are, so they won’t allow us to pass through on water.”

“They know our ship…” Aazir mused. “Any chance we could swim to Republic City?”

Hang and Jae both laughed at his idea, but no one else did.

“We’re only a ways from Yu Dao.” Jun added, resting his chin on his hand. “If we can pass through there it's a done deal, they can’t do nothing to us if we’re docked in a United Republic dock with a passport, even if ya are a suspected criminal.” He spoke with the certainty of someone with personal experience.

“That would be great, if we’re even able to enter Yu Dao. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to blockade us.” Hang scoffed.

“We were able to beat ‘em a few nights ago.” Jae pointed out, still laying on the floor. “You destroyed them.”

“Yeah, but that was a full moon. It’s not gonna be a full moon when we run into them.” Hang explained, her voice passive. “Plus, they’ll probably have more than one boat.”

“Maybe we could stay where we are until the next full moon. We probably have enough supplies to drop anchor where we are and wait it out.” Jae picked up a Pai Sho tile and examined it thoughtfully.

“No.” Koto shook her head, her loose hair bouncing as she moved. “I have to get Haruko- I have to get everyone to Air Temple Island as fast as I can. It’s my duty as an airbender, I promised them.”

Aazir shot a worried glance at Haruko. She ignored it, turning to look at Tala.

Tala started to pick up the Pai Sho pieces, deep in thought. “We’re… what, a few days away from Yu Dao?”

“‘Bout a day and half, at our current speed.” Jun said, looking to the sky as if that could give them some measure of how fast they were going.

“And have we passed Gangbei yet?”

“Nah, we’re set to pass it in-” Jun checked his watch. “Bout two hours.”

“Well, that’s perfect.” Tala said. “I’ve got some friends in Gangbei- you remember Ahsa, right? You can drop us off there and we can travel to Republic City on land; we could drive, or take a train, or something.”

Jun nodded, speaking in his typical calm, drawn out cadence. “S’pose that could work, and if they find me and ask me if I’ve seen where y’all are I can just say that I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“I’ll go with you guys,” Jae added, sitting up. “If you’re headed to Republic City, you’ll need someone who knows it.” When Koto shot him a glare, he raised his hands in defense, “- and I personally know the city like the back of my hand. I can help.”

“Fine by me.” Hang shrugged. Everyone else nodded; the plan was extremely sound.

“We should all pack.” Aazir stood up. “Especially if we’re going to be there soon.”

As the group walked down to the cabins they had been occupying for the past few days, Aazir pulled Haruko into a cabin- the one she had been sharing with Koto- and closed the door behind them.

“What is up with you?!” Aazir whispered, his jaw clenched. Even though he towered over her by several inches, Haruko couldn’t see him as anything but her little brother.

“Wh- what do you mean?” Haruko asked.

“You’re acting weird; ever since we left you’ve been acting strange, you and Koto. What is up with you two?”

Haruko couldn’t respond, not immediately. She had been keeping secrets from her brother, something she would have never fathomed before. But things were different now, and she couldn’t trust Aazir with something so life-changing, something even she wasn’t used to yet. “I’m just a little overwhelmed, a lot’s happened lately. I’m sorry.”

Aazir took a breath to calm himself. “Yeah, you’re right.” His voice sounded stilted, as if he were going to great lengths to sound certain about it. “I’m probably just overreacting. It’s been a rough time.”

“We’ll get through it.” Haruko put her hand on Aazir’s shoulder. “I promise.”

unfortunate news

Hanuel stood on her hands for nearly five minutes before falling on her back- a new personal record. As she picked herself up from the soft, earthy training ground, she heard one person applauding her.

“Woo!” Mikah cheered as she walked towards him. Jitsuko didn’t look up from her book, but gave her a thumbs up.

Hanuel exhaled as she sat down, leaning against some boxes alongside Mikah and Jitsuko. She stared at the gym’s glass ceiling, the afternoon sun smiling down on her. Years ago, when she was first identified as the avatar, Prime Minister Mira had commissioned the building for her personal avatar training. The building was constructed in the metallic Zaofu style of architecture, supposedly to give Hanuel a sense of familiarity while on long trips to Ba Sing Se, and featured an obstacle course, a pool, a bending arena for all bending types, and a general training area, where they were currently.

“That was really impressive.” Mikah smiled as Hanuel sat next to him; he handed her a cool water bottle. “I couldn’t do that if I tried.”

Hanuel smiled. “Aw, thanks. I’m sure you could, though, it’s really easy.” Mikah had a lot of bulk strength and dexterity, even if he never used it for combat. Hanuel suspected that if he ever revoked his vows of healing, he could become one of the best combative waterbenders in the world.

“Aw, thanks.” Mikah smiled, a faint blush rising to his cheeks. “So, how’s Avatar work going?”

Hanuel smiled, glad to talk about the work she had been toiling over the past few days. “You guys are never going to believe this- it’s absolutely wild.”

Jitsuko perked up and closed her book, invested in the conversation.

“So basically.” Hanuel continued, accentuating her words with hand gestures. “There was like, this huge break in at this facility in the Coral Isles by these pirates or whatever. And Mira put me in charge of hunting them down so they don’t spill all the secrets! And it’s crazy, there were like, two firebenders there and- get this- an airbender! An airbender doing crime!”

“That’s weird.” Jitsuko stated. “I thought they were pacifists.”

“Me too.” Hanuel replied. Koto came to mind, her friend had always taken the traditions of the air nomads so seriously. She wondered what she would think of all this.

“What’s the Earth Confederacy doing in the Coral Isles?” Mikah asked, his voice soft and almost afraid. “Isn’t it a little close to the Southern Water Tribe?”

“I don’t know.” Hanuel replied, the realization just then dawning on her. “But I’m sure it’s important.”

Mikah didn’t respond, leaving a grave, dead silence hanging between them.

Eventually, Jitsuko broke the silence, sounding forcibly pleasant to lighten the mood. “Hey… Hanuel, wanna run the obstacle course against me?”

Hanuel nodded, glad for the opportunity to exercise out her worry.

Before Hanuel could get to the obstacle course, she and Jitsuko were stopped by Yu Yan.

“I need to speak with the Avatar.” The woman said, taking Hanuel by the elbow. “I hope that’s ok?” She directed the question more at Jitsuko than she did Hanuel.

Jitsuko shrugged. “Fine by me. I’ll just get ready.” She motioned to her updone hair and fire nation soldier’s uniform, neither of which were practical for sports. Jitsuko waved goodbye to Hanuel after mouthing ‘good luck’, walking backwards in the direction of the women’s locker room.

Yu Yan nodded in approval and dragged Hanuel into one of the nearby equipment rooms. The closet was stuffier than the gym proper and full of a mix of earthbending discs, armor sets, and unlabeled boxes. There was barely any light, barely any room for the two of them to stand together.

“What is it?” Hanuel asked. She rested her hands on her hips.

Yu Yan coughed, the dust of the room must’ve been getting to her allergies. Hanuel made a small gesture with her hand, aiding the dust’s settling with her earthbending.

“Thank you, Avatar.” Yu Yan said as she shuffled through the papers on her clipboard, eventually settling on one. “Here’s something you might want to see.” She shoved the board at Hanuel, gesturing for her to take it.

Hanuel read over the page Yu Yan had indicated. It was a naval report from a seaside base a bit north of Gangbei, the area where she had ordered a blockade set up to prevent the pirates from escaping to the Earth Confederacy. The document was hard to read- chock full of legal terminology and ship jargon she only half-understood, but the gist of it was clear.

“They never showed up.” Hanuel read off the page, paraphrasing it for simplicity. “According to their trajectory, they should’ve reached the blockade by now, but they’ve just vanished. What happened?”

Yu Yan nodded calmly, so composed that she had to have read the report beforehand. “Apparently, they’ve outsmarted us. They’ve probably docked elsewhere, though we can’t tell where. The last we saw them, they were around Kyoshi Island; they could be anywhere by now.”

Hanuel nodded, the reality sinking in. Failure felt like a cold hand on her shoulder, looming over her head. She couldn’t fail, this was too important.

“I haven’t told the Prime Minister about this yet,” Yu Yan confessed. “Since I received it directly from the officers. Should I inform her?”

Hanuel shook her head. “No. I can take care of this.” She opened the closet door, letting Yu Yan out first before closing it behind them. “I’ll see you later.”

the safehouse

Gangbei was a small port city, around the same size as Jing Zi if Haruko were to guess based on the small part of the city she had seen and was just as humid as Aringeru. With every new place she visited, it became more and more apparent to Haruko that the little corner of the desert she had grown up in was incredibly different from everything else the world had to offer.

It was easy enough to observe the world from the streetside bench where the group sat while Tala made a phone call, presumably to his friends. The people of Gangbei wore green- a true, rich green unlike the earthy browns of Jing Zi or the tropical rainbow of Aringeru. Here, the group stood out like a sore thumb- obvious outsiders. Haruko pretended not to the curious stares of passersby.

“We’re being watched.” Koto mused, evidently picking up on the same cues as Haruko. She had covered up the arrows on her forehead and arms with a thick headband and a long-sleeved sweater, though she looked painfully hot. Haruko noticed the airbender kept adjusting her sleeves and collar nervously.

“Don’t look at them and they won’t look at you.” Hang stated, not looking up from the map she had picked up at the traveler's center. It displayed the city’s regions in bright colored ink. Haruko was starting to suspect Hang just liked collecting maps.

“We’ve been sitting here for like an hour.” Aazir whined, draped over the bench. “When are whoever-they-are going to get here?”

Jae, who was standing closest to the phone booth Tala currently occupied, turned to check on the firebender. “Looks like they’re still talking.” He shrugged. “I can’t even tell what they’re talking about.”

After a few moments of silence, Tala emerged from the phone booth. “Good news! Ahsa and Tehreem will be here in a few minutes to pick us up.”

“Thank the spirits.” Aazir groaned, pulling his jacket collar out to cool down. “It’s so hot here…”

Tala’s friends arrived in a satomobile a few moments later- a low-riding model with enough room to comfortably seat all of them. It was newer than what Haruko was used to seeing; she wondered how a band of criminals acquired it then felt stupid for questioning it.

Haruko didn’t recognize the woman driving the car; she had thick black hair and hard-set facial features like Haruko and Aazir, and wore a scarf over hair in the style of the Gila tribe- she was Si Wong, like Aazir and her. Next to her sat Ahsa, whom Haruko did recognize. Now wearing a casual summer outfit, the firebender had donned wide-frame sunglasses and tied her bleached hair into a high ponytail. “Get in the car.” She ordered calmly.

Haruko ended up sitting directly behind the driver’s seat, cramped between Jae and the car door. She was thankful that the window was open, even if it meant she was exposed to the sounds and scents of the street.

“You guys want to listen to the radio?” The driver said as soon as everyone had sat down.

“Sure.” Jae replied as he adjusted his quiver between him and Haruko. “Never got your name, sorry.”

The driver flipped a dial on the car’s radio, setting it to a pop station. “I’m Tehreem. Nice to meet you.”

“Jae.” Jae introduced himself. As he started to make conversation with Ahsa and Tehreem, Haruko looked out the window, observing the transition from fashionable shops and business offices to run-down homes and storefronts.

“Hey Haruko, get this!” Jae elbowed her in the side. “Tehreem’s a sandbender like you!”

“What?” Haruko snapped back to attention.

“Well, I wouldn’t call myself a sandbender, seeing as I can’t bend.” Tehreem explained. “But I am from the desert. Gila tribe.”

Haruko’s observation was correct. “Najma, me and Aazir both.” She offered. If she remembered correctly, their tribes had been allies before the relocation act.

“Najma, eh?” Tehreem shot Ahsa a quick glance, a secret traded in looks. Ahsa nodded, though Haruko couldn’t figure out why.

“Here’s our home base of operations,” Ahsa explained as she led the group through the fifth floor of the abandoned building where they arrived. “At least here in Gangbei, it is.”

The floors they had previously toured were large and mostly empty- save for the random office chair or vending machine- but this one had been organized into a home of sorts. There was a kitchen, living space, and sectioned-off rooms all visible from the entrance. It seemed like the group had moved all salvageable furniture to this area to make it inhabitable.

“Why’s it abandoned?” Koto wondered aloud as she, like everyone else, moved around the area. “The building, I mean,”

“Bankruptcy,” Ahsa said, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Some corporate setup that never took off or something. Think they were looking for oil offshore.” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the ocean. “Hey Arnook, get in here, we’ve got company!” The firebender called towards one of the doors.

A tall, built water tribe man in his late thirties or early forties entered the room. He wore loose, dark blue robes and styled his graying hair in a braid. Despite not looking familiar in any way, Haruko could’ve sworn she had seen the man before.

“This is Arnook.” Ahsa gestured to the man. “Team waterbender and resident spiritual expert.” The man bowed in greeting.

Koto huffed as if she doubted Arnook’s abilities.

“Arnook, these are some of Tala’s friends. They’re running from the feds and want transportation to…. Republic City, right?”

“Right,” Hang confirmed. “I’m Hang, that’s Jae, Haruko, Aazir, and Koto. You obviously already know Tala.”

Arnook nodded as he glanced over the group, his gaze catching on each one of them. Haruko’s heart nearly stopped as she made eye contact with the man. He seemed to focus acutely on her, but she couldn’t understand why.

“That one’s an airbender,” Ahsa said as Arnook’s gaze landed on Koto. The airbender removed her headband to prove Ahsa’s point.

Arnook nodded. “Interesting.” He made eye contact with Hang. “You’re a waterbender.”

Hang tightened her grip across her satchel.

