The air was cool outside, due to the sun having set about an hour ago. The streets were emptier than normal, with only a few other passersby. It was cool enough that Haruko needed to wear her jacket. She wondered how cold Koto was, her wingsuit covered her entire body, but she didn’t know how insulating the fabric was.

As they walked a simple route down the street, Koto started to ramble.

“I can’t believe them!” Koto said. “All we’re trying to do is help, and they try to boss us around. The UDES barely recognizes us as a nation, they can’t treat us like foreigners and deny that we’re an independent nation!”

Haruko nodded along, pretending to know enough about the situation to be invested in it. Truthfully, Koto was complaining about issues Haruko didn’t know existed.

“The modern air nation is ethically mixed! Yes, we have a larger population of people from the earth kingdom but that’s because the earth kingdom is huge!” Koto complained, gesturing around with her hands. “Of course more earth kingdom individuals got airbending during harmonic convergence, there’s more earth kingdom individuals!”

Haruko tried to nod along but was getting more lost by the second. Koto continued rambling about what happened, gesturing around with her hands. Apparently the police officer who showed up had demanded that she and Tashi pay a fine for ‘illegally keeping a flying bison’, even though it was perfectly legal for Air Nomads to have sky bison, at least according to Koto.

Instead of trying to make sense of whatever international affairs Koto was rambling about, Haruko took in her hometown, trying to see it through the eyes of an outsider, like Koto. She tried to see it in a way she didn’t, ignoring her own memories of the streets and plazas. In the daytime, Jing Zi always seemed to be bathed in a golden light, especially during the evening, when the sunset would illuminate the entire sky and cast long shadows across the floor. By night, the city seemed to become an inverse of itself, everything empty and chilled and illuminated by the moon and the lights of the city. Jing Zi was such a small city it didn’t have the same nighttime hustle-and-bustle she had heard of on the vidset. It wasn’t alive, but it wasn’t as quiet as the depths of the Si Wong desert were, the desert she remembered as a child. Out there, the sky was so vast and clear you could see every star in the night sky.

She and Koto reached a bridge-the Beifong Legacy bridge that ran over the highways leading to the rest of the world. It was a breathtaking sight, the city alight in the dark of the night, and even though Haruko had seen it and passed this bridge almost daily, for some reason it took her breath away today. Haruko noticed that for the past few moments, Koto hadn’t said anything, and was staring at the open sky above them.

“It’s beautiful…” She whispered.

Haruko smiled. “You should see the sky out in the real desert. It’s so open you can see for miles.”

Koto took a moment to respond. “You’ve lived in the desert?”

Haruko hesitated. She didn’t know what parts of her past she could trust Koto with. “Let’s get going home, I’ll tell you on the way back.”

The started walking home. “When me and Aazir were kids, we lived a nomadic lifestyle as sandbenders with our parents. Our dad was native from the desert, but our mom was from here and only joined the tribe when she married him.”

“I never knew the sandbenders were nomadic…” Koto mused. “Guess we have something in common, then.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Haruko continued. “Anyways, we lived there for a few years until my mom died when I was about five, and a few years later the sandbender relocation act was put in place and Aazir and I were put into the care of our aunt and uncle.”

“If it’s ok,” Koto asked. “What happened to your father?”

Haruko stopped walking for a brief moment. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in years.”

It didn’t take long for them to return home, and the rest of the trip was passed mostly in silence. Haruko guessed that Koto felt guilty after asking Haruko about her past, even though there was nothing she could do about it.

The first thing Haruko noticed when they arrived back home was that Cloud was gone from the yard. The second thing she noticed was that Hang, Aazir and Tashi were in her place.

Tashi ran up to Koto as soon as she saw her and grabbed her by the elbows. “Koto, they took Cloud!” She sobbed. “We couldn’t- they just…”

“What?!” Koto’s voice rose in pitch. “Who took her?”

“The cops that were here before.” Hang said. “Apparently they can just confiscate stuff if you don’t have a permit or whatever.”

“What are we gonna do?” Tashi whimpered.

“We’re gonna get her back.” Koto stated.

Hang nodded. “Alright, I’m in. You won’t be able to pull something off like that with only two people, you’ll need my help.”

“Me too!” Aazir piped up. “I know seismic sense, which might come in handy.” He turned to Haruko. “You should come too.”

“Really?” Haruko stammered. “My bending isn’t as stealth-oriented as yours is and-”

Koto put her hand on Haruko’s shoulder. “Please.” She near-whispered, her voice close to breaking.

Haruko nodded. “I’ll help in any way I can.”

Koto turned to Tashi. ”I want you to stay here, just in case.” The other airbender nodded and wished them good luck before Koto turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s go.”