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Chapter Text

7

The darkest night of Azula's life, ironically, was not actually all that dark.

It was the middle of summer, and the sun was still setting when they went to see her grandfather- Fire Lord Azulon.

The words she'd heard that night still showed up in her dreams.

You will know the pain of losing a firstborn son.

In the end, Ozai did not actually lose anything that night. Instead, Azula lost, and watched her father gain everything.

6

Azula held her breath as she waited for the moment to escape. When she felt certain all the attention of the room was fixed upon Ozai and Azulon, she darted out from the curtain and ran faster than ever before.

Iroh had not returned, and it was no secret why, but she had no time for greif now. By luck, Master Piando was visiting the palace now, and she needed to get to him.

She burst into the Sword Master's room.

"Azula!" He said sharply. He had stood the moment she'd come in, and already there was a blade at her throat. She did not care.

"It's Zuko!" She exclaimed, "they're going to kill Zuko! I need you to help me!"

His eyes were wide now, and she explained all she had seen. She told him of the many tunnels hidden throughout the palace, and her plan to use them, and then demanded his help. When asked why she had gone to him, she held out her lotus tile.

5

Zuko had been confused, of course he had been, but he was Zuko.

He trusted her. She trusted him.

But a part of him still trusted Ozai, and she had nearly exploded with panic over how much time it took to make him go.

"But he wouldn't-"

"He would! Zuko, you need to trust me, I know what I saw!"

When he finally walked through the tunnel, he had paused to look back at her, his eyes shining. He had hugged her then, and she'd wanted to hold on to him tightly and never let go.

"Whatever distance lies between us," he had whispered into her hair, "you will always be my sister."

"And you will be my brother," she had choked back, before pushing him away.

She was so numb she hadn't even registered the object he had pressed into her hand. It was a pendant which held a lock of his hair. She had seldom taken it off her neck since, and never had she allowed it to be spotted beneath her robes.

4

That night, shortly after she had rushed to her bed, she heard a figure enter her room. Her mother, by the footsteps. The Fire Lady grabbed her shoulder harshly and attempted to shake her awake. In response, Azula pretended to wake up.

"Azula," she whispered in a hiss, "where is your brother?"

"What?" She whispered back, playing the part of a groggy young girl trying to wake up.

"Where is your brother? Your father went to check on him and told me he is missing! Do you know of this?"

Went to check on him indeed, she though bitterly. Of course.

"No," she said out loud. "What are you asking me for? What buisness of mine is it if he's running through the hallways?"

"Azula!" She scolded. "Tell me what it is you know!"

Azula realised then that Ursa truly did think the worst of her. On the same night she had gone half mad to save her brother, her mother came to accuse her of conspiring against him.

If that's how you want to see me, then I shan't dissapoint you, she thought.

"I don't know anything," she asserted. "But if I am finally free of this sibling nonsense, perhaps things are turning up at last."

"Azula!"  Ursa shouted. She stepped back from the bed, looking stricken and horrified. "Why must you say such things?!"

"Because I don't care, all I want to do is go back to sleep-"

"Don't you understand!" She grabbed Azula's wrists tightly enough to hurt, and Azula had to clench her teeth to fight the urge to firebend.

Ursa was a nonbender, and her skin burned easy, but she was still shouting and it was so hard to concentrate and it hurt hurt hurt-

"-er is gone, and he could be hurt, Azula, how can you be such a monster-!"

At that word, Azula's mind went numb, and her control finally slipped. Blue flame danced across her arms, burning her own wrists as well as her mothers hands, and both of them jerked back with a scream. Ursa recoiled from her with shining eyes, but Azula's gaze was fixed on her own wrists. She had never burned herself before. She wouldn't have this time, if her own flames hadn't been trapped by Ursa's hands.

The burns on each of her arms were in the shape of Ursa's palms and fingers, and as the gaurds walked in, Azula felt a sob build in her throat.

3

To Azula's amazment, she had not gotten in trouble.

The next morning, she had been woken up hours before her training would often begin.

The sun hadn't even risen yet - in fact, the first sign of Agni's warmth had only come an hour after she was pulled from her chambers. 

When she was dressed in white robes, she knew. She had heard the entire conversation between Ozai and Azulon, after all. She knew what her father wanted, how far he would go to get it, and she knew what these robes meant.

When she kneeled to the ground and watch her father crowned before Azulon's corpse, she could find no sign of her mother.

No funeral was ever held for Lady Ursa, and no one ever asked Azula about what happened that night.

( She started wearing cuffs on each wrist. One person asked about those. Everyone else knew better after that.)

2

In the years since that night, Azula got even better at lying than before. 

It had always come naturally to her, and yet it had weighed on her all the same. She felt at peace with herself only after talking to her brother, the one person she did not decieve. And Lu Ten, once.

Her brother wasn't here.

(Niether was Lu Ten.)

Her father was here. And Azula never dared be honest with him.

1

She didn't think about that night much anymore. Not in specifics, anyway. But even the parts she did allow herself to remember filled her with fear.

It woke her up at night sometimes. The knowledge of how greatly she may have miscalculated, how far she failed to plan ahead.

It was a fear she knew may one day consume her.

She didn't know when she would see her brother again.

0

A knock on her door prompted her to look up.

"Enter," She said.

A serving boy came in with a bow, holding up a tray with a letter.

"Summons from the Fire Lord, Your Highness."

Chapter Text

3

Kneeling before the Fire Lord, Azula could not believe her ears.

The Avatar? Returned?

"I cannot allow the other nations to try and take advantage of this... development. However, if we act quickly, we may be able to use this to our advantage," he stared down at her. "Azula!"

At her name, she lifted her head to him. "Yes Father?"

"Do you know what it is I ask of you, daughter?"

She did. "You wish for me to bring you the Avatar."

He grinned - a horrible, disturbing thing on his face - and nodded. "Of course, I have sent a few others. Zhao, for example. But they are only a precaution. It is you who I expect will return here with my prize."

A test. Of course it was. Her father would take a once in a lifetime opportunity and turn it into a means by which she is expected to prove herself. Another way to gain his subtle dissaproval.

She should expect nothing less of her own father.

"Your will be done, My Lord," she bent down further in a sign of respect, but her mind was already calculating all the possibilities this had.

(What did this mean for her?)

As she packed her own bags, she considered that she would need a crew. According to their information, the Avatar was near the Southern Water Tribe. She needed a boat. She needed a crew, she needed-

(She needed her brother-)

-she needed a plan.

2

After getting everything in order, she had one last thing to do before she could leave the palace.

Within a few hours of Ozai's dismisal, she had selected those who would accompany her on the journey. By unlucky coincidence, Mai and Ty Lee had left the palace a day before after visiting for her birthday. Had they been here, she would have invited them.

(There was a part of her that was relived they weren't around to ask.)

She chose for her crew individuals whome she had experience with. Old gaurds of hers, some who had sailed with her Uncle, and some who had always turned a blind eye to her mischeif. She did not trust any of them, but nor was she wary of disloyatly. If she could not trust them, she could at least trust their honor.

"Lieutenant Jee," She called across the boat. When he made eye contact, she continued, "how long until we are prepared to set sail?"

"We can depart in an hour, Your Majesty!"

She nodded. That was more than enough time. "I will return in half an hour," she declared, and walked off without another word.

She found herself in the garden.

She didn't come here often, though she would have if she did not fear suspicion.

She still feared it now. It may not look good, that this was the place she last visited before departing, but she knew it was a neccesary risk.

She sat next to the turtleduck pond. They were mostly fed by servants now, since there was no Zuko or Ursa to stop by. But whenever she could get away with it, Azula would come here.

She never threw anything at them anymore. Zuko didn't like it when she did. She pulled some bread out of her robes, and gave them the crumbs.

Even though her visits were rare, the little creatures recognised her. She had to fight to maintain her lack of expressioin when they came towards her. She felt a rare warmth in her chest here, but it was dulled today by the knowledge she would not see them again for some time.

A baby turtleduck came up to her hand. She picked him up, and he nestled into her.

"I have to go away for a while," she whispered. He stared at her uncomprehending, and relaxed into her hand. "I'll be back though," she promised.

She stayed there for as long as she dared, trying to hold on to this moment of peace. She had very few of these moments already, and expected even less in the months to come.

When she placed the turtleduck back onto the ground, it had fallen asleep. 

When she turned and said goodbye to the garden, she felt the first moment of regret.

This palace was not home. All the same, it was difficult to walk away from what was familiar.

1

In the Earth Kingdom...

A girl runs through her village, expertly dodging past everyone in her rush.

When she arrived at the smithy, she burst right in. 

There's a boy inside. His hair is almost as long as hers, and his eyes are as bright as fire. He looks up at her entrance.

"Woah, what's got you excited?" He grins at her, and the expression is returned. They are friends, after all.

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

She laughs at him. The answer was expected, as he had spent the entire day within the forge. He had a thing for his swords.

"They're saying the Avatar is back."

He freezes at that. "What?"

"The statue of Kyoshi lit up! They say it happens when the Avatar is in the Avatar State."

He blinks, looking entirely unsure how to feel. The girl frowns at her friend, uncertain what she should make of this reaction.

"What's wrong Lee?"

The boy looks at his friend. "Do you know what this could mean for the war?"

She frowned now, her chest growing with dread. "What?"

"The war," he said to her. "Whose side is the avatar on?"

0

"He's alive! We have to help!"

"Katara! Get back here!"

Chapter Text

8

Katara and Sokka stood before their grandmother, the three Water Tribe members a few feet away from the entrance to the medical tent.

The boy had passed out before he could even give his name, and had been unconscious for a few hours now.

No one had mentioned his strange clothes or his tattoos, or how very strange it was such a young boy even had tattoos, which the Water Tribe did not allow until adulthood.

By unspoken agreement, they would continue not to mention any of these things until the boy woke up.

7

Azula stared out to the horizon from her perch atop the main mast.

She let out a harsh breath of frustration. 

Dammit.

She didn't know where she was going.

'The Southern Water Tribe' was all she'd been told, and who knows if the Avatar was still there. The Southern Water Tribe was also not a particularly specific way point on its own - Water Tribe soldiers did not fight on their own territory, and the Fire Nation had not sent anyone this way in a long time. She didn't know where any villages might be, and as a result she had no idea where any eyewitnesses to question may be.

And what was she doing once she got there?

(How was this going to lead back to Zuko?)

She let out another huff and slumped into herself ever-so-slightly. Not enough anyone else would notice, hopefully.

Dammit, she thought to herself.

6

Kanna denied her grandchildren, and stepped into the tent alone.

She knew Katara was coming from a place of concern, knew Sokka wanted to make sure his family was safe, but she also knew how suspicious this all was.

She had never seen any garbed in the clothes of the Air Nomads outside of pictures before.

She stepped into the tent, and the boy looked at her.

"I must speak with you," she said firmly. This was not a request.

The boy winced, but nodded all the same.

(The woman reminded him of Monk Gyatso. Not knowing how long he was in the ice, he hoped to see the man soon.)

5

'What would Ozai do with the Avater', she wondered to herself. The thought sent a chill down her spine.

A potential plan was forming in her head. It was terrifying.

But... what if it could work?

In order for her brother to return, Ozai could not be Fire Lord.

The easiest way to take out the Fire Lord is to lose the war.

The Avatar would be the perfect way to defeat Ozai.

Now in her study, Azula couldn't help but pace the floor. This was the most dangerous thing she had ever considered- even more so than when she had first smuggled Zuko out of the palace.

If she failed, this was treason of the highest degree.

(She already knew her Father was more than happy to kill his own children.)

And what about her crew? Surely they would never allow this.

...many of the servents who had worked with the royal family supported the White Lotus network. Did the Fire Lord leave the same foul taste in his officers mouths?

4

He had barely been talking to the old woman for a minute before she asked The Question.

"Are you the Avatar?"

He swallowed. His instinct was to lie. He wanted to say 'no, not me, why would you ever think that?'

But there was something in the way she asked it. She already knew the answer. He could tell she knew, and she was waiting for him to lie.

"Yes," he said, and he almost wanted to sob at the admission. He didn't want the responsibility that came with honesty.

"Where have you been?" She asked.

The question made him pause. Why would she ask that? She didn't know him, why-

He said these questions out loud, and the answers he received rocked him to his core.

(A few hours ago, he was just trying to find his way in the storm. Now, those few hours were a hundred years, and he realised he never escaped the storm, but allowed it to swallow him whole.)

3

Azula looked down at her crew directory. She had chosen each of them herself, and the more she thought about it, the more she believed she could convince them.

Most of them had lost people to the war. That meant ending it would bring them a personal peace.

No one talked about it... but most citizens and lower ranking officers of the Fire Nation were nearly as tired of war as the rest of the nations.

Whether the war was their fault or not, a hundred years of violence left a mark.

Everyone was sick of losing their family.

(Except for her Father's Council of course, whose family was firmly out of harms way.

The generals felt safe sending soldiers to death, as they had no love for any of them.)

2

Sokka and Katara entered the tent at last when they heard a cry.

Aang was on his knees clutching his chest like it hurt, but no injuries were visible.

"What-" Sokka was cut off by a sob from the young boy, who had tears streaking openly down his face. Kanna was kneeling in front of him, her arms stretched towards him, but she wasn't touching him.

"Oh my dears," Kanna looked up at them. "I'm afraid I've had to give some very hard news. He may need some time."

The boy in question had just learned the fate of the Air Nomads.

Kanna had learned in her life that secrets were very dangerous things. She felt she must share the truth with him while he had the ability to cry like this.

1

Azula still had no direction. She needed to find some lead on the Avatar, or all of this was useless.

She leaned back in her chair at her desk, and took a deep breath.

This would be a long game then. She needed to be patient.

0

Halfway around the world, a boy with golden eyes tends to the fire in the smithy of his village.

He wonders what the coming days will bring, unaware of the sister who is working to bring him home.

Chapter Text

6

When Zuko was a very young child, he had trusted his father.

When Azula was a very small child, that trust had largely been retired.

The truth of the matter was that Ozai was not a good liar. (Niether was Ursa, really - Azula's skills were entirely her own, and had certainly not come from either parent.)

Ozai was a very bad liar, and he made a very poor effort at hiding his contempt for his son. (Granted, he often didn't try to hide it behind closed doors. In public, however, he did try, and the difference was not nearly as distinct as he seemed to believe.)

So, when Zuko got a little sister, and Ozai took an interest in her, he had felt a discomfort he'd not been able to name at his age. Once he grew, he found the word. (Protective. Lu-La was his sister and he had been protective from the moment he saw her.)

Sometimes when he looked at Azula, his heart felt heavy with the weight of his love for her. When she was old enough she called him Zu-Zu, and he wore the name with pride.

She found her flame before he did, and where the teachers selected by his father berated him for not being as good as her (even though he was exactly where he was supposed to be at his age level), Azula was berated for not being better (even though she was a decade ahead of her age level).

She broke his arm once, but it was an accident (no matter what conclusions their mother had come to). She snuck into his room at night with fireflakes, and he didn't really mind not firebending for a few days. 

They took care of each other.

5

The night she smuggled him out of the palace had been bizare in the most horrible way.

And if he was really being honest, he had known for years now that Ozai was not a good father - because while he understood that he was a poor son, Azula was surely the best daughter, so if she wasn't good enough for him than no one was. 

Ozai was a bad father. He knew that. But it still shook his world to learn Ozai was willing to kill him.

He almost didn't want to believe it. Then he remembered it was Azula who told him, and he knew it was true.

(Azula always lies, to everyone except him. They were all each other had, and they didn't have lies between them.)

He hugged his sister, pressed the pendant into her hand he had been saving for a gift, and followed her directions until suddenly he wasn't in the palace anymore, wasn't even in the Fire Nation anymore.

Master Piando left him in the Earth Kingdom with green clothes, a shaved head, the swords he had made himself, and orders to forget his old name.

4

He went by Lee now, and he mostly just wandered around.

He usually didn't stay anywhere longer than a month, not because he was scared people were looking for him (they weren't, he knew his sister better than that) but because he didn't want to plant any roots.

No matter how much time passed, he knew this was temporary. 

It was only a matter of time until he saw his sister again.

It was probably because he was always moving that it took him so long to hear about the funeral. By the time he finally found out, his hair had nearly come back in.

Azulon was dead. Ozai was Fire Lord. Whatever Azula had planned, it would surely be years before he could ever go back.

Fuck.

(It was another month before he learned of Ursa's disappearance.

He had no idea how to feel about it. He remembered her holding him close and kissing his bruises, then he remembered her yelling at Azula and forbidding her from visiting him in the infirmary.

He meditated every time he thought about her, and tried to ignore the pain in his heart at her memory.)

3

When he got to Kyoshi, he hadn't planned on staying long. He got by on odd jobs, fixing roofs, but a week after getting there the blacksmith declared he was too skinny and offered him a real job in the smithy, and-

Well. It wasn't exactly fun, moving around all the time, and if he took the job he could sleep in the backroom, and it had been so long since he had slept anywhere but outside-

He took the job.

2

Suki took him by surprise.

He'd been working for the smithy less than a day before she burst in with a broken katana, questioned his skills in the forge and with swords, then challenged him to a duel before he could say hello.

He'd won, and she'd come back for a rematch the next day and kicked his ass.

She was kind of his best friend.

She reminded him of Ty Lee in the best way, and it was surprisingly easy to talk to her. He had to lie sometimes, since everyone thought he was from the colonies (his eyes were very clearly Fire Nation, but he was supposed to be Lee from the Earth Kingdom, so he let everyone make whatever assumptions they wanted.)

Suki was the only person who knew he could bend (though it had been an accident, but she'd taken it extremely well) and she would cover for him when he needed to meditate, and spar with him when they could get away from the village long enough.

1

There wasn't an exact moment when he changed his mind about the war, but it kept him up now.

He had been born a prince, but after spending years as a drifter in the Earth Kingdom, he'd seen everything in a new perspective. 

There were times it kept him up at night, because he and Azula had talked about everything, but it never occurred to them to talk about this.

At some point, he realised, he couldn't go home while this war was still happening. 

It hurt, because it was the one thing that made him wonder if he ever would see Azula again.

It made it a little hard to breath sometimes.

0

Then the Avatar came back.

He really didn't know what that meant for the war, but it meant something, and he didn't know what he was hoping for.

He thought about leaving, but he stayed. He kept a bag packed under the desk in his small room, ready to take off, but he stayed.

He was sitting on the beach with Suki when she finally brought it up. The wind was gently blowing through their hair. He absently ran a hand through his own, fingers tracing over the Earth Kingdom top knot he wore it in now.

"If you go, you better take me with you, asshole," Suki said the day after the statues lit up.

He couldn't help but smile. "I was planning too," he responded honestly. "But I'm not leaving yet."

Yet, he'd said, because he knew he would.

She looked at him for a long moment then.

"But you will." She concluded. "When?"

He paused, turning away from the sword he was sharpening and placing it down to face her.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I geuss when I have a location in mind?"

"For the Avatar?"

He didn't say anything. She was right, of course.

"Why do you want to find him?"

And it spoke volumes of their friendship that she didn't have any suspicion in her voice. Even now, plenty of people on Kyoshi still distrust him. Because of his eyes, because he came pretenting to be a colony boy, because no matter what, he can't hide that he has Fire Nation blood.

"...would you believe me if I said I have no idea?" He asked.

She blinked at him. "No," she said. "But I would believe you if you have a lot of ideas, and you're not sure which one you're leaning towards."

He grinned at her. "You sure you wanna come?"

She grinned back, and for a second he could pretend she didn't think his name was Lee.

Chapter Text

On the days of Zuko and Azula's birth, Iroh had taken his brother's place by Ursa's side while she struggled through the labor of child birth.

He had held his sister-in-law's hand, and reminded her to breath while the physicians guided her through everything else.

He hadn't told her, but while Ursa had been doing her damn best to crush his hand, he had been terrified.

(It was in the exact same position that he had lost his own wife. Only minutes after meeting her son, she had breathed her last.)

He held Zuko in his hands the day he was born.

He didn't remember why now, but he knew he hadn't held Azula.

While he had been immediately taken by his nephew, hoping the boy could share a brotherly relationship with Lu Ten, he had never really bonded with Azula.

It wasn't that he had been intentionally malicious, but he hadn't realised how cruel he'd been until she had said to his face he was never around.

(He wasn't around the night he lost Zuko. Perhaps his niece had been on to something there.)

When he finally returned to the palace, it was after he heard the news.

There was a dull sort of rage in the back of his head for what his brother had done. But Azulon had been a poor father, and he was too consumed by grief to care for the ramifications to his title.

He got through grudging niceties with a too-smug Ozai, spared a brief thought to the lack of Ursa, and went to Azula's room to find out about Zuko.

She knew. He couldn't comprehend an Azula that wouldn't have made it her job to know.

She accepted his invitation to lunch, and they both dismissed the guards as soon as they sat down.

"This is not a social visit." She stated. 

He leaned forward. "Where is he?"

She looked up at him, then pointedly looked around the room. He knew she was trying to communicate that she could not say everything. That was fine.

After a moment, she pulled a small white tile from her robes, and placed it gently on the table - ah, he realised, Zuko escaped with the White Lotus.

He had first been approached by the White Lotus after the incident with the dragons. They were very quick to cut off contact with him once he began the seige on Ba Sing Se, but he had a letter from one of them now. Undoubtedly they were worried his grief would turn vengeful, but he was too weary to respond now. Perhaps he would neglect to do so.

Still. If he does not associate with them again, at least this one thing proved he was right to tell Azula of them.

"He's safe. I made sure of it."

Of course she did.

This news was a relief. This was good news. Zuko was safe, and that was all that mattered.

So why did Iroh feel so much heavier at the knowledge that Zuko was not here?

"Where is your mother?" He whispered, and couldn't help the ice in his heart as he watched her tense.

"Gone."

She looked at him, and he knew the meaning of the frustration on her face. She didn't know this. Ursa's disappearance was a mystery to even her.

