Jushiro

"You can't be serious." Aiko deadpanned.

Smirking with my hat in hand, I winked at her. "Try being more optimistic."

She grunted and took the hat from me. "'Try being more optimistic', try putting yourself in my shoes: because you put me in the company of the kid who accidentally folds himself out of reality like origami or something!"

"Hey, come on, Aiko," Chokichi complained. "I know how to do it at will now."

Still on the northern continental coast, I chuckled and held out both hands as though they were weighted scales. "It's either we make ourselves a raft mine and Ulik's way, or we try our luck at Fire Navy watercraft. Hmm…"

"Well, hold on a second, buddy." Habikimaro began, standing between myself and Aiko—who was on Chokichi's shoulder in front of me while the large Gorigan, Ulik, was in front of the other Yojimbo. "The Fire Nation will have caught word that it was us who decimated an entire Earth Kingdom battalion. That fame could get us some decent transportation to the North Pole."

"The humans're 'fraid of us inhumans, lad." Ulik pointed out. "She c'n hide, but I'm too big."

Putting a finger to my chin and brushing its underside with my thumb, I analyzed that fact carefully. It didn't really matter if I was a Fire Nation noble, or if Habikimaro and Chokichi were in my company, Aiko and Ulik were bound to cause some stir of attention. "Well, what if Habikimaro travels on a raft made of earth with Ulik?" Chokichi suggested.

Slowly smiling, I took my hand from the chin and pointed up. "That's not a half bad idea. I can almost guarantee they'll make it to the North Pole first, Aang and Hien'll see them."

"Hien?" Habikimaro inquired.

"Another human, tell him you're with Chokichi and I, you'll be fine."

"I see!" he boomed and caused a Tsukuyomi fire to rage in his palm, smirking wickedly. "A rival for me to smash!"

Squinting and sighing, my hand automatically pinched the bridge of my nose. "Dammit, man."

"Well, I guess we're just takin' Aiko and making way to a halfway decent Fire Nation ship?" Chokichi asked.

"I doubt you're familiar with the fact that Aiko can scan for spiritual signatures. Our best bet is to find my brother, tag along with him."

"Wait wait wait, I only have so much of a scope, Jushiro!" Aiko squeaked in complaint. "I'd need access to a lot of chi in order to find anybody outside a hundred sword radius!"

I only needed to smirk and wink my normal eye closed, leaving my newfound red Kagamigan open with its Muladhara inscription on the very eyeball. She blinked and huffed in irritation. "Oh my, a red eyeball, that's so fascinating and doesn't have any point in this conversation!"

"She seems awfully jaded," Habikimaro declared bluntly.

"Hey you shut up fuzz head! I tell him I need access to a lot of chi and he winks at me as if to say," she clears her throat before saying in a rather unnaturally proficient imitation of my voice, "Ah yes, it seems I have this red eyeball and that means the Mother gave me the power of a spirit! Mhmhmhm! Ah yes!"

"Actually, Aiko, I literally just manifested this eye during the battle for the Opal. And my partner can testify, I actually have pretty vast stores of energy for a guy my age," I explained. "You should have seen the monster Habikimaro summoned, it was huge! And so powerful!"

"So what, I use your chi? Give my scope over to Choki and we spacebend?"

"What about your pipsqueak friend and I, Yojimbo?" Ulik added, arms crossed.

"Let 'my pipsqueak friend' take care of that." I answered.

Huddling us close together, Aiko's darkness enveloped over my vision as all sound left my ears. After a few minutes, a red firefly light illuminated in an ever so great distance, like looking at one of the stars in the sky. Holding Chokichi in my arms, I silently braced myself for whatever might happen if Spacebending went "wrong". Having never done it before, I was increasingly nervous until something tugged away at me from my abdomen. I couldn't hear myself when saying, "Oh shit." before being pulled out of existence.

Don't recommend piggyback on a spacebender if you're afraid of the possibility of going so fast that you might genuinely have your skin ripped from the flesh. I couldn't hear myself, but was definitely screaming. Sound returned to my ears when the three of us swirled into existence on a metal deck. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh…! Oh." I stopped and looked around.

Fire Nation masked bender units were around us, stiffening and mobilizing in surprise from our arrival before one of them announced, "Prince Jushiro?!"

Finding myself smiling and waving, I chuckled in response. "Is Zuko aboard?"

"Uh, I'll send for him right away!" one of the grunts replied, running below deck.

"Geez, people are so stiff around me." I commented as I watched Iroh walk up onto the deck.

Seeing the old man brought feelings of dread and joy to me at the same time, the last encounter I had with him was when I knocked Zuko about and rendered him unconscious. "Jushiro, my boy!" he beamed and laughed.

Smiling brightly and opening my eyes, I walked over to him. "Hello, Uncle."

Our hug was full of laughter and warmth before we let go and looked upon each other's faces. His countenance became concerned as he looked at me. "Your eye…"

Nervously, I chuckled. "Don't worry, I can still see out of it."

"Well does it hurt? Do you see any differently?"

At his inquiry, I began to smirk. "I see things differently without my Kagamigan."

"Ka...ga...migan?"

"That's what this eyeball is called. 'Mirror Eye'. Kagamigan."

Before Iroh could respond, a fireball hit me in the face, causing my head to turn. "Get off of my ship, Jushiro!" Zuko's voice shouted in front of me.

Seconds passed as I turned my head back, looking at an astonished Zuko and Iroh, their eyes widened from surprise. "That was rather rude. I like to think I made up for the last few times we saw one another." I complained.

"How aren't you burnt?" he asked.

My own eyes matched theirs now as I blinked. "I'm not?"

They didn't answer, so I turned around to Chokichi. "Any burns?"

"Your skin's got some soot, but you're not burnt." he replied, still over in the same spot he appeared from.

Turning around, I rubbed my right cheek to feel the verification. "Well, my goodness, I've gotten stronger since I took the Opal, huh?"

