A man lay on his back deep within the bowels of Omashu Palace, resting his body after the day’s work.  He heard commotion outside and smiled at the thought of all those pampered, world-killing sheep being forced to live without their televisions and their video games and their fast food.  All in a day’s work for the Avatar.

 

Kimiko, along with Yí Xīn, crawled over the rubble into the room, still searching for advisors. When she saw the man lying prone on the floor, her first thought was that he was injured in the attack — something held her back from going over to check, and she simply called out, “Hello?”

The man sat up, regarding the two of them with opaque brown eyes.  “Hello,” he said simply in return.

She tilted her head, confused. She felt like she knew him, but she’d never seen him before in her life, she was sure. “… Are you all right?” Stick to simple questions, Kim. Figure out why the hell he seems so familiar — and why you want to punch him in the face, too — later.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

A hand came down on Kimiko’s shoulders, and now Yí Xīn spoke.  “You probably shouldn’t stay here much longer,” he said.  “The foundations are likely to be unstable.”

The dark-haired man waved a negligent hand.

“Something’s… not right… “ Kimiko said, slowly.

“Such a pity you picked up on it, White Princess,” said the man, rising to his feet.  As he stepped towards the teenagers, Yí Xīn’s hold on Kimiko tightened, and he dragged her behind him.

“You’re the Avatar,” he snarled.

“The White P-princess is a legend,” Kimiko said, by rote, the answer she was taught to give if anyone suggested that. “Zuko Peacemaker’s children were all killed in the palace that night. She’s a legend created to get his people through their darkest times.”

The Avatar laughed as he advanced on them.  “Lies.  Lies spread by the Acrobat and her husband, and their descendents, to protect the Line of Zuko.”

“Back off!” snarled Yí Xīn, ignoring the byplay.

The Avatar arched an eyebrow at the teen.  “Or what?  You’ll fight me?”  He stamped one foot, and the ground under Yí Xīn’s feet bucked, throwing him to his knees.

Kimiko backed up. “Th-they’re not lies!” she insisted. She knew he didn’t believe her, she’d always been a bad liar, I don’t want to die here, I can’t die here and break the line…

Yí Xīn struggled upright, and the Avatar grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him to one side before advancing on the girl.  “I’ll give you one chance, White Princess, daughter of Zuko Peacemaker.  Join me.”

“Wh-what? What are you talking about?”

He extended his hand to her.  “Together, little one, you and I could remake this wretched world.  Both of use were prophesied to bring about peace and balance.  Together, we would be unstoppable.”

“Peace and balance? Y-you destroyed the city! Killed all those people… “

“Necessary sacrifices,” he said sadly.  Behind him, Yí Xīn lunged; without looking, the Avatar drew his right hand from left to right.  A gust of wind blew the mechanic aside and smashed him against the wall.  “Stay,” he added to the boy.

“There were children! How can you justify killing children?” She was crying, she knew he was going to kill her, end the line — her duty to her people, she was failing, failing…

“There is no justification,” he said.  “But it had to be done.  Come, White Princess,” and now he sounded impatient, “take my hand, and we will leave this place.”

She shook her head. “I can’t.” Stuck between a rock and a hard place, duty to survive to serve her people, duty to stand against this… this maniac and never, ever help him destroy the world…

The Avatar withdrew his hand.  “Very well, girl.” The smile was long gone from his face.  “Then Omashu Palace will house your funeral pyre!”  On the last word, he lashed out; fire flew from his fist and exploded into an inferno that raced straight for the teenager.

“Kimiko!” shouted Yí Xīn.

I am about to die…

And then something changed. Something in the way she held herself, the way she studied the room. A shadow passed over her face, and she gave a defiant little smile. She dodged to the side at the very last minute, came up rolling with a pair of swords — where the hell did she get the swords — and rushed at the Avatar.

Startled, the Avatar managed to dodge, barely, as Yí Xīn dragged himself to his feet and fell into a combative stance.

