Sorry about the time it took to post this. Don't forget about my other story The Dragon Soul, it can be found at Misc, Misc Books. I need reviews. The second chapter to that is almost finished!

The city was black with soot and the buildings were destroyed. It looked just like the other towns they visited, completely ravaged leaving everyone who remained homeless and heartbroken. Aang was disgusted at the sight; the war is over and still the people are not having their promised peace. It had been decided at the last meeting that all small villages were to be abandoned and all inhabitants need immigrate to the larger cities. Any refugees will be welcomed in Ba Sing Se, Omashu, Gaoling, and even in the water tribes. Some citizens decided they would rather stay while others took up the offer. Aang admired those who chose to stay but he secretly wanted them to run for safety. Anyone left behind would be killed without mercy and everything they hold dear would be destroyed; it would be better for them if they didn't have to witness but it was not Aang's decision to make.

Tracking the rebellion had been harder than he thought. They were smart enough not to leave any traces except for the destroyed town. Aang was lucky enough to be able to evacuate some of the smaller villages before they were destroyed. They placed scouts in the various abandoned places but they always ended up killed. They couldn't predict where they were going to strike next and they were never the same length. Some days they attacked two villages and then go a few weeks without a sighting. They had been searching for a month with no success.

The gang had traveled to Omashu with some refugees and were taking a rest from their journeys. Aang and Katara settled into their room and he plopped down onto the bed.

"Tired?" asked Katara.

"Yeah I thought constant traveling would wear me out but it's nothing compared to this." Aang replied rubbing his face.

Katara walked over to him and put his head on her lap. She traced his arrow and a small smile spread across his lips as he looked up at her. She smiled as she continued down his jaw making circles around his cheek. He took her hand from his face and kissed each of her fingers before holding over his heart. Katara leaned down pressing her lips gently against his. They shared light kisses before Aang sat up cupping her face. They broke apart holding each other close when a knock came at the door. Aang got up seeing a servant waiting outside.

"King extends an invitation for you and your friends to dine with him this evening."

"Tell him we accept."

"Dinner will be in an hour." She curtsied and left to visit the other rooms.

Aang closed the door to see Katara bending over a bucket. He rushed to her side just as she hurled into it.

"Hey you ok?"

"Can you get me a wet towel?" she asked softly.

"Sure," he rushed and brought back the towel as Katara heaved more into the bucket.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked putting the towel up to her head.

"No, Bumi is your friend. Go see him." She leaned back holding the towel against her head, "Maybe I should just sleep it off."

Aang picked her up slowly laying her down in the bed. He emptied a bowl of fruit setting next to her bed.

"Can you help me take off my dress?" she asked sitting up.

Aang steadied her as he untied her dress knot pulling it off her body. Katara laid back down and Aang pulled the covers over her body.

"I'll be back soon," he kissed her forehead and dressed for the night.

They walked into the same room they dined with Bumi previously.

"Where is Katara?" he asked Aang.

"She wasn't feeling well this evening so she is in bed."

The servants brought out the first course and Aang smiled when he got a vegetable soup.

"So how is the hunting?"

"Slow and unsuccessful…they keep outsmarting us." Sokka answered.

"Yeah even I can't pick up their trail." Toph said a little perturbed.

The rest of dinner was spent discussing possible set ups and ambush plans. Aang made his way back to their room and saw Katara standing by on open window bathing in the half moon light.

"Hey how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, the queasiness past a few minutes ago I feel fine now," she turned around embracing him.

"No fever or anything?"

"Nope just fine probably just something I ate earlier."

They walked over to the bed together as Aang slid off his robe and shirt. He held her close to him as they drifted off to sleep.

