Her fathers face hoovered above hers. 'You betrayed me,' he said. 'Like your brother did. So it's only fitting you'll receive the same punishment.'

She felt the heat of the flames as they burned her skin.

Azula sat up. It was in the middle of the night, hours away from sunrise. Her skin prickled and she instinctively touched the area around her eye, sighing as she felt smooth skin.

It had been a nightmare.

Her father, his disapproval kept haunting her in her dreams. Almost every time her dreams ended with him attacking her, all of them involved her father's disappointment. He hated her, was embarrassed by her actions. Wanted her dead, or at least punished.

And the flames scorched her face.

Her heart was racing and after a few minutes she gave up. She crawled out of her sleeping bag, as quietly as possible as not to wake the others. After a few steps, she let a small flame appear so that she could at least see the walls of the cave where they had found shelter.

Eventually she sat down on the ridge of the mountain, her ancles crossed, as she stared into the darkness of the night. Above her, hundreds of little lights shone and the moon was almost full. It was summer and even in the middle of the night it wasn't too cold. She let her own fire disappear and wrapped her arms around her knees as she thought about the future. About the decisions that led her here.

'Azula?'

She turned around. 'Mai?'

She could hear hesitant footsteps, but it was too dark for her to see her friend.

'Can you make a fire? I can't see where I am going.'

Azula obliged. Mai's eyes shot towards her before she walked in her direction and sat down beside her. 'I heard you leaving.' She sighed. 'Nightmare again?'

Azula nodded. 'I just needed some air.'

She glanced at Mai. The blue light from the flames gave her face something sad, something hollow even. She had dark circles under her eyes. 'Why were you awake?'

Mai smiled, without looking at her friend. 'You're not the only one with nightmares.' She sighed again. 'There's something I wanted to ask you.'

Azula had the feeling she knew what that question was, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to make it too easy on Mai.

There was a brief silence between them.

'Do not tell me that you are nervous,' Azula said. 'After all that we have been through.'

'I am not nervous,' Mai said. 'I think I know what you are going to say.'

'Then say it.'

'It is not that easy. If I say it out loud…' She sighed, but this time she smiled as well. There was not a single sign of boredom visible on her features.

'I love your brother.'

Azula tried to appear stern, but she couldn't stop a little smile from appearing on her face. She didn't say anything and she didn't have to – Mai knew that she approved.

'I know this is not the time for… stuff like that. With the war and all that. But I just thought you should know. That I should tell you, before I tell him.'

'You are going to tell him?' Azula asked, a little surprise. 'That's very brave of you.'

'I think he knows,' Mai said. 'But I feel I should tell him know. This is no time for hesitation.'

Azula nodded.

'I have always thought you two would end up,' she said. 'Ever since we were little kids.' She remembered feeling jealous as she saw Mai and Zuko whispering and laughing together. 'When I was banished, I didn't expect you to come with me. But you did.'

'Of course,' Mai said. 'You are my best friend. You and Ty Lee.'

There was a brief silence.

'If you guys would marry, we would be sisters,' Azula said.

'Perhaps Ty Lee could marry my brother.'

Azula snorted. Mai's brother was a toddler, born during her banishment and very prone to tantrum tempers. 'Who knows.'

Azula stared at the Avatar as he trained with Katara. He made a few impressive moves, she had to admit that. She had never seen anyone move like him, but then again, she had never seen an airbender before.

And,with just airbender moves he wouldn't defeat the Fire Lord. But none of the waterbending he was learning was strong enough either. He wouldn't stand a chance with a few water whips.

He had to become a better firebender.

'You seem worried,' Zuko said.

She shrugged. They stood next to each other in a comfortable silence as they looked down upon the training from their higher position.

'Do you think he'll be able to fight father?' Azula eventually said.

Zuko had crossed his arms in front of his chest. He seemed to hesitate for a few moments, but he sounded pretty sure of himself. 'No. Not if they keep playing like this.'

He gestured with his head towards the Avatar, who now seemed to be dancing underwater, eight arms of water moving around in an octopuslike movement.

Zuko glanced at her. 'Why do you ask?'

She shrugged.

'Don't you feel it is our responsibility?' Zuko asked. 'He is our father.'

'I know. But I also know that I won't be able to fight him. Because I don't really want to.'

There was a brief silence between them. The two siblings were thinking about the future, about what they should or shouldn't do.

'Sometimes I wish we could go back,' Azula said. 'Back to when mom was still there.' She wrinkled her nose. 'Back to when we were kids.'

'Feel old already?' Zuko teased her. She raised one eyebrow at him and his smile disappeared. He sighed. 'I know what do you mean. I do to, sometimes.'

The Avatar had noticed them and was waving enthusiastically. She couldn't hear what he was yelling, but his gestured made his intention quite clear.

'Unbelievable.' Zuko shook hid head. 'No, I don't want to play in the water.'

Azula smiled. 'Why not, Zuzu?'

He rolled his eyes.

'I was thinking,' he said. For a few seconds, Azula thought he was going to ask her permission to date Mai. That would have been an easier suggestion than the one he did bring up. 'We could ask him not to kill father.'

'Then what? Keep him locked up for the rest of his life? You know that won't work.'

'Why not?'