“He can pick up on that sort of thing,” Tehreem explained as she opened one of the kitchen cabinets. “Calls it ‘aura reading’ or something. I don’t get it.”

Haruko exchanged a glance with Koto. If Arnook could tell that Hang was a waterbender just by looking at her, there was a chance he knew their secret. The airbender shook her head and motioned for Haruko to pay attention to what was happening.

Hang nodded. “I am. I’m from the Foggy Swamp Tribe.”

“You have a lot of potential.” Arnook commented. “Both in waterbending and spiritually. It would be my honor to teach you.”

“What, me?” Hang pressed a hand to her chest for emphasis. “Spiritual?”

Arnook nodded.

“You sure you’re not talking to, like, Koto?” Hang gestured to the airbender, disbelief still evident in her voice and expression.

“No, I’m referring to you. You have a lot of potential, even if you don’t realize it.”

“Alright,” Hang said. “I’ll try.” Her face betrayed her remaining doubt.

“Anyways, before you guys start astral projecting or whatever,” Ahsa quipped, “I’m going to get you guys situated. You can start unpacking.” She gave Tehreem a smile and a kiss on the cheek before leading the group to another part of the floor.

Ahsa led the group to a large, long room blocked off by sturdy walls of concrete- Haruko could tell they were created through earthbending..

“Our earthbender put those up,” Ahsa commented, noticing Haruko’s interest. “He’s away on business right now.”

“Cool,” Haruko replied and turned to the rest of the room. It was more of a hall lined with a colorful array of bedrolls. Like the rest of the building, it had no electricity; the only light and air circulation coming from a pair of open windows on one side of the room.

“Y’know, we’ve got every element but air,” Ahsa commented as she leaned on the doorway.

“I’m not joining your group.” Koto asserted as she started to unpack her things by one of the bedrolls. She had removed her sweater and folded it neatly on the bedding, leaving her in a white tank top that exposed her pale shoulders and arms. Haruko had never noticed how bony she was, how defined her collarbone seemed to be in the late afternoon sun.

“Anyways.” Ahsa continued. “Bathrooms are down the left hall and adjacent to the kitchen; don’t mess with the plumbing too much, or you’ll have to get Arnook to fix it; we don’t have hot water but we do have firebenders, and dinner’s at sundown. Questions?”

Haruko shook her head alongside everyone else in the group. “Sweet.” Ahsa said. “I’ll see you guys later.” With that, she left the room.

Haruko walked over to the bedroll second from the window, right in between the ones Aazir and Koto had already claimed, and started to unpack her belongings. Pasha, who had been sitting inside her bag, hopped out and started to explore the area.

“Heya Pash,” Aazir said as the meerfox settled on his bedroll, burrowing a hole in the light of the sun. He looked up to Haruko. “So, we’ll be staying here for a while?”

Haruko shrugged as she pulled off her jacket. “I think so, yeah.”

“I will get you two to Republic City.” Koto added, speaking as if the world depended on their arrival. “I promise.”

Aazir nodded. It was clear he wanted to say more.

“There’s something on your mind,” Haruko said, trying to get more out of Aazir.

Aazir sighed. “I’m fine.” Whatever he was thinking about, he wasn’t going to say. Haruko supposed he had picked that up from her.

Sundown came soon and before she knew it, Haruko was eating instant noodles with her own new friends and the members of Tala’s group, all gathered around a low table listening to Tehreem tell a story.

“So I’m actually not a hundred percent Gila,” the woman explained. “My parents were from Republic City and descended from the Si Wong tribe; they were part of the Equalist movement, believe it or not.” She laughed, and Ahsa and Arnook laughed with her.

“Those guys who hated benders?” Aazir blurted out in surprise, more invested in the story than anyone else.

“Yup.” Tehreem continued. “After they got chased out of the city, they ended up back in the desert where they had me. Was raised in the desert up until the sandbender relocation act.” She scoffed. “Our tribe was one of the first targeted; we inhabited an area near a delta they wanted to build on.”

“Gross,” Aazir commented. “They took our tribe's land cause there was supposedly oil underneath it. I don’t even know if they found any oil.”

“Same case here,” Hang added as she ate her noodles. “Though I have no idea what they wanted the swamp for. Might’ve just wanted to evict all us waterbenders for their make-believe ‘unified earth nation’ bullshit.”

“This is depressing,” Tala remarked, putting their fist on an open palm for emphasis. Haruko was starting to notice that they did that quite a lot. “Let’s stop talking about all the bad things the Earth Confederacy has done and focus on what we can do to fix it.”

“I’ve heard around,” Arnook spoke up for the first time since dinner started. “That there’s a shipment coming in of medical supplies. It’s supposed to be sent up to the hospital where it will be horrendously overpriced, but if we commandeer it, we can distribute it amongst those who need it.”

Ahsa smiled. “Great, when’s it coming in?”

“A few weeks from now,” Arnook replied.

“It’s set then.” Ahsa put her fist on her hand. Tala must’ve picked up the gesture from her. She made eye contact with Haruko, then Hang, Koto, Aazir, and Jae. “I hope it’s ok that we hold off taking you guys to Republic City.”

“No problem,” Jae replied for the group. “We’re happy to help.”

“To freedom!” Tehreem lifted her cup of noodles in the air in a toast. The rest of the team, Haruko included, followed suit.

“To freedom!”

“Haruko!” Koto whispered. “Wake up.”

Haruko groaned as Koto gently rocked her, turning towards the sound of her voice. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was midnight. The light of the moon poured in from the window and cast long shadows across their sleeping friends.

“What is it?” Haruko grumbled, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. “It’s the middle of the night…” Koto had tied up her shoulder-length hair in a ponytail, leaving the front strands framing her face. Her features were soft, illuminated by the moonlight.

“I was thinking we could train on the rooftop.” Koto kept her voice to a low whisper. “So we don’t get caught.”

It was easy enough to understand that they would be practicing airbending on the roof. It would still be risky, but it would give them a chance to talk. “Alright.” Haruko whispered.

Koto led Haruko out the window and up the fire escape to the roof. It was a flat roof, high enough to see Gangbei’s skyline and the open sky above. Haruko could even see the distant ocean.

“Come over here.” Koto directed Haruko to the center of the roof and situated her in front of her, assuming a light stance. “You try.”

Haruko imitated Koto’s stance, albeit heavily. She felt like she was doing it wrong.

“You’re approaching it too much like earthbending.” Koto chided, walking behind Haruko and putting her hands under Haruko’s arms, lifting her up. Her hands were warm. “You really should’ve learned firebending before even starting on air, but we’re in a… unique situation.” Koto paused for a moment, lost in thought. The airbender’s eyes seemed to drift behind Haruko’s head until she shook her head and refocused herself. “Anyways, watch me. Try to move in spirals, with the air around you.” She moved her arms in a circular motion, creating a gentle spiraling breeze.

Haruko imitated Koto’s movements. She tried to form a connection with the air like she had with the earth. It was present, it was there, and she could guide it. It took less physical effort to move the wind in the same sweeping path Koto did, and before she knew it, Haruko was assisting Koto in creating a gentle vortex into the sky.

“You’re a natural.” Koto complimented as they stopped bending.

“Thanks,” Haruko replied, then paused. “Do you think Arnook knows?”

Koto put her hand on her chin to think. “I don’t know. There’s a chance he does, but everything rides on him telling or not.” She hesitated, leaving dead silence for just a moment. “You know we’re gonna have to tell everyone eventually? There’s no doubt it’s you, at all. You can airbend effortlessly.”

Haruko nodded, Koto’s words causing a knot to form in her stomach. “I know. Are you sure your mom will be able to help us?”

Koto nodded and put her hand on Haruko’s shoulder. “She will, I know it. She’s a spiritual expert and a close friend of Korra’s; if anyone will know what to do, it’s her.”

Haruko nodded, hanging on to Koto’s words for reassurance. “Alright. I trust you.”

fluid motion

Haruko awoke to the sound of distant city noise. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She had been traveling around and sleeping in so many different places for the past month, and the morning sounds of Gangbei were so similar to those of Jing Zi that for a moment, Haruko thought she was back home. She was confronted with reality the moment she opened her eyes.

The hall she had slept in was pleasant, especially so in the morning, with the refreshing scent of the ocean drifting through the window. Judging by the light, it was around mid-morning, and she was the only person in the room, save for Koto.

Koto had woken up before her and had gotten dressed and cleaned up after their moonlit airbending training session. She sat in the window, looking off into the city skyline. Haruko wondered how she didn’t fear falling.

“You’re up!” Koto stood up as she noticed Haruko. “Everyone else is training at the beach. I didn’t want to wake you up, so I stayed behind,”

Haruko smiled. “Thanks.” She picked up her jacket and tossed it over her shoulders- there was no use changing when she had slept in her day clothes. “So….”

Koto sighed. She, too, was aware of the tension that formed whenever the two of them were alone. “This is… it’s…” the airbender stuttered, avoiding stating the blatant truth.

“It’s a bad situation.” Haruko finished for her. “A really, really bad situation.” Since the factory break-in, Haruko had been trying and failing to wrap her head around the fact that she was the most powerful person in the world and that everything anyone knew about the current Avatar was a lie.

“It is….” Koto said, whispering even though there wasn’t anyone there to overhear them. “I- I don’t know what this will do to change things. I assume it’ll invalidate a large number of treaties and agreements; people will feel lied to because they weren’t given the real avatar, not to mention the public scandal this will make for the Beifong family.”

Haruko’s mind raced as she tried to process what Koto was saying. Beifong family scandals? She was barely getting used to the fact that it was really her. Haruko stared at her hands- hands capable of bending any element. She had airbent. She had airbent twice. There was no doubt in the world that it was her and somehow everything was wrong. How could she have not known this?

“Look.” Koto put her hand on Haruko’s shoulder, leaning down so they saw eye-to-eye. “We’re going to get through this. It’ll be alright.”

“Will it?” Haruko asked.

Koto nodded. She looked like she could will the universe into doing what she wished. “It will. I promise. We’re going to make it through this. You’re going to make it through this. Things will be normal for you.” She hesitated. “They have to be.”

Haruko nodded and took Koto’s hand off her shoulder. They were standing by the hall’s entrance by now. “Let’s go join the others.”

“So, what do you think of Tala’s friends?” Haruko asked as she and Koto walked to the beach. It wasn’t too far of a trip from the abandoned office to the shore, which Haruko was thankful for.

Koto shrugged. “I don’t know… I can’t say I trust them, but…” She trailed off.

“Do you trust anyone?” Haruko joked, recalling Koto’s initial reaction to Jae.

“I trust you.” Koto stated, not elaborating on the subject.

Haruko fidgeted with her sleeves. “Yeah, I guess you do.”

Within a few minutes of walking alongside the broken, sun-bleached pavement, the shoreline and their companions came into view. It was water as far as Haruko could see, a view she had never seen from land before. The sight nearly took her breath away.

Arnook and Hang were standing next to the beach, engrossed in their training. Haruko couldn’t tell what they were talking about from so far away, but it was clear that Hang was imitating the fluid forms Arnook performed with mastery. Further down the shoreline, Tala and Ahsa trained, though Haruko couldn’t decipher what they were doing other than that it involved a lot of violent flashes. Tehreem, Jae, and Aazir had set up a blanket on the beach and weren’t doing any sort of training at all; instead, they were eating lunch. Koto led Haruko over to the picnic.

“Mornin, sleepyheads.” Tehreem greeted them by lifting her bottle. “Was wondering when you’d get up.”

“Very funny.” Haruko deadpanned as she and Koto sat down on the blanket. Aazir offered her a steamed bun, which she gladly took.

“What’s up here?” Koto asked.

“Training day.” Tehreem responded as she leaned back on her wrists. “Prep for the big raid in a few weeks. We’ve gotta be in top shape then.” A distant explosion came from Ahsa and Tala’s direction. Tehreem only glanced at the firebenders long enough to see that they were both ok. “Anyways, I’m taking it off today because I’m obviously not gonna train either of you-” She gestured between Aazir and Haruko, “in earthbending, or air for you, arrow girl. Jae and I have too different personal combat styles for us to really blend our training, so we’ll wait and train later.”

“She’s got one of those zappy gloves,” Jae beamed, referring to Tehreem. He flexed his fingers as a demonstration of the motion in the absence of the actual glove. “She showed me back at home base.”

“Really?” Koto exclaimed, looking genuinely surprised.

“Yup.” Tehreem idly whistled. “One of the older models, but it still works fine. Anyways, I’ve been wondering.” She turned to look Koto in the eyes. “What’re you guys off to Republic City for?”

Koto narrowed her eyes. “Didn’t Tala tell you? We’re running from the Earth Confederacy government.”

“There’s more to that.” Tehreem stated.

“There’s not.” Koto replied firmly. “I’m taking them to air temple island so I can guarantee their safety. Nothing more.”

Haruko looked between Tehreem and Koto, both of them locked in each other’s gazes. She glanced at Jae and Aazir, who seemed to sense the tension as much as she did.

“Anyways.” Tehreem closed her eyes and turned away. “Looks like our friends have drawn a crowd.”

The pair of waterbenders had garnered the attention of some strangers- namely, a group of young children and their parents out walking on the beach. The kids seemed entranced in the way Hang and Arnook gracefully bent the water; they looked as fascinated with the art as Haruko was every time she saw it. A few moments later, a sharp shrill rang out across the beach.

Haruko jumped to her feet alongside her companions and followed Tehreem over to where Arnook and Hang were standing; she noticed Tala and Ahsa following.

“What’s up?” Tehreem whispered to the elder waterbender. Arnook shrugged and looked off into the distance. Following his gaze, Haruko noticed it- a young man in a Earth Confederacy military uniform marching towards them.

