Noah leaned up against the wall of a building at the town's center, waiting for Ezra to arrive. He tapped his foot impatiently, angry with himself for agreeing to meet her again. He knew what his little sister had become. Driven mad by grief, she'd gone on a killing spree to slaughter every soldier residing in Seto Village.

It was a large death toll that had included Noah's close friend and comrade, Mikoto.

Noah had met Mikoto when he first arrived in Saika as a scared, powerless fourteen-year-old boy. Most young men were taken to be trained as soldiers at the age of sixteen, but since Noah and Ezra had gotten up to such reckless shenanigans as children, he'd been whisked away early. Mikoto had been Noah's first friend and comrade-in-arms in a frightening and unfamiliar place. During the time they'd spent together in Saika, Noah had started to think of Mikoto as an older brother.

Two years after Noah had arrived at the capital, Mikoto finished his training and was stationed in the south of the Fire Tribe. Noah hadn't gotten word from him for months.

Until he heard. In one fell swoop, Noah lost his closest friend along with his mother and younger sister. According to official reports, his sister had been driven mad by the loss of their mother and murdered all the soldiers stationed in Seto, including Mikoto, before turning tail and running from the Fire Tribe. Kushinada Ezra was to be forever branded a murderer and a traitor.

Noah had never felt such pain, grief, or red-hot fury. He'd told himself that he could never forgive Ezra for what she'd done, for taking everything from him. 

So when she showed up out of the blue back in the Fire Tribe, he reacted the only way he knew how; in grief and anger.

But if what she'd said earlier was true... was there more to the story than he'd thought?

He still couldn't forgive her, but if he could try to understand her, to see things from her perspective... could they come to an understanding?

Mikoto and their mother were no longer in this world, but if he could reconcile with Ezra, then he could still have some family left in this large, cruel world.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a dark-haired young woman approaching him with that same mysterious masked man at her side. Ezra's amethyst eyes, so like their mother's, were sparkling with mischief as she raised a hand and waved two fingers at him in greeting.

"Yo," she said. With her bright eyes and trouble-making crooked smile, she looked more like the twelve year old girl he'd left behind than he ever imagined he'd be able to see again.

"Hello," he greeted stiffly.

Ezra tilted her head curiously at the harshness of his voice. "How was your day?" she asked politely.

Noah narrowed his emerald eyes. "Cut the small talk, Ezra," he snapped at her.

She rolled her eyes, and Noah was struck by nostalgia at the reminder of the sister he'd left behind five years ago. "Fine, then. Lay it on me, Noah."

"You killed dozens of soldiers," he growled. Including Mikoto. Why did you have to kill Mikoto?

Her eyes turned serious, her jaw tightening. "I know."

Noah's expression grew thunderously angry. "Aren't you going to even apologize?" he snarled.

"No," Ezra said simply. Noah glared at her, silently seething. "I won't apologize because I don't deserve to be forgiven. I've always viewed regret as the most useless of all emotions, but believe me when I say that I regret what I did with every fiber of my being."

"That's all?" Noah growled. "You regret it?"

"What more do you expect from me?" Ezra asked calmly, feigning a strength she didn't feel. "I can't take it back, no matter how much I try. I could atone for what I did by hurling myself off a cliff, but that won't do anyone much good, now, would it?" She fixed her brother with a steely glare. "What would you have me do, Noah?"

Noah bit his tongue, having no satisfactory answer.

"I'm moving forward, slowly but surely," she told him. "I'm learning how to cope with my grief and deal with my past. I'm sure I hurt you, but you need to understand that I was hurt, too. It doesn't excuse what I did, but surely there's some part of you that knows that deep down, I am still me. I'm still the same old Ezra who used to run around with you, mouthing off to the officials and stealing their food."

Noah let out a deep, shuddering breath. "I've been thinking about what you said all day," he said quietly.

"Wow, my brother, thinking," Ezra commented dryly. "That's a new one."

Noah glared at her, and she bit her lip.

"Sorry, bad timing," she said sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes. She was never very good at holding her tongue. "I didn't realize... that Fire Tribe soldiers were responsible for our mother's death. I was told that she passed away because of disease, and that you went insane from grief."

"I did go insane," Ezra said, her amethyst eyes serious. "For three years, Mom was all I had. When she died, I didn't know how to deal with being all alone."

"Being all alone..." Noah murmured. "I can relate."

