Prince Lu Ten didn't usually talk with his uncle, given he was a man who liked to do work, train his firebending and not much else; so he was surprised when they met each other walking down the hallway, and his uncle had actually decided to strike up a conversation with him. The easiest thing to talk about with him was his time at the academy, given that was what most people asked him about, whether they be his friends from school, his father or even his grandfather, who admittedly, didn't have much love for talking with anyone, even his own grandson. Prince Ozai was obviously in a reasonably good mood, which helped as well, and he could tell from his attire and his noticeably wet face that he had just washed up after doing some sparring or firebending sets.

"I assume you are at the top of your class, Nephew." his uncle noted, obviously wanting to talk about firebending, given that was his passion, "Iroh did say something about you winning a firebending competition."

"Oh, I did." he confirmed, "The academy has a bi-annual firebending competition, and I was able to beat everyone. Turns out most guys just forfeit when they face a fire tornado."

"It is one intimidating move." Ozai conceded, "I haven't tried using it in my sparring, actually. Perhaps I ought to show my Imperial Firebenders how to make a show." he suggested, and Lu Ten let out a little chuckle.

"I guess you could, Uncle." he acknowledged, before he furrowed a brow, "You were just sparring, right?"

"Yes." he confirmed, "My guards are good, but they always falter eventually. Even together, they couldn't beat me." he proudly declared, and the Prince tried to keep a straight face; his uncle certainly was one for bragging, and when he thought about it, it made a lot of sense why Azula liked to do it so much.

"And, where to now, Uncle?" he asked, and Ozai raised his chin up.

"I have a meeting with the Minister of Industry. He has some new proposals about some factories in the colonies." he explained, furrowing a brow, "And you?"

"I was actually about to go do some firebending sets myself." he explained; specifically, he was going to go practice with Azula, because she had requested he do so when he returned back from the academy.

He was unsure if it was just because she wanted to see his forms and steal some to impress her father, or simply because she wanted to force him to spend time with her. Of course, he was intending to, at the party the next day, after the family feast celebrating Fire Lord Azulon's ninety-fourth birthday.

He could try and spend his night hitting on and wooing some minister's daughter that might be invited to the feast, but he knew that might be a little bit of a waste of time. He barely had any time to spend with his friends with all his time spent at the academy, preparing to become an officer, let alone the time to try and get a girlfriend.

"I wish you the best of luck, Nephew." he suggested, before narrowing his eyes, "Don't overexert yourself." he added, and the Prince's brow twitched trying to not be offended by what his words were suggesting; he knew that he wasn't as good at firebending as the rest of his family, but he tried his hardest, and even if he could get exhausted, he had trained himself to avoid that.

His uncle was just making fun of his past failures, reminding him of when he had almost passed out at a firebending exposition in front of his grandfather, back when he was about the same age as Azula. Even the Fire Lord had chided him, and he felt so guilty about his failure that he had trained almost nonstop for the next week, whenever he had the chance, purely trying to focus on keeping his flames strong for an indefinite period of time. Of course, being the arrogant man he was, his uncle didn't waste an opportunity to remind him of it.

"I won't." he responded as calmly as he could, before his uncle glanced down the hallway.

"Well then, I will presumably see you at our family feast tomorrow. It's Father's birthday." he recalled, and the Prince nodded.

"It is. I got an excuse to come home because of it." he noted, "And it being a public holiday helps." he added, his uncle seeming unamused before turning his heels.

"Don't get too complacent, Lu Ten. War waits for no man." he gave him a proverbial warning, an unusual parallel to what he'd hear from his father, before he paced off down the hallway.

The Prince turned around, and continued on his way, heading in the direction he knew that his cousin would be; she was going to be waiting by the sparring yard, where the Prince might have just been. She wouldn't want Lu Ten to be tardy, and he knew that she'd just sit there until he showed up, so he couldn't be late.

He hastily made his way down the hallway, turning a left to approach the warm light of the afternoon sun, which lit up parts of the hallway adjacent to the sparring yard; approaching the doors that led out into the exterior section of the hallway, he glanced around, taking note of his cousin, who was sitting nearby, on a bench in the dressing area. He had already dressed into his sparring gear back in his bedroom, and he could see that she was wearing her own.

"Lu Ten!" she called out to him with a bright face upon realising he had arrived, "I was wondering if you were gonna be late." she admitted, and he let out a snicker.

"I told you I wouldn't be." he reminded her as he approached, glancing out toward the actual sparring yard, wondering what they might do first, "So, do you want to get right into it?"

"Yes." he nodded eagerly, before almost skipping into the sparring yard, before she turned around to face him, "What's first? A dragon breath?" she asked, and the Prince let out a chuckle.

"I was going to say breathing exercises. It's better to be prepared to practice your bending than just running out without the stamina." he warned her, before gesturing to a small section of the yard where there was trees covering, and a few small cushioned seats for them to rest at, "It won't take long."

"Breathing exercises are always boring." she gave her opinion bluntly, not sounding pleased, though she followed after him as he approached the cushioned seats.

Sitting down, he crossed his legs, and watched as his cousin did the same, sitting down beside him with a slight pout, "For how long?" she simply asked, and he raised a brow.

"How about we do ten long breaths, and then test our bending?" he suggested, and she nodded, before closing her eyes.

He did the same, and took a long, deep breath, before exhaling, his cousin doing the same; he decided he ought to ask her how she was, given that they hadn't spoken since she told him that she wanted to do firebending practice together.

"So, how's your day been, Azula?"

"Fine... I guess." she almost whispered, before taking another deep breath.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "I went to see some of my friends out in the city." he explained what he had been doing before he came back to the palace to fulfil his promise, "They haven't seen me in a few weeks."

"I haven't seen Ty Lee and Mai in a day." she noted, which was a far shorter time than how long he had spent apart from his friends; he was glad that his cousin had her two best friends to rely on, given that she seemed a little awkward at times with others, and it helped her improve her social skills, and gave her some people to have fun with.

"And have you played with your brother?" he asked, the Princess almost scoffing at his words.

"Zuko doesn't want to play. I mean, I asked him about his swords, but he told me he doesn't want to show them." she recalled something she had asked him about earlier.

Lu Ten let out another deep breath, and furrowed a brow, "Maybe you should try and show him something. Make a little exchange."

"Like what? Show him one of my advanced sets, and then next week he flops it in front of Dad?" she asked him, before chuckling, "That'd be pretty funny."

"Well, if you don't show him how to do it correctly, he'd probably make a mistake." he contended, "You shouldn't leave a job-half done." he argued, and the Princess opened her eyes as she turned to face him, letting out a breath.

"How about I just leave him be? That'd be better." she suggested, and the Prince narrowed his eyes, not thinking that was a great idea; he knew that his cousins would be better off getting along, and learning to work with each other- cooperation wasn't the strong suit of his father and uncle's relationship.

"You two are brother and sister. If I had a sister or brother, I wouldn't want to just ignore them." he contended, "I don't ignore you and Zuko."

"Well, you're away most the time." she mumbled, "It's easy to forget." she added, and he cringed, realising that without him around all the time, as it had been before he joined the academy, his cousins weren't able to spend time with him, either alone or all together.

"Maybe we all should go out and do something together." he suggested, before taking in a deep breath, giving her the opportunity to respond.

"Uh..." she mumbled, "I don't know what we could do." she conceded, and Lu Ten smiled at her, knowing that there were many things they could do; she just wasn't that well-versed in fun activities that weren't sparring, firebending katas and Pai Sho.

"Maybe we could go on a walk." he suggested, "There's a lot of interesting places around the caldera that people usually don't visit."

"But we'll have Imperial Firebenders watching our every step. That'd just be as bad as going on a school trip. You know they follow me everywhere, even when it's really not dangerous at all?" she asked, and the Prince cringed.

"Yeah, it was like that for me too." he conceded, remembering the awkward times when he had gone on school trips, hoping to have fun with his friends, only to have Imperial Firebenders looming over his shoulder, watching his every move, "Well, there's a way to avoid that." he conceded, and she blinked a few times.

"Wait, you want to sneak out?" she asked, sounding interested in the idea; he nodded, as that was exactly what he was proposing.

It was against protocol, and if his uncle or grandfather found out about it, they'd be very annoyed; he knew that it would be very fun to spend some time by themselves, and he knew that his father would trust him to take care of his younger cousins.