“What are you doing here?” The officer barked as he reached the group. “This beach is restricted and on lockdown, no one is allowed to be here.” The greencoat looked between Arnook and Hang, the latter of which was still standing knee-deep in the ocean. Of everyone there, they posed the most threat to him.

“You cannot, in good conscience, sever or restrict humanity's connection to nature.” Arnook stated, a brewing storm underneath the calm tones of his voice.

“The law disagrees with your sentiments.” The officer replied matter-of-factly. His attempt at intimidation was undermined both by the fact he had to look up at Arnook to make eye contact and that he was standing on his toes.

“Chill it, Arnook.” Ahsa called as she jogged to approach them, Tala in her wake. “It’s not worth it, we can just go home.”

Arnook sighed and turned to leave, letting everyone follow him back to the picnic blanket to clean up. He and Ahsa whispered together briefly, though about what, Haruko couldn’t decipher. She turned to Tala for clarification, any clarification, but they just shrugged, leaving Haruko to walk alone with her thoughts.

the raid

All Haruko could hear was the steady rattling of her heart as she sat, crouched in the shadow of the night sky, above the city docks. Time in Gangbei had passed in a flash as she got accustomed to it, and before she could fully register the situation, she was taking part in yet another illegal raid- this time, stealing medical supplies for the greater good. Despite the relative normalcy of the last month, this situation was so unfamiliar to her that it took actual effort to register her current reality; she couldn’t keep her mind straight.

Haruko took a deep breath and focused on her surroundings so she wouldn’t pass out. She was sitting on a roof, crouched behind a tiny wall, overlooking a pier. Below her was gravel and stone- earthen material she could use at her disposal. It served as defense and ammunition, but there wasn’t a lot of it she could make use of without causing lasting damage to the building beneath her feet. Still, there was silt below the wooden pier and concrete near the beach. She could improvise.

To her left sat Arnook, transfixed on the scene below them even though nothing had happened yet. Every so often, Haruko would steal a glance at the Water Tribe man, and every time he would have the same, focused expression. Arnook had carried with him a few waterskins, though Haruko doubted he would need them thanks to the proximity of the ocean. Next to Arnook was Hang, then Tala, all focused on the ground below. They had arrived early to wait for the delivery. This was an ambush. A well-planned, thought-out ambush. The very thought gave Haruko relief.

To Haruko’s right was Aazir. He looked as focused as Arnook, or at least like he was trying to be. The young earthbender kept glancing around nervously at his teammates, periodically flexing and unflexing his fists. Aazir was tenser than Haruko had ever seen him before, waiting for the moment to strike. Beyond him sat Tehreem, Jae, Koto, and Ahsa, all in perfect formation, waiting to strike.

Haruko mentally reviewed the plan Arnook and Tehreem had created before they left. Upon the arrival of the ship, she, alongside her brother, the waterbenders, and Tehreem, would jump down and seize the medical supplies, while the firebenders, Jae, and Koto performed ranged attacks from the roof. It was simple, it was succinct, and it was going to work, if for nothing but their sheer manpower.

A boat docked in the pier they were waiting above. It was small, even smaller than Jun’s ferry, and a rich velvet green, though some of the paint was chipped, revealing the metallic hull. Arnook raised his hand in a signal to the others, telling them not to strike yet. Haruko refocused on the ship below.

A small group of soldiers had emerged from the building they were standing on to greet the approaching craft, only a party of four and none of them looked high ranking. A separate party of three disembarked from the ship, one carrying a clipboard and the other two hauling a large, metallic case. The leaders of the two groups met in the light of a flickering street lamp and started to discuss their terms.

“Now!” Arnook called out, his deep voice loud and clear in the night. In a matter of moments- no, seconds- Haruko was on her feet, the gravel around her rising at her command. All the tension she had built up in the past hour of silently waiting was being put to use now.

Haruko leaped down from her perch on top of the building with ease; it was only a one-story drop, and she was able to soften the ground as she landed. Landing sturdily on her feet, Haruko immediately started throwing earth at the guards. They were earthbenders, as she had suspected, and easily redirected her attacks, but it didn’t phase her. She had planned on it; they all had.

Earthbending was second nature to Haruko, her grip on the gravel and concrete as natural as if she was lifting it with her own hands. She hadn’t earthbent since the last factory raid, but that didn’t matter. She was as in her element as she ever was.

The guard Haruko had been sparring with was inexplicably washed away in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but a puddle of water and the guard gasping for air on top of it. Haruko looked up and locked eyes with Hang. She had forgotten that she wasn’t alone.

Haruko gave Hang a slight nod and turned back to the battlefield, only to find it in shambles. Within moments, their team had decimated the small number of Earth Confederacy troops present. The only sign of struggle was Aazir clutching his arm from a bruise.

“Let’s get out of here.” Arnook said. He and Tehreem had grabbed ahold of the metallic case and were distributing its weight between themselves.

Haruko quickly departed from the area alongside her friends. They had won, but they wouldn’t if the guards woke up to them still standing around.

“To freedom!” Ahsa smiled as she lifted her glass, repeating the same toast from weeks earlier.

“To freedom!” The rest of the group echoed. Haruko even heard Koto’s voice among them.

“I can’t believe we won.” The airbender marveled as she drank. From what Haruko recalled, Koto had helped with ranged attacks by guiding Jae’s arrows. “That went incredibly smoothly. How did that go so smoothly?”

“Guess we know what we’re doing.” Tehreem smiled smugly and took a sip of her drink. “That went better than usual though. I think we outnumbered them. To new friends!” The woman toasted. Like Ahsa’s toast, hers was met with applause.

Haruko sighed and leaned back on her arms. She watched as Arnook healed up the bruise on Aazir’s shoulder- the only casualty during the fight. Hang started to play a soft, joyful tune on her banjo as Jae delved into a long-winded story about growing up in Republic City.

Haruko felt the presence of a warm hand on her shoulder and turned around to face Ahsa. “Hey, good job out there.” The firebender smiled.

“No problem.” Haruko responded.

“We’ll work on getting you guys to Republic City tomorrow. It’s the least we can do to help you guys.”

Haruko nodded, reminded of the impermanence of the moment. Come tomorrow morning, she would be leaving this city to another unknown, temporary home. She buried her doubts in the back of her mind. She could enjoy this moment for what it was. “Thank you.” Haruko said to the firebender. “Your people have been too kind to my brother and me.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Ahsa smiled and punched her lightly in the shoulder. “We’ll always welcome you here. You’re family!”

Something seemed off about Ahsa’s comment, but Haruko ignored it. She closed her eyes, and for a moment, allowed herself to relax.

crashing waves

Koto didn’t sleep. She couldn’t. Despite being all but exhausted from the night’s fight, she couldn’t settle down on the bedroll. The room was too stuffy, too warm, too much like a far-off memory she didn’t want to recall. She felt like she was burning up. After a few hours of tossing and turning to no avail, she settled on going out to the roof and getting some fresh air.

The room she and her companions had been sleeping in was one of the farthest from the main stairwells. Koto supposed she could’ve taken the fire escape as she had with Haruko whenever they held moonlight training sessions, but she was already on her way to the main stairs; it would be redundant to turn back now.

The hallway was cold and forebodingly dark as Koto walked through it, a sign of the coming winter. Koto regretted not bringing her sweater and settled on passively warming the air around her as much as she could- an old airbender trick that worked wonders as long as the bender was able to keep focus. The entire building was dead silent as Koto walked through it. It was as if she was the only waking person in Gangbei.

As Koto was about to turn into the main living space, she heard voices. Soft, hushed, clearly awake voices. She pulled herself to the wall and pressed her body against it, making as little sound as possible. A warm light shone through the crack in the kitchen door, casting a sliver of gold across the ground. Koto held her breath and listened.

“The medical recovery mission went well,” One of the voices, distinctly male and Water Tribe, stated. It was Arnook. “What’s our next move?”

“Z’s gonna meet us up in Omashu in, what, a week?” Another voice replied, Ahsa’s. “We could take the kids to Republic City, catch a train down south, and be done with it.”

Koto exhaled in relief; they were simply discussing their travel plans, like any normal group of people. But something felt off. Tala wasn’t with them; Koto remembered stepping around the firebender’s sleeping frame. And why were they planning so late at night?

“Alright.” A third voice echoed, distinctly Tehreem’s. “Bit of a stretch though, right? Republic City and Omashu are in opposite directions. And Omashu’s much closer, seems most logical to me to head south, pick up Z, and then take the kids up north with him.”

Ahsa made a disapproving noise. “We can’t… the two earthbending kids are…. Y’know... we can’t just spring that on him. Or them.”

“I agree,” Arnook said. “I’d say the best course of action is to split up. Tala and I will escort the kids to Republic City, while you and Tehreem will go meet Z in Omashu.”

“You think Tala will be good to say goodbye to them?” Tehreem asked. “They seem pretty attached to their new friends.”

“They’ll have to,” Arnook replied, his voice grave and deep. “That’s why I’ll be there, to keep them focused on the mission.”

Koto didn’t know why she stayed pressed up against the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation. She supposed she was too deep in the situation to back out now.

“Speaking of the mission.” Ahsa added; Koto imagined her leaning over the table as she often did when speaking, “What’re we doing next? After we get rid of the kids and meet up with Zahrun, what’s our next move?”

Koto held her breath, anticipating the next response. Her chest tightened as she reflexively lightened her stance to more easily airbend.

The sound of shuffling paper came before any response.

“I’d say…” Tehreem muttered. “Heard the state senator’s gonna be in town, what was her name, Tuyen?”

“Yeah, she’s the one who’s trying to tax water travel, right?” Ahsa replied. “Wanna try to take her out?”

“I’d be glad to,” Tehreem replied casually.

Koto’s heart nearly stopped. What Tehreem was suggesting wasn’t mere petty crime or liberating medical supplies. They were discussing the assassination of a government leader. She was listening to the beginnings of a murder plot.

“We should see what Z thinks of the idea.” Arnook advised, “Though, I doubt he’ll have any objections.” The waterbender then uttered words that stopped Koto’s breath- a mantra so familiar to her but so alien from her the lips of her associates.

“We are the red lotus, and we shall overcome the wrongdoings of our oppressors.” Arnook’s clear, low voice declared. Koto didn’t wait for Ahsa and Tehreem’s responses before she bolted back to her friends, running as fast as her airbending would allow.

“We have to leave!” Koto’s shout awoke Haruko from her sleep. She had never been a particularly light sleeper, but Koto’s voice rang out so loudly and sharply that it startled her out of her slumber.

“What’s happening?” Haruko whisper-shouted as she jumped to her feet. The others around her- particularly Hang and Tala- were doing the same, alarmed by Koto’s exclamation.

Koto marched over to her bedroll and started to pick up her stuff. She pulled on her wingsuit over her nightclothes. “We need to leave. Now. We’re in danger.”

Haruko nodded compliantly and packed up her belongings as quickly as she could, exchanging glances with Aazir and Hang. It wasn’t like Koto to be so brash, so anxious. Whatever was happening would have to be explained later.

“Are we under attack?” Tala asked as they packed, panic in their eyes and voice.

“Something like that.” Koto responded, sitting in the window with the fire escape. “Once you’re packed, follow me.”

Haruko zipped her bag shut, scooped Pasha into her arms, and joined Koto by the fire escape. She was soon followed by Aazir and Hang, though Tala and Jae lagged behind, being farthest from the window.

A sudden crash sent the group further into panic as the door burst open. It was Tehreem, her glove on her hand and already primed. She seemed as startled as the rest of them, but lunged towards Jae. Koto knocked her back with a gust of wind and shouted, “Run!”

Haruko practically jumped down the fire escape, tripping over the stairs and ladders. She used her airbending to assist her falls when she could, any thought of secrecy driven out of her mind and replaced by her instinct for self-preservation. Haruko made it to the ground unharmed, the first one there. In a matter of moments, she was joined by Hang, Aazir, and Jae. Tala and Koto lagged behind.

“What now?” Aazir asked Haruko. She shrugged and looked back up at the building. A brilliant blue light flashed from the floor they had exited, the scent of ozone wafting its way down to them- lightning.

Only a few seconds later, Koto and Tala made their way down the fire escape, the firebender leaning on the airbender’s body. As they reached the ground, Haruko could see how badly wounded Tala was.

“They’re injured,” Koto said, shrugging Tala’s weight onto Haruko and Aazir. “We need to get out of here, quickly.”

“A car, a car…” Jae muttered, then ran off in a random direction. “C’mon! We need to get a car!”

Jae led them to a car, the same one that Tehreem and Ahsa had picked them up in the first day. The nonbender instantly jumped into the driver’s seat and started fishing around in his bag for something.

Haruko led Tala into the back of the car and helped them get situated next to Hang, who had enveloped her hand in a glove of water to heal. “They got burnt.” The waterbender hastily explained. “I can’t tell how badly, but it needs immediate attention.

“What are you doing?” Koto asked Jae as she climbed into the passenger seat.

“Hotwiring the car so we can get out of here.” Jae stated without looking up, not bothering to elaborate. Haruko recognized some of his motions, but he was moving too fast for her to really comprehend it. She turned to Aazir, who was watching the window. Tehreem and Ahsa were scaling down the fire escape. Whatever was happening, they were running out of time.

“Yes!” Jae exclaimed, and before Haruko could comprehend what was happening, she was lurched back into her seat by the movement of the car.

“Where to?” Jae said as they sped down the street.

“Get out of the city.” Koto ordered, leaning out of the car to watch what was behind them. “Just get out of the city.”

