When the girls were called to dinner, they both stopped on the threshold of the dining room, their eyes widening. Azula couldn't remember the last time they had actually sat down at a table to eat a meal. And this...this was a dinner. She couldn't help staring at the place settings, the porcelain plates and cups, and the general elegance of the room. I used to think nothing of this kind of thing, she thought. But now look at me – gaping like some stupid bumpkin! She quickly pulled herself together and turned her attention to her uncle, who was already seated at the table. Stiffly, she bowed. "Uncle Iroh."

"Azula – Ty Lee." He smiled and nodded his head. "Please, be seated. Princess Ursa will be here soon, I imagine."

Princess Ursa. The firebender's eyes narrowed slightly as she took her seat. I don't think he uses titles lightly. Of course - Zuko must have restored her. Stupid of me not to think of that. She looked down at her plate with a frown. So my mother is a princess, and I – I am nothing. Her lips curved a bit. I already might have one powerful ally in the Fire Nation in Mai. Mother seems quite taken with me, too, if she's not faking that. So perhaps she would advocate for me with her Zuzu if I play my cards right? And maybe even Uncle. She glanced at Iroh; he seemed absorbed in the contemplation of his teacup. I'll have to play my hand carefully if I want to angle for his approval. He's a shrewd man.

Yes. She watched as he looked up at her, and favored him with her most charming smile. Two allies would be enough, I think. Especially if one is Zuko's vaunted Uncle Iroh, and one is his Mommy. And if Mai has succeeded in worming her way back into Fire Lord Zuzu's affections – well! I will have the trifecta. "Uncle, I wanted to thank you for allowing us to stay here," she said sweetly. "I just wish I had come to trust you sooner."

"We did not expect you to come to this point right away," he said placidly. "It was natural for you to think your mother and I meant you harm at first. Don't concern yourself with that."

"All the same, I do apologize." She wrinkled her brow sincerely. "I was quite needlessly rude."

From across the table, Azula caught a sharp glance from Ty Lee. The acrobat quickly looked away again, but the firebender could see that she suspected something. Play along, Ty, she thought, looking at her. She caught her eye after a moment and flashed her a brief but significant smirk. Ty Lee gave her a nervous smile in return and bowed her head. She understood.

Just then, Ursa appeared. With a quiet apology for keeping them waiting, she slipped into her seat. The food was brought out on steaming trays. Azula and Ty Lee were served first, and then Ursa and Iroh. The former princess began to eat quietly, doing her best to remember her manners. She wasn't certain how well she was succeeding, but at least no one commented.

When the edge had been taken off their hunger, Ursa rested her chopsticks on the edge of her plate and smiled in the acrobat's direction. "So, Ty Lee. I remember you playing with my daughter when you were a child. I'm glad to see that you've stayed friends with her."

The gymnast glanced shyly at her. "Yes, ma'am. We're...close." Azula nearly choked on her dumpling. She managed to swallow it with only a slight cough.

"So I hear." The woman sounded amused. "My son told me that you had come to the Earth Kingdom with Azula, but he never mentioned anything about the relationship between you. I assume that he doesn't know?" Her golden eyes turned to her daughter.

Azula could feel her ears burning. She forced a smile. "No, mother. I don't believe that he knows," she said politely. "It was a bit of a recent development." Could we please change the subject?

"I see. So, then," and Ursa turned back to Ty Lee, "how long have you two been seeing each other?"

The acrobat beamed. Azula groaned inwardly. Oh, gods. She'll talk about this forever, if they let her. "Nearly two months, ma'am," she said. "Of course, I loved her for a long time before that, but we've only been official since Mai left for the Fire Nation."

"Ah, yes. I remember Mai, too. The quiet one who was promised to my son at birth." Ursa took a delicate bite of spiced meat. "From what I hear, your relationship with my daughter has survived quite a lot of turmoil over the years. You must be a good friend, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee flushed scarlet and looked away. She seemed almost ashamed. "I've tried to be," she said quietly. "I wasn't always – but I tried." Azula's eyebrows went down a touch. When does she consider herself not to have been a good friend to me? The Boiling Rock incident, maybe? No – she's already told me that she was only trying to stop me from hurting Mai. When, then?

