"This is a bit…bigger than it seemed on the map," Sokka observed, looking over the two story brick buildings and bustling shopping center of down town Ta Sung. A group of Fire Nation soldiers leaned against the wall of one of the buildings as a young man rushed down the center street, a pouch of gold in his hand, the owner of the pouch hot on his heels.

"Why am I not surprised?" Toph replied with a grimace of distaste as she spat onto the –surprisingly- paved road. Suki rolled her eyes at the girl, and Sokka quickly moved his foot away from the offending spittle.

"Well, bigger's better. We'll be able to blend in, at least," the young avatar replied with a shrug and a smile as he rubbed the growing hair on his crown. The smile slipped a fraction at the feel of the spiky stuff beneath his fingers.

"Do we ever really blend?" Sokka pointed out, and Aang huffed out a sigh and shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, we do a little better now than before," Suki pointed out, gesturing to the group's' new clothes, courtesy of Katara. Sokka glanced over his and grimaced.

"Green really isn't my color," he complained, and Toph roughly punched his arm. Sokka scowled in response and clutched his arm close to himself, but he didn't dare hit her back. A boulder hurtling towards his head would blow their cover, after all.

"We need to move fast. Purchase supplies, send a letter to Dad, and go," Katara said, moving to stand between her brother and the blind earthbender. "Something about this place gives me the creeps," she said with a slight shiver, and Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Kat, you're paranoid," he replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Besides, we deserve a chance to lean back and relax," he added with a slight wink as he wrapped an arm around Suki's shoulder and raised a brow suggestively. Suki flushed, and Toph made a gagging noise before pushing her way forwards.

"I would agree with Katara," Iroh said, making Sokka's shoulders droop slightly. "We have only a few months until the comet's arrival, and we need to make our way to the swamp as quickly as possible." Iroh glanced around the town, and then beamed. "But I suppose we could stay long enough to find a good tea shop," he added.

Zuko groaned and shook his head, and Iroh frowned. "Is something bothering you, dear nephew? Perhaps there is a medicinal specialist that can take care of your problems." Zuko glared, and then a sly grin blossomed onto Iroh's features. "Or would the affections of a lovely lady heal your ills?"

Zuko flushed, and his glare deepened. "Uncle!" he shouted, horrified, and the group laughed at his embarrassment.

"I don't see why you're so set against it. A lady friend would be good for you…"

"The last one was a disaster," Zuko muttered under his breath.

"That was your fault. On that note, I don't see what was so complicated about the relationship. There was mutual attraction. She was a nice girl…" Iroh started, and then glanced towards Sokka. "And not bad looking either," he added with a sly wink.

Sokka felt his stomach turn, and he stepped away from the old man. "Creepy," he whispered to Suki, who nodded once in agreement.

"What part of me being…" Zuko glanced around, and then rolled his eyes. "Suffice to say it was very complicated, Uncle. Now, please," at this point, the prince's voice was actually pleading. "Drop it."

Iroh raised his hands as in surrender, and Zuko let out a sigh. Then, the old man just had to say, "But Katara is a very lovely girl, don't you think?" with a conspiratorial wink towards the waterbender in question.

On cue, the pair flushed, and Zuko let out an agonized 'uncle' just as Sokka shook his head and said, "Not going to happen."

Iroh raised his hands again, but grinned as though he had uncovered some dark secret. Zuko closed his eyes against the sight, simply knowing that the elder man would have all sorts of questions and not so subtle hints in store for him later on when they were alone. He would make sure that he and Sokka went hunting again tonight.

"First tthing's first. We need to find a message bird so we can keep in contact with the water tribe and earth kingdom armies," Katara said, purposefully avoiding eye contact with both firebenders. Sokka nodded once at her comment.

"I'll handle that," he offered, and Katara flashed him a smile.

"Iroh, could you visit with the Order of the White Lotus again?" she asked, and Iroh nodded with a huge smile before he glanced over towards his nephew, one eyebrow raised in question.

"I'm with Sokka," Zuko said quickly, and the water tribe warrior clapped him on the back in what Zuko hoped was a friendly manner.

"Aang, we need you to scout around and look for some Earthbenders willing to join the war while we're here," Katara said, and Aang gave her a slight grin as he agreed.

