Prelude of Fire

Book 1: Destiny

Chapter 10: The Southern Air Temple

She had to run. To where, she didn't know, nor did she care. All that mattered was running away. Houses blurred past her, or maybe the tears had blurred her vision, she couldn't tell. The only thing on Jora's mind was getting as far away from her home as she could. Before she even knew where she was going, she was squeezing under the wall and heading towards her training place. It was only when she was there that she stopped to rest.

She let herself fall down on the grass and looked at the sky, gasping for air. What was she to do now? Her mother... she couldn't believe she was gone. All the years she had spent learning to fight and protect herself; what good was it when she couldn't even protect her own family? Jora froze as a realization hit her. She could have fought, but she had hid. Her mother had paid the price. Despite always thinking herself tough, the second she was faced with real danger she couldn't even bring herself to fight for her own mother's life. This was her fault. Not just because of her inaction, but because those men were after her. They wanted to find and, she could only assume, kill her. Jora wasn't going to let that happen. Not now.

Jora's mother had paid her life to protect her; now wasn't the time to be a reckless child and go looking for vengeance, even if every muscle in her body yearned for her to. There was no knowing how strong the men were, how many, or if they were even benders. Even though Jora believed she might be able to take them, she couldn't risk it. If she died then her mother had died for nothing, and she would never get revenge. There was only one thing she could do to make sure that didn't happen.

She had to leave Ba Sing Se; the killers would be looking for her. That was the only way to be safe from them, no matter how much she hated it. Jora opened her training pouch and dug around to get her knife. Since it was well past sundown, she had to feel around for it. Her hand brushed against the hilt and she grabbed it from the bag. She took off the sheathe and grabbed her hair. In one slice she cut most of it off. There was little doubt these men would know what she looked like, so she had to change that. Jora got up and walked to the stream. She dropped the bundle of hair into the water, and the thousands of strands flowed with the current until they were far out of sight.

Where would she go? She wondered. Nothing came to her mind. Wherever she went, it had to be somewhere far, that was for sure. She should head south, it was a long way, but the war didn't reach that far yet, and it was far from here. In her bag she had a small amount of money, two dulled swords, a knife, a small and thin blanket, and a water pouch. Her mother always told her she packed too heavy, but it seemed like Jora's prepared nature finally proved useful.

Her mind wandered to Lee when she saw the second sword. She knew he would jump at the chance to leave Ba Sing Se. It was too late to go get him now, he was back in the outer city. She could wait here for him to come tomorrow. They had planned on meeting anyway. If they did somehow know about him though, would he be safe? Maybe it would be better to go back and meet with him now, and try to escape. No, that wouldn't work, the outer wall was too large for her to bend. They could use the monorails to leave, there weren't any restrictions on leaving the city.

The monorails opened during morning, though, so her plan had to wait until then. Jora went to the top of the hill nearest the middle wall. There weren't any figures she could make out, so she was pretty sure she wasn't being followed. Just in case though, she would have to camouflage herself. How to do it though? Jora had one idea, but she wasn't sure she could do it.

Jora found a soft spot in one of the hills, then with all her might focused on trying to bend a small hole. Jora concentrated as much as she could, but nothing happened. As time went by it grew harder for Jora to believe it would happen, and after a while stopped trying. Normal way it is then. She dug with her hands and after a while had a hole big enough for her to sleep in. After looking at it, she decided it was too noticeable, so she took her blanket and fixed it to the entrance. It seemed inconspicuous enough, so she stuffed her bag in and got inside.

She set her bag to the side and used it like a pillow. Jora wasn't sure if she could sleep after what happened, and the last few hours kept repeating in her mind. Eventually, a tiredness that came not just from digging her small den crept up on her and she fell asleep.

When Jora awoke all she saw was darkness. She began to freak out, but then remembered where she was. She reached for her bag, but it wasn't there. She also noticed something else: the ground was really soft, and warm. For some reason instinct told her to hold her hand up. When she did a flame grew just above her hand and lit up her surroundings. Along with the fire that flooded her vision, clarity flooded her mind. She'd just had another vision. She was Azula, not Jora.

These dream things were getting really old to her really fast. She didn't like it. None of what she dreamed even seemed important, so why was she remembering them as if they were her own memories?

She shook her questions away. Azula had learned asking questions only made Avatar stuff more confusing. She got up and lit a few candles, then wrote down what she saw in her notes. It was only after that she remembered what had happened before she had the dream. Aevum used her powers to save Piandao, but why? What importance did he have? She was beginning to suspect that damned spirit might be behind the dreams as well, everything else seemed to be his doing. She should have questioned him about them when she had the chance.

How long had it been? She wondered. In the iron cell she called her room she didn't even know what time of day it was. Azula expected that she would be pelted with questions she couldn't (or wouldn't) answer, so she prepared to try not to torch anyone that annoyed her too much, then headed up towards the deck. The first thing Azula took note of was that they were surrounded by islands. The second was that directly ahead of the ship barely a league or so away was a grand temple built on the largest mountain in view.