The two of them merely stared at me, earning a sigh. "I've had a rather productive month."

Iroh chuckled. "Understatement doesn't suit you, nephew."

"Jushiro, why are you here?" Zuko inquired. "And how did you… do that? And who's that kid? I want answers."

Smiling warmly at his interrogation, noticing that he hadn't changed since we were kids with his hotheaded personality, I held out an open hand before curling my fingers to cage the black flames that lit into existence. "You're going to get plenty of them. This story begins, as plenty of good ones should, with a colony mayor begging like a little girl for a teenager to solve a problem that halberdiers and firebenders alone apparently couldn't."

XXXXXXXXX

Habikimaro

"Th' friggin' kid could've at least warned 's of how cold it'd be." Ulik griped.

He certainly wasn't wrong, as he complained and sat down. I was just surprised that this big earth crafted boat could actually float. Smiling and creating a cluster of flames in my hands, I smiled. "I hope this warms you up, big guy."

The Gorigan smirked. "Don't get all womanly, pip squeak. Conserve yer energy, we're in dangerous waters."

Halting the flames, my brow rose. "Dangerous?"

Ulik grumbled. "Supposedly, as th' stories go, there's a woman who commands the seas far more than any Oceanmover on th' earth. Northern waters are sacred, and she don't take kindly to anyone other than the Buji swimmin' or floatin' around here."

"'Buji'? 'Oceanmover'?" I questioned.

He merely shook his head. "'Waterbender' to you humans. And the Buji are similar to us Gorigans, but they're all about the water'n shit. 'Case ye haven't noticed, I look like a living rock. Stonemover, big rock guy. Buji are like fish."

I held my chin with a thumb and index as he spoke, nodding. "Right, right."

Suddenly, shadows began to drape over us and I looked up to the sky. Clouds were rapidly forming, condensing darkly into stormclouds as chilling winds began to pick up. The two of us stood up, I drew my tachi in my wariness. "I swear I'm not doing this."

"Ye're a Fireburner, ye can't do this."

"Well, if I shot a fireball into the sky, it would make a rising air current and then—"

"Shut yer yap, we c'd be in some serious shit, lad."

As if on cue, a harsh rain began to shower and the waves rocked us. Without warning, something giant erupted from the surface tension, shadowed by a following lightning bolt. Glaring down upon us, we were almost like ants in comparison to the giant serpent, how this thing wasn't the subject of all sorts of rumor and literature worldwide was beyond me with the size of it. It could practically swallow us without a second thought if it wanted to. But at this moment, it was just myself, a Gorigan and a stone raft. Jushiro wasn't here, neither was Chokichi and certainly no other Yojimbo. "Ulik, I need you to give me as much Earth as possible from the raft."

The serpent roared, a shrill shriek that made my ears screech. Both of us growled in complaint and the waves shook more from the force of the sound. "I can't lad, there's only so much I can do." he answered.

I sighed as the monster reared its head. "Fine."

"Father, I do not understand."

"What is it you don't understand, Habikimaro?"

"Why do you want me to carry around these things if I can't ever use them?"

"Well, you're going to deliver them. They're all a gift from the sun, you see?"

"The sun?"

My father would always smile at me, and I am among the few who ever saw his face. He always ruffled my hair too. "You know of the moon spirit, Tui. Waterbenders pray to her. The sun on the other hand gives his divine strength to the Firebenders. They are cousins, and as time has gone on, our depiction and understandings of them were different. I was given a dream, a vision, saying that you would meet a very special person."

"But, what are these supposed to do with that dream?"

A bright blue light grew from the serpent's mouth. "Lad! Whatever strength ye got, I suggest ya use it!" Ulik shouted.

I'm sorry, father. Reaching into my gi, I grabbed hold of something. "Relax, Ulik!"

Luminescent energy fell upon us, only to be bounced back upon the creature by nothing at all. In my hands was a circular mirror, gleaming as the serpent screeched painfully. "Wha-What the frig' is that?!"

I grimaced as I looked over my shoulder at him. "This was meant to be a gift for Jushiro. I hope you don't ruin the surprise."

"I don't think ye heard me right, 'what the fuck is that mirror'?" he enunciated.

"It's an artifact that belongs to Agni himself, the sun spirit. The Eight Handed mirror that reflects all things."

"Ye had a spirit artifact with ya the whole time?!"

I smirked. "It's not mine. If this serpent didn't rise up from the depths, I wouldn't have taken it out."

The creature shook out of its trance and lunged upon us, crying out ruthlessly as it came. Quickly returning my attention to the battle, I shouted, "Reflect!"

A translucent, ultraviolet circle of energy materialized in front of the mirror when the beast's head smashed into it. "Holy shit!" Ulik cried.

"Ulik, if you could try and help with smashing this serpent's brains in, that'd be helpful."

"Hold!"

The voice of a woman came to our attention, the serpent even stopped to listen as the clouds parted and a humanoid figure of mist formed on the raft before us. "What the frig is this?" Ulik griped.

"So what the Earth Sculptor said is true. This 'sixth' really did revive your people, Gorigan." she acknowledged him, before turning to me. Glowing red eyes squinted. "Put the Eight Handed mirror away, son of the Grandmaster."

I nodded, putting it away as she said to. "Hello, Chihaya."

"Ye know her, lad?" Ulik asked.

"I know of her, I never met any of the Council in person."

"Your father had told me you'd be traversing my waters to the North Pole." she informed me. "Such a decision was stupid of you, for had I not halted Ryujin you would be in his belly already."

I found myself chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry."

"Clearly you're not the brains of your family."

With that remark, she waved her hand as the water around us glowed in a circle. "Please tell me you're not sending us back to the continent." I pleaded.

"No, I'm sending you to my people's refuge. You and the former Last Gorigan need to rest."

"They're called 'Buji', right?"

