Sitting in the large saddle on Appa's back, Ty Lee moved into the corner and rested Azula against her body, holding onto the girl as best she could hoping to not cause her any more pain. Zuko sat next to her keeping a watchful eye on his sister as they soared through the darkening sky. Upfront, Aang sat guiding Appa to where they needed to go while Hakoda and Katara were close by softly talking to one another.
"See those large funny shaped snow mountains? From there it should only take us fifteen minutes to get to the stream," Aang said, trying his best to keep everyone informed so they wouldn't worry as much.
"What is important about this stream?" Zuko asked, never having heard of it before.
"There is a spirit portal sitting right on top of the stream, the spirit portal was closed by Avatar Wan hundreds of years ago. The stream itself is not near the portal but since the water runs under it, it is touched by the spirits as our ancestors say. It hasn't been used in a long time but it has proven to have greater healing abilities than any other water here. We just don't let a lot of people know about it as its very sacred to our people," Chief Hakoda explained, a look of worry still etched into his face.
"That is reasonable. We don't have anything like that in the Fire Nation but if we did I would make sure it was as safe as it could be," Zuko replied, looking out at the sky.
"How is Azula doing?" Chief Hakoda asked while keeping an eye out for the stream.
"She hasn't responded to anything yet, she's still breathing pretty heavily and she's still grey in colour," Ty Lee replied, gently holding onto Azula, making sure she was as comfortable as could be.
Sharing a look of worry with Katara, Ty Lee did her best to keep her feelings at bay. Seeing Azula like this made her feel useless, it hurt her and made her want to make everything better but she knew that she couldn't. She should have made Azula rest for a bit after they got to the camp grounds, she could see how much pain the girl was in. Placing a gentle kiss on top of Azula's head, Ty Lee closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths in trying to calm herself down.
Falling silent, the group glided through the air, aiming to get to their destination. Worried looks were exchanged between them as they made eye contact with one another. Azula's breathing was beginning to ease up a little but none of them took that as a good sign.
"There's the stream, it's beautiful," Aang said, pointing to the small body of water.
"It really is a sight to behold," Zuko added, watching as it glistened under the last of the sun's rays.
Guiding Appa down toward the ground, Aang gently sailed through the air and onto the ground without a sound, standing next to the sky bison.
"Come on, we need to get Azula to the stream," Katara urgently said, noticing that the other girl wasn't getting any better.
Watching as Aang and Hakoda got Azula off Appa and put her next to the stream, Ty Lee and Zuko joined them and waited for instructions on what to do next.
"Aang, once we get Azula in the water can you water bend it so she stays floating in the once spot while I heal her?" Katara asked, giving Azula a once over.
"Can do," Aang said, nodding his head.
"Ty Lee, do you know if Azula has any clothing on under the thick jumper?" Katara asked, knowing she could work around it but also knowing that it would be easier out of the way.
"She has a thin shirt on underneath, I'll take the jumper off of her," Ty Lee replied. Sitting down on the ice cold ground, Ty Lee took off Azula's shoes before she gently manoeuvred the item of clothing off Azula and folded it up holding onto it.
"Okay, now Aang can you please get Azula into the water?" Katara asked, watching the Avatar water bend her into the stream, holding her still in the one position, lying on her back.
Taking a deep breath in, Katara moved the water over Azula's body, watching as it glowed a blue silver colour. Concentrating on the former princess's torso, Katara's brows furrowed together as she slowly glided the water from side to side. After a few minutes had passed, Katara moved the healing water up to Azula's neck and head, making sure that the bruises on her neck were gone.
"I've done the best I can," Katara said after a few minutes as she gently water bent Azula onto the ground and bent all the water out of her clothing and hair, leaving her dry.
"Thank you, Katara, thank you so much," Ty Lee replied, sitting down next to Azula and gently caressing her face. "Azula, come on, wake up."
Hearing her name being said, Azula tried to her hardest to respond. Opening her eyes she saw Ty Lee leaning over her looking very worried. "Ty Lee," she softly said, shivering from the cold.
"Hey there, how do you feel?" Ty Lee asked, helping Azula to slowly sit up.
"Cold, very cold," Azula replied, noticing she didn't have her jumper on.
"Here, let's get this back on you," Ty Lee said, helping Azula to get dressed.
"What happened? Where are we?" Azula asked, wondering why everyone was standing around her, watching her with looks of relief on their faces.
"You passed out back at the camp and lost all colouring, we couldn't wake you at all. Katara tried to heal you but it wouldn't work so we brought you here to place you in a body of water to attempt to heal you," Zuko replied, still very concerned about his sister.
"I healed you as much as I could but your chi paths are so messed up I was only able to do limited healing, I was able to heal some of the internal damage but only time will heal the rest," Katara explained, watching as Ty Lee helped Azula to stand up.
"Thank you for all you have done, Katara, I genuinely appreciate it," Azula replied, shocking everyone around them except for Ty Lee.
"It's my pleasure," Katara replied, smiling at Azula.
"Now, how about we all get back on Appa and head back to the camp so we can deal with the remaining soldiers before night fully sets in," Chief Hakoda suggested, watching the path the sun was taking.
"We should go and do that. I need to take the Fire Nation soldiers back tonight and have most of them dealt with and incarcerated. I just hope that Mai has the camp under control when we get back," Zuko said, rubbing his forehead.