Azula had seen a few depictions of the Southern Temple, but they didn't compare to the real thing. The temple was immense. It looked almost like a small city. To the east, the sun was slowly climbing over a small mountain into view. It couldn't have been later than seven in the morning. That would explain why no one had bothered her. Only Piandao would be up this early, but he was most likely meditating in his room.

It would be an hour before anyone came up to bother her with questioning, so Azula would have to try and enjoy it as much as she could. She decided to practice her firebending. With all the crazy things that have happened it had been a while since she had dedicated time to her firebending skill. Ever since leaving the capital her firebending hadn't seemed as potent. Now, however, she seemed to be back to nearly perfect. Nearly.

Just over an hour later, before Azula managed finish her last set of moves, she noticed Ty Lee watching her. She paused, and went to talk with her.

"Hey, Azula. Feeling alright?" Ty Lee asked her.

"I feel as good as ever. I needed the extra sleep. How long were you there?"

"That's good. And only a few minutes." Ty Lee said awkwardly.

Azula sighed, "Before you ask, because I know you will; I don't know what happened, I don't remember how I did it, and I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it again if I tried."

"I know that. But it's just, well, it was scary seeing you like that."

"Honestly, I can't say that being scary offends me. I kinda try to be."

"No, I didn't mean that you were scary, well, you were, but that's not what I was trying to say. I meant that it's scary that it just snapped without warning and you didn't have any control of it. Doesn't that scare you too?"

"Of course not." Azula said shortly. The lie wasn't up to par with her usual ones, in terms of convincing.

Her friend gave her a doubtful look. Not even Ty Lee was fooled that easily, it seemed.

"Look, if I wanted to stop it I could have. I don't know how I did it but I know that I did do it." Azula lied. "I don't know how I know, but I just do. Call it Avatar instincts. It's not something that will just happen." At least that last part was true.

Ty Lee still had a hint of skepticism, but mostly she looked relieved. "I hope that's true, 'cause it makes me feel a lot better. I just thought that maybe you didn't have any control of it."

"It's not so much as control… the best way I can think to describe it is like sending a messenger hawk; you don't control its every movement, but it still goes where you need it to go."

"Does that mean that you meant to kill them? All the people on the boat, I mean. There had to be at least fifty people, Azula."

"What else could I have done? Nothing else would have solved our problem. Besides you didn't say anything when we sank the Harmony."

"That was different, Azula. Those were pirates: thugs and criminals. These were just soldiers doing their job."

"I know what they are. My father commands the generals that commands them. These aren't nice guys who would have treated us as guests. They would have captured and probably tortured us for information before publicly executing us for treason. That's their job."

"Still it just… felt cold."

"Cold? Of course it was. It had to be done. Did you expect anything else?" That was good; I didn't even need to outright ask her. If she meant anything else, she'll just elaborate.

Ty Lee seemed to think before saying, "I guess… well, I never really expected anything. Not like that, at least."

Azula gave her a smile of pity. "Welcome to war, Ty Lee. It's not pretty. The commanders play it like a chess game, as they should, but to the pawns it boils down to killing the other side before they kill you."

"Huh? Azula, I'm not sure I like that..."

"I'm not asking you to like it. I just need you to stick by me. That's what friends do, right?"

Azula glanced at Ty Lee, who was looking unsure. She had to convince her. It would be easy. She shifted into a much softer tone. "I'm not going to kill every person we come across Ty, I'll only resort to that when there's no other way. If I promise that, are we good?"

Ty Lee thought it over, then smiled. "Yeah, of course."

Azula smiled. That applies even to you. Especially to you. She thought.

Ty Lee changed the subject. She leaned over the rail and looked at the Temple in the distance. "Wow, now that I'm looking at it, it is pretty amazing. Don't you think?" She asked Azula in her usual tone.

"It is more than I expected, to be sure. After nearly a hundred years of sitting here abandoned I thought it would be falling apart. The Air Nomads built sturdy structures, for all the good it did them."

Ty Lee agreed, then the two stood in silence for a few moments.

"I'm going to go have breakfast, do you want to join?" Ty Lee asked Azula, after soaking in the view.

"I'll follow in a few minutes; I need to finish up my last set real quick."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit."

Zuko finally got out of his bed after waking up a third time. With hardly anything to do on the ship, he didn't have much of a reason to get up early. The only thing that brightened his mood was that Mai and he had been enjoying their... whatever it was. There wasn't much to do on the ship, but somehow it didn't feel that boring. The time here was actually pretty enjoyable for Zuko. It helped that Azula had been keeping to herself. If she hadn't there would have been more than a few fire fights.

During the night they must have gotten pretty close to the temple, Zuko though, so he decided to go up to the deck to check. On his way to the stairwell, he met his Uncle. Iroh had a cup of steaming tea, from the strong smell Zuko could tell it was Huǒlong, a popular Fire Nation tea that gave a boost of energy that lasted through the day. Zuko didn't care for it very much, though he knew Iroh loved it. Albiet he loved almost any type of tea.

