Book Four: Air - Chapter Four

"Can I try it on?"

The grizzled war vet rubbed his shaven chin, brushing the rough whiskers of grey sideburns.  His style hadn't changed much since becoming an officer of the Fire Nation Navy, except for the necessary addition of a black leather patch.  Most people found it intimidating.

"Do you know how I lost my eye, boy?"

"Pirate attacks?"  He was hoping for a story.  

"No.  It was in the North."  He gave the youth a pointed one-eyed look.

"Oh."  The young monk rubbed the back of his head in a mixture of embarrassment and shame.  "Heh.  Sorry about that.  I forgot you were up there with Zhao."

"Believe me, after what happened, I would have rather been chasing you around with Prince Zuko for another three years."  He smiled at the irony of his life.  "Funny how things change.  I never imagined Zuko would become Fire Lord and I certainly never thought I'd be standing here, side by side, with the Avatar."

Avatar Aang looked out over the deck of the ship at the cheerful refugees.  He grinned.  "We're making the world a better place, Captain."

"Call me Jee," he said, handing over his eyepatch.

"Jee."  The boy's face lit up as he accepted the patch.  "Thanks!"  He pulled it over his bald head, snickering.  "Gee, thanks."  He spread his arms.  "How do I look?"

Jee folded his arms looking serious.  "Like a tiny, happy, bald, tattooed pirate."  

"Should I smile less?"  

He scowled fiercely and Jee couldn't help but chuckle.  

"There you go."

"Sweet.  I've gotta go show Katara."

Jee watched the young Avatar float down to the deck and scamper off after the Southern Water Tribe Princess.  After spending months as a prisoner in the frozen North, Jee was surprised how easy it was to forgive and forget.  Chief Arnook had been a fair captor, even if his former heir, Hahn, had been less than civil at times.  Rumors of the young noble's fall from grace had sustained the captives even as they suffered at his hands.

But then the Peace Council had called for a release of war prisoners and Jee and the other survivors had been brought to Ba Sing Se with the Northern Water Tribe delegation.  

The world had changed and most astonishing of all, Prince Zuko had changed.  Jee shook his head in silent wonderment, correcting his thoughts.  He was no longer Prince Zuko, the stubborn, brazen boy Jee had known, but Fire Lord Zuko, a man he and his former captives were more than happy to serve.

They'd volunteered unanimously when he'd asked for men to take on a mission of Good Will and here they were, crewing ships that would return Earth Kingdom refugees to homes some of them had helped to destroy.  

"Sir!"  A young lieutenant came up and saluted smartly.  "A report just arrived.  There's bad weather ahead."

Jee fixed his right eye on the horizon and nodded.  "Tell the helmsman to make way for the nearest port."

The future was bright, but it never hurt to avoid the storms.

                                                          ------

Aang chased a few children across the deck, laughing a hearty pirate laugh, and Katara couldn't help but smile.  He'd grown up so much and yet, after everything he'd been through, a part of him was still just a fun loving kid.  Odds were good he'd always retain his playful side.

She giggled as he pretended to walk the plank.  The children gasped and then cheered as he airbended himself back to the deck.  Somehow she doubted that past Avatars had ever been a source of entertainment for refugee children, but that just made Aang all the more endearing.

"Storm's a comin'."

Katara turned, listening in on a conversation between two of the deckhands.  

"It's not natural."  The younger man coiled rope as he stared off at the seas.  The sky was clear for miles but a strange wind had picked up from the south and just on the edge of her view, Katara spotted dark clouds rolling toward them.

"It's like it's headin' straight fer us," The first man agreed and then his voice dipped into a low rasp that Katara had to strain to hear.  "Reminds me o' the tales."

"Ooo, I like stories!"  

Katara didn't know how Aang had even overheard the conversation, but he rushed to her side and grinned at the Fire Nation sailors.

"They ain't stories, lad.  The waters are haunted."

Aang flipped up Jee's eyepatch so he could stare wide-eyed at the old deckhand and Katara scoffed.  "Haunted?  By what, angry spirits?"  

"No one knows."  The man held up his hands, fingers spread.  "Some say it's the spirits o' the dead, others say it's a livin' breathin' curse.  On a clear day, the wind will just up and change and a black storm from nowhere comes straight for ya."  He jabbed Aang in the chest with two fingers.  "Ships have been lost.  Small fleets even."  He paused and rubbed the stubble on his chin.  

