Author's Note: I've decided to embark on a new journey through the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction. At the end of Season 2, the Earth Kingdom fell to the Fire Nation under a coup organized by Azula. The Fire Nation princess was able to infiltrate the Earth Kingdom capital because the Earth King did not recognize her for who she truly. But what if Katara had been there with him to "welcome" the "Kyoshi Warriors" to Ba Sing Se? I'm just kind of going to go on this what if scenario and try to show what could have happened. Thanks for reading, and as always, please review if you can! :D

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender or Avatar: The Legend of Aang and all things related are property of Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom International. I am not making any profit off of this work in any way, shape, or form.

The Fall of Truth

Chapter 1: Recognition

Katara and King Kuei descended the steps of the palace, which were restored after Toph destroyed them, with three Royal Earthbender Guards flanking them.

Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, they stepped onto the raised platform. Down the plaza, Royal Earthbender Guards lined both sides to welcome the Kyoshi Warriors.

As the three girls in ornate makeup and long robes made their way to the top of the plaza, Momo became more and more excited—and not in a good way—and began frantically chirping and flying around. Katara tried her best to calm the lemur as King Kuei turned to her side with a slight look of annoyance. However, Katara was at unease, too. There were many more than just three Kyoshi Warriors… What had happened to the others?

The waterbender decided to watch the scene closely for any 'surprises' that could be thrown at them. Ba Sing Se wasn't exactly known for its honesty, and their group had run into too many problems in the past for her to ignore her wary instincts.

By the time Katara had finally calmed Momo down, the Kyoshi Warriors had already arrived at the top of the plaza beneath the platform and had bowed.

Raising his arms in ceremony, King Kuei solemnly declared, "In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors!"

Simultaneously, the three girls raised their heads, and the leader responded with a calm and cool voice, "We are the Earth King's humble servants."

Katara's eyes widened as soon as she heard her. She'd recognize that voice anywhere! That wasn't Suki; that was… She finally understood Momo's earlier erratic behavior.

Moving swiftly, Katara brought her hands above her head and called upon the water in the moat behind her. With a complex maneuver of her hands, she brought the entire mass of water onto the three girls in front of her and froze all three in a block of ice.

Careful to keep the ice frozen against Azula's attempts to melt it from the inside, Katara turned to face King Kuei's incredulous face. "They're not the real Kyoshi Warriors!" She explained, trying to multitask even though it was becoming extremely difficult. "Look, I can't explain now, but as soon as I let go of this freeze, your guards have to arrest them. Okay? I'll explain in a minute."

King Kuei nodded and announced to all of the guards in the plaza, "As soon as she unfreezes them, detain the assailants!"

The nearest sixteen guards moved forward and took their stances, ready to face any attack coming their way.

Satisfied that the guards were ready, Katara dropped her hands and let the ice unfreeze.

Immediately, Ty Lee tried to jump up but was caught between two walls of earth and brought back down to the earth, unable to move. Simultaneously, the ground underneath Mai turned to quicksand, and she sunk until only her head was visible. Azula, however, would not be interned so easily. As soon as Katara had released her hold, the Fire Princess had unleashed a burst of blue fire from her fingers at the Earth King. However, the King bent a wall of earth to intercept the flame, which dissipated upon contact. When she was distracted while concentrating on her attack, three Royal Guards had encased her feet in the ground and sunk her.

Unable to control herself, Azula flailed around and shot flames erratically at anything around her without any aim or fortitude. The Guards easily intercepted these flames and shot earthen handcuffs at her. She was able to dodge the first few, but eventually, she was subdued as well. With her hands unable to move, Azula crashed to the ground and went unconscious from the impact. Mai's eyes widened at seeing her once prodigious friend and classmate fall. Ty Lee openly gasped as Azula fell. The Fire Princess had never lost a fight before!

None of that mattered, though, for Azula's streak had been ended, and Katara and Kuei were gazing upon the three Fire Nation nobles with malice and hatred. Now was not the time to bemoan themselves, and Mai and Ty Lee knew it. Now was the time to make sure that they wouldn't be seriously hurt at the hands of the enemy.

