It had been a while since Yun had flown. He didn’t remember this until they were already a hundred feet in the air on Jinpa’s bison, on the first leg of their journey to Makapu.

Yun decided that, at least for now, the worst form of transportation was by sky. If he looked to his past, he could remember times when he enjoyed it, days when flight brought the possibility of a bright future, a future that had been taken from him with everything else.

It made him sick- not only the irony of him taking to the skies now, after everything, but the act of flying itself made him nauseous. A hundred feet of atmosphere severed him from what gave him strength- the earth. What little stability the bison’s saddle provided wasn’t enough- he had to hold onto the wooden saddle in fear of falling over. Naturally, his ‘companions’ didn’t give him any sympathy, only empty stares.

“Yun? Are you ok?” Rangi asked, shouting to be heard over the wind. It was only her, Kyoshi and him aboard the bison’s saddle, with Kyoshi’s airbender friend Jinpa at the reigns. The others had stayed in Yokoya at the Avatar’s request- they weren’t needed at Yun’s trial. It was one grace of Kyoshi’s that Yun was actually grateful for. He didn’t want to spend any more time around Rangi’s mother, especially if he was expected to complacently tolerate her presence.

Yun tore his eyes open and blinked in the bright sunlight. Looking at the sky was better than looking down. “What?” He snapped, only then realizing that Rangi had asked him a question. “I’m fine.”

Rangi scoffed. While Yun couldn’t see her with his eyes to the clouds, he could picture the firebender turning to Kyoshi, with false worry in her eyes, as she said, “He wasn’t ever like this about flying before, was he?”

“A lot has changed since then,” Yun answered, taking Kyoshi’s chance to speak. He lowered his gaze to Rangi’s to measure her reaction.

Rangi parted her lips, but didn’t let any sound escape them before crossing her arms and sinking down into a sulk. Her armor clinked against itself as she moved.

“You clearly have something to say.” Yun prompted. “Tell it to my face, if you aren’t a coward.”

“It’s nothing.” Rangi grumbled. She cast her gaze aside.

“Jinpa, how far are we from Makapu?” Kyoshi turned to the airbender. They had to be close, Yun thought. They had been traveling for days.

“We should be nearing the village within the hour.” Jinpa had to shout to be heard over the wind, and Yun struggled to hear him even so.

“That’s good to hear.” Kyoshi nodded and settled back into her seat. She had donned her fine robes, armor, and headdress for an official appearance of the Avatar. The sight of her- all done up in finery to decide his death- competed with the sky to make Yun sicker.

After a moment, Kyoshi turned to Yun. “Are you ready, Yun?”

“Can I really be?” He scoffed.

Kyoshi paused in thought, looking to the heavens above as she contemplated what he had said. “Are you happy to be heading back to Makapu? I know you haven’t been there in a while.”

Yun didn’t answer. He cast his gaze to the horizon, even though it made him feel sick. The horizon was just like he remembered it- the rugged, snow-capped mountains of the North-Western Peninsula cradling tiny hillside villages. As much as he had tried to acclimate to the low-elevation, the seaside climate of Yokoya, he could never really call the peninsula home. Instead, in a sick sense of fate, he never could have adjusted to a part of the world where he couldn’t see the mountains around him, keeping him safe from the world outside.

“Makapu’s the one next to the volcano, right?” Jinpa called out. For some reason, instead of answering herself, Kyoshi looked to Yun.

“Yes. It’s the one next to the volcano.” Yun replied, then instantly turned back the landscape. He could see the peak of Mt. Makapu in the distance, the gleaming peaks of the town’s roofs in the distance, and noticed that Jinpa was, in fact, leading them towards the village. For better or for worse, they had arrived.

Yun swallowed the bile in his mouth, closed his eyes, and braced for a landing.

Instead of vomiting the moment he fell back to the ground, Yun composed himself to simply brace himself on his knees and catch his breath, taking in heaving, heavy breathes as he relished the stability of the earth below him. He wanted nothing more than to lay in the dirt and let it take him, but he was fairly certain Kyoshi would actually kill him if he tried.

“Are you feeling better?” Jinpa asked as he joined him on the ground.

Yun studied the airbender’s features. He wasn’t expecting such… compassion from the stranger. “Uh. Yeah, I think so. Thanks.” He didn’t know what he was thanking the other man for, other than a soft landing and a word of empathy.

“It’s nothing.” Jinpa smiled, then walked off to reign up his bison, leaving Yun alone with his old friends.

“I didn’t know Makapu was built under a volcano.” Rangi mused as she and Kyoshi approached Yun. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any outside the Fire Nation, actually.”

Yun gathered himself to face Kyoshi and Rangi. “There aren’t many.”

“It’s a beautiful town…” Kyoshi mused as she surveyed the town. The had landed amongst the fields on one of the mountain’s slopes, the perfect place to view the picturesque landscape from without having to get close to the actual city. To Yun, Makapu was a painting- beautiful and gleaming from afar, but disgusting once you got close enough to see the fine details.

“Not so beautiful once you see it’s gutters…” Yun muttered, loud enough that Kyoshi could hear him. Kyoshi, but not Rangi. Kyoshi, like him, had been raised amongst the detestable. She would see his experiences as her own. It would be like before.

