Ozai stares out at Caldera from the balcony of the Fire Lord's suite. The skyline is different from the one he had grown used to seeing from this view. Certain buildings are missing. Others have not been destroyed in the Invasion of Black Sun. It's a strange mix of restoration and lost progress. A fitting allegory for himself, perhaps, considering what the spirits have done in casting him back from his future.

He is still grieving what he has lost, what he has been torn from, but... Today has given him a measure of comfort in what he still has, and hope for what he may yet be able to forge here.

Ozai is pulled from his musings when a staircase of light slowly materializes in midair. Its colors remind him of the winding lights occasionally seen in the skies over the world's frozen poles, all soft greens and purples. It's obviously spirit work and, considering how the staircase stretches from the nearly-full moon down to his balcony, he can only assume Tui has decided to visit him.

The spirit that descends from the staircase is not what he had been expecting. The spirit appears as an old man with Water Tribe features, dressed in white silks of the same style as Ozai had seen clothing the Moon Spirit during his brief stint in the spirit world. One of Tui's court, maybe? He certainly looks the part, with matching white hair and pale blue eyes.

The spirit smiles at him, laugh lines and crow's feet deepening on the elderly face. "Fire Lord," he greets upon reaching the balcony, "Agni wastes no time in boasting over what you have already set in motion. I have not seen him so thoroughly pleased with a herald in an age."

Agni is talking to the other spirits about him? Ozai can't help feeling flustered at the news. "But I've barely done anything yet! And the hawks were only sent out this morning. It will be a week before those orders reach the warfront!"

"But you have sent them," the spirit says, smile undiminished by the Fire Lord's objections, "and our world has been full of chatter, excited and skeptical, since. Do not make the mistake of thinking it is only my brother's eyes upon you, Nephew. Many of our kind have their attention trained on you and your nation."

That last sentence would have concerned him more if he wasn't caught on the addresses used just before it.

"Tui?" he gapes.

The spirit blinks and then laughs. The laugh doesn't have Agni's boisterous confidence behind it, instead supported by a serene certainty, but there is a similarity in the pure merriment both spirits express in the action.

"Forgive me, Nephew. I should have reintroduced myself," the spirit says, blue eyes still laughing, "Yes, it is I, Tui."

"Oh." Ozai feels his entire face heat in embarrassment. "You look... different from when I last saw you."

"Yes, very," Tui agrees with another wrinkly smile, and then remarks, "We spirits tend to forget how much man has forgotten of spirits. Your people have not told tales of us in generations, though I suspect that will soon change."

Ozai frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Only that Agni's plan has begun to unfold and it cannot be undone now. You, your father, and my Yue are the only members of man to be directly affected due to my brother's plot but, in accepting Agni's proposal, a new charter regarding the mortal world has been agreed to by the Council of Greater World Spirits and it has replaced the previous compact entirely. The Sun Spirit's schemes are always carefully thought out, but even he could not predict every eventuality that may come to be with such a grand change between our worlds.

"La was not wrong to call my brother's plan radical."

Ozai's brow furrows as he tries to piece together what information he has while being frustratingly aware that he does not yet have enough of the overall picture to reveal the whole of the Sun Spirit's plan. "And the new charter is part of why Agni mentioned other spirits might show up to help?"

"In part," Tui agrees, turning to gaze out at Caldera, the ocean beyond, and the night sky, "Many wish to see the success of Agni's plan. Many others remain skeptical. Some are simply aloof. A few, however, would seek its failure or else pursue their own aims in the mortal realm, heedless of the damage they leave in their wake. Just as with man, not every spirit can be trusted. Be careful in whom you choose to place your faith."

"I understand. ...I think," Ozai says. He considers the view for a moment before breaking the brief silence that has settled between them to ask, "Forgive me, Tui, but... is there a reason you've come to see me tonight? Is there something you want me to do?"

Tui chuckles softly. "Nothing so direct as that, Fire Lord. Princess Yue of the Northern Seas has taken much of my and La's attention over the past several hours, but Agni has seen fit to give me a new nephew. The first in many years. And, as my brother has also rewritten the charter regarding your world, I have the liberty to visit my extended family with markedly fewer restrictions. While we will undoubtedly have business to discuss in the future, tonight is merely a social call. I am here solely for you, nephew mine."

"O-oh," Ozai says for a second time. He doesn't know how to react to that.

The Moon Spirit grins, turning to face the Fire Lord. "Perhaps a full introduction is in order," the spirit admits, "I am Tui, brother to Agni, King of Flames, who is your patron spirit, young herald. Agni is a spirit of fire, of light and warmth, of time, sky, and repeating cycles. I, too, am a spirit of time, sky, and repeating cycles, but that is where much of our similarities end.

"I am a spirit of reflection and changing faces, of pull and shifting tides, of balance and enduring partnerships. As your generation is no longer taught of the spirits, I am sure you have questions. Please, ask them."

