ASC 105, summer.

The previous day had been an interesting experience for Saito. At this moment Azula was sleeping in his bed. Saito being a gentleman had opted to sleep on the floor. Impulsiveness seemed somewhat out of character for the princess. However in this situation Azula seemed content to act on instinct.

It was morning and at this moment Saito was beginning to wonder what he had been dragged into. If his brother Shaun had found out about this little incident then, he would be having a field day with this. Saito looked over his shoulders after feeling a pair of arms wrap around him from behind.

"It seems that you've gotten up before I did." Azula said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, well about yesterday."

"Nonsense, We're a couple now."

Saito felt a little dumbfounded by this statement. He was beginning to wonder if the princess had bumped her head or if she was messing with him.

"Since when?" Saito asked.

"Since I said so."

Azula didn't say much afterward, instead she simply walked to the restroom. Saito looked at the ceiling and wondered how this all happened. As Shaun would say it, he had just scored way out of his own league. The princess was so sudden in her actions that it had caught the dockworker by surprise. They had agreed to just be friends but apparently Azula changed her mind and decided otherwise. Saito sighed as he heard the squeaking sound of Azula turning some faucets that caused water from the showerhead to patter down.

It wasn't like he didn't like her. Saito still had feelings for Azula but He had half expected that they would simply move on. When Azula said 'maybe' he had assumed that she was saying that she still liked him but was deciding that it would be best that they their separate ways. Admittedly she was quite attractive, her athletic build accentuated her features in all the right places. Saito shook his head fervently. He was starting to think with his pants instead of his head.

A short while later Azula had exited the bathroom. The princess breathed out a puff of blue steam from her mouth. Her lips curled into a smile. Azula was surprised at her own actions but that did not necessarily mean that she regretted them. It was odd, Azula knew that this was out of character for herself but somehow she didn't care. It didn't go beyond kissing. Although when she thought about what happened the previous day her entire body seemed to blush.

(* * * * * * *)

Imperial palace / garden courtyard

It was at midday when Azula had returned home to the palace. Ursa sighed her daughter was an adult now. One thing that she had regretted was how much time she had missed out on with her children. Both Zuko and Azula were adults now. So much time was lost all for her husband's ambition! She hated Ozai. Ursa's Final visit to her husband was little more than a formality. She had come to inform him about how their children were doing. It wasn't what he deserved but perhaps she had hoped that it would put some since into him. Strangely before she had left Ozai had said that perhaps it would be best if he simply disappeared.

Ursa watched as Azula spent time in the garden courtyard with her stepsister Naomi. The girls had started becoming close in recent weeks. Ursa took note of the fact that Azula seemed to enjoy being a big sister. Ursa closed her eyes and let an exasperated breath through her nose. No matter how hard she tried, sometimes it seemed that she would never have the relationship that she wanted with Azula. The noble woman knew that she was being hard on herself. Their relationship was often a bit rocky but it hadn't proved to be irreparable. For Ursa, getting to know her daughter was enlightening experience. Despite their differences they had started to grow into enjoying each other's company. What a lot of people didn't despite the businesslike facade Azula wore in public was that she loved to laugh, even if it was often at the expense of others. It was odd but Azula often showed her affection by teasing people. It probably why she got along well with people like Toph. Azula was an amazing person in her own right. Ursa just felt it was shame that she hadn't gotten to know her earlier.

Azula sat at the pond with Naomi as she broke of crumbs of bread to feed the turtle ducks. Azula never liked the turtle duck pond. It often reminded her of how her mother would always spend more time with Zuko. Azula sighed quietly as she continued to contemplate things. Azula didn't know how to act around of her mother at times because of painful memories she had about her mother. The princess kept an eye on Naomi as she continued to feed the turtle ducks. Naomi yelped as she felt a sharp pain in her side. She stared at Azula with an accusatory glare.

"You pinched me!"

Azula feigned innocence by staring away from her stepsister and replying with a monotone voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Your lying Zuls!" The girl accused.

"Well then," Azula concluded. "It seems that I have no choice but to defend my honor."

Azula smiled wickedly as she grabbed Naomi before she could escape.

"St-stop...tickling me. Azula." Naomi demanded.

"Make me, say please."

Naomi was doubled over with laughter and completely at her older sister's mercy. Azula was relentless and soon Naomi had no choice but to give in to her sister's demands.

"Please... Azu... la. Please stop." Naomi laughed.

"Okay." Azula chimed.

It took Naomi a while to speak because of the hiccups she was having.

"That wasn't fair."

"I never play fair, Naomi." Azula said with an evil grin.

Azula looked at her sister with snicker as the girl continued to hiccup. Naomi gave Azula a hard look as her hiccups subsided. The princess resisted the urge to laugh again.

"Why so gloomy? You know a frown doesn't look all that good on you." Azula chided playfully.

"Well it seems the to of you are having fun." Ursa commented.

"A little." Azula answered.

"Since Zuko finished his meeting's this week, we'll able to leave the day after tomorrow."

"Really?" Naomi exclaimed.

"Yes that's right." Ursa confirmed.

Latter that night after Naomi had been set down to sleep Ursa had set a deck of cards down on a circular table along with some wooden poker chips. The three colors of, red, white, and yellow denoted their value. The red ones were small and represented copper pieces. The white poker chips where representative of silver coins. And as one would guess the larger yellow poker chips were proxies for gold pieces and therefore had the highest value.