"Morning, Uncle. What are you doing?"

Iroh greeted his nephew, "Good morning, Prince Zuko. I'm going to go see where it is we are. I expect we're in the Drowned Mountains already."

"I was just about to check too. Have you been to the temple before?"

The two continued on their way together. "Once before. After Ba Sing Se."

"Oh… Is Azula awake yet?" Zuko changed the topic, knowing Iroh never talked much about his two year leave. He had only returned recently, and every time Zuko asked him what he had done, Iroh dodged the conversation.

"I'm not sure; I haven't checked. Even if she isn't, I'm sure she'll wake soon. There's no need to be worried about her."

"I'm not worried about her; I'm just wondering how much time I have left without her so I can enjoy it."

Iroh laughed and said, "You're wise beyond your years."

"So what will we do at the temple?"

"I'm not certain. I just feel that this is the right path for us to take."

"You really don't have any plan?" Zuko asked in disbelief.

"You don't always need to know where you're going to begin a journey."

"Yeah, but isn't that how you get lost?"

"Only if you take it literally."

The two arrived on the deck, and both noticed the temple within a few seconds.

"Woah, that's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be." Zuko said, shocked.

"Well, it is built around the top of an entire mountain. I'm surprised we can see it. Most of the time this mountain range is covered with a thick fog."

"That must have been why they built it here. No one but waterbenders would be able to sail through here without wrecking if there was fog."

It wasn't hard to imagine it happening without the fog either. There were jagged rocks and mountains that surrounded them, forcing the ship to move slowly and carefully.

Iroh nodded in agreement and said, "The Air Nomads were mocked by many for their strange life styles, but they were very smart and aware people."

"Not aware enough." Zuko stated. For the first time he truly realized what it was that his people had done at the start of the war. An entire culture just… erased. All that was left was their hollow temples. It was no longer a wonder to him why the world feared them. If this is what the Fire Nation considered progress, it was obvious why the other nations rejected it.

"No," Iroh agreed sadly. "not aware enough. Judging from the distance we'll be there soon. I'm going to go eat before we arrive. Will you come too?"

"Yeah, sure." Zuko said, turning away from the almost haunting view.

When they arrived in the dining area they were surprised to see Azula, who looked perfectly fine. Iroh and he exchanged glances, then Zuko began to leave, but Iroh pulled him back and said, "I know you'd rather not, but your sister must be going through a rough time right now, and knowing you're there to help if she needs might help. You can't fix the rift between you two by avoiding it."

"No, but I can stop her from making it worse…" Zuko muttered, but reluctantly followed his uncle to the table where Azula and Ty Lee were chatting.

Azula saw the two coming before they arrived, and said before they could say a word, "If you're curious about yesterday: I have no clue what happened and can't explain how it did. Now go away."

"That's not why we're here." Her Uncle said.

"Then what do you two want?"

"We just thought you might enjoy the company of your family." Iroh explained.

Azula sighed. "I don't need you coddling me with your acting, Iroh. I just need your help, and you need mine. That doesn't mean you have to pretend to care about me."

"You're my niece, Azula, of course I care about you."

"You keep saying that, but we both know you only care about the Avatar, not me. Either way, I was having a nice time before you two showed up, so can you do me a favor and just leave already?"

"See, Uncle," Zuko said, "Azula doesn't even want us here. I'm leaving."

"If that's what you want then." Iroh said, then followed his nephew to another table.

"Why don't you think he cares about you?" Ty Lee asked. "It seems like he does."

"Yeah, now that he knows I'm the Avatar. He's just like Mother, he only really cares about Zuko." Azula said in a tone that let her friend know that she shouldn't press too much on the issue. "Anyway, when it comes down to it, I just can't fully trust him."

Mai arrived and sat down at the table. "What about trust?" She asked.

"Azula was just saying that she doesn't trust her uncle."

Mai gave a tsk of amusement. "As she shouldn't. It's been obvious from the start. If I had to guess I would say Iroh blames a lot of Zuko's problems on her and their father. He definitely doesn't seem to like her much."

"I thought you liked Zuko?" Ty Lee questioned.

"I do, but I don't fool myself. Zuko isn't perfect, no one is. He has a lot of issues, and I can't really blame him. Being outdone by your little sister your whole life while being humiliated by your father would give anyone issues."

"It's not my fault he's a terrible bender." Azula said defensively.

"I didn't say it was. I'm just saying that he has issues as a result of it. It's really Zuko's fault for letting it get to him."

"Well I don't care about his issues."

"I can tell."

"Good, I try to make it clear." Azula said, then went back to eating. Her cheek had finally healed up completely from her fight with Orco, so now she could enjoy the hot spices her nation was known for again. During her focus on the lightning incident the absence had hardly been noticed, since she had only been eating a meal a day during it. The food reminded her of home. It didn't taste as good as she remembered it.

Azula was the first to take foot on the small mountainous island home to their destination. As she should be. This trip was for her, after all.

