"Hey. We need to talk."

"For the last time, kiddo, I gave the publishing rights to Mike, and that's final!"

Syl had almost spilled the papers on his tiny research tent n paranoia, one of his bushy eyebrows already developing a twitch as he turned to see whoever had brought light into his work area.

When he saw that it was Grace, his shoulders softened, and he noticed that oddly-amused look in her eye.

"Let me guess." Dr. Chen bundled her jacket tightly from the evening cold as she came in. "Ozzy's still pestering you about that?"

Sylvester Matsko groaned, "Understatement of the fricken' year."

Grace laughed while she sat down behind her friend's phosphorescently-lit laboratory table, always getting a kick of how that man handled children. It was a wonder how he managed to get that Stanford teaching assistant-ship for so many years without driving himself crazy.

Sylvester had spent the last four days trying to decipher and translate the markings on Fire Lord Zuko's tomb, with that impeccable passion to understand just how far this ancient royal had to challenge his moral principles in order to do the right thing. Syl had digitally developed his pictures of the tomb into black and white photographs and zoomed them to three hundred percent, printing them out as x-ray negatives for the best view of them possible over the light table. And they still looked like gibberish. The ancient Chinese writing of the Brykean Era had been notorious for being the most miniscule of the Dynasties, and Syl was on the verge of phoning his old professors and compensate them for additional help on reading these documents.

Dr. Chen had been the one to say 'no' to that idea, considering how they didn't have enough funding to cover another full week of this so-called OmaShu expedition, much less bring in more people to this mess and promise them paychecks.

And she knew Syl well enough to know that he couldn't afford to pay top-notch Stanford anthropological linguists out of his own pocket.

"I think I can actually feel my eyeballs sinking into my sockets now, Grace," the man muttered frustratingly as he pressed his face to a magnifying glass over the table.

"You'll survive, stupid." Grace shook her head, knowing he was just in one of his intellectual 'no pain, no glory' moods. "If you have a moment, I need you to look at this."

Sylvester was too enveloped in the photographs, he barely felt the three-folded piece of paper that Grace had poked into his forearm for attention. With a small sigh, he lifted the magnifying glass and looked at the paper.

It didn't seem like an artifact, especially when he opened it up and saw nothing but a standard 8.5 by 11 white sheet of printing paper staring back at him, type written.

Funny, but after three years digging into the ancient dead things, even that simple example of modern times would take Grace into a mental thrill ride. Sylvester took a moment to hold his breath as he read through the type-written material.

"I printed the email out this morning, and I was trying to figure out what exactly he was asking for—"

"Kiely emailed you this morning?" Syl wondered out loud, "He actually has time to do that in India?"

"Syl, be nice. I've been emailing him my findings about this Fire Nation tomb we found, and he's just asking us to do him a favor."

"Why are you keeping him updated about what we find, Grace?" the man couldn't hold his thoughts about it, especially with the tired bags under his eyes. "He's just going to take all the credit."

Grace scoffed. "We've been through this, Syl. Fire Lord Zuko's tomb isn't our responsibility! If we butter up our loyalty to Kiely at least for the next week while we're still here… he might… just might return us a favor and fund our OmaShu expedition a bit longer. We're really close, Syl! I mean, the fact that Andrea and the interns just upheld a crazy theory about some clay pots lining up the tomb's location is proof enough that the Cave exists around here."

Sylvester Matsko narrowed his disappointed, baggy eyes to his colleague. "So, the Love Triangle; that doesn't spark your interest anymore?"

"As long as it finds a connection to Oma and Shu's possible tomb location, yes." Grace's eyes looked pale, and very stressed with time. "We only have eight days left here, Syl. I'm trying to make them count."

In one small glance, Syl shook his head in exhaustion and disappointment over to Grace, not believing that she was stooping so low as a professional to actually wait on Dr. Max Kiely's requests, hand and foot. Just reading over the first few lines of his email, Syl could already feel the vomit coming to his throat, how self-righteous this middle-aged archaeologist was presenting himself through his writing.

Salutations, Dr. Chen and Matsko.