"Take them to the dungeons of the palace," Kuei ordered his guards.

"And make sure that they are all in cells made of pure metal, as thick as possible, without any windows to let sunlight in. And handcuff them all to the walls. Make sure there is no chance for them to escape their holdings," Katara announced. She might not have any authority to order the Royal Guards, but she doubted Kuei would oppose her judgment on this issue. She had faced these girls head-on far too many times to let them ever have the chance of escaping. They were far too dangerous.

"Do as she says," Kuei commanded.

With the prisoners on their way to the dungeons and the Royal Guards cleaning up after the fight, Kuei motioned for Katara to follow him back into the palace and signaled for a few guards to accompany them.

The group made the short journey in silence. There was no need for words after what they had just witnessed. If the Fire Nation had found a way to infiltrate the safest city on Earth, who knew where the Fire spies were! They could be clinging to the walls right now! With this in mind, the Guards kept cautiously glancing around the premises, never once letting their stances down.

Once inside, the Guards left Kuei and Katara to their own devices.

The King led Katara down a series of dark passageways in the palace, none of which the waterbender seemed to recognize—not that she had been in the palace enough to know its ins and outs.

Eventually, the two entered a room with no windows and only a small oil lamp on the right wall for lighting.

Katara could swear that they had come to a dead end until Kuei deliberately walked forward to the wall across from them. There, he placed his right hand on the wall and clenched his left hand to strike it. Upon impact, a perfectly rectangular section of the wall descended into the ground, leaving a clear doorway to walk into.

Kuei led the way into the new passage, and finally, they reached a room that seemed far outside of the main palace.

"These are my secret chambers. It's where I come when I need absolute privacy," Kuei explained as he sat at the table to the bemused Katara, "Now, who were those girls, and what were they doing in Kyoshi Warrior uniforms? And most importantly, how the heck could one of them firebend?"

Katara took a seat across from the King and closed her eyes for a minute. Rubbing her forehead, she slowly opened them and began to speak: "Those three were from the Fire Nation. The girl on the right was Ty Lee and the left Mai. It's a good thing that neither of them found an opening to attack, or we would've been toast. The girl who could firebend was Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, one of the deadliest and most powerful enemies I have ever fought."

Katara looked up to see Kuei's dumbfounded expression. "Princess?" He questioned in a soft voice, "The Fire Nation princess has found her way into my city? I never knew this war had spread so far…"

Kuei reached up and took off his glasses to freely rub his forehead to massage the oncoming headache. This was far too much information to process at once. "Okay, now what, Katara? Does this change our plans?"

Katara looked down, tired, "I don't know, My Lord. Everything made so much more sense a couple hours ago… This really isn't my role," she said hesitantly, "Sokka's usually the plan guy…"

Kuei just looked at her and noticed for the first time how young she was. Ever since he had first met her, and her friends for that matter, he had forgotten that they were merely kids because of the maturity with which they had been acting. But now, he saw that they were just children; children with the weight of the world on them. They were far too young; they didn't deserve this fate.

"It's alright Katara. We'll figure this out. Also, please, just call me Kuei. If our plans go ahead, you and I'll be working together for the next several months, and I hope we can treat each other as friends instead of lord and vassal."

Giving a comforting smile, he stood up. "Now, come. Let's have lunch. Then, we'll talk and decide where to go from there."

Katara nodded and slowly stood up to accompany the King to the dining room.

Toph released a breath that she had unknowingly been holding and knocked on the door. This was the address that her mom had referred to in her letter, and while her mother sounded as though she finally understood Toph and her situation, the earthbender couldn't let go of her feelings of trepidation.

What was worse was that no matter how far she extended her seismic sense, she couldn't seem to locate anyone inside the house. Of course, this wasn't necessarily a problem in and of itself; the house could have metal flooring as some Earth Kingdom noblemen's homes had… But Toph still couldn't let her unease go.