"Sounds like an Avatar job to me," Katara said and gave Aang a confident smile.  "I wonder why we never heard about this before."

The two men chuckled.  "Oh, I doubt you'd a done anything if you had."

Katara frowned and felt a need to point out the obvious.  "Aang would never let innocent people suffer."

"Ah, but that's the thing."  The sailors grinned at each other in dark humor.  "The curse only ever went after Fire Navy vessels."

They laughed and hauled the heavy coiled ropes away, leaving Katara and Aang to an uncomfortable silence.  

                                                        ------

"Ow," he groaned and opened his eyes.  Fuzzy shadows twisted above him, swirling and coiling.  He tried to sit up, but someone pushed him back onto something soft and familiar.  

"If you can hear me, I need you to try and hold still."

"Nnngh."  He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, blinking.  This time, the blue fabric of their tent ceiling resolved itself out of the shadows.  He shifted his gaze until he found the girl working at his side.  She tore a strip of bandaging with her teeth and wrapped it around his forearm, winding it tight.

He hissed at the pain.  "Oww... Be gentle, Suki.  I'm feelin' kinda fragile."

She stopped what she was doing and leaned forward, making it easier for him to focus on her face.  Her eyes glistened but there was something strong and hopeful in her expression as she brushed her hand over his hair.  "Are you back?"

"Yeah," he said and then tried to think about it, knitting his brow.  "Did I go somewhere?"

It wasn't a joke, but she started to laugh and Sokka found himself grinning despite the throbbing pain and the fact that he had only the vaguest notion of what was going on.

She saw his confusion and her smile slipped as she placed a gentle hand on his forehead.  "You lost it, Sokka.  You've been in and out since I got you on Lucky."

He winced as his brain started relaying signals he would have rather ignored.  "I don't feel lucky..."  

"No, not you."  She shook her head.  "You sort of named my ostrich horse Lucky.  On the ride back..."

"Oh."  He had no memory of it and the smile he offered was strained.  "Good name."  

He was having trouble breathing and suspected that sitting up would help, but when he tried she pushed him back to his sleeping bag.

"Hold still!"  

He blinked in surprise at her forcefulness and she softened.  "Sorry, just try not to move, ok?  You're going to hurt yourself."

"Hurt myself?"  He held his side and exhaled a laugh.  "I don't think it could get any worse than it already is."

"It will," she whispered and he was sure she hadn't meant for him to hear it.  "I... I need to get some more supplies.  Will you be ok alone for a minute?"

He glanced down at his prone form, at the oozing abrasions and darkening bruises and the splint on his twisted leg.  He took it all in, swallowed, and gave her an uncertain look.  "Hurry."

The second she stepped out of the tent, the pain he'd been holding down seemed to surge up like a monstrous wave.  He'd almost died once, on the sea.  The waves had come tall as mountains and it was all he and the old fisherman had been able to do to avoid being thrown overboard.  He'd been terrified at the time, but laughed at it later, until the laughs had turned to hacking coughs.  

Saliva trickled down his throat and he tried to clear it.  He'd been sick plenty of times before, but that storm had done a number on him.  The fever had been mind-numbing.  He could feel it again, building, pushing on the edges of his awareness like the unbearable heat of the desert.  

The desert.  He snickered.  From what he could remember and what he'd been told, his adventure with the native vegetation was one of those stories that would never get old.  Cactus juice, giant friendly mushrooms; it made him giggle just thinking about it.  

"Sokka?"  

He didn't know how long Suki had been at his side, but she was there giving him a strange, concerned look.  Her hand was cool as she nudged his shoulder for what might have been the third or fourth time.   

"Hey there, little lady."  He waggled his eyebrows.  "Fancy seeing you here."

She ignored him and held a cup to his lips.  "It's bitter, but try to drink it."

"I could use some requenchment."  He was annoyed when she didn't just pour the liquid into his open mouth, instead making him lift his heavy head to drink.  It hit his taste buds and he spit it all down the front of his bandaged chest.  "Suki!"  He threw the name like an accusation.  "That's not tasty!"  

She set her lips in a thin line as she tried to clean up the mess.

"Blech."  He reached up to wipe the taste off his tongue and was surprised to find his thumb and first two fingers bound and splinted, immobile and near useless.  "Heeeey."  

She took his hand and lowered it to his side.  "Listen Sokka, I have to do something and you're not going to like it."

