Several days after Aang had picked up Yui and Mikoto somewhere in the middle of the ocean between Kyoshi Island and the South Pole, they finally came in sight of Omashu. Wanting to be discreet — considering the identity of the younger of his two passengers — Aang had Appa land a couple miles away.

The younger two were sleeping, Mikoto cradled in Yui’s arms and using her… yeah… as a pillow, Yui curled protectively around the child.  Regretfully, Aang climbed over Appa’s saddle to wake them up.  The teenager woke immediately, amber eyes flashing, but she calmed on seeing Aang.  “G’morning.”

“Morning,” he said, brightly. “We’re going to walk the rest of the way, Appa’s too easy to spot.”

She nodded.  “Makes sense.”  Yui turned her attention to Mikoto and gently jiggled him in her arms.  “Wake up, Mito,” she said quietly.

“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled, sleepily, snuggling closer.

She smiled, but nevertheless put him away from.  “We need to walk, Mito.  You can go back to sleep after.”

Somewhat sulkily, he finally gave in to the inevitable and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Yui kissed his forehead.  “That’s my good boy.”

He was still sulky, but a little less so, and started climbing down off of the bison.  The teenager followed him down, ready to lend a hand if he needed it.  Stubbornly, he insisted on climbing down on his own — he fell the last foot or so, but he made it most of the way.  After making sure he was unharmed, Yui hugged him and praised him for being a strong boy.

He grinned and hugged back, all sulkiness dissipated under the praise.

Yui took his hand and glanced at Aang.  “Lead the way.”

The Avatar nodded, petted Appa a bit and whispered something in the bison’s ear, then set off towards Omashu.  Yui and Mikoto followed, the girl keeping a wary eye out for anyone who might take too much interest in the child she’d all but adopted.  Luckily, no one bothered them on their long walk.

Yui was grateful, and hoped there’d be time to check out the mail system like she had promised the boy.  The Avatar bluffed their way past the gates, pulling on gloves and a hood to hide his tattoos — even if he wasn’t personally at risk entering the city anymore, it was better safe than sorry at this point.  Yui couldn’t help but be impressed by the way Aang handled things; once they were past, she said, “That was smooth.”

“Done it before,” he said, grinning.

She grinned back.  “Still.”

Aang then led the others through the city, to a decent hotel in a middle-class neighbourhood.  There was a pause after he knocked on the door, then it opened a crack and a golden eye peeked out.  Another pause, and the door was opened all the way.  “You found her!”  Yui barely had time to recognise Ichiro before he reached past Aang and pulled her into a strong platypus-bear hug.

“Yep. And this is Mikoto,” the Avatar replied, indicating the five-year-old.

Yui squirmed free, only to be all but bowled over when her twin came out of nowhere and tackle-hugged her.  “Kouji!”

“Yui!”

And they were off, both of them talking rapidly and at once.

Ichiro shook his head and glanced down at Mikoto.  “Pleased to meet you,” he said.

The child looked a little overwhelmed, but bowed carefully and said, “Hi.”  The tall farmer bowed back and glanced at Aang.  “They’re gonna be at it awhile,” he said, nodding to his siblings.  “Nobody can make sense of ‘em when they get like this.  C’mon in.”

“Right. Is Mai still with you?”

“Yeah.  She’s trying to decipher some papers I… found.”  Ichiro stepped aside so Aang could enter, pushing his siblings in after the Avatar.

“Right,” Aang said, oblivious to the hidden meaning in the hesitation.

The older man stretched.  “I guess we’re heading back to the Fire Nation soon?”

“Yep.”

“Excellent.  I’ll be home in time for the harvest.”

“That’s great!”

Grinning, he nodded.  “Yeah.  I was a bit worried there.”

Aang grinned back. “We’ll probably head out in the morning.”

“So there’s time for me to get in some bending later.”  He nodded again as Yui disentangled herself from Kouji and introduced him to Mikoto.  The child greeted Kouji as he had his brother, quietly and a little nervously. 

Kouji’s eyes widened as he took in the boy’s appearance.  “Wow… we were right.”  But then he grinned.  “Nice to meet you, kid.  Yui been taking care of ya?”

He nodded.

“That’s great.  Yui’s an awesome sister when you don’t have to chase her down.”

Yui twapped him lightly on the shoulder.  “I outgrew that three years ago,” she informed him.

Mai chose that moment to join them. “Oh. You’re back,” she said to Aang. She was very carefully not looking at Mikoto. “I’ve almost got the scroll translated, if you all want to take a look.”

Yui blinked.  “Scroll?”

“I’ll explain later,” Ichiro said, following Mai.  Kouji shrugged and headed in.

Unnoticed by any of the adults, Mikoto followed Yui.