When no response came from the inside, Toph opened the door and walked in.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

In the last second, she heard, not felt, an almost inscrutable whoosh. Then it began to get louder, but it was too late.

The metal cage clamped shut around Toph just as she let out a scared and worried cry. "Hey! Who do you think you're dealing with?" She couldn't help the frightened tone in her voice. This was not good… Not good at all…

"One loud mouth little brat who strayed too far from home."

Toph's eyelids shot open as she recognized the voice. Becoming angry, she started punching on the cage. "Let me out, you rascal! I've beaten you before, and I can do it again!"

"Uh-uh-uh, Toph," said another voice that she would also recognize anywhere. "Your father made sure to bring him to you unharmed."

Toph grew even more angry at her old earthbending teacher's voice and pounded on her cage even harder. How dare they imprison her? And how dare her father send bounty hunters after her?

"Oh, quit your banging," Xin Fu yelled.

With that, the two men hoisted the cage outside and into an ostrich-horse cart.

"You're on your way home. I'm sure your parents will welcome you home with open arms," the wrestler toned sarcastically.

Toph pounded the cage one last time just to prove that she wasn't going to go with them without a fight—somehow—and was shocked to find that the metal bent forward at her touch without harming her.

What was this…?

Toph placed her hands on the metal and began to concentrate…

Deep underneath the palace, a Dai Li agent approached Long Feng's cell.

"Dinner," he said tonelessly.

As the former Grand Secretariat began to eat, the agent hesitantly spoke: "The Council of Five and the military are loyal to the Earth King, but the Dai Li are loyal to you, Long Feng, sir."

With that said, the agent walked off. There was nothing else to do.

Long Feng chewed his bun thoughtfully, pondering what his server had just said to him.

If that was indeed the case, he didn't need to be next to the Earth King to control the city; he could do it from prison…

Now to calculate his next move….

After finishing his meal, he returned to his now common meditating posture. There was little else to do, anyway, and besides, while meditating, he had the perfect chance to think about his next move. His trial was scheduled to take place in three days, but if he could escape beforehand…

With a dark gleam in his eyes and a cold smile on his face, he began planning his next move.

This time, a mere puppet wouldn't do. This time, the government itself would have to be overthrown…

In his apartment, Iroh gazed sadly at his nephew who was still sick and immobile. Watching Zuko go through his greatest change reminded Iroh of his own metamorphosis. It was not fun by any means, but it was worth it in the end.

After his son died, he had been devastated and begun reflecting on himself in his grief to understand what sort of monster could do this to an innocent child, one who had his whole life ahead of him.

The night after Lu Ten died, Iroh had taken a walk in their camp and had accidentally wandered out, lost in his musings.

He had walked into a nearby village and jerked when he heard a babe's cry. It sounded so tired, so tortured, so alone…

Quietly, he followed the sound to the town's infirmary and gazed inside.

The child was barely ten years old but had a deep gash on his exposed stomach. Iroh could see his intestines struggling to stay inside what flesh remained but failing. The healer tried helplessly to bandage the wound, but it had passed the point of no return a long time ago. The babe wouldn't live, and Iroh knew it. He had seen many such injuries in his own army's infirmary; he knew their fate…

Still, Iroh couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of the child desperately holding on to his life.

But the stomach wound wasn't even the worst part. The child turned his head, and Iroh felt his heart stop for a moment at what he saw.

His entire face was burned. He knew those burns. They weren't from any natural fire; that injury had been caused by a master firebender. And since his army had the only firebenders in the area for miles, it was not hard to assume that it was one of his own men that had committed this atrocious crime. Was this the type of monster who could kill his son…?

Before his eyes, the child began to stop screaming and stopped moving entirely. In a few minutes, nothing, not even a rise of the chest to indicate that the child was breathing. Nothing. The healer paused for a moment but then began to cry, loud, heartwrenching bawls that pulled at Iroh's heartstrings.