It became increasingly more difficult for Azula to hide her growing stomach. Luckily her room was off the busier hallways and she hardly ever left anymore. Every once in a while her father and the generals would come visit her but she still manage to keep her condition a secret. Her stomach was growing at an alarming rate that even Ling wasn't sure why. Azula declined her offers of having someone more experienced to examine her, she still felt that her child was a burden and the stress it was causing her body only helped her resolve on the matter. Azula's previous clothes could not be stretched anymore and now Ling had to make her new clothing she could wear whenever she did venture out. Tonight was one of those nights; there was another meeting to discuss the raids that were going to happen next week. Ling was busy working on a loose tunic and pants while Azula soaked in her tub.

"Are you almost finished?" Azula asked.

"Yes I'm almost done with the seam." Ling answered.

Azula got up out of her bath and dried off. She examined her body in the mirror; her breasts were bigger and tender and her stomach looked like a giant watermelon. Her legs had swollen all the way down to her ankles; her shoes barely fit her anymore.

"I look disgusting…" she grumbled to herself.

"I think you look rather beautiful."

Azula shot her an angry glance but Ling didn't look up from her sewing. Azula sat on her bed and began wrapping her top when I knock came at the door. Azula's face was instant fear and she tried to get up from the bed. Ling came over and helped her up as the knock came again with more force. As soon as Azule was behind her changing curtain Ling answered the door.

"What took you so long?" Ozai asked stepping into the room.

"My lady just got out of her bath and had not dressed yet," she kept her eyes down as she answered closing the door.

"Are you ready yet?" Ozai addressed Azula behind her curtain.

"I will be soon I don't need you hovering." She kept wrapping her top until it was secure.

"How are you feeling? If it's ok that I ask."

"I'm fine, just leave." She was starting to get angry.

"Azula why are you so angry at me?" he took a seat at her table.

"I don't need to explain anything to you or anybody else, just leave me alone."

"I won't not until I get an explanation."

She bit her tongue as she bent over to pull up her underwear. After a few more moments of silence Azula commanded, "Ling show him out."

She heard the door open and a chair move. Ozai walked right up to Ling and began strangling her.

"So are you going to tell me or am I going to have to kill your servant?" He asked gripping her neck harder and harder.

Azula was determined to remain hidden so she didn't give away her condition but she needed Ling. She stepped out from behind the curtain and fire whipped the door shut. She released another fireball which made him release Ling and she dropped to the floor coughing. When Ozai regained focus his eyes went wide.

"Azula…why didn't you tell me?" his face showed genuine concern.

"Because I don't want anyone to know, that's why." She sat down in the nearest chair exhausted.

Ozai couldn't think of anything else to say as he sat next to her. Ling got up off the floor and poured a glass of water bringing it to Azula's outstretched hand.

"So none of the general's know?" he asked her.

"No and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible."

"Hmmm, they thought that you had just completely gone off the deep end, you have done a good job so far with keeping them out of the loop."

"No thanks to you, after dinner that one evening they won't let Ling anywhere near the meetings. Why did you do it?"

"As you know I'm not a bender, I need to make sure that I still make the rules and that I am in charge. Since you were the obvious one in charge…"

"You figured you could just screw me over there by securing your rightful place." Azula finished with a bitter note.

Ozai smiled at her, "You are very perceptive and also right. If I can still wield power over you then that guarantees that the generals will follow me. But in case they decide to try to take this from me can I count on you to back me up?"

"The nerve…first you ridicule me and now you want my help? Why?"

"Because you are my Firelord, I need you."

Azula scowled at his simple explanation like it was obvious, "Not good enough."

"Ok then you need me."

"I don't need you! I don't need anybody!" she yelled.

"You're pregnant and from the look of it you did not approve of the father. And if you wish to keep this a secret still from the generals you're going to need my help. And I'm going to need you; can you trust me as you once did?"

"You left me to rot back at the Fire Nation while you fulfilled my plan of burning the earth kingdom. Because of you Zuko came to duel me with that water tribe whore. If I had been with you we both could have faced the Avatar together and brought him down. You left me, why should I trust you?"

"If you had come with me on Sozin's comet you would have met the same fate as me, but instead your bending still survives. I will not be able to fulfill my destiny without regaining my bending. I need you Azula and we will need your child to carry out our legacy."