"I didn't come back to talk to you to beg your forgiveness," Ezra told him. "I came back to make you understand. You're my brother, Noah. We're family. I'll be damned if I don't try to make things right between us. I don't want you to forgive me. I just... I just don't want you to hate me."

Noah studied his sister. He could see the self-loathing shimmering in the lavender depths of her eyes, hidden deep underneath layers of mischief and sarcasm.

She truly hadn't forgiven herself or forgotten all the lives she'd taken.

"I don't... hate you," he whispered. "You're my sister."

A blinding smile lit her face. "Am I? I'm not just some stranger wearing your sister's face?"

He shook his head. "No. You're Ezra, my kid sister." He reached out, hesitantly ruffling her dark hair.

Ezra rolled her eyes. "Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'll take it."

Noah's eyes moved to the masked man at his sister's side. "And you are?"

Ezra glanced at Shinah and noticed that his jaw was tight. "This is Shinah," she told Noah. "He's... a friend."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Friend?" Was that a hint of a blush he could see on his sister's cheeks?

"Yes, a friend," Ezra said firmly, silently begging her cheeks to quit flaming.

"Is he a part of that dumb Dragon Starving Group, too?" Noah asked.

"The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch," Ezra corrected.

Noah glared. "Whatever, Ezra."

Ezra grinned at him. "Anyways, yes, he is."

"And you said that Tae-Jun has no intention of capturing you guys?" Noah asked with a frown. "Why not?"

Ezra pursed her lips. "That's... a secret."

Noah narrowed his eyes at her. "Secrets, Ezra? Really?"

Ezra glanced at the man beside her. "What do you think, Shinah? Should we tell him?"

Shivers cascaded down Noah's spine when the masked man turned towards him. It felt as if he was being watched by some dangerous predator; the sensation made Noah's skin crawl. "Yes," Shinah answered after a few seconds of silence. "He is... your brother."

Ezra smiled. "Well, then. Guess that's settled."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "You'll let me in on the big secret just because this weird masked guy says it's okay?"

Ezra shrugged. "I trust his judgement more than my own at this point. Now, quit complaining and listen to me. Or do you not want to know?"

"No, no, I want to know!" Noah said quickly.

Ezra grinned to herself before pausing for dramatic effect. "Princess Yona is still alive," she told him.

Noah's green eyes widened in shock. "The Princess... is alive?"

Ezra nodded. "Don't ask me how they did it, but she and the former Wind Tribe general, Son Hak, survived the attack in the mountains and are currently on a journey through Kouka. I found them at some point during my wandering travels and joined their group. Right now, we're posing as bandits to try and aid the Fire Tribe towns."

Noah frowned. "So the Princess is alive, and she's helping the Fire Tribe... by pretending to be bandits raiding it?"

Ezra gestured around her. "You know the state of these villages, Noah. We grew up in one just like this. The villagers are taxed too heavily, they don't have food, water, or medicine, and they have no ways of earning livings for themselves. The capital of Saika isn't doing anything about it, so we're taking matters into our own hands."

Noah held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, alright. Suppose that everything you say is true, and Princess Yona is alive and leading this merry band of thieves. How does Tae-Jun factor into this, and why doesn't he actually want to capture you even though that was the order he received from his brother?"

"In my own professional opinion, I think Tae-Jun is in love with the Princess," Ezra said with a conspiratorial smile. "As soon as he realized that she was still alive, he fell into hysterics and hurried to rescue her from an attack the soldiers were going to launch on Katan Village. Ever since then, he's been helping us with the chores around the villages, behind the soldiers' backs."

Noah's brow furrowed. "That actually does sound like something that useless nobleman would do..." he murmured.

"Of course it does," Ezra said matter-of-factly. "It's the truth."

Noah sighed. "I want to help the Fire Tribe, too. I know that it's in horrible condition, but... I thought that I was helping, by being a soldier. I thought that I would be able to protect our land, but all they do instead is send us into these decrepit towns to collect taxes and bully the villagers." Noah's emerald eyes grew sad. "I told myself that I was helping... but who am I helping, exactly?"

Ezra patted her brother's shoulder in sympathy. "I get it, Noah. You feel useless. It's nothing to be ashamed of." She smiled at him. "I'm sure that you can find a way to help, even as a soldier. I'm doing everything I can to give back to this land after all the harm and rabble I've caused. But you and I... we're in different positions. You have a lot more power than I do in certain situations, so you should use that whenever you can."