My deepest condolences on the failure of your search for the Cave of Oma Shu after such a lengthy, expensive expedition out there. I am currently speaking to you on a fast-train to Agra to make a quick trip to the Taj Mahal to seek out recollections of Lord Ozai that had been documented along the walls; I had recently developed a theory that the ancient gurus of the Brykean Era had resided there, and my instincts successfully told me that Ozai, while taken prisoner by his own son, had managed to annihilate all the living gurus while being imprisoned. I am hoping that this quick trip to Agra will be sufficient for me to track down evidence to Ozai's followers.

What I am writing to you about is, ironic to say, a letter.

You see, I was investigating one of the underground bunkers in New Delhi - one of the places I had successfully regarded as a Brykean Fire Nation colony in my most recent book – and I had stumbled across an old letter made of what seemed rice paper… something that is not native to this side of the continent. The characters and the quality of the writing clearly marked it Brykean, and I had one of my professional colleagues decipher it immediately. We both agreed, by the content of it, it was a letter from Fire Lord Ozai to his daughter, Princess Azula… having me to successfully conclude that this very bunker was the asylum where she was held prisoner after the Great War.

My reason for this letter goes like this:

While I have managed to translate and decipher the simple letter to its entirety, I am curious about the inner 'message' it may contain. The Fire Nation royals of the Brykean Era had been notorious for keeping codes within their writings to pass on information to loyal subjects, as you may have read from my second book, and I wish to know, Dr. Chen and Matsko, if this particular piece in the letter may strike a chord with either of you in your findings of Prince Zuko's tomb.

The part of the letter I'm referring to is this (translated into English):

BE NOT AFRAID OF THE DESERT THAT SEPARATES US, LITTLE BIRD.

OUR ASHES WILL FALL PEACEFULLY, FROM GAO LING TO LAO GAI, TO THE SWAMPS OF THE SOUTH.

SOON, WE WILL BE HOME.

I expect to receive a message from either of you by the end of the week of you findings, regardless.

Best of luck,

Maximilian Kiely

Doctor of Philosophy – Early East Asian Civilizations

Thesis: "How the Fire Nation provoked the Disappearance of Elemental Bending during the Brykean Era."

Princeton University, '89

Master of Arts – East Asian Anthropology

Thesis: "The Rise, Fall, and Re-Emergence of the Fire Nation's economic welfare during the Brykean Era."

International University of Shang Hai, '86

Bachelor of Arts – East Asian Languages and Cultures, Ancient Chinese

Honors Thesis: "Colonial Progress of the Fire Nation in the Earth Kingdom during the Brykean Era."

Princeton University, '84

Sylvester scrunched his nose in disgust as he concluded his reading of the letter.

"So, what do you think?" Grace asked, as her friend set the paper down. "Gripping?"

"Yeah," Sylvester's archaeological ego was gripping in sarcasm. "More like he wants to steal our thunder from this expedition."

"Come on Syl, focus," the young woman tied her hair with a ponytail and picked up the letter to skim through it once more. "He's asking for our help with this. Does the city of Gao Ling ring a bell to you at all?"

Sylvester placed his head to the table, racking his tired brain out for anything that connected to that city.

After a few minutes of resting his face on his hands, he murmured, "the only thing I can think of is the famous Explosions of Gao Ling. Fire bombs had been hidden inside the mountains around the time the Great War had ended, and I think Ozai's crazy followers annihilated most of the Earth Kingdom's oldest, most noble families."

"See, that's the first thing that popped in my mind, too," Grace admitted, nodding her head.

"Yeah… but I have no idea why Ozai would risk mentioning a terrorist attack on a letter, especially to his daughter who couldn't do anything to help it."

In a way, Syl had the right idea; why would the Fire Lord go so far as to openly make a reference to a particular place that was bound to be filled with security after the Great War ended? Who was the Fire Lord really trying to get a hold of? Was he trying to get the Earth Kingdom's attention, simply? To say to them that even the most prominent families would be in danger without their loyalty to Ozai?

"Okay, this is gonna sound a little bit crazy," Grace's hands were gesturing out to her friend in nervous anticipation, "But would this have anything to do with that little Earth Bender who'd constantly travelled with them? Wasn't she from Gao Ling?"

"That's pretty unlikely," Sylvester thought, taking a sip of his lukewarm coffee mug all the way at the corner of the lab. "I mean I do remember reading about some little girl tagging along with the Avatar during his Earth Bending, but I don't think she ever had a name. In the old wanted posters, they just called her The Runaway or The Blind Bandit… because the girl was blind."

