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Chapter Text

Chapter one- The Avatar State

The plan was clear.

All they had to do was get into the palace where the Fire Nation soldiers would be distracted by their other forces.

Azula rushed down the empty hallways that she knew like the back of her hand, gripping her glider until she got to the large doors at the end.

Flipping over, she blasted them open and then burst into the throne room.

As they’d thought, the Fire Lord was alone.

Ozai gripped the arms of his throne and threw himself roughly to his feet, fear clear in his eyes.

That was the moment that she knew this was a dream.

The next thing that tipped her off was that, with no provocation, her eyes began glowing bright white.

Wind, fire and water whipped around her and Ozai threw his hands up to shield his face.

Azula no longer really felt like she was part of the scene, she couldn’t smell the burning grates of the Fire Lord’s throne room or feel the glider in her hand.

Instead, she felt like she was hovering over the scene where her immobile form was.

The next thing that told her this wasn’t real was that the scene shifted beneath her.

In quick succession, she saw her body shoot out of the water of the South Pole and land onto the deck of her brother’s ship.

The vessel melted into the Southern Air Temple and Korra and Jimu’s anger pulsed through her again, though she made no conscious decision to blast air around her as her body below berated Aang.

The southern temple became the northern one next, and she, again, had no choice but to shout Aang’s ire at the Mechanist who had wrought destruction upon it.

The temple dissolved into water out of which an amphibian water monster rose, holding its arms up to the fleet that sprawled out behind Azula who was staring at the empty vessel of her body at the centre of the creature.

A wave rose up and Azula suddenly felt like she was falling to the growing wave.

She had nothing in her arsenal to stop it.

The moment she hit the surface, everything went black.

Azula shot up in her bed, taking deep breaths as she looked around the barely lit crew quarters.

It only took her a couple seconds to get used to them now that she once again had the ability to decide how she wanted to move her body before she twisted her legs over the bed so that she could sneak out of the room.

Once she got to the deck, she hugged her stomach when she was hit with cold air before she approached the railing, the only sound around her being the soft snores of Appa.

Seeing how calm the ocean was underneath the vessel was exactly what she needed after that dream.

If she personally had the ability to create a wave of such magnitude without the assistance of the literal Ocean Spirit she wouldn’t be nearly as affected by the memories.

Not being able to control her own actions, though, caused tight knots to form in her stomach.

What if it happened when she was facing her father?

She may have unimaginable power whenever her eyes glowed, but if she couldn’t control the situation then things could easily go wrong.

What perhaps worried her the most was that there didn’t seem to be anything that she could do to stop it whenever the power washed over her.

Deciding that it would at least be worth asking Aang if he knew anything about it, she opened her mouth to call her past life.

His name didn’t actually come from her though as a hand rested onto her waist and she turned around so that it was placed onto her back instead.

In spite of her worries, she smiled when her eyes met a set of blue ones, sparkling with concern.

She may have yet to put a word to the relationship with the owner of the eyes, but it was definitely more than friends.

The shift between them was by far the best thing that happened in the North Pole.

Enjoying the proximity, she leaned against the railing and smiled up at Katara.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Katara asked softly.

Azula’s instinct was to say that she was fine, that she just wanted some fresh air since she couldn’t sleep.

This was Katara, though, so she squashed that instinct and replied with the truth, “I dreamed that I was in the Avatar State but I was outside my body watching. I had no control, I just…it may sound silly but I just found the feeling…uncomfortable…”

Katara raised her palm to place it upon Azula’s cheek and she said, “it doesn’t sound silly, Azula, we can talk about it if you want?”

Azula shook her head, feeling completely in control as she said, “I can think of a better use of our time.”

Katara’s worry melted into a grin when the Avatar put her hand onto her waist and their lips joined.

As they moved together in yet another perfect kiss, it was kind of hard to argue that this wasn’t better, even if she knew that the other teen was just deflecting her feelings.

The next morning, Azula actually felt surprisingly well rested even with all of the nightmares as she, Sokka and Katara stood lined up in front of Pakku.

The master was smiling, but only at Katara, who he held out a small phial to, “Katara, I want you to have this. This amulet contains water form the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don’t lose it.”

Katara accepted it and hugged Pakku as she replied, “thank you, Master Pakku.”

The water bender peeled away from him to go over to the bison prepared behind them.

Pakku turned his attention to the Avatar who was next in line and thrust a pile of parchment at her, “Azula, these scrolls will help you master water bending. But remember, they’re no substitute for a real master, which you definitely need.”

Azula kept her mouth in a thin line as she turned, armed with the scrolls, but her mouth turned up when she looked up to her new ‘master’ already sat atop Appa and she went to join her.

Pakku stepped to the final person in the line and seemed surprised to find that there was actually someone there, but still placed his hand onto his shoulder.

“Sokka…take care, son.”

Sokka’s hopeful smile fell and he turned to also climb into the bison’s saddle so that he was sat opposite his sister, with Azula at the reins.

Once they were all situated, Pakku pointed out to his side and announced, “fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There you will be safe to begin your earth bending training with King Bumi.”

“Yip yip,” Azula said, Aang appearing at her side to get one last look at the water benders.

As Team Avatar flew away, Katara called over, “say hi to Gran-Gran for me!”

S

Zuko pulled his hat down and made his way slowly towards the massage table onto which he’d refused to lie on in any circumstances.

He dropped down against a pillar, staring down at his knee rather than taking in the beauty of the blossoms all around him.

His uncle, though, didn’t react to his negative energy as the massage therapist continued to rub his shoulders.

“This is what I’ve been missing. Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks with no food or water, and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver could make one so tense?”

The massage therapist paused and frowned down at the man who didn’t notice since he finally looked up to his nephew who hadn’t had any kind of angry outburst at his words.

The reason hit him after only a moment and he said, “I see. It’s the anniversary, isn’t it?”

Zuko barely raised his head and replied lowly, “three years ago today, I was banished. I lost it all, I want it back. I want the Avatar, I want my honour, my throne. I want my father not to think I’m worthless.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t,” Iroh replied, sitting up now that his nephew’s regretful eyes were finally meeting his own, “why would he banish you if he didn’t care?”

Zuko stood, Zhao’s and Azula’s words mixed together in his mind as he walked away.

If that was all his uncle could come up with then it had to be better to be alone with his thoughts.

Iroh turned to the massager, wearing a grimace and said, “uh, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”

They just stared at each other, she was still hung up on the ‘sea vultures’ thing. 

S

Prince Lu Ten was exhausted and anxious.

After an arduous journey back from some back water Earth Kingdom prison, he had yearned to return to the home that he’d dreamed of after years of torture.

When it became clear that he would not betray his nation, his captors seemed to decide that the best option was to keep the prince for any leverage that could benefit them.

When he got back to the palace, he discovered why that opportunity never came up. 

His father was not the Fire Lord and he was no longer the crown prince of the Fire Nation. 

His grandfather was dead.

His aunt and cousin had both been banished. 

To top it all off, his father had chosen to follow Zuko into banishment. 

Thankfully, Fire Lord Ozai had still welcomed him back and provided him the medical care he required. 

After months of recovery, each day of which he discovered that the great General Iroh had neither returned nor responded to his many letters, Lu Ten had finally been released from the infirmary.

Figuring that a slow walk around the grounds could possibly lift his spirits, he tugged at the collar of his tunic to try and cover the scar that peeked out as he strolled slowly, looking from side to side.

He really tried to take comfort in the black and red decorations.

Even if his family had essentially been blown up, it was still comforting to be back amongst the traditions of his nation. 

Reaching the end of the hallway, he closed his eyes, his mouth picking up when he felt a breeze against his face.

In his youth, the garden had always been his favourite, even more so when his cousins came along. 

It was kind of crazy to him that Zuko and Ursa hadn’t sat together beside the turtle duck pond in over three years.

This mental image came to an end as a crashing sound hit his ears and he opened his eyes.

Lu Ten slowly took in the last few steps into the garden and confirmed that the source was who he was expecting.

She may be a lot taller than before he left, but he was not at all surprised that his twelve-year-old cousin was already lightning bending.

“You’ll scare the turtle ducks, Zu,” he called as he crossed the garden. 

Azula turned as she left her stance, very much confused to have someone interrupt her private practice.

When she saw who it was, though, the girl did smile at her cousin as she replied, “if they have a problem, I would like to see them try to stop me.”

Lu Ten laughed, glancing briefly at the unaffected animals who must have gotten used to it.

“Even challenging turtle ducks, you’ll make an excellent Fire Lord,” he said, sadness obvious behind his joking words.

The girl continued to smile at him, perhaps more genuinely now?

Before he left, he supposed it was very unlikely that Azula would have been the next in line so he could understand how the chain of catastrophic events could appeal to her desires.

Instead of labouring the topic of succession, Lu Ten asked, “Where are Mai and Ty Lee? I’m sure they would love to watch you scare tiny creatures.”

Azula’s smile fell briefly before she schooled her face and replied, “Mai’s father was assigned as the governor to some Earth Kingdom town and Ty Lee joined the circus.”

She looked down as she said this and Lu Ten felt a sympathetic pang run through him.

Even if the circumstances were different, he could understand being lonely.

The girl didn’t even have her brother or mother anymore.

This was why he stepped closer to her and said, “I can’t believe how much things have changed.”

“That’s what happens when you ‘die’ for five years, Lu,” Azula replied.

"That’s a good point,” the prince sighed, looking around the garden, wishing that he could go back to the simpler time that this place represented. He did force himself to remember that was impossible and asked, instead, “do you know if my father’s response has arrived yet?”

Azula shrugged and he visibly deflated.

With each passing day, it was getting more difficult to justify the lack of communication.

He had been sure that Iroh would have jumped at the chance to see his son again but that was apparently no longer the case.

On her part, Azula decided to rub his disappointment in as she replied, “uncle loves shirking his responsibilities. I’m sure he would much rather stay in banishment.”

Spite rushed through the prince in a way that would have been impossible for him before he joined the fight at Ba Sing Se.

Why was it fair that a fourteen-year-old boy should have been deemed ready for such a task?

Even if he had revelled in the chance to prove himself at the time, he now whole-heartedly wished that he had opted to stay in the safety of the palace with his precious cousins.

This was why, when he opened his mouth, he said, “you know, while I wait, I can show you how to do that form perfectly.”

Azula stood bolt upright, offended by his insinuation as she said, indignantly, “it was perfect!”

Lu Ten shook his head and pointed at her forehead, “not quite, one hair out of place.”

Azula’s eyes trained in on the offending hair hanging down her forehead and Lu Ten openly smirked as she scraped it away.

“Sorry to disturb you, Prince Lu Ten…”

Lu Ten blew out a breath through his nose as the nervous voice pulled him out of the two year old memory.

With his hands falling from the railing, he turned away from the gentle breeze he had been enjoying to find a captain staring back at him.

The man may be significantly older than him, but there was still visible shaking in his hands.

Lu Ten grinned at this and asked, “is there a problem, captain?”

“Yes sir, I’m afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship into port before night fall,” the older man said.

Lu Ten made a show of drawing his eyebrows together, before he replied, “that’s strange. I didn’t realise that the Fire Nation could be stopped by some errant waves. It really makes the progress of the navy all the more impressive, doesn’t it?”

The captain swallowed and started, “Sir…”

Lu Ten cut him off and his placed his hands behind his back, “the thing is captain, Uncle Ozai gave me a deadline, so why don’t we at least try to dock before I tell the Fire Lord that he has to wait even longer to recover the traitors because my captain is afraid of water?”

The captain inclined his head. 

The shaking in his hands became more pronounced in response to the thinly veiled threat.

“I’ll pull us in,” he said before he rushed off to do so.

Lu Ten grinned at his back and returned to his position at the railing. 

After five years, he was excited to see his father.

Iroh had a lot to answer for. 

S

Sokka lay across Appa’s head.

In the saddle, the Avatar was flouting his ‘arms length from my sister’ decree as the pair were huddled together, probably just holding hands.

They were just silently enjoying being close to each other and, on his part, Sokka figured he could allow the new couple to be cute a while longer before he started complaining. 

From his position laying on his side, he was the first to notice their destination and he shot up with a tired smile on his face. 

Weeks in the North Pole had really taken away his stamina for long flights. 

“There it is!” he announced, throwing his hand out to the base sprawling out below them.

Katara and Azula finally drew their eyes away from each other to also behold the area.

When they landed, the pair temporarily parted, the team all stretching while they walked along down two lines of waiting soldiers. 

However, when they reached the smiling man at the end, Katara seemingly couldn’t help but place her arm through Azula’s, the princess not even turning her head at the very familiar action. 

Instead, she was appreciating the base. 

As much as she’d accepted that her nation was wrong, she could still appreciate the organised military atmosphere she’d spent her life in. 

General Fong spread his hands as the three teens approached and shouted, “Welcome, Avatar Azula! I am General Fong and welcome to all of you great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka and mighty Katara!”

Besides Azula, Katara placed her fingers to her chin and said, thoughtfully, “mighty Katara? I like that.”

Azula glanced at her, finally not trying to convince herself that she wasn’t allowed to find the water bender adorable.

It was truly cute to see her enjoying just how powerful she really was after only weeks of training. 

While she stared at Katara’s face, the earth benders launched fireworks into the sky, causing Sokka to mirror his sister’s position as he nodded and said, “not bad, not bad.”

General Fong allowed them some time to enjoy the welcome that they really did deserve, but finally led them inside to the room he had set up specifically for his planned discussion with the three teens he had been raptly waiting for after the reports he’d received from the north. 

He watched contemplatively while they drank from the tea he’d provided.

Once he’d come up with his plan, he figured that Princess Azula would need some time to come to accept the genius of it.

While she was mid-sip, though, he found that he couldn’t hold back his thoughts and he said, while stroking his beard:

“Avatar Azula, we were all amazed at the stories of how you single-handedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole. I can’t imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It’s an awesome responsibility.”

Azula swallowed the tea and slowly nodded.

Before her birthday, she would have agreed she deserved all the power she had, that it was this that would make her the best Fire Lord in history.

Now, she was frankly grateful that version of herself was so ignorant of the true extent of her power.

Instead of giving him fuel for this line of conversation she just took another drink from her cup.

Fong interlaced his fingers, figuring she was just being modest and he added, with perhaps too much confidence, “Avatar, you’re ready to face the Fire Lord.”

Azula involuntarily responded by spitting the tea back into the cup, coughing for a few seconds while Katara rubbed her back.

The princess finally recovered and replied, sharply, “no I’m not!” 

“Azula still needs to master all four elements,” Katara injected as well, deciding that the general was unlikely to care about the whole family drama that complicated the matter.

After all, only she and her brother knew how uncharacteristically afraid the Avatar had been in the Temple of the Fire Sages. 

It wasn’t like some brief water bending instruction had the ability to erase that abject terror that Katara was convinced she still experienced in her dreams. 

“Why?” Fong laughed, “with the kind of power she possesses power enough to destroy hundreds of battle ships in a matter of minutes she could defeat the Fire Lord now!”

Katara stopped herself from scowling at the man. 

Obviously the general wasn’t appreciating that his suggestion would mean the same thing if he’d said ‘her father’ instead of ‘the Fire Lord’.

It was Sokka who was the one to verbalise the obvious objection, “but sir, the thing is, Azula can only do those things when she’s in the Avatar State. It’s where she…”

It was Fong’s turn to make a sharp reply as he rose to his feet and said, “I’m well aware. Her eyes glow and she’s able to summon unbelievable power,” and then looking directly at Azula, he continued, “without you, we’d be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation.”

Azula gripped the cup between her fingers, feeling that the ceramic was close to shattering under the pressure.

She barely wanted to admit this even to Katara, but it seemed the only way to get the general to accept that his plan was foolish, so she said, “I have no control in the Avatar State. It would be impossible to plan any kind of strategy and I don’t even know how to trigger it reliably.”

Fong slapped the table and replied, puffing himself up, “so it’s decided then. I’ll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State and then you’ll face your destiny!”

When Katara saw the crack spider out across Azula’s cup, she stood up herself and retorted, passionately, “no, nothing’s decided. We already have a plan. Azula’s pursuing her destiny her way.”

Fong’s eyes remained on Azula in spite of being addressed by the ‘mighty’ Katara.

Frankly, he was having a hard time seeing the world’s last hope as a fourteen year old girl who as afraid of her monster of a father.

He’d seen too much to sympathise with one soldier.

“Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on. May I show you something?” he asked, gesturing towards the window behind him.

Azula placed the cracked cup down and she slowly followed the general, Katara touching her arm as she passed her. 

At the window, Azula wasn’t at all surprised by what she saw, even if it was the first time she had seen this side of the hundred year war.

Out in the courtyard, soldiers ran the gambit from limping to being carried in on stretchers by men who were themselves covered in bandages. 

There was not a single smile in the place. 

Although Azula completely understood what she was looking at, Fong still proceeded to explain, “that’s the infirmary, and those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back. Everyday the Fire Nation takes lives. People are dying, Azula, because of your father! You could end his tyranny now, do you really need to think about that?”

Of course, he chose that moment to admit that he knew of her parentage. 

Azula’s gaze zeroed in on a man struggling on crutches to help another disfigured soldier.

Everyone in that courtyard had their destinies changed by the last three generations of Fire Lords just as the whole last cycle of Avatars had.

Just like her, none of them had a choice.

How could she justify their suffering just because the Avatar was afraid of her daddy?

With her eyes locked onto the infirmary, she ran her tongue over her lips and said, quietly, “I’ll fight the Fire Lord.”

Fong drew himself up and smiled at Katara not noticing that the girl was not anywhere near as excited as he was.

Her brother, on the other hand, smiled back. 

He forgot his own reservations at the thought that the war could end so soon. 

S

Unusually, Azula was not looking forward to being in the same room as Katara.

The water bender and her brother had been sent to set up their sleeping quarters while Azula stayed to make plans with General Fong. 

If Katara’s scowl was anything to go by as she left, she was not about to walk into resounding approval, not that she was getting anything of the kind from the monk at her side. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Aang asked. 

Azula blew out a breath as the quarters came into view and she replied, “he had a point. If I can take out a fleet then I can face one man.”

“That man is the Fire Lord who has armies…plus he’s…”

“I know he’s my father, Aang!” Azula snapped but the Air Nomad still held her gaze.

“Azula,” Aang sighed, “if you’re not ready mentally to face him then you’ll lose.”

“If that’s what you’re waiting for, I’ll never be ready, especially not before the comet. But if I can figure out the Avatar State…”

“You’ll what? You can’t control it!” Aang argued.

Azula puffed ou her cheeks, finally pushing through to their sleeping quarters, opting not to respond since her ghostly companion had a good point. 

She wasn’t at all surprised to find Katara pacing back and forth in front of the plain bunk beds on which Sokka was already lay down. 

As soon as she saw the Avatar, Katara was upon her, Sokka sitting up in the background. 

Katara grabbed her forearm and said, “this isn’t the right way, Azula.”

Sensing she was in for a similar conversation to the one she had chosen to ignore (Aang was still stood expectantly at the door) she went over to sit beside Sokka.

“General Fong is right, Katara, I can’t waste time anymore, my father needs to be stopped,” she said, resting her head against her hand, not at all sure about her assertion. 

“You need to calm down, Katara,” Sokka offered, throwing his arms up, “remember when she took out the Fire Navy? She was incredible!”

“There’s a right way to do this. Practice, study and discipline,” Katara shot back desperately, searching for signs of agreement on the other girl’s resigned face.

“Or just glow it up and stop that Fire Lord,” Sokka replied casually.

Katara’s desperation turned to exasperation and Azula said, defensively, “it’s not a terrible idea. If I can just…”

“Of course it is!” Katara shouted.

“Katara,” Azula sighed standing as if to take her hand, but the water bender had already stepped back.

She had completely lost her ability to remain calm as her mind conjured all of the ways that this could go wrong. 

All of the things that could happen to Azula.

“Fine, throw away all the work we’ve done and just glow it up!” Katara exploded before she stomped away.

“Katara,” Azula called but the other girl was already gone so she sat back down heavily onto her own bed and said to Sokka, “I’m being realistic. Do you think I should go after her?”

Sokka lay back down and replied, “nah, she won’t listen when she’s that angry. Just give her some time. She’ll come around when she sees how well your training goes tomorrow.”

Azula deflated down to the mattress and stared at the top of the bed. 

She wasn’t sure that she wanted Katara to agree with her on this.

s

As it turned out, the training was hardly effective enough to give Katara comfort.

She looked on unimpressed as Fong gave her tea that purported to grant ‘ten-fold energy’.

After drinking, there was no glowing in sight, but the Avatar did pace back and forth, quickly firing off details of the defences in the Fire Nation capital while a scribe hastily scribbled away.

“She can talk her father to death,” Sokka muttered, his eyes getting tired of following the pacing girl.

Once she crashed down from this high, Azula sat cross-legged, yawning as she waited for Sokka to explain his bright idea under Fong’s critical eyes. 

“Maybe I can shock you into the Avatar State,” the warrior said.

Azula yawned widely and shrugged as she replied, “why not?”

Sokka turned away from her and rustled around in preparation.

Even though she couldn’t see him, Katara and Aang watched with the same deep frown until Sokka turned around, revealing that his head had been replaced by a lemur.

Momo screeched loudly for added effect but Azula only jumped in mild surprise, suddenly feeling more awake, but no more powerful. 

Aang, on the other hand, let out a loud scream that Azula ignored.

She didn’t want to turn around to see Katara’s disapproval of what she was doing. Thus far, she had to agree that this was stupid, she dreaded to think how hilarious her father would find these exercises.

As Sokka lost his balance under the clinging lemur, she kept her attention on the disappointed general who had gone from stroking his beard to gripping it, and she asked, “do you have anymore suggestions, general?”

He did have one more for the day and, in the interest of co-operation, Azula agreed, even though she could already tell it wouldn’t work. 

It wasn’t as if she or Aang had the knowledge to say that this was periodically going to be a failure.

This was why she didn’t say anything when she found herself in a dimly lit room, wearing the mismatched outfit consisting of a Water Tribe cloak, a Earth Kingdom hat dotted with leaves atop her armour that she’d reluctantly put on for this experiment. 

They’d agreed she’d just hold her glider for the lost Air Nation. 

In front of her a man stood before a pedestal that was really just an empty bowl on a plinth and, with his hands raised to the sky he said, preachily, “you are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations. Now I will join the four elements into one! Water,” he poured from a brass jug into the bowl, “earth,” he threw dirt in with the water and then grabbed a lit torch to join the other two elements, and said, “fire…air!” for the final one he grabbed a wooden contraption to blow a gust into the bowl which he then picked up and swirled around, “four elements together as one!”

The man flipped the bowl with a final flourish, coating Azula in its contents. 

With a tired sigh, she wiped her face and deadpanned, “you just threw mud at me.”

The man nodded encouragingly and said, “do you feel anything?”

“No because the key to unlocking the Avatar State obviously isn’t mud!” Azula exploded, flicking some to the ground before she threw off the hat to join it. 

It was perhaps the furthest she had ever felt from being a princess which was eating away at her willingness to try anything as she’d promised. 

The man turned to Fong, expecting him to admonish the Avatar on his behalf, but the general didn’t even notice that he’d taken offence.

Instead, his eyes remained on the angry, mud covered teen and muttered, “we have to find a way.”

S

Zuko very quickly decided that he missed his ship.

He may have been banished but at least it always gave him a physical place to return to.

Now, he only had some run-down, abandoned home overlooking the shore that he refused to accompany his uncle to.

There was also the problem that he had no idea what he should be doing now.

He didn’t exactly have the resources to continue pursuing the Avatar, but he couldn’t just sit around with no goal.

His uncle, by comparison, was content to do nothing as evidenced as the man practically bounded into the room, emptying his bag onto the table (which was some of the only furniture in the depressingly sparse ‘home’).

The disgraced prince couldn’t even bring himself to scowl at the former general who was holding up his spoils from the beach. 

He was grinning from ear to ear as he said, “look at these magnificent shells! I’ll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come.”

Zuko stood, already sick of this conversation, and he pointed out, “we don’t need anymore useless things! You forget, we have to carry everything ourselves now!”

Before Iroh could come up with an argument as to why the conch shell was worth the extra burden, he dropped it to the table when a light knock came through the cracked door which opened a moment later.

Zuko instinctively looked down at the ground to hide his scar as the man, clothed in red, entered.

The messenger was not at all surprised to find the two royals and to both of their surprised, he bowed his head and spoke with the respect they were sure they’d lost in the North Pole.

“Apologises for the interruption, I was asked to deliver this to you, your highness. It’s from the Fire Lord.”

He thrust the folded parchment towards the prince who took it, disregarding Iroh’s attempt to stop him and the messenger excused himself, unnoticed. 

It may have been years, but he still recognised his father’s neat, meticulous hand in each character and he read over the words twice before he finally breathed. 

“What does it say, nephew?” Iroh asked, sceptically. 

Surely Zuko wouldn’t be smiling at his brother’s words?

“It says that he regrets my banishment, he wants us home uncle! He sent a crew to return us to the Fire Nation tomorrow evening!” Zuko rushed out, reading over the words in disbelief.

“Really?” Iroh asked in a different kind of disbelief.

Nothing could temper the sudden uplift in Zuko’s mood though.

S

-Hours later-

With relish, Zuko placed his few belongings into a bag, ready to follow the directions set out in the letter.

“We’re going home! After three long year, it’s unbelievable!” 

From the window, Iroh said, “it is unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything.”

Zuko’s relish morphed into irritation and he replied, defensively, “you read the letter. Father’s realised how important family is to him. He cares about me!”

“Then why did he send a messenger?” Iroh argued, but Zuko remained unconvinced so it seemed a bad idea to bring up the fact that Ozai appeared to ‘care’ about Azula before they left, so he continued, “I care about you! And if Ozai wants you back, well…I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine.”

Zuko turned his back to his uncle.

He doens’t love us Zuko popped into his head and he scrunched up his eyes while gripping the bag.

He had no evidence before now she was wrong, but the words on the parchment were his anchor to the home he had missed so much.

This was why he replied, “you don’t know how my father feels about me. You don’t know anything!”

“Zuko,” Iroh sighed, “I only meant that in our family, things are not always what they seem.”

Zuko scrunched up his scarred face and whipped around, “I think you are exactly what you seem! A lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who’s always been jealous of his brother!” exploded from his mouth.

He then stormed away before he could face what he said. 

Iroh watched him go, not at all offended.

He didn’t have the mental capacity with the foreboding hanging over him. 

S

It took an hour or so for Azula to clean herself off, change back into her Earth Kingdom garb and then scrub the dirt that had made it into the crevices of her armour before she packed it back away for its next rare appearance.

General Fong had gone off, chattering about how he would have more ideas in the morning and Azula decided to just leave the man to it. Her plan had just been to go to sleep and face whatever it was he conjured up in the morning, surely it couldn’t be worse than throwing mud at her?

When it actually came to heading back to the sleeping quarters though, she felt herself drawn instead to the balcony that overlooked the majority of the base.

From this vantage point, she could see the soldiers that did not have the luxury of sleep, always planning and training for the next move against the enemy. Against the enemy who apparently prided themselves on their honour and yet waged war against the weak and defenceless. An enemy that could have been stopped a long time ago if the Avatar hadn’t kept failing just like she was. 

With a heavy sigh, she leaned down onto the balcony, just watching the activity below. 

“Have you ever been in the Avatar State, Aang?” she asked absently.

“Only once,” Aang admitted, coming to lean against the balcony to her side, “when I froze Appa. I came out of it when I didn’t grab onto him though.”

Azula inclined her head as she pushed herself up so that she was also leaning with her back to the base and she replied, “did you feel like there was nothing you could do to change what was happening?”

“That’s exactly how I felt,” Aang said softly, “I was terrified, I felt so hopeless…”

Azula hummed in understanding and stared down at her feet and asked, “if you could have saved your people, would you have voluntarily gone into the Avatar State and felt like that again?”

Aang dropped his folded arms, his mouth pulled down. All this time, he had thought that he was staunchly on Katara’s side on this matter, that it was too dangerous and that it simply wasn’t how the Avatar was supposed to win this war.

Azula made a very good point, however. 

“Of course I would,” he replied, “but Azula…I wouldn’t have had time to properly master the elements…”

“And you really think that I do?” she retorted.

Aang took in a deep breath, it was another good point, but he still said, confidently, “I really think you do. Look at what you’ve accomplished in only a few months…” 

Azula was about to echo General Fong’s argument about how many people would get hurt while she did that, but she was interrupted by another voice joining the conversation.

The voice was tinged with worry and concern as it asked, “can we talk about something?”

Azula unhitched herself from the railing as Katara approached the balcony while Aang disappeared. He figured that since they were now definitely more than friends, it was probably the best thing to do whenever they tried to have a serious conversation between the two of them.

“Of course,” Azula replied, trying for a weak smile that was made even weaker by her exhaustion. 

Katara naturally stepped even closer than she would have before the North Pole, while Azula sat back against the balcony and waited patiently for her to find her words.

“Do you remember how angry you got at the Southern Air Temple when Aang told you the truth?” Katara asked after a moment when Azula’s hand came to rest on her waist. The Avatar nodded slowly and Katara continued, “you was so angry and upset that you wasn’t even you anymore…I’m not saying that the Avatar State doesn’t have incredible and helpful powerful…but you have to understand…for the people who love you, watching you being so angry and out of control is really scary.”

Azula took in a long breath through her nose, both to give herself a moment to think about how she wanted to respond and to just appreciate how the other girl somehow always smelled like sea salt. She admittedly also needed a moment to process everytime Katara verbalised the extent to which she cared about her.

After a moment of contemplation, the Avatar replied, “I understand why you would feel like that, but I still have to do this.”

Katara took a step back out of Azula’s grip and said, visibly upset, “well I don’t understand.”

Azula ran her hand over her tired face and said, “no you don’t. Your father is a good man, Katara. He was forced into this war by my father! I’ve been given all of this power and I have to use it to fix what they’ve done. If this works, then you can go home, don’t you want that?”

Katara swallowed and took the other teen’s hand as she replied, desperately, “it wouldn’t feel like home if something happened to you.”

“Defeating my father is the only way to end the war, I have to try,” Azula replied.

Katara deflated, seeing that there was no arguing with the Avatar on this and she instead just squeezed her hand, “I can’t watch you do this to yourself. I’m not coming tomorrow,” she said sadly.

Azula nodded in resigned understanding as Katara’s hands left her own and she instead leaned forward to place a light peck to her lips.

“Good night,” the water bender said as she turned to walk away.

“Good night,” Azula echoed, watching her go until she disappeared from view before she returned her gaze to the base below.

During the sombre moment, neither of them noticed one of General Fong’s men who had halted behind a nearby wall when he heard their discussion. After seeing the kiss, he turned on his heels to return to the man in charge. 

He needed him to know that he’d come up with the perfect solution to their present problem. 

S

Azula couldn’t move.

The ship around her rocked violently, but all she could focus on was Katara gripping the railing tightly as a scarred teen approached with flame in each hand. 

Azula knew exactly what she would have done to stop this. 

She could have just thrown air at Zuko to blow him out of Katara’s path without causing too much physical damage to her misguided brother. 

In this situation, she couldn’t move any of her muscles to put that plan into place, until the rocking swerved the vessel roughly to one-side as a form shot up atop a funnel of water, arms out and no emotion on its face.

As the scene unfolded, the Azula on the deck managed to look up in time to see her mirror image but for the glowing eyes land behind her brother. 

The funnel twisted around from behind as Avatar State Azula who threw her arm down so that it shot straight towards Zuko, throwing him from the boat and to the water below.

Hearing the strangled scream of the boy was bad enough, but then the glowing, uncaring eyes turned to the next person on the deck. 

“Azula!” Katara shouted, still gripping the rail as the ship rocked more and more violently, “we’re safe now you can stop!”

The teen gripped by the Avatar State was completely deaf to the cries of reason and Azula tried everything she could think of to break this inexplicable immobilisation and the only thing that was even mildly successful were the words that burst out of her mouth, “don’t hurt her!” she shouted.

It was too late, Katara had already been thrown hard from the ship.

Azula shot up and breathed deeply with her hands dug hard into the mattress and her head flew to the side so that she could make sure that Katara was in fact still asleep and safe.

The water bender had opted for the bed furthest away from her, which had admittedly stung a little at the time, but right now, Azula had a clear view of the rise and fall of her chest. 

Sokka’s loud snores drowned out her deep breaths and she used the opportunity to whisper, “Aang?”

It took only a moment for the monk to appear, cross-legged at the end of the bunk bed and he just tilted his head and waited for her to say whatever it was that she had called him for.

Azula allowed herself a few more moments to consider just how she would feel if she came out of the Avatar State to discover Katara had been hurt by her hand. How would she live with herself if her…

Azula’s thought trailed off when she realised that she didn’t have a word to put to their relationship and instead decided to focus on the main point here.

“I think you may have been right...about the Avatar State…” she admitted.

“What about it?” he asked, patiently. 

Azula ran her tongue over her dry lips and allowed her eyes to drift over to Katara’s sleeping form again.

If she couldn’t even control the Avatar State enough to protect the person she cared about the most in the world, then how could she used it to effectively end a century-old war? 

As much as she’d come to accept that she should abhor the majority of what her father taught her, she figured that not using weapons you didn’t understand was fairly good advice. 

This was why she said, in spite of how selfish she felt, “I shouldn’t try to bring on the Avatar State intentionally. It isn’t worth the risk.”

Aang smiled, clearly relieved as he nodded, but he paused as something occurred to him and he asked, “you don’t think that the general will be mad, do you?”

Azula yawned and lay back down, comforted by the approval from her past life, not at all concerned by his worry as she replied, “what can he say? He’s hardly a threat to the Avatar.”

Aang leaned back against the post of the bed, his mouth still pulled down in a frown but Azula was apparently reassured enough to close her eyes.

S

Zuko felt bad for his words, he really did, but he couldn’t allow it to deter him.

As much as his uncle had loved and supported him since that day, the goal had always been clear no matter how much everything had changed. 

With the letter tightly stuffed into his tunic, he pulled his bag over his shoulder and stepped out of the house, taking in a final breath of the dewy ocean air. 

His last breath as the Fire Nation’s banished prince.

As he prepared to take a step towards the ship idling on the shoreline below, though, his triumphant walk was interrupted by a frantic shout:

“Wait! Don’t leave without me!”

Zuko released the strap of his bag and felt all of the tension leech from his body.

He didn’t have enough family to just abandon them so he was more than relieved to hear that voice. 

This was why he openly smiled at the owner of it and said, “uncle! You’ve changed your mind!”

Iroh came to a stop and laid his hand on Zuko’s shoulder as he replied, “family sticks together, right?”

Zuko’s mind flashed back to another man who’d once had his hand in the same position as they looked over the grounds of the palace.

He couldn’t even remember what Ozai had told him at the time, but the image had been one that had fuelled his determination since his banishment. 

The memory flash ended almost as soon as it started and he said to the man who  was actually there, “We’re finally going home!”

Iroh hid his worry behind a tight smile before they embarked on the journey down to the waiting ship.

S

Sokka accepted Azula’s decision with no argument.

Ultimately, he accepted that it would be up to the Avatar how she wanted to achieve her destiny.

He may crave the end of the war, but that couldn’t be put ahead of the comfort of his friend.

This was why he’d agreed to accompany the Avatar to talk to the general since Katara had already left before either of them had woken up.

In the discussion area they been greeted in, Fong locked his fingers together, his face as stormy as they’d expected, stood behind his desk that was sprawled with plans.

“The fact is, general, it is foolish to trigger something we don’t understand and expect it to win us the war,” Azula said.

“But what about…” Fong started, beginning to point out the window to the infirmary. 

Prepared for the argument, Azula interjected, “the Avatar State will probably put them in more danger.”

“Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?” Fong asked.

“Well, since she can only get into the Avatar State when she’s in genuine danger, it’s probably for the best,” Sokka offered, expecting this to put an end to the matter, but the general smiled.

“You make an excellent point,” he said.

Sokka and Azula were in the process of exchanging a look to see if the other also found the tone strange, but their eyes didn’t get to meet before the desk crashed into the Avatar.

“Azula!” Sokka shouted to be held back by a pair of guards as her body crashed through the wall roughly and out into the training ground.

At the last second, she broke her fall with a blast of air to land in a nimble crouch.

“He’s lost his mind!” Aang said as the benders all around turned to see what was going on.

“What are you doing?” Azula shouted up at the man standing at the hole her body had created in the wall.

“I believe we’re about to get results,” he called back and then shouted, “men! Attack the Avatar!”

Azula swivelled to count the earth benders surrounding her, some of them mounted on ostrich horses.

Fong stepped out of the building, landing with a crash which sent a wave of rock at Azula, who jumped up to avoid it only to be swatted by a massive coin of rock sent by the soldiers so she rolled across the uneven ground.

Thankfully, she rolled far enough so that the falling projectile missed her by a few inches.

Aang was standing over her when she looked up to get her bearings of the shaking area.

“They know you’re not their enemy, right?” he squeaked.

Azula pushing herself up to air bende herself over another coin and muttered, “apparently not…”

She could already see a way to quickly take the men out one by one, but it involved a lot of blue flame and these people had been hurt enough by fire.

It wasn’t their fault they were bound to follow their crazed general’s orders.

She made her decision as two more coins flew at her from opposite directions and she flipped over so that she landed in the cut out just as they joined and she rolled out as they flattened.

She looked around for more incoming and shouted, “I won’t fight you, general! This is pointless!”

Her protests falling on deaf ears, the coins continued flying at her, four of them colliding just after she launched into the air, another sailing over as she got closer to the floor.

It smashed into the four stationary coins, where Azula had narrowly rolled out the way only a second before.

As she rose to her feet and swiped down to send a thin strip of blue flame that cut another coin in half, the fire disappearing before it could come close to any of the soldiers.

Inside, meanwhile, amid all the crashing and rumbling, Sokka sharply rose his feet at the same time hitting his captors in a very undesirable spot simultaneously.

They both howled in pain, releasing the warrior who ran towards the fray.

“You need to get away from these things,” Aang shouted as Azula landed a top another coin, only to use it to somersault over another pair honing in on her.

She landed with a huff in time to see the men preparing more and she had to agree with the nomad’s assessment.

Yet another coin spun towards her and she leapt through the hole using the momentum to create an air scooter.

Since she was going with pacifism here, air seemed the most logical element, especially since it allowed her to avoid the coins with great precision.

She zipped through the field, avoidnig several soldiers and over the walls of rock they conjured to try and halt her, with two of the mounted men pursuing her.

The ostrich horses were no match for an air bender’s speed though and she shot up the wall of the base, the air ball slowly diminishing the higher she got as two men earth bent themselves up in pursuit on small platforms. 

When the scooter disappeared, Azula switched to running up the wall, determined to get to the top for some advantage.

Her air bending provided the necessary momentum until the two men threw spears.

Their proximity made fire too dangerous a defence so she instead flipped from the wall to dodge them, the earth benders changing direction to continue their chase as she fell to the ground, twisting out of the way of yet more spears so she hit rock hard.

By the time she realised she had landed in the centre of a coin, it was already moving, landing in front of Fong, the angle making it difficult to get out while it was in motion.

“You can’t run forever,” the general sneered.

“You can’t fight forever!” Azula shot back obstinately.

Fong leapt forward to crush the coin, but Azula had finally gained enough balance to blast herself out of it to avoid the attack.

Dust bloomed out as Azula landed a little way ahead of the crushed coin, her eyes remaining frustratingly ember.

S

Zuko was grinning too much, so he clearly had not noticed just how strange the scene really was.

Lining the walkway on either side up to the ship were Royal Procession guards, standing to attention as they walked.

On the deck, a high ranking officer stood bolt upright and unmoving.

The figure had a different air about him, but Iroh couldn’t quite place what was strange about it.

He supposed that if his brother was really being honest about wanting Zuko back then it wasn’t unreasonable to send out some soldiers with a Royal Procession.

It wasn’t like he had any other heirs left at this point and it was definitely out of the realms of possibility that the Fire Lord would come himself to complete this task.

This rationalisation didn’t make him feel any better but he still bowed respectfully to the officer in front of them when Zuko did. 

The figure also bowed, rather stiffly and Iroh frowned when he didn’t immediately remove his helmet to introduce himself.

Zuko didn’t notice this detail either though, he just kept walking up the plank and toward the vessel.

As he did, the figure raised his hand towards he soldiers behind the pair and the captain among them launched into giving orders to his men:

“Raise the anchors! We’re taking the prisoners home!”

Iroh and Zuko halted, both staring at the officer witheringly and, if it were possible, an even more withering aura was seeping through the mask of the helmet.

“I’m sorry your h…”

The officer sharply held up his hand and the captain clamped his mouth shut to swallow the end of that sentence. 

Zuko clutched at the letter in his tunic and he muttered, devastated, “my father lied to me.”

Iroh pushed him forward out of the path of two balls of flame, while the officer released his hands and turned to walk away from the commotion. 

Leaving his men to apprehend the prisoners. 

S

When she was sure Azula and Sokka had vacated, Katara returned to their sleeping quarters and sprawled herself on her bed, looking through Azula’s scrolls for any forms that she didn’t already know.

The distraction was barely working as it was, but with the rumbling from outside now beginning shake the bed, Katara threw the scroll down in defeat.

“I wonder what crazy thing they’re trying now,” she said to Momo, who remained curled up and snoozing on her pillow. A particularly hard rumble had her throwing all of the scrolls aside as she stood, “maybe we should make sure Azula’s okay.”

By the time she made it down the stairs to the training area, her brother had just stepped down the opposite ones, drawing his boomerang as he searched for the most appropriate target.

“What’s going on?” Katara demanded.

“The general’s gone crazy! He’s trying to force Azula into the Avatar State!!” Sokka replied, just as frantic as his sister who ran off to the earth benders without asking any follow-up questions.

Sokka ran after her, spotting a soldier brandishing his spear at the Avatar who was in the process of dodging more earth attacks.

The soldier pulled his mount to a stop when his spear snapped in front of his eyes. He stared at the broken and useless bit of wood in bewilderment, until a boomerang made a second pass, throwing him from the ostrich horse.

Sokka caught his weapon and held his hands up to the indifferent creature, “good…bird…horse thingy…” he said as he mounted it.

Once securely on the saddle, he urged it in the direction of the other soldiers leaving Katara behind.

Azula slid under some flying earth and then jumped through another coin, her landing position giving her a view of the newcomer.

Her eyes widened and Fong also turned to look at the source of the shock.

Remembering what one of his men had reported the night before, he smiled.

Surely the throes of young love would be enough to trigger what he wanted?

Several coins all rolled around the water bender who had forgotten her pouch, so all she could do was hold up her hand to shield her eyes against the dust.

The coins then all rotated, creating three lines around her which formed a triangle, leaving her nowhere to run. 

Fong called over his shoulder, “maybe you can avoid me, but she can’t!”

Katara’s hand searched in vain for her pouch of water until Fong raised his own hand.

She screamed as she sank knee-deep into the twisting ground, “I can’t move!” she shouted as she struggled.

Azula ran towards the scream, barely even registering that no one was attacking her anymore.

If they hurt Katara for some idiotic plan then her feeble grip on pacifism was sure to break.

“Don’t hurt her!” Azula commanded, kicking out two blasts of blue flame as she jumped through the air but earth sprung up to swallow them as Katara yelped, since the earth had swallowed her to her waist.

“Katara!” Sokka shouted, “no!”

He urged the ostrich horse at Fong, but the general swept at the animals feet, slinging Sokka from it also that he slammed into a coin, dangling out if it helplessly.

Anger crackled through Azula’s veins and she raised her hands to perform the form that had made her anxious since the solstice.

She pushed her arms up and down as quickly as the form would allow, no thoughts to how perfect it was as she thrust her two fingers out hastily. 

The lightning strike wasn’t the strongest she could produce but it still exploded that rock that popped up to block it, Sokka looking on slack-jawed.

He hadn’t even thought about asking if she could lightning bend.

When the dust settled, Azula still felt the crackle as she shouted, “stop this now Fong!”

“You could save her if you were in the Avatar State!” Fong called back.

Azula closed her eyes, attempting to muster the abject rage from the air temples or the innate desire to survive from the other occurrences, but neither worked. 

She was certainly angry at General Fong.

That this man would dare hurt Katara made her beyond angry, but she still wasn’t entering the Avatar State.

“I can’t!” she finally shouted, “just stop, this won’t work!”

Katara sank further down until her chest was buried and she said, frantically, “Azula, I’m sinking!”

“Fong, you have to stop,” Azula shouted, getting closer to the man with no idea what she could do to stop the earth bending without risking Katara.

“I don’t see glowing!” Fong taunted back.

Azula clenched her fists, with no time to create more lightning without telegraphing what she was doing, she sent a barrage of air and flame at the general, but she was hopelessly outnumbered. 

For each attack, earth was strategically risen up by the soldiers, so they were absorbed before they could reach Fong.

Seeing that she was not listening, he called for the Avatar to hear, “I guess I do need to do this.”

Azula stopped attacking as he closed his fist and she rushed towards one of the walls of earth and launched herself over Fong.

Katara cried out, trying to reach for Azula who was falling down to her so that she could clearly see the fear swimming in her blue eyes as the ground closed in around her.

Azula landed a second too late, her hand pressed into the ground that Katara had disappeared into, where she was currently suffocating. 

She no longer had to try to feel that abject rage, it flowed through her entire system.

Her fingers pushed into the dirt and she gave into the feeling so that her eyes lit up.

She twisted her head around to the instigator of all of this who smiled triumphantly, “it worked! It worked!”

The Avatar stood and stalked a couple steps towards him, so the triumph morphed into fear and the general held up his hands while air began to violently whip around the base, knocking down the coins.

Azula swiped her arm down, creating a funnel of air, tinged with blue flame, which spiralled towards the general who landed hard on his back. 

Fong lifted his head in time to see the funnel close in around the Avatar, becoming a vortex which lifted her up into the air, towering over those who would harm Katara.

S

Zuko leapt onto the deck of the ship, blasting two soldiers into the water so that he could pursue the officer.

He needed an explanation and the stranger could give it to him if only he could restrain him.

Surely the procession had been misinformed of their orders? If he could just show them the letter then they would see?

Even he knew that thought was naive wistful thinking, so he approached the masked officer and entered a fighting stance.

The helmet tilted to the side, the officer’s eyes moving up and down the sixteen-year-old critically.

On the gangway, Iroh threw two more guards into the water and called, “Zuko! Let’s go!”

The young prince paid him no heed, he had a singular focus that even he couldn’t really justify. 

The officer was responsible for dashing his dreams and he had to pay.

Zuko lit two daggers of fire and charged at the officer, not bothering to ask who he was because it didn’t matter.

The officer stood with his arms behind his back as the traitor flew at him, easily stepping out of the way of each blow without even releasing his hands. 

He twisted under a swipe to his helmet and used it to throw out a kick which sent Zuko back a foot or two.

Zuko grunted through a flash of pain, but recovered quickly enough to throw a string of orange at the man.

Calmly, the officer redirected the assault and it flew towards Zuko, forcing him onto his back further down the deck.

With spots in his eyes, Zuko propped himself up on his elbows in time to see the officer starting a form that thoroughly confused him.

Lightning crackled around the figure and, if he didn’t know better, he could almost imagine his sister in the same position, preparing to channel the deadly substance at him.

Before the bolt could leave the officer’s fingers, Zuko’s view of his unavoidable death was blocked by his uncle’s back  having dispatched every other guard moments prior.

Iroh grabbed the officer’s hand, trying to look into the eyes which were hidden behind the helmet.

The lightning flowed through his own arm, into his stomach and then out through his other arm so that it crashed into a far off cliff.

The former general then used his leverage to kick the officer from the ship, accompanied by a splash into the water.

When he resurfaced, Lu Ten wrenched the helmet off and watched his father run off with his precious Zuko. 

S

Fong watched helplessly as the Avatar continued to rise into the air, the vortex already causing damage to the base.

“Avatar Azula! Can you hear me? Your friend is safe?” Fong pleaded, stomping the ground so that Katara popped up, taking heaving breaths, “it was just a trick to trigger the Avatar State and it worked!”

Fong smiled manically while Katara looked up to the fruits of his labour.

Her stomach clenched when she saw the anger on the Avatar’s face.

How could he possibly think this was the right thing? 

The vortex bent down so that Azula smashed into the ground sending a wall of dust zooming in all directions, but the dust kept going, smashing into buildings and infrastructure rendering them ruined in its wake.

At the centre of the destruction, Azula was still under the Avatar State as her spirit was torn from her raging body that was incapable of recognising that Katara was perfectly safe.

Her spirit form, though, let out a breath as she was given a bird’s eye view of the base, allowing her to see that Katara was again above ground.

Her view was obscured by a trail of scales flying in front of her and, after a blink, she was sat on the dragon’s back behind a taller man.

Roku turned to look at her and said, “it’s time you learned.”

The dragon flew up into the clouds, the scene morphing below when they broke back through.

“The Avatar State is a defence mechanism, designed to empower you with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars.”

Below, Avatar Kyoshi stood, her eyes glowed white as she entered a fighter’s stance, causing two massive statues to rise int the air.

“The glow is a combination of all of your past lives, focusing their energy through your body.”

Kyoshi melted, the ground beneath her huge feet becoming a raft floating on which Avatar Kuruk’s eyes flashed white before he summoned a tsunami-like wave that carried the raft high.

At its peak, the ocean became grass.

Avatar Yangchen stood in a forest, the nomad’s eyes sparked and she waved her arms, creating powerful winds which bloomed out across the trees, violently twisting their trunks.

“In the Avatar State, you are at your most powerful.”

Avatar Szeto summoned lava spouts from four falcones, obscuring Azula’s vision until they passed through more clouds, landing in a kind of white void.

“But you are also at your most vulnerable,” Roku finished.

Fang disappeared so that the pair were stood opposite each other in the void.

“What does that mean?” Azula asked, kind of dizzied that she’d naturally known the names of anyone but Kyoshi from the demonstration.

“If you die in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken and any chance, however slim, for another Avatar, will die with you.”

As Roku explained, Azula saw figures spread out beside her. 

Jimu. Korra. Aang.. Roku. Kyoshi. Kuruk. Yangchen. Szeto.

They were just the start.

There was thousands of years of legacy and tradition that had likely been destroyed by Fire Nation royalty.

When he finished, they each turned to dust, leaving only Azula and Roku and she had no idea what to say in response to it.

The chances were already small that she could be reincarnated, but she had to agree that the Avatar State was not worth relinquishing any chance that still existed.

Her understanding meant that Fang reappeared, scooping her up.

