Author's Note: Yeah. I'm alive. School. Enjoy.

"So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive..."

"What do you want, Bei Fong?" Azula did not relax her stance.

The young earth bender shifted on her feet, clearly displaying her discomfort. Her blind eyes stared aimlessly past Azula.

Hazarding a glance away form her foe, the Fire Nation princess observed that there were plenty of sizable rocks in the nearby woods. There was no reason she could see why Toph wasn't attacking. Still, the younger girl stood with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Well?" Azula was not known for her patience.

"I don't know, exactly," Toph said finally. "Zuko got drunk the other night and–"

"Zu-zu talks too much." Azula snarled.

"Yeah," Toph replied, rubbing her head, "probably. Especially when he can't make up his mind whether he wants Katara or Aang."

Azula raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing in return.

"Anyway, he was telling us stories about when you guys were younger… Said he misses that Azula." Toph's hesitation was visible. "What happened to her? To you? Why did you change?"

Mentally, Azula reeled, but she gave nothing away. "I grew up."

"That's what I figured you'd say," Toph sighed. She turned to go, appearing not to care that Azula could still attack at a moment's notice.

Azula battled against everything that told her this was a bad idea. "Wait. Why do you want to know?"

Toph stopped at Azula's words. Without turning she said, "Because I don't think we're all that different. And yet we're worlds apart. I don't understand it, but I want to."

This shook Azula out of her fighting stance. "What's the point in knowing? It wouldn't change anything." Her tone held the smallest bit of sincerity, which almost made it more telling.

"Maybe not," Toph turned, "but what if it did?"

Azula considered this silently. Before she could speak, Toph continued.

"You want to be Fire Lord, right?"

"Yes."

"And we both know Zuko isn't cut out for it."

"What are you getting at?"

Azula watched warily as Toph walked towards her.

"Realistically, what's more likely? That Aang will defeat your father or that the Avatar will fail to restore balance for the first time in history?"

Toph stared at where she figured Azula's eyes were.

Unwilling to betray her father to an earth bender, Azula chose her words carefully. "What is most likely is that our navy will continue the war even in my father's absence."

"Not if you tell them to stop fighting," Toph said.

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because even Aang isn't naïve enough to think the Fire Nation will ever agree to a full surrender. When we take out Ozai, we'll still have you to deal with. And whichever noble grabs the crown after that."

Azula bit her lip, wondering for a moment if Toph was right. "So when my father and I win the war, we'll stabilize things."

Toph shook her head. "But you won't ever win. There will always be resistance."

"So what do you propose, Bei Fong?"

"Fight with us—"

Azula scoffed.

"Not out in the open. We'll be sneaky about it. When Aang defeats Ozai he'll install you as Fire Lord. You'll signal an end to the war. With the Avatar backing you, the rest of the world will, too." Toph smirked. "I trust you can handle the Fire Nation nobles?"

"Of course. It's an interesting proposal… I'll consider it."

Toph shrugged. "I'll be here again tomorrow. We'll see if you're all talk or not." She turned and walked away again. "I hope you'll be here. You're too cute to be evil."