"Nnngh.." Mai groaned through her teeth as she felt herself being set down on the ground. Though her friends put her down as gently as possible, the jarring motion still sent needles of mortal pain shooting through her.

It was still dark – the pitch blackness of the hours between midnight and sunrise. They had finally reached the edge of the woods, and were within sight of the gates of the small Earth Kingdom town. –What was its name again? Taonan? She rocked her head against the makeshift stretcher they had made out of stout tree limbs, trying to distract herself from the dull, throbbing ache of her belly. It didn't work. She moaned again. Ty Lee's hand stroked her cheek absently.

"We have to figure out how to do this." Azula's voice was low as she peered at the guards at the gate. "They'd let you through with no problem, and probably Mai, too, since she's wounded. But they'll know who I am in a heartbeat if they see my face." The tip of one sharp fingernail traced idly over the border of the scar that marked her cheek.

"Can't you wear your hood up?" Ty Lee asked innocently. "I can do the talking. I make friends with people pretty well!"

The former princess set her mouth in a thin line. "That would work if they didn't ask to see my face, but I can't see them allowing that, Ty Lee," she said grimly.

"So I'll tell them that you were hurt in a Fire Nation attack and had your face badly burnt," the contortionist shrugged. "Then I'll tell them you don't like showing people your face anymore. They'll let it be, if I lie the right way." She paused. "Do you have any better ideas, Azula?"

"No." Azula ground her teeth, her golden eyes flicking from Mai to the city gates and back again. She sighed and pulled up her hood. "All right. You do the talking, Ty Lee. Let's get going. We have to get Mai to a healer, and now." The acrobat nodded, grasping her end of the makeshift stretcher. They made their way toward the gate.

Before they were halfway there, the guards had spotted them and assumed defensive earthbending stances. Ty Lee spoke first, before they could shout their warnings. "Please," she called out, "let us in. We need a healer! My friend's hurt."

"Are they, now?" One of them dropped out of his stance, moving forward to peer at them. Mai, blinking up at him, could make out a dark-skinned face topped with the distinctive wide helm of the Earth Kingdom army. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut as he peered at her. "Where's she hurt? What happened?"

"We were jumped by some bandits," Ty Lee explained, her gray eyes wide and innocently sincere. "I think they must have stabbed her in the stomach – she's bleeding a lot. Please, you do have a healer here, don't you?"

"Yeah, we do." He cast a doubtful look in Azula's direction. The firebender kept her head down, and the hood of her cloak effectively shielded her face. "Who's your quiet little buddy here, girl?"

Ty Lee looked solemn. She leaned forward with childish gravity, putting a hand to the side of her mouth as if to whisper. "That's my friend, Daiyu," she said softly. "She doesn't talk. We were hurt in a Fire Nation attack." The contortionist held up her scarred right arm a little. "She got her face burned," she added in a murmur. "It scarred her really bad. That's why she doesn't speak."

"Oh." He looked taken aback.

The other guard now dropped out of her earthbending stance. "Come on," she said, "let's just let them in. It looks like that one is hurt pretty bad."

"Well…all right." He turned aside to let them pass. "Do you need an escort to the healer's house?"

Ty Lee was about to agree, when Azula's head jerked. She glanced at the former princess, then shook her head. "No, thank you," she said softly, with a sweet smile. "You need to stay here and keep the city safe, right? Just tell us where it is, and we'll go."

"All right, honey." He stepped inside the gates and pointed into the darkness. "Just go along this street until you hit the beach, and follow that until you reach a house with a big courtyard. That's Katara's place, and if she can't fix you up, no one can."

This gave Ty Lee pause. She turned wide eyes to him, forgetting to look at Azula first. "Ka…tara?" she echoed, her voice suddenly a little sharper. "You don't mean Katara of the Southern Water Tribe? The Avatar's waterbending master?"

"That's the one." He nodded with a slight grin. "You better hurry. Get your friend patched up!" The contortionist finally looked at Azula – the woman's golden eyes glared at her from the depths of her hood. She made an impatient motion with one of her hands. Without a word, Ty Lee nodded at the guard, and they made their way into the settlement.

When they reached an open, circular area in the center of the town, they set down the stretcher again by unspoken agreement. Ty Lee's eyes were wide as she turned to her companion. "What do we do, Azula?" she whispered, her lips trembling. "Katara knows us. Katara knows you!"

"We don't have a choice." The former princess was scowling, her teeth grinding audibly. "There's no other towns for miles." She let out a short, bitter burst of laughter. "And to think that Father always said I was born lucky…" Ty Lee bit her lips. Azula looked down at Mai; the assassin was unconscious again. "Come on, Ty," she said quietly. "We'll surrender to the waterbender if we have to – for the time being."