"Toph, Suki, and I are going to be heading towards the market to pick up some supplies." She said, glancing over to the other girls for their approval. At their nods, she continued. "Let's all meet at the town square once the sun dips in the horizon," she finished, and the group replied in affirmation.

With several exchanges of farewell, the group split in four, and each made their way in separate directions with the promise of their meeting looming over them.

-------

"Hey, 'Zula!" Ty Lee exclaimed, bounding into the small room that Azula had 'borrowed' for the duration of their stay in Ta Sung.

"Azula," the princess corrected tonelessly, not bothering to glance up from the myriad papers that surrounded her. The warrants for her brother's arrests littered her desk, as well as a great many from her father demanding to know what was going on with his 'sniveling fool of a son.'

Azula had not yet written him of his son's betrayal, and she was burning both ends of the candle to keep the news from reaching him.

"What 'cha doing?" Ty Lee asked, leaning over her friend's shoulder to peer at the paperwork.

"Thinking," Azula growled. Zuko had grown smarter since she had last seen him, she'd give him that. Her plan to forcibly remove him from his inheritance had fallen about her ears when that water tribe brat had sailed off with the Avatar, taking her brother and her uncle with her.

If it hadn't shown incompetence on her part, she would have gladly informed her father of Zuko's defection. However, since she had failed to capture the avatar herself, she didn't dare risk informing him. She was well acquainted with his punishments, after all.

There were the beatings, of course, but that wasn't what she feared. It was the psychological torture that he put failures through that made terror twist and writhe within the young princess' gut. He may not hurt her, but he would most certainly hurt those close to her.

Azula snuck a glance towards the pink clad acrobat beside her, and suppressed a shudder. She'd had a kitten like Ty Lee once, when she'd been about five. Zila had been pure white, and Azula had loved her more than anything else in the world. The first time she'd truly disappointed her father in one of her Firebending Sets, he had lit Zila on fire and forced Azula to watch as her cat had burned to death. It was one of the princess' earliest memories.

She had no doubt that he would do the same to Ty Lee should she fail him on a grander scale.

"You're always thinking," the acrobat said with her trademark grin, and she perched herself on the arm of her best friend's chair.

"You're never thinking," Mai replied from her seat across the room as she twirled her knives over her fingers. Ty Lee stuck her tongue out at the girl, and Mai rolled her eyes.

Azula forced her friend's bickering out of her mind, and focused at the task at hand. She gripped the newest letter that her father had sent her, the one informing her to her upcoming nuptials to a distant, much older cousin of hers. He was a prince, capable, and would make a good ruler. Or so her father said. With that one letter, it became painfully clear to Azula that Ozai had never intended for her to rule.

That would not do at all.

Should her father sign the kingdom over to Han Yu, all of Azula's carefully constructed plans would be laid to waste. However, Zuko's return with the Avatar would alter all that their father had begun to plan for her. He would be forced to recognize Zuko as his heir, and Han Yu would be out of the picture.

Should Zuko return fate would favor him, but only for a time. Once their father was dead, Azula could wrench the reigns of power away from her brother and rule the Fire Nation herself.

Azula smiled grimly. "I think Zuzu may be of use to us, after all." she said coolly, turning to face her friends. Mai dropped her dagger, her eyes widening before she quickly her face into a carefully neutral expression while Ty Lee cocked a brow.

Azula turned to face the pocket sized portrait of Fire Lord Ozai that she had hung upon the wall above the desk. The man who had given her life, and who she already had begun plotting to kill. Azula smiled bitterly as she stared at the likeness. Aren't you proud of the monster you created?

---------------

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Zuko demanded, his shoulders hunched against the scrutiny of some nearby guards. They had been wandering aimlessly for some time now, and Sokka adamantly insisted that he knew the city like the back of his hand. Even though he'd never been there before.

":Of course I do!" the boy exclaimed indignantly, glaring at Zuko. "We're…uh… by a jewelry stand and we're heading North."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "That's it. I'm getting directions."

"Oh, no you're not!" Sokka retorted, marching forwards and gripping Zuko's bicep. Seeing that their antics had attracted unwanted attention, Sokka shrugged, smiled, and waved before quickly moving on. "We'll find it on our own," he insisted.