The two of us found ourselves pulled out of form through time and space. In mere seconds, fantastical forces threw us in front of what looked to be the tiniest island I've ever seen in my life. An utter white land, with pine trees covered in the snow caking the ground. In the center of what looked to be two kilometers of white land was an old wooden doorpost. Twin fabric sheets hung in the opening, with hiragana spelling out the word "refuge" on both of them. Blinking, I found myself smiling. "What a cute little place this is."

"Don't go sayin' such things lad, ye might bring another monster upon us." Ulik griped.

I leapt off of the raft and onto the island. "Can't hear you, too busy walkin' to the refuge!"

The force of him landing behind me could knock a man over. It almost did too. "Ye twit, ye're as bad as Jushiro. Save for the long hair, a guitar and the hat."

"Just calm down." I lit a black flame to keep us warm as we paced over to the door. "You've got me and that Earthbending of yours. We can't go wrong."

"There're plenty o' ways ta go wrong here, squirt. Buji 're rather adept at their craft, just like we Gorigans are."

I sighed, reaching forth to pull the curtain over. "Just relax, Chihaya gave us the approval to come here. How bad could things go?"

XXXXXXXXX

Jushiro

The looks upon Zuko and Iroh's faces left a lot to be desired. It was a mixture of confusion, disbelief, and a loss of where to follow. The concepts of Yojimbo, the gems and a syndrome to blacken elements were hard enough to wrap one's mind around, but metahumans as well? Ulik the Gorigan and Aiko the Kiri, just those names and terms would sound fictional to them. I sighed, crossing my arms. "It seems I've lost you two."

"Er, no no, it's not that. I just can't seem to… comprehend the idea behind it all." Iroh assured.

"Are you referring to the artifacts or the two inhumans?"

"Well, no, I mean the Tsukuyomi Syndrome you speak of."

I opened my hand, conjuring black flames in my palm. "It's not fiction."

"He's telling the truth, Uncle." Zuko declared, looking at me. "He never was a liar."

Smiling at him, it couldn't be helped that I offer my fist to him. "Thanks little brother."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here."

I withdrew my hand, sighing. "Well, the idea is that I should be sticking with my family. Azula's in the Fire Nation right now, so I came to seek you out first."

"You said you're on your way to the North Pole." he said, sneering. "Why would I follow?"

"Well, to my understanding, Aang is going up there too. With me to back you up, we could snag 'im and get you home lickety split."

All was silent. Zuko locked eyes with me, and it was then that I noticed a similarity between us. Both of our left eyes were altered or marred in some way, the red Kagamigan was my left eyeball and Ozai had scarred his left eye. Smiling at the thought, I craned to pop out some air bubbles. "Seems like you and I are on the same page again."

"Between you and Azula, you're the one I legitimately trust." he squinted. "If you betray that trust, we're done for good."

"I understand."

Without another word, he turned and stomped below deck. Iroh looked to him. "Zuko!"

"Let him go, Uncle. He has more than one good reason to be wary of me."

I said no more, leaving the main hub room and leaping down to the deck. Looking out at the horizon, I took a breath of the brisk, cold breeze. My exhalation became vapor, the cool air soothed my skin. Zuko doesn't seem willing to change just yet. But still, at least he's alive, were he any softer he'd have been dead long ago. "Jushiro."

I looked to Iroh, blinking. "Yes?"

"Zuko… he looks up to you. He always has."

I nodded. "I know." My face darkened a bit. "After mother disappeared… we both needed someone to trust. I trust him, and I'm grateful he trusts me right back."

Before Iroh could speak, a totem of pain seethed within my left eye, making me slap to my face and cover it, grunting. "Owww…!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, my eye aches, like someone punched me."

With a crash, the boat tossed and tipped left and right, rocking the two of us almost to our butts. Turning around, my eye ached even more. But what I found was offputting to say the least. "At last, it seems I've found you. For how much noise you make, you're awfully elusive."

As strange as it was, this was a humanoid. Wearing armor that looked straight out of stories about the spirit world that glowed with a strange blue energy, with nine tails waving about behind it, this newcomer stood taller than me with a nodachi in hand. It was still sheathed in its left hand. It sounded like a middle aged man, but looked like a fox. "Clearly my eyes are acting up on me now."

He gave me a toothy grin. His eyes were faintly luminescent. "I am no illusion."

"A fox?" Iroh asked in wonder. "I didn't know there were any left."

A fox. You're joking. He chuckled. "It seems some humans aren't ignorant in this day and age."

"Hey, excuuuuuuuse me for never having seen a fox before!" I griped, taking off my hat and handing it to Iroh. "I mean it, I know it's kinda rude for me to be in disbelief."

"Get your lady clothes out of their bunch, Jushiro." the fox chided. "I was just teasing."

"Didn't know foxes were…!" Wait a minute. "... How… do you know my name?"

"Uncle! Jushiro! What just happened, are we under attack?!" Zuko interrogated, running up and bracing his fists at the fox. "You! What're you doing on my ship?!"

The fox merely looked at my brother, like he was a dog or a bug. "I have no concern with you."

"Well you're about to!" Zuko's fists enflamed.

"Zuko, no!" Iroh cried out.

The teenager merely lunged forth upon the stranger, whom in turn took mere centimeters of his blade from the sheath to defend himself. I was fast enough to stop the fox, or fast enough to keep Zuko from doing something stupid. Dashing with all of my power, I looped around and caught the prince with my left arm. "Stop, Zuko." I demanded.

He struggled against my grip. "Why are you blocking me?!"

"Because if you agitate him, I don't think I'll be able to save you."

He glared at me before extinguishing his fists and walking away. This time, Iroh followed him, probably to talk. I found myself looking at this stranger again. "I'm sorry about that."

"Do not be." he smirked. "His bloodline always attacks those beyond its ken. Just look at how marvelously they treated the dragons."

The bloodline of Firelord Sozin eradicated the dragons, a tradition stated that whoever kills a dragon is exalted as one himself. Clearly, this guy knew his fair share. "I never got your name."