"Surrender?" Ty Lee squeaked, as they picked up Mai and began to follow the coastline. "But…but, Azula, that's…"

"We'll do what we have to." Azula shot her a glare. "I don't like it any more than you do!" She turned her eyes back to their dimly-lit path. "Besides, you know as well as I do that the waterbender won't do anything to us. She's had chances to kill me before, and she didn't. She's weak that way. Just like my brother." Ty Lee said nothing.

They passed the outskirts of the town, still following the border where the mountainous land met the sea. The spray from the pounding waves swirled around them like mist. Their clothes were soon clinging to them damply. A house finally came into view. Neither of the young women spoke; they made their way toward it in silence. Ty Lee glanced worriedly down at Mai. The assassin was still out cold.

At the door, the two girls set down their companion and looked at each other. Azula seemed a bit uncertain. "Maybe I should do the talking here," she said. The contortionist nodded meekly. The former princess slowly pulled down the hood of her cloak, exposing her face to the light. Narrowing her eyes, Azula turned to the door and rapped on it sharply with her knuckles. There was a pause. The young woman was just about to knock again when they heard footsteps approaching. She took a step back – the door opened, and Azula found herself face-to-face with Katara.

When they had last seen each other, she and the waterbender had been the same height. Now Azula – who considered herself fairly short – was taller than Katara by a good four or five inches. Her features had sharpened a little; her nose, in particular, was more aristocratic than Azula remembered. Her sleepy eyes were still the same intense blue. As the former princess watched, those eyes widened, then suddenly blazed. "Azula!" The waterbender leaped back from the door, her hands flying to the water skin on her hip.

Lips tight, Azula stepped back, turning her head aside and raising her hands above her shoulders in surrender. "I come in peace!" she blurted, wincing as she saw the water bending toward her out of the corner of her eye. "Don't…" It struck her squarely in the center of the chest, throwing her backward into the dirt. Winded, she tried to get up; her limbs were suddenly encased in thick ice, pinning her down. Azula gasped. She heard Ty Lee yelp! Then there was silence.

A moment later, Katara's scowling face leaned over her. She felt the waterbender's slender fingers entangle themselves in her collar, jerking her roughly. "What are you doing here, Azula?" she snarled.

It was difficult to maintain one's composure while frozen to the ground at four o'clock on the morning, but Azula was determined to do it. "If you would kindly stop attacking me for a moment," she said acidly, "I'll tell you." Katara let go of her tunic, but the frown didn't soften. "Mai's hurt," the former princess said, jerking her head in the stretcher's general direction. "She needs a healer."

"Oh, really?" The waterbender glanced over to where the assassin lay. Her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she glared back down at Azula. "And how do I know this isn't some kind of a trick?"

"I'm hardly in a position to do anything to you," the former princess growled, squirming against the ice. It didn't give; she sighed and lay still. "Look, I know you don't have any reason to trust me. Just…just help Mai." Her lips drew tightly over her teeth, and her throat seized up, but she managed to squeeze the words out. "Please."

Katara's eyebrows raised gracefully. She cocked her head and regarded Azula coolly for a moment, seemingly weighing her words. "Well. Since you asked me so nicely." She rose to her feet and vanished from Azula's range of sight. The former princess lay quietly, trying to banish the bitter taste of begging from her mouth.

"Hey, Katara. Everything all right?" Azula's eyes flew wide open. She knew that voice! Craning her neck, she saw a tall woman standing at her feet, her powerful arms folded over her chest. She was dressed in a formfitting, sleeveless top and loose green pants. Her dark hair was twisted up into a bun, but much of it fell loosely over her face, falling in black spikes over her milky green eyes. The former princess groaned, letting her head fall back into the dust. Even though this woman had only been a tiny twelve-year-old the last time she had seen her, she knew who she was – Toph Bei Fong, the Avatar's powerful earthbending master. Great. Just great. Azula bit back a peal of bitter laughter. Agni, this just gets better and better!

"It's fine, Toph. I've got it under control." That was Katara's voice. "You remember Mai, Ty Lee and Azula, don't you?" Azula heard the earthbender suck in a sharp breath, and Katara giggled. "Seems Mai's had a bit of an accident. I think I'll have to take her inside to heal her properly. Could you help me carry her?"

"Sure." The former princess could hear the scowl in Toph's tone. The sounds of their voices faded as they moved into the house.

Ty Lee sighed. Azula twisted her head around until her gaze rested on the acrobat; she was flat on her face, splayed out, her limbs pinned down with similar sheaths of ice to the ones that held the former princess. "Well, that went better than I thought it would," she said cheerfully.

Azula scowled. "Shut up, Ty Lee." She rested her head back on the ground, glaring up at the stars overhead. This was too damned humiliating! Anxious minutes passed.

Abruptly, the ground underneath her shifted! Azula uttered a yelp of surprise as the bonds around her arms and legs shattered, and a tongue of rock shoved her to her feet. She staggered; the ground swallowed her legs to the knees as rock encased her arms to the elbows. Gasping, she looked up to see Toph dropping calmly out of her earthbending stance. "Long time no see, Princess," the earthbender said.