"Dad lets me do things like that. He won't tell anyone, and he can show you where to go." he explained, before furrowing a brow, "He told me he snuck out a lot when he was young, before he joined the army."

"I don't believe you." she crossed her arms, "Uncle's silly, but he wouldn't do something like that." she argued, and he chuckled.

"Well, Dad's a smart guy. He knows when to break the rules." he contended, before letting out his final deep breath, rising up to his feet, "Come on, let's do some actual bending."

"Finally." Azula mumbled with a grin, before she threw her right leg up, shooting a fire stream out of the sole of her foot, which soared across the entire sparring yard, making Lu Ten nod, impressed by her bending once again; she was surprisingly powerful for her age, though he doubted she could stand up against a well-trained firebender just yet, given her youth.

He spun his own body around, going through one section of the Dancing Dragon which he had learned, finding the set to be one of the best to do when trying to get into sync with his element. He aimed his left hand and right hand out, a narrow fire stream coursing out of his left hand, and Azula looked at him with wide eyes.

"What set is that?" she asked eagerly, "Is that one of the advanced ones I get to learn?" she asked another question, and he raised hands up, not wanting her to get too excited; he had been sworn to secrecy when he learned that form, as well as his meeting with Ran and Shaw, the two great firebending masters.

"A form you can't learn yet." he admitted, before raising a finger up, "But I know you and Zuko will go learn it one day. Uncle will show you how I learnt it." he explained, and the Princess scrunched her lips up.

"Can't you show me just a little?"

"Sorry." he winced, knowing that despite her eagerness, he really ought to keep the Dancing Dragon a secret, given its origin; if he had to explain it, then she would know, or perhaps, just figure out, where he learned it from, "But there are some things I could show you." he suggested, her expression brightening.

"Like what?"

"Like this!" he exclaimed as he spun his hand around, fire coursing up from the ground above them, the Prince moving his body in the same circular motion, creating a circular wall of flames which burst up around them, though he quickly dispersed it, knowing that it would take a lot of energy to go through the full form.

"Okay... that was way cooler, Lu Ten." she conceded, her eyes filled with awe as she watched the flames rise up and dissipate into thin air, "I mean, hotter." she corrected herself with slight cringe, and he chuckled.

"That's the one drawback about a form like that. It makes you hot, and exhausts you. Great if you were fighting somebody who isn't a firebender though. They can't handle the heat." he explained the reason he might use the form.

"Okay..." she mumbled, before brightly smiling at him, "I really want to learn that."

"It took a lot of practice to master." he explained, a warning to his young cousin on trying to figure out a form like that in a single session of training, "But you can be patient, can't you?"

"Yes!" she almost shouted, "How does it work?" she moved into form, "Long breaths... no, it's the spinning, right?"

"Uh... it's complicated." he conceded the fact of the matter, "But the most vital thing... is flow." he warned her, "This isn't as simple as throwing some flames at something, or a normal wall of flames." he explained, before showing her the palm of his hand, creating a small flame which he began to spin around by curling his fingers, causing the flame to flow around his hand, moving as if it were being pushed in an orbit.

"Huh, that's like a wheel." she observed, "There's a form like that; the wheel of fire." she recalled a form that he had learned quite a long time ago.

"But that's just a circle." he explained, "A circle of flames doesn't need to move, but merely be maintained. How do you get rid of another firebender's flames?" he asked her, knowing she had the answer.

"Just by bending it away from you." she explained, before moving into a stance he remembered from his own firebending training; she had her feet apart, facing toward him, and she crossed her arms together before throwing them apart, moving in a circular motion as she did so, "Oh..." she mumbled, realising what he was trying to show her, "So it's like you're bending the fire away from you, in all directions, but not letting it die out."

"Oh, it's even more than that." he smirked, "But yep. That's the basic principle."

"How'd you learn that form?" she asked, and the Prince leaned closer to her, deciding it'd be more dramatic if he whispered.

"I made it up." he revealed, her eyes brightening, clearly even more surprised than she was before.

"Wait, really?" she almost shouted, before forcing her voice lower, "Really?" she whispered, the Prince nodding.

"Yeah." he confirmed, "Dad taught me some things, and I decided to practice my firebending with a more open mind." he explained how he had created his form, "I thought a wall of flames was too rigid. An earthbender can just shoot through it, or go around. So, I improvised something smarter."

"You sure are smart." she acknowledged his skill, and he placed his hand on her scalp, ruffling her hair.

"Thanks, little cousin." he smiled at her, his cousin both frustrated by him pulling her hair out of place and by referring to her as little.

"I'm not little!" she retorted, "And don't touch my hair!" she demanded, her anger played up, as she tried to make herself out as being tougher than she really was; she was a great firebender, but she was still a little kid, and he thought she ought to embrace that while she still could.

"If you're not so little, then you should show me how tough you are." he suggested, knowing she'd like to show off her own firebending; she cracked her knuckles, before pacing off into the middle of the sparring yard, clearly intent on showing off her skills.

"You're gonna get it, Lu Ten."

Mai didn't have the fondest memories of working on a cargo ship, so she was relieved to hear that Piandao would cover the cost of them taking a ferry to their destination: Ma'inka Island. She knew that simply sitting around wouldn't keep the Fire Lord safe, or Azula, for that matter, so she was glad to accept Zuko's proposal to go to the nearby island and make clear the treachery of an officer who, given his location between where Iroh was likely to be sailing from, and the Fire Nation Capital, was a clear candidate to attack and potentially kill the Fire Lord and his entourage.

Zuko was not going to refuse the opportunity, and neither would she; she wanted to return home soon, so going somewhere they could reveal Ozai's conspiracy and potentially gain access to some navy ships, would be a great help in getting back to the capital and taking the country from his father's grasp. Mai didn't want to hide any longer, to be a fugitive and legally dead; it didn't sit well with her to have her life taken away from her without any reason other than her mere association with a sixteen year old Prince who was innocent himself, at least of the treachery she guessed his father had labelled upon him.

They hadn't spoken to any of the traitors properly, and she was sure that some of them did hold views on Zuko's actions, if they had any knowledge of it. The most disturbing idea was that nobody knew anything, and the Prince's own father had just sent a bunch of men to kill him. Mai was not one to reveal her anger or feelings on anything with ease, but she seethed at the idea of a father killing his own son; as much as she was frustrated by her parent's own treatment of her, or rather, their ignorance, she could at least claim that they loved her, and wanted what was best for her. She could not say the same for the man who thought himself the rightful leader of their nation.

It was still early in the evening, but the sea breeze in front of her was cool, washing over her face and hair, flicking her bangs into her eyes, which was more than a little frustrating; she turned her gaze away from the water that she had been looking out to, eyeing Zuko, who was standing with his arms crossed, leaning up by the wall, eyeing the doorway just to check if anyone was watching them. There was a chance they were being tracked at that very moment, though the fact that they had remained undisturbed at Piandao's estate assured her that it was quite unlikely. He wasn't going to take any chances however.

The Prince's eyes turned to meet her own as he realised she had been looking at him, and his otherwise stoic expression faltered, "Is something up?" he asked her, "Did you see something?"

"No." she assured him, "The wind's just annoying."

"I prefer that we're somewhere we can actually speak without having some passengers eavesdrop." he admitted, before scrunching his lips up, as he pulled himself away from the wall, "Are you worried?"

"About what?" she asked him, knowing there were many things that could worry them both, "Azula? This trip? Whether we can even catch Commander Zhong?" she asked him about the possibilities, "If Ozai's men will be waiting for us when we get off this boat?"

"They probably won't be." he argued, "They'll probably think we're still in Shu Jing, if they know we're there at all." he said what she was already thinking, and Mai turned her eyes away, wondering if their agreement was a good thing or not; if neither of them thought it was likely, then they might led their guard down.

"I think so too." she admitted bluntly, not trying to sound hopeful or pleased in her tone; she wasn't happy about it- relieved, and maybe a little more-self assured, but not happy, "We can't squander this, Zuko." she warned him, stepping away from the railing and toward him, "If we don't find Zhong, then I don't think we'll have long until somebody on your father's paycheck comes to finish the job."

"They'll come for us, but they can't do much if we take one of Zhong's ships." he argued, before narrowing his eyes, "If the sailors are willing to follow us."