"That's all anyone could ask of you," the older woman said kindly. She looked briefly at Iroh. Some kind of unspoken communication flashed between them; then her eyes turned back on her daughter, whose ears still felt uncomfortably warm. "Azula," she said, "tell me something. You were exiled because you tried to take Zuko's throne by force. What do you think about that now?"

She's trying to blindside me with that one. She won't rattle me so easily. The young firebender looked at her with a faint smile. "That depends on what you're asking me, Mother," she said smoothly. "Do you want to know how I feel about what happened? Do you want to know if I think it was a wise move on my part? Or are you asking me what I think about my brother himself?"

Ursa nodded a bit; her face fell into a carefully neutral expression. Azula recognized it. That is the expression adopted by a noblewoman when she doesn't want to betray what she's actually thinking. She hid a smirk. I've seen that look on Mai's face often enough. "The answer to any of those questions would suffice," Ursa said.

"Very well." The girl laid down her chopsticks and folded her hands neatly. "When I was exiled, I was murderously angry about it. Now I think I'm rather resigned to the fact. One gets used to anything after a while, I suppose." She glanced at her uncle. "My attempt at taking Zuko's throne was ill-advised and poorly-executed. I certainly don't count it as my most shining moment. And, as to Zuzu himself..." Azula paused, knitting her brows. She wasn't quite sure how to tread the line between telling them what they wanted to hear and the actual truth, which she thought they must suspect. "We're not close," she said bluntly. "We never have been, and nothing has ever happened between us to change that. I spent most of my life until I was fifteen years old in trying to usurp him in every way I could. Now..." She inhaled deeply. "I don't...hate him. Maybe I even wish that some things could have been different. But none of that matters now." She shrugged. "I'm an exile. I'll never see him again, anyway."

Another significant glance passed between her mother and her uncle. Azula kept her head bowed meekly, wondering how much of what she'd said had been swallowed. Iroh cleared his throat. "As it happens, Azula," he said, "that might not be true." The former princess looked at him sharply. Just what does he mean by that? "In truth, your mother and I didn't seek you out completely of our own volition – although of course we wanted to see you. The Fire Lord asked us to find you. He is considering allowing you to return to the Fire Nation."

Shock made Azula's mouth fall open; she heard Ty Lee gasp. The surprise was closely followed by anger. "What? Do you mean to say that Zuko is the one who had me captured and thrown into prison?" she demanded.

"Yes, Azu." Ursa's voice was gentle. "He wanted to know if there would be any point in letting you come home. If you were still bitter and hostile and determined to undermine him, he wanted us to let you go. But, if there was a chance that you wouldn't be..."

The young firebender had finally had a chance to process her uncle's entire statement. She looked from him to her mother. "Did...did you just say he might let me go home?" she managed. Agni! I never expected this so soon. - Wait. That means that Zuko must have already made that decision before Mai ever got back to the Fire Nation. No one even coerced him. Why would he do that? She stared at Ursa, genuinely bewildered. "But why?"

"Because your brother believes in family and forgiveness," her mother said simply. "I'll be blunt, Azula. Zuko is willing to commute the rest of your sentence and let you go home. But if there's even the tiniest chance that you'll betray him again, I advise you to stay here. You'll be under careful watch there – one false move, and I doubt that even I could save you."

A bitter smile curved Azula's lip. "I see," she said. "So I'd be a prisoner of another kind – is that it?"

"You could look at it that way," Ursa said quietly. "Or you could think of it as a chance to redeem yourself, Azula. The choice is up to you."

The former princess looked down at the table, her brow furrowing. She didn't know quite what to think. "I'll need some time to think about this," she said at last, looking up at her uncle. "This is a lot to take in at once."