Zuko said nothing, and absently wondered why it was that he thought going anywhere with Sokka would be any more bearable than waiting for his Uncle. "So…about my sister…" Sokka began, and Zuko bit back a curse.

I should have gone with Uncle, Zuko thought as he suppressed a grimace and forced his body to be relaxed and natural. "Yes?" he forced out.

"Should I be worried? Your uncle seemed to think that…"

"My Uncle has roped me in to one date too many. No offence, but I'm not going to let him manipulate me into starting something with Katara," Zuko replied, reasonably proud of himself since his voice came off as easy and without the stress that he felt at that moment.

"So we're clear?" Sokka asked with a raised brow. "No uh…"

"None." Zuko replied, and this time he didn't need to force any sincerity into his voice. He may enjoy looking at the Water Tribe girl, maybe even thinking about her, but to actually have a relationship? Not a chance. Besides, the kid had first dibs, and he wasn't about to get the Avatar angry. Or give the girl's brother an excuse to hurt him. Or allow Uncle to be right about something again.

"Good," Sokka replied with a whoosh of air and the tension slid out of his shoulders. Zuko noticed, and gave the boy a half smile in return. "So… what was this about the girl you knew?"

Zuko groaned, and placed his head in his hands. "It was Uncle's fault," he replied gruffly, and Sokka laughed before clapping the banished Prince on the back.

"Explain," he replied with a large, goofy grin, eager to have another male to talk to for once whose experience with girls went farther than simply traveling with his baby sister.

"We were in Ba Seng Se, in my Uncle's Tea Shop, and this girl started hanging around. She somehow got Uncle to convince me to go on a date with her. And once Uncle gets his mind set on something, there's no ignoring him."

Sokka nodded, the grin still present. "Was she pretty?" he asked, jabbing Zuko in the ribs and making the elder boy both scowl and flush.

"I guess so," he replied with a noncommittal shrug. "Her hair kind of had a life of its own, though," he added, remembering the tangled mass that she had thrown up carelessly.

"What happened?" Sokka prodded, and Zuko grimaced. "What? I won't laugh." Zuko shot him a look that was clearly full of disbelief. "Scout's honor," he said, lifting his hand into the air.

Zuko huffed out a sigh. "She asked me what I did before I came to Ba Seng Se, and…"

"And?"

"I told her I was a juggler!" Zuko blurted, flushing.

Sokka choked back a laugh. "Then what?"

"She made me juggle, and food got everywhere," Zuko admitted, his shoulders hunching at the shame of the memory.

Sokka made a strangled noise, his face turning red, before he burst into laughter. "Sorry," he apologized when he could breathe, and met Zuko's scowling face. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, I fell into a canal when I asked this girl in the North Pole out on a date."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. But she said yes anyway," Sokka replied with a grin as he cracked his knuckles.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "What happened with her?" he asked, and watched Sokka's face fall.

"She was engaged. And then, just when we had started to sort that one out, she became the moon spirit," Sokka replied, forcing levity into his tone. That didn't fool Zuko for an instant.

"Compared to that, Jin was pretty uncomplicated," Zuko said, and Sokka gave him a half smile and a shrug.

"Girl troubles, Zuzu?" The dulcet voice sent shivers down Zuko's spine, and a plume of flame instantly ignited in his palm.

"Azula," he growled, and Sokka immediately withdrew his boomerang, moving to stand beside Zuko.

"Making some new friends, I see," the young Princess taunted, glancing down at manicured nails and pursing painted lips. "Whatever would Father say if he knew his only son was traipsing around with little peasant boys?"

"Dude, you've got a seriously whacked family," Sokka grumbled under his breath as he gripped his boomerang tighter and strengthened his stance. Zuko didn't bother to reply.

"So, are you ready to turn yourself in? Father may show you some mercy," Azula continued as though she hadn't heard Sokka's statement.

Zuko's glare deepened and he looked past his sister to her two cronies. Mai looked comfortable in her fighting stance, her daggers held loosely in her hands. Her eyes were guarded, and trained solely on Azula. He willed her to look at him, to give him some indication as to what his sister was doing, but her gaze never wavered.

