Contrary to what many outsiders believed, the night lights of Republic City were not all that blinding, nor was it omnipresent. By simply turning a corner from the main streets, one could leave the dazzling electric lights and enter the canyons that were the city’s back alleys. It was a world of sooty shadows, cast by the dirty flames of oil lamps and crocodile carp candles and newspaper-fueled cooking fires. Occasionally the flickering flames would leap and dance as firebenders rented their services to rapidly incinerate waste, or guide the desperate towards the outhouses.

If you were lucky, those firebenders were new residents, and would price themselves cheaply as a show of communal support. More often than not though, the prices would be pegged at whatever the governing triad ‘protectors’ decided it’d be.

For all its wonders, electricity still came with a running cost, and most of the poorer homes behind the modern facades - sometimes literally so - saved such a marvel for more necessary operations, like spinning fans to keep the air of the tight spaces from growing too stale, or keeping the radios and communal washer running.

Besides, so long as the locals had a decent distribution of benders, fire hazards were essentially a non issue as well. And electric light bulbs gave off as much heat as a lamp anyway, and were far more expensive to replace when it invariably blew out. Better to save them for special occasions like heavy storms, night-long celebrations, or entertaining visits from the local triads.

In the same manner, simply turning the corner around a boutique clothing store would cut one off from the oppressive lights of the pro-bending arena, as well as the beacon of serenity coming from Air Temple Island’s pagoda.

In the shadows between Republic City’s Downtown and the Green Meadow district just a bridge away, even the reflections from those landmarks dared not highlight the waves. Here, the waters of Yue Bay were dark and foreboding, with the light from the heavens and the not so impressive specks from the bridge to the industrial district defining the churning, ungentle waves. The air was thick with brine and spiced with escaping sewerage, and the gloom masked the ugly chemical spills and lumps of disintegrating trash that slowly corroded the rocky coast.

It was a thick darkness that even the triads disliked being shrouded in, that the airships of the metalbending police only floated over only once a night, if even that.

That didn’t mean that the area was completely abandoned though.

Whispered curses and muttered exchanges could be heard beneath the crashing of waves. Despite the scattering of crouched silhouettes over the jagged rocks, there was not a single source of light among the night fishermen of Republic City. Lidai expertly navigated across the rough slabs of stone, enjoying the fact that he could now leap and hike through to the more advantageous points instead of having to crawl to the more accessible point near the sewer exit.

With healthy legs, his hands no longer needed to cut themselves on stone and scrap metal holding onto dear life, and his knees were free from the countless pinprick stabs. He found his old perch upwind of the stench - the one from before he met the two children - and smiled in the darkness as he noted how untouched the site was. The scavenged mat was still there, now encrusted with salt and gravel, as was the glass bottle wedged between rocks that was still half-filled with tea.

The shadowy figures yards away from Lidai didn’t acknowledge his return, but that nobody took his place was a clear enough sign that his absence was noted. Despite their destitute states, the night fishermen of Republic City truly did keep to their own code.

Lidai swept his mat clean before sitting on it, allowing himself a second to enjoy the flare of nostalgia of having his ass and legs constantly irritated by the uneven surface. He kept his rattan basket beside him and drew his fishing rod, and then his hand went through the motions of stringing and hooking the line with practiced ease despite the darkness. He didn’t need bait as the fish here couldn’t smell anything amidst the waste they swam in.

With dozens of hooks hanging off his line, the old fisherman cast his rod out, and then leaned back to wait. The nocturnal vulture rays here were lazy and weak, so there wasn’t much effort required in catching them, only patience. They were inedible, but living easily off the city’s waste meant that the ‘shit fishes’ still had some value to be ground from their fat and bones. The oil extracted from them served as cheap lubricant for cogs and gears, making a lot of the alley folk’s machinery affordable to maintain. What’s left of the fish would then be ground down, bone and organs and all, and then turned into fertilizer or bone meal.

It was low paying work for a tedious and somewhat dangerous job, but it was a stable job that suited Lidai’s lifestyle rather well.