Kimiko fell back, just beside Yí Xīn, and murmured in his ear. “We’ll never get to the door. Get ready to jump, Liàng.” Before she could explain that cryptic comment — or why the hell she was calling him “Liàng”, she dove to the side, rushing the Avatar again, trying to drive him out of the way so she and Yí Xīn could go out the window.

The Avatar stood his ground and readied a strike, so Yí Xīn struck instead, opening his lighter and shooting several blasts of fire from it in rapid succession, forcing the Avatar to block against these.

This gave Kimiko the opening she needed. She bolted for the window, grabbing Yí Xīn’s collar at the last moment, and jumped out. “Run! And keep running!” she shouted, then obeyed her own order.

Yí Xīn fled after her, hardly daring to look back.  He didn’t want the last thing he saw to be a flood, a boulder, a fireball, or a vortex.

She led him out of the palace, and to the old mail system. She jumped into one of the crates, secured to the top of a broken slide by a chain. “Jump in!” she ordered, tersely. When he did, she cut the chain with one of her swords, and they began to rocket down.

“Oh, gods, I hate heiiiiigh — “  Yí Xīn’s scream followed them down.

Kimiko rocked and twisted the cart whenever they came across a broken section of the track, which made the ride even more terrifying. They crashed at the bottom and she dragged herself upright. “You okay?”

“We’re sorry, Yí Xīn is not in at the moment,” he replied.  “Please leave a message at the sound of the hurl.”  With that, he fled into the bushes and lost his dinner.

“Time for that later, we need to get out of Omashu, before the Avatar joins us down here.”

Yí Xīn emerged, wiping his mouth.  “Fine.  Whoever you are. Let’s get back to the car.”

She nodded. “Lead the way, I’ll watch your back.”

Whoever that is in her body, he thought, made my urge to punch her in the face much stronger.  What the hell is going on?  Carefully, Yí Xīn led the way out, not wanting to risk the Avatar destroying the small pocket of survivors that had gathered.

Kimiko stayed upright until they reached the car. Then she gave it an odd look, and fell over.

“Kimiko!”  Yí Xīn gathered her into his arms and cradled her against his chest.

“… how’d we get out here… ?” she asked, dazed, swords falling from her hands.

“…you don’t remember?”

She shook her head, and winced. “Ow. Um. L-last thing I remember was the Avatar about to kill me.”

The young man was silent for a long moment.  Then he said, “All right.  Get in the shotgun seat.  I’ll stow the swords and we can get out of here.”

She pushed herself up and wobbled to the car. She was half-in before his last sentence hit her. “Swords?”

“Yes.”  He showed one to her before placing it and its twin carefully in the back seat.

“… where did those come from?”

“I neither know nor care at the moment.  Let’s just get out of here.”  Yí Xīn locked himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

She nodded. “Mmkay.” What the hell happened? Why do I ache all over, and why am I so tired, and where did we get a fucking pair of swords?

They were fifty miles away from Omashu before Yí Xīn spoke again.  “Kimiko… how much do you know about reincarnation?”

“Um… ?” she said, still a little woozy.

“I know they teach it in all the school systems, but differently and at different levels.”

“I know that everyone’s s’posed to reincarnate. And that the Avatar can sorta ‘member it. And use it, when he’s really pissed off.”

“Did they ever tell you that the Avatar isn’t the only one who can be possessed by his preincarnations?”

“… he’s not?”

“I guess it’s a higher-level thing wherever you come from too.”  He sighed.  “Occasionally, a more dominant personality can manifest into the body of its reincarnation.  I think there’s only one recorded case where the manifested was not a direct descendant of his preincarnation.”

“… s’that what happened?” she asked, stupidly. Of course it is, why would he bring it up if it wasn’t?

“I think so.  And I’m going to give him a talking to if he does it again.”

“Wh-why? If he got us out… ‘Sides, what makes you so sure he’s a he?”

“He exhausted you, Kimiko.  I’m grateful enough that he saved your life, but he put far too much strain on your body.”  A sigh.  “As for the other question…”

 “Yeah?”

He hesitated, then changed his answer.  “He stumbled a bit when he first overtook you.  Men and women have different centres of gravity; he was adjusting for it.”

