Now, this gets more and more interesting. Zuko is now pretty much their boss and that was funny.

I'm living for the Fire Nation family drama! Seems like a modern telling of The Search is about to happen. You have a very creative way of including ATLA references throughout the story. Thanks for the update!

Oh my gosh, so that's who it is! The "Green Dragon" makes their big reveal here. It has to be them. And it looks like Jet is their closest henchmen in a very dangerous game.

Well I wasn't expecting Ursa to make an appearance here! I was actually expecting another mature raven-haired woman to make their appearance. In general, this chapter as surprised me in many ways! I don't want reveal too much here, but yes, this is a good one!

Great stuff Clariel!

Well shit, there goes my suspicions for Iroh! Though until utterly proven innocent, I still suspect Iroh of... something.

I mean, hell, a lot was revealed here! Enough to make him more suspect perhaps? Eh, probably not. After Zuko's rather revealing interrogation of Iroh, a lot of information was presented to us that makes it obvious that Iroh wasn't involved. Aang and Iroh, in fact, knew each other very well before the murder. The rest of Iroh's cohorts seem to think Aang is "the one" in terms of spiritual or mystical stuff. Judging by the freak occurrence as to how he died super-natural factors are now at play. Both Aang and Iroh were in the same shop eating at the table and thanks to Hama's testimony we now know that Iroh was one of that last people Aang saw before he died. The same goes for Ozai as well, but he quickly left after he saw Aang. I never suspected him to be the murderer anyway.

But this "Fingerlings" person definitely is the murderer. And a person that Aang knew quite well enough to practice martial arts with. From what we know now at least from testimony is that "Fingerlings" is either a female or "unspecified". Its kinda odd that Iroh wouldn't notice what gender this "Fingerlings" person was... unless I forgot something and Iroh left before Aang met up with "Fingerlings". We know now that this mysterious person was the very last person Aang saw and is very very likely the murderer. Not only that but we got a big hint that this person was even there with Aang to drink the tea.

Things are definitely coming to a head here. I feel like we're getting very close to finding out who Aang's murderer is... as well as possibly beginnings of a greater conspiracy. But now I'm left guessing. If Iroh isn't a suspect... who's the real person (or people) pulling the strings that led to Aang's death? Not that we know LOK characters are here now, any guess is as good as the last.

Good stuff, Clariel! Keep it up!

I have been reading your story the last pair of days and I gotta say that I've seriously entertained by it. It is definitely something very intriguing what we got here. You have put some mysteries that have made me think for a while and i haven't been able to stop reading through. I still don't know what exactly is the roll each character has in the plot. I mean, let's say Ozai, is he a villanous character in here or what exactly will he do? By the way, it was really funny thinking of him as blondie, i can't really visualize it. I like your Zuko, he is really... well, Zuko. I am generally enjoying this as a whole so keep it up.

Cheers.

Oh, Suki, no, you fell for it pretty hard didn't you...

Well its pretty obvious that this new guy is Jet just by his mannerisms and look. How he got into the office without anyone even knowing he wasn't a real cop (or for that matter caring... or maybe he's a dirty cop) is beyond me. Takes a certain level of charisma to just walk into the den of lions with a smile I suppose. He certainly pulled it off here and looks like Suki was fooled. Badge and paperwork seemed official enough to her and the snickering from her office mates seems to suggest the rest of the station bought Jet's act. Detective Bruce Lee, come on Suki! If the Jee Kun Do master himself were alive and kicking he'd beat your ass harder than Azula beat yours for falling for a trick like this! XD

At least she caught on to what was happening at least, but in the end her tailing Jet out of the office and into his hiding place back fired spectacularly. So now we got Jet and another unnamed character making an appearance here, but I can guess pretty who she is even for a brief glimpse. Suki was onto something here, but it wasn't prudent of her to go alone. With Zuko out out for questions from his uncle he's going to have one hell of a time trying find Suki.

Nice work!

Oh shit. The Bullet and the Trigger.

This is a short chapter, but we finally get some insight to Aang's killers. Anonymous and mysterious, we know little about them other than these usernames. And a couple of peculiar ones too even.

The big reveal here is the tea. It seems like Aang was used as a kind of guinea pig for its so called "effects". There's definitely some supernatural stuff going on here now. Who ever Fingerlings is was meant to help test this tea out it seems. And Fingerling's "master" didn't seem to pleased with the results. I have feeling who both characters are but its too early to guess it seems and I could be wrong. Mighty suspicious either way.

Good job!

Zuko's hungry, but I'd wager his THIRST in this chapter is quite noticeable. And I'm not talking about tea. He was eyeing Jin like a tempting glass water. Well, probably that's just me. Jin is quite attractive here for the fact that we get introduced to her through Zuko's perspective and the first thing we as an audience are introduced to his her apparent attractiveness through Zuko's eyes. Again, I like the way you introduce characters here in this story, putting them together piece by piece until we get the full picture. And it occurs rather naturally.

We're finally at the White Lotus Teashop, though the circumstances as to what brought us here aren't strictly professional. Zuko wanted a bite to eat, and came out with more information on Aang and a nagging hint that, maybe, he should talk to his uncle. Or at least he remembered something peculiar his uncle wore that might be related to the case. A red herring? Maybe.

Jin's testimony seems to allude that Aang was an employee there at one point and she seems to think he was fired. Now Ty Lee is here and she seems to be a very popular waitress with the crowds. Just as she starts to come in the lunch crowd starts to roll up. Very bright and revealing clothing, with even a jewel in her navel.

I liked this chapter. Good to have one like this. Things are still happening here that help the investigation.