Ling brought her new dress over to her and Azula stood so Ling could wrap it around her body. Once she was dressed she sat back down placing a hand on her stomach breathing deeply.

"You have to promise me, we are together in everything…no more betrayals no one left behind. We see this all the way through to the end."

Ozai could see her vulnerability and it echoed in her voice. Maybe this was just the pregnancy speaking but he had a feeling this went deeper than that, "To the end."

Ling slipped on her shoes and they made their way over to the war room. Ozai offered her his arm but she brushed him off.

"I don't need your help walking."

"Not yet you don't."

Ozai entered before her and Ling followed them in taking a seat in the back.

"So gentlemen," Ozai began taking his seat at the head, "What is on the agenda for today?"

"Well, we're going to need another raid soon," General Wei Fong said, "With our increasing number and the recent evacuations small villages are going to be empty and resources are going to be low. We need to begin hitting the larger towns. They will be more heavily populated so we are going to need to send more troops on the raids."

"Won't the Avatar be expecting something like that?" General Torin asked.

"I think that in order to keep ourselves secret as much as possible we need to send decoys. Take any supplies that may remain there and kill anyone we come in contact with or recruit them." General Lee answered.

"You're not going to find recruits here in the earth kingdom, we were lucky to get the Dai Li. If we are to recruit anymore it's going to be from the fire nation." Wei Fong said.

"How many people were affected by the fall of the fire nation here in the earth kingdom?" Ozai asked.

"We're still not sure about exact numbers but a fair few were," General Qin answered.

"Would they be willing to join our cause?"

"Some might but I wouldn't count on it. Most of them are still making a decent living. And since we are not what we once were getting them to work for us would be difficult," Qin answered.

"Not that difficult, kill one of their children and the parents will do anything to not have that happen again," Azula said nonchalantly.

"Azula is right. We need to be more proactive about our recruiting. We need blacksmith's and machinists if we're going to attack and reclaim our world," Ozai said.

"Our scouts are returning in a couple of days we can decide then," said General Lee.

"The next item of business is how to get my bending back," Ozai started.

"We have done some research on the matter my lord but so far we have only one solution, forcing the Avatar to restore it to you." Wei Fong said.

"That's a ridiculous notion, you have to do better than that," Azula sneered at him.

"I'm sorry my lady but that's the best we can come up with. Maybe if you were more inclined to help then this wouldn't be such a problem."

"Do you dare challenge me?" She stood with both of her hands on the table for support.

"I'm merely pointing out that you do nothing but hide out all the time, with your help things may be able to go a little smoother," He met her gaze which she took as a challenge.

Bringing both hands together she shot out a blue fireball straight at him. He deflect sending it up into the ceiling.

"Enough! Azula take your seat, General Wei Fong do not tempt her to kill you she will only succeed. Our numbers are small as it is we don't need anyone dying unnecessarily."

"It just so happens that Azula has been doing more behind the scenes than you are all aware of…"

Ozai was cut off when a rapid knock sounded on the door. General Qin answered it and two scouts walked in with a fire sage.

"Generals, Firelord, Phoenix King, we came as fast as we could." They were out of breath as they were shown seats at the end of the table.

"What is the news?" General Lee asked.

"The Avatar has discovered a way for you to regain your bending," the fire sage spoke, "He spent hours in the catacombs because of a vision he had. Apparently there are still two remaining dragons left alive in the world and they are also the first. Their location was said during their research but I can guess where they may reside."

"In the Avatar's vision, did it work?" Ozai was sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Yes, yes it did."

"Tell me everything.

Aang and Katara woke up refreshed in the morning.

"Hey how are you feeling?" he asked turning to face her.

"Fine, really hungry though I didn't eat yesterday." She answered yawning.

They walked to the kitchen joining Toph and Haru.

"Good morning," Katara said.

"Well you're feeling better. What happened last night?" Toph asked.