Grace reread Kiely's letter, trying to jog her memory's Earth Kingdom facts. "She taught the Avatar Earth Bending, we know that much. But I guess she just… wasn't that important to stick around."

Sylvester shrugged, going back to his magnifying glass, taking notes on the details of his findings. "Her name wasn't really mentioned that much by the end of the war. It's like she disappeared from the group or something. Maybe she went back to her parents and stayed hidden until she died, or just got killed in one of those crazy Ozai-vengeance battles. It's hard to say."

The girl shook her head in stress, breathing a calm second of air before she stood up again to head out.

"Okay, then," she said, stretching her muscles. "Could you just promise me you'll let me know if you find anything mentioning Gao Ling, or Swamps, or Lao Gai in those photographs?"

"Will do, boss," Sylvester smiled, not hiding the fact that he was long craving for a beer and a nap to change the pace inside that busy-bodied laboratory.

"Lunch time, Ozai."

Her voice was firm, without endearment.

She had held herself in a very straight stance while sliding the rice bowl through the cell that kept the former Fire Lord confined. Her uniform felt heavier and sharp just by looking at him: the man who had once ruled the entire Nation with an iron fist, without any remorse or space for compassion. Now, his eyes were drooped, fallen from anger, and his face was unshaven and messy.

It was strange, even then, to think that within the span of two months, she had been lucky enough to personally encounter the new Fire Lord, the former Fire Lord, and the former Fire Lord's brother… all in the same place. Things like this only happened to a prison guard once in a lifetime, and yet, the woman was not at all celebrating. Even by decree of the Fire Nation's new rule, she could no longer refer to this man sitting a few feet from her as 'your honor.'

Not that she was complaining about it, anyway.

Ozai took the rice bowl with the small reach of his fingers, his eyes focused on the ground as if trying to break through it. He didn't smile. He didn't even seem to acknowledge his breathing by the way he sternly looked at the ground under him. Slowly taking the chopsticks from the bowl, he dipped them into the rice and began to eat, grain by grain.

"You must be Ming."

The woman blinked, wondering how the man had gotten to learn the guards' names so quickly, but she kept her cool, nodding her head as an answer while she kept the empty tray in her hands.

"Rumors are that you were the last guard to see my brother incarcerated in this very same cell… before he escaped." Ozai began to turn his head towards the guard, oily strands of his hair blocking his face. "Is that true?"

Ming was calm throughout the entire move, however eerie it was. Through that one slit of a window he had in the cement space, she could tell he hadn't bothered to wash himself for days. Her nose scrunched from the stench, seeing Ozai's hair stick to his scalp unnaturally while he was beginning to study the woman's expression.

"That is true."

She had breathed calmness into her form while she said so. Ming knew that almost nothing would get past Ozai, even as a prisoner in his own royal cell, and she was ready to admit to the things that could no longer be helped.

"You do realize that…" Ozai's voice was quiet, like a whisper, "…by deliberately ignoring your duties and following a traitor's requests… this makes you a traitor to your country as well?"

"Not anymore, Ozai, but nice try," Ming responded automatically.

"I could've hanged you, for what you did." The man kept pursuing her doubt.

"That is no longer your concern anymore, sir," Ming spoke flatly, but she felt the ends of her fingers turn numb as she still held the tray with her hands.

She was firm, yet curious… with just an inch of hesitation brewing more and more open with Ozai's eyes.

"What did my brother say to you?" he then asked, still picking his rice grains piece by piece. "What did he say… that got him to gain your trust, instead of mine?"

"I'm afraid he didn't gain it, Ozai. He earned it," Ming proclaimed with a steady voice. "He was a good man. He was kind. Sincere. He had my loyalty to the Fire Nation throne even after you decided to change the rules."

"You sound so sure of yourself, even after my brother decided to pass on my responsibilities to a seventeen year old boy."

"Fire Lord Zuko is not a boy anymore, Ozai." Ming knew she was drawing a thin line between her job and her personal thoughts, but she didn't care. She had had enough of dealing with this man's scrutiny of others, regardless of the royal blood. "A boy wouldn't have made each of us prison guards go through a re-evaluation process, to have our personal loyalties viewed and understood in front of the entire Peace Council to be sure that the former Fire Lord would be in… fair care."