He snickered.  "Nuh uh, I like everything you do."

"Here."  She tucked something into his bandaged hand, wrapping his good fingers around it.  "This is for you."

"It's a lil' early for my birthday, but I do like presents."  He inspected the gift, wondering why she'd given him a small but thick piece of wood.  He grinned as another stray thought wormed its way through his brain.  "Is this the short end?"

She stared at him and he tried to keep a straight face.  

"Short end of what?"

"The stick!  Get it, like the short end of the stick?"  He broke off, laughing at his own joke until the pain in his ribs told him to stop.  He continued chuckling, waving around his new toy.  "I got the short end."

"You really did," she mumbled as she gathered a few things and shifted toward his feet.

"So what do I do with this?"  He held the stick toward her and gave it a little wiggle.

She took a deep breath, frowned, and didn't meet his gaze.  "You put it in your mouth."

"Am I too noisy?"  He put two broken fingers to his lips like he was going to 'shush' someone.  "I can whisper," he whispered.

"No, Sokka."  Her shoulders slumped and her voice held just the slightest tremble.   "It's for the pain."

He gave the stick a serious look and then inched it toward his open mouth.  He licked it and tasted his lips, smacking them together.  "Not bad, not bad.  It's no frozen frog, but it'll do."

She covered her eyes like she had a sudden headache and Sokka offered her the piece of wood.  "You need some?"

She dropped her hand away and Sokka was sure he saw tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.  "How?"  She shook her head.  "How can you be telling jokes?  At a time like this?"

He put the stick in his mouth and sank back into his pillow.  "Sowwie."

"You have nothing to be sorry for!  I'm the one who should be apologizing."  

He tilted his chin to his chest and questioned her with a raised eyebrow.  

"This is all my fault," she said, indicating his battered body.  "If I'd been paying more attention to our surroundings, if I'd been more careful, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."  

Sokka tried to say something but it came out so garbled even he couldn't understand it.  He spit out the stick.  "Suki, that's silly."

"It's not silly.  I failed and you have to pay the price."

"Hey, we all fail sometimes."  He thought about it.  "I fail a lot!  And Aang too, and he's the Avatar.  What's his excuse, eh?"  He laughed.

She began untying the wrappings on his splinted leg and Sokka stopped laughing and bit his lip instead.  He was beginning to suspect what he'd need the stick for and it wasn't going to be pleasant.  
  
"If Katara was here, she could heal you."  

She touched his leg and a sense of panic washed over him.  The fear brought his mind a sharper clarity.  

"If Toph was here, you wouldn't have fallen in the first place."

He watched her slice through the tough leather of his boot with his hunting knife.  There was no way to get it off otherwise, but he was still sad to see it ruined.  They were his favorite pair.

"Zuko would have never let you go racing off.  And Aang would of..."  

"Hey," he interrupted.  "You know what?"  There was a note of desperation in his tone that he couldn't help.  "I'm glad you're here.  I'm glad you're with me."

She met his gaze and two tears trailed down her cheeks.  

"You're strong, Suki.  Strong enough to hold us both together."  He wished his words had come out sounding more confident and less like he was pleading with her, but Suki wiped her eyes and managed to smile.  He stretched out his bandaged hand and she took it, giving him a reassuring yet gentle squeeze.

"You're going to get through this," she promised and all he could do was nod.

She let go of his hand and moved aside the flaps of his boot, taking care not to disturb his leg.  "It might not mean much, but I'm the second best bonesetter on Kyoshi."

"Yeah?"  His voice cracked, but he was beyond embarrassment.  

"The Kyoshi Warriors learn a wide range of medical skills as part of our training to become better warriors."  She held the back of his ankle.  "Knowing how the body works helps us gain mastery over ourselves and our opponents."

He opened his mouth to reply but instead sucked in a pained breath as she slid the boot away from his broken and swelling limb.  The change in pressure was both relieving and unpleasant.  He exhaled a nervous laugh as she repositioned herself.

Her hands hovered over his leg.  "Get ready."

Sokka fumbled for the discarded stick and shoved it into his mouth, biting down hard.  Even the stabbing pain from his ribs couldn't stop the air from rushing in and out through his bared teeth.  He knew he was in for the worst physical pain of his life and despite wanting to put on a brave show, he realized the excruciating agony would override his remaining control.  

He fought an unrealistic urge to get up and run for it.

