A/N: This chapter was originally exactly 3000 words long, but I often do edits of stuff I find after posting it on AO3, so now it's only 2,999 words. T T Even so, it was one of my favorite chapters in this story to write, and also the one where I could most clearly imagine Mark Hamill saying Ozai's lines. (I try, but sometimes I succeed more than others.)

PAST

Flush with the excitement of the rally and freshly scrubbed, Azula was preparing for the audience with Father that she knew was imminent. As usual when she needed to look her absolute best, she had dismissed all of her servants for the night except for Shiza. It felt good to be back in her armor; the red and pink outfit had been both pretty and practical, but simply didn't offer the same amount of protection. On the outside, she looked every bit the maiden warrior-princess. However, her inner layers were not nearly as modest.

Her senior lady-in-waiting made her patented frown when Azula rejected her usual bindings in favor of Daddy's favorite pair of lingerie. Azula was fairly certain that Shiza had known about their secret relationship for some time. It would have been hard for her not to, since she was the one getting Azula ready most of the time. However, they appeared to have reached a silent agreement that they would both pretend she didn't know.

The special pattern of knocks on the door came at the perfect time, just as Shiza was putting the makeup knife away. It was Father who wanted to speak with her first, then.

"Are you…will you be all right?" Shiza asked tentatively while Azula walked towards the door. What an odd question.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she replied.

The throne room was empty save for herself and the Fire Lord…just as it had been when he'd sent her on this mission over three months ago. Azula stopped a respectful distance away, knelt, and pressed her forehead to the floor. Even when she raised her head, she remained kneeling with her eyes downcast, only daring to look up when she heard him part the flames.

"At long last, the conqueror of Ba Sing Se makes her appearance," Father said as greeting.

Azula would have liked to bask in the praise, but knew exactly what she was expected to say. She made a noise of demurral before responding, "I would never have been able to do it if I hadn't had such a wonderful teacher."

"Indeed," Father replied, slowly walking down the steps. His nearness made Azula quake in her boots, and only partly out of fear.

"And your brother slayed the Avatar," he continued, tugging on his beard. "I was surprised. I didn't think he had it in him."

Azula had to think fast. How was she going to make this falsehood believable? She really should've thought more about this on the way home…

"I didn't either," she began, trying to stall for a few precious seconds so she could conjure up the details. "I was busy fighting the waterbender. But then the Avatar was hovering high up in the air and preoccupied, so Zuko saw his chance and took it. I was amazed that he acted so quickly." Should she say he used lightning? No, that would be stretching credulity a bit too much. "He hit him with a fire blast straight to the back. It was so precise and powerful that the Avatar never even knew what hit him; impressive even by my standards. And if that didn't kill the Avatar instantly, the long fall to the ground certainly did."

There. That seemed to be an acceptable enough fudging of the truth. She didn't mention that they still hadn't got official confirmation that the Avatar was actually dead, which was making her a little nervous.

"Wonderful," Father proclaimed. The story appeared to have passed his muster, and Azula made an internal sigh of relief.

"I take it that you received my dispatches about the intelligence I gathered?" she inquired. Father smirked.

"Yes. They're planning an invasion during the eclipse. How precious."

Azula permitted herself a little mischievous grin of her own, and said, "I have no doubt that they think they're the first people to ever attempt such a thing. The Earth King sang like a sparrowkeet about their super-secret plans without me even having to try. I wish you'd been there to see for yourself. You would have loved it." Those idiots. Capital Island would have had increased security measures that day regardless.

Father gave a shout of laughter so loud and sudden that even Azula was startled.

"So do I!" he exclaimed. "But let us discuss that a little later, shall we? There are other matters I would like to attend to first. It has been far too long since I was last able to avail myself of your body."

Just like that, Father became Daddy, and Azula adapted accordingly. She knew from years of experience how to change her entire demeanor in the blink of an eye. She tugged her hair out of its topknot and let it fall freely down her back, allowing her expression to soften and looking up at Daddy through her eyelashes while biting her lip.

"I completely agree," she said, voice changed from formal and measured to almost a purr. This had exactly the effect she wanted on Daddy, who ran over, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder.

"Ohh," she whispered into his ear. "Unhand me, you brute." But she wanted him as much as he desired her, and they both knew that.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to find a replacement for you all those months?" Daddy growled as they left the throne room and began what seemed like an unbearably long trip down the secret passageway to his private chambers.

Azula didn't care to think about who might have been her replacement. Instead, she giggled and said, "I can imagine."