As the dragon broke through the void, Azula again saw her physical body still surrounded by another vortex ready to cause more destruction.

Fang flew through the raging vortex, returning her to her body.

The moment Azula regained control, she involuntarily fell to her knees.

As the air died down, Katara crossed the space, catching the princess in a hug as she looked around the ruins of the base that had been so unnecessary.

“I’m sorry, Katara, you were right. This isn’t the right way to do this.”

“Ha! Are you joking? That was almost perfect!” Fong said, jogging over to the pair, and he stroked his beard as he continued, “we just have to find out a way to control you when you’re like that.”

“He’s out of his mind,” Aang grumbled, having reappeared when Azula was freed of the Avatar State.

“ We won’t be doing anything,” Azula replied as Katara supported her to her feet.

Fong didn’t listen and continued to ponder, “I guess we’ll figure it out on the way to the Fire Nation.”

Katara and Azula squinted at the general, neither sure what sequence of words would actually convince this man.

Sokka took that necessity out of the equation as he appeared atop the ostrich horse again, using the height to smash his club against the general’s head.

The man crumpled to the ground comically and Sokka called out, “anybody got a problem with that?”

All of the soldiers who had recovered from the onslaught of dust shook their heads instantly.

Katara placed her hand onto Azula’s waist, helping her walk towards Sokka, but one of the soldiers interjected, “do you still want an escort to Omashu?”

Katara looked away from the exhausted Avatar giving the unconscious general an annoyed look as she replied, “I think we’re all set.”

The soldiers unanimously accepted this as the group prepared to leave on their much more reliable bison.

S

Flanked by two Royal Procession guards, Lu Ten stepped up to the balcony that overlooked the village, Iroh’s massage therapist cowered among the gathered civilians. 

He thrust out a parchment baring an artist’s rendition of his father and eldest cousin as he announced, “anyone found to harbour these traitors will face consequences from the Fire Lord himself.”

As the villagers murmured, he leaned down to the balcony and said, to himself, “you can’t hide from me forever, father.”

A mile or so away, Zuko and Iroh both let out heavy breaths as they finally stopped running and fell down to their knees before they both stared down to their waving reflections in the water running steadily. 

“I think we’re safe here,” the former general said gruffly. 

Zuko’s breath even out and he asked, hoarsely, “have you ever met a regular soldier who can bend lightning?”

Iroh ran his tongue over his dry lips.

His nephew had voiced his primary worry from what they’d just witnessed. 

The fact was that he could count the number of lightning benders he’d actually met during his life on one hand and none of them would logically be available to pretend to be some soldier.

The alternative was much less implausible.

“It’s not unheard of,” Iroh replied, unconvincingly, which Zuko seemed to accept.

He instead turned his attention to their most clear priority and he pulled out a knife from his belt.

The banished prince stared at the water as he swiped the blade through the base of his top knot before he passed the weapon to the older man.

He didn’t watch the grey top knot hit the water as he was too busy pulling out the letter.

The words blurred together as he stared at his father’s handwriting and asit also hit the water, Zuko watched the his last hope flow out from the paper that ran along the floating buns. 

Chapter Text

Chapter two- The Cave of Two Lovers

Sokka felt his hair drape over his eyes as he drifted leisurely across a small stream and he yawned animatedly, Momo curled up on his bare stomach.

Without looking up, he said, “you guys are going to be done soon, right? We have a lot of ground to cover if we’re going to make it to Omashu today.”

Katara and Azula turned away from each other, halting their discussion of the latest water bending form to look at the dozing warrior.

“What?” Katara asked, smugly, “like you’re ready to go right now, naked guy?”

Sokka waved his hand before he used it to release his hair from his eyes as she replied, “I could be ready in two minutes, seriously whenever.”

Azula shot him a doubtful look before she returned her gaze to Katara.

In her swimwear, she was a much more interesting sight anyway, especially now that there were no more complicated thoughts whenever she stared at her so openly.

She did have to force herself to focus on the main task here though, so she asked, “and what is this form called?”

“Octopus form,” Katara replied, also openly staring at the girl as she turned away from her brother (her eyes naturally skipping over the scar on her shoulder that she’d not yet gotten used to), “show me your stance.”

Azula nodded, doing as instructed and Katara inspected her positioning.

“That’s good,” she said, crossing the water so that she was stood behind the princess, “but your arms are too far apart.”

Azula allowed the master to move her arms before her hands came to rest on her waist, “and just shift a little this way…see if you stand like this you protect your centre.”

Azula turned her head, enjoying the feeling of the hands on her waist which didn’t appear to be in any rush to retract.

After a couple moments of eye contact, Katara asked, “does that make sense?”

“Perfect sense,” Azula replied and Katara grinned at her.

Before their lips could be pulled together, Sokka asked, “you guys know I’m here, right?”

The hands left her waist and two sets of eyes moved back to Sokka who was now sitting up slightly, apparently with the express purpose of ruining a nice moment.

“I’m always acutely aware that you’re there, Sokka,” Azula said with a scowl and Katara laughed while she returned to her position on Azula’s other side.

“Shouldn’t you focus on saving the world instead of flirting with your girlfriend?” Sokka asked, accompanied by another yawn.

“Katara isn’t my…” Azula replied automatically but stopped when her gaze landed on Katara’s hurt face.

They still hadn’t discussed the status of their relationship since the whole Avatar State situation had taken up much of the last few days of travel.

Judging by Katara’s expression, though, she definitely responded incorrectly.

Before she could try and course correct, a steady pounding carried over to the water and Sokka actually stood up.

“Da, da, da. Don’t fall in love with the travelling girl. She’ll leave you broke and broken-hearted.”

As the pitchy notes sounded out a group of the most eccentric people Azula had ever seen approached the water and the man in the front stopped playing his lute as the drummer behind him halted his tapping.

“Hey, river people!” he said, gleefully.

“We’re not river people,” Katara replied, officially no longer preoccupied with the speed at which Azula had denied being her girlfriend.

Genuinely puzzled, the man asked, “you’re not? Well then what kind of people are you?”

“Just…people,” Katara replied.

“Aren’t we all, sister?” the man said and Katara and Azula exchanged confused looks.

“Who are you?” Sokka demanded, consciously standing in front of his two companions.

After all, most of the people they ran into wanted to kill the Avatar.

“I’m Chong and this is my wife, Lily,” he said, pointing to the woman beside him who was holding the drum, “we’re nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us!”

He finished off with a flourish on his lute.

The thought that she was kind of like a nomad at this point passed through Azula’s mind, but Chong had already moved on from the topic when his eyes fell onto Sokka.

“Nice underwear,” he said, absently.

Sokka’s eyes widened.

He’d completely forgotten that he’d dressed down for his leisurely floating but that fact was now affecting his ability to judge these ‘nomads’.

He snapped up the lemur from his shoulder and placed him in the most compromising portion of his body.

He started sliding across to the shore that held his clothes, leaving Katara and Azula staring at the gathered strangers, the water bender of the pair officially intrigued. 

S

When it caught his eye, Iroh abandoned his task of finding something to drink, and he squatted down to behold the beauty.

He gasped while his fingers ghosted over the leaves of the red and white flower.

Behind him, there was a rush of rustling and Zuko emerged from the mass of trees.

The prince growled as he slapped dirt away from his clothes and then rubbed roughly at his uncomfortably short hair.

“I didn’t find anything to eat! I can’t live like this! I wasn’t meant to be a fugitive. How does Azula do this?! It’s impossible!” he shouted to the uncaring sky.

When he didn’t receive a cryptic response from the squatting man, he asked, “uncle, what are you doing?”

Iroh was too busy doting over the flower to cater to the angsty prince’s complaints and he explained, reverently, “you’re looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious, it’s heartbreaking. That or it’s the white jade, which is poisonous.”

Zuko looked up to the sky, wondering whether Azula had to deal with this stuff with her companions. 

“We need food, not tea. I’m going fishing,” Zuko growled and left the man to his stupid flower.

Iroh hummed dreamily and said, “hmmm…delectable tea?” he then turned serious, removing his hand as he asked, suspiciously, “or deadly poison?”

S

“You’ve really been everywhere!” Katara said while Lily finished braiding her hair with flowers.

Chong stopped playing his lute and said thoughtfully, “well not everywhere. But where we haven’t been, we’ve heard about through stories and songs.”

“We can take you to see the giant night crawler,” Moku, another of the nomads, inputted.

Sokka watched the interaction, his face scrunched up in incredulity as Katara asked where the giant night crawler was.

When Azula passed him again, coming away from the bison to grab more supplies to pack up, Sokka grabbed her by the elbow and said, “why are you letting this happen?”

Azula shrugged him off so that she could grab a sleeping bag before she replied, overtly staring at the grinning water bender, “Katara looks happy.”

“You two have reached disgusting levels of cute.”

Azula made no attempt to argue, instead, she just grabbed another bag and left the warrior scowling amid the renewed singing.

“We need to get to Omashu, Azula!” he said in his usual high pitched frustration.

The Avatar air bended the supplies up onto the saddle, but didn’t get to say that was why she was doing all of the work here since Chong had heard the negativity from the shore and stopped strumming again.

“Wow, sounds like someone has a case of destination fever. You’re worried too much about where you’re going,” he said, hazily.

Lily finished placing the last flower into Katara’s hair and added, airily, “you got to focus less on the ‘where’ and more on the ‘going’.”

Azula turned away from Appa in time to see the colour in Sokka’s face rise with his annoyance reaching a new peak and she smirked at him.

Maybe she’d have more sympathy if he hadn’t ruined a perfectly nice moment with her…with her Katara.

“O. Ma. Shu.” Sokka sounded out impatiently while he tried not to look at the unhelpful Avatar.

Katara ran her hand through the finished braid and stood as she replied, “Sokka’s right. We need to find King Bumi so Azula can learn earth bending somewhere safe.”

Chong nodded thoughtfully again, “sounds like you’re headed to Omashu.”

The smack that Sokka delivered to his forehead reverberated but the nomad continued, “there’s an old story about a secret path right through the mountains.”

“Is this real or a legend?” Katara asked.

“Oh it’s a real legend. And it’s as old as earth bending itself,” Chong explained taking up his strumming again with increased fervour, “two lovers, forbidden from one another, the war divides them apart! Built a path to be together!” he stopped playing momentarily, “yeah I forget the next couple of lines but the it goes,” he resumed strumming and singing, “secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountains, secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Tunnel!” 

Sokka stared straight at Azula through the whole performance, unable to look directly at the dancing for fear of finally breaking down.

Azula was no longer smirking as Aang had appeared beside her to clap along to the pitchy song, so she was wearing a similar expression to Sokka as she looked at the ghostly nomad.

“I think we’ll stick with flying. We’ve dealt with the Fire Nation before. We’ll be fine, right Azula?” Sokka encouraged with his arms folded.

Azula cleared her throat, glancing to Katara to make sure she agreed with the grumpy warrior, before she admitted a warning that Aang had imparted to her earlier on in their journey, “Sokka’s right. Our bison doesn’t do well underground so some…legendary tunnel doesn’t really make sense.”

“Yeah, we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable,” Katara concurred, but the nomads didn’t really seem to notice that they finished packing up.

Appa flew off to the sound of loud singing and Sokka sank into the fluffy head in relief.

When they past the edge of the cliff, though, Sokka very much missed the incessant strumming.

Up ahead, a Fire Nation commander thrust his finger out to the approaching trio and their bison and shouted, “launch!”

Several catapults activated at once, sending a wall of fireballs at the team.

Sokka roughly pulled the reins so that they narrowly avoided a few of them, Appa roaring in distress.

Even Azula screamed with her teammates, but with some creative air bending, they managed to turn back without Appa sustaining any burns.

Sokka, Katara and Azula were still covered in ash, though, as they passed the nomads who hadn’t moved a muscle from the water.

“Secret love cave, let’s go,” Sokka grumbled.

S

Zuko’s fingers were wrapped tightly around the branch he’d used as a makeshift fishing pole, on the bottom of which a tiny fish had been speared.

He found his uncle was still hunched over that stupid flower and the prince’s hand went limp.

There were no words for just how irritated he was right now.

Iroh made this exponentially worse as he asked, “Zuko…remember that plant I thought might be tea?“ 

He dropped his pathetic fish and said, “you didn’t…”

“I did,” Iroh replied sheepishly, turning to reveal that he was littered with swollen, red marks, “and it wasn’t!”

“Ahhh!” Zuko shouted.

“When the rash spreads to my throat, I’ll stop breathing,” he said calmly, but then excitedly held out a small branch, “but look what I found. These are Bacui berries. Known to cure the poison of the white jade,” he voice became less enthusiastic as he added, “that, or mak’ole berries that cause blindness.”

Zuko wrenched the berries away from the former general and threw them down next to the fish.

“We’re not taking anymore chances with these plants! We need to get help.”

Iroh hummed as he steadily scratched at the violent hives and he asked, “but where are we going to go? We’re enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives of the Fire Nation.”

Zuko held his hand up to his chin as he weighed up their options.

When he noticed that the rash had spread to his uncle’s legs, he said, “we’re less likely to be recognised in the Earth Kingdom.”

He didn’t sound very confident but Iroh still nodded as he stood to follow the teen.

The small chance did seem the better of two very dismal options.

S

Katara smiled gratefully as Azula wiped a bit of ash from her cheek that she’d missed and she then tangled their fingers together at they continued to follow the nomads.

They were walking much more slowly than Azula was really comfortable with after being spotted by the Fire Nation, but she figured it was unlikely that these people would listen to her complaints.

Why not just enjoy holding Katara’s hand as they walked along a peaceful route, at least for the time being?

Sokka, as usual, was of a different mindset, “how far are we from the tunnel?”

“Actually it’s not just one tunnel. The lovers didn’t want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth,” Chong replied, as if it were good news.

Sokka halted so that Katara and Azula very nearly walked into his back.

“Labyrinth?” Sokka repeated slowly.

Chong shrugged as Katara pushed her brother forward and the nomad said, “oh, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“All you need to do is trust in love…according to the curse,” Lily said reassuringly.

Sokka halted again and the other teens behind him actually crashed into him as he flinched violently, whinging as he asked, “curse?”

This time, Azula launched Sokka into motion with a quick blast of air.

After a minute of angry walking, a dark cave entrance came into view which was definitely the last thing that reminded Sokka of love, but Chong still announced, cheerily, “hey-hey! We’re here!”

“What exactly is this curse?” Sokka demanded.

“The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise, you’ll be trapped in them forever,” Chong replied and Azula felt blush creep up her face as Katara squeezed her hand and she found the water bender smiling at her, adoringly.

“And die,” Lily added.

Chong brightened and agreed, “oh yeah, and die. Hey I just remembered the rest of the song!” standing in front of the cave entrance, he strummed a single note and sang, in a low voice, “and die!”

Sokka swivelled around to the blushing pair who were clearly not focused on what was important here and he said, loudly, “that’s it! There’s no way we’re going through some cursed hole!”

“You’re welcome to walk through the field of fire balls, Sokka,” Azula replied, calmly, not at all fazed by some ‘curse’.

Sokka scrunched up his face, but something rose up from behind them and stopped him from shouting at the Avatar for being especially belligerent today.

“Hey, someone’s making a big campfire,” Moku announced, excited by the prospect.

Katara and Azula whipped around to the grey smoke rising in the horizon and it was Azula’s turn to squeeze the water bender’s hand.

“That’s no camp fire, Moku,” Katara said seriously.

“It’s the Fire Nation, they’re tracking us,” Sokka said grimly, disappointed to find no sense of fear in the nomads’ collective eyes.

Katara gripped the Avatar’s hand and pulled her past Sokka, determined to put as much distance between her and the people intent upon returning her to Ozai.

With their hands joined, it was hard to think that believing in love would have anything but a happy ending.

She was sure that they could make it through, even if she wasn’t too confident with their newest set of companions. 

Sokka rubbed at his face before he gestured towards the ominous cave, “everyone in the hole!”he called.

Appa roared in objection but still followed them as he felt Aang’s hand rest comfortingly on his head.

Just as the unlikely group passed through the entrance, several Fire Nation tanks paused in front of it.

“Hold on!” the commander said before his men could continue, “it’s too dangerous. Haven’t you heard the song? Just close them in. The mountain will take care of the rest.”

The tanks rotated to fire grappling hooks into the tunnel, which snatched back to cause an avalanche of rock that eclipsed the entrance.

Inside, all turned to watch the light become blocked out by a pile of boulders.

The first to react was Appa.

The bison leapt forward to begin pawing at them.

Katara’s hand left Azula’s so that she could go place a hand onto his leg and she said, reassuringly, “it’s okay, Appa, we’ll be fine…I hope…”

Azula blew out a sceptical breath and Sokka went for encouraging as he said, “we will be fine. All we need is a plan. Chong, how long do those torches last?”

“Uh,” Chong said, completely unfazed to see that they were trapped in a cave he thought to be cursed, “about two hours each.” 

Lily proceeded to illustrate his point by lighting their entire stock and she said, “and we have five torches, so that’s ten hours.”

Sokka tore forward to grab the tools from her to throw them to the ground and stamp at them.

“It doesn’t work like that if they’re all lit at the same time!” he spat out as he kicked at the fire.

“Oh, right,” Lily said.

“Sokka,” Azula said on the warrior’s final stomp and she held up her hand when he looked at her with anger and exhaustion in his features.

Both expressions fell away when she lit up a ball of blue flame that lit a good portion of the cave and his shoulders sagged.

“Oh yeah, fire bending,” he murmured in a tone very close to Lily’s. Still, he swiped up the torches and lit one for himself for extra light as he said, “I’m going to make a map to keep track of exactly where we’ve been. Then we should be able to solve the maze and get through.”

As Sokka started on his task, Katara returned to Azula’s side so that she could shoot her a worried look.

As she slotted her arm through Azula’s, the Avatar held the blue flame as far away from her as she could.

S

Back on the edges of the Earth Kingdom, Iroh’s eyes tracked the activity of the healer’s hut.

Zuko leaned against the beam opposite his scratching uncle, staring downward so that his hat covered his scar as they waited for attention.

Finally, a woman approached, throwing a cloth to the side as she lightly slapped his hand away to stop the scratching and said, “you two must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make a tea and drink it.”

Iroh cringed with his swollen face and said sheepishly, “whoops!” as she began washing his blotchy skin.

“So where are you travelling from?” she asked as she worked.

Zuko pushed off the wall and caught his uncle’s eyes warningly, “yes, we’re travellers,” he tried to claim with fake confidence.

The woman looked at the previously mute teen and asked, “do you have names?”

“Names? Of course we have names,” Zuko scrambled while she returned her gaze to Iroh and slapped his hand again, “I’m uh…Lee and this is my uncle, uh…Mushi?”

Through his swollen face, Iroh scowled at Zuko while the healer took some lotion from a jar to slather onto the afflicted man.

He grinned a second later though and looked directly at Zuko as he said smugly, “yes, my nephew was named after his father, so we just call him Junior.”

Zuko’s attempt to move a finger threateningly across his neck was interrupted when the woman turned around and he snapped his hand behind his back.

“Mushi and Junior, huh,” she said, slapping Iroh’s lotioned hand again while she resumed her work, “my name is Song. You look like you could use a good meal. Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

Zuko looked down to the ground and replied, bitterly, “sorry, but we need to be moving on.”

“That’s too bad,” Song mused, wearing an innocent smile while she screwed the lid back to the lotion, “my mom always makes too much roast duck.”

“Where do you live exactly?” Iroh asked, excitedly. 

S

“Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you’ve led us to,” Katara complained, huddling closer to the heat coming off the Avatar.

Sokka tilted the map to all four sides and pulled it up to his face as he growled, “this doesn’t make any sense. We already came through this way.”

As the warrior passed him to look into the dark rocks up ahead, Chong said, “we don’t need a map, we just need love. These two know it.”

Azula raised an eyebrow at the nomad but Katara just smiled lovingly at the other teen.

“I think a map would be more effective,” Azula deadpanned, which had no effect upon the water bender’s smile. 

How was it that she was so obviously sure about what was happening between the two of them when all Azula knew for sure that she enjoyed being this close to the other teen?

Up ahead of this internal wondering, Sokka pulled the map down after accepting that there was no way to make it make sense.

Except for one unlikely option that was.

“There’s something strange here. There’s only one explanation…the tunnels are changing,” he said, resignedly.

All those gathered looked up simultaneously at the ceiling as they began to shake.

S

Despite Zuko’s best efforts, he couldn’t argue with the prospect of a free hot meal, so Iroh ultimately won out.

That was how he found himself sat next to his uncle in some plain kitchen.

It was the kind of place where he wouldn’t have been able to imagine that people could live not too long ago.

His reluctant agreement didn’t mean that he had to try and make conversation so he just stared at the table setting so that he didn’t have to behold Song’s curious stare.

It was difficult to hide his scar when he had to remove his hat due to an unfortunate need to be polite.

The silence was broken, though, by Song’s mother who placed the roast duck onto the table before taking her own seat.

“My daughter tells me you’re refugees. We were once refugees ourselves,” she admitted as she distributed the meal.

“When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away that was the last time I saw my father,” Song added. 

Zuko watched the smoke rise form his duck.

He sincerely wished that he could say it’d been three years since he’d laid eyes on Ozai.

The memory of the temple only bred shame at the disappointment that had oozed from the Fire Lord.

How for a brief moment, his father had favoured him over Azula and she took it away from him with a blast of air.

These strangers didn’t need to know all that, so he just said the version of events that he wished was true.

“I haven’t seen my father in many years,” Zuko lied, paying no attention to Iroh’s look of curiosity.

“Oh, is he fighting in the war?” Song asked, empathetically as Iroh turned his attention to his bowl of noodles, which he just started slurping up regardless of the oppressive atmosphere.

Without any attempt to touch his food, Zuko replied, “yeah.”

This lie felt worse than his first, so he was having a difficult time initiating eye contact with either of the generous hosts.

S

“The tunnels, they’re a-changin’” Chong said frantically, “it must be the curse! I know we shouldn’t have come down here!”

Sokka crossed his arms and said sardonically, “right, if only we listened to you.”

Katara removed her arm from Azula so that she could use it to halt her brother’s sarcasm and she leaned forward, “everyone be quiet, listen.”

Sokka stepped ahead and held out the torch into the endless dark of the tunnel, down which a snarl vibrated with no way to distinguish which direction it was really coming from. 

Momo fled from the warrior’s shoulder while he pushed out the torch slowly, desperate to know what they were up against.

His answer came in the form of flapping darkness that whizzed towards the group.

“It’s a giant flying thing with teeth!” Chong screeched while Azula closed her hand around their major light source in her efforts to avoid the threat.

“No! It’s a wolf bat!” Moku corrected as the creature landed in one of the many dark corners, the nomads all cowering together.

A moment passed before the wolf bat took flight again, straight at Sokka who swatted at it with his lit torch.

The sparks flew from the tool, starting a chain of chaos as they landed directly onto Appa’s fur.

The already anxious bison yelped and shot across the tunnel, deaf to Aang’s pleas to calm down.

As Appa smashed into a wall with a roar, the entire tunnel shook, debris and rock breaking free from the ceiling from the sheer force. 

Azula just about reacted in time, jumping forward to quickly air bend Sokka and the nomads out of the way of the falling tunnel. 

Katara naturally also followed in her instinct to help, so when Azula whipped around, she saw the water bender stood under yet more falling rock.

The Avatar moved quickly, even by air bending standards, colliding with Katara just before the debris crashed to the floor.

Katara felt all breath leave her as something quite sharp poked her in the back, but when she opened her eyes, she found ember ones hovering over her, filled with concern.

Honestly, how was it that they kept ending up in this position?!

“Are you okay?” Azula asked, her voice travelling through the thick dust trudged up by the falling rock.

Katara swallowed and just nodded, forcing herself to remember that the aftermath of an avalanche was not the time to blush.

Azula cleared her own throat, coming to the same realisation nd pushed herself off the water bender, who she then helped up, both of them looking over to make sure Appa had come out of his frenzy.

Only Azula could see the monk spirit patting his arrow though and they each returned their attention to the rock that divided them from the rest of their group.

One the other side, Sokka had already fallen to his knees and was scrapping desperately against the dust.

“Yeah, it’s no use, we’re all separated,” Chong said solemnly, but the perked up and added, “but at least you have us!”

“Nooo!” Sokka cried and threw himself into the dirt while he dug more vigorously as debris fell on and around him. 

Minutes passed with Sokka digging desperately, during which the nomads thought it wise to strike up yet another song:

“Oh don’t let the cave-in get you down. Don’t let the falling rocks turn your smile into a frown, when the tunnels are darkest, that’s when you need a clown, hey! Don’t let the cave-in get you down, Sokka!”

On the final word, Sokka allowed his head to crash into the fallen rock.

S

Following the first truly delicious meal he’d had in a while, Zuko sat on the porch of the small house with his arm propped up by his raised knee.

He knew he should be grateful for what these people had given him, but the fact was, it was not enough.

These people didn’t have the resources to treat him as royalty, nor the ability to return his honour.

Only one person had that ability now and she also apparently possessed the skills to become a giant water spirit monster.

If he didn’t stand a chance against Azula when she was just a fire bender, was he foolish for thinking he could defeat her now that she’d embraced that she was the Avatar?

It especially didn’t help his mood that she continued to prevail even now that she refused to fight him.

Her luck was just infuriating!

The sliding door opened to his side and he looked away from the setting sun and down to his lap.

“Can I join you?” Song asked the clearly closed off teen and when she received no verbal response either way she fell down next to him.

A silence passed between the pair until she gathered the courage to bring up the topic that she just couldn’t ignore:

“I know what you’ve been through. We’ve all been through it. The Fire Nation has hurt you.”

Zuko slightly lifted his head so that his scar peak out from under the rim of his hat, his frown making him appear older than his young age warranted. 

Song took this movement as permission to reach over in an attempt to touch the affected skin.

Zuko grabbed her hand without even looking at her and her kind of cautious energy deflated as she placed her hand back into her lap.

She managed to keep her compassion high, though, as she said, “it’s okay. They’ve hurt me, too.”

To prove her point, she lifted her pant leg to reveal scars climbing up her leg, covering more skin that his injury did.

Zuko couldn’t help abandoning his brooding demeanour to survey the scars in open surprise.

After all, he couldn’t think of a single thing this young woman could have done to deserve that pain. 

S

With Appa stomping petulantly behind them, Katara and Azula walked down the tunnel in comfortable silence, Azula holding up her fire to inspect every nook and cranny for a way out.

While she looked at yet more unyielding rock, Katara caught her attention.

“Azula look!” she said and pointed at the door up ahead cut into stone.

They both rushed forward eagerly and tried to wrench it open but fell back as a loud snort reached their ears.

It was a warning from the bison preparing to charge.

As soon as the horns crashed into the door, it hung limply off the wall, Appa looking between the two humans expectantly.

Azula grabbed Katara’s hand and stepped through into the next chamber, ready to get out of here.

Appa hopped through, perhaps the most disappointed to discover that there was no more light her than what Azula was providing.

“This isn’t the exit,” Katara sighed.

Azula entered further in amid Appa’s grunts of displeasure and held the fire up so as to better behold the area.

“No it’s a tomb. Do you think it could be for the lovers from the legend? They could be buried here?” Azula suggested.

Katara, a little surprised that the other girl would concede that the legend could be true, stepped up to her so that she could grip the wrist for the hand holding the fire, extending it out to the wall carved with with images, intricately designed to match the inscriptions below them.

Azula allowed Katara to walk her down the panels that reflected her blue light.

“These pictures tell their story,” Katara said and began narrating the tale.

“They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages…the villages were enemies, so they could not be together…but their love was strong and they found a way. The two lovers learned earth bending from the badger moles; they became the first earth benders. They built elaborate tunnels, so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be forever in the labyrinth. But one day, the man didn’t come between the two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earth bending power, she could have destroyed them all…but instead, she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they could live together in peace. The woman’s name was Oma and the man’s name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love,” reaching the last inscription, Katara finished, “love is brightest in the dark.”

She released Azula’s wrist and they both stared at the carving of Oma and Shu sharing a kiss.

“Do you really think something like this could have happened?” Azula asked, still staring at the couple.

“Well…we could have been enemies in another life,” Katara said, reluctantly. She didn’t like to think about who Azula would be if she was only the Fire Nation’s princess. Without the threat to her life that came with being the Avatar, could anything else have made her leave the palace?

Would they have even met?

Azula turned to look straight into Katara’s vulnerable eyes, not quite believing that there could be a version of her that only thought of her as a peasant, even if it wasn’t really that long ago that was exactly how she had referred to her.

“And you think that we would still…” Azula started, unsure how to finish the sentence.

Katara took her hand that was clear of blue flame and said, “I hope so…”

“I hope so too,” Azula replied.

Katara eyes drifted up to the carving, a warm feeling in her stomach which bolstered her silly idea.

“I have a crazy idea,” she admitted, embarrassed.

“What is it?” Azula asked and Katara cringed as she looked back to her.

“Do you promise not to mock me?”

Azula quirked an eyebrow, but replied, “I would never, Katara.”

“Well…the curse says we’ll be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love…And here it says, ‘love is the brightest in the dark’ and has a picture of them kissing…so what if we kissed?” Katara explained sheepishly.

“You think the cursed tunnel can see us kiss?” Azula asked.

The water bender freed her hand to point accusatorially, “I said no mocking!”

“I’m not mocking,” Azula said, though she laughed, “I just don’t understand cursed tunnels like you do.”

“Do you have any ideas, wise Avatar?” Katara asked, sounding uncannily like Sokka.

Azula laughed again and grabbed her forearm, holding the flame up so that it was far away from Katara as she stepped into her space.

“Of course I’ll kiss you, Katara,” Azula said and Katara caught her breath.

The reflections of the fire somehow made her ember eyes even more beautiful.

Their lips were pulled together and for a handful of moments they both forgot that they were currently trapped, Katara resting her palm against the princess’s cheek.

When they pulled apart, a few more seconds passed where they stared at each other before they registered that nothing had changed.

Katara’s face fell onto Azula’s collarbone with a sigh, “it didn’t work.”

Despite their trapped status, being surrounded by dimly lit panels of a great love story was oddly romantic.

Azula placed her free hand to the small of Katara’s back, understanding why Oma and Shu would use this place as their safe haven. 

s

Fire flies buzzed around ‘Mushi’ and ‘Lee’ outside Song’s house, with her and her mother stood before the departing guests.

“Thank you for the duck. It was excellent,” Iroh said, bowing to the matriarch of the house.

“You’re welcome,” the woman replied, “it brings me pleasure to see someone eat my cooking with such…gusto.”

Iroh chuckled, patting his truly full stomach as he said, contentedly, “much practice.”

During the interaction, Zuko turned to leave, but Iroh simply wouldn’t allow it.

“Junior, where are your manners?” Iroh asked with a sharpness that had the prince turning around, “you need to thank these nice people.”

Zuko made no argument and just bowed to the two women, “thank you.”

Song took the opportunity to step up to him and say something that’s he was confident would be a comforting sentiment, “I know you don’t think there’s any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned.”

“I know,” Zuko said bitterly and actually turned to leave successfully this time. 

Iroh smiled one last time at their generous hosts so he was a few steps behind his nephew.

When he caught up with him, he was already untying the rope chaining an Ostrich Horse to the fence.

As he mounted the animal, Iroh demanded, “what are you doing? These people just showed us great kindness.”

Zuko’s expression didn’t budge.

He’d already convinced himself that their need was great.

Song and her mother were former refugees, they weren’t being actively hunted on the Fire Lord’s orders.

“They’re about to show us a little more kindness. Well?” Zuko replied.

Iroh was thoroughly disappointed, but now sure that he’d chosen the right sibling to stick with.

With this in mind, he also mounted the creature.

From the screen door, Song was more disappointed than the former general as the prince rode away.

Her head hung while she entered her home.

She had been sure that the Avatar would be the hope that Lee needed.

S

Sokka had lost track of what song they were on as he trudged ahead of the nomads.

The map that he’d long since stopped updating was shoved into his pocket, he’d declared it useless in these cursed tunnels that just kept going.

He’d come close to placing his hands over his tired ears but the strumming abruptly stopped.

If it wasn’t for the intense rumbling, it would have been the best thing Sokka had heard all day.

Sokka whipped to the rest of his party who had become too terrified to play their instruments as the tunnels themselves shook more violently until the source of the disturbance burst through the rock.

Even though he held up his torch to light them up, he still needed a moment to realise what he was looking at.

The massive animal had a nose pointing up to its dim eyes.

The trio of creatures then set off a series of chaos by placing their claws together,

All around Sokka and the nomads, the rock began sliding, closing off all possible exits.

Sokka pushed Chong out of the way as the ground split under his feet, causing him to drop his lute atop the fissure.

To make things worse, more wolf bats screeched, flying through the tunnel to take their last escape option before it was closed off.

WIth his sight obscured, Sokka tried very hard to push nomads out of the way of fissures and rock slides, while endeavouring to keep his own footing, the latter of the two failing miserably.

He stumbled down just as his sight returned to him, only to find filmy eyes right above him.

He held his breath and his arm shot out to grab the nearest thing he could use to defend himself.

When he pulled the lute across his chest, he gritted his teeth and, against his better judgement, he strummed over the strings. 

The creature bearing over him sat up on its legs and tilted its ears in Sokka’s direction.

“Hey, those things are music lovers!” Chong said breathily.

Sokka couldn’t argue with the logic, even if it came from Chong, so he nervously started playing and singing with the odd word interrupted by squeaks of terror:

“Badgermoles coming towards me…come on guys help me out!”

Without missing a beat, the nomads took up whatever instrument was near them and Chong sang, “the big, bad badger moles  who earth bend the tunnels, hate the wolf bats, but love the sounds.”

The tunnel shook one more time as the badger moles fell down into sitting positions so they could listen to the performance.

S

Katara and Azula’s hands were clasped together as they languidly walked down the tunnel, Appa’s groans getting more conspicuous with each step underground he took.

It had been a while since Azula actually thought about trying to get out since the event in the river had started playing on her mind.

While Sokka was nowhere near, this seemed like the only opportunity to bring up the topic.

She didn’t want to risk seeing the hurt expression on the other teen’s face again because they hadn’t had a moment alone to have a simple discussion.

The Avatar took in a deep breath, with no idea whether she would actually do this right, she still went for it and said “about what Sokka said earlier…”

Katara looked away from the blue sparkling off the wall and found the Avatar uncharacteristically afraid.

With a small laugh, Katara replied, “Sokka has said a lot today, you’re gonna need to be more specific.”

Azula stopped walking, pulling Katara to a stop before she ran her tongue over her lips and said, “about you being…my…girlfriend…”

Katara’s eyes widened, but she recovered and let go of the Avatar’s hand so that she could use her to lift Azula’s face up by the chin, forcing her to give eye contact.

She had been hurt by just how quickly she had denied the official status of their relationship, but she’d recovered quickly.

Part of being so besotted with the princess of the Fire Nation was understanding that she didn’t have a great handle on her emotions.

It was only natural that after a lifetime of being taught that everything about her meant that she deserved to be executed, after all.

After the appearance of the nomads, she’d resolved to just wait until Azula was ready to discuss it, she just hadn’t expected it to be quite so soon.

Then again, being stuck in a love tunnel did make it difficult to think of anything else.

“What about it?” Katara asked.

“I…don’t really have any experience with relationships but I’m pretty sure we skipped steps and…well I was just…I…wanted to ask…I…”

Katara placed a finger against Azula’s lips to stop the rambling.

It didn’t sound like she would be able to verbalise what she wanted so she decided to help her out.

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Azula?”

Azula felt the knot in her stomach release as she nodded with the finger still against her closed mouth.

Katara removed the finger to connect their lips, it seemed like the correct answer to such an adorably, vulnerable attempt to ask a question that had such an obvious answer.

Azula naturally leaned into the kiss, closing her fist around the blue flame so that it could fall onto Katara’s waist.

She didn’t get a chance to use it to pull her closer though, as rather than darkness, glowing light exploded overhead.

This prematurely ended their kiss as they both followed the crystals on the ceiling with their eyes, which clearly made a pathway.

“That’s how the two lovers found each other. They just put out their lights and followed the crystals,” Katara announced,”that must be the way out!”

Katara made to turn towards the exit they’d craved, but Azula grabbed her forearm before she could get anywhere.

“Wait…you didn’t actually answer the question,” Azula said desperately and when Katara raised an eyebrow at her, she added, “I really need to hear you say it…”

Katara stepped back into her space, her fingertips trailing down her cheeks and she said, firmly, “yes, Azula, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Azula relaxed and leaned in to steal another kiss before Katara slipped her arm through hers, this time leaning her head onto her shoulder as the couple walked towards the exit.

Nothing else needed to be said on the topic now. 

S

Appa bounded towards the light at the end of the tunnel before he burst outside and flopped onto his back, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in his contentment.

Azula and Katara left the tunnel much more slowly, the pair were just too preoccupied with holding the other’s hand.

Since their discussion, they each just wanted to enjoy their proximity before returning to the world they were responsible for saving.

The couple were aware that they couldn’t hide in some tunnel though, so they eventually stepped outside to find the incredibly happy bison.

Katara soon turned her eyes to her smiling girlfriend and let out her own content sigh.

It hit her a moment later that other people had originally been trapped with them and she asked, frantically, “Sokka?”

Rumbling shook the cliffside before Azula could even think of a suggestion of how to find the rest of their party.

Debris exploded out to reveal a number of bagdermoles that emerged carrying Sokka and the nomads.

Azula shielded Katara from the dust, but once it cleared, the water bender was across the cliff just as the creatures retreated to a chorus of waves from the grateful riders.

“Sokka!” Katara shouted juts before she crushed him in a hug, Azula approaching from behind, offering the warrior a genuine smile. 

Once Katara released him, Sokka asked, “how did you two get out?”

“We let love lead the way,” Katara replied, taking her girlfriend’s hand while Sokka looked at the Avatar sceptically.

“Without light, crystals lit up to show us the path,” Azula explained and Katara nudged her with a shake of her head.

“Oh,” Sokka said, glad that the so-called curse had a logical explanation and feeling no need to know why their light had gone out, “well we let huge, ferocious beats lead our way.”

Katara laughed and Azula’s hand slipped out of hers when she noticed Aang watching a ‘conversation’ between Momo and Appa.

She figured that it was worth asking the nomad if the bison was okay now.

Once she was gone Katara finally noticed a point of concern on her brother’s forehead.

“Why is your forehead all red?” she asked.

Chong answered the question by leaning into the siblings, thrusting his thumb over to the princess who was talking to thin air. 

“Nobody react to what I’m about to tell you, I think that kid is the Avatar!”

Sokka smacked his forehead hard and Katara had to bite her lip to not openly laugh.

Sokka rubbed at the red and said, desperately, “please tell me you guys aren’t coming to Omashu?”

Satisfied that Appa was okay, Azula returned to her human companions in time to hear Chong’s reply, “of course not, man, that would be a destination. Haven’t you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey?”

Sokka was close to slapping his forehead again until Chong drew his into a hug.

He leaned his head back and patted the man’s shoulder a couple times, “just play your songs,” Sokka grumbled.

Chong let go of him and said, “Hey! Good plan!” and he pulled his lute round, the other nomads already prepared to join in, “even if you’re lost, you can’t lose the love because it’s in your heart. Da, da, da.”

The song carried over to Team Avatar and Azula naturally slipped her hand back into the water bender’s when she found Katara smiling at her lovingly again.

Now that they’d finally discussed their relationship, Azula felt only the usual butterflies in response to her girlfriend’s beauty.

Once they all remounted Appa and took off into the safety of the sky, it didn’t take long for Sokka to find out what happened in the tunnel.

The couple received a kind of confused congratulations to the news since Sokka had been thoroughly convinced that it was already the case since they had left the Northern Water Tribe.

As far as he was concerned, girls just made things unnecessarily uncomplicated.

He was more focused on their destination anyway.

Appa landed just before a hill so they could survey the remaining terrain.

Aang jogged ahead drawn to his oldest friend he couldn’t wait to see, but he halted at the sight that met him.

Sokka couldn’t see this devastation so he began his satisfied speech, “the journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it’s really about: the destination.” He reached the crest of the hill and gestured out, “I present you the Earth Kingdom city of O…” 

Katara and Azula sped up to stand beside him when he abruptly stopped, but they both understood when they saw what Sokka did.

“Oh no,” he said.

Across the distance, the compact but colossal city was draped in red and black that definitely did not belong to the Earth Kingdom. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Three- The King of Omashu 

The red and black of the Fire Nation flapped tauntingly as smoke rose from the top of the stronghold.

Azula may not have seen Omashu before, but if the disappointment she could physically feel from Aang was anything to go by, it was a far cry from what it should be.

Leaving Katara’s side, she approached the sullen monk, though she had no idea how to comfort him.

After all, the city represented the last living friend from his time that Aang had left and now the chances were that there was no one else left.

Once she was besides him, words tumbled out of his mouth, “I can’t believe how far the war has spread, Omashu always seemed…untouchable. If they can take down Bumi then…”

The monk didn’t finish his thought and instead looked at Azula, searching for any solace that she could offer, hoping that she was somehow confident in spite of this drastic knock to their plan.

Getting an earth bending teacher was supposed to be easier than crossing the entire world!

Sokka, as usual, decided to spout some realism as he stared out to the city, “this means Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold.”

“This is horrible,” Katara agreed and turned to look at Azula and the empty space beside her. The princess may need an earth bending teacher but it was obvious which member of their group was the most invested in the fate of the conquered city. 

This was why she said softly, “I’m sorry Aang, but we have to move on. It’s not worth the risk of Azula being recognised.”

“Plus we don’t even know if King Bumi is…” Sokka began and Azula watched intense horror settle on the air bender’s face.

The boy already felt guilty enough as it was so she snapped, “Sokka.”

“What? I’m just being realistic,” he defended as his sister swatted at his arm.

“Katara is right, Aang, going into that city would be a pointless risk,” Azula said, “I can find another earth bending teacher.”

Aang bit at his bottom lip hard.

He knew it was a ridiculous risk and he had a habit of leading Avatars astray, but hadn’t Azula already proven she was vastly different to Korra and Jimu?

Plus, there was the fact that they wouldn’t even be discussing this if it were Sokka or Katara stuck in the Fire Nation city.

This was why he rounded on Azula, shaking his head vigorously as he said, “Bumi is the best earth bender any of us know, wouldn’t it be quicker to save him instead of hoping to find someone just as good? Unless you don’t think you can?”

When he finished he looked at Azula cautiously, preparing to be told that was idiotic, however, she was mildly impressed.

Even if she knew it wasn’t really why he wanted this, it wasn’t the worst argument.

Turning around to her other companions, she said, “We’re going to at least try and find the king. If it’s too dangerous or takes too long, then we’ll move on.”

Katara and Sokka were both surprised, the warrior of the pair also exasperated.

It had been a while since he’d used his ‘leader’ position to get his way and he didn’t suspect it would be very effective in this situation. This was why he just muttered about how ‘ghost boy’ shouldn’t get a vote.

Azula had already returned her gaze to the surprised nomad and she asked, “how do you propose we get in?”

He brightened and said, “there’s a secret passage!”

It took twenty or so minutes to cross the terrain to the city with Sokka’s insistence on stealth, but they did eventually reach a grate at the base of the city which Sokka eyed suspiciously.

“Why wouldn’t the Fire Nation know about a passage into the city?” he asked distrustfully while Azula popped it open under Aang’s instruction.

Sokka’s answer smacked him in the face with a grunt. He flicked the sewage away from his face and tried to scowl at Aang though the monk just laughed at him from Azula’s other side.

“I suppose they wouldn’t expect anyone to climb through the sewer,” Azula sighed, utterly resigned at this point.

This was officially the least she’d felt like royalty so far, she almost craved being covered in mud again.

The group proceeded to enter the tunnel without further discussion, Azula conjuring a ball of air at Aang’s suggestion, which kept the filth away from her. 

Behind her, Katara bent the sludge so that she created a path for herself, leaving Sokka at the back with no defences.

For the entire journey, the warrior continually got soaked with the sludge with each step he took.

“Ewww,” he whined but went unheeded by the two benders.

Azula pulled up the hood of the cloak that she’d strategically put on before leaving the tunnel and offered her hand to her girlfriend to help her out into the conspicuously empty street.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought,” Katara said, reluctantly taking her hand back. 

As ridiculous as it was, she had to remember that their relationship was illegal here.

Sokka also emerged, but he was covered in slime and scowled at the pair.

The couple shared a look before Katara bent the water from a nearby pail, throwing the substance off him to then be blasted with air from the Avatar to dry him.

This revealed three purple blobs attached to his skin, which distracted him from his annoyance at their ‘magic’.

He started yanking at them and cringed violently as their tight grip seemed to burn his skin.

“Ahh! They won’t let go! Help!” he shouted and was blasted with air again into the wall to stop him jumping around.

“Shut up!” Azula hissed, “you’ll draw attention to us!”

Sokka was still breathing deeply, unable to see Aang leaning into him, laughing, “it’s just a purple pentapus.”

“What’s a purple pentapus?” Azula asked, understanding Sokka’s disgust even if his reaction had been a bit much.

The monk showed her how to remove the creature by rubbing its head and they had all soon been popped off, leaving behind small circles of red.

When the last one was set free and hit the ground, a gruff voice called, “hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?”

Katara’s hand snapped out to pull Azula around so that she wasn’t facing the group of incoming soldiers.

“Sorry, we were just on our way home,” Katara replied, already leading the Avatar away as Sokka trailed behind them.

The soldiers looked at each other, all agreeing that they couldn’t ignore the cloaked girl, but Sokka had already blocked her from their view and something more pressing jumped out at them on his neck.

“Wait, what’s the matter with him?” the lead guard said.

Katara’s hand remained on Azula’s shoulder so she didn’t attempt to turn as she lied, “uh, he has pentapox, sir. It’s…highly contagious.”

The guards’ approach halted and Sokka said, exaggeratedly, throwing his hand over his suddenly gaunt face, “oh, it’s awful. I’m dying!”

“And deadly,” Katara added.

The second guard fell back, pulling another with him as he spluttered, “I think I heard of pentapox! Didn’t your cousin Chang die of it?”

“We’d better go wash our hands and burn our clothes,” the other guard said and they all ran away just as Azula turned around to watch them retreat.

“Idiots,” she muttered.

Katara let out a short laugh but it last only a moment since they had a major mission here.

“Where should we start looking for King Bumi?” she asked.

Azula looked around as much of the city that she could see, wishing that she had paid as much attention when learning about Earth Kingdom infrastructure as she did about their military.

She did, however, know what the Fire Nation would do if they captured a powerful earth bender.

“We need to find somewhere he can’t bend, it will probably be made of metal,” she said.

Her gaze landed on Aang, who was trying to put all of his appreciation into his smile before the group set off to search the city. 

S

After a few days of hunting, Lu Ten came to the decision that the royal procession was just too cumbersome for him to achieve the tasks set out by his uncle.

This decision was solidified by the fact that he’d had no leads at all on his father or cousin, so it seemed time to turn his attention to the target Ozai had made clear was more valuable.

For his other cousin, it simply wouldn’t do to be travelling in such a large group, she would spot the danger coming from a mile away.

This decision was how he found himself among a throng of performers, all practising their ‘talents’, so he had to make a concerted effort not to wrinkle his nose.

Why would anyone choose this over a life with royalty?

Judging by how close they had been before he left, he could easily see Azula making sure that Ty Lee had a very comfortable life and yet she still left?

As much as he would never understand voluntarily leaving the palace behind, there was one thing he was sure of.

The potential relationship he’d registered between the young Azula and Ty Lee (which he’d elected not to mention to Ozai out of some misplaced affection for his cousin), made him sure that it would be easy to recruit a particular circus performer he was now approaching.

He wasn’t at all surprised to find her doing a handstand outside a tent, nor that confusion overcame her face when her upside down gaze fell onto the prince.

With natural ease, her legs came down and she popped up, her mouth agape.

The older teen crossed his arms and offered her a charming smile as he said, “is that you, Ty Lee?”

The acrobat drifted over to him with her mouth still open and she absently poked his cheek, which he allowed.

“Lu Ten? I thought you were…” she trailed off.

“The Earth Kingdom forces wanted my father to think that but I eventually escaped,” he replied, while she tried to figure whether she should be saying the word ‘dead’.

Ty Lee tilted her head, but finally squealed and pulled him into a tight hug, which he, once again, allowed.

“That’s amazing!” she said as she released him, “I wonder why Azula never mentioned it in her letters…”

“Azula has been writing to you?” Lu Ten asked, maybe a little too eagerly. If there was anyone in the Fire Nation she would trust, then it would be Ty Lee, after all.

His hopes of an easy mission were dashed when her face pulled down in a frown, “not for a while now and she hasn’t been answering mine either…”

So she didn’t know about the princess’s disappearance or the revelation of why it was that she’d run away?

For anyone else, he would have seriously questioned how that was possible, but Ty Lee was well known for her limited attention span.

She’d probably sat among people discussing the Avatar and just not listened.

It was definitely good for Lu Ten’s purposes.

“That’s why I’m here, actually. Uncle Ozai has tasked me with something and I was hoping that you could help me?” Lu Ten asked, choosing to pay no heed to the men wrangling a platypus bear behind them.

Officially caught off guard with no idea why he would choose her of all people, Ty Lee straightened up, her muscles somehow remembering how the daughter of a nobleman should stand.

“Oh…I…uh…I’m honoured that you would ask me Lu Ten, but the truth is, I’m really happy here. I mean, my aura has never been pinker!” Ty Lee expressed by throwing her arms out.

Lu Ten just had to raise his eyebrows.

How it was that this girl had ever actually been friends with Princess Azula was completely beyond him.

“If you say so,” he replied, turning and beginning to walk away, “I wouldn’t want you to give up the life you love, even if Azula needs our help…”

He got only a step away before Ty Lee called, “wait! Did you say ‘Azula’?”

The prince halted, smiled briefly and then plastered on a solemn frown of a concerned cousin as he turned back to the best chi blocker in the Fire Nation.

To her desperate concern, he replied, “Uncle Ozai misses his daughter and just wants her to come home.”

Judging by Ty Lee’s continued attention, he was confident he had an official ally.

S

With the sun lower in the sky, Azula, Katara and Sokka snuck through the streets of Omashu, searching for any sign of an anti-earth bending trap.

While they snuck along, waiting for black and red to disappear around a corner, in the next street a seventeen-year-old’s face remained blank of emotion.

Taking a walk, with two guards for ‘protection’, seemed like a good idea to her mother, but Mai was far from impressed by the crisp night air.

“There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for this place,” Mai deadpanned.