Suki looked at him, hesitating, and Sokka removed the stick with a shaking hand and tried to steel his nerves.  "Do it, Suki.  I'll be fine."

"I wish I could trade places with you..."

He laughed in the back of his throat.  "Nah, that'd be bad.  You're the one with the neat tricks and all that special training."

Her eyes widened and a slow smile spread across her features.  "Sokka, you're a genius."  And then without warning she attacked him, stabbing two knuckles into the inside of his thigh and finishing with a grinding twist.

"Suki!!  What're you…!?" he stopped.  The pain never came and he had to double check that his leg was still attached.  All sensation from his hip down was gone and Suki was smiling at him like she'd just defeated the Fire Lord single-handedly.  

He realized his jaw had dropped and he didn't bother closing it as she lifted his unfeeling leg, pressing his foot to her chest.  

"Ty Lee's techniques?"  

Suki nodded and her grin widened.  "Nerve blocking."  And without another word she tightened her hold and twisted.  A gruesome popping sound filled the air but it could have been twigs snapping for all Sokka cared.  

He laughed until tears trickled out of the corners of his eyes, and then he laughed some more.  

                                                           ------

"I love port towns," Aang declared, taking a deep breath and ignoring the smell of rotting fish.  

"It feels like forever since we've been in one," Katara replied as Momo jumped on her shoulder.  She scratched the lemur behind the ears.  "It's just like old times.  Almost."

"C'mon."  Aang grinned and grabbed her hand before Katara could get wistful.  She'd never spent so much time away from Sokka and Aang was determined not to let her miss him too much.  "I bet there's all sorts of trouble we can get into."

She raised an eyebrow, smiling playfully.  "Aren't we supposed to be spreading peace, Mr. Avatar?"

"You know me," he joked.  "I love the quiet life."  He pulled her toward a clothing stall.  A few people stared, recognizing him, and Aang wasted no time in selecting apparel that would draw attention of a different sort.  

"It won't be as good without Jee's eyepatch, but how's this?"  He threw on an oversized sailor's coat and tied a colorful bandana around his head, covering up his arrow.  "Arrr, me hearty!"

Katara laughed and ignored the look the stall owner gave her as she paid for Aang's new outfit.  "Why has this whole trip become pirate themed?"

They left the stall and Aang walked backwards down the street, holding his arms wide.  "We're traveling on a boat," he explained though he felt the answers were right in front of her.  "Our captain has an eyepatch!  And we've stopped in a seedy port town!  What more could you ask for?"

"Cabbages."  Katara pointed and Aang cocked an eyebrow.  

"Cabbages?"    

He backed into a produce cart and three cabbages rolled from their precarious position.  Using his airbender reflexes he caught them before they hit the ground, but the owner wasn't pleased.  

"My cabbages!!"  

"Sorry," Aang said and returned the leafy greens to the top of the pile.

"We can pay for those."  Katara reached for her money pouch and Momo hopped from her shoulder onto the top of her head.  

The man took one look at her and turned back to Aang, his eyes widening.  Without a word, he hoisted up his cart and hustled down the street.  

"Sorry!"  Aang called after him and Katara put her hands on her hips.  

"Wasn't that guy one of the refugees on our boat?  Nice of him to say hi or, you know, thanks for helping me rebuild my life."  She shook her head and Momo jumped back onto her shoulder.  "Some people don't know how to show gratitude."

"The war was probably hard on him," Aang said.  "Who knows how much he's been through?"  He grinned.  "All this talk of cabbages is making me hungry."

He grabbed her hand and started swaggering down the street, attracting more attention than his airbender tattoos would have.  No one seemed amused by Aang's behavior though the young Avatar seemed oblivious to their glares.

"First, grub, then we'll keelhaul and plunderrrr booty!"  

"Um, Aang?"  Katara leaned in.  "I think you should keep it down."

Aang laughed like a pirate captain.  "Mutiny!  I'll have you swabbing the poop deck ye scurvy sea dog!"

Katara raised her eyebrows and blinked.  "Do you even know what you're talking about?"

He turned back to her, grinning.  "Nope, that's just how pirates talk. I doubt they know what they're saying half the time, but that's what makes them so great!"  He laughed again and Katara saw two shady looking sailors clench their fists as they passed.

"You might not know what you're saying, but I'm guessing most of these guys do."

"Hey, that place looks good!"  