Which meant that Ozai was likely the only one who knew the truth.

Iroh pulled out a peice of parchment, and scribbled a hawking address onto it.

"I cannot stay," he said, and she nodded like she already knew. Ignoring the stab of guilt, he pushed the parchment towards her. "You may write to me here. I will reply, and when I move on, I will tell you where."

She paused, looking at the paper. "We cannot speak freely this way."

He considered it, then nodded. "I will give you a book. It is what me and-" he stopped abruptly, tensing at the memory that threatened to surface.

She winced, because of course she knew.

He cleared his throat. "It is... the way I would communicate sensitive messages on my previous travels."

She nodded, clearly determined as he was to ignore the slip.

Three days later, he left again.

He spent a lot of time drinking after that.

He spent the rest of his time fighting, and some of it trading letters with Azula.

The night he realised he was talking more to his niece now than he ever had was a bad night.

The anniversary of that day was a bad week.

The day he got injured was surprisingly not bad at all, but maybe that's because he was unconscious for the last half.

He was leading his men in a fight with some earth benders from the colonies, when one of them sent a rock through his lower left leg faster than an arrow.

He remembered screaming. He didn't remember much else after that.

When he woke up after, he wasn't surprised to be 'honorably discharged'. Though he had lost his left leg halfway down from his knee, he knew it was an injury a man could learn to live and fight with.

And yet.

Ozai was now the Fire Lord, and had long been looking for an excuse to do this. An injury even let him avoid the accusations of being petty.

He didn't tell Azula until a few months later, not knowing at all how to explain the events he had been present for.

She hadn't ever asked him to return or visit, and he had never alluded towards any such intentions. He couldn't go back, and they both knew why.

What had started as a self-inflicted exile prompted by grief, was now more of an unofficial exile prompted by Ozai.

(He was not the only to believe that returning would result in a fate similar to Ursa's. It was an open secret that General Iroh, General No Longer, did not have a home.)

He drank less.

He wandered more.

When he heard whispers of the Avatars return, he had an idea.

It was only a week after he heard from locals that the Avatar was returned that he received Azula's letter.

He felt a now-familiar stab of guilt when he opened it, but his heart dropped once he read the words.

It was in code, of course, but he knew this code well enough he could translate as he read it.

The Avatar is returned.

Father is sending me.

I cannot write for the foreseeable future.

He had never been presented with a situation where he planned to overshadow his niece, but he knew this was the exception.

If he caught the Avatar, Ozai would have no choice but to see him return home.

If he could do that, he could deal with his brother, and reclaim his proper title. He could see Zuko home himself. 

He could avenge his son.

He placed the letter down, prayed a silent apology, and set out.

Though he had been discharged from the army, he still had many allies.

Chapter Text

5

When Azula arrived at the Southern Water Tribe, the Avatar was already gone.

The experience was entirely baffling.

When they landed alongside the village, all of the villagers were huddled in the corner of the ice walls they had built.

They seemed afraid. It made sense, as there wasn't a warrior in sight.

Not a single person tried to stop them. She felt uncomfortable looking at all the untrained women and children. She didn't want to question them.

A woman, older then the rest, squared her shoulders and marched in front of her people. A brave one, then.

"What is your business here," she demanded, and to her credit, her voice was strong. Azula didn't want to talk to her, or any of these innocent villagers.

"Where are your warriors?" She asked, hoping to speak to someone else. But the woman shook her head.

"We have none," she said, and Azula felt her heart drop.

She looked at the village again, and turned to her crew. "Go back to the ship." 

They looked uneasy, but moved to comply.

Then, to Azula's shock, she saw a child run forward and throw something at one of her crew. Everyone froze. The villagers looked dismayed, and her own crew was shocked.

"Show no fear!" The child yelled, looking terrified. Her crew looked at her, and she waved at them. "Back to the ship," she repeated, and the villagers looked on warily.

She looked at the child, who looked at her distrustfully. She didn't know what to say. She looked at the old woman.

"Do you speak for your village, then?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I do."

Azula looked at her. She wasn't looking at the villagers, the same way she was pretending she didn't know why they were afraid.

"May I speak with you, then?"

The woman paused. "And if I say no? What, will you burn the village down?"

Her stomach twisted. "No."

The woman blinked at that. She stepped forward, and gestured to a tent. 

Azula followed her inside.

It was bare, with a fire pit in the middle, and a Pai Sho table in the corner.

"Well then," the woman huffed. "Is my village to become a colony for your nation, or are we all to be taken as prisoners," she spat.

Azula flinched away from her. She couldn't help it.

"I-" she met the woman's gaze. "No."

"Then what-" she hissed, "do you want?"

Azula paused, and considered how honest to be.

"...I am looking for the Avatar," she admitted. The woman's eyes widened, then a protective scowl set into place. She knows something

"Why?"

Azula breathed. "I am hoping to teach him firebending."

Whatever the woman expected was not that. She stood there in shock, and Azula decided to lay her cards on the table (with some adjustments, of course. This woman did not know who her father was.)

"My brother, he is in the Earth Kingdom. We... I can't be with him while this war continues. The Avatar can help."

The woman looked at her for a long moment. She glanced around the room, looking at a Pai Sho table Azula had noticed as soon as she entered. "Care to sit?" The woman asked, and sat down herself. 

Hope bloomed in Azula's chest.

The woman gestured at the table after she sat.

"Geust has the first move." She was looking at Azula with sharp eyes, waiting for the proper response.

Azula took her tile from her coat, and placed it on the board.

The woman smiled viciously. "I see you favor the white lotus tile. Not many still cling to the ancient ways."

Azula matched her smile, knowing she would find all the answers she needed. "Those who do can always find a friend."

When she returned to the ship, she told her crew what Kanna had told her, and they set a course for nearest Air Temple.

4

Katara and Sokka knew they shouldn't have let Aang come here.

Even though Kanna had told Aang the air Nomads were gone, she had told him about the current state of the Fire Nation, he still had hope.

Katara and Sokka watched as the hope faded. 

After arriving at the temple, it was quickly apparent that no one was around, and no one had been for some time.

Aang still seemed excited for a while, dragging the siblings around and pointing out the 'air ball' area, and where the bison would sleep.

But then he mentioned what they were all avoiding.

With a sigh, he admitted, "this place used to be filled with monks and lemurs and bison... now there's just a bunch of weeds." Then, more to himself, he muttered, "I can't believe how much things have changed."

Uncomfortable with the somber mood that had taken over, Sokka did what he does best and spoke without thinking.

"So uh, this Airball game, how do you play?"

He regretted the words as soon as he saw the gleam in Aang's eyes.

That was how Sokka ended up getting knocked back from a tall wooden pillar while a twelve-year-old laughed.

"Aang seven, Sokka zero," he laughed, moving his body in a circle as he said 'zero' to emphasize.

"Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt," Sokka whimpered. Then he saw it.

He walked over to the Fire Nation helmet he found, his stomach sinking. 

"Katara, check this out."

Her eyes darkened. "Fire Nation."

"We should tell him," Sokka said. Katara hesitated, but... Kanna had already told him, and hiding this would only make it worse.

"Aang, there's something you need to see," she called.

"Okay," he said cheerfully, and that was why she did it. He sounded so innocent, he looked almost happy now, and she-

-she brought the snow bank down on the Fire Nation uniform, and Sokka, and made up something about a new waterbending trick.

"Nice one," Aang grinned, "but enough practicing - we have a whole temple to see!" He turned back and started walking.

Sokka fixed Katara with a look. 

"You know, you can't protect him forever."

3

Azula had the ship brought in at an island closely adjacent to the air temple.

There were ways to get up to the Southern Air Temple, but Azula did not have any on hand. She would need to wait here, and follow the Avatar when he left this location.

She worried about the smoke from the ship, knowing it may be noticed, but the goal of this was to speak with the Avatar. If he investigated the smoke ahead of time, she'd still see the result she was searching for.

2

The smoke from the ship was not actually obvious. As high up as they were, it was not visible from their current location in the temple.

It was only after Aang went into the Avatar State upon finding his former mentors body that Sokka noticed it, and the sight prompted a sharp, icy jolt of horror to slither down his spine. 

"Katara," he gasped, and she followed his gaze with hard eyes.

Aang blinked up at them, still in Katara's arms, and looked at the smoke.

"...is that-"

"Fire Nation." Katara's voice was hard, cold, and entirely uncharacteristic of her. Except, in this moment, it wasn't.

The last time the Water Tribe siblings had seen this...

1

Azula had known the shortcomings of meeting the Avatar here, at the base of the place where his people had been wiped out, but her desire to speak with him had prompted her into trusting her diplomatic skills would suffice.

When the Avatar went into the Avatar State (though Azula hadn't fully understood what was happening in the moment), she felt doubt.

The weather had lost all connection to the world of sanity and sprang to life around her in a horrible, agonized scream she knew originated from the Avatar himself.

When she saw an orange figure jump from the sky temple, she had ordered for the main deck to be cleared, and was glad she had when the figure slammed down.

Though Kanna had warned her, she was still surprised by the sight before her.

A boy. It was just a boy. 

(He couldn't have been much older than Zuko on that night, and he certainly wasn't older than her.)

She almost opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately she simply stood straight and stared.

"What?" He demanded. And oh, he sounded angry, this was not how she should have met him, how had she miscalculated this so badly-

(After all these years, Zuko remained her biggest blindspot. She would never have planned so poorly if this wasn't, at its core, about Zuko.)

He was still talking, oh shit-

"-ere to finish the job?!"

His words registered, and her chest tightened at the implication.

(If she were a better daughter and a worse sister, he would have been right.

She was not a good daughter, and her title of 'sister' was her proudest achievement.)

She held her hand out to stop her crew from acting. The boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"Everyone except the Avatar and myself, go below deck. Now."

They grumbled about it - and really, if they thought she wouldn't address that later with early morning drills and a malicious shift rotation, they were all fools - but they did as she asked, regardless. 

The Avatar stood in front of her defensively, and she couldn't help but ask-

"You're a child?"

"You're a teenager!" He sounded indignant, and she felt her lips twitch with involuntary amusement.

"Well, I haven't been missing for a century. I grew up picturing you as a grumpy old man."

He blinked at her, probably surprised at her lack of aggression, and then frowned.

"You..."

She saw movement from the corner of her eye, and looked up to see-

What the hell was she seeing?!

Flying down from the temple was a big, grey sort of beige animal that-

-oh Agni, is that a flying bison?

And- Azula had never seen one, okay, only ever read about them, and-

That's so awesome, she thought, and thanked Agni that she didn't say it aloud.

Two blue figures decended - the Water Tribe teenagers Kanna had sent with the Avatar.

They immediately rushed to Aang, and took defensive stances as well.

"Don't you dare try anything!" The girl shouted, holding her hands out, and Azula reeled back in shock as water was flung at her-

No...

A Water Bender?! 

Kanna hadn't mentioned that, and Azula had only ever met Earth and Fire benders, all the Water Benders were barricaded in the North Pole-

Apparently not.

(She understood, sadly, exactly why Kanna had not told her this. She also thought the girl foolish for giving herself away when she was so clearly untrained.)

She looked at the three of them with a sigh now, and held her hands up in a placating way. It seemed to surprise the two Water Tribe peasants greatly, but the Avatar lowered his guard.

She decided that being blunt may shock them enough that they'll listen, and went on confidently.

"My name is Azula," she began, sticking with her choice to use her real name. "And I want to teach the Avatar Firebending."

0

A few hours after Azula's first encounter with the Avatar, Commander Zhao sets sail.

He plans to find the Avatar - preferably before Ozai's little bitch can get to him.

He does so hate to lose, after all.

Chapter Text

4

She looked at the three of them with a sigh now, and held her hands up in a placating way. It seemed to surprise the siblings greatly, but the Avatar lowered his guard.

She decided that being blunt may shock them enough that they'll listen, and went on confidently.

"My name is Azula," she began, sticking with her choice to use her real name. "And I want to teach the Avatar Firebending."

3

The trio in front of her immediatly froze, the water tribe boy's jaw dropping open.

"You-" the girl said, then stopped. "What?"

The boy had dropped his aggresive stance - a bit too quickly, in Azula's opinion - and was looking at her with a frown. It wasn't as harsh as it had been a moment ago, and his head was titled in confusion.

"Why?" The water tribe boy said, and now she really wanted to know their names.

(She didn't ask for them. She barely even considered the option).

They seemed willing to hear her answer, at least.

Suddenly, she felt a spike of fear. It didn't show on her face, for she had long since learned how to hide such emotion. But It was there. She needed this to work. She needed to convince them. 

"My brother is in the Earth Kingdom," she said, sticking to her story. Not quite the truth, but as close as she could risk. "He... is not safe. This war, for as long as it goes on, puts him at risk. I want it to end."

The three of them were staring at her openly now. The water tribe boy stepped forward, and his stance was aggresive again. She kept her face clear, and focused on her inner flame. Just in case.

"She's lying!" He said to the avatar. "Aang, I know you haven't seen anyone from the Fire Nation since before all of this, but you can't trust them! This is clearly a trap!"

Azula fought the urge to tear him down. She needed this to work.

"I am not lying," she inserted, knowing it was a lie in itself. It didn't matter. She wasn't lying about anything that mattered. "And I mean you no harm."

"Oh yeah? Then why did you come in a war ship?" He demanded, talking directly to her now.

She knew that it was best to stay close to the truth. "Because the fire nation is looking for him," she answered. They all tensed, and she continued quickly. "A lot of people were sent to look for the avatar, and I was one of them. But I am commiting treason right now. I am going against them, because I can't stand for this anymore. Me, and everyone on my crew, we just want it to be over."

The avatar looked conflicted. He looked at his companions, and seemed to come to a decision.

"Talk to me alone." He said, and now she was surprised.

The other two immediatly protested, telling him that was crazy, but the young boy continued.

"Up there," he pointed at the air temple, and she frowned. She didn't like being confused, but she was now.

"I can't fly like you," she pointed out, "how exactly am I supposed to get up there?"

The bison made a noise, and she tensed.

"I'm not getting on that thing."

"Oh yeah? Then why should we trust you?" He said, and dammit, she needed this to work-

"Alright!" She said, and it sounded angry. That wasn't good, but she knew being angry was better than being scared, so it was fine.

"Hey! What do you expect us to do?" The girl said. The avatar looked at them, then at her.

"If they stay, will your crew do anything?"

Her crew had been chosen carfully, but also, they didn't know the girl was a water bender. Without that, two water tribe children were useless. If the girl didn't do anything stupid (like reveal herself again), her crew would have no reason to try anything.

"They'll be completely safe." Probably. 

Azula didn't believe there was such a thing as 'completely safe'. Still, she did not anticipate any potential threats would appear in the time it would take her to talk to the avatar.

(And if the girl happenned to reveal herself and one of the crew reacted badly, well, Azula could hardly be blamed for that. She clearly wasn't skilled enough to be his teacher anyway, they could find another waterbender, if the avatar really wanted one).

She was supposed to get on the bison now.

But- 

"How do I get to the saddle?" She asked, and the avatar tilted his head. 

"You climb," he said, like it was obvious.

The only way to climb was to grab its fur. "Does that hurt it?" She couldn't help but ask. 

She both noticed and resented the surprised looks from the three of them.

"No," the boy said. "He'll barely feel it."

Azula was not entitrely certain the boy was telling the truth, but if she pressed further it would appear she was stalling (or worse, it would indicate she was nervous. Both were entirely unnaceptable possibilities).

She climbed up, feeling very uncomftorable off of the ground. Ever since accidently breaking her brothers arm, she hadn't liked hieghts much.

To her surprise, the avatar climbed up too. She'd thought he'd fly on his own.

"Yip-yip!" He said, and her heart lurched as they left the ground.

2

On Kyoshi Island, the boy known as Lee stared out at the ocean.

Earlier that day, he had heard that the Fire Lord's daughter was out looking for the avatar. It was the first time in years he'd heard about Azula.

For obvious reasons, it was hard to get information on the Fire Lord's whereabouts, and information on Azula was just as difficult.

He wanted to go to her, to find her. But he knew if he left without explanation, Suki would follow him. He knew if he said he was leaving, she would insist on coming.

She was bound to find out the truth.

He really wasn't sure how to feel about that. She knew he was a fire bender, but she didn't know his real name.

How much could she hate him? Would she be more mad about the truth itself, or the fact that he lied?

The very reason for his conflict had followed him here. He could hear her footsteps approaching. She sat down next to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

He fought the urge to wince, and looked at his best friend. Her legs were crossed on the ground, and she was looking at him with an open expression.

He didn't want to lose her.

"The avatar," he admitted, and she snorted at the short answer.

"I heard the Fire Lord also sent a bunch of military generals after him," she said. "Apparently the old prick doesn't even trust his daughter. If she's anything like him, maybe that's why."

She's not, he didn't say. But he knew it in his heart, and he had seen it with his eyes.

An idea occured to him. A way to leave, to do something, without risking the truth coming out.

Maybe he could even help his sister along the way.

He leaned towards Suki, locking eyes with her. "I have a really, really stupid idea."

She tilted her head, and amused smile on her face. She didn't realise how serious his idea was.

"Wanna go fight some Fire Nation generals?"

She looked at him sharply. "What?"

He met her gaze, sitting up a little as the idea grew on him.

(And maybe, if they did this, he could fight with Suki before possibly having to fight Suki. The very idea made his stomach drop.)

"If they catch the avatar, we might lose our chance to win this war," he said, throwing himself in the Earth Kingdom's side. He was, in this case.

He didn't know what he'd do if Azula still supported this war. The very thought was too hard to focus on.

Suki was looking at him with a considering look.

After a moment, she spoke. "Kyoshi isn't involved in the war."

She said it casually, but he could see the question in there. Instead of answering, he said, "you've never agreed with that, though."

"But you did."

He did. He agreed with it because, even now, he had no idea what side he was on.

He couldn't say that, though. What would Azula say?

"That was before the avatar returned." The truth, but not the answer.

Suki was smirking now, and he knew she was on board. 

"We should take a few days to get our shit together. It'll just be the two of us, so we'll need stuff for stealth. A head on approach won't work."

"I'm gonna avoid bending as much as I can," he said. "It might make me a bigger target if they can argue that I'm a traitor."

"So let's be equal targets then."

They went back to the village to prepare.

1

When they landed at the air temple, Azula jumped quickly to the ground. The boy looked at her.

"Are you scared of heights?" He asked in a disbelieving tone.

Azula fought the urge to tense.

"No." She said shortly, wondering why the hell he asked anyway. She knew none of her fear had been on her face.

"Oh," he frowned. "You just seemed quiet."

That was why he'd asked?

"I'm a quiet person," she said flatly. She was. Even if she hadn't been uncomftorble in the air, she would have been silent.

"Why are we up here?" She asked. She hadn't been able to figure it out.

He pointed at the empty temple. "Do you agree with this?"

Oh...

She looked around with a dry throat.

She had learned a long time ago to never trust what anyone told her. When her teachers said the Air Nomads had been the first aggresors, it had sounded a bit too much like the sort of lies her father told. She'd looked into it. She'd stolen and poured over forbidden records which told the real story. It had been ridiculously easy to find - though apparently, no one else had bothered trying.

"No," she said, looking down. Letting her emotions show, or some of them at least, was clearly the best approach here.

"Why are you betraying the Fire Nation now?"

She breathed. And then she told the truth, this time with less editing.

"My brother was raised in the Fire Nation with me. A few years ago, someone attacked him and I had to smuggle him out. I haven't seen him since." She met the boys eyes. His expression was ungaurded, and she figured that was a good sign. "He'll never be able to come home until the war is over. I just want to see him again. I want to be able to be with him without being in an active war zone."

The boy was silent for a moment. Then he finally told her, "my name is Aang."

0

By the time Appa came back down with Aang and the fire lady, Sokka was paranoid, unnhappy, and hungry.

Him and Katara had been left on the enemy ship while Aang, who they knew was naive, talked to Azula.

When they came back, his heart lurched at the sight of Aang's face.

He had come to a truce with the girl.

Him and Katara shared a look, and he wondered how they'd talk Aang out of this without causing the girl to attack.

Chapter Text

4

Before they went back down, the boy (Aang, she knew now) had made a demand.

To her.

He had made a demand to her.

He had made a stupid, nonsensical demand, and showed such audacity she had not seen since the one and only person who asked about her wrist cuffs.

"Excuse me?" She emphasized the word as she had been taught to, without raising her voice.

("Princesses do not yell, but display a quiet anger, one so subtle it may even appear as calm to those untrained in the ways of nobility."

Her father taught her yelling was a very stupid thing to do.)

"It's just-" He awkwardly scratched his head. "It would probably attract a lot of attention to have Appa and a war ship, and Sokka and Katara will have a much easier time adjusting this way-"

"And what," she began, still speaking and not yelling, "do you suggest I do with them?"

"Um... send them back?"

She resisted the urge to clench her fists. It would be undignified.

The worst part was that she could see his point. Her crew had been suddenly become a liability in the last few hours. They held too much attention, and surely travelling with a flying bison and fire nation ship will inform Ozai of her trechery much sooner than she wished.

She hadn't known about the bison before, and had assumed she could hide the avatar on her ship while pretending to still look for him. She hadn't known he already had a ride, nor two Water Tribe strays he was so unfortunately attached too.

Since leaving them on the ship, she'd learned he was much more attached to them then she had initially known. She had suggested dropping them off somewhere, and his reaction had made it clear they were not leaving the painting any time soon.

Still, leaving her crew behind presented it's own issues. If they docked anywhere, and she was nowhere to be seen, that may look bad. If her crew was not under her supervision, they could more easily betray her to the fire nation.

Also, she didn't know what it would mean to concede to the first demand Aang attempts at her. The precident it set could be concerning.

And yet... they were going to go to the North Pole. They were going to go to the Earth Kindom. These are not places the Fire Nation is well liked.

It would be infinintly easier to convince them to accept one Fire Nation teenager than a crew for Fire Nation soldiers.