"I need to get my warriors back home and debrief with them to hear what they have to say. I might have to talk with them tomorrow morning as it's a bit of a walk back to the village," Chief Hakoda replied, helping Azula up onto Appa.
"What is going to happen with me?" Azula asked, feeling Ty Lee's arm around her as Appa took flight.
"You and Ty Lee will be going back to the Southern Water Tribe with Chief Hakoda. They have a hut empty that you two will share. Ty Lee will be looking after you and you are to report to either Chief Hakoda, Aang, Katara, or Sokka once a day. I will be coming around every few months to check in on you. You are to continue your sessions with Akna until the end of you imprisonment sentence which finishes in two and a half years. If you screw up you will face punishment and possibly be shipped back to the Fire Nation where you will be held in a prison," Zuko sternly said, not beating around the bush.
"I would also like it if for the first week you come to me and we can try to do some more healing, when we had you in the stream I could sense how bad the damage is," Katara added, wanting to help out best she could.
"Azula, is that acceptable?" Zuko asked, looking at his sister.
"That seems more than fair," Azula replied, leaning into Ty Lee, trying to get some more warmth into her body.
"Do you feel any better Azula?" Aang asked joining them in the saddle as Hakoda took over the reins.
"I do feel a little better, my insides hurt less and my head seems to be a little clearer but I feel exhausted. Today has really taken it out of me, I feel weak and I don't like it one bit, I'm at one of my lowest points and it's just hard," Azula replied, feeling Ty Lee pull her closer.
"When we hit our lowest points in life we are always open to the greatest of changes Azula, everyone deserves a chance and I believe that you are now ready for that change," Aang said, offering some words of wisdom.
"Thank you Aang, I think I'm ready to move forward now," Azula replied, not realising that having others believe in her gave her a warm feeling inside.
"If it's anything, I really do believe in you Azula, I know that you're changing and I'm going to be here for you every step of the way," Ty Lee said, placing a quick kiss on Azula's cheek.
"I'll be happy to have you by my side," Azula replied, holding onto Ty Lee's hand that was wrapped around her.
"Oh get a room," Zuko said, looking at the two girls with a raised eyebrow.
"They will be having a room together," Chief Hakoda smiled, laughing at the uncomfortable look on Zuko's face.
"I don't need to be thinking about that," Zuko replied, scrunching up his face as he looked out over the South Pole, seeing nothing but ice and snow. "When we get back to the camp I need to speak to the soldiers once more."
Falling into a comfortable silence for the rest of their journey, they made it back to the camp grounds and got off Appa. Giving Appa a rub on his head, Aang pulled an apple out of his pocket and gave it to him while they waited for Zuko and Chief Hakoda to go talk with the remaining soldiers.
"Can all soldiers who were stationed here please form a horizontal line in front of me and Fire Lord Zuko," Chief Hakoda called out waiting for the soldiers to follow his instruction.
Watching as the twelve Water Tribe soldiers and remaining five Fire Nation soldiers gathered in front of him, Hakoda gave them a once over before standing tall in front of them.
Joining Chief Hakoda, Zuko walked up and down the line of soldiers and pointed at the five Fire Nation soldiers. "Step forward." Watching them share a nervous look among one another he gave them a minute to sweat it out. "I want to know why you five didn't say anything to me every time that I had visited when you knew that my sister was being treated very badly."
Watching a young guard step forward who only looked a little older than himself, Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Laquan, you have an answer for me?"
"We hadn't told you as General Zhan threatened to murder our families when he has his break if we were to mention anything. Even if one of us said something all of our families would pay the price in death," Laquan said, trying to keep his voice as steady as he could.
"Water Tribe warriors, I ask the same question almost, why didn't any of you inform me of what was happening before today?" Chief Hakoda asked, standing tall next to Zuko.
"For almost the same reason Chief Hakoda, General Zhan said if we were to mention a word to anyone, even to each other, he would burn down the village along with everyone there. We didn't want to start another war so we tried our best to make sure the chains weren't tight and that the prisoner was given food and water," a young guard replied, stepping forward.
"Thank you Eeka," Hakoda replied, letting the young woman stand back in line.
"All Fire Nation soldiers please head back to my ship as we will be leaving as soon as we can. Hopefully before the sun fully sets," Zuko said, dismissing his soldiers.
"Water Tribe warriors, head to the sleds and head back to the village, Eeka and Uki, please come with us on Appa," Chief Hakoda said, watching the soldiers disperse.
Walking over to where Appa was, Mai headed for Ty Lee and handed her a large bag. "The tea for Azula from Uncle Iroh, make sure she takes it."
"We will, Mai," Aang replied, still kind of scared of the raven-haired soon-to-be wife of Zuko.
"Mai, are you ready to get going?" Zuko asked, joining the group as he wrapped an arm around his fiancée.
"I am," Mai replied, heading off to join the other Fire Nation soldiers.
"Ty Lee, I had some soldiers take your belongings to the village. We also included some clothing for Azula. I would like to talk more but we need to get going, I'll see you in a month or two. Goodbye Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, and Azula," Zuko said, joining Mai as they began to walk back to their ship.
"I'm going to go to my hut to get my other jacket for Azula if it hasn't been moved yet, I'll be back in a minute," Ty Lee said. Holding onto Azula's hand and taking the girl with her as they walked into the now empty campground to get to the hut Ty Lee has called home these last few days.