Right behind her came Ty Lee and Mai, then Zuko and Piandao. The captain and Iroh were on the ship talking about something Azula didn't care about she was sure. She stopped when she got next to the mountain, which was much too steep to climb up. Piandao soon was there as well, and she asked him, "So how do we get up there? It's not exactly built for normal people to get up to."

"We scale it the old fashioned way. With ropes and anchor points in the rock. Most of the ones used at the beginning of the war should still be here, so it shouldn't be a hard climb."

"Sounds fun." Azula said dryly. Of course it wouldn't be a problem for her, she knew climbing wouldn't be that hard, but it still didn't excite her.

"We're climbing all the way up there?" Zuko asked nervously. "What happens if one of us falls?"

"That's why we have the anchors and rope. I'll go through and feed our rope through the anchor points alone. After that I can climb back down and you all can use the rope as a safety. We only have three harnesses, and I'll have to be in the back every trip. That means we'll have to have four trips total. One with just me, two with me and two others, and one with me and one other."

"Why do you need to be in the back?" Mai asked.

"As we climb the ropes will start slacking, and if you slip like that you'll end up falling to the ground. I'll make sure that doesn't happen by making sure the ropes will catch you. That way even if you lose your grip you'll only fall a few feet before the rope gets you. As long as I'm there you have nothing to fear." Piandao explained, then added jokingly, "Except maybe a faulty anchor point, but I'll check those during the first run, so they should be sturdy."

"Oh, that's uh, good." Zuko said, looking slightly pale, and glancing up at the top of the mountain.

"You almost sound like a teacher talking like that, Piandao." Ty Lee said. After everyone stared at her in silence for a few seconds she awkwardly laughed in embarrassment, "Oh, right."

"So, do you think the anchors will be good after almost a century? Wouldn't the iron be worn out by now?" Azula said.

"The Fire Nation only used iron to pierce the rock, the exposed loops for the rope are made of a tough fiber that lasts much longer. The Fire Nation planned to use them in the future. They planned to turn the temples into bases of operations, but they never did, lucky for us. Anyway, the anchors should still be strong enough to support us. If not we have a few spares we took from the ship."

"The ship came with climbing equipment too? How much did that thing cost Mai?"

"Enough for my parents to have disowned me when they found out, I'm sure."

"That must be saying something, considering their wealth."

"Maybe… So when are we climbing this thing?" Mai asked.

Piandao judged the climbing route. "I don't see why we don't start now. I'll get the equipment and set up."

Piandao did what he had told them he would. Soon after he began climbing, Iroh finally joined them.

"What were you talking about back there?" Azula asked.

"Just telling the captain of our plans."

"Oh yeah, and I'd almost forgotten." Azula said bitterly.

"What plan?" Ty Lee asked.

As if in answer to her question the sound of an anchor rising echoes across the mountains, and soon the ship was backing up, only leaving behind the much smaller secondary ship.

"H-huh? The ship's leaving! Where are they going?" Ty Lee asked, looking back and forth between Azula and the ship.

"Back to the capital." Azula explained, with a mild bitter tone.

"But how will we leave? Are we going to just squeeze in the small one?"

"Iroh says he has a plan." Mai said.

"But why? What's wrong with the ship, and what about all the money Mai spent?"

Azula explained, "The fire nation will be looking for that ship; there's no doubt they would have kept records of all the ships that left the capital the night we did. They'll stop every ship of it's type. That's what we suspected anyway. I guess the suspicions were right, seeing how yesterday turned out. And I'm not keen on having that happen again, that's the only reason I'm putting any trust in Iroh. He's also well aware that if he isn't right we're leaving him here."

"Where are they going?"

"The captain says he'll sort things out at the Capital."

"What? But what if he gets in trouble?"

"No, he can just play innocent and say he had no clue who he was helping before we escaped in the small ship."

Ty Lee was still concerned. The Fire Nation wasn't very kind to traitors, not even unaware ones. "I hope he'll be all right, but what's our plan?"

"I have no clue." Azula revealed. "Only Iroh does, but he won't tell us for whatever reason. Hopefully it isn't some old psychotic friend again. I'm not sure if we could deal with another Orko incident."

Ty Lee looked at Iroh, who only smiled. "You'll find out when it's time to leave." He told her.

By the time they had all scaled the cliffside the sun was closer to falling than rising. Azula noticed Piandao was visibly tired, though he tried valiantly to hide the fact.

"Yay, we're finally here. Now what do we do, exactly?" Mai asked, before Azula could.

"For now? We get comfortable." Iroh told them, looking around at the temple, with an expression Azula didn't see on him often. "Hopefully the spirits will allow us to stay here, if only to help the Avatar."

"Spirits? Oh please, Uncle, those stories haven't scared me since I was five. The dead are dead."

Piandao scanned the temple with his eyes. "Hopefully they agree with you, Avatar." He emphasized her title, not-so-subtly reminding her of her role involving the spirits. Azula didn't pay it any attention. She was used to ignoring people lately.

Iroh grabbed his pack. "Let's get moved in. There's not enough daylight to waste."

