Ursa guided the company through the tunnels. She, her son, and her daughter lit the path before their feet, which glistened with water that dripped down from the sea above. Deeper and deeper underground they headed. The air grew cool.

"How many people live here?" Zuko said.

"Four hundred and thirty two," Toph said. "That's how many heartbeats I'm counting. Although I think some of those might be from pregnant woman."

Ursa stared down at the earth bender.

"She does that," Sokka explained.

"Do what?" Toph said with a smirk.

"Show off," Sokka said.

Toph snickered. "True."

"It stinks like vomit," Azula griped.

"Cholera," Ursa said.

"Cholera?! Are you trying to kill us?" Azula said.

"Grow up, Azula!" Zuko snapped. "Not everyone gets to grow up in a castle."

"Zuko, I spent my eighteenth birthday tied to a bed covered in my own piss and drugged out of my mind. I damn well know that."

Zuko huffed. "And because of that, your hallucinations are finally under control. Will you let it go?"

"I'll let it go when you apologize for putting me through that hell!"

"Stop it!" Ursa interrupted. "Zuko, you aren't helping. Azula..." She sighed. "Love. I know it hasn't been easy for you. I'm sorry for that. But we'll have to talk about it a different time."

Azula growled. "Shrinks always begging and begging me to talk and everyone else begging and begging me to shut up..."

"They've been doing this the whole trip," Katara said to Ursa quietly.

"They've been doing this since they were old enough to talk," Ursa answered.

Finally the tunnel widened, and then dipped down, and the cavern appeared before them.

The darkness of the cave was dotted with campfires, that perhaps would have looked beautiful under different circumstances. The smell of vomit, as Azula had pointed out, was definitely noticeable to the newcomers, though Ursa had learned to ignore it. The sick were quarantined off in the western section of the chamber, but the unease they radiated was unmistakable. Throughout the rest of the camp, life continued on its unfortunate track. Some of the refugees were on their feet, working, cooking, sewing, passing out supplies, carrying water from the clean spring far in the dangerous southern tunnel. Some were huddled by their fires. The children were running among the campers, as if this were a perfectly normal place for them to grow up.

They stepped over crates and sleeping rolls and crawling babes as they made their way to the center.

"You've been living here?" Zuko said, his eyes wide as he scanned the cavern. "Oh, mother..."

"Yes," Ursa said. "And I thanked Heaven every day that we weren't discovered, until today."

"There's a lot of Water Tribe folks here," Katara said.

"We're not far from the Water Tribe," Ursa said. "When you're fleeing for your life from war and destruction, you go wherever you can."

"If the war is over, how come they haven't gone home?" Toph asked.

"Because they don't have a home to go back to," Ursa said. "The war is over, but the destruction it caused has yet to be undone. Until their communities are rebuilt, they are lost adrift."

"Fire Nation and Water Tribe together, you think it would get heated," Sokka said. "How do you stop fights from breaking out?"

"They knew the rules coming in here just like you kids did." Ursa suddenly turned, distracted. "Hey!" She ran for a group of children who were playing in the dark.

The kids stopped, and a few scattered. The fire bending children extinguished the flames they were carrying in their hands.

"I told all of you hundreds of times not to fire bend at each other."

The shortest of the children widened her stance and stared Ursa in the eye. "That's stupid!" she said. "You always always talk about fairness. Why do the water bender kids get to practice and we don't!"

"Because water bending isn't liable to burn someone's face off. Fair doesn't always mean everyone is treated the same, Zongying."

The girl craned her neck and stared at the traveling party. "Who the hell are they?"

"Guests," Ursa said, "and watch your language."

"From the boat? The one Panuk told me about?"

"Zongying, all will be explained later," Ursa said. "I think you have studying you need to finish anyway."

The child glared and stomped away.

"Sorry," Ursa said to the guests. "Always a conflict to manage."

"You have your hands full," Aang said.

Ursa resisted the urge to respond with sarcasm. "Does this make a little more sense, Azula?" Ursa said. "What has been occupying my time?"

Azula's eyes were fixed on the little fire-bending girl. Her jaw was squeezed tight as she watched the child sulk off into the dark. She didn't answer her mother.

They were interrupted at that point.

"Ursa, for the love of..." It was the formerly-wealthy woman whose husband had a bad knee.

"Not now, Sakura..." Ursa said with a sigh.

The wealthy woman persisted. "You have no time to tend to a man in agonizing pain, but these fat and happy intruders who obviously don't need your help, you have time for them? And... 'Sakura...' You will address me as Lady Sakura Suzuki. Its about damn time I started demanding a little respect!"

"Suzuki... I know that name..." Azula mumbled. "As in wife of Captain Jiro Suzuki?"

The formerly-wealthy woman paused and glared at Azula. "Please tell me that isn't who I think it is, Ursa..."

"Sakura. Lady Suzuki,"

"But I already know who it is," said Lady Suzuki. "An told me when she got back from the Foyer. The last thing this camp needs is a tyrant, Ursa."

