Prologue

Azula sat quietly in her cell, hands and feet bound, as always, to prevent her from fire bending. It was uncomfortable, but by now she was used to it. More annoying were the visits from the prissy water bender, Katara. She visited often and attempted to "heal" Azula, but Azula knew there was nothing wrong with her. Well, actually, Azula always felt better after Katara left, but that just irritated her all the more because she hated the water bender, who had been responsible for Azula's downfall. The Southern Water tribe bender was really a nice person, but Azula really didn't spend a lot of time with nice people so it made her uncomfortable.

Perhaps one of these days the rest of them would decide that Azula was "all better" and let her out. Probably not though; nobody trusted her. Of course, they had no reason to trust her, but she had decided after seeing her brother a number of times in the past year that she was lucky she was not the one who had become the Fire Lord. Zuko looked tired and harassed most of the time. "Fixing" the world was not as easy as he and the Avatar had thought it would be. Well, they could have the job. She just wanted to get out of her cell and taste a little freedom again and if her carefully laid plans worked out, she would.

Sokka wiped sweat off his forehead and stepped back from Suki who smiled at him through her face paint. She was dressed in her traditional Kyoshi warrior garb and he thought she should be far too warm, but instead Sokka was the one sweating. She was very quick and had managed to hold him off as he attacked her with his wooden practice sword, deflecting his blows with her own katana and the occasional kick to the stomach.

"You are much better than the last time you visited our island," said Pione, one of the other Kyoshi warriors. Sokka had met all of Suki's friends on their first visit several years ago, but he only really knew Suki well and Ty Lee somewhat less well, since the latter had chased them around the world in the company of Mai and Azula. Sokka grimaced at the compliment. He had learned a great deal from Master Piandao, and practiced with his father during their return visit to their home in the south. Even with all that, Suki and several of her Kyoshi friends still thumped him back and forth during practice.

For two years after Sokka and Team Avatar had helped save the world from the Fire Lord, Sokka had helped rebuild his village. Even then, Aang and Katara had done most of the work, water bending new igloos homes and other buildings with the help of Master Pakku, who had married their grandma. When the Avatar had left again, Sokka had done his best to help his father lead the Southern water tribe in the absence of so many men who had died during the war. Finally, he had decided that it was time to visit Kyoshi Island. He had missed Suki and only been able to keep up with a few letters back and forth during that time.

"How about I take a turn," suggested Ty Lee. Each of the Kyoshi Warriors took a turn training with Sokka so they each had an opportunity to train against a larger swordsman. Except for Suki, Ty Lee was easily the best of the other Kyoshi ladies.

"I think that is a good idea," said Suki. She smiled at Sokka and he frowned back. Suki knew that Sokka lost to Ty Lee as much as he won. Sokka hated losing to girls.

Ty Lee took up a position opposite Sokka and immediately aimed a swift kick at his head. He moved sideways, leaning to avoid the kick and aimed his own sword thrust at his nimble opponent. She danced away, easily avoided his strike and came at him with her own blade in a flurry of quick strikes. With Ty Lee you especially had to look out for a good kick mixed in with her swordplay. After several minutes of sweating, he managed to get in a good poke in her ribs. She grunted, frowned and then congratulated him on his swordsmanship. One thing you could say about Ty Lee; she was not a sore loser.

The other girls clapped for him and he smiled. They often snickered and hid smiles when he lost, but he had to admit that he had improved a great deal since coming to the island. It was not the reason he had come, but it was a bonus. He bowed to Ty Lee first and then Suki, who returned his bow and winked where the others could not see.

"I think you have beat up on my girls enough for one day, Sokka," she said after rising. "Training dismissed." She took him by the arm and led him off to find some lunch. "Thanks for smiling through the training, Sokka. I think it is helping them." She put an arm around him once they had rounded the corner. "And thanks for coming; I missed you," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

"I hope you didn't leave paint on my cheek," he said. "One of the villagers fell over laughing the last time I tried to buy vegetables."

"I could stop kissing you," she teased.

"Oh, I suppose I can live with the occasional face paint," he said quickly. They both laughed and Sokka put his arm around her in return. He had missed Suki, too.

"It worked, Mai," said Zuko excitedly. "They reacted just the way you said they would."

"So you took my advice?" said Mai. Since becoming Fire Lord, Zuko's normally too-serious demeanor had often taken on a gloomy air that made the old Zuko seemed cheerful. Too many people saw a teen-ager and Zuko refused to use violence and intimidation to keep them in line, which was good. That technique only worked so long as you had people under your thumb. Growing up Mai had watched her mother subtly influence her father into good decisions that had made his governance of several Fire Nation colonies run more smoothly. In turned out, Zuko was very amenable to the same type of influence. In some ways, he was very humble. It was one reason she loved him.