"Willing to serve their Fire Lord." she corrected him, the Prince tapping his fingers on the wall behind him as he thought about their circumstances.

"We're just his messengers. I don't think anybody would know anything about either of us other than from the story of that shipwreck... and that's a good thing. It makes it harder for the wrong people to recognise us."

"And what if they don't believe you?" she suggested, knowing that it was a possibility.

She doubted anyone actually knew what Zuko looked like, and he wasn't the most remarkable member of the royal family, at least in terms of public perception; she knew him because he was her friend, but she knew for a fact that there was a wider public perception of Azula, given her hunt for the Avatar, and previous forays into war council meetings as well as public appearances with her father.

"I..." he mumbled, obviously a little unnerved by the suggestion, "Then we'll fight."

"You don't know how many guards this Commander Zhong will have, do you?" she asked, unsure herself about what kind of manpower a commander might have behind him; obviously, he'd be commanding a few ships, but that didn't mean that he would have an entourage of guards that compared to what important figures like the Fire Lord and his family had.

"I don't know." he admitted, "At least five of them. I don't imagine he's going to be running into many assassins, let alone opposition at sea." he admitted his thoughts, "The Navy is unopposed, really. Other than some..." he trailed off, glancing her way with a confused expression, "What, Water Tribe corsairs?"

"Well, you're the 'master strategist' here, not me." she deflected his question, genuinely not having a clue about the current affairs of the navy.

"Uh... sorry." he mumbled, before he stepped past her, leaning out over the railing to look out at the water, "I just don't think a guy like Zhong will expect this."

"Did you expect assassins to come after us?"

"I'm a Prince." he argued, "People try and kill people like me more often than not." he admitted, before grimacing, "Usually, it isn't members of their own family behind it... and usually the Imperial Firebenders kill the assassins."

"Oh, and you only had me." she mused, before smirking, "Ended up well for you, given the odds."

"Thanks, Mai." he smiled at her, both a little amused and appreciative of her assistance; she didn't need to hear his thanks for the hundredth time- she just wanted to make sure he didn't do anything stupid again, for both their sakes, "I should have seen that coming... and I mean, I thought something was going to happen... just not that."

"What, did you expect Ozai to publicly arrest you?" she asked him, skeptical of such an idea given her understanding of his father's character, "That doesn't sound like the secretive and jealous Prince who was plotting to kill his own brother instead of actually fighting him?"

"Uh..." he mumbled, scrunching up his lips before turning his eyes away, "You're a lot more observant than I am."

"We have the benefit of hindsight now. It doesn't count." she warned him, before shaking her head, "Don't get so stuck up about it. It's not like that will change what happened."

"You're right." he nodded, "There's really nothing, other than what we're doing now, that we can do." he acknowledged their present circumstances, "Try and stop anybody we can, and make sure my uncle can actually... be the Fire Lord." he explained, whispering the last bit, as he obviously didn't want to catch anybody else's attention by mentioning that title.

"And we need to find something to do other than stand here broodingly. I'm bored." she gave her opinions of their present inactivity, and he tilted his head away from the railing, eyeing down the side of the deck, toward the front of the ship.

"Maybe we ought to go and see if they have some... I don't know, food? Music?" he guessed, crossing his arms, "I don't know what's meant to be on a ferry. It's not like the ships I've been on with my family... where we have servants ready to just do anything we need."

"I haven't been on a ship like this either." she conceded her own inexperience, before shrugging her shoulders, "I hate this stupid wind." she added another thought, before striding toward the nearest door, "Let's find somewhere warm to sit."

"I can just firebend, you know?" he reminded her, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"But sitting in a heated room requires no effort, Zuko." she retorted, before pushing the door open, "Stop stalling. I know you're bored."

"Y-yeah." he nodded, sounding a little embarrassed for having just stood there and passively accepted her complaints, "Let's go." he agreed to her proposition.

She stepped through the doorway, glancing into the expansive seating area of the ferry, where she could see dozens of passengers, sitting around and mostly either talking amongst themselves or eating food; it wasn't late enough for people to consider sleeping yet, though the ferry didn't actually have any rooms for the passengers. It wasn't the most expensive trip, so they were only afforded a small area down in the hull where it was heated and with enough free space for people to sleep lying down, though she assumed most people would just sleep in their assigned seats. She didn't really want to go down there anytime soon, given it would be rather crowded, and if her assumptions were right, odorous in the worst way possible.

She could hear some louder noises by the staircase in the middle of the room, and she and Zuko made their way over toward it. Mai glanced down and she could see a few people standing up chatting amongst themselves, and further afield, she could hear what had to be the sound of shouts and chatter. Pacing down the stairs, she noticed that the room was full of tables and chairs, where the passengers were sitting around, either eating or playing games amonsgt themselves, whether it be Pai Sho or other board games, or some dice or card games.

There was a wide variety of them, though Mai personally didn't know many, given that nobles like herself would usually only learn Pai Sho, and that was about it. That game was one of strategy and wit, rather than chance and luck, like many other games the commoners enjoyed. She didn't disdain them, but merely had little interest in them; she knew from her experiences walking around the streets of the capital that such games more often than not ended up turning into fights over the bets that the players placed. Even when she and Zuko snuck out together, they avoided involving themselves with such things.

"We're not playing board games." the Prince mumbled under his breath, just loudly enough for her to hear.

"Not Pai Sho?" she asked him, and Zuko furrowed a brow.

"I'd rather not." he admitted, "Every game I've played of that was against either Lu Ten or my uncle, and I never won."

"They had experience. I think we'd have a more even match." she suggested, but the Prince didn't seem moved, and gestured down toward a door.

"Let's just find some place quieter." he suggested, and she followed after him as he stepped around the numerous tables that covered the room, making his way over to the door.

He pushed it open, leading them out onto the deck of the ship, and she noted that there was only a few people sitting out, a few men and women standing by the railing in the distance, but other than that, clear of any people. That felt private enough to her, and she indicated toward an exhaust pipe that gave off steam from the engine below.

"There's something that'll be warm." she suggested, and moved to sit herself down beside it; he did the same, and raised his hand up to touch the steam, which condensed onto his hand.

"That steam feels nice." he admitted, before sighing, "Urgh... we just need to get to this island."

"We won't be there until tomorrow morning, Zuko." she warned him, before running her hand through her hair, which had become damp from the condensing steam, "Maybe we should sit a little further away."

"Yeah." he nodded, scooching himself over to sit by the exterior wall of ship's main structure, a large, multi-storey passenger area, underneath which was the cargo hold; she sat down beside him, leaning up against the wall, and she glanced up the clouds above them, which glinted orange and pink because of the setting sun.

"What's the plan of attack?" she decided to ask him, knowing that Zuko must have had a more complicated plan than to simply reveal Commander Zhong as a traitor and declare Ozai's treachery.

"We need to find a way into the navy base on the island." he explained, "The defences might be tough, but there's probably sewers or other passages that we could take to get inside."

"We're not going in the sewers, Zuko." she retorted, "There's got to be an easier way in."

"Disguises?" he guessed, knowing that they already were used to using those to disguise their identities, "I don't know if we can imitate soldiers that well."

"The Home Guard has women in their ranks, and if we act like we're in a hurry, maybe... that'll fool them into letting us in."

"Or just acting serious and professional." he argued, before chuckling, "You do serious good."

"I do." she agreed with him, before narrowing her eyes, "But we need the disguises."

"A barracks would be easier to break in. The Home Guard has those in every major town." he argued, "If we can find that, we can find outfits, and maybe even some identity papers. That'd get us straight in."

"Maybe." she mumbled, unsure if they'd be lucky enough to avoid getting caught; in her eyes, sneaking in straight away without disguises just had less risks to it, even if they had the extra safety by disguising themselves, "I think the intimidation game will play better. We can fight, Zuko."

"I know you're good at intimidating people, Mai." he conceded, before chuckling, "If we're lucky, Zhong will get scared enough of us to reveal his plans without us even having to pull the 'Prince card'."

"Revealing ourselves will be dangerous." she conceded, "You have no idea how many people could be out there looking for us. All the wrong kinds of people... seeing that everyone must believe we're dead."

"We don't have much of a choice." he argued, sounding rather sure of himself.

