"Ahhh! The open sky above us, a daring mission before us, and friends all around! Just like old times isn't it?" Sokka breathed in the fresh air of the morning as they flew away from the Capital and towards the outskirt islands of the Fire Nation.

"Even better than old times!" Aang grinned, holding Appa's reins in one hand, Katara's hand in the other. "Before, I always wanted to kiss Katara, and now I actually get to do it!"

"Aww, Sweetie!"

They shared a quick kiss in front of a displeased Sokka. "I for one could do without that part. Too bad Suki and Toph couldn't be here... Well instead of them, now we have—"

The three cast indifferent looks towards Azula, who sat at the far end of Appa's saddle, arms crossed and glaring right back at them. "Alright! Now which of you miscreants did she approach first?"

"Who?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Enraged, she stood up. "None of you had even met me yet! How did she convince you to help her ruin my life?!"

She was about to get close to Sokka when Zuko extended an arm to halt her advance. "That's enough, Azula!"

Azula scoffed and looked at her brother's heated fist. "Put that away, Zuzu. It's just small talk."

Chiyo gently laid a hand on Zuko's arm to lower it, looking back and forth between Azula and Zuko. "Remember your promises... Princess Azula, best behavior. Pri—I mean, Fire Lord Zuko, no fighting."

"She started it."

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

The apprentice let out a small scream of frustration, getting up and sitting down between the siblings. "If any of you wants to attack the other, fine by me! But you'll have to get through me first! And spirits know I can chi-block both of you to the next morning!"

Azula and Zuko ignored each other for the rest of the ride to Hira'a, while Chiyo sat quietly in the tense atmosphere that was all too familiar.

"Just like old times, huh?"


"That's Hira'a over there!" Chiyo pointed out the small village in the horizon. "But I think it's better if we go in the morning instead of after sunset. The people there are... curious of outsiders."

Sokka agreed. "Good point. Hey, Aang— WHOA! What?! Is it not enough that we already have one passenger staring at us with crazy eyes?!"

All focus turned to Aang who was sporting a dark, angry expression; brows knit together, mouth twisted into a scowl. "I-I can't help it! There's something out there... like a spirit! I can feel its presence..." He brought his hands up to his face, hoping to relax the tense muscles. "Especially in my face!"

The presence grew stronger. From his peripheral vision, Aang saw a quick flash of dim, blue light. Looking around, he saw a blue, giant wolf spirit. "Did you guys see that?! I think that's the presence I'm feeling!"

They leaned over the saddle to look at where Aang was pointing but found nothing. "There's nothing out there."

"I don't see anything..."

"Did the spirit look like this?"

"Sokka, this is serious!"

"As serious as this?" Sokka imitated Aang's expression from earlier, earning him a slap of snow from Katara's waterskin.

"Azula, get down from there!"

While everyone's attention was diverted, she had slipped away and stood atop the saddle. "I can't tell you what a pleasure it's been riding with you all, listening to you bicker... Too bad not all siblings get along as well as Zuzu and me!"

Chiyo stood up and tried to grab Azula, but the latter jumped away, causing the saddle to rock enough to make Chiyo lose her balance.

The princess jumped from the flying bison, shouting, "I'll be sure to give her your regards!"

"Azula!"

Aang reached for his glider and raced down to stop Azula's descent, grabbing her by the waist, and pulling them horizontal. "I got her!"

"Nice glider, Avatar! Is it fireproof?" She sent a flick of flames towards the glider's wing and it slowly spread through the fabric.

"What are you doing?! This was a gift!"

It was fortunate they were at a reasonable height that Aang crash landed on the ground with no injury. With him momentarily incapacitated, Azula made a run for it.

Appa landed on the ground and everyone jumped off. "You guys go make sure Aang's okay! I'll go after Azula!" Zuko took off after his sister.

Azula ran as fast as her legs allowed her towards Hira'a, clear goal in mind. Search and destroy. With the boost of firebending, she jumped across a river and landed safely on the opposite bank.

"You're only hurting yourself, my daughter..."

She stopped in her tracks and frantically looked around for her. "Where are you, you worthless—" She had reached the edge of the riverbank, and instead of her own reflection, she saw her mother.

Same worried look, same sad eyes.

"Don't you pretend to care about me!" Azula spat. "You thought you could break me, didn't you?! By having Zuko lock me up in the asylum?! But I'm stronger than you realize! I used all that time alone to figure out the truth!"

"Azula..."


Zuko followed the sound of his sister's shouts and he found her, just as she had sent lightning towards the river. "This—This must be your most treacherous act yet, mother! You've turned my own mind against me!"

Water and rocks from the river rose from the contact and rained around them. Zuko called out to her. "Who are you talking to?!"

"Why do you care?!"

"Keep to our deal, Azula!" He clenched his fists. "We'll find her! Together!"

"You need me, Zuzu! I have information that you don't! But now that we're so close to Hira'a, I don't really need you anymore!"

Zuko recognized her stance as she prepared to attack. But much like their Agni Kai for the throne, she was unsettled, unhinged. He did his best to prepare, anticipating her attack. "Please... I don't want to do this..."

Azula was about to attack when the water from the river surged forward and drenched her, the wave turning into ice, trapping her from the shoulders down.

Katara pushed past Zuko and crossed the river, hands on her hips. "I don't appreciate you trying to set Aang on fire! And after he saved you from falling to your death!"