“Roger that.” Jae nodded and made a turn that sent Haruko colliding with Aazir. Jae’s driving was reckless and definitely illegal, but it didn’t matter.

“They’re onto us!” Hang cried out. Haruko turned around and saw what she was referring to. Through the back window, she could see Arnook chasing them on a sheet of ice.

“Help me open the sunroof,” Haruko said to Aazir, already preparing herself to stand up

“Alright,” Aazir said, not masking the worry in his voice. Despite it, he did as she asked. “What are you doing?” He asked.

Haruko bit her lip, not knowing how to respond. “I don’t know.” She stood up on the seat of the car, the wind whipping in her hair. She couldn’t assume a full bending stance in the limited space, at least not an earthbending one. Haruko kept her palms open as she tried to imitate what she had seen Hang do before. There was water nearby; she could feel it if she tried, the presence of it so close she could almost grasp it, the fluid element just out of her reach. She had to wait for the right moment for her desperate plan to work. Their car would pass over a river in just a few moments; she just had to wait.

The moment she saw Arnook approach the bridge, Haruko brought her hands up in a fluid, swift motion, bringing gallons of water up with her. She closed her fists and froze it, the motion and process as natural to her as earthbending. Her first-ever act of waterbending left a wall of ice twelve feet high, covering the entire bridge. She collapsed back into the car, out of breath.

“Ha-Haruko!” Hang stuttered, her hand still on Tala’s chest. “What did you do?”

“Wait, that wasn’t you?” Jae called from the driver's seat.

Koto looked Haruko in the eye, fear palpable on her face.

“Of course it wasn’t me!” The waterbender retorted.

“What happened?” Aazir near - whispered, tugging on Haruko’s sleeve.

“You waterbent.” Koto whispered.

unveiled

It took them about twenty minutes to get a decent way out of the city, but it could’ve been a year. No one spoke for the entirety of the trip, other than Koto occasionally giving Jae directions. Even then, they only spoke in half-formed sentences, statements like “turn left” and “alright.” Haruko tried to focus on watching Hang heal Tala’s wounds. It was a different technique than she had seen before; instead of moving the water back and forth across the wound like Haruko was used to, Hang kept the water stationary around her hand and held it to Tala’s burnt chest, applying pressure. Haruko could feel Hang’s glower even though they weren’t making eye contact. She had a lot to explain, but couldn’t muster up the words yet; she had to be able to look everyone in the eye when she did. Despite being in a moving vehicle, the world seemed still.

Once they were far enough outside Gangbei’s city limits, Jae pulled the car up on the side of the road, stopped the engine, and was the first to leave, slamming the car’s door as he exited the vehicle. Koto was quick to follow him, leaving her door open as she left to either lecture or comfort Jae.

Haruko met Aazir’s glare. Her brother seemed furious with her, but more than that, he seemed scared. She understood why; he had every right to be upset with her. Without saying a word, Haruko grabbed Pasha and left the vehicle. Aazir was soon to follow, using the door opposite to her own. Hang and Tala joined them outside soon after, the six of them forming a circle. Haruko stood next to Koto and Jae, directly opposite Hang.

After checking that Tala was strong enough to stand on their own, the
waterbender marched towards Haruko, stopping short of colliding with her. Haruko could feel the other’s eyes watching them both, seeing who would speak first.

Hang fumbled around her own body for a moment, eventually taking off the waterskin she wore across her chest and tossing it at Haruko. She caught it; it was heavy with the liquid it contained and made a sort of sloshing noise as it moved around.

“Do it again.” Hang demanded. Haruko had never heard her this angry. She nodded in obligation.

After a moment of fumbling around trying to open the waterskin, Haruko closed her eyes. She held the waterskin in one hand and held the other in an open-palmed position. With a slow motion, she drew out the water from the leather pouch. It was a simpler maneuver than what she had done at the bridge, and the first time she had bent water like it was water, instead of a more malleable version of earth. Water had more motion than earth, even more than air. It took more effort to hold it still than it did to move it. Haruko opened her eyes to see that everyone was staring at her, eyes wide and mouths agape. It startled her, the water falling to the sandy ground.

Hang pulled the water back up with a fluid arm motion and returned it to the waterskin as Haruko handed it back to her. “She’s a waterbender.” The girl said, stepping back to her place in the circle. “I can’t believe it. How?”

Through the corner of her eye, Haruko caught sight of Aazir looking at her, then at Hang, then back at her, a pleading, sorrowful look in his eyes.

“Well.” Koto stepped forward into the circle, drawing the attention to herself. She gestured around with her hands nervously, eventually settling to have one on her chin and the other on Haruko’s shoulder. “You see, Haruko’s. Uh.” The airbender took in a breath and closed her eyes, preparing herself to reveal the truth. “Haruko’s the Avatar.”

“That’s nonsense!” Aazir accused as soon as the words were out of Koto’s mouth. “My sister isn’t the Avatar… you- you’re lying!”

Haruko held her breath, she didn’t know what to say.

“It makes sense…” Tala contemplated. “I mean, how else would she be able to bend two elements? We've all seen her earthbend, right?”

“But- but there’s already an Avatar'' Hang stammered, running a hand through her long hair. “There’s an Avatar and it’s not Haruko- it’s that Hanuel girl! She was on the news two days ago!” The anger was gone from her voice, replaced by a pleading confusion.

“It’s the truth.” Haruko affirmed, putting her hands palms-up in surrender. There was no point lying about it.

“It has to be.” Jae pointed out. “I’m no expert on bending, but even I know the ground rule of ‘only the Avatar can bend more than one element.’”

Aazir looked around at the other members of the group, a lost child looking for a home, for answers. He settled on locking eyes with his older sister. “It can’t be you!”

“How long have you known?” Tala offered, trying to introduce a new subject. “And why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

Koto bit her lip but started to speak. “We only found out-”

“-During the factory raid, in Aringeru.” Haruko interrupted. It was her story to tell. “I fell off the roof but was able to save myself by airbending. Koto realized what I was doing, and, well...” She shrugged, but the gesture seemed too casual for the situation. “And that’s all that’s happened. It’s still very… new.”

“We’ve also been training airbending in secret since we arrived at Gangbei.” Koto explained. “It’s not the cycle order, but I can’t exactly teach her firebending, so we had to improvise.”

Hang put a hand to her temple. “So. Assuming you are the Avatar-”

“She absolutely is.” Koto interrupted. Hang put up a hand to silence her.

“Assuming it’s you… what now?” The waterbender asked. Haruko shrugged.

“We… continue to Republic City, I guess.” Koto shrugged. “That’s why I was taking her there in the first place, to see my mother. She’ll know what to do about this.”

Hang nodded, clearly doubtful.

“Yeah….” Jae nodded, sounding like he was speaking to reassure himself. “That could work. Yeah. We can just ride up to the United Republic. We’ve got a car.”

“Why’d we leave?” Tala blurted out, causing everyone to turn to them.

Koto rearranged the position of her hands. “Well, it’s complicated…” Hang looked between her and Tala.

“Why’d we leave?” Tala repeated, more forcibly this time. “We were going to take you guys to Republic City. There was no reason to leave! You attacked my friends! Why?”

Koto took a heavy breath. “I found out that the group you were affiliated with is the Red Lotus.” She said the last two words carefully, but full of hatred.

Tala took a moment to register what Koto had said. “Yeah? And? You knew we were criminals beforehand! What makes you so high and mighty now?!”

“Do you know who the Red Lotus are?! What they’ve done in the past?” Koto shouted. “They tried to kill Avatar Korra! They threw the Earth Kingdom into chaos! They almost wiped out my entire people!” It was clear from the airbender’s voice that the topic put an emotional strain on her. “You can’t possibly condone that!”

“Koto- I...” Tala stammered, looking at their hands. “I don’t believe we would do something like that. At least not the Red Lotus I know. You’re jumping to conclusions!”

“So what if I am? I had to protect Haruko!” Anger rose in Koto’s voice. She gestured to Haruko. “I couldn’t let what happened to Korra happen to her!”

“You had no idea who we are, what we’re doing, and provoked an attack?!” Tala shouted, marching up to Koto so that they were only inches from one another.

“I didn’t provoke the attack, they attacked me!” Koto shouted back at them. “After they found out I knew, Ahsa and Tehreem started chasing me down! Tehreem was going to attack us, you saw her! You were literally burnt by Ahsa!”

Tala cursed and shoved Koto to the ground, then turned to walk away from the group. “I’m going to go… Hunting or something. There's not enough food in the car to last a while.” With that, the firebender walked off into the dense woodland.

“Should we…” Jae asked as he watched Tala disappear into the woods.

“No.” Koto responded as she picked herself up. “Let them blow off some steam, they’ll be back eventually and hopefully will be willing to talk.” She seemed like she had encountered the behavior before. “All firebenders are like that.”

“We should make camp for the night.” Haruko offered. Even if it was almost dawn, the manual work would take their minds off things. “Uh, Hang. You wanna help me look for supplies in the car?”

“Sure.” The waterbender shrugged, and the two of them made their way over to the vehicle’s trunk.

“So, what’s it like?” Hang asked as Haruko opened the back door of the car.

“What’s what like?” Haruko asked, even though she knew the answer.

“Being the Avatar.”

Haruko stopped moving. “I- I don’t know. It’s weird? I mean I’ve bent three out of four elements now, so… I don’t know. It’s weird.”

“Should I, like, bow to you now or something?” Hang asked. “Or refer to you as, I don’t know, your... Avatarness?”

“Spirits, please don’t. I’m still just me, nothing’s really changed.” Haruko knew she was lying; she was a terrible liar.

“You’re wrong.” Hang turned and looked Haruko dead in the eyes.

“I am?”

“You are. This… this changes everything. This changes things beyond any of us. You- you’re the avatar, Haruko. You’re important and you have a destiny and someday you’re going to have to tell that to the world. Things aren’t the same anymore, they can’t be.”

“I know.”

“What are you gonna do? What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know.”

the city by the river

Despite her plans to go out on the town, Hanuel found herself at yet another meeting. She was getting tired of these things.

Instead of paying attention to the long and drawn-out daily reports, Hanuel glanced across the room, looking for the only other person as bored as her- Mikah. For once, her friends were allowed to attend a meeting with her, and while Jitsuko was engrossed in whatever Minister Qiang was rambling about, she could count on Mikah to be uninterested.

Hanuel glanced around to make sure she wasn’t being watched, then quickly scribbled a note on the back of an agenda she was supposed to be reading. The message read ‘u bored as I am?’ and included a small doodle of herself. Pleased with her artistry, Hanuel folded up the note and tossed it across the table at Mikah.

The note hit the table right in front of the waterbender, who noticed it and folded it open. Mikah smiled and stifled his laughter as he read the note, trying desperately not to make a scene about it. Hanuel smiled; her plan had worked.

“Avatar Hanuel.” Minister Qiang barked, his voice blunt and deep, strict like a schoolteacher’s. “This is no time for your childish antics. Focus on the discussion, or I will have you removed from the mission.”

Hanuel swallowed the guilt in her throat and straightened her posture. She focused on Qiang and nodded, not sparing a second glance at Mikah. She had work to do.

Qiang cleared his throat and continued. “We finally have a breakthrough on the Aringeru break-in case.” The man accentuated his words with arm gestures, clenching his fist to make a point. “After having seemingly disappeared for weeks, our band of criminals has finally turned up in Gangbei, of all places.”

Qiang pointed to the coastal city on the central map laid across the table. He placed down a small red figurine on the word “Gangbei”, then moved it a ways outside the city limits. “A few nights ago, a group of criminals was spotted fleeing the city during the middle of the night in a stolen car. The group consisted of at least one bender of each element, probably more than one waterbender based on the massive wall of ice formed over the bridge.” The minister passed around a file of photographs detailing the evidence. When they got to Hanuel, she realized why Qiang said there had to be more than one waterbender. Someone had formed a giant wall of ice from the river water, as tall as the skyscrapers surrounding it. She glanced to Mikah, as if her waterbending friend could offer an explanation for the event.

“But the team that broke into the factory didn’t have a waterbender.” Hanuel pointed out as she passed the file to the person next to her. “They had two firebenders, an airbender, and a nonbender.”

“A presumed nonbender.” Qiang corrected. “While the person in question never bent, there’s no reason to say she isn’t a water- or earthbender. There simply wasn’t any raw earth or readily available earth in the metal factory.”

Hanuel bit her lip. She had forgotten that not everyone was a metalbender like her and her family. “But who’s to say it’s even the same group? It could be any group of criminals.”

“Both the fire- and airbender were spotted; their descriptions match up with those given by the soldiers at the initial break-in.” Qiang didn’t elaborate. “Based on their trajectory when the vehicle was last seen, they’re headed west, through the Zoyen mountain pass and into the Si Wong desert, though they couldn’t have gotten far yet.”

“We need to stop them before they get to the desert.” Hanuel thought out loud. The Si Wong desert was vast and empty; even the forces of the Earth Empire hadn’t been able to properly manage the area before the relocation acts.

“I agree.” Qiang stated. That surprised Hanuel; the man hadn’t agreed with anything she’d said the entire time she’d known him. “Which is why I nominate you to go and track them down.”

“What?!” Hanuel stood up in shock. “You can’t- I’m just one person! I have no experience in field investigations, I’m not the right person for the job!”

Qiang leaned over the table and stared into Hanuel’s eyes. The minister’s glare seemed to burn a hole right through her, exposing her soul. “Hanuel, you are the Avatar,” Qiang said, slowly and methodically. “It is your duty and privilege to serve the world, and you are highly capable of doing so.”

