His mind had been a haze of red.

His insolent little brat of a child- the mere shadow of his beloved wife- had refused to accept and aid his mission to avenge her own mother. Now it was all over. The Equalist movement had been squashed. The man he had thought to be the savior of the righteous had been a disgusting bender too.

What was wrong with this world?

That was when he saw her for the first time. In the dead of night as those thoughts passed through his head.

Why?

There in the pale moonlight was a woman. He noticed her with horror at first and then with a sincere feeling of hope. "Darling…?" he muttered lowly. His lovely wife stood before him in all of her glory. How he had missed her. But her face did not turn to a smile like it always would when he called her that. She merely gave a grim nod.

"Yes," she stated. His eyes were filled with hope and joy.

But she was not so happy.

"Are you angry with me? I'm so sorry….sorry that I was unable to end the benders tyranny and avenge you…" Her lips pursed.

"No Hiroshi…" she said with sadness thick in her throat. "That is not what saddens me…" Hiroshi's heart fluttered nervously. "I know, it's that daughter of ours…isn't it?"

The woman nodded after a moment of stifled silence.

"I did what I could to save her. But she is insolent…she is ungrateful for all the things I did for her. She is ungrateful for everything you did as well, she won't even avenge the mother that gave her life! All for that pompous little firebender!" He didn't even know Asami had moved on. The hatred consumed him.

"No!" the woman interrupted sharply. "Asami did it because it was right, nobody made her. I am so proud of her …so very proud. Hiroshi, I come tonight to tell you that your mission was not one in my name. I will always…" she stopped with heavy tears in her eyes as he looked at her with stunted shock.

"I will always love the man you were," she choked out. "But do not kill innocents in my name…and do not ever raise your hand at my daughter again, so long as you wish to say you love me. Asami and you were all that I loved in this world," she tried to look at him with love, but she could not.

"And now, all I have left is her. My sweet, brave, beautiful Asami"

Her last words cut him deeply. The name of his daughter a knife to carve out his heart. His wife looked distant from him, her tears streaming down her face. He stood up to walk towards her, to comfort her, but she turned from him. "They killed you! They took you from me! The person I loved most! All I wanted!"

"And they left you my most precious thing…the daughter you scorned," the apparition said sadly. Hiroshi collapsed to the floor and pulled at his hair, the frustration and sorrow incredible. When he looked up, his wife was gone.

Had she ever been there at all?

He screamed with rage after a moment, the emptiness inside of him unbearable.

And somewhere far away, Asami Sato's mother kissed her daughter's sleeping forehead.

"Be happy sweetie. Mommy loves you," she smiled.

Asami snuggled into her pillow. "Love you…too…Mom"