Before meeting up with the Avatar and his friends Sikumi was given the chance to meet, or at least sense King Bumi's presence. For the first time in ages she felt no hostility from an Earthbender, in fact the rich greens that she could see reminded her of Kyoshi Island and the Kyoshi Warriors, how they were all strong yet beautiful. But thoughts like those lasted for mere moments as she reminded herself that the Earth Kingdom was the natural enemy of her people, not only did they destroy her parents' home they were increasingly stubborn, going to any lengths to reach their goals.

By the time the four were ready to meet the Avatar the waterbender had mentally prepared herself for the encounter. Aang, Katara and Sokka were already at the meeting point, the statue of a Fire Lord Ozai nearby still under construction. Sikumi could feel the tense atmosphere as Azula leaned back slightly and asked Sikumi a question.

"That's the Avatar?" she asked incredulously, wondering whether asking a blind person such a question wasn't foolish.

"He's the one with the yellow sp- I mean clothing, I presume." Sikumi confirmed in a low voice as the group continued approaching.

A crane, transporting the captured King, brought the metal box that the man was in and held him above the Fire Nation girls.

"Hi, everybody!" the old man chuckled, pleasing Aang who was glad to see his friend.

As the cage touched the ground Mai stepped forwards, eyeing the small person in Sokka's arms.

"I see you've brought my brother."

"He's here, We're ready to trade." Aang stated.

"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?" Azula asked politely, although her intentions were anything but nice.

"Of course not, Princess Azula."

"We're trading a two-year-old for a king. A powerful, earthbending king?" Azula asked aloud, "It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

Mai thought to herself for a second, wondering whether Azula would really make her choose against her brother but the look on her face was more than enough to make her mentally shudder.

"I suppose you're right." Mai admitted, noticing the grimace that Ty Lee made. "The deal's off."

Mai held up her hand, signalling to some guards to start pulling Bumi back up, as the chains holding his cage started receding Bumi called out to Aang.

"Whoa! See you all later!"

Sikumi, dumbfounded by the seemingly foolish nature of the King, looked on as Aang called out to his friend and jumped after him, revealing his identity as the Avatar. Of course for Azula who was already aware of the fact she quickly responded with her blue flames, though her expectations of his abilities as an Airbender were lower than she projected as he opened his glider and took off, his hat falling off his head and exposing his blue arrow tattoo.

"So he is the Avatar!" Azula said in anger.

Without any words of warning she quickly sprinted off, using her flames and a nearby pulley system to launch herself into the air after the Avatar. Mai and Ty Lee, used to the Princesses rancorous actions, started after Sokka and Katara. Ty Lee seemingly disappeared, the blind waterbender barely able to sense her presence until she realised that Sokka was attacked whilst holding onto the baby. She quickly ran towards them, dodging Katara's water whips with relative ease and staying away from any stray stiletto's that Mai had thrown.

Within seconds she had reached Sokka and scooped the baby from his arms, despite a protest from the water tribe boy. At the same time Ty Lee jumped out of a hole in the floor, running directly for Sokka, unfortunately for the acrobatic girl she was impeded by a water whip from Katara who was simultaneously blocking Mai's knives. This gave time for Sokka to glare at the armoured Sikumi and attempt to steal the baby back, despite his mind questioning why he needed to do such a thing.

"Who are you!" Sokka exclaimed, though his assailant said nothing in return.

Sikumi knew that revealing her identity would be a bad thing, the Fire Nation armour she wore hid all features, though she wore the male variant to hide her darker skin. With the small child in her arms she ran back towards Mai who was still fighting with Katara, the brief glimpse of her younger brother distracted her long enough for the young waterbender to freeze her feet in place, ending their bout momentarily.

Ty Lee, noticing the altercation, was forced to retreat back to the group as Sokka came out of nowhere riding their flying bison. The elder boy had shouted towards her sister to climb on but the younger bender was feeling confident, having just won against Mai with her knives. That confidence didn't last longer however when Ty Lee suddenly jabbed Katara in her shoulders several times, causing her to slump awkwardly.