Of course, now that he was dragged into much better living conditions, the former cripple no longer had to worry about catching enough to feed his two trouble-finding dependants, or even himself for that matter. If anything, he was now the dependant in their strange relationship, Ren and Kai insisting that they pay for everything now that they had jobs that paid so ludicrously well.

He still was out here fishing, though, because otherwise he’d feel completely useless. And he couldn’t have that. Not again.

“Any good catches?” a voice whispered from behind, startling Lidai out of his thoughts.

By the time he registered the speaker’s identity, he had jerked up and snapped his head around. In the gloom, Xing’s crouched silhouette gave off the same presence as a satiated but amused armadillo tiger. The unfrayed and untattered clothes he wore gave him a much sharper definition compared to the usual shapes occupying the coastline. Lidai could hear the smile in the young man’s words, and the dim starlight reflected the gleam of mischief in his eyes.

“Xing.”

“I hope I didn’t scare the fishes away.”

As if to punctuate the whispered joke, the waves crashed particularly loudly, and a few people sprayed with salty, sewer-tainted mist cursed loudly.

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“I’d be surprised if you did,” Lidai replied, and then shuffled over to make space for his and the kids’ benefactor. The crunch of gravel and sharp rocks under Xing’s feet was barely audible as he moved to sit. Lidai didn’t bother asking how the lad had learned to be so quiet. He was supposed to have been the Avatar’s shadow, so it stood to reason that he’d picked up a particular set of skills.

And it was a question that wouldn’t gain any honest answers anyway, if Lidai’s estimations of Xing were correct.

“So what brings you here?” he asked instead. “Thought you’d have a busy day tomorrow.”

Xing gave a shrug as he stared out into the night. “Ren and Kai have picked up what they could from me, and are enjoying their well-earned rest. Asami is dining with her father, and promised to remain at home… Not that it concerns me now.”

“Heh, congratulations. From an assistant to a director in barely a month… I know people in the Fire Nation and Ba Sing Se who’d do anything to achieve what you have.”

“I’m just lucky that my employers are so gracious,” was the ever humble reply. “The Satos have lavished me with frankly undeserved trust-”

“But you’ve more than repaid the favor, and don’t you deny it. It’s Asami and the kids’ words against yours.”

There was a short, soft chuckle from Xing before relative silence fell in the form of crashing waves.

“Who are you hiding from?” Xing suddenly asked, and Lidai almost dropped his fishing rod as he stiffened. He dared not turn his head, but he heard the deep concern in the young man’s voice.

Not receiving an answer, Xing spoke again. “You could be earning a better living fishing during the day, by the docks. Or working for a fishing company.”

“I…don’t like the crowd,” Lidai lamely responded, and unsurprisingly the other man was unphased.

“That’s not counting the other, easier means of work. The alley you were hiding in was right next to the market…you could have been kneading dough for the noodles stalls, or cleaning the tables like what the...your neighbors do.”

“Fishing pays more…”

“Only on those days you could fill your basket with your catch. But Kai and Ren told me that they often only needed to wash down the bottom third of it. Besides, it’d be extremely difficult for you to carry a full load back with your legs in its previous state.”

This boy was too smart.

“Who are you hiding from?” Xing asked again, almost beseeching in his tone. “I can-”

“You shouldn’t waste your time on the troubles of old men,” Lidai curtly answered before sighing heavily. “Especially old men who have nothing to their name, save for the short time they have left.”

“Then it’d be more important to turn the nothing into something meaningful,” Xing replied almost instantly. “Kai and Ren wish for you to join them in enjoying the improvements to their life. For all you’ve done for them, you deserve to share in their happiness as well.”

Lidai shook his head at the thought of the rambunctious duo. “The two of them are too soft for street urchins. The proper ones would have left me to join the triads, or be happy to keep their new earnings to themselves.”

“Blame their teacher, I suppose,” Xing quipped cheekily.