As she spoke, Ming could feel a deep throb in her temple, remembering the handful of colleagues she had trained with, eaten with, exchanged practical banter with for years at the Azulon's Institute for National Security… fully reveal their disloyalty to the young Fire Lord Zuko, choosing to be exiled rather than to follow a boy's idea of international unity.

She couldn't understand why people found it difficult to accept defeat, especially when it was for the better. Ming had not been raised to comply with such oppression as her friends had eventually chosen to show to the Peace Council, hearing things like "you're a FOOL to degrade our nation like this!" and "The Phoenix King will rise again. I won't put my life's work into the hands of CHILDREN."

True, it seemed a joke to follow the wisdom of a lost Avatar and a banished prince to reconstruct such a fallen world… but Ming's instincts never failed her. Perhaps it was those short conversations she'd had with Iroh, those days she had had the privilege to feed him and talk about an elementally-balanced world. She wanted to believe what everyone else was saying, that world peace at this point would be next to impossible, but Ming didn't flinch. She trusted that Iroh's words were the right ones, and if that meant keeping constant vigilance to a sick, power hungry prisoner… so be it.

"Your son is a great leader. It's not my place to tell you how I feel, Ozai," Ming said, her hands now clenching the tray like she would snap it in two, "but not everybody thinks the way you do. Especially in here."

"Pity."

That small muttering of a word almost hit Ming's last nerve, and she would've attacked the man right then and there. But she knew better. She'd been trained for the better.

Ozai placed his chopsticks aside, not having to guess that Ming was now getting impatient with his slow eating habit, and scooped up the rest of the rice grains with one hand to finish. Ming looked disgusted, and inevitably, she felt an edge of sadness for the sick, ferociously-twisted man who wouldn't change.

As Ming received the empty bowl from the cell slot, Ozai's voice changed, and he averted his eyes from the prison guard to get his words right. His shoulders and arms caved inward as he spoke.

"How is my daughter?"

Ming winced.

"Last I heard… she is doing fine."

'Fine' meant that she was not struggling as much as she usually did with the chains, her body held up like an 'X' in the Fire Nation asylum far away, at the southern tips of the Earth Kingdom, under constant surveillance by guards much bigger than Ming. 'Fine' meant that Azula was finally eating, drinking, not letting the passage of time leave her like a thin, helpless child. 'Fine' meant that she wasn't trying to drown herself in her daily bath, or losing her voice from all the screaming and cursing at the guards for being fools, traitors for not setting her free.

Azula had slipped. Ozai knew it. And now, more than anything… he wanted her back.

He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, to not be afraid of these monsters keeping her locked up and chained. He wanted her to know that someday, things would be better for them.

Ozai raised his head once more towards Ming, his eyes heavy and sad.

"Tell the warden… I would like to write a letter to my daughter."

Ming raised a curious brow.

"But—"

"It's the Fire Nation policy, isn't it? All prisoners get to exchange a letter to someone?"

Ozai knew that rule, as he had witnessed his own father add that policy to the Fire Nation security for the sake of gathering internal information between prisoners and possible plots against the royal family.

And he doubted that Zuko would've been smart enough to eliminate that policy so early in his reign.

Ming hesitated, jogging her memory for that policy. She kept a stern voice as she answered.

"Yes, all prisoners can exchange a letter," she looked at his features, all weak and aging, "But you do realize that the letter may be analyzed and documented by the Security Council before delivery?"

"I know."

Ming still looked puzzled, but she nodded.

"I'll see what I can do."

And from there, Ozai moved his frame towards the wall, most of his back now facing the guard.

He could hear her rough footsteps leave the cell without another word, then, the door clicking locked behind her.

It took him a few minutes to feel himself breathe again, but Ozai rested against the wall, smiling.

Bending was irrelevant.

There had been a hint of glistening in prison guard's eyes, so miniscule that he had barely noticed it. What he noticed more, though, was the fact that he had struck a chord on the woman's nerve. She had become vulnerable – even if it was for a fraction of a second – and Ozai knew that if he was patient, he could eventually get what he wanted from anyone.

There was a time, after all, when he was the most powerful figure in the world.

He just had to go along with this 'lowly prisoner' act, for a while.