"How are you gonna fight without your bending?" Mai taunted, preparing to throw on of her sai's at Katara with her free hands.

Fortunately for the waterbender, on both sides, Sokka used his boomerang to deflect the attack.

"Don't forget about me! I manage fine without bending!" he retorted.

Appa landed between Katara and the trio, his tail creating a huge gale of wind that sent Mai and Ty Lee flying. Luckily Sikumi had learnt about Appa's tendency to attack like that and hid out of the way, ensuring the baby didn't get hurt. She stayed hidden as the two siblings escaped, not bothering to seek her out or find the missing child.

It took a while for the duo to return, Mai taking her younger brother from Sikumi's hands and Ty Lee commenting about the cuteness of the small child. Azula also returned having failed to capture the Avatar after he used the mail system to help escape. The four, after meeting with the governor and his wife, left the city in haste. Azula, carried in her royal palanquin, was flanked by Mai, Ty Lee and Sikumi.

"So, we're tracking down your eldest brother and Uncle?" Mai asked, having just heard about Azula's journey here.

"It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again," Ty Lee nudged Mai, "won't it Mai?"

Mai mumbled slightly as a small smile formed on her face, a feeling that Sikumi just about sensed in her vision.

"If you want to find those two, speaking to Ta- I mean the Director will be your best bet." Sikumi added quietly.

"Of course, but it's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore. We have a third target now." Azula stated, planning for the future. "But first we need to visit my dear brother again and talk about a more…. permanent partnership."

Tadashi lugged everyone's equipment in annoyance as Aki and Naoko walked ahead in contempt. The punishment, inflicted by himself, was due to the lack of care the younger boy had taken with their mounts, meaning that it would take considerably longer to get anywhere without transport. The group had been following Azula, her transport some of the later steam-work from the Fire Nation but it had been a day since they last saw the outline of the vehicle from the cover of the dense forests of the Earth Kingdom.

However, things had certainly gone bad for them. The last few days had rained heavily, the tracks that were made by Azula's transport had vanished and Tadashi was certain that the trio were lost. The last time the two had looked at a map they were heading towards the Misty Palms Oasis again. That night, when the three were setting up dinner, Tadashi proposed a plan.

"I say we use our Pirate gear and hire some crew."

"No way," Aki protested, "We may be powerful between the tw- three of us, but hiring others may hurt our chances of getting anything done."

Naoko grimaced, giving Aki the evil eye slightly due to her slip of tongue, but considered the words said by Tadashi.

"Why not visit Gao Ling?" she suggested, "The Bei Fong Family are there and from what I remember they still owe our….Captain here a favour."

"That's a great idea!"

Aki sighed, it was two against one and Naoko was certainly right on this point, though deep down the fear of Tadashi getting attacked still lingered.

"OK, we'll start going there tomorrow morning."

The three settled for the night, but peaceful dreams did not come to the male firebender. Wisps of blue fire would continually circle his thoughts, burning any desire of peace and strengthening the drive to dominate. His father's face would look at him expectedly, both disappointed and bored by his presence which lead to Tadashi questioning why he even dare try to please that man. Moments of agony would continue to increase, the pain in his body gradually warping his mind further into an oblivion of hate.

But then it would all be washed away in a silvery light, an incomprehensible force that purged away these feelings. A kind yet harsh truth that gave resolve and took away fire, the true light. This intense force that could only come from Agni, the spirit of fire. Such a light was pleasurable in its radiance, the heat gave birth to new life and was the pool of energy that all those entered when their bodies and souls died.

Just as the pain vanished it came back with a swift wave of intense pressure, the caricature of madness that made up his inner thoughts continuing to consume him. Of course those thoughts revolved around multiple people, his father the one who always instigated the pain, but it wasn't his face he saw that ached his heart but rather that of his sister. Every moment not spent doing the right thing, every moment of weakness was a failure to such a girl, a failure to himself in her eyes. This reasoning that even Agni's flames couldn't squander would continually cause discomfort and agony until the sun had risen, where Agni and the Sun would shine its radiance, the land of the light, the land of the living.

