"Zuko, calm down" his mother said, watching him walking in circles in his office "Azula will come back home sooner, isn't that what you wanted?"
"Not like this. Something's wrong, I just know it."
"Isn't efficiency and going beyond expectations something your sister excels at?" Ikem asked "Isn't that why you chose her for this mission?"
"Something is wrong" he repeated, not wanting to explain that, no, he didn't choose her for this mission. Azula simply took over, but had the courtesy to pretend this insane idea was his, to avoid any more talk of how she was the one who really held all the power. He knew his sister, he knew she could be as stubborn as him. She wouldn't just change her plans out of nowhere. And she explicitly told him in her letter that she was only doing it because something important had come up, and they'd need to speed things up as much as they possibly could. She did tell him she wasn't in danger, but he didn't know what else could have made her change her mind in such little time.
"Even if you're right, then all you can do right now is follow her instructions" his step-father's perpetually calm demeanor was usually a welcome change from the all the chaos that had been going on at the time, and helped keep him a bit more grounded, but now it was just making angry.
"I already did" Zuko snarled "I started preparing things to attack long before Azula told me to, so we could get this over with as soon as possible"
"Then we'll have to wait for her to send new ones" Ursa said, grabbing his shoulders "Honey, I know it's difficult, but losing your temper won't help your sister. And we're not even sure she needs help yet."
"So what, I just wait around until I hear she's hurt or dead?" he pushed his mother away and went straight to the door, but she stopped him before he could leave.
"Zuko, if she really thought she was in danger, she would tell you. She trusts you, so trust her."
Without even looking at her, Zuko left, spending the rest of the day in the Agni Kai room, training by himself just to try and let go of all that pent up energy. He had stopped using anger and resentment to firebend, but he just couldn't avoid it this time and this was the one way to deal with it without regretting it later. He wouldn't snap at anyone. This was his mistake, and he was the one who had to tell with it.
He was angry at Azula for not telling him what was going on, and was downright furious with himself for allowing her to do something so dangerous. Even if she wasn't in any immediate danger, something was wrong, and he wasn't there to help her. Again. For all he knew she always having another breakdown. He should have never let her leave and he wanted to go meet her and drag her home...
He stopped everything he was doing. Simply marching to her hiding place with his men would put her in danger, and he couldn't leave the palace to go after by himself... but he could send a small team after her to make sure she was okay.
Zuko rushed back to his office, getting the coordinates to his sister's hiding place, and then telling servants to prepare the airship and have Iroh, Suki and Ty Lee come to see him immediately.
He had a mission for them.