He dragged her toward the seediest looking tavern she'd ever seen and Katara pulled him to a stop.  "You know what?  I bet Captain Jee needs help restocking the ships.  Maybe we should go back?"

Aang couldn't believe it.  "You don't want to meet any pirates?"

"Not really.  I didn't like the last ones we met."

"But those guys were bad!"

Katara rolled her eyes and checked to make sure nobody was listening.  "Aang, all pirates are bad."

"Just because you haven't met any good ones, doesn't mean they don't exist.  Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Haven't we had enough adventures for a while?"  She crossed her arms, looking offended, and Momo turned his green eyes from her to Aang.  "It's time to take our responsibilities seriously."   

Aang didn't like the implication.  "I'm serious and responsible!  I just don't let it stop me from having a little bit of fun."

She narrowed her eyes.  "Well, if I'm so boring, I don't know why you're trying to drag me along."  She took the flying lemur from her shoulders and thrust him into Aang's hands.  "I hope you and Momo have a great time.  Who knows?  Maybe you'll even meet some fun people?"

She spun on her heels and headed back to the docks.  Aang kicked himself mentally and winced.  

"Why am I so stupid?" he asked his fuzzy friend but Momo didn't have an answer.  Aang sighed and slouched toward the tavern, all his excitement evaporating.

The door cracked and flew off its hinges before he got to it and quick reflexes alone saved him from being hit by an airborne pirate.  He glanced inside the tavern and wondered if it was too late to catch up with Katara.  

Drunken pirates, sailors and traders were embroiled in an intense tavern brawl and right in the middle, Aang recognized the female bounty hunter who had once tracked them down for Zuko.  He'd heard the stories from his friends, that Jun had helped them find Iroh and had tried to help find him when he'd gone away with the Lion Turtle.  But knowing that she had once been an ally did little to ease his tension.  Judging by the way she focused on a single agile fighter, Aang guessed the brawl was more business than pleasure.

Momo's ears perked up and Aang backpedaled on instinct.  A long pink tongue with barbs flicked in front of his eyes.  Jun's animal companion, the fearsome Shirshu, was patrolling the perimeter of the tavern.

"I don't wanna fight you," Aang said, sliding into a defensive stance as he faced the mole creature.  The animal lowered her head and came forward, headbutting him like a giant cat wanting attention.

"Nyla!"  

Aang and the Shirshu turned but there was no time to react as Jun's target catapulted over them, kicking off of Nyla's head for extra momentum.

Aang had to hand it to the guy, he knew how to move.  

"Nyla, what are you doing!?"  Jun ran toward them, gesturing with her whip.  "He's getting away!"

"Um.  Hi!"  Aang waved and she put her hand on his face, pushing him aside.  

"Outta my way, shorty!"  

Aang hadn't been ignored or dismissed out of hand since defeating Ozai, and it took him a moment to remember that he was hiding his arrow tattoos.  

"Wait, it's me!"  He lifted his bandana but she was already mounted and pulling Nyla around to follow her prey.  He lept up on Nyla's back and slid into place behind the bounty hunter.  "I know you're just doing your job, but can we talk about your methods?"

She aimed an elbow at his forehead, but stopped an inch from impact.  "You."  A split-second was all it took for her to cover her surprise.  "Hang on."  She cracked her whip and Nyla tore off down the street, chasing the runner.

"Who is he?"  Aang asked, feeling sorry for the man.  

"A pirate," she replied, and sensing that her answer wasn't enough for him, she added, "a very dangerous pirate.  He's one of the Fire Nation's most wanted men."

Having been on the list himself, Aang frowned in doubt.  "You do realize that Zuko cancelled all the old Fire Nation bounties, right?"

"It's a fresh one."  She reached into her saddle bag and handed him an official looking rolled parchment.  "My work is legit."  

Aang grimaced.  Legal or not, he didn't approve of the profession.  He unrolled the scroll to see what the pirate had done to deserve being hunted.  

The painting bore only the slightest resemblance to the man but the two prominent white scars on his face gave him away.  He was younger than he looked and had obviously had a rough life, but he didn't seem particularly evil to Aang.

"Name, Ganto," Aang read.  "Age, suspected to be in late teens or early twenties.  Affiliations, First Mate of The Black Wind, a known pirate vessel.  Wanted for crimes of piracy and sedition."  Aang scanned the rest of the document, coming back to the same word.  "Sedition?"