By the time the trio had made it into Gao Ling it was just reaching noon. Aki and Tadashi had donned their pirate gear whilst the former captain devised a similar outfit for Naoko.

"Not that I'm complaining but isn't this a little too tight?" she complained, pulling on the edge of the corset that was wrapped over her clothing.

Aki looked over Naoko once more eyeing each article of clothing carefully. The young female was wearing a cream vest supported by a red corset, making her chest protrude more than they normally would. Her arms were similarly decorated, only the shoulders covered whilst she wore thin bands of metal and red fabric on her wrists. Her skirt was blackened, streaks of green on the sides and its length going well beyond her knees where a pair of leather boots covered what skin would have been visible. With her hair tied back and a pair of light swords strapped to her waist she looked like the real deal.

"I think it's perfect," Aki said, "I'm guess you've just haven't had enough exercise as of late if that big thing is too tight for you."

Naoko gasped, attempting to strike Aki despite knowing she was only teasing her, the two stopped what they were doing as Tadashi came back, having just been scouting out the area ahead.

"Oh….Naoko, you look…surprisingly great."

"What? Oh…thank you, wait! What do you mean surprisingly?!"

Aki chuckled as she scanned the area ahead, the three were just on the outskirts of the town and as far as they could tell Firebender presence here was a minimum which meant they'd need to see the Bei Fong family as quick as possible before causing a disturbance, a plan she got the two to follow surprisingly well.

The former captain had already known beforehand that the family were quite wealthy but she never expected them to own such a large estate, the tall walls and countless guards would be bothersome if things went wrong but they also provided some measure of security from spies.

"Halt, who goes there!" one of the two guards spoke up as Aki, Tadashi and Naoko approached.

"I'm Aki, of the crimson Raiders," she merely stated showing the guards a slip of parchment with the family symbol on it.

The guards looked at each other before one ran in to consult Lao the head of the family himself, it wasn't every day that someone with an article of approval from the Bei Fong family came up to their gates, let alone a trio of pirates. The guard who was left looked at the trio, quickly dismissing the young boy and captain who held a serious look on her face, but captivated by the last who tried to remain inconspicuous.

"It's not ev-" the guard started saying before a loud and rather rude cough interrupted him. "What's the….."

It was moments like this that Tadashi had practised his glare. Born from his constant glances at his father and cultivated by numerous glaring contests with his Azula, such a glare was one that could intimidate even the toughest of foes. It took several moments for Aki to notice just what had made the guard so uncomfortable but before she could stop the young prince the second guard had returned, approving the trio's entry into the compound. As it turned out the family were in the midst of preparing for lunch, already with a guest who they quickly learnt was an earthbending teacher.

The group were all seated at a rather nice table, a large tray of Crab Puffs in the middle of the table. Everyone was given a bowl of rice, alongside a smaller dish with mixed vegetables. Poppy, Lao's wife, was also helping Toph with the food on the small girl's plate despite the small grimace on her face.

"We're honoured that you allowed us to dine with you." Aki said politely.

"Nonsense," Lao exclaimed, "It's not every day you get to treat your saviours in your own home. Those dreadful Earthbenders had to respect whatsoever."

"I thought they were ok…"

"And it was a mistake bringing our sweet little girl with us," Lao continued, "A mistake we'll be sure not to repeat again!"

Although Toph's parents and their guest had seemingly ignored her statement the three had certainly heard, a fact that Tadashi didn't want to ignore.

"Forgive my rather crass statement but is something wrong with your daughter to make you say that?"

The two parents stopped momentarily before Lao spoke out.

"Toph was born blind; she's been helpless because of that."

"I don't understand why that's a problem." Tadashi replied.

Everyone at the table glanced at the boy incredulously, even Toph was caught off guard by that sudden remark.

"What do you mean by that?" Poppy asked carefully.

