"You are a scum, you know that, right?"

Mai spoke, her dull tone getting undermined by the crashes of cold waves against the iron destroyer while. cold winds blew hard, carrying another round of waves. Behind the giant destroyer sailed a platoon of battleships with the flaming mark inscribed on the flag.

The Fire Nation.

Beside Mai stood a youth with short black hair that actually covered the entirety of his head, unlike the bald fashion of the Fire Nation soldiers.

'Zuko would look good in this...'

Mai thought internally while picturing a half-burnt face with the same sense of peace in his expression as the youth held.

Aside from the cold and refreshing air, Nik could smell something else. Looking at Mai before directing his gaze at her prized possession, something that Mai easily perceived, Nik replied with an unimpressed tone.

"You're wet, you know that, right?"

His vacant expression alongside the extremely invasive, yet, factual words, Mai felt smoldering rage shimmer within the depths of her heart, but Nik didn't even allow Mai to hold onto her dignity for even a single moment before continuing with a vacant expression.

"Not only are you wet, but you are also extremely frustrated. Must be due to peeking in on Azula and me whenever we get down to it.

By now, you must have already understood that not any man could possess the same mentality to actually go through those moves... 

So, your point being me a scum is extremely correct. But, what else do you wish to establish? If I recall correctly, you have repeated the same sentence five times, this one being the sixth.

Is it so hard to get ignored."

As Nik slowly unfolded the events that had been taking place for almost an hour, Mai's lips quivered. Since they were extremely close to the Northern Pole, most of the soldiers capable of fire-bending were the only one allowed up on a regular basis. They were also the main fighting force of the navy.

Mai and Nik, on the other hand, simply used extremely expensive warm clothes to cover their bodies before coming up. Nik arrived to enjoy the scenery... and get a bit of change of pace from the duo cum-soaked beauties left in the chamber.

It wasn't his fault, honestly. Those two were actually growing aggressive as the situation continued. It was as if their stamina/spirit was growing over time.

It wouldn't be hard to speculate such a strange scenario since his own energy had grown from a mere 2 point to 6 points. By now, he was absolutely sure that there was something wrong with his talent. But he could only place his doubts in the back of his head. After all, he couldn't do anything about the situation and the mysteries surrounding him didn't seem to prove themselves harmful in any manner, for now, that is.

Mai's stunned stupor felt like a normal response, something that Nik was quite thankful of. Surrounded by a bloodlust crazed spirit, a princess whose thoughts only revolved around debauchery and causing battles and a troop of fire soldiers who were scared witless to even hold a basic conversation, all credits to how easily he broke Ja Yin's knuckles then jaws, something he soon came to feel guilty about.

He could've pulled his punches...

Mai's response was akin to a breath of fresh air.

"Y- you! What the hell are you saying in broad daylight!"

She immediately hissed in a whisper as her glare only grew colder, but failed to overwhelm the cold winds of the northern pole.

"Then you can stop peeking... while it was exciting at first... by now, it speaks volume about your... let's say, curious nature!"

Mai flushed at his words and retreated by a step, almost staggering.

He couldn't give Mai much attention though, his eyes grew distant once again as he looked at the stretched ocean. His heart, though calm, felt incomparably sad.

He missed home.

Not where he lost everything, but the one where he managed to attain much more than he could've ever imagined.

A week... that's about the time he spent there, and yet, he felt that the week had been the happiest week of his entire life.

Although, Nik was quite sure that this was due to the fact that their relationship had just started. It was easy to fuck and forget, but extremely difficult to maintain a relationship.

There are fights and resentment, but there is also love and warmth.

Nik was incomparably clear that trying to live with seven women, where five of them were already living together would be extremely hard. Not because of the situations, but because he let it so.

With the [Harem] as the reward, he could easily put each of his partner inside the spack pocket in a suspended time without their consents. Even though Nik had 'partnered-up' with them, in fact, he still remained the alpha of those who submitted.

Partner was just a glittering word.

But Nik didn't wish to have such a shallow relationship with everybody. Sure, there would be many, who he would have to control and even place in the harem due to his own selfishness.

But the Souma family, Kyouko, Megumi and... let's also include the third wife, Kaya, Nik didn't want things to be simple.

He truly hoped for healthy relationships.

Not just for them, but also for himself.

Only after getting surrounded with such insane girls did he understand how much important it was to have a safe haven to return to... not only for his physical needs, but also emotional.

If it wasn't for the thread of sanity he held of for thought of Mitsuko and his unborn child, he might have already lost his patience, cool and sanity.

He might've started enjoying the bloodshed, the screams of agony that could fill his ego.

"We won't judge you."

The sweetness in her voice before he bade his farewell allowed Nik to understand that he must remain sane. Even though they won't judge, but his inner self would definitely judge him. And after the phase of judgement would come endless regret, that he didn't wish to face.

Gazing at his vacant expression, Mai's expression couldn't help but stabilise. Thinking for a moment, she still huffed with annoyance as clear as the reflection of the rising sun across the surface of the ocean before making her way back into the chamber.

'This would be a perfect scenery to smoke at... too bad... I haven't even started the practice... and this world certainly doesn't entertain the possibility.'

***

"We cannot intercept the Avatar since his team is riding a flying bison... courtesy of Air Nomads."

Zhao muttered darkly while Azula sat with an impassive expression while her golden eyes fell on the course of action set by the Commander.

"Why should we wait to let him enter the Northern Tribe? Not to mention that it is already hard to breach, I am not willing to give Avatar the chance of learning another element to bend."

"But fire—"

"I am also a lightning bender. Surely, you haven't forgotten that, right, Commander?"

Azula gazed at Zhao as the commanding chamber fell silent save for the crackling blaze that lightened up the entire room.

"What is it that you are hiding, Commander Zhao? You should understand more than anybody how much of a risk it is to let the Avatar into the Tribe. 

So, there must be something that you have in your mind, right?"

Azula smiled brilliantly. Usually, she would have simply whipped Zhao into shape, completely disregarding his authority, but now, after feeling so good, she simply couldn't come to rage about any issues at all.

But even then, gazing at the smile, Zhao's face only lowered, hiding his troubled expression.