"It means inciting rebellion," Jun explained.

"I know that," Aang half-lied.  "I just don't understand."

Jun laughed without humor.  "You didn't think scar-boy was just going to waltz into the throne room and command international respect, did you?"

"Believe me, I've seen what Zuko's up against.  I just can't believe he didn't tell me there was trouble.  We're friends."

Jun shrugged.  "Maybe he didn't want to bother you with the details?  No offense, but you're pretty soft for an all powerful force of justice."

It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it made some sense.  

According to the date on the scroll, the bounty had been issued a week before he and Katara had left Ba Sing Se with the refugee fleet.  Zuko hadn't mentioned a thing and Aang couldn't just let it go.

"I'll help you catch the pirate if you let me talk to him."

"Hey, as long as you don't try and stop me, we'll get along fabulously."

                                                          ------

Aang wasn't sure if Jun was more annoyed or impressed when Nyla turned into an alley and came up on an imposing dead end.  The stone wall had to be thirty or forty feet tall but Nyla was convinced he'd gone over it, if her scratching and whimpering was any indication.

"He's a fast climber," Jun mused.  "I hate monkeys."  Momo flattened his ears while Jun ignored his angry chatter.  "How about you make yourself useful while we go around and cut him off?"  

Aang had agreed to help so he gathered the wind and launched himself into the air, jumping off one building and then touching down on top of the stone wall.  He turned back to his temporary partner.  "He's running south along the rooftops."

"Got it."  Jun spun Nyla around and took off.

Aang drew on his native element again and sprinted after the pirate who ran for all he was worth, leaping from building to building without hesitation.

"Can we talk?"  Aang called out and the young pirate stumbled as he whipped his head around in surprise.  He redoubled his efforts and Aang shook his head.  "I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut, sometimes."  

The pirate slid down a slanted roof and gripped the rain gutter, disappearing out of sight.  He'd either dropped down into an alley or swung back into the building and Aang found himself admiring the young man's agility and escape tactics.  

It was really too bad that Jun was after him.

Aang reached the same rooftop and made a snap decision to try and enter the building and double back.  He grabbed the railing and swung through an open window, pleased with his luck.  A potter held a toppled vase and Aang dodged around him, knowing the pirate had come through.

He grinned and gave in to the thrill of the chase.  It was a nice change of pace after spending so much time being hunted.

Aang followed his gut and turned left when he exited the room.  An open window at the end of the hallway beckoned and he launched himself through without hesitation.  The twenty foot drop was nothing to him and he hit the ground running.

The pirate, Ganto, was halfway to the main street, running full tilt and kicking up an impressive dust cloud.  Not to be outdone, Aang put on a full burst of airbending speed, laughing as his colorful bandana whipped off.  

Ganto heard him gaining and glanced back, eyes wide in disbelief.  Aang got his own moment of surprise when the pirate came to an abrupt halt, leaving the young Avatar no time or room to maneuver.  

Flying hogs and monkey feathers crossed Aang's mind as he crashed into the stationary pirate.  His momentum sent them all the way across the main street, straight through a familiar cabbage cart, and into an alley on the opposite side.

A high pitched wail of "My cabbages!" filled the air as Aang and the pirate rolled to a stop.  They disentangled themselves and the young Avatar staggered to his feet first, holding his head as he tried to get the world to stop spinning.  He'd lost his pirate disguise somewhere along the way, but he didn't think it mattered.

"Ugh, why'd you stop like that?"  

The pirate flipped up onto his feet.  His torn vest slipped from his shoulders but he didn't seem to notice as he leaned back against the wall, chuckling.  "There was no point in running."  His voice was deeper than Sokka or Zuko's and rough, but not unkind.  "You're the Avatar."  

"And you're a wanted pirate," Aang said, smiling as the young scarred man looked uncomfortable.  "Don't worry.  I have a lot of respect for your profession."

It was hard to say who was more intrigued.  The pirate and the Avatar stared, making silent appraisals of the other.  

Ganto was tan, lean and muscled like a tigerdillo but it looked like some other jungle predator had used him as a scratching post.  His chest, arms, and shoulders were covered with long white scars and Aang suspected the wraps around his hands and feet were hiding more.

Aang wondered how he'd gotten them and hoped it hadn't all been at one time.  Remembering that Zuko didn't like people staring at his scar, Aang met the pirate's eyes and grinned.  