Hanuel closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to feel Qiang’s gaze on her. She wouldn’t be alone, she would have her friends. And she could do it. She was the Avatar, she could do the impossible. A simple investigation job was nothing. She could do it. She had to. “Alright.”

“Perfect,” Qiang said. Hanuel could hear the smile in his voice, even though she hadn’t opened her eyes yet. “I’ll have your travel arrangements made.”

It only took about half a day to fly from Ba Sing Se to Gangbei on the fastest airships the Earth Confederacy had, and once they got there, they were immediately met with Gangbei’s chief of police.

“We’re so glad to have you here, Avatar.” the man had said upon shaking hands with Hanuel. “It’s quite a situation we’ve got here. I don’t know how to handle it myself.”

After assuring the chief that they would get to the bottom of the predicament, Hanuel and her companions spent the following hours reviewing what evidence they had and questioning witnesses of the commotion. Apparently, some sort of fight had gone down, but as far as Hanuel could tell, nobody knew the people involved. After a long day of getting nowhere, Hanuel and her friends were led to the Shan Palace, allegedly the fanciest hotel in the city and the only one fit to house the Avatar. All decked out in green and gold, the hotel was magnificent.

“Would you look at that view…” Hanuel marveled as she paced the living room of the penthouse suite. The wall-to-wall windows overlooked the ocean, a feature Hanuel didn’t typically see within the walls of Ba Sing Se or the platinum domes of Zaofu. “Water as far as you can see.”

“You should see the north pole.” Mikah said as he got up to join her at the window. “Not to brag about my hometown, but the ocean views there are magnificent. Not to mention the northern lights.” The waterbender smiled, lost in a memory of his home.

“Too cold for me.” Jitsuko countered as she read on the couch. Like always, she had found some form of literature and was reading it.

“Let me guess, all the views in the Fire Nation are amazing.” Hanuel mocked lightheartedly.

Jitsuko smiled and leaned back on the couch. “Nah, our capital’s in a volcano so it’s hard to see outside the caldera walls.” Hanuel laughed.

“Ok first of all-” Mikah said, “How did I not know that the Fire Nation capital was in a volcano. Second of all- why?”

Jitsuko put her book down and adjusted her glasses. “It’s literally called Caldera City! What were you expecting?” She laughed. Mikah shrugged, only causing Hanuel to laugh more.

“Anyways,” Hanuel said as she sat down on one of the couches, next to a potted plant. “What do you guys think of all this… stuff.” She gestured at nothing.

“What, the room?” Jitsuko smirked. “It’s got too many plants.”

“The mission.” Hanuel explained, “It’s weird, don’t you think? A team of elite criminals in the Earth Confederacy, but they’re at least two firebenders, two waterbenders, an airbender, and only one earthbender? It doesn’t make much sense.”

“There are other types of benders here.” Mikah said as he sat down next to Hanuel. “Especially airbenders, there’s still a ton who didn’t join the air nation.”

Hanuel nodded. “I guess so. It’s just weird. Something feels off about the entire deal.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jitsuko said, her voice soft and sincere. “It’s probably just because you’re new to all this. We all are.”

Hanuel sighed and rested her head on the back of the couch. “Yeah. That makes sense.” She paused. “I’m glad to have friends like you guys.”

no rest for the weary

After spending a few hours camped outside the interstate, Hang proposed they head to the closest settlement- a small mountain town called Paibao close enough to feasibly travel to but far enough that they wouldn’t easily be found. According to the waterbender’s own description, it was the ‘perfect place to lay low for a bit while we figure everything out. And so, much to Tala’s distress, they all packed back up into the car and headed southwest towards Paibao.

Jae drove again, despite Haruko offering to take the wheel. Even after she explained that she was an auto mechanic and knew more about cars than he did, he refused to give up the driver’s seat. Haruko knew why. Hang sat in the passenger’s seat to navigate, her roadmaps spread across the dashboard. Tala once again took to the back row, and to Haruko’s surprise, Aazir followed them, leaving her and Koto to sit in the middle row.

Haruko leaned over the backseat to look Aazir in the eyes. “Look. Aazir, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.”

Aazir avoided her gaze and glared at his shoes. “Were you ever going to even tell me? Or am I not as important to you anymore, oh great Avatar?”

“I didn’t know!” Haruko declared, her voice rising. “If I’d known, I would’ve told you! And don’t call me that!”

“You did know, and you didn’t tell me!” Aazir retorted. “Koto said you found out at the factory raid! That was forever ago!”

Koto, who had been talking to Hang, turned around at the mention of her name. “Haruko and I both decided it would be best to keep the information to ourselves, at least for a time. It’s a lot to take in.”

Jae started the car and cruised down the interstate. The sun was just rising, and they were soon joined by other cars. For everyone else, the day was just starting. The morning was quiet, the sky painted a soft pink hue as the morning clouds drifted across the sky. It was a moment all too pleasant for what had preceded it. For a while, nobody spoke, soaking in the light of the morning. Haruko focused on petting Pasha; the small meerfox had curled up on her lap and started to sleep.

“Koto, I’m sorry.” Tala near-whispered. “I… I blew up on you when I shouldn’t have. I don’t think my friends would ever hurt me… but I’m not sure they would be so welcoming towards Haruko if they knew she’s…. you know. You were just looking out for Haruko’s safety.” They didn’t seem all too convinced in their own words.

“It’s alright.” Koto conceded in a stiff tone of voice. “This… this really changes everything.” She gave Haruko a reassuring glance.

“What’s going to happen when we get to your mom?” Haruko asked. The question had been bugging her for a while, but she had never gotten around to actually asking it.

Koto thought on the question for a moment. “Well, after you prove yourself to be the true avatar, she’ll probably tell the other world leaders and Hanuel, and they’ll decide how to go about the situation from there. It’ll probably end up with some big announcement about you being the real Avatar, and you’ll move on to your firebending training, or maybe more earthbending.”

Haruko looked at her hands. Despite the traditional order, fire was the only element she hadn’t bent yet. She could barely contemplate how moving fire would feel like, much less what it would be like to produce it.

“You’ll be alright.” Koto put her hand on Haruko’s shoulder. “Things will be ok.”

Haruko didn’t respond to Koto’s question but turned to look out the window.

“What’s gonna happen to the… to Hanuel?” Tala asked, stumbling over the girl’s name.

“I don’t know.” Koto responded, seeming genuinely scared by their new reality. Ever since they had found out, the airbender had assumed the role of a calm mentor, the one who knew what she was doing. Haruko had wondered how long it would take for her to break; apparently, it was now.

The scenic view outside the car seemed to mock them, the other commuters a sick reminder of how simple all their lives could be, but how convoluted they had ended up.

“This changes everything…” Haruko muttered. “This ruins everything.”

“Haruko, I-'' Koto didn’t finish her statement before Tala could interrupt.

“I’ll stay with you.” The firebender declared. “It’s my duty and honor to protect and serve the Avatar in any way I can.” They made an awkward bowing motion, their movement limited by the tight space in the car.

“Me too.” Jae called from the front of the car, evidently having listened to the entire conversation. “I don’t really get all that honor-duty firebender stuff, but I believe in being a good person and doing good work, and if you’re really the one, then there’s no better work than getting you to where you’re supposed to be.”

It took a moment of hesitation, but Hang was the next to respond. “I’ll stick with you guys. I mean, it’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to go.”

“Thank you.” Koto responded. “All of you. This… definitely complicates things, but we’ll be able to work through it all. I know we can.”

Haruko doubted her companion’s words but couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“It’s small, but it’ll work.” Tala mused as they surveyed the motel room, walking around and checking underneath any surface they could. “Not as good as our inn, but it’ll be ok for the night.”

After a day's worth of travel, the six of them were all visibly exhausted, save for Koto. They had arrived in Paibao that afternoon and spent most of the day in town restocking on any supplies. Apart from a few stares, they hadn’t received much attention in town, much to Haruko’s relief. She didn’t think she could handle any more trouble after what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. They had found the town inn and checked out a few rooms with what money they had left, all of them ready to get a good night’s sleep.

Aazir immediately collapsed onto one of the beds as soon as he entered the room. Haruko wanted to do the same but opted to sit on the bed next to him. Pasha climbed out of Haruko’s bag and curled up on top of the earthbender's head.

“Ok, how many beds do we have?” Jae said as he sat on the bed opposite Haruko’s. “We’ve got this room and the one next to it.”

“Two double beds in here too,” Hang said as she checked out the adjacent room, connected by a small door in the wall. “Seems to be about the same setup.”

“Four beds, six people…” Tala counted the numbers on their fingers. “The math doesn’t add up very well.”

“I can share one with Tala if that’s ok with them.” Jae offered. “That way, Aazir can stay in that bed."

“Fine by me.” Aazir muttered into his pillow, clearly already dozing off.

Haruko sighed. It felt strange to talk about such mundane topics after what had happened.

“Cool.” Hang nodded. “Uh, I guess us girls can take the other room? Sorry Tala.”

The firebender shrugged. “I’ll be alright. Jae’s not that bad.”

“Hey!’ Jae shot Tala a teasing look as he collapsed onto his bed.

Hang nodded. “Chill.” She gestured for Koto and Haruko to follow her into the other room. After sharing a quick glance with Koto, Haruko followed.

“So…” Hang said awkwardly as she closed the door behind them. “How are we gonna do this? Cause you’re…” She gestured to Haruko. “...y’know, so maybe you should get your own bed? But I don’t know if you two wanna… cause…”

“We’re not ‘a thing.’” Koto said, using air quotes to emphasize her point. “I don’t really care.”

Hang seemed a bit taken aback by the statement but shrugged. “Sure. I’m going to take the single anyways because I’m pretty tall. If you don’t care then…”

Koto nodded, then looked at Haruko.

“Uh. I’m cool with that.” Haruko said. She walked over to the bed closer to the window and sat on top of it. It was already dark outside.

“Are you ok?” Koto asked as she sat next to Haruko.

Haruko nodded as she took off her wristbands and set them on the bedside table. Across the room, Hang was doing the same. Strangers only months ago, it had taken so little time for all of them to become accustomed to one another. “Yeah… it’s been a weird few months.”

Koto nodded and clasped her hands around her knees. The blue of her arrow tattoos looked faded in the warm light of the motel’s cheap lamps. Haruko extended her hand in front of her, her own tattoos a warm black against her brown skin. There was a band of bare, uninked skin right where Koto’s own tattoos would be, if they were on her body.

“Put your arm next to mine.” Haruko instructed softly. Koto obliged, and extended her left arm next to Haruko’s right. She was right, their tattoos lined up almost perfectly.

“We match.” Haruko near-whispered.

“We do.” Koto affirmed. Her hand was almost touching Haruko’s with how close they were.

“Could you two just get to sleep already?” Hang grumbled from across the room. The waterbender had already turned off her lamp and seemed all but ready to go to sleep.

“Sorry.” Koto apologized and turned off their side of the lamps. It wasn’t long before Haruko fell into an easy, dreamless sleep.

Hang had been the first to wake up, and the shouting and commotion that followed were enough to rouse everyone else.

“They’re here!” Hang yelled as she bent a sheet of ice over the window. Haruko barely had any time to comprehend what was going on before she was shaken awake by the waterbender’s firm grasp on her shoulders. “Get up. They’re here.’

“Who’s here...?” Koto mumbled as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“Tehreem and Ahsa.” Hang explained hurriedly, picking up their bags and handing them to Koto and Haruko. “They already got the car, just run.”

Koto nodded and started to put on her shoes. Haruko followed. “Do you think-”

“We can talk about it later.” The airbender interrupted, taking Haruko by the hand as soon as her boots were on. “We have to go. Now.”

Haruko and Koto burst into the other room where Jae, Aazir, and Tala were all getting up, having also been awakened by the noise. “Red Lotus is here!” Haruko explained, taking Pasha from Aazir’s hands and putting her in her bag, where she normally resided. “We have to leave!”

“What do they want?!” Tala asked as they put on their shoes.

“I don’t know.” Koto said. “Hang’s holding them off right now, and the car’s been compromised. We have to run.”

As soon as everyone was prepared enough, they started to run out the back door of the motel. They were soon joined by Hang.

“What’s going on?” Jae said as he struggled to keep up with Koto’s airbending-enhanced speed.

“I don’t know.” Hang said, taking a moment to look back at the motel they had just left. “They were talking about ‘the girl,’ which only narrows it down a bit. I managed to knock out Ahsa and freeze Tehreem in a block of ice, but who knows how long that’ll last.”

“We can talk about this later, maybe?” Tala said as they leaped forward with the assistance of firebending. “Where are we headed?”

“The train station!” Haruko said. “We should go to the train station.”

It wasn’t too late at night, and the Paibao train station was only somewhat crowded as they approached the small pavilion. Tala bought tickets and before Haruko knew it, they were walking down the aisle of a mostly empty train.

“Where are we headed?” Koto asked as they found seats.

“South,” Tala responded, collapsing into their seat. “A town called Sayou.”

“Hate to break it to you, but that’s the opposite of where we’re trying to go.” Jae said as he fiddled with the seat reclining mechanic.

Tala leaned back in their seat and pinched the bridge of their nose. “We can just get on another train. It’ll be alright.”

Aazir sat by the window and looked out at the world racing by them, and Haruko couldn’t help but recall the last time they had traveled by train. Despite everything, the world had seemed simpler then. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything to her brother and instead turned to Hang, who sat beside her.

“Do you… do you think they were after me?” She whispered.

The waterbender didn’t immediately respond and thought about the question for a moment. “I don’t know, they could be on to you, but it’s a fifty-fifty chance that they want Koto instead. I don’t know.”