The fisherman shook his head again before finally turning to face Xing. “You should not worry about me. Tell them the same as well. I’m happy enough that you three have bought me my legs back, and are sharing the comforts of your new lives. And…and it’d be ungrateful for me to inflict my unnecessary worries onto you.”

“So you are hiding from someone.”

Even in the darkness, Lidai could sense the cold resolve emanating from the silhouette before him. He stared at the amber eyes of the generous young lad piercing through the gloom, and finally gave in with a slump.

“I… I just need to keep a low profile, remain unremembered.”

“Yet you stepped in for Kai and Ren.”

“My life’s worth far less than theirs,” he instantly rebutted, perhaps with a bit more force than intended. It was probably the bravest thing he ever did. “They’re…they’re kids. Good kids. They’ve got long futures awaiting them…”

“And you don’t?”

“It’s… Mistakes were made. Big mistakes, that needed to be paid for with lives.”

Lidai closed his eyes, allowing himself to remember the happier past that he gave up, to remember her smiling face…

“So you offered yours?”

He nodded slowly, regretfully, before opening his eyes and drawing in a lungful of stinging, salty air. “It was the least…the least painful option. But I am too much of a coward to simply die, so I disappeared instead.”

“For your family’s sake?”

Lidai let the crashing waves answer for him.

“It’s not too late,” Xing eventually said.

“Better that it was.”

“You have a family who misses you.”

Lidai almost barked out a laugh, letting the younger man’s disapproval wash over him. “With what I’ve done? Nah. Nah, if I showed up again…by now they’d hate me. They should hate me for leaving them.”

“You left them for their sake, did you not?”

There was another bout of silence before the keen lad spoke up again. “I’m an orphan.“

Lidai blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic, but kept silent.

“As I understand it, I was raised by the Order of the White Lotus, because my parents weren’t prepared to raise a firebending toddler. I don’t remember their faces at all.”

This time it was Xing’s turn to let out an audible sigh. “But I…think I remember my grandfather’s face… I think- I’d like to think that even knowing that he approved of them giving me away… If I saw his face again, and if…if he apologized, truly apologized, I’d be glad to see him again.”

There was a tremor in his voice that kept Lidai from responding, and he simply listened as Xing lifted his shoulders to force out a shrug.

“But that will never happen. They’re gone…”

It seemed like he wanted to say more, but he caught himself. Eyes glistening with restrained emotion, Xing offered a slow nod. “Your family would miss you.”

“It’s better that they forget about me.”

Xing’s voice hardened. “Then, if you wish to leave your past behind, at least consider the life you have now. Kai and Ren care for you; They’re saving up to buy you a boat so you can fish all you want in the daylight.”

They’re what?

“Asami is ready to help buy them a new home, a proper one in the Central District. But they’re worried that you’d hate being away from your precious…job.”

Lidai felt conflicted at hearing that. That the two children still thought about his perceived needs was immensely gratifying, but also highly unnecessary.

“Let me help,” Xing said, far more resolutely this time. “You deserve to step out of the shadows, step out of…” He paused, and gestured to the murky, shit-stained waves. “...this. If you’re concerned about attention, then I can find you a discreet job in a comfortable office. If you’re worried about being a burden, then you can use that new job to pay for your fair share.”

Lidai stared at the shrouded figure before him before sighing in defeat. “You’re not going to let me refuse, are you?”

“Not a chance,” Xing said, clearly grinning from the tone of his voice. “I’ve been known to be stubbornly persistent in having things my way in one form or another.”

“Oh?” Lidai replied, unable to resist as he raised an eyebrow. “That’s what a rich lady like Asami likes about you?”

“It’s what the Avatar disliked about me,” Xing smugly corrected.

“Ah, that makes more sense…”

A more comfortable silence settled as an unvoiced agreement was made between the two men. Then Lidai remembered he was holding onto a fishing rod, and gave the now bent over rod a hard tug as he shuffled to get up.

“Ah, shit. Left the line in for too long. Here, get the basket ready. And watch yourself or you’d have to buy new clothes if they catch the shit fishes’ slime.”

Might as well make his last night here worth a bit more…