Yes, more Jet! I love it. Feng owns his ass right now, but I suspect Jet will be able to break free of his control. The Suki/Azula interactions here are great too! I've always wanted them to form some sort of friendship. Excellent chapter!

We're getting a bit of repeat facts here, but that's a good thing in this case. Facts are being put together. As Zuko and Suki move further along in their investigation the testimony of some of people they questioned all lead back to certain things mentioned before. They're putting together a story here, and all clues seem to point to same thing - White Lotus Teashop and Aang's shipments. Yeah, parts of the story are coming together for me here too. Spiritual students with deep beliefs, people from the north, tea, something big is at play here.

Well, leave it to Sokka to work with Teo to make some ambitious inventions! Good call back to his teamwork with Teo and the Mechanist from the show. Its always nice to see Sokka work with his hands. Too bad his high sprits are shattered with Yue's murder. He definitely took it very hard here, but he'll get over it. his testimony about Aang and Yue connects some pieces of this ever growing puzzle. There's a deliberate effort by the killers get these two, all having very religious beliefs that connect them to "the people up north". In Aang's case of course this all comes back to his decisions with some investors to distribute some herbal tea. Zuko and Suki have a lead now and I think it wold be prudent of them to the White Lotus Teashop as soon as possible. I feel like significant clue will be found there in their investigation.

A note on Zuko's inner monologue - it really helps flesh out how he thinks as the investigation goes along. Its like a glimpse into his real thoughts and what he really thinks. You can really tell that certain things that people do really get to him, such as when he was talking to Azula or when Suki was obviously coming on to Sokka. it can be humorous and insightful.

Nice work here!

Ah, so Mai's surname is Couteaux! Well that's fitting then. I looked it up online just to see what it means, and the only results I got were images of knives. Fitting indeed, seeing that she's the pathologist here.

Anyway, the story.

I actually quite liked how this panned out. A fresh new murder with the detectives, police, and security guards rushing as fast as they can to get a hold of the situation, cordoning off places and combing the area around the victim for any clues. Crime scene investigation on the spot, fresh, just after it happened. Makes for good story telling as things unravel and are discovered bit by bit.

Tragically and fittingly, our white haired professional swimmer with the yin-yang bathing suit is dead long before Kuei (surname of Bosce - good allusion to his bear) got there to take is evening swim. Face down in the water, there are some strange clues here as to how she died. Faint blue marks on the neck? Mai certainly thinks its something unexpected. And when a sober pathologist like her starts to sound a little shocked you know something odd is up. I certainly don't know what it all means other than foul play.

I liked how the others here started filling in the details about the victim very naturally, from the guard recognizing she was on the swim team, making it unlikely she drowned, to Suki confirming that it was a girl she knew from the martial arts class. Kuei even gets a say here and his obvious crush helps to flesh out the victim even more by getting other's views on her - she being beautiful and spiritual. Overall this entire chapter is a good call back to the show at the end of season one, with the victims death, although far from dignified here, still obviously alluding to how she died in the show somewhat. And of course the surname - portmanteau for Tui and La. Nice touch.

Another victim, another chapter were the plot ever thickens. That makes two victims that went to the same class together, both fairly spiritual and both very dead. Something is up here.

Well, this was an emotional chapter that started out awkwardly for Zuko. And ending with a murder right on the campus.

Its clear to me here that both siblings still have some unresolved issues between them, a lot of bitter history colors their interactions. Zuko so far displayed a level head on most occasions, but here his usual cool cracked significantly. He seems to feel inferior when in Azula's presence and it seems to show a lot, with sudden outburst here and there that make it seem like Azula is playing some sort of mind game with him, when in fact it just seems like he's visibly uncomfortable near her. Too many painful memories. That goes the same for Azula too though. Her own air of confidence and authority is shattered for a brief moment when remembering that incident in 8th grade that linked the scar on Aang's back to her. Seems like she repressed it... but its a memory that she would rather not recall. Too much drama and pain to take in. Like ripping off an old band-aid on a healing cut. At the end of it all, I knew this wouldn't link Ozai or Azula to Aang's murder. Motive's not there despite appearances.

And as if to prove the point, another death occurs on the very campus they're at! In a pool even, of all places. We'll find out who's dead here, but just as always the plot thickens even more.

And we have a new cameo character! Bolin from Legend of Korra makes his appearance as a beat cop, cordoning off the area. Gotta say that's a good call back to his job in the LOK comics. If not, well, I'm just happy that Legend of Korra characters may make more appearances! Mai shows up in a rather nice outfit for the occasion. Poor pathologists can never get a break on their nights off it seems.

The design and layout of the campus seems particularly detailed. I'm half-tempted to think that this was based off of an actual university somewhere or just a modern interpretation of the Fire Nation Palace. Very modern design, lots of places for natural lighting striking designs and colors. Certainly serves to introduce Azula very well in her work environment surrounded by antiques and paperwork, like a proper professor.

Overall, good work! Onto the newest victim...

Okay, there's a lot to take in here! It was only a matter of time before Zuko and Iroh discussed the case and the White Lotus. While it definitely seems that Iroh isn't telling Zuko everything, Zuko still learns quite a lot. What's interesting is that Iroh does not suspect Ozai or Azula. I have a lot of questions, such as who this Fingerlings character is, but the one thing that stands out to me the most is Iroh saying he'd taste Hama's pie if they were thirty years younger!

I'm completly lost at this point, thing got messy for Zuko though.

I was hoping by the chapter title that we'd finally get to meet Jet! Interesting that he'd go by Lee, considering that was Zuko's fake name in the cartoon. Now I'm just dying for some Jet/Zuko interactions! Great chapter :D