She shook her head. 'He's too strong. And even if we could find a prison, there will be people who want to free him. They won't accept it.' She meant their friends, the Avatar who was currently throwing small balls of water at Sokka, who had no choice but to duck away. Normally she would've chuckled when he was hit in the face, but now her mind was too preoccupied by serious matters.

'We could find a way,' Zuko said. 'We could have people believe that he were dead. And we could construct a prison, deep underground. It could be done.'

She sighed. 'Even if I believed that – which I don't – why would the Avatar agree to that?'

Zuko frowned. 'Don't you understand?'

She hated it when people said that, but Zuko didn't give her the chance to comment.

'He would agree to it if it meant you would fight father. If we would. We could defeat him, bring him to his prison cell.'

Azula was silent.

'It won't help my conscience, if that's what you mean,' she said. 'Locking him up indefinitely won't be any better than killing him.'

'But…'

'Why does everyone want me to fight my own father?' she snapped, her voice a little louder than usual. 'I don't want to fight him. If he attacks me, or you, I will defend myself. But I don't want to go to the Fire Nation knowing I will have to fight him.'

Zuko sighed.

'It's not up to me,' she said.

'But if the Avatar can't do it…'

She turned away from him. She didn't want to hear what her brother's arguments were. She knew them, she had debated herself for days now on this exact question. Would it be wrong to kill her own father, even if it meant saving thousands of lives and ending a world that had lasted for over a century?

It would fall to her.

But Zuko knew that as well. Perhaps he even agreed with her feelings on this point, but it seemed he was able to put these points aside if it meant helping the Avatar.

It was the middle of the night. Azula's face glowed after the nightmare in which her father attacked her and she, helplessly, let it happen. She needed fresh air, to feel the cool wind on her skin. She took a deep breath as the cold wind hit her face. In a few days, they would leave this place, this cave to find a new temporary home. She would miss it here.

She cried.

She sat down on the edge of the plateau their cave was situated. It was completely dark, apart from the moon.

Azula was still trembling, her mind preoccupied with the dream. She didn't notice the dark shadow just meters away from her.

She felt the power of the full moon, the pull on her energy. She wanted to go to the river, but even with the moon it would be a dangerous walk. She could fall and seriously injure herself, or, with some bad lack, worse.

So she contented herself with standing outside and looking at the moon, soaking herself in the bright light and playing with the water she had bending from the sky. Until she heard footsteps.

She froze, watching a figure leave the cave they were sleeping in. She didn't recognize the person and she wasn't sure what they were planning. In the back of her mind, a small voice told her that their new Fire Nation friends were up to something, but she refused to listen to that voice.

The person stood there for a couple of seconds and based on their posture, Katara thought it was Azula. She was about to say something, to make sure she wouldn't startle Azula and be lit up, until Azula made a strange sounds. She fell to the ground more than she sat down, her legs over the edge and her face buried in her hands.

Now Katara had no idea what she was supposed to do. She felt like walking away, but was quite sure that wouldn't go unnoticed. After a few seconds she scraped her throat. 'Azula? It's me.'

Azula didn't jump. Instead she sat, immobile, for a couple of seconds. Katara frowned, wondering if she should do something.

She was about to ask Azula if she was okay when the girl abruptly looked up. A small blue flame appeared in her hand. 'Why are you here?' she asked.

'I could ask you the same,' Katara replied with a smile on her lips. She came a little bit closer, but before she could sit down Azula stood up.

'I couldn't sleep,' she responded. 'You?'

'It's a full moon,' Katara responded.

There was a brief silence.

'I have been having nightmares,' Azula eventually said. 'Ever since we've returned from the Fire Nation.'

She said it very matter-of-factly, without looking directly at Katara. Her hands were still in front of her body, holding the flame. She let them drop to her sides and the flames disappeared.

'About what?' Katara asked softly.

Azula didn't respond.

'I have nightmares to,' Katara said. 'About the day my mother died. I saw it happen.'

Azula looked up from her fight.

'I dream about my father. Trying to kill me, saying that I have betrayed him. He does kill me and then I wake up.'

It was the first time Katara realised that there was something worse than seeing a parent die. It was them wanting to kill you.

'After that, I can't sleep anymore,' Azula continued. 'So I just come here.'

'I am sorry.'

'For what?' Azula snapped. 'You have done nothing wrong.'

'Neither have you,' Katara said.

Azula sighed. 'You wouldn't understand.'

'No, I don't think I can.' Katara sighed and her gaze dwelled towards the full moon. 'But I understand what it is like to lose a parent.'

'What happened?' Azula asked.

'A raid. Sokka and I were just playing outside when suddenly there was ash in the sky. We realised what that meant, so I went to my mother. She spoke with someone from the Fire Nation, a soldier, telling him she was the last waterbender of our tribe. He killed her.'

'But she wasn't a waterbender, was she? She was protecting you.'

Katara nodded.

'Who attacked your tribe?' Azula asked. 'What kind of flags did they have?'

Katara felt as if Azula tried to change the subject, making sure she wouldn't have to talk about her father and the role he played in her nightmares anymore, but she still answered.

'They were red. Sea ravens. Black sea ravens as their symbol.'

Azula nodded. 'The Southern Raiders. Makes sense that they were in your area.' She frowned. 'It was probably their leader who killed your mother at the time.'

Katara's heart skipped a beat. 'What do you mean?'

She could hear her own ragged breath.

'I mean that we might be able to find out who killed your mother,' Azula said.