Haruko tried to swallow her fear. “Alright.” She couldn’t bear to look at anything but her hands.

homebound

Hanuel awoke to the sound of a phone ringing in the middle of the night. It must’ve been only a few hours after midnight; the sky outside was still dark, but Hanuel didn’t bother to check the bedside clock. She climbed out of the luxurious hotel bed and picked up the phone.

“Avatar Hanuel speaking.” She muttered into the receiver.

“Avatar, good to hear you; this is Te from the Southern Earth Confederacy Transportation Committee.” The voice cracked from the other side of the line. The Southern Earth Confederacy Transportation Committee was a large organization that tracked interstate commerce and public transportation records. “We have some important news.”

Hanuel sat up straight and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Yeah?” She said, brushing her hair out of her face.

“The criminals you’ve been tracking- they’ve been spotted in Paibao.”

“Paibao… where is that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a small town just west of Gangbei, in the mountains.”

“That makes sense. Especially if they were traveling by car.”

“Affirmative.” Hanuel hated formalities like ‘affirmative’- “Where they were spotted was interesting, though- the train station.”

“Weren’t they trying to get to Republic City, though? Maybe their car broke down or something.”

“They’re headed south, to a town called Sayou.” Te explained.

The name rang a bell in Hanuel’s mind. “That’s close to Gaoling, isn’t it?”

“Affirmative.”

Hanuel didn’t know what business a group of dangerous criminals had in Gaoling, but she doubted it was good. She had only arrived in the city a few months ago; it occurred to her that they could be after her. “What are we going to do?”

“Pardon?”

Hanuel put her arms around her body. She was cold. “What are we going to do? What’s our next move?”

Te left the line for a second to talk to his superiors, then returned. “Miss, you’re the Avatar. That’s for you to decide.” Hanuel noticed the youth in the man’s voice, the uncertainty. The doubt. It mirrored her own.

“What- What do you mean?”

“We were told by the Minister of War that you’re the one in charge of this whole thing. You have to decide what to do.”

Hanuel took in a deep breath to steady her thoughts. “Ok… what do you think I should do?”

Te sputtered, taken aback that the Avatar, of all people, was asking for his advice. “Uhhh… I don’t really know. I guess you could head down to Sayou and try to arrest them there?”

“That could work…” Hanuel nodded, the idea growing on her the more she thought about it. “Thank you, really.”

“Sure. Yeah. Good luck, Avatar.” Te said before hanging up, leaving Hanuel alone with her thoughts.

“So tell me again,” Tala asked, accentuating their words with hand motions. “How’d you know they were there?”

Hang begrudgingly paused her banjo-tuning to re-explain what she had said only moments earlier. “I’m telling you, I don’t really know. I couldn’t sleep for whatever reason, and I just sort of… knew that they were there, that they were coming. I could feel it.”

“You must’ve heard them or something.” Jae offered once again; he had been using that excuse to rebuke Hang’s claims. “You can’t just ‘feel’ that people are nearby.”

Haruko looked between Hang and Tala, wondering who would speak next. Surprisingly, it was Koto. “It might be a spiritual thing, like Arnook’s aura reading. He did say she had spiritual potential.”

Hang shrugged. “Whatever it is, it’s extremely useful and ended up saving all of your butts, so you're welcome.” Haruko snickered.

“About how much longer till we get there?” Aazir asked, still looking out the window. They had traveled by train for the rest of the night and well into the morning of the next day.

Jae checked his watch, then looked at the view outside them. “Just based on feeling, I’d say we’re pretty close.”

“Hey, what makes your random feelings valid but not mine?” Hang joked.

Jae put a finger up to emphasize his point. “One, I’m a sailor; I know what I’m doing. And two, the train’s pulling into a station.”

Sure enough, the train they were riding in was slowly coming to a stop. A pleasant voice came over the loudspeaker, “We have arrived in Sayou, everybody. Please exit the vehicle.”

Tala stood up and helped Koto to her feet. “Let’s go.”

Sayou was as humid as Aringeru and Gangbei were, if not even more so. Despite the coming winter, the air was dense with fog in a way Haruko had never really seen before. Hang, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease.

“This is just like my hometown...” The waterbender sighed as she and Haruko sat on a bench as Tala and Jae haggled for more train tickets.

“I thought you grew up in Jing Zi.” Haruko remarked as she rolled up her sleeve cuffs.

“Yeah, but I’m not from there.” Hang explained. “I grew up in a town just bordering the swamp- wait, what was the name of this place again?”

“Sayou.” Koto said, pointing out the signs posted around the train station.

“This is it!” Hang shouted, standing up so abruptly that she startled both Aazir and Pasha.

“What’s what?” Jae asked as he and Tala approached the bench.

“Also, we have bad news.” The firebender said casually.

Before Tala could explain anything, Hang exclaimed, “This is my hometown! This is where I’m from! I haven’t been here in forever!”

“Wow.” Tala took a step back, visibly surprised by Hang’s excitement. “Well, the bad news is that we weren’t able to get train tickets for any time other than tomorrow evening, so we’ll be spending some time here. Evidently, that isn’t much of a problem.”

“Hang, do you have any family we could stay with or something?” Koto asked. “So we don’t have to spend any money on more inns?”

Hang took a breath to calm herself. “Yeah, I think I know a place. It’s a longshot, but it could work.”

the labyrinth

“Are you sure you know where this place is?” Aazir asked as he carefully maneuvered over another tree root. Within only a few hours, Hang had led them outside Sayou’s city limits and deep into the swampland. They had been hiking for hours and saw nothing but trees the entire time.

“Of course I know where it is; it’s my home.” Hang asserted as she led the group through the trees, occasionally using waterbending to move roots and vines out of the way. “I grew up here.”

“Y’know, when you said ‘hometown’ I kind of thought you meant the actual town.” Tala huffed as they narrowly dodged a fallen vine. “Not... whatever this is.”

Haruko looked around as she walked beside Koto. The canopy of trees above them was so dense that she could barely see the sky. The entire place seemed more alive and green than anything Haruko had seen before. Everything from bugs to fish to spirits populated the swamp. “It’s so alive…” She muttered before nearly tripping over a tree route.

“It is.” Koto seconded. “It’s like the spirit wilds in Republic City... Hang, this is incredible!”

“It definitely is not.” Jae retorted as he lagged behind. “I feel like I’m being watched. Am I being watched? Are there bugs in this place? Where are we even going?”

Haruko turned to the nonbender, who had huddled into a defensive position, and shrugged.

“We’re headed to the camp I grew up in.” Hang explained, leading the group further into the swamp. “Before we were all moved out. If we’re lucky, there will be people there who will take us in for a bit. If we’re really lucky, we’ll find some people who can help.” She paused for a brief moment. “I haven’t been here in ages; I’m surprised I still know the way to and from the town.”

“Don’t get us lost.” Jae worriedly demanded.

“How’d you end up in the desert?” Aazir asked.

The waterbender hesitated to respond. “When I was seven years old, they forced us out of our homes. They… they killed my father when I was only a little kid…” Hang’s voice broke. “They took away my mother. I was put in the foster care system… I haven’t seen any of them since…”

Tala was the first to approach Hang, putting their hand on her shoulder. “Hang, I’m… I’m so sorry… but I need you to consider whether or not this is a good idea. Maybe we should just go back to town and-”

Hang spun around to face Tala. There were tears in her eyes as she spoke. “This is all I have left! I- I can’t give up hope that they’re here! They have to be!”

Tala put their hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Hang, I-”

“You don’t understand! You get to live in a peaceful part of the world where no one bothers you unless you bother them! You get to live in a nice house with your family and look at people like you every day! You have the luxury of being able to choose to fight back instead of being forced to take care of yourself since you were a child! I never had any of that! I never had anything!”

Tala didn’t respond but stepped back. The area they were standing in grew colder with the gathering of more fog.

Koto stepped up, a worried look in her eyes. “Hang, I… I’m sorry.” She looked like she was going to say more but hesitated.

Haruko summoned her courage and took the risk of approaching Hang, taking the waterbender’s hand in her own. “I understand, at least in part. Us sandbenders… they took us away from our homes too, our tribes.” She cast a glance at Aazir. “It was after our mom died, but they sent us away from our tribe and our dad. We haven’t seen him since. I know how you feel.”

To Haruko’s surprise, Hang wrapped her arms around the shorter girl. “T-thank you…” She muttered, then returned to an upright position and wiped the tear from her eyes, taking breaths to calm herself.

“I’m sorry.” Tala said, giving a slight bow. “I shouldn’t have doubted you like that. Let’s keep going.”

Hang nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” She turned around and continued to walk into the swampland.

“Everything’s so alive and green here…” Haruko murmured as she walked, now alongside Hang at the front of the group.

“It really is…” Hang sighed, looking calm once again. “What’s it like where you’re from? Not Jing Zi, I mean. The…” The waterbender gestured around with her hand. “The real desert.”

Haruko laughed. “Well, to start, it’s much drier than here. By a lot. And there isn’t as much plant life, but from what I remember, it was beautiful, especially the sky.”

“Really?” Hang asked.

“Yeah…” Haruko closed her eyes, lost in the dream of a childhood memory. “During the daytime, it was always such a bright clear blue, and at night you can see every star in the entire world… it was like the universe went on forever, and you could see it all.”

“Maybe we can go visit when this is all over.” Hang smiled.

Haruko nodded along with the optimistic fantasy. “Yeah. That would be nice. Assuming neither of us dies.”

“That’s always a possibility, isn’t it?” Hang chuckled.

“Guys.” Aazir whispered from behind them, interrupting their conversation. “I think I heard something.”

Hang turned around. “There’s a lot of noise in the swamp. What was it?”

“A voice.” Aazir said, looking almost as spooked as Jae.

“We’re gonna be murdered, aren’t we…” Jae started tapping his foot on the ground and looking behind his shoulder. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“Stop being paranoid.” Koto chided, gently hitting Jae on the shoulder. “It was probably nothing.”

“There’s a lot that could happen out here…” Hang cautioned. “Be careful.”

Aazir nodded, then abruptly turned his head as if he heard something that no one else did. He looked worried, almost sad, as he looked off into the distance.

“Abba!” Aazir shouted, running into the distance. He was gone before Haruko could react.

“Don’t leave!” Tala shouted as they chased Aazir into the dense swampland.

“No! Don’t go off- they’re already gone.” Hang called out as Tala and Aazir. She groaned in frustration as the two disappeared into the maze of trees. “Alright. Alright. Koto, Jae, you two stay here. Haruko, you’re with me. Let’s go find those idiots.”

Koto nodded and put her hand on Jae’s shoulder. “Alright. Good luck out there.”

Hang nodded and gave Koto a thumbs up before disappearing into the thicket, Haruko following her.

Koto sighed and pressed a hand to her temple, trying to collect herself. “Why did Tala think that running away was a good choice…” She muttered to herself before turning to her companion.

Jae seemed unusually pale; he had removed his red-tinted sunglasses, giving Koto a good look at his deep brown eyes for what must’ve been the first time. He seemed afraid.

“First time in a swamp?” She asked, trying to be encouraging but not knowing how.

Jae nodded. “Yeah. Not exactly used to these sorts of things.”

“None of us are.” Koto sighed. She closed her eyes and tried to detach herself from the world, to connect with the spirit world like her mother had taught her. She felt the life around her, the spiraling energies of the wind, but couldn’t let go of it. She didn’t know why.

Koto tried to focus on an image of her mother in her mind. It didn’t help, the features of a middle-aged airbender with blue tattoos and soft eyes slowly becoming that of a young woman, scared for her life and with features like her own. Koto smelled something that belonged more in a kitchen than it did a swamp- the scent of smoke, and Fire Nation spices being burnt.

“Koto, are you ok?” Jae broke her out of her trance by gently shaking her. Koto snapped back to reality, now aware of the tears running down her face. “Wh-what happened?”

“I don’t really know.” Jae admitted as he released her. “You just started crying. I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt or anything.”

“Well, I’m fine now.” She stated, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Koto hesitated before continuing. “Thanks.”

“Ah, don’t sweat it.” Jae smiled and lightheartedly punched her in the shoulder. “Figure you don’t like swamps either?”

Koto sighed. “Something like that.”

It wasn’t long until Hang and Haruko returned with the others, the latter girl now possessing a far-off look in her eyes, like she had just seen a ghost.

“I hope everyone’s learned their lesson by now.” Hang said sternly as the team regrouped, forming a small circle in the clearing.

“Don’t run off in the swamp.” Aazir, Tala, and Haruko all chanted in unison, like small children having been lectured for their misbehavior.

“Good.” Hang smiled pleasantly. “Let’s go, the camp shouldn’t be far from here.”

“She wouldn’t shut up when we were coming back here.” Tala complained as they started to walk. “It was so annoying.”

“Really?” Koto laughed. “What even happened, what’d you see?”

Tala shrugged. “I saw my dad. Figured it’s some sort of illusion or something since he’s been dead for years. This place is haunted, I bet. Aazir said he saw his dad too, who apparently is MIA.”

Koto nodded. “That would make sense, I guess. What about Haruko?”

“I don’t know.” The firebender turned to look at the girl. “She got separated from Hang and almost fell off a cliff because she had a vision of some weird lady.”

“It wasn’t a lady…” Haruko interrupted. “She was just… It was weird, ok?”

“Yeah, totally.” Tala said, turning back to Koto. “Haruko’s weird. Anyways, what about you? Did you have any weird visions?”

Koto hesitated long enough for Hang to interrupt them.

“We’re here.” The waterbender declared, standing taller than she had before. “The camp’s just around this reach.”