“… S’that where the swords came from?” she asked, accepting this explanation and moving on to the next question.

“Most likely.  No idea why they stay behind, though.  Usually that kinda thing doesn’t happen.”

“… so, basically… I got possessed by a badass ancestor, who’s also sort of me, and he gave me swords?”

“Pretty much.”

She curled up and leaned her head against the window frame. “Man… life was never this weird before Mom died.”

Yí Xīn watched her for a brief moment, then pulled over.

“Wha… ? Why’re we stopping?” She looked at him, bewildered. “Don’t we wanna get as far away from Omashu as possible?”

“Shh, it’s just for a moment,” he soothed her.  Keeping in mind that they had to move fast, he snagged one of the bedrolls from the trunk, pulled a blanket from it, and replaced everything else.  Getting back into the car, Yí Xīn drew the blanket over Kimiko, then started driving once more.

“… thanks,” she said, and curled up a little tighter. “Wonder who he was… “ she murmured, sleepily.

“Well, if you dream of any badass ancestors, let me know.  Sleep well, little one.”

“Mmkay… “ And she was out.

Yí Xīn drove until the sun began rising.  By that time, he could hardly keep his eyes open, so he stopped off at a small motel and carried Kimiko inside.  After tucking the sleeping girl into bed, he stretched out on the floor and fell asleep immediately.

Scarcely had he done this, when he found himself in an echo-y, column-filled hall. At the far end, behind a line of low-burning flames, someone was sitting, cross-legged.

Golden eyes narrowed.  “If my body isn’t getting the rest it needs — “

“Don’t worry, it is,” the man behind the fire curtain assured him. “I wouldn’t be bothering you at all, except I couldn’t get through to her, she’s too deeply unconscious.”

“You’re the one who possessed her.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“If I hadn’t, she would have died there. And likely you would have, as well.”

“And I’m very grateful for that.”  Yí Xīn approached the man.  “Except in my experience, past lives usually don’t care what happens to their reincarnated souls.  You want her for something, don’t you?”

“… Several somethings, actually,” the man admitted. “None of which she will be forced to do if she doesn’t think they’re the right choice.” He seemed rather adamant on this point.

“Good for her.  You.  Whoever.  What do I have to do with this?”

The man shrugged. “You happened to be there. A trick of fate, maybe. Look, just because I happen to be Kimiko’s preincarnation doesn’t mean I know all the details of what’s going on.”

“But you know enough to want her for something.”

“I know enough to know that there’s a number of roles she might be needed to fill. I also know that destiny is a funny thing, and almost never works out the way you want it to. So I don’t really know anything.”

“Well, that’s delightfully unhelpful,” snapped Yí Xīn.  “What do you — no, scratch that.  Who are you, and why do I want to slug you in the face?”

“… Well, you want to slug me in the face because one of your preincarnations… well, we didn’t get along too well. Not that we were enemies, exactly, simply conflicting personalities.”

“Lovely.  And you are who?”

He waved a hand, and the fires died down, revealing a young man, in his mid-twenties, with a distinctive scar over his left eye. “My name is Zuko, called Peacemaker.”

Yí Xīn’s eyes went wide.  “Then Kimiko is the White Princess.”

He nodded. “Yes. What concerns me is how the Avatar knew it, since he isn’t one of the Shirokora, and they’ve spent centuries keeping that knowledge to themselves.”

The mechanic snorted.  “Psh, that one’s easy.  He got one of the Shirokora on his side.”

“Exactly. Which is troubling. Since you’d think several centuries of inbred loyalty would make sure that sort of thing didn’t happen.”

“Seems to me that the Shirokora have no real reason to love the world as it is now,” YÍ Xīn pointed out.  “Certainly the Republic has no real need for a monarch these days.”

“Some parties in the Republic want to restore the monarchy. Remember, their revolution cited my reign as the Golden Age.”

“You’ll note that I said ‘need’ and not ‘want’.”

“You’re probably right,” the Firelord admitted. “But, in any case, that’s not why I wanted you here. I need to meet with Kimiko, and I need your help to do it.”