"Yes, we do, Zuko." she narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that he was being stubborn, even if it was for the right reasons, "No matter how much you want to help your uncle, it's our choice to go off and do this. We don't need to put ourselves in danger. We could have waited in Shu Jing for news from the Fire Lord."

"That would take too long." he argued, "We had to leave."

"And I agreed with you." she told him, knowing it to be a matter of fact; they both understood they needed to do something, so they could keep Iroh safe, and hopefully, allow for his safe return to the capital, where he could finally deal with Ozai and his conspiracy, "But if we reveal ourselves, and things go the wrong way... we have no idea what your father's agents will do to us." she warned him, "They tried to kill us in the capital and cover it up. If we end up their captives, they might use us against your uncle."

His eyes widened, obviously not considering that possibility before their present conversation, "I- no." he turned his gaze away from her own steely glare.

She wasn't going to try and beg and plead; she was just telling Zuko the facts he needed to hear, and hopefully, she could persuade him against acting too brashly; as long as they could evade capture, they would be safe, and that was the gist of it. They needed to remain out of Ozai's hands, so that they could help Iroh, not be a liability.

Ultimately, Zuko was no soldier, or general; he was just a teenage boy, but he was a teenage boy with the skillset and rank that gave him the opportunity to act against the conspiracy like nobody else could, barring his own sister, who was off in the Earth Kingdom, presumably trying to either capture the Avatar, or simply keep him from causing chaos. She couldn't help them at the moment, given the circumstances, and neither could Iroh, who probably hadn't even left the Earth Kingdom yet.

"We can't get captured." he declared, sounding confident that it would not, or maybe, could not happen; he was not willing to let it occur, in any case, "I won't let them get away with this."

"Then we have to be cautious." she suggested, before she leaned her head back, "Are we sleeping on the chairs, or in the hull?" she asked, uncaring as to which option was taken; all she wanted to do was get a decent amount of sleep, as she wanted to consider their next moves without being sleep-deprived.

"Somewhere where there's a fresh breeze." he suggested, before chuckling, "We could just sleep here, under the stars." he gave another option.

"Under the steam-outlet?" she tilted her head toward what she referred to in jest, though she kept a straight face, as always; he snickered at her comment before he pulled the straw hat he had on over his face, covering his eyes.

"Well, I don't really care." he mumbled, and she shrugged her shoulders, unsure if it was a smart idea to sleep out away from everyone else; getting robbed seemed all the more likely, and though she hadn't seen anyone that seemed too unsavoury of the ship, that said nothing of the integrity of the crew- for all she knew, they could be snatching passenger's belongings to make a few extra ban on each trip.

Instead of just remaining upright, Mai allowed herself to slump over and lean onto Zuko's shoulder, not really caring to do anything other than sit there; they didn't need to talk, anyway. All she needed was for them to be safe, and then, maybe, when everything was finally over, they could actually enjoy their lives without fear of being attacked for simply doing their duties as Fire Nation citizens. Zuko let out a deep breath and he pulled the straw hat up a little, his eyes meeting her own for a moment; she grabbed the hat, and pulled it back down over his eyes.

"Stop staring at me." she demanded, not in anger, but more out of embarrassment; if he kept staring at her, she might get unhelpful thoughts in her head, and that wouldn't help her get the rest she knew they needed.

"I wasn't." he almost whispered, before turning his head slightly allowing her to lay her arm on his shoulder, her hand reaching down to grasp his wrist; their hands interlocked, and she closed her eyes, just hoping that things could somehow turn out better than she imagined they might.

Usually, her pessimism was only a matter of interpretation, but for once, she felt as if her fears were all being confirmed, for the horrible situation they'd found themselves in, forced to hide their own identities to keep themselves safe from Zuko's own father.

Once, he might have looked up to Ozai, but now, she knew he only held disgust towards the man who had made a poor attempt at raising him. Mai had never really liked her parents that much, but she didn't spite them, at least understanding why they acted the way they did; Prince Ozai was so ruthless, it was beyond justification.

The only one she could muster was that he somehow thought he was better than everyone else, and the most suited to lead their nation. His ego made the sometimes arrogant, always awkward Prince Zuko seem far less of a cocky individual; the young Prince could at least acknowledge his faults and mistakes, and try to improve upon himself, and the relationships he held. That ego Ozai held only made her realise how relatively well-tempered his two children were, and made her all the more thankful for the guidance and wisdom of the now Fire Lord, their uncle; without him, she wouldn't have those two friends she could actually rely on.

Ozai might have shaped them into great firebenders and focused and determined individuals, but only Iroh had shown them how to care for the world and each other; then there was Prince Lu Ten, their cousin, who Mai had only met twice. He seemed like a kind-hearted individual, and Zuko only spoke of him in grief, or in praise. He wanted to be like his cousin more than anything, and Mai could only hope that he didn't send himself to the same fate, no matter how good a person he may have been. Zuko didn't deserve to suffer any more than he already had, no matter any comments one could make about the Prince's arrogance and foolhardy nature.

He was not perfect, and she didn't want all that pain and anger to consume him; she had become apathetic and stoic to simply tolerate the frustrations of her life, and he had the chance to be better than his father, but he could be worse, all the same. Mai did not expect the world of him, and never had; just to be better than the man they both knew had to be stopped, that was good enough.

"Don't be angry." she warned him, "I know firebenders derive their power from their emotions... but you can't just let out your anger on these people. We can only beat them by being smarter than them."

The Prince let out a sigh, and his eyes turned down to meet her own, "I don't know if I can hold myself back... when it comes to it."

"Try." she simply told him, not pleading, but straight-lipped and calmly, "If you don't try, then there's no victory. No normal. Just more pain."

He blinked a few times, and turned his eyes up toward the stars above them, "I wish Uncle could tell me what to do."

"He can't make every decision for you, Zuko." she warned him, "You're your own person. I don't just take my parents' every whim, and neither do you."

"I was never ready for this." he admitted, before letting out a sigh, "Maybe Azula wasn't either."

Princess Azula didn't expect to be riding through the woods at dawn, but neither did she expect an urgent letter from Commander Zhao concerning some rogue spirit that had been terrorising the village she was heading towards. She doubted the Commander actually gave any care about the fate of the villagers, but he certainly was worried about his men, and the second letter she received, earlier that evening from one of Zhao's lieutenants, gave her more detail to the situation they were facing.

The rogue spirit was called the Hei Bai, and it had been taking villagers captive from the small Earth Kingdom village of Senlin, which was located not too far from a Fire Nation port, where the Commander had learned of the Avatar's presence nearby, and unexpectedly, he went to investigate, presumably believing that the Avatar might try and rouse up support against the Fire Nation like he had with his friends on the prison rig. She hadn't received any more news about those earthbenders who had broken out, but she assumed that one of the nearby commanders would have to go to Tetsuwan and reoccupy the port, though whether they would be successful was unknown to her.

She had learned from Zhao that the spirit only took people at night, so that was why she waited till dawn to ride east into the woods between the port and Senlin village; the sun was yet to rise above the horizon, but she was sure that the spirit would leave them be, as she hadn't seen anything weird so far. She didn't know what the spirit was doing with the people it took, but she knew that she had to stop it, as making sure Aang and his friends were safe was part of what her uncle requested of her. Supposedly there had been a fight between them and Zhao, but the Commander didn't give much detail in the letter, so she just hoped to get a more solid explanation when she arrived.

She wasn't going to fail on her promise now, even if she wasn't prepared in the slightest to deal with spirits. That was what people expected sages or the Avatar to do, given their spiritual knowledge, or in the case of the latter, unusual propensity for communication with spirits. She did not know why that was the case, and none of her grandfather's notes about the Avatar explained it, simply saying that it was a known fact.

After reading Zhao's letter Ty Lee wasn't as eager as she had been to go off on their little trip into the woods, and the nervous glances she shot around as they rode toward the village were understandable, and if it weren't for the real danger they faced, she might have found it amusing. Her paranoia was, after all, justified, and she was equally concerned about the spirit that was supposedly haunting the woods they were riding through. She could see the light from the village they were approaching, and knew that soon enough, they'd find Zhao, and hopefully she'd be able to ascertain the situation, and if necessary, locate Aang and his friends.