"Well as far as I know blindness doesn't equal helplessness. There are many warriors who are trained to move about in the darkness, using their other senses when sight is lost to them. That is what makes us as humans strong, our ability to adapt."

Naoko gave Aki a glance, thoughts of Sikumi coming to mind as she wondered if Tadashi was ready to learn about the water tribe girl.

"That may be true for your warriors but they still have their sight at all other times?" Lao asked.

"I guess so, but it's just that I met….no I know a waterbender that can sense things in the water around her. Even the smallest disturbance told her what was happening so I thought that Earthbending would be similar. I know Earthbenders, they're tough and are ridiculously stubborn. Toph does know earthbending right? I understand this comes off as terribly judgemental but I've met many types of people in my line of work and your daughter doesn't look helpless to me. Our senses, bending included is nothing but a tool and you can have all the tools in the world but if you don't sincerely believe in yourself, it'll be useless."

At that point everyone in the room beheld Tadashi in a different light. Naoko, as usual was proud to continually see her master's growth, slowly becoming the figure that he always wanted to be. Aki, for the first time had witnessed Tadashi speak like the Prince he was, having usually just acted instead. Lao was shocked beyond belief, the idea of a pirate speaking like that too fanciful for his likings. Poppy, perhaps for the first time, felt a sense of hope for her daughter, a thought that was quickly buried within the sense of logic that was typical of a person from the Earth Kingdom. The instructor, Master Yu, had almost ignored the whole thing, focusing instead on the luscious meal he was gracious enough to attend to. Despite all the mixed feelings, the person who was both happiest and shocked by was Toph herself. Capable of sensing the truth behind those words it took all she had to not break composure and grin senselessly. She made a mental note to thank him, not for his words but rather his rationale. Someone who could see past the superficial barriers between them was a person who could quickly earn her respect.

Several more moments were spent in silence; the only sound came from Mater Yu who quietly crunched down on his Crab Puffs in delight. The first to break the silence was Lao.

"As optimistically and eloquently as you've said, and I'm sure you have indeed seen much in your troubles, it pains me to say that my girl isn't how you've described her, she's weak, helpless and without a guardian susceptible to anything." He said, glancing ever so slightly at Toph, "I appreciate the kind words, but as I said nothing can change that. Now was there a reason why you've come to my home, despite your words just now."

Aki caught sight of the almost hurt expression hidden within Tadashi's eyes and cleared her throat lightly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Forgive us for going off topic, although my first officer means well we came here to talk about hiring some extra hands for a mission of sorts."

"Oh that sounds interesting!" Poppy added.

"What kind of mission?" Toph asked.

"We're going to-" Aki started saying before being hit by Tadashi in the side.

"We're searching for benders, specifically powerful ones." Naoko filled in for Aki who gave Tadashi a grimace.

"Like the Avatar?" Lao asked.

"Sure." Tadashi added, "People like the Avatar."

"Why?"

Everyone glanced at Toph who's glazed expression seemed helpless but was hiding excitement behind them.

"To make the world a better place." Tadashi said simply.

"That's a noble goal." Lao laughed aloud, "Though helping to fight the Fire Lord would be a better way of achieving it."

Tadashi visibly stiffened, a motion that everyone in the room picked up.

"Are you ok?" Poppy asked.

Tadashi meekly nodded, looking down at his food whilst Naoko replied for him.

"He's had a bad run-in with the Fi-"

"Fire Nation" Aki quickly interrupted, giving Naoko a wicked look.

Naoko glanced back apologetically as she too realised just how foolish her words almost were.

"Oh, I though you about to say Fire Lord for a moment." Master Yu suddenly spoke.

This time both Naoko and Aki stiffened.

"F-Fire Lord? That's ridiculous right?" Aki stuttered.

"Why would we ever be in the Fire Lord's presence?" Naoko suggested.

"I suppose you're right?" Yu acknowledge before going back to his food. "It would have made for an interesting story though."

Both Aki and Naoko laughed awkwardly, neither of the two noticing the furrowed eyebrows of the young master earth bender in the room.