"Of course," he said, smiling cheerfully and nodding. "And now, while we think – let's have tea!" And servants entered, bearing steaming teapots on silver trays.

Later, as Azula and Ty Lee got ready for bed, the acrobat finally spoke. "'Zula?" The former princess glanced at her lazily, pulling the silk robe she'd been given around her body. Ty Lee bit her lip. "You're not thinking about refusing it, are you? Going home, I mean." She quailed under Azula's sudden frown. "It's just...I'd like to see it again," she faltered. "Wouldn't it make you happy, too?"

"Happy?" the firebender said coldly, tying the sash of her robe around her waist. "And why exactly do you think I would be happy about becoming Zuzu's little lapdog?"

The acrobat bit her lip harder and looked away. "I don't think it's like that," she murmured. "He'd...well, after what happened, he'd be stupid not to watch us. But think of it, 'Zula! We could see the palace again. We could be there together – Mai, too. It could be just like old times. Remember those? Before all the trouble started?"

"It would not be like 'old times,' Ty Lee." Azula slid her legs underneath the covers of the bed. She was unnaccountably irritated. "We're not children anymore. Mai is either a pardoned exile or the Fire Lady-to-be by now. You'd be another pardoned noblewoman. I'd be the Fire Lord's disgraced-but-tolerated sister. We wouldn't be romping through the gardens playing tag, or...or climbing trees, damn it." She laid her cheek against the silken pillows.

Ty Lee stood uncertainly on the other side of the bed, her fingers twisting together. "Well, no, we wouldn't," she said. Her voice was small. "But we'd be together again, 'Zula. And we'd be home." She hung her head. "I'd like to go home."

The firebender sighed deeply and closed her eyes. Blast her, she thought with annoyance, noting the wave of guilt that flooded her. She hated it when Ty Lee was upset. And she hated it even more when she could feel herself crumbling under it. Can't let her think she's won so easily already. "I promise I'll think about it."

There was a pause. "Can I ask you a favor?" The former princess opened her eyes and frowned at her. Ty Lee met her gaze pleadingly. "Please, Azula. You know I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't important." Azula rolled her eyes, but nodded and turned onto her side so she could see her better. The acrobat lowered her gaze, still fidgeting with her hands. "Just for me – just this once – could you not try to make people do things?" she burst out finally. The firebender's frown deepened, and Ty Lee's lip quivered. "I saw what you were doing at dinner. You're planning and lying and...and manipulating again. Please don't this time, 'Zula. Please. We have a chance to go home. We can finally stop running. Please don't ruin that!"

Azula was too astonished to be properly angry. She stared at the acrobat with her mouth open for a moment or two. "You...you think I'd ruin things?"

"Not on purpose," Ty Lee said softly. Her large gray eyes were suspiciously wet. "Never on purpose, 'Zula. But remember what happened in Taonan? Katara and Toph might have been our friends, if you hadn't done what you did. Now Princess Ursa and General Iroh are offering to help us. 'Zula, please..." She moved to kneel on the bed and took the firebender's hand in hers. "Please," she said again. "Let's just accept what they're giving us, okay? Let's just accept it, and be grateful, and not try to force more out of them."

As the initial shock wore off, the former princess had to grudgingly admit that Ty Lee had a point. Too much maneuvering on her part could put this chance at risk. She closed her eyes and sighed. "If you were anyone else, I'd burn you. But, fine. If that's what you want, I'll...hold off."

"Thanks, 'Zula." The gymnast sounded relieved. She slowly crawled under the covers and slipped over to tuck herself against Azula's body. The former princess felt Ty Lee's head rest against her chest. "I haven't hurt you, have I? I didn't mean to."

"No. I'm fine." Was that a lie? Maybe. But I don't want to talk about it. Azula sighed again and put her arms around the acrobat, pulling her close. "Good night, Ty."

"Night, 'Zula." Ty Lee kissed the soft skin of Azula's throat before lying still. Before long, the two tired girls were sound asleep.