Sliding whatever was out of the scabbard back in, he bowed his head. "Ichiro."

"You already know, but, Jushiro." I bowed in return.

"It's nice to see a sense of manners about you."

"Er, not to sound stupid, but how exactly do you know about me? I'm not the most social guy on the face of the earth."

Ichiro merely chuckled. "I watched you unlock the ability to firebend by way of your Tsukuyomi, saw you and the even louder one summon an oni when you took back your opal. "

"That big thing?"

At this, he blinked incredulously. "You… didn't even know what it's called?"

"No, I'm not well versed in all of this at all."

He cackled merrily. "You will be, in time."

"That leads me to ask how exactly you watched me. And why you're here."

"You're rather curious for such a seasoned traveler."

"I'm not that seasoned, I've only been traveling for a singular season."

He smirked and unsheathed his blade fully. "The world we live in is much bigger than you realize. Humans only know of humans or animals, maybe a few spirits here or there. You've only had a taste of the deeper layers of it: black elements, your spacebender boy and the two spirit people you know about. Until you were found, you had thought yourself as the only one of your kind." His toothy grin grew as he paused. "I assure you that there are many, and I wasn't the only one watching your development. Some welcome you as the sixth of twenty eight destinies, while others are hunting you."

I drew my own weapon now, taking a stance. "And you?"

Ichiro's face shifted, still smiling but not as wickedly. "I was sent by my mistress to bring you a gift, and a message."

The player to be named later, huh? "So where is it?"

Sheathing his blade with one slick motion caused a sound to reverberate, like a bell ringing, throughout the air, the metal and the ocean around us. Soon after, in a puff of smoke, came a basket with a rather thick scroll resting against it. "There. Open those before you finish your journey north."

With a burst of saffron flames, Ichiro was gone. Sighing, I picked up the 45 centimeter thick scroll, putting my mercury weapon away to take the basket below deck with me. "Yo!"

Swirling into physicality next to me was Chokichi, beginning to walk at my pace. "What's up, little man?"

"I was watchin' from up higher, what was that guy? Er, Ichiro, right?"

"To my understanding, he's a fox. A fox I had better come to terms with understanding."

Chokichi smirked at me. "You're all serious, it's not really like you."

I chuckled, ruffling his hair. "You calling me weird?"

"No, I'm just saying that it's a big contrast from when we met. At first, we were just slicing each other up and now you're all focused on this goal while I'm just popping in and out of places."

"That reminds me, I want to resume training with you, especially because of your newfound Spacebending."

"You think it's safe to do it on the ship? I mean, you're kinda… everything you do goes boom."

My face bore confusion. "I only started 'going boom' recently."

"The very second time I saw you."

Now it made more sense. He had only met me once before Tsukuyomi Syndrome became a thing for us. I sighed, smiling. "We'd better wait then. At least until we make port and find somewhere decent."

"Actually, Jushiro…" he began.

It was his hesitation that had me spooked. Where my face didn't show it, I felt the chill twice as deep, almost beneath my very marrow if at all possible. Stopping and looking at him cooly, I let out a breath silently. "Yes?"

"Why… are you going north?" While he spoke, Aiko's little eye appeared from a tiny shadow cast by his chin onto his neck. "I mean, the prize, yeah. But do you know what it is?"

For moments, I said nothing. He had a right to the truth, no matter how he'd judge me. "No. I don't."

"You don't?"

What came next was a headshake. Before he could speak, my urge escaped me. "You want to know why I've chased it then."

"That's… that's right, I do."

The hesitation continued to startle me. He was never this way before. My eyes couldn't meet his as I considered an answer. "My mother."

"Like, your actual mother?"

"No, my adoptive mother. Ursa of the Fire Nation, a princess. I'm not of her blood and yet she treated me justly and with nothing but love."

Chokichi began to use his hands, body language. "But it was just an investment right? I've seen you, you're a hundred leagues above Zuko, a thousand maybe!"

"Out of us three, I was the weakest," I answered coldly. "I couldn't bend, never looked anyone in the face when talking and until eight years old, I was so sick that I couldn't leave my bedchambers."

He was silent, wide eyed, grimacing. Nobody else could hear Aiko's faint hum of pity and empathy. So my story didn't halt. "Mother, Uncle Iroh, Zuko and Azula always kept me company. My body felt more like a prison, I was practically immobile, unable to really breathe, and unable to eat or even go to the bathroom on my own." The next thought made me smile. "Mother had my siblings, I kid you not, tell me stories and perform them in this dancing fashion. Understand that they were younger than I, really little and clumsy. I loved it."

My audience stifled a laugh, urging me on. "My family has shown me nothing but love. Iroh helped me sharpen my mind, Pai Sho and teacraft will do that to you. Ursa had someone teach me the guitar, and I've stuck by it ever since. But she's the one who took the time to teach me all about Bushido and the craft of a Yojimbo." I began to frown now. "Without her… we've all suffered. I punished myself with constant exercise and abuse of my own body, Azula just grew darker with time and Zuko… well, Zuko's punishment was from an outward source…"

"So you left."

Nodding lead to popping my neck's kinks. "This power would help unify my family. I have no idea what the prize even is, but if the keys to it are these gems of raw power, imagine what the treasure is."

He sighed. "Jushiro, I don't think it'll be that simple. Twelve days ago, was just a kid in the Yuyan Archers, waiting for you to show up; now I can bend myself into different places and learning under you: a Yojimbo with that eye and those gems of yours. Big stuff will happen when you get that treasure."

"I know."

"Well, do I get a cut? I mean, I like to think of myself to be your kid brother, maybe—," he began with a goofy smile.

For a few moments, I was silent. It must have been my face that cut him off, because he suddenly began waving his hands as if to somehow dissuade me from blasting him into ashes. "I mean, needless to say, I doubt that there's something to split among yourself and some eleven year old kid. Hell, I could even say—"

"Chokichi."