She breathed deeply, feeling her inner fire within her. It calmed her down.

"Alright."

When they returned to the ship, she allowed Aang to explain to his companions their agreement while she explained what she could to her crew.

3

Suki woke up to a banging on her door. Less than a second after it stopped, the door was already being opened.

Her curtains were open, and it was clearly still dark outside. Suki knew that only one person would have the audacity.

Lee came in and asked in a hushed whisper, "is your bag packed?"

Still waking up, she gave no response beyond an annoyed grunt. She heard him begin to look through her room, and started to drift off again. She wasn't sure how much time passed, but after a while she felt Lee shaking her (much more gentle than his knocking had been). 

"Hmm?"

"We're leaving."

"Now? Why?"

"I'll tell you on the way."

He had found her bag, which was obviously packed. He left for her to get dressed, and they ate quickly before going.

They departed from Kyoshi Island on Wednesday morning.

They left before dawn, and by the time they were on the boat and leaving the shore, Agni's first rays were shining down on them.

2

Lieutenant Jee sat across the desk from his princess, astonished.

"You are... dismissing us, Princess?"

"Not exactly... more so I am providing you an alternate assignment. And a feild promotion."

He blinked, utterly uncomprehending of what he was being told.

"Lieutenant Jee," she said, and he straightened. "While I am gone, you will be Acting Captain of this ship. Effective as soon as I depart."

"Respectfully, Princess, what will I be doing as Captain?"

She hummed. Though there was nothing particularly strange about the noise, it for some reason triggered an observation. For a small second, it occured to him the person on the other side of the table was a fourteen year old. It was hard to reconcile her age with the composed manner in which she conducted herself.

"Essentially, you will be maintaining appearances. Try to follow us, but go out of your way as much as you can." Still speaking, she stood, and went over to the birdcage in the corner." Stop at ports for frivolous reasons, enjoy the sightseeing, whatever it is that will keep you from being a nuisance." She took out the messenger hawk and allowed him to perch on her arm. She handed him to Jee, who took it uncertainly.

"If you have any news which I should be made aware of, use Taka to communicate with me. I am appointing you his new master, and he will return to you when I let him go."

She tapped a letter on her desk. "Last thing," she sat down once more.

"The Fire Lord has sent others to look for the avatar. If you stop at a Fire Nation port without me present, I have no doubt a certain one will attempt to poach you." She grabbed the letter and handed it too him. "This will prevent that. I outrank all of the others that were sent, and even if I am not physically there, you are my crew. My orders supercede any new orders another will attempt to give you, barring the Fire Lord himself."

Lieutant Jee, who would soon be Acting Captain, took the letter and firmly met his Princess' eyes. 

"I will not let you down, Princess Azula."

He wasn't sure if he imagined it, but he thought the right side of her lip twitched in what was almost a smile.

"See that you don't."

1

By the time the crazy fire lady was ready - and like, she only had ONE bag, so why did it take so long?! - Sokka was ready to explode.

"This is a TERRIBLE idea!" He said again. Just like the last six or so times, he was ignored.

"Hey Azula!" Aang said cheerfully, and for some reason that made her twitch. Maybe it was a fake name.

"Hello," she said after a brief pause. Then she climbed on Appa.

Sokka and Katara shared a look as Aang yelled, "yip-yip!"

This was a terrible idea.

0

Though it had been almost a year since he had left the island, Zuko had spent two years travelling the Earth Kingdom before. Somewhere in that time, he'd learned how to keep up with current events.

(He had made it a priority to learn after he realised it had taken months for him to learn of his own mothers dissapearance. Although, to be fair, most people were talking about the second-born prince being crowned Fire Lord seemingly out of nowhere. It probably would have taken at least a few weeks to learn if he had known to try back then).

He stopped by a few stands and asked around.

As he had told Suki, he was looking for a Fire Lord General by the name of Zhao.

(His heart had dropped when he'd learnt Zhao was one of the General's sent out by Ozai. He'd met Zhao only a few times growing up, and the man had always made him uncomftorable. But during his first year in the Earth Kingdom, Zhao's name had been carved into his memory forever).

Chapter Text

1

In the earth kingdom, a ship sailed steadily away from the port it had spent the night docked at.

The crew on board was mostly Fire Nation, and many of them seemed to be soldiers. They wore armor, but not Fire Nation armor. The ship, while clearly Fire Nation design, was not a navel vessel designed for soldiers.

Agni had risen an hour prior, and the waters were relatively smooth - though the morning air was as brisk as it always was at sea.

Former General Iroh stared out onto the horizen. He was standing on deck, with a few crew members working around him. There was a cup of tea in his hands, and he held it with both so that it's heat could sink into his fingers (not that he needed it).

He had spoken to other former White Lotus members, to former friends from the military, to anyone he had known owed him. 

Now, here he was, going to hunt down the Avatar. He truly hadn't thought he would ever be here.

He wondered if Azula knew what he was doing yet. He hoped not.

He knew she would find out, but he wanted to explain it to her. He wasn't trying to make her look bad, really - and she wouldn't need to worry about appearences soon enough anyway. He would fix it once he took the throne back, and she could be free from her father.

Perhaps after Ozai was gone, he could better improve his relationship with her. Maybe if they were both in Caldara...

She could learn to understand his actions, he was sure. He could make it better.

But he couldn't bring back-

With shaking hands, he took a small sip of his tea.

He could do this.

He was useless-

He could fix this.

You can't do anything-

"HH- AH- ahhh-" He folds himself downwards and clutches at the remains of his left leg. Sometimes memories, or the threat of them, could cause the pain to flaire up. One of the crewmen went to approach him, but he held out his hands and motioned for them to keep their distance. He was fine.

He could do this.

0

Azula glared at the sky above her. It was full of clouds, and even though Agni had risen an hour ago, she had yet to actually see him.

It was far less fun to wake with the sun when the sun wasn't visable to you.

A loud snore from the tent behind her prompted an eye roll.

She hated this already.

The crew had been too conspicious, and she understood that, but being outnumbered was difficult for the stratagist within her. Even though she could easily take out these people, it was exhausting to have to constantly consider how to kill them in the air without making Appa freak out.

She was almost glad they were all so lazy that they slept in. It gave her time to think.

She started a fire while she had time, and crafted a makeshift spear to catch some fish by the river. 

By the time the others had woken and come out, Agni had been in the sky for four hours, and was visable at last, the fire was on its second set of logs, and she had caught four fish. She ate the first one, and set the others on leaves by the fire for the rest of them.

The girl came out first. She paused outside the tent to take in the fire and the meat, then looked at Azula with a raises brow.

"How long have you been up?" Was the first thing she said. Azula had already known they were far from nobility, but their behavior continued to confirm it.

"Good morning to you as well. And yes, I did get breakfast together. You're welcome," she said pointedly.

The other girl frowned more deeply now, but she had chosen to start this encounter unpleasantly, and Azula had only responded in kind.

After a moment of silence, the girl seemed to give up on talking all together. She didn't restate her question, or address any of what Azula said.

There was nothing wrong with the silence, and by all means Azula should prefer it. She almost never had anyone to talk to anyway. Yet after some time passed, she spoke again.

"I rise with the sun. Most firebenders do."

She wasn't sure why she said it, or if she even expected anything back. But the other girl paused as she was going to the fish left out for her.

"Is... is that, like, something you learn to do, or does your body just wake up at sunrise?" She seemed reluctant to ask, but there was genuine curiosity in her voice. Azula decided to humor her.

"Our bodies wake up. Agni stirs our chi. The stronger your connection to your inner flame is, the harder it is to sleep through sunrise."

"Do... other benders have something like that?"

Azula suddenly realised why this particular topic had prompted a conversation. She had a brief thought about the consequences to helping a water bender improve their bending, and quickly deemed it the least of her treachery.

"Earthbenders and airbenders don't have any equivalent I'm aware of. But you, yes."

The girl perked up, and Azula considered how best to explain the only real thing she knew about Waterbenders.

"Firebenders draw energy from Agni, but yours is connected to Tui and La. The moon and the ocean push and pull, they fit together. I rise with the sun, but you rise with the moon. The full moon, specifically, would be when you are strongest."

The girl paused for a moment, and a sliver of discomfort crept into Azula. She wasn't sure what else to say.

The girl turned so she was facing Azula more fully.

"I... I didn't introduce myself yesterday," the other began, as if the Azula was not keenly aware of this fact. Still, she kept her expression blank.

Then, nonsensically, the girl held her hand out. "I'm Katara."

(Finally).

Pleased by the greeting, but baffled by the gesture, Azula looked at the hand held out to her.

"Is this a Water Tribe greeting?"

Katara blinked, then looked at her own hand. "Oh. Um, yes, you- your supposed to grab my hand and shake it."

Uncertain, Azula brought her own hand up to clasp Katara's, and allowed the other to perform the gesture. It was very different from the Fire Nation culture she'd grown up in, where you didn't often touch strangers.

Afterwards, Katara seemed to hesitate. Then she asked, "how would you greet a stranger in the Fire Nation?"

"Like this," Azula crossed her left hand over her chest and tilted her head down. After a second, Katara repeated the gesture, and Azula gave a small smile of approval.

As Katara finished preparing and eating her own fish, Azula found that the silence was much more bearable now then before they had spoken.

She could do this.

Chapter Text

4

General Zhao was sent flying forward as another explosion rattled the ship.

He let out a yell as he hit the deck, and stood again.

What the fuck was happening with his ship?!

They had docked an hour ago, and he had barely settled down at the tavern when he was told the ship was being attacked.

This is what happened at Earth Kingdom ports, he thought viciously, and he mourned the repairs he would need.

(By the time they got all of the fires put out - because while the ship itself was fireproof, the crew's cabins had been targeted as well - the two people responsible were enjoying their own drink at the tavern.

In their bags, two theatre masks - a blue Dark Water Spirit mask for the boy, and a red Dragon Emporor mask for the girl - were completely hidden from site. The two had a good laugh over the memories of the chaos they made, and soon started to plan another such expidition.)

3

Whatever peace Azula had found in the silence with Katara, it was quickly broken when the other Water Tribe boy came out to join them.

He walked right past Azula, not glancing at her once.

"Good morning Katara," he said sweetly, and Azula was slightly appalled by how obvious he was. While it was clear that their dislike was mutual, she had not realised she was dealing with such a childish personality.

She mourned her crew, who understood the subtlety she so coveted, and wished the avatar was not so attached to the boy.

"Good morning Sokka," Katara said, and Azula noted with slight pleasure that she seemed embarrassed by his behaviour.

Katara could come, she decided, if the Avatar ever did let them ditch the peasent boy.

"Did you get us food?" The boy (Sokka, she internally scoffed) grabbed a fish, and started eating in a disgusting display that Azula happily looked away from.

"Azula got us food." She said pointedly, and Azula smirked. Katara could definently come with them.

"What?!" 

Then, Azula turned to watch as he threw the fish down, and oh. So that's how it's going to be.

"Well then," she began, standing up. They both looked at her quickly, and Katara looked mortified, but that was alright, Azula was not displeased with her.

"Tomorrow when I get food, I will be certian to only gather enough for Katara, Aang, and myself. Since you find the food I've collected so... offensive, then you will be content to gather your own."

Sokka looked suddenly remorsful, now, but he wasn't sorry, and Azula knew better.

As she was about to lift her hand and burn the remains of his fish, Katara stepped forward (over the fish) and it was no longer possible without also burning her.

"That's fair," Katara said, her hands raised placetingly. The words were what confused Azula.

"What?!" Sokka yelled, and Azula twitched. She could burn without scarring someone. She was good enough.

But Katara was glaring at Sokka, and Azula suddenly realised this girl was defending her.

The realisation made her actually freeze for a second, and her emotions slipped onto her face. She tried to control her expression, but she knew her shock was visable, and a thrill of panic went down her spine.

Katara kept talking.

"She got us all food and you were a jerk. You've hunted for yourself before, so until you can be grateful to Azula and talk to her without being horrible, you can get your own breakfast."

Sokka stood there for a moment, then scowled at her. "Fine!" He yelled, grabbing his spear and storming off to find food.

When Katara looked at her, Azula straightened her back and forced her face to a more nuetral expression. It wasn't as uncaring as she preferred, but it was better then whatever her face had been doing before.

"I'm so sorry about him," Katara said.

"It... it wasn't your fault," Azula frowned, not understanding the situation at all. She clenched her hands into fists, because the utter lack of control she had was making her fingers feel numb.

"It was because of me, a little bit though," she said. Then after a pause, "our villege was attacked by the Fire Nation when we were kids."

The numb feeling spread.

"He... he's worried that he won't be able to protect us, and that makes him scared, so he acts angry instead."

Unwillingly, she thought about how Zuko would yell at the staff after she or him had a meeting with their father. She pushed the memory down.

Katara looked at her, and seemed to realise something. "Oh, we didn't... you probably don't know, but Sokka is my brother."

Deep in her chest, something snapped, and the numb feeling took over her whole body.

"Oh," she said, and she hated how soft her voice came out. Small, weak, pathetic, pathetic-

She looked at Katara, and knew she couldn't do this right now.

"I'm going to meditate."

Katara looked like she was going to say something, so Azula turned and walked in the opposite direction of Sokka.

2

"This is stupid," Sokka muttered to himself, trudging forward through the greenery.

OK, so maybe he had been just... a little dramatic in throwing the fish - but he was right to be suspicious of the fire-witch. He was being reasonable.

Why was Katara going along with this? Aang had been frozen for a hundred years, but he really didn't realise his sister was so stupid.

He settles by the river to catch his own fish.

He tries to ignore the way his heart races, tries to ignore how he left Katara alone (she was a waterbender, she had Aang, and- he needs to be quick so he can get back there.)

He does not think about how, if it came down to it, he probably couldn't fight Azula, and how much he hates this.

He scowls at the river and turns around.

He didn't need breakfast. He needed to be by his sister to see she was safe.

1

Aang buried himself under his blankets. He didn't know why everyone was yelling outside, but he'd wait until it was safe to go out there.

0

The tavern was dying down, and the crowd beginning to trickle out. Suki smiled at him from across the table.

"So... where next?"

Zuko, known to all as Lee, smiled. "I was thinking we should visit an earthbender prison."

Chapter Text

5

When Aang emerged from the tent, things had been quiet for a while, but evidently they had not quite calmed down.

Katara and Sokka were sitting in silence, and Azula wasn't present.

Katara looked up at him. She pointed to a cooked fish by a fire pit that was no longer lit.

"Azula got us food. She went to go meditate after Sokka insulted her."

Sokka stood up, looking thunderously at his sister. He opened his mouth, probably to start yelling again, but Aang jumped in.

"Is she OK?" He asked Katara. Sokka threw him a betrayed look, and he winced.

"I think she'll be fine," Katara bit her lip nervously. "I- she didn't know Sokka and I are siblings, and I think it made her miss her brother when she found out."

Evidently, this was news for Sokka too, because some of the fight left him then.

Aang felt bad for him. He wanted everyone to get along, but he knew this was really hard for Sokka.

"Well, if she doesn't come back soon we should go make sure she's OK."

"She's an ash-" Sokka paused when Katara glared at him, and pivoted, "-a firebender. She'll be fine."

Aang knew what he'd been about to say, because the insult was literally a hundred years old, but he didn't call him out. He really didn't want to start another fight.

"Has anyone fed Appa?"

The siblings froze, and Aang knew the answer was no. He'd need to go scavenging anyway, because though he appreciated Azula getting breakfast, he couldn't eat meat.

"I'll go get food."

Katara looked up. "What about your fish?"

Aang smiled awkwardly, feeling bad about the time Azula had spent. "Um, monks are- we don't eat meat."

Sokka looked ready to jump for the fish, but Katara quickly grabbed it and wrapped it up in leafs. She looked at her brother. "No."

Aang wasn't sure what that was about, but he ducked out before Sokka started arguing.

4

Azula hadn't actually gone far, and she was heading back when she heard voices.

The avatar was awake.

Without thinking about it, she quietly crept forward, crouching behind the tent so she could listen in.

Appa... the bison? Perhaps the monkey thing, she mused. She frowned when she heard that monks don't eat meat. Now that she heard it, she realised she had read that somewhere. It was unpleasant to find she had forgotten such important information, but resolved to find something more suitable the next morning.

Katara did not allow the peasent boy to eat the fish that was left, something which she appreciated.

She decided to make herself known. She crept a few paces back from the tent, then purposfully stepped on a twig. She heard Katara and the peasant stop talking. She continued to walk loudly until she entered the clearing, then she looked at the fish. She then looked at Katara.

"Is the av-" she paused. Then, "is Aang still asleep?"

She schooled her face into a curious expression. If they learned she had been eavesdropping, it was not likely to be taken well.

"Oh, uh..." Katara flushed, seeming hesitent to reveal the truth. It was hard for Azula to not be able to snap at her. She wasn't delicate, and though she appreciated that Katara had spoken on her behalf earlier, she didn't need to be protected from the truth or anything else.

The peasant boy, unsuprisingly, did not pass up the opertunity to be a pain in her backside.

"Monks don't eat meat," he said. The fact seemed to disgust him, but he was quick to turn his disgust into a sneer that he leveled at her. "I geuss you didn't know that, huh?"

The words were spoken in a mocking manner, and this time she jumped on it before Katara could.

"I am well aware that you do not like me," she flatly stated. "And I assure you the dislike is mutual. But I did not realise you would be such a child about it."

Katara was looking between them nervously, but Azula wasn't focused on her right now. She wanted this out in the open.

The boy seemed aghast, and she knew he had expected the same pettyness from her. But unlike him, she had never had the privilage of being childish, nor the privilage of being a child.

"I had thought that we could at least be civil. But if you insist on this ludicrous behaviour, I will tell you now that you shall not ever see me match it. Unlike you, I do not see the value of such interactions. So when you are done throwing your little tantrum, you may speak to me. Until then, don't."

He gaped at her openly, and she marched forward to collect the fish. After a few minutes, he huffed and turned his back to her. Katara was also staring, but she seemed more confused then offended.

When Katara got up to sit next to Azula, the princess bit down the desire to tense. She had let her emotions slip earlier, but she could not afford such vulnerability here.

"I think that's the most polite way anyone has ever told Sokka to shut up," Katara said. Azula glanced at her, uncertain what she was getting at. The water bender was smiling at her, and Azula realised she was trying to be nice again.

(Who the Spirits are these people, why-)

Azula hummed in acknowledgment, uncertain how to respond. She briefly thought of her interactions with Mai and Ty Lee, but though she had called them friends, they had never spoken casually about anything.

She didn't know how to do small talk, and apparently, that was a thing that these people did.

When it became clear that she didn't have anything else to say, Katara simply spoke again.

"When did you first learn how to firebend?"

Azula couldn't help but stare at Katara for a moment, feeling confused by the abrupt subject change. Then, remembering how Katara had tried to relate to her as a bender earlier, she deemed the question to be innocent in its intent.

It took a few moments before she decided to answer, and what ultimately convinced her was the way Katara's face fell.

"I was five."

Katara gave her a small smile that made her feel a strange warmth inside. It wasn't her inner flame, because it wasn't familiar, but she wasn't entirely certain what it was.

"I was four, and I brought a snowbank down on Sokka when we got into an arguement."

Azula blinked at her. She had never met anyone who had been able to bend before she had - most benders came into their abilities around age seven. Maybe it was a water bending thing?

Or maybe, she mused, Katara would have been a prodigy as well, had she been provided with a real teacher.

"That's quite young," she admitted, and Katara tilted her head.

"But... you said you were five?"

Azula hadn't planned on fully hiding her talent, but she found herself reluctant to admit it. If her campanions feared her, it would give her an advantage... or it could make them turn on her.

Still, her fire was blue, and while she could make yellow or red flames, she didn't feel like constantly holding back. A small degree of honesty would suit her better in the long run, she decided.

"I was quite young," she finally said. "I learned before my brother did, actually."

She sensed as the peasant boy turn his head, no longer pretending that he was not listening. Whatever.

"You're brother is a bender too?" Katara asked. "I thought he was in the earth kingdom?"

Azula sucked a breath in. She hadn't meant to reveal that, but... well, fine. It probably would have come up eventually.

"He is... he was born in the fire nation, but I-" her breath did not hitch, because she was better than that, but her heart felt painful in her chest. "Someone tried to kill him. So he had to leave."

The peasant boy let out a noise, and she gave an annoyed glance at him, but he stared shamelessly with his mouth gaping.

Then, Katara reached for her hand, and she pulled away before it made contact, staring at the girl.

Katara just kept staring at her. "Someone tried to kill your brother?"

Azula frowned, uncertain as to why they were so surprised. Attempted murder wasn't exactly rare, and she had seen several people get away with it easily.

"Yes."

Katara blinked, then looked... sad?

"I'm sorry that happened to you. And to your brother."

Azula shrugged. "Don't be. I smuggled him out, and I plan on seeing him again soon."

She would see him again soon. She had too.

"You smuggled you brother out of the Fire Nation?" The peasant asked, to which she glared at him. It was honestly insulting that he sounded so incredulous.

"We aren't talking." She ignored his indignant sqwak, looking back at Katara.

"Um," The other girl seemed uncertain how to continue the conversation, and Azula wasn't sure what had gone wrong. She just answered their questions.

Going over the conversation, she made a tactical decision to backtrack.

"He made his first spark two weeks after me. He was eight." She directed her words at Katara, who seemed to find her footing with Azula's words.

"Eight? Oh, wow... I geuss you and I were young."

Azula nodded. "He was fine enough at bending, but honestly he always preferred using swords. He's a very good swordsman."

And if they heard the pride in her voice, let them. She had never been allowed to be openly proud of her brother, and it had infuriated her.

Katara smiled, and a few minutes after, Aang returned.

She could do this.

3

"This looks like as good a place as any," Suki said.

They had been walking in a dried up riverbed, and they were in what seemed to be a good enough camping sight. Shrugging, Zuko threw his bag down.