He then turned his gaze to the pink clad one. Ty Lee bounced slightly, and the young acrobat was busy alternately making eyes at Sokka and pouting when he didn't glance her way. Zuko shuddered slightly, and looked back to his sister again. "Never," he replied, his voice hard as steel.

Azula quirked a brow. "Well then. It appears I've wasted time on pleasantries. You will be coming back to the Fire Nation with me, Zuko. One way or another." She dropped her arms down and spread her palms, smiling as she felt the heat of flame daggers through her calluses.

Sokka cursed, but readied his boomerang for the attack as Zuko leapt forward, palms outstretched. A wall of flame erupted between his hands and he shot it towards Azula who easily deflected it with a casual wave of her hand.

"Surely that can't be all you've learned," the princess taunted, and Zuko's face darkened as he readied a fireball. Azula smirked at his preparation, and formed one of her own. The two plumes of flame met in mid air, exploding and releasing intense heat. Zuko reeled back, lifting his hand to his face to block out the blinding light.

Sokka likewise stumbled backwards, his eyes squinted. However, he regained his sense of sight before Zuko, and threw his boomerang in time to deflect one of the knives sent be the tall girl in dark robes. Zuko whirled around, caught Sokka's boomerang, and sent it flying back towards the Water Tribe boy before snapping fire daggers into his own hands.

Brother and Sister's gold eyes met for the briefest of seconds, and Azula smirked as she rushed forward. The siblings twirled around each other, fire in their palms, in a never ending dance of hatred and jealousy. Then, they leapt at one another, a flurry of words and flame.

Sokka wrenched his gaze away from his friend, and forced his attention on the two girls standing before him. The dark one looked calm and collected as she through her knives, forcing him to deflect them with the steel of his boomerang and duck when the intensity of the attacks became too much for him.

The pink one, he noticed through the sweat on his brow, wasn't moving. She stood silently, a smile on her face and a hand on her hip as she regarded him with interest. Sokka felt his stomach churn unpleasantly at the attention, the feeling distracting him enough so that Mai landed a shot.

Sokka gripped his arm, remembering with horror what had happened to his sister at the hands of this girl's poisoned blades. His eyes narrowed, and he threw his boomerang at the girl with his good arm, thanking La that his father had taught him to be ambidextrous.

Surprised by the attack, the boomerang made contact with Mai's midsection, slicing the area under her rib cage and making her cry out in pain. Sokka reached out for his weapon on its return, but his arm fell limply to his side. He glanced over his shoulder to see Ty Lee, her pretty face contorted into rage as she jabbed him in all of his pressure points.

"Never mess with my friend!" she seethed, kicking his now limp body onto the ground before rushing back to her fallen friend.

Dazed, Sokka watched the girl go, and closed his eyes against the tenderness the young acrobat showed when she ripped off a piece of her tunic and wrapped it around the dark girl's middle. He ignored the soothing words that she spoke, and the gentle brush of her fingers against her friend's forehead.

They were the enemy. He didn't want to see them in any other light. He turned his attention back to the duel between brother and sister, and winced slightly against how it had gone.

Both siblings had made their mark on each other; that was for sure. Azula had a bruise blossoming across on of her delicate cheekbones, and her gaze was dark and furious. Zuko, however, was quite obviously worse off. He had a blackened eye, a split lip, several burns upon the pale skin of his arms. He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his brow from both the heat of his element and exhaustion. With every strike and parry, Azula made her superiority known.

Sokka was watching his newest friend and addition to his family fail, and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it.

Drained, Zuko plodded forwards, his arms moving of their own volition. He forced himself to stay erect despite the pain of the wounds his sister had inflicted on him, but he knew what the outcome of their battle would be.

He was going to die. If not now, than the moment that he stepped foot on his homeland. Executed at the word of the man who had given him life, and taken his freedom. There was a twisted irony in that fact.

Zuko didn't notice when Ty Lee crept up behind him, and not even Sokka's shout of warning was enough to save him from the acrobat's quick jabs. He fell to the ground, his golden eyes narrowed as they stared up at his younger sister. And for the briefest of moments, he saw them for what they used to be. A brother and sister who genuinely loved and looked out for each other, who played games and kissed goodnight, who held hands as they skipped stones in their mother's garden. But then he was brought back to reality, staring at a stranger with a familiar face who was about to end his life.