He's never going to get a better invitation than that. "You said you and Agni are both spirits of time?"

"We are."

"Is that how I'm here? Six years in the past?"

"In the present. The path of this world is not a repetition of what was before," Tui corrects gently. "As for how the mortal world came to be cast back and set upon its current path, that was the work of many spirits and much effort. Agni and I played our parts, but there were others who made far greater contributions in that particular act. It was not an easy task, nor would Agni be able to convince the spirits involved to do so again. You will have this one chance to remake your nation's mark on the mortal world as you deem fit, Fire Lord, and this one chance alone."

"No pressure or anything," Ozai mumbles, more to himself than the spirit beside him.

Regardless, Tui hums an acknowledgement and nods solemnly. "Agni has placed a heavy burden upon your shoulders, but you shall have help in carrying it. Agni will not abandon you, and I will likewise assist you where I can. I suspect there will also be others, in time, to say nothing of your allies among man.

"Have you another question?"

Ozai does his best to set aside his worries about the future to focus on the conversation he is having with the Moon Spirit. "Can all spirits change their appearance like you have, or is it an ability unique to spirits of 'changing faces'?"

"That answer is complicated and it would take many nights to explain it in full. For now, it will suffice for you to understand that very few mortal rules apply to spirits. Our bodies are reflections of what we are, but the possible representations of any one spirit may vary widely.

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"Agni is fire. He will always appear as fire because that is his essence, but you have thus far encountered him in a form that holds to the shape of man. There is little reason for my brother to hold to such a form except as a courtesy during his interactions with mankind. Meanwhile, his form in your world's sky is that of a grand sphere of blinding radiance. And my brother is hardly limited to these two examples.

"In a similar manner, so too may other spirits change their appearances as they please, though most are not inclined to alter themselves after they have settled upon a form that they find comfortable. Beyond this baseline, there are also spirits of illusion, trickery, change, and yet more that will have even greater abilities to reshape themselves as they will. It is something to be wary of, Nephew, but do not be swift to assume it is an effort to deceive. Some may attempt just that, however, a spirit may have any number of reasons to shift their form. It will depend upon the individual spirit in question.

"As for myself, I change faces and forms regularly. It is a part of my nature to change and cycle. While grieving my Yue, I wore her face often in remembrance, but even then I could not hold her for long. Two days, on occasion three, but no longer than that."

"I'm sorry," Ozai says.

"Thank you, but there is no need to be sorry," Tui says, "Agni has been quite thorough in making amends for her loss and she is lost to me no longer. Zhao of Second Fire, who planned and led the attack, is no more, by La's own hand. But Agni has gone further. He has removed Ozai the Usurper, who provided Zhao with the means to enact his wicked plan, and replaced him with Ozai the Reforged, whom he has directed to seek peace rather than war. It does not guarantee my Yue's life to her old age, but he has ensured that the tragedy that took her before will not be repeated."

Ozai flinches. "The Usurper?" he repeats hoarsely. It fits, considering what he has pieced together of his father's rise to the throne, but somehow it still hurts to know that is how his father is being remembered by the spirits.

The Moon Spirit's face is sympathetic as he explains, "The two of you share a name and are of the same age. You each have equal claim as children of fire to the title 'of Second Fire' and so, too, have you both been known as 'Fire Lord,' rendering those addresses unclear. Agni's displeasure with your father's coronation was impossible to miss and he was not quiet about its cause. In light of this, and because you are at the heart of much of the spirit world's current gossip, the terms 'the Usurper' and 'the Reforged' have quickly spread amongst our kind to differentiate between you and your father."

"I see," Ozai rasps. He doesn't like it, but he doesn't have to. Matters that involve his father have never been easy.

Tui's eyes are kind as the spirit says, "I cannot regret his removal, but I have known grief, and I am sorry that his death pains you. It has not been my intention to add to your tribulations, Nephew."

"Thank you."

Silence descends on them as the Moon Spirit once more turns to contemplate the view from the balcony, giving Ozai time to recollect himself. After a few degrees, Tui speaks again, "May I tell you the tale of Yue and Tui?"

Ozai joins the spirit at the balcony's railing. "Please."

Tui's smile is serene, if touched by a lingering melancholy, as he begins to recount the tale for the Fire Lord.

"Once, under the spirits' old compact when contact between spirits and man was more restricted than it is today, a mortal child was born in the frozen north. Although the newborn survived her mother's long, hard labor, she was weak. Her breaths were shallow and she made not a sound upon her arrival into the world. Distraught, the child's father brought his new daughter to the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole, where Ocean Spirit La and Moon Spirit Tui resided in those days, and he prayed before the patron spirits of his tribe for a miracle.

"La was impassive and ignored the father's prayers, for although La and Tui were among the few spirits that had chosen to remain in the mortal world, with all the risks that carried under the old charter, the people of the tribe had forgotten La and Tui.