He semi-flinched, as if wanting to run. "Yes?"

"Baby steps. You've got Tsukuyomi Syndrome. It must have been recent, because I last saw you a week ago and never saw you swirling into space. Get a hang of what you've got."

"Uh, yeah, yeah, okay. I'm sorry if I—"

"Calm down."

He blinked and took a breath. "I'm afraid you're gonna burn me to a crisp."

"I'm going to try reading this giant ass scroll, assuming I can, it might be in another language or something."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, um…"

I smiled and pet his hair. "Calm down, Chokichi."

He smiled, looking up at me. "Don't act so high and mighty over me just because I'm short."

"But it's so fun."

"Shut up! I'm still tough enough to take you down!"

"Oh ho, that sounds like a challenge!"

"We get off this boat, I'll beat you into the dirt."

I smirked. "Stupid."

Slugging me in the arm caused us to laugh as we went our separate ways in that Fire Ship hall. Minutes of walking made me realize that I had no room here. Literally, there was the crew's quarters and Iroh and Zuko had their chambers but I was roomless. "Oh. Shit," I said to myself.

"Oh, er, might I offer you somewhere to get comfortable?"

Turning around, I found Iroh walking up behind me, probably noticing my little scurry around the place. He was always intuitive. Smart. "I'd really appreciate it, Uncle."

All he had to do was gesture, and I followed him. "Perhaps you could tell me a story?"

The notion made me laugh a bit. "A story? All's I did was—"

"You forget. I was there for some."

He was right. I forgot, I knocked Zuko out with that flurry of knives, only getting in a knockout blow and a few nicks. But still, he saw me fly away that night, so he wasn't totally oblivious. "I suppose you could use a primer, especially for your hospitality."

Iroh opened the steel door, creaking loudly as it went, looking back at me. "Perhaps some Pai Sho while we talk?"

Of course. Same Uncle Iroh. "I'd love to."

XXXXXXXXX

Chokichi

Something was definitely up with Jushiro. I had no clue what it was but it was there. He's never been really at ease like he has been all day. I always see this fitting guy, always at the ready, constantly at the fight. But this time he was just relaxed. Was it that eye of his? Was he tired from that battle he literally fell unconscious from? It beat me. "Chi? Chiiiiii?"

I was on the deck, looking at the ocean. Being from a coastal colony town on the Earth continent made sunlight on water, the sounds of rolling waves and the spray of the sea with its natural smell of salt and fish were familiar to me. "Chiiii!"

Aiko's shouting woke me from my trance, enjoying my surroundings and everything. "What's up, Aiko?"

"Are you okay?"

"Me? I mean, hungry, sure. But other than that, just haven't been in this kinda place in so long."

"You mean a boat or the ocean?" Her little eye blinked on the shadow my chin cast on my neck.

Were it not slipping my mind so completely, I would have answered. Instead, a younger boy's laughter sounded a lot more uncomfortable than it should. His mouth was full of tempura and the joke that made him react was so stupid, yet funny. Always dirty, fighting tooth and nail not to take a bath. "Yeah."

"'Yeah' what?"

"Oh, shit, I mean both."

Like liquid shadow, the Kiri flowed from me and took her full form, floating in front of me with her arms crossed. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"Just… uh…" I scratched my head. "What's that word for, like, good memories and junk?"

"Nostalgia."

"Yeah, yeah, nostalgia."

"About what?"

"Simple stuff. The kind I shouldn't remember but yet I do." I began. "When I was little."

"Bad stuff?"

"No, just these… things. I don't know."

"You mean 'details'."

"How are you so smart, Aiko?"

She giggled. "I'm a little older than you, silly. Had a teacher. I don't think you ever did."

Looking back, I found that she was right. Jushiro did, sure, but all he taught me was swordfighting, and Ulik helped me figure out this Spacebending thing. But not smart people stuff. "Not really."

"Well, let me help with that." She smiled cutely, rubbing my cheeks with her hands. "You cute little thing you."

"I'm not that little." I complained.

She only grinned, all toothy like. I pouted, to which the little Kiri kissed my nose. "Come on, let's see if there's a cook on this big boat."

My stomach grumbled immediately as she said that, making her laugh at me. "Shut up!" I shouted, blushing.

She smirked, as if she was planning something. "No."

My lips smothered hers, and she didn't fight back. Smirking against them, I purred like a leopard-caribou. "Just get back into my shadow, I'm gonna get some food."

Pouting her lower lip forward, she gave me that classic look. The pleading look of a little kid wanting a treat. "You're teasing me."

"Yeah, this one time to your all the time."

"I'll be a good kitty, I promise."

"Stop being so weird and just get back in my shade, you're the one who doesn't wanna be seen."

In one liquid motion, she was out of sight and attached to my shadow. Strolling back inside the ship, I nudged one of the masked soldiers. Their masks looked like skulls, making them rather intimidating to most people. "Hey, you know where the mess is?"

He pointed in the direction of a separate turn hall. "Down this hall, take a right. They're serving those toothed Flying Loaches today."

"Thanks, man."

Following his directions took us to the half full, moderately lit mess hall. The man behind the serving counter wasn't the average fat guy with no grooming skills. He was of average neatness, some stubble about him, but he was definitely a hardened sailor. Catering to picky wants and needs was clearly not his aim when handing you a steaming plate of fish and rice. I walked up to his counter, and he didn't even say a word to me before serving a plate. Whatever new word Aiko would come up with to explain this escaped me. "Hey, kid."

His voice sounded like a fart. I blinked. "Uh, yeah?"

"You're the prince's friend, right? Why you look so confused?"

"Beats me. Been feelin' weird since I got here."

"You sick or somethin'?"

"Nah, nah."

"Then I don't care," he said simply. "Get on out, you're holdin' up a line."