"We didn't come here to attack you," Azula growled, wriggling her arms.

"Maybe – maybe not. But it's always best to be safe where you're concerned, isn't it?" Toph reached out a long arm and grasped Azula firmly by the scruff of her neck. The former princess squirmed, wincing in discomfort as Toph plucked her out of the ground. "Come on in, Princess. Katara wants to talk to you."

They had laid Mai on a low cot. Katara had been bending over her; she rose and turned as the firebender was marched in. Toph released her grip on Azula's neck, and the former princess flexed her shoulders to ease the tenderness, still scowling. "It doesn't look good," the waterbender said, her voice quiet and clinical. "There's a lot of internal bleeding, and she's got two metal things stuck inside her – probably shuriken, or something like that. They've ripped her up inside. I can take them out, and I think I can stop the bleeding. It'll take a few sessions to try to repair all the damage. She'll be out for several days, at least." She shrugged one shoulder, eyeing Azula coolly.

"Then you can heal her." The former princess couldn't quite keep a note of relief out of her voice, to her own irritation.

"Maybe. I can't make any promises. Like I said, there's a lot of internal damage." Katara's eyes were cold. "So much for her; now for you, Azula. What's your story?"

"I don't have one," the firebender muttered. "She was hurt, we needed a healer, we came here, and here you were." The Water Tribe woman folded her arms smoothly across her chest, her dark brows raising skeptically. "Look, I don't care what you believe!" Azula snapped. "All I've been doing for the past six years is trying to stay alive. I could care less about you, or what happens to you. If you could please just heal Mai and let us go, we'll be out of your hair. I promise we'll steer clear of…of wherever this is."

"Taonan," Katara said automatically. She glanced at Toph. "Well?"

"Don't look at me. Azula lies well enough to fool even me." The earthbender shrugged with a grimace. Katara pursed her lips. "I say we throw her and the backflipping freak into a nice hole and seal them in. That way they can't pull anything."

Azula restrained herself with an effort, although she dearly wanted to kick a good wall of flame in Toph's direction. "I haven't fought back," she snarled. "Not one of us raised a hand against you!"

"That doesn't mean you won't -" Toph began.

"No." Katara shook her head finally, with a sigh. "She's right, Toph. They came to us for help. We can't just treat them like dirt…I mean, like enemies." The earthbender's eyebrows twitched. "I don't think they'll try anything – not while Mai is the way she is. Let's give them a break."

"I'd like to give them a break, all right." Toph's blind eyes glowered in Azula's direction, and the princess glared back in kind. "But fine, fine. Have it your way." She raised a hand and clenched it in the air; the stone shackles around Azula's wrists crumbled into powder. The firebender rubbed her arms with her palms. "I think we should put them up in that little house Aang built for me last Spring. I'll feel better if they're not in the same place as us!"

Katara nodded distractedly, turning back to the unconscious woman on the bed. "Okay. Could you take them over there, then, Toph? This is going to take me a while."

"I'm on it." Toph smiled acidly at Azula. "After you, Princess," she said, gesturing at the door. With as much dignity as she could muster, Azula left the house.

Toph freed Ty Lee from her restraints, remaining in a defensive stance as the acrobat got up and dusted the dirt off her clothes. "See that hill there?" the earthbender said calmly, jerking her chin. Azula looked and grunted in the affirmative. "Start walking. Both of you," Toph added, scowling in Ty Lee's direction. The contortionist shrugged, her smile as cheerful as ever, and fell into step about three paces behind Azula. The former princess was still seething, but she had made up her mind to cooperate – for now. Before long they came upon a small, one-room structure, with windows in each of the four walls. "There you go," Toph said. "You can sleep there. Take my advice and stay there until I come to get you, Princess. I can't say what some folks in this town would do if they saw you."

Azula smirked. And I can't say what I'd do to them, either. "We're not going anywhere. We're not here to cause trouble."

"You'd better not be." Toph turned away. "Good night." And she stalked off, her hands clenched into fists by her sides.

The house was unfurnished, except for a wooden table in one corner. The former princess chose a corner and laid herself down without a murmur; she was used to sleeping on the ground by now. "We'd better get some rest, Ty Lee," she muttered. "We don't know what we'll have to deal with tomorrow." She paused, wondering if one of them ought to stand guard. "You take first watch. We're still in enemy territory."

"Is Mai going to be all right?" Ty Lee wanted to know. Her gray eyes were wide and wet as she slowly settled down to watch the doorway. "Did…did Katara say?"

"She said it'll take a few days," Azula said shortly, closing her eyes. "Mai's going to be fine. I'm going to sleep. Wake me at dawn." The acrobat, mercifully, fell silent. Azula's muscles ached with exhaustion. It took only a minute or two for her to fall fast asleep.