With the Gaang…

Aang's POV:

As insisted by Toph, we started following the tea shop owners. They had left their small tea shop and had walked right out of the neighborhood and into a more well-off part of Ba Sing Se, which doesn't make sense considering their tea shop was small and in a not so well-off part of town. We waited for them to settle in their home before walking up to one of the windows. What I had heard while watching the people in the room had shocked me, these people were no regular innocent people, and that pregnant lady was not Katara and wasn't even pregnant! It was Azula, Zuko's sister, the princess of the fire nation and she had come here disguised to get closer to me, to capture me! She mentioned something about her brother and…a…water bender? She must mean Katara! It had to be Katara so that means it was Azula who had captured her but Katara managed to escape. Katara is in the city somewhere, we must find her before Azula does!

Before I can lead Toph and Sokka away from the window to form a plan, I heard a strangled noise and look over to see someone had grabbed Sokka and had their hand over his mouth. Who I saw had shocked me, it was Longshot and Smellerbee, from Jet's gang… but where's Jet and the rest of them?

Smellerbee put her finger to her lips to tell us to be quiet as Longshot had his hand still over Sokka's mouth. She led us away from the house and away from the people in it, far enough so we won't be caught. Once far enough Longshot took his hand away from Sokka's mouth and Smellerbee turned to us, "You guys shouldn't be snooping around places like this, it could lead you to be taken away. That house was taken over by Azula and now belongs to the fire nation, the tea shop owner is being forced to cooperate with them because Azula found out that Zuko and his uncle were working for him. As for the baby we aren't sure where it came from it is not related to any of them. Azula is after her brother and uncle as well as you and your friend, the water bender. She only just started to disguise herself last night and is planning to take all of you down."

Sokka's mouth started to open and close like a fish, "…. Wait, how did you guys get here? Where's Jet? How do you know all of this?"

Longshot sighed as Smellerbee looked down, "We came here with Jet for a new beginning but he was taken by the Dai Li and we haven't seen him since. We know something isn't right so we have been following Dai Li members to find out more information. We found out about Azula only last night when we saw her barking orders at the Dai Li to clean up that house before she moves in. Ba Sing Se is no longer safe, you can't trust them to help, we know you wanted to come here to find Appa and get help from the Earth King but is it worth losing everything in the process. We don't know how far the loyalty lies when it comes to the government here and Azula but now that she is here and has been given a home we can only assume the worst."

My eyes widened at this, "Thanks you guys for the help. We heard that Katara escaped from them, do you know where she may be?"

A Few Streets Over…

Zuko's POV:

It had taken some time to calm Katara down, she seemed to cling more to me as the time went on. I'm not sure why that is but I figured the emotions of the event just haven't calmed down in her yet and she felt better being close to someone. She held on to Jia as I took over making the tea in the back room while uncle took the orders and busted the tables in the dining room. The rest of our day went by pretty smoothly, I tried and failed at making the tea and we eventually switched places again, Katara helped me in the dining room with the customers. She walked around with Jia attached to her with a wrap type of material, the customers seemed to love her despite her nervous and skittish behavior. They seemed to draw their own conclusions of who she and the baby are and have decided that she must be my girlfriend and the baby is our child. We never corrected them not wanting to receive more questions so we just allowed them to think whatever they wanted, I took orders and she cleaned tables.

Before we knew it, the time had passed and it was time to go home. Katara had opened up a bit more as the day went on and she was much more cheerful than she was after her flashback incident. As we got back home we all settled down as uncle went to bathe. I took some things out for dinner and Katara helped me prepare and cook our meal. We had been silently helping each other while Jia played with a bowl on the floor. Speaking of Jia, we are going to have to get her some more things if she will be staying with us, we got enough for the day with the limited time we had but now that we have a day off tomorrow we should probably take her and Katara out to get some things so that they can live comfortably with us.

As we finished up dinner I turn to Katara and say, "Tomorrow I think we should go shopping for some things for you and Jia." She nods not really seeming to pay attention to my words as she stares up at me, "Are you going to be okay going around town with me? Uncle can stay here with Jia, we shouldn't be long." I didn't want her to feel pressured with how she reacted to possibly seeing her friends today. I'm not sure why in the little time I've known her that I'm being so gentle and calm around her. I guess the situation I found her in and knowing that it was most likely my people who did this to her made me think about how I want to be in this world. I'm so conflicted in my mind about my feelings about going home, in a way because on one hand I don't agree with what is happening and what my family is doing to the world but on the other that is my home, the last place I've seen my mother and the only thing I've known for most of my life. The years I've been banished have taught me many things, though I've never shown it. I can't hide this from my uncle however as he has always tried to tell me that I'm better than the way I'm acting. I try not to think too much about it because giving up my home would also be giving up my honor and since I've been a young child the whole subject of honor has always been a big part of my life, it's been ingrained in me that I must obey my father and follow his way of life or I am a useless honor-less child that is of no use to my own father, the fire lord. Being of no use to your own father is horrible, all my life I've been working my ass off to impress him and now I don't think that was even worth it.

"Zuko…." I look up to see Katara looking at me and realize I must have zoned out, "I think I need to talk to you about what happened to me. After my freak out today, it's only fair that you know about what has happened to me and why I am so broken."

I look at her in astonishment, "Katara, you're not broken, what happened today is a natural occurrence to being through trauma like you have been through. I may not know what that is or who had done it to you but I can promise you, you are not broken and with time you will heal and you may not be the same person as you were before but you will grow from it and it will not haunt you the way it does now. I can promise you that because I will help you through it." I don't realize it until my little speech is done but unconsciously my hand goes to my scar. For months after the incident with my father I had nightmares every night about the event. They eventually became sparser and now I don't experience them nearly as often, mostly they appear when I'm stressed about something or if something reminds me too much of the event.

Katara seemed to be a bit taken aback by what I had said but smiled nevertheless, "Zuko… I think you're right… So … can we talk about it? I think it will help me move pass it."

Later That Night…

I lay awake stuck in my thoughts, every time I think about what I had said to Katara I cringe a little inside. When did I ever get so soft and compassionate towards anyone? Let alone someone who is supposed to be my enemy. My mind always brings me back to it and then it leads to what she said has happened to her and my mind spirals. I can't believe what she has told me, my own family is the reason for so many people being captive, forced to not use their bending and live out their lives in captivity and controlled by the very people who captured them. Those are only the lucky ones, the ones who are a threat to the system are beaten, starved and forced to live in small cages with little to no light. These places have been around for many years and I have never heard of them, I've known about our prisons but not this but my sister knows and has known of them. I'm not surprised that I was left in the dark about all of this because my father never did like me. The only ones that known were the people working in these places, people I've never met or my father, sister, my uncle and a few of my father's close followers and of course the council. I don't believe Mai or her family knew, or maybe they just never seen a reason to mention it.

I turn onto my side, facing the window. I realize that my whole life has been a lie, even my own uncle had kept this from me because he has been sworn to secrecy. I don't blame my uncle for not saying anything, he's been so much help to me as it is and I'm sure he would have gotten to it eventually. Now more than ever I realize I could never go back to my father, I don't want that honor, he would have never crowned me as his successor anyway so now I know I need to create my own path in life but that path isn't clear to me right now, I don't think I can stand anymore hot leaf juice so helping uncle in the shop for the rest of my days is out of the question.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! Please review and make sure to check in later this week I plan to add another chapter :)