The group got back from their vacation feeling refreshed. All of them except one. Zuko paced back and forth in the privacy of his room, double thinking his decision of joining the Avatar and worse, telling Azula about it of all people. Maybe she was right about him being a poor decision maker. He growled, kicking a chair over to let out some of his frustrations. He leaned against the wall and slid down, sighing as he covered his face with his hands.

He hadn't meant to let his sister know. It just slipped out. She just seemed so vulnerable at the time, and it was the first time she's opened up to him in a very very long time. He wasn't really expecting her to agree to join him, so to say he was shocked was an understatement. He was happy about it though. A part of him felt like he shouldn't trust her, which was understandable, but another part of him knew he could trust her this time.

Contrary to popular belief, he knew that his sister has a heart. It's just that being raised by their father has hardened her. He was lucky enough that he had a mother who loved him, not to say she didn't love Azula, but she seems to think that their mother didn't love her. He was also lucky enough that his uncle was there to guide him through the years. Azula didn't have any of that. All she had was their father, so of course she would end up being this way. Cold, hard, calculating.

This time is different though. He's here for her now. He'll be the big brother that she's always needed. He felt guilty that it took him this long to figure out that she was just lonely. Scared of being left behind by everyone. That was going to change. He wasn't expecting her to be all nice, rainbows, and sunshine now, because that's not who she is. He just wants her to stop following their father's footsteps, because she's better than that. He just wants her to be free. To be happy.

The problem now was how they would leave. He couldn't just suddenly disappear. Could he? What about Azula? Would she be willing to just up and leave? She already agreed, but what if she changed her mind? So many thoughts were running through his head. It frustrated him to no end. He hated being confused, and right now, he was confused about everything. He had resolved some issues back on Ember island, but he has a lot of issues.

He sighed, thinking it was best to go to bed for now. Maybe a good night's sleep would clear his head.

Later that night, the prince was woken up by a strange sound outside his room. He carefully went to see what the noise was. There was nothing there, except a scroll placed on the floor.

He glanced around suspiciously before taking the scroll and going back inside his room. He opened it and was surprised at what was written inside. It was telling him to find out the truth about his great grandfather's, Fire Lord Sozin's, death. Everyone knew about how he died, it was taught to them, so what was there to find out? Everyone in the Fire nation was supposed to learn that in their history classes.

He closed the scroll and went back to sleep, thinking it could wait until tomorrow.

The first thing Zuko saw when he woke up the next morning was the scroll, laying on top of his side table. He glared at it half-heartedly, knowing there was something about his grandfather's death that he didn't know about. Why would there be a scroll telling him to look into it if it weren't the case? He groaned as he got up, deciding to go check out the gallery of the Fire Lords. He was surprised to see Azula there too.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh you know, just staring at the pictures of the dead Fire Lords. The usual," she replied. Zuko wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, so he just shrugged it off.

"Azula," he looked around and after finally deeming it safe enough to continue, he said, "I received a letter last night."

That certainly piqued her interest, "What letter?"

He took out the scroll and unceremoniously shoved it into her arms, making her glare at him. She silently read the letter, quirking an eyebrow at it.

"Well obviously, he died peacefully in his sleep. What part about that can help us understand our 'destiny'?"

"No! There must be something that no one is telling us. There must be something we don't know, something the school's never taught us. We need to find out what really happened."

"And how do you suppose we do that, dear brother?"

"I don't know," he said, running his hand through his hair, obviously annoyed.

Azula took the scroll, studying it carefully. Zuko paced back and forth, frustratedly pulling at his hair.

Something in the note caught her attention. She inspected it thoroughly and finally found something that could help them.

"Zuzu, look at this," she said, waving him over.

He approached her, "What's that?"

"A secret note, I assume."

"Looks like it. So, we're going to the Dragonbone Catacombs?" he asked, feeling hopeful once again.

"Let's go then."

"Well that was easy," Azula commented in a bored tone.

They were able to sneak past the fire sages with no problems. They didn't even get a chance to fight, and Azula was looking for some action. She was certainly not barbaric, but she wanted to feel the rush from a good fight. Of course they would be of no match to her though, so she supposed it didn't really matter in the end.

"Look at this," Zuko said, showing her an autobiography.

They both sat side by side, reading the contents to finally find out the truth.

"That's it!? There has to be more!" Zuko said frantically, looking around to see if he missed anything.

"That was stupid. We didn't learn anything new at all," Azula said.

They had finished reading the autobiography of Sozin's life, and there was nothing there that they haven't already learned in school.

"Come on," he growled

"Where are we going?"

"Prison."

To be honest, Azula had contemplated turning Zuko in, but she couldn't find it in herself to do so. Unlike her brother, she wasn't a traitor. Sure, she lied, more than normal even, but she wasn't a traitor. Well, if she joins the Avatar, that would make her a traitor then. She sighed, hating the feeling of being confused. Unlike her brother, she's not used to being unsure of herself. She was always strong and decisive. She didn't even know why she agreed to join Zuko in the first place. Now, she was going to help her brother and the Avatar bring an end to this war. Why was she even doing this? She's never considered going against her father before. What changed?

They finally reached the Fire Nation Jail. Azula could tell that her brother was mad right now as he stomped angrily towards their uncle's cell. He then burst into the room with her trailing behind him, amused at how easily irritated her brother was.

"You sent me this letter, didn't you!?" he yelled, "What's the point? I already know all of these!"

Uncle Iroh turned around, and Azula smirked at seeing the slight surprise in his face upon seeing her which he quickly hid.

"Nice of you to bring your sister along, Prince Zuko," he stated pleasantly, from the way he said it, it seemed like he really was happy that Azula came along.

"Answer the question!" he shouted.

There was a moment of silence, and the next words that left their uncle's mouth stunned them both.

Avatar Roku…was their great grandfather from their mother's side.

"That is why you have always been conflicted between good and evil, Prince Zuko. And apparently, you have been conflicted too, my niece," he said with a hint of happiness and affection that he had rarely shown her before.

"No one has told us this before," she said easily. She wasn't easily fazed. Of course this was a huge surprise to the both of them, but she knew how to hide her emotions well.

Zuko still seemed to be in shock though.

Iroh took out the lost crown prince's ornamental headpiece and gave it to Zuko.

"The two of you must work together to restore balance to the world," he said with a twinkle in his eye. Iroh hadn't expected Azula to be conflicted too, thinking his brother has already done too much damage to his niece. He was wrong though, and he has never been happier that he was wrong. This was definitely much better than what he expected. He was glad that she was finally on the right path, just like her brother.

There was a lighter atmosphere between the two siblings as they walked out of the prison.

"Now that that's settled, how are we going to get the Avatar to trust us?" Azula asked.

"I'm not yet sure. Maybe we can save them from the assassin that I hired to kill them. Saving people's lives would usually get them to trust you," he suggested.

"You sent an assassin after them?"

"I didn't know that I would be joining them!"

"Way to go, Zuzu. They're really going to trust us now," she said sardonically.

"Hey! It's not like they know I sent him anyway."

They started to bicker, arguing about how they were going to get the Avatar to accept them into their little rebel group.

That was that then. They were going to join the Avatar. Zuko would never admit it out loud, but he was definitely glad he wasn't in this alone.