This felt like something I've done before. Either way, making my way to a halfway decent bench, I sat down and began eating. What was this fish called? Flying Loach? I knew the texture of this meat, it wasn't all flimsy or breaking apart at any given poke: it could melt in my mouth, and the way that guy spiced it left an alerting burn in my mouth. It tasted very familiar, and felt much more so. I didn't just wolf my food down, but instead took the time to savor the taste of the meal. And the seconds. And thirds. Aiko yanked at my ear to snap me out of my daze, stopping me from getting fourths. "That's enough, hungry boy."

"But it's really good."

"Don't stuff yourself. You'll be too full to do anything and then you'll get fat."

That made me grimace. "I don't wanna get fat."

"Exactly."

"Fine."

I'd spent all day, just thinking. It was too much, I needed to stop but I couldn't. Just why was this happening? "Chokichi."

That was the 'oh shit' signal in my head. She didn't usually call me by my full name, so I defaulted to, "Oh shit, I'm in trouble."

"No you're not, just shut up and listen."

"Alright, alright, what is it?"

For a moment, she hesitated. "You know I like you, and Jushiro and the other, right?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"I've seen some crazy shit, sweetie. Jushiro busted up into my sanctuary and I piggybacked. He brought dead Gorigans back to life, we found you and busted Aang out, had me use my powers to make that weird hat blade thing."

I snorted, smirking. "A bladed hat?"

"I know, but he made it work, with those gems and that power he can make anything work. You can literally bend space!"

"Aiko, today please, I dunno what you mean."

"... I need you to keep this just between us," she said, her voice shaking a teensy tiny bit, almost unnoticeably.

XXXXXXXXX

Hien

For an air temple, this place lacked airbenders. I'd be more than happy to interact with the people here more, but that night still ate away at me.

Flashback

"What?!"

"Unbelievable," Hei shouted, lurching forward. "I've never seen anything like this!"

Chokichi had just swirled into nothingness, and my fingers pressed rather hard with the increasingly tight grip on my head. My panicking had just spiked. "Awwww no, no no! Oh crap he's gonna kill me!"

"Hold on, there's gotta be some kind of explanation for this," Aang urged.

"I saw him transform when we fought Zuko at the abbey, Jushiro can fly and do all kinds of crazy crap and now the kid I was supposed to keep safe just got sucked into his own belly! He's gonna freakin' rip my head off, guys, like, quick!"

"Jushiro? The Fire Nation prince?"

The four of us turned to him. "So you know him," Sokka assumed.

"No, no I've never met him in person. I've heard of him, though. He's the oldest, but he's not Fire Lord Ozai and queen Ursa's natural son. He's adopted."

"He can't even firebend," Aang inserted. "He rescued me from a fort in the swamp."

Katara put her hand on my shoulder to try and reach me. "I'm sure he'll understand. None of us could have expected that he's just vanish."

-x-

We'd only been here a day, it's been about a week since that happened. The trip up this way has been slow and the time spent here felt consistently lethargic. I had never felt this out of whack before, but to be fair, I'd never been that little fish swimming in a pond with fully grown elephant koi before. An airbender, a waterbender, a prince who left his country and has superpowers, his kid friend that also has superpowers thanks to a spirit girl? What the actual fuck, how was I supposed to cope with that? How does anyone, really? All kinds of people were all over the world, and even though it was tough to wrap my mind around, well, all of this stuff, the residents of the Northern Air Temple were rather well off.

Sure, these people were dexterous; but just as Aang could see up in the sky, flying on this "fluffy snot monster" (as Sokka calls the Bison), no airbending. Just a bunch of people who stupidly made a deal with the Fire Nation, weapons in particular. Of course it had to be Fire Nation, it just had to be, it's not like I've already been brushing up with the supernatural for the last few weeks. Bending as a whole has been the norm for a long time, before mine or anyone's time here really, but what just happened with Chokichi bugged me still. Boy, if Jushiro ever saw me again, he'd have my head for sure. If he ever got the chance. "Can't we just talk this out, guys?"

One guy, a little dirty and patchy, with a mechanical staff. That's me in a nutshell. Them, however: firebenders, spearmen, swordsmen. Me against what I count to be, oh I think it's forty, and that's one wave. Count it, one singular wave, this was an army coming for whatever that inventor was making. "You can't seriously be all that's defending this stretch up to the temple, right? Oh that's just cruel."

One soldier said it and the others around him just laughed. I squinted and scoffed, not just at them but at the "genius" Sokka, having me stand here like an idiot saying that it was the perfect bottleneck where the enemy could never fit too many men on the path. Funny thing that dummy over there never guessed was that in this world, that's why people develop wenches on tanks for scaling, and air balloons that drop bombs of oil and fire on people. "Yeah well, what you see is what you get."

"Well move it, before we change our minds on not skewering a teenager whose balls've yet to drop!"

"Come and try it."

Moments after that instigation, bursts of flame erupted from within the cluster of soldiers. To tell the truth, I didn't foresee that, until I remembered the obvious factor. Experimental weapons. They must have been developing hand bombs of some sort. Out of the sky came more, sending the enemy into a state of fight or flight. The fight part was met with the end of my staff upon the first temple, the first skull, of my body count today. Thankfully I had superior acrobatics to these men, otherwise I'd have been speared well into the early seconds of my leaping over five infantrymen, kicking him off of stable ground and into the ravine below. Of course he screamed on his way, tumbling down.

I had no time to gloat, turning and leaping over a couple fire troops pushing out fireballs with open palm strikes. Before landing, I swung upon the back of one's skull to make him lurch and fall over. The second, however, turned around, poised to strike. With how much I trained on my agility and reaction time, I was still not fast enough to really take him down as well, so plan B was to just jump and roll to the side. An unexpected side effect: a wind blast knocked a clump of Fire Nationals off of the ridge. "Now did you really have to do that?"

