"Let's go over it again." Azula always had trouble understanding her brother, but now he was reaching new highlights.

They were at the restaurant since morning. It was a cozy place made of wood, with several tables. There was a waitress as well, going around the tables taking orders and serving food. They were waiting for their food at this point, Zuko ordered a dish he used to eat in Ba Sing Se, a dish he missed, and Azula picked something at random.

"I offered the Earth Kingdom representative financial compensations, as well as the manpower needed to undo the damage my nation has done." Zuko was patient, his sister had many flaws, but she was better at this than him.

"I get that, why?"

"I want to help undo the damage done and help restore balance to the world."

His sister had that "you are an idiot" look on her face.

"So..." she started "I don't understand why you're doing it, or why you need to, but I'll try to go with it." she took a breath "Now, father was a Firelord, right?"

"Yes."

"And I was about to be a Firelord."

As they were talking the waitress came and put the dishes on the table. The Firelord gave a thankful nod; the princess didn't acknowledge her existence.

"Yes."

"Did we care about the balance of the world?"

"No." Zuko frowned "you didn't."

"Right..." Azula was talking to him as if he was a child "now, did the Earth King cared about the balance of the world?"

"No, but he was a good man and I'm sure..."

"Did he?"

"No."

"You see Zuzu, I don't know what you believe and I'm not exactly sure I want to know, but the people you are dealing with, people like me, father and the nobles – they don't care; they want power and wealth."

"You're right..." if only she knew how much it pained him to say that "But how do I win? I will not back down; my duty is to the world as well as my nation."

"Speak to them in a language they'll understand." was it just him, or was his sister completely at home with this topic "They know the war ended only because we decided to pull out. The Fire Nation has the biggest, most well trained army in the world. If you were to attack the remaining two nations, you have a decent chance of winning."

"I will not threaten or force our allies. We will cooperate."

"I am not saying you shouldn't, although I probably wouldn't..." now it was Zuko's turn to give her a funny stare "the deal is to show them that you are a strong leader."

"By burning them down?"

"No just..." she gave up "I didn't want to do it like that. Look, go to the ship and write a letter to your advisors. Tell them that if the representative doesn't accept your terms, you'll just pull the money out of their bank and let them fend for themselves."

"And if it backfires?"

"It won't; you are giving them your finger and their trying to bite your hand." Her brother was not taking well to the conversation "They are probably just being greedy, don't let them exploit you." Now he looked depressed "I'm sorry, I know you were out of court for a long time. They are trying to get what they want. You said it yourself, your duty is to the world AND your nation, they have their duties as well. Trust me, it's the best thing you could."

After finishing her sentence Azula finally acknowledged the existence of her food. It was a decent looking meal, with a good aroma. This wasn't a major establishment in a big city, nor did it came from a royal kitchen, but then again in the last two months her food wasn't top quality either. She decided that it couldn't be worse than prison, asylum, food, so might as well give it a try.

"People eat this." the food was repulsive "They put it in their mouth, chew and then swallow?"

"It's not that bad." Zuko replayed.

"Zuzu, this is disgusting."

"Then don't eat it."

"This meal is lucky I'm hungry."

"You know, people like this; it's considered a staple in the local cosine."

"You're telling me, that you are going to tell the cooks, to make this?"

"Well, no..."

Suddenly Azula stopped paying attention, Zuko noticed as well. A bronze skinned man, with a gouty and a somewhat bizarre haircut entered. He was dressed somewhat simply, except his collar, which had a few golden stripes on it. He seemed oblivious to their presence, more interested in having a meal than anything else. His actions spoke of ignorance as well: careless, unaware, completely closed in his own mind. Exactly how they wanted him...

"That's our man." Zuko remarked "Let's have a chat with him."

"Not before I finish my meal."

There was no rush; the man just ordered something, so he'll probably be there for long enough. The Fire Lord knew it, no need to argue with his sister right now. Well, if they were going to wait, they could at least be productive about it.

"So, how do we approach him?" Zuko was thinking about the method, in his mind this had to go perfectly, the needed the information he had, no place for screw ups "We shouldn't alarm him from the get go. We must also be certain that he doesn't lie; if I knew we would be doing this I would have brought Toph along, but I didn't, so this is that. You can tell, right?"

Azula just finished with her meal "Zuko, relax, just act natural." she got up and headed towards the target's direction.

"Yeah, act natural." suddenly it clicked with him "Wait, I don't want you to act - "

Before he could say it Azula grabbed the man by the collar and threw him at the table. The victim, due to the shock, couldn't say anything before he was flat on his back. The princess screamed at him, fire coming out of her mouth, "Where is Ursa!"

The poor man wet himself before she could finish the sentence.

It was surprising how cooperative the man was, how easily he gave the information and how willing he was to betray whoever employed him. Didn't say much though, maybe he didn't know, maybe he wasn't willing to. Zuko had to restrain Azula before she actually mutilated the man, but they did get what they needed – a location.

Now the only matter that remained unresolved was the issue of whatever or not to trust her sister's advice. It wasn't much of a dilemma really – Azula always lies, never trust her; he wasn't willing to brake that rule yet, if ever. But what she said did make sense, he would write to Iroh, ask for his advice, if his uncle was willing to go with Azula's recommendation, then yes, he would do it, otherwise – no. Of course, it would be best if his sister never found out that he asked for a second opinion.