As they were riding through the woods, a fluttering sound caught her attention, her eyes flicking up to spot a flock of birds which flew away from them; she had thought for a moment that it could have been the spirit, but that was just her being paranoid. Azula internally chided herself, before turning her eyes over to Ty Lee, who was looking up at the birds with a relieved look on her face.

"Oh, it was just birds." she mumbled, before her eyes moved back down to the road, "We have to be close, right?"

"We are." she assured her friend, before she prodded her steed to move a little faster; they needed to get to the village soon, so they could investigate what was going on.

As they rode down the path, she eyed the trees, wondering if the spirit was watching them; being as unusual as they were, she imagined it didn't think like a human. Perhaps it had thought the soldiers it had caught to be prey, as if it were a predator, like a giant saber-toothed moose lion, which would attack any animals, or people, for that matter, which came around its territory.

"Wait, is that Momo?" Ty Lee spoke up, the Princess's eyes darting around to notice that there was a rodent-like creature sitting on the road.

"Momo?" she narrowed her eyes, "What's a Momo?" she asked her friend, confused by what she was referring to.

"That's Aang's flying lemur!" she pointed to it, "Hi, little-guy!" she waved to him cheerily, and it chittered, before flying away from them, in the direction of the village.

She blinked for a few moments, before she recalled Aang mentioning a Momo when he was first captured by her, though she didn't know who or what he was referring to at the time.

"Well, that explains that." she mumbled under her breath, "The Avatar and his friends must be here." she deduced, having already guessed they were nearby if Zhao had been tracking them to the village.

As they continued to ride closer to the village, Azula made out the sound of chatter and shouting, and soon enough, she made sight of a few Fire Nation soldiers, all of them seeming rather concerned as they talked amongst themselves, standing in front of a small, walled village, which she assumed to be Senlin. In the centre of the group was Commander Zhao, who upon realising that she was arriving, pushed his men out of the way, raising a hand to greet her.

"Princess Azula." he acknowledged her presence, "It is good to see you arrived so quickly." he admitted, before glancing around at the damaged walls behind him, "We can't beat that damned spirit alone."

"It did that?" she gestured towards the walls, the Commander nodding.

"It did. We weren't able to fight it- I can't explain it." he admitted, "It was the most unusual thing."

"I can imagine." she conceded, before she eyed around, not seeing the Avatar's sky-bison anywhere nearby, "Where's the Avatar? He's the reason you're here, after all."

"When we came back to look for him last night, we found him here at the village. Before we could try and apprehend him, night fell and the spirit came here." he explained, before glancing around, "One of the Avatar's friends was taken by the spirit, and the Avatar flew off after them."

"What about the sky-bison?" she asked, the Commander gesturing up.

"The last one took it and flew off. I would have gone off to find her, but I couldn't risk any more of my men getting caught by the spirit."

"Well, that's just great." she sarcastically commented, not happy in the slightest that the Avatar and his friends had all gone off.

By deduction, she guessed the one caught was Sokka, and Katara had flown off on Appa to find Aang, but that didn't explain why the flying-lemur was just sitting around by the village; she assumed it was looking for food, though, not being a flying-lemur herself, she was in no place to comment on its intentions.

"We could try and find Katara." Ty Lee suggested, the Princess shaking her head.

"Given she was avoiding fireballs, I say she's hiding on purpose." she argued, before turning her eyes to the Commander, "Which way did the Avatar fly?"

"That way." he gestured toward another path that went off away from the village, back out into the woods.

She eyed behind Zhao, noting there were a number of locals looking her way with interest, and she decided that she ought to at least ask them what exactly was going on. Azula whipped the reins of her komodo rhino, prodding it to move closer to the village walls, past the Commander and his men.

"You there." she addressed the villagers, "Do any of you know why this is happening? Why is a spirit taking people?"

"W-we don't." an older man, presumably the village headman, given his attire, "The Avatar tried to come and reason with the Hei Bai, but it didn't listen. It's taken a dozen people already- we don't know how much longer we can live here for." he explained his fears, the Princess furrowing a brow; she still didn't know when or why the spirit had come to attack passersby.

"When did this start?"

"Three days ago." he explained, "Every night it comes to our village. We've had to lock everything up and hide in the hall every night to keep ourselves safe."

"So, something must have angered it." she guessed, "Is there a ritual associated with this spirit?"

"N-no... there's some stories about it, but we have never had to give it offerings before. Is that what it wants?"

"I don't know." she bluntly admitted, "And I doubt that the Avatar does either... as he doesn't seem to have solved the problem yet." she added, before turning her gaze back toward Zhao and his men, "We're going to go find the Avatar, and see if he can commune with this spirit so we can solve this problem... get your men back."

Zhao grimaced for a moment, obviously not liking the idea of cooperating with the Avatar, though he clearly understood why it had to be done.

"Y-yes, your highness." he bowed toward her, "I can't have this stain on my record."

"It won't, if we can find him and get him to cooperate." she assured him, before turning her eyes to Ty Lee and her guards, "Let's go. The Avatar can't be that far away, if this spirit lives in the woods."

She whipped the reins of her komodo rhino, prodding it into heading down toward the track Zhao had gestured to; she was quickly flanked by her guards and Ty Lee, and after them, the Commander and his men. Making her way down the track, she noted that there was very little evidence of the spirit coming through, which suggested that it didn't tend to leave physical marks unless it wanted to. With no tracks, she knew it would be hard to figure out where the spirit had gone, but she decided that if she followed the tracks, it might at least lead her to Aang.

She was not happy that the Avatar had got himself caught up with some rogue spirit, knowing that he and his friends ought to keep flying north. That was the only way they'd stay out of trouble, and ensure she could fulfil her promise to her uncle. She knew that making sure the Avatar learned the elements as fast as possible would ensure that whatever threat her father posed could be dealt with by force, if need be. If anybody could defeat him, it would be an Avatar who had mastered all four elements, even if he was just a child; more so, she understood that Sozin's Comet would only complicate things further.

The destruction it brought to the Air Nomads was something she'd only got a glimpse at, but what her grandfather's notes said gave a raw truth to it; they were destroyed because the Fire Nation could do it, so if her father could beat all opposition with control over sections of the navy and army, with that and the comet, she could only feel afraid. Not of him, but what he would do, and how that would only condemn their world to more years of war and suffering. More people would face the fate of her cousin, and she didn't think that after what her father might do that anyone would trust her nation. They would destroy each other, and perhaps, chaos and terror would reign supreme for decades to come.

"Commander Zhao." she addressed the man she had come to assist, not bothering to turn around, as she kept her hands on the reins, pulling them around to make sure she didn't run into any trees or bushes as they made their way down the narrow path into the woods, "I'd like to ask you a question."

She had decided that even if she didn't trust him, finding his opinion might help her understand him a little better; the Commander prodded his komodo rhino a little harder so he could catch up, pushing past her Imperial Firebenders and Ty Lee to ride behind her.

"Yes, your highness?" he asked, his voice back to its usually serious, if not suave tone; she didn't consider any flattery or words of deference that came out of his mouth, but only the ones that actually held any substance.

"What do you think will happen now?" she asked, the Commander clearing his throat, sounding a little unsure of himself.

"Now?" he asked, "You mean, do you think we'll find the Avatar?"

"No, not that." she retorted, "I speak of grander things, Commander."

"The war." he realised, before remaining silent for a moment; the fact he had to think about it was actually quite a good sign.

Most would just tout the usual nationalistic line about spreading greatness and prosperity, and even though she took Zhao as the type to actually swallow those lies without question, he did seem to be reasonably intelligent. Perhaps, he could form his own judgement on the future of their nation, independent of any desires he had to gain greater rank or receive his place in history.

"I want it to end, your highness." he told her something that didn't surprise her, "We have fought for a hundred years, and now, with Ba Sing Se under our control, there is little left to do. The Fire Nation... has made peace, for the first time in a century."

"And what ought to be done with that peace?"

"The Fire Nation should be made greater... richer, wiser, and fairer. There is still much that can be done. This is not the end of our nation's story."

"No, it is not." she agreed with him, actually finding that to align with her own opinion.

"And what do you think, your highness? What comes next?" he decided to ask her, obviously taking the opportunity to try and speak with her.

If he wanted rapport, he'd need to prove his use to her, and his ability to actually solve problems rather than create them would be key; letting his own men get captured by a rogue spirit did not shout strategic mastermind to her.