"Tui, ever La's balancing opposite, saw the matter differently. Neglected for an age by the tribe they patronized, here was one mortal that had remembered the patrons of his tribe and sought their help with that which was most precious to him.

"And so, when the father placed his daughter in the pond with the spirits, Tui deigned to grant the girl a blessing of essence and life. Upon receiving the spirit's gift, the girl's dark brown hair turned pale as moonlight, a spirit mark. Scarcely a moment later, the child opened her mouth, drew her first full breath, and cried, as newborns are meant to do. The father likewise sobbed, as relieved parents are known to do, and brought the moon-blessed child home to his weary wife. The grateful parents named their daughter Yue, in honor of the Moon Spirit who had saved their child.

"Sixteen years passed and Yue grew into a young adult of her tribe, but war had come to her tribe's doorstep. A cunning enemy commander had discovered the vulnerability of the ocean's and moon's mortal forms in the Spirit Oasis, and the commander sought to exploit the spirits in order to ensure his victory over Yue's tribe. In his madness and arrogance, the commander set out to destroy the balance between the greater world spirits by killing the moon.

"And he succeeded, much to his detriment.

"Zhao attacked and slew Tui. In the night sky, the moon grew dark -- dead -- and the ocean below raged and swelled in fury.

"La dragged the Zhao down to the depths of the Northern Seas before tearing the man's black soul from his body and taking him further still into the spirit world. There, La cast the man's screaming soul into the Fog of the Lost. But as great as La's wrath was, it could do nothing for Tui.

"Back in the mortal world, Yue grieved the death of the spirit that had protected her tribe and given her life and, in her tears, she came to a terrible realization. The gift the spirit had granted her shortly after her birth had not only been of life, but also that of essence, and the young woman's hair remained the pale moon-white that had drawn comments all of her years. She alone contained a portion of the moon's essence. She alone could return the moon.

"Although scared, Yue was brave. Out of love for her family and friends, duty for her tribe and world, and gratitude for the spirit that had given her sixteen years of life that she would not otherwise have lived, Yue sacrificed herself to revive Tui.

"The moon brightened in the sky and balance was restored."

The Moon Spirit allows a moment of silent contemplation to pass before admitting, "This is where most would end the tale, as few know what followed. Though I suppose just as few now know of the tale at all."

Tui doesn't continue speaking immediately, instead taking in the view and considering his next words. Ozai waits patiently beside the spirit. What he has heard thus far matches up more or less with what he'd already been told by his friends and what he'd witnessed for himself that night, anything that comes after this point, however...

"When I came back to myself," Tui says slowly, "I was very disoriented. Although my Yue had succeeded in reviving me, she had done so with but a tiny glimmer of my essence that I had never intended to reclaim. That wisp of essence had spent sixteen years cut off from all that I was and instead wholly dedicated to preserving a single mortal life. As a consequence, my mind was more that of Yue than of Tui in the early days following my reforging."

Ozai startles and looks over at the spirit. "Your reforging?"

Tui chuckles. "Yes, Nephew, my reforging. Your circumstances may be unique amongst mortals, but it is not unheard of among spirits, though no two instances are alike in every facet. And I am afraid it was yet further unintended consequences regarding my reforging and Princess Yue that delayed me in coming to greet you."

"But Princess Yue is well now?"

The Moon Spirit smiles with an understated joy that nonetheless brightens Tui's eyes. "She is. I look forward to the two of you meeting, when the time is right. For tonight, shall I continue with my story? There is not much left."

"I'd like to hear the rest, if you're willing," Ozai says.

"Very well," Tui nods, "La and Agni were both distraught over my state, as you might imagine. My memories as Tui were murky and I barely recognized either of them. I was more sure of my life as Yue than as Tui, and my nature as a spirit of changing faces was something I found to be particularly distressing throughout that time.

"I think that may have been when Agni began his scheming in earnest. My brother never approved of my choice to retain a mortal form in accordance with the previous charter, and quite suddenly all of his worst fears had been confirmed. Not only could a mortal form be killed, but I had been slain, and only happenstance and another's courage had saved me. If Agni had not already begun to draft a replacement charter at that point, then he certainly must have when La stood before the Council of Greater World Spirits and demanded recompense.

"It was several moon-cycles before I reclaimed enough of my own mind to grow comfortable in my role once more and, by then, what had been set in motion with the council could not be halted. Considering what Agni has put together in answer to La's demands, I cannot regret what has come to be of the circumstance.

"And now, here we are."

"Here we are," Ozai agrees.

Tui lingers for a few more degrees of companionable silence before bidding him a good night. The celestial staircase disappears behind the spirit as he ascends back to what Ozai can only assume is the spirit world.

All in all, Ozai thinks Tui's unexpected visit went well. Now if only he knew how to buy the Fire Nation's way back into La's good graces... Maybe he'll have figured out a tactful way to ask about that by the next time the moon comes to meet with him.