Mai had the scroll unrolled and held down by an empty plate and a half-full inkpot. She had her decoded version set down below it, written mostly on napkins, in very careful order. “They’re planning a full-scale coup. The original plan, according to this, was for twelve years from now. They accelerated when Zuko took a foreign bride. They don’t want, quote, half-breeds on the throne. Unfortunately, we don’t get many details in here, but it confirms that the palace has been compromised, and someone within three degrees of Zuko’s closest personal staff is among the Róng Yào agents working there. There are at least a dozen permanent palace staff members working for the group, mostly among the lower servants. This isn’t counting whoever their high-placed sleeper is, or any of the various nobles who go in and out. The end game was to get the kid to the capital, take out Zuko and Katara, and Iroh if they could get at him safely, and establish the new regime, with a regent of their choosing.”

Kouji’s silver eyes narrowed.  “We need to go back now.  If the palace has been compromised that heavily…”

“Agreed,” said Ichiro.

“Yeah. Definitely not waiting until tomorrow,” Aang put in.

“Then let’s pack up, pay, and get out of here,” Kouji answered.

Mai nodded, and began gathering up her papers. “Also? May I suggest that we don’t ever leave that child alone?  There are Róng Yào in the city, and we don’t want to take any chances.”

Yui reached out and hugged Mikoto to her.  “I wouldn’t leave Mito alone anyway,” she retorted.

“You can’t watch him all the time,” the older woman pointed out coolly. “You do need sleep on occasion.”

“What’s going on?” the five-year-old asked, eyes going very round, clinging to Yui.

Ichiro sighed and crouched so he could look Mikoto in the eyes.  “We’re trying to see how best to protect you,” he told the boy.  “As well as your father.”

“The guards said my daddy was a bad man,” Mikoto said, confused, more than a little scared, and falling back on the information he’d been fed all his life as something constant.

Yui hugged him closer and glared at Ichiro as he opened his mouth.  The older man closed his mouth, and Yui turned her attention back to Mikoto.  “Mito, remember when we talked about war and how it was bad that they wanted you to start one?”

The boy nodded.

“Your daddy ended the last one,” she explained, “and they’re mad at him because of that.”

“They wanted him to restart it,” Kouji added, “but he refused.”

“Oh…” Now he was just even more confused. “Okay.”

Yui smiled gently at him.  “Why don’t we let you meet your daddy, and you can decide for yourself?”

“Okay,” he said.

“Let’s go,” said Ichiro.  “We’ve got no time to waste.”

“Definitely not,” Aang and Mai agreed in unison, then stopped and stared at each other for a minute.

“…I’m going to finish getting my papers together,” Mai finally said, then turned back to the table to do so.

“I’ll stay with Lady Mai,” Ichiro said quickly.  “Aang, you take Yui and the b— and Mikoto, and go on ahead of us.  We’ll catch up on Qiang.”

“Right, got it,” the Avatar said. “Let’s go.”

“One second,” said Kouji, dashing into his room.  He returned with a cloak, which he wrapped around Mikoto.  “There we go.”

Ichiro was staring at Yui.  “…why did you cut your hair?” he asked at last.

Yui flushed.  “Needed a change.”

“…you were trying to pretend you were a boy, weren’t you.”

“Look, it isn’t my fault!  I forgot they were there!”

“Forgot?  They’re attached to your chest!”

“What’s attached to her chest?” the kid asked, curious.

“These,” said Yui sourly, crossing her arms under her chest and hefting her breasts slightly.

“…okay… ?”

“Look, we should get going,” Aang said, hastily changing the subject.

“Yes,” said a bright red Kouji.

Yui stuck her tongue out at Ichiro and followed Aang out with Mikoto.

“We’ll meet up with you soon,” Aang called back to the others, then led Yui and Mikoto back to Appa.

“Is Qiang Kouji’s dragon?” Yui asked him.

“Yep,” he replied.

“Cool.”  Yui kept hold of Mikoto’s hand, again keeping a wary eye out for anyone who might take too much interest in him.  No one seemed particularly interested by a cloaked five-year-old travelling with his brother and sister (or so anyone who took any notice presumed they were).

For this, the teenager was grateful.  “How long will it take to get to the capital?” she asked Aang.

“Couple weeks, probably.”

Yui sighed.  “Fun.”

“Don’t worry. It seems faster than it really is,” he assured her.

“I’m not worried for me,” she replied with a smile.

He smiled back. “I’ve made this trip before with armies chasing me. We’ll be fine.”

She nodded as they made their way back to the bison.  They paused only once, so Yui could purchase a story-scroll — she’d rather not deal with a bored five-year-old unless she had a way to make him not-bored.

They made it back to the bison, and into the air, without any incident.  While they travelled, Yui did her level best to prepare Mikoto for new information he was certain to encounter at the palace.  Mikoto tried to change the subject every time she brought it up. It only confused him even more.