Looking up and scrambling to my feet, I saw them. One was in a yellow mask that covered his whole head, the other was shorter with straw colored hair and wearing some sort of light battle attire that I've never seen before. The person who spoke had a deep voice, somewhat scary sounding, but nothing supernatural. "Well, you're the one who wanted to speak to him, and being the impatient one you are, I had to improvise," the shorter one answered, sounding like somebody my age, maybe older.

By "him", they might've meant me. I had already been caught in the trance of the literal first Avatar, so that odd bar was set pretty high. Before I could try to say anything, the sounds of charging soldiers and pounding feet caught my attention. Apparently it caught theirs too, because the masked man clapped his hands together and conjured something between them: a swirling ball of invisible waves. He didn't hesitate to throw it at them, but it traveled past the first cluster or so until it burst in a thunderous sound. "You should grab him."

"I was getting to that, Kamui," the taller complained as he threw out his other hand, a mechanical pincher flying out to grab my clothes connected to him by thick metal tether joints as he pulled me with surprising strength.

For the next ten seconds, close to a hundred men were sucked into a whirlpool of nothingness before that creation vanished into thin air with a hum. "Oh fuck," I whispered, even though the word was just tasteless.

"My thoughts exactly sometimes. The Fifth over here shows off too much," Kamui responded, the metal pincer letting me go as I got back to my feet, standing at the ready with my staff.

"Now just hold on, why're you here?"

"I should be asking you that same question," the 'Fifth' retorted. "To refine it more: why, without the Yojimbo?"

"So you're looking for Jushiro too? Yeah, you and the Fire Prince, I have enough on my plate."

"If you mean the eleven year old as 'on your plate', he's reunited with him already," this time, Kamui spoke again. "We know where they are."

"My curiosity led me to you because you're traveling without him, when the North Pole doesn't concern you, and I'd like to know why," his friend stated.

"I don't have to tell you anything," I snapped. "Jushiro's a friend, and asked me to ferry Chokichi north. Even without the little guy, he's still my friend and I support him."

"Oh ho, even knowing he's a Fire Nation prince? A leader of your enemy?"

This masked "Fifth" guy unnerved me. A lot. Sneering, what came out was, "He's a lot different than any of those guys you just… whatever you just did to them. Jushiro is just looking for something, right? I haven't seen him attack village folk or bring down Ba Sing Se or anything."

The strange teen Kamui smiled, blowing a raspberry. "He's got you there, Musubi."

"Yes, I suppose he does."

After that little acknowledgement, Musubi took something from a pocket in his robes and tossed it at me. Flinching a bit, I clapped at it and caught it between my hands. It felt circular, lightweight, a little bigger than my palm. Blinking, looking at it in one hand revealed it to be a medallion of some sort. It was some sort of rustlike green metal and yet it was smooth, stainless. A red miniature cornerstone was in the center, carved around it was a shape of a magatama. Outward swirls seemed to artistically radiate in line from the center. "What's this?"

"Something to help a person such as you stand up for what they think," Musubi answered as a burst of smoke created a wooden doorpost with hemp lines keeping whatever was on the other side opaque. "And I would recommend thinking big, Hien of the Earth Kingdom. Adieu."

Walking into that doorway before it vanished into thin air, they were simply gone. And they gave me this odd medallion. "So… what does this do?"

"Hien!"

Katara ran up to me, a bit out of breath. "I was just about to come and see if I could help but, well, it looks like you didn't need any."

I could only blink. "Uh… yes."

"Something happen? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I've had a very odd year."

"I see. Hey, what's that?"

She pointed to the medallion and it caught my attention yet again. "Uh, you won't guess how I just got it. Do you need some of my help?"

"No, it looks like we've got them on the run. After that big fire bomb in the gorge, they retreated."

A fire bomb, while two strange guys made a space bomb. "Sokka?"

She smirked a bit. "Who else?"

I followed suit. "What was I thinking?"

Suddenly, she gasped. "Your shoulder!"

Looking at it revealed that my shoulder was a bit singed. A similar case happened with Aang and the former Captain, now Admiral, Zhao. The adrenaline must've masked the burn, I had no clue I'd been caught in a fireblast. "Uh, that looks bad. Probably gonna feel that way too."

She didn't even let me finish the sentence before having already uncapped her water skin and plying her craft to heal my skin. Just like she'd done before. "Better?"

I nodded. "Better."

XXXXXXXXX

"I call this council to order." a statement called into a dimly lit room with a central hub, the orb of glimmering stars and black matter well in the air.

The lone hooded figure stood with hands entrapped in the sleeves of a fine white cloak with golden detail. Four stone statues of shrine maidens wearing headdresses and the traditional apparel held out their static hands in opening, as if waiting for something to fall into grasp. On cue with his call, a diamond encrusted in black earth contrasting from its whiteness, an orb of water, a spherical gale and a small star formed in the statues' hands. Illusory humanoids materialized before the statues: of fire and smoke, of steam and frost, of dust, and of rippling air. Smiling beneath his hood, the central man took the time to bow in greeting to each of the Four. "I thank you for attending, with your busy schedules. What is it you all took the time to voice?"

"'We all' didn't necessarily want to voice anything, it's all Osafune." the water answered, a feminine and shimmery voice about her illusion.

"That is not true, Water Mother." the bearded, cross legged and floating airwave interjected. "Though separate in a way, I have a concern to speak of as well."

"But that does not mean those of us who are busy should be brought into the council meeting as well, Wind Guider. I've enough on my hands, the last thing needed would be some insipid decision based on the hothead's irrational thinking." the dust argued.

"Be quiet, you muddy, sloven fool. What I have to say concerns all of us, not just myself or Hyajin." Osafune of the fire barked, glaring at the dust figure.

"Oh? Perhaps you would enlighten us as to your meaning?" the mist inquired.

"If all of you would simply let me speak to the Grandmaster, then—!"

"Councillors, enough." the grandmaster under the hood requested with a hand raised, and the other four stopped. "Now then, Osafune, what would you have to say?"

