The Thief And The Healer

Episode 4: Zuko Hates Himself

It was past midnight. When he'd parted ways with the Painted Lady the night before he'd received a ping on his phone. A bounty.

The Blue Spirit hadn't explained to her where he was going, for obvious reasons, she hated the Industry and everything it stood for, but he wasn't convinced yet. She hadn't exactly proven trustworthy. Oh, she believed in her cause, alright. Passionately. But the Industry had done a lot of good things. Increased medicare, cheaper technology for the masses, public transportation…it felt like everything had the Phoenix logo on it these days.

Plenty of the people he'd brought in had put up quite a fight, and they hadn't seemed like upstanding citizens…but it had been too long since he'd stopped checking. When was the last time he'd even noticed what their face looked like? Had he become so obsessed with his education and rising through the ranks of the Agni Kai that he'd forgotten what he was doing here in the first place?

His mind wandered to the more surprising revelation: She was a waterbender.

In a world where bending was thought to be extinct…he should have known from the movements he'd observed her making the first night they'd met. He'd been mesmerized by the way she'd twirled and shifted as the water danced around her. No wonder she'd been so intent on getting her hands on that scroll.

The light tinkling of a bell brought him back to the present and spurred him into motion. He leapt across the nearest rooftop for a better view. He took the time to note their features. The target was not quite what he had anticipated, a young man probably still finishing up his education at the university.

The thrill of the hunt rocked down his spine. The spirit slid down a drainage pipe to land silently on the street before ducking behind some stacked crates. Rescuing helpless ladies had been fun, but this is what he was good at.

"Have a good night!" the target called back into the store. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Don't count on it, the spirit thought.

The target moved away from him toward the back alleys of the downtown slums. Why would a university student be working in the Village anyways? It was simple work to shift through the run down stores and hurdle the heaping stacks of abandoned clutter in the streets.

The moon was just rising overhead when the time to strike came. The spirit clung to the wall of a darkened alley, sliding across the uneven stones until he was level with the target. Just as he pulled out the sedative injection the young man abruptly stopped.

The student's green robes swished as he turned around.

"Who's there?" he demanded of the night. The spirit took the opportunity to creep up behind him, the needle poised and ready, but just as he was about to inject the target, the student turned back.

Zuko froze.

It was Haru.

He'd grown a mustache and a goatee, but it was definitely him. A junior geology major with a minor in business from the East King's Campus. They'd had a class together last year.

Haru moved to hit him, aiming for his stomach. Zuko instinctively redirected the blow and before he could think about what he was doing the needle had been inserted into Haru's neck. The young geologist's eyes rolled to the back of his head just before he crumpled in a heap to the ground.