Lady Mai, Ichiro, and Kouji caught up to them that evening.  After letting Kouji and Yui catch up some more, Ichiro dragged his younger brother off for a sparring match with bending.  Aang joined them, after a while, leaving Mai and Yui to babysit.

Yui watched from a distance, keeping on eye on Mikoto as she did.  “He’s gotten so much stronger than he used to be,” she said quietly.

“He’s had good teacher,” Mai replied.

She nodded.  “He used to be so afraid of hurting someone with it — or worse, that our parents would find out and be disappointed.”

The noblewoman shrugged. “People have blocks for stupider reasons,” she pointed out.

“Yeah.”  Yui sighed.  “At least he got past his.”

She nodded.

Fire flared in the growing darkness, but it was impossible to tell if it had come from Ichiro or from Aang.  Yui turned to Mikoto.  “How’s your own fire?” she asked him gently.

He stared at his hand, frowning, and after a long minute, managed to make a tiny flame. “Yay!”

“That’s great, Mito!” she encouraged him, smiling.

He grinned back at her, and his flame grew a little brighter.

“How long can you keep it up?” she asked him.  Encouragement was best at this point.

“Dunno?” he said, then resumed frowning at his hand, trying to keep it alive as long as possible.  Yui watched him, the sparring match yards away completely forgotten.  He kept it up for almost ten minutes before it finally flickered and died.

The teenager clapped her hands.  “That was wonderful, Mito!”

He grinned back up at her, then yawned.

“Tired?” she asked him sympathetically.

He nodded, and curled up, yawning again.

“Get some sleep,” she said, reaching out to ruffle his hair and pull the cloak over him like a blanket.  “I’ll be here.”

“‘Kay,” he said, then yawned again, and then was out.

“I’d forgotten,” Mai said after a long moment.

Startled, Yui looked up at her.  “Forgotten what?”

The older woman was watching the child sleep. “Zuko smiles the same way. Or he used to, he doesn’t so much anymore. It’s a nice smile. I’d… forgotten.”

“…what’s going to happen to him when we get back?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, frankly. “Zuko’s not going to disinherit his legitimate children in Mikoto’s favour, that would just be asking for trouble, plus an international incident of epic proportions. But he’s probably going to acknowledge him. I’d stake my life on that. What happens then…” She shrugged. “That depends on whether or not they get along, and on Katara, and the general political climate of the capital.”

Yui sighed.  “I’m glad I took him with me when I left.”

“Me, too.”

Her next comment was almost too low for Mai to hear.  “I just wish I could keep him…”

The older woman gave her a strange look. “You want to know the truth? The absolute truth? Zuko’s terrified of fatherhood. Given the example he had, I don’t blame him. And if he thinks that keeping you around is best for the kid, then he’ll do it. But if you try and take his child away from him, there isn’t a power in the world that could save you.”

Yui glanced at her.  “I’d never try to keep what was rightfully Lord Zuko’s.”

Mai shrugged again. “Just giving you fair warning.”

The younger girl nodded and turned her attention back to the sleeping boy.

Mai watched him as well, wishing he didn’t look so damn much like his father.

Eventually the men returned, all of them sweating.  Kouji was absolutely covered in dirt.

“Have fun?” Mai said, somewhat dryly.

“Yep,” Aang replied, cheerfully.

“I am seriously out of practise,” muttered Ichiro.

“Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” the Avatar said, seriously. “Out of practice means there’s no reason for you to be in practice.”

“Maybe,” said Ichiro quietly.  “But I’d rather be in practise and not have to use it than be out of practise and taken by surprise.”

The younger man didn’t have a response to that.

“You’re just paranoid, Ichi-ni,” laughed Kouji.

“Look who’s talking, Kou-Kou,” Ichiro shot back.

Mai fought very hard not to grin at those nicknames.

Kouji lunged at Ichiro, who promptly caught him in a headlock.  “Try again when you’re bigger,” the farmer said, snickering.

Yui rolled her eyes.  “You’re acting like you’re ten,” she pointed out.

“Can we not fight?” Aang asked.

“Who’s fighting?” Kouji replied.

“You two.”

“This is playful,” Ichiro told the Avatar.

“…Okay…”

Kouji squirmed free and laughed.  “Don’t worry about it.”

“All right, if you’re sure,” Aang said.

Ichiro stretched.  “Kouji, you should probably wash up,” he pointed out.

The younger man looked down at himself.  “Hmm… point,” he conceded.

“I should probably clean up, too,” Aang admitted. He was nearly as filthy as Kouji.

Kouji grinned broadly at him.  “Then let’s take it to the river.”

“All right,” the Avatar said, and popped onto an air scooter to lead the way.

“Hey!” yelled Kouji, chasing after him.  Ichiro just laughed and stripped over his over-tunic, sitting down across from Mai.  Somehow he’d managed to avoid getting any dirt on him at all.