Turning to the grandmaster, his eyes momentarily closed with a respectful nod. "I have been keeping track to the best of my ability on the sixth, but the trail went cold when his upstart vanished from my grasp. I have a hunch, but it would take some investigation."

Chucking, his hand waved the matter off. "There is no need. My son is with the Yojimbo in training, he is in good company that way."

"Ahhh, young Habikimaro. So you sent him after all?" Hyajin commented.

Hooting, the grandmaster shook his head. "No, I sent Chuubei and his daughter to attend young Jushiro. Habikimaro went without my consent, and the former two are bound to return sometime."

"Actually, they are currently at my sanctuary, Lord Grandmaster." the Water Mother inserted. "He told me they'd make way to the North Pole and rejoin the upcoming 'Sixth of Twenty Eight' as he would go to there."

"Ah, I'm sure your daughter's happy to be there amongst more family and friends, especially during this crucial juncture of her trials, Chihaya."

"It's hard to say, I don't know as much as I feel is needed to know, Lord Grandmaster."

"Lord Grandmaster, if I may, I would speak." the apparition of Hyajin requested.

"By all means." the Grandmaster answered.

"I believe that it was Han who stated in our last meeting that the Gorigans of Oka no ton'neru were rejuvenated by this new addition to the line of twenty eight, correct?"

Nodding, the dusty imagery known as Han replied, "Yes, as the Earth Sculptor, it was my duty to let that be known."

"I had pondered upon that fact, and I've come to a conclusion that this boy is capable of wondrous deeds, fellow Councilors. As he restored the Gorigans to life, so too could he usher in a new age for those under my watch, Chihaya's and Osafune's alike."

"What is it you mean, Wind Guider?" Han questioned. "Speak your mind."

"What I suggest is that we guide him into bringing the spirit peoples back into the world. No longer bottle them up in their sanctuaries. Think of what that would mean for the Yojimbo as well, perhaps that would—"

"You're suggesting that we just grab this teenager and uncork us and our sister peoples from our status of enclosure, and we just run out onto the world that is currently already at war?" Chihaya interrogated. "Am I the only one that sees the folly in such a thing? The Gorigans were exterminated, the same as the human Airbenders by way of the Fire Nation. It's like sending them to a slaughter!"

"Calm down." Osafune demanded curtly.

"I second that, you're never this outwardly passionate. What has you this livid?" Han added.

"It was Lord Grandmaster that ushered us out of the affairs of the outside world, with the death of Avatar Roku and the disappearance of his successor. And now it becomes evident that this 'Aang' has been hiding under my nose for a century only to be awakened at the same time as the next in the insipid line of Twenty Eight? I cannot be the only one who senses danger from such facts." the mist began to puff up and hiss as Chihaya gave her answer.

"There is a specific reason that I myself have directly taken into affairs involving him. The current acting iteration, the fifth, had told me of his whereabouts and I took personal measures as to his observation." the Grandmaster began, gaining the attention of the others. "In my study, I can accurately say that Jushiro poses no threat. It was my predecessor who said 'to read a one's heart, give them power'."

"And what has he done in the name of power?" Osafune snapped.

"He stopped the usage of power that did not belong to General Sadao upon the Fire Nation. And, of course, the deal with the last Gorigan to usher in the resurrection of his kind." Han answered in place of his superior.

Smiling, he nodded. In a moment's silence, Osafune crossed his arms before the stillness was broken by Hyajin's chuckling. "Interesting case, this boy is."

"I prefer 'odd'." the flame argued.

"No matter what the opinion, he must be left alone until he stumbles upon one of you. Once he claims his prize, then the work will begin." the Grandmaster issued.

"I agree." Wind Guider answered.

"Aye." Water Mother affirmed.

"Yes." Earth Sculptor added.

Osafune merely growled and nodded, eyes closed. Sighing with a friendly curl to his lips, the central speaker waved his hand. "Council adjourned."

The four vanished soon after the order was given, dust and spatial distortion dissipated with the expulsion of flames and mist. Pacing away and unhooding himself, the Grandmaster departed with a hoot. "Oh dear. I'm getting excited."

XXXXXXXXX

"The Grandmaster's going to be furious with you."

Musubi of the Mask didn't even look directly at his partner, reclining against thin air as if it was a concrete perch in the sky. Beneath him was the ship that was to ferry this "Jushiro" to the North Pole. "No. He won't."

"You say that, but we shouldn't forget your history of constantly defying the council."

He chuckled a singular "heh". "Kamui, you shouldn't forget that I'm more in touch with him than you are. If he's going to throw a fit about a moment's detour to the newly reinhabited Air Temple, he'd have Hyajin 'take care of' me."

"The Wind Guider specifically? Or are you just talking out of your ass again?"

"Who else to silence me, when I'm so blatantly exposing who we are?"

"I didn't see any exposure of who 'we' really are," Kamui argued.

"None of the four elements were used and yet we routed a squad of soldiers from that mountainside. We are not normal people."

Kamui rolled his eyes. "I can see where this is going."

"We are not monsters, and yet we hide as though we are. I'm going to change that."

"But what if these people aren't ready for us?"

Musubi's body began to speak with him, as he moved his hand. "That's the constant. They'll never be."

Kamui turned towards his partner fully. "And what about your son? Will he?"

"The world will fall upon him like a tidal wave. It all depends on how much he can take."

As the sun set against the rolling waves of salt and a million years of primordial power, the iron cruiser treaded across the miles of ocean north. Chokichi and Aiko watched that celestial fall like children waiting for water to boil, Jushiro's newfound gifts kept him occupied as he was shut into his own room, and you can guess which of the Fire Nation nobles was more dissatisfied with their guests' presence. That lonely sanctuary isle sheltered the unlikely seagoers, an established Yojimbo and one of the many inhumans in the world. Pieces of a millennium old puzzle began to shape the picture, the mosaic of fate, once more.