"I'm Aang."

Ganto's gaze lifted to Aang's tattooed forehead.  "I know."  He pushed off the wall and straightened his bandana.  "I'm Ganto."

"I know."  Aang grinned and when the pirate raised a questioning eyebrow he explained, "I saw your wanted poster."

"Ah."  Ganto scowled.  "So why are you helping that psycho bounty hunter, anyway?  Don't you have more important Avatar things to be doing?"

"Jun's not so bad, once you get to know her."

"Yeah, sure."  He wasn't convinced.  "I'd take your word for it, but she's chasing me down for crimes I didn't commit."

"Ah ha!"  Aang nearly jumped in excitement.  "I knew something was fishy about all this."

Ganto barked a cruel laugh.  "I say I'm innocent and you just take my word for it?  Looks like your iceberg thawed a little early."

Aang's jaw dropped.  

"The rumors weren't wrong about you.  You're still just a kid and I don't have time to play."  Ganto tossed him a farewell salute and jogged toward the main street.  It might have been funny the way he crumpled to the ground when Nyla's tongue struck him in the neck, but Aang was too busy nursing his bruised ego to laugh.

Jun dismounted, looking pleased.  "Nice work."

"I didn't do anything," Aang replied, pouting.

"I know.  I was talking to snuffly-wuffly."  She rubbed her hand affectionately through Nyla's fur.

Momo flew out of nowhere and landed on the paralyzed pirate, picking at him and sniffing.  

"Getcher stinkin' lemur off me," Ganto growled into the dirt, sounding like a completely different man and Aang realized he'd been wrong.  

"You are dangerous, aren't you?"

"Oh, he's harmless enough right now."  Jun rolled him onto his back with her foot.  "The boy's got some questions for you."  

Ganto's grey eyes blazed and Jun tapped her boot against the side of his face.  "Best to cooperate.  I'd hate to have to add another scar to that pretty face."

He spat, getting only half the liquid on Jun's boot but not caring.  "You'll get nothing out of me!"

"I just want to know," Aang said, coming to Jun's side.  "Are you really stirring things up inside the Fire Nation?   Are you an enemy to Fire Lord Zuko?"

Ganto thrust his square jaw forward, his eyes flashing from Jun to Aang and back to the bounty hunter.  He snarled.  "What'd you tell him?"

She pulled out his wanted poster and snapped it open.  "I didn't tell him anything he couldn't read for himself.  It says here you have a history of disrupting the Fire Navy and turning people against the Fire Nation."  

Ganto's eyes drifted to the bottom of the scroll.  He laughed at them, harsh and mocking.  "You people never stop and think, do you?  Looks like my captain's faith in you was misplaced, Avatar."

Aang blinked in confusion and Jun lost her patience.  "Stop being cryptic.  You're just a low life pirate."

"I may be a pirate, but I can still tell the difference between Fire Lord Zuko's official seal and the lie stamped on there."  He pointed with his chin.  "I've been harassing the Fire Navy for years.  Do the math, kid."

Aang had the scroll though he didn't remember taking it from Jun.  He stared at the bright red symbol at the bottom, something he hadn't even thought to check.  He'd watched Zuko stamp enough official documents to recognize the subtle differences.  "Zuko didn't set this."  He rounded on the bounty hunter.  "How did you not realize you were making a mistake?"

"Hey," Jun replied, holding up her hand.  "All the Fire Nation bounties came back carrying that mark.  How was I supposed to know it wasn't the new Fire Lord's seal?  It's not Ozai's."

"Why do they want you, Ganto?  Who issued these?"

The pirate shook his head.  "That's what I was trying to figure out when I ran into her."  He shot Jun a dirty look.

Aang's thoughts were moving a hundred miles an hour and he wished Sokka was there to help him sort out the plan that was starting to take shape.  "Where were you going to take Ganto?  How do you get your payment?"

"There's a Fire Navy base just outside the city that used to be a major staging point for Earth Kingdom invasions.  Since fire-boy took over, it's become some kind of war reparation distribution center.  I saw Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe ships there when I turned in my last job."

"It doesn't make any sense..." Aang fisted the scroll and dropped his gaze.  Momo sat on the pirate's neck, playing with his lips and nose and sliding his fingers under the paralyzed man's bandana while Ganto tried desperately to shake him off.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this."  Aang glanced between his two unlikely companions.  "And you're both going to help me."