Turning away from the scene with tears falling from his own eyes, Iroh began to walk briskly back towards his camp. This was too much. The war was supposed to be good. It was meant to spread the best aspects of Fire Nation culture to the world, but this, this was not right! That child had been an innocent victim probably hunted by his own men out of pleasure! …Just like his own son had been…

As he ran, Iroh became lost in his own musings and had forgotten to pay attention to the path he had been taking.

Finally pulling himself together, he found that large trees surrounded him in some sort of swamp. In front of him, he could see his son, smiling at him.

Zuko's cry for water jerked Iroh out of his memories and back to the present.

Zuko needed him right now. He could reminisce and grieve about the past later.

Iroh just hoped that Zuko would learn the truth early, unlike Iroh had. He hoped that Zuko would learn the truths of the world that had taken Iroh years and the cost of thousands of lives to learn.

The three girls had been all been put in adjacent cells, and the guard was especially heavy around their particular holdings.

Azula had yet to regain consciousness. That fall really seemed to have hurt her bad, and both of her friends were worried.

This wasn't like Azula at all. The Azula they knew was cold, calculating, and precise. It was not like her to lose a fight that easily. Something was not right.

In her own cell, Azula was asleep, but not exactly. There were a torrent of thoughts and emotions battling for supremacy and recognition in her mind. But one stood out: How did she pin me down?

All her life, Azula had been the pride of Ozai and the Fire Nation, always precise, always ready, always prepared. She had planned for every "what if", every response, and every situation. So how had it all gone wrong?

She had the entire thing under her control, just like she always had. Control, the one thing she prided herself on having. Control over her destiny, her friends, her servants, her guards, and even her teachers.

But somehow, that insolent waterbender peasant had ended that. How? She was a mere delinquent! She shouldn't have been able to capture the Fire Nation Princess so easily! Azula's thoughts constantly battled each other as they tried to find the whole in her plans that the Water peasant was able to exploit. But try as they might, they could not find it.

Somehow, that delinquent with no formal tactical training had bested the Fire Princess, and she would just have to deal with it.

But Azula couldn't… And it was driving her mad…

"Let's stop here for the night," Aang said as he pulled the reins to guide Appa downwards.

Sokka didn't respond; he had already fallen asleep on Appa's bare back. Clearly, someone needed a rest.

Aang just smiled and landed the bison. Once Appa was safely on the ground, he airbent himself onto Appa's back to wake the warrior. A sleeping bag would be much nicer than bison fur any night, and he knew it.

"Sokka, wake up!"

"Wha—?"

"I decided to take a break for the night before we head out to the bay tomorrow. Come on, get down. Let's get some real sleep."

Together, the two boys unloaded the little supplies they had brought from Ba Sing Se so that Appa could enjoy a comfortable night's rest as well. After all, he had a long day of flying ahead of him.

"Okay, night, Sokka!" Aang called after everything was ready.

"Night."

But even though neither of them said it out loud, they both knew that neither would get any sleep tonight. There was too much on both of their minds.

Sokka looked up at the stars, imagining meeting his father again after two long years… Would Hakoda accept him now? Would the chief still think him unfit to fight? Be angry that he hadn't stayed at the South Pole to protect the tribe?

All these questions and more roamed around Sokka's conscience, but eventually, the cool night air tugged him off to the vein of blissful sleep. Those questions would only be answered tomorrow, anyway. There was no need to worry about them now.

Aang, for his part, just wondered about this guru. Was Aang ready to master the Avatar State? All the previous avatars had mastered all four elements before even attempting to rein in the Avatar State's awesome powers. He, though, had only mastered one and was still learning two others, forget the last element which he couldn't even think of dealing with right now.

Would the Avatar State yield to him without control of the other elements? Would he win in the end? Would the guru turn him away when he found out that Aang hadn't mastered all the elements? And even if he did master the Avatar State, did that mean that he was a fully realized avatar without mastering firebending?

With these thoughts, Aang passed into a troubled sleep full of nightmares of Sozin's Comet and eight-handed, bearded men…

Author's Note: Well, again, thanks for reading, and please do leave a review! :)