Zuko sent a message to the palace before he returned home.

I'm calling off the search for Azula, immediately. We will be back on Wednesday.

He never said what actually happened to inspire him to end the search. Mai wasn't sure if he and Azula were returning or if the "we" included someone else. With Zuko, you never really could tell. He kept his messages short, but often times they did not have the pertinent information.

AAA

Suki thought that the "we" referred to his crew. She was not ready to see Azula walk into the palace right behind her brother.

"You room is the way you left it … well almost." It had been quite a mess. He had to have the mirror replaced and all of the glass cleaned up.

It was weird walking the halls without a dictator in command. Azulon ran a tight ship, Ozai an even tighter one. Azula couldn't see Zuko commanding his group of whore-iors much less anyone else.

The artwork was militaristic and menacing. "You really should redecorate this place. It looks like a gilded prison."

Zuko didn't disagree. "I used to have nightmares over that portrait of Sozin."

"I convinced Ty Lee the palace was haunted. She couldn't sleep here without a light on until she was 11."

"You always were such a bitch," Mai told her after overhearing Azula's confession.

Azula rolled her eyes. "You helped me, Miss. I pretended to be the ghost of Fire Lady Ilah."

Mai forgot about that. "That was one of our better pranks."

"Remember when we switched the sugar and the salt at the royal academy. That was my favorite prank."

"It took them a week to figure out what was wrong. Lunch was nasty every day."

"But I had the servants bring me lunch."

"And you didn't bring us any."

"Oops."

AAA

Azula got back to her old quarters. She had to fight the urge to rip everything off the walls.

The room had been the same since she moved into it when she was nine years old. There was so much regret imbedded in the red walls.

Azula spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to make it more inviting.

I think I'll paint it yellow.

Maybe I'll get a fire puppy.

What if I got a little fountain on the balcony?