I lied.
The guardsmen on duty weren't used to visitors arriving so late at night without some kind of advanced warning. Chen and Fo stood firmly as a black-haired woman approached them, showing no intention of stopping.
"Excuse me ma'am, what is your business?" Chen spoke clearly, remembering the line he'd been made to memorize weeks ago.
The woman stopped suddenly, a meter from the men, and glanced between the two of them for a moment. "Are you two new here?"
Chen and Fo weren't prepared for that question. Fo looked to Chen then back to the woman. "I've been here for three months. He's been here for a couple of weeks."
"Psht, no wonder you don't recognize me." The woman glanced away. "Listen, is there someone who's been here for longer? A captain? Surely someone here recognizes me."
Just then, from somewhere behind the wall, probably the guard house, a door slammed and someone ran over. Chen and Fo glanced back to see Captain Luong jogging to the gate. Captain Luong rarely ran anywhere.
He passed behind Chen, smiling broadly at the visitor. "Well, if it isn't you." he placed his fists on his hips for a second, then pushed Chen and Fo aside to take the visitor by the shoulder. "The rest of the staff all thinks you got yourself messed up bad out there. But I knew better. You're strong. I never doubted you a second." Luong's voice was low and smooth, and had a unique dialect that gave away his colonial upbringing. An American would have called his accent "Southern".
"I appreciate the confidence," the visitor said, only freaking out a little from the hand on her shoulder.
"Come on Princess, let's get you out of the cold." Luong led the woman between Chen and Fo, toward the palace.
"Say, my men weren't giving you any trouble were they?"
"No sir, they were only doing their jobs."
Captain Luong laughed heartily. Chen and Fo watched as the captain led the small woman to the Palace.
Azula shrugged off the captain's hand as soon as she could, thanked him, and let herself into the Palace. It was exactly as she remembered it, though somehow its walls carried more weight within them, almost if her memories had gotten stronger in the years she'd been gone.
But now was not the time to reminisce. Azula had come here for one reason, and the less time it took to do that thing the better off she was.
She didn't even knock on the Fire Lord's office; she simply let herself in.
For some reason people were surprised to find that the Fire Lord operated out of an office, not his throne room or whatever. This confounded Azula, as it seemed to be basic knowledge. The Throne Room was for important personal meetings, the office was for the paperwork. It wasn't even a big office too, it was almost as if the builders realized they needed one more room and stuck it in between two others.
Zuko looked up quickly. He totally wasn't expecting a visitor this late.
"Hello," Azula sang, walking in. Zuko stared.
"Uhhh...zula?"
"In the flesh." She sat down in the chair in front of his desk.
"Uh..." Zuko continued to stare. He wasn't expecting a visitor this late, and he certainly wasn't expecting his estranged sister. "...Hey."
"I know it's been a while, sorry for not writing lately."
"Heh. How long's it been?" he asked weakly.
"Hmm." Azula leaned back in thought. "Two years, three months, eleven days. And a couple of hours, I'm sure, but that's just change."
"Uh huh." Zuko still struggled to put words together. Had it really been two years? It felt like a million.
"Message, sir." A servant entered the office, carrying a small scroll, the kind attached to messenger hawks. Zuko took it, the servant bowed and left.
Zuko recognized Sokka's messy script the moment he unrolled the paper. It took him a few seconds to make out the message.
"Dear Zuko. I have your sister.
The escape was her idea, but I left with her to keep her in line. She won't be a problem I promise.
From love with Sokka."
In that moment Zuko swore he would punch through Sokka's head the next time they met.
Gripping the edge of the desk, Zuko leaned back.
"It's been an adventure," Azula almost mused.
"Well I'm glad you had fun." If sarcasm had any potential energy, his statement could power the entire civilized world for about three days.
"I did. Sorry you couldn't come. I have the next best thing though." She reached into her coat and held out a small black book. "I made a journal of the trip."
Zuko took the book, inspecting it carefully. "Two years of adventure compressed into one small journal?"
Azula grimaced and leaned out, snatching the book from his hand. "That's, uh, actually not it." She pulled another book out of the other side of her coat and handed it back to him. "Wrong book."
"Well what's that one then?" Zuko motioned to the first book with the one she'd just handed him.
"Nothing, it's just... some correspondence I had with- someone. I had it bound."
"Someone? Sounds like this is some pretty important correspondence." Zuko wouldn't admit it, but he enjoyed the few times he was given a change to give his sister a hard time.
"Just some letters..." She put the book back in her coat.
"Sounds like somebody's got a boyfriend." Zuko leaned back in his chair.
"I do not have a boyfriend."
Her tone made it clear she was finished with that topic.
"Huh. So where's Sokka than?"
"Oh, he went home. We decided that we'd had enough fun and went our separate ways."
"Home?"
"Yeah. You know, home. A residence where one usually dwells."
"No, I know what-" He paused. "No, it's just weird. He hasn't been home since Suki-" he suddenly cleared his throat. "He told you about Suki then?"
Azula nodded.
Zuko dropped the book on his desk and laced his hands behind his head. "So, you're back. Done with your adventure and decided to come running home."
"No, believe me, this is temporary. I wanted to give you that-" She pointed at the book on the desk, "Rest for a day or two, and get moving again. Not another adventure, but a more permanent situation."
"Huh. Settling down?"
"...A little."
The siblings nodded at each other.
"And I uh, also wanted to apologize." Azula sat forward in her chair. "It probably wasn't fair to leave like that without saying anything."
"I should really apologize to you. I was so caught up in all this I forgot I even had family." He motioned at the piles of paperwork on his desk. "If I'd bothered to spend any time with you you wouldn't have had to escape to find something to do."
No one spoke for a beat.
"So... We're good?" Azula asked.
"Yeah. We're okay." Zuko stood up, and Azula did the same. They leaned over the desk and hugged briefly.
"A couple of days then?"
"Yeah. In my old room if that's okay."
"It's your room."
"Thank you." She walked to the door.
"Of course." He sat down.
Despite a two-year reprieve, the walk to her room felt the same as the million other times she'd done it.
In her absence, Zuko had apparent;y had someone in to fix the hole in the wall, and probably to seal the tunnel from both ends. The dresser had been moved back to its original place.
Her room was was almost exactly the same as she'd left it.
Azula collapsed on the bed, tired and sore. It was a damn sight better than the various sleeping bags and cots she'd spent the last two years sleeping on, and she could feel her joints unwinding.
Almost out of habit, she reached into her coat and retrieved the book she put there earlier. Every once in a while she liked to read the letters again. It gave her a little bit of hope, and kept the longing at bay.
Sokka said something about recording our travels. I agreed, and bought this journal
Azula sat up fast. "Oh shit."
Back in the office, Zuko glanced around. He could hardly believe what just happened. The last person he expected to walk through that door had walked through that door.
Sufficiently distracted from his work, he spotted the book laying on the desk. Picking it up, he pondered how she was able to compress two years into a small book. He opened it.
Azula
I got your letter on time, no need to worry.
Zuko flipped ahead a few pages, reading the letters written to his sister from someone named Lin. "Holy shit."
God dammit. God fucking damn it, Lord Annaymoss.