“Will it hurt her?”

Zuko shook his head. “No, unless something happens to interrupt it.”

“Joys.”  Yí Xīn sighed.  “How am I going to help with this?”

“I need you to get her to a holy place, one with a profound connection to the Spirit World. One of the old Air Temples or the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole will do; I’m sure you can think of others. I’ll be able to contact her directly there.”

“Anything else, your worship?”  Something had prompted him to add that last bit.

Zuko laughed a bit. “Just get her there safely. And as soon as possible. There are some things I want to make sure she understands before… well, someone else might try to contact her the same way. I need to speak to her first.”

“As you wish.”  He paused.  “Where did the swords come from?”

“I can’t bend through her, and they’re my favourite weapon.” He shrugged. “So, I provided them.”

“You realise that neither of us know the first thing about swordplay, right?”

Zuko sighed, and rubbed at his temples. “All right, that’s just another thing I’ll need to go over when I speak to her.”

“Also, about bending.”  Yí Xīn eyed the ceiling.  “Mind not telling her I can?”

Zuko arched his eyebrow. “Why do you want to keep it secret?”

“Bending’s rare enough in this day and age,” Yí Xīn replied.  “There’s talk of a registry, to see who we all are.  And what with the Avatar going completely bugfuck…”

Zuko studied him for a long moment, then nodded. “All right. You should probably tell her to be more careful with her bending, too, for the same reason. I’ll remind her of that when I speak with her.”

“Is that all, your worship?”

He smiled. “Yes, that’s everything. And you’re on the edge of waking up anyways, so I can’t keep you here much longer.”

“Waking up!?  I don’t want to wake up!  I want to sleep!”

“You have been sleeping. This is a dream. A very vivid dream that you’ll remember in great detail, but a dream.”

“Except it was past five when I went to sleep.”

“Yes, and it’s nearly three now. Time flows differently in the spirit world.”

Yí Xīn sighed.  “Right.  Fine.  Then there’s just one more thing I need to do before I wake up.”

“Yes?”

Lightning-fast, the mechanic punched Zuko in the face.

The assassinated Firelord reeled back. “… I probably deserved that.”

“No idea.  But it felt good.”  Yí Xīn grinned.  “And maybe I won’t want to hit Kimiko anymore.  Hitting her would be bad.”

“Yes, it would.” Zuko smiled back, that same twisted little half-smile he’d given when he first possessed her. “Goodbye, then.”

And Yí Xīn opened his eyes and swore.

Kimiko was sitting cross-legged on the bed, playing with her new swords. She looked over at him. “…Hello to you, too.”

He grumbled something and lurched to the shower.  When he got out, Kimiko was swearing and sucking at her palm.  “Oh, for the love of — “  He strode to her, heedless of the towel around his waist, and took one of the swords.  “You hold them like this, see?”

“… oh. Oh, that makes sense.” She took the sword back from him, holding it right this time.

“And now we have completely exhausted my knowledge of swords.  Is there a map anywhere in here?”

“Um… I think my history textbook has one, hang on.” She dug into the backpack she’d been carrying since she left home, and pulled out a worn World History text. Sure enough, there was a map in the front, along with several historical index maps in the back. “Here.”

“Good.  While I’m changing, try to figure out where we are on it.”

“Okay.” She pulled the book onto her lap and began studying the map. Let’s see… we were in Omashu… and we drove for… um… I don’t know how long we drove for. Or in what direction. Ok. Well. Um. I think we’re somewhere… maybe here?

Yí Xīn emerged from the bathroom again clad in loose pants and a dark shirt.  “How’s it coming?”

“Which direction were we going, and how long were we driving, after we left Omashu?”

“North, and about ninety per from eight to five.”

She nodded. “Okay, then I think we’re somewhere around here.” She pointed at the map.

Yí Xīn made a face.  “I can’t read maps, princess.  What’s closer, an Air Temple or the Northern Water Tribe?”

“Um… the Northern Air Temple is probably closest… why?  And don’t call me princess. I’m not a princess.”