Her brother babbled happily in her mother’s arms and Mai rolled her eyes.

Once he was older, she was sure he would agree with her.

“Mai,” her mother sighed, “your father was appointed governor, we’re like royalty here. Be happy and enjoy it.”

As the ‘royal’ party headed towards the end of the mail delivery chute, a group of huddled men craned their necks to evaluate the progress of their plan.

“The targets are approaching,” one of them whispered.

Captain Yung, shifting in his Earth Kingdom uniform, replied, “take them out.”

Below, Mai retained her dull tone as she continued, “I thought life was boring in the Fire Nation, but this place is unbearably bleak. Nothing ever happens here.”

The men above, launched a boulder down the chute, so that it began travelling down at high speed towards the governor’s family.

At the same moment, Azula’s party peaked around the corner for threats in time to see the rolling boulder.

Azula’s eyes fell onto its intended target and she moved in spite of Sokka and Katara’s attempts to hold her back.

She launched up to the chute to pulverise the boulder with a strong swipe of her glider, causing an explosion that caught everyones’ attention.

Mai looked up to the chute and saw only a cloaked figure standing in front of a pile of rubble that must have been a failed attempt on their lives. 

Her mother fell back, clutching her son as she shouted, “the resistance!”

Azula’s eyes widened when she saw the slight turn up of Mai’s mouth which could only mean one thing.

Holding her hood securely, she jumped down to her team, narrowly avoiding the sharp knives that split the rock under her.

She launched into motion, grabbing Katara’s hand as they ran into the scaffolding beneath the mail system, followed by guards and then Mai.

The teen was now openly smiling as she pursued the most interesting that that had happened in weeks, pulling out more knives as she ran.

Meanwhile, Katara had taken her hand back to water bend guards out of the way so that she and Sokka could climb up the ladder to the next level of the construction site.

Azula held out her glider, swiping at the guard running ahead of Mai before she jumped up to join her girlfriend and her brother.

Team Avatar spent a solid ten seconds throwing more guards off the scaffolding, giving Mai time to make it up the ladder.

As soon as she did, she thew out more knives which were caught by a shield of cracked ice while the trio forged ahead.

Mai ran to jump over the ice to give her a clear view of the enemies.

Honing in on the cloaked figure, she threw two knives at once, the Avatar reacting only just in time.

She spun around to block the knives with her staff with enough force to throw her cloak back and reveal her face.

Mai, who was in the process of pulling out another knife, faltered, her hand hanging as she said, “Azula?”

“Of course you know the crazy knife girl!” Sokka squeaked as Katara grabbed Azula’s cloak to pull her towards them, out of the trajectory of anymore knives.

Azula’s mouth opened with no idea what she wanted to say to her old friend. 

A rectangle broke around them so that the trio fell downwards before Azula could fight it out, now not at all worried about the sewage that she was going into.

The ground closed back up as guards ran up to Mai, the young woman just staring at the site where she’d first got a good look of Avatar Azula. 

S

Even as they fell to some kind of underground cave, Azula could feel Katara’s desire to ask about Mai.

It was the first person from her old life who she wasn’t related to that she’d laid eyes on in a long time and she wasn’t really sure how she felt about it.

It was so rare for Mai to show real emotion, so her surprise was now etched into Azula’s mind.

She supposed that in her current condition, she was now a far cry from the person that Mai knew.

Maybe her surprise meant she was actually interested?

Maybe interested enough to side with her old friend over the Fire Nation?

She’d never seemed overly concerned with her parents’ loyalties, especially when they forced her to move away from the capital.

All of this was not really relevant now that the team were faced with a cluster of Earth Kingdom soldiers staring at the group of children that had just been saved by their leader.

At the very moment, Azula felt infinitely safer than she had on Fire Nation soil under the layer of excitement that she physically felt radiating from Aang.

“I knew it! Bumi must be here leading the resistance,” he said while vibrating and standing on his toes, searching for grey hair over the heads of the assembled forces.

He fell back down, not deterred at all by his failure to spot his old friend as he looked encouragingly to Azula, nodding at her.

She knew exactly what he wanted her to ask.

With Sokka making sure that Katara was okay, Azula stepped up to the leader, “is King Bumi here?”

The man frowned at the girl, clearly expecting a ‘thank you’ rather than a question, but he still proceeded to answer it, “of course not! The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city…to fight for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrended. The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said ‘I’m going to do…nothing!’ it doesn’t matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom and freedom is worth fighting for!”

As the man spoke, Azula watched Aang’s face.

It went from surprise to disappointment, but it never included disbelief.

He’d accepted this was something the so-called ‘mad genius’ would do.

Since she could feel this acceptance, she figured that she should just go ahead and say what she wanted. 

“Omashu isn’t the only piece of Earth Kingdom land that has been threatened, captain. In this city you are hopelessly outnumbered, but if you were to leave Omashu, you could all aid others by living to fight another day,” she said, with authority that Yung thought was strange from a fourteen-year-old girl, even if she was also the Avatar.

He crossed his arms and said, “you don’t understand. They’ve taken our home and we have to fight them at any cost.”

Azula was about to reveal that she knew exactly what it was like to lose her home, but one of the resistance fighters chipped in softly, “I don’t know, Yung, living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me.”

Another resistance fighter used the opportunity to address the captain too, “yeah, I’m with the kid.”

Yung bit at his lip, finding no dissent among his forces and he inclined his head, sadly.

“Fine. But there’s thousands of citizens that need to leave. How’re we going to get them all out?” he asked. 

Azula turned to her companions and found Sokka smiling in a way that she knew meant that he had a plan.

Under her gaze, he announced, “suckers!”

The warrior received a sleugh of scepticism in response, and was forced to lead them to the sewage system to explain. 

He grabbed a purple blob and said, “you’re all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox.”

This lead to sticking the small creatures to each person who wanted to leave, giving them small, circular, red marks.

When the last citizen was afflicted, Sokka paced back and forth, inspecting their work, satisfied, he said, “the marks make you look sick, but you gotta act sick too. Ya gotta sell it! Everyone into sick formation!”

Sokka groaned along with the other civilians and Katara was about to follow, but noticed her girlfriend in a whispered conversation with thin air.

From Azula’s perspective, there was a sad monk staring at her, “I know he surrended, but he’s still my friend. He needs help…please Azula…”

“Azula, what are you doing?” Katara asked, approaching the pair of Avatars.

“I’m going to look for the king one more time. If he’s still here then he can be my teacher,” Azula replied, opening her glider.

“Okay,” Katara replied, placing a quick kiss to her cheek, “Come back safe.”

“I will,” Azula replied and took off, Katara watching her before she disappeared behind a building.

Momo landed onto Katara as she watched, squeaking animatedly until the water bender said, “We’ll feed you later, Momo.”

The lemur lowered his ears and also took off.

Katara didn’t see where he went, she just joined the horde of moaning ‘sick’ people who were getting closer and closer to the main gate.

The guards posted there, clutched at their spears and trembled harder as the infected extended their arms.

“Plague! Plague!” one of them squealed another smashed a stick against a gong.

This got the attention of the family gathered on the balcony overlooking the city. 

“What is going on down there?” Governor Ukano asked, leaning down towards the strange gathering as Mai absently ate fire flakes beside him.

The teen may have been mildly interested in whatever the peasants were up to if she wasn’t so preoccupied with her recent ‘reunion’ with her friend.

A guard replied, “I saw some kids yesterday who were sick with pentapox. It must have spread.”

“Pentapox!” Ukano said, while pulling at his beard, “hmmm, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of that.”

“Oh, this is terrible,” Michi, his wife, replied, throwing her face into her hands.

Mai slowed her chewing and glanced towards her parents.

If she was at all inclined to care about her father’s rule over the most boring city in the Earth Kingdom, she may have told them they were being idiots.

It was hard to believe that the civilians would have a valid reason to leave at the same time that Azula showed up as their enemy.

Of courses she hadn’t quite gotten round to telling them who she chased since she knew they would ask her how she felt about it and she absolutely couldn’t deal with that.

This was why she just continued to chew and allowed the conversation to carry on around her.

“What should we do?” the guard asked.

“Drive them out of the city…don’t touch them! We have to rid the city of this disease!” the governor said, frantically.

The guard bowed and excused himself to impart the orders to the other guards.

“How awful!” Michi lamented, huddling into her husband as her other child toddled away from the group.

At the same time, Momo landed in the room that the child waddled into as he stole all the berries he could get his paws on, only to be interrupted by grabbing hands from below.

After a series of misfortune, which involved the lemur making a real concerted effort to not allow the child to fall from the mail delivery system, the governor’s son landed at the back of the groaning civilians.

Without so much as a missed step, the governor’s son followed the people out of the open gate. 

S

For an hour, Azula searched high and low again for any sign of an imprisioned king under Aang’s careful directions.

At the sight of a couple guards about to turn a corner, she silently launched onto a flat roof to avoid them.

Once she was sure that they were gone, she walked over to the other side of the roof so that she could survey the city.

Aang’s instructions were not helping so far, but at the same time, she didn’t have any ideas, so she looked back to the spirit.

“Do you have anymore suggestions?”

Aang shook his head from side to side, his eyes pulled down in despair but he perked up suddenly and jumped down.

“Flospie!” he shouted to the glum, large white creature pushing a turnstile slowly, but consistently. 

Azula landed beside him and watched the animal for a moment to discern that it was some kind of goat gorilla and was definitely not what she was looking for.

Still, it was the first thing that Aang had been excited about since they had seen the Fire Nation insignia. 

“This thing’s name is Flopsie?” she asked, squinting as the creature stopped pushing in response to his name and looked questioningly at Azula.

“He’s Bumi’s pet, he got so big!” Aang replied.

“Of course,” Azula sighed and cautiously crossed over to the animal that hadn’t decided yet if he trusted her.

She held up her hand to him and then bended the water from the drinking bowl (since fire would hardly breed trust) and then froze it onto the lock midway through the chain holding Flopsie in his servitude.

She swung the staff down to smash it into pieces, releasing him.

Azula made the mistake of looking at Aang to make sure it was what he wanted, but was thrown to the ground to the monk’s gleeful laughs. 

The current Avatar did her best to cover her face against the giant tongue trying to lick it.

“Aahhh,” she complained.

“He likes you,” Aang reassured.

“Stop…you stupid…down Flospie!” Azula commanded and the creature stood up on his hind legs, panting happily as she bent the salvia off her with a huff.

Aang was still grinning from ear to ear under her unimpressed gaze, “he can help us find Bumi!” he announced.

Without a better idea, Azula mounted the goat gorilla, who needed no encouragement before he shot off at high speeds.

Aang reappeared behind Azula, confident that they would be able to find his friend. 

S

Aang’s confidence seeped away with each minute that passed.

They may be crossing the city with more precision, accompanied by the creature who wanted to find Bumi as much as he did, but another hour of failure was too long for Azula.

To no objections from Aang, she turned Flopsie in the direction that the people had left in.

The camp came into view exactly where they’d planned and Azula was barely off the goat gorilla before Katara crushed her in a hug so that Azula could feel exactly how worried her girlfriend had become.

“This isn’t Bumi, is it?” Sokka asked as Katara let go, and they each looked over to the solemn creature, as sad as Aang.

“He’s King Bumi’s pet, Flopsie,” Azula replied, which reassured Sokka somewhat.

“Was there no sign of Bumi?” Katara asked.

“No,” Azula sighed, “I think we should just move on…”

“We’ve got a problem,” Yung called over to the trio, not reacting at all to Flopsie, “We just did a head count.”

“And what’s the problem?” Azula replied.

“We have an extra,” the captain said, pointing towards Momo who was being clutched tightly by a pair of tiny hands.

“Tom Tom?” Azula said, the giggling child, too preoccupied with his new ‘toy’ to react to his name.

“You know this kid?” Sokka said, obviously annoyed at how close they’d come to leaving the Fire Nation land.

“Well…he was only a few days old before they left but he definitely looks like he could be Mai’s brother,” Azula explained as she imagined a more sullen expression on the smiling boy’s face.

“Mai?” Katara repeated, “As in ‘play in the palace garden’ Mai?”

Sokka rubbed at his forehead and said, “what are you talking about?”

“Mai…’knife girl’. She was my friend before she had to leave because her father was reassigned. Today was the first time I’ve seen her in about two years,” Azula said. 

“So…she could be on our side, right?” Sokka asked, somewhat hopefully.

“It…depends,” Azula admitted.

“On what?” Katara asked.

“Whether she finds our side less boring.”

S

Mai had made the mistake of admitting to her parents just who a member of the resistance was and now her mother was openly sobbing into Ukano’s shoulder on the balcony.

Absently, she reached into her pocket to give the woman a handkerchief, which she blew into disgustingly, the sound cutting through the otherwise silent area.

The two guards behind the family both stared at their boots. 

“The resistance has kidnapped my son and something must be done quickly while they have the princess on their side. That girl is ruthless,” he said, holding his wife tightly as she sobbed even harder.

Mai turned her head to the side so that she could roll her eyes, unseen.

She could probably reassure them by pointing out that ‘Avatar Azula’ seemed so different, but only a glimpse of her in Earth Kingdom garb, sporting a less than perfect top knot was hardly enough to judge her entire character. 

Still, the girl she knew would never oppose the Fire Nation and, if she hadn’t seen her with her own eyes, she would have continued to believe that the reports of the newest Avatar were just ridiculous gossip amongst profoundly bored soldiers and noblemen. 

She wasn’t at all convince that her parents’ worry was warranted in the least.

“What do you want to do sir?” one fo the guards asked.

The governor swallowed and replied, “we can make a deal. A trade.”

S

Hours passed in the campsite, during which Tom Tom remained obsessed with Momo.

Team Avatar were surrounding one of the many fires set to accommodate the resistance, having decided to rest before they made their next plan.

Tom Tom zipped across them, but when Momo took flight, he stumbled down next to Sokka.

This led him to his next obsession and he made to pick up the Water Tribe club.

“No! Bad Fire Nation baby!” Sokka scolded and the toddler wailed loudly, garnering attention from Katara and Azula.

The water bender smacked her brother and he said, annoyed, “oh…alright,” and then handed the weapon the child who stopped crying and placed it into his mouth.

“Ohhh, you’re so cute,” Katara said in a baby voice, scooping the boy into a hug, making sure he could keep hold of his toy,

Azula grimaced.

She was not at all surprised that her girlfriend was good with children but the thought of hugging a baby like that made her feel uncomfortable.

Considering she was only fourteen and destined to bring balance to the world, she figured that there was no reason to worry about that until way, way in the future.

Thankfully, Yung chose to speak so she didn’t have dwell on it too much anyway.

“Sure he’s cute now, but when he’s older, he’ll join the Fire Nation army. You won’t think he’s so cute then. He’ll be a killer, they’re all evil,” he said, passionately, but when his eyes fell onto the princess, he added, “err…no offence, Avatar.”

“How is that not offensive, captain?” Azula asked, to receive a quick shrug in response.

Katara lifted the babbling chin up and asked, “does this look like the face of a killer to you?” and she looked over to the other Fire Nation citizen she often considered ‘cute’.

In spite of the discomfort that was now mixed with annoyance, Azula cracked a smile at her grinning girlfriend, it was difficult to maintain any negativity under her gaze.

Yung remained unimpressed, but a screech had him turning around as an animal landed on a nearby rock.

“A messenger hawk!” he said, triumphantly scrambling over to pull out the scroll from its leg, and read it quickly. “It’s from the governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son, so…he wants to make a trade, his son…” his eyes widened and he dropped his arms, looking at the three teens, “for King Bumi.”

The sun broke over the smoke billowing from Omashu.

Katara held Tom Tom in her arms, her eyes locked onto the Avatar’s back, craving an excuse as to why they shouldn’t do this.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t personally leave the king a prisoner when there was a chance that they could save him.

Sokka, though, voiced their shared concern. 

“You realise we’re probably walking into a trap?” he asked.

“I know,” Azula replied, “but there is a chance that Mai will listen to reason.”

For only Azula, Aang added eagerly, “I have a good feeling about this!”

S

Mai stood at the bottom of the stairs, not at all noticing the lack of peasants.

Frankly, she was intrigued by the vague note asking her alone to meet the royal procession at the front.

With irrefutable proof that it wasn’t Azula, she couldn’t halt the rush of hope that it had to be her brother.

Zuko may have been banished, but in a world where Princess Azula of all people was the Avatar, it wasn’t impossible that he’d won his honour back, right?

If nothing else, Fire Lord Ozai had probably found himself in need of an heir. 

As the royal palanquin approached, she didn’t even notice Ty Lee walking beside the guards carrying it.

She was too preoccupied by the uncomfortable hope that had settled into her stomach.

The palanquin was set down and the feeling reached its crescendo as the curtain was pulled aside.

The hope crashed as a young man stepped out, wearing the same charming smile she remembered from her youth.

It reminded her suddenly of the brief period when she was closer to the crown prince before he was sent off to war at an unreasonably young age.

How she had been told her friend was dead.

Ty Lee was rushing her into a tight embrace before she could parse out how she felt about seeing the face again and she half-heartedly tapped her back in response.

“Lu Ten?” she asked as Ty Lee let her go.

“It’s great to see you, Mai,” the prince replied.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Ty Lee squealed, “he escaped and came home and he needs our help!”

Mai stared in disbelief at the second old friend she had laid eyes on that day.

Somehow, Azula’s appearance seemed the more unlikely of the occurrences still.

“Help with what?” she managed to ask, aware she wouldn’t process all of this quickly.

“Uncle Ozai asked me to bring Azula home, the people she’s travelling with have convinced her that he wants to hurt her, but you know how much he loves her. I just thought her real friends could convince her that it’s time to come home. What do you think Mai?”

Even if she couldn’t imagine who could manipulate Azula of all people, it still made more sense than her being a traitor. 

“Well…I think Azula is here,” Mai replied.

Lu Ten was taken aback for only a second before he grinned (less charmingly) and stepped towards the other teen eagerly.

Once she’d explained the sequence of events, Ty Lee hungry for any detail about Azula she could get, Lu Ten insisted that he needed to speak to her father urgently, to which Mai complied.

As Lu Ten led the way up the stairs, Ty Lee grabbed Mai’s arm and whispered, “it’s unbelievable, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it all is,” Mai sighed, staring at the prince who was different in ways she couldn’t identify passed the passage of five years.

When they made it to what remained of her family, her father looked as surprised as she felt, but he still threw himself into a violent bow.

“Y-your highness,” he stammered, extremely curious as to how this could be possible while also aware that it wasn’t proper to ask for an explanation as to how a prince was alive, “I…I apologise. You’ve come to Omashu at a difficult time. At noon we’re making a trade with the resistance to get Tom Tom back.”

“I know I ‘ve been informed of your unfortunate…predicament. It’s precisely why I hoped to speak with you, governor. I’m sure you’re aware of my misguided cousin’s involvement in all of this. Would you do me the honour of allowing myself, Ty Lee and Mai to complete the hostage trade? I believe this situation requires a more…personal touch if you would allow it?”

Ukano didn’t register a real choice in his request, so he stammered out, “of course, your highness.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lu Ten replied, bowing as a kind of afterthought and turned to the members of his assembled ‘elite team’ to discuss their plan for ‘reasoning’ with the Avatar.

S

Under the watchful eye of a giant stone rendition of her father surrounded by scaffolding, Azula crossed the wooden deck of the construction site.

Behind, her Sokka held a gurgling Tom-Tom while Katara chewed at her bottom lip.

Azula halted, though, when the trio from the other side passed through the glare beating down from the sun.

She wasn’t at all surprised to see Mai leading them, slightly more surprised to see the male teen to her side (though not for long seeing as her father was now short on options), but it was the acrobat at the end that made her stop in her tracks.

Now that she accepted where her romantic interests lay, it recontextualised some of her later interactions with Ty Lee, especially her desire to write to her even though she had very little interest in reading about the circus.

She gripped her glider when Ty Lee stared straight at her and was the first person from the Fire Nation to smile at her instantly since her birthday.

Katara cleared her throat to interrupt the moment, just as a squeaking crane lowered a metal cage that landed behind the Fire Nation trio.

Even with everything but his face covered, which poked through a square at the top of the cage, King Bumi still laughed heartily.

Wrenching her gaze off of Ty Lee, Azula looked at the ‘mad genius’, not at all sure whether she should be disappointed since she had no idea what she was expecting.

The moment he saw the staff, Bumi called over, “so you’re the new Aang? I thought you’d visit sooner!”

“Yeah sorry about that, but…water was first,” Sokka replied, trying to stop Tom-Tom from wriggling out of his hold.

The sound of Sokka’s voice reminded Azula that they were there for a reason and it definitely didn’t involve a reunion with old friends.

Turning her attention to the male of the opposition, she asked, “what are you doing here?”

Lu Ten stepped ahead of his companions, wearing what appeared to be a genuine smile, and replied, “hey Zu, it’s been too long. Is it too late to say ‘Happy Birthday’?”

“Zu?” Katara repeated.

“This another family member?” Sokka asked, noticing the resemblance.

“Cousin,” Azula replied.

“Does this one want to kill you?” the warrior asked.

Azula squinted at the smile that Lu Ten had not worn since he’d come back into her life and she replied, “not sure.”

“Of course I would never hurt you, Zu,” Lu Ten said, acting hurt at the suggestion, “your father sent me to bring you home, he misses you.”

Sokka sighed heavily, “okay, he wants to kill you.”

Azula inclined her head.

Her relationship with Lu Ten hardly improved since their conversation in the palace garden, so it wasn’t really all that shocking that he would accept such a task from the Fire Lord without question. 

The same couldn’t be said for Ty Lee, though, so she involuntarily flicked her eyes to the girl who suddenly looked confused.

Of course, she’d only seen Ozai as the man who adored his daughter so it made sense that she would believe whatever she was told about his motives.

At least that was what she had to hope.

It would be difficult to swallow the thought that even Ty Lee wanted her executed, but if the concern in her features was anything to go by, she must have been lied to.

Katara cleared her throat more forcefully this time and Azula turned to look at her wholly unimpressed girlfriend and it hit her that it was probably rude to stare at another girl so openly in front of her.

Once they were out of this hostage trade, she would be able to explain the complicated history and how she fully intended for it to remain history now that she had met her. 

Assuming she could figure out the correct sequence of words, she hoped to impart how there was no one else she would want to be her girlfriend.

Right now, she had to focus on getting out of what was so obviously a trap.

Deciding that Mai was the least risky person to address, she said, “we’re only here for the king and we’ve brought Tom-Tom as agreed.”

Mai tilted her head, really trying to figure out what was going on in their little group.

It was very hard to believe she would be so relaxed by the suggestion that returning to her father would mean death, but a pair of Water Tribe peasants manipulating princess Azula was just as ridiculous. 

“Actually, Zu,” Lu Ten interrupted before Mai could respond, “we did just have a discussion and, as I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s not really fair to trade a two year old for a powerful earth bending king.”

Azula kept her eyes on Mai, already sensing what Lu Ten would want to add to the trade and said, “he’s your brother, Mai. Would your father really accept you risking his life?”

Mai ran her tongue over her lips, deciding that really didn’t sound like Azula, and she replied, “well, as you used to alway say, my father is an idiot.”

Azula held her gaze, not quite believing that they used to think in the same way and, even though she knew the answer, she asked, “and what else do you want?”

“We just want you to come home with us willingly and your…friends can take the king to the resistance,” Lu Ten said as if it were the most reasonable request in the world.

“No way!” Sokka replied, a lot less intimidating with Mai’s brother trying to grab his nose, “Azula stays with us.”

“Then the deal’s off,” Mai shouted, waving her hand so that the crane operator pulled the cage back up.

“Whoa!” Bumi said gleefully, “see you all later!”

“Bumi!” Aang called to deaf ears and then whipped around to Azula.

Aware of what exactly he wanted, the Avatar let out a resigned sigh and just ran forward, accepting that her old friends would see this whether she wanted them to or not.

Just as Lu Ten clenched at her approach, unsure whether he should be defending himself under his pretence of wanting to help Azula, the Avatar opened her glider and shot up over him before he could figure it out.

The three of them couldn’t help but widen their eyes as the princess soared over them, landing onto the king’s cage as it reached Ozai’s stone eyes.

“Woah,” Ty Lee said, awed, her eyes glued onto the perching princess.

On the other side, Katara narrowed her eyes at the girl.

There was very little doubt in her mind that this had to be Ty Lee and right now, she was wishing that the circus performer was less pretty than she was.

As much as she trusted her girlfriend, jealousy still burned in her chest.

Atop the cage, Azula clicked her fingers too create a small blow torch, which she aimed at the links in the chain, planning to air bend the cage before it could hit the wood below.

“Oh hello again New Aang, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Bumi called up.

As the chain melted, Azula gave Aang a doubtful look, but he just nodded encouragingly.

“My name is Azula,” she replied.

“Oh, I know,” Bumi said and Azula rolled her eyes.

On the deck below, Lu Ten was already moving towards the scaffolding as he ordered, “keep them back…I’m going to…talk to Azula.”

Mai and Ty Lee turned away from Azula, both zeroing in on the Water Tribe siblings, Mai pulling out a cluster of knives.

Katara uncapped her water pouch and took up a defensive stance while she called to her brother “we’ve got to get Tom-Tom out of here!”

Sokka finished blowing the silent bison whistle and said, “way ahead of ya!” Tom-Tom trying to grab at the whistle as they retreated to the edge of the platform.

 Before they reached the edge, Ty Lee emerged from between the wooden panels, going straight for a punch to Sokka’s foot.

The momentum sent the warrior through the air and then slid towards their destination.

As his body went, he clutched the toddler protectively, preparing for the worst possible outcome only to halt at the last moment. 

Katara, who had seen Ty Lee pop out and take out her brother, began running after him, preparing water to throw at the acrobat.

A few metres away, Mai shot her knives towards the water bender. 

Katara directed her own attack just in time to catch the knives by creating a whip that wrenched up several planks at their feet.

When the last knife was caught, Katara threw her hands out so that the water whip shot the planks towards her adversary.

This gave the whip the opportunity to turn towards Ty Lee before she got to Sokka and Tom-Tom.

The acrobat yelped as it wrapped around her leg and pulled her down to the wood.

Katara couldn’t help but smile at the fallen teen, even if she was aware that it was for extremely petty reasons.

Accepting the pettiness forced her into action and she followed her brother, who was in the process of descending the ladder to the next level of the scaffolding.

Atop the king’s cage, blue flame was beginning to make progress through thick metal, Azula staring at it intently.

“Azula, stop your melting for a minute,” Bumi called up.

A wall of flame stopped any attempt to redirect her attentions as Lu Ten reached the top of the structure, kicking strongly when he reached the end of the rope he’d ridden up.

Azula held the chain to steady herself, as she threw her palm forward to disperse her cousin’s attack, though the heat was enough to disintegrate what was left of the link she’d been working on.

“Now hold on just a…” Bumi started but the snapping of the chain had him scream out instead, “ahhh!” 

Mid-air, Azula regained her bearings, jumping up so as to right the cage which landed on a delivery chute with Bumi’s face up.

The crash had all below glance up to see what happened, so Lu Ten made a point of shouting as he tracked the sliding cage, “wait, Azula! I only want to talk to you!”

Azula didn’t look up as she focused on keeping her balance on the speeding cage, suddenly wishing she knew at least some earth bending while Lu Ten sprinted to grab a delivery box to mount his pursuit down another chute.

In spite of this, Aang laughed, full-bellied as he crouched opposite Azula and said, “ha, ha! It’s just like old times!”

“Of course, you would find this fun!” Azula bit back to no effect on the monk’s smile as she craned her neck to check on Lu Ten’s progress.

As expected, flame amassed in front of her and she was prepared.

Throwing both of her palms out, the attack exploded out, propelling the king’s cage forward and down the chute, onto which Lu Ten had merged.

Azula caught her cousin’s eyes as wind whipped past both of them.

Unlike Zuko, there was no hint of resistance behind his determination.

If she wasn’t currently riding a metal cage down a delivery system, she would have revealed exactly why his determination was misplaced, but right now, she had to focus on dodging his attacks while maintaining her balance.

She swiftly ducked under several blasts that glanced over her and she punched forward to create two streams of blue that allowed her to gain more speed.

Lu Ten growled deeply the longer the Avatar remained upright, which was only made worse when she directed a ball of blue fire right back at him, which he swiped away, having the desired effect of stalling his trajectory with each shot she sent over to him.

On the next platform down, Mai stepped under another water whip to throw out more knives that were easily caught by the water freezing.

The projectiles did serve as the perfect distraction, though, which allowed Ty Lee to sneak up behind the bender to land three precise punches.

Katara gasped as her water splashed down to the wood and her eyes remained wide when she attempted to rise it back up only for it to barely move an inch or so before dropping back down pathetically.

Ty Lee kept her closed fists raised and said, “we won’t let you keep lying to Azula!” while Mai pulled a sai out from her robes to aim at the disconcerted Katara.

At the Avatar’s name, though, she said, defensively, “What are you talking about?! I’ve never lied to her! She’s my…”

Before Mai could throw her latest weapon or Katara could finish her jealousy-incited proclamation, a boomerang flashed across the sai.

Mai and Ty Lee whipped around, both awed by the huge mass of white, atop which the boomerang returned to.

Sokka caught his trusty weapon as Appa landed between his sister and their enemies and he shouted, “c’mon!”

Very tempted to finish her statement for Ty Lee’s benefit, Katara still scrambled onto the bison, who swatted the two teens away with his tail as he took off.

 Once airborne, it didn’t take the Water Tribe siblings long to find Azula in the process of creating a funnel of air as a shield against her cousin’s attacks while looking over her shoulder every so often to see how much chute was left.

“There’s Azula!” Katara said, pointing strongly at her girlfriend who was appeared to be seconds away from losing control of the situation.

If she wasn’t being pursued so violently, she would have already air bent the cage off the chute and lowered it slowly to the ground below, but in her current circumstances, dodging fire seemed like the better option in the interest of the king’s safety.

Sokka’s voice alerted her to another way out of this as he called, “we can catch her!”

She turned to look to her side in time to see Appa lower down, moving closer and keeping up with the speed of the sliding cage.

She glanced at Lu Ten briefly and shot a blue disk so he had to throw his arms up to create a wall of flame to absorb it. 

Satisfied that the distraction had given her a moment, she crouched down to create two funnels under the cage which sent it off the chute and towards Appa.

Without enough time to account for the momentum with which they had been moving the cage sailed slightly too high over Katara and Sokka to grab onto it, accompanied by Bumi’s scream which became strangled as the metal smashed straight through the chute before resuming its sliding on another.

Azula balanced herself and looked back with gritted teeth to find that Lu Ten had already caught up with her and that she’d apparently given him an idea.

A wheel of orange flame was zipping towards her and she prepared to deflect it as he had before she could, though, a portion of the chute itself rose up, shaking it and creating a wall of rock between the cousins.

The orange blasted into nothing and Lu Ten gasped when it cleared to reveal his blocked path and he jumped up at the last possible moment.

His feet hit the chute just as the box was ruined against the stone and he scowled at it deeply.

Perhaps he should have been more prepared to face Avatar Azula and her Water Tribe peasants?

On the other side, Azula and Bumi were approaching the end of the chute, Azula and Aang both staring at the king in incredulous shock.

“Could you earth bend this entire time?” Azula demanded.

“Well, they didn’t cover my face,” the king replied and the strained to create another earth pillar that stopped their descent to the end of the chute.

The cage hit it allowing it to be flipped into an upright position, Azula landing lightly in front of him, staring at Aang.

“How can you call this man a genius?! He could have easily freed himself! In fact, he wouldn’t have even been captured if he hadn’t surrended in the first place!” she ranted, pointing roughly at the king.

Aang didn’t even open his mouth to defend his old friend who couldn’t see him.

He didn’t know what defence he could possibly use for this.

“Listen to me, Azula. There are options in fighting called Jing. It’s a choice of how you direct your energy,” Bumi said casually as if he wasn’t speaking to her through a cage.

Azula scowled and replied, “Aang already taught me this! There’s positive jing for attacking and negative for retreating.”

“And there’s neutral jing when you do nothing!” Bumi added, happily.

“Did you miss the third one?” Azula asked a very confused Aang, who was shaking his head.

“Well technically, he missed eighty-two! But let’s focus on just the third!” Bumi interjected, “neutral jing is the key to earth bending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike.”

Azula, who was starting to understand, finally looked the king right in the eye and said, “is that why you surrended?”

“Yes, and it’s why I can’t leave now,” Bumi replied.

Azula rubbed at her forehead, her mind still trying to process everything that had happened in just over a day and she said, tiredly, “so after all that, you’re telling me I need to find another earth bending teacher?”

“Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing. You need someone who waits and listens before striking,” Bumi explained, nodding through his face slot.

Azula looked to Aang, finding sadness and understanding in his eyes.

As if he knew what his friend currently looked like, Bumi said, “goodbye Azula, we will meet again and Aang, I’ll see you, one day.”

Aang smiled sadly at the king as he leaned backwards in the cage so that it could be flung back up to the chute, a high pitched laugh following him up.

Tears twinkled in Aang’s eyes and he said, “I really miss him.”

Azula pitched back and forth as she considered the admission and the only thing that came to mind to reply was, “okay, I can see the mad genius thing.”

Aang blew out a long breath, smiling more fully as she said, “yeah.”

S

“I can’t believe how different Azula is…I mean, she can fly,” Ty Lee lamented, following Mai and Lu Ten down the steps of Omashu, having officially sent the royal procession away.

Lu Ten, who was trying very hard to hide his annoyance, smiled at her, “that’s exactly why she needs our help, we’ll get through to her.”

Ty Lee nodded, still uncharacteristically deflated as she descended the steps.

Lu Ten turned away from her, only feeling a pang of guilt. Lying was relatively new to him, but it was necessary. 

His traitorous cousins had left him no choice.

“I should tell you both, uncle also asked me to find my father and Zuko,” he announced.

“Does the Fire Lord miss them too?” Ty Lee asked.

“Of course, you know how he…cares about family,” Lu Ten said, though the claim didn’t even sound convincing to his own ear.

Mai frowned at him, but Ty Lee caused her to smile as she asked, suddenly perking up so that she could tease her, “it would be interesting to see Zuko again won’t it, Mai?

Lu Ten sped up a little so that they couldn’t see the grimace slip through his mask.

He hadn’t really considered that he would have to endure travelling with an ‘elite team’ who were both obviously attracted to two of their targets. 

s

With Mai leaving and Tom-Tom still in the clutches of the enemy, Michi couldn’t stop crying.

Her sobs were so loud that they covered the whoosh of air behind them.

A cloaked Azula held the shockingly calm toddler against her chest (after instruction from her girlfriend) and she lightly placed him down to the balcony.

As if drawn to them, Tom-Tom toddled over to his parents, cooing during a lull in the sobs, which caused the pair to gasp as they spun round.

Ukano and Michi drew their baby into their arms, both babbling incoherently to him.

On a nearby roof, Aang and Azula watched the scene.

She would claim it was because Aang wanted to see the reunion, but truthfully, it was nice to see a father so relieved to see his child again. 

Chapter Text

Chapter four- The Swamp 

The town was full of life, carts bustling around bearing merchandise ranging from masks to cabbages.

Zuko’s eye was briefly caught by a familiar blue mask as it passed, but his interest soon redirected to his side.

As their stolen ostrich horse dozed at the corner, they’d taken seats on straw mats, hours ago.

Zuko, initially being reluctant to partake in his uncle’s suggestion to ‘earn’ money, he ultimately sat silently as the Dragon of the West said to each passing pedestrian:

“Spare coins for weary travellers?”

Two coins dropped into their overturned hat, but the people that provided them did not so much as spare a glance at the objects of their pity.

Once they were out of earshot, Zuko found that he could no longer hold his tongue, so he folded his arms, falling petulantly against the wall and said, “this is humiliating! We’re royalty! These people should be giving us whatever we want!”

Iroh continued to smile at the people and said out of the side of his mouth, “they will if you ask nicely,” and to illustrate his point, he said to a passing young woman, “spare change for a hungry old man?”

The woman stopped and withdrew a coin from her sleeve and replied, “aww, here you go.”

As the coin clattered against their small haul, Iroh said, charmingly, “the coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile!”

The girl left with a giggle and Zuko audibly slapped his forehead.

She was replaced a moment later by a man with sheathed broadswords on his back, grinning maniacally at the two beggars.

“How about some entertainment in exchange for…a gold piece?” he asked, pulling out the glinting coin with a flourish.

“We’re not performers,” Zuko grunted.

Iroh stood, disregarding his nephew and said, “not professional anyway,” he then began swaying from side to side and sang, “it’s a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty!”

The man narrowed his eyes and drew his swords, “come on, we’re talking a gold piece here! Let’s see some action! Dance!”

Zuko looked up sharply at the man who began to slice at his uncle’s feet and he used all of his reserves of willpower to not disarm him.

Iroh, meanwhile, hopped to avoid each attack, the passerby not reacting at all to the display as he continued to sing:

“They kiss so sweet that you really got to meet the girls from Ba Sing Se!”

The man withdrew his blades, laughing in satisfaction, “ha, ha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner! Here ya go!”

He flicked the coin to the ground and his laugh followed him as he retreated.

“Such a kind man,” Iroh said, drawing the coin towards himself.

Zuko’s nostrils flared, his eyes following the path the man was taking. 

S

The whetstone scraping against Sokka’s machete was the only sound that filled the grey air as Appa soared through the sky.

At least it was the only sound for him and Katara, who was sitting in the saddle studying a scroll that she had already memorised at this point.

On the bison’s head, Azula didn’t even notice the grating sound that she had been close to complaining about before her eyes fell onto the mass of trees below. 

The whispering had started almost too quiet to detect, but the more ground they covered, the more insistent and strong it got until all of her other senses fell into the background. 

This was why she didn’t register that she pulled the reins back at the request of one of the many voices.

A particularly loud scrape boomed out from the machete as Appa began descending, yanking the previously comfortable Water Tribe siblings to the side.

“Hey, are you taking us down for a reason?” Sokka demanded the back of the Avatar’s head, but she didn’t react.

She didn’t hear him because the voices below were so much louder than the warrior.

Sokka looked to his sister, who drew her eyebrows together and he asked, more concerned this time, “Azula?”

She didn’t react again, so Katara placed the scroll down gently before she leaned over the saddle so that she could drape her arms over her girlfriend’s shoulders.

The contact successfully brought her back to the present and she blinked, allowing her to look away from the trees so that she could focus on the blue eyes staring back at her. 

“What’s wrong?” Azula asked, the reins hanging limply in her hands. 

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” Katara replied, “why are you taking us down?”

Azula looked down again to see that they were in fact closer to the ground than they should be and she drew her eyebrows together, the whispering poking at her psyche again.

“I didn’t realise that I was,” she admitted as Katara let go of her shoulders now that she had her attention. 

“Do you realise now?” Sokka asked.

Azula continued to look confused so she asked, the monk perched on Appa’s horn, “did you hear it too?”

Aang nodded and said, “I did…it’s really creepy.”

“Hear what? Is something wrong?” Katara prodded. 

“I can hear…something from the swamp,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?” Sokka asked, clutching his stomach.

Azula just looked at Katara, knowing that Sokka was going to be against this since she wasn’t really convinced that it was what she wanted. She was beginning to suspect that it was not wise to ignore things that sounded vaguely spiritual though. 

“I think it wants us to land there,” she said, searching Katara’s face to see if she thought that her girlfriend had gone insane. 

Sokka let go of his stomach, disappointment obvious in his shrug, before he replied, “no offence to the swamp, but I don’t see any land there to land on.”

“I don’t think you can ignore it, Azula,” Aang inputted, “Bumi said to learn earth bending you would have to wait and listen, the earth is actually talking to us now. That has to mean something right?”

Azula inclined her head and asked, “what do you think, Katara?”

Katara peered over the saddle so that she could see the treetops that covered all of the secrets below. Even though she could barely see anything, she still cringed and said, “there’s something ominous about that place, I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

To illustrate her point, Momo jumped from the other horn and hid under the lip in the saddle and Appa let his own reservations known by groaning out through the humid air. 

“See, even Appa and Momo don’t like it here,” Sokka offered, his own worry evident in his voice. 

Azula took in a deep breath, trying to clear the fog that seemed to have entered her brain. 

If she really believed that some swamp was her key to finding an earth bending teacher, she may have argued further, but the truth was that it was the last place that she wanted to go. 

After being covered in mud and then sewage, actually travelling to a town or village as they planned, sounded like the best option. 

This was why she was not at all reluctant as she re-gripped the reins and said, “okay fine, we should just move on. Yip yip.”

“Bye swamp,” Aang added, accepting the decision of the group with no proof that some whispering swamp would actually help them.

Appa’s groan sounded a lot lighter as he flew upwards, trying to get away from the swamp, but he didn’t get very far.

A tornado virtually emerged from nowhere, honing in onto the bison.

“You better throw in an extra ‘yip’! We gotta move!” Sokka squeaked, his attempt to relax interrupted when his eyes landed onto the incoming funnel of air. 

With no need to be told twice, Appa soared up to avoid the whipping air.

The tornado was faster though, and zeroed in on the fluffy mass, ripping Sokka from the saddle in spite of his attempt to grip it. His scream had Azula turning her head and, after a suggestion from the unaffected air nomad, she released the reins so that she could jump back and create a ball of air around them.

This was the perfect shield, which allowed Sokka to slap back into the saddle.

Azula’s face pinched as she tried hard to keep the shield strong while the tornado kept pulling at the whining bison.

This form was definitely not as easy as Aang had suggested.

Inevitably, the shield began shrinking until Appa’s foot broke through the bottom, shattering their brief respite giving Sokka just enough time to stand up before he was thrown back again.

This time, Azula and Katara followed involuntarily.

Mid air, Azula grabbed onto her girlfriend in time to slow their fall, so they lightly landed into a patch of muddy water.

Sokka crashed roughly into the same water.

He popped up a second later and scowled at the couple once he was sure that they were both okay. Azula let the water bender go and looked around, but soon decided that it would never normally take this long to find Appa when he was nearby.

“Where’s Appa and Momo?” she asked and the water siblings looked around in vain just as she did.

“Can’t ghost boy find them?” Sokka asked.

“Not how it works, Sokka, if Aang’s here he has to stay near me,” Azula replied before Aang could grimace at the return of the ‘ghost boy’ moniker.

“Convenient,” Sokka muttered and carried on looking around.

As he did, Azula jumped up to the tallest overhanging tree and then scanned the densely packed area, pulling out the bison whistle as she did.

While she blew it fruitlessly, Katara noticed something on Sokka and said, “Sokka, you’ve got an elbow leech.”

The warrior flung his arm up, the long grey creature holding on tighter as he spun around. 

“Where? Where?” he screeched.

“Where do you think?” Katara asked, crossing her arms when he finally froze on the spot.

Sokka’s eyes slid to his elbow and, with his teeth crushed together, he tore it away and threw it in Katara’s direction, where it splashed behind the unimpressed water bender.

“Why do things keep attaching to me?!” he shouted as Azula landed beside her girlfriend, tilting her head at her petulant brother. 

Rather than explaining his rage, Katara asked, “you couldn’t find them?” 

Azula shook her head and said, “I couldn’t, but the tornado…it just disappeared…”

The trio all turned around to look into the darkness of the swamp.

Many trees across the area, Appa, with Momo holding onto his saddle, crashed through the treetops, straight into muddy water.

Without so much as a pause he took off to be tangled into a mass of vines.

The last bison swung lamely, roaring so that Momo hopped into motion and began chewing at the vines. 

S

Back with Team Avatar, Sokka steadily sliced his machete back and forth through everything green to clear a pathway.

“We better speed things up,” Sokka said as she disabled multiple vines at once.

“Don’t you think he should be a little nicer to the swamp?” Aang asked nervously.

“They’re just plants, Aang, I doubt they have an opinion on manners,” Azula replied.

“That’s not very Avatar-y of you,” Aang shot back, “didn’t you learn anything in the Spirit World?”

“What does the Spirit World have to do with some random swamp?” Azula asked. 

While her girlfriend bickered with her ghost friend, Katara said to her brother, “I really don’t think you should be doing that, Sokka, something about this place feels…alive.”

Aang grinned in satisfaction at Azula, knowing that having Katara on his side would go a long way with Azula.

Not so much with Sokka, though, who carried on slicing as he replied, “I’m sure there are lots of things that are alive here and if we don’t wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can.”

An hour or so passed with the group searching in vain for their furry friends and Katara’s hoarse voice called out among the eclectic swamp sounds for perhaps the hundredth time, “Appa! Momo!”

Yet again, they received no response.

Sokka hacked at more plants to create a clear patch of dewy ground and said, “there’s no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We’ll have to make camp for the night.”

The swamp seemed to respond to the suggestion as bubbles formed in the water below them, emitting a thick cloud.

Katara grabbed Azula’s arm before she could think about starting a campfire, “what was that?” the water bender demanded.

“Nothing. Just swamp gas,” Sokka replied, “look, there’s nothing supernatural going on here.”

Azula scrunched up her nose as the vile ‘swamp gas’ reached it and she placed her hand onto Katara’s back when the other girl hid her own nose into her shoulder and they both clamped their mouths shut. 

Sokka covered his mouth and nose with his hand, but a loud, shattering scream broke out in their little camp site and Katara huddled closer into her girlfriend.

Sokka also had the urge to move towards the most powerful member of their group, but managed to resist, his voice cracking as he said, “you’ll need some wood for a fire, right Azula?”

With the air a little clearer, Katara extricated herself from the Avatar to watch her brother chop at some tree roots.

Azula didn’t need to look at Aang to guess that he was disapproving.

After spending over an hour here, she could really see what he meant.

The tingling up her spine was very similar to the Spirit Oasis, only much, much creepier.

“Sokka, that really isn’t a good idea,”she said, absently tangling her fingers with Katara’s.

“No, I asked the swamp, it said it was fine,” Sokka replied, grabbing a root, he asked, “right swamp?” he then shook it and replied to himself, “no problem, Sokka!”

The warrior dropped the root and continued chopping.

“Your brother is an idiot,” Azula muttered.

“I know,” Katara replied and then followed the Avatar to start setting up their camp.

As time passed, it became clear that it was foolish to think that real sleep could be achieved in a place like this.

Even if they held their breaths collectively, they could still hear something breathing.

The three of them sat on a log and Azula stared at the flames that didn’t even seem to move as she would expect them to.

The peaks of the fire were not reaching the heights that they were supposed to.

“Does anyone else get the feeling we’re being watched?” Katara asked, gripping Azula’s hand hard on the log.

On the other side, Sokka was making a deliberate point of ignoring a fly that was buzzing around his head, as he replied, “please, we’re alone out here.”

He reached the end of his tether and shot up his machete to swat at the insect which swerved away, turning into a bright ball of light as it did.

The light fell upon the entire area, illuminating two dozen eyes staring at them from above.

Even Azula’s eyes widened at the sight and she accepted Katara’s arms being thrown around her shoulders.

When Sokka huddled into the couple, she didn’t have the capacity to scowl at him.

“Except for them,” Sokka squeaked as he hugged his companions. 

S

Against all odds, Team Avatar managed to all fall asleep as their campfire died down, albeit fitfully, Sokka cuddling his machete for comfort.

However, none of them were aware of the vines slithering towards their group.

That was until the vines tightened and yanked them all forward. 

Sokka’s eyes shot open and he stabbed the machete into the ground in vain as he watched his sister and Azula both dragged into mist before he was also pulled back with a yelp.

With great effort, he swung his blade to release himself, but when he stood, he found that he was alone and that he did not recognise any of his surroundings. 

More vines crept up to him so he turned his attention to cutting at them again.

His sister on the other side of their camp, struggled against her green binds, using a water whip to slice through them.

When she stood, she took only a second to decide to run in the direction that most likely held her brother and girlfriend to be swallowed by mist.

Azula, once she’d realised what was happening, blasted her vines off with flame, standing roughly.

Multiple vines approached before she could look around, so she launched herself up onto a branch, only to find that she was still being pursued. 

Jumping across the treetops, she threw a few well placed blasts of flame to cut off the vines before she jumped back down to the swamp.

“What happened?” Aang asked, appearing beside the very confused Avatar.

Azula rubbed at her eyes once she was sure the vine risk had been dealt with and replied, “I knew the swamp was a bad idea!” and began walking forward, trying to think of the best way of navigating back to her team in this forsaken place. 

S

For Tho and Due, no two days in the swamp were the same, but even the loincloth clad men were as surprised as each by what they stumbled upon on their usual rounds. 

Due gestured towards the deep and unfamiliar tracks with his stick and he asked, “what’d you reckon make a track like that, Tho?”

“Don’t know, Due,” Tho replied, curiously, “some’in with six legs. Pretty big’uns too.”

The pair’s eyes moved together to follow the tracks down the path at the end of which Appa and Momo were busy scaring off alligators.

Due said, “leaves a nice, wide trail to folla’.”

“You know what’s at the end of that trail?” Tho asked and they each turned to look at each other, he was grinning at his friend who shook his head. Tho grinned more widely and said, “dinner,” so that Due also smiled smugly.

S

Katara squinted while she pushed through a bush to step onto a tree root covered in white flowers.

“Azula! Sokka!” she called out to the emptiness and she pulled her eyelids more closely together in an attempt to better see the fuzzy figure that flashed before her.

There was something so-familiar about the blue robes and hairstyle of the woman facing away from her but it was as though her mind was resistant to the most obvious answer.

“Hello? Hello? Can you help me?” she asked as she got closer but when the figure turned, her face slackened and she whispered, “mom?” 

The older woman tilted her head and smiled in a way that Katara had craved for years.

With tears in her eyes she ran, shouting, “Mom! I can’t believe…”

When she got too close, the scene lightened and Katara’s smile was banished when she found only a tree stump.

Her knees buckled under the cruel revelation that she could now only see her mother as an illusion.

With her face in her hands, she sobbed through her devastation.

S

“Azula!” Sokka shouted while systematically slashing at more vines, “stupid swamp! Dumb, ugly vines! Katara!”

A vine wrapped around him and with some extra exertion, he cut threw it and said, “you think you’re so tough, huh?”

Upon attempting to take another step, he tripped on the fallen vines, going face first into a pile of mud. 

He growled as he lifted his head, but all sense of annoyance vanished when a beam of light flashed not far away from him and he suddenly felt as though he had been transported back to the Northern Water Tribe.

Back to his heart breaking.

He wasn’t even aware of untangling himself from the vines as he stumbled towards the projection of the princess, “hello? Yue?”

He halted before he got to her and scraped the mud from his face as he turned away from the apparition, “this is just a trick of the light…swamp gas…I…hit my head running away last night. I’m going crazy.”