Ursa had set about doing this simply because she wanted to. It was simply wanted take an opportunity to be with her family in private. Ursa smiled inwardly as she remembered how Zuko seemed dumbstruck by the suggestion of having a "Poker Night", Azula on the other hand found it amusing not just because of her brother's reaction to the news, but also from what Ursa could glean it was a pleasant surprise. Azula came into to the room and circled around her mother and took a seat at the table while placing her feet on top and leaning back into the chair.

"You have some rather nasty habits Azula." Ursa spoke.

The princess shrugged to indicate that she really didn't care.

"All right," Ursa surrendered "If you fall it won't my fault."

Azula snorted and removed her feet from the table. Her mother was such a prude sometimes.

"So do you know when Zuko and Mai will be here?" The princess asked pointedly.

For Ursa it seemed that some things never changed.

"They should be here shortly."

Azula perked up when she heard the door.

"Speak of someone and they'll show up." The princess said sarcastically

Mai coveiniantly choose to ignore her sister-in-Laws snide comentary. Although Zuko sneered at Azula for the coment. The princess replied with a smile that caused the Fire Lord to shake his head. After an awkward silence The game started. The card game was the standard five card draw. while Azula,Mai and Ursa were capable at putting a convincing poker face, Zuko was predictable as sunrise. To complicate matters even more for the Fire Lord it seemed that his luck like always was terrible. He had ocassions when he was aparently dealt crap hands and when he drew new cards he was faced with the irony that the ones he had discarded would have given him something to work with. as luck would have he always discarded the wrong cards. And oddly enough it seemed that Azula always got what she needed.

"Is something wrong Zuzu?" Azula asked in a mocking sing song voice.

"Shut up." The Fire Lord retorted.

As the game continued, Zuko's luck refused to change while his wife, sister and mother periodically won each hand. Evenually Zuko became bankrupt, It seemed patently obvious the gambling was not his thing. Eventually the game came down to an epic showdown between Ursa and Azula. The princess was obviously confident about her chances. From what one could Azula had most of the poker chips stacked in neat piles by where she was seated. Despite what was going on Ursa seemed rather calm. A little too calm in Azula's opinion. The princess had suspicions but she could not pinpoint them. Eventaully Azula's ego won out and she went all in. She set all the poker chips she had swindled from everyone into the center. The princess then set her cards face up with a smile.

"A straight flush, the game is over."

"Thats very good dear," Ursa spoke "However I'm afraid that hand, just won't cut it."

"I think you're bluffing."

"Is that so?"

What the princess saw next left her dumbstruck. Her mother slowly placed the cards in her hand face down and gradualy fliped them over.

"You did rather well for your first game Azula." Ursa congratulated. " However I'm afraid you've made one fatal mistake my dear. You've allowed your sucess to go to your head."

When Ursa fliped the last card over it was their for the world to see. Ursa's hand was a 'Royal Flush'. The noble stood up and Azula's mouth was wide open in disbelief.

"It's just a game." the noble woman said simply. "besides Zuko shufled the deck."

"What ever." Azula snorted. "This game is stupid anyway."

While Azula walked out Mai made a dry statement to her husband.

" Your sister's a sore loser."

"No comment." The Fire Lord asnwered

(* * * * * * *)

The trip the Ember Island was uneventfull for the most part. Azula leaned against the railing of the ship looking outward at the ocean water the encompassed her field of vision. She wasn't really thinking of anything at the time. Although she had been wondering what she wanted to do with her life. In time Azula dismissed this line of thinking. The princess set her elbows on the rail and clasped her hands beneath her chin. Her mind drifted to her family. Azula felt that it was a sad irony that she got along better with an eleven year old girl and dog then anyone else. she shook her head, that wasn't exactly true. Azula knew that her mother had gone out of her way to improve things between them.

The princess turned se her brother on the deck of the ship. She shrugged, he was always brooding over something. Azula was content to mind her own business untill she heard Zuko' voice.

"We haven't had much time to talk."

"You're a busy man." Azula understated flipantly.

"You could say that. I came to see how you were doing."

"I'm quite able to handle my own affairs."

"Well excuse me for caring." Zuko said sarcastically.

"Are you always in such a bad mood, or is it just me. I can understand that your repsonsiblities leave you frustrated, but dont take out on me. Unilke some people I won't tolerate it."

The Princess turned around and leaned against the railing with her arms crossed and an indignant scowl on her face. Zuko had been around his sister long enough to know that while she rarely lost her temper, upseting her was never a winning proposition. In that she was similar to Katara. You always knew when she was angry.

"Look," The Fire Lord placated. "You've been gone for two years."

"What are you getting at Zuko?"

"I don't know." The Fire Lord Admitted. "The fact is that...Well I guess it's complicated. I'm not sure what I want to say. Mom's been wanting us to be family.''

"We're all here aren't we?"

"But there's more to it. Isn't there?"

"What is this all about Zuko? You're going in circles with this."

"Why do you always push people away from you? It seems like you're afraid of trusting people."

"Yeah, Well maybe I'm just not a very social person." Azula said before storming off.

Zuko was about to say something but decided against it. It was probably best if he just his sister blow of some steam. It was likely that Azula was moody simple because of recent developments. He sighed maybe he was simply being an Idiot. If Azula wanted to some space away from people at this time then perhaps it would be best that he give it to her. The Fire Lord sighed his mother was always better at getting through to Azula then he was.