"Consensus." she admitted the honest truth, "Without all eyes turning to face the same goal, we will conflict amongst ourselves. The Fire Nation might be loyal to their Fire Lord, but power does not solely rely on his will; there are great generals, admirals, industrialists, thinkers and administrators who play a role in our nation's functioning. If they cannot agree on the future path, at least not with some vague aim, then we cannot prosper."

"That is a wise judgement, Princess Azula." he conceded, sounding to be genuinely impressed by her words, "So... do you think we should let new people take charge if those who cling to it do not see eye to eye with the Fire Lord's vision?"

"Do you know what my uncle wants, Commander?" she asked him, her tone warning him about the line he might cross with what he was saying; of course, none of it suggested loyalty to Ozai or his cause, but merely the idea that some kind of purge was inevitable, even with her uncle on the helm.

"I have not had the pleasure of sitting down with his majesty to discuss anything... given my rank and youth." he admitted, before his tone became more confident, "But I would like to speak with him, and learn the wisdom of the greatest leader our nation has ever seen."

"When everyone chants the same thing, it becomes a whole lot less flattering." she offered him a suggestion, knowing that her uncle would probably prefer if people would kiss his boots less and more so they could actually offer criticism and provide him with new insights.

"The Fire Lord is the man we believe in." he admitted, "More than ever. The Dragon of the West is a title no Fire Nation citizen would dare forget... even before he attained his greatest victory."

"That's what I just said." she retorted, "Belief in a man does not make him infallible, as much as some might like to argue. I know that he can guide and lead our nation, but he cannot do it alone." she explained her thoughts, knowing that even if she wouldn't defy her uncle in such a flagrant manner like her father had, she would certainly provide him with criticism, even furiously, if she thought he was taking the wrong path.

"And do you think you might be able to advise him?"

"In future, I hope I am knowledgeable and wise enough to have that honour." she stressed, finding herself comfortable to say that; even if she left out the bit about becoming her uncle's heir and bringing glory to her name by making their nation stronger than it had ever been before, she wouldn't say that, as that would force her to explain her actual thoughts on what ending the war would involve.

"Worth is something we should all strive for." the Commander admitted, sounding to be expressing his actual thoughts, and not just some pittance he afforded to try and sure up his image, "I will make sure that the Fire Lord knows I am worthy of the task afforded to me."

"He wasn't the one who appointed you." she reminded him, before turning her gaze ahead, noting that they were approaching a clearing, which was good news, given that they might be getting close to wherever the spirit had scurried off to.

It took her a few moments to realise that it wasn't any ordinary clearing, as the ground was ash black and there was not a plant in sight, "What..." she mumbled, before shaking her head, "This clearing is fresh." she observed, the Commander making a positive hum.

"Some Earth Kingdom rebels were trying to ambush some of our troops... supposedly things escalated." he explained what he knew, before he glanced around, eyeing the breadth of the clearing, "It is a lot larger than I thought it would be."

"Forest fires run wild... untamed, unlike our bending." she restated a proverb she had learned from her former tutors, Lo and Li, though a little paraphrased, given that neither of those old women were firebenders.

"Oh... this can't be good." Ty Lee spoke her mind, and Azula turned her gaze ahead, noting that there was something that looked like a large boulder in the distance, though upon closer examination, she realised it was actually some kind of sculpture, and on top of it a figure was sitting.

"What..." the Princess mumbled, before she realised that the figure was exactly who she was looking for; it was hard to mistake the Avatar's orange and yellow robes with the blue tattoos that lined his body, "He's meditating." she observed what she could see, and whipped the reins of the komodo rhino to prod it into moving closer.

"Your highness... is it wise to get closer to him? He might be convening with that spirit right now." the Commander warned her, "That might make it appear again."

"You told me yourself. The Hei Bei spirit only appears at night." she reminded him, "The only harm we can give now is to give him a fright." she argued, not concerned in the slightest about scaring Aang; she wanted to make sure he and his friends left the area together and without having created any more problems than already existed when they arrived.

Sokka being taken captive by a spirit, which seemed to have been the result of their foray into Senlin village, certainly was a problem. She might have felt a tinge of unease for his fate, unsure exactly what the spirit was doing with the captives the headman and Zhao spoke of. As the group approached Aang, she only hoped that she could get some information out of him that might actually help solve the problem, and not just further frustrate them.

She made a whistle, hoping that that would snap him out of his meditation, but Aang didn't budge at the sound; it was as if he were deaf, or very entranced in his meditation. Riding closer, she turned her gaze back to her friend, who seemed equally confused by the Avatar's unresponsiveness.

"Aang!" Ty Lee called out to him, "Are you asleep?!" she asked, though Azula was sure by then that he wouldn't respond; he might have actually been asleep, but as he was sitting in a meditative position on what she could only describe as a kind of spiritual site, she had a feeling it was more complicated than that.

The thing he was sitting on was not a boulder, but a stone sculpture that resembled a kind of bear, though she was unsure exactly what it depicted. She had a hunch that it had to do with the Hei Bei, given that he was sitting on it after having chased said spirit away from Senlin.

"Is he... hibernating or something?" her friend asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes.

"I hope not. He should have learned after a hundred years in an iceberg not to waste people's time." she argued, making the acrobat snicker; Azula was not proud of her joke, given it was less of a joke and more so an expression of how she thought the Avatar actually ought to think.

If he had any choice over sitting on that sculpture, unresponsive and practically useless to them, then it was a poor one. When they got close enough to the sculpture, she noted that his glider was lying strewn on the ground, suggesting that he had purposefully sat himself up there.

"What is this?" she mumbled to herself, unsure what exactly he was doing, or what significance there was with him sitting on the sculpture.

"This must be the place the spirit connects to our physical world." Zhao spoke up, and Azula raised a brow, realising that he had just spit that claim out without any evidence.

"And how would you know that?"

"Uh..." the Commander mumbled, now seeming a little nervous about her questioning, a stark contrast to their earlier conversation, "I've done some reading."

"About the spirits?" she guessed, and he nodded.

"I have." he confirmed, narrowing his eyes, "Most people don't know about them, mostly because they aren't sages and have no reason to deal with them." he acknowledged, "I'm no sage, obviously." he stressed, perhaps as an afterthought to emphasise his desire to be exactly who he was.

She looked up at the Avatar again, unsure what he was doing still, "So, what do you mean, Commander? It connects with our world?"

"Spirits are in the spirit world... which should be obvious enough by the name, but they are able to cross over into our world. People can do the opposite, though it is far harder to achieve." he explained, "These spirits that do so are usually associated with a specific site, like this. Perhaps the Hei Bei is the spirit of this area, and it protects it... though that does not explain why it attacked the villagers, or my men, and only now."

"If it protects this place... then what do you call those soldiers burning down all this forest?" she asked, the Commander's eyes widening.

"Oh..." he gasped, "Those stupid soldiers." he snarled, knowing who was responsible for their present situation, "One should never spark conflict with spirits without the knowledge needed to defeat them."

"And you have the means, Commander?"

"Of course not. This is some spirit I've never heard of." he shook his head, sounding a little disappointed about the fact; perhaps he could have proved himself with such a deed, "The Avatar is the one who is supposed to be able to communicate with spirits. He's the one who can persuade this spirit to stop its attacks and free its captives."

She narrowed her eyes, knowing that the Commander clearly didn't want to cooperate with the Avatar, yet had proposed just that, "So, you believe it is necessary to work with him?"

"Once he awakens, he can free my men. That is something I find necessary." he explained his rationale, Azula turning her eyes back to his other subordinates, noting that they seemed to approve of the idea; perhaps it was not because he wanted to save them personally, but because he needed to keep the support of his subordinates- they were the ones who could call for his resignation if he let his own men get effectively killed by a spirit, presumably trapped in the spirit world indefinitely.

"Well, we agree, then." she declared, before turning her eyes to face the Avatar, "We have to make sure the Avatar isn't hurt while he is in this state, and await his awakening. If night falls before then, we must just hope that we can force him awake so we might be protected from the spirit."

"Uh... what if we can't?" Ty Lee dared to ask her, obviously not wanting to face such a threat.

"Then we might have to try and speak with it ourselves."

"How can you reason with a spirit?" the Commander asked her, "That's only something he could do."