At the end of his rant, he cautiously turned back to the spirit-like figure, unable to resist looking into her eyes.

“You didn’t protect me,” Yue’s echoing voice said accusatorially. 

Sokka rubbed at his eyes hard, relieved to find there was nothing there when he reopened them.

Determined to repress the statement for as long as he could, he turned to go back the way he’d come, only to fall back down again.

Yue was over him, pain in her features that reflected in Sokka’s eyes.

When she faded, he pushed up and brandished his machete as if threatening the swamp itself. 

S

Azula jumped over a particularly thick patch of mud and called out, “Katara!” and after ducking under some low lying branches, she tried, “Sokka!”

Leaves cleared her view and she was about to ask Aang for his opinion on this stupid situation, but a glowing figure stole her attention instead. 

“Who’s there?” she demanded, ready to defend herself against the woman who was too tall to be either of her companions when the figure spoke though, the Avatar halted in a patch of mud. 

“Azula, darling, you have no idea how glad I am to see you’re awake,” came over to her as if the voice were travelling through something thicker than fog.

“Mom?” Azula asked shakily.

Was it possible the Fire Lady was banished to a swamp?

Ozai was certainly capable of it.

When she got close enough to see Ursa’s soft, but worried smile, the woman pointed behind the Avatar who turned involuntarily to follow her mother’s direction.

Atop a small hill, a short and similarly ethereal girl stood laughing, a winged pig flying above her shoulder.

Azula screwed up her eyes to try and get a better look but she was no more familiar than before. 

“Who are you?” she demanded.

In response, the pig flew away and the girl giggled as she ran after it.

Azula whipped back around, inexplicably disappointed to find that Ursa had once again disappeared.

She swallowed hard at the empty space and stayed put until Aang said, “don’t you think you should go after her….the girl I mean…”

The nomad pointed up to the girl peering down from the tree top and Azula quashed her dismay into her usual indifference that accompanied thoughts of her mother.

Ignoring the compassion on Aang’s face, she jumped up onto another branch in pursuit of the giggling apparition. 

S

After leading a group of their tribespeople along the path of the giant footprints, Due and Tho had finally managed to track down their prey.

Floating atop the river that they had navigated on three canoes was perhaps the biggest animal that they had ever seen, certainly enough to feed all of their people for at least a few days.

The small animal chittering atop the bison wouldn’t go amiss either.

With the creature staring straight at them, having halted in its swimming, Tho wet his lips in anticipation. 

“Look at that Tho,” Due said, “is that a little hairy fella ridin’ that thing?”

“No, that’s what they call a ‘lemoo’. Saw one at a travelling show once. Real smart they say,” Tho replied, staring at the animal whose ears were standing up straight. 

“Bet he tastes like possum chicken,” Due said, drooling a little. 

“You think everything tastes like possum chicken,” Tho replied, staring straight back to their prey.

“C’mon now, fellas,” Due called, moving to the front of the boat as he addressed the two creatures, “just a little closer. Nice and easy. Nothing to worry about. We just fixin’ to eat ya.”

Instantly, Appa turned around and sped off down the river.

“What’d you say that fer?” Tho asked, extremely annoyed.

Due shrugged and replied, “well we are!”

“But you don’t have to tell ‘em that,” Tho insisted.

His friend shrugged again and said, “well how’d I know they’d understand me?” 

“Come on!” Tho shouted and they both took up their positions to bend the water around their boat, sending it speeding after the bison and lemur, the two canoes behind them following their lead. 

S

Azula landed onto another branch, continuing to chase the unnaturally fast spirit.

“Who are you?” she demanded again as she pushed through a wall of vines to find a figure had actually stopped atop a small hill.

Determined not to let her run again, she flew down and crashed into the figure, a familiar yelp telling her that she had been sorely mistaken.

She and Katara both rolled over and down a root, barrelling into another person who had turned in the wrong direction to investigate the sound.

Sokka fell to the ground with an annoyed huff, but stood quickly, putting his machete away as he looked down at the couple.

Katara was hovering over Azula, staring at her with widened eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?! I’ve been looking all over for you! Does this look like the place for couple time!”

Katara pushed herself off her girlfriend and reached down to help her up, “We weren’t together until a second ago, I’ve been wandering around looking for you!”

Azula wiped her scuffed shoulders and admitted, “I was chasing a girl.”

Katara’s eyes shot to Azula and she saw a similar look in her eyes when she confirmed that the other teen with Mai and Lu Ten was in fact Ty Lee. There was a lot that she hadn't wanted to discuss on the subject, but she'd said enough to reassure her that she didn't have to worry about it.

Sokka also briefly narrowed his eyes briefly as his sister asked, “what girl?”

Azula held up her hands quickly in surrender.

Having felt jealousy towards Haru and Jet, she couldn’t really be upset that Katara was a little touchy about one of her oldest friends who she’d reluctantly admitted had been her first real crush. Even if she was a completely different person to the one who was afraid of her confusing feelings for her friend.

Some strange, omnipotent swamp was not the place to assure her that her jealousy was misplaced again. 

Katara’s eyes returned to normal as Azula took her hand and explained, “I saw some girl I don’t know, she was laughing and kept running away. All I saw was a flying boar and her clothes looked noble.”

“Well, there must be a tea party here and we didn’t get our invitations!” Sokka said sarcastically.

Looking down to her fingers tangled with Azula’s, Katara admitted, “I thought I saw mom.”

Sokka scratched at his neck and said, “look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That’s why we all saw things out there.”

“You saw something too?” Katara asked, surprised.

Sokka froze and trained his eyes to his boots as he stepped up to the couple.

“I thought I saw Yue,” he said, but looked up and continued with only a little more confidence, “but that doesn’t prove anything. Look, I think about her all the time, and you saw mom, someone you miss a lot.”

“I don’t miss my mother,” Azula interjected, without thinking about what the objection was revealing. 

Katara’s eyes shot back to her and she asked, “you saw your mom?”

Azula released her girlfriend’s hand and cleared her throat before she replied, “at first…she pointed me to the girl and disappeared…which led me here…”

Looking at what was the best distraction to the burn in her chest at hearing the ‘darling’ that had always been saved for Zuko.

Katara accepted the change in topic and also looked around, making a point of taking Azula’s hand again.

“Okay...so where’s here?” Katara asked, “the middle of the swamp?”

Beside Azula, Aang also looked around the area, knowing that he current Avatar felt whatever it was that he was.

“Yeah, the centre…it’s the heart of the swamp. It’s been calling us here. I knew it,” he said. 

A few hours ago, Azula probably would have said something vaguely mean to the nomad, but instead she followed his gaze and said, “you think the tree called us?” 

Sokka threw his hands up and answered before Aang could, “it’s just a tree! It can’t call anyone. For the last time, there’s nothing after us and there’s nothing magical happening here.”

He stamped around to emphasise his point, ignorant to the piece of seaweed snaking around his ankle until it lifted him upside down.

Azula and Katara each entered fighting stances as a giant monster composed entirely of seaweed towered over them, absorbing the warrior into its chest. 

S

Canoes continued their rampage down the river in pursuit of the bison, with Momo in the saddle throwing out items from Team Avatar’s supplies in an effort to block the swamp peoples’ view. 

One of these items was a shirt that flew into a water bender’s face, causing the canoe that he was controlling to spin out of control.

“Now, what would a lemoo need a shirt fer?” Tho asked. 

Due shrugged and they both refocused on the creatures in time to see Momo be smacked by a tree branch, throwing him from the back of the bison.

Tho eagerly caught the screeching animal, the sound urging Appa to move on more swiftly through the water. 

S

Sokka shrieked while Katara and Azula dodged onslaughts of seaweed vines that were intent upon grabbing them.

After rolling out of the way of an approaching vine, Azula spun around and threw out three fire blasts in quick succession.

As they collided with the monster towering over them, Sokka’s shriek reached higher pitches.

“Azula! No fire!” he shouted.

Before she could apologise for trying to save him, Katara blasted water at the centre of the creature, which instantly froze, allowing her to pull her thrashing brother from the depths of the sea weed mass.

Sokka crashed down beside the Avatar and looked up in time to see Katara propel her arms around to create a barrage of water that sliced through the vines which fell down to the water below with loud splashes.

The vines instantly began regenerating, but not before Sokka saw some moving within them.

“There’s someone in there! Bending the vines!” Sokka announced.

Bolstered by this, Katara shot off one final, larger disk which sliced through the wooden mask on the creature’s ‘face’ causing the whole top part of it to split.

The arm still flew across to grab at Katara, but Azula sliced through it with her own element to stop it from reaching her girlfriend.

She then jumped to a branch facing its chest and threw her arms apart so that she could use air to reveal their adversary and demanded, “why would you call us here just to kill us?!”

The vines dropped before they could zero in on the teen.

“Wait!” the man called, the vines peeling back to reveal a middle aged man, wearing only a leaf loincloth, “I didn’t call you here.”

Azula looked over to Aang, suddenly less sure of the voices that had called to them hours ago, Sokka and Katar stood in offensive stances in the background.

“When we flew over the swamp, a voice called to us, telling us to land,” Azula explained, almost accusatory. 

The man came to a stop at the centre of what looked like a walkway of branches spanning out for miles and replied, “oh the swamp is a mystical place alright. It’s sacred. I reached enlightenment right under the banyan-grove tree,” he sat down and gestured around, “I heard it calling to me, just like you did.”

Sokka crossed his arms, annoyed to not see any scepticism on the Avatar’s face.

“Sure you did, it seems real chatty,” Sokka said obstinately. 

Ignoring him the man continued, “see the whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink, take root, and spray some more. One big living organism, just like the entire world. You can feel everything growing. We’re all living together, even if most folks don’t act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches from the same tree.”

“But what did our visions mean?” Katara asked.

“In the swamp, we see visions of people we’ve lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone,” he explained calmly, “the swamp tells us they’re not, we’re still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death.”

Comforted smiles crossed over the water siblings’ faces, but Azula’s brow remained furrowed, focusing on the second part of her vision as she said, “that can’t be true, I saw someone I never met.”

The man grinned at the teen and said, “you’re the Avatar, I know that you can figure this out.”

Azula let out a long breath through her nose, trying to remember the last time someone had just told her the answer directly to one of her questions.

“How would I know…” she started but when she saw understanding dawn on Aang’s face, she realised he had already told her the answer, “time is an illusion?”

“Exactly,” he replied.

Azula swallowed hard and asked, “So you're saying that it is someone I will meet?”

He inclined his head and Azula felt anxiety burst in her stomach because she was very aware that she had never heard her mother proclaiming that she was happy that she woke up, at least in the past. 

However, Sokka reminded her that she had bigger priorities than Ursa right now.

“Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo,” the warrior demanded.

The man stared at Azula expectantly and she asked, “What do you want me to do?”

The swamp dweller laughed very briefly and then pushed his hands out to the root at their feet, “I know you can feel it.”

After a resigned sigh, Azula once again gave into what she’d mentally dubbed ‘spiritual idiocy’ and dropped down to her knee so that she could push her palm into the branch.

As if energy collided with her, images of a group of boats approaching two fluffy creatures flashed in her mind. 

When she stood, she knew exactly where Appa and Momo were. 

S

Appa growled as he struggled against the net that had been unavoidable, Momo chittering in the sack at the tribes people's feet in the canoe.

Tho happily tapped the side of the vessel as he sang, “set my lines by the river bed! Caught ten fish and I killed ‘em dead! Cut ‘em and gut ‘em and I tossed the heads in the water to keep them catgators fed.”

On the last note, a blast of flame smashed into the boat next to Tho and Due’s, the two of them looked around frantically for the source of the threat/ 

Azula appeared crouching on a tree branch, finding Appa struggling harder against his binds.

Katara also crouched on the branch on her girlfriend’s side and watched as the Avatar blasted air towards the swamp people who threw their hands up to cover their faces.

“We’re under attack!” Due shouted to his men, and then scooped up some water to throw at their attackers. 

Azula and Katara blocked the water with their own and each jumped down to engage in battle, though they were unable to gain any advantage in their bid to save Appa.

As they fought, Momo flew over to Appa, squeaking frantically to the larger creature.

Meanwhile, Katara registered exactly what their opponents were fighting with and she paused as she shouted, “hey you guys are water benders!”

“You too! That means we’re kin!” Due called back gleefully.

Katara’s face twisted in disgust as Sokka and the man from the tree ran up to the branch to see what was happening.

“Hey Huu! How you been?”

Katara and Azula stood, the Avatar watching the uncomfortable bison closely. 

She couldn’t imagine that another stampede would end well for anyone present.

Huu shrugged modestly and replied, “you know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual.”

Sokka squinted and asked, “Huu?”

S

After the most disorientating day of their lives, Katara, Sokka and Azula were more than happy to allow the Foggy Swamp people to treat them to their brand of cuisine. 

Azula didn’t even bother questioning what was going into her mouth, though, Sokka chewed with much more gusto than she and Katara were.

Due past a pot that his kin were stirring with bending and grabbed a fish from it before he joined the teenagers at the fire.

“How you like that possum chicken?” he asked.

“Tastes like arctic hen,” Sokka said between bountiful bites, “so why were you guys so interested in eating Appa? You’ve got plenty of those big things wandering around.”

He gestured towards the catgator dozing between Due and Tho and both became instantly insulted, “you want me to eat old Slim? He’s like a member of the family!” Due replied and drew the fish from his branch so that he could throw it to the animal who caught it readily.

Sokka eyed the catgator but grabbed a bug to throw it over to him too, “nice slim!” he called, but frowned as it bounced off the animal’s nose, followed by a deep set frown.

Due’s annoyance became laughter and he said, “oh, he don’t eat bugs! That’s people food.”

Tho also laughed but trained his gaze onto Katara and asked, “where’d you say you were from?”

Katara turned away from her brother who was trying to act as if nothing happened and she replied, “the South Pole.”

“Didn’t know there was water benders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?” Tho asked, genuinely confused by the response. 

“No, it’s all ice and snow.”

“No wonder you left,” Tho said thoughtfully.

Azula let out a short laugh into her food that had not yet been identified and Katara elbowed her girlfriend, shooting her a mildly exasperated look.

“Well, I hope you realise that nothing strange was going on here,” Sokka interjected Azula’s attempt to smile innocently, “just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp.”

“What about the visions?” Katara asked.

“I told you, we were hungry. I’m eating a giant bug,” Sokka said, punctuating his point by biting into the creature’s sharp abdomen, swallowing with some difficulty.

“And how do you explain the tree revealing where Appa and Momo were to me?” Azula asked.

“That’s Avaar stuff, that doesn’t count,” Sokka said, dismissively and then turned to Huu and added, “the only thing I can’t figure out is how you made that tornado that sucked us down.”

“I can’t do anything like that. I just bend water in plants,” Huu replied.

Sokka stopped chewing, but shrugged and said, “well, no accounting for weather. Still, there’s absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp.”

In the distance, a high-pitched shriek responded. 

S

Back in the Earth Kingdom village, the man with the broadsword stumbled slightly as he walked down the street lit by the full moon.

Attempting to find his way home was always more difficult after visiting the tavern, but still, he persevered. 

When he heard rustling behind him, though, his tempered senses sharpened at once and his weapon flew out of its sheath as he spun around to survey the area.

When he found nothing there, his breathing picked up for reasons that he couldn’t quite identify. 

He’d walked this route alone many times and it was the first time that he had felt genuinely afraid and he had no idea why that would be. 

“Who’s there?” he demanded.

Without warning, his sword clattered to the ground and he didn’t have time to consider how that was possible before his assailant made himself known with inhuman speed.

All the slightly inebriated man could do as the figure masked in blue stepped up was cower.  

Chapter Text

Chapter five - The Blind Bandit

Azula banged her head against the wall of some Earth Kingdom shop she very much regretted straying into, or allowing Sokka to lead her into that is.

With Momo curled around her neck, she just looked up to the lemur, hoping for any form of entertainment.

The animal provided none, so she just allowed her gaze to bypass Sokka and over to Katara on the other side of the store.

The Avatar felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips as her girlfriend pulled up a blue bracelet that glinted in the low light.

Her intent to go over and ask if she liked it was interrupted by Sokka finally voicing his feelings on the green bag he had been inspecting very closely.

“It’s pricey…but I really do like it,” he said pensively with his fingers on his chin. 

Katara placed the bracelet down and focused fully on her brother as she replied, “then you should get it, you deserve something nice.”

Sokka straightened up and grinned from ear-to-ear at his bored sister, “I do, don’t I? But no, it’s too expensive, I shouldn’t.”

Katara leaned to the side to catch the Avatar’s eyes silently giving a look that said, ‘do something!”

“He’s your brother,” Azula replied.

Katara shook her head, deciding against mentioning that she dealt with her brother when he showed up.

They may presently be equally irritating but it was hardly comparable. 

“Then don’t get it,” Katara said and took the initiative to head towards the door leading out into a bustling Earth Kingdom town. 

Azula didn’t bother moving as Sokka continued to stare at the bag, “you know what, I’m gonna get it,” he announced triumphantly.

Katara rolled her eyes and said, “I’m going to wait outside.”

As the brisk air hit her face, she let out a relieved sigh and looked to her side, expecting to find her girlfriend there, but the spot remained empty. 

The water bender didn’t get to return inside to ask Azula what she was doing as a piece of paper was thrust into her eye line.

“Psst, psst! Hey, you love earth bending? You like…throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu’s Earthbending Academy,” a flyer distribution man rushed out before flying over to another group to thrust one upon them. 

Katara, still slightly shocked, read over the basic flyer that promised fast bending mastery just as Sokka and Azula left the store, Sokka proudly holding his newest purchase over his shoulder.

“What’s that?” Sokka asked, distracted from the ‘beautiful’ canvas as Katara handed it over to Azula who flipped it over. 

“That guy gave it to me, it’s for some Earthbending Academy,” Katara explained. 

“Apparently the first lesson is free,” Azula said holding up the coupon on the back, “quite lucky since someone just spent most of our money.”

Sokka gripped the strap and said, indignantly, “hey! I’m not the only one who brought something!”

Katara trained her gaze onto the suddenly bashful Avatar and asked, “What did you get?”

Azula awkwardly cleared her throat and opened her closed fist to reveal the simple blue bracelet, inlaid with cheap crystals.

“You looked like you liked it,” Azula replied and held it out, not entirely sure that she was doing this whole gift giving business properly. 

She used to just send servants out to pick presents for her.

In her uncertainty, she was unaware of the soft and adoring smile adorning Katara’s face as she took the simple piece of jewellery.

She placed it onto her wrist and said, “I love it, thank you, Azula.”

The Avatar finally caught Katara’s eye and returned the smile a little sheepishly, clearly still unsure of the whole thing.

To reassure her that it was incredibly sweet and appreciated, Katara breached the distance to place a slightly prolonged kiss to her lips.

It was Sokka’s turn to clear his throat as he said, “you’re going to be late for school!”

S

Azula dutifully put on the uniform provided to her when she cashed in the coupon and waited patiently in front of the rock placed in before her.

Considering the humiliation doled out by Master Pakku she wasn’t at all fazed to be surrounded by students significantly younger than her.

She was just determined that she would finally make a start on earth bending.

As she was constantly aware, there wasn’t a lot of time left before the comet.

This was why she was making a real concerted effort not to be too sceptical of the Earthbending Academy, even though she could already feel that there was something off about its master.

It didn’t feel likely that this was what King Bumi meant, not that she would ever claim to truly understand the man. 

“Take your stances!” Master Yu commended without further explanation, Azula was forced to glance down the row of peers and copy what she thought was her best approximation of what they were doing. 

“Now, strike as if you’re punching through your opponent’s head!” Yu said, demonstrating the form very briefly.

Too focused on the stance, Azula missed his attempt to ‘teach’ and watched the boy opposite her instead who was lifting the rock.

With not even the basics of earth bending to draw on, she already knew that it was unlikely that she would be able to defend herself with the element and she didn’t really want to tip them all off as to who had joined their class.

Instead of blasting blue fire, as was her instinct when there was a rock flying at her, she just stepped out of the way of the projectile at the last possible moment.

Her opponent’s rock smashed through a vase but Yu was not even fazed enough to turn and look at the damage amid all the other rocks crashing together.

The boy opposite Azula pouted as Aang said, “he’s not a very good teacher.”

As if to compound the nomad’s point, the master approached the Avatar who hadn’t shown any sign of being an earth bender and asked, “are you ready to commit to more lessons? If you pay for the whole year in advance, I’ll bump you up a belt!”

Azula narrowed her eyes at the man.

“He’s not the one,” Aang reaffirmed.

Minutes later, Azula left the academy to find Sokka and Katara waiting patiently, the water bender’s face becoming expectant when she laid eyes on the Avatar.

“How did it go?” she asked hopefully.

“Not great,” Azula grumbled.

Behind the group, among the students streaming out into the street one of the boys said to another, “I think the Boulder’s going to win back the belt at Earth Rumble VI.”

“He’s going to have to fight his way through the best earth benders in the world to get a shot at the champ,” his companion argued. 

Azula’s head swivelled around to hear better, but it was Katara who called over, “excuse me, but where is this earth bending tournament exactly?”

The first boy crossed his arms and said sarcastically, “it’s on the island of Noneya…Noneya business!”

They laughed together as they continued walking away and an additional laugh was added to the cacophony by Sokka who said, “oh, I got to remember that one!”

Taking no heed of the warrior, Azula called to the retreating students, “hey!” determined to berate them for daring to be rude to her girlfriend. 

She didn’t get to figure out what brand of pain they deserved though, since Katara had also narrowed her eyes and said, “I’ll take care of this.”

She then proceeded to run after the offending boys around a corner, shouting, “hey, strong guys, wait up!”

Azula watched her go, actually impressed, but Sokka only had eyes for his bag, which he was once again inspecting critically, holding it at arms length. 

“What was I thinking? I don’t need a new bag! Why did you let me buy this?” he asked angrily.

“When did I give you the impression I cared?” Azula replied.

With no response, Sokka just threw the bag down to the ground hard and folded his arms petulantly.

Momo hopped down from his shoulder, seeing an excellent opportunity.

He landed straight into the bag and settled down, closing his eyes with a satisfied purring sound.

At the same moment, Katara came running back, calling, “you ready to find an earth bending teacher? Because we’re going to Earth Rumble VI!”

“What did you do to them?” Azula asked as the water bender’s hand slipped into hers.

Seeing just how impressed her girlfriend was, Katara replied, “I just…persuaded them.”

In the alley way, the students’ teeth chattered, unable to move an inch with the ice that encased them, keeping their heads stuck together, forcing them to stare at the ground until it melted…eventually. 

S

Sokka led the way down the stairs that spiralled out into rows of seating overlooking the oval-shaped arena made only of earth.

As the warrior jogged ahead to the conspicuously vacant front row seats, Katara looped her arm through Azula’s and the couple joined him with much less haste.

The trio sat down, Sokka leaning his hands forward eagerly on his knees, Aang similarly as excited, stood at the flimsy excuse of a railing.

“I wonder why no one else is sitting in the front row,” the nomad mused for only Azula to hear.

She didn’t have to respond as a huge rock smashed into the seat next to Sokka.

The teen jumped but grinned from ear-to-ear, Aang still mirroring his mood.

“That’s awesome!” Sokka announced.

“Boys,” Azula muttered, earning a chuckle from her girlfriend, but all of their attention was stolen by the rising of an earthen platform in the centre, bringing the host to eye level with his audience.

“Welcome to Earth Rumble VI! I am your host, Xin Fu!” he called, out to a symphony of cheers.

With a heavy sigh, Katara leaned into Azula and asked, resignedly, “this is just going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I paid for,” Sokka replied happily, not taking his gaze away from the ring.

“The rules are simple,” Xin Fu continued, “just knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win!”

The host then launched himself up onto the podium above the ring and then gestured down while a bell rang, “round one: The Boulder vs The Big Bad Hippo!”

Below, a well built man with a bare chest made a show of flexing his muscles as he pointed at the opponent that stood at twice his side.

The Hippo roared, baring his sparse teeth but The Boulder continued to grin insanely.

When the cheering died down, The Boulder shouted in the over the top voice of a showman, “listen up Hippo, you may be big, but you ain’t bad! The Boulder’s gonna win this by a landslide!”

By way of response, The Hippo stomped, actually shaking the arena all around them and grunted out, “Hippo…Mad!”

In the seats, Momo sank into the bag at Sokka’s feet but The Boulder was only fazed for a few moments before he fired off three rocks which crashed into The Hippo.

The colossal man did not move though, catching the final one in his mouth, which he spat out loudly.

He then proceeded to jump up and down, causing the arena itself to tilt, throwing The Boulder off balance.

“Unbelievable! Ladies and Gentleman! The Hippo is rocking the boat!” Xin Fu shouted out to the cheering audience as The Boulder was flung to the edge of the arena.

He stumbled off, but just about managed to catch himself on a small platform he created hastily. 

After a split second to regain his bearings, the combatant flipped back, bringing his platform with him to throw it at the Hippo who was leaving as if he’d already won.

It crashed into his back and, while he was in the process of turning back to his opponent, his section of the ring was bent up, flinging him comically out of it.

As The Hippo crunched onto the ground, Xin Fu announced, “The Boulder wins!”

Amid the cheering, Katara looked to Azula who appeared almost as bored as she felt and suggested, “how about The Boulder? He’s got some good moves.”

Azula shrugged and replied, “I don’t think he’s ever listened and waited in his life,” as The Boulder flexed for his cheering crowd, which very much included Sokka at their side who was throwing his arms up in appreciation. 

“Next match…The Boulder versus…Fire Nation Man!” Xin Fu announced.

Onto the arena, a squat man marched up, proudly waving the Fire Nation flag, his ‘armour’ not covering his arms.

Azula sank down into her seat even as Katara patted her elbow. 

Sokka didn’t notice her embarrassment and jeered along with everyone else, openly thrusting a down-turned thumb at him.

Fire Nation Man took this in his stride and said in some ridiculous accent, “please, to rise for Fire Nation anthem!” He placed his left hand on his heart and fell down to one knee, “Fire Lord, my flame burns for thee!”

Azula grimaced, the actual anthem that had been drilled into her playing through her head involuntarily.

She couldn’t imagine what her teachers from the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls would think. 

As she recalled their stern looks, the crowd booed at him and hurled rocks.

Sokka pukked back to throw his own rock and yelled, “go back to the Fire Nation!”

“Sokka!” Katara admonished.

The warrior turned before he could throw his projectile and when his eyes landed on the Avatar, his folly dawned on him and he said, sheepishly, “err…no offence, Azula.”

“Why do people think that makes it not offensive?” Azula replied.

Sokka shrugged animatedly, his rock falling to the ground. 

While he sat back down, The Fire Nation Man was continually being hit on the head by other rocks and visibly becoming angry. 

This anger became confusion as the ground underneath him shifted and he dropped his flag while he sunk chest deep.

Behind him, The Boulder rose himself up on a pillar of earth so that he was now overlooking the Fire Nation Man.

“No, no, please!” he screeched.

In spite of the pleading, The Boulder surged into the air, bending his knees so that he could slam into the ground with maximum force to create a pillar under his opponent to catapult the Fire Nation Man.

All around the ring, the audience erupted in sounds of appreciation as the man hit the boulder at Sokka’s side with a scream that followed his entire trajectory.

Sokka was overcome by his excitement again, forgetting his previous apology to his friend as he pointed at the Fire Nation Man, “yeah! Woo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!”

Azula rolled her eyes as an attendant approached to lead the man out, though she did sit up a little as the bell announced the next round.

What followed hardly improved her opinion of The Boulder, no matter how many opponents he took out or how much he was bathed in his fan’s praise.

Sokka looked fit to burst with each success though, whether he was downing The Gopher, The Gecko or The Headhunter.

By the time the final earth bender was thrown from the ring, Azula was leaning her head against her girlfriend’s shoulder, figuring it couldn’t hurt to let Sokka have his fun for a little while longer.

As the cheering died down, in spite of The Boulder continuing to roll his chest to his adoring fans, Xin Fu’s voice filtered out again, the lights dimming dramatically:

“Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, The Boulder versus your champion…the Blind Bandit!”

As Xin Fu spoke, a small silhouette approached the arena until the shadows fell away to reveal a young, black haired girl who held the championship belt over her head for the benefit of the crowd.

Azula lifted her head from her girlfriend to get a better look at the girl who barely reached the height of the assistants poised to take the belt from her.

The other removed the cape and they both retreated from the arena, leaving only the Earth Rumble champion. 

“She can’t really be blind,” Katara said sceptically, both she and Azula leaning forward to hone in on the milky green eyes shining under the spotlight, “it’s just part of her character, right?”

“It looks like she is,” Azula replied, squinting.

“I think it looks like…” Sokka said, almost thoughtfully, before he pushed both his hands towards the ground, “She’s going down!”

Katara shook her head, but Azula was busy silently checking with Aang whether the girl looked familiar to him too.

The spirit was tilting his head at the scene below.

Apparently annoyed that the most recent set of cheers had not been for him, The Boulder stomped down to crack the floor and send up some dust.

“The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl,” he announced.

The girl pointed at him and replied, mockingly, “sounds to me like you’re scared, Boulder.”

The man stood stunned but blinked out of it and said, “The Boulder’s over his conflicted feelings and now he’s ready to bury you in a rock-avalanche!”

To demonstrate, he crushed his hands together.

“Whenever you’re ready, the Pebble!” the girl replied.

She then threw her head back and laughed in a high-pitch.

In the stands, Aang turned to find Azula’s eyes had widened too.

The laugh confirmed the connection for her too and her mind was flashing back to the swamp.

To the girl in the white dress with the flying boar.

The Boulder, of course, was unaware of the Avatar having a revelation across from him and said, with an unnecessary flex of his muscles, “it’s on!”

Azula watched as the champion simply stood and waited until The Boulder, who was failing to hide his nerves, yelled out something unintelligible and stepped forward.

Almost leisurely, the girl pushed a heel out. 

The Boulder was emitting some vague battle cry, but Azula could only watch the girl who had already finished the set up for her counter attack, swing her foot forward and it shot a shock wave through the ground towards The Boulder, meeting his foot just as it touched the earth it intended to bend.

His foot was thrust outwards, forcing him into the perfect splits.

The Boulder howled, “oooh!”

Sokka and Momo both cringed.

The Blind Bandit then made a chopping motion with her hand so that three stalagmites erupted from the ground to eject him from the ring.

“Your winner and still the champion,” Xin Fu called as the girl raised her fist to the cheering crowd, “the Blind Bandit.”

“How did she do that?” Azula thought aloud.

“She waited…and listened,” Aang replied as Xin Fu jumped down to land next to the champion, holding a plump green bag in his hand.

“To make things more interesting, I’m offering up this stack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!” Xin Fu called to be met with silence, “what no one dares to face her?” he asked tauntingly.

“You have to talk to her!” Aang said sharply, almost worriedly.

Azula made a split second decision and extricated herself from Katara, figuring it was best not to pass up this potentially limited opportunity.

“I accept the challenge,” the Avatar called and Xin Fu’s shoulders slumped as she jumped down but the host recovered quickly to the sounds of approval from the crowd.

He jumped back to his pillar as Azula approached the champion.

Before the Bandit could say something scathing, Azula asked, “I only want to ask you a question, will you listen if I knock you out of the ring?”

“Ha! Sure thing princess,” the younger girl replied, genuinely amused by the notion.

“Go Azula! Avenge The Boulder!” sounded out behind them but she kept her eyes on her opponent who appeared to be waiting for her to make the first move.

Eventually, Azula did take a step, considering how she would feign earth bending.

After all, it wouldn’t hurt to earn some extra money for the team.

The Blind Bandit smiled as she registered the movement though and she twisted her foot out to send a shock wave of rock over.

It spouted out of the ground under Azula’s feet, but rather than being catapulted off to the side, she landed softly behind the bandit who grimaced, “somebody’s a little light on her feet! What’s your fighting name? The Fancy Dancer?” she asked

Azula was about to retort but a pillar of earth was sent her way and she hopped over it.

“Where’d you go?” the girl demanded.

As soon as Azula landed, she whipped around, “there you are!”

The Bandit finally did what Azula wanted and blasted a rock at her, which she redirected with air bending right back at her opponent, and it smashed into the ground, the force smacking her out of the ring.

Silence fell upon the entire arena, but Azula was too busy running over to the stairs to look at any of the shocked expressions.

The Blind Bandit was already storming off.

“Hey! You agreed to listen to me!” Azula objected as she reached the wall.

“Whoever you are, just leave me alone!” the Blind Bandit replied angrily throwing her arms out to create a way out that quickly closed behind her.

Azula blew out a breath and turned to find Xin Fu holding out the belt and bag to her to the sound of the loudest cheering yet.

Suddenly losing interest in the money, Azula made no attempt to grab it.

Katara and Sokka appeared form behind the host and the warrior eagerly grabbed the money and the belt to then place his arm around Azula’s shoulder as he waved at the adoring crowd.

“Way to go, champ!” he said.

“Have you forgotten why we’re here, Sokka?” Azula asked. 

S

The next morning, Team Avatar made their way through the town, the male of the group very much distracted by his newest accessory.

With his hand on Azula’s prize, he said, “I got to say, I’m glad I brought this bag, it matches the belt, perfectly.”

“That is a big relief,” Katara replied.

Beside the water bender, Aang said to Azula, “Do you really think you can find the Blind Bandit by going back to that Academy?”

“We don’t have any other place to start,” Azula replied, already resigned. 

If she hadn’t personally set eyes on the girl’s abilities, she would have insisted she didn’t want another master who was so reluctant to teach her since it was hardly a pleasant experience last time, but it didn’t seem like there could be another option, so she continued walking with purpose towards the academy.

Unfortunately, she recognised the only two students present.

Their arrival interrupted their forms and the male student from the day before said lowly, “oh great, you again.”

Katara glared at them sharply and they instantly backed off and she said, “yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Nicely done,” Sokka said smugly, drawing their attention to the belt and they shot straight over to Azula, recognition in their faces.

“Hey! You’re the one who beat the Blind Bandit!” Azula nodded in the agreement, not in the mood for praise from this particular audience so she cut straight to the point.

“Yes and we need to speak with her. Can you tell us where she lives?” she demanded more than asked. 

“The Blind Bandit’s a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears,” he replied, haughtily. 

Katara leant forward, wearing a stern expression and said accusation in her words, “you’re not telling us everything!”

They both flinched, the second boy holding up his hands, “no, no, I…I swear it’s true. No one knows where she goes, or who she really is.”

Azula’s nails dug into her hand, having to actually remind herself that fire was no longer the answer.

As usual, it was Aang who gave her an alternative.

“You’re asking about the wrong person!” he said.

Reluctantly, Azula addressed the students, “in my vision, I saw a girl, in a white dress, with a pet flying boar. Do you know anyone who would fit that description?”

“Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong family, they’re the richest people in town. Probably the whole world.”

“Yeah, but they don’t have a daughter,” the second student interjected.

“The flying boar is a start,” Azula said and the Water Tribe siblings nodded in agreement as they turned to leave.

“Yeah, you better leave,” the first student said under his breath.

“Hey, I got my eye on you,” Katara warned, pushing two fingers out to them and they held onto each other, shaking in fear.

Azula took her girlfriend’s hand at the exit and Sokka said coolly, “Water Tribe,” and slunk after the rest of the team.

S

Back in the Earth Rumble venue, Xin Fu stood at the mouth of the tunnel and listened to the Boulder rant on as he gesticulated frantically:

“I’m telling you, The Boulder was standing right here. I saw the kid strike, but there was no earth bending. Nothing made contact. The Blind Bandit fell out of the ring. She must have took a dive and split the money with the kid.”

Xin Fu clenched his fist, a couple knuckles cracking under the force before he slammed it into the wall which broke apart.

“Nobody cheats Xin Fu,” he grunted, enraged.

S

The sun set upon the most lavish and largest estate in town, throwing shadows over its garden that complemented its flowers perfectly.

Over the gate that proudly bore the image of a flying boar, three teens surveyed the area.

Finally deeming it to be safe, Azula, Katara and Sokka hopped down into the perfectly maintained brush, ready to look around for any signs of their intended target.

The ground beneath them shifted, though, sending them flying.

Inevitably, it was only Sokka who slammed into the solid ground painfully.

Katara and Azula’s falls were both cushioned by bushes.

Azula sat up sharply in her bush, coming face to face with the familiar dimmed eyes, even if the fancy, white gown couldn’t make her look more different.

“What are you doing here, princess?” the Blind Bandit asked.

“How can you tell it’s me?” Azula asked.

Bypassing the question, the younger girl said, “how did you find me?”

“Tell her about the swamp,” Aang suggested.

Azula rolled her eyes and went with her own explanation, “I’m the Avatar, I need an earth bending teacher.”

“Yeah,” Sokka added, “she needs to defeat the Fire Lord before…”

The girl held out her hand and said, “not my problem. Now,” she began walking away, “get out of here or I’ll call the guards.”

“Look, we all have to do our part to win this war, and yours is to teach Azula earth bending,” Sokka argued.

The girl halted and shouted, purposefully putting her voice up a pitch, “Guards, guards, help!”

A stampede of heavy boots vibrated the garden area, but the trio had already scattered by the time two of the guards appeared.

“Toph, what happened?” one of the guards asked breathlessly.

“I…thought I heard someone. I got scared,” the Blind Bandit said meekly.

The guard took her hand and said, “you know your father doesn’t want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph.”

Azula watched the obvious act from the wall until the guard led her towards the house, before she jumped down to join Katara and Sokka who were rubbing at his sore neck.

“Now what?” Katara asked dejectedly.

“I may have an idea,” Azula replied.

S

Hours later, Poppy Beifong lay across a sofa pulling up a mug of tea to pass to her husband, Lao.

The man sipped at it and then addressed Master Yu as if Toph were not present.

“I’m pleased to hear that Toph’s private lessons are going well. But I want to be sure she’s not trying anything too dangerous.”

“Absolutely not. I am keeping her at a beginner’s level. Basic forms and breathing exercises only,” Yu agreed.

“Very good,” Lao said. 

The arrival of a servant hid Toph’s visible grimace.

“Excuse me, sir, but you have a visitor,” the servant said, bowing deeply.

Lao placed the tea down and demanded , “Who thinks they are so important they can just come to my home unannounced?”

The servant straightened up and replied, “err…the Avatar, sir.”

Lao and Poppy shared a look as Toph’s eyes widened.

Knowing her parents extremely well, it was clear what was about to happen, so she roughly blew her hair out of her face.

Predictably, she soon found herself sat at the dinner table, acutely aware of three extra settings, though one in particular was the loudest.

As ever, Sokka was devouring his meal.

Next she became aware of a servant approaching her with a bowl of soup that her father would no doubt think was deadly.

Lao once again proved her right by announcing, “blow on it, it’s too hot for her.”

Toph sincerely hoped that her face wasn’t burning in embarrassment as the servant leaned down, but the woman was prevented from doing her task.

“Please allow me,” Azula said, trying to remember how a princess would speak in this situation. 

With a wave of her hand, she focused on the heat coming off the starter and the steam sped up, the boiling heat visibly seeping out of it, being drawn away by the master fire bender.  

Azula grinned as those present clapped in response to the display and Poppy said, “Avatar Azula, it’s an honour to have you visit us.”

“Apologises if this is inappropriate, Avatar,” Lao added, “but are the rumours true…is Fire Lord Ozai your father?”

Toph’s spoon froze and she tilted her head, suddenly more interested in the conversation.

Seeing this response from the Blind Bandit, Azula replied honestly, “it is true.”

“Then, in your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?” Lao asked, eagerly.

“Our plan is that it should be over before the end of the summer, but that will be difficult as I cannot find an earth bending master to teach me,” Azula replied, glad to have no more questions about her paternity.

Lao chucked and gestured to the man at the other end of the long table, “well Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land. He’s been teaching Toph since she was little.”

“That must mean that she is a skilled earth bender, perhaps enough to teach…” Azula began, but the final words were swallowed by a pained groan in her throat as a small fissure hit her under the table and Katara looked at her in concern.

Everyone else looked over to Toph who was just slurping softly at her soup.

“Yes, and sadly, because of her blindness, I don’t think she will ever become a true master,” Lao added.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Azula interjected.

Another fissure hit her, pulling her chair forward, but she was prepared, slamming her hands onto the table to stop  her face from crashing into the soup.

With some covert bending during the event, Azula made a real effort to make the water in Toph’s cup spill down and over her lap.

Toph shot up to her feet and demanded “what’s your problem?!”

“What do you mean?” Azula asked innocently, picking up her spoon to regally dip it into her own soup.

Silence fell over the room as it hit Toph that she she was not alone with this annoying girl and couldn’t just unleash her anger.

Thankfully, her mother gave her a way out, “well, shall we move to the living room for dessert then?”

S

After dessert, Team Avatar were led to one of the guest bedrooms, the Beifongs insisted that they wanted them to stay for at least one night.

Azula finished making sure that Appa was comfortable with his head lay on the window that looked out into the garden and then crossed the room to offer Katara an extra blanket.

Katara accepted it, about to ask whether her girlfriend had any further plans, but was interrupted by a sound from the doorway.

Azula turned to find Toph leaning and asked, “Are you here to assault me again?”

Toph tilted her head as she pushed herself up straight, “look I’m sorry about dinner, can we call a truce and just talk?” 

Azula nodded and followed her out into the garden, while Katara and Sokka shared a concerned look.

Outside, the pair walked in silence, Toph hopping up to balance herself perfectly on the railing on the bridge.

Finally, Toph asked, “So you’re really a princess?”

Azula shrugged and replied, “I am technically, but I’m sure my father would disagree now.”

Toph jumped down in front of Azula, listening for any signs of bitterness but her heartbeat and breathing remained perfectly steady.

Instead of labouring the Fire Lord point, she asked, “were you…allowed to leave the palace whenever you wanted? Could you do anything you wanted?”

“No,” Azula replied, “there was only time for what my father wanted, certainly not for exploring.”

“And now you travel the world with your friends?” Toph asked enviously.

There are some benefits to running away,” Azula said, “may I ask you something?”

“You want to know how I can bend even though I’m blind?” Toph asked.

“Yes,” Azula replied.

“Even though I was born blind, I’ve never had a problem seeing,” Toph explained, “I see with earth bending. It’s kind of like seeing with my feet. I feel the vibrations in the earth and I can see where everything is. You, that tree…even those ants.”

Azula glanced around at the things Toph pointed toward and replied, “that’s…impressive.”

Toph fell back against the bridge, her arms crossed, “my parents don’t understand, they always treated me like I was helpless.”

“And that’s why you became the Blind Bandit?” Azula asked.

“Yeah.”

“You know, you don’t have to stay here if you’re not happy,” Azula offered.

“Is that why you ran away?”

“Not exactly it’s a lot more complicated when it comes to my family, but I am mostly happier now,” the older teen said, “you could come with us.”

“Yeah,” Toph said dreamily, “you guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do. That’s the life. It’s just not my life.”

Azula prepared a retort but Toph fell down to her knees, her eyebrows raised up high as her hand brushed against the ground.

“We’re being ambushed!”

Too distracted by the show, Azula didn’t react in time to the warning before they were each scooped into metal cages, onto which the Hippo jumped, holding them down.

The rest of the Earth Rumble participants also emerged, Xin Fu at the head of them.

“I think you kids owe us some money,” he said.

S

An hour or so passed before a search was launched for Toph and the Avatar.

Poppy, Lao and Yu all followed Sokka and Katara to their last known location and it was the Southern Warrior who spotted a note attached to a dagger, which he handed to his sister.

“Whoever took Azula and Toph left this,” he said as she unfolded it.

“If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena,” she read aloud, “it’s signed Xin Fu and the Boulder.”

“I can’t believe it…” Sokka said seriously, before he snapped the paper back and held it over his head, “I have The Boulder’s autograph!”

Katara scowled at him and said sharply, “my girlfriend has been kidnapped, Sokka!”

“Your girlfriend is also the Avatar, she gets kidnapped every week,” he shot back, but their small argument was interrupted by a sniffle and they both turned to Poppy wiping tears from her eyes before she left her husband’s arms.

“Master Yu, I need you to help get my daughter back,” Lao said.

“We’re going with you,” Sokka said, now serious, and the man nodded.

Hugging herself, Poppy sniffled again.

“Poor Toph, she must be so scared,” she said.

S

Back in the Earth Rumble VI venue, the only sound was the squeaking of the two metal cages suspended over Xin Fu and The Boulder, who were both becoming increasingly inpatient.

The silence crashed to an end though, “you think you’re so tough?” Toph shouted, pointing through the grate of her cage, “why don’t you come up here and I can snap that grin off your face?”

“I’m not smiling,” Xin Fu replied dryly.

Azula was leaning against the back of her cage and rolled her eyes.

Now used to being kidnapped and held hostage, she wasn’t at all worried about how this would end with her friends no doubt coming.

She was proven right by the sound of Lao shouting, “Toph!”

Azula languidly stepped up to the grate to confirm that Katara and Sokka were approaching her captors.

“Here’s your money,” Sokka announced, placing the bag of coin lightly to the ground, “Now let them go.”

At the back of the group, Yu bent the bag across the room, where Xin Fu picked it up to closely inspect the coin.

Once he satisfied himself, he waved for one cage to be released and it was only a few moments before Toph was running over to her father who clasped her shoulder, then led her from the arena.

“What about Azula?” Katara demanded.

Xin Fu’s smile twisted and he pulled out a crumpled poster to show to his audience, “I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar. Now get out of my ring.”

On queue, Fire Nati0on Man appeared riding atop a tornado made of earth, followed by The Gecko falling down from the ceiling as the Hippo stomped onto the ground and crushing a rock threateningly. The ensemble was finally completed by the Gopher popping up from underneath the ground.

Katara and Sokka both stepped back but also looked up to Azula.

The Avatar was gripping the grate while trying to puzzle through every scenario here.

Finally, she decided that the last thing she wanted was for her horribly outnumbered friend and girlfriend to be really hurt here.

“Go,” she called, “I’ll find a way out.”

Katara and Sokka both reluctantly turned to move to the exit and the cage was brought down to the Avatar’s captors.

The Water Tribe siblings refused to give up though.

“Toph,” Sokka shouted as soon as his view fell onto the Blind Bandit holding her father’s hand, “there’s too many of them…we need an earth bender. We need you!”

Lao turned to reveal his stormy face and ranted, “my daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you.”

As he spoke, Toph’s face transformed from passive to obstinate until she ripped her hand back.

“Yes, I can,” she said and followed the pair back out into the arena.

Lao blinked and followed hollowly until he also was faced with the wrestlers preparing to retreat with the cage flat against the Hippo’s shoulders.

They didn’t get very far, though, as a portion of the arena flew up infant of him and they all swivelled around as Toph lowered her hands.

“Let her go! I beat you all before and I’ll do it again!” Toph said and her father’s mouth dropped open as he ran over the men she was standing against so brazenly.

“The Boulder takes issue with that comment,” the man at the front called out while the Hippo flung Azula’s cage to the side.

Katar and Sokka prepared to strike at the oncoming men, but Toph held out her hand and said, “wait, they’re mine.”

The Water Tribe siblings halted, looking on in surprise as Toph raised both of her hands to shake the ring, fling the onslaught backwards, throwing up a cloud of dust that Toph stepped towards.

At the side of the arena, Lao swallowed hard beside Yu, but still stood stock still, unable to do anything but watch.

As the men recovered, Toph pushed her foot out to thicken the dust cloud, rendering the men more blind than her.

The Fire Nation Man didn’t notice where he was until the last possible moment and Toph as already smirking even before the man moved his foot to attack.

A flurry of rock flew at the girl and she leisurely stepped to the side to avoid it before she wrenched up her own flurry from the ground, ejecting the red-clad man from the ring.

Lao and Yu both gasped as the man hit the wall.

To their side, Sokka and Katara were on the metal cage and the warrior of the pair smashed a rock against the lock.

“What is taking so long?” Azula asked.

With a particularly hard hit, Sokka grunted, “I’m trying!”

“Try harder!”

Back in the dust cloud, the Gecko was just crawling towards the Blind Bandit. 

As soon as he became aware that she was close, he shot off two rocks at her.

She was more than prepared and dodged long before the projectiles came near her and then produced a series of earth pillars which flung the Gecko unto the Fire Nation Man.

Both men bowled over, but Toph had already turned her attention to the vibrations behind her. 

The Gopher popped out of the floor as she turned and threw a rock directly at her face.

She caught the rock and threw it back down with enough force to send him tumbling into his fellow wrestlers.

At the same time, Sokka finally broke through the cage and Azula popped out, looking around for the battle.

When she found a cloud of dust still engulfing the arena, she looked up to Sokka who was shaking his head as if to say that she wasn’t needed here.

In the ring, The Boulder and Hippo were preparing a joint attack of Toph while her father actually chewed at his nails at the side.

From above, the Headhunter swiftly lowered himself to complete the ambush, but Toph tilted her hand up in his direction.

At the last moment, she shifted the ring around, leaving the Headhunter on a collision course for the Hippo and The Boulder, who both flattened to the ground before being launched out of the ring to join their fallen comrades.

Yu watched the grown men struggle to stand and announced, completely awed, “I never knew, your daughter’s amazing!”

Lao bit his bottom lip but didn’t argue with the teacher.

In the ring, Toph lowered what remained of the dust cloud to reveal only Xin Fu remained. 

Toph made a point of hawking up a wad of spit which she shot at the ground, causing her father to bring through his worry. 

Toph and Xin Fu circled each other until the man created several chunks of earth which honed in on the girl only to break as the shield that she pulled up caught them, she then twisted it apart so that it shot towards Xin Fu.

He dodged, but the vibrations hit Toph and she avoided his return attack in time to rip a fissure through the ring that flipped Xin Fu up and out of the ring where he crashed between Lao and Yu.

On their side, Sokka actually fainted from the explosion of his pent up nerves.

Katara and Azula just looked on in amazement and Yu said, “She’s the greatest earth bender I’ve ever seen!”

S

Darkness crept across the Beifong estate later that night.

Toph’s head stayed down as she addressed her parents, Team Avatar behind her:

“Dad, I know it’s probably hard for you to see me this way. But the obedient little hopeless blind girl that you think I am just isn’t me. I love fighting. I love being an earth bender, and I’m really, really good at it. I know I’ve kept my life a secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me, but I’m twelve years old and I’ve never had a real friend. Someone that sees who I really am, I hope it doesn’t change the way you feel about me,” Toph said, her feet digging into the ground to try and detect any changes in their demeanour.

“Of course it doesn’t change the way I feel about you, Toph,” Lao replied, “it’s made me realise something.”

