disclaimer - don't own ATLA or Aladdin

By the time Katara stormed into the Fire Nation palace it was evening. The guards and servants gave her surprised looks when she walked down the corridors with her cloak on.

"Katara!"

Katara looked around for the person calling her and saw Sokka and Toph running towards her.

"You're back!" exclaimed Sokka when he embraced his little sister.

"I knew you'd come back, Sugar Queen." said Toph. The blind earthbender punched the waterbender on the arm. "I thought you'd be back a lot sooner, though."

"Where's Ozai?" asked Katara.

Sokka and Toph looked surprised at this question. Sokka looked at Katara's face in surprise and worry.

"I don't know." Said Sokka, "Katara, did something happen out there?"

"I can't explain right now." said Katara shortly, "I have to find Ozai."

"I'll help you look for him, Sugar Queen." said Toph. She knelt down and placed a hand on the floor. After a few seconds, Toph started sprinting down the corridor.

"This way!"

The Water Tribe siblings chased after Toph who stopped every now and then to place her hand on the floor. They had reached the courtyard when Toph informed the siblings Ozai wasn't far.

"Is this a new fashion you're trying, Water Tribe?"

Azula's voice made Sokka, Katara, and Toph stop in their steps. Azula was standing in the courtyard a few feet away. Behind her Ty Lee practiced her flips and stands while Mai leaned against a tree, looking bored as usual.

"I must say it suits you." The Fire Princess said with a smirk, "Now you look more like a peasant than you did before."

"Not now, Azula," said an annoyed Sokka, "We're busy."

Ty Lee stopped practicing her stands for a minute to look at Sokka.

"Busy with what…" she flipped over to Sokka and stood barely an inch close to him, "Cutie?"

"We're wasting time!" said Katara, "Come on, guys."

She, Sokka, and Toph took barely two steps before a new voice spoke.

"Oh, Katara, is this about that boy the Dai Li arrested?"

At these words, Katara stopped dead with her eyes wide. Sokka looked at her with the same expression

"A boy?" he asked suspiciously but Katara turned her head to look at Ozai, ignoring Sokka.

"You should know better than to consort with criminals." said Ozai, pretending to be concerned. He looked down at her cloak and recognized it to be the same cloak the girl in the hourglass wore.

"Criminals?" Again, Katara ignored Sokka.

Katara turned to face Ozai. Her hands were on his hips. "What was his crime?" she demanded.

"Kidnapping the princess, of course." lied Ozai. He was grateful that he was as good a liar as his daughter because Toph detected nothing.

"I wasn't kidnapped!" said Katara, "I ran away!"

Ozai had a mix expression of shock and remorse on his face.

"Oh, dear Agni!" he placed a hand to his face as if upset. "If only I knew!"

"What happened to the boy?" she asked Ozai. She was dreading the answer.

"Oh I'm sorry, Katara." said Ozai, bringing the hand down from his face, "The boy's sentence had already been carried out."

"What sentence?" Katara asked softly, hoping Ozai wasn't going to say what she expected.

"Death." Ozai said simply in a calm and sinister tone. His smirk widened when Katara gasped. "By beheading."

"No!" she whispered. She collapsed to her knees on the ground beneath her.

"I am very sorry, Katara." Ozai put his hands on her shoulders but she shook them off in anger.

"How could you?" Katara got to her feet and ran away, crying. Sokka gave Ozai the dirtiest look he could muster before he and Toph ran after her.

"I think she took it rather well." said Azula with a smirk identical to her father's.

Ty Lee watched the siblings and earthbender go with a guilty expression on her face.

Sokka and Toph searched the gardens for Katara until they found her crying at the edge of the pond.

"Katara?"

Sokka knelt down beside his sister and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Toph followed suit.

"What happened out there?"

Katara explained to her friends between sobs what had happened outside the palace walls from Zuko saving her in the marketplace to him taking her to his home to him getting arrested.

"It's all my fault, guys." She said after telling the story. She wiped the tears running down her face. "I didn't even know his name." Sokka hugged her and she cried into his chest as he held her close. Toph kept her hand on the crying girl's shoulder.

AN: sorry this one was so short :( but I will update soon. Maybe before tomorrow if you're lucky :)