The Princess narrowed her eyes, remembering who exactly she was; as much as the fact disturbed and disheartened her, Avatar Roku was her ancestor, and he was the reason she had her gifts, in the end. She knew that her blue flames were a reflection of the power of the Avatar, in one way or another, but she had never thought about the other aspects of the Avatar that might affect her. Maybe she had an affinity for the spirits, just as the Avatar would, and she realised now that, for a lack of trying or any good reason to, she had no idea if she could speak with them.

"I am not just a Princess, Commander."

Katara didn't just want to hide in the woods, but the Fire Nation had not given her much of a choice; Aang had disappeared, and hadn't come back near the village, and Sokka was presumably still in the clutches of the spirit. As much as she found her brother annoying at times, she wished that he hadn't tried to fight the spirit; she would have liked his advice on what to do, given he seemed to be the best out of them at making plans.

The Fire Nation soldiers might have been looking for her, so she had to fly out into the woods, hiding out there until dawn. Momo had returned, and jumped on her; that had been one of the scariest awakenings she'd had in a long time, and she almost smacked the lemur for it, though he jumped out of the way before she could do anything. Appa wasn't the best creature at hiding, given his size, but they had found a small clearing in the woods where he could rest and find some grass to eat. He seemed to be alright, which was a relief after he'd had to weave around to avoid the firebender's attacks.

After she woke, she decided that with the sun out, it might be easier to find the others, so she prodded Appa into getting up, and with some patting of his head and assurances about Aang, he groaned and set off into the sky, taking her and Momo along over the woods. They had only been flying for a short while when she flew by the wide clearing that they had run into the day prior, before they went off to Senlin village, and she noted something particularly important, that being a small camp that had been set up around something, and given the soldiers she could see around it, she assumed that it was the same men who they had faced the night prior.

The fact that they were camping out in the middle of the clearing made little sense to her, given that from what she could tell, they had remained in the village after she left. So, despite feeling afraid of what they might do, she decided to fly closer, and she was surprised to see that they didn't attack Appa.

She noted the presence of some distinctively armoured men, and recognised them immediately as the guards that Azula had protecting her, which told her that the Princess was at the camp. She circled around, able to spot out what looked like a statue, though she couldn't see anyone specifically around it. She decided to land down nearby it, and quickly found herself surrounded by a number of guards, as well as the soldiers who had attacked them back at Senlin village.

"Does anyone here know where Aang is?" she asked, the men looking amongst themselves before one of them stepped forward; she recognised him as the leader of the soldiers, with his distinctive sideburns and lack of a helmet making him notable.

"The Princess is trying to wake him." he explained, and Katara narrowed her eyes, confused why Aang would be asleep when it was already light out.

"Wake him?" she asked, the man crossing his arms before he gestured to one of the which had been set up, and she eyed it, realised that they must have been in there.

"Princess!" one of the guards called into the tent, and a few moments later, Azula stepped out, looking rather agitated, though her expression softened slightly as she realised that Katara was right there, on Appa.

"Oh, so you found us." she observed, "Well, I was waiting for you." she conceded, before gesturing into the tent, "Come inside."

"Are you really just going to let the savage take him away?" the man dared to ask the Princess, his tone suggesting he was of some importance, given she couldn't imagine any ordinary soldier speaking to her like that.

"They're not leaving yet... not until they get the other one." she explained, obviously referring to Sokka; she must have deduced what had happened back at the village, presumably from whatever the soldiers told them.

"Y-yeah." she nodded, climbing down from Appa's saddle, "Where's my brother?"

"I assume the spirit took him to the Spirit World, though I'm unsure exactly how that works." the Princess explained her conclusions on that matter, "Aang can't be woken, and I think he's there as well... or at least, not in his body."

"Not-" she mumbled, confused by what she was saying, "So, he's somewhere else... but just his spirit?"

"Precisely." Azula confirmed her thoughts, "Ty Lee." she spoke up, and on cue, she peeked her head out of the tent, her expression immediately brightening upon seeing Katara.

"Katara!" she grinned at her, "It's good to see you again." she acknowledged her with open arms, suggesting she wanted to hug, and she accepted it, before she stepped on into the tent, "But the circumstances could have been better." Ty Lee added with a dour voice, obviously understanding how dire the situation was; the Water Tribe girl's gaze turned to Aang, who was sitting in a meditative position in the tent, with a blank, peaceful expression on his face.

"It's... it's really like he's asleep." she observed, before turning her eyes to Azula, "Have you got any ideas? You're the one who has been learning stuff to try and capture him." she reminded the Princess of her former role, having learned from Aang himself what kinds of things Azula had actually learned in the process of preparing to face him; out of everyone in the tent, she was the one most knowledgeable about the role and powers of the Avatar, Aang included.

"I do have an idea." she conceded, before shaking her head, "But it hasn't worked so far." she conceded, stepping closer to Aang with an uneasy look on her face, "There's something that I need to tell you." she admitted, Katara narrowing her eyes; she wondered if there'd been some more news from her uncle or something of the likes that would change things, but she was completely unaware of what that could be.

"Has something happened?" she asked, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"No. It's what somebody else did." she conceded, before she was interrupted by the same soldier barging into the tent.

"Princess Azula, you have to explain this to me." he demanded, "I know you are a member of the royal family, but that doesn't explain what's going on. The Avatar is the enemy of the Fire Nation... and though I see that we need to cooperate to retrieve my men from that spirit's clutches, I cannot see how helping him benefits the Fire Nation." he argued, clearly speaking his mind; his distaste towards Katara and Aang was obvious, though the Water Tribe girl didn't dare to speak up just yet, knowing that an argument could lead to a fight, something that she didn't want as long as Aang was still in his present state.

"Your Fire Lord commands it of you... and of me." the Princess retorted coldly, "Do not assume you know what is right for our nation. That is for my uncle to decide, and him alone."

"And what does he want done with the Avatar?" he asked, gesturing toward Aang, "To let the little Air Nomad prance around and help the enemies of our nation?"

"There has never been a time in our history where we have been as powerful as we are now, Commander." Azula warned him, "Do you not see that we already rule the world? Any enemies we imagine now from the other nations are mere distractions from the threats that lay within."

The Commander's expression shifted immediately after hearing the last part of her statement, and Katara stepped closer to the Princess, unsure if the man actually knew about what was going on with the conflict between Ozai and Iroh, which she herself only had a vague knowledge of, mostly informed by what Sokka had told her.

"Does he know?" she whispered, the Princess turning her eyes before shaking her head.

"I presume not." she conceded, "If everybody knew, then we wouldn't be in these circumstances." she noted, before turning her eyes to the officer, "Commander Zhao, I assure you that as soon as I find it safe to do so, I will inform you of my true purposes, but I cannot do so while I do not know your own."

"What... what in the spirits are you talking about? Does the Fire Lord want to make a peace treaty or something? Is that it?" he questioned her, the Princess earning confused glances from both Ty Lee and Katara, the latter not sure if that was actually the case; all she knew was that there was a conflict hidden from the eyes of most people in the Fire Nation that threatened to make things a whole lot worse for the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes if the 'bad side' won.

"That is not what concerns me." she retorted, before gesturing down toward Aang, "This child is not our enemy... that is what you seem to not understand." she warned him, before pointing her finger at him, "Leave us." she demanded, "We cannot speak of the real problem until our present dilemma is solved."

He begrudgingly bowed to her, obviously not wanting to take the argument any further, "Yes, your highness." he deferred to her, before stepping out of the tent; Katara was still unsure why Azula hadn't just told him the truth of the matter, though she assumed it had to do with the fact that the conspiracy was hidden from view, and perhaps, ought to be while the Fire Lord was still away from his country, and unable to actually do anything about it.

"Is this about... your dad?" she asked the Princess with a whisper; she narrowed her eyes at her, before nodding, sitting herself down in front of Aang, both Ty Lee and Katara watching from behind.

"Are you going to try again, Zula?" her friend asked her, the Water Tribe girl scrunching her lips up, still unsure what she was trying to do.

"You didn't explain what you were doing." she reminded her, the Princess turning her head slightly so her eyes met Katara's.

"I am trying to meditate so I can try and communicate with him." she explained, making the Water Tribe girl narrow her eyes.

"Why would that work?" she asked, the Princess raising a finger.