"I know." Noah was taken aback. When did his sister become so wise?

"Don't sound so surprised," she chided him. "I say smart things sometimes, alright?"

Noah gave her an incredulous look. "Really? You?"

Ezra rolled her eyes. "See? We're going to be just fine." She smiled at him, her amethyst eyes sparkling with happiness in the light of the setting sun. Wearing that expression, she looked so much like their mother that it made Noah's heart squeeze painfully in his chest. "Thank you for listening to me, Noah."

Noah returned her smile. "I have to say... it's nice to have a sister again."

"You never lost me, doofus," Ezra said, reaching up to give her brother a light knock on the head. "I've always been here. Sure, you were angry and hurt, but I've always been your sister, and I think that you knew that, too."

"Deep, deep down, I might've," Noah admitted. "Now, I should get back to the others. Tae-Jun left me in charge of the soldiers he left here when he moved on to make his base in the east."

Ezra tilted her head. "Tae-Jun is making his base in the east? Why?" As far as she could remember, there was nothing in the east except even more decrepit and disease-ridden villages.

Noah shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me," he said. "Also, before I forget. My men aren't very pleased about you kicking their asses. Please refrain from doing so in the future."

Ezra laughed. "Nobody's hurt, right?"

"No major injuries," Noah told her. "Just some crushed egos. Apparently you took most of them down with just a bit of rope?"

"Oh, good," Ezra sighed. "And yes, I did. In their defense, they underestimated me. If they'd taken me seriously from the start, I may have had a harder time subduing them." Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "In any case, you can tell them to rest easy. I won't go looking for any more fights now that my idiot of a brother is finally talking to me again."

Noah shook his head. "I know I taught you the basics of the sword when we were kids, but to think you'd become so skilled that you could take down five Fire Tribe soldiers while largely unarmed... I'm impressed, Ezra."

Ezra grinned. "I'll take compliments wherever I can find them."

"Who taught you?" Noah wondered.

"Do you remember Old Man Shu?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, it turns out that he was a ninja," Ezra told him.

Noah's eyes widened in shock. "Really? Him?"

Ezra shrugged. "I was surprised, too. He took me in and taught me after... well, let's just say I wasn't in the greatest headspace. He figured I could use an outlet. I trained under him for three years, but I never did get his story out of him. Where he grew up, how he ended up in Seto... he remains a mystery to this day."

"Interesting," Noah mused, mulling over this new piece of information. Suddenly he shook his head. "Anyways, I should get going. I need to get back to my men."

"Got it," Ezra nodded. "Shinah and I will return to the gang tomorrow. The next time I see you... I hope it's on better terms."

Noah's emerald eyes softened. "I do, too. Thank you, Ezra."

"Thank you, Noah." Ezra grinned happily. "Good night, brother."

"Good night." Noah turned away from his sister, feeling lighter than he had since he left her and his mother all those years ago. He still hadn't forgiven Ezra for taking the lives of Mikoto and so many others, but he could see past the anger to realize that she was hurting, too. He wasn't the only one who'd felt alone and helpless.

If he'd been in her situation, would he have done the same?

Noah frowned to himself, thinking deeply on the subject all the way back to the Fire Tribe soldiers' Katan Village headquarters.

***

Hey, everyone! I hope you liked that chapter!

Alright, guys, I have something to ask all of you. I wrote something the other day; it's a rough, unpolished version of something that's been turning over in my mind ever since I created Ezra as a character. It wasn't a scene I particularly wanted to write, as it is absolutely heartbreaking to read even for me. But I think it's an important part of Ezra's background and her character as a whole. 

It's a flashback scene of the death of Ezra's mother, written in her point of view. Generally, I avoid first-person writing, as I feel that third-person gives me a lot more freedom to explore the thoughts and mindsets of characters other than my main characters, but I've never written in Ezra's POV before and I wanted to get into her head a little bit. Admittedly, this scene was extremely difficult to write and made me a bit emotional, but I'm pretty proud of it. It really helped me get to know Ezra better.

So I'm leaving the choice up to you guys. Do you want to read the exact scene of her mother's death? You know that it's not a happy scene and may even break your heart if I've at all done my job as an author and made you care about my character. Please comment to let me know!

Appreciate you always!

--Veratia0011