It wasn't long before Azula had claimed her room. It wasn't a bedroom, but it was much more grand than the actual bedrooms. The nomads believed in a minimal lifestyle, and the more minimal the more enlightened, or so they thought. This meant the real bedrooms were small and cramped, and the sage's or elders or whatever they were called were even worse. So of course Azuka wouldn't have it. Luckily she found this room, it was as large or larger than her room at the capital was. It didn't have any bedding, but there was room for her things at least. That's not to say the bedrooms had bedding, unless you counted raised slabs of stone. The feature that caught her eye in this room however was that there were no openings. All the bedrooms in the temple had giant open windows. Azula thought it was stupid. Iroh explained that the windows were used by airbenders to travel with their gliders, and also connected their room with nature to connect them with it's "energy." Azula still thought it was stupid. The room was dark, and almost painfully plain, but at least she wasn't freezing or getting pelted with wind and moonshine. Despite everything, a faint smile tugged at Azula's lips.

Tomorrow she would start training to airbend, and the thought excited her. She acted like she didn't care about airbending, and truly didn't, at first, but the more she thought about it the more useful airbending seemed. It was true that offensively it wasn't much use to her, but she had began thinking of ways she could use it not for attacking, but for positioning. Already she was extremely agile, but if she could incorporate more movement with the help of airbending she would easily out-maneuver any fighter alive. faster movement meant more time to set up an attack, and less time for an opponent to avoid it. For the first time she could remember, Azula felt like she was too excited to sleep.

Yet after what seemed like a blink of an eye, Azula woke up from a dreamless night of sleep. Just to be sure, she snapped a small flame to life. Good; she was still her. She hated the dreams that had been plaguing her, but if it was the trade-off for ultimate power she would gladly take it.

After a plain breakfast of bread and cheese Azula was ready to start her airbending training. Ty Lee had wanted to watch, but Iroh told her that Azula would need to be free of distractions, so it ended up being just the two of them. Iroh had a bundle of what looked like faded yellow and orange rags by his feet.

"Okay, so where do I start?" Azula asked.

"First things first, you're going to have to go change."

"Excuse me?"

"The Air Nomads wore clothes that helped them become attuned to their surroundings. You will need to wear them as well to help your training."

Iroh bent over and picked up the rags, and Azula realized that it was actually an old robe.

"No way, I'm not wearing that."

"Then you won't learn airbending from me." Iroh sat down and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"When you are ready to learn, come back wearing those clothes. Until then, I'll wait here."

Azula stayed where she was to see if Iroh was bluffing, but when he sat unmoving for over half an hour she realized he meant it. She had tried enough by herself to know airbending couldn't be self-taught. With excessive force she grabbed the robe and went to change.

When she returned Iroh was still sitting quietly. When she spoke to him he continued to ignore her. Azula had a feeling he wanted her to mimic him, so she sat down as well and waited. And waited… And waited... Azula wondered how much longer she would be able to resist leaving and tell Iroh how good of a teacher he was, but before she did Iroh finally broke the silence.

"Are you ready?"

"I have been for hours. Did you fall asleep during your meditation and forget you were supposed to be teaching me?"

"For you to even begin airbending, you will have to free your mind. A free mind is able to wait out the longest of storms. Freeing your mind is the key to your learning."

"Yeah, I know that already."

"No, you know of it. To know it means to understand, and you don't. If you truly knew you would be airbending already."

Azula grit her teeth. "Fine, Uncle. How do I open my mind?" It took a huge effort not to drench her question in sarcasm.

"Simple, you have to control your ego."

"My ego? There's nothing wrong with my ego."

Iroh raised an eyebrow. He looked towards the sky through one of the openings in the ceiling. "That thinking is what I'm talking about.

"That thinking is why I'm as strong as I am!" Azula rebutted.

Iroh pulled something from his pocket, the pinwheel. He set it down on the ground. "If you are right, then you should be able to use airbending to move this."

Azula glared at him, then closed her eyes. She tried to focus on the air moving the pinwheel. After a few minutes she gave up. "This doesn't prove anything."

"Not by itself, but this proves everything I've said is true." Iroh held out his hand. "Even if you are not born to an element, a mind that is truly free can transform the energy within the body, and use it in ways no ordinary bender could." He moved his hand, and Azula watched wide-eyed in amazement as the pinwheel began lightly spinning.

Azula was stunned. Truly, and utterly, stunned. "How can you do that? You can't airbend."

"Not nearly like a true airbender, no. But better than you can, at the moment. Your mind is closed in an iron shell, while mine is open to all the energy around me, even the energy that makes the wind blow, the waves crash, and the earth shake. That is why I can do this, and you can not."

Azula was stubborn, and she wasn't sold on everything her uncle said, but the proof was in front of her. Iroh could airbend. Not much, but more than her, and she was supposed to be able to. If she had to change to become more powerful, fine, but her plan would remain the same regardless.

"Okay, Uncle, I'll listen. How do I go about finding inner peace."

Iroh smiled. "This is the part you won't enjoy."