“We’re headed that way.  And if you’re not a princess, then the Peacemaker’s in for a big surprise when we get there.”

“…what are you talking about? Zuko Peacemaker’s been dead for centuries.”

“I know,” Yí Xīn sighed.  “And I’m saying he’s your ancestor and he’s the one who possessed you last night.”

“H-how do you know that — that’s not possible,” she quickly caught herself. “Zuko Peacemaker and his children were slaughtered centuries ago. I can read you the passage in my textbook.”

“Look, I’m just telling you what he told me.”  He made a face.  “You were too deeply out of it for him to talk to you, so he decided to walk my dream instead.”

“…oh,” she said. “Listen, you can’t tell anyone. No one’s supposed to know.” Then how did the Avatar find out? If he was one of the Shirokora, they’d’ve told you…

“Yes, I gathered.  But right now, it’s just you and me.  And honestly, I look a bit more like him than you do.”  He ruffled her hair.  “It might save us some grief later.”

She nodded. “Ok. So, we need to go to the Northern Air Temple, then?”

“Yes, and we have to get there fast.  The Peacemaker indicated that someone else wanted to talk to you as well.”

“…I guess he didn’t say who.”

“No, that would be easy.  Though maybe you’ll luck out and get the Peacemaker’s uncle.”

“…if I’m his reincarnation, I have to have a lot more bad luck before anything good happens,” she said, not-quite-sarcastically.

He shrugged.  “Oh, by the way. You might want to keep your bending on the down-low.”

“Why?”

“There’s rumours going around of a registry being made of known benders.  And since the Avatar is apparently nucking futs, they might actually do it.”  Yí Xīn’s eyes narrowed.  “I think things are going to get pretty nasty for the benders before this is over.”

Kimiko bit her lip, then nodded. “Ok. Ok, that makes sense. I won’t bend anymore unless it’s an emergency.”

He ruffled her hair again.  “Thanks, kid.  It’s best to keep a low profile for now.  Which also means you’re my sister for the time being.”

She nodded. “All right. Anything I should know about your family if we get questioned?”

A shrug from the mechanic.  “We should probably make something of.  I don’t speak of my family.  We probably ought to make names up as well.”

Kimiko nodded again. “Makes sense.”

“So.  When we are out in public, what am I to call you, Kimi?”

“Isn’t that a little too close to my real name?”

He laughed.  “I wasn’t suggesting that, kid.”

She grinned a little. “Okay. Just making sure.”

He fell back on the bed, thinking.  “I think that I shall go by… Wū Fĕi.”

“Okay. And… I’ll be An Wei.”

“We need a family name as well.”

“Right. Umm… “ She flicked through her textbook, looking for inspiration.  While she looked, Yí Xīn packed, making ready for another long drive.

“What about Bei?”

“That’s as good as any.  So we’re the Bei siblings.”

She nodded. “Right. What happened to our parents?”

Silence for a moment, and then, “They were on vacation in Omashu.”

She bowed her head. “Right.”

“Get in the car,” he said quietly.  “I’ll pay the manager and then we can hit the road.”  I just don’t know how many more hotels my funds can stand, he thought.

She shook her head. “I’ll pay him and meet you at the car.”

He blinked.  “Wait, what?”

“I have money,” she said, simply. “What I inherited from my parents, plus the trust fund. After I missed my plane, I got a bunch of cash, so I could make my way to Omashu on busses and stuff.”

His mouth worked a few times.  “I can’t ask you to — “

“You’re not asking. I’m saying.”

He sighed.  “All right.  I’ll get the car started, then.”

She nodded, and smiled. “I’ll meet you there.”

Yí Xīn stowed the last of their things and considered wasting some of his money on getting a map.  No, he decided, he’d rely on Kimiko for that.  She was clever for a kid.

She joined him a few minutes later. “We might want to get a new road map,” she suggested. “None of the maps in my textbook have roads.”

“Damn it.”  He sighed.  “All right, we’ll get a map when we stop for gas.”  His stomach growled.  “And lunch.  But you’ll have to navigate.  Maps and I don’t get along.”

Kimiko nodded. “No problem.”