"If you get started on the tent, I can set up a fire," he offered, and she smiled at him. With her agreement, he went to find the rocks and sticks he'd need to make a fire pit out of habit.

After a second, he realised that he could just bend. They were in the middle of nowhere, after all. So instead he just got some firewood and set it up, lighting the fire with a flick of his wrist.

Later, when they went into the tent they shared, they talked about the ship they had sabotaged earlier. Niether of them actually knew who it had belonged too, but when they'd seen a Fire Nation ship at the port where they'd stopped for supplied, they couldn't resist.

They fell asleep quickly, Zuko keeping a hand on his swords, and Suki holding her fans.

2

BOOM!

Zuko jumped up, Suki following him quickly.

THUD!

Another loud noise rattled the ground, and Zuko shared a look with his friend.

CRACK!

They crept out of the tent and followed the noise. It lead down the dried up river bed, and when they found the source Zuko nearly dropped his swords at the familiar face.

"Haru?!" He yelled out, eyes wide. Suki glanced at him in surprise, but she lowered her fans at his lack of aggresion.

The boy in question gasped, dropping the bolder and twisting around to see who had caught him.

When their eyes met, Haru's relief and surprise were visable. "Lee?!"

Suki looked between them, very clearly confused, but Zuko was already rushing forward to hug his old friend. When he pulled away, he leveled a look at Haru.

"Earthbending in public?"

Haru flushed with embarrasment, and some of the fear from before came back into his eyes.

"I-" he looked down. "I know. It was stupid- I just, I can't just not do it, y'know? And, it's really... hard to find anywhere safe."

Zuko nodded, and even Suki seemed to understand it. It wasn't healthy for benders to ignore their element, and though Haru didn't know about Zuko's capabilities, Suki had spent years covering for him by now.

"What about you're parents? How have they been?"

Haru winced, and Zuko's stomach dropped. He looked at his old friend.

"What happened?"

As Haru told him about his father, determination settled underneath Zuko's ribs.

Him and Suki had been planning a raid on an earthbender prison, but the locations of such places were highly gaurded. Now, by a chance meeting with an old friend, it would seem they had a lead.

1

Haru wasn't sure exactly where they took his father, but after hearing the story, Suki came up with a plan.

"What if you get yourself arrested, and we follow you to the prison? Then we can take out the gaurds - and we could even pack a bag full of rocks so you'll be able to bend too."

Zuko watched as fear flashed in Haru's eyes, but he reached for his hands.

Haru and his family had helped Zuko out before he found a palce in Kyoshi. They'd hired him to fix their roof, and paid him in food. When he left, they'd even given him some supplies. They'd asked him if he wanted to stay, but back then he'd been too scared to live in a place with so many soldiers around.

Now he was actively looking to fight Fire Nation soldiers. Go figure.

"We'll be right behind you, and we'll get you out before you even spend a night there."

"I-" Haru looked down. "You don't even know how many soldiers there are. They might just take you both out."

"They won't," Suki said. "We'll sneak in, and we'll take out as many as we can before they even know we're there."

"How do you know they won't see you?"

"You said they always take people at midnight, right? It'll be dark out. Plus, we have masks so that they don't see our real faces."

Haru hesitated. Then he whispered, "what if my dad is in a different place than where they take me? What if- what if we just break out a bunch of strangers, and then my dad gets hurt because of my involvment?"

Zuko paused. It was a fair fear, really, but also-

"Earthbending prisons are hard to maintain... I honestly doubt they have two nearby."

Suki stepped forward, reaching out to Haru herself.

"What if it does work, and you have your dad back by the end of the week?"

0

Azula hated flying.

Though she managed to keep a blank expression, she couldn't stop the way her hands gripped Appa's saddle.

She barely stopped herself from reaching out to grab Aang when he decided to jump into a cloud. She did not, however, surpress her eyeroll when he returned to say that clouds are made of water.

It was truely horrible that they had the audacity to enjoy being so far off of the ground.

Though she did not appreciate their good mood, she also did not appreciate the sudden horror that overtook them when they saw a whole section of forest burned to ash.

Chapter Text

8

Zuko glanced over at Suki.

The sun was starting to set. His arms ached from clinging to the rope for hours, and he was sure his body would hurt for days from the water slamming it against the boat.

They hadn't known it would be a boat. That had been interesting.

He grit his teeth. It was almost dark. Just a little longer, then they could sneak on board.

Just little longer.

7

Azula stood by Appa as the others walked through the burnt forest.

Aand scowled at the ground with clenched fists, then slumped into himself. His eyes looked watery.

Peasant-boy scowled. "Fire-nation! Those evil savag-"

Ignoring the concerned glance from the waterbender, Azula tuned them out, stepping out slightly into the clearing, away from Appa. The peasant and the others were about twenty paces away. She examined the burned trees around her with a frown.

Fire Nation soldiers were, to her displeasure, known to take things to far. Sometimes it was done out of desperation, the result of a mental breakdown from too much stress for too long.

More often though, it was because the only way to advance in the Fire Nation Army was to be vicious, and people were often opportunistic.

But why here? It didn't make sense unless something else was nearby. They'd seen a village on Appa, but she hadn't seen any burn marks on the buildings themselves.

She turned towards the others, listening to the last part of their conversation. 

"-no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me..."

"The Avatar before you? He died over a hundred years ago; how are you supposed to talk to him?" The peasant asked.

Azula frowned. Did the Southern Water Tribe tribe not know anything about the Spirit World?

When Aang replied that he didn't know how to talk to Avatar Roku, Azula lifted her head towards Agni.

She knew for a fact that the airbenders had been incredibly spiritual, so this stupidity was obviously inherent to Aang himself.

Katara jumped in, trying to cheer up the hundred-year-old-child, and Azula stood by silently.

She thought to tell them about the Spirit World right away, but she couldn't deny that Aang's lack of knowledge made her hesitant. There were stories of people getting lost in the Spirit World... perhaps she should wait until he has shown himself more capable? It wouldn't do for the Avatar to disappear again so soon after finding him.

She snapped her head towards an approaching figure limping toward them. She adjusted herself so she could attack quickly if neccesary, but said nothing to warn of his presence.

These people were far too easy to sneak up on. They could do to have their skilled refined.

Katara gasped when she saw him, Aang quickly tensing. The peasant boy just gaped like the fool he was.

"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible!" The old man said, approaching Aang. "But, those markings ... are you the Avatar, child?"

Seeming at a loss, Aang looked at Katara, who nodded encouragingly at him. Then he looked back to the old man and nodded himself too confirm his identity, and Azula twitched.

"My village desperately needs your help!"

Azula's eyes narrow.

6

By luck, night provided more than just cover. 

When Suki and Lee finally snuck on board, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the prison boat operated with a skeleton crew after hours. There was one gaurd pacing the deck above them and after double checking that they would not be seen, they snuck up.

Lee went first, grabbing the gaurd in a choke-hold. Suki brings forward a bottle of sedative fluid she had brought along and thought to wrap in an oilskin bag.

She forces a little into the gaurds mouth, and he quickly falls asleep. Still hidden by their own masks, they tread forward.

It was almost easy to get below deck. 

When they'd had to get in the water and hang on to the outside of the boat, they had needed to drop the rocks they'd been bringing. 

Lee had told her that the ship would have a storage room full of coal for the engine and to keep fires going. They'd find that and gather the supplies they needed to get Haru and his dad back.

Except-

"We're gonna need to take over the ship," she says. Lee pauses to look at her.

"We can't just swim back after breaking people out, they'll just catch us again."

She can't see through his mask, but she knows he's frowning. He knows she's right. "Okay, let- let's get Haru first, then we'll find the coal, then... we commit mutiny, I geuss?"

"Can you commit mutiny for a ship if you aren't on the crew?" She wondered.

"That- yes, that's exactly what counts as mutiny-" He tried to say, but-

"No, like if you're a sailor and you overthrow your own captain, that's mutiny right?"

"I think that's technically a revolt?"

"Wait-"

"Let's do this later!" Lee snapped, and Suki realised they were wasting precious time, so she didn't protest.

5

Azula eyed the village leader, and the strange man (Kay-fon) that had approached them earlier. 

"-the last few days at sunset, a Spirit-Monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit."

Ah.. that made some sense.

Perhaps Hei Bai had attacked some Fire Nation soldiers in the woods and they had burned the trees trying to fight him. The soldiers must have been fresh recruits if they were that foolish, and Azula felt a pang in her heart as she realised some teenage conscripts were now likely lost to the Spirit World.

She hated Spirits. It was easy to hate them, too - what had the Spirits ever done for her?

(Agni was the one and only exception to this rule - and sometimes she hated him too for not making Zuko a prodigy and sparing him from their fathers wrath.)

"Why is it attacking you?" The peasant-boy asked as if Spirits needed a reason for anything they did.

"We do not know," the village leader pressed, "but each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"What happens then?" Katara asked. 

Azula did not roll her eyes, because it would be undignified to do so. But she may have sent a small prayer to Agni that her companions were not this ignorant about everything.

Kay-fon answered, appearing not to be exeedingly bothered by the utter stupidity he was faced with. "As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the Spirit World grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely."

"Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there's no telling what will happen." The village leader continued.

"So, what do you want me to do, exactly?" Aang blinked at them.

Azula did not roll her eyes, and if asked, she would deny how very badly she wanted too, because she was better than that.

"Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the Spirit World than the Avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits!" Kay-fon eagerly answered. Azula was starting to suspect his own intelligence.

She was also regretting coming here. Now that she had confirmation that Aang was clueless about the Spirit World, he was likely about to try and cross over.

What if he went missing for another hundred years? How would she get Zuko back if he did?

The conversation continued, then she heard Aang saying, "-not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

She huffed out a small breath. Then, she called out to Aang, "I could tell you what I do know."

***

Azula watched with the others as Aang waited for the Spirit.

She resented this, and she almost didn't want to allow it.

Still. If the Avatar couldn't handle this, he probably couldn't help her anyway.

She'd told Aang what she could of Spirit-battles, and hopefully he knew enough.

"This isn't right. We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up," The peasant said, and to that she couldn't help but reply-

"That monster is a Spirit, and as there is little even Katara or I could do to help him, there is certainly  nothing you could do," she hissed out.

(It was not petty nor passive aggresive, it was logical.

She was not petty.)

He narrowed his eyes at her. It seemed he was about to respond, but then Katara put a hand on his shoulder. Her face seemed pained - was she alright?

"If anyone can save us, it's Aang," she said. Sokka paused, seeming to debate something, then muttered, "he shouldn't be alone."

When the Spirit showed up, Aang tried to get in front of it as Azula had said.

The Spirit will want to do what they came for, she had said. You need to make them see you. Use you're airbending to defend yourself and the area around you. 

The Spirit made to destroy the buildings around the courtyard, but Aang did his best to protect the buildings with airbending.

Then, the Spirit released a burst of energy that cut right through Aang's bending and smashed a building. When the Spirit hit Aang, Sokka stood up.

Azula knew what was happening the moment before it did. The peasant said something about Aang needing help, and pushed outside, stopping Katara from following him. Azula almost just watched the fool go, willing to let him deal with the consequences of his choice-

She sees Katara's face. And it- it looks too much like her own had after...

Here's what happens:

Azula, against her better judgement, charges after the peasant.

She sees as the Spirit is about to grab him, and she just-

She tackles him out of the way, barely glimpsing an expression of shock, before suddenly-

It's even more dark than it was a second ago, and she-

can't-

feel-

Agni-

She screamed.

4

After trying to get Sokka to go back, Aang watched with horror as Azula saved Sokka from Hei Bai, only to get taken herself. He launched himself right past Sokka, trying to get Azula back from Hei Bei.

He heard her scream, and he had never really heard her yell before, and he had definently never heard her scared.

He'd thought she was once, the first time she'd been on Appa, but she had seemed fine afterwards. 

He didn't like the sound of her scream.

He tried to push himself faster, reaching out for her, but then-

The Spirit fades away before his eyes, and then he's falling, and then everything is dark.

3

They got Haru out of his cell, then tracked down the coal room.

"What exactly are we gonna use this for?" Haru asked them.

"You're going to earthbend handcuffs for the soldiers we knock out. Then we'll steal their keys, and lock them in the newly vacated cells," Suki explains the plan Lee and her had come up with together.

Haru frowns. "What about the crew that's asleep right now?"

"That's what Lee is gonna work on while you and me do this. He's gonna take as much coal as he can carry down to the crew's quarters, and by the time you and me are finished, he'll have brought enough coal down there that you can trap them inside."

"Couldn't they burn down the barricade?" He pressed.

"Not without roasting themselves alive," Lee grins. "Firebenders aren't immune to their own element. They are harder to burn, yeah, but not impossible. Trust me, they won't be that despereate - especially since regulation dictates they keep a certain amount of rations in their own pack. They'll barely even be starving by the time we're all out of here."

"What about the captain? Wouldn't he be seperate?"

"You and I are gonna get him," Suki lifted her own bag, now literally full of rocks, and shoved it onto Haru's shoulder. He sputtered, but she just smiled.

"You're the earthbender - you can carry the coal." She grabbed her fan, holding it tightly with her right hand, while holding the sedative fluid in her left. "Let's go."

"Try and keep quiet," Lee advised. "We want to have as little real fighting as possible."

***

To their credit, it was as quiet as possible.

Lee managed to do his job just in time, and by sunrise, all the Fire Nation soldiers were locked up, and they had freed almost all the earthbenders.

Haru's father, Tyro, would lead the earthbending prisoners upon returning to land, as they would all be fugitives of the Fire Nation. 

He planned to take back his village first, and to bring his wife with him.

Suki leaned against Lee. "What are we gonna do with the soldiers?"

Tyro cleared his throat. "I have a friend with contacts in Omashu. I can reach out to him, and then King Bumi's soldiers can take them prisoner," he grinned.

Lee tried for a smile, but Suki could see he looked relieved. In spite of his history, which she knew she only had limited insight too, he seemed compashionate to a fault with Fire Nation soldiers. He was the same for everyone, but it was strange for Suki to see how much he tried to limit causaulties when he could.

Once they got to shore, Haru hesitated as they parted ways.

"Where will you go?" He asked them.

"We've been trying to slow down the Fire Nation navy," Suki says, notedly not mentioning the Avatar. Lee hadn't mentioned anything about that either, and they had already agreed it was best to keep quiet about that.

"So... I geuss it'll be another long wait until we meet again, huh?" Haru smiled ruefully at Lee.

Suki watched as her friend nodded solomly. "I imagine it'll be a while."

Haru hugged Lee, and when they pulled away they bowed to each other in the Earth Kingdom fashion.

That was that.

2

"-return without her," Kay-fon was saying.

"Why couldn't she just stay back!" Sokka cried out, breaking the silence he had commited too since Aang disappeared.

Katara turned on her brother.

"Why couldn't you just stay back!" She screamed, and she didn't want to yell at him, but she didn't know what to do. "If it wasn't for you, maybe Aang would've been fine and Azula would still be here!"

That's not true, she thought, but she'd said it and it was out there now.

"So now it's my fault?" He demanded.

"Well it certainly isn't mine!"

"I never said-"

Kay-fon akwardly coughed in an apparent attempt to break the tension.

"Now, now - ah, the sun is rising, see? Perhaps the Avatar will return soon, along with your friend,"

Dejected, they trudged back into town.

***

"Why did she run after me?" Sokka asked her later, seeming at a loss.

She understood why. She'd thought Azula and Sokka completely hated each other. Sure, Azula was more technically polite about it, but she clearly disliked him.

"I don't know," she whispered back.

The two of them were laying on the floor by the fire pit, feet to head and holding hands while pretending they weren't comforting each other.

Sokka seemed to hesitate. "When they get back... I'll try to be nicer to her."

When they get back.

She squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

1

At Sunset, Katara and Sokka stood together as Aang reappeared. 

Katara ran out to him, Sokka not far behind.

"Aang, where's Azula?" She asks.

"I- I'm not sure," the monk admitted, his eyes fixed on the ground.

He glanced around. "The Spirit is going to come back. Go inside, I need you to trust me."

Later, from the window, the siblings watched in wonder as Aang talked to the Spirit, holding out acorns as Katara had for him earlier, and seeming to make peace with it.

Then, from the forest, they see Azula.

0

Azula feels herself coming back too conciousness.

Agni feels faint still, far away, but-

Oh, she can feel her element again.

She blinks herself back into awareness, stumbling forward. She's in the same woods she was in earlier.

She sees a figure charging towards her, and tenses, before she registers that it's Katara-

What?

Katara has wrapped her arms around Azula in an embrace. She noted the Avatar and the peasant-boy standing nearby.

The princess tenses and does not force herself to relax, but Katara's hold remains true.

Another moment passes.

"Get off me," she says. Katara squezes her tighter before releasing, though she remains within arms reach.

"Are you OK? You were trapped in the Spirit World for a full day!" The other said.

Azula blinks. "Was I? It- it didn't feel like more than an hour," she admits.

Though... it had been perhaps the longest hour she had ever lived.

"Are you alright?" Katara asks again.

"Aside from the need to relieve myself, I assure you I'm quiet alright," she lied, already fed-up with this concerned attitude.

She was fine.

Chapter Text

4

Gazing into the dimming light of the campfire, Azula pretended not to see the water peasant glancing at her from the corner of her vision.

Following her return from the Spirit World the previous evening, her traveling companions had been significant nuiscances.

They seemed to think that her experience had been traumatizing, and she was determined to remain composed. She was not a fragile thing, and she would not allow them to percieve her as weak.

It didn't matter if it had been horrible. She was more than capable of enduring.

Upon her initial return, she had barely remembered anything about her journey to the Spirit World. What memories she did have were blurry and fractured - and when she honestly tried to focus on any of the fractured memories, she'd feel like her head was trying to split itself open.

The only thing that remained clear was the initial feeling of losing her bending, and a vague but persistent feeling of cold that just got worse and worse as time passed.

In spite of - or perhaps related to all of the above, when she had finally managed sleep the previous night, the blurred memories had suddenly consumed her, and she had felt like she was there again, and she knew that in the dream all her memories had come back to her, and something important had happened- but then-

-when she had woken up, the memories were blurry all over again, and she wasn't even certain she had dreamed at all.

The water boy glanced at her again, along with Katara this time. Azula's finger twitched.

She couldn't burn them now - but she wanted to throw fire at their feet, if only to make them too afraid to look at her.

With an inaudible exhale, the firebender stood abruptly. She didn't want to sleep, probably wouldn't even be able too, but she walked to her tent.

"Azula?" Aang implored, sounding infuriatingly concerned. She didn't need to look over to know the water tribe siblings were also looking at her.

She wanted to just wave a hand to them like she would to her crew when she wanted to be alone. But these were not her crew, and they did not even know just how prestigous her status was. To operate as she had with her crew would be percieved as rude - and these people were rude enough without her setting a bad example.

"I'm retiring for the evening," she announced, glancing at them to make brief eye contact. (She hated that eye contact was one of the few universal custom's of the four nations - of all the things to be standard practice.)

"I do not wish to be disturbed until sunrise tomorrow," she added for clarity, before finally stepping behind the canvas.

Sitting on her bedroll, Azula considered her current position. Free from prying eyes, she felt a little more calm, yet she could no longer see the campfire.

The princess adjusted her position into a meditative stance. Cupping her hands, she summoned a small blue flame. For a few minutes all she did was watch the fire as she felt her chi moving through her to maintain it. Then she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. With her own lungs, she commanded the flame in her hands to expand and contract. In and out, more and less, ebb and flow.

Zuko taught her how to breath properly. It was the only  firebending technique he ever taught her, and he only learned it from Lu Ten. Both of their palace tutors had tried to substitute breathing exercises by telling their pupils to channel their negative emotions into fire, which Lu Ten had told both of them was an unreliable crutch for a bender-

Azula's breath stuttered and her flame flickered with it. She quickly focused on fixing the fire, trying to ignore the places she had allowed her mind to wander.

The past is dead and gone, and you're going to leave it there, she commanded herself. Focus on the future, and get Zuko back. 

She wasn't sure how long it took her properly recover from that, but she did know that by the time she finally let the flame go out and turned on her back to sleep, her eyes felt heavy with exhaustion even while closed, and her back ached from maintaining the meditative stance for so long.

3

3

-Azula rolled over on the bed, holding a pillow against her.

Abruptly, her eyes snapped open, and she sat up.

where-

She dragged her eyes across the room. She was on a large bed in the middle of a generously sized bedchamber, and this was-

Azula got a feeling in her chest as though she had been stabbed with ice.

This was Zuko's room. His old one - this didn't- the room didn't exist anymore.

After everything happened, Zuko had initially been declared missing. Shortly after, he had been declared a runaway.

Her brother had not been gone for half a year before Ozai officially declared him a traitor and forbid him to return.

(If Azula had known Ozai would be crowned the following day, she may very well have gone with her brother that night. She didn't know exactly what she would have done with that information, and now she never would.)

When Zuko was declared a traitor, this room was - oh.

She had fallen asleep. She was dreaming.

No, she- 

Why was she in Zuko's room? She couldn't be here, she had to go, she-

Keep moving, a voice urged in a whisper. It seemed to deafen all other sound.

Azula threw the covers off of herself to find she was wearing her old palace clothes, the white ceremonial ones she had watched her father crowned in, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust but there wasn't time to deal with clothes now.

She darted from the bed and ran forward towards the doors. She didn't know what was on the other side, but she needed to move, she knew she did.

It was important. She had to keep moving, she - she really didn't know why, but she knew she had too.

For some reason, she was surprised when the doors opened into the same hallway they would have in real life. Nonetheless, she went straight into the hallway.

Keep  moving, the same voice repeated. Though the words were still whispered, the voice boomed in her ear, and just as before it seemed to deafen the whole area around her.

She didn't know exactly where to keep moving, but as she walked past the throne room, she knew this was not where the voice wanted her to be. Yet when she glanced into the room, she stopped in her tracks.