Azula didn't like the look on his face, and something told her she would like his instructions even less.

"W-what? Is this some sort of trick?"

"No coal-for-brains, I'm serious."

"Why should I trust you? You always trick me."

"What could there possibly be to gain from me doing this?"

"How should I know?"

"Look just accept it, please?"

Zuko stopped to think for a moment. "Fine, I forgive you."

Before Zuko could stop it Azula moved toward him and he closed his eyes and jerked back in surprise. He expected to feel pain, but it never happened. His sister had her arms wrapped around him in what seemed like… a hug? He opened his eyes. He had to be dreaming, but he knew he wasn't. Azula didn't show affection. She never has, not even to their father, really. Maybe this was some shape-shifting monster? Azula let go and immediately punched him in the shoulder really hard. No, definitely Azula.

"Ow! What is wrong with you?"

"Don't get used to that, I'm only doing it because I have to." Azula said as she left.

"As if I could get used to it!" Zuko said angrily to her back, yet deep down, so deep he could barely register its presence, he felt something he hadn't felt since his mother had disappeared. For one of the first times, he felt like he had a little sister. He looked to his right, where Mai was sitting down leaning against a rock, looking as confused as he felt.

"What just happened?" She asked him. "And what was she wearing?"

"I have no idea, and I don't want to either."

"Well, at least it seems like she's trying to be nicer to you. As weird as it sounds. Do you think it has something to do with her training?" Mai added.

"Yeah, it has to. Azula has never hugged anyone. I was half expecting to turn to stone or get stabbed or something."

Mai smiled a little. "Why would you turn to stone?"

"I don't know." Zuko said defensively. "It just seems like something that would happen in that kind of situation. A world where Azula hugs me isn't a world that makes sense."

"This world never makes sense. Some people can make elements move with, for all we know, magic. It's kinda weird when you stop and think about it. No one seems to, though."

"When you say it like that..." He agreed, then sat down and leaned against the rock with her.

Zuko looked out at the sky toward the East. The sunset streaked the sky with color, and it almost seemed the mountains were ablaze. It looked more like a painting than a real life sunset. He thought it must have been the mist that made it look so incredible. The view reminded him of the sunsets at Ember Island. "The sunsets here are beautiful."

Mai turned to look. "Yeah, they are. It reminds me of Ember Island."

"That's funny, I was thinking the same thing."

"Well then, it must be true. That or we both have bad memory."

Zuko gave a light laugh. "It'd be nice to go back there sometime."

"That won't happen anytime soon."

"What makes you say that?"

"The Fire Nation will be a suicide zone for any of us. Unless you can fast-forward time, we'll need to wait before we can go back."

"You think everyone there is looking for us?"

"No, but they'll be looking for money, and I'm sure we're all worth thousands of gold pieces, you, and Iroh are probably worth even more, and Azula probably comes with lordship along with the gold. With prizes like that I'm sure they won't forget our faces anytime soon."

"You're probably right. At least we still have an amazing sunset here."

"Aren't you optimistic today."

Zuko gave a small laugh. "Maybe, but it's better than being bitter. I think getting away from Father has cleared my mind some, and as crazy as it sounds, if Azula being the Avatar makes her less annoying, then maybe this whole thing will turn out good after all. Maybe she'll even want to go see our mother."

Mai smiled and closed her eyes. "I hope it goes well too. It's also nice to get away from my Father. These last couple weeks haven't been bad at all."

"No." Zuko agreed, and grabbed her hand. "They weren't so bad."

"Ugh, that was so bad." Azula complained to Iroh, taking a sip of the tea he made her. It wasn't very good, but she didn't want to anger him while he was still her teacher, and he took his tea very seriously.

"It was necessary."

"Do you know how unnatural it is for me to say sorry? Let alone show... affection. I haven't hugged anyone since I was five. Zuko's probably terrified I'm planning something anyways, too. Even I had a hard time believing it. Not even that, I also wasn't even wrong about it. Zuko could only bend lightning because of literal divine intervention. I never did anything wrong." Azula continued.

"Yet you did it anyway. That's what matters, and is why I'm proud of you Azula."

"I don't need your pride."

"You have it anyway."

"Whatever. So can I airbend now?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

Azula was gripped by disbelief. "You're the teacher! Isn't it your job?"

"Well it isn't like I have a book to go by or anything. The airbenders have been gone for almost a hundred years! I'm just taking educated guesses at a lot of this."

"I can't believe you. Every time I think you can't get worse…" Azula complained, but once more attempted to move the paper pinwheel placed on the floor with air.

After several minutes she gave up. "I don't get it! I'm doing everything as best as I can. Why won't it work?"

Again Iroh got that strange hesitant look on his face. "Perhaps…" He mumbled.

"Perhaps what? What are you hiding?"

"Not hiding, just debating whether it's worthwhile."

"Whether what's worthwhile? You have an idea?"

"Yes, but it would cost us a lot of time, and I'm not sure we have that kind of time to stay here. If we do it we should go somewhere better. Only one place I know would be ideal, however."