“It has?” Toph asked breathlessly.

“Yes, I’ve let you have far too much freedom, from now on you’ll be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day,” Lao announced, Poppy nodding along to her husband’s decree.

“But dad!” Toph almost shouted.

“We’re doing this for your own good, Toph,” her mother said softly.

At the earth bender’s back, Azula turned to Katara, searching for the right thing to say, but the water bender looked just as disarmed as she felt.

“Please escort the Avatar and her friends out, they are no longer welcome,” the male Beifong said forcefully.

The guards came forward, and figuring she couldn’t leave without saying anything, she just said, vaguely as she could, “don’t forget there can be some benefits.”

The girl balled her fists and whispered, “I’m sorry…goodbye, Azula.”

As the trio were led from the room, a tear fell down her cheek, not convinced she could do what the Avatar was suggesting.

S

Outside the estate, Azula just finished packing her things which she threw up to the saddle, where Sokka was polishing the championship belt.

Azula blew out a breath and looked over to the town they would soon be flying away from.

In spite of all of her thoughts of how Toph could come with them, she was pretty sure that kidnapping was not an Avatar-sanctioned activity.

She turned back toward Appa when she felt a hand on her waist and she turned around to find Katara with her usual comforting expression.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earth benders out there,” Katara said.

Azula sighed and replied, “I know, but a swamp didn’t predict that I would meet any of them.”

Katara nodded, finding it hard to believe that was a normal statement in her life now.

“Come on, we should get going,” she replied.

Azula brought her hand around her girlfriend to air bend them both onto the bison but stopped at the sound of panting and crushing leaves.

Azula released the water bender and turned around.

“Toph?” she asked the girl who had just passed the top of the hill, back in her Blind Bandit attire.

From the saddle, Sokka asked, “did your dad change his mind?” 

Toph, having caught her breath, replied, “not exactly…but there’s some benefits to running away, right princess?”

Katara raised an eyebrow at the Avatar who did not look the least bit guilty.

“There are if you leave quickly,” Azula replied about to move towards Appa again with her earth bending teacher in tow this time.

“Just one thing, I wanted to show you something,” Toph said.

“Okay,” Azula said cautiously, returning to face the pre-teen.

Toph pushed her foot out without warning, sending a rock across to slam the Avatar into a nearby tree.

Katara rushed over as Azula involuntarily groaned in pain.

Toph held up her hand to Sokka and said, “now we’re even. Um, I’ll take the belt back.”

Sokka grimaced and threw the belt over the side of the saddle, preparing to sulk until it slammed into Toph’s head and she fell to the ground under the force.

“Ow!” Toph whined.

Sokka cringed and looked over to the ground and called, “sorry.”

S

Back at the Beifong estate, Lao stood behind a table, trying hard not to pace back and force as he addressed the men staring at him, neither of them hiding their distaste very well.

“I know you two are very different. But I believe you have a common interest,” the patriarch said and one of his servants placed a chest of gold for both of them to behold.

“The Avatar has kidnapped my daughter. I want you to do whatever it takes to bring her home.”

Yu and Xin Fu both bowed eagerly in response while the ‘kidnapped’ Toph hugged the side of the Sky Bison’s saddle.

A smile graced her lips as the wind passed her face.

Chapter Text

Chapter six- Zuko Alone

At the time, it had seemed like a great idea, like the best way to move his journey forward.

When his uncle went from telling him that he should not be ashamed to live in poverty to trying to convince him that hope was more important than capturing Azula, it became clear that the man was now only holding him back.

Now, days later, all he could think about was the man’s words ‘in the darkest time, hope is something you give yourself that is the meaning of inner strength’.

With the sun beating down on his back and his ostrich horse’s legs shaking with each step, it became increasingly difficult to believe in the importance of inner strength.

Being alone was all well and good, but that was assuming that you actually knew where you were going or what you were doing.

Right now, Zuko had answers to neither of these questions, but he did know that there were three things that he desperately needed above all else: food, water and rest.

He couldn’t get the third without first achieving the other two so his only option was to just keep moving forward.

With the Earth Kingdom landscape as barren as it was around him, it was all he could do to keep urging the resistant ostrich horse onwards, until they reached a decrepit bridge that covered a small ravine.

The shaking of his steed worsened as the bridge creaked underneath them, but it still shot forward as the bridge cracked.

The animal emitted a groan as it scurried to the other side, just about regaining it’s balance, but all Zuko could focus on was the intense scent creeping up to him from the ravine below.

With some heavy urging, he got the ostrich horse to move over to the edge so that he could see the steak being cooked over flames.

The prince’s mouth watered and he clutched at his growing stomach that was now officially painful.

He reached for one of the swords on his back, while his gaze fell down to weigh up his odds in the impending fight, only to let the hilt drop back down.

It was just a travelling couple who had stopped for food, the decision being made for him when he registered the pronounced swelling of the woman’s stomach.

He swallowed hard to moisten his throat before he turned his steed back in the direction that he’d mentally dubbed ‘forward’.

Even the ostrich horse was reluctant to leave the delicious smell behind.

A couple hours passed, by which time the animal was whining loudly with each shaking step, but Zuko was completely deaf to it.

The terrain now bore some grass with rocks dotted around, but Zuko swatted from side to side with the afternoon sun still beating, albeit not quite as hot.

He pulled out his water pouch absently and rose it to his chapped lips.

The prince drank from it hungrily, though he soon found that there was not nearly enough in it to quench his ravenous appetite.

Stashing it roughly back at his side, he instead focused on gripping the reins, determined to remain upright.

He was proving to be quite the task.

His vision blurred exponentially as his head pounded in protest against remaining conscious.

Zuko’s head dipped to the side, only managing to catch himself at the last moment, his vision remaining blurred even as he attempted to focus on a point in the horizon in an effort to fight the onset of nausea. 

Only a minute later, it proved too difficult to remain conscious and his head lolled again.

This time, when his eyes were forced closed this time an image flash through his pliable mind.

A tall, cloaked woman staring at him with pain in her ember eyes as she pulled the cloak over her face.

She turned to walk down a dark hallway.

To walk away from him.

A loud sniff from his nose brought him back to the present.

The prince squinted against the sun and then kept his head down.

S

In spite of the strain shared between Zuko and his ostrich horse, the pair somehow managed to make it to a small town.

The prince wiped at his forehead and searched out his target among the shabby, poorly constructed buildings littered around him, way too focused to register the interaction of the circle of uninformed men.

“Come on, spider snake eyes!” one of the Earth Kingdom soldiers said, his teeth clenched as he flung the dice to the centre, so then raised his arms in triumph when a set of fives showed up, “ha! Ha! Yeah!”

To damper his celebration, the other two men shot well aimed punches to his stomach.

Zuko passed by as he yelped twice in quick succession, but he openly had eyes for what looked like a store up ahead.

To his mount’s great relief, he jumped off, paying no heed to his cramping legs as he approached the man leaning over the counter with his head ducked.

“Could I get some water, a bag of feed and something hot to eat?” Zuko asked, holding out his last two coins and very much feeling the shame that his uncle claimed he shouldn’t.

The merchant shook his head and replied, “not enough here for a hot meal, I can get you two bags of feed?”

Zuko looked down in disappointment, making a real concerted effort to not allow it to turn into exploding rage.

After all, this man didn’t owe anything to the banished prince of the Fire Nation, so he inclined his head in assent, his knuckles cracking while he wondered if anyone would deny the Avatar food and the man went to collect his purchases.

As he waited, Zuko decided to not allow his t thoughts to drift to Azula and he looked over his shoulder to confirm that the four Earth Kingdom soldiers were staring at him as expected.

He soon returned his gaze to the empty store, also ignoring the two small children who had popped up in his peripheral vision. 

They both giggled and Zuko set his jaw in annoyance but did nothing as one of them drew an egg straight at the gambling soldiers.

“Ow!” the egged soldier shouted.

Zuko gripped the counter as the two boys fled and they just knew that the soldiers would be turning around to find only him.

“Hey! You throwing eggs at us stranger?” the leader demanded.

Zuko looked over to see that he had indeed stood up in his indignation but he replied, simply, “no.”

“You see who did throw it?”

“No,” Zuko repeated.

“That your favourite words, no?” another of the soldiers demanded as the group approached the traveller.

“Egg had to come from somewhere,” the leader agreed.

Zuko shrugged and replied, “maybe a chicken flew over.”

The other soldier let out a hearty laugh but stopped when the leader glared at him and just sat and the merchant returned carrying the two promised bags of feed.

The leader of the soldiers marched over to grab them before Zuko could so much as place his hand onto them.

“Thank you for your contribution. The army appreciates your support,” he said, throwing the bag over to his fellow, “better leave town. Penalty for stayin’s a lot steeper than you can afford, stranger. Trust me.”

Zuko stared at him blankly as he patted the hammer at his side, not the least bit intimidated, but feeling no desire to prove him wrong for the sake of a bag of feed.

“Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation,” the merchant sighed heavily, “but they’re just a bunch of thugs.”

With nothing to say on the matter, Zuko let out a weary breath and walked slowly back over to his ostrich horse, hoping that the animal wouldn’t decide to reject his weight after such a short break.

Before he could climb up, though, the reins went taut and he leaned over to find the boy who had thrown the egg smiling up at him, revealing just how many teeth he was missing.

“Thanks for not ratting me out!” he said with enthusiasm that made Zuko feel infinitely more exhausted as he proceeded to get onto the steed.

The boy frowned when it became clear that he was being ignored, but it didn’t deter him for long.

He jogged to catch up with the stranger and led the animal in the opposite direction.

“I’ll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come on, I owe you!”

As if the steed understood the offer, it disregarded Zuko’s small kick telling it to return to its original course.

Another loud and painful roll of grumbling had the prince grabbing at his stomach with a grimace and made him decide that perhaps he should just accept the offer.

Not long after this decision, his senses were filled with what had to be a new sound for him.

As the boy led the ostrich horse up a dirt road flanked by mountains, rattling mixed with oinking to create a cacophony of noise.

The boy smiled proudly at the pas jumping around in their pen and said, “no one can ever sneak up on us.”

“No kidding,” Zuko said, unamused as he finally got off the horse which was led away to join the rest of the animals.

While the boy did this, a man approached the newcomer and a woman looked out the window of the farmhouse to see what was happening, her expression softening when she registered no danger.

“You a friend of Lee’s?” the man asked.

Zuko prepared to say ‘no’ again, but the boy, or Lee apparently, came jumping back over and rushed out excitedly, “this guy stood up to the soldiers! By the end, he practically had them running away!”

The woman, having now left the farmhouse, also approached the gathering and wiped her hands on a rag as she asked, “does this guy have a name?”

“I’m…uh…” Zuko stuttered out, no idea whether his name was as recognisable as his sisters.

“He doesn’t have to say who he is if he doesn’t want to, Sela,” the man, “anyone who can hold his own against those bully soldiers is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms.”

His wife nodded in agreement and added, “the real soldiers are off fighting the war, like Lee’s big brother Sensu,” a pause passed over the group, but she perked up and announced, “supper’s going to be ready soon. Would you like to stay?”

“I can’t. I should be moving on,” Zuko said, his sensibility overtaking his senses.

Husband and wife exchanged an understanding look and Sela said, “Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don’t you two work for a while? Then we’ll eat.”

Zuko felt relief surge through his empty stomach.

S

[Scene 3]

Zuko really tried his best.

He was acutely aware that this family didn’t actually require help with their manual labour, but he couldn’t allow them to feed him for three.

They unequivocally owed him nothing.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he was really helping if the pile of bent nails at his side was anything to go by.

Gansu made no comments though and just continued to hammer in his nail, making a perfect line.

Lee had his head resting on his forearms at the edge of the barn roof and didn’t have the same reservations as his father as he said, “you don’t seem like you’re from around here.”

Zuko hummed in agreement.

“Where you from?” Lee prodded.

Zuko lowered the hammer, trying to aim it more precisely as he replied, “far away.”

“Ohh. Where you going?”

Zuko grimaced but Gansu interjected, “Lee, give it a rest. Stop asking the man personal questions, got it?”

Lee frowned and lowered his head back down, with a sigh, “can I ask one more question?” but didn’t wait for a response before he asked, “do you have a brother?”

Zuko bit his tongue, but Gansu clearly didn’t see the harm in the question, so he replied honestly, “no, I have a sister.”

Lee’s interested head popped up and he asked, “is she fighting the Fire Nation?”

“Yes,” Zuko replied, even though he felt like it should be a lie.

“Do you miss her?”

The prince looked down and Gansu finally saw the harm and said, “that’s enough, Lee.”

In spite of the warning, the boy couldn’t stop the next question from exploding out, “so how’d you get that scar?”

Under the very temporary respite, Zuko wasn’t prepared for this question and swung the hammer down and missed horribly and instead struck his thumb.

He groaned and Gansu scolded his son again, “it’s not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A man’s past is his business.”

Lee huffed and Zuko stared at the nail that had yet to go into the rood.

He tried to only focus on the hammering all around him, but, inspired by his best efforts, he couldn’t help but conjure images of the past that Lee so desperately wanted to hear about. 

In a garden that couldn’t be more different than the patchwork barn, birds chirped and a slight breeze passed through the leaves surrounding mother and son sitting quietly beside a small pond.

Both of them watched quietly as four small turtle ducks glided across the water, following the larger one that periodically looked back to make sure they were still close by.

Zuko glanced away from the animals and up to his grinning mother who was sprinkling crumbs into the water and a thought occurred to him and he said, with gusto, “hey mom, want to see how Azula feeds turtle ducks?”

Ursa looked away from a small family in time to see Zuko throw a massive chunk of bread.

It smacked right into one of the baby turtle ducks causing it to quack in pain.

“Zuko! Why would you do that?” she admonished.

The baby resurfaced before Zuko could defend himself and the mother turtle duck charged at him with impressive speed, snapping hard at his ankle.

“Ow! Ow ow! Ouch!” the prince whined as his own mother removed the animal to lightly place her back into the water.

Zuko pouted hard as the turtle duck returned to her children.

“Stupid turtle duck. Why’d she do that?” Zuko complained, clutching at his ankle to make sure it wasn’t bleeding.

“Zuko, that’s what moms are like,” Ursa replied and put her arms around her son so she could pull him closer, “if you mess with their babies,” Zuko laughed as she playfully bit at his ear and finished, “they’re gonna bite you back.”

They both laughed heartily and Zuko fell into her embrace as they both looked back to the turtle ducks.

Some time passed and they eventually stood to return inside, Zuko following his mother dutifully towards the door, trying not to notice the trio playing in the next section of the garden as they passed, but he couldn’t help but look over to see what was happening.

Predictably, his younger sister was doing some complicated flip while Mai watched disinterestedly from underneath a tree and Ty Lee encouraged her.

The princess stumbled upon her landing and grunted in annoyance, but Ty Lee didn’t notice the displeasure as she did the flip herself, landing perfectly with her arms up in the air for effect.

Zuko saw Azula scowl and knew exactly what was going to happen next.

Azula surged forward and pushed her over and then actually pointed and openly laughed at her.

“Ugh! Azula!” Ty Lee complained as she pushed herself to her feet.

At the same time, Zuko and his mother came into view of the trio of girls and Azula’s amusement switched to noticing her older friend’s slight blush at the sight of the prince.

An unsettling grin adorned her face as she whispered something into Ty Lee’s ear and then Zuko got a terrible feeling as she approached the fence separating her from her mother and brother.

“Mom! Can you make Zuko play with us?” she asked, sweetly holding her hands together in front of her, “we need equal teams to play a game!”

Ursa smiled at her daughter, but Zuko bit out, “I am not cart-wheeling!”

The sweetness melted away from the nine-year-old who scowled at her brother, rolling her eyes as she replied, “you won’t have to. Cart-wheeling’s not a game, dum-dum.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to play with you!” Zuko said a little too loud.

“We are brother and sister. It’s important for us to spend time together! Don’t you think so, mom?” Azula asked, going back to sweet as she shot her mother a smile.

Ursa nodded and placed her hand onto her son’s shoulder from behind as she replied, “yes, darling, I think it’s a good idea to play with your sister,” she ruffled at his hair and finished, “go on now, just for a little while.”

Zuko glared at his sister as their mother walked away into the palace.

Zuko’s shoulders slumped but did as he was told.

While he approached, Azula was already picking an apple from the tree overhanging the fountain.

Mai stood warily upon seeing Azula’s smile.

Nothing good ever followed it.

“Here’s the way it goes,” Azula announced, placing the apple onto the sullen girl’s head before she went back a few steps, “now what you do is try to knock the apple off the other person’s head. Like this.”

With two fingers, the princess shot a jet of orange flame, which crashed directly into the apple.

Mai gasped, but didn’t have time to throw it off as Zuko already slammed into her, throwing them both into the fountain.

The response was effective in extinguishing the flaming apple, but it had the unfortunate effect of leaving Zuko lying across the girl’s stomach, both of the faces bright red.

An explosion of laughter on dry land had them turning to look at their audience.

With her hand on Ty Lee’s shoulder, Azula said, “see, I told you it would work!”

“Aww, they’re so cute together!” Ty Lee cooed.

Zuko stood with his hands balled, water dripping from him while Mai also rose to his feet behind the prince.

Zuko marched past his sister and Mai whined, “you two are such…ugh!”

At that moment, Ursa returned to the garden clutching a scroll and seeking out her children.

“I was just coming to get you. Uncle Iroh sent us a letter from the war-front,” she announced but faltered when her son marched past her, his shoes squelching as he left small puddles with each step, “you’re soaking wet?”

“Girls are crazy!” Zuko replied, throwing his arms up for emphasis.

Ursa turned to find Azula and Ty Lee smiling at her innocently, with Mai at her back doing her best to somehow dry out her clothing.

Ursa raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

Once Zuko had dried himself off, he and his sister gathered around their mother to listen to her reading the letter to them:

“If the city is as magnificent as its wall, Ba Sing Se must be something to behold. I hope you all may see it someday, if we don’t burn it to the ground first!”

Ursa paused to laugh along with her children, before she continued:

“Until then, enjoy these gifts.”

Two white-clad servants came up to the table, holding up a box each and Zuko ran around to meet them, Azula trailing behind him.

“For Zuko, a pearl dagger from the general who surrendered  when we broke through the Outer Wall. Note the inscription and superior craftsmanship.”

Zuko grinned as he pulled up the dagger form the box and turned it over reverently, but registering the words his mother had read, he unsheathed it to look at the words burnt into it, “never give up without a fight.”

“And for Azula, a new friend. She wears the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls.”

Azula finished her slow walk up to the box and pulled up the doll dressed in green, her lips not budging from the scowl that had adorned her face since her uncle’s letter had mentioned gifts.

When she looked up, she found her mother looking at Zuko appreciating the knife and drew attention to herself by asking, “if uncle doesn’t make it back from war, then dad would be next in line for Fire Lord, wouldn’t he?”

“Azula, we don’t speak that way,” Ursa admonished, “it would be awful if Uncle Iroh didn’t return. And besides, Fire Lord Azulon is a picture of health.”

“How would you like it if Lu Ten wanted dad to die?” Zuko added.

Ursa looked away from the two royals to see if there was anything else written on the parchment and Azula whispered to Zuko, “I still think our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his Royal Tea Loving Kookiness.”

Zuko glanced over to their mother to see if she’d heard as Azula allowed the head of her gift to catch on fire.

With thoughts of his past ignited by Lee’s questions, Zuko struggled to sleep that night.

Of course, Lee didn’t know that and thought he was perfectly safe to sneak into the barn offered to the stranger in order to seek out his target.

The boy’s eyes stayed on the teen stretched out across a pile of hay before he reached down to scoop up the Dao blade to then scurry off.

The barn door squeaked violently and Zuko’s eyes popped open.

Out in the filled of large sunflowers, Lee jumped around and sliced unevenly, cutting ineffectively through the stems. 

Still he jumped back, his tongue lolling around his gapped teeth as he stabbed at a dead tree trunk.

Zuko approached silently from behind, his footsteps covered by the boy’s heavy breathing.

“You’re holding them wrong,” Zuko said, calmly.

Lee’s arms fell down and he cringed as he turned around to face the teen that had robbed him.

He held the blades above his bowed head.

Zuko did take them, but he held them together and explained, “keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don’t think of them as separate, cause they’re not. They’re just two different parts of the same whole.”

He proceeded to pull the blades apart to swing them with the fluidity that Lee had been missing.

It allowed him to decapitate two sunflowers with deadly precision.

Once satisfied that he had shown off his skill, Zuko held the swords out to his student.

Lee took them eager and swung more slowly but less jittery than last time and grinned from ear to ear as he cut through a flower and then turned back to Zuko, laughing gleefully.

The pair walked together through the sunflower patch and the younger of the pair babbled, “I think you really like my brother, Sensu. He used to show me stuff like this all the time. Did you ever teach your sister?”

Zuko patted the boy’s shoulder and replied, “she never needed my help.” 

S

The next morning, Zuko mounted his well-fed and rested ostrich horse, preparing to leave the family behind.

He was very much tempted to stay a little while longer, but already knew that he would only end up spending far too much time here if he did.

Just because he was unsure what his exact destination was right now, he hadn’t given up on his end goal.

His honour was certainly not here.

Still, he accepted the package offered to him by Sela with a smile before she stepped back to her son and husband who had also gathered to see their guest off.

“Here, this ought to get through a few meals,” she said.

The prince’s intention to thank the family for all their help was cut off when he glanced up and noticed a cloud of dust in the distance that rushed forward until it revealed the man from the day before, honing in atop their own ostrich horses.

“What do you think they want?” Gansu asked and Zuko urged his mount to stand in front of the family.

“Trouble,” Zuko said as the group finished breaching the distance, causing the pigs to renew their squeaking, irritated at the new arrivals.

“What do you want, Gow?” Gansu demanded the leader of the soldiers.

Gow smirked as he brought his steed to a stop and glowered as he said, “just thought someone ought to tell you that your son’s battalion got captured,” and to his fellow soldiers asked, “you boys hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?”

“Dressed ‘em up in Fire Nation uniforms and put ‘em on the frontline unarmed the way I heard it,” another soldier said and spat at the ground, “then they just watched.”

“You watch your mouth!” Gansu shouted. 

Gow urged his horse forward, but stopped prematurely when Zuko appeared in the way and they wordlessly glared at each other.

Eventually, the man turned away from the teenager and pulled the reins to turn around.

“Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs?” Gow shouted and raised his hand to get his men to follow him, kicking up another cloud of dust.

Zuko watched them go to make sure that they didn’t turn around, his mind drifting to the first time he had received this kind of news. 

  In front of the pond that Zuko had sat with her the day before, Ursa relaxed, smiling at the tranquillity.

Behind her, her children were laughing and Zuko caught her smile briefly before he renewed his effort to catch up with Azula, determined that she would once again be ‘it’.

The princess hopped over a fountain of rocks and Zuko rushed to follow, too preoccupied to notice the messenger approaching his mother.

Just as Zuko tapped his sister’s arm, Ursa gasped and stood.

Azula turned away, distracted from chasing the boy and the two royals honed in on their mother who had her mouth covered by her hand.

Ursa said brokenly, “Iroh has lost his son. Your cousin Lu Ten did not survive the battle.

Zuko would not remember Azula reacting in the slightest, no indication that she actually cared.

What he would continue to hold onto in the following years was the fact that his cousin was only fourteen.

The prince was brought out of the memory by Lee asking, “what’s going to happen to my brother?”

Zuko turned around from the now settled dust to find Gansu hugging his wife, their son standing in the space between them and their guest.

“I’m going to the front, I’m going to find Sensu and bring him back,” Gansu said firmly, releasing his wife and walking towards the house, with no idea what he was actually going to pack for the task.

Sela, crying openly, ran after him and Lee flew over to Zuko, grabbing the saddle as she asked, “When my dad goes…will you stay?”

Zuko shook his head and replied, “no, I have to move on.”

Lee’s hands fell down and his shoulders dropped.

Seeing this disappointment, Zuko pulled out a sheathed dagger from his side and handed it down to the young boys some of his gapped teeth showing under a ghost of one of his smiles.

“Here,” Zuko said as he took it, “I want you to have this. Read the inscription.”

Lee slid the short bald out and said, “made in Earth Kingdom.”

“The other one.”

“Never give up without a fight,” Lee read on the other side, his confusion giving way to reverence.

Zuko smiled and gathered up the reins to finally leave, but stopped when Lee said, “I hope you see your sister again.”

The sweetness of the moment seeped away and Zuko said, “me too,” though Lee had no idea how ominous the statement was.

When he actually urged the ostrich horse forward along the dirt road, Lee chased after him for as long as he could, but eventually gave up and just watched his new friend go.

S

 [Scene 7]

Days after the news of his cousin’s untimely demise, Zuko swiped his knife in front of him, enjoying how it blurred the faster he moved.

After the final swipe, he clutched his chest and dramatically fell to the ground, faking his death.

“You waste all of your time playing with knives. You’re not even good!”

Zuko popped up and scowled as the voice reminded him that he currently had an audience.

His sister was sitting cross-legged on a chair across the room.

“Put an apple on your head and we’ll find out how good I am,” Zuko bit back, holding up the knife for emphasis.

Azula released her legs so that she could approach her brother as she let out a huff of laughter.

“By the way, uncle’s coming home,” she said.

Zuko’s hand dropped and he said, unsurely, “does that mean we won the war?”

“No, it means uncle’s a quitter and a loser,” Azula said, amusement obvious in her tone.

“What are you talking about? Uncle’s not a quitter!” Zuko said contemptuously. 

“Oh yes he is! He found out his son died and he just fell apart! A real general would stay and burn Ba Sing Se to the ground, not lose the battle and come home crying,” Azula said, her voice almost becoming sing-songey.

“How do you know what he should do? He’s probably just sad his only kid is gone. Forever,” Zuko said sullenly, reminded that he would never see his cousin again.

At that moment, Ursa appeared at the doorway, hurriedly clapping her hands, now that she had finally located her children.

“Your father has requested an audience with Fire Lord Azulon. Best clothes, hurry up!” she announced.

Zuko immediately ran past her but Azula trailed behind him and asked in a distinctly bored tone, “Fire Lord Azulon…can’t you just call him ‘grandfather’? He’s not exactly the powerful Fire Lord he used to be. Someone will probably end up taking his place soon.”

“Young lady! Not another word!” Ursa bit out, her haste quickly morphing into anger.

Azula ran past her mother without another word, but clearly heard the woman mutter, “what is wrong with that child?”

Prompted by their mother’s haste, Zuko and Azula changed into their best clothes extraordinarily quickly and entered the throne room behind their parents with their heads bowed respectfully.

The family p[assed through rows of pillars until they stood before a platform line with flame in front of the Fire Lord’s throne.

Minutes of blustering later, Ursa, Zuko and Azula sat on the ground and Ozai continued to address his eldest child:

“And how did great-grandfather Sozin manage to win the Battle of Han Tui?”

Zuko suddenly became panic-stricken androids stumbled out, “great-grandfather won…because…”

“Because even though his army was outnumbered, he cleverly calculated his advantages. The enemy was downwind and there was a drought. Their defences burned to a crisp in minutes,” Azula finished confidently, closing her fist at the end with pride.

Ozai grinned as Zuko shrank back down at his mother’s side, definitely relieved that the man was now focusing on his sister. 

“Correct my dear,” Ozai replied, glancing at his own father for any sign of appreciation. He found only a small frown and moved on swiftly. “Now would you show grandfather the new moves you demonstrated to me?”

Azula stood without question and moved towards the Fire Lord.

After a moment to take a breath, the princess performed a circular motion to warm herself up, throwing off a few precisely aimed fire blasts, causing her father to smile broadly.

This only grew in size as she switched to a more complicated set of moves, spinning around with a flaming flourish, her brother watching the routine in awed jealousy.

She finished off with a high kick mid-air which just came short of the throne before she landed on one knee, her palms pressing into the ground.

Rather than looking to the current Fire Lord, she gave her full attention to her father who said, pleased, “she’s a true prodigy! Just like her grandfather for whom she’s named.”

Grinning, Azula bowed to her namesake and returned to sit beside her mother and brother.

Only loud enough for the boy to hear, she whispered in a mix of contempt and glee, “You’ll never catch up.”

Predictably, Zuko shot to his feet without thought and announced, “I’d like to demonstrate what I’ve been learning.”

Ozai’s smile fell but he made no attempt to stop his son who took up Azula’s position. 

He started off quite well, managing to do some of the warm up moves his sister showed off, but when he looked up to his grandfather and found absolutely no appreciation, his muscles tensed.

Still, the prince tried to complete Azula’s more complicated moves, managing to create one small fire blast, but falling upon attempting another. 

He got back up after less than a second and tried again, but fell with more force and a huff.

Ursa left Azula’s side to grab his shoulders as she fell to her knees.

“I failed,” Zuko lamented.

“No, I loved watching you,” Ursa reassured, “that’s who you are, Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting even though it’s hard.”

Zuko hung his hand.

On the throne, Azulon allowed his hands to drop down to his lap and said with authority, “Prince Ozai, why are you wasting my time with this pomp? Just tell me what you want. Everyone else, go!”

Ursa helped Zuko to stand and then urged him to walk ahead to follow his sister.

Azula’s gait slowed so that their mother passed them, giving her the chance to grab her brother at the last moment to pull him with her behind a curtain, holding his arm hard to keep him in place as they peeked through to the throne.

“What are you…” Zuko demanded, but Azula cut him off.

“Shhh!”

Zuko swallowed hard but focused on their father’s voice as he addressed the Fire Lord:

“Father, you must have realised as I have, that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh’s bloodline has ended. After his son’s death, my brother abandoned the siege at Ba Sing Se and who knows when he will return home. But I am here, father and my children are alive.”

“Say what it is you want,” Azulon said impatiently.

Ozai drew himself up and clasped his twitching hand before he replied, “Father, revoke Iroh’s birthright. I am your humble servant, here to serve you and our nation. Use me.”

“You dare suggest I betray Iroh? My first born? Directly after the demise of his only beloved son? I think Iroh has suffered enough! But you...your punishment has scarcely begun!”

As their grandfather’s voice rose, the flames around grew in size and vigour until Zuko stumbled back.

When he hit the wall he met his smirking sister’s eyes before he bolted away, leaving her behind to continue listening.

Some time later, Zuko sat up in his bed, staring blankly around his ornate room.

He wasn’t tired, but none of his usual entertainment interested him right now, all he could think about was how wrong his father was to ask such a thing after his nephew’s death.

How was he so comfortable with his own brother losing everything?

His blank suddenly alarmed in response to an appearance in the doorway.

Azula was leaning against it with her arms crossed.

She was amused which never ended well for the prince.

“Dad’s going to kill you,” she said in an overly chipper voice before it turned serious and she added, “really he is.”

“Ha-ha, Azula. Nice try,” Zuko spat back, whining he had actually attempted to sleep.

Azula moved slowly, menacingly into the room and said, “find, don’t believe me. But I heard everything. Grandfather said dad’s punishment should fit his crime,” she switched to a deeper, angrier voice, “you must know the pain of losing a first-born son. By sacrificing your own!”

Zuko’s knuckles cracked as he gripped the edge of his blanket hard and he replied, “liar!”

Azula, pearled with the response and the way that his voice wavered, sat on the end of his bed and said, “I’m only telling you for your own good. I know! Maybe you could find a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you!”

“Stop it! You’re lying! Dad would never do that to me!” 

Another figure appeared in the doorway and Azula’s bravado melted away as she stared up at their mother.

“Your father would never do what to you? What is going on here?” Ursa asked sternly.

Azula slipped from the bed as if to edge towards the exit as she said, “I don’t know…”

Ursa tore into the room to grab Azula’s arm and said, “it’s time for a talk!”

Zuko watched Azula reluctantly follow Ursa out of the room and sink into his pillow muttering, “Azula always lies. Azula always lies.”

With the memory coming to an end, Zuko returned his attention to the cloudy sky over the patch of grass he was laying on.

He expected his youthful mantra to pass his lips right now, as if it would give him the comfort he once grasped at.

Now, these words themselves were the real lie which was a thought that made his stomach churn when he considered that it still had to be his destiny to catch the last Avatar.

While in the process of coming up with some new mantra to help him, a screech had him sitting up.

As expected, it was an ostrich horse that was approaching him.

Sela jumped off, frenzy gripping her entire being and already talking before she reached her former guest.

“You have to help! It’s Lee…the thugs from town came back as soon as Gansu left. When they ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them! Then they took him away,” she let out a sob, “they told me if he’s old enough to join the army. I know we barely know you, but…”

Zuko pushed up to his feet and said, with an abundance of confidence, “I’ll get your son back.” 

S

[Scene 8]

The sun set behind Zuko as his ostrich horse passed through a small archway into the dilapidated town.

The solemn people scattered out his way to reveal a boy tied to a pole at the end of the path with his head hung.

The scuttling had him look up and his face lit up in hope.

“Hey! There he is! I told you he’d come!” Lee shouted but the Earth Kingdom soldiers approached the dismounting teen who placed his hat onto his mount as Gow came to the front of his men.

“Let the kid go,” Zuko said clearly. 

Gow laughed, his men going in after a second and he asked, “Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?”

“It doesn't matter who I am. But I know who you are. You’re not soldiers, you’re bullies. Freeloaders, abusing your power, mostly over women and kids. You don’t want Lee in your army. You’re sick cowards messing with a family who’s already lost one son to the war.”

Gow looked between his fellows and asked, rhetorically, “are you going to let this stranger stand there and insult you like this?”

One of the men ran at Zuko, spear in hand and the prince went to grip the hilt of one of his swords.

Without fully releasing it from its sheath, he mashed it hard into the assailant’s stomach and then let it go.

The man pointed heavily and fell back in fear.

A second man grunted and ran at Zuko with his spear pointed, but the teen easily punched it up and then grabbed his forearm, using the force to throw him to the ground.

This second man scurried to his feet and also fled to join his comrade.

Yet another soldier charged him, also bearing his spear.

Zuko stood still until the last moment and then kicked the weapon in the middle, effectively snapping it in half.

As the spearhead flew over his head, the third man ran to the other two who were cowering.

Lee laughed in satisfaction amid the gathered crowd, though many of them were more worried than gleeful, including his mother.

With no one left to hide behind, Gow stepped up to Zuko, a hammer in each hand.

Zuko drew his dual swords.

Gow made the first shot, ripping a rock out the ground to fly through the air that the crowd were holding in, they all released it as the teen readily cut it in half with his blades.

The soldier tried again, this time employing three large rocks as his weapon of choice.

The first two were sliced in half, but the third did make contact with Zuko’s stomach and he fell backwards.

Zuko recovered quickly, though and charged at Gow.

In the crowd, an old man fist pumped the air and shouted, “give him a left! A left!”

“It’s not a fist fight,” the woman at his side said.

“He’s got a left sword, don’t he?”

As he ran, Gow once again used his three rocks tactic, being sure to shoot them in even quicker succession. 

The first two were deflected and the third smashed into his abdomen. 

He fell back as before, but somersaulted as he did and managed to get up.

Gow smiled as he stumbled, confident that he was beginning to weaken.

“Look out!” the old man called out, and Lee added:

“Behind you!”

Gow was intent to give the youth no breaks and sent barrage after barrage of increasingly larger rocks each time.

Zuko successfully destroyed each one as it came, but the exertion was getting harder to hide, rendering him unable to mount an offence as he worked to maintain his defence.

Gow ended this by directing a rock avalanche at Zuko and the crowd gasped collectively as Zuko crashed to the ground. 

The prince scrunched his eyes as the breath was knocked out of him and a memory flashed without permission. 

Zuko was somewhere between asleep and awake with his sister’s taunts keeping him from true restfulness.

A hand on his shoulder had him edging more toward awake, though still very much groggy.

He blinked his heavy eyes until he registered his mother wearing a cloak.

“…Mom?” he asked, sure that he was dreaming.

“Zuko, please my love, listen to me. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to protect you.”:

Zuko blinked again as the woman pulled him into a hug and said, “remember Zuko, no matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.”

Still very confused, Zuko was allowed to return to his pillow and he watched her go.

His last memory of her imprinting in his mind as she pulled her cloak up to cover her sad smile and then disappeared.

In the present, Zuko opened his eyes, head that the sun was getting so he wasn’t assaulted with glare.

His relief didn’t last long as crunching boots made him aware that Gow was approaching him.

“Get up,” Lee whispered worriedly in his binds.

Zuko felt energy flow through his system and grabbed his blades and then spun around.

A hurricane of flame followed his feet and Gow’s hammers slammed into the ground, his hands going limp.

Zuko breathed deeply when he reached his feet, surrounded by raging flames.

Now unarmed, Gow raised his fists.

Zuko charged again, sending fire blasts as he got closer.

Gow deflected a few with earth, but the attacks were ultimately too powerful and he was thrown down onto his ass, one of his rocks hitting him squarely on the head.

Gow scrapped his hand across his dust covered head and stuttered out, “who…who are you?”

“My name is Zuko,” he replied for everyone to hear, “son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne!”

“Liar!” the old man bit back, “I heard of you! You’re not a prince, you’re an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!”

Zuko didn’t react to the accusation and kneeled down to Gow, who shuddered in fear, but he only took Lee’s dagger and then left the man.

As he came over to Lee, Sela had just finished untangling her son and pulled him behind her, “not a step closer!”

Zuko kneeled down again and Lee leaned out from behind his mother to see the offered knife as Zuko said, “it’s yours. You should have it.”

Now sure who the sister that she had talked about based on what he’d heard from a traveller from Kyoshi Island, he felt all sympathy leach from him.

Not only was he facing a young man who wanted to kill the Avatar, but it was made so much worse knowing that person was his sister.

How dare he pretend they were in the same situation!

It was for this reason that he scrunched up his face and burst out, “no! I hate you!”

S

Zuko curled into a ball in the early morning, woke with a sudden start and gripped the edge of his blanket, everything from the night before crashing down upon him.

It had to have been a terrible nightmare, right?

As if it would answer his question, he called out, “mom?”

Of course, he got no answer and his senses came back to him enough to realise that he would have to go out and find out what really happened, so he threw the blanket away from his body and ran out into the hallway.

“Mom? Mom!” he continued to shout, getting increasingly more and more desperate until he entered a pillared room.

Someone was leaning against one of the pillars and Zuko felt his heart clench at the face that was almost a replica of Ursa’s.

He soon realised it was much too young and that Ursa would never wear that kind of smirk.

Zuko’s eyes flashed down to his little sister’s hands to find that it was in fact his dagger that she was unsheathing and re-sheathing constantly and menacingly.

“Where’s mom?” he demanded.

“No one knows,” Azula replied, pushing off the pillar, her voice full of amusement in spite of her words, “oh, and last night, grandpa passed away.”

“Not funny Azula! You’re sick,” Zuko bit back and then tore forward to swipe his hand at her, “and I want my knife back now!”

Azula easily ducked out of the way and Zuko grunted under the momentum that sent him forward.

The princess held up the knife by the handle and shook it tauntingly at her brother as she asked, “Who’s going to make me? Mom?”

Zuko grabbed the blade from his laughing sister and then bolted from her, something in his scattered mind telling him it was pointless asking her about this.

He wasn’t aware of where he was running until he got to the garden, expecting to find his mother sitting in front of their turtle duck pond.

The boy came to a screeching halt where he found another parent, standing there stoically.

Against his better judgement, Zuko demanded, “where is she?”

His father didn’t respond and the younger prince bowed his head as if it would help to hold in the tears.

No one mentioned the disappearance of the prince’s wife in the preceding days, there was much to be done, which culminated in Zuko standing beside his sister and father in their ceremonial white attire.

Rows and rows of citizens fanned out across the palace grounds, all wearing nodded cloaks and some of them carrying long, red flags so that it appeared to Zuko to be a sea of the Fire Nation insignia. 

There was complete, regimented silence as the lead Fire Sage led the rest of them up the steps slowly towards the coffin that the remaining members of the royal family were standing behind, with the exception of the missing crown prince Iroh.

The lead Fire Sage turned to look over the gathered crowd and rose his hands as his voice boomed out to them:

“Azulon. Fire Lord to our nation for twenty-three years. You were our fearless leader in the battle of Garsai. Our matchless conqueror of the Hu Xin Provinces. You were father of Iroh, father of Ozai, husband of Ilah, now passed. Grandfather of Lu Ten, now passed. Grandfather of Zuko, and Azula. We lay you to rest.”

Two attendants, also dressed in white, stepped forward to blast flames at the pyre, which burned easily.

Ozai kept his face lowered, but didn’t look at the coffin as he stepped towards another Fire Sage who was holding the crown taken from his father.

The man fell down to one knee as the lead Fire Sage continued, “as was your dying wish, you are now succeeded by your second son.”

The crown came down slowly to be placed into the prince’s top knot before the sage stepped away.

“Hail Fire Lord Ozai!”

The Fire Lord stood, prompting all of the present mourners to fall down into low bows.

The Fire Sage and attendants did the same, as did the prince and princess behind him.

Now that he was bowing, Zuko allowed his fear to shine through his eyes as he looked at his sister, hoping to see that she felt the same.

He found her smiling at him wickedly, not yet aware of the reason she should be very afraid of this development.

S

Back in the present, Zuko led his ostrich horse out of the village.

He was flanked by lines of villagers who were jeering and throwing things at him, but Zuko didn’t bother to look round as he passed the town line.

He was too preoccupied with trying to find Lee.

When he did though, he found only hatred and anger in the boy’s eyes.

The prince’s gaze fell down to his hands as he officially passed the village line.

Again, Zuko was alone. 

Chapter Text

Chapter seven- The Chase

“Okay, princess, feel the vibrations and then start with that small rock.”

Azula kept her eyes closed, running over the steps that Toph had laboriously explained to her.

Now, two hours into the training session, she was not as indignant about the confiscation of her shoes.

As savage as the bending style had looked to her back when she saw Haru, it made a lot more sense to her as explained by Toph.

With a sharp and precise punch forward, she blew out a breath and then stood with her palm stuck outwards.

Azula’s eyes then popped open and she smiled in pure relief at the small rock floating in front of her. 

Experimentally, she moved her hand from side to side and watched as the rock followed obediently.

“Not bad, princess, you’re a lot better than I thought,” Toph complimented.

“Yeah, she’s good at everything that doesn’t involve water.”

Azula’s excitement melted away and turned to find Sokka placing the final piece of wood onto their campfire.

Without hesitation, she threw her rock over, with only enough force to make a point, but Sokka got out of the way quickly enough so it harmlessly bowled into the pile of wood.

Now standing, Sokka demanded, “why do I always get attacked whenever you learn a new element?”

“Because you always have a comment to make about it,” Azula replied and Toph let out a chuckle and approached Sokka.

“I’m just glad I wasn’t around when she started fire bending,” the warrior mumbled, while his sister abandoned her bending practice to come over and congratulate her girlfriend. 

“Hey, you picked a great campsite,” Toph commented and wriggled her toes in the layer of softness she had been standing beside during their training, “the grass is so soft over here.”

“That’s not grass,” Sokka replied, finally looking up from his task to notice the damage was more extensive than he thought, “Appa’s shedding.”

“Oh gross,” the group’s water bender groaned, distracted from the moment that she was sharing with Azula.

Azula also grimaced, suddenly very aware that she was not wearing shoes and stepped away to search for them.

At the centre of the fluff, Appa groaned at the group and then continued chewing at his furry leg.

Atop his head, Appa patted his friend’s arrow and said, “it’s not gross, it’s just part of spring. You know, rebirth, flowers blooming and Appa gets a new coat.”

Azula finished pulling up on her boots and then looked up to the smiley nomad still feeling the elation that had been radiating from him since the start of the earth bending session.

“No Aang, it’s definitely disgusting,” Azula replied, but the spirit was in a good mood to even pull a face at her.

As if to support her point, Appa suddenly sneezed, releasing a plume of fur he had been continuously chewing. 

Katara waved her arms frantically as if it would get off all of the hairs now covering her body and coughed out, “stop! Appa, stop! Ugh!”

At her side, Azula peeked her eyes open and set about wiping her face.

“It’s not too bad, Katara,” Sokka announced and the pair turned to look at him leaning down so that they could only see his back until he turned around to reveal that he had heaped the fur onto his head to create a towering beehive, “it makes a great wig!”

Katara and Azula continued to watch him, completely unimpressed and he deflated but didn’t get the chance to call them killjoys.

Toph strolled from behind and asked, “excuse me, does anyone have a razor? Because I have some hairy pits!”

The earth bender then lifted her arms to show off that she had stuffed fur into her sleeves.

Sokka laughed heartily and held at his stomach as he said, “finally! Someone who gets me!” and Toph joined in on his laughter.

Katara and Azula glanced at each other and shared a small smile despite their disapproval. 

Later that evening, the team were finishing up with setting up the camp.

Azula was laying out the sleeping bags, Sokka was rebuilding the campfire, shooting Azula contemptuous looks as he did while Katara stirred the water that she had collected in the pot.

Once she was finished with the task, she noticed Toph slumped lazily against a rock, chewing at a piece of wheat.

Wiping her hands together, the water bender approached her.

“So Toph,” she said casually, “usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work.”

Toph shrugged and replied, “hey don’t worry about me, I’m good to go.”

“Well actually, what I’m trying to say is,” Katara replied, holding out her arms, “some of us might fetch water, while someone else might set up the fire pit, put up the tent,” Momo flew over, dropping berries into her open hand, “even Momo does his fair share.”

“Katara I’m fine,” Toph said breezily, “I can carry my own weight, I don’t need a fire, I’ve already collected my own food and look,” she sat forward and then threw out her hands to summon two slates of earth either side of her, “my tent’s all set up.”

Katara’s mouth twitched and she replied, “well that’s great for you but we still need to finish…”

“I don’t understand what’s the problem here!” Toph snapped, catching the attention of Sokka and Azula.

Katara waved her hand dismissively despite her anger and said, “never mind.”

Once the water bender reached her, Azula asked, “everything okay?”

Katara pressed a kiss to her cheek and lied, “all good,” before she continued with her tasks.

Azula glanced to Toph who appeared unaffected and then over to Sokka who just shrugged and pointed at the finished stack of wood.

The Avatar nodded and dutifully came over to light it as Toph bent a door to cover the exit to her ‘tent’.

Dusk settled around the team as more time passed and Azula was now stood on Appa, carefully air bending the saddle from the bison.

Sokka was directing her rather unnecessarily. 

Katara was finishing cleaning up the pot they had served soup out of and looked over to the earthen tent to find Toph chewing at her own food.

The water bedder’s dull expression morphed into a slight smile before she walked over to the newest member of their team, rubbing at the back of her neck sheepishly. 

“Hey Toph, I wanted to apologise for earlier, I think we’re all just a little tired and getting on each other’s nerves,” Katara said. 

Toph swallowed roughly at her dinner and replied casually, “yeah you do seem pretty tired.”

Katara’s humbled expression turned to disgust and she said, “I meant all of us.”

Toph shrugged as she discarded the remains of her food out of her tent before she laid her head down.

“Well good night,” Toph said. 

Katara’s eyebrows twitched but still replied, “goodnight,” and turned to go back towards her sleeping bag.

S

After seething for about half an hour, Katara finally managed to fall asleep.

It was amazing what watching Azula’s sleeping face could do for her mood, especially when she wasn’t having a nightmare.

Unfortunately, the peaceful sleep didn’t last very long for Team Avatar as Toph was suddenly startled awake.

The earth bender pressed her hand into the dirt and collapsed her ‘tent’ to call urgently, “there’s something coming towards us!”

“What is it?” Azula replied instantly, but with sleep clinging to each word as she sat up.

Toph pressed her hand down again to decipher the vibrations and said, “it feels like an avalanche, ut also not an avalanche.”

Sokka also sat up, pushing his hair out of his face and said, “your powers of perception are frightening,” but Azula was already pulling her legs out of the sleeping bag.

“Are we leaving?” Katara asked. 

“It’s the safest option,” Azula sighed. 

The group (excluding Toph) packed up their things in record time just as thick smoke began billowing over the trees that were too close for Azula’s liking. 

“What is that thing?” Katara asked.

Azula looked away from it, hoping that she was wrong, she just took her girlfriend’s hand and took them up onto the groaning bison.

Appa was soon soaring over the mountain range, covering impressive distances in his exhaustion, the speed making it impossible for his riders to doze in the saddle.

Finally, Appa crashed down heavily onto one of the smaller mountains.

Toph leapt down the moment she felt the vibrations indicating that her torture was over.

“Ah, land sweet land!” she cooed, before flipping over onto her back and adding, “see you guys in the morning!”

“Actually,” Katara interjected, “can you help us unload?”

“Really?” Toph asked sarcastically, “you need me to help unload Sokka’s funky-smelling sleeping bag?”

Azula, who hastily threw Sokka his sleeping bag, was about to warn Toph against talking to Katara like that, but she got distracted by Sokka sniffing at his sleeping bag before he held it at arm's length.

Katara proceeded to defend herself anyway, “well, yeah. That and everything else. You’re part of our team now…”

Toph pushed her finger out and said, officially irritated, “look! I didn’t ask you to help me unload my stuff. I’m carrying my own weight.”

“That’s not the point,” Katara shot back and stepped forward to the now standing pre-teen, “ever since you joined us, you’ve been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!”

“What?” Toph replied, her voice going up a pitch without permission, “look here, sugar queen, I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Azula earth bending. So don’t you talk about me being selfish!”

On the final word, Toph fell back down and bent up the earth to create another tent around her.

Katara was now shaking with her anger and launched at the tent, “sugar queen!” but the entrance slid up in front of her and words continued to spew out of her mouth, “d-did you just slam the door in my face?! How can you be so infuriating?!”

Katara was ineffectually slamming her fists into the earthen structure, Sokka and Azula now stood a few feet away from the scene.

Azula took a step forward but Sokka grabbed her arm and said, “come on, just enjoy the show.”

Azula shrugged him off and said cautiously, “Katara…maybe you should just take a second.”

Katara swivelled around and demanded, “how could you be on her side?”

“Side?” Azula asked, “I’m not on anyone’s side, you need to calm down.”

“I’m completely calm!” Katara screeched and Azula’s eyes widened. 

“Hey Azula,” Sokka called over, “can you help me with the campfire?”

Azula stared at her girlfriend’s rage for a moment longer and finally retreated over to follow the warrior. 

“Quit while you’re ahead,” Sokka whispered.

“Thank you,” Azula sighed and set about looking for wood to hold her fire.

Azula didn’t bring up the topic again so the team set everything up in silence.

The three of them each lay in their sleeping bags by the time someone said something, unfortunately, it was Katara who could no longer hold in her anger:

“The stars sure are beautiful tonight. Too. Bad you can’t see them Toph!”