Keep Moving! The voice urged again, sounding this time more frantic - yet these words did not deafen her to the hushed whispers from inside the throne room.

Azula had been told to keep moving, and in her heart she knew this would be wise. But how could she not walk forward to approach the scene before her?

For in the throne room was Ozai, knelt before Azulon, both positioned in a horrifyingly perfect recreation of the moment things started going so, so wrong.

She clenched her hands into fists when they started shaking, and walked right between the two men who had ruined her life in a single evening. In this strange dreamscape, she was invisible to them.

She stared at their faces as they carried out a conversation that had changed her life.

She caught herself looking into Azulon's eye's, trying to recall any memory she had of him outside of this room.

She had accepted a long time ago that after Lu Ten's passing Zuko was the only family member she had that was worth anything. And still yet, was it not foolish of any monarch to so carelessly trim their own bloodline down? Was her family so broken by their own pride that they did not realise how easily a bloodline could die out?

Azulon's mouth twisted to form word's that Azula already knew, and though she had them memorised, it hurt more than it should to hear them aloud again.

"-first born? Directly after the demise of his only beloved son? I think Iroh has suffered enough! But you ... your punishment has scarcely begun!" Her unwilling namesake continued to spit poison, until finally, he uttured the damning words, "you must know the pain of losing a first-born son. By sacrificing your own!"

And then, the worst and most vile words she heard that night, said with a sickening smirk; "Of course, Fire Lord. Thy will be done."

Her heart is already in her throat now, but then the scene changes. Azulon tilts his head at Ozai in a way that she knows never happened, and he says words she knows are not from this memory – but they keep her up at night too.

Speaking with Ursa’s voice, Azulon’s phantom says, “what is wrong with that child?”

And it- it’s Azulon’s face, but it’s that same disappointed expression that came so naturally to Ursa every time she looked at her daughter, and Azula couldn’t breath-

Then she heard a familiar condescending chuckle from behind her, and she turned to see Ozai with that expression he had always reserved for Zuko, looking down as if at her brother’s own ghostly counterpart, and she knows exactly what words are coming. A familiar stab of guilt and hatred and disgust twisted inside her as he said it – said the words that had caused  Zuko to stop talking to her for a whole week, caused Ursa to disapprove more openly the few times she caught her and Zuko playing together.

“Your sister was born lucky. You were lucky to be born.”

Then, with a grin, Ozai suddenly looked right at her. “You both would have been so lucky if only I had killed him that night! You would have been an only child, daughter,” he stood up and she almost took a step back, except that he had just-

“He would have been lucky to finally be gone, where he can’t disappoint me anymore.”

Her mind went blank for a second as she processed the words, and then she couldn’t see anything but red rage and blue fire.

With a gutteral scream, Azula threw her fire at Ozai with all the force she could muster, burning so hot she might even have burned herself to death in the real world.

It goes right through him of course, and when the flames clear, the two phantoms have dissapeared.

Azula nearly drops to her knees right there. She nearly drops to her knees, nearly cries for the first time in years, nearly shoots fire again to try and burn the room down even though it probably wouldn't work-

She doesn't know what to do, and she wants to wake up, but she's still asleep, and she's not sure if she's even able to to anything here.

Keep moving, the voice whispers again. She listens.

-- 2

2

She walked through the halls more quickly now. More than once, she passed by another room with figures from her past reinacting a scene of her memory, but she did not stop for any of them after the first.

Born lucky, she mentally scoffs. Born lucky.

As if anyone who called Ozai 'father' could ever be 'lucky'.

Azula knew that most people believed that, though. Azula was the princess of the Fire Nation. She was a prodigy bender, and naturally skilled at academics. This was public information, and from a young age she had been taught that only perfect composure was acceptable of her.

Most people - including her mother - would take it at face value that she had been born lucky. She had it easy, and she didn't need to try, and she chose to be cruel out of her own enjoyment. Nevermind, of course, that her father expected cruelty of her, and that she could not afford to disappoint him.

'Born lucky'. It wasn't even really about her - her father had meant to emphasize the second part, of course. Ozai had meant to tell Zuko that he was lucky to be born at all. The statement was one intended to hurt her brother, delivered when she had finally realised what all his little barbs and backhanded compliments actually were. When she had started to try and slow her own progress down so that Zuko was perhaps compared to her less often. Evidently, it hadn't been useful at all.

Keep  moving, the voice repeated, and she held onto it, trying to ignore the rabbithole of her own consciousness.

When she burst through a door that should have lead her further down the East Wing, she instead found herself staggering onto a volcanic landscape. When she looked behind her, she only saw the ocean. In front of her, a short distance away, she saw a Fire Temple. She blinked up at the structure, taking in the landscape around her once more.

This- this was Crescent Island. This was where Avatar Roku had studied his firebending.

She was about to take a step forward, because she knew that this was where the voice wanted her to go, but then she- 

her foot landed on nothing.

Of course it did, because she was- 

1

She breathed in deeply and pushed her eyes open.

Azula was lying down on her bedroll, and her chi felt uncomfortably restless as it thrummed beneath her skin. She saw light peaking out from the canvas of her tent's entry, and with a lurch of her stomach she realised she had stayed up so late her body had slept through Agni's first light.

She could hear the beat of her own heart, and she noted that it's pace was unreasonably swift when considering she had only been awake for a minute at most. She brought a hand to her wrist and felt her pulse with her fingers to confirm its speed, then she tried to breath deeply in hopes of slowing it.

She waited for the heavy feeling of exhaustion to leave her eyelids, and when it did not, she sighed heavily and ran her hands over her face. It was a break of decorum she rarely allowed even in private, but she was more tired than she had been in years, without any of the order she had coveted since childhood, and with far less control over the situation than she had ever expected.

She also felt like she had somehow been about to learn something terribly important in her dream, but the longer she thought about it, the more fractured her dream became.

Feeling more disoriented with every second spent in the dark, Azula sat up. After grabbing her comb and running it through her hair, she pulled it into it's proper top knot the same way that she had a hundred times. After that, she tugged on her travel clothes as efficiently as she could manage, and pushed outside of her tent.

Agni did not look too high up - she imagined daybreak had been no more than two hours ago. 

As soon as she felt the sun spirit shining on her face, her chi settled beneath her skin. She had risen with the sun for as long as she could remember, and to miss even one sunrise had caused a strange, tight discomfort to burrow into her chest.

Glancing toward the camp, she couldn't help but tense to find that all her companions were only ten paces away from her.

Despite the still early hour, Katara and Aang were both awake and outside. The water boy was outside and appeared to be dressed, at least from the waist up, but his bedroll covered the rest of him and with his head laying on the log his sister was sitting on, he appeared to have fallen back asleep.

To Azula's shock, there was a stew in the making that Katara and Aang were stirring and seasoning respectively. They hadn't noticed her yet.

"This isn't exactly how Kuzon would do it right? Because we still need it to be dull enough that Sokka will only whine the first time we make him try it." Kuzon? That sounds like an old man Fire Nation name - who are they talking about?!

"No, I'm adjusting it - I'm also adding some Air Nomad spices to balance it out a bit," as he finished talking, he glanced up and saw her, his face splitting into a grin. "Good morning, Azula!"

His volume caused Sokka to startle awake, and when it seemed the peasant was about to yell at Aang, he apparently saw Azula out of the corner of his eye, then proceeded to scramble out of his bedroll. Azula noted with great pleasure that he was completely and modestly dressed from the waist down.

Katara looked at her then, and gave her own warm smile. "Morning Azula."

Azula wanted to go back inside her tent.

But she was not rude.

Though she could not smile, she forced her face into some form of impartiality.

"Morning," she greeted, approaching slowly. She stopped a few paces from them, eying the soup pointedly. "What is that?"

The water boy opened his mouth, and she knew he was going to say something stupid like ‘it’s stew’, and she narrowed her eyes at him, but then Katara answered before he could.

She. Missed. Zuko.

“Me and Aang woke up early to make breakfast,” Katara said. “We hoped we would manage to get up before you had gotten everything, but luckily you slept in today, so we had time to make it.”

Azula had to stop herself from frowning at that. Providing breakfast was the way she preferred to contribute until the time came for the Avatar to begin his firebending training.

But though Aang was indeed helping her, and seemed pleased to do so, the expression he sent her way indicated to Azula that this had all been Katara's idea. Even if she had surprised Aang with the scheme only this morning, Azula was not surprised he was going out of his way to please the waterbender.

Seeing that this had been all on Katara, she now found herself in doubt of the other girls intentions. Had the other only defended Azula before now attempting to upstage her?

(No, that wasn't entirely consistent with Katara's behaviour... unless she had missed something else, Azula knew their intentions had likely been good, yet she couldn't help the unease the action brought her. 

Well. She had spent years perfecting the act of maintaining civility with those who made her uncomfortable, and diplomacy had always been a necessary skill in her life.)

"Well," Azula painted a subtle smile on her face (as wide smile would always be obviously fake from her) and met Katara's gaze. "I appreciate this very much, but going forward I assure you that I am more than content to continue gathering breakfast each morning."

“Well, actually, I was hoping to ask you about something!” Katara burst suddenly, clearly giving voice to a thought she had kept to herself for some time. Aang and Sokka both stared at her, showing that, evidently, they had not been given any forewarning as to what this was. “I was thinking of setting up a chore schedule – so instead of you just making breakfast all the time, and me making lunch and dinner, we can take turns and split the load more evenly – not just with food but also with clean-up, y’know? And if you aren’t comfortable cooking for Sokka, I can make him get supplies for you-"

And even without being once again was reminded that none of these people knew of her status, she already had some problems with this.

Barring the fact that yes, she did have a few problems with cooking for him and no thank you, she could gather all she needed for herself – and even aside from the one most glaring reason she could not accept this offer, she had a Very Important Question.

She held her hand up and very pointedly looked at the two boys.

“Why can’t one of them?”

The girl’s expression seemed to crumple for a bit, and Azula didn’t understand – she hadn’t outright refused, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t that hurtful – but then the water boy snorted.

“Cooking is for girls.”

Azula whirled towards him, not missing the complete resignation coming from Katara. “Say that again,” She demanded intently. The boy paused, his expression seeming panicked for a minute.

“I-I just mean, you know, girls are better at it? Like how boys are better at-“

“At what,” she challenged, taking a step forward. He jumped to his feet with a yelp, taking an immediate step back to restore the distance between them and nearly faltering as he did. “At fighting? Because between the two of us, I can assure you I am most certainly better in a fight!”

The boys eyes suddenly widened, and he raised his hands in an attempt at a placating gesture.

Aang stood up and tried to interject, but then a thought occurred to Azula.

“If boys are better at fighting and girls are better at cooking, you should fight me,” she said, and then he really did look panicked, so she kept going, “if I win in a fight, you can try your hand in the kitchen instead.”

The boy looked torn, but she was certain he was prideful enough to take the challenge. He’d take it and she’d show him how very easily a trained girl can take down a play soldier boy.

Unfortunately, that’s when Aang finally stepped in between them, and said “No one is fighting.”

She missed Zuko.

Then Aang looked at Katara with a guilty expression. “I’m sorry Katara, I didn’t realise we had left all of the cooking to you. We can do a chore schedule if you want.”

Sokka looked like he wanted to protest, but he with a glance at Azula’s expression he caved.

Azula tried to remain silent, but in the end, was left with no choice.

“I cannot be on the meal schedule,” she said. They looked at her.

“Why not?” Katara asked harshly, and Azula squared her shoulders.

Gritting her teeth, she forced out the words, “I cannot cook. But I can hunt and gather, as I’ve shown, and I’m willing to accept extra cleanup shifts to compensate.”

The peasant boy frowned. “What about the fish,” He whined in what was more of an accusatory statement then a question.

She stopped her shoulders from tensing and met his gaze with burning eyes. “As I have already said - I can hunt, yes, and gather and I can fire bend my own meat so it is safe, but I cannot make a stew or season anything. You’ll notice Katara fixed her own meat when I brought some and all I got for Aang were some berries or items from the market.”

Katara tilted her head, not hostile anymore, but clearly confused. “You never learned?”

“It’s not a priority for firebenders to learn,” she admitted, because she probably wouldn’t have learned even if she wasn’t nobility. It was the reason she was mostly unashamed to admit her lack of knowledge. “By the time we are away from our parents, we live on war rations.”

Something about that made the three of them tense, and for a minute the water boy looked… guilty?

What had she said?

But the girl simply said, “I’ll teach you.”

Azula let the strange moment go, but filed the memory away for later contemplation.

As the day went on, she was unable to resist the dread she felt when she thought about attempting to sleep that night.

As if it wouldn't have been hard enough, Aang had to surprise them all in the worst way that night.

0

That night, as they finished packing away the supplies from the dinner they had eaten, Aang speaks up.

"Um, so - I need to talk to you guys about the Hei Bei incident."

Katara seemed to glance at her unconsciously, but to her credit, she quickly looks back at Aang. When Sokka openly stares at Azula, she seriously considers dropping his boomerang from Appa's saddle the next day.

She glares at him, and he looks down with embarrassment before Aang continues.

"I- I didn't know how to bring this up right after everything happened, but um, I actually had some help-"

Aang tells them about what happened to him that night, and Azula has a hard time hiding her shock when he says that Fang had helped him. Aang went on to claim he needed to talk to Roku, and even that he had a way to contact him.

Azula kept quiet. She found herself unable to interject between the idea that Aang may speak with Avatar Roku, the blurry images of her time that night, and the knowledge that she would soon need to attempt sleep, she could not engage with this right now.

Then Aang mentioned crescent island, and needing to be there by the next eve, and only after Katara sensibly says "but the solstice is tomorrow!" did Azula finally find her voice and call out-

"And Crescent Island is in the Fire Nation," she hissed out. In the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but notice the water siblings tense up.

"What?" Sokka exclaimed.

Azula had certainly not expected to return to the Fire Nation so soon. In the Earth Kingdom, she knew she had enough generic 'Fire Nation' traits that no one would recognise her unless they actively wanted too. Any Fire Nation soldiers she met this far out were mostly conscripts whom had never seen her personally before.

But she had been to Crescent Island before. The Fire Sages likely knew her face, and any guards that were present were almost certain to have some experience with the royal family.

And they were going there tomorrow night.

Chapter Text

Hi everyone. 

I'm going to be posting chapter 14 no later than tomorrow - I just feel like I should explain myself first.

So, throughout this story, you've probably noticed that in each chapter there has been a countdown (1, 2, 3, 4) to transition between scenes.

Unfortunately, I just don't feel like this format best reflects my creative process anymore, so instead of having a fixed transition format, I'm giving myself permission to take some more artistic freedom with this story.

I'll probably use a different transitional format for each chapter going forward. This is going to help a lot with writers block for me.

Also, even though this chapter is late, I've done a lot of planning for the next few chapter's of this story, so don't worry guys, chapter 15 will still go up later this month (I think I'll be able to post it on the 21st).

See you soon!

-Laura

Chapter Text

1, 2

The wind whistled past Azula's ears as they sailed through the sky.

She could do this. Though she was unable to situate herself in a medatative stance (on account of her hand gripping Appa's saddle tightly enough to make her fingers ache) she was able to focus on her breathing.

Last night, when Aang had told them that he needed to go to Crescent Island, her first thought had been: damage control.

So, she had started planning.

Azula was no fool, and though she wished she could stop them from going alltogether, she could limit the risks of her identity being revealed.

You can't hide forever, chided a voice suspicously like her father's Ozai's. 

There were no gaurds on the upper floors, and she had told Aang to use his air bending to move the clouds below them so they were less visable.

She had planned the best route to the island.

She had the most combat training, so she had told them to stay behind and let her handle it.

She could take the gaurds and sages out before they saw her. She could.

(Her heard was beating too swift within her chest, and her hands were numb for more reasons than her grip on the saddle.)

(Get it together!)

(stop thinking about it stop-)

She tried to focus on her breathing again.

"Azula?" A flash of orange made her look up. Aang, Katara, and Sokka were waiting for her to step off.

They were here.

(She could do this. She could.)

She stepped off. 

As she walked into the temple, she wished that Ozai had sent her to conqeur Ba Sing Se instead. She could have done that in her sleep.

They were on the roof of the temple, because they had flown overhead above the clouds for cover - now, they dropped into the top floor.

They came out onto an open area that seemed like a lounge - the only thing you could do there, it seemed, was sit on one of the two couches and enjoy the view. She could imagine her father, when he had come here to avoid helping Ursa through labour, sitting here with one of the Fire Sages while casually pondering over the slaughter of the Southern Water Benders.

(She was very glad Katara didn't know about the significance of this place to the royal family.)

The crescent island temple was, in too many ways, very similar to Caldara Palace. Even when overlooking the archetecture, one cannot deny that for something so sacred to the Fire Nation, the whole atmosphere was unbearably chilling. From the sparse, too-bare hallways to the exhaustive, oppresively large portraits of her ancestors, she loathed and resented every second spent here.

Her eyes landed on one of the portraits, and with a jolt she realised it was the first time she had seen his face since leaving the study of her ship.

She had a sudden, ludicrous desire to be on Appa again.

(She hates flying though?)

She realised that all of her companions were looking at her now.

(oh... it's time...)

She hesitated for a second, suddenly caught up with a horrible thought.

What if they do find out?

"Are you alright?" The water peasant asked her.

She was smarter than these people.

She was capable.

She was fine.

She looked back at her companions.

"Wait here," she said. She turned around.

***

As they watched Azula walk through one of the only two doors they could see, Katara felt the awkward silence creep in.

"So we just-" Sokka shifted uncomftorably on his feet. "Do we just, like, let her go?"

"We should check on her!" Aang darted forward, jerking to an abrupt stop when Katara grabbed his collar.

"NO!" Katara waited until she managed to make them both look at her. "Azula knows this place better than we do, and she told us to stay here!"

"What if there are more gaurds here this time than there were the last time? What if she gets captured and Aang loses out on the only firebending teacher who doesn't want to kill him? What then, huh?!" Sokka threw his arms in the air, adding just enough distress to his voice that he just knew Katara couldn't ignore it, and sometimes she really hated her brother!

"Ugh!" She threw her face into her hands, and Sokka grinned, because he knew that he'd won, and just-

"Fine!" She said, and immediatly, the boys were grabbing her hands and dragging her away - and she was glad they were going to Azula, because this is what happens when she's the only girl in the group.

As it turned out though, they took a little too long deciding. By the time they got out there, every gaurd had been knocked out, along with four of the five sages. Azula was in the middle of taking him out too, but then Aang called out, "wow Azula, you got them!" and she stumbled.

The sage then seemed to suddenly jump, looking now much more alert than before, and they watched horrified as he screamed and sent a stream of fire towards Azula.

Katara feels like she's a kid again, and there are firebenders in her village, and they're trying to burn her family again but then-

Azula's hand goes out and she-

For a second, Katara thinks that Azula is shooting water out of her hand, and for a fraction of a second she thinks - wait, Azula is a waterbender? - but then she realises that even though it's blue, what's coming from Azula's hand is most definently fire.

And for a second, it doesn't matter that Azula is from the fire nation, because Katara had never seen a firebender with blue fire before, and she remembers when Azula said she had been a prodigy.

Azula's flames block the sages attack, and the man is suddenly yelling. He's speaking in both the common tongue and in the language of the Fire Nation, so Katara can't understand everything, but she catches the words your, and father and think, but she caught them out of order and between other words, and she really couldn't tell what was actually being said.

But she does see Azula's face. She sees the sudden devestation and fear that look so out of place, because most of the time, Azula tries very hard to make sure they don't see anything.

She reaches for her water whip, ready to step in and help, but Azula's eyes seem to jump towards her and she shakes her head. Katara freezes, but Azula jumps into action.

Azula charges forward at the sage, who throws fire at her in a panic, but Azula dodges around that and throws her own flame directly above the sages head. It connects with a tapestry that Katara herself hadn't seen, and when that falls on the sages head, Azula is in front of him, kicking his legs out from beneath him, and twisting around to hit him in the face and knock him unconcious.

"Woah!" Sokka says, and already, it seems like him and Aang have moved on from the moment.

But Katara sees the slight tremor in Azula's hand, and the way her eyes are more empty than they had been this morning, and suddenly a few things click in to place.

The day Katara's dad had left for the war was one of her worst memories, but she had always had Sokka.

When she looks at Azula, she suddenly sees a version of herself where Sokka had gone with Hakoda.

But it was worse than that.

Because whoever Azula's father was, it was evident that he wasn't looking half as hard for his son as Azula was.

And Azula had been looking alone.

And right here, looking at Azula, Katara promised herself that she would help find her brother.

Chapter Text

1

"How do we open it?"

Azula pulls her gaze away from the unconscious Sage, feeling utterly empty.

She cannot kill him in front of her companions. They will fear her, and though she had once wished for that, she was almost certain she'd be left behind should that happen.

Or worse, they may try to take her prisoner, and she would be forced to fight them. She would win, she believed, but then what?

She'd lose the Avatar, her place in her nation, and her brother.

She could not kill the sage here.

Which meant...

She m i s s e d   Z  u k -

"Azula?" Katara was looking at her.

Her companions were standing in front of the only doors in this temple she'd never seen behind.

She understood the question.

Latching onto the distraction-

She clenched her fists in an attempt to regain feeling in them.

Fuck!

She looked at Aang, and walked over.

"They open to fire bending. Usually you need five Sa-" she redirected, "-five benders. But I can do the work of three, and you'll need to do the work of two."

The water siblings seemed to tense (as if they had any genuine reason for worry) - but Aang seemed to light up.

(Why did the Monks need to be pacifists, why in Angi-)

"You're gonna teach me a firebending move?!"

"You're gonna WHAT!" Sokka screamed, and she shot him a look. Really.

"Do YOU know how to open the door without bending?" She demanded, and he looked immediatly chagrined. Good.

Katara looked dubious, but she wisely withheld any comments.