"Okay, so are you going to ramble on about it for ten more minutes or are you going to tell me what you're talking about?"

"The winter solstice."

"What about it?"

"During the solstice the spirit world is closer than any other time. If you could use it there's a chance you could contact your past lives. They would help you find out how to learn airbending."

"Ok, but the solstice is nearly a hundred days away. It doesn't help us much now. Besides, I'm not a spirit type of person, but even I can tell that this place isn't exactly a spiritually enriched place."

"No, it isn't, and hasn't been since the Fire Nation destroyed its inhabitants. That's why we would have to go elsewhere."

"You know a place?"

"Better. I visited it."

Azula's curiosity got the better of her. "So it's true, then? You really did try to go into the spirit world?"

Iroh held an unreadable expression. "The place we need to go to is not in an area likely to trust our small ship, and the rest of the world is likely not to take kindly to us if they see it either. I think tomorrow I will unveil my plan so we can leave here. It is obvious that despite my hunch, this place isn't helping you to learn airbending."

She didn't like being ignored, but Azula dealt with the answer she was given. "Seems like we agree there. It was new and exciting at first, but stone beds aren't my idea of comfort."

Iroh chuckled. "Nor is it mine, but I have a feeling there won't be any comfortable beds for us for a while."

"Why? Where are we going next?"

"That, I do not know. It is not my place to say."

Is he saying it's mine? No, he wants me to, but he knows there's only one place to go next. Azula though. "Since we're right next to it, we might as well go to the South Pole. I'm not particularly excited to meet with the snow savages, but I might as well find a waterbender to teach me some of the basics."

"I'm not sure about that, Avatar Azula. There is an order you must follow."

You know that's not what I meant tea-brain. Or maybe you really are just that dumb. "I know; air, then water, but if I can at least find a teacher there we wouldn't have to look after I get down airbending. Who knows, I might end up figuring it out before we get there. Speaking of which, how exactly are we getting there?"

"You'll find out tomorrow, hopefully." Iroh said, then mumbled. "I just hope they're still there…"

"What? What's still where?"

Iroh only smiled, then dismissed her with a farewell. "It's nothing. I'll leave early tomorrow, I'll see you hopefully before nightfall. You have made good progress, all things considered." Iroh complimented as he got up and left to his bedroom.

Azula's mood crashed at the words. "All things considered…" Azula muttered to herself. It reminded her of her failure at airbending.

Should she try meditating? Azula wondered on the way to her room. There's obviously something stopping her from being able to airbend. Even without Aevum's meddling she could still shift small rocks and move a few gallons of water, so why couldn't she do this? She punched the nearest wall in frustration. After a moment she punched it again. And again. And again. Only when her knuckles were numb and more than likely bleeding did she stop. Her hand hurt, and she was just as frustrated as before. It was a dark night. The moon was only a curved sliver in the sky. Azula went to her room. Frustration… so this is what it feels like to struggle. No wonder Zuko is so angry all the time. Before Azula reached her room she was surprised to run into Mai and Ty Lee. "What are you two doing?"

"We're going to go eat, as people tend to do near dinner time." Mai told her. Azula hadn't noticed it much, but she was getting hungry. Ty Lee was staring at her strangely.

"What?"

Ty Lee looked away nervously, with an odd strained look on her face. "Nothing, I just wanted to… uhh," A giggle escaped her lips, but she stifled it immediately, looking mortified. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh Azula!"

Azula looked slightly confused. "Ok whatever, what is it?"

"I just was wondering, what is it that you're wearing?"

Azula looked down in surprise. She was still in the robes. "Training clothes. What's so funny about it?"

"Nothing at all! Sorry, Azula. I mean, they don't look bad or anything, it's just really... strange to see you in something so… um... colorful."

"What do you mean?" Azula was growing confused about Ty Lee's behavior. Why was she acting this way?

"Well, you always wear darker clothes. It's been years since I've seen you in a color other than red, black, or… um, dark red..."

Azula lifted her arm and looked at the yellow and orange clothes and gave a grunt of discontent. "Meh, it's not my style. They are pretty comfortable though. I'll get changed and then meet back up with you."

Mai watched as Azula left with bewilderment. "Did that seem weird to you?"

Ty Lee turned around, she had continued on her way. Mai followed as Ty Lee spoke. "What seemed weird, the clothes?"

"Well, that, but I meant Azula herself."

"What's weird about her. I didn't notice anything."

"You basically just laughed at what she was wearing to her face. Not even half a year ago she would have lit your hair on fire for doing that."

"You think so?"

"Ty Lee she burnt a duck to a crisp for quacking too much. She's changed. A lot. I thought before on the ship that maybe it was because she's just too busy worrying about other things. Even a week ago she was obsessed over the lightning thing with Zuko still. Now she doesn't care about it at all. Something happened when she lost control. You said she just snapped then fainted afterwards, right? Nothing else happened?"

Ty Lee went rigid for a second, before recovering almost instantly. "Yeah, that's all that happened. I'm not sure what's changed, maybe she's just embracing her role as Avatar?"