Toph held onto her headband tightly from the gushing winds, her eyes shut tightly while sitting along Appa's saddle, homeward bound. Aang was steering way in the front on Appa's neck. For some strange reason, it felt so awkward for the girl, being just the two of them in the air… no Sokka to push around over corny jokes, no Zuko to tease and lighten up, and… no Sugar Queen.

For the first time since she had met Twinkle Toes, Toph didn't want to be alone with Aang. She felt… uncomfortable about it, especially knowing that within all of those new moments she could 'see' going on between him and Sugar Queen, there was no intention anyone else in the boy's life.

She had seen that moment coming. She'd felt the way their heartbeats quickened whenever they exchanged two words to each other, and how quiet they would get in the middle of any bickering. Toph saw Katara's absolute loyalty to the boy since they'd first been introduced way back at Earth Rumble Six… how the water girl refused to leave the arena without the boy, no question.

All these months, Toph hadn't thought about Twinkle Toes other than just a kid she could tease. She remembered picking on him during his Earthbending training, putting him in dangerous tasks mostly for the sake of amusement on her end. She had fun with him; she enjoyed those days when they would just sneak out and cause trouble, regardless of what Katara would pester them about. As much fun as she had with Aang, the girl had kept her distance every time, because she knew she wasn't supposed to be in the picture. It was always going to be Aang and Katara. Katara, and Aang.

And here he was, the newly-appointed Master of All the Elements, the wisest and most important person in the entire world right now… taking the liberty of escorting the Earthbender back to her parents like a lost little moose-lion cub.

Time had passed so quickly from her noble town of Gaoling, to the incessant Earth Kingdom Desert, to the overwhelming Ba Sing Se… and all their undercover antics while in the Fire Nation. Then came the days of the Eclipse, how the two of them had managed to take on Azula just fine without Katara present. Toph could still remember that adrenaline rush… wanting to infiltrate that bunker and help him take down the Fire Lord once and for all.

She wanted to prove that she had more than Sugar Queen's sweetness could offer. Toph would've given anything to show how her skills as a lie-detector, a fun-seeker, and a rough-nut would be more worthy of Aang's affections. Now all of a sudden, she couldn't help but remember that small moment Aang and Katara shared at the Jasmine Dragon… and the little girl couldn't have felt any less pretty.

Ugh, WHY am I still thinking like this! Toph shook her head sadness, shutting her eyes tightly as Appa groaned over the harsh winds.

WAKE UP, you stupid girl… she said to herself, feeling her hands cover a bit of her face.

It's over. He's TAKEN. This might be the last time we get to hang out as friends before he goes off and plays Avatar… and ALL I'M DOING is moping and groaning about-

"I didn't think you wanted to go home so quickly!" Aang shouted over the harsh wind, trying to get his friend to talk. "What's the deal?"

Her thoughts had been so loud in her head, Toph almost flinched off the saddle when she heard his voice.

Immediately, she slouched herself indifferently in a sitting position, picking her toes.

"I dunno," Toph answered as a form of habit, "I figured that my work here was done, you know?"

"What?" the boy turned his head slightly to acknowledge her, "what do you mean 'work?'"

"I mean, Twinkle Toes," she moved herself to the front of the saddle for better earshot, "that I pretty much taught you everything you needed to know about Earthbending. That was the deal, wasn't it?

Aang rose his eyelids, not really knowing where this edge of sarcasm was coming from. Was she angry at him over something? The boy couldn't tell.

Still, Toph continued to explain.

"Don't get me wrong, you guys are great, but I figured you were… you know, done with me."

"Um," Aang glanced briefly at Appa, confused. "Toph what are you talking abou—"

"I'm not gonna pretend that you guys all secretly think I'm as irritating as a Boar-Kupine, okay?"

The boy looked back at her, stupefied. "Whoa, Toph, I never said-"

Toph could feel her hands clenching to the saddle.

"Plus, you guys have all these amazing plans set up for the start of the New World, and here I am, absolutely clueless as to what to do now. It's like I don't have a choice except to go back to my parents and go back to pretending that I'm this helpless little girl and…!"

"Okay, STOP. TIME. OUT!"