"I don't know, probably some type of stomach flu, but I feel fine now." She helped herself to a bowl of oatmeal and moon peaches.

Sokka came in a few minutes later looking pale, "Sokka what's wrong?" asked Katara.

"Nothing, it's Suki, she threw up all over our bed this morning." He sat down looked at the oatmeal and pushed it away.

"Not hungry?" Haru asked.

"Not when it looks like the stuff she threw up this morning." He grabbed a banana instead.

"Is she going to be well enough to travel or should we wait for a couple days?" Aang asked.

"I don't know, you would have to ask her."

"I'll go check on her." Katara kissed Aang's head and walked off.

She walked into Suki and Sokka's room and found her pacing in their bathroom.

"Suki are you ok?" she asked closing the door.

"I don't know…I think so…but I'm just not sure." She didn't stop pacing.

"Will you be well enough to start traveling again?" Katara pulled her into a nearby chair holding her hand.

"Yeah I should….can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When was your last cycle?"

"Recently I think…" Katara answered quickly before stopping to think.

"Are you sure, you didn't have a weird vomit fit then feel completely fine afterward?" Suki asked.

"Well last night was like that I just figured it was a fluke or something…a small bug…" Realization started to sink in.

"It's been a month since we have been married…" Suki said solemnly.

"I'm pregnant! I'm going to have Aang's child!" Katara laughed sitting back into her chair, "I never thought about this before…I'm going to be the mother to his people…"

Suki smiled at her, "We're going to be parents…our kids will be the same age and grow up together!"

They laughed together all caught up in their excitement, "We should keep this a surprise until we know for sure."

"Ok, and now that I think about it…I can't believe I didn't notice sooner. I guess the villages kinda took my mind off of it." Katara said.

"Yeah I know…I'm going to be a mother. I'm excited but nervous, I never knew my mother, and I have been a warrior my entire life…"

"Suki I see where you're going with this and don't worry, motherhood will come to you. It's kinda like a basic instinct for us."

"You are always so confident. Sometimes I envy that about you."

Katara smiled at her, "Come on let's go get some breakfast."

They walked back into the dining hall where everyone was eating breakfast.

"You seem to be feeling better." Aang commented.

"Yes, just a little flu bug," Suki eyed Katara sitting next to Sokka, "Why are you so pale?"

He just looked at her, "I'm sorry." She said hugging him.

"So I think we're good for traveling today if you guys want to." Katara said.

They left that afternoon to visit more of the villages. As they were approaching the town of Chin, something caught Aang's attention.

"Do you guys see that?" Aang asked leaning over Appa's head.

"No." Toph replied.

"Where are you looking at?" Sokka asked.

"Right there," Haru pointed and people followed his finger.

There was a large group of people sneaking up to the eastern side of the city.

"It's the rebellion." Aang said quietly.

"We need a plan if we're going to rescue the town," Said Katara.

"Yeah didn't we already do this once?" Sokka asked.

"Yep and here we go again." Aang pulled Appa up higher into the clouds so they could come around behind them.

"What kind of troops are we dealing with?" Toph asked.

"Looks like mostly fire benders but I see some of the Dai Li agents around. Ok Toph, Haru you guys are going to have to deal with the Dai Li. Aang since you are the only fire bender you need to deal with them, Katara you're with Aang. Suki and I will take out any soldiers." Sokka said with his warrior voice.

"Alright, Appa bring us down nice and slow." Aang climbed into the back of the saddle with the others holding his staff. Appa slowly descended as Aang said, "If we can capture one alive let's keep him for questioning."

They nodded in agreement just as Appa flew low over their heads startling them. Landing just outside their small wall they leapt out of the saddle ready to fight.

"Surrender and you won't be harmed!" Aang shouted his staff out in front.

The rebellion group stopped 20 feet from their group at a face off.

"We answer to nobody but the Phoenix King, and we will kill any who get in our way." The commander of the troop said.

"This is your last chance surrender!" Aang shouted again.