"Of course I took your advice," said Zuko. "You give good advice don't you?"

He made it sound like an accusation. Sometimes he made her sigh all too much. But, he did listen. "Well, it should be good advice, but it doesn't always work. I hope you don't tell anyone that I gave it."

"Of course not, I'm not an idiot," said Zuko and then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. My temper is worse than ever lately. Sometimes I want to kick my uncle for convincing me that I ought to become Fire Lord."

"But you are doing a good job and I think the other nations' ambassadors are beginning to trust you," said Mai.

"If only more of the Fire Nation people believed ending the war was a good idea," he mumbled. "Too many of them liked having new land in the Earth Kingdom and they have been there so long it was home to them. They did not like being uprooted."

"The Earth Kingdom let those who wished stay," said Mai. "As long as they agreed to live by the local laws. The ones who are left believe in you," said Mai. "We'll deal with the others if they come." Zuko had told her of reports of rebel Fire Nation warriors massing somewhere and it worried, but the Fire Nation would not have to defeat them alone. At least Mai hoped not. The Fire Nation was supposedly allied with the Earth Nation and Water Tribes now, but that alliance had not been put to the test yet.

"Mai, would you like to be Queen … or Fire Lady, or whatever they call it?" asked Zuko suddenly.

Mai blinked, eyes wide. Had Zuko just … ? She opened her mouth and closed it again, thinking. "Are you asking me to marry you, Zuko?" For a guy who had been on his own for years, faced down the Avatar on several occasions, battled his sister Azula regularly and was currently the most powerful man in the Fire Nation, Zuko looked very uncertain and nervous. Mai waited patiently, regarding him with a direct gaze.

"I guess I am, yes," said Zuko.

Mai rolled her eyes. She wasn't generally given to romantic illusions, but she expected a bit more from a marriage proposal. She narrowed her eyes and spoke in her old "I'm bored out of my mind" voice. "You guess?"

Zuko flinched and met her eyes. For just a moment, she thought he was going to chicken out, but then clenched his jaw, took in a deep breath through his nose and squared up his shoulders.

"Mai, I love you," he said in a very determined voice. That seemed to take all his courage and his next statement sounded much less confident. "Will you marry me? I need you."

In all their time together, Zuko had never used the "love" word, so that was a big step. She took a sudden step closer and kissed him hard. When she stepped back again he looked bemused.

"Does that mean you will?" he asked.

"Of course it does," she said, rolling her eyes again. "You clearly need help doing your job." She smiled at him to take the sting out of her sarcasm. "I love you, too, Zuko. Are you going to ask my father's permission?"

"I should, shouldn't I?" he said nodding. "In the meantime, we have to figure out where the rebels are and what we are going to do about them?"

"And you better keep an eye on Azula, too," said Mai. "She is acting a little more … upbeat, I suppose you could say. If I didn't know better, I would say she has something up her sleeve."

"What do you know?" said Zuko harshly. "What more can we do? Should we send her to the Boiling Rock?"

"Zuko, don't get excited," said Mai. "She seems to be getting better. Maybe it is just that, but it might not hurt to be careful. She seems more … normal, of late. I think the visits from Katara are helping."

"Yeah, who would have imagined she would be so willing?" said Zuko.

"Enough," said Mai, taking Zuko's hand. "Let's go tell my parents. My mother will be thrilled." Mai's tone implied that her mother might be a little too thrilled. Oh, well, there was nothing to do but to tell them.

Toph Bei Fong sat in class and did her best not to fidget. She was still only fifteen and required to take entirely too many classes for her liking. Worst of all were the World Geography classes like the one she was now having to endure. Her teacher was dry. Like, middle of the Si Wong Desert dry.

Toph looked across at a boy who was slobbering on his desk as he sat there in a daze. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Professor Rowan, may I be excused?" she asked.

The teacher looked at Toph the way Toph looked at an insect she was about to squish. He hated interruptions. Really hated them. He also knew that Toph was likely to launch into an extended explanation of the location they were now discussing, the Fire Nation capital, since he knew she had visited and he never had. The professor rolled his eyes and nodded. He probably knew that she would not come back for the day, but they had worked out an unspoken agreement—he didn't tell her parents how much time she spent away from class and she kept telling them how much she was learning about faraway places.

"Go if you must, Toph," he said. "Remember we have a test on the new Fire Lord and his government, set to be taken tomorrow." He also knew that she knew Fire Lord Zuko personally and would pass the test without any problems.