Aang barely felt those words come out of his mouth as he jerked Appa's horns into a sloppy halt in the air. Appa groaned vocally in annoyance. Toph made a little scream as the whole saddle tilted forward slightly, and she held onto the saddle like a child. A child she was practically turning back into, from that horrible ranting.

Still panting from that immediate halting he'd done to his bison, Aang turned back to his friend and asked sternly, "Toph, what is going on?"

Don't say it, she thought fiercely to herself, shaking her head. Don't tell him. It's too late. It's over.

"Toph?"

Aang noticed how the little girl kept shaking her head, as if wanting some sort of thought to go away. To not exist, or even be acknowledged as something that had occurred to her. Aang remembered that gesture quite well… back in the Earth Kingdom Desert, when the Library had sunk, and he had asked her what had happened to Appa.

A cold shiver ran through the boy's mind, then, and he absentmindedly petted Appa's fur while his focus remained on Toph.

She was now hugging her legs, her head facing the distant air as if refusing to say another word. Her hair was covering her eyes almost completely, thankful that that boy couldn't see the sadness in them.

"Okay, fine. I'll talk," Aang rested the steering rope on Appa's horns, and turned his full body and attention to the stubborn little girl. "Toph, really… I really have no idea where you're getting that… but there's a lot… a TON of things that the world can still do with you. Sokka begged for you to go out looking for the Earth King, and maybe you could help the Earth King bring down the Dai Li. You can help teach Earth Bending to the kids in the Fire Nation colonies! I'll bet they haven't even seen a real Earth Bender in a while… and you're the best teacher I've ever had! And what about Sand-Bending? METAL-BENDING!"

Aang threw his hands up and held them over his head, overwhelmed just by what he was saying. With a small smile, the girl chuckled over the sound of the boy's flabbergasted voice. It took a small second for him to draw another breath and finish what he was saying.

"Toph, I don't think I ever got the chance to tell you…" his voice was a bit quieter, and Toph's eyes were rising a bit from curiosity, "…but that last Earth-bending move I did against Ozai? It saved my life."

"Huh?" her voice was off, hiding the blush from her cheeks. "What move?"

"I was seeing with my feet, and Ozai attacked me from behind." Aang looked elsewhere, trying to erase the memories of those last few minutes of battle, and the pain. "I back-kicked an Earth rumble into his hand. If it hadn't been for you, I probably wouldn't have made it."

Toph let her eyebrows rise in astonishment from the news, looking over the saddle to Aang's general direction, over to where she could hear his voice.

"Point is," Aang settled himself back to take the ropes on Appa. "You don't have to stay with your parents forever. I don't think you know how much the world needs you."

She didn't let the smile show itself as she let those words sink in, but Aang was already facing the open sky ahead of him, steering Appa with a 'yip yip!' and letting the wind pick up again.

"Do you still need me?"

It was a question lingering her mind for the entirety of that whole conversation, and Toph's voice got soft and fragile as she let it out for Aang to hear.

The boy didn't seem to think too deeply about it, and he looked over his shoulder to his Earth-Bending friend while she let the breeze play with her dark hair.

"Of course I need you," he said with a smile, as if it were the most obvious fact. "I'll always need you."

And Toph felt the insides of her get warm and tingly, like a bunch of tiny cave-critters had just made a home there. She smiled to herself, and to nothing in particular while she said, "Cool."

She knew that he probably hadn't meant anything deeper than 'friend' or even just 'Earth Bending teacher' by what he had said, but in that moment, Toph didn't care. She was happy with the thoughts running through her mind, the idea that in some strange twist of fate, there could still be a chance that…

…maybe…

…someday… they would…

"Then I'll just go sleep on it at home for a couple weeks, come up with a new plan," Toph snorted back into her regular self. "I'm fricken' exhausted of all this traveling, aren't you?"

And she felt blessed to hear her friend's laughter, then, like in spite of his Avatar status… a part of him would always be the care-free boy. The boy who had rescued her from that fancy, sheltered life.

A/N - Aaaand, we're back! Oy oy oy. I should just stop making insane promises about chapter updates, especially when it takes me over a year to do one! Anyway... no, I'm not dead, and I still have a great plan for where I want this story to go! As you may have guessed by now, the whole Kataang canon is not really going to be involved in this one, which will make the writing of it much more interesting! Let me know what you think. And thanks for continuing to be - ahem - LOYAL to my work! -SM