The first time hurt a little bit, but she'd expected that after such a long absence, and it was nothing that she couldn't handle. The second time, Daddy wasn't in such of a big rush, so he could help make it feel good for her, too. After he had been thoroughly satisfied–twice–he was ready to talk strategy again. Azula always felt a little uneasy when he did this, because she wasn't sure how to categorize it. It was sort of a nebulous area in between Father and Daddy; he expected her to be all business when she didn't have a stitch of clothing on.

"The Avatar may be dead, but his friends will be out for revenge," she told Daddy, putting a few inches of space between them and pulling the sheets up over her chest so she could at least have some coverage. "They should not be taken lightly. The waterbender has improved significantly even in the time I've fought against her, and rumor has it that the earthbender has somehow figured out how to bend metal. If that is true, our bunker is no longer impervious."

Daddy frowned. "That is unfortunate. I presume those two are our biggest threat? We will put the best of the Royal Guard at the main entrance, then, to neutralize them immediately."

"Actually…no, they're not," Azula clarified.

"Then who is?"

Azula felt a smile tugging at her lips as she said, "The nonbender boy, if you can believe that. His name is Sokka. He's the brains of the group, and apparently the one who, um, figured out how to take down the drill." Maybe not the best idea to remind Daddy of that. She rushed on, "Get into his head, knock him off-balance, and their entire plan will fail."

"And you think that you know how to do that?" Daddy asked.

Azula's smile widened.

"I do," she said simply.

PRESENT

She was prepared for every eventuality.

Well, maybe not every eventuality. She supposed that perhaps the rebels would figure out how to build a replica of her drill. Or…or maybe they'd make a giant walking suit of armor that shot energy beams so powerful that they could annihilate anything in their path.

Actually, that last one was an intriguing idea. She'd have to remember to write that one down later.

But those were exceedingly unlikely scenarios, and she knew it. Without the Earth Kingdom's funding, there was no way that they would have the resources to make such powerful weapons. She was still prepared for every plausible eventuality.

Azula was quite confident that the Avatar and his friends would be heading this way. War Minister Qin had been instructed to misdirect them, and that was a simple enough task that she thought even he couldn't mess it up. Everything was ready. She had her Dai Li as backup, perched in the rafters. (She wished she could have had Mai and Ty Lee with her as well, but they were sheltering in their own homes.) Over the past several weeks, Azula had been occupied with perfecting her nonbending fighting and evasion skills. She'd had Ty Lee give her some pointers, and even considered getting her lover to chi-block her to mimic the effects of the eclipse (all her research indicated that they were not pleasant). However, she had ultimately decided against it. That might set an unfortunate precedent, after all.

Speaking of which, she thought that the effects were now kicking in. The books had indicated that no two firebenders appeared to experience exactly the same symptoms or severity. For her, at least, it wasn't so bad: mostly a sensation of cold and mild nausea. Perhaps her inner fire was so strong that she had some innate resistance…or maybe things were simply muted this far underground.

Then…footsteps and shouting outside. Qin had succeeded in his deception. She adjusted her posture so she looked exactly the right combination of threatening and casual. As the doors were blown open with a gust of wind, she smiled.

"So, you are alive after all," she said, just like she had rehearsed in the privacy of her bedroom countless times. "I had a hunch that you survived. But it doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months."

The look of shock on the trio's faces (the waterbender girl wasn't with them…too bad) was quite possibly the most gratifying thing that Azula had seen in her entire life. Did they perhaps think of her as some sort of supernatural entity with psychic powers? The somewhat more mundane truth was that they hadn't been quite as good as hiding as they thought they were, and she had received intelligence from multiple islands about a group matching their descriptions.

"Where is he? Where's the Fire Lord?" the Avatar demanded. Did he honestly think she was going to just tell him?

"Mm. You mean I'm not good enough for you? You're hurting my feelings," she said as she stood up, letting a hint of the voice she used for Daddy seep through.

"Stop wasting our time and give us the information," Sokka demanded, gesturing with his sword. He'd caught on quickly, as Azula had expected. "You're powerless right now, so you're in no position to refuse."

Pfft. Look who's talking.

The earthbender (her name was…Toph?) added, "And stick to the truth. I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar," Azula answered. Quickly casting around in her head for the most ridiculous statement possible, she said, "I am a four hundred-foot-tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings." It took no effort at all. Every successful member of the Fire Nation royal family learned to lie almost as soon as they could speak. When one was in such a high-stakes position, wearing one's feelings on one's sleeve could be deadly. Zuzu had learned that the hard way.

"…Okay, you're good, I admit it," Toph said. Azula managed to not so much as even flinch when the earthbender trapped her in a column that went up to her chin. "But you ought to consider telling the truth anyway!"