With his final command the Dai Li began their attack. Aang, Toph, and Haru began their assault as Suki, Sokka, and Katara held their positions ready to spring. Fire benders attacked next and Aang broke off from the group to confront them. Katara jumped in water whipping a couple that came around Aang's back. While the benders fought many of the soldiers began pressing forward towards the wall but were stopped by Sokka and Suki. The battle ensued and they were able to apprehend many of the troops but some were still able to break into the city. Screams were heard and Aang turned to see fire shooting up from some of the roofs. He was distracted by a fire blast whizzing past his face and Katara took off into the city putting out the fires. She shot a torrent of water out of her water skins and froze two soldiers to the nearby wall. Next thing she knew there were giant boulders been hurling in her direction. She dove out of the way but hit a wall knocking her breath out. She only had a second to react as rock hands shot in her direction. She rolled then began sprinting down the street. She ran into the main courtyard where the Avatar Day celebrations were held and spotted two barrels of water at the other side. She quickly drew them out and froze her pursuers but not before one of the hands was secured around her neck choking her. She gasped as she tried to pull them apart but it was no use. She sat there trying to breath evenly through her nose while the battle continued around her.

Aang saw Katara run off towards the city before he fended off a group of fire benders. He shot a blast of air and sent them running off in the opposite direction. He heard a call from the captain of the squad commanding a retreat. Dai Li agents were breaking any earth holdings on the fallen troops as they all began escaping into the forest. Aang turned around and headed into the city to look for any other troops.

"Search the city!" he shouted.

The rest of the gang began running, "What about the ones that are escaping?" Toph asked.

"Just leave them, we need to make sure this town is safe."

They swept the city and Aang was frantically searching for Katara.

"Katara!" he shouted with no answer.

He jumped up onto a roof scanning the streets. He saw Toph and Haru warding off a few more soldiers and Suki and Sokka searching on the other end. As he looked toward the center of town he noticed a shimmer. Aang ran towards it seeing a giant ice sculpture and searched the grounds. He saw her still form on the ground unmoving.

"Katara!" he shouted again jumping towards her dropping his staff. He turned her over and saw the rock hand choking her neck. Her spirit was radiating fear and Aang began trying to bend off the hand but it wouldn't move.

"Toph!" he screamed sound bending it around the town. A few seconds later he felt her feet running towards him.

"Help me." He pleaded as she started taking in shorter breaths.

Toph put her hands around the rock and began cracking it. Haru and Aang followed suit and soon they were able to break off the hand choking her. Katara gasped breathing in deeply as Aang clutched her to his chest. She started breathing more slowly as he rocked her back and forth. She wrapped her arms around his neck holding him close.

Sokka and Suki ran up, "What happened?" he asked.

"She was choking we hand to break off the rock that was around her neck," Toph answered.

"Katara are you ok?" Suki crouched down beside Aang.

He pulled her face away and scowled at the bruise it left behind. He could feel her breathing even and her spirit was calming down.

"Katara answer me, are you ok?" Suki asked again.

Aang was startled and curious but decided not to press the issue, "Katara talk to me."

She opened her eyes smiling at him, "Thank you."

He kissed her lips fiercely, "Aang let her breath! Katara answer me are you ok?" Suki asked now annoyed.

"Suki I'm fine, can we talk about this later." Katara said looking at her.

"We will talk about this later." She stood up.

"What happened?" Aang asked her.

Katara coughed, "Well I chased them into the town but then I was ambushed by Dai Li agents. I ran into the courtyard and saw those 2 barrels of water so I froze those two agents over there. But I unfortunately missed their attack on me, next thing I knew I was being choked." She reached up and felt the bruise around her neck.

"Well, look on the bright side, we have two inside Dai Li agents that we can question," Toph cracked her knuckles as she walked over to the block of ice.

"You scared me. When you didn't answer I thought…" Aang started.

"Shhh," she put a finger to his lips, "Let's not think about that please."

Aang kissed her again helping her up.