Azula pushed herself up on her elbows to give her girlfriend a disbelieving look, but Toph had already retaliated in the form of a fissure flying out from the small earth fortress, launching Katara up and onto Sokka.

Sokka pushed her sister off roughly and said, “Hey, how’s a guy supposed to sleep with all of this yelling and earth-quaking?!”

Toph’s tent fell again and she said, “that thing is back!”

Sokka’s head was pulled back down and asked, with a yawn, “well, how far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes just for a few minutes.”

Smoke billowed up into their view and he discarded his blanket aside angrily.

The team were back in the clouds again soon after and Katara asked over the side of the saddle to Azula, “do you know what that thing is?”

Azula looked over her shoulder.

She certainly recognised the persistence, but she was still going she was wrong.

The last conversation those people’s presence (or one in particular) caused was not something she wanted to repeat, especially when she was in this mood.

“How does it keep finding us?” Toph added.

Azula yawned and replied, pulling the reins, “I’ll make sure we lose them.”

Appa flew slower this time, but Azula urged him to fly for longer until it became clear that he needed to land, progressively falling in notches. 

His six legs dug into the next available flat surface and Sokka also slid down to the ground, his sleeping bag clutched tightly. 

“Okay forget about setting up camp,” he said while crawling, “I’m finding the safest pile of first and going to sleep.”

“That’s good because Toph wasn’t going to help anyway!” Katara replied, using his sleeping bag as a pillow.

“Katara…” Azula sighed.

“Oh, I didn’t realise the baby still needed someone to tuck her into bed,” Toph bit back.

“Come on,” Sokka said, “there’s something chasing us…”

“It could be Zuko,” Katara said, turning to look at Azula, her compassion flooded back, she knew she was worried about the prince even if she wouldn’t say it, “we haven’t seen him since the North Pole?”

“Who’s Zuko?” Toph asked.

Azula stared at the stars and replied, “he’s my brother.”

Toph was silent for a moment, picking up on an increase in the princess’s heartbeat for the first time that was not related to being lovey-dovey with her girlfriend, but it wasn’t quite in the same way.

Was it not just her father she didn’t like talking about?

“And it would be a bad thing if your brother showed up?” Toph asked. 

“Well, he’s tracked us all over the world to try and take Azula to the Fire Lord,” Sokka supplied when it became clear that Azula would not be explaining any time soon.

Toph drew her eyebrows together, beginning to see what Azula meant when she said her family was complicated. 

“Well anyway,” Sokka said, moving things on, “whoever’s chasing us couldn’t have followed us here. So now everyone just shhh?”

As he sank into his pillow, Momo hopped down onto his stomach and chittered excitedly. 

The warrior held up his finger and said, “no Momo, shhh. Sleepytime.”

The lemur then proceeded to jump off the warrior to scurry over to the edge of the cliff, continuing to chitter frantically.

Sokka buried his face in his hands and said, “oh, don’t tell me…”

Azula propped herself and asked, “how are they possibly tracking us?” her sleep-deprived mind failing to run through the options.

Instead, she rose to her feet to follow Momo, confirming her fears.

A tank train with her homeland’s colours rumbled up the hill, emitting the smoke that had been shadowing them all night.

Katara tugged at the Avatar’s arm and said, worriedly, “let’s get out of here.”

“Shouldn’t we at least find out who they are?” Toph asked.

“That doesn’t usually end well for us,” Sokka sighed, pulling up his boomerang pre-emptively. 

Sokka was proven right as the tank train slowed down until it halted, steam burst out of its opening door which then cleared to reveal three emerging mongoose lizards.

“They’re not friendly,” Katara announced, instantly narrowing her eyes at Ty Lee even though there were also two other enemies present.

Even from the distance, Ty Lee did the same seeing the peasant was holding Azula’s arm so casually. 

“Who are they?” Toph asked.

“My cousin and…a couple of my old friends,” Azula replied. 

Toph nodded, unaware that Lu Ten was currently looking to determine her threat level.

“We can take them, three on three,” Toph said confidently.

“Actually Toph, there’s four of us,” Sokka replied.

“Oh I didn’t count you, you know, no bending and all,” Toph laughed.

“I can still fight,” Sokka screeched.

Feeling Katara’s fingers digging into her arm as the creatures got closer, Azula said, “Mai and Ty Lee are not benders.”

“We definitely stand a chance then,” the earth bender said cheerfully and Sokka let out some garbled angry sounds.

With the opposing trio now close enough for Azula to see Lu Ten’s eyes and it became clear what he wanted to do.

Thankfully he couldn’t again demonstrate perfect lightning to her without giving up his pretence.

Very briefly, she looked at Ty Lee who was about to say something but she managed to reach down to tangle her fingers with Katara’s to pull her back.

With Ty Lee’s strange anger, she was rather that she didn’t stare at her girlfriend as much as a part of her wished that she could introduce her girlfriend to her best friends. 

With Lu Ten around, that was not possible. 

“We’re not fighting,” Azula announced, “let’s go.”

“But we can take ‘em,” Toph insisted but still followed over to their downtrodden bison. 

“Yip yip,” Azula called the moment they were all on.

Under his exhaustion, Appa dipped low before soaring into the air.

This put them in the range to hear Ty Lee shout, “Azula please…”

S

Team Avatar all lay across various points of the waning bison an hour or so later, but none of them could achieve sleep under the circumstances.

Azula briefly explained Lu Ten’s situation to Toph but skirted around the topic of Ty Lee.

She hadn’t yet decided what she wanted to tell Katara.

She was still new to accepting her feelings and she wasn’t sure how they applied to her past, which Katara seemed to accept that even if the uncertainty only seemed to amplify her jealousy whenever the acrobat showed up.

Ty Lee might have been just her only friend who was her age, right?

Now was not the time for any of that since she could barely keep her eyes open.

Even Sokka was freaking out in response to the sun rising:

“Oh no, the sun is rising. We’ve been up all night with no sleep!”

“Calm down, Sokka, you’ll be fine,” Azula deadpanned.

“Are you sure? I’ve never not slept before!” he said, holding his head on either side, “what if I fall asleep now and something happens? And something always happens!”

“Lu Ten finds us every time we land so we have to keep flying,” Katara replied.

Azula’s head lolled back and she replied, “that’s hardly a permanent solution.”

S

Zuko finally had a direction to follow.

The indentations clawed into the ground were so out of place that it could only mean Fire Nation. 

With no other leads on the Avatar, it seemed like he had no other option. 

Still, he urged his ostrich horse along the tracks with the most certainty that he’d had since the North Pole.

S

“Do you have a plan?”

Azula’s head lolled back against the saddle and kept her eyes glued shut.

Even if sleep was escaping her with the wind whipping against her face, it couldn’t hurt to keep her eyes closed.

It was the perfect escape from the potential of Toph asking for more information about those chasing after them.

“No, Aang,” she mumbled in her exhaustion, “we’ll just have to keep flying until we know we’ve lost them.”

“Appa can’t just…”

Aang didn’t even need to finish his objection, Appa proved him right.

All of a sudden, the wind picked up in frequency and Azula’s eyes popped open as her whole body lifted into the air. 

Before she could process the falling motion, Toph screeched at her back, “what’s going on?”

Katara and Sokka also let out garbled sounds that came with being woken so abruptly, but Azula focused on grabbing the fur as the downward trajectory became obvious to her. 

“Appa fell asleep!” he confirmed, disappearing to reappear a moment later, floating in front of the bison’s closed eyes.

“Wake up buddy!” he shouted, urgent desperation seeping into his words as he lay his palm on his old friend’s head.

Appa’s eyes flew open in realisation with a grunt as he heaved his six legs up to take flight at the last moment, crashing over a bundle of trees an inch away from crashing. 

The snapping force sent Azula bowling backwards to be caught by Sokka and Katara, but when Appa levelled out, she fell to the saddle with the rest of the team while birds squawked above them. 

With more control, Appa approached the ground, falling heavily. 

It took only a second for him to close his eyes again.

Azula pushed herself up to scowl at the concerned nomad and said, “thank you for the warning, Aang.”

Katara placed an arm across her girlfriend’s shoulder as they both stood.

“I tried to tell you!” Aang snapped back, “Appa’s exhausted.”

Azula rubbed at her eyes and announced, “it looks like we need a new plan.”

Sokka stretched, slipping down to the floor, as he said, “well we’ve put a lot of distance between us and them. The plan right now should be to follow Appa’s lead and get some sleep.”

Katara let go of her girlfriend and followed her brother, unable to resist the irritation that passed her lips, “of course, we could’ve gotten some sleep earlier if Toph didn’t have such issues.”

Below, the earthbender had already settled into the dirt, but her bloodshot eyes opened as she furiously slammed her hands down.

“What?!” she screeched.

Azula scratched at her forehead and dropped down beside the waterbender and said, “we don’t need to do this again, let’s just get some sleep. We can discuss people’s issues later.”

Toph stalked over to the couple and pointed at her accuser, “no, I want to hear what Katara has to say! What issues do you think I have?!” 

“I’m just saying,” Katara said, her voice rising into a shout with each word, “maybe if you helped out earlier, we could have set up our camp faster and gotten some sleep and then maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

Azula’s face fell before she looked over to find Sokka already in his sleeping bag, clearly not prepared to save her this time.

“You’re blaming me for this?” Toph asked.

“No, she’s not…” Azula tried, hoping that someone would start to listen to her pleas for sleep.

“No I am,” Katara interjected angrily. 

“Katara,” Azula sighed. 

The waterbender rounded on the Avatar, suddenly redirecting all of her anger. 

“You’re on her side again?!” she asked, the bags under her eyes accentuating the ire that was so uncharacteristic for her, “do you want an earth bending teacher or a girlfriend?”

“Katara!” Azula replied, unable to think of another reply to such a ridiculous statement. 

“Should be an easy decision if you ask me!” Toph shouted, “who would want to date such a control freak!”

Katara opened her mouth to argue, but Azula was already replying before she could release any of her annoyance, “you can’t talk to her like that,” Azula said, bitingly, “we never had these issues before you joined us!”

Toph took several deep breaths before she turned to grab her bag that had previously been her pillow.

“I’m out of here!” she announced.

Sokka finally wriggled out of his sleeping bag to join the fray and stood in her path, “wait,” he said.

Toph easily bent him out of her way and then said over her shoulder, “by the way, princess. If you want to blame anyone, it should be sheddy over there! His fur is leaving a trail!”

With that, she stomped off, leaving the stunned trio behind.

“Toph!” Azula called, making to go after her, but quickly thought better of it.

She didn’t know the girl well enough to guess what would convince her to come back.

Besides, she was still pissed at what she said about Katara, as much as she knew she needed her.

As time passed, though, it hit her what happened. 

As it did, she couldn’t decide whether she was more annoyed that Toph was gone or that she had allowed exhaustion to blind her to the obvious. 

Of course, Lu Ten would follow Appa’s trail!

It was exactly what she would do if the situation was reversed.

There was someone currently next to her who was very much biased against blaming their shedding companion though. 

“I can’t believe she would say that about Appa!” Aang complained as Sokka accepted a cup of something steaming from Katara.

Azula sighed as she pulled away a clump of white from the dozing bison before she threw it lamely to the ground.

After months of the sky bison keeping her and her friends safe, the obvious had not even crossed her mind. 

With a pang, she thought that the foolishness was another reason for Fire Lord Ozai to be disappointed in his little progidy. 

A hand came to rest on her shoulder to put an end to that line of thinking and her sleepless eyes met Katara’s.

“Are you hungry?” the waterbender asked tentatively. 

Azula shook her head.

“I lost my earthbending master,” Azula said dejectedly. 

Katara exchanged a look with her brother, who made an encouraging gesture, so she said, “I’m sorry about, you know…the girlfriend or teacher thing…”

 Azula returned her gaze and took her hand as she replied, “it’s okay, Katara, I know you’re just…tired…”

The waterbender grinned in relief, but the moment was ruined by the remaining member of their trio, “at least you know she’d choose you, silver lining?” Sokka asked, making a toasting motion with his mug. 

“Thanks, Sokka,” Katara deadpanned.

“No problem,” Sokka replied.

Katara rolled her eyes, refocusing on the Avatar who didn’t even have the energy to roll her eyes at the warrior. 

“We need to find Toph and apologise,” Katara said softly, squeezing the other teen’s hand.

“How?” Azula asked, trying to decide whether their pursuers were more important or the lost member of their team.

“I have an idea,” Aang called down from Appa’s head under the nomad’s instruction, translated through the current Avatar, the three of them brought Appa to the nearest river. 

Katara and Azula bent streams of water and Sokka scrubbed at the fur. 

A good hour later, the soaked bison lay peacefully on the bank with his old friend grinning at him.

Sokka wrung his shirt and Katara watched curiously as Azula gathered some fur into Sokka’s new bag. 

Rather than asking directly what she was doing, she said, “is Aang sure that Appa is okay to fly?”

“He said that he will be fine as long as you leave his saddle and our supplies here,” Azula replied while swiping up her glider. 

“And what will you be doing?” Katara asked. 

Azula strung the bag across her shoulder and replied, “I’m going to use Appa’s fur to lead them in the opposite direction. I’ll meet you once they’re far enough away.”

Katara nodded, but still had one big objection, “just be careful, please? If she chi blocks you…”

“Ty Lee wouldn’t do that to me, Katara,” Azula said, attempting to reassure but the flash across her face told her that she hadn’t said the right thing.

Instead, she stepped up and covered the waterbender’s lips with her own, hoping that it conveyed her feelings better. 

She figured she did the right thing as Katara’s hand came up to cup her cheek.

When they parted, Katara said, “just come back, okay?”

“I will,” Azula promised.

Sokka stood, finally wearing his shirt again to see the Avatar take off along the river, sprinkles of white following her.

The warrior resisted his desire to make some sarcastic comment about how no one ever told him to be safe and placed a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder. 

Her tense muscles beneath his fingers told him that it didn’t work.

He could understand, he wasn’t fond of the chance that the Avatar could be taken back to the Fire Nation anytime soon.

“Come on,” he said, leading her to the bison who would just about manage to raise himself, but not high enough to save the structural integrity of the nearby trees he flew over.

S

Toph couldn’t believe that she allowed three strangers to completely upend her life! 

After the amount of effort Azula had put into recruiting her, she had been sure that she would at least be appreciated for following through with what she promised to do.

At what point had she agreed to be nagged at incessantly by the Avatar’s girlfriend?!

This slurry of indignation ran through the earthbender’s mind as she walked slowly along a path.

She had no idea where this direction would take her, but she did know that it was both the opposite way to Team Avatar and to the Bei Fong estate. 

Her bare feet dragged to a stop though as she tilted her head.

A second allowed her to confirm that she had not imagined the vibrations, so she acted without thought and kicked out a stream of earth towards the errant presence. 

It collided with a large rock and a cloud of dust burst up over her target. 

The vibrations were then accompanied by a yelp, further confirming that Toph was not as alone as she’d hoped to be.

The earthbender approached, still in her fighting stance. 

A man rose from behind the rock, rubbing at his backside with a grimace on his tired face.

“Ow,” Iroh complained, “that really hurt my tailbone.”

S

Sunlight hopped across the peaceful river only to be cut off by a hand splashing violently across the surface to grab the evidence floating underneath. 

Lu Ten stood with the white clumps between his hands so that Mai and Ty Lee could also see.

“Wads of wet fur. How delightful,” Mai said dryly, “how can Azula travel on such a disgusting creature?”

Lu Ten curled his lip and threw the fur back into the water, inclined to agree with his old friend.

The prince looked to Ty Lee, expecting some of her characteristic brightness, but she was just staring at the water. 

The closer they got to Azula, the more solemn the acrobat became. 

It was exactly the kind of focus he was hoping for from his ‘elite team’.

Mai also waited for Ty Lee to say something, but when she didn’t, she pointed to her side, “the trail goes that way.”

Lu Ten looked down the path, but then in the other direction. 

The broken treetops couldn’t be ignored. 

“It looks like they’re trying to trick us,” he said, pointing at the trees, “you two should head in that direction and look out for the bison. I’ll follow this trail.”

Mai and Ty Lee mounted their mongoose lizards with no arguments. 

As soon as they were gone from sight, Lu Ten’s face hardened and he got onto his mount.

He pulled the reins roughly, hoping that he picked the right trail.

He was pretty sure that he knew Azula well enough to have done so. 

S

Azula’s eyes were heavy and the dry air definitely was not helping with her endeavour to keep flying. 

Still, she managed to keep them open until something resembling civilisation came into view up ahead, long since having left the luscious green forest behind. 

The Avatar flew over a broken wall to discover that ‘civilisation’ was perhaps too generous a description.

Fur continued to fall out behind her as she looked between the damaged, abandoned buildings until she landed with a flourish. 

With a sigh, she emptied the remainder of the fur from the commandeered satchel and then gave herself a moment to more thoroughly investigate the ‘town’.

Deciding there was no use trying to figure out what happened (she never liked the answer), she instead turned her attention to what was probably coming down the trail. 

She could return to her team and assist in their search for Toph, but that wouldn’t stop their pursuers. 

Whatever Ozai had promised Lu Ten, she knew that it would take a lot for him to give up. 

This was why she sat down with her glider across her lap.

“What are you doing?” came Aang’s panicked voice as expected, “you promised Katara…”

“I think it’s time I have a talk with my cousin,” Azula replied. 

S

“Toph couldn’t have made it too far,” Sokak called over the wind blowing past him and his sister, holding his hand up to shield his eyes as he surveyed the woods below them.

His gaze changed course when Momo jumped onto his shoulder and began chittering in a higher pitch than usual. 

“What is it, Momo? Oh no! Katara!”

The waterbender twisted around on Appa’s head to also find two mongoose lizards gaining fast.

It was the teens mounted on the creatures that worried her far more, however.

Seeing that Azula wasn’t with their enemies, Mai and Ty Lee were only wearing disdain on their faces. 

“How did they find us?” Katara asked, urging Appa to speed up to little success.

Instead, Appa was falling dangerously close to the treeline.

“Appa!” Sokka shouted urgently, “come on, we need to go faster!” 

“He’s too tired,” Katara replied for the bison, trying to ignore her petty desire to land and teach Ty Lee a lesson.

She could accept that it was born of irrational jealousy and she needed to remember that the pair were friends that Azula cared about, even if they were misguided. 

Besides, it was hard not to instead focus on her brother’s frantic screams as Appa hit the trees on his way to the rushing water that broke up the cluster of trees.

“Not good, not good!” Sokka said, and Appa grunted in agreement while the lizards only seemed to get faster, “we just need to get to that river!”

“Come on, Appa, just a little further,” Katara said, coming out more pleadingly than the encouragement she was going for. 

Appa continued towards the ground, shearing through branches as he went. 

At the same time, Mai pulled out a collection of knives now that she was close enough to see the terror on the peasants’ faces.

They flew at them, but Sokka hit the fur just in time to avoid multiple stab wounds. 

The body underneath him then vibrated a moment later as Appa narrowly slid across the ground. 

Sokka popped up and said, disbelief in his voice, “we made it! We’re safe!”

“You did it, Appa!” Katara added, stroking at the clean fur that she was sitting on before she accepted a hug from her brother.

When she opened her eyes though, she gasped and let him go.

Her horror had Sokka following her eyeline and then taking on a similar expression. 

The mongoose lizards were closing in on the water, not slowing down at all until they shot across the surface as if it were earth. 

Katara recovered in time to create a wave that crashed into Ty Lee’s lizard. 

The acrobat leapt from it with a perfect flip, gracefully landing near the trees. 

Katara also jumped down and opened her skin of water.

The proximity allowed the waterbender a good look at the other girl’s face which did nothing for her continuing disdain for her. 

She attempted a lash of water in her direction, but Ty Lee jumped over it, forcing Katara to fall back as she chose to avoid being chi blocked rather than bending to defend herself. 

When she was confident that she was momentarily safe from the attack, Katara created several disks of water so that Ty Lee had to cartwheel back.

The acrobat landed with a visible scowl, which got worse as Katara smirked at her. 

At the river, Mai just jumped off her mount and pulled out a collection of knives, aiming at the waterbender.

For a split moment, she hesitated. 

What if she really was princess Azula’s girlfriend as their glances and touches indicated?

She wouldn’t willingly do something that could anger her when she was just a firebending prodigy. 

Did she really want to piss off the Avatar?

She didn’t get a chance to figure it out as a machete flashed in front of her, so she stumbled back. 

She attempted to redirect them at their other target, but a boomerang swiped the projectiles away. 

Mai brought out a couple more but Sokka deftly knocked them away with his machete again. 

Mai growled and ran at the warrior. 

As Sokka dodged sharp punches, Katara finished another flurry of water when Ty Lee avoided easily with a somersault. 

Seeing this wasn’t working, Katara instead created a stream around her in defence and then tried another tactic. 

She had to remember that she and her opponent had something in common: Azula.

“Azula can’t go back with you! He’ll kill her!” Katara shouted, desperately. 

Ty Lee paused, still in a fighting stance and replied, “you haven’t met the Fire Lord, you don’t know how much he loves his daughter…”

Sokka dropped underneath a swipe that involved a flash of sharp metal and said, breathlessly, “Actually we have, we saw exactly how he felt when he tried to electrocute her!”

The statement also gave Mai pause who looked over to Ty Lee to find that her closed fists were shaking. 

The hesitation gave Sokka the chance to slip over to stand beside his sister, his machete and boomerang held up. 

“When would you have met Fire Lord Ozai?” Ty Lee asked, releasing her clenched fists, but still ready to fight back at a moments notice. 

“We didn’t exactly meet him, he was pretty focused on murdering his children!” Katara replied gruffly. 

“Zuko?” Mai breathed out.

“Oh yeah, he was three too, it was a real touching family reunion,” Sokka said. 

Katara allowed her water to drop as Mai and Ty Lee looked at each other.

Were they finally seeing reason?

All hope melted away when Ty Lee clenched her fists again and Mai pulled out more knives.

“Why would we believe two peasants over Lu Ten?” Mai growled, ignoring the need to ask whether Zuko got away unharmed.

Surely not even he would be so stupid as to breach the terms of his banishment?

Katara sighed and twisted her hands to pull up her water shield again and Sokka’s face twitched in annoyance.

Before he could fling his boomerang, though, a mass dropped down between the opposing sides.

The force threw them all down, but the two Fire Nation girls were also thrown an extra distance as Appa’s tall slapped down, flinging them into the river.

This gave the ‘peasants’ the chance to rush up onto their Sky Bison. 

“Thanks, Appa, I don’t know what we’d do without you,” Sokka breathed out.

“Yip yip,” Katara said.

As the bison dragged himself back up into the air, Mai and Ty Lee pushed up through the water. 

Ty Lee spat and caught Katara’s eye before they were out of range. 

“Do you think they could be telling the truth?” Mai asked, her shoes squelching as she pulled herself to shore. 

Ty Lee did the same while ringing out her hair and replied, “no, Azula is not a traitor. They did something to her.”

S

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Aang prompted.

Azula squinted against the setting sun and looked to the nomad, standing over her, but she did not budge.

“He needs to understand why he should not side with my father or he’ll never stop,” Azula replied, “he should be focusing on finding Iroh.”

“And what if he doesn’t agree? You can take him, right?” Aang asked, rocking on the balls of her feet.

“I won’t fight him, Aang,” she said calmly.

“So…he’s like Zuko then?”

“Yes he is, he didn’t use to be though, before…” Azula began but didn’t finish as dust obscured the rays she had been looking out into.

Languidly, the Avatar stood patting the dust away from her pants. 

At the same time, Lu Ten’s mongoose lizard crossed the devastated town with impressive speed until he reached his target. 

Since he was alone, any semblance of a caring mask was absent from his face that instead bore a grin that held no mirth behind it. 

Without all of the distractions of Omashu, Lu Ten allowed himself to take in the princess.

If he didn’t know who it was, he would have guessed that she was soon poor imitation of the Fire Lord’s daughter who he had half-heartedly bidden goodnight to just before she turned fourteen.

Not only was she wearing dishevelled Earth Kingdom garb, but she was oblivious to the mess of a ‘top-knot’ atop her head, even with all the time she presumably had to fix it.

If it wasn’t for the ‘Avatar’ mantle, he would have guessed that his uncle would have wanted her home for the aesthetic disgrace alone.

Even more curiously, she didn’t instantly enter an offensive stance.

It was expected when he was with the others since he assumed she wouldn’t want to risk hurting her friends, but what was her motive now?

“Are you here to tell me that my father misses me?” Azula asked, aiming for seating but it came out more tired than anything.

“I wouldn’t insult your intelligence like that, Zu,” he replied, spreading his hand as he approached her, “you know he won’t give up until he has what he wants though. Do you think a group of kids stand a chance against the Fire Nation?”

“We’ve succeeded so far,” Azula replied, also taking the chance to inspect her cousin. 

Physically, he was closer to the boy who was sent to Ba Sing Se, but there was nothing her could do about the scar peeking out from underneath his collar. 

There was also that indescribable resentment bubbling under the surface that she was hopeful that she had the remedy for. 

“Well, you always were lucky,” Lu Ten spat, raising his hands as he stepped closer. 

A muscle jumped in his jaw as she didn’t move at all.

Even if she was the Avatar, she was only fourteen, how could she not be at least a little bit intimidated!

“You shouldn’t be loyal to my father, Lu,” Azula said. 

“And why not?” the prince sneered. 

“He lied to you! He never let any of your letters get to Iroh. He couldn’t risk him returning to reclaim his throne!”

Lu Ten’s hand dropped ever-so-slightly because he could almost believe that was something that Ozai would do.

There was a problem with that, though, so it only took him a single second to return to his stance.

“Why would I believe you? All you do is lie!” he growled. 

“I don’t do that anymore,” Azula sighed, “What’s more believable? That your father would abandon you or that my father would lie to you?”

“My father has Zuko now,” Lu Ten said, ignoring the incredulity on her face.

“I don’t think he’s going to listen to you,” Aang said, urgency in his voice that almost had Azula roll her eyes.

“My father has nothing to do with any of this anyway,” Lu Ten quickly moved on, “now it’s time you give up and come home.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Azula replied, finally entering a defensive stance.

S

Toph’s fingers gripped her ankles, honing in on the bubbling sound that had to mean that the water was finally boiling. 

It was confirmed by the pouring sound which told her it was time to hold out her hand in which her companion placed a hot cup. 

“Here is your tea,” Iroh said and then leaned back against the outcropping of rock to cradle his beverage between his hands, “you seem a little too young to be travelling alone.”

“You seem a little too old,” Toph bit back.

To her great surprise, the man laughed, “perhaps I am.”

Toph pressed her lips together, rubbing her thumb over the ceramic and then said, casually, “I know what you’re thinking…I look like I can’t handle being by myself.”

Iroh quirked an eyebrow and replied, “I wasn’t thinking that.”

Toph held her cup and said, “you wouldn’t even let me pour my own cup of tea.”

Iroh pulled at his beard, “I poured your tea because I wanted to and for no other reason.”

“People see me and think I’m weak. They want to take care of me, but I can take care of myself, by myself,” Toph said defensively, putting the cup down to cross her arms.

“You sound like my nephew,” Iroh hummed, “always thinking you need to do things on your own, without anyone’s support. There is nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help. Not that I love you, I just met you.”

Toph relaxed and laughed before she asked, “so where is your nephew?”

Iroh took a sup and replied, “I’ve been tracking him actually.”

“Is he lost?”

Iroh looked away, sadness overcoming his demeanour, “yes, a little bit. His life has recently changed and he’s going through very difficult times. He’s trying to figure out who he is and he went away.”

“So now you’re following him?” Toph asked enviously. 

“I know he doesn’t want me around right now, but if he needs me, I’ll be there,” Iroh said, confidently.

“Your nephew is very lucky, even if he doesn’t know it,” Toph said, smiling easily as he stood to leave, “thank you.”

Iroh pushed his cup up in a toasting gesture, “my pleasure. Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights.”

“No thank you,” the earthbender said sincerely, “what you said, it helped me.”

“I’m glad,” Iroh said. 

Toph inclined her head with one last smile and turned with a new path in mind, but thought better of it and added, “oh, and about your nephew, maybe you should tell him that you need him too?”

Iroh paused as she jumped from the mountainside, not at all concerned for her safety.

A second later, he sipped from his mug and leaned back thoughtfully.  

S

Back in the destroyed village, Azula held the glider across her body, waiting for her cousin to make the first move.

“We don’t need to fight,” she said calmly, mostly because she knew it was ultimately hopeless, “if you would just listen…”

The last words of her plea were swallowed by the pounding against the dusty ground and a creature appearing from an alleyway.

Lu Ten’s gaze slid away from the Avatar, not moving his whole head as he did. 

The sight that met him had a twisted grin spread across his lips while Azula audibly sighed behind him.

Evidentally, Katara had been right about him popping up and, of course, it had to be at the most inconvenient time possible. 

Zuko only had eyes for his target as he hopped off the ostrich horse, not at all taking in whatever it was that his father could have sent to capture the Avatar.

Ozai would soon learn that it was not necessary. 

All thoughts of honour flew from his mind, however, when a voice hit him from behind, “how charming, the family’s together again.”

Zuko’s daring expression switched to one that demanded an explanation from his sister who had long since left her stance.

She was far too tired for this entire situation now that it was clear that no one would listen to her.

Zuko slowly turned since Azula chose to remain silent and let out a ragged breath upon receiving confirmation.

“Lu Ten?” he asked, trying to find some semblance of familiarity under the more mature exterior as years of grief took on a new perspective, “how is this possible? I thought you were…”

Lu Ten tilted his head condescendingly, enjoying that his other cousin was just as dishevelled as Azula.

Neither of them could be any further removed from the safe little royals he’d left behind.

“Killed? Not quite, just a prisoner, I’m surprised my father didn’t tell you,” Lu Ten sneered as Zuko blinked through his shock. 

The scarred prince couldn’t process his cousin’s words because how would he find his uncle to tell him?

“I told you, he was never told…” Azula interjected.

“Stop lying to me, Avatar!” Lu Ten snapped and Zuko looked back to her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zuko demanded of his sister. 

“Because, Zuko, you were trying to kill me!” Azula shot back.

Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but Lu Ten said, “as much as I’d hate to interrupt quality sibling time, uncle Ozai is waiting for the return of the traitors so if you would both just come with me.”

Zuko frowned, catching Azula’s eye.

Momentarily, he forgot that she should just be the Avatar to him, she was the only one who could explain the abundance of missing information. 

During the interaction, Lu Ten lost all patience and punched forward a ball of flame.

Rather than honing in on the Avatar, however, it flew at the banished prince who was not at all prepared.

Zuko’s hands raised as he registered Azula swiping forward with her glider, but the blast of air passed him to extinguish the mass of flame at his back. 

In disbelief, he returned his attention to Lu Ten. 

He’d never seen his cousin attack, anyone, outside of training. 

Even stranger, the older teen said, mockingly, “aww, looks like Zuzu needs his little sister to protect him.”

“Zuko…” Azula warned, but she knew it was inevitable. 

Lu Ten knew how to ignite the fuse, even if he would have never done it before.

Determination overtook Zuko’s confused shock and he said, “the Avatar is mine!”

Lu Ten laughed openly and replied, “I’ve always admired your persistence Zuko, it really is too bad that it will never amount to much.”

Zuko’s eye twitched and he growled, producing a strong stream of flame at his cousin who was miraculously alive. 

Lu Ten easily held up both hands to catch the attack to then swiftly push it back with additional power.

Zuko stopped it before it touched him but the force had him crashing into the damaged porch behind him.

Lu Ten should have turned his attention to his primary target, but that didn’t seem important right now as he approached the downed prince. 

Azula saw the chance to flee.

She could be across town before Lu Ten was done with Zuko, but she recognised the anger in the older teen’s eyes that told her she couldn’t leave her brother.

The Avatar grit her teeth, missing her ability to only think about her safety as she, somewhat experimentally, pulled a chunk of earth up to shoot at Lu Ten.

It wasn’t enough to hurt him, but it achieved her goal of grabbing his attention. 

He swivelled around with narrowed eyes and blazed flames at her.

Azula twirled her glider to put them out before taking off into the air to land onto a rooftop, running but not at all at her fastest.

She just needed to get Lu Ten away from Zuko.

As hoped, Lu Ten lifted himself in pursuit and she turned periodically to catch his attacks before reaching the end of the roof and hopping off.

She was granted only half a second of rest before she had to roll to the side to dodge yet more flames but from another direction. 

Zuko breathed deeply but he still held up his hands for another attack as Lu Ten hopped down between his cousins.

“I don’t have time to play games,” he growled.

Neither Zuko nor Azula said anything and instead prepared to defend themselves.

Lu Ten threw out multiple barrages of flame in both directions, slowly directing most of it towards his male cousin.

Azula was block him too readily and he resolved to take out the weak link first and then focus on the Avatar. 

A lot of the flaming orange didn’t reach Zuko as they were caught by plumes of air.

The banished prince made it significantly more difficult to protect him as he leapt over Lu Ten, accompanied by a roar to get a real shot at his sister. 

It took all of his force, but he sent two streams at her, which she of course was ready for.

She spun around to absorb the fire and saw an opportunity as Zuko tried to recover and thrust out both palms at him.

The gale of air that she emitted was more than enough to throw her brother across the former town. 

Unfortunately, the effort distracted her tired self from her other opponent and she also found herself tumbling down as a wall of heat crashed into her.

She promptly opened her eyes to find bright spots, through which she could see a figure coming towards her with his hand raised for a more substantial blow.

Before he could unleash it, however, water circled his arm to pull him backwards.

This gave Azula the chance to stand up, her vision now cleared so that she could truly appreciate the sight of her girlfriend holding up a shield of water at her cousin’s back. 

This appreciation grew stronger when Lu Ten made to attack Katara, only to have to duck out of the way of a swinging club from the other side. Sokka then held up his weapon, ready to go in for another strike.

Lu Ten’s nostrils flared, taking in each of his enemies.

In a last-ditch effort, he spun around as if to try another shot at the Avatar.

The very ground underneath his feet shifted before he could produce any heat and he just about caught himself before he fell. 

“I thought you guys could use some help,” Toph announced to three smiles.

Lu Ten scowled, deciding it was time to regroup.

He dashed to the only free alleyway up ahead of him.

Without question, Toph and Sokka set off in pursuit, followed closely by Katara and then Azula.

She didn’t want to hurt him it did occur to her that allowing him to get away would just mean dealing with all of this again.

They could figure out what to do with him when it came to it.

As they all disappeared between buildings, another person entered the town, kneeling beside the downed prince who was gradually opening his eyes. 

“Uncle…” Zuko croaked as hands support his attempt to stand.

“Get up,” Iroh commanded, “we need to help.”

Zuko drew his eyebrows together until the situation hit him as the former general raced ahead of him.

He obviously hadn’t seen who it was he was chasing.

Up ahead, Lu Ten dodged water and earth as well as the odd club swing until he reached a dead end.

He whipped around to find himself surrounded.

The ruins over him would make it difficult to make a swift exit, so he raised his hand to the air, looking straight at Azula.

“Alright, I can admit when I’m outmatched,” he said, “I surren…”

The prince trailed off as two others appeared to join the circle.

The newcomer was more than enough to render him momentarily speechless.

On his part, Iroh lost his ability to think of the safety of his niece and nephew.

Even with all the differences, it was inescapable who it was standing before him.

The lightning now made a lot of sense, but everything else from the last five years was plunged into question.

Zuko and Azula were both watching their uncle with their bottom lips bitten, but Lu Ten did not register the abject shock on his father’s face. 

After years alone in the capital, he saw only the man who wasn’t there for his recovery. 

He placed his hands back down to his side and said, “Hello father, I suppose you’re surprised to see me?”

Iroh opened and closed his mouth, searching for the perfect words that simply could not exist.

He finally settled on the fact that he needed an explanation, so his gaze landed on Azula.

Whatever happened recently, the princess was perhaps the most qualified to understand whatever Ozai’s role in this was.

Azula released her lip under the accusation in her uncle’s accusatory gaze but no words came out. 

Since no one was looking at him, Lu Ten had the opportunity to vent his ultimate frustration. 

Without thought, he blasted flame towards his dumbfounded father.

He was then ready as water, fire, air and water streamed towards him.

An explosion rippled out, throwing up dust so that when Katara, Sokka and Azula’s vision cleared they found nothing but crumbling rock. 

Zuko, on the other hand, had other worries.

He had already dropped down next to his unconscious uncle.

He clenched both fists and growled out a horrified sound, “aaah!”

“Uncle!” Azula said, kneeling opposite her brother to inspect the damage. 

Zuko’s eyes shot up to his sister and her younger voice popped into his head:

I still think our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his royal tea-loving kookiness.

He gritted his teeth as Azula tentatively made to lay her hand onto the former general and he punched flames at her feet, forcing her backwards.

Sokka hastily caught Azula, who said, authoritatively, “let Katara help him, Zuko!”

“Leave!” the banished prince roared, throwing out an arc of fire forcing Team Avatar away with some additional effort on Sokka’s part to drag Azula away. 

S 

Miraculously, Appa flew through the sky, returning Team Avatar to their supplies and, hopefully, to a campsite. 

Across his arrow, Sokka was already fast asleep.

Katara and Toph lay o his back, but Azula was sat up beside her girlfriend. 

“I’m sure your uncle will be okay,” Katara said softly.

The Avatar passed her palm over her heavy face and replied, “I know, but…he saw Lu Ten.”

“He another family member?” Toph asked. 

It couldn’t be a coincidence that she had run into the Avatar’s uncle, right?

“It’s a long story,” Katara replied, and grabbed the back of Azula’s tunic to pull her down to her shoulder, “we’ll explain after we sleep.”

Azula hummed and placed her arm across the waterbender’s stomach.

She could agree that sleep was an excellent first step.  

Chapter Text

 Chapter 8- The Library

Iroh ran across the expansive green meadow, spinning around when he reached a tree overhanging with several blossoms.

At the same moment, the boy behind him thrust out both of his hands and Iroh grinned as he clutched his chest and slumped down to the ground. 

“I got you, Dad!” Lu Ten called gleefully before hopping on top of his father as if his small frame was actually heavy enough to hold down the general. 

Iroh pretended to be defeated, though, continuing to laugh along with his beloved son. 

The scene was short-lived, however, as the scene shifted hauntingly.

The merry atmosphere was replaced instantly by an air of grief with Iroh now hunched over a tomb onto which he placed a cluster of flowers. 

“My beloved Lu Ten, I will see you again,” he said, unable to keep the tears out of his voice. 

The tomb disappeared, though, and a more mature voice loomed at his back, “Hello father, I suppose you’re surprised to see me?”

Iroh twisted his body around, finding the taller teen bearing down upon him, both of his hands lit.

The young made to thrust forward, with real flame this time.

Iroh’s eyes flew open and he sat up breathlessly, looking around desperately for any sign of his son. 

Pain pulsed through his chest though and he fell back down, clutching it for real now. 

“Uncle,” came another voice and Iroh squinted his eyes to find Zuko leaning over him with a deep-set frown on his scarred face, “you were unconscious.”

Iroh took a couple calming breaths, which had no real effect now that he was becoming sure that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. 

Now that he was sure who it was that had injured him. 

Still, verbal confirmation seemed necessary, so he asked, “Lu Ten?”

Zuko ran his tongue over his lips and reluctantly replied, “he got away after he…” and gestured vaguely to the bandages he had applied. 

“How?” Iroh said, his voice cracking on the single word.

Knowing that he wasn’t asking for details of how his son had gotten away, Zuko explained, “He said that he was taken prisoner instead of killed at Ba Sing Se…Lu Ten thought you knew, Azula said that father lied to him…”

Iroh scrunched his eyes closed. 

After his journey with the spirits, he did think that he had passed the hate that he once felt, but right now it came flooding back. 

If anyone deserved it, it was Ozai.

“I know you probably want to find him…” Zuko began and Iroh looked at him, making sure that he hadn’t imagined the worry in his voice. 

Did Zuko worry that Lu Ten would finish the job?

The day before, he would have argued that his son was not capable of such a thing, but now he had to wonder whether he knew the boy as he once did. 

“I do,” Iroh replied, “but I accept that this is not the time, Zuko. He will not listen to me while I am considered a traitor.”

“You think that will change?” Zuko asked with his eyebrows drawn together. 

“I do,” Iroh said vaguely, his mind running through the best course of action even as his emotions clashed violently inside his stomach.

It was true that he wanted to see Lu Ten right now, that he wanted to go and plead with him. To make him believe that if he had known the truth, he would have rushed straight back to the Fire Nation. 

After the North Pole, it wasn’t as simple anymore.

He really was confident that it wasn’t the last he would be seeing of his son, however. With one exception, he did not plan to turn his back on any member of his family. 

It helped that, as spiteful as it was, the best way to get back at his brother was to help his children. 

Zuko pressed his lips together, trying to think of something else that he could say. 

He so wanted his uncle to feel better, but he knew that wasn’t a possibility now that he knew the truth. If only he hadn’t allowed his cousin to so easily get to him, he may have had the chance to tell the man the truth in a less traumatic way?

Perhaps he could have even tried to convince Lu Ten that Iroh did not know?

None of that would help right now that they were sequestered to a damaged cabin at the centre of an abandoned mountain top. 

“And…where should we go next?” Zuko asked. 

Iroh’s hand came to rest upon his bandaged chest, thinking back to the attack on the boat.

That helmeted soldier must have been Lu Ten, which gave a whole other angle to the vigour with which he attacked Zuko. 

His son obviously thought he cared more for his nephew, which was a kind of jealousy that he would not have experienced the last time he saw him.

The fact remained that he did care deeply for Zuko, so a thought occurred to him of the best way that they could use their time until he was ready to travel somewhere safer.

He needed to be able to defend himself. 

With some difficulty, he stood up and said, “It’s time to resume your training.”

Sometime later, Iroh had set up two cups of tea and was sipping from it slowly, even though it had little influence upon his unsettled nerves.

Still, he put the cup down and tried to focus on the task at hand and not on his revived son, he would need a lot more time to process all of the implications. 

“Lightning is a pure form of fire bending, without aggression. It is not fuelled by rage or emotion the way other fire-bending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly. To perform the technique requires peace of mind,” Iroh explained.

Zuko drew his eyebrows together, thinking of the four lightning benders that he knew. 

His father met that description.

From the little that he saw, Lu Ten did now. 

Azula used to. 

If Iroh wasn’t able to perform the form still, he would have wondered whether his sister was still capable of it. 

“There is energy all around us,” Iroh continued, “the energy is both yin and yang. Positive energy and negative energy. Only a few select fire benders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance and in a moment the positive and negative energy comes crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning.”

The former general stood, and slowly provided a demonstration, easily shooting lightning into the sky away from his nephew. 

Zuko burst up to his feet, suddenly excited despite the solemn atmosphere that surrounded them since his uncle woke up and remembered what happened.

“I’m ready to try it!” he said, taking the same wide stance.

Iroh nodded and replied, “remember, once you separate the energy, you do not command it. You are simply its humble guide. Breathe first.”

Zuko took in a deep breath as told and did the fluid motion as it was shown to him, but was promptly launched backwards by an explosion. 

Iroh shook his head in disappointment.  

S

Weeks later, Azula lay against a rock, finally allowing a yawn to escape after what had to be ten hours of rigorous training.

Training four elements gave her more than enough to occupy her mind other than the events of that abandoned town, at least for a while. 

Never before had she imagined that her uncle’s disappointment could faze her, but she had also never witnessed such a scathing expression on the tea lover’s face.

In this very moment, however, that wasn’t what she was focusing on as the head on her outstretched legs turned.

“How about here?”

Azula opened her eyes to take in the spot on the map that Katara was pointing at to find a market town.

“Do you really want to go shopping with Sokka again?” Azula asked, “We don’t have much money left.”

Katara squinted and returned to her last position so that she was holding the map over her face.

“That’s a good point,” she murmured and continued to scrutinise the markings on the parchment.

The sound of her brother’s name stopped its owner, though, who had been pacing through the dust, completely ignored by his companions.

Even Toph was too occupied with the remains of her dinner from her position using Appa’s tail as a pillow to comment on how annoying the warrior was being. 

“How can the two of you be so relaxed?” Sokka demanded.

“Because people tend to relax when they take a break,” Azula replied without reopening her eyes.

“This isn’t the time for a break!”

Azula sighed and opened her eyes with significant reticence as she pulled her head up to grant the older teen eye contact, “why not, Sokka?”

Sokka gestured vaguely around the dried up ground that Toph had deigned to be ‘good enough’ for her training and said, “we can’t just keep travelling around randomly.”

“Where exactly do you want to go?” Azula asked, “You said we can’t stay in one place for too long and I’ve been training every time we land…”

Sokka stared back at the Avatar in disbelief, disregarding his sister’s raised eyebrow that made an appearance whenever she thought he was pressuring her girlfriend. 

“We need a plan! How are we supposed to find the Fire Lord when you’re ready?” Sokka asked urgently.

Azula responded with a deliberate yawn and replied, “I know where he lives, Sokka.”

“Then draw us a map!” Sokka said, somehow producing a piece of parchment.

“Of the entire Fire Nation?” Azula asked, her eyebrows now also further up her head.

“Yes!” Sokka said loudly. 

The Avatar’s head fell back against the rock as she shook it, “I didn’t pay that much attention at school,” she said, choosing not to mention she could probably do one of the capital since she was sure that it wouldn’t be enough for the pacing ball of anxiety ruining the nice moment she was having.

“What did you learn at school?” the warrior asked, crumpling the parchment violently.

“Mostly to love the Fire Lord.”

“You had to be taught to love your father?” Sokka asked sceptically, but Azula shrugged. 

“You’ve met him,” she replied disinterestedly. 

Sokka deflated, holding his pointer finger to his chin thoughtfully, “fair enough,” he said, “but we need more intelligence if we’re going to breach the Fire Nation!”

“We agreed we would have our mini-vacations before we worry about that,” Katara interjected, once again looking at the map.

She hadn’t admitted it aloud but she was really searching for somewhere for a nice first date that she had yet to have. One that would hopefully have the bonus effect of taking Azula’s mind off what happened with her family a few weeks ago.

At first, nowhere seemed good enough, but now the issue was more than her brother was putting a damper on the entire effort with talk of the Fire Nation. 

“No, you agreed,” Sokka shot back.

“Azula did too,” Katara replied indignantly, lifting her body from Azula’s lap to look at the princess.

She did so for a full two seconds before the princess nodded, her head again resting against the rock. 

“No, your girlfriend agreed,” Sokka said, gesturing at the offending teen who was rolling her eyes.

Katara laughed in a very unimpressed way and asked, “what are you talking about?”

Azula sighed as Sokka opened his mouth and cut in, “you can take my vacation for your ‘intelligence gathering’ right after we go to Katara’s.”

Sokka scowled but shrugged in agreement, “and where do you want to go?”

Katara triumphantly lifted the map again and said, after a second, “how about the Misty Palms Oasis? It sounds refreshing.”

Sokka peered over at the map and said, “fine, let’s go.”

As the team set about beginning to pack up, Toph said openly to the waterbender, “you know, it’s not fair how much power you have over the Avatar.”

Katara scowled back until Azula walked past her and took her hand. 

S

After hours of training, Iroh watched as yet another explosion sent his nephew back to the ground. 

Zuko sat up, growling lowly as he asked, “why can’t I do it? Instead of lightning, it keeps exploding in my face…like everything always does.”

Iroh crossed his arms over his chest and said, “I was afraid this might happen. You will not be able to master lightning until you have dealt with the turmoil inside you.”

“What turmoil?” Zuko asked doubtfully. 

“Zuko, you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away,” Iroh replied, even as it occurred to him that his ability should perhaps have been impeded by his shame.

What kind of father didn’t instinctively know that his son was alive and in pain?!

That wouldn’t help Zuko with his current predicament, so Iroh instead said, “Zuko, you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away.”

“But I don’t feel any shame at all. I’m as proud as ever,” Zuko insisted, but realised he was still on the ground and promptly stood up. 

“Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame,” Iroh replied. 

“Well, my life has been nothing but humbling lately,” Zuko said, running his hand over his face.

Briefly, a splash of shame did hit him, though, as it hit him that his uncle potentially had a bigger issue than he did right now. 

“I have another idea,” Iroh said, allowing Zuko to move past the momentary shame, “I will teach you a fire bending move that even Azula doesn’t know because I made it up myself.”

Zuko looked away from his feet, a smile tugging at his lips. 

Of course, Iroh knew what to say to cheer him up. 

He waited raptly as Iroh set up another area for his new lesson, drawing lines into the dirt with a stick as he began explaining, drawing a new simple with each element he mentioned:

“Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.”

Zuko watched each element's symbol being placed into the ground and he asked something that had been bothering him since he learned of his sister’s Avatar status, “do you think that Azula understands all of this?”

Iroh looked at the boy’s face, seeing jealousy there that was to be expected.

Only he could still be jealous of his sister even though she was just as banished as he was at this point. 

“To master the elements, she would have no choice but to understand their people. But it is the combination of the four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful.”

“Why are you telling me these things?” Zuko asked, annoyance now clear in his tone.

“It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale,” Iroh replied, drawing a circle between all of the symbols, “understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole.”

“And how would it help me?” Zuko asked.

“The four elements give the Avatar power, but it can make you powerful too. You see the technique I’m about to teach you is one I learned by studying waterbenders."

S

Katara’s hopes of some romantic location where she could sneak away with her girlfriend were dashed the moment that Misty Palms Oasis came into view.

It certainly did not match Aang’s description of a ‘pristine natural ice spring’.

She was a hundred years too late to have the perfect date here.

Half a wall surrounded a collection of mud huts, some of which appeared lopsided under the sun beating down from the partly cloudy sky.

Entering the Oasis wasn’t any better. They passed into the area to find that the oasis itself was just a pile of steaming ice at the centre of the buildings. 

Azula narrowed her eyes at the dog that ran up to steal some of the ‘oasis’ and then redirected her ireful gaze to the sheepish Air Nomad at the back of the group.

Aang returned with a half-grin and shrugged, “must have changed ownership since I was here.”

Azula was about to rub at her eyes but found her hand taken by Katara instead, who gestured towards the largest building just up ahead.

On the brightside, it did look to be the least precarious structure around them. 

The definite downside was the group of yellow-clad men they had to walk through to get to the door, even if they couldn’t see their faces, they could hear what had to be hisses of disgust. 

Team Avatar was not at all deterred though, seeing as none of them wanted this to be a completely wasted trip, so they pushed through the drape to enter the bar. 

With the number of travellers inside, anyone would have thought that it could be described as bustling. 