So far, everything was going exactly according to plan; it was almost too easy. By Azula's mental count, about two minutes had passed since the start of the eclipse. All she had to do was to continue to occupy them for six more. Azula and the Dai Li had agreed that the latter would make their presence in the room known as soon as Toph tried earthbending for the first time. Right on cue, the column binding Azula crumbled into nothing. Her trio of adversaries looked flabbergasted again. Azula could almost hear them thinking, "Wait…she can earthbend?!"

"When I left Ba Sing Se, I brought home some souvenirs…Dai Li agents!" she explained.

The fight that followed was more an amusement than anything else. At last, Azula got to show off the results of her extensive practice. No matter what obstacle they might throw at her, she could leap, jump, or flip through it. It was rather like what she'd always imagined that airbending would feel like; sometimes, she looked at Ty Lee's gray eyes and wondered.

Sokka was finally the one to realize how much time had passed, again as she thought he might. He told the other two to stop attacking.

"She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!" he said, a note of panic creeping into his voice.

(If he thought Azula hadn't noticed how his eyes had raked over her body as she flew past him, he was deluding himself.)

"Not true! I'm giving it my all," Azula informed him. Technically, this wasn't even a lie, since she didn't specify what "it" was. They bickered with her a while longer, accusing her of wasting their time when they were doing a perfectly good job at it themselves. Then Sokka got them back to their senses again, and the three of them turned and started walking away.

"It's a trap. Don't say I didn't warn you," Azula said. There were only a couple of minutes left in the eclipse now, and she doubted that they'd reach Father in time even if they did know the way. And if they blundered their way into one of the rooms surrounding his…it would not be pleasant for them. (Except for Shiza's room. She'd probably just start crying.)

"Ignore!" Sokka urged them as they continued walking.

It was time. She'd been looking forward to this moment for the whole fight.

"So, Sokka's your name, right?" she began. "My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time."

He halted, turned his head back to look at her. She had him right where she wanted him.

Azula continued, "She was convinced you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came, and she gave up on you!" As his face crumpled, she felt a surge of triumph and…something else?

He ran at her. Had she thought that her trick with the dagger was going to work? Not really. Things would be more convenient for her that way, of course, but it would have put this part of her plan to a disappointingly premature end. In any case, Toph disarmed her and threw her against the rough stone wall hard enough that Azula was certain it would leave a nasty bruise. Since both of her Dai Li were out of commission from the fighting, she had no defense this time as the earthbender cuffed her hands to the wall with rock. Or at least, that was what she wanted them to think.

"WHERE. IS. SUKI?!" Sokka snarled into her face as he loomed over her. Oh, did he think that Azula had mutilated his little girlfriend? She was happy for him to continue thinking that. Father would have used torture, yes, but Azula didn't see the point of resorting to it when there were other, more subtle ways of getting what she wanted.

She continued to smile down at him, saying nothing, and couldn't help but notice that his Fire Nation topknot suited him well; made him look older. So did that primitive…thing that passed for a military uniform among the Water Tribe barbarians. That darker shade of blue was definitely his color. Not that she cared.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka repeated, interrupting her musings. "Answer me!" The Avatar tried to get him to back off, but he would have none of that. "Where are you keeping her?!"

Azula simply smiled even more. She gazed at the sweat beading on his forehead, at his jaw muscles clenching. Making him angry was so…so…wait. Was her body responding to him? Indeed it was. Half-baked fantasies began racing through her mind. He was standing so close to her…all it would take would be a slight forward thrust of her hips to determine whether he was similarly afflicted. Or was he too preoccupied with his precious Suki? Well, if she managed to take Sokka prisoner, maybe she could…

No. She sternly forbade herself from moving any part of her body or thinking any more of those absurd thoughts. Daddy would never allow that. And even if he did, it was a stupid idea. She reminded herself that Daddy had had her against walls, many times. Any reaction she had was obviously due to memories of that, and had nothing to do with the boy currently glaring at her. Thankfully, before her hormones could come up with any further less-than-brilliant schemes, Azula was bailed out by the sound of a large explosion coming from the general direction of Father's room. She could feel her own power resurging as well.

"Oh! Sounds like the firebending's back on!" she said in fake-surprise. She had herself freed within a few seconds, and generously informed her opponents of her father's location.

Azula felt elated as she ran out of the room. Her plan had been a complete success. Father would be so happy when he heard, and being with him would banish any lingering images of Water Tribe boys once and for all. Nevertheless, as much as she wanted to see him right away, she first had to hurry onto an airship to make sure the Avatar and his friends got out and stayed out.

…Right after she found a bathroom.