Azula looked at them for a moment, then at Aang.

She told the siblings to go to the far side of the room where, if neccesary, they could duck behind a pillar. Just as a precaution.

Then, she told Aang to summon a flame. He asked how, and for a moment, she felt like she did when she taught Zu-Zu how to summon his first spark. When he managed it, he looked at her just as Zuko had looked to Ozai.

"Look Azula! I did it!"

"Look Zu-Zu! Look what I can do!"

She forced a smile onto her face.

"Well done," she praised him, and she pretended his smile didn't ease her anxiety.

She then demonstrated the kata for him, pleased to find he too seemed a prodigy, because he picked it up quickly.

Just before they opened the doors, she glanced back at the unconscious gaurds and Sages. They had lingered a bit too long for her liking, and if she could not kill the sage, she needed to be out of the Fire Nation as soon as possible.

(She would probably be declared a traitor much sooner than a month from now.

Apparently, she was to follow in her brothers footsteps.

Fine.

She was Fine.)

"Azula? Can we open the door now?"

Please.

"Let's be quick," she said. "We need to get out of here before they wake up." 

Aang's eyes widened, and she knew he hadn't even considered it.

He moved with more urgency now, and then the door was opened. 

Inside awaited a large chamber. Aang looked at her, and she realised he was waiting for... something.

"Go on," she gestured. Aang frowned.

"You're not coming?"

She blinked. "I... no. I think this is just for you, Avatar Aang."

He seemed surprised by his own title, but then he looked at the chamber and nodded. "Oh... right."

He walked inside, and as she turned, she saw the siblings had come back to this side of the room.

An sudden idea occured to her.

Her eyes shot towards the linen closet. Ah.

(Treacherous hope formed in her chest, and for once, she clung to it.

Hope was a dangerous thing. And yet-)

"Sokka," she called, reveling in the shock the boy showed at being addressed by her so directly.

She pointed to the closet. "Help me move the gaurds into that closet."

He jumped at the command, seeming to believe this was a great idea.

They moved the gaurds and Sages, and she waited a moment.

Aang still wasn't back.

(She had a dagger on her.

She could do this.)

"I'll bind their hands - wait here for Aang. I'll call if I need help." She told them, then she went into the closet, lightly closing the door.

Hopefully, with the addition, they would now heed her warning

(She needed to be fast.

Yes, that was her problem, if she hadn't been too slow earlier she could have knocked him out, she just needed to be better, and she-

She could be better, she was better, SHE KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING -)

Summoning a flame, she eyes the sage who had recognized her.

(Quickly, be quick hurry hurry-)

She grabbed linens from one of the shelves, wrapping them tightly around the sages neck to limit the mess. (She can't walk out of here with bloody clothes.)

Then, as he started stirring, she pulled her dagger out.

(Quick!)

She-

3, 2, 1

After only a few minutes, Azula emerged from the closet.

"They're all still asleep?" Sokka asked her.

She nodded, seeming incredibly relieved by that. Sokka thought she was too stressed out, but she seemed like she was finally warming (pun intended) up to him.

He was sure Katara was very happy, by her smirk when Azula had asked for his help earlier.

He could do without his sister on this trip.

Soon, Aang walked out, looking excited.

"I talked to him!"

Then, before he or Katara could reply, Azula was pushing at them and demanding they move.

"Good!" She said to Aang, looking weirdly excited. "You can tell us about it as we're leaving the Fire Nation!"

Him and Katara saw the sense in that, and so they all returned to Appa.

As they were leaving, the doors of the room burst open, but Appa was already off the surface. Luckily, it seemed like Azula's bindings had slowed them down enough.

He heard frantic yelling behind them, but he sure as Tui and La was not turning around.

As they flew off, Aang recounted his ordeal to them, and it seemed like his first trip to the Fire Nation had been mostly fine.

***

Katara saw Azula relax as they flew off, and concluded she must not like her nation much more than Sokka did.

Considering what happened to her brother, Katara saw the sense in that.

But more importantly - they would be back in the Earth Kingdom by nightfall, and she had to teach Azula how to cook.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

Lieutenant Jee stared up at the Fire Lord's portrait with distaste.

He was not legally allowed to remove it from the ships study, but oh, how he loathed that portrait.

The door burst open, and he stared at his crewmate. Why in Agni-

"Yes Aikam?" He asked. 

"Um... I have some news about a dead sage at Crescent Island - and reports say the Avatar was just there."

What.

He grabbed the letters out of Aikam's hands.

As he read them, understanding filled him. Azula had nearly been ousted as an ally of the Avatar.

"What do we do Captain Jee?"

Agni, he wrinkled his nose. Nope. Never getting used to that title.

"Hm." He grunted, now understanding the princess more than ever. He hated leadership.

He looked at Aikam. "Tell the crew to be alert. It doesn't seem she was recognized by anyone who still draws breath, but we must proceed with great caution. Someone may be playing coy, or withholding information until an opportunity."

Aikam nodded. "Yes sir."

As his crewmate left the study, he glanced at the portrait, before walking out himself.

He was going to do buisness from the deck for now.

Anything was better than looking at that face.

(As he read over the reports, he couldn't help but think of his own daughter, just a year younger than the princess.

He hadn't been a fan of The Fire Lord before this journey. Now, his hatred was fueled with a passion.

He couldn't wait to watch the Avatar win.)

Chapter Text

1...

2,  3, 4,    5.

Azula opened her eyes to see Zuko's room again.

It had been two days since Crescent Island, and she had hoped the dreams would stop.

They didn't.

Keep moving.

No, she was sick of this - she was sick of going back to Crescent Island in her dreams.

So she did what she had been doing the last two evenings.

She tried to wait the voice out.

(It kept getting louder louder LOUDER-)

KEEP MOVING KEEP MOVING MOVE KEEP MOVING   MOVE MOVE-

She ripped the covers off of herself and slammed her hands over her ears in agony.

The voice paused, then, more gently, urged her,  keep moving.

She wanted to scream, but it seemed she had no voice in this dreamscape.

She hated sleeping now.

Looking down, she noted with shock that for the first time, she was wearing her armor rather than the white ceremonial robes. She paused, but chose to ignore it in favor of following the voice.

She ran through the halls, ignoring the phantoms in seemingly every room, until she went through the door to the east wing-

But froze. Because she was actually in the East Wing.

Not Crescent Island.

But there weren't as many doors as there should be - only one door.

She hated this door. And she knew-

Slowly, and filled with anxiety, she walked forward.

Her hand was shaking as she opened the old and creaky door to Lu Ten's room.

Inside was a figure, but it was not her cousin. Not even a phantom of her cousin.

A large stone recreation of Avatar Roku stood before her.

His eyes lit up, and she jerked backwards.

Why did you not come to see me?

She-

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

Azula sat up with a gasp, her heart racing.

She breathed deeply, trying to remember what on earth she had been dreaming about that was so frightening.

Her dreams had been fractured and frustrating ever since her visit to the Spirit World.

She hated that her uncle may have been onto something with all his nonsense about Spirits, but she knew Hei Bei had done something to her. Or perhaps, something had happened during her day in the Spirit World.

Azula had never fought with her memory before. She hated this.

But since going to Crescent Island, her ability to rise with the sun had at least been restored. Sleeping through a sunrise had been one of the worst mornings she'd had in far too long.

She listened for a moment, and concluded her companions were also asleep. Good.

Summer's end.

She had not been made privvy to the plans for Sozin's Commet yet, but she should have figured out the deadline before Roku told Aang.

Roku...

The pain that split her head open was familiar, and she swiftly forgot all thoughts of recalling her dream.

She was not entirely unaqianted with night terrors, but they had not haunted her so consistently for years. It had been two nights since they went to Crescent Island, and her dreams of the Spirit World still hung over her like a plague.

She could no longer fall asleep until she had spent hours meditating, and she hated this.

She missed Zuko.

She even missed those stupid turtleducks.

She forced her chest to go through the motions of deep breaths, and prepared herself for the day.

***

For once, Sokka woke up before Katara. Aang was even still snoring.

When he stepped outside, he just saw Azula sitting by the fire with food for them and some berries for Aang.

Since Crescent Island, his breakfast privilages seemed to be restored, but he hadn't been alone with Azula long enough to feel comftorable asking why.

Now that he was alone with her, he still didn't want to ask. So he said something else.

"Why is your fire blue?"

She tilted her head towards him, but didn't turn around. Rude.

He walked up to the fire and sat across from her, then she finally looked at him.

"It burns hotter than red fire," she said.

"So when you were talking about how you started before your brother, are you like, already a master or what?"

Sokka had never seen her smile directed his way, but her mouth twitched and he thought she was trying not too.

"I've been a master since I was thirteen."

His eyes widened. But then he frowned. "Did they make you train, like, all day?"

Her eyes lowered to stare at the fire. "Yes."

"So when did you get to be a kid?"

This time he definently saw a smirk.

"I had my ways."

He decided to take a risk. "Did your brother have his ways?"

Rather than seeing her smirk fade, it shifted into a smile. "We usually teamed up."

"Me and Katara snuck out once and got stuck adrift on an ice raft. Most of the village fishermen had to spend the day looking for us."

Her eyes flew back to him, and she seemed in disbelief. He grinned, trying to get a laugh out of her, but she just let out a sort of airy chuckle.

"That's what I'd expect of you," Azula admitted, but it wasn't biting like before so he just laughed.

Katara came out then, and she seemed utterly lost at the sight before her.

Not even acknowleding her brother, she looked at the fish Azula had actually prepared this time, and smiled.

"You're a fast learner," his sister said, refering to Azula's cooking.

Azula just nodded, and the moment was lost.

Katara then said, "we should go into town today - we're running low on some stuff."

***

Aang stared up at Roku, demanding, "how will I find you?!"

Roku just chuckled.

"Worry not, young one - you will be guided by my own kin."

Aang stared at his psuedo-ancestor.

"What?"

Roku smiled kindly at him. "You are already a master of your own element. You will manage just fine, Avatar Aang."

As Roku faded before Aang's eyes, and he-

***

Aang rolled over and shifted into wakefulness. He groaned as he quickly forgot his dream - Monk Gyatso told him dreams could be important.

He thinks he can recall some of his dreams when he meditates - he'll try that later.

After a few minutes spent trying to wake up further,  he exits the tent to see Azula, Sokka and Katara already out there.

"Hey," he greets them.

Azula nods at him, offering a returning, "Hello."

Katara just smiles his way, and Sokka half-heartedly waves.

"We're going into town soon," Katara said, and Aang nodded.

Trying not to dwell on the dream, he tried to be exited for the market place.

Chapter Text

1-  2 3

"I could teach you some of what I know?" Katara offered to a moping Aang.

Azula was not so out of touch with herself that she didn't understand her own bitterness.

Aang was cracking under the pressure. He was afraid he would be unable to master all the elements in time for the summer, and he was showing that fear to his companions. Like it was nothing.

Azula could not understand these people. They acted as though weakness was something one wore on their sleave. They displayed their emotions without fear. Even the avatar broke down in front of them.

If Azula had conducted herself that way at twelve, such behaviour would have been swiftly burned away.

So she was feeling a tad bitter. Agni strike her down, but she was, and she was uninterested in forcing herself to be graceful within her own mind.

Aang quickly jumped onto Katara's offer, and then they began looking for a large body of water.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sokka asked.

Not wanting to watch Aang play with water either, Azula called out.

"You're with me." She stated. Aang and Katara looked up in surprise.

"Where are we going?" Sokka asked, seeming grateful.

"The market. These two are untrustworthy with money anyway."

She pointedly ignored the indignant sounds coming from the water. She had spoken the truth.

After the two of them stopped by the camp so Azula could change (she wore Earth Kingdom clothing when they went into town), they went off.

They gathered several needed items, and passed by lively vendors that Azula quickly recognized as pirates. Wanting to see rare wares, she pulled Sokka inside.

"Mind your pockets," she murmered to him. He tensed, obviously not understanding who the vendors were.

She glanced around, ignoring the man trying to hype up the stock, and her eyes found-

Ah. That was valuable.

She thought about her options. Then, she marched up and grabbed the scroll.

"Ah!" The pirate said. "That there is two-hundred gold."

Is it now?

She smiled, as sweetly as she could, and said,

"I think it's fifty, and as thanks for the discount, I don't call the Earth Kingdom and tip them off about the pirates here."

Sokka gasped, like the idiot he was, and stared at the pirate, who was red with rage.

"Now listen here-"

Grabbing the coin, she slammed it in front of him. "Take it or don't."

Fuming, but knowing she had called him, the pirate took the money.

Azula got Sokka and got out of there.

"Did you know they were pirates?!" He hissed. "You did! That's why you told me to watch my pockets!"

"Pirates have good wares," she answered. Then, she showed him the scroll. "See?"

Sokka looked at the parchment. When he realised what it was, he seemed uncertain how to react.

"...Katara will love that," he said eventually, his voice a little tight. Azula frowned, uncertain herself how to react to that.

They made their way back to camp in a strange silence that she did not particularly care for.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

Katara and Aang were both ecstatic to discover the scroll.

As they began 'practicing', Azula witnessed a new and entirely unattractive side of Katara.

When the waterbender accidently hit herself in the forehead, Sokka laughed at her as Azula had often laughed at Zuko.

"What's so funny?!" Katara demanded with an uncharactaristic rage.

"I'm sorry, but you deserved that," he said, before turning to Aang. "Good luck getting the scroll from her. She's more interested in teaching herself."

After the other girl accidently hit Momo while yelling at Aang, Azula marched foward and took the scroll from her while Sokka glared at his sister.

"Hey-"

"You're reading it wrong," Azula said flatly as she rolled it up. "I'll show you how to interpret it later when your more reasonable."

Katara sputtered indignantly, but then Sokka called out, "I think you should apologize to Momo."

Katara seemed like she was going to protest, but then Azula said, "I agree. Also, you should apologize to Aang."

Apparently seeing her agree with Sokka was enough to make Katara realise how bad she had been. A guilty look came over her.

"Aang, I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me. But you know what, it won't happen again." Then, leaning down to Momo, Katara patted his head. "I'm sorry, Momo."

While Katara was apologizing, Azula was looking at Sokka. He had been acting strange since the market, and she think she understood now.

Unlike Sokka, her brother was a bender. But Azula was a prodigy, and even though she was younger, she had often been ahead him.

Zuko might have been better at curbing his jelousy, but then, Azula did not try to flaunt her talent in front of him often.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

Later, the following day, Azula asked that Aang and Sokka stay back while she told Katara how to read the scroll properly. Though confused, they agreed.

Down by the river, she confronted Katara.

"How do you think your brother feels about this scroll?"

Katara froze. "Um. Huh?"

"Well, if I couldn't bend and my sibling screamed at me because they were having trouble with their bending, I imagine that would be very hard for me."

For a moment, Katara just stared at her. Then, her face seemed to drop. "Oh."

Azula paused, uncertain what to do now. "I was always better at bending than my brother. We didn't practice together much, unless we were trying to teach each other something. That didn't happen often."

Then, she opened the scroll. Before she could start, Katara said, "you don't talk about him much."

This time, Azula froze.

Cautiously, "what do you want to know?"

Katara looked thoughtful. "Is his fire blue too?" She eventually asked.

"No," Azula answered with her eyes on the ground. "It's red."

"What's something you would do with him?"

Azula thought about what she could say. "He liked feeding these turtleducks close by where we lived. I'd go with him."

In all truth, she had seldom done so - but it happened often enough she didn't feel this was a lie.

Katara smiled. She didn't ask anything else, so Azula slowly moved on to the scroll.

Though she obviously could not display the waterbending forms perfectly, she walked Katara through the motions. The other girl seemed utterly ecstatic when she got them right, and after three, Azula paused.

The forth form looked remarkably similar to one of her firebending katas. She wondered-

Looking up, she saw Katara waiting for her. So, she walked her through the forth form. After Katara got it, she decided to try what she wanted.

"This one is very similar," she said, pretending to be showing Katara the fifth form. She instead displayed her own firebending form, and Katara-

She did it perfectly. Just- with water instead of fire. 

Azula stared for a moment, apparently making Katara self-concious. "What's wrong?" she asked, "did I not do it right?"

"You did fine," Azula said, debating coming clean.

Azula looked at the scroll. Could it go both ways? Could she try these forms with fire?

She looked back at Katara. If I tell the truth, she considers, it'll be easier to teach Katara some katas. She'll be able to defend herself better.

Azula wasn't certain why that mattered to her now, but she knew as soon as she thought it that yes, it was important for Katara to know how to defend herself.

"That wasn't on the scroll," she confessed. Katara frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"That last form was a firebending one."

Katara looked at her for a moment, then down at the scroll. 

"But it- it was just like the one before?"

"I know," Azula says, "that's why I tried it."

"So-" Katara ran over to her. "So, can you do these with fire?"

Azula almost shrugged - but caught herself. She had spent too much time in uncivil company. "I could try."

To her surprise, Katara seemed incredibly excited.

"Let's go tell Aang!" She exclaimed, taking off in the direction of camp.

After a brief hesitation, Azula took off in suit.

Chapter Text

1,  2

"So you have found nothing since Crescent Island?" Iroh flatly asked his navigator, Yaisu.

"I- I am very sorry, sir - it would seem the avatar is quite effecient at evasive maneuvers."

Iroh gazed at the desk between them for a moment, leaning back into his chair. He had not thought it would be so difficult to track down the avatar with connections such as his own, but it was proving much more difficult than he had anticipated.

"Hm..." He considered his options.

He did not like the conclusion that he had come too, but it seemed he needed to change his strategy.

His eyes slid to his correspondence drawer.

He and his niece had not spoken since she was sent out to find the avatar. Recently, he had wondered... well, perhaps he should not be trying to do this completely in the dark.

If he could just perhaps he could talk Azula. He could explain his plan, and once she heard his plans to welcome Zuko home, she may be open to it.

"Have you had any luck with locating Princess Azula?"

His navigator nodded vigorously, seeming excited to finally have an affirmative answer. "Yes sir! I believe we know what port her ship will stop next!"

Iroh resisted the urge to sigh, and nodded at Yaisu. "Set a course, then. Where will it be?"

"The earth kingdom, sir!"

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

Acting Captian Jee had indeed been favouring communal and Earth Kingdom ports to avoid other Fire Nation Military.

Oblivious to the ship that was planning to intercept them, he thought to himself, hey, I'm getting the hang of this Captain thing!

3

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Zuko whispered. He wasn't looking at her, but he knew the rustling that followed was her nodding. 

"The campsight should be around here somewhere!" She hissed back.

A few moments later, they found what they were looking for. But it wasn't-

"That's more than we thought," Zuko admitted. They could still try but... this was supposed to be an intel run. They didn't want too much attention for taking out a big campsight like this.

"Let's regroup," Suki said.

As they were trying to creep away, the soldiers suddenly noticed them. They turned and tried to run back the way they came, but the firebending soldiers set fire to the plants behind them.

“Shit!” Suki yelled, ducking down to avoid being touched by the flames.

The two turned to face the soldiers, and ok, apparently they were fighting again today. No, Zuko’s pride was not hurt by being seen at all, He Was Fine-

He quickly drew his dao swords, ready to block a fire ball with them.

A glance at Suki said she was ready, too.

“Let us go and we won’t hurt you,” she said before he could.

“You hurt us?” The soldiers asked, and he got ready to charge-

-something hits the soldier on the back of the head and knocks him out. Zuko darts a confused glance to Suki.

“Did you-“ Zuko starts to ask, but then-

“Look!” Suki points to the trees, and the soldiers seem to come to the same realisation as the start shouting and aiming at the trees. Taking advantage of the distraction, Zuko darts forward and knocks another soldier out.

Coming up on a soldier from behind, he slashes at a chink in their armor by the right thigh, and when they cry in pain he kicks them in the back of the knee to knock the down, then swings around to build momentum and hits them in the head with his elbow.

After he hits the guy, he looks up and sees someone else who had been ready to take them out. A guy, about his age, with shaggy brown hair and- a piece of grass in his mouth? Why?

His tunic seems like it was originally a few different shirts that had been sewn together, and he had shoulder pads it looked like he had carved for himself.  He has an eyebrow raised.

“You’re quick.” He notes, and Zuko doesn’t like the way this stranger is sizing him up.

His eyes dart toward movement behind the other guy’s shoulder, and as if following Zuko’s gaze, he quickly turns in time to dodge another soldier’s fire ball. Zuko himself sidesteps to avoid it, and turns his whole body towards the soldier to fight, but the other guy charges forward and beats him too it, and he seems to be handling himself fine. He takes the guy out in almost the same way as Zuko had taken down the last one- except, well, it seems like it’s more personal for him, and his hand kind of twitches afterwards like he wants to hit the guy again even though he’s unconscious.

And, like, yeah, Zuko’s done worse, but- he doesn’t know this guy and he doesn’t know how much this guy wants to be hitting them after their unconscious.

Zuko resists the urge to frown, and meets Suki’s eyes across the clearing. We need to leave.

She gives him a small nod, then fakes a smile. Play nice until then.

The shoulder-pad-grass-eating-murderer turns to look at him with a grin that looks genuine, like he’s proud, and he says, casually as you please, “hey.”

Zuko takes a deep breath, keeping his face blank. Play nice.

“Hey,” he returns, and he feels like an idiot because he’d already thought it sounded dumb when the weird boy said it.

“Not that we don’t appreciate it,” Suki says, trying to keep the boy and all his companions in her line of sight, “but we could have handled that.”

She said it casually, and her face was friendly enough, but Zuko knew she was trying to get information. He approved very much.

“My name is Jet,” Jet said just as casually as Suki, his eyes sliding back to Zuko. “And these are my Freedom Fighters,” he gestured to the group of kids behind him, naming them “Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak.”

Zuko squinted at the largest of the group being labelled Pipsqueak. Was that a joke?

“And your names?” He asked them, glancing at Suki, but yet again fixing his gaze on Zuko, and what the hell-

Oh, he realised, and it took a lot of effort not to physically twitch when he realised what that heat in Jet’s eyes was.