With each person slumped wearily, most of them not even bothering to look up to see who had entered, it was the complete opposite. 

Even Sokka scrunched his nose at the dusky air that met his nose, but they all still walked further inside. 

This allowed them to witness the only exception to the downtrodden exhaustion that surrounded them.

At the bar, a slim man wearing a distinct expression of excitement put his hand up and said cheerfully, “one mango, please.”

The barman obliged instantly, unsheathing dual swords, which he used to cut out a bowl from a large chunk of ice. He then moved onto a pile of mangos, which he sliced into perfect chunks which were deposited into the bowl. 

This was closely followed by a measured portion of milk and then a final flourish of a decorative umbrella.

The man threw a coin over after watching the whole process closely and then pulled the drink towards himself before slipping off the stool.

He wasn’t the only one who watched it all, Sokka completely changed his tone and demeanour as he said, “I don’t see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy,” and then ran towards the bar, “excuse me!”

Katara drew her lips together, looking for any redeeming feature in this place, but the effort was stopped when Azula let go of her hand to avoid being walked into by the preoccupied man cradling his drink. 

The man’s eyes widened as he worked hard to balance the drink between his hands, “Please forgive me…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Azula replied, suddenly uncomfortable as he continued to stare at her. 

Two solid seconds passed before his eyes widened and he glanced at her companions as if to confirm his suspicions. 

His eyes returned to Azula and he said, loudly enough for Azula to look around for threats, “I recognise you! You’re the Avatar, which also means you’re the princess!” he announced, ignoring Katara’s attempt to shush him, but no one seemed to take any notice anyway as he prattled on, “tell me, is it true that Fire Lord Sozin was good friends with Avatar Roku?”

The insinuation was enough for Azula to return to the man’s pointed face as she frowned at the implication. She didn’t know Roku that well really but she couldn’t see him as friendly with a genocidal homophobe.

“I don’t know,” she replied, still caught off-guard by the strange question, “I’ll be sure to ask Roku the next time I see him.”

The man leaned in, his face splitting further in a smile, “your past lives speak to you?”

Azula felt Aang wearing that half-grin again as she replied, “incessantly.”

“Fascinating,” he said, taking Azula’s hand without permission to shake it, “Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University,” he then released her hand and then pulled her closer by the elbow, “tell me, how did you find out that you’re the Avatar?”

Azula wrenched her arm back, suddenly recalling her distaste for physical contact, and replied, “what could you possibly do with that information?”

Zei dropped the journal he had pulled out, momentarily disappointed, by the arrival of Sokka bearing a drink and the ability to appeal to the man’s ego, “so Professor, you’re a well-travelled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little outdated.”

“Certainly,” the professor said brightly and beckoned the team over to the nearest table. 

Within minutes, he’d located a worn piece of parchment in his bag and handed it to Sokka, who laid it out across the surface.

Sokka leaned across Toph who was sipping at a fruity beverage with her legs propped up on a stool. 

“What, no Fire Nation?” the warrior asked in despair as he straightened his back, “doesn’t anyone have a good map of that place?”

Katara also leaned back from the map at the same time and commented, “you’ve made a lot of trips into the desert.”

Zei rubbed at his chin and replied, “all in vain, I’m afraid. I’ve found lost civilisations all over the Earth Kingdom,” he slowly lifted his closed fist a few inches, “but I haven’t managed to find the crown jewel: Wan Shi Tong’s library!”

“You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy’s library?” Toph asked, slurping at her liquid fruit. 

“This library is more valuable than gold, little lady,” Zei replied defensively, “it is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge is priceless.”

The chair underneath Toph creaked as she pitched back and she replied, sarcastically, “hmm, sounds good.”

“Oh, it is,” Zei said, nodding with enthusiasm, “according to legend, it was built by the great Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his ‘foxy’ knowledge seekers.”

Sokka wrenched his sorrowful gaze from the map, intrigued, “oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants, huh?”

Katara elbowed her brother and said, “I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka.”

“You’re both right,” Zei said, taking out a drawing of an above-average fox, “handsome little creatures. Wan Shi Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read so that we might better ourselves.”

“If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they’ve got info on the Fire Nation? A map, maybe?”

The professor shrugged and replied, “I wouldn’t know. But if such a thing exists, it’s in Wan Shi Tong’s Library.”

“Then it’s settled. Azula, I do believe it’s my turn. I’d like to spend my vacation,” Sokka said, pointing up to the ceiling, “at the library!”

Toph pulled her feet down and waved for attention, “uh hey, what about me? When do I get to pick?”

Sokka waved his hand back swiftly, “you gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time.”

Toph huffed and slammed her drink down to the table so that she could cross her arms for full effect.

Zei interjected before a further argument could happen, and said, “of course, there’s the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert and almost died each time. I’m afraid that desert’s impossible to cross.”

Sokka exchanged a glance with Azula, who finally nodded in agreement, so the warrior asked, “professor, would you like to see our sky bison?”

Zei was lifted from his depressed bout and smiled broadly. 

S 

Zei bounded away from the bar, fully prepared to be static, but the elation was tempered by the sight that met him.

Surrounding what could only be described as a magnificent creature were a group of masked men poking at him, trying to ascertain the value of the endangered species.

He was about to berate them but a sharp blast of air passed him, throwing the group apart.

The men collectively turned their ire to their attacker, it coming through despite their covered faces.

As they didn’t move, the ground shifted underneath their feet, lurching them forward.

“Get away from him!” the Avatar demanded, watching the sand benders exchange meaningful looks before they scattered.

Azula narrowed her eyes, but just filed the image away for later use and instead approached Appa to make sure they hadn’t harmed him.

At her back, Professor Zei found his enthusiasm again, grinning from ear-to-ear as he followed the rest of the team, planning how to write about the display of the lost bending discipline. 

His excitement reached new peaks when he was actually on Appa and flying through the air.

Zei practically hung over Appa’s face, sand soaked air smacking against his face.

He asked “tell me, sky bison, are you the last of your breed?” to his fascinated audience, Appa returned a few consecutive roars, and Zei scratched at his arrow, “delightful! I only wish I spoke your tongue. Oh, the stories this beast could tell!”

As the professor spoke dreamily a lemur crawled over next to him and began chittering animatedly. 

Zei waved Momo off and said, “shush, chatty monkey.”

In the saddle, Sokka watched the professor, wondering whether putting his trust in this man was the best move, and he asked, “should we tell him about Aang?”

“Absolutely not!” Azula hissed, imagining once again being the centre of his attention. 

At the front of the bison, Aang smiled back at Azula, appreciating the excitement the professor had for his culture.

Beside Azula, Katara finished examining the picture of the library provided by Zei.

Azula’s eyes flicked to Zai and murmured, “how could he miss a place like this?”

Hours later, she discovered their new companion was not as incompetent as she originally thought.

Dune after identical dune passed by below them but there was no sign of anything but blistering sand. 

Toph groaned with her chin resting against the side of the saddle and asked, “does this place even exist?”

“Some say it doesn’t,” Zei replied brightly.

Toph’s eyes widened and she lifted her head, “Shouldn’t you have mentioned that before?” she demanded.

Another hour passed, with Zei scribbling fast in his journal while the rest of the team looked around desperately at this point. 

“There it is!”

Everyone on board followed the direction Toph was pointing to in faux excitement before quickly scowling upon finding yet more sand. 

Toph slumped back down and said, “that’s what it will sound like when one of you spots it,” and then waved her hand in front of her dim eyes to punctuate her point.

Yet more time passed, the atmosphere of irritation now officially permeating the moistless air the further that Appa flew into the desert, though they had long passed the furthest point that Zei had ever reached. 

Katara, Sokka and Azula continued to look around from the saddle while Zei and Aang did the same from the bison’s head.

Katara squinted and said, “It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant, ornate building from the air.”

“Down there, what’s that?” Sokka announced, cutting off her resignation as he pulled his telescope down. 

Appa dropped to give the rest of the team a better look at the circular roof jutting out from the sand. 

Katara inspected it and then showed her brother the picture of the multi-spired library, “forget it. It’s obviously not what we’re looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous.”

Sokka huffed and leaned his chin onto his elbow but a glinting over the nearest dune stopped him from agreeing with the waterbender.

The light gave way to a fox casually pattering across the sand holding a scroll in its mouth.

“What kind of animal is that?” Sokka asked as the sparkling creature made it to the structure and jumped up through the window. 

Professor Zei leaned his whole body forward as if a closer look would somehow make it more real and replied, “I think that was one of the Knowledge Seekers. Oh, we must be close to the library!”

The man then hopped down to better survey the entire area, Team Avatar following not long after. 

Only Azula noticed Toph’s deep frown as her bare feet sank into the sand. 

Sokka held up Katara’s picture as the professor searched fruitlessly and his eyes widened, “no, this is the library look! It’s completely buried.”

Zei followed the instruction, also noticing the striking similarity to the top-most spire in the image. 

The man’s immediate response was to fall to his knees.

“The library is buried?!” he whined, “my life’s ambition is now full of sand!”

Before Katara could proceed to comfort him, he promptly perked up, holding a small shovel, “well time to start excavating.”

Toph walked past him while he pushed small masses of sand around his hand and she placed her palm against the cracked stone.

“Actually, that won’t be necessary,” she said, “the inside seems to be completely intact. And it’s huge.”

“That fox thingy went through a window,” Sokka added, “I say we climb up there and give it a look.”

Toph slipped to her side and she said, “I say you guys go ahead without me.”

“You got something against libraries?” Katara asked.

“I’ve held books before. And I gotta tell you, they don’t exactly do it for me.”

“Oh right. Sorry,” Katara said sheepishly. 

“Let me know if they have something you can listen to,” Toph replied.

Katara smiled and made to follow her brother and the professor who had both already gone to the spire but was stopped by the Avatar’s hand.

“Actually Katara, I think you should stay with Toph,” Azula said. 

“What?” the earthbender demanded, “I don’t need to be protected…”

Azula cut off her rant, “I know that, Toph. But I’m guessing that you can’t feel the vibrations in the sand like you can on earth?”

Toph turned up her lip but didn’t disagree.

“We all know that bringing Appa underground is a bad idea and with the way that those sand benders looked at him, I think this is the safest option.”

Katara scowled through the explanation.

She and Toph were by no means at odds as they were, but she also wouldn’t call them friends just yet.

If there was a choice between her girlfriend and someone she was learning to tolerate, then she knew where she would rather go. 

Still, Azula was making some good points.

“Fine,” she sighed, “I’ll stay with Toph.”

“Oh thanks,” Toph called over, “I’m sure this will be a blast!”

Katara turned to Azula with blazing eyes.

“We’ll be back soon,” she said, placing a chaste kiss to her lips, “try and be nice.”

As Azula walked away, Katara said, too loudly, “I’m always nice!”

“Seems like it,” Toph cut in.

Katara watched the retreating Avatar thing to figure out how to get everyone through the library and her eyebrow twitched before she reluctantly joined Toph at Appa.

S

“Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy,” Iroh explained, “a water bender lets their defence become their offence, turning their opponent’s energy against them. I learned a way to do this with lightning.”

Zuko’s mouth dropped open for a second and he asked, “Can you teach me to redirect lightning?”

Iroh inclined his head, “if you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it. You must create a pathway from your fingertips, up to your arm to your shoulder, then down into your stomach. The stomach is the source of energy in your body. It is called the sea of chi,” the former general continued, his hands flowing as he spoke, “from the stomach, you direct it up again, and out the other arm. The stomach detour is critical. You must not let the lightning pass through your heart, or the damage could be deadly. You may wish to try a physical motion to get a feel for the pathways’ flow, like this.”

Zuko watched the deliberate form closely as Iroh twisted his arms elegantly and then began copying him carefully.

“Now, are you focusing your energy? Can you feel your own chi flowing in, down, up, and out?” Iroh asked, critically inspecting his nephew’s form. 

“I think so,” Zuko said, his eyebrows drawn together as he put in more effort than was perhaps necessary. 

Iroh nodded and they practised for a few more minutes until the former general noticed that the teen was finally relaxing into the movement and he announced, “excellent! You’ve got it!”

“Great,” Iroh breathed, “I’m ready to try it with real lightning!”

“What, are you crazy?” Iroh replied, standing up straight at the mere suggestion, “lightning is very dangerous!”

“I thought that was the point!” Zuko bit back, “You teaching me to protect myself from it!”

“Yeah! But I’m not going to shoot lightning at you!” The older man shot back, gesturing out vaguely as if it would emphasise his point, “if you’re lucky, you will never have to use this technique at all!”

Zuko opened his mouth to say that he would find somewhere to do it himself, but the words died on his tongue as he stared into his uncle’s eyes. 

It was a stark reminder of what had transpired not long ago.

Of the fact that he was teaching him the technique to protect himself from his own son. 

It couldn’t have been an easy endeavour, which was only proven by the fact that not a single joke had come from the man’s mouth since he woke from unconsciousness. 

Reluctantly, he deflated and asked, “okay uncle, shall we find something for dinner?”

S

As it turned out, the best way to get two non-benders into a sunken spirit library was a rope, with Momo swooping down alongside them.

Each of them took in the ornate domed ceiling covering the sand-strewn walkways, but only one of them gasped.

“Oh, it’s breathtaking!” Zei said as he reached the end of the rope, “the spirit spared no expense in designing this place. Look at those beautiful buttresses!”

Azula shook her head as Sokka and Aang giggled on either side of her and Momo landed.

“What’s funny?” Zei asked Sokka.

“Nothing, I just like architecture,” the warrior replied, unaware that Aang was still laughing.

“As do I,” Zei said dreamily and then caught sight of an intricately put together image above the pillars. “The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile rendered avian symbol…” upon finding Sokka looking at him quizzically (Azula was completely disinterested), he corrected, “eh, nice owl.”

Sokka’s mouth formed an ‘o’ but a rustling up ahead had the Avatar grabbing his arm to pull him behind the pillar, Zei following them instinctively. 

A towering creature swept across the space and then up to the rope, only for his head to swivel to the pillar and then to the bald boy straight in front of him.

“Are you not going to even try and hide with your friends?” the owl asked.

Aang’s eyes widened, catching Azula’s eye before he asked, “you can see me?”

“Nothing can hide in my library, especially not a spirit,” he replied.

“Who is he talking to?” Zei whispered to Azula.

“Probably just ghost boy,” Sokka replied, offering no other explanation, nor did the current Avatar.

Zei craned his neck around the pillar and momentarily forgot his curiosity at the sight that met him.

He slipped out and walked towards the tall owl.

“Hello, I’m Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University.”

The owl twisted his head around and said, “you should go back the way you came….unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology.”

With Sokka and Azula walking up behind him, Zei looked to the indicated stuffed animal heads atop one of the pillars and he clutched his neck.

“Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?” Sokka asked, no longer sure whether he should feel weird talking to a giant owl.

“Indeed, I am Wong Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things, and you are humans, which, by way are no longer permitted in my study,” the creature said brusquely. 

“What do you have against humans?” Aang asked, kind of shyly. He forgot what it was like to talk to anyone other than Azula.

“Hm!” Wong Shi Tong said thoughtfully, “humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy. So…” the spirit leaned down to Sokka, who was visibly sweating, “who are you trying to destroy?”

Sokka swallowed hard, his voice cracking as he replied, “what? No-no-no-no-no destroying. We’re not into that.”

Wong Shi Tong blinked menacingly and asked, “Then why have you come here?”

“Um…knowledge for knowledge’s sake?”

The owl straightened up and replied, “if you’re going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it.”

“I’m not lying,” Sokka said indignantly and then pulled Azula over to him by the shoulder, “I’m here with the Avatar and she’s the bridge between our worlds. She’ll vouch for me.”

Azula wrenched his hand off when it unintentionally dug into her scarred shoulder and scowled at him until she realised that the spirit was angling his face towards her. 

“Yes, I will vouch,” she said, much more convincing than Sokka, “you have my word that we will not abuse the knowledge in your library.”

“Hmmm, very well,” Wong Shi Tong said, his eyes still narrowed, “I’ll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge.”

Zei was the first to respond, pulling out a book from his bag, and he knelt to present it to the spirit, “please accept this tome as a donation to your library.”

“First edition, very nice,” Wong Shi Tong cooed and then swiped up the book with his wing.

Azula pulled out the scroll that neither she nor Katara needed anymore and unrolled it to show the owl, “will you accept an authentic waterbending scroll?” she asked.

“Ohh, these illustrations are quite stylish,” Wong Shi Tong said and took the scroll.

“I haven’t had anything in a while,” Aang announced, showing his empty pockets for effect.

Wong Shi Tong tilted his head at the other spirit and said, “consider yourself exempt.”

Aang blew out a relieved breath as the owl zeroed in on Sokka, “you’re not on the other hand.”

Sokka, rather smugly, replied, “oh, great spirit, check this out,” and he fished out a length of string which he rushed into a butterfly knot, “it’s a special knot. That counts as knowledge!”

“You’re not very bright, are you?” Wong Shi Tong asked as he took the knot, “enjoy the library.”

Sokka grinned at the spirit until he flew onto a lower platform and his face became serious.

He narrowed his eyes and muttered, “bright enough to fool you.”

S

Knowledge seekers pattered around Azula who placed yet another book to the side.

Zei was sat across from her with his nose deep in some dusty pages, completely distracted from asking about ghost boy the moment he laid eyes onto the shelves. 

He didn’t even seem to notice Azula speaking to Aang who had been glancing at scrolls he couldn’t touch. 

“What exactly is Sokka hoping to find?” she sighed, discarding another book that only told her that one of her past lives was left-handed.

“There must be something in this place that can help,” Aang offered and pointed at his scroll, “these Lion Turtle things are pretty interesting.”

Azula pulled up another book and replied, “unless they know how to defeat the Fire Nation, I don’t think it’s what we’re looking for.”

Aang hummed in agreement.

Down the shelves, Sokka glanced at everything available, discerning quickly it wasn’t what he wanted until he reached a podium standing alone at the end.

He stalked toward it to find a scorched piece of parchment underneath the glass, his interest officially piqued. 

“The darkest day in Fire Nation history,” he read, “it’s got a date at the top, but it doesn’t say anything else.”

He glanced from side to side to make sure no one was around before he used his machete to pry open the case to grab the parchment.

Sokka then ran at full speed to return to Azula and Zei.

“What’s that?” Azula asked as he screeched to a halt in front of the Avatar who was discarding another useless tome.

He handed her the brittle paper and said, “please tell me you learned about this at school!”

Azula’s eyes ran across the page, her eyebrows getting progressively higher.

She suddenly felt foolish for not instantly thinking of this, even if it had been some years since it was so flippantly discussed.

She stood and replied, “not at school, but my grandfather told me once that he hates eclipses.”

Sokka sighed and asked, “what are you talking about?”

“The Day of Black Sun!” Azula explained, “Firebenders lose their bending during solar eclipses.”

Sokka breathed out, unable to believe his luck, “that’s fantastic! When’s the next one?”

Azula shrugged, “I have no idea.”

Sokka’s face fell and he almost screeched, with his fists clenched in front of him, “why not?!”

“It was dinner conversation, Sokka, not a lecture,” Azula replied.

The warrior placed a palm into his face but Zei interjected, “perhaps it would be documented in the Fire Nation section? It should be just that way?”

Sokka perked back up and pulled Azula along by the elbow, though she was showing no resistance to their cause of action. 

The professor may have been absorbed in the eclectic knowledge, but he simply couldn’t miss a chance to see the Avatar discovering a way to defeat her father.

He could imagine the envy of his colleagues who would love to read about the historic event.

Hopes of triumph were dashed when they reached the designated section to find only barren shelves and ash.

“Firebenders,” Aang gasped unnecessarily.

Sokka ran his hand over a shelf and then rounded on Azula, pointing a finger at her, “why are your people like this?!”

Azula slapped his finger back and replied, “if they weren’t, we wouldn’t need to be here at all.”

Sokka deflated, taking one last solemn look around, “you’re right, I’m sorry, Azula. It’s so unfair! Just when I think I’m one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out they beat us here a long time ago.”

Azula nodded, trying to think of something comforting to say to the sorrowful warrior, she was distracted by an animal honing in onto Sokka.

The older teen looked down to it as its nose probed at his leg, “hello, little weird fox guy.”

The knowledge seeker spun around and pointed outside the room,

“Seems like it’s trying to assist you,” Zei ventured hopefully.

The fox looked back expectantly and Sokka said, “um sure, I guess I’ll follow you.”

The trio, plus Aang, followed the animal through the devastating knowledge until the fox hopped through a small door in a mosaic wall which promptly opened to reveal the knowledge seeker standing behind it.

The humans entered the room with some hesitation and watched the fox push a lever, which changed the domed ceiling from day to night above them, drawing the collective attention to the detailed mechanics all around them. 

“This room is a true marvel, a mechanical wonder. It’s a planetarium that shows the heavens moving,” Zei observed breathlessly. 

Sokka looked at Azula with a raised eyebrow and asked, “uh, this is beautiful, but how is it helpful?”

“It looks like the dials represent dates and times,” Azula said, “if you enter the day from the eclipse, we can see what it looks like and use it to find the next one?”

Sokka smiled at the sign of a good plan, but a thought occurred to him and he mock-whispered, “shh, not in front of the fox, he’s with the owl.”

The knowledge seeker whimpered and snatched the parchment from the warrior to check the date, which she proceeded to enter into the mechanism.

The ceiling shifted rapidly, switching from day to night until the bright circle was covered by darkness. 

Seeing their theory confirmed, Sokka vibrated with excitement, jumping up and down. 

“This is amazing,” he announced, “we just need to find out when the next one is and get the information to the earth king in Ba Sing Se. The Fire Lord is going down!”

Azula looked away at the end and was about to start putting in upcoming dates (hoping for one far in the future), but a booming, angered voice stopped her from behind Sokka:

“Mortals are so predictable and such terrible liars,” Wong Shi Tong said, causing Sokka to gulp, “you betrayed my trust. From the beginning, you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes.”

“You don’t understand,” Sokka said, desperately, “if anyone’s evil, it’s the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They’re destructive and dangerous, we need this information.”

“You think you’re the first person to believe their war was justified?” the spirit demanded, “countless others before you have come here seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies.”

“They have no choice,” Aang replied, cutting off whatever Azula was going to say, “they’re just desperate to protect the people they love.”

“And now I’m going to protect what I love,” the owl said decisively, beginning to flap his large wings.

Azula shielded her face as sand already began pouring down through the cracked ceiling.

“What are you doing?” she bit out.

“I’m taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again,” the owl replied.

“That makes no sense! What’s the point of knowledge that no one can access!” Azula asked as Sokka took her elbow again.

“He’s sinking the building. I don’t think he’s in the mood for negotiations,” Sokka said, pulling her to the exit.

Wong Shi Tong tried to peck at them as they passed, but Azula twisted her hand to launch a piece of rock at the spirit was thrown back.

He recovered quickly and took off after the escaping humans.

S

“So…you like flying?”

As Appa purred and scratched his ears, Katara scowled at the earthbender.

It was the first spoken words since the rest of their team had gone into the buried library.

It gave Katara an excuse to look away from the supplies that she’d already organised twice.

“You’d rather talk to Appa than me?” Katara asked and Toph turned her ear toward her but carried on lounging in the sand.

“Appa doesn’t yell at me,” Toph replied coolly.

Katara’s eyebrow twitched and she took in a deep breath in preparation to raise her voice, but Azula’s words telling her to be nice had her pressing her mouth together.

Ultimately, she decided to take the opportunity to say something that should have come up much earlier. 

“You know, I never apologised…I should have been less…harsh…” Katara admitted.

“Yes you should have been,” Toph said, though she did sit up slightly, upon hearing a low growl from the waterbender, she added, “maybe I could have listened to your points…I definitely shouldn’t have said the control freak thing…you and the princess are actually pretty cute together. Did you know her heart rate goes up whenever you touch her?”

Katara felt a deep blush bloom across her cheeks and was sure that her own heart rate sky-rocketed.

It was always nice to reinforce how Azula felt for her, even if there had been very little doubt since that day in the cave. 

The piece of information certainly gave her a reason to be grateful to Toph.

“So…you really can’t…’see’ out here?” Katara asked tentatively. 

Toph took a moment to try and identify any sign of malice under the words but decided that the waterbender did want to know.

“Well, I don’t see the way you do. I feel the vibrations in the ground under my feet,” Toph explained, picking up some sand to illustrate it drizzling back down in the boiling air, “but this sand is so loose and shifty, it makes everything look fuzzy.”

“Oh,” Katara said, wondering why she had never bothered to ask about Toph before, “that is pretty…cool…”

A small smile broke through Toph’s usual disdain for the uptight waterbender, which Katara returned.

Neither of them needed to say anything more about what happened during their night of being pursued, not that they would get the chance anyway.

Strong vibrations broke through the fuzz and had Toph standing with widened eyes.

A second later, Katara saw the issue as the sand began swirling around the jutting spire.

“Library sinking!” Toph announced and dashed to it with Appa now standing anxiously.

“Library sinking?” Katara repeated as the earthbender punched her hands into the stone, grunting as she began the struggle of keeping a spirit library in the physical world for long enough for her friends to get out. 

S

Azula, Sokka and Zei took a sharp turn to the left down another walkway, a beating flapping pursuing them as strongly as ever.

Zei skidded to a stop and begged, “great knowledge spirit, I beg you, do not destroy your vast collection of priceless tomes.”

Sokka pulled the professor back into a run while Azula blasted a vortex of air at the encroaching owl so that he fell to the next level.

“We need to get to the surface,” Azula breathed, making to keep running only to realise that Sokka had stopped and was wearing a pleading expression. 

“We still don’t know when the next eclipse is gonna happen,” he said.

“We will find out somewhere else,” Azula replied, struggling to stay upright now that the library was shaking yet more violently. 

“No, we won’t,” Sokka replied, “if we leave this place, we’ll never get the information. Come with me to the planetarium…please Azula?”

Azula wanted to say ‘no’ but it was painfully obvious that the warrior had a point.

“Momo, go with the professor,” Azulasaid and the lemur obediently flew from her shoulder, “Aang, can you distract Wong Shi Tong?”

“I can try,” the air nomad agreed but Sokka already led Azula the way they came.

The owl swooped back up and Momo had to knock a book from Zei’s hand to get him to take note of the danger and keep running.

S

“What’s going on?!” Katar asked urgently as she rushed to the side of the straining earthbender.

“I know what you know!” Toph bit back.

Katara scrambled to make sure she had her water pouch and prepared to suggest that she should go up to check on the rest of their team, but fate had other ideas.

Accompanied by an ominous whooshing that could be heard over the grumbling of the sinking library, three plumes of sand were getting closer to the two benders.

Toph growled, detecting yet more activity through the fuzz and dug her feet into the sand as if it would make the image clear.

She pressed her lips together, pushing her right hand deeper into the stone so that she could flick her left out, vaguely blowing sand at the sand gliders that was just coming to a stop, but the attack blasted between their newest enemies.

The weight of the library felt as if it were about to break her arm from its socket, so she yelped and hastened to push both hands in for extra support.

The five sandbenders barely reacted to Toph’s attempt to defend them, instead honing in on Appa, who was growling threateningly. 

“Don’t let go, I got this,” Katara assured, water streaming from her pouch as she squared up to the sandbenders.

The five men tilted their heads simultaneously, almost creepily with the covered faces, but Katara didn’t back down. 

Two of them jumped forward, blasting two tornados of sand at the waterbender, who slid underneath them and split her projectile into two.

The water turned into ice halfway across the distance, so they were unprepared for the weight that crashed into them.

One of them huffed, dropping sharply as the ice hit him squarely in the face, but the other was only taken aback for a moment and then proceeded to throw attack after attack at the teenager. 

Two of the other sandbenders grasped the shoulder of their third companion and pointed at Katara, urging him to join in on the barrage of sand.

Katara did her best to dodge and attack, but now that they understood that she wasn’t just some girl, they were much more prepared to fight her more vigorously. 

This left the other two men to step over their fallen comrade to approach their target.

As hoped, the Avatar was nowhere to be seen, so it was the perfect opportunity to take what they wanted. 

A Sky Bison was most definitely worth the risk if they were as extinct as they were rumoured to be!

The two of them pulled out their whips, not backing down even as Appa bared his teeth at them. 

“What’s going on?!” Toph shouted the strain clearer in her voice than ever before. 

“They’re trying to take Appa!” Katara called back, dropping to her side so that she could wrench out the water that fell into the sand when her opponent feinted to the other side, she threw it at one of them quickly enough to surprise him, however.

He dropped backwards Katara stood, the other sandbender standing between her and Appa. 

“Then do something!” Toph commanded.

“What do you think I’m doing?!” 

During their argument, Appa launched into the sky to get out of the path of their whips, but one of them wrapped around his leg before he could get high enough. 

The bison was about to yank his adversary up with him, but the other whip came up.

Unfortunately, this one missed and struck his flank.

Appa’s growl went up a pitch and he fell, pulling the sandbender holding his leg under the force.

Despite the pain crashing through him, the bison stomped at the downed man, planning to help Katara take him out. 

The masked man pulled his face out of the sand, somehow his fear still clear as he took in Appa’s open mouth hovering over him.

Another pained growl escaped the Sky Bison, however, before he could do anything just as Katara took down her third sandbender. 

The man behind him frantically flicked his whip forward, hitting Appa’s flank three times in quick succession.

He then went for one more hit at the already broken skin, deepening the wound further.

Appa’s six legs collapsed underneath him and the other sandbender stood up, now more furious than scared.

“You idiot!” he said, his rage distorted by his mask, “who will pay for it n…”

He didn’t get to finish his exclamation as water spiralled, taking down his companion and him in one fell swoop. 

“What happened?” Toph grunted, hearing the increase in Katara’s heart rate and breathing.

“They hurt Appa,” Katara replied, unable to register her victory, she only had eyes for Appa who was growling lowly with each breath he took.

S

Azula and Sokka sped across the crackling walkway, passing multiple streams of sand until they made it back to the calendar mechanism. 

Slightly winded, Azula watched the warrior take the lever and asked, “are you sure this is worth the risk?”

“If this thing can project when the next eclipse is, then it absolutely is,” Sokka said, already checking two dates as he spoke.

“And you’re going to check every single day?”

“I don’t need to,” Sokka replied, adjusting the wheel again, “we just need to check every date before Sozin’s Comet, because after that…well try not to think about that.”

Azula scowled at him but was inclined to agree that it was best not to think about that.

Instead, she helped him by turning the wheel, both absorbed by the moving of the sun across the cracking ceiling.

“Come on, eclipse,” Sokka murmured, finding it hard to hold onto hope with each attempt.

At last, though, the room dimmed again as the sun was masked.

“That’s it! The solar eclipse! It’s just a few months away,” Sokka said gleefully, scribbling the date down with rapid reverence, “got it, let’s get to Ba Sing Se!”

“Just a few months away?” Azula repeated quietly but recovered quickly enough to follow Sokka’s path towards the exit. 

S

Without any means of gaining the professor’s attention, Aang settled for distracting Wong Shi Tong, an endeavour that was greatly helped by Momo.

No matter how much Aang called the spirit’s name or bet him he wouldn’t be able to catch him, Wong Shi Tong was smart enough not to target a non-corporeal being.

This was where Momo came in.

He got into the knowledge creature’s line of sight so that Zei could hide behind a bookshelf.

He narrowly avoided each snap of the beak with a squeak.

“At least I’ll have one specimen to add to my collection,” Wong Shi Tong glowered as Zei peaked out from the shelves.

“Hey!” Aang called over, pretending to enter a stance even though they both knew that he could do nothing.

The owl drew himself up and openly laughed at the past Avatar.

“Even if you could touch me, I have studied every style of airbending, some I’m sure even you haven’t heard of,” he said.

Aang stayed in position, holding the owl’s gaze, achieving the exact result that he was hoping for.

From the ceiling, Azula dropped rapidly on her glider, her descent aided by the warrior gripping it at her back.

He jumped off, letting out a scream as he brandished a book that smacked across Wong Shi Tong’s face.

His feathery form crashed down to the walkway.

“That’s called Sokka style,” he celebrated as Azula landed next to him, “learn it.”

Azula stared at him until the satisfied grin fell away as Momo hopped up to the Avatar’s shoulder.

The warrior was briefly embarrassed but recovered to lead the way over the owl’s prone body and towards the rope.

Sand poured down exponentially now but he still let Azula go up the rope first.

Once they were halfway up, Sokka stopped upon realising that there was no one behind him.

Zei was still at the bookshelves, now sitting among a pile of books and scrolls with a wistful look about him even as the sand covered his reading material.

“Wait! Professor, let’s go!” Sokka shouted.

Zei hugged one of the books.

“I’m not leaving,” he replied, “I’ve spent too long trying to find this place. There’s not another collection of knowledge like this on earth. I could spend an eternity here.”

“Come on!” Azula urged her hesitating companion as the feathers started moving on the walkway.

Wong Shi Tong soared at the rope, forcing Sokka to let go.

Azula caught him by his hand, though, and soared them both up through the exit, the owl’s screech following them back into the desert.

The pair rolled across the sand, allowing Toph to release the stone with a heaving sigh, which was quickly followed by a loud crash as the library of Wong Shi Tong officially became inaccessible to the physical world. 

“We got it!” Sokka announced, helping Azula up so that he could jump up and down and hug her, “there’s a solar eclipse coming. The Fire Nation’s in trouble now!”

This gave Azula the chance to take in the area.

Among the broken sand gliders, five of the masked men from the oasis lay unconscious in a circle around a tired but relieved Katara.

“What happened?” Azula asked while Toph clapped her strained hands together in an attempt to get the feeling back.

Toph blew out a breath and said, “it’s a good thing you left your girlfriend behind.”

Azula hoped her face showed how impressed she was, but based on Katara’s frown, there had to be something else.

“They tried to take Appa,” Katara explained, “they had whips…”

Azula drew her eyebrows together and looked at the Sky Bison.

For the first time, she noticed that he was lying on his side, Aang stood before him inspecting him more up close.

From this distance, Azula could easily see his reddened fur.

The churn of worry that exploded in her stomach didn’t only come from Aang.

S

Zuko wasn’t completely sure how it was that anyone in Misty Palms Oasis would help himself and his uncle get to Ba Sing Se.

Nor was he completely happy with their current course of action. 

Iroh insisted that it was important for Fire Nation fugitives to be behind the most secure stronghold in the Earth Kingdom. 

Despite his reluctance to hide away, he agreed to follow the man. 

After the life-altering revelation, he couldn’t expect him to go at it alone again. His uncle may have promised that he could be patient when it came to Lu Ten, but he could see him doing something less measured if he were left to his own devices. 

With the man currently fast asleep the night before they planned to set off on their extensive travel route, however, Zuko saw a chance to do the thing that was keeping him from sleep.

He slipped away onto their ostrich horse, disregarding the heavy rain hitting the dilapidated house that was also the source of his current insomnia. 

With each step that his mount took, Zuko felt his masked anger from hours earlier returning to him.

It took him about an hour to find a storm that could provide him with what he needed.

Lightning was very essential to prove that he was ready to redirect it. 

For another hour, the rain-drenched the young prince, who stared up to the darkened clouds with his jaw clenched. 

As lightning struck a mile ahead of him, words finally burst out of his mouth, “You’ve always thrown everything you could at me! Well, I can take it and now I can give it back! Come on, strike me! You’ve never held back before!”

The clouds rumbled over him, taunting him for the lack of electrical release and tears streamed down Zuko’s cheeks. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine- The Serpent’s Pass 

Under regular circumstances, Team Avatar would have no problem getting from the buried library of Wong Shi Tong to Ba Sing Se.

They probably would already be there talking to the Earth King about potential strategies for the next ‘Darkest Day in Fire Nation History’.

With Appa’s laceration only partly healed (Katara did what she could, but she was only a master healer when it came to humans), it was simply impossible to move with that kind of haste.

Frankly, it was a miracle that the bison was able to move at all, but it seemed imperative to first get out of the desert.

They certainly did not have the necessary supplies to make camp in the sand for the time that it would take to allow Appa to fully heal.

After an arduous week, made all the more infuriating by a certain member of their team complaining, Appa landed upon the first patch of green that they encountered, letting out a roar that was somewhere between pained and relieved. 

Taking this as her queue, Katara hopped down with water pouch in hand.

She found the patch of missing fur to be less painful to look at each day, but it still wasn’t great.

Right now, it was made worse by the sand embedded around the skin.

If she could see the frowning airbender at her side, she would have attempted to say something optimistic, but as it was, she just set about laying the glowing water onto the Sky Bison.

Appa hummed in appreciation, but he still sounded very much exhausted.

Up in the saddle, Sokka pulled down the parchment he had been furiously writing on (stopping only occasionally to ask for Princess Azula’s input) and looked around as if suspicious of their inexplicable proximity to the ground.

“Have we stopped again?” he grumbled.

Azula stretched and nodded, hopping down to join her girlfriend, grimacing at the sight that met her even though she was aware of Aang’s presence.

“Appa needs to rest properly Sokka,” Katara replied to her brother dangling from the saddle, still wearing a shocked expression, “we should be grateful that he got us this far…”

As the waterbender spoke, she pulled the healing substance back to reveal a cleaner wound and Appa’s legs crashed out from underneath him, finally giving in to his need for sleep.

“I would be more grateful in Ba Sing Se,” Sokka shot back, “can’t we find some nice people to leave him with and come back after…”

“We’re not leaving Appa with strangers,” Azula interjected, her hand stopping short of stroking his fur.

Silence passed over the team, even Aang looked at the Avatar in surprise.

Azula stepped away from the bison and said, “We can go to Ba Sing Se in a few days, it won’t make a difference.”

Sokka, who had joined them in jumping from the saddle with Toph, replied incredulously, “of course, it will, we need to make plans, get forces in place. Do you have any idea how long it will take to do this right? One wrong move and will miss our chance to take the Fire Nation down…”

The warrior paced as he ranted, so he didn’t notice his sister taking the Avatar’s arm and whispering, “Hey, I think I’ve sat for too long, you want to go for a quick walk?”

Azula lifted her face, revealing the downturn of her lips that she had been trying to hide and nodded.

By the time Sokka turned, he discovered the couple were more than a few metres away.

“Hey!” he called, “we still need to…”

“Let ‘em go,” Toph said, stopping him from chasing the pair, “we can find some food.”

This caught Sokka’s undivided attention and meant that Toph didn’t have to mention the very quiet, shaking breath she had detected when the insensitive teen said ‘Fire Lord’.

S

A horn rang above Zuko, but the banished prince barely flinched.

He was too focused on the calm waters ahead of him.

After weeks of travelling that ended in some secretive man providing him and his uncle valid tickets to Half Moon Bay, Zuko was sure that he should be grateful to be on this boat

It was taking him and his uncle to the safety of a stronghold, to the place where they were least likely to be captured by the Fire Nation.

Relief was not what was flowing through his veins, however.

Their current plan felt far too much like giving up.

It had already been unlikely that he would find the Avatar outside the Fire Nation.

What were the odds that he would encounter his sister in Ba Sing Se?

With his uncle’s new mood, his half-hearted playfulness, Zuko had yet to verbalise any of this.

Surely they wouldn’t spend too long in Ba Sing Se?

Zuko knew from experience that it took a lot for Iroh to give up on someone he cared about.

The scarring portion of his chest would be highly unlikely to deter him from trying to get through to Lu Ten.

The issue was that Zuko also knew how patient his uncle could be.

Who knew how long he would be in this city?

Surely the Fire Nation would eventually make it through that wall?

None of this needed to be mentioned to his uncle who was also staring at the water.

Iroh confirmed that he was thinking exactly what Zuko guessed as she said pensively, “who would have thought after all of these years, I’d return to the scene of my greatest disgrace as a tourist.”

The lack of mirth in his voice had Zuko frowning as a thought hit him.

Part of that disgrace must have included his son’s ‘death’?

It was for this reason that Zuko allowed himself to complain, figuring that it would serve as a good distraction for the older man.

“Look around. We’re not tourists, we’re refugees,” Zuko said bitterly and then took a savage bite of the lump of ‘meat’ they had been provided upon boarding, he retched rather than swallowing and spat it out, “ugh! I’m sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I’m tired of living like this!”

Iroh tilted his head, preparing to tell him that complaining would be of no help, but another smooth voice joined the conversation”

“Aren’t we all?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow at the other teen who paused very briefly when their eyes met.

The scar was far more interesting than the familiar shade of his eyes, however, so he continued, “my name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot.”

“Hey,” Smellerbee said, Longshot offering a deep nod.

“Hello,” Zuko replied, trying to hide his interest.

He didn’t do a very good job apparently since Jet took a step towards him, wearing a scheming smile.

“Here’s the deal. I hear the captain’s eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn’t seem fair does it?”

Iroh glanced down to the ‘food’ his nephew was holding, now also interested.

“What sort of king is he eating like?” the former general asked.

“The fat, happy kind,” Jet replied, satisfied to see a touch of drool gather at the corner of the man’s lips, “you want to help us ‘liberate’ some food?”

Zuko swung his rotten meal into the waters below and said, “I’m in.”

Jet smirked triumphantly. 

S

Katara reached a point where she was always confident in ascertaining what was on her girlfriend’s mind.

After the information they stole from Wong Shi Tong, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why the princess was so withdrawn. 

Normally, she would train during the times that she didn’t want to talk, but that wasn’t as easy in the desert.

Now that they were once again on solid ground, Katara had to take the opportunity to get her to talk before she descended into hours of rigorous practice.

During their short walk thus far, however, Katara had not been successful at finding words.

They passed over an increasingly green meadow with their hands joined, Azula staring straight ahead at the sun high in the sky. 

Every-time something to say came to the waterbender, she got distracted by Azula’s face.

After a week in the desert, the princess perhaps didn’t look her best, but to Katara, she was as beautiful as ever.

A part of her wished that she wasn’t the Avatar.

It may make it unlikely that they would have met, but at least she would be safe.

At least Katara wouldn’t have to think about how she would live the rest of her life if Fire Lord Ozai were to win.

But she couldn’t think about that, which was what she told herself whenever the thought crept up on her.

She had to believe in Azula which brought her back to her current conundrum. 

She needed to make sure that the Avatar wasn’t assuming that the eclipse would mean her end.

There was also the painful memory of the only time she’d witnessed the princess cry.

This gave Katara the motivation she needed to pull Azula to a stop.

The Avatar squinted and looked to Katara.

Being away from Sokka did help her nerves somewhat, but there was still a lot on her mind. 

She successfully pulled off a small smile that she hoped would assuage the waterbender’s worries.

Unfortunately, she also knew her girlfriend well enough to guess what she was about to say, especially when she took her other hand and softened her gaze.

“I know Sokka’s been talking a lot, but I wanted to say…” Katara started.

Azula took in a hard breath through each word but didn’t have to find a way to convince Katara that she was fine.

“Please don’t!” a female scream passed over the hill to them.

Katara let go of the Avatar’s hands and they both rushed towards the hill without the need for discussion.

On the road at the bottom of the other side, it became clear that their assistance was very much necessary.

A couple were faced with four soldiers, one of them grasping the man’s forearm with a bag on the ground being engulfed in flame.

He was obviously terrified but was standing squarely in front of the pregnant and tearful woman.

“Travellers are not permitted to go this way without papers,” the soldier sneered, “can’t have Ba Sing Se overrun…”

“We’re not going to…” the man tried but stopped when the soldiers ignited flames in his free hand.

“Run!” the man shouted to the pregnant woman who remained rooted in her spot, tears flying through the air as she shook her head.

The fire didn’t make it to the man’s skin, however, as they were suddenly extinguished. 

The soldier frowned, letting go of the forearm to properly inspect his hands, but the ground split under him, forcing him to fall face first.

The other three soldiers started forward but two of them were blasted back with streams of water and the final one was felled by a strong gust of air.

The couple turned, not expecting to find two teenage girls leaving their bending stances.

The man rushed to support the woman who was holding her stomach, but moved past his surprise to address them, “thank you.”

Katara and Azula approached, both of them glancing over to make sure that the Fire Nation soldiers were firmly downed.

“Are you going to Ba Sing Se?” Katara asked kindly.

The woman sniffed and replied, “We were trying to, but we didn’t expect a checkpoint so far from Half Moon Bay…it’s hopeless now, they’ve destroyed our tickets…”

She indicated the smouldering bag.

“We’ll help you,” Azula announced before the man could try to comfort her.

The couple visibly relaxed, unaware that their saviour was more relieved to have someone else in need for her girlfriend to worry about for a while.

S

After some argument, it was agreed that Sokka would walk a few miles to the nearest town to refill their supplies.

Toph stayed back with their sleeping bison.

Azula was right, none of them wanted to leave Appa alone and laying against one of his legs gave the earthbender the perfect vantage point to feel his breathing.

Unfortunately, not much time had passed until the calm atmosphere was shattered by a high-pitched voice, strained with effort:

“They’re still not back?!” Sokka shrieked.

Toph sighed, reluctantly sitting up to face the warrior, feeling the ground vibrate under the weight he dropped onto it.

“We’ve been in the desert for a week, can’t you give them a break?” she asked.

“There’s no time for that…we have to…” Sokka tried, drawing himself up as more air entered his lungs in preparation for another rant.

“Sokka?” Toph asked, catching him off guard.

“What?”

“Shut up.”

Sokka deflated, officially unimpressed as he also huffed.

“Why can no one see how important this is?”

“I don’t know, I agree with her,” another voice said and both Toph and Sokka jumped up to face the source.

A young woman was crossing the grass with a serious expression on her face. 

Seeing that she was wearing green rather than red had Sokka forgetting that he wanted to try and find his boomerang, but he still stood protectively in front of Toph.

He recognised the style from the village.

There had been several young women in the green armour milling around.

He hadn’t thought much of it seeing as the villagers appeared to have no issue with their presence. 

Now that one of them had followed him, he was more than suspicious.

“Is there a problem?” Sokka asked, searching for any sign that this arrival was preparing for an attack.

“Yeah, I got a problem with you! I’ve seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you’re hilarious and let me guess, you’re travelling with the Avatar,” she said, pointing at him.

Sokka narrowed his eyes, inspecting her face more critically.

“Do I know you?”

She stalked towards him and replied, “you mean you don’t remember? Maybe you’ll remember this!”

Sokka raised his hands but couldn’t do anything before her lips pressed to his cheek.

“Suki!” Sokka called instantly and brought her into a hug.

“Sokka, it’s good to see you!” she replied, returning the embrace, shooting a smile to the frowning pre-teen she didn’t recognise, “where’s Katara and Azula?”

“They went for a walk,” Sokka grumbled while Toph rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Before Suki could question the bitterness, Sokka said, “you look so different without your makeup! Were the others in the village Kyoshi Warriors too?”

Suki followed the warrior closer to Appa, nodding as she went, “yeah. After you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and got to Half Moon Bay. With all of the Fire Nation checkpoints, we were getting fewer and fewer people. We’ve been trying to figure out how to help the refugees in this area, but the road is too dangerous…”

Sokka nodded along as her eyes travelled over to Appa, obviously thinking that they had been given a solution in the form of a sleepy bison, but frowned at the patch of fur that was missing.

“What happened?” she asked, genuine concern in her voice.

“Some sand benders tried to take him,” Sokka replied, “We’re heading to Ba Sing Se in a few days if the refugees can wait…”

“I thought we didn’t have enough time to wait?” Toph interjected.

Sokka held up his hands, shaking his head, “a few days won’t make a difference, the Earth King will still be there.”

“That’s great!” Suki grinned, not watching Toph rolling her eyes again and slumping back against the Sky Bison’s leg.

“Actually we can’t wait,” Katara announced from behind the group.

Sokka and Suki turned to find the Avatar and waterbender were accompanied by an exhausted married couple. They were briefly surprised to see the Kyoshi Warrior but didn’t so much as get the chance to say ‘hello’ as Suki rushed over to the couple.

“Than! Ying! I’m so relieved you’re both okay, we feared the worst…” she breathed.

“It almost happened,” Than replied, still supporting his unsteady wife, “if it wasn’t for the Avatar and her friend…”

“We told you we would find a way,” Suki said, almost admonishing, “if you had just waited…”

“We did not have time,” Ying sighed, “We want our child to start their life away from this war…”

Suki sighed too, it was a fair hope.

“Is there another way to Ba Sing Se?” Azula asked and Suki turned to the Avatar.

If she was talking to anyone else, she wouldn’t have thought to mention the possibility. 

In the short time, she’d known Azula, however, she had reason to believe it was viable.

“There’s the Serpent’s Pass,” she replied.

“And why isn’t this pass guarded by the Fire Nation?” Sokka asked.

“There’s no reason to, only the truly desperate take that deadly route,” Ying explained fearfully.

Azula glanced at Appa, deciding it would only be cruel to wake him up for this task.

The bison deserved a proper rest after a week of agony that he was probably still experiencing.

“Are you truly desperate?” Azula asked and the couple nodded hesitantly after exchanging a look, “then we will escort you through the pass.”

Sokka hung his head, no longer sure why he was shocked by this kind of thing.

Being in a relationship had changed the AVatar’s view on helping complete strangers who were currently being rewarded by a proud grin from his sister.

This arrangement led to the group preparing for the journey, Suki gathering a collection of Kyoshi Warriors to stay with Appa while the rest of the team gathered only their most necessary resources.

Azula and Katara finished explaining bison care to the warriors (Azula ignoring the additions that Aang was trying to make) and then led the way for their party to follow.

They got a few steps away before Suki, now dressed in her more traditional armour, ran after them waving.

“I’m coming too!”

Azula nodded and carried on walking, but Sokka stopped, “are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Suki, thoroughly disappointed, replied, “Sokka, I thought you’d want me to come.”

“I do, it’s just…”

“Just what?” she asked, glancing at the others who were already a good few steps away, apparently having absolutely no issue with her presence. 

Sokka’s eyes flicked to the sky but replied, “nothing, I’m glad you’re coming,” and then dragged his feet along. 

S

With Suki’s directions, it didn’t take long to find the entrance to the Serpent’s Pass, nor did they run into a single Fire Nation soldier.

At the entrance, Sokka faltered to take in the perfectly normal path ahead of them.

“This is the Serpent’s Pass? I thought it would be a little more wind-y, you know, like a serpent. Huh, I guess they misnamed it,” Sokka pondered, the sign above the broken wooden frame worn but still readable being the only indication that there was anything notable.

“Look at the writing,” Ying said, huddling into her husband, “how awful!”

“What does it say?” Toph asked.

“It says ‘abandon hope’,” Katara replied.

“How can we abandon hope? It’s all we have!” Ying sniffled.

“We don’t need hope, it’s a waste of energy,” Azula said, adjusting her bag before passing through the entrance.