"He's likely in the Spirit World." she explained, before she turned her eyes back towards Aang, "If I meditate, I might be able to cross over and communicate with him to get him to come back." she gave her plan out in plain words, the Water Tribe girl scrunching her lips up.

"But why can you do that? I thought the Avatar was the bridge between worlds." she reminded her of a saying she heard the village headman utter when referring to Aang's ability to solve the problem with the Hei Bei.

"Because I am a descendant of Avatar Roku." she bluntly told her, the Water Tribe girl's eyes widening with surprise, not expecting to hear that of all things; how a Princess of the Fire Nation was descended from the last Avatar confused her enough by itself, but the fact that she had gone off to find the Avatar made it even weirder.

"Wh-what?" she gasped, before turning to face Ty Lee, who seemed equally surprised; it seemed that it was the first time she'd heard of it as well.

"It's literally in my blood." she stressed, "Out of anyone alive, me and my brother are the closest related to any Avatar... and that makes me the one with the best chance of actually being able to do this."

"You-" Ty Lee gasped, "When did you find this out?"

"A few weeks ago, back at Omashu." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "Uncle told me... he's known the entire time."

"Does Zuko know?"

"Probably not." she conceded, before taking a deep breath, "So... let me try and do this. I have a feeling I can do something, and I need to try."

Katara narrowed her eyes, remembering that Aang was talking about needing to speak with Avatar Roku, but having no idea how to do so, "Azula." she addressed the Princess, "Aang says that he needs to talk with him... Roku." she clarified, the Princess narrowing her eyes.

"And?"

"Do you know where he could be able to do that?"

"Presumably at whatever place is closest associated with him... so the temple at Crescent Island. It's run by the Fire Sages, who used it to communicate with Avatar Roku before his death." she explained what she knew, "I don't know the details of it... all I know is from my grandfather's notes on the matter."

"Well, maybe if you wake him up, and he gets Sokka and the others back... then we can go there." she gave her thoughts, "Aang needs guidance."

"I'm sure my uncle would provide it if he wasn't concerned about..." she began, before shaking her head, "Be quiet. I'm going to try again." she warned them, before closing her eyes.

Katara turned to face Ty Lee, unsure if her idea would work; the Fire Nation girl seemed equally confused and unsure, and she tilted her head, indicating for them to leave the tent. Not wanting to annoy the Princess, and genuinely hoping she could actually awaken Aang, she decided that was the best course of action, and followed her out of the tent. The two of them stepped out, the Water Tribe tensing up as she realised there were a number of soldiers with their eyes on them.

"How are you?" she decided to ask her, wanting to break the tension; Ty Lee made a small smile, and just nodded.

"I'm alright. I was afraid that spirit might have tried to take us... but it didn't appear." she conceded, Katara grimacing at the thought of what might happen if Aang was unable to find a way to deal with the Hei Bei spirit.

"I hope Aang figures something out, because if he doesn't... well, I don't know what will happen to my brother." she admitted, the other girl grimacing.

"I don't know much about spirits... honestly." she conceded, "I know that Aang must be the best person to deal with it... but I heard pretty bad rumours back at the circus about spirits taking people."

"Is... is she okay?" she decided to ask Ty Lee, unsure why the Princess was in such an apprehensive mood.

"No, not really." she conceded, "My letters got destroyed."

She blinked a few times, recalling what she had had to protect; some letters that would help Azula stop her father, and she knew enough now to know that was the most important goal she had. Helping Aang was simply a step in achieving that goal, given the fact the Avatar was very powerful and wanted to stop the war, unlike her father.

"How?"

"One of the guards was a traitor." she clarified, before shaking her head, "I should have been more... discrete." she conceded, "I was afraid that those men who had taken me captive wanted to destroy my papers, but I didn't think for a second about the people Azula had with her."

"It was only one guy?" she whispered, eyeing around at the few Imperial Firebenders in her direct vicinity.

"I think so." she conceded, "I don't think if there were more that they would have just let Azula kill the guy who did it."

"K-" she almost choked on her words, realising what she had just said, "She killed him?"

"A lightning bolt to the chest, supposedly." she explained, her uneasy tone suggesting she didn't like the idea of it, "I was unconscious at the time, so I don't really know for sure." she admitted, shaking her head, "I wish things didn't come for this. I just want to help Azula, and make sure we can keep Mai and Zuko safe."

"Commander!" she heard a voice in the distance, too far away to be somebody in the encampment; she turned her gaze around, seeing Zhao rise to his feet, clearly concerned by the tone.

She stepped away from the tent, taking note of a man riding on a lizard-like steed, pulling on its reins to slow it down as he approached the campsite.

"What is it, Yan?" he asked the soldier, "Is there news?"

"I came as fast as I could from the port. A messenger hawk arrived... it's from the Fire Lord." he explained, Zhao's eyes widening with surprise, his gaze momentarily turning to Ty Lee and Katara before they returned to the messenger.

"What does it say?" he asked, Yan grimacing as he pulled a scroll form his belt, offering it to his superior; the officer stepped closer, accepting the scroll before he unfurled it.

His expression was rather dour before his eyes met the paper, but once they did, his jaw dropped as he dropped the scroll down, not even reading the whole document, "Oh fuck." he gasped, the acrobat stepping closer toward him, obviously concerned.

"Does Azula need to know?" Ty Lee asked him, the Commander turning around before he stepped closer to the tent.

"Princess, you're going to want to read this." he called into the tent, Azula stepping out a few moments later.

"This damned interruptions are getting on my nerves, Commander." she snarled, before she noticed he had a scroll in his hand, "Oh... so it's time." she concluded, obviously figuring out what was on it, despite not having read anything.

"You knew?"

"Know what?" Katara asked, and Azula took the scroll into her hand, briefly scanning her eyes over it, before she nodded, handing it back to the Commander.

"Yes, I knew." she retorted with a frustrated tone, "My father's a traitor, and now, everybody knows it." she stated what had been revealed in the letter, "And Aang is an ally of our nation... officially." she clarified something else, perhaps more important to Katara, who smiled at the thought of not having to flee from the Fire Nation any more.

"Well, that's a relief." she admitted, the Princess shaking her head, obviously not agreeing with the sentiment.

"I think you misunderstand, Katara. This is the end of peace." she explained, before turning her eyes to Zhao, "This is what I didn't want to have to explain."

He gulped with fear, before nodding, "I understand why." he admitted, "This won't end well."

"Did you know about the plot, Commander?" she asked, and Zhao's expression suggested that he did, even if he refused to respond, "Did you?" she pressed her question.

"Your father advanced the idea of overthrowing your father when I first joined the war council." he explained how he had knowledge of the conspiracy, "I refused to partake in such treasonous activities, but I didn't... I didn't imagine he'd be so forward to have tried to kill the Fire Lord. I thought he would have challenged him to an Agni Kai." he conceded, narrowing his eyes, "The proper way."

"My father's dignity is far more tenuous than I ever imagined." she retorted, obviously not happy about the fact, "I have been forced to lie about this ever since I retrieved my uncle from the Earth Kingdom wilderness." she explained, "And I ought to inform you that my brother is indeed alive."

"So that-" he began, before turning his eyes away, "Did he try to kill him too?"

"Yes." Ty Lee confirmed, "That's exactly what happened. He was going to reveal the conspiracy."

"So, I assume Prince Zuko is the only reason any of us know about this." he realised, before shaking his head, "Yan." he addressed the soldier who had come with the message, "Go back to the ship and tell them I want every ship in our flotilla ready to leave by sundown." he explained his intentions, "We will not let the traitors make the first move. Securing the Mo Ce Sea is vital to ensure that we can control the line of communications to the colonies."

"I appreciate your proactive thinking, Commander." Azula conceded, before crossing her arms, "As soon as the Avatar awakes, I will plot our next moves. We cannot let the conspirators take advantage of my uncle's position out of the capital. Getting him there is the greatest priority."

"I understand, your highness." he bowed to her, before his eyes turned to the Water Tribe girl, "And what will you do?"

"Take Aang to the Northern Water Tribe. He needs to learn waterbending."

The Commander let out a sigh, seeming disappointed about something; perhaps he had been thinking that after all that had happened, he would have had a chance to capture the Avatar, for whatever glory he thought that might have given him.

"I guess we don't all get what we wish for."