Hang led them around a cluster of trees into a clearing full of nothing but ash. Ruined huts burnt long ago dotted the area. The ground was still scarred from long-ago earthbending. It was clear no one had been here in a long while.

The village was empty. They were alone.

Hang fell to her knees and started to sob.

Koto instantly rushed to comfort the waterbender, putting her arms around Hang in sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

“They’re gone…” Hang whispered between sobs. “They’re all gone.”

memories

Haruko watched as Tala prepared the campfire, mesmerized by the way the flame rose as they clenched their fist and fell when they released it. Of all the elements, she had witnessed fire the least, both in bending and everyday life. Fire was rare, a blinding flash or an accidental look to the sun. It was never this close.

“Pretty cool, eh?” Tala smiled as they noticed Haruko watching. “I could teach you if you want. It’s beginner stuff.”

Haruko didn’t respond until she remembered that she too was a firebender, giving merit to Tala’s offer. “Sure.”

Tala beckoned Harko over to the campfire and picked up a small stick from the kindling. “You always want to start small when building a campfire. If you try to set a large log on fire with a limited flame, it’ll burn out.”

“I thought you guys were learning firebending, not joining a scout program.” Jae joked as he watched them.

“Very funny.” Tala smiled, returning to the lesson. “You’d be surprised how much firebending and campfires have in common.” They emphasized the ‘fire’ in each word only for Jae’s enjoyment.

“Starting off small, got it.” Haruko took the stick into her hands. “What now?”

Tala picked up their own stick and put their fingers over one tip of it. Haruko imitated the motion.

“You see,” The firebender explained, pinching the wood. “To produce flame, you’re gonna want to make concentrated heat on the object until it combusts. We start by lighting wood because it’s easier than producing flame from nothing.” Tala removed their fingers from the stick, effortlessly producing a brilliant flame. They tossed it into the kindling pile, obviously wanting Haruko to do the same.

“Uhh, cool.” Haruko fumbled around the stick, not sure what to do. “How, exactly, do I make concentrated heat?”

Tala shrugged. “I don’t know; you heat it up.” They took the stick back from Haruko and lit it, then tossed it into the kindling pile with the others.

“What’s going on here?” Aazir asked as he and Koto returned with more firewood. “Playing little kid’s games with the kindling?”

“Firebending lessons, actually.” Tala responded.

“It’s not going well.” Jae responded. “Either Haruko’s a bad firebender or Tala’s a bad teacher.”

“Probably both.” Hang commented wryly from the other side of the campsite.

“Are you doing ok?” Koto asked, setting down the firewood and sitting next to the waterbender.

Hang took a breath and nodded. “Yeah… I had a feeling this was going to be the case. Childhood optimism coming back, I suppose.” She picked up a long stick and started to mess with the growing flame. “It sucks, it really does, and I feel terrible about it all, but you know what they say. Grief isn’t practical.”

Haruko recognized the saying, an old saying from back when it was called the Earth Kingdom. It embodied the mentality of the nation-practicality over everything.

“So I’ve got a question.” Tala said, stirring Haruko from her thoughts. “What’s with the visions?”

“Ooh yeah.” Aazir seconded. “Cause I saw my dad, and I’m pretty sure he’s dead. Or at least not here.”

“They’re hallucinations.” Hang explained. “This place is pretty spiritual, and some of that energy seeps into your brain or something. They say the visions take the form of what you’ve lost.”

“That makes sense.” Tala said. “I saw my father; he’s been dead for years.”

“I saw my sister. Near scared the living daylights out of me.” Jae nodded. “She’s not dead though, far as I know.”

Hang shrugged. “Who am I to interpret what the swamp’s trying to tell you? Although, you should probably listen to it.”

“How’s a swamp supposed to tell me anything?” Koto scoffed. Haruko couldn’t help but agree; her own vision had been so strange she didn’t see how it could’ve possibly meant anything.

Hang simply shrugged in reply, unable to respond before Aazir interrupted her. “Who did you see a vision about, Hang?”

The waterbender smiled. “Oh, I don’t get them. I’m from here.”

“Really?” Jae exclaimed. “Damn… you’re lucky!”

Aazir cleared his throat. “I, uh, hate to change the subject, but… what are the chances that they find us again?” It was clear who he was referring to by the tone of his voice.

Tala kept their focus on the fire. “I still don’t know how they found us in the first place. It’s… I’ve never seen them do anything like that before. Do you think they were tracking the car or something?”

Jae shrugged. “Probably not; they don’t really have anything sophisticated enough to do that, do they?”

“It’s Arnook. Hang declared, speaking the man’s name softly as if he might be listening. “It has to be.”

“... What do you mean?” Tala whispered.

“That thing where I could feel Ahsa and Tehreem ambushing us…” Hang explained, “I think he can do it too, to a much greater extent than I can.”

“That must’ve been what he meant by ‘spiritual potential’!” Koto realized. “He wanted to teach you what he knows!”

Hang shrugged. “Yeah, probably. Point is- this guy has incredible, dangerous powers. I think he can track us across the world.”

The clearing fell silent save for the crackling of the campfire.

“We can’t run from these guys…” Haruko muttered. “Does anyone know any way we could fight them?”

“I’m not going to fight my friends!” Tala fumed, the fire beside them growing brighter. “They- I can’t!”

Koto was the only person to respond, and even so, her voice was wavering and cautious. “I never… really told you guys about why I was so scared of the Red Lotus.”

“Yeah, you did.” Jae replied. “You told us about how they’re a dangerous crime group from a while ago and that they almost murdered Avatar Korra.”

Koto nodded. “I know, but I didn’t…” She hesitated. “There’s more.”

Tala made eye contact with the airbender. “Go on.”

Koto shot a worried glance towards Haruko and cleared her throat. “From what I know, a sect of the Red Lotus tried to kidnap Avatar Korra when she was a child. They failed and were all imprisoned for it, but escaped thirteen years later when their leader got airbending from Harmonic Convergence.” The airbender shuddered as she described the events. “They were anarchists who toppled the government of the Earth Kingdom single-handedly.”

“But the old government was bad.” Jae doubted, worriedly wringing his hands. “Wasn’t it?”

Koto shook her head. “Still, they were murderous terrorists; it took Korra and all her allies to take them down.” She made eye contact with Haruko, every feature of her face showing pure terror. “And they didn’t just try to kill Korra; they forced her into the Avatar State.”

“What’s the Avatar State?” Aazir asked before Haruko could.

“It’s a… a special state the Avatar can enter, a sort of defense mechanism.” Koto continued. “Your eyes glow, and you become more powerful, but there’s a risk. If you die in the Avatar State, the cycle ends.”

The words sent a chill down Haruko’s spine. Brief images flashed through her mind, places and people she didn’t recognize. Her chest felt tight.

“They were trying to end the cycle?” Hang asked. “But why?”

“I... I don’t know.” Koto turned to Tala. “I can’t help but worry that your friends might have the same goals. I can’t allow that to happen.’

Tala nodded. “I understand. It’s just…” They put a hand to their temple. “It’s hard to believe they would do that.”

“I’m sorry.” Koto sighed. “I just… I don’t want them to hurt Haruko.”

Haruko leaned back on her wrists, looking to the sky. It still felt overwhelming to think of all that had happened in the last few months, not to mention the last few days.

Hang jumped to her feet and frantically looked around. She drew water from the nearby puddles. “They’re here.”

Tala got to their feet at Hang’s cue. Haruko followed, exchanging worried glances with Aazir and Jae as they prepared for a fight.

A heavy rustling sound came from the dense swampland surrounding them. Koto spun on her heels and reflexively blasted the area with a strong gust of wind, revealing Ahsa standing in what was now a clearing. The firebender leaped to her feet and began blasting fire at the group. Haruko dropped into a bending stance, preparing to raise a wall of stone separating them from their attackers, but before she could, she was struck in the back by a stunning blast of electricity.

Haruko hit the ground hard. She couldn’t tell exactly what had happened to her or if it had affected anyone else. It wasn’t long before she completely lost consciousness.

feeding the fire

When Haruko regained consciousness, she couldn’t initially tell where she was , but she knew it wasn’t the swamp. The air was too cool, too dry, and still. She got the sense that they were inside.

Her hearing came back before her sight did, mostly because she kept her eyes shut. She could faintly pick up hushed whispers over the ringing in her head, but she couldn’t distinguish the words, much less the people speaking.

“I think Haruko’s waking up.” Someone close to her whispered. The voice was Koto’s.

Haruko opened her eyes to a dark room lit by a far-off lantern. Around her sat her friends and teammates, all handcuffed. They all seemed worse for wear, sporting fresh cuts on both their clothing and their skin. She noticed that she, too, was restrained, her hands bound to each other by a length of thick rope. She made eye contact with Koto, who was sitting next to her. “What happened; where are we?”

“I don’t know…” Koto confessed. “We were all knocked out-”

“It was Tehreem, with her zap glove thing.” Aazir interrupted, massaging his arm. “It really packs a punch. You were the first one she got.”

Haruko nodded. As her awareness increased, she became more and more aware of a nasty bruise on her neck where Tehreem had struck her. “So we were captured by…”

“The Red Lotus, yeah.” Koto finished for her. “I’m not sure where they have us, but I don’t think it’s far. At least, I hope it’s not.”

“We’re underground for sure.” Aazir mused, glancing up at the ceiling. “I can feel it.”

Haruko took a moment to survey the group. They were in a dark cement room, with one wall of metal bars behind Haruko. She couldn’t see much of the room outside the bars. Hang was leaning up against the wall, her head tilted to the ceiling, though her eyes were closed. Meanwhile, Jae fumbled around his toolbelt as best he could while being handcuffed.

“They took my knives.” Jae explained when he noticed Haruko watching him.

“They took all our weapons.” Hang corrected. “Including my waterskin. They’re not messing around with this one.”

“- except they forgot to consider that I keep extra knives on me!” Jae proudly stated. Moments of belt-searching later, he disappointedly declared, “Apparently, they considered that. Anyone got any other ideas?”

Tala shifted their posture so that their back was to the bars. “This might just work…” They whispered, producing a small, red-hot flame on the rope. Within a few seconds, the bonding fell apart around Tala’s wrists. They proudly showed everyone their newly freed hands.

“You’re kidding.” Hang said doubtfully, giving Tala her bound hands so she could be freed next. “They couldn’t have overlooked that one. They know you’re a firebender. This doesn’t make any sense.”

Tala shrugged as they burnt away the rope around Hang’s wrists. “Maybe they made a mistake. We should just take the luck we’re given and get out of here.”

The sound of a heavy door creaking open reverberated through the room. Tala quickly extinguished the flame and put their hands behind their back. Everyone fell silent.

“How long until Zahrun gets here?” A voice- Asha's- complained. Haruko recognized the name but her mind was still too hazy to remember who it belonged to.

“Tehreem left to get him an hour ago.” Arnook replied. “Omashu isn't too far away; they should be back soon.”

“Alright…” Ahsa trailed off. Haruko could see her leaning back on a table in the low light. “Hope he’s back soon. I’m ready to ditch this joint.”

“You never did like Gaoling.” The waterbender replied.

Ahsa shook her head. “Nope. It’s crawling with abiders and government officials; it’s not exactly the safest town to hide out in, especially in our line of work.”

Koto put her hand on Haruko’s, communicating a message in eye contact only. They knew where they were.

“You know who else doesn't like Gaoling?” Ahsa remarked.

“Zahrun?” Arnook asked.

“Zahrun.” The firebender repeated. There was that name again. Haruko had to assume it belonged to the earthbender Ahsa and Tehreem had occasionally mentioned when they were still on the same side- they had said he was away on business. Had they ever mentioned his name?

“I can’t argue with that…” Arnook sighed. “I’m surprised he even agreed to meet us here.”

Ahsa hummed in response. “Yeah, well, he’ll be happy when he sees who we got.” She hesitated in thought. “Come on. Let’s get to work.”

Haruko held her breath as the two benders approached the cell door, exchanging fearful glances with her friends.

The door opened with a harsh, metallic groan, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Ahsa stood in the doorframe, Arnook behind her.

“One... two…” Ahsa muttered as she counted them. “Nice, we got all of you.” When no one responded, she looked surprised.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah.” The firebender fidgeted awkwardly. “This looks bad. This looks really bad.”

Tala stood up, their head nearly brushing the low ceiling. “What the hell, Ahsa!” They shouted. “You captured us! You threw me in jail!”

Ahsa recoiled, then noticed Tala’s free hands. “You got yourself out. I’m proud of you; that’s pretty clever.”

“I need answers. Now.” Tala growled.

“Yeah… about that…” Ahsa’s voice faltered. “We know that throwing you guys in jail might not be the best of introductions, but we were, uh, wondering if you would join us?”

“What?” Hang exclaimed, her voice rich in disbelief.

Ahsa bit her lip and nodded. “I’m sure your airbender friend has told you a number of tall tales about who we are and our group-”

“You’re monsters.” Koto barked.

The firebender frowned. “Yeah, stuff like that. But I promise we aren’t like that!”

“Koto said that you tried to end the Avatar cycle!” Jae snapped.

“That wasn’t us, specifically.” Ahsa retorted before realizing she was getting caught up in a losing battle. She cast a glance at Arnook before continuing. “I know you guys want to help people. Our goals align; we could help each other.”

No one responded to the firebender’s pleas. Haruko exchanged worried glances with her friends, she had no idea what to do.

“Haruko, Aazir, please.” Ahsa’s voice grew softer, more compassionate. “It would make your father proud.”

Haruko snapped to attention and looked Ahsa dead in the eyes. “Our father?” She whispered. “You know about our father?”