"Zuko, you gotta reconsider this arrangement with your sister!" Sokka, readied his boomerang, ready to defend Katara if needed.

Again, Azula laughed at his useless effort. "Of all the co-conspirators she could've chosen, why an uncultured—" She gasped mid-sentence.

Sokka grinned in triumph, raising his boomerang above his head. "That fear in your eyes must mean you have finally learned to respect the power of Mr. Boomerang! Hey, why is it suddenly so dark?" He turned around ducked just in time to avoid the giant wolf spirit's lunge.

"The wolf spirit must have left the spirit world for a good reason!" Aang called out to Sokka, who narrowly avoided yet another attack. "So please, be respectful!"

"Respectful?! Your spirit just tried to eat my head!"

"The markings..." Chiyo pointed them out to Zuko and Katara. "The markings on the beast's chest is the same as Aang's face!"

"Giant Wolf Spirit!" Aang stood atop a boulder to see the spirit eye-to-eye. "I felt your presence because I'm the Avatar! The great bridge between the spirits and the humans! My friends and I were travelling to the town of Hira'a when one of us—" He pointed to where Azula was, bound by ice. "...decided to go her own way. If we've disturbed you, please accept our apologies!"

Just when he thought he had appeased the spirit, it lunged at him with surprising speed. Before Aang could jump away, Appa came to his aid. The giant bison blocked the spirit and used his tail with the help of airbending to send the wolf flying into the air, landing a distance away from them.

"Are you alright, Giant Wolf Spirit?!"

The angered spirit stood up weakly, then opened his jaw wide. Out poured millions of small, glowing creatures swarming towards them. "Moth-wasps!"

"You are the grossest spirit ever!"

"Chiyo," Azula called out to her. "Free me! I'll take care of the moth-wasps!"

"Azula, I—"

"Just trust me!"

She hesitated, but before she could make her move, Zuko had shielded her. "We don't need your help, Azula!"

"Oh right, because you and your friends have it under control!"

There was no end to the moth-wasps attacking them. At this rate, none of their bending would do any help.

"Zuzu!" Azula rolled herself closer to her brother. "If you can't trust family, who can you trust?"

"Zuko!" The moth-wasps began attacking Chiyo, pulling her hair and clothes with their small, black pincers.

He swatted them away, sending fire fists at the moth-wasps, and pulled her close to him.

"Zuko!" He locked eyes with his sister for a second. "Trust me!" Then he decided.

He sent fire to melt the ice encasing her body and Azula quickly stood upright. She harnessed lightning into her fingertips, focusing a massive amount of chi before sending it up to the sky.

The moth-wasps, driven by instinct, followed the ray of light as Azula directed it far away from them. Once the last of the moth-wasps were gone, so was the Giant Wolf Spirit. She stopped the current and blew the smoke from her fingertips. "You're welcome."


They made camp at a clearing nearest to the town so they could all go first thing in the morning. A fire was made and sleeping bags were set up. Sokka sat with Zuko by the fire, discussing other matters when the former saw Chiyo and Azula sleeping underneath a tree.

"So after everything that's happened, you're still gonna let her sleep with her hands unbound? And right next to your girlfriend?"

"She wont ever hurt, Chiyo. Well, willingly... and consciously." He added after he evaluated his answer. " Besides, she saved us from the moth-wasps. I'm giving her a chance..."

Sokka scratched the back of his head. "That's a whole lot of chances for someone who tried to fry us multiple times..."

"Aang, Katara and I decided to watch her in shifts throughout the night."

In their silence, only the rustling of leaves by the breeze and the fire crackling merrily could be heard. Sokka stood up and stretched his arms. "Little cold tonight, isn't it?"

"I thought you Water Tribe folks liked the cold?"

"Yeah... Maybe we've been away from home for too long." He removed the blanket wrapped around him and gently layered it over Katara who was sleeping next to Appa.

There was a slight twinge in Zuko's heart that made him wonder. "After all those snowballs to your forehead and constant nagging, you still look out for her." It was more of an observation rather than a question.

Sokka shrugged. "I throw my witticisms at her, she throws snowballs at me... the relationship works!"

He frowned. "Look's like you're getting the short end of that deal."

"Katara is my sister." He smiled as he looked over her sleeping form. "When it comes to her, I don't mind getting the short end of the deal."

Zuko looked back at his own sister, shivering despite the thin blanket that she shared with Chiyo. "Hey, Sokka, do you have more of those blankets?"

"Sure, here!" He tossed a rolled-up bundle to Zuko before he excused himself, looking for a faraway spot to relieve himself.

He stood up and took the blankets to them, draping one over Chiyo first and laying a soft kiss on the top of her head. Just as he was about to give Azula her blanket, he noticed a folded parchment tucked into one of Azula's boots.

He debated whether it was a good idea to do so, but after careful thought, he slowly took the parchment and read its contents.


My dearest Ikem,

It's taken me a long time to admit it, but you were right. I belong with you and nothing is worth this pain. My only consolation is our son, Zuko. When I look into his eyes, it's as if I'm looking into yours.

My thoughts are with you always.

Love,

Ursa


Author's Notes

Do you have any siblings? I have three, and they are all pains in the ass. I'm the youngest of four. I thought I would be babied. Turns out, I do the babying. Ugh.

But I love them anyways, even you kuya. Even you.

-TheGreatestConWoman-