He was shutting that down, and they were getting out of here. Or preferably, they were getting out of here before he had to do anything.

“I’m Suki,” his friend took over, and by the protective step she took in his direction, she had figured it out too. That alone sent a cool ease of relief through him. She gestured in his direction, “-this is Lee.”

Chapter Text

1, 2-

Zuko hated this.

Jet, the fucking freak, had insisted they go to his camp to regroup and rest.

Right. Sure. Good grief.

He let a tight breath out through his nose, actively stopping sparks from escaping his fingers in frustration.

Suki stepped a little closer to him. Just enough to catch his attention. He met her eyes, which were full a reassurance.

We got this, her eyes said.

He gave a small nod.

They had this.

Jet tried to help him with the rope, but he was very quick to say no to that.

As they walked through the camp, which Zuko hated to admit was very well-hidden, he focused on controlling his breathing. He had a really bad feeling about this.

"What's with the masks?" The archer asked Suki. She shrugged at him and made a comment about secret identities. He chose not to comment.

Next to him, he heard Suki asked one of them what they were doing around here.

"We're taking the Fire Nation down!" Pipsqueak yelled. Zuko fought the urge to pinch his nose. What. "We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em."

"That's why we're camping out all the way up here," Jet drawled, leaning against a railing. "It's not just for the view. Gotta make sure the Fire Nation can't catch us."

He grinned proudly, like he was some big-shot criminal. Then Smellerbee piped up, "yeah, they'd LOVE to find you, wouldn't they, Jet!"

I bet anything they would love finding me more, Zuko thought hysterically. He was finding it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town," Jet said dramatically, making even Suki's blank face slip for a moment, showing the discomfort both of them felt around this group of people.

Jet and his friends weren't observant enough to notice.

"Well good luck with that," Zuko eventually said, inching closer to Suki on his right, and further away from Jet.

"We appreciate a place to stay for tonight," Suki said convincingly, "we really gotta get going tomorrow."

Jet's face seemed to darken for a second, but it was gone quickly enough that anyone else might have missed it.

"Why so soon? I was really impressed with you two today - I thought you two might be able to help me on a mission tomorrow!"

For fucks sake- Zuko bit his tongue, trying to find a polite way to decline, when he felt Suki's hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see a considering look on her face.

"You know what," she said, squeezing his shoulder. Stay calm, she was trying to tell him. "That sounds interesting."

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

"Why are we helping them on a mission tomorrow?" Zuko hissed at Suki later that night.

They had insisted on staying together, and if it had made Jet narrow his eyes at Suki, Zuko was more than happy to encourage a little miscommunication.

"Because he was being weird about it. I want to see what these guys are really up to - I don't trust them."

Zuko sighed heavily. "I don't either, but - what could they really be doing that's so bad we need to stop it? I thought we were trying to get intel on the navy, and now we're just gonna pause that for these guys?"

Suki grabbed his hand. "Come on, Lee. If you wanted to put a mission on pause because you had a bad feeling, I wouldn't stop you."

It was the name she used that convinced him. Suki trusted him without knowing his name. He could trust her on this, right?

"OK. But I hate you."

She laughed. "Love you too, asshole."

3

"GUYS!" Katara yelled as she came up to camp, Azula right behind her.

Aang and Sokka looked up from where they were talking.

"Is everything okay?!" Sokka yelled.

"Everything is fine-" Azula was saying, but Katara couldn't help herself-

"Everything is GREAT!" Katara yelled. "Azula taught me a firebending move!"

"WHAT?!" The boys yelled.

Azula stepped up and stopped Katara from another outburst.

"I did not teach her a firebending move," Azula said, "I taught her a firebending form and she mimicked it with waterbending."

"You can do that?" Aang said.

"Azula just found out that we could!" Katara said.

"This is great!" Aang exclaimed, "this means that even after we learn the scroll, Azula can teach us some waterbending before we get to the North Pole!"

"I know!" Katara yelled.

"To be clear," Azula cut in, "you will both be learning the scroll first."

Katara nodded, while Aang groaned.

"But Katara already learned a fire-water form."

Azula narrowed her eyes when Aang said 'fire-water form', but otherwise didn't move. She simply said, "You'll be learning the scroll first," and that was it.

A sort of awkward silence followed after. Katara looked at Aang and Sokka, and realized this was the first time she had talked to them since Azula pointed out her behavior.

"Oh... uh, Aang," she started. Aang looked at her with wide eyes, and she was filled with guilt again. "Aang, I still owe you an apology. You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I went a little crazy, and I'm sorry."

She looked at her brother, knowing he deserved an apology too.. "I'm sorry to you too Sokka."

He looked at her, seeming confused. "For what?"

Katara smiled at him. "For... being a baby whale-seal."

He burst into laughter, and said, "I thought that was your default."

She flicked water at him and he sputtered, then fell to the ground like he was wounded. "Foul! I'm telling Gran-Gran!"

"Gran-Gran's not here!" She yelled, laughing at his antics.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Azula gazing between them, but when she looked up, the other girl had turned away from them.

She felt guilty again for a second, but then Sokka was taking up her attention again, threatening to send a letter back to the South Pole just to tell on her, and she forgot what she had been thinking about.

Chapter Text

1, 2, 3

When Acting Captain Jee heard of another Fire Nation vessel approaching, he knew it was going to be a bad day.

When he saw that the ship, while of Fire Nation origin, was not part of the navy - well he had all of two seconds to feel relieved before he saw who stood at the front of the vessel.

He had never served under Former General Iroh, but he had seen enough portraits of the Dragon of the West to recognize him despite the new lines in his face.

This was easily the worst thing that had happened to the crew since they'd been forced to reject Commander Zhao's "request to serve" (he'd been very grateful for the princess' forethought there).

"Captain?" One of the deckhands asked. Jee let out a small hiss of breath through his teeth, considering.

"Let them come if they request - we will say that Princess Azula is tracking down a lead, and depending on what they want, we will go from there."

"Sir?" Aikam was standing behind him with an inquisitive look on his face. "Would it not be wise to try and evade them? The General is not likely to be in contact with the Fire Lord, and surely the Princess would want us to play safe."

Jee considered this for a moment, then grimly shook his head. "Whether they are on speaking terms or not, the Fire Lord's family is known to be tenacious. I doubt we could lose him."

Aikam and his crew seemed as pleased about this as he was.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

When Iroh departed from his ship onto the port, he half expected his niece to be waiting for him outside her own ship.

When he instead saw a man twice her age, he felt mildly concerned that she knew what he had been up to.

The man's actions did not ease his concerns.

Steping forward, the man faced him with squared shoulder's.

"Sir Iroh," he began, "I am Lieutenant Jee - our Princess and Captain, the esteemed Azula is currently leading an investigation at the orders of the Fire Lord, and is at this moment indesposed. Would you like me to give her a message?"

Well then. That certainly complicated things.

Iroh observed them for a moment. The man's speach was gaurded in formalities - no doubt a quality admired by his niece. Azula was so very practical, after all.

But something was wrong here. It seemed as though they were trying to send him away, and he couldn't have that.

But he also could not blatently refuse, or they would pass that on to Azula, and he needed to see her before she slipped away.

"I have a message," he admitted, "though, it is a very personal matter that should, I think, remain between family. Can you tell me when Princess Azula will return?"

They tensed up at that, and a horrible thought occured to Iroh.

He looked at the men before him - Azula's men - and thought to himself, surely my niece could not be outwitted by these pathetic soldiers?

He looked at the lieutenant, and put a hand on his sword.

"Surely she will return?" He growled out, and watched them tense more. 

"Of course she will," Lieutenant Jee exclaimed, immediatly picking up on what he was implying. He pulled a leter from his coats, holding it out to Iroh. "See for yourself. This is as much as she told us."

Iroh read the letter over. It was entirely formal, and all it said was that Azula was tracking down a lead to find the Avatar. If it was all she told her crew, then probably beleived herself very close to finding him - which meant, as he had suspected, that Azula was farther ahead on her search than he was on his.

He considered this for a moment.

Maybe - maybe he could convince Azula to give him the avatar after she captured him. If he told her of his plans to bring Zuko home, then maybe...

He breathed him deeply. He was adaptable - he could still do this. He just needed to reavaluate.

He handed the letter back to the lieutenant, making a decision as he did so.

If Azula didn't trust her own crew, than niether could he.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

When Azula retired to meditate that evening, she experienced a strange phenominon.

The solitude of her tent, which often provided solace and consolation, was stiffling her.

The people outside of her tent, who she found tedious and simple, seemed to be calling to her. Not literally of course, but she found herself wanting to go back outside and spend more time with them.

Stupid, she told herself, refusing to give in to the strange desire. She doubted she was wanted out there anyway.

She wouldn't be, if they knew who her parents were.

Summoning a flame, she tried to push down the feeling of discontent - these people didn't really matter, after all, this was all about her brother.

Zuko might have gotten along with Sokka, she thought to herself, and the lack of focus made her flame flicker.

She was a perfect prodogy - her flames shouldn't flicker, she shouldn't ever have a single hair out of place. 

(Yesterday when she got back to her tent, she had discovered her hair was messy - no one had told her. Was that because they had been judging her? Or did they just not care? The palace staff would have cared and judged and 'fixed' by ripping out the stray strand - she had to be perfect or else what good was she-)

Her flame flickered again and she grit her teeth in frustration.

Focus, she told herself.

It took hours, but she refused to allow herself to sleep until she had kept a steady flame for a whole hour.

(It never stopped her from dreaming, but if she pretended it helped it was almost like she was still in control.)

Chapter Text

1 2 ,3

Against Zuko's wishes, they stayed the night at Jet's camp (but not before hearing his dumb speech about how the Fire Nation should be scared of them).

The following day, they went on some kind of intel mission. Jet refused to tell them anything ahead of time, and Zuko could tell it grated on Suki's nerves as much as it did his.

When Jet told them to start waiting for someone, Suki took a knife from her belt and planted it into the tree next to her.

"What are you-" Jet started to hiss at her, but Zuko answered first.

"It amplifies vibrations, she's listening to see if anyone comes."

Jet looked mildly impressed by this, but she'd taught Zuko the trick years ago and he had seen it a million times.

"Nothing yet," Suki whispered, then," wait! Someone's coming - just one by the sound."

Jet does a birdcall to the others because he apparently doesn't know wuban code. Zuko shared a frown with Suki, wondering why he was using any code when there was only one person approaching.

"Good work, Suki. Ready your weapon."

They watched in horror as Jet and his freedom fighters accosted the old man like a war criminal.

"Please sir, I'm just a traveler," the elder pleaded as Jet went to knock over his cane-

Before Zuko could step forward, Suki's fan was flying in the air and knocking Jet's sword away. Jet and Pipesqueek whirled around towards Suki, but Zuko turned towards Longshot, Smellerbee, and The Duke (Sneers had stayed back at the 'Hideout', as Jet called it.)

It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. The Duke and Smellerbee were too surprised by this turn of events to put up much of a fight, but Longshot was still in the trees and it took Zuko a second to figure out where he was. He considered using his bending, but he didn't want to do that here, so he improvised. Grabbing Suki's discarded fan, he threw it like she had taught him and knocked Longshot down.

He looked over at Suki - she had Pipesqueek pinned under her, and behind them Jet was groaning on the ground.

"What the fuck," he was saying, but Zuko was helping up the old man (who had ducked to the ground in the chaos) and shooing him away.

"Thank you, thank you," the man was crying, but Zuko just wanted him to leave.

Once that was taken care of, he walked back to Jet, who was still on the ground.

"What the fuck." He said plainly, glaring at the grass-eating bastard below him.

As Jet proccessed what just happened, he shot to his feet. "You-"

Zuko punched him. He fell to the ground like a deadweight.

He turned back to Suki, who was still on top of Pipesqueek, and reaches for her bag at her side to grab her knock-out gas. He holds a clothe of it up to Pipsqueek's nose, and that guy is asleep too.

Longshot is unconsious from falling out of the tree, and The Duke and Smellerbee have run off.

Zuko looks at Suki. "Happy now?"

She beams at him. "Very."

***

They had considered leaving an anonymous tip to Jet's location, but that seemed like overkill.

So they just moved on.

Lee seemed like he was getting more and more anxious the longer they spent on the road, and Suki knew why.

He didn't talk about it, but she knew that before they'd met he had some bad experiences with the Fire Nation. When they started, he told her about one General he'd known to terrorise a town he'd passed through.

But one day after Lee returns to their camp from the market place, he's panting with exertion, clearly having run back.

"What is it?"

"I found the guy I'm looking for. We passed right by him!"

"What?"

"The first ship we ever messed with - it belonged to Zhao."

He showed her the letter he had intercepted. It was written in the language of the Fire Nation, but she knew how to translate.

The letter - which was indeed addressed from a Zhao - was a request to re-route towards primarily Fire Nation ports, as he had been 'accousted' at an Earth Kingdom port - the same port her and Lee had passed by about a month before. It was addressed to the Fire Lord's palace in Caldera.

"OK," she nodded. "Well that's good then! We have a lead."

But Lee was frowning.

"What? What is it, Lee?"

His frown deepened. "This guy... he's really dangerous, you know. We need to be careful about this."

She had rarely seen her friend so serious.

"We will be," she agreed easily, blissfully ignorant towards what was about to come their way.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

"Do you guys ever feel like she's hiding from us?" Sokka asked after Azula went to her tent for the night.

To his shock, Katara and Aang nodded. He expected Katara to disagree.

"Yeah... she seems a bit nervous about trusting us." Aang said, sounding heartbroken by this fact.

"Well, she grew up in the Fire Nation - it's probably hard to trust anyone there. Especially since she disagrees with the war," Katara pointed out, and that just... that broke Sokka's heart a little bit.

He hadn't trusted Azula until the Hei Bai incident - but after that, it had been laughably easy. She was quickly becoming one of the coolest people he knew. Sure, she was an firebender - but the fact that her fire was blue somehow made it easier to view her as different. Since seeing it at Crescent Island, he couldn't get over how different it was to the firebending he had seen before. The fact it had never been aimed his way probably helped.

She'd started correcting his form when he practiced fighting. Apparently she had trained herself in hand to hand combat. If he hadn't seen her in a fight, he probably would have been embarassed at having a girl help him - but since the girl helping him could probably take the Avatar down, he felt better about it.

The point is, he trusted Azula.

Why didn't Azula trust them?

Maybe, like Katara said, it was from growing up in the Fire Nation. That didn't make him feel better though.

"Remember when she said someone tried to kill her brother like it was no big deal?" He remembered. Aang hadn't been there for that conversation, and his eyes widened to a comical degree.

"WHAT?!" He shouted, and both Sokka and Katara shushed him, glancing nervously towards Azula's tent.

"What?" He repeated, whispering this time.

"Azula said that she had to smuggle her brother out of the Fire Nation to keep him safe," Katara confirmed.

Aang frowned. "But isn't she like, your age? Her brother would've been a kid..."

"So would she," Sokka muttered unhappily. If someone had tried to kill Katara a few years ago, he would've had no idea how to smuggle her to safety.

"That's kind of sad," Aang said, looking like he wanted to march into Azula's tent and give her a hug. "When we first met her, she told me her brother was attacked, but she didn't tell me that someone tried to kill him."

Aang said 'kill' like it was a curse. Maybe he thought it was.

"Don't say anything to her," Sokka hissed. "She'll get weird and never tell us anything ever again."

"OK, fine!" Aang groaned. Sokka didn't trust him at all.

Chapter Text

1, 2 , 3

Against her will, Azula felt herself shiver as she woke up.

Not because she was cold - a firebender of her capabilities didn't get cold, but because of whatever she had been dreaming about. She grit her teeth as she felt all memories of the dream slip away from her, as they always did.

She let out a small groan of frustration, then clapped her hands over her mouth as she realised what she had done. Princesses do not sigh or groan, but bear their frustrations with grace, that was what Ozai had taught her.

She may not care for her father, but she knew if she snuffed everything he said than the Fire Nation would turn on her once she returned. She was getting sloppy.

She wanted to sigh again, or go back to sleep, but she knew better than to allow herself such luxuries. Instead, she prepared herself for the day, taking care to wear Earth Kingdom clothing as she knew they would be going to town today.

She had slept without her wrist cuffs last night, and when she put them back on she felt a little better about herself. Leaving the tent, she was dissapointed to see a sky full of clouds. A storm was approaching, it seemed.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

Aang groaned as he blinked his eyes open.

He had been having these dreams sporadically ever since talking to Avatar Roku, but he could never seem to remember them when he woke up.

"Hello Aang," a familiar voice greeted him, and he shot up.

In his other dreams, he was talking to Roku on Crescent Island, but now-

He was home. Or, in his old home, anyway - he was in the Southern Air Temple. But the way it had once been, with the faint voices of other air nomads in the distance, and a ground free of dust and debree.

(He didn't have a home now, because this Temple was a graveyard...)

Monk Gyatso was in front of him.

Aang felt like he couldn't breathe.

"...is this real? Or is it just a normal dream?"

Gyatso gave him a paternal smile that made him feel lightheaded. "Can you not tell me, Avatar?"

He almost flinched. Or, he almost stopped himself from flinching, but couldn't quite manage to refrain.

"Please don't call me that."

He didn't want Gyatso, of all people, to call him that.

"I'm sorry," the other monk said. He sounded like he meant it.

"Why am I here?" He asked.

"Well, you aren't really. Can you tell me why?"

Aang almost screamed at him when he realised what was being asked. But he was never very good at being angry with people.

"I never meant to leave - I just wanted some space, and then-"

Well he had gotten his space. A century worth of space, even.

"I know you didn't mean to leave, Aang."

Aang wanted to cry. He probably should be happy that he had another chance to talk to Gyatso, but he didn't know what he felt right now.

"Why am I here?"

"The same reason I am. Because there is a problem, Aang, and I would like to help you with it. You shouldn't be able to accidently enter the Spirit World, and certainly not in your dreams."

Aang stared. "What?"

"No matter how much time passes, I will always find myself worrying about your well-being. That is why I am here to warn you of dangers to come. Please, Aang, listen carfully to what I have to tell you..."

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

"So what's the plan?" Suki asks.

They had made their way towards the port where General Zhao was likely going to stop at next. Now, they just needed to figure out a way to nuetralize him.

Lee considered. "Okay, let's try this-"

First, they would wait until the crew left the ship for a brief shore leave, then they would sneak onboard and tamper with the engine.

"That'll only slow him down," Suki tried, but Lee was already talking about that. While Zhao was waiting on repairs, they would take him out and turn him in to the Earth Kingdom authorities in Ba Sing Se.

It seemed easy enough, but Lee seemed nervous.

"It'll be fine," she tried to assure.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

After the rest of the crew left the ship, Zhao remained on board and in his quarters. He didn't feel good about leaving the ship after last time, and was rewarded for that choice when he heard banging coming from the engine room.

He ran towards the noise, throwing the door open and shooting a fireball inward. There were two figures inside, one in red garb and the other in blue - he had gotten the red one.

The other whirled around with a shout, but he had already run forward and grabbed hold of the red figure. The blue figure threw down something that filled the room in some sort of powder, but he was too busy slamming the red figure into the engine to knock them unconcious.

He looked up, searching for the blue figure, but by the time the powder disapated and he could properly see, they were gone.

No matter, he thought, looking at his new prisoner with no small measure of glee. Perhaps this one knows something of the Avatar.

4

He only made it about twenty paces from the ship before realising Suki wasn't with him anymore.

The realisation left him nearly hysterical with panic.

He wanted to shout for her, but if she hadn't followed him it was because she couldn't.

I gotta get her back-

He needed a plan - he needed - he needed-

(He missed Azula-)

"Focus," he hissed at himself, because he needed to help Suki.

He could do this. He could do this.

(He had to be able to do this...)

Chapter Text

1, 2 ,3

Suki never gave much thought to the Spirit World. She didn't much like the idea of fate.

But she did believe in the people around her, and she believed in her friends.

So when she woke up and realised she had been taken prisoner, it was not the Spirits she dedicated her prayers too, but Lee.

Find me, she thought. Get me out of here.

***

Zuko, donning his blue spirit mask, followed the caravan Suki was held in - it was on it's way to the Pohuai Stronghold, but hopefully it wouldn't make it that far.

The biggest problem was that Zhao himself was traveling with the transport.

He followed from the treeline, trying to figure out what to do.

He couldn't let them get to wherever they were taking Suki, that much he knew, but he was trying to figure out how to sabatoge them without killing anyone and without bending. It was becoming steadily apparent that he would need to compromise on one of those two things.

He could do this. He needed to do this.

He missed Azula.

He took a small throwing knife from his tunic, and aimed for the reins connecting the wagon to the animal pulling it.

The wagon lurched and he jumped onto the roof, dropping directly onto the driver and tackling him to the ground. The soldiers following behind the wagon charge towards him. There's four of them, but only two of them try to throw fire at him. Pulling his dao blades out, he uses them to deflect the fire, running forward and giving the first bender a shallow stab in the leg. When they keel over he kicks them in the head, bringing his sword up to his face to deflect another onslaught of fire.

He runs to the other bender, wanting to take him out too, but the two non-benders are suddenly in front of him. He tries to take them both on, but it's not exactly an easy task while dodging fire balls from the third guy. Panicking, he shoots his own fire ball towards the other bender, knocking him into the wagon and effectively putting him out of commission. 

The two non-benders freeze for a second, and he takes full advantage of that in order too knock them out, but then-

Zhao opens the curtain at the front of the wagon, looking utterly furious, and as soon as he sees Zuko, he throws fire at him, and Zuko doesn't have time to dodge, so he throws his own fire back in order to deflect.

Zhao pauses, his eyes hard now. "So not only a criminal, but a traitor too?"

And Zuko - he doesn't have time to panic about this right now.