The woman was quick to cover her mouth. “I shouldn’t have-”

Haruko jumped to her feet, maintaining eye contact with Ahsa. “What do you know about my father? Is he alive?”

“Haruko…” Aazir whispered

Ahsa backed away from the cell door, but Haruko kept pace with her, moving closer. “Tell me about my father!”

The firebender didn’t respond immediately, frozen in fear. Her voice wavered when she finally spoke. “Zahrun, he’s… He’s our team leader. He’s your father.”

Haruko almost fell to her knees when the reality of those words hit her. Instead, she managed to brace herself enough to stumble and catch herself. She looked at her hands in disbelief, just like she had the moment she had airbent. The black bands tattooed on her skin flashed white for just a moment. Haruko didn’t have time to comprehend it before the same light overtook her vision.

dust storm

From the moment Haruko entered the Avatar State, the small, cavernous room filled with a thick cloud of dust. Koto couldn’t tell where it was coming from until she realized that Haruko was bringing the building down.

If she could just release her hands, she could bend the air around her to save herself from suffocation. Maybe. Hopefully. She had to hope that her airbending would be strong enough to defend herself from Haruko’s torrent of emotion. She just had to get free.

As Koto struggled to free herself, someone approached her. It was only when they were a few feet away from her did she realize it was Tala, crawling through the dust on their hands and knees.

Koto held her hands outstretched so Tala could free her. “I can- get us out once I'm free.” She coughed, trying to explain.

Tala nodded and wiped some of the dust from their face before taking Koto’s hands in their own and burning off the rope. Koto tried not to flinch as the fire scathed her wrists. As soon as she was free, Koto stood up and assumed a bending stance. It would be hard to fight against Haruko’s Avatar State-enhanced bending, but she could help if she tried.

In swift motions, Koto created a spinning ball of air around herself and Tala, clearing the air of dust before it could reach them. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work.

“What now?” Tala asked, producing a small flame to light the space.

Koto paused to think. “We have to find the others and get them out. Especially Haruko.”

Tala nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go.”

It wasn’t long before they stumbled across Aazir. Once the earthbender was free, he stood up alongside them. “What happened? What’s going on?” He asked, his voice muffled by the wind.

“Haruko entered the Avatar State.” Koto said. “We need to find her and the others and get out of here as fast as we can.”

Tala grabbed Koto by the shoulder and spun her around to face them. “She did what?”

“She’s in the Avatar State.” Koto near-shouted to be heard over the wind. “And she probably isn’t fully conscious. We need to leave before she brings this entire place down.”

Tala nodded and stepped back as much as they could without exiting the air bubble. “Alright. What do we do?”

Koto surveyed the dust storm around them, trying to recall where everyone else had been. She couldn’t see anything beyond the barrier of wind she had created.

An abrupt crash came from somewhere above them, followed by a chorus of confused shouts. Koto didn’t recognize all of the voices, but one of them stood out.

“Why’s there so much dust... Get down there, this has to be it!” Shouted none other than Hanuel Beifong. The worst possible thing happened- Hanuel had shown up.

“What is Hanuel doing here?!” Koto groaned.

“Wait, what?” Aazir yelped. “You know her?”

Koto put a hand to her temple. “Kind of. It’s a long story. We need to keep moving.”

“Hold up. I can help.” Aazir said, slamming his foot on the ground. Koto had spent enough time around earthbenders that she recognized the motion- it was the signature move of seismic sense.

The young earthbender turned around and gestured in a direction. “They’re that way.”

“Hang and Jae?” Tala asked.

Aazir shrugged. “Everyone. Feels like… a fight of some kind. There’s a lot of earthbending going on over there.”

Koto started to walk in the direction Aazir had gestured to. “Let’s go.”

A hunched, shadowed figure approached them as they slowly moved.

“Stand back!” Tala shouted, dropping into a bending stance. As the person moved closer, it became clearer who they were.

“It’s just me.” Jae hacked as Koto let him into the air bubble. His hair, skin, and clothes were covered in dust, just like the rest of them were. Surprisingly, he was armed.

“You got your stuff.” Tala commented.

Jae nodded as he regained his breath. “Yeah. After the dust set, I managed to leave the cell and get all our stuff.” He gestured to the many bags he was carrying.

“Thanks.” Koto said as she took back her own bag. “Did you run into anyone else?”

Jae nodded. “Yeah. I ran into Haruko.”

“Was she ok?” Aazir exclaimed worriedly.

“Yeah, I think so?” Jae shrugged. “She was still all glowy. Her voice was weird and she seemed upset, but at least she wasn’t dead or whatever.”

“That isn’t good…” Koto mused. “We need to find her as soon as we can.”

Jae frowned. “Easier said than done. I ran into her a while ago, who knows where she is now. Also, there’s soldiers here. Like actual Earth Confederacy soldiers. I stabbed one in the shoulder, I think.” He lifted his bloodstained dagger as proof.

Koto recoiled at the sight of blood. “Yeah, the Avatar’s here too. Hanuel, I mean. Spirits know what she’s up to.”

“Oh yikes.” Jae sheathed his dagger. “What’s the game plan?”

“We try to get out.” Koto declared. “Whatever’s happening here, it really isn’t our battle to fight.”

Aazir nodded. “Alright.”

Moments later, they ran into Hang. The waterbender had been calling out their names looking for them, eventually leading Aazir to find her laying against a wall, out of breath. Even when illuminated by the dim firelight, it was clear that she had taken a beating- her hair was untied and her face was bruised.

“I was trying to escape,” Hang explained as she put on her waterskin. “But I got caught by some of the soldiers. I couldn’t fight them so I just ran away. What’s going on?”

Tala explained the circumstances. “Now we’re just missing Haruko. Hopefully, she’s not still in the Avatar State.” They glanced at Koto.

“And hopefully, we won’t run into Hanuel.” The airbender added

Hang shook her head. “We won’t. She and her friends are fighting Ahsa and Arnook, in a different part of the complex. I passed them by earlier when I was trying to leave.”

“Oh.” Koto said. “Well, maybe luck is on our side after all.”

“We should go get Haruko.” Aazir tugged on Koto’s sleeve to catch her attention. “We need to leave.”

Jae nodded. “Yeah. If I remember correctly, she was…” Jae looked around him and eventually settled on pointing left. “That way.”

Aazir nodded. “There is someone over there. It could be her.”

“It’s a risk worth taking.” Koto said, slowly moving the air bubble in the direction Jae had pointed out. “Let’s go.”

Ironically, Haruko looked the worst out of all of them. They found the girl curled into a ball on the ground, close to unconscious. She was still in the Avatar State, somehow. Despite the brilliant light seeping from her eyes and tattoos, she looked weak.

“Haruko.” Hang said as she tried to wake the girl as gently as she could by helping her sit up. “Are you ok?”

Haruko tried to respond but ended up in a coughing fit.

“She probably inhaled too much dust.” Koto said worriedly, still bending the air around them. She glanced at Tala, who was still lighting the area up. “Can you hold her?”

Tala nodded. “I think so.”

Hang helped Haruko sit up, the last of the light fading from the younger girl’s eyes and skin. She collapsed into Tala’s waiting arms and started to cough. The air around them stilled. The dust settled, making the soldiers around them visible.

“Let’s go.” Tala ordered as they adjusted Haruko in their arms. “I don’t want to stick around this place any more than I have to.”

Hang nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go. I think the exit’s over that way.”

Koto sighed and dissipated the air bubble she had formed. At least for now, at least for them, the fight was over.

epilougue

Haruko focused on watching Hang heal her bruises because she couldn’t focus on anything else. She didn’t want to think about what had just occurred, and it was easier to focus on present, tangible happenings than try to figure out what she had done.

“I think you got beat up more than any of the rest of us.” The waterbender remarked as she moved onto another bruise. “You almost passed out. What happened?”

“I don’t know, I can’t remember anything that happened back there.” Haruko responded. Her own voice sounded as weak as she felt. Whatever had happened, it had used every sap of energy she had left.

“Really?” Hang asked, looking genuinely surprised.

Haruko nodded. “I remember… I remember Ahsa telling me about my dad… And then the sensation of light.”

“Weird.” Hang said, returning the water to her waterskin. “Your eyes were glowing though. Makes sense. You’re all healed up, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Haruko replied, folding down her sleeves to cover her bandages. She leaned back on her wrists as she took in the small hotel room she had woken up in. The room was dim and sparsely decorated, save for a few picturesque landscapes of Gaoling’s countryside. There were only a few beds in the room, including the one Haruko sat on top of. Hang had explained that they had booked the room only to recover for a bit, that they wouldn’t be staying the night. The room felt unreal, a space too transient for Haruko to fully take in.

The sound of the shower stopped, creating a dry silence across the small room. Only a few minutes later, Jae walked out of the room’s adjacent bathroom, a towel over his wet hair. “Shower’s open if anyone wants it.”

“I’m good.” Hang replied. She turned to Haruko, “I got one earlier, before you woke up.”

Jae turned to Haruko.

Haruko shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. At least for now… I’m still a bit worn out.”

“That’s ok.” Jae said, sitting down on the bed opposite Haruko’s. “You should probably get one later though, before we leave.”

“Where are we gonna go, by the way?” Haruko asked.

Jae sighed and looked to the ceiling. “I don’t know, actually. Republic City still, I guess?”

“We kind of went in the opposite direction of it, then.” Hang remarked.

“I don’t think that’s the only part we messed up on.” The nonbender replied, his voice uncharacteristically worn. “It’s been quite a few months, eh?’

“Yeah…” Haruko sighed. “When are the others going to be back?”

Jae checked the time on the bedside clock. “I’d say a few minutes. No more than twenty.”

“That’s good.” Haruko remarked, sitting up on the bed. “I think I might get a shower.”

“Cool.” Jae replied, straightening his own posture. “Actually, I was wondering something.”

Hang facepalmed. “Not this again.”

“What’s up?” Haruko asked.

“What’s the Avatar State like?” Jae asked. “Because I’m telling you, it was weird. You just started glowing.”

“You don’t have to respond to that.” Hang interrupted. “He’s been asking me what I think about it all morning.”

Haruko shook her head. “No, it’s ok…” She faced Jae. “It was terrifying, I felt like I couldn’t control my own thoughts, and then I just completely blanked out.”

“Huh….” The nonbender replied. “Explains why you thought it was a good idea to collapse the building on top of us.”

“Sorry about that.” Haruko responded, though she knew her voice didn’t convey the emotion. “I’m gonna go get that shower, by the way.

“Knock yourself out.” Hang replied. Jae gave her a thumbs up before falling backwards on the bed.

After Haruko returned from her shower, she returned to the main room and found that Tala, Koto and Aazir were back.

“Haruko! You’re back!” Aazir embraced her as soon as she left the small bathroom. The motion caught Haruko off-guard; they almost never hugged each other.

“I never really left…” She laughed as she separated from the embrace. “But I’m glad to see you’re ok.”

Aazir nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Yeah. You too.”

“Are you feeling better?” Koto asked. The airbender was sitting on top of the same bed that Jae was, and was wearing the wide headband that covered up her arrow tattoos.

Haruko nodded and sat down where she had before. “Yeah, I feel much better.” She turned to Hang. “Thank you.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Hang smiled, clearly flattered. “Just basic healing. Anyways, what was town like?”

“It could’ve gone better.” Tala remarked as they peeked through the curtained window. “I don’t know why the Avatar- eh, Hanuel- was there, but apparently she has the entire Gaoling police force looking for us.”

“That’s not good.” Hang noted. “We might have to ditch town soon. Back to Republic City?”

Koto sighed and leaned back. “That’s the plan…” The airbender hesitated. “Y’know, you guys really don’t have to stick with us. I can take Haruko and Aazir up there myself. You don’t have to be a part of this.”

Tala shook their head. “I’m pretty sure we’re all too deep in this to opt out now. I’m sticking with you.”

Hang smiled. “Yeah, me too. You guys’ll need a healer on your hands if you keep this up, and even though my skills are lacking, I’m better than nothing.”

Haruko sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. For at least a moment, she could let herself rest.

“When’re they gonna get here again?” Ahsa groaned as she rocked back and forth on her heels. The park they were currently in was not the ideal place to wait, but their usual hideout was now swarming with cops. She could’ve sworn that the Avatar even showed up.

“Patience.” Arnook cautioned. “They’ll be here in time.”

“If you say to be patient one more time I’ll burn your eyebrows off.” Ahsa remarked. “They’re late.”

Arnook didn’t reply, leaving Ahsa to wait in silence until Tehreem’s car pulled up to the curb.

“Hey babe.” The nonbender greeted as she exited the car, kissing Ahsa on the cheek. “You’ve looked better.”

Ahsa returned the kiss before groaning again. “Our hideout got found by the cops. Gaoling really does suck.”

“That’s what I always say.” Zahrun remarked as he exited the vehicle, fixing the wrappings over his hands.

“It’s good to see you again.” Arnook smiled as he greeted the older man. As far as Ahsa knew, Zahrun was the only person Arnook ever smiled at.

“You too.” The earthbender shook Arnook’s hand. Now that she had met both of them, Ahsa noticed how similar Zahrun’s smile was to his daughter’s. “Sounds like I missed a lot. You’ll have to catch me up on things.”

“Oh,” Ahsa exclaimed. “You’ll never guess who we ran into.”

“Who?” Zahrun asked.

“Your kids!” Ahsa said. “Didn’t you say they were dead?”

Zahrun paused to think. “Huh… you’ll have to tell me more about that later. I’ve got some news for all of us, too.”

Ahsa exchanged a look with Tehreem, who apparently hadn’t heard of this either. “Really?”

The earthbender smiled. “Yep. We’re going to the Fire Nation.”