Zuko looked up at woman in shock. She sneared when she saw his scar, the identifying feature he could never disguise, not since his face had been painted and printed and plastered throughout his nation.

"Hey!" Sokka said. "Did you just call my friend a..."

"Yes!" Lady Suzuki said. She shoved past Ursa and looked Sokka in the face. "Just like Zuko, to go gallivanting about on outings with Water Tribe terrorists while the officers who fought for this nation, in the service of his family, hide in caves."

"Excuse me?" Sokka said.

"Terrorist!" she said. "You come here, you attack our capital city, you make an attempt on our king's life. Your type did."

"I regretted this as soon as I agreed to it, I shouldn't have brought you kids down here," Ursa said. "We should go sit down and have some dinner..."

"My type! It wasn't just my type! It was me! I was THERE!" Sokka said. He and the wealthy woman were barely an inch apart.

Aang shoved them apart. "Look, Miss..."

"LADY Suzuki," she corrected.

"Lady Suzuki..." Aang said. He stood up straighter and smiled at the woman, jumping into his diplomatic role and immediately, aging ten years with a single expression. "I don't know why the story of why you are upset, but..."

"Her husband is a war criminal," Zuko said, speaking for the first time. "And I ordered his arrest. And now he lives here. With... With my mother apparently."

Ursa's expression was pained. "Zuko..."

Aang sighed. "And, Lady Suzuki. I... I imagine that was very difficult for you. But..." he cleared his throat. Fifteen years old, handling problems adults couldn't even solve, to the best of his ability. But it was clear he was in over his head. "But, my friend Sokka. He..." Aang realized what he was trying to say. He needed to justify everything he and his friends had fought for those years ago, to a woman who had fought for the other side.

"And you!" She recognized Aang. "And you think that you, a child, even if you are the Avatar, have the right to decide how other nations should run their affairs? To interrupt a line of succession, to throw an entire continent into tumultuous chaos with your one executive decision? Ozai was our king! A Keystone to our entire country and all its functioning and you take him out and replace him with this, petulant brat who can't even..."

Ursa blocked Lady Suzuki from getting in Aang's face. She would tolerate arguing but a fight was the last thing she wanted.

"We don't want trouble," Aang interrupted. "Maybe we could have a gesture of peace. You said your husband has a bad knee. We have a healer. Katara, would you be willing to...?"

"I could take a look at it," Katara said, her voice tense. "And I probably should, before someone tells me what this war criminal actually did and I fly into a rage."

"You don't want to know," Zuko said, glaring at Lady Suzuki.

The wealthy woman huffed, studying Katara. "Fine. You want me to refrain from speaking the truth of why my country has gone to hell in exchange for my husband getting his right to healthcare, I'll accept. I don't have a choice do I? Tyrants always tell you you have a choice. But the choices are always submission or death, isn't it!"

Katara sighed deeply. "I'll meet you guys later. I shouldn't take long."

Lady Suzuki led Katara away, ranting and muttering as she walked.

"Thank you," Ursa said to Aang.

"All in a day's work I guess," Aang said.

"You and me both, Kid," Ursa said. "Work is all we do."

"Terrorist..." Sokka muttered. "I can't believe..."

"I have people in here from many sides of the war, Sokka," Ursa said. "I said people come here when they have no place to go. I didn't say from where. I don't pick and chose."

"But you could have chosen not to let in a war criminal," Zuko said.

"Zuko, are you going to keep throwing that word around?" Azula said.

"Yes!" Zuko said. "Damn it. That idiot burned down an entire city and he just gets to... He needs to be in prison, Mother! He can't just hide here among the innocent! I... I can't believe you let him in here!" Zuko was starting to turn a bit red.

"Which is why I asked you not to tell a soul who you saw in here, Zuko."

"That was before you tell me you were harboring Jiro Suzuki. You know what he did. And for that woman to call me a tyrant... after..."

"Zuko lets go sit down," Ursa said.

"Is someone going to say what the idiot did?" Toph said.

"The raid in the Red River Basin," Zuko said. "He led that, Toph. You were in the Earth Kingdom when that happened. You must have known about it."

Toph's upper lip went stiff. "I think I remember my parents talking about it. I was pretty young, but I remember I'd never seen them looking so scared..."

"Yeah!" Zuko said, mostly addressing his mother. "Mother. He worked for Ozai. He supported the war. And you're just."

"I was married to Ozai," Ursa said. "I also supported the war."

"He's a murderer. A wanted criminal."

"And so am I," Ursa said, putting her hands on Zuko's shoulder.

"What are you talking about!"

"Grandfather, you fuckwit," Azula chimed in.

Zuko went quiet for a moment, seeming to freeze where he stood.

"Zuko, you promised secrecy when you entered the caves. And I promised Captain Suzuki that I would give him and his family asylum. Just because you are my son doesn't give me a right to break that promise. Which... which is a very strange thing to say and... it sounds somewhat horrible but... I can't, Zuko. I can't break my promise and I need you to keep yours."

"She called me a tyrant..." Zuko hissed. "Ozai was a tyrant."

