The two siblings left the palace together right after dinner. Zuko still made sure to get some candied cherries and fruit tarts to go since they'd take some time to reach their destination and could get hungry again, and because they were Azula's favorite desserts. They both wore hoods, left through the servant's gate, and walked through the capital city side by side without drawing any attention to themselves.

Zuko knew the way by heart at this point as he had walked through these streets many times as a kid, desperate to find any place where he could hide from everything - the pressure of being the heir, the competition against his much more skilled sister, the absence of his mother, and the cruelty his father offered to everyone around. Things were unbelievably better for him now, but he had spent a night or two hidden away from everyone when the burden of being Fire Lord became too much.

And now, as he was worried about losing everything he had built, and worst of all, losing his sister, the sight of the that simple, isolated house on the top of the hill brought him a little comfort. He could escape from all his problems for a little while.

And he wanted to offer Azula the chance to do the same.

As they entered the house, Zuko couldn't noticed his sister's eyes analyzing every little thing about it. The place wasn't anything special at first, but he had tried to make it look as beautiful and luxurious as possible. He had already reformed the house when he bought it a few weeks after becoming Fire Lord, but he knew his sister liked how grandiose the palace was, so he added a few details. The red walls now had a few Fire Nation banners on them, there were four braziers illuminating the living room, all the furniture was of the same quality of the ones at the palace, and he had chosen some paintings that helped make the place look both more 'royal like' and livelier.

"So, this is the place you went to when you wanted to disappear" Azula said, sitting on the couch. Once upon a time she would have done it to mock him and call him weak, but now she simply sounded amused at the thought a young Zuko running around and hiding from everyone "It is an honor to be a guest at your home, My Lord."

Zuko chuckled at her joke, then sat next to her, taking her hand and caressing the back of it with his thumb "I want this to be your place too. Even after this is all over, life at the palace can get stressful, and..." he hesitated "There are so many bad things that happened to our family, both on that place and at our house in Ember Island. I want there to be a place that is just ours.

Azula smiled and gave him a quick kiss "I like that thought."

He pulled her in for an embrace and lied back, keeping his sister safe in his arms and kissing her forehead. They stayed like that for a few minutes, silently enjoying being so close to each other. Then Zuko broke the silence.

"There's nothing I can do to change your mind about your plan, right?"

"No" she answered, pulling away from him "I thought it was pretty obvious."

"It was and it is. I had to try anyway" he got up and started searching through his bag "But that doesn't mean I don't trust you" he found what he was looking for, and turned to his sister. Her eyes lit up and widened when she saw what was on his hand "You're my sister and my most trusted advisor. You're a prodigy, you were born to be a leader and you're the most powerful warrior I've ever met. You've been our nation's princess your whole life, you'll be Fire Lord for the next weeks, and you'll be my Fire Lady till the end of our days. It's only fair that you wear a symbol of your power."

Azula kneeled gracefully and Zuko walked toward her, gently running his fingers through her hair before crowning her. She was tearing up, but offered him a sweet smile as she got up holding him tight.

"Thank you" she whispered, then took a step back and wiped her tears away "Now... tell me about the other places where you used to hide before you found this house" she said, trying to change the subject to something that wouldn't make her that emotional, and Zuko allowed her to, leading her to the dining room so they could eat their desserts and share a few stories.

After all, he wanted her to enjoy her first night at their new home.