Toph stood quickly and bowed. "Thank you Professor Rowan." Toph walked out of the class quickly and ignored the whispers at her departure. It was hard to make friends with the children her age. Toph had been out saving the world when she was twelve and the other students still acted like children. Sometimes Toph regretted the distance between her and the others, but it was there still the same.

Once outside the school yard gates, she began running, using the vibrations she felt through her feet to guide her around obstacles and down the first side street to which she came. It was still two hours before lunch and she knew The Boulder would be practicing at the Earth Rumble arena and he was always good for a few earth bending matches. She always beat him, but she also taught him everything she knew, so he was improving. She didn't compete anymore after promising her parents she would not, but she had not said anything about practicing with them.

She ran swiftly now, enjoying her longer legs and extra height that had come with all the growing she had been doing. Toph loved the wind on her face when she ran. Maybe she would even try to show The Boulder how to do a little metal bending. She doubted he would be able to do it, but he had become her best friend since returning to her home. Sometimes she wished Aang and Katara and the others would visit more often. Toph didn't have a flying bison to get her from one place to another.

No one tried to stop her as she passed through the large stone arches leading to the arena. Toph was something of a celebrity here and no one looked twice at her, though she suspected many of them smiled at her when she came during school hours. The Boulder called out to her before she found him; he had taken to sitting quietly on the stone benches while he tried to feel the vibrations of the earth as she had taught him. He was now a far better earth bender than he had been when she first fought him at Earth Rumble.

"Ditching class again, Toph?" he called in his deep voice. "The Boulder thinks that your parents will not be happy if you don't finish school."

"The Boulder can take his thoughts and stuff them up his … " began Toph.

The Boulder's loud laugh echoed across the arena as he slapped her on the back. "The Boulder thinks that Toph needs to find her friends and travel a bit more. Maybe this time you can take The Boulder with you."

Toph shook her head. The Boulder was right. She might be fifteen years old, but she had crossed the world with the Avatar and his young friends, doing nothing short of saving the world from fire. After that, school did not cut it. She did need an adventure; sooner than later.

Aang sat staring out from the vast open area on a balcony of the Southern Air Temple. Even empty of life, this place still felt like home. Appa rumbled loudly, as if he had read Aang's thoughts and agree.

"Well, buddy, it may be home but unless we can find any more sky bisons, there are not going to ever be any little Appa's flying around," said Aang. This time Appa's rumble was much less pleased. Aang knew Appa was still relatively young, but in a few more years Appa would need to find a mate. That would be a problem if the Fire Nation had wiped out the rest of the bisons.

Aang had spent most of the last two years helping the world rebuild and defeating the various Fire Nation elements that had gone rogue when they did not agree with Fire Lord Zuko's peaceful policies. That thought made Aang laugh even now. Fire Lord Zuko. He knew his friend was doing a good job as Fire Lord, but being the Avatar was even more work. This trip to the air temple had been Aang's first break in those two years. The world could get along without the Avatar for a while. It was time to find out if there were any sky bison that had survived. To do that, he would have to look in out of the way places where the news of peace had not yet circulated. He and Appa had a tough search ahead of them.

"Let's go Appa," said Aang, climbing on the sky bison. "Yip, yip."

Admiral Akihito stood on the bridge of his ship and smiled to himself. He had managed to gather nearly half of the Fire Nation ships that had not returned to Capital City when "Fire Lord" Zuko had been crowned. That boy could take any title he wished, but Akihito would never follow the sniveling teen and the admiral had gathered all the other fire nation warriors would did not intend to go back peacefully. They were hiding in an obscure bay north of the Fire Nation, not far from the Western Air Temple. Two years of patience and planning and they were nearly ready for their assault. Akihito already had an assassin in place at the royal palace waiting for the signal. Supposedly, this Zuko was quite accomplished at personal combat, but how good could he be if someone had given him a huge facial scar? Rumor had it that it had been a water bender who defeated Azula and took her captive, so likely Zuko's reputation was overblown.

The smile back on his face, Akihito finally allowed himself to whisper to himself the thought he had been thinking for these past two years.

"All hail, Fire Lord Akihito."

Azula smiled when she saw Katara walking down the hallway of the prison. As much as she wanted to dislike the girl, Azula could not help but admit that her hate had turned into at least mild admiration. After all, hadn't Katara managed to capture Azula? To do that she would have to be good. Now she was going to help Azula escape—even if the Water Tribe primitive did not know it yet.

"Good morning, Katara," said Azula in her most polite voice. Katara stared back at her in surprise and then a bit of suspicion. Azula sighed. No one seemed to trust her motives when she was trying to be polite.