"And you're his son," Azula chimed.

"Don't!" Zuko said, turning on his heals to face his sister. "I am not a thing like him!"

"No, I guess not," Azula said. "I mean, Ozai lowered the grain subsidies; Zuko ends them all together. Ozai raises taxes; Zuko makes them higher. Ozai mucks around in foreign wars and Zuko mucks around in foreign political shenanigans that have the trappings of peace but still are about keeping the empire in tact. Ozai throws liberals into prison, leading riots and unrest. Zuko imprisons conservatives, leading to riots and unrest."

"Political negotiations are still a lot better than war," Aang said to Azula.

"Be quiet you airhead!" Azula said. "Negotiations are just wars without the honor of battle I can go on, Zuko. About how you complain and complain about how much of a mess Ozai made, and then you don't even bother to clean them up. Probably because you admit that Ozai was just doing his damn job and they aren't actually messes to begin with, and you just call them messes for the purposes of moralistic hand-wringing. Ridiculous really."

"Will you stop, Azula?" Zuko said.

"What? Am I touching a nerve?" Azula said with a grin, reaching forward to tap Zuko on the nose. "That truly has been the most satisfying thing for me as I watch this disastrous 'career' so far. Your hypocrisy. You were so eager to get yourself into power. So eager to throw me and Father into prison, to change things up, and bring in your era of 'peace and love,' and guess what? You, Zuko, haven't changed a damn thing."

"Maybe this isn't the best place to talk politics," Aang said.

They looked around. A gathering of refugees had stopped what they were doing and had even approached them, listening in to the debate.

"This place exists because of politics," Azula said.

"Mom, you know Azula is being ridiculous!" Zuko said. "You know things have gotten better since I've come to power. You're here on the ground, in the thick of it! You can SEE it, can't you?"

Ursa took a deep breath, she looked down at the ground. "Different yes. But Better? Now that's..."

"Mother!"

"And this whole time I've been here, a wealth of political knowledge and insight and Firelord after Firelord refuses to listen to a thing I say," Azula said.

"You never talked to me about your political opinions, Azula!"

"You never asked!" Azula said.

Ursa turned and noticed a gathering of campers who had come to listen to the argument. They had been attracted like moths to a campfire. Ursa glared at them. "Go about your business!" she snapped. "I'm having a conversation with my children! You all have work to do that I'm sure is far more interesting!"

The company dispersed reluctantly.

Ursa gave Zuko a squeeze on the shoulder. "We can talk policy perhaps a different time. Yes, I do have a perspective you don't. And we can talk about it, but not now."

Zuko seemed to tense up at the touch, not sure what to think. "Later," he agreed, his throat a little dry.

"What's wrong?" Ursa said.

He looked down at the ground. "I looked for you for four years."

"Oh, here we go!" Azula said.

"Four years, Mother. I scoured the palace archives looking for clues as to where you were sent. If anything was written down. The day after you left I asked Father where you had gone. I asked him multiple times. I asked everyone. And eventually he forbade me from speaking of you. And I couldn't pry anything out of him later. I went on expeditions. I went to your home town. I questioned your family. And here you are. And... I thought after all this time..."

"What?" Ursa said.

"That you would have been on my side."

"Zuko..."

"I wanted to think that when you saw me stand up to my father you would have been proud of me. I wanted to think you would have supported my decisions. But now I think, maybe if you had still been married to my father, maybe you would have... maybe you would have sided with him and... You're harboring one of his worst war criminals and who knows who else in this cave."

"My life has changed a lot since I left, Zuko. It's not about sides for me. It's about duty. I have a duty to this place. Just as you have your duties as fire lord. I can't just..."

Zuko's fists clenched. "I understand how Azula feels. You left us. At the end of the day... you... Yes, this is your duty, but I'm your son! What bigger duty could you have than me and Azula?"

"Zuko what do you want from me?"

"I want you to come home, first of all."

"I can't just leave."

"What! What can't you leave behind. Your work? Someone else can run this hole in the ground!"

Ursa winced. "More than work, even."

Aang tried supersizing his diplomacy again, opening his mouth to speak, but Zuko ignored him.

"More than work? Your children are more important than work, I would think."

"And I would agree," Ursa said.

"So what's holding you here."

Ursa put her hands over her face. "Someone you need to meet."

"Who!"

"I wasn't sure how to bring it up," Ursa said. "How to break the news, especially since the news is coming so late..."

"Wait..." Azula suppressed a laugh. "You didn't..."

Ursa turned into the dark and called. "Zongying!"

The dark called back. "I'm busy!"

"I know, love. But I need you to come here."

The child appeared from among the campers. The young fire bender had a kickball under her arm, ignoring the protests of her playmates who demanded she leave it behind. She was angry at having been interrupted.

"I finished my studying!" she said. "I read the whole book over and I won't do it again!"

"I know," Ursa said. "But I need you to help me prepare dinner. We're having guests."

"Who?" the girl said.

"Your brother and your sister," Ursa told her.