The Avatar, in all her power, with the golden morning shining off her headpiece like the light of a halo, cast him a forlorn glance, nodded, and returned her sight to the horizon. She turned to Rangi. “We should head down to the village. We need to speak with the town leaders, and create a schedule.”

The people of Makapu- or at least those in the village when Yun entered it- turned their heads as the strangers paraded through the town.

At the head of the procession was the Avatar herself, holding her head above the crowd, with her gaze on one thing- the city center, and the courthouse that stood by it. Behind her walked Jinpa, clutching his-glider staff by his side, mirroring her stance and pride.

Then, there was Yun. They had bound his hands before they entered the village- they said it was out of custom, but Yun knew better. They- whether ‘they’ be Kyoshi and Rangi, or the village leaders of Makapu- wanted to parade him around as a captive, for the world to see. To his back was Rangi, ready to incapacitate him at a moment’s notice. Despite the humility and the burn of the rope against his wrists, Yun compiled. He didn’t cast glances at the villagers as they did him, and didn’t even meet the eyes of the village captain when they stopped in front of him.

The Village Captain- a thin, lanky man that only stood a few inches below Kyoshi- glanced over Yun in disgust as he and the Avatar exchanged whispered pleasantries. Yun did not give him the satisfaction of the returned gesture, and decided to focus his attention on something else. Not the ground- he didn’t want to look humble or afraid. The buildings further up the mountainside would suffice. Like most buildings in Makapu, they were raised from the dirt by the will of earthbenders, and capped with roofs of gold so that the villagers might pretend that they were among the higher classes. Those who lived on the mountainside were rich- they could afford the better view. Coincidentally, they were also at a greater risk of a sudden eruption.

“And the trials will start tomorrow at dawn, according to regional custom.” The village captain said, now speaking loud enough that Yun could hear him. “The judges and elders have gathered already, and the… precarious situation has been explained to each of them.”

Yun glanced to Kyoshi just in time to see her nod. “Alright. And where will we all be staying during the trial?”

The captain cleared his throat and cast a wary glance at Yun. He ignored it. “The… accused will stay in special quarters near the courthouse. It’s not a prison, so to speak, but-”

“I understand.” Kyoshi nodded. She cast a glance at Yun, though he couldn’t decipher what she meant by it. He closed his eyes and drowned out the rest of the conversation. It didn’t matter to him, anyways.

To Yun’s surprise, Rangi elected to escort him to his new quarters, alone. Kyoshi didn’t protest, apparently thinking she was capable enough to take him if need be. Or she was starting to trust him again, like an idiot. He would’ve thought her too smart for either option.

Despite being given the perfect opportunity to, Yun decided against killing Rangi. He wasn’t sure why.

The accused’s quarters, as the village captain had described them- were simple, sparsely decorated in shades of beige and brown. The space consisted of a small bedroom with only enough space for a bedroll, with a window facing east and a small adjoined washroom. It was just as Yun was expecting it to be, though the sensation of walking into the space still hit him with a pang of guilt, or at least a pang of something. This room was the only home he’d ever had in Makapu and it was… this. He didn’t have any possessions to lay by the bed, to mark it as his even temporarily. Even his shoes had been taken from him and left by the courthouse door. With nothing else to do, he sat on the bedroll.

Rangi didn’t enter the room, but stood in the doorway watching him, as if she was guarding the post. “Are you… settled?”

Yun shrugged. “I don’t know if I can be any more comfortable.”

Rangi nodded briskly, then broke her stance and cursed under her breath. Apparently, she had accidentally shown him too much respect.

“Are you alright?” Yun cast a glance at the girl who used to be his friend.

Rangi didn’t answer. She cast her gaze to the floor. “What are you planning?”

“What?”

“You’re- you’re planning something.” Rangi stammered. “You have to be. You don’t just go from wanting to decimate half the globe to… peacefully standing trial.”

Yun paused to think. He didn’t really know why he was doing this, when he could so easily leave.

Except he couldn’t. Leaving and continuing his crusade wasn’t an option.

Not when Kyoshi could find him and stop him, for good.

“Kyoshi thinks I get a second chance.” Yun shrugged. “I’d be a fool not to take it.” Rangi wouldn’t understand. She had never committed any wrongdoing within her seventeen-or was she eighteen yet?- years. Of course she wouldn’t have. Unlike him, she was perfect. A shining example of moral good.

“It’s that simple?” Rangi said. Just as Yun had suspected, she didn’t understand.

Yun shrugged. “There isn’t anywhere left for me to go, really. Even if I run, I’ll still be found and beaten and I’ll end up right back here, or worse, down in Laogai.”

Rangi paused. She hesitated. “So… you’ve given up?”

“I figured that would be a good thing, considering how much you opposed what I was doing.”

“I am opposed to what you were doing. It’s just… not like you.”

Yun couldn’t produce an answer.

“You know…” Rangi deepened her voice. “This probably won’t end up being a second chance for you. You’re probably going to be executed.”

“Yeah.” Yun sighed. He had been expecting just as much. While he didn’t say it outloud, he almost told Rangi the reason he had come (or at least what he thought was the reason, for now): He wanted to make things right by his friends, or at least apologize.

Rangi’s dissatisfaction with his answer was clear, but she didn’t ask any further questions. She left, and closed the door behind her.

Yun let out a breath and collapsed backward onto the bedroll. It was thin enough that the sensation of hitting his head on the floor still hurt. He bit his tongue, hoping it would ease his tears.