Great, she does know something we don't. What is she hiding from me and Azula? Mai thought.

"What happened? And before you try, don't pretend like you don't know. I can tell by how you're acting ."

"I just can't tell you, okay Mai? Stop asking about it. Please? I can't let Azula or anyone else know."

Mai deflated. "Fine, whatever. Can you blame me for wanting to know? This place is as boring as a history class. We've seen nothing but rocks and bones here so far. I'm bored. If you don't want me knowing though, fine. I won't ask you about it again." Though in truth, Mai expected if she could see Ty Lee was acting strange, there was no way Azula didn't.

After Azula changed she joined back up with her two companions at the main camp site. The camp wasn't much, only a campfire, a cooking spit, bowl, and a pile of extra logs Piandao and Zuko had found. Mai and Ty Lee were waiting for her so she could start the fire, and she did. None of them were too hungry, so they only fixed a few strips of Komodo Rhino meat.

"Hey Mai I've been meaning to ask you, did you bring any gold with you from your parents?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, what I have left. I had a roll-barrel full to pay for the ship, as good as it did me."

"So how much do you have left?"

Mai scrunched her eyes in focus. "Umm, I'm pretty sure around three hundred gold pieces."

"Not bad, we could live a few years off that if we stretched it. Hopefully this will be over by then, but if not, that will help."

"Speaking of help, how is your airbending going Azula?" Ty Lee asked.

Azula sighed. "It's going as well as it ever has."

"No progress at all?"

"Not at the actual bending, no."

"So was that thing yest-" Mai began, before being cut off by Azula.

"Yes, now don't say anything else about it."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure we didn't have some shape-shifting monster here with us." Mai joked, earning a murderous glare from her friend.

Ty Lee looked confused. "Wait, what happened yesterday?"

"Forget about it." Azula said sharply.

Ty Lee looked at Mai.

"Don't expect an answer from me, it's not my place to tell you."

Ty Lee frowned from being out of the loop, then tossed the last bones she was nibbling on in the fire. The group got up and Azula put out the fire. "So what are you guys doing next?"

"Well, we pretty much have finished checking out everything, except for the tower, we were saving that one to look at with you." Ty Lee explained.

"So the tower it is?"

Ty said excitedly, "Ooo I've been waiting for ths. What do you think is in there? I hope it isn't anymore bones; those creep me out."

They had planned on starting with the huge main tower, but Azula thought it would have been better to wait until the end to explore it. She told her friends that it was because she wanted to save the best for last, but in truth she felt some energy coming from the place, and didn't like what that might mean.

"It's probably just something boring, the Nomads weren't very interesting. Knowing them it could very well just be a pond where the elders meditated all day."

"A pond would still be pretty cool though." Ty Lee said, undeterred by Azula's pessimism.

Before the group of friends reached the tower they were met with a statue of an old monk. It looked surprisingly intact for it's age.

"Who d'ya think that is?" Ty Lee asked the other two.

"A monk? How should I know." Mai responded.

"It's Monk Gyatso," Azula answered. "One of the council members of the temple."

"How do you know?"

Azula couldn't even answer that herself, really. "I read about it."

"You read about everything, when did you become such a scholar?" Mai questioned.

"When I learned our world history centered around my past lives. That's when. Also I'm a princess, we need to be knowledgeable." Azula answered convincingly, even to her.

"Sounds like a good reason to me, Mai." Ty Lee said, causing Mai to shrug.

"So are we going to stand around looking at a statue of a dead person or find out what amazing secrets are in that tower?" Azula asked sarcastically, leaving the other two girls behind.

The way to the tower led them into a large hallway, and at the end the entrance was barred by a giant door with a weird mechanism on it. The mechanism had an opening connected to a bunch of pipes that led to strange patterns on the door.

"Woah, what is that?"

"A lock by the looks of it." Azula said.

"But how do we open it is the question."

"Three guesses, Mai."

"Great, so the big reveal isn't happening, is it?"

"Don't give up so soon. How different is fire from air?"

Azula sent a flood of fire through the door lock, but the first lock only wobbled. She wasn't deterred and sent even more fire, but it soon became evident the lock wouldn't budge. With a tsk of disappointment she gave up. Ty Lee was upset, but she cheered up when Azula promised they could find out what was inside when she learned how to airbend, even if that might not be for a long time.

The group left, a bit more disappointed than they expected, to their rooms. Azula was glad that, if her uncle was truthful, this would be the last night she would spend in the temple. It was interesting at first, but the longer she stayed here the more uncomfortable she felt. She didn't know what it was, but something here made her feel anxious. It definitely has nothing to do with the fact it was the home of the people my nation slaughtered. A side of her thought sarcastically. She pushed the voice back.

Azula opened the door to her room, and shut it behind her with relief. The day had felt way longer than it should have. She was just glad to finally be able to get some rest. She took a step, and the floor disappeared beneath her. Her eyes widened with shock, and her scream disappeared in the night along with her.