What happened to you? Was his last thought before blackness descended.

---------------

Katara sat at the fountain's ledge, absently trailing her hands through the water that it held. She glanced up towards the sky, which was quickly darkening, and then turned towards the assembled group. "Where are they?" she asked, and Suki rested a hand on the girl's shoulder in comfort.

"They're fine. Knowing Sokka, they probably just stopped somewhere and lost track of time," Aang said with a shrug, and Iroh didn't bother to point out the fact that Zuko would have come back on his own.

Rather, the old man smiled and resolved himself to put aside his own worry to set the children's' minds at ease. "They're two healthy young men. They were probably distracted by a pretty face along the way," he replied with a slight wink towards Katara.

Suki crossed her arms over her chest and her glare darkened. "He'd better not have," she merely said, but her tone was so feral and dangerous that the group knew that if Iroh's suggestion was the case, Sokka would be missing several limbs come morning.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Aang murmured, and then smiled innocently when Suki pinned her glare on him. "What?" the Airbender asked with wide eyes. "I just said that…uh… Appa flies high." He beamed at the fuming warrior.

"Smooth, twinkle toes," Toph said, and then the assembled group fell silent. Toph could sense each person's dread and fear, but she didn't remark on the vibrations that she was picking up. No news was good news, after all. Or so she tried to encourage herself.

In truth, the mere thought of Sokka in danger set her stomach to clenching and all of the spittle of her mouth drying. Her palms were sweaty, and she, Toph Bei Fong, felt as though she were on the verge of tears. The young earthbender clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, hating the way her body betrayed her. Hating him in a twisted way.

"Yeah, they're probably fine," the blind girl managed gruffly, but she could tell that her words had little impact on her friends. And for once, she truly didn't care.

Then, the group's worst fears were realized.

A lone figure was limping towards them, cradling one arm. His clothes were torn and his face full of desperation. Katara was the first to turn and see the young man, and when she did, her breath caught in her throat.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted at the sight of her brother. In an instant, the older boy was in her arms and she was clinging to him for dear life.

"What happened to you?" she demand her voice choked by her tears as she clung tighter.

Sokka didn't answer her. Rather, his gaze shifted to that of Iroh's. Gently, he pushed his younger sister aside. "Azula found us," he said, and nervous gasps rose from the assembled group. "They have Zuko."

Iroh felt his gut clench, and his world whirled around him for a moment. His nephew, taken. The boy would be executed, of that he had no doubt. Bile rose to the old general's mouth, and when he had finally calmed himself to some degree, he was made aware of the conversations swirling around him.

"What can we do?"

"We need to go after him!"

"How do we even know where they are?"

Their voices swirled around in Iroh's mind, and he couldn't tell who was speaking and who was not. The desire to tell the children to rush to his nephew's rescue was so strong that it made him tremble not to speak up. But, he forced himself to remain silent.

"They left a trail." This time, Iroh managed to notice that it was Sokka's voice that he heard. "We could follow it to where they're staying and break him out!"

There was a general noise of agreement, and Iroh swallowed hard.

"No!" he exclaimed, and the children fell silent as they turned to regard him. "My nephew is in Agni's hands now." He forced the words out, and felt a part of him die as he did so.

"What?" Sokka demanded heatedly. "You're just going to let them kill him?"

"Uncle! We need to rescue him. We can't let him die!" Katara broke in. Toph and Suki remained silent.

"They're using him as bait, just as they did with you, Katara. The Avatar is…" Iroh closed his eyes and swallowed hard, "…more important to the world than my nephew. If our roles were reversed, he would say the same."

Katara stared at the old man, her eyes wide and her mouth working soundlessly. Sokka put an arm around her, he too rendered incapable of speech.

"What do we do?" Suki asked, and Iroh attempted to smile at the young warrior. It came out a grimace.

"Return to camp. Zuko may be able to escape on his own." He paused, and then looked away. "Hopefully," he added in a whisper.

Agni protect my nephew… my son.