Katara drew her eyebrows together.

It was yet more evidence that they needed to talk about how the Avatar was feeling, but Azula had managed to create a scenario where that was more difficult than it could have been, so she mumbled, “if you say so,” and followed her girlfriend. 

The further they got into the pass, the more precarious the terrain got, but it was nothing that they couldn’t handle.

Certainly, it didn’t warrant abandoning hope.

As they walked, carefully avoiding falling into the water sprawled out next to their narrow path, Suki explained:

“The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumour has it they’re working on something big on the other side of it and don’t want anyone to find out what it is.”

As if on queue, they turned a sharp corner, to find a ship bearing the infamous insignia sailing below them.

They simultaneously closed their mouths, understanding that silence was key here, but the pass had other ideas.

The flimsy support under Than’s feet crumbled and he yelped, finding himself suddenly in a sharp drop.

He didn’t get too far, however.

The rock jutted out to catch him and Toph raised her palm, bringing him back level with the rest of the group.

“I’m okay,” he assured his wife, but his knuckles turned white under his tight grip on the wall.

Sokka kept his gaze trained on the ship as this happened and said, urgently, “they’ve spotted us! Let’s go, let’s go!”

This urged them to slide across the ledge as rapidly as they could, while Azula hopped off it, opening her glider.

She flew straight into a fireball, her teeth gritted, but successfully pulled all of the heat away from it before it touched her and then she batted it out of the sky.

The ship had already shot off another one, though, which crashed into the mountainside, shaking their ledge hard. 

Azula gilded downwards to dispatch the attacking soldiers on the deck.

On the ledge, several shards of earth crumbled above Suki and Sokka leapt over to push her out of the way.

He braced for impact, but a part of the mountain flew out to shield him.

The warrior didn’t so much as glance up at his saving grace and launched to help Suki.

“Suki, are you okay? You have to be more careful! Come on!” he said, holding her arm and moving even more slowly.

Unheard by either of them, Toph said, imitating a deeper voice, “thanks for saving my life, Toph,” and then switching to her voice, “hey no problem, Sokka.”

At her back, Azula landed next to Katara and frowned at her earth bending master.

Her water bending master distracted her from asking what she was talking about as she wiped her palm against some soot on her cheek. 

S

It took a few hours to make it to something that resembled real ground and the group collectively agreed it was time to set up camp.

Azula finished setting out Katara’s sleeping bag as the other teen watched Than assist Ying in sitting down, his hand passing over her stomach with a loving smile on his face.

Azula turned, expecting the usual ‘thank you’ from her girlfriend, but frowned when she found her staring. 

“It must be amazing to have kids,” Katara mused wistfully.

Azula carried on frowning, thinking back to her discomfort around Tom-Tom and she asked, “you want children?”

Before Katara could reply, Sokka said, “don’t you think you should focus on saving the world first?” 

Katara prepared to tell the lounging warrior to be quiet, but Sokka noticed something out of the corner of his eye that had him stop picking his ear.

He scrambled past the couple to swipe up Suki’s sleeping bag.

“Suki, you shouldn’t sleep there. Who knows how stable this ledge is, it could give way at any moment!”

He moved the roll a few metres inward and Suki curled her lips in visible annoyance.

“Sokka, I’m fine, stop worrying!” she said, close to begging. 

“You’re right, you’re right, you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself!” he said, still positioning the sleeping bag as he spoke, but leapt up to her, “wait! Oh never mind, I thought I saw a spider, but you’re fine.”

Suki’s nostrils flared but he continued setting up her sleeping bag for her.

S

Under the cover of moonlight, Zuko felt an exhilaration that hadn’t been available to him since the events of the North Pole.

Granted, the stakes were much lower than they were at Zhao’s fortress.

He was only helping a band of misfit teens in their quest for edible food, but it was exciting to finally have a task again.

Right now, he was crouched at the back of the ferry with the others, waiting for the coast to clear.

It didn’t take long.

Zuko, Jet and Smellerbee crept across the space until they made it to the locked store area.

As planned, Jet swept the lock away with the hooks of his swords and Zuko gathered the food.

“Guards coming,” Smellerbee whispered from the corner. 

On queue, Longshot blasted an arrow attached to a rope into the roof above them.

This gave the trio a path away from the armed man rounding the corner.

Longshot released the arrow the moment they were safe, leaving no evidence for the oblivious guard. 

S

Since discovering her Avatar status, Azula hadn’t gotten a great deal of restful sleep.

She could usually get some though.

That night, she hadn’t bothered to try.

She waited for the others to doze off and then snuck away.

With her tighter deadline, she saw a better way to use her time.

Armed with her girlfriend’s water pouch, she found the most suitable portion of the mountainside and proceeded to close her eyes.

Heat sprung from her hands with ease and she manipulated the flames into a circle, which spun around for a couple of seconds before she shifted stance to turn the circle into the air.

This was relatively easy, but she drew her eyebrows together, trying to imagine how to fluidly switch from the form Aang taught her to those from Toph, 

The elements were complete opposites, just as the stances were.

With some real effort, she changed the entire demeanour of her body to rip up some earth, which crunched into smaller portions of rock to twirl around with none of the elegance of air.

Azula sighed, deciding that it would still be difficult to go from earth to water. She was getting better with water, but it still didn’t feel especially natural to her. 

With her eyes still on the element under her control, she addressed the companion she knew was always there to listen to her.

“How am I supposed to switch between four completely different elements?”

“No idea,” Aang replied, “you’ve gotten closer than any Avatar since Roku if that helps though?”

Azula dropped the earth and passed her hand over her face, mumbling, “not really.”

“Azula…” Aang started but didn’t finish since a pair of footsteps approached, filling him with relief.

When it came to cheering Azula up, it was undeniable that a certain waterbender was the most qualified. 

This was why he de-materialised and had the current Avatar facing her girlfriend. 

She tried for a small smile, but it came out more strained than ever before, Katara didn’t struggle with her smile.

Upon waking to find Azula and her water pouch gone, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what she was doing.

She did decide that she couldn’t go back to sleep, though, maybe they could finally talk?

“Couldn’t sleep?” Katara asked.

Azula shrugged and replied, “I thought it would be a better use of my time to practice switching between elements.”

“You have plenty of time for that.”

“No, I don’t!” Azula said, with more edge than intended. 

“Azula,” Katara sighed, breaching the distance to place her hands on the other teen’s waist, “everything will work out, you just have to have hope.”

“My father once told me that hope is what the weak cling to when they have nothing else,” Azula said lowly, her gaze glued to Katara’s hands.

“Your father is an idiot.”

Azula’s eyes shot up to the confident blue pair, shocked for only a moment before an involuntary laugh escaped her mouth and she smiled. 

It also allowed Katara to pull her down so that they were both sat on the rocky ground, with Azula leaning against her as she said, at least letting her vulnerability show for only Katara:

“Whether it is the eclipse or the comet, how could I be ready? He’s so…powerful…”

“You only think that because he’s your father, Azula. He may be the Fire Lord but he’s no different to anyone else we’ve defeated, we will find a way like we always do,” Katara said, tangling their fingers together, growing more sure as she spoke.

For what felt like a long time, Azula was silent.

When she lifted her face, Katara detected that there was still some tired concern there that wouldn’t be gone until the eclipse had passed.

The princess knew more about Ozai than any of his other adversaries and Katara was sure that the mere thought of seeing him again had to be nerve-wracking. 

She certainly wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case following what she and Sokka witnessed in the temple of the Fire Sages. 

As much as it hurt Katara’s heart, Azula was truly afraid of her father.

It was for precisely this reason that she was aware that her girlfriend would not want this conversation prolonged and why they stayed in a safe silence for more than a few minutes staring out to the sprawling view.

Neither of them suggested returning to camp since alone time was so hard to come by.

It did occur to Azula, however, that this was the reason that they hadn’t talked about another sore subject. 

Katara had done such a good job at settling her concerns, so Azula decided it was finally time to return the favour, even if she already knew that the admission would be uncomfortable. 

With a deep breath, she sat up to fully look at her suddenly confused girlfriend and said, “about Ty Lee…”

Katara also sat up straight but was more than interested. 

She’d been waiting for this since Omashu and had resisted every urge to pry that came with each encounter with the acrobat. 

“Yeah?” Katara replied.

“You asked me what she was to me…before…”

“So she wasn’t just your best friend?” Katara asked, a little too hastily. 

With any other subject, she wouldn’t assume that Azula was lying, but there was something about Ty Lee that made her a little crazy. 

Maybe it was because she got to know the princess for so much longer.

Azula, unaffected by the accusation, took Katara’s hand, holding it between them.

“She was,” she replied, “she joined the circus before I turned twelve and…it would have been illegal…”

“Oh…yeah…” Katara said, sheepishly. It was still insane to think that Azula would have once thought their relationship to be worthy of death, but there was also a good reason that the Fire Nation couldn’t be allowed to win this war, “so…is that what you wanted to tell me?”

Azula shook her head, looking down.

She wasn’t at all sure that she was capable of wording this correctly. 

Still, she had to try. 

“I loved her before I understood what it meant,” she said.

“And now?”

Azula looked up again, searching for any sign that she’d pissed her girlfriend off, but she found her usual level of compassion with perhaps a mix of indignation. 

“Well now…” Azula replied meaningfully, holding her gaze and playing with her fingers, “now I understand.”

Katara blushed, the indignation officially disappearing, Azula now sure that she’d found the correct words, but she continued:

“I wasn’t old enough to figure out how I felt, even if it were legal. Things are different now, we’re completely different people.”

Katara dragged her teeth over her bottom lip, reluctant to make her planned reply, but fair was fair.

“I’m sorry for all of the jealousy…she just gets to me. The way she looks at you…” Katara said, getting increasingly annoyed as she pictured the expression that said that Ty Lee thought she knew what was best for the Avatar. 

Azula’s eyebrows rose.

Briefly, it hit her that the suggestion that Ty Lee had feelings for her didn’t have her freaking out like it once would have.

All it did was make her wonder what it was that Ty Lee could have liked about the Princess Azula she knew.

“Well, she’s not as smug as Jet…” Azula replied seriously but laughed when Katara swiped at her knee.

She grabbed the assaulting hand just as Katara moved forward, so they accidentally fell back.

This left Azula laying on the rock with Katara hovering above her.

Though the positions were reversed, Katara grinned, remembering the last time this happened.

Unlike that instance, however, there was no hesitation in connecting their lips.

The couple kissed languidly, until Katara dropped down, her head on the Avatar’s chest, allowing them both a sight of the stars that covered their moment.

Katara released a content sigh as Azula’s hand came to her waist and she snuggled in closer. 

Azula, who was not thinking about bending at all, breathed in Katara.

Not sure when they would next get a chance like this, however, she asked, “Were you serious about wanting to have children?”

Katara propped herself up but was still as close to her as possible.

The new position allowed her to see the pinch in Azula’s face and she couldn’t help but laugh at her.

How could a person be willing to stoically take on an entire fleet, but be visibly concerned about theoretical children?

“Way, way in the future, Azula. We have much bigger things to think about now,” Katara replied, laying her head back down.

The thought that she didn’t know what the Avatar’s future held popped into her head again, but hearing her heartbeat helped with that anxiety.

She did hear that increase in the rate that Toph mentioned the week before.

It wasn’t just because of her touch right now.

While Katara wondered if the last Avatar would ever get to the age to think about children, Azula was imagining the reaction of Chief Hakoda. 

Surely he wouldn’t enjoy the chance that his grandchildren could be related to the Fire Lord?

Then there was the fact that she hadn’t exactly had the best parental role models herself.

Could she ever really change that much?

But Katara was right, they had much bigger things to worry about.

Katara brought her hand over to grip her girlfriend and then turned her face up to her, wearing a half-smile, knowing exactly how to interrupt their separate mental spirals.

“I bet you were an adorable kid.”

The waterbender grinned at the sudden redness on the Avatar’s face.

The comment succeeded in banishing the pit in Azula’s stomach temporarily and also reminded her that there was a better use of their limited alone time, so she placed her lips against Katara’s again.

The kiss was slow and passionate.

A promise to discuss a real future once the ending of the 100-year war became a reality. 

S

In another part of the pass, the other sleepless member of Team Avatar stood, staring at the glowing moon bearing down upon him. 

He, at last, had something else to think about other than what they could say to the Earth King, but it was a topic that he didn’t want to verbalise.

How would he explain the guilt that banged in his chest a few seconds after seeing Suki again?

Should he even be feeling this guilt?

Looking at the moon didn’t give him any answers as much as he was sure she would. 

“It’s a beautiful moon.”

Sokka tensed but swivelled his head to the approaching Kyoshi warrior.

“Yeah, it really is,” he replied, imagining how beautiful her face was.

Suki didn’t detect the strange longing in his voice and stood next to him.

“Look, I know you’re just trying to help, but I can take care of myself,” Suki said after a brief silence. 

Sokka frowned, now giving her his entire attention, “I know you can.”

Suki crossed her arms, “then why are you acting so overprotective?”

Sokka bit his lip but still replied, “it’s so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened at the North Pole and I couldn’t protect someone. I don’t want anything like that to ever happen again.”

Suki, with her arms, still crossed, allowed her annoyance to melt into affection and said, with increasing mirth, “I lost someone I care about. He didn’t die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart, brave and funny.”

Sokka’s eyes widened and he demanded, “who is this guy? Is he taller than me?”

“No, he’s about your height.”

“Is he better looking?” Sokka asked, stepping closer to the other warrior.

“It is you, stupid!” Suki said, unable to hold in a laugh at his sheer ridiculousness. 

“Oh,” Sokka said, dropping his hands to his side. 

Suki did the same as their faces were drawn together, Sokka looked away at the last moment and said, solemnly, “I can’t.”

“I’m sorry,” Suki rushed out, already going over their conversation to see what had gone wrong.

Sokka swallowed, already walking away under the watchful glow of the moon, “no you shouldn’t be.”

S

Back on the ferry, Zuko heard appreciative sounds all around as he chewed slowly.

The food wasn’t actually on a king’s level, but it at least did not make him ill before he even swallowed it.

His uncle seemed to enjoy it, sitting in the circle with the Freedom Fighters.

Unable to sit in silence, the former general said, “so, Smellerbee. That’s an unusual name for a young man.”

The teen stood with clenched fists and words tore from her mouth, “maybe it’s because I’m not a man. I’m a girl!”

Smellerbee stormed away, not halting as Iroh called desperately, “Oh, now I see. It’s a beautiful name for a lovely girl.”

Smellerbee didn’t get too far away before Longshot blocked her path, placing a hand onto her arm, his face blank but meaningful. 

“I know, you’re right. As long as I’m confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think. Thanks, Longshot,” she said and he inclined his head.

Behind this interaction, Jet finished distributing their spoils and sat down in front of his accomplice. 

“From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can’t wait to set my eyes on those giant walls,” he said, glancing at the happy refugees all around them.

“It’s a magnificent sight,” Iroh confirmed.

Jet tilted his head, “so you’ve been there before?”

“Once,” Iroh said, looking down. He couldn’t help but flashback to the utter sorrow he’d felt the last time he laid eyes on that wall. Now it would remind him of an entirely different kind of failure, so he added, “when I was a different man.”

Jet nodded in understanding that his age did not justify and replied, “I’ve done some things in my past that I’m not proud of, but that’s what I’m going to Ba Sing Se for a new beginning. A second chance.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Iroh said kindly, “I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances…I have to.”

Zuko stopped chewing to look at his uncle.

By the look on his face, he knew exactly who it was that he was hoping to give a second chance to. 

Zuko couldn’t see under what circumstances that could happen. 

S

The next day, the Avatar’s travelling party came across the next bump in their relatively uneventful journey through the Serpent’s Pass.

A significant portion of their path was obscured below sea level.

Fortunately, for this particular group, water was not an issue for at least two of them.

This was why only Ying and Than displayed any sign of despair before Katara announced, “everyone, single file!”

They all obliged as Katara let go of her girlfriend’s hand and added, “Azula, I need your help.”

Azula inclined her head and floated to the back of the line as Katara parted the water, allowing them to walk along the ocean floor.

Once they were all firmly on their manufactured path, Katara let the water come back together while Azula created an air bubble that allowed Katara to focus on bending the water right in front of her. 

While the benders worked, the rest of the group walked despite their awe, but none of them was more fascinated than Momo.

The lemur hopped off Azula’s shoulder to enter the water in pursuit of a fish but promptly jumped back onto the Avatar, gripping her neck tightly.

Azula would have complained that he was dripping onto her, but a shadow passed over their bubble, making the entire group falter to look at the threat.

“What is that thing?” Katara asked, splitting her attention between bending and worrying.

No one got the chance to so much as guess before the shadow darkened and crashed through their path, breaking the bubble.

Toph reacted the quickest, raising the ground and giving them a platform to float on top of the water. 

This vantage point allowed them to see the owner of the shadow was actually green and too long to measure. 

The serpent creature circled them and Sokka said, with his eyes widened, “I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent’s Pass! Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!”

“Just because I live near the Unagi doesn’t mean I’m an expert!”

Sokka scrambled around for some option and wrenched the cowering animal away from Azula.

Holding Momo above his head, he said, ”Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you.”

“Sokka!” Katara admonished and Momo scratched at his hand so he could fly away. 

The serpent flew down at their platform but was thrown off course by a ball of fire.

Azula then opened her glider and said, “Katara, get them across!”

The waterbender nodded, but Azula was already in the air, manoeuvring around her largest enemy yet.

Katara took a calming breath, trying to block out the screeching of the serpent that wanted to eat her girlfriend. 

With a considered raise of her hands, she created a thick path of ice to the other side of the pass.

Not bothering to announce her intention, Katara bent the water to carry her over to Azula who just dove under a particularly hard snap of teeth.

She fling up two swathes of water, which froze fruitlessly.

The serpent got out of it only one moment later. 

Their group below passed over their path, with one, very nervous, exception.

“Toph, come on, it’s just ice!” Sokka called over.

The earthbender tentatively pawed at the cold surface and then backed up, “actually, I’m going to stay on my little island where I can see!”

The serpent made a much stronger argument than Sokka could have by smashing its head through the back half of the island. 

“Okay, I’m coming!” she corrected and slowly slid onto the ice, getting none of her normal vibrations from it.

“You’re doing great! Just follow the sound of my voice!” Sokka encouraged. 

“It’s hard to ignore,” Toph replied.

“You’re almost there!”

Sokka was once again proved wrong as the serpent slammed into the ice after Azula swiftly changed direction to lead the creature into a more open space. 

Both benders were too preoccupied with their battle to notice Toph being dropped into the water.

“Help! I can’t swim!” Toph shouted, struggling to stay above the waterline.

“I’m coming Toph!” Sokka replied, but another member of their party dove in before he got the words out.

“Help!” Toph begged.

The earthbender just dropped below the water as her saviour reached her and pulled her up safely in strong arms.

“Oh Sokka, you saved me!” Toph said, kissing their cheek in her gratitude. 

“Actually, it’s me,” Suki said, holding in a laugh.

“Oh…well…” Toph chuckled, embarrassed, “you can go ahead and let me drown now.”

Suki giggled and took off towards the shore.

Across the water, they all notice that the serpent had officially lost the upper hand.

He was caught in a whirlpool created by Azula and Katara, until it slammed into the wall, rendering the sea monster unconscious. 

The fierce serpent flopped into the water and Azula dove to catch Katara around the waist to then soar back up to avoid the strong wave they caused.

They landed to a chorus of cheers from their companions.

Bolstered by this victory, they made short work of the remaining portion of the pass.

When the wall of Ba Sing Se came into view, they all breathed a sigh of relief. 

“There’s the wall!” Sokka said, “now it’s nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se.”

Again the universe responded to the warrior’s claim.

Ying groaned in pain, clutching her stomach, “oh, no!”

Sokka’s eyes widened and he asked, “what’s wrong?”

“The baby’s coming!” she said brokenly, her husband now supporting her.

“What? Now? Can’t you hold it in or something?” Sokka said desperately, glancing at the wall that was still a distance away. 

“Sokka calm down,” Katara interjected, “I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home.”

The warrior gripped his sister’s forearms and said in a frenzy, “this isn’t the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is a real…human…thing…”

Katara pulled her arms away, “it’s called a baby and I helped her deliver plenty of those too. Azula, get some rags, Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make me an earth tent, a big one.”

Toph did so straight away while Azula and Sokka peeled off to do their tasks. 

“Suki, come with me,” Katara finished and the two of them led Than and Ying inside.   

S

Zuko found himself alone for the first time since the failed attempt to be struck by lightning.

His uncle was snoring soundly below deck, which gave Zuko the chance to get away to watch the water pass below the ferry.

At last, he didn’t have to dwell over every one of his uncle’s expressions, wondering if he was thinking about Lu Ten.

The chances were that he probably was.

Perhaps he should be wondering how his father could do something so horrible, but was he treating his sibling any better?

Despite all doubts to the contrary, he was still mostly certain that he would trade his sister for his honour. 

Strangely, though, that thought had him wondering whether Ba Sing Se was the better option. 

Could a comfortable city life be preferable to the constant threat of failure back at home?

Zuko closed his eyes and glided the pad of his thumb along the rough ridges under his eye.

Things like that didn’t happen in Ba Sing Se, right?

Footsteps on the deck had the banished prince whipping around, expecting some threat, but he relaxed upon finding Jet walking towards him.

“You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were,” the Freedom Fighter said and Zuko gripped the railing, his knuckles turning white under the pressure while he imagined the easiest way to take Jet down. It became clear that wouldn’t be necessary though, “you’re an outcast, like me. Us outcasts have to stick together, we have to watch each other’s back. Because no one else will.”

Zuko nodded slowly and replied, “I’ve realised lately that being on your own isn’t always the best option.”

Jet tilted his head but said nothing further. 

S

Back in the Serpent’s Pass, heavy breathing was interpreted with screams of agony.

Azula and Katara stood awkwardly side by side, both unsure what it was that they should be doing.

In the tent, Katara spoke with confidence, “you’re doing great, Ying. Sokka, where’s that water? Now ready to push. One…two…”

The warrior cringed at Azula but she gestured towards Katara’s voice and he reluctantly entered the tent.

“…Three. Push!”

Ying released a particularly loud grain and Sokka dropped back out of the tent, momentarily unconscious. 

“It’s a girl!” Katara exclaimed to the exhausted glee from the new parents.

Toph exited the tent to help Sokka up and asked, “so, you want to go see the baby, or are you going to faint like an old lady again?”

“No, no,” Sokka replied, his legs steadier than his voice, “I’m good this time.”

Azula crossed her arms, shifting from foot to foot.

“Aren’t you going in?” Aang asked.

“I don’t need to…”

“Azula, you have to come see this,” Katara called out, effectively changing the Avatar’s mind.

She paused briefly but ultimately walked in the direction of her girlfriend’s voice, which had been obscured by a wailing that somehow reached a new pitch as Azula crossed the threshold,

On one of their sleeping bags, Ying, whose reddened skin was covered in a layer of sweat, held up a bundle in the crook of her arm, making sure that her crouching husband could see her face.

“She sounds healthy,” Toph commented.

“She’s beautiful,” Katara said, smiling as she looked only at the Avatar.

There was that discomfort that had been present with Tom-Tom, but there was also something else below her small smile that didn’t require identification, it was proof that she was starting to understand.

Beside her, Aang was wearing a full-blown smile.

After a hundred years, it was more than nice to see such physical evidence of the good that the Avatar had achieved. 

“What should we name her?” Than asked, stroking his daughter’s cheek with a single finger.

“I want our daughter’s name to be unique, I want it to mean something,” Ying replied, unable to look away from the small features and the aptest word came to her, “how about Hope?”

“That’s the perfect name. Hope,” Than said with a contented sigh.

Team Avatar, and Suki, waited for a couple of hours to make sure that Ying was able to walk the remaining distance before they turned to retrace their steps.

Now that the couple was safe, Azula could again feel concerned for Appa radiating from her past life.

Even she could admit that it was weird to be away from the giant fluff ball for so long.

Still, he was probably safer than he had ever been in the desert and the Kyoshi Warriors were aware of what to feed him should he wake up.

They returned to find their Sky Bison as well looked after as they all expected.

To be safe, they gave him a few extra days of rest and healing before they began organising the very eager refugees.

There were no complaints in the least when they were told they would be escorted by the Avatar.

Sokka grinned as he approached one Kyoshi Warrior in particular while the rest of them arranged things on Appa.

Suki freely hugged him and said, “Sokka, it’s been really great to see you again.”

Sokka frowned, realising that he had assumed she would be coming along. 

“Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye? Don’t you want to come with us?” 

“I would love to but I have to stay with the other Kyoshi Warriors. I only came the other day to make sure you got through the Serpent’s Pass safely,” Suki said affectionately. 

“So you came along to protect me?” Sokka asked.

Suki nodded and said, figuring that she wouldn’t get the chance to address this for a while now, “listen, I’m really sorry about the other night. We were talking…and saying things…and I just got carried away and before I knew it…”

Her lips were covered, effectively cutting her off.

Sokka pulled back and said, “you talk too much.”

An hour later, Appa took off while the refugees waved gratefully at their saviours who had led them to the safety of this village while they searched for another way to their ultimate destination.

The warriors peeled off to find more people to help.

Soaring over the Serpent’s Pass was an oddly satisfying exercise in a way that none of their refugees understood.

They were all preoccupied with their experience of flying anyway and then came the miracle that was the legendary wall.

Their elation was only momentary, however, as all present noticed the red that did not match their symbol of hope.

In fact, the insignia was a wholly different symbol to all of them.

This was only made worse by the massive machine that it was printed on.

A tubular mass of Fire Nation metal chugged towards the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. 

Chapter Text

Chapter ten- The Drill

The terrain below the legendary outer wall of Ba Sing Se was blighted by multiple dots of Fire Nation tanks, grumbling across the ground.

At the centre of the small convoy, a much larger piece of machinery lumbered towards the Earth Kingdom stronghold. 

The Drill released spurts of steam as it elongated, digging spikes into the dirt below and a suspended pod rose upwards, giving those gathered in the control centre a good view of the city wall.

Mai lounged on a chair beside an empty throne, Ty Lee sitting cross-legged on the other one.

The throne itself had yet to be actually sat on by its pacing owner.

Despite the emanating anxiety from Lu Ten, War Minister Qin addressed him with confidence. 

“This drill is a real feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city. The Earth Kingdom will finally fall and you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of your uncle. Nothing can stop us.”

Lu Ten curled his lips and turned away from the War Minister. 

As Ty Lee pulled down the periscope, Mai tilted her head at what had to be the first genuine expression she witnessed on her old friend’s face. 

After a moment of thought, she slipped off her seat so that she could go over to him.

Quietly, she asked, unsurely, “are you sure you want to be here?”

“Conquering Ba Sing Se will give us a seat of power to find Azula from,” he replied. 

It was one of the reasons he volunteered to help the War Minister after all other trials had gone cold, but seeing his father had reminded him of the other major reason he had to do this. 

He couldn’t tell either of his companions what happened in that abandoned town, however, so it seemed easier to stick with his original explanation.

It also provided an excellent distraction from thinking about Iroh and how it hadn’t felt as good to injure him as he often dreamed it would. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Mai said, uncharacteristically concerned in her voice, “the last time you were here…”

“I wasn’t held here, I have no issue with this,” Lu Ten said, remembering to plaster on his charming smile, “on the contrary, it will be the perfect opportunity to regain the honour that my father relinquished when he retreated.”

Mai narrowed her eyes.

There was something disingenuous about the statement that she couldn’t place. He said it so calmly considering the gravity of what he was suggesting. 

Before she could question him further, Ty Lee called over, “Should we do something about those muscle-y guys down there?”

Lu Ten strode over to take the periscope from the acrobat, giving him a view of an earthbending troop attempting to create trenches whilst under attack from the Fire Nation forces assigned to the ground level.

“Please,” Qin laughed, pretending he hadn’t heard the whispered conversation, “the drill’s metal shell is impervious to any earth bending attack.”

Lu Ten pushed the periscope up and said, “I’m sure it is War Minister Qin, but I’m sure you’d agree it’s best to air on the side of caution, Mai and Ty Lee, would you mind assisting our troops?”

Ty Lee eagerly hopped up from her seat while Mai looked at him, sure that the suggestion was born of a desire to end the questions. 

Finally, she pulled out a knife and twirled it around her finger.

At least fighting would momentarily distract her from her desire to learn more about the new Lu Ten. 

S

Just out of range of the drill’s periscope, Appa soared over to the wall, giving all of its riders a clear view of the impending threat.

It was clearly stronger than the last attempt the Fire Nation made on the city and Azula had a strong suspicion who had to be involved.

The wall shook as the six-legged creature landed, the soldiers running up and down it suddenly stopping to take up defensive stances. 

Azula didn’t hesitate to hop down to them, neither she nor her team was affected by the glares surrounding them, though the collection of refugees did cower in the saddle. 

The soldiers did relax ever-so-slightly upon registering no black and red among them.

One of the guards did demand, “what are you people doing here? Civilians aren’t allowed on the wall.”

“I’m the Avatar,” Azula replied, “take me to the person in charge here.”

The guards looked at each other, silently agreeing that it was best to oblige the authoritative teenager.

Team Avatar was promptly led along the wall, while the refugees were taken in the opposite direction to have their papers checked. 

Appa hovered alongside them until they reached a roofed section held up by tall arches. 

After brief introductions, General Sung clasped his hands and leaned back in his chair behind the desk that parted them.

Happily, the general said, “It is an honour to welcome you to the Outer Wall, young Avatar, but your help is not needed.”

Azula crossed her arms and repeated, “not needed?”

Calmly, the man inclined his head and replied, “not needed. I have the situation under control. I assure you the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall. Many have tried to break through it, but none have succeeded.”

“That’s not true,” Azula replied, “my uncle broke through it.”

“Your uncle?” Sung asked, his hands falling from his lap.

“General Iroh…the Dragon of the West,” the Avatar replied.

The general’s brow furrowed, taken aback, “so you really are the Fire Lord’s daughter? I thought that was a ridiculous rumour…”

“What’s ridiculous is that you’re worried about the Avatar’s father with that thing coming at your wall,” Toph interjected, Azula nodding in agreement.

Sung shook his head, releasing himself from the chair to lean onto the table. 

“Your uncle technically got in but he was quickly expunged,” he said seriously, “just as this attempt will be. To stop it, I’ve sent an elite platoon of earth benders called Terra Team.”

“That’s a good group name,” Sokka hummed, “very catchy.”

Azula turned to watch the indicated battle scene.

Down below, the platoon stood against a number of tanks easily swatting them away, utilising a variety of earthen spikes.

A flurry of knives flew at them, though, forcing the men to redirect their shields to two new assailants.

As the second girl flipped over to punch one of them at a section of their back, Azula looked back to the general.

“I don’t think your team stands a chance, general,” the Avatar said, not bothering to witness Ty Lee kicking two men simultaneously or Mai downing another two.

The general’s thin line of mouth was all the evidence that she needed that the Terra Team had been defeated.

He rounded the table, considering what just happened until the energy burst out in the form of flailing arms, “we’re doomed!”

Sokka swiftly slapped his face sharply.

“Get a hold of yourself, man!”

Sung rubbed at his cheek and said solemnly, “you’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Maybe you’ll like the Avatar’s help now?” Toph suggested.

With his shoulders slumped and head bowed, in Azula’s direction, he replied, “yes please.”

Team Avatar was readily led further down the wall and left with their better view of the drill.

After a solid ten seconds of staring at the lengthy monstrosity until Azula said, “how are we supposed to stop it?”

She and the rest of them (including Appa and Momo) looked at the warrior expectantly.

“Why are you all looking at me?” Sokka asked.

“You’re the idea guy,” Toph replied.

Sokka sighed heavily and said, with his hands in the air, “so I’m the only one who can ever come up with a plan? That’s a lot of pressure.”

“And the complaining guy,” Katara deadpanned.

Sokka placed a hand to his chin, thoughtfully, “that part I don’t mind.”

S

After a few days' delay, the ferry finally made it to Ba Sing Se.

Zuko knew he should be relieved to once again be on dry land but the ticket woman scrutinising their papers had him drawing his mouth into a thin line. 

Iroh, at the side among the milling refugees, managed a charming smile at the woman.

He may have been less mirthful since recent revelations, but he could still be more personable than his sour nephew.

The ticket woman looked up from the tickets and to their owners as she said, “so, Mr Lee and Mr Ummm…Mushy, is it?”

“It’s pronounced Mushi,” Iroh ventured kindly. 

She grimaced and asked, “Are you telling me how to do my job?”

Iroh stepped up to the booth, placing his arm upon its surface and replied, “uh, no, no. But may I just say you’re like a flower in bloom? Your beauty is intoxicating.”

The ticket woman drew back, blush sparkling along her face, “you’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome. Welcome to Ba Sing Se!”

She stamped both tickets, wearing a lingering grin. 

Once they were far enough away, Zuko scrunched his nose and said, “I’m going to forget I saw that.”

On a platform above, Jet tilted his head and watched ‘Lee’ and ‘Mushi’ weave through the crowd.

To his team gathered at his back, he said, “I think Lee would make a good Freedom Fighter. He’s just trying to find his way in the world, like us.”

“You don’t know anything about him, Jet,” Smellerbee chimed in.

“I know he didn’t get that scar from a waterbender,” Jet replied, determination in his tone. 

Smellerbee, remembering the last time he’d heard that one, suddenly became uneasy and said, “Besides, I thought we were going straight now.”

“We are,” Jet insisted, “and the new Freedom Fighters could use a guy like Lee. What do you think, Longshot?”

The lanky member of their group stared intently into their leader’s eyes.

Jet nodded slowly and replied, “I can respect that.” 

S

Meanwhile, on the outer wall, Team Avatar was making themselves useful as they waited for inspiration to strike.

This mainly consisted of watching Katara giving her healing services as Sokka and Azula shared fruitless ideas to take the drill down. 

General Sung, who had no ideas to offer the Avatar, was particularly attentive to the young waterbender’s work.

The soldier beneath her hands had his brow scrunched but there were no physical signs of where the pain was coming from, it was the same with the entire row of downed troops.

“What’s wrong with him?” the general asked, “he doesn’t look injured.”

“His chi is blocked,” Katara replied, letting the glowing water slip away.

It had done all it could.

“What happened?” Sung asked, addressing his man directly.

“Two girls ambushed us, one of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn’t earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away,” the man explained, his shame preventing him from making eye contact with his superior.

Katara grimaced as the man confirmed it.

She did manage to stop from groaning, however, even though she would never be in the mood to see the girls he was referring to.

General Sung stared at her as she explained, “Ty Lee. She doesn’t look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak points. It’s like she takes you down from the inside.”

Azula scrunched her eyes as Sokka burst out with high pitched sounds, breaking their quiet discussion:

“Oh, oh, oh, oh!” he squeaked, practically jumping up and down.

“What?” Azula asked.

“Katara just said it! That’s how we’re going to take down the drill! The same way Ty Lee took down all those big earth benders!” Sokka announced, enthusiastically making jabbing motions to emphasise his point.

“By hitting its pressure points!” Toph added with an appropriate amount of excitement.

Azula peered over the wall, confident for the first time since they’d laid eyes on the engine powered weapon.

“We will take it down from the inside,” she said. 

S

With efficiency, Team Avatar gathered in the trench left behind by the Terra Team.

From his crouched position, Sokka peeked out, once again confirming that the coast was clear.

The warrior came back down and nodded to the others.

“Once I whip up some cover, you’re not going to be able to see,” Toph announced, “so stay close to me.” 

The earthbender didn’t wait for any encouragement and stepped out of the trench with an impactful stomp, throwing up a mass of debris that clouded around the drill.

“Run!” Toph’s voice broke through the dust and the group raced into it.

Inside the command module, Ty Lee was still peering through the periscope searching for any sign of activity.

The vision was progressively obscured by dark particles.

“Hey, look at that dust cloud,” she said, catching the attention of Mai, Lu Ten and Qin, “it’s so…goofy…” she added, slipping into a spaced-out expression, making bursting motions with her fingers, “poof.”

Lu Ten scowled directly at the War Minister.

“Don’t worry, your highness, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Qin assured, though his eyes flicked over to the window nervously.

Lu Ten continued to scowl.

Outside the drill, Team Avatar had made it through the debris to their target.

Toph pulled the ground apart with two swipes of her hand and said, “everyone in the hole!”

They followed her without question, the fissure closing above their heads.

“It’s so dark down here, I can’t see a thing!” Sokka whined as they foraged forward through the tunnel.

“Oh no,” Toph said sarcastically, “what a nightmare!”

“Sorry,” Sokka replied sheepishly.

Neither Katara nor Azula said a word but they both rolled their eyes.

Dimness crept into the pitch darkness until Sokka was able to see an opening up ahead.

“There!” he called out, pointing to the opening up into the drill they’d all hoped would be there.

The warrior encouraged the Avatar to go ahead with Katara close behind her.

With her hands around her girlfriend’s waist, she launched them both up into the machine.

Once sure thatKatara was steady on her feet, Azula dangled down to offer a hand to Sokka.

“Toph, come on!” Sokka called down to the earthbender who kept her arms crossed obstinately,

“No way am I going in that metal monster, I can’t bend in there. I’ll try to slow it down out here,” Toph replied.

“Okay, good luck!” Sokka said.

Once the trio disappeared into the metal tube, Toph pushed up a rock to wedge into the drill’s path, but it took all of her efforts and only barely interrupted its trajectory.

Katara and Azula did not feel the effects of this as the pair followed Sokka through the inside of the weapon and into a room littered with values and steaming pipes from which Azula could sense pure heat.

“I need a plan of this machine,” Sokka mused, unable to make sense of anything around him, “some schematics that show what the inside looks like, then we can find its weak point.”

“Well…a machine of this size must have engineers,” Azula replied thoughtfully and understanding passed over the warrior’s face, “do you think we can somehow get their attention…”

As she spoke, Sokka released his machete and smacked it roughly into one of the valves that began spurting out steam.

“What are you doing?” Azula hissing, preparing for an onslaught of soldiers to come for them.

“What do engineers do when something breaks, Azula?” Sokka replied, waving his machete.

“They come to fix it!” Katara replied and Azula reluctantly nodded.

She couldn’t think of anything better as it stung to see such beautiful machinery damaged.

This was why she hid with the Water Tribe siblings until boots hit the metal walkway as a masked man was drawn to the faulty pipe like a spear-wielding moth.

Katara popped up once he was close enough to the steam and said, brightly, “hi.”

The man first froze figuratively, but the steam became ice, making his freezing quite literal.

Sokka hopped over to him and took the rolled-up scroll he was unintentionally holding out to his assailant.

“This will work, thanks!” Sokka said.

The engineer watched helplessly as the trio ran away and his spear clattered pathetically to the walkway.

Sokka, Azula and Katara found a corner of the engine room that was unguarded so that they could stay the plans.

“It looks like the drill is made up of two main structures,” Sokka said, pointing to the detailed image as he did, “there’s the inner mechanism where we are now and the outer shell. The inner part and the outer part are connected by these braces. If we cut through them, the entire thing will collapse.”

Katara and Azula nodded in agreement, the latter of the pair feeling the rush of relief that came with having a plan. 

S

Back with the refugees, Zuko and Iroh sat among clusters of them, anxiously waiting for their train, 

The two Fire Nation royals remained silent while the others talked at a low buzz, that was until someone slipped down beside the younger of the pair.

“So, you guys got plans once you’re inside the city?” Jet asked.

Zuko held a sigh but was interrupted by the loudest person in the waiting area.

“Get your hot teat here! Finest in Ba Sing Se!” the tea seller with a cart called over.

This seemed to give Iroh energy, which he used to wave frantically, “Ohh! Jasmine please.”

The tea seller obliged with a wide grin, accepting the coin that was given in exchange. 

Iroh settled back to take his sip and grimaced hard, “eh! Ugh, the coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it! What a disgrace!” the former general exclaimed.

Zuko brought his fingers to his temple, pressing them into the pressure that suddenly appeared there. 

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Jet asked, figuring Lee’s annoyance would help him get his undivided attention.

Zuko dragged his fingers down his face, as he let out a sigh but still stood to follow him away from his uncle.

Zuko crossed his arms and looked at the other teen expectantly.

“You and I have a much better chance of making it in the city if we stick together. You want to join the Freedom Fighters?” Jet pitched.

Zuko shook his head and replied quickly, “thanks, but I don’t think you want me in your gang.”

Jet drew his eyebrows together and moved closer as he insisted, “come on, we made a great team looting that captain’s food. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees.”

Jet indicated the high volume of displaced people.

“I said no,” Zuko replied, already walking away.

“Have it your way,” Jet mumbled, still watching his potential recruit walking away.

His eyes narrowed, however, upon seeing steam hovering over Mushi’s ‘coldest tea in Ba Sing Se’.

Zuko registered the same and returned his gaze to Jet in time to see his eyes forming slits before he returned to his Freedom Fighters.

Zuko sat and angrily knocked the tea from his uncle’s hand.

It may have been the first time he had witnessed a glimpse of joy on his face since everything changed, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

“Hey!” Iroh called, reaching out as if he could pick up the downed beverage.

The banished prince gritted his teeth and whispered in hiss, “what are you doing fire bending your tea? For a wise, old man, that was a pretty dumb move!” 

Iroh sniffed in response, finding it difficult not to get emotional over the spilt tea.

S

Sokka pried open a metal door and then flicked his head in all directions before he led Azula and his sister onto the beam supporting a few braces.

The warrior was drawn to the metal, crestfallen as the reality became clear to him, “wow, it looks a lot thicker in person than it does in the plans. We’re going to have to work pretty hard to cut through that.”

“What’s this ‘we’ stuff? Azula and I are going to have to do all the work,” Katara replied.

Sokka turned and gestured to himself, “Look, I’m the plan guy. You two,” he made rapid chopping motions, '' cut stuff up with water bending guys,” then struck a heroic pose, “together, we’re Team Avatar!”

Katara exchanged a look with her girlfriend who promptly moved to the other side of the brace, ready to accept the water that Katara dragged out from her pouch.

Time passed, and another bead of sweat was added each minute that they worked, but this effort was not at all reflected in the slice that went only halfway through the brace.

“C’mon team. Don’t quit now!” Sokka encouraged, fist-pumping the air.

“Grr,” Katara garbled, rounding on him.

Azula dropped her stance and wiped her forehead.

“I mean,” Sokka said, his face dropping under his sister’s glare, “you’re almost there.”

“No, we’re not,” Azula interjected, “we won’t have time to finish one before the drill reaches the wall at this rate.”

Sokka was about to retort that they at least had to try, but a shuddering had them all looking at the ceiling.

“Maybe we took it down?” he asked hopefully, to find Azula staring back with only doubt in her eyes.

This was reinforced by a voice filtering through the crackling speakers, “congratulations crew! The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!”

The crew’s cheers erupted throughout the drill, only three of its passengers looking at each other in horror.

“This is bad, really bad,” Katara said, the cheers dying down.

“You have to keep going,” Sokka said desperately, pointing at the half damaged brace.

“It won’t work Sokka,” Azula replied, her mind running through the potential options.

Nothing viable came to mind as Sokka flung himself at the brace and started pushing with all his strength.

Finally, Azula reached the earth bending concepts drilled into her through weeks and inspiration struck as Sokka keeled over, panting hard.

“We don’t need to cut all the way through,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Katara asked and her exhausted brother peeked up. 

“According to Toph, you don’t need to use all of your strength to take down an opponent. It’s just like Ty Lee’s technique, a few accurate hits to break their stance to use their own strength against them,” Azula explained.

Katara nodded along, excited despite the mention of the acrobat.

“So, we just need to weaken the braces instead of cutting all the way through,” Katara clarified.

“Once that is done, I can go to the top of the drill and give it a final blow,” Azula added.

Sokka stood, his hand in the air again, “and boom! It all comes crashing down!”

Azula counted the braces, hoping there was enough time.

She simply could not allow the Fire Nation into Ba Sing Se.

As the trio worked efficiently inside the drill, on ground level, Toph was clenching her teeth.

She was continuing to push a beam of rock into the machine, but could barely keep her feet from sliding under the force of the drill moving ever forward.

She still strained on but said, “c’mon princess, hurry up!”

S

Lu Ten watched boulders crash into the top of the drill through the periscope.

He expected to feel the urge to smile but he couldn’t bring himself to.

Not when he was looking at the wall.

A voice crackling had him pushing the device away from his face.

“War Minister, an engineer was ambushed! His schematics were stolen!” an engineer said.

Qin’s eyes widened, his shock not helped by the voice of a second engineer.

“War Minister, a brace on the starboard side has been cut clean through! It’s sabotage, sir!” 

Lu Ten turned to his elite teams lounging on their mini thrones.

“Perhaps we should investigate, minister?” he said as if this was actually a suggestion.

At the end of the line of damage, Katara and Azula were finishing up with their water slicing.

“Good work, Team Avatar! Now Azula just needs to…” Sokka began but was cut off by his horror, “duck!”

Azula rushed over to pull Katara out of the way of the orange flame since Lu Ten changed its trajectory at the last possible moment.

Apparently remembering that he was not facing Azula alone this time.

Lu Ten tried not to openly sneer.

If he had known Azula was so near, he would have spent less time listening to the War Minister’s blustering.

Still, he had to try and keep up his air of civility, even if he stood over his target.

Azula kept her hand on her girlfriend’s waist as her eyes passed over Lu Ten (figuring he was in his charming mode right now) and settled onto Ty Lee.

Seeing her for the first time since she verbalised how she once felt was strange but there was an entire city that had to be her priority.

The jealous sneer on the acrobat’s face broke the strange spell, especially when Ty Lee said, “please Azula, just come home! Your father misses you!”

Azula let Katara go and replied, “really? He didn’t mention that the last time we met, he was busy aiming lightning at me!”

This took Ty Lee back and she looked to Mai to see that she was thinking the same thing.

What could the peasants have said to Azula to convince that it happened if it hadn’t?

It was already a stretch to believe that Azula could be lied to, but something so specific?

“She’s just confused,” Lu Ten said dismissively and Azula’s eyes shot to him.

The Avatar’s eyes narrowed and Ty Lee used the opportunity to jump down, blocking the exit.

No matter who was lying, Ty Lee knew what she ultimately wanted, so she said, “I miss you too.”

Azula turned, the proximity gave her the first real look at her friend since she inexplicably left for the circus.

Under normal circumstances, she would have happily hugged her but things were very different now.

This was only compounded by Lu Ten shouting, “chi block her!”

Ty Lee held up her closed fists, but couldn’t stop them from shaking as Azula held eye contact.

There was something so soft in those previously conniving embers that were disarming.

The effect was only made worse by Azula directly addressing her, “I can’t go back, Ty Lee, he’ll execute me.”

“Do it now!” Lu Ten shouted again. 

Ty Lee continued to gaze at the princess, searching for any sign that she needed help. Some signs that she could use to justify attacking someone she cared so much about.

She saw only an old friend who had changed due to circumstances.

Her balled fists shook for another second before she let them relax and hung her head, “I can’t.

Lu Ten sneered again, but at least one member of his team took action.

Mai threw a collection of knives towards the Water Tribe Siblings.

This gave Azula an excuse to break eye contact with the acrobat. 

At the last moment, she created a funnel of air to catch the projectiles so that they clattered far away from the members of Team Avatar.

Azula also used the brief chance of calm to grab Katara’s hand so that they could dash past Ty Lee as Mai and Lu Ten jumped down to the walkway. 

Azula let go of her girlfriend’s hand when they reached a fork in the corridor and the waterbender stopped running to give her a frantic look.

“This is the way to the top. I still need to stop the drill,” Azula breathed, “the two of you need to go that way to get out.”

Sokka attempted to pull Katara to the indicated way but she resisted, so he sighed.

They didn’t have time for one of their long, loving goodbyes.

He soon discovered that he didn’t need to worry about that as his sister pulled her water pouch to throw to the Avatar.

Azula was already halfway down the corridor, so Katara shouted, “wait,” and she turned in time to catch the pouch, “you need this more than I do!”

Katara received a grateful smile in return before Azula dashed away, so the waterbender allowed her brother to lead her in the opposite direction. 

The very next second, Lu Ten reached the same intersection with Mai and Ty Lee behind him.

Internally, he was furious but berating Ty Lee would hardly help him with his ultimate goal.

It was clear to him that he couldn’t have them around for his next step, at the very least he could keep using them to even the plane field. 

He thrust his hand out towards the exit and said, “you two follow them, I’ll try and reason with Azula again.”

Mai and Ty Lee did so without question.

It was easier to justify going after the Water Tribe Siblings rather than their friend.

At the end of the corridor, Sokka was struggling against a hatch that remained obstinately closed.

Katara read the sign above it as he started to make progress.

“Slurry pipeline? What does that mean?”

The hatch finally slid open and the warrior showed her the canal churning a light brown substance, “it’s rock and water mixed together. It means our way out.”

The pair jumped down into it, each eager to no longer be in this drill.

The flurry of daggers aimed at their backs dug into the top of the hatch. 

Mai and Ty Lee made it to the pipeline a second later to peer into the slurry.

“Ugh, disgusting,” Mai moaned. 

“C’mon,” Ty Lee said, preparing to hop down, “you heard Lu Ten, we have to follow them!”

“You can go if you want, just because you’re jealous of that peasant…” Mai began.

“I’m not jealous!” Ty Lee retorted though she was blushing. Having been up close to the Avatar wasn’t helping, she really did look good despite all of the differences, “I’m just trying to help Azula.”

“Well do what you want, I am not going into that wall of sludge juice,” the older teen replied, shivering for emphasis. 

Katara and Sokka dropped out of the end of the canal, the pair of them rolled across the ground, officially free of the drill.

Katara recovered though in time to bend the slurry, effectively stopping the pursuit of Ty Lee who became trapped in the plugged entrance.

Katara’s mouth twisted into a satisfied smile, but she managed to resist the ‘circus freak’ taunt that popped into her head. 

Ty Lee could have tried to take Azula back to the Fire Nation, after all.

Sokka fist-pumped the air, also excited to feel the breeze against his face, “Katara keep that up. The pressure will build up in the drill. Then when Azula delivers the final blow, it will be ready to pop!”

Katara carried on bending the slurry as Azula raced past a line of engineers inside the drill and Sokka continued with what he thought were encouraging words.

“Good technique, little sister! Keep it up! Don’t forget to breathe!”

Katara’s eyebrow twitched and she bit out, “you know, I’m just about sick and tired of you telling me what to do all day! You’re like a chattering hog-monkey!”

“Just bend the slurry woman!” Sokka screamed, to be swiftly silenced by Katara flicking her free hand to hit him with the muck.