A force seems to knock Zhao out of the wagon and onto the ground, and Zuko rushes forward to try and knock him out, but as soon as he's close Zhao's hand darts out. Fire hits his abdomen, and when he doubles over in pain, Zhao almost manages to get ahold of Zuko's mask.

But then Suki is bursting out of the wagon too, and she delibrately lands on Zhao's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Zuko kicks him in the head, using one hand to clutch at his stomach where Zhao burned him. Zhao is only dazed, and Zuko-

He looks at Suki, wondering how she'd feel if they just...

"Are you ok?" he asks first, because he'd been half out of his mind with worry ever since she was taken. She nods, looking at him deeply. Even with his mask on, he knows she can sense his tension.

Zhao groans from the ground. "Such a coward. You can't even kill me properly." 

Before Zuko can do anything, Suki stomps on his face. There's an audible crack as Zhao's nose breaks.

Suki looks at him, a question on her face. Despite himself, Zuko tenses. He knows they should, that they need to, that Zhao is dangerous. He's just never been very good at killing people.

"I can do it," Suki says, because she knows him too well. Zuko hands her his sword. They'll need to get her new fans, and probably a new mask, but for now she can use his sword.

He feels like a coward for it, but he still looks away when Suki brings the blade down.

◇ > < ◇ > < ◇

"What's wrong with your stomach?" Suki asks him later as they're making camp.

He grimaces, trying to hide it, but she clocks his reaction immediatly.

"Lee, c'mon," she says, and his stomach drops. Even before getting burned, he'd felt like there was a pit in his stomach. Reluctantly, he shows her the burn. When she immediatly rushed over to help him, the guilt he had been sitting with depened.

She could have died today, and she wouldn't have known his real name. It made him feel guilty, yes, but more than that, it made him feel alone. Like if he died tomorrow, everyone would miss Lee, but not him, not Zuko.

(Azula would have missed him.

Azula wasn't here.)

When he had laid down with his shirt up, Suki helping to treat the burns, the tension inside him seemed to snap.

"I need to tell you something," he started. She stared at him, and his throat went dry. But he needed to tell her, she needed to-

Spirits, what if she hates me? He couldn't help but think.

He kept talking anyways.

"My name-" he hesitated. "My name isn't Lee."

Suki's hands froze where she was applying the burn ointment. Her eyes flew to his face, shock written all over her own.

"What?" She asked weakly.

"My name is Zuko," he whispered. "I was born in the Fire Nation-"

And it all spilled out of him then. That he had been born in Caldera, not in the colonies. That his dad was Ozai. That his dad tried to kill him. That his sister saved him, and he loved her more than anything. That he only stayed at Kioshi because he was so tired of living on the run. That she was a big reason he stayed as long as he did.

She was silent through most of it, though she flinched when she found out about his dad - both who he was and what he had done.

It wasn't a comforting silence. And it persisted after his confession was finished.

"...do you believe me?" He couldn't help but ask.

She nodded, a numb look on her face. "...I believe you," she whispered.

And, because he was a masochist at heart - "do you hate me?"

She met his eyes, and was silent for a terrifying moment.

"I think... your dad is the worst, and I really hate him." She said first, grabbing his hand. "I think I'm pissed off you didn't tell me sooner," she added. "But I also think you're my best friend, and I couldn't hate you if I tried."

A breathless laugh escaped him as he squeezed her hand back. She flashed a small grin at him.

"Your sister sounds fucking cool, though."

Zuko couldn't help but smiled back. "I think she'd like you. I mean, not at first, she doesn't like anyone at first, but y'know. Once she got to know you."

Suki gave his hand one last squeeze, before going back to applying the burn ointment. "I'll make her like me."

Chapter Text

1, 2,  3

Azula firmly resisted the urge to rest her face in her hands, as it would surely be an unacceptable gesture, despite the releif it would bring. Trying to keep calm, she corrected Aang's form again.

Sighing is most undignified, she reminded herself. Normally she had absolutely no desire to partake in undignified behaviour. However... she found herself wishing to do so frequently since she started teaching Aang and Katara the scroll. Katara was far less aggrivating, in fact it seemed to Azula that Katara was a quite excellent student.

Aang, by contrast, was far more aggrivating. He was distractible, and more arrogant than she would have thought. As soon as he could technically perform a move, he wanted to move on rather than perfect his form. Azula was nothing if not keen on details, and she found her patience waning quickly with his attitude. 

She thought Katara could tell, by the concerned glances the other bender kept sending her. While Katara was undoubtedly well-intentioned, these glances were also aggrivating, and overall Azula was displeased with everyone this morning. 

After a few minutes, during which she had to correct Aang's form three more times, she decided that she could better address the issue the following day.

"That's enough," she finally proclaimed. "We're done for today."

Before she even finished talking, she was already walking away. Her chest twisted at her own rudeness, but she needed a break and these peopel were rude to her all the time, they could forgive her this one break in decorum, she hoped thought to herself.

"Um, ok?" She heard one of them say behind her, sounding confused.

She kept walking until she found herself back at camp. Sokka was attemptimg to cook lunch back at camp, and it seemed he was coming along with his skills. In a most unusual turn of events, she had been finding him much more tolerable lately. It was entirely due to the fact that she was not teaching him anything (though she did correct his form on occasion when he practiced his meager fighting skills).

Azula was doing her best to be a proficient teacher, but found herself struggling to maintain her temper. Undoubtedly, this issue stemmed from the sensitivities of her current company. At the palace when Azula made a mistake, she found herself with bruises or even minor burns to show for it. Mistakes did not happen often with her.

Yet she could tell that with Katara and Aang, they would not react as well to such corrections as Azula had learned to. This left her with mostly verbal corrections, which she could tell did not stick with them in the same way.

It did not bode well for when she would need to teach Aang firebending.

Entering her tent, Azula situated herself to meditate. She had a lot to think about.

◇ > < ◇ > < ◇

When he saw Azula approaching the camp, Sokka opened his mouth to say hi, but she just marched into her tent. 

He couldn't leave the stew he was making yet, so he thought he might check on her later. After a few minutes, Aang and Katara came back too, both looking put out.

He grimaced. "I take it practice went well?"

Katara huffed a sigh, well Aang looked down.

"I think it was my fault - I kept trying to do tricks and she kept telling me to stop-"

"She just left without any warning!" Katara interrupted, seeming much more frustrated.

"I mean... we did train for two hours before that," Aang offered, ever the mediator. Sokka offered a small smile to him, the looked at his sister.

"I know you're excited to finally learn Katara, but she is our age - she's probably never taught anyone before."

Katara sighed again before plopping down on the ground. "I just feel like I'm already a decade behind on my bending, you know?"

He didn't, but he could sympathise - he felt like he should be a better fighter by now sometimes.

Sitting down next to his sister, he tried again, "she's kind of fussy sometimes you know, I bet she gets annoyed when things don't go her way. Reminds me of someone," he added, giving her a wry smile.

She shoves his shoulder, but she's smiling when she does it. "Shut up."

Aang sits down next to them on Katara's other side. They keep talking for a while, and serve up lunch. Sokka decides he should be the one to get Azula.

He goes to her tent and clears his throat loudly, not wanting to just barge in. "Azula? It's lunchtime if you're hungry."

He hears fabric shuffling, then Azula emerges. She gives him a look that's almost a smile (she doesn't like to smile, they've all noticed), and thanks him for getting her.

Then they all eat together. It's mostly silent, but it's also comftorble.

Then Azula breaks the silence. "We're at least halfway to the northpole..."

They all look at her. She looks at them, like she's waiting for them to understand what she means. 

She seems to be bracing herself for whatever she's about to say. "The Northern Water Tribe may be... displeased with my presense. I've been thinking about the best way to handle it."

It took all of them a minute to understand. By now Sokka really just thought of Azula as his friend first, and a firebender second. But the Northern Water Tribe didn't know her, and they might not welcome her with open arms.

"We can just tell them the truth!" Aang said with a smile, and Sokka shared a look with Katara. At times like this, it really showed that Aang had grown up in a much more peacefull time.

"Or..." Sokka said, "we can tell them you're from the colonies, and we picked you up along the way."

Katara was already nodding, and Azula's shoulders relaxed a fraction, but then-

"You wanna lie?" Aang said, looking every bit his age. He was only a few years younger, but sometimes the difference felt like a decade.

"Aang," Katara said, taking one of his hands. "You don't seem to understand. Even if we say she's on our side, the Northern Water Tribe won't welcome someone from the Fire Nation. They could take her prisoner, or even kill her. And if we helped, they might not want to teach us anything. This is for the greater good."

Aang seemed shocked at Katara's words, but Sokka watched as they sunk in and Aang started to nod. "Oh... I didn't know it was that bad." He seemed to think on it for a minute before nodding. "O-ok. We can say she's from the colonies."

Azula was nodding before a strange expression came over her. "I... did not mean to bring the mood down."

Katara laughed. "It's ok! It's good for us to talk about it before we get there."

After a few more minutes and a few more topic changes, the mood found itself back once more.

***

"She broke your arm to stop you from leaving?!" Suki demanded, and Zuko laughed harder.

"No! She just pushed me and forgot we were on the roof! I know what it sounds like but I swear on Kyoshi it was an accident!"

Suki just snorted at him. "Your sister is cutthroat."

Now that she knew the truth, Suki had been asking him almost non-stop questions about his sister. She'd always thought he was an only child like her, so now that she knew about Azula she wanted to know everything.

And Zuko hadn't been able to talk about his sister for four years, and even before that he wasn't allowed to brag about her or talk about how much they cared about each other. Point being, he loved the excuse.

"You know, once I got back from the trip she showed me a whole bunch of secret passage ways she'd found while I was gone. It made sneaking around so much easier."

"You said you made swords with that Piando guy, are those the same ones you have now?"

"They sure are!" He grinned at her. She grinned back.

"You know... I think Zuko suits you way better then Lee ever did."

Taking a deep breath, Zuko basked in the fact that his best friend finally knew his name.

Chapter Text

3, 2, 1

Iroh looks down at the letter in his hands, torn between satisfaction and trepidation.

It seemed Zhao was dead - which, in theory, was wonderful news.

The problem lies in the circumstances of his death.

The "Two Spirits" as they were now known, had been on his radar for some time. The vigilantes in theatre masks.

They weren't really spirits, Iroh was certain of that given how much they were deigning to interfere in the affairs of humans. But they certainly had a reputation.

He had not yet managed to find a lead on his niece, so he supposed this was as good of an intimation as any.

Iroh studied the masks they were wearing on the wanted posters. They looked familiar.

Since his injury, he had not gone to the theatre. The old seats and chilled atmosphere could irritate his leg almost as badly as the sea. But Iroh would be hard pressed to forget his nephews favorite play. He stared down at the masks of the Dark Water Spirit and the Dragon Emporor, and unwillingly recalled memories of Zuko and Azula reinacting the play.

I can do this, he told himself.

you can't do anything, whispered back a painfully familiar voice. The voice of the one ghost he could never be rid of.

Azula stared at the messenger hawk from Jee.

There was only one possible reason she could fathom that Iroh would be looking for her, and she was displeased with the conclusion she came too.

Iroh was hunting the Avatar.

The Dragon of the West was hunting the Avatar.

The words she uttered then were far from dignified, but she felt they were appropriate for such an inconvenience as this.

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

"I've just recieved a message from my crew," she began. "We have a problem."

Katara, who Azula had deemed the most tolerable of the lot, perked up with attention. In contrast, Sokka sighed with a great deal more exhaustion than Azula felt he was entitled too, while Aang muttered "what else is new," with negligible urgency.

She allowed herself to scowl at the boys, before turning her attention completely towards Katara. "Have you ever heard of the Dragon of the West?"

To her utter shock, none of their faces changed aside from a small furrow in Katara's brow. 

"Sorry Azula," the waterbender began, "but our village never got a lot of updates on the war, especially not after Dad left."

"And I've been in an iceberg for a while. Not many letters," Aang admitted with a sheepish expression.

Azula filed away Katara's comment about her father leaving to address later, and sat down with the rest of the group.

"I suppose I should fill you all in then."

◇ > <◇ > < ◇

In a forest so dense you could hardly see the sky, two figures were shrouded in mist - one of them dressed in red, the other in white.

"This isn't working," The red one stated. He was shorter than the white figure, and so much younger. Too young, probably.

"You want to give up on her?"

"Of course not, but we can't just keep doing the same thing over and over again. We need to figure something else out."

"I have some ideas,"  a new voice joined them. When they turned around, they were greeted by the sight of a new figure in orange. "If it helps," the newcomer continued, "I have an old friend who may want to assist us."

The figure in red was untrusting of this, but the white figure simply smiled. "Yes - I quite think I know who you mean."

Chapter Text

3,  2,  1 -      3

Aang didn't know where he was, but he knew it felt safe.

How did he get here again?

He was standing on what appeared to be a  large sundial, but the gnoman was missing, so there was nothing to cast a shadow on the symbols.

Looking around, the dial he stood on was surrounded on all sides by white sand, going as far as the eye could see. It was night time, with the full moon shining down, but he felt surprisingly warm.

"Hello Avatar Aang," a kind voice spoke from behind him.

Turning around, he saw a familiar face clothed in white. The man's expression was tired, and he looked tense.

"Avatar Roku?" Aang couldnt help but feel surprise. "How are you here?"

"When you visited Crescent Island, the place where I honed my skills, I was able to establish a mental connection with you. You are, after all, the bridge between worlds."

Roku still seemed tense. There was something he wasn't saying, Aang realised.

"What's wrong?"

Despite his tension, the white figure gave a genuine smile when faced with Aang's concern.

"With the current state of the world, it may consume less of your time to ask me what is right. But I think with your help, things can be made better."

"You already told me-"

"This is not about the war. You are doing your very best to fix that, I'm well aware. No, Avatar Aang, I require your help with a family matter."

Looking behind his predecessor, Aang saw a figure clothed in red approaching.

"So, he's your uncle?"

Zuko sighed. He was done with this shit.

"Yes."

"And, he's hunting the Avatar now?"

"Yes."

"So we're planning on attacking your uncle, because he's hunting the Avatar, but not your sister whose doing the same thing?"

He knew it didn't make sense. Zuko was well aware that his bias towards Azula was showing, but he didn't care. He couldn't bring himself to fight his sister, but he could fight Iroh if he had too.

(He'd still end up pulling his punches, but he didn't tell Suki this.)

Sitting in her own tent, Azula was forced towards an unpleasant conclusion.

She didn't know what to do.

Though she'd deny it to her final breath, this was a familiar feeling.

She hadn't known what to do when her father was crowned, she hadn't known what to do when her mother scolded her, and she didn't know what to do now.

She hated it. It made her want to scream and burn things, which she couldn't do, because she was perfect, and perfect princesses don't throw tantrums.

(They also don't slouch, don't smile, don't speak or breathe or eat or give any indication that they're even alive-)

She sucked in a breath that was too unsteady, too unstable, and tried to calm down her too-fast heart.

She was perfect, she was fine, everything was fine.

She heard movement outside the tent.

"Azula?" A voice called. It was Katara. "Lunch is ready, whenever you want it."

She steeled herself. She could do this. She was fine.

Setting her shoulders back, Azula left the tent.

"Aang's taking a nap," Sokka explained once she was out there.

"Who is this?" Aang asked Roku as a figure garbed in red approached them.

When the red figure removed their hood, Aang saw that it was a boy not much older than him.

"Hello, Avatar Aang. My name is Lu Ten."

Chapter Text

four years earlier....

 

"Hold the line!" He screamed at them. His men tighten up their ranks

He's running around the field, trying to keep everything together, but he has to keep dodging boulders and fire balls.

Most of the younger recruits were already dead. Lu-Ten tried not to think about all the letters he'd have to send to families.

A heavy blow hit him in the back, sending him rolling. Something cracked. When he looked up from the dust, a general wearing green from the earth kingdom was holding a bolder over his body.

He didn't get any time for last words, just the nauseating sensation of being crushed.

Then there was nothing for a while.

When he woke up in the spirit world, there was no one around. But he knew he was dead.

What will Dad do?

That was his first and last thought for a while.

There wasn't a lot to do, in the spirit world.

He drifted around, followed by Agni's light forevermore, and he had no princely duties, no men to command, no war to fight.

He remembered his family, and he missed them, but there was a small, guilty part of him that couldn't help thinking, 'this isn't so bad'.

And he hated that thought. But it was... peaceful, here, in a way Caldera never had been. And he hadn't even realised how much he'd enjoy peace until he had it, and he hadn't had it until he was dead.

He estimated that he had been dead a year, when he starts following her.

He followed his father around for a while, but it hurt too much. Now, he just checked in occasionally.

Sometimes it was hard to follow Azula around too. He hated to see her hands shake when she thought no one was looking, he hated looking at his little cousin turn herself into a weapon and build barricade after barricade around her heart and mind.

But then she'd do something that gave him hope. She would sabatoge the general who had gotten Zuko banished, framing him for a crime that had him sent to the boiling rock.

She would resurrect a fire bending form almost lost to time from a half burnt scroll she'd found in the catacombs under the palace, and she wouldn't tell anyone about it for reasons she'd never said, and Lu-Ten had never been able to guess.

She'd write letters to Zuko that she had to burn immediately after, with no way to send them.

And it hurt, but it made him hopeful too.

Lu-Ten knew his uncle would never share or relinquish his power. He didn't know what that meant for Azula, but he hoped she could make it out of the bloodsucking life her father had set before her.

When they got to Crescent Island, Azula let Aang enter without her, but Lu-Ten followed him.

He was curious.

Then, he saw Aang enter the Avatar state, saw him and Azula escape with their water tribe friends after. He was about to let his consciousness drift so he could follow Azula on the flying bison, and then-

A laugh, behind him, and a voice. "For a family so starved of genuine love, the younger generation seems much more promising. Even in death, you watch over her."

When he turned around to see Avatar Roku, Lu-Ten's first thought is that he looks just like his statue.

"You-" he had always known, in theory, that the previous Avatars were also in the spirit world. But even after a few years of death, he felt entirely unprepared for this.

Roku just smiled . Then, he beckoned the younger firebender forward. "Come, young man. We have much to discuss."

In a weird way, it almost made sense to learn that Zuko and Azula were related to Roku.

The circumstances of Ozai's marriage had always been... strange. He'd been rejected by most all the noblewoman in Caldera, due to his abrasive personality, and everyone had expected Azulon to simply order a noblewoman to marry his youngest.

And, he had ordered a woman to marry Ozai, but Ursa, for all her virtues, had never been noble. She hadn't even been a firebender. For a while, some people thought Ozai had been married to a commoner as some sort of punishment by Azulon, but he'd been to smug about the union for that rumor to last.

Some lower city people liked to think that maybe Ozai had married for love, but only because none of them had ever met Ozai long enough to realise how absurd that notion was.

So, in a way, this explained some things to Lu-Ten.

Learning next that Roku wanted to speak with Azula and tell her of their relation herself... That took a little more to understand.

"I thought we weren't meant to interact with those still living?" He asked. "I know you get a special exception for the Avatar state and past life thing, but that only applies to Aang right now."

"We... are not meant too," Roku admitted. "But... Do you not wish too?"

"I..." Lu-Ten got a strange sensation, and if he still had a body it might have felt like he was about to cry. "Of course I want too."

"I do as well." There was a moment of silence. "The last time I spoke with your great grandfather... It was the last crack to shatter a relationship I had thought eternal. Sozin... I had thought him higher than a brother. But then I died, and he waged a war that tore not only the world apart, but both of our families. I watched my grandaughter suffer at Ozai's hands, and watched her neglect her own daughter in turn. I watched your father wither without family to guide him, and I've watched for years as Zuko too wanders, neither fully alone but nor where he is meant to be or with the companionship of his beloved sibling. And Azula, for all that she has been forced to forget, remains a single human being, and a young one. She bears it well, but she's lived too much life for one her age. You did the same. You lived too much, and not enough."

Roku pauses for a moment, and he looks pained. "I just want it to stop. And I'm tired of watching and waiting for that to happen. I think something can be done, and I invite you to join me as I do it."

Lu-Ten hadn't known how much he'd enjoy peace until he had it, and he hadn't had it until he died.

He wanted Azula and Zuko to enjoy peace while they were alive. He hoped they could share that peace with his father, or at least try to.

He didn't know how he could help do that, but if Roku had some ideas... Well. He'd try.

"There is nothing I like more," Lu-Ten admitted.

They tried reaching out to her through dreams, but it was hard. Roku had apparently been trying for a while already, since Azula visited the spirit world during a series of events Lu-Ten had missed, because he'd been visiting his father.

Part of the issue, no doubt, was because they had no direct connection to her, like how Roku could connect with Aang through the Avatar State. Contact with the living was difficult.

But beyond that, they found that whenever they were about to break through, Azula would force herself awake. She never seemed to remember afterwards, but every time they managed to get her in a deep enough sleep that they could attempt to speak, she would jolt herself awake. Then they couldn't even start over in their efforts until the next night, for Azula would refuse to return to rest.

They weren't making any progress.

Then the monk visited.

Roku seemed to recognize him, somehow, but when the old spirit with a faded yellow aura approached, Lu-Ten had been a little tentative.

Him and Roku had been talking, when it happened. They were talking about Azula, how-

"This isn't working," Roku opened, his voice tired.

At his words, Lu-Ten couldn't help but bristle. "You want to give up on her?"

"Of course not, but we can't just keep doing the same thing over and over again. We need to figure something else out."

"I have some ideas," a new voice joined them. When they turned around, they were greeted by the sight of a new figure in orange. "If it helps," the newcomer continued, "I have an old friend who may want to assist us."

  "Yes - I quite think I know who you mean. And may I say, it is nice to finally meet you properly, Monk Gyatso."

Lu-Ten blinked at the name. He'd heard it from Aang, when he followed Azula around, but he'd not anticipated ever meeting him. But he considered the Monks words, and realised what was being suggested.

Turning to Roku, "you